When he got back to his room, he collapsed onto the round bed and pulled some blankets over himself. In just a few seconds, he entered an exceedingly deep sleep where time ceased to have any meaning.
CHAPTER 20
CAUGHT IN THE TRAP
Once again, Zahn opened his real eyes.
At first, he felt completely disoriented. He was lying on his back, half-covered by a thin blanket. The softness of the bed felt strange to him. Shouldn’t he be waking up in a hammock?
As he studied the white tiles on the ceiling, it all came rushing back to him: the invisible starship on the beach, the gate on the South Pole, the ambush, the outpost, the view of Aarava from orbit, the largest flowers he had ever seen, and all of the remarkable people he had met along the way. Even though he knew he had experienced all of it, some small part of him still wondered if it had all really happened.
Gradually, he sat up. The sun was already high in the sky, filling the room with warm light. Out the window, he could see the waves crashing on jagged rocks below, kicking up ocean spray at unpredictable intervals.
As was his habit, he tried to remember what he had just been dreaming about, and the vision of his mother and the small lens flashed into his mind.
He recalled when she’d first given it to him many years ago. They had been talking about what it means to see.
“To truly see,” she had said. “You must open your heart and listen to it. Truly seeing goes beyond the light we can see with our eyes. I know this because some beings who are not even capable of sight as we know it can see more clearly than we can.”
He remembered how she had knelt down, placed the small lens into his hand, and cupped it closed.
“Keep this,” she had said, “and whenever you hold it. Remember what it means to see.”
He cherished that memory. Had that been what the dream was about? He tried to remember more, but the memory sank deep into his unconscious mind like a shard of glass falling into a dark pit, forever lost.
When he got up, his eyes widened as he noticed that his Avani clothes had been washed, folded, and placed on a shelf beside his bed. Beside them was a small wooden flute and some pebbles, and he walked over and picked up the flute. Three holes were carved into the top, and after a few tries he managed to play a little tune, though it sounded rather flat.
His stomach growled at him.
Still wearing his Aaravan robe, he left the room and walked back into the meeting room across the hall. To his surprise, no one was there, but someone had made food. An empty bowl had been left out, presumably for him, so Zahn dished himself some of the light-brown spongey food that had been left over. He had no idea what it was, but it reminded him a bit of the traditional Ashraya breakfast, which was hydrated Kaala grain topped with ground up blue cane for sweetening.
Yet this strange breakfast tasted nothing like what he was expecting. Instead of being sweet, it tasted vaguely like it had been harvested from the sea.
But where was everyone?
He thought that perhaps Oonak or Asha would check in on him, but he hadn’t seen or heard any sign of them at all since he’d awoke. So once he finished eating, he headed back down the long hall to the exit. The door at the end pulled back swiftly, and Zahn noticed that the air outside had a chill in it that hadn’t been there the day before. As he followed the path that led down to the beach, the sound of two familiar voices grew until he could clearly discern that they were Asha and Oonak. They sounded like they were arguing, so he stopped just before they could see him and listened.
“…cannot move the ship unless it is a life or death circumstance. We were specifically instructed to land at those coordinates. To take off without notifying the Aaravans would be an overt sign of distrust which I cannot permit.”
“Oonak,” Asha said. “I need to get back on the ship!”
“I fail to see how these circumstances justify the potential disruption of friendly relations with this world.”
“Friendly relations? We’re in a quarantine! Just call Navika over here. I’ll grab my boots, and then he can go back to the landing pad, which, I’d like to point out, was suspiciously loud when we landed on it yesterday.”
“I cannot permit Navika to do this. It is unwise at this time.”
Zahn walked up to them.
“What’s wrong, guys?”
What Zahn saw instantly answered his question. Just beyond where Asha was standing, the remainder of the path downward was completely flooded. The path down to the beach was now blocked by the tide, and most of the beach they had crossed the day before had now been swallowed up by the sea.
“Good afternoon, Zahn.” Oonak nodded. He was now dressed in a maroon Aaravan robe, which complemented his light brown skin. And for the first time, Zahn noticed Oonak’s black hair had a hint of indigo buried deep within the blackness.
“Hi, Zahn.” Asha smiled. “You okay? You sure slept a while.”
“How long did I sleep?”
“Roughly half of one Avani day,” Oonak answered.
“Oh, guess I was tired.”
“How was hibernation?” Asha smirked at him.
Zahn looked down and noticed Asha’s bare feet.
“So what’s wrong? As I was walking up I heard something about shoes.”
“Oonak won’t call Navika over here so I can get my boots. I’m starting to think he’s afraid of the Aaravans.”
Zahn looked down at the small brown shoes that were now set upside down so they would dry faster.
“There is a difference,” Oonak said, “between being afraid of something and believing that a course of action is unwise. As I’ve already stated, we were instructed to land at those specific coordinates. To take off without notifying the Aaravans would be an overt sign of distrust, something we cannot afford given this unique situation.”
“What unique situation?” Zahn said.
“Zahn, have you so quickly forgotten? We are only staying here for as long as it takes to learn what we can about the gate network. This Vayuna individual, whoever she may be, seems to be highly revered for her intelligence in this society, and I do not want to damage our relationship with Vivienne as long as she is willing to take us to Vayuna.”
“Right. After all, without the gates where would we be?”
“Wearing dry shoes, I bet,” Asha said.
“Well, why don’t we just leave the quarantined area and find Vayuna ourselves?” Zahn said.
“Spacefarer Code requires me to obey the laws of any planets I come into contact with unless they violate our free will. Even if we set out to find Vayuna ourselves, it is unlikely that we will find her before she returns. Cooperating with the Aaravans is the most intelligent choice, at least for the time being.”
“True. I just thought the question was worth asking. Anyway, there might be another way down. Let’s head back up and see if we can find another way,” Zahn said.
They walked back up the path, but once they reached the top, none of them could find another way down. The rocky outcrop was completely surrounded by water on all sides now. Feeling defeated, Zahn sat down on a stone bench in the shade beside the guest house. Above him, he could hear a wind chime that was attached to the overhanging roof.
“Oonak, how do you know Vayuna is highly revered here?” Zahn said.
“Actually, it was rather strange.” Oonak sat down beside him. “When I awoke this morning, I found a flute, some pebbles, and a thin book on the shelf near my bed.”
Asha walked over.
“Did they wash your clothes, too? That was a welcome surprise,” she said.
“They did. My uniform was neatly folded beside the book.”
“So what did the book say?” Zahn said.
“Did it say why we’re in this quarantined area?” Asha added.
“Or perhaps some of the history of this planet?”
“Any of those pieces of information would have been helpful, but the book was rather thin. When I opened it up, I no
ticed it was, oddly enough, addressed to me. Indeed, it seems to have been intended only for me, and I was quite surprised when I saw who it was from.”
“Who?”
“Was it from Vivienne? There’s something unnatural about her if you ask me,” Asha said.
“No, it said it was from Vayuna.”
For a moment, all Zahn could hear was the wind chime and the sound of waves crashing below.
“Really,” Zahn said.
“Indeed. It appeared to be a kind of introduction. It explained a bit about how the flute worked and some of Vayuna’s history. I only know it was directly from Vayuna because the first page stated that it was written by Vayuna, Mind of the Visionaries.”
“Mind of the Visionaries? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Alas, I’m not entirely sure. However, I did learn that Vayuna is not native to this planet. The book said that she ‘came from the sky’ some time ago, though it was not specific as to exactly how long ago that occurred. Perhaps not surprisingly, many Aaravans worship Vayuna as a kind of deity.”
“She does seem to have a certain level of fear surrounding her. Do you think she knows anything about the gates?”
“Unknown, but if anyone on this world does, it’s her.”
“What about the flute? Were you able to levitate the pebbles?” Asha said.
“Yes, the book explained a bit about that, as well. Quite a marvelous instrument, actually. Were you able to levitate anything? I’m not sure if I would have been able to do it if I hadn’t read the book.”
“At first, I didn’t even know, but when the pebbles started vibrating, I knew the flute was special. After about an hour I finally got some of them to levitate, but I was having so much fun that the time flew by. What about you, Zahn?”
“Wait a minute.” A shock was dawning on Zahn. “These flutes levitate objects? How is that possible? Sounds like magic.”
“Magic?” Oonak said, tilting his head.
Zahn struggled to think of a good legend to exemplify what he meant, but he realized that neither of them would know any Avani legends.
“You know, legendary stuff,” Zahn said. “Astonishing powers that people in stories have that we can’t explain.”
“Ah,” Oonak said. “I apologize. Sometimes the wrist translators are not perfect. I believe I understand now. No, this is certainly not magic. Technically, it is a kind of resonant frequency technology. The cloaking cells on Navika employ a similar resonant principle, though through different means.”
“So do you think I could learn how to levitate objects with the flute they gave me? Do you think I could read the book?” Zahn said.
“Unfortunately, the book disintegrated in my hands after I reached the last page. I cannot fathom why, but I would not worry about that. With practice, I have no doubt that you can learn to use the Aaravan flute, Zahn.”
“Well since we’re stuck here, why not practice together until the tide goes down?” Zahn said. “Then when the path clears, we can start exploring this area again.”
“Indeed, it would seem that the Aaravans placed the flutes in our rooms for a reason, and although we cannot be sure exactly what that reason is, I see minimal danger in seeing what we can learn from them.”
Proficiency at the flute did not come easily to Zahn. As each of them took turns trying to levitate ever larger pebbles back in the meeting room, Zahn grew frustrated. No matter what he did, he could only make a pebble move slightly. Asha and Oonak did their best to help him, but he just couldn’t reach the right notes.
Oonak explained to him that the notes that he could hear were not the same sounds that were levitating the rocks. They were merely reference notes for unheard higher frequencies that the flute played simultaneously. These higher notes were what actually levitated the stones, and Oonak told Zahn that with practice, it would be second nature to him someday.
Today was not that day. After practicing for a few hours, Zahn excused himself. When he told Oonak that he was going to go take some pictures outside, Oonak reminded him about what had happened to Asha and warned him not to leave the beach area around the guest house.
With this in mind, Zahn headed back down the path to see if the tide had gone down at all. It had, and he took that opportunity to walk the beach for a while.
He had been meaning to take some good photos of this new world, and he started with the beach and the guest house. Aarava really was a lovely place, and he wished that they hadn’t been restricted to a quarantined area. He wondered what an Aaravan city might look like, if they even had cities here.
Releasing these thoughts, Zahn headed up the beach in the opposite direction of the spires they had discovered the day before, but then he stopped himself. He remembered how Oonak had told him not to leave the beach area around the house.
But as long as I can see the house, I’m sure it’s okay. I’ll be careful.
After walking around the rocky outcrop, he followed the beach for a while, always checking to make sure he could see the guest house perched atop the outcrop, far behind him.
Ahead, he saw another collection of spires. In all aspects they were identical to the ones they had discovered the day before. But there was one important difference: near them was a path leading directly into the jungle.
The beginning of the path seemed far enough away from the spires that Zahn was pretty sure he wouldn’t get sonically blasted. He knew the implicit danger, but he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and walked up to the entrance of the path.
When he finally set foot onto the path unscathed, a great feeling of relief swept over him.
Zahn looked up and noticed that these trees were even more massive than the ones back at the landing site. He guessed that a few might be over one hundred meters tall, and he wished he had a way to measure them accurately.
As he admired the bizarre emerald trees and the thick vines hanging down from them, their cooing noise mixed with occasional bird calls in a way that was otherworldly yet somehow completely natural.
Ahead, the path curved to the right, and farther up he noticed that some trees had fallen beside the path. Out of the rotten trunks grew large white mushrooms, and he wondered if they might be edible.
After walking for some time, Zahn saw a shape fly past him out of the corner of his eye. Then another appeared, flew past his face, and disappeared again. Farther ahead, he noticed a few round, furry shapes that he hadn’t seen before.
As he grew closer, they resolved themselves into familiar creatures. Huddled together in midair were three flycats, or ‘prowlers’, as Vivienne had called them, and all three of them were moaning loudly, as if they were injured.
He approached with apprehension.
“Hello there,” he said.
Before he had a chance to react, eight more prowlers darted out of the jungle from either side and screamed in what Zahn could only describe later as a battle cry. He saw a glimpse of a few of the prowlers’ open mouths, revealing many tiny but sharp teeth, and then it hit him:
The entire performance had been a trap.
CHAPTER 21
A PARALYZING SOUND
Just a fraction of a second before he could get bitten, Zahn turned around in a flash and bolted back down the trail as fast as he could—so fast, he must have looked like a golden blur in his Aaravan robe. When he glanced back, he saw that all eleven prowlers were gaining on him, and they were howling. One nipped at his robe, yet Zahn was already running as fast as he could. He wouldn’t be able to outrun them.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zahn thought he saw a shadow, but before he could react, the shadow leapt out of the forest and tackled him. As they flew through the air, Zahn heard a series of loud screams in the distance. When they hit the ground, the figure rotated to absorb most of the impact and released Zahn, letting him skid across the path.
For a few seconds, everything was calm.
Zahn heard a strange booming sound that he quickly realized was laughte
r, a deep booming laughter.
“You were almost prowler chow!”
Now that they had stopped moving, Zahn stood up and processed his surroundings. The one who tackled him was a tall, scruffy man who looked as though he had actually been living in this jungle for some time. His camouflaged clothes were perfectly suited for the environment, and he wore large brown boots.
Zahn looked back toward where the prowlers had been and watched as they flew away in the opposite direction. Farther ahead, he thought he saw one lying on the ground, motionless.
The man stood up and squinted his eyes at Zahn.
“What are you doing in my jungle?”
The man’s voice was rough and very deep. His head was bald, and his skin was as dark as a moonless night. Zahn looked up and met his dark eyes. This man was nearly two meters tall.
“I—”
“Was about to be eaten alive by prowlers? I noticed. Hah! If I hadn’t come along those prowlers would be using your bones as toothpicks by now. Not the big bones in your legs, though. The little ones in your feet. Those work pretty well as toothpicks… or so I’ve heard.”
“Wha—How?” Zahn was having trouble forming coherent sentences. “Thanks! What did you do to stop them?”
“Same way I always do. I shocked their little brains.” He flashed Zahn a bright smile which jumped out in contrast with his dark face. “And you are quite welcome.”
“Do you use sonic weapons? I didn’t hear any shots fired.”
“Ah! You are a smart one! What’s your name, tiny man?”
“Zahn. I’m staying at the guest house nearby.”
“I am Kulik, A Hand of the Visionaries.” He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slightly. “I know where you are staying. That’s the only guest house you could be from if you’re standing here now.”
“Why is that?”
Kulik laughed. “Are you some kind of nut that fell from one of these trees? You already told me you knew about the sonic weapons, yes?”
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 13