Oriehn

Chapter 20- Taliesin

Chapter 20- Taliesin

The doors to the capsule slid open, greeting Alice and introducing us to the steel interior. I scoffed, turning to Alice, whose eyes were wide. "I knew that Dr. Prose was a sadistic son of a—"

"Look over there!" She rushed in, Leanian and Drai following quickly behind. I stood silently on the hangar platform, hesitating to move.

"Sin," Alice poked her head back out of the door, "Are you coming?"

Sighing, I nodded. "Yeah. I'm coming," I ducked under the steel beam across the entranceway and took in my surroundings. It was similar to any capsule, with one significant difference: the console was tied into a box and I raised an eyebrow as I asked, "A radio?"

Padraigin and Ian were huddled around it, whispering softly. "I have never seen one in such archaic condition," Ian fawned over it. "It is brilliant."

"How so? We now have technology that is far more advanced, and far more efficient," I answered, furrowing my brows.

Ian turned to me, cradling the boxy radio in his hands like a small child. "They are just as efficient, and the humans have them in abundance. Most of the older versions do not even run on a computer chip."

"Making them resistant to any electromagnetic pulses that the Oriehns can send off to interfere with insurgence communications," Alice nodded slightly. "I remember that Dr. Prose had one in the lab. I thought that he only fiddled with it as a hobby."

"Perhaps a hobby that serves—do radios have their own form of interfacing?" She wondered aloud, her unfocused gaze staring at the radio. She looked up, and at seeing our confused and blank faces, she cleared her throat. "I mean, do they have their own lines of communication? That would explain why the station could not find any signs of communication on our servers... Only static."

"She is right," I paused. "Radios have a certain frequency, I think," I turned to Alice. "You would know more than any of us."

She fidgeted with her fingers, biting her lip as though she was indecisive about divulging the information. Finally, she stopped swaying from foot to foot and answered, "Yes. Radios do."

"So if we found that frequency," Ian started.

"We could monitor it for information. Think of all the classified conversations!" Drai shouted excitedly.

"The locations of all insurgence heads, who the heads even are—" I trailed off in awe. "Everything. From he smallest gun delivery to the latest rendezvous, everything would be communicated through that channel." I turned to Alice, grinning, until I saw her pale face.

"Alice?" I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

" I—" She stuttered, "I am fine. Perhaps all the excitement of today has gotten to me."

I nodded understandingly, and Drai linked their arms together. "We only arrived last night, and already I am halfway bonded to a man I do not know well," She glanced over to Leanian who was fondly examining the radio. "We find out that we are being attacked, and immediately after we head over here, to gather intel about a people that I once counted myself as a member of."

I blinked, carefully examining her face. She flinched away quickly, "And I am tired."

I chuckled softly. "I am sorry, Alice. You are right. You and Drai have both had a very full day. You have had a full week, too. It has all been moving so quickly—I can understand how it would be overwhelming."

She looked up at me with watery eyes. "You can?"

I grazed my palm up and down her arm in soothing repetitions, humming in confirmation. "It is only natural." I looked over at my shoulder, watching as Ian fiddled with the radio. "If he can figure out how to work the radio, we can trace the signal and find the frequency of the insurgence and their communications."

Drai patted Alice's arm. "As soon as we decipher the signal, we will head back to the lunar station and alert the commanders."

"And then?" Alice tensed. "What will they do with that information?"

"Monitor it for any possible threats and do our best to avoid anymore bloodshed. We Oriehns prefer not to obliterate an entire race," I answered jokingly.

Alice gazed over my shoulder, unable to hold my gaze. She was probably exhausted. She began to respond quickly, another question on visibly painted onto her face. "I—"

"Got it! I got it!" Leanian shouted jubilantly. He handed the radio over to Drai, taking Alice's face in his hands and kissing her forehead. "I found the signal!" He proclaimed once more. A blush crept up Alice's already rosy cheeks as she gazed up at him.

I growled internally. "You found it?" My eyes widened, and I gripped his forearm abruptly. "Show me," I pulled him away, distancing us both from Alice.

"Yeah!" He frantically pressed the control, then clicked onto the receiver.

A feminine voice filled the small cabin, shocking us into a paralyzed silence as it crackled above our heads. "—Man insurgence forces are working to sustain the siege on the Oriehn lunar station until the rest of the remote capsules can be produced and tested. All remaining survivors on Earth are called into action, to join the draft, and to fight against the bloody tyrants continuing their reign over our home. We—"

"Channel 52," Ian said and shut it off. "It seems that they are broadcasting propaganda."

"For what purpose?" I questioned. "Shouldn't they all be gathered together and already united against us supposed tyrants?"

Alice joined our small circle, rubbing her arms. "Most are," she sighed, "but there are rumors of another civilization hiding amongst the mountains on the East Coast. If they are trying to recruit more soldiers than they already have, that is the first place that they would look," she shrugged, looking down.

"Alice? Is there anything else you can tell us about these mountains?" I grabbed her chin softly. "You seem to know more than you are telling us."

She nodded. "I grew up there... Before the famine, the mountain people were innumerable."

"And now?" Drai asked.

"Now?" Alice repeated, eyes slightly glazed with unshed tears. "You only need a finger to count the survivors." She held up a shaking finger as to prove her point.

"You?" Ian asked. "You are the last survivor?"

She nodded. "The famine killed everyone. It would have killed me too. But I had set off to the west, across the dead-zone, looking for the recruitment center," she looked over at me. "I didn't want to be a linguist at first. I wanted to be a soldier."

"So they are recruiting soldiers that will never arrive," Drai stated softly.

"But the important thing is that they are not just focused on positioning their weapons. They are trying to train more fighters."

"Which means that they are most likely short on man-power to control the ships," Ian added. Alice nodded and swallowed.

I patted the hull of the ship softly, "Exactly, and thanks to Dr. Prose, we can tell the commanders where and how many there are."