Titan

by Eduard Joseph

  “Who are you?” Stephen asked.

  “You may call me Mareez.” She said, “This is my settlement and you’re safe here.”

  She unlocked the cage much to Felix’s quiet protest and as the cage gate slowly squealed opened, Mareez stood up, took a step back and gestured for Stephen to get out. He was a bit hesitant, but eventually crawled out of the confined space of the cage and stretched his limbs once outside; making sure he got a good look at his surroundings in case he needed to make a quick escape.

  “We have a lot to talk about.” Mareez said; nudging for him to follow her into her chambers.

  Stephen and Felix made eye contact for a moment and he could tell Felix didn’t like it one bit that he was out of his cage, but restrained himself – the only sign of his disapproval was his arms that were folded across his chest in protest.

  A guard standing at Mareez’s chambers pulled back curtains and allowed the two of them to enter before lowering the curtains and stepping in front of the entrance as if blocking it from unauthorized persons.

  It took Stephen a moment to realize that her chambers was actually the inside of a Singapore Airbus cabin and from the dropped oxygen masks and askew seats, it was clearly the wreckage of a plane crash centuries earlier.

  She walked over to a dusty and cracked television mounted to the wall, switched it on and it hissed to life; playing a looped image of a news-report of nearly three centuries ago. The reporter was reporting that the entire continent of Australia had disappeared into thin air. The report ran for about a minute and then the loop started from the beginning again.

  Mareez switched off the television and turned to him with hundreds of questions burning in her heart. She wanted to know everything there was to know about what happened back then and where the rest of humanity was. Much like him, she longed for more than what her world had to offer and his arival was getting her one step closer to realizing her dream.

  “My grandfather’s grandfather was on a flight to Switzerland when it happened.” Mareez said, “So were the forefathers of most of my people. The planes circled for as long as they could after the disappearances and then they crash-landed into the ocean. The survivors created these floating cities from the debris – hoping and praying to be saved one day. Our grandparents heard the stories from their grandparents, but over time we started to forget and the events of that day became a legend. Nobody here knows what life was like when there was land – we only know water.”

  She sat down in a seat and gestured that he take a seat opposite her.

  “What do you know of that day?”

  “Very little I’m afraid.” He said as he sat down, “I only know what we were taught in school: mankind was transported to another planet by a now-extinct alien race.”

  “Why have you come back?”

  “Our Sovereign wishes to turn the Milky Way into a holiday destination.” Stephen said, “But we never expected to find life on earth.”

  “Life always finds a way.”

  “It’s clear that life has been a little bit hard on your people.” Stephen said, “They don’t seem to trust me.”

  “You can’t blame them. Throughout history strangers meant trouble; whether it were the Vikings, the Pilgrims or Spacemen like yourself. We’re cautionary of spacemen like yourself as we don’t always know what you want.”

  “What do you mean?” Stephen was confused, “Were there others?”

  “Yes. They called themselves Lufta – “killers of life”.”

  “Killers of life?” Stephen was dumbfounded.

  “An alien race who travel from world to world to use up its resources, kill its inhabitants and move on to the next planet.”

  “And they’ve been here before us?”

  “Yes.” She said, “They sent a scout a couple of months ago. We have it locked up.”

  “And the rest of the Luftas?”

  “We’re not certain.” There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, “Would you like to see it?”

  CHAPTER 4: THE FACE OF EXTINCTION

  With a solar powered lantern in one hand, Mareez led him down the dark stairwell towards the cargo hull that was submerged beneath the floating city of debris. The metal of the hull creaked, crackled and moaned under the weight and pressure, but seemed sturdy enough to withstand the pressure from the surrounding water.

  He stuck close to her as they followed the light towards a cage a bit bigger than the one that held Stephen captive and when she lifted the lantern above her head, he saw a balled up creature inside the cage of dancing shadows.

  She kicked against the cage and it turned its head towards them; shielding its eyes from the light. It was covered in scales from head to toe and didn’t seem remotely human or even intelligent enough to master space travel.

  “Don’t be fooled by its scared and innocent looks.” She warned, “They are killers and won’t hesitate taking your life if it had the chance. It killed five of my men when it arrived here.”

  “Help…” the creature uttered.

  “It mimics our language.” She said, “It kept mimicking my men’s cries for help as it ripped their limbs from their bodies.”

  “Please don’t… I have a wife…” The creature wept.

  “Those were Adam’s last words before it ripped his head clean off his body.”

  She turned to Stephen and the cage succumbed to shadows. She could see he was taken aback by the creature in the cage as he kept staring at it in silence. Though the darkness obscured the creature's appearance, it's silhouette was stll visible and unsettling.

  “As long as it’s in that cage and its spaceship is under constant guard we’re safe.” Mareez said, “We can’t allow it to send out a distress call to its mothership. That is the face of extinction and as long as it’s locked up, we’ll stay alive.”

  Stephen glanced at the creature again and was convinced that the creature seemed scared and confused as it sat balled up in the dark cage, but told himself that it was just an act. Why else would she keep it locked up?

  “I bet you’ll be wanting to see your crew members.” She said, making Stephen turn to her, “Follow me.”

  She walked back to the stairwell and Stephen gave the dark cage one more look before he followed the light of the lantern and as the cage disappeared into the darkness behind him, Stephen was almost certain he heard the creature whisper, ‘don’t leave me down here.’

  CHAPTER 5: THE REUNION

  The center of the floating town was drab and resonating of the rusted iron and metal of the rest of the town buildings constructed from hulls and cabins of planes. A group of children were gathered in the center; sitting cross-legged in front of Wesley and Jess as he told them about the wonders of Eljavic – from the supermassive waterfalls that reached high up into the sky, metropolis cities with buildings that stretched on for hundreds of miles, the two suns and the foe-turned-friend-and-transport light-worms that made it possible for them to travel back to earth.

  Stephen and Mareez walked up to the group of kids who all shifted to clear a path for their leader as she and Stephen walked up to Wesley and Jess. Wesley was thrilled to see his best friend alive and well and embraced him with a smile.

  “You’re alright.” Wesley chuckled.

  “Yeah. Can you believe we actually found humans still alive on earth?”

  Jess nodded in silence – a bit reserved about the not-so-warm welcome they received that suddenly turned into hospitality. She was a firm believer of “if it looks too good to be true, chances it’s not real.”

  “How’s the pod?”

  “The damage is repairable.” Jess said, “It will take a day or two, but the inhabitants said they’ll help us.”

  “That’s great.” Stephen exclaimed.

  Jess took him aside and spoke in a hushed tone, “I don’t trust them. All they’re interested in is how we got here. I find it suspicious.”

  “They’re just fascinated because ‘we came from outer space
’, that’s all.” Stephen said, “They’re harmless. Look around you; this is all they know and all of a sudden there are people from space telling them there is more out there."

  Mareez stepped closer, “Everything alright?”

  “Everything’s fine.” Stephen nodded, “We’re just hungry and tired.”

  “Lunch is almost ready.” Mareez said, “We have an abundance of fish and a desalination system to provide us with drinkable water.”

  “Please tell us more about your world?” A cross-leg seated boy asked with wonder in his eyes.

  Wesley chuckled and crouched down in front of the boy, “You think our world is wonderful, don’t you?”

  The boy nodded with a smile on his face.

  “Our world is also filled with unimaginable monsters.”

  “Don’t scare the kids.” Stephen insisted.

  Wesley chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair before standing upright again.

  “Monsters?” Mareez asked.

  “We have our share of… peculiar animals.” Stephen said.

  “Big animals.” Jess added as a deterrent, “With a taste for human flesh.”

  “You can tell me more about these creatures over lunch.” Mareez said, “And afterwards you can tell me about the technology that enabled you to travel across the universe."

  CHAPTER 6: DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

  Lunch was served in Mareez’s chambers around a table constructed especially for the occasion and though Jess was a bit wary when a servant brought the fish dishes, she decided to take a bite once Mareez dug in. It was a peculiar taste she wasn’t used to and tasted like nothing they had back on Eljavic.

  “It’s called tuna.” Mareez said.

  “It has a strong taste.” Wesley said.

  “You’ll get used to it.”

  “Are there other colonies like this one?” Jess asked.

  “We’ve come across a few, yes.” Mareez said, “… and lived to tell about it.”

  “What does that mean?” Jess mumbled to herself as she took a bite of tuna.

  “Not all floating colonies see eye to eye. With some we can work out our differences… others, well…”

  Jess and Wesley both glanced at each other wondering the same thing; what would happen to them if they don't see eye to eye with Mareez. Stephen, on the otherhand, was less precautious.

  Mareez swallowed a mouthful of tuna and then continued, "Let's just say we often find new material to expand our floating town."

  "Surrvival of the fittest, I suppose?" Stephen said.

  "Tell me more about your spaceship?" Mareez asked.

  "Why?" Jess asked warily.

  "If we know how it works we can fix it quicker,"

  The swiftness of Mareez's response concerned Jess. She seemed over-eager to learn how their technology worked and Jess's instincts warned her to be careful. Her gut feeling had never let her down and that was what worried her.

  "Didn't you say that you had a Lufta spacecraft?" Jess asked skeptiical.

  "Yes." Mareez seemed a bit taken aback.

  "Did you ever try to fix it? I'm pretty sure our technology is similar?"

  "I gave strick orders that nobody's to lay a finger on the Lufta spacecraft." Mareez stated, "If that ship ever got switched back on, it would send out an automatic distress call to the mothership."

  Mareez motioned for the servant to serve the drinks, which he did. Jess scrutinized the colorless drink in her cup as Mareez swirled her drink, gestured a toast and downed her drink. Stephen took a sip and immediately started coughing.

  "That's quite... ehm... strong." Stephen coughed.

  "It's called white thunder." Mareez said proudly, "Our most sought aftter product we use to trade between other floating colonies."

  Jess took a sip and cleared he throat in surprise as the liquor burned her throat going down; warming her entire body from the inside. It was like a bolt of lightning jolted her entire body and haywired her brain for a second.

  Mareez chuckled as Jess cleared her throat again, "It takes some getting used to."

  "You can say that again." Wesley said; taking another sip.

  "It's too strong for me." Stephen said as he put down the cup.

  It didn't take long for Jess to feel light-headed and dizzy; trying her best to sit upright and focus on Mareez and she knew something was wrong. It was evident that Stephen and Wesley was affected in the same way by the drink. She jumped up and had trouble staying upright.

  "W...what was in that?" Jess asked as her knees gave way underneath her.

  "Don't worry." she heard Mareez as the room went black, "You'll just have a massive headache in the morning."

  CHAPTER 7: A DELIRIUM PIECE OF REALITY

  Jess woke up in a room floaded by bright, blue light. Everything looked the same and the walls were indistinguisable from the floor. Her head was throbbing and a faint ringing in her ears was slowly subsiding.

  "Where am I?" she uttered; scrutinizing her bright surroundings.

  Her voice reverberated and bounced off unseen walls in the brightness of her surroundings. She blindly followed the sound of her own voice with her hands stretched out in front of her; feeling for any sort of wall or barrier, but she found none.

  “Is anyone there?” She called out to no prevail, “Hello? Stephen? Wesley?”

  It was clear that she was alone – wherever she was and that she had to find a way out. Mareez obviously spiked the drinks and locked her in this strange and phantasmagoric stockade. It was clearly technology they stole from the Luftas. Maybe that was what they did to survive? They stole technology like pirates and they had the biggest loot ever – they had the technology for interstellar travel. She had to escape and find Stephen and Wesley.

  “The only way out is through.” A voice said behind her.

  She spun around, but saw nothing but bright light and then a tall silhouette emanated from the light. The figure had no visible face or other distinguishable features except for its long, slender arms and legs. When it spoke, no sound seemed to derive from it, but rather originated in her mind.

  “Who are you?” She asked, “Where am I? What is this place?”

  “This place has no name.” The figure said, “But you may give it one if it makes you feel a bit more at ease. If you want out, you need to push through.”

  “Through what? The light?”

  “Whatever you wish to call it.”

  Before she could say another word, the figure egressed backwards and disappeared into the light. She had no idea what it meant and was startled even more by it’s appearance and disappearance in the endless light that imprisoned her.

  She kept telling herself, “This can’t be happening” as she walked in the direction where the figure disappeared. How could she push though if she had no idea what she had to push through? She knew her instincts was right and how she wished she had listened. They should’ve left when they had the chance. Mareez’s people lived like savages and she should’ve known better than trusting unsophisticated people.

  “Jess?” Stephen sounded like a murky dream in the distance.

  “Stephen?” She called out as she scurried blindly around in the light, “Where are you?”

  Stephen spoke again, but it was inaudible and her anxiety increased. What if she never found a way out? What if she never saw his face again? And though it wasn’t the time for self reflections on love, for the first time she thought of Stephen as someone she longed to see again. She just wanted the nightmare to be over. She wanted to be back on Eljavic – hell, she’d even settle for the coldness of Titan.

  She couldn’t help but feel that her surreal reality was just that – surreal. She heard Stephen’s voice again and though she was walking it felt as if she was motionless.

  She felt a hand being laid on her shoulder and when she jerked around to see who it was, hoping to see Stephen, she found herself in a bed staring up Stephen’s face as he sat on the edge of the bed in a twilit room. Her head was throbb
ing like she was hit over the head numerous times and it took her a moment to realize she was in a cabin of the floating town.

  “Oh God…” She groaned, “What happened?”

  “White thunder happened.” He said.

  She slowly sat upright and tried to focus on the spinning room – feeling a bit like a kid desperately trying not to fly off a spinning merry-go-round, but tried her best to keep her cool posture despite the fact that Stephen could clearly tell she was having the worst hangover of her life.

  “Just take it slow.” He said with a smile. “You had a mouthful of that stuff. I only had a small sip and it knocked me out for 18 hours.”

  “How long was I out?”

  “Three days.” He said, “They say it’s a normal reaction for newbies.”

  “We have to get back to Titan.” She insisted.

  “Well I’ve got some good news – they fixed our pod.”

  CHAPTER 8: ENEMY

  Jess sat upright when she heard those worrisome words that hit the core of her soul like a ton of bricks. She didn’t want the earthlings to get anywhere near their ship – she didn’t trust them one bit. The fright nearly sobered her up completely.

  “Please tell me they didn’t get anywhere near our pod?” She cautioned.

  “They did most of the work, why?”

  She sighed in defeat as she lowered her head. If her fears were true then they might’ve just stolen their TBL technology and who knows what they could do with it.

  “You don’t trust them?” He asked.

  “What do we know about them? Nothing. Who says the Luftas are the ones we should fear and not Mareez?”

  “She has shown us nothing but hospitality.” Stephen said confused.

  “You said they have a Lufta in captivity? I want to see it for myself. Every story has two sides.”

  “What will it take for you to trust them?”