Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Richard cautioned Victon about the remaining two

creatures and asked him guard the farm and the city!

When Victon explained to his Cynig all that happened and

he could see his eyes shining with excitement. He wanted

to go and meet Richard and congratulate him. But his

aides warned him about the remaining creatures …

Cynig was annoyed, ‘Just two of them were left and you

are asking me to hide! You had helped Richard and in the

same way I expect you people to help me… I am going to

Rich and my abode there is already completed! So I wish

to go and stay for sometime in the city and Victon, you are

in charge in my absence… see to the security’

The command in his voice made everyone to be silent.

Victon planned immediately and sent a preliminary force

to the city with lot of fuel, food stuff, the special brew and

many more things that would be needed. There were

plenty of accommodations for them though.

The Cynig told them he would be ready shortly to go…

Victon remembered the flipper cover that would make

them walk with the flippers easily on land and faster and

he asked all the members of the selected Aatians to get the

flipper cover. There were few female combat leaders and

they too geared up to go to the land! They had not stayed

for a long time on land but all the underwater palaces and

houses were waterproof with free air circulation. They

were mainly amphibious but they were equally

comfortable in both…

When the news reached that Cynig would be staying in the

city with them, Richard was little concerned as they

needed to think about his protection too!

But he wanted to spend some time with him as he felt

Cynig resembled him... he did not have the flippers like

others and he looked and talked differently.

The queen knew so much about the Cynig and he really

wanted to know about him…

Richard asked Re to keep the outer circle of the houses for

the Aatians and the small palatial house built for Cynig

ready.

Richard decided to meet the queen before they arrived.

But Re wouldn’t let him take any risks. He arranged for

the queen’s prop roots to come in and take position inside

the city and the queen agreed happily!

The huge prop root which had turned into a trunk that

could be easily the broadest trunk ever, entered the city

through the pass and planted itself in front of the palace…

It added to the beauty of the palace!

Richard was in high spirits as he always felt so

comfortable with the queen as she had some memory left

of the Earth!

He came out and placed few seats under the tree. He sat

down in one of the comfortable seats and greeted the

queen!

The queen was quite pleased with the city and all the

arrangements!

‘

King Richard,You have done wonders in the short time!

Especially when I saw the cattle and few fowls around

here! I never expected to see them! But how did you

manage it!’

Richard thought she knew, ‘ I am so sorry that I forgot to

tell you! The Reans had brought embryos and eggs. They

were very fond of some pet animals like dogs and cats and

you can see them too!’

The queen remained silent… she had always wanted the

land to be properly used. But she knew, unlike the Earth

the percentage of land was very less in Arda!

‘

King Richard, there are still some enemies left! Do you

know it?’

yes two of them were left!’

‘

The queen interrupted him, ‘I saw six of them hiding in a

cave far off from here!’

Richard was taken aback, ‘six of them! so they are capable

of dividing faster than I thought! Must send some Reans to

spy them… I will let Re know about it!’

He called Re and asked him to send a team to the place

where the queen saw them last…

But he saw one of the Reans flying and they both looked

up at it!

It came down, ‘Re we are in trouble … nearly ten of the

creatures are marching towards here…I think they want

their spaceship back!’

Richard said, ‘let us not do anything now… We will wait

for them to make a move … If they are hostile, we will kill

them like the weed…’

Re said , ‘ it would be too late… Cynig is expected at any

time and we need to send a message to delay his arrival

here! Richard you don’t go out… we will take care of it

this time!’

Richard was amused but he understood the concern that he

showed!

He could see all the Reans were getting ready to fight,

checking their weapons getting their usual combat

precautions and as usual with total involvement!

Richard always admired Reans for their commitment!

Once they made up their mind there had never been any

second thoughts. They worked like body rather than a

team!

They left to guard both the pass as they had already

closed the narrow tunnel that they found earlier!

Even the purple fruit trees that grew in one of the entrance

were evacuated and made to stay inside the city…

The city looked more beautiful as the circular roads were

covered with all kinds of trees and shrubs. The water

bodies like the falls, lakes and small ponds were

surrounded by these beautiful blue green trees, reddish

green trees and plants!

Victon received the message about the creatures from one

of the Reans and he conveyed the same to the Cynig but

he was not convinced.

So Victon had no other choice but to get the royal orb

ready. At least hundreds of orbs flew with the Cynig. It

was a sight to see!

Meanwhile the creatures had reached the entrance of the

pass but they stopped there. One of the creatures shouted,

‘

It is for the beings of Arda… If you give us our

spaceship, we will leave the Arda…we will not trouble

you!’

Re’s voice boomed across the plain from the pass but the

creatures were not able to see him… ‘There is no

guarantee that you would not return to trouble us! We

don’t need you here.’

Immediately the Reans attacked them from very close

range and but few Reans were badly electrocuted and fell

down unconscious! Re was really worried where they

would be trampled by the creatures so he asked the Reans

to keep pushing them backwards. Only two or three

escaped and ran away!

Re asked the Reans to pick up their fallen Reans as they

were slowly getting visible… Nearly half of them were

fallen and the others picked them up …

The orbs showed up! The Cynig parked the royal orb near

the dead bodies of the creatures and he recognised them

immediately …

They were the space wanderers who were like pirates and

destroy whatever they see and move out. Once upon a

time, they had visited Arda and the plants were almost

wiped out as they gluttonous eaters and insane multipliers!

He remembered the revulsion he had for them when they

raided their underwater farms but they were chased away.

They could chase away because of the huge population of

Aqua Arda and together they chased them. These creatures

had not returned for many millenniums… but they have

come back!

He asked the Aatians to carry the Reans in their orbs and

to take them to the palace!

He got into his orb and followed them inside the city. Last

time it looked beautiful as a new city, it had the unlived

look but now it looked like a beautiful ancient city! The

small houses and its turrets, the bigger guest houses with

the shining domes and the palace! The palace looked

amazing as the reflectors reflected the Alpha’s yellow

light and made the palace as the golden palace…The

circular layouts gave the city an unique dimension and the

blue green and red plants gave an magic quality!

The Cynig was admiring and he thought one should live

on land not underwater! He was wondering why he did

not think of it!

He had seen several millenniums and he knew he would

never die as he had been genetically modified by the aliens

who had left them here! Most of the being adapted and

evolved into amphibious beings but he never adapted to

anything as he knew he would not die!

The queen was another one who would never die! But she

was lucky that she could have her progeny unlike him!

He was at a time when he thought death would be really

welcome as the loneliness was not something that many

would understand…

When he saw Richard for the first time he shivered with

so much excitement that he had to control himself with an

effort. But he couldn’t speak to him much afterwards! He

was waiting for an opportunity to interact with Richard.

Richard came out to welcome the Cynig but the sight of

the unconscious Reans diverted him and he waved at the

Cynig and started tending the Reans.

The Reans normally recovered very quickly from anything

but the strong electrocution had stunned them and the

recovery was slow!

When everyone was recovered Richard turned his

attention to Cynig and he was busy helping a Rean… He

looked like his double and he really noticed the

resemblance only now!

The other Aatians were looking at their Cynig in

amazement as he had never interacted with anyone so far.

He had been always very aloof and they knew unlike them

he would never die. So they all feared him and this caring

Cynig was new to them!

There was a deep silence as all had stopped doing

whatever they were doing and watching the Cynig.

The Cynig helped the Rean to stand and he looked around

to all the eyes on him! He was little embarrassed but

smiled at everyone!

The Aatians were surprised as this was the first time they

had seen him smiling. The golden Alpha light made him

look so handsome …like a golden statue…

Richard went near him and shook his hand.

He told the Aatians to choose the houses from the outer

ring and invited Cynig to see his palace which was smaller

one to the right side of the Rich Palace!

But he preferred to come inside the palace so Richard was

happy to oblige…

He called Re and asked him to send a team to track the

creatures.

Re knew seriousness as the creatures were capable of

multiplying fast! Finally Richard and Cynig were left free.

Richard asked him if he wanted any refreshment but Cynig

did not want anything…

Richard , ‘ we both resemble you know! Except for the

skin colour … do you remember anything of Earth?’

‘

No … it was not possible as the memory is not imprinted

in the DNA … but the queen remembers many things

about the Earth as she was brought here not as a seed but a

sapling…But I have lost count of the millenniums… I

have seen so many beings dying, so many changes and

birth and so many new organisms evolving…’

Richard was puzzled, ‘ but if you are an Earthling ,

naturally you will die as the life expectancy is around

hundred!’

Cynig sighed, ‘whoever had brought us here, thought that

the queen and I must live forever! We are the wonder

beings who are genetically modified to regenerate from

within… it sounds good at the beginning but it is actually

blight as the motivation to live dies… One becomes a

walking dead!’

Richard said, ‘ you are welcome to stay here as long as

you wish…Looking at you , you must have been brought

from India from where I have come…You are neither

Mongoloid nor Negroid… I am sure you must have come

from India, especially from south India which had one of

the oldest civilisations on Earth. I have come from there

too and that is why we share a remarkable resemblance!

Who knows perhaps you must have been a cousin of

yesteryears…’

Cynig perked up listening to the tale of his origin, ‘do you

really think you can guess from where I had come?’

‘

yes, we ,Indians have distinct features… In fact if you go

there now, you would easily merge with the others’

Cynig was silent for some time and he asked for his

private quarters and Richard showed him his palace which

was adjacent to the Rich palace.

Richard called Victon and asked him to take care of their

Cynig…

Re was there waiting for him in the palace.

Re said, ‘ Richard , those creatures want their spaceship

back and if it could bring peace … why not?’

Richard was amused as Re used to be always ready to

fight…‘Re, if they go , certainly they would bring another

team. Since they did not get a chance to ask for

reinforcement, if they perish now, there would not be any

track left for others to follow. So we have no choice but to

kill them before they multiply into dangerous proportions!

Come let us go… I will get my orb’

Re was convinced as usual he always respected Richard’s

opinion!

Both picked up as many weapons as they could carry…

spitters and emitters were kept in the orb. Re connected

with Ro who had been following the creatures. Ro spotted

them hiding in a mountain not for from the city. He was

told to stay there and they took off to find the location!

Victon was watching the orb leaving the Rich city and he

thought it would help them if he followed them. He took

permission from the Cynig , took his orb and followed

them at a distance!

Richard was confident that they could stop the creatures

from taking over Arda.

He took the orb to the mountain range that Ro said, and

they were watching closely to see for any movement

anywhere!

They found them in a gully… there were six of them and

they had killed a tree and gorging on the trunk and

branches instead of the leaves…

They were relaxed and there was no tension that they were

in the enemy territory… They happily chomped on the

trunk…

Richard was shocked to see few gadgets near them… He

was not sure if they were weapons or tools of

communication!

Even if they caught them they wouldn’t tell but Zo could

find out its purpose… He explained to Re, ‘we need to

know if they had sent any messages to their counterparts

in space, if they were the pirates of space , I am sure they

could have sent for help… Look at the relaxing manner …

they know something that we do not know! The gadgets

are large and heavy so you cannot go so it is left to me… I

will park the orb somewhere and crawl in this gully which

meets the one that they seated!’

Re immediately refused, ‘ no Richard … why should you

risk your life. We will go close and shoot them down and

pick the gadgets. As you said there was no use even if we

torture they wouldn’t tell us’

Richard smiled and agreed. Re went out flying and

Richard took the orb parallel to the gully and he could

watch from far…

The creatures were still in blissful ignorance of any hostile

presence and contentedly were chomping…

Suddenly there was an explosion and many

followed…Richard could see the creatures falling and he

took the orb closer to fly above the gully where the

creatures fighting a losing battle…

He was keenly watching if the gadgets were safe and he

did not see when one of the wounded creatures jumped

and caught his orb…He saw the creature eye to eye… it

was so angry that the single eye shone with venom…

Richard tried to lift the orb but the drag was heavy… The

creature was shot from all angles but he was still alive. As

a final valiant effort, the creature threw the orb with all the

force he could muster, on to the mountain wall…

The orb broke into pieces and fell down with Richard. Re

gave a strangled sound and shot the eye of the creature

from close…. He flew down to see Richard… Richard’s

face was covered with blood… he was dead or

unconscious…one of his hands hung in an odd angle… Re

shouted for everyone and all the Reans became visible…

Victon heard the commotion, parked his orb and came

running.

He thought Richard was no more but when he came closer,

he could see, he was still alive. He went and inspected

him... he saw a dent on his head from where blood was

oozing out…

The hand was broken and one of his legs too was broken!

Victon told the Reans that he would bring his orb close

and he would take Richard to the palace. Re travelled with

him and he was checking for the damage. He stopped the

blood and did all the first aid he could think of...He

connected with Zo and asked Te and Fe to be there as they

were the experts in healing!

Richard was brought to the palace and laid. The Cynig was

told about Richard’s condition so he had come

running…Te and Fe worked on Richard. His pulse was

normal and the paleness was gone. They waited for him to

be conscious but nothing happened… Fe said it was better

to give him the life support that they used for him during

the travel! Re reluctantly agreed and he was given the

intravenous support but he remained motionless!

Richard’s condition affected the whole community…

He had not recovered from the deep coma like conditions

…

all were worried… The Cynig stayed with him day

and night!

*

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