Trojian Horse

Four days had passed since Arien had heroically come back from the dead to save the Vulpeculae. Today was the day when they would bury their fallen comrades in the Capital and the atmosphere was thick with the emotion of the occasion. The ceremony was going to be held on the periphery of the city. By now the Capital had been put together much the same way it had been before Reeger arrived on Trojian. It was decided that the burials would take place when Illaha was highest in the red-blue sky.

When the time was right, Vulpeculae poured out of the city from all directions and gravitated towards the gardens just outside of the city gates. The Queen and Hethios were the last to arrive and stood next to Arien, Roue, Mato-Rayo, Turo and Elia-bi. Silence descended on the gathering when the Queen stood up before facing them with her back to the long rows of Crucie’n trees. The Crucie’n trees had sturdy grey trunks and perpetually brown leaves that seemed ready to fall over the trees but never did, their roots were very deep and had the tendency of visibly moving in search of water or nutrients sometimes shifting noticeable distances in a matter of hours. They had dug several graves around the Crucie’n trees which remained open like jaws wide open in anticipation of the bodies that were soon to be placed in them. The shuffling of the roots could be heard in the silence. Arien later found out that Crucie’n trees were indigenous to Halglar and the Vulpeculae had brought the trees with them to Trojian.

The Queen began a stirring speech about the sacrifices they had all made for freedom, not just the day their comrades were killed by the Dracien but for the freedom of the whole galaxy. She spoke about the abundance of riches and peace that awaited the fallen Vulpeculae when they met Yanwe in the life that follows. She compared the Vulpeculae to the Crucie’n tree that fights to survive and despite the hardship that had befallen them when they decided to fight injustice in the galaxy from the likes of Reeger they had never lost their belief in how just their cause was, and for that Yanwe would reward them all. She spoke of how their struggle had given birth to more heroes such as Arien who had grown to understand justice and the need to stand against evil wherever it may start to take root so that those who cannot defend themselves can share in the joys of true freedom. She concluded by speaking of how Arien had grown to be so astute and better despite constantly treating him like an outsider especially when they didn’t mean to.

The bodies were carried to the graves, each body placed in a grave then covered with the soil before another body was placed in the grave next to it until all the bodies were buried. It was a solemn occasion marked by very little conversation of any sort then when all the bodies were buried the Queen appealed to Yanwe to find them acceptable and bring them into the life that follows with all its subsequent riches. That concluded the ceremony. The crowds grew smaller and smaller until only the Queen was left with Hethios.

“What are you thinking about?” Hethios asked her after a long silence.

“I’m thinking about how Arien was right. We can’t keep him here. He has entered a realm we cannot follow him into,” she said.

“I suppose you’re right,” Hethios replied reluctantly conceding defeat.

They stood in silence looking over the numerous neat rows of Crucie’n trees until Ille and Illa had set in the distant mountains in the east before they walked back into the city.

60

Arien lingered at the entrance of the Rogue a little longer than he intended. Now that the moment had come for him to leave he was finding it a lot more difficult than he imagined it would be. For so long he had been searching for answers about himself that he seemed to have forgotten that this was his family since he could remember. It was perhaps not the one he would have wanted but certainly the one he was given. He looked back at Hethios and the Queen who were surrounded by a sea of Vulpeculae faces on which sadness of varying degrees was written. His eyes began to well up as he looked on the send-off party. He coughed, deliberately, in an attempt to compose himself.

“I will return,” he said mostly to Hethios and the Queen who looked the saddest of the group. He turned and stepped into the ship feeling that if he spent a minute longer looking at their faces he would not be able to leave. The hatch slammed shut behind him and he found his seat. He had found it the hardest to say goodbye to Nura. She simply did not understand why he felt he had to put himself in harm’s way, intentionally, to fulfil some promise she considered a guideline rather than a rule. ‘You could just as easily concentrate on eliminating evil on Trojian’ she had said. He insisted he had to go and that was the last he saw of her. She refused to see him off as he boarded the Rogue.

“You ready kid?” Roue asked noticing the distant look in Arien’s eyes.

“Yes, I think so,” Arien replied.

“Don’t worry Arien, I’ll take care of you,” Iris said to him. It was strange to him talking to a computer like it was alive and what was even stranger still was that Roue acted like it was.

“She means that,” Roue said laughing. “Think she likes you.”

“I do. Maybe a little more than you Roue,” Iris said.

“You better not mean that,” Roue joked.

Turo, Mato-Rayo and Elia-bi strapped themselves into the seats while Roue sat in the cock pit clicking away at the multi-coloured panel above the pilot’s seat. The ship hummed to life and after a little shaking it lifted off the ground slowly at first then faster and faster. Arien looked out of a viewing window and saw the ground getting farther and farther from them at a terrific speed. He felt himself getting a little dizzy when the window was blocked shut.

“It’s a little unsettling for first timers,” Iris said. “Although as I understand it you are not entirely new to interstellar travel. This though will be an experience like no other. It’s one you will definitely remember.”

Arien could not help laughing a little.

“I guess we’ll see,” he replied. He looked over at Turo who was clutching tightly to her seat and looking very uncomfortable.

“Are you going to be okay?” Arien asked her.

She faked a smile and nodded vigorously. He stretched his hand and placed it on her hand. She refused for him to take it back until they had escaped the planet’s gravity when the uneasy tugging backwards had disappeared. The window next to Arien’s seat opened again revealing Trojian floating in a sea of blackness surrounded by brightly burning suns and innumerable stars in the background.

“That is your home from up here,” Iris said.

Arien sat wide-eyed looking at the majesty of Trojian from space. Turo crept up behind him and pushed her head next to his looking down on Trojian just as wide-eyed as Arien.

“First timers,” Roue whispered to Iris.

“I think it’s beautiful that they can show such an appreciation for their home,” Iris said.

“Why is that?” Roue asked.

“I have no home. Nowhere to long for.”

“They have a home but so do you. Unlike them the whole universe is your home. Wherever this ship goes that’s where home is and I get the feeling that the family just got bigger,” Roue replied looking at the misfits he had in tow.

The viewing window was shut again to a few demonstrations.

“You need to sit down. Get strapped in. You’re about to experience your first jump gate,” Roue said sounding very excited. Mato and Elia-bi remained silent as they normally did. Roue directed his next statement at them.

Arien and Turo strapped themselves into their seats, smiling at each other, happy to have seen what they had just seen, wondering how big a place the universe actually was.

“How far is Ser-oos from here Iris?”

“Let’s just say that if we were travelling at light speed it would take three hundred years to get there.”

“So how are we going to get there without getting old?”

“That’s where the jump gate comes in. It would be rather uncomfortable trying to cover those kinds of distances at light speed but there is a way to move faster than light without moving faster than light. Nothing moves faster than light. Just remember that but there is a way to bend space and shorten the distance between two points. They call it hyperspace.”

“So how long will it take us to get there?” Arien asked.

“Thanks to the locus drive that generates access into hyperspace we will complete our journey in a little over a month. We need to measure the trajectory through hyperspace very carefully because gravitational fluctuations can cause us to deviate greatly from our destination.”

“Stop showing off, Iris,” Roue interrupted.

“Let me have my moment. I never get to talk about this stuff okay,” Iris replied.

“It’s okay really Roue. I want to know. Thanks Iris.”

“Here we go,” Arien said turning to Turo who seemed a little more comfortable.

“I hope you are ready Arien,” Turo replied.

“I think I am,” Arien replied.

Suddenly they felt an intense tugging as if they were being sucked into a hole that threatened to shred them into a thousand tiny pieces. They felt their world disappearing all around them and then it was gone. Suddenly Arien didn’t feel quite so ready.

GLOSSARY

THE ANCIENTS

Njelele – an actual place of worship still in existence in Matopos, located in modern day Zimbabwe.

OTHERWORDLY

Balliara – black legumes indigenous to Trojian with hard shells and a furry outer coating that is poisonous unless heat is applied to them before ingestion.

Georas – residents of the planet Georas famed for their spectacular feats of engineering.

Kata – literally meaning ‘sword of intention’ in the language of the ancients

Talaksh – carnivorous grey-scaled beasts with large black eyes and sharp teeth. Despite their carnivorous nature, they are quite shy and will seldom take unnecessary risks.

Vulpecula (plural: Vulpeculae): a member of the race that became Arien’s adopted family and leaders of the resistance against Reeger’s quest for dominance. Despite belonging to the same species, they are wildly different in terms of outward physical characteristics. What makes them the same species is rather their genetics and intern biology as opposed to their physical appearance.

Mer-oonit – what we know as Mars.

Ser-oos – what we call Earth.

Jocebbahs – highly carnivorous and large lion-like beasts with thick manes, large jaws and six legs. Often move in groups and will attack anything they can eat.

Noka – very large snake-like creatures whose bodies are almost as thick as the height of an average adult human body.

Thalios – mythical intangible weapon bestowed on Arien to fight against the spread of malevolence in the galaxy and the universe.

Aldebaran – a group that Arien is prophesied to unite in the future when he has mastered his abilities.

Paccer – particle accelerator cannon compacted into a hand-held weapon capable of extensive damage. Bestowed on Roue by Hethios and the Georas.

Dracien – mind-less brutes extremely loyal to Reeger. Short humanoid species with bodies covered in scales with short tails, long faces, and sharp teeth.

Illa & Ille – binary system of red dwarfs visible in the Trojian sky. Always seen close together.

Illara – biggest sun visible in the Trojian sky.

Illaha – The biggest of the four suns in the Trojian system though its relative distance from the planet makes it seem much smaller in the Trojian sky. This sun is the centre of the entire Trojian system. All the other suns and planets revolve around it.