Eon

Chapter 5

Carson found himself in true darkness, the kind that strangled and spoke of coming horrors. He searched here and there, trying to find some semblance of light, of anything, but he could find nothing. He looked down to his hands but he could not see them. He cried out but there was no one to hear. Sweat began to pour down his face and body, his every facet shaking with fear. He was about to yell into the void when something caught his attention, in the distance.

The Insurgent straightened to see, his chest rising and falling. There, within a strand of moonlight, was a Cheson child. It looked at Carson with eyes that were so blank and dead they seemed implanted, as if they were mechanical. Carson recoiled in horror and attempted to run, but he could not. The child came closer until it was only an arm's length away from the Insurgent. It stared ahead, and then said something, a single word that would haunt Carson until the day he was dead.

"Mercy."

Carson's mouth grew wide as he fell into the dreaming world.

***

Carson awoke to the low hum of moving wooden-machinery. He lifted himself to look out at the morning sun and then laid back down, yawning gently. The natives who passed by on the road nearby gave the Insurgent curious glances. The guard from the night before stood in the same place, with the same expression. One of the Cheson natives, a female, laughed quietly as she passed Carson and turned to her companion.

"A human, enjoying the bounty," she said. "A true child of Eon."

Carson stirred and sat up to watch the native leave. He then stood and went into the Insurgent's tent, ignoring the guard. The others were not awake yet. Carson went to each of them and shook them gently. As he approached Joey's cot his nose wrinkled as he caught the scent of the other Insurgent. Their iron and cloth suits were covered in leaves and mud. For a moment Carson wondered how the natives bathed, but then realized that the question was foolish. Of course he knew how they bathed: in the waters of Eon.

Tyler groaned and then clutched his head. Joey sleepily looked to Tyler, then back at Carson.

"We could really use some coffee," Joey said.

Carson shook his head. "I don't think that's going to happen."

Joey sighed. "Great."

A half hour later the Insurgents emerged from their tent. A pair of Cheson guards came forward, following the dark-skinned Han dressed in robes of green. There was the characteristic wooden-ornament on his back, which surrounded his oddly-shaped face.

The morning was changing, the streaks of daylight painting themselves above Far-Sky.

Han nodded at the Insurgents. "Good morning. We are ready to begin whenever you are. Is there anything in particular you would like to see, humans?"

Carson glanced at Joey, who shrugged his iron shoulders.

"Well, eventually we would like a bath," Carson said.

Tyler snorted. Han ignored him, bowing his head in acknowledgment.

"Of course," the native said. "There is a pond where the more elite members of our kind bathe. You may use it. We'll pass it on our way."

Carson scratched his emerging stubble of a beard. "Good. Other than that, we'd like to see all the important parts, I guess. To tell our superiors."

"For your reconnaissance efforts?" Han inquired.

Carson was quiet for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah. We'd also like to see this scientist of yours, eventually. You're chancellor said there was only one left?"