by Bob Cooper
“Hey!” Hillary yelled.
He was soon gone, lost in the hordes that mingled on the street.
“Where the hell are we?” asked Dirk.
“This is not what I saw in my visions,” Acey said, stepping out.
The putrid air wafted in to her nostrils, and she gasped. The reaction was the same for all of them. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to notice or even care they were there.
Aidan walked down the narrow street to survey the situation. There were no vehicles of any kind. The inhabitants were in no hurry to get to where they were going. They went about their business in a trance-like state. The small shops that lined the street displaying their wares seemed unattended. The citizens would take what they needed and continue on their way. Aidan purposely bumped into a young Antarian to see the reaction. There was none. The young female displayed a forced smile and continued on her way.
“Are these people on drugs or what?” he whispered to the others.
“They act like no one else is around—no interaction at all,” Raina said.
“Let’s find someone in authority,” Acey said starting to walk down the street.
Above them, what appeared to be a “sky” was filled with the same glittering material from the temple cave. Acey looked at her watch and saw it was nighttime by Earth standards, but it was bright as a summer morning there. The buildings were mainly square and devoid of any architectural feature. Windows were almost non-existent, and signage was sparse. The street came to a dead end, but a walkway continued to the tallest building they could see.
Acey noticed some familiar Antares symbols in a sign dangling from the main entry door.
“This looks like it could be an administrative building. Hillary, when we go in ask for Tai-Som,” she said.
They walked up a series of steps and passed several citizens who did not give them as much as a glance. They pushed open the door and walked in. There was what looked like an information kiosk in the center of the cavernous room manned by a young female. Hillary walked up to her.
“Hello. I require information regarding one of your citizens,” she telepathically communicated to the young woman.
“I do not give out information about our citizens,” she replied without lifting her head from her work.
“I am seeking Tai-Som, one of your leading citizens.”
This time Hillary got a response. The women gasped at the mention of her name. She looked up and eyed each of them before she spoke.
“Who are you?”
“We are visitors to Antares and would like to see Tai-Som.”
The woman stood up and looked up at the ceiling. The group looked up and saw what looked like cameras. Suddenly two young males approached them from an elevator. The woman sat back down and said nothing. One of the men put his hand on Hillary’s shoulder and directed her to a hallway off to the right.
“Please come with us,” they said to Hillary.
Aidan moved towards them, but Acey restrained him.
“We have no choice but to go with them,” she said.
The two men led the way down the narrow corridor where there they found a door at the end. They saw no offices, windows, or other citizens. The door opened as they approached, and the two men stood on both sides of the entrance as they motioned them to enter. A young girl stood inside and beckoned them into the room. She quietly sat in the corner as the doors closed automatically.
She fidgeted with a recording device. There was a picture on the wall behind a large white desk depicting a lush forested area with a lake, mountains, and streams. Acey recognized the trees as the same as they experienced on the surface. The sap was visible through the bark-like structure.
Dirk and Raina eyed the pictures on the desk which looked like a family portrait with a man and a woman and two small children posing in front of some stone monument. Aidan noticed the tiny surveillance cameras in the ceiling.
“I think we’re being observed,” he said to Dirk.
Dirk looked up and waved at the camera. The camera moved as they walked around the office. Raina heard footsteps approach the front door and motioned to the group that someone was approaching. When the door swung open, a mature-looking male walked in and preceded directly to the desk without even glancing at them. The two men were still standing at the entrance as the door automatically closed. The young girl came and sat next to him, having problems with the recording device. He gave her a disapproving glance and positioned himself behind the desk.
“Why do you ask for Tai-Som?” he said.
Hillary looked at Acey.
“Do you want to explain it to him?”
“I’ll try, but my telepathic ability is not as good as yours.”
“My mother and father knew her. She helped them when they were here on Antares on an archeological expedition. I believe my parents died on Antares Proper, and I wish to understand what happened to them.”
The young girl entered Acey’s statements into the machine. She glanced at Acey, and Acey smiled at her. She immediately put her eyes back on her work. The man pushed a button on the desk, and a computer screen popped up. Acey could see cryptic symbols displayed as the man scrolled through the data. She also saw pictures of Tai-Som flash by.
“Tai-Som is no longer available. You must leave,” he said coldly.
“Please make her available. I must see her!” Acey said in frustration.
“You must leave now,” he replied.
“I will not leave until I see her! I want to see her now!” she yelled, pounding her fist on his desk.
Dirk pulled Acey back as the man pushed himself away from the desk. The door swung open, and the two guards entered—this time with weapons in hand. Aidan reached under his tunic and fingered his blaster.
“You must leave now!” one of the guards ordered, aiming his weapon at Acey.
Dirk grabbed her and nodded to the guards.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“But we can’t leave without finding Tai-Som,” Acey said in frustration.
“We will find her. But this is not the place. Let’s regroup outside and discuss this,” he said.
The two guards followed them to the main doorway, and Acey could see them watching closely as they left the building. They walked down the street and came to a small park where they rested. Acey was upset, and Hillary tried to comfort her.
Raina noticed a girl lurking behind the bushes, spying on them. She casually got up and walked over to Aidan and Dirk.
“Don’t look but directly behind us someone is watching,” she said in a whisper.
Aidan walked back to the park bench and sat, quickly glancing towards the bushes as he sat down. The girl ducked down and hid from sight.
“I see her,” Aidan said.
While the girl focused on Aidan and Raina, Dirk walked down the street and came up behind the girl. He grabbed her and pulled her into sight of the others. She gave out a stifled scream just as Dirk covered her mouth. She struggled, but she was no match for Dirk. Acey and Hillary, seeing what was happening, walked over to them.
She was spying on us,” Raina explained.
The young girl stared at the ground as they encircled her. She was clearly frightened.
“Why are you following us?” Aidan asked.
When she finally looked up, Acey recognized her.
“This is the young girl from the administrator’s office,” she said, putting her hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
Acey smiled at her. The young girl stared back down at the ground. Acey gently lifted her chin, smiled, and looked into her eyes.
“Maybe you can help us. Who are you?”
The young girl looked at all of them before speaking.
“I am called Chi, Tai-Som’s daughter.”
12
O’Malley was the first one down the airshaft with the others close behind. The red lights were flashing from when Acey and the others broke the security beam. They continued through the open
ed door and wandered through the corridors until they came to the elevator.
“This looks like the only way out from here,” O’Malley said.
They piled in and looked for buttons to push when the elevator suddenly sank beneath them. The doors opened quickly to reveal the bustling street scene, which made them recoil to the back of the elevator.
“Where the hell are we?” asked one of the men.
“It’s the underground city of Antares I believe,” O’Malley said, stepping out and looking around.
“How are we ever going to find them?” another one asked.
“Oh, we will find them. That you can bet on!”
O’Malley surveyed the street. The citizens went about their business, paying no attention to them.
“They will stick out easily, and we should have no problem finding them.”
“Yeah, but where do we start looking?”
“We’ll split up. Make sure your com links are working. Check back with me every hour. This will be our designated meeting place in case something happens,” O’Malley said.
He recorded the position coordinates of the elevator, and everyone locked them into their com links.
“Now split up and find them.”
***
Acey watched Chi carefully. She did have the gentle features of Tai-Som, and her mannerisms were similar to what she recalled in the vision, but she wasn’t completely convinced Chi was Tai-Som’s daughter.
“My mother had visitors like you some time ago,” the girl spoke aloud as if reading Acey’s thoughts.
“Where is your mother now?” Dirk asked.
The girl cautiously looked around and waited for several citizens to pass by. She moved closer to Acey and checked the area once more.
“She’s in prison. It is not safe to talk about such matters on the street. Come with me, and we can talk privately,” Chi directed.
It was late; they were all tired and hungry. They followed Chi down a narrow alley that opened up onto a back street lined with warehouses and storage facilities. She led them past a gate where a guard appeared from a guardhouse.
“It is alright. They are friends of my mother,” she said to him.
The guard looked them over and let them pass. They entered one of the buildings and proceeded up several flights of stairs to an open loft area.
“This is where I live. You are welcome to rest and dine with me.”
Chi prepared vegetables, fruits, and a fermented drink that made them all woozy. She laid out sleeping mats, and the group was more than ready to get some rest after the ordeal of the day.
“Tomorrow, after you have rested, I will tell you the story of what happened to my mother and me.”
***
O’Malley propped his feet on the bench across the street from the airshaft. He believed eventually that Dirk and his group would have to come through there to get back to the surface. While the rest of his men scattered into the general vicinity looking for them, he kept a close eye on the entrance. The citizens did not seem to care about the strangers in their presence.
Back on the ship, Franz experienced trouble scanning beneath the surface, but O’Malley remained confident that Franz would come up with a way to locate Dirk. He was tired and knew he and his men needed some sleep.
Dosing off, O’Malley pictured the day he would return to earth for a hero’s welcome. With Dirk and the others out of his way, the presidency of the Academy would be his. The scientific community would bestow on him the many accolades he deserved for deciphering the Antares Codex, and he would take his rightful place along with the others that achieved greatness.
***
Hillary was the first to wake up. In the kitchen, Chi busily prepared food and drink for them. She is probably in her late twenties, Hillary guessed. She saw holograms in the room depicting a happy family unit. That must be Chi and her parents, Hillary surmised. Tai-Som looked radiant next to her child and spouse. She also looked pregnant.
“These are my parents,” Chi confirmed turning the hologram to view it from another angle.
“How old were you in this picture?” Hillary asked.
Chi looked puzzled. Age was not an easy concept to explain to outsiders. Her life span centered on major life events that started with birth and usually ended after the achievement of the enlightened state. Once the knowledge transfer completed, no reason remained to continue living. However, to attain the enlightened state varied for each individual—some achieved it in a short amount of time, and for others, it took much longer. Hillary saw that Chi was having trouble explaining.
“On our planet, Earth, where we come from, our life passes with time. Time is measured by the revolutions our planet makes around our sun. Our physical bodies deteriorate over time, and we cease to be,” Hillary explained.
Chi looked horrified.
“That must be very painful. What is done with the knowledge and wisdom each individual acquires in a lifetime?”
Hillary had never thought about life in those terms.
“We share our knowledge with others as we experience it. We write it down and record it for others to use,” she said, knowing that it was a lame explanation.
“Is this your mother?” she asked, changing the subject.
‘Yes, it is,” Chi replied, staring at the hologram.
Hillary waited for an explanation about Tai-Som being pregnant, but none came. She finally asked the question.
“Was your mother with child?”
Chi seemed confused about the meaning of the question at first but figured it out. Raina and Acey, now awake, came over to join the conversation.
“Perhaps we should eat now, and I will explain.”
Acey woke Aidan and Dirk, and they all went to the table to eat. They listened intently while Chi told her story.
“What I will tell you was passed down to me by my mother. I did not witness these events, but I and others of my generation must live with the consequences. Years ago, Antares was a paradise. We lived on the surface where food was plentiful. Harmony existed because we lived in accordance with the old ways dictated by the laws set forth in the Codex. The Guardians, keepers of the Codex, ensured that we followed the old ways.”
“Yes, we have met the Guardians,” Hillary said.
“Then perhaps you know when we attain enlightenment, our physical bodies cease to exist, and our wisdom becomes part of the collective whole. The Guardians are responsible for this transition.”
“How does this collective wisdom pass to new generations?” Acey asked.
“The Guardians ensure all newborns are given this knowledge, and as they grow, their own experiences and knowledge become part of it. All was well, and we shared the land with other species in harmony.”
“You mean the lizard-like creatures?” Raina asked.
Chi gave her a puzzled look.
“The short beings that live in wooden structures in villages,” Raina said.
“Yes. The Oran, as we call them. They evolved through different means and have inhabited Antares longer than us,” Chi replied.
“Yes, we have encountered them in our journey and know them well,” Hillary said.
“A little too well. Please continue,” Acey said, shooting Hillary a disapproving glance.
“All was fine until the “visitors” arrived. They were not of your planet but were quite similar to yourselves. The “visitors” were amazed by the energy created from our collective wisdom and how it sustained our existence. It controlled every aspect of our lives on the surface and gave us the means to protect ourselves.
Unfortunately, they found a way to steal this energy and left us literally as ignorant as the Oran’s on the surface. The Guardians did the best they could to protect our life force, but they lost a lot of their power. The “visitors” left Antares, and there was total chaos. No one knew how to protect our food sources, and it dwindled. No one remembered how to maintain the energy fields that protected us from the suns radiatio
n, and many of us ceased to exist.”
“Is that why you are living underground and not on the surface?” Aidan asked.
“Yes. The Guardians instructed us to go underground, where we had to develop new technologies and a new civilization. We did this, but the civilization stagnated without any real leadership. We always had the Guardians to guide us, but now we fend for ourselves.”
“Who is in control of your government now?” Dirk asked.
“We have no real government—only administrators who keep the needed processes running so that the citizens can function. We are resigned to this method of living—or should I say existence. There are no festivals and celebrations, no music or art—nothing that would enrich the lives of our citizens.”
“But your mother was the Governess of City. What happened?” Acey asked.
Chi rose from the table and walked into the other room. The group looked at each other; recognizing a painful story must be coming. When Chi returned, she held the hologram of her family. She stared at it intently before speaking.
“It is true. My mother was and still is the Governess of Antares. She devised an intricate plan to introduce the citizens to some of our old customs, hoping to someday return to the surface. The citizens met these ideas with skepticism, and the administrators violently opposed them. Their corrupt ways had made them rich and powerful; they were not about to give it up. My mother sits in an isolation cell. They have labeled her as incompetent and a threat. There was no trial and no mention of when she would be released.”
“And what happened to the child?” Hillary asked, referring to Tai-Som’s pregnancy.
“A law passed that no mated pair should have more than one offspring. Our city underground is crowded, and additional space is hard to create and maintain. Still, my mother tried to get the law repealed and convinced my father that another child would show the citizens she was committed to change the current situation. The day my brother was born, she was arrested. My father left with my brother, and I have not heard from him since. His last words to me were that he would return one day for my mother and me. He loved us deeply and knew that the best way he could help us was to leave.”