“Bargain, what do you gain from this?” Hek’Dara asked.
Oliver’s eyes went thin. “Let’s just say the Lady Everhart gave me a deal I couldn’t pass up.”
Martin stepped forward, his alabaster brow furrowed, and he spoke in a sharp tone, said “This is the Lord Hek’Dara Tannador – you will answer whatever he demands.”
Oliver’s white eyes narrowed, and he raised his voice in reply, “You will find I set the rules here, not Lord Tannador, or any other lord. This is Ioshia Station, or haven’t you noticed?”
Hek’Dara placed a hand on Martin’s shoulder and stepped in front of him. He scratched his thick graying beard and gave Oliver a long formidable stare. He hung on to his silence for a moment before saying, “Whatever information you can share with us will be appreciative. You have to understand that one doesn’t receive communication from Moyah Everhart every day.”
“No – one doesn’t,” Oliver replied.
“So, you understand if we are excited and bewildered,” Hek’Dara said trying to keep a steady even voice.
“The message from Lady Everhart will come through me… you will receive no vocal message from her, nor will you see her face – even I haven’t had that pleasure. I have put the message to memory and will recite it to you. You can ask no questions because I don’t have an answer for you. All I say is from her lips and questions on your part will be a waste of time.”
Hek’Dara stood – more than perplexed. Flabbergasted was the word that came to him. He took a deep breath held it and released the air from his lungs.
Oliver’s face hardened, asked, “Ready?”
Hek’Dara nodded, said, “Begin.”
Oliver spoke the memorized words of Moyah Everhart, clear and precise. “Hek’Dara Tannador, I’m asking you to be brave in the coming days and months – even years ahead of you, because they will not be easy. In order for you to understand these words I ask you to remember that chaos only insights more chaos. You have a part to play in what is transpiring as does everyone else. Whatever you do to prevent the approaching things to come, will not change the results. Your daughter Da’Mira has gone to a planet designated Kepler 369. That planet’s true name is Shin’nor’ee. I have sent along with your daughter a casket that will aide her on this important expedition minus one important element.”
On his desktop, Oliver Duncan pushed forward a piece of old cloth. He unwrapped a black crystal from inside the cloth and he continued to speak Everhart’s words, “This one of a kind dark crystal must be taken to Earth in the North American wasteland in fourteen-days-time. You must give it to a man named Colin McGregor who you will find at these coordinates.” Oliver handed Hek’Dara a mini palm device that pinpointed a location in the North American wasteland.
Hek’Dara glanced at the device. His brow knitted.
“It is vital you do this, Lord Tannador, your inactions could unravel the tapestry of space and time… For we are both trapped in a future already written.” Oliver fell silent and looked at Hek’Dara with a curious eye.
“That’s it?” Martin asked.
“That was all she said.”
“What do you mean that’s all she said… there has to be more!” Hek’Dara snapped.
“There isn’t,” Oliver replied.
Hek’Dara reached down and picked up the crystal. He eyed the piece, flawless.
Martin leaned over Hek’Dara’s shoulder. “Are you going to do what she asks, Milord?”
Hek’Dara clutched the stone in the palm of his hand unsure how to answer. What have I gotten you into, Da’Mira?
The Planet Kepler 369
Requiem Landing Expedition – Day One
May 3rd, 2442 – Earth Time
Charles Long took the heavy equipment shuttle down to the planet within five hours of Requiem arriving in high orbit of Kepler 369. The Earth-like planet looked untouched. No orbiting platforms, no sensor beacons, and no endless shuttle traffic circled the world. The scanning probes that preceded them to the planet told the story of a clean, untouched world. Perfect in every way, from the ideal weather throughout the southern hemisphere, to the torrential downpours throughout the northern tip of the planet.
From orbit, the planet looked clean, no pollution, no mining and no deforestation. Scanners showed the air registered denser than that of Earth, but breathable for humans. The scanners also found the waters clear for consumption, near perfect. Paradise…
The scanner picked up several types of animal life forms, birds, foliage animals, and numerous types of water creatures throughout the lakes, rivers and oceans of the planet. Which was odd, considering the original scans of the planet didn’t detect any lifeforms. The new scans still didn’t detect human lifeforms. But Charles still held out hope. In his experience he knew scans could be wrong or his longtime friend, Vincent Abernathy was dead, but even then, the scans showed no human DNA. It pained Charles to consider that his friend died on the planet. He knew no one, fuller of life and energy as Vincent. Why did we ever consider this place? There’s nothing here – nothing… why?
On every excavation Charles worked, there was but one reason to go, the unmistakable carbon footprint – past civilizations, which drew exploration teams to those worlds. Kepler 369 wasn’t one of those worlds. It was pure, untouched – which was a rarity in the galaxy.
Earth once looked like Kepler 369, but that had been many hundreds of years ago, before the industrial civilization began. Earth was scarred from over mining and heavy pollution. Not to mention over population, this brought about different diseases that almost wiped out humanity by the end of the twenty-first century.
Charles refused to allow the same fate to befall this world once he saw its beauty and splendor from high orbit. If it weren’t for finding Vincent, he would have written the planet off, categorized it as grade B, unsuitable for excavation. The high-born wouldn’t be interested in a planet that didn’t yield profit. He’d tried to talk Vincent out of it, but his stubborn friend said he had a good feeling about Kepler 369 and he wanted to investigate. Charles thought Vincent wanted to walk in the tall grass, smell the fresh air and watch a bird fly in an alien sky. He didn’t blame Vincent. He wanted that too. An untapped planet, just sitting there waiting to be conquered and lived on, with no other agenda.
Although the available resources of the planet would be reason enough to set up a colony. Charles considered it lucky that the nine families hadn’t finished gutting Earth for all of its reserves just yet, leaving Kepler 369 safe – for now. The more people on the planet, the greater the risk of contamination to the biosphere. We’re causing enough damage just flying in the atmosphere.
When the shuttle cleared the cloud cover, Charles unbuckled from his seat. He’d sat through the entire entry with his eyes squeezed shut and his fingers dug into the arm rest of his chair. He hated how space flight made him sick. Glad his sickness came about just in shuttles, he couldn’t wonder what being sick on the expedition ship would have done to his stomach. The worst part of space flight was over. With his stomach calm, he moved around.
“Charles will you sit down, you’re making me nervous,” Hyta Winter called from her seat.
“He’ll be all right.” Charles heard Jonna Grace coming to his defense.
Hyta gasped her disapproval.
Charles turned, looked at Hyta and Jonna, sitting with the rest of the survey team, and gave them a reassuring smile.
Carl stood at the flight controls, his feet planted on the inertial dampening plate. He smiled at Charles and said with his mouth cocked in a crescent smile, “You look a little peaked.”
“Told you how space travel and I don’t see eye to eye.”
Carl laughed.
Charles held onto the chrome bar in front of him when the shuttle hit turbulence.
“You go’n to be all right, Professor?”
“When I get my feet planted on solid ground I will,” Charles replied, his chest tight.
“I’ve seen nothing li
ke this, only in books,” Carl said pointing out the main view port.
“I suppose you wouldn’t. Have you ever been on Earth?”
“Are you kidding? No one goes to Earth.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Charles had been on Earth twice, both times as part of a training exercise. He’d helped map the underwater remains of Manhattan and studied the deserts of Las Vegas. In both cases he wished he could have stayed on the planet. A lot of information was lost when the last civilization collapsed and the Nine migrated to the Earth’s orbit. There was a cornucopia of knowledge, lost art, literature and religions waiting to be rediscovered.
The shuttle cleared a lower level of clouds. Mountainous snow-covered peaks were visible outside the ships main window. Charles tightened his grip on the bar in front of him when the ship flew a few feet above them. He clenched his jaw. “You have to fly so close?”
“We’re farther away than it looks professor.”
“If… if you say so,” Charles gulped and wished for a quick and safe landing.
“I have the coordinates you gave me plugged into the navigation system. We’ll see it just as soon as we clear these mountains.”
On the other side of the peaks, Charles gasped. He saw an enormous valley; brilliant colors blanketed the meadow below them and looked like a painter’s palette – never seeing such a stunning sight. He leaned forward on the grip bar to get a closer look.
“You ever see anything so amazing?” Charles asked.
Carl shook his head and replied in a faint whisper, “No.”
“I will land us there,” Carl pointed at level surface, several miles away from the base of the mountains.
“Are you able to get any closer to the mountains?”
Carl read the scans, said, “Not solid enough – or level enough an area to land a ship of this size Professor.”
Charles wondered if Vincent made it to the mountains like he stated in his last communication. “You’re the pilot,” he said returning to his seat and strapping back into the harness.
When the ship landed, and the coolant expelled from the ship’s engines, Charles took the first steps out onto the planet’s surface. He carried a large rucksack down the shuttle’s exit and placed it at the end of the ramp. He caught a chill from the planet’s cool air and zipped up his gray and white coveralls to the neck. Kneeling next to his pack, he unzipped it to check its contents. He wasn’t sure why he brought the casket down to the planet, only that he felt compelled to. Charles figured the coffer wouldn’t do him any good sitting up on the ship. He hoped there would be evidence somewhere on the planet to help him translate the markings.
The symbols he found in the book from Earth were a start, but Charles knew there had to be more to the hieroglyphics marked on the casket. He hoped he could find what he needed, somewhere. But as he looked out over the open vista of growing flora he doubted there was little hope.
“Never give up hope, even when hope has given up on you,” an instructor at school once told him. It took Charles time to understand what the teacher was saying to him. Now all these years later he understood. He saw the mountains in the distance and Charles wouldn’t allow hope to give up on him, not until he exhausted all his avenues.
Again, the cool air bit at him and Charles pulled the collar of the overalls up around his neck. He looked up at the sun. The closest star to Kepler 369 provided little heat, although the plants and other flora flourish from its radiation. Charles shaded the brightness from his eyes with his hand. The ultraviolet lights hurt his eyes, which had grown sensitive to planetary light, one of the draw backs to living in space. He unzipped the pocket on his left arm and took out a pair of dark P-ninety sunglasses. The best protection for his eyes, plus useful with a built-in digital compass and infra-red, perfect for night scoping and underground work.
Hyta came out of the ship next; she rode in a hover chair that emitted a low hum as she sped along. Because of her advanced years she couldn’t go on the dig. Charles didn’t have the heart to tell her she couldn’t come at all, so he gave Hyta the job of running base camp. Even before the remaining sixty members of the advance team could disembark she was already barking orders.
“We will set the main processing tent up over there and the housing tents over there. I want the communication tent set up first… before the other teams come down to the planet,” Hyta yelled, pointing and snapping her fingers like a wild woman.
Charles left Hyta in charge. He could hear her shouting and raising hell with the young members of the expedition. Hyta would coordinate with the landing parties on the four other major continents. Leaving Charles to head up the first major survey where Vincent Abernathy first arrived on the planet. From a leg pocket he took out a handheld device and scanned ahead as far as the machine could reach. Like the initial scans from orbit, there was no sign of human life, but the scanner found several types of birds and other warm-blooded foliage animals nearby.
Out of the corner of his eye, Charles saw Carl following him.
“What can I do to help?” Carl asked.
“I’m sorry, Carl. I’m not use to having a personal pilot. Help Hyta. But I’ll want you to go along with me when we strike out. Have her instruct you on the all-terrain vehicle. I’ll have you drive it.”
“Thanks, Professor!” Carl said grinning ear to ear as he headed toward Hyta, who was still shouting orders at the survey team.
“Hey Carl, she sounds a lot meaner than she is,” Charles shouted with a laugh in his voice.
A sonic boomed blasted across the sky and Charles looked up. A Monarch shuttle appeared through the thick fluffy clouds and he watched Da’Mira Tannador’s ship fly toward the landing sight. Charles scratched his forehead. That didn’t take her long, he sighed. Having Da’Mira along on the expedition was unnerving but refreshing at the same time. It would either hinder or help, he wasn’t sure. Charles found Jonna in the crowd of survey people and motioned for her to join him.
“Yes, professor?”
Charles eyed Jonna and studied her attire. She was dressed in a pair of dark chinos, with knee high walking boots, a tan button-down shirt covered with a dirty-green vest. A frumpy wide-brim hat covered her head and she wore a pair of dark sunglasses. He refrained from smiling but found her outfit amusing.
“Check with Hyta, see how long a planet rotation lasts, I want to be prepared in case a day is two hours long on this world.”
“Give me your watch and I’ll have the planetary time programmed into it,” Jonna said holding out her hand.
Charles removed his watch, passed it over and said, “While you do that I’ll meet the Lady Tannador’s ship.”
“She have to come with us?”
“Grammar,” Charles snapped.
Jonna cleared her throat, said more precisely, “Does she have to come with us?”
“Would you like to be the one to tell her she can’t come?”
“I get your point,” Jonna said and ran off toward Hyta.
Charles waited at the end of the shuttle ramp when Da’Mira stepped off the ship; her blemished un-colored skin looked pale and lackluster. Tiny red freckles dotted under her eyes and down her outer forearms. If he didn’t know better, he would have never guessed her a high-born. She dressed much like Jonna, except for the frumpy hat, and she carried a duffle bag on her right shoulder. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and it was the first time Charles really looked at her. She was prettier without all the special skin coloring.
“Something to say?” Da’Mira asked when she stepped off the ramp.
Charles cleared his throat and shook his head, said, “No, not at all.”
“You’re surprised?”
Charles shook his head again, hoping his eyes didn’t reveal his attraction to her, and said, “You seem well prepared. You have water and food cubes in your duffle bag?”
“I followed the list of supplies to the letter, Professor. I will not be a burden to you or the rest of your party.”
&n
bsp; Charles nodded, but couldn’t refrain from asking, “You understand we have a long walk ahead of us. This won’t be easy.”
“I promise if I give up, you can leave me.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Charles said noticing two security men stepping off the shuttle. “And will they be going with us too?” he asked.
“I’m afraid so.”
“I have to admit, Lady Tannador; I don’t do my best work where there are guns involved.”
“I will promise you Professor Long these guns are not for you. These men are for my protection. I’m afraid, I don’t have any say in the matter, nor do you. As master of Requiem and a noble I am required to have security protection. I tried leaving them on the ship but as you can see I lost that debate.”
“We all have to do what we don’t like Milady,” Charles said. He felt a knot in his throat. He agreed with Jonna, he didn’t want Da’Mira going on the survey team. The times he spent on planets, away from Requiem, were the only times Charles felt free. No one looking over his shoulder telling him what to do, his decisions were his own. This excavation couldn’t be over quick enough.
“You don’t have to worry, Professor, this expedition is yours. I’m not here to pretend I know anything about archeology.”
Charles cleared his throat. “I… I…”
“You don’t hide your emotions well at all,” Da’Mira said. She snapped her fingers and commanded her security team away from the shuttle with a point of her finger.
Charles noticed My Own staring out from behind Da’Mira. “Hello,” he said.
“This is My Own.”
“Your own?”
“I don’t know her name… she refuses to tell me – all she answers to is My Own.”
My Own stepped around Da’Mira, her eyes swelled as she stared at the flower blanketed meadow and enormous mountains ahead of them. She was dressed in a pair of green pants, hiking boots and a yellow shirt. A cap rested on her head; its bill shadowed her eyes. “It reminds me of home… at least the stories my brother told me of how Earth was,” she said, her voice filled with excitement and wonder.
Origin Expedition Page 26