Page 56 of The Space Traveller's Lover
Shaillah looks back at the galaxy as its free-floating image slants backwards, revealing the bulge below the galactic plane. It keeps zooming in until a glistening double star system appears as its centre.
“The Rom-Ghenshar system, in the direction of the Eridani constellation from your location—seventy thousand light-years away, below the galactic plane, on the other side.” She amplifies the image even further, revealing the majestic binary system of an immense yellow star and its smaller red companion, bound in an oblique orbital path. The extended line-up of multi-sized planets poised around the glowing double stars soon appears in the unfolding view. Zooming in further, the image veers off and focuses on a colourful globe, accompanied by four golden-red moons locked into a close embrace through a thin, dusty ring.
“And this is our mother planet!” she proudly announces.
“May I remind you, Erin Lobart, you were born here on this planet. How can you claim you’re one of them?” A rattled Professor Khan erupts in a challenging tone, as if he has regained his confidence.
“Ha! Correction, Professor Khan. My name is Shaillah. I may have been born here, but my genes and my cells are not human anymore—”
“Not again, Erin! Tell us the truth. He kidnapped you against your will,” Sam yells as he runs towards her.
Shaillah does not make the slightest move to avoid him. Instead, she walks towards him. And Sam finds himself running through a puff of sparkling particles that reform themselves back into her image behind him.
The men’s gasps blend in with the clatter from the room’s speakers as everyone watching cries out in utter confusion and amazement.
“She’s only an image, a hologram!” a stunned Sanders shouts.
“Right. At the moment, I am, but I can get even stronger, unreachable and impassable,” Shaillah replies while Sam runs back to the side of John Sanders, straining his eyes while staring at her in disbelief.
“What do you want from us?” Khan says in a tone of utter resignation.
“Collaboration, understanding, trust. That’s not much to ask,” she responds, slowly pacing in front of the startled men.
Shaillah shows more details of the majestic multicoloured planet. In front of them, there is a crimson watery world peppered with long rocky islands beneath pearly and gold city skylines, each island surrounded by a thick green canopy.
“We call our mother planet Rom-Enjie, the largest of the watery worlds in the Rom-Ghenshar system. This is our ancestral home. More than ten thousand years ago, our ancestors travelled to planet Earth from Rom-Enjie. They came, they stayed, but it ended in tragedy. It was a shame that they had to leave in a hurry, but that is another long story. The important thing is that we have now returned, with a new plan, a new beginning. And here we are, asking for your gracious welcome, but above all … your understanding.”
“Erin or Shaillah,” Professor Khan says hesitantly, “tell the Rom … uh—”
“The Rom-Ghenshars, sir.”
“That we’re ready to collaborate … but we need to know their plans first and foremost!”
“And where are they?” Sam daringly asks in a sarcastic tone while looking around him.
Shaillah arches her eyebrows, warmly smiling at Sam. “Our Supreme Commander Kuzhma-Or says he feels privileged to visit the humans but apologises for his absence today. He has urgent matters to attend in another star system. And I’m bringing you his message.”
Shaillah pauses and looks at each man in the eye one by one. Then she broadly smiles, trying to reassure them. “We can help you recover the planet, restore the weather, rebuild everything, and restock food supplies. Our Supreme Commander Kuzhma-Or says that he appreciates the human race. You work together to achieve your goals. That is how intelligent beings can prosper—through widespread, increasing collaboration. That is why the Rom-Ghenshars have come back, hoping that we can work together for the full benefit of our beautiful galaxy.”
As she finishes speaking, she walks towards Sanders, Sam, and Khan, stopping a few steps from them while focusing on their blank startled faces,as if measuring their degree of fear. They stare at her with trepidation, waiting for her next move. Only the constant hum emanating from the luminous pyramid breaks the tense silence.
“Anything you say now, Kuzhma-Or will hear. You can speak to him through me. What do you have to say?” Shaillah says in an uplifting tone, encouraging the men to talk.
“Well, welcome, Mr Kuzhma-Or. Thank you for the offer to help. We look forward to meeting you soon,” Professor Khan replies in a resigned tone.
“Our Supreme Commander Kuzhma-Or says that he is grateful for your welcome. His guardians will soon come up on shore, and the humans should not feel threatened or frightened. Everyone must follow the robots’ instructions. We will rebuild this planet. We mean no harm.” She opens her arms and slightly bows her head. “It will be the start of a new era for us all!”
“It’s rather difficult to trust strangers,” a cautious John Sanders objects, “especially when they have not come here in person, and he is not talking to us directly.”
“Our Supreme Commander Kuzhma-Or apologises again for not attending the meeting today, but he is sure that it will happen in a not-too-distant future,” Shaillah affirms.
“Why did you not come here in person either?” Sam says in suspicion. “Are you leading us into a trap?”
“If I wanted that, I’d have done it already, Sam. This visit is a brief introduction. Soon, you’ll be hearing and seeing more from us.”
She looks back at the cameras with a stern, focused gaze before continuing. “And this is a special message for the ARA generals, General Stewart and General Ming. I know you are listening attentively from your command centre. When you walk out of here today, you can be sure to remove all the security, armed forces, and police units. No Rom-Ghenshar will attempt to harm a human. That’s not in our plans. In exchange, we ask for your cooperation.
“Be sure of this. Any resistance will be futile. We, Rom-Ghenshars, can listen and control every one of your thoughts. We can watch any point on this planet at any time. We have invisible, impenetrable shields fully protecting us. You can never reach us. You will see us if we let you see us.We are now waiting at the bottom of the ocean—with a limitless army of robots standing by. We could paralyse you, instantly or, even worse, destroy you—if you try to attack us.”
