The Fate of Nations Book II The Harvest (6 page)

The Brancher had not made a request. The

Brancher made the decisions. He wanted to stay with this being Mikel. He sensed that Mikel was frightened of him, and he was wise to be, but he had no intentions of harming this wise old being, or of frightening him.
I
will let him think he has persuaded me,
the Brancher told himself.
What he does not know will not hurt him
.

The Brancher's voice moved silkily through Mikel's mind.
When will you return?
He asked. His satin smooth voice showed no indication of his intentions. “I will return here after the patrol ship has completed it's next mission,” Mikel replied.
Carefully...walk the razor
blade carefully,
Mikel reminded himself, “that could be a year, or ten years, it depends on the mission,” he added.

“And what is a year, for you?” The silky voice asked in return. “Our year, on the patrol ship,” Mikel replied, “is fifty years on Liftun.”

The Brancher knew this already. The Brancher knew every thought Mikel had now. His mind had slipped sleekly into the deepest recesses of the being Mikel's mind and had gathered all of the knowledge it contained.“I will not keep you any longer, as you must be on your way before nightfall,” the Brancher's smooth voice said as it unwrapped itself from Mikel's mind.

The brilliant white light in Mikel's mind slowly faded and Mikel was back in his body. He removed his hand from the Brancher, hesitantly, almost reluctantly, and turned to leave. After one last look back, at his benefactor, Mikel walked quickly back to his ship.

Back on board safely, with his bag of specimens safely tucked away, Mikel pressed a button on the lighted keypad at his instrument panel. The ramp retracted. He thought he heard a hurried, scratching noise as the ramp closed.

Mikel listened intently for a moment, but the sound, if there had even been one, wasn't there anymore. He pressed a quick sequence of buttons to start the craft's engines. The ship made a rapid ascent into the oncoming night sky, leaving the Brancher, and Liftun behind.

Sarah had no idea what the Brancher was. She sat against the far wall of Mikel's living area and stared at it suspiciously. Mikel was amused by her reaction to him, but he had to think seriously now. He would talk to her about the Brancher later. The first order of business was to instruct her about Serel's decision.

“You should not have doubted me,” Mikel began, “Serel read your fear.” Sarah looked at Mikel, guiltily.

She couldn't deny that she had doubted him. “Serel sees your fear as a weakness and your doubts as an insult against me,” Mikel continued. “He won't allow you to stay with me here.” Sarah was beginning to feel like the main course again, images of the Grays feasting on her intestines buffeted her mind.

“Don’t assume,” Mikel warned her, as he read her thoughts. “Serel promised that you would not die at the Grays’ hands. You do, however, have to return to their space, and stay there, until we can return you to your home.”

Serel's decision mortified Sarah. How could she survive there with the Grays? They horrified her.

“Serel’s decision is final... and... fair, don’t you think?”

Mikel asked gently. “Some of the young ones in the Command area and in these living areas are very impressionable, Sarah.”

“The young ones don't understand humans, and they have already begun to imitate you. That can't be allowed. They'll be punished, and they've done nothing wrong. It's just their nature to imitate.” Mikel paused, “Do you understand, Sarah?” he asked.

Sarah reluctantly nodded her head in agreement.

She had already seen a young one brush hair, that he didn't have, out of his face. He had instantly imitated her gesture after watching her as she stood in front of Serel.

“He is being punished now Sarah,” Mikel said.

The young one would learn a painful lesson today,
administered by Serel himself,
Mikel thought, sadly.

Sarah's eyes filled with tears. “I'm sorry Mikel, I didn't mean to get him into trouble.” “I know you didn't, Mikel replied, adding firmly,“but that is why you cannot stay in this part of the ship.”

“You won't be harmed,” he continued, as Sarah listened intently, wiping her eyes with her hand. Mikel immediately wanted to imitate her gesture, as was also his nature to, but refrained. “The Grays have been forbidden to harm you.” he stated.

Mikel glanced over at the Brancher, who stood against the far wall, listening to the discourse. “It was the best and most fair solution for you.” Mikel said resignedly, “Serel would have given you back to the Grays and you would have been killed if I hadn't intervened on your behalf. I told him how you helped me escape the prison I was in on your world.” The Brancher stretched forth one of his spindly limbs, and pulled the vivid memory from Sarah's mind.

“I told him how you walked so far from your home, alone, Mikel continued, “to set me free from the cell that the humans had locked me in.”

The Brancher explored the memory that he had pulled from Sarah's mind, feeling the heat and the bitter cold of the Earth's desert. He smelled the dust and the strange smell of the desert life that lurked under the rocks and in the dens during the daytime heat. He saw the broad expanse of stars in the night time sky. He tasted the cactus that Sarah had eaten, savoring the watery, strange, new flavor.

“He wasn't easy to convince, Sarah.” Mikel informed her, “He says that your thoughts are impure.”

The Brancher lowered his outstretched limb.“You doubt, you fear, you question, and he can't allow you to pollute the thoughts of the other beings here.” Mikel shook his head, sadly and looked at the Brancher, “He finally agreed that you didn't deserve to die at the Grays'

hands, but he also determined that you couldn't stay here with us.”

Sarah cried, but tears held no pity for Mikel, they were merely a curiosity to him. She didn't want to go back there to the Grays' space but she couldn’t stay here either. The look that Serel gave her had already told her as much.

Mikel explained to her, that he would check on her. She was always in his thoughts. He would also keep his friends Samel and Pate in a space close to her, in the event that the Grays attempted to disobey the instructions from Serel, which was very unlikely. “The Grays are an abominable caste of beings, but they are not stupid beings by any means.” Mikel stated.

Sarah felt like puking up what little bit of spongy substance she had eaten earlier. Her stomach lurched alarmingly.
So there is a fate worse than death,
she thought miserably. She felt her gorge rising. She had to go back to the Grays’ space!

The Brancher watched Sarah with interest.
This
being loves Mikel.
he thought. He had reached into her thoughts as she walked, through one of the long desert nights, to save him.

This being is worthy,
he thought, but her primordial mind, unsophisticated and base, had learned too much, too early, of the negative aspects of existence. Her doubts insulted him as well.

Mikel is an ancient!,
the Brancher fumed, silently.
He is learned and truthful.
Mikel isn't pure,
though,
the Brancher corrected himself quickly.
None
were pure, except for the Highest.

The being Sarah, loved Mikel, and she had saved
him once,
the Brancher thought, as he lowered his sensor,
she cannot be allowed to die at the Grays'

hands.
The Brancher reached back in time, to Serel's mind, as he conversed with Mikel. The Brancher made the decisions.

Mikel allowed her to stay for a few more hours while he instructed her on how to behave and what things she could and could not eat and what she could and could not do there. Sarah felt the young ones in her mind as she sat and listened to Mikel's instructions.

They curiously probed her thoughts, her ideas and her reactions. Mikel intercepted their thoughts and guarded Sarah's mind, scolding the young ones harshly. Sarah registered Mikel's instructions as carefully as she could.

When she returned to the Grays' space, Sarah eyed the Grays suspiciously, still a little afraid they might snatch her up quickly and stick her back into one of their death chambers. They eyed her coldly, in return, and barely acknowledged her return. They glanced slowly at her and then away again as they screeched softly to each other and continued working, their strangely angled heads bent over a circular piece of machinery that they had brought with them from Kryox.

Sarah stayed at a distance from them, in the weeks to follow, in case they suddenly changed their minds, but she now knew that they were more afraid of Serel than hungry for her.

Something new had surfaced from Serel’s

decision to spare her, something that could be very useful to the Grays. Since Serel had forbidden them to harm her, or kill her, she had become, in their thoughts, sanctified, and even though they despised her, they saw a potential use for her.

Sarah, in the minds of the Grays was now

sanctified. This occurred because she was spared. In their ritual, anyone spared, or sanctified, was sacred.

Anything she did was forgivable. Anything she agreed to would be accepted or sanctified. Anything sanctified could then be justified.

If she agreed with them, it would give them permission to proceed with any plan they proposed.

This was an integral function in the hierarchy of all beings.

According to the Great Ritual, any proposal had to be sanctified before it could be put into action.

Justification equaled sanctification and something sanctified would always be justified.

They slipped subtle messages into Sarah's mind, trying to get her to agree with them on all kinds of things as they talked about their plans.

Sarah followed the Grays around in their space and watched from a distance as they adjusted and repaired and maintained the massive machines that kept the Patrol ship functioning.

Mikel translated their thoughts to Sarah, when the Grays weren't directing their thoughts directly into her mind. In this way, she was able to listen in as they talked to each other. It was eavesdropping, in a sense, except the conversation was filtered first by Mikel.

There were many things that Sarah's primitive mind would never be able to accept or grasp. Things that would hurt her mind in irreparable ways. Mikel carefully sifted through the information storehouses of the Grays' minds, selecting only what was

comprehensible and suitable for Sarah's mind to receive.

Of the information that Mikel chose to translate to Sarah, was that the Grays wanted desperately to return to their home planet and participate in something they called “The Harvest.” They missed performing “The Ritual” at night with their own kind. They wanted their own ship, and meant to have one before The Harvest took place.

The Harvest was a big four month long

celebration that the Grays looked forward to each year.

One was scheduled to begin soon, and the Grays talked longingly of being a part of it. There was always a feast to be had after the Harvest. There were events and competitions. Prizes of knowledge were given to the ship with the largest cargo, and they would also be given the honor of sitting with the Elect during the feast. It sounded great to Sarah, and she smiled as she recalled the fairs and field day activities that her school usually held in the spring every year.

“It's not the same thing, Sarah,” Mikel warned her, as he listened in to her thoughts. “Don't assume that these beings are in any way similar to you. They aren't.”

But it sounds exactly the same as a school day fair,
Sarah thought. “No Sarah, it isn't the same,” Mikel repeated, more sternly this time, “stop assuming.” he again warned her.

Sarah stopped thinking about the spring fairs and watched as the Grays cleaned and repaired their machines. A few days later, one of Mikel's friends called to her while she was walking through the passageway from the small space where she had been sleeping.

The Grays had shown her where she would be staying for the remainder of her time on board, since the death cocoons were reserved for their dinner, only. It was a small oblong room with no furniture or bed of any kind.

Sarah slept on the cool bare floor and was given food consisting of raw mashed shrimp and water daily by Samel or Pate. They brought the two coppery blue bowls, one with water, the other with raw mashed shrimp and set them on the floor for her to consume.

Each day, after she ate, she walked to the machinery spaces to see what the Grays were doing.

Since she wasn't allowed to venture into any other part of the ship, at Serel's command, her walking area was limited to these massive spaces where the Grays worked. This day, she was on her way to the largest machinery area when she heard Mikel's friend Pate call to her.

“
Sarah,
” Pate whispered in her mind.
“Mikel has
sent for you. He wishes me to escort you to his living
area.”

Serel had allowed Mikel a visit from Sarah on the condition that she was to be escorted and never left alone outside of the machinery spaces. Sarah followed along as Pate explained that Mikel had found a little being hiding in one of the tree samples they had obtained from Earth over a month ago.

“It just fell out of the
sample,”
Pate cried, clearly distressed over the little bean, as he called it. Their race did not pronounce being as be – ing, but as bean. Sarah had to stifle a giggle every time they said that word.

“We didn't even know it was in there.”
Pate continued.

“What is it?” Mikel asked, when Sarah and Pate walked into his living area. “What is this strange looking little bean called?” Sarah put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her smile...
bean,
there was that word again. She looked to where Mikel pointed, “Oh, Mikel!” Sarah exclaimed, “You know it's a kitten!” “A kit-ten,” Mikel repeated. “Yes, Mikel, a kitten, and stop pretending you don't know what it is.” Sarah laughed.