FALAHA'S JOURNEY 2: Graveyard of the Gods

Episode #5

This Flow was dying. Now dimmer and colder, it started dying long before our own appeared. Its star production decreased drastically in its quite long lifetime, and with that the great cycle of energy, matter, and elements that nourish the universe had decreased as well. Its filaments of galaxies had stretched out on such enormous distances that farthest regions of it were lost to the observers in certain points. However, death was only a beginning for the life of another Flow, and sometime in the distant future, when the last stars that exist here go dark and cold, it would make its looping path back to the heart of the Jainaa, to its massive Core. And with that, the place where the Ancestor first arrived, will be gone from this world forever. I was grateful for my timing of birth, since I still could trace his steps while they existed — this Flow was the birthplace of all the Baali species. And they were known to have lifetimes longer than the stars.

This young planet, the Grave, was a bit of an oddity, like myself. Like its parent stars, it was one of the rare occurrences here. No wonder Asa and her team were so excited. They got a rare chance to study something that wasn't available to them before and bring their understanding to our people in the long run.

The Baali did not fear death of their Flow. Many had moved around in their Enclaves, colonizing other Flows. The only thing they did avoid was having any contact with any local inhabitants. So far it was unknown how many intelligent species inhabited our Jainaa, and I had no desire to count. It was irrelevant. We had nothing to do with them. I had enough to deal with studying our extensive Family Tree that didn't begin with Somg. And somewhere out there, beyond the boundary of our Jainaa, existed his mysterious kind, the Maok. What's more, there was also something that threatened them, and us. To know what it was, we had to find clues to the existence of the Maok themselves. For that we had to find the Nest, an artificial Jainaa where the the remains of the Maok's Progenitor were buried. The Graveyard of the Gods, as Baro called it once. The Medan was particularly interested in the algorithm, according to which the Nest moved around, so nobody, even the Maok, could discover it. As a mathematician and engineer, he could actually help us crack that mystery, given time and resources. But he wasn't very sure of himself about it. After all, he never proclaimed to be a genius. But it was me who fell in love with his mind the moment our egos collided.

I looked at Baro, who was chewing on some sweet fruit.

"I'm done here," I said. "Do you have your bowl full?"

"I think I have everything we might need," he replied.

"Let's go back then."

We left the garden and headed for the kitchen.

"Do you think we'll be successful in our negotiations with the Avlaora and Ashantri Baali?" I asked.

"Falaha, you were always a great diplomat, so I believe we'll get through to them. If not, a little persuasion might do the trick."

"What kind of persuasion?"

"The Triad doesn't have a Sangu now, that's your key."

"You know I want to avoid such a trade-off. Otherwise I'll be in a very unfavorable position. Though we had discussed such an outcome with Yajur Garai. He wanted me to take that role."

"You were too young back then for such a task."

"I'm still young and I intend to enjoy my own time."

"You know, you remind me of a younger self. When I was avoiding of being a kennar Head." We looked at each other.

"Fifty something years is not that old," I reminded him. "Barely began to live."

"For a Danna, maybe."

"Well, I'm almost nineteen. For now, we'll ignore that fact that my mind had aged beyond repair because of Somg. And I don't intend being anyone's Sangu until I decide so myself."

"I know. But you can lend them Shaamta."

I stopped, looking at my Second Officer in disbelief. "Is that even possible?! Shaamta and Dorgu had destroyed the First Motherworld of the Triad. Shendala gone insane because of them." And as the first shock passed, I began to think. "Well, this does sound interesting." I grinned. "We might try something so crazy after all. Still, you want me to do the impossible."

Baro stopped and turned to me, his face serious. "Only you can do it, love."

"I would need all the support I could get."

"That's why all of us are here, Falaha."

"Thank you." I took my bowl with one arm and put my other under Baro's arm. "Come, Eyuran is waiting." And we proceeded to the kitchen.

Upon our arrival Eyuran and Tarrenat were done processing the meat and were playing a game through their Nodes, while it was cooking.

"Dad called, said they will be back soon," my First spouse said.

"Very well, I'm happy to hear there were no incidents." I placed my bowl near the washer. Baro followed suit.

"If there was one, he'd call you." Eyuran and Tarrenat proceeded to wash the vegetables. "But he said they discovered something interesting. He didn't go into details, so everything will be in their report later."

"Who needs reports when they will tell everything during the meal," Baro said, laughing.

Eyuran shrugged. "Our Commander is trying to cultivate an environment of rigid discipline."

"You all can laugh, but you'll remember me when we have our hands full with something going wrong," I replied. "I want my household... my crew to be efficient."

"Of course," Eyuran said. "I'm all for it." The fact that he didn't make a joke about 'discipline' showed that he was being serious. Baro also refrained from commenting on this.

"Fine, let's finish here," I said. "We have these vegetables. Shall we go for a salad or eat them as they are?"

"I'll cut those," Baro said, donning an apron and going to wash his hands.

"I think we'll better cook them too," Eyuran said. "I'll make them sweet and savory."

I sat in the chair at the table, observing the three men hard at work.

It felt good to be the Head of the Household.