LC_Satellite 001-Boxee (the alternate LC story)-Book 11 - post014

Post 01
Post 13

^{“With your mental gifts, you cannot rid your world of the dust cloud?”
“We are not that strong Cherine, the cloud covers the entire galactic spiral our system is in. What minds could affect something so large?”}

116

“Tell me about the Fiuremm, what do they look like?”

“They are beautiful! Four strong legs and a body that resembles a perfect sphere. At the center, on opposite sides, they have arms with seven delicate fingers. Their colours are not all the same, each one is different, how can I tell you how beautiful they are? Would you like to see them from my mind?”

Cherine realised that the way she saw them, in an emotional and aesthetic sense, was affected by Ntchizi, but once she adjusted to the alienness, she saw they have an intrinsic beauty thatgoes beyond species orientation. The thought of such beauty dying out was like a sob trapped within her throat. She was still young enough to cry out, “We must save them Ntchizi!”

PART 9

Compassion without Empathy

Cherine had demanded that both Arthur and Robert sit opposite, far enough that they could not touch her. With charcoal eyes and sere face she talked for hours, unpainting the cerement that shrouded the grief and hurt that tortured her, with words that were not meant to provide her with release, but only obeying the need of those she’d loved to help them understand her.

“You found me Robert, I do not know how, but you found me. You were too late, the girl you loved was already dead. Don’t protest, just listen so that you understand why I must leave and never return again.

We followed the hills as they curved around the desert for twenty three days. Hidden between the hills we saw twisted bushes and grass with leaves, spikes and blades blackened by the poison but, they lived and fought for life. We saw serpents, some with two heads, some with long slender legs that could barely carry them. The barren lands, as they were before we began to return life to them, they never spoke to me the way these vestiges of life did, accusing me of the evils of our species by their very struggle to hold to life.

We found pools of dark oily water where new lifeforms exist because they have found a way to use the poison. Ntchizi pointed out to me that they are the way our planet is fighting back, for as they consume the poison, so they free the land of it.

117

Our food had finished and my hunger consumed our body for we refused to take from the land. I was scrabbling between rocks, climbing a steep slope, when the world swirled around me and I fainted. As I fell backwards, fear of the sharp rocks tore one scream out of me before everything turned dark.

I felt no pain when I became aware once more so I opened my eyes to find what had saved me. Within inches of my face was the face of a creature that partly resembled a human child. Obviously young, it stared at me with glaucous eyes, the powdery sheen giving them the appearance of blindness. It wore a smile that I quickly realised was a rictus of terror, flattening even further its flat nose that only had one wide nostril. Reacting to my open eyes it bared sharp teeth as it sprang from me, landing on a rock on all fours. It crouched, its arms stretched out with its body drawn back as it hissed at me and then almost too fast for me to see it turned and jumped, disappearing.

As I moved I became aware of a multitude of hurts from bruises and cuts, but my urgency forced me to ignore them as I came to my feet to find the child. It was gone, nowhere upon the rocky slope.

‘It is no longer human.’ Ntchizi warned me. ‘It is not worth staying here, you will not be allowed to come close to it again. It fears you and I sensed a curtain of fiery hate in it for you that cannot be extinguished.’

I ignored her and searched for the correct place. I needed water but also potential life that will be edible. We climbed to the top of the hill and saw the remains of a house below us. Time had not eradicated all signs of it once being a farm. As we neared the ruins the child dashed out, running on all fours with a strange lope that seemed to raise it to its feet every now and then. It disappeared behind rocks from where we could hear it hissing and moaning.

I could see where there used to be a windmill and close to it the land preserved the shape of a dam. I used my gift to raise water so that the dam would fill and walked over what used to be fields. Such seeds as there were did not seem to be edible but I called to them. We walked around the house and close to the kitchen entrance I sensed seeds or desiccated remains of roots of edible food. I’d found what used to be a vegetable patch. My joy made it feel like the water I called came willingly, pleased that it would be of use once more.

118

The fetid stench within the house took days of scrubbing to become bearable. We could see which room the child had used and if it truly had reverted, then this was its territory. We left the room untouched so that our scent would not desecrate its sanctuary.

Every day, we did our chores and then sat outside the house, waiting for the child to return. Ntchizi sensed it approach the house every morning at dawn, but it would always be gone the moment we walked to the door. We found tufts of grass were being uprooted from the fields and then it began to pull up our vegetables. It showed no interest in eating the vegetables so I keenly felt the loss. I did not want to frighten it away but I needed the vegetables, we had to find a way to stop it. I argued that the green must seem a sign of ill health to it, we had to find a way to convince it that green would improve its life.

We made a point of eating outside and I made sounds of relish as I bit into my food. Whatever I had eaten, I’d leave another one on a rock for it to steal. We’d find the vegetable torn or pulverised but as far as we could see, no part of them had been eaten.

‘It must be an omnivore, how else could it have survived, there is not enough animal or insect life to sustain it. It must be surviving on roots and tubers. We need to work out what it wants so that we can gather food for it.’ Ntchizi obliged by keeping a mental eye on it.

We worked out it is male, although the male genitalia seemed either small for its size or else it was able to retract them. From body size it could have been anywhere between seven to ten years old. I decided to name him Bobby.

Bobby was obviously distressed by the growth of green plants spreading but, if we were not there, he enjoyed the ease of drinking water. He made a point of urinating and defecating in the water so we could only use it for the plants.

A week after we trespassed on his territory, Bobby crept out from behind the rock and crouched on the grass at a distance, his eyes staring directly into mine. Ntchizi was correct, his pale blue eyes were filled with hate and waves of malevolence seemed to flow from him to us. Ntchizi braved his dark hole of a mind and reluctantly admitted she saw the potential of sapience. She tried explaining to me that once a child has lived for a certain number of years it is impossible for it to learn to talk and think like a human. I refused to believe her.

119

‘Bobby, Bo---bby.’ I called every morning until he’d arrive to stare at me. I’d repeat his name a few times until he left. One evening I asked Ntchizi to take us home for an hour. I fell asleep and woke up in my bed. I rushed to the kitchen and drew from the freezer a choice of cuts, grabbed some sweets and returned to bed.

‘You don’t have to be asleep, just allow me to take over your body for a few minutes.’ She finally admitted defeat and waited for me to sleep. Of course it took me hours this time.

I called for Bobby next morning and when he crouched before me I pointed at the offering rock. I felt the hate in him intensify and he refused to look at the rock. We did not wait for him to leave this time and returned to the house. Ntchizi monitored him from inside.

‘It is very angry that we left, it does not like changes.’

‘He. He is not an it. Good, we should have thought of this before.’ She told me he had dashed over to the offering rock and was pushing the meat around with his fingers. I dared not go to the window to peep for he watched for any sign of us and I’d learnt Bobby has amazing eyesight. Ntchizi told me he was now sniffing the meat. He hit it and it flew off the rock. Before it could land on the ground he’d pounced at it and tore into it with his teeth.

For ten days we teleported home each night for meat. I’d given up trying to sleep and allowed Ntchizi to open that gift in me. I’ll teach both of you when I’m finished.”

The flare of excitement forced Cherine to stop until they could question her about teleportation and Arthur brought cold drinks and a large glass of rye whiskey for himself. With an apologetic shrug he gestured for her to continue.

“I found it amazing that Bobby never went directly for the meat, even though he knew it was waiting for him. First he’d stare into my eyes until I left and only then would he attack the meat. If I delayed, stayed longer than he was used to, he’d creep a few steps towards me, silently snarling at me to leave.

120

To the day we left he never gave any sign of understanding that I was calling him by name, but I believe he knew, I’m certain it was his fear and hate of me that prevented him from responding in any way. We tried starting a second session in the afternoons and placed meat for him but he never came. The meat was gone by morning so I continued despite my failure as I was worried about what he found to eat and he was too thin. We had walked all around the house, back up the slopes surrounding the house from three sides and there was no sign of life and no vegetation. If there had been, his foraging must have stripped the land bare, which meant he had to forage further afield. We did come across the desiccated remains of an adult that resembled Bobby. We could see that something had tried to gnaw at its flesh and by examining the teeth marks we decided it was Bobby. I insisted that losing his parent suddenly must have left him starving until he’d learned to fend for himself, but Ntchizi still insists that he is incapable of understanding that he had any kind of relationship with his father, that once a few days had gone by, he forgot and only saw his fathers' body as a source of food. The taste must have been bad, for there were no further teeth marks. I wondered where his mother was.

I’ll take a moment to explain something to you. When you hear the word hate, you only know the civilised sense of it. Someone who intensely dislikes you, who may go to extremes to cause you harm. That is how I identified his hate. I could not see the concentrated, rabid ferociousness, I could not recognise his hate for he had never tried to physically attack me. I rationalised his hate as being the result of his fear of the unknown. I went so far as to create scenarios of him recognising me as a female and identifying me with his mother who’d abandoned him. I had no clue of what his mutation really was. I could not recognise palpable hate because I’d spent my life being surrounded by love. I could not understand that just as my life centred around love, so did his center around hate.

Nearly a month went by with little change. I grew impatient and sought a shortcut. Ntchizi resisted me, fought to convince me I was wrong, that I was mistaken. Love for life, vulnerability to his childhood, perhaps my ego, they all conspired to make me deaf to her entreaties. I was determined to enter his mind and use my soul to teach him about love.

Ntchizi is a gentle rider who respects the rights of her host. When persuasion failed she girded herself for battle so as to protect me. My poor Ntchizi, she did not know that she was just as ignorant and vulnerable as I was; her people had never experienced such malignant hate either, she had no buckler to protect her soul either.”

“Buckle?” Robert asked.

“A buckler is armour carried on the arm to intercept blows.”

121

“Oh, sorry.”

She did not smile, lost in the memories she was describing. “I secured our seating so that my body would not fall over while I was in his mind. We performed our ritual, but this time I closed my eyes. He snarled, but did not attack, so I left my mind and entered his.

I don’t understand how he can exist, how any mind can be such a virulent storm of hate lashing out at every sensory experience. I was swept away, helplessly tossed and torn at and I felt his hate reaching into me, killing every mote of love in my soul. I don’t know where Ntchizi found the courage but she raced after me, enfolded me with love even as her soul was etched by the acid of hate and we returned to our body.

As I opened my eyes I saw that Bobby had crept closer, close enough for his teeth and claws to tear at me. The sight of my eyes on him sent him leaping away. I could not watch him for I leant over and tried to rid myself of his hate by throwing up, desperately trying to retch the corruption from my soul. I wept for a long time until Ntchizi persuaded me we both needed the help of the light beings. We went to the void.

Never have I sensed such a strong sense of dismay. They pulled back as if fearful of being contaminated. My guilt empowered me so that they heard my plea for them to heal Ntchizi. They drew closer, swirled around us, enclosing us within their energies. Like a helpless baby I submitted my will to the comfort of oblivion. All I could cry to myself was my refusal to hate. I had no words though for the dearth of love that I now was. Arthur, we never knew they had feelings, did we? Yet, they sent us love in its purest forms and healed both Ntchizi and I.

For four days, all I had the courage to do was place the meat on the offering stone and stay hidden in the house. Bobby refused to eat the meat, swatting it with snarls of rage. He would patrol the house angrily mewling his demand that I face him. Finally I was forced to so that he would not die, for we saw his already too thin body waste away.

Post 15