“My husband is from Takara. I came to be with him.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were married.”
“He died, many years ago.”
“I’m sorry. How did he die?”
“He fought like us. He died bravely.”
“He fought the Takarans?” Nathan felt like he was starting to get somewhere.
“Yes.”
“Why do you fight them?”
“The Takaran leaders, they are very bad.” Jalea thought for a moment, trying to decide how to express her thoughts in English. “They want only for money, power. If you have money, you can pay, life is very good for you. If you do not have, if you not pay, life is very bad for you. They are…” she struggled for the right word, mumbling what Nathan assumed was the appropriate word in her language.
“…Corrupt?” he offered.
“Yes, corrupt. They only want money. No right, no wrong, only money.”
Nathan smiled. “Yeah, that’s the definition of corruption on our world as well.” He took a drink of water as he watched her pick out what to eat next. She was quite an attractive woman, with long black hair and olive complexion. And her eyes were so captivating, they just sucked him in. But he had seen a cold, dark side to her just before they had jumped away from the incoming Takaran reinforcements. And despite the fact that her eyes seemed softer at the moment, that side of her still worried him.
“It is same on your world?” she asked him as she tried a piece of cheese.
“Sometimes. Not as much as before, but still some. Is that why you fight? You fight corruption?”
“We fight to be free,” she corrected him. “We fight to remove them from power.”
Then it is a rebellion, Nathan thought. “How do you fight?”
“We steal weapons and ships to fight with.”
“Ships, like this one?” Nathan asked, afraid that he might not like the answer.
“No. Such ships are very difficult. This is how my husband died.”
“Trying to steal a large ship?”
“Yes. It is very dangerous to steal such ships. So we only take small ships, much easier. But not so strong. So we make better.” Nathan noticed a hint of pride in her last statement.
“How do you make them better?”
“We take to secret places,” she explained. “Places where we can work on ships. Better, stronger, faster.”
“Like a base of operations?” Nathan was becoming quite interested.
“No. Not so big. Usually on farms, in shelters. Sometimes inside mountains. Even rocks in space.”
“But where do you live? What do you eat? Where do you get supplies?”
“The people, they give us food, shelter, clothing, what they can to help. But they afraid of Takaran soldiers.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair, taking another drink of water as he thought about what Jalea had revealed to him. The rebels were fighting a guerrilla war rather than a large scale organized conflict. They were stealing ships and supplies, making changes to them to fit their needs, and getting covert support from the locals. They certainly sounded like freedom fighters rebelling against a corrupt and repressive government. But Nathan had been a student of Earth history. And he knew that there was often a fine line between revolutionaries and terrorists. And more often than not, the difference only became apparent after it was too late.
“So how did you hear of Earth?” Nathan felt it was time to change direction, and he had been curious about what she knew of his home.
“On my world, there is legend. Long ago, our people came to Parule from another world. The legend says, the people on that world once came from Earth,” she explained. It was apparent by the tone of her voice that she had never truly believed the legend. “But, it was only story, told to young children. Many believe. Many still speak Angla and teach children. My father was such man.”
“Really?” Nathan had finished his lunch and closed up the container. “And what did your father teach you of Earth.”
“Earth is where all humans came from. But long ago, they leave quickly. Terrible evil on Earth. It came to all her worlds. So people, they go to stars. They hope evil will not follow.” Jalea ate the last piece of food in her kit and followed it with a drink of water before continuing. “Sometimes, parents tell children to behave, or evil will find them too.”
“Does the story say what kind of evil?”
“No, but it is only story. No one truly believes this,” she asserted.
“But you believe it?”
“Maybe a little,” she confessed, a tiny smile on her lips.
“Do many others believe?”
“Some. But they not say, they afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Takarans not believe. They say all come from Takara, not Earth. If you not believe as Takarans, you not live.”
Then they are fighting against religious persecution. Suddenly, they were starting to look more like terrorists than revolutionaries. He was beginning to wonder how far he could trust them. Perhaps Cameron had been correct. Perhaps these were not the kind of people they wanted as friends.
“Do others in your group speak Angla?”
“Yes, some. Those from other worlds. But Takarans not learn Angla, not safe.”
“What about on Parule?” Nathan was hoping to find a world where they might be able to communicate without having to use the rebels as an intermediary.
“Yes, most people on Parule learn Angla. It is language of all worlds.”
“A universal language, of course.” Nathan remembered from history that English had been the standard language spoken throughout the core at the time the bio-digital plague had struck.
“Is this not why your people speak Angla?” Jalea looked intrigued.
“Sort of, I guess. There are many different languages spoken on Earth, but we all learn English so that we can all communicate…” Nathan stopped in mid sentence, noticing the look in her eyes had changed.
“Then you are from Earth?” Nathan didn’t notice that her English syntax had suddenly improved.
“Well, yes, I thought we explained that…” Nathan stopped in mid sentence, noticing another change in her eyes. The intrigue had suddenly vanished, replaced by that same cold determination he had seen earlier on the bridge.
Jalea relaxed slightly, leaning with her elbow on the arm of the chair in which she sat. “Then I must ask you, Nathan. Are you evil?”
Her question had been asked in near perfect English, and Nathan felt a chill go down his spine. So overwhelming was the sensation that Nathan was startled when Cameron entered the room with Abigail hot on her heels.
“Nathan, we need to talk,” Cameron insisted. She noticed that Nathan seemed a bit shaken, yet Jalea was calm and relaxed. “Nathan?” she repeated.
He looked up at Cameron, seeing the urgency on her face. He looked back at Jalea, recomposing himself. “If you would excuse us a moment, Jalea?”
Jalea bowed her head respectfully, rose from her chair and strolled out of the room. Cameron watched her curiously as she exited, wondering what she had interrupted.
Cameron was about to start talking when Nathan held up his hand indicating that she should wait. Finally, when he was sure that the door was closed and Jalea was out of ear shot, he spoke. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ve calculated our position, Nathan. And it’s not good.”
“And I’m supposed to be surprised?” he responded sarcastically.
“You will be,” Cameron promised him. “We’re more than a thousand light years from Earth.”
There was a moment of silence. Nathan looked at Cameron with disbelief. He looked at Abigail, and then back at Cameron again. “You’re kidding, right?” Cameron didn’t speak, but her expression gave him his answer. “No, I guess you wouldn’t be, would you.”
“Certainly not about this,” she assured him.
“A thousand light years?” he repeated.