Star Keepers: The One Who was Lost

Star Keepers

Chapter Four: The One Who was Lost

by Paul Adams

Aghri stared out the window in his quarters. An endless black carpet stretched out before him, dotted with thousands of tiny lights. In his youth, he knew them as the forest of the sky, watched over by the small bark-covered minions of Raka. Since then, he had learned that they were in fact giant spheres of burning gas so far away they can only be seen as little more than a shimmer.

Aghri reached out his hand as if to grasp them, but only met with the smooth, artificial surface that granted him the view while simultaneously barring him from it. Not without reason of course. Aghri had been instructed well on the dangers of the emptiness beyond the barrier. His long, clawed fingers traced the surface, the cold sending a tremble through his arm.

He took in a deep breath. The air in his quarters still carried the smell of the trees from which it was born, the soil into which it breathes life, and many of the wondrous smells Vanash permeates her domain with for the enjoyment of all. But all of that was mixed with the stale smell of the cold metal of the room’s walls and floor.

He turned away from the window. A small square desk protruded from the wall before him, displaying a set of wooden ovals printed with images of his family. His uncle Masqa smiled at him from one, his face lined with the scars the Woraugenn invaders left on his face years ago. Another displayed his mother, father, and little sister Legn standing in the midst of a forest of young trees that had been planted to replace those burnt down in the invasion. Finally, a third depicted Aghri and his brother Sarbek, laughing together and hanging from the branches of a Korlin tree. Aghri stared at the images and smiled sadly. He picked up the third image and brushed at his brother’s face. After a second or two, Aghri replaced the image on the desk.

He stripped off his silvery Star Keeper uniform, hanging it up on a hook above the desk. His blue insignia gleamed on its collar. Aghri slipped on his preferred article of clothing, a long, red tunic made of thick, furry material that hung down to his legs. He stretched and breathed comfortably, happy to be wearing the tunic once again.

Aghri turned away from his desk and faced the wall of vines that separated the small, clean desk space from the rest of the room. Aghri parted the vines with his hand and stepped through, enjoying a long, deep breath as he stepped into his garden. Once more the fragrances and aromas generously provided by Vanash graced his nostrils and a feeling of warmth and comfort flooded through him.

A world of vibrant colors crossing every corner of the spectrum met his eyes. Aghri walked forward through the forest of vegetation, allowing the vines to hang loosely behind him. All around him, plant life from all over the galaxy were arranged in shelves and pots and plots, adding their beauty and their life force to the artificial existence of the Arrowhead. Most of the plant life came from his home planet of Wakar, but he also had among his collections chi cha from Hentu, myral from Gatta, forget-me-nots from Earth, and fela from Uinde.

Aghri made his way around the room, caressing each flower and smelling those that smelled most sweet. The humid atmosphere that permeated the room kissed his skin and awoke the silent song of the Witani people within his heart. High above, a bright light glowed on the ceiling with the vibrancy of a mid-afternoon sun, bathing the room in tender, yellow light. Aghri stopped as he passed to press his hand against a thick, red tree. Red sap clung to his hand an inch thick as he pulled it away. Aghri held the substance to his nose and sniffed it, then rubbed it away on his furry tunic, the rough material cleansing it away with one swipe.

“Not quite yet,” he said.

He gathered a number of tools from one corner and started to tend to each plant, giving each one the attention it required. Most were given water, although one himmatel fornu had to be covered in a plastic bowl that continuously pumped nitrogen onto it for thirty-nine minutes every day. The dacin on the far end of the room required Aghri to cut it down every day, leaving behind only a tiny stump.

For some, Aghri had to turn up the soil that surrounded them, while for others he had to make a small incision in the bulbous pods that grew on them in order to let the milky-white fluid that had collected drain out. Hours passed and finally, Aghri slumped against his hovel tree in the middle of the room, breathing heavily and drenched in the tears of Akaris but wearing a wide smile on his face. He looked over all the plants in his care, some with thick fat leaves almost as wide as his own torso, some with oozing, thorn-covered tendrils, and some that occasionally made hushed chirping sounds.

He sat there for a minute, allowing their wonderful and happy life force to flow through him, content in the thought that they would be able to shine as brightly tomorrow as they had today. He placed his hand against the bark of the hovel tree behind him, relishing the contact with it.

After a few more minutes, Aghri shook himself from his reverie. He made his way over to a box in the middle of the room. Digging his claws into the soft shell made from the bark of his own hovel tree, He pulled it open to reveal five multicolored gemstones. Drawing them out, he arranged them in a pentagonal shape on the floor. Aghri sat in the center of the shape, facing the green gemstone.

“Aiket,” he said, placing one hand on the right side of his stomach, “Matron of the Earth, hear my prayer. I thank you for allowing my garden to flourish and grow, and for the recovery of thy world Wakar and its rebirth and renewal in the twelve years since the Woraugenn attack. I . . . ask thy forgiveness for my neglect of my birthworld and for failing to return there in the past six years. I promise to return someday and make my proper obeisance to thee.”

Removing his hand from his stomach, Aghri stood, turned, and sat facing the purple stone next to the green. He placed his hand on the opposite side of his stomach.

“Vanash, Warrior of the Air, hear my prayer. I thank thee for allowing me to have sojourned among the Star Keepers far from my home these many years. I ask for thy blessing as I now embark on this journey and pray that thou wilt watch over me and my fellow crewmembers on our journey, that we will be prospered in our undertakings. I promise to do my best to fulfill my duties aboard the vessel Arrowhead to the best of my abilities and for as long as I am able.”

Once again, Aghri stood and repositioned himself so that he now faced the blue gem, now placing his hand on his left shoulder.

“Akaris, Lady of the Sea, hear my prayer. I thank thee for thy protection of me, and of my family on Wakar, throughout my life. I ask thee to continue to provide protection and love to my mother and father and sister on Wakar, and to my uncle in all of his journeys. I promise to do all that I can to live by thy example and to use my position and calling to protect the lives of those who cannot defend themselves, even to the sacrificing of my own life.”

Once more he turned so that he now faced the white, translucent gem, placing his hand now upon his forehead.

“Raka, Lord of All, hear my prayer. I thank thee for thy diligent service to me and my people throughout my life and through all of history. I ask thee to continue to provide thy diligent service to the people on Wakar and to all people that reside within the United Worlds. I promise to dedicate my service aboard the Arrowhead to thee, and to do all I can to protect and serve the people of the United Worlds.”

Aghri removed his hand from his forehead and turned to look at the red gemstone to my left. His final prayer was to Vask, Master of Fire. He remained where he sat, staring into the rich red color of the stone, pondering what he might say. The longer Aghri stared, the more anger rose within his heart. Images raced through his mind, reminding him of that terrible night so many years ago. Images of his brother’s body severed in two against a backdrop of bright red flames. Finally, Aghri stood, collected the five gems, and placed them back inside their container.

Aghri sat back against his hovel tree, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply in order to calm himself. Once he felt at peace again, he sat quietly for a few more minutes. Eventually, he got up and made his way back over to the wall of vines surrounding his desk. Aghri pushed them aside and sat down on the floating platform that rose out of the floor as he passed. Toward the top of the table, a small, square socket was set into the surface. Aghri picked up the device laying on the windowsill nearby and set it into the socket. He gave the table a soft tap and its surface lit up, displaying various official memos and notices across its surface. His call to serve aboard the Arrowhead was still open from when he had read it prior to boarding. Aghri sat at the desk for maybe a half an hour or more, flipping absently through everything.

Once he had read just about everything twice, he tapped the surface again, putting everything away.  A small red light flashed in the bottom corner of the table, alerting him that he had messages. He tapped it and a list of file names spread across the table. Most of them were a random assortment of three names. The two topmost names glowed a slight green. The second of the two was the most frequent name on the list. He tapped it and his mother’s face appeared in the air over the table.

“Hi, Aghri,” she said. She looked a little thin and had large dark bags under her eyes, but she still bore the same spritely vigor that she always had. “I hope you’re doing well. Your uncle tells me you have been promoted. He says you’re the first officer of a ship now. Your father and I are so proud of you, honey. You should call us and we can celebrate. Or send us a message, if you’re too busy. We—um, your sister misses you. Your dad, too. Me too, I guess. We want to hear from you. I love you.”

Aghri’s mother’s image disappeared. He breathed, wiping his eyes. He tapped the Ubar word for “respond” next to my mother’s name. A green light lit up on the table and his own face reflected back at him. No answer. He’d have to leave a message. “Hi, Mom,” he said. “Um, I got your message. I’m here, aboard the Arrowhead.” He grabbed his uniform off of its hook and showed the blue insignia on it. “There you go. Commanding officer rank now. I’m . . . doing fine. My garden’s still growing well. I hope the grove’s regrowing well back home. I miss you guys. You, Legn, Dad . . .”

Aghri mouthed wordlessly, at a loss for anything else to say. He didn’t like to admit it, but Aghri felt as if he were drifting further and further from his heritage and his homeworld, despite how much he tried to cling to it by maintaining the garden in his quarters. After six years apart, his parents and sister might as well have been as alien to him as his human captain or the lenghu communications officer. “I’ll talk to you later, okay,” he said. He raised both hands above his head. “Bye.”

Aghri’s image disappeared, returning the screen to his messages page. His eyes drifted to the glowing message above his mother’s. The Witani letters spelled out the name Legn. He tapped the name.

The image of a small Witani girl appeared before him. She looked no older than he had been when the Woraugenns invaded. Her thin hair draped down around her face in single strands and her large aqua eyes bore a distinct resemblance to Aghri’s father. The girl wore an awkward smile as if addressing a stranger.

“Hi, Aghri,” she said. “It’s me, Legn. I guess you already knew that. A-Ma says you’re going on a ship soon. I think that’s really cool. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you what’s going on around here.” She held up a small hairy lizard with two legs and a long neck. “I taught Nka to bring me fruit from five different trees. Watch.”

She looked at her pet. “Nka, go get me some Za fruit. Go get Za fruit.”

The tiny lizard stared at her for a second, turning its head to the side. Then it dropped its gaze from her face and started nibbling at the skin on her palm.

“Ow, hey! Nka, stop that!” She put the lizard down and turned back to look at me. “Sorry,” she said. “I guess he’s not that trained yet. Um, did I show you the tree I planted last week?” She started walking a little bit, the image following her as she went. She bent down and the image showed a small bulbous tree that was almost spherical growing out of the ground. The tree looked almost identical to the one Aghri had just milked two hours ago. “It’s already got three leaves, see?” She pointed out the leaves that grew from a puckered knob on the top of the tree. “A-Pa says its growing really well. It’s probably going to be one of the biggest trees in the forest soon.”

She paused, trying to think of anything else to say. “I, um, guess that’s about it,” she said. “A-Ma misses you. She keeps talking about you all the time. I kind of miss you too. A little. But that’s okay. All the other kids are super jealous that my big brother’s a Star Keeper. So, yeah, I’m kind of popular around here. So, yeah. Um, I can’t think of anything else to say. Bye-bye.”

She raised both hands to the side of her face again as the image disappeared. Aghri sighed sadly, his finger hovering over the respond button. He tried to imagine trying to carry on an actual conversation with her, two virtual strangers saying “um” repeatedly across hundreds of lightyears of distance. Ultimately, Aghri dropped his finger. He swiped back to his contacts and instead selected the only family member with whom he could still carry on a conversation.

After a few moments, his uncle’s face appeared, the scars on his face matching the white insignia at his collar. His mouth spread into a toothy grin at the sight of his nephew, the destroyed skin pulling at his mouth and preventing it from stretch as far as it could. “Aghri,” Masqa said. “I was hoping to hear from you soon.”

Aghri smiled. “Hello, uncle. How’s headquarters life treating you?”

Masqa rubbed at his forehead. “Dreadfully boring,” he said. “All I’m expected to do all day is send other people out on exciting adventures. Admiral McLustiff says it’s a great honor and that I’ve earned it, but I don’t blame Orion for reapplying to active duty after only a year of this. What about you? How’s my old first officer doing for his first time as captain?”

“Gavin’s doing well, Uncle,” Aghri said. “He led our ship into combat today with almost as much grace as you would have.”

Masqa smiled. “Well, he did learn from the best, after all. What about you? Do you think you’ll do well as his first officer?”

“I hope so, Uncle,” Aghri said. “Gavin is a good man. This is a good crew. I think I’ll be able to do good out here.”

“That’s good. Have you talked to your family lately? My brother, Zhoka, Legn?”

Aghri bit the inside of his lip. “I . . . have, Uncle. A little.”

Masqa raised an eyebrow, the burned skin at his temple stretching with it. He studied Aghri’s eyes as if seeing the pain and feeling of separation his nephew felt whenever he thought about their family. He gave him an understanding smile. “We are doing good out here, Aghri. I know it’s hard to . . . to be apart from those we love, physically and spiritually, but we are doing good. If nothing else, I am proud of you, Aghri.”

Aghri nodded. “I know, Uncle.”

“Good luck out there.”

A small smile flitted across Aghri’s mouth. “And good luck to you back there,” he said.

His uncle raised both hands to either side of his head. Aghri repeated the gesture. Masqa’s image vanished, leaving Aghri staring at a blank screen.

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