by David Byrd
Chapter 20
“Oh I’m just so excited to see them,” Jean said. “It’s been months since they have been back to see all of us old folks and I really miss them.”
“Ah now my peach, you know we talk to Elia and Kai over the vid whenever they have a chance.” Max said. “I think the time away from everything and being with their peers has been good for Kai. It seems like it was just yesterday but it’s been five years now.”
“I know you’re right. I’m just a little sad too since I stopped teaching,” she said. “I had fewer and fewer kids since everyone was moving out of the dome in Ancora and to the new gleaming city of Ascension. I really miss all those little ones.”
“Hello…anyone home in there,” Kai yelled from the front hatch. Elia and Kai came in and hugged Max and Jean and talked for a while catching up on events in Ascension and the new and exciting things that were happening each day. They were sitting around the kitchen table and Jean was staring at Elia when she suddenly burst out with joy getting up and hugging both young people.
“I’m so happy for you both,” Jean said.
“Did I miss something here?” Max asked.
The other three laughed out loud and then Elia explained.
“I’m sorry Uncle Max, I should have known Aunt Jean would have read our feelings,” she said. “We had to come in person and tell all of you that we will be having kids.”
“Ah I’m so happy for you both but are you planning to have a sports team…you said kids?” Max asked.
“Oh…well we are going to have twins…girls.” Elis said.
“But you look wonderful my dear how many months are you along?” Jean asked.
“Just one, but we already know they’re girls…don’t ask me how but we do,” she said. “And we’ve come to ask you if you would move to Ascension when the time comes.”
“The girls are going to need role models,” Kai said. “Since Hollis seeded the void with blink reactors, all but a few people have moved out of the Ancora dome. We really want you to come. We can even build you a hab just like this one out of the void if you want it. But the city is really beautiful and you can create any structure you want just by thinking it up.”
“And Aunt Jean, there are a lot of second generation kids running around the streets that need some guidance,” Elia said. “Mom and dad have already agreed to come also.”
Max looked over at Jean brimming with Joy at the prospect of teaching kids again. He looked at the young couple with a stern face.
“On one condition,” Max said.
“Sure Uncle Max, anything you know that.” Elia said.
“That I bring all of my recipes for refreshing beverages,” he said laughing heartily.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way Max,” Kai said.
Chapter 21
“Hollis I wish you would come with us and get out of this stuffy museum for a change,” Faye said. “A change of scenery would do you good and the city is quite beautiful.”
“I…uh really can’t you know,” he said. “I prefer working alone but I wouldn’t mind the occasional visit.”
“Of course,” she said. “Every chance we get and in a few months we will have grandchildren that will want to meet Uncle Hollis.”
“I’d be delighted to influence some new minds,” he said. He deactivated the vid and continued his work. He was flattered but there was so little time left for him to discover all that he could about the Plakorii and their amazing works that he just could not afford the time away. Lately he had been reviewing a process for digitizing memories. He was quite interested in that field of study and devoted all of his time to it.
Eight months later Elia and Kai had twins Cara and Sara. Faye and Noel were out for a walk in the city after visiting their new grandchildren.
“Well Mrs. Hasten did you ever think we would make it this far too actually have grandchildren?” Noel asked as they walked casually down a curved path that wound around a small deep magenta lake.
“No to be honest,” Faye said. “We’ve been in some tough spots. It’s really remarkable what the firstborn and the second generation have achieved here. I mean the soaring spires of different colors, the gardens of crystals, even this lake a lovely magenta instead of the normal blue.”
“Yes it’s amazing but you know people are getting lazy,” he said. “I mean with the void particles, when you can dream up almost anything, what is the need to work, invent, or have any kind of motivation.”
“Noel look over there at those kids playing in the grass,” she said. “They have not a care in the world and why not? For once in our lives we are not under attack, there are plenty of resources and people are happy. We have new grandkids to teach. So I guess what I’m saying here is…it’s time for us to enjoy life also and not hold onto the world’s problems on our shoulders. It belongs to them now and for better or worse they have to manage it.”
“Yes Ma’am, I have heard and I obey,” he said smiling back at her. “Let’s stop on the way home and see our future generation.” On the way they passed a young boy of about 5 years old sitting on the ground and in front of him 4 orange transparent spheres that looked like glass balls were spinning in the air in front of him. They then changed directions and starting moving in a circle. The young boy looked up at them and smiled. Faye smiled back and the boys eyes took on a golden glow and suddenly an orange sphere appeared in front of her. Faye was startled for a moment and then she took the sphere from the air and thanked the boy.
One year happily stretched into two, then four then seven. The city grew larger and more second generation kids were growing up. Jean and Faye spent those years teaching and enjoying Cara and Sara. Max and Noel were needed less and less as the firstborn came into their own. There was very little need for councils or committees. Natural resources were plentiful and if they weren’t, anything could be created out of the void immediately. They slowly retired and for a while enjoyed doing nothing but spending time together. This was the norm for most first and second generation in the city but the original 5 colonists from Earth were all having a hard time doing nothing. They needed a purpose…something that challenged them onward…call it the pioneering spirit, but having everything you want or need seemed to dampen the need to explore and learn. In fact the last year Jean taught; the kids were mostly non-verbal choosing instead to talk to each other using their abilities. Many of the kids seemed to dislike actually talking by voice preferring the instant communication. Max, Noel, Jean and Faye started taking extended trips out to the Plakorii canyon complex to visit Hollis. There was a project Hollis had been undertaking that gave them a purpose so their visits outside the city were lasting longer and longer.
“Girls,” Elia called mentally. “You know what time it is so get your little bottoms in here please.”
“Yes Mom,” Cara and Sara said in unison mentally.
“Now today we are going to talk and I do mean talk with words about the first days of the colony here on Trellis II,” Elia said.
“But Mom…why do we have to talk?” Cara said.
“Yeah Mom…why can’t we mind talk?” Sara echoed her sister.
“Well because not everyone here can mind talk…All of the original colonists and you’re Grandparents, Aunt and Uncles can’t mind talk so you are going to learn to talk the way they do.” Elia said.
Kai was listening in to the conversation in the other room and he briefly merged with Elia keeping the girls blocked out.
“Very good Mrs. Zale. But do you think you can keep their interest?”
“Oh I don’t know Kai. Do you think we were this much of a handful for our parents?”
“Probably worse in a different way but you’ll get through to them, I have faith in you,” he said.
Plakorii Canyon Complex
“So good to see you all again,” Hollis said happily. “I do admit it gets rather lonely here at times but there is so much to do that I simply can’t break away.”
Jean, Max, Noel and Fa
ye had come out to the complex to turn over the biometric patches they had been wearing for the last 7 years.
“Hollis this is wonderful,” Jean said looking around the main room. No longer a spartan space devoted to scientific pursuits, Hollis had created comfortable furniture, couches, chairs, rugs…many different sculptures and artworks from old Earth drawings and references. It gave the whole place the look of a warm inviting living room or library for that matter.
“Thank you my dear,” he said. “I’ve also renovated the lower level into a very nice if I say so myself bedroom and sitting room. “I mean after all this has been my home for so long it just seems right to personalize it a bit.”
Max looked around the room and then realized something was missing.
“Hollis what did you do with the control consoles?” he asked.
“Oh…I’ve removed them. They really are no longer needed. With the interfaces I’ve built to the Plakorii core, everything can be accessed via link now and they were cluttering up my living room.” Hollis said.
The group laughed at this and relaxed in different couches and chairs around the room, catching up on events and generally just enjoying each other.
“But where are Elia and Kai today?” Hollis asked. “I was very much looking forward to seeing them again and of course those two darling girls.”
“They are over in the new western city that has been built,” Noel said. “There is a dedication ceremony and they are being honored for their work on the ZipGrav transport.”
“Ah yes I do remember now…you’ll have to forgive me these days…I’m having a bit of trouble remembering everything. That is the anti-gravity high speed tube transport yes?” Hollis asked.
“Yes that’s it. They can travel from Ascension to the new city over 400 kilometers away in under an hour.” Noel said.
“Remarkable really but with the interfaces to the Plakorii core while it’s not actually an Artificial Intelligence as we would think of it, one only needs to provide the context and it supplies the rest. So in this case to construct an anti-gravity train of sorts one only has to concentrate on the mechanics and abilities and the system supplies the parts.” Hollis said.
“Yes progress is incredible and the people are happy,” Faye said in a not so convincing voice.
“But you my dear have doubts as we all do about the future of our people is that it?” Hollis asked.
“”I do…we all do. It’s not a doubt really it’s more of a feeling that things are so good for everyone. I mean apart from the five of us, the first and second generations are living longer lives and everything seems so…easy for them. I know I’m not making much sense.” Faye said.
“On the contrary my dear,” Hollis said. “It was to that very point that I’ve asked you to participate in this very long term project. I firmly believe that sometime in the future, our people may lose all of their knowledge for survival due to atrophy. Not inventing, imagining or overcoming any obstacle stagnates the mind. So these devices recorded your thoughts, personality, and brain patterns…everything that makes up the being you are today. It’s my plan to leave this for our future generations who may need to rediscover who they are and how they came to be here.”
The group made plans for the future and the legacies they would be leaving behind. It would be a burden for Kai and Elia to bear but they knew the couple had that inner strength that all five of the people in this room instilled within them. There were fewer years ahead for them as they’re bodies were not as advanced, being the first to ever receive the primitive Adaptogen treatments on Earth. Subsequent generations would be more suited to the planet, healthier and live longer.
“So with everything settled,” Max said. I have a matter of grave importance to discuss with all of you my friends.”
Feeling sure this was a setup knowing Max, Noel played the straight man and played into the charade.
“Max after all that we just finished, you have something more important?” Noel asked.
“Ah my friends you know me so well,” Max said laughing. “I really want you all to try my new Apple Beer. It’s more of a beer than a cider because you know how sweet that can be.”
The other four started laughing at Max for over a minute…Their longtime friend and family member had never changed and they all loved him for it.
Noel poured a glass for all of them and they stood in a circle.
“Here’s to friends and family and the life well lived.” Noel said.
The five settlers had many more happy years but as time moves on, so they also moved on into history. They accomplished the impossible and withstood adversaries and obstacles that would have thwarted many people without the same determination.
Chapter 22
The river of time continued its progress ever onward. Cara and Sara grew up and had families of their own. Children of the firstborn had grandchildren and great grandchildren. Kai and Elia were now around 80 in Earth years but because of the Adaptogen process they still looked to be middle aged. All of the successive generations were living longer. This day brought them to a memorial dedicated to the five original settlers. In the beautiful but a bit untidy Serenity Park, Holo images of the six brave souls who first made Trellis II their home were displayed by the central sculptures.
“It’s as beautiful as I remember Kai,” Elia said.
“Yes and you look just like the girl I joined those many years ago,” he said.
“I know it’s probably because we are such oldsters now but I’m really not sad,” Elia said. “I mean we lived in a time of great achievements, and great strife. But through it all they overcame everything and we are here because of it.”
“After most of the people left the park, Kai and Elia had an old fashioned picnic. It brought back happy memories of the past.
“Just one more thing we need to do,” Kai said.
“I know…I’ve just been putting it off but we promised them.” She said.
They boarded their personal grav car which lifted silently above the ground about a half meter and they took off toward the canyon complex. In a very short time they pulled up in the cave to the dead end that marked the doorway to the alien complex Hollis found so many years past.
As they neared the door they could see that an infinity symbol had been beautifully etched into the door in a glossy metallic gold material. There was also a pad installed into the face of the structure by the door that looked to be some sort of upgraded DNA palm pad. Elia placed her hand on the pad and the door slid noiselessly upward.
The main room was as they remembered, cozy and comfortable. The last memory they had was of Hollis with a new found love for printed books. It was old fashioned and archaic but he seemed to enjoy replicating copies of Earth works from the data libraries they brought with them.
In the center of the room on a small table rested a box or chest in the same golden material they had seen on the door. About the size of an old earth book, it was not sleek or modern but instead had an antique quality. It was intricately carved on all sides with minute patterns. Some were so small you would need to magnify them to see the lines but the overall impression was of beautiful symmetry. In the top center of the chest, the infinity symbol looking like a sideways 8 was inscribed. Elia picked up the chest cradling it in her arms while walking with Kai back to the entrance. Just inside the door she stopped and repeated the phrase Hollis taught her so many years ago. “Command Lock…Code Archimedes Zed 12…Execute”
The lights from the hanging crystals in the ceiling dimmed and went out. Elia and Kai left the complex and the door slid firmly shut.
Back in Ascension, Kai and Elia entrusted the chest to their two daughters along with the promise to hand it down to each successive generation as well as the oral histories they had been taught since childhood. Kai and Elia enjoyed many more years of happiness and several more generations before they too passed into the pages of history.
Chapter 23
Katia Arnold was besid
e herself and giving her mother plenty of attitude for having to go see grandma. She really wanted to just paint with light crystals and maybe float flowers down the magenta river.
“But Mom,” Katia said mentally. “I don’t wanna goooo!”
“Now Katia, you can go play anytime but we have to go for your ceremony you know that,” her mother said back to her. Everyone talked almost entirely through their mental abilities. Talking with your actual voice was considered somewhat slow and was frowned down upon.
They continued the short sky hop using a grav lifter to Ascension city. It was one of the older cities built in ancient times. Katia’s grandmother lived in a small indigo blue house not really in keeping with today’s trends.
When they arrived they were greeted warmly by the oldest person Katia had ever seen. Most people today would just mind blink away any wrinkles or imperfections but Katia’s family were always just a little bit different from everyone else. Even at seven years old she recognized this maybe not in the forefront of her mind but somewhere in the periphery.
The old woman as was the custom for the ceremony brought Katia into a small comfortable room with two plush chairs facing each other separated by a small table. On the table there was a white cloth covering something.
“Ah child, let me look at you,” she said with her actual voice. “Ah you are so beautiful. I know you are going to grow up to be special like all of our family. You know our family goes directly back to the ancients and I’m going to tell you all about them and how they came here and started this wonderful world of ours. But first I want you to do something for me.”
She removed the cloth and a beautiful golden box lay on the table.
“Now child, I want you to just place your hand on the top of this box. It has been in our family for generation upon generation and it will be yours one day when you are older.” She said smiling warmly at her granddaughter.
Katia was in awe but also very excited about what was happening. It was something…different than she was used to. It was almost like a hunger she didn’t know she had. She placed her small hand on the top of the box directly on the strange curvy symbol. Nothing happened at first but then the box became very warm. On the sides of the box lines began to glow and flow towards the top of the box following the graceful curving lines etched there. When they reached the top the symbol glowed brightly for a moment and Katia felt dizzy. For a moment she thought she had been dreaming but couldn’t really remember what the dream was about.