Astral Legacy Book 1

21

Kale shook his head and put his feet to the floor in quick motion. The last thing he remembered was pondering the last few days and the next Kershala was waking him up telling him they had arrived. Kershala walked calmly to the exit and the door opened automatically as he turned to wait for Kale. He could hear the rest of the crew gathering in the main corridor at the main airlock. Kale looked out the window and all he could see was the metal colored wall, he was slightly disappointed he didn't get to see the city ship on approach. He turned to follow Kershala and as they walked out into the corridor Anubis met them. Elara, Lenari and Rotabu were pulling Sashir out on a stretcher that was just floating. Lots of monitoring equipment was hooked up to him and he appeared to be asleep still. Kale wondered if they'd actually be able to help him or not or if he would be in his current state for the rest of his life. Lenari shot him a glance, Kale could tell he was tired and stressed, he didn't think he really had any time to sleep since he and Kershala came onboard and it had been more than a day. Omall, Atondra and Jelani came from the command center of the ship and met them. It still felt like the ship was moving so he thought it strange that Jelani was not at her post.

"Are we still moving?" he asked simply.

"No, the automated docking system has taken over, so the pilot is not required," explained Anubis. Kale figured it would probably be something like that that was going on. Atondra approached them greeting them with a nod.

"I hope you slept well while you could," she said.

"Yes, we are rested," Kershala nodded. Kershala had taken on a very serious demeanor Kale could tell that he was likely nervous for what was about to happen. He hadn't been around so many of his people since he was very young.

"Good. The council will likely want to see you both to talk to you about your experience with the Arktora. And of course, your plans for the future," she explained. Kale was a bit caught off guard, he expected Kershala to have to speak with them, but he didn't think they would want to speak with him. At least not with any type of detail.

"We will be prepared to face them," said Kershala taking a step closer to him.

"Kershala I would like to caution you against revealing your identity to the rest of the population right away. We do not want to cause an uproar as we are arriving. Your presence will be announced at a later time."

"Of course, Atondra," said Kershala, "I am aware of the protocol. I do not wish to make this any harder than is has to be." The ship shook with one final jolt and the lights flickered slightly. Kale could tell that meant they were ready to depart the ship. He felt a certain excitement come over him, he was excited to see the city ship after hearing so much about them from Kershala and the others. There was a hissing sound as the pressure in the ship adjusted to that of the Typhonus' atmosphere. Elara and Rotabu took Sashir off the ship first with Omall and Jelani following behind them. Lenari waited for Kale and Kershala to walk to the airlock and walked with them. Atondra followed a few feet behind them. As they stepped out of the airlock the door to the ship shut behind them. They were in a long narrow corridor with an eerie blue light beaming from all around them.

"This is just the decontamination chamber," said Lenari as they walked. "You might hear a strange noise but its just the bio sensors clearing us for entry." Kale nodded as they walked.

"So how is Sashir?" he asked.

"Not good, Elara decided to keep him in a coma, his upper brain function got worse as the time passed," Lenari shook his head as he spoke.

"I hope they can make him better." They walked down the corridor keeping the silence, they were walking slow with Elara and Rotabu setting the pace, but the corridor seemed to go on for several hundred meters ahead of them. "Any tips for how I should act?" asked Kale thinking of when he would meet the council. "I mean in front of the council. I don't plan on speaking much to the civilians right away."