Act - 1 - Revolution - Chapter 2
The Alliance
Chapter 2
Earth
Leaning against the evenly spaced bamboo posts that make up one of his thatched-roof hut’s walls, David repeats Adam’s words over and over again in his head. “We overthrow him tomorrow. With or without you. We overthrow him tomorrow. With or without you.” He gazes through his square home’s two-inch gaps in bamboo as Lrence extinguishes one of the central village torches at the base of Chief’s throne. Piercingly, Adam’s wail fills their quiet village with the unmistakable cry of grief. David’s emotions swell and his throat spasms, unable to shake the image of Gaea’s face from his head. Again, recollecting his uncle’s near-violent confrontation with Ezekil’s brother, the fourteen-year-old is anxious to make sure everyone is still on good terms. He quietly asks, “Raji—?”
David’s uncle nervously darts around their dwelling. He shovels materials into his medium-sized canvas sack and interrupts his nephew, “Shh! You don’t know who could be listening.” The forty-eight-year-old steals a look from behind the tanned leather tarp hanging loosely from his hut’s front entrance. Positive that the village’s single patrolling guard was paying his home no mind, he whispers intently, “Let’s go.”
Following his uncle to the back-left corner of their hut, David asks through a hush, “Where are we going?”
Turning to his nephew, Raji deploys a single index finger over his own mouth. Crouching to face the wall again, he lowers the loaded bag’s strap onto his shoulder. Removing several sections of bamboo, the hunter reveals a three-foot-by-three-foot passage. “C’mon,” whispers Raji before diving through his hut’s newly exposed exit.
David kneels suspiciously.
A moment later, from somewhere in the dense, dark jungle, the boar hunter warns succinctly, “We don’t have a lot of time.”
David, probably against his own best interest, decides to crawl through his hut’s secondary exit directly into the rainforest. Dissolving into the night through several layers of lush-feeling foliage, the boy finally reaches his waiting uncle.
Urgently, Raji pulls David to his side. Despite Adam’s continuingly distant cries, he calmly reminds his nephew, "Sssshhhhhh."
Pushing densely leafed branches aside, Raji silently leads the way toward a destination known only to him. Both deserters cast their gazes through the darkness, knowing full well that they would be immediately executed if they were discovered outside of their village. The further David travels from his village, the less familiar he becomes with his surroundings. As he passes the line of trees that mark the edge of his village’s gathering grounds, he thinks, "Where are we going? I hope my uncle knows what he’s doing." A patch of rustling leaves startles Raji, who grabs his nephew by the arm and braces them both against a massive tree trunk. For several moments, David feels moist tree bark press against his skin. He notices he is no longer able to hear Adam’s wail and wonders to himself, "Is any of this worth it?"
Sensing trepidation, Raji asks, “You ready?”
Refusing to turn back without answers, the fourteen-year-old confidently decides to continue. Following a fearful gulp, he says, “After you.”
“Good.” Resuming his path into the night, Raji’s pace hastens. As tiny twigs snap beneath his feet, he whispers, “We’re late.”
Staying tight to his uncle, David asks, “Late for what?”
“It’s just through this clearing up here.”
Secretly desiring to turn back with every step, David’s fear of Annunaki abduction overwhelms him. Immediately upon arrival at the grass-covered clearing that Raji had been leading them to, the fourteen-year-old freezes. He discovers that a terrifying, occupied, full-body, canvas-beige Annunaki Earth suit, complete with a sidearm, was already waiting for them.
Attempting to flee into the jungle due to fear, the adolescent throws his hips and pivots. Intercepting David’s path back into the lush abyss of the jungle, Raji hooks his nephew’s bicep. He exclaims, "Whoa there! We’re all friends here."
Unsuccessfully tugging at his immobile uncle, David attempts to spin out of his grasp. In as biting a tone as he can spew, the boy leans close to issue a hushed warning. “Raji, that is an Annunaki!”
Pulling his nephew closer, Raji interjects, “That is your father.”
“My who?” asks the butcher, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“I know you’re scared, David, but you’re going to want to hear what he has to say.” A confused look fades across the boy’s face before Raji winks, “Trust me.”
Nervously complying, the boy shuffles toward a horrifying silhouette. It stands easily taller than the strange seven-foot doorway enveloped in darkness behind it. As he approaches, David sees amber light pouring out of the interior space. It bounces off the moist black rock formations that encase the odd entry. Extending his glove for a handshake, the tall, thin Annunaki greets the adolescent human. In an exceptionally deep voice, he says, “Nice to finally meet you, s-s-s-son.”
Wrapped in green-tinted glass, the tall canvas suit’s angular helmet is the first thing David takes note of. Breathing valves audibly actuate in coordination with the nearly eight-foot-tall occupant’s chest expansions and contractions. The fourteen-year-old uneasily takes his first Annunaki hand to shake it up and down. He hesitantly mutters, “Um-m-yea. Nice to meet you too.” To the butcher’s young eyes, the body-length garment is a cornucopia of harmless fabric and metal. After grabbing the glove, he feels that the long, slender appendage within is more bone than flesh. Its foreign nature causes him to rudely retract his hand before searching the Annunaki’s helmet visor for what he hopes will be calming eye contact. Instead, David finds a pupil cutting vertically through a yellow sclera. As its horizontally closing lid shuts, the boy is overwhelmed with fear. Stepping back, he stutters, “You’re—you’re…”
“Reptilian?” His voice cavernous, the alien claiming to be David’s father finishes his supposed son’s terror-interrupted thought. “Yes, the Annunaki are a reptilian race.”
David rifles his gaze through the darkness surrounding them, fearful that they have been inadvertently led into a trap. Resting a reassuring hand on the teenager’s shoulder, Raji says, “I’m sure we don’t have all night. Why don’t you just come inside and hear us out?”
“My name is Isten.” Placing a hand on his suit’s chest, the Annunaki assures, “I promise you both will be safe if you just come inside the bunker. Out in the open, I cannot provide you such guarantees.”
“Bunker?” Stretching the room’s edges behind Isten, a long, low metal table waits for a meeting. As the amber light illuminating it spills into the steamy night, David cautiously shrugs, “I don’t know, man. You go first.”