Realm of Haden
by
Joseph P. Rogers
Chapter 1
One night in late spring Peter Landen slept fitfully. While in the middle of a dream about playing tennis, another dream suddenly interposed itself like a special news bulletin interrupting a television program.Images in his mind came into focus. Landen saw a large chamber with a round table at the center. A dozen reptile--like creatures had gathered at this table. Two human-looking women moved around the room. The reptile creatures were just under six feet tall and stood erect on two legs. They were dressed in a silver metallic garb in contrast to the two women who wore green cloth uniforms.The image of the round table grew larger. Scattered on the table were numerous papers and two illustrated boards which, after several more seconds, Landen realized were astronomical charts.The visual spectrum widened a little, allowing him to once again observe the creatures at the table. Their animated gestures were indicative of a heated argument. They were constantly pointing at star maps and shaking their heads. Three of them got up from the table and walked away, apparently to express their displeasure over some course of action upon which the majority had agreed.The creatures spoke rapidly in high-pitched voices which irritated Landen. Their language was unintelligible to him, but he was certain that he had never heard any language even remotely similar to it. Gradually, the sounds ceased and the picture of the room faded from his mind. The vision had ended.In the morning Peter told his wife, Susan, about the vision. They sat together eating French toast near the bay window in their kitchen. Peter was a history teacher at the local high school, while Susan was studying interior design at the community college."That certainly was a strange dream," Susan said."Yes, it was. I seldom remember my dreams so vividly, and this dream felt different from any previous one."The doorbell rang. Peter went out to the living room and opened the front door. He was surprised to see an elderly man standing there. Peter knew that the man's name was Wilkins and that Wilkins lived somewhere in the neighborhood. Landen had occasionally seen Wilkins walking his dog and had engaged in brief conversations with him. "Good morning, Mr. Wilkins. What can I do for you?" "Could I speak to you and Susan for a few minutes, Peter?"
"Of course. Please come in."Susan joined the men in the living room. All three persons sat down on the sofa."You have the floor, Mr. Wilkins," Peter said."Well, this is rather awkward. You'll undoubtedly think that I'm a madman, but I assure you that I'm quite sane. Perhaps I can enhance my credibility by telling you about what happened several hours ago." To the utter astonishment of the Landens, Wilkins proceeded to describe precisely the events of Peter's dream."Mr. Wilkins, you have succeeded in baffling us," Susan said. "I doubt that you were hiding outside our kitchen window or that you have our kitchen bugged. How do you know about Peter's dream?""I know because I received the same vision myself last night," Wilkins said. "The vision was a telepathic message sent from a planet called Noelm. I'm glad that Peter also received the message because it is my only chance of convincing you of the truth of what I tell you." "This is going to take a lot of convincing, Mr. Wilkins," Peter said, smiling pleasantly."I only request that you keep an open mind. My story is even more unbelievable than you expect. First of all, my name actually isn't Wilkins. I took that name twenty-six years ago when we came to earth. I was called Triamber on our native planet of Noelm.""Our?" Landen raised his eyebrows."You came from Noelm with your parents. There were fifteen of us who came to earth in a spacecraft. You were only a baby at the time. Now just four of us are still alive. The other two are old women who, like myself, have little time remaining. You will soon be the only living Noelmian on earth.""Even though you knew about my dream, it is difficult to believe all this, sir," Peter said. "Why wouldn't my parents have told me that I am a Noelmian?""Your parents thought that you could adjust to life on earth better if you believed yourself to be a native of this planet. I disagreed with their decision not to tell you, but I respected their decision and maintained my silence. However, neither your parents nor I foresaw the developments that have made it critical for you to be told of your heritage.""You undoubtedly know that my parents were killed in a plane crash four years ago, so there is no way for them to confirm your story," Peter said. "I'll admit, though, that I always thought that it was odd that my parents so seldom spoke about their childhood or teenage years. Whenever I asked them where they were born, they would make a joke and change the subject. I suppose that they didn't want to lie to me.""Triamber, assuming that your story is true, tell us about Noelm," Susan said."Noelm is about half the size of earth. It has two moons in orbit around it. These moons cause the oceans to be turbulent. Tidal waves are the normal state of affairs, while calm seas are the exception. This makes sea travel impossible, and all coastal dwellings are well back from the beaches."The climate of Noelm is similar to that of earth. Noelm is somewhat warmer, though. Most parts of the planet receive some snow during the winter, but the temperature never becomes bitterly cold anywhere on Noelm, not even at its north and south poles."Because Noelm is smaller than earth, its gravitational pull is not as strong, so you don't weigh as much on Noelm as you do on earth. This enables you to work longer and walk greater distances without tiring.""What are the people of Noelm like?" Susan asked. "Noelmians have always been a content, peaceful people. We were traditionally farmers, craftsmen, shop owners, and artists. The Tragadomians were engineers, architects, and scientists. In a short time, the Tragadomians changed Noelm from a medieval world into a space-age planet. In spite of the radical changes brought about by the Tragadomians, the Noelmians continued to live as they always did in the past, holding firmly to our traditions and values.""Are the Tragadomians the reptile-like creatures that I saw in the telepathic vision?" Peter asked."Yes," Triamber replied. "The Tragadomians did not appear on Noelm in their present form until a few hundred years ago. Their evolution into higher beings occurred at an astonishing rate; an evolutionary process that should have taken millions of years occurred in less than a millennium."Over that span of centuries, a common lizard of Noelm called the Trag lizard rapidly changed into a two-legged, speaking being that is now called a Tragadomian."For a while, the Noelmians got along fairly well with the Tragadomians. Their scientific prowess seemed to provide a perfect complement to our more artistic nature. We lived and worked with the Tragadomians in towns throughout the planet."Noelm has no large cities like earth. A Noelmian city consists of several thousand persons rather than several million. The Noelmian population began to decline several hundred years ago, about the same time that the Tragadomians made their appearance. Many Noelmian couples are infertile, while other couples seldom have more than two children. "The Tragadomian population, though, increased steadily. Once they were in the majority, they demanded that the name of the planet be changed from Noelm to Tragadom. It was then that I realized that their civility toward us had only been feigned. Guided by some unknown hand, the Tragadomians had bided their time until they had sufficient strength to achieve global domination.""What was the unknown hand that controlled the Tragadomians?" Peter asked.Triamber shrugged. "I don't know. That is a mystery which I want to solve. There is a legend about a Noelmian named Bokins who lived a thousand years ago. Bokins was a shepherd. One day a lamb was separated from the flock, and Bokins went in search of the lamb. He wandered deep into a cave and found the lamb, which he picked up in his arms. Just as he turned to leave, a voice came from farther down into the cave."'Welcome, Bokins, son of Lowery.'"'Hello. Who are you and why are you in this cave?' Bokins asked."'I am the Bringer of Order. I wait here.'"'For what are you waiting?'"'I wait until I have selected the instrument to achieve my purposes. You and your people can thus serve me if you so choose. I will bestow rich rewards upon you and your children and your descendants if you will be my servants.' "Bokins became fearful. He sensed that the speaker was evil. 'I do not wish to serve you. My children and I have other tasks to which we must attend.' Bokins ran from the cave."The ground shook beneath him as the voice boomed, 'Then let my curse be upon you and your children and your descendants! Doom shall be their destiny!'"According to our legends, at that moment, a Trag lizard stood erect on his hind legs for the first time in history. "Now, a millennium later, the Tragadomians control the planet. A Noelmian slave, who was serving the members of the Tragadomian war council, projected the images to us. We saw everything through her eyes. She realized that those of us on earth needed to be aware of what was happening in that room, so she focused her projection to us as well as to all the Noelmians on Noelm.""Can all Noelmians read minds?" Peter asked."We can all project our thoughts to each other. This has to be done consciously, though. The projection of thought requires as much of a conscious effort as speaking does. Thought projection is merely a different mode of communication using different sensory organs. Our thoughts remain private unless we wish to project them. And, when the thoughts are projected, only those whom we wish to receive the message can hear our thoughts.""If our people have such acute telepathic abilities, why wasn't someone able to probe the thoughts of the Tragadomians so that we would have known of their treachery before the Tragadomians overcame us?" Peter inquired."The Tragadomians have always shielded their thoughts from us," Triamber said. "They, too, have telepathic abilities, but their thoughts are enveloped in a dark cloud that we cannot penetrate. Even Wagenell did not discover the evil plans of the Tragadomians.""Who is Wagenell?" Susan asked."Wagenell lived several centuries ago. He was the most telepathic of all Noelmians. Wagenell could read thoughts that weren't projected to anyone. He could even control the minds of individuals to force them to do his will. However, he rarely used this ability and, when he did, Wagenell used it to do good. Once Wagenell pressured a wayward father to return to his family. On another occasion Wagenell prompted a negligent shepherd to care for his flock."If he had desired, Wagenell could have dominated the wills of thousands of Noelmians. But Wagenell understood the importance of free will. As soon as he had set someone back on the right path, he released the person from his power. "Many Noelmians were so impressed by Wagenell's magnanimity and graciousness that they sought to reward him. They realized that Wagenell could have seized control if he had been power-hungry, but Wagenell did not want such power. "As a reward, Noelmians offered to make him one of their leaders. Wagenell had no political ambitions, though. He only wanted to continue to serve Noelm with his special gifts. As the Loremaster, I often told stories about Wagenell the Prudent in hope that my listeners would emulate his wise ways.""I hope to hear all of your stories, Triamber," Peter said."And I hope to tell them to you if there is sufficient time. The Tragadomians are planning to come to earth. If they decide to attack, they shall be victorious. Peter, you might be able to prevent them from attacking.""How?""I understood everything said by the Tragadomian war council which you saw in your vision. The Tragadomians are reluctant to invade earth because they will be greatly outnumbered. There are only two million Tragadomians, whereas there are almost six billion earthlings. The war council was debating whether the superior Tragadomian technology sufficiently compensated for the smaller population and army. The council ultimately resolved that, before invading earth, it would be necessary to determine the capabilities of humans. Therefore, they are going to send a spacecraft to capture several humans and bring them back to Noelm where their strength, cunning, and fortitude can be measured. I am hopeful that you will allow yourself to be captured, Peter. I would go myself, but I am too old to do well on the physical tests.""Do you know when and where their spacecraft will land?" Peter asked."Yes. The maps that we saw in the vision indicated that it will land in the Ohio countryside. The vessel will leave Noelm tomorrow and arrive on earth in several weeks. I hope and pray that this will be sufficient time for us to prepare you. Are you willing to return to Noelm as a prisoner of the Tragadomians?""Susan and I need to discuss your request, Triamber," Peter said. "Could we tell you our decision tomorrow?" "That will be fine." Triamber walked toward the front door. "I'll come to your house tomorrow morning at seven o'clock. If you agree, we can begin your training immediately. I'll see you both tomorrow."The couple said good-bye to Triamber. As they watched him walk down the street, they reflected upon how profoundly that man had changed their lives."What do you plan to do, Peter?" Susan asked."The old man seems harmless. It can't hurt to go to Ohio with him. If he is crazy, we can have a good laugh at ourselves for believing him.""So you do believe his story?""I suppose so," Peter said. "I don't think that Triamber is either deranged or lying to us, so he must be telling the truth.""If he is telling the truth, you'll be captured by those horrible Tragadomians if you go to Ohio," Susan said."We will all eventually be prisoners of the Tragadomians if I do not foil their plans. I'll find a way to stop them, and I'll find a way to return to you. I promise.""You'd better," Susan said, embracing him. "You made other promises to me on the day that we were married. I can be as fierce as those Tragadomians."Landen laughed. "I might be safer with the Tragadomians."
