“Magnificent desolation,” Buzz’s contemplative yet exuberant voice replied.
Over two and a half hours of patiently waiting and watching the two bouncing astronauts passed by until, “Okay. I'm heading on in,” Buzz Aldrin reported while looking up at the Lunar Module.
“Time to make our appearance,” Neuma announced.
“Chances of that thing making it off the surface if we start interfering with their equipment?” Euphretes asked Neuma, referring to the Lunar Module.
“It’ll be risky, but we have no other choice. They cannot return to the Pyx with video or recorded evidence of your existence. Worst case scenario, we move in and fix their equipment while they sleep.”
“Good Copy,” He opened his connection with Steadfast and Loyal. “Blanchard, lock this place down,” Euphretes ordered, the sudden command waking Caruso from his current day dream.
“On it Sir,” Blanchard’s voice answered.
Almost immediately, “Oh. Uh - oh. The camera came off!” Neil remarked puzzled.
“Hey Neil, what’s up with The Eagle?” Buzz asked, his voice just as confused and concerned.
Neil placed his hands on his hips and shook his head, “Houston, interior and exterior lights on LM just powered off,” Armstrong’s disconcerted voice said as the astronaut looked through a small window at the darkened interior of his Lunar Module.
“Stay here,” Euphretes directed to Caruso as he picked himself off the moon’s powdery surface.
“Too easy, if you say so…” Caruso answered, clearly disappointed that he couldn’t tag along despite having endured the last boring eight hours.
“Houston, are you receiving?” Aldrin asked after complete silence from Earth.
“Fine, you can come with me, just hang back when we get close,” Guardian Euphretes relented.
“What’s going on? When I left she had enough juice for at least another seventy-two hours.” Buzz thought out loud. He stepped off the ladder to better investigate the peculiar power failure.
Euphretes and Caruso walked quickly toward the astronauts, remaining unseen until they were nearly on top of them. “Stay here please,” Euphretes ordered with an extension of his arm to stop the Steward Operative.
“Good Luck,” Caruso whispered.
“Am I clear to speak?” Euphretes asked Neuma, knowing she needed to link his voice to the two astronauts’s suits.
“Buzz, Buzz!” Neil’s panic stricken voice shouted as he pointed directly at the towering figure approaching the Lunar Module.
“Clear to engage,” Neuma indicated as Euphretes started to close the distance.
“What the . . .?!” Buzz’s shocked voice filled Euphretes’s helmet.
The astronauts stood paralyzed with inexplicable terror. Their heart rates skyrocketed as their breathing became short and labored. Never, not ever, had this scenario crossed anyone’s mind. There had been no training, no protocol, no expectancy for something as outrageous as another life form existing on the moon. Simply put, it just wasn’t possible.
“Hello!” Guardian Euphretes announced.
“Oh God. Oh God. Mary sweet mother of Jesus help us,” Buzz’s stunned voice whispered. Having performed Communion inside the Lunar Module just after landing on the moon, the words felt right to his bewildered soul.
“Mary sweet mother of Jesus?” Euphretes asked his mind space, his helmet unable to properly translate Mary and Jesus.
“Not sure, must be a saying on their planet,” Neuma wisely assessed.
Meanwhile, “Houston! If you can hear us, we aren’t alone up here!” Neil Armstrong shouted to his headset.
“Houston can’t hear you. But please, relax. We have absolutely no intention of putting you in any danger,” The Guardian said as he raised his empty hands, showing that he carried no weapons. “My name is Euphretes, and I am just a lowly traveler who happened to come across your beautiful planet.”
The men continued to stare in utter astonishment.
“Typically when someone greets someone and gives them their name, it is customary for that someone to do the same. And your name is?”
Buzz Aldrin could be heard whispering, “How can we understand them?!”
“I don’t know how it mastered the English language Buzz, but that’s the least of our concerns,” Neil’s hushed voice replied, drawing a smirk from Euphretes.
Somehow finding his voice, shaky as it was, he managed to say, “My name is Neil Armstrong, and I’m the Mission Commander for this, uh, operation,” He said while his hands spread out to show the humble equipment before him. Pointing to Buzz, “And this is Buzz Aldrin, our mission’s Lunar Module Pilot.”
Keeping his visor blacked out to prevent the astronauts from seeing his face, “It is truly an honor to meet both of you,” The Guardian remarked with genuine respect.
“Something isn’t right about their vital signs!” Neuma’s perturbed voice expressed as she finally came within range to safely enter the two astronauts’s equipment without stretching Euphretes.
“What do you mean?” Euphretes asked.
“They have the appearance of a healthy four hundred and fifty Custos year old; but their DNA degradation shows that they are really eight hundred years old.”
“What do you mean?” Euphretes asked Neuma again, trying to understand what she meant while staying focused on the current situation.
The astronauts stood in silence as Euphretes seemed distracted.
“Their life spans, Euphretes. Their DNA can’t survive for longer than two hundred and fifty Custos years!” Neuma explained, telling her partner that the Earth humans couldn’t survive past one hundred and twenty-five trips around their host star. Compared to the six hundred year life span for humans throughout the rest of the Galactic Group, the people of Earth lived extremely short lives.
“How is that possible? They look no different from us!”
“That’s because they ARE US, but they have a disease!”
“The honor is all ours,” Buzz managed to say.
Without responding, Euphretes subconsciously took a step backwards from the two astronauts at Neuma’s comment, drawing a confused look from the pair. “What do you mean they have a disease?”
“I don’t know! It’s PMD in nature in that it’s a DNA Entanglement Virus; but it has to be at least four hundred times more contagious!” Neuma’s absolutely flabbergasted voice answered.
“Is Caruso safe?” Euphretes asked, knowing Neuma could stop any virus or disease thrown at his immune system, even one as dangerous as the one facing him now.
“No cause for sudden alarm. Everyone is wearing the proper equipment, so Caruso is safe as long as he doesn’t expose his skin to space; which I now know can happen at any moment.”
“So, the Pyx’s inhabitants have an eighty percent shorter lifespan because of this other DNA Entanglement Virus?” Euphretes asked, wanting clarification.
“Yes!”
“And this disease is extremely contagious to Galactic Group humans?”
“YES!”
“Well, what about the PMD? There are billions of them down there; they have to be immune to the PMD at least!”
Calming her tone of voice, “While I’m ecstatic to see that the planet’s human population is somehow immune to the PMD’s effects, we won’t be able to figure out how they beat it until we can neutralize this other DNA Entanglement Virus.”
“And what if Indus, or anyone else for that matter, introduces this new virus to the Galactic Group?”
“Think about it Euphretes, the human population is already struggling to reproduce!” Neuma began, referring to the PMD making reproducing more difficult for both parents, regardless of whether or not insemination was done in-vitro or naturally. Currently, couples were struggling to even reproduce once, causing population numbers to drop exponentially. “And with most pregnancies occurring at the two hundred or more Custos year mark, the vast majority of Galactic Group humans would die before they could
ever reproduce. So yeah, if this gets out, the chances of the human race climbing out of extinction are next to none.”
Concerned by the prolonged silence, Neil Armstrong ventured a step closer. “Is everything alright?”
“No. I mean yes! I’m so sorry. Something distracted me,” Euphretes said, embarrassed he had not responded to Buzz Aldrin after hearing Neuma’s information.
“Smooth.”
“Sorry about that, had to deal with something on another connection. So, I bet you’re wondering what’s going on right about now, right?” Euphretes asked his audience of two.
“That would be an understatement,” Neil replied. He was stunned at how informal and natural this whole situation seemed to be. He closed his eyes and reopened them in an attempt to clear his head. This is ludicrous, impossible, a dream. “I’m in outer space, standing on the moon, talking to an alien. This. Is. Not. Happening.”
“Oh, I can assure you that it is indeed happening. And I don’t recall ever thinking of myself as an alien. But I digress. I’m sure you want to know why I’m here.”
“Sounds like he’s shooting from the hip,” Buzz whispered to Neil, just as confused about the situation as he was.
“Shooting from the hip?” Euphretes asked Neuma.
“Probably another saying on their planet.”
“To be honest, I have come for one specific reason. However, something’s come up that might force me to rethink things entirely.” Euphretes’s tone was clearly remorseful, throwing up red flags in Neil and Buzz’s minds.
The Guardian looked intently at both men, “I’m a firm believer in finishing what I’ve started. So, I’ll address what caused our chance visit here today before having to take our conversation down a darker path.” Euphretes intentionally paused.
Returning his gaze to Neil Armstrong as the highest ranking member of the pair, “I believe your planet’s governments are holding the bodies of several crew members who crashed their Transport into your planet just under two of your planet’s years ago,” Euphretes explained, believing the crew members may have been inside a Transport when the Cruiser’s bay exploded. “Your planet will respectfully give all individuals back to me. I’ll allow you to keep any crashed technology that you may have acquired, but other than that, there will be no compromise. And just to make things perfectly clear, this is not a request.”
Neil gathered all the courage he could muster and said, “And I too will be perfectly clear. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I know of no such events that happened on Earth. Even if something like you said did happen on Earth, and again it’s highly unlikely, everyone would know about it.” Euphretes could sense from Neil’s aura that he was telling the truth.
“I am inclined to believe you. You seem genuinely unaware of any such activity. Therefore I give you my first message to pass along to your Earth.” Euphretes paused again to string together his next words.
“Governments of Earth, I suspect that some of you have recently found crash sites with equipment that is not from your planet. If, during your excavations, you came across any remains or bodies, then I must demand that you return them to me. This is not a game, and I will not back down from this one demand. They have families back home who deserve to have their loved ones returned to them; and they are certainly not experiments for your profit.” Euphretes stopped and looked at each of the two astronauts.
“Now, if a government withholds the remains of someone and I find out, and I promise you that I WILL find out, then things will get ugly. I will forcibly remove the remains from your possession and I will be certain to cause as much damage as I can along the way. I’m not a believer in holding a grudge. It’s far too toxic. So the damage I cause will be swift and devastating. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?”
“Little harsh,” Buzz’s voice whispered.
Feeling a sudden rush of anger from Euphretes, “Ignore it,” Neuma warned, successfully getting him back in focus.
Neil looked to his mission partner before looking back at Euphretes, “I can certainly pass that along. But, if anyone is in fact holding a body and is willing to return it, what are they supposed to do?”
“That is not your concern. Your other team mate circling this moon will provide that information. Look, Neil, I just want your planet to show respect for their fellow humans, as we are all in this together.”
“They got to Michael too?!” Buzz’s stunned voice whispered, referring to the third astronaut on the Apollo 11 mission, Michael Collins.
Neil held up his hand to Buzz. “Wait a second. Our fellow humans? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Euphretes smiled. “That is correct. I am human. I take no offense at you calling me an alien!”
Neil doubled over in shock, “This just can’t be!” The enormity of this revelation was beyond understanding. He couldn’t even begin to think of the ramifications.
“Do you need a vomit bag, Neil?” Buzz asked innocently, trying to lighten an otherwise inconceivable situation.
Ignoring Aldrin’s comment, he stood back up and drew in a long, deep breath. “Of course. I’ll be sure to express the importance of your words,” Neil answered cautiously. “And the second message?”
Euphretes looked down at the dusty surface of the moon, then back up at the astronauts, “Look, this is not the way I would have liked this to go and these are not the best of circumstances that bring us together today.” Sweeping his hands all around him, he continued, “Beyond this galaxy is a universe of indescribable proportions. There are countless other forms of life, both primitive and highly advanced. While much of it is good, there is also plenty that is evil. Up until this moment, when you set foot on this tiny moon, you were oblivious to any of it.”
Neil and Buzz looked at each other. “He’s got a point,” Buzz whispered.
“Out there is what is called the Galactic Group. It is a dirty and corrupt place and it’s evil never sleeps!” The Guardian’s tone was unmistakably humble, as if he felt partly responsible for the Galactic Group’s chaos. “And while I thought your planet would bring the universe a new sense of hope, it appears that the only thing it can offer is more deadly pandemonium.” Euphretes stopped momentarily to catch his thoughts.
“What’s he taking about?”
“I don’t know, Buzz. Just listen.”
“You see Neil, the human race is dying,” Euphretes began. “For a long time, a disease has made it extremely difficult for us to reproduce. It has dwindled our numbers to a critical point. In fact, as we speak, there is an all-out war taking place just over there,” Euphretes explained while pointing toward the Andromeda Galaxy. “And all of the killing is over one resource, human lives. So unfortunately, when they hear that your planet is populated with humans, they’ll stop at nothing until they find you and take every last one of you hostage.”
Euphretes paused again to allow the severity of the situation to settle in, and then resumed speaking, “Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, your planet somehow holds the cure to the disease that’s driving us into extinction. Unfortunately, however, it is also home to another virus that could wipe us all out in the blink of an eye. If your planet falls into the hands of anyone with evil intent, and this virus breaks through my defenses, it will destroy us all. And let me be perfectly clear, destroying all of us is exactly what the enemy wants to do.”
Neither astronaut could speak a word as they stood before the towering figure. “So Gentlemen, like it or not, Earth now lies at the end of Fate’s abysmal tunnel, and we’re grossly unprepared for what’s coming next.”
To all of my Bravo Company Boodawgs, THANK YOU! Lieutenant Zippy hopes this book does you justice!
Message From The Author
Through the Abyss is written by a first time author who understands that you, the reader, may find yourself with questions, especially early on. I ask that you have patience and continue reading to the end. Answers will come, I promise. However, I also understand that
as a first time author, there may be questions that I need to address due to my inexperience. So with that said, please join the book’s Facebook page, The Guardian: Through the Abyss. There, I will do all that I can to address posts with questions or comments while keeping all of my readers informed on upcoming events on the Book and the Trilogy.
At the end of the day, I genuinely want to ensure that you get the most out of your reading experience. And whether you love it or hate it, thank you for reading Through the Abyss. I know choosing this no name author out of the thousands of others was a gamble, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
With great thanks,
Daniel Litchfield
Through the Abyss Page 42