Immortalys

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Business on Amn-Heuthe

The Alcyone 200 spacecraft had left Polaesshia with haste, taking the wormhole to the Amn-Heuthe system the night after the conference. Altair, unable to get a satisfying amount of sleep, had extracted all the information he could about the state of Amn-Heuthe c from Seneca and Andromeda, whom he had planned to meet up with the following day on the outskirts of the town of Plho. Seneca had communicated to him that there were anti-Immortalys rebellions on Amn-Heuthe, and that the rebels had wanted to kill the Immortalys officers and ambush Altair as he was arriving. But the rebellions were easily broken up by the Immortalys Armed Forces and the reckless rebels were all incarcerated, leaving the planet safe for the Alcyone 200 to descend.

However, just to be cautious, when Altair finally arrived on the dusty surface of Amn-Heuthe he dressed like the rest of his officers to look less conspicuous and he took six guards with him and his diplomats. It was Altair's wish to walk through the town of Plho on their way to meet Seneca and Andromeda so he could see the war's devastation firsthand; the guards were ready with their laser pistols in case they ran into any trouble, and each of them carried a small decoy Surface to replace his or her actual personal device in the front pocket in case the Surfaces happened to get lost or stolen.

The group of officers and guards left the spacecraft with its pilot and entered the town, walking slowly through the dusty streets. The hot sunlight glared into their eyes, reflected by the glittering sand. The road ahead of them rippled with heat waves. Altair studied both sides of the street, observing the dilapidated houses and empty lots full of trash and twisted metal. People were peering out from windows and doorways, watching the officers as they walked by; they were dressed in rags and had forlorn faces and frightened eyes. In their mind, Altair knew, seeing a group of people in uniforms walk down their streets could only mean more trouble.

Don't be afraid, he wanted to assure them. I promise, this isn't like anything you've ever experienced before. Imagine your planet without poverty, without fighting. If only you knew you were going to have all you ever wanted in a few short days.

Telling them now would definitely give his disguise away. But in two days a broadcast had been scheduled by Andromeda's department, which would give Altair the chance to tell the whole planet about Immortalys and its mission. The thought of speaking to the members of an entire planet made him a little nervous, but he assured himself that because he had done this many times before Amn-Heuthe should seem no different.

Altair knew he should have started writing his script a while ago, but even on the lengthy spaceflight to Amn-Heuthe he could not concentrate like he normally would have. It had been so long since he had set foot on Amn-Heuthe, and yet he was just as clueless now about his heritage as he was when he had last left. Two centuries really was a long time, Altair reflected as he stared around at the dusty streets that he still knew so well. Finally Immortalys had acquired the planet system, he had finished the conference on Polaesshia, and here he was standing on Amn-Heuthe. Today was the day for answers; he could feel it. The latest news concerning the mysterious Creu-Nhau would be revealed once he met up with Seneca and Andromeda.

Ahead of the officers, a group of around fifteen children stood near a small, shabby house tucked between stony cement buildings and surrounded by a barbed wire fence. As the officers approached, all of the children behind the fence stared up at the group with nervous curiosity.

Finally a little boy with shaggy hair asked tentatively in the Amn-Heuthian language, "Are you Highland guards?" His small dirty hands grasped the fence posts while his big brown eyes stared up at Altair, scared but resolute, as if consigned to his fate.

Altair's officers glanced at each other, looking both impatient and rather amused.

However, Altair knelt down next to the fence beside the child. "No. I am on your side. I'm a normal person, just like you." He looked and saw more children peeping out behind the collapsing shack ahead of them. "Do all of you live here?" he asked the little boy.