Space Knights: The Arrival

by Gregory Samuelson

  “Anyway your father woke up near here and I landed just a few miles away. Within a week we were reunited, and soon found Heather and Sammy. We bought this house, and your father has become quite an important man to the king. He’s now one of the top astronomers here on Althora. We’ve made friends here in this neighborhood. In a surprise attack by the Boulthorians, a family near us was killed. Kyle survived and we have adopted him. Enough about us later, now what about you? Where have you been?”

  “Well first off, the horse out there is mine now. Princess Corena gave him to me as a thank you for saving her life. I’ll get to that in a few minutes. My deep sleep chamber landed about two hundred miles away from here. I awoke at the edge of a forest bordering a farmer’s field. The farmer’s name is Chorus Markem. This started my life here on this planet,” said Trance as he started telling his exciting tale.

  When he was finished the family got together to organize a place for Trance to sleep and to go get him some new clothes. His mother took his clothes that he was wearing and had with him to wash them. Kyle went to his closet and volunteered some clothes for Trance to wear till his were clean and he had some new clothes. Also Trance would need school supplies since the new school year was just a week from starting. During the family discussions more was explained and talked about. Eileen was going to take Trance to the store and buy his clothes, Evan went to the school to get the school registration, and Kyle would take Heather and Sammy and go find the school supplies.

  When the Sondersons got back to their home, Trance found an empty stall in the garage for Odin. The family then went in and helped Trance get situated in the remaining empty bedroom upstairs. Their parents had a master bedroom downstairs. Kyle volunteered to help Trance pick out classes and fill out the registration form. Trance decided on Math, a combination of Algebra with other higher math, Science, planet science, biology, and astronomy, band, because he enjoyed it and found that by a strange miracle his trombone had been recovered in the debris from the Sparrow XIV, Language Arts, a language class that was very similar to German, Geography, a study hall, and a government class. Two more classes would fill his required courses, and they would be History, and a sports class. Trance looked the sheet over and saw he could take just one more class; he immediately chose the Knight class.

  “Hey Kyle, I need help filling out this part for the Knight class,” he said to his new brother.

  “Sure, what do you need help with?” asked Kyle who was ready and willing to help his new brother.

  “Well, I’m not sure how to fill it out.”

  “Here,” Kyle said as he plucked the paper from Trance, “Let me see. Alright, what do you want to be, a knight, or a pawn?”

  “A knight,” Trance answered almost automatically.

  “Okay,” Kyle said as he marked it down on the paper. Then he asked, “Now, what weapon do you want as your primary weapon?”

  “Sword,” Trance answered again. He also chose the ax as his second weapon, and then he spotted another line. “What’s that line for?”

  “That is for a third weapon, but usually nobody fills that in. The only people that choose that want to get into the Golden Griffins. It’s very hard to learn just two weapons and become a knight. I worked very hard to get in and chose a sword and mace. I just qualified to be a knight. In my years in high school I only saw three other guys try three weapons to get into the Golden Griffins, and only one made it.”

  “Was his name Zak?” Trance chimed in.

  “How do you know him?” Kyle asked in great surprise. Trance quickly explained about meeting Zak and their conversations.

  “Well that makes sense. So do you really want to try for three weapons?” Kyle asked and on receiving the affirmative went on with the form. “Okay, what do you want for your third weapon?”

  “The bow and arrow. I learned to shoot a bow growing up on Earth and I got more practice on the Markem farm,” Trance replied.

  “Alright, if that’s what you want to do. Here you go. Now mom and dad have to sign it as well as yourself. You can still get out of this, just say the word and we can trash this part of the form; however, if you send it in you’re in, there’s no turning back. At least till the third month of the school year. I’m a knight like I said and being a knight is very hard work and extremely dangerous. With three weapons you’ll really have to work hard to get in as a Golden Griffin. I also suggest that you study hard in all of your classes. You may find it hard to believe, but you’ll need to get really good grades in all of your classes to get in as a knight, let alone a Golden Griffin,” Kyle advised.

  “That sounds good to me. I was always very good in school back on Earth. Being a knight is something I have always dreamed and imagined,” Trance confessed.

  They then took the form to their parents who looked over the form. They paused at the knight class section and asked him about the third weapon and his desire to try for the Golden Griffins. They checked a small handbook from the school about the knight class and saw what grades he’d need to achieve to make the Golden Griffins. He’d have to have very high grades, three grades higher than he’d ever scored in school in his past.

  “What do you think?” Trance asked his parents, waiting patiently for their reaction.

  “Well if it’s really what you want,” Evan said as he glanced at his wife. In his mind he kept remembering his father’s dream.

  Eileen thought about the dream also with other ideas. She was more nervous about this. How could he help in the process of redeeming this world as a knight? Yet she remembered and knew that he’d always imagined being a knight. His dream was about to come true. With a prayer in her heart she nodded that she was okay. Then she and Evan signed Trance’s form and handed him the form to sign.

  With the form signed Trance saw that his dream was now getting closer to coming true. He felt his excitement growing as he anticipated going to school. In the days that followed Trance got reacquainted with his family and got to know Kyle. He played with Sammy and got to know Sammy’s friends. He also met some of Heather’s friends and started feeling more and more at home. He could tell that the summer season was quickly coming to an end. He did all he could with his family now that he was with them again. He had missed them so much. How precious that time was, and how short as he enjoyed finally being home. He was determined to go for as much quality as he could. Eileen relished every moment with him and prayed that God would lead him to his destiny and continue to protect him. Each day she praised God and thanked him for returning Trance to them.

  Chapter 12

  School Again

  Two days before the school year was to start Trance went to the school with his parents to finish getting registered. Earlier that day they had registered his brother and sister in school and had their school pictures taken. Trance entered the school behind his parents and before Heather and Sammy and looked around.

  The area they entered Trance saw was wide and open. He noticed that there was an area in the middle that was oval in shape and sunk by two steps that went completely around the oval. To his right just beyond the sunken oval was a stage area. The curtains were pulled back and the stage had a dozen tables. Trance had seen that there were ten tables set up in the oval area. To the left of the stage he saw the door to the band room and next to that was the lunchroom door. To the right of the stage was the door to the shop room.

  Trance continued to gaze around. He spotted a classroom door at the back of the stage. On the other side of the stage where he and his family were he saw were six trophy cases filled with various trophies. There were two doors to the office between the trophy cases. They went in and were greeted by the school secretary. Trance’s parents turned in his registration forms and the secretary entered his information into the school’s computer and said that it would be a few minutes to process. She instructed them to go over to where the pictures were being taken in one of the classroom
s. They would get instructions there for his pictures. By the time his picture would be taken for the yearbook and his identification school card and some for personal uses, his registration would be complete. Trance could then get his information packet and be able to see what his schedule would be.

  Trance and his family left the office and went to the hall that was off to the right of the school building and connected to the front room. The photographer was in the second classroom down and Trance waited in line with several other students and their families. He felt self-conscious as many of them looked over at him and his parents. They were all friendly and most seemed curious. They all knew about the Earth people and many of them knew about Dr. Sonderson. Some of the kids had met some of the kids from Earth and even befriended them, yet there were others that had not met anyone from Earth so they were curious to know what they were like.

  Trance talked to a couple of the boys and learned about classes and various teachers. He also heard about the sports that some of them were going to try out for. In a few minutes it was his turn. He sat and got his pictures taken as his mother filled out the form. They left the photographer and went back to the office and picked up his packet. Trance pulled out his schedule and took a couple minutes to locate the rooms where he would have his classes. He found that he even had a map that was color-coded to show him where his classes were and when he had them. When they left the school Trance felt fairly confident that he’d be able to find his way around.

  ***

  At school the sights and sounds were just what they had been like back on Earth. Trance walked to the band room for his first hour, noticing that almost everybody was wearing basically the same kind of clothes that kids had worn to school on Earth, canvas pants, like denim jeans, athletic shoes, and T-shirts. He entered the band room carrying his old trombone. It had belonged to his uncle Matthew, his mother’s youngest brother. He got the instrument to use when he went to sixth grade, and he’d played every school year since. He looked around and spotted some kids with instruments incredibly similar to his trombone.

  The main floor of the band room was down two steps. About the middle of the upper level was a square section that stuck out slightly and was where the band teacher would conduct the class. The chairs for the band were set up in three arcs. Nervously Trance went down the two steps and went around to the back of the room and around to the first third of the third arc to find an empty seat where the trombones were.

  Trance sat down and set his backpack behind his chair like everyone else and then opened the battered case and pulled out his trombone. After he’d gotten home and registered for school he’d learned that somehow some of their belongings from the Sparrow XIV had survived, including his trombone and many of his books from Earth.

  He spent several hours cleaning and trying to tune the horn so he’d be ready to play it again when school started. He had never been the best, yet he did enjoy playing the horn. Now he sat assembling the three pieces nervously as he sat near the back of the trombone section. He relaxed himself and fitted the bell with the slide and then carefully attached the mouthpiece. He slid the slide down a little and took out a bottle of slide oil, put a couple drops on the inside tube and checked to make sure the slide slid easily. He had a few minutes to wait before the class would start so he reached into his backpack and pulled out the book that he’d selected to read first and started to read, an old habit from his early school days, read a minute before class started if he could.

  “What are you reading?” asked the boy sitting next to Trance on his left.

  “Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain,” Trance replied automatically before realizing that this boy wouldn’t even know who Mark Twain was.

  “Is that a new book? I haven’t heard of it before,” said the boy curiously.

  “Well, actually it’s quite an old book. My copy was new when I got it for my birthday one year back home,” Trance answered and went on to explain. “I’m from Earth and this is one of the most classic books from Earth.”

  The boy was stunned for a moment and then said, “Well no wonder I haven’t heard about it before. What’s the book about?” He was still curious and remained friendly and polite.

  Trance briefly summarized the book and let the boy look at it and read the first page. Trance’s copy of the book was a fairly nice looking hardback with a glossy cover. The boy flipped through the book before realizing that he hadn’t introduced himself or gotten to know his new friend’s name. “My name is Gracer Karry. May I ask what your name is?”

  “Sure. I’m Trance Sonderson,” Trance said, introducing himself and extending his hand. Gracer shook his hand. Trance noticed that as they had been talking that several other students had looked his way and were curious about him.

  Gracer thought for a moment and then exclaimed, “You must be Kyle’s brother. My brother Zak graduated with him. Now I remember,” Gracer said more excitedly, “Zak called home a couple weeks ago and told us about finding you. You just happened to wonder into the restaurant his troop was eating at. This is cool meeting you here in person.”

  “Really,” said Trance surprised. He remembered talking to Zak very vividly. How interesting this was to be talking to Zak’s brother.

  “Yeah, Zak even said that you had an interest in becoming a knight and taking the knight class. I’m in the knight class also. It’ll be a blast. I’ve been in it for three years now. I plan on being a knight. How about you?”

  “We had knights on Earth ages ago, long before I was born. I grew up studying them, and I’ve always dreamed of being a knight. Now here’s my chance to live my dream. I think I want to try and get into the Golden Griffins like your brother.”

  “That would be totally cool. I don’t know if they’d let you in, but anything can happen,” said Gracer pleasantly. It was then that he caught sight of Trance’s trombone. “I didn’t know that you had slybaces where you came from.”

  Trance looked down and figured out that must be what the trombone was called on Althora. “Well this is my trombone. It’s an instrument from Earth. My uncle actually played this one when he went to school. When I started sixth grade I decided to play the trombone and he gave me this one to learn to play. I’ve enjoyed it ever since,” Trance said proudly. He then told about the coincidence about the horn going with his uncle and then him on a special band trip to Hawaii, and that it had played in the same parade, some seven years between the two appearances there.

  “How interesting. What other instruments did you have on Earth?” Gracer asked. Trance started to answer when the tardy bell sounded and the band director entered the room for class to start.

  The director took roll and then explained about the band schedule. He covered what music they were to start on and that they were going to have seven concerts. He said that they would play at the various sports events, and at three competitions. The class was going to have trials to see what chair they would get with the best players getting first chair and then on to last chair. Music was then handed out and Trance saw for the first time what Althorian music looked like on paper.

  As the director started them playing and getting them to learn the first song of the year, Trance slowly started to pick up on the new notes and how to play with the other slybaces with his trombone. Gracer and another boy on his right helped him read the notes and explained what they were, how they counted and the right slide position for each note. It didn’t take long for the class and director to notice that he was different. Within a couple minutes his story was known. The director was patient and took a few minutes to cover the basic scales and notes. Gracer volunteered to work with Trance to show him the notes and class continued. When it was time for the class to put away their instruments the director took Trance aside and told him that he wasn’t too bad and that he would take the time to teach him the proper notes and how to read the Althorian music.

  The bell rang and Trance and Gra
cer left the room talking. They checked their schedules and saw that they had four more classes together besides band and of course knight class. They both had second hour Government class. The instant they entered the room Trance’s eyes fell on a very familiar girl with soft brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. She looked up and smiled in surprise to see him.

  “Hello princess,” said Gracer casually as he took a seat to her left.

  “Hello Corena, how are you?” said Trance shyly as he sat to the left of Gracer. Gracer looked at him quizzically, and then he remembered that Zak had told him about Trance and that Corena was in their troop also.

  “I’m fine. How have you been? I see you’ve met Gracer. Have you made any more friends yet?” she asked sincerely and smiled pleasantly.

  “I’ve been okay. I love finally being home. I’ve met a few people. I didn’t know you went here to school. I thought that as princess you’d go to a very privileged and private school,” Trance said.

  “Well my family has never really been part of the royal process. My great-great-great-great grandfather was elected king of Cator. He served for three terms before he passed away. By royal process the kingship was passed down the line till dad was crowned king. He didn’t want it to start with, but he decided to fulfill his duty and serve anyway. I’m next in line by birth. I would be the first ruling queen for about seven hundred years, barring something happening to dad or he somehow loses the next election,” Corena explained. She chuckled as Trance looked slightly confused. He knew of royal bloodlines from past history on Earth, but how could a king be elected and possibly lose an election.

  The bell rang and the teacher came in. His name was Mr. Howard and he saw Corena and gave her a small nod. Then he took roll and noticed Trance. Mr. Howard could see that this was going to be a rather interesting year. He knew quite a bit about the Earth people and had begun studying their history and heritage. Like the other teachers Trance would have, he was curious to see what kind of student he would be.