“If I hold it to the back of one of their heads and turn it on, it will punch a hole in their brain and kill them instantly. Let it not be said that we are barbaric or without mercy. There is still hope for these prisoners, though. Let their conspirators come forth and assure us that there will be no escape attempts for them. If we can be sure that this danger can be fully abated, we can stay their executions for a time. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the time to protect anyone. We are in danger here.”
Perry stepped forward and walked on stage. He looked at Harold who sneered at him.
“Well, if it isn’t the man who ran from us earlier,” Harold said.
“You know you can’t kill the Voraster, don’t you?” Perry asked.
“They are trying to invade us,” Harold said. “They threatened the sanctity of our world. I have the right to defend my planet.”
“You do, yes,” Perry said, “ but these Voraster here are not threatening you. You have subdued them. Therefore, you cannot kill them. They must be returned to their world for their own people to deal with.”
“They are on my world,” Harold said. “I have the right to do as I please.” He gestured to waiting guards. “Detain him.”
“The Voraster are part of the Unified Planets,” Perry said. “Earth is too. If you kill them, and they hear of it, you can get into a lot of trouble. You can get Earth into a lot of trouble.”
“Then we’ll make sure they don’t hear of it,” Harold said.
“Listen to me,” Perry said loud enough for those closest to the stage to hear. “If you follow through with this, you could lose everything. The authorities take this very seriously.”
“I take this very seriously,” Harold said.
“I don’t think you do, daddy,” Janecia said, walking on stage.
“What are you doing up here?’ Harold asked, a little flustered.
“I’m one of your traitors,” Janecia said. “I saw them land. I saw you take them away. I’ve spent time with them and seen how they act and what they say. Not only are the Voraster no harm to us, but Perry, Michelle, and Blake, wherever he is, are on our side too. If you sentence them to death, you sentence me too.”
She dropped to her knees next to Perry.
“Go ahead,” Janecia said, “use your Krever knife on me. Hold it to the back of my head and end my life for doing what is right. You’d better do it yourself. You don’t trust anyone else.”
Harold stared at her, dumbfounded.
“President Rhysman,” Perry pleaded across the stage. “You have to stop this. The Unified Planets will end up hearing of this if he follows through with it. He could destroy this planet by killing them.”
“Enough!” Harold shouted. He turned to the mic. “They have corrupted my daughter. They have used some kind of mind control on her to turn her from those she holds dearest.”
“That’s not true, and you know it, Harold,” Sophia said as she walked onstage. She had been standing next to the scientist she had introduced to Blake before walking onto the stage. “In fact, you’ve been doing nothing but spinning this to your favor. Oliver told me that he showed you a manual that clearly stated the Terraformer would shut down after a hundred years. The Voraster didn’t do that. Why say it? And you think they used mind control on our daughter? Are you serious?”
“They’re evil,” Harold spat. “They’ve come to destroy us all!”
“They came because they were curious,” Sophia said. “That’s it. Nothing malicious. They weren’t trying to sabotage anything. All they want to do is go home, and you want to kill them for it.”
“They all deserve to die for what they did,” Harold said.
“I’ve heard enough,” Rhysman said as he stood. “Harold Andersoppen, you are relieved of your position. It seems that very soon, the Mirificus Society will have no purpose for the Terraformer is on its last leg. This celebration will become a remembrance of what it did for us, and that we are now free of it forever. Guards, release the prisoners.”
“Don’t do it!” Harold cried out. The guards hesitated as they looked at each other.
“Harold, for your service to us, you will be forgiven this,” Rhysman said, “but I cannot appoint you to any other office. What you do with your future is yours.”
The guards released Michelle, Drizdal, Faraliv, and Perry. They all rose to their feet along with Janecia.
“To our visitors, I want to offer my personal apologies for your treatment while here,” Rhysman said. “I was blinded by the past as many of us were, and we depended on Harold for many things including his advice. In this case, it was in error.”
“We understand the past,” Drizdal said, “and we know that it is hard to overcome that. Our people did something wrong to you long ago, and I am sorry that we broke the treaty we signed by coming here.”
“It’s a lie,” Harold mumbled. “It’s a lie! It’s a lie! It’s a lie!” At his final exclamation, Harold rose up and ignited his Krever knife. He aimed for Drizdal, but Janecia stepped in his way to stop him. The knife pierced her shoulder, and she screamed in pain before falling to the ground.
“No!” Harold said. He dropped the knife and fell next to his daughter who clutched her shoulder on the ground.
“Get away from her,” Sophia said, and she pushed Harold out of the way.
“Guards, hold him,” Rhysman said, and as he sobbed and mumbled apologies, he was held by two men who previously served him.
Suddenly, Blake ran onstage with his scanner. “I leave you all for a few hours, and you go and start hurting each other,” Blake said. “The blade sliced the clavicle, the acromion, and the head of the humerus. Do you all have a doctor?”
“I’m here,” a man said approaching the stage.
“Do you have the equipment to put that back together?” Blake asked.
“Yes, sir,” the doctor replied. “We salvaged the majority of the sick bay from the Mirificus, and we’ve made maintaining and duplicating that a high priority here. We’ll get her back on her feet.”
The doctor summoned help from the crowd as Blake stepped away and allowed him to do his job.
“Where did you come from?” Perry asked as the other three Voraster walked up much to the surprise of the crowd.
“Once we summoned the ship, I thought I’d get the others and come over here,” Blake said. “We’d been staying out of the way. You did well.”
“Thanks,” Perry said.
“There is a ship coming?” Sophia asked. “How?”
“Well, the Mirificus still had its short range array mostly operational,” Blake explained. “Through some level of pain and suffering, Rallafin sent word. Shouldn’t be long.”
“And you were right about the Terraformer,” Sophia said.
“Yes,” Blake said. “I spotted that countdown, and let Oliver know. It took some digging, but we found the definitive proof of the end of it. But the planet is self-sufficient now. You don’t need it.”
“That is a huge relief,” Sophia said. “I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve lost sleep wondering if we’d all be here in the morning.”
“What are you going to do about your husband?” Perry asked. They looked back, and Rhysman was speaking to Tarlen as Harold was being led to the town hall. It was probably just as well that he not be here when the Voraster ship arrived. Additionally, Janecia’s doctor had her placed on a makeshift stretcher and was commanding a small posse of men to carry her away. She glanced at them and waved as Sophia answered.
“Before they showed up, he was a model citizen,” Sophia said. “I mean, he was brilliant and never stepped out of line. They brought out the worst in him. It isn’t their fault, of course. It’s his grandfather’s more than anyone, but as a result, he always had this disdain for them. Again, until they showed up, it wasn’t a problem and didn’t affect our lives.” She sighed. “I suspect once this is all over, things will go back to normal, including us. He hurt Janecia as a result of his hate, but she’ll be
fine. Right now, he is dying on the inside over that. We’ll see.”
“He certainly wasn’t very kind to me,” Michelle said. “I feared perpetual torture in there. Job or not, that was not right.”
“And for that reason, he was removed from that office,” Rhysman said kneeling down on the edge of the stage. “There are some who doubt the existence of Blake, Perry, and Michelle, but I’m one who believes. I want to thank you all on behalf of all of us for the help you gave against our wishes. I have no doubt that you saved us all, the Voraster in particular.
“I will also tell you that I have asked them not to return.”
“Why?” Perry asked. “They didn’t do anything.”
“I know that,” Rhysman said. “We all know that, but I want you to look out at those people staring back at us. There are a lot of them who believe as Mr. Andersoppen did. They don’t trust the Voraster because of what happened all those years ago. I understand they are leaving this system. I also accept that we would have a good chance of contacting Earth again if only we would work with them. You have to realize, however, that this is our world, and we need to decide that as a people. Getting back in touch with Earth would be a different life for us when we’ve done so much for ourselves. Some don’t want to contact Earth at all. It isn’t our home. None of us have ever seen it or even know much about it. We were all born here, so for the majority of us, it doesn’t matter.”
“He’s right,” Sophia said. “I’m sure there was a time we all would have jumped on it, but that was probably fifty or sixty years ago. Today, it’s ancient history.”
“We did learn, however, what they called this planet for centuries,” Rhysman said. “They said it was always called Keersh. If nothing else comes from this, perhaps we will honor the memory of this day by finally giving our planet a name. We won’t have to convince anyone. We’ll simply use it in a few documents, and that will be that.”
A large ship emerged from the heavens and hovered over the fields between Domus and the Mirificus. Many of the townspeople reacted by running for their homes and clearing the square while others just watched as the ship, which was maybe twice as large as the ship that crashed, slowly came to a landing. Orest and Faraliv were already on their way out.
“Blake, it was a pleasure knowing you,” Rallafin said as he headed towards the field. “We will not soon forget what you did for us.”
“My pleasure,” Blake said with a smile, and Rallafin headed out to the field.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping us,” Tarlen said. “You are the friend to our people that we desperately needed in this place, and not only will we not forget, but I will make it known how much you and your companions did for us. Not just you three, but Sophia and Janecia as well even though they were in the family of the man who worked against us. We will only report the opposition as general related to this planet, and as I have said, we understand where it comes from. We will be gifting President Rhysman with a way to contact us should they ever decide to contact Earth. It is not our place to do that for them, and we have our own problems to deal with. It won’t work once we leave the system, but by that time, none of us will be around any longer. So if they don’t use it by then, I’d assume they don’t intend to.
“We have told Rhysman that anyone who wishes to see us off may do so. I hope we may meet again under more favorable circumstances.”
“I cannot make any guarantees,” Blake said. “We travel around a lot and don’t always pick our destinations.”
“I’m not sure I could live like that,” Tarlen said. “I wish you the best all the same.”
Blake, Perry, and Michelle all waved as he led Drizdal out of town and towards the waiting ship. Rhysman, Sophia, and quite a few of the other townspeople followed them as they walked. Most of who remained either looked disinterested or afraid.
A ramp had lowered from the side of the ship, and another Voraster stood looking at the surroundings. Orest started running and waving his arms at the Vrast who stood on the ramp. He waved back in a similar manner showing that they apparently knew each other.
“I guess they’ll all be all right then,” Michelle asked.
“It seems so,” Blake said. “Even grumpy old Andersoppen will come around. We already know they don’t use the device to contact Earth. We know the Voraster leave the system. We know the Mirificus and Terraformer shrine go away, and this planet thrives over the next eon all by itself. I usually have something to look up when we’re done, but this time, I’m not sure what’s left since we’ve been here.”
“There is the trial,” Pery suggested.
“Trial?” Blake asked.
“When they get back to their home world, they are going to be disciplined for coming here,” Perry said.
“Ah, that trial,” Blake said. “I suppose that will be at least something to look forward to.”
A ding sounded behind them, and a pair of elevator doors materialized in the middle of the town square between them and the people milling around behind it.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this,” Michelle said. “It’s very weird.”
“Weird is what we do,” Blake said as they all walked into the elevator and pressed the button. The doors closed, and the trio had left Keersh once more.
EPILOGUE
After they arrived back in The Maze, the three of them immediately went to the computer system in the library to look up what had happened with Tarlen and his crew upon arriving back at their home world. The first thing they learned was that their home planet was called Vristaleth until their move which was finalized in 5567 at which time they called their new world Vristalest. By 5609, Vristaleth was a dead planet, but it appeared that it only needed time to recover. By the time the humans on Keersh achieved enough space travel to visit their neighboring worlds in 7024, only a little over a hundred years following Carburast, they found a world rich in life that they eventually settled on.
As for the trial, Tarlen lost his command but took full responsibility for the crash and their presence in orbit. He recommended commendations for the others for their level-headedness and dedication to not escalating violence in a violent and unfair situation. As they already knew, the humans of Keersh never made contact with them, and they left never speaking to them again. No excursions were ever made back to Vristaleth, and they kept their promise to leave the humans alone.
“And there you have it,” Blake said. “Kind of an expected ending to it all, but confirmed all the same.”
“Why would they not want to make contact with Earth?” Michelle asked.
“Do you know where your great-grandparents were from?” Blake asked.
“I think so,” Michelle said. “I think it was Kentucky.”
“Do you have any desire to contact relatives in Kentucky?” Blake asked. “Did your parents want to?”
“No,” Michelle said.
“Why not?” Blake asked. Michelle only stared at him. She had no answer for this, and he knew it. “You make your life where you live, and you go more than one generation, and no one has any interest in where you came from. I’ll bet you don’t even want to go where your grandparents lived or even where your parents grew up if it was not where you live now.”
“You made your point,” Michelle said. “Earth wasn’t their home.”
“That’s a weird thing to think about though,” Perry said. “Thousands of years in my future, humans will leave Earth, lose contact, and never want to come back.”
“That’s life though,” Blake said. “You live. You grow. You move on to new things. One hopes, however, that you keep an open mind while you do it, and don’t judge a fellow just because he’s seven feet tall and had four arms.”
“They were kind of scary,” Perry said.
“I would never say that to their faces though,” Michelle said. “They were also kind of sweet.”
“It’s another notch in the belt, though,” Blake said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, b
ut I’m exhausted.”
They all agreed with Blake, and with very little fanfare, there was some minor raiding of the kitchen before everyone disappeared into their rooms to rest up for the next time the elevator doors opened.
The Maze Continues in
Ancient Visitors
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George Willson was born in 1975 and has lived in Oklahoma the majority of his life. Following his graduation from Broken Arrow High School in 1993 where he excelled in the music program, he had a short tour in the U.S. Army as a trombone player before returning to civilian life in Oklahoma. He started by writing musicals and eventually collaborated on one that had a small scale production in Sweden at about the same time he had a play produced in Tulsa, Ok in 2001. He became a member of the Simplyscripts.com screenwriting community for a time culminating with the production of a short film, No Better Loved Than Lost, and a feature, No Kind Of Life, both of which he wrote, produced, directed, and performed the soundtrack in 2007 and 2009. He still writes music regularly and can play piano along with a dozen other instruments though he currently uses his trombone talent with the local community band. He has written four novels for the Fempiror Chronicles series, seven for The Maze, and two other novels of a miscellaneous nature. He currently lives in Broken Arrow, Ok with his wife and three princesses.
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