The Orb
"The orb," Taren replied, confusion replacing anger for the moment.
"Yes." "Well, it was designed to respond to my genetic microbes." "Yes," Sariah said encouragingly. "I'm the only one who can remove it from the host while they still live. What's your point, Sariah? We both know what I did with it."
"The orb," she began in a lecturing tone, "is a protein-based data synthesizer. It obtains information through its link to the host's central nervous system. The orb distributes its components throughout the host's body until it reaches the most powerful nerve endings. It then releases the components its design requires. The host responds by providing the answers from collected memories or the input of outside influences, like the information your assignment provided for the council."
"I understand the mechanics, Sariah—what's your point?" "My point," Sariah said with a hint of irritation at the interruption, "is to remind you of its flaw." "Flaw?" "Yes. The orb was designed shortly after diplomatic relations began on Oororah-9. After its successful trials were conducted on Ratier,
informants were sent to Oororah-9 to search for detritus deposits. The Oororans were confident in our inability to locate the detritus deposits on their world and only agreed to the council's initial terms." "We could look," Taren said, sitting on the edge of the bed and focusing on Sariah's words as she sat down.
"Yes, but if we found any, we were to negotiate terms of extraction. It was difficult in the beginning because traditional methods yielded very little, if anything. After six months, the council approved the orb's use. Bathmantu was assigned to one of the local villages. He befriended many Oororans within the surrounding villages and developed a close bond with one of the young females there, Naubo of the Dracora tribe.
"She was beautiful, even for Oororan standards. She was Persian orange and had large, brown locks that hung down her shoulders. The top of her head was decorated with shorter brown locks and the leaves and branches of the nearby forest. Her eyes were shaped like a large cat, the color of almonds. The tops of her ears were pointed, and they curled toward her flowing brown locks. On either side of her neck were several rows of almost fishlike gills that she often kept hidden under her long hair.
"She had a thin line of eyebrows and a row of dark-brown dots under each eye that arched to the tip of her eyebrows. From the base of her nose to the tips of her ears was a thick, ropelike patch of skin embedded in her cheeks. Shortly after their relationship began, we found three cerium deposits.
The sites yielded more on the surface alone than Elquin had found in any single mine under her reign. "Oororah-9's panel of officials were shocked, to say the least, and reluctantly agreed to the mining of only two of the three discovered sites.
They then forbade any friendship between our worlds. Naubo was ordered to relinquish her relationship with Bathmantu. The council ordered Bathmantu to retrieve the orb without incident. However, Bathmantu found it impossible to get near her. He had no choice but towait for an opening, lest he risk war between our worlds. He'd tried several times but was forcefully refused a meeting with her.
"After roughly forty-five days, Bathmantu returned to the Dracora and asked to say good-bye to Naubo. He said that he'd been called back to Elquin. He was once again refused but informed that she was ill. The village did not know what was wrong with her, only that her strength decreased by the day and that her eyes let off a strange glow. Everyone was kept away for fear of her illness spreading. He was turned away with weapons when he said that he didn't care if he got sick.
"Taking a longer path through the forest than necessary to consider his options, Bathmantu stumbled upon a lake. He looked up to find Naubo sprawled on top of a rock by the river, with her toes dangling in the water. The edges of her long, brown hair lightly brushed the ground. When Bathmantu approached her, he was shocked to see her condition. Naubo's skin was a pale champagne, her ears drooped, and her pupils were glowing a bright Maya blue. 'Bathu,' she cooed, smiling when she saw him. Bathmantu froze midstride. She'd just called him by the youngling name his mother used often. He'd never told her of it.
"He walked toward her cautiously, now eager to ask where she'd heard the name, but when he did, Naubo just smiled and looked at him. She told him she didn't know. She'd just woken up one morning and knew, as if it was part of her own memory. She then described his childhood home with perfect accuracy. Bathmantu was stunned and intrigued. He stepped closer to her, but she waved him back, saying that she was struck with a strange illness. Bathmantu shrugged and moved closer still. He kneeled next to the rock she lay on and looked into her eyes.
"It was then he realized that the brown in her eyes was still there. The blue seemed to be glowing from behind her pupils. She was near death, he realized, and the orb was the source of it. With frantic determination, he pulled her close and kissed her. He was too late. Her exhausted body gave its last breath. With her limp body in his arms, he held her tight and cried. Bathmantu wept until he heard the village protectors approaching. He released her body, gently laying her back down on the rock. While doing so, he noticed her mouth glowing bright blue.
"Bathmantu parted her lips slightly to investigate further, and the orb lifted from within her body. It moved approximately five inches upward and hovered. Bathmantu encased the orb, put it into his pocket, and kissed Naubo once more on the head. He laid her back down on the rock and turned to leave, but he stopped instantly as he came face to face with a six-man patrol unit. Their expressions of horror at what they'd just witnessed mirrored his own feelings at what he was responsible for doing to her.
"Bathmantu bolted through the woods. Not wanting to be responsible for any more death and desperately needing some answers, he ran. When he could no longer run, he hid. When he could no longer run or hide, he faced his pursuers, the very beings he'd befriended. Despair tugged at his hearts but lessened slightly when he noticed that only four of the six now pursued him. Two must have returned for reinforcements, he reasoned. It would only make matters worse if he did not make it back to the Elquin council. He pulled the knife from his boot and hid behind a sharuba tree."
"Sharuba tree?" Taren interrupted skeptically. "What's a sharuba tree, and how do you know so many details about his assignment? You didn't get to Oororah-9 until I did." "You forget, Taren, Youkoni was my responsibility long before she was yours. When diplomacy failed on Oororah-9, I wanted to know why." Sariah sighed. "I had to take the chance presented to be on the extraction team, Taren. She was my sister." "I know, Sariah...I know." "I reviewed the orb text before we left for Oororah-9 because I had to know more about it, along with Bathmantu's experience.
That which was not scrolled, I squeezed out of him personally. I figured knowing the details would help me understand how to counter the orb's behavior to our benefit later. And a sharuba tree is the main source of sustenance for many of the tribes in the Bouju forest on Oororah-9." Sariah gave Taren a look of annoyance and said, "Please let me finish before you ask any more questions. It's frustrating."
"All right, all right," Taren said, throwing his hands up defensively, gesturing for her to continue. "The blue-green leaves of the sharuba tree worked well to hide him from the protectors. He concluded he would face them individually and set out on his first target. The males all had features similar to Naubo's, but their ears were pointed more upward than back, and they had two rows of braided flesh looping from the base of their noses to their ears. Many of them kept their hair short. The protectors, however, wore it long and free flowing. Some braided their hair, but most were not. They often decorated their flowing locks with twigs, leaves, or thongs constructed from tree vines or the large leaves of healthy trees.
"The protectors were scattered but could still see each other, for the most part. They could not see much below the waist, however, because of the forest growth. Bathmantu crouched as low as he could beside one of the trees. He then leaped for the feet closest to him. As the protector fell, shocked, Bathmantu lunged at his head and stabbed him in the neck before he could regain his bearings. Bathmantu hurriedly crouched behind a nearby shrub. The other three males gasped and hurried to their fallen brother when he did not get up.
With shrieking agony, they let out a wail that made Bathmantu cover his ears in pain. With renewed determination, they set out to find him. Separating again, they leaped forward in a sprint, aware of every single movement within sight.
"Bathmantu ran after them as quietly as he could. He lunged forward, leading with his knife when he was close enough to touch the male in front of him. As the male turned to the approaching shift in wind, he had time only to see the knife piercing his left eye socket as Bathmantu landed on his chest, pushing him to the ground. As they both fell, Bathmantu rolled, pulling the agonized man on top of him and breaking his neck in one swift motion. Bathmantu tossed the body aside and retrieved his knife. The leader called for the trio to stop when he heard a thump and turned to see only one other behind him. "'Mickrey! Mickrey!' The lead male shouted frantically, looking about.
"'He has fallen, Kuopo,' the other said, stopping when he reached his side. 'We must stay together.' With a nod, the two men started walking swiftly in the other direction. "'Bathmantu!' Kuopo cried after walking three hundred yards. 'Face me with honor, demon, for you have brought death to our people, and now it is your time to die.'
"Bathmantu inched closer to the edge of the tree limb he'd climbed onto when he saw that the two men had turned around. This time he was almost completely camouflaged by the swirling green hues of its branches and leaves. He held his long, white braid in his teeth to keep it from dangling loosely.
"'What is it you want from us? Why did you bring death to our people? Why do you befriend us only to bring us misery? How does it end? Have you poisoned our lands with your digging, as you have poisoned our maeeling?'
"Bathmantu froze. He did not know many words in the Oororan tongue, but he knew that one. He'd often heard it mentioned by the council; it meant princess. Naubo was to be presented before the council of elders as the next representative of Oororah-9, Bathmantu thought. That's why she seemed prized among the villagers; that's why she had protectors. What have I done? Mercy...I didn't know...I didn't know. How are we going to fix this? Bathmantu gently touched the pocket holding the orb. No, it is already done. This will mean war; I have to get back to the council. They must know of this. "'Why do you hide, coward?' Kuopo continued, questioning the air.
Gracefully, Bathmantu stood, released his braid, and tucked the thick blade of his knife between his teeth. He leaped for a tree limb that hung slightly over his pursuer's head. When he grabbed it, his body moved swiftly forward, knocking the male six feet back into a thorn tree. With a hard thud, the tree shook, and the body went limp. The man's midsection surrounded the eighteen-inch thorn that now stuck out of his stomach. The orange tree trunk was now covered in his blood. Bathmantu rolled to the ground, dodging the spinning spear Kuopo had lunged at him.
"His shrieking howl ripped through the air. Bathmantu's eyes watered with the pain of not protecting his ears as he watched his opponent. Desperately he searched for a way to release his agony. How long can he hold his breath? he wondered. 'I'm sorry about Naubo,' Bathmantu said. 'Her death was unintentional.'
"'Speak not of the maeeling, plague,' Kuopo interrupted. 'Your sorrow is for naught! You bring pain and suffering to us all, and now you must die.' Kuopo charged Bathmantu with knife in hand, and Bathmantu ran toward him. The two engaged in close combat, slicing and kicking at each other. Both were equally diverted. The two were of similar strength. But only one could walk away.
"Within the span of one breath, Kuopo brought his knife arm above his head and swung at Bathmantu, who blocked Kuopo's attempt and turned his back to him while stepping into the side of his striking arm. Bathmantu pulled Kuopo's arm straight down over his shoulder and then turned slightly to drive his boot knife into Kuopo's heart just below his stomach. Bathmantu dropped to his knees and sighed as Kuopo fell. He was now responsible for five deaths. 'Plague indeed,' he said aloud. 'I don't know how it ends, friend, but I do feel sorrow at what has happened here.'
"Kuopo and Bathmantu had become friends before the digging commenced, and it was that closeness Bathmantu used to get past the protectors whenever he needed to see Naubo. That, and the fact that she thought their presence was a waste of time. She would always wave them off at the first sign of Bathmantu's approach. "Sprinting for the council, Bathmantu darted unchallenged across the forest for over three miles. When he reached the outer ring of the camp, he started shouting orders for defensive positions to be held. Bathmantu did not stop to explain himself, and fighters all but ignored his warnings as they looked in the direction he'd come from for signs of pursuit.
"Once inside the camp, Bathmantu explained what had transpired to his fighters' master and gained permission to seek out the council. When he found them, he explained Naubo's fate, her parentage, and the orb's actions. Upon completing his report, it was decided that he would be safer on Elquin. His ship was the last to depart Oororah-9 before the council was taken.
"Bathmantu's warning about the Oororans' howls did not aid the council. Before his departure, they'd set out to diplomatically resolve tensions with the Oororan officials. Although their initial meetings went without incident, they refused to incorporate protection upon hearing of their disadvantage. It was said that any action to block the Oororans' instinctive behavior would cause distrust on the part of Elquin, and war might then be unavoidable."
"But war was inevitable after Bathmantu's killings, right?" Taren interrupted again. "It was the ultimate result when the council would not give up Bathmantu to be punished by Oororah-9 law. I had briefly worked with Zeeporah on the dynamics of the orb when I received the council's account.
What we eventually discovered after Oororah-9 was that the orb feeds off of the host's energy emissions. When the orb is set on a path, the answers trigger its overactive proteins, which is why it must be removed from the host within thirty days."
"And why your reports contain more information than necessary." "The orb will automatically reissue request when it obtains its objective."
"Meaning?" Taren asked, confused. Sariah sighed.
"It will seek responses to its molecular design by supplying its host with knowledge of its parentage." Sariah continued when Taren looked as if he was going to attempt solving the Elquin shield problems all by himself. "The host will experience memories of the orb while it remains within the body." Taren's eyes widened.
"If nothing is offered, the orb embeds itself within the information pathways of the host, overwhelming it and denying protein to the host body. The host decreases its overall functions due to the lack of blood flow. Over time, the host will die if the orb is not removed."
"I don't understand. How can we carry the orb without being affected like our assignment?" "Because it is designed based on your protein molecules, your memories, if you will. Your central nervous system can provide the answers to any memory it constructs because it was designed using those events."
"Before I left Elquin," Taren said, "I was told that the orb was designed closer to my microbes than any others." "I wish you knew more about the orb before you took the assignment," Sariah said, shaking her head. "The orb can be designed based on anyone. It seems that you were selected for this assignment rather than given the option to refuse."
"They believed my hatred for this world's past actions would cement my loyalty to the assignment."
"I'm sorry, Taren." Silence lingered for a long moment between the two of them as Taren stood and resumed his pacing.
"Wait!" Taren shouted, turning to Sariah.
"This means..."
"This means," she said while getting to her feet, "that you have approximately two weeks to find her before the orb kills her." "Why so little time?"
"Because she does not have the answers to the questions the orb was designed to ask. It will not take long for the orb to review all the questions it was assigned, and even less time for it to review your memories."
"Wait a minute. You intend to let me out of here?" "I do not believe Locknoff will bring her here for me to remove the orb. I will do what I can, Taren," she said, looking at the ERT standing at the door, "but that won't be much."
"I don't need much," Taren said with a smirk. Sariah walked to the door and paused before opening it. "She may not have two weeks, Taren. I'm not sure what's going on, but the energy readings from the orb are extremely high. She's headed east."
"Is my bag here?" "Yes, it was retrieved from the hotel in the hopes of recovering something useful." Sariah turned to look Taren in the eyes. "The numbers 57381 will open the door. You may have to bring her back here, Taren, if for any reason you cannot remove the orb."
"No!" Taren growled. "She's not a part of this mission." Sariah sighed. "Taren, I will not let harm come to her. Locknoff knows the risks, which is why he has already set out." "I will not kill another innocent woman, Sariah. I will find a way to—"
"What? Remove her memories of meeting you, or whatever you have to do to retrieve the orb? She will forget only that which pertains to Elquin. Your road to retrieval cannot be erased. Will you hide her from the battle if it is decided to move forward with the current plans? You may need help, Taren. Bring her back here where you'll both be safe. Or have you forgotten their capabilities?"
"I've not forgotten!" Taren shouted. "If I have no other option, Sariah, I'll consider your request." He took a breath. "As you said, she'll be of no consequence once the orb is removed."
Sariah turned to the door, input the code, and left the room. She walked back to her workstation and dug through the desk until she came upon a small box. She pulled it out and opened it. Inside was a cased syringe; connected to it was a gelcap filled with green liquid. "If you have no other choice," she said aloud. She closed the case before placing it into Taren's bag. She printed off copies of the photos Locknoff shared with the council and put those too into the bag.