Chapter 4 (excerpt)

(…)

On Earth, moonlight filtered through the leaves of the trees in the Pavlovsky 
garden, providing the place with sparse white light. The birds had long gone to 
sleep, as had most insects except for the nocturnal ones. As for the flowers, 
they quietly exuded their delicate scent, offering an appeasing atmosphere to 
the young Princess as she meditated on the events of the day. 
       She had simply ‘had’ to ponder the meaning of the numerous Messages that 
she had Received throughout the day.
       Now that she had, though, she almost wished that she hadn’t.
       For her, there was no doubt left that the aliens were lying to them, 
manipulating them and restraining them as they saw fit… studying them even, but 
for what reason?
       She pondered that question yet again. 
       They were obviously afraid, but… why were they?
       Even though Aenil kept telling her mother and herself that they had the 
Coalition's support in their endeavor, Nya couldn’t believe her friend anymore. 
       Worse, what she had uncovered through her Vision thoroughly contradicted 
her friend's words... As if she…, too…, were being lied to---
       *You wanted to speak with me, Child?" Aenil's no-nonsense voice 
unexpectedly inquired from the entrance of the garden.
       Startled by her friend’s silent appearance, Nya whirled around in shock, 
her eyes falling on her friend’s form, which eerily retained its whitish color 
despite the darkness that had long since enveloped the thick leafy garden. 
       For a fleeting moment, the human felt a very familiar shudder of 
foreboding travel down her spine at the somewhat surreal sight of her friend. 
       Then, she caught herself and shook herself out of her illogical reaction.
       Aenil was her ‘friend’, she sternly reminded herself; despite what she 
had just figured out, she did not have any reason to be afraid of her.  
       Besides, she reflected next, the woman might also be lied to, hence be a 
victim like they were. 
       As for latest Shiver, she tried to convince herself that it might only be 
due to the cool air of the night. 
       With those thoughts in mind, the Princess forced herself to gather her 
composure and invited her friend to join her on her bench. The smaller alien 
silently accepted her invitation and stepped closer, entering the moonlit area 
of the garden before she quietly sat beside her.
       *How was the trip to Atlantide?" Aenil inquired gently as she took in the 
moonlit sight of the flowers that surrounded them.  
       *As fruitful as can be expected," the young woman retorted calmly as she 
turned her head and gazed down at the smaller alien. *Aenil," she began after a 
beat. *I am aware that what I'm going to ask you has been settled with my mother 
and my predecessors before, but I need to know. I need answers to my own 
questions and worries."
       The alien woman cocked her head to the side, as if she was studying her 
with her big onyx eyes, and all of a sudden, their pupil-less stare greatly 
unsettled Nya. 
       Indeed, although she had known the female alien for decades, her mind 
unexplainably kept remembering the worrying rumors that she had once read in the 
databank, rumors about the Old World and cruel alien visitors that had kidnapped 
and tormented people… 
       She also remembered that, even to this day, the stories had yet to be 
proven true, yet it now occurred to her that they also resisted the passage of 
time.  
       Could that mean that they were true?
       Shaking her head in reflexive denial, she forced those thoughts out of 
her mind.  
       Aenil, for her part, silently encouraged her to continue. 
       After a moment of pondering, she did so, voicing her main concern: *Are 
our alien neighbors overexploiting the planet?"




For a fleeting moment, Aenil was so shocked by the child’s most unwelcomed 
question that she almost - almost - considered showing her true nature to the 
human girl before killing her right then and there. 
       Then, she belatedly remembered the rest of the situation and swiftly 
repressed her violent instinct as she was all too aware that she could not 
destroy the girl without arousing the very suspicion that she was trying to 
eradicate.
       Besides, an inner voice agreed with her, she did not really want to kill 
her as the girl happened to genuinely care for her; it was such a different and 
more than pleasant attitude… that she just didn’t want it to end… yet… 
       So she once again spared the child’s life.
       With that detail settled with herself, she gathered her composure and 
belatedly feigned confusion. *What? Why are you saying this?"  
       Nya sighed heavily before she averted her eyes to stare at the pond. 
*While I was in Site D, I had a Vision that Showed me machines plundering the 
soil of our planet; I helplessly watched them as they slowly drained Earth of 
its vital resources. I… I Felt the planet’s pain…"
       Even though Aenil had heard that some humans had the ability to foresee 
events, she had never thought that she would, one day, deal with a Vision 
concerning her Lord’s secret operations on 5-B4, let alone that the ‘girl’ had 
this baffling ability.
       The child, she thought worriedly, was definitely becoming more dangerous 
every time that she spoke with her.
       She furiously pondered what she should do or say next because it was 
obvious that the child blindly trusted that her Vision had shown her the truth 
and not some sort of delusion. 
       She decided to assume that the youth ‘knew’ what was going on beyond the 
borders of the human enclave so as to not underestimate her.
       Still, she mused next, the girl was not ‘absolutely’ sure of her 
discoveries or else she would not be waiting for an answer from her part and 
would already be on her way to the Far Lands.  
       Therefore, she calculated that she still had a chance to refute the 
human’s Vision, to perhaps even make her forget about what she had seen.  
       In fact, she reflected further, if she played well with the Princess’ 
beliefs, she might even manage to use her to settle the Explorer problem once 
and for all.  
       ‘Now there would be a sweet revenge...’ 
       She smirked inwardly at the thought of watching the girl who had brought 
her latest problem to life now put an end to it.
       She decided to follow this thread of idea.  
       *I admit," she began mock-sadly in the silence, *that the planet might 
not be as healthy as it used to be, but I wonder if what you Saw was the past or 
the future because no such extreme exploitation is taking place on Earth right 
now." Her voice was suave, falsely comforting as well as mimicking the humans’ 
inflection of when they talked about religious matters.
       The child fell for it.
       *You mean that I might have had a Vision of the past?" the naive human 
frowned at her before she refocused her gaze on the stars. *As if," she 
reflected out loud, *we were about to repeat the errors of the past?.. Yes," she 
nodded slowly, reluctantly, *This, too, would unfortunately make sense."
       Satisfied that the young woman was right where she wanted her to be, 
Aenil prepared to shove her back under the veil of lies that the Syllins had 
carefully spun around the whole Coalition. Taking a deep breath, as if pained by 
what she was going to reveal, the Syllin carefully prepared to weave her new lie 
into the child’s mind and soul. *I have never told this to your ancestors, 
Child, but the rest of the Coalition knows the history of Mankind. We know how 
your ancestors nearly destroyed themselves." She turned away from the stricken 
human and looked up at the huge moon that filled the night sky. "This is what 
scares them," she revealed somberly, "’This’ is why the Coalition and I fight so 
hard to prove that you are different from your ancestors."
       *’This’ being..." the young human whispered, obviously horrified by what 
she hadn’t explicitly told her yet.
       *Your destructive streak," Aenil finished for her, turning back toward 
the human. She somehow managed to keep from smirking in mean triumph as the girl 
fell head-first for her lie. *We've been watching you for millennia, Nya," she 
reminded her in feigned gentleness. *We saw what your kind did to their planet 
over the centuries, how they practically destroyed it before completely ruining 
it forever, or so it seemed back then."
       *But I thought that only a few races were afraid of us," the ever-clever 
child pointed out, as if desperate to deny the truth about her kind.
       Aenil did not let her prey untangle herself from her web this easily and 
twisted the ‘truth’ some more. *Of your space travel capabilities, yes, but as 
far as living beside you or having contact with you are concerned, they are 
worried that you will destroy what they have managed to build throughout the 
past eons." She paused briefly to let the child ponder her words. *This is why 
we are facing so many objections to your latest project, Child. The others are 
aware, as am I, that should your people ever leave your ship, your presence in 
distrustful societies could very well generate a civil war that could spread 
throughout the rest of the galaxy. Even though I know your people very well, I 
honestly think that everyone will be better and safer if you accept to stay on 
your planet, where you are Happy.”





Stricken by what her friend had just revealed, Nya could only nod numbly as 
everything settled into place once again, the right way this time.
       The Visions and Feelings that she had had today had not been about the 
aliens but about themselves; the Messages had been about how her people was 
falling back into the old trap of technological advance, about how they were 
once again close to becoming agents of destruction.  
       *Yes," she whispered, downright spooked by her discovery of what she and 
her brothers could do to the rest of the galaxy, *it might be better if we never 
leave the planet at all." 
       Even though that statement contradicted her very childhood dreams, she 
now understood that it was the only reasonable and wise thing to do.
       Furthermore, their Father had just Answered her numerous questions 
through Aenil’s words; she could not pretend that she hadn’t Heard Him.  
       She and her friends had been wrong about their space project and it was 
now time to put an end to their mistake before it was too late for them and the 
rest of the Coalition. 
       *I think so, too," the Syllin agreed before she rested her three-fingered 
hand on her right shoulder. *However, Princess, when you try to convince your 
people to abandon Explorer, don't talk about this fact with them as even your 
mother doesn’t know the truth.  Nobody but you does."
       *Why?" she frowned, confused yet again while a new shiver of unease ran 
down her spine as she locked her gaze with the alien’s. *Why haven't you told 
her? She is the current ambassador. She needs to---"
       *She isn't ready," the smaller female shook her head sadly. *Despite all 
her good intentions and diplomatic skills, your mother would not know how to 
handle the fact that your kind is feared by more than a just few races."
       *Then why did you tell ‘me’?" the young woman inquired with a trace of 
wariness in her voice. *How am I different from her? I certainly don't feel 
comfortable with--"
       Her friend softly interrupted her once again with her gentle voice. *You 
uncovered the truth by yourself, Child. You were ready to hear it and make the 
decision that had to be made, or else your Father wouldn't have Sent you that 
Vision. Now, Princess, I’m sure that you will do what must be done to keep your 
Vision from coming true. I trust you."
       As did all her brothers and sisters, Nya reminded herself, thinking of 
her Explorer team mates who were hoping that she would manage to convince the 
aliens of lifting the interdiction on their project.  
       As she thought about them, a pang of guilt squeezed her heart. Yes, she 
nodded forlornly, they trusted her, and yet...
       Their Father also Trusted her to Protect Life and His Message had made it 
through to her. Now...  She could only use His Teachings and keep the past from 
repeating itself.
       Shaking her head in sadness at her loss of delusions, she reluctantly 
accepted that she did not have any other choice but to make the Peace Council 
terminate Explorer as well as anything related to it.
       *I only hope that the others will listen to me." 
       She sighed forlornly, turning away from her friend to seek out the pond 
again.
       *So do I,” Aenil sighed compassionately. *Remember, though, you cannot 
tell them the truth. Not as I told you tonight, anyway."
       *Why?" she frowned in renewed confusion.
       *If… your people knew about this," the alien woman began hesitantly, 
*I... I'm afraid that they would fully embrace their old instincts and abandon 
your beautiful ways of Life."
       'But that could not be!' Nya wanted to deny with all her heart, and yet, 
she had seen the damage wrought at Site D, had seen with her own eyes what their 
desire to reach the stars had already made them do to the ecosystem of the 
planet’s seas.  
       Could it happen again if her people learnt the truth and decided to prove 
the aliens wrong? It was a horrific thought… and it sparked shame in her as she 
realized that she would be among those who would do anything to prove the aliens 
wrong.
       Even as she accepted how she herself would be hard-pressed to quash this 
urge, she understood that she had to follow her friend's advice or else the 
Vision ‘would’ come true. 
       Worse, no one in Atlantis 2 would even want to oppose it---
       *I will not let this happen," she promised her friend as she stood up. 
*Thank you for your help, Aenil.  You just saved us from repeating the mistakes 
of the past." She gratefully bowed her head to her friend.
       *I’m glad I could help," her friend bowed her head as well.
       Nya nodded again, and then left in search of her mother.
       
       
She never turned around to check on her friend once again, thus missed the 
evilly content expression that the alien harboured as she watched her leave. 
	She had once again managed to manipulate a gullible and naïve human into 
doing her bidding, this time doing so by turning the human’s blind beliefs in an 
all-mighty god into ‘her’ tool of persuasion.
       She smirked in content, reflecting that she was getting pretty good at 
manipulating even free-willed humans.




(Atlantis 2, its characters and situations, are protected by copyright under the 
Canadian copyrights law, international conventions and other copyright laws. All 
rights to any Atlantis 2 material belong to Meryl Heavens 
(atlantis_2_2002@hotmail.com) ISBN: 141208992-1