“For the rest of our journey, your new orders are to study and learn all you can about Akiane and its people.”
I tried to process what he was saying. For the next thirteen months and nine days, I was to study a planet and its people. I’d have no other responsibilities.
I’d thought communications was boring. Now I’d truly know what a dreary existence was.
Damn protocol. “But, Sir, why me?” I desperately asked. “Surely, there must be someone, almost anyone, who is better qualified. I don’t know how to deal with people from another planet, much less negotiate peace.” Then as an afterthought I said, “Sir.”
“Your name is on the orders,” he said, settling the matter, and for him it did. “Once you’re on Akiane, someone will contact you.”
To say I was surprised at my promotion was more than an understatement. This was not one that I had earned or I wanted, nor was it one I could refuse. Once I’d signed the contract, my life belonged to Space Force. If they gave me an assignment, I had no choice but to obey. There was nothing I could do to get out of it. Nothing I could say to change my orders.
The captain picked an envelope off his desk and handed it to me.
I opened it and pulled out a single piece of paper. On the top of the page, bold letters said: “Lieutenant Jessica M. Hewitt.” Everything else was a blur.
CAPTAIN’S LOG
WSC Falcon
Captain Faris Assetti
On approach to Akiane
Year 2144, November 1
We had just arrived in Akiane’s star system when we saw the explosion.
Eighty good men and women were lost on Eagle. There was nothing we could do to save any of them.
On the bridge
Falcon’s crew responded in stunned silence.
“What just happened?”Assetti quietly asked.
No one moved.
“Ensign!”she demanded.
Ensign Kawn jumped. He shook his head, pulled his eyes from the window, and concentrated on the screen before him. His hand slowly raised then seemed to drift to the console.
“Ensign?”Assetti yelled.
“Yes, Captain. I…”His limp fingers came to life and pushed buttons.“It’s the gas planet, Mum. Both planets are in an elliptical orbit. Their paths cross every eleven years.”
“Yes, Ensign Kawn, this we already know.”
Kawn bowed his head. He pushed a few more buttons then said,“Together the planets create a gravitational pull. The force pulled Eagleapart.”
“Thank you,”Assetti said.
“Mum?”
“Ensign?”
“We have picked up all data Eaglewas streaming to WSC.”
“Save it. We’ll deal with it later.”
Chapter 2
Adumie
One Last Inspection
ART RENDERINGS told of feelings, fears, and hopes; of life and death, hunters killing tupilak, fishers bringing in nets full of fish, Kahair’s rising, and The Storm’s destruction. The colorfully painted walls of this family unit had been a testimony to those who had once lived here. It had been a place to come and remember the existence of those now dead. All 127 of them.
Adumie placed a hand on the freshly painted white wall. He picked this room because it was the most isolated. No, that wasn’t the real reason, he admitted to himself.
He picked this room because Petra had lived here. He’d hoped that by having the walls painted and the scenes erased, she’d cease to haunt his memories. Already, he regretted his decision.
The walls of this family unit had once been filled with scribbles by the youngest occupants, clumsy figures drawn by older children, and elegant renderings by adults. All of it, even Petra’s sketches, had been painted over, and were gone forever.
Each family unit had its own living quarters, and each family told its history on the walls from the first colonists to the present.
At one time the Community was filled with healthy family units. When the main buildings became too crowded, meetings were held to determine how the Community would expand.
Petra’s family unit was the first to build a room outside of the main buildings. They chose a space between two exit tunnels and enclosed it to make it habitable. It was such a success that other families eagerly considered construction on their new quarters. Petra’s family was planning their next expansion so they would have more room to grow.
Then the sickness overtook them.
Slowly over the next years, dread descended and construction stopped as the sickness spread. Whole family units were wiped out, including Petra’s.
After 21 years, Petra’s face and memories were as fresh to Adumie as though she still lived.
He sighed. Walking around the sterile room, he determined it ready for the Invaders from Earth to inhabit. Those of World Space Coalition claimed all of Akiane, including its people, as its property. They were not interested in Petra or her drawing; they came to dominate. Occupying this room was just the beginning.
Several times a message had been sent demanding the ship Britannia return to Earth. Each time the captain refused. Finally Jecidia spoke to someone requesting a priest. It was agreed a priest would be sent.
Arrogant Earth Invaders ordered rooms for working and for living. What kind of work did they intend to do? They had no right.
Adumie would not give them two family rooms. He would not erase the memory of another family to appease intruders. This one unit would be enough. A wall had been erected to divide the room in half. They would work on one side of the wall and sleep on the other side.
Petra’s family had already installed an ashag for the growing of food. There was also a kitchen off to the side. Good. Adumie did not want Intruders wandering Endurance. This one space contained all that was needed for them to live. There was no reason for them to leave this area.
Scuffling feet caused Adumie to turn just in time to see the back of Nu Venia’s head dart around the corner; Cameron was near. Those two were rarely apart. It was difficult to tell who was raising whom.
When Cameron did appear, it was Jecidia who walked at his side. No doubt Nu Venia lingered outside, out of sight.
Jecidia had shriveled in size. Why had he come all this way? Walking was no easy task for him. His long black braids were streaked with white strands. Light gray blotches appeared on his cheeks. Eventually, his skin would turn ashen, signaling that death was near.
For some the disease quickly took a life. For others the disease lingered for years. Jecidia had already been sick for two years.
In contrast, Cameron stood tall and straight, his skin free of blotches, his braids lava black. If God was truly just, Cameron would be ill, not Jecidia, Adumie reasoned.
“World Space Coalition just contacted us.” Cameron’s piercing voice bounced off the empty walls. “They have entered our star system. They are within days of landing.”
Cameron looked forward to their arrival as much as Adumie dreaded their coming.
Jecidia moved around the room like a chovis snuffling corners. He placed a hand on one of the walls. His body sagged at the realization that the renderings were forever lost. After a moment of silence, he turned from the wall to examine the rest of the area.
He looked through the far door to view the beds. He crossed the room to the ashag then peeked in the kitchen. Slowly he came to stand with Adumie and Cameron.
“Has one considered the sharing of meat?” Jecidia asked.
“Meat?” Adumie asked irreparably.
“Yes, if we eat meat, it is only logical they do also. We are not so dissimilar as that,” Cameron said as if Adumie were a child and should know such things.
“We are different! And when they learn how different, World Space Coalition will again be abandoning us,” Adumie declared.
“But if they can help us. . .”
With a wave of his hand, Adumie cut Cameron off. That one needed to learn respect for leadership and not be so contrary.
“Wo
rld Space Coalition comes to claim our world as their property, to claim us as their property! They have no concern as to how we persevered for all this time,” Adumie angrily declared. “We built Endurance without their help. Endurance is ours. It belongs to us. They have no right to demand ownership. They abandoned us! Those of Earth do not come to help. Nor are they sent by God.”
“Then why come now,” Cameron said, showing little respect, “if not being sent by God?”
There was no explanation for Intruders coming at this time. Adumie only knew it was too late. “This conversation is of no use. There is already agreement to speak to the ship’s priest,” Adumie said, “but that one is from Earth. Much is not expected.”
“God is the same throughout the universe,” Jecidia said reverently.
“The ship’s priest must also speak for God, just as our priests do,” Cameron agreed.
Cameron was young and naïve. Jecidia had become old. Both had hope. Adumie knew better.
“Are we to hunt for them? How far must our servitude extend?” Adumie snorted. “Let them hunt their own meat.”
Cameron was concerned for their comfort; would welcome them, give them a place to live, food to eat, beg their help.
Adumie would have them build their own habitat on the far side of Akiane.
“Will they have knowledge to hunt tupilak?” Cameron asked in protest.
Adumie said nothing.
Cameron insisted. “The tupilak could easily kill them.”
If only the tupilak would kill all of them. Adumie grunted.
“If one wishes them to live separate from us, it would be unwise to allow them to roam where they please,” Jecidia spoke softly.
It was difficult to ignore his words of wisdom. He was right. Adumie did not want Intruders walking about Akiane, observing what they were not meant to see.
“We will hunt for them,” Adumie conceded, with a low growl. “Shall we also cook the meat for them?”
“Will those of Earth go to the waters to receive tupilak?” Jecidia asked.
“No,” Adumie said, a little too quickly. “Keep them from open water. Hang the meat. The fur is ours.”
Nodding, Jecidia said, “Hooks will be installed and meat will be hanging before they arrive.”
“Are you satisfied now, Cameron?” Adumie asked.
“It is not a matter of my being satisfied,” Cameron said. “It is a matter of what is right, Adumie.”
“Cameron, if things were right, we would not be dying, and those from Earth would not be invading us. Why will you not see the inevitable?”
“Why are you resigned to it? Where is your hope?”
“Hope?” Adumie spat the word in frustration. “Cameron, we are a dying people.” Petra is already dead! he wanted to shout.
“One’s hope is in God’s love. God will provide for us. We will not die,” Cameron retorted. “We must pray those of Earth are here to help us.”
“Prayer.” Adumie almost spat that word too. “Have you been praying?” He knew the answer. Cameron always prayed. “And how have your prayers been answered?”
“Sometimes in God’s immeasurable wisdom, response comes in unforeseen ways,” Cameron declared.
Adumie used to believe. Now he ached with the bitterness of knowing unanswered prayers. He was High Priest. He was the one who spoke God’s Word to the Community. Yet when he prayed, God did not answer. He had begged. He had sought with all his heart. Instead of a promise of hope, he received disappointment, and loss of faith.
“Sometimes God’s response is, ‘No,’ because He has larger plans,” Adumie said bitterly.
“What larger plan?” Cameron asked. “Does God speak to you of such a plan?”
“He is calling us to Himself. We are a people meant to die.” Long ago, Adumie had concluded this was the only explanation for God’s silence. What other reason could there be for so many deaths?
Cameron seemed genuinely shocked at this revelation. “Why would God call us to die? What is God’s reasoning for such an unloving act?”
There was only one logical explanation for their deaths, Adumie knew. “God is protecting us from the worse fate that those of Earth bring.” How could he explain to one who refused to understand? “God has decided,” he said gruffly. “Those of Earth cannot change divine destiny, nor can you.”
Chapter 3
Rona Montgomery
First Glimpse
LIKE THE Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland, Rona Montgomery couldn’t stop smiling or stare in wonderment. She still couldn’t believe it. She was a small town girl from rural Georgia. Two of her sisters took over their parents’ hydro farm, a 30-acre building six stories tall. They could keep one tomato plant alive and producing fruit for years. To her sisters’ disappointment, Rona wasn’t interested in the molecular structure of produce. She was interested in the molecular structure of human beings.
And because of that decision, and because of folded space technology, she was slipping through subspace into another part of the Milky Way.
She was chosen from thousands of applicants to study the DNA of people who had been isolated from the rest of humanity for 321 years.
All her life, she’d worked hard and as the highest ranked in her college class, had graduated summa cum laude.
As an intern at an Atlanta based genetic company, she was first to arrive and last to leave. Once her internship was up, the company offered her a job, head of her own department. She turned it down, She been recruited by World Space Coalition.
She moved to WSC Moon Base for a chance to be a part of the Akiane Project.
Since she was ten, she’d been awestruck by how two parents contributed their genes in the creation of an entirely new individual; a science that she later learned was called transformation genetics.
Through the generations, minute changes, or mutations, provided a natural evolutionary shift in human development. The broadest example was how the human race had divided into indigenous groups such as Asian, Western European, African, Middle Eastern, and many tribal people. The world population might not be as visually distinctive as it once was, but indigenous DNA markers had not changed.
Rona joined the expedition for the opportunity to study population genetics in the people of Akiane, who had been isolated from the rest of the human race, without any fresh genetic input. She wanted to learn how much their DNA had changed from their Earth cousins, if at all.
A generation is determined by the common birthing age of a woman in her culture. In past centuries, when there were still third-world countries, where child mortality was high, the common age for girls to become mothers was in their early teens. Now the normal age on Earth was thirty. If it were the same on Akiane, only eleven or twelve generations had passed. Not a long time for evolution or for any major mutation differences.
It also fascinated Rona that 99 to 95% of DNA was exactly the same between any two human individuals, and yet, from that small amount of difference, there was no end to physical variations. As she looked around the WSC Britannia’s Eatery, she noted how each person in the room was unique. That was what she would study, that minute difference between Earth inhabitants and her cousins on Akiane.
Rona was honored by her position and as nervous as a goldfish swimming in an aquarium being watched by the house cat. She had accepted the responsibilities of a major project, one that would be carefully watched and scrutinized by the entire scientific geneticist community. It was important that she not fail.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ship’s vibration. As if the space transport were an airplane caught in wind turbulence, the ship slipped out of folded space with an intense shake. It only lasted for a few seconds, but the effect was similar to being shaken by winds from a violent hurricane.
A hologram of the captain appeared in the middle of the cafeteria, as it did throughout the entire ship. The captain’s image did not appear in private rooms, only his voice filtered in, but in the Eatery, he suddenly app
eared to be standing amidst them.
The image turned as if he were looking at everyone. “This is Captain Norris. We have just entered Kahair’s planetary system.” He paused for effect. “We’re here, folks.”
The room erupted with applause.
Rona and Jess were just finishing their breakfasts. Jess was the only one in the room who remained silent. She sat straight-backed as if at attention. Jess always dressed in her blue Space Force uniform, even when off duty. One would think she didn’t have any other clothes, but since they were roommates, Rona knew better.
Chow Lu came running into the cafeteria with her chin-length black hair bouncing about her face. Her hot pink jeans accented her youthful nature. She plopped down in the seat next to Rona.
Lu was Rona’s project partner. Together, they would unravel scientific finds regarding Akiane’s human genome.
Lu had finished her master’s degree at thirteen, applied for the Akiane Project, and was accepted. She’d completed her first PhD in Genetics within a year while at the same time training for the project.
While on the ship, she and Rona worked on their PhDs in Microbiology.
Lu was now twenty years old. And even though she was as talented as everyone else on the scientific teams, she was oddly awestruck by the brilliance of those around her, which often caused her to stutter when she was nervous.
Her childlike enthusiasm was exceptionally high this day. “We’re here,” she squealed. “I can’t believe it! After six years and ten months, we’ve finally arrived.”
It would have been disappointing to sit through this exciting event with Jess and her sour mood. Rona was glad Lu had joined them. Now she could better enjoy the moment and shed her usual level-headedness.
Jess took a sip from her third cup of hot herbal tea. It didn’t seem to be calming her nerves. She gripped the mug with both hands as if it kept her from jumping up and running away.
But her sour mood wasn’t going to dampen the moment. “Takes the cake, doesn’t it?” Rona pushed her long black locks behind her ears, sat straight and strained her neck, to get a better view out the observatory window.
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