“I thought the shuttle was a flying ocean-vessel from Blaze,” I said, trying to make conversation, “But I should have known. I’d been sending messages to Earth for a long time.”
He turned to me, his beautiful dark eyes seeming to take me in for the first time.
“Diana ‘ex’?” he asked.
My mother was Diana Nine, my grandmother Diana Eight, so I was the lucky one to be named Diana Ten. Of course, the name is written in our clock numbers, meaning it’s spelled out as Diana X. I’d spent my life being called “ex” instead of “ten” especially in the scientific community. Since my dad and I are known throughout Legacy as eccentrics who enjoy blowing our money and time on the stars, the name Diana Ex became a nickname for Diana Eccentric.
I’d heard all the comments that I was never meant to hear. I’d seen the hands covering mouths as people whispered. I still maintained a lot of anger toward these people who enjoyed the benefits of the Cop/Mag Dynamos, but made fun of the man who funded their invention. My grandfather needed the power of thunder to ignite the glow into his lighting devices, and years later he’d need it to create his listening devices. He never got credit for either of these inventions, but he was at the forefront of both Legacy-changing creations especially when it came to money. He did get partial credit for the first copper/magnet electricity-creating dynamo, but it wasn’t credit he was looking for. He just wanted to be seen as ‘normal.’
Now, three generations later, I was still trying for the same thing. The world enjoyed the dynamos that produced electricity, and they especially enjoyed their military listening devices, but they laughed at the ‘eccentric’ family that paid for it all. They laughed at the family that was fascinated with the stars.
“Yes,” I sighed, “Diana ‘ex’.”
“You were really… you know… these are the people you were talking to?” he asked, “It was all real?”
I actually punched him in the arm for that question.
“It was never assumed to be NOT real! The noises were heard and published for the whole world. Didn’t you hear their music?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I just figured-”
“No, you didn’t ‘figure’. You didn’t want to accept that there just might be other worlds out there,” I cut him off, wishing suddenly that I had better control of my emotions, “I’m sure that Captain Reiss, his people, and this whole ship is all part of a… hmm… maybe it’s part of a scam.”
I’m sure the captain heard us as he led us through the never-ending corridors. Finally, just before Braxton had a chance to reply, the captain pressed a blue square next to one of the doors, causing it to open by itself. He turned to us and gestured us to enter ahead of him.
“We have a very limited amount of windows aboard this ship since space is a hostile environment,” he said with a smile, “But I’m sure you’ll appreciate our starboard observatory.”
I didn’t really know what I was looking at the moment I entered the room. It was a domed room, surrounded by windows filled with a portion of a very colorful ball. The blues, greens, and whites were so vivid; more beautiful than anything our painters could dream up.
I approached the window, staring off toward Alpha in the distance. It took me a moment to realize that if that was Alpha, then the beautiful ball must certainly be Legacy.
“Legacy?” I muttered.
“No way,” I heard Braxton reply beside me, “That’s too… no way…”
“Yes, that’s your planet. Actually, that’s the continent you call Green right there,” the captain said, pointing to the green portion filling the window, “Your home is right about there, Diana.”
He touched his finger to a spot close to the blue ocean.
“It’s nothing like I imagined,” I whispered, feeling a tear racing down my cheek, “Can I stay here? Can I visit your world?”
The captain laughed. I turned to see him shaking his head.
“I’m staying here for a while, actually. It may be a couple years before I begin my journey back to Earth,” he said, “But I’m willing to share my ship, my windows, my technology, and anything else if you’d would be willing to share some friendship and land with the people of my ship.”
“Land?” Braxton asked.
“We’d like to build a port here. I know you two may not be governing authorities of any type, but at this moment, you could definitely serve as intermediaries between Earth and your governments. You can at least prevent the attacks long enough for us to introduce ourselves,” the captain stated, “Think of it as another country asking to build a port on your land so we can have a base of operations when it comes to trade and other relations.”
“I’d definitely do whatever I can, but in all honesty, as Diana has expressed, I’m just a kid,” Braxton stated, “I don’t hold a lot of weight in the land of Blaze.”
“I know exactly what you’re saying, but as a governing official on the Foothold, I can tell you that I would listen to even my lowest ranking waste handler if he told me that I needed ignore my instincts and talk to someone he considered important. I might not let my guard down, but I’d definitely consider his recommendation. No one is completely useless and I’m telling you this as the supreme commander of this ship.”
“My mother is one of the top people in all of Green and I can guarantee you will be allowed to build a port there,” I said, turning back to the beautiful ball beside us, “We have a large portion of sterile land near the Gosslin Mountains that my mother was considering for housing. She had said there was enough room for a thousand families to live.”
I could actually see Legacy moving slowly beneath us. I thought I was imagining it at first, but as I stared at the left side, I could see landforms slowly moving into view while portion of the right side slowly disappeared.
“You both are exceptionally generous,” the captain stated, “I hope you won’t begrudge me for this, but my medical staff is already insisting on seeing you.”
The door opened and two pale women entered the room. They were smiling as though they’d already been introduced to us.
“How do you speak to these people without us knowing?” I asked the captain.
“I have something of a… well, imagine a window that no one else can see. It appears in front of my vision anytime I choose. I can make selections from this ‘window’ to answer questions, send messages, or to pretty much keep updated on everything that’s going on,” he replied, “It’s so common to my people that I sometimes forget that you and Braxton have no idea what I’m doing.”
It still didn’t make any sense to me, so I just nodded as I often did. I took one more look out the window, then glanced over at Braxton to see if he had anything more to add. Braxton and I then followed the two women out of the room.
. . .
Their tests were quite non-invasive, just as the captain had promised. They swiped the insides of our mouths with a stick, poked our fingers and took a couple drops of our blood, then peeked into our eyes, ears, and mouths. After that, Braxton and I were left alone in a small room to ponder the future of Legacy.
“My cousin owns Tyler Coal,” Braxton said apropos of nothing as he fiddled with his Mystic glove, “I think half his coal is traded for your family’s sugar.”
I figure he was looking for some form of common ground between us and I was grateful for it. Nothing had been comfortable between us and it was made even worse by my conscious effort to avoid his eyes. I knew if I looked too long into those black pools, I’d probably drown in them.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” I replied, “For the record, I don’t have a low opinion of you or the people from Blaze. I mean, look at me – I’m the girl who wastes all her mother’s fortune on star-listening.”
He snickered, then held his gloved hand out to me.
“We’re all freaks in some way. Don’t worry about what I think,” he replied.
The door opened before I even had a chance to respond. The captain stood there smiling at b
oth of us. Then after a moment, he came in and closed the door.
“We’re definitely related,” the captain said, “There’s no doubt that you are both the descendants of a colony we established here a long time ago. Oddly however, Braxton is either a product of a thing we like to call gene therapy or maybe his DNA was somehow mixed with another.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Braxton asked.
The captain took a seat, then clasped his hands together in front of him. He nodded subtly, then looked up at Braxton.
“When we want to change something in future generations, we take the genes of a person – the hidden information inside our cells…” the captain began, then shook his head, “I know this won’t make any sense, but we improve our future generations. We used to have something called cancer that killed off millions of people, but then we removed the possibility of that from happening to future generations by gene therapy.”
“So someone messed with Braxton’s ancestors so he would have to deal with this electrical problem?” I asked.
“As best as we can tell, someone many generations back probably knew something of modern day science. This was probably someone from the original crew of the Pioneer. This person must not have felt comfortable with his future generations trying to survive through primitive means – spears, clubs, maybe even swords. I’d be willing to bet he messed around with the DNA of many…”
We watched the captain, waiting for him to finish his thought. I’m sure Braxton understood as little as I did.
“Let’s just say, someone from the past figured a way to mess with your line. But as you’ve mentioned before, Braxton, some have learned a way to control this ability of yours. If I may, I’d love to perform a scan on you to see if we can learn more,” he said, “After all, this is just a theory of mine. Your DNA has subtle differences that confuse us and we’re only coming up with our most reasonable explanation for these differences.”
“And what exactly am I going to get from all this?” Braxton asked without pause.
“Again, I have nothing I’m unwilling to share. I’ll share our metallurgy as you’ve asked. I’ll share how to build starships and the simpler engines of land vehicles,” he stated, “All we want to do is get a closer look at your cellular makeup as well as a full scan of your brain.”
I watched Braxton, hoping he’d agree. I wanted to know everything from these people and they really asked for little in return. Braxton finally nodded.
April 14, 2377
“At approximately 6:30 this morning, a nuclear weapon was detonated in Cleveland, Ohio. No one has stepped forward to lay claim to this attack, but we do know this as of now: It was a ground-based detonation coming from within fifty yards of the USSC Headquarters,
“Given the amount of turmoil that has erupted since the United Scientist Space Command CEO gave his address just a few days ago, and the riots that have been spurred as a result, it’s probably safe to assume that this was meant as an attack on the USSC. Unfortunately for the attacker, since this took place on American soil and has killed more than a million people, this will be treated as an attack on the United States. We will not tolerate attacks against the US and the consequences of such an attack will be severe,
“As the UN has expressed its negative opinions on the actions of the USSC, we will not be omitting them as a possible suspect. Even if we are forced to retaliate against the whole United Nations for such a cowardly attack on the US, we are ready and able.”
9
Braxton
USSC Foothold
I was taken to another medical facility on the Foothold that was populated with a lot more patients than the previous facility. Being a freak on Blaze was nothing compared to being a freak on Foothold. Everyone on the ship had the same extremely pale skin, causing my tanned flesh to glow like a freak beacon.
Thankfully though, I was escorted into a more private room where it was just me and a bunch of unusual ceramoid machinery. I was left alone in that room long enough to begin wondering if they forgot about me. I was just about to reach for the door when it opened.
“Braxton Three,” the young woman said, closing the door behind her, “It’s so good to meet a person from Legacy. My name is Med Apprentice Sarah White and I’ll be assisting you with your scan.”
I was beginning to wonder if there were any ugly people on Foothold. It’s not that they were all stunning – just that none of them could be classified as unattractive. It seemed like these people were really good at taking care of themselves, so perhaps that was the secret they needed to share with the people of Legacy. Forget the sciences or their awesome metals. Tell us how to always be attractive no matter what age.
My mind returned to the whole purpose of why I was in the medical facility in the first place. Sarah approached and gently placed a padded helmet over my head. The scanning device, assuming that’s what this was, was actually rather comfortable. It felt like a pillow wrapping my head on all sides. I sat still on the scanning seat, waiting for further instruction.
“Okay, I’m going to start the scan in five seconds,” her muffled voice stated, “Four… three… two… one…”
I closed my eyes and patiently waiting for the humming scanner to finish with me…
Book Two
10
Braxton
USSC Foothold
“Okay, I’m going to start the scan in five seconds,” her muffled voice stated, “Four… three… two… one…”
I closed my eyes and patiently waiting for the humming scanner to finish with me…
…to finish with me…
…to finish…
It suddenly felt like the scanner helmet was no longer wrapped around my head. I opened my eyes to find myself suddenly shivering in a dark room, lying down rather than sitting up like I had been just a moment ago. I sat up quickly, searching frantically for a blanket or something similar to wrap myself up in.
“Shhh, don’t say anything,” a woman said, rushing toward me from the shadows, “It’s me, Diana.”
“W-w-why is i-it so c-cold?” I whispered, curling up and wrapping myself in my arms.
She paused in her approach, turned to a cabinet and retrieved something, then rushed over to me. She wrapped me in a wool blanket, and then to my shock, she held me in her arms.
“The ship is almost completely out of power. I revived you because I’m not going down there alone,” she said, continuing to run her arms along my back and increasing the warmth with her friction.
“R-revive?” I asked, still trying to stop my shivering, “Did I p-pass out?”
“It’s a long story. Let’s just say that a lot happened since you’ve been sleeping,” she said, “I’ve been up here alone for more than a six-lune looking for a way to get back to Legacy. That’s when I found that they had three Braxtons growing in the wombs. They had a dozen other people too, but I didn’t want to risk getting someone I didn’t know.”
“W-what the heck are you talking about?” I asked, pulling away from her.
Something was different about her. The lighting was low enough that I didn’t notice before, but from this close, I could see something very unusual. Her voice was definitely that of Diana X, but the face could probably belong to her mother. The creases of age spread from the outside of her eyes, around her mouth, and in her forehead. This definitely wasn’t Diana X.
“Who are y-you?” I asked.
“Shh, please keep your voice down. They have sensors aimed at this ship making sure it’s nothing but an abandoned derelict. I don’t know how sensitive those sensors are, so we need to keep our voices down. Things echo quite loudly in an empty ship,” she whispered, “I’m Diana, but it’s been a while. It’s been a long while.”
“Diana Nine?” I asked.
“I’ll ignore that insult and remember this is still the day of the scan for you. No, I’m Diana Ten and it’s been thirty-one harvests since you and I first visited this spaceship. I’ve lived every bit of t
hose years, but this version of you missed it all,” she stated, “When they scanned you and took a swab of your DNA, they had enough information to make an identical clone of you and to imbed the scan of your mature brain, your true self from the day you were scanned, into the fetus brain of your cloned self,
“I learned about all this stuff over the years as a friendship developed between us and the people of the Foothold. I learned about their Indentures, the cloning I just explained to you, and what they do to create this regenerated life. I’m sure none of this makes sense to you, so I’ll explain it like this. They copied you, and though you lived on after the scan that day, they still had the information necessary to make you again. That’s where you are today – a copy of Braxton Three.”
“Copy?” I said a little too loudly, then caught myself, “S-so why does this feel like the real m-me and if I’m not ‘me,’ where’s the real me?”
“You’re down there on Legacy somewhere, I imagine, though I can’t vouch for your well-being. Please know something, Braxton. I learned of their abilities to clone people and to do this whole copy-thing, but I never knew they did it to you. I would have argued against it. I only discovered it yesterday, but I considered it a blessing either way. They may have meant to do testing on your clones and things I can’t even imagine, but for me to find you on a ghost ship… well, I was excited.”
“Was I… was this c-copy… was it sleeping or something?” I asked, still trying to get past the haze of confusion, “I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. I’m completely lost here.”
I wrapped the blanket tighter and drew my legs up, trying to keep myself as small as possible to conserve body heat. Diana got up from the bed and started searching the cabinets and drawers along the walls nearby.
The Mystic Saga Omnibus (Books 1 - 5) Page 14
