Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1)

by Yves LF Giraud

  “The alien in my dream,” thought Dedrick.

  A low-pitched vibration followed through the floor of the room, sending shockwaves through all of them. The rotating sphere in the middle of the chamber began to rise toward the ceiling. Dedrick quickly grabbed Chasma in his arms and moved back next to Vera. The transparent pod and its occupant rose a few meters, and slowly glided to the center pad. Lining itself below the spinning sphere, the capsule began to glow. A very bright light suddenly flooded the pod from above. While bathing in the blinding haze, the glassy capsule containing the alien slowly faded away, and the body of the strange being rose out of its sleeping position, while the pod rematerialized in its original place among the other twenty-six below. Staring at the imposing alien, the anthropologist in Liu couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the strange being. The alien, floating on his back a few meters above the platform, shared a few similarities with humans. Although of distinctively larger proportions, the being had two legs, two arms, a head, and two eyes, just like humans do. However, the resemblances ended there. The being’s cranial features alone were quite different. Its head was significantly larger and curved slightly forward at the top. The closed eyes looked much larger as well, and the mouth was surprisingly small and hard to define. No ears were visible, and two short tentacles dangled below the alien’s chin. But one of the strangest things about the alien was at the back of his head. A hollow membrane, resembling a short elephant trunk, hanged down a meter or so below his neck.

  Sabrina was enthralled, standing just behind François, holding his hand tightly. Her breathing was heavy.

  “He is so big!” she whispered.

  “I think he’s a she,” he replied just as quietly.

  The alien slowly floated upright, revealing even more of its massive presence. Male or female, the alien was tall, very tall. “He’s gotta be at least four meters tall,” guessed Dedrick. The torso, quite small in comparison to the lower portion of the body, was otherwise straight and evenly distributed, but disproportionately thin and short. He suddenly realized the alien had six fingers on each hand, all of equal length. As far as he could see, he had no hair anywhere on him, and aside from four dark wavy lines on the lower part of the neck, the alien’s skin bared no visible markings or features, at least none he could see from where he was standing. If she was a female, she had no breasts, or any other significantly curved body lines suggesting so. If the being was a male, he did not appear to possess any visible genital appendage.

  Watching the large creature rise further up in the large room, the colonists noticed the sphere up above begin to spin faster and faster, and the bright light shining on the alien starting to pulse, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. The alien’s blue skin, apparently reacting to the stimulation, began to glow, as if it was being recharged or nourished by the pulsing lights above. The strobe effect, which at times made the alien appear to move, was hard to watch without squinting, but Dedrick and the rest of the group were too captivated to take their eyes off, or move. A swirling gas began to appear around the hovering body and morphed slowly into the alien’s clothing. The fabric was soon swaying freely around its inert body, as if softly blown by a gentle breeze. The see-through cloth-like material began to shrink slowly, tightening itself on the alien’s bare skin. While doing so, they could see the fabric thickening as well. Strands of cloth began wrapping themselves around the being’s arms and legs, in an even-spaced spiral. A few seconds passed before the platform below began to glow as well, a bright neon-purple light, occasionally interrupted by random flashes of colors, creating an impressive display of shadows and light along the entire length of the body. As if reacting to the rhythm of the various colors, the being’s entire body was soon convulsing. What felt like minutes passed, until the sphere, after one last elaborate color display, gradually slowed down again, its beam of purple glow finally shining still, as if holding the alien up in the air. The strange being was now hovering, immobile, its large mass bathing in the familiar hazy glow of soft purple, coming from both above and below.

  Then, one arm moved.

  “Oh!” gasped Sabrina.

  “It’s OK, it’s OK,” François tried to reassure her, as she gripped his hand even more tightly. He glanced at Dedrick with an expression that meant, “OK, here we go.”

  Another wave of tremors shook the ship once again, and the alien suddenly let out a high-pitched growl that sent chills through all of them. Moving back several more steps, Dedrick took a quick glance around him. They were about halfway between the alien and the room’s entrance. If needed, they could try to run for it, but judging by the size of the alien’s massive legs, their chances of making it beyond that door were probably nonexistent, he quickly realized. Once the alien was fully awake, it would undoubtedly have the upper hand. He shifted his attention to Vera and Chasma. His daughter looked as comfortable and content as she would have been watching TV in her room. His wife, on the other hand, seemed understandably fearful and stressed. But she wasn’t panicking; at least not yet. The two were right next to him, and he had no intention of letting anything happen to either one of them, if he could help it. Still keeping an eye on the immobile being hovering in its purple light, he looked to his left. François, the daredevil of the bunch, didn’t look that reassured either, but a quick glance back from the Frenchman told Dedrick he was OK. Sabrina was tightly glued to him. Ladli, close to them, appeared to be coping.

  The alien had begun to slowly move her arms and legs again, as if loosening the joints and muscles of her imposing body. A strong pulse suddenly shook the being’s core once more, and the alien finally came to rest in the middle of the platform, now standing on its massive legs. The being slowly raised her arms out, and began to flex her fingers, its eyes still closed. A moment later, the light show had ended, and it finally stood in front of them, in all its majestic presence, now immobile and utterly silent.

  Dedrick, staring intensely at the alien, didn’t notice the small buzzing sound until it got louder. He looked around the room, trying to pinpoint its source, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. By their expression of discomfort, the rest of the team was obviously hearing it too. Fearfully looking around, Vera was about to put Chasma’s helmet back on, to protect her daughter from the painful noise, when it abruptly stopped. They all turned their attention back to the alien.

  Its eyelids began to flicker. The small group instinctively held their breath. The large eyes, at first struggling to deal with the brightness of the surroundings, having been closed for as long as they probably had, slowly opened on the intruders, and stared in absolute silence. François realized they were about to find out if waking her up was such a good idea after all.

  At first, seemingly confused, the alien kept blinking its eyes at them, scanning the room and the strange occupants it obviously did not recognize. Dedrick could not get over the beautiful deep purple of its eyes. The tall being slowly lowered itself off the platform, and after some apparent initial discomfort, took a few steps forward. All six humans stepped back with apprehension, but the alien ignored them and, passing right through the fearful group, simply headed for the circular row of life pods. Leaning over one of them, it appeared to stare through the container for a while, before moving to another pod. Waving its hand over the capsule, it awakened the shell and stepped back. The pod began to vibrate slightly and lit up, quickly becoming translucent, and the swirling gases inside started to change color and dissipate. As the object slowly hovered to the center of the room, the central sphere moved back up to the ceiling, and began to spin again. Soon, the encapsulating container was gone, revealing a second alien, even taller and imposing than the first. A few minutes later, the new giant was opening his eyes on the small group of humans.

  Just as the first one had, the alien began scanning the room and its occupants. Its large purple eyes stopped on Chasma. Although the stranger’s mouth looked quite different and much smaller than ours, Dedrick could tell without a
doubt that the giant was smiling at her. Chasma smiled back. The large purple eyes then turned their gaze on Dedrick. Uncertain of what to do, he attempted a weak smile of his own, which made him feel silly, but appeared to please the tall being. Meanwhile, the first alien was already waking up a third hibernating individual.

  A few minutes later, three large aliens were standing in front of the colonists, imposing in their size and unique looks. All present in the room were staring back and forth at each other when Chasma said, “You’re welcome,” addressing the tallest of the three beings.

  “Who are you talkin-” started to ask Vera, when they all heard an unfamiliar voice resonate in their heads.

  “Thank you.”

  The “voice” was deep and clear, with a rich tone that felt strangely soothing. The odd sensation would have been hard to explain for any of them. Completely taken by surprise, Dedrick stared at the giant alien, utterly confused, and yet aware that the voice was telepathically talking to him and his crew…in English.

  “Yes, you are correct. We are communicating with you and your friends telepathically, and we know your language. We can also ‘hear’ your thoughts,” added the alien. “My name is Jorh, and this is Mahhzee, my sister, and Gahneo. We are from Kahnu.”

  Dedrick wasn’t the only one in shock. They had all heard the strange telepathic voice. The alien had just introduced himself and his two companions, again in plain English. Before any of them could say anything, the alien named Jorh approached and sat down in front of them, his large flexible legs folded under him. Blinking his big purple eyes at Dedrick, he extended his giant hand, slowly. He slowly opened his six even-length fingers to reveal a small white sphere, the size of a football.

  The alien watched him hesitate, and spoke again telepathically, “This is for you. A Zarfha sphere.” He then set it on the floor in front of Dedrick.

  “A thank you for your help,” offered the alien named Mahhzee. “…For getting us out of Time-Frost. Thank you.”

  Turning to François, Sabrina whispered, “I hear them in my head! This is so weird!”

  “I know. Me too. It feels really strange.”

  Mahhzee was the smaller of the three aliens, but only by a half a meter or so. Two tentacles dangled on each side of her jaw, a feature the other two didn’t have. Dedrick also noticed her eyes appeared to blink more often than her companions when she “spoke.”

  “My…My name is Dedrick. We are from Earth.” He realized that last statement probably didn’t mean anything to them. “I…I thank you for your gift.” He didn’t really know what else to say.

  “You are welcome, Dedrick. We are quite familiar with all of you.”

  “I…I see.”

  Sensing the small group’s disconcert, the alien felt he needed to explain himself.

  “Your arrival, years ago, awakened us. We do not know why or how, but it did. Since then, we have been following you. We were unable to free ourselves from the pods, but we could ‘hear’ you. We are truly sorry about your planet and your people.”

  Dedrick was feeling overwhelmed at the moment. They all did. He had just realized the true magnitude of what was happening. He was engaged in a conversation with beings from another world; another intelligent, and obviously advanced species. They were magnificent in size and stance. They looked proud and confident, and appeared peaceful and mannered. On that last observation, Dedrick truly hoped he was right. After so many centuries wondering if there was life elsewhere in the universe, after so many generations asking if we were alone, they finally had the answer. Life was possible elsewhere. Earth wasn't the only planet harboring it, after all. So did other worlds, and if these beings were from another star, there was a high probability they were many more out there. But then also came the realization that Earth’s population had probably been completely eradicated. To think they were only a few years away from all the answers. A few long seconds passed before he realized everyone was looking at him.

  Getting back to the reality of the moment, he quickly assessed that his companions and he didn’t seem in immediate danger. The aliens could have easily killed them by now, if such was their intention. But he also thought he would be wise to stay on his guard, nonetheless. There was no way to know yet what the imposing beings wanted, or what they were capable of.

  “You have nothing to fear from us, Dedrick,” said Jorh.

  Suddenly remembering they could read his mind, he tried to stop thinking about anything, only to realize thinking of not thinking was still thinking. Struggling with the idea, he looked up to find the alien female, Mahhzee, smiling at him, somewhat amused. François couldn’t wait any longer. He stepped a bit closer.

  “Hi, my name is François… I’m… Wow! I’m not even sure where to begin… How do you-?”

  The alien named Gahneo didn’t let François finish his question.

  “We can read your thoughts. It is how we communicate on our world. As Jorh said, we do not know how, but we have been able to listen to all of you, ever since you arrived on Kesra. That is how we learned your language.”

  “Hearing” the alien's thoughts was getting to all of them, making them a bit confused and disoriented. It all seemed so impossible. And yet, it was really happening. Looking at the intimidating figure, Vera was wondering if they were Martians, or visitors from another world. The alien answered.

  “We are from Kahnu, a planet destroyed long ago. We came to Kesra, this planet you call Mars, to escape. We have been here a very long time. Like you, we are the only ones left of our kind.”

  “We are glad you brought Chasma back with you. Without her help, we would still be in Time-Frost,” volunteered the alien named Gahneo.

  Although she had a feeling the being already knew her next question, Vera asked it anyway. “Why were you ‘talking’ to Chasma only, and not to all of us? I mean, before you were out of those things,” she added, pointing at the pods. Her voice betrayed her anxiety about the alien’s interest in her daughter.

  “Vera, you have nothing to fear from us, I promise you. We have been following your progress for quite some time now, and we have become quite fond of you and your friends.” The female alien was now seated on her crossed legs, next to Jorh. “It would appear Chasma is much more receptive to our telepathic call than the rest of you. We think it may be because she was born on Kesra, and is still quite young for your species, although we’re not sure why that would make a difference. We tried for years to communicate with Dedrick from time to time, using what you call dreams, but his mind was resisting us. It was an exhausting effort for us while still in Time-Frost. Over time, the connection had weakened, but as Chasma got older, we were able to establish a stronger telepathic bond with her. She was much more receptive than any of you, so we concentrated our efforts on her, hoping she would guide you all to us.”

  “I told you it was OK, Mommy,” said Chasma, looking at her mother reassuringly. She was smiling, and the way she did had a soothing effect Vera did not expect. She suddenly felt at peace and safe, looking at her child, so confident and calm. Unable to resist, Vera smiled, passing her hand on Chasma’s cheek.

  “How long have you been in these pods?” asked François.

  “A very long time, I’m afraid,” replied Jorh. “According to your Earth calendar, we believe the destruction of our world took place seventy million years ago.”

  “Se…SEVENTY MILLION YEARS?!” repeated Sabrina loudly, absolutely dumbfounded. She was not the only one taken aback by the alien’s statement. The entire group was in shock.

  “Yes. At that time, your planet was still home to large primitive creatures you call dinosaurs, a time when none of the species on your world had yet entered the third stage of evolution, what you call self-awareness. We used to come to your wor-”

  The alien named Mahhzee suddenly wobbled, and barely caught herself at the last moment, before falling on her side. Gahneo, who had not said much since he had been awakened, rushed to her side and grabbed her in his long a
rms, just before she passed out. Jorh was right next to them, and it was clear the two males were exchanging words telepathically, but none of the five adult humans could hear what was being said.

  The larger alien finally turned to Dedrick and his crew, while Gahneo carried the inert female alien back to her pod.

  “My sister, Mahhzee, is still very weak from her long sleep. She needs to rest and so do we. We will have to continue this conversation later. There is so much more to tell you... We will contact you again soon,” he finished, as he raised his two hands in front of his chest and interlaced his twelve fingers. And for a short instant, the lights and colors that flew through his hands dazzled them. He then turned away and walked a few large steps to his pod and climbed in. Within seconds, the colored gases began refilling the containers, and the three aliens quickly disappeared in their enclosing cocoons. Everyone was quiet for a moment, until François broke the silence.

  “That's it? Just like that?” he exclaimed.

  “Well, you heard him. They are exhausted,” replied Dedrick.

  “At a time like this?”

  “Jorh said they were in those things for millions of years, right? You can’t expect them to jump out and go run a marathon now, can you?” remarked Ladli.

  “Millions of years… That’s insane…” said Vera out loud.

  “Or just another perfectly uneventful day on Mars, I guess,” replied François sarcastically.

  “Personally, I feel better knowing they’re back inside those things,” volunteered Sabrina almost too quietly.

  “Why are you still whispering?” asked Vera, also whispering.