The Rising Sun: Episode 5 (16 page)

They had done this understanding the risk
involved, the risk of having to find the bomb amidst a very sleek
time factor.

But only now, when fully facing it, did they
truly comprehend the enormity of the risk they had undertaken.

“How much more time do we have to find the
bomb?” said Mantra, turning to Dantox.

Still shivering slightly, Dantox drew his
z-com and produced a small holo screen displaying the time. As he
looked into the screen, his brow contracted very slightly in a
frown.

“The journey’s apparently taken a little
longer than we’d thought.” he said in a blank tone, looking up at
Mantra.

“What?” asked Mantra, feeling a flutter of
panic.

“We thought the journey to the planet would
take forty minutes.” Dantox shifted his gaze to Nano, who was
standing rigidly, listening. “It’s taken a little more than forty
five. We’re left with less than fifteen minutes to find and destroy
the bomb.”

Mantra turned and ran his gaze across the
lands sprawling below the mountain they were on. The hilly snow
capped region ran on, meandering through a cluster of crests and
troughs that were larger than life. He could faintly sense the
combined dimming of their spirits as they realised how hard this
task they had set foot on was.

“Fifteen minutes.” repeated Dantox, as he
thrust the z-com back into his pocket. “How?” He joined Mantra and
gazing across the icy lands they were now in. “Where do we even
start?”

Mantra could sense the hopeless tone in his
voice, a hopelessness he too was fighting down. He heaved a slow
breath and replied, “Anywhere we can.”

Nano had his arms folded, looking to silently
be processing something. After a short moment, he turned to the two
Nyon masters.

“We need to carry ourselves with prudent
caution now.” he said gravely. “A mistake from here, within the
coming fifteen minutes, could spell a disaster for the entire
planet … a disaster already looming.”

Mantra considered his words, and the tone of
urgency in them. Something occurred to him, so that his speeding
thoughts halted in their tracks.

“We need to find the level of inhabitation in
this planet.”

The two others looked at him together.

“Level of inhabitation?” Nano stopped folding
his arms and looked straight at Mantra. “You mean to find the
number of people inhabiting this planet?”

Mantra nodded.

Dantox swayed his head slightly, a thoughtful
frown on his face as well as he received this. Then, nodding, he
said, “I’ll run a search in my z-com to find that.”

He pulled out his z-com again, pressing a few
digits on the smooth metallic device. A holo screen shimmered to
life in the air over the device. Dantox dug through the stored
Intel in the z-com, and finally found the information they were
looking for - the page that carried all details of planets. He read
through it in a downward zip of his eyes. Some of the tension in
his face drained, and he looked back up at Mantra.

“The planet’s almost uninhabited.” he
replied.

“
Almost
won’t do it.” said Mantra,
shaking his head. “What’s the exact number of the people found
here?”

“Far too less.” said Dantox. “The numbers are
approximated to a few hundred thousand. Less than a million.”

Nano, who had been standing with his hands
folded, threw a glance past the hilly terrain spreading beyond them
again. A terrain engulfed by snow and ice.

“A million man beings, you mean to say?” he
asked, turning back to Dantox, who nodded. “And what about non man
beings, and other life forms?”

Dantox raised the device in his hand again,
and the screen hanging atop it. His eyes stalled on the page for a
second, before he gave a shake of his head.

“There are no non man being species prevalent
here, as far as Intel knows.” he said. “And other life forms are
negligible.”

“Of course they are.” said Mantra, who had
guessed this. “This is a frigid ice land! The only beings smart
enough to live here and survive would be the ones with enough
intelligence- the man beings.”

“And a million of them are facing an imminent
threat of oblivion.” said Nano. “Unless we find that bomb within
the next few minutes.”

“Less than a million.” impressed Dantox.

Mantra looked at him with frown. “What are
you saying?”

“We’re here, trying to save less than a
million people when outside this planet,
billions
are at
stake!” Dantox gave a slight pause, a calculating look on his face.
“We’ve got a very slim chance of finding the bomb within the couple
of minutes left for it to go off. If our efforts were to go futile,
it would be a very great waste. Because right now, every minute
counts: there are seven more bombs out there, and these seven
planets are definitely carrying a far, far greater number of people
in them. We would be wise to devote our focus to them instead. And
if the bomb on this planet goes off with us in it, it would be too
big a loss: we’re the last two members of the Nyon. This is the one
time when we’re needed.”

“Do you mean to imply that we should abandon
this planet?” asked Nano, who seemed to have been thinking along
the same lines.

“I think we should.” answered Dantox, looking
between Nano and Mantra. “If there’s no chance of saving it, we’re
wasting our time … and possibly our lives too if the bomb goes off
soon while we’re still searching for it. And we can’t allow such a
risk when there are seven more planets marked for destruction,
which are in real need of our help.”

“We’re already here.” said Mantra. “That’s
the problem. Leaving now to save ten minutes would be rather
foolish. We had made up our mind, and had trudged a long voyage to
get here. I don’t think we should turn back now. And whatever be
the case, we cannot condone a
single
death. Let alone one
million.” He gave a firm nod at the two of them. “Gentlemen, now
that we’re here, and now that we’ve been given the chance to help,
I wouldn’t turn back.”

Nano and Dantox exchanged a glance, both of
them carrying the same, thoughtful expressions.

“I would agree.” said Nano.

Dantox nodded. “Very well, then.” The new
resolve in his voice dimmed very mildly as anxiety entered it. “But
how?”

“How do we find the bomb?” Nano completed,
sounding equally anxious. “It would seem that is indeed the
question. Because we now have fifteen minutes to save this planet.
And the clock is ticking.”

As a short gap of silence fell between them,
Mantra closed his eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. He
relinquished all fears, all mental strains, and allowed his mind to
take on the calmest disposition. Then, gathering everything he had,
he analysed the situation from as wholesome a view as possible…

Finally, he turned to Nano and Dantox, and
gave a sharp nod. His eyes roamed then to the five watchmen
standing behind them, awaiting orders.

“I think there might be a way after all.”

Velrox, Outer spectrum

Flamebird skimmed down the cloud gorged sky,
its metallic skin shimmering in the blaze of the sun. Far beneath
them, a cluster of village houses, appearing like toy houses, ran
past over the unlevelled terrain. Its speed dropped rapidly as it
exited space and it flowed down gently from the clouded region.

Inside, the three of them stood behind the
four holo screens upfront.

And the air around them was sparked with a
new energy and fervour.

The journey was over. They had made it.

Ion could feel all of the tense weight
instantly drain within him, leaving a wide, blissful relief to
stretch across his being.

As Flamebird streaked down the cloudy skies,
Ion mentally ran through everything Mantra had told him before he
had left for the mission. He was to arrive here, and wait at the
edge of the village. The priest would arrive shortly. Then, he
would take him to the nearing planet of Garnor, to the tablet
Mantra knew there.

“
This tablet is a rather special one … and
I knew it might come in handy in the future.”
Mantra’s words
played back in his head.

Well, you were right.
conceded
Ion.

Some of the joy and relief ebbed very mildly
as an earlier anxiety drew his attention. One that revolved around
the focus of this entire plan. The priest.

The plan that Mantra had recited had been
rather awry: he had claimed that this man, Nalzes, would simply
sense
his arrival, and would reach him after he landed.
Mantra had based this entire task on a blind faith in this strange
man. He had stated that Ion simply needed to arrive at this
specific location and wait, and that Nalzes would find him…

But all along, Ion had borne a silent fear
regarding this strange aspect of the plan: what if they had braved
this dangerous journey and triumphed … only to find that the priest
was not arriving to meet them as they had expected and trusted him
to?

Ion pushed the thought away, along with the
nasty prickle of fear it aroused in him. Heaving a deep breath to
cool his nerves, he turned to the other two, who were standing by
his right, looking into the screens ahead.

“Well, this is it.” he said, hardly noticing
the feeble anxiety lurking beneath the anticipation in his own
voice.

The two of them nodded as one.

Ion drew a hand into his pocket and pulled
out the plague crystal, holding it before him for the three of them
to see. The air of darkness and suspense that usually enshrouded
when viewing this object was now gone … replaced by a quiet glow of
excitement and victory.

“Time to end this.” he said, as all three
pairs of eyes lay pinned over the crystal.

They could see the lands beneath them rush
backwards in a fierce pace as Flamebird soared on over them.

Within seconds, they were looming over the
outskirts of the village, the very area he was supposed to arrive
and wait for the priest in.

And heaven knows how long we’ll have to
wait…

But as Flamebird spiralled down from the sky,
heading for a landing on the ground, Ion realised he had been wrong
to doubt:

On one of the four screens displaying the
ground below them, they spotted a lone figure standing at the edge
of the village, his long brown cloak billowing in the wind.

Ion felt a sharp gasp emit from within as he
saw it…

“He’s … already here!” he exclaimed.
Suddenly, the tension, anxiety and fear all melted in that very
instant. Relief and excitement spread through him. The priest,
Nalzes, had already arrived.

He realised how stupid he was being in
doubting Mantra and his plans. Nalzes, he remembered, was just as
ancient a master as Mantra himself was. Just as old and wise … and
that proved how foolish Ion had been in doubting him. He had been
expecting to wait for the man, but it turned out the other way
around. He was waiting for Ion.

We made it.
thought Ion, feeling the
weight in his stomach vanish.

Flamebird made a gently halt over the ground
right before the man, and through the screen ahead, Ion saw the air
currents buffet his robes as the magnificent ship made a landing
before him.

He was a tall, thin figure, with a flowing
white beard that almost reached down to his waist. His eyes,
condensed within his wizened, freckled face, were a rich green
colour.

The hull’s floor caved in, landing on the
ground as a ramp. And the three Nyon descended the ramp, arriving
before the priest.

Nalzes smiled as he watched the three Nyon in
front of him. “Well met, young ones.”

“Well met, Master.” echoed the three of
them.

Nalzes’s eyes moved down to the crystal held
in Ion’s left hand, and Ion sensed something stirring within their
rich green depths.

“It was a wise decision.” he said, nodding
his head. “Despite the risks along the way. The crystal had to be
destroyed. Did the Xeni try and intervene along your journey?”

“No.” said Ion and Qyro together.

Vestra looked at the two of them with a dark
look. “Not
yet
. This journey isn’t over yet. Not until we
reach the tablet safely. And have the crystal destroyed for
good.”

Nalzes gazed at Vestra, a faint smile over
his lips. He nodded slowly. “The youngling is very correct.” He
shifted his gaze to the other two. “Now is not the time to let our
guards down. We are dealing with the most devious of creatures
here. The Xeni are more cunning than you might imagine, and
vigilance can never be abandoned in this fight against them. We
have a final stage of this journey left, and it may turn out to be
the fatal one if we fall to delusionary comforts and abandon our
watchful focus.”

Ion couldn’t suppress a feeling that Mantra’s
friend, like Mantra himself, could sense things ahead. And that
that he wasn’t telling them everything about what he sensed…