Prime Paradigm

He screamed at the top of his lungs, but there was no answer, not even an echo to let him know if anything was out there.

Then the voices in his head stopped again. There was a small point of white light. Clint instinctively waved his hands in front of it, and this time it flickered. It was real.

The point of light continued to grow until it was all around him. Now, instead of being in darkness, he was bathed in light. He covered his eyes, and could actually see his fingers. Gradually the intensity dimmed again, as his eyes grew accustomed to its brightness.

Removing his hands, he saw the outline of a small man, Abimel. As he stared, he saw several Abimel's of slightly different size and shape. Clint found himself in a large room, with pieces of unidentifiable equipment outlining it. Clint knew these must be relatives of Abimel attending the machines. Clint remembered Abimel had called his people Retlatians. Looking down, he was floating just a few inches above a disk in the floor. Clint instinctively covered his private area with his hands, although most of the personnel appeared not to take notice of him.

"Am I on Retlatia?" Clint questioned out loud. Still, no one took notice of him.

"What do you want? What do you want?" echoed again in his mind.

Clint looked around, but no one was speaking. Then he saw, half way across the room, a Retlatian staring straight at him. Clint guessed from the mammary glands under her loose clothing, that she was a female. She appeared almost exactly the same size as Abimel. Several other Retlatians appeared to be attending her.

"Why are you here? Why are you here?"

The question appeared to be coming from her, but Clint didn't know how he knew. He wasn't sure how to respond. He resorted to speaking, hoping she could somehow translate either the words or the thoughts that created them.

"Hello? My name is Clint Talbert. I've come to help you."

"How can you help? How can you help?"

Clint wasn't sure he knew. This was obviously an advanced species, and it looked like everything was under control. Perhaps the Jiks had already been defeated. "I will tell you everything I know about the people who attacked you."

There was a small commotion, and many exchanged glances between the Retlatians. Finally, the female turned back to him.

"I am Jlenga. I am Jlenga. We will talk. We will talk."

Then, she turned and left. Clint felt another pain in his neck, and watched helplessly as a sphere around him slowly turned opaque, plunging him back into darkness.

Clint awoke to find himself lying on a firm bed, unable to move his arms or legs. He was clothed in a simple white sheet that was fastened at the shoulders. His room was small with white walls and nothing else. As he regained full consciousness, he realized that an unseen force was holding him powerfully to the bed. He had just started struggling against it when part of the wall opened, and another female Retlate stood before him.

"I am Techem. I am Techem," echoed in his brain. "I will be your guide. I it will is be time your to guide go. It is time to go."

Clint tried to hold his head, but couldn't move his arms. "Please talk slowly. There's an overlapping echo when you talk."

"I am Sorry. We didn't realize your two brains communicate so effectively. Do you prefer this, or this?"

Each 'this' felt like it came from a different part of Clint's brain. "I think the first 'this' was the best one."

"Excellent.