The Face of Earth

by Kirsty Winkler

  Karina thought for a moment. “The only planet I’m familiar with is Bellos, so I guess it’s my only option.”

  Agnar shook his head. “If you were discovered on Bellos, they would alert Raffort Prime to your whereabouts. You would be forced to remain on the underbelly of society if you returned there.”

  Agnar paused to let that sink in, knowing Karina wasn’t the type to want to remain in hiding. He continued, almost nonchalantly, hoping she wouldn’t see what her staying meant to him. “Or you could stay on this ship. It is the most advanced starship to date, so you would be safe here. And you would be free to travel wherever you please.”

  Karina sighed, realizing she had little choice. She looked him in the eye and took his hand, shaking it to seal the deal. “Very well; I’ll stay. But I get Sharra’s quarters.” She waited, daring him to disagree.

  Agnar laughed. “Whatever you want, Karina. Those quarters were too fancy for my taste anyway.”

  Karina pulled her hand away and picked up her bloody skirts. “Well. I guess I’ll go get cleaned up.”

  “Yes, you should do that. I’m going to take the ship back to my place on Yalsa. There are a few things I need to take care of if I’m going to be away for awhile.”

  Karina paused at the door, turning to face him. “You’re serious about going to the Fourth Quadrant, then?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll even stop by Earth, if you’d like.”

  Karina lost her breath at the thought of her planet. “Yes. I’d like that a lot.” She turned and left the bridge, her mind in turmoil from the day’s events. Her new life was unpredictable, but it wasn’t boring.

  CHAPTER 19

  Megg sat in the captain’s chair, right elbow resting on the armrest, chin in her hand. She stared at the Milky Way Galaxy on the viewscreen and sighed. At the helm, Salgon disengaged the distortion drive and the universe halted. The deck vibrated as he initiated the star drive and steered the ship into the Milky Way. The stars stretched around them as they instantly accelerated past the speed of light.

  “Plot a course for the Olympian Solar System, Salgon,” Megg instructed.

  “Yes, Megg,” Salgon replied.

  Megg sighed again. She hadn’t planned to ever return to Earth, but Karina’s words echoed in her head. The thought that a natural species on Earth could have evolved immortal souls, and had the potential to evolve intelligence, weighed on her mind. Animals actually evolved souls faster than humanoids, but they rarely evolved into immortal souls. It wasn’t until a species evolved into humanoid form that the Stelairians even tested their souls for immortality, so Megg hadn’t considered the possibility that she was destroying the very thing she had been trying to achieve. If she had only destroyed the Earthlings instead of all life on Earth, maybe an animal species would have evolved to fill the humanoid niche, and eventually evolved immortal souls.

  Megg didn’t feel guilty for eliminating the Earthlings, but she did feel responsible for destroying the rest of Earth’s species along with them. In order to salve her conscience and to ensure that none of Earth’s animal species had the potential for immortal souls, Megg decided to restore Earth. It would be millennia before she would know if her destruction of all life on Earth had been premature, but she had the time to wait.

  “Entering the Olympian Solar System,” Salgon informed her. He slowed their speed and seamlessly switched to the system drive.

  Megg watched as they passed Jupiter, one of the outer planets. The shadow of a moon raced across its surface. Then the planet fell behind. They headed directly toward Helios, the Olympian System’s star, and the viewscreen automatically filtered its glaring light.

  “Uh, Megg?” Salgon asked uncertainly.

  “Yes? What is it?”

  “Earth isn’t where it’s supposed to be.” He zoomed the viewscreen to the coordinates of Earth’s current position. The planet was gone.

  Megg was flabbergasted. “What? Where is it, then?”

  Salgon searched Earth’s entire orbit and found nothing. He turned to Megg. “I don’t know.”

  Megg pondered for a moment. “It has to be here somewhere. An entire planet doesn’t just disappear. Input Earth’s size specifications into the lasso and run a search.”

  Salgon followed her directions, and the minutes passed. Then the lasso chirped, indicating that it had found a match. “There’s a planet of that size just outside of Mars’s orbit.” Salgon said.

  “That must be it, then. Set course to those coordinates, Salgon.”

  They sped toward the planet. As it came into view, Megg could see it was indeed Earth, although the topography had changed due to severe ice coverage. “Scan the Earth. I want to know what it’s doing so far out of its original position,” she ordered.

  Salgon scanned the planet and watched as the data came streaming in, scrolling rapidly down his screen. “It seems that comet we sent had enough mass and force to disrupt Earth’s orbit,” he said. “It wasn’t apparent to us at the time because it barely had enough force and the change in orbit was gradual.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing we came back, then. We have to fix this,” Megg said. “Salgon, lasso the Earth. We need to move it back into its former orbit.”

  Salgon looked skeptically at the Earth. “Its size might be too great for the lasso and the power of this ship to handle.”

  Megg shrugged. “Try it anyway.”

  Salgon initiated the lasso and aimed it at Earth. Once it locked on, he began to drag the planet back toward the sun. The lasso hummed loudly, straining at the edge of its capability. Salgon slowed down. The humming lessened considerably.

  “Great. This will take longer than I anticipated.” Megg commented wryly.

  As the ship plodded along, Megg calculated how long it would take to get back to Earth’s original orbit. At this speed, it would take several hours. Sighing heavily, she said, “I’ll be in the lab. Let me know when you’ve settled Earth back into its original orbit.”

  “Yes, Megg,” Salgon acknowledged.

  Megg kept herself distracted from the tediousness of moving Earth by devising a new experiment to begin on the planet once it was in place. First she would have to undo the extinction of the animal and plant species, but that wouldn’t be difficult. She had brought along all the Earth species DNA that she had collected on earlier visits to the planet. It was only a matter of reseeding the DNA once she repaired Earth’s ecosystems.

  She had also brought along a newly created Earthling DNA. She believed she had found and corrected the flaw in the prior experiment’s DNA. She hoped this new DNA chromosome would produce a better Earthling, one with an immortal soul. It was a similar mix of the Stelairian, Yalsan, and Earth ape DNA she had used in the previous experiment, but this time she had added some new proteins to the DNA strands that should assure an immortal soul. She hoped.

  Megg prepared for the reseeding of Earth as they moved slowly toward their destination. As she encased the DNA chromosomes in their aerial spreaders, Salgon called her to let her know they had arrived. Megg hurried to the bridge, entering in time to see Salgon settle Earth into its orbit. It wobbled a bit as he disengaged the lasso, but remained close enough to its original orbit that Megg didn’t see a reason to resettle it.

  She sat in her chair and scanned the planet in preparation for atmosphere renewal. She couldn’t reseed Earth until they had reinstated the correct oxygen levels. She frowned as some unexplainable life readings showed up on her scan.

  Salgon noticed Megg’s furrowed brow. Over the course of their journey to the Milky Way he had become sensitive to her mood changes, so he knew something was wrong. “What is it, Megg?” he asked.

  “There are life readings on the planet. That means someone survived the destruction.”

  “Maybe some animals adapted?” Salgon questioned.

  “Perhaps. But we should check to make sure it’s not something that could be detrimental to the growth of the reintroduced species.” Megg looked thoughtfully at
Earth. “Take us down, Salgon. We’ll check it out before we begin.”

  Salgon steered the ship down to the surface of Earth. The life readings led them to a debris-filled ruined city. Salgon searched for a place to set down, finally finding one just outside the city. He and Megg suited up and went in search of the readings.

  The city slowly thawed in the warmth of the sun. They walked past the dripping debris to a building that gleamed in the bright light. Upon entering it through a hole in the wall, they discovered that they hadn’t been the first ones here. Numerous feet had disturbed the dust and dirt on the floor, leading to the only door in the room. It hung open. Salgon went and looked down the dark, spiraling hallway. He felt his way down to a room filled with cryogenic pods.

  “Down here, Megg,” Salgon called.

  Megg followed the hallway, stopping at the entrance and surveying the room. Three pods stood open; all of them empty. “Hmmm. It seems there’s more than one Earthling survivor,” Megg said, thinking of Karina.

  Salgon checked the other pods. He turned to Megg. “None of the rest have awakened,” he informed her.

  “Good,” Megg replied. “We’ll ensure they never do. We can’t have the old Earthlings interfering with the new.” She went to the control console and examined it, instantly recognizing the configuration. “Bitowan technology,” she stated. “Simple, but effective.” She initiated the defrost sequence on all the pods and watched as their lids popped open. The men inside took a breath or two of the nitrogen rich air before gasping their last.

  Salgon scanned the Earthlings. They were all dead. He nodded to Megg.

  “Alright,” she acknowledged. “Let’s get back to the ship and our task.”

  They left the building and went back to the ship, taking off and settling into orbit around the planet. Megg concentrated on repairing the atmosphere while Salgon set up the life accelerator. Within days Megg had succeeded, and Earth was ready for reseeding. Megg started with the plant species, and once they had taken hold, continued with the animal species. Finally, she added the new Earthling DNA into the mix. Once she had added all the DNA to the planet, she turned to Salgon.

  “Is it ready?” she asked.

  “Yes, Megg. Shall I initiate it now?”

  “Yes.”

  Salgon aimed the life accelerator toward the planet and turned it on. The newly warmed Earth began to bloom with plant life under its beam. Single-celled organisms formed from the seeded DNA and began to grow and evolve. Life reclaimed the previously frozen planet along the accelerator’s path. Salgon steered the ship over Earth in an expanding pattern, allowing the path of the beam to touch every inch of the planet.

  After several weeks of acceleration, Megg had Salgon stop the accelerator. She looked down on the planet, satisfied with her work. “We’ll stay for awhile to make sure that each species takes hold. Set a varying orbit, and keep a continual scan of the planet. If there are any problems, let me know.”

  “Yes, Megg,” Salgon replied, busying himself with carrying out her orders.

  Megg left the bridge and went to her quarters. She wanted to review the entire history of the previous Earthlings, to ensure that the new Earthlings wouldn’t encounter the same stagnation of evolution.

  * * *

  Lantor watched the viewscreen as they traveled through the solar system. It had been a couple of years since they were here last; well, years for them, but only months for the universe. He hated distortion travel. It aged him faster than his rivals on Yalsa. The only consolation it afforded him was that in the extra time his research had advanced far beyond theirs. The Earthling Kevin stood next to him. He had finally learned Yalsan, and Lantor had learned English. Which was good, because they hadn’t found Agnar.

  They were returning to Earth to awaken the rest of Kevin’s men. After telling the Yalsan government that the Earthling survivors had been the governing body on Earth, Kevin had convinced them that they could be useful on Yalsa. The Yalsan government authorized another expedition to Earth to allow the retrieval of the aliens, believing it was better for Yalsa to have them than for Yalsan enemies to have them.

  Lantor didn’t care about the aliens’ possible contributions to Yalsan society, he just wanted more specimens for his research. He looked over at Nanot, who stood in front of the viewscreen with his arms folded across his chest, watching as they passed through the solar system. Lantor frowned. The captain had been unusually preoccupied on this trip. He wondered why.

  Nanot stared at the viewscreen, but his attention was actually on the alien. Somehow Kevin had ingratiated himself with the Yalsan government, and it made the Yalsan military suspicious. They had Nanot pretend to comply with the government’s plan while he followed the military’s agenda. He would captain the science vessel under the government’s orders, but when they recovered the rest of the aliens, he would bring them to Callos 4, not back to Yalsa. Nanot agreed with the military’s assessment of the aliens. He didn’t trust Kevin; something about the alien bothered him. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like the rest of the aliens, either.

  They reached the coordinates of Earth, and stared at the empty space. Lantor turned to the pilot, irritated. “So, where’s Earth, Mayla? Are you sure you calculated its location correctly?”

  “I’m sure, sir.” Mayla’s tone was slightly insubordinate, and Lantor silently fumed at the subtle disrespect.

  “Mayla, run a search. We can’t be that far off,” Nanot ordered.

  “Yes, sir.” The respect had returned to Mayla’s tone as she addressed the captain. After ten minutes of searching, she spoke again. “Sir, Earth is in an orbit closer to the sun. Shall I take us there?”

  “Yes, Mayla,” Nanot answered.

  In just under an hour they reached their destination, and they all stared at the green and blue globe below them.

  “What happened?” Lantor asked, confused.

  “Captain, the planet’s atmosphere is breathable,” Mayla informed Nanot.

  Kevin gleefully rubbed his hands together. “Good. That will make it easier to revive my men.”

  “Take us down, Mayla,” Nanot ordered.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mayla steered them down through the atmosphere, heading for the coordinates of the metal building. The glacier was gone, so she set them down just behind the terminal moraine it had created. Lantor, Nanot, and Kevin disembarked, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin. They took a skiff and headed into the city.

  Kevin squinted at the sun as they drove. “Hmmm. The sun is slightly larger than it was, which means this orbit is closer to the sun than the original orbit.” When they arrived and parked next to the building, Kevin jumped out and led the way into it, excited to awaken his son along with the rest of his men. They entered the building and went down to the cryonic room. Kevin stopped suddenly as he entered, causing Lantor and Nanot to bump into him.

  “No! My son!” Kevin cried, and rushed across the room to his son’s open pod. His son lay dead and rotting in the warmth of the room. Kevin rested his head on the edge of the pod and sobbed.

  Lantor and Nanot entered the room slowly, repulsed by the scent of decaying flesh. All of the pods stood open, all of their occupants dead.

  “What happened here?” Nanot questioned.

  Lantor wrinkled up his nose. “I don’t know, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.” He went over to Kevin and sympathetically put his hand on the Earthling’s shoulder. “We should go.”

  Kevin looked up, his face stained with tears. “I must bury my son,” he insisted, roughly pulling away from Lantor.

  “What about the rest of the men?” Nanot questioned.

  “I don’t care about the rest of the men,” Kevin snapped.

  Lantor held up his hands and stepped back. “Alright. We’ll help you bury him.”

  “No, I can do it myself,” Kevin growled.

  “No, you can’t,” Nanot said. “Whoever opened these pods could come ba
ck. If we’re going to bury him, we must do it quickly.”

  “You think someone did this on purpose?” Lantor asked. “It could have been a malfunction,” he suggested.

  “No, it couldn’t have. The Bitowans designed the cryonic system too well. The redundant optical circuits would reroute the power in case of damage to the main grid, and their cubic boron nitride nanorods are practically indestructible.” Nanot gestured around the room at the pods. “This was done deliberately.”

  “But who would do something like this?” Lantor couldn’t understand the wasteful destruction of the aliens. He didn’t care that they were dead, but he cared that they had been left to rot. Now he couldn’t even salvage their bodies for scientific research.

  “Probably the same someone who moved Earth,” Nanot replied.

  “Only the Stelairians have that kind of technology,” Lantor said.

  Nanot looked worriedly at Kevin, who was still staring at his son’s corpse, tears running down his face. “If the Stelairians are behind killing these Earthlings, then we don’t want to let them know we have one in our possession. It could be dangerous for us all.”

  Lantor looked up at the ceiling, suddenly nervous. “I think we should leave as soon as possible.”

  “I agree,” Nanot said. He turned to Kevin. “Kevin, we have to go.”

  Kevin glared at him. “Not until I bury my son,” he stated with finality.

  Lantor exhaled loudly in frustration. “Fine. Bring him outside. I’ll go dig the hole.” He turned to Nanot. “There are shovels in the skiff, right?”

  “Of course. They’re in the survival case.”

  Lantor turned and left, disappearing up the dark hallway. Nanot turned back to Kevin. “Let me help you move his body,” he offered compassionately.

  Kevin nodded silently and kicked the skeleton that rested at the foot of his son’s pod out of the way. There was a hole in its sternum, indicating a violent death. Kevin wondered if there had been a fight over the last pod. It seemed pointless now that neither man had survived. He gently maneuvered his son’s body out of the pod so he could get his hands under Daniel’s armpits. Then he pulled his body away from the pod. As he did, he noticed his old gun tucked under Daniel’s belt. He surreptitiously removed it, transferring it to one of the large pockets in the leg of his jumpsuit.