Aynsefian

As we’re being led out of the courtroom by those same big males who took us in, I glance quickly at Zarasena. A return look from her confirms what I’m thinking: saying anything further would not be wise at this point.

We are marched down a relatively dark, featureless corridor. Not a word is spoken. We are alone with our thoughts.

I am astonished at the narrow-mindedness of these people. At least this time I can see the faces of those who have condemned us. They are no better than the MGC. Perhaps they’re even worse. This magical society I was so looking forward to seeing is based on xenophobia, just like the Melcheisa Galaxy. My home planet is the only place in my experience that seems free from such prejudice and misguidedness.

Now it looks as if this is for good, and I’ll never see it again.

I can feel tears forming in my eyes. This punishment breathtaking in it’s cruelty. The height of injustice reached here is something I’ve never seen nor heard of in my life before now.

A whole society has turned against us. This is not one woman playing games, with a covert positive agenda, like it was for my first banishment. We’re doomed this time. It’s truly soul-destroying.

What a disillusioning experience Aynsefian has been. The society itself is not even remotely like the one that was shown to me by Arlyss and Cindlyss. In my very core, my centre of thought and intuition, I know I can trust them. So how were they wrong? I try to rationalise it.

Somewhere, somehow, they were passed down the legend of this place. It was given to them in a positive form, where harmony was portrayed as part of the daily life of this place. Someone, or some group, passed down or recorded the legend of this place and gave them the visuals which they sent to me. Those visuals appear to be correct, as we verified when we came across the empty Aynsefian before we got sent through time to the real society.

Now that we’re here in the real civilisation though, the societal aspects are diametrically opposed to the impressions left by the visions. How to explain this? I can’t. How did the recorders of history get it so wrong? There is only one conclusion: those within the society must have been deluded, or brainwashed, or something similar. So much so that they felt comfortable within this distorted hierarchical society based on fear and misplaced status.

Any reasonable person sitting in that courtroom cannot have failed to see how unjust our treatment has been. That’s the most mystifying part of all. Zarasena was polite and earnest. She was even apologetic when she didn’t need to be. A simple chat with us would have revealed the truth. Instead, a perceived lack of discipline on my part was enough to lead to what will probably be our death.

It’s astonishingly misguided. They’re not evil. Not at all. They just have a distorted view of how life works, or how people should be treated. They, as a whole, have some distorted view of justice that I can’t fathom. I am sure Zarasena feels the same. I know her now. She’s of the same mind as me. She’d be as horrified as I am. I consider asking her for her thoughts, reasoning that any talk wouldn’t make a difference now.

That’s just the point, though. Nothing matters any more.

My heart is heavy, and I barely have the motivation to keep walking. My legs almost don’t work. One crushing turn of events after another is really starting to weigh on me. I feel a little sick to the stomach.

These people are far more ruthless and merciless than Zarasena ever was, even if she was acting. This whole courtroom scene was no act. I do not doubt for a moment that the actions of people in this place have been anything but deadly serious.

Nonetheless, it’s not over yet. Perhaps there is a way out. A small flicker of hope persists inside of me. Zarasena and I have a connection. I can feel it more now than ever. All personal attraction aside, there is something deep between us that hasn’t yet been tapped. I know it. I felt it from the moment she banished us and I hated her with a passion I’d never known before. Now we’re friends. The strength of our connection has persisted through that transition.

We’re going to need that strength. I can only assume these people are going to dump us somewhere on the planetary surface. Anything inside the cave wouldn’t be banishment if I’m reading them correctly.

Zarasena and I have to prepare for the worst.

We reach the end of the corridor. A door is opened by one of the men and we step out into a relatively well-lit and sizeable vehicle area, open to the Aynsefian sky. I would look up, but my attention is captured by the vast array of vehicles of all shapes and sizes. It’s quite bewildering on first glance, but we barely get to see any of it. We are unceremoniously shoved into a black looking aerial craft that is almost literally in front of the door we just came through.

Inside the black craft are two rows of chairs, facing each other. The seats are of a red fabric and look relatively soft and comfortable. It’s incongruous, given the purpose of this trip: to take us out into the middle of nowhere, probably, and abandon us.

“Sit down here and do not move,” says one of the big men callously.

Given that they zapped us and knocked us out back at the cliff, I expect the same if we do anything other than what they say. Zarasena and I comply. The men sit opposite us and stare directly at us. I now notice that their belts are a deep, fiery red. Not a pleasant colour. Both men are glaring directly at me. I move my gaze to the floor. Zarasena is already looking down.

The craft moves upwards, at first slowly, then much faster. It is smoother in its transitions than Nikse is. This is a very advanced ship, compared to what I’m used to.

At least we are awake this time. Nonetheless, there are no windows, so we can’t see any of our surroundings, or where they’re taking us. With the likelihood that the big men just across from us are probably armed and not willing to engage in pleasant conversation, Zarasena and I dare not talk. I don’t even look at her. Time passes slowly, and the silence is uncomfortable. I don’t like how long this is taking. It means we are probably going to be a long way from anywhere.

Death this time, seems even closer than ever. I feel its crushing weight already and we’re still in the transport ship. Coldness is gathering in the pit of my stomach and I’m trembling a little. It’s definitely not nice to be going through this experience again.

Eventually the craft slows, and then lands with a gentle thud. This too feels too nice, knowing what is about to happen to us. The two big men motion to us to get up. I half feel like causing a ruckus and resisting, but I simply don’t have the energy.

The first thing I hear as the door opens is a familiar howling sound. It means we’re on the planetary surface. That horrible wind has returned into my life. How I hate it.

The men usher Zarasena and I out of the craft and directly into the wind.

The cold is biting, straight away, but there are subtle differences this time. While still not even remotely warm, it’s not quite as cold as I remember.It’s lighter as well. There is more plant life around than before. This tells me that while we are in a different time, we may also possibly be in a different geographical location. The planet has changed between this time point, and when I first saw it a week or so ago. The plants are small and shrubby and are accompanied by wispy grass that seems to be barely surviving.

I look upwards into the sky for Firion. It’s there as before. It is still a small, white sun that’s quite nice to look at. It’s a somewhat comforting sight, despite our circumstances. It does provide a little bit of warmth and a lot of light. At least it’s daytime out here, too.

The door to the black craft shuts quickly behind us, and both Zarasena and I turn to look at it.

It’s basically a flattened cube, and I can’t see which part is the front. There’s no windows. We watch it vanish out of our sight in less than a second.

We are now alone. It’s freezing.

The brutality of this banishment is breathtaking. They left us here with nothing. At least when Zarasena and her crew dropped the old Nikse on the surface a week or more ago, we had our beds, our blankets, and even a small amount of water.

“Well this is just fucking great, isn’t it?” yells Zarasena, over the wind. It muffles her voice a bit, but not her sarcasm.

“We’ve got to get to shelter!” I yell. I don’t have the time to respond to her attempting lightening of our situation. I want to survive this if I can.

“We could be anywhere, Axin. I’m freezing.” As she yells these words, she is hopping from one foot to the other, trying to create movement and therefore warmth.

I try to look around. I’m feeling a sense of familiarity that is lighting a spark of hope within me. I turn away from the direction in which the black cube-like ship departed from and then I see it.

It’s the mountain with the cave entrance. It has to be. Or maybe not. I can’t remember it clearly. I was dehydrated when I first saw it, not to mention cold and tired. Am I imagining it? It doesn’t matter. We have nothing to lose by heading over to it. It’s really our only option.

“Zarasena! I think that’s our mountain.” I yell.

“No time for reminiscing, Fernea. Time for action!”

I get her meaning straight away. “Exactly! Let’s get over to it right now.”

Zarasena puts an arm around my waist and presses against me. Her body is right close to mine. I can’t help but wish that this was happening in a safe, warm place and not out here. That thought is only fleeting. We have no choice but to do this. “We must stay warm or we’ll die!” she exclaims.

I don’t care. She has her arm around me. It overrides every other feeling. Maybe I’m crazy. I should be worried about survival but all I can think is that this amazing woman who I’m totally attracted to has her body up against mine. I can feel everything. Every part of her.

Even better, I can feel subtly that she’s enjoying doing this, even though she knows it’s a necessity.

I really could die now. It would be okay.

These are crazy thoughts, though. Hypothermia is a very real risk right now. Then there’s a large dose of righteous indignation that I can feel between us. We can’t let those people kill us. We must find a way out of this situation. Get inside the cave somehow and then find shelter. Like before. I’ve done this already. I can do it again.

The only problem is: I’m much colder than the last time.

I’m wearing only the single layer white clothing that they dressed us in, including those soft shoes. Zarasena is dressed almost identically. They didn’t even bother to give us any warm over clothes, nor any type of hat or gloves.

They clearly don’t care if we die. I can’t believe these people. I’m more than a little angry, but there’s no time to indulge in that now. We have to walk towards the mountain. Together.

We start moving. I’m still feeling a bit giddy from Zarasena’s closeness.

The wind howls, but I swear it’s not as severe as before. I look up at the mountain in front of us. I’m not great with distances, and I do not have Salvation with me this time, but I think it’s about a kilometre to the base of the mountain. It sits on the plain around us, pointing up into the sky. This sky is slightly bluer than I remember and contains light wispy clouds, which I definitely don’t remember. The mountain itself is rocky and grey, and otherwise unremarkable. I can’t see the cave entrance, and that worries me.