Parallel Lovers As in Mirror

White hot flashes of pain penetrated the back of my eyeballs. My mouth was bone dry. What happened? Where am I? Discombobulated, and in a world of pain, I could barely function. Even attempting to raise my arm felt as if I were lifting a lead weight.

“Arrgggh,” I yelped. I dropped my arm back down in desperate need of liquid. Anything to soothe the scorching burn in my throat. I attempted to check if my other arm was operational. Raising it in front of me, pain ripped through my rotator cuff making me whimper as I dropped it down. My legs were free, but when I looked down I saw large white bandages were wrapped around my calf. In shock at the discovery, I gasped loudly. I was unclothed from the waist down in some sort of hospital gown. Despite the pain, I strained to see through the shadowed darkness of the room where I lay.

“Cylius?” I called out with a strangled cry. This place could not be Valhalla. It felt different. Light shards peeked through the bottom of what looked to be a window on my left side. It was covered by a retractable blind. If I could have moved toward it I would have, but my legs, while free, were filled with fire running through them. Something was wrong, drastically and desperately wrong. As I called for my mentor and dear friend, their was no reply, just the echo of my own voice in this dismal chamber.

I found that my left leg, while fragile, possessed a better range of motion than my right. Deep panic struck me as raspy breaths filled my lungs. I’d been travelling around the nebula, completing my sweep for Cylius in the Valhalla IIX pod. Yes. That’s what I’d been doing. My mind was working out a plan to raise myself off the cushioned bed, but my body scan had not ventured far enough. Strange drips came from the groove of my bicep and a low intermittent beeping noise surrounded me. Blinking rapidly, I called out for Cylius once again.

“Cylius! Cylius! Where are you?” I strained in distress.

“He’s calling out for that man again. Let me check in on him. His injuries, whilst painful, are recoverable. He’ll be fine in a few weeks. The emotional trauma component will last, much, much longer.”

There was a woman’s voice outside my door. I stilled myself to listen to the conversation, seeking as much information as I could. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the muted greyness of the room I lay in. A steel cup on a small table next to me. Ah, yes. Liquid. I lifted my arm, ignoring the fact that it felt as if a knife were cutting through it. My fingers trembled as I retrieving the cup. Gritting my teeth, I brought the drink to my lips and sipped. It was not a liquid I recognized. There was a metallic taste that ran through whatever it was, but I cared not. My body required sustenance. The liquid spilled onto the hospital gown, but also down my parched throat. Allowing my eyes to close, I reveled in the soothing coat of wetness it provided.

“No. Don’t. Let him stay there a little longer before we reveal anything. He doesn’t need you. You said it yourself, the food you supplied through the drip will be enough.” The man’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. It was oddly familiar.

My eyes saw the tubes connected to my veins. If I had to rip them out to get back to my pod, I would.

“That’s inhumane, Palzinar! I have to check his blood levels and his oxygen. He needs solid food and light. You can at least let me check on him.”

The woman was fighting for me, which I appreciated. I pulled in a deep breath and found a place inside of myself, transcending the pain. I lifted my body forward from the air cushioned rectangular frame I lay on. I was neither cold nor hot, except for the warm flushes of energy being generated by my body.

“Doctor Razel, you will do as I say. Otherwise you will end up being the next patient. Do I make myself clear?” The voice was cold and ruthless, yet I knew it. How?

As I raised myself up, a contraption funneled red laser light into my eyes, forcing me to shield myself from tiny stabs of hot pain. I flinched and wriggled as it forced me to descend back into bed. I cried out.

“No! Stop!” Tears flowed from my eyes as I curled into the fetal position, feeling sorry for myself. Being an orphan and facing years of abandonment was not something I wanted to go through again, yet I found myself in a strange room in what I suspected to be a new and unknown land.

A husky deep-throated laugh rang out on the other side of the door. “I see the young boy has found the laser device. I’ve been waiting to try that out. What a perfect opportunity, don’t you think, doctor?” This man sounded cruel and nothing like Cylius.

I swept my hand over the top of my head. It appeared all of my dark, jet black hair remained intact. I was surprised my head had not been shaved. It was clear I was a patient of some kind and she a doctor assigned to me.

“Very well. I will come back in another couple of hours to check on him,” the doctor sighed with resignation.

I licked the many wounds that covered my body. I was desperate for Cylius. Would he come and rescue me? This was nothing like home. Nothing like the majestic beauty of my planet. It could not be! Perhaps this was all a terrible nightmare.

Sleep called. I couldn’t fight it. I let my head fall.

I woke to the clicking of an instrument, and bright light flooding my eyes. My arms were both bound in steel cuffs, and a woman was close to my face. She had a sweet smell that reminded me of home.

This place reminded me of hell.

“110/70 good, good. Vitals are remaining stable. Also good. Hello,” she said simply as she scribbled information on her clipboard. “How are you feeling?”

“Feeling? What is this? Where am I? Is this a joke?” I asked.

The woman was very attractive. She had long brunette hair, a roundish face, and penetrating dark brown eyes. She wore a long white jacket with a sleek body-hugging suit underneath, which I assumed was designed for this planet.

“No joke. You are in Folkvangr, in our command center.” She continued writing.

“Is that all? Why am I here? Where is Cylius?”

The woman didn’t look up from her clipboard. “There is no one here called Cylius. You will be able to start to move around in the next couple of days. Not for the whole time, however. You will have a curfew and possibly be transported to another enclosure after this one. You will be shown your surroundings in due course.” Her voice was stern and curt as she began her examination.

She pushed at my pale, almost translucent flesh, kneading and searching. My eyes widened. I regarded her with horror at the lack of compassion she displayed. I wanted to press her for more information, but I was too weak. I simply allowed her to move my limbs, wincing in spots. I could feel a tear trickling down my cheek.

The woman checked the monitors, took one last glance at me, and stood.

“Don’t worry, you will be allowed movement, it’s only a matter of time. I will be by later this evening to check on you and take some blood samples.”

“Whatever,” I said, as I stared at the cold, blank walls.

“Sorry about Palzinar’s latest toy. I have removed the laser. You should be able to get up now. Take a look outside. The cuffs were only for the examination.” The cuffs clicked off automatically and fell away. I rubbed my sore wrists. I craned my neck as she left and saw boots trampling along a cold, sterile hallway. Soldier’s boots. The door clicked shut, cutting off my access to the outside. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I curled back into the fetal position, and slipped back into the peaceful bliss of sleep.

I woke to pitch black, with no light coming from beneath the retractable blind. It was night. I listened, but nothing was familiar, my senses thrown off.

“Who has Palzinar captured now?” I heard voices on the outside.

I listened hopefully, wishing for any clues I could gather to tell me where I was.

“Some little waif boy. Looks like a weakling from another planet. Bah. Palzinar and his toys. I wonder about him sometimes.”

I heard the heavy trudge of boots outside my door. There were many people in the facility.

Waif-like boy? Being a waif was half of my appeal. I could move undetected and quite quickly if I needed to, but such techniques had not been required for some time. Cylius had provided me with all the comfort and safety I needed.

I clutched my stomach as I thought about the state of my pod and what these weird people on the planet might be doing to it. After sleeping, my muscles felt better, much better, in fact, and the soreness had all but dissipated. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and padded around the room. Sizable enough and sterile, not like mine and Cylius’s apartment that was filled with teeming plant life inside and outside.

I padded over to the light source, and pressed the button. Light flooded the room. I squinted and approached the window. Another button. It raised the large window shade, and I was able to look out for the first time.

What my eyes showed me was devastating. There were large, heavy-duty cement walls and a courtyard directly in front. The courtyard was barren, not a hospitable place for humanoids to gather. It was lifeless, with olive-green limestone, a table, and three chairs. Walls were everywhere, and in the distance there was a large communication tower of some sort with a light that beamed over the expanse. It was bleak. Far off in the distance, gloomy, jagged mountains offset the foreground of doom. I could make out two shadows standing in the tower, looking out.

A few other beings were walking on a concrete path not far from my eyeline. All of them appeared to be humanoid. I wondered if I was in a neighboring galaxy. How far was I from home?

I held on to the hope of returning home. This barren wasteland with men dressed in artillery wear was not for me. I soaked in what I could, examining the people, a large diversity of races. However, I didn’t see any pales ones like me. All were battle-ready, with physiques superior to my own.

The females wore tightly sheathed and shiny one-piece uniforms with belts and weapons on their hips. The males were dressed in combat gear, unique items slung across their shoulders and on their waists. Who were these people, and to what race did they belong? Why were they so heavily armed? Was there war on this planet? I was in some sort of heavily-guarded military base.

My hand slid across the glass of the window, both fascinated and disturbed by what I saw. No plants. Nothing. I stepped away, pressing the button to close the blind and returned to bed, curling back into a ball. Despondency flooded my brain, triggering memories of my parent’s death and feelings of abandonment. Despite Cylius’s claim over me, I still felt the sting and grief of intense loss. It was clear to me in this foreign land I would need to keep my wits about me to survive.

Cracks of light filled the bottom of the window. Soon, I was greeted by the beautiful, yet evasive doctor Razel.

“Good morning, Orion. How are you faring this morning?”

“Wait--how do you know of my name? Who are you?” I stared at her.

“I am Doctor Razel, and I have been ordered by your guardian, Palzinar, to look after you.”

“Palzinar? What and who is he? Why am I under his guardianship. I don’t know him!”

“You will know everything soon enough. You look a lot better now. We can let you out in restricted areas.”

I could feel heat rising to my face. “Where--where can I go? Valhalla IIX is out there and I need to get to it! I have to go home. I must go!” I shouted, but the doctor offered me only a tiny smile.

“Your spacecraft is very unique, it is in our special compound underground for safekeeping. There’s no need for concern.” Her monotone voice and calm demeanor was aggravating. I clenched my fists and drew closer to her and her clipboard--that stupid clipboard she was always writing on. I hit the bottom of the clipboard with enough force to launch it out of the doctor’s hands, where it thudded on the ground.

Doctor Razel recoiled in shock and stepped back from me. “If I press one button, Palzinar, and the guards will come in here and send you to a special kind of hell.” Her jaw clenched as she leaned over, picking up her clipboard composing herself once more. “Now if you will follow me, I can take you on a tour--minus the attitude.” She flicked her long braid behind her angular shoulders, making me want to yank it, but I kept my hands to myself as she led me out of the dungeon-like room.

My head spun as I took in the surroundings. Soldiers twice my size passed by. A pungent smell filled the air.

“What is that stench?” I asked, barely able to breathe.

“Ah, yes, that’s our radioactive lab. They’re conducting some experiments and the chemicals being used are a little potent.”

“Wonderful,” I retorted sarcastically. This was indeed a military compound, and the men and women moving through the halls were of the fierce variety. Some of them stared at me with cocky sneers, snickering with their colleagues, and others simply ignored me as if I failed to exist. At this point, I knew the best I could do was to keep a low profile and observe everything about this new world I could.

“You will soon find you will get used to things. There is a place for you to work out if you wish, but I don’t see you as the type for such things.” Doctor Razel sized up my physique.

“No, I prefer to use my mind.”

“So do I. We have that in common.” The doctor’s lips revealed a slight smile, and a feeling of warmth exuded from her. Perhaps I had misjudged her earlier coldness.

I wasn’t one for hand-to-hand combat. Such practices didn’t exist on my planet. The civil war had ended many moons ago. Cylius often teased me about my wiry little body.

“Perhaps we should embark on a fitness routine? Would you like that?” His eyes would sparkle as he asked. I preferred aircraft pursuits and analytical activities over physical routines.

“I like being in the air and feeding my mind. We both have our strong suits.”

I returned my wandering mind to the present. The doctor was pointing to the courtyard, giving me my boundary quarters

“You will not be allowed out of this compound, sadly. Inside of it, you are free to roam with the exception of a few classified areas. I will show you so there can be no mistake.”

Sadly? She felt bad for me? The scene in front of me was depressing. “Understood,” I said, although I did not. I wanted out as soon as possible. This was not my planet.

The earth that existed was hard and dry. Particles of dust swirled as winds blew over the compound. From what I could tell, this planet was covered in little more than dust, with high winds and distant blue mountains--desolate. I looked to the sky to see if there was a sun. I knew there was a light source, but I couldn’t tell where it came from.

“We have a red sun here on this planet. The color of it has evolved over some years due to the activity of the planet. Welcome to Folkvangr.”

“I don’t understand... I’m trapped here now? Why is this happening?”

I felt like a bewildered animal. Not that I’d ever seen any animals on my planet or another. There were, of course, animal species on some planets in various forms, but I’d not physically put eyes on them. On Valhalla, the artificially-created environment was only possible due to many years of tinkering and researching the individual and group components of plant strains and molecularly changing the structure of them.

“You might not understand right now, but you’re going to learn fast. I suggest you do. If you don’t, Palzinar will make your life one of extreme torture, degradation, and starvation. Trust me. I’ve seen him do it.”

Blinking hard, a lump forming in my throat, I regarded the doctor. I felt fear closing in on me. I was in denial, and the grand delusions of home were still rocking around in my brain. “I want to go home. This is not my home. Valhalla is my home. Is this some kind of bad dream? I was traveling around the nebula hours ago. How can this be?”

Coming to the terms with the new state of my arrangement wasn’t coming quickly. I wanted out. If I could get to my spaceship and leave, then everything would be fine.

Doctor Razel looked upon me with pity. “I’m sorry. You’re home for now. Keep your head down and your nose clean and you might just make it.”

“This is fucked up. Who are these men and where do they come from? Surely, one of them can take me to my spacecraft. I know you in Valhalla! Please take me to my ship,” I begged, grabbing her arm.

“No. I can’t do that. You’re stuck here in this shitty hellhole like everyone else.” With that, she walked away, leaving me in a numb state.

Folkvangr was no home of mine.