CHAPTER TWO
Retan's left eye half-opened.
It
was darker than before; he had tossed the Vireel leaf
out the window and had watched the sky when he had fallen asleep. He sighed,
his neck was hurting, and he looked up at the stars and...
...he
saw a shooting star.
He
smiled, in his city; a shooting star meant two young people had just fallen in
love. But then, the shooting star suddenly rose back into the sky, and then
began moving towards the forest located two kilometers
from the city.
"What
the hell?"
The
'shooting star' had landed in the forest? What was this?
He
stood up immediately, taken out of the fatigued state he was in a few moments
before. He had to know what that 'shooting star' was. It could have been a side
effect of the Vireel he had smoked, or perhaps of the
bottle of liquor he had swallowed one hour before. Anyway, he needed to find
out.
He
was going to the security station to ask about this...
* * *
He
stepped into the security station of the central street. There was little
activity tonight...or today if one considered that it was actually very early
in the morning. There were the usual two or three petty thieves or vandals. The
few security officers that were seated at the front desk were either: sleeping,
drunk or drinking. Retan walked to the only officer that looked able enough to
have a normal conversation and said: "Officer?"
The
security man looked bored, but not drunk or sleepy: "Yes, sir. How may I
help you on this fine day?"
"I
saw..." Retan hadn't thought in advance about how he was going to explain
the bizarre 'shooting star' he had seen. "Uh...I saw a...something in the
sky. It was like a shooting star but it began moving in seemingly random
directions and then...landed in the forests that are just a few kilometers away from here..."
The
security officer stared at him blankly.
"Uh…Is
there anything you're going to do about it?" Retan asked.
"No."
The officer said bluntly. "But I know something that you should do
about it, sir." He leaned closer to Retan as if
he was telling a secret, he said in a low voice: "Cut down on the
liquor."
Then,
the officer roared of laughter, he laughed so hard that tears began rolling
down his cheeks. Retan was frowning: "You don't believe me do you..."
He said.
The
officer continued laughing, then said: "Oh! Of
course I believe you! I believe that you saw something in the sky...But I don't
believe that it was a drunk shooting star or some drunk aliens from another
planet in their little spaceship...I believe you had a little too much booze
and you'd better get some sleep before the aliens come and get you."
Retan
grunted.
"Good
night, sir." The officer added with a smile before walking into another
room.
* * *
He
wasn't going to give up yet...Something had happened and he was going
to find out what it was.
He
was walking along the road that led into the woods. When he was a kid he had
often gone into the woods to play with his friends...They would pretend to be
bandits, security enforcers, animals and space aliens.
And today, Retan thought with a small smile, I'm going to
meet real space aliens that came to the planet aboard a flying shooting star.
The
woods covered a few dozen kilometers of surface and
were very dense. The trees went up to sizes equalling those of ten-story-high
buildings.
Retan had taken a flashlight with him in case the light
from the moons was not sufficient; and, whilst trying to slow down his
heartbeat, stepped into the large mass of leaves, tree trunks and dirt.
* * *
What
the hell am I doing?
Retan had been
in the woods for what had felt like twelve hours—even though it had only been
one or two. His flashlight was beginning to lose power and it was freezing
cold. He closed his jacket all the way to the top of the collar and continued
walking straight ahead of him… That was what his father had always told him: When
you're lost, walk straight ahead and hope for the best because going in circles
won't get you much further…
Suddenly, Retan came to a clearing in the
woods.
He
let out a loud sigh of relief: Thanks dad…He thought with a smile.
His
flashlight was now making basically no light so he switched it off and dropped
it into the left pocket of his jacket.
I
remember this place…He thought Grandfather used to bring me here to go
fishing…There was a river that flowed through this clearing…it…
He
slipped on some wet grass and lost his footing; he slipped and landed
head-first into a shallow river with a loud splash.
Well…I
guess I found the river… He thought with an exasperated sigh.
He
stood up and stepped out of the river, all of his clothes were soaked and there
was a trickle of blood coming down from a wound to the right side of his head.
He brought his fingers up to the wound and winced as they touched it.
It's
not too bad…He thought, relieved. Nothing would be worse than drop dead in
the middle of a dark forest in the middle of the night.
He
took off his jacket and tried to get as much water out of it as he possibly
could by twisting it tightly. The flashlight was now totally destroyed and he
carelessly threw it over his shoulder, thinking: The environmentalists will
be doing a sweep of the woods tomorrow anyway…
Then
he heard someone say: "Ow!"
He
jumped in terror and threw himself onto the floor. He flattened himself against
the grass and held his breath.
"What
is it?" Another voice said.
"Something
landed on my head." The first voice said.
"What
was it?"
"It
looks like…" A pause. "…a flashlight of some
sorts…"
What
the hell am I doing…I need to run… Retan jumped to his feet and dashed away
from the place where he assumed the voices were coming from.
"Look!"
He heard someone say.
Then
he heard an ear-splitting sound, there was a blinding flash of energy and he
felt something strike him in the back. He was propelled forward and he crashed
face-first onto the floor of grass.
"Great…Just
great…" Was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.
* * *
"Great…Just
great…" Sylvia Burnel groaned as her sister bent down to examine the
fallen Taranian.
"It's
no problem, Sylvia…Trust me, he will wake up in a few hours and think that he
imagined up the whole thing." Agatha said with a confident smile.
"And
what if he bumps into the Arrow?" Sylvia asked.
"It's
cloaked…"
"But
just because it's cloaked doesn't mean it's impossible to bump into
it!"
"Calm
down…" Agatha said, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Everything's going to be fine. All we have to do is find that agent and
get the hell out of here."
Sylvia
took a deep breath: "Okay…Then let's hurry."
They began to move away
from the fallen Taranian and just as they were about
to leave the clearing, Sylvia glanced back at him and said: "Sorry…"