Titan Encounter

by Kyle Pratt

  Naomi’s eyes widened. “At that distance?”

  “Yes. As they approached I established a link with them and have kept it active since, reading their thoughts when they were closer, now just their emotions.”

  Justin looked down at the Adepts and shook his head. “I wouldn’t want such ability. It would be a burden.”

  “Talent often comes with burdens, but Adepts often achieve one great benefit.”

  “Oh?” Justin looked at the older man.

  “Once in a while when we meditate or pray, we sense the presence of God and for those moments we are willing to endure the fear, pain, and suffering, we often feel from those around us.” Olham looked at both of them and grinned. “I don’t need to be an Adept to see your disbelief. If you are willing to train with us you might glimpse what I mean.”

  “No thank you.” Naomi quickly interjected. “I have already experienced too much religious silliness while in the empire.” She backed away. “I am leaving.”

  “I’ll be with you in a moment.” Justin watched her leave and then turned to Olham. “I should go with her, but I want to know the truth. When could I come back and start training?”

  “Tomorrow at dawn.”

  “Dawn?” He took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  Minutes later, back at the entrance, he walked up to the book. Still open to the end page he read the last line.

  Titan history begins when we meet at Lepanto. Come quickly. Amen.

  He shook his head and walked away.

  * * *

  Justin caught up with Naomi at the rail station. They rode back together, but mainly in silence. He decided not to tell her about his plan to return to the school.

  Arriving at Becca’s quarters, they were greeted by Mara, standing at the door. “Hi. Becca and Jon are in the kitchen.” She walked a few steps and sat down.

  Justin turned to Mara about to say how well she looked when Becca appeared in a doorway.

  “Welcome, both of you. We’ll be out in a moment.” Seconds later, Becca and Jon brought several bowls of food, a large loaf of bread and pitcher of water to the dining room. After introductions, they all sat around the table dishing up food and talking. Jon, like every Titan Justin had seen, was tall, trim and well proportioned. His close-cropped hazel hair had a slight wave to it. Jon, a full head higher than Becca, moved to the table with others. Taking the seat beside his wife, he passed one food bowl to his wife and another to Mara.

  Waiting for one of the bowls to get to him Justin turned to Jon. “I know that Becca is a doctor and a good one judging from the progress Mara has made, but what do you do?”

  “I’m an FTL engineer.”

  He nodded. “That’s a good job.”

  “Frustrating is what it is. We think we have the new engines properly assembled and installed, but they require a human pilot for initialization. We’ve never found the interface or the plans.” He flushed just a bit. “We even searched your ship, but…well we never found one so we don’t know how it works.”

  Justin looked at Mara, but said nothing.

  Jon followed his gaze and asked Mara, “Are you an FTL engineer?”

  She shook her head.

  “The human interface, are you familiar with it?”

  Mara nodded. “Very.”

  “Do you know what one looks like? Can you give us a diagram?”

  “I can’t diagram it but,” she pulled up her hair, “it looks like this.”

  Chapter 21

  Jon’s jaw dropped, as did the spoon in his hand. “Ahhhh…”

  Apparently enjoying the reaction, Mara chuckled, let her hair fall and turned to Becca. “The food looks lovely.” She reached for the salad bowl.

  “Can I, ah, how does it….” Jon took a deep breath. “Perhaps we could….” He turned to his wife, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  “You’re the engineer. You think I knew what that thing was? I’m a doctor. It had nothing to do with her injury. I noted it and moved on. And besides, Mara is my patient. I can’t go telling you things about her.”

  Jon continued his stumbling request for Mara’s assistance.

  Justin wanted to ask his sister to help them, but would she be willing? She seemed calm, even amused, sitting across the table from a very animated Titan, but just days ago, she had tried to kill herself when she realized she was one.

  Becca sighed and placed her hand on her husband’s, stopping his ramble. “Mara, I’m sure you’ve read my thoughts over the last few days. I hope you’ve learned that the Titans aren’t the monsters that you’ve been taught.”

  “I have been reading your thoughts. I don’t know how to stop.”

  Justin made a mental note to teach her.

  “It’s because of your thoughts that I will help. Seeing your love for Jon and seeing history through your eyes, I understand that what I thought I knew must be wrong.”

  “Or simply a lie,” Naomi added.

  Jon looked at Becca and Mara. “Thank you, both.” He touched his wife’s shoulder, “Can I borrow your patient tomorrow?”

  “Yes, but I’m coming with her.”

  Jon gave his wife an approving nod then picked up the loaf of bread and broke it in two. “May the God of Justin and this house, bless this meal and our guests.” He leaned back in his chair and dished up food.

  Ensuring his mind was closed to those around him, Justin pondered the meaning of the simple blessing. Long before the Alien and Titanomachy wars, belief in science and reason had supplanted the supernatural. Whatever else the Titans were when they left Earth on their long journey to war, they had certainly been atheists, but today, faith is woven into their culture. Were they killers early on, but time and a belief in the supernatural had changed them? Perhaps tomorrow I’ll learn the…

  “Come on Justin.” Naomi thumped his arm. “Must I tell the whole story?”

  “Huh?” Justin reached for his fork.

  “Naomi was telling us how you got lost today,” Mara said.

  “I wasn’t lost.” Justin gave his version of events and reached for the interesting cheese dish that seemed to be the main course.

  After several minutes of eating and small talk, Naomi turned to Becca. “How many norm humans are in the Titan fleet?”

  “I’m one of the last. The Titan genes have never been isolated, but they’re dominant. If one parent is Titan, the child has psychic abilities.”

  “So both your parents were norms?”

  “Yes. They were doctors working in the colonies. EarthGov drafted them to treat Titan wounded toward the end of the Alien War.”

  “They were only with the Titans because they were drafted?”

  “At first, but by the end of the war, my parents understood that Titans were, well, human. After that war, Titans were ordered to return for decommissioning, but it didn’t take long to learn that decommissioning meant killing.” She took her husband’s hand. “My parents sided with the Titans and I’m glad they did.”

  “Why would EarthGov want to kill their own soldiers?” Naomi looked doubtful.

  Becca shrugged.

  “How can we know the motives of others?” Jon took a deep breath. “Many people think they had grown afraid of us.”

  “They do fear you…us,” Justin said. It all made sense. Nearly a million experienced combat veterans, now with psychic powers, returning to Earth. If they were allowed to integrate back into society, they could easily take over the Confederation—if they wanted to. So, EarthGov planned to kill them as they came back for decommissioning. But, the Titans discovered the plan and fought back—the Titanomachy War. Justin wanted to ponder it deeper but, as he looked around the table, everyone ate in silence. I need to lighten things up. Looking at Becca he asked, “Could we meet your parents?”

  She frowned. “My mother went on the vanguard mission to Lepanto. My father died just last year.”

  Justin bit his lip. Well that didn’t work. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Si
lence hung heavy for several moments only broken when Naomi asked, “Could I get a slate? I want to read the history of the Titans from the Titan point of view.”

  “I’ll get you one after dinner,” Becca said. “The Alien and Titanomachy wars will be very different than the history you have been taught.”

  “You should read the history of the Prophet,” Jon added. “That is a vital part of who we are as Titans.”

  “I will,” Naomi said.

  The conversation lagged and Mara asked, “What else can we talk about?”

  Something that’s not a political or emotional minefield. Justin decided to let someone else try for a topic.

  Mara took a bite of her food and chewed slowly. “Since we are Titans we must be related to people in the fleet.”

  A smile spread across Becca’s face. “Yes, you must.” She asked her husband to clear the dishes while she retrieved her slate from a nearby table. With fingers flitting across the screen she asked, “Do all three of you want to know what I find?”

  Everyone nodded.

  Mere moments later, she stopped. “Well this is interesting.”

  “What?” Justin asked. He looked at Naomi. “Are we all cousins?”

  “No.” She paused still staring at the screen. “It’s just…the intel division has already done the DNA genealogy on all of you.”

  Why would they do that? “What did they find?”

  “Well, Mara and Naomi, you’re related to a family on the transport ship Victorious. I don’t know them, but I’ll send the contact information to the slate we give you.”

  Naomi grinned. “I can imagine our first meeting. Hello, we are your relatives from four hundred years in the future.”

  Becca’s fingers came to a sudden halt. “This just gets more interesting all the time!”

  Mara gasped, then looked at Becca and blushed. “Sorry. I can’t stop reading your thoughts.”

  “I’m used to it—believe me. Justin, you’re a direct descendant of Leonidas.”

  “Leonidas?” He let the information soak in for several moments. Leonidas? His living ancestor was the most reviled mass murderer in the empire and CFS.

  Jon reached across the table and touched his hand. “Leonidas was…is a great man. He saved us all when he led the mission to capture Exodus. Becca told me what you’ve been taught. It’s not true.”

  True? What is truth? At the moment, he wasn’t sure he knew the answer. He felt numb.

  “Do you want to leave?” Naomi asked.

  He shook his head. “It’s just going to take time to sort out.”

  Looking at Justin, Mara said, “Perhaps we should talk about something else.”

  Jon nodded. “We have a cocoon,” He looked at Mara, “The place you lie when connected to the ship. That’s what you call it, right?”

  Mara, her mouth full, nodded.

  “We found it on a wreck in the debris field. We were still trying to figure it out when your ship landed. We used the one on your ship as a guide to repair it.”

  Becca patted his hand. “Save that one for later.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned to the others. “There was an announcement this morning that the ship will be at its closest to the Lepanto sun tomorrow.” Her face seemed to light up. “There’s going to be a praise and thanksgiving celebration and Leonidas said he will open the sky shutters. We’ll be able to see the sun.”

  “Why is being close to the sun a cause for celebration?” Mara asked.

  “Well, one reason is that many of us have never seen a star.”

  Justin was still trying to figure out exactly what she meant when Jon explained.

  “Actually, everyone has seen them as tiny points of light, but most people my age or younger have no memory of a sun as other than a distant star.” Gesturing toward his wife he added, “We were infants during the Titanomachy War. Because of my work retrieving engine parts, I have been in the habitable zone of the Lepanto sun, felt its warmth and seen it as a fiery orb.”

  “But,” Becca leaned forward, “the most important reason is that Justin tells us that it was here in the Lepanto system, with his Titan brothers and sisters, that he came to know God.

  Justin raised an eyebrow. “Have Titans been here before?”

  “No.” Becca shook her head. “Well, other than our vanguard mission.”

  “But this prophet you talk about, didn’t he die hundreds of years ago?”

  “Yes,” Jon nodded.

  “Then how could he say it was here that he met God?”

  Jon shook his head. “We don’t know. It’s a mystery, but many are convinced that the Prophet will return when the fleet reaches periapsis, the closest point to the sun.”

  Justin tightly closed his mind to those around him before allowing himself to mull that idea. A man dead for six hundred years, miraculously reappears here, hundreds of light years from where he lived, and somehow encounters God. Justin glanced at Naomi. Her face betrayed not a hint of emotion, but he could imagine the skepticism and sarcasm that boiled in her well-shielded mind. Mara merely looked confused. Justin grinned. “I guess we’ll know tomorrow.”

  Chapter 22

  I’m not just a Titan, I’m the descendant of their genocidal leader. Justin shook his head. But, Leonidas doesn’t seem like a killer. He seems harmless. Using a borrowed slate, Justin navigated his way through the superstructure’s labyrinth of passageways, to the cabin of Leonidas. He admitted to being the leader of the attack on Earth, but he doesn’t seem to be in charge now. Why is Admiral Cottrell giving orders? More questions to ask. Justin yawned and fatigue swept over him like a wave, but he pressed on.

  As if he had a fairy resting in his hand, the image of a woman appeared atop the slate. “Turn right and proceed 10 meters down the passageway.”

  Staring at the image, he turned and stumbled over a dog. Managing to stay afoot he said, “Sorry.” There I go talking to dogs again. It almost seems normal now. He stopped, turned, and watched the animal trot down the hall. Why are dogs telepathic? How did that happen? With a shake of the head, he continued on his way. He looked down as the little woman in his hand pointed and told him to go left. He turned and looked up in time to come nose-to-nose with a guard.

  “You have arrived,” the little woman said and disappeared.

  Thanks. He stepped back.

  “Can I help you, sir?” The guard, about his age, stood against the wall in an entryway.

  “I’m…ah…Justin Garrett.”

  The guard announced him over an intercom and he was quickly admitted.

  “Welcome. Sit down,” Leonidas urged.

  Standing just inside the door, he found himself in the living room. Chairs formed a semi-circle around a low table covered with papers. Leonidas gestured toward one of the seats. A tiny kitchen area stood against the back wall and in a corner a neatly kept desk. To the left a door led, he assumed, to a bedroom and bathroom. The quarters were larger than Becca and Jon’s, but smaller than his old quarters on Liberty. More than comfortable for one man.

  “The guard wasn’t surprised to see me.” Well, after I got out of his face. “Did you know I was coming?”

  He shook his head. “I knew eventually you would come and the sentries were told to admit you whenever you appeared. Sit down. Would you like anything?”

  A good stiff drink. “No.” He sat.

  “I was going to contact you. Your ship will be ready late tomorrow.” Leonidas sat across from him. “Do you still want to leave?”

  “How long have you known we were related.”

  “The intel people on Lepanto discovered you were a Titan and shortly thereafter they determined that we were related.” The old man looked intently at Justin with a sad smile. “That is why you were brought to this ship.”

  “You knew when we met that first day?”

  He nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I almost did, but you weren’t handling what I had already told you all that well.
”

  Justin remembered running from the plaza when Leo told him he was Admiral Leonidas.

  “I decided to let you find out the truth in your own time.”

  Thor trotted in and curled up on the floor between them.

  Justin asked about dog’s telepathic abilities.

  “They seem to have always had those skills.”

  Justin’s eyebrow rose.

  “We’ve done some genetic work on them, raising their intelligence a bit, lengthening average lifespan several years, but the psychic abilities were there from the start. I’ve wondered if other animals back on Earth have similar abilities.”

  Justin pondered it all while staring at Thor.

  The dog stared back with his tongue hanging out to the side.

  The old man reached over and petted the dog. “Thor was Simon’s dog.” He paused for a moment then said, “Simon was my youngest son. I think I told you that he went on the vanguard mission.”

  Justin nodded and for nearly a minute, they sat together in silence. “How did the Titanomachy War begin?”

  Leonidas sighed then told much the same version as Jon and Becca had a few hours earlier. Anger flared in his voice as he ended. “When we were ordered back many said we would be betrayed. It was what the Prophet told us. I didn’t believe them. We had defeated the Grays in the Alien War. We deserved honor and praise, but instead we were murdered.”

  “Why did Titans attack Earth? You had a fleet of ships. Why not just leave.”

  “That’s what we wanted to do, but we had almost a million soldiers in captured alien territory or in the colonies. We were bringing them back to staging areas, but the only ship capable of moving them all at once, out of norm-controlled space, was in orbit around Earth.”

  “Terra Nova.”

  Leonidas nodded. “Exodus. We hoped to capture it and leave the norms behind. No more fear. No more war. No more killing.” His eyes welled with tears.

  The old man had once told Justin that years earlier he had a wife and four sons. One son went on the vanguard mission, but the others? “Your wife and three sons, they died in the Battle of Earth?”