Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1)

by Yves LF Giraud

  “I… I don’t know…”

  “Well, that was quite something, wouldn’t you agree?” said the Russian commander.

  François just looked at him with a clueless expression, shrugged his shoulders, and glided out into the corridor.

  “Unbelievable,” commented Dedrick, looking at the Frenchman disappear.

  #

  Back at the base, the long discussions over the amazing events of the day had finally died out, everyone pretty much exhausted, and the eight colonists had, by now, retreated in their individual sleeping quarters. Outside, the Martian night looked as dark as empty space itself. The world around the lonely outpost was utterly silent and still, if not for a few dust clouds occasionally rising along the nearby cliffs, invisible in the pitch-black night. A few scattered reflections on the low hills beyond the station, caused by the base’s own lights, were the only shapes breaking the monotony of the impenetrable scene.

  Dedrick, staring quietly at them through the small round window of his pod, was lost in deep thoughts, still wide awake. His eyes gazed up at the darkness of space above and focused unconsciously their attention on a particularly brilliant star sparkling in shades of white and blue; Earth. As they had countless times before, thoughts of the dangers their small oasis sheltered them from in the immensity of the inhospitable desert beyond, came back to haunt him, stronger than ever.

  “I hope we did the right thing, waking up these aliens.”

  He turned to look at his little family. Chasma was sound asleep in her small bunk bed, and Vera was already under the covers, reading Arthur C. Clark’s 2067 on her pad. The Russian commander grabbed the square container at his feet, sat down at his desk, and placed the box right in front of him. He meticulously unlocked the six clamps holding the hermetically sealed top, lifted the cover, and slowly removed the object from inside. Unwrapping the towel surrounding it, he carefully laid each corner out to reveal the alien artifact.

  “A Zarfha sphere. An alien artifact from another world. Wow!” he thought, staring at the white object. In truth, the artifact belonged to all the colonists, not just Dedrick, but he felt overwhelmed at the moment and for a good reason. How many times had he seen it in his dream? In truth, he had no idea what the object was for, or what it could do, but just looking at it here, as real and solid as any other object in the room, was overwhelming. He delicately grazed its surface with the tip of his fingers. To his surprise, the material felt almost familiar. Had he closed his eyes, he could have sworn he was touching glass. Carefully holding the sphere between his fingers, he placed it directly on the desk and gave it a gentle spin. The object spun freely with ease for a few seconds, before coming to a stop. He stared at it with disappointment.

  That night, Dedrick, unable to sleep, spent a good portion of his time trying to make the sphere do something, anything. Ultimately, he was hoping he could make it levitate in some way. The Russian tried many things including talking to it and even rolling it on his forehead at one point, but none of his attempts succeeded at getting any reaction from the enigmatic object. He eventually fell asleep in his chair around 05:00AM, exhausted.

  A trip in space and time

  The inhabitants of station Mars First were all gathered in greenhouse II. Two days had passed since the first encounter with the beings. As promised by the one named Jorh, the colonists had been contacted telepathically and asked to come back to the cave for another visit.

  Chasma was listening to her dad attentively, her doll Sylvia in her arms.

  “We have to think about our safety first. Since they asked for Chasma, I have to be there. I know you're all impatient to learn more about-”

  “Listen, Dedrick, yes, you're right, we need to be careful,” Sabrina cut him off. “But I think I speak for all of us when I say we all want to go. I could hardly sleep last night. We've all chosen to come to Mars knowing the risks. And the reason we did was not because it was safe. It’s to discover new things, to go beyond what we know, and live an adventure like no other, right?” She looked around the room, finding approving nods. “Well, this is it! Here we are, in one of the most profound moments in history. Of course, we all want to go!”

  Although Liu and Tendai were usually the ones with reservations when it came to dangerous situations, even they appeared to agree with Sabrina.

  “Ok, well, if that's how everyone feels...” He scanned the room, meeting only approving eyes and nods. “OK, then, that settles it. I’ll see you all in the garage in half an hour.”

  #

  No one had much to say on the way there. They were all absorbed in deep thoughts. There was a mixed feeling of fear and excitement in the vehicles. A few hours earlier, when Dedrick had received a clear telepathic message from the aliens, his first reaction had been one of absolute surprise. After the initial shock, he had wondered how far their telepathic abilities stretched, now that they were awake. They had quickly apologized for their unannounced cerebral intrusion. They had asked if the humans could come back to the ship, stating it would give both species a chance to satisfy their respective curiosity about each other. They had also requested the presence of Chasma. By now, there was no doubt in anybody's mind that the five-year-old possessed an innate ability to communicate with the aliens in a way none of them did or could.

  Dedrick wasn’t the only one who had not really slept much the night before. The events of the previous day were still mind blowing. Although fascinatingly exciting in many ways, the unknowns of the situation at hand were equally frightening to most of them. Of course, that wasn’t the case for Chasma, who appeared simply as happy and relaxed as ever. For François, the whole experience was beyond overwhelming, but his curiosity far outweighed any of his fears. And the more he thought about it, the more incredible it all seemed.

  “Aliens, on Mars, alive after millions of years spent asleep in a spaceship! How is that even possible? And what were they doing in that cave in the first place? If we freed them as they said, that means they couldn’t get out of those pods by themselves. So, who put them there, then? Could they be dangerous? What if we released some monsters sent on exile to Mars for a good reason?” A late seventies Superman movie came back to his mind, where three alien criminals are outcast to wander in space, locked in a glass prison.

  “No, I doubt that’s it. These beings could have killed us all already if they had wanted to. Something happened to them after the destruction of their world. And what about the others? We counted twenty-six pods on that ship… Are they all awake now? I didn’t think about that until now… Gosh, twenty-six giants, and us… And how far do they come from? What star? How fast can their ship travel?” he wondered. All questions he was aching to get answers to. Now feeling less intimidated than he did at first, after the initial shock of meeting face to face with the imposing beings, François was determined to ask every question he could this time. He took another look at his wrist display, making sure his camera and audio recorder were functioning perfectly, and his suit batteries were fully charged.

  An hour or so later, the colonists were greeted by the three aliens.

  “Welcome back, friends,” announced Jorh as the group entered what Dedrick guessed was the main deck of the ship. “You are correct. This is what your people would call the control room, or the cockpit of our vessel. Please, take a seat.” He pointed, with a sweeping hand motion, at a row of twelve oversized chairs in the center of the room. They were arranged in a semi-circle around a circular platform. The two aliens named Gahneo and Mahhzee were already occupying the two seats at each end of the curved row. Approaching hesitantly, the eight humans each picked one of the chairs, climbed on awkwardly and turned to face the central platform. Just as the hibernating pods had the day before, the seats began hovering in place about a meter above the floor as soon as each person had sat on them. Vera, who had taken her daughter with her on her chair, was asked to let Chasma have her own.

  “Don't worry, I promise she will be fine,” had said Mahhzee. Cha
sma had complied with an unworried smile.

  The chairs were the most comfortable pieces of furniture the humans had ever experienced. Hovering silently, they felt a slight floating sensation, as if on a very calm body of water. A feeling Sabrina may have described best when she had said out loud it felt like “sitting on a cloud of pillows.”

  Jorh approached one of the empty chairs, and with a smooth hand wave, made it float to the large gap between Mahhzee and Gahneo. After sitting in it, he addressed them all.

  “We know you have a lot of questions for us. We do too, even if we already know a lot about your people, having ‘listened’ to all these years. There is always more to learn, but all in due time. We know you have reservations about our intentions, and we understand. This is why we thought it would be best if we answered some of your questions first.”

  His big purple eyes blinked a few times as he looked at the smaller beings around him.

  “You mentioned your planet was destroyed and-” began Dedrick.

  “That is correct. We told you we are not from Kesra, this world you call Mars, but from Kahnu, a planet orbiting your sun, between Kesra and Dahmes, the one you call Jupiter. Our world was a beautiful and peaceful one. Our population counted almost fifty thousand individuals. Long before your species existed, our people had traveled to other worlds, including yours and this one. Our culture was a flourishing one, and our people were happy. Unfortunately, one day we discovered a rogue planet was on a collision course with ours. Varih-Aru, as it was named, would reach our world within a few years. We tried desperately to save Kahnu but… things did not go as we had hoped.”

  “What happened?” asked François.

  “Our attempt to stop the massive world from colliding with ours failed. You see, on our planet, the council of Elders, our leaders and spiritual guides, was not always willing to listen to the scientists of our world. Every decision, every new discovery, any course of action had to be approved by the council. It took many months to convince the Elders the rogue planet Varih-Aru would destroy Kahnu if we did nothing. When they finally accepted the seriousness of the danger, the building of a special ship was commissioned, the Ehoran, a vessel capable of diverting Varih-Aru’s path. Unfortunately for us, we did not realize the council had a secret agenda. Ultimately, they took the Ehoran to escape our doomed world, leaving us to our fate.”

  Sensing some confusion among the group, Jorh tried to explain more clearly.

  “Our people believed we came from another star, long ago. The first world, Ahtona, was believed to be a planet orbiting a star in what you call the Lyra constellation. We did not know it at the time, but the council actually believed the impending doom was a sign to return. When the time came to stop the danger, the Elders used the vessel meant to meet with Varih-Aru to leave for Ahtona instead. Only a handful of us survived the destruction.”

  He paused a moment, reflecting.

  François couldn’t help puzzling over one thing. “Why would their rulers let their world and its people get destroyed, when they had the means to stop it?”

  “Varih-Aru,” specified Gahneo.

  François was beginning to find the alien’s mind-reading abilities a bit annoying.

  Jorh explained, “Our leaders were resolute believers of the legend of Ferrhem. The ancient legend said that the great Ferrhem, son of the goddess Ahtona, and his female companion Keisha, daughter of the Grand Hallis, grew reckless and undeserving of the mother world, and were banished to Kahnu. There they would stay, until the day they would be allowed to return, having grown wiser and peaceful. Ferrhem and Keisha had many children on Kahnu, spawning several generations. Eventually growing impatient and resentful, Ferrhem traveled back to Ahtona to reclaim his place as ruler of the first world, promising he would soon come back for Keisha and their people, but Ferrhem never returned. Many more eons passed. When the time came for Keisha to leave the world of the living, she appointed her youngest son, Gihhez to rule over Kahnu. In the following centuries, Gihhez created the council of Elders and began teaching the legend of Ferrhem. Kahnu grew strong and peaceful. We began traveling through the solar system, and eventually visited all its planets and moons. Had it not been for Varih-Aru…but Gihhez and the council were convinced the rogue world was a sign; a sign for them, and them only, to return to Ahtona.”

  “Sounds like a pretty dramatic way to ask you guys back. I mean, sending an entire planet as an invite? Couldn’t a small asteroid have been enough?” François chuckled, but once again, his remark only amused him.

  Jorh, apparently trying to explain further, went on. “Some of us only took the legend for what it was, a legend. But the elders were certain the time had come. We had just created a new Zarfha engine, a technology cable of… Would you like to see?”

  “See?” asked Dedrick, attempting to communicate without using his voice.

  Jorh’s eyes blinked quickly at him several times.

  “Kahnu, our world, and what happened to it,” he replied. “We can show you.”

  “You mean like a movie?” asked Sabrina.

  “It depends on what you mean by showing us,” commented Tendai under his breath, hesitantly.

  Dedrick and the rest of them were definitely intrigued.

  “We would love to.”

  “I want to see, I want to see!” rejoiced Chasma, bopping up and down on her seat.

  “Good, but before we begin, we’d like you to join us in an experiment.”

  The faces in the small group turned to each other, somewhat apprehensive.

  “I promise, you have nothing to fear,” said Mahhzee again, feeling the group’s hesitation. Jorh extended his hand forward, and a small Zarfha sphere appeared in his open palm.

  Facing Dedrick, Jorh asked, “Dedrick, I want you to look at this Zarfha and try to move it with your mind.”

  “I’m sorry, you…what? I’m afraid our species doesn’t have the ability to do that. On our world, we-”

  “We know. But now that you are here, in this ship, we’d like to know how developed your telepathic abilities really are. I’ll explain why soon.”

  Dedrick could sense the urgency in the alien’s request. He hesitated a moment… “Ok, I’ll try my best.” Focusing visually and mentally all his efforts on the white alien object, he tried desperately to make it move, to make it do something, anything. But the Zarfha sphere remained still, resting immobile in the center of the alien’s hand. A good minute passed before he finally exhaled heavily. He had not realized it, but by concentrating as much as he had, he had forgotten to breathe.

  “Oofff! I can’t do it,” he let out, feeling a bit dizzy. After regaining his breath, he reclined in his chair, disappointed. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s alright,” reassured him, Mahhzee.

  “Can I try it?” François sounded quite excited, confident he had a better shot at it than his Russian friend.

  “Yes, of course, François,” replied Jorh, moving his extended arm in the Frenchman’s direction.

  To his grave frustration, François had no more luck than Dedrick at getting any reaction from the sphere. Even after spending almost twice as long as the Russian did at it. To the alien’s joyful surprise, the humans each took a turn at the exotic challenge, even combining their efforts as a last resort, to no avail. Only Chasma did not participate. Vera found it odd that her child seemed content to watch only. When all had given up and claimed countless times how impossible the test was, Jorh turned the Zarfha to Chasma, and said telepathically for all to hear, “Now, Chasma.”

  It took only a second for the sphere to rise above the giant's hand and to begin spinning silently on itself in mid-air. Chasma began giggling joyfully, as the rest of them watched in awe.

  “Is that really...? Chasma, are you really the one doing -?” Vera could not believe her own eyes.

  “Your daughter senses things you don't. She has a powerful mind. We have never met another species capable of interacting with Zarfhas. This is most fascinat
ing,” finished Jorh, as he reclaimed the sphere and leaned back on his chair.

  The simple test had yielded useful results. To Jorh and his two friends, it meant the young human child could feel, and manipulate, energies no other species but Kahnus could. She could interact at a higher telepathic level than any of the adults. Why? They still could not tell. It also meant a physical connection with the rest of the group would be necessary for what they had in mind, as they had expected.

  “What does it mean? What do you want with Chasma?” Vera wasn’t so sure her daughter’s abilities were such a good thing. The mother in her couldn’t help but worry.

  “It is not what we want with your daughter that matters, Vera, it’s why she is able to channel universal energies while none of you can. Only Kahnus can connect with a Zarfha. We have studied your kind, and we are baffled as to why she can do so,” volunteered Gahneo.

  Vera looked silently at Chasma, pensive.

  “Chasma was born here, on Mars. She is the first human ever born on this planet. Could that have something to do with it?” asked Dedrick.

  “It is possible that helped in some way, but she is still human, regardless. Something else must be at play here…” He paused before turning his attention back to the platform in front of them. “I told you we had something to show you…”

  From a delicate swerve of the hand, Jorh pushed the only empty chair to the back of the room and brought everyone closer. They were now all within arm’s reach of each other. Another intricate hand movement made a much larger sphere appear in the middle of the seated group, and Jorh reached out for Mahhzee and Gahneo, on each side of him. Their flexible tubular fingers interconnected and began to glow mildly of various colors. Jorh addressed the humans once more.

  “We have ‘heard’ many of your questions. We believe this will answer most of them, if not all.”

  As they all turned to look at the sphere now spinning faster and brighter, Mahhzee and Gahneo extended their free hands to the two colonists next to them.