Chapter VII of Lands Beyond

     The commander was waiting for me at my cabin when I arrived later. He carried a small leather pouch which appeared to be stuffed full. I glanced at it curiously. He smiled and held the door open for me, following me inside. I sat down on the couch and waited to see what he was doing here. It did not take long.

     Leuven sat down next to me and began to pull books out of his bag. He sorted through them until he found the one he wanted. It was like a child’s picture book, only bigger. It had a picture for nearly everything, with a word next to it. He pointed to one of the words and said it slowly and clearly. I repeated it back to him, careful to get the pronunciation just right.

     I had already learned a little bit about the language from my ship, so I was able to understand it fairly well. The syntax was different from English, but it went together in an understandable fashion. I suppose the best way to describe it would be archaic. If translated directly, with no concessions for modern usage, it would sound very old fashioned.

     The commander seemed determined for me to learn as much as possible in one sitting. There was no way I could remember that many words at once. When I saw that he would not stop unless I did something, I closed the book and shook my head. He frowned and reopened it. I closed it again, more firmly this time. This time, he got the message.

     He stood and bowed slightly before leaving the cabin. I went and lay down on the bed, my head swimming with all of the new words that I had learned that day. I fell asleep rehearsing them in my mind.

     Commander Makkedah came often, staying for several hours as he taught me his language. Sometimes we walked around the ship and talked to a few people here and there. Whenever we needed to talk about something that was beyond my grasp, we went to my shuttle.

     With such a persistent and thorough teacher, it did not take long for me to become fairly fluent. In the process, I managed to teach him some English. He claimed that it was a difficult and backwards language. I laughed and told him that everyone thought so when they first learned it.

     By the time we reached his home planet, we were on a friendly footing. I had learned much about him, some of which he did not know that I knew. It would take a very long time before I knew everything about him, and perhaps not even then, for he was a very complex and puzzling man. From a few of his comments, I gathered that he thought the same thing about me.

     When we reached the planet, Leuven escorted me to a viewing window so that I could see it. I have seen Earth from space before, but there was something about this planet that drew me to it. I stared in rapt amazement until a touch on my arm drew me back to reality.

     “What do you think of it?”

     “I love it. I have never seen anything so beautiful before. What is its name?”

     Leuven looked out the window, a gentle smile playing across his face. “It is commonly called Hespides, but we who live there call it Adena.”

     “A beautiful name for a beautiful world.”

     “Yes it is. Wait until you see it up close on the ground. You only think you love it now. When you see it up close, you really will fall in love with it.”

     I did not doubt him for an instant.

     It turned out that I did not get to see anything of the planet for several days. The ruler of Adena was a suspicious man and believed my story to be a preposterous tale. I had to tell my story to five people, at different times and under severe questioning. When they finally decided that I must be telling the truth, they released me into the care of Commander Makkedah.

     We were not allowed to go far, and were under surveillance the entire time, but he did show me several landmarks and other sites that proved his claim. I fell in love with Adena at first glance.

     My shuttle was left aboard the Burning Starlight. The commander forbade anyone to go near it and a guard was posted to make sure his order was followed. Even I was not allowed to go near it. Of course, if it had been up to Leuven, I could have gone anytime I wished.

     This order was from the ruler, who was still suspicious of me and feared that I would attempt to escape. His fears were not entirely ungrounded, as I later confessed to Leuven. Even though I was treated as a guest for the most part, I was still a prisoner, and felt like one too. I might have tried to escape if they had been less than courteous.

     As it was, however, the novelty and excitement were enough to keep me satisfied. The fine company was a plus. (Leuven stuttered slightly when I told him this. I loved catching him off guard.)