In the shadow of the stolen light. Nika Veresk
three minutes and twenty seconds left to full tissue recovery,” reported the medical programme.
“What do you think?” smiled Lora on hearing the forecast.
In response Derek scowled even more and sat in an armchair nearby.
“So, you also risked your life,” he concluded.
“I wouldn’t call my actions risky, but rather rational.”
“I think Paul thought differently. He was very worried about your condition.”
“Please, don’t get it wrong but the crew, left on the shuttle, always monitors the physical condition of those who go on a mission. Paul knew about my injury from the very beginning…”
“So, the time when I didn’t want to leave the ship, he deliberately drew my attention to that,” realized Derek, “Very clever…”
The girl nodded.
“You had to be persuaded…”
“I don’t understand… We had a chance to save those three till the last moment… But we just left them to die…”
“The chance to save them was very small, in contrast to the high possibility of being killed ourselves.”
“This is selfish!” said Derek passionately.
“This is rational,” the girl answered quietly.
“Your rationality is a synonym of indifference!?” said the young man with resentment.
Lora shook her head and responded with a question.
“I don’t understand what’s so outrageous about me wanting to save my own life? Or, my life should be less valuable for me than the lives of those Tarians?”
Derek was ready to say something but stopped suddenly. The question hovered in the air for a while confusing him. The recovery programme with a characteristic squeaking sound completed its work and allowed Lora to sit. Now she perched at the edge of the capsule, her legs dangling, and watched closely at her opponent, who was still puzzled.
“So,” he finally spoke, “you believe that your life is more valuable than the life of the others’?”
“I’ll tell you what I believe in,” calmly said the girl, “I believe that everyone has the right to life and freedom of choice from the day they are born. These are the highest values. And I believe that if a human being or any other living creature doesn’t value his life more than anything, he won’t be able to truly value the life of others. And, to make it clearer for you, I’m ready to offer help to those who need it, but for me helping anybody is a display of generosity, not a moral duty.”
Paul’s team completed the mission on Gron, bringing more than thirty refugees to Titanium. The moment their shuttle was within the protective field, the passenger ship, that was trying to hide from the fighters behind it, was quickly destroyed in cold blood.
Before ‘Solar Flotilla’ left Taria’s orbit, a lot of Titanium’s citizens gathered at the viewpoint to watch their departure. Lora, Derek and Paul were not an exception.
“Look how many people have come here!” noticed Paul. “Is one of the councillors going to make a declamation?”
Lora nodded. Behind the panoramic windows Taria gleamed with its greenish-blue glow in the pitch black Universe. What had once been a hospitable haven for ‘Solar Flotilla’ was now somewhat of a hostile civilisation, caught in the wicked flames of a civil war. “Greetings to all the Titanium citizens!” a loud voice resounded in the hall. The humming of conversations died down and everyone was now attentively listening to the announcement from the loudspeakers. “This is Jean Preqeaux speaking. All ‘Solar Flotilla’ ships are at the launch positions ready to leave the Taria’s orbit. Today we have no possibility, as before, to personally thank the inhabitants of the planet for a fruitful collaboration and mutual help. But we are leaving their world with sincere gratitude in our hearts. Safe journey to all of us, dear friends!”
The voice in the speakers went silent.
Derek snorted with resentment, while Paul looked at the sad face of his female companion watching the planet disappear in the distance.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her quietly.
“It’s not even just a case of what I’m thinking but of how I feel. And I feel so much that I struggle to put it into words. My common sense is telling me to agree with the Council, we really don’t have the right to interfere, we are strangers here. But my heart just isn’t in it at all…”
A few minutes later, Titanium accompanied by the five satellite ships smoothly slid into the open mouth of the hyper tunnel and darted through space leaving Doht and its domain behind. Once again, a whole new world was waiting for ‘Solar Flotilla’ – the Lactian Empire – intricately made up of around a thousand stellar systems and dozens of habitable planets.
Chapter 6
After arriving at Vistana, the Council was much occupied with the collaboration issues with the new allies for some time. This gave Lora, Derek and Paul an opportunity to prepare a well thought-out plan of an Earth expedition. And despite the fact that the shuttle captain had more doubts about the necessity of such a mission than the others, still he put every effort in place to make it look solid in the eyes of the councillors. Meanwhile, working closely with the earthling, Lora realized ever their difference in viewpoints, and she couldn’t help but realize that the human civilization split had been inevitable back then. Once, soon after the ‘Solar Flotilla’s’ arrival at the Lactians’ capital planet, Lora had the chance to be all the more persuaded in the idea that the earthling and herself were far from mutual understanding. On the instruction of the Council, Lora was sent on a mission to Barkan, one of the inhabited planets in the Lactian Empire. In fact, the purpose of the trip was cultural exchange, so without hesitation Lora invited Derek to join her. This assignment was a good chance to have a change of scene by visiting a planet new to them. On Barkan they were welcomed by an official Empire representative, Kumimago Hoto. He belonged to the original Lactian race, although it was the representatives of other races, united under the Empire, which often occupied high political and diplomatic posts. The Lactians were humanoids, but looked very different from people: their average height exceeded the people’s height two and a half times, and it was simply impossible to find a plump Lactian as they were all slim and lank. Their blood vessels could be easily seen under the thin skin of golden shade, while their long snow-white hair was always scraped into tight buns at the nape; making their huge transparent blue eyes look even bigger. The three pairs of hands, which they managed with greater dexterity than humans do with just one, were often hidden under loose colourful capes and could be seen only when it was necessary. Traveling in a huge flying chariot, the Lactian representative and his companions were having a tour around Barkan when Derek noticed a spectacular construction towering over a mountain. It consisted of several very tall semi-circular arches placed in a row one after another. Their incredibly high tops sparkled in the sun like mother of pearl, blindingly bright.
“What’s that?” asked the earthling.
“It’s the Gates of Life, a gift from the Lactians to the Barkan inhabitants.”
“Gates of Life?” asked Derek again, watching an endless procession of pilgrims climbing up a narrow winding path on a steep slope to the top. “Is it some kind of a ritual?”
“You could say that,” Kumimago smiled. “A long time ago, when my race lived on our native planet, we had an incredible technological boom in all the areas of science-in medicine, as well. Our doctors learned to treat the majority of illnesses. However, with time, it became obvious that in spite of all our efforts to stay healthy, every subsequent Lactian generation was weaker than the previous. Just as we found a new vaccine against one virus, another more deadly one would appear. Initially effective treatment methods were turning out to be useless after years, while illnesses became chronic. The doctors had scrutinized over this problem for a long time until a truly genius scientist Armesteh created the Gates of Life.