Tiera's Earth (Andromeda 9 Book 1)

by Ethan T. Marston

  Tiera wasn’t sure if she should be offended that Daven was questioning her humanity—she felt like it should be the other way around. I guess it’s a matter of perspective. But before Tiera could say anything, she and Daven were interrupted by Officer Ferrer.

  “Tiera Jasperson, Chief Uedent is here to speak with you now. Daven Theo, I will escort you to the lobby.”

  “Oh.” Tiera couldn’t help but feel a little crestfallen as she watched Daven stand up. He was the closest thing she had to a friend since she got here, and she had hardly spoken to him. “I guess this is goodbye then. I’ll see you later?” He might have only come to apologize.

  “Yeah! Maybe I’ll visit tomorrow—I may not need to though,” Daven said, walking toward Officer Ferrer backwards so that he could still face Tiera.

  “Great!” The prospect of another visit might just help Tiera get through another day in this place. Wait. “What do you mean you ‘may not need to’?”

  “You’ll see,” he said with a smile.

  “Hello, Daven Theo.” Leon appeared next to Officer Ferrer at the door, and Daven turned around to face him. “You’ll have to excuse us, please. Thank you for your cooperation thus far in our investigation, but there’s no need for visits like this—you’ve done everything you could do.”

  “Right,” Daven said, his tone now serious. “Excuse me, Chief Uedent.” And with that he and Officer Ferrer left.

  “You know you didn’t have to send him away—Daven could probably help more than I can, since he actually knew Kert,” Tiera told Leon as he sat down in the corner opposite hers.

  “Daven Theo and his peers have already given very detailed testimonies about their time studying with Kert Yematoro, but thank you for the suggestion.” Tiera wasn’t sure if Leon was being professional or sarcastic with that last part. “Now let’s give this an official start,” Leon said, pulling his smart glass out of his pocket to check the time. “I am Chief Leon Uedent and it is 15:53 Faroan standard time, day 23 of 7 of 6027.” He raised his eyebrows at Tiera.

  “With special guest star, Tiera Jasperson.”

  Leon frowned in confusion. “Good,” he finally said, then leaned forward. “Now, did you remember anything about Kert Yematoro’s key to revolution?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t,” Tiera said slowly, wondering how he’d react.

  “You tried like I asked?”

  “Yes.” Tiera tried to keep her annoyance out of her voice. “I think what we talked about last time—about how I need to say or encounter something for it to jog my memory—I think that’s really what’s happening.”

  Leon leaned back and took a moment to stare at Tiera. “Alright,” he finally said, apparently deciding Tiera was telling the truth. “But I want you to keep trying. I’ll check in on you periodically, but you can request to see me if you do remember.”

  Tiera just nodded.

  “I was also asked to talk to you about your home planet—about Earth,” Leon continued. “About how long have your people inhabited this planet? And have they inhabited any other planets?”

  “We’ve never travelled beyond our moon, so no—we haven’t inhabited any other planets. But we’re working on Mars. And I’m not entirely sure how long humans have been on Earth. I think we evolved a few hundred thousand years ago, but if you count Neanderthals and that sort of thing then that’s even longer ago.” Tiera wished she had paid more attention to that caveman documentary she had watched when she was a teenager—but she had only watched it because nothing else was on.

  “What is Mars?”

  “The next planet over in our solar system.”

  “Right. And you said your people evolved? They didn’t just appear?” Leon seemed confused about this point.

  “Well, some religions believe so—that man and woman were created by God and placed on Earth.” Tiera never thought she’d have to have this sort of conversation with space aliens. “Scientists and academics tend to favor the theory of evolution though.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because there’s evidence for it. Fossils, skeletons, genetic evidence of common ancestors—all that.”

  “And there’s no evidence of people arriving on your planet from someplace else?”

  Tiera wasn’t sure why Leon was being so thorough. “Not that I know of.”

  Leon sat in silence for a little while before asking his next question. “You said your people evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, correct?”

  “That’s what I said. I’m not positive on the number though.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just 4 or 5 million? Do you know the difference between the words ‘thousand’ and ‘million’?” Leon sounded completely serious.

  “I know the difference between a thousand and a million,” Tiera said flatly. “And it wasn’t millions of years ago—I’m pretty sure dinosaurs were still around then.” As she said it, Tiera realized that she didn’t know the word for “dinosaurs” in Origin.

  “What were around? Dino-what?”

  “Dinosaurs: enormous, ancient reptiles that inhabited the Earth and died long before we humans evolved.” Tiera didn’t know what else to do but keep talking, since Leon didn’t look like he was comprehending any of it. “We have fossil records of them—bones and footprints and all that. I think they use carbon dating to figure out when they were alive. Or maybe they can tell by looking at the rocks. They eventually evolved into birds, you know.”

  “Birds? Birds came from ‘enormous, ancient reptiles’?” Leon’s incredulity cut through his professional tone.

  “I mean, it took like, a billion years—but yes.” Tiera felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment and she wasn’t sure why. I’m right! Did he not know this? “You have birds here, don’t you?”

  “Of course.” Leon seemed to have decided to drop the subject. “But you’re absolutely sure your people have no record that says civilization started when a small group of people arrived from another planet?”

  “I—I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so.” Tiera tried to think of any culture or religion that might believe something like this. She knew Leon was getting tired of her uncertainty—he was pinching the bridge of his nose again, his eyes closed.

  “Why can’t you be sure?” Leon sounded frustrated.

  “Because there are hundreds of cultures and civilizations on the Earth today—how am I supposed to keep track of every civilization that ever existed?! I—” Tiera stopped herself, looking away. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to yell. I think we’re both just getting a little frustrated with each other.”

  Tiera heard Leon take a deep breath, and when she looked at him again his face was back in its professional mask. “I think that will be all for today. This interview is over.” Leon stood up and headed for the door, where Officer Ferrer appeared—Tiera figured he must have been listening for his cue over the intercom.

  “Leon?” Tiera wanted to know something before he left.

  “Please call me Chief Uedent,” Leon said, but he still turned around to face her.

  “Sorry—Chief Uedent,” Tiera corrected herself. “Why did you want to know about how Earth’s civilizations originated?”

  Leon regarded her as if trying to decide what to tell her. “Since Origin is the birthplace of all intelligent life, we believe your planet must have been an old colonization attempt. Origin colonizers must have lost contact with it and deemed it a failure, but the colony seems to have thrived—though it is a bit more primitive than expected.”

  “‘An old colonization attempt’? But that would have had to be over 100 thousand years ago!”

  “Longer, actually.” Leon turned around again to go. “The Great Expedition was four million years ago—and it was very poorly documented.”

  “Then how old is Origin? How long have you had technology?” Earth has only had any semblance of advanced technology for a few centuries—how long has Origin been capable of space travel?

  “I can’t be sure
,” Leon said without turning around, “but it’s been at least five million years.”

  And with that Leon left the room—and left Tiera’s mind reeling.

  Chapter 9

  Tiera scraped the last of what she guessed was mashed potatoes from her plate, then sat back down on her bed, waiting for the apron man to retrieve what was left of her dinner. Her mind kept replaying the conversation she had with Leon earlier that day. He had left her with more questions than he had answered—as seemed to be the trend with anyone Tiera talked to around here. Maybe I can ask apron man about Origin’s colonization attempts. If I know random facts about the British colonies then he might know about Origin’s, right?

  “Tiera Jasperson?” a man’s voice sounded from over the intercom, making Tiera jump.

  “Yes?”

  “New arrangements have been made for your . . . housing. Gather your things. You will be escorted to the front lobby momentarily.”

  “What? I’m leaving?” Tiera was sure she misunderstood.

  “Yes. Gather your things.” The man sounded like he would have preferred doing anything over talking to prisoners through the intercom.

  “But where am I going?” Tiera waited for a response, but the man gave none, so she “gathered her things” by grabbing her phone.

  Shouldn’t I be excited right now? The idea of moving to another location only made Tiera feel nervous. Anything beats jail—I should be excited!

  Within minutes an officer arrived to escort Tiera to the front lobby, where she was given a bag that contained her purse and the clothes she had arrived in. The white walls of the lobby were made of the same material as Tiera’s jail cell, but these walls were carved into flowing designs and accentuated by creeping vines that cascaded from their ceiling planters. No need to get this fancy for your jail cells, I guess.

  Tiera was directed to a side room, where a female officer behind a desk guided her through some checkout paperwork—but it wasn’t really paperwork, per se. Tiera watched the wall monitor as it gave her prompts to read, then the program would check off different points as she gave verbal agreement.

  “I agree to stay within the limits of Faroa City unless given express permission from my supervising officer, Leon Uedent,” she read. “I agree not to travel to any other planets without express permission from my supervising officer, Leon Uedent. I agree to meet with my supervising officer, Leon Uedent, every seven days until he changes the frequency of our meetings or until he determines I have successfully been reintegrated with society. ‘Reintegrated’? I was never integrated.” Tiera looked at the female officer, who was running a finger along the swirling design shaved into her buzz cut, her elbows resting on her desk.

  “These are the default agreements for criminals on parole,” she explained. “It’s the closest thing we have to your situation.”

  “So I’m like a criminal on parole?”

  “Not exactly—but we do need to keep track of you given your, uh, history. And we need to ensure that you adapt well to our way of life. As a citizen from one of Origin’s lost colonies, you have all the rights of a citizen of Origin, don’t worry. Though I guess by our paperwork you’re registered as a citizen of Faroa now.” The officer looked at the next prompt on the wall. “It would be easiest if you agreed to the statements even if they don’t apply exactly to your situation. You understand.”

  “Sure,” Tiera said, feeling uneasy. I still feel like they’re treating me like a criminal. Will they ever let me go home? She took a deep breath and tried to push those thoughts away. They want to check if I adapt well to their society—how am I going to do that if I have nervous breakdowns every day? I’ll get home. I’ll get home eventually. I just need to prove that Kert didn’t mess me up.

  The officer cleared her throat, then tilted her head toward the display’s next prompt.

  “Right—sorry. I will check in with my guardian daily until the frequency of my check-ins are changed or my check-ins are discontinued by my supervising officer, Leon Uedent. I agree to . . . ” By the time Tiera had agreed to all of the prompts she could hardly remember what half of them said. She signed off on it all by placing her hands on the desk in front of her, palms down. The officer who was supervising all of this examined the digital copy of Tiera’s handprints as they were displayed on the wall, then told Tiera she was free to go.

  “And don’t forget to check back with Chief Uedent every Saturday,” she said, folding her arms over her purple uniform.

  “Right—thanks.” Tiera turned to go, but stopped to ask, “Um. What day is it today?”

  “Saturday, day 23.”

  “Thank you.”

  As Tiera walked back to the lobby, she realized that the Original word for “Saturday” also translated to “seventh day,” and she suddenly wasn’t sure if these people had something as simple as names for the days of the week.

  “Tiera!” a familiar voice called from across the room, and Tiera was happy to match that voice with Daven’s face. He was standing among a few rows of low gray benches, like the ones they had sat on in the visiting room earlier that day.

  Was that really just earlier today? Tiera thought as she met Daven in the middle of the lobby. “Daven! Hi! What are you still doing here?”

  “‘Still doing here’? I haven’t been waiting here the whole time, you know,” he corrected her, folding his arms. “I had I had a few things to do so that I could get you out.” Daven gave Tiera an embarrassed grin.

  “Like what?” Tiera wasn’t sure what he meant.

  “Well, I arranged to pay the city’s police department.”

  Tiera didn’t know what to say. “What? Thank you! You shouldn’t have . . . have paid . . . what? Is that like bail?”

  “What’s ‘bail’?” Daven asked, and Tiera realized she had said the word in English.

  No translation for that I guess. “It’s the money you pay to get—well, to get a criminal out of jail.” Tiera wondered how long she’d have to work to pay him back. Then she wondered if she could even find a job.

  “Yeah! I paid to get you out of jail, so yeah. And don’t worry about it! It wasn’t too much money—my family can afford it.” Daven turned to the door and waved for Tiera to join him. “Come on! Let’s get you home. Have you eaten dinner already?”

  “Yeah, I had just eaten when they called me out,” Tiera said as they walked toward the wide front door.

  “I guess they didn’t want to interrupt your meal.”

  “How thoughtful of them.” Tiera didn’t bother hiding the sarcasm from her voice. The intonation of sarcasm was different in Original than it was in English, but Tiera was just grateful that sarcasm existed in Original.

  “Sorry—I’ve never been to jail,” Daven apologized, stepping close to the door. It slid open automatically, revealing an even more breathtaking view of the city than Tiera had seen from the university.

  It was nighttime, and there was no moon or clouds in the sky that Tiera could tell, but each of the crystalline white buildings—every walkway and edifice in sight—glowed. It wasn’t the greenish glow-in-the-dark light that the plastic stars in Tiera’s childhood bedroom gave off either. It was a soft, white smolder of a glow.

  “Wow,” Tiera breathed, and she began to feel the excitement that had eluded her in her cell. “How does it all—?”

  “Glow?” Daven guessed, smiling. “I had seen pictures of it before I got here, but I was still just as taken by it.” As he talked, Daven led Tiera toward something that looked like a cross between a road and a track of some sort—it was a wide, indented stretch of glossy white, and in its center was a thin ribbon of metal. “It’s the sun!” he exclaimed, looking at Tiera to check her understanding. “The sun’s light conducted through the crystal.”

  Tiera tried and failed to make sense of this explanation. “But how? It’s night right now.”

  “Oh yeah—you’ve never seen this planet, other than Faroa City. It’s—”

  “Faroa City? Is that w
here we are?” Tiera interrupted.

  “Yes. Faroa City: the capital of Faroa.” Daven predicted Tiera’s next question and added, “Faroa is the planet we’re on right now.”

  “Oh, okay. So the glowing?” Tiera reminded Daven, just as they arrived at a bench adjacent to the road.

  “Right! Faroa is unique in that its crust is composed mainly of quartz crystal—though many areas have been terraformed since Faroa’s colonization.” Daven paused for a moment, pulling out his smart glass to type something. “Sorry, just getting the car. Anyway, even when the sun isn’t in the sky its light is still conducted through the crystal crust from the other side of the planet. Cool, huh?”

  “Beautiful too,” Tiera said, giving the city around her another look. She appreciated that they were near the top of a hill—that gave her a pretty decent view of the surrounding buildings. But then a streak of red interrupted the otherwise white glow around them. Tiera soon realized that it was the road that was glowing red, at first in the distance, but soon the red light snaked its way up the hill and toward them.

  “What’s that?” Tiera asked as she watched the red glow pass the spot they were sitting in.

  “What’s what?” Daven followed Tiera’s gaze. “Oh! It’s the warning light. It warns pedestrians that a car is on its way—and it’s probably our car too.”

  He was right. Tiera watched as the flat, almond-shaped vehicle climbed the hill at the same rate that the red light had. As it slowed to a stop in front of them, she realized that the silver vehicle didn’t have any wheels.

  “How does it hover like that?” Tiera asked. “Magnets?”

  “Yeah!” Daven sounded happy that Tiera seemed to be catching on. “I guess that must be weird for you—I noticed that the cars on your planet used wheels. And combustion?”

  “Yep. We’re just starting to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. Or at least some of us are.”