Taboo Descendants and the Multi-Dimensional War

“It all began when our diplomatic task force accepted the duty of recruiting new members to the galactic union and ensuring that those members had no issues becoming acclimated to the laws and customs of our amalgamated society,” said Jules, looking up at the ceiling as if pulling his thoughts from midair.

I followed his gaze and saw that the ceiling had become a starry landscape with a large green and blue planet in the background and cylindrical shaped spaceship in the foreground. Though I knew the image to be a display, I became transfixed with the beauty of the scene before me.

I also felt fearful. Here lay further confirmation that my hosts originated in outer-space.

I welcomed the fact that Iris did not have long-distance control over my emotions. I acknowledged my fear as a healthy response to this overwhelming information. If Iris would have been there, she would have been on me like a presynaptic neuron on a postsynaptic neuron with her uncanny sense of personal perception.

I wondered what official job title she held on the submarine. She possessed too much talent to be just my babysitter and Rahim’s twin sister.

Like the loser in a game of musical chairs, I noticed too late that the constant sound I had been listening to, Jules’ voice, had stopped.

He stared at me intensely. Though I had not broken eye contact with him, I assumed my eyes had glazed over when I began to mentally drift off.

He did not look perturbed. As an intelligent man, he perceived the unvoiced confusion which led to my distraction.

“I apologize, Kaya,” Jules said with a smile. “I am getting ahead of myself. I tend to do that from time to time. Please, feel free to voice your concerns whenever they arise. It’s imperative that you both accept and understand all the information I have to present to you.”

I nodded. I figured it best not to speak. I did not want to dig myself another ditch before getting out of this one first.

He looked down at the moving figures that had appeared mysteriously on the table between us before he had begun briefing me. These three dimensional projections as well as the model of space above existed as a testament to the superior computer graphics aboard the submarine.

My gaze followed his once more. The figures stood a fraction of the size of the individuals they portrayed. Their movements slight, they seemed oblivious to our presence.

Of course they are. They’re not real, Kaya! Get a grip.

“Let us begin with a roll call of sorts, shall we?” Jules suggested.

I nodded again.

“I will give you both the Tepon and Earth names of each individual. The Tepon names are the names that we were assigned at birth by our parents before they bestowed us with their life force. The Earth names are ones we have chosen to complement the physical identities that we selected in order to blend in here on your planet.

Chosen names? Selected identities? The rabbit hole only grows darker and deeper with each passing moment.

“Wait!” I cried.

“Yes,” he answered.

“I won’t be able to return to my former life, will I?”

“No, I’m afraid not. If you return you will be imprisoned for your mother’s death and son’s kidnapping. No one will believe the truth.”

“You’re probably right about that.”

“If you are not imprisoned quickly, the other aliens will hunt you down first. By now, they suspect what you are, as do we.”

“And what is that?”

“We don’t want to say just yet. Further testing is needed.”

“Okay.”

“I give you my word that all will be revealed to you in due time. Shall I continue?” He smiled and waved his hands over three dimensional projections.

“Yes, of course.”

“You will be meeting all of these individual soon, so I want to familiarize you with their names and occupations. They are my staff and trusted colleagues.

“To my far right,” I looked at the leftmost figure, “is Niyeqo Veex. On Earth, she goes by the name Tala. She is our navigator, to say the least. She is also responsible for every technical aspect of Qego Mouyo. She handles all inbound and outbound communications and she is fluent in over a million languages.”

How on Earth could she know them all? I questioned myself. I did not even know that many languages existed. Maybe she uses a computer program, I rationalized.

“Needless to say,” Rahim continued, “We would be in horrible shape without her.”

I looked at this person named Tala Niyeqo. She had a funny sort of grin on her face, like she had something hilarious going on inside her head that no one else was privy to hear. Physically, her stunning body and radiant eyes stole one’s breath away.

She had a slender build and comparing her representative figure to that of Rahim and Iris, her height appeared slightly below average for a female. She stood a head shorter than Iris with the face of a Polynesian princess having soft, feminine features. Her round, almond-shaped eyes shone in a shade of hazel. Her hair flowed long, wavy, thick and dark down her back.

“The next individual on our list is Jtokki Veex. Her chosen Earth name is Inga.

“She’s an agricultural specialist as well as our medic, chef, and nutritionist. She knows every type of flora and fauna that exists on any planet once she’s retrieved enough data.

She can make anything grow and she knows exactly how to prepare food in order to maximize nutritional value. Everything she makes is delicious and serves a greater dietary purpose. She prepared your breakfast.”

I made a mental note to thank her when she and I met. In addition to being absolutely beautiful, she emanated the epitomical essence of bittersweet. Though I had never met her before, she appeared to be the type of woman who dealt in tough love. Though her teeth sparkled through a wide grin, dimples indenting each cheek, he eyes peered ice cold and gray into their intended target.

Inga, with her childlike features, had the appearance of a living porcelain doll even as a computer-generated image. Not as short as Tala, she had a baby face with full cheeks, platinum blond hair, and icy gray eyes. Her irises appeared to contain a blizzard within them.

“Next to Inga, we have Seqono Veex,” he said, continuing his roll call. “On Earth, she is referred to as Kachina. She is the academic might of the fleet specializing in anthropology, sociology, and history, but her general knowledge base expands across the board. Whenever we prepare for a journey, Kachina compiles a report on our destination. The information she gives us is invaluable to the success of our mission.”

Kachina looked like an intelligent and responsible woman resembling Pocahontas with jet black, bone straight, raven-colored hair that brushed the curve of her lower back. She rubbed her rounded chin softly and looked deep in thought as if pondering some great problem. Her thick-rimmed glasses sat neatly on the end of her nose.

“When we arrive on a new planet, she researches all available avenues of information and determines what we need to know to survive politically, socially, psychologically, and physically during our visit,” Jules continued. “Naturally, she spends a considerable amount of time with both Inga and Tala. They work seamlessly with one another. She also helps Iris and myself when we need to find someone truly illusive.

Again, I thought, What about my son?

“This last journey was as bit unexpected. Consequently, Kachina was not able to retrieve a substantial amount of information prior to our arrival. Though she is usually bubbly and full of energy, lately she has been quite subdued. She feels like she has failed us. Of course, no one blames her for what transpired—” his voice trailed off soberly.

“What happened to you all?” I asked carefully.

His light brown eyes refocused on mine. They seemed to say, ‘Hold me. I need you.’ For a second, I had forgotten that I had asked a question at all. His eyes mesmerized me as much then as they did the first time I saw him.

I remembered my inquiry when he answered, saying, “A terrible and tragic atrocity.” His voice sounded full of grief.

I broke eye contact with him and averted my attention back to the moving figures. Whatever had taken place before they arrived in Miami had been serious and heartbreaking. The mystique of it all bothered me the most.

Jules cleared his throat, breaking my train of thought. I looked up.

“Kaya,” he said solemnly, “I will unveil that story in all its horror soon enough. There is one more Veex that I must introduce.”

My eyes found the male whom I did not know. “His name is Xuqo Veex,” Jules continued. “On Earth, he is called Alec. Professor Alec to some. He is an extremely accomplished scientist and engineer with unparalleled, inventive skills. However,” he paused for a second and then continued, “He is terribly shy. You would be lucky to get more than three words out of him at a time. He spends most of his nights in his laboratory concocting solutions for an array of conundrums. His inventions are both practical and ingenious, but sadly, most of them remain a mystery.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Frankly, I think he’s too reclusive and introverted to share them with anyone. It can be distressing really. The few inventions of his that I have seen are absolutely marvelous. In fact, he’s responsible for the floor monitors, the false sunlight in your living quarters, and everything you see here in this room. All Tepon technology will seem advanced to you, but believe me, he has perfected it all.

“Of all the other Veex, he is closest to Tala. They correspond from time to time via their computers. They share a fascination for all things mechanical. Though, honestly, I have never seen Alec actually speak to anyone in person, even Tala.”

Looking down at the representative figure of Alec Xuqo Veex and could not understand what he possessed him to be as shy as Jules described.

Given that description alone, I would expect to see a scrawny, hunchbacked man with bad acne and horn-rimmed glasses toiling over a powerful PC. If not that, I would imagine an obese, poorly groomed male with artificial cheese dust on his fingers hunched over a gaming laptop. In one fashion or another, I would expect him to be unattractive.

Despite these speculations, the miniature male figure standing in between Inga and Rahim looked absolutely breathtaking. He resembled a Celtic lumberjack if ever one existed. He was taller than Jules, but shorter than Rahim. He had a fair complexion and dark brown, wavy hair that covered the nape of his neck.

He wore his facial hair low, but thick. Both his mustache and beard had been carefully trimmed. The pallor of his skin only enhanced the saturation of his mane and vice versa. As a perfect adjunct to this phenomenon, his eyes were the color of an autumn lawn, brown with random streaks of green. I found them alluring.

“And that concludes our Veex line up,” said Jules. “Do you have any questions before we move onto the focal point of our meeting?” he asked me, pausing so that I could speak.

Yeah. Why is everyone so gorgeous? It was peculiar, at best.

“More of a request really,” I said, ignoring my shallow thoughts.

He nodded.

“You excluded yourself, Iris, and Rahim from the exercise. Granted, I know who you are,” I added quickly, “but I don’t know what you do.”

He smiled fully for the first time that day. “How could I have been so forgetful? I was so busy ensuring that I left no stone unturned that I neglected to turn over my own stones.

“I will start with Rahim. His birth name is Unhenie Veex and he serves as the ambassador for the Veex and the manager of Qego Mouyo. It is his job to ensure that all internal parties work sinuously with one another as well as any foreign delegates we may partner with on occasion.

“He likes to think he is the glue of the group. We let him because he loves his position. He is very effective at being efficient.”

“And Iris?”

“Iris is very special to me, but not in the way her brother thinks.” He winked at me. “Her birth name is Okin. On this vessel and across Eno, she is known, and feared, as a Veex General with little patience.”

“Okay. So it wasn’t just me?” I smiled.

“No,” he chuckled. “She has a fairly short fuse for a Veex, but it can come in handy when she performs her military duties in dangerous stay systems. Iris has always been his most trustworthy and admirable officer.

I am her superior in rank only, I assure you.”

We both smiled. I knew how much Iris admired Jules as a leader, so I felt relieved to know that he had equal respect for her.

“I was born on Tepo as Hokor. My father had been a great military man in the Golden Age of Tepo, so everyone expected greatness from me as well. After all, I had been gifted his life force per our planet’s tradition.

“I became leader of this Veex armed force twenty Tepon moons before mistakingly coming to Earth. We are still a very young crew. We don’t have all of the answers.”

“Is that how you got here? An accident of some sort?” I asked with compassion.

“Oh, that,” he said suddenly poignant. “It was no accident. Whoever trapped us here did it deliberately.

“You must understand that where we are from, things are different.”

“Where is that exactly?” I said, seizing the moment. “Iris mentioned other planets and dimensions. Was she serious?”

He stared at me for a long time before he spoke again.

“None of the individuals on this vessel are from this dimension,” he answered, shortly.

I stared at Jules, dumbfounded. Though I had watched scientific television in my spare time, I found his claim hard to believe.

The multiverse theory gained ground every day. Soon, it would be indisputable fact. I had accepted that only in theory. Now that the theory had interfered with my life, my hands shook and the room began to spin.

“Kaya, are you okay?” asked Jules, jumping up suddenly. “I will retrieve an AABA. Hold on!”

I had stopped breathing, but I just needed to regain my composure. I looked down at my lap and began to inhale and exhale slowly. I had often watched my mother do this when she practiced yoga. She had known the power of breath.

I started thinking about that AABA thing being shoved up my nose again. I shook my head sharply and said, “No—thank you. That won’t be necessary. I was just a little startled. Please, continue your story. I am ready to hear it now.”