Chapter Three
Hutchison arrived at the dockyard. He was in awe of the sights and sounds around him. Hundreds of ships lay hovering in their docs, some of them being worked on by workers, others being boarded by passengers for long-haul flights. Virgin Galactic had a few routes through the dock. Hutchison remembered flying with them when he was a little boy. From this very dock he took off on his first ever family vacation. They went to see the springs on Venus. Back then, Venus was a big vacation planet. Virgin Galactic did a few package holidays to the wondrous planet. This was obviously before the big financial crash. The crash that affected nearly every single being on planet Earth. From the livestock, to the wildlife, to the humans. Every creature big and small was affected by the sudden lack of cash.
Farmers went out of business. Cattle died of hunger. Children went barefoot to school. Parents worked three to four jobs to put food on the table. And things continued like that for a few years. And then out of the blue, it was all over. Hutchison remembers thinking how odd it was that life could change so dramatically within the blink of a few years. One minute; Earth had been prosperous. Next it had been blanketed by a financial crisis that affected every single person on the big blue planet that they called home.
And then it all went back to normal again. Things were different this time. It was the complete opposite of the financial crisis. It was prosperity on a level that Hutchison had never seen before. Suddenly, there was money. There were jobs. The minimum wage had gone up tenfold. Factories were hiring at an astounding rate. Ships needed more Captains and deckhands. Fleets needed more vehicles to be made. It was a prosperous time, a time that has gone on until now.
People wondered what had changed. Professional analysts were trying to point the finger of blame on the banks. The banks after all were usually the culprits of much of the world’s poverty. But the thing the analysts found harder to believe was the fact that there seemed to be no more poverty. It had vanished into thin air, much like the steam coming out of one of the many new factories being built on the free land that remained.
Steam held the secret to the world’s prosperity. The thing is, Hutchison nor the rest of the world were quite aware of the reasoning behind Earth’s newfound riches. Nobody knew about the resource. The so-called blackness. And for the past fifteen years, the world turned a blind eye to their new found luck. Luck that had made many millionaires. Luck that had made all the other people on Earth wealthy enough to afford anything they could ever need or want.
People were paid well now. It was like a switch had gone off. A switch that reset everything that society since the dawn of man had gotten wrong. Now there was no wrong. Crime was at its lowest. People were happy. But Hutchison couldn’t help thinking that there was more to it. More to it than the eye could see. But he went on with his life as normal. He didn’t question anything anymore. But that was until he became a selected member of The Company. And then everything became clear. He came to know about the resource. He came to know of the government’s willingness to make sure that every person on Earth was well off. That every person had food on their tables. A roof over their head. Clothes on their back.
Yes – that was what he was told, and that was what he was led to believe. And for a very long time, Hutchison believed every single word of it. Every syllable, every letter, and the spaces in between them. He believed in The Company. He believed in what they stood for. And he watched as the world became more powerful. Became that much more perfect. But then he dug a little deeper. He did some research. He started to scrutinize. To analyse. Because in Hutchison’s mind, there just couldn’t be this much wealth without there being some sort of downfall. The old adage says it all really when it comes to his stance on the progress that Earth had made.
If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.
And there was no mistaking that this all sounded too good to be true. There had to be some sort of collateral damage. You couldn’t go through life without causing any. It was just how the world worked. And it will always work like that. And sure enough, Hutchison was right. The Company hadn’t been forthright on the lengths that they had gone to in covering up the resource. A resource that apparently they saw as their own and their own only. Anybody that caught wind of their secret was quickly eliminated. Terminated. Silenced.
And it was this revelation that made Hutchison become distant from The Company and their cause. It was not what he signed up for. He didn’t see the point in murdering people just because they had become privy to The Company’s secret. It went against everything that The Company said they stood for. They couldn’t say that they stand for the people and the prosperity of Earth if they were going about destroying selective groups of their own. The Company was either good or it was either bad. It couldn’t be both. And Hutchison decided that it was the latter. Bad to the bone. Always would be. So, it was around that time that he made contact with an underground group.
And it was because of that underground group that he found himself in the dockyard, admiring the plentiful machinery around him. Some of it stationary - some of it airborne. It was truly a sight to behold. A sight that was secretly drenched and dripping with the blood spilt by The Company in the name of keeping the blackness at bay. But not anymore.
No more people would die on his watch. So he would make his way to the Andromeda Galaxy. He would save the people on Second Earth and the people on the Orion Traveller. Bring them back home. And he would destroy the ship carrying the deadly poison that was the blackness.
“You look a little lost there pal, need any help?” Somebody asked, it was one of the workers, and Hutchison couldn’t blame him really, it was probably quite unnerving to see a man just standing silently, watching ships dock and disembark.
It was probably especially unnerving considering the fact that Hutchison probably had a scowl on his face. A scowl that was only growing deeper and darker as he thought more about The Company. So he decided to smile at the worker. It was best to put him at ease. People were sensitive these days. It was uncommon to spot a man that was unhappy walking the streets. What was there to be unhappy about? People had money. They had health. They had everything they could ever want. So he would play the part, at least until he boarded the ship.
“No, thank you. I’m just looking for my ship. I got assigned to it today. Names Hutchison,” he said, extending his hand toward the worker.
The worker shook Hutchison’s hand and smiled back at him. He had warm eyes. The sort of eyes that belonged to a man that was more than happy with his lot in life. Looking at is left hand he could see that the man was married. And judging by the discolouration around the ring, he’d been married for a long time.
“Oh, Mr Hutchison, I’ve been waiting for you! Your ship is just this way; your men are already on board. Here’s the itinerary and your documents. The flight plan is on page three. Hope you have a safe journey,” the man said, ushering Hutchison to follow him.
After a two-minute walk, both men finally reached the ship. She was a beauty. She stood tall and firm from bow to stern. The ship was maroon red, with lines of green and blue around its hull. She was a little bit of an eyesore, a bit garish, but she would do. On such short notice, his underground contacts had still managed to get him a military sized ship with weaponized capabilities. He couldn’t fault them.
The ship had two cannons on the front, along with cruise missile docks on the sides. The Ironsides were large and stretched for a good hundred metres. He couldn’t see the back of the ship from where he was standing, but if it was anything like the front, then they would have a 360° protective defence setup. The sort of setup you want when venturing into unknown territory. Unknown territory that could be teaming with the enemy. An enemy that wants to keep its secrets at bay. Secrets that Hutchison intended on bringing to light.
“Thank you, I’ve got it from here. I appreciate the escort,” Hutchison said, shaking the man’s hand once again. The worker smiled at him and walked aw
ay. He had a skip in his step, like he’d just helped an old lady cross the street.
Hutchison guessed to most people he would look a little frail and unresponsive. He only looked that way because he was stressed. But standing near his new ship, he felt the stress washing away from him. It was as if every time he breathed, he felt a little better. He knew that this was a brand-new chapter in his life. A chapter that he would remember forever.
Who forgets the day they changed the world? For better or worse… Change was definitely needed.
***
Randy and the others were growing tired. The trek through the caves was starting to become a little tedious. The darkness was the main culprit. It was so dark that Randy feared that he would hit his head yet again. And he didn’t know if he would be able to take another hit to the head. The first one knocked him loopy. Who knew what a second hit to the head would do to him?
His brains were frazzled enough as they were. His head felt like noodle soup. His thoughts were sloshing around, bashing against the inside of his cranium, sending tremors down the middle of his spine. But at least he still had April. And since he’d woken up from his accident, a little worse for wear, he made sure that April didn’t leave his side. His eyes had been locked on her since. By now they were wandering.
Gustoff was admiring the sight in front of him. Even in near complete darkness, she looked amazing. There was just something about April. The way she carried herself, the way she talked to him, the way she stood up to the fear that was ever present around her. She was a fighter – the sort of person that Randy wanted around him. He’d never met a woman like her before. She had such a spark. A spark that at times could be lethal. You didn’t want to get into an argument with her, that was for sure.
But Randy wasn’t interested in arguing with her. He wasn’t interested in anything really. Everything around him was becoming stale and boring. He was getting fed up with the colony members. How they mumbled and whispered about him. He wasn’t stupid, he could hear. Hear them talk about him. Saying how he thought he was better than everybody. But that was not the case. Gustoff knew he was no better than anybody in there. He knew that he was equal. But the problem was that the colony members, especially the elderman, hadn’t figured out that the world didn’t revolve around them.
They still thought that they were better than everybody. That they had the answers. That the pod crash members, all three of them, were idiots. Idiots that were covering something up. The elderman looked at Timson and his two crewmembers with un-trusting gazes. And Gustoff knew that if the colony members didn’t trust him, a man that had lived side-by-side with them, then the Earth people weren’t going to be trusted by them anytime soon.
These people held a grudge. And that grudge had cost Gustoff a lot of his sanity. It had been hard on him before. Being shunned and ousted like some sort of pariah. And the kicker of it was that all he had ever wanted to do was help the colony. Help them become more efficient. He had suggested designs for certain machines that could have made their lives easier. But they’d looked at him as if he was trying to perform black magic. Like he was some sort of witch doctor.
That’s how they saw him. The kooky one. The one with more than a few marbles loose in his head. But Gustoff was none of those things. Randy knew that he was intelligent. But intelligence would only get him so far with these people. Unless he stooped down to their level, then he could never be one of them. Randy knew that he would never be one of the colony. Even now, even when his theory had been proven and that there are people out there just like them, deep in space, far away from their own planet, even now, the colony looked down on him.
They didn’t treat him the same. Randy was pretty sure that when he’d hit his head, some of them must’ve been hoping for the worst. And when Randy had opened his eyes, he’d seen a few of them who’d looked disappointed. Disappointed that he hadn’t died. But Randy had fight in him. Lots of fight. Years and years of being talked down to and looked down on had given him a fire in his belly. A fire that burned non-stop for every second that he was awake.
But the fire in his belly wasn’t going to convince the members of the colony that he was one of them. Neither would it show April the love that she deserved, the love that he craved, the love that he wanted to shower upon her. The simple fact was that the passion he felt being a scientist – the passion for being right – was probably going to cost him the affections of the girl he loved.
Randy knew that he was stubborn. If he saw something one way while somebody else saw it another, no matter how convincing their argument was, Randy would always insist that he was right. And it was this constant insistence that made him an easy target for the elderman. A target that the elderman took aim at regularly. Randy’s problem was that he thought too much. And that was evident right now. He’d been thinking too much yet again, so much so that he hadn’t realised that the colony had stopped in their tracks.
He accidentally bumped into April. She turned around. She had a concerned look on her face. It was in stark contrast from the usual look he received from most of the people in the colony.
She had such warm eyes. Welcoming eyes. He could let himself drown in them, get lost in them, but to not come across like a creep, he looked away quickly. She noticed and put her hand on his shoulder. Her touch was gentle. Her scent was sweet. But he didn’t dare look back at her. He couldn’t bring himself to. He feared that if he did, then all his feelings would come tumbling out. And then she would know the extent of his desires towards her.
He couldn’t allow his emotions to become a factor in their relationship. He didn’t want to wreck their bond. It was a bond that was built upon the professionalism of being fellow scientists. She had taken an interest in the field and he’d taught her everything she knows now in his so-called hole back on the colony.
She took to it like a duck to water. She studied with him and she ate with him. On a few occasions, they’d drunk together as well. The colony didn’t appreciate science, but did appreciate the art of brewing wine. There were grape trees everywhere back on the surface. Randy didn’t know if they were still there, the beam had probably taken them out. So there would be no more wine. Not for a long time at least. But he had the memories. The memories of drinking wine with the girl he loved. Even if she didn’t know it, or didn’t feel the same way, Randy would always have those memories.
And the beautiful thing about memories is, as time passes and they become less clear, the mind usually manipulates them. So what used to be a memory of drinking wine with his close friend and associate, could quite possibly turn into a memory of him planting his lips on hers. So if he didn’t have anything after this, at least he had that. Even if it was a false memory, it would serve him just fine.
“You okay?” She asked, her hand still on his shoulder.
Randy nodded. He was just about to look directly into her eyes, adding to the memories if you will, when he realised that the people in front of him still weren’t moving. He became curious. Randy craned his head slightly to get a better angle. But he couldn’t see all that well. So he turned back toward her, confusion evident in his eyes.
“Why have we stopped moving?” He asked. April shrugged. “Beats me. I heard some of the elderman bickering. Something about a crossroads.”
Randy thanked her with a smile. But his curiosity didn’t end there. He decided to get a better look at what was quickly becoming a commotion up front. He gently pushed passed her and some of the stragglers in the back. At least when he pushed passed April, she smiled back at him. But the others weren’t going to grace Gustoff with a smile, let alone the common decency of letting him pass without being a hindrance.
But Randy persisted, and finally after a few uncomfortable minutes, he made his way to the front. By now, he could hear the elderman talking to Timson. Timson spotted Randy, and beckoned him over. Randy didn’t hesitate, he quickly sidled up beside the Earth man.
“What’s going on? Why have we stopped?” R
andy asked, much to the disdain of the two elderman next to him.
They barely tolerated Randy, let alone spoke to him. But, they couldn’t just ignore him. It was obvious to them that Timson saw Randy as an equal. So, the elderman would have to swallow their pride and communicate with the wretched scientist, just to save face.
“We have to take the path on the left. The Gods are telling me that the path on the right is full of treachery and death. So I thought it was pertinent to inform the Earth man here that the path on the right was off-limits,” the elderman closest to Randy said.
Even then, Gustoff could detect the hatred in the man’s voice. Although the man was old, and arrayed in black, like some sort of druid, his hatred for Gustoff was obvious. But Gustoff wasn’t going to focus on the man’s feelings towards him. He was going to focus on his so-called message from God.
“God told you? Are you hearing yourself right now? How could you possibly know that the path on the right is out of bounds? We’ve never found ourselves here before, and unless you aren’t telling me something…,” Gustoff said, his face feeling flushed.
No matter how hard he tried, the elderman always brought out the anger seeded deep within him. It was like they knew how to push his buttons. And quite frankly, he was fed up of listening to them whine on and on about their so-called God and their so-called loving ways.
These men were not peaceful. These men were poison. At least Randy thought they were. So he made a decision right then and there on the spot. He wasn’t going to take any more of their orders. They didn’t own him, nor did they own the people of the colony. Times had changed. Gone were the times when these men in robes could dictate the lives of Randy and the people around him. And even though he did not hold any knowledge on whether the path on the right was indeed dangerous, he decided that he would go against their orders just to make a point. A point that he was sure the elderman would not appreciate.
Second Earth 4 Page 3
