Tales of Reign

by M E Wise

  “A seed falls into a crack in the sidewalk. Finds itself surrounded by concrete in a hot crowded city. Somehow that seed grows. We wanted to be that seed and made it our way.” Said a young woman, maybe in her late teens and wise beyond her years. Her head was greatly disproportioned to her height and was abnormally thin for a human. Her gaunt face never stopped smiling. She offered Dae and myself samples of their growth and it was surprisingly well flavored and fresh. We trailed in and out of different locations observing everything we could take in.

  They lived in family groups. Each had roles to support the others and they all were so dedicated to this ideal as they worked it out each day. I met one brother and sister who were biological twins. The sister was completely human without a single visible flaw. Her brother however wore a hooded jacket and would never show his face. He covered his hands and wore long sleeves. She was guarded and made sure to speak for him if he was asked a question.

  “What brings you to the Acreage?” She asked Dae without a second glance to me.

  “We traveled here with Ben Itou. Passing through!” Dae smiled in response ducking her head into their tent-like divide before the young woman abruptly stood and blocked the curiosity.

  “My brother doesn’t feel well.” She said directly. “I’m Annie, we know Ben.” She stepped forward, looked to me and said, “You should go.” And we did.

  Not all of the people here held that fear of outsiders. It was a very small number we encountered. Most were like that girl and the rose. They gave life to everyone around them. Some like Ben were well experienced in the space outside. Ben even had a college education provided by private tutelage at his father’s and uncle’s behest. Ben’s father begged him to stay home and safe in Canada with him. But years of isolation and as Ben said, too much television, lead to more adventurous activities. He wanted to see the places he saw on the screen. Know the things he had hid behind in his endless humor. Now 28; he came here five years ago after finding a pamphlet wadded up in his father’s trash. Someone innocently brought the discreet Halfer oasis to his father’s attention to help his son have a life. Ben’s father beat the man with a broom.

  They shared their stories, good and bad. Many shared more than either Dae and I were prepared to hear. Stories of being traded for equipment, sold into slavery, and being abandoned at ship stations were among many. A few incredible stories filled the gaps though. In a small but equally impressive section of the Acreage were the whole families, small groups of blood related mothers, fathers and children who came together. Some with aunts, uncles and grandparents in the stead of interchangeable absences. Those absences were never the focus though; bitterness wasn’t something they held, only each other.

  They lived here happily instead of falling silently into the cracks of the places they were born into. It was all so incredible. So unbelievably surreal that I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Dae and I held each other together through the highs and lows of it. Who I was to them answered many empty questions they had. It couldn’t fill them up though. I didn’t know everything; in many ways I was like them. Half in and half out of everything I came into contact with. That first day was so full. Today however we kept closer to the vessel that brought us here. Ben came and went. “Wheeling and dealing!” He said each time he passed through.

  As far as we were concerned the OG UB Aries was now his space-faring monopoly of one apartment as he called it. He earned it for all the risk he put himself in. His gratitude though has been inspiring. He brought us to the right place to heal up and plan on.

  “Your arm has nearly healed!” Dae says astonished. She scans the bone with her tablet imager. A near clear picture of the inside of my arm is revealed as she waves the device up and down my wrist and elbow like a wand. “I cannot wait to give you a proper checkup.” She says placing the device back in a pocket. “Your jumpsuit looks fashionably fit!” She pokes fun at my outfit we recovered from a foot locker in the ship. It is better than the revealing gown I escaped in by far. I sorely miss my vacuum suit.

  “Is it me or is Ben acting a little strange?” asked Dae.

  “Among the myriad of strange behavior he exhibits I would have to agree.” I answered. “They all seem to have something on their minds. I don’t want to violate anyone with a link and find out either. Who knows how that would go over.”

  “Are some people aware of it?” Dae asked curiously.

  “Most are. Especially the Mor’h. They are highly tuned to the frequency of life. I’m no expert on Mor’h but their evolutionary scale is different than humankinds. Humans range, from the Mor’h experience, in their ability to feel that extra presence. Some though, the greater majority unless scanned uncontrollably would not know.” I answered clinically.

  “Have you scanned me?” She asked looking away at a couple offloading vegetables.

  “No.” I replied quickly. “I honestly have not. Not on purpose.”

  “Not on purpose!” She blurted. “When? On accident of course!” She glared.

  “In the holding area I scanned the room.” I answered and took her hand. “I sensed your desire to free us both.” I confessed. “It was a great relief. I looked no further. But I may have shared more of myself than I know.”

  “Good. Wait? What?” She wasn’t angry.

  I looked at her with great concern. The fear of total rejection filled me but I knew that wasn’t in her. What we had gained was some accelerated bonding. “I think we skipped a great deal of courtship.” I admitted.

  Her eyes lit up with understanding. “I know what I feel. It’s deep. Different but not in a bad way.” She said and kissed my cheek. “Let’s find Ben.”

  I took the moment as a passed test. We stood from where we had sat down and walked the many long pipe-like walkways between module groupings. I noticed several Home² labels branded into the different modules, either painted or part of their molds. Tiny probe ships, a common adapted craft made from probes into single or dual manned ships, delivered things back and forth to the larger sections. Space allowed for very full schedules. They must manage their shifts well or risk activity burn out.

  After asking a couple of locals for Ben’s whereabouts we found him at a scrap yard of sorts located in a large docking space. He was arguing down the price of some crate of parts. “Come on man! You know I can get anything you want. I really want this stuff.” Pleaded Ben. A rare overweight Halfer with what appeared to be a partial Tah’l crest on his head stood firm.

  “You say that ever’ time!” He said with a noticeable speech impediment. It was obvious his skills in trade afforded him a more comfortable life than many Halfer had.

  “Reign, buddy!” Ben said to me as he tugged my arm. “Do some head magic on this clown and get me a good deal.” I looked angrily at Ben.

  The man fidgeted greatly. “Look Ben, your exotic friend can do what he wants but you know you can’t just take what you want. What would your dad think?”

  “Hey! Leave Paps outta this.” Ben turned away like his conscience just took a hit. “I should have never brought my dad to visit here. It ruined my aura.” Ben thought for a second. “Ok Jim. What is it you want?”

  “You know what I want.” Big Jim says. Then grins wickedly.

  “Agh!” Gnashes Ben. “Fine.” Ben reaches in the inside of his jacket and pulls out some wires and a circular device. “Here!” He hands out the instrument with a hand over his eyes.

  Big Jim swipes up the device and shoves the wires into his ears. Crams a couple of buttons on the thing and looks on longingly and seems to transcend into a place all his own. Ben begins to gather things and add them to the crate as Jim doesn’t notice. I shake my head in disapproval but he ignores me. “Help me bro!” He begs. Dae steps in in my stead and gives me a goofy look. We use a makeshift dolly to move the crate to the waiting probe ship for transport to our vessels locale. As the ship leaves the airlock I can’t help but ask, “What was that thing he wanted?”

&nbs
p; “A Sony Discman!” Answered Dae to my surprise. “What was the CD?” She asked Ben as we walked quickly away.

  “Celine Deon’s Greatest hits.” He bit his lip. “A classic, damnit. If a bit pretentious.”

  “How did you solve the battery problem?” She asked inquisitively. “Some bypass?”

  “Nope! He’ll have to trade for those.” He said over his shoulder with a devilish grin.

  My ragtag group was becoming more and more cohesive and I feel like I am building bonds for the first time in my life. It is both incredible and frightening. Losing something like this would be of great consequence. Ben references me as Bro at times. A shortened and whimsical word for brother. He is slightly older but far from more mature. Seeing as humans put great emphasis on that growth in responsible character, I am not sure there is proper measurement for this. I need more time to experience it or to observe it.

  Then again he also frequently uses Man, Dude and Yo with myself and others. It may not carry much weight with him. I will however accept the notion. Dae is another question entirely. I am not sure one can ever fully know that you are bound to another person without the sharing. Even though a link divulges nearly all aspects of someone unless trained to block those pursuits, it would seem wrong with her. I think that is a proper predication that for whatever intent she has I am effected. I would not harm either of them even if forced too. These last few days have taught me a great deal about their lives and I could only imagine how much more complicated the nuances would be on a greater scale, much less the whole complexly mixed population of Earth.

  At the ship Ben sets straight to loading his new found goods and Dae has gone in to freshen up as she put it. I assume it has something to do with hygiene. I found myself alone for the first time. I stood outside the ship and gazed out for a while at the expanse of Green Acres from the observation window at our port. Across the pathways I see in the distance a precession of lights moving in a fine line together towards an airlock. They are all hooded and the front furthest group seems to be carrying something high on their shoulders. This is a strange task given the tight walkways. It is orderly though.

  They lay the bundle down on a sled or in a case; I can’t make out which. Maybe they placed the bundle in the case? Whatever it was is suddenly swooshed out into the vacuum of space. They gather tightly into the inside of the airlock. A booster burns for a few seconds and the sled begins a course out into deep space. It didn’t seem like a probe. I am not completely foreign to human cultural habits but this wasn’t making immediate sense.

  The little girl from earlier is nearby once more. I go to her to ask about this moment. She is sobbing and staring out at the scene too. “Little Miss!” I say gently. “Are you hurt?” She turns and shushes me, then returns to her crying and observations. I stand beside her and see that all of the probe ships have stopped moving to and fro. I look behind me and catch a glimpse of Ben also watching through a porthole on our ship. He sees me and looks somberly shaking his head.

  Dae approaches me and places her hand on the small of my back as she comes close. She smells and looks radiant. I am relieved she is here in this confusing moment. She acknowledges the little girl differently by placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. A ceremony? Could this be some ritual? The original precession begins to leave, all save one. The lone witness remains vigil and hooded. The probe ships begin to move again. I turn and Ben has left his window. The little girl turns to me and wipes here large doe eyes on her sleeve. “Half of her life is over now. Poor twin sister.” She says and walks away quickly. Dae covers her mouth as she has come to a conclusion I haven’t.

  “Her brother died!” She said and cried. “He died with a doctor available to him. There’s nothing anyone could do and she knew it. I knew it!” She turned and buried her face in my chest.

  “The young twin died?” My brow furrowed. “What caused his death?” I asked sincerely.

  “You don’t know Reign?” Dae looked incredibly puzzled. “Oh my God. You don’t know!”

  “They die.” She chokes out the words and takes a moment to compose herself. “They die quickly and sometimes horribly. It’s often without warning and sudden.”

  “Who? The Halfers?” I recoil in disillusion. “How does this happen? Why?”

  “They have some sort of genetic timer or hiccup. It kills them between the ages of 24-35.” She looks out toward the lone mourner, obviously now the boys twin sister. “It is why many of them are discarded. That word Halfer is not only about their skin or body, it’s their very lives it describes. They live half a life at best. Half human with half a chance!”

  I held onto Dae as the lone twin walked back and forth in the distance. Why did she pace back and forth? Why had a I never known of this Halfer death trigger? I didn’t understand anything anymore. I felt like I had 25 years of wasted youth and spent it memorizing only the things someone else wanted me to know. And those things I did pursue myself were limited and empty. I watched movies for entertainment. I studied Earth because I felt like I had too. Q’ua Z was right; I had been incredibly sheltered, not for my protection but like a prized lamb!

  Reign Chapter 12

  A Human Condition

  Retrieve the Hermes77 intact, ourselves unharmed and make an effortless series of phase jumps into Mor’h space-that’s the plan. It’s more than that really, it may be our only chance. I believe the Hermes77 is only a day’s travel from here but without my more advanced equipment I cannot be sure. We have to avoid detection and keep interactions with anything in our path to a minimum; if at all. The note we left Green Acres on has soured relations a bit. I wasn’t familiar enough with human behavior to read the situation correctly. The Halfers have endured so much more than I could have imagined from afar. There was nothing fair about such an existence, and made all the cruel with no one to answer for it.

  I keep waiting to hear Ben blatantly interrupt a private moment with some lame humor or belt out some song or randomness frequent his character, but he stays silent. Dae though, seems to need more closeness than before; even still, she is distant. Q’ua Z would simply bully his way into my mind and unabashedly claim the right to know the core of the problem. He would think this was hindering some development and insist on discussing the axiomatic reasons for the persistent condition. This would seem to be a human condition. The Human Condition that I am growing to admire more and more each day.

  I decided to try this Qz method but more subtly. I lift my arm from under Dae’s head and slowly stroll toward the Captains cockpit. “Reign?” Dae said. “Reign!” She buzzed like the two words each had a different revelation attached. I truly feel like she is in my mind at times. Her eyes grew wide as she mouthed, “no,” reaching for my hand. I pulled her along and she abandoned grip near the entrance to the cockpit. There sat Ben firmly in the Captain’s seat. His attention was fixed on the view of Neptune’s methane enhanced blue form. It was casting the same color throughout our vessel. He wasn’t perplexed by it but seemed lost in it. Much like the God of the Sea who kept sailors in his grip in so many Earth tales I read about.

  “Looking for your white dick?” I said thoughtfully.

  Ben broke into hysterical laughter! He wheezed harder and harder. “White dick!” he roared.

  “Have you not heard of Captain Moby?” I said puzzled. “He sought a prize he couldn’t catch.”

  Ben laughed harder, “You my friend, have one hell of a sense of humor!” He found his breath. “Thank you, bro! Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, bro.” I said half-smiling and fully mystified.

  “I just want you to know…” Ben shifted to seriousness, “I don’t plan on dying like that back there. I don’t plan on just waiting for it to happen. I’m older than him and older than most lik’em!” He paused. “I have things to accomplish; people to meet!” He said soundly.

  Dae approached and placed her hands on my shoulders. I found that listening at times like this was more than enough engagement.
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  “I won’t die like that!” His chin trembled. “Not when I need to get you home. Who knows? I may just hitch a ride with you to that alien garden you carry on about!”

  “Indeed.” I had never thought they would come along. There was no discussion for or against me returning with guests. Diplomats? Ambassadors maybe? The council sharing in all of its intensity never warned of hitchhikers! This term was used by Dae as well. She was, “hitchhiking with me into the future,” she said. She tried to explain the use of thumbs and legs to get a ride as she described it but it was lost on me. I think I frustrated her. She said I needed to be there.

  “Mor’h is a great distance away,” I addressed them both. “It is possible you may not return to a home as you knew it to be. If at all.”