Dystopyum (The D-ot Hexalogy Book 1)

by Chris Finkelstein

  “The hydrosplitters release the split oxygen which provides the planet’s livable atmosphere. From those countless fissures throughout the ocean floor, massive amounts of oxygen bubble up to the surface of the ocean, and into the atmosphere.”

  The audience was starting to show more interest. They all knew what this meant. If humans transplanted these organisms on Earth, perhaps in isolated lakes, it could help solve the problem of decreasing amounts of oxygen in the air there due to deforestation. There were no plans to grow the hydrosplitters in the oceans, due to threat of ecosystem imbalances. Most of the audience was unaware that hydrosplitters required a much higher level of salinity in the water than that of the Earth’s oceans. Indeed, measures were already in place to quarantine the first emigrations of this unique microorganism to Earth. The Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah, United Continents of America — was the obvious first choice, and planning was currently taking place for the first new “guests,” which would be arriving in about seven years.

  “The amount of life that inhabits these oxygen-rich plumes is vast. They not only feed on the hydrosplitters and their fat globules, but also on the minerals of the ocean and its floor as well. Moreover, they feed on each other. Cannibalism is common, with many species eating their own young. All things combined, this releases nitrogen into the ocean, and from there, into the atmosphere, giving us an atmospherically near-perfect balance. It is a fragile atmosphere. With no plant life filtering it, the air can quickly become poisoned.

  “This ocean has most of the same minerals we have on our own planet, in sometimes highly different ratios. Every colonist will receive my D’ot8 survival manual. This will outline in detail what I am about to tell you briefly here.”

  Marshal North looked slowly and with great authority into his audience, forcing many of them to look him in the eyes. This was abnormal behavior in this society, if only because life had become so — well, pleasant. The expression of human intensity was unusual. The people listening were just agreeable, sane, intelligent, hard-working humans. Wars and strife were merely distant history for them. They knew that challenges were always ahead, but they were prepared for that. The network of the Guild was always there to catch them. His audience, having nothing to relate to his intense demeanor, simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

  Jason Ata was also noticing North’s expression. For an instant, Jason imagined that North might have some knowledge of what was potentially going to happen.

  Look at Marshal North, Jason told himself as he put his hand on his unshaved chin, chubby fingers rubbing his lips. He may actually have some knowledge of what we really face there. Oh, here it comes. Jason felt a surge of a bittersweet emotion as he surveyed the group of team leaders gathered there. You lovely people don’t have a clue. If you did, many of you may not have come along. God bless you. He thought a moment. Maybe I should give it to them straight — not sugar coat it. That may not be the wisest choice, the inner voice said.

  Jason wasn’t listening — the Marshal distracted him.

  Survival Marshal North was talking about the animals. “The life forms on this planet have been surviving and evolving for millions of years. Because there is no plant life, they all appear to be predators. It is interesting that we have found no flying animals, just a few small flying insects.

  “We have vast experience clearing out such animals on other planets, and these should be no significant problem here. However, because of the unknown, you must all know that it may be some time before we can breed them for domestication. We bring a good, healthy mix of livestock to the planet for the interim period. In the meantime, I would like to cover a few of the creatures we expect to run into. If you please, look at the screen again.”

  North proceeded to discuss some of the strange and interesting creatures found on D’ot8. The newly discovered underground library had everything the robot probes needed to learn a language called “Aletian”. Sound recording archives allowed them to learn the pronunciations of the words. As he showed pictures of each of the creatures he wanted to illustrate, he talked in detail about them.

  He started with the primary creatures of his concern, the “trachnas”. These were similar to spiders on Earth, except that they were about twelve inches around. Their legs had exoskeletons, like crabs on Earth, so that the muscle was inside the shell-like leg sections. The shell itself was a chrome alloy that the trachnas could utilize and grow from chrome deposits where they would nest. They used their legs to tear and rip into their prey until it was dead. There they would remain, staying for as long as the carcass lasted, sharpening their claws against one another for the next attack. They traveled in packs. They were one of the few creatures that could kill an “ela”.

  North went on to the elas saying, “The ela is a snake-like creature that holds poison in its tail. It can grow over one hundred feet in length, but most are less than fifty. It attaches to its prey using its large jaws, and then it raises its tail, curling back on itself, kind of like a scorpion I would say.” North looked around, and then went on, “The poison tip of its tail curls from above, pointed down at its prey, and immediately penetrates the prey, injecting it with the poison. The prey dies instantly.”

  North stopped and looked around the room. “I hope we are not getting bored yet,” he said with a smile. Someone gave a snoring sound from the middle of the room, and the folks laughed a bit. North said, “I did also want to go over some of the domesticated beasts they used as pets, and for transportation and hauling.” He changed pictures on the monitor screen. “These animals are also still surviving there. They called this one, an ‘emui’. It reminds me of our cats. It has a bigger cousin, the ‘crantic’, which had not been domesticated, and can be compared to our tigers. These creatures are among the few that have fur.

  “Another was one they called a ‘gendra’, and it is a huge, stegosaurus-like creature. It, however, is four times bigger than our stegosaurus ever was. They walk into the water to spear, screen and feed on fish with their long claws. They had been able to domesticate gendras in the past, and they apparently were not dangerous as long as they were well fed, typically with fish. They were able to haul heavy equipment. They have very pointy scales, and weigh over twenty thousand pounds. They can grow up to twenty feet high, thirty feet wide, and seventy-five feet long.”

  North went on, “Although there are many animals to review, I am only going to mention one more. These quite interesting animals exist on the planet now, just like the others I have shown you. They called them, “contisses”. The D’otians used contisses as we used horses in our ancient history. They have leathery scales similar to an armadillo — however they have elastic properties, and can stretch. A contiss has loose skin between its front and hind legs, like our flying squirrel. This enables it to leap great distances. When alone, it can land by rolling into a ball. They were fed live ‘tacks’ and ‘blogs’, along with hydrosplitters. Tacks are like our rats, except that they are reptilian. The blogs were primates of the D’otians. Blogs have both mammal and reptile characteristics, as the D’otians themselves had.”

  North was busy trying to get the monitor to show the pictures of each animal as he mentioned them. He went back to the contisses. “Here we are with the contiss again. We have learned that these animals were considered to be very intelligent and great protectors of their owners. They could even defend against the spider-like trachnas. They did this by rolling on them, biting them, and by stomping them. There was also a separate breed, which they called ‘guard contisses’. D’otians could not ride them, but they were fiercely territorial, and provided protection.

  “We have located areas amenable to farming, and have brought twice as much soil starter as we need. This will rapidly break down the specific minerals and other nutrients from the planet’s soil and make them available for our vegetables. The hydrosplitters and animal life will provide food for us as well. Our robots have found that the hydrosplitters were the major source
of carbohydrates, essential amino acids and vitamins for the inhabitants of D’ot8. D’ot was the name that the inhabitants called their planet. We add the ‘8’ because this is our eighth colonization mission, in accordance with the Guild’s Planetary Naming Conventions.

  “We have successfully farmed on each of our planets, and since the rate of farmland production will be faster than the growth of the colony, there will be an ample amount of vegetables for us. As farmers, we know we are hostage to the weather. The closest sun lies between D’ot8 and Black Hole 17C. This black hole is a relatively close one. It appears to have significant effects on the planet’s sun, which causes quite large solar flares that have significant effects on the weather of D’ot8. There is nothing good about a black hole. They cause problems with communication, as well as throwing off our navigation.

  “The reason we are starting this mission now is because D’ot8 may only have one thousand years or so before the planet becomes uninhabitable. This will be because of these tremendous solar flares, which also have ‘tides’. These tides can become amplified because of the harmonic convergence with the pulsations coming from the black hole. One thousand years is shorter than you may think. The Guild needs the resources on that planet, and the souls bound to it need recycling. Although one thousand years is not enough for that, it is better to be late than never,” he said with a sour grin.

  North motioned to the monitor screen again, and displayed new photographs of the interiors of homes and buildings.

  The audience started up with excited chatter. This was the first time they had seen pictures like this.

  The rooms in the photographs appeared quite large, and they were beautifully ordained with various metallic designs, which were quite elaborate in some rooms. D’otians had a simple design for underground building. The entrances that descended into the occupied areas had a “trap” connected to them that kept water from being able to gather in the living quarters. They apparently had sewage systems that drained into common containing areas, then into the ocean or rivers or lakes. There were obvious lighting fixtures — however there was no active electricity. The robots taking the photographs supplied their own lighting. The corners and edges of the rooms were rounded, and thresholds were curved, and smoothed-out. Kitchens were the central rooms of most homes. D’otians had stoves, ovens, and refrigerators. The living quarters often had a radio in them. The robots had found some recording devices in the homes as well, and it appears they played music with them.

  Marshal North went on, “Although we have brought building supplies, D’otians built most of their living and working structures underground, in well-designed architecture which you can see here. We believe these structures to be very usable even now, although we won’t know for sure until we actually arrive.

  “Regarding our exports to Earth, there is a natural compound on the planet called ‘agrist’ which is in plentiful supply, and it is very expensive to produce on Earth. When added to metal in the AOD, it increases the volume of that metal by over eight hundred times. In other words, it will make virtually any metal seventy-eight percent lighter, while retaining ninety percent of that metal’s hardness and strength. It can make a ‘metal foam’ by combining it with almost any metal. When added to the alloy films we already use, this provides a low mass, tough outer shield. This helps to make space ships almost impervious to space dust erosion. Erosion is the main reason our ships end up decommissioned. The company that we lease these ships from gave us a very good deal on this mission, just to be the first to be able to buy this compound from us.

  “We have two nuclear power sources; one will be activated upon our arrival at D’ot8, and one will stay in hibernation for any unforeseen need in the future. Since so many things are dependent on plentiful electricity, we want multiple redundancies here. Both the hydrosplitters and the agrist will be important exports for this planet to develop. Mining and harvesting equipment is on board to develop these resources.”

  Marshal North continued, “The microorganisms on any prospective planet are typically a concern to incoming colonists. Unknown viruses, pepotads, fungi, and viro-bacillus can be unpredictable, no matter how much probe research we have done. As you know, we always seem to lose a few colonists to a new disease, until we come up with a solution. We have always come up with an answer, although, you all know about Omegon, and what happened there — the first colonists were completely wiped out. Other than Omegon, we have only lost three percent at most, to disease. This is why we all wear masks until we know for sure. This is a three-month requirement, and it is for your own safety.

  “Please read your manuals before you go to sleep. Keep this important mission in your uppermost thoughts. Thank you for your time.”

  Here we go. Jason suddenly longed for the day he could purely work and not be required to speak in front of people.

  There was brief applause, and Survival Marshal North took his seat.

  Social Director Hay took the podium once again, and said, “Thank you, Marshal North, for your exciting picture of our future home!” She paused while those in attendance gave another round of applause. Then she asked Dr. Jason Ata, Director of Soul-Typing and Guidance, to take the podium. “Now everybody, please give a warm welcome to our SoulTyping and Guidance Director, Dr. Jason Ata!” There was polite applause as he rose from his chair.

  Jason quickly forgot his butterflies on the way to the podium. He paused, took it all in with a deep breath. As he took his place at the podium, he looked at the audience, and overflowed with a tremendous surge of love for them. He had been Guild-trained, and this was habit by now. Jason did not appreciate how aware he was of that state as compared to others. It extended into them and he could feel them returning it. It felt good. It always did. He took another deep breath. Thank you.

  Jason began to speak. “Where do I begin? Well, I believe this mission will be a challenging one. With challenges come opportunities.” He paused for a moment. “You will need to practice your faith every day, for everyone around you.” Jason continued, “I have reason to believe that the soul-types we will be receiving will be beyond the genetic harmonics you carry. I don’t want to alarm you, but we need to be prepared for the arrival of very violent and difficult newborns.”

  “What do you mean?” A member of the audience blurted out.

  Someone else yelled, “I never heard of this!” The room was now alive with motion and murmurs.

  Alarmed by the audience’s reaction to Jason’s words, the social director stood up and addressed him, “Dr. Ata, please excuse me. I have heard about your team’s research into the dissociative soul-mind. Does that have something to do with this?”

  Dr. Ata looked at her, unmoved by the sudden onset of fear in her eyes. He was not unmoved because he didn’t care. He was unmoved because his mind was always focused on one thing: Stay connected. Connection with the tranquil Source was habitually fixed in Jason’s mind. Social Director Hay waited, continuing to stare at him. She became placated by his quiet confidence, and she relaxed some.

  Looking at Social Director Hay, he softly said, “In our world, the Guild trains parents trying to conceive a baby to ‘call’ to the soul-type they believe they can help in the world. As you know, we accomplish this with specific meditations and prayer. When the baby is born, my department’s job is to analyze the baby for its soul-type, and fashion the best guidance we can for the development of that particular soul. A soul is categorized as one of three primary types. A Type I baby is easy to raise and love. Type I babies are very responsive to love, and when loved, they return the love. They learn to use love, and it blends in with most of their efforts as they grow and mature.”

  Jason accepted a drink of water brought to him, and then continued. “Type II children have a tendency to repress love. They don’t respond as well to love, and do not return it as easily. However, they can recognize love and respond, if they are in the mood. These ones will need more love, because they as they grow older they don’t re
cognize or appreciate love, and they waste it. They waver in their ability to grow love intentionally until they are past their teens. Much depends on the skill and love of the parents. Eventually, we can guide Type II babies to give and receive love as well as Type Is can. Type II babies are the largest category, and most of us were primarily Type II babies, with both Type I and Type III characteristics in varying degrees.”

  Jason continued, “The III babies are those souls that have completely dissociated love from their awareness, resembling someone with the split personality variety of schizophrenia. One side does not know what the other side is doing. These are the most difficult to overcome. They cannot recognize love. They have a defense mechanism in their subconscious that actively avoids and rejects any recognition of love. This is hidden in a part of the invisible soul-mind — the ‘blind spot’, if you will. It hides a savage distrust and hate of love. If conscious recognition of love comes to the surface, they will mentally ‘run’ in the opposite direction. They will shrink from love, or, if they cannot escape, attack the source of the love — covertly, or overtly. Whereas a Type II child may use love, and manipulate a parent’s love to the child’s advantage, a Type III child would not think to use love for anything, love being taboo. As adults, they can learn to develop a social persona, but behind it is something very cold.”