The only planet revolving around an intense G2 star, Xoqe, Xavenon appears lonely although a dark brown satellite revolves around it, much like the moon of planet earth. Swirls of cloud cover it, and just like earth, the cloud cover is not total. The surface can be seen, but unlike the blue and brown earth - this one looks green and brown with small patches of blue. Zebedee concluded that the small, blue patches are small oceans. Oceans bigger than Mediterranean sea and Black sea combined.
"This is my home planet. It has been the home of our race for many hundreds of thousand years. My father said that it is the closest thing to Mother Earth. Same gravitational pull, same size, rotation and revolution. The moon, which we call Cynthia is also the same as that of mother earth's moon. It has another moon, but it is too small and too dark to be seen with a naked eye. We call it Phobos, after the Martian satellite since it is nearly as small as its namesake."
Zebedee merely looked at one of Xavenon's source of intense light. The star system is so close to the Galactic center that even the nightside of the planet is illuminated by it. From the night side's view, the Andromeda could be brighter than even the full moon of the earth.
"Your race is sentimental enough to name everything here from earth's equivalent. But the chances of discovering a planet with a satellite so similar to earth is too remote. How did your ancestors find it?"
"They did not find it, they made it."
"They made it?" Zebedee could not believe.
"Humans build superstructures, but mekholis build or modify planets and sometimes even stars. That is one of our differences from humans."
"Do you still make planets?"
"Actually, we did not build it from nothing. We merely assembled parts to make a bigger whole."
Zebedee heard a grunt when he tried to move closer to Emmer, since Emmer's voice is too faint for him. Emmer pacified Xamai.
"Is he really that protective?" Zebedee asked Emmer, almost in a whisper.
"It is his job. Be careful around me since he will really kill anybody whom he perceives as a potential threat."
"Sir, I have not killed anybody who came closer to you, except in Hammada, which was purely accidental. I know that the human has weak hearing," Leeh Xamai protested.
"The human merely verbalizes his thought but learn to trust him as much as you trust me. I trust him, Xamai."
Zebedee once more saw the two exchange words. Although Xamai is a subordinate, he is not treated as such but as an equal.
A little later, the green and brown surface of the planet showed details. Zebedee caught a bright glint from a distance when the Wormrider rapidly descended. Unlike the flaming entry of spaceships, the approach was fast. But curiously, Zebedee felt no visible burn on reentry or even gravitational acceleration. As Zebedee focused his eyes on the glistening thing, he realized that he was looking at a structure so large that it almost took his breath away.
"What is that?"
"That's the Palace. My father's headquarter, as well as our castle." Emmer said rather blandly. Then he looked at Zebedee, and saw how the sight overwhelmed the man.
Zebedee is looking at the largest building he has ever seen. To think that the structure rests on an artificial planet itself staggered his mind. From a distance, it looks like a perfect coned crystalline volcano. Standing alone on a very flat plateau, the Tetrahedral Palace is the tallest and largest superstructure of Xavenon.
"You have not seen the Obelisk yet. It is as high although not as wide." Emmer said. "I know you doubt what you see but it is as real as the planet that you see."
Zebedee realized Emmer was looking at him, checking how much disbelief registered on his face."
"I believe what you said, but sometimes what I know makes it hard for me to believe what I see. Is there a material capable of holding such a structure in place?"
"Your knowledge of science and engineering is extremely ancient, but they worked much for you then. That knowledge limited much of human endeavors until ..."
"Until what?"
Emmer didn't continue.
"Until what?" Zebedee pressed.
"You might think otherwise if I say it."
"That I won't understand?"
"Yes."
"Why not?"
"I wanted to say, 'until the advent of the mekholis'."
Zebedee paused before saying, "You are right. Even now, I do not know how I got here. Until I realize how you became Mekholis, then I won't understand anything much."
They remained silent until the Wormrider touched the surface of Xavenon.