The Kursas

by George Willson

  “Are we going to be able to understand the language while we’re here?” Perry asked. “I haven’t ever been somewhere where we haven’t been able to communicate.”

  “Uncertain,” Blake said. “Generally, when the Maze drops us off, we’re on our own. It doesn’t…” Blake paused for a moment to consider how to explain it “…well, for lack of a better word, download what I’ve seen and heard until the doors open again. At that time, it will compile any languages it might have heard or seen and determine its meaning so that the next time we run into these people, if there is a next time, we can understand them.”

  “That won’t help us now,” Perry said.

  “Well, it knew we were coming to Zago, so I would bet the language of the primary people we meet is in the database,” Blake said.

  “Are you sure about that?” Michelle asked.

  “Well, that’s what I hope it should do,” Blake shrugged, “but I’m open to other possibilities. I don’t know everything, you know.”

  “Really?” Michelle asked, uncertain of what to make of his answer.

  “You just have to go with it,” Perry said.

  “Alternatively, of course,” Blake continued, “the language could be based on something the Maze does know or can decipher enough of, and the Guide can compile a match to get us by. And as I said before, it is also possible that we know the spoken language, but merely have little to no record of their symbology.”

  “We’ll hope for that then,” Perry said.

  “We’ll keep our minds open, as always,” Blake said.

  They turned down yet another hall, but this time, they ran up against a door that would not open for them. Blake tried to force it, but it was locked.

  “Finally hit a roadblock, then?” Michelle asked.

  “Clearly,” Blake said as he looked over the door and the walls around it. He pointed to a panel next to the door and tried pressing it. Nothing happened, so he reached into his coat and produced a device that looked a lot like a pocket knife. This was his electronic lockpick, which contained a variety of key masks and buttons to allow him to open most any lock whether physical or electronic.

  “This appears to be an electronic lock,” Blake said. “Hopefully, the power going to the lights is also going to the door.”

  Blake slid back a small door on the side of his lockpick, held it against the panel and pressed a button. A short beep sounded and the latch on the door released. Blake pushed on the door’s release handle, and the door opened inward. The air inside the next room equalized with the air in the hallway, and the trio took a reflexive step back and covered their noses.

  “I don’t think anyone’s been in this one,” Perry said, his voice muffled behind his hand.

  Blake stepped forward to look into the room they had just opened, knowing the only thing that could have created the smell that hit them: death.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Blake, Perry, and Michelle entered onto the upper level of an expansive three-story cube shaped room with rounded corners, the front of which used to be a large window that was destroyed in the crash, so dirt filled the front half of the space from top to bottom. The lowest level of the room covered the entire surface area, although what was visible from the upper level was buried under a layer of dirt. The middle level went out about halfway towards the front of the room while the upper level was only half of that allowing visibility from the upper level all the way down to the lower. Stairs mounted on the left front side of each floor and an open elevator in the right wall provided ways to reach the other two levels, and a variety of panels and controls littered the room, both intact and destroyed.

  Chairs in the room maintained their tail friendly design, and a rail in the ceiling led out to the center of the room where a spherical pod hung. It was throughout this area that they learned the reason for the unusual chair feature because unlike the rest of the ship, this location was littered with the remains of the crew.

  They were marginally decomposed, but their skeletons remained making their forms very clear. They most closely resembled dragons except that their body was built to walk on two triple-jointed legs along with their long tails. The clothing they wore was relatively uniform with minor color and marking differences presumably to differentiate between rank and function. A spherical pod that overlooked the room still had its occupant strapped in and hanging above everyone.

  “So whoever cleared the rest of the ship must have found that door locked and never came in here,” Blake observed.

  “We should follow their example,” Michelle said, hanging behind the other two.

  “I want to see if there is a log or anything where we can figure out what happened,” Blake said as he walked to the instruments that were still intact.

  “Seriously, you want to go in there?” Perry asked.

  “Perry, it is important to gather all the information we can, no matter how unpleasant,” Blake urged. “I know this is gruesome, but we’re in no danger here. At least not from anything living.”

  “What about bacteria?” Perry asked.

  “If you wish to wait in the hall, feel free,” Blake said, and he walked from panel to panel, flipping switches and pressing buttons in an attempt to get a response from the system. Some of the panels responded to his touch while others did not, yet none appeared to have any account of the journey.

  Perry sighed and looked at Michelle. “I’d rather stay together,” she said.

  “I know,” Perry replied, and they joined Blake in his search for information while carefully avoiding the corpses of the strange dragon people.

  Eventually, Blake tried a door off to the side of the bridge, and it opened easily into a smaller room that appeared to be an office of some kind with a chair and desk along with a window that provided a view of the larger control room. The instruments in this area were mostly intact and appeared to have power.

  “Captain’s office, perhaps?” Perry suggested.

  “Seems likely given its proximity to the bridge,” Blake said. “I’d say it would contain our best chance of finding information.”

  The three of them did what they could with the instruments and the unreadable writing, and eventually, Blake came upon what appeared to be a list on one of the screens. He pressed the top entry of the list, and a video played. The display featured a greenish brown dragon-like creature speaking in a language that did not translate for them, and the person’s eyes were constantly distracted.

  It began with what sounded like a desperate recounting of the situation at hand along with explosions and other voices in the background, though the screen only had a blank wall behind the person speaking. It ended with what sounded like a plea for help and possibly coordinates of their position before the picture shook violently, the person left the screen, and the log ended.

  “All I could understand was the urgency in his voice,” Blake said.

  “I couldn’t tell,” Michelle added.

  “He rattled off some information he felt was necessary before signing off,” Blake said. “That final shudder was likely one of whatever it was that brought the ship down.”

  “You think we’re supposed to solve that mystery?” Perry asked.

  “Don’t know yet,” Blake said. “I make a lot of assumptions sometimes, but I like to back them up with as many facts as I can get.”

  “So now what?” Michelle asked.

  “Well,” Blake said walking toward the door back to the hallway, “we’ve learned what we can here, so let’s get back to some fresh air to see what’s going on in the rest of the world, shall we?”

  With hearty agreement from the other two, they all walked back through the ship to the entrance, which was still standing open allowing a slight draft to whisk away the stale air. Feeling the fresh breeze from the outside, they realized how long they had been cooped up in the dead atmosphere of the ship and longed for the sun once again on their faces and the open space of the green fields they had seen before.

&nbs
p; As soon as they stepped outside, they stretched and took in a deep breath for a moment before climbing the embankment to the area where they had arrived. However, once they all got their footing on solid ground again, they found they were no longer alone.

  Surrounding them were at least a couple dozen of the dragon people similar to the one they had seen on the screen inside dressed primarily in black with red highlights and holsters containing weapons on their hips. All of them were between five and six feet in height, but their exact height was hard to distinguish because the majority of them was seated upon an animal that was about the size of a horse but looked like a red panda.

  While the riders were reptilian in nature, the mounts were mammalian with thick reddish brown fur, darker fur on its legs, white coloring on its face resembling a mask, a pointed black nose, pointed ears, and even the lighter brown rings on its bushy tail. Each was saddled and appeared very comfortable in its ability to carry its dragon-like rider and gear.

  Upon their arrival, the dragon people removed long rifle-like weapons from holsters mounted to their saddles and trained the rifles on the trio, though none of them spoke. Instinctively, Blake, Perry, and Michelle raised their hands hoping that the surprise army would not summarily fire upon them.

  “We mean you no harm,” Blake said, but no one responded.

  A significant movement of air like a large bird sounded overhead. The trio looked up, and with more than a touch of surprise, they saw another one of the dragon people flying overhead but coming toward them. As the person landed, they could see that there were elements of cybernetics enhancing the wings which were clearly part of the individual’s biology and six feet across before they folded neatly against the person’s back. This one was in charge.

  “How did you get here?” the leader asked in a low, smooth voice. “This area was designated as off limits to the local populace.”

  “We are sorry,” Blake said. “We’re not from here. Can you tell us what happened?”

  The leader’s eyes darted between Blake and his companions before it turned to one of the mounted riders and said something in the language they had heard on the ship.

  “How did we understand, um, him? Her? It?” Michelle asked quietly to Blake with some uncertainty.

  “What do you mean?” Blake asked.

  “How could we understand that person a moment ago,” Michelle asked, “and now we can’t?”

  “It’s not obvious?” Blake asked.

  “Different language?” Michelle asked.

  “Most likely,” Blake said. “I’m going to guess that he or she spoke in the language of the local populace, as they referenced, and that language is in the translator. Their native tongue, clearly, is not.”

  The leader gave them a final look before he, or she, spread their wings and took to the skies again. The dragons on the red pandas surrounded them, and one of the riders pointed in a direction away from the ship. Two of the beasts behind the group nudged them forward with their cold, wet noses.

  “I guess we’re on the move then,” Perry said.

  “This is where the fun begins,” Blake said, and they walked with their escorts across the large grassy field over a small hill to reveal an enormous spacecraft sitting on the border of a large city. Perry could barely contain his excitement once more since it appeared they were headed straight for the ship.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The dragons’ spacecraft was enormous covering at least a quarter of a mile in length, probably half that wide, and several stories tall. The group marveled at how a ship that size could take off, much less escape the gravity of a planet. The main entry complimented the size of the overall ship, easily accommodated their escorts, and could clearly hold an entire army in formation. Four of their guards dismounted and led them out of the main entry and down one of the hallways. That was when the fun abruptly stopped.

  They took an elevator to a higher level and then passed down a long hall before the walls opened wide to reveal the massive interior of the ship with crisscrossing walkways both above and below them. What caught their attention, however, were the people attached to the walls like prisoners.

  Before they had reached this area, they thought they had heard the sounds of voices, but never dreamed this would be the source. Hundreds of people who appeared to be regular humans were attached to the walls with shackles on their wrists, ankles, necks, and waists to keep them in place as the metal plate they were each attached to was angled slightly back and appeared to have partially formed around their bodies further trapping them but providing a marginal level of comfort, if that were possible.

  Michelle had paused in their walk to stare at the room in abject horror, but before any time could pass, their escorts pushed her forward to get her moving again. Perry took her hand, and she not only took but held his arm tightly as they passed the walls of humanity who cried out to them and their captors in vain.

  “My God, what kind of a place have we come to?” Michelle whimpered.

  “The worst kind,” Perry said.

  Michelle could barely handle the pleas of the men and women who hung helplessly around them, and then they heard someone cry out more vehemently than the rest. One of the dragon people with a mechanical device around its head approached the edge of a platform, and a section of the wall containing one of the men traveled to the dragon. This one had the same basic black outfit as the rest, but the highlighted part was in blue, and similar to the leader, the person had wings folded against its back. Their escorts paused to watch the exchange forcing the trio to do the same.

  “We checked your story over the location and found it to be false,” the dragon said.

  “No!” the man pleaded. “No, I promise that’s where it was. I wouldn’t lie to you!”

  “This is your final chance,” his interrogator prompted. “We need more, or you are finished here.”

  “I told you everything I know,” the man cried. “That’s what happened.”

  “Is it?” the dragon asked, and suddenly, a spike shot out from the back of the man’s plate through his shoulder. He screamed in agony. Michelle jumped and buried her face in Perry’s shirt as Blake and Perry stared in numb horror.

  “Please,” he said. “I told you.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Another spike shot out through his other shoulder. He screamed again. Michelle only whimpered, refusing to look anymore.

  “You will die here,” the dragon said to him. “Perhaps your friends will be more likely to talk knowing what has happened to you.”

  “But I told you the truth,” the man breathed, barely hanging on to life.

  “Unfortunately, the truth is not enough,” the dragon said. Electricity surged from the spikes and around the man’s plate. He screamed and shook for a moment until his body turned to ash and dropped through the grated floor to the unknown darkness below. The dragon maintained its attention on the plate as it withdrew into the wall again.

  Their escort bringing up the rear nudged Michelle who jumped and screamed. Perry held her and walked again, following the one in the lead and Blake. They did not stop again as they passed from what could only be described as a torture chamber into another hallway where they were led into a room and given a gesture to stand against the wall.

  Michelle did not want to let go of Perry.

  “Michelle, it’s going to be all right,” Blake assured her. “The Maze would not bring us here only to be killed.”

  “Are you sure of that?” Michelle asked. “You saw what happened out there.”

  “I will not forget it, I promise,” Blake said, “but for now, we have to cooperate. It’s our only chance of figuring out where to go from here.”

  Michelle reluctantly agreed, and she stood on one side of Blake while Perry stood on the other against the wall. Suddenly, shackles zipped out from the wall around their wrists and ankles holding them still. The restraints moved along the wall pulling their wrists even with their heads, and Michelle whimpered.


  “Try to relax,” Blake said. “If they intended to kill us, they would not have brought us here.”

  “That is correct,” the dragon who greeted them next to the old ship said as it walked in. “I can see you are the one in charge of your group, but you failed to give me a valid explanation for your presence behind our lines.”

  “We ended up there by accident, I promise,” Blake said. “We meant no harm.”

  “I do mean harm if you can’t tell me something better than that,” the leader threatened. “The metal behind you can reform itself into whatever I deem necessary. I can make you very uncomfortable or be kind to you. The choice is yours based on your answers and my interpretation of them.”

  “I understand,” Blake said, his mind turning as to how best he could answer this person to stay alive.

  “So I’ll ask you again, but only once more before you get to decide which of your friends will experience pain first,” the leader said at which Michelle flinched and reflexively tugged at her restraints with another whimper. “And struggling is hopeless. Even if you did escape, you would get nowhere.”

  “We’re explorers,” Blake said. “That’s it. We aren’t even from this planet, so we had no way of knowing we were in a restricted area.”

  “And I’m to believe you?” the leader asked. “Seems awfully convenient.”

  “Look at us,” Blake said. “Do we look like we belong on this world? If you have a scanner of some kind, you can probably detect that we are not indigenous.”

  The leader removed a device from its belt and looked it over. Its eyes darted from the instrument to Blake and back. Finally, it put the device away.