Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  They were on approach to the valley where they had set up a base camp using a large freighter and soon added some portable barracks and laboratories. Just as they cleared the spikey mountains surrounding the valley, Samantha looked down to see a half dozen Marines firing their weapons at a Crab-like creature that had to be 50 feet long and stood 20 feet tall. The thing had a hard shell body and the Marines where slowly chipping away parts of its body armor one shot at a time. Finally Amber radioed down and asked if they needed any help. The Marine Captain leading the team below replied, “The Lyncardi want it dead, but not destroyed. They use every scrap for food, tools or weapons. We’re trying save as much as possible.” Amber ordered the Captain to stand clear. She took careful aim with the computerized targeting system using her 30mm laser and made a perfect shot directly through the hard head of the beast. It immediately fell to the ground. Out from under every nearby rock and from behind every possible hiding place, swarmed hundreds of the tiny little Lyncardi, ready to pick their prize clean. Samantha couldn’t help but smile, asking, “What are they? They’re so cute.”

  The Marines stood guard while the Lyncardi went about their business making certain no other surface predators harassed them while they worked. It was over 170 degrees at the moment and the Marines were thankful for the body armor/survival suits with a constant temperature of whatever they desired. Amber landed by the freighter, turned Verron’s Molnar Headquarters. While Samantha suited up before leaving the ship she asked, “Is this the same suits your men wore when they were operating in zero gravity outside the ship during our rescue?” Amber informed her that they were identical. As Samantha put on the suit she couldn’t believe how unrestrictive and lightweight it was. As soon as she was in it Amber activated the exoskeleton. Suddenly Samantha felt like she could lift the world. Amber told her, “Its 170 degrees and very thin oxygen on Molnar. If you’re too hot or too cold, simply tell your suit to raise or lower the temperature and it will. I just want to make a brief visit to the terraforming team from Xhondar III and then we will pay a visit to the Lyncardi.” Samantha looked around and asked, “Where?” Amber pointed behind her to the cave entrance, saying, “They live underground. It’s the only place safe from the predators and the sun.” They exited the ship and walked a few hundred yards to the modular lab being used by the terraforming team. When they entered, Dalhia’s nephew recognized Amber right away; evidently, Dalhia had been showing pictures of the beautiful Princess to her handsome 26 year-old nephew. He stammered at first, but finally introduced himself as Holzin Xhondar. Amber smiled her most charming smile at the young man who looked a bit like a young Russell Crowe, but still was speechless as she stared at him. After the awkward moment, an amused Samantha spoke out and asked, “So you people are terraforming. Can you tell me more?”

  Amber quickly regained her senses and added, “Princess Tala and King Verron are interested in your progress, how’s it going?” Holzin quickly called up a hologram of the surrounding terrain, saying, “There is simply so much desert land we had to begin by establishing what we call strongholds. Here in this valley and over here in this one that is a bit larger, we have a smaller and more controllable area that the outside desert can’t easily reclaim. We plan on terraforming these areas and increasing the area until we have all the valleys livable. From there we will develop the space between the two closest valleys. It’s a slow process. I would say that in five years we will have at least 40% of the planet completed. The next 60% will come faster once the foundation is in place. If you will come back in two months I will take you on a picnic in the first valley we finish.” Samantha smiled at the young man’s clumsy attempt to make a date with a Princess, who also happened to be a Colonel. Amber graciously accepted the invitation and the two of them left the modular research lab smiling. The first words out of Amber’s mouth were, “He’s cute. I will make a point of returning in two months. Don’t you think he was adorable with his bashful approach to trying to ask me out?” Samantha just laughed, and said, “Yes, Colonel he was cute and I’m glad to see that in some ways you’re still a 19 years-old girl. You had me worried.”

  They walked to the cave entrance and were greeted by six Molnar soldiers with vision enhancement helmets, looking just like bobble-heads as they manned the laser machine guns protecting the entrance to their underground city. Tala had described them, but it was even better in real-life. Since they were both in Verron survival gear and looked exactly like all the other Marines on Molnar they were quickly allowed inside. When they were about a mile deep into the cave, Amber hit her headgear retraction control and showed Samantha how to do the same. She informed her, “Tala told me the air inside the cave is breathable. A little thin but we should do fine. If you feel short of breath just hit the headgear button again.” The tunnel wound around another mile or two before opening into the caves cavernous common area. As soon as the children saw Samantha, they ran for cover of home and Mother. The whole city became deathly quiet. Tala had warned Amber about how bashful the Lyncardi could be and with two strange faces it was really a shock for them. She came prepared. From the thermal lined backpack she carried over her shoulder she removed two of the largest bags of Peanut M&M’s Samantha had ever seen. She popped a few in her mouth and handed some to Samantha who got the hint. In minutes they were surrounded by wide eyed furry little creatures with huge eyes, holding out tiny little hands for M&M’s. Amber and Samantha sat down on some nearby steps and were swarmed by little ones. Some of them spoke broken Cronari and Amber was soon speaking to them in the same dialect. The children kept wanting to touch Samantha’s black face and rubbing on it to see if it was dirt. She was amused and would hug the loveable kids and kept their hands constantly full of M&M’s. Finally the Chief/High Priest came out to meet them and spoke excellent Cronari. When Amber explained who she was, he immediately told the children and they almost looked scared for hanging all over the King’s grandchild. She assured them that she enjoyed it and told them she had only come at King Verron’s and Queen Tala’s request to make sure everyone was doing well. She told them how much she loved their mushrooms and how just two nights before she had eaten some of their delicious grubs.

  They were then given a tour of the mushroom farms and where the centipedes and grubs were caught and the new school that had been opened by Tala and her helpers. The entire time Amber and Samantha were touring the underground refuge, they were playing catch or carrying one of the smaller children. They even got an exhibition of Molnar sword-fighting, as the children tried to imitate the actions of their protector Prince Chase. They were given a meal of centipedes, grubs and mushrooms, washed down with that vile drink. Amber and Samantha had a better tolerance for disgusting things and ate their meal rather than offend the generous hosts. When it was finally time to leave, Amber reached into her pack and handed the remaining bag of M&M’s to one of the smaller children. She was amazed to see her sit down and begin to divide the contents equally among the others. As they headed for the door, several of the taller children, at least 3 ½ feet tall, came running after them carrying bags. Amber cringed at the thought of all the bags of centipedes Tala had brought home. The first bag handed to each of them was in fact moving. Then one of the smaller children handed each of them a bag of shiny rocks. Without opening either bag, they thanked the children and gave hugs. They were followed the cave exit and watched closely as they climbed into the ship with the Marines being relieved. Amber and Samantha waved goodbye and they were soon in the air headed for their next destination.

  Amber had seen the bags of shiny rocks Tala had been putting in the Molnar treasury. She smiled at Samantha and asked, “Did you look in your bags?” Samantha cringed at the thought and replied, “I’m not sure I want to open a bag that was squirming in my hands as I carried it.” Amber laughed and told her, “Try the non-moving bag.” Samantha hesitantly reached behind her and lifted the bag about the size of a gallon jug from the floor, placing it in her lap, she slowly untied the ropes that h
eld it closed and cautiously opened it to peek inside. She instantly shut it and turned to look at Amber, saying, “You knew didn’t you?” Amber smiled and answered, “Tala said they do it every time she or anyone else comes to visit. They’re yours. They gave them to you. Keep it if you like.” Samantha asked, “What will you do with yours?” Amber laughed and informed her, “Give them to Tala so she can put them in the Molnar treasury with the rest of them.” Samantha looked into the bag and pulled out a golf ball sized emerald and an equally sized ruby and asked, “Do you think it would be alright if I just kept these two?” Amber once again told her, “Think about it a while. They are yours; keep some, keep them all, keep none, it’s your decision to make.” Samantha spent the rest of the trip to Beriya-Haven admiring the shiny rocks in the bag in her lap. She couldn’t believe that those little lovable children had just given her millions of dollars-worth of emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. She thought, “I’d hate to hurt their feelings by refusing their gift” then once again fondled each stone.

  When the Light Destroyer came through the gateway in sight of Verron, both Amber and Samantha took pause to enjoy the beauty of the planet below. Amber did a quick visual on the location of Beriya-Haven and headed in the most direct path for it. Samantha was getting used to the fact that these ships went where you wanted to go without consideration of gravitational pull, planetary rotations, trajectories and the hundreds of things an Earthbound spaceship had to deal with. She now knew that the Verron ships had anti-gravity, anti-drag, warp-drives and FTL whitematter reactors. She was enjoying the contrast between Big Red and the Black Moon when she realized that they were headed for the third moon. What got her attention about it was the perfect symmetry and smoothness. As they moved closer, she could see the slight reflection of light off the surface. It was hard to believe that anyone could build a structure as large as a planet and house 3 billion residents inside. The new defensive missile platforms on the planet exterior and the large listening device became visible about the same time they noticed the flashing strobe that indicated where they were to enter the manmade planet. The pathway opened to them was the central throughway; it extended into the core of the planet for over 1800 hundred miles and was a mile wide. At slower speeds you could see windows of homes and offices overlooking the throughway; there were frequent passages to the left or right leading to other parts of Beriya and occasional ship traffic headed to Verron. Another strobe indicated they had reached their destination and Amber maneuvered through the hanger door of the ship landing zone closest to the Governors Palace. When she touched down she observed 99’s Fighter Trainer parked on the floor beside her. General Klrxno was there to greet them, accompanied by Finya and two dozen armed cyborg soldiers. If the cyborg General could smile, he would have been, but Finya was actually grinning from that narrow little face of his.

  After the introductions were made, introducing Admiral Sullivan as an Earth Astronaut, the General enthusiastically indicated his dozen soldiers and informed Amber, “Tell the King that the first twelve are a complete success. I could never imagine such good soldiers.” He then handed Amber a 20mm Xhondarian plasma rifle and declared, “You may be the first to see the results of your King’s generosity; shoot them, or at least one of them.” Amber gave the General a curious look then remembered how Chase and Daniel had turned his old cyborg army into scrap. Her grandfather had promised to supply them Verron Steel for building new ones. She raised the weapon to her shoulder, took aim and fired. The cyborg she aimed at didn’t even flinch from his position as the super-powered plasma ball struck it directly in the chest with no effect what-so-ever. Amber smiled at the General and Finya and told them, “I’ll see to it that you get more steel and tell King Verron about how impressive these new soldiers are. One day your troops will make the difference between life and death for a lot of good people. I think we should make arrangements for your men to train with their human counterparts on Verron as soon as you have enough of them to do so.” The big General shook his head in agreement then asked, “Would you and the Admrial from Earth like to see how we create our soldiers?” Samantha immediately responded, “We certainly would. I could think of a million uses for what you are making here. Thank you for your hospitality.”

  The four climbed into a limo that drove them to the nearest station of the supersonic subway system, the predominate mode of transportation in Beriya. Amber had been here several times and still was impressed and often surprised by the things she would see. Samantha was awestruck at every turn, especially during the limo ride through the beautiful forest surrounding the Governors Palace and the imitation blue skies above. If she had not known she was inside a giant ball she would have never known it was just an illusion. At the subway station, she tried hard not to stare at the mix of dark-haired and muscular Abioye, tall skinny and completely identical Chikondi dressed in what looked like choir or priestly robes, and the multicolored Androids, human in every way but infinitely variable in skin, hair and eye color, among them walked or hovered cyborgs, droids, drones and robots of every imaginable shape and size, each designed for specific functions in their society. Once on board the transport they blasted through the tube, passing towns, factories, farms, forests, lakes and recreation areas, often it was only a glimpse, but it was still enough to make her realize just how advanced these people were. The subway came to a stop at a platform crowded with citizens coming and going from work. The General had a ground transport awaiting their arrival as they stepped from the station. They wound through an obvious industrial area and arrived at a military manufacturing compound. They easily passed through security in the General’s company and were soon walking along a mezzanine overlooking the military cyborg factory. The General explained, “In this area we fabricate the individual component pieces for the skeletal support structure and exterior of the cyborgs, now being made from Verron Steel. It is much more difficult to work with than our softer steel, so for now we are unable to produce at the levels we previously could obtain. We are however, improving as we adjust our methods. Internal components remain the same, now well protected by the drastically improved exterior.” They moved into the next section where they assembled the components for the skeleton. For a distance of over a hundred yards, four assembly lines were manned by a variety of automated machines precisely assembling the thousands of components involved. In the next phase of operation they utilized cyborg and androids for the intricate work of wiring, installing servomotors, computer components and small antimatter reactors that composed the interior of the cyborgs. After all was installed and functioning properly they were covered with Verron Steel body armor. Each was then put through a series of functions and performance tests and loaded with AI specific to their military need; some were pilots, others may operate tanks for land battles or man the missile platform alongside the humans from Verron. Soon they would be put through the same training as a Verron Marine or Fighter Pilot. Amber and Samantha both left the factory impressed, and looking forward to seeing just what these machines were capable of.

  As they were leaving the plant with no particular agenda, Finya asked Princess Amber, “Would you and the Admiral like to see our cloning facility. For the first time in thousands of years we are cloning someone besides a Chikondi. Your friend Pavel Verron does indeed have some unique DNA. He was here two days in a row undergoing analysis. The cloning process began very early this morning. It took a bit longer than we expected. Often genetically engineered or altered species do not have reproductive capabilities; as we are. Your friend Pavel was glad to hear that he is perfectly capable of species reproduction. We then had to reverse engineer, so to speak, the other side of the reproductive process in order to create a compatible female. She will be ready in, we’re hoping, 6 to 9 months, as a completely functioning adult. Both Amber and Samantha were amazed that the whole creation process for these people was simply a matter of adjusting the DNA and getting the chemical balance right in a cloning tank. They went just across th
e street from the Military complex and were greeted by Governor Paki and Governor Uduak. Today Uduak had on a denim western style mini skirt, a red plaid blouse with white frill trim, Tony Lama Cowboy boots and a white Stetson; Amber looked at her and commented, “When did you and Mom go shopping at Kelly’s Western Wear and Leather?” Amber knew that ever since Kelly opened a branch of her Nashville store in Farmington, Verron, it was her Mother’s favorite store. Uduak smiled and said, “While you two were away. Do you like it? I simply adore the boots. I also bought some Turquoise Lane Dawson boots and some Levi Stretch Jeans. I can’t wait to wear them, but I felt they weren’t appropriate for official business. But you can be sure I’ll wear them next time I’m on Verron.”

  After the girls had finished discussing important fashion matters, Paki told them, “I’m glad you decided to come here today. Perhaps you can help us with something Colonel.” Amber couldn’t imagine what she could do to help them but quickly responded, “Of course, I’ll do whatever I can. How may I be of service?” Paki and Uduak looked at each other, both seeming embarrassed to discuss whatever it was they wanted to say. Finally, Uduak, who had become a close friend of the family, asked her, “Well, we need you to speak with 99. He has made himself comfortable in Paki’s office upstairs and seems determined to wait there until the cloning process is finished. We can understand his anticipation, but his sitting around here will not make the process happen any sooner than 6 to 9 months. Would you talk to him and see if you can convince him to get on with his life instead of waiting here. No offence, he is more than welcome to come here any time, but it would be like a human man sitting around on the couch waiting for his wife who had just conceived to give birth, nothing will speed the process along.” Amber and Samantha couldn’t help but smile at the situation, but Amber realized it needed to be handled gently. She did not want to offend or hurt 99 in any way.