Ripped Apart: Quantum Twins – Adventures On Two Worlds (14 page)

That night it had been close to freezing. A group of young Meera boys were continually adding branches to the fire to keep the flames leaping high into the air, providing warmth and light. As the healers danced around the fire, a deep groove was cut into the sand. The dancers were almost naked, sweat pouring down their bodies from the mixture of physical exertion and the energies that were channelled from the universe by their ancestors, through them and into those in need.

There was a sudden stillness in the air. The flames stopped their flickering dance. They leapt upwards in a coruscating column and seemed to hang as if suspended from the stars, spinning around like a miniature whirlwind, casting an eerie light across the whole scene. There was no sound, no movement. No-one breathed. It was as though the air had been sucked out of the whole area.

With a loud thunderclap, the flames fell back down to the alarmed cries of the women as pieces of burning wood showered onto their clothes. The men dancing close to the fire fell down where they stood. Those healers who had been moving amongst the onlookers rushed back to pull their colleagues away from the fire.

Slowly, the clearing emptied as people drifted back to their huts, wondering what the omen meant.

Together with Xashee, her sixteen-year-old brother, Tsetsana had helped one of the healers back to his hut. She had returned to stand by the fire, wondering. With his long, black coat wrapped around him, Xameb, their Shaman, was sitting at the other side of the fire. He beckoned her to join him.

‘Relax,’ he said. ‘Breathe as you have been taught. Open to the world of Spirit. We will speak no more.’

Together, they sat close to the fire until a chill breeze pushed away the little heat that remained in the fast dying embers.

She looked at the Shaman.

He nodded.

‘Did you see her?’ she asked in a small, uncertain voice.

He waited.

‘The flames. I thought I saw a figure. A woman made all of flames. Her hair so long it seemed to wrap around her whole body as she spun around.’ She bit her lip. He was the seer, the visionary, not her, an eleven-year-old girl not yet become woman.

‘You have clear sight, Tsetsana.’

She saw him smile at her sigh of relief.

‘What does it mean?’ she asked.

‘A visitation. Do not speak of this to anyone. Even me.’

She frowned, puzzled.

‘Keep it within. In that way you may discover more. If Spirit wills it.’

He nodded to her. They rose and walked back to the village, he to his hut and she to the one she shared with several other girls.

That night, Tsetsana’s secret fantasy came alive as she dreamt of meeting the most human-looking of all extra-terrestrials. Surprisingly, that Siska was wearing the traditional Meera costume of loinskin and bead necklace appropriate to older girls and young, unmarried women. Apart from the green lights flickering throughout her amazingly long hair, she looked like a member of one of the tribes of red-skinned San.

Now, right in front of her with the same face and hair, was a Goddess made of fire. Tsetsana trembled, her legs went weak and she felt herself break out in a sweat. She grabbed hold of her brother with both hands, staring at the apparition, her eyes unfocussed, seeing the two images as one.

Her brother was equally transfixed, overwhelmed by the beauty of the Goddess. His heart was pounding. He could not tear his gaze away from her purple eyes. They seemed to be looking right through him. Half aware of his sister’s trembling hands on his arm, he put his other hand on top of hers.

Having been totally open to her Intuition whilst she had been cuddled up to the tree, Tullia realised that they were looking at her with more than just surprise at the sight of a stranger. Their energy fields showed that it was awe. She controlled an urge to have an hysterical giggle as a HoloWrapper phrase:
“I request an audience with your leader,”
sprang into her mind.

She took a deep breath and slid a hand to her throat, feeling her necklace.
I am fifteen years old. I have Thathuma, my EraBand, for my first era. Kanyisaya, my crystal for the completion of my second phase of being. I have completed my third phase of thinking: so THINK!

Again she had to suppress a giggle.
Are they wondering whether I come from the moon or some other planet? Perhaps they think I’m an Extra-Terrestrial!
Suddenly, she felt very strange.
I AM an Extra-Terrestrial, aren’t I? Our planets share the same space, but really we are two completely separate worlds.

How to communicate? Her mind recalled a fun game she played with her friends, pretending they could not speak Tazian. Now that she knew what she was going to do, she took a deep breath and held herself erect. Thoughts of coming from a different planet, in peace, of being in command and wanting to be friends were coloured by memories of participating in HWAdventures as Auriganii making contact with other races. All that flooded through the two Meera and found homes in the unconsciousness of each youngster.

She pointed at herself and said: ‘Tullia.’ Then opened her hand, pointing to them in a gesture that she hoped would mean she wanted them to speak. She did not need her Intuition to tell her of their fear and confusion. She smiled, hoping it would mean the same to them as it would to a Tazian. She saw the young girl lose some of her fear and hug her brother’s arm.

‘The Goddess smiled at us!’ Tsetsana said to her brother, looking up at his face,

Relieved they were not too frightened to speak, Tullia gave them another, encouraging smile.

Taking a deep breath, the boy spoke.

Tullia was so relieved. After a strange sound as though he was urging on a horse, she heard: ‘Ashee’. She flashed him a smile as she relaxed.

He was thunder-struck. Never before had he seen such a beautiful smile. And those purple eyes. He felt an uncontrollable trembling in all his limbs.

Gripping her brother hard, the girl said: ‘Tset – sar – na.’

That was perfect. Although Tullia could see how nervous the girl was, she had heard the sounds so clearly. ‘Tset – sar – na,’ Tullia repeated. Then added: ‘Ashee.’

She saw the boy tremble. His eyes darted around as though he wanted to be anywhere else but where he was. She could see him taking deep breaths, the young girl hanging onto his arm. Puzzled, Tullia could sense the girl was trying to calm the older boy.

‘CH – ashee,’ he said, looked down at the ground, then back up. ‘CH – ashee.’

Ah. That sound. It is part of his name.
‘“Click” – ashee,’ she stumbled over the sound.

He gave a faint smile and nodded.

Making similar gestures as before, she tried to encourage them to say her name. That was difficult. She could not understand why they were so hesitant, so shy. She thought about the girl’s name, the breaks in it as though it was three names all together. ‘Too – lee – ar,’ she said clearly.

‘Too – lee – ar?’ Tsetsana said.

Tullia beamed at the girl, and was rewarded by a big smile and a sense of relief and, something she could not identify. Recognition? Impossible! The girl was definitely less in awe than the boy. ‘Tooleear,’ she said, making it one word.

‘Tooleear,’ repeated Tsetsana. ‘Tooleear,’ she said again as she turned to look up at her brother.

Tullia could see the girl was excited, but the boy had gone a deep red under his brown skin. Some of the colour shading in his energy field and the way it was fluctuating puzzled her.
Awkward, uncomfortable, but what else is affecting him?

He took a deep breath and licked his lips. ‘Tooleear,’ he said.

She felt her shoulders drop. She had not realised how tense she had become. She smiled with relief as the last vestiges of fear drifted away.

She saw the boy tremble. The girl clinging onto his arm as though to steady him.
Is he ill?

Silence.

Now what to do?
A memory arose of important Tazian ceremonies she had seen at home on the HoloReceptor. She licked her lips and swallowed.
I don’t remember the exact words, but here goes!

She brought the palms of her two hands together level with her heart, bowed her head over them, then as she lifted her head she swept her arms down to her sides with the palms facing out towards the two young people, and said: ‘Tullia is honoured to meet you, “Click” – ashee and Tset – sar – na.’ With the blank looks on their faces reminding her that Gumma’s device was not a translator, she added: ‘I’m whistling happy to meet you!’

She remembered to complete the greeting in the correct manner by bringing her palms together level with her heart and making a slight bow with her head. She dropped her arms to her sides looking less formal, and smiled.

Being nervous, Tullia’s voice had dropped a register below its usual, rich contralto as she clearly enunciated her words as if in an KeyPoint LiveShow. The only words the Meera had understood were the three names. That did not matter. Nor did the fact that her gestures were not like any their own people would make. They had just been sung to by a Goddess! Clearly it was a greeting.

Xashee knew he had to return a similar greeting. He licked his lips. Although he spoke Afrikaans and some English, what was the point? This was a Goddess, not a tourist. He addressed her in his own Meera. ‘Goddess from the sun.’ He swept his arm up in an arc as he pointed at the sun.

To Tullia it was clear that the boy was accepting her as coming from another planet. That he thought it far out in space did not matter. What incredible luck. His people must be so like her own. She felt her eyes twirling with excitement and relief.

As the purple eyes of the Goddess seemed to be on fire, Xashee dropped his arm and looked at his sister. She gave him a faint but encouraging smile. What should he say? Yes. They had exchanged names. Licking his lips again, he continued. ‘I, Xashee, and my sister Tsetsana, welcome you to our village.’

The two Meera were seized with panic as Tullia’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went the palest shade of lilac. What had they said? They stood, rooted to the spot as Tullia closed her mouth and took a deep breath and seemed to pull her shoulders back as though to launch herself into an attack on them. Her eyes returned to their deep purple, and a purple light was pulsing from the centre of her necklace.

They could not know that she was recovering from her shock at having recognised them from her unseen visit to the village and that she was fighting an urge to burst into tears. Her momentary euphoria had passed as the full impact of her realisation struck home that she probably was on Haven, and without her twin.

She was almost overwhelmed by the feeling of being desperately alone. As she stood there, obviously struggling with emotions they could only guess at, she also felt a sense of being comforted rise within her. She knew where she was and even had an understanding of how she had got there.

The two Meera had taken a pace back, awaiting the outburst from the Goddess they had so badly offended. As Tullia shook her head, stilling the emotions swirling through her, they gripped each other, rooted to the spot in fear. They almost collapsed with relief as Tullia restored her sense of being in charge and they heard: ‘Busana, “Click”ashee. Busana, Tsetsana,’ as Tullia smiled and nodded at each in turn.

Whatever it meant, it clearly was a friendly greeting. Tsetsana relaxed her grip on her brother’s arm as she turned her face towards him, eyes wide with delight and relief.

He gave her a wan smile. He had been just as afraid.

Heart pounding, his whole body still trembling, Xashee gently pulled his sister to the side of the path. He did not trust himself to speak. Instead he made a big, sweeping gesture with his arm, pointing in the direction from which they had come. Tullia inclined her head, smiled and started to walk forward. The path was not wide enough for them to walk three abreast, so she gestured for them to lead the way.

So many thoughts wanted to run through her mind that she focussed on what she guessed was happening. The youngsters were taking her to their home to meet their mother and father. Was she looking respectable? As she looked over her bodysuit and brushed away traces of sand she realised that the pulsing of her strongly excited energy field was making the lilac patches look as if they were flickering flames.
No wonder they think I come from another planet!

As Qwelby stepped through the door into Hannu’s room he stopped in amazement. Everything was so cluttered, to Qwelby it was a tiny room and it looked as though Hannu had packed into it as much as he and Tullia had in a space that was several times larger. As his eyes roved around he stopped, unable to believe what he saw. On the wall over the bed was a big poster of Earth as seen from space.

Slowly Qwelby’s brain sorted into order the various images, providing him with a running commentary. A bed for sleeping. A chair for sitting, books and clothes tumbled over it. A table for writing. A flat screen electronic device: purpose unknown. Objects hanging from the ceiling: space rockets, space plane, space station. Curtains half open. Window.

Qwelby walked across to the window and looked out. Hannu joined him and pointed to the slope. They stood there for a few moments, the compiler steadily increasing Qwelby’s database of Finnish, as he discovered that Hannu had seen him from this window, walking down the hillside, then being attacked.

Solemnly, Qwelby offered another handshake. Naturally, he infused the grip with his energy of appreciation. He learnt an important lesson about Azurii as he watched Hannu’s amazed expression as he stared at their hands. Azurii did not exchange energy as did Tazii.

Hannu later said to Anita that it was as if the Alien had actually poured friendship into him. What he could not know was that his strong desire to meet an alien allowed that feeling to infuse his whole being. He became bonded to Qwelby at an unconscious level.

As they turned back into the room Qwelby was trying to absorb his amazing good luck. He had travelled through a space-time warp to arrive in the home of a boy of about his own age who shared his own dreams. Not just any boy. A boy whose aura showed that he wanted to be a friend. Qwelby’s hand went to his Torc and he caressed his crystal of Drakobata as he thanked the Multiverse for his good fortune.

Then he caught sight of what had to be a Portal. An oval, about thirty centimetres high, against a background of tiny silver specks representing stars, set on the black of deep space was a beautifully proportioned spiral. Eyes wide, trembling, he walked towards it and dropped to his knees, breathless with wonder. Purple eyes sparkling, he turned to Hannu, pointed at him, then at the Portal, raising his eyebrows.

Hannu nodded.

With a sweeping gesture with his right hand, Qwelby touched his crystal, his heart and finished with a finger pointing at the Portal. ‘Ghibukuyaalanama bulakuizilwekiti gana esta yangana.’

Hannu looking at him, excitement colouring his whole energy field and shining from his eyes. He was mesmerised. Anita had been strongly drawn to his creation, but this alien’s gesture was so evocative it touched Hannu deep inside where the inspiration for the Portal had been born. And there was an energy in the weird sounding, almost musical words, that drew him into Qwelby’s feelings. It was as though he had been sucked onto those deep purple eyes and was being invited to travel through his own model and onto the boy’s homeworld.

Those eyes! Rich purple, revolving spirals! And set in what a face! The weirdness of the reddish-brown colour, the slanted eyes, the wide mouth: all was forgotten. Hannu was looking at a young boy who had just been given the biggest treat of his life. And a wise old man. Both at once. He felt goose pimples all over his body. If he had had any doubts, they were gone. This truly was an alien. His Alien!

Qwelby saw the look on Hannu’s face. So lost in his good fortune of meeting someone like himself, he had forgotten that the Azuran would not understand his words, yet it seemed as though he had. As they remained looking at one another, Qwelby felt a deep connection at an energy level, beyond any words.

Hannu felt a momentary chill run through his whole body, shivered, pulled away from the connection, and finally managed to break eye contact. His shook his head to clear his thoughts, turned to his desk, opened a drawer and took out paper and pencils which he handed to Qwelby, glad of something practical on which to focus.

Qwelby went to the desk with a mixture of anticipation and fear: fear that the globe was correct when it said he was on Earth. He took a sheet of paper and drew a series of concentric circles, then a tiny circle on all the circles except for the smallest one. Carefully looking at what he’d drawn, he tilted his head to one side. He was not satisfied. It was not clear. He looked at the pencils he had been given. Pleased to see a red one, he took that and made the small centre circle look like a lot of flames were springing from it.

Qwelby made a show of counting on his fingers to three and pointed to the third circle out from the centre, Earth’s orbit. Hannu reached up to the shelves above the desk. Qwelby could see his hands were trembling as he searched through the books, finally taking one down with a picture on the front of a planet with rings around it. The Tazii had named it Companion, after a friendly race with whom the Auriganii had travelled for some time, and whose spaceships looked a little like that.

Hannu opened the book and quickly turned to a map of the solar system. They looked at one another, and in silent agreement, each with a finger on the page, moved through the planets, outwards from the sun. One, two, three. They agreed. They were on Earth.

Qwelby’s stomach lurched as he went weak and dizzy with the confirmation. He sat down on the bed with a thump, holding his head. After a while he looked up and gave Hannu a faint smile.

He got up, took another piece of paper, picked up a blue pencil, and drew a much bigger circle. He looked at the book and carefully copied what he assumed was the name alongside the third planet: EARTH. He then drew what looked like a house and a person, gave the pen to Hannu, pointed at the house and said: ‘Ha-nnu.’ Hannu wrote down his name.

Qwelby continued to draw on the same piece of paper. This time with a red pencil and using broken lines, he drew a circle in more or less the same place, then added another house and person on the opposite side from the blue ones, gave the red pen to Hannu and said: ‘Qwelby.’

Hannu wrote down ‘Kwelby,’ looked at the drawing, thought for a moment, then wrote ‘Kwelby’ again, this time using broken lines.

Qwelby was feeling steadier, nodding and smiling in his relief that they were communicating. So far so good. Now, how to draw a girl for a boy on Earth to understand? No matter how confusing Azuran flikkers were, Qwelby knew that Azuran girls often wore the same clothes as boys, and their hair could be as short as Hannu’s.

Thinking of Tullia, he automatically flicked to her corner in his mind. He crumpled in on himself with a terrible empty sensation. She was not there! He had forgotten. Then it hit him, hard. The last time he was with his twin: possibly, frighteningly, the last time ever! He had been in such a bad mood. He felt sick inside. He hurt, badly. He almost doubled over as he clutched at his stomach, sat on the bed and hid his face in his hands.

Hannu’s mouth dropped open. He felt helpless, puzzled, frightened at the thought this stranger was ill. The Alien was clutching his stomach. Was a voracious beast about to leap out, attack him and devour his family? Hannu was paralysed with fear.

Qwelby straightened up, rose and looked around the room.

Slowly, Hannu’s fear subsided as a new puzzle presented itself.
How can the Alien look so pale when he was red-brown a few moments ago? He looks like a haggard old man!

He watched Qwelby look at a photo that was pinned to a board on the wall. Hannu and a group of friends. Qwelby studied it carefully, nodding to himself. He pointed to two girls, both wearing skirts and the shorter one with long, blonde hair.

‘Girls,’ Hannu said.

Taking a fresh sheet of paper, Qwelby took a red pencil and drew a stick person with short hair, and copied ‘Kwelby’ alongside. Then another stick figure with long hair and a skirt. He joined their hands together. Pointed at the girl and said ‘Tooleear.’

Hannu nodded and wrote ‘Tullia’ alongside the stick girl. He saw tears came into the alien’s eyes, and guessed it had to be his sister.

Qwelby grabbed another sheet of paper, more pencils and started drawing excitedly, talking incomprehensibly, gesturing wildly around the room and at his drawings. He was getting so excited that Hannu eventually grabbed his arms, held him still and sat him back on the bed, relieved that at least his visitor was now looking like a normal boy, flushed with excitement, but not an old man.

Hannu was in a complete whirl with so many emotions flooding through him, all trumped by unbelievable excitement. Of one fact he was certain. His visitor definitely was an alien. He had to be. Hannu had never seen anyone’s face change like his visitor’s had done, from a reddish brown teenager to a pale old man. Best of all: they really were able to understand one another.

Now there was the added excitement of another person being involved as well. Perhaps they had to find her, or perhaps she was back at home. With shivers running up and down his spine, his hands trembling at the enormity of what was happening, he searched through his pockets, then stood for a moment lost in thought.

With an exclamation, Hannu scrimmaged through all the papers on his desk and found his mobile phone. He had to share his excitement. There was only one person: his fifteen-year-old girl-friend. As he pressed once and put it to his ear, Qwelby nodded, recognising an Azuran communication device.

‘Anita. You’ve got to come round. I’ve something exciting to show you. Well, tell you. No, meet you. You won’t believe it. I mean him. Well, you will…’

‘Not right now, Hannu. I’m with Dad in the workshop.’

‘Please, Anita. It’s really important. Please. I need your help. Well, he does. Well, I do as well, but he needs it more…’ He ran out of words.

There was a pause. Should he say more?

‘O… k… ay?’

He liked the long drawn out way she said that with an intrigued tone in her voice.

He pointed to the mobile. ‘Anita. Girl. She comes here.’ He gestured with his arm.

Qwelby nodded and watched as Hannu sorted through the drawings, putting them in order. He had just got them into a sequence he seemed happy with when there was a call from downstairs.

Hannu looked at Qwelby. ‘Say: “Ha-llo A-nee-ta”,’ he said, turned and ran out of the room and down the stairs.

As he arrived in the kitchen, Anita had just finished removing her outdoor clothes and was stepping into the ubiquitous slippers that were kept for visitors.

‘Good. You’re wearing a skirt and your hair’s down.’

‘What?’

‘You wait and see,’ he replied with a big grin.

‘This better be good,’ she said with a frown.

‘You bet!’ he said, unable to take the grin off his face as he led the way upstairs.

He stepped inside his room, turned to Anita, made an extravagant gesture as he said: ‘Anita, this is Qwelby. He’s from another planet.’