The Fifth Civilization: A Novel

by Peter Bingham-Pankratz

  “What does it matter?” Moira asked.

  “It’s sometime after midnight in Tokyo,” Sundar said, casting a woeful glance at the midday sun, which was hovering a little away from the center of the sky.

  “Sounds about right,” Roan said. None of the Kotarans seemed interested in their conversation. Must not have cared, or spoken English. As long as the Kotarans weren’t interested in shooting them, that was fine with Roan.

  Some of the soldiers turned in the direction of their crashed mothership, the tail end of which was sticking up in the air like a silvery monolith. A figure in a white tunic, flanked by two Kotarans, was making his way toward the gathering. A Kotaran soldier went to talk with the figure. After a minute or two, the soldier stepped aside and the figure approached the assembled non-Kotarans. He resembled Grinek, only taller and less muscular, and he had a mane of black hair growing on his head. Out of all the Kotarans in the galaxy, however, Roan knew that this one was the one he wanted to see right now.

  “I will try my best English,” said the figure in white. “My name is Vorjos. I am…political man from Kotara.” He forced a toothy smile, and judging by the wrinkles was something he rarely did. His teeth were the color of caution lights. “We do not want harm. Please, you guests here.” Roan nodded, and smiled, and wondered if they were all to become permanent guests.

  “Are you in charge of the Kotaran ship?” Moira asked, tilting her head to the man. “Thank you for the food and all, but we need to see some doctors.”

  “Yes, yes, all will be given to you,” Vorjos said. Then the smile dropped. “As to your question: yes, I am the Commander now.”

  “And Grinek?” Roan asked. He didn’t know if the Kotarans knew he’d been the last one to see the good Commander alive. Or if they cared. The question was more of a grasp at confirmation.

  “Commander Grinek…went away. I mean, passed away. We found what remained of him a ways from here.” So that, at least, was confirmed. There’d be no more of that monster.

  David raised his hand, as if he were in a school setting. The fact almost made Roan laugh, if his question wasn’t so serious. He asked something in Kotaran, which took Vorjos by surprise, and got a somewhat lengthy answer. David nodded and then addressed the group after a minute. “I asked what they planned to do with us. Observer Vorjos says we will be in the custody of the Kotarans for the time being. After all, we are a month away from any friendly post.”

  “Ask him if we’re prisoners,” Roan said. David was about to interpret, when Vorjos held out his hand.

  “No need for that. No, you’re not prisoners, but you must keep…stay with us. There are hostile beings out there…” —he gestured to Chief— “…who might be confused. Is better, I think, that you stay with Kotarans.”

  “You realize you must let those men and women go,” David said, pointing to the native warriors. “They have no ill will toward us. As you say, they are confused. We don’t want to give them any reason to hate anyone from offworld, Observer.”

  Vorjos regarded the beings sitting on the grass, wearing tattered clothes and eyeing the Kotarans with mistrust. Roan wondered why they hadn’t attacked the Kotarans outright, why they’d suffered the ignobility of surrender. Perhaps David had convinced them not to, or perhaps surrender wasn’t shameful for their culture. So many questions, but no way to ask them. Vorjos let go with a deep sigh, then turned back to David.

  “The natives can go about their business. We have no use for them.”

  “Thank you,” David said. The warriors, though, still stood around warily.

  “I’m afraid they’ll have to find their own way home, though. We won’t have the ship running for some time.” Vorjos turned, creakily, and Roan believed he was limping somewhat. An injury? Disease? The Observer motioned to the ship. “Since you have all eaten something, you should all follow me onto the Hanyek now. That’s our ship. I think that’s the right thing to do, don’t you?”

  David was the first to stand, all others wary this could be a trap. Once David began walking, though, the others followed. Chief and the natives were up and about now, conversing, and Roan assumed they’d be left unharmed just as the Observer said. He was good to his word so far. The Colobus survivors were being marched to the ship under guard, for instance, but the escorts kept their rifles slung behind them.

  “Let me ask you something, Observer,” David asked, catching up with the Kotaran. “Why is your command style so different than Commander Grinek’s?”

  Vorjos didn’t turn, only continued forward to the vessel. “We had disagreements. He was not the most, er, easy commander. Somewhat, ah, rude? Is that the word?”

  Roan nodded. This Vorjos was a master of understatement.

  “Tell me, Observer,” David continued, “Do you know why we’ve come to this planet?”

  Vorjos stopped and turned, and the whole group stopped. This was a question that Vorjos had been waiting to answer, Roan thought, or at least it was of importance to him.

  “Yes, I do, Nyden. Grinek believed this planet was the origin of all life in universe. You knew this, of course. But he believed it to the fullest, and was willing to do anything for that belief. I…not agree with all his methods or his reasoning. But clearly, that man discovered something important—even if it kill him in end.”

  “We discovered something important,” Roan said. “You people just followed.”

  Vorjos grunted. “Correct, I suppose.”

  David jumped in. “Do you believe it would be possible for me to review the data you have on this planet, so I can compare it with my own information? We can settle this question as soon as possible.”

  “You may look at our scientific data, but only that. I am interested in joint cooperation, you know. Grinek was not. He wanted whole planet for himself. That not agreeable to galactic trends. Now listen. Though I don’t know if this planet is the origin of all life, and I believe in the three gods of Kotara, I too want to know more about the universe and its creation. Perhaps with science and the truth, we can get closer to understanding how the gods and science fit together.”

  “I wish that too, Observer,” David said.

  “In fact, we have the bodies of some of these natives on this vessel. Would be useful for your studies.” David opened his beak at this, shocked, and said nothing for a while. Roan expected him to protest and ask for it to be returned to the natives. Even though this was probably the right thing to do, Roan hoped he would keep his mouth shut and just examine the damn bodies. Solve these questions.

  “They will be returned, of course, for proper native burial,” Vorjos said. “Once we make exam.”

  David was still not happy with this, but bowed slightly. Perhaps he believed if he didn’t give verbal consent the morality of the decision would go away. Vorjos gave a bow in return, and then turned around, beginning once again his trek to the Kotaran vessel.

  Roan looked over his shoulder, past the waddling Duvurn, to see the four warriors were still conversing. Once in a while, one of them would look in the direction of the Kotaran ship. Everything must be so strange to them now. So incomprehensible. And yet, he was sure these beings had a capacity for wonder. They must be overwhelmed by it now. Must be saying to themselves: what else is out there that we never knew about?

  Chapter 46

  There was a canyon some ways away from the downed Hanyek. When Roan happened upon it, the view took his breath away. Several miles wide and many hundreds of meters deep, the canyon was a dramatic break in the monotonous forested landscape. A wide river on the canyon floor reflected the reds and purples of the twilight sky, and in the distance, the tops of a few mountains still glowed with yellow sunlight.

  Roan found the canyon by chance, wandering away from the Hanyek after deciding nothing of momentous importance was happening on the ship. Moira was helping the Kotaran doctors treat some of their patients and explaining how their medical standards were far below that of Earth. Sundar was secluded in his guest quarters,
praying. Duvurn was last seen heading in the direction of the mess hall, no doubt to regain the calories he had lost while running. And David had stationed himself in the medical bay, discussing Aaron’s Planet with the doctors there.

  The Kotarans permitted Roan to wander around, though not very far, and also told him to be back by nightfall or they would send out a search party. He would not like it if it came to that, they’d said. Roan had every intention of obliging.

  Now that he’d found a good spot to relax and be alone, he planted himself on the canyon edge and dangled his legs in the air. He yelled his name across the vast expanse, listening to the repetition of the echo.

  Then he yelled the name of Kel Streb across the canyon, hearing the double echo of the name’s hard and soft consonants. She would’ve liked the view, though she was never one for finding sunsets romantic. Always found them more tragic than anything. By now the sky proposed black, and Roan searched every corner of the sky, desperate to save the memory of this beautiful sight. A little beauty was what he needed after a day like today.

  Was any of this worth all the death they left in their wake?

  Aaron, Kel…not to mention all the others who’d died on the Colobus. He saw Kel’s face, on the Surface back in Tokyo, smiling and saying something. The exact words he couldn’t make out, but they didn’t matter. When she was in his mind, Roan didn’t feel alone. Didn’t feel like he had to wallow in whatever was eating his insides. Bonding with friends and lovers—those are the experiences that make you human.

  Or whatever species you happen to be.

  The sky had all but surrendered to darkness and Roan felt the tears coming on. Another beautiful sight, gone. He buried his head in his hands. A part of him that wanted the cliff to erode then and there and fling him into the canyon.

  “Nick Roan.”

  He sniffed and saw the blue alien standing a few meters away. In all likelihood he’d been there for a while. “Hi, David,” he said, sniffing again. Roan knew there was no hiding his tears.

  David took a seat on the cliff. “You were thinking of Miss Streb, weren’t you, Nick?”

  “You got me, David.”

  “Sorry?”

  “You’re correct.”

  “Let me tell you something. I have also gone through a tough loss. My parents died when I was much younger than you, when an earthquake toppled their home. I was studying in another country at the time, and the dean waited until I’d finished a presentation on mitosis to tell me. You can imagine that, with all the love I lavished on these parents, I was very upset at their deaths.”

  “Of course.”

  “I was despondent for days. My studying suffered. Friends were concerned that I was not going to last beyond the normal mourning period. But in the end, I was able to overcome the loss, and was back at university the next week. Do you want to know how I did that? You may not have an idea.”

  Roan was sure this was going to turn into another lecture about God or whatever the Nydens believed in, and if it was an attempt at conversion he was going to throw himself off the ledge and into the canyon.

  “No, Nick, this is not going to be about my embrace of Nyden ideals…I wasn’t even twenty, you realize, and a Nyden isn’t even supposed to make a decision about his philosophies until he reaches that age. What got me to accept my parent’s deaths was the realization that their deaths made my love real. Of course, we accept all parents and lovers and friends as loved, but when they are gone our love is magnified. This is a natural reaction to many things, mentally and spiritually…we want things we don’t have.

  “But this is far different than someone who has a better model spaceship than yours. That is material, whereas love is something spiritual. At least, that’s what I believe. And anything, including death, that increases this love can turn into a benefit.”

  “You’re saying it’s good our loved ones die?”

  “No. Like you, I don’t want the pain. But perhaps if some good can come out of the loss, out of something we can’t change, why try and deny its effects?”

  A part of Roan wasn’t sure whether he believed everything David was saying, but he knew there was probably some truth in it somewhere. He wanted to consider it more, so he directed his gaze to the canyon floor. In the gathering darkness, the river looked jet black.

  “At the very least, Nick, I can tell you that our trip has not been in vain.”

  “Oh? Did we discover the secret of life, David?” Roan cast a sharp glance at David, who had curled his beak into an approximate smile. But the Nyden didn’t answer, and Roan quickly considered the implications of his question. “What? We did? David, what have you found out?”

  “I will tell you another story. This one is more recent. It seems the Kotaran massacred a good number of natives. Terrible business, and I have insisted that the bodies be returned to their tribes for burial. But in the name of science, I did something perhaps a little unethical. I examined the bodies, along with the Kotaran doctors, and compared the data from Aaron’s research with the research the Kotarans carried out. They have much better facilities for this kind of thing than any we would’ve had on the Colobus, and perhaps it is fortunate that we came across them. If only we could have done without the murders, of course.”

  “Yeah, David, what did you find?”

  David was now looking off into the canyon, too. “You see, I tested some DNA samples from the dead natives with some of the DNA information stored in Aaron’s pad. Fortunately, the Kotaran computers are incredibly fast. With the samples of human, Nyden, Bauxen, and Kotaran DNA already on the pad, we are able to compare it easily with that of the other Four Civilizations. There were remarkable similarities.

  “The DNA base pairs that are found in these natives are identical to those found in all our species. Ten of the twenty standard amino acids that make up proteins are identical, also, just as Aaron and I discovered among all four galactic species. So the genetic material, at least, indicates that they are related to us.”

  “But how old are they, as a species?” Roan asked. “They’re so primitive. I mean, they can’t have been the first ones to develop.”

  “Actually, I don’t believe they were. Our preliminary analysis does show that this planet’s inhabitants are the oldest of the five known species. Not only does it make sense with the theory of the panspermia comet originating from around here, but also, their DNA shares the most similarities with Nydens, who previously had the record of earliest known civilization.”

  “But you said they weren’t the first to develop.”

  “I will get to that. Bear with me, Mr. Roan.” He rubbed his beak with his feathers, obviously reveling in these details, a detective unmasking the killer. “There is something else in the genetic material that indicates a link. Now, life is made up of six basic molecules: amino acids, phosphate, glycerol, sugars, fatty acids, and nucleotides, correct?”

  “Uh…sure.”

  “It is. Phosphate, as you may know, is a highly valued resource not only for organic but also inorganic material. Phosphate is needed to construct and modify molecules, such as in DNA. In the material world, it can also be mined to make phosphorous, which can be used to make weapons, or lights, or even energy sources. Among the minerals valued by the Earth colonies, in fact, it is the sixth most sought after.”

  “What? So we have rocks in our bodies?”

  “Everyone comes from inorganic material, Nick, if you believe in what you call on Earth the Big Bang. Everything was just stardust at some point, no? Or so we thought…” David laughed. “That is another story. I will finish.

  “So, phosphate. It turns out that these natives have more phosphate inside them than any of the other alien species—or phosphorous, I should say, which is the chemical present in phosphate. A human DNA strand, for example, has a backbone of phosphorous and sugar. Now, in humans, Bauxens, Nydens, and Kotarans, phosphorous accounts for point fourteen percent of our chemical makeup. These natives, however, are made up of poin
t sixteen percent phosphorous.”

  “And that means?”

  “The moons, Nick. The moons. This planet has two—one of them is closer, maybe a few million miles out, like Earth or Nydaya’s moon. This planet’s second moon is farther out, yet still visible—in fact, we should be able to see it soon. It is as large as the closer moon, but only half of what its total mass should be. Some cataclysmic event sheared it in half, probably, but I will get to that later.

  “Anyway, it just so happens I was reviewing the information about this planet in the Kotaran ship’s computers and their quick scans of the system showed that the half-moon has large reserves of phosphate. Obviously, we won’t know the precise breakdown of minerals until we reach the moon—but the scans detected traces of water and carbon, the building blocks of life.

  “Now, Nick, here is my theory. Life originated on that moon. Carbon was there, water was there, and probably all the rest of the compounds needed to create life. What that planet had was a lot of phosphate, too, and when life originated on that planetoid, it was made up of a lot of phosphorous. Who knows how long life there lasted—millions of years, maybe only centuries, maybe just a few months—but it was on there, until something was strong enough to shear it in half. And that force, which must’ve been going at close to the speed of light, brought a good hunk of that moon along with it.”

  “That’s a lot of speculation,” Roan said. He thought for a moment. “So you think whatever destroyed that moon carried pieces of it across the galaxy? For millions of years, this hunk of moon traveled the galaxy, becoming a comet, seeding life from lunar bacteria? Is that what you’re telling me this panspermia is all about?”

  “Perhaps it wasn’t exactly a comet. But a traveling rock, yes. Pieces of it broke off, collided with worlds, gave them this moon’s life. Some of these chunks went into nothing. But at least five of them collided with planets in the vast expanse of space—incredible, isn’t it?”

  Roan sighed. “Seems like an awful coincidence.”