Razing Pel (2 page)

Kaj quickly got up out of his seat
and quickly headed to his room, his uncle following close behind.
 When his uncle finally managed to make it to Kaj's room, he
was already in a daze again.  He sat there on his bed, with
the same face he had on before.  His uncle sat down next to
him.

His uncle let out a sign before
getting off what he had on his mind.  "Go Kaj."  He
quickly snapped out of his daze.  Kaj looked over at his uncle
in confusion.  "Go.  Get off this filthy planet.
 You are young.  You don't deserve to rot along with this
planet.  Just because I might die on the outside, doesn't mean
you have to die on the inside."

There was a long pause.
 Neither of them looked at each other.  Both were soaking
in what had just been said.

"I'll do it," Kaj whispered out.
 He jumped out of his seat.  "I'll do it,
uncle!"

"Well, you heard the man on the
radio.  You don't have much time.  Get packing.  I'm
pretty sure you can ride along with the Galactic
Soldiers."

Kaj quickly started to
pack.

CHAPTER THREE

THE DEPARTURE

"Are you finished Kaj?"  His
uncle yelled.  He was sitting by the radio again, listening to
the same man from before go on about withdrawing the
troops.

Kaj ran out of his room and over
to his uncle.  He came out fully packed and ready.  Kaj
wore his blue bandana that covered most of the hair that stood up
on his head.  He also had on his dirty white shirt, and over
it was a black vest.  The ripped shorts that he had on were a
beige color.  Kaj also had on his sandals.  On his back
he wore a small back pack as well as a small sac.  

His uncle stood and gave his
nephew a hug.  "I'm gonna miss you Kaj.  Ever since you
were little, I've been taking care of you.  Now, it's time for
you to carry on the legacy of the Daj."  There was a long
pause.  "Take care, my son."

The uncle let go of his nephew.
 "I'm gonna miss you too."  He kissed the top of his
head.

They both walked over to the
porch.  The two stood there for a minute, overlooking the
entire village, as they knew this would be their last moment
together.

Kaj pulled his blade out from its
little case that was attached to Kaj's back and walked over to the
wire.  He wrapped the blade over the wire, holding on each end
with both hands.  He took one last look over at his uncle.
 Kaj closed his eyes, looked back ahead of him and jumped off.
 As he opened his eyes, he hadn't realized how long he had
been zipping down the wire.  He hesitated for a second before
eventually dropping off the wire.  Kaj dropped to the ground,
before rolling a little bit.

"Ah, dammit!" he yelled.  As
he got up, he brushed some of the dust off of his shoulders and
knees.  "My blade?"  He looked around and noticed that
his blade was lying next to a crate.  Kaj reached down and
picked up his blade, placing it back in its little case.

The village was quiet.  Not a
soul was present.  All the kiosks were empty.  The lights
in peoples' homes were off.  Kaj noticed this and thought it
was strange.  He didn't pay much attention to it, and made his
way over to the Galactic Soldiers' base.

The base defiantly stood out from
the surround buildings.  It was a large oval dome.  The
white color that surrounded the building was the brightest thing
Kaj had ever seen.  Around the sides of the base were large,
dark oval windows.

As Kaj approached the base, the
doors slid open.  When he first stepped in, he was blinded for
a second by all the lights that were inside.  Kaj rubbed his
eyes.  When his vision came back, the inside of the base was
swarmed with everyone from the village.  At the very back of
the base was a long desk and a group of Galactic
Soldiers.

One of the Galactic Soldiers got
on the intercom.  "Attention everyone."  The loud
shouting from all the Daj quickly went quiet.  "We realize
that all of you want to get off this planet.  The problem is
that we have a limited amount of room aboard the shuttle to
transport us to United City."  The shouting started up
again.

Kaj fought through the crowd of
Daj until he made it to the front desk.  "Excuse me?!" Kaj
yelled.  The shouting from everyone else completely blocked
him out from being heard.

Kaj began to grow irritated.
 He tried several more times to get the Galactic Soldier's
attention.  It didn't work.

Without thinking, Kaj pulled out
his dagger, jumped on top of the desk, and started to yell.
 All the Daj quieted down.  When they noticed the weapon
in the young humanoid's hand, the group of Daj started to back up.
 "Yeah," Kaj yelled.

"Come down, son," one of the
Galactic Soldiers said, tapping on Kaj's ankle.

He jumped down from the desk, and
placed his dagger back in his case.  "I'm sorry," Kaj
apologized to the Galactic Soldier.  "It's just ... I
..."

"It's alright little one," the
Galactic Soldier reassured.  "We need brave warriors like you
on this trip."  The Galactic Soldier pressed a small silver
button on the desk.  The part of the desk that was in front of
Kaj quickly fell to the ground.  "Come on."

A smile appeared on Kaj's face.
 He walked on through to the back.  A tall, silver door
stood in front of him.  Kaj waited as the Galactic Soldiers'
were cautiously picking others in the crowd to join them on their
adventure.

Four more Daj followed up behind
Kaj.  The first was an older one with a long white beard.
 He wore a straw hat and big, dark glasses that took up most
of his face.

The second was a younger girl,
about the age of Kaj.  She wore a purple shirt with shorts,
and her red hair was tied up in a ponytail.  Her ears were
significantly smaller than the average Daj.

The third was another young Daj.
 Looking a little younger than Kaj, he was the most obese of
the four.  His round stomach poked out from underneath his
grey shirt.  He wore a small backpack, similar to
Kaj's.

The last was a middle-aged Daj.
 He seemed somewhat familiar to Kaj.  It was then he
realized that he was the town mayor.  He wore a black jacket
and long, dark pants.  A tall hat lay upon his head.  His
nose was long and pointed, and his eyes were constantly looking
down.

"Congratulations!" a Galactic
Soldier behind the group of five said.  "You five have been
chosen to be spared and to continue the legacy of your people.
 Others from around this planet have also been chosen and are
heading to United City as are we."  The Galactic Soldier
pressed a button on his wrist.  When he did, the silver door
in front of them opened up.  A long hall of stairs that led up
was revealed.  "We may proceed."  The group then followed
the Galactic Solider up the stairs.

It seemed like hours had gone by.
 As the group finally approached the top of the stairs, they
were halted.  In front of them were two Galactic Soldiers.
 They stood in front of an old, wooden door.

"Are there anymore that are coming
up?" one of the Galactic Soldiers asked.

"Negative, this is the last
group," the other responded.  He then turned to face the
group.  "Alright.  Before you go out there, put on these
mask to keep the sand from kicking up in your face."

He then handed the five the black
masks, which they placed on.  They were similar to the helmets
that the Galactic Soldiers wore.  

"As soon as we open this door, I
want all of you to follow quickly behind us.
 Ready?"

To Kaj, it all went by in a flash.
 The door was kicked down.  Sand filled the room they
were in.  They all charged though the open world.  As
they ran, Kaj glanced around only to see the brown sand being
picked up in the air.

"Get in the shuttle!" the one
Galactic Soldier yelled, trying to yell over the wind.

Up ahead was the shuttle - barely
visible to the group, Kaj could make out a pointed front only.
 He then saw the bottom portion of the shuttle door open.
 They ran up the platform and into the shuttle.  The
platform quickly closed behind them.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE CRASH

The five of them took off the
black masks that they were wearing.  Inside were two long
benches, each coming off from the sides of the shuttle.

"You five will stay in this room
until we arrive at United City," one of the Galactic Soldiers said.
 The three then went through the door to the pilot’s
room.

The group of five sat down with
Kaj and the young female Daj on the right side, while the other
three sat on the left.

"What's your name?" the young
female Daj asked Kaj.

Kaj sat forward with his hands
cupped together.  "My name's Kaj," he answered as he sat back,
becoming more relaxed.

She smiled at Kaj.  "My
name's Maj," she introduced herself.  She noticed that Kaj
wasn't really paying attention.  He kept bouncing his left
leg.  Maj gently placed her hand on his knee.  "It's ok.
 I'm nervous also."

Kaj then smiled back at her.
 "I'm ... just … scared," he said slowly.  "I don't know
what it's like out there."

"It's ok.  My parents always
said, if you're together, you'll be safe."  There was a long
pause before another spoke.  "So, how'd you convince your
parents to allow you to leave?"

Kaj sat there for a minute in deep
thought.  He knew it wasn't her fault for mentioning his
parents.  She didn't know.  This time he held strong,
clearing his throat.  "Uh, my parents are ... gone," he said.
 It was more painful to say than what he thought.  He
shut his eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," she
said, putting her hand up to her mouth.  She had a shocked
expressed stained on her face.

"It's ok," Kaj responded, opening
his eyes again.  "You didn't know.  My uncle was actually
the one that made me go.  He knew that I didn't deserve to die
along with this planet."

"I begged my parents to allow me
to go," Maj said.  "I told them that I would make our family
name famous for me continuing the legacy of the Daj.  I mean,
we are the only planet that our species is on."

As Maj was about to say something
else, the engine turned on, cutting her voice off.  The whole
shuttle shook.  Kaj looked out the window behind him.  A
huge white wing came out the side of the shuttle.  Before they
knew it, the shuttle was on its way to United City.

Several hours passed.
 Everybody on board was asleep except for the pilots, Kaj, and
Maj.  As hard as he tried to stay awake, Kaj slowly drifted
off to sleep.

Kaj suddenly woke, but to his
surprise, the shuttle was empty.  Maj and the others were
gone.  Standing up, Kaj looked out the window, seeing that the
shuttle was still moving.  He then headed into the pilot's
room, empty.  
Who was driving the
shuttle?
he thought.

Kaj watched as the shuttle's speed
increased drastically.  In front of the shuttle a large hole
was present.  Kaj sat in the pilot's seat, pressing random
buttons and pulling on levers.  None of that seemed to have
helped.

Racing off into the hole the
shuttle went.  Kaj watched in horror as everything turned
dark.  As the shuttle neared the bottom, Kaj knew that he
wouldn't feel a thing.  The shuttle was feet away from the
bottom.  Kaj shut his eyes.  As it was just about to make
impact, Kaj found himself in a foreign area.  He opened his
eyes.

Kaj was sitting on a bench
outside, but not in the desert terrain that he was used to.
 Tall, green trees towered over Kaj.  He stood up from
the bench, looking up at the beautiful trees as the wind shuffled
their leaves.  Not knowing he was barefoot, Kaj stepped onto
the soft grass which tickled his feet.  He looked around to
see if anybody else was present.

"Hello," he said, cupping his
hands around his mouth.  "Anybody here?"  He walked
around a little bit more, trying to see if he was near a house or
structure.  It was as if his whole planet suddenly gained new
life, turning its deserts into green lands.

"Hello there son," a deep voice
from behind Kaj blurted out.  He quickly spun himself around,
staring at two shadowy figures.  They both walked
simultaneously together towards him.  The dark shadow that
fell over the both of them slowly disappeared.

The two adult Daj stood in front
of Kaj, one male and one female.  They were both wearing long
white robes.  The male Daj had short black hair while the
female had long blonde hair.