For One Nen (45 page)

Many Neph appeared out of nowhere
, around the ceremonial mourning for the dead.

“The people of the city have agreed to take many of the children to care for them,” one Neph announced.

Looking at Hrilla she asked, “Shall I take this one?”

“No, no. She’s with me.” She then corrected herself. “She is with us.”

“Many could stay with us,” Regal offered.

“You have become few. You must take time for restoring your tribe. The children will be well cared for in the city,” the Neph said.

“As far as the others, they are free to stay where they are or they can come to the city. There is room and we welcome them.”

More Neph appeared and many held out their hands to the children as they led them to the city.

The children who had relatives from those Hrilla had rescued stayed with them. Still there were a great many whose parents were still underground or dead from that first sparsing day.

Villages sprang up as the new surface dwellers began to make it their home. Some moved to the city and some stayed on the outskirts to plant and gather.

Life was beginning to feel calm and pleasant once again, when something happened that changed history.

From the cave where Hrilla and her people had surface
d, came another group of people seeing the two suns for the first time. They brought with them much anger over Fbathin having kidnapped their children.

One Tsila woman screamed when she saw her young son for the first time in over three months. She ran to him but he back
ed away into the embrace of the woman who had taken him into her home and family.

“Tevin, come to me. I’m your mother,” she said in devastation.

The other woman put her arm around the boy and claimed him as her own.

Over and over they witnessed the same story. Parents had come to reclaim their stolen children.

“Hrilla!” Dhobin shouted, racing toward her. “Have you heard,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “Have you heard? They are taking the children back.”

“Back?” Hrilla asked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She tugged nervously at her ear.

“Yes, back to the underground,” Dhobin confirmed. “Back to the Empire.”

“They can’t. They will be sparsed for sure. What could they be thinking?”

“I’ve just come from the city where I saw many fights over the children,” he explained.

“We must talk to our people,” Hrilla said.

“I thought those from the underground were our people,” Dhobin said.

“Not if they want to walk their children into death. What can we do?” Hrilla asked.

“Let’s talk to Regal and also those that surfaced with us,” Dhobin said.

“Our people,” proclaimed
Hrilla.

“Yes,” Dhobin agreed, “Our people.”

A makeshift council assembled to discuss the children’s future.

Hrilla’s people had hidden the children so the parents couldn’t find them. However
, those in the city became quickly inclined to give the children back to their parents.

“It’s their children,” argued one Goweli from the city.

“But you don’t understand. If they go back it will mean certain death,” Dhobin challenged. “Emperor Tapsin is a monster. Unless he is overthrown, their future will end in early sorrow. He plans to continue the sparsing.”

“Don’t they know that?” someone from the council asked.

“Maybe you just make too much of the danger,” someone else from the city chided.

“I don’t know why they want to go back and I don’t care. We must save the children. This is what Fbathin died for – what many of the Hoth tribe died for. We must save the children,” Dhobin said.

From the back of the room a very tall Het asked simply, “What if they don’t go back underground? Can they have their children back then?”

Hrilla looked to Dhobin.

That day a division was made among the tribes; those who wanted to give the children back and those that wanted to keep them safe.

In the end, all those in the city who had taken in a child gave them back and also helped the new surface dwellers make the city their home.

This was the beginning of the hatred of the Hoth and all those who chose to side with Hrilla.

Hrilla’s people and the ones she rescued from the sparsing would not give the children back and a battle raged for many weeks. Some of the parents
, trying to retrieve their children, still wanted to return to their home underground.

The Hoth’s numbers dwindled even more through the significant skirmishes between the parents still trying to get some of the children back
and the new families that had claimed them. Hrilla’s followers joined with the Hoth and completely disassociated themselves from the city. No one went back underground. They left the madman to his own fate.

In fact the city dwellers never allowed his name to be spoken again or any of the stories of that first underground sparsing to be written or talked about. Not of the Hoth rebellion, or Fbathin’s heroism
, which they began to interpret in whispers, as a vicious kidnapping and rebellion against the underground Empire.

One of the
royal Antip children that had been stolen from the Empire by Fbathin’s crew had surfaced with stories. Higby had been the child that had come from the water with stories of life inside the empire. He told of his Uncle Tapsin who was a madman. He was a fearful child that never stopped talking of the horror he saw on that first sparsing day; the day life turned into death.

He was adopted by a Hoth family who protected him. He never went into the city because of the ban on speaking of all things underground. His new family knew he would never stop telling his unending stories of Tapsin, his mad uncle. His family let him talk; hoping it would somehow help his traumatized soul. He even told many stories to Shahi, Fbathin’s sister, which she in turn wrote down and hid away. When Higby was an old man he still told the stories to the Hoth and their friends of his life underground within a powerful Empire ruled by a madman.

Most of that first generation of those that surfaced failed to pass on the truth and by their own omission allowed lies to shape their history.

This particular book is dedicated to my grandson Uei because he should know the whole truth of why I didn’t come forward with the information about the Hoth before we boarded the Egress. Please forgive me for allowing your mother to be put in stasis. I just think if I would have brought this truth to everyone just as I found it – well we were so close to boarding the Egress – we had to escape – I thought this would only be a distraction and possibly delay our departure. It was a hard decision, my boy.

This is also for you because you should know about your Hoth heritage. They were not savage people
as those of the city would have everyone believe. Fbathin was a beloved hero. She gave her life to save many tribes, not just her own. Those of the city have many times destroyed writings of this truth and instead, wrote their own accounts of history. But thanks be to those who kept the truth by carefully writing it down. By daring to keep the truth, they were often beaten and their writings destroyed. Their families and tribesmen were harassed and yet they plunged forth. Those people are heroes to me; dedicated and inspiring. Down through time the truth will survive the tyrants.

One reason I retired was to have more time to translate Tinnen’s books. He did just as I’m doing now. He devoted his life to translating the writings of Shahi, Fbathin’s young sister, who was raised by Dhobin and Hrilla. Others of Hrilla’s followers were writers as well but none of them hid their writings as well as Shahi. She was the master of disguised hiding places for her writings. She kept some in e
mpty clay pots, which she then set on a big shelf with other containers of the same sort. She even put three books into such a pot and then filled the pot with dry beans to hide them.

When she was old
, she carried many clay pots to a small cave that very few people knew about, near the Hoth’s dwelling by the rocky outcrop. There she hid them away until Tinnen found them almost a thousand years later and translated them. Then he too, wrote the stories of his time and hid them.

You and your father have been without your mother for several weeks now
, but tomorrow I will tell the whole ship the true history of the noble Hoth. Today I finished my work and tomorrow we will awaken your sweet mother, Sadie. She too is a hero that you should be proud of, because she sacrificed her life to give you a better one. I’m so glad that her sacrifice doesn’t have to be permanent. Tonight your father and I will celebrate the completion of my work, but I’m saving the surprise about your mother for tomorrow. I can’t wait, my dear boy.

297 AE

Aboard the EGRESS

“What’s that?” Bug asked holding his ears. Other Tsila through the crowd clapped their hands over their ears and looked around.

Trina ran to the nearest window to look out. Others joined her.

“Look at that,” she said excitedly.

“We’re saved!
” an older Goweli sang out.

From the black
, came spherical waves of light sliding over the ship.

“He did it,” the Maven said with her eye
s shining like her silvery hair. “Henry was able to bring the shields on-line.”

“Now let’s just see if it holds,” Tala whispered to Deni.

This moment in time was the very reason the Egress was made in the first place; to survive the blast of the particle wave from the exploding sun.

This was it. This was why the engineers worked frantically for months to bring the deflector shields back on
-line so their home, their ship, could be protected, and so all could be saved.

Those days of waiting had become almost unbearable for everyone.

Yet now they must wait again to see if the shields would be strong enough to protect them from the long hours of the flood of high energy charged particles.

On the main deck people gathered around the many small portholes to see into the void outside. Some stormed the officer’s lounge to watch from their larger window. Still others, mostly students
, raced to the fallow field to watch from the very large window.

Apart from the loud commotion that everyone was able to hear
, the Tsila’s sensitive ears were hearing a low frequency buzzing sound from the shields. Some continued to hold their ears.

“Are you alright?” Tala loudly asked Deni.

“I am fine,” she said. “It’s just my ears.”

All at once Deni grabbed her ears fiercely and as the ship took a hard jolt she fell into Tala’s arms. At that moment Tala forgot about her injured hand and held tightly to the one she loved the best; her lover, her mate, her very heart.

“Here we go,” Benai yelled. “Everybody hang on.”

After the initial jolt there was a terrible sound that continued for hours but the ship no longer thrashed about.

“Look at that,” Tala shouted as she held Deni in a tight embrace.

Others gathered around all the portholes again as they witnessed a spectacular sight.

The particle wave came like a stream hitting the deflector shield and bouncing off in a steady flow of magnificent colors.

“It’s
just so beautiful,” Tala yelled close to Deni’s ear.

Deni had dropped her hands from her ears as she had almost gotten used to the steady loud noise
, but she clapped them back over her ear when Tala shouted.

Tala pressed her open hand over her heart and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

The gatherings around the portholes began to dissipate many people began to simply sit and wait. There was nothing left to do but wait.

The noise slowly began to diminish to a dull roar. People were able to begin to make conversation again.

“I love you,” Deni whispered up to Tala.

“I know,” Tala said.

“I just wanted you to know these past few weeks have been the happiest of my life.”

“I know,” Tala said again.

“You seem very calm,” Deni observed.

“I have peace,” Tala explained.

Deni snuggled closer into Tala’s warm embrace hoping the peace would seep into her. When they first came together it was Deni that was strong and confident and independent. How the tables had turned. Now, Tala was being the support in their union. They were each grateful to be in love but at different moments they had been very thankful just to have someone that could be strong for them for a time.

After the first few hours of the particle wave continuously blasting against the shields, the sound finally began to diminish and fade even more into a steady low hum. Very slowly and for several more hours the wave came.

“Attention everyone,” came a voice over the intercom. “This is captain Lindle speaking. I just got word from Henry that the wave is almost past and we are free and clear. We have survived.”