For One Nen Read online

  “Mathis, have you seen Teltel? No one can find him since he left class today,” the Maven asked.

  “He’s not been here,” Mathis said softly. He dropped his eyes to the ground.

  The Maven quietly stepped close to the glass of the deck and clasped her hands together. She gave a deep sigh as she said, “What a terrible, terrible loss.”

  Mathis joined her as he too leaned against the glass and looked out at what was once his home.

  “Come. Your friends must be at the dining hall by now. You should join them,” the Maven said as she turned to face the boy; the last of the Hoth.

  Mathis continued to look below at the Hoth Sector.

  “All my friends are gone,” he said.

  Maven Sharla turned once again to the destruction of the hull and the empty divisions where hundreds of Hoth had been lying in stasis.

  “Yes,” she said mournfully. “So you must be brave and make new ones.”

  “It’s the Het who are brave – strong and brave. I am only Hoth.”

  Maven Sharla turned to face the sad little Hoth. “But Hoth hold the greatest kind of bravery – honor. Come, you must eat and so must I.” Together they took the elevator to the great dining hall.

  As they walked through the line for their trays of food, the Maven scanned the room for an available table.

  Not far away Henry sat with three other engineers. He stood and addressed the Maven.

  “There’s room here, Maven,” he said with a smile.

  “No, Henry,” said Turk who shot an elbow into Henry’s ribs. “She’s got that filthy Hoth boy with her,” he grumbled, with no concern of being overheard.

  Maven Sharla walked straight to the table and stood in front of Turk without a word.

  After a moment Turk grabbed his tray of food and left the table.

  The Maven looked at Mathis sweetly and then at the recently vacated seat.

  Mathis sat down in the empty place at the table with the engineers and the honored Maven.

  “How are things progressing?” The Maven asked Henry.

  “We were able to find most of the parts we needed,” he said.

  “Find?” she asked.

  Henry looked at Mathis then back to the Maven.

  “I see,” she said. “So is the shield generator fixed?”

  “Not yet, Maven.” Henry dropped his head and as he did he pushed a black bag with his foot toward Mathis.

  Mathis focused straight ahead as if trying not to look suspicious.

  The Maven looked at Henry with a kind smile and began to fade a moment, which was her way of showing her approval.

  Mathis stood with his tray and was about to excuse himself when Maven Sharla said, “Mathis you really must eat. Other matters can wait a while.”

  Mathis stood still a moment then cut his eyes across the room to Trace, his quarter mate.

  “Henry?” A man shouted from the corridor. “Have you guys finished unloading that pallet you salvaged this morning?”

  “We only brought it in a little while ago,” Henry explained.

  Maven Sharla stood and faced the shouting man. “How long will it take to unload?”

  “All day, the way they work. Some days I think I’m the only one that knows we’re on a deadline.”

  “Then take Trace,” The Maven ordered with a slight motion of her hand, pointing to Trace. “He’s a good worker and he’s fast.”

  “Fine, fine,” the man said. He motioned his hand and shouted, “Trace, you’re with Henry and Turk today. And where did Turk run off to? He was just here.” The man stomped off in a huff. “And you guys, hurry up,” he said to the men at the table and mumbled curses under his breath as he hurried away.

  The Maven sat down again and smiled to Mathis.

  “Good to see you, Maven,” Henry said before he left the table.

  “And you…and for,” she paused and dropped her gaze to the small Hoth eating at the table.

  Henry nodded with understanding.

  “May your success be swift,” said the Maven.

  Henry gave a quick blinking nod and left.

  Mathis gathered the black bag between his feet. He was gazing at it when the Maven said gently, “Aren’t the vegetables fresh today?”

  Mathis began eating again.

  The man sitting next to Maven Sharla dropped his head. Then it sprang up again as if he’d nodded off.

  “Gem, you should get some sleep. You too, Yankee,” the Maven ordered.

  “We have to go back to work. We’re troubleshooting the sensor relay,” Gem said.

  “Go to your quarters for four hours. If Jax has a problem he can see me.”

  “No disrespect, Maven but I don’t need you to defend me,” Yankee said.

  He stood to his feet and grabbed his tray and left with a snarl on his face. Two steps away he paused and quickly gave a respectful nod to the Maven.

  “He’s just really tired, Maven.” Gem said.

  “The engineers have been working too long. You must take time to rest,” the Maven reasoned.

  “It’s not just that, Maven. We’re all just so tired of trying so hard and failing every day. We can’t figure out how to fix the problem. And…” Gem looked around the great dining hall at the large crowd of people, “if we don’t…” Gem cleared his throat. “That kind of burden can make a body mighty tired.”

  “Maybe you could ask others for help?” Mathis said.

  Both Maven Sharla and Gem turned their heads as they’d forgotten Mathis was still at the table.

  Gem picked up his tray and quickly said, “Good day, Maven.”

  Mathis dropped his head, which made his large curls bounce.

  The Maven looked around with a smirk, “Well, I thought it was a good idea.”

  Mathis didn’t raise his head but he did give a pleased smile, which showed his shallow dimples. When he did lift his eyes again he saw Tala rolling a tall white crate down the corridor.

  She gave him a wink and continued on her way. Turning left from the dining hall she passed the main elevator on her right. Continuing around the hallway that curved to the right, she paused at the next door. On her left she came to a sign beside a door that read, “Production Gardens”. She lost her breath from the excitement and reminisced a moment. With a smile growing across her face she inhaled long and deep before she entered the shiny metallic door.

  “Who are you?” a gruff voice asked from behind some tall vines.

  “Um, I’m Tala. I’ve come to help Deni today,” she said.

  A very old tiny man came into view. His face had many wrinkles with a short beard. By his appearance Tala assumed he was Nen. His fuzzy hair was almost completely white. He held a clip board as he uttered in haste, “And-what’s-this?” He separated his words sharply.

  “Just things we need,” Tala said as she bit at her lower lip.

  The tiny man looked around, “What could-you need? We have everything we need – right here.” He stepped toward the crate, which was much taller than he was.

  “What-is it really? Come on-out with it,” he pressed.

  “Books?” Tala said softly.

  “Books? Why-do you-need books?”

  “I’m Goweli,” she tried to explain.

  “I can see that-plain enough. I may be old-but I can still see beauty-when it stands-before me,” he said while still maintaining his gruff demenor. “You didn’t answer-my question. Why-do-you-need-books?” he said in a staccato style speech pattern.

  “I…uh…am a librarian and…we like to read and…I wanted to read to Deni and,” she was cut off by the tiny man.

  “Enough,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You can take-this dusty monstrosity-into the fallow field-if you want to read your stories.”

  He hurried away as he called over his shoulder, “I-am-Aiden.” He moved quickly toward another door down a long row of dark purple lettuce plants. She tried to keep up with him as she rolled the crate along carefully as not to bump into any of
the tables of plants.

  “Very nice to meet you. I am Tala of the library.”

  Aiden said nothing but continued to move his little legs very quickly.

  At one point Tala had to maneuver around a step stool, which she assumed was for the tiny man.

  “Deni said she worked with you but are there others?” Tala asked.

  “Many-others,” the tiny man said. “But all have-given up,” he said in disgust as he tossed his small hands into the air.

  He moved even faster down the rows that had turned green with vines running so long they even hung from the table with small pale orange fruits hanging from them. “Now-so much work-left undone.”

  “Is that pumpkin?” she asked as she stopped to admire the plants.

  “Don’t-touch,” the man said as he spun around.

  Tala pulled her hand back from almost doing just that. She began to roll her crate along again. “But I thought only Tsila worked in the gardens,” she inquired again.

  The man spun to face her, “I-am-Tsila,” he proclaimed.

  “But you look like a Nen,” Tala said slowly.

  The small man pushed his hand to his chest. “Inside I am-Tsila. My grandfather was Nen so I look-like-him. But we are more-than our looks. Wouldn’t-you-agree?”

  Tala wasn’t sure but she thought he almost smiled at her.

  “Now-come,” he called and spun on his tiny heel and headed further down the row.

  At the end of the tables of plants they came to another large metallic door like the one Tala first entered off of the long hallway, which encircled the Egress.

  “In here-you can put that-dusty-thing.”

  He helped her steer it into a place along the wall. She then turned around to see long rows of tables void of any growth; just black dirt. The rows were so long she could see the bend at the end, as they followed the gradual curvature of the starship’s cylindrical shape. She realized she hadn’t noticed it in the garden room because the plants had obstructed a complete view of the room. She took a few steps close to the beginning of the row when she saw something in the shadows; something large.

  She cocked her head to the right to get a better look along the wall of the dim room. Someone was there. Her eyes slowly adjusted and she could tell it was a young tall Het trying to hide behind a tall shelf filled with pots and trowels and trays.

  “And only one dusty book-in the gardens-at a time,” the little man said.

  “Yes, Sir,” Tala replied. She lifted the lid and quickly retrieved one book that was falling apart at the spine.

  She followed the man out of the fallow field and back down the rows to search for Deni.

  Around a mound of root plants with tall green sprigs leafing out from every side she found Deni with dirt on her hands and face.

  “Tala,” Deni gasped. “I didn’t expect you so soon. I’m a mess. Let me just,” she turned to a planting station close to her and began rubbing her hands together to knock off some of the dirt.

  Tala moved in from behind her and wrapped her arms around the red-haired gardener.

  Deni leaned her head back against Tala and whispered, “Either I should clean up or you should help me here with my dirty work.”

  Tala stepped away from Deni and picked up two fistfuls of dirt.

  “I don’t mind getting dirty. Where do I start?”

  Deni giggled.

  “I brought the crate,” Tala said casually still rubbing her hands through the cool, black soil.

  “The crate? The whole crate?” Deni laughed. “How did you manage that?”

  “When I got back to the library Tanik was just leaving for her meal and the only other person working in the library was a guy in the paintings section all the way on the other side of the library. So I told him I was leaving for the day and here I am.”

  “Where is it?” Deni asked, looking about the room.

  “A small man let me put it in the fallow field. I think he said his name was Aiden. Funny how things work out. That’s just where you said we could put it.”

  “Put stuff…stuff? I had no idea you were going to bring the entire giant crate,” Deni said with surprise, followed by a giggle.

  “Speaking of giants; you have one in your field.”

  Still laughing Deni said, “We weren’t speaking of giants. You’re so funny. A giant what?” Deni asked.

  “A giant, you know. A Het, in the fallow field,” Tala explained.

  “What? Are you sure?” Deni asked.

  “Come here and I’ll show you,” Tala said, taking her hand.

  Together they raced back down the same rows of table gardens where Tala had followed the tiny man earlier. Tala slowly opened the door and crept into the dim space holding Deni’s hand to guide her to where she saw the giant.

  The ladies saw no giant.

  “I know you’re here,” Tala called out into the silent dim room. “I’ve seen you before.” She scanned the room while her eyes adjusted to the faint light. “I’ve seen you in the Keeper’s Class with Mathis. Are you his friend?”

  All at once a tower rose from behind a table where Teltel had been crouched.

  “Mathis is not my friend,” Teltel’s changing voice squeaked.

  “Bless the gods it is a giant; right here in my fallow field,” Deni said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I like the dark and the space,” he admitted.

  “Acres of space,” Deni said as she acknowledged the enormity of the room.

  “Do you Cha here?” asked Tala.

  “Cha?” Deni asked.

  “How do you know Cha?” asked Teltel suspiciously.

  “I’ve just read about a giant; a hero that gave his life for a Nen.”

  “Like the little guy that you came in with earlier?” Teltel asked.

  “No. He’s Tsila and only part Nen,” she smiled, “but he looks very Nen, right?” Tala chuckled.

  “Hey, focus here please. Back to why there’s a giant in my fallow field.” Deni said.

  “He wants a place to Cha,” Tala answered.

  “Is something like that legal?” Deni asked with a smile. “Cause I really don’t want to be locked up my last days of life and all.”

  Tala gave Deni a disapproving glance.

  “Sorry,” Deni said.

  “Will you show us?” Tala asked the giant kindly.

  Teltel placed his hands together in front of him in agreement.

  Tala whispered to Deni, “You might want to hold your ears.” She did the same.

  Teltel stretched out his thick arms and kicked out a leg in front of him. He took off in a run and did a back flip and bounced into a forward flip. Punched the air in front of him then slammed his body to the ground as if he had pinned someone. Then he gave a loud bellowing “Chaaa!”

  Deni held her ears and buried her face into Tala’s chest until the reverberation had faded into the stillness.

  After a moment Deni dropped her hands from her ears and said, “Well now, I can see how you would need a large room for that.” The three of them laughed.

  “So you won’t tell where I am?” Teltel asked Deni.

  “I think if your Cha-ing-thing didn’t make anyone come running then I think it’s safe to say it’s alright to be in here.”

  Tala stepped up to the crate and tiptoed to gather a journal with a floppy brown cover, and gave it to Teltel.

  “What’s this?” the giant teenager asked.

  “It’s how I know Cha,” she said with a smile. “I too know the desire to be alone. But since I am older than you, I think I should tell you something that I’ve only recently learned. It wasn’t to be alone, that I desired. It was to be accepted. To be accepted without anyone telling me who I was. To be allowed to find out who I am on my own. That was first,” she took Deni’s hand and continued, “and to find someone who accepted me – the true me.”

  The vast open space of the room seemed even bigger in the silence of the moment.

  “I’ll be in the ga
rden reading to Deni while she works. I have a great story about that Giant Het I was telling you about. The one that had a little best friend who was a tiny Nen.” She gave him a smile and the ladies left the fallow field and returned to the mound of dirt where Deni had been working.

  “Do you think he’ll come?” Deni asked, leveling the mound of dirt with her hands. “That was what you wanted, right?”

  “Yes, he’ll come,” Tala said, turning a page of the book she held.

  “What makes you so sure?” Deni said with a playful shove of her hip into Tala’s leg.

  “I’m the librarian,” Tala said with a comical tone. “Everyone needs the librarian.” She laughed. “No really, he’ll come because I know Cha. And I have stories that talk about it.” She held up the book she was about to read to Deni.

  “So librarians are not only smart they are very sly,” Deni said with a laugh.

  “No, that’s the Antip side of me,” Tala said.

  “You’re part Antip?” Deni asked.

  “No not really, but I think of them as being sly. You know, with the whole thought pushing ability and all. I wonder if there are any historical writings about that in that crate.”

  “Well, you better get to reading if we’re going to get through the whole crate in the next few weeks.”

  Tala once again gave a disapproving look to Deni and shut the book hard.

  “I’m sorry,” Deni said. She grabbed a rag and wiped her hands before pulling the upset Tala close.

  “Tala, I’m just as scared as you are…so I joke. It’s no excuse, I know. I just wanted you to know why I get snarky…and I’m so sorry.”

  Deni held Tala tenderly and added, “As long as we’re scared together.”

  “Stay with me forever?” Tala said quickly. With tears spilling from her eyes she blinked hard. She looked downward into Deni’s golden eyes and exhaled as if relieved.

  Deni only smiled.

  After a silent moment Tala said, “I thought you’d say something about our forever being only a few short days.”

  “Tala, I’ve dreamed since the first time I saw you, that you would want me that way. I just wanted to hold onto the moment.” Deni stretched up on the tips of her toes to kiss the awaiting red lips of Tala, when they heard a loud crash from far down the row.