His father had to leave again, and this time it was a longer trip, to the farthest planet possible. He could see his mother weeping silently, trying to hide her tears from him, her seven year old son. The military truck carrying the Imperial insignia rested a few inches above the ground, waiting for his father to board it. His father gave his mother an awkward hug, and gave him a wink. He clutched onto the toy figure of the Imperial Explorer, as if hoping that holding it tighter would prevent his father from leaving. As his father gave the family one last glance, a steady beep-beep sound broke into his dream.
He awoke with a start and realized that it was his polypod beeping. The polypod was one of his most prized possessions, and only a few people were privileged enough to own them. Polypod was short for Poly-Purpose-Device, and it was a creation of the Agency. One piece had to go the Emperor, naturally. Another was gifted to the Coordinator of Kadorra, one to the Admiyogi of Yaktuki, and the last one was with him. In a single device the polypod captured the most general to the most specific tasks a human needed to engage in. A peripheral, the pod lens, was inserted in the left eye, and it acted as the interface for all but a few of the tasks. So far, apart for using it to watch videos, listen to his favorite music, and communicate on the TheaNet, he had not been able to put it to any more uses.
Now most people do dislike being awoken in the middle of the night, and he was one of them. But being the head of the Kadorran Space Agency was a full time job, and so bleary eyed he dragged himself out of bed. His office-cum-residence was located on the top floor of the Agency’s west wing. From the window, Ananuk had a clear and impressive view of the entire Kadorran skyline. Like most of Thea’s major cities, Kadorra never slept, and even at this hour he could see the illuminated levitators and flashes of the aerials whizzing by. Making his way to the polypod, he accepted the incoming audio-only call.
“Ananuk Vikratik, who’s on the line?”
“Ananuk Vikratik the Head of KSA?” An even, composed voice asked.
“The very same.”
“I am sorry to call you so late into the night, Sir Vikratik, but I am calling from Yaktuki, you see; and it’s not quite evening here.”
Something in the voice eased Ananuk’s irritation at being awoken so late. “That’s understandable; sir?”
“Faolvay Yuan.”
“THE Faolvay Yuan? Admiyogi of Yaktuki?”
“The very same, sir.”
“This is quite an honor, Sir Faolvay. How may I be of service to you?”
“On the contrary, it is I who can be of service to you, Sir Ananuk.”
His bleariness had now vanished. Admiyogi Yuan was the supreme ruler of Yaktuki, but he was respected and held in awe by all of Thea. Despite being the head of the KSA and having worked on numerous projects with the Yaktukan Science Quarters Ananuk had never talked to or met the Admiyogi. But from his education days in Thean politics he knew that the Admiyogis had been Yaktuki’s spiritual, political, and social leaders right from the founder of Yaktuki- Yaktuki Tritha.
“How so, Sir Faolvay?”
“What I have to share with you cannot be told through the wire. I am inviting you to Yaktuki, in my official capacity.”
“When would you want me there?”
“As soon as possible.”
“I can leave in an hour.”
“Then counting the time it will take you to reach here, we shall be expecting you in three hours.”
“I’ll be there,” Ananuk replied, and hung up.
It was too late in the night to select any fellow travelers and Ananuk knew his deputy head would be asleep too. There would be a few researchers working in the lab but it was simpler to just leave a message for his deputy rather than leaving it to them to deliver the news of his departure. He took a quick shower, tied his long, wavy black hair into a neat ponytail, and put on his official KSA adaptosuit. Within twenty minutes after the call, he was in the air.
Inside the steady hum of his aerial, he could barely hear the sound of the city outside; but if its skyline was impressive from his office, the vista was breathtaking when viewed from the air. Kadorra was regarded on all of Thea as the most beautiful region of all, and on flights like this, Ananuk knew why. Directly below him lay the Holy Lake, believed to have been formed from the tears of the deity Drah-mi himself. He could see the light of his own aerial reflected as a tiny pinprick on the Lake surface. Beyond the Lake, to the north, were the terraganglions, weaving through the forest to make a dizzying view. It was towards the southern borders of the forest that Kadorra proper ended. He could make out, as his aerial rose higher, and towards the forest, the elaborate structures that he knew were built by the KSA to study and observe, at close range, the various species that resided in those woods.
He turned left in his seat, and his eyes followed the transport tunnels further south to where the Residential Sectors began, and that’s where the levitators were visible. Tall, imposing, and suspended many feet above the surface, the levitators were home to almost eighty percent of the Kadorran population. He too had lived there when he was younger, and it was only after becoming Head of the KSA that he had moved out. He recalled playing the dangerous but exhilarating sport of levitator hopping youngsters all over Thea loved to indulge in. Pick up an air-board, jump from a balcony on one levitator and try to glide your way down to a balcony on another. He remembered, with a stab of pride, that he was great at the sport, and in his seven years of levitator hopping, he had never once been hurt.
He could make out the densely packed transport tunnels, aerials moving in them at high speeds. Quite a few of them were roaming in the free air, and their drivers, Ananuk knew, were in no hurry of time. The tunnels led further south, winding through the Administrative Sector, circling the Industrial and Commercial Sectors, leading back to the Lake, at whose southern tip laid the KSA.
In this way the transport tunnels defined the southern boundary of Kadorra proper. Further south of them were the Kadorran mountains, but there were not visible from his aerial. His eyes feeling a little tired, Ananuk reclined on his seat and closed them. But he could imagine the aerial flying over the forests now, and climbing higher still to avoid the Thean Gir Mountain Range that would appear in a few minutes. He recalled that it was on these mountains that the people of Kadorra had first encountered the Yaktukans.
His pilot broke into his thoughts, “mild atmospheric turbulence has been detected, Sir. You better put on you safety shield.”
Ananuk opened a panel on a pod to his left and pulled out a thin metallic sheet. Carefully opening it, he spread it on the surface in front of him. It was covered with numerous touch sensitive pads, each to fulfill a different function. He pressed one of them, and an invisible but perceptible envelope covered him entirely. This was the Etal-Mesh, short for Enhanced talitium mesh. Talitium was the most widely used element on Thea, used for purposes ranging from metal coating and hi-tech gadgets to power generation and weapons manufacturing. The Etal-mesh, or Etal, was a plasma version of talitium that could be powered to cover and protect a surface or a human from shock and damage.
Looking out below, he could see the Gir Mountain Range drawing to a close. On its northern borders here, the mountains gradually fell in height, merging seamlessly and elegantly with the Yaktukan plains. As his pilot began to lower the aerial, individual structures appeared discernible. Ananuk spotted the bizarre Yaktukan architecture at once, with its erratically twisted edifices and angular domes. All of them were varying shades of grey and black, and stood in a stark contrast to the pale yellow fields. He guessed that there were farms, as farming was perhaps the only physical activity the Yaktukans indulged in, the remainder of their time spent in mental exercises and endeavors.
“We will arrive at the landing strip in less than ten minutes, sir.” His pilot informed him through the headpiece.
Seven minutes later Ananuk could see the aerial aligning itself with Yaktuki’s auto-land grid. He felt a slight jerk as the grid took control of the aerial, guiding it to an empty landing spot. The landing itself was smooth, but he waited for the aerial to stop completely before turning off his Etal. As he alighted, he spotted a few men waiting for him.
The Yaktukan in the middle was tall and skinny. His cheeks were hollow and he had a protruded chin. Ananuk could see he had the stereotypical Yaktukan nose and ears: sharp and pointed. But his eyes were deep and bright, almost curious. The Yaktukan broke into a welcoming smile as Ananuk approached him, extending his left arm in greeting.
“Welcome, Sir Ananuk, we appreciate your joining us on such a short notice. I am Admiyogi Faolvay.” He stated the latter part with a simple bow.
“I am honored, Sir Faolvay. I wasn’t expecting you to personally come welcome me.”
“You are a guest on official invitation, Sir Ananuk, and I must request you to call me merely Faolvay.” He led Ananuk away from the aerial to a surface transporter. “If you will take a seat in this transporter, it will lead you to my office, where we can discuss the business that brings you here.”
Faolvay waited while Ananuk seated himself in the transport, then departed with another bow for his own transport which was parked next to Ananuk’s. Looking around, Ananuk figured that the transport was automated, and there was no human manning it.
Yaktuki did not possess the transport tunnels of Kadorra, nor did Ananuk sight too many aerials. This, he knew, was not because the Yaktukans were ignorant of such technologies, but because they tried to use as little of it as possible. The ground transport was not much fast either, and it glided along the ground at a comfortable pace, giving Ananuk ample opportunity to take in the Yaktukan landscape. He was struck by the fact that despite their relative austerity, the Yaktukans designed structures that were at best, bizarre, and at worse, macabre. He watched numerous constructions, in varying forms of awry projections go by as the transport slithered through the pathways. Before long, however, the transport made its way into a tunnel, which led to the Yaktukan Science Quarters. When it halted, Ananuk saw the entire interior panel to his left rise up and leave a comfortable opening for him to exit.
Admiyogi Faolvay was already waiting for him, this time flanked by Yaktukans Ananuk knew through contact to be the YSQ’s scientists. One of them was Rabik Humek, who had interacted with Ananuk on numerous previous projects. Rabik was the opposite of Faolvay in terms of physical structure. He was short and plump with a dense, pure white beard that fell all the way to his round belly. Like Faolvay though, his eyes too were deep and bright. With a stab of pain that had nothing to do with the situation, Ananuk remembered his father telling him how all Yaktukans possessed the trait.
“Ananuk, my old friend,” Rabik delightedly exclaimed the moment he saw him, “it is a pleasure to see you again!”
Ananuk found himself grinning in return, “and it’s a pleasure to see you too, Rabik!”
Faolvay and the others waited politely while Ananuk and Rabik exchanged a few more pleasantries. Then Faolvay gestured for him to follow and he was led through various corridors to a large room with just enough seats to seat them all. Ananuk noticed that two Yaktukans always flanked Faolvay, and as the latter sat, these Yaktukans remained standing by his either side. Ananuk himself took the seat directly in front of Faolvay, and Rabik sat next to him.
When everyone was seated, all eyes (including Ananuk’s) turned to Faolvay. “It is important that we first introduce our guest, Sir Ananuk, to the matter of discussion.” Ananuk waited for Faolvay to continue, “tell me, Sir Ananuk, why is that we have been unable to colonize other planets so far?”
“Our technology restricts us, Faolvay; that and the nature of our star system.”
“By that you mean to say that there are no planets in this star system that are habitable.”
Ananuk nodded.
“And we do not have the technology to propel us beyond?”
Ananuk nodded again.
“And that is what we have called you here for, Sir Ananuk. We have discovered the tool that will help us reach beyond the lonely confines of our star system.”
May 18, 2008
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