Helium Fall

by Darren Robison

  With a yawn, Sam said, "All right, Grant, I'm going to catch a few Z's. I'll meet you in the dining hall, don't be late, again!"

  "Whatever." Grant looked at Tayana with passion in his eyes. She grabbed him by the hand, pulling him into the guest quarters. She kissed him deeply and passionately, in a 'yes, we're going to be late', sort of way.

  Dinner time came quickly. Grant and Tayana hustled to get their acts together. How could a woman make Grant forget his responsibilities and duties so willingly? He did not want or need an answer to the question. He was glad she existed, and she was his.

  They got dressed after another close encounter and quickly made their way to the dining hall.

  "About time you two made it." The slight blush on their faces told the whole story. "You two really need a vacation, alone and uninterrupted."

  "Sam, I couldn't agree more."

  Tayana could not wipe the smile off her face or let Grant out of her sight.

  Dinner was a feast beyond compare. They ate to their hearts content, and then ate more.

  Tayana was making her way to the dessert table when Grant caught her midway. "You know what chocolate does to your people!"

  "I guess I better steer clear, for now." She gave him a wink and opted for a sumptuous piece of lemon cake instead. When he wasn't looking she stuffed a couple chocolate bars into her pocket. Dinner concluded and they made their way to their quarters. This time, they slept. They were so full anything else would have been a disaster.

  Morning came early. Captain Lane was moving slowly and methodically as he bumped into Grant in the corridor. "Good morning, Captain Goodwine! Glad to see you're up so early."

  "Captain Lane, you look as if you had more of a night than you cared too."

  "I ate too much and drank beyond my limits. I'm headed to the med room to get a remedy for this hangover."

  Grant chuckled and felt his pain, "Can I accompany you to the med room?"

  "Sure, what's on your mind?"

  "I appreciate all you've done for us, and for Tayana and her people. I also want to say Tayana and her people are a free people. We do not own them."

  Captain Lane looked at Grant in a questioning manner, "What are you trying to say Captain?"

  "Merely we cannot make decisions for them and we cannot force them to do anything they do not wish to do. We are their first contact and I do not want there to be any, off color dealing with them."

  "Grant I assure you we have considered all of their ways, cultures, and needs. We have no intentions of conquering them. Do you feel we are disposed that way?"

  "I heard some talk last night at dinner, it made me question some of the crew’s intentions, that's all."

  "That's all? This is serious. We do not tolerate any injustice to Tayana or her people. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll take leave of you now. We will meet in the bridge at eight."

  Grant was unsure he made the right decision letting Captain Lane know what was overheard. Too late to take it back now. Hopefully something would be done and there were no hard feelings.

  Grant swung by his quarters and gathered Tayana for their journey to the planets. They met Sam in a corridor. "Bridge at eight, Sam!"

  Tayana, I ran into Captain Lane earlier, we meet in the bridge at eight, and then to we go planet shopping."

  "Shopping, what is shopping?"

  Tayana had never heard of shopping so Sam took the opportunity to enlighten her. "Shopping is like picking flowers, you see something you like and you pick it."

  Tayana made an unpleasant face, "Sounds like bringing something to its end. I'm not sure I'm going to like, shopping!"

  "You're welcome Grant; I just saved you tons of money in the future."

  "Tayana, shopping is where you look for something you need to accomplish your goals. We are looking for a planet to best suit you and your people's needs."

  "So shopping isn't all bad, it's like picking the fruit you want off of the buffet?"

  "Exactly!"

  Grant gave Sam a look and Sam laughed. "I could have saved you tons of money, but no, you have to be Mr. Straight Forward. Good luck!"

  They laughed and entered the bridge. Captain Lane looked better than he did earlier. "Captain Lane, good to see you again." Captain Lane's expression was not what Grant had expected.

  "Have a seat, please." The captain's from the other ships entered the room much to Grant and Sam's surprise. "I have called the captains here to address what you heard at dinner. Please tell them what you told me."

  Grant was not sure he wanted to tell them anything; their dispositions were not the most promising. He had opened his mouth and was now committed. "I overheard several of the crew discussing Tayana and her people. The comment that caught me off guard was, "These backward ass aliens are perfect slave material. They'll be our bitches as soon as the rest of the ships leave orbit."

  The captains were taken back. One of the captains took the lead and said, "This will not be tolerated in any manner, we will review the feeds. The spacers involved will be punished and likely discharged. I have never heard such talk in all of my years."

  Another proposed a lie detector test and imprisonment for any who failed. Captain Yurslick of the Charlotte offered to let things play out and see what transpired. "It was tough talk and nothing more. Why bring attention to the matter? Let it play out, nothing will come of it, you'll see. These men are rough and came here looking for a fight. They're full of aggression and have not been able to let it out in combat. Cut them some slack, they're military."

  He was not received well and left the bridge in a huff. "We need to keep an eye on him as well." Captain Lane said, and made notes in his compad. He raised his hand to quiet the room. "This is serious and we will not go lightly on anyone bringing harm to these people. Tayana, you have been most gracious and have not said a word, please share your thoughts with us."

  Tayana was now the Tayana, Grant and Sam encountered at their first meeting. She was the huntress, intense, determined, and capable. "Captains, the crew members in question assume we are slave material. I assure you we are not. Any attempt to enslave my people will be met with force. We will be silent death in the dark and a plague in the light. They will neither see us, nor enslave us. We are warriors and will defend our home to our death. Be warned, we are not as simple as we appear."

  There was barely a breath in the room when she finished. The captains looked at one another.

  Captain Lane broke the silence. "Tayana, it will never come to that. We will take care of this before it becomes a situation. Please believe me when I say, we are with you."

  Tayana's fierce dark eyes lightened a shade and her disposition smoothed out somewhat. She, along with Grant and Sam, doubted any person in the room wanted to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

  Captain Lane reassured Tayana, "We will put an end to this, mark my words. If we can move forward, please, let's go shopping for you a new home, shall we?" The group rose in unison and made their way to the shuttle. Tayana gripped Grant's hand tightly. He spread his fingers to let her know he needed his circulation back. She relaxed her grip and put on a better face for the trip. The first planet they visited was overgrown and would not be suitable for them to farm. The second was too hot and barren over most of the surface. As they approached the third planet they could see the distinct blue of water on its surface and the snow capped peaks of mountains in the distance. There were small bands of plains and lots of green space. Tayana became excited, "This is the best so far, we may have found our new, temporary, home."

  The emphasis on temporary caught Grant's attention, "Yes, temporary. We have seeded Antaya and pray it will have new life soon." The shuttle touched down in a green space near a waterfall. The trees were reminiscent of those on Antaya. It was as close to perfect as they were going to get. The same pods they used as their dwellings were growing nearby.

  Tayana made her decision, "This is where we will relocate my people. We will make this our
temporary home."

  Captain Lane instructed the pilot to return to the Magnolia. "We have some work to do." The trip back to the Magnolia was quicker than the trip out.

  Tayana could hardly contain her happiness. She desperately wanted to see her people and give them the news.

  The hours transferring from the shuttle to the Magnolia, from the Magnolia to the Varizone, and then the trip to the Terra Aurai, seemed like days. When the Varizone docked with the Terra Aurai, Tayana was waiting at the hatchway, ready to run to her people with the news. Once onboard she ran to the lab bay and shouted to her people, "We have found a temporary home, the planet is named Bandores." Cheers went up all around. The villagers were excited they were going to once again be on the ground. "Gather your belongings and leave nothing behind, not even a crumb. We will leave for the new world in the morning." It was late in the day so Tayana determined morning would be the time to go. They needed a whole day to get settled in, and prepare for the night and what it may bring.

  "Tayana, your people love you. You have proven you are their leader. They will follow you anywhere."

  "They are my world and I would go anywhere for them. Tomorrow will be a good day to relocate, yes?"

  "Yes, it will be fine. We will make it happen."

  It was a sleepless night for all. Grant and Tayana, of course spent the evening cuddling. Sam, Kyera and Dyanta were reunited so they were going to have a sleepless night anyway. Morning once again came too soon. Everyone moved slower than normal, but were excited about the move.

  "Sam, coms on?"

  "What?! It's early and you're waking me after fifteen minutes of sleep, what gives?"

  "Sam, it's eight o'clock, time is wasting. We need to get the villagers moved and settled as soon as we can. Meet me in the lab bay."

  Sam was not fond of mornings, especially not fond of mornings involving getting up and moving. “Damn it! I need two or three hours of sleep, is that asking too much?" Kyera was first to emerge from the covers and slowly make her way to the toilet, followed closely by Dyanta, who never seemed to be more than a few steps away.

  "Girls, we need to move quickly or Grant will be up here knocking on the door. He was greeted with a couple hmpfs and what he thought was a growl. "Ladies, it's moving day! If I can get moving, so can you, let's go!"

  They dressed and looked presentable. Upon arrival at the lab bay they were greeted by a rather enthusiastic young man, apparently coordinating the move process. "Good morning sunshines! What are your names and where are your belongings?"

  "Kyera and Dyanta, our things are there." Kyera pointed to a pile of bundles and what appeared to be a small tree.

  "Um, I do not believe the tree can go with you."

  "Spacer, the tree goes."

  "And you are?" he said in a snarky, defiant tone.

  "I am the captain of this ship and you are?"

  "I am letting the tree go, yep, that's who I am. You two will be in the first group, gather your things and move to the loading area, quickly, please," he said with a sideways glance at Sam. It took several trips and more hours than expected to get the villagers and their belongings moved to the shuttles and the planet surface.

  Grant and Sam spent most of the day planet side assisting villagers with their belongings and helping plan the village layout so everything would be close to normal. The waterfall, river, and pods were too much of a coincidence, but Grant understood the nature of the seeding and assumed the pod seeds naturally grew by the stream. Evening drew close and Grant expected helium fall soon. He wasn't sure the village set up would protect them. The valley was smaller and the trees were farther apart. He positioned the shuttle close by so in the event of an emergency they could board the shuttle for safety. The helium fall never came. The villagers were free to move outside the village without fear of getting caught in the gasses.

  Sam, Grant, and Tayana met up to recount the day as night approached. "It's been a busy day, Grant. You two doing all right?"

  "Thanks, Sam. Tayana and I are fine. We're pleased we've accomplished so much. Life in the village will be back to normal sooner than you think."

  Tayana was happy, but this wasn't home. "We will survive until we can return home." She watched villagers hurry to and fro putting things in their places. She noticed construction on the dining hall was coming along rapidly. The pods were claimed, and Salbola and Emara came by to give their thanks and express their appreciation. Tayana was tempted to throw them a chocolate bar, but decided not to feed their addiction.

  "Sam, I'm going to head back to the Belle and do some—reporting."

  "Tayana would you like to accompany me?"

  "Yes, I'd like to see your—reporting."

  With a smile they took their leave of Sam who was now eyeing his brides and making plans of his own. "Catch you two tomorrow afternoon! Do not call me before one o'clock, Grant. It won't be pretty if you do."

  "I hear ya, Sam, get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow; we do have some things we need to discuss." Grant planned to sleep as late as possible.

  "Sure, I'll let you know...when I'm available." Sam said.

  "Tayana and I have some reporting to do, Eliot, to the Belle, please."

  About the author

  Darren Robison has loved writing for most of his life. He discovered his passion in his high school Creative Writing class. Each week they had to write a new story and it truly sparked his imagination. Life was tough after high school and his dream of writing waned, life had taken over. In 1996 while attending college he was assigned a writing project. With full time work being the priority he put it off until the last minute, an hour and a half to more precise. When he received his graded work his professor complimented him, having given him the only A in the class. His professor asked how long it took him to compose his writing and was at a loss when he was told an hour and a half. He commented it had to have taken him weeks to get it to this level. Again, Darren’s creativity was sparked and he dreamt of writing once again. Twenty one years later he was challenged to enter a writing contest. No prizes, no parade, and no book deal for the winner. He accepted the challenge despite his reservations. The rest is history, or was it the beginning. This writing is a result of the challenge.

  Darren grew up in Liberty, MO in the last neighborhood at the edge of town along with his parents and siblings. After graduation he left family and friends behind and took up residence in Florida for a few years. He met some great friends, but it just wasn’t home, he moved back to Liberty. One evening he called a friend who invited him to a birthday party and she introduced him to the woman who would become his wife. They were married in 1993 and have two children. At the time of this writing they have two granddaughters. Darren and his wife reside in Kansas City, MO.

  Darren Robison’s mission statement: “I want to capture my reader’s attention and draw them into the world of my imagination. Giving them the opportunity to use their imagination and escape into the pages with me.”