Free NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) by Dan Haronian, Thaddaeus Moody Page A

throat.
    We went inside the house.  “Hello,” shouted Daio. He looked around. Seconds passed in silence. “The people here must be small,” He said almost whispering as if he was still expecting someone to answer.
    “Small or not, they eat like your rich friend in Seragon,” I replied looking at the other doors wondering what would happen if someone stepped out of one. Daio and Dug headed into the kitchen as I approached one of the doors and opened it. No one was there. I checked the other room as well but it too was empty. I went back to the kitchen. In no time the three of us finished off everything there was in the basket.
    “Those,” said Dug and chewed twice, “are outstanding.”
    “Amazing,” said Daio.
    I nodded in agreement. “A bit different than your friend’s cookies,” I mumbled.
    “It's not a cookie,” said Daio, “A cookie is supposed to be sweet. This is bread.”
    I nodded. Our diet in the outskirts of Seragon had consisted entirely of synthetic cubes.
    Daio walked to the small lobby and pointed towards the cloth on the table. “I think this looks like a burial shroud,” he said, still chewing.
    “Now that you mention it, those boxes on the porch could be coffins,” I said.
    “So this is a gravedigger’s house?” asked Dug.
    “And he is not on vacation,” said Daio.
    “How can you tell?” I asked
    He lifted the small piece of bread in his hand. “This is not synthetic.”
    Dug looked at him wondering.
    “It's fresh. The people are nearby somewhere. We were simply lucky they are not at home.”
    We quickly searched the house. We found clothes in the closets, but they were too small for us by at least three sizes.
       “No terminals anywhere,” I said, admiring the books on the shelves. I took one of them down and squinted at the odd letters. They only reminded me how far we were from home.
    We went back to the kitchen, checked the cabinets, and found a treasure trove of fresh fruits in one. Another cabinet contained a few sealed food boxes. We put it all in a small bag we found there and left the house with our loot.
    Our tiredness was starting to show. When we were a good distance from the house, we lay down among the trees and fell asleep. 
    When we awoke the planet was up high in the sky again.
    “It's so odd that there is never full night here,” said Daio as we walked to the creek. “The light reflected from that planet is so bright that it's impossible to know when the day starts and when it ends.”
    “I guess people born here don't think it's that special,” said Dug.
    “Maybe it's time to go into the city,” I said, “The shuttle must have left by now.”
    “I didn't hear it taking off,” said Daio. 
    “What’s a Seragonian shuttle doing here to begin with?” asked Dug.
    Daio nodded, “I agree, it's strange.”
    Dug looked around. “That shuttle crossed the entire galaxy to get to this abandoned planet. It doesn’t make sense,” he said more forcefully. “Why didn't we land on any of the large, advanced planets along the way? There must have been something the size of Seragon. Why land here?'
    “You mean from a business perspective,” said Daio.
    Dug nodded. “For a start.”
    Daio lifted his eyebrows. “I have no idea,” he said after few seconds.
    “In any case we can’t hide forever,” I said, “We are far enough away from Seragon that we don’t have to worry about them, and maybe the people here won't care so much about what we have or have not done.”
    We walked to the edge of the forest and looked at what looked like a small town in the distance. The planet was about to set and the Aion was about to rise.
    “We can’t go in together. It may be too much for the people here,” said Daio.
    “What are you proposing?” asked Dug.
    Daio gazed at the houses. “We can split up. Everyone will take a different path.”
    “We know nothing about the place and you are dividing it into areas?” wondered Dug.
    “It looks like a small