The Cycles of Revelation Series

Artifact of the Dawn: Connecting (A Queer Sci-Fi Adventure)

Episode 20: Jevan and Ardyn share a meal with Takyra and learn more about the past of the Athla’naa people.

Following Takyra back to what she called the elevator, she took them to another level. This one had a green stripe along the corridor walls and was lined with smaller doors than the level with the storage rooms they’d found earlier. Each of these doors had a number next to it.

At the end of the long hallway, Takyra led them toward the last door. The number for this room was simply one, and below the number, it displayed Takyra’s name and rank. “These are my private quarters, for when I’m not in cryostasis. Please, come in.”

They followed her into the quarters. It was a spacious set of rooms, divided by partial walls. To their right was a seating area with a comfortable looking couch, a couple of upholstered chairs, and a low table, with a small area for food preparation to their left. Ahead of them, behind a half-wall, was a room with a bed large enough to sleep at least two people. On the far wall, next to the bed, was another small doorway.

While Jevan stared in awe at the pristine luxury of the space, Ardyn spoke up with a question. “I’m curious. Shouldn’t there be dust covering everything?”

Walking into the room on the left, Takyra ran a finger along the counter. “We programmed the ship to maintain itself. The ship filters the air to eliminate most dust particles, and the surfaces are self-cleaning. The ship recycles the dust for other purposes.”

Walking over to a panel in the wall, she pushed some buttons. There was a brief sound, and Takyra’s shoulders tensed for a moment. She made an audible sound of relief when the panel opened. They stared in shock as she pulled out a plate of steaming hot food that smelled delicious.

“Well, I’m glad the replicators still work after all these centuries,” Takyra said. “Are you hungry as well?”

“It has been a few hours since we last ate,” Ardyn admitted.

“Then you must join me. Let me make each of you a plate.”

Soon, there were three plates of food. Takyra handed one to each of them before going into a drawer to pull out some utensils and leading them toward the seating area.

Ardyn and Jevan each took a chair, while Takyra sat herself on the couch. Staring at his plate of instantly appearing food, he had to ask. “How does this all work? That seemed like magic, but I never believed in such a thing.”

Giving a brief laugh, Takyra smiled at them. “I can see how this might seem like magic if your technology has not progressed this far, but I assure you it’s not. It’s complicated to explain fully, but the replicator can take something and make it into something else. There are stores on this ship that contain all the basic components to create anything, from food to clothing.”

“That’s… incredible!” Jevan exclaimed.

“Now, let’s eat and get to know each other. I think I have as many questions for you both as you have for me.”

Jevan watched as Ardyn stared at the food in his lap, poking at it with the utensil in his hand. He then took a bite, which made his face light up with a broad smile. “This is delicious!”

Taking a bite of his own food, the burst of flavors amazed Jevan. Humming in agreement, he quickly took another bite before noticing the amused look on Takyra’s face. “This was a popular dish on Aria’naa, before we left,” Takyra explained. “Since you’re a different species, I hope it will not give you any digestive distress, Jevan.”

“My people eat a lot of the same food as Ardyn’s do, so I’m sure it will be fine,” Jevan said, digging into his food.

They were all hungry, so they ate in silence. Once finished, they placed their plates on the low table. Takyra took them and placed them back into the replicator. Sitting down again, she took a deep breath. “Let me start by explaining everything I know.”

Takyra reiterated what Cytra had told them earlier, this time stopping to explain things when either of them became confused. She told them how the experts foresaw the eventuality of Aria’naa running low on resources. Their lead scientists tried slowing population growth, but it wasn’t happening fast enough.

At the same time, they were at the early stages of interstellar travel, and had detected many habitable planets throughout the galaxy. “That’s when we sent probes to find the nearest ones without intelligent life for us to colonize. That way, they could both reduce the burgeoning population on Aria’naa and use the colony worlds to supplement the dwindling resources on their own world.

“We populated each colony ship with a mix of people from different backgrounds, especially those of the technician, medical, and agricultural classes. The Baaru’dak were the ones to build and maintain the infrastructure of the colony, look after everyone’s health, and studied our new world, while the Paahr’dak would keep the new colony fed, clothed, and grew other raw materials that couldn’t be mined or otherwise created.

“However, there had been a growing faction within the Paahr’dak, known as the Aria’asharra, that didn’t agree that the Baaru’dak were needed. Many Aria’asharra wanted a colony ship of their own, so they could find a planet where they could go back to nature and a simpler way of life.

“The Rahn’naa was the fifth of the colony ships to leave Aria’naa. What we didn’t know was that a faction of the Aria’asharra had infiltrated our ranks and planned to sabotage our ship, sending it on a course to a different planet, one not charted for colonization.”

“So, that’s why the Rahn’naa crashed here instead of going to Maal’dak Five?” Jevan asked.

“Correct. The Aria’asharra found this world was along our planned flight path,” Takyra explained. “They hoped to stop here temporarily and have someone take them with a shuttlecraft to the surface. After they had left, they planned to let the Rahn’naa continue to the colony world. Unfortunately, something went wrong with their plan. By the time they woke me, the ship had already crashed, and we were all stranded here. I was going to launch a subspace beacon to call for help, but they stopped me.”

“Do you know why they chose this world? Didn’t they know it was already inhabited?” Jevan asked.

“They assured me they had run their own scans of this world and they showed me the results of a last-minute scan they did as the ship was hurtling toward your world. The scan was only of a single landmass, but it was unoccupied when the ship crashed,” Takyra recalled.

“It was,” Jevan confirmed. “My people arrived on this continent about eight hundred years ago. We sailed across the ocean from another continent.”

“Those idiots,” Takyra groused. “I am sorry Jevan. We should have never come to this world, although it is far too late to change that now. I can only hope that the descendants of those who left the ship didn’t irreparably damage your species’ natural development.”

“I never thought they interfered, considering our peoples mostly avoid each other since the tenuous truce we established,” Jevan informed her. “But Ardyn and I have been finding out a lot of things that the leaders of both our people had been lying to us about.”

“A truce? That means that you and the Aria’asharra warred with one another?” Takyra asked, looking deeply troubled. “The Aria’asharra who crashed our ship assured us they were peaceful and merely wanted to live in harmony with nature. Ardyn, as their descendent, what did they teach you?”

“Our elders shun all but the most basic technology and punish anyone who shows curiosity or questions the ways of our ancestors,” Ardyn explained. “They emphasize that technology corrupts the land, and we do our best to live in harmony with nature.”

“Then why would your people have gone to war with Jevan’s people?” Takyra asked.

“The wars were hundreds of years ago,” Ardyn replied. “From what they taught me, Medellans invaded our land and attacked us. My ancestors fought to protect themselves and their way of life.”

Takyra looked concerned. “Jevan, how much do you know?”

“My school master taught us that Ardyn’s people — my people call them elves — attacked us first. They didn’t want us colonizing their territory and wanted us to go back to where we came from. My ancestors fought back because they were not able to return,” Jevan explained before clarifying. “Our history books don’t explain why we could never return, it only warned that we should never attempt to.”

“I suspect the truth may lie somewhere in-between, that perhaps neither actually attacked first.” Takyra said. “It’s more likely that some misunderstanding led to the hostilities, as is often the case.”

“I think you’re right, especially since our leaders have been lying to us for all this time,” Ardyn agreed. “Why did my ancestors wake only you? Why keep the Baaru’dak asleep?”

Takyra sat forward, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. “The Aria’asharra woke me so they could force me to show them how to operate everything. They didn’t want to allow anyone outside of their faction to join their new society. They were afraid we’d have a corrupting influence on their children,” Takyra said with a growl. “Yet they didn’t want to outright murder us, either. Instead, their solution was to abandon us in our cryopods.”

Jevan looked at Ardyn and watched as he shrank into himself, his ears going flat in distress. Oh, no. Poor Ardyn. That’s horrible!

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