Chapter One

THE BEGINNING

JILL UREGLIMI
ZECHIA

 

"It's in this general direction."

 

"Which direction is that?" oeTembi replies as he pilots us over the tourquoise ocean of Zechia.

 

A sidelong glance; his face is turned towards me. Can he be trying for humour? I avoid his alien eyes, which see too much, gesture vaguely at the featureless sea beneath us.  In his deep, slightly accented voice; "Humans have four directions. They have north, south, east and west. Which general direction do you prefer?"

 

"How many directions do ZerShaz have?"

 

"Sixty four,"

 

I have studied the ZerShaz people, I have lived among them close to five years; my step-father was ZerShaz..."Really?"

 

"No."

 

"You're making a joke?" I force.

 

"You aren't laughing," he rejoins.

 

I can't but grin. Having lived among humans on the TSF Applewhyte for twelve years, oeTembi is not the average ZeSha. Not at all.

 

I've never know ZeSha to joke, or smile or even laugh.I'm sure they do, but not with me. Never with me.

 

This morning oeTembi had logged aboard my ship announcing; "omTay, (Captain/Lord) "I am requested to assist you in selection of an island and participate in development for your purpose."

 

Still chewing my breakfast, having not expected to see him for at least another week, I was not capable of discussion.
All I knew was that he had called me Jill the last I'd seen him. I didn't know what prompted the formality, however, returned it; "I shall refresh, omTay," I replied in Shaz, "linger beyond the access."

 

That's the prob having a First Aide of the other sex when on erssavis bathrooms have no doors.

 

As my First Aide, he had total access to me. Luckily I wasn't in the shower when he entered.  Yet, beyond my sister, Steffie, and Stacy eJovic, there weren't female Zees I'd select as Aides. Most ini were compassionless, dogmatic, addicted to gossip.

 

Males, despite their military structures had far more 'play in their personalities', (as Sharon termed it) then females, civilian or military.

 

As Steffie was a soldier on seMali's staff, and Stacy one of my 'zeduini' (para-medic), both more useful than as a 'lady in waiting', I had no one to act as p.a. I ought have enlisted a handful of young females, very young females, who had no particular position in society as attaches, but never encountered any I could trust.

 

Trust.

 

That is the centre of ZeShaz culture. And don't I know it!

 

It was my idea, and that of Sharon, to sequester the ZeSha rescued from Argale on their own island. As we both came to the idea singly, it was clearly correct.

 

I felt we should also include the crew of the Applewhyte, but Sharon was against it. Just as she was opposed to putting the Kema, an unknown species of humaniod, anywhere near ZeSha due to their ability to virtually control their thoughts.

 

It made sense, but to dump rescued slaves on their own island, alone...I had to smile remembering Sharon's retort.

 

"They won't be alone. seMali and the other female Sakari Shazi are going to each planet to recruit zeduini. I've written the speech in which the ini are told these are special ZeSha who have participated in a mission and that particulars will be revealed at a later season."

 

How clever she masks the fact they were enslaved for sixty E.Y.

 

"I've trained Mali, and she'll train the others to 'interview' the volunteers. And ask them; 'if there was a ZeSha laying on a flater, burnt and you were the zeduini in charge, would you remove his uniform?"

 

Sharon's perceptions were remarkable.

 

"Those who say yes or ask if it is necessary for treatment pass, those who giggle or say no, fail."

 

A brilliant way to get rid of those who will think of their 'morality' before medical treatment.

 

I was to be the first to arrive on Zechia and choose the islands; one for the Kema, one for the Retrieved and one for the Applewhyte crew. The ezRomiyan, once my step-father's erssavi, had come from Zechia, and collected me. Other ships would meander along to the five worlds of VeRash so that the Retrieved ZeSha could get that much more nutrition, look that much better before encountering their families. If they wanted to.

 

Giving time for family reunions or to decide whether or not they wished to encounter their descendents would eat more time.

 

Careful of Zee protocols, as the ezRomiyan went into orbit around Zechia I had a formal meeting with the Dubais of both cities, (separately) aboard the ship.  They had already received 'thumi' from the Sakari, giving all necessary orders. All that was needed is my fingerpoint to begin developing the chosen island.

 

I lingered aboard the ship, carefully planning how the settlements would go, when Temi appeared in my chamber having come at incredible speed from the 15th Sector.  I didn't ask him for logistics, or why he hadn't remained with his family. He had been presumed dead for twelve years, 'Shore leave' was not beyond contemplation. Of course, 'Shore Leave' was a human concept, a term used by the Terran Space Fleet, not known to the ZerShaz Cosmic Forces.

 

I suppose that as he is my 'First Aide' he was yanked from his family and dispatched to assist me. His personal feelings, less than a pail of spit in their organisation of society.

 

I guess that's why he had been so formal this morning. I could not expect him to be overjoyed at this mission. My lackadasical approach must add to his annoyance.

 

Zechia was a planet of no continents, only islands. Thousands of islands.

 

I knew the island I'd wanted. An island I'd seen but once. I'm glad only one pair of eyes noted I wasn't sure of the location.

 

I tried to reconstruct;  some time ago out of pique or evasion, I'd jumped in a flyer and took off. I had no desitination beyond 'away'. and had flown aimlessly.  I had been churning with frustration, the specifics of no consequence, save so upset, I had been unaware of how much time had past. Suddenly, an island had flashed green, not vegetation green, but with a hard jewel-like sparkle.

 

I had veered to it. I wanted to land, but there was no purchase. There had been a waterfall tumbling from the jewels, over the jewels, slipping beneath a canopy of trees I didn't know. 

 

I had to continue, flying over that incredible island, looking for a flat surfase. At the other end I saw a plateau which seemed to meet my needs.  Yes, it had been perfect.  I came down on the nearly level dry surface, and opened the canopy, emerging to survey Paradise.

 

The temperature was over 30o, the sun hot as I stood on the low end of a cliff. Behind me the sea, but before me, held between the prongs of rivers, was an islet, in the centre of it was a pool of deep blue water.  I stood unbelieving that such natural beauty could exist.

 

My eyes were pulled by the vegetation, lavender and purple and pink, and green, yes, but also yellow and white, expanding before me. The calls of unknown birds, birds human ears had ever heard, poked amid the lapping of sea, the rush of the rivers, the whispers of the trees moving in the breeze.

 

If I had someone to share the marvel of the island with, I would have. But I had no one. So I'd stood in reverence, feeding my soul until satiated, then got back into my flyer, returned to Zezki. The miracle of that island living in my dreams.

 

I had believed Zechia a damp grey world, but that is because the Dubais, who had selected the areas for habitation, had chosen damp grey places. It wasn't until my flyabout I learned the planet wasn't as dank and ugly as I'd thought.

 

Now, sitting beside oeTembi, I think; why hadn't I used the navigational equipment to pinpoint the location of that glorious island?

 

I peer through the transparency, straining to see anything beside endless ocean, trying to remember my path.

 

"Have you picked a direction?" Temi asks, his big face turned towards mine.

 

"Somewhere out here," I toss.

 

"Hmmm." he said, pressing his lips together as if he'd laugh. Well he could.

 

I searched, first this way then that, while my blush became body wide. We'll never find it. Maybe it didn't exist.

 

"Jill," he says, breaking the silence, "you once promised to tell me about... her, do you remember?"

 

No. I don't. Let me see, when did we have a conversation...oh yes. Hmmm, I think I did promise.

 

"Yes, but let's find the island, I think it's this way."

 

"Which way is that?" he asks.

 

I think we had this discussion already.

 

"Um, look, one side of the island is, I don't know, mica? Um, I don't know how to say that in Shaz. It's shiny, strange ...it gleams, it reflects light it..."

 

"Zha." he cuts, scanning the horizons.

 

"It is in this general area." I finalise.

 

"The 'general area' is hundreds of thousands of hitarns." he supplies.

 

"Hmmm, well...um I'll tell you what I know about her while we search." I compromise.

 

He made a small smile, I'm sure he was thinking I'd finish my long story before we found my island. Finish my story? I have spent my life telling Sharon's story. Telling it to every human that chances into my ambit, striving to explain, to warn, until I believe I have no other purpose but to be her biographer.

 

With my eyes still searching, I begin the story, realising it is the first time I am telling it to a ZeSha. I, a fully human woman am telling him about his goddess, who is also, a fully human woman. Sort of.

 

"It begins when Dak..um eDapk..um.."

 

"Call him Daktoy amid us, Jill. It renders him more affable."

 

After oeTembi's calling me 'omTay' this morning, I was surprised he would revert to casual style. I wonder if I should allow him use the nickname Sharon alone was permitted. I was forbidden to speak it, save in my thoughts. But here, in such privacy as we rarely know, I thought, why not.

 

"Okay. Daktoy was a member of the Terran Space Fleet, he was testing a prototype. He saw the Qintellum, the same entity which pulled the Applewhyte, Gautier, and the aKhtri, off course. It caught him, but he effected escape maneuvers, and broke time, winding up in the past. He didn't realise it. He only knew he had a top secret flyer he could not permit to be seen nor captured. Being above Earth, brought it into atmosphere, and then landed."

 

"Absolve me, my comprehension is faulty."

 

He spoke in Shaz, a limited language, with no other words and only one way to make certain statements.

 

"What don't you understand?" I ask in English.

 

"Time." he replies.

 

"Time?" I repeat.

 

"You say he broke

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.03.2022
ISBN: 978-3-7554-1030-0

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