The Loneliness of Stars

  ~Jakken Jalhalla Servidos, in a speech to the Terran Home Rule Council

  “Come, Jakken. Come to us. We are lonely. We want you to join our family…” I wanted very badly to go to them, even more so than before, for I was beginning to have doubts about the family I had on the ship. But I knew I could not, for the strange man would stop me again. I looked at the stars longingly. I listened to their pleas for what seemed like an eternity, and when I could finally take it no longer, I began to float up to them. Something pulled me back.

  I turned to face the masked man, standing beside me. “Do you not heed my words, Jakken? You cannot go to them. You are the Progenitor; it is your duty to live, so that the Witness in turn may live.” He shoved me backwards, and as the dream left my vision, I heard him shout, “Be gone, Psy!”

  I woke up. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. I rubbed my eyes and sat up just as the intercom came on. “All members of the crew are to report to the main cargo bay immediately.” I stood and walked out the door, locking it behind me, then made my way to the cargo hold. I passed five or so other crew members walking in the same direction, but we did not speak to each other.

  When I reached the hold, almost everyone was there. Even Fineas was present, standing apart, leaning sadly on a crate, his one good eye closed. I thought I saw a tear roll down his cheek.

  I found Michaela near the front, and stood beside her. Vincent stood several meters ahead, with Allon tied up at his feet. Allon was awake, and looked terrified. Vincent waited a few more minutes, then satisfied that everyone was there, began to speak.

  “Honored members of the crew, we stand here today to witness the rightful execution of a man, Allon Rezzat Lazu, who conspired against the goals and captain of this mission, and attempted to sow the seeds of discontent amongst the community of the crew.” He smiled wryly. “In other words, he attempted to commit mutiny. The penalty for mutiny, as we all know very well, is death.” There were many solemn nods throughout the crew.

  “In light of these charges, I hereby sentence Allon to be buried alive.” I blinked. Where on earth had he gotten that idea?

  Vincent nodded towards someone in the back, and the cargo hold doors opened, revealing the planet’s “forest” behind him. “Follow me,” he said, and picked up Allon, who did not even struggle. We did as we were told. We walked for a about a minute, until we reached a small, thick clump of trees in the forest. I wondered if Vincent had thought to put a guard in the ship.

  There was a shovel leaning against one of the trees. Vincent put Allon down and picked up the shovel. He turned to face us. “With this shovel, I will dig a hole for Allon, and I will place him in this box, which will then be placed in the hole and covered up.” He gestured towards a coffin-like box I hadn’t noticed, lying on the other side of the clump of trees. Then he began to dig. We watched him for about half an hour, until the hole was large enough. He laid the shovel to one side and walked over to the box. He opened the lid, and then walked over to Allon. As he bent down to pick him up, someone screamed, “No!”

  Allen Rasjane, a Balladian from Ulkind who I had spoken to once or twice, ran forward and grabbed the shovel. “He was innocent, you can’t do this to him!” He swung it at Vincent’s head. Vincent ducked and rolled to the side, then quickly got to his feet.

  “Allen, have some sense!”

  Allen only shrieked in response, and swung again. Vincent caught the shaft of the shovel and yanked it out of Allen’s hands, causing Allen to stumble towards him. Vincent took a step back. “Calm yourself.” Allen did not listen, and instead drew two knives from hidden pockets. He lunged at Vincent, who side-stepped, then swung the shovel in a vicious arc down on Allen’s neck. Allen’s body collapsed to the ground, and his head went flying into a nearby clump of trees.

  There was silence.

  Vincent put down the shovel wearily, and walked over to Allon. As he picked him up, he began struggling. The captain ignored it, placed him in the box, and then shut the lid before he could attempt to escape. Muffled screams came out of it as Vincent dragged the box to the hole, and then carefully slid it in. He picked up the shovel, and hesitated. He put it down, picked up Allen’s body, and placed it in the hole alongside the coffin. “Can someone get me his head?” If it hadn’t been so serious, I would have laughed at the absurdity of the question.

  Someone did, and handed it to him. He placed the head on top of the body, then filled the hole back in with dirt. He made a little mound on top of the site. “Here lies the mutineer Allon Lazu, who was a good man… until he let his rage get the better of him. Also here lies his friend, Allen… Kahyyru Rasjane, who died defending what he believed to be right.” He bowed his head. We all did likewise, ignoring the thumps and screams coming from below the ground. “May they rest in peace.”

  The crew slowly dispersed, most of them returning to the ship, until just Michaela, Vincent and myself remained. I raised my head, looked at the two of them, standing close together, then walked away. But not towards the ship.

  I wandered in the direction I had gone the first time I had been outside, where the trees became so dense that you could not travel through them. I walked along the length of the dense trees, looking for a space large enough for me to fit in between their trunks. After several minutes of searching, I found one. I hesitated a moment, looked around, and then squeezed through.

  The crack continued on for another minute or so, then gradually began to widen. After another minute, I was able to walk normally (not sideways, like I had been before), but the trees on either side were still close enough to almost touch. Only a small amount of light from Antarct filtered in through the foliage above, lending the air a gloomy feel. Small particles of dust floated gently in the beams of light. The path continued on straight for as far as I could see. I kept walking. After several minutes, I noticed that the path began to dip downwards, until just ahead, I saw the path appear to vanish, as if there was a large drop-off there. The sides of the trees still pressed in on me, though I could walk relatively comfortably.

  I stopped at the drop-off. It wasn’t a sheer cliff, but the path did get remarkably steeper. The tree line, however, got no lower, much to my surprise. The tree trunks carried on unbroken, and it looked like someone had dug a hole out of the path, revealing the roots of the “trees” on either side. And the trees did have roots. A lot of them.

  I carefully walked down the steep trail, looking in awe at the roots that made up the walls of the path. They went from the trunks of the trees into the dirt two or three meters below. They twisted and curled in random patterns, and varied wildly in size, though the average one was the thickness of my arm. I stopped as the trail leveled out again. The dirt had been removed from under the trees as well, and the roots were all that were holding the trees in the air. The interlocking roots prevented me from venturing underneath them, however.

  I took a few more steps, then noticed that there was an opening in the tree roots to my left. I stopped and thought. I had two choices: either keep walking forward, or go under the trees. It didn’t take me much time to reach my decision – my curiosity never gave me a choice. I ducked under and between the roots.

  It was much darker under the trees. There was some light filtering in, but it grew rapidly darker as I walked forward, dodging roots shooting up from the ground (or coming down from the ceiling) all around me. It wasn’t long before it was almost pitch black, with just a faint glow coming from where I had entered.

  I hesitated, beginning to become afraid, and stopped. A few seconds later, my curiosity, the family curse, kept me moving, and I went on. Soon it became completely dark, and I couldn’t see anything. My senses finally came back to me, and I turned around. I ran into something.

  My way was blocked. I tried to move forward, but felt something wrap around my ankle. I swallowed.

  The roots were moving.

  21

  “I lost a good friend today – one of my best on this accursed mission, the only
other true man of God here. The crew, they all claim to follow the word of great God in heaven, but at heart they are all atheists; all of humanity is. We have devolved to a despicable level because of the advancement in starship technologies. It is a miracle that the Church still exists at this point in time. Nevertheless, I will continue to pray for them all, and especially for my dear departed friend.”