The Inhabitants

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. It wasn't true for The Inhabitants, of course, it was just the simple fact that screams had never been a necessary emotion or reaction- nor an instinctual behaviour. Until The TimeKeepers had arrived, that is, and with them, their screams, fear, violence and lust for upheaval.

On Boronaboron, 'time' did not exist. It had been an idea thought up and used by The Timekeepers, an illusion and an incompetently perceived reality that fueled their desire for a 'future' that blatantly ignored their present.

The Inhabitants of Boronaboron took notice only of Sky and it was by Sky that everything flowed and continued, as it were.

A looping cycle of dark and light, both treated equally, enjoyed the same. There was neither an end to the day nor the start of a new one.

The planet flourished, a reason and a place for everyone and everything, each being contributing seamlessly and co-existing in a perfectly balanced ecosystem. There was no preference for the Inhabitants, everything on the planet was equal and served a purpose. But all of that had changed with the arrival of The Timekeepers.

Over BroadCast, The Inhabitants had watched The TimeKeepers' reckless and destructive behaviour on their home planet. They had watched the improper use and invasions of lands, the never-ending wars, battles and carnage. They had watched as the waters dried up, the air became dark and polluted and red acid rain poured down.

They watched the massacres of trillions of beings, on the land and in the oceans, in the mountains and the forests, the deserts and the frozen lands. The TimeKeepers had tipped the precarious balance of their biodiverse planet and continued to do so, mindlessly driven by greed and conflict. They were uncivilised, dangerous creatures, ruled by emotion and persuaded only by power and fear.

Finally, The Inhabitants watched the planet burn and they turned away.

Several of The TimeKeepers' evacuation spacecraft had managed to reach the atmosphere of Boronaboron, thousands of Galaxies away from their burning planet. By accident or sheer luck, they had navigated safe passage through the holes in deep Sky, travelling unimaginable distances- something they had never been able to do before.

Most of the other TimeKeepers and their evacuation spacecraft had perished. The billions that were abandoned on the burning planet had plunged almost immediately into the dark pit of extinction.

The surviving TimeKeepers traversing the atmosphere of Boronaboran had been intercepted and brought in for refuge by The Inhabitants, but instead of gratitude and peace, they had brought violence and chaos which had not been tolerated.

The Inhabitants had come to the conclusion, that in order to change The TimeKeepers' behaviour, they must erase their history.

****

Sien looked out the window at the spectacular pink, blue and bronze-coloured Sky, the horizon shimmered and glistened, and perfect white cirrostratus clouds hung veiled across the reflective atmosphere.

A sense of pride glowed inside her and she collected her bags and set out during light. She nodded her head as she passed a group of TimeKeepers working in a small corn field and they waved in response. She walked confidently, not fatigued by her rapid and ever-growing belly.

BroadCast pods moved silently and carefully throughout the air, tiny machines with powerful inverters, harnessing power from the elements and feeding it wirelessly into each home and building, carrying messages instantaneously, providing vision and information and constantly monitoring the environment- the technology of infinite capabilities. Sky was abundant with flocks of birds, undisturbed by the pods. Technology and nature existed together, neither harming nor disturbing the other.

Sien walked through rich green rainforests, lush and vibrant with life of all forms. She reached the village and walking down the rows of produce, she found her mate, Gillidith. He put his forehead against hers and he pressed his hand gently against her belly.

Speaking silently he said, "My beautiful."

Sien heard it only in her mind.

"My love," Sien responded, and Gillidith smiled, full of love and admiration for his mate; his breathtakingly beautiful eyes glistened and reflected Sky, a bronze-green horizon of light. Sien entwined her fingers through his and glanced down at their table of remaining produce, consisting of soybeans, wheat and corn, each vibrant in colour and grown in the natural rich soils of their lands.

"All of the greens have been traded. We have some blankets and fruit," Gillidith said, gesturing behind him.

Sien smiled, "I will take them home and prepare them."

****

ARIDAM

Aridam watched The Inhabitant walk past him and his crew, along the path towards the rainforest. Such emotionless, strange creatures, he thought, and he wished he could say it out loud but he feared the threat of being 'removed'. As passive as the Inhabitants were, no one knew what happened or where one went when they had been removed- they were gone and never seen again. All of The TimeKeepers were fitted with wrist implants that tracked their movements for safety precautions, and BroadCast naturally monitored every part of Boronaboron.

Aridam continued to watch The Inhabitant and he became intrigued. She was attractive, in a strange way. She was sinewy and muscular in an almost animalistic manner. Her skin was a light shimmering bronze and her body was shapely and similar to the female TimeKeepers. Her nose was almost flat against her face, ears larger and pointed, constantly alert. Her eyes were naturally wide, like a deer. Her brilliantly coloured eyes took in the scenery vigilantly, though without fear, from underneath dark, thick eyelashes that blinked slowly, at a rate much different to his own.

Her barefoot gait was free yet faultless. She wore minimal covering (as did all of The Inhabitants) and her body appeared smooth and hairless, except for her oval-shaped head with dark, thick hair cascading over her shoulders and reaching her waist. He watched her closely, aware of a stirring in the pit of his stomach. His gaze fell to her swollen belly, wondering when her baby would be born. He couldn't help but notice her breasts were large and full.

Aridam felt his face flush and he returned his attention to the corn fields. Time didn't matter to The Inhabitants, and he still couldn't quite wrap his mind around that fact. It was easier for the Boronaboron planet-born to understand because that's all they had ever known. They hadn't grown up in a world where time was everything.

Money, power, life.

Those things seemed so distant now, another world away. Aridam laughed to himself at the reality of that statement.

The Inhabitants weren't interested in money and power and there was no hierarchy; those things didn't exist in this world.

They're like ants, Aridam thought, all working together wordlessly, for the greater good- whatever that was.

Aridam wasn't Boronaboron planet-born so he had some scattered memories of his planet and the evacuation. He was only a child when news started to come across the television and the internet, but he, like most people, had ignored it. He remembered his mother saying, "It won't happen in our lifetime, don't worry about it, Ari."

The planet was heating up, the news reporters had said, if we don't act now, we will be gone by 2055. Fish had started to wash up on beaches in the thousands and parts of the world were inundated by hot acid rain. Birds dropped from the skies and fires had started to spread across the planet, but it wasn't until power was cut that the world descended into pandemonium. Riots, major civil unrest, martial law and finally anarchy.

It was plain as day that the world was dying at that point and there was no way to stop it. They'd left it too late. Only some were selected for evacuation- the elite who had bought their way onto evacuation vessels, those high up in Government and Military, NASA, scientists and people who were some of the most intelligent and innovative in the world, and a young mix of children with exceptional minds and good genes. Breeders, they'd called them.

But for all the planning that went into the evacuation and trying to find safety, nothing could prepare them for the fact they would be intercepted and end up on an already inhabited Boronaboron by a species who were exceedingly superior to their own.

Aridam had only been young and didn't understand why he had been selected for evacuation, and he couldn't comprehend having to leave his parents behind. He'd been seized by military personnel and injected with sedatives, while the world around him burned. His parents, sobbing desperately, had convinced him to go with them.

Aridam remembered hearing his usually proud and stoic father pleading for mercy from the soldiers. He recalled the terrifying sounds of the gunshots ringing out as he struggled to fight the tight grip of the soldiers and the potent sedatives. At the time, he had not understood what his father had meant. It was now something that plagued his restless nights and haunted his dreams.

Aridam had woken up much later to find himself on the evacuation vessel and he'd sobbed deeply at the loss of his parents.

"You're lucky kid, don't cry. You must be gifted," a glamourous and well-dressed lady sitting near him had said, her eyes glazed and dreamy. But Aridam had not felt lucky.

****

SIEN

Opening the door to her home, Sien carried in the bags of produce and blankets. The Inhabitants traded constantly with one another. It was their way of life and it worked well. Without money or hierarchy, there was no reason for disordinance or civil disobedience. This way of living was bred into them, and it was the way it had always been.

Sien folded the blankets and left them in Sky room, a space in the house made up of only thick windows, designed for The Inhabitants to sleep comfortably underneath Sky. She placed the traded fruit into the large life-compartment. Cool air drifted out as she looked down at the plants, berries, nuts and fruits of all varieties and colours.

Sien felt a sudden jolt, low in her pelvis, but she did not cry out. "BroadCast, alert Gillidith," she instructed calmly.

A short time later, Gillidith entered their home to find Sien sitting in the washroom. She hummed and sang and rubbed her belly. She smiled as he entered the room, and he sat on the floor with her, reaching out for her hand.

"He's ready," Sien said, "I can hear him. He is beginning to journey."

Gillidith held her protectively and put his ear to her belly, "I hear him too," he said and he pressed his forehead against Sien's affectionately.

Light turned slowly into dark, but neither Sien nor Gillidith noticed. BroadCast automatically turned on dim lights and cooling in the house, as Sien laboured on and on. She grunted quietly, her breath quickening with each contraction.

Gillidith remained by her side, holding her hand as they both sang and hummed to their offspring, encouraging him to travel from womb to planet. Sien panted and paced quietly, like an animal. It was not in their nature to show or act on pain.

Dark slowly crept into light again, and Sien, dripping with sweat, finally brought her baby up onto her chest, sighing in relief as Gillidith held them both, covered in the fluids of her labour. He wrapped them both in blankets of pure cotton and brought them out to Sky room, settling them on the bed and packing Sien for bleeding.

Lying together, Sien looked up at Sky dreamily, never quite believing how beautiful it was. "Look, baby. Look up at the wonder that is Sky."

Gillidith was overwhelmed with pride and love as he held his mate and his offspring. They fell asleep together, the baby suckling from his mother, snuggled up warm against their bare chests.

****

ARIDAM

Working in the field of corn with his crew, made up of mostly older TimeKeepers, Aridam glanced over his shoulder now and then. He hadn't seen the pregnant Inhabitant for a while. It disturbed him slightly that he was thinking about her but he brushed it aside and blamed it on his still-young, inquisitive mind. He calculated his age to be somewhere in the early twenties but he wasn't completely sure.

The Inhabitants were unusual, but he had begun to feel strong respect for them. Deep down, he was aware of a desire to belong and an unshakeable feeling of a dark, shameful loss.

Why had things been done the way they were on their planet in the old times? Why did he come from a lineage so hell-bent on destruction and violence? He remembered studying history in school on his own planet and questioning why they'd had such a dark and gruesome past.

Aridam remembered when there had been so much for him to do. Gaming, going to school, seeing friends, playing sports, studying. Farming fruits and vegetables weren't something he had ever done or wanted to do, but now it took up all of his days.

"Not days," he muttered to himself, but it would take him a lifetime to let the unwavering memory of time go.

"What's up Ari?" asked the crew leader. Aridam laughed and took a swig from his water canister. The water on Boronaboron, or planet B as they called it for short, was the purest he had ever tasted.

"I was just thinking about days." After a pause, the entire crew began to laugh, each with their memories and experiences, incredulous that such a simple statement had so much meaning behind it. The humour was contagious and they laughed until they were breathless, relieved at the release of pent-up frustrations and energy.

"What are days?" questioned a young boy, a TimeKeeper born on Boronaboron, commonly referred to as a planet baby. The workers continued to laugh.

"Don't you worry about it boy, it doesn't mean anything here." Laughed the crew leader.

"Is it a human thing?" The young boy asked and his innocent yet deadly use of the word cut through the air like a knife.

The crew froze, their laughter silenced abruptly as they stared at the young worker in disbelief.

The TimeKeepers were free to discuss most things, including their perception of time, but the use of the word human was far too intertwined with the brutality and history associated with their actions and their arrival. To The Inhabitants, it was more than an insult of the worst kind, it was an act of passing on their history and violence through storytelling and thus keeping it alive. The repercussion was immediate removal.

"Don't speak," warned Aridam immediately, his body filled with dread and he knew it was already too late.

Who had spoken that damned forbidden word in front of this boy? He shouldn't even know of its existence. Aridam silently seethed. Clenching his jaw and looking around, he was aware of ever-present BroadCast, in and amongst them. An artificial intelligence communications and monitoring tool, the pods were like a supercharged version of the information and communications tool they'd had on their planet, the internet.

The boy's wrist implant began to flash and he stared down at it in horror. Stunned, he placed his hand over his mouth, as if to take back the damage that had already been done.

"What's happening?" the boy stammered.

"You've been flagged son," said the crew leader. He took off his hat and scratched his head, staring at the ground with deep remorse and regret. It was something that didn't often happen anymore and they all knew there was nothing they could do.

Aridam felt pity give way to unease. He'd been sure that the word had died out, along with Earth. This must mean that there was disobedience going on somewhere amongst them, he realised, and that had never ended well. His stomach churned at the thought.

All they could do now was follow the ordinance and remain as calm as possible. All crew members turned their backs on the boy and lined up in a row, standing close to one another. Aridam could hear the rapid breathing of his fellow workers, the acceptance and sorrow hung heavily in the air.

The boy would be removed and no one would ever see him again. They heard the rumble of a BroadCast vessel approaching immediately, and the boy cried out and stumbled desperately towards the line of workers, seeking protection.

"Help!" The boy screamed, "Help me, please!"

But the workers remained silent, keeping their place in the line and remaining still, facing Sky. They were not permitted to turn around and they knew it. Next to Aridam, a worker trembled and involuntarily gagged, fighting the urge to vomit. Aridam focused on Sky. Finally, the gut-wrenching screams had faded and the vessel had quietly rumbled away.

****

During the dark, lying in his bed, Aridam could not sleep. He had a small, modest home, one of many that had been built by both The Inhabitants and The TimeKeepers when he had become an adult- or fully grown according to The Inhabitants. Most, however, chose to stay on in the larger buildings surrounded by other TimeKeepers. They were communal living areas and he assumed they felt safer among their own. Aridam preferred to be alone.

His mind replayed the horrific scene from the corn fields over and over. The boy had been dead the minute he'd spoken the word but it had not been his fault. In fairness, The Inhabitants did not expect much from The TimeKeepers, and they had been incredibly generous- not only providing safety on their planet after the chaotic arrival but allowing The TimeKeepers the freedom to set up homes and families, farm their own crops, live, work and trade amongst them. There were very few rules but the ones that were in place were non-negotiable. It had been that way from the beginning.

His mind drifted back to the devastating and terrible memory he had of their arrival to the atmosphere of Boronaboron. The fear amongst them had been contagious, and as a young child watching on in horror, he had never seen adults so out of control.

Hundreds had been crowded inside the evacuation vessel, and group hysteria had broken out. Military personnel held guns at people as they descended into madness and fear. The fear was palpable, even in the eyes of the soldiers.

They'd somehow travelled through a wormhole and even the top scientists had no idea where they were. He had been aware of a strange sensation as if he had been stretched and wrung out before being jammed by time and space back into his body. It had been surreal. Aridam recalled putting his hands over his ears and trying to shut out the mayhem, but it had only escalated.

The mental and physical effects of travelling through the wormhole had sent some people over the edge, and they screamed endlessly in terror, some banging their heads against the walls until there was nothing left but a bloodied mess of brain matter, their bodies finally dropping to the ground. Collective nausea among them had been terrible, and many people were retching uncontrollably, some spewing blood and what appeared to be internal tissue. Many people lost consciousness and were trampled over by the others. It was at this point that Aridam had climbed through the mess of tangled bodies and blood until he reached the back wall of the spacecraft, where the youngest children had been secured. Crouching down amidst the infants' screaming in their capsules, he had put his head on his knees, trying to block it all out.

Dragging his mind back to the present, Aridam called out "BroadCast, play music," attempting to distract his mind and allow him to sleep. He hated thinking about the arrival. And true to the rules, he never spoke about it.

But he could not stop thinking about how the young boy had come to hear of the prohibited word. The actions of those going against the rules would reflect on them all if it was to continue, and the repercussions would continue to be deadly. Surely enough damage had already been done.

Aridam climbed out of bed and walked to the nearest window. He could see in the distance that some of The Inhabitants were farming. Light or dark- it didn't bother them. Sky glowed and shimmered with glistening stars and spectacular colours merging into each other. It was a beautiful place, he thought to himself. Was it worth losing just so they could hold onto their pasts? He sat and stared at Sky until it began to lighten, and finally, he returned to bed, resolute and determined to put a stop to the threat which lurked from among his own people.