The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

  The captain took the staff Lazcún was holding and pressed it against the Telkan’s bare chest with one hand. He pointed at Naylon and Tann with the other. “What do you know about those two Terrans!” he demanded angrily.

  An’Arka closed its eyes, seemingly waiting for what was next. The captain pressed a button on the staff. Although it emitted no sound, An’Arka instantly went stiff, then fell to the ground nearly flat on its face.

  Tann was sure they would be next. “Stop it!” he yelled. He was almost in tears. He was totally unprepared for the cruelty he was witnessing. It was like watching an animal being tortured.

  The captain turned to Tann, his eyes fierce and intense. “If you want him to live you will tell me everything I want to know.”

  Naylon wasn’t sure whether the captain was going to kill the Telkan prisoner or not. Nonetheless, given that the other Telkan was still face down in the sand near its ship made it clear they didn’t care much for these creatures. Whether they were really going to witness a cold-blooded murder right here was another matter though. Naylon attempted to scrutinize more of the captain’s intentions. Was it possible he could be so cruel? They were completely alone, with no other authority anywhere nearby. Anything could happen and no one higher up would be the wiser. That thought alone brought great concern to him. They were both in serious danger now.

  An’Arka stirred then tried but failed to stand upright. It took twice before he could right himself. Despite what appeared to be excruciating pain, he stood tall once again. Sand covered the side of his face. He shook his head to remove some of it, which rattled the manacles again.

  Tears had welled up in Tann’s eyes. There was nothing he could say to appease the captain because he simply didn’t know anything.

  “You can save him, Tann,” the captain goaded.

  Tann felt momentarily bewildered, then supremely angry at the accusation. “You know I can’t!” he spat.

  Naylon realized Pacudas was baiting Tann. “Stop it!” he yelled. “Just stop it!” The anger in his voice was evident to everyone.

  Soldat Zapante was standing directly behind Naylon. He leaned forward. “You would choose a snake’s life over your own?” he hissed.

  That was the second time Naylon has heard the word ‘snake’ used to describe the Telkans. It was obviously derogatory. “No, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t because I don’t know this creature. Neither of us do.” He looked directly at the captain this time. “We’ve never seen this-this Telkan before. We don’t know him and he doesn’t know us. And you know that.” Naylon realized he was pleading with the captain.

  Pacudas heard everything he needed in Naylon’s tone. His show of force worked. He was sure now that neither Naylon nor Tann knew their Telkan captive. In fact, both of their emotions were genuine. The little one was actually sniffling. The sniffling wasn’t because he knew An’Arka either and feared for a friend. It was because he was actually concerned about its plight. Pacudas found that both remarkable and disgusting. It was cause for genuine concern for him, too. Clearly, he was facing something he didn’t expect. Terrans that truly had never heard of the Telkan Ascendency and thus had compassion for these creatures? How these two didn’t know about the war, he wasn’t sure. But tonight he was going to find out.

  The captain stared at An’Arka briefly, then turned to Lazcún. “Stake him.”

  Lazcún turned to a long narrow bag that lay in the sand next to his feet. He unzipped it and pulled out a two-meter long grey metal cylinder. He placed the pointed end of it against the ground and pressed a button near a vertical seam. Lazcún held his ears, as did a couple of the other crewmen. An audible hiss emitted from the top, a puff of smoke came out, then a very loud pop sounded. A stake inside the cylinder rammed itself into the ground. Secured by barbs that pointed upward, only a half-meter remained above the surface. There was no way An’Arka would be able to pull up the securely anchored post. He pulled upward on the cylinder and tossed it aside. He attached a short chain to the manacles at the feet of the Telkan. The other end he attached to a metal loop at the top of the stake. He clamped two links together, which appeared to fuse solid at his touch. The Telkan wasn’t going anywhere.

  Tann and Naylon were ushered back into the ship. The Taskers, which were not outside during the interrogation, were standing idly by in the corridors as the crew filed back in. It was an eerie sight to Naylon, what with all the different aliens around them. The remaining crew turned and followed except for the captain and soldats Barcega and Zapante. Naylon figured the captain was probably going to do a real interrogation on their prisoner. That made sense. After all, that little show was only to mess with Tann’s emotions.

  Barcega and Zapante entered the Telkan ship to remove the data modules from the command console. They stowed everything into containers they had brought with them. The ship had standard data modules, of which they were familiar. In their own ship were adapters that would be necessary to extract tactical information from them later on. Once the items they deemed valuable had been removed, they placed thermal scramblers at points in the Telkan shuttle’s interior. Once activated, they would destroy the shuttles command components and spread a toxic cloud throughout the interior, rendering it totally unusable. They sealed the outer airlock and waited until they heard muffled thumps. The two men both had satisfied grins on their faces.

  The captain continued to hold the stick at the ready as he asked the Telkan over and over again about troop strengths, weapons, and ships that might be nearby. An’Arka said nothing.

  Barcega looked at An’Arka, trying to discern if it realized they had effectively disabled his only ability to leave the planet. The Telkan didn’t have the same muscle structure of a human face and thus, there was no way to tell what emotion it felt. He grinned as he watched the captain circle the prisoner with the stick. He didn’t know how long the interrogation would last and wondered if it would make any difference anyway.

  Soldat Efren Llarena, the Chief Engine Technician by training, had been the last to enter the shuttle after the rest of the soldats. He had looked back at the Telkan, still standing proudly in his chains, then back toward the airlock door. Discovering Terrans on this planet was indeed a mystery, but one that provided a glimmer of hope for him. Whoever they were, they had actually never heard the word Telkan! Was it possible there was a Terran planet untouched by this endless war? A planet that didn’t speak the word Telkan with a vehement desire for blood?

  Naylon and Tann had been led back to their quarters. The door was shut on them unceremoniously. Tann sat on one of the bunks, his eyes red, tears still welling up but not quite enough to run down his cheeks.

  Naylon sat next to him in an attempt to calm the boy down. “The captain did all of that because of us.”

  “How do you know?” Tann sniffled a couple of times, then wiped his eyes, already regaining his composure.

  “We weren’t staked out there like that alien. We weren’t mistreated, just verbally abused. The captain needs us. He thinks we know something. I’m sure he’s going to take a completely different view of us when he decides to talk with us again.”

  “Which will be when?”

  “I can’t be sure, actually.”

  Tann sighed, then took a deep breath; stood, then activated the view screen. An’Arka was standing tall, his arms still lashed and totally vulnerable. They both watched as the captain circled his prisoner, stop, gesticulate, point the stick at him, then wait. Naylon desperately wished there was a microphone pickup that accompanied the vid. Both of them watched this go on for several minutes, sure that at any moment the captain would jab the stick at the alien and kill him, apparently by electrocuting him. But that didn’t happen. He ceased his questions as his soldats re-emerged in the camera’s view with a container of something taken from the Telkan’s ship. All of them left the scene and headed back in.

  “How long do you think they’ll leave him out there?” Tann asked Naylon as he told the display to de-energize.


  Naylon shook his head. “I don’t think they take prisoners.” That much was evident since they weren’t in any sort of brig or formal lockup either.

  Tann fell silent. He knew what that meant.

  “Don’t try to feel sorry for it… er, him. This is their war. We can’t take sides,” Naylon tried to point out.

  Naylon’s argument wasn’t having its intended effect. Tann felt panicked. “We have to escape,” he whispered. “We have to get back to that cavern. We still have those things that got us here.” His desire to never touch one again was gone.

  “I know,” Naylon replied. “That option might take days though. We’d have to steal food and water. They might take off again, too. We have no idea where we might end up next. We’ll never be able to find our way back if we get too far from that river. Then there’s another problem. They clearly have biosensors. They could easily find us if we’re on foot. And who knows how many other Telkan patrols are nearby. We wouldn’t last long if we’re caught. After all, we’re ‘Terrans’ now. We’re the enemy.”

  Tann put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes, then his forehead. The fear and frustration in his quivering voice told Naylon Tann’s exact emotional state. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I just wanna go home.”

  Naylon hugged him. Hard. “I know,” he said. “I know.”

  The captain was taking his time Naylon noted, in questioning them again. He knew it was inevitable though. At 1800 hours, according to the clock on the view screen in their quarters, he heard talking outside the door. Tann pressed his ear against it briefly to hear the exchange.

  He stepped away and whispered to Naylon. “I think they’re changing our guard.” No sooner did he say that when the door slid open. Llarena stepped in and the door slid shut.

  “What now?” Naylon asked. He hadn’t had any opportunity to focus his attention on this soldat until now. The man was two meters in height, had short dark hair and brown eyes. This close up, Naylon decided he was extremely good looking. That alone reminded him of Darreth.

  “I’m Soldat Llarena, the Chief Engine Tech. I need to know something. Truthfully, do you really come from a planet where we’re not at war with the Telkans?”

  Instantly, Naylon could tell that this soldat wasn’t asking in the name of the captain. He was asking for himself. That meant they had a bargaining chip!

  Llarena noted Naylon hesitating, sizing him up. He sweetened his request for information. “Look, my weapon is shut off.” He clicked a switch and holstered it. “It’s unheard of to keep Terrans under arrest unless they’ve committed a crime. You’ve committed no crimes. But we’ve been ordered by the captain to hold you here until you talk. Where are you really from?”

  “Both of us are from Andakar.” Naylon briefly looked at Tann. Tann quickly nodded.

  Llarena shook his head. “There is no such planet.”

  Tann spoke up. “I was frucking born there. Let us go and we’ll take you.”

  Llarena laughed. “Good one. But you know I can’t. Regardless, you have to know there are many of us, and many more every day, who are not happy about this situation. The war is going on its thirty-first year.”

  Thirty-one years! Naylon thought. If that was true, then he and Tann had a lot more going for them than he originally figured. But he had to prove their hypothesis. “Llarena, what’s your first name?”

  “Efren.”

  “Are you from Earth?”

  “I am,” he said as he nodded.

  “What do you know about your Empire’s history?”

  Tann looked at Naylon. What does that have to do with anything, he wondered.

  “I know everything about it.”

  “When did the Empire first go into space?” Naylon needed to know if their suspicion of where they were was correct.

  “January 24th, 1902. It is an indelible date.”

  Naylon wasn’t exactly sure, but he thought humans hadn’t gone into space until the mid-20th century.

  “What do you know about General Malán Zas?” As far as Naylon knew, a soldier from Earth had to have at least heard of the man.

  Efren thought for a moment before he answered. “I have heard of no such general.”

  “He was a dictator in South America.”

  “Where is South America?”

  Naylon shook his head in frustration. “On Earth.”

  “I know of no such country.”

  “It’s the name of a continent.”

  “You are thinking of another planet. No such continent has that name on Earth.”

  “Tann, help me out here.”

  Tann threw up his hands. “With what?”

  “How far back did your Earth history studies go?”

  “Uh, to the Roman era.”

  “I trace some of my ancestors almost that far,” Efren stated.

  “Seriously?” Naylon asked, quite astonished.

  “Of course. A lineage trace is required for active service. Some of the soldats on this vessel who were born on Earth can track their families back over twenty-seven hundred years.”

  “Whoa! Well, uh, what do you know about a country named England?”

  Efren snorted. “You mean Angla.”

  “Angla?”

  “Angla province. The name ‘England’ hasn’t been used for centuries.”

  “Province?” Tann asked.

  “It’s a province in Europa,” Efren said.

  “Europa,” Tann repeated, not sure he had heard the word correctly. Part of what Naylon was getting at was beginning to sink in now.

  “The collective provinces are called Europa. That includes the province once called England. Old Spain is Europa’s First Land,” Efren told him.

  “Provinces? You mean countries.” Naylon said. He was confused now. What Efren was telling him was quite a bit different from what he knew about Earth.

  “That word is very old and not used anymore,” Efren told him.

  “What happened to England… er, Angla? How did it become a province?” Naylon asked, trying to pick up another piece to the puzzle he was trying desperately to put together.

  “King Philip conquered it long ago. It is the defining moment in our Empire’s history. It began everything. How could you not know that? It’s required knowledge on every world.” Efren was becoming quite suspicious of Naylon’s questions now.

  “We come from a backward planet,” Tann replied sarcastically.

  But Naylon had enough pieces of the puzzle now. It wasn’t his area of expertise by any means, but he’d read enough articles on the subject to make some bold assumptions. He was firmly convinced now they were indeed in an alternate universe. Amazingly, this one wasn’t really too far off from their own. He had figured some detail of history was different and had caused a divergence from his and Tann’s timeline. Surprisingly, his questions may have already led him near or to the divergent point. He wasn’t at all sure why this particular version had so many alien species in it or why this Rylerra wasn’t a ball of ice. Naylon knew that England was still a country, even to this day. Granted, it had been part of the European Confederation for nearly a millennium, but as far as he knew, it had never been ‘defeated’ by anyone named King Philip.

  “Tann, what do you know about Spain?”

  He shrugged. “Only that it’s in the Confederation. We had to study the history of three Inhabs this year. Look, I didn’t remember everything.”

  Efren looked back and forth between the two of them. He was quite confused with this conversation. “You mean Europa,” he emphasized.

  “Never mind that,” Naylon said. “Didn’t Angla ever claim land in the southern hemisphere on Earth?” Naylon was well aware the English had settled Australia and New Zealand more than a millennia ago. After all, he was born on North Island and knew where his family had originated.

  “Why do you keep asking about Angla? They have never had any land except for their islands off the North Sea.”

  “Who claimed
the Western Hemisphere?”

  “The Spanish, the French and the Holandés, of course. Enough of this-this history lesson,” Efren told them, irritation evident in his voice. “What planet are you from?”

  Naylon needed no more convincing. He turned to Tann. “We are definitely not in our universe.”

  Tann pursed his lips. “No shit.”

  Efren’s suspicions were added to by frustration since his questions weren’t being answered. “What universe?” He didn’t get his answer because the comm strapped to his wrist buzzed. He looked down at it then pointed to them both. “Not a word,” he told them sternly. He spoke to the comm unit next. “Llarena here.”

  “Zapante here. I’m in the engine room. The regulator is showing that anomalous reading again. Can you come back here and look at it?”

  “Uh, I’m guarding our ‘guests’ quarters.”

  Zapante grunted. “Our ‘guests’ are harmless, as you well know. Just come back here and take a look.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute.” He pressed the door control. He pointed a finger at Naylon. “We never had this conversation.” He exited the room quickly and the door slid shut.

  Naylon immediately noted the indicator light on the doorframe. It didn’t show red after he left, but rather green. Every time previous it had been red after their guard had left. Whether by design or sheer forgetfulness, Efren hadn’t locked the door.

  Chapter 28

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rehl sub-vocalized it as loudly as he could. “You’ve got an alien device and you’ve not told anyone?”

  “I told you, didn’t I?” Darreth sub-vocalized back.

  “Yeah. Way after the debriefing! I am not about to get involved in this,” Rehl said out loud this time.