NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1)

by Dan Haronian

  “Su-thor.”

  “Even if it's only for few days there is no reason he needs to be out there alone,” she said and sniffed. “There is no sense in this whole crazy story, and he doesn't need to suffer because of the Doctor and his crazy people.”

  “I'll get you a light hovercraft,” he said. He hesitated for a few seconds before going up the stairs and calling Musan.

  I felt something strange in my legs, although the trail looked quite flat. After kicking a small stone and watching it roll back a bit, I realized it was some sort of optical illusion. I was going up a slope.

  I rested several times as I climbed. After another hour of intense walking the trees around me started to disappear, and the ground grew rocky. The horizon in front of me disappeared and it felt as if I was walking towards the edge of the planet. Dion was behind the mountains to my left when I finally came to the end of the road. Before me was a vast canyon, stretching away as far as I could see in either direction. The canyon floor was white and flat. In front of me, was the edge of a tall White Mountain that thrust itself up from the canyon floor and rose to match the height of the mountain I was standing on. The White Mountain dominated the vista in front of me and extended deep into the horizon in front of me, gradually expanding as if it were a huge rock in the form of an arrow.

  The white glare made me think about how far I’d walked since I’d left the house. It gradually settled into my mind that I was standing in front of the other side of the White Planes. My journeys to the White Planes had been few but I’d flown over them once and remembered their long shape.

  I scanned the mountain in front of me and noticed terraced ledges climbing it from the bottom of the canyon to its peak. Their shadows highlighted their shape. It made me shiver to think that the damn plague had found me even here. I sat on a rock and wondered what I should do. I could go back and look for a way around or I could search for a way down, then cross the canyon and return to Naan through the White Planes. Maybe it was time for me to go back.

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I’d left the house. I’d counted the days in the beginning but soon lost track. My best guess was that several months had passed. I hoped the Doctor had realized by now that I had no intention of doing anything, but it wasn't that important to me anymore.

  After a short rest I started to go down the mountain to the canyon’s surface. I found a trail that looked like it was leading down into the canyon. I started picking my way down and soon realized the road I’d chosen was harder than expected. Sometimes there were rocks blocking the trail and I had to climb over them. This was a precarious operation that brought me right to the edge of the abyss. I thought it would be sweet revenge for the gods of Naan if I were to fall. I didn't fall though. When Dion neared the horizon to the left, and its reflected glare faded, the terraces became clearer. I could now see small black dots arranged regularly along one of them.

  When Dion had set, and the brief darkness fell that preceded the rise of Mampas, the trail completely disappeared. I decided to camp for the night. My backpack was filled with edible roots loaded with water and berries I’d found in the forest. When Mampas finally rose the canyon was visible again. Instead of the harsh white glare it was painted over in grays that made it easier for me to examine it more closely. I could see the terrace with the dark points more clearly now.

  The idea that the town was just on the other side of these White Planes brought strange thoughts to my mind. I played with the thought that I should setup a tent there and wait until the processions to the graves arrived. According to the Naanites their sins would be redeemed then, and the plague would stop. No one could hate me then. It was a funny thought but clearly ridiculous. It would take hundreds or maybe even thousands of years to cover all these plains. And what would happen then? Would the plague really stop? Would awareness fall on their heads at Mampas rise and make it suddenly clear to them how stupid they had been for generations?

  Other imaginative thoughts came to my mind as I looked at the terraces. I suddenly realized they were different than the ones on the side facing the town.

  The next morning I packed my bag, ate several handfuls of berries, and continued down the steep trail. I reached to the bottom of the canyon at noon and after a short rest I started towards the white mountain. The black dots on the terrace gradually grew. As they did they got lighter and I soon realized they were openings carved into the mountain. Stairs too were chiseled into the face of the rock between the terraces. I wondered if maybe someone was living there. I smiled to myself at the thought. How crazy would it be if it turned out that there were cave people living on the other side of the White Planes?

  I reached the base of the mountain near the end of the day and climbed the set of curved stairs that led to the first terrace. I immediately noticed that the stairs were built for someone of my height. This was so thought provoking that my weariness disappeared. The first terrace had a smooth, flat, white floor. In the wall, between the first and second terraces were several openings of approximately my size. I walked over to one of them. It was the entrance to a dark cave. I examined the stonework around the entrance. At its edge was a smooth, gray area roughly a third of the way down from the top. I ran my hand over it. It seemed to have been worn smooth by the touch of innumerable hands of people coming and going in and out of the cave.

  The entrance was a bit taller than me and the smooth area was the height of my arms. No doubt people who had lived here were as tall as me. I stuck my head inside, but the cave was completely dark. After looking around the first terrace, and finding nothing else of interest, I started up the stairs to the second terrace. I stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked around. The sight of the terrace below me, and the ones above me, made me feel as if I was walking along the main street of a city carved from stone.

  The third terrace was largest yet and had only one entrance, a bit to the right of the stairs. The stairs to the forth level were different as well. They bulged out from the wall as if the "city architect" was trying to avoid damaging the wall. I put on my headlamp and looked at the entrance to the cave. A few stairs led down to the floor of the cave. I went down them and scanned around with the light. Except for the ground around me the light wasn't reflected back. It was clear that the cavern was huge. I knew I should wait for morning, and the full light of Dion, to help with my explorations, but I was too curious.

  After few moments of slow and seemingly pointless walking, I decided it was nothing but another empty cave. It was clear it wasn't a natural cave. Someone must have dug it out for a purpose, but I couldn’t guess what. I turned back only to discover that the entrance was gone. I looked in every direction, but the light from my headlamp only dispersed in the surrounding blackness. I blinked. It had all happened so fast that I thought maybe something had happened to my eyes. But I could still see the smooth, featureless floor at my feet, so my eyes must be working. Then I remembered Dion. It had probably set after I’d entered. Now I was stuck in the dark window between its setting and the rising of Mampas. I blinked again and looked around in terror. Maybe it was my sight after all. The fear lasted for several moments until, suddenly countless entrances started to appear around me. I thought I was going crazy. I looked around me, and blinked fast. I was sure now something had happened to my sight. The entrances became clearer and I froze, helpless. It made no sense. The cave was cut into the mountain, where were all of these entrances coming from? After a few pointless moments of indecision I walked towards one of the entrances. The headlamp lit my steps and I walked slowly. Suddenly I noticed a light shining down on me from above. Slowly, with every step I took, I began to understand.

  “The light from above illuminates the walls,” I said out loud, my voice echoing. “These are not entrances but the reflections of lights on the walls of the cave.”

  I stepped forward and touched the lighter patch on the wall in front of me. I looked towards the bright light source. I thought I understood
the physics of the phenomenon, but the mystery only grew. What was this light source? Where was the energy coming from? And it wasn’t just one light source, clearly there are many.

  I started to walk along the wall, passing between the patterns of light on the wall until I found the stairs and walked outside. I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself. “Light sources in the middle of nowhere,” I said and looked at the entrance. “Who brought them over? Where is the energy coming from?” My sudden excitement reminded me of the crazy times on Mampas. I was tired and hungry though, and my thoughts began to wander.

  I pulled out a blanket and lay down on the hard floor in front of the cave. My empty belly kept bugging me. I tried to distract myself by thinking about these light sources. I thought it must be some photoelectric device. This didn’t seem realistic. This place had been deserted for centuries and photoelectric devices need some maintenance. But the stains on the walls were faint so maybe it was a photoelectric system that had lost its power. I wondered who could have built it? Where were they now? Had they been the first settlers on Naan? Had they vanished in the plague and been erased from the consciousness? These questions pushed away the hunger and I gradually faded into sleep.

  The work in the hospital had reached its peak. At least that was what Su-thor’s colleagues told her. There was no way she could know this for herself. She’d worked in the hospital last year as well, but then the wonder medicine had confused everyone, and so no one knew if the worst was behind them or not.

  Daio had asked her to stay home but she’d refused. “ You are a foreigner, and we are still not popular here,” he’d told her, but she knew she couldn't stay in the house anymore.

  Months had passed since Sosi had left. She’d looked for him everywhere. For the last search, Daio had even asked Musan to send a few police hovercrafts to help her. The searches yielded nothing. Not even a clue. They’d gone down to his pool again, but found no signs of him. There were not even fresh tracks there. They’d landed in a few other places that looked suitable for camping, but again they had found nothing.

  Su-thor thought he was dead. In spite of Daio’s repeated encouragement she thought he was gone. Daio told her again and again that Sosi had lived in the open spaces for years and thrived, but this claim did impress her anymore.

  Taking care of sick people kept her busy, although it left her mentally exhausted. This was the second season she had helped but the first time she was in close contact with the sick people.

  “Like a swing. It comes and goes,” said the nurse to Su-thor.

  They were standing next to the bed of an eight-year-old girl. She was anaesthetized and on a respirator. The nurse walked to the monitor, uploaded the infusion control panel, and changed few parameters.

  “I spoke to her when she arrived,” said Su-thor. “It doesn't look good now.”

  “Yes, some arrive feeling good, but it's only a matter of time before it comes back,” said the nurse.

  “We talked about many things,” said Su-thor.

  “She was on the positive part of the swing,” said the nurse.

  “You think she'll make it?”

  “I don't know. It comes and goes. Her vital signs have stabilized so that’s a good thing, but you never know. Did you take them today?”

  “Yes, of course,” said Su-thor.

  “Good, let's move to the next one.”

  “How long will she be like this?” asked Su-thor as they walked to the next bed.

  “If her signs stay stable my guess is we'll try to wake her up tomorrow. But even then, it's not clear if she'll make it. The symptoms will come back for sure, but it is impossible to tell if their intensity will be stronger or weaker.”

  “Yes, I know,” said Su-thor. “Like a swing.”

  “Exactly.”

  They stopped next to a five-year-old child.

  “He is asleep,” said Su-thor. “His parents were here today for a while.”

  “Yes, he seems to be getting better.” She walked to the monitor next to the bed and hit the screen several times. “You see this?” she said pointing at the screen. “The oxygen level goes bad from time to time but the downswings are getting shallower over time. This is a very good sign.”

  “Great,” said Su-thor, and wiped sweat from her forehead.

  “Take his vital signs,” said the nurse and walked to the next bed.

  “Of course,” said Su-thor, and blinked rapidly at the monitor next to the bed. She was completely exhausted. She’d worked in the hospital the whole week. She only went home to shower and to sleep. She didn't want to stay there. Sosi's empty room made her angry and sorrowful.

  Five children died during the night, the eight-year-old girl was one of them. Su-thor remembered when the girl had arrived the previous week. She wasn't that sick at all back then. She’d coughed, and her eyes were swollen a bit, but she’d responded. They talked about many things, things not related to the disease, and Su-thor had hoped it was a sign that she was not really that sick.

  She knew about the swing of course, but Su-thor had hoped the girl would get better. And then, around midnight, the girl’s monitor had suddenly started to beep. Su-thor had rushed to see what was wrong. Her oxygen level had dropped severely. She checked the equipment to see if the girl was getting enough oxygen, but everything was working fine, everything that is except for the girl’s lungs.

  The Doctor came soon after but there was nothing he could do. Su-thor called her parents and they stood next to the bed and accepted her death quietly and submissively. It felt odd to Su-thor that she was the one who had to struggle to keep from crying. The strain worsened her already aching throat. She managed to hold back her sobs but she couldn’t avoid the tears.

  The plague was so ingrained in them that it was part of their existence, she told herself, trying to make some sense of what she was seeing. She knew they were sad, but their damn faces were no sadder than that of a Mampasian losing his money in the stock market, or around the gambling table.

  The events of the night made her weak. She felt as if she were choking. It took so much energy to choke off the cries that she refused to let out. She felt exhausted and wanted only a shower at home and to get into her bed. She was happy when her shift was finally over. She walked to the nurse's stand and took off her white coat. She took several deep breaths and tried to find the energy to head home.

  “Are you coming in tomorrow?” asked the head nurse as she approached.

  “Yes,” answered Su-thor. Then she had second thoughts. She wondered if maybe she should rest for a day. She’d felt dizzy several times during her shift and heat was rolling off her body in waves. She felt as if she was standing in front of a burning stove.

  “In the morning?” continued the head nurse.

  Su-thor gazed at her.

  “Su-thor, are you coming in the morning?” she repeated.

  Su-thor stifled a yawn. “Yes, I guess, if that is what is needed.”

  The head nurse looked down at the tablet in her hand. “Yes, we'll have three nurses here and I think they would be happy to have an additional pair of hands.”

  Su-thor nodded and walked towards a small room behind the nurse's station to wash her hands and face and make herself presentable before leaving. She stopped at the door and leaned her hand on the frame.

  “Are you okay?” asked the head nurse and came over to her.

  “Tired,” said Su-thor. She walked into the room and a wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled towards the sink, lost her balance, and hit her head against the basin as she fell to the floor.

  I woke up at daybreak. I was facing the cave wall when I opened my eyes and the thoughts of the night before returned. When Dion came up I suddenly noticed that the cave was no longer completely dark. I wondered again about the lighting system. As the light from the entrance grew, I began to see details of the inside of the cave. The stairs were clear now. I went down them and saw that the walls were shining. A soft light illuminate
d the cave. If this was a photoelectric system then someone had maintained it well, I thought to myself. I walked to the center of the cave and looked up. Far above me I could see a rectangular array of light sources. It didn't blind me since the lights were aiming at the wall. Then I realized it wasn't a photoelectric system.

  I ran outside and climbed the stairs to the fourth terrace. A bunch of transparent domes, the size of a man, were set into the floor. I walked towards them quickly and smiled. “Lenses. These are simply huge lenses,” I said gazing at them. I tried to count them but quickly lost track. I climbed to the next terrace and looked down at them. There were sixty-four lenses in all, arranged in a square of eight by eight. I was not a physicist, but the stains on the walls, and their orderly arrangement, made me suspect that these were no simple lenses. I stood there for a few minutes absorbing the sight. It was fantastic. It made perfect sense and yet was unrealistic.

  I thought that like the geological phenomena that had been taking place on Naan, this place was also unknown. I went down and walked closer to the lenses. Each was my size and they somehow just laid there, one next to the other, on a frame, but with no additional support.

  I was sure that beyond its unique architecture this place hid something bigger. It was older. Much older than the mining history of Naan.

  This puzzle lifted my spirits, and I wanted to stay here longer to search for a solution, but my food was about to run out, and my water was almost gone. I knew I had to leave. After I found water and food, I thought I might come back and turn this place into my home. I went back down to the cave’s entrance, packed my backpack, and prepared to leave.

  I wondered at the fact that the Naanites had been burying people for generations on this mountain, oblivious to the deserted city carved into the back side of their mausoleum. Then there was the simple but brilliant illuminating system that was still functioning as well as it had the first day they installed it, out here in the middle of nowhere. How did it all add up? Lost in my thoughts I made my way down the stairs and off of the mountain.