Chapter Ten, the Book of Dreams
Kira and the Z'Dhia emerged into the empty streets with renewed purpose. Now they knew the name of and where to find the Najiumian who delivered the books to the Varmitian Lord.
If you haven’t already, start the exciting adventures of Kira and the Z’Dhia from the beginning with Chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams.
Kira and the Z'Dhia emerged into the empty streets with renewed purpose. Now they knew the name of and where to find the Najiumian who delivered the books to the Varmitian Lord. The implications of what it all meant troubled Kira. If the siblings were smuggling weapons back to their home world, then that was a serious problem. Regulation 245, Section 1(a) strictly prohibited the importation and exportation of weapons into member planets without the expressed authorization from IPPA. Member planets handled all internal security matters. IPSF only got involved when it was prudent to do so. She understood IPPA's reticence. Taking sides in the conflict could worsen relations. Conditions would have to get dire for IPPA to intrude. As Zhorana correctly pointed out, the conditions were dire enough to send hundreds of thousands to flee from their planet. Many refugees sought alternatives to help their brethren back home.
She understood Zhorana’s suspicions toward IPPA, though she disagreed with them. Kira took pride in its regulations and how it executed them. Without these rules, she thought, there would be even more chaos in the galaxy. Yet as she and the Z'Dhia raced through the streets, listening to the sounds of revelers in the distance growing louder, she feared chaos had already set foot in the quadrants.
A firecracker exploded nearby. Its report echoed against the buildings. "We need to get to out of here fast," she said.
They had turned a corner and were running toward the building where Ulren landed when the sound of footsteps stopped them short. Voices soon followed. A hive of voices. Angry and determined.
A crowd of Najiumian men rounded the street corner. They were all young, dressed in open vests, trousers and sandals, in various shades of pale, brown, and black, their hair in ponytails or bound in black bands on top of their heads. The light from their torches bounced against the walls and the brick pavement as they approached. A few seconds passed before they noticed Kira and the Z'Dhia.
A few split seconds before one of them yelled: "Jhab arahis tuzhan. Ujah!"
The crowd charged toward them. Kira and the Z'Dhia took a few steps backward, neither making a move to flee. She placed her hand on her weapon. She didn't want to draw it, but may not have had much choice. She looked at each of the faces of the men scowling at them. Their eyes glistened with sadness, anger, and frustration. The birthmarks along their faces swelled with the mixed emotions. She recalled what Zhorana said about the planet changing them. She raised her hands, palms upward.
The men waved the torchlights in their faces, formed a circle around them, and shouted epithets. Kira tried to explain their situation, but their shouting drowned her out. Not that it mattered. She was wearing the IPPA uniform. It incited them even more.
"Get out of here," one yelled. "IPPA traitor!"
They closed in around them, jabbing their torchlights as though they were going to hurl them at the two. Kira's heartbeat raced, but she kept a cool hand on the holster of the weapon. In the near darkness, none of the young men appeared to notice that she had one.
They intended at all costs to defend their territory as they would have back on their home planet. The men looked too young to remember Najiu. Too young except to know the stories that their elders passed down to them. Their pride was not one of remembrance and experience, but of loss and rage.
"We need to get out of here," she said.
The Z'Dhia gave her a weird look. Her declaration needed no stating. They could run in the direction they had come, but they would not outrun the youths. The only other option was to open a portal back into the nRoom, but Kira wasn't sure how willing he was to risk that. As she stared into the young men's faces, twisted with anger, hate and fear, she realized they had no choice. She closed her fingers around the holster of her weapon. Except their one other option, the most dreaded one of all.
The air fizzed, and then boomed. The world cracked open and veered into chaos. The streets resounded with screams and stampeding feet. A surge of movement knocked Kira to the ground. She dropped to one knee. She would have fallen flat on her face had the Z'Dhia not held onto her.
In the opposite direction, another crowd emerged out of a side street. Adernites, all of them male. The revelers had arrived. The Najiumians rushed toward them. A fight broke out. Fists flew everywhere, kicks, and body slams as well. The Adernites had the advantage. Their numbers were larger and stronger. There was much to be said about having four arms. They flung Najiumians by twos and threes against walls or pinned them down to the pavement. But the Najiumians were fearless. They hurled themselves against the stubborn will of the intruders.
Doors flew open. Lights blazed in windows. More Najiumian men stormed out. They were much older, but no less fearless. They came bearing knives.
They ambushed the Adernites with a warriors' roar, catching them by surprise. One old Najiumian felled an Adernite and straddled him as he raised his ceremonial blade, ready to plunge it into his flesh. The Adernite shoved him so hard the elder flew several meters in the air. He collided into two other Najiumians who raced to save him. The younger, stronger Adernites regained control, but the Najiumians continued to hold their own. They pounced on the Adernites, biting arms and slashing skin with their knives.
The shouting and screaming rose up into the air in a frightening din.
The Z'Dhia pulled Kira to her feet. She noticed The Key in his hand. She turned to look at him and nodded. He started to scroll his thumb across its surface when a firm hand clamped onto Kira's shoulder.
Someone pulled them backwards into the shadows of a nearby building. She drew her weapon and wheeled around to face her attacker.
It was Ulren.
"Go, go," he urged, pointing to an open door into a building.
They entered the building and ran up a stairwell that led to the roof, taking two steps at a time.
When Kira returned her weapon to the clip on her belt, Ulren glanced down at her as he led the way up the stairs. "For a minute I thought I was done for."
"Don't worry," she said. "I'm a lousy shot."
Ulren's robust laughter echoed in the stairwell. It was a welcome, but brief respite from the madness outside.
When they reached the rooftop, the sounds of the riot crackled in the night air. It was an incoherent drone of angry, disturbed voices, a beehive on the attack. More explosions boomed in the distance. The entire city sounded as if it had descended into hell.
Kira pulled out her communicator and requested security back up from branch headquarters. If the local government can't do anything to put a stop to the riot, then hopefully the IPPA forces will. It was implausible that all this time the security forces didn't step in to protect the refugees. After all, they were under IPPA jurisdictions. She recalled what Zhorana said about IPPA and the forcefulness of the contempt in her voice. She was right about IPPA's reluctance, though wrong about the gunrunning. Kira had mixed feelings about it all, but not about the conditions under which the Najiumians lived. They had suffered enough.
They boarded the transport and, within minutes, were aloft. As they soared above the rooftops, Kira gazed down at the streets below. The insurgents seemed to blend into one another, bearing no distinctions between Najiumians and Adernites and moving with the same violent urgency.
"This happens every week?" she shouted.
"Not every week, but far too frequent to be comfortable." His people had grown increasingly resentful since the refugees' arrival. Their population was growing, taking over areas of the district and crowding out the Adernites in places that had been their homes for decades. "But the people, they were abandoning their homes when the Najiumians arrived. They refused to live next to the refugees. Now they go to Uxuia." They also blamed Najiumians for the rise in crime, though no one could prove that crime had risen or that the Najiumians were responsible. His fellow Adernites searched for excuses to justify their resentment. When that type of resentment festers, violence was sure to follow. He shook his head. "Sometimes I am ashamed to be an Adernite."
"I need to get to the underground market," said the Z'Dhia. "Can you take me there?"
Kira shot him a look. She was struck by his laser-like focus, his obsession.
"The underground," said the Adernite. "Now?"
"Yes."
He looked over his shoulder. "At this hour? Not possible. Besides, there are no markets at this hour or any hour at the moment."
"When?" His voice was hard as a diamond cutting through glass.
"No one knows when the markets open until they do. What is it that you need to find?"
"It isn't what, who. I need to find him right away."
"If the person you are looking for is hiding, then he will be underground. You will need help. I know someone, an old friend, who goes to the markets. She will be down there, in the markets. I can take you to her. Perhaps she will know of this Najiumian you seek."
"If you know her," Kira shouted above the drone, "then why wait for the markets? Just take us to her now."
"I would, if I knew where she lived," he said with an apologetic grin. "I only know her from markets, and it has been a long time since I've seen her. I don't go to the markets anymore, you see. But she will be down there, that I can promise."
"Then we need to get there when the markets open." He leaned back into the seat and said loud enough only for Kira to hear: "Before it is too late."
So far, Kira and the Z’Dhia are getting close to answers about who has the volume of the Book of Dreams. But when Kira decides to do her own little investigation on her own, she finds herself in more danger than she ever anticipated. Follow along on her adventure by subscribing and leaving a comment. I’d love to hear what you think so far.