They were very adaptable and we Krells soon forgot they even existed!
#
In the first days after landing we found the harsh yellow sun burnt our green skin and spindly green head fronds although we took comfort from the facts that at least there were no burning warcraft falling out of the sky and the island was mostly arable, interspersed as it was with the derelict cities of the previous inhabitants.
Our new environment was also unkind to most of the materials and equipment from our home planet. Machinery constantly stopped working in the harsh conditions but due to his military experience Father knew that with a ‘little tinkering’ most things could be fixed. Consequently as word of his abilities reached the nearby Agricultural Collectives, broken machines of all types began to appear outside of our shelter and this saved the three of us from a hard life on an AgriCol.
Father, Mother and I lived crammed together in a ship’s two-man emergency refugee shelter and on one side of this was a large lean-to building that housed Father’s tools and solitary workbench. One of my earliest memories of Krella-23 is of Father’s erecting a sign that grandly proclaimed the location of ‘The Trading Post’.
By the time I was eight years old, ‘The Trading Post’ had expanded into a larger structure that contained a proper workshop where father employed several craftsmen, a shop selling a variety of local vegetables and a small saloon selling something called homebrewed beer to passing Agri-workers.
Other settlers also built businesses nearby and soon we light-heartedly began to call our small settlement ‘The City’. We even named it after the nearest ruins, hence ‘Londo’, the first non-agricultural settlement on Krella-23 came into existence!
Most of the time Father and Mother were so busy with work, that after school I was allowed to roam free but with a stern warning to keep away from the ruins and the nearby river that flowed through them.
#
The settlement of Londo continued to grow and innovatively-styled buildings appeared that mimicked the architecture of long-lost Krella-Prime. At this point in time the first Earthies began to appear from their ruined cities.
Initially we were alarmed but they proved to be peaceable and able to learn a few words of Krella. They were Krellanoid in form, having four limbs and a head, but possessed a pale-coloured skin with fine fur all over the head. There were not many of them and they stayed wary of us for a very long time.
In dribs and drabs they would appear with artifacts to sell. Wood carvings based on their previous culture went down very well with those Krells who had never seen such things. Carvings of something called ‘Big Ben’ were particularly popular and would adorn many a fireplace.
Their locally-manufactured pistols also sold in large numbers and were regarded as ‘quaint’ because of their primitiveness; the working ones actually fired a crude metal projectile with the production of much noise and smoke. Incredibly the bullet would actually miss the target if you didn’t point it correctly! Obviously the Earthies had no comprehension of intelligent laser-guidance or sophisticated cyber-electronics!
I remember going through a phase of feeling quite superior whenever I saw an Earthie! Now I’m older I realize I was nothing but young empty-headed fool...
One dark cloud on my horizon was that Father would not deal with the Earthies or let them enter his establishments. He despised them and regarded them as a degenerate race. When I asked why he replied, “The Earthies allowed their society to grow soft and be destroyed by a race of aliens called the Jihadders. When the Jihadders left or were destroyed, the remaining Earthies fell back into primitive ways!”
I never found out where Father got his information from, but he was adamant that the Earthies were worthless.
#
I was ten years old when I first set eyes on the Earthie called Jon. He was setting up a stall in the market place to sell his alien artefacts. He had a good selection of something called a Televisionreceiver or Teevee. These were all the rage with the new Krellan elite that regarded themselves as more cultured and a cut above the rest of us. The ancient device would sit in a living room showing coloured random patterns all day and night! I could never see the point but it seemed to amuse the Earthies no end when they sold one!
Wandering over to Jon’s stall I ran my hand over the Teevees, letting my finger-suckers taste the surfaces. He smiled and said in a fair impression of Krellan, “Hello, Young One. This One called Jon is pleased.”
“This One called Dekker III is pleased, too.”
“Pray, sit awhile, Young One and I will tell you tales of Old Earth.”
He was very friendly and likeable and we chatted for some time. Jon shared something called 'Tea and Biscuits' with me as he described the functioning and history of the large city behind us, but not mentioning the fall of his civilization. I sensed that within him, the hurt and loss was still raw and it would be socially impolite of me to enquire further. Also, with surprising humour he explained how the Teevees used to work. Like a primitive 3D vid, it seemed.
Our talk was abruptly interrupted by the appearance of three drunken Agri-workers, fresh out of Father’s saloon. They began to harangue Jon and thought it good sport to jostle him as he was a good head shorter. Although the 'Tea and Biscuits' went flying, Jon took it in good humour until I made things worse by standing up, puffing out my little chest and shouting in a reedy little voice at the louts, “You are being socially disrespectful and unacceptably rude to my friend! Stop it you dumb Greenies!”
The largest of the three, a loafer called Karg who was well-known for fighting, bared his teeth in anger and staggered forward to cuff me for my own ‘Social Disrespect to an Elder’. Before he could reach me he found himself immobile. The little Earthie had lunged over the stall with surprising speed and strength. Jon held a tight handful of the drunken fool’s head fronds whilst pressing one of those crude weapons under his chin.
“Time to sober up, brainless! And take your friends with you.”
Karg was shoved away from the stall and the fight went out of him. He proceeded to regurgitate the excess homebrew beer near his friends who stood, eyes out-of-focus and swaying back and forth.
By this time quite a crowd had gathered and crude social jocular disrespect was heaped onto the bullies who slunk and staggered away shame-faced.
But the excitement was not over for me.
Out of the crowd came my Father to instantly size-up the situation incorrectly according to his prejudices. His face was an incandescent green as he shouted for all to hear, “If this savage has harmed you I’ll call for the Constable and have him put down!”
I was mortified but the crowd explained what had happened. Father did not apologize to Jon and I was dragged away to be told I was not to associate with Earthies. Ever!
My finger-suckers were sore for a week as I swept and cleaned the workshop as punishment.
When I regained my freedom, I continued my wanderings and would often see Jon in the market or on his crude horse and cart. He would nod slightly and smile. I would return the socially acceptable gesture of pleasantry, never going too close in case Father or one of his cronies saw me.
#
One day, after a period of torrential rain I meandered from school to the outskirts of Londo to gaze at the ruins of the distant city. London was the correct name according to Jon and nearby was a river now flowing fast.
“The River Thames,” he had also told me.
In the field where I stood were several newly created ponds that would soon disappear when the rainwater soaked away in a few days. It was to the larger of these that I approached absent-mindedly.
In the distance I could see Jon leaving after a good days trading, he was loaded up with food concentrates and Krellan metal pipes for pistol-making. He waved and I waved back.
I was in a daze, enjoying the smell of the damp grass and the salty smell of the far distant sea when I trod into the edge of the pool.
Before I could mutter what a
damn fool I was for not watching where I was walking, the sun dazzled me as it reflected from the chrome carapace of the largest Kroma I had ever seen! It leapt from the water and coiled itself around my legs, squeezing hard as it bit deep into my left foot.
I screamed as I was pulled down the bank towards the deep water, my sucker-tipped fingers no good for getting a hold of the wet grass.
Slowly I felt the cold water rising higher up my body as the creature drew me further into the pond to drown me. I vaguely realized that it was enormous, many times larger than it should have been!
I thought I heard my school teacher whisper, “Must ‘ave flourished undisturbed,” as my vision began to fade and I sensed unconsciousness coming, the precursor to the Greatest Darkness of All.
There was a huge splash in the water close to me just before my shoulders would have become submerged. My vision flickered to life for a short time and I looked into the bearded face of Jon, his mouth grim with effort as he fought to pull me and the enormous Kroma from the pond. I absently touched his face with my finger suckers in a gesture of fondness.
I experienced more pain when the Kroma’s teeth left my foot and its head flashed to the surface to savage the new threat.
The large skull broke the surface, the maw now darting forward intending to engulf Jon’s head. His left hand barely fit half way around the creature’s diameter as he strained to keep the wicked teeth at bay and I could tell he was not strong enough!
My vision receded again and when it returned the Kroma was much closer to Jon, its jaws clamped upon the barrel of his primitive pistol. Darkness swirled at the edge of my vision where I could see Jon’s blood-covered hand, his finger tightening and the hammer of the crude device easing back. In the dimming recesses of my mind I prayed that the gun would work and not explode because it was full of water.
A tremendous flash and a deafening boom filled the universe.
#
I came back to consciousness with Mother and Father hovering over me, both crying. Nearby, amongst a large crowd lay the beheaded carcass of the largest Kroma Worm anyone had ever seen. Four meters long and sixteen centimetres wide!
“Jon?”
“He’s all right son,” Mother said.
Father still had tears running down his cheeks and hugged me, “And he saved your precious green skin, son! No doubt about it!”
#
Some days later I was still confined to bed when Jon walked into the room with Father.
“Are you well, my good friend?” I asked in the Krellan ‘Formal Addressing of an Elder’.
“As right as rain!” he laughed, “Your father, Dekker II, has given me a job in his workshop and accommodation for my family, so you’ll be seeing lots more of me!”
On the right side of his face were five sucker-marks from my hand. They would be permanent reminders for us both.
He saw me staring at the marks and laughed again, “Don’t concern yourself, Dekker III. It’s just a little souvenir.”
#
From ‘The Encyclopaedia Krellania’ Vol. VI, published in Time Period 5120;
LONDO, KRELLA-23 (Native nomenclature; LONDON, ‘EARTH’).
There are two aspects to this, the largest city on the planet that makes it unique in the New Krellan Federation;
First is the fact that over half the population is native ‘Earthie’ who live side by side with the descendants of Krellan colonists.
Second is that these natives have proved singularly adept at adapting Krellan technology making Londo the source of the greatest leaps in Aerospace Technology and Interplanetary Travel that have occurred since T.P. 4830.
The City and its Earthies are also mentioned by the famous Cosmologist Dekker III in his memoirs, T.P. approx. 5001;
“Indeed, I like to think their race underwent a renaissance because of us and I suspect that sometime in the future the Earthies will surpass us to finally fulfil their cosmic destiny.”
From ‘The Encyclopaedia Krellania’ Vol. VII published in Time Period 5394;
During the fall of the ‘Empire Of The Green Sun’ and for countless years afterwards, many millions of beings of many once enslaved races strove into the blackness of space and simply seemed to disappear.
There was no one to mourn them or try to save them as Krell civilisation dissipated.
Some did turn up, however.
Countless years later.
ONLY A MAN
The small craft that had been our transport across the light-years crumbled to dust to leave us standing in a vast green field under a wonderful blue sky. A warm breeze blew through the grass as I experienced my return to Earth after such a long, long time.
In the far distance a beautiful multicoloured city of tall flowing towers ascended mile upon mile into the heavens. Around it smooth fields rolled unblemished by cultivation into the horizon.
In my left hand I held Jella's Encapsulation and she said to me, "Much prettier than when we left, My Love."
I gazed down at my left arm where my Calculator confirmed the date, May 23rd 2904. The readout then faded as my body finally rejected the ancient device.
My attention was diverted when hundreds of golden spheres slowly rose into the air above the city and began to drift slowly towards us. When they drew near I saw that they were about two meters in diameter and hid the creature inside from view, although I was sure we could be seen clearly by them. The globes then proceeded to swirl slowly in large circles around and above us with only a few landing nearby.
In my mind I heard distinct words from several of the occupants, "Who are you?"
"Where do you come from?"
"Why are you here?"
I could only reply, "I am an Earthman and this is the soul of my Dearest Jella."
In my mind I felt the consternation from the spheres and some disbelief.
"Will you explain to us?" they asked kindly.
"Of course, but it is not a happy tale."
I lifted my forearm showing the Calculator, "This will probably be the best place to start. It was this primitive device that helped set the course of my life that has taken me to war amongst the stars and taken me out of my time.
When I left Earth it was a much different place, not like it is now..."
#
On my eighth birthday I came down to breakfast and there was an envelope propped against the milk jug, addressed to Master William Thompson. That's me. Father puffed happily away at his carcinogenic smoking device whilst reading his newspaper and pretending not to look over the top at the expressions on my face. Mother fussed and faffed then delivered father his plate of cholesterol-increasing animal products. With hindsight I see that it was a warm home full of love.
I nearly knocked over my bowl of Galactic-Wheatey-Puffs when I noticed the Cyborg Corporation logo on the envelope! In my childish excitement I tore the envelope open and then I gazed in awe at my Birthday Certificate entitling me to an Electro-Organic Calculator! Fantastic!
Because the educational establishment classed the E.O.C's as an 'Enhancement' and not a 'Device' I would be destined for the upper Science and Maths classes, then inevitably a Techno-University. My eyes glazed over a little as I envisaged myself as a Hypersonic Pilot or Engineer...
"Happy Birthday, son," Mother and Father said in unison before launching into the 'Happy Birthday to You' song that had embarrassed me since I was three.
Later that day Mother, Father and I stood outside the Cyborg Corporation offices and I had my birthday photograph taken with my left forearm exposed, proudly showing the Calculator. My bloodstream now teemed with thousands of tiny machines called Nanos that were maintaining the Electro-Organic interface between my body and the Device. In those days it was 'Cutting-Edge' technology, even if you still had to read the output with your actual eyes!
The Calculator was a matt-silver device with optical readouts seemingly set into my left forearm and it would become slightly larger as I grew older. The upper readout was the date
, "03 March 2018" and set around the lower readout were lots of buttons for setting the Calculator functions; Trigonometrical, Quantum, Astronomical, in fact anything you could want and so on.
It was wonderful!
#
My childish daydreams began to crumble in 2023 as were the dreams of so many others by the arrival of the Treaty Starships of the Krellan Empire of the Green Sun. They came pretending peace because Earth had only one resource they wanted; manpower to feed their ever-expanding empire.
Somehow the British Prime Minister, Anthony Cromwell became the sole representative of the Krells on Earth. In no time at all his perma-tanned visage became the face loved by millions everywhere, especially in the U.S. as he promised a new era of prosperity and peace. What he didn't say was that the 'prosperity' part only applied to himself and by the time this fact became obvious, it was too late.
Cromwell's first major decision was to enable the Krells to erect a thirty mile high 'Star Tower' just outside of London to receive a steady flow of starships from all over their empire. What became of the occupants of the dozen or so villages bulldozed to make way for the base of the Tower, we never found out because they just seemed to have disappeared.
With a good pair of binoculars you could watch the alien vessels rapidly disgorge their cargo at the top of the Tower then make way for the next arrival. Cheap and technologically superior goods flowed out of the base then across the world and the ensuing 'Culture Shock' was later compared to the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores to South America.
Whole industries began to close down, national economies faltered and Earth became ever more dependent on the munificence of the Aliens. Then as the inevitable Economic Crash loomed, Prime Minister Cromwell appeared on television, all white teeth and greasy, insincere smile to announce, “Gengar, the Krell Representative of Technology Transfer has assured me that there is a large demand for human labour on their Off World Colonies and Earth people would be most suitable. Two Year, Three Year and Four Year contracts are to be offered for work on a range of Agricultural and Mining planets. To enable this generous offer to take effect, in the coming weeks I will put before parliament the 'OffWorld Labour Supply and Taxation Bill’ (2026)."
EMPIRE OF THE GREEN SUN Page 5