Chapter 7
Sunlight crept through the gaps in the thick wooden slats hanging in the window. Its radiance glared down into Lore's pale eyes, rousing him from sleep. Under the sun's illumination, his irises appeared snow white. Stretching his limber body with content, he thought of how rare it was to get a good night's rest. Sleeping was an unusual activity for Lore. Though he physically did not need sleep, emotions could run up a serious toll on his psyche and sleep offered repose from that stress. Rising from the sheets, he ran his fingers through his unusually chaotic hair. He padded quietly across the cold tile floor in his bare feet and dressed himself in the linen clothes laid out neatly on top of a wide, low-lying dresser. Off the top of his head, he honestly could not remember the last time he picked out clothes for himself.
Wandering shyly down the sunlit hall, Lore noticed intricacy in the style of decor. The strange patterns which were set into the tile and which adorned many of the pieces of furniture reminded him of the Arabesque style of art which originated from Earth's Islamic religion. Its swirling patterns cast long shadows on the slate floor and hypnotized him as he walked through the corridor. With the angle of sun casting down through the windows, he guessed it was probably late-morning.
He ventured into the kitchen and found Jamaal gripping her communicator with white knuckles, her face as placid as ever. She seemed not to notice him as he took a hesitant step towards her.
Jamaal's arm flashed out, smashing through several ornate jars, spilling a mixture of spices onto the counter next to her. The sound of shattering glass accompanied by her frustrated cry reverberated down the hall. Shocked, Lore watched as she sunk to her knees, pressing her clenched fists into her chin while ruby-colored blood glistened down her forearm.
Lore tore off a strip of cloth from the shirt he was wearing and wrapped her arm in its brittle texture. She stared unseeingly at Lore's face.
"What's happened?"
She rested her forehead in her palm, turning her face to the side slightly. Her jaw clenched and she did not speak immediately, taking in a few breaths of air. "Our defenses have failed. The outer perimeter has begun to suffer cascade failure. We began construction far too late… they have already taken too much interest in our system."
"They?" he questioned with serious concern. She stood, as though nothing had happened, though she did clutch lightly at the new white bandage wrapped around her wrist.
"I will meet with Ilyn shortly, please accompany me." Lore nodded slowly, hesitantly.
Out in the courtyard, Lore fell in step behind her, glancing up at a large building which cast them into a shadow. Jamaal followed his gaze up to the peak of the dome structure they were approaching.
"It's the Department of Internal Security..." He followed her through the side door of the complex.
Lore followed her brisk pace through a sleek lobby, the sound of their boots echoing off the marble flooring. "You know, I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what might be the best course of action for our world considering our future relations with the surrounding galaxy… and it does bother me to close off the possibilities that exploration offers. But I am not doing this without reason.
"We are aware that our neighbors… the Federation call them the Dominion, seem to have taken an interest in our star-system, or more specifically the twin planets Zennah I and Zennah II. These two exoplanets are a significant source of dilithium. With each expedition, we bring back more evidence that the planets, along with our own, are being surveyed. And now they have openly attacked our defense systems." She stopped abruptly and turned to face him as he nearly ran into her. "I do not plan on becoming some sort of outpost or colony of any kind… and these hostilities will not go unpunished." She continued walking.
Jamaal listened patiently to the flawless syntax of the robotic voice playback, relaying the message in a loop.
"…Civilization inhabiting Gamma-ZX330-B, as your people are currently residing under Dominion territory, you will proceed with the appointed directives. Under the stipulations of the Federation-Dominion treaty, any humanoid civilization within the specified regions will commence in planet-wide evacuation. Failure to execute the specified commands will result in evacuation by force…"
She had listened to the recording several times and read over the copy of the Federation-Dominion treaty. All attempts at further communication had been answered with background radiation and silence.
Darren Eames was a spectacled man with ashy brown hair that had silvered with age. He always wore a placid hint of a smile, as though he was concealing some hidden joke. His voice was low and hesitant as he spoke seriously to his commanding officer. "Do you really believe they really have the power to force us to evacuate?"
"The Dominion doesn't strike me as the type of empire to make empty threats." Ilyn crouched over the desktop display, her dark eyes flickering across the screen, illuminating her dark skin in a sickly blue light.
"They must have known we would retaliate." Jamaal stood by and watched with knitted eyebrows as Ilyn looked up from her screen.
"I think they were counting on it." She shook her head. "It might be easier for them to obliterate us than to relocate us."
Jamaal turned to face her communications officer. "You're dismissed, Lieutenant Eames." He nodded and she waited until the door clicked behind him.
"Priestess… I implore you. We would be defenseless against this kind of army. We are within Federation territory. If we were to request support, I am certain they would aid us. I believe this may be our last opportunity to preserve our culture."
"No." Jamaal looked up from the comm screen she was scanning as Commander Ilyn paced around the room. "What we would gain from the Federation is incarceration."
"Liberation, Jim, is what we would gain from the United Federation of Planets. You are too blinded by the ways of our predecessors to see that."
Jamaal ripped herself from her stance, staring down her subsidiary. "I will do what is necessary for our civilization."
"And you still deny what is necessary."
"That is enough… Commander." She tacked on the end as a courtesy. Jamaal's voice was low and dangerous, a snake hiding under the sand. Commander Ilyn swiftly exited the room, her shoulders erect, dissatisfaction evident in her posture. Jamaal followed her with icy blue eyes until the door slammed shut behind her.
Naghera Ilyn stormed down the steps, her face only barely concealing her frustration. Her black hair rippled in waves under the red sun. She unpinned a communications device from her belt and punched a code for a secure channel.
"Eames, has the Idhaman Ambassador departed from Dakkar yet?"
"No, he's scheduled on a shuttle tomorrow afternoon."
"Would you please make an appointment for me before he leaves?"
She shoved her trembling fists into her pockets, and slowed her pace.
Lore strolled lazily under the orange glow of Dakkar's city lights. Even at night the city gave off a warm, golden haze. He stood gazing over a large crevasse which extended for miles in the center of the city, with yellow lights sprinkling in geometric patterns. While flipping through some of the historical texts, he learned that the city constructed here was originally designed to defend against the more violent sandstorms. Now, as the city extended much further from the chasm, a protective force field shielded the civilization during these recurring events. The desert around the city stretched for hundreds of miles, void of most anything.
There was a fossil record that showed that the south used to be savannah-type grasslands where it was not uncommon for rivers to be found. All that was left today were the mountains to the north and sand. Historical artifacts found on the other continent suggested that at one point their civilization had been unified and stretched across both lands. But there was a period of massive trauma to the earth and they were forced to separate, later becoming mortal enemies to fight for hundreds of years.
Dust swirled under his feet as a breeze picked up, brushing warmth against his face. The city was oddly abandoned at night and Lore relished in the melancholy. Street vendors packed away, the black alleys stripped bare and cleaned.
It would be so easy for Lore to function under a thirty hour day. Sleep patterns were different here for him. While the average humanoid here, if given the option, would sleep for about ten hours, Jamaal never seemed to be at her home. She was always either at her office or in the temples residing high on the cliffs. He looked to them now, but all he could see was a small gleam of gold reflecting from the stout dome and darkness.
Finally growing weary under the night, he began making his way back towards the center of town. He was not sure Jamaal would be leaving her office any time soon, but he figured he would check anyways. Lore found Jamaal a strange alien character but when he looked closely enough, he could as find some of himself. She was a bit reclusive in nature, always wound up in her own thoughts. But she seemed like the kind of person who could always pull through when you needed her.
As he drew nearer to her office, he was nervous he might be disturbing her. Abruptly, the door slid open and Jamaal jerked upright, surprised to see him.
"I would have thought you would have returned home by now. Our hours are a bit longer than yours." She said.
"No… I, uh, don't require rest." She cocked her head and looked at him with a puzzled expression, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Lore scowled. "What?" He demanded but she only shook her head, stepping around him.
Lore questioned her about the nature of the situation earlier that morning.
"The fleet we encountered was small. A scout perhaps, but they were still successful at eliminating a good fraction of our perimeter. I don't think we would hold up against an attack on a larger scale."
"Where are they now?"
"We sent them back in one of their ship's with a warning. The other ships have been confiscated. We can learn from their weapons technology and advance our defenses."
She paused. "You know, they didn't exactly go willingly, at first. Their noses were bruised in the process but they left without taking what they came for."
"Which was?"
"Surrender." Her face softened slightly.
"Lore." He looked up from the dusty soil road to find Jamaal's eyes fixed on his. "Lore, would you say that you trust me?"
He walked along side her, hesitating to answer. "I trust that you have good intentions."
"But do you trust my judgment as a leader?"
"Well, from what I have seen so far, I would. However, whether or not your actions would be appropriate depends as each situation varies."
Lore paused for a long while. "Jamaal. I am not who you think I am... I've hurt people, even people that I have loved."
She stared. "Do you blame yourself for that?"
He did not answer.
"You should not. When my father died, it was my fault for so long. It was not until I achieved my title that I shed my self-hatred."
"I was fearful when you arrived that your intentions were malevolent. We seldom fight with our Idhaman neighbors, but space exploration has brought about a certain… hesitance in my people. The Idhaman culture would reach out with open arms and accept whatever lies waiting outside our world. For Lemnan however, the idea of reaching out and openly blending culture violates everything we've ever been taught."
He did not respond. "You, however, seem fairly open to new ideas. It did not take you long to start learning everything you could about our culture. It surprised me how quickly you learned so much."
It was true. Lore had spent a good number of hours reading through the more contemporary culminations of their history as well as older religious texts. Religion had been an interest of Lore's when he still had interests other than constantly being on the run. Most religion brought about disorder and confusion. Most worlds would throw out any solid religion before finding peace and self-awareness in their Galaxy. However, this particular religion was deeply rooted into the culture of these people and instead of bringing discontent and demise, the people flourished.
In between reading, he listened. He listened to the classic ceremonial music performances which stretched far back into their past. He listened to modern compositions and analyzed the crossing of styles in between. This self-education had developed into a strange hunger at a young age for him. He searched for knowledge now just as he did at the beginning of his life, reading about earth's history and learning as much as he could. He could not stand the idea of events or even someone's thoughts being lost to time.
The situation of Lemnan was not very far off from various other civilizations sprinkled across the Galaxy. Numerous worlds were based on reclusive tendencies and isolation for the preservation of their culture.
"The harmony here is what caught my interest. Where I come from, war is sought out and often romanticized." Lore watched her reaction. "All I have found from war is death and desolation."
"It may seem that way but conflict can also be used as an effective means for peace. My world was not always so quiet. In the past war was necessary to accomplish what we have. In fact, I am who I am today because of war."
Lore's eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. He had always perceived war as a dead end. He had scoffed at those who glorified war and thought them to be ignorant. But reading through Lemnan's history he knew that what she said was true. Was it just luck that these people have eventually found peace? Or was there a deeper meaning hidden in Lemnan's history?
Ohheyguys.
There was a lot of Descent foreshadowing in this chapter. You better get ready for the best Lore episode ever.