Repo Earth

by Jeff Walsh

  Chapter 1

  “All departments report ready sir,” said a slim young man with light blue skin. The four silver stars pinned to the neck of his red vac-suit indicated his rank amongst the ship's crew. “The Starfaller's light drive is at capacity. Internal grav is online and showing zero fallout. Mass dampeners are operational. Awaiting your coordinates sir.”

  The man turned to face his console and began operating the touch screen once again. As he did so the ship's main display shifted from a ship wide report to a solid black screen, speckled with flecks of light.

  The captain of the ship sat unmoving as he stared out of the main display into the cold dark of space. The dim lighting of the bridge accentuated his deep, rich blue skin tone; his eyes, orbs of solid red, narrowed at his thoughts.

  The captain flicked his fingers into the air and a holographic display of two dozen planets lit up in front of him, light danced across one of his armored golden gauntlets. He shifted in his chair and his purple robes pulled tight over his seat. The black vac suit, with its seven golden stars, clung tightly to his massive and muscled form. He flicked his fingers once more and the display of planets changed with each motion.

  The captain sighed as boredom washed over him. His arm dropped to the armrest of his chair. He stared blankly at the display of spinning planets.

  “Do you know why planets are the single greatest treasure in the galaxy Commander Tira?” The captain asked.

  “I would not presume to know as you do sir,” Tira responded. He stood only a few feet from the captain's chair. The tall lanky man brushed his white braided hair off his shoulder. Tira shifted his weight momentarily and the light gray vac suit, which clung loosely to his, rich blue form, puckered at the waist.

  “Life.” The captain stated.

  “Sir?” Tira asked.

  “Planets are the foundation from which life blooms. Without a planet for life to cling, the vast emptiness of space lays claim to it.”

  “And yet, through your guidance here we are, Captain,” Tira responded.

  “Yes, here we are,” the captain said coldly. “A people without life Tira. Remnants of the great Attllian empire, floating aimlessly through space, in search of a home.”

  Tira, while listening intently to the captain suddenly raised his hand and pressed his earpiece tighter to his ear in order to here the incoming message better.

  “Something of interest Tira?” The captain asked.

  “Sir, I'm getting a report from the Otomis sector concerning one of the original seven: the planet Volja. Allow me a moment to confirm.”

  Tira raised the portable console he'd been holding in his left hand. He slid his free hand across it and began tapping quickly. His rich blue skin a blur as he worked the interface.

  The captain breathed deep and held it. A moment later he exhaled, indicating his agitation.

  “My apologies sir, I merely wished to confirm the information. It has been revealed that species 042 are the genetic match for Volja.” Tira announced. “Humans.”

  Whispers ran across the bridge of the Starfaller.

  “Lay course for Earth and initiate a spatial bend,” the captain announced, a hint of excitement found in his tone.

  The captain brought his hand up once again and flicked dismissively at the holographic display. The scene shifted from dozens of planets to one: Earth. The captain peered at the tiny blue planet for a moment. Reaching his armored hand up he took hold of the holographic planet within his fingertips. He held the tiny blue orb front and center for a moment, then with a quick twist and flick, he spun it in place.

  “Course laid in,” the younger man from earlier announced. “Ship prepping for spacial bend. Launch in twenty-two tryls.”

  “Sir,” Tira said. “In anticipation of our launch I thought it best to inspect all travel reports in and around Earth over the last few diatryls. It appears as though a vessel did in fact set route to the planet not that long ago. They will arrive before us.”

  The captain reached up and crushed the holographic display in his palm. Shards of light dispersed wildly but quickly faded into nothingness.

  “Power down the engines and contact Sir Halen of the Central Core,” the captain stated. “Have him issue a collections order for Earth using a time-lock. I do not care if off-worlders are upon it. Tell him all will be dealt with and his payment will be substantial.”

  “Of course sir.” Tira responded.

  “I also want to know who managed acquire the information about Earth before us,” the captain said bluntly.

  “I'm attempting to ascertain that information as we speak,” Tira announced.

  “After all this time,” the captain said to no one in particular. “One of the original seven, a planet worthy of our people, is within our grasp.”

  Silence fell across the bridge for a moment.

  “I have confirmation that Sir Halen has received his orders and things are underway, however,” Tira cleared his throat.

  “What now?” The captain asked.

  “It is my regretful duty to inform you that the vessel currently in route to Earth is the Platnium IV. Knowing its capabilities, as we do, there is little reason to believe that Taam and Bartl Heezarian have not already reached the planet, or will do so shortly. If they hurry, they will be able to escape with what is needed before a time-lock can be completed.”

  The captain slammed his fist down on his arm rest. The entire bridge of the Starfaller shook. The crew flinched, each of whom turned, only slightly, to look at the captain. Their faces filled with fear.

  “Inform Sir Halen of the Platnium and tell him to respond as needed, but do not cease the time-lock,” the captain said. “The Heezarians aren't capable of taking everyone off planet. They may take a few, but there are many more available to us.”

  “Of course sir,” Tira responded.

  “Pilot Ashan,” the captain addressed.

  The young man locked eyes with the captain, “Sir, awaiting orders.”

  “Redirect our course to the Pilas sector,” the captain issued. “We will make our claim once the planet has been repossessed and transported to the storage facility.”

  “Of course sir,” the young man answered.

  “Is there anything else you wish, captain?” Tira asked.

  “Yes, Commander Tira, there is. I want to know how it is the Heezarian's were able attain this information before us.”

  “Of course sir,” Tira said. “I will begin a full inquiry.”

  The captain paused a moment. He flicked his hand and brought up a display of the Heezarian ship: the Platnium IV.

  “They selfishly seek to claim what is ours,” the captain said. “Taam and Bartl have annoyed me for the final time. Issue a bounty to all scavs Commander: ten bars of star heart for any crew that can bring me the bodies of Taam and Bartl Heezarian.”

  ҉

  “Why are we off the main roads again?” Genny Linas asked her husband of eleven years.

  “There's so many uncharted caverns just north of the Superstition Mountains,” Marcus said to his wife and friend Anthony Monte, excitement filling his voice. “Any of them may very well lead to a never before explored area. Just think of it, we three may discover the Lost Dutchman Mine.”

  “Marcus, that's not what I asked,” Genny said. “Are you even listening?”

  “He's lost in his thoughts again Gens,” Anthony said as he reclined across the back seat.

  “Marcus!” Genny blurted out.

  “What?” Marcus said as he snapped from his thoughts and jerked on the steering wheel.

  The jeep swerved slightly, and kicked sand high into the air as he regained control.

  “It's hot. It's midday. And you're driving through the open desert like a lunatic.” Genny said.r />
  “You're fine. We're...fine. We're all doing fine,” he retorted. “We're almost there anyway.”

  Just then their tires smashed into a a rather large hill of sand. The jeep shook rather violently causing Marcus' thick, black glasses to shake free of his face and land on Genny's lap.

  She handed the glasses back. “Yeah, you clearly have a handle on things,” she said.

  He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and scrunched his face.

  “And what if there are no caverns?” Genny asked. “What if, like all the other theories and guesses, this doesn't work out?”

  “It'll work out,” Marcus responded.

  “Listen man,” Anthony said. “We've been really supportive of whatever you're going through. But we've talked about this quite a few times now, and you know can't keep doing this to yourself.”

  “I'm not doing anything to myself,” Marcus said defensively.

  “Marcus,” Anthony said. “You've...we've, been at this for six years now. No one faults you for the Rockies, there's a reason Forrest Fenn's treasure has remained lost for so long.”

  “You know the rule,” Marcus blurted out. “So stop.”

  “I'm just saying,” Anthony replied. “You've been given an open invitation to return to the university whenever you want. No one gets that, but they gave it to you. Just don't forget, teaching was your passion once.”

  Genny wiped the sweat from her brow. Her already olive complexion was darkening by the hour under the midday sun. She blew out a puff of air attempting to get her dark curly hair out of her face. She wiped at her brow once more.

  “Seriously,” she said to her husband, attempting to change the subject. “How can someone so smart rent a topless jeep with no air conditioning?”

  “How many more times are you going to bring that up?” Marcus blurted out. “It was a minor oversight.”

  “No, Marcus,” she said definitively. “No cruise control is a minor oversight. This is a cause for mutiny.”

  Anthony chuckled from the backseat. “Minor detail.”

  Marcus ran his hand over his nearly shaved head; the short black stubble flicked sweat into the air. He wiped his hand across his khaki shorts then wiped at his goatee.

  “Geeze,” he said. “It really is hot.”

  Genny glared at her husband and pulled at her shirt which was sticking to her curvy form. Her agitation grew every time Marcus spoke. It wasn't that she'd grown bitter, or even angry at him. She loved him dearly and was willingly to trudge through whatever he was dealing with. Yet, at this very moment, he'd made such a poor choice in vehicles that she couldn't contain her desire to annoy him.

  “I've been meaning to ask,” Genny blurted out. “Were you somehow unaware that during the summer months—in Arizona—the temperature is higher than normal?”

  “Just drink more water,” Marcus said.

  “Oh, I'm sorry,” Genny replied faking a sense of surprise. “Do you have some sort of magical water that stays cool in this sweltering heat? Because I could make a lovely cup of tea with mine it's so hot.”

  “You know what, I don’t like your attitude. So for the next five minutes, I'm not speaking to you,” Marcus responded.

  “Oh no sir,” Genny cried out. “You don't get to ignore me Mr. Can't-Rent-A-Proper-Car.”

  In a final attempt to annoy her pouting husband she turned in her seat so that her back faced him, “He solves Aztec math puzzles in his head, but air conditioning turns out to be his nemesis,” she said under her breath.

  “You two are hilarious, you know that?” Anthony chimed in.

  He stretched his legs across the back seat, and ran his hand through his wavy, dirty blonde hair. His complexion carried a nice tan, which was darkening due to the lack of shade. Sweat rolled down his forehead. As he wiped it away he smiled and said, “Great car choice my friend. I won't have to work on my tan for months now.”

  “Don't you start too,” Marcus blurted out. “I'm sure the tan you're getting is really going to hinder your social life.” He huffed sarcastically.

  “Don't be envious that I've got both looks and brains,” Anthony said to Marcus.

  “Envious,” Marcus retorted. “Can the women you date even spell envious? Or have you started dating your former students again?”

  “I dated one former student,” Anthony responded. “And yes, most of the others can spell.”

  “Most,” Marcus said and laughed. “Seriously though, are you ever going to date a girl that can carry on a conversation about more than the latest gossip?” Marcus craned his head to look at Anthony in the back seat.

  Anthony sat up to respond but paused as something caught his attention. With one cursory glance he took notice that Marcus was not watching the road once more, and Genny was purposefully staring out of the passengers window attempting to ignore her husband.

  This explained, only slightly, why no one in the car saw the rather large object plummeting from the sky no more than a hundred yards in front of them.

  “Hey!” Anthony blurted as he pointed at the descending object.

  “Whoa!” Both Marcus and Genny screamed as their eyes snapped forward.

  Marcus slammed down hard on the brakes and the jeep began to slide across the sandy desert floor.

  With a sudden jerk in the opposite direction the jeep stopped abruptly.

  The flustered group watched as the massive, smoking object made impact. Without a sound or tremor the ground swallowed it whole.

  The group puzzled for a moment.

  Then, as if delayed, dirt and rocky debris spit into the air. The three covered their faces and stared on in shock as the brown-gray dust completely enveloped them.

  “What was that?” Marcus coughed out.

  “I don't know, but it was huge.” Anthony said. “It was smoking, right? You two saw all the smoke?”

  “Am I crazy?” Genny asked. “That, thing, it just vanished into the ground, right?”

  “That's what I saw,” Anthony replied. “And, as far as I know that's not possible. Marcus, you're always bragging about being the smart one, explain that.”

  Just then a gust of wind kicked up. The three squinted their eyes as the site before them cleared.

  “What the,” Anthony said.

  He opened his door and climbed out of the jeep.

  “Guys. It's not done being weird yet.”

  Anthony looked and noticed that the jeep had stopped inches before the edge of the impact crater, which was a hundred yards in diameter, but roughly only ten feet deep. Protruding from the epicenter was, what Anthony and the others could only describe as a large ball of rock, easily fifty feet around. It sat like a giant stone ball, now half buried in the ground.

  Marcus and Genny got out of the jeep, “You think it's a meteor?” Genny asked.

  Anthony made his way down into the crater and approached the rock. He quickly passed his eyes over the scene and noted quite a few peculiarities as he walked the perimeter.

  First off, the depth and diameter of the impact crater didn't make any sense. Something as large as the rock would've created far more devastation.

  Secondly, the rock itself appeared completely unharmed, with not a scratch, burn mark, or even the tinniest of cracks to be found. Even the symmetry of the meteor was unnatural as it appeared perfectly spherical.

  Thirdly, after walking the perimeter of the rock he found a cleanly cut out section that housed a rickety iron elevator, which hung over an opening that lead to a pool of pitch black nothingness.

  He inspected the elevator, but only for a second. Instead, he chose to continue his trek around the rock.

  Next he noticed that the sun sat almost directly over head, yet the light came to an abrupt stop just a few inches before the rocky mass. For all his examining, he couldn't find anything that would cast this shadow.

  Lastly, Anthony felt a slight chill radiating from the surface. He reached out slowly and touched the rock. It was ice cold with a smooth, almost poli
shed texture.

  “So, do you have super powers yet?” Genny yelled as she and Marcus approached.

  “That's not funny,” Marcus stated bluntly. “This thing really could be giving off radiation and we wouldn't even know it.”

  “Calm down,” Anthony responded. “Super powers would be cool. But no joke, this thing is weird. There's all kinds of stuff I can't figure out.”

  “Such as?” Marcus asked.

  “Well for starters,” Anthony answered. “I'm pretty sure a rock falling from the sky isn't supposed to be cold.”

  “What?” Marcus blurted out.

  He reached out and touched the surface.

  “It's freezing,” he stated. “And oddly smooth.”

  “That's not the weirdest part,” Anthony continued. “Around the west side there's a section that's carved out. It's about nine feet tall, five feet wide and deep, with an old rickety elevator bolted into it.”

  “What?” Genny blurted out.

  She ran around the side to find the area Anthony described.

  “Of course she'd run off,” Marcus said.

  “Holy smokes!” Marcus and Anthony heard her yell.

  “What do you make of this thing?” Anthony asked Marcus. “Do you think it could be some military experiment?”

  “I don't know,” he responded. “My instinct's telling me this isn't military, although I've never seen anything like it. Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's interfering with our cell phones and the CB in the jeep is giving me nothing but static.”

  “Well,” Anthony said as he ran his hand through his hair, “if this isn't military, that only leaves one plausible option, right?”

  Marcus just shot Anthony a glance.

  “That's what I thought,” Anthony said with a hint of excitement in his voice. “You should go check out that elevator thing. It's really weird.”

  The two made their way around and found Genny up on her toes examining something.

  “You two need to see this,” she blurted out in excitement. “I think I found a power source, or some sort of mechanism to work this thing.”

  All three were now up on their toes as Genny pointed out an oddly shaped box with a few wires and gears that sat atop the elevator.