The Way of the Seed_Earth Spawn of Kalpeon
Page 1
BOOKS IN THE WAY OF THE SEED
Earth Spawn of Kalpeon
Nature of Annihilation
Redux of Eden
Alpharetta, GA
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, and events are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Richard Dean Hall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, address Lanier Press, c/o BookLogix Permissions Department, 1264 Old Alpharetta Rd., Alpharetta, GA 30005.
ISBN: 978-1-63183-296-3
eISBN: 978-1-63183-298-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018948120
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Cover design and author photograph by Lauren Holley
For friends, family, and all those who look to the past to understand the present and have hope for the future
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Part one
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Part Two
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Part Three
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Part Four
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Epilogue
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several key individuals have contributed to the creation and production of the first book in this series. A sincere thanks to Craig and Beth Hall for their support, enthusiasm, and participation. Their comments, suggestions, and criticisms helped motivate me through the writing process. Thanks, of course, to the entire production and publishing staff at Lanier Press. Their professionalism on all levels is greatly appreciated. Lastly, I emphasize that this book and the other two in the series cover a lot of territory relative to anthropology, archeology, medical science, and historical events. Any mistakes within the realm of those disciplines are mine alone.
PART ONE
A superior intelligence has guided the development of man in a definite direction, and for a special purpose.
—Alfred Russel Wallace
1
PLANET EARTH
65 MILLION YEARS AGO
The starcraft sat motionless on the surface of the newly discovered planet. Its towering triangular configuration and gleaming black surface loomed over two hundred stories high in stark contrast to the verdant primordial forest sprawling endlessly below. The planet survey and evaluation were complete, and the pristine biosphere had been deemed suitable in every way—except for one.
In his quarters, Commander Barjeen pondered the situation. He was a man of quiet, intense temperament, a craft commander of extreme competence borne of extensive mission experience. Over eons of exploration through endless stretches of interstellar space, he had discovered suitable planets and seeded them successfully. He was determined the results on this small planet would be no different. The problem would be resolved, and the genetically engineered protoprimates transported from the home planet would be seeded into the environment to begin their evolutionary ascent to become the dominant human species, humans in his own image—Kalpeon. Now, with only one modification, this planet would be suitable and ready to accept the spawn of Kalpeon.
Confident the problem would be eliminated, Barjeen stepped into the lift cube and whisked to the observation dome at the highest point on the mammoth starcraft. He wanted to see the planet horizon to horizon as he had on the numerous landings made around the entire circumference. The tests confirmed his initial observation: with only one change in the fauna, the planet would be suitable. Very few in all they had visited in this sector of the galaxy had this much opportunity.
The doors on the cube opened and he made his way to the observation dome two hundred stories above the green canopy. He walked to the front and lifted his eyes to the vast horizon and crystalline blue sky beyond. It reminded him of his own planet, which he longed to see again. This would be the last planet on this voyage.
The seas were ample and the atmospheric conditions almost perfect. The landmasses were adequate, and animal, plant, and sea life were diverse and continually evolving. Food would be abundant for millions of years, and the planet’s orbit and rotation were stable. Gravity would remain constant. Solar radiation was within perfect range and the life star would not begin to cool for several billion-plus years. Yes, the planet was suitable in every way—as soon as the problem was eliminated.
As Barjeen contemplated the sequence of events involved in planet seeding, his attention was drawn to movement in an open area below where a lumbering herd of herbivores gathered and extended their unusually long necks and small heads into the high canopy. He had seen them many times, but still marveled at the size of the animals compared to their slender necks. Their mass made them unrealistic prey for the smaller carnivores. He watched the huge grazing beasts and contemplated the many observations made over the planet. The reptilian fauna was everywhere with extreme diversity. Herbivores like those below grazed the trees continually, even at night. Many of the carnivores were also true giants, with massive
heads and ripping teeth the size of his forearm. They stalked and hunted relentlessly. The young, weak, wounded, and dying didn’t last long. The monsters had evolved to do two things: survive and reproduce. It was obvious their prowess at both had evolved over hundreds of millions of years. They dominated the planet in sheer numbers with complete and diverse adaptation to the environment. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for the seed to ever evolve to humanoids while the reptilian beasts hunted and foraged the plains, forests, and swamps. They were the problem, and would have to be eliminated. Once gone, time would take care of the rest. When the starcraft returned, Kalpeon humans would have evolved from the seed and be ready for the next step.
Barjeen took one last look at the grazing herbivores. Those and the entire species would soon be gone, and the evolutionary ascent of Kalpeon man would begin, as it had on so many planets so many times before.
2
Robfebe took pride in her ability to work fast and efficiently. The synthetic virus had taken no more than three days to create, once she had received the fauna samples. The work was expedited by the fact that all the fauna to be eliminated were oviparous. The virus would function across all species and subspecies. No modifications would be necessary. It would eliminate reproduction in all of them in the same manner.
She tapped at her control board and once again brought the magnified image of the synthetic virus into view. She froze the image on the screen. It was the size of her fist, perfectly round in appearance, and covered with what looked like small spikes. When the virus gyrated on the surface of an egg, the abrasion would disintegrate the shell and allow the virus to enter and consume the forming embryo. The trials had proven one hundred percent effective. With the egg destroyed, the virus would retreat into nerve endings, multiply, and await the next ovulation. It would repeat the process until the animal grew too old to ovulate. The virus would then spread to the muscles and other soft tissue and go dormant. If the animal died and was consumed by another female, the virus would spread to the new host and repeat the cycle. When the new host died and was consumed by a male, the virus would penetrate the reproductive system, where it would remain dormant until passed to the next female during the mating process. The spread of the virus would be rapid and totally effective. A species that had evolved over hundreds of millions of years to dominate the planet would be eliminated within two hundred years.
Robfebe wondered what evolved humans would speculate about the extinction of a fauna that had existed for so many millions of years. That question wouldn’t be answered for eons until the return and final transformation of those of the seed.
The lab door opened, and Robfebe turned.
Barjeen strode across the wide expanse of the central laboratory, ignoring the surroundings, but washing his eyes over Robfebe from her feet to face. A hint of a smile lifted his lips as he took her right hand from her side and cupped it in both of his. They stood silently for a moment. Both were of the same command status and social rank, and had been coupled for millennia. A few seconds passed before Barjeen motioned toward the monitor.
“Is that it?” he asked.
Robfebe bobbed her head in the affirmative. “That’s it, and it is totally effective. It spreads through inhalation, ingestion, and copulation, and completely terminates the reproductive cycle. No pain or suffering, they just stop reproducing.”
“What about transmission rate?” Barjeen asked.
“Initial vectors are aerobic and aquatic with daily transmission infection to entire herds of the grouping animals. You may wish to speed the process by injecting some of the larger carnivores located at the extremes of the planet, especially those that hunt individually or in smaller numbers and don’t reproduce as quickly as the herding species. Once the virus has been transmitted to all species, the entire population will go extinct within one life cycle of no new births. I’ve modeled the normal DNA breakdown and cellular deterioration to project the life-spans of the youngest of the animals alive today. All of them will have expired within the next two hundred and fifty seasonal years. At that point . . . total extinction.”
Barjeen eyed the image. “Excellent work, Robfebe. As usual you are to be commended. After initial dispersion of the virus, I’ll send out gravaeron teams around the planet to infect as many as possible in the more remote areas. With that complete, we can release the protoprimates.”
Far below all over the planet, huge herbivores grazed the endless forests while the carnivores stalked their prey relentlessly. Robfebe glanced again at the image of the virus and then looked to Barjeen.
“The seed will rise to claim their home.”
3
Barjeen entered the lift cube and tapped the panel marked Vehicular Bay. Seconds passed as the cube silently ascended forty decks and stopped with a barely audible hiss. He exited the cube, and to his left was a wide wall. He strode a few steps to the glowing light field at the middle of the wall and stepped into it. The scan and ocular recognition were immediate, and a seamless door silently opened. He stepped into the cavernous bay deck of the ship. Over five hundred vehicles were housed in the largest single area on the starcraft. Most were similar in configuration, with the main difference being in size and range capabilities. Others were engineered for exploration in harsh environments, such as volcanic calderas or areas of dangerous or unstable atmospheres. Most of the specialty vehicles were rarely pressed into service, since a standard environment cruiser could safely navigate and scan all the mineral, rock, dirt, and liquid deposits of the planets selected for survey and exploration. Exploration below the crust and mantle of planets was not necessary, since core and composition surveys were done by spectrum and probe analysis.
The vehicles capable of subsurface exploration had not been used in millennia, but like all the vehicles, they were ready for immediate use if needed. All the vehicles were routinely flown and tested every few hundred years.
Barjeen went over the plan in his head as he assembled one hundred two-person flight teams in the briefing area. The mission was simple. The gravaerons would be modified and fitted with rotating fléchette-dispersing drum guns mounted beneath the fuselage of each vehicle. When biosensors detected any beasts of the preprogrammed sizes and dimensions, the vehicles would close and fire. The darts contained syrettes packed with the synthetic virus. The penetration depth was set at a level to assure the virus was released into subcutaneous muscle tissue. With a single animal, or an entire herd, the programmed automatic guidance and firing systems would take no more than a few seconds to infect their targets. The teams would vector out in a grid pattern spanning the entire planet east to west and north to south, traveling to the farthest points of all landmasses. This would guarantee a complete pandemic and total extinction.
Robfebe’s simulations indicated that from the day the virus was released, it would take no more than one year until all reptilian fauna on the planet would be infected carriers of the virus. Other studies of the telomeres on the chromosomes of the fauna indicted that the longest natural life-span of the most robust of the beasts was no more than two hundred years. In that short period, a species that had evolved and existed for hundreds of millions of years would be wiped from the planet with nothing left but fossilized remains. The ascent of hominids would follow as the seed evolved.
4
Three days later, the gravaerons sat ready facing the huge launch door that would soon open to the planet. As the sun spread its first light on the horizon, the gravaeron teams assembled in the bay. With a final briefing from Barjeen, they climbed into the cylindrical black machines. Each gravaeron held a two-person crew that sat back to back. The teams performed a final check of their flight and performance equipment, and at Barjeen’s signal, the leaders touched the canopy-activation switches. An almost invisible shield rolled from the lower portion of each machine and sealed the interiors. The clear canopies and additional superstructure were nanotech carbon synthetics that made them virtually impenetrable and indestructib
le.
The mission objective had been uploaded to the ship’s master computer the previous day, and within a few seconds it had formulated the entire plan and programmed the flight coordinates and procedures. Barjeen and the other pilots could assume flight control manually, but they knew that wouldn’t be necessary. They would function more as observers than actual participants. The Alpha 1 computer had within seconds of receiving the mission goals programmed the gravaeron responses to any flight situation aside from the normal requirements. Within a few seconds of formulating the data, the Alpha 1 ran a predictability model that computed to one hundred percent successful results in terms of mission accomplishment and safe return of the crews.
Barjeen sat patiently in the lead craft as the bay doors slid open, revealing a pristine blue sky and emerald-green canopy that stretched to meet the horizon. With the doors completely open, red activation lights blinked on the flight panels of the gravaeron. A second later, as programmed, the vehicles floated out of the bay in unison and descended. The teams would conduct a test run close to the command ship before flying their programmed patterns to the remote areas around the planet. No sooner had the last machine slid through the bay opening than a white light on Barjeen’s panel blinked in sequence to a monotone, computer-generated voice that filled each cockpit: “Multiple targets have been acquired and identified. Proceeding to interception for systems and procedure tests.”
Barjeen responded to the announcement at once. “Target description?”
“Multiple biomasses in random movement and patterns. Dispersion systems enabled.”
The gravaerons flared to the right and sped toward the targets. Thirteen seconds later they slowed to a hover at a point where the forest canopy gave way to a large, open area. The crews peered down at what appeared to be a dry, rock-strewn riverbed. It stretched forward for miles before climbing into a forest of foothills leading into several ridges of saw-toothed mountains. The riverbed itself was several hundred yards wide and flanked with low, dry banks. It was alive with movement. Reptilian fauna of all sizes scampered, milled about in groups, and plodded along in all directions.