Adt continued, more forthright than I had expected.
“They were actually stationed as sentinels on board the Haknord slaver ship where we spent a long period alone, in a cell, chained to the floor.”
“Ocean slavers?” Youi asked, leaning forward, intently.
“Yes. You know about them?”
“Just remotely,” Youi stated. “Some say the coastline hamlets have been raided from time to time by callous pirating slavers.”
“You are well informed.”
“As a woman,” she coolly smiled, “or a Proctoress?”
“Sorry.”
Sarleni smirked. “Adt can be crudely blunt at times!”
“Not at all!” he protested, “…just had not expected her—”
Sarleni chopped her right hand through the air, clearly intent on cutting off his words. “Go ahead. Tell them more about our horrid captivity on that slaver ship!”
Adt picked up the story, telling of their imprisonment. “We could not estimate how long the Haknords held us below deck—a nasty business. I don’t think I have ever seen uglier creatures in my life, than those pirates.
“They were creepy, for sure,” Sarleni agreed. “Almost human; they were somehow bird-like, with large hooked noses and thin lips hanging over jagged, yellow brown teeth. And their lidless eyes were big bright orange circles.”
“The leader looked even worse than the crew,” Adt grimaced as he remembered their nightmarish encounter. “The near humanness of its shape was more perverse than its distortion. His grey-blue skin coloration was indicative of a mutation.
“His nose was bulbous; the purplish lips grossly thick and pouty like some kind of ugly fish mouth. The green tinted eyes were large, narrow slits but his weird ears were floppy fat. It makes my skin crawl even now just thinking of it.” He shuddered; but more importantly told us what he’d discovered about their business at sea.
“We found out that they worked for the Kaminaeans, mapping parts of our world under some kind of contract with the Kaminaean Empire. They planned on selling us into slavery, of course.”
Sarleni cut in.
“Moyi and Ju-bilee became our guides and advisers.”
“Guides…advisers?” was my immediate inquiry. “Who are these people?”
“They are notable leaders of great influence in the Northern Territories.” Adt replied.
“Moyi is a vital teacher of the Zygo,” Sarleni added. “But Ju-bilee is a major force to deal with.”
“Some force!” Adt challenged with a mischievous grin.
“A motherly lady,” Sarleni blandly warned. “Don’t you forget!”
“Yes, yes. Of course!” Adt seemed to sulk while Sarleni picked up the narrative. “They first made appearances while we were on board ship; tending to flash in unannounced and then disappear abruptly, like dream makers. They’d come from nowhere and do wonderful things.”
Adt tenderly touched her hand. “I’ll admit, Moyi and Ju-bilee are remarkable, and what they had to teach us was incredible! Merging our mind in one accord…well…it saved our lives!”
He hesitated; glancing at the Helandian woman who said: “Basic Zygo, really.”
Which explained nothing.
“Hardly so basic,” Adt inserted, grinning. “It requires a massive change of attitude before it can be understood.”
Noting our confusion, he resumed his explanation with Sarleni filling in details about this amazing Helandian practice of the mind powers.
“Sarleni was already an advanced student of Zygo and anxious to share her knowledge once my reluctance to believe was shattered.”
“Her people had sent Sarleni down to Bel-loniea to find me.”
“Why?”
“They had their reasons, believe me! They were determined to team us together and send us to meet an important agent…the Proctor, I am certain, will fill in the details later.
“I know this is confusing. Accept, for now, that Moyi and Ju-bilee were instrumental in helping us escape the slavers. We were far out to sea and eventually landed on an island near Kamina.”
“By then,” Sarleni inserted, “we learned about our own mission. We were expected to meet somebody on the continent.”
As they spoke, Youi and I had poured challises of Porshi for our friends.
“I know our experience is hardly believable,” Adt was saying.
We sat on the edge of our seats listening intently, enthralled with their extraordinary discoveries as they continued telling of their amazing journey through unexplored territory.
“Sarleni and I grew immensely during this difficult period. I now know that Ju-bilee was invisibly watching, silently giving us strength and courage to stay on course.”
“When we finally met the Messenger he barely had enough life left in him to give us a few instructions. Talni was his name. His body held the precious chip which we needed to retrieve and bring back to the Free Lands, as they called this side of Noomas.
“Ju-bilee and Moyi, I think, were proud of what we accomplished. However, they never said as much. They most severely demanded secrecy and warned us to trust nobody unless we could probe deep into their minds and know that no Kaminaean spy lurked within.”
We learned, with fascination, how they had developed an ability taught in Helandi. Something about a link of energy we did not quite comprehend. They called this the Zygo.
I noticed Sarleni’s serious face and intense concentration in Adt’s eyes as their voices again blended.
He had as many questions of me as did I of him. We exchanged summaries of our ventures since the Diano War.
I told about rescuing Youi from the Diano camp and of our journey after that same terrible storm had also blown us off course into the deserts. There we encountered nomads who dragged us into captivity with Baji-Ney’s tribe.
Adt responded with sincere admiration: “You, too, were lucky to avoid slavery. I’m familiar with the desert people; nomadic tribes roaming freely up there where life is harsh and demanding. Wild survivors in a bleak desert are bound by a severe moral ethic that strongly supports their culture. Their fierce loyalty to friends grants no room for leniency towards enemies.”
I agreed, having experienced the desert breed.
“Those ruthless barterers trade heavily within our markets.”
Then I summarized events ending the Diano War and our return to Bel-loniea.
That particular squall, which tore across our planet, had been unusually treacherous compared to others. In fact, it had baffled the scientists enough to keep them busy sorting out the effects and damages long afterwards. Our farmlands and towns were heavily crippled. The bonding of many communities turned out to be one positive result of the catastrophe. The repair work had brought neighbors together, sharing expertise and resources in joint efforts to fix the damage.
The Diano fell under our military and political supervision. Their Proctor wisely decided to cooperate with our government.
Since then our countries have been at peace. I had settled into a very happy life with the woman I loved; Proctoress of Bel-loniea, granddaughter of its ruler, Romos.
My greatest victory was that of bringing Youi home safely.
Adt quickly speculated before I finished my story, “I’m sure you arranged a speedy meeting with a Muti!”
I