In the shadow of the stolen light. Nika Veresk
his genuine interest in everything new, but she also couldn’t help noticing how his curiosity and enthusiasm faded giving ground to longing and detachment when he was wandering in the depths of his lost memory.
Pausing for a while at the door, Lora then approached the motionless young man in the armchair and took the universal panel from his hands.
“Let me show you something.”
She spared him the explanations, and just gently touched the virtual keys on the screen causing the lights to go dim. And the walls, so white just a second before, flashed with an image of a soft sunset. Then, the silence of the room was interrupted by a light breeze and a melodic swishing of the surf.
“Get some rest,” Lora said quietly.
Giving him back the panel, she lightly touched his hand, which was motionlessly lying on the arm of the chair and left the apartment immediately. In this way she expressed her profound compassion and genuine support. She said nothing because she was sure that Derek was not a man in need of pity and consolation. Her silent presence was more important than words filled with sympathy.
Chapter 4
The next couple of days saw Lora and the man in her care embark on endless trips around the city. The teleport proved to be a convenient and fast transport means. When the distances were not very long, the young people preferred to walk. And anywhere they went they could see that life on Titanium followed its quiet and measured flow regardless of the circumstances. Everything, they said, was in its time. Even when a hasty evacuation from Taria began, the people did not panic; instead, everyone continued doing their job.
Studying anew the history of his own native planet and getting to know the world of the future, Derek recalled the Earth cities, traditions and laws more and more. However, Lora sometimes felt that his memory, despite the fast recovery, remained a picturesque but lifeless picture. He still didn’t remember the details of his own private life, events of previous years and the reasons why the earthlings had sent their transport on such a long voyage.
One evening, after having worn their feet out the busy streets and having spent endless hours in the archive, Lora announced intriguingly.
“You know, you still haven’t seen the most impressive place on Titanium!”
She typed the destination in the teleport control panel and smiled mysteriously.
“You can’t keep me in the dark for long ,” Derek chuckled, because the glass cabin doors slid open almost immediately.
“Yes, our transport system has its drawbacks…” answered Lora with pretentious sadness.
“Welcome to the viewpoint, sector B-153,” announced the programme politely.
“I don’t think you’ll need your glasses here,” noted the girl when the teleport doors closed behind their back. They found themselves in a dark hall with two pale neon lamps along the smooth floor as the only source of light. Slowly changing colour, they ran parallel to each other: one along a dark shiny wall, while the other ran along a seemingly endless panoramic window, behind which the black infinity of outer space pierced by the light of the distant stars opened to their eyes. ‘Solar Flotilla’ followed the Earth calendar and every morning Lora put on her favourite trainers and came here for an hour of jogging around this cyclic track, looking into the unchanging emptiness in front of her and trying to get rid of all doubts and worries.
“Is it always so… empty here?” said Derek looking around.
“The length of the viewpoint is more than seven hundred kilometres. It runs around Titanium and parallel to the Equatorial transport terminal. From here you can watch spaceships arrive. Besides, there are observatories in several of its sections.”
“These ships,” Derek pointed at the rows of spacecraft of strikingly different makes and looks, “Are they alien?”
“The majority of them are. For example, those ones that look like gigantic beetles are the Tarian tractors. They have to stay outside the outer protective field and pass their cargo in smaller loads to our shuttles. They, in turn, go through the energy barrier and deliver them to our transport terminal. Unfortunately, at the moment, none of the five ‘Solar Flotilla’ ships that had started from Earth are even close to Titanium. They are all on the evacuation missions. Their appearance and the technological equipment have changed a lot, of course, during these two hundred and fifty years, but they still work. The ships are named after the five letters of the Greek alphabet, the flagman ship is ‘Alpha’, and the others, ‘Beta’, ‘Gamma’, ‘Delta’ and ‘Epsilon’ are of smaller size and insignificant fire power.”
“So where is Taria?”
“We are moving along its orbit and, at the same time, we are also rotating,” explained Lora. “As is the circular viewpoint.” Lora took out the tablet and checked some data. “We are going to see Taria from here in fourteen minutes.”
“I’d like to see it.”
“Of course, let’s wait!” Lora sat comfortably on the floor, crossing her legs.
“How many stars!” noted Derek with admiration. “They seem as distant as in the sky over Earth.”
“For as long as I can remember, that’s been my view of them from here” echoed Lora.
“Why do I have a feeling that this voyage brings you sadness as much as joy?” suddenly asked Derek.
Lora tightened her lips thoughtfully.
“I’m not really sure myself. But you’re right. Even though our journey is incredibly interesting, allowing us to explore the Universe and meet alien races flying through space in search of a new home, I can’t help believing that the true home for the ‘Solar Flotilla’ people is on Earth and that we can come back…”
“It seems that not many agree with you?”
“My people have their reasons for that, I told you about it…”
“Yes, I know,” the young man nodded with sympathy. “I’m sorry that I can’t remember anything to support your assumption.”
“Me too,” Lora smiled sadly and immediately added, “but your presence on the ship gave me new hope. I believe that everything happens for a reason. All the events, encounters and separations are there to direct a person to their true goal.”
“Do you believe in fate?” Derek wanted to clarify.
“No, I believe in providence,” Lora specified. “I’ve always tried to listen to that voice of the Universe, as I call it.”
“Is it from Andre Mendes̓ teachings?”
“It’s not that literal,” answered Lora. “Everyone understands it differently.”
“I’d like to learn a little more about his theory.”
“All the information is in the central computer. You can also ask for help from any guide at any school.”
“A guide?”
“Yes, guides are people who help us study Andre Mendes’ philosophy and reach the inner equilibrium.”
“Can’t you teach me?”
“Enlightenment is a special gift, and the guides are naturally gifted. I can’t say the same about me…”
The earthling nodded.
“So I’ll have to sit at the school desk again!”
“Here, look!” Lora noticed a green light on the right. The glow was growing brighter and brighter with every second and soon the planet’s contour emerged as well.
“I thought Taria looks like Earth…”
“Hardly,” Lora shook her head. “The green luminosity of the planet is due to the gases accumulated in the top layers of its atmosphere. Only 30 percent of the light of the Doht, the star that gave name to the whole system, passes through the clouds.” She paused and then added, “Looking at these huge planets