For One Nen (18 page)

Teltel didn’t say anything to Mathis about his kind deed but he did smile.

Tala let go of Deni’s hand and headed for the door.

“Don’t go, Love,” Deni said with concern.

Tala walked a few more steps, retrieved the book she had hidden behind the sugarcane plants, and returned to sit with the crowd.

Tala showed the book to Deni. “Thought we could read since we’re going to be here a while.”

“Dusty-
books,” Aiden said, dropping to the floor with the rest of the little crowd. “Well, let’s-hear it.”

In the dim light Tala began to read.

31 BE

On the surface of the planet REEN

Chris was the first one to say, “Let’s not tell anyone else just yet,” and they all agreed. Only the cousins knew about the glowing stone.

“I saw other things down there, further down from where I took Irene,” Scout told the others.

“Yeah?! What sort of things?” asked Stella
, fully focused on the latest information of this new planet.

“Well,” Scout began. “You saw the stone. I found a passageway that glowed too. I followed this great hallway that was really tall and it went on for almost three-hundred yards or so. There was a drop off at one bend and it was even brighter down there. I had my flashlight but I turned if off at that point because it freed up my hands. I saw that there was some jagged rock all the way to the bott
om so I began climbing down.”

Lena yelled from her kitchen, “Wait, on me. I want to hear too.” She had been hosting this little soirée. She brought a tray of glasses and pitcher to the
others around the fire place.

“Oh! Lena! You’re not going to try and feed us petal juice again are you?” Irene
asked with a turned up nose.

“Just try it. You don’t know wha
t you’re missing,” Lena said.

Shane chuckled, “I’ll stick to our rations Sis, i
nstead of that native swill.”

Chris tried to put his stamp of approval on Lena’s effort and knew he pulled some weight with his cousins because he was the eldest. “I’ll take a glass. Now is this juice from the petals of the flower
they call twelish or rilla?”

Lena had made many friends among the native people where she had learned much about the edible plants on this new planet they now called home. “Twelish is
poison, Chris.” Lena answered.

Chris smiled good-naturedly as he said slowly, “So this is rilla?”

297 AE

Aboard the EGRESS

Bug giggled, which made the other listeners snap their heads to look in his direction.

Trina was the first to smile and giggle along with him.

Many from the group took a deep breath and smiled. Bug’s ability to laugh during such stress helped others in the crowd to stay calm.

31 BE

On the surface of the planet REEN

“Hrilla,” Lena corrected. “The twelish flower was named after a character in their folklore named Ish who was the gatherer of the dead. And twell is their word for four. For the four giant petals. The Hrilla flower is huge with hundreds of tiny blue petals with a fuzzy black center. The Hoth say that Hrilla was some sort of princess. She had beautiful black hair with bright blue eyes. Some of the Hoth revere her as a hero. But the people of the city despise the mere thought of her. I’m not sure why there is a difference in their history about her. However both
agree she was a real person.”

Scout said, “That’s great. But can I get back to my story?” 

“Brother, Brother!” Stella said. “This is important stuff. I heard about a flower that kills you slowly just by touching it. It’s probably that Ish thing.”

Lena tried hard to prove herself worthy of being with her older cousins in this new colony. She spoke up, “People! Have you not been here the same amount of time that I have? Why don’t you know some of this
stuff?”

Vincent teased, “’Cause we haven’t found a native we want to get
close
to.”

As
he emphasized the word 'close’, Lena’s face turned read. She sat down her tray of juice and glasses and said, “Fine. Ya’ll go ahead and drink your recycled pee.”

Their laughter immediately ceased and Shane said with
a furrowed brow, “Yeah! I’ve never quite gotten used to that. But even early astronauts did it.”

“I miss real water,” Chris said, “instead of water that tastes like chicken.” Everyone looked at Chris for a moment in shocked silence before bursting into laughter again. Even Scout who was so anxious to tell what he had discovered in the underground tunnels was laughing a great belly laugh. Chris gathered their attention again as they calmed.

“Alright, Scout you brought us together tonight. Let’s hear what you’ve got.”

“Oh! Sure! Have me follow the pee jokes,” Scout said as he leaned his head slightly to the side like he
always did when he was a little embarrassed. There were chuckles again but everyone was leaning in for an informative talk. “Okay where was I when I was interrupted?”

“You were climbing down,” Chris answered.

“Right! So I climbed down, right. And there were paintings everywhere.”

Irene asked, “Like pictures in the tunnel where you too
k me?”

“This was more. There were pictures, detailed pictur
es and paintings, and words.”

“Is there a difference?” Chris asked. “Well some were painted with colors of red and a blackish purple and some were ground out of the rock like someone had used a chisel. And some were just scratched like with another rock. But Oh! It just hit me now that I think about it when Lena was talking about the flowers. I saw a particular flower down there. Not a real flower. But I saw it many times in paint and grooved and scratched and even what I think were bones laid on the edge of a tub shaped rock in the shape of that flower.” They were all on the edge of their seats. But everyone gasped when Lena told the story
she had learned about Hrilla.

She
began telling her cousins of the stories she had heard about the beautiful Hrilla flower. Lena had met an Anthro boy named Pijin. The Anthro tribe looked and behaved most like the humans from Earth. Also, they were great story tellers and Pijin was one of the best. They had spent many evenings on Lena’s front steps watching the suns set. Lena would listen intently to his stories, his history, and his beliefs.

“Long ago before the Anthro were surface dwellers the underground was a peaceful place,” Lena began. She told the story to her cousins almost word for word the way Pijin had told it to her.

“The tribes of the water and of the Earth were in harmony. They grew a grain called seshawee and a vegetable called tephla. There were the Hoth-of the water, the Nen-small and swift, the Anthro-of strong mind, the Antip-of the Empire, the Tsila-one with nature, the Goweli-of beauty and delight, and the Het-strong and proud. Here on the surface they have another tribe called the Neph-of wisdom and peace. They say the Neph are very tall like the Het and Goweli but they can also disappear at will or sometimes without even trying, like when they get scared or embarrassed.”

“Disappear?” asked Chris. “What do you mean?”

“Well, they are there one minute and gone the next,” said Lena.

“They can teleport?” asked Scout.

“No,” answered Lena. “From what I understand they just fade right where they are and then reappear. All of the tribes have special abilities.”

“Like what?” asked her brother, Shane.

“The Goweli are beautiful and the artists of the tribes. They paint, and sculpt and write; things like that. The Het are giants and they are very strong. They were the guards of the underground empire. The Antip are from a royal line of rulers and they can push their thoughts into other people’s minds, except for the Anthro. They can’t be pushed. The Anthro sound the most like us.”

“Can those Anthro push humans?” asked Vincent.

“Antip,” Lena corrected. “It’s the Antip that can push their thoughts.”

“Ah! This is so confusing,” Vincent said in exasperation.

“No doubt,” Shane echoed.

“I guess that’s the Anthro’s special ability; they can’t be pushed. Then there are the Tsila. They have exceptional hearing and they are connected to nature somehow. Oh! And they don’t talk much. The smaller tribes are the Nen, which are very fast on land and in the water. And the Hoth are the smallest and live mainly in the water. Oh! And they have gills.”

“Gills?” asked Vincent. “Well that’s a bit disturbing.”

“Are you kidding? That would be gr
eat,” said Shane with a laugh.

Stella interrupted, “No w
onder you soared through school Lena, with a memory like that.”

Lena reveled in the approval.

“Come on, Lena. Tell us more.” Scout was always ready to get right to it.

“
Well Pijin said,” Lena began,

“Pijin?” Vincent teased. “Is he part bird?” He laughed. If Darcy would have been there she would have scolded her big brother about his ribbing. But it was because Darcy
wasn’t
there that he pestered Lena so affectionately.

Scout took over, “Come on man. Let her finish. Even if Pijin is the funniest name I
’ve ever heard,” he chuckled.

This family of cousins, who had only reunited weeks before they were approved to join this new colony, was cohesive in their relationship. They enjoyed each other an
d laughed with carefree ease.

“Okay people,
back to Hrilla,” Scout said.

Though Lena was tenderhearted and emotional about some things she was also strong and self-assured most of the time. “Well,” she hesitated and nodded a couple of times before saying, “Pijin,” the others just smiled at each other but Vincent let a little laugh escape.
Lena let it roll off of her.

“Yes! Pijin said that the Hrilla flower was named after a b
eautiful girl from long ago.”

“Beautiful girls! Now we’re talking about something,” Vincent said with feigned se
riousness.

Chris raised his eyebrows and smiled, “You got that right,” And he said in a lower tone, “Have you guys s
een the girls in our colony?”

Scout agreed, “Who on
Earth permitted that lot to come.”

Stella, Scout’s sister, stood to her feet and motioned with her arms. “Okay new rule. Nobody says a word until Lena tells her
entire
story.”

Sometimes the cousin
s’ familiarity and casualness with one another irritated Stella who liked to stay on track with the thread of conversation.

Vincent attempted to say something but as he did Stella made a pinching motion in the air and an “sssp,” sound. Then she patted the air with her hands like she was directing everyone to be seated; though she was the only one standing. Her ‘
take charge’ ploy succeeded.

Lena began again with no further interruptions right to the end.

“Hrilla was a beautiful girl who saved her people. They would sing these telling songs of their ancient history while they worked. That's how they passed it down from generation to generation.”

Vincent added without a second thought, “Like the stories my Mom used to tell of when she was a kid while we did dishes together.” The others fell silent. Vincent's skin turned co
ld, “Sorry,” he said quickly.

“Go on
, Lena,” Scout urged.

“Well, long ago, when most of the tribes lived underground, many of the Ant
hro, like Hrilla, were planters. The Het were the giants who protected the kingdom, and the Hoth were the smallest and lived in the water. Tapsin was the emperor during the Time of Hrilla. Their kingdom was invaded by the Hoth who rebelled against the empire and stole all the children. Hrilla saved her people by bringing them to the surface. She has been revered by the Hoth as almost a god ever since. But I don’t know why the city dwellers have a different version.”

“They stole children?” Scout said with a curl of his lip.

“Apparently there were killings and the Hoth were never allowed to go into the city because they were a dangerous kind of people back then,” Lena continued.

“Killings? I’ve not heard of these killings,” Scout asked while cracking his knuckles nervously.

“Me either,” Stella agreed.

“I’ve heard about it from Pitle,” Vincent said. “I mean
, one of the natives has told me a bit about their history and stuff,” Vincent had already begun to blush even before the chiding started.

Lena was the first one to say, “Wait! Wait! Wait! You not only have been able to communicate at length with a native and that native was a girl
, but that girl’s name is Pitle?”

The others had to razz Vincent for all it was worth since he was the one that so quickly gave them a good ribbing for little things.