Winds of Fate

by Thomas H. Reed

  The old man stubbed out his cigarette and then said, “Perhaps the right owner can bring it back to life?”

  “Every time I drive through that part of Texas I always stop and look at the old place; I once inquired about buying the property.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “The place needs someone with a heart and a desire to restore it. The money is no problem, but I have no heart for such things. No doubt I could hire someone to come in and restore it, but they would be doing it for the money not the love of the place.”

  “This girl, she is like your building in Texas?”

  “I see the same potential, the same need to be what it was meant to be instead of what it is.”

  “Perhaps if you take two heart-broken spirits, the one that belongs to the old home and the one of this girl, and put them together you can make them both whole.”

  As Kay was ready to leave the old man spoke up, “You can not save the world.”

  Kay paused. “No, not even with all my money and all my power, but I can try to save a small piece of it. One corner, one person, one thing at a time.”

  He toed the ground then said, “Perhaps that is all any of us can do, save what we can and hope that others will do the same.” Kay went back into the bar and sat down at the table, Irma sat down opposite of him and began to study the board. Two hours passed as the game flowed one way then the other, finally a hand reaches out to move the final chess piece, and one of the spectators shouts the words “Check Mate!”

  The Tearth on Tuva

  By the year 2096, a treaty had been signed between the Space Federation and planet Earth. Part of the agreement stated that a planet supporting a sentient species, or one that might some day become sentient, could not be colonized by a world that fell within the Federation’s jurisdiction. Galactic law made it clear, any world belonging to the Federation would be dealt with harshly if they interfered with the natural development of such species.

  In the year 2110, earthlings landed on the planet of Tuva. To their delight, they found that it was almost a duplicate of planet Earth and could hardly wait to send this information back to their home planet. Five years later, a team of scientist was trying to determine if a species they called “Tearth” had any redeemable qualities. Their resemblance to that of human beings was amazing. However, after what was supposed to have been a thorough study of the species was completed, a decision was made. The Tearth was nothing more than an unintelligent beast. They had no language, wore no clothes, and existed only by instinct.

  In April, of 2115, the first settlers from Earth made a successful landing on Tuva. They brought enough supplies to sustain them for two years; during that time, they also planted and harvested crops. Their crops were bountiful and the people rejoiced.

  In the year 2140, utilities had been established and then connected to small villages that now covered a large portion of Tuva. The population grew due to the new settlers who arrived almost daily and by natural means

  By the year 2160, small factories were running at full capacity, agriculture was successful, the mining of ore and other materials could not have been better. Humankind had once again established their presence on a new frontier. The political system was corrupt on Tuva simply because earthlings had brought the system with them.

  Samuel Wait’s Discoveries

  Samuel Wait sat in his observation blind with his notebook and pencil in hand while observing the Tearth at work. Occasionally Samuel would pick up his binoculars and zero in on some occurrence that appeared to have varied from the Tearth’s normal routine.

  Over the years, Samuel had taken hundreds of photographs of the Tearth, and made dozens of videos, but he found that he best captured their mysterious essence when he used his sketchpad and then captioned the sketches with personal notes and data.

  At this particular season, the Tearth were busy foraging and collecting food in what he called the ‘Southern farm’.

  Samuel was both surprised and fascinated to learn that the Tearth never stripped an area completely, but instead left some vegetation standing. He also noted that the Tearth meticulously sowed seed from the plants they most favored, thus, insuring a continuous supply of the food.

  After studying what he noted as their agricultural procedures, which he first thought of as simply planting seed and harvesting crops, he discovered a complex method of detailed measures. They sowed by genus and variety, but also cross-pollinated to produce varied sizes and additional flavors of fruits and vegetables.

  One of the most mysterious things about the Tearth was the way they moved as a group and interacted with each other so completely without a language.

  Samuel noticed their body movement was almost imperceptible. After observing specific gestures and movements, he concluded that they did have a language. It was subtle and very precise in its meaning. He found that the movements were not only communicative but also beautiful in form, like a dance. They were communicating with each other, not just in simple terms but also in whole sentences that conveyed large amounts of information and meaning.

  One of the many contradictions concerning the Tearth was the documented claim that they were a filthy animal. His observations proved just the opposite; instead, they were a very clean species, devoting much of their time to grooming and hygiene. They also had superb parental instincts and took excellent care of their young.

  They wore no clothing, and that mystified Samuel, but to his knowledge, no other species, even the more human-like beings, wore clothing. Humans were the exception.

  After giving the matter some thought, Samuel realized that the Tearth were so human-like in every other respect, that his reaction to their nakedness was due to his own social conditioning. To the Tearth, not wearing clothing was completely natural. And aside from all else, the weather in this region was fairly constant in nature, much like the seasons were in the equatorial regions of South America back on old Earth. Dr. Wait’s research showed that the weather in this particular region had been stable from day one.

  The Tearth had beautifully structured bodies and dazzling skin tones, so wearing clothes for the sake of aesthetic appearance seemed foolish. Back on Earth, there were primitive tribes living in the jungles of South America that wore little or no clothing. Yet, they had built shelters, and the Tearth did not, or so he had thought.

  Samuel began following the Tearth in order to observe where they bedded down at night. This was done while keeping a respectable distance and without benefit of bright light. Canopy trees were common all over the planet; they were beautiful and served as a great shade. The leaves overlapped in such a way that when it rained it remained completely dry beneath the trees, the leaves stopped about three or four feet from the ground. The canopy, depending on the size of the tree, spanned as much as twenty-five meters. The Tearth used the umbrella type trees for shelter at night and as nurseries for their young.

  In time, Samuel was able to identify a canopy tree utilized by the Tearth. It was always healthy, full-bodied, and well groomed. Their residence was clean and free of unwanted growth, sharp rocks, sticks and dead falls. Although the areas were pristine in appearance, it was difficult to distinguish it from any other part of the forest. Samuel learned that they were not the simple-minded creatures they were purported to be. They possessed a social structure, and had a very sophisticated knowledge of crop growing and herbal gardening. Their hygiene and grooming habits were impeccable. They had a sense of beauty and symmetry that was complex and depicted an advanced intelligence.

  These beings were not the savage creatures portrayed by the Tuvan Government. Samuel’s interactions with the Tearth proved that the species were not only gentle, but also skilled and curious by nature. They were strong and could move swiftly when the need arose, and were capable of running long distances without tiring. Samuel found that the Tearth truly enjoyed competitive games. The children especially loved competing in races that lasted for hours over exceedingly rough and varied te
rrain.

  After Samuel became accustomed to the signs, he discovered that the Tearth had roads and pathways woven throughout the forest. At first glance, they seemed to be nothing more than primitive trails. However, as he explored further, he found places where the trails had been shored-up and drainage systems added to prevent erosion. They always constructed and planned with their natural surroundings in mind. To an amateur it might appear to be a part of nature, but upon closer examination, Samuel found their macrobiotic designs to be truly ingenious.

  Samuel put down his notebook and studied the monitor. He shook his head, thinking, If I disclose my findings, no matter how thorough my notes, no one will ever accept them—even if they believed them. I will be challenging almost two centuries of accepted statistics. It will not matter to the millions who fear losing their homes due to a two-hundred-fifty year old Galactic law.

  Samuel was convinced that the original data collected regarding the Tearth was falsified in order to insure that earthlings could inhabit the Tuva. If he planned to achieve his goal and help the Tearth, he needed more than just his notes, drawings, and photographs. Not even the videos he had collected would persuade the “Heads of State” that the Tearth were structured and intelligent.

  Samuel believed that the Tearth might be more intelligent than human beings were, especially when it came to understanding their environment and how to interact with it. He was sure that he had only scratched the surface of what lay beneath the external beauty of the Tearth.

  Samuel suddenly felt a deep weariness that had settled into the pit of his soul. He wondered why he was keeping up this vigil, a lone man, trying to do battle with millions of people who would continue to ignore his attempt to save an innocent species. And the saddest fact of all was that most of his fellow humans agreed with him, but out of fear for their own future, they would refuse to make a stand for what was right.

  Samuel recalled the statement about water, wind and fire being the mightiest forces of all when being fully unleashed. But in his opinion, fear was the most powerful force in the universe, and plain old common sense was the rarest of all treasure.

  The New World

  This story begins many years in the future, after man has reached out to the distant stars and discovered other habitable planets. It isn’t about the hyper drives, or the mighty engines that took men to the stars in order to alleviate overcrowding of the Earth. Nor is it about swarthy men standing on the bridge of those mighty ships and bravely exploring the unknown by going where no man had gone before. It is about the multitude of average people who dared to brave the unknown to seek out new frontiers and to find a new world to call home.

  In this story, we find the world this new generation of explorers discovered and settled upon was like the Earth of old, even the flora and the fauna were much the same. The settlers came, and then built homes, towns and factories and went about everyday life as usual. They traveled between the inhabited worlds, and many chose to revisit distant Earth, some to study its history, and others to satisfy a curiosity as to where their ancestry had originated.

  Yet, to these settlers, Earth had never been home. It was only a place far, far away, shrouded in tales and myths that had little to do with them or their present lives on their home planets.

  To millions, Tuva had always been their home, their world. Here, there were parks, libraries, museums, schools and colleges. In many ways, it resembled Earth in the 1950’s with its small peaceful towns and close-knit communities. Earthlings flocked to Tuva like bees to nectar when they first discovered that even the topography was almost identical to Earth with its high, snow covered mountains, wide rivers, great forest, and vast deserts. In fact, the ecosystem was so similar that many animals were transported from Earth to Tuva in order to prevent their extinction. Tuva also sported its own wildlife, and held another similarity to Earth: Earth had its great apes; Tuva had its Tearth.

  However, a research team of scientist had concluded that these beings were incapable of evolving beyond their current state of evolution. They exhibited no organizational skills or behavior attributed to intelligent beings. They were savage, brutal, disease-carrying animals. The final analysis was that the Tearth had no redeemable traits, no value or worth.

  Still, there were factions on Earth that weren’t convinced that such human-like creatures should be arbitrarily destroyed. The group championed on the Tearth’s behalf, and lobbied against their extermination. However, in the end, the settlers were allowed to colonize Tuva and even kill Tearth where they encroached on human populations or threatened human health or life. The lobbyist won a portion of their fight by agreeing that the Tearth be permitted to live undisturbed in their natural habitat. Therefore, for almost two centuries an uneasy existence resided between the settlers and the Tearth.

  On Tuva, towns like Millstone Creek and Green Harbor produced farm products, lumber and textiles. Homes were constructed, businesses created and people lived simple, uncomplicated lives. Unlike the hustle and bustle of many other colonized planets people knew their neighbors and were happy with their homey existence.

  Widow Silvia Rodriguez, a dumpy, energetic, and cheery faced woman of sixty-two had lived in Millstone since birth. And, like her mother, Sylvia was born on Tuva, as were the previous four generations before her. This was her world and her heritage; she was proud of her home, her town, and her way of life.

  As a widow, Silvia lived alone. Silvia’s children were adults with families of their own. Her son, Windle, and his twin sister, Winette, lived in an adjacent town only thirty miles away. Silvia looked forward to the holidays when the family would get together for Discovery Day or Christmas. Although very few observed Christmas now, some families, like Silvia’s, who still clung firmly to their spiritual past, observed the season.

  Sylvia was smiling to herself, and thinking about the possibility of becoming a great grandmother as she absentmindedly rinsed a teacup at the kitchen sink. When she glanced through the window, her heart skipped a beat at the beauty she beheld. A radiant profusion of new blossoms had sprung open since she last looked at her garden. As Silvia was putting the last teacup away, a movement in the flower garden caught her eye.

  “What the…?” A naked child was playing among the flowers in her garden and … and it was eating her blossoms! Those blossoms could be poisonous!

  Sylvia made a dash through her kitchen door and then ran as fast as her sixty-two-year-old legs would carry her. She stopped abruptly when she reached the spot where the child was crawling among the flowers.

  “That isn’t a human child!” She said aloud. “It looks human, but it has pointed ears, and it’s naked and… filthy.

  No mother I know would allow her child to go out in public naked and filthy… and such tangled, matted hair…!”

  When the small, naked creature realized that it had been discovered, it crouched down among the heavy leaves, attempting to hide among the foliage; it simply froze.

  Sylvia had never seen a Tearth before, but now that she had gotten a closer look at the small creature, there was no mistaking its identity. Numerous photographs and descriptions of the Tearth filled her memory. She knew what they looked like, and what to expect from them. Everything she had read warned her they were extremely dangerous, vicious, disease-carrying animals. And this particular one was eating her flowers.

  Raising the hoe above her head, Sylvia shouted as she ran toward it trying to frighten it away. Instead of fleeing as she had expected, it cowered down and curled into a ball. Still intent on chasing the creature away, Silvia swung the hoe with sharp-edge down.

  In that instant she realized that she wasn’t trying to scare the thing; out of fear for her own safety, she had almost injured an innocent life. Instead of letting the hoe connect with the Tearth, at the last minute, she dug the hoe into the ground. The poor thing cried out, expecting a blow that never came. Instead of showing aggression and snarling at her, it began to cry. With arms placed firmly over its head, its b
ody began to shake uncontrollably and tears slid down its cheeks as it sobbed in fright.

  Silvia, disgusted with herself, knowingly disregarded all the warnings she had heard over the years, such as: “Although Tearth appear docile, do not let their appearance fool you, they are vicious, and are not capable of intelligent reaction; they operate purely on instinct and are very unpredictable. They cannot be domesticated or trained.” These were the official statistics, compiled and recorded among Tuva’s records regarding the Tearth.

  From youth, every citizen was taught, when encountering a Tearth, never, under any circumstances, approach one. If you are personally incapable of ridding your area of the animal, please call the authorities so they can remove or exterminate it, to do otherwise could be a deadly mistake.