"Immortals", Part 1

Posted on Wed Jan 13th, 2021 @ 3:20pm by Lieutenant Commander Adonudo Tlanuwa

644 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Where do we go from here?
Location: Counselor's Quarters

__***"Immortals", Part 1***__
Duty Log of Lt. Cmdr. Adonudo Tlanuwa
SD 202101.13

. Lt. Cmdr. Adonudo Tlanuwa lay on the floor in his quarters. His body twitched occassionally but otherwise he seemed virtually lifeless. In a turtle shell on a table against one wall a braid of sweetgrass smoldered, sending a tendril of aromatic smoke into the room. Against one wall a small self-filling fountain murmured as it continously recycled water from a small pool up to the top of a small stack of stones only to send it cascading back down into the pool. Feathers tied to leather thongs danced delicately in the currents provided by the air circulation system. Gems and polished river-rocks sparkled in the light from Earth's own sun streaming through the windows along one wall.
. On the floor, Adon, the Medicine Man, Doctor and Counselor, Second Officer of the Roddenberry, dreamed a Vision granted to him by his Spirit Guide, Hawk, the Messenger of the Spirit World, a bringer of insight, if one managed to interpret what Hawk saw.
. Adon remembered. The Vision began as most did with Adon soaring alongside Hawk high in the air. And then, as many did, Adon's own vision moved inside of Hawk so that Adon saw through Hawk's eyes. It was early morning and the sun had not yet crested the horizon, though it's light was beginning to brighten the eastern sky. Together, Hawk and Adon swooped down towards a village. Adon immediately recognized it, it was his home village back on Dorvan V. And while it looked from the outside like some ancient, primitive, village consisting of cabins made of rough-hewn logs and thatch roofs, he knew that there were also many items of modern convenience such as insulation, electricity, computer terminals, and modern medicine. But ... the village wasn't like the last time Adon saw it, rather, it was older. And then Adon saw ... himself. Not as he was now, but as he was then.
. The boy was known then as Atsutsu Ulayutsi, the "Boy who Wanders". He was perhaps a dozen years old, maybe a bit older, scrawny, all elbows and knees. Adon, in Hawk's eyes, smiled to himself. He remembered that day. He was frightened but didn't want to show it. He'd spent all night with the Didanawisgi (the Medicine Man). The man was so ancient that everyone in the village just called him Enisi, "Grandfather". Atsutsu was frightened because of the story Enisi had just told him, in the wee hours of the night before the sun was reborn, of the Jumlin.
. Even today, more than 40 years later, Adon shuddered thinking about the Jumlin, and his body, lying on the floor on the Roddenberry, spasmed. The Jumlin was ... is ... a demon who craved human flesh. And by possessing Medicine Men, he would take great pleasure in raping women and as a result, sired many wicked offspring.
. The Jumlin and his vicious brood would travel from village to village, raping, pillaging and murdering, consuming the flesh and blood of their victims. Before he departed each village, the Jumlin would abandon one of his offspring so that the surviving women of the village would unknowingly take the child in and raise it as one of their own. In this manner, the Jumlins’ bloodline secretly flourished.
. Hawk flew on, taking Adon with him. Adon reflected on the story. Surely it was only a tale meant to frighten youngsters, or at most an allegory about not being cruel and heartless. Or perhaps a cautionary tale for the young man so interested in becoming a Medicine Man to warn him about the dangers of the Spirit World. The Jumlin wasn't real.
. And then Adon remembered watching Cmdr. Magnus Morgensen and Lt. Heather Argeneaux consuming fresh human blood before his very eyes. And he shuddered. And his body back in his quarters convulsed.

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

 

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