Nikhil(28)

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"It's been a long day, Gryf. Get last meal and then get some rest. We'll deal with everything else tomorrow."

"And you? Will you be doing the same?"

"Eventually. I want to talk to Luol again." With that, Treyvon headed for medical.

Luol looked up from the tablet he was reading when the door to his office slid open, and then he leaned back in his chair. "I figured you'd be back."

Treyvon went to the chair, that was normally against the wall but was now in front of Luol's desk, and sat. "Tell me what you know, Luol."

Treyvon barely stopped the tablet, Luol pushed across the desk at him, from falling to the floor. Picking it up, he began to read.

"Is that possible?" Treyvon asked, raising his eyes to Luol.

"It's what the unit found."

"But she is so small, and I don't just mean in height. How can she be nearly identical to us?"

"The same way we are almost identical to the Tornians. You, better than anyone, know it is possible. You, yourself, translated the ancient text telling how once there was only one species, one people, one Emperor."

"It was nothing more than a fable, Luol, a story for offspring that one of our ancient ancestors wrote down for some reason. It was never meant to be taken seriously."

"I've never understood why you felt that way, Treyvon. You don't discount any of the other ancient texts, so why do you this one?"

"Because it isn't possible! We weren't able to travel between the stars that long ago!"

"But if we were, would you then believe?" Luol frowned at the expression on Treyvon's face. "Treyvon? What is wrong?"

"Don't you understand, Luol? If that text is true, if we were once one people and peace reigned, then that means something happened. Something catastrophic that separated us, something worse than the Great Infection, and it might still be out there affecting us."

Luol was silent for several minutes thinking about what his General and friend had said. He knew Treyvon carried the weight of what his ancestor, Chancellor Aadi, had done helping to cause the Great Infection that had quickly spread throughout all the Known Universes. It wasn't Treyvon's weight to carry, but he refused to believe that and worked his entire life to prove he had nothing in common with Aadi. That's why Luol understood why Treyvon would see the text as he did. He worried that maybe another one of his ancestors had done something.

"Or maybe what caused it is fading. We rediscovered the Tornians millenniums ago. We know both races are similar to the Ratakians, and now we've found these Humans. Perhaps what the ancient texts say once was, is trying to return."

"Perhaps." Treyvon looked at Luol, returning to the original subject. "I've just come from Nikhil's quarters and spoke with his Ashe. You said you would be giving her another treatment?"

"Yes, I told Nikhil to bring her back tomorrow. After, if she is up to it, I plan to place our educator on her so she will be able to understand and speak Kaliszian, and better understand what has happened to her and her people."

"Do you think it will help her understand where she is?"

"What do you mean? She doesn't know she's on Pontus?"

"She knows she is on a planet called Pontus, and that the Ganglians took her and the others from her planet. A planet called Earth. But she can't tell me where it is in relation to Pontus, and has never heard of any of the other planets I named. Could it just be because of the educator used on her that the names don't translate for her properly?"

"It could be. The Ganglians wouldn't have put much effort into the programming since they were selling them. They only needed to be able to understand the orders they were given. I will adjust the educator, and give her a more detailed location of the planets. That might help."

"She says the people of her world do not travel to other worlds, that they've never interacted with other intelligent species."

Luol's eyes widened. "They've never traveled in space?"

"She says they have only traveled physically to their moon. From the way she said it, I don't believe it could be that far from the planet."

"If that is the case, then no amount of detail I put in the educator is going to help her tell us where this Earth is."

"I was afraid of that. If she, or one of her males, can't tell us, then there is no way for us to get them home."

"What's bothering you, Treyvon?"

"Nikhil has found his True Mate with a species we didn't even know existed. The first True Mate since the Great Infection struck. What if there are more on this Earth, and we can't even find it?"

"Then we must find it. Because if the Ganglians can, we can. We are better than them."