Again, without warning, another row of men on the opposite side began playing instruments Nathan had never seen before, at least not in person. They were some sort of bags held under one arm, with a lot of pipes coming out. The musicians were squeezing the bags that Nathan assumed were full of air with their arms. They manipulated a long pipe that came from their mouths down to the bags of air. The sound they created was haunting: a single, constant base note, with a dancing melody playing over it.
Nathan remembered having seen something similar in recordings from the Data Ark. There had been a country on Earth, before the great bio-digital plague. It had been called Scotland. It was one of the countries of old Earth that had been completely decimated by the plague and had never recovered. The few that had survived and fled the island had moved to mainland Europe. To this day, only a few thousand people still lived on that island. But that instrument-he remembered seeing it, hearing it.
The haunting music squealed from the instruments as the drums pounded along, compelling Nathan to march forward confidently. It felt as if the music had been intended to evoke that feeling of pride that now seemed to take him over.
Nathan strode down the ramp and onto the tarmac with Jessica, in her full combat armor and her weapon slung over her shoulder, walking beside him and a step behind. Enrique, dressed and armed in similar fashion, followed them, pulling the bound Captain de Winter along with him. As they reached the bottom of the ramp and began to walk forward towards the official looking men, one of the men held up a microphone and began speaking to the crowd. He was telling them something, possibly describing the people that approached.
Tug and Jalea followed next, although in a manner that seemed to be designed not to draw attention to themselves. Finally, the two marines in the shuttle came out next, leading the two rows of prisoners in two chains out of the shuttle and down the ramp, coming to a stop once they were all off the ramp and onto the tarmac.
Nathan and company made their way up onto the platform, stepping up to the dignitaries. Upon arrival, Nathan held out his hand in greeting. As he spoke, Jalea translated. “I am Captain Nathan Scott, of the United Earth Ship Aurora.” Nathan’s words rang out through hidden microphones on the platform so that the entire crowd could hear them. “I present these prisoners to you, so that they may face charges for the crimes committed this day against your world.”
The leader of the group of dignitaries shook Nathan’s hand enthusiastically. His eyes were wide, as if he were greeting a celebrity. He began speaking in his own language with such emotion that Nathan feared the man might start crying and hug him at any moment.
“On behalf of the people of Corinair, and of all the worlds in the Darvano system, I thank you,” Jalea translated. “You have delivered us from evil, exactly as told in the Legend of Origins. Because of you, there is life. Because of you, there is hope. Because of you, Na-Tan, there is freedom.” The man turned to face the crowd, grabbing Nathan’s hand and holding it up high above his head as he shouted something at the crowd.
The crowd erupted in cheers at the man’s words as he turned and hugged Nathan so hard he thought he would burst. As he did so, the rest of the men began hugging Nathan, Jessica, Jalea, and Tug.
As the crowd continued to roar, Nathan leaned closer to Jalea and yelled in her ear. “What did he just say?”
“He said, ‘He is the savior of legend. He is Na-Tan.’”
Nathan felt a knot developing in the pit of his stomach.
Jessica leaned towards him as she too was having the life hugged out of her and yelled, “When Cameron wakes up, she’s gonna kill you!”