by Lynn Moon
“Tiamat?” I ask. “Where have I heard that name before?”
“Tiamat is what Earth was called before it broke apart,” Lylillea replies.
“Broke apart?” I’m surprised I never heard about this before.
“Yes,” she adds, shaking her head. “It is strange how civilizations never teach their people about their worlds. Earth used to be a planet just outside one of the outer gas giants and twice the size it is today. The Draconians found Tiamat many generations ago. The people were warned in advance and evacuated to Mars. People were technologically advanced, and built cities in the air. We sent ships to help. But many generations passed before Earth could sustain life again. We seeded it many times.”
“What do you mean by seeded?” I ask.
“If a planet is knocked out of orbit, imagine the huge rocks that remain. The asteroid belt is what is left of Tiamat’s other half.”
“Are you saying Earth is only half of what it used to be?” I ask, surprised our scientists never figured this one out on their own.
“That is correct,” she says, as we begin our walk again. “Tiamat was big and most of it was scattered. Before the rubble settled into the asteroid belt, rocks pelted the Earth. We tried to re-seed Earth, and an asteroid destroyed everything each time. It was only when we were convinced it was safe to repopulate we allowed our people to cultivate its soil.”
“Mars is dead, what happened to it? I mean, why don’t we have people living there now?”
“Mars was very different at one time,” she explains. “It had oceans, an atmosphere, trees, animal life and huge cities with people, lots of people. The crafts went faster than our train vacuum tubes. Built under the ground. Mars is a huge honeycomb full of holes. I would have loved to ride in one. The Draconians discovered Mars and fired their weapon. Earth was on the other side of the sun at the time. Draconians either did not know it was there or did not care.
“Maybe they thought the asteroid belt was all that was left of Tiamat. They only fired on Mars. We could not reach the people in time and millions died. The Draconians’ weapon pushed Mars from its gas giant and eventually it established its own orbit. It is still not safe to go there. The poison in the air will probably remain for many generations to come.”
“You mean radiation?” I wonder if the Draconians use nuclear weapons.
“Similar, but much worse,” she explains. “It not only kills the inhabitants, but it actually kills the planet.”
“Planet?”
“The planets are alive,” she explains. “They must be in order to sustain life. They are born, they breathe, grow, and die, just as we do. And they talk to us, through the plants. If you listen, Journey, you can hear her speak to you. Listen to the wind and sounds around you.”
“All I ever hear are people and cars.”
“Not in the cities.” She laughs. “But out here, where there is only us. Listen, Journey.”
We stop walking, all is quiet. I concentrate and close my eyes. I hear something. It almost sounds like someone breathing. I must be dreaming, but it’s as though I can feel the ground move beneath me. She’s right, the planet is alive.
“Wow,” I whisper. “Does that mean everyone on Earth is related to everyone here?” I ask.
“If you think about it,” Takoda states. “Everyone has to be related to everyone else in some manner.”
“That is true,” Lylillea adds nodding her head. “We are all related somehow. But, did you know that we share no DNA sequences with either the Draconians or the Tarkadians?”
“Do you know how it differs?” Takoda asks.
“Humans have twenty-three chromosome pairs, or forty-six total. Both our races have the same. But,” she says choosing her words carefully, “the Draconians have thirty-two pairs or sixty-four total, and the Tarkadians have forty-six pairs or ninety-two total. Much more than us. We are not the same. Some argue we are related because we all have chromosomes. But with that hypothesis you could also argue we are related to the plants and animals because they too have chromosomes.”
“Our cells, are they the same as the Draconians and Tarkadians?” I ask.
“Not really,” she answers. “Their cells look different under a microscope. Also, we cannot mate with either of them.”
“Well, I’ve heard that before.” I glance at Takoda, who smiles. “I mean, you are a mix of two races that were not supposed to be able to produce an offspring. Do you think they’re trying to make a hybrid with these things?”
Lylillea studies me before she answers. “Unfortunately, I do. Give one of our ancestors a test tube and there’s no telling what you’ll get. The Draconians and Tarkadians have two arms and two legs, a head and torso, but that is as common as it gets. The Tarkadians have a completely different facial structure than us. Their skin is more like a fish and they have what I call scales. But the scientists call it something different. The Draconians have skin very similar to an elephant, rough. And I have no idea what their faces look like.”
“Are they reptilians?” Takoda adds.
“Yes and no,” she replies. “The Draconians are large compared to us, several feet taller and several hundred pounds heavier. Their jaw protrudes out and their teeth are sharp and hang over their lips a little, so we are curious as to what and how they eat.”
Takoda laughs as he adds, “I was told they eat people.”
“I’ve seen no proof of that,” she answers.
“But so many were taken during the ancient war on Qapadhue,” Takoda says. “It is taught the people taken were used for food.”
“We never had any proof anyone was taken.” Lylillea sighs. “There is a lot that has not been told about both wars. The Draconians kill people. We have no evidence they ate people. To the Draconians, we are vermin, just as we kill little animals that spread disease, so do they. We are a nuisance—a pest to be exterminated. In their ships that crashed, we found writings we eventually deciphered. Writings about our kind destroying planets. They believe we live against our worlds. We also learned we have a darker side we never realized existed. A side that uses without caring or giving back.”
“On Earth there’s a group that wants to restore everything back to what it was before we humans trashed the place,” I add, then smile when they both give me the look.
“It is much more complicated than simply cleaning up,” Takoda says, placing his arm around me. “It is…”
“Living off nature,” I add. “I get it. If you think about it, every place we humans have lived we eventually destroyed. We cut down trees, dig big holes for minerals and pave the rain forest for cities. Nothing is ever the same once we move into the neighborhood.”
I know what I am saying is true. Now I wonder if these Draconians are as bad as everyone makes them out to be.
“But they must be intelligent,” I add. “They have spacecrafts, so they must be smart enough to figure out the physics and power required to go from one planet to another. And what about their terrible weapons that destroyed our home world?”
“It depends on who you ask, but I would have to agree,” she answers. “We’ve never made contact with a living one.”
“That’s kind of sad,” I state.
“Their way of communicating was never deciphered,” she states, as we turn down a small path away from the beach. “We never heard radio or other communication during the war. Even when they shot down their ships and dissected them, our scientists never figured out how the thing worked. When compared, the Draconian ships are very different from the Tarkadians.”
“That makes sense,” Takoda says, from behind us.
The path is narrow. We can no longer walk side-by-side. With Grandmother in the lead and Takoda following, we continue our discussion.
“If we are all from different parts of the universe, or from different universes, what would make anyone think that any of our inventions would be the same? It’s only common sense our technology be different and based on different principles of
physics,” Takoda says.
“But we are all the same,” I argue. “Okay, maybe we don’t look the same, but we all think, breathe and live. Take our two worlds for example, Earth and Traveler, we are the same.”
“Yes,” Grandmother adds, turning to look at me. “But we share a common ancestor. Our basic science centers around the same principles. Even though all three of our planets lost their technology for many generations, the basic principles were there for us to rediscover.”
What she says is starting to make sense, but at the same time, what she explains bothers me.
“How do you know so much about all this?” I ask.
She stops and turns to me. “I worked in central intelligence at the Council for many years before we were exiled. I was one of the scientists who worked on dissecting the ancient Draconian ship.”
“Maybe there’s some hope for my education after all.”
“Come,” Lylillea says, smiling. “It’s just a little farther.”
“How did you get a Draconian ship?” I add.
“I’m not sure where it came from. We had one Draconian ship and two Tarkadian ships. The technology between the two was very different. Those two races cannot be related.”
“I would guess not. The Draconians came from inside the Fornax galaxy and the Tarkadians are they only found in the next solar system?”
“We believe so,” she answers. “But we’ve never visited their planet and we cannot communicate with them. We do not fully understand their heritage or culture.”
We walk a little farther before she stops and studies the ground. “It’s here somewhere.” She pushes the fallen leaves with her foot. The forest is thick with boulders scattered throughout the trees.
“Here it is,” she declares, motioning for us to follow.
Lylillea disappears into the ground. We catch up and realize she didn’t disappear. Someone dug steps into solid stone. The stairs are steep and treacherous and water drips from the walls.
“I found this place one day while walking,” Lylillea explains. “Every trip, I explored a little more.”
We finally reach the bottom and the water is about an inch thick on the floor. I can hear the echoes of dripping all around me.
We follow my grandmother down a long tunnel that’s no wider than I am. Being in such tight quarters makes the trek seem a lot longer than it really is. Eventually we enter a large cave. It’s so big our light does not reach the other side. A rock pedestal about waist-high stands alone in the middle of the room.
“A shrine?” Takoda asks, examining the carvings on the sides.
“Not sure what it is,” Lylillea replies. She stands with her arms wrapped in front of her watching Takoda examine the inscriptions. “Can you read it?”
“I believe so,” he answers as he rubs his hands over the carvings. “It is written in an old Swetaachata language.”
“It’s that old,” she mumbles.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Grandmother,” I say. “How old are you in Earth years?”
“Oh, let me think. The last time I was on your planet it was before the great flood.” She says it so nonchalantly that it stuns me.
“Before the great flood. You mean Moses?” I almost scream.
“I do not know a Moses? But, I believe that’s about right.” She winks at me.
“Oh my,” I say, standing near Takoda. “Then how did you go on Trial with my grandfather. He’s much younger than you.”
“On Trials you can go with whoever you wish,” she replies. “Chawanna wanted to go with me. He had a crush on me. I spent many years on Earth and other worlds before I attended classes on Traveler. Living a long time does have its advantages. Anyway, when I met your grandfather, I enjoyed his company. Then one thing led to another.”
“Can you shine your light down here?” Takoda asks, interrupting my train of thought.
“Sure, where?”
“Here,” he states, reaching for my hand.
“Like this?”
He pushes on a rock that slides easily into the pedestal. Immediately the room lights up and we cover our eyes. The room is not a cave.
“What is this place?” I ask.
“It’s not a place,” Lylillea answers. “It’s a craft!”
“You mean a spaceship!”
“That’s exactly what she means,” Takoda answers in amazement.
“Is it one of ours or one of theirs?”
“It has to be one of ours,” Lylillea replies. “Its writings are in the ancient Swetaachata language.”
“Maybe,” Takoda adds, as he examines one of the walls. “Here.”
He pushes something on the wall and all around consoles appear out of thin air.
“Will you quit pushing on things?” I run to Takoda. “What did you do?”
“I’m not sure,” he answers.
Lylillea studies a console with a huge screen hanging above it. “This is a virtual computer.”
“Virtual, as in?” I ask.
“Virtual as in its reading our minds,” she replies. “Takoda, take that one over there and Journey, you take the one over here.”
“I don’t really know what I’m doing,” I shout.
Grandmother runs her hands over the flat keyboard of flashing lights and things come to life.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” I yell.
“No!” she yells.
Takoda plays with his board and a 3-D display of a universe with star systems and planets comes to life in the middle of the room. He hits a few more of his virtual buttons and the air flows.
“Okay now,” I yell. “Would you two quit pushing buttons before we end up on another planet or something?”
Takoda runs to my console and the wall to my left disappears. A sea of water greets us and the ocean looks like it’s being held back by just air. My internal panic alarm sounds, and I’m ready to run.
“Would you two stop!” I scream, wondering when the water is going to splash into the room.
“We must be under the ocean,” Lylillea states, walking toward the screen.
“Don’t!” I yell. “You’ll drown us.”
Lylillea reaches for my hand, but I refuse to move. “Journey, this is not going to drown us. It’s a screen showing us what is outside. No water will get in here. We are sealed in.”
“Well, obviously someone left this here for a reason, and maybe that reason is because it’s broken! So quit pushing the dag gone buttons.” My internal alarm is at its breaking point, and I’m about to explode. Takoda reacts to how I’m feeling and comes to my side. He puts his arms around me and kisses my forehead.
“Shh, it will be fine, Journey. This craft is too old to go anywhere, but strong enough to protect us from the water.”
A woman’s voice echoes through the room as an alarm sounds. I almost jump into Takoda’s arms. “What’s that? What’s happening?” Lylillea runs to our side. We stand together like a bunch of idiots.
“There was probably not enough energy to sustain the ship. Someone hid it here. That voice is a warning the ship is about to shut down.” As Takoda explains, the lights go out. The ocean disappears and so do the consoles.
“Thank goodness,” I gasp, as everything quiets. I turn to Takoda and as hard as I can, I slap him on the arm. “Don’t you ever do that to me, again! You could have gotten us killed, or worse, stuck out in space. Are you crazy?”
Takoda takes me in his arms and pats me on the back. “It will be okay, Journey,” he soothes. “It will be okay.”
“Well, that was fun,” Lylillea says, turning on her flashlight. “What do you think this is, Takoda?”
“It could be one of our ships from the Tarkadians’ war,” he suggests.
“I do not recognize the configuration, and this ship is much more advanced than…” Lylillea freezes. “Oh my, I know what this is.”
“What?” I cry in Takoda’s arms.
“Oh no,” she says. “We have to get out of here, now!”
“Why, where are we?”
“Hurry, follow me, now!” she yells.
We run through the water-filled hallway and climb the stairs. My legs burn and my heart pounds. We reach the top, but don’t stop running until we’re on the beach.
“Mind telling me what we’re running from?” I pant.
“I would bet my life. That craft is one of the original ships that brought the people to this galaxy,” she gasps, and tears fall from her eyes. “Gaia’s ship.”
“So what if we found it. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” I ask.
“It couldn’t be Gaia’s ship,” Takoda whispers. “That would make it many generations old. Older than the City of the Wicked Lady.”
“Why are we whispering?” I almost yell. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“Journey,” Takoda says softly. “Gaia’s ship was never recovered, never found. There is no record of what happened to it. Our scientists searched the planets and moons for generations for that ship.”
“Legend says it houses the body of Gaia herself,” Grandmother whispers.
“Along with all the hidden records of her trip and where our home world is—was,” Takoda adds.
“You mean my great, great,” I gasp, tired of trying to place my ancestors in the right order. “Many-great grandmother is supposed to be in that thing?” I don’t understand what is happening and why they’re so concerned. “I didn’t see a body down there. Wait, are you trying to tell me that no one knows what galaxy Gaia’s home world was located in, what solar system?”
“The location has always been hidden from us,” Lylillea explains. “The Elders were afraid people would want to go back someday.”
“So what? What’s the harm of trying to go home?” Finding an ancient artifact as important as the original ship of the Captain’s should be a wonderful discovery, in my opinion. But they’re treating our find as a curse.
“If we go back, we risk running into the Draconians,” Takoda replies.
“You don’t know that,” I argue. “And you can’t live your life in constant fear.”
“You don’t understand, Journey,” he explains, taking my hand. “The Draconians will kill you the moment they see you.”