Unfortunately for Jay, Juna had not only evolved as a person and didn’t care about social status anymore; she’d also been selected to join her husband on a very important space mission.
If only you’d consented to being left behind, Jay lamented, recalling how he’d secretly pulled every string he could to get Juna reassigned. But no, you couldn’t bear to be away from your husband for two years. Two measly years! His anger now burned hotly towards the woman he’d once loved with every fiber of his being.
Thus, Juna had accompanied Elexander off the planet anyway. Jay’s only consolation was in the fact that at least he didn’t have to witness their happiness up-close and personal anymore. At least he no longer had to grin and bear it in the presence of a man he absolutely hated. Plus, the mission was such a risky one that Jay seriously doubted if they’d even survive the journey to Nico-1. He deemed that a worthy fate for the woman who’d turned his burning love for her into arctic hate.
Unfortunately for Jay, the Mannings had survived the journey. And according to the satellite messages the command center had received, the married couple had actually thrived in their new environment. On top of that, they were going to return to Earth as heroes and as soon-to-be parents.
When word reached Jay that Juna had conceived a child on Nico-1, something within him snapped. From that point on, he plotted to do the unthinkable.
I couldn’t allow you to return to Earth with another man’s seed nestled in your womb. Jay flaming bitterness seared his soul. Even now he was without remorse for what he’d done to the Mannings. After all, it was supposed to be him and Juna having children together. Not her and Elexander. Not Juna and any other man…ever!
Although Jay was without remorse for his evil deeds, he was not without worry. He desperately feared being found out. Therefore, he’d been missing sleep for the past week, trying to come up with some way to keep the world from discovering what he’d done.
Jay had his work cut out for him, because a whole team of top scientists had signed up to work around the clock to find out what had caused the Mannings’ demise. With all those brilliant minds working on the case, it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed.
What I need is a scapegoat, Jay thought, determined to somehow shift the blame upon someone else's shoulders. But who? He carefully scanned the large room full of mourners. When Jay's eyes finally settled upon a grief-stricken Badru Karson, he smiled within himself.
Chapter 6
2180 – August
Noam prepared to retire to her home after completing the last of a long month of linguistic sessions. The Katanian people believed in learning as much as possible about the universe around them and its inhabitants. As head linguist/interpreter, it had been Noam’s job to not only learn the Earth language they’d come in contact with twelve years ago, but to also teach it to others. She’d finally done it, dispersing what she’d acquired to thousands of other linguists at their annual conference. Now she could take some time off to spend with her family.
The first thing Noam was going to do when she returned home was hug her husband tightly. Tender kisses upon the neck would follow. Then she would go into her son’s sleeping chamber and hug him tightly. Oh how she missed the both of them during her absence.
Thinking of home, Noam reached down and pressed the left button on her molecular bracelet. “Home,” she said as a purple light encompassed her.
Molecular transportation was the way Katanians traveled on their planet, especially when so far away from their intended destination as Noam was today. When their destinations were shorter, they chose to walk. The latter kept them healthy and fit. Incidentally, the molecular transporter could only transport things of the organic nature. In fact, it was made out of organic materials itself.
I wonder how much Xander has grown now, Noam mused as the molecules of her body changed from one location to the next.
“Ma-Ma!” Xander exclaimed as his mother suddenly appeared in the large receiving room of their home. He’d waited up for her.
If Noam had been a stranger, the house alarm would have rejected her molecular composition and she would have been transported to the outer gates of the settlement at Sector-44NW. If she had brought a stranger with her, the house alarm would have accepted both of them into the house based on her molecular composition alone. Such was the way of Katanian security.
“Hello, my son.” Noam stepped out of the light as it slowly faded around her. “My, you have grown even taller in my absence.” Even now she had to strain her neck to look up into his face.
Xander laughed and went to hug his mother. “Da-Da says that I may even reach six feet one day,” he replied, speaking in terms of Earth measurements. He was also speaking in the Earth tongue called English right now. He’d been practicing the language of his birth parents progressively more each day. Noam insisted upon him doing so ever since she taught it to him two years ago.
“I predict you will be over six feet. By the way, your English is excellent,” Noam said, also speaking in Earth English now. Then realizing that someone was missing, she looked around the room in expectation. “Speaking of your father, where is he?”
“In his lab. He has been back and forth there all day. He says he has a surprise for the both of us when he finally returns home to stay.” Xander released his mother and returned to the small marble shulchan (shool-khawn: table) where he was constructing a model Katanian spacecraft. Space and everything about it fascinated him.
“I wonder what he has for us this time.” Noam smiled. Her husband loved giving them surprises and they loved receiving them.
“I do not know, but he seemed really excited about it.”
Noam smiled wider. “Now I am excited.” She went over to the aqua eres (eh-res: sofa) on the east wall and sat down. As soon as she sat on the plush middle cushion, another lush cushion slid underneath her feet and the back of the eres adjusted perfectly to her body mass. Such was the way of Katanian furniture. It was always built for comfort and durability.
“You seem tired, too, Ma-Ma.” Xander noted her weary sigh as soon as the eres offered her its’ comfort. He propped his elbows upon two empty spaces of the round, aqua and rusted-colored shulchan.
“I am a little.”
“I will get you a beverage and something to read then.” Xander stood to his feet. He liked serving his mother on the rare occasion that she allowed him to do so.
On Katan, children were never expected to see to their parents’ needs unless the parent was old or sickly. Noam was neither, but that didn’t stop Xander from trying to cater to her as often as he could anyway.
“You do not have to that, son. I can get those things for myself.” Noam moved to get up. “I will also get you a beverage, as well.” Then seeing a disappointed look creep upon Xander’s face, she paused and sat back down. “On second thought, I will be honored to have you serve me, son.”
Xander smiled wide now. “Yes.” Then in order to compromise with his benevolent mother, he added, “Perhaps you will take pleasure in reading out loud to me instead.”
Noam nodded. “Very well. I wish to read out of your birth parents’ holy book. I trust you know where to find it?” She’d never read to him out of that book before, though she’d read it many times herself.
“Yes, I do,” Xander replied. His was very familiar with the storage room that contained all of the personal effects of his birth parents. Personal affects which had been analyzed and categorized before it was finally presented to him two years ago. The Earth ship had also been analyzed thoroughly before any of its data could be released among the Katanians.
From the personal affects he’d been presented with, Xander learned so much about his birth parents. Not just their names and faces, but also a lot about their personalities due to the digital logs that had been restored and preserved for him. There was even a log where his birth mother chronicled the miraculous way she met his father. How she loved Elexan
der on sight and how that love grew deeper with each year.
Xander’s birth mother also left a digital log of the first time she felt him move within her womb. How happy she and Elexander were to actually feel their child’s presence even though they’d known he was swimming inside of her for months.
Xander’s birth father also left digital logs, but his was mostly filled with scientific things that corresponded with his handwritten journals. Scientific things that Xander’s adopted father seemed most fascinated with more and more with each passing year.
When the Earth lad had gotten two cylinder-shaped beverages and his birth parents’ holy book, he returned to the receiving room. Sitting beside Noam on the family-sized eres, Xander proceeded to listen as his mother read from the gold-trimmed pages of the slightly charred black leather book.
Like all Katanians, Noam knew how powerful words[i] were. In fact, the Katanians had the innate ability to see just how words affected a person’s anatomy via light patterns produced from those words. Although they could not see how words affected their own bodies, they could feel the effects of those words, which was one of the reasons they were so conscientious with their speech and that of others.
However, as Noam read aloud from a section of the book entitled Psalm 32, she began to note something extraordinary happening. The words she spoke didn’t produce any of the regular light that Katanians were used to seeing on a daily basis. These words produced a glorious bright light, the same dazzling light that always surrounded the angelic beings that visited their planet on special assignment.[ii]
Even though Noam had read this book countless times, she had not read it aloud. Now she wished she had for its glorious words were actually planting seeds of bright light into the heart of her son.[iii]
Noam could literally see the light going into Xander’s ears and lodging in his heart, producing an emerald green of faith there. She could also see the light changing him even more on the inside as certain parts of it began to travel in all directions of his body. As it traveled up to the child’s brain, Noam saw the blue color of peace burst forth in Xander’s head like a fireworks display on their annual mid-year holiday.
“Oh my!” Noam exclaimed as she leaped up from the eres, inadvertently causing the holy book to fall to the aqua-colored marble floor below. She didn’t know whether to run from the room screaming or fall to her knees in tears.
________________________________________
[i] Proverbs 18:21
[ii] Acts 12:7
[iii] Psalm 97:11 (the Message Bible); Romans 10:17
Chapter 7
Seeing his mother jump up, Xander jumped up, too. “What is the matter, Ma-Ma?!” He’d never seen her look so alarmed in his life. She was actually turning pale violet now. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her hands were shaking like leaves in the wind.
“I…this book…it has the light of the Creator in it,” Noam stammered out, quickly falling to her knees to retrieve this wonderful holy book with all its hidden treasures.
“The Creator?” Xander’s ebony eyes grew wide. He’d heard much about the Creator of the universe and found the whole subject intriguing. In fact, right before his mother stopped reading, he was actually starting to believe in the Creator’s ability to lead and guide him in the way he should go.[i]
Those spoken words had produced so much faith and peace within Xander, who had wrestled daily with his decision to one day venture into the unknowns of space. Especially after what happened to his birth parents.
“Yes, the Creator.” Noam stood to her feet with the precious book clenched tightly to her chest. “I must contact your father immediately and tell him of this wondrous discovery.” She headed to the visual communicator on the west wall. “Imagine being able to have the light of the Creator inside of you, not just around you.”
Noam had no sooner connected with her husband when she was confronted with even more wonders to behold. “Sweetness, I have wonderful news!” Ezra proclaimed, bubbling over with the joy of his own latest discovery.
Thanks to the thorough notes that Elexander maintained about a planet he called Nico-1, fertile water had now been found for women like Noam who had trouble conceiving. Therefore, a Katanian baby boom was surely on the way! In fact, Ezra predicted that his own wife would be pregnant within a month. At least that is what happened to the other barren women in the month long study he’d been secretly working on.
“I have wonderful news, as well!” Noam said excitedly, though she wasn’t even sure how to put her news into words. Quickly realizing that her news probably needed to be demonstrated in person, she added, “Are you able to come home now?”
“Yes, gladly,” Ezra replied eagerly. “But let me share my news right now, lest I burst with excitement.”
Then he began to tell her how he used the coordinates the Earth scientist had documented to personally travel to a place where fertile water was said to be found. How he met a friendly female buck named Tuhfa on this planet, who not only seemed to be expecting him, but who also claimed to have known Xander’s birth parents.
This same remarkable female, who surprisingly spoke Earth English, as well, insisted that one of her offspring was destined to grow up with the Earth child. That offspring was a newly born, brown and gray male buck named Nasiir (NAH-sir).
“This Tuhfa knew my birth parents?” Xander eased closer to the communicator where his adopted parents talked face to face.
“Yes,” Ezra replied. “And according to her, they were very kind people, too.”
Xander smiled. He liked that his birth parents were so well thought of even on another planet. His adopted father had often raved about how brilliant Elexander was based on the deep treasures of research that had been left behind.
“This male child of hers. Where is he? Can he talk, as well?” Xander had so many questions. Each one leading to several more.
“Yes, he can talk and I will bring him home tomorrow,” Ezra said, still trying to get to the main point of his disclosure. “But first I must tell your mother one more thing.”
“And that is…?” Noam prompted. Her blue eyes were already filling with tears for she knew what would come next. She’d known from the moment she heard Ezra mention this miraculous water, which is why she’d been so quiet for the last few minutes.
“That your days of being barren are over, sweetness,” Ezra finished with a wide grin before pressing his wrist bracelet. Within three seconds he was home to hold his happily crying wife in his arms. There would be no walking home from his lab tonight.
~~~ >< ~~~
Later that night, Xander felt a strong unction to read his birth parents’ holy book for himself. Not knowing where to start, he opened it in the middle and began to flip through the pages. Several things stood out, but nothing really intrigued Xander until he came across pages with red lettering on them.
Curious as to why these pages were so different from the rest, he stayed up most of the night reading in mittah (mit-taw: bed). He didn’t stop until he reached the end of a fascinating section appropriately entitled Revelations.
This is better than any book I have ever read. Xander was especially fond of the battle scenes at the end of the holy book. To read about angels fighting and prevailing against an evil dragon and his wicked host[ii] was pure excitement for the adventure-loving twelve-year-old.
Xander liked angels. He had ever since his adopted parents told him a bounty of good things about such beings.
Flipping back to another fascinating section that he bookmarked earlier, Xander reread the text silently. According to this particular section, he could qualify to be on the side of good simply by believing in a risen Savior named Jesus Christ.[iii]
That was easy. Xander had believed in this Jesus from the moment he read about the angels worshipping God at His birth.[iv] Then when he read about the Creator proclaiming that angels should worship that first begotten son[v], his faith had increased.
&nb
sp; Furthermore, Xander had heard enough about angels to know that they only worshipped the Creator in whatever form He chose to be in. Therefore, this Jesus had to be who He claimed to be. As a result, Xander willingly bowed his head in surrender to this truth. Then he used his mouth to confess his heart’s belief. Soon that confession was made unto soul salvation.[vi]
Suddenly, Xander’s spiritual eyes and ears were open. He could actually see and hear a host of angels praising God on account of him. They seemed joyful about what he’d just done.[vii] Ecstatic even. The light of the Creator seemed to ooze approval as it illuminated the room.
Xander continued to watch these heavenly beings in silent awe until a peaceful sleep finally claimed him. He would tell his mother of this glorious occurrence in the morning.
________________________________________
[i] Psalm 32:8
[ii] Revelation 12:7; 20:1-3
[iii] Romans 10:9
[iv] Luke 2:13-15
[v] Hebrews 1:6
[vi] Romans 10:10
[vii] Luke 15:10
Chapter 8
2187 – April
“Xander, please hurry. You must not be late for your lessons,” Noam told her oldest son as she paused in the wide corridor near his sleeping chamber.
Her other three children had already risen, broken the fast with their parents, and gotten out to school. Even Nasiir had already left for his lessons. And he usually took forever to finish his morning meal since he had to go all the way to the valley in order to graze.
“Ma-Ma, when will you stop treating me as if I am one of the younglings?” replied the olive-skinned young man. Xander sat lacing up his sandals on the side of his large purple mittah.
“When you learn to come away from your experiments and get to mittah on time,” Noam scolded, despite the fact that the beginnings of a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.
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