by Capri S Bard
She couldn’t take her eyes off the man. She couldn’t make her legs move, even in his direction. She watched as Preen pointed her way.
The man took a quick look at her and was about to move on but instead his face fell serious. He stepped quickly to her and planted his feet squarely in front of her.
With unbelief written clearly on his face he asked directly, “Is it you?”
“Yes, it’s me, Darcy,” she said with her insides quivering.
Chris looked at her for a long moment before asking, “What’s my favorite vegetable?”
Darcy grinned and answered, “That’s a trick question.”
For the first time she saw a smile creep into the corners of Chris’ lips.
“Russian Icicle, but tomatoes are fruits not vegetables,” her voice broke but she continued. “You told me that when I was just five.”
Chris grabbed her in a full embrace as Preen strolled close to the reunited cousins. Rhys came as well.
After introductions Chris said he’d heard about the attack and had come to see if he could help the Hoth.
“Where is she?” a man’s voice shouted through the cave making his request reverberate against the walls. He reached the area of the gathering of patients and medical workers.
Chris smiled even before the man was in view.
“Where is she, Preen?” the man asked desperately.
Preen took Darcy’s hand in her own and smiled at Vincent, her mother’s cousin.
Vincent didn’t stop advancing toward the little crowd that had gathered around Darcy to hear the incredible story of this long distance reunion.
Vincent grabbed her up in one mighty swoop of his strong arms.
“If I died today I’d die happy,” he said through his tears.
Darcy was laughing and crying.
“I mean that would probably anger Pitle and the boys,” Vincent said with a laugh.
He gently put Darcy back on her feet and they laughed, and stared, and cried, and laughed again.
“I never thought you’d come,” he said but Darcy interrupted.
“Wait! What did you say about someone and some boys?” she asked as she wiped her eyes.
“Oh yes. My wife Pitle. She’s a beautiful Neph.”
“Neph?” asked Darcy.
“Oh! There’s so much to tell you,” Vincent laughed.
“Sounds like,” Darcy said.
“Everyone’s coming,” Vincent said. “Lena is telling everyone to meet here since the caves have been secured.”
“Why exactly, were we attacked?” Darcy asked. “I don’t really understand.”
Chris took charge in directing them to another tunnel that led to a general communal room.
“This is where some hide if the water’s edge is attacked,” Chris said. After they had sat down Chris explained the political strife between the different factions on the planet.
“Those with the most power on the planet are the City Dwellers. Part of their history includes a battle with the Hoth of the water and those that joined them. The people of the city believe the Hoth rebelled against their underground empire and stole all the children and came to the surface. There was a battle when the parents of the stolen children came to the surface wanting their children back.”
“Are the children back with their parents now?” asked Darcy.
Chris laughed. “You don’t quite understand. This happened over 2,000 years ago.”
“What?” asked Darcy. “Why are they still fighting about it? Why couldn’t they have settled it by now?”
“Exactly,” said Vincent. “But it seems those of the city carry a grudge a long time.”
Before Chris could explain any more, a crowd came bursting into the tunnel room.
“Where is she?” Irene squealed.
All of the cousins had arrived with their families, ready for a joyous reunion.
After many hugs and tears and laughter Darcy said to Rhys, “I wish Aster was here.”
Lena looped her arm through Darcy’s and asked, “Who’s Aster.”
Darcy looked at Rhys and then back at the Lena and the others awaiting the answer.
“She’s,” Darcy began slowly, “my daughter. Well she has been for almost 100,000 years, even though it’s still quite new.” Darcy smiled at the crowd that was clearly, not understanding what she was saying.
“Her mother and father and I were in med school together. I didn’t finish school with them. So they married and I never saw them again until,” Darcy took Rhys’ hand and continued, “I saw Rhys at a vacation resort. He was a widower and I, well, I never married. He was leaving on the Arcadia and asked me to join him; so I left Mom and here we are.” With the last of her words she looked up at her brother, waiting for his reaction.
Vincent gave no facial response. However he did hold his hand up close to his sister. She gave him a hi-five and Vincent gave a nod of approval.
“Aster is still on the Arcadia. I can’t wait for her to meet all of you.”
While the little crowd gathered around Darcy to get reacquainted, Rhys softly asked Chris, “So what’s the next move here.”
“We need to petition the City leaders for a peace treaty. They are not the ones attacking; it’s just a small rebel faction from the city and nearby villages but the City has the power to hold them accountable. They just refuse. Your captain from the Arcadia and our current leader need to put pressure on them because we hold the trump card. We have starships that can save their people. They have to ‘play nice’. We just need to pressure them to do so. I’ll tell you though, many here don’t want to leave; even some of the family here.”
“But how can they think of staying with the coming nova,” Rhys said.
“I know that it sounds absurd but you have to understand, we’ve been here for twenty years. The people here are our people now; our family,” Chris explained. “My wife is Anthro. Irene’s husband is Goweli. Lena’s husband is Tsila. Scout’s wife is Antip. Vincent married a Neph and most of us have children almost grown and taking partners from the different tribes. My Nate has his eye on a Hoth; sweet little thing. All the Hoth are kind.”
“So they don’t kidnap children anymore?” Rhys said with a teasing laugh.
“We don’t believe that ever happened,” Chris said sternly.
“Oh! I was out of line,” Rhys quickly said.
“It’s just that the cousins have been searching the caves for years trying to decipher the writings we’ve found on some cave walls, and we think there might be a different story than what we’ve ever been told.”
“Are there any writings in here? Can I see them?” asked Rhys.
“No, this is a different area than where we’ve found the writings. But we can take you to see them soon. They’re pretty magnificent,” said Chris.
Only a few days later, Rhys and Darcy took Aster to not only meet all of Darcy’s family, but to actually move in with Lena and her family. Fredora and Preen accepted Aster like a little sister.
They did just as Chris told Rhys they should do. Several leaders were gathered and together they petitioned the City leaders to hold the attackers accountable for their misdeeds.
For several months all fighting subsided and the building of the Egress was everyone’s main concern. However no one could agree on the subject of the Hoth joining the voyage.
Some of the city argued that the Hoth had survived the previous nova very well by diving deep into the interior of the planet. Others argued they didn’t want to live out their last days in such close proximity with Hoth. Still others voiced their fear of what might happen to the children if the Hoth were allowed to live freely among the general population.
Month after month the building continued as the arguing over the Hoth also continued. After three years, no one had agreed on a course of action, and so attacks resumed.
First the attacks were against the Hoth at the water’s edge. Then many of the valley’s villagers were attacked and their houses bu
rned. The City was losing its power and many began to wonder if this turmoil would halt progress of the Egress.
This was proven the case when a man wearing a bomb entered the grounds of the landing site for shuttle travel to and from the Egress. He managed to enter the shuttle hanger, where he blew up six shuttles and himself.
The City finally took notice of the civil unrest among the minor powers throughout society and was ready to use their power to enforce peace. This however, was too little too late.
The Denizen of Earth took over all aspects of the building of the Egress from that point. In one day they fortified the perimeter around the shuttle port for all travel to and from the Egress. The people of Earth, the Denizen, had the starship technology, which gave them the most political leverage in this escape endeavor. They put all locations directly associated with the Egress under Denizen military control. Any unauthorized persons attempting to breach security boundaries were shot on sight. Political tensions were stretched so tight that the only thing preventing war was simply the fear of the impending nova.
297 AE
Aboard the EGRESS
Tala set the bowl of tomatoes aside and gently took the book from Deni.
“My turn, Love,” she said with a smile.
4 BE
On the planet REEN
After working on the Egress for six years the structure was complete. They had successfully combined the Eden and the Arcadia but the work was far from finished. All of the mechanical workings were yet to be completed. All of the stasis pods were yet to be arranged in each tribes’ sector. All of the passengers had yet to sign the register. However having the structure complete was a celebrated day.
“Can we see it yet, Dad?” Nate asked his father, Chris.
“After dark, son,” Chris said.
The cousins and all their families had gathered at Lena and Pijin’s home to see their future home in the sky. Scout had a telescope that they were all anxious to use. They waited until the second sunset so they could gaze at the newly lit space craft.
Shane peered into the eyeglass as soon as Scout said it was ready.
“Hey Lena, do you remember the church that Dad took us to when we were teenagers?”
“Yes, it was beautiful,” she said.
“Do you remember that chandelier that hung over the middle of the sanctuary?”
Shane leaned back and offered Lena the next turn to see the Egress.
“Oh! Wow! It looks so much like that chandelier,” she exclaimed. “It has bubble-like structures surrounding it, like those crystal tear drops. One, two, three,” she counted.
“Nine,” Chris said.
Lena looked up from the telescope.
“They are for the stasis pods,” Chris explained. “There are just not enough resources to sustain so many for so long. There will still be a good many awake on the ship, but more will be in stasis.”
“Who?” asked Stella.
“That’s not been decided yet. I assume some won’t mind if they have their whole family in stasis with them. They can wake up on some other planet and live out their lives together,” Chris said.
“What will we do, Chris?” asked Shane.
Even though this band of cousins was now a group of adults with families of their own, they still looked to Chris for advice and leadership.
“I guess we should take a vote,” Chris answered. “I don’t think we need to do it today. It should be something we each talk to our spouses about.”
“Yes,” Vincent agreed.
“Well, I already know what I would do,” Darcy spoke up. “I don’t want to be in stasis again. I’m ready to live with all of you on a ship. I mean if there’s a chance the ship won’t get us safely away from the nova, then we won’t live to see another planet anyway. I don’t want to miss out on being with all of my family if I can help it.”
After Darcy spoke, a silence fell around the crowd gathered near the telescope.
“I agree,” Lena said. “I’ll take my chances with all of you, awake on the ship.”
“Well if I’m not going to ever see another planet,” Scout began, “I better finish exploring as much of this one as I can.”
“Can I help?” Irene asked. “I wonder if there are more clues in those first caves we explored? What was that – maybe twenty-five years ago?”
“We can do that, but I’d really like to see if we can find any more caves. See if we can find more pictures and writings,” Scout said.
It was a simple verbal agreement; the cousins wanted to live among the general population on the Egress.
1 BE
On the planet REEN
After ten years of building the Egress, the current city leaders were working in partnership with the Denizen. They heightened security around the shuttle landing pad. They patrolled the city to allow those of every tribe safe passage to the registration points. Still, there were rumors of possible attacks in the event the Hoth tried to register for passage on the Egress.
Some of the cousins were becoming grandparents and enjoying their final months on the planet before they boarded the Egress, when a discovery was made.
“I think it’s a map,” Scout shouted as he arrived at Lena’s one night for a family gathering.
“I drew what I found on a wall by the valley basin. I drew it here just like it was on the wall of the cave.”
Scout handed the map to Chris as others gathered to look over his shoulder at the mysterious message.
“Are you sure about this symbol here?” Chris asked Scout.
“Yes. I drew it just like it was on the wall,” Scout repeated.
“This sign is for that grove of trees at the base of the hills beyond the valley.”
“Let’s go,” Scout said. He was always up for a hiking adventure.
His sister Stella was feeling her age and was always ready to stay with the younger children and young mothers while the other adults trekked off to find answers to their endless questions.
They only took six people, which was the shuttle’s capacity. Chris and Scout sat in the front as Chris piloted the little runabout. They landed as close to the base of the hills as they could and traveled the rest of the distance on foot.
Chris asked Scout if there were any other writings or paintings on the walls of the cave that he’d found.
“I saw the word, Tinnen,” Scout answered.
“I’m not surprised,” Chris said with a laugh. “I think you might be really on to something,” Chris said with approval.
“Have you seen that word before?” asked Scout.
“It’s a name,” Chris explained. “He was Atenilek’s friend. Remember the story of the giant Het that had a little friend who was a Nen? Well that little Nen was Tinnen.”
Scout’s heart leapt with the anticipation of a significant find on this planet they would soon leave. He hoped they could find the destination pictured on the map.
“This is it,” Shane called from up ahead of the crowd of investigators. Chris pulled out the paper once more and said, “Just over there between those three trees that connect at their trunks. Those huge ones.”
“I don’t see any trees,” Shane said.
“Well they aren’t trees anymore; they’re petrified after a thousand years or so. Do you see them?”
“Whoa! You’re right,” Scout said.
“It can’t be that easy,” Shane laughed.
“Well finding the trees was pretty easy,” Chris said. “Now let’s see if there’s a cave beyond it.”
They searched most all that day before giving up for the night. The next day Scout went out by himself and before nightfall he had found the cave.
He recognized the glow stones inside the mouth of the cave and used them to explore further. He found no writings on the cave walls but as he was looking upward he stumbled on a rock that jutted out beyond the other rocks around it. He nudged it with his toe and it moved enough to show a cache of hidden belongings. He bent down and pushed the bi
gger rock away. Inside were clay pots; untouched for over a thousand years.
He retrieved one pot and replaced the other rock over the cache. It took all his might to carry the one pot out of the cave. In the fading light of the second sunset he uncapped the lid of the pot. One whiff of the contents inside and he was almost five years old again; in his father’s shed surrounded by stacks of aircraft magazines. He smiled a moment while he reminisced. He plunged his hand into the cavity of his find.
“No! Ah! Crap! Why did I do that?” he shouted. “I knew better.”
He had put his hand completely through the first book at the top of the stack of writings. Something harder than paper stopped his hand from completely pushing through to the bottom. The pages were so brittle that it almost felt like confetti surrounding his immersed hand. He pulled out the harder thing very slowly. It was a book that had been wrapped in an animal’s hide. He took the pot to the little runabout and decided to go back for the other pots. It took him nearly three hours to retrieve his find from the cave. He wasn’t about to come back with only one pot of destroyed manuscripts. He stayed until the job was complete.
Scout took his load straight to Chris to examine. The cousins didn’t only look to Chris as a leader, they knew he was the ‘word man’ of the group. His whole job for which he had been employed on the Eden was Communications, so any time they needed something translated he was their man.
This was no different. All of the cousins were anxious to know the stories these writings held and the reason why they had been hidden for so long.
Lastly, Scout brought out the pot he had destroyed. He was disappointed in himself and he didn’t want Chris to be disappointed in him as well.
This pot however was the only one Scout took the lid off of in front of Chris.
“I’m sorry cuz, but I mangled this one. I forgot how delicate stuff can get after so long. I just wasn’t thinking.”
Scout put his hand in and took out the single book that had the hard cover.
Chris touched the outside flat furry cover. As he opened it the whole cover broke off like flimsy bark of a tree.