Alpha Rising

by G. L. Douglas

  Bach huffed in frustration.

  The native stepped from his tepee with his mate and pulled down the door flap to reveal the crossed-circle symbol painted in gold. At the same time, Wisdom’s mighty wings stirred the air in ascent. The native bowed and waved toward the departing bird. “She’s been gone,” he said. “She returned tonight for a reason. We know the Creator’s spirit moved her, but know nothing more.”

  Star spoke up. “We’re carrying out the Creator’s plan.” She introduced herself and Bach and explained the mission.

  The man nodded. “My name is Urich. My mate is Rain. We’ve felt in our souls something important to come. We are ready.” He motioned for Bach to follow him to a corral. “The beasts you’re riding must be returned to their rightful owners. We will ride singly to the first village, deposit their animals, then double-up.” Urich selected two stallions, one black, one white.

  The four approached the first village in silence. Urich and Rain pulled alongside Star and Bach and signaled for them to dismount. As the horses sauntered toward their village, Star mounted up behind Urich, and Bach behind Rain.

  Leaving the village, they were no longer under the restriction of silence. Rain leaned back enough for Bach to hear. “Our symbol represents the four stages of life: birth, discovery, knowledge, and authority. Urich and I have entered the third stage,” her full lips turned up with a smile as she continued, “when knowledge is adequate for the next generation and the pre-selected mate becomes one’s life’s partner.”

  “Your mate is pre-selected?”

  “To the future benefit of our tribe,” she replied.

  As they neared the ship, the last light from the daystar faded and Bach let out a little yelp, “What’s going on?”

  High on Alpha’s framework, outlined by the ship’s running lights, stood Wisdom and her mate, guarding a collection of En Gedi’s animals gathered outside the ship.

  “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I forgot that we were supposed to bring animals.”

  Urich nodded knowingly. “Wisdom has completed her work. This is why she left to travel far. I did not understand why she was gone longer than ever before. She was herding the animals.”

  When they reached the ship, the four dismounted and Urich led his stallion forward. “Board the stallions first. The rest of En Gedi’s animals will follow,” he said. “The bird and her mate will enter last. They will have the final look around.”

  *****

  With Rain and Urich settled in the environmental module and the animals secured, Bach fired Alpha’s thrusters and departed En Gedi. Star added Urich’s and Rain’s names to the roster.

  All of a sudden, radar clangged a jarring warning and three blips showed up on the screen.

  Bach grumbled. “Rooks are back! Caught us in the dark. Whoa! Movin’ along fast … comin’ from all directions.”

  Star initialized defense systems. “Sound alarm in passengers’ module and engage stabilizers for animals.”

  “Secure.” Bach checked the viewscreen image. The Rooks’ ships were so close he thought he saw the lights in their cockpits. “Star!”

  “Increase fuel burn,” she instructed.

  “Fuel burn increased.”

  She tapped on the touchpad. “Hold on!”

  Alpha rocketed through space, blowing off the enemy as if their ships were paper airplanes.

  Bach gloated. “I love this technology.”

  “We burned a lot of fuel,” she stated. “But gained time.”

  He looked out the window at a tiny planet in the distance. “We’ve got light from another daystar for our next stop. What does the journal say?”

  Star read, “‘Gihon, the smallest planet in the Balal zone, has a variety of trees with nourishing, edible leaves, and plants with flavored roots. Gihon’s inhabitants’ keen senses foresee with clarity events having not yet occurred, and they have the ability, at times, to communicate by thought alone. Highly prized is a natural fountain of intoxicating, aquamarine water.’”

  Bach’s grin turned impish. “Oh, no. Maybe we should save Gihon for last. If we get into the sparkling water….”

  She squinted her eyes. “You will not drink any.”

  *****

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The clear blue skies over Gihon mesmerized Bach on approach. Flickering remnants of exploded meteorites twinkling in the daylight seemed close enough for him to reach out and touch, and a misty green arc, like a monochrome rainbow, spanned the area directly over the landing pad.

  Bach and Star stepped from the ship, and a dozen short statured inhabitants, wearing colorful clothing and sporting big smiles, greeted them enthusiastically. Two little people grabbed the Alphamates by the hands and pulled them along toward their village, running as fast as their short legs could go.

  “Hey, take it easy, we just got here,” Bach said, chuckling. “What’s the hurry?” The little people seemed not to hear. “Star, talk to them,” he pled.

  “They speak the common language,” she said, keeping pace. “But they’re used to communicating without words; they forget we can’t do that.” She looked down at a man in green coveralls clinging to her right arm. His head came to her shoulders. “Why are we rushing?”

  “We knew someone special was coming … knew it.” His words rolled out with glee. “We’ve a celebration in progress. Many thrills, many thrills. Lots of fun, sparkling water, lots of fun.”

  Star asked the little man a question, already knowing the answer. “Did you drink sparkling water?”

  His steps faltered and he stared up at her. “My dear, a required ritual—every day—to keep the mean spirits away—every day.”

  A little lady in a diaphanous pink robe fluttering in the breeze yanked on Star’s other hand, and in a voice as delicate as the ring of a porcelain bell echoed her mate’s words. “To keep the mean spirits away, everyday … everyday.”

  Another man decked out in shimmering red overalls ran alongside. Struggling to keep up, he managed to say, “We’ve been working, working very hard. We’ve been planning, planning for this day. We knew someone was coming. Knew it.”

  “How did you know?” Bach asked.

  “We have the gift!” the man snapped, as if Bach should have known. “Everyone has a gift. Foresight’s our gift. We’re special!”

  “We’re special, special. It’s a gift, a gift,” gushed the lady in the pink robe.

  #

  The entourage of short statured people disbursed as soon as they reached the township, leaving Bach and Star in the midst of what appeared a mystical celebration. Businesses along the town’s narrow main street had closed for the day so pedestrians could mingle and browse two-foot high tables set up along the curbs. Dozens of Gihon’s merchants, some of whom had colorful birds perched on their shoulders and heads like hood ornaments, hawked their wares to the bustling crowd.

  At first, Bach and Star stood off to one side, trying to take it all in and decide where best to start their search. Table after table featured intriguing bibelots, decks of cards, clear and colored crystal balls, sparkling and opaque amulets in every shape and size, and baubles decorated with suns, moons, and stars.

  Bach looked around grumbling, “This won’t be easy.”

  Stepping into the crowd, the two were distracted from their symbol search in a matter of minutes. Bach stopped at one table to check out a myriad of dazzling trinkets, while Star headed to a red-haired lady’s display. The lady straightened the items on her table and pretended not to notice Star examining a large flat rock with a mirror in the center and a marble-sized red ball free-floating above it. She spoke to Star without looking up. “I can tell you’re too smart to believe it’s magic.”

  Star grinned and nodded. “It’s a clever example of magnetic resistance.”

  The woman held out her hand and offered Star a dime-sized piece of white candy. Star took it, but didn’t put in her mouth. The lady put a piece into her own mouth and focused on Star’s fac
e. “Watch closely.” She chomped down hard on the candy with her back teeth and kept her mouth open as much as possible. A spray of blue sparks shot from her mouth.

  Star laughed out loud. “Triboluminescence.” She bit down on her piece of candy and looked into the rock mirror to get the full sparkling effect.

  “Sugars from the green root,” the red-haired lady offered. Her green eyes seemed to laugh.

  The two chatted as if they’d known each other all their lives, sharing information about their respective planets. Suddenly, the lady grabbed Star’s hands and stared at something as if she were the only one who could see it. “The Specter will wreak havoc with a chosen few. His presence hovers in the air … hovers.”

  The urgency delivered in the vendor’s words turned Star back to the mission. She thanked the lady for her insight and headed off to catch up with Bach. He wasn’t close by, so she searched both sides of the street. Unable to find him, she called out his name. When he didn’t answer, she called again, louder, but her voice blended into the street noise. She hurried from table to table in the bustling crowd, but he was nowhere around. The staircase of a nearby building seemed a perfect lookout point, so she climbed to the landing for a panoramic view of the area. Her partner was gone. “I couldn’t have lost him just like that!” she said to herself in near panic. “And he’s so much taller, I should find him easily.”

  Merging back into the crowd, she started at one end of the street and stepped up her pace as she neared the other end. After briefly searching through all the displays, she stopped at the last merchant’s table and looked ahead to where the paved road ended and a grassy trail led through woodlands beyond. “Have you seen a tall man with brown hair, dressed in a silver jumpsuit?” she asked.

  The vendor had treasure maps of paper and cloth in all shapes and sizes on display. He turned away without a word and searched through dozens of long cardboard tubes standing on end in a bin. Eventually, he found the tube he was looking for. He lifted it from the bin, stuck his fingers into the open end and removed a colorful piece of cloth. He set it on the table in front of Star and, as if handling priceless artwork, carefully unwound the fabric to reveal an imprinted map.

  She touched the fabric. “Searching for treasure is fascinating, but I don’t have time. I’ve lost my crewmate.”

  Eyes twinkling, the man pointed to a spot on the map. “Your crewmate is the treasure here,” he said, referencing an x inside of a circle.

  “My crewmate is there?” she asked.

  “X marks the spot,” the little man replied with a chuckle.

  Star looked at the x in the circle, then glanced around to get her bearings.

  The man pushed the map into her hands and pointed toward the woodlands. “That way … beyond where the dirt trail ends.”

  Star entered the hardwood forest and found the abundance of shade trees and flowering plants made it hard to see more than a few feet ahead. As she walked deeper through the lush foliage and flowering shrubs, the air turned fresher, but the surroundings looked the same and there were no landmarks, so she stopped to check the map. From deeper within the cool, quiet forest came a hum, a soothing hum, like the joyous whispers of people in love. Following the sound she headed left, past a thicket of white, pear-scented flowers. The soft sighs grew louder and delicate strains of woodwind instruments blended in. She passed under an archway of purple flowers that towered high above her head, and came to a well-worn path. It wound left, then right, and after twenty yards ended near a dense, ten-foot-high growth of lacy green leaves the size of dinner plates. Music came from the other side. She looked at the map. Beyond the foliage was the spot marked by the x. With the map tucked inside her jumpsuit, she parted the foliage just enough to see.

  In an arena-sized clearing bordered by flowering plants and shrubs, two-dozen little people, some playing instruments, sang and danced with glee around an erratically erupting fountain of aquamarine water. “The sparkling water!” Star watched in amusement as each six-foot-high burst of tingling bubbly water sent the little people into giggling, splashing fits. She would have stayed to watch, but there was no time to spare. She had to find Bach and, x or no x, this wasn’t the spot.

  As she turned to leave, a small voice called out, “Don’t go. Don’t go.” A little woman with flaxen hair bound by a red gypsy scarf had spotted Star’s face among the leaves. She scurried over, poked a cup of aquamarine water into her hand, and chirped in a tiny voice, “Drink, drink,” before flitting back to the boisterous group.

  No one noticed when Star set the cup on the ground without drinking. But Star noticed Bach on the opposite side of the circle, sprawled like a corpse near the shrubbery. She stepped out from the leafy hedge and worked her way around the clearing’s perimeter. An empty cup lay at his side and a peaceful look graced his face. She knelt and grasped his limp hand. “Bach!” she whispered. “I don’t believe it … you drank too much. Why did you do this?”

  A lady with pink flowers in her hair danced by and sang, “He celebrated with us. See, he’s happy, he’s happy.”

  Star took hold of the lady’s skirt and pulled her to a stop. “Where can I get a firefruit? Is there fruit from a co-op trip? I need a firefruit.”

  The little lady’s words were a song. “No firefruits allowed. Bad manners. No firefruits allowed.”

  “I have to wake him. We’re short on time.”

  The lady sang on and danced around with two others who joined in the singing. “No firefruits at celebrations.”

  Star tapped on Bach’s face, looking for a sign of consciousness. “Bach, please wake up.”

  His nose twitched.

  “Bach?” He didn’t move again, so she tapped his face a second time.

  This time, his eyes opened to slits and he whispered through barely parted lips, “Get me out of here.”

  Star stood and looked around, barely speaking. “Don’t move. I’ll think of something. You can’t be disrespectful.” The three dancing ladies looked on. The one with pink flowers in her hair blew a kiss toward Bach. It gave Star an idea. She motioned the ladies closer. “I know about the special gifts of Gihon’s people,” she said, “and the handsome alien won’t even need a firefruit if each of you gives him a magical kiss. People from Earth respond to affection. The more kisses he gets, the more powerful the treatment.”

  An involuntary grunt came from Bach’s throat.

  “See? Just the thought makes his body react in anticipation.”

  The giggling ladies pressed closer. One pushed Star forward. “You go first.”

  Then the other two chimed in, “You go first.”

  Star’s heart said one thing, her lips another. “Oh, no, I can’t kiss him. It has to be someone from Gihon. Your people have the gift.”

  With their tiny hands cupped over their mouths, twittering, snuffing, and squinching their eyes closed, the ladies tiptoed to Bach’s side and moved in to deliver the wake up call.

  He held back a smile and played his part convincingly as, one-by-one, the women knelt, planted a peck on his warm lips, then dashed away squealing in delight. As Star predicted, he awoke. By now the festivities had stopped and everyone was watching. Bach stood and dusted himself off, flashed a dazzling smile, and saluted as he backed from the circle with Star at his side.

  As the two hurriedly left, Star shifted her eyes in Bach’s direction. “How did you end up here?”

  “At the last table on the street, the guy had a treasure map with a perfect symbol marking this location. I wondered if he might be the chosen one, but he said the site was just beyond the trees … showed me how to get here. When I entered the circle of big leaves, everyone surrounded me and a man shoved a glass of sparkling water into my hand. They said it’s an insult to refuse and they wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I took a sip, just one, and dropped to the ground as they cheered.” He sighed. “I realized fakin’ it was the best thing to do.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, “but I was s
ure worried when I couldn’t find you. From now on we’re staying together.”

  #

  On the crowded street they were again caught up in the mystical fair.

  Star wanted to return to the table of a merchant she had spoken with while searching for Bach. “He has many intriguing items,” she said.

  The short statured merchant’s long gray beard reached to his knees, and stars and a moon decorated his flowing black clothing. His undersized table held dozens of clear and colored crystal balls. Bach saw one he liked, but the vendor was busy helping another customer, so he lifted the ball from its golden tripod without asking.

  He caressed and turned the smooth, cool orb in his hands, hoping to see something, but was quickly disappointed. “Dud,” he said with a headshake.

  The little man in black looked at him and scoffed, “Jenesis man will see nothing but his hand.”

  Still engrossed in trying to get the crystal ball to reveal something, Bach paid no attention.

  The merchant rolled his eyes, shook his head in annoyance, and lifted the orb from Bach’s hands. He used the end of his beard to clean fingerprints from it, then gingerly set it back on the tripod. He motioned for Bach to crouch to eye level, then leaned forward on his short arms and looked into Bach’s eyes. “Only your hand will you see if you pick it up.” He waved his arm over the sphere and awaited Bach’s reaction. “Now look.”

  Bach faced the globe straight on, not about to touch it again. A streak of gray smoke shot around the ball’s inner circumference. Then twisting white streams, like small tornadoes, pressed against the glass as if trying to escape. The globe shuddered from increased internal pressure and the tripod skipped across the table with the chattering sound of glass bouncing on metal.

  The merchant steadied the ball, and the cloud inside morphed into dozens of colorful shapes transforming from large to small and back again, like a dazzling laser light show. Seconds later, the vivid display collapsed into an internal black hole, leaving behind a torrent of shooting stars.