NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (23 page)

“I don't know. I started to feel bad before it all started, but it got worse after the eruption.”

“So, you think this might be what’s causing the plague in the city?”

“I don't know.”

“I seriously doubt clouds erupting somewhere in the mountains could cause the plague here,” said Dug.

“Maybe it doesn’t take much to start the plague," said the Doctor.

“Even if there was some gas involved, we can’t know for sure if it was the cause of Sosi's illness,” said Dug. “He doesn't even know himself. Even if he was poisoned, he was inside the pool when it all happened. There is no reason to believe it would affect those farther away. As far as I know no gas clouds show up here when the plague breaks out.”

  “Dug is right, but still I think we should look into it,” said Daio.

“I can send a team from the university,” said the Doctor. He gazed at me, and then at Dug, who obviously thought this was a waste of time. “I can organize them within a few hours.”

“I'll take you there,” I said.

“Out of the question,” said Daio and looked at me.

“Why?”

“Because! I am not letting you out of my sight,” he said decisively.

  I smiled. I loved hearing those words. “Nothing will happen to me,” I said.  “And if the Doctor is ready in a few hours, we'll be back before nightfall.”

“It will be a dark night tonight,” said the Doctor.

“It doesn't matter. We'll be back before dawn,” I insisted.

“I think we should postpone this for a day or two,” said Daio.

“But what if it's really related to the plague?” asked the Doctor. Its arrival is only two months away. If we can do something about it, if the gas cloud is really related, we could save hundreds of lives.”

“I don't understand,” said Dug shaking his head. “Don't you think this is a bit hasty? The chance that this is related to the plague is virtually zero.”

“It's a long shot but it has the potential to make an infinite improvement compared to what we understand today about this plague.”

“I’d prefer that Sosi stay here,” said Daio.

“We'll take a few policemen,” said the Doctor. “We'll take good care of him.“

A shiver went through me thinking about policemen guarding me again.  Guarding me with their lives. “I can take care of myself,” I said but Daio ignored me. He shifted his gaze to the Doctor. “Keep your eyes on him every second! Don't take any chances.”

“You can trust me,” said the Doctor and that was when I suddenly started to worry.

Two hours later we were on a hovercraft.  Our party consisted of the Doctor, three investigators, and five policemen in black uniforms with shiny badges on their shirts. The hovercraft flew low over the countryside. From the window I could identify many places I remembered. I couldn't believe I was seeing them again so soon. The Doctor looked pensive. He stared at the hovercraft's white wall in front of him as if he was frozen. The others looked out the windows and from time to time gazed at me with admiration.  

I pointed out the house when I saw it, alone on top of a hill. We went into a hover, and then landed in the grassy area behind it. We filed out of the hovercraft and passed through the fence. The smell of sheep and horse manure was strong in the air. When we passed the entrance of the house a few of them peered inside. After a quick glance they whispered between themselves. One of them pushed two of his friends forward. It seemed as if they felt they were invading my privacy.

  Being in the house again felt odd. I’d expected to feel something, but I didn't.

I waved toward the cane bushes in the valley. The researchers and two policemen started down the trail to begin their investigations.

“We’ll stay here,” said the Doctor, looking at the valley below.

“I’d better go down there,” I said. “I’ll feel better if I can see what they are doing.”

I started down the trail with two policemen following me. I wished they’d stayed up on the hill with the doctor. It was silly, but I was afraid something would happen to them. I wondered if I was still suffering from posttraumatic stress after what had happened to Raban the policeman.

I walked fast and approached the researchers. The Doctor had said they were from the university, but that didn’t make sense based on what I’d heard from my brothers. And besides, what kind of researchers were they? If they were geologists or something like that, where had they been hiding till now?  Related to the plague or not, how was it possible they could know nothing about the gases that emerged from this pool before I told my story? If they were geologists why hadn’t they mapped the planet? Why hadn’t they just gone out and scanned the land just to get to know their planet’s geography?

When they disappeared behind the canes, I started to think that maybe Dug was right after all. The chance that this has anything to do with the strange plague was slim. Even if it were related, the chances that these people would find that relationship was even slimmer.

The researchers collected rock samples, soil samples, vegetation, and water samples. They didn’t have diving equipment and when I waved to the center of the pool they didn’t understand what I wanted. I thought that if there really was something in the water it was probably more significant close to the center of the pool where the holes were gouged into the bottom. If so, I thought we should sample there. I did my best to make them understand, but nothing I tried made sense, and the Doctor and his box were up the hill.

I took my clothes off, to their embarrassment, and jumped into the water. I’d swum in the pool for a long time, so I wasn’t worried about doing it one more time. I took a small plastic container and disappeared under the water. I popped up again after a few seconds at the center of the pool. I took a deep breath and dived down to one of the holes. I opened the container, the air bubbled out and water filled it. I closed it and surfaced.  I sucked in a breath and dove again. When I reached to the edge of the hole I picked up a few stones and once again surfaced. 

I swam to the edge of the pool and gave the container and the stones to one of the researchers who were gazing at me with embarrassment. I then rushed into the cane bushes and got dressed. When I came out the researchers were busy setting up the wireless monitoring system the Doctor had mentioned. He’d explained on the way over that the system would sample the air once every few hours and send the data to the receiver at the university. As I watched them I wondered again why all this hadn’t been done before, then I remembered again that they hadn’t known about this phenomenon till now.

It was a dark night, eight days after they returned from Sosi’s house on the hill. The lights around the house were lit and the front yard of the house was bathed in pale yellow light. The Doctor parked his car in front of the gate and looked at the house. He’d come to tell them about the results of the samples they’d collected from the water. The report was disappointing. They had nothing to do with the plague and this fact made him feel disturbingly relieved. Sosi’s illness and its possible connection to the plague had made him second-guess his choice of Daio. Two years before Daio had been the only choice, but after Sosi's miraculous return and his marvelous story, the Doctor worried that he might have been mistaken. The negative results were a relief, which was odd, because it also meant that they were no closer to a solution for the plague.

“I should not feel relief,” he said to himself still watching the house. If the gases had been the source of the plague it would have been a major step toward its eradication. Not only that, it would point to Sosi as the one. The Doctor wondered why that would worry him. Had he grown too loyal to Daio? For two years Daio had done his best for Naan. He really put everything he had into improving the lives of its people. Still he had already waited two hundred years for someone who would make such a major change.

Confused, he got out of his car. Naan had thrived since Daio started interfering in the lives of its people. There hadn’t been such a change in Naan since the Doctor himself arrived here. He knew he could not ignore this simple fact but was it enough? Was it the change he was waiting for?

He strapped the box to his waist and walked to the door. It opened before he got there and Moah stood on the doorstep.

“Hello, sir,” Moah welcomed him. “They are expecting you in the dining room,”

“Thank you,” said the Doctor. He walked through the hall and turned left into the dining room.

“Doctor!” called Daio as the little man entered the dining room, “Come, join us.”

The Doctor pressed a button. “Hello everyone,” he said dryly and walked over to one of the chairs around the dining table.

“I think you should send Sosi one of your teachers,” said Daio watching the Doctor climb into the chair. It was higher than he was used to.

The Doctor looked at me. “I suppose I could,” he said. “I have no doubt you will understand the language fast enough.”

“I am already mumbling a few words,” I said in Naanite.

Moah hurried to place a plate and silverware in front of the Doctor. 

“Thank you Moah,” he said smiling.

“I understand that the reports were not encouraging,” I said.

The Doctor raised his hands helplessly. “The water is identical to the water in our faucets. It contains the same additives only minor changes in concentration.”

Dug reached into the vegetable bowl and dropped a few slices of carrots and cabbage onto his plate. He passed the bowl to the Doctor.

“Thank you,” said the Doctor and dropped two slices of carrot and two pearl sized tomatoes onto his plate.

“It is an interesting geological event, but it has nothing to do with the plague,” said Dug, still chewing. He swallowed before leaning forward, as if he was trying to whisper something. “On the bright side we won't need to explain what the purpose was of your visit to the mountains eight days ago. I think we should let the matter drop.”

“I am no scientist,” I said, “but is it possible the gas breaks down? That it doesn’t leave any traces we could measure?”

“If it breaks down up there then why does it still cause so much damage when it arrives here?” asked Dug.

“Did you ever do a post mortem on any of the victims?” I asked

“They did, but it was a long time ago,” said the Doctor. “The results are in the university archive.”

“What about the more recent victims?”