NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1)

by Dan Haronian

  “M O A H,” he shouted again.

  The flames grew more intense. The heat drove us back. The firefighter pushed us slowly toward the trucks.

  “You are keeping us from our duties,” he said. “Please move back past the trucks and let us work.”

  We obeyed and the heat faded instantly.

  “What is going on?” asked Dug as we walked towards them.

  Daio bowed his head and didn't say a thing. He looked at the flames rising above the trucks then lifted his hands to the sides and let them fall hopelessly.

  Another car came up from behind us. It stopped some distance away and parked on the sidewalk. Musan stepped out with a policeman and rushed towards us.

  “Moah. I think he is inside,” said Daio.

  Musan nodded at us and looked at the flames. “I am sorry,” he said faintly. "Guard them," he ordered the policeman and without another word he walked between the two trucks.

  In spite of the background noise we could hear him shouting. Seconds later three hoses were spraying water on the house. Musan didn't back off. His shouting became louder and firmer. He sounded as if he was about to attack someone.

  “You think it was arson?” asked Dug.

  I looked around me. A few people were still gathered around looking at us and at the flames. They didn't look surprised. Naanites usually didn't care about their surroundings, yet an event like the fire should have attracted more attention.

  “Come on,” said Daio, and walked toward the car with his head down.

  “Where are we going?” asked Dug.

  “I don't know yet, but there nothing else we can do here.”

  Dug followed him, not before glancing at me.

  “Ignore him,” whispered Su-thor in Mampasian.

  I nodded and walked to the car.

  Daio was on the radio talking to the Doctor when we got into the car. The Doctor was talking about a house near the fields some distance, from the town. I knew the fields he was talking about. I’d come through them when I entered the town the first time. I didn't remember seeing houses back then, but I was only there for a very short time.

  “Do you know where it is?” asked the Doctor.

  “Yes,” said Daio.

  “I’m on my way there now. I’ll meet you at the road leading down to the plantations.”

  Daio started the car and after some maneuvering turned back onto the narrow road. Musan appeared between the trucks and walked towards us wiping his sweating brow with his forearm several times. Daio stopped the car and rolled down the window.

  “There is a large team here now. They will go in as soon as it is possible,” he said.

  “Thank you, but it won't matter much to Moah,” said Daio.

  “You are sure he was there?”

  “Where else would he be? If he wasn’t where is he now? By now, everyone knows the house is on fire. He would be here.”

  Musan nodded. “I spoke to the Doctor. I know where you are heading. I'll send some policemen over.”

  “Thank you,” said Daio.

  Musan wiped the sweat from his face again and nodded. “Who would do such a thing?” asked Daio as we drove through the empty streets.

  “It's terrible, but not so surprising,” said Dug shaking his head.

  He was sitting next to Daio. I had no doubt what was going through his mind.

  “I should have stayed there,” said Daio angrily.

  “Where?” asked Dug.

  “At the house. We should have helped look for him.”

  “We could do nothing,” I said. “You saw how they were dressed. Without proper protective gear you couldn’t get inside. Besides, it is their job. They are trained. We would only be in their way.”

  Daio pounded the wheel several times in anger.

  “This damn plague,” mumbled Dug. “If this turns out to be arson I am not sure we'll be safe anywhere on the planet.”

  “Dug,” said Daio.

  “What?” returned Dug. “What's wrong with what I said?”

  “Everything,” I said from the back.

  Dug turned to me.

  “Dug, watch your mouth,” yelled Daio.

  Dug gritted his teeth and turned back around.

  We had arrived at the junction that led to the plantation. A car turned on its lights as we approached and started to move. We followed it. The road turned to dirt after a while and the car jumped with every bump. Mampas started to rise and the road became clearer. It felt odd traveling down this road. The first time I’d walked it we were strangers here. Now we were not only strangers but hated.

  A few long moments passed in silence. We stopped in front of a house. Mampas was almost completely above the horizon and we could see clearly where we were. The house was a simple, wooden two-story. It bore no resemblance to the glamorous house we’d left. The yard in front of it was paved and beyond it was a small tree plantation. The fields of Naan started right after the plantation.

  We got out of the car. The Doctor was already standing by the door. “It's not much, but you will be safer here until we can work things out,” he said as we approached him.

  No one responded. We were all busy looking around us.

  “We seem to be slowly approaching your style,” said Dug and glanced at me briefly.

  “This is the true style of Naan,” I said. “Maybe with us living here they'll appreciate us a little more.”

  “Naan appreciates you very much,” said the Doctor. “In every community there are outsiders who make noises that overshadow the majority.”

  “You can philosophize all you want but I just finished two straight shifts," said Su-thor. "I am hungry and tired.”

  She walked through the door. Daio, Dug and the Doctor followed her. As for myself, I crossed the yard and walked over to the trees. I looked at the fruits, and the fields beyond them remembering my hill overlooking the valley.

  Two days after the fire the Doctor sat in his office in the University and stared at the screen on his terminal reflectively. To some extent the town had gone back to normal after the three brothers and Su-thor had left. The rioting had also stopped. The Doctor hoped the townspeople would go back to what they knew best. He hoped they would forget the terrible toll the plague had this season and the reasons behind it. But these were only hopes. The burnt body of Moah, bound to a chair, was more than a hint that something had changed.

  This fact alone left him wondering if the Naanites would ever forget the failure and allow Daio to return to town and lead them. Maybe in a few months, but he would need to find a way to divert the attention from Daio somehow.

  A few ideas came to mind, but the simplest one was to blame the failure on Sosi. They’d all been involved in the attempt to eliminate the plague, but everything had grown out of his ideas. True, he’d experienced drama on Mampas. He’d risked his life, but that didn’t reduce his responsibility for the failure. How hard would it be to shape the Naanites mind such that they'd believe they were all victims of his madness?

  A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts.

  “Come in,” he called.

  The door opened. It was Kashir.

  “Kashir,” said the Doctor.

  “I would like to talk to you, but if it's not the right time I could…”

  “It's as good a time as any,” the Doctor interrupted him. “Come in.”

  Kashir closed the door behind him and sat in front of the Doctor's desk.

  “How is it going in the lab?” asked the Doctor casually.

  “Not much progress,” answered Kashir.

  “Yes, I suppose,” said the Doctor and examined Kashir’s gloomy face. “Give it some time. Things will calm down and we'll figure out something else. Don't give up. Keep thinking of a solution.”

  “Yes sir. Absolutely!”

  “What did you wanted to see me about?”

  “I…” mumbled Kashir. “I wanted to ask you if you think there is any chance for a new trial.”

 
; "New trial? You mean to try the same medicine again?"

  “Not exactly. Something else.”

  “You have another idea?” asked the Doctor, now giving Kashir his full attention.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Then let’s talk about it when you have something clearer.”

  “Yes sir, but my question is more hypothetical. If we had a solution, say we discovered there was an error in the analysis.”

  “Kashir. What are you not telling me?”

  “Nothing sir.”

  “Did you find an error in your analysis?'

  “No! Seriously. I am asking hypothetically. What would we do if we found another solution?”

  The Doctor let out a deep breath. “I don't know the answer to your question. I don’t think anyone can answer this without knowing what it's about." He shook his head. "I doubt we'll do anything in the near future.”

  “I understand," said Kashir.

  "Maybe Naan will change in time. We jumped in too deep this time before we knew how well we could swim.”

  “So I guess there isn't much value in my work," said Kashir and looked away from the Doctor. "Maybe there will be though, in the future. Maybe in the next generation, or the one after.”

  “Maybe sooner," said the Doctor glancing at Kashir’s gloomy face. "And surely you know there is great value to your work.”

  “I am thinking what if we find a solution we are confident about, with Factor 1 reliability, would we still push through a test, even if the people were against it?”

  The two hundred years, GST, he’d passed waiting swept through the Doctor’s mind. “I don’t know. Maybe. Right now I don't see how it could happen. I won't rock the boat that much and risk what we achieved so far.”

  Kashir looked at him. “What have we achieved so far?”

  The Doctor returned his gaze and thought about his true mission and about Daio. If someone hurt him everything he’d worked for would go down the drain. He could not take that risk.

  “The only thing we’ve achieved is to attempt a real trial of eliminating the plague,” said Kashir.

  “Yes. We failed,” returned the Doctor.

  “But no experiment succeeds the first time. You know that better than me.”

  “Kashir. We are just repeating things. What happened? Something happened that you are not telling me.”

  “Nothing happened sir." He shook his head and wrinkled his forehead straggling with his thoughts. "Maybe I am denying Naan's traditions, but I know that significant things develop slowly. Even medicine needs time to improve. You are saying that we need a solution that will hit the target perfectly without any trial and error. There is no such a thing.”

  “What you are saying is not some new idea that came to you yesterday, so what really happened? Why are you bringing this up now? Only two days ago someone tied a poor man to a chair and set Daio's house on fire. This man was Naanite and his only sin was to make a living from serving foreigners. Why did he deserve this?”

  Kashir sighed. "You are right sir," he said. "I guess I am frustrated by the situation." He stood up and walked to the door.

  “Kashir,” called the Doctor after him. “Don't despair.”

  Kashir nodded his head. He turned to the Doctor and looked at him.

  "Was there something else?" asked the Doctor.

  “Sosi was here,” eventually he said uncertainly.

  “Sosi?” wondered the Doctor.

  “A few days ago.”

  “What did he want?”

  Kashir shook his head.

  "What did he tell you?" asked the Doctor in anger.

  “He said he had a solution.”

  The Doctor opened his eyes wide. “Really? What solution?”

  “I don't know. He… he asked to look again at the paragraph from Shor and then we started to talk and he asked what if I had a solution to the plague. He spoke as if he had one. It sounded like he thought it was pointless since no one will use it because of the current situation in Naan."

  "Maybe he was playing with you," said the Doctor.

  "Maybe, but I am not sure, sir. I have a feeling he was trying to find out if I would cooperate with him."

  "What do you mean?"

  Kashir nodded his head as if he was trying to assess something. "I think he was trying to see I would be willing to help him try the cure he had in mind. Now, on second thought, maybe I should have agreed. I mean, only to give him a feeling I am willing to do something with him. I guess he would be more open then."

  "So he got to you," said the Doctor.

  "Sir?"

  “Why didn't you tell me this at the beginning? Why all these hypothetical questions. Do you doubt me?”

  “I don't know. I am not sure that was what really happened and I don't want anyone to get hurt.”

  “You mean nothing happened yet,” said the Doctor.

  “I’m sorry, I know I should have told you, but if it was something he could do by himself he wouldn't have come here to talk to me.”

  “Of course,” said the Doctor. His mind was already far away. An idea had come to him that might solve many of the problems that had been haunting him for quite some time. "Don't talk to anyone on this. Not even the lab people."

  "Yes sir," said Kashir quietly nodded and left the room

  We slowly got used to our new home. Daio drove into the city for meetings, accompanied by a policeman, and Su-thor and I took care of the house. We didn't have a housefather. Daio didn't want to even consider it. That didn't bother me and it seemed like Su-thor enjoyed the new routine. From time to time we saw people far off in the fields, and one time a few people stopped by to take care of the trees in front of the house. They were escorted away gently by the policemen.

  The house was smaller. The dining room was part of the kitchen and the living room was only large enough to hold one long couch, two small armchairs and an unstable, low table. The second floor had four rooms, two small and two larger. Su-thor and I took the smaller rooms. There was just one toilet and one bath in the house. The Doctor promised he would send people to add on a new bathroom, although I didn't know where exactly he planned to put it.

  A few days after we arrived Su-thor and I decided to go exploring. We slipped through the trees in front of the house and crossed the fields using the dirt trails that separated them. Beyond the fields the road became rougher.

  “Come on, let's check out that mountain,” I said pointing to the towering peaks to our left.

  Su-thor stopped and looked around.

  “I could get used to this kind of life,” she said.

  “Yes, me too,” I said.

  “If the desert of Mampas bloomed like this maybe the rebels would have been happy to be settled there and the war would have ended.”

  “If the desert of Mampas looked like this place it wouldn't be deserted in the first place," I said.

  "I guess you are right," she said and giggled. "Still maybe things would have been different. If they had a place to live and grow food their lives would be richer and they would have much more to lose if they continued to fight.”

  “That’s an interesting thought,” I said, still looking at the mountaintop. “Come let's do it,” I said and we started climbing.

  “You understand our situation here is different?” I said after few moments of climbing.

  “Why?”

  “Don't you find the reality we live in strange?”

  “Are you talking about the plague?”

  “No. I am talking about the fact that we don't need to do anything for our living.”

  “I always supposed this was only temporary,” she said.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “We are here because of Daio. I mean, because of the role he took upon himself. He and Dug,” she said.

  “You mean we live at their expense?”

  “I wouldn't put it like that.”

  “So how would you put it?”

  “I think you did a lot f
or the people here.”

  I shook my head, “I think you are alone in that way of thinking.”

  “I’m sure that Daio agrees, and so does the Doctor. As for Dug, I have no doubt that deep inside he understands your sacrifice.”

  I chuckled.

  “If the cure had worked, if what you did had ended the plague, I’m sure you would have become the governor of this place. You and not Daio.”

  “Well, the medicine didn't work. Even if it had I’ve never been interested in any such position. Also I disagree. I don't think Daio is the governor of Naan.”

  “Not formally, no. But without him many things that are happening here wouldn't have happened. He is pushing the House of Commons in directions they have never considered in the past. He has a gift. You cannot deny it.”

  “Naan will not change as long as the plague is here,” I said.

  “It will happen. Give it some time.”

  I shook my head. “It won't happen if we don’t make it happen. These people are suffering from blindness. Blindness to things that are right in front of them.”

  “The solution to the plague is not right in front of anyone. You needed to go to Mampas, and to risk scrambling into the network on Seragon, to find out how hard this thing is to solve.”

  “That is exactly what I mean,” I said in low voice and stopped to catch my breath.

  She looked at me and took a deep breath. “I don't understand what you are saying.”

  “Blindness, Su-thor. Blindness to things on the tip of your nose.”

  “You are not making sense. I am not good at this. Not in this language. If you want to tell me what's on your mind, I will be happy to hear you. But please stop speaking in riddles.”

  “I not sure I know myself Su-thor. I have ideas, but I don't know what to do about them.”

  “You need to see a psychologist for treatment.”

  “We all need one.”

  She smiled, “Yes, that is completely right.”

  We finally reached the summit and collapsed onto the ground. I opened my pack and found the food we had brought along and we settled in to eat. The fields were spread out to our right. Far behind us was a small dark green spot that I thought were the trees in front of the house. In front of us, close to the mountain, was a deep canyon that stretched all the way to the horizon on our left. Beyond the canyon, on the horizon, was a chain of mountains. They were very much like the ones I remembered from my voyage.