Page 68 of Shadows Approach
Mereta closed his eyes and sank into a meditative state almost immediately. At nearly a hundred and fifty years of age, much of his adult years spent as a Temple of Life priest, it was more accurate to say he deepened the quietness his consciousness resided in. Calm flowed through him and blissful silence filled his mind.
Whatever Nezlo and his team reported, whatever malicious mischief the Bi’isils were up to after five years of quiet, the universe remained indestructible. The knowledge ruled Mereta’s outlook on life and kept him calm, even in the face of calamity. His unwavering steadiness had made him secretary-general when he’d have just as soon retired to teach his disciples on Kalquor. Duty and service were his mandate, however, so Mereta had allowed the approximately two hundred member planets of the Galactic Council to set the burden on his shoulders.
A few minutes later, he left his office. His pace unhurried, Dramok Mereta drifted down a short corridor to the conference room in his professional suite. Its door was open, but he heard no sound of conversation. Odd.
He entered the room. He’d traveled several steps before he noticed the myriad aliens awaiting him. Or rather, the strange, dark shadows sitting upon their shoulders, arms or tentacles ringing the inspection team’s necks.
The door shut behind him. Tulbayn’s trill of a voice called from behind him. “Door, lock.”
Mereta swiveled, his official white robes whispering on the soft carpet. Tulbayn’s eyes, emerald to match her fur, gazed at him from a few feet away. Her kindly features wore cold dislike, almost making her unrecognizable.
A dark blob of shadow clung to her.
“Tulbayn, you aren’t yourself,” Mereta said. His gaze swept the rest of the group, the inspection team. “None of you are. Is this Bi’is’ doing?”
“You see.” Commader Nezlo, stood, encased in their protective exosuit. It sealed the Alneusian aquatic resident in seawater. A shadow was inside and outside, somehow present in both places.
“I do.” His peripheral vision seemed more detailed than when he peered directly at the strange dark shapes clinging to his visitors. He had an impression of scaled skin, studded by many eyes. “Do I address sentient creatures or controlled parasites?”
“Parasites!” a Beonid shouted as expressions of rage filled their myriad faces.
“A better word failed to come to mind. Obviously, you are intelligent entities. What is your reason for coming here? For summoning me?”
“He sees us. He isn’t phased, but he sees us.” Nezlo’s bulbous eyes, murky in the water he peered from, riveted on him. “It is not good.”
Mereta was suddenly aware of movement at his feet. He glanced down to spy a bulbous shadow sporting multiple tentacles dashing up his robe. A dart of instinctive shock jolted his chest, and he attempted to brush the creature off. His hand passed through it without any sensation of contact. Nor did he feel it tugging on his robes.
“I take this as an act of hostility,” he advised them as he continued to try to push the climbing creature away, as it continued to climb to his abdomen, then his chest. “I shall resist—”
It scurried up and over his shoulder. Then darkness rose, deleting Mereta’s sight and hearing.
But not his consciousness. He was in that place he knew so well, an inner space where peaceful bliss reigned.
It would seem I’ve been overtaken.He detected a note of fear threading the darkness and contemplated it until it faded.
Death comes to us all, sooner or later. The creature has my body. A portion of my brain as well, as they used the others to communicate. Ah, poor Tulbayn, they did this to you as well. I shall consider this unforeseen situation and determine if there’s anything I can do about it.
I am one with All.
The All hear you.A distant call. The collected atoms of the All’s greatness in the conference room felt the separation keenly. They strengthened their bonds with each other, and the call was louder.You have control over this Mereta.
I do.A hesitation.I…there is a portion of its mind closed to this piece of All.
A shudder ran through the assembled. Separation was an abomination.
It sees us yet doesn’t enter between dimensions.
Another of the atoms asked,shall we perform tests to discover the source of the interloper’s ability?
There was a lengthy pause.The Mereta is of too much importance as our emissary. You can control it? It is in a position of great power, beyond the reach of its own source. The All requires it do as we command.
I have possession. Only the small section eludes me…but it doesn’t prohibit me from the knowledge this unit(another shudder)contains.
It is good. By controlling this unit, we have access to the many species of this dimension. We will learn of them. We will stop them. They’ll pay for their desecration of our home.
It is good. I’ll first learn of those leaders we must control in this collection of units. Then we may destroy them.
After we have them destroy Kalquor, the poison source infecting our realm. Then the rest, so our home remains pure.