Aynsefian

“Hi Nikse!” I say, with somewhat forced effusiveness. “I missed you too. You and Salvation.”

“I’m glad you’re safe Axin. I was worried too. I am so happy you are with Zarasena. She is a wonderful woman. She’ll be good for you.”

There is no jealousy in her tone. Jinekali really did fix her. Zarasena now has her right arm around me, as she first did out there on the planet. I can feel all eyes on us again. In a way, our romantic connection binds all of us together. I really like that.

We all move into the meal area, where Nikse prepares us food and drinks. I feel a little guilty for not even thanking her for her understanding, but I already feel as if it would be redundant. I do, however, thank her for the food and drinks.

Firstly, before we eat, I put Salvation in his charging bay. Zarasena puts the nine metallic pieces safely in one of Nikse’s fireproof lockboxes. They are our most important cargo, by far.

“Are you sure those are safe to keep, Captain Fen?” asks Jinekali. “The result of you and Mr. Fernea putting them together was quite unexpected.”

“Yeah. They’re safe. We plan to link them together again someday when the time is right,” I answer instead. Zarasena has her mouth full of food.

“It needs to be controlled this time. It was quite disconcerting, watching you and the Captain disappear, Mr. Fernea.”

“Did we really?” asks Zarasena. “We freakin’ vanished completely, huh? I guess that makes sense. We went to Aynsefian, together, and man did we have a hell of a time there!”

Please tell us, matey, what happened? pleads Cindlyss. We want to know. So badly.

Yes, will do. Right away. Moment, I reply.

I look around at everyone, finally focussing on Anathusa and Jinekali. “You asked earlier about our ability to communicate. Something happened to us in Aynsefian and now I can fully talk with these two, mentally. Lanemu also. It’s wild.”

Anathusa raises an eyebrow. “How?” she asks. “We know Zarasena can do that, but she says it’s somewhat vague and uncertain. You’re implying that you learned to do it fully while you were there?”

“They implanted us. Or something like that. Both of us,” replies Zarasena. “When we first arrived we couldn’t understand their language at all. That got us into trouble. They fixed us. It has a nice side effect. Now Axin and I can communicate clearly and easily with these three.” She sweeps her hand across the Purlinians and around to Lanemu, sitting close by on her right.

So bloody tell us what is like, yeah? says Arlyss. They say it in a humorous way, so I’m not offended. I even smirk a little.

“They really want to know,” I translate. “Aynsefian means a lot to them. Do you want to start?” I turn to Zarasena.

“No, you go,” she says softly. “I never got the chance to ask you how it felt to be treated the way they treated you. I hated it, but we never talked about it.”

All four of our friends are clearly shocked at this revelation. None more so than the Purlinians. Both of their mouths are open, and they are shrinking back into their chairs. They were most certainly expecting a magical, harmonious society. I hate to disappoint them.

I know you guys will probably not want to hear what I describe. The real Aynsefian was beautiful, but the majority of the society: not so much. You told Zarasena that you had gaps in your knowledge, yes?

Yeah Axin, we did. We heard tales mostly, of Aynsefian. Handed down to us. As per bloody usual they just told us the good bits. None of these tales ever mentioned how the society ended. That was always left out. It pissed us off, all of us. Cindlyss is quite disappointed. I feel so sad for them. It must be difficult to want something as much as they did and be ultimately let down.

I translate for Jinekali and Anathusa. They nod knowingly, as if they half expected it too. They regard the Purlinians sympathetically.

I believe Lanemu is following easily. As per usual, he isn’t saying anything, even telepathically. I hope to hear his point of view at some stage.

“Well, let me take you back to the start. Both Zarasena and I went into a black void at first. Separately. We couldn’t see, hear or feel anything, and time seemed to not exist. Then the void cleared and we met some people from our past, but we couldn’t understand them. They were speaking a weird language. Then we went back to the void again for a while, followed by exiting outside, together again, not far from the village at the cliff with the mausoleum. We got physically transported somehow. Before we knew it, we met some of the locals.”

Real Aynsefians. I’m a jealous bastard right now. But please keep going mate. Cindlyss’ manner of speaking continues to take me off guard.

I regard them with a wry smile before continuing. “There was a woman and a man who came over to us from the village. Both humans. The woman spoke to me in that strange language that we heard in the void. I responded that I didn’t understand her. They got angry with us. We thought the man was going to get violent. But he didn’t.”

“Why were they angry? You didn’t threaten them or anything, did you?” asks Anathusa.

“No, not at all. He was the same gentleman he always is,” replies Zarasena. She’s leaning into me a bit now. I love having her so close. I glance at her, but she’s waiting for me, her brown eyes watching me peacefully. Her red hair falls across her face a little. I try not to get distracted.

“Both of us were mystified as to why they got angry with us. To cut a long story short, it was because I should not have spoken to the woman at all. It was supposed to be Zarasena’s role and my speaking directly to her was considered to be a grave insult. You see, woman hold all the power in Aynsefian. Well… I mean, they used to. I keep forgetting that this is in the past.”

We hoped you wouldn’t confirm this. But goddamn it, it’s true. We didn’t want to believe it. It didn’t feel right. Arlyss’ eyes are downcast and the corners of their mouth are turned down. Their beautiful bluish-green skin has paled somewhat. I knew this would be hard on them, but it’s sad to see it.

At least we know now. Such a bloody shame though, says Cindlyss. They look much the same.

“They’re sad at this knowledge,” I translate, for Anathusa and Jinekali, glancing at the Purlinians. “They half expected it, but it’s still not what they wanted to hear.”

Zarasena continues for me. “So they took us before the head village woman or something, whoever the freakin’ hell she was, and by now we’ve both realised what’s happening in this society. I’ve stepped forward to take a leadership position. I disliked it, but we were getting aggressive looks from freakin’ everyone in town. Well, they were all looking at Axin anyway. The injustice of it galled me. How did you feel at the time?”

“I was actually okay with it. To a point. I felt like it was a weird sort of game, but I was up for it. I mean, it was wrong and they were misguided, but I realised pretty quickly that we had to adapt to their way of life or else,” I reply.

“That’s good at least. I felt bad for you. You did absolutely nothing wrong, and they all hated you.” She gives me a pat on the thigh, I can feel her relief that I wasn’t too upset. I love her devotion to me, already, at this early stage in our relationship.

It hits me for a moment. I’m in a relationship. How the heck did that happen?

“So to cut a long story short,” I repeat, “They put us in a black cube-shaped craft and then zapped us. Knocked us out. When I woke I was in some sort of recovery room, by myself. I assume you were the same, Zarasena? I never asked you.”

“Yeah,” she said.

So you learn mind talk. And their talk? asks Lanemu.

Yes. Don’t know how they did it. They never explained, I reply.

“Oh sorry. Still getting used to this,” I say, out loud. “Lanemu asked if this is where I learned how to mind speak. And to speak their language. Yes, it was. When I woke, I was fluent in their language. A bit later I found out that I could speak telepathically, too. Zarasena had the same procedure done.”

“We found ourselves in their court before probably their leader. She never said who she was. They called her the Most High,” continues Zarasena. “She was this stuck-up, self-important person, surrounded by others who were similar. About another hundred Aynsefians were in the gallery, watching us. It was apparently a big deal. Men were there in the courtroom only for their grunt, and nothing else. It was horrible. Not even bloody close to equality. Sorry guys to break this you.” She’s looking at the Purlinians as she speaks.

’s alright, love. At least we know. Do you guys reckon this is why the society died in the arse? asks Cindlyss.

I grin at their turn of phrase.

Zarasena replies. Yeah. We were told this later. Axin and I will get to that soon.

“Cindlyss asked if this is why Aynsefian died. We think so,” translates Zarasena.