Page 76 of The Space Traveller's Lover
“No doubt Rothwen has helped you come to terms with your new self. We are nearing the end of our mission here. Drastic changes are coming for you.”
“Everything is perfect. I’m ready for the next stage in my life,” she firmly replies, feeling the stirring presence of Rothwen by her side.
A few suspenseful seconds pass while she tries to control all her brain channels, keeping impeccably still and indifferent, hoping to hide her true feelings of anxiety, burning so deeply, so intensely inside her head.
“Shewe” (Very well), Kuzhma-Or nods in approval as his throne swivels while he gets up and starts walking over the glassy curved surface. “Unda ye.”
Shaillah feels encouraged, noticing that the great Kuzhma-Or wasn’t able to read her innermost thoughts, never mind detect her innermost feelings. The endless hours she has spent practising how to control her brainwaves have paid off. She has managed to fine-tune her thoughts’ frequency to create shifting interference bands, effectively blocking any external probing waves.
But all the steadfast control over her thoughts is soon put to an even harsher test. As she stands next to Kuzhma-Or, the images of the sieged planet Earth threaten to break down all her mental defences.
“It is time to visit the humans again, for the very last time. But now it will be simpler. By now, they all know and have accepted that the Rom-Ghenshars are here—here to stay—and that fighting is futile. The planet is ours. We will consider if we’ll share it with the humans … at our leisure,” Kuzhma-Or roars in a triumphant war-winning discourse as he zooms in on the rebuilt cities.
She watches impassively as the open-mouthed humans look up into the sky while the destroyer-crafts dash in and out of the atmosphere in ambush, long trails of space debris flaring up behind them. The morning sunlight concentrates on the crafts’ spiky metallic bodies, reflecting across the sky and through the clouds in myriads of scattered flashes as if countless meteor showers were coming from all directions.
“It’s a display of force, Shaillah, to remind the humans thatweare in charge now,” Kuzhma-Or gloats.
Shaillah reins in her emotional tidal wave, her expression barely shifting at the sight of petrified people and confused animals running away while the destroyer-crafts swoop down to the ground.
Kuzhma-Or stoically continues to sift through locations, revealing more of the reconstructed landscape. Soaringly high jagged-shapeskyscrapers line up in circles around open green parks. At each park’s centre, a massive golden obelisk rises even higher than the buildings.
Rothwen and Athguer join Kuzhma-Or as they continue zooming in and out, inspecting every detail, while Shaillah manages to stay calm.
“The humans never wasted any time to reorganise themselves and have moved their ARA headquarters to a city called London,” Rothwen says as he centres the view on a small but elegant bridge, looking out of place with its surroundings. Decorated in blue, white and grey and flanked by gothic towers, the bridge is dwarfed by the two newly built arched golden bridges rising at each of its sides.
“Tower Bridge!” Shaillah exclaims. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“Very intuitive name, isn’t it?” Rothwen remarks in a sarcastic tone. “I ordered the robots to leave it in place. We sometimes leave a reminder of what the place looked like.”
“Shrena”(Exactly). “We take what we like from them,” Athguer adds as he walks down the steps and starts pacing in front of the robots.
“London, eh?” Kuzhma-Or arrogantly grins as he glimpses through the images, finally stopping south of the city river, close to Tower Bridge. He zooms in on one of the three sharply shaped pyramids with highly polished white walls and gold-encrusted edges. A twinkling sensory sphere revolves over their pointed golden tops, perfectly balanced by a levitating force.
“They’re massive,” Shaillah exclaims, looking in awe at the pyramids. “They must be four or five times bigger than those in Egypt.”
“Oh, yes. Those. The humans used to build them, trying to imitate us. We destroyed every single one of our magnificent pyramids before we left. The humans did quite a good job but never managed to replicate ours,” Kuzhma-Or brags.
“What happened to the ones in Egypt? Are they still in place?” Shaillah asks as if making a request.
“They’re still there. Just as a reminder … of what humans can’t do. But we will replace them soon …” Rothwen starkly replies as Shaillah holds her nerves and manages to keep her dismay well away from his prying gaze.
“And, of course, we’re going to do what we couldn’t finish thousands of years ago; only this time, it will be much better,” Kuzhma-Or gloats.
“London is a beautiful city,” Rothwen notes, as the images continuously reveal the newly built areas, “even more so that it is now a Rom-Ghenshar city.”
“Precisely!” Athguer intervenes as he approaches them. He’s followed by a guardian robot carrying a shiny tray with tall, frothy glasses, while at the platform’s edge, other robots start serving colourful exotic food dishes on long polished tables.
As Shaillah savours the sweet, tingling beverage, she glances at the city’s vivid sightings with a shade of melancholy. Still, she can’t help feeling overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the sumptuous sky-high constructions.As it turns out, it’s not so bad after all,she cheers herself up, looking at Rothwen with a forgiving, grateful smile. All the while, deep inside her mind, she is desperate to know about Tinian. Then, mastering her self-control, she resolves not to mention her dear island.
“What are you thinking, Shaillah? I can’t properly connect to your channels.” The stern voice of Kuzhma-Or makes her jolt.
“I’m thinking that, for our next meeting with the humans, you should be there, My Commander,” she says, bowing her head in reverence. “They should witness your almighty unrivalled presence. And they will worship you like a God!”
Kuzhma-Or stares at Shaillah, his eyes glinting in deep reflection, as he raises his chin. “Maybe,” he rumbles.
She lets her brainwaves flow as she fills her mind with the memories of the Rom-Ghenshars’ legendary conquests. Inside her mind, she sings the Rom-Ghenshar victory chants:Invincible Space Conquerors, Rom-Ghenshars. Masters of our Galaxy! Masters of our Universe! Suan enjie.
They hear her thoughts, and they shout them out loud. They keep celebrating for hours, eating, drinking, laughing, reminiscing about their past adventures, and planning new ones.
