A few hours later, one more trip to the Mars First station was made to grab some overlooked items, but by early evening, everyone had safely moved into the alien vessel.
“Thank you!” said Dedrick to Jorh again, while everyone was busy relocating all the plants that had been moved separately to the greenhouse behind the ship.
“You are welcome,” he blinked.
The first night on the alien vessel was a bit strange to the new tenants. They had never spent a single night away from the station in fifteen years, except for rare rover excursions. It was not for lack of comfort. They had brought their bedding with them, and the aliens had allocated four of their twelve rooms to house the colonists, although Dedrick’s team would have been just as grateful with one. It was the unfamiliar surroundings that made it hard for most to fall asleep. Aside from Chasma, none of them slept much that first night. The next morning the humans were up long before the aliens. Quickly realizing their range inside the ship had been widened, they took the opportunity to explore a few new rooms, transported at will by the alien fog throughout the purple corridors.
Eventually reaching the Time-Frost room, they were greeted by their three hosts. Jorh and his companions had slept in their hibernation pods. They still preferred those over the rooms’ hovering beds, at least for now; especially for their nourishing and reinvigorating properties. They were not weak from their long hibernation anymore, but they had gotten used to the pods. They didn’t know it yet but soon, everyone on board would be glad the pods were so nurturing.
Chapter XII
Kahjuna, the brown world
Dedrick recognized the familiar feeling right away. It was the one he always got when Mahhzee was about to speak to him in his head. Similar to the light electric jolt one gets as he puts his tongue on a small battery; uncomfortable, yet slightly arousing.
“Hello Dedrick. How are you feeling? Did you and your friends sleep well?”
“Hi Mahhzee. I'm well. Thank you. How...are you?”
“I am well. Thank you.”
Her voice was low and thick and had a soothing effect on Dedrick. The Russian commander was by now quite familiar with it.
“We would like you to join us in the main room. We wish to show you something,” she added.
“Sure, I'll be right there.”
By now, he was quite used to thinking back to the aliens, instead of talking out loud, but the feeling was still foreign and slightly unnerving.
He leaned above Vera still in bed and kissed her forehead. She moaned a bit in her sleep.
“I’ll be back, love,” he said quietly as he got up and made his way to the other end of the room. A few minutes later, he was floating slowly down the ship's main corridor. The door opened as his body approached, and he slowly glided inside. Mahhzee, Jorh, and Gahneo were standing in the middle of the large white space, encircling the central sphere hovering a meter or so above its low pedestal. Dedrick slowly approached the tall aliens.
“Welcome, Dedrick!” said Jorh. “We want to show you something.”
Jorh raised his arm and pointed at the sphere. The round object started spinning and glowing. Drastically changing colors from white to yellow to green to blue, the object eventually morphed into a familiar shape.
“Earth!” said Dedrick out loud.
“Yes! This is your world. We call it Kahjuna.” Jorh approached the sphere with his hand, almost touching it, and pointed at the African continent.
“Many millions of your Earth's years ago, one of our sister vessels also escaped the destruction of our world and traveled to your planet, Earth. We believe Silargh’s ship and his passengers landed somewhere on this side of your home world. We never heard from them again and presumed they had either crashed or become stranded. The events that took place, here on Kesra, prevented us from going to their rescue, as you know. But if there is a chance the ship made it there, and they were able to retrieve the white light, we may be able to get to it. We could definitely use some of the ship’s systems as well. If anything, we may be able to retrieve the Zarfha engine.”
“Earth! You can go to Earth? With this ship? Wait, does that mean you can take us with you?” Dedrick’s excitement was obvious.
“Yes, Dedrick. We plan to take you back with us to your world. We cannot leave you here, anyway. The three of us have no reason to stay on Kesra any longer. Some questions need answers. We wish to go to Earth and wish you all to come with us,” replied Jorh. In truthfulness, Jorh knew as well as Dedrick, that the humans were now totally dependent on the alien’s ship and bound to go wherever the vessel went.
“That’s fantastic! I had no idea this vessel was still able to fly. This is the best news I’ve heard since the…” an uneasy feeling suddenly came over Dedrick. The excitement of the moment had almost made him forget the sad reality of Earth’s state. He started thinking about the chemical war that had ravaged Earth years ago. They had absolutely no idea of the extent of the devastation.
“We know. We have followed you for many years. Unfortunately, we cannot tell from here how bad your planet has suffered, we do not have that capability. But some of your people may have survived. More importantly, it may be your best chance for a new home. We know this ship is not ideal for your kind.”
Mahhzee looked at the Russian. “Don't you want to find out what happened to your world?”
“Of course, I do! But I must tell you, humans are not always the friendliest. They usually fear the unknown, and I don't know how well they will receive you. They've never met aliens before, you know?”
“You can talk for us,” offered Mahhzee.
Looking up at her big blinking eyes, he realized how ridiculous his concern was. He could hardly contain his excitement.
“How soon are you leaving? I need to tell the others.”
“We are ready to leave when you are, Dedrick. Go tell your people,” replied Jorh.
Blinking a few times, unconsciously, Dedrick smiled and thanked the aliens before heading back for the purple corridor. Floating away, he soon disappeared down the hall, overwhelmed by the news, and a few minutes later, Vera was awakened by his voice.
“Vera. Vera... Wake up. I just talked to the Kahnus. They are taking us back to Earth.”
“Hun... What? Did you say Earth?” she jumped up in her bed, and stared at him for a few seconds, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“What are you saying?”
He could see the emotion building up in her.
“We’re going back to Earth.”
“What?! Really? Are you sure? But how?” she was almost tearing up from the joy and excitement.
“Their ship. They said they can take us back. All of us.”
She turned her head in the direction of Chasma’s bed. The young girl was still sleeping peacefully. Smiling, crying, and laughing all at the same time, Vera brought a hand to her mouth.
“Our baby girl is going to see Earth.”
“I know,” he replied almost as emotional.
#
François and Tendai were sitting in one of the rooms they had requisitioned. It had been turned into the colonists’ main supply storage area. Lifting a long green box containing plants, Tendai looked troubled. He put his load down and sat next to it.
“So, you really think this is a good idea? I mean, I'm excited to go back to Earth and all, but I'm not thrilled about losing the greenhouse. Everything we've worked for these last fifteen years, gone, just like that.”
“I understand, but there's not much we can do. We’ll take everything we can with us. This ship is substantially faster than ours. We should be there in a couple of weeks,” replied François.
“Don't you forget something? What about that chemical war in 2034? Remember? Better hope we can still find food on Earth,” said Tendai, looking unconvinced.
“Come on, don’t be so pessimistic.”
Sabrina entered and gracefully landed on her feet, as if she had done so all her life. “I know this amazing rest
aurant in Sanarate; the food is out of this world! And I can't wait to have a cold Margarita!”
Tendai just walked passed her unimpressed and left the room.
“What's up with him?”
“Oh, I don't know. I think it's that time of the month.”
“That's not funny, François.”
“I know. I'm sorry. Come here,” he said smiling at her.
She approached and stood right in front of him. He was sitting on a tall stool. He extended his legs on each side of her and grabbed her waist in his hand to pull her closer. Slowly bringing her chest to him, he kissed her cleavage.
“We're going to Earth, baby.”
“I know. I can't believe it.” She kissed his forehead.
Then, grabbing his head with both hands, she kissed his mouth passionately. He grabbed her thighs and pulled her on him. Sitting on his lap, facing him, she felt his hands open her suit and rush down her bare back. The sensation sent a wave of goose bumps all over her body.
“François. What are you doing? Not in here.”
“Why not? It's our last night on Mars. Let's make it a special one.”
#
The group, gliding effortlessly through the corridors, was following Jorh and Mahhzee. As they approached the door at the end of the passage, the entrance slowly dematerialized, and they all entered the main cockpit of the vessel. The glossy black wall facing them was even larger than François remembered. In the center of the room, the Zarfha sphere was hovering just above its platform. Landing on his feet, Dedrick could see everyone's image on the glossy wall acting like a mirror. One by one, they came down silently and stood next to him. Mahhzee approached one of the large seats and sat. Raising her arm, she executed a few hand waves, and the Zarfha's rotation began to change direction and speed.
“Please, you can sit down if you wish,” Jorh told them, pointing at the chairs. They all did. Within seconds, the black wall in front of them morphed, until it became completely transparent. The dark cave outside the ship appeared, brightened and enhanced by the clear window. The large window, almost as tall as the aliens, took most of the wall in front of them. Several strange markings were flickering on its outer edges. François assumed they were readings of the outside surroundings, or navigational information of some kind.
“You must have an amazing view of space when you travel.” commented François.
“We do. All of our ships do. But they are times when it’s preferable not to. If traveling to Alhis, the sun. In that case, we can lower the light sensibility of the opening, or close it. We can also view in any direction around the ship,” replied Jorh.
“You’ve been to the sun?” asked Liu amazed.
“Our people have traveled to all the major planets and moons of your solar system, many times over, the sun included. But Gahneo, Jorh, and I have only been to Kesra. Only a selected few have traveled to other worlds. We've never been to Kahjuna either. We are looking forward to seeing your beautiful Earth,” replied Mahhzee.
Refocusing her attention on the Zarfha, she went through another elaborate movement of hand, something the human group was now quite used to, and brought the sphere to an even faster spin. As the colorful light waves began their beautiful show, the spectators realized the outside view was changing gradually. The ship was slowly rising above the cavern’s floor, but the transition was so smooth, had they not seen the walls of the cavern move, they would have never known. They could not feel a thing. There were no vibrations or sensation of movement whatsoever. The ship began to turn slowly onto itself, until it faced the entrance of the cavern. Gahneo entered the room.
“The path has been cleared,” he confirmed, as he sat next to Jorh.
Through the large translucent wall of the cabin, they all watched the ship approach the mouth of the cave, hovering effortlessly under Mahhzee’s hand commands. The large boulders, that had until recently blocked the tunnel’s entrance, had been removed. Dedrick wondered how the aliens had managed to do so so quickly. Something he would have to asked, but later. For now, he was too captivated with the maneuver. The walls of the dark passage ahead, made clearly visible by the accentuated contrast and colors of the front window, appeared just wide enough for the vessel to move through without touching on either side, but barely. Gliding seamlessly along the corridor, the ship and its occupants eventually made their way to the other end of the tunnel. As they emerged far above the sheer drop of the cliff face, the large front window of the cabin adjusted accordingly, bringing the bright daylight down to a comfortable level for everyone’s eyes. The vessel began to rise vertically and a few seconds later, the travelers were racing above the plateau, quickly climbing towards the upper atmosphere of Mars, in absolute silence. Mahhzee waved another command, and the view changed to show the small Martian outpost, now visible in the distance, as they gained altitude.
“Mommy, look! The station,” said Chasma, pointing at the quickly shrinking dwellings. They all watched in silence. The small Mars First outpost had been their only home ever since their first landing. A strange feeling of sadness ran through them; a sense of loss. They would never come back, and they all knew it. As the ship began to reach space, the orange world Dedrick and his friends had called home for so many years began to move away. The Martian planet and its grand crater looked just as impressive as it had when they had first seen it from space, so many years ago. In the next few days, it would gradually shrink until becoming just another bright star.
“I’m gonna miss it, you know?” Sabrina said quietly to François.
“I know, me too, love.”
They stared a bit longer at the red planet slowly moving away, until Mahhzee returned to the view in front of the ship. Ahead, the amazing expanse of space was offering a starry spectacle like they had never experienced before. Beyond the large clear wall of the vessel, enhanced by the alien window, the stars appeared more dazzling than ever, their sparkling light accentuated by the ship’s view. Too small to make out yet, a pale blue dot was flickering far in the distance. They were on their way to Earth.
#
The next several weeks were long and quite frankly boring to most of the passengers. Nonetheless, Dedrick and his friends had learned to adapt to their new living quarters quite well by now. But there was nothing much to do on the ship, except attend to the small makeshift greenhouse they had managed to recreate in one of the ship's cargo areas. If they took care of it, the temporary food storage would supply them adequately for a good month. Luckily, the trip to Earth was much faster on the Kahnu ship than any manmade rocket. The small human group was certainly looking forward to their home planet’s abundant supply of food and water, even if they knew Earth had been severely damaged by the last chemical war. No matter the situation back on the blue planet, their return would certainly be a cause for celebration. And if that wasn’t enough to get the attention of the powers at play, coming back with aliens and their amazing ship would undoubtedly do so, and force all human differences aside, resetting human values and our place in the universe in a big way. At least, that’s what Ladli was quite confident about, as she had mentioned to the team several times already.
Her Russian commander wasn’t so sure of it. He remembered too well the gut feeling he had experienced, during the last transmissions from Earth, almost six years ago. Things had not looked good for the blue planet, when Lars Bruininck had told them of the global destruction taking place, and the rate at which everything on Earth was dying. The more he had thought about it, the more he had realized the gravity of the situation. If anything, he knew for sure the situation on Earth had been catastrophic. Simple logic dictated that Lars would have tried to avoid panic in the small Martian station, at least for moral and psychological support for the team. Alone on a desert planet, almost a hundred million kilometers from their families, they knew better than to tell them everything. Then there was also the protocol. Dedrick remembered vividly the last transmission they had received. Lars himself had admitted he d
idn’t think Earth would “make it through this one,” as he had put it. The words were still ringing clearly in the commander’s mind. “Every form of life on Earth is being affected. Even animals and plants are dying by the millions. Life is resilient, and the human race has survived countless catastrophes before, but this one… I don’t know.”
The group had heard it just as he had, but it seemed to Dedrick that only he had really understood the true extent of the devastation. Now, on their way to Earth, he hoped with all his heart he was wrong. He shook his head and cleared the thought out of his mind.
“Come on! What am I doing? This is no way to spend my time in this amazing ship. Look at this view!”
He slowly got up from his hovering bed and walked to the giant window at the end of his room. Outside, the darkness of space was littered with the sparkling light of countless stars. The void was immense, yet, it was overpopulated with the startling beauty of a million solar systems. Each and every one of them was so distant from its closest neighbor that its light took anywhere from a few to thousands of years, to get from one to the other. But their source was so gigantic and powerful that they could be seen across thousands of light years in the emptiness of space.
“What a magical sight! And here we are, traveling through this incomparably beautiful vista.” Lost in thoughts, Dedrick had not felt Mahhzee’s presence.
Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 35