More whispering. Gavel. Silence.
“Darthoor,” Myrth said, directing his attention to the creature beside the lizard man, “I take it this is news to you?” The creature flinched when it heard its name. Its placard read:
Elder Darthoor
Harowadur/Arressnia
“General Gorthon has mentioned no such thing,” the creature said. Its face reminded Max of an even uglier version of Gorthon. “I do believe he would have told me if he found some little boy wandering around the streets of Arressnia.”
“Mr. Reese, if you would please escort the boy out to the waiting area, the Council will now go into recess,” Elder Myrth said. “I will send Melotta out when we have reached a decision.”
Donovan nodded and led Max out of the room and back to his friends.
Max and Donovan joined up with Kennedy and Noah, who still sat facing each other on opposite sofas in the center of the room.
“How’d it go?” Noah asked. “Are you Ninth Sector royalty?”
Max ignored Noah’s question and quickly turned on Donovan.
“Explain,” Max demanded.
“What would you like to know, Max?” Donovan asked.
“Everything.
Chapter 16
Genesis
“Approximately 326,000 years ago, Earth was called Armeddia, and it looked very similar to how you know it today,” Donovan began.
Noah raised his hand to interject.
“If your question concerns your scientific community’s views on the origins of the universe, human evolution, or if it concerns why I and the rest of the people you’ve met speak English,” Donovan said, “then please save that for the end, because it will more than likely be answered.”
“What about dinosaurs?” Noah asked.
“Dinosaurs were around millions of years ago,” Kennedy said. “Not 300,000 years ago.”
“Yeah,” Noah said, turning toward her, “but maybe he would like to address that.”
“You…are…so…dumb,” Kennedy said, pausing between each word.
“I can answer questions about the dinosaurs as well,” Donovan said.
Noah smiled bitterly at Kennedy and slowly put down his hand.
“And you’ll be able to answer why that guy in there said my father was from some other planet?”
“I did not know your father,” Donovan said. “But I have read his dossier and can hopefully provide a little more insight for you.”
“Your dad is an alien?” Noah asked, his jaw almost touching the ground.
“Something like that,” Max said.
“I always knew you were a little weird,” Kennedy snorted.
“Why do you have to be such a jerk about everything?” Noah asked her.
The three squabbled for a solid minute before Donovan finally interrupted them, “Children, as much fun as it is to watch you call each other names and throw elementary insults at one another, we must hurry. The Council will not deliberate forever, and when they are done we will no longer have the luxury of sitting around and talking like this. May I please continue?”
“Oh by all means, Mr. Reese,” Noah said, mocking Donovan’s voice.
“A very long time after the dinosaurs roamed the earth,” Donovan began. Kennedy shot Noah a triumphant look, but he refused to acknowledge her. “Armeddia was ruled by three highly advanced civilizations: Arressnia, Triferria and Darthenia. All three of these empires had existed for many years, and while all three were very powerful, Darthenia stood above the others.
Triferria shared control of the western hemisphere with Arressnia, the former ruling what you know as North America, and the latter ruling Central and South America. Their empires were vast in size, but could not begin to compare to Darthenia, which controlled the eastern hemisphere of Armeddia. Darthenia’s rule was spread throughout all of Europe, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and a large portion of Northern and Central Africa.
These were civilizations that had evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, with the first signs of human life dating back to Earth Year 580,000 B.C. Their dynasties were large and powerful, but for many, many years there was war between them; a constant power struggle to become the dominating force of Armeddia. There had been three global wars over the course of 300 years, each more severe than the last. However, at the conclusion of the Third War, a meeting was held between the leaders of each nation.
The Third War had been a war that had lasted for over 75 years, and it had cost each side hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Cities of each side had been burned to the ground. Thousands of innocent civilians had been slaughtered. As the rulers of the empires looked over their respective lands and saw the bloodshed and destruction they had caused, they decided that the only answer to this madness was through peace.
A treaty was agreed upon between the nations and was signed at a neutral site in what you know of as Greenland. The signing of the treaty in that neutral site sparked an idea to create a body of shared government that would be called the Council of Five. It was created as a checks and balance system to maintain peace and order between the three empires. The Council was made up of a representative from each of the three world powers, plus two representatives from outside of the empires. One representative was chosen from the Western hemisphere and the other from the Eastern hemisphere.
For over 750 years, there was peace between the three powers and life flourished. The science and medical communities from the three empires began to partner together, and the evolution of Armeddia was off the charts. Diseases that were said to have been incurable and that had plagued the world for thousands of years were suddenly all but extinct. The Armeddia Space Program was created, and we were able to explore the far reaches of our solar system. Education and economy far surpassed anything that there had ever been. New inventions helped end world hunger and poverty. Crime decreased. Health and longevity increased. The average Armeddian’s lifespan grew close to 200 years.
It was during that time that the Council of Five began to create rules and laws that were enforced on a worldwide basis. It was then that there was a globalization of language and currency. The empires seemed to dissolve into one big faction. It was no longer Arressnia, Triferria and Darthenia. It was only Armeddia. The three empires had transformed to a functioning utopian society.
Then the first gateway was discovered in what is now known as Rome, Italy. It was discovered by a Darthenian named Bartholomew Futoris, a fisherman who was a native to the area. Legend has it that Bartholomew had gotten into a huge fight with his wife one evening, and as he was returning home in a drunken stupor, he stumbled upon the gateway in an abandoned cottage that he had mistaken for his own.
News of this discovery quickly spread throughout the world, and the leaders from the three empires gathered at the site, along with the world’s top scientists and physicists. This was Armeddia’s shining moment.
The gateway led to an uninhabited planet that Bartholomew named Futora Armeddia, under the advisement of Darthenia’s emperor. In a news conference, the emperor of Darthenia cited that the planet could be used to help the ever-growing overpopulation problem that Armeddia had been faced with for years. He also told the media that day that Darthenia would be sending a scout team to the planet to determine if it was safe and inhabitable. At the very end of the conference, the emperor claimed the planet as Darthenian territory – a sovereign land that they would control
The Arressnians and the Triferrians were up in arms over this and the nations pled their case to the Council of Five. After a short deliberation, the Council ruled in favor of Darthenia in a vote of three to two. Outrage spread through the lands as the two empires withdrew their representatives from the Council, claiming that it had been corrupted. The two empires spoke of the ruling as a conspiracy. They convinced their citizens that a grave injustice had been made.
It was not long before both of the emperors from Arressnia and Triferria were publically calling for the head of the Darthe
nian leader. Tensions skyrocketed even further as Darthenia set up a military secured perimeter, first around the gateway, and then around key strongholds of the empire. For the first time in almost a millennium, there were whispers of war throughout the empires.
As the three nations sat on the cusp of war, another gateway was found, this one in what is now Brazil, by an Arressnian archeologist. Then another was found in Israel. Another was found in Vancouver, and then another in Johannesburg. The great race of discovery had begun, and for the next 50 years the empires poured all of their resources into the search for these gateways.
When it was over, 11 gateways were found. Ten of the gateways led to inhabitable planets, in one degree or another. New life forms were found, and a few of the planets even contained intelligent life of their own; some more primitive than Armeddia, but some far surpassing it.
The last gateway, the one found in what you know as Atlanta, led to a damaged planet. It was theorized that the planet had been partially destroyed by an asteroid, but continued to orbit its home star. In a last ditch effort to hold on to the utopia, the three emperors partnered with leaders of the Ninth Sector and created a joint project in reconstructing the dead planet. It was done so in an attempt to create a neutral area where the leaders of the Armeddia could convene, without knowledge from the general public, to negotiate peace talks. And for a short while it worked. For a hundred more years, peace remained.
To this date no one is really sure who struck first. The Arressnians and Triferrians blamed Darthenia, and Darthenia blames Arressnia. What we do know is that the conflict was in regards to who controlled the gateways that had been found outside of the empires. The gateways in question were the ones that had been found in your Johannesburg, Beijing and Antarctica. Triferria took control of the Johannesburg gateway, and Darthenia of the Beijing. If the empires were playing fair, then Arressnia would have been given control of the Antarctica gateway. Instead, Darthenia claimed it as theirs. If I could place a bet on who was the first to attack…it would be on Arressnia.
Your world references nuclear fallout as a possibility of ending all life on Earth. Something very similar to that occurred 319,000 years ago. After the global peace treaty was broken, Arressnia and Triferria created an alliance against Darthenia, and invaded it from the east and from the south.
Arressnia and Triferria continued their assault on Darthenia, capturing territory after territory. However, Darthenia possessed a weapon that had been created after the discovery of the first gateway. It was a weapon that could vaporize entire cities into nothing more than particles of dust. It was a bomb made from a highly volatile element called Zelfanide, which was a rare element that existed on Armeddia.
It was those actions that forced Darthenia’s hand. After being backed into a corner, Darthenia launched an offensive attack of its own. In the middle of the night, a lone plane dropped a zelfanide bomb into the heart of the Arressnian epicenter. In the blink of an eye, its largest metropolis was turned into dust. In a heartbeat, millions of people were killed.
Darthenia soon got word that Triferria also possessed a similar weapon and had plans on using it as a retaliatory attack. The emperor of Darthenia demanded an evacuation of Darthenia’s chosen people. He demanded that all members of the scientific and medical community leave, as well as top members of his military and the most upper crest citizens of Darthenia. Triferria and Arressnia followed suit and called for evacuations of their empires as well. The Darthenians fled through the gateway in Rome to what is now Futora Armeddia. The Arressnians evacuated through the Brazil gateway and named their new home after their empire. The Triferrians did the same, fleeing through the Vancouver gateway. The top military advisors of each empire left behind specific instructions for the soldiers. And when the selected few of each of the nations had abandoned the planet, the three empires destroyed the world.
Tens of billions of people were killed almost instantly. Civilizations that had developed over the hundreds of thousands of years of their existence vanished in the blink of an eye. Armeddia, Earth rather, was immediately thrown back into the dark ages. The zelfanide bombs didn’t leave behind survivors…they didn’t even leave behind footprints. Armeddia had been vaporized. For a long time after that, this planet remained vacant – an empty vessel.”
There was a long moment of silence. Donovan stared out of the windows ahead of him into the deep reaches of space. He looked saddened by the story that he had just recounted. After a couple of minutes, Noah raised his hand.
“Ah, yes,” Donovan answered, “your scientific communities’ views about human evolution.”
“Actually,” Noah said, “I was wondering if you could tell me about the dinosaurs.”
“You’re such an idiot,” Kennedy said. She rolled her eyes at him.
“Like you weren’t thinking the same thing,” Noah said.
“It’s quite alright,” Donovan said. “Dinosaurs are native to the lizard planet named Taezrak-Ild. It was a widely accepted theory that 240,000,000 years ago a shift had occurred between the tectonic plates, causing a rip in one of the gateways. That rip was theorized to cause the gateway to become extremely large-”
“Large enough for a dinosaur to fit through,” Max said.
“Exactly,” Donovan agreed. “Futora Armeddian scientists theorized that the gateway remained that size for millions of years as thousands of dinosaurs made their way from their home planet to Earth. This theory was eventually debunked upon the discovery of 11 more gateways. All of which resided on Futora Armeddia. All of which led to the same eight planets that had been discovered previously.”
“Wait,” Max piped up, “each planet has a gateway to one other?”
“Yes,” Donovan answered.
“So there are 10 more gateways on this planet then?” Kennedy asked.
“Correct,” Donovan said. “They are housed all over the circumference of the planet. The Council’s army has secured military outposts at each one to prevent unauthorized access.”
“So how did they debunk the theory?” Noah asked. He rocked back and forth in his seat excitedly.
“It was the gateway to Angroth that did it,” Donovan said. “Civilization on Angroth, the Elven planet, dates back millions of years. They are the record keepers of the Ninth Sector. According to Elder Myrth, the demon planet called Harowadur was the reason the gateway had been ripped open. They had stolen the Crystals of Angroth and were using them in an experiment that eventually went awry.”
“Demon planet?” Noah asked.
“Crystals of Angroth?” Kennedy followed.
“When Harowadur was discovered there was a civilization, if you can call it that, which already existed there. It was a civilization that had been around longer than anyone else, even the Angrothians. It was a lawless planet filled with demons. According to Angrothian records, a horde of these demons crossed through their gateway to Angroth and stole the crystals.
The Crystals of Angroth are the keys to life and death. They are the epitome of chaos and order. The two crystals, one red in color and the other blue, when held together do as the possessor wishes. They have the power to create life and death, to build or destroy. The Angrothians believe that the crystals are a link to the beginning of the universe. They are said to have been created on a mysterious planet called Chronos, which resides in the far reaches of the Third Sector. However, the planet is now off limits to all travelers and no one who has ventured there has ever returned.
It was from these crystals that a giant tear was created between the gateways of Earth and Taezrak-Ild. The crystals were also the reason for the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs and the gateway rescinding to its normal state.”
“So, what about our planet’s theories concerning human evolution?” Kennedy asked.
“Life on Earth was created by a group of survivalists from the former Armeddia. Some were from Futora Armeddia, some from Triferria. They believed that it was their responsibility to repopulate this plan
et. It was over the course of the last five thousand years that these survivalists have restarted this planet. It’s also the reason that we speak English and have a planet named in Latin. These languages were ours long before they were yours. Spanish, French, and German can be found throughout the galaxy.”
“What about Pig Latin?” Noah asked.
The entire group stared at Noah in disbelief.
“What?” Noah asked dumbly.
“In the course of the last five thousand years though,” Donovan continued, “the knowledge of the other planets and the Ninth Sector were kept hidden by the founders, only passed on to a select few. That is why the majority of the Earth’s population has no idea about the secrets of the universe.”
“Why keep it hidden?” Max asked.
“We have seen what happens on this planet,” Donovan said. “It is very similar to how it was on Armeddia. Only there are more nations who are even further divided than the empires were. We keep the secrets of the universe hidden to protect Earth from destroying itself over them.”
“I think my brain is going to explode,” Kennedy said.
“So then the theory of evolution is wrong?” Noah asked.
“The only thing that is truly known is that long before there was Earth, long before Armeddia and Angroth, there was something else. The origins of this universe are still as unknown to my planet as they are to yours. There have been dozens of theories by our scientific community, all of which have eventually been proven wrong throughout time. Much like Earth, as our science and technology advance so do theories of creationism and evolution. I believe that your society thought the world was flat for a thousand years before someone proved that theory wrong.”
“We’re not proud of that,” Noah said.
There was another long pause as the four sat in silence. Max imagined that they were all pondering the meaning of life like he was. In a matter of minutes, Donovan had taken everything that Max had ever been taught and flipped it on its head. His brain hurt.
Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector Page 12