Holey pressed more buttons and another woman came onto the screen. She stood outside of the ship as well, but now the tree was fully carved into the goddess statue that it is today. Not only that, but it looked dark and weathered as if it were made seasons ago.
“Hello. I am Urnika, the third priestess of our small dekes. We have decided to move on from this place to a valley we found. It is much safer, and there are more fruit trees there. We’ve also decided to keep this place a secret from future generations. It was the will of our grandparents to stay away from this technology and all the evil it contains.
Our children have grown curious about the ship and have started to wonder what things it can do that might improve our lives. This goes against everything the founders who brought us here wanted. So we will leave and tell our children the ship has been destroyed. We will tell them never to speak of it again, and punish those who try to tell the future generations about the ship.
It is clear to me how quickly our founders will can be forgotten, which is why I have decreed that from now on it will be the priestess and her acolyte’s role to come back here, listen to the videos found on the ship, and remember why we must keep this place a secret.
Future generations might try to create technology of their own, but you must not allowit. I am calling to each priestess that watches this message. I am begging you to prevent any technology from being made. We are meant to live a simple life. Our grandparents left everything they knew to bring us that life. Remember that. Uphold our values. Keep our secret.”
The robed sirret, pressed the button on the camera and again the screen went black.
Axon’s gaze met mine. His jaw hung open in shock. I couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling at this moment.
“There are videos in the ship’s database that our people did not make. Videos that show people from Ozinda living their lives. Some are happy and some are sad, but I’m not convinced it was the technology that made them feel one way or another.”
Holey sat down in a chair next to us and sighed.
“I had resolved to keep the secret even though I did not feel the same way as those before me, but when you came asking for the truth, it felt wrong watching Kahina lie to you. This is your history just as much as ours.”
She met our eyes and there was a courage there that I hadn’t seen in her before.“We should not be bound to the will of those who came three hundred years before us. They got to live their lives in a way that pleased them. We should have the same opportunity. No more lies. No more secrets.”
Chapter 30
Axon
All this time, I’d grown up believing that my people had suddenly appeared on this planet as a part of the goddess’s will, that we arrived here through some miracle, but that never actually happened.
I felt tricked, played like a fool. Did my parents know about this? How many generations have lived and died not knowing the truth? And all for what? To keep us from discovering this technology?
This ship was of no more interest to me than the human’s ship. I did not care for this technology any more than I cared for a noisy leak in the ceiling on a rainy night.
“I’m so sorry, Axon,” Ashley put her hand over my clenched fist. I hadn’t even realized I’d tensed up so much.
I looked at her hand over mine. The human’s arrival changed our dekes in the most wonderful ways. Change was not to be feared, not if it could lead to good things, not if it could make our lives easier.
“We have to tell the others,” I declared. “I will not perpetuate this lie.”
“You may do what you wish in your dekes. I will not stop you. But if you try to tell the main dekes the truth about this place, I can assure you, Kahina will do everything in her power to silence you.”
“Why?” Ashley asked.
Holey looked down at her feet and furrowed her brows. “After her mate died, she threw herself into her work. She became obsessive about her mission to keep this place a secret. She brought me here often so I could watch the recordings of our ancestors and hear their pleas to keep this place hidden. I think she sees her mission as the last bit of control she has left. Her mate is dead and Dameron is nearly impossible to keep in line, so this,” Holey gestured widely to our surroundings. “This is all she has left.”
She leveled us with a piercing stare. “If you try to take this secret from her, she will make you regret it. Again, I will not stop you. I am just warning you of what is to come.”
I nodded my head in understanding. Telling my own dekes about this place will be a good start, and together we will decide what to do next.
I spun my chair back around to face the screen and tapped the buttons in the same order I’d seen Holey do. A recording of Kahina herself appeared on the screen.
“That’s strange. I haven’t seen any of her recordings.” Holey stared at the screen as Kahina started to speak.
“There’s something happening to our sietlings.They are being born with strange abilities,” The priestess began. She was so young when she recorded this.
“One was born last night with four arms instead of two. His parents wouldn’t let anyone see him but me. I told them to go, leave the valley. If Dameron saw the child he would surely have it killed. He is so small minded that he cannot stand even the smallest bit of change. His mate is pregnant with their first child, and I fear for her. I fear what might happen if the child is born differently like the others have been. There have been small differences, but there are enough of them that it doesn’t seem like a coincidence anymore. One was born with milky eyes,”
My breath stopped in my lungs. Me, she was referring to me.
“He is sensitive to every little sound and wails loudly while covering his ears when too many people speak at once. But, I’ve also noticed that he can hear a predator approaching from a great distance away as well. This gift could be used for the betterment of our dekes, but I doubt Dameron would see it that way,” Kahina sighed. “Dameron only sees what he wants to see, a child who is different, a child to be feared.”
