Migration: Beginnings (Migration Series Book 1)

by Walter Hopgood

  “Nothing we haven’t already seen on Earth, John,” she says. She quickly looks around the room, correcting herself. “I’m sorry—general. It has to be that this planet and Earth share a biological history. Only thing is, that planet is a bit healthier since they’re not constantly burning fossil fuels or setting off nuclear weapons.” The words give Rhys reason to pause; he wonders just how much the device has been used in the past, and exactly how much biological history Earth and this remote planet share.

  Landingham gives von Schoor a wink and earns a roll of her eyes for his efforts. “Well then,” he says as he turns back to the group, “I’d suggest bringing Rollo back, just to make sure he doesn’t stay, and we can study the pictures he took—if he was able to take any.”

  “Oh, he took plenty,” von Schoor replies. “The night sky pictures from cameras one, two, and four have already been uploaded to the server, and the rest are uploading now. Rubens,” she says, as the man turns to her and owlishly blinks, “the images are ready for your analysis.”

  “Oh,” Rubens says, coming out of the stupor he’s been in since the device went live. “Thanks,” he says, and scurries off to a back office.

  “Rubens,” General Landingham announces, “has been writing a computer program that will help us identify what planet this is, based on the stars from the night sky. And hopefully, Rollo here,” he says, then gestures for von Schoor to wake Rollo up and bring him back to Earth, “was able to get enough pictures so it can be determined.”

  There’s a sudden buzz about the room, with Rhys being questioned by several of the scientists about next steps and opinions about how they are going to move forward, while at their feet, Rollo rolls through the cludiant, and comes to rest at von Schoor’s feet.

  “General, what about that?” Jason asks, pointing to the protruding branch. Jason reaches down and tries to remove the pendant again, careful of the wet trail of mud that Rollo has left on his trek back to Earth. The pendant still doesn’t budge. “Doesn’t look like we’ll be able to deactivate the cludiant without removing it some way.”

  “Well, the prudent action would be to get some sort of stick or something, and push it back, making sure it can’t poke back through the event horizon,” Landingham says.

  Jason’s face is instantly crestfallen, and it’s a bit scary that Rhys knows exactly what Jason wants to do—and he wants it as well.

  “But, then again, we don’t always do what’s practical and prudent, now do we?” Landingham offers, giving Rhys and Jason a huge grin. “Would you boys like to do the honors?”

  “Oh, hell yes,” Rhys says. He can’t believe his ears at what Landingham is offering, and his heart rate quickens. He glances back at the general, who gives him an apologetic smile, and gets it. Though they’ve been through so much good for the project, this small gesture is the general’s way of making up for the bad.

  “Like you could hold me back with a team of wild horses,” Jason replies, squeezing Rhys’ arm. Before a single objection can be raised, he’s stepping forward, standing just outside of the event horizon. He turns, giving Rhys the biggest smile Rhys has ever seen. “A kiss for luck?” he asks, mimicking Rhys’ words from the first time the cludiant was activated.

  Rhys leans forward and closes his eyes, pulling Jason to him. He reaches out, fingers on Jason’s chin as he brushes his lips across Jason’s, his heartbeat drumming in his ears at what they are about to do. “You sure about this?” he asks as he finally pulls back, searching Jason’s soulful emerald eyes.

  “Only been this sure one other time in my life,” Jason whispers as he reaches down and grabs Rhys’ free hand.

  Rhys gives him a nod, and Jason slowly turns. He squeezes Rhys’ hand as he unhurriedly steps forward, and Rhys can’t help but look at the bright blue jumbles of light that bounce around his husband’s leg.

  Jason stops and turns, giving Rhys a nod. He pulls his leg back, Rhys sighing with relief when it appears they wouldn’t have a problem coming back to Earth. He takes another breath as Jason again steps forward, but this time continues on, stepping through the event horizon, just his hand extending through. He turns to Rhys as he’s made it through, urging Rhys through with a pull.

  The sensation he feels as he crosses between Earth and whatever planet they are traveling to is brief, and can only be described as a tingling elation, the noise in his ears either the howling wind from the planet or from the interplanetary travel. As he pulls the rest of his body through, he turns first to look back at the warehouse on Earth but is quickly distracted when Jason pulls him close. The two share a hug and Jason steals a kiss, as they stand in the rain on some distant planet, grinning like lunatics.

  Epilogue

  Rhys and Jason spend only a few minutes on what turns out to be Kepler 69c, a planet about one and a half times larger than Earth. Scientists had previously identified it as possibly being fit for human life after identifying that it was within the ‘Goldilocks’ zone, thanks to the Kepler telescope research done in the early 2000s. Once they manage to get the branch moved so it can no longer protrude between the planetary gateway, they grab each other’s hands, this time stepping back through the cludiant together.

  The work to get them ready to start Project Migration seems to stretch on for eternity. But soon, as directed by the governments of Earth, the project is brought out into the open through a massive news outreach. Before they know it, volunteers from around the world offer to be the first to go through the cludiant. While the European disasters had been a crushing blow to Earth and her people, the chance to explore a new planet brought about the best.

  Rhys and Jason are the faces of the project, and while the military keeps them protected, they are still mobbed and sought after. It’s surreal when Rhys spots them on the cover of Time magazine, but through it all, Jason continues to ground them both. And though offers of talk shows and appearances are a daily request, they are generally turned down. Instead, they lead the public on talks when requested to do so by the government, on what is to be expected and what they would be doing on a totally new planet.

  Within three months, during which time initial surveys are completed of Kepler 69c—nicknamed Terra, so people had something to call it while still being reminiscent of Earth—building materials are amassed, and teams of engineers are brought onto the project, all still under the direction of Rhys and Jason.

  “You know, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do this right,” Rhys says one night as he contemplates their next off-world journey. They had been staying longer and longer on their missions and loved the long, warm days the planet offered. After some discussion, they decide that they want to be the very first permanent residents of Terra—as long as that was okay with the military.

  “I’ve actually been expecting you to ask for a few weeks now,” General Landingham responds when they finally ask. “Of course; why wouldn’t we want an on-site project manager for the next phase of the project?”

  Rhys just beams.

  Two months later, Rhys and Jason are settled into their newly constructed cabin. While the cabin is a pre-fab thing brought from Earth, along with about a few hundred more just like it, all outfitted with solar panels and batteries instead of having to use non-renewable resources for energy, they are overseeing both the integration of new migrants to Terra, as well as construction projects, like solar farms, food production, and windmills.

  One afternoon, as they head back to the cludiant for a meeting back on Earth, Captain Franks, whom Jason and Rhys had recommended come to Terra with them to be their official military liaison, gathers their attention as they approach. “Hey Jason, Rhys?” she says, beckoning them over. “I thought you might like to see this.” She hands each of them a flashlight, which Rhys and Jason question with a look, Franks not giving an explanation for the device, but instead just a wink as she says to follow her.

  They follow Franks to an area she’d been working in previously, and spot a downed tree. However it’s n
ot the tree that gathers their attention. Instead, it’s a small wall of rocks, previously hidden by the now moved tree, shaped like a doorway eerily reminiscent of the one they’d seen in Nepal.

  “You don’t think…” Rhys questions, as his mind reels at even more possibilities.

  Before he can get a response from either Franks or Jason, his husband and the captain are pulling at the stones, tossing them to the side so they can get into the hidden room. It doesn’t take long, and they shine their flashlights in, finding a room that is both quite narrow and shallow based on where the flashlight beam lands. They pull just enough of the stones and toss them to the side to where they can step over the remainders, Jason tripping on his way in and falling to the ground.

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” Jason chants, his attention on their new surroundings as they enter. He flashes the beam of light around the small room, Rhys and Franks right behind him and doing the same thing. There are a few birds, including some that Rhys has to wonder if they are of Earth origin or not. Then again, quite a few of the African birds were new to him, and scientists on Terra were still cataloging new and different species.

  “Maybe this project needs an official ornithologist,” Rhys wonders aloud as he glances around.

  Franks lets out an easy laugh, but Jason cuts through the sound asking, “Hello…What’s this?”

  All attention turns to Jason as he picks up what looks like an ancient clay pot. It’s simple in its design, the shape and outside markings reminding Jason of something out of the American Southwest.

  “What is it, Jason?” Rhys asks as Jason pulls off the lid and glances inside, then quickly replaces it. “Jase?”

  Instead of responding, Jason just grins. “Hold out your hands,” he says.

  Rhys gives him a questioning look, darting one eyebrow up, but does as he’s told. He puts his flashlight in one of the indentations carved into the wall, avoiding the carcass of a bird long since decomposed to bones with only a few feathers remaining. He takes a deep breath and juts out his hands.

  Pulling the lid back off of the jar, Jason tips it, and triangular pieces, each quite similar in appearance and shape as the imitation one Jason wears around his neck, tumble out of the jar. Some stay within Rhys’ grasp while others spill to the dirt floor of the small cave.

  “Oh my God,” Franks says, not taking her eyes off of the few dozen pieces that Rhys holds until she glances at the floor, lips moving like she’s trying to count them. “Are they…”

  “Yep,” Jason says. After he empties the jar, he puts it back and grabs one of the pendants that Rhys is holding. “Feel it?” he asks.

  Franks nods almost immediately as the pendant comes to rest in her hand. “Wow,” she manages.

  “Yeah. Wow,” Rhys replies. “Jason…Does this mean what I think it means?” He glances at two pendants, each different in a small, subtle way, and his mind reels at the possibility. Of all of the pendants that spilled from the jar, many of them are distinctive in shape. And if the one that Jason wore around his neck most of his life could bring them from Earth to Terra, Rhys’ mind boggles at the possibilities of what corners of the universe these could open—each distinct one a specific key they could use on the device to reach a different planet. And from the looks of things, there are dozens of other worlds just waiting to be explored.

  Nodding, Jason says, “I think it does, boo.” After a smile and an easy laugh, he leans down and starts gathering the wayward pendants back into the jar, Rhys adding his in as well.

  When they’re all back in, Rhys leans over for a quick kiss and takes the pendant Franks is holding. He holds it out, barely containing a smile as he blows out a sigh. He leans forward, pressing his forehead to his husband’s, and says, “Let’s go explore the universe.”