Meltdown Ophilion - Book One

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When they had finally given them back and the six individuals in the lounge were once again wearing their necklaces, the atmosphere, they noticed, was quite different. The young people felt that they were part of the Antarious now – linked to her energy – linked to the Merenthaal.

"I'll bet that by now you are ready to ask some of the questions that have been on your minds." Maria smiled, crossed her legs and leaned back comfortably on the couch. "Don't worry," she said in a casual tone, "we have all the time in the world."

A few seconds of silence elapsed and, with eyes intense and searching, Celli spoke. "Are we really here?" She asked sincerely.

Arthur and Maria turned to look at each other, then burst into laughter. The young Ophilion were shocked, but the agents couldn't have helped it if they had tried, Celli's question was so unexpected. Their laughter however loosened the young people's nerves and they chuckled uncertainly with them.

"Are we really here?" Arthur repeated the question still laughing and leaned forward, taking the poor girl's hand for a few seconds in his, squeezing it reassuringly as he chuckled. "Are we really here?" He turned his head to look at his attractive companion. "Are we?" He looked back to the Ophilion. "Are you? You're really not sure, or you wouldn't have vocalized that thought." He smiled at their youngest member. "I don't blame you, Celli. This must be hard for your physical senses to calibrate."

"Give it a few calah and I think you will begin to mesh with your new reality," Maria said. "Give it some time."

"Calah?" Orion asked.

Maria nodded. "We need you to stay here with us for a while if you are going to work with us in the final phase, and the next phase."

The young Ophilion glanced at each other.

"You don't have to decide right away." Maria told them. "In any case, It's your choice, entirely. For now, we want to see what's on your minds – we want to answer the questions you have; this is your chance."

The floor was open. They sat in silence for a few seconds while the Ophilion pondered. "What kind of a ship is this?" Fel asked. As mystical as this all was, the mechanic had to know more about the ship.

"Ah! I was hoping someone would ask." Arthur said. "This ship belongs to a class called the Caltinar, also called Nomad. It's a mid-sized reconnaissance vessel. It's been our home away from home on many missions. If you decide to stay, we'll take you on a tour."

"Where is... home?'" Jenna asked.

"Home." Maria repeated, and there seemed to me a melancholic note in her intonation. "Home is eight thousand nine hundred sixty-five umnahls from here. Through the galaxy hub. It's a planet not so different from yours. It's called Terra, or Earth. Our homestar is smaller and we have fewer planets – nine."

"Eight," Arthur corrected her.

Maria smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Nine." She narrowed her eyes. "There's nothing poetic about eight."

Arthur quickly relented. "We have nine planets," he informed the young people, and winked at them. This seemed to be one of those long-standing arguments that they had yet to resolve.

"And only ours is habitable," Maria concluded. "On Terra we experienced something similar to what is happening right now on Ophilion: great technological advancements at a great cost to our civilization. The balance of nature on Terra was slowly tipped to such a degree that we would have annihilated ourselves if it were not for the intervention of the Merenthaal. That happened about one thousand cenro ago."

The young people sat wide-eyed as the dimensional agents began to divulge their secrets. "Arthur and I lived mortal lives at that period of our history." Jenna glimpsed in Maria's eyes difficult memories connected with that time. "The fact that we survived that crucial juncture gave us the understanding and ability to serve in similar situations. Unless you've lived it – you can't properly understand it."