NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

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      We started walking again. Dug lead, Daio was behind me. We kept a short distance between us. Daio said it was safer. It was a long walk to the bank.
    The roads were filled with cars, but the wide sidewalks were relatively empty. Daio told me that the sidewalks were built wide because it was once common for people to walk between the buildings. Years later the city had connected most of the buildings with climate controlled tunnels and large underground parking spaces. Soon, fewer and fewer people took the time to walk outside. The streets, Daio said, were left to people who were afraid of close places or had allergies. A few still sought out the warmth of Aion, the star of the planetary system. And there were the outlaws like us.
    We stopped in the square in front of the bank. A few people were scattered around the cobbled common area. They all seemed to be waiting for something. I wondered if maybe some event was about to begin, or maybe they were waiting for the bank to open. Soon though the sights of the city again distracted me. The large open area charmed me. Daio was agitated. I thought he looked even more agitated than before.
    “Everything okay?” I asked.
    “He is delayed,” he said not even looking at me.
    I nodded, and looked at the bank entrance. Suddenly, it felt as if more people were crowding in around me. I turned back to Daio, but suddenly someone stepped between us.
    “Daio Plaser?” he asked Daio.
    Daio hadn’t even answered when someone stepped up from behind him and put a gun to his head. A big, shiny, black truck pulled up beside us.  Several more people closed in and more guns appeared from nowhere. We were surrounded and pushed towards the truck. Someone shoved me against the side of the truck, and kicked my legs wide apart. Hands slid over my body checking for hidden weapons, and then dipped into my pockets to empty them from their contents. 
    They handcuffed us. The back door of the truck opened and we were pushed inside. A few armed people wearing black masks entered behind us and the truck started to move before we could even sit down.  
    “He has nothing to do with anything,” said Daio, indicating me with his head
    “Shut up,” said the man in front of Daio and hit him in the face with the rifle butt. I looked at Daio. His nose was starting to bleed. He was trying to save me from this mess. After all, my name wasn't mentioned in the news.
    Through the back window I could see two identical trucks following us.  They were so close and followed us so precisely. It was as if they were chained to each other with transparent chains.
    My head spun trying to think what we could possibly have done to deserve such treatment. I thought about our mother. Could all of this somehow be related to our flight from Taglam? We were outlaws because of that as well, but did it justify all of this? I lifted my eyes to Daio. His cuffed hands were on his bleeding nose. A connection between our mother and our present situation was an odd thought. The scenes of everything that had happened the previous night flashed through my mind, along with the image of the odd building we’d seen earlier. My mind circled back to my mother and our flight from Taglam years before. Then, somehow, an odd thought appeared and pushed everything else out.
    There had been a detailed report in Shor about the military capabilities of several major planets. One of them was a planet called Mampas, on the other side of the galaxy. The report said that a lack of training and military action had left the Mampas army weak and degenerate. A rebellious desert tribe opposed the government of Mampas, but the rebels were too weak to be any real threat. I remembered there was a small comment saying that it would be possible to take over the interplanetary market around Mampas by force, and if Mampas resisted, a coalition could easily be formed with the rebels to take control of the planet.
    Suddenly I realized that maybe I