Genesis

by Tej Pratap Singh

  “This means…. Cdr Kenneth is all alone at the surface! How can that be possible?” deliberated Garmin.

  On the planet the cloud of dust settled slowly. Everyone looked up at the crash site, which was a small hillock. Wondering what to expect. On the AMU battleships, everyone hoped to see their Cdr alive, though they very well knew, such a feat was logically not possible. Could anyone survive a fall from space, protected by nothing but a wall?

  Jenny looked up with hope beyond comparison and tried to move to the crash site, but her body failed her. Finally, to everyone’s amazement as the dust settled, a figure immerged from the crash site walking out of the cloud of dust, partially surrounded by a fluctuating Wall and then almost instantaneously the Wall vanished. KC had made it. But now, even his reserve wall was exhausted.

  “By the universe and all the stars… I don’t believe this,” said Akil relieved as he took a deep breath. “The Cdr has made it. How… is that even possible?”

  “Unimaginable - Will Power, I believe,” replied Crona. “The wall is nothing but the extension of the Commander’s will power.”

  The local inhabitants of the planet were spellbound by what they had seen. Never before in their limited history, none of which was recorded, had such an event occurred. They got down on their knees and looked up towards KC symbolizing him as a God who had appeared from the heavens above as the dust glowed from the fire ignited due to the impact, which made KC’s appearance look immortal. As KC walked down from the crash site towards the battle ground, the local inhabitants now completely bowed down as if praying to KC to stop the bloodshed that had unleashed on their planet. KC walked straight into the battlefield as everyone, locals and rebels alike made way for him. No one dared come in his way, Wall or no Wall. He was the Supreme Commander and he had made such an entry into the battlefield that no one could still come to terms with.

  “Crona, locate our troops,” said KC.

  “Cdr, they are south east of your location, 300 meters in the broken ground,” replied Crona.

  By now, both Cdr Rul’s battle command and Garmin had eyes on the battle ground and they watched as KC fearlessly walked amid thousands of rebels towards his troops.

  “Why are they not attacking him? Is his wall on, is he tricking us?” asked Garmin.

  “General, order the troops to attack Cdr KC, now. Do it… Quickly.”

  There was no reaction from his General. He was motionless. Attack the Supreme Commander directly. That was a death wish! Thought Garmin’s general

  “General… attack,” yelled Garmin again. But there was still no reaction from the General. Garmin, in complete fury, rushed towards the General and caught him by his neck.

  “Why aren’t you obeying orders, General? Have you lost your nerve or have you switched sides?”

  “Lord Garmin, I can’t send my troops to their certain death,” replied Garmin’s General trembling.

  “Are you crazy!!” shouted Garmin at the top of his voice. “He is all alone there. In the middle of thousands of our troops. What are you afraid of?”

  “Attack,” ordered Garmin shouting into his comn link, “Troops of the rebellion attack the Cdr. Now is the opportunity. Seize it.”

  No one moved!

  “Attack,” Garmin yelled again. “The glory will be all yours.”

  Not a muscle moved while KC walked past thousands of enemy troops who were bewildered by his aura and completely awe-struck to see the Supreme Commander of the 14 sectors of the known Universe walk amidst them.

  “Cdr Akil, we must send reinforcements,” suggested Cdr Rul.

  “The Supreme Cdr’s Elite Guard are eager and ready.”

  “Sending troops now would erupt the battlefield which is just about hanging in the balance,” replied Akil. “I have a feeling… the Commander can handle the situation.”

  As KC moved dangerously close to the rebel troops, they lowered their arms and gave space for the Cdr to pass by. KC looked into the middle distance and located the broken ground which his troops were holding againt all odds.

  “Jenny, I am coming for you,” said KC into his comn unit.

  “Kenneth,” sighed Jenny, “I thought I’ll never see you…again.”

  “Not this time Jenny,” said KC as he saw Jenny lying in a pool of blood with rebel soldiers lying all around her and a handful of AMU troops still standing their ground.

  “This time nothing will stop us,” declared KC with his eyes fixed on Jenny.

  Garmin couldn’t believe what he was seeing on his display. He had one last shot left. “Lethalons move and execute,” whispered Garmin into his comn link.

  This message was quickly intercepted by the AMU Battle Group.

  “Cdr Rul, Garmin is speaking to a Lethalon Unit,” informed a worried AMU Communication officer. “The Lethalons must be close to the Cdr… somewhere…I can’t locate them.”

  “This is bad news,” wailed Cdr Akil hearing the intercept on the AMU comn link.

  Lethalons were the most ferocious, merciless, savage, and fierce warriors in the known universe. Famous for their brutal and ruthless means of killing. So feared were the Lethalons that even battle-hardened AMU troops used to go in with numerical superiority whenever attacking them. Their means of operation were so secretive, that very little was known about them.

  “Crona, can you locate the Lethalons?” said Cdr Akil in a worried voice. He didn’t see this coming!

  “They are in close proximity to the Supreme Cdr and closing in fast from all directions,” replied Crona promptly. “I have calculated all outcomes. The only way out of this situation is to immediately move the Commander out of the battle field.”

  “Cdr, are you hearing this?” pleaded Akil to KC’s fine judgment.

  “We must move you out of there now.”

  “Not without my troops,” replied KC.

  “Cdr, I can’t move out all of you in one go,” replied Crona. “Your wall is completely down, even your reserve wall is exhausted. If I try and move all of you together, it will adversely affect you. Might even kill you.”

  “Then move the others out,” replied KC. “Beam me up later.”

  “Beam you up later…” repeated Cdr Rul. “But Cdr we can’t leave you there, while we beam up the others.”

  “Yes, you can. And you will,” replied KC. “Since when is the Cdr’s life any more important than that of his troops?”

  “I can’t believe this,” said Akil wondering at the change of KC’s way of thinking, which was completely opposite from the KC he knew.

  “Crona, for the universe’s sake send the elite guards down now. How close are the Lethalons?”

  “The Lethalons are almost on the Cdr and I can’t send any troops. Cdr KC’s wall is down. He will not be able to bear the sudden surge of charge and sending the guards to a location any further away from the Cdr will serve no purpose as the Lethalons will be closer to the Cdr. Like I said – the only way out is to pull the Cdr out. In all other possibilities, the Cdr will die.”

  “Crona, pull others out,” said KC as he took a long last look at Jenny from a distance looking directly into her eyes and speaking a million words in one look.

  “No…” yelled Jenny as she stared at KC not wanting to leave him in the middle of the battlefield. “Don’t do his KC, don’t let me go.”

  There was a bright flash as Jenny closed her eyes. The sounds of the battlefield ceased. Jenny opened her eyes; she was on the Command ship 35,000 kms over the planet. 35,000 kms from KC. Near… but far. Jenny immediately opened her palm to raise her wall to look at KC. The whole of the AMU had their eyes on KC.

  “Where are the Lethalons?” asked Cdr Akil frantically searching his wall.

  “Contact in 4..3..2..” replied Crona as the whole of the AMU braced themselves for the worst. These were the Lethalons, the most feared. Even a divisio
n strength of troops would fear their presence, and there stood KC all alone. What were even his best chances to get out of this one?

  The known universe held their breath as Crona counted down towards the end of AMU. What would be left of AMU without its Supreme Commander?

  KC was still looking at the location where Jenny was present fraction of a second ago. All that was left there now was smoke coming out of the ground. Just like that, Jenny was gone… again. However, she was safe. That’s all KC thought at the moment.

  KC turned around and saw the Lethalons heading towards him. Their body language was ferocious. Their faces were covered. They moved swiftly and in perfect synchronization.

  “Not today,” KC said to himself as the whole of the AMU listened. “I have not come this far to die. No one will stop me. Not today.”

  The first of the Lethalons jumped as high as he could with two sabres in his hand, extended either side, his knees folded to get maximum momentum and reduce air resistance. He extended his right arm with the sabre towards KC. To get his ultimate kill.

  The Supreme Commander…

  Chapter 4

  If Life Gave a Second Chance

  KC stared right back at him and with incredible swiftness extended his left hand and caught the Lethalon by his neck while swiftly moving his body towards the right, avoiding the Lethalone’s sabre. The whole AMU saw in disbelief. Had the Supreme Cdr just caught a Lethalon by his neck!!

  KC now by the flick of his wrist disarmed the first Lethalon while snapping his neck around. The Lethalon fell to the ground, dead as a log. KC held the Lethalon’s sabres in his hands and with ferocity unseen of this time, only characteristic of the time KC really belonged to, he tore through two more Lethalons and then three more and another four. Chills passed through the onlookers. KC looked back at the bodies of 10 Lethalons which lay on the battlefield torn into two.

  Akil froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He knew Cdr KC too well to know he wasn’t capable of such actions, definitely not the Cdr he knew. Nor was any another human or any being of this time.

  ‘How can someone be so fast and swift?’ Akil marveled. Their superior technology and advanced weaponry in the 29th century had made the beings more reliable on them and less agile, flexible and strong.

  KC turned around with fury in his eyes as he moved his sabre, six more Lethalons surrounded KC, smart enough not to get close to him, they fired their electron phasers from a distance. Jenny clenched her fist, terribly upset for not being able to help KC.

  The Lethalons had received a major setback, never before in their glorious history had they been so mercilessly slaughtered, that too by one man, that too so swiftly. They had to restore their honour.

  For KC, this was not the first time that he had been cornered. In his time, such battles were a part of his life, where along with his fellow commanders like Akil, Amin and Rul used to face such battles and skirmishes against the IF, every other day. But for the onlookers of this time and reality, this was something unimaginable - unheard and unseen.

  KC moved his sabres in a circle as he sensed the Lethalons’ next move. The Lethalons fired mercilessly again and again one after the other giving KC no respite. KC continued to move his sabres skillfully, deflecting each and every one of the electron beams coming towards him, as the beams deflected in all directions forcing the onlookers to jump for cover and one of the beams hit a Lethalon as he instantly vaporized.

  The Lethalons stopped firing. The smoke lifted and the dust settled. The bystanders and the whole of the AMU flabbergasted, saw KC still standing and one Lethalon less! The Lethalons looked at each other, surprised at how this was happening!

  Now with less certainty and without any synchronization, they moved towards the Commander. KC moved a few steps towards the Lethalons himself. His left arm with the sabre behind his back and his right arm extended in front with the sabre pointing towards the Lethalons. His trademark style! As the Lethalons got closer to him and bunched up close, barely at a distance of one sabre length, KC swiftly dropped the sabre in his right hand which was extended towards the Lethalons. The Lethalons dazed in surprise and before they could make a move, KC with his lightning reflexes turned his back towards the Lethalons while simultaneously extending his left arm with the sabre, which was behind his back as he turned around swiftly.

  There stood KC on the battlefield with his back towards the five remaining Lethalons. There was an uncomfortable pause for a few seconds as the whole known universe watched. A slight breeze blew. Five Lethalon heads fell to the ground, in perfect synchronization! The unimaginable had happened. Garmin’s General started to laugh. It was an insane laugh, he kept on laughing till his laugh turned into tears. His end was near, he knew it well. So did everyone on Garmin’s ship.

  “Get me out of here,” ordered Garmin to his pilot officer.

  Rul’s command battle ship effortlessly noticed Garmin’s futile effort. As KC looked up at the night sky from the planet’s surface, there was a bright flash in the sky up above.

  The end! Of Garmin and all he was worth! Almost instantly KC’s ‘Class C’ battleship landed on the surface. Cdr Akil was taken aback as he saw the entire local inhabitants of the planet bowing down in front of KC. For these unfledged inhabitants of this primitive planet, KC was a God who had descended from the skies up above, having magical powers and had ended their miseries. Akil also shaken by the events approached KC. Not knowing how to react.

  “Akil…I have something to tell you,” said KC as Akil looked at him.

  “Supreme Cdr, I have a lot to ask myself,” answered Akil as he too got down on his knees and joined the local inhabitants of the planet who looked almost like humans.

  “Akil, I’m not who you think I am,” said KC as he walked into the class-C battleship surrounded by his elite bodyguards.

  “Cdr… you are exactly who I think you are,” replied Akil.

  “Out of this universe!”

  KC headed straight for his command deck to be briefed by Cdr Rul on the latest developments. The ship slowly started to ascend from the surface of the planet. As KC looked down he could clearly see the local inhabitants still on their knees with their hands stretched out towards KC. They could see KC through the huge glass of the control deck which was situated below and in front of the ship. Their eyes were full of hope, faith, contentment, and fear.

  “Who are you?” asked Akil bluntly. Cdr Rul stood next to them, both Akil and Rul seeking an explanation regarding the logic-defying event that they had witnessed today.

  “I apologise for being so…Are you a God?” interrupted Rul.

  “When we were little kids, the wise men told us legends from the forgotten time. When men were strong with powers unseen, unheard… of something like what you did today Cdr!”

  “No…” replied KC with a smile as he kept his hand on Akil’s shoulder. He took a few steps towards Rul and kept his hand on Rul’s chest and placed Rul’s hand on his own chest. “This is how we used to greet each other,” continued KC as he looked at Akil.

  “When…?” asked Cdr Akil puzzled.

  “In the time before time,” replied KC. “The time when we were friends. In the time when we fought shoulder to shoulder. The time when the extent of the known universe was not beyond our solar system. The time when things were simple, a lot simpler. When we fought to live and lived with honour.”

  “We don’t understand!” said Akil as he looked towards Rul.

  “Crona… evaluate my response and everything I say now on,” ordered KC.

  “Directive Commander,” replied Crona.

  KC explained to them everything he knew. That in the year 2956, AMU and the IF were at war; that he was captured by IF and sent back in time to give certain information to IF forefathers; that he retrieved his memory in the nick of time and handed over the information to Kamal, the founding father of AMU
instead of MegaTech, the IF forefathers. This caused a critical change in history with respect to time and this magnified as time passed on and by the time KC got back to the year 2956 expecting the IF wiped out and AMU’s dominance, he was surprised to see the extent by which the AMU had grown! From domination over just one planet - the Earth, AMU had grown to dominate several sectors of the universe, which was beyond his wildest imagination.

  KC explained how Akil, Rul and Amin were the best of friends while in today’s time their friendship was barely alive. He told them about Jenny and his journey to get her back beyond time and space.

  “I… don’t know what to say Cdr,” said Akil. “But I believe you… you are still my commander,” added Akil as he kept his hand on KC’s chest.

  “Crona… evaluate,” said KC as he smiled and kept his hand on Akil’s chest.

  “Theoretically, it is possible,” affirmed Crona.

  “Elaborate,” said Cdr Rul.

  “Time travel is theoretically possible. In this current time, we have not pondered upon time travel, however we do location travel, i.e. we move from place A to place B using a location modulator without losing time.

  “Hypothetically, it could be possible to travel beyond the time frontier to alter events, which will have a cascading effect on the future from that point of time. Greater the distance of time travel, more will be the effect on the following events. Since Commander KC time traveled from his 2950s where the dependency on technology was not as much, therefore, his body composition is physically stronger, mentally robust and alert vis-à-vis that of a regular being of this current time.”

  “I won’t doubt Crona,” said Akil cheerfully. “She is the most intelligent form to exist in all of the known universe after all.”

  “I second that,” confirmed Cdr Rul. “Well Commander, this is the most… I don’t know which word to use but I believe ‘Inconceivable’ will suffice.”