by David Byrd
Trellis II Ascension
By David Byrd
Copyright © 2016 David Byrd
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally and are not to be considered real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Prologue
Trellis II, the most habitable planet in the Trellis Star System was initially colonized by a small band of researchers. These hardy pioneers fought against an Earth Corporation bent on maintaining control of human lives through restricting access to technology beneficial to the human condition. The Trellis researchers invented new technologies which enabled them to withstand several devastating attacks ending with the destruction of one Colony site and also the destruction of the TGate or Traverse Station in the local system used to fold space. The colonists erected a planetary shield to protect against further attacks but in doing so, they were also captive since no method for deactivating the planetary shield had yet been found.
The DNA for all colonists continued modifying itself to thrive in the Trellis II environment thanks to the Adaptogen treatments which also had the effect of making changes in the firstborn children of the colony. These changes varied in form, but all of the firstborn could connect and converse with each other telepathically.
Elia and Kai, the first two children born on Trellis II and the strongest of the firstborn to exhibit mental changes, embarked on a mission to find one of the original 5 settlers who had not been seen or heard from in many years. During this journey, the couple found the settler and also learned that they were not alone on the planet. A tremendous store of knowledge had been gifted to the humans. It was now up to them as to how that knowledge would be applied.
Chapter 1
Six months passed since T’Kreil gave Hollis the Plakorii knowledge crystal and while a lot of progress had been made, the knowledge store was so daunting that Hollis wondered if he would ever really be able to use any of the data for the betterment of the colonists.
The one item of use they had created with the Plakorii knowledge was enabling the console systems within the lab to contact the Ancora colony and the “First Ones” (Noel, Faye, Max and Jean). With a link established, they were working in tandem with many of the scientists in Ancora to try and glean as much information as possible that might help the colony in some way. Priority was given for anything related to KalTraxis ore (KT), power generation, shield technology and information on the great experiment the Plakorii held on the planet.
Elia and Kai had been shuttling back and forth to the canyon lab as they were calling it for months and decided to return to the colony for a while as a kind of vacation.
“Corin great to see you,” Kai said opening the hab outer hatch. “We wondered when you would get out to see us. Come in, I’ve got some home brewed beer Max made recently.”
Corin was a firstborn peer of Kai and Elia who happened to be nearly the same age and a longtime friend of Kai.
“Sure, I’m really glad to see you again Kai,” Corin said giving his friend a hug and walking into the room. “But I don’t feel Elia around.”
“No, she went over to her parents for the afternoon.” Kai said. “So how’ve you been buddy? I heard in firstborn chat that you and Althea might be…for lack of another word…dating.”
“I…uh…well you know how it is.” Corin said sheepishly. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few months now. But listen, I really need to talk to someone and you are my closest friend. Also, at this range none of the others can pick up on my feelings.”
Kai felt the emotions of his friend changing to anxiety. He urged Corin to continue.
“Kai, you may have heard rumblings in the firstborn chat about a lot of the kids who are at the age of majority wanting to leave and build their own city.”
“Sure…We’ve all said that from time to time growing up or even when we were upset at our parents. You know that adolescent urge to prove yourself.” Kai said.
“Yes but this is…more than that,” Corin said. “Since you have been gone and with the news of the Plakorii, some of the stronger firstborn are making a lot of noise about leaving and living out in the world. Not being stuck in a colony dome but actually out molding the planet and learning to expand our powers. The truth is…I’m pretty much on board with that as well as many others.”
“So…you came here to try and convince us to…what…join this group to go off tilting windmills?” Kai asked.
“Huh? I’ve no idea what that means.” Corin said.
“Well it’s from an old Earth book Don Quixote,” Kai said. “You and the others might go read it sometime on the link. Don’t you realize that it will take all of us to build this world and we don’t want a repeat of the last one. We already have a faction off in the northern woods going back to nature or some such crap running around naked worshiping trees for all we know. My mother and father gave their lives to this colony. They believed that we could make a difference here on this planet. They lived under constant scrutiny of dictators on Earth who controlled everything. None of the firstborn know a thing about the hardships they endured to give us these opportunities and I for one will not betray the trust my parents placed in me.”
“Look…I’m sorry Kai, I didn’t mean to bring your folks into it,” Corin said. “If you change your mind just let me know.” Corin left quickly while Kai was still sitting and mulling over the conversation.
“Kai what’s happening,” Elia said mentally.
Kai and Elia had a deep mental connection they called the merge in which they could converse mentally. Elia was only a short distance away and they could still communicate at that distance. Kai filled her in on the conversation with Corin and they both were concerned about this development. The last thing they needed was another splinter group moving off. After the destruction of one of the city domes, the population had been cut in half and while life was pretty normal, less people helping the colony as a whole would put a strain on everything.
Elia recounted the conversation to her parents Noel and Faye during her visit to their habitat. “But I just don’t understand what they are thinking,” Elia said as they sat around the kitchen table. It was the comfortable place they historically had deep conversations.
“Elia, if we start mandating or telling people what they can or can’t do…what they can or can’t think or become…then we are no better than the Corporation controlled lifestyle we left on Earth.” Noel said. “You can’t change someone’s idea. You can only offer your own and make a choice.”
“But how do I know which choice is the right one?” She asked.
“You and Kai make the choice together and you follow your heart just like your father and I did in staying here on Trellis II and fighting for our right to be free.” Faye said. “This is something you two have to decide and whatever your decision is…it will be the right one because you made it.”
Chapter 2
Plakorii Complex – Northern Woods
Confusion, weakness and hazy indistinct shapes slowly resolved themselves into awareness. The stasis tube opened and B’Noth stepped out on shaky and unsteady legs. He of course knew that a great deal of time had passed since he was responsible for enacting the final protocols to purge this experiment. His lifespan would be shortened by the extreme measures but he had taken steps to ensure his survival for a longer period of time before entering stasis.
He took a moment to view the other two tubes who held his colleagues and found them to be red which indicated that l
ife could not be returned to those inhabitants and that they had journeyed to the infinite.
B’Noth entered the nourishment room and selected several canisters. These he placed on a device at the back of the room which disintegrated the outer containers with a bright blue light. Inside were various nutrients of which he needed to consume. The Plakorii had long since perfected a method of storing consumables in portable mini stasis containers. Having no active biological processes, the nutrients could theoretically be preserved forever.
After refreshing, B’Noth entered the main information room and brought up the planetary display. Trellis II displayed in real time with a curious formation around the entire upper atmosphere. There were also some type of alien creatures inhabiting several zones of the planet and…one of the Plakorii stations was active. “That’s not possible,” B’Noth said aloud in the musical tones of his language. “I must see what these aliens are doing here.”
Ancora Colony Meeting Room
Several dozen firstborn were seated in the room along with Elia and Kai. The two young people had discussed the situation and decided to listen objectively to the meeting before making any decisions.
Micah Ross walked up to the podium to speak. Micah was of average height and build with blond hair and blue eyes. He had a somewhat magnetic personality and the joke growing up was always that he had a future in politics. Micah had always chafed under the colony rules and he was frequently disciplined growing up.
“Firstborn,” Micah began with a wide charming smile. “Thank you for coming and welcome to the first discussion on the separation. I’ve talked with many of you who feel the same way I do. We are special. We have abilities that the older generation will never have. In some ways, the rules of the colony prevent us from exploring our natures and expanding our minds. The only way we can do that without interference is to create a place of our own to live and explore the possibilities.”
Many in the crowd were responding and nodding as Micah continued speaking.
“So my friends what I propose is that we find a suitable location and start gathering the materials and equipment needed to start a community of our own. We can begin building portable living units and ferry those to our new community.” He said.
“Micah, what will this new community do besides expanding our gifts?” Kai interjected. “I mean we still have to live. We need water and farms, hydroponics, and many other things that will need tending to. How will the division of labor take place?”
Micah fixed his gaze on Kai while still smiling broadly. These were not the questions he needed to win this audience. He knew Elia and Kai were the most respected firstborn in the colony and he needed them on his side…for now.
“Well Kai I think we can discuss that when the community is ready,” he said. “I’m sure both you and Elia have some great ideas and we can certainly cover those when the time comes.”
Elia and Kai had a quick mental conversation while Micah delivered this last comment.
“So what do you think?” Kai asked mentally. “I think he’s up to something and I don’t think it’s for the good of all firstborn.”
“I agree,” Elia responded. “Let’s probe him further. If we combine our power we might learn something.”
Elia and Kai sent a mental probe to Micah as he was speaking and like peeling an onion, they carefully stripped back layers of his mind. They found some sincerity in his words which only meant that he was convinced he was right, but there was something else. Buried deeply they found an excitement…and a plan of some kind. Something he was keeping locked away and they couldn’t get any closer without tipping their hand and alerting Micah to the probe.
Micah stuttered in mid-sentence for just a second and then continued and concluded his speech.
The firstborn were taking a mental vote. Something only they could accomplish and as the voices chimed in, it was clear that a majority of the assembled group were voting to leave Ancora. Elia and Kai with their unique mental connection prevented anyone from determining what they were thinking or feeling if they wished. In this instance they were portraying cautious approval but they had decided in their merge to go along with the plan for now just to find out what Micah was really up to.
The meeting over, many of the young people had broken off into small groups to catch up with each other and just say hello. Kai walked over to talk with Corin on one side of the room and Elia was speaking to some of her old friends when a curious thing happened. She felt a light touch on the back of the neck. She turned around suddenly but the space behind her was empty. She continued the conversation and then felt again a feathery touch on her arm. Confused by what was happening, she excused herself and made her way over to Kai. He would find out in the merge what happened but for now it was just a silly feeling.
Chapter 3
Hollis Meska had been quite busy in the months that followed the discovery of an actual living alien in the Plakorii lab. Since T’Kreil had given him the Laqcha crystal containing knowledge, Hollis had learned a great deal of useful information about the Plakorii language, information storage, stasis abilities and techniques for requesting data from the consoles. One frustrating thing he had not found was anything related to the original experiment and what happened to the Plakorii people on this planet who were the “test subjects”. All of that information was either erased or yet to be found in one of the millions of data spheres.
Ding…Ding…Ding…Ding
The pleasant tones sounded in the lab which startled Hollis as he was reading another bit of information from the latest data he retrieved. Intrigued he manipulated the console but could find no telltale indicator, message or event that coincided with the chimes he heard.
Hollis checked the supply room and stasis chamber both of which were just as he left them. The three red stasis tubes indicating that the occupants within had expired.
As he left the stasis chamber, the door at the end of the hallway that had no visible mechanism opened to reveal…another Plakorii! He looked just like T’Kreil but he held a device in one hand that was shaped like a delicate glass or crystal tube with several jewels along the top surface.
“Oh my heavens,” Hollis said. “Where did you come from?”
“Alien! Defiling/soiling Plakorii worlds.” And with that B’Noth depressed a jewel on the device. Hollis felt as if his mind had exploded in white light. Every nerve impulse in his body reacted as if electrified and just as quickly as it began, he blacked out.
Ancora
For the past week, several trips were made to the eastern camp the firstborn had selected as their new home. It was about one hundred kilometers away but the area had grasslands, at the edge of a small forest and a lake nearby. Portable habitats had been pulled to the area and until larger quarters could be built, each of the 30 or so firstborn would need to double up and share a space.
“I hate it when we are apart,” Elia said. “You know I can’t sleep or anything else Mr. Zale when you are off.”
“Well Mrs. Zale,” he said. “I won’t sleep either. The sooner I get going the sooner we find out what the heck Hollis has gotten into.” Hollis had been out of contact for over a week which was unusual with the new link connection to Ancora. The decision was made between them to split up since the firstborn were due to leave in the morning. Kai would take a rover to the west and see if Hollis was alright while Elia would go to the new site and keep an eye on what was going on.
“Just promise me you will stay out of trouble please?” Kai asked.
“You know my Dad very well Mr. Zale,” she said smiling. “He insisted on teaching me self-defense when I was a teenager to protect myself from hooligans and unstable people like you.”
“Yes dear I remember.” Kai said. They hugged and mentally shared their true feelings through the merge in private.
Kai hopped into the rover and took off to the west. As he left, Elia noticed the resupply provisions in the back of the rover and poking out of one end of the ta
rp was the barrel of her father’s pulse rifle. She had seen the rifle many times growing up and with some trepidation, realized that Kai and her father Noel must have discussed the situation without her. It would not be unusual for Noel to give the rifle to Kai for any reason…but what was troubling was the fact that they had not discussed the matter with her. Something she would rectify when Kai was back in merge range to be sure.
The next morning Elia and the rest of the firstborn set out for the new site being called by Micah and some of his more ardent followers Ascension. With the necessary equipment and portable hab units already at the site, it took only a full day to make the trek in rovers to the eastern foothills and grasslands.
It was night on the first day in Ascension and everyone assembled into a central area that had been cleared and ringed with actual tree logs cut from the nearby forest. The logs were shaped with a flat side for sitting and in the center of the space was an old fashioned bonfire.
“Welcome everyone,” Micah said stepping up to the front of the bonfire. “Today is a truly momentous occasion as we take our first steps into becoming our own society. We have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow but for tonight let’s just enjoy each other’s company. I have to confess that we appropriated a store of old earth wine that we are passing around for each of you. Please sit back, enjoy and have some fun.”
The wine passed around and Elia drank with the others and soon they are all talking, laughing and having a really good time. There was a sense of belonging emanating around the camp that was different from when she was joined with Kai. This was a more powerful feeling…full of warmth and…urgency. A little disconcerting but it was pleasant and she found herself letting go a bit and just having fun. At the ripe old age of 20, she had been in some pretty difficult situations that matured her faster than her peers. Sometime later, she made her way to the designated hab she would be sharing until Kai joined her. Elia could see that the other occupant was already in bed asleep so she quietly found the other bed and gratefully fell asleep almost immediately.