The Scalian Legacy

It was now late afternoon in the Amazon as Kenny and Chris returned to their camp site. They had spent much of the day around the burnt clearing where the alien ship had taken Jack, Robbie and Marcelo away the night before. There had been no action at the scene all day, except for the animals slowly returning to the area. As they did so, Chris noticed the change from near silence, which is an oddity in the Amazon, to the ever increasing sounds of activity.

The burnt clearing provided a unique wide view of the surrounding region. Chris began to appreciate the many types of winged wildlife as well as the treetop animals he hadn’t previously noticed. There were black & white toucans with their large multi-colored beaks. There were yellow and blue macaws with their screeching calls as well as the softer sounds of smaller red and orange lorry parrots. There was even a group of hawks that briefly came by.

Chris also witnessed loud, fairly large howler monkeys earlier in the day and then fairly-quiet, odd-looking golden tamarins later. On the ground, the insects and occasional frogs weren’t quite as pleasant, but it all seemed to grow on Chris. How did I not realize any of this wonder earlier? Chris thought to himself. Of course, Chris was careful not to let Kenny know that he was appreciating any of this even as they returned to the camp.

“I guess we can start back, if you want.” A fatigued Kenny said as he walked with his head down. “This is most likely a grand waste of time anyway.”

“Why don’t we give it one more day?” Chris replied.

“You sure?” A surprised Kenny asked.

“Yeah.” Chris answered without elaborating. After a few moments of silence, Chris spoke up again. “Plus, I really need to get some sleep. You’re going to let me sleep tonight, right?”

Exhausted, Kenny looked up at the insufferable Chris ready to jump on him when he saw that Chris was smiling back at him. Kenny then just shook his head and had to laugh.

Captain Rauug’s small shuttle glided towards the roof of the fifty-story tall, block-wide complex where the Ministry of Justice headquarters for the capital city of Nagarus resided. The building was quite average for Nagarus. As more Scalians had moved towards the warmer cities over the past few decades, city planners had to compress buildings into tall, block-wide structures to maximize space. Open spaces had been slowly eliminated. This architecture was also important to allow ample room for rooftop landing pads, which were also quite commonplace. Air travel was the preferred method within the city for those that could afford it, with shuttles constantly in transit.

The Minister of Justice himself was there to welcome Rauug as he landed. He was dressed in a black robe with long sleeves. The robe had several insignias on the shoulder and just below it indicating his rank and accomplishments. This was a typical Scalian professional outfit. The minister had two of his noticeably younger assistants with him in similar dress, but with far fewer insignias. The minister’s presence left no doubt as to the importance of the information they hoped would be provided by Rauug’s sister. It could shift the balance of terror that had gripped the leadership of Scalia. How could my sister let herself get into this kind of trouble? Rauug asked himself.

“Wait for me here.” Rauug told the pilot in his Scalian language as he readied to exit the shuttle. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

The pilot acknowledged and Rauug exited the shuttle.

“Welcome, Captain.” The minister said as Rauug exited. Rauug bowed ceremoniously and the minister returned the gesture.

Rauug couldn’t help but feel the chill in the air as he got off the shuttle. It was winter, but the capital city of Nagarus was just a few hundred miles north of the equator of Scalia and rarely experienced any cold weather. Rauug had read about the record low temperatures every year and the warnings about how the Scalian Sphere was blocking too much of their Sun’s radiation despite the many adjustments made to the Sphere over the years. Still, it was one thing to read about it and another to witness it firsthand.

“It’s colder than I remember.” Rauug commented.

“Yes, but we’re still much better off than those further north.” The minister seemed to make light of it and they began walking towards the building’s rooftop main entrance. The minister and his assistants then led Rauug towards the turbo lift and they started down to the area where his sister was being held.

“Captain, we will give you as long as you need with your sister, but we will be monitoring her for deception at all times.” The minister began while they were still in the turbo lift. “If at any point it appears that she will not be forthcoming with the information she promised to provide, we will cut the interview short.”

“I understand, Minister.” Rauug replied.

“I cannot overstate the importance of this interview.” The minister continued. “The rebellion recruitment has continued to spread and it’s becoming difficult to know who can be trusted; making life for the royals quite treacherous. If this is fruitful, you will be remembered by all of them for years to come.”

Perhaps that remembrance will buy my sister some more time. Rauug thought to himself. “I am honored to be of assistance, Minister.” Rauug answered sincerely.

Rauug was led to a midsized, quite bland, dark gray colored room with a metallic bench-like table in the middle of the room. The table was bolted firmly into the floor such that it could not be moved even by the strongest of Scalians. The entrance was at one side of the room with a one-way mirror on the other side to allow viewing from the next room. Rauug could only imagine the number of officials staring at him through that mirror.

Rauug couldn’t sit. He paced slowly in the middle of the room as he waited for his sister. He tried to remember how long it had been since he saw her. It’s been at least five years. He told himself. How could he have let so much time pass? He tried to hold back the guilt. It’s not my fault that she had descended into this abyss, he told himself all the while wondering if he could have done anything to prevent this.

Then she walked in and Rauug was pleasantly surprised. She didn’t look ragged in the least. Sure, the plain, all-white prison robe she was wearing wasn’t the most appealing, but she was well groomed, her face appeared refreshed and she walked in confidently. Similar to Rauug, she had only greyed slightly and mostly on the sides. As with most female Scalians, her facial and body hair were more thinly spread, exposing her lighter skin underneath.

“Granek, how are you?” She began as she entered. She quickly scurried towards Rauug and reached out her arms to hug her brother. Rauug was taken aback by her affection as he had feared reprisal for not having come to help her earlier, not joy. Rauug awkwardly hugged her and then the guard that had come in with Ectsy, pulled her away from Rauug and told her to sit. Rauug remained standing as she complied while peacefully smiling at Rauug the entire time. The guard then indicated that he would be just outside and left the room.

“It’s been a long time, Granek.” Ectsy began the conversation.

“Yes, it has.” Rauug wasn’t certain where to start. “How could you...”

“Don’t start with that,” Ectsy interrupted. “We covered all of that last time and you know very well why I’m involved in this.”

“Then why ask for me?” Rauug barked back. It didn’t take long for his sister to begin to get under Rauug’s skin as he began to pace in front of her.

“I wanted to see you one last time.” She replied softly.

Rauug grunted and slowed his pacing.

“I know the kind of trouble I’m in, Granek.” Ectsy started. “And I’m ready to take responsibility for my actions. I just needed to talk to you about what is going to happen as we will need you.”

“What?” Rauug replied as he stopped pacing and stared at her. “I’ve told you from the beginning. I can’t be a party to any of this treachery. You know where I stand.”

“I know.” Ectsy continued. “And I also know what kind of Scalian you are. You are devoted to the Nagaran way of honesty and fair treatment of all Scalians. This is the kind of leadership we will need.”

“Ectsy, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rauug was beginning to think that her calm demeanor was more of an indication that she had gone insane than anything else. He decided to sit across from her on the bench. “I just need to know if you are serious about giving up the leader of this murderous rebellion. Because, if you are, then I have asked that they allow you to live for a year and that will give me time to try to get that extended.”

“You are so sweet, you know that.” Ectsy spoke softly and was noticeably emotional. “Always looking out for me even when you don’t agree with what I’m doing. The true heart of a Nagaran faithful.” She reached out her hands to Rauug.

“Ectsy, focus.” Rauug pulled back. “Are you going to do what you said you would do?”

“Yes, but you need to hear me out first without interrupting me about how all of this is horrible.”

“No promises,” Rauug replied sarcastically. “But go ahead.”

“Even after I divulge my leader, this movement will go on.” Ectsy started in a more serious tone. “The organization has reached a certain mass where it is ready to move to the next stage. There is one last key motivation or I guess series of them that should strengthen our rebellion to the point that it cannot be stopped. Once that occurs, the movement will proceed to eliminate all of the Royals on Scalia, and those non-Royals left behind in leadership roles, like you, will need to carry our people forward in the right way; the Nagaran way. When that time comes, I need you to remember this and do what is right for all Scalians and not just the elite few that will hold power with you.”

Rauug just listened in silence as he had been asked, discarding what she was saying as utter nonsense.

“We have targeted several true believers that should attain power with you. You need to work with them and follow the Pre-Visit edicts of Nagaran. The true Nagaran will. We suspect that the new books from the Nagaran Visits have lead us astray. Blindly following your leaders only serves the leaders themselves and corrupts Nagaran’s true will. We must use reason to see what is really happening and not allow our faith to be used as a manipulative tool. When you take charge, you must serve all Scalians equally as Nagaran demanded and I have faith that you will.” Ectsy paused and seemed to have finished. “Will you lead us in this way?” Ectsy asked.

“You don’t really expect me to answer that ridiculousness, do you?” Rauug replied.

“If you want me to give them the information that they asked for, yes, I do.” Ectsy said.

“Fine, then, yes.” Rauug was not in the mood to play games with an insane person.

“I don’t think you understand what I’m asking.” Ectsy continued. “Do you know that thousands of Scalians are dying every day in the northern regions? And just like the hundreds of millions that died trying to dominate the galaxy before them, all of this is because our leaders cannot accept true peace with another species. They sacrifice their own people to achieve this ludicrous goal of species dominance. That’s not Nagaran’s will.”

“What are you talking about? That is Nagaran’s will.” Rauug shot back.

“No, it’s not.” Ectsy started up again. “That tenet was introduced as of the first Visit, not before. Then the second Visit introduced the tenet to follow our leaders. Use your intellect - your reasoning capabilities! These are false tenets! They only serve our power hungry leaders and not all Scalians. They are at odds with Nagaran’s previous tenets. These have caused our downfall and must not be obeyed.”

“I’m not going to get into this with you, Ectsy.” Rauug started. “I’m a senior official in the Scalian military. I serve our leaders as best I can just as Nagaran taught us to and...”

“Oh stop it!” Ectsy suddenly turned stern. “Stop being a mindless robot! Use your brain! When leaders do not follow Nagaran’s way then they are not to be followed. When leaders force our people to freeze to death while they remain in comfort, then they are not following Nagaran’s way and must be replaced.”

“By killing them off?” Rauug had been trying to avoid getting into debate with his sister, but she had managed to suck him into one nonetheless. “How are your friends any better? How are your friends following Nagaran’s way? I don’t remember the murder of leaders being part of our scriptures.”

“And why are they our leaders?” Ectsy continued. “Who chose them? Why would Nagaran want them in charge if they are disobeying all of his main tenants? If we don’t make things better, then who will? If not by killing them off, then how?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not supposed to know,” Rauug said. “That’s why I follow Nagaran’s will.”

“That makes no sense,” Ectsy said

“Well, I feel the same about all the silliness you’ve been spewing out and I don’t really want to hear any more of it.” Rauug was done. “Can you just tell them who your leader is now?”

Ectsy glared at him for a while, but then regained her composure. “When the time comes, I know you will do the right thing, Granek. For now, I just need you to promise that you’ll remember this last conversation of ours. I need you to remember.”

“Trust me, I won’t forget.” Rauug sighed in frustration. “But, I’ll see you again anyway.”

“I don’t think so.” Ectsy smiled peacefully at her brother. “You see, my leader is Nagaran.”

“What?” Rauug was incredulous. “You told them that you would tell them who the leader of the rebellion was and how to find him. You need to do this!”

“Exactly and I didn’t lie,” Ectsy answered. “The leader of the rebellion is the true Nagaran and he can be found in the words of our scriptures.”

“Oh for Nagaran’s sake, Ectsy,” Rauug said. “You can’t be serious. They need more than that or my deal to save you won’t count.”

“I know my dearest brother. I know.” She had just completed her words when the door burst open and the guard grabbed Ectsy from her seat. Rauug reached out to touch her and was just able to softly caress her hand as she was pulled away. Rauug then stood to see that the minister had also entered the room with one of his assistants to guide her away.

“Minister, wait.” Rauug called out and the minister turned to look at him. “Can you give me another chance to talk to her?”

“Captain, I appreciate your sentiment,” the minister began. “But, we don’t even know if she has any idea who the rebellion leader is. She was just fooling us to have one last conversation with you. Something that she knew we would not have allowed otherwise. She’s quite intelligent, but I don’t think she knows anything of use.”

“What will happen to her now?” Rauug asked not really wanting to hear the answer.

“We will use the neural interpreters on her,” the minister replied sharply.

“But that will kill her and like you said, she may not even know anything,” Rauug protested.

“Captain, she is dead already and at least this way if she knows something, maybe we can get a little info out of her before she succumbs. Thank you for coming.” The minister nodded and turned to exit.

Rauug turned slowly back towards the bench, walked over to it and sat down solemnly. He just remained there staring at the empty seat where he last saw his sister.