The star Gaanda spews forth light...where whence traveled presses upon among many things, including a middle-sized planet rotating far out in the galaxy. The planet, named Saalashe by its inhabitants, is topped by a thick gaseous atmosphere. Lo! The atmosphere is greedy and it eats its fill of all members in its nearest star's visible spectrum--save one; and so happily the light-wave green takes advantage of its brothers' misfortunes, emerging unscathed through the atmospheric barrier; cascading all the western face of planet Saalashe with its viridescent brilliance. And so, on this day, Salaashe's trademark white rock towers weaving their way into the under-layer of oxygen rich sky were now shining like wonderful green emeralds.
Down between some of the finest of these rock towers, on a smooth stone path, walked a pretty young girl with her pet. Cool green glows of starlight reflected on her soft dark skin, tempering with pale red glows of swimming warmth from descending flames originating from a huge fire fountain that sat in the distance, hovering over the area. The girl followed the winding path between rows of towering stores forming a shopping district in which to sell wares and anything a girl’s heart may desire.
Now, the girl and her pet were alone this at time, for they walked amidst the traditional sleeping cycle of planet Saalashe, a cycle which now logically voided the path of shoppers who were sound asleep in their beds. But, aloneness wasn't the only reason this girl stood out in green light, for she was the only half-saalashe, half-earthen girl on the planet!
"Bruulyan, stop it!" Mayalla complained to her pet ballachane, as he tested her thin arm muscles by straining against his collar.
Bruulyan had been getting more and more testy like this, ever since Mayalla and he had left for their usual walk that began near the end of sleep cycle. They always ended their walk with a romp through the local mall on their way back home. The strange thing was: she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her pet before they left.
Mayalla wanted things to go smoothly as she always looked forward to this walk and thought Bruulyan did too--it was one of the few times, with the exception of shared time with insomniac robots -- Mayalla and Bruulyan could have the world virtually to themselves. Purposeful, was her correspondence of walk time with sleep cycle.
Now, Bruulyan strained forward, his claws clicking and slipping on the polished floor.
Losing patience, Mayalla lifted a shiny green bag of goodies off her shoulder and set it down.
She set Bruulyan's choke collar and pulled back with all her weight; and at the other end, her burly ballachane fell to his haunches and whined. He turned his furry blue head on his thick neck to look at her through blazing yellow eyes. His blue diamond pupils focused by narrowing.
"Well, serves you right for pulling like that." Mayalla settled the tension between the two by pausing to take a deep breath. She pushed up her red tinted starglasses, and looked naked-eyed at the star Gaanda, the tiny ball of light appearing frosty in the sky.
Its green light filled the courtyard as it always did this half of planet Saalashe during sleeping cycle. Now, others may care, but Mayalla personally never thought much about awake or sleep cycles, just rested when necessary, when she was too tired to keep going throughout her day or too unhappy to stay awake. Of course, being a daughter of planet Saalashe's ruling party -- the Obsolashe -- she did have the privilege of scheduling her own work-free days around her wishes and wants.
With a tip of her forehead, Mayalla let her starglasses fall back over her eyes; then, she put her hand on her hip, stretching her long elegant neck as she gazed around the courtyard. Merchant robots clinked busily all about, outside their respective stores, readying for the influx of humanity during the dark of waking cycle. She watched one bot finish cleaning fingerprints off the green-tinted windows then slam the door shut so hard she thought the animals might fall of the glowing friezes super-high above and the glittery blue tiles awnings down low might all crash and tinkle to floor.
Yes, the robots were awake, and so of course, Mayalla. Her eyes were as unlike the rest of Salaashe's inhabitants as could be. Hers allowed her to see in the light of sleeping cycle without too much pain. --The rest of the inhabitants had a different story: their eyes were adapted for the dark and wouldn't dare peek out from beneath their thick membranous eyeflaps in sleeping cycle starlight, unless they sought pain.
And as so, very few places, beyond necessary service departments, stayed open during sleep hours. Mayalla's human father sometimes used to joke with her in private saying such things as, "The robots complained of the long work hours, and thus the governing Obsolashe declared it illegal to make them work too hard." Mayalla thought it odd, how sometimes her father mocked the very authority he was a key cog of. But, then again, that was her father.
A deep rumbling from above interrupted Mayalla's thoughts and she stopped to watch the culprit, an Obsolashe security cruiser drift slowly through the sky.
A slight high-pitched cry coming from the ground level made Mayalla turn her eyes back saalashe-ward. She smiled. The wild ballachanes were announcing they were coming.
Ballachanes were the only other non-metalloid inhabitants Mayalla shared the sleep cycle with: for theirs was a life of luxury, too. They were Bruulyan's ancestors: quadrupeds, fluffy, bright blue-fur in soft spikes, but that's where the similarities ended: wild ballachanes were fat, lazy, slothful and overly friendly, often licking you with their slimy yellow tongues when you allowed them to get too close.
Bruulyan on the other hand, was bold, mean and downright aggressive. He made a hell of a guard ballachane. And once again, he proved his point by growling as presently a pack of wild ballachanes came wandering down the pathway toward him from underneath the mall entrance arches. The furry beasts wandered by the storefronts, or stopped to drink out of the green water fountains, or stopped to eat choice morsels in the colorful gardens, or stopped to lie on the floor. Most of the time their general behavior disgusted Mayalla.
Now, she thought her own ballachane, Bruulyan, to be a much more fine example of what a ballachane should be, one bred for size, strength, and intelligence. Her father and had purchased him for her as a mere bally and gave it as a present on her fifth birthyear. And they bonded immediately as daily Bruulyan grew into the perfect guard for an Obsolashe household and a perfect companion for an Obsolashe girl.
Quivering, Mayalla reached out to touch Bruulyan's bull-like back, stroking columns of his spiky blue-fur. She pressed downward into his thick covering of jelly-like flesh, where underneath the ropy muscles were tense. He turned around at her and snarled, baring his impressive fangs spearing forth from a yellow gum line.
Mayalla jumped slightly. "Oh, I can't believe you," she said, dismissing his rudeness with a flip of her hand. "You scared me." She studied him through her red starglasses and then knelt down, coming to his eye level.
Distantly, Mayalla noticed a group of ballachanes staring at her at Bruulyan. "OK, What's wrong baby?" Mayalla inquired of Bruulyan, taking off her starglasses and perching them on top of her head. They clinked gently against two shiny metal hairpins, holding her hair up in style.
Bruulyan answered Mayalla with a deep rumble emanating from deep within his throat. And then, he turned his head away--obstinate as the domestic version of his species usually was.
"Ohh, you!" Mayalla clenched her fists and let her starglasses fall back down over her eyes.
She was embarrassed by her inability to control Bruulyan's unusual display of boorish behavior. Such aggressiveness was only acceptable if thieves tried to enter her household--then he could growl and kill all he wanted--but not now, especially after she had spent so much time with him as a young bally instructing how to walk properly on a leash, feeding him countless rewarded treats to be pulverized by his trap-like jaws.
Bruulyan growled at a family of wild ballachanes slothing by. One stopped and snuffled at Bruulyan.
Bruulyan let out a roar.
The other ballachane jumped slightly up and away.
"No, Bruulyan!" Mayalla said, trying to control her pet with a steady arm around his large body.
The scared off ballachane once it was a safe distance away, turned its yellow eyes back to look at Bruulyan, questioningly, apparently changing its mind about inspecting Bruulyan or Mayalla as it continued to waddle off.
Bruulyan made a gurgling sound with his throat, shaking his head like a shrug.
"What's wrong Bruulyan?" Mayalla said.
Bruulyan continue to stare off into the distance.
"Hey, I'm talking to you Bruulyan." Mayalla grabbed Bruulyan's muzzle, held it closed, and looked into his yellow eyes; they appeared glazed and distant, the blue diamond-shaped pupils dilated "Do you feel alright?" She let go of his muzzle and his yellow tongue whipped out, lacquering her hand in slime. She wiped the gooey juice on her Sandine pants. ("Yuck, Bruulyan!"), The pants given to her by an ex-boyfriend and thus considered expendable. But still, when she twisted her leg slightly, the tawny surface speckled, she liked the way the material caught the green starlight.
Bruulyan suddenly licked Mayalla again; she laughed. Maybe he was okay.
Bruulyan slime did wash off, but the strange thing was, he hardly licked at all before! Maybe it was simply the presence of the other ballachanes that was causing him to display such peculiar behavior. Maybe they had been following her and Bruulyan all along and he had detected them with his ballachane senses, when she could not and they were bothering him. Was Bruulyan warning her of something?
No -- that was ridiculous, Mayalla concluded: wild ballachanes couldn't hurt a plant even when they ate them! The idea of wild ballachanes stalking her and Brutus was cause for laughter.
Mayalla giggled.
But, what if that wasn't the case? Then, she didn't understand -- Bruulyan usually liked going on his walk, even with wild ballachanes tromping around! Or maybe he had never liked going before and now he was letting her know. After all, who was the one who used the walking excuse to stroll past all the mall windows, checking out any new items of interest without having to fight the crowds?
Still, that didn't sound right, that suddenly Bruulyan decided to let her know he hated walking, so with lack of explanation, she deemed to make it one. "Oh, wait-- “She clapped her hands on her thighs-- "I get it, it's wild ballachanes envy, isn't it? You want to walk freely about with them, no leash, no owner to answer to like a little wild bally, you little, bally-wally, you..." She nuzzled his face, rubbing his back and making the fat there jiggle. "Or, maybe they're out to get you? Is that right?" She felt a little better now after talking it through, for Mayalla preferred every unusual occurrence to have a reason.
Come to think of it, Mayalla was suddenly bothered by a new thought: at this time of the sleeping cycle, why was there was so many wild ballachanes this far north? Normally, the bulk of them would be much farther south of here, lying around the food court; waiting for Gaanda to set when the crowd of waking cycle humans would come fill the mall restaurants. Mayalla paused to picture the local pack of ballachanes, a couple of hours from now, jumping up on tables of human diners, plucking food in their claws casually from any plates within reach, like tradition on planet Saalashe. Strict laws here, forbid humans from touching a ballachane with harm. But of course, many a restaurant touted its elevated, ballachane-proof eating surface!
The only place wild ballachanes would not go on this planet, Mayalla had no doubt, is near any of the gigantic fire fountains. Mayalla took a glance back at the nearest fountain, spewing flames. ("Yeah, don't want to catch your fur on fire," Mayalla said to Bruulyan, pulling the strands of his blue fur.) Ballachanes always stayed plenty of distance away from the intimidating fountain that cascaded soaring flames into the sky, making it look like hell was burning on Saalashe while everyone went on with their daily lives. Of course on a cold planet, such as Saalashe, people were much grateful for such heat sources that tapped naturally occurring volcanic action.
Mayalla appreciated the fountains' basking warmth but thankfully, but Mayalla hated being close to the flames, it made the air too hot!
As Mayalla turned her attention back to her pet trying to soothe him, beautiful sounds began to tickle her ears like a lover's nibble and she turned her head to the source, already knowing what she would see:
A group of wild ballachanes rested on their haunches forming a group circle. They sang singing with their reedy voices using their two sets of ultra-thin vocal chords to produce a soothing sound reminiscent of a clear green cycle--which, most Saalashe detested, remember the light hurts their eyes, but for Mayalla meant freedom and peace.
"Oh, listen Bruulyan!" Mayalla said, pointing. "They're singing for you, baby." Mayalla hugged Bruulyan, squishing his face.
Bruulyan whined.
The high-pitched, wordless, intonations rung forth through the air, bringing rainbows only visible to the ear to life.
Several blue-furry creature voices came together in harmony.
The song had an overall calming effect on Mayalla, bringing her into a kind of burning ecstasy. She hoped it had the same effect on Bruulyan.
But to her disappointment, Bruulyan still looked angry. Somewhere in the breeding process, the domestic ballachanes like Bruulyan had lost their double set of vocal chords and thus, their ability to produce any sort of pretty sound.
"Jealous you can't sing like that?" Mayalla suggested, still lost for real reason. She stood up. "Or are you just tired of walking? I guess it has been a long green cycle." Besides, why care about reasons? she thought.
"Having trouble with your ballachane Lady Allachay?" a man's silky voice said.
Mayalla turned her head and looked at the speaker coming towards her. He moved smoothly, like the path on which he walked. He held a miniature computer screen in one hand and kept the other hand in his pocket.
Oh no, Mayalla thought, when he came close enough to be recognized. "Hello, Jzhaatu," she said, letting her breath escape heavily to let him know she wasn't pleased by his presence. "What are you doing up so late in the cycle?" Mayalla turned her face away and wondered how long he had been watching her, uh, spying on her.
She looked at him when he didn't answer immediately.
Now he stood close.
The opaque green membranes covering Jzhaatu's eyes vibrated as if they wanted to open, but knowing of the pain to come if they did so, stayed shut. And so Jzhaatu's fluttering membranes suggested to Mayalla, he was nervous about something.
Jzhaatu composed himself, straightening his black jacket and faced Mayalla more comfortably. "I'm on Obsolashe business," he said importantly, as if that was enough to explain everything, his sneaking up on her, his being awake at this time. "How's your father by the way?" His eyeflaps rescinded part way up beneath the orbital bone, revealing the oranges of his lower eyes.
Just like Jzhaatu, Mayalla thought, most saalashe men were only interested in her half-earthen genes, the ones that gave her rounded pupils and smaller eyes more proportionate to the face. They were quite the novelty on Saalashe, unlike the usual boring flap-covered, orange, mirror-surfaced eyes of pure salaashe. Of course, as aforementioned, her eyes allowed her to see during the starlight filled sleeping cycle without coverage--a genetic advantage in most minds, at least, she thought. She could walk or dance beneath Gaanda's green light all she wanted, and painlessly without stupid eye flaps like Jzhaatu's. But, she also figured a lot of the men liked her eyes for the simple fact--she looked different. Her eyeballs weren't as orange and her green eyeflaps not as prominent, leaving only a slight rimming of green around her eye sockets, giving them a naked, open appearance. But as a consequence of such eyes, Mayalla constantly wore red starglasses fashioned just for her as a substitute. She felt too isolated and different from the rest of the population to walk around without them.
No, not her eyes was a man like Jzhaatu interested in, his main interest she knew from experience would be her father's membership in the ruling party Obsolashe of planet Salaashe of which a new member could only be admitted through revelation or invitation, whichever came first, by a standing member. And Jzhaatu, an ambitious man, wanted her father's recommendation--not her, eyes, or her company, or.... She changed the subject:
"Jzhaatu, why are there so many ballachanes out here?"
He raised his eyebrows over his disproportionately large eyes in puzzlement, then guided the eyes around the courtyard, watching the furry creatures romp around underneath a shade of membranes.
"That's like asking why there are so many flowers in a garden," he spoke through a smile, holding his palms up to shrug off the ease of the feathery question. "They're always there."
"No," she protested, annoyed. "There is an excessively high amount of them, I mean a lot, this far north at such a late time." She turned to watch them.
"Oh," he said, distantly from behind her. "Ask Bruulyan."
He still wasn't taking her seriously!
Mayalla watched a particularly fat ballachane chewing on a plant. It then rolled onto its back and kicked its paws into the air. Its clumsiness magnified by the slippery floor when it had a hard time regaining its feet as it rolled side to side in frustration, trying for a grip with its claws.
Dazed by the spectacle, Mayalla heard Bruulyan growl and she quickly turned around. Jzhaatu was bent down stroking Bruulyan's muzzle.
Bruulyan snapped his jaws; Jzhaatu pulled his hand away sharply and buried it in his pocket. He stood up.
"Don't do that!" Mayalla said, pulling back Bruulyan's head with the leash. She moved toward Jzhaatzu angrily. "He's in a bad mood this cycle and you're not helping." And pretty soon, Jzhaatu was going to push Mayalla into the awful feeling of a dark mood most pure Saalashe so enjoyed.
"Well"--Jzhaatu appeared unaffected by her outrage--"despite Bruulyan's rudeness, mind you little girl, co-mingled with the terrible green light of this sleep cycle, I'm in a wonderfully dark mood! Nothing so silly could bother me." He looked off in the distance, toward the fire fountain. Mayalla could see flame reflections dance lightly on his face. He said dreamily, "One day I'm going to have one..."
"A fire fountain?" she joked.
"Damn you girl, a ballachane!" He turned to see Mayalla's reaction. He was implying to Mayalla that he believed he would be soon admitted to the Obsolashe: only members could legally own domestic bred ballachanes as pets.
Mayalla didn't offer him any encouragement, instead saying, "Well, I think all these ballachanes are strange." She lifted up her starglasses for a clearer view of the pack.
Jzhaatu winced, watching her uncovered eyes in horror.
Go ahead, Mayalla dared him with a look, say something about my eyes.
But, to her surprise he quickly composed himself as if nothing was amuck. "Mayalla I don't know. I'll report it to the Obsolashe."
"What?"
"The unusual number of ballachanes in the courtyard," he said, sarcastically, "like you said."
"Oh--yes, I know," Mayalla said, remembering what she had asked him. He hadn't taken her fearful intuition seriously. And they both knew it: members of the Obsolashe took absolutely no true interest in population distribution of wild ballachanes.
"You know Jzhaatzu, I would think you would be nice to me," Mayalla said.
"Why I am," he answered. "Besides, I have already gotten what I wanted." He smiled uneasily and continued to stare at Mayalla's uncovered eyes as he backed away. "Tell your father I said 'Hello'"- he turned his eyes away from Mayalla-- "I must be on my way"--he held up his handheld computer screen--"Obsolashe business."
Then, next, he pointed at Bruulyan and clicked his teeth, "Bruulyan my boy--were it another day, perhaps..." He dropped off.
Bruulyan gave a huge snarl and hopped to all fours; and Jzhaatu jumped.
"Bruulyan!" Mayalla scolded weakly for display, barely holding back on the leash, as Bruulyan snapped his jaws in the air. She had a mind to let Bruulyan loose to do what he would with Jzhaatzu.
"Silly girl," Jzhaatu said, his eyeflaps jumping spasmodically, "control the bally!" And with that, Jzhaatu spun on his heels and walked off quickly down the path from which he'd come and back out under the towering mall gates.
He's afraid of my eyes! Mayalla thought with mirth. Or...well, no okay, she looked at Bruulyan, maybe it was you.
She suddenly had a sidesplitting thought and wished to communicate it to Bruulyan with her mind: Who's scarier Bruulyan, you? or my eyes?
Actually, maybe it wasn't so funny. Maybe this whole thing was no laughing matter.
Mayalla sighed and settled the starglasses on her nose.
In the background, the ballachanes were still singing, a little quieter now as if they were listening to her and Jzhaatzu, but still they were singing. And trying to get back in somewhat good humor, Mayalla swayed her lithe figure to the ballachane music. She had appreciated seeing Bruulyan make Jzhaatu jump like that! She took a deep breath of the clean, green air, and laughed heartily.
"Scared the Shaaderkal!" Mayalla said to Bruulyan, making reference to the ugly creatures that populated the nearby moon of the same name. She praised her pet with her hands.
Bruulyan growled and pawed her lightly. She pulled his paw off her leg. "Watch the claws," she said.
Two's began to flash through the air followed by a voice. "It's two hours to awake cycle!"
Mayalla looked quickly to the clock set in a nearby mall tower. "It's two hours to awake cycle!" it repeated, calling into the air and spitting out numeral twos.
"Greetings shoppers," the clock said. Was it almost awake cycle already? How the time had passed
"Greetings shoppers," the clock repeated, "today we have many sales..."
"Yeah right," Mayalla said, waving it off. "Let's hurry home," she said to Bruulyan. "It is almost time for everyone to crowd the heck out of everything. You're all a bunch of men, including you"--she pointed accusingly at the clock.
"Excuse me ma'am?" the clock said, looking down at her. "Do you need directions? There is a sale nearby in..."
Mayalla ignore the clock and instead looked at Bruulyan-- "And, I knew I should have gotten a female pet," she joked. "Since you're so impatient, I'll take you home now." But, the real reason they were leaving was the crowds that would be soon filling the mall.
Mayalla stretched her arms; then glad she didn't forget, picked up her green bag of necessities and placed the strap over her shoulder.
Eager to get moving, Bruulyan tugged on his end of the leash, pulling Mayalla briskly towards the archway exits. She clunked along behind him in her heels, letting the bangs of her hair flap in front of her starglasses.
"Wait!" She said suddenly, tugging on the leash and making Bruulyan come to a halt. She looked through the windows of nearby Yaamayamzees Veetraday Imports. It was the last clothing store on the way out.
Mayalla walked up to the lower level store and brought her hands forward, cupping them against the glass to block out starlight reflection. It was dark inside; she gazed through at glowing rows of clothing racks. She allowed her eyes to float along opalescent pink tops, lustrous glowing gold skirts, until she came to an assorted display of newly imported accessory items.
"Oooh," she said, "Bruulyan, look."
The set of new items were marked as "Serene" and had an advertisement projection playing above them. The movie showed a mysterious, thin muscular creature with iridescent skin of quivering silky purple. When it began to move, its thin muscular body refracted sparkles of green light. The creature turned its head to the camera and roared. In concurrence lines of writing flashed: 'Wear Serene and you'll be seen in the dark!'
Mayalla squealed in glee. She had never seen a creature like that! and she wondered which planet it came from--or maybe it had originated from one of the nearby moons!
Mayalla, quickly spotted a pair of gloves fashioned from Serene she thought would go well with her favorite green outfit. And they twinkled so softly, like subtle purple and tinged with green smoke!
Before Mayalla consciously knew it, her mind in the store, her body resting against the glass, she drifted away with daydreams of herself in fine clothes all the while accompanied by the angelic voices of the ballachanes singing in the background; it was all so dazzling, filling with life.
Tomorrow, she thought, I must come back when the store opens.
Distantly, she noticed Bruulyan was getting antsy again. She could feel him jerking around on the leash. He began growling.
"Alright, I'm done looking," she said, turning around. The singing stopped.
Without warning, Bruulyan jumped on her.
"Ohh!" Mayalla cried out, grabbing onto Bruulyan's forelegs. She tried to shove him away.
Bruulyan was standing on his hind legs, digging his sharp claws into Mayalla's breastbone, drawing blood.
She dropped his leash, and screamed. "Bruulyan! Down!" She tried to shove him off, bumping off the glass. Her heart began to pump hard, as adrenaline coursed through her body.
He roared in her face, blasting her with his hot breath.
"Bruulyan! Quit -- " She cried at him, still trying to push him away. He was too heavy.
"Jzhaatu!" she yelled. "Jzhaatzu, help!"
Bruulyan opened his slavering jaws and bit at her face.
Mayalla turned her head away, banging it against the glass; she fell to the floor on her butt. She looked unbelievingly down at her breastbone: Bruulyan's plying claws had left burning holes in her flesh.
Mayalla crawled out from under Bruulyan's furry legs. She unstrapped her shoulder bag, left it on the floor and jumped to her knees.
From her transitional crouching position, Mayalla noticed most of the wild ballachanes were scattering to run for safety.
Mayalla scooted away from Bruulyan, daring a quick look back.
Bruulyan dropped to four legs from the glass. He looked completely mad, as drool leaked from his mouth. The blue spikes on his back stood rigid on end.
Mayalla quickly threw off her starglasses. She stripped off her jacket and dropped it to the floor. Beneath her blouse, blood was soaking the material.
She ran to Yaamjamzee's glass door.
She pulled on the handle, but it was locked!
She kept an eye on Bruulyan, pounding on the glass with her hand. "Open up!" she yelled. Her hand cracked she knew it had broken. "I can't believe this!"
A few feet away, Bruulyan growled and crept toward her.
Cradling her throbbing hand, Mayalla kicked off one high-heeled shoe, slinging it hard at Bruulyan's head. It missed and bounded off the glass window behind him. Next, she slung the other shoe and it hit Bruulyan in the eye. But it only made him angry and he growled, taking off towards her.
She screamed, "You Shaaderkal!"spraying spittle and bending forward at the knees; she turned and ran, her bare feet slapping on the floor. She ran past the various stores, stopping to yank the doors. One was locked, then another, then...
She ran underneath a low hanging balcony and jumped. She managed to grip onto the railing but couldn't pull herself up for her weakened hand caused her to lose grip. Anyway, she realized Bruulyan would quickly reach her and she was a sitting Shaaderkal hanging there. So, she swung her weight with one hand and dropped to the floor.
Then she decided to charge shoulder first into the storefront glass to see if she could break through to the other side and perhaps safety, but the glass held firm and she bounced off and fell to her knees. Where were the robots? her mind screamed.
Just then, Mayalla turned in time to see Bruulyan dive for her stomach; she deftly dodged to the side and he slid by her on the slick floor. He struggled to regain his balance and fell on his belly, his claws grasping for grip.
Mayalla saw her chance and ran past the prone Bruulyan, heading in the general direction of the fire fountain. She judged it to be less than a hundred yards away.
She ran as fast as her thin legs would go. In the distance, the fire flamed like her burning thighs.
Mayalla continued running, but her muscles were quitting, she couldn't keep up the pace. And as she feared, soon a clicking sound of claws on the floor consistently grew louder, and knowing it was Bruulyan, she began to kick up her heels, afraid he would tear into her ankles at any moment.
Mayalla zigzagged, hoping she could throw off Bruulyan if he leapt at her.
He roared close behind her and she screamed. She looked over her shoulder and saw him only a few yards back, the look of a predator in his mirrored eyes.
"Jaamax," she cried, using the Salaashe name for God, "if I -- " She pumped her legs faster. The fire fountain rose higher above her and grew hotter as she neared. Sweat began to run down her forehead.
Instantly, she felt a sharp strike at her heels like teeth and she jumped. As her feet hit the floor, she thought she heard Bruulyan fall behind her, but she dare not look back.
Approaching the fountain basin, Mayalla continued around the side, staying as close to the flames as she dared. She only had a little ways to go to the far side, but fatigue set in and she could barely continue. Exposure to the intense heat was making it nearly impossible for her to draw breath into her lungs.
She grew faint and leaned with her hands on her knees. She slouched over to the corner of the fountain to where the flames were less dense. She peered in between the many spurts of flames shooting forth from deep down inside the curved rock basin. Heat burned her eyes, drying them.
Mayalla caught a glimpse of blue fur scuttling on the either side. She thought it was Bruulyan.
Mayalla looked behind her, she must decide now if she should take a chance on the open floor and run south all the way to the food court.
Suddenly, the decision was made for her as she heard a loud braying with Bruulyan emerging from the flames. He sprung off the side of the basin toward her throat.
Mayalla fell backwards onto the hard floor, banging her head, as Bruulyan's fiery body breezed over her.
Without thinking, she rolled on her stomach and pushed to her feet, watching Bruulyan's flaming body skid on the polished stone path.
Dazed from the head blow, Mayalla panicked and ran, yelling for someone to help her. She angled towards a large storefront, looking over her shoulder. She tripped over her own feet, falling into a belly-slide and crashing headfirst into the lower portion of a storefront window frame. Her sight dimmed, she struggled to stand, clambering with her hands against the glass window for support until she stood.
Her vision clouded as she saw a robot step out of a nearby doorway and say: "Is everything okay? Shall I call for help? The store is now closed. Press my buttons for open hours."
"Call for help, Gaazi you!" Mayalla yelled at the robot. She stumbled against the glass towards the door.
A sharp growl pierced the air and Mayalla turned to face it. Bruulyan, now a burning fireball, jumped into her, slamming them both through the panes of glass and onto a furniture display, as crystals rained upon them.
Bruulyan landed on top of Mayalla, painfully crushing her under his weight, knocking out her breath, and burning her skin. She gasped for air. Strips of her blouse caught fire. Her arms were partially pinned above her head and Mayalla desperately reached into her hair to pull out the two long metal pins that held her ponytail. With them in hand, she reached her arms around Bruulyan's back and jammed the pins into his flesh, easily piercing the skin.
She cursed as Bruulyan's teeth tore a flap of skin off her cheekbone.
She let go of the hair pins and dug her long nails into Bruulyan's back wounds and he yelped in fury; but then, he went for her throat.
Mayalla tucked her chin down, fending off bites from her carotid arteries. She kept digging nails deeper and deeper into Bruulyan's back wounds until she could pull out chunks of his searing flesh, drenching her hands in his blue blood.
Bruulyan clamped his jaws down on Mayalla's face and bit off her nose, shaking his head in fury and spattering her red blood. To Mayalla, Bruulyan amidst flames charring the fur over his head looked like Kaadvaz, the saalashe devil, hooded with fire.
"Jaamax help me," Mayalla cried weakly, closing her eyes and continuing to tear the flesh out of Bruulyan's back.
A flash of light struck the air and a loud blast deafened Mayalla's ears; and Bruulyan went limp. She heard running footsteps. Quickly, Bruulyan's weight was hefted and dragged off her.
Mayalla moaned in pain and rolled to her side to extinguish the small flames continuing to sting her skin. She then moved to all fours and crawled to hide under a desk, her vision partially masked in blood until she bumped headlong into a couch. She surrendered to the smell of burning flesh holding awful in her nose.
"Hold on Daughter!" She faintly heard a nearby voice call.
Confused and disoriented, she gave once last ditch of effort and tried to stand up. She briefly gained her feet and turned to meet her next attacker, but then she teetered to the side and fell over a chair to the floor. With her head resting on the carpeting, the last thing she noticed was that Bruulyan's body was black and smoldering beneath the flames -- it was usually such a pretty blue...
------
Next thing she knew, Mayalla stared up at a black ceiling. She had to squint against a strong but pleasant array of red lights. The ceiling beyond was now coming into focus and it was changing hues until it registered as whirls of blue cascading in dizzying patterns. In the background a loud purring emanated and tickled Mayalla's ears, sending soothing shivers up her spine that felt healing.
“Welcome Daughter," was the next thing she heard and soon a white blurry figure towered into view above her. The being adjusted a lamp away from her eyes by pulling it across the air and throwing it down to the ground where it disappeared.
"There now," the figure of white said. Then he leaned down a large oblong head at her and smiled. It had large white teeth!
"Oh, my Jaamax!" Mayalla panicked and tried to sit up. It was gonna eat her!
Mayalla shifted her weight and tried to jump off the table. The monster grabbed her as struggled to escape.
"AAAAaaah!" Mayalla screamed.
She scrambled part way off the table, but the monster grabbed onto her legs, pulling her back on.
"No!" Mayalla called.
"It's okay, relax Daughter! I answered your call for help!" The monster or whatever it was had a strong grip and after giving a couple feeble kicks, Mayalla gave up. She turned to look at him; her eyes continued to clear.
And by now, she realized it was no monster.
A face came into view, alien, but probably not anything that wanted to eat her. It just looked a bit strange she realized, but not unfriendly at all.
Soon, the whole room came into focus, lit by the dizzying blue swirls of light she had seen on the ceiling earlier, casting on everything, including the man in front of her. The whirls and swirls behind the walls appeared to have depth, like for miles!
Quickly Mayalla returned her attention to the being in front of her and she could see him now clearly enough to recognize what he was, a Zebra Man! At least that's how she knew them as-- the name her father had given to the species from where was it? Jupernitor? She wasn't sure why her father had called such creatures 'Zebra men', other than the fact that's what he always called them. She remembered once when she was a little girl, he had shown her videos of them, telling her the thin white fur, black stripes and long protruding mouth of the zebra man had reminded him of something from his childhood home.
Mayalla lowered her gaze to the Zebra Man's bare arms. The black twisting bands stood out like delusional tricks. "You are a Zebra Man," she said in awe, suddenly, unafraid at all. She laughed. Maybe, he had drugged her.
"Your father sent me," the Zebra Man said. That said, Mayalla calmed more.
The Man leaned close to her. "Zaallel" -- he spoke her father's name and pointed a hand at himself -- "I know him."
"You know Zaallel Allachay -- my father?" She looked into his eyes to see if they betrayed trust. The irises were aqueous blue with pupils bobbing about like boats floating on a raging sea! "And you speak...you speak Saalashe," she said, surprised. "My father -- "
"Is the man who taught me," he interrupted.
That did the security trick for Mayalla and she sat up on the end of the table: she now figured it was used for operating, not a platter on which she was being prepared to be eaten. "Are you gonna kill me?" She said it more out of relief, than fear. Then, she regretted it, knowing it a foolish thing to say.
"No," the Man said calmly.
Mayalla rubbed her eyes: they were itchy and irritated. She turned to inspecting herself in the blue light of the room, running her hands up her arms: the burns were gone; her chest : free of puncture wounds; her face: a nose was there; it felt like hers upon further inspection. She rubbed her sore head: no remaining signs of major injury. She also noticed her hair was now free of pins, and hung down loosely beneath her shoulders.
"Were you the one that fired the gun?" she asked, squinting. "Were you following me? You said you know my father?"
"Yes, Yes and Yes!" he said
"Bruulyan attacked me!"
"I assume your referring to your ballachane? Well, nothing we can do about that now."
"Thanks for informing me," Mayalla said sarcastically. "I can't believe he attacked me!" She shook her head. "I don't know why..."
The Zebra Man touched Mayalla's nose with a finger, before she ever saw him reach out. "I reconstructed your new nose by approximating its size based on your other features," he said, changing the focus of the conversation. The pressure of the Man's hand disappeared
Mayalla felt the pointed sharpness of her nose, crossing her eyes to try and see it. "That's it alright," she said. It did feel like her original; she half-wondered if the Zebra Man had not picked her vivisected nose up off the courtyard and melded it back on. She decided not to pursue that possibility any further.
"You're fine--for now," the Zebra Man said. "But, there's not much left of now." He appeared fretful, clicking his large teeth loudly.
"Where are we?" Mayalla said, rubbing her eyes again. She suddenly noticed she was naked in the soothing blue glow of the room and tried to cover herself. "Eeeh," she said quietly, blushing.
"We're aboard my ship." The Man turned away, moving easily. When he moved it appeared to Mayalla as if his black stripes stayed behind in the air, only to reappear, jumping back into place on his body from where they had once started. And, now it looked like he floated across the floor as he busily put away equipment by letting them go from his hands and watching them fly into place on the walls. Then, he called, "White robes," and a brilliant set of brilliant white robes floated toward Mayalla.
"How did you do that?" Mayalla said, taking the robes in her hand.
"No-I, you mean how did the ship's computer do that?" The Man corrected. "That would take to long to explain for the agenda we face."
"I didn't mean to offend you...I mean earlier, running from you..." Mayalla said, deciding the Man might be a good ally, or rather, the only ally she might have right now. And he seemed friendly enough. She further explained, "I have never seen a Zebra Man alive." She started to get off the table, then stopped.
"None taken," the Man said, taking the robes from her and holding it aloft so she could slip in her arms. As the Man pulled the material around her, Mayalla noticed how wonderful the extraordinarily thick material felt. "Oooh, this is nice," she said. Robed about, Mayalla scooted and hopped off the edge of the table towards the floor--suddenly sure she made a mistake and was freefalling into a pool of water when she looked down and saw the brilliant blueness of its illusory surface. "Aahh!" She automatically yanked up her head to gasp for air. But quickly then, her bare feet met solid floor, which she confirmed to herself was real by stamping up and down lightly, watching in amazement when her feet failed to sink into the floor. "Hahaha," she giggled, then tied the robes around the front feeling foolish.
"What did you give me?" she whimsically said.
"Other than your second life?"
"No, I mean mind altering, for post-trauma pain." She took a step on the peculiar floor; it felt like she was walking on water, if that was possible. "Look at this Man, I mean this can't be real." The peculiar blue floor must project some type of energy she figured, or maybe it wasn't there at all. She began to move around the room, skimming her feet along effortlessly in her bare feet like she wore some sort of ultra-magic, slippery, socks. "Whoa!" Mayalla slipped and fell on her butt to the floor. She lay back in blue light and laughed at the ceiling.
The Man appeared over her and toothily smiled. He held a green satchel over his shoulder. He bent down over her prone form "You're as clean-blooded as clean-blooded can be," he said. And reached into the bag.
"Hey, that's mine," she said, sitting up. Then she stood easily, wanting the green bag.
"Yes," the Man said, "yours indeed -- but I didn't want any evidence of youu hanging around. Your starglasses dear." He pulled her starglasses from the bag and handed them to Mayalla, which she promptly set atop of her head, wondering how he could have dared to take the time to find them and escape back to his ship with her broken form in tow.
"Oh Jaamax," Mayalla said, thinking of her nose again, wondering if he returned to her everything she left there.
"I threw your shoes in the fire," the Man said. Then he handed her a pair of white sandals.
"Why?"
He ignored her.
"Oh, evidence," she answered for herself. She turned her attention to the sandals dangling in her hands, turning them over and up and around. They were unremarkable. She sat on the floor, fastening them on; oh, but then when she stood to her feet, they became quite remarkable! For when Mayalla shifted her weight to one foot, the corresponding sandal sent off small shivers yellow, red and blue star blue-dust! --And the brilliant light show was non-stop! "Wow!" she said, admiring their beauty, "you really ingested me with something!"
"I assure you," he said, "I did nothing but dermal repair, internal scar removal, and some cleaning out."
She crinkled her nose. "Cleaning out?"
"I infested you with small Geechi organisms in order to reduce the inflammation in your internal organs. Otherwise, you would never have lived this long."
"Oh, well, I told you it was something," she said with thankfulness in her voice, pleasantly surprised to still be alive. She doubted Saalashe doctors could have saved her in the terrible state she must have been in.
The Zebra man set his rounded eyes on her, but the pupils danced all around the room. "They're not mind altering, like I said. Have no worry." He pointed his finger. "However, they may give you interesting cravings for foods you never had a care for. They're particularly convincing in telling your body that it needs to be fed the foods that the Geechi crave in order for them to remain thriving in your intestines. So I guess, yes, in that way these organisms can be mind altering!"
"Oh, great," she said, "now I'm going to be fat from eating Shaaderkel heads or something all day in order to feed my organisms." She was referring to a saucy saalashe delicacy made from Shaaderkal heads, of which she had never quite acquired a taste for.
Then, she had a horrible thought and spoke it: "Just what do these Seeki organisms eat?"
"Geechi," he corrected.
"What do they eat?"
He ignored her. "There are more pressing matters and if you will follow me, I am ready to lead you to the front of the ship now -- to inform you further of your situation."
Mayalla watched him fiddle mysteriously inside her green satchel, checking for something.
"You're being so kind to me," Mayalla said, stamping her foot on the floor, kicking up evanescing multi-colored dust. "I'm sorry I offended you -- the way I so childishly reacted to you."
She reached out and touched his arm to let him know she meant it, watching the stripes slowly disappear in thin air after the Man had already pulled away his arm for some time.
"No, I'm not offended," The Zebra Man answered confidently, then clicked his teeth. "So, abnormally behind" -- his voice grew quiet as if noting a nnew finding to himself -- "in the science of mind reading on Saalashe."
"What's that mean?" Mayalla said, intrigued.
"You're already finding out. If you only knew Daughter…follow me." He urged her along impatiently with his large, long-fingered hand, making it appear to jump out at her.
He began to drift away and Mayalla followed him, pushing with her legs and floating across the floor in this wonderfully strange new way of walking. They exited the small room through an open doorway and went down vertically. Mayalla now realized they had left Saalashe atmosphere, for there was no gravity in here. Maybe, it was the peculiar floor that pulled their feet down.
Anyhow, they commenced their gliding down a long straight corridor. The floor here swirled also, but with specks of purple, green, and red. It reminded her of the coral lights that could be seen beneath the northern waters of Saalashe. Oddly enough, Mayalla slowly fell down to her side while looking through the flooring and found she could move that way too. This technology of the Zebra people made the people of her own planet seem-- for the first time to Mayalla so badly primitive -- like the Zebra men controlled magic and she once lived in the past with her colony of fellow baby bally's.
"Hey, well, what about my ballachane?" Mayalla said, calling after the man; knowing the obvious answer.
Without stopping, he said something inaudible.
"Huh?" she said, standing up like floating and then moving her legs in a run to catch up with him, her white robes flowing behind her. For the first time she noticed how huge the Man was, how long his legs were. Every two of her sliding steps made one of his.
He stopped. "I said, he's dead--done, finished, girl."
Mayalla slid past. She moved her way back towards him as he opened the green satchel and pulled out a large tuft of black fur. "Pets come and go" he said equably.
"How could you be so insensitive?" she said. Her voice began to quaver. "I just killed something I loved!"
"I tested his fur," he answered swiftly, clicking his large teeth; his pupils swimming. "He was drugged." He clicked his teeth again. "Very primitive though, I must say."
Mayalla was somewhat insulted by the weak impression Salaashe made upon the Zebra Man: she was still loyal to her people, but kept quiet. She still wasn't sure what his intentions were.
Suddenly an idea electrified her mind painfully. Shaaderkal! Mayalla thought: it must have been Jzhaatu. Of course! She was too busy watching the wild ballachanes to notice what he was doing to Bruulyan. Could he have injected Bruulyan with some time-delayed drug that made Bruulyan rage on her? Could he have done it that quickly while she had turned away and then found him resting his hand on Bruulyan's muzzle? She replayed the scene in her mind and figured, yes he could have. Now it did seem odd that she had turned back to see Jzhaatu knelt beside Bruulyan. Why would he get so close to Bruulyan?
Mayalla stood still, momentarily forgetting her present situation. Absently she noticed the Zebra Man distancing himself from her; she moved to catch up.
He walked over to a cluttered counter full of green liquid and set back into the walls on one side of the hallway. He picked up a black wand attached to a clear hose, which was connected into the counter. A low humming noise commenced and he began to spray the tuft of fur. Quickly, a coating began to appear, making the tendrils thicker and shinier. He quickly waved the fur in the air to dry; then with his long fingers, delicately tore it into three pieces. He put the largest piece in what she though was a biological storage container.
He held out the two leftover pieces in his large palm, nodding for her to take them. And she did, quizzically raising her eyebrows.
He began sliding back up the hallway and broke the silence. "Ballachanes are usually peaceful creatures -- of course, I'm referring to the wild ones. Statistically speaking only about one in one hundred thousand ever show aggression! The domestic breed are another story -- but sometimes you have to kill something you once loved when it turns on you."
"I still do--love him," she insisted, stroking the black tufts of fur the Man had given her. "But it wasn't me, a friend drugged my ballachane."
"Ah, I know," the Man said. He watched Mayalla handling the fur. "Put those in your robes. One tuft in each pocket -- like fur lining." He indicated what he meant by putting his hands near where pockets would be on him. "Like this."
Mayalla did like he showed her, placing the black fur tufts delicately into the hand-sized pockets in her robes and closed each pocket-flap carefully, so the fur tendrils poked out only slightly.
The Zebra Man commenced walking and Mayalla followed. Together, they soon reached the end of the corridor approaching an archway revolving with lights and the Man stepped through. Mayalla followed him into what had to be the control center of the ship. Huge glass windows ran in circular patterns ascending to the ceiling. All of space stood out before her: the stars shining brightly against the deepest of black backgrounds, a nearby greenish planet looming large. The Man sat down in a large chair, folding his legs like a puppet and Mayalla sat down in a seat beside him.
"Am I your captive?" she asked, folding her hands, not knowing now what to say, but still probing for information.
"No, you're free to go at your will," he said, adjusting the ships controls. "I only saved you."
"From what?" And then she felt foolish for asking.
He answered for her. "For one thing, never mind your royal status, you're going to lose your hearing for sure. The Rule of the Ballachane is swift and harsh -- and that might not be the worst. Your Obsolashe of your planet run a hard line!" The way he looked at her and said 'your Obsolashe' it seemed to Mayalla as if he was suggesting she was responsible for her government -- a ludicrous idea!
"Unless they don't find me," she said.
"They're following us right now," he said, checking a radar screen. "Unlikely."
Instinctively, she turned around as if the Saalashe ships would be there, and saw nothing but the long swirling, blue corridor.
"You can't outrun them?"
"Probably not -- I don't want to risk them firing on us. You are precious cargo. Unfortunately, we're surrounded."
"Precious to who?"
"To me," the Man said.
"Well-- " Mayalla began.
"However," the Man interrupted, "we may be able to get a piece of that fur to the courts and show how your ballachane was drugged. But today, it looks like fortune is not yet on our side."
The ship jolted and Mayalla screamed.
"Lock yourself in!" the Man said, pressing a button on his chair. Mayalla pressed the respective button on her armrest and a diaphanous gold ring wrapped around her torso, holding her in place.
The floor began to vibrate and tilt as the ship dipped forward, altering the view of space beyond the window. Am I dreaming? Mayalla suddenly thought
Then the ship steadied. It felt like they were steadily rising.
"They're pulling us in," said the Zebra Man. "I tried. I will stay with you. I was a little late though, unfortunately, I must add."
Mayalla reached over and ran her finger up the man's forearm where black stripes stood out so strangely; it was soft, downy. Mayalla traced her finger around the Man's elbow joint. "I don't want to die yet," she said, stopping at his upper arm when he looked at her. An alarm rang on the ship.
She put her hands to her face.
A group of laser-gem wielding saalashe soldiers came quickly aboard. They had their eyeflaps down in the brightness of the Zebra Man's ship. They pulled The Zebra Man and Mayalla wordlessly away: the Zebra Man in bonds; Mayalla herself, by the hand like a little child.
The group crossed linked bay doors into an Obsolashe war cruiser. It was dark inside with only floating blue tinted black lights that preceded them down the dim corridors to guide their way.
In the comfort of the dark, the Obsolashe guards raised their eyeflaps and marched Mayalla and the Man down a short entryway where the two prisoners were thrown quickly into a holding cell.
The cell was a round circular room, with a ceiling ring of black lights making everything glow. The guards disappeared and the seating area behind Mayalla and the Man sealed -- they were locked in.
Mayalla walked around the room, studying the walls for cameras or listening devices. Faintly, she heard the Zebra Man take a seat.
"What are you doing?" Mayalla questioned, standing with her hands on her hips. The Zebra Man was reclining and tapping his large banded fingers on the back of the seat. He looked comical in the black light. The white patches of his fur glowing. In the black light, the Man's black bands were invisible and it looked like he had missing pieces of flesh.
"What else is there to do?" he said, "On the last moments of your life?"
"Well...." She turned away embarrassed, breaking the thought. "They're not going to kill you," she insisted. "I've lived my whole life among them. They're not savages. My father is one of the Obsolashe. They'll surely set me free when they find out -- "
The Man interrupted her, "That's what he told you?" He motioned in the dark for Mayalla to come closer.
"What do you mean?" Mayalla jumped up on the circling seats and grabbed onto his furry neck.
The Man pulled her head close until her ear touched his lips and he began to whisper in the smallest of voices, his breath floating around to her nose and smelling like grass. "Why do you think your grandfather left the comforts of his earthen home?
"I -- "
"Don't answer, just bring the questions slowly to your mind, and I will answer the credible ones. We want to stay quiet."
Yes, there must be listening devices in here, Mayalla thought. And room cameras -- but there was nothing they could do about that.
Mayalla quieting her breathing. She remembered the Zebra Man mentioned mind reading on his ship.
He whispered into her ear, "Daughter of Earth, how naïve you must be."
How come you keep calling me that? She thought.
"Because you are the granddaughter of your grandfather."
Obviously, she thought and rolled her eyes. She had never known her grandfather anyway. Why are you joking at a time like this?
"Tell me now Daughter -- where is your father?"
Obsolashe business, of course. Why should I tell you?
"No," he whispered; then breathed into her ear. "He was taken and imprisoned on Shaaderkal Moon."
Mayalla's eyes widened. Her father was imprisoned on Shaaderkal!
The Zebra Man continued, "Under suspicion of being part of an earthen team sent to Saalashe to undermine outer-planetary military governments, thereby making it safe for further human expansion. The Zedrekin people of my planet were earth men's first objective" -- he inhaled breath -- "before you were born. You're grandfather was part of the operation there. That's where he is now. Dead but honored as one of our planetary heroes." Mayalla pressed her ear closer to the Man's mouth so she could feel his teethe tickling her ear. He continued, "Your father sent me here to follow you. He knew he was beginning to look suspicious to the Obsolashe after it was learned from inside information of his links to your grandfather."
He paused to take a deep breath.
How could they not have known? Mayalla thought, the genealogical records for everyone on her planet went back for centuries!
"I hear your thoughts," the Zebra said. "And let me tell you, you're grandfather was a master of electronic guises, he was rumored to be known by more than seventy names. No one ever knew his link to your father until some new review of saalashe records turned up something suspicious."
The Man paused for breath.
"But now I don't think I have to warn you any further -- you…your mother…and two sisters…are in great danger." He exhaled softly into her ear; then inhaled and said, "Your grandfather freed our people from the type of government implemented by your ruling Obsolashe…rules never to be again" -- breath -- "to be tolerated on our planet anymore…nor on earth. Let's just say, we're helping him to return the favor on Saalashe." Mayalla was shocked and she moved her head away from the Zebra Man. She never thought of the Obsolashe to be corrupt. She had known since she was a little girl they were the only ones worthy of interpreting the will of Jaamax.
All sorts of thoughts raced through Mayalla's mind: Did her father marry her mother? who's father was Obsolashe just to try and bring down the ruling party from the inside? Was Mayalla a product not of love but of the men of earthen ambition to make the universe safe for themselves?
"Oh, and"-- the Zebra Man grabbed her, pulling her ear again close -- "your father…said he loves you."
Mayalla pressed her forehead to his, thinking: So what do we do now?
"Wait, and try to show them the evidence your pet was drugged."
Something crossed a pathway in Mayalla's brain. Of course! And Jzhaatu would go down! She would personally burn him and throw his ashes over the coral lights. Mayalla let go of the Zebra Man's neck and jumped down off the seat.
Some space time later, Obsolashe soldiers heavily armed with laser-gems entered the cell to lead the Zebra Man away.
"Farewell Daughter of Earth," the Zebra Man said and bowed.
Mayalla wordlessly watched him go, thinking clearly in her mind, Thank you brave man. She hoped he read her mind. Her eyes fought to defy the guards, knowing they all recognized her. She became conditioned to realize that the soldiers’ armament was especially gratuitous now, as during all trials of laws broken involving those set forth as sacred by the Obsolashe -- rare as anyone dare commit this kind of sacrilege. One was expected to die, rather than harm a ballachane.
And then, the door slid down and slammed shut, leaving Mayalla alone, isolated, or with whoever might be spying on her in this black lit, circular cell. A cage was not fit for a Zebra, nor a girl.
After the first what she figured to be a half-hour of so, Mayalla thought she might lose her sanity waiting.
First, she tried to concentrate her mind to send thoughts of comfort to the Zebra Man, then felt hopelessly ignorant as to how far of distance his ability to mind read worked: Could he read the thoughts of someone through the walls? Did he have to be in the same room, the same closeness at which they'd just talked with her holding on to him to read minds? She didn't know; so, she jumped up onto the seats in frustration, padding along the edge of the room in circles, watching her sandals kick off blue dust faint in the absence of good light. She wondered why the soldiers hadn't stolen them yet.
Her mind raced as she lost herself in more thought, trying to remember past trials involving the killing of ballachanes. When's the last time a citizen killed one? She only could recall instances were a person accidentally gave a ballachane a small cut, or landed on a Balanchine’s foot with their ship, or crashed into one with their skyrider. What were the punishments again? She seemed to think it depended on the case -- she scant paid attention to such frivolous matter before. Why should she?
Mayalla looked for flaws in the walls. She inspected her peculiar robes. She lay on her back with her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. So this is what life is like for ballachanes, she finally concluded to herself.
After what she estimated was many hours, after she exhausted herself, the door panel slid upward with a shrill shriek. As it moved up and across the ceiling--it sounded hauntingly like Bruulyan crying in pain. She felt air rush in as two soldiers entered.
One of them stepped forward, holding a jacket. "Take off your robes," he commanded.
She did and stood naked in from of them, holding the robe draped over her forearm. He glanced longingly at her body.
"Never mind," he said, after a short pause. "Just put this jacket on over the robes. It is to serve as a reminder to you."
She pulled the robes back on and reached for the jacket. A chill of horror ran up her spine, her eyes widened. "I don't want to," she said, shaking her head and pushing it away.
"Now!" The soldier thrust it back at her.
With no choice, Mayalla reluctantly took the jacket off the hanger and slowly slid her arm into one sleeve shaking as she did so; then the other arm. The jacket dwarfed her. It was black striped, mottled white and soft, like the fur of a zebra. But it was dead, the strips didn't hover above the arms magically, there was no springing of life from them. Tears filled Mayalla's eyes, and then began to run down her cheeks.
------
The soldiers eventually led Mayalla out of the cell and down the dark corridors behind the floating blue globs of light. They led her to airlock doors with windows at the side of the cruiser. Through the windows Mayalla could see the Saalashe skyline, emerald colored buildings, sharp and rising tall, set in relief against the slightly darker green of the sky. Mayalla was going home -- but not how she wanted.
The ship hovered, lowered -- losing Mayalla's stomach -- and landed quickly. The air lock doors opened and Mayalla was escorted by two guards out into the cool awake cycle breeze. They waited until a flying platform intercepted them. The guards motioned for Mayalla to step on and the guards accompanied her as the platform flew them down towards a large complex of structures in the distance. Mayalla instantly recognized the buildings as the sprawling Taandray city courthouse. Taandray was a busy and crowded city built along the crossing of two methane rivers. In the distance Mayalla could see one of them, the river Tyaadra, icy blue-green in the distance.
The platform cut easily through the dark green sky bringing the group closer and closer into view of the haphazardly built city. The platform descended between several buildings and rested to the ground before an entrance to the courthouse. They stood near to a set of double door and the group stepped off. The guards hurried Mayalla forward and she ducked her head when she noticed a crowd of people gathering.
The guards led her down through the glass courthouse doors and the group immediately entered a lengthy glass walkway. Lengths of stone and glass formed tubular shaped corridors lit by dim blue-black lights. Glowing stone benches extended down along the lower rims of the corridors.
Mayalla raised her head proudly as the guards guided her past several contingents of guards all holding their guns erect and looking straight ahead into nothingness.
Looking through the windows to the outside, Mayalla saw a host of skyriders jamming the busy multi-leveled streets of Taandray.
Mayalla's grew dizzy with fear; then her ears were soon filled with the song of the ballachanes, haunting as it echoed off the acoustics of the tunneled walls. As Mayalla and her escorts rounded a corner, a large group of the wild blue creatures was entering a set of doors from the outside, their blue fur glowing brilliantly in the black light. One shook his fur and snorted. Some jumped onto the benches playfully; others rolled onto their fat backs kicking their feet in the air. Mayalla figured they must have full bellies from having just eaten a pleasing meal, for this was their common after dinner rambunctiousness. Mayalla watched as several more wild ballachanes trooped in from the outside, raising their heads in the air to sing their high pitched song in chorus. Mayalla's wondered if they were singing her funeral dirge.
Mayalla brushed her hair from her eyes. She put her sweaty hands in her robe pockets, feeling the fur lining. She ran her fingers over the striped sleeve of her jacket up to the elbow joint for comfort, noticing its unique downy softness, like she had once felt on the Zebra Man.
Up ahead to Mayalla's right, a door opened and black light spilt into the hall. She was pushed from behind by the two soldiers through the doors and into an Obsolashe courtroom straight into the arms of another soldier -- one of many, she noticed, standing single-file down the center of the large courtroom aisle.
All around Mayalla, a large glowing crowd murmured and jeered. Some spit insults as she was roughly passed from one soldier to the next. Helpless, taken and grappled with, spun around many times, they pushed her towards the front. At one point Mayalla was lifted off her feet by a soldier and thrown above and beyond a lone ballachane, snoozing peacefully on the courtroom floor. The crowd made a deep "Oh!" sound in unison, as she flew through the air. She landed in the arms of another soldier of smallish stock who dropped her on the floor. He hastily picker her up like a rag doll and continued with the passing until she finally made it to the very front of the line where she was told by a ceremoniously dressed man to stand on a bright yellow square marked on the floor.
A platform beneath her began to rise on magnetic fields. She figured she rose twenty-five feet or so. The crowd began to cheer; she came to a stop in midair; the crowd went silent -- they were a few distant murmuring voices.
"Judge Zaafrair presiding," said a woman's voice, unseen and carrying through the darkness like a ghost.
Next came the thickness of an amplified man's voice, "Lady Mayalla Allachay, a renowned member of the Obsolashe." And soon a distinguished looking judge came to give the voice a body, as he rose on a golden rimmed platform. The judge drifted towards Mayalla and stopped twenty-feet or so in front of her at eye-level. He was seated behind the golden desk; and a hammer lay before his hand. He spoke, "You are charged with breaking the Law of the Ballachanes."
Mayalla had trouble seeing the judge's face for the dark.
"It is a sad day for the people of Saalashe," the judge said. “As we can all see Lady Allachay." He gestured towards Mayalla, a hint of a smile in his voice. She realized he was looking above her head at the crowd. "There is not much to judge here."
The crowd laughed uproariously. "Long live the judge!" someone shouted.
The judge waited for the laughter to die down.
The crowd went wild, clapping and whistling.
The judge raised his hand for silence.
"The Law clearly states -- " his eyes scanned a desk monitor -- "No citizen of Saalashe, man or woman or child, will cause any harm to members of the ballachane family. Any citizen or item that does so must be punished and labeled as unclean-regardless of circumstance PERIOD!
The crowd cheered.
The judge cleared his throat and all went silent. "As you know, ballachanes were declared sacred by the Obsolashe." The judge paused, clicking buttons on his desk monitor. "The proper authority has labeled you as the guilty party." He shifted in his seat.
Of course, the robot! Mayalla thought, it must have been the one outside the furniture store that reported her as an accomplice to killing Bruulyan! It must have also seen the Zebra Man there, too. Mayalla recalled, usually, the law set forth by the Obsolashe required at least two human witnesses to convict someone, but in the case if a robot, only one was needed. This was deemed true because of the common agreement that artificial intelligence was free of the deceitful tendencies, so commonly polluting the human soul.
"Lady Allachay," the judge said, "You have been hereby released of you Obsolashe title which is required for any public transgression.
She had expected that.
"Our judgment has been made." And then he bellowed in a deep voice. "Mayalla Allachay, for transgressing the Law of the Ballachanes and therefore becoming unclean -- you will never again be able to hear!"
"But -- " Mayalla began to speak, pulling up the flaps of her robe pockets and trying to catch the judge's eyes -- but he was already floating away on his platform. The platform beneath Mayalla suddenly disappeared from below her feet, leaving her to free-fall down to the floor below, which she did with an "Ummphh" when she hit the unyielding floor. Mayalla shrieked in pain, writhing on the floor and she felt the many hands of guards grabbing at her. They lifted her to her feet and folded her torso over a waist high platform. They made her turn her head to the right; then pressed her cheek down flat against a brace rising to meet her neck. Someone shoved a gag in her mouth. Behind her a soldier grabbed her legs. In front of her, someone grabbed her arms. Rough hands brushed her hair aside. Mayalla struggled, straining her neck muscles against the arms that held her steady. She tried to kick at her adversaries but the soldiers held her like a cement block.
The crowd began to drum on the stands with their feet.
Close to her, Mayalla heard a deep humming sound and saw a revolving plasma glow.
And with that, Mayalla's ear was cut off; she convulsed in pain as a hot searing material was poured down her ear canal, seeping down slowly then cooling and hardening. Her left ear went completely deaf.
Mayalla's head was lifted and forced down to the other side; and her other ear was just as quickly cut off; filled with the same liquid as the cheering of the crowd was droned out altogether.
She heard nothing, felt only pain; and then passed out.
------
Mayalla awoke lying on her back. Her body rested on a small bed with no pillow. She noticed she was at one end of a dark small room. It was completely silent and she felt as if she had clay jammed in her ears to which her hands immediately went. They soon fell away as she noticed the unsteadiness of the ceiling, deep brown and spinning. She felt terribly nauseous and pressed her palms on either side to the bed for balance.
She tried to sit up because she was sure the ceiling was falling in on her. Then her vision went fuzzy and she lay back down. She wasn't sure where she was.
Holding her head, she rolled to the side, losing her balance and cascading off the edge of the bed to the floor below. Then she remembered, the trial, the ears….
After a minute or two of serious vertigo, just Mayalla lay there on her stomach. The feeling she had now, reminded her of the first time she rode her junior skyrider, the children's version of the adult vehicle. She had flown all around the sky like a crazy Zaazeezaw bird, making tight turns just above the ground and spinning in circles. She remembered how when she first got off, she tried to walk, but the whole world appeared to be spinning and tilting and she helplessly collapsed to the ground. How her watching parents had laughed!
Remembering the good health of her childhood gave her a sense of hope. And with great effort she pressed with her arms on the floor until her body rose a bit and she was kneeling on all fours. Her head swam and but she managed to struggle to sit upright on her knees. She grabbed the side of the bed and stood the rest of the way up, nearly falling.
Mayalla noticed if she kept chin level and her head vertical with the rest of her body, she wasn't quite as dizzy.
She spotted a rounded mirror hanging across the opposite wall.
She got up groggily and staggered across the room, moving sideways and much as much as moving forward.
Eventually, she ended up running into a section of the wall running crossways to the one with the mirror. It was near the door to the outside. She pressed on the handle; it was locked as should be expected.
Determined and using the wall for balance, she made her way to the mirror.
She stood in front of it, bracing her hands on either side. She looked into her own haunted eyes. And then there were the bandages.
She brushed back her hair and ripped them off, hesitantly eyeing the wounds. Where her delicately formed ears once welled forth were two flat surfaces!
She staggered to the room's only window and fell. She got up and tried to open it from her knees. She wanted to jump out. But it wouldn't budge; she gave up.
She turned and reassessed the small dark room. There was only the single bed, the door, the mirror, the large square window above her overlooking the city, and an adjoining bathroom.
She got up and slowly walked into the bathroom. She looked for anything to cut herself with. There was nothing of use, just a toilet, door-less shower, and small sink, all with rounded corners.
She guided herself along the walls back out into the main room, stumbling as she went and tried to break the mirror with her fists -- unbreakable.
She walked over and lay herself back down on the bed. Se wondered if her balance would ever come back. She wondered where her white robes and Zebra Man jacket had gone to; then that thought gave her an idea.
She pulled at the sheet on the bed to make something to hang on, but reconsidered: there wasn’t a bathroom door, protruding shower head, curtain rod, or bedpost to hang from. That left the front door to the hallway, which was locked; it had no handles.
She took the sheet around her neck and tried to pull it tight, but realized it was impossible to get it tight enough. She gave up and threw it down and fell back on the bed.
Instead of staying in bed and crying, she decided to keep trying. She made he way slowly back to the mirror, avoiding looking at her face. She grabbed either side of the wall around the mirror and rapped her head against it hard -- once, twice; and for the first time it fully hit her, she couldn't hear at all. She inspected her ears more closely, or where they should have been, feeling the smooth hard, flesh-colored material filling out her ear canals.
She fell on her back to the ground, her head colliding with the floor. "Uuhh!" she shouted, but could not hear.
------
For several waking and sleeping cycles, which she dully watched transpire through the window, Mayalla was left alone in the room. She was fed through an opening in the doorway, but that was all.
Eventually, one bright sleeping cycle, a man dressed as a doctor floated into the room like a ghost. Mayalla wasn't scared. The doctor sat down on her bed and with gentle hands turned her head side to side, running his fingers over her wounds.
He helped her up from the bed and began to lead her around the room. She watched him curiously as he took a gaggle of wires from underneath his jacket. He connected one suction cup to the hairless skin of his forehead and reached out to brush aside her hair. He connected another suction cup to her forehead.
She felt foolish standing like that and waited. Soon she could hear wondrously strange sounds and then she realized she must be reading his mind.
"Soon," a deeper voice filled her head. She realized it was the doctor's voice she could hear. "Ok, now," he said. "Your vestibular system has been extensively damaged. Keep practicing to walk a little everyday and teach your nervous system to compensate for your loss of hearing." And then the doctor quickly pulled the wires from her head and his and taking Mayalla's arm led her to back the bed.
And then, Mayalla barley strong enough to watch, the doctor floated out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Time passed as Mayalla feverishly slept and dreamed. And then, the next awake cycle, came. The green star glow from Gaanda provided the only light in the room. Mayalla got out of bed and walked slowly around in dizzying paces, as she was told by the doctor and she thought she could notice her body came to rely more on eyesight to maintain a decent amount of balance.
And by the time the soldiers came back for her, she also had managed to make a makeshift hood out of the sheets on her bed, by tearing off a long narrow piece. She stood in front of the mirror and draped it over her head and ears, tying it under the chin. She couldn't stand being in a room with a mirror without it on. But, the humiliation still ran deep as she stood shakily on her feet, with a hood on her head and no clothes on her cold body.
She felt a moment of relief as the door flung open, revealing a flood of soft blue lights from the hallway and outlining one of the soldiers standing like a shadow just inside the door. He held her white robe in one hand and the Zebra coat in another. He stepped forward a few paces to meet her and promptly handed back her items. And to her good fortune, the tufts of Bruulyan's charred fur were still left in the robe pockets like hideous lining.
But to her dismay and vehement protests, he made her take off her new hood. "At least for the time being," one of them mouthed to her with exaggeration in the words' pronouncement, making his fat lips easy for her to read. "I'll hold it for you," she thought his large lips said next. He smiled at her toothlessly, and she frowned.
Eventually, a group of soldiers led her into the black-light of the hallway. She became totally disoriented again and had to be half-carried between two soldiers. They made the walk back down the same long glass hallway, past more wild ballachanes; and more soldiers.
Down the hall, she could see a small group of blue fur gathered in a circle, their throats lifted in song, but she couldn't hear their sound that had once calmed her so. As they neared the group, a particularly fat-one approached and suddenly stepped carefree in her path. Thee two guards immediately halted to let it pass, holding Mayalla steady. Mayalla stuck her leg out and kicked at it as it crawled lazily by. It yanked its fat blue head around to look at her in surprise; fluttering its yellow tongue in annoyance.
The soldiers tightened their grips on her arms, digging into her flesh, and giving her looks of alarmed disapproval. One spoke a sharp reprimand, which she couldn't read.
Mayalla looked on, wishing the hallway would magically lengthen, like the illusory tricks done by the Zebra Man.
But the hallway seemed to magically shorten as if to defy her wishes. They rounded the corner and the dreaded door to the courtroom now opened. And Mayalla was once again thrust into the spotlight.
"Jaamax, no," she said. Mayalla tried not to see the crowd as she hung her head and was passed forward down the courtroom aisle towards the yellow square in the floor. She was carried there and waited as a guard fastened her to a chair on the platform to keep her from falling. And it once again rose, carrying her into the air.
The same judge once more came to eye level to her. Above him large glowing letters appeared according to his speech for her to read since she could not hear. Her vision went fuzzy and out of focus, but she saw enough of the words to connect them into sentences 'Lady who broke the Law of Ballachanes' -- it read -- 'we were told by your traitorous Gakktahtatan friend'.
Is he still alive? She hoped to herself. Maybe the jacket was just a scare tactic in order to elicit a full confession on her part.
The judge’s mouth continued moving and she continued reading…'that you have proof your pet ballachane attacked you, therefore provoking your unclean actions against the creature held sacred by all Obsolashe. If so, no further punishment will be issued. Present the evidence now.'
She knew the penalty for killing a ballachane was usually humiliation -- really an example for all would-be-law-breakers to see and fear -- then death…And, death might be welcome….
Mayalla swiveled her head around boldly, daring to face the crowd. She squinted her eyes. The stands began to dip horizontally, like she was flying in a ship out of control. Then it steadied some.
They were taunting her, pointing angrily. 'Once royalty, but now unclean -- a vile outcast,' she imagined them saying in her mind like one big voice. It made Mayalla too mad to desire death now.
"Here is all the evidence you need," Mayalla said, not hearing herself speak, but knowing the strength in her voice made it loud and clear for all to hear. She took the tufts of fur from her robe pockets and let them fall to the platform.
------
The evidence was taken, the drugging of her pet Ballachane confirmed; and Mayalla was allowed to live with no further punishment other her humiliation.
As she made her way down the hallways and to the exit, she came across the soldier with the fat lips who upon seeing her took and held out her hood. She took it and immediately wrapped it around her head. Then, he even gave her back her starglasses, with a smile. She took them and managed to attach the starglasses to the inside of the hood so they stayed put, even without her ears.
The hood and starglasses gave her some hope and comfort as she left the courthouse and walked out into the nighttime city of Taandray. She wrapped her Zebra Man jacket tightly around her white robes, flowing over blue-dust sandals. She must glow for miles. It was almost mystical; and people stared at Mayalla with longing, not as if she were a former Obsolashe Daughter, but as if they desired her to be the Mystic herself. She desired them to listen to her intently, as if she possessed a new wisdom that could only come from such loss.
The biggest change she saw was on the individual level, as compared to merciless behavior of the courtroom crowd forming one large hateful organism. Those people were just a group afraid of defying Jaamax's will, and then maybe losing their own. On the contrary, she found the common citizens were a bit afraid and so much like her. The people she once would have never associated with before she was stripped of her Obsolashe title, approached her with warmth and kindness.
As she walked to her home, passing by screen after screen displaying news, she wondered if her mother would still take her in. She stopped at a passing news screen. A friendly old woman saw her and put her arm around Mayalla, translating the broadcaster's words onto a small computer screen for Mayalla to read. Mayalla learned from post coverage of the trial that she did for certain wear her brave Zebra friend's hide upon her back. Her heart momentarily mourned, but she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to stop mourning in her condition, nor forget her pain.
As Mayalla continued on, she passed scores of wild Ballachanes singing their songs. Napping by the screens, peeing on them, everything and anything they wanted. She imagined in her mind what their double reeded voices once sounded like in her ears. But, even that memory was fading.
She strolled by many people, they looked in place, but yet all that stood out as wrong were the Obsolashe soldiers. --Something she was once apart of. Well, they had made a costly mistake for letting her live. For now the seeds were planted, the people possessed a new Visionary; she could feel palpable vibrations stinging her skin:
Mutiny was in the air.