Antarians Shed Tears Too
"The Mystery of Kryys, Mareeya, Taz, Jiba, and Drel"
Chapter 24
XXIV
Max asked Shaqor to call the Sphere of Searches so that they could locate the few children still missing from their own group… their own children… the children whose names they knew without having to go to Hosk's books to find out who they were. The Sphere of Searches would provide a quicker answer than Hosk's books would. The books were invaluable for finding the names of all the other Antarian children and finding out what happened to them, but that is because no one could be expected to know almost a quarter of a million Antarian children and their names. Without the books, those children would remain lost until their families provided information to ask for their return. This was not a problem in the case of Kryys Guerin, Mareeya Whitman, Taz Valenti, and Jiba and Drel. Shag immediately summoned the sphere.
"Sphere of Searches!"
"Ask!"
"Where is Mareeya Whitman?"
There was a brief silence, as there always was when the Sphere of Searches began its search. The silence was normally no more than five to ten seconds, but to anxious parents, it seemed like a lifetime. Max and Michael quickly realized that this time the pause was going well beyond ten seconds. They waited. The pause extended past thirty seconds, and still there was no answer.
"Sphere of Searches?" Shaqor said, puzzled by its failure to answer.
"Ask!"
"Where is Mareeya Whitman, daughter of Alex and Isabel Whitman of Antar?"
"There is no Mareeya Whitman," the sphere answered.
Michael and Max both went pale and gasped audibly. Until now, every child sought had turned up alive, if not always in the best condition. The worst fears that Max or Michael had harbored before -that some child, maybe one of their own, would turn out to have died or to have been killed- had almost been forgotten in the joy and celebration of all the children who had been returned. Now, it seemed that their earlier fears would turn out to be true.
Michael's voice shook… " Shaqor, ask the sphere to look for Kyle and Jeliya's little boy, Taz."
Michael really wanted to find Kryys, his own little son, but for probably the first time in his whole life, Michael felt real fear… fear that swelled up in his chest and caused him to breathe in small gasps.
"Sphere of Searches!" Shaqor called.
"Ask!"
"Where is Taz Valenti, son of Kyle and Jeliya?"
"There is no Taz Valenti," the sphere answered after a long pause.
Max wiped a tear from his eye, shaking noticeably.
Michael felt something that was approaching panic. Shaking almost uncontrollably, he asked Shag to ask about Kryys. Then he changed his mind as quickly as he had asked.
"No, no… ask for Jiba and Drel first," Michael said.
"Sphere of Searches," Shag called.
"Ask!"
"Where are Jiba and Drel, children of Tess and Rayylar of Antar?"
There was a long silence… then the answer nobody wanted to hear…
"There is no Jiba… There is no Drel, children of Tess and Rayylar of Antar."
Everyone gasped. Shaqor looked at Michael. Michael put his hand on the back of a chair to steady himself. His eyes reflected a fear that he had never known before. His legs felt weak.
"Sphere of Searches," Shaqor said.
"Ask!"
"Where is Kryys Guerin, son of Michael and Maria of Antar?"
There was a long silence, too long for Michael, then the answer…
"There is no Kryys Guerin, son of Michael and Maria of Antar."
Michael collapsed to his knees. Looking up at the ceiling, he began to cry. It was only the second time in his entire life that he had cried. The first had been many years before, on Earth, on the day that he had come to call "Independence Day," when he had climbed into Maria's bedroom window after being beat up by his drunken foster father, Hank. Already emotionally distraught, Michael had been overcome with emotion at Maria's understanding him without a word spoken between them. Maria had laid him down on the bed. She had curled up beside him and caressed him, letting him know that everything was going to be alright…
Maria! Oh God! Maria! How would he tell Maria? It would kill her. Michael began to sob.
Max got down on his knees beside Michael and put his arms around him. Then they both cried together.
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In the conference room of the royal palace on Xarius, Shaqor, Max, and Michael poured over Hosk's books in an effort to find the names of Kryys, Taz, Mareeya, Jiba, and Drel and any information on what had become of them… who they had been sold to. If these children were dead, they wanted to know why. They wanted to know who was responsible… besides the obvious, Hosk. There would be no power under Heaven that could keep Michael from avenging his son's death.
"There!" Max said, as he spotted Mareeya's name half way down page 258.
The three looked at the Ghor writing. "What does it say, Shag?" Max asked. "I recognize her name, but I can't make sense out of the rest."
Shag read it in silence. Then he read it to Max and Michael. "Mareeya Whitman was sold three years ago to a someone named Jasp-Ard. I'm guessing Jasp-Ard is a man, but I really don't know. The name is not familiar to me. Anyway, Jasp-Ard paid… well, that doesn't matter… Let's see… Jasp-Ard took her to a place called Alyendis (Hosk made a notation, *Grorjish) …to be a something in the fields. That could mean picking crops or something."
"Grorjish?" Michael asked. "Is that a planet?"
Shag thought a moment. "It sounds familiar… but I can't place it. I don't remember any planet called Alyendis… or Grorjish."
"Let's look for the others," Michael said. Shag nodded and turned the page. On page 341, near the bottom, they found Taz Valenti. It appeared that Hosk had been unsure how to transpose 'Taz' into Ghorish and had written it in his best imitation of Antarian. Michael spotted it immediately.
"What does it say, Shag," Michael wanted to know without giving Shag a chance to say first.
"It says Taz Valenti was sold about a week after Mareeya to… Jasp-Ard on Alyendis!"
Michael sat up. The hairs on the back of his neck told him there was something more to this than any of them yet knew.
"What did they want him for," Michael asked.
"Looks like… plotting of the fields… I really don't quite know what that means."
"Plotting of the fields? Maybe planting or plowing?" Max asked.
Shag shrugged. "I don't know."
Shag notated the page with Taz's name on it, as he had done the one with Mareeya's name, then turned the page. On page 378, they found 'Jiba and Drel.'
Shag read, "Jiba and Drel were sold together about five days after Taz…" He paused…
"To Jasp-Ard on Alyendis," Max and Michael said together. By now, they knew quite well what those Ghorish symbols meant.
Shag turned the page. There, on page 379, was the name, "Kryys Guerin."
"Jasp-Ard of Alyendis again," Shag repeated. He didn't need to say it. The others could read it for themselves by now.
Shag notated the page and read the rest of the entry, "Something about opening the fields and something about keeping them open." He shook his head. "It gets weirder each time. I have no idea what that means."
Michael closed the book and stood up. "Let's go see Hosk! I want some answers, Shag, and I'm going to get them!"
--------------------------End of Chapter 24