by Jay Cannon
Li Xiao pressed the button on the left and a glowing outline appeared around her mother. Then the screen did something strange. It started following her mother around as she moved. She moved the screen and it stopped following her. Her grandmother walked by and she pressed the button again and her grandmother was outlined and the screen followed her. She pressed the button on the right, which was similar to the button on the left and the screen switched to her mother. Pressing the button over and over again toggled between the two women.
Pressing the button on the left removed the outline from the person at the center of the screen and the screen stopped following her. She pressed the bottom-left button and it didn’t seem to do anything.
She pressed the lower bar and suddenly fell on top of her parent’s table, knocking the teapot, cups and plates onto the floor. Her parents and grandmother looked at her in amazement.
“Where did you come from Li Xiao? Asked her father. “You seemed to fall from the ceiling.”
“I just jumped into the room to surprise you and lost my footing,” she lied hoping they would believe her.
They did not quite understand her explanation, but took her at her word. She apologized for the distraction, put the device in her pocket and helped them cleanup. While her sudden appearance was disturbing they were happy to see her and Li Xiao was happy to be able to visit home after being away for such a long while. She spent a great deal of time speaking with her parents and trying to understand how life was for them.
For the most part her family was happy. The government provided the security and health care that they needed. They had plenty of money to sustain them. They were concerned at the way some people were arrested or even killed for speaking out against the government. Her parents felt that governments should embrace criticism as a way to improve themselves.
Li Xiao had a final cup of tea with her family, hugged them all, walked out the door and beamed back to her apartment. She adjusted the location so she would fall from the ceiling, but set down gently upon her bed. She spent the next couple of days playing with the device, but there were still some features she did not understand.
Chapter 2
The Tammarians
Tammaria was a planet in the Storm planetary system. It was used as an outpost for the Euclidian military. They had several bases there. The planet consisted of one well-known humanoid species. The Tammarians were primitive hunter gatherers that lived in tribes. They had yet to advance beyond using stone tools. They lived in small huts made from the surrounding vegetation.
For the most part, the Euclidian left the planet intact. The only thing they harvested from the planet was the famous abbig fruit, from which Tammarian grog was made. The grog was an alcoholic beverage that the Tammarians learned to make eons ago. The Tammarian taught the Euclidian how to make the grog. In return, the Euclidian taught the Tammarians how to grow the fruit more efficiently in order to increase its yield. In that way they felt they compensated the Tammarians for the fruit that they took from them every year.
The fruit was not very tasty on its own. But after being turned into a beverage it became quite a delicacy. A person drinking the elixir experienced immediate euphoria. The effects lasted about 30 minutes and those partaking in the grog would experience no ill side effects. The feeling the grog gave individuals was not inebriation or lethargy, but exhilaration. It was also an aphrodisiac. It cured depression, pessimism and sadness. More importantly, it worked on all species, which made it very valuable.
The Euclidian held exclusive rights to the planet and therefore the fruit. As such, they kept all others away from the planet. For that very reason Chaell was surprised when one of his scouts captured an Alpha wandering around the planet while they were there picking up several tons of the abbig fruit that had been recently harvested.
“So what were you doing on the planet?” Chaell asked the Alpha male they found.
“I was left behind when the crew from my ship left in haste,” he replied. “I was camping in a remote region and when I returned to our encampment everyone was gone. I can only assume they were trying to avoid being seen by your ship.”
“That sounds a bit flimsy. You couldn’t use your communicator to call your ship?”
“We don’t have the fancy ones the Euclidians use. The ship was out of range by the time I realized I was left behind.”
“Is anyone else left on the planet?”
“Not that I have seen.”
“Why don’t I believe you? How about I let my guys work you over a bit until you are ready to tell me everything you know?”
“How about you shove a Tammarian beetle up your nose?”
“You can be insolent if you want, but we have ways of getting the truth out of you.”
“Go ahead. I’m sure your government would be happy to hear how you treated me.”
The treaty with the Alphas forbade their mistreatment. Though Captain Shisal did not care for the Alphas he did not want to risk crossing the government over a supposedly lost Alpha.
“Relax, we’re just having a friendly conversation. No reason to start making threats. Just relax here in this cabin and I’ll have my crew bring you some food. For security reasons I can’t have you wandering around the ship. We have Deltas onboard and they may not treat you very kindly.”
“So transport me back to Euclidia.”
“No reason to waste valuable energy. We’ll be back on Euclidia before you know it. I’ll hand you over to the authorities once we return. I’m sure they will want to hear your story.”
“There’s no reason to make me wait.”
“There’s no reason to accommodate you either,” Shisal ended. He then stood and left the Alpha in his quarters.
Initially Tammaria was occupied by the Alphas. They were using the planet as a launching point for a raid on the Euclidian home planet. After the Euclidian repelled the Alpha attack, they systematically went through each planet in their system cleansing them of any Alpha presence and claiming the planets for themselves.
The Euclidian were only recently aware that there was a second race of humanoid creatures on Tammaria called the Magi. They lived in caves in a sparsely populated region of the planet. They used their persuasive powers over the other Tammarian species to prevent knowledge of their presence from spreading.
The Magi were short people, not much taller than 160 centimeters. Living in the dark caused their eyes to evolve to permit them to see well in low light conditions. This ability was augmented by their phosphorescent blue eyes, which emitted light. This light permitted them to see in the darkest parts of their caves.
The radiation from their eyes had a strange effect when directed at the eyes of humanoid creatures. It would cause their resistance to be lowered making them susceptible to suggestions. The Alphas discovered the Magi when hiding in their caves to avoid the Euclidian. They noticed the Magi’s ability to influence people while watching the Magi interact with the Tammarians and Euclidians. The Magi would convince the Tammarians to share their fruit and cloth with them.
The Alphas understood this power and decided to exploit the Magi for their own benefit. Kenyon Filo was an Alpha commander that devised the plan using the Magi to seek revenge on the Euclidian for destroying their home planet. He used one of their cloaked ships to visit the Magi undetected to start the execution of his plan. His ship was in orbit around Tammaria just close enough to the planet for Commander Filo to beam down to converse with the Magi. Unfortunately one of his crewmembers got captured.
Commander Filo had never been to the Magi caves so he took his aid Lieutenant Lephi Swantik with him who had made several visits to the caves. He prepped Commander Filo about what to expect based on his experiences.
“Commander,” Lephi began, “the Magi caves are an enormous labyrinth. They are dark and have numerous, difficult to navigate pathways that can only be learned by traversing them while living there, as there are no maps. Each cave, path, cavern and even large stones have
names, which the Magi use for navigation. Unfortunately they have no written language, so there are no signs. They just memorize the name for everything.”
“So how are we supposed to find our way around once we get inside?” Asked Commander Filo.
“I found us a guide to take us through the exterior caves and into the central cavern, which hosts the seat of their government. She speaks Euclidian from conversing with the ones that are based here. She is one of the ones I saw charming the Euclidian soldiers with her eyes.”
“So how do we protect ourselves against their charms?”
“The lenses I placed in our goggles should help protect us. Just in case, we must also be careful not to simultaneously look into their eyes.”
“I hope you’re right Lephi. A lot is riding on this. So where do we meet our guide?”
“Just inside the cave entrance ahead of us. We just need to climb a few more meters and we will be there.”
“I don’t see anything?”
“The entrance is situated at an angle. The Magi modified all of the entrances to obscure them from view unless you are right on top of it. We’re almost there. Let me just catch my breath.”
“Me too. I’m not use to this kind of exercise. So how do we convince them to help us?”
“We have to let them think that we are looking to improve relations with our Euclidian friends. They are not likely to help us do anything that might hurt the Euclidian. Since they don’t need money and have plenty of resources, we’ll just have to enter into conversations with them to understand what might be of interest to them.”
“Doesn’t sound very hopeful, but considering the enormous potential we had better continue to pursue this possibility.”
“Let’s get going, she’s probably waiting for us.”
“If they don’t have technology, how do they tell what time it is?”
“They use the level of a water pool which reacts to the position of their sun to determine the start of the day. They then split the day into one hundred equal periods using water clocks. At the beginning of each period they send a signal throughout the caves to synchronize the time. It’s not real precise, but it works well enough for their culture.”
“Yea, that is a bit crude. Are we there yet? I may need another break.”
“As a matter of fact we are. Just look to your left behind this boulder,” said Lephi pointing to the cave entrance.
“My goodness. I never would have noticed that.”
“Let’s go in and see if she is there.”
***
“Lephi, how am I supposed to see in here?” Asked Commander Filo after entering a few meters into the cave.
“Put on the goggles I gave you. They will permit you to see in the dark. They project an invisible wave out that reflects off of objects and back into the goggles as images. We can’t use light in here as it would hurt the Magis’ eyes and keep them from interacting with us. They also have those special lenses I told you about.”
“This is marvelous look at the bevy of activity all around us. It’s as if we walked into some fairytale world.”
Commander Filo took a moment to soak it all in. There were flying creatures of all sizes flying throughout the cave. Lizard-like creatures climbed the walls of the cave. Luminescent water bubbled up from odd places inside the cave adding a bit of light to dark areas. Water ran through the cavern carrying food that was eaten by the Magi. Some Magi could be seen tending to some small plots of land where they were growing different types of moss that were distributed and eaten by the villagers throughout the cave system.
“Are the Magi the large creatures darting about with the blue glowing eyes?”
“Yes.”
“How do we possibly find your contact in this mass of similar bodies?”
“She said to wait here near the entrance of the cave near this blue gurgling water.”
“Hello Lephi, who is your friend?” Asked a Magi appearing out of the darkness.
“Hi Yoyo, this is Commander Filo.”
“Hello Commander Filo, I am Yoyo Snarky. I will be your guide during your visit.”
“Pleased to meet you Yoyo. I’m surprised you speak Euclidian.”
“I learned it meeting with the Euclidian from time to time.”
“You are obviously pretty smart. I’m looking forward to visiting this home of yours,” replied the commander looking at her in amazement. She was a few centimeters shorter than him and wore dark clothing that clung to her body. She had long, light hair tied behind her back. He could not see much of her face except her glowing eyes.
“It can be very difficult to navigate this place. I placed a glowing yellow ring around my sleeves to make it easier for you to keep track of me. If for some reason you lose sight of me just yell out my name and I will be sure to stop and find you.”
“That’s a great idea Yoyo,” replied Lephi. The last time I was here you promised to introduce me to your chief so I could get her input on a business venture.”
“And so I shall,” responded Yoyo. Follow me and I will take you there now. Watch your heads. The height of some of the passageways may be a little low for you two.”
The three started off on their journey, which turned out to be a long one. They went through several kilometers of passageways, caves and huge caverns. Magi people darted in and out between them as the two Alphas struggled to keep up with Yoyo.
“Yoyo, can we stop for a moment?” Asked Commander Filo.
“Certainly,” she responded. “There are some flat rocks over there where we can rest.”
“Thanks I certainly needed this,” said Commander Filo sitting down.
“Where can we relieve ourselves?” Asked Lephi.
“Each cave has an area with a discharge pool. There is one just over there,” Yoyo said pointing to a corner of the cave they had entered. “You relieve yourself in the pool and the enzymes in the pool neutralizes the waste materials. The pools are continually replenished to maintain their effectiveness. You can clean off your hands and other body parts in the pool as well.”
“Thanks Yoyo. I’ll be right back.”
“I think I’ll join you Lephi,” stated Commander Filo getting up.
“I’ll wait here for you two,” said Yoyo.
“Lephi, do you think she is giving us the run around? We’ve been walking for over an hour so far.”
“I don’t see why she would. She has nothing to gain by doing so and nothing to fear from us.”
“Okay, I’ll be a bit more patient. It’s not like we could find our way out if she decided to abandon us. I certainly don’t remember the way out and our communications devices don’t seem to be working inside of these caves.”
The two finished relieving themselves and returned to their spots next to Yoyo.
“Yoyo, I had no idea this place was so enormous and beautiful, it would be interesting to be able to see it with your eyes,” said Lephi.
“I have to say I enjoy all of the different lights, colors and sounds in the midst of the darkness,” replied Yoyo. “Outside the caves one can certainly see everything more easily, but it doesn’t have the same magic as this place.”
“Yoyo, what is your main job here?” Asked Commander Filo.
“I mainly work as a liaison between my people and the Tammarians and Euclidian. I mostly just manage the exchange of goods between our people. The other part my time I work with the food producers to make variations of our grog. I enjoy the drink well enough, but I enjoy the effect it has on others much more. So I spend a lot of time trying to perfect my version of the grog recipe.”
“Very interesting. What do you know about the Euclidian?”
“They are an extraterrestrial species that visits our planet from a planet far from here.”
“How does a cave dweller know so much?”
“I’m curious and when they arrived I spent time getting to know them.”
“How would you like to see the planet where they come from and man
y other places?”
“I like the idea, but you will have to speak to our chieftain about that.”
“So let’s go see her.”
“No problem. I’ll take you to her. We’re just another few minutes away.”
The three of them left their seats and proceeded through another series of caves and passageways until they entered into an enormous cavern that was illuminated by colorful, phosphorescent material that covered its walls. In the center was a large crystal palace. A large, arched entryway at the front of the building was full of traffic from visitors entering and leaving the facility.
“This is where our chieftain lives,” started Yoyo. “I will introduce you to the chieftain and you can negotiate what you need with her.”
“Does she speak Euclidian?” Asked Commander Filo.
“No she doesn’t.”
“How about Tammarian?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Why are there so many people going in and out of the place?”
“Our chieftain has collected artifacts over the years and the place has sort of turned into a museum that attracts lots of visitors. Come with me and I’ll take you inside so you can see the palace.”
The three of them walked into the palace amazed by its grandeur. Commander Filo and Lephi were enthralled with all the items in the interior. There were wide walkways on both sides of the entrance separated by display areas in the middle and along each wall. Yoyo gave a brief description of each of the items as they passed by them.
“On this side are skeletons from various cave animals. On the other side are early tools that were found inside and outside the cave. Here we have early pottery and clothing made from various animal skins. I don’t know the words the Euclidians use to name them. Here we have the various vegetation that you can find in our caves. Below each one is a plaque describing them. On the other side are different luminescent minerals and liquids that are used to light some of the areas in our caves including this palace.”