Chapter 43
Only one of the council members was at the grove when they arrived. It was the “Moon” blades-Neyan, and she was leaning against her homewood, dozing. Kelin woke her with a shake. She mumbled something incoherent, and then glared at the young Neyan. Kelin said something, and then pointed to the staff in Nehemiah's hand. The council member’s eyes grew wide, and she hurried off to summon the others.
In a few minutes, the council had gathered. Each sat against their respective home-wood, looking at the staff resting in the middle of the grove.
“What happened?” the leader of the council asked, speaking in English for Nehemiah's benefit.
“We were training,” Kelin said from his spot next to Nehemiah. “The Kakal stepped out from the bushes and attacked us. I was able to kill it, but I don’t know if there are any more.”
“And how do you know it was a Kakal?”
Kelin stood up.
“It looked like the songs described. And does this staff not match the songs as well? Besides, it is metal, which hasn’t been seen since the Kakal last attacked.”
“Until the humans arrived,” one of the council members piped up. The other council members started whispering among themselves.
“I have seen no such staff on the base,” Nehemiah shsaidouted over the council’s murmurings. “Such a weapon would be useless against guns.”
“Weapons that don’t work here!” cried the council member. The members started talking again.
Nehemiah walked to the center, picked up the staff, and stabbed it into the spongy ground. As the council watched, the staff, embedded in the ground, began to bend under the magnetic attraction of the planet. Nehemiah felt a strong surge of the magnetic field, and the staff popped out of the moist soil.
“This weapon is still affected by the planet,” he said. “It is still useless to us!”
The council member opened its mouth to protest again “But it still cou–”
CLANGGGG!!!
The echo of the wood on metal rang through the council, silencing everyone. Nehemiah picked up the staff again, showing the council where he had struck the metal with his blade. There was barely a mark.
“We don’t have metal like this!” he cried. “That…thing is evil. I don’t know if it is a Kakal or not, but whatever it is, it is still a threat! We should send out Neyan and see if there are any others.”
The council leader rose to her feet.
“Your passion is commendable,” she said. “And I believe that a threat to our planet has arisen. Unfortunately, if it is Kakal, it will be extremely difficult to find them. They are sly creatures. There may not be much we can do.”
“But how could Kakal get to the surface?” one of the members asked. “Does the planet not repel their ships?”
“I believe that I can answer that,” a new voice said. Everyone turned as Smith walked into the grove, accompanied by a handful of soldiers, Zeke, and the Neyan ambassador. Smith turned and bowed toward the council leader.
“Pardon the intrusion, ma’am,” he said.
The leader nodded.
“You were saying?” she asked.
“Yes. We found the ship that the creature came in. I am under the impression that it landed on the planet with the help of our electromagnet.”
The council burst into an uproar.
“Silence! Silence!” the council leader cried. When she finally had everyone under control again, she turned to Smith.
“Is what you say true?” she asked.
Smith nodded.
“I have taken necessary precautions and placed defenses so that it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
The council leader closed her eyes.
“The Kakal,” she began. “Have been our ancient enemies forever. This planet is supposed to protect us from them, by drawing all metal to itself. And now, you have made the planet irrelevant.”
Her eyes snapped open.
“As the leader of the humans, you are responsible for this. Through your carelessness, you have invited a great threat to this land. You have endangered us all. Especially your son.”
Smith glanced towards Nehemiah, as if seeing him for the first time.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“It was your son,” the leader said. “Whom the creature first attacked. With the help of his friend, it was killed. But that doesn’t make the grievance of your crime any worse.”
Smith met the Neyan’s eyes.
“I understand, and take full responsibility for what has happened. I will personally accept any retribution for these events.”
The Neyan glared at Smith, but the general continued to look her in the eyes.
Nehemiah had seen the best and worst of his dad. The general could seem almost too relaxed, too informal. And yet, here he stood, apologizing to a majestic alien, and doing it with dignity. Nehemiah was amazed.
“The council will decide the punishments. But for now, we need to purge our planet of this filth.”
“My men searched the ship,” Smith said. “And it still had power. Could it have called others to its location? Were there more than one creature in that ship?”
The Neyan sighed.
“We…don’t know,” she admitted.
“Can we find out?”
“As I said earlier, these creatures can be very deceptive. Even after many encounters, our ancestors were still uncertain whether they knew everything about these beasts. Us, even less so.”
“There must be a way,” Smith protested.
“There is,” the leader said. She drew her blade and struck her homewood. The clear base note rang out. She glanced at Nehemiah. He knew what she meant.
“I can try again,” he offered.
“No. We need you to do more than try now,” the Neyan said. Nehemiah looked at his blade and took a deep breath. Then he looked back at the Neyan.
“I will do it.”
The leader smiled softly.
“Very well. Tomorrow morning.”
Nehemiah nodded.
As the council and Smith clarified details, Nehemiah stood next to Kelin and his father, thinking. He had to do it tomorrow. He had to get the songs right. Hopefully, it would be an easier one that he knew. He would review the songs tonight. He would review everything he knew about music.
But as Nehemiah glanced at Kelin, he knew he had to do more. Sidoiyeqa. He had to figure that…or him…out. And that would be the hardest thing yet.
Nehemiah closed his eyes and sighed.
“I need help,” he whispered to himself.