by M. Alan Marr
Matt laughs at the mock threat.
Down in the control deck, Dev and Chaz wonder what’s going on up in the canopy. They can hear voices rise every now and then, but for the most part, the crew has total privacy.
“Should we go back up there?” Chaz says.
“No, let them discuss. I’m sure they’re considering a lot of variables.”
***
“Why us?” Harrison says. “Chaz was a navy guy, why not use real military personnel for this?”
Steve answers that question. “This goes beyond any one country. Plus, it all has to be done in secret. None of this technology can fall into the wrong hands. Beyond that, Dev trusts us. He’s asking us to trust him.”
***
One complete orbit later, Chaz and Dev are sitting at the aft-most station of the control deck when the crew comes down from the canopy. Dev waits for someone to say something. Steve realizes his entire crew has assembled behind him, so he takes a confident breath and takes the initiative. “Okay, we’re in.”
“Thank you all,” Dev says, putting his hand on his heart.
“But . . . we have some concerns,” Steve says. “And I admit, I was too carried away by the excitement of it all to consider some of the stuff we talked about upstairs, but we all feel they are valid points. First, we all have families we need to think about. Second, we all realize that we could get killed out here and no one back home would ever know what happened to us. That’s a concern.”
Over the next hour, most of the crew end up taking seats at the work stations with the chairs turned around so they can converse with one another comfortably across the aisle. Dev and Chaz are next to each other, leaning against the end of the navigation table, facing the group. Chaz has a computer pad and stylus and takes notes. Annette is sitting on the deck, leaning against Harrison’s legs. Matt is also sitting on the deck with his legs crossed and is maintaining a sort of Zen-like pose.
The discussion centers around, not themselves, but their families. Obviously, their normal jet job can be dangerous, and that comes with the territory. But in your everyday plane crash, there is a black box, there is wreckage. There is closure for the families. Disappearances, on the other hand, are insidious. The heartache never ends until the mystery is solved. In this case, it would be a mystery that would never be solved. The families would never have closure. A plan, therefore, is crafted to prevent the families from bearing the insufferable loss should the worst ever happen. Money is easy. The families will be well taken care of on the financial front. In fact, Dev had already arranged for that with the law firm before they left. The rest is more challenging, but not insurmountable.
It is decided and duly agreed upon that each member of the Oasis crew will record a series of video messages that will go into an electronic archive the law firm will safeguard. In the event of death or disappearance, the decedent’s family will be able to watch the recordings and learn of the truth behind their descendant’s contribution to the cosmos. The recordings will be stored in volatile memory planks that will play once and then self-erase. But it will let the family know their loved one was fully aware of their situation, and that they didn’t just simply vanish.
Starting here on the Recon ship, they will make their first video. Then later, as their time and inclination permits, other videos will be recorded that will tell of their extraordinary journey. They decide to start immediately, while still in Earth orbit. Since the Tertian equivalent of a thumb drive will be necessary to be hand-delivered to the law firm in Midtown, Dev programs an electronic solution that will accomplish the same task in the short term, via his desktop computer in Midtown.
Video Message #1
Jen Spangler
The unseen camera operator (Annette) backs away from the aft control deck, filming Jen as she walks down the aisle. The hull is closed, and all of the display panels and computers are active. Everyone else relocated below to the cargo hold to give her privacy.
“Hi, Mom and Dad, it’s Jen. Chances are you haven’t seen me for a while. Hopefully, you won’t ever be seeing this, but it’s currently March of 2015. We just left on our five-month odyssey, which turns out to be something pretty exciting. If these surroundings look a bit weird, well, they are. I’m making this recording from the control deck of a reconnaissance ship that was built on another planet a very long way from Earth. I know, I know, it sounds crazy. But this isn’t an abduction, it’s a job opportunity. Come on, I’ll show you . . . ”
The camera stops, pivots around the navigation table, and then follows Jen up the stairs to the canopy lounge, where Jen points up at Earth.
“Look, there’s the United States. We’re in orbit right now, along with my coworkers and employers from the 767 job. Turns out one of the owners is not of this Earth—or, that Earth out the window—and we’ve all been hired to guard the planet from alien attack. Turns out, Mom and Dad, there are whole other worlds out there full of human beings. Unfortunately, there are also worlds out there filled with alien creatures that want to kill us. So . . . this is the part that sucks, and it’s hard for me to even say it, but if you’re watching this, then, well . . . I won’t ever be back.” She pauses and takes a breath. “You’re watching this because something happened, and I died. Wow, it’s really hard to make this video, and I know it’s hard for you both to watch, especially now, but hopefully this is just one of many you’ll see, so you’ll know exactly what I’ve been doing. And hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to watch these with you, very much alive. “You won’t be able to rewind this, and it’s going to erase itself as it plays, so I hope you’re paying attention. And if the blood-sucking lawyers in Atlanta have done their jobs properly, you won’t have your cell phones or anything to record it.” Jen pauses and smiles. “So, we all decided to make these videos just in case the worst happens. But I want you to know how much I have always loved you both, and how excited and truly honored I am to be able to use my skills as a pilot to protect every single person on the face of the Earth. We’re in orbit right now, and we’re about to head across the stars to a constellation called Corona Borealis. It means Northern Crown. You can Google that, Northern Crown. We’re all going up there to be trained to fly the fighters that we will use to protect Earth.” Jen pauses. “Mom and Dad, I know this is a lot to take in. I know you’re sad, and I know Mom is probably digging through her purse looking for tissues. But you know me, you know I never looked at a challenge I didn’t meet head-on with everything I’ve got.” Another pause. “Just know that this is the most important thing I’ve ever done. And don’t worry, I haven’t been kidnapped, and my organs haven’t been stolen.” Jen looks at the camera. “I love you both very, very much.”
Annette, holding Dev’s Ti-Phone, presses the stop button. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Jen says. “Sometimes I’m just a girly girl.”
Over the next few orbits, the entire crew makes similar recordings. Each one begins and ends the same way: walking forward and then up into the canopy. Everyone thought it was important to show a little bit of the ship, and very important to establish they are in orbit. Franz records the Italian version, filming Milo as they overfly Italy. Milo films Franz, and in both videos, the other pops their head into frame. Harrison films Steve and also Annette. Matt films Harrison. Jen films Matt, and now an addendum of Harrison and Annette together in the canopy lounge.
“Harrison and I went into this together,” Annette says, on camera.
“We decided to add this to our own separate recordings so you can see we’re here, we’re together, and that we’ll take care of each other,” Harrison says, and then kisses Annette.
Jen presses the end button. They are still kissing. “Get a room.”
***
“Okay,” Dev says, finishing uploading the program. “When we get back, we’ll add to these videos and format them onto individual data planks.”
“What happens if we don’t make it back?” Jen says.
“Then Plan B wil
l go into effect. The recordings have all been coded and embedded in my computer down in Atlanta. If something happens to us, they will be transmitted directly to your families.”
Jen scoffs. “You don’t have their e-mails.”
“Of course I do,” Dev says. “Also, before we left Atlanta, I set up individual Trusts for your families in all your names, as sort of a just-in-case insurance policy.”
“How much do they get?” Annette says.
“Ten million.”
“Ten million?” Harrison says. “Each?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm . . . ” Matt says. After a moment, he adds, “Um, not to sound like the diva in the ship, but I don’t want my father getting one dime of that money. He abused me, disowned me, and threw me out of the house, and told me he never wanted to see me again.”
“He did?” Jen says. “Asshole.”
“Yeah, then he put my mother through years of hell and ended up divorcing her anyway, so dear old dad can just go fuck himself, and hopefully die a slow, painful death in poverty with his trashy trailer park whore.”
The group is somewhat stunned.
“I’ll send those instructions, Matt,” Dev says. “Your mother only.” He looks around. “Does anyone else have any alterations I need to know about?”
There are none.
“All right . . . I’ll transmit the data, as well as Matt’s bequest. Matt, you’ll need to sign to that effect, and the copy with your signature will be transmitted.”
“My pleasure,” Matt says. “In fact, I want to annotate those exact words so he will be there at the time he is denied the money.”
“By putting his name in your will, you’ll do just that,” Chaz says.
“Good,” Matt says. “Also, I want your lawyers to protect my mom in case the bastard tries to sue.”
“I guarantee it,” Dev says.
The law firm of Williams, Goldberg, and Bloom acknowledges the stipulations as well as receipt of the electronically signed document from Matt.
“Payback’s a bitch, Dad,” Matt says to the screen. “And I’m the bitch.”
Harrison jokingly whispers to Annette. “I thought Jen was the bitch.”
“I heard that,” Jen says.
Harrison grins. So does Jen.
***
Legal issues settled, the recon ship accelerates out of Earth’s orbit on its way to Trieste. The outbound departure course sends them, once again, very close to Saturn. Everyone gathers up front and looks outside in amazement.
“Wow!” Annette says.
Harrison puts his arm around Annette. “Ever think you’d see something like that up close?”
Annette answers confidently, “Absolutely.”
Franz smiles. “I wonder what the weather’s like on Saturn this time of year?”
Steve smiles and then touches the weather icon on his Ti-Phone. The screen shows:
Saturn
Mostly Cloudy
-288 degrees
“Cloudy and minus two eighty-eight,” Steve says.
“How do you know that?” Annette asks.
Steve shows the group his phone.
Harrison gasps. “Your iPhone works out here?”
“Special edition, from Dev.”
“Hey, I want one of those,” Harrison says.
“Don’t worry, everybody gets one,” Steve says. “That’s what was in the box I was carrying.”
Chaz gives Steve the go-ahead to retrieve the small cargo box from his backpack and distribute the new silver Ti-Phones to the crew. Steve returns the crew’s old phones and shows everyone how to import their data into the new devices.
Jen looks over her new shiny silver Ti-Phone and lets out a slight laugh. “For a discreet observer, Dev certainly likes his bling.”
Chaz laughs. “Yeah, low profile doesn’t seem to be in Dev’s vocabulary.”
“Why is yours gold?” Jen says.
“Something to do with Dev and me being command officers.”
“Ah, so the peons get silver. I see how it is.”
Chaz laughs. “Well, their peons live pretty well there.”
After using Saturn’s gravity to slingshot the ship toward the next leg of their journey, the crew is given a tour of the Recon ship and a rundown of the emergency systems they need to know how to use. An hour later, the ship approaches a strange planet no one, not even Chaz, has seen before. It is dark indigo in color with fluidic bands of blues and blacks.
“Hey, what is that?” Matt asks Dev.
Dev smiles. “That is your tenth planet.”
“What?” is gasped by Matt, Steve, and Chaz.
Dev explains, “Your scientists are just now theorizing about its existence. But it’s too far away for current orbital modeling. You’re the only Earth residents to ever lay eyes on her.”
“What’s it called?” Matt says.
“We call it Eribus. Loosely translates to out of primordial darkness. It’s cold, isolated, and very far away. Eribus is not a gas giant, but it’s not a rocky planet, either. It’s sort of a slushy hodgepodge of odds and ends left over from the formation of your system. The atmospheric gasses are so cold they’ve condensed into a chilly goo.”
Chaz is curious, because he didn’t see this last time he went up. “Did you alter our course to take us here?”
“I did,” Dev says. “I thought you all deserved to see something no one on Earth ever has.”
“We’ve already done that,” Harrison says.
The entire crew watches as the unusual indigo Eribus passes below. Dev has everyone buckle in for the acceleration into the trough—that is, into deep space. Three and a half days from now the Oasis crew will enter a whole new world.
The acceleration is both exhilarating and somewhat disconcerting for the novice spacefarers, but seeing how casual Dev and Chaz are about the whole thing eases their concerns.
Stable and on their speed course now, Dev prepares a beverage tray and brings it forward. A delicious smell wafts into the seating area as he approaches.
Franz sniffs the air. “What is that wonderful aroma?”
Dev sets the tray on the table and explains, “This is called capulus.”
Matt takes a mug. “Capulus is Latin for coffee.”
“You speak Latin?” Jen says.
“Where’d I go to school?”
“Oy!”
Dev explains the small dish on the tray. “The gelatinous cubes are what we call slow-cream. It’s slightly sweet and adds an extra creamy flavor.”
Everyone takes a mug of capulus. Those who typically take cream in their coffee, add a cube of the semi-squishy slow-cream and sniff the new concoction.
Chaz returns from the space toilet and rejoins the group up front. “Is that capulus I smell?”
Dev hands Chaz a mug and then takes one for himself.
Annette holds up her mug. “To the next chapter.”
Her words seem prophetic and entirely appropriate. Everyone repeats the toast.
***
The pilots all congregate around the holographics table to watch Dev work. They are filled with questions about the ship, the observation missions, and the universe in general. Harrison shakes his head and is the first to delve into the bowels of Humanity.
“How the hell do you guys keep this secret? I mean, you’ve been coming to Earth every thirty years since when? I mean, we’re talking centuries.”
“It has been a long time.” Dev laughs. “But our visits weren’t as frequent back then. It used to take a long time to get there. And we weren’t always secret about it. But we had some problems with Earth residents deifying us, so we were forced to rethink our strategy.”
“What do you mean?” Matt says.
Dev explains, “The ancient Greeks saw one of our ships land, and our Observation Team suddenly became the embodiment of Greek Gods.”
“The Greek Gods were real?” Harrison asks.
“Well, in the sense they were based on real people
.”
Jen frowns. “You’re not serious. You’re serious?”
“That’s what happens when you land on Mt. Olympus in plain sight of the locals.” Dev inputs a calculation on the display. “After that, we decided to exercise a little more discretion where we landed.” He adds, “At the time, Athens and Rome were the most advanced cultures on Earth. And despite the hero worship of our team of Titans, we were hopeful because we finally saw a resurgence of civilization.”
“Uh, the Romans were pretty brutal,” Jen says.
Dev makes light of it. “Yeah, but they also built roads and sewers, and had the most modern cities and infrastructure the planet had ever seen since before we left.” He adds, “So, naturally, we went back to check on them. Only this time, they didn’t land on Mt. Olympus. Instead, Commander Eidon concealed his ship under water. So, here was Eidon palling around Greece asking questions. He reported that he grew angry that the locals were not as friendly toward him as he expected. He apparently didn’t make many friends during his visit, and the locals became suspicious of him. Anyway, they watched him leave shore in a small raft, and then, that night, a group of astronomers saw his ship rising out of the Aegean. Now, I’m sure you can understand that landing a ship is very different than launching a ship. And just like that, Eidon became the God of the Sea.”
“Eidon?” Matt says incredulously. “What was his first name?”
“Poss.”
“Poss Eidon?” Matt says with disbelief. “Poseidon?”
“Exactly.” Dev nods. “And the mighty kraken from the sea was really a mighty Recon ship. And back then, our Recon ships were not the stealthy, svelte models you see today. Back then they were big, loud, and rather ominous-looking machines. The roar of its launch engines scared the hell out of everyone. The ground trembled, structures crumbled, waves rolled in. It was a mess.”
“Why would he launch so close to shore?” Chaz wonders.
“Records indicate an airlock failure. Eidon’s ship was filling with water, so they had to launch. It was a big emergency. But by then, the damage was done.” Dev adds, “Eidon was not asked to go back.”
“Holy shit,” Jen says. “So, basically, everything we think is real, is bullshit; and everything we think is bullshit, is real.”