Up and Coming: Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

by Anthology

  I know this sounds crazy, but if the Faction succeeds in its plan to detonate the cursed weapon that I developed in a crazy bid to provide endless energy to our world, we will all be destroyed.

  My love, I long to be with you now, but I am traveling today to the Capitol to try to talk sense into the Judges there, personally. I hope that I am not too late.

  I send you my heart, my soul, and my endless kisses. I hope that I see you and our children soon.

  Love,

  John

  ***

  To the Leaders of the Faction:

  I beg of you, return the device that is in your possession back to its rightful owners. I agree that we all need a dialogue about the direction our planet’s governmental rulers have chosen with the Dragons. We must discuss the wide-spread effects of space travel on our world in an intelligent, rational manner.

  Your religious beliefs are strong, I understand. You must please hear me: the device you hold in your hands could trigger an unbelievably catastrophic series of events that could destroy life as we know it on this planet.

  We have nowhere else to go that has homes for us to live in, and any emigration to other planets at this point is unfeasible. Please allow me to speak to you about a device and a danger that I never intended.

  Can we not negotiate like civilized people? The day is long and the night is longer—but the sun will bless those of us who save our world.

  You hold our fate in your hands. Please look at your loved ones, your children’s faces, and know that it is within your power to change the world for the better, not the worse.

  Sincerely, with hope,

  John Tycho, inventor of the weapon you hold

  ***

  To: The Elder Dragons

  Anahita Region

  Esteemed Friends:

  I believe the time for negotiations has ended. You in your wisdom have provided us a means to travel the galaxies, indeed, the universe. But there are those on our world who are afraid of the gifts you give. They will destroy us all in their fear. My search for renewable energy has caused me to inadvertently create a device that could destroy us all in the hands of those in the Faction.

  You will recall the stories you have told me about what happened to your planet, so long ago before you came to us. How the Evil Ones took over, and caused a catastrophic meltdown of your planet’s energy sources. I fear that pattern is happening here, as well. Your interplanetary travel might be all that saves us.

  I wish more of our people knew of your story, but I understand your reluctance to share your species origins, that you are extra-planetary beings come here to co-exist with us. I wish we were as intelligent of a species as your initial findings showed us to be.

  I believe you must prepare the ships to transport as many of our planet’s people as possible to the Third Planet in our solar system. As you know from your own explorations of our solar system, it is not very hospitable, and there is no civilization to speak of.

  The ships must be well-stocked with supplies, both for building, for medical care, to combat the diseases and environmental disasters that will surely befall our people on the barbaric surface of that planet. Not to mention the dangers of super-carnivores which still stalk the Northern hemisphere, and the primitive tribes of barbaric humanoids who live there. They are our distant genetic cousins, yes. But they have nothing in common with our civilized planet.

  It has taken 4.6 billion years since the formation of this solar system and indeed, the universe. And it will take mere seconds for it to turn into a raging pit of acid, ammonia, and clouds. It will be, indeed, like the Hell their religion speaks of.

  I am sending my wife and children to you. Please, I beg of you, save as many as you can. You, and your starships, are our only hope for some measure of survival.

  John Tycho

  ***

  Acts

  I was sent forth from the power,

  and I have come to those who reflect upon me,

  and I have been found among those who seek after me.

  Look upon me, you who reflect upon me,

  and you hearers, hear me.

  You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.

  And do not banish me from your sight.

  And do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing.

  Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or any time. Be on your guard!

  Do not be ignorant of me.

  For I am the first and the last.

  I am the honored one and the scorned one. ~Nag Hammadi. The Thunder, Perfect Mind

  From the Desk of Joan Lummoch

  Official Transcriptionist of the Courts of the Hall of Judges

  Five of the Elder Dragons appeared at the Hall of the Council of Judges today. We were in session, discussing the problem of the Faction having gained access to what some are calling a penultimate doomsday device, and that some are dismissing as mere sabre rattling. There was from the area of the larger doors an uproar, voices raised in a combination of alarm and joy. This is not the official record, but my own recollection of what happened. So I may miss things in the excitement.

  The Elder Dragons are rarely seen outside of their own Halls, and the Dragons that most people get to see are the navigators and younglings, who mix regularly with our own children and young people.

  These were five of the most respected, most wise of the Dragons, the ones that people in the know believe are the leaders of their community.

  The first through the doors was Xiuhcoatl. Some said he is in charge of wars, and that he would be a sort of battlefield general if there ever came a need to fight. He was huge, his skin green and yellow colored. Unlike most Dragons, he didn’t have any wings, even vestigial ones, but instead there was a beautiful spiny ridge of red and green spikes coming from his back, tip of his tail to top of his head. His eyes shone a dark jade-green color, and he swung his head back and forth to observe everyone in the room, as though sizing us all up.

  The next dragon was thought to be a female, named Ladon. Apparently some dragons can be either male or female, depending on their preference for mating. But she generally refers to herself as a female, so everyone waited to hear from her what her preference was before using pronouns. She was a dark blue, with large purple-red wings that spanned, when opened, twice her body length. She was said to be a water dragon, who would swim regularly in the great pools out behind the Hall of Dragons, and she clearly was not impressed with the lack of moisture in the Hall of Judges. She looked annoyed, and uncomfortable, but also resigned that she needed to be here. Being a water dragon, people speculated later that it was because of her intimate knowledge of the environment, and her scientific training in water and chemistry that she had come along, although she preferred solitude and scientific study to public appearances. I thought she was the most beautiful of all of them.

  Third stalked in a large male called Nidhug, whose power-element was his strong, towering legs like tree-trunks. He was dark grey, with black spikes and wings that, when opened, as they briefly were while he was settling in, almost seemed translucent. His chin was tipped in dark blue beard-spikes, and his eyes were almost white, as though he didn’t need a pupil. Those who had seen him before today speculated that he was a deep-dwelling cave or underwater dragon, and that impression was not undone with his court appearance. While the bright lights didn’t seem to cause pain, one got the sense he, like Ladon, would have preferred to not be here.

  Fourth was Pythios, who is said to be psychic in addition to a Dragon’s regular telepathic abilities. She can see the future in addition to what you’re thinking, and can project that future vision into your mind, should she choose to do so. She was smaller than the others, perhaps younger, and her green-blue scales rippled in the light, almost as if they were illuminated from inside, perhaps bioluminescent. She had no spikes and her four powerful but still delicate legs somehow reminded you of the fact that most dragons do fly. Their bones must be especially lightweight, unless the fli
ght is caused by some kind of magic and not evolution. Her eyes seemed to pierce into everyone’s soul as though she knew all of your secrets, kept them, but knew what would happen to you because of them.

  The fifth and final dragon was Tiamat, also a female. She is rumored to be a fire-dragon, who could literally breathe fire if she chose. Her coloring was beautiful—orange red, with creamy scales along her underside, golden spikes that looked more like soft feathers rippling down her neck. Some said that she was the matriarch of all of the dragons on the planet, that somewhere in history she had been the first Dragon. Since nobody knew how old dragons could be or were, and since both Dragons and Tiamat had been here as far back in recorded history as we had records, it certainly seemed possible. The other dragons deferred to her, and it seemed as though coming last in line was, to the dragons, the position of greatest authority.

  After the initial excitement, the bailiffs to the court were able to clear a section of the Judges’ chambers for the Dragons to gather in. They had indicated that they were here to observe, and not to speak.

  This seemed true until one of the Judges spoke of the letters of John Tycho, and his warnings about the device that he had invented.

  This caused the Dragons to stir, and as though they had agreed upon this beforehand, one of them spoke. I will record their speeches here, as best as I can remember them. For anyone truly wanting to know what happened, they should consult the official transcript, available in the Hall of Records.

  Pythios: Learned Counselors, we are here today to speak to you of our species. We do not, as people believe, originate on this planet.

  (At this, there was argument among those gathered in the Court Hall which continued until the Dragons, almost as one, turned their eyes towards the people, who immediately quieted under the piercing eyes of Dragonkind).

  Pythios continued: It is true. We once lived on a planet in a solar system far away. You would know this system as being approximately 16 of your light-years away, in the constellation commonly called Grus but which we named the Winged Dragon. That planet is now governed solely by a group we call, in your language, The Dark Ones. You would not like to meet them. But their history is one that your planet shares—a history of hate, and intolerance. A history of not allowing open debate. And a lack of a desire to explore outside their own comfort zone.

  We who came to this planet before your recorded history longed to connect with other sentient beings. Longed to explore the galaxies. We found this planet second from your solar orbit with your early humanoid ancestors and came here, hoping to co-exist. The other planet in this system, the third from the solar orbit, was not ready for us, too cold, and too unready for our kind then.

  Now it seems as though our shared existence on this planet is in danger. Those among you who question the drive to reach for the stars are gathering, and they are dangerous. I believe there is little chance to alter the future I have seen.

  Please, join with myself and the other Dragon Elders at our compound. We must evacuate as many as we can to the great Starships, and we must lead a colony to the third plant.

  At this, the audience erupted again, and even the eyes of the gathered elder Dragons would not silence them. There were many who ran from the Hall, and never returned. The Council of Judges ordered a recess to the proceedings and cleared the Hall of the rest of the assembly.

  We do not know what the official orders will be concerning evacuation and colonization.

  ***

  Exodus

  These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family…The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all. ~Exodus 1

  Jude ran from the academic rooms to the staging area. He looked into the sky where the ominous clouds of a seasonal thunderstorm were just beginning to form. From what he had been told, the storm that was coming would be far worse, and last far longer. He didn’t know what to think about the immediate future, but he was glad his parents had made a quick decision to leave.

  Frantic crowds gathered in front of the ships holding bags filled with whatever they could carry. Entire families, children crying, mothers trying to comfort them. Men trying to look stoic but sometimes failing and crying too.

  Jude knew that Yalta-ba-oath was near. He had finally just mastered the empathic link between his Dragon guide that was required to pilot the Starship just last cycle but it was there. Still tentative, but there.

  Jude. This way, towards the front of the ship.

  Jude pushed through the crowds. There were guides gathered there, trying to calm everyone, trying to advise them on where to load the Starship, how to stow their baggage. The stewards would handle those details. It was time for him to climb into his pilot pod, nestled next to the Dragon’s much larger pod, and boot up the system for its initial checklist sequence.

  He knew that the ship, a biological cyborg entity that had a symbiotic relationship with its Dragon pilot, had already cycled through much of the real checklist needs. The ship would have made the environment right for the occupants based on their metabolic patterns, which it could sense. It would have already plotted out exactly how much fuel they needed, and mapped the path they needed to take. The ship simply needed a special translator-team of the biological organisms onboard to translate those needs, to remind it to continue running and adjusting life-support and adjusting for any emergencies.

  He stowed his own gear in the space beneath his seat provided for that purpose and climbed into the seat, which was exactly his size, as though built for him. He scanned the checklist: Auxiliary fuel supplies—Off; Flight controls—Free and correct. Dragon empathic interface—loading. He clicked his tongue on the top of his mouth, which was the signal for the headset to begin the software that helped the process.

  At this, he felt Yalta-ba-oath’s calming mind connect with his. The image of water flowing over dark black rocks, which he had been taught as a way of smoothing out any hiccups in the initial upboot, made his anxiety fade away.

  He went down the list: instruments and radios—checked and set. Between themselves, Yalta-ba-oath and Jude checked the engine idle status, monitored the still-in-progress passenger loading status. It appeared that almost everyone was on board, and the stewards notified the two pilots, one human, one Dragon, that they were ten minutes from being ready for takeoff.

  Jude made a special sweep with his empathic senses, which now engulfed the entire ship’s intricate central nervous throughout the ship, to check for his parents. They were both wedged in the first forward compartments, nervous, sweating. He could slightly read their emotions in the way the empathic link with the Dragon allowed, and knew that they were still not sure they were doing the right thing, and yet afraid that it was absolutely necessary.

  The ship could hold approximately seventy passengers. There were ten ships in all, and all of them were completing the intricate frantic dance of passenger loading and Dragon/Pilot interface. Jude could hear the chatter from the inter-ship radio that confirmed all the ships were almost ready, too.

  The families that were loaded on this Starship included Judges and all the other staff and legal emigrant candidates that had already applied to the program.

  Jude pinged the pod with the two Reuben Judges, who were from a Southern province near the Ocean, to indicate to them that they needed to initiate their takeoff sequencing. They were the only members of the group that did not quite appear ready. They did not have any children yet, although the empathic vibe Jude was getting from the woman suggested the faintest ripple of a mind within her—perhaps a child was coming soon.

  The Simeons, two boys and a girl, along with their parents, were loaded in a pod next to Jude’s family. Next to them were the Levis, who had protested and strongly believed this was a premature mistake, but who did not want to risk their family’s safety in the backlash against this action that would likely follow. Those pods were near the back of the ship. Their child was also loaded with them, too young to know what was
going on, getting bored and a little sleepy now that the loading process was done.

  Judge Issachar, Judge Zebulun, and Judge Benjamin were all unmarried, but they were teachers, also, so they had herded a number of the documented groups of people who had applied to the Interstellar program on board, helped them load into the communal class seating near the center of the back section. The Judges Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher were also on board, and because of their advanced state of training, had already loaded the cryo-sleep programs and were in the light dozing state that was suggested before take-off.

  None of the families had ever launched from the planet’s surface before. This was a new experience for everyone, in spite of the months (and for some, years) of training. The Dragons, of course, had been through this all before. They sent calming vibrations through their human pilots, who in turn were able to send those calming thoughts to the other humans.

  Pilots were chosen for their ability to interface with the alien mind of the Dragons and the minds of their fellow humans, and Jude had been told he was the best. Jude and Yalta-ba-oath knew that the other ten ships nearby were also finishing up the final stages of pre-flight, but their ship, the Genesis, would be first to go. Yalta-ba-oath had flight seniority.

  Jude was proud he had been chosen as Yalta-ba-oath’s navigational partner. Even though he was much newer to the program than many of the other ships’ navigators, he would be the first to touch the atmosphere. First to reach out a hand to the stars and the nearby planet.

  The final items of the pre-flight takeoff checklist were lit on Jude’s navigational board, just in front of his seat and to the side. Stewards reported the doors and windows locked. Jude checked, once more, the fuel mixture. It was full rich but would be adjusted once they were out of planetary orbit over 3,000 feet. The ship’s interstellar lights were set and navigational cameras loaded.