The Prooth (Origins Part 7) by W Bradley
voice.
“Have you forgotten your ability?” Felri asked back. In truth, I had dismissed the vision I’d had as a mixture of coincidence and simply that I had remembered the whole thing incorrectly. I’d had nothing of the sort since.
“I don’t have an ability. Doesn’t matter how often you tell me I have.”
“You have. It’s not as far-fetched as you think.”
I was losing the trust I had in these creatures. It just didn’t feel right. They certainly had all backstories covered, but surely they didn’t need to lie to us. Twice. I didn’t have many options here.
“OK. Say I have this ability. What is the plan? Spell it out to me.”
“We can induce a vision of the future in you. It will be able to show us exactly where to go for the weapon so that we can destroy it. Dia and Leyla together should be able to get us to the weapon completely unnoticed.”
“How?”
“Dia can shift us out of phase just enough to render us invisible to the Saerg.”
“…What?!” I almost choked on the single syllable. The more Felri spoke, the less I believed him. I didn’t like this situation. Every part seemed more disturbing every second; less real.
I made a decision then. One I knew I wouldn’t be able to unmake. The single greatest choice of my life: I would leave these aliens. It may have been a rash decision, but it felt like a much more intelligent thing to do than to leave Earth with an alien creature merely on the word of said alien creature. What was I thinking? How did I make such a decision so easily? – The answer had been staring me in the face minutes earlier. The square Felri had offered me; the Prooth had drugged me. They were using us, tricking us.
I made eye contact with Leyla and she seemed to understand what I was trying to communicate. I walked over to her and Dia, attempting to look like someone who was not about to flee and I sat with them, shaking slightly. Felri either bought my act or he wanted to report to the others as he moved off in the opposite direction.
“Escape?” Whispered Leyla, barely audibly.
“Makes more sense than their plan.” I whispered back.
“I agree. How?”
“We-“ I was cut short by a sharp whining sound which seemed to shoot through the leaves and off to our left. I automatically pushed the two to the ground and started crawling to see where it had originated from but I heard the commotion before I saw it. There were more of the sharp whines and I could see the plants moving and breaking apart as if being hit by an invisible force. Then I could see Mal and Felri firing small, pistol-like weapons into the distance and someone else was firing back. Suddenly the Sindenian, Gheid was by their side but he wasn’t shooting into the distance. His pistol was aimed at the Prooth. He was talking, not loud enough for me to hear but the gist seemed to be threatening. The two Prooth lowered their pistols, backed up towards the spinning cube and, when they were less than a metre from it, Gheid touched his wrist, the cube shook more violently, slammed the ground then vanished along with Mal and Felri.
So… The Sindenian was on our side. Or was he? Was what I had just seen an act to get us to trust him? He hadn’t said much more than a greeting to us since we first met him. I had no reason to trust him or otherwise.
I crawled back to Dia and Leyla and quickly explained the situation. Although pretty shaken up, Dia and Leyla seemed eager to move on. My body wanted to stay here, that would be easy, but I felt a need to progress towards a goal. A need which wouldn’t allow me to just lie here and give up. The first plan of action was to find a way off this planet, but like it or not, we would definitely need help and Gheid was our safest option.
I found him waiting where he had caused the Prooth to vanish. He seemed to expect my return.
“Jarl. I will answer any questions you no doubt have on our way away from this place. We cannot stay. Will Dia and Leyla join us?”
“I am not joining you as such. Let’s get that straight. We don’t trust you, Gheid, but you are our only way off this planet. I have told Dia and Leyla to run back to the village if you refuse to hand me your weapon. So…” I held out my hand. Gheid immediately handed me the pistol and took a step away from me.
“I am on your side Jarl.” He spoke in soft tones, “I have been living on Earth since I was old enough to speak your language. Does Dia not vouch for me?”
“She told me what happened between you two yes, but that does not prove we can trust you. You must earn that. Please get us off this planet.” I put my arm in the air, signalling the others to join me. Gheid placed his hand behind his back and withdrew a small cube before I could react and dropped it on the ground.
“Touch this after me. You will be transported to my ship.” Gheid bent over and disappeared. There was no drama, no shimmering remained in the air where his body had been; he was there, then he wasn’t.
Dia then arrived and explained she had seen this device before when on Earth. So unless the Sindenian had it booby trapped for anyone other than himself using it, we would likely be unharmed. Besides, he could have killed Dia at any moment on Earth had he wanted to.
So, one by one we touched the cube and one by one we reappeared, perfectly unharmed on what certainly seemed like a space ship. Gheid approached with his arms wide in a gesture of peace.
“My ship. Make yourselves comfortable. If you will allow me, I will take us to meet the others of my kind from Earth on an uninhabited planet known as Han where nobody will be watching.”
After some deliberating, Dia, Leyla and I agreed to trust Gheid. We would travel to Han and speak with the other Sindenians. Although I had a weapon now, I was feeling more and more like we didn’t have any choice.
“Ok.” I finally said. “We will meet your people.”
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“Have you forgotten your ability?” Felri asked back. In truth, I had dismissed the vision I’d had as a mixture of coincidence and simply that I had remembered the whole thing incorrectly. I’d had nothing of the sort since.
“I don’t have an ability. Doesn’t matter how often you tell me I have.”
“You have. It’s not as far-fetched as you think.”
I was losing the trust I had in these creatures. It just didn’t feel right. They certainly had all backstories covered, but surely they didn’t need to lie to us. Twice. I didn’t have many options here.
“OK. Say I have this ability. What is the plan? Spell it out to me.”
“We can induce a vision of the future in you. It will be able to show us exactly where to go for the weapon so that we can destroy it. Dia and Leyla together should be able to get us to the weapon completely unnoticed.”
“How?”
“Dia can shift us out of phase just enough to render us invisible to the Saerg.”
“…What?!” I almost choked on the single syllable. The more Felri spoke, the less I believed him. I didn’t like this situation. Every part seemed more disturbing every second; less real.
I made a decision then. One I knew I wouldn’t be able to unmake. The single greatest choice of my life: I would leave these aliens. It may have been a rash decision, but it felt like a much more intelligent thing to do than to leave Earth with an alien creature merely on the word of said alien creature. What was I thinking? How did I make such a decision so easily? – The answer had been staring me in the face minutes earlier. The square Felri had offered me; the Prooth had drugged me. They were using us, tricking us.
I made eye contact with Leyla and she seemed to understand what I was trying to communicate. I walked over to her and Dia, attempting to look like someone who was not about to flee and I sat with them, shaking slightly. Felri either bought my act or he wanted to report to the others as he moved off in the opposite direction.
“Escape?” Whispered Leyla, barely audibly.
“Makes more sense than their plan.” I whispered back.
“I agree. How?”
“We-“ I was cut short by a sharp whining sound which seemed to shoot through the leaves and off to our left. I automatically pushed the two to the ground and started crawling to see where it had originated from but I heard the commotion before I saw it. There were more of the sharp whines and I could see the plants moving and breaking apart as if being hit by an invisible force. Then I could see Mal and Felri firing small, pistol-like weapons into the distance and someone else was firing back. Suddenly the Sindenian, Gheid was by their side but he wasn’t shooting into the distance. His pistol was aimed at the Prooth. He was talking, not loud enough for me to hear but the gist seemed to be threatening. The two Prooth lowered their pistols, backed up towards the spinning cube and, when they were less than a metre from it, Gheid touched his wrist, the cube shook more violently, slammed the ground then vanished along with Mal and Felri.
So… The Sindenian was on our side. Or was he? Was what I had just seen an act to get us to trust him? He hadn’t said much more than a greeting to us since we first met him. I had no reason to trust him or otherwise.
I crawled back to Dia and Leyla and quickly explained the situation. Although pretty shaken up, Dia and Leyla seemed eager to move on. My body wanted to stay here, that would be easy, but I felt a need to progress towards a goal. A need which wouldn’t allow me to just lie here and give up. The first plan of action was to find a way off this planet, but like it or not, we would definitely need help and Gheid was our safest option.
I found him waiting where he had caused the Prooth to vanish. He seemed to expect my return.
“Jarl. I will answer any questions you no doubt have on our way away from this place. We cannot stay. Will Dia and Leyla join us?”
“I am not joining you as such. Let’s get that straight. We don’t trust you, Gheid, but you are our only way off this planet. I have told Dia and Leyla to run back to the village if you refuse to hand me your weapon. So…” I held out my hand. Gheid immediately handed me the pistol and took a step away from me.
“I am on your side Jarl.” He spoke in soft tones, “I have been living on Earth since I was old enough to speak your language. Does Dia not vouch for me?”
“She told me what happened between you two yes, but that does not prove we can trust you. You must earn that. Please get us off this planet.” I put my arm in the air, signalling the others to join me. Gheid placed his hand behind his back and withdrew a small cube before I could react and dropped it on the ground.
“Touch this after me. You will be transported to my ship.” Gheid bent over and disappeared. There was no drama, no shimmering remained in the air where his body had been; he was there, then he wasn’t.
Dia then arrived and explained she had seen this device before when on Earth. So unless the Sindenian had it booby trapped for anyone other than himself using it, we would likely be unharmed. Besides, he could have killed Dia at any moment on Earth had he wanted to.
So, one by one we touched the cube and one by one we reappeared, perfectly unharmed on what certainly seemed like a space ship. Gheid approached with his arms wide in a gesture of peace.
“My ship. Make yourselves comfortable. If you will allow me, I will take us to meet the others of my kind from Earth on an uninhabited planet known as Han where nobody will be watching.”
After some deliberating, Dia, Leyla and I agreed to trust Gheid. We would travel to Han and speak with the other Sindenians. Although I had a weapon now, I was feeling more and more like we didn’t have any choice.
“Ok.” I finally said. “We will meet your people.”