| TWO WORLDS COLLIDE By Kelley Wood NOTE: DO NOT REPRODUCE THIS STORY IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM KELLEY WOOD aka HOPEINJESUS1995 This story was posted 06 January 2006 upon this web page |
| A lone Imbarumb couple taking a stroll beyond the city gate midmorning saw the odd craft fall from the sky with a horrendous crash. The wife let out a cry.
�Yuijresh�s doing!� she cried hysterically. �The world is falling apart. We must flee!� Her husband tried to calm her down. �I think, wife, that you have been spending too much time listening to what the nimue speak. Your imagination is running away with you.� �Please, Tamic, can we flee?� �We must tell the Desai about this, Ireti, for the Upciar must be informed.� �Desai already knows, Wamqom,� Aruip declared. He stood behind the couple, a serious look on his face. �Upciar would be honored to know you wished to inform him on this matter.� �Then he already knows, Desai?� Aruip gave a nod. �He sent me to greet those in the strange craft who may still be alive and to bury those that may be without life.� Tamic Wamqom�s wife looked up at him, her gold eyes flooded with fear. �Is this Yuijresh�s doing?� The captain of the guard looked kindly at her and shook his head. �No Ireti, it is not. The craft is from Vitac-Taher, though I do not know how it got here.� Relief washed over her face as she smiled. �Thank the sun�s light!� she murmured happily. Aruip Desai walked up the hill towards the still smoking craft, aware of the many inquisitive onlookers that joined him. He did not order them back, for he knew that they were seeking knowledge as to why the craft was there, as was he. The craft was white, with jet black wings and front. It was immense, almost two times larger than any of the crafts Aruip was familiar with, even larger than those of the convoy of the planet of Uptvic, another planet the Imbarumbav had contact with. Its wings, broken off the craft and laying several feet away, looked too short to glide with. It�s body, though dented in many places, was shaped like the body of a jevan, short and slender in the front, fat and long at the back. Two immense, smoking things sat at the end of the craft, and gave the impression of eyes. Aruip wondered how such a craft could even fly. In the craft, John Patterson lay on the floor, covered by debris. He opened his eyes, painfully aware of the bruises that covered his battered body. Though he was in pain, he was still very much grateful to be alive. He sat up and carefully moved off the pieces of plastic and metal that covered his body, testing each muscle and joint to see if it still worked properly. Lewis, after clearing away the debris that had covered him, thanked his god while looking for the others. After helping Bradbury to dig himself out of the mess, he turned to help Cunningham, who was already at the control panel, assessing damages. Bradbury grabbed the radio and tried it. �Houston, this is Echo Three, do you copy?� he shouted into the receiver. �Houston, I repeat, this is Echo Three. We�ve hit an unidentifiable object and have crashed, over.� �There�s no power, Major,� Lewis said, throwing down the screwdriver he held in his hand. �The entire panel is shot and there not a damn thing we can do to fix it.� Cunningham scowled. �Damn it! Bradbury, I want you to go outside and assess any damages to the rockets.� Bradbury crawled over debris to get his space suit, only to discover that all of the suits had been destroyed in the crash. He started to panic. �What are we going to do now?� �We�ll just have to assess damages without the suits!� Cunningham commanded. �Is the air safe?� Bradbury asked. Patterson pointed to a hole in the ceiling of the shuttle. �If it wasn�t safe, we�d probably all be dead, since it�s been able to come in for quite awhile now.� Bradbury swallowed, his Adam�s apple bobbing up and down erratically in fear as he reached for the lever that opened the door. He looked up and his eye caught something and he froze much like a deer caught in headlights. Cunningham looked up and glared at Bradbury. �God damn it, Bradbury! I gave you an order!� He shouted, reaching for the door. He glanced out the window. He let out a curse, reaching for his gun. Lewis and Patterson dashed to the window and peered out, frightfully curious to see what was out there. Several glowing creatures stood on a field full of flowers, their shining skin glistening as if made of copper, their ears pointed so that they looked almost like tall elves. Many had hair in various shades of silver, gold or bronze, while a few had hair of ebony black or pure white. All were dressed in tunics and long pants of a rainbow of colors. �Hot dog!� the lieutenant cried. �Aliens do exist!� Cunningham motioned to them to be quiet, and handed each of them a gun. �If any of them show what seems to be even a perceived threat,� he whispered harshly, � I want you to put a slug between its shining eyes. I want you to take out as many as you possibly can.� Lewis took the gun, but returned the safety, making sure it was securely in place. The gun was heavy in his hands, and although he had shot one before, he had never done so at a living thing. He wasn�t about to start so today. Cunningham pulled on the lever and kicked the door open with such force that it flew off its hinges. A few of the beings jumped in freight as the door flew through the air like a Frisbee before landing a few yards away from the circle of beings that was now encompassing the craft. Cunningham jumped out of the vessel, his hand firmly holding his handgun, cocked and ready to fire. �Stay back, all of you!� he shouted with an angry growl. �Tell us where we are and who you are and no one will get hurt!� Aruip Desai stepped forward, into the center of the circle, and held out his arms. �Put your weapons down,� he said to them. �You will not need them. We come to you in greetings of the way of the Iyemiu.� But the humans remained where they were, not heeding his words, for though Aruip could understand the common language of Vitac-Taher, he could not speak it. He repeated his greetings again, and again the men held their weapons, menacingly pointing them at the Imbarumbav. Aruip took another step forward, preparing yet again to speak to the men. But before he could utter a sound, a terrible noise sounded. It was as if Yuijresh had howled again, only shorter and louder than his cry. Imbarumbav cried in pain as the noise filled their ears. They tried to keep it out by covering their ears. Aruip felt a sharp thud in his shoulder, and a sudden pain shook him. He looked at it to see a small hole. �Desai!� Tamic Wamqom cried, stepping forward. Cunningham moved swiftly to aim his still smoldering gun at Wamqom and prepared to fire, intending to hit him between the eyes. But he never got the chance. The gun hit the ground before he even knew it was even out of his hand, and thin bands of what felt like strong metal were suddenly wrapped around his arms, holding him tightly. He tried to turn to see what was happening and found that his arms were not enclosed in steel, but rather the thin, strong copper hands of two Imbarumbav. His men were also prisoners, each held captive by two Imbarumbav as well. Aruip sank to the ground in pain, a crimson stain slowly creeping over the shoulder of his silver tunic. An Imbarumb onlooker, trained in the art of healing, stepped forward to look at the wound. �It is not loss of life, Desai,� she said, prodding the wound as gently as she could with her slender, graceful fingers. �But you will need to have it dressed.� Aruip winced as she extracted a small piece of metal from the wound and placed it in the palm of his hand. Being unfamiliar with the weapons of Vitac-Taher, Aruip did not know that what he now held in his hand was a bullet. �What do you want us to do with them, Desai?� asked one of the Imbarumbav captors. Aruip looked up at them as a healing slave was spread on his shoulder. �Take them to the court. Upciar will want to know what has happened here today. He will know what to do with these Imbarumbav from Vitac-Taher.� The Imbarumbav nodded and turned, dragging their captives with them. Aruip, meanwhile, turned to Tamic. �Wamqom, go to the Torpav. He will want to be in on the court as well.� The young one nodded and took his wife�s hand. They started for the city. The humans, now captives, had stopped struggling once they realized how futile it would be to even try to escape the iron-like grasp of their captors. They walked silently with their guards, aware of every last thing that went on around them. For the first time, Lewis noticed that the sky was a pale yellow, the color of the fresh cream butter his grandfather�s neighbor made every so often. He thought it strange to see such a color in the sky. White trees, whiter than snow, reached up into the sky. Lewis wondered if it were autumn, for the leaves were various shades of red, yellow, and orange. There were hills everywhere. Some were so steep he wondered how the aliens were able to walk without hitting their heads on the ground. Buildings that looked like three pointed crowns jutted out of these hills along the cobble-stoned paths. The structures seemed almost clear, like ice, but were iridescently shaded in various colors. Doors of shimmering dark blues, rich greens, and deep reds struck a contrast to the pale colors of the walls. The cobble-stoned paths, if they could be called that, were made with jeweled stones, smoothed down to an almost flat surface by what were probably very sharp tools. The jewels, like the tall buildings, sparkled in the light of the fiery red sun. Many beings came out of tall, conical structures to watch the group trudge by, curiously peering to catch a glimpse of the new Imbarumbav from Vitac-Taher, to see if the stories they had heard about their descriptions were true or not. The group came to a superior building, shaped like the rest in the town, but as multicolored as a shimmering rainbow. Two beings stood on a rather large slab of black marble in front of a great, elliptical bronze door. The two aliens opened the door as the party came closer, and soon the humans found themselves walking into a great room full of light. The humans turned their heads to see that the walls, while opaque from the outside, were transparent on the inside, so one could see out into the town without the use of windows. A great throne stood at the far side of the room, and a being sat on it. Unnerving bronze eyes that shone fiercely peered out of the copper face, and a bronze band with a large glistening violet stone, was engraved with some sort of symbols and sat atop its midnight-colored hair. It was dressed in a tunic the color of the stone and bronze pants. This being intrigued Lewis as he watched the way it studied each of them with its eyes. It seemed to be looking them over, trying to see, he figured, what they were. He bowed his head when it started to look him over, scared of the look in the unnerving bronze eyes. Patterson didn�t know what to make of the being. It looked like a king, but did these creatures have kings? He was scared for his life, for he did not know what this creature would do to them. Would it order their deaths? Would it eat them alive? Would it send them home? He tried to think of every science fiction movie he ever saw, and thought about the outcomes of each of those movies. Would this turn out the same way? Bradbury kept his eyes glued to the floor as soon as the creature started to look them over. He was going to faint, and he hoped that the hands that held his arms tight wouldn�t let him go, or else he would fall to the floor. His mind was moving so fast, he couldn�t come up with a single coherent thought. All he could think of was the fact that he was going to die. Cunningham stared defiantly into the face of the creature, trying to scare the being into submission. He was trying to figure away to get his gun back, which he spotted being shown to the creature sitting in the large throne. He knew he could kill this leader if he had his gun, and then he could force the beings into telling him where they were and who they were. But first he had to figure a way out of the creature�s grasp. The guns, after being shown to and inspected by the Upciar, were placed into a small chamber, which was sealed tightly. Not until then were the prisoners released. After what seemed like hours, Urisalys Upciar looked at the men again, his bronze eyes burning. �Who are you?� he asked, his voice full of curiosity, though to the humans, he sounded angry and full of hatred. The men looked at him, a little confused, as he spoke to them in his native tongue. Aruip, his arm in a sling of silk-like cloth, walked into the court and stepped up to the throne. After bowing his head in the respectable gesture when addressing the king, he spoke. �Oh Honorable Upciar, we came across the craft from Vitac-Taher and greeted these Imbarumbav as peaceably as you had asked. They answered with a shard of metal that had the howl of Yuijresh that struck me.� He indicated, gently, his freshly bandaged shoulder. The king turned towards the men. �Is this true?� he asked, still speaking in his native langage. Cunningham stepped forward. �I don�t know who the hell you are or what you are, but I do know that you have no right to treat us as common criminals. We are NASA astronauts, trained in the best space program on the planet Earth, and we are American citizens, of the strongest country on Earth. As Americans, we have certain rights, which you have dishonored greatly. Your � your creatures attacked us, and we only fought back in self-defense. I demand that you release us immediately!� Urisalys looked at him with a fake look of confusion on his face, pretending not to understand a word the angry human had said. Cunningham became furious when the creature didn�t understand him and took a step forward in frustration and anger. �Damn it!� he shouted. �Release us now or else all of you will be shot just like that one there!� He pointed to Aruip. �Hell of a thing to threaten, considering that we don�t have any weapons.� �Shut the hell up, Lieutenant,� Cunningham barked at Lewis. �SILENCE!� The men jumped at the power in the bellow, even though they did not understand the word. The bouncing echo of the king�s command filled the whole court. He leaned back in his throne and sighed. �Please take these Imbarumbav from Vitac-Taher away. Since they are as hardened of heart as the Imbarumbav Yuijresh, they will join them in the cavern.� Imbarumbav stepped forward to seize the men. �No. Please. Stop!� a cry came from the back of the room. All eyes, including those of the humans, were fixed on a young Imbarumb who was slowly pushing her way through the inquisitive crowd. An Imbarumbav couple followed behind her, trying their best to keep up with her. The couple stopped and the male spoke. �I�m sorry, oh Honorable Upciar. The Torpav was not at his dwelling, for he is Huem. The mejin was there, and when I told her of the Imbarumbav from Vitac- Taher, she insisted on coming to the court to speak to you.� Urisalys smiled at the stubbornness of the young Imbarumbav female. �It is all right, Wamqom. Let her speak.� She bowed her head in respect before starting. �Oh Honorable Upciar, please do not allow these from Vitac-Taher to be sent to the cavern. Is it not our duty to help them to become pure? How can that be accomplished if they are sent away to the Imbarumbav Yuijresh? Instead, allow for them to be released into the care of one who knows of the ways of the Iyemiu in order that they will learn the ways whispered by the Iyemiu.� The Upciar looked at the young Imbarumb with a slight grin. His niece knew more than she let on. �If these from Vitac-Taher were to be released, who would take responsibility for the ways of the Iyemiu?� She looked at him with the same blue eyes that her father had. With a determined, almost defiant look, she answered him. �I will undertake this task, Upciar.� �But, Tena Torpav, you are just mejin.� �I am mejin, yes, but I know much of the ways of the Iyemiu, the ways that were whispered to me when niciv. Let me teach these Imbarumbav Vitac-Taher the ways of the Iyemiu as I have learned them, as my father has learned them.� Urisalys reflected upon it for a moment, knowing that his niece was the best to teach these Imbarumbav the ways. Yet, he was afraid to consent, for he had a stirring within his soul that said that these humans were part of the things to come which were to test the entire planet of Caxarivuem. �The ways of the Iyemiu are with you, and so they shall be with the Torpav mejin,� a whisper came. Urisalys knew it was a whisper of the Iyemiu and he nodded. �Torpav, you shall be given the responsibility of the ways of the Iyemiu for these Imbarumbav Vitac-Taher. You must pledge, however, that to fail in this teaching is to fail in the ways of the Iyemiu and a dishonoring of your spirit to the Yuijresh.� The mejin kneeled. �I pledge to the light of the sun, Honorable Upciar.� The king turned to the humans. �Men of Vitac-Taher,� he said to them in the language of Vitac-Taher. �This brave young Imbarumb has pleaded with the court for your release, and it has been granted. I heed you fare it well.� The humans looked at him with mixed reactions, and in their shock, they did not speak. They did not notice as the Imbarumb that pleaded for their release had left the court. �I am Urisalys Upciar of the planet Caxarivuem, to answer your questions.� �When can we go home?� Cunningham demanded. �The next convoy of the planet of Uptvic will come through this galaxy in another year, in your time. That is when you will be able to return, as there is not any other craft with the ability to return you to your planet, as my craft is no longer able for use.� Cunningham, his face showing the boiling rage that was building up inside of him, finally exploded into a fury. �I demand we be sent home NOW!� Urisalys grew weary of the threats and hostility of this Imbarumbav. He looked at the guards and repeated the order to have them taken to the cavern. Lewis swallowed his fear and found his voice. �Your majesty, may a human speak in his defense?� Urisalys nodded and had the man released. Alexander Lewis swallowed again, ran his hand through his blond hair, and then took a gingerly step forward before addressing the king. �Your majesty, I would first like to apologize for the behavior of myself and my fellow humans, for we humans are a sorry bunch. We grow up believing that we are far superior to anything else, especially those of us who live in a place in Earth called America. �We are, in reality, nothing but cowards who cannot see the extraordinary power of your people. We cannot comprehend the fact that the life on this planet is far more superior to the life on Earth, and that frightens us. Therefore, we try to show ourselves as more powerful than we are, as to regain the confidence that we should have left lost.� Urisalys searched this human�s spirit. Yes, there was impurity within it, but there was a quiet determination, and a hope for better times, and a purity of innocence within this young Imbarumbav Vitac-Taher. He reminded Urisalys of another from Vitac-Taher. �Please, your majesty,� Lewis continued. �Allow us to stay here and learn the ways of your people until the convoy arrives and can take us home.� He threw a sideward glance at Cunningham, who glared angrily at him. The king smiled at the bravery of this human. �What is your name, brave one of Vitac-Taher?� �My name is Alexander Lewis, your majesty.� �Ah, Alexander, the defender of man. From now on, you shall be known as Iragim Radup, or the brave defender.� Alexander, or Iragim, bowed his head as he had noticed the young Imbarumb do, and thanked Urisalys. The Upciar then called out to guards in Beynaiq. Within a moment, the men found themselves yet again walking down the jeweled path along the large crown-shaped buildings. The escort weaved through the many cobblestone paths, then finally stopped in front of a large structure, a crystalline blue building with a dark purple elliptical door that opened as the group stopped. The young Imbarumb that had spoken to the king stepped out onto the white stone porch. A grin shone in her ice blue eyes as she held out her arms in welcome to the humans. �Hello, men of Earth,� she said in flawless English. |
| Chapter Two |