Orion's Children

by Rohan Moorthy

  Erong Continent

  The jet black Oryx softly whizzed across the open plains of the province of Sidra near the Southeast of the Erong continent. Nigel leaned back in his seat and looked across at the Savannah, with a large smile on his face. He saw herds of Zebra and Wildebeest grazing several feet away, where a few occasionally stopped to look up, at the strange object as it passed by. The Oryx was a specially designed ten seater hover truck that contained a large storage unit at the back, which housed the team’s gear and food supplies. Fixed to it was a carriage that contained the set of cages for the day’s hunt. Nigel looked ahead and saw a herd of caped buffalo running towards a dense tree line in the distance. He smiled as he looked at the sky with its swirling clouds and bright sunlight that shed its morning rays, across what he thought as the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

  “God, it’s beautiful out here,” said Nigel as he rested his arm on the open window. “Yes it is, isn’t it?” said Carmen Carrillo. “Ah! Sorry, didn’t see you back there, love,” said Nigel. “I didn’t quite get your name earlier? Candace was it? I’m Nigel by the way,” said Nigel extending his hand behind him. “I know who you are, Mr. Greenback. My name is Carmen Carrillo,” she said shaking Nigel’s hand. “Right! Great to know you. I know you’re the Group Captain and all that, but I hope we can work together more intimately during this trip,” smirked Nigel. “Oh, we’ll get to work alright, but let’s keep the intimacy at a distance, shall we?” said Carmen as she turned in her seat and smiled back at him. Nigel nodded his head and his smile grew larger. A series of snaps turned his attention back outside where he saw a group of Giraffe tearing away at a giant Acacia tree. “God! If only Dad could have seen me now, he’d be proud for sure,” thought Nigel as he reflected on the many outdoor adventures he had had with his father. Sadly, Mitchel Greenback had passed away two years before Nigel was inducted into Team Air Hawk and so never learnt of the grand mission his son would embark on.

  “Mr. Greenback, we have positive reading on the pride of Lions. They are less than a mile ahead,” said the driver to him. “Great, you keep her steady then mate, while I go fish the gear out.” Nigel stood up and walked down the aisle towards the storage area. He shut the door behind him and a series of lights flicked on. Nigel pulled out his hand scanner and did an initial check on the battery and then proceeded to place in his pack. Today, the team would capture three species of animal that included Lions, Elephants and Rhinos. He checked his armlet and snapped it on. However, before stepping out, he went to the door to make sure no one was walking into the storage room. “Right, let’s get to this then,” said Nigel softly to himself as he pulled a large bundle from behind one of the shelves. He undid it and looked at his prized tranquiliser gun. He moved his hand slowly over each part and was satisfied that no one had tampered with it. He re-tied it and slipped it back into its original hiding spot.

  Nigel stepped back up towards his seat just as the Oryx began to slow down. The vehicle turned towards the left and stopped. He placed a sleek pair of sun glasses and spoke “zoom in.” The glasses immediately gave him a closer look at the pride, which he surveyed the field in front of him. A short distance away, he could see a large gathering that had from his rough guess about six healthy full grown males. Two of them had stood up as they spotted the Oryx approach. Soon they began a cacophony of grunts, which made the rest of the pride look in the vehicle’s direction. “Right, ok folks let’s see what our scanner has to tell us. Normal vision please,” said Nigel as the glasses zoomed out and gave him a clear view of the items in front of him. He picked up the scanner in his left hand and pointed it at the pride and pressed it on. It almost immediately displayed a visual of the animals present in a purplish hue. He moved it slowly from left to right, where the scanner beeped and soon flashed the healthy ones as green. Pressing the lock button, the information was fed into the Oryx on-board computer so the truck could know which animals to track and chase, in case the entire pride began to run away.

  “Okay boys and girls, time to get to work. Call in air support as well,” said Nigel as he placed the scanner on the side panel and opened his door. The driver pressed a button on the dashboard and soon a translucent shield surrounded the truck, 50 feet all across and 18 feet high. “Ah, come on, those kitty cats ain’t gonna hurt no one. We don’t need a protective shield around us,” said Nigel. “Oh, it’s necessary alright. Maybe, it’s those cats that need protection from you,” said Carmen as she stepped out of the Oryx and stood next to Nigel. She smiled at him and then checked her 280 hand gun. “Ah! Whatever you say, love,” said Nigel turning back towards the pride that continued to watch their movements carefully. He noticed that some of the lionesses had started to move away with their cubs following in toe. The rest of the team of six emerged, strapping on their packs and rifles. Two proceeded to the attached carriage that contained the cages that would be needed. “Well, let’s get started then,” said Nigel as he waved to the driver, to open up the shield. The driver pressed another button and soon an opening appeared. Nigel and the rest of the team walked through and began to spread out as they approached the pride. Not having interacted with humans before, most of the pride continued to lounge on the grass and watch the group approaching without any sense of fear. The two males that had initially begun their grunting had also quietened down and continued to gaze in the direction of the strange two legged creatures. The team lifted their rifles and slowed their pace till they were within 35 feet of the pride. A light gale blew across the plain and Nigel could feel it caress his skin. “Right people. Let them have it!” he said and fired at one of the two males standing closer to him. The silent laser seemed to form a cloud of smoke around the animal and down it went, against the ground. The rest of the animals watched it fall without any time to react, as a flurry of blue and red streaks shot towards them. Then began a series of roars, as several members of the pride began to run in the opposite direction, with only three females and two males still moving from side to side. They soon fell and the team closed in, where the animals were lying down in a state of frozen animation.

  “Well, that was easy. Got the job done in less than a few minutes,” said Nigel as he surveyed the bodies lying on the ground. He tapped his armlet and pointed it at the group of animals to identify the ones that flashed green earlier. The team proceeded to place tags around the front right legs as well as place DNA extraction straps. Just then a soft droning sound could be heard and a moment later two helicopters flew over the hills from the East. Within 10 minutes, they had landed and several personnel disembarked to begin moving the animals into their cages. Each Lions heartbeat and pressure were checked and soon the entire lot was loaded onto each of the helicopters, with new replacement cages being placed onto the Oryx’s carriage. The animals that were not to be captured, were placed near one of the trees nearby. They would eventually wake up in about five hours’ time. “Good job, sir. We’ll have them over at the Corinthian facility in a few hours’ time,” said one of the chopper pilots to Nigel. “Great, let me know how things go, once they wake up,” said Nigel.

  He watched the choppers fly off and eventually disappear over the hills. He checked his watch. “Not bad, the entire operation completed in 45 minutes. I love being fast,” said Nigel as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. “Need a light?” said Carmen as she came up to him. “Sure love, I could use one,” he said and leaned forward as she pressed a small black box that emitted a blue light. “Well, I guess you’re happy with the way things turned out, right now,” said Carmen as she stood gazing at the vast plain, several feet below from where they were standing. “Yes I am. But we go after the Elephants next. They and the Rhinos will be a bit tricky to catch,” said Nigel. He puffed at his cigarette watching a herd of Buffalo in the distance. “Tell me something, what do you Earth folk intend to do with these animals? I mean you’ve hardly any animals left on your planet and the ones remaining in the nature parks are hardly wild, in any sense.
Will this new lot be taken care of properly?” said Carmen turning towards him. “You were born here, right Carmen?” asked Nigel. “Yes I was,” she said. “Well, I heard a lot of things, like you lot are a bit stiff and unwelcoming to visitors but that didn’t colour my view or desire to come here. Allowing prejudice or half-baked information to sit in your mind, isn’t good,” said Nigel as he frowned a bit at her. “Yes, we don’t have many species like Lions back home, but we have enough data gathered over nearly three centuries and plenty of holographic live animation to help us train for things like this. So, we try to make things work. But more than that, the people of Earth genuinely care about righting a wrong that has been done to mother nature, while also deeply appreciating Greenleaf’s gift to them,” he added as he turned away and drew heavily from his cigarette.

  “I didn’t mean to be rude, I just thought I’d ask,” said Carmen and she turned to walk away. “Neither did I. Sorry if I sounded that way love, but some of your folk including that cat Estella haven’t exactly been very kind to us during our time here,” said Nigel turning towards her. “I understand. Well, never mind Estella. She just has her own issues in life,” said Carmen as she looked back across the plains. She could see the rest of the pride that had got away earlier, moving across towards a large water hole towards their right. “All of us here on Greenleaf, love our planet maybe a bit too much and we always look at those who come from Earth, in a negative way, as we read or hear stories of how that planet was nearly destroyed. But I also know the efforts that groups like TASNSA have made to restore its pride,” she paused and spoke more slowly. “Well Nigel, maybe as you said, if we work more intimately, we’d get to break each other’s prejudices.” Nigel laughed and pressed out his cigarette, which he then placed in a small trash bag, in his pack. Then, without warning he grabbed her hand and began to run towards a neighbouring hill. “Wait! What are you doing?” said Carmen as she tried to steady herself. “Come on love, let’s you and I look over this grand place since we got a bit of time. She laughed and began to run with him. After a distance, they slowed down and then panting heavily began to move up the slope. It didn’t take long and soon they were at the top looking over a beautiful mid-morning scene, which would have resembled ancient Africa. “Wow! It’s amazing. Absolutely stunning. Tell you what, love I really wouldn’t mind settling down here on Greenleaf. It’s got everything,” said Nigel as he gazed at the scrub stretching away to a range of mountains in the north. The heat was beginning to grow more intense, so after a few minutes they proceeded down. “Mr. Greenback, are we good to leave?” asked one of the crew members standing near the Oryx below. “Oh yes, fire things up, lad, we still got a big day ahead of us,” said Nigel and then he turned to Carmen. “Race you to the bottom,” and dashed off. As Carmen saw him move, she couldn’t help but feel attracted to his unpolished character. He was strong, yet so playful. But more importantly, she sensed that beneath the surface lay a good and sincere human being. She blushed a bit and began to run after him.

  ◆◆◆

  In Bloom

  Vilia Continent

  Mike saw the sky above him disappear as his body fell backwards into the clear blue sea, east of the Vilia coastline. Straightening himself, he gazed in wonder at the beautiful schools of fish that swam by him and watched as a pair of dolphins moved in and out, scattering the schools every few seconds. Since he had flown in to the Vilia continent, he was awestruck by the serene beauty that its lakes, coastlines and snow-capped mountains offered. Now immersed in the clear blue waters of the Brica Sea, he swam away from the coast with the help of the underwater jet pack attached to his back. Soon, he saw the rest of the Greenleaf team by his side. Three divers had an unmanned submersible called a Shell Spike that moved along with them, which was there to collect DNA samples of the whales they were looking for. Killer whales, to be precise and he thought back to the aquariums on Earth, where he had spent the past six years studying them and other aquatic creatures.

  “Mr. Johnson, we have spotted what appears to be a group of humpback whales about a mile out from where you are. The sea floor is about the same depth as where you are right now and continues in this way for about 12 miles. Do you want to press on?” asked Mauricio Roberto, Group Captain of the Greenleaf Sparrow team Mike was with. “Sure. Let’s do this. Have everyone receive the coordinates and let’s get the Shell Spike moving there too,” said Mike as his jet pack began to move him towards the direction of the humpback whales. “Level 3 speed,” said Mike as he felt himself begin to move faster. He looked below and watched the endless miles of tropical pristine coral, stretch away in the distance. He suddenly caught sight of giant manta rays hovering across the floor and moving with perfect synchronicity. “My God! This place is stunning. I’d love to know what else lies below,” he said to himself. After several minutes, he heard Mauricio on his headset. “Mr. Johnson, you should be able to see them within the next minute…” “No worries, Mr. Roberto, I already do!” said Mike as he approached the gentle giants of the deep. The view was stunning as he saw 10 adults tapping the surface with their backs. The rest of the team pulled up beside him and soon the whales drew very near and began a display of underwater acrobatics. In all his life Mike had never seen something so pure and so beautiful.

  The sun’s rays pierced through the watery roof above them and shone brightly on each whale as they began to circle around the team, but without coming too close. “Wow! I gotta get pictures of this. Activate camera,” said Mike as his helmet began to relay a series of photographs and videos back to the boat and to the Halo Airbase. Ali, was writing at his desk in the upper floor of Hangar 18, when he noticed the images popping up on the large Flexi monitor in front of him. He stared in amazement as he saw the pictures Mike’s helmet camera took. “Hey, guys come here and look at this,” he said waving his hand towards Raveena, Akira and Paulo. “My goodness, would you look at that. Mike’s having the time of his life for sure,” said Raveena. “Yup, makes me jealous that I get stuck here for this entire trip,” said Ali as he tapped at a few images, pulled them off the screen and moved his hands apart to enlarge them. “Hey, that makes four of us remember, wise guy?” said Akira tapping his shoulder. “Whatever!” said Ali smiling and he moved the digital picture higher as he stood up. All four stared and marvelled at how beautiful the whale looked with the delicate rays of sunshine striking its back in the water.

  “Right, let’s have the Shell Spike armed and ready people. Make sure the invisibility mode is set. Keep it for a five point collection run,” said Mike. The team tapped a few buttons on the top panel and within a couple of minutes it started to move towards one of the whales. Soon it disappeared from view as it switched to invisibility mode. The goggles of the three main pilots from the team, changed to red, as they watched it draw near and settle onto the side of one of the whales. Within 15 seconds it rose up and moved towards another and shortly after that to another. In all it extracted DNA samples from five adults from the pod, before returning to the team. The whales were oblivious to its presence. For starters, it could not be seen and the anaesthesia it sprayed onto the whale’s surface from a foot away, did not allow the whale to feel its touch against its side, or feel the needles as they drove themselves in. Plus, no visible mark or scar was created in the whole process.

  After a few more minutes, Mike gave the signal to move on back towards the coastline and the boat for a recharge. He continued to watch the whales as the team began to turn back. Suddenly and without warning, Mike noticed a giant shape emerge near his side and he gasped deeply only to realise that one of the whales swimming behind him had been driven by curiosity and had come closer, to inspect him further. He took a few more deep breaths and watched it. The whale remained motionless for a few seconds and just seemed to stare at him. Mike pondered on what he should do and then decided to throw caution to the wind and moved towards the Humpback. He could hear the low droning sound it made as he came next to it and he gently reached out and beg
an to stroke its side. The whale continued to remain calm. “Yeah! You’re a big guy, aren’t you? You and I are going to get along just fine, right?” said Mike as he moved his hand closer to the whale’s eye. The Humpback remained placid and after a few minutes it gently started to move, towards the rest of the group. Mike waited as he watched the whole pod move away towards the great beyond. He waved out to them with a deep hope that he would be able to do this again sometime soon.

  Dorenland Continent

  At the same time, in another part of the world, Adrian felt the strong rush of wind blow across his face as his solar powered glider sailed over the mountain forest in southwest Dorenland. The sky was decorated with a vast Cumulus cloud formation and the nearby cliffs and higher land passes in the distance brought back memories of his studies in the Atlas and Himalayan mountain ranges on Earth. Looking down towards his left, he spotted a pack of grey wolves feeding on the carcass of some animal. His glider swooped back once again and he came in lower to have a closer inspection. Some of the wolves spotted him and began to move back from their meal as they watched him in astonishment. “Never mind me boys, carry on with your lunch,” he laughed and flew on towards the higher mountain range towards the west.