249K-VLAS is returning to the militaristic society on Veenaga from a phony diplomatic mission, fearful of his chances of surviving the inevitable war with the technologically superior alien race. His ship is attacked, severely damaged and at the last moment he refuses the obligatory medication for buffering the harsh transit of Hyperspace. It turns out to be a surprisingly euphoric, metaphysical experience.
The ship emerges from Hyperspace with him as the sole survivor but in an uncharted sector of the universe and accelerating toward a star five light years away. Despondent about his chances of reaching it, he contemplates pushing the self-destruct button, but as the ship attains light speed he passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself orbiting a planet most of whose land areas are heavily radioactive. Unexpectedly, the ship receives primitive radio pulses whose point of origin he is able to locate and the ship crash lands on an island.
He regains consciousness in a primitive hospital severely injured. Although traumatized by a group of deformed mutants performing drug-suffused rituals on his body, he recovers from his physical injuries remarkably quickly. His sense of alienation from the local population progresses much more slowly, given his background as a persecutor of abnormalities on his home planet. He is given language and cultural instruction by Kalyna, one of the most ‘normal’ of the villagers, in whom he experiences a surprising interest.
The survivors on Soborna Island on the planet Lahska have reverted to a pastoral non-technological society based on an ethic of compassion and cooperation. Unfortunately, they have a high rate of infertility and mortality. With their mercurial shaman Ustdukh they have elaborated a myth of a SaverCome to restore their deficient gene pool and Vlas is 'chosen'. Unable to handle this involvement with a population of ‘defectives’, Vlas abandons the village. He installs himself in the ruins of a nearby port town and has a series of adventures exploring the vicinity. He makes a surreptitious visit to the shaman in his lair, tries but fails to retrieve weapons from his ship, brings a familiar into his life and takes sailing trips in which he meets a race of highly evolved telepathic jellyfish. He gradually overcomes the traumas of his past.
As a result of his internal growth he becomes reconciled with the Soborni villagers, feels a growing attraction for Kalyna and they eventually become lovers. A storm wrecks him on the other coast of the island and when he eventually returns to the village, Kalyna had borne a baby but died. Guilt- and grief-stricken, and now devoted to taking care of his daughter Ksolani, he still has his duty to the society to perform. This takes place in a large cave temple. ‘Couples’ form and consummate. As they wake up the next morning, an alarm gong sounds with the news that a ‘monster’ has attacked their herds. Non-violent to the core, the Soborni are helpless. Vlas undertakes to perform another duty for the Soborni and tracks down the predator.
It turns out to be a member from another surviving enclave on Lahska but of a more advanced bunker-society in a far-off region. They had also picked up the same mysterious pulses that had guided Vlas originally to Soborna island. An expedition had set off but had been shipwrecked on it. The sole survivor was now suffering from infected lacerations and severe distress from eating the nearly raw meat of the animal she had killed.
While apparently genetically intact, she reveals an attitude of deep-seated aggressiveness because of abuse in her bunker society.
In addition to being alienated by her superficial physical integrity, Vlas has serious doubts about her ability to adapt to Soborni society. As he collects herbs for her injuries, Vlas agonizes whether it wouldn’t indeed be wiser to terminate the ‘predator’ rather than have her infect and disrupt the society he had come to love and respect.
249K-VLAS is returning to the militaristic society on Veenaga from a phony diplomatic mission, fearful of his chances of surviving the inevitable war with the technologically superior alien race. His ship is attacked, severely damaged and at the last moment he refuses the obligatory medication for buffering the harsh transit of Hyperspace. It turns out to be a surprisingly euphoric, metaphysical experience.
The ship emerges from Hyperspace with him as the sole survivor but in an uncharted sector of the universe and accelerating toward a star five light years away. Despondent about his chances of reaching it, he contemplates pushing the self-destruct button, but as the ship attains light speed he passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself orbiting a planet most of whose land areas are heavily radioactive. Unexpectedly, the ship receives primitive radio pulses whose point of origin he is able to locate and the ship crash lands on an island.
He regains consciousness in a primitive hospital severely injured. Although traumatized by a group of deformed mutants performing drug-suffused rituals on his body, he recovers from his physical injuries remarkably quickly. His sense of alienation from the local population progresses much more slowly, given his background as a persecutor of abnormalities on his home planet. He is given language and cultural instruction by Kalyna, one of the most ‘normal’ of the villagers, in whom he experiences a surprising interest.
The survivors on Soborna Island on the planet Lahska have reverted to a pastoral non-technological society based on an ethic of compassion and cooperation. Unfortunately, they have a high rate of infertility and mortality. With their mercurial shaman Ustdukh they have elaborated a myth of a SaverCome to restore their deficient gene pool and Vlas is 'chosen'. Unable to handle this involvement with a population of ‘defectives’, Vlas abandons the village. He installs himself in the ruins of a nearby port town and has a series of adventures exploring the vicinity. He makes a surreptitious visit to the shaman in his lair, tries but fails to retrieve weapons from his ship, brings a familiar into his life and takes sailing trips in which he meets a race of highly evolved telepathic jellyfish. He gradually overcomes the traumas of his past.
As a result of his internal growth he becomes reconciled with the Soborni villagers, feels a growing attraction for Kalyna and they eventually become lovers. A storm wrecks him on the other coast of the island and when he eventually returns to the village, Kalyna had borne a baby but died. Guilt- and grief-stricken, and now devoted to taking care of his daughter Ksolani, he still has his duty to the society to perform. This takes place in a large cave temple. ‘Couples’ form and consummate. As they wake up the next morning, an alarm gong sounds with the news that a ‘monster’ has attacked their herds. Non-violent to the core, the Soborni are helpless. Vlas undertakes to perform another duty for the Soborni and tracks down the predator.
It turns out to be a member from another surviving enclave on Lahska but of a more advanced bunker-society in a far-off region. They had also picked up the same mysterious pulses that had guided Vlas originally to Soborna island. An expedition had set off but had been shipwrecked on it. The sole survivor was now suffering from infected lacerations and severe distress from eating the nearly raw meat of the animal she had killed.
While apparently genetically intact, she reveals an attitude of deep-seated aggressiveness because of abuse in her bunker society.
In addition to being alienated by her superficial physical integrity, Vlas has serious doubts about her ability to adapt to Soborni society. As he collects herbs for her injuries, Vlas agonizes whether it wouldn’t indeed be wiser to terminate the ‘predator’ rather than have her infect and disrupt the society he had come to love and respect.
Passage to Lahska
Passage to Lahska
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940165808692 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Bill Dovhey |
| Publication date: | 03/08/2022 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 563 KB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |