ceiling.
The sound of the flute stopped, leaving an uneasy silence in the surgical dome.
“Cool!" said an enthusiastic voice, that of a human child.
Kavak turned about to face the source of the sound and saw one of the girls, Ashley, sitting up on her operating table. Fully conscious, she showed no fear, only wonderment at what she’d just witnessed.
“Why isn’t this child sedated?" Kavak seethed with barely restrained rage.
“She received the same dosage as the others,” the chief surgeon protested. “She must be more resilient.”
“I hope that’s good news. Take care of it.”
An attendant touched a few petroglyphs on the console at the head of the girl’s bed. Ashley’s eyes closed as she relaxed back onto the table.
Kavak turned to the chief surgeon. “Make sure this doesn’t happen again. We don’t want them to have any memories of their sojourn here.”
“Of course, Exalted Leader. There will be none.”
“One more thing." Kavak paused and the surgeons and attendants stopped to stare at her. “Not a word of what happened here must get out of this room, understood?”
As the medical staff remained silent, Kavak glared at them one by one in a threatening manner. To leave no doubt as to what would happen if anyone blabbered, she added, “Whoever says one word about this won’t live long enough to regret it.”
“You can count on our silence, Exalted Leader,” the chief surgeon sniveled.
Kavak certainly hoped so and left the surgical dome without a backward glance. She dreaded the implications of this incident. If this were known, the concept of humans having souls could have momentous repercussions on how the Anaz-voohri people viewed her strategy. The leaders of the religious cast would use it as a pretext to reinforce their position and maybe even attempt a coup against Kavak. In these troubled days, Kavak couldn’t afford a mutiny.
On the way back to her quarters, she tried to comprehend the deeper ramifications of what she had witnessed, but she didn’t have the luxury of pondering spiritual values. Kavak had a job to do, and whether or not humans had a soul, whether anyone had a soul at all, didn’t matter in the end. For the survival of her race, Earth had to be purged. That’s all she needed to know.
Chapter Four
Berkeley Campus – spring 2005
Trying to empty his mind of the never-ending search for his sister, Zack straightened his Karate uniform as he entered the Berkeley Martial Arts Dojo. In the vast empty room, amber rays of sunset blazed on the light parquet through the cathedral windows. Several rows of chairs lined the central square. Zack had come early on purpose, to find peace and quiet before the big event. Tonight, in front of an audience, he would take his black belt test.
His bare feet made no sound to break the serenity of the place. He bowed to the front wall where heavy branches of silk cherry blossoms framed a vertical banner. In fluid calligraphy, the Japanese ideogram on the fabric spelled Kokoro , which meant heart, but also courage.
Too anxious to sit and meditate as he sometimes did before class, Zack struck the first pose of the first kata and focused on the ritual movements meant to imitate a succession of attacks and counterattacks. He controlled his breathing, aiming for perfect form, infusing strength into his arms and legs, maintaining balance, in absolute control of his mind and body. Only the sound of his breath and the purchase of his toes on the hard floor intruded on the silence.
As he checked his posture in the wall mirrors, Zack hardly recognized his reflection. Who was this warrior he had become? Fierce, determined, dangerous. Something in his aqua-blue eyes had taken a hard edge. In almost two years, Zack had gone from a normal teenager to an investigator, driven to solve the mystery of his sister’s abduction. In the process, he’d lost much of his former innocence and realized that despite his
The sound of the flute stopped, leaving an uneasy silence in the surgical dome.
“Cool!" said an enthusiastic voice, that of a human child.
Kavak turned about to face the source of the sound and saw one of the girls, Ashley, sitting up on her operating table. Fully conscious, she showed no fear, only wonderment at what she’d just witnessed.
“Why isn’t this child sedated?" Kavak seethed with barely restrained rage.
“She received the same dosage as the others,” the chief surgeon protested. “She must be more resilient.”
“I hope that’s good news. Take care of it.”
An attendant touched a few petroglyphs on the console at the head of the girl’s bed. Ashley’s eyes closed as she relaxed back onto the table.
Kavak turned to the chief surgeon. “Make sure this doesn’t happen again. We don’t want them to have any memories of their sojourn here.”
“Of course, Exalted Leader. There will be none.”
“One more thing." Kavak paused and the surgeons and attendants stopped to stare at her. “Not a word of what happened here must get out of this room, understood?”
As the medical staff remained silent, Kavak glared at them one by one in a threatening manner. To leave no doubt as to what would happen if anyone blabbered, she added, “Whoever says one word about this won’t live long enough to regret it.”
“You can count on our silence, Exalted Leader,” the chief surgeon sniveled.
Kavak certainly hoped so and left the surgical dome without a backward glance. She dreaded the implications of this incident. If this were known, the concept of humans having souls could have momentous repercussions on how the Anaz-voohri people viewed her strategy. The leaders of the religious cast would use it as a pretext to reinforce their position and maybe even attempt a coup against Kavak. In these troubled days, Kavak couldn’t afford a mutiny.
On the way back to her quarters, she tried to comprehend the deeper ramifications of what she had witnessed, but she didn’t have the luxury of pondering spiritual values. Kavak had a job to do, and whether or not humans had a soul, whether anyone had a soul at all, didn’t matter in the end. For the survival of her race, Earth had to be purged. That’s all she needed to know.
Chapter Four
Berkeley Campus – spring 2005
Trying to empty his mind of the never-ending search for his sister, Zack straightened his Karate uniform as he entered the Berkeley Martial Arts Dojo. In the vast empty room, amber rays of sunset blazed on the light parquet through the cathedral windows. Several rows of chairs lined the central square. Zack had come early on purpose, to find peace and quiet before the big event. Tonight, in front of an audience, he would take his black belt test.
His bare feet made no sound to break the serenity of the place. He bowed to the front wall where heavy branches of silk cherry blossoms framed a vertical banner. In fluid calligraphy, the Japanese ideogram on the fabric spelled Kokoro , which meant heart, but also courage.
Too anxious to sit and meditate as he sometimes did before class, Zack struck the first pose of the first kata and focused on the ritual movements meant to imitate a succession of attacks and counterattacks. He controlled his breathing, aiming for perfect form, infusing strength into his arms and legs, maintaining balance, in absolute control of his mind and body. Only the sound of his breath and the purchase of his toes on the hard floor intruded on the silence.
As he checked his posture in the wall mirrors, Zack hardly recognized his reflection. Who was this warrior he had become? Fierce, determined, dangerous. Something in his aqua-blue eyes had taken a hard edge. In almost two years, Zack had gone from a normal teenager to an investigator, driven to solve the mystery of his sister’s abduction. In the process, he’d lost much of his former innocence and realized that despite his
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