Orion Protected

by J. N. Chaney

  Jezra motioned with an open hand to Dama, who also walked forward with torch in hand.

  “Let us always remember this day and those who sacrificed everything so we might have a tomorrow,” Dama said in a loud voice. “Legion is gone, but the shadow he casts will forever be on us unless we stand together. Those who gave their lives today demand that we are better in the future. We owe them that much. From this day on, we honor our dead who have fought so furiously against our common enemy by forming a new alliance with our newfound friends and those with whom we are reconciled.”

  Dama and Jezra looked over to me.

  I didn’t expect to have to say anything. I was given a torch, but I had imagined it was only to light a pyre, not to speak. I also didn’t think I would be the one to talk for the humans. I thought perhaps Elon would have that job. He was much more eloquent than I was.

  Stacy nudged me forward.

  I walked to join Dama and Jezra in front of everyone, thinking about what I should say but not feeling I had something worthy enough for the moment.

  My hand instinctively went to the medallion on my throat. The same one that had saved my life hours before.

  “I don’t know if the perfect words exist for this moment,” I said out loud. My mind ran over the many people we’d lost and Lou once more. “But a friend would say that we are right where we are supposed to be. We can’t change the past, but we can decide the future. Let’s make decisions now that honor the many that fell here today. Let’s also remember those from the planet Earth that we have left behind in our previous lives, both dead and alive, and those fallen friends that did not survive our landing on our new home, Genesis.”

  A pause of silence ensued, then all those carrying torches slowly walked over to the pyres and pressed the burning flames into the brush. Crackling flames began to spread, slowly raising smoke to the open sky above. We stepped back in a moment of silence, remembering those who were gone, those we would never see again.

  “You okay?” Stacy asked as I took my place beside her. She slipped her hand into my own. It felt comforting and right, and it was something I wanted to keep doing for a long time.

  “Yeah,” I said, looking over to her while I squeezed her hand. “Yeah I think I am.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Stacy said with resolve. “There’s a mountain of work to do in front of us, but we’ll be okay.”

  24

  “You look good,” I told Arun the next day. There hadn’t been a lot of time for chit chat after the ceremony. We’d all been dead on our feet. I had enough in me for a quick shower and then I fell into a coma. Now we were gathered in Arun’s tent for a meeting.

  Arun smiled up at me, her bright blue eyes back to their normal color. She was a bit thinner and weaker than she had been before the Legion virus entered her body, but that was nothing a few weeks of regular food and rest couldn’t fix. I was so relieved to see her up and around and looking at peace and well-rested.

  We stood in the tent with Ricky and Elon as more city leaders, as well as Jezra, Tong, and Dama, entered. We all gazed at each other, smiling for a few moments. There were no words to say right away.

  “Thank you,” Arun said with a genuine smile. “Thank you for everything.”

  “I don’t know if I had a choice,” I said, pointing to Jezra with a thumb. “She kind of put the title of Chosen One on me without consulting me first.”

  “You always had a choice,” Jezra reminded me with a roll of her eyes. “You chose to take a stand. However, I’m very glad that you did.”

  “I had a choice in all of this?” I asked incredulously. “It sure didn’t seem that way when you were in the middle of explaining the prophecy. It sounded more like a ‘you broke it and now you’re buying it’ kind of deal.”

  “I am unfamiliar with this rule of breaking and buying,” Jezra said, scratching the bottom of her chin. Her eyes twinkled. “But you were the right human for the job, of that I am certain.”

  “No denying that,” Ricky said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Legion chose the wrong humans to mess with.”

  Nods of agreement were traded around the room before Elon took the reins of the meeting in hand. It was my hope that he was taking over leadership permanently, along with Arun when she was back to one hundred percent, and that my duties as the Chosen One were at an end. I liked staying in the background, coming to the front if it was life and death, but I was definitely not a leader type of guy.

  “I’m sure you all have a list of duties you must attend to, so I’ll try and make this meeting as short as possible,” Elon began. “Our wounded should be cared for first and foremost, and a new way of life established for our three communities to coexist. After this is set up, I’d like to form a coalition of our three races. The future is bright if we stand together.”

  “Agreed,” Dama said. “My people will offer any aid they can while we move back to the surface.”

  “Likewise, I have spoken to our greater counsel and the Remboshi are eager to move toward peace,” Jezra added. “The gestures of the Rung offering aid and relief have been exactly what they needed to bury past hurts and look toward working side by side.”

  Smiles and nods were received by all those in the tent as we all reflected on how we’d gotten to this point in time and the work that was still to be done.

  “Once this is all done,” I said, clearing my throat. “I mean, once we’re back on our feet, can I request from the Rung that we are able to look at their craft? I believe that with our combined knowledge, we might be able to get that ship flying in space.”

  “Eager to leave us so soon?” Tong asked, disappointed.

  “Who said anything about leaving you?” I asked him. “Why don’t you come with us?”

  Tong’s eyes brightened at the possibility of exploring other worlds, but I thought that some of that was his enjoyment of being with his new friends. I had developed a fondness for him as well.

  “Any knowledge we possess is yours,” Dama agreed. “With the three of our combined resources, I do believe this will usher in a new era of science and technology that will bring our planet on the cutting edge.”

  The tent erupted in several more, smaller conversations as details were laid out and plans were set in motion. The Rung and Remboshi would both be departing soon to set in place their own communities now that Legion was no more.

  I wasn’t needed at the moment, and to be honest, I could use a break. I also had other “business” to attend to. I walked outside the tent, feeling the suns’ warm rays against my face.

  “Come on,” Stacy said, taking my hand and pulling me along with her. She led me to the wall and up the steel steps. I didn’t complain. Why would I? Life was starting to come together, to have more meaning than it did when I was the “Chosen One.” Now, my big concern was being the chosen one of the woman next to me, as corny as that might sound.

  We moved along the wall to the spot over the front gates, gazing off into the clear blue sky. It was beautiful here in a way I had never appreciated before. The suns were brilliant in the sky, casting shadows in two different directions as one sun was slightly behind the other in rising and setting. There were two shadows of each of us of different sizes, the big ones and the smaller ones clasping hands in the middle.

  “You really think we can get off this rock?” Stacy asked now, turning and taking both my hands in hers. “I mean, you think there’s really a chance we can get back to Earth?”

  “We won’t know unless we try,” I said, leaning toward her. Stacy was always beautiful, but the way the sunlight caught her hair now practically lit it ablaze with beauty. I pressed my lips against hers and gave myself away to the lightheaded feeling of euphoric joy that I was feeling.

  I didn’t want to let her go, but I knew we had time together now—plenty of time to walk in the sun with her, to explore this world and others.

  Stacy didn’t move to end the kiss either.

  When it did end, I opened my eyes. St
acy’s were just opening, a silly grin on her lips.

  “I was wondering if you were going to do that,” Stacy said, biting her lower lip. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. We’re officially official.”

  “I guess so,” I said with a heavy sigh as I teased her. “I should warn you, I’m not great with people. I’m kind of a hothead, and there was this prophecy about me.”

  “Just shut up and kiss me again,” Stacy said with a laugh as she pulled me in close.

  For the second time that day, I didn’t pull away.

  Epilogue

  Five Years Later

  Years of dedicated hard work had been put into the launch. After dozens of failures, we had managed to launch unmanned ships into space. Now, for the first time, we had achieved a manned launch. It was both exciting and frightening at the same time.

  I stood looking out of the front window of the ship in awe. The stars around Genesis twinkled brightly, reminding me of the view from earth.

  I looked back down at the tiny oval-shaped planet. What had been my prison at first now seemed like home. We had made it such through our trials and tribulations, joys and successes. It had been a journey unlike any other that any of us had ever experienced. In the last five years, there had been hardship and not everyone had adapted well to the life as we learned a new way of living. We had lost a few colonists to natural causes and some not, but in true circle of life tradition, we had several new colonists to celebrate, including one born to Stacy and me.

  I sat in the captain’s chair in silence with the rest of my crew.

  “We did it,” Dama said breathlessly to my left. “Five years in the making, and we did it.”

  “I can’t believe we have a way back home,” Elon said to my right. “I mean, we’re still years away from being able to travel in space and we don’t even know where Earth is, but this is a huge first step.”

  “Truly remarkable,” Iris chimed in. The Cognitive stood beside me with her hands clasped behind her back.

  “How is everything up there?” Stacy’s voice asked over the comm unit. “Laren asked you to take pictures, remember?”

  “Oh, I remember,” I said, taking the battered micro camera out of my pocket. It was a miracle the camera had survived the Orion crash and another miracle still my daughter had found it. “You can tell our daughter that Daddy’s taking all the pictures she could ever want.”

  “I never dreamed we would achieve this, not when we were warring with our sisters and brothers,” Tong said from his station behind me. “Six more years. I think we can achieve actual travel in space in just six more years.”

  The five of us sat quietly on the bridge of the Orion II a moment longer. My brain was working on overdrive. We had done it. Against all odds, we had succeeded. My hand instinctively went to the medallion around my throat.

  The Rung and the Remboshi were at peace. Legion seemed like some kind of made-up story you would tell around campfires. My family waited for me back on Genesis and now space travel was within our grasp.

  For the first time in a long time, all was well, and I felt at peace.

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  J. N. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in creative writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com.

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