Earth Keepers

by Jorge Alejandro Lavera

“I’ll try to be concise. Pay attention. I know it’s a lot to accept, but you died before your baby was born. She died with you. There were no more Atlantean births after that. That was thousands of years ago. Tzedek was trying to clone you ever since then, doing experiments with humans. Atlantis was destroyed. Humanity was destroyed by a virus that Marsan made. There are only a few thousand humans left and a handful of Atlanteans. Marsan killed Tzedek, and Sofía, the girl you’re in now, shot him. Tzedek’s memory infiltrated a human and their personalities are mixing. Sofía put on the tiara to see if there was something in your memories that would help us separate them. I suppose the problem is double now...”

  Sofía stood up. She sat down again, then stopped again.

  “Damn, stop fighting me!”

  “Stop using my body like it was yours!”

  Sofía snorted, and sat down again.

  Althaea and Damaris watched Sofía’s exchange with herself. Damaris covered her mouth and Althaea ran her hand over her head.

  Sofía turned red, as if she were forcing herself.

  “Stop it!”

  “No! First you’re going to recognize that this is my body and you are not a guest!”

  The emerald in the tiara lit up. The whole tiara suddenly lit up and the hair on everyone in the room bristled as if lightening were about to strike.

  “Gea, please...” begged Althaea.

  “I am a queen of Atlantis and I will not be subjected to the whims of a girl!”

  “I am the legitimate owner of this body and I will not permit anyone to steal it! Thief!”

  Suddenly the apparent fight was over and Sofía fell back in the chair. The static that was gathering in the room dissipated.

  “This is absurd. No one ever accused me of being a thief.”

  “Isn’t that exactly what you’re trying to do? Usurp my body? This body has an owner and that owner is me.”

  “You robbed me first of my tiara.”

  “They asked me to use it, I didn’t steal anything. I had no idea I wouldn’t be able to take it off.”

  “You’re just a human.”

  “And you’re just a tiara. Gea died thousands of years ago.”

  “Don’t be absurd. I’m here, I’m conscious. I’m Queen Gea Sartaris.”

  “No, no you aren’t. Your reign ended when you died. That is, maybe you’re here, but you aren’t the queen anymore.”

  Sofía looked desperate.

  “Everything was going so well, how is it possible? I lost my baby? And my father? What did you mean that Marsan killed him? And his memory is in a human? This is a nightmare.”

  “Calm down. Try to relax and I’ll transmit all I know that happened after...well, after you disappeared,” Althaea told her.

  “Okay,” Sofía conceded, and she sat back, relaxed. Althaea came up and put her hands on her shoulders. She looked in her eyes and they stayed like that for a few minutes. Althaea transmitted to her about the next reign, the end of Atlantis, how the survivors scattered, the efforts of the Atlanteans to pass unnoticed, humanity’s progress through the interventions of their people, Tzedek’s experiments, the destruction of the ecosystem, the construction of the cities, Marsan’s sabotage, the missiles, the survivors and the current situation.

  When they separated, Althaea was perspiring.

  “Ugh, it’s like having a conference call. There really are two people in there.”

  “Well, this person needs the virtual one to go. How do we do this?”

  Sofía looked at her hands.

  “I must say I agree with the girl. I feel crippled in this human body.”

  “The ‘girl’ is named Sofía. And from what I learned not long ago, I’m not strictly human, as Althaea has already told you.”

  “Sofía, can you see Gea’s memories?” Althaea asked.

  “Yes. I can see everything and hear her think. And she can do the same with me.”

  “Well, you must try to work together, look for some way to separate yourselves. Think about Juan Carlos’ situation, maybe resolving his problem will resolve yours. Or the other way around. Meanwhile, I’ll go get your father.”

  Sofía got a bottle of juice and drank the whole thing. She laid back in the chair with an inexpressive but tense face. After a minute, she said:

  “We’ll try.”

  Althaea and Damaris looked at each other while Sofía stayed quiet.

  “I’ll stay with her,” Damaris announced.

  “Okay, I’ll bring Juan Carlos and I’ll try to deal with the ship,” answered Althaea and left.

  Sofía started to move her eyes behind her closed eyelids.

  FUSION

  Rho, December 2, 2027. 3:00 p.m.

  Althaea hurried to get to where Juan Carlos was resting. His hair was almost completely white and there were lines on his relaxed face.

  She touched him softly, until he opened his eyes. He looked at her with clear green eyes, and she swallowed hard.

  “Juan Carlos, Sofía needs you.”

  “Let me guess. The tiara? It brought Gea’s personality back?”

  “Yes? You knew?”

  “Yes, Tzedek planned it that way. He knew the design of the tiara and knew it could store much more than her memories, though his plan was that Sofía would use it when she reached maturity. If the subject understands the necessity, they can achieve a fusion of personalities and Sofía would be completely compatible. In a few years, not now. I tried to tell her not to put it on, but I see that didn’t work.”

  “And what’s going on with you?”

  “My fusion is complete.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Althaea asked worriedly.

  “I’m Juan Carlos Navarro. But I’m also Tzedek Zetos.”

  “Tzedek? Are you there?”

  “I’m not schizophrenic. I only have the experiences of Tzedek. But, what’s a person but a mix of temperament and memories? Erase the memory of a person and you’re erasing a person, you have to reconstitute it. And sometimes the person reconstituted is very different from the previous one. As far as our temperaments, we weren’t that different.”

  “So you’re still Juan Carlos.”

  “I’m much more than Juan Carlos. I have the memories from a thousand lifetimes. Thousands of professions, hundreds of thousands of years of experience. Tzedek looked young like I do, like any Atlantean, but he was a true old Ladino man. I think when he lost Atlantis he went a little crazy, like everyone. He was obsessed with his personal project. He ignored important signals that in other times would have caught his attention. In Atlantis he never would have fallen before Marsan in such a stupid manner. He was always on guard.”

  “Do you think we can find a way to reverse it?”

  “Why would I want to reverse it?”

  “Because he’s killing you!”

  “Ah, yes, that...I think there’s a way to correct that problem. But I don’t want to reverse anything else.”

  “You don’t want to be Juan Carlos again?”

  “I’m still him.”

  Althaea reached out her hand to caress his cheek. Juan Carlos reached out his own and gently pushed away Althaea’s.

  “You aren’t my Juan Carlos anymore.”

  “I’m sorry things have turned out this way.”

  “We have to reverse this! We were so good, there was so much...”

  “You fell in love? With a human?”

  “He wasn’t a mere human as you well know.”

  Juan Carlos stayed quiet.

  “Juan Carlos, I don’t want to lose you. How can you accept that another person is in your body?”

  “Because I’m the one who wins. I only share a body. Tzedek has given me thousands of lifetimes of experience. Who would reject something like that?”

  “I’m sure many would.”

  “Well, I’m not like most people. Stop fighting me and be happy for me.”

  “I won’t be happy until I see you’re healed.”

  “Let’s take c
are of that, then. I have to speak with Gea.”

  “With Sofía, you mean.”

  “No, with Gea. You said Sofía put on the tiara, right? So Gea is there and I need to talk to her.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Why the nerves?”

  “Well, let’s see. Sofía put on the tiara, now she has a dual personality and is acting like a crazy person. You have my father’s memories, you two are one now, and I could never be intimate with you without thinking I’m committing incest; that is if we are able to cure your rejection of the nanites. A cruise ship full of people is nearing the city and needs help, escorted by a nuclear submarine. Why would I be nervous?”

  “Exactly, why? All of that has a solution. You were in Africa, but I was a direct witness of the disappearance of our home and our culture of millions of years. If we survived that, how can we not fix all of this?”

  “It’s a question of time, Juan Carlos. Some things take centuries and others are ruined forever in a second.”

  “Precisely, I see that you understand me,” Juan Carlos said ironically, smiling. Althaea made a face.

  “I don’t like this mix of my father with you. Your personality has changed.”

  “I don’t think so...it’s just that we didn’t have time to get to know each other well. And now, let’s get to Gea quickly or I won’t have time to live much more.”

  “Of course, let’s go. But yes, you’ve changed.”

  They quickly arrived at Sofía’s side, who was still reclined in the chair, dreaming.

  Juan Carlos approached her and whispered:

  “Sofía...Gea...”

  Sofía suddenly opened her eyes and looking at Juan Carlos, started to speak:

  “Dad!” Sofía frowned. “Who is it? Oh, it’s your biological father.” Her face was filled with amazement. “Papa, your eyes!”

  “Shh, calm down for a minute. I need to talk just with Gea.”

  “But Father, we have to fix your problem with the nanites, every minute you’re...”

  “Silence. Gea and I can work it out but we have to communicate with each other.”

  Sofía pursed her lips, but stayed quiet.

  Juan Carlos sat next to Sofía and took her right hand, holding it between his.

  “Gea, first of all, you have to stop fighting Sofía. I must show you what happened the last time I saw you. Are you ready?”

  “Papa? Is it you?”

  “That doesn’t matter now, just look...”

  THE COLLAPSE OF ATLANTIS

  Atlantis, Year 3550 of the Era of Gea

  “She’s almost here, wait a second, damn it!” shouted Marsan, pointing at Sitre who was less than three hundred feet from the entrance to the ship.

  “We have to leave NOW. It’s collapsing!” shouted Tzedek, pointing to the destruction that was expanding from the center of the island towards them and had almost reached them. While he used the controls, the ship closed and shot off at the same time. They just had time to put on the safety harnesses. All the other ships had already left from different ports and were racing away at full speed.

  “Noooo!” shouted Marsan. The ship’s six engines accelerated and quickly gained height. There was only one ship left at the port. They could see how the collapse that originated in the center of the city reached where they had been a moment ago, trapping Sitre who was still more than a hundred feet from the door. The ship shook and for a moment fell, then resumed the acceleration. The whole port was swallowed up by the collapse, while pieces of masonry began to machine-gun the ship.

  “Noooo,” Marsan screamed again, crying, but this time he turned to Tzedek and only the power of years of experience controlling mental attacks saved him from being assassinated on the spot. Since he couldn’t control him mentally, Marsan broke free and jumped on him, trying to strangle him. Tzedek could hardly keep Marsan’s hands off of his neck, needing all of his energy, but Marsan had insane strength and ended up closing his hands on his throat. As much as he tried to free himself, he could not do it. He began to need air and thought Marsan was going to kill him until Halius and Nikaia jumped in and held his arms so he couldn’t attack any more.

  A piece of metal hit the back door of the ship and went through it. The wind was overwhelming, and all who weren’t strapped in rolled around the floor, falling violently. Other pieces of metal started coming in through the hole in the door and enlarging it. One metal piece stuck in Nikaia’s shoulder who screamed and let Marsan go. Another fragment, shaped like a dagger, hit the seat where Tzedek was and missed him by inches. Another small piece of metal went straight into Marsan’s head.

  The pieces of debris hit the ship at thousands of miles per hour, with the force of the explosion of the antimatter reactor on the island. The Atlanteans’ nano-organisms were not strong enough to stop them. Marsan fell to the floor, bleeding profusely. They immediately went to help him, as well as Nikaia and the others injured. They injected reinforcement nanites, closed the wounds to avoid excessive bleeding and they strapped Marsan by force to one of the seats.

  “And Princess Tessa?”

  “She didn’t get out. She wanted to stay until the rest evacuated and was going to evacuate in the last ship.”

  Tzedek looked at Gea, who was the first one they put in the ship. She was well strapped in to one of the seats and for now was safe. They had practically carried her there, since in her advanced pregnancy she couldn’t run well. Everything that mattered was there. He stretched lightly and took her hand.

  “Where is my husband? Did he leave before as I ordered?” Gea asked.

  “Yes, Your Majesty, he evacuated in the ship that left just before ours,” Ponteus answered.

  The ship shook when several bigger fragments hit the ship. Two of the large turboprops were torn apart, while two more of the engines began to burn. Ponteus made a colossal effort to sustain the flight level, shouting curses, while accelerating to the maximum. Gea squeezed her father’s hand while she cried out. The ship finally left the area of the explosion, but it was fatally damaged. From the ship they could see that in the center of the island, where once there was a mountain, the land and everything around it was now collapsing. Out of control, the fission reactor of matter and antimatter had formed a micro-black hole, which absorbed the entire island for thousands of miles before dissipating its energy and disappearing. When this happened, in the place where the most advanced civilization in the world had existed before, there was only a hole that was quickly filled in with ocean water.

  Tzedek, like the others, watched the disaster and swallowed hard in anguish. His species, his complete civilization was over. He looked around him and held Gea’s hand even harder. No, he thought, they were still alive. They hadn’t finished them yet. This wouldn’t end here.

  Ponteus was able to compensate for the faults of the ship and keep it flying towards the east, until they were close to Earth again, where it landed heavily. The ship fell apart when it hit the ground. The engines flew off and the body was crushed. The cab survived because of its special design to protect the occupants in case of impact, but all the electronics and the power source was ripped out. They remained lying in an empty shell.

  Marsan suddenly woke up. He was disoriented, until he seemed to remember what had happened. With a howl, he tried to attack Tzedek again, but couldn’t because he was still attached to the seat with the restraint straps that were used for prisoners. He stared at him fixedly and screamed wildly. He screamed and shouted in such a way that it seemed he was never going to stop.

  Everyone started to unbuckle themselves. They could see that outside, the remains of the ship were scattered for hundreds of feet around. Musa got an emergency kit and took out an injector that she loaded with a substance from a container. She went to Marsan and tried to calm him down, while injecting him with a sedative. Slowly, he stopped screaming, until he was crestfallen and sobbing. As he stopped making noise, Tzedek could hear a whimper coming from his side. With all the distract
ion he hadn’t been paying attention to Gea, thinking he didn’t need to, so he almost panicked when he saw her crying and moaning. He jumped up and went to see what was happening; he saw she was wet between her legs and in her belly. There was a ton of fluid and a large part of that, of course, was Atlantean blood.

  “Papa, it hurts,” moaned Gea, looking at Tzedek with a panicked face.

  “Hell. Musa, Ponteus, pass me the delivery assistance equipment, holographic ultrasound, nanoscale scalpel, whatever there is.”

  Musa covered her mouth and a second after Ponteus, who was already going through the equipment, began to search everywhere for something to assist Gea, feeling Tzedek’s urgency.

  Ponteus grabbed equipment, tried them and threw them furiously.

  “Damn it, the whole ship is dead, the equipment can’t get energy from anywhere, Tzedek.”

  “Aaayy,” screamed Gea.

  Tzedek unbuckled Gea and with Musa’s help laid her on the floor. His hands were covered in bloody fluid.

  “I’m sorry, daughter, with permission, I need to see what’s happening,” said Tzedek, while he undid the lower part of her robe, without waiting for her answer. Having her distended belly in view, he quickly cleaned her with a piece of her robe that he’d just torn off and he could see a small hole on one side of her belly where blood was pouring out.

  “Metal from the explosion? No, no, no, such bad luck isn’t possible,” thought Tzedek.

  “Papa, it hurts so much, what’s happening?” stammered Gea, crying.

  “An ultrasound with batteries!” Ponteus cried, throwing it to Tzedek from the other end of what was left of the ship.

  Tzedek caught it in the air, opened it, activated it and placed it on Gea’s belly in a couple of seconds. The gadget lit up a hologram floating above and to one side, showing the interior of her body in brilliant colors. They could see her internal organs in the hologram, perforated by a fragment that had entered in a straight line, passing through liver, kidneys, and worst of all, the baby. Everything was red. The hologram identified the fatal problems and lighted them up in red when there was no solution.