Treyak

By Nonen Titi

A new planet.
A new life.
A one-way trip.
The colonists of DJar, all seeking a better future, each with their own past, and their own beliefs about right and wrong, try everything they can to create a new government and a new culture they can all be happy with.

In town, Benjamar is determined to keep things from falling apart.
Crossing the continent, Nini and Kunag’s exploration mission is searching for a better place to live.
Can just four people build a new village, with only natural resources, when the environment seems to have a mind of its own?

• Language: English
• Publisher: N Titi Publishing
• Release date: Mar 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9780994107718

Nonen Titi

I started my career in physical and mental healthcare, tropical nursing and midwifery, including an assignment with Medecins sans Frontieres to Columbia and four summers in a camp for children with type one diabetes. Those experiences still provide a lot of the material for my books. More recently I added hypnotherapy to my healthcare training.After my children were born, I changed to education and worked a few years as a Montessori teacher before opting to educate my own children at home. That was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. In the meantime we had moved from Europe and the UK to the USA, Australia and now New Zealand.Nearly twenty years ago I became interested in the theory of psychological types of Carl Jung (and of Myers-Briggs and David Keirsey) which has changed my perspective on life completely and which I have made my special interest of study. When my children went off to university, I decided to join them and get a degree in philosophy. Since then I have been a writer of both fiction and non-fiction books inspired by the inborn differences that influence the beliefs, behavior and natural talents of every person on Earth.Although I enjoy writing non-fiction books, I believe that fiction is best suited to help bridge those natural differences. Hence, my books portray human nature to a depth where the study of psychology cannot reach, each character an easily recognizable personality and together in pursuit of a positive future.

Book preview

The Colourful Hills

Before first light on Day One of Station Five’s second moon, Kunag left Harmon’s home and went to say goodbye to Mom. He expected a whole list of cautions, but all she said was Be careful. Jari didn’t say much at all; it was as if they were strangers again, as if all those years in between hadn’t happened.

Don’t worry; Maike says we’ll just walk over those heaps of dirt and then come right back, Kunag told them, using Maike’s description of the mountain-range that divided the continent.

Kunag didn’t really care how big the mountains were, he just wanted to be far away from town. He refused Jari’s offer to walk him to the social building and arrived to find the eleven members of the expedition, as well as Benjamar, waiting for him. Each of the travellers had a woven pack that fitted over their shoulders, covering both front and back, and a roll-up mat.

"If I say we meet at change of light, it means that is the time you are here, not the time you leave home, Maike scolded Kunag, while Sinti put her arms around him. I was afraid you’d changed your mind," she said.

Irritated with both responses, Kunag shook her off. Although she’d said she would come on the expedition if he was going, Kunag hadn’t really expected Sinti to do so. He’d avoided being with her so she wouldn’t talk about things he didn’t want to think about.

While Kunag put his pack on, Benjamar reminded them of Daili’s challenge and that he expected them back in about a station with good news, by which he meant having found a place for a second settlement. He wished them good luck.

The knee-high orange vegetation, along with the restriction caused by the pack, made walking difficult, and nobody talked much. Trying to ignore Sinti panting and moaning, Kunag worried that he’d step on one of the creatures that made this stuff. By Kundown, when they reached the foot of the south-western hills, he was exhausted.

Following Maike’s orders, they separated into two groups of six, men and women, and each put their roll-up mat on the bare ground. Two men, whom Kunag didn’t know, managed to get a small fire going with one of the turf logs. It didn’t produce much heat, but it was enough for Maike to warm up some water for drinks to have with the dried food they carried.

Kunag lay down on his mat and looked at the shiny dots scattered all over the dark sky. It didn’t matter that it was cold or that his legs felt heavy – gloomy town was behind him.

He jumped up when the clink of an empty water container hit the ground.

Time to go and collect some water. There’s a stream up ahead, safe to drink from, Maike, a silhouette against the pink morning sky, told him.

Careful not to step on the little blob-like creatures that jumped around beneath his feet, and which Kunag considered animals rather than plants, he took the vessel into the direction Maike had pointed. Doret caught up with him, also carrying a jug. He was the youngest to join the expedition, not yet thirteen, but he was tall and had the build and accent of a farmer. Why did you come? To draw?

Kunag told him yes. His assignment was to record the land and whatever they’d find on it.

You’ll never finish.

You’re from Veleder? Kunag asked.

Yes, but I don’t remember much of it. I like it here. I hope we find a good place to live for all the people. My dad wants to get away from town, but I don’t want to leave my friends.

The stream was as good as Maike had said, trickling down from the hills, as clean as on DJar – cleaner, probably; no sign of anything living in it. After filling the containers and giving their faces a quick splash, they returned to where the others were ready and packed.

Marya took Doret’s container and put it on the little fire. Kunag’s bigger one was used to fill up the flasks and then for the others to have a wash. Maike poured the warmed water over a mush of stalks and other stuff. She called it prut and filled everybody’s cup with it.

It looks like vomit, Sinti said, and emptied it out onto the ground. Others tried to be less blatant about it, but after that comparison… Had it not been for Maike sitting right opposite him, Kunag might have followed Wolt’s example and emptied it behind his back, but he couldn’t now. He’d already lost points for arriving late, so he drank it down. To his surprise it was sweet; a real taste.

Honey, Maike said when he looked at her.

It’s good.

Doret was sent back to the stream to wash the cups. One of the men doused the fire and salvaged the turf that had not burned. Maike handed Kunag the two empty water containers to tie to his pack. First thing at first light. The water takes time to boil, she said.

Once they were on their way, the surrounding land changed abruptly as the flat ground turned to hillside. Kunag’s senses indulged in the panorama of odourless colours. There was not a bit of green. Kun DJar’s coastal dunes might be called green, but it was a dull grey-green, not vibrant. He felt as heavy as when he’d first arrived on the planet, as if walking against the wind, only he wasn’t, and it wasn’t the climbing either. The air itself felt thick. It was like inhaling the sensation rather than just perceiving it, while the landscape filled his eyes with pictures he was itching to paint – all shades of blue, red, and purple, beckoning him to take out his art pack. And not just the colours, but the variety of forms and textures; though the vast majority of everything on this planet seemed to be round, or at least have some globular or radial form, they came in all sorts from gritty to shiny and smooth, from nearly black to creamy white, and from the size of his fingernail to that of a large rock. Some had outgrowths or tentacles attached, like the orbs, but these here seemed to be plants.

Kunag had sat down by the seaside so often these last kor, willing himself to draw but unable to. Today, he knew he could. Why was Maike in such a hurry?

His quiet enjoyment was interrupted when Sinti caught up with him and started asking questions: Was he happy to be away from town? Did he make nice drawings yet? Wasn’t it funny that the air was so heavy? Do you miss your father?

Shut up, he said.

Don’t say that.

Then go away.

She stood still. There’s no need to get nasty! she shouted, causing all the others to look. I lost someone too, you know.

Kunag walked on. Why had she come on this trip? She never even liked being outside. He had ignored her ever since the disease, so she could not possibly believe they were still a couple.

Go easy on her. She can’t help being the way she is, Wolt lectured him.

Kunag didn’t answer him either.

It took eight days to cross the hills. Every morning and evening Kunag collected water, which, besides drawing, seemed to be his job. He was no longer breathless and the days became routine. In the mornings they drank the sweet prut; at night they ate the dried food – mostly salted zibot meat strips and grubs – they’d brought from town. The idea was to make the supplies last as long as possible. Nobody cared much for the dried foods and soon the evening meal was reduced to a little nibble.

Only once had Maike allowed Kunag a quick sketch before camp was made. He had not asked for the okay but sat down when Leyon showed them an animal in a smoky crevice. "I have to draw this." It was an animal, after all. Well, it could be an animal. It looked like a jellyfish, but it floated on the thick air that came out of the rock. It had no colour of its own, but seemed to change depending on how the light fell on it. Kunag would have liked to touch it, but Doret had his hand slapped for only reaching out, so he didn’t try.

Once the last crest was reached a second ‘must draw’ situation occurred. The most magnificent grassland Kunag had ever seen lay before them. Its hue was the brightest of yellows. An artist using these colours on DJar would have been called a surrealist. There was no describing it, not with words, anyhow. Maike didn’t say no; her eyes sparkled as if she was the creator of this splendour rather than the guide who had brought them here.

This was as far as the last expedition had come. From here on it was going to be watching, recording, and being careful. They’d make camp earlier each day so there would be time to explore or draw by the light of Kun. We won’t be going quite as fast, Maike promised, which was answered with exaggerated sighs of relief from some of the others.

That night, lying on his mat on the very last place any people had ever been before, Kunag felt both protected in the tent of vibrant yellow, and free. These were the ‘plains’ the cattle farmers would move to. Maybe it was a good thing the zibots were colour-blind. Way in the distance must be the mountains, but as far as their eyes could see, there was nothing but empty sky and endless land.

Once, a long time ago, on the day Kunag had made up his mind to go along with Dad, he had imagined Kun DJar as an empty land just like this, with birds flying overhead. Now, in the quiet of the new planet, he remembered the crowded airfloat and busy City streets that had helped him make the decision. This was what he’d longed for. If only the beginning hadn’t been so bad.

What is the dream about?

Kunag looked up to find Nini above him. Nothing special.

No nobis yet?

No, not yet. It was unlikely they would ever encounter anything like a nobi, or anything bigger than the orbs. Kun DJar seemed to keep everything small; its plants and its animals.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save your dad.

Kunag shrugged. It wasn’t her fault.

She sat down next to him, quiet and serene, like the land.

Do you miss DJar? he asked her.

No, just my mom sometimes.

But you were given no choice?

If I would have had a choice, I would have come anyway, she answered. How about you, are you sorry?

She didn’t look at him. Maybe she didn’t expect an answer.

No, I’m happy.

Across the Yellow Plain

A ccording to the SJilai scan, it should be totally flat from the other side to the far coast, Hani said.

"That may be so, but first we have to get to the other side," Wolt replied.

In front of them the mountaintops rose into the reddish sky; already impressive, and they were still more than a day’s walk away.

What if they’re too steep to climb? Saski asked. She didn’t feel like hanging from a rope, and according to the map they stretched the entire continent. I wonder how long it took for them to get this high.

Not very long, relatively speaking. The landmasses that collided here must have travelled pretty fast, Marya answered.

How can you know?

Marya explained that a planet like Kun DJar, spinning as she did, would wear mountains down very fast. The poles of the entire globe were flattened, yet these mountains were pointy.

Can’t they be volcanic, seeing all those springs we found in the plains?

Marya laughed. No. I mean, I have no idea what I’m talking about, of course, but that didn’t get made by volcanoes, I’m sure of that.

I wish Daili was here, Hani said.

Both Daili and Daili’s apprentice had succumbed to the disease, and none of the twelve of them knew any djarology. Gos had the same problem. He was a farmer’s son, who had left Learners to become an apprentice to the botanist, but she hadn’t lived through the disease; Gos would have to do the best he could. And though he didn’t miss him, like Gos missed Kintji and Hani missed Daili, Kunag wondered why Remag had decided to stay in town.

Maike cut short the discussion by saying that it mattered little how the mountains had gotten there: The problem was crossing them.

The plains between the hills and these mountains had taken them less than a moon to cross. Though seemingly endless, the walking had been easy and the atmosphere relaxed with plenty of time for talking and drawing. Kunag’s legs were no longer tired at night, and collecting water was the easy job – all through the fields they had found small waterholes made by underground springs, invisible between the vegetation. The first one had been discovered by accident when Leyon, who’d been running ahead, had stepped into one and nearly broken his leg. Since then, they had found them everywhere. As far as they could see the water was devoid of life; it was cold and clear, and it had not made them sick.

Marya’s job, making food, was not so easy anymore. The plains were cool, but dry and windy. There was no protection for a fire, unless they dug a little recess in the ground, a job assigned to Doret and Leyon.

Marya had come on the expedition with Nini, but now she spent most of her time with Yako. What exactly his job was, Kunag couldn’t tell. He carried the compass and had Kunag mark the location and the position of the moons on his map every night. The nights were short and hazy, not quite dark, and very few stars were visible anymore. The days were a little longer, with Kun shining like a big yellow ball in the pink sky.

Kun DJar is as close to Kun as it will ever be, Yako explained why it appeared so big. Hopefully it will raise the temperature as well, but at least it gives us plenty of light to walk by.

Under the warm yellow of the star, the bright yellow of the grasses had slowly made way for some other colours and a greater variety of shapes. Each new plant was tested by Gos and Marya before being allowed to go into the prut, which was now their staple. The different Kun DJar foods were all equally tasteless, so it mattered little which of them was used. They no longer had an evening meal and nobody, not even Sinti, complained about the prut, even with the sweetness being reduced now they’d ran out of honey.

Luckily, Sinti never bothered Kunag anymore; all her attention was for Leyon. The two of them were very alike, though Leyon was a lot stronger than he looked and never moaned about the walking, not even when Nini had to treat his feet for being injured by his broken footwear.

Maike had asked how Leyon’s shoes could have worn so fast, but Leyon didn’t tell her he’d been climbing over the rocks near the jelly cave. He seemed to make it a sport to annoy people as soon as camp was set up. He’d been in trouble with Maike more than once already.

Why? Kunag asked, after Leyon had taken a scolding for tying everybody’s shoes together.

It’s just so boring. We get up, we rush to eat, we walk all day, and make camp. No fun.

Why did you come then?

Leyon raised his voice to answer that. "Why do you think? Because they made me. Nobody ever asks me anything: Go to Kun DJar, go on the expedition, carry the logs, build the shelters. It never stops."

He was almost two years younger than Kunag and had not finished Learners. No way. I was out before I was thirteen. Nobody cared anyway. My dad was never home and if he was, he beat me.

Kunag frowned. In his mind was an image of a man waiting for him at the door – his best friend.

So I ran away, Leyon continued. My mother didn’t want me, afraid the inspectors would come after her, so I lived on the streets for a while, first in The City, and later on Southland.

Why didn’t you ask for help? Somebody would have come to stop your dad.

Leyon slowed down his steps. Sure, they would have. I’d have ended up in a home and Dad in the Land Beyond.

But he was hurting you?

Leyon picked up a piece of rock and threw it as far as he could over the field. I got a job in some factory for a while, unregistered, of course, but then they caught me taking tokens from the office and I ended up in a home anyway.

Are you sure you’re not making all this up? Kunag asked.

It wasn’t so great, you know. Rules everywhere. It didn’t get better ‘til SJilai.

So how come you got sent to Kun DJar?

Some kids picked a fight with me. They thought I was easy prey, you know, being small and skinny. Only I wasn’t and one of them burst his skull open when he fell. Then it was all my fault, of course. Anyhow, had it not been for this trip, I’d be in Breberer by now. Leyon threw another rock.

Why did your dad beat you anyway? Kunag asked what was bothering him.

I guess, because he was stuck with me when Mom left and being a worker, being yelled at by his boss, he needed to get it out at the end of the day, and I was the only one there.

Kunag stopped asking. When Leyon threatened to annoy Maike the next day, Kunag quickly pulled him away.

Leyon gave him a push. Who are you, my guardian? I’m just playing. Maike’s all right, he said.

From then on, they’d walked together if Sinti let them.

Now the mountains were within reach, Kunag felt like the tiniest creature ever, looking up at the massive rock wall as he approached it in search of a waterhole very early in the morning.

Much faster than normal, a thick, smooth-edged cloud began moving down from the otherwise cloudless sky, headed for the same mountain pass the expedition was aiming for. It moved soundlessly and independent of the wind. By the time Kunag remembered the beach and Remag, he was already under its spell. As if held constraint, he was compelled to stand there and watch, unable to move, yet aware of what he was seeing and that he should warn the others; aware, also, of the dryness of his throat, the icy cold of his skin, and the noise of his own heartbeat. This was like the fog that could kill with sound and it knew Kunag was there.

It sank to the ground and settled itself there before Kunag felt he was being let go. He swallowed, picked up the empty water container and walked away, backward at first, before turning to run back to the others.

If we all stick together, we can walk through it. It’s still only a cloud, Hani said once they’d all watched it for a while.

"It does not want us there," Kunag said.

He got a whole series of comments for that, from Wolt saying that was ridiculous to Sinti crying because she was scared of it.

As long as we won’t be able to see where we’re going, it’s nonsense to go in, Yako concluded.

Maike agreed and decided to wait for it to lift. It sat on the ground all day. They kept their eyes on it, but it never moved.

What if it comes over us in the night? Saski asked.

I don’t think it will. As long as we respect its boundaries, it will leave us alone, Nini answered. Though everybody looked at her, none said out loud what they had to Kunag.

Maike organized turns for keeping watch overnight; two at a time, three pairs per night. Kunag had the first shift with Wolt. The cloud, now a dark mass against the bare, moonlit mountain, stayed where it was. Kunag tried to make a drawing of it. When the position of the nearest moon indicated that an hour had passed, they woke Yako and Leyon. In the morning, Maike, who’d had the last watch, woke them all with the news that the cloud was moving away.

Maybe it only travels around dawn, Doret suggested.

Over breakfast they discussed what to do. It could come back, but they couldn’t very well stay and wait another day.

We’ll have to be on guard from now on, Maike said. No more vacationing. The rough and wild awaits us.

With that they packed up and walked on, eyes and ears alert. Before them the forbidding wall of the mountain dwarfed their existence. Only Nini was convinced they had been invited in.

The Globular Forest

Once in the mountains, the feeling of stepping into forbidden territory vanished. Behind the bare walls lay valleys of greenery, which weren’t green, full of bushes and trees, though they were not. If anything, they resembled balls – or fruit, maybe. Everything was round, so they called it the Globular Forest, but since nobody had a better term to describe them, they stuck to DJar words for the individual animals and plants, even if some were neither and others were both. Like the bulbs growing upward from a common base were much like plants, but when one of the elongated shapes that clung to it moved on its own accord when Gos tried to pick it off, they called it an animal.

Thus, the mountains were forested, at least at the lower elevations. Some of the ‘trees’ even stood as tall as a person. It made walking a lot harder, as did the continuous rise and fall of the land. Kunag felt heavy again, as if walking through a layer of something thicker than air, but it was neither fog nor clouds. The sky was clear and pink in all directions.

The difficult climb drained their energy and talking was only done at night. That, along with their increased alertness, had them all more easily irritated. They now relied on Yako’s compass, but it didn’t always seem to work. Twice an argument broke out between Yako and one of the others, who insisted that Kun or the moons had come up from a different direction the day before.

Maike was getting fed up with Sinti’s constant shrieks whenever she encountered something