Eagerly, I slid the key into the lock and a small touch screen panel slid open next to the door. I grinned as I placed the palm of my hand on the panel and waited a couple of seconds for the instrumentation to read my DNA signature and imprint it into the system. I wouldn’t need the key anymore. I had become the key.
“Fancy taking it for a drive?” Howard asked.
“Thought you’d be going back to work.”
“Na. I’ve taken the day off. Lets fly over the coast.”
In my enthusiasm, I messed up my vertical take off and stalled the engine. The shuttle had lifted half a metre off the ground and landed back on the hard ground with a thud.
“Hey, you sure you passed?” Howard complained.
Ahanu was watching me through the window. I waved to him and gave him the thumbs up. He shook his head and continued watching—no pressure there then.
My second attempt was perfect. We quickly rose to an altitude of eight hundred feet and joined a multi level highway where I slid the gearshift into auto-drive. Now I could relax. Within minutes we’d reached the coast and were flying above the beaches and shallow sea at ninety miles per hour, cliffs, white water, trees and pebbles rushing past us.
“Let me take over for a bit,” Howard said, grabbing the controls and sliding the gearshift back into manual.
The shuttle immediately nose dived, levelling out about two metres above the sea, as it accelerated away from the land.
“It seems much faster than three hundred miles an hour when you fly low like this,” he cried, clearly animated.
“Mind you don’t hit a ship or some sort of gliding whale,” I squealed.
“Never thought of that,” he said, increasing our altitude to a safer two hundred and fifty feet. “I just need a blow out sometimes.”
Chapter 8
The Journal
Over the last nine years I’d tried to keep a journal of my experiences on Theta Dayton Four. I had never intended to write everything down or to make entries every day. I just wanted to make a note of the main milestones in my life. I must admit that I’d been too busy to even open the journal for months, so a catch up entry was long overdue.
I had a free morning, so, not wanting any distractions, I took off my transponder pendant and hid it in the fridge then shut the kitchen door and made my way to the workstation in my dinning area.
I was glad that I didn’t need to use a pen and paper, or even a keyboard, like they did in the old days. This would be much quicker and a lot less bother. I opened a programme on my tablet (appropriately called ‘My Journal’), plugged in the microphone and sat back in my office chair while I considered what to say and what to miss out. I decided to compartmentalise the information into three sections.
Trying to speak clearly so the software would identify my vocal cadence and inflection, I started speaking, “Tablet, make a heading, ‘the first three generations’, with a sub heading, Nor-man’di.”
I checked the tablet had complied, then continued speaking:
Note to anyone who reads this journal—I have included direct speech in the said journal in an attempt to show generations to come how real the people I’ve spoken about were. (A bit wordy, I thought but continued anyway.) Please bear in mind that these are not exact word-for-word quotes, but they are as close as memory allows. I have used Earth dates as the United Coalition of Planets has officially adopted this dating system as their point of temporal reference.
Nor-man’di hatched during March 2074 graduating from Jaimbalar Learning Centre with honours when she was just over two years old. It’s good to remember that New-Race children start school just before their first birthday.
Although in human terms this seems very young, it isn’t so when one considers the current life expectancy of a New-Race person. At nine months old their physical development equates to that of an average four-year-old earth child, although the New-Race person’s mental development is much more advanced. They reach physical maturity by three years of age, soon afterwards becoming parents themselves. By six and a half they are considered middle aged, their whole lifetimes condensed into roughly ten years.
I paused for a moment and checked what the computer had written. I wished Olan could have lived for ten years. I still missed him; it was tragic that the first generation hybrids lived only seven days. I forced myself to stop thinking about my loss and to get back to the matter in hand:
Very early in her development I noticed Nor-man’di was a very strong willed child. She always knew exactly what she wanted and gave orders to the other children even whilst still in the nursery, although she was always very popular with her peers.
She would often say to me, “Bally, I think we’ll walk to the learning centre today. There’s a lovely breeze, so you’ll manage it okay.” The memory still brings a smile to my face.
I’d reply to her, “I’ll show you who can manage it you cheeky little madam.”
It was true though, I never have got used to the heat on this planet. Back home on earth I used to moan about the rain, especially during the summer months, but I’d love some cool, gentle rain right now … and some snow; no one hatched on this planet has ever seen snow.
Each morning I would trudge to the learning centre with Nor-man’di skipping along beside me as if it were a spring morning in Old Herefordshire rather than Jaimbalar at ninety-five degrees Celsius in the shade. By the time we arrived I was always shattered and wet with perspiration while my little friend still looked cool and fresh.
“See you later Bally,” she’d say, blowing me a kiss. “You’d better get back home before it gets hot.”
I was so pleased when Howard presented me with a new edition all-weather jumpsuit. The old grey issue ones I’d brought with me to Theta Dayton Four had long since ceased to function. This new one was much more advanced, keeping the wearer cool at all times—even in the noonday heat. I’m told that in frosty or even in severely cold weather it would keep your body heat in and the wind chill out, although to date I’ve never had a chance to try it in cold weather.
I had three hours remaining in which to get ready before meeting Howard for the ceremony. The heat had been unbearable recently even by Theta Dayton Four standards. It was always like this just before the rains came, but they were long overdue this year and the water reserves were at their lowest for sixty-seven years. There was no cause for concern as yet, but I checked at the data library just to put my mind at ease. I found an entry in the meteorological records that stated that there had been a time when the rains hadn’t come for seven consecutive years.
I fetched myself a cold fruit drink from the fridge, ignoring the bleep coming from my transponder, and returned to the computer journal.
My mind journeyed back to Nor-man’di. I admired her greatly. She was confident and assertive, and had made an excellent leader in this time of new beginnings. The humans had only helped with the hatching and initial rearing of the young and had left the organisation of the New Society to the New-Race Peoples. (As directed by the United Coalition of Planets. They believed that no one should interfere with the natural development of a society. The New-Race People had to learn for themselves and had the Aapa’s data records and Nor-man’di to guide them through their tentative early steps as a new civilisation.
Having ordered my thoughts I spoke into the microphone again:
Nor-man’di grew up to be a fine, strong, charismatic leader who held her people’s unwavering support. She brought about a democratic system similar to the one in the time of the original Aapa’s, and also introduced a policing structure, although it was rarely needed. To date, the only troublemakers have been off-worlders, most of their crimes comparatively petty such as drunkenness and theft. These outside influences were soon stopped, and Theta Dayton Four was designated a closed planet for the next thirty years as it remains at the date of this entry. No visas will be granted for the duration, and no one is able to visit unless on the official business of the United Coalition of Planets. This wil
l allow the New-Race peoples to become an established society without detrimental influences affecting their natural development.
I took a sip of my drink. Howard had said my journal could become an important historical document and I should mention certain things, even though I found them extremely boring.
I continued my narrative, sounding like a disinterested newsreader trying to make a boring story sound as appealing as possible:
There are now universities, hospitals, shopping arcades, and a whole economic system in force. A government department has been formed to deal with housing policies and the redistribution of land.
When the first generation New-Race children hatched they were at first reared in the hatchery caves at Transipor where I had been assigned on arrival. This is where their initial schooling took place, then, when they reached nine months old, they were sent to a learning centre, the location of which was dependant on where their Aapa parent had lived. For these first few years the learning centres were run by humanoids brought from other worlds whose member nations were affiliated with the United Coalition of Planets.
Housing and land distribution was done on an equal basis so that everyone had the best possible start in life. Of course when it was time for this generation to have their own young the eggs were incubated in the Transipor Hatchery Caves as thousands of generations of Aapa’s had been before them, then, after hatching, the parents took their baby hatchlings home. Initially this natal work was done by the especially selected Omicron Flyer crewmembers, but during the last few years all responsibilities have been handed over to the New-Race People.
Glad that part of the journal was finished, I leaned back, stretched, and finished my drink. I hoped I had covered Howard’s obligatory section sufficiently.
A loud clap of thunder sounded directly overhead, so I ran to the window hoping this marked the end of the dry season. I turned up the cooling system. It wasn’t just hot today; it was ridiculously hot. Dark storm clouds were gathering, but as yet there was no rain. I’d checked the outside thermometer when I came in, but it had gone off the scale. Once the rains came we would enter the cooler season I had nicknamed ‘the not quite as hot season’. Maybe I should have opened a deodorant factory for humans. I would have made a fortune.
I recalled having being caught in a Theta Dayton Four downpour a couple of years previously. I had sheltered inside a shop and watched the deluge through the large display window. I would have stood out in the rain but I was on the way to a restaurant to celebrate my birthday and didn’t want to spoil my new hairdo. Not wanting to be late, I had made my way outside as soon as the rain stopped. Steam had been rising off the wet ground and it felt like walking through a sauna. Within a few minutes I was soaking wet and my hair was frizzy: typical.
I continued my journal entry:
Like her grandfather, Nor-man’di became the Sovereign Head of State for the whole planet, which was quite an achievement for a three year old. It wasn’t all work though; when she was three years and five months old she came to visit me as she always did on public holidays. It was early morning and I was sitting in the shade outside my apartment building reading a magazine. I remember looking up and watching her walking over to me across the cooler paving slabs.
Cooler paving slabs were a wonderful invention. They’d been used to cover the walkways all around the city. Instead of reflecting the heat, these slabs converted the energy into cold convection rays, which helped keep the heat down a little.
Nor-man’di looked very happy, I would say, almost glowing.
“Bally I’m in love and I’m going to have a child,” she exclaimed excitedly. “My partner’s name is Taima—he’s a cabinet minister—we have so much in common and he’s so handsome; he’ll make a wonderful prince for the people.” She had said all this without taking a breath.
“Great when will I meet him?” I asked.
“Soon … He’s coming for the weekend. You don’t mind if he stays over do you?”
Nor-man’di knew me too well. She knew I wouldn’t mind, which was just as well as while we were still speaking a shuttle landed beside us and a tall, lean man stepped out and offered me his hand.
“Hi, I’m Taima. You must be Belinda,” he said, smiling.
“Delighted to meet you,” I replied. “Would you both like to come inside? I have fresh, chilled, apple cactus juice.”
The two young lovers smiled at each other. “That would be most welcome,” Taima replied. They followed me into the turbo lift.
“Isn’t it nice to have warning when you’re going to have houseguests,” I said, smiling at the two of them.
The following week Nor-man’di and Taima were bonded in a ceremony very similar to earthly marriage. It took place in the Great Hall of the newly built Royal Palace and was televised worldwide. A month later I held her hand as she laid a single fawn coloured egg. It was taken immediately to the hatchery caves where it was kept for three months at a cool temperature. This determined the baby’s gender. I reasoned that any eggs left in the natural heat would always be male, which is why the Aapa had used the hatchery caves for thousands of years. If they only hatched male Aapa the species would have died out long, long ago.
I journeyed to the caves and was present when Logosti hatched. She was delightful from the start. I had forgotten how cute New-Race babies were: olive-green scales, dark eyes and wide, beak-like mouths. The one thing that I did remember very well was their ability to screech very loudly whenever they needed feeding. Every couple of hours Logosti blinked slowly and resolutely, then leaned back her head, opened her mouth wide, and let out that loud, high-pitched screech. (Sounds familiar doesn’t it).
“Do you want to feed her Bally?” Normani asked? This brought back memories. Within a few years I had bottle fed two generations of this family.
Laying eggs is a very good way of doing things. The mother is able to have some respite after the pregnancy and birth and has a chance to regain her strength a little by the time the hatchling, or very occasionally hatchlings, need her attention. However, the size of the egg means that the birth is every bit as traumatic and painful for New-Race mothers as having a baby is for earth mothers. Aapa mothers can also put on quite a bit of weight during the ‘pregnancy’ and often crave unusual foods like tremorite stew and Zarcosti wine.
I thought for a moment then directed the tablet to start a new paragraph and make another subheading, Logosti:
Logosti hatched in early September 2077. She was very different in temperament to her mother. Logosti was less assertive and much easier going so as a result drove her mother mad. Nor-man’di was always very precise and expected everything done properly and at the correct time, whereas, her daughter was more of an ‘I’ll do it when I get around to it’ type of person. When Nor-man’di noticed that Logosti’s room was a mess and asked her to tidy it she’d reply, “Why? What’s wrong with it?”
Like all other New-Race People, she was very intelligent. (It really does pay to use ninety percent of one’s brain.) She could also be quiet but was especially deep thinking and very affectionate.
Nor-man’di often complained to me via the com-link, “Bally. I always kept my room perfectly tidy for you didn’t I. Why can’t Logosti do the same? It’s infuriating! I make Head of State decisions for the good of the planet every day, but I can’t get my own daughter to keep her room tidy or clean up after herself in the kitchen!”
Logosti grew up to be fine woman and a first class university lecturer. I was present when she was bonded to Zultrane (an interplanetary explorer) and later still when they hatched Chiron-del, their first son.
Zultrane was often away for weeks at a time and made frequent trips to Theta Dayton Seven, The Water Planet. At first it had been thought that the planet possessed no intelligent life as it was completely enveloped in fresh water with severe storms and hurricanes continually raging overhead. However, on his last visit Zultrane and his team of explorers discovered intelligent life below the seas:
mammals with gills. They breathed water, were very timid, had a highly developed civilisation, and their own rather complicated language.
When they were first bonded Logosti missed Zultrane terribly and so she often came to stay with me for company … after Chiron-del was hatched bringing him with her.
Life flies by so quickly here on Theta Dayton Four. It doesn’t seem fair to me that these people only live for ten years. Of course they accomplish a great deal in their diminutive lifetimes, but it’s heart wrenching for me to watch the people I have loved and cared for since they were hatchlings growing old so quickly.
At nearly nine year’s old Nor-man’di’s lovely long hair is already grey. She resembles an eighty-five year old in human terms but is still governing her people. I wish she could have met her brother. I often speak of him to her.
I stood up and went to the window to check out the storm clouds. They were still as dark, but there hadn’t been any more thunder or even a spot of rain.
I decided to have a bath while I dictated the next part of my journal. I’d saved up a whole weeks worth of water credits and I was going to enjoy every moment of my soak before I got ready for the evenings events.
While I waited for the bath to slowly fill, I fetched myself another cool drink from the fridge (still ignoring the ever more frantic bleep of my transponder). I told the computer to make another sub heading, Chiron-del:
Nor-man’di’s grandson, Chiron-del, hatched during late September 2079. He was a lively little lad with seemingly unlimited energy, even on the hottest day. It was hardly original, but we nicknamed him ‘The Cheeky Chappie’ because of his mischievous ways and cheeky grin. I think he got that from his human great-grandparent, Howard.
Chiron-del started attending the learning centre when he was nine months old, soon showing an interest in the genetic degeneration sciences. This is something that humans never have dealings with on earth, but here on Theta Dayton Four it’s a day-to-day reality.
New Race Children often tell each other stories and play games based on finding the answer to the ‘age plague’ so everyone can live to be one hundred and twenty again. This game play usually consists of a group of children seeking the Time Master—an old man of extreme years—in a far away land. After finding him, they take turns in trying to trick him into giving them the secret of longevity.
New World Rising: A story of hope born out of tragedy Page 8
