NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (8 page)

Daio gazed at me. “It will take them a few hours to discover your scrambling. After that I don't think it will take long to find us.”

“What do you want to do?” I asked.

He looked back at the landing field. "I don't know where this shuttle is headed, but wherever it is, it will be safer than here.”

“You want to sneak into the shuttle?” asked Dug.

“You have a better idea?” replied Daio. “At least it will buy us some time to get organized. You and your leg, Sosi with his swollen face, everyone is looking for us and we don't even have shoes on our feet. This is the best chance we have.”

“Get organized,” mumbled Dug, “Organized for what?” he wondered.

A few people were standing beside the shuttle and more were milling around the cargo bays, but I assumed there were other people there making sure everything is well organized there.

The conveyers began to run empty at dawn. The crowd of people on the field thinned as well. The crane stopped working completely. Daio rose and walked to the edge of the cell.

“It's risky,” said Dug.

“It's the lesser evil,” said Daio. He looked at me. “Are you ready?”

In answer I stood up and looked at the shuttle.

“Go through the line of hovercrafts and wait for us,” He said.

I looked back at Dug, “What about him. I can help him.”

“Three of us will draw too much attention. Go!”

I started walking towards the hovercrafts. It was still dark and with my limited vision I had to look down and watch where I was walking. From time to time I looked up at the shuttle. It grew taller and taller as I approached. I looked back once I was close to the hovercrafts. Dug was leaning on Daio’s shoulder as they both walked slowly towards me. I walked through the hovercrafts and kept watching the shuttle. There was no one there now that I could see.  The conveyer close to me was stopped. I knew it wouldn’t be long until they retracted from the shuttle.  A few long moments passed before Daio and Dug arrived.

“I want you to climb this conveyer,” said Daio breathing heavily. “Get inside the cargo bay and hide."

“Maybe I should take your place and help Dug,” I said looking at the way he was breathing.

“You can hardly see where you are going. There is no time for chitchat. Move!”

I turned around, watched the field for few seconds, then I took a deep breath and walked quickly towards the conveyer. I climbed on the black belt and started to walk along it towards the loading bay. I didn't look up, my face was glued to the belt out of fear I would miss a step and fall off. I heard a noise behind me but could not look back.  It sounded like someone was doing something to the conveyer. I rushed forward into the entrance and into the relative safety of the shuttle’s cargo hold.

There were periphery planets in almost every settled planetary system. The "periphery" was added to their name to differentiate them from normal planets. It also hinted at their low population, or their economic backwardness. In most cases these planets were not industrialized, and the signs of progress arrived there only after a long delay. For these reasons business dealings with periphery planets were limited, and the shuttles that arrived there were in many cases old and retired.

Most shuttles landed on the closest technologically advanced planet and made sure that everything was in order before making the leap to a periphery planet. These tests were essential since it wasn't possible to carry out major repairs on such backward worlds. Any shuttle that broke down during landing, or takeoff, was most probably was doomed to die there.

A testament to this reality was the dozens of rusty shuttles lying in the endless space around Naan airport. The shuttles were rich with precious materials and hundreds of looters and metals dealers pounced on new arrivals like starving animals around a vast carcass.

Shuttle 442, landed on Naan directly from Seragon despite standard procedures dictating it should first stop on the nearby planet of Mampas.

The shuttle had gone through major renovations before this trip, and its captain felt its new control and safety systems made the additional stop unnecessary.

After shutting down its engines a sliding platform opened just below the door in the topmost deck. A waist high handrail unfolded from its three sides.  The captain, his two pilots, and a few crewmembers stepped out and looked around. From the high platform they had a great view and the harsh wilderness surrounding them struck them so hard that they just stood there speechless. 

“What a horrible place,” one of the crewmembers mumbled to himself.  He was the youngest and this was his first visit to one of the periphery planets.

“Don't worry, we have no intention of staying here any longer than we need to,'” said the captain. He looked at the wrinkles on the wide face of the cargo manager.  “It's in your hands. The faster we unload the sooner we can get out of this hole.”

They heard the rattle and bang of an approaching vehicle and turned back toward the line of vegetation. In the distance they could see an old truck towing a rusty conveyer in their direction. A line of large and small trucks coughed and sputtered behind it. From another access road a heavy crane’s engine roared to life and they all turned toward it.

The cargo manager turned to face the parade approaching the shuttle. “One conveyer,” he said shaking his head. He became nervous and turned to one of his lieutenants. “Get your people to the loading dock and steer that conveyer in. It doesn't have any proximity sensors and I don't want it to even touch us." He looked at the other crewmembers. “You know what to do, so let's get to it.”

The conveyer was lined up with the rear loading docks after just a few moments. The trucks took up positions along the length of the shuttle, waiting for the crane to arrive. The condition of the old trucks astonished the younger members of the crew and they joked with each other about what held them together. They all stopped and looked outside when the conveyer belt started to roll. It made a shrill squeaking noise that faded after a while but didn't completely vanish.

We slipped to the front of the shuttle and I immediately felt tightness in my throat. We didn't talk and stayed as quiet as possible. I stopped for a quick breath when we reached the lower levels. I thought my shortness of breath was due to all the excitement. We knew we were now on the other side of the galaxy, but we had no idea what to expect. We walked past the control room and noticed the crewmembers looked very busy. We took the stairs to the lower deck that none of the crewmembers ever used. From the lower deck we dropped down the ladder that led to the landing gear. We went down as fast as we could. The whole time the tightness in my throat grew and with it my breathing became rapid and shallow. I looked over at Daio and Dug. They were breathing fast as well and I realized this was not merely excitement but something else. Odd noises were approaching the shuttle from the other side.  Daio pointed towards the tall bushes along the border of the landing field and we all started to run towards them. I was completely out of breath soon and my legs became heavy. I went through the bushes and went down on my knees. Daio and Dug were no better off, barely limping forward. Daio stopped just in front of the bushes, panting.

“What… is going on…here?” he asked his hands on his knees.

“Where are… we?” asked Dug limping past him.

“Come on,” I said looking at them from the bushes. I saw the trucks and other equipment approaching the shuttle and worried someone would see us.

“I think it's the air…it's very thin here,” I said.

Daio rose and walked forward until he passed me.

“What is this place?” asked Dug as he hurried to join us behind the bushes.

“I don't know,” said Daio, “If it's lack of oxygen...we'll adjust.”

My face was much better, and so was Dug’s leg. We had found food in two refrigerators and also in a box we broke open in the main cargo hold. “Dried food” was stamped clearly on the side of the box. Later I wondered why preserved food was on a cargo shuttle. We’d also found a few clothes and shoes in a closet in one of the corridors between the cargo holds.  We thought they probably belonged to the crew and we were worried for a while that they would miss them. Fortunately they never came looking.

We had splinted Dug's leg with some small pieces of wood and some bandages we found in one of the first aid cabinets. The journey had taken several weeks and we’d arranged beds in a cargo room that was packed with boxes. Our hidden beds were unnecessary however, as the crew always stayed on the control deck. We never saw them for the entire flight.

We rested behind the bushes for a while. Then, on the far side of the shuttle, there was a strange tumult of engines noises. By then we had finally caught our breath, so we started to move away from the field. There was a small hill not far away. Daio pointed towards it.

“Let's climb,” he said.  “See where we are.”

In spite of our breathing problems we couldn’t help thinking that the worst was behind us. We had had plenty of time to talk about our situation during the voyage. We assumed that Seragon didn’t know where we were because if they did, they would have contacted the people on the shuttle and they would have searched for us. Since we’d made it this far, we hoped that we would be able to escape from the shuttle without being seen, and mingle somehow with the local people. If we were lucky no one would ever find us.

We lay at the bottom of the hill for a while. When we felt recovered again we stood up and started to climb the hill. A few buildings and houses appeared on the horizon as we reached the peak of the hill. To the left of the houses was a crowded forest that extended all the way to high mountain ranges in the distance. The area to the right of the houses was flat but further away outcroppings of white stone began to appear. We looked at the scenery in silence and tried to catch our breath.

“Did you notice?” I asked.

“What?” said Dug.

“There are no Flyeyes here.”

Daio looked around. “It's too early to say.”

Dug nodded, “I never saw such a view in my life,” he said quickly squeezing all words in one breath. “Not in real life,” he added.

“I doubt they will look for us here,” said Daio and gazed around him. “They wouldn't come here even if they knew. This place is worse than the prison on Seragon.”

No, it's much better than Seragon
, I thought to myself,
Seragon itself, not its prisons
. Besides I was sure they’d been about to kill us so the comparison was pointless.

We stayed there for a while. Finally I stood up and started to go down the hill.

“Where are you going?” asked Daio

“There,” I said, pointing towards the line of small houses.

“As long as the shuttle is here we should stay hidden,” he said and started to come down after me. “We can’t stand out. If the people here find out we arrived on the shuttle we may find ourselves on the way back to Seragon tomorrow.”

He was right, but there was something about this place. I sat on the ground and started digging in the dirt with my hands.

A light hovercraft whistled by above us. It zipped past the houses from the right, flew over them, and disappeared over the horizon to the left.

“Looks quite advanced,” I said.

“Another reason we should lay low for a while,” said Dug as he went down the hill.

“I agree,” said Daio. He pointed to the distant forest to our left, “Let's hide there.” 

“That is a long walk,” said Dug.

Daio looked around. “This place is too open and in any case we need to get as far away from the airport as possible. I don't see much choice.”

“We need to find something to eat,” I said and looked at the sky that was beginning to turn gray.

“Maybe we'll find something in the forest,” said Daio.

“Their Aion is starting to set,” said Dug and we all looked at the horizon to our right. The star just barely peeked over the horizon. “It's going to get dark soon and I don't think we should walk in the dark.”

Daio gazed at him.

“I actually think it's the perfect time.”

When he started to walk I stood up and followed him. Dug said something I couldn’t understand and grudgingly followed, limping on his injured leg. We found a trail not long after that seemed to lead in the direction of the houses we had seen. On the trail the walk became easier. 

The darkness didn't come as I’d expected; the gray of twilight seemed to last forever as we walked. I knew sometimes the angle of a star’s path is so shallow that daylight fades very slowly. I looked back to see how Dug was doing. Then I understood.

“Look,” I shouted.

Daio stopped and looked back. For a moment Dug thought we were looking at him, but he quickly realized it was something behind him.

“Another Aion,” said Daio.

“No, it's a nearby planet,” I said.

We stood and watched the rising of the planet until it was almost as if daylight had returned.

“So there is no real night in this place,” said Daio.

“No wonder the place is deserted,” said Dug, “How could anyone get any sleep here,” he added with a chuckle.

We continued to walk. We rested several times along the way, but finally we were too exhausted to continue.

“Come on. The forest is close,” said Daio as we lay on the ground gasping.

“My leg is killing me, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, and I can’t walk anymore. I’m stopping,' said Dug.

“I am tired, hungry, and thirsty too,” said Daio, nodding to himself. He gazed at the forest. “Maybe we'll find something to eat there.”

I didn't think he really thought so. He looked back at us.

“We’ve been lucky so far that no one has seen us walking on this trail.  Let's just get behind those trees.”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to my feet. My legs hurt so badly that I started to feel sorry for Dug.

“Need help?” I asked him. He was still lying on the ground. He looked at me, took a deep breath and reached his hand up.

“You can lean on me if you want,” I said as I pulled him up.

“No need,” he said, but I could see the pain on his face.

It took quite a while to finally reach the forest, but it was worth it. A few minutes in we heard water. The strength came back into our legs and we ran towards the noise. A small creek bubbled between the trees.

I lie down on my belly and thrust my head under the water. Daio and Dug soon followed me. I removed my shoes and stepped into the stream, then sunk down until the water covered my legs. Daio and Dug saw the joy on my face and were soon reclining in the water beside me. For several minutes we sat and enjoyed the cool water numbing our aching muscles. Suddenly I saw Dug's eyes locked onto something. He pointed across the stream where a wooden house was barely visible, hidden deep in the forest.

Daio stood up.

"This is a great opportunity to meet some of the people of this planet,” I said looking at him.

“Not as long as the shuttle is here,” he said.

“You are taking this issue with the shuttle too far,” I said, “Even if we wait a few days to come out of hiding, they’ll still know we arrived on the shuttle. This place is practically deserted. There is almost no shuttle traffic out here and whoever lives here is probably smart enough to know that people don't just fall from the sky. And besides, what are we going to eat? You want us to starve to death?”

“It looks like an isolated house,” said Dug, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself. “If we talk to them, at least we'll know what to expect from the people here.”

Daio gazed at the house again. “I don't see any movement,” he said, sounding pleased.

“Maybe it’s abandoned,” I said, “Maybe someone left some food.”

The planet hung above us. The gray light around us reminded me of a rainy day in Seragon.

“Maybe one of us should check out the house,” said Daio. “One is less risky and if there are people there they won't feel intimidated.” 

“I’ll go,” I said immediately.

Daio looked at me and nodded.  “I’ll go.”

“I look younger and less intimidating, and it's about time you stopped worrying about me so much,” I said.

In my mind I wondered though. If all of this really were my fault, then maybe if he’d watched me more carefully none of this would have happened.

“I’ll go,” he repeated as if I hadn’t said anything.

“You’re breathing like a horse. I’m quicker. If something goes wrong I’m more likely to get away.”

He gazed at the house and frowned. We put on our shoes. I stood up before they finished and started toward the house. Daio and Dug followed. A few minutes later we reached to the edge of the clearing around the house. 

“Maybe they are asleep,” said Dug. “They need to sleep sometime even if there is no real night here.”

The clearing was carpeted with dried leaves. Here and there the stumps of trees poked through. The house had a small front porch. A few long boxes that looked like small boats were aligned with care along a low fence surrounding the porch.

“I’m going,” I said.

“What will you say to them?” asked Daio, “We know nothing about them.”

“They can’t be worse than our neighbors in Seragon,” I said.

“Stop being clever! What will you do?”

“I don't know. I'll think of something. What will you do?”

“I don't know,” he said but he wasn’t in a hurry to reply.

“I’ll try to be nice,” I said restlessly.

“How will you be nice? You don't even speak their language,” said Dug.

I gazed at him. “I'll sign with my hands that I am mute. I am sure there are mute people here.”

Daio nodded but I had already started walking into the clearing. My steps on the dried leave made an annoying crunching noise, so I looked for cleared spaces in between to step on them. When I reached the porch a strange feeling came over me. I thought it was the lack of oxygen, and that I was a bit dizzy, but the feeling didn't go away when I stopped in front of the stairs. I looked back. Daio and Dug's heads were peeping from behind a tree. I looked back at the house and then realized that it was simply smaller than I expected. The stairs, the door at the edge of the porch, the fence around the porch, they all were scaled down as if it was a house of little people. I wondered if it was some trick of the shadows cast by the large planet’s strange light. This thought faded when I started to climb the stairs. I felt like I was in some sort of a children’s story, and I was the giant that walked into town.

“Hello,” I called and immediately put my hand to my mouth, remembering too late that I was supposed to be mute. I waited a few seconds and then walked up to the front door and knocked. My knock was hesitant and weak, as if I was unsure of myself, which was completely true. I knocked again, this time more firmly. I waited a few seconds but there was still no response. I walked to the window beside the door and shaded my eyes to look inside. The house was quiet. I went back to the door and tried the handle. It opened with a squeak.

“Hello. Is there anybody here?” I called wondering what I would say if someone answered my call. No one did and the house was silent.

“Hello,” I called again.

I smiled. I could be spouting juicy curses as long as they sounded soft and pleasant. I bent a little, so as not to hit the doorframe, and went inside. A table and a few chairs were in the space next to the entrance. It looked like a small lobby. A cloth roll was on the table and the cloth was unspooled across its surface and onto the floor. On my right was the entrance to a small kitchen. From where I stood I could see the sink and beside it a counter. I walked into the kitchen and tripped over the cloth on the floor. The rest of the roll fell to the floor on the other side of the table. 

The thought of food cubes filled my head and I started to look for food. I noticed a small basket on the counter next to the sink. I walked over to it.  There were dark cookies inside the basket. I knew they were cookies right away. I had tasted one once when Daio came back from a meeting with a rich client in Seragon City. He’d saved me a small piece to show me what rich families ate. Two days later, with the taste of the cookie still in my head, I found a video on the network that showed how they were made. The video showed large fields on exotic planets. It showed how they grew all sorts of grains. The most memorable thing was the rich, gold color of baked goods fresh from the oven. I stared at the basket wondering if the shuttle had brought us to one of those worlds. I reached out my hand and took one of the cookies. It felt a bit spongy. I brought it to my nose and breathed in its rich smell.   

I took a hesitant bite and a wonderful sensation filled me. I took another bite, this time with less hesitation. I chewed with great joy.

I took a third bite, and suddenly remembered Daio and Dug. I picked up the basket and rushed to the porch, waving them in. They didn't understand my waving at first. Only when I raised the cookie in my hand and took another bite, did Dug hurry from behind the tree and limp quickly across the clearing. Daio soon followed him.

“There is no one here,” I said chewing.

Dug and Daio each took a cookie and started to eat with great joy.

“Did you make sure there was no one in the house?” asked Daio, while chewing.

I looked at him as if I had something stuck in my throat.

We went inside the house.  “Hello,” shouted Daio. He looked around. Seconds passed in silence. “The people here must be small,” He said almost whispering as if he was still expecting someone to answer.

“Small or not, they eat like your rich friend in Seragon,” I replied looking at the other doors wondering what would happen if someone stepped out of one. Daio and Dug headed into the kitchen as I approached one of the doors and opened it. No one was there. I checked the other room as well but it too was empty. I went back to the kitchen. In no time the three of us finished off everything there was in the basket.

“Those,” said Dug and chewed twice, “are outstanding.”

“Amazing,” said Daio.

I nodded in agreement. “A bit different than your friend’s cookies,” I mumbled.

“It's not a cookie,” said Daio, “A cookie is supposed to be sweet. This is bread.”

I nodded. Our diet in the outskirts of Seragon had consisted entirely of synthetic cubes.

Daio walked to the small lobby and pointed towards the cloth on the table. “I think this looks like a burial shroud,” he said, still chewing.

“Now that you mention it, those boxes on the porch could be coffins,” I said.

“So this is a gravedigger’s house?” asked Dug.

“And he is not on vacation,” said Daio.

“How can you tell?” I asked

He lifted the small piece of bread in his hand. “This is not synthetic.”

Dug looked at him wondering.

“It's fresh. The people are nearby somewhere. We were simply lucky they are not at home.”

We quickly searched the house. We found clothes in the closets, but they were too small for us by at least three sizes.

   “No terminals anywhere,” I said, admiring the books on the shelves. I took one of them down and squinted at the odd letters. They only reminded me how far we were from home.

We went back to the kitchen, checked the cabinets, and found a treasure trove of fresh fruits in one. Another cabinet contained a few sealed food boxes. We put it all in a small bag we found there and left the house with our loot.

Our tiredness was starting to show. When we were a good distance from the house, we lay down among the trees and fell asleep. 

When we awoke the planet was up high in the sky again.

“It's so odd that there is never full night here,” said Daio as we walked to the creek. “The light reflected from that planet is so bright that it's impossible to know when the day starts and when it ends.”

“I guess people born here don't think it's that special,” said Dug.

“Maybe it's time to go into the city,” I said, “The shuttle must have left by now.”

“I didn't hear it taking off,” said Daio. 

“What’s a Seragonian shuttle doing here to begin with?” asked Dug.

Daio nodded, “I agree, it's strange.”

Dug looked around. “That shuttle crossed the entire galaxy to get to this abandoned planet. It doesn’t make sense,” he said more forcefully. “Why didn't we land on any of the large, advanced planets along the way? There must have been something the size of Seragon. Why land here?'

“You mean from a business perspective,” said Daio.

Dug nodded. “For a start.”

Daio lifted his eyebrows. “I have no idea,” he said after few seconds.

“In any case we can’t hide forever,” I said, “We are far enough away from Seragon that we don’t have to worry about them, and maybe the people here won't care so much about what we have or have not done.”