Starship Genesis

by Linda M. Miller

  Nahor is taken back and amazed.

  “Our ship crashed in another land far away from here, across the ocean. We came here in a smaller ship because we wanted to be with people like yourselves. We wanted to be happy.”

  “Where do you come from?” He asks. “Do you come from the North Star?”

  “Not the North Star. We come from the Kokobeam, from a world like yours. Our world was destroyed. We had two Suns. And the one Sun destroyed the other. Those who did not leave our world have died.”

  “I am sorry, Talon.”

  “We came here originally to plant life with what we call Life Seeds. But then we discovered there was already life on your world. We saw the first parents.”

  “But that was long before the flood, Talon. How could you have seen that?”

  “Our crashed ship created some kind of blue stream and it became a time portal. We went through way into the future and found ourselves in your time. We set out to explore the world to find a civilization we could survive in. And we found you. If you will still have us, Nahor.”

  “Talon, you are one with us. You have healed our sick. You have shown us many things, including how to build our homes and cities.”

  “Nahor, there are three others whom we left behind across the sea. I would like to warn them and possibly bring them back to your village, if they will come. I’m not even sure I can find them. But I have to try.”

  “Go, Talon. Bring them back to their new home. We will wait for you.” I embrace Nahor like a brother. Nahor, there is a possibility we may not make it back. But it is our intention to return.”

  Nahor looks at us sadly. “I understand my friends. Peace be unto you.”

  “And to you. Farewell.” I turn to Deonna. We then prepare to return to the shuttle that brought us here.

  THE JAREDITES

  Yoseph’s and his warrior-hunters lead Noah, Cassie, and I to their village. Many of his people greet him, particularly children and older youth. His rapport with his people is admirable.

  “His people love him, Korban.” Chief Yoseph reciprocates their love and pats them each on the head. The children approach Cassie. One gives her a flower.

  “Thank you.” Cassie answers and smiles. “Such beautiful, happy children.”

  “My people, these are our new friends, Korban, his wife Cassie, and his brother Noah. Please welcome them to our village. They wish to learn our ways and trade with us. I ask my wife and the other women to prepare a feast in their honor.”

  “Welcome to our village.” The Chief’s wife tells her. “You must come in and rest from your journey.”

  “Yes. These are good people. We can do a lot of good here.” I think out loud.

  “Come, sit. Let us rest,” Yoseph invites us. A nearby canal can be seen with a pool next to it. One of the older children serves water in pottery.

  “This area is so beautiful. The mountains are so green down here.” Cassie says.

  “I believe we just found paradise.” Noah remarks. One of the young women serves Noah water as well. He seems enamored with her. “What is that tall green crop over there with the leaves?” He asks.

  “It is maize.” Yoseph replies. “It grows golden seeds on large ears.”

  “Do you eat it off the stock?” Noah asks.

  “We pick it and clean it. Then we boil and eat it off the stock. We also grind it to make bread. It is also food for our pigs. The women are preparing some to eat with the feast.”

  “This is where I want to be!” Noah responds. “What is that large round ball they are carrying?”

  “That is a water melon. You cut it open and it is sweet.” Yoseph tells him. “And you have grapes!” Noah exclaims. “I’ve missed grapes!” The women laugh at him.

  “I see your homes are made of mud and rock,” I tell Yoseph. “We will teach you how we cut our stone and build with it.”

  The women serve platters of all kinds of fruit and vegetables. One of the warriors builds a fire and puts up a spit to roast a pig. We sit and eat with Yoseph’s people.

  “Your people are productive,” Noah remarks. “I would like to learn more about your farming.”

  “We will teach you, Noah.

  “Do you grow everything here in your village?

  We have many villages north of here,” Yoseph tells us. “We trade with them frequently. We are probably the most southern village of my father’s kingdom. My father is Kib.”

  “We noticed that you have fortified your villages,” Noah comments.

  “It is true.” Yoseph tells us. “One of my brothers, named Coriantumur, has rebelled against our father and he is at war with my father’s kingdom because he wants to rule it. He has grieved my father and drawn many supporters over to his side. They dwell in the valley of Nehor north of here. For now, we are safe. But they could come up against us at any time.”

  “Perhaps we could help you build outer stone walls to protect your people,” I suggest.

  “Korban, we could probably help them build faster with a combination of stone and dirt mounds. The mounds could be another way to conceal themselves from their enemies,” Noah adds.

  “It makes sense,” I tell them both. “Because the natural lay of this land is full of hills. We could very easily make underground dwellings with stone and dirt. What do you say, Yoseph? Would you like our help?” Yoseph seems pleased.

  The three of us tarry in the village for three days. Cassie trades her two stone calendars for cloth and learns to weave fabric. Yoseph’s wife, Myriam accompanies us on a tour of the village.

  “I love this life,” Cassie remarks. “It’s simple, yet stable and comforting.” She tells Myriam.

  “Come see our animals.” Myriam beckons her.

  “Myriam, I’ve never seen creatures such as these before. They’re adorable.” Cassie tells her.

  “The tall ones are Llamas and the smaller are Alpacas. We collect their fur to make yarn for our clothing and blankets. I will show you how if you like.”

  “Yes. Definitely. Korban, either these animals developed independently from what the Life Seeds produced, or the Life Seeds code has adapted somehow.” She whispers to me. “They’re magnificent. Where we come from we only have sheep, cows, and horses.”

  “Our people brought horses from the old world,” Myriam tells us. “But the horses could not handle this mountainous land. There are only a few left.”

  Over the summer season the three of us go back and forth between the compound and the village to trade with the Jaredite people. We also successfully help them to build fortresses of mounds and stone that look serpentine in some parts.

  Many months later Yoseph approaches us on how to construct a stone compound that they can dedicate to the worship of their God.

  “We will have to look for stone to cut,” I tell him. “It is a project that will have to come with the next year since winter is coming soon.”

  Yoseph agrees to wait for the next warm season. “Soon, we will build us another compound next to yours. I am certain that we will have many wonderful years here with your people.” I tell them.

  THE RETURN TRIP TO THE GENESIS & CREW

  Deonna weeps, and I stop to comfort her. “I’m sorry, Talon. I want to settle down just as much as you do. I never thought we would return to the other land.”

  “You’re right about warning Korban and the others. Who knows how long Seth 12 has been kidnapping these people for slavery? I won’t stand by and let this continue. Next time, we fight back!”

  We stop to rest on a clift, overlooking the valley and the Nile River. “I do hope we can make it back.” I reply. We rest for a few moments and drink water. Then we begin our trek once more. It’s particularly hot today, and the day is still early.

  Two hours later and we finally make it to the shuttle. We uncover it and get in again. It’s taken on a lot of dust.

  “Let’s head westward and finish looking over this continent.” I tell Deonna. We travel for a short time and Deonna pa
nics.

  “There, Talon,” she points. The ship is still afar off coming from the north and is headed towards us. “I think they’ve seen us!”

  “Watch this,” I answer. I then take the shuttle down to blend in with the lower landscape to see if the starship notices us. It passes over us and continues on its path.

  “Perhaps they’re too busy searching the ground for more slaves.” She remarks.

  “Maybe we should take a route through the middle of the continent instead,” I tell her. “We can’t have them following us. I’ll fly lower and closer to the ground.” We’re coming into a more fertile area the further south we fly. I increase our altitude due to the rising tree canopy.

  Deonna responds. “Look how beautiful and green it’s getting the further south we fly. There are so many rivers and streams. Talon! Elephants, like on TerraNorre!”

  I look down and see a herd around a large watering hole. The trees begin to form a jungle again.

  “Deonna, we’re approaching evening. We probably should land somewhere for the night and make camp before sunset.” Again, I look for a mountain where we can land.

  “There, Talon. That looks good.”

  We land in a clearing and look the area over. It looks safe. I take our bags out of the shuttle and gather wood for a camp fire. Deonna records the area we’ve landed in. She pulls fruits out that we brought with us.

  “I never realized how vulnerable we are after what happened to Nahor’s people.” I tell Deonna. “The Genesis was never intended to be a warship. We have no weapons, and no way to defend ourselves.”

  “Can we make weapons?” Deonna asks.

  “We’re going to have to create something,” I tell her. “At one point, we could even come up against unfriendly natives.”

  “I feel safe with you, Talon.”

  “I can fix broken legs and arms. But I can’t bring you back to life if something should happen to you. Stay close.”

  The jungle is noisy. I keep a watch and sleep very little. When morning comes, I put out the fire and we eat more fruit.

  “This area is so green and beautiful,” Deonna says as she rolls up the bed roll. Then something in the trees swings high over our heads. Leaves fall to the ground.

  “What was that?” Deonna exclaims.

  “Whatever it was, it was covered with hair all over. And it had arms and legs similar to a man’s. But that was not a man,” I tell her.

  “I don’t like this, Talon,” Deonna replies. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “I agree.” We quickly get into the shuttle and lift off just as another swings past the shuttle.

  “I don’t remember seeing anything like that on TerraNorre,” Deonna says. “I’m starting to wonder if the Life Seeds had issues, Deonna.” Deonna watches the ground more carefully as I fly the shuttle. She sees animals with tall necks and legs. “Look at those tall animals,” she points out. “They’re yellow and they have large brown spots on them. I’ve never seen those before. And over there I can see horses. Well, they’re like horses, but they’re white with black stripes.”

  “Interesting horses.”

  Finally, we reach the southern end of the continent and I adjust the course to a higher altitude. Our little shuttle proceeds westward towards the continent we originated on.

  “I think we should further explore that continent, Deonna. There are so many new varieties of species of animals. Maybe we should document.”

  “I’m just happy we found human life on this planet that was civilized,” Deonna says. “We need to protect them and others like them.”

  “Deonna, we don’t know what we’re going back to. Remember, Noah and I just tested this shuttle and we were gone for two weeks. To Korban and the rest we could have been gone for years. It’s hard to say. The portal may have even advanced us centuries. Remember how the portal moved us ahead about 2,000 years.”

  “I thought it was interesting what Nahor said about Adam and Eve being the first parents. Did he say anything more about that?”

  “Nahor told me they were kicked out of the garden by their God because of a fruit that the woman, Eve, partook of. He also said that from that time on, Man would die after they reached a certain age. He showed me records of a genealogy on scrolls of parchment. And then he showed me a prophesy, that in the meridian of time, their God would provide a Savior for them to resurrect their dead.”

  “That’s familiar on our world. I don’t know how religious you are, Talon. But we did have similar records on TerraNorre.”

  “But why was our world destroyed?” I ask. “What about our people? Why couldn’t the “Savior” save them?”

  “If my religious upbringing serves me right, Talon, I believe we were meant to return to our creator’s presence after we die. So that doesn’t mean those who died weren’t saved. They just met our God sooner than they expected. I believe my family was saved. It’s the only thing that comforts me. And you are a comfort to me as well now.” She reaches her arm out and rubs my shoulder.

  We both contemplate our experiences in silence for a moment. So much has happened to us on this trip. I always thought I knew what I wanted. But maybe there’s more.

  “I just noticed we’re gaining daylight hours as we travel west, whereas before we had lost a good part of our day when we embarked.” I say. “It make sense since this system only has one sun. Daylight here is 16 hours, unlike on TerraNorre where daylight lasted 26 hours. The seasons are shorter here as well.”

  “Does that have an effect on how life develops here,” Deonna wanders out loud. “Talon, I see land. It won’t be long now.” Again, we land the shuttle in snow at the foot of the Genesis wreckage. “Not much has changed,” She says.

  “I don’t see signs of the other ship,” I say thankfully. “Maybe they won’t find it. Let’s deactivate the rescue signal.” We go inside the ship for a moment and then come back out. Deonna looks around and spots some bluish and green in the melting snow. She walks over and picks it up, wiping the snow away from it. “Talon, it’s one of the Life Seeds, and it’s radiating. It looks like it has been activated.” It radiates gradient colors of blue and green. I look around and find the gold plate that held the seed.

  “There! Let’s deactivate it.” I twist my hand around the seed, deactivating it and anchor it back to the plate.

  “I have no idea what has come out of this Life Seed.” she says. “We’ll need to secure it in a container of some type. I brought that small stone box in the shuttle. We could use that. It will preserve the life seed and keep it from activating.” Deonna says.

  “Do it.” I answer.

  She heads for the shuttle pod and retrieves the box. She opens it and carefully places the Life Seed with plate inside. “We probably should keep this with us,” I tell her. “We don’t want this to fall into the wrong hands.”

  “Agreed.” she says. We look at each other and at the blue stream of light.

  “Ready or not,” I tell her. We pass through the portal together. Its late summer on the other side, which we both welcome. We don’t know how much time has passed since we’ve been gone. Things look the same for the most part. But this is at the top of the mountain. We won’t recognize any changes until we reach the compound we built.

  “The trail has overgrown quite a bit. But it’s still here.” I comment.

  We reach mid-canyon and I hear something. I stop Deonna. “Hold on.” I tell her. “Look up there,” I point. “Shhh.”

  Deonna recognizes it from my previous description of the bear we had run into on earlier explorations.

  “Look,” she whispers. “It has two cubs with her.” Deonna smiles. But she also knows from my earlier experience the animal is dangerous. We wait for the animals to pass through the area, and then we continue.

  We finally reach the compound after a four-hour hike. From a distance it looks the same as it did before. As we come into the grounds, the grass is over grown around it. New trees have also sprung up inside the wall.
I look at Deonna. She shakes her head. The gate to the wall is unlocked, which is unusual with Korban being a stickler for security. We proceed into the courtyard where the grass again is all over grown. There are remnants in the front of what may have been Noah’s garden. We enter the dwelling. Parts of the roof have caved in and the fire place is covered with tree branches.

  “They’ve moved on, Deonna. They’ve most likely befriended and joined the villagers, north of here. Look.” He points out a loom and pottery and other things left behind.