RIBUS 7

by Shae Mills

  SHAE MILLS

  RIBUS

  7

  His World...Her Destiny

  Copyright © 2014

  RIBUS 7 by Shae Mills

  All rights reserved.

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  Author's Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To my sons.

  Because of you,

  all things are possible.

  Chapter 1

  It was a resplendent day, the sun shining as brilliantly as Chelan had ever remembered it. Her car seemed to follow the road's command unquestioningly as her thoughts wandered. It was the first vacation that she had taken on her own, and her feelings of release from bondage were at times explosive, and at other times serene. Just where she was going she had not planned, nor did it matter. For her, the perennial march of time had paused.

  A sign indicated a rest stop two kilometers ahead, and she smiled as the oasis of tranquility came into view. She eased the car to a halt under a grove of magnificent fir trees that framed a small park bench. The location was perfect.

  The engine purred to a rest, and Chelan stepped out and stretched. It was day three of her holiday, and thoughts of her family briefly passed through her mind. They had agreed that she needed this time away, and she had seized the opportunity for a solo vacation immediately. It was to serve as a vital rejuvenation, a long overdue liberation from persistent mental and emotional fatigue.

  Chelan Mackay was a brilliant young woman of twenty-three. Though thoroughly modest about her accomplishments, she had made astounding academic strides throughout her life. Although she insisted that she was no smarter than any of her colleagues, anyone who knew her personally knew that her brilliance rivaled the best the world had to offer.

  She had completed four years of university by age nineteen and then received her degree in aeronautical engineering from MIT. While working toward her doctorate, she had taken many elective courses, including nuclear physics, astronomy, and geology. Her passion for all concepts involving math was matched equally by her gifted proficiency with languages. She had her multilingual parents to thank for that.

  Although she had competed successfully in a male-dominated area of academia, she cringed at the thought of entering the job market. She habitually wondered if indeed she was competent enough to pursue her chosen field. A never-ending proliferation of scholarships, flawless GPAs, and a parade of admiring professors should have convinced her of her own talents, but insecurity and erroneous self-perceptions kept her constantly questioning her own abilities. As a result, Chelan had inadvertently managed to solidify a rather bland existence for herself, and this trip was meant as a way out of her crippling rut. Just how this metamorphosis was to be accomplished was not quite clear, but she felt that the trip was a necessity, and so, here she was.

  Chelan gazed out across the small, crystal-blue lake to her right, and once again thoughts of her family crowded in on her solitude. Except for the time she'd spent immersed in her studies, she had spent every free moment with them. Her brother, William, had gone through law school at Harvard and now had his own practice in New York. Chelan's parents had retired early and still lived in Massachusetts. Their children were everything to them. Although they were extremely proud of their children's accomplishments, they had never fully released Chelan and William to their own personal pursuits and lives. As a result, Chelan's brother moved out of state after graduating to escape being smothered by their love and expectations. Unfortunately, in his absence, Chelan had become her parents' prime obsession. With each tentative step she took toward independence, she found herself struggling, at times futilely, against the cocoon in which they sought to envelop her. In fact, Chelan was surprised that they had supported her decision to take this trip at all. It was totally uncharacteristic of them, but she had decided not to analyze too deeply the good fortune that had befallen her.

  She finished her sandwich and then thought about settling under the large trees to read her novel. But no, she would get going. This coming night was going to be very different for her. There would be no hotel or soft, secure bed. A tent in a secluded section of wilderness was on the agenda instead. For Chelan, it would be positively liberating.

  She had always enjoyed camping and had done a lot of it with her family when she was young. Tenting in the Oregon wilderness had always been an extra thrill, a unique combination of excitement, adventure, and fear. Her apprehension stemmed from a primal phobia of bears, but in the past, dear old Dad had never been far away, and neither had his rifle. But tonight was going to be the ultimate test of nerves. She knew that sleep would not come easily as even the smallest of sounds would reverberate in her mind. No one would be there to comfort her, and she would have to rely exclusively on herself for strength.

  Chelan flicked away long strands of the golden-brown hair that obscured her vision. Her fawn like eyes took one last appreciative look around the picnic area, and then she stood. It was time to set off, and she headed back to her car.

  She started searching for a campsite in the early afternoon. After renting a car in Portland, she had driven across the Canadian border the day before, and now she found herself in the western province of British Columbia. It was a beautiful area, and it reminded her fondly of her times in Oregon. She had gone north simply because she had never been to Canada, and she wanted all her vacation experiences to be new and exciting.

  Cruising up the sinuous mountain pass, she made a spontaneous decision to follow a small dirt road off the main highway. The area was simply breathtaking, the scenery beyond compare, and most important, she was far from the hubbub of any big cities and all their inherent confusion. She was in paradise.

  After bumping along the little road for nearly an hour, her need to settle on a campsite became imperative. Already high in the mountains, her side trip had taken her even farther up in elevation. But the foliage was still thick, the trees dense, and she wished to be familiar with the surrounding area during the daylight hours as the coming night would be both cool and moonless.

  Careful not to take too many branching side roads arbitrarily, Chelan was wary of getting disoriented despite her GPS. She was ever cautious, as one never knew when batteries would die. Besides, the map she had downloaded days before showed only the main roads, so it was crucial that she would be able to retrace her tracks. After all, she did have to return home at some point, and getting lost in the meantime was simply not an acceptable option.

  With the late afternoon approaching, she finally chose a densely wooded area nestled below a small ridge. The site was sheltered from the wind and would be facing the morning sun. Chelan took a quick survey of her little piece of utopia. There were no visible berry bushes and that, she knew, decreased the likelihood of bears—marginally. A shiver ran up her spine. She could have at least brought some bear spray. After all, one could
only rely so much on self-confidence and assertiveness if a sticky situation arose.

  Satisfied that she had picked the perfect location, she cleared a level spot for her tent and cheerfully began the task of erecting it. Chelan looked forward to the night and the parade of stars that would perform for her. As a young child, while camping away from the city lights, she would lie on the ground and stare up at the vast universe. She would pick out a random star and imagine a planet just like hers orbiting it, then fantasize that a being on that planet had also picked out her star and her solar system. Her imagination would run wild, and she would feel a oneness with the lonely being looking back at her. They would wave to one another over the vast expanse of space, and then tears would come to her eyes as she longed to go to that being, her heart heavy with the knowledge that they would never meet.

  These moments had such an effect on her that she had once thought of pursuing a career in astronomy. Although in the end she never did, many idle moments throughout her life were taken up in astronomical pursuits. Through her university courses, she learned the stars and the forces that bound them. Einstein was her idol, and her mind mulled endlessly over his theory of relativity. The space-time continuum, the big bang, dark matter, string theory... they all captivated her, challenging her mind and igniting her soul. She wanted to know everything.

  By majoring in aeronautics, she'd kept one of her fantasies alive. She wanted to design a new craft, similar to the NASA shuttles, in which she herself could travel to the edges of space. But Chelan was also immersed in logic and reality. She knew that, unlike her contemporaries, she lacked the assertiveness necessary to pursue such a plan. She loved the theory, but her timid personality kept her from truly shining. In reality, both the time and the space that she had loved so dearly were rendered inaccessible by virtue of her own inadequacies. Tonight, however, she would banish all restrictive trains of thought as she hoped to retrieve a bit of her unbridled childhood passion: to follow and live a dream amongst the stars.

  Chapter 2

  The journey had been long and arduous, and it had taken its toll on both men and equipment. Korba sat in his personal Command Center and watched a stream of statistics cross his monitor.

  The Balatesian system had been a difficult group of planets to deal with. The people were fairly well advanced, and after years of negotiating with the Empire, they had decided to deny access to the Imperial fleets that sought to acquire the rich and numerous ore bodies peppered liberally throughout the planetary order. Though the system had long been within the Empire's outer limits, it had not been previously dealt with because of its isolation. The Empire had tried to negotiate, but when all talks broke down the previous year, a sizable and formidable fleet had been dispatched to do some firsthand dealing. When all those avenues of diplomacy failed, a takeover was suggested, and unfortunately, that takeover had been executed.

  The advanced life forms inhabiting five of the system's planets had mastered only limited space travel, but they were extremely adept at atmospheric navigation, not to mention aerial warfare. Information on weapons had been sketchy, so the Imperial force was somewhat taken aback by the fiery welcome from the second planet. But to the battle-experienced warriors of the Empire, this small inconvenience meant only a few extra days spent in so-called "Colonial Suppression."

  All else had gone favorably, with one notable exception. A lowly craft from the second planet had managed to get off a rather unfortunate and ill-placed shot into the heart of a large Imperial equipment transport, which, for reasons beyond Korba, had been flying at too low an altitude for such a relatively slow and vulnerable craft. The inventory of damaged goods and men was now in front of the seasoned Commander, and his azure-blue eyes scanned the data while his mind probed for answers.

  With a sigh, Korba rose and stretched his muscular, seven-foot frame. There was not much sense dwelling on the problem anymore until the wounded ship limped aboard the main cruiser. And now the vessel was coming along even more slowly than expected due to another annoyance. The damaged transport's main fuel generator had been disabled in the skirmish, and the ship had to be lightened to escape orbit without the use of the antigravity system. Some of the onboard fighters had been dispatched, both to alleviate the load and to monitor the crippled transport's progress in a twofold operation. However, an enroute equipment breakdown on one of the fighters had forced it to land on yet another forsaken planet to make repairs. The failure had involved a particularly volatile weaponry system, so the decision to land on a planet rather than back on board the transport was made out of safety concerns. Three other fighters had accompanied the damaged craft to help with repairs and provide security, resulting in another irritating and senseless delay.

  The planet chosen for the landing was a small and rather useless one, at least according to the Empire, but one with a suitable atmosphere. Protection concerns pertaining to this planet were not a big issue, for the beings were still fairly primitive. As with other planets in the Balatesian system, some limited space travel had evolved, but their atmospheric technology was archaic and rudimentary. As for the inhabitants themselves, they were of no significance.

  The Commander had been trained to be cool and calculating in all matters pertaining to the Empire. What benefited the regime was worthy of his consideration and tolerance; what was deemed worthless in terms of intellect, strength, or material goods warranted no second thoughts. Korba was the Emperor's Primary Warlord, its Overlord. He was given the most challenging missions, and he simply never failed; he made certain of that. His men were the best, all selected and trained under his discerning eye, and treated equitably if they were competent. He was a fair Commander, and his men respected and admired him—possibly more than they worshiped the Lord God Emperor himself.

  Korba settled himself again. A progress report flickered across the monitor. A few more hours of delay were forthcoming, but all was well otherwise. The four ships had landed safely in a remote area of the planet. Their arrival had been merely a momentary flash on a primitive radar screen, and then nothing.

  Information on the planet for the record's sake then presented itself. It was called Calley, a small atmospheric planet in the Corran solar system. It was a terrestrial planet, silica-based and mostly covered with water. It contained few useful resources, and what little it did possess was too insignificant to be of interest to the Empire.

  The Telesians had first discovered the planet long ago, and Korba smiled to himself as he thought about the odd little creatures. They were diminutive, wispy and frail, with massive heads and eyes. A brilliant race, though, and they had been in the Empire's service for millennia now. They had originally been much more advanced than the people of the Empire, but their love of intellectual gymnastics and technology had consumed them to the point where they'd sacrificed all physical pursuits. With all aggression suppressed, their complacency had proven to be their downfall, and the fledgling Empire found them to be an easy race to conquer.

  But their induction into the Empire had been worthwhile for all concerned. Their advances in space travel had proven to be invaluable, and with time and unlimited funds and resources, they became more than willing to cooperate with the regime. They were afforded new settlements in which to develop and weave their intellectual magic. Soon, their original physical deficits were overlooked, and they were allowed the freedom to roam and act as an independent culture within the Empire's domain.

  Korba had heard that they were now working on intergalactic travel, and he smiled wryly. The Empire had worked for millennia, studying, unifying, and where necessary, conquering the known galaxy. Things were relatively peaceful right now, with only a few skirmishes here and there, including one on Korba's home planet. But to reach out to other galaxies... well, Korba hoped he would become too old to care if that step were ever taken. But knowing the Telesians, it might happen far sooner than he expected.

  Korba focused back on the screen. The Corran solar system consisted of eigh
t planets and one small, middle-aged star. Only two of the planets were at all exceptional. Collos was a large, gaseous orb, basically a small star that just hadn't quite made it to its full potential. The other planet, Calley, was a blip comparatively, but it was special in the fact that it supported life. The higher beings were said to be of the same original stock that spawned Korba's ancestors, but evolution had worked its magic of diversity and adaptation. These beings lived on a much more forgiving world than Korba's, and as a result, they were that much frailer.

  After the Telesians found the planet, some of the Empire's forefathers had visited it, approximately two thousand Calley years before. But the people's minds proved to be too primeval to handle the encounter, and records showed that some of the concepts and technology handed to them were still being worshiped and regarded with some form of mystical awe.

  Some Telesians still visited the planet surreptitiously to keep an eye on it, especially since the development of nuclear technology by its inhabitants. Korba had seen many planets struggle with this advance. Some survived this volatile phase to go on to greater and cleaner sources of energy, but the majority did not. Most of the species involved never found the connecting tidbit of information that rendered the untamable reaction controllable. It was so simple, and yet so many missed it.

  The Empire rarely interfered anymore with these fledgling cultures and preferred to watch them from afar. It was a form of natural selection. The brighter races survived, and the not-so-bright succumbed. So far, Calley was well on its way to self-destruction.

  Korba supposed he should be more interested in these not-so-distant cousins. But his mind was weary, and he would work only on the immediate problems at hand, choosing not to dwell on history lessons. He shut off the monitor and hit a switch to his right.