"Alright!" June says after stretching once, "How do you feel?"
It's been about an hour or so from the time when he left saying that he had to take care of other patients. In this time, I have become capable of better speech and my limbs feel a little lighter now, a little. I still can't move them.
"I feel okay. More importantly," I say, "I want you to answer my questions."
"Obviously, ask away." He says as he sits on a chair beside me.
"How much do you know about me?" I ask.
"The only things I know are the things the Goddess told all of the villagers." He says without a change in his expressions, "She told us you are a resident of Earth, and so your race is to be called 'humans'. She told us you are here on a mission given by her. She told us what the mission is and that you have a special ability given to you by someone and even she doesn't know what that ability is."
That's not much, if he's telling the truth that is.
"How do I know you are not hostile towards me?" I ask. "I mean, I know nothing about your race, not even the name."
"Well, we just call ourselves Frosts. We take pride in being leagues above every sentient other race on this planet so that's why we put the planet's name in our name." He seems somewhat excited as he continues, "And well, since you are on a mission given by the Goddess, we would be fools to harm you and get punished for that. So, you don't have to worry about hostility from us, or anyone of our race … except maybe the few atheists who don't believe in the Goddess' supremacy."
I happen to be one of those 'atheists' to be honest.
"My limbs are unmovable. Why is that?" I proceed to the next question.
"You were out in the cold for a long time and your race just simply isn't meant for this type of cold. That is why your blood and muscles have frozen and become harder and heavier. If I didn't have equipments to make your blood flow artificially, you may have needed to do removal surgeries on all your limbs."
Well, I do think he is telling the truth about that. So, despite my suspicions, I am grateful for that at the very least.
"How long would it take for me to be able to walk again?" I ask.
"If the climate stays like this, then you would probably never walk again."
Tsk!
"But if it gets hotter, you might start recovering."
"And when will it get hotter?"
"It will take about 3 months for the type of heat that would be good for you to arrive." June says.
That's far too much. I can't spend 3 months on this bed doing nothing. I have to get to Telmakim as fast as I can.
"I can guess what you might be thinking right now … though I might be completely wrong since you are a different race and your mind may be-."
"I am thinking that I need to get to Telmakim as fast as I can." I say, "Can you help me with that?"
June sighs and folds his petite arms, looking like a cartoon character.
"Well?" I press him for an answer.
"I don't think there's any technology that can help you, not here anyway." He says.
"Not here, you say? So there could be something that can help me someplace else?" I inquire, hoping it's some place that I can be taken to, if needs be.
"Hah!" June sighs and says, "You see, this world is majorly divided into two superpowers fighting for the control of the entire planet. Kidar and Temur – both are at war. While here, in Kidar, there isn't anything that can help you. Out in Temur, there is a possibility. It'll be hard to get there though."
"You seem to be treating me really nicely because I am on a mission from Dues, so why would they not do the same?" And after all, he did say earlier that I shouldn't be concerned with anyone of his race except the atheists. And I really doubt the entire nation of Temur would be filled with atheists.
"That's not the problem, sire." June says, "While they would be willing to help you, no one would be willing to take you to them. Everyone knows that as soon as they safely take you from our custody, they will kill whoever had come to deliver you. And the same would happen with them if they came to get you, so that won't happen either."
"Things are that bad between the two?"
"Yes, it's complete hell. The war between the two has been going on for over a decade now. By this point in time, the armies especially hate each other so much that no one would be willing to be a sacrificial pawn, not to them anyway."
Hah! That is pretty bad. What can I do now?
"So hey, how do you people survive in a climate like this?" I ask, "Is your body just made for this kind of whether?"
"Yes, I think that'd be obvious. This is the only type of climate there is on Frost so we people thrive on it."
Hmm … now that could lead to an opening for me. Still, what I am thinking might be hard to pull off in this state.
"Another thing I want to ask is, how can we understand each other's language? I find it hard to believe that English is exists on this planet."
"I can just assume English is the name of the language you are using right now. See, the thing is, the Goddess gave the ability to converse with us and for us to converse with you. So when you talk to us, we hear your words in our own language and the vice-versa."
I see. That makes sense. That makes far too much sense. I can almost find myself grinning at that.
*****