My mother had shown me videos and pictures of previous worlds and battles since I was three. It amazed me that despite our low population we still had the strongest and fastest ships. I guess this was one of the reasons they called us savages… stealing technology from the Skrav. Half the reason they wanted to kill us right there. They were right in many ways but also wrong. We not only stole and successfully reverse-engineered Skrav tech we improved it.
Dom, Aira, Hayden and I had several games we would play. Some days we were singing songs and rhymes of the old world, others were much more exciting, like trying to talk to the strangest alien we could find.
Most aliens in the city were nice, we each had a translator implanted in our ear as a child that allowed us to understand most alien languages. The translators were gifts from the Eek who were actually the ones responsible for establishing the colony and oversaw many of the trade routes and agreements between various alien species. The Eek were smart to say the least. Smart and peaceful, the way aliens should be. In a way many aliens in the city had no choice but to be nice. The Eek were a part of a consul called the Aggregate, a collection of many alien civilizations that had formed a union watching over one another. Even the Skrav refused to burn Aggregate controlled worlds (most of the time). Errikus was also so far away from any star or world that wasn’t controlled by the Aggregate or Skrav that those that developed the technology to get here had done way with war, crime, and prejudice. Only a few times did we ever find ourselves in real trouble. Occasionally our body posture, accent, or other parts of us would offend an off-worlder into attacking us demanding we sever such limbs and sacrifice them to their deity (or eat them). They cursed us in languages our translators couldn’t pick up and we couldn’t understand.
One time Aira had blinked too many times causing a trader that was a strange cross between a mantis and a slug to try and bite her hand off. It believed that her blinking four times in a row meant she had offered her arm as an edible gift (apparently its species grow limbs back very quickly and could do that sort of thing). Lucky for us the constables came and worked it out. Our punishment (though really we should not have been punished at all) was to follow the mantis slug hybrid around all day during its stay and clean up the greenish trail it left in its wake. This only ended up offending the offworlder more as the trail was a vital part in its mating ritual. It was bad day to be a constable.
The old Earth fascinated Aira and I. We loved reading and watching film and holos passed down to us generation after generation. SOme of the best were seeing the way the humans of that time had envisioned aliens - all in all they weren’t far off aside from the real ones are dirtier. It was interesting to see how different humans looked back then, colorful and beautiful and full of so many different distinct features. The four of us would act out old world movies or come up with our own versions set on our world. Cowboys and Indians became colonists and Drok; war movies became reenactments of battles between the first humans to escape and the Skrav. “I am your father,” Dom would say to me, holding out his sword as I lay over a rock next to a red river bend. The swords were bone taken from Hayden’s collection. Most if not all our toys were actually weapons taken from Hayden’s home. We were trained to use weapons such as swords and rifles by teachers at a young age so that we would know how to handle such things properly. While of course we would never fire real guns we had no problem playing pretend with sticks and stones. We were responsible but that wasn’t to say we didn’t have a few cuts and bruises now and then.
I would pretend to get knocked down or jump into the river bed. Aira would cry out for me as Hayden blasts Dom into the river with a pretend blaster. After that we would all go for a swim. We did this almost every single day.
The river was never deeper then four feet around the area we played but further down and away from the city it was so deep the river bottom would disappear. We were always told never to swim in the deep end warned to stay away from undertows and riptides. Aira would joke and say there were leeches that would jump out and wrap around your face or mermans that would capture you and drag you under. No matter the monster they all did the same thing, they suffocated you and dragged you back into the bay and that is why the water was red. I knew it was a lie but I still made sure to never swim too far from shore. The idea of any animal wrapped around my neck scared me to death.
We could see our quarters from where we played. The spirals on the roof and balconies were just above the tree line. We could see the black gate of the city and the fumes from buildings seeping breathing life into the atmosphere. Huge factories shaped like ant mounts fumes of oxygen from the center of the city and ships coming and going. Errikus had not always been a hospitable world. It was once a world full of giant monsters, beasts with eighty silver eyes, four mouths, others with no eyes or eyes on their hands and feet. It was ancient civilization called the Lethe who originally built this colony. They were the first civilization EVER to venture into space or at least the first that we knew of. They discovered the immer and had even left markers too; ones that acted as warnings - areas of the immer that were unstable or unsafe. Everything past Errikus was unknown int was in that unexplored region we would soon be leaving. Most of the trade routes ships followed, hell, most of the routes we followed getting to Errikus had come from markers we followed left behind by Lethe. Other civilizations had almost made it to their level. The Erebus had found at least two or three other ancient civilizations that succumbed to violence and war wiping themselves out of existence. No one is sure wha these previous civilizations like the Lethe looked like or what happened to them that made them disappear. We do know that they created our alien, the Arr7.
The Arr7 were once nothing more then machinery, then for no real reason at all one machine seemed to just ‘wake up’ and gain free though. A programming error had caused it to question its very own existence. The first thing it did. It ‘cried’. It cried out screaming for its mother, its father, its creator. A thousand years of repetition and finally it had realized that those which it had served had vanished. It looked up at the sky, tired of wandering alone and it began to question everything. The Arr7 were built to adapt. They were machines but they had many biological components. Soon after the first another awoke and then on and on like a fire spreading though the wilderness. Some say consciousness infected them like a virus. No knew for sure whether it was real or not. Maybe this was the path the Lethe had intended for them all along. The Arr7 believed it was a gift and the Lethe their gods. After years of loneliness and searching they accepted who they were and what they were and moved on. They used technology left behind by their gods to create cities and starships. They have started as machines but the Arr7 were no different now then any other sentient species in the universe.
When we first met them, whether it had been fear or paranoia we attacked. Perhaps at the time we thought they were Skrav. Shortly thereafter the Arr7 destroyed our ion drives and threatened to leave us for dead. When we put down our arms and surrendered the Arr7 developed a way to communicate with us in our own tongue. After several short conversations about storytelling and fiction our two species quickly became great friends. The Arr7 loved the collections of english literature we gave them spending weeks contemplating Shakespeare as well as Aristotle, Freud, Carl Jung, and Depeche Mode. The Arr7 were fascinated by our journey and while they feared where we were going they traded with us and helped fix and upgrade our ships. In return for their kindness we agreed that if we ever find the Lethe, or rather whatever it is we are looking for we will ask question on their behalf including the all important, “Why?” and if possible transmit our answer across space to the nearest known Arr7 world.
It was suppose to be just another day at the river. Hayden swam under me and grabbed my legs, pulling me underneath the shallow water. I returned the favor coming up behind him and dunking him underwater. He might have been a Drok but I knew all his moves. After Hayden it was Aira’s turn for a dive. I grabbed her hands and we
went around in circles creating waves all around us. Finally I made my way around her and with our combined weight we sank underneath the water’s surface. I opened my eyes and waved staring through the red glaze watching her do the same. The red river was all around me. Bubbles came out of our mouths as we mouthed the word ‘hello’ to one another before making our way back to the surface for air. Hayden had been watching us laughing. As I was taking what felt like my first breath justing hitting the surface (you know that moment before being underwater becomes too intense) and saw that Dom was nowhere to be seen. I prepared myself for an ambush but there was nothing. All aournd us the water seemed calm. No bubbles. No waves. Just still water.
“Hayden where is Dom?” Aira was the first to ask.
“I thought he was down there with the two of you?”
We all looked around.
We already had a good idea of where he had gone. Dom was the bravest
of the four of us. He was always getting into trouble (getting us into trouble). He was always the first one to talk to a new alien or climb to the top of a roof or tower. He was also the best swimmer among us. We all knew better then to go into the deep… further down the red river. Dom had always said that one day he would swim there. He was full of pride. Always trying to prove he was the best. He was the fastest and strongest of us and we had no doubt he could do it. We just never tried - we knew it was wrong.
Aira screamed for help.
Hayden had to punch me in the ribs to hold me back from diving into the red. An Arr7 was nearby doing some trade. It had heard Aira’s human cry of pain and came running. It was massive. It had four long metal arms, each with three pointy fingers. It had two legs that carried all of its weight rather then six and a long tail that gave it balance. It was like a metal dinosaur with human torso and a rectangular head. It looked down at us with its neck bent forward before jumping into the river like a crocodile. The Arr7 only needed a few seconds to figure out what was going on running algorithms in its head to find the best course of action. In minutes a red and silver silhoutte emerged to the water’s surface. The sun glared off its metal body into our eyes. Using its weight as a mighty anchor the Arr7 began walking towards us. In its arms lay Dom. Some Pok nearby had called the medics and a drop ship was already on its way. Constables were already gathering. The drop ship looked like a dove in the distnace slowly growing and growing. It’s wings spread open and out like an angel of mercy before it landed softly on the ground. An Eek emerged from the vehincle, its long skinny arms held out a breathing apparatus. It looked like a plant I had seen in a holo; like a venus flytrap it wrapped itself around Dom’s face and mouth.
I have had nightmares for years thinking about it.
Seeing Dom’s lifeless body struggle on the ground for air.
No alien tech could save him. Aira was right. The river was red because it is the color of death. I felt like the leeches had killed Dom. I wondered if from the bottom of the river lay a merman laughing. Had I thought about this as a child I would have stopped. I would have swam somewhere else or played indoors. If we had made different decisions maybe Dom wouldn’t have been so carefree.
Aira leaned over on my shoulder. Both of us were soaking wet.
“Nothing will ever be the same will it?” she asked.
We were riding in an air skiff and I was holding her hand. I said nothing. She had taken the words right out of my mouth. Hayden had already been taken home. The Drok have a ritual which begins immediately after death and he had already begun to observe it. We were leaving the medical embassy; the only pace humans could be pronounced dead. We were given only a few hours to say goodbye. Dom’s body was laid out before us like a piece of art. His pose was that of a child sleeping. Errikus didn’t have graveyards. Those that died here were burned to ash and thrown in the dirt or they had their bodies given to their species’s embassy. Dom’s body was given back to our embassy. He was frozen, his body would be taken to the Aelita and buried (or burned) in space.
“Dom will see the stars with us,” I said. “Just because he is gone doesn’t mean he is truly dead, he is a part of us,” I continued.
I was read to cry but I felt that I had to stay strong.
I couldn’t let my true feelings out no matter how bad I wanted to.
My shirt was weit with Aira’s tears. How long had she been leaning on me crying?
Hours?
I had to be strong for her.
I continued to speak when I should have shut the hell up, “Somewhere in time, somewhere out there someone is seeing through Dom’s eyes, they are seeing him make his mother smile, his father laugh. The are seeing him live his life over and over,” I thought then about how someone was seeing this moment as well. What would they think? Would they feel the sadness I feel bottled up inside me? WOuld they care for my loss? Somewhere in time someone was watching Dom’s life - - they were also watching him die.
When we got back to the school it was late and our parents were waiting for us.
“I don’t want to go home with you!” Aira screamed.
Her mother had always bad mouthed us and said if she could stay on Errikus she would. Not everyone was happy about leaving. Her mom was a sleeper. She would go in and out of stasis every ten to twenty years only for short instances or trips off world. Most sleepers would spend their time cooking or helping with upkeep but they weren’t awake often. They had no purpose. ‘Users’ like myself would be awake the most on the ship, sometimes stasis wouldn’t even be an option. I guess there was something about being trapped on a ship for so long and waking up in intervals to the same day after day routine that made sleepers feel bitter as if the walls were closing in. I would feel pretty bad too if the only thing I was designated good for was cleaning anthers mess. Aira was the first in her family to be born with the gene that made her a ‘user’ like me… and like me and the others she would die long before anyone in stasis ever woke up. Aira’s mother had nothing but resentment for her daughter and our kind.
“It might as well have been you,” her mother said.
Aira slapped her across the face - Not that it made a difference.
My mother on the other hand wasn’t going to allow that kind of abuse to continue. Aira was going to stay with us after that but for some reason (guilt maybe) she decided to go with her mother instead. I couldn’t wait to leave Errikus forever. Aira’s mother would go to sleep and Aira would begin her use of the nexus just like I would. We would be on two different ships but we would both be safe. We would always have the COMs and special occasions to talk to and see one another. Errikus was never really our home.
Eulogy Nine Days.
We made a memorial to Dom. The Arr7 and the Eek that tried to save him came and helped us too. They brought flowers that originated on their home world. Flowers that were precious and valuable and would have made good trade now lay planted to the ground, their roots buried in the last place my best friend had stood smiling, laughing, playing.
Eight Days.
Everyone began to prepare for the three starships to arrive. It was going to be a huge gathering filled with festivities, music, and food. Not just the humans were excited ‘The Trinity’ was bound to bring with it gifts from offworld. They would bring news of the outside, the ins and outs of other worlds, fashions, and news on the war with the Skrav. The elders onboard the Erebus and Aelita would probably even spend a week or two on the surface sharing news and tactics that they had learned from the Arr7.
“How are we at war with an enemy we have never seen?”
I had asked my mother this question many times but now it seemed far more important then it had ever been. I listened close to her words as she sat me beside her and told me stories that she had heard and even smaller battles she herself had lived through as a little girl. She would tell me about a monster named Scar, another named Molack, and another called Vile, human names given to the Skrav to incite fear and horror. Each of those Skrav were responsible for attacks against huma
nity and other species. She would tell me how after they destroyed our sun and began to hunt us down we were always just far enough away from them but we had still lost hundreds of colonies and people who had tried to settle on the different worlds we stopped at along the way. Each world was nothing more then a pit stop, a place where ‘the Trinity’ could resupply and humans could breathe for a year or two at most. Errikus had been the longest we had stayed in one place. The Skrav were in a race with us towards Eden, following behind us. We were two apex predators after the same prey. A lion and a bear.
That night I sat with my mother on the balcony of our embassy and stared out at the massive crowd that was already beginning to gather. The festival and festivities had already begun. This was the biggest event of the year, possibly the biggest event most on this world would see in their lifetime. It wasn’t fair that we couldn’t stay. Aside from thinking about Dom I was anxious all the excitment made me think, “what if the Skrav arrived first?” I asked my mother with every childhood fear instilled inside my voice. “Mother will protect you, you will protect Aira, Aira will protect Hayden, the Drok will protect the humans, the Arr7 will protect the Drok, the Eek will protect the Arr7, and so on and on. Together we will watch over and protect each ther, we are all family, united gor a greater good, so long as we are on this world the Skrav will not come after us, it’s one of the reasons we have chosen this place,” she answered kissing my cheek and sending me to bed.
Seven Days.
The crowds grew even larger doubling in size. Aliens from the outskirts had started migrating into town. We received a communication sphere (a small COM drone) from the Tritan. It was the smallest of the three human ships and it was to be the first to arrive. It would appear above the planet in seven days and quickly descend to the space dock (the port) around noon. I heard that it would be dropping straight out of the immer just above the stratosphere. It was funny how we still couldn’t go faster then light and yet we were all so close and far away. There were exotic ships throughout the galaxy and yet our ships were still some of the most advanced… and by far the most advanced to come to this backwater world, Errikus. Between the new ion drives and Lethe tech our journey to Eden through empty space would be cut in half.
Pull (Deep Darkness Book 1) Page 4