Origin: Eternity's End

by Uneeb Qureshi

  As he droned on Monica looked at Mekias. She shrugged trying to figure out what was wrong with him until he mouthed something to her, he found him in ancient Greece? Monica immediately picked up the train of thought and was dumbfounded.

  “Excuse me sir…” she caught Sheppard’s attention, “did you say you found ‘Commander Lee’ in ancient Greece?”

  Sheppard looked around and confirmed it. “Yes?”

  Monica sat there speechless, “That’s virtually impossible, how old…are you?”

  “Well to be frank… A few thousand years old.”

  The room was silent for a moment. Monica's heart nearly beat outside of her chest. The man did not look a day above thirty.

  “I thought me saying immortal nearly a thousand times to you would’ve made it sound like less of a shock by now?” He continued, “Was it really not that obvious?”

  A woman walked in at that instant prompting Sheppard to divert his attention, “Dar don’t you ever knock anymore?”

  He pretended to be annoyed.

  It was the woman from the museum earlier. Her fierce brown eyes from earlier now conveyed more of a childish predicament as she played along with Sheppard. She did not look a day over twenty.

  “Shep why are you so awesome?” Dar began as she eyed the archaeologists. “Oh these two, they’re here now?”

  They could see a turquoise wolf’s head insignia emblazoned on her jacket, the mark of her legion.

  He paused and looked at her a second, “Miss ‘Daria’ I believe you met these two earlier.”

  She looked at them and winked at Mekias.

  “Yep, I remember them.” She shook their hands, “Feel free to call me Daria.”

  “Could you please show these two to the command deck, I think they’d find it much more interesting than this room.” Sheppard smiled and motioned for them to follow her.

  “Oh sure! Follow me.”

  Hardly the fierce assassin as Sheppard made her out to be, Monica thought.

  The elevator they entered looked very alien. The images of the interior were reminiscent of science-fiction of the latter twentieth century. The metallic and rigid structures were accented by rounded architecture around the base of the ship. Dar stood there watching the two look around, amazed and confused.

  “You two are so funny.”

  The two exchanged glances.

  “Monica look at this,” she turned around and was speechless, the elevator shaft opened up into the main corridors where they could see hundreds if not thousands milling around on the platforms below. The ship looked more biomechanical in person, the outer walls behind the residences were lined with ridges that pulsed with electricity as if it were alive, breathing.

  Interior to the hull stood insulated catwalks teeming with movement, homes connected to the exterior of the catwalks, residences and dormitories for the myriad of inhabitants of the vessel.

  As the elevator descended they could make out the figures of thousands of people traversing the floor. Many wore soldier regalia and biomechanical armors like the ones they saw earlier. Children helped alongside their elders and played cheerfully in the gardens that dotted the central areas of the corridors.

  As the elevator stopped it played a short message in a strange language.

  “What did it say?”

  “You’ve arrived…” Daria giggled, “You can kind of guess what it’s saying right?”

  “The language sounds really familiar but it’s archaic.” Monica said.

  “It’s the ancient immortal language, it’s a protolanguage like before Aramaic and Latin, but in reality the languages they speak now aren’t even what Shep and the rest of the ancients spoke so long ago.”

  Monica could hear the cacophony of voices littering the room. Her limited knowledge of languages helped her make out fragments of conversations.

  When they entered the ship deck Daria walked up to Arnael and tapped him on his spaulder. He turned around annoyed but happy to see an old face again.

  “It’s been months Arnael,” she hugged him tightly, “It’s good to see you again.”

  They both conversed in the immortal language briefly. Daria turned to leave.

  “Bye you two!” Daria said.

  Arnael smiled at them, he sat on an oval chair in the command room and smirked wryly. “Haven’t met mortals personally for a long time, except for you.” He said to Mekias, “Let me introduce myself, I am Arnael.”

  “I’m Monica and this is Mekias.”

  “Pleasure. Please, I was told to give you the grand tour.” He motioned them along.

  Monica had to ask the question, “Is everyone here really, immortal?”

  Arnael looked around, he knew he had all the time in the world. “In short yes. We all are. You see a long time ago, long before all of this, there was only Sheppard. I don’t know exactly how he became what he was now, because he found Solb and me in a village during his travels thousands of years ago.”

  Monica listened intently as he continued.

  “So far as we knew, he was the progenitor of our bloodline. He had wandered the world for centuries before us…escaping what he said was an attack on his last village.

  “You see when he said that, it had our whole village grow restless; ours was a small tribe, no less than thirty. Whatever killed his last village would surely be after us because he said it was not far from there.”

  He paused for a moment, recalling that day.

  “And our premonitions came true. It was not long before Solb and I were the only survivors…Sheppard saved us and we travelled with him ever since …”

  The two archaeologists obviously knew nothing he was talking about. Mekias whispered fervently toward Monica.

  “If you’re going to ask about our village,” Arnael interjected, “then your search is futile, it has not existed on Earth for many millennia. It has been lost to history, burned to the ground after that invasion.”

  They had to ask Arnael as well.

  “Why do you all care so much about the Earth…?” Mekias asked, “You can live forever and do whatever else you want, why care about us?”

  “We envy you…” his voice fell deep as he peered across the bridge, “you can live and enjoy nearly everything in life and feel content with it, every second could be your last. We fight for you because we envy that…simplicity…” a smile cut across his face, “also we will never let our mother world perish so long as we live, either from yourselves or nature itself.”

  He smirked and motioned them down another hallway. “Shall we commence our grand tour?”

  After handing off the Monica and Mekias earlier, Daria entered her chambers aboard the officer’s deck in the ship’s aft. She undressed promptly as her chamber’s windows darkened for privacy.

  She reached into her closet for more appropriate casual clothing. She glided her fingers across her closet looking for something to wear. Her closet was filled with clothes ranging from the lands of Earth and beyond.

  You must think I’m crazy.

  A voice said. She smiled as she slid on her leggings.

  “I think you’re a little crazy.” She said with a laugh, “You’re always jumping to conclusions.”

  In that case do you think it was right to bring her here?

  “It will take a long time for her to understand, she’s certainly not as bright as what you thought of her, but her friend is quite funny!”

  She and her friend just happened to be at the right place at the right time…

  “Oh is that all? I’m sure you would have personally done that extraction even if she wasn’t there. Come on Sheppard, I know you better, explain everything to her and it might make sense to her and her friends in time.”

  We may need the help of archaeologists. It’s an unusual occupation these days. But in light of the recent incident I think they would make a great asset in the cover up of this mess.

  She paused for a moment, “But that is for another time Sheppard, I will see
you at the briefing momentarily. You are going to be there correct, or do you plan on taking another vacation?”

  Her thoughts were silent for a moment. She finished donning her regalia and sprawled across her mattress attempting to catch some shut eye.

  Sorry, I just received word that Sarah is arriving.

  “Sarah? Ah, it’s old Jo, haven’t seen her in years. So she still goes by Sarah nowadays?”

  Until she finds another fun name to go by, sure…

  “I’ll leave you to her then,” she closed her eyes and brushed her cheeks against her silk bedding, “I’m going to rest before the briefing, see you shortly.”

  The voices stopped, she peered out of the corner of her eye at the speaker and microphone in her ceiling. She whispered to herself as she fell asleep.

  “I swear, technology these days…”

  Monica fell asleep on a bench amongst the crowds of the vessel’s residential deck. Arnael had paused the tour momentarily to discuss matters with his lieutenants. He left them to rest in the residential area.

  Thousands upon thousands of people walked by, largely ignoring Monica. Still, many could not help see the unusually-dressed woman asleep. Mekias had walked ahead to see some other areas first.

  Monica was restless, she continued her search for answers but her efforts to communicate with the ship’s inhabitants were in vain. The people neither spoke earth-based languages nor had time to stop and converse with her.

  Some passersby did not wear battle armor and instead wore plain clothes. Husbands, wives, children and soldiers all took a glance at the her on the bench. No words were spoken, only glances exchanged as crowds continued toward their destinations.

  The level she sat upon was nearly seven hundred meters in width and stretched endlessly in length. Lush gardens dotted the edges between housing blocks.

  Monica felt several light taps hit her shoulder, as she turned around she was met by a jovial young woman. At first glance she was the prettiest child he had ever seen, her light brown eyes reflected brightly as she crossed her arms behind her back.

  “Hello young lady.” Monica hesitated to pinch her cheeks.

  “My name is Morgane, what is yours?” The girl asked.

  “My name is Monica. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” The meeting alleviated much of the stress she endured the past two days.

  “Are you from Earth?” She asked.

  Monica nodded.

  “Tell me what it’s like! I hear so many things. Are mortals truly as barbaric as the histories say they are?”

  “Well…” Monica did not know what to answer first, “No, and what is the histories?”

  “The histories! The recorded mortal and immortal stories of Earth. The Guild of Histories has been the premiere source of information for me but they get quite philosophical and boring for my taste, and that is why I’m so glad you’re here!” She spoke English very well.

  “Well young lady, we are not very barbaric! In fact we have very civilized societies across the planet, though tribal settlements still do exist, and they are very peaceful.” Monica replied.

  “Incroyable!” Morgane’s accent switched to impeccable French, “Expliquez, err…explain to me about your numerous wars, why do mortals fight amongst themselves so openly?”

  She’s really well versed, so cute.

  “Well I personally cannot speak on behalf of every person on the planet…but some people have differences.”

  “But how can it be that simple? Do they not know that they will end up hurting many people in the process if they do not settle their differences?”

  So many questions!

  “My uncle ruled every immortal kingdom many years ago, long before I was born, and he was the one who ordained that war is unnecessary.” Morgane continued, “So why is it so hard for mortals to think that way also?”

  “I…don’t know personally, everyone is different.”

  Morgane pondered, her questions led to countless more.

  “They should all be ruled by us, in my opinion,” Morgane said, “then mankind could exist peacefully.”

  There was a silence. Monica did not know how to respond.

  “But uncle Sheppard also said that they should not be subjugated, and that they are the future.” A smile cut across Morgane’s face, “He adores people like you.”

  “Wait, your uncle is Commander Sheppard?” Monica replied.

  “Well he’s not my real uncle, he’s an uncle uncle, you know?”

  Monica knew exactly what she spoke of.

  A voice in the distance spoke in immortal and Morgane immediately recognized it. She turned around and ran amidst the crowd to a woman donning a long flowing violet robe.

  The anterior of the robe as well as its epaulets were branded with a symbol of what looked like an elephant embroidered in silver. She lowered the cowl of her robe revealing her dark hair and eyes.

  She strode gracefully forward as the crowd made way for her, several of whom saluted her in respect. Morgane outstretched her arms and jumped into the woman’s arms. She was caught with little effort.

  The robed woman kissed Morgane and brushed cheeks with her effeminately before acknowledging Monica with a smile.

  “My daughter has taken quite a liking of you.” She said with a warm smile.

  “Maman, maman! Elle est un mortel et elle a vu la Terre!”

  “Est-ce si!” Her smile widened as she looked at Monica, “Sorry if we’re confusing you, Morgane loves learning as many languages as she can!”

  Her mother began to speak immortal to her. Morgane sighed.

  “Sorry Miss Monica if I spoke too many languages.”

  “No! By all means, I love learning new languages myself.” Monica could not help but smile, the family was so friendly.

  The robed woman smiled back and introduced herself. “My name is Jo Alaris, Commander of the Nasu. It is a pleasure to meet you.” They shook hands warmly and conversed.

  Another Commander…

  “Do you speak our immortal dialect?”

  Monica shook her head, “I’m sorry I don’t ma’am.”

  “Well in this part of the galaxy they speak a pigeon language, so it does not reflect our true language.”

  Jo sat beside her daughter on the bench. She played with her daughter throughout the conversation as several attendants arrived behind her, discussing other matters.

  “And please,” Jo said, “there is no need to be formal here, we are a very, how do you say it, Spartan people, and we are very gracious hosts to have you aboard this vessel.”

  One of the attendants received a bouquet of flowers from a local vendor and whispered to her mistress.

  “Lady Sarah, we must leave very soon, the Commander has returned to his quarters.” The attendant said.

  Jo acknowledged, “If you’d excuse us, we have urgent matters to attend to,” she prodded her daughter, “what do we say Morgane?”

  “It has been an honor to meet you Lady Monica, we hope to see you again.”

  Monica bowed her head slightly attempting to be polite.

  “Monica, what did I say? We are not royalty,” Jo raised Monica’s chin, “we are your friends.”

  The procession left quickly toward the ship’s command module. Monica was left alone again in the crowded causeways. Though she felt somewhat uncomfortable, she knew she was welcome here.

  Sheppard sat in his seat. As he looked around he saw the familiar vestiges of his office from many years ago. He was tired of this life yet again but he knew the times could not be helped.

  He brushed his fingers across a virtual pad in successive patterns until a song began to emanate from his office, it was Mozart’s Requiem. He leaned his chair back and absorbed himself in the music.

  I miss you dearly too, father…

  He wagged his fingers in the air as if conducting the masterpiece himself. His motions were fluid and full of verve. The climax built quickly and overtook Sheppard. The graceful conduction became
fanatical as he threw his hands in the air.

  The finale reminded him of the Sala Terrena concert hall the day he had recorded the piece.

  “Man you love that song.” A young man emerged from Sheppard’s doorway.

  Sheppard smirked and joined him at a small table by the door. He pulled out a chess board and set it up for the both of them.

  “I haven’t seen you in a long time brother.” Sheppard said to the young man.

  “Well you know, you don’t visit me very often. I thought I’d stop by this time.” They were related by blood.

  “Shall we?”

  The music was lowered and the match started. The computer kept the time. They both remained silent throughout the match.

  “You’ve gotten better.” Sheppard told his brother.

  “Well you know, we’re so much alike.”

  “That’s not what dad would have said.”

  “He was being hard on us but he meant the best…” His brother assured him.

  “That’s what you think.”

  There was a moment of silence again. The game was quickly ending in Sheppard’s defeat.

  “You were always better at this.” Sheppard admitted.

  “Come on, you taught me the game. You are the real master here, I’m sure you’re just going easy on me.”

  “Nothing is ever easy with me.”

  Checkmate. Sheppard lost.

  The two brothers exchanged stares and then looked back down at the board. They wanted to catch up on their missed time.

  “You’ve been bad lately.” His brother said, “You’ve been leaving your friends behind.”

  “They don’t need me.”

  “Of course they don’t always need you, but they want to be with you. Why do you turn them away?”

  “Because I’ve failed everyone in my life.”

  “That’s not true—”

  “What about our parents?”

  They both stared at one another and did not say a word. All they could hear was the low hum of the ventilation system. Outside they watched as the moon passed through their viewing window.

  “Mom misses you.” Sheppard’s brother said.

  In his mind, Sheppard choked. He did not know how to respond to that.