“What the-” my father shouted, running toward the fallen aliens.
I think my dad and I were both feeling the same amount of frustration in that moment. I couldn’t believe the stupidity of our Guard and I had half a notion to grab that Earthian rifle and shoot back at my own people. I rushed toward my father who was now knelt next to one of the prostrate Earthians. That particular Earthian was crying out in pain now as my dad searched frantically for a way to help him.
“Braxton, go run back to the Med Facility,” he shouted to me, “Get some doctors over here.”
I knew in that moment that things were getting really bad. These Earthians were probably thinking we were a bunch of ignorant savages now. I nodded an acknowledgement to my dad, then turned back toward the woods. Suddenly, another rocket blurred past me, leaving a perfect line of smoke pointing to the villain in the woods. I turned just in time to see the rocket explode harmlessly on the side of the Earthian vessel. I noticed in that moment that two more doors had opened on the side of the vessel and perched at both doors were armed Earthians. I was now standing directly in the middle of what could very well be the first battle between Earth and Legacy. I was wide open with no weapons.
But if I had a weapon, who would I shoot? Yes, this particular thought truly entered my mind just a second before the whipping started. I don’t know any other way to explain the sound of the Earthian rifles other than to compare it to the sound a whipping branch makes as it slices through the air. Their rifles whipped rapidly, probably twenty invisible rockets in the same amount of time it took my heart to beat twice.
I turned to the woods in time to see fire starting on the bottoms of three large trees. I have no doubt that those aliens hit their intended targets and personally, I didn’t blame them for retaliating. I turned back to the ship in time to see one of the Earthians in the doorway aiming his rifle at my father.
“No!” I shouted, “He’s trying to help!”
The Earthian looked at me, standing with both my arms in the air, then looked back down at my father. He fired three times at my father’s back, dropping him to the ground like a lifeless rag. Then to my shock, he fired several more rounds into the three Earthians who were already lying dead or injured on the ground.
I screamed. But I didn’t just scream. My whole body tingled, from the pit of my stomach up to the tips of my fingers. This had only happened to me three times before and each time, it was in a moment of rage.
. . .
Allow me to explain something before I proceed. It’s believed that the name of our continent comes from the fact that we have a bunch of people who somehow manage to kill people without weapons. Oftentimes, these people kill themselves in the process, but that’s beside the point. For some reason, and no one knows quite why, certain people have the ability to shock others. I’m not talking about the little static shock that we all get sometimes when we touch metal. I’m talking about a full charge thunderbolt.
Our doctors have done all the research into this, and the best they can come up with is that our vegetables have different nutrients than the vegetables of Green and this is what causes us to have evolved into beings that can hold an unequal charge for an extended period of time. One doctor states that the electricity in our body is always neutral – the same amounts of positives and negatives. When we get more positives or negatives from friction with our clothing, this creates an imbalance and in turn, we get a little shock. According to this same doctor, the “Mystics” as we call them, can hold this imbalance for long periods of time without even knowing it. It can build and build with no ill effects to the Mystic – that is until the Mystic chooses to release that energy.
Just the same way that a minor static shock hurts both people involved, the energy released from a Mystic could kill both people involved or at least seriously burn both people. But just the same as with a minor static shock, if you are carrying a piece of metal in your hand when you touch someone, the energy of the shock goes through the metal and doesn’t hurt the electrically imbalanced person. This is why I’ve been forced to wear a Mystic glove everyday of my entire life. If I ever had a “surge” as I call it, I could very readily kill myself.
Most Mystics go to college to learn how to control these surges and use them to their benefit. Some of the best use it as a weapon anytime they choose and they can even aim the surge. I never went to the Mystic Academy and I refuse to. I cannot control my surges, but I do know when it’s going to happen. I have about a four-heartbeat warning, then there’s nothing I can do except make sure my gloved hand is further outstretched than any other portion of my body.
. . .
The tingling increased in my body to such a point that I thought it would literally stop my heart. The Earthian was now looking at me and bringing his rifle up to aim it, but by then it was too late. I jutted my right hand forward just as my whole arm felt like it caught on fire from the inside out. Four blinding white bolts shot outward from my glove, thundering as it tore violently through the air and crashed into the Earthian vessel. The torrent of electricity was powerful enough to almost send the giant beast onto its side. But it tipped back before the point of no return, landing with a heavy thud back on its skids.
I fell to the ground, my body aching inside as it had the last three times this happened. If the Earthians inside the vessel were still alive, they would have ample opportunity to kill me now in my wasted state.
“Dad?” I croaked, hoping somehow that he could hear me from several paces away.
I lay on the ground facedown waiting for those shivering pains to dissipate. I knew two things in that moment. One being if I hadn’t been wearing that glove, I would be dead right now. And two, I would be spending my harvest at the Mystic Academy.
August 1, 2376
The holographic video of the war in South America flickered off, then switched to the image of a blonde woman.
“In other news, a construction crew working in the Florida Keys yesterday stumbled across a rare find. Buried beneath the coral of the island where they were scheduled to build a hotel was a very large steel structure of some sort. Sonar imaging of the giant structure came back with a picture of this:”
An image shaped like a starship appeared on the screen, then followed by an image of the USSC Pioneer.
“Further investigation today revealed this is indeed the USSC Pioneer, the experimental ship that disappeared nearly a hundred years ago. How it ended up buried beneath hundreds or perhaps thousands of years worth of soil and coral is a mystery to be solved at a later date. When we asked the USSC what they thought of this, this is what they said:”
The holographic image of a man appeared.
“We cannot even fathom how this ship got here especially since we believed it to be lost somewhere in the Beta Hydri System. We are however deploying a group of 24 Indentures to begin the immense effort unearthing this ship next week. We hope to find some answers soon.”
4
Diana
Green Continent
The flying ship settled down in the portion of land between the studio and the house. By the time I came out of the studio, my mom and my sister were already running around the craft and racing frantically toward me.
“Are these the Caliperians you and your dad have been listening to all this time?” she hollered, a mask of fear imbedded deep in her features, “Do you realize what kind of troubles you may have caused us?”
“Did you hear what they said, Mother? They are coming to visit us in peace. Look at that giant flying thing. Wouldn’t it be great if they shared the knowledge they have of flight while we shared our coffees, teas, or whatever else we have to offer them?”
“I thought this… this hobby of yours was just a silly thing to keep yourself occupied. I never really believed your father when he put his hopes in this…” she waved her hand agitatedly at the studio, “this pile of metal and wire.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I replied sarcastically, “You always know just
the right things to say.”
A door slid open on the side of the ship, followed immediately by the presence of a long plank. The plank suddenly dropped to the ground in small sections, creating a magical stairway that barely seemed held together. A sturdy man of about forty harvests stood in the doorway. He looked no different than anyone from Legacy with the exception of his paler skin tone and his long black hair.
“As the Captain of the USSC Foothold, I offer peaceful greetings. We’ve just travelled 24 light years to learn what happened with our Pioneer Colony as well as to make your acquaintance,” he said, slowly making his way down the stairs.
A beautiful woman of equally pale skin tone followed behind him. Two other shorthaired men followed, carrying what appeared to be weapons of some sort, though they weren’t holding them in a threatening manner.
“Welcome to Legacy,” I said, not really understanding half of what the man had said, “I’m the one who was sending messages to Caliper as well as listening to your… your sounds and your music.”
He smiled warmly and reached out a hand to me. I hadn’t stumbled, so I wasn’t sure why his hand remained outward for me to take. He looked seemingly confused, then laughed.
“I’m sorry. We are two different civilizations and I think it would be best if we keep this in mind. Our gestures and words may make little sense to each other at times,” he said, stepping closer and taking my hand into his, “On Earth, we greet each other by shaking hands. It started long ago as a gesture to show that both people offered empty hands to each other, unarmed and greeting each other in peace.”
I smiled finally, shaking his hand. I then reached past him and offered my hand to the lovely golden-haired woman. I shook her hand, then waved at the two armed men who were still on the stairs. They apparently wouldn’t be shaking hands since they were not actually unarmed as the greeting suggested.
“Yes, we are unarmed also and are peaceful in all ways. Can we get you something to drink or… wow, I don’t know what you say to aliens when they visit,” I mumbled.
Both Caliperians laughed heartily at this, then nodded.
“I know exactly how you feel. How about if we invite you to have a look around inside our shuttle?” he asked, “I think the first order of business between us would be to put each other at ease as best as we can and to also determine exactly how we may be… uh… how we might be related.”
Again, I had to pick out portions of what he said to try to get the general idea of his statement. Every time he spoke, it seemed like I could only understand three-quarters of his words.
“Related? Are the Caliperians related to the people of Legacy somehow?” I asked.
“I’m assuming we are the ones that you call Caliperians. And I take it you call your planet Legacy instead of Hydrus as we know it. Legacy’s a great name by the way,” he said, “But yes, I do believe our peoples are related in some way, though I don’t know how it came to be.”
“You’re not going into their ship, Diana,” my mother interjected.
I noticed in that moment that I had completely forgotten she was even nearby. I gestured toward my mother, almost embarrassed by her presence.
“I forgot to introduce you to my sister Jean Seven and my mother, Diana Nine,” I said, “And I am Diana Ten.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” he said, reaching out and shaking their hands, “I am Captain Chris Reiss and this is my Chief of Colonial Services, Lieutenant Commander Darcy Waters. Behind me are two Indentures named Bravo and Charlie.”
I understood almost nothing that time, but I nodded and smiled at each of them. My mother was tugging at my sleeve, but I shrugged her off and whispered for her to stop.
“I would love to see your ship,” I said, replying to his statement from before, “Is that the thing you travelled in from Calip… wait, what is the name of your planet? I’m sure it’s not the name we created for your star.”
“We come from the planet Earth around a star we simply call Sol. We always called your star system Beta Hydri and this planet Hydrus, though now I’ve learned it to be Legacy,” the long-named lady stated.
“Beta Hydri? That’s ironic because we actually call our star Beta. There’s really two that circle our planet. The other we call Alpha,” I said.
“They don’t circle your…” the captain started to say, then seemed to lose his train of thought, “We call your other star Alpha too. We named it Alpha Hydri. I think we may find a lot of similarities in the words we share.”
He gestured for me to follow him as he turned and led the way to the magic staircase. My heart fluttered in excitement as I followed closely. I turned to my mother and waved to her, not really expecting her to follow anyway. My sister just watched us with a smile, then she waved.
“To answer your question from earlier, no this isn’t the ship that made the journey between our stars. This is just one of the shuttles from our Colonial Supplementary Cruiser which is now in orbit above us,” he said.
I looked up at the sky, expecting to see some giant ship floating above us. There was still enough light since Beta hadn’t completely buried itself below the horizon yet, but I still couldn’t see any ship. The captain chuckled.
“You can’t see it because it’s about 1200 miles above us right now,” he added, “But it’s awfully huge. If we are welcomed enough to stay for a couple years, I may be able to show you that ship as well.”
I didn’t know what a mile was, but I imagined it was a lot. We started up the magic stairway. What appeared to be just sheets of metal floating beneath my feet turned out to be very firm. I expected them to sway a bit.
“You are most definitely welcome for as long as you wish to stay. I imagine you probably would be in need of food and water anyway after such a long journey,” I replied, “And my mother owns the largest coffee and tea farms on all of Legacy.”
“Coffee and tea?” the woman behind me laughed, “I’m glad to see that our plants are able to thrive on another planet. I’m sure those seedlings were brought from Earth.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of her statement anymore than I understood the thick metal of the ship’s hull. I felt it as I entered the ship and it was every bit as thick as my fist. I couldn’t imagine something of this weight ever getting off the ground, let alone flying to the stars.
“This is typically an airlock, but we didn’t need to use it here,” the captain stated as we passed through a small room, “And this is the main passenger section over here.”
I followed them into a large room with two hallways separating the many seats into three sections. There were probably a dozen people seated throughout the room, some looking at devices in their laps and others curiously inspecting me. I offered them all a kind smile and a wave.
“Let’s go through here so I can…” the captain stopped suddenly.
I glanced over at him to find him staring off toward the far wall. The woman also seemed to be staring blankly at something, but her expression seemed to be one of fear.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
They turned to me quickly, then nodded at the two shorthaired escorts who had seemed intent on guarding the stairs earlier. I turned to see both of them raise their weapons and point them toward me.
“Whoa,” I sputtered, stepping back quickly, “What’s going-”
“Don’t lift your hands if you want to stay alive,” one of the men growled.
“One of our shuttles was just attacked on the other side of this planet,” the captain stated, “Our shuttle crew didn’t provoke the attack at all.”
“Someone from Blaze? The… the other continent?” I asked, “But I’m not going to attack you.”
“I believe you,” the captain replied, “But until we get to the bottom of this, I cannot let my guard down. I’m responsible for the safety of twenty-five hundred people so I’m sure you can understand when I say: Please take a seat.”
Before I could reply, the captain rushed to some other portion of the
ship. I felt a hand on my shoulder, nudging me to one of the seats nearby. It was the long-named woman and she looked equally as unhappy as her captain.
“We are heading to the location of the attacked shuttle,” she said by way of explanation, “One of the people who attacked the shuttle did so by simply shooting a bolt of lightning from his hand. For your own safety, and if you are indeed different than those other people, please don’t make any sudden movements.”
Even though a lot of this didn’t make any sense, I was fairly certain I knew what they were talking about. That ship had the misfortune of landing somewhere in the land of Mystics. We knew to stay away from those kinds of people, but the people of Earth couldn’t have known.
January 20, 2377
The holographic image of a man standing on a pier in the Florida Keys flicked over to an old image of the USSC Pioneer docked at the Xenia Space Station.
“When the ship left our solar system on that fateful day, it was carrying 978 people as well as ten Indentures and 48 potential Indentures. The ship buried beneath this island contains only the remains of seven people of which two of them were Indentured. Where are the remaining 971 people?”
The image switched to a lighted view inside the dark tomb.
“In the forward shuttle bay, there’s no shuttle. In the aft bay, there isn’t a shuttle. The Jump Drive itself appears to have been cut out of the ship altogether. And here’s the most interesting part:”
The image switched to another very large room, lit up by several floodlights.
“The Colonial Establishment Pods, carrying all the supplies that a new colony would need, are gone. Also missing from the USSC Pioneer are the two titanium building-frames for the four-story housing structures they were to build. Where are these people and why is their ship buried under a thousand years of coral and dirt?”
The Mystic Saga Omnibus (Books 1 - 5) Page 11
