Origin

I looked across at Leyla. She was stunning; the golden light from the orange moon served to enhance her beauty. Under normal circumstances I would have continued to admire her but the current circumstances were not normal; they were far removed from normal.

  I missed Earth. I really did, though I thought I wouldn’t. I missed the people, the languages, the relatively dull news. The longer I spent away from the place, the more I believed it really had been my home and the more I feared I would never see it again.

  This planet was not like Earth. It was predominantly green in colour but the foliage, if you could call it such, was not like anything I’d seen. There were no leaves or blades of grass, no tree trunks or flowers, at least not in this strange alien village to which the Prooth had led us. The only kind of ‘plant’ was made up of hundreds of small pyramids. I assumed those acted as the leaves did on Earth plants. They felt smooth on two of the faces and rough on the others. The Prooth had warned me to avoid touching the vegetation as they had only a vague idea how humans would be affected by the potential toxins most of the plant-life gave off. So far I was alright. No rashes at least.

  Besides the greenery, the village was made up of cube shaped dwellings, not unlike the houses back home in shape. They were however pale yellow in colour and seemed to be made from one solid block hollowed out. Having questioned the Prooth about these, he had told me they were in fact shaped from one solid chunk of a material they called ‘Holomei’ which could withstand powerful forces, but was easy to cut through with basic tools.

  Leyla and I followed the Prooth between these buildings, along a path of sorts, to a large dome structure in the centre of the village. I attempted to make eye contact with Leyla but her eyes were fixed on the dome. I followed her lead and stared at the thing. It was the same pale yellow colour of the dwellings and it was enormous; easily big enough to fit the entire village within. It loomed above us as we came closer.

  Upon entering the place, I immediately felt intimidated. Not only by the size and design of the structure itself, but by the atmosphere created by the thousands of Prooth within. The noise was both immense and bizarre but what followed was somehow more disturbing. Suddenly, the Prooth were silent. Not ‘very quiet’ but completely and perfectly silent.

  I looked across at Leyla again but she still avoided eye-contact as we were led towards the centre of the dome where a three tiered structure awaited us. We were ushered into the lowest section, our escort took the middle section and at the top stood a large creature not like the Prooth in morphology.

  Before I had chance to take in the situation, the creature spoke. The language was different to any Earth language and even that of the Prooth. Our escort on the middle tier translated into Earth English:

  “Their names are Leyla and Jarl and though they volunteered to help the cause of the Prooth, many of you have sought to stop their travel here and to have their kind banned from your lands. We come to the neutral space of Cenrill to discuss.

  “Ask your questions.”

  I must have looked confused because I certainly was. Leyla and I had offered our help and yet, we appeared to be on trial.

  “Why would you help us?” Bellowed the first question from a particularly large and rough looking Prooth. There was absolute silence as I opened my mouth, attempting to form an answer.

  “Uh…” Was the first sound to leave me but before I could continue, the same Prooth who originally recruited me on Earth emerged from the masses and strode to my side. He placed a hand on my shoulder and turned to the crowd. I felt a great fondness toward him.

  “What is this?” He hissed; his tone was different to that in our first meeting. It was full of disgust.

  “Why would you not accept their help? You of all Prooth know what they can do, Calna.”

  “What makes you think we can trust them?” Was the large Prooth’s reply, “I do not understand why it is that you trust them, Kesla.”

  “They are from Earth you fool. What would they gain from betraying us? The humans have absolutely no dealings with any alien race.”

  “What about the Sindenians? They reside on Earth do they not?”

  “Yes. And as you know, the humans are completely unaware of their presence. Besides, we trust the Sindenians. Or are they soon to be questioned too?”

  “Are you forgetting what the Sindenians have learned of the Humans? The violence, the greed and the destruction they cause to their own planet?”

  “And are you forgetting the other side of that argument? In our race’s youth, did we not make more terrible mistakes? Prooth and Humankind are more alike than you want to believe, Calna.”

  “They are a volatile race, regardless of the time their species has existed. I cannot trust them.”

  “Who besides Calna does not trust the Humans?” Our recruiter scanned the crowd. A Prooth to my right raised his arm and made a strange clicking sound.

  “I do not.” He said in a barely audible voice. “Their minds can be too easily corrupted or even broken. I cannot trust a being whose mind could be so easily bent to the will of our enemies.”

  “A sensible point. Thank you, Hanri. If I told you I could fortify their minds against such corruption, would you agree that they can be trusted?”

  “Under such a circumstance, I would agree. Can you do such a thing?”

  “I believe I can.” And with that, Kesla smiled and his many pointed teeth sparkled. It was quite a disturbing sight but I thought it best not to mention it at this juncture.

  The creature two tiers above looked down at Leyla and I then back in the general direction of the crowd.

  “Any further questions?” It asked. There was no reply. “Then we shall sleep. Calna and Hanri, report your new opinions tomorrow.”

  Moments later, Leyla and I were being led by Kesla from the dome to one of the dwelling-like structures we had passed earlier. We entered and waves of relief passed over me. I hadn’t even realised how stressful the situation had been until the tension in my body subsided. Kesla seemed to notice this.

  “I am sorry for their reaction to your arrival.” He said, “Are you OK?”

  “I am now. I think.” I replied. Leyla nodded and I noticed a rapid glance in my direction. Why wouldn’t she look at me?

  “Good.” Said the Prooth, grinning. “I should explain what just happened. The political situation here is incredibly complicated. We have no leaders as you do on Earth. So if a single Prooth has a differing opinion, we hold a ‘questioning’.”

  “And terrifying it was too. Thank you for the warning.” The sarcasm was for Leyla’s benefit but she didn’t seem to notice.

  “Before I left for Earth, to find you, there had been no difference in opinion; all Prooth agreed to the idea of your recruitment. Apparently, a couple changed their minds while I was away.”

  “Don’t you spend every waking hour in there arguing?”

  “You must understand that we are very different to you humans. It is in fact very rare that we have a disagreement within our species; the mind of one Prooth is almost emotionally identical to the mind of any other Prooth. There are a few of my kind however, like myself, who have a slightly different way of thinking.” Kesla then looked towards the entrance of the building we were now inside and it sealed itself solid. A nifty trick, that. I made a mental note to ask the Prooth how it worked.

  Leyla and I then followed him into a narrow hallway with walls lined with thousands of tiny silver rings but before I could properly ponder their purpose we rounded the corner into a room littered with potential questions; the walls, tables and floor were covered with many objects, none of which I recognised or could have even had a guess on what their purpose was. I opened my mouth but Kesla turned to me before words formed and held up a hand.

  “Another time, Jarl.” He said, sternly. “Leyla. You first. Please follow me.”

  She obliged and they disappeared into another room, leaving me alone for the first time since my abduction. Abduction? – Probably the
wrong word but would I have agreed to come here if I’d known about the questioning? – Yeah. Probably.

  I turned my thoughts to the room’s many mysteries and grabbed the nearest to me, turning it in my hands. It was a silver spire which tapered to an exceptionally sharp point. I turned it to view the bottom and as I did, the light caught it in such a way that it became a deep gold colour for a split second then the surface of the thing moved between my fingers. Suddenly, a thousand tiny sparkling bubbles appeared and popped against my hands. I immediately dropped the spire but the residue left on my palms spread rapidly until both hands were completely encased in silver. I shouted for Kesla. I felt as though my hands were more than just coated in the stuff; I could feel it in my flesh, creeping into my bones. Then a tingling sensation shot up my arms and I could suddenly see nothing but a bright white light.

  A moment later I heard a muffled voice. A hand was placed on my forehead and I felt something like a pinch on my neck. Within seconds my vision returned and I could hear Kesla’s voice. I expected his face to show anger, or maybe fear, but he looked bored, if anything. Perhaps I wasn’t reading the Prooth expressions correctly.

  “This is one example of how any human will be useful to our cause.” Kesla was saying. “Had I been holding this device whilst feeling the ‘trigger emotion’ I would be irretrievably dead. Your human brain cannot be affected by the chemical in the spire. Thus, you survived.”

  “I’m sorry.” I grunted. “What?”

  “That device is an enemy weapon. If I held it and felt curious, I would have been killed. You were not.”

  “Oh. Didn’t even hurt.”

  “It shouldn’t hurt. It should kill you.”

  “I was just…”

  “You’re an idiot.” Leyla interrupted. She was looking at me for the first time since I met her, but with contempt. It took a moment for my face to relax following the sudden shock.

  “There should be a notice saying: ‘Don’t touch. Deadly alien devices.’” I muttered to Kesla. He smiled. Leyla didn’t.

  “Here.” Said Kesla after a moment. “Take this.” He handed me a tiny almost-transparent square which immediately dissolved into my skin, vanishing completely.

  “So…” I began. “What was that…?”

  “It will strengthen your mind against corruption. Many Prooth, like the one in the questioning, believe your minds to be susceptible to easy alterations by the enemy; you could be turned against us, even without your knowing.”

  “Good thing you had some tiny squares lying around then.” I chuckled at my own comment. The square must have gone to my head. Leyla merely looked embarrassed to be human and turned away.

  Kesla and I spoke for hours about the Prooth and the war against a species known as the Saerg. Leyla just listened and tutted at almost every comment I made and sighed at every question I asked. After a time this grew tiresome.

  “What is your problem with me?” I demanded of her suddenly, hoping to catch her off-guard. She looked at me, seemingly annoyed that she would have to speak to me directly to answer the question.

  “I just… Don’t like people like you.”

  “You don’t even know me!”

  “I know enough. You treat everything like a joke. You almost died and you’re laughing about it immediately afterwards. If we are going to have to work together, we will both be killed by your idiocy.”

  “… I… Like to think I’m serious when needs be…” I felt ashamed and embarrassed in front of the Prooth.

  “Just… Just don’t get us killed.” Finished Leyla.

  Kesla watched Leyla and I with intrigue (I think) and remained quiet for several long seconds before speaking again.

  “We should return to the questioning. They will be gathering again by now; nights do not last long here. I will be able to prove to them that your minds are now not easily… Meddled… With…” He turned away abruptly and held a hand up to us which I took to mean ‘be silent’. He appeared to be concentrating on something.

  “No… Can’t be…” He muttered under his breath. Then he span to us again and yelled: “Run!” And a split second later there was a sharp cracking sound and Kesla fell forward. I didn’t have time to think before Leyla had my arm and was dragging me into the room where she and Kesla had been earlier. From there I saw where she was heading: a door, or at least the shape of a door in the wall. I hurried beside her and quickly began feeling around the edge of the door, attempting to find an opening.

  “Here!” exclaimed Leyla and the wall section vanished. I gasped as we hurried into the cool alien air and looked back into the dwelling to glimpse what looked like a hooded Prooth rounding the corner.

  We sped between the dwellings aiming away from the dome. Occasionally a Prooth would emerge from one of the buildings and yell in his native tongue when we were spotted. I assumed this was to alarm others to our actions but I had no idea where we stood if we were to stop and talk it out. Were we now fugitives from the whole Prooth race? Or was it just one or two of these aliens who wanted us captured? Or dead? So far, those who had seen us fleeing had only shouted. None had attempted to stop us. Regardless, I trusted only Leyla for the moment.

  We did not stop running until I could no longer make out a single Prooth-made structure in the distance. The foliage was thicker there, providing plenty of cover to allow us time to rest.

  Following a period of silence, we wordlessly rose to our feet and began to walk onwards. We had not spoken for so long now that I couldn’t come up with a topic which seemed appropriate.

  We continued to pace onwards for what felt like hours before Leyla suddenly placed a hand on my chest, stopping me from walking further.

  “Do you hear that?” She whispered. I listened. There was a faint humming sound ahead of us.

  “I do now. It sounds like it’s coming from the other side of those rocks.”

  I climbed the largest of the rocks before us and peered down at the scene on the far side. There were two Prooth and another alien humanoid stood beside a large cube which hovered above the ground and span in all directions violently. That was the source of the humming and it made it very difficult to hear the conversation the three were having but I could tell the Prooth were scared judging by their body language and expressions. The other creature looked confused.

  I watched and waited for any changes, hoping the cube would become quiet at some point. Then Leyla appeared in the scene. She walked up to the Prooth nearest me and greeted him as though he was an old friend. His face brightened at the sight of her and the other Prooth relaxed. The group seemed less threatening then, so I made the decision to join them.

  “-attacked in Kesla’s home.” I caught the end of what Leyla was telling the three.

  “Is Kesla dead?” Asked the closest Prooth.

  “He told us to run.” Replied Leyla. “He may have been knocked unconscious. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “And this is Jarl?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Hi.” I said. “Who are you?”

  “I am Mal. This is Felri.” He indicated the other Prooth. “And this is Gheid.” The other alien creature stepped forwards and shook my hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Jarl, Leyla. I am a Sindenian from Earth.”

  “From Earth?” I coughed. Leyla shook her head in dismay.

  “Yes from Earth. Did you not listen in the questioning?” Leyla said.

  “No.” I replied and Gheid laughed.

  “I’m glad you are both safe.” He said sincerely. I noticed how flawless his English was. “We can get you up to speed later. For now, we must get to somewhere safer. Mal, Felri, can you retrieve Kesla? I think we have been forced to begin our plans.”

  “Plans?” Questioned Leyla.

  “Yes.” Came Mal’s slow reply. His expression became grim and he stared at the violently rotating cube. “If you had the key to end all suffering in the universe, would you turn it? The Saerg have that key. We have reason to believe
some Prooth want it and I am sure they would use it.

  “The plan… We have been recruiting, as you know, but we are not recruiting for the war against the Saerg as we told you. We need your help and the help of the Sindenians against our own kind. To find and stop those of us who would end everything.”

  Chapter 7

  The Prooth