Heritage

Heritage (Chapter 51)

Chapter 50: Leon

"So, what's going to happen when we get down there Tal'Vira?"

"First, I will escort you to the High Command chambers. They will speak with you. Afterwards, you will be sent to processing where you will receive an arm band that designates you a prisoner of the Sekrid Empire. You will wear this armband wherever you go. It is important that you attract as little attention to yourself as possible Leon. I will be with you everywhere you are. But there are also places I will be taking you myself that are not permitted. Making sure we do that discreetly is paramount,"

"I understand but...I'm a human. I kind of draw attention to myself by existing,"

"Not so. My people hate yours as much as yours hate mine. They see your people as, what was the word, cockroaches. Most of them will hardly lower themselves to look at you,"

"Good to know," I say as I turn my head towards the window.

I notice our ship is closing on Argalia. Another flash of my dream comes to mind before fading away, leaving my nerves rattled at the prophetic vision should I decide to do what She said. Surprisingly enough, the planet has still remained quite green with large patches of steel grey taking up massive areas of the planet's surface.

"How did your people manage to industrialize like you have without stripping your planet more of forests?" I ask, still staring out of the window.

"We have the benefit of having aggressive plant growth. Our trees grow at a much more rapid rate than Earthling vegetation. You'll notice that areas that have been designated for cities and industrialization have been covered entirely. We had to develop a process that covered the entire landmass in material or face re-vegetation of the area,"

I face forward in my seat again as the ship enters the planet's atmosphere. It isn't long before we're through it and closing in on our destination. The two soldiers that have been with us the whole way stand in preparation for landing, walking over to the bay door. I feel the ship quickly slow and halt, coming to a precise landing at its destination.

One of the soldiers presses a button and the bay door gently and smoothly drops open. A wave of warm yellow light gleams through and I'm forced to shield my eyes as Tal'Vira and I exit the ship. After my eyes adjust I realize that we're on a helipad on top of a tall structure. I stare out on the horizon. I see the rich green forest in the distance, the tops are taller than most of the buildings in front of them. From the edge of the city to where I am forms another forest of metal and glass, sterile and clean.

My eyes fall to the ground below. I see no plant life anywhere. Not even any decorative shrubs or bushes. Small dots of lights, presumably from vehicles move back and forth through on the roads.

"Come," Tal,Vira says and I turn and silently follow.

We travel down an elevator to a floor I can't specify. The doors open to a sea of crimson walls and a floor of onyx black tile, slivers of gold run through them. As we exit, I notice there are hallways going down either side of me and one directly ahead, at the end a set of grand golden doors.

I'm led down that hallway.

As we get closer to the doors, I notice that there are numerous images carved in to them. They depict a world that is a dream, one where the Sekrid control the galaxy. The entire right door of the mural is entirely dedicated to the image of a Sekrid soldier, embracing older ways, holding a sword in his hand and raising it to the sky. He is adorned in ancient armor and stands atop a mountain of corpses of what I assume are human men. His right hand holds the war weathered flag of the Sekrid Empire. The left side depicts numerous planets, each one with the sigil of the empire placed on them. In the center of the door the Earth is in place, cracked and in ruins. Sekrid ships surround it, firing their weapons at it.