by Chad Spencer
Akio was stunned to hear the locals speaking Japanese. So he answered back in Japanese, “This is the Captain of the Hiryu. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Captain, we know your ship is superior to ours and can travel much faster. Please don’t pass us by. We have been searching for you and we humbly request a meeting with you. Our First Ancestor told us you would be coming and that you would be searching for your brother. He has provided help for you, if you will come to our capital city to receive it.”
“Who is this First Ancestor?”
“He founded our civilization 10,000 years ago. He is our ruler and lawgiver.”
“Wait, a guy who lived 10,000 years ago told you to find me? That’s not possible.”
The voice was insistent, “We have news of your brother, Captain. If you will come with us to Tenkyo, our capital city, we can help you.”
Skeptically Akio demanded, “Why should I believe you?”
“We were told to ask you how you liked the Barracuda you got for your sixteenth birthday.”
That stopped Akio dead. Only Akifumi would convey a message like that. His hopes rising, Akio insisted, “Who told you to ask me that?”
“Our First Ancestor.”
“The guy who lived 10,000 years ago? That makes no sense.”
“Please come with us, we can explain everything.”
Nuraiyana muted the audio and warned, “It could be some kind of trap.”
“It could be,” agreed Akio. “But it’s the first lead we’ve had on finding Akifumi and Eric. It’d be stupid to pass it up. Turn the audio back on.”
Nuraiyana nodded, indicating that they were transmitting again.
“Where is your capital city?”
“It’s far from here,” the woman’s voice replied. “But if you take me aboard your ship and let me guide you, we can be there by tomorrow. Please, we can help you?”
“Why would you want to help me?”
“Our First Ancestor told us you would save us. Please, can we meet?”
Pausing a moment to consider the situation, Akio finally agreed, “Yes. We’ll come to your position. Hiryu out.
He turned to Frankly and questioned, “How long will it take to get to them?”
“About fifteen minutes,” was his answer. “But we’re moving a lot faster than them and we’re at a high altitude. They’re about 40,000 feet below us, so it’ll take ten more minutes to decelerate and drop down there.”
“Do it.”
“Yes, Sirsen.” Franklyn kicked the ship into motion.
True to his word, Franklyn had the ship alongside the Kanto vessel in exactly twenty-five minutes. Unlike all of the other aircraft Akio had seen since coming to the gas giant, this vehicle was not built from vines, logs, and wood. The lengthy hull appeared to be much higher tech than anything else on this world. It was sleek and aerodynamic, with about two dozen gravity mirrors to hold it up.
When Rick saw the unusual airship, he instantly became ecstatic. “The sensors say that ship is a plant! I think it may be genetically engineered. The material it’s made from is organic, but it’s as strong as aluminum. That’s an amazing piece of engineering.”
Excitedly, he pointed at the cylindrical objects on the sides and exclaimed, “Those are jets! Old-style jets! And they’re grown that way. How can a plant grow jets?”
Nuraiyana commented, “Captain, whoever these people are, they have a much more advanced level of technology than everyone else on this world. We should be careful.”
A redheaded woman in her thirties emerged from a hatch on top of the airship and stood on its hull. Surprisingly, she was wearing a green kimono. She gazed toward the Hiryu expectantly.
“Everyone stay be ready for a fight,” Akio instructed as he exited a hatch. He flew to the wing of the Hiryu, landed, and strode to the end of the wing.
When the woman saw him up close, her eyes widened and she instantly bowed. But it wasn’t a regular bow. It was a Japanese-style bow usually reserved for only the most important of people. She actually got down on her hands and knees and put her forehead to the hull of the ship she was perched on. And she seemed to be weeping.
“Please,” Akio called to her in Japanese. “Please stand. Why are you crying?”
“Shitsurei itashimashita (I humbly apologize)”, replied the woman as she wiped her tears. “I just never imagined that it would be me who found the Honorable Elder Brother. If you allow me to board your ship, I will conduct you to the First Ancestor. He will provide you with information about your brother.”
“Why can’t you just tell me yourself?”
Bowing again, the woman replied, “Please accept my apologies. I don’t actually know much. When we saw ships come through the wormhole, we started searching for them as we always do. If we find that they are tahkti, we destroy them because they are programmed to kill or capture all humans. You are the first humans to come through for thousands of years.”
“You know about the wormhole? And the tahkti? Who are you?”
“Yes, Onii-sama. We know about the wormhole. And I am Endo Mayu, the First Officer of this ship.” She bowed again. “The Kanto people know about the universe outside this one, the wormhole that connects them, and the danger of the tahkti.”
“How do you know all that? No one else does.”
“The First Ancestor taught us.”
“And you’re going to take me to this First Ancestor of yours?”
“Yes, Onii-sama.”
“And he’ll tell me where to find my brother?”
“Yes, Onii-sama.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He wants your help. And he wants to help you. That’s all I know, Onii-sama.”
“Why do you call me that? I’m not your brother and I’m younger than you.”
“Onii-sama is the title the First Ancestor has given you.”
‘This really isn’t going to get me the answers I want,’ realized Akio. So he instructed, “I’m going to fly over to you, pick you up, and carry you here to our ship. Please don’t be too surprised by that.”
“Thank you, Onii-sama, but that is not necessary.”
To Akio’s amazement, the woman rose from the aircraft and wafted to the Hiryu. She alighted next to him with a polite, “Ojama itashimasu. (I humbly arrive).”
“How did you do that?”
“I have korei like you, Onii-sama. Many of our people do.”
Warily, Akio demanded, “What are your powers?”
“I have power over wind and water. That’s all. Many Korei Masters are much more powerful than I.”
“I see. While you’re aboard my ship, you are forbidden to use your powers. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Onii-sama.”
Akio flew to the Hiryu’s hatch and gestured for Mayu to follow, which she did. Once inside the ship, she introduced herself to the entire crew, who had gathered on the bridge, and bowed again.
“So how do we get to Tenkyo?” Akio demanded. “I want to find my brother as quickly as possible.”
Mayu gave him course information to a continent on the horizon. It would take them the entire day to get there.
“Franklyn, let’s get underway right now,” commanded Akio.
“Yes, Captain.” He turned the ship and pointed it toward the distant continent.
37
Tolool was right. Ulvionus was not much of a tourist destination. After two days there, Amanda summed up everything about the city with the words, “Stark.”
‘I think I would describe it as grey,’ mused Jeff.
The buildings were made of a grey, concrete-like material. It also lined the tunnels that laced the entire continent. And unlike the other places Jeff had been on this world, there wasn’t much growing anywhere. The ground was packed and grey with very little green to brighten the landscape.
The buildings were remarkably repetitive. Everyone lived in apartments, and the apartment buildings were all identical. “Except for
the living quarters of the higher-level Scientists,” Tolool told them. “They live in very grand houses with gardens around them.”
Everywhere they went, the residents were dressed nearly identically. There was little self-expression in their clothes or mannerisms. ‘And no one smiles,’ realized Jeff. ‘Even when people are being really nice to us in stores, they don’t smile.’
“What does that poster say?” Amanda asked Joonen as they walked to a restaurant. Jeff had observed similar posters on the walls of many buildings and tunnels. All of them had blocky, angular artwork and large, bold lettering on them.
“You can’t read?”
“Of course I can read. I read two languages, English and French. I just don’t read your language.”
Joonen, who apparently had never considered the possibility that there were other writing systems in existence, flushed with embarrassment. “Oh. I see. It … it says that it’s our duty to create a safe space for everyone. It’s a propaganda poster. It’s how the government teaches the residents what to think.”
“What does ‘safe space’ mean?”
Tolool interjected, “It means that people who really believe everything the government tells them feel afraid when they encounter new ideas. They instantly feel that they’re in danger just because someone believes something that’s different than them. So they want the government to protect them by creating what they call a ‘safe space.’ But what it really means is they’re afraid to think for themselves. It happens a lot these days. The government encourages it. If everyone’s afraid of new ideas–even if it’s the truth–then the government can control them easier.”
“That’s horrible!” exclaimed Amanda. “You mean they go all to pieces just because someone doesn’t believe what they do?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s horrible,” she repeated.
Tolool nodded. “That’s why, many years ago, a man named Nusonus Meti founded Tuluvet, the Way of Truth. His guiding principle was to seek for and face up to the truth even if it meant that the truth proves you wrong.”
Jeff wondered, “Isn’t that what science is? I mean, these people have scientists running their government don’t they?”
Tolool chuckled mirthlessly. “It’s what science was. But long ago, people who really weren’t scientists believed that they were very enlightened and that their particular group represented science. ‘Zeal without knowledge,’ my father used to say. They turned science into politics, so scientists today are not really scientists; they’re politicians. And they want control of everything. They say they’re more enlightened than the rest of us, so they should run things.”
“But how can people who won’t even consider new ideas and want safe spaces think they’re enlightened and pro-science?” Amanda wanted to know.
Tolool just shrugged. “They just do. They don’t realize that they’re everything they hate. Back when it all started, they screamed whenever anyone said anything they didn’t like and called it ‘hate speech.’ They thought that shutting down ‘hate speech’ was standing up to fascism. So they bullied and threatened anyone they didn’t agree with–like fascists. Eventually they started having Inquisitions and killing anyone with ideas and beliefs they didn’t like. All the while, they said they were standing up to haters. But the real haters were them. They spent a couple of generations using politics to take away the weapons people owned to defend themselves. Then they had a violent revolution and took over. No one could fight back. They started killing people–lots of people. The lucky ones got away. Everyone else was stuck living in the government-controlled ‘safe space.’ They control everything that you read, everything that you see on TV, and everything that you hear on the radio.”
Neither Jeff nor Amanda could believe what they were hearing. It seemed like a barbaric chapter of ancient history. But they could see with their own eyes the effects of such thinking. The locals around them were clearly afraid, withdrawn into themselves, and almost hostile to anyone they didn’t know.
As he walked the drab streets that ran between the grey, dreary buildings, Jeff wondered why anyone would want to live here. ‘Why don’t they just leave, like the Tuluvet people did?’ But when he pondered that, he realized that some people like places where they don't have to think or be responsible for themselves. ‘That’s not what I was taught growing up. But I guess some people prefer that.’
When he shared his ideas with the others, Amanda agreed but then speculated, “Maybe it’s hard for them to get out. The only reason it was so easy for us to get in was because we were on a ship owned by an important official from another island. How would the average person build a ship to get off of this continent? Unless the government let them go, they’d be stuck here.”
“Exactly,” responded Tolool. “This whole continent is like one giant prison that people regularly risk their lives to get out of.”
When they returned to the inn they were staying at, Tolool told Jeff and Amanda, “Councilman Darphate gave us some books to pass along to the local Tuluvets. Information is controlled here. They burn books they don’t like. So any chance we get to sneak in books that tell the truth helps the locals. Joonen and I will be back in about an hour.”
But the brothers didn’t return in an hour. After three hours passed, Jeff knocked on the door of Amanda’s room.
“I think something has happened to Joonen and Tolool. Maybe we should go look for them.”
“Where would we look?” asked Amanda. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Just then, Joonen called on the radio they had given him. “We’ve been taken,” he hissed quietly. “We were recognized. They know we’re the Tuluvet relatives of one of the Great Proctors. We’ve been put on a military train and are being sent to Krolus, the capital city. We’ll face an Inquisition and our grandfather will demand the death penalty for us. Can you use your powers to come get us?”
Jeff had an idea. He asked, “Joonen, if we were captured, would they take us to the same place that you’re being taken to?”
“Yes, but Jeff it would be dangerous for you two to be captured.”
“Why? Do you think they can put us in a cage we can’t escape from?”
“Well, no. Not with your powers, but still …”
“Do you think that we can’t protect ourselves from them?”
“Well, no. You can obviously stand up to anything that they can throw at you.”
“Will they put us in the same jail as you in Krolus?”
“Well, yes. Yes they will.”
“Ok then. We’ll see you in Krolus. Jeff out.”
So saying, Jeff and Amanda gathered their belongings, radioed Hugh and explained what they were doing, and walked to a nearby plaza.
With a mischievous grin, Jeff stopped the first man who walked by. “Excuse me. Do you know where the local Tuluvet Council is? We want to buy some books from them.”
The man went white. He froze like a statue, completely mortified. Then he bolted, running away as fast as he could.
Next Jeff stopped a woman and asked her the same question. Her reaction was similar. After another fifteen minutes of stopping people, Jeff and Amanda were in custody. In less than an hour, they were on a military train to Krolus.
38
Tenkyo was the largest and most advanced city Akio and his crew had seen since coming to this planet. It stretched for miles each way to the horizon. The entire landscape was an exquisitely crafted panorama of lush greenery, lofty white and gold spires, and radiant vistas.
They landed at a clean, orderly airport. Inspecting the scene outside using the ship’s main viewscreen on the bridge, Akio was surprised that all other air traffic appeared to have been halted.
“Look!” cried Emily. “They’re rolling out a red carpet for us. They’re literally rolling out the red carpet for us.”
‘Things aren’t always like that,’ Akio wanted to tell her. ‘Usually they’re shooting at us.’ He decided not to spoil the momen
t for her.
“Mayu-san,” Akio said instead. “What’s happening here?”
Mayu-san explained hesitantly, “We have been waiting for you for 10,000 years. There is an official welcoming ceremony. Every new government administration for the last 3,000 years has been required to rehearse it.”
“What?” Akio exclaimed. “All this is for me? Why me?”
“The First Ancestor has requested that it be so. He has waited for you. He knew you would come.”
Akio didn’t even want to think about how that was possible.
Small, clear pods carrying cameramen floated over a nearby building and wafted toward the ship. They encircled both the ship and the reception area demarcated by the red carpet. A procession of musicians emerged from the large building playing traditional Japanese music. They marched slowly up either side of the carpeted swath and then stepped back. Next was a delegation of important-looking people elaborately dressed in formal kimonos. They were followed by a small group of youth bearing a variety of flags.
‘None of them look Japanese,’ realized Akio. ‘They’re all in Japanese clothes and playing Japanese music, but they all look like they’re a mix of European and other races. None of them looks like they’re Japanese.’
Rick blurted out, “The scanners say that all of their buildings are the same as the aircraft that we saw yesterday. They’re all grown from plants. So are those pods that the cameramen are in. And so are the cameras. It looks like they use a biologically-based technology here. Which makes sense because they can’t get a lot of the metals they’d need for technology like ours.”
The delegation stood near the end of the carpet, looking up at the ship expectantly. Akio mumbled, “I guess it’s time for us to make our appearance.”
Mayu-san replied, “Yes, Onii-sama.”
Akio instructed, “I want all the colonists to stay here and be ready to come get us fast if needed. Emily, you stay with them.”
“But …”
“We need someone who has korei to protect the ship.”