Mahhzee had given Dedrick and his colleagues a few numbers regarding their own ages. In Kahnu time, Jorh was 149. Gahneo had just celebrated his ninety-eighth birth year, and Mahhzee was still a fairly young forty-two-year-old. Of course, that was only true if one didn’t consider the seventy million years they had just spent in hibernation, as François had been quick to point out. But when the colonists did the math, taking into consideration that a year on Kahnu was equivalent to almost four Earth years, they realized Mahhzee was in fact closer to 170, Gahneo was about 392, and Jorh was almost 600 years old. And if the oldest Elder was truly 3000 years old on their world, that would have made him 12,000 years old on Earth.
Rock the Casbah!
“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear old man, happy birthday to yoooouuuu!” sang everyone, with François strumming wildly his guitar on the last chord of the song, a big smirk on his face. They all clapped cheerfully at the frowning Russian.
“Happy birthday, Dedrick!”
“Happy birthday, Dad.”
“Yes, happy forty-ninth, buddy!”
“Thanks guys, I could’ve done without the reminder.”
“Come on, love, you’re not that old,” teased him Vera.
It was true, Dedrick was the oldest of the group, but the years had been kind to him. He barely looked forty. François attributed it to his “cold Russian blood” as he had put it, which always frustrated Dedrick, the main reason François loved saying it. That night, everyone had agreed to put on a little show for him and the aliens. After their viewing that day, the Martian colonists had decorated the cargo area of the alien ship, and a few hours into the festivities, the conversation between Dedrick and Jorh had turned to the subject of the three aliens and their hibernating pods.
“There’s one question I’ve been meaning to ask. What happened to your friends, the ones that came with you to Mars? We only found the three of you in the hibernating chambers.”
Jorh blinked at Dedrick a few times. “That is not a story we like to think about.” The alien paused, as if looking for words. “You remember us telling you about Silargh’s ship, the one that left for Kahjuna, your Earth?”
Dedrick nodded.
“Well, as you know, we waited for them to come to Kesra, but they never did. By the time we realized something was wrong, several weeks had passed. It was too late to go after the Ehoran. The Elder’s vessel was too far out into space, and our Kahalla was gone forever. We knew we would never catch up to them. It was hard on all of us. Without the pool of life, we would never have children again.
Even so, we had to go try to find Silargh’s ship. While most of us agreed going to Kahjuna was the right thing to do, Donjeh and Serm were strongly opposed to it. They kept insisting that something had happened to Silargh and his passengers, and we could not take the risk of losing any more lives. At the time, we did not realize how determined they were about it. I knew Serm and his uncle were up to something from the very first day of our landing on Kesra, but I never thought they would go as far as they did to get their way. It happened fast. A few of us were here on the ship preparing for the long journey to your Earth. Mahhzee, Gahneo, and I were in the Aruk, checking the Time-Frost pods, when Serm disabled the Zarfhas that controlled the air and atmospheric pressure in the cavern. Outside the ship, no one had time to get to their suits. We lost most of our people within seconds.
By the time we knew what was happening, Donjeh had already taken over the ship’s main controls. He trapped us in the Time-Frost room. We tried to reason with him, but it was in vain. We barely had time to get into the pods. It saved our lives, but it was also how we got trapped in them. Donjeh locked us in them and put us in Time-Frost. The rest, we know only from what the Zarfha witnessed.”
He paused. Looking now at the humans in this room with him and his two alien colleagues, the events he was recounting seemed so ancient. And yet, it felt like they had happened only days earlier to him. Jorh seemed momentarily distracted. He wrapped his long tubular fingers around the small Zarfha hovering silently in front of him.
“Outside the ship, Serm was on his way back to his uncle, when he was confronted by Lodlar, Gahneo’s father, who had managed to get to his suit just in time. The two fought and-”
His recount was interrupted by a telepathic message from Mahhzee. Jorh turned to the Russian commander. “Maybe I’ll tell you more some other time. I hope you don’t mind.”
Dedrick realized she had asked him to change the subject and wondered why, but he figured she had her reasons.
“Of course, I understand,” replied the human.
The alien blinked again rapidly. He turned back his attention on his sister. She was leaning against Gahneo, and the two were watching the rest of the humans dancing joyfully to the old rock classic, “Rock the Casbah,” by the Clash. Both aliens looked quite entertained by it.
“Jorh, I am very sorry about your people…” Dedrick did not know what else to say. He was looking at his feet, thinking about his parents and his dog, Rita.
“I know, thank you. I am sorry about yours as well.”
The two were silent for a long while, looking at their friends celebrating Dedrick’s special day. At least, they all had their health, and life wasn’t so bad after all; at least, for now.
Chapter XI
Status report
“I’ll have the prime-rib,” finally decided François, giving the menu back to the waiter.
“And how would you like that cooked, sir?” asked the young man.
“Medium-rare, please.”
“Certainly,” he replied, as he turned and walked away.
“I always feel uncomfortable when someone calls me sir. It makes me feel old or something. Don’t you?”
“No, I can’t say I do,” replied Sabrina.
“Yeah, of course, I know. But I mean…Ok, it’s like calling you Mam. Doesn’t that make you feel older? I think we should all use names. We know his name, so why shouldn’t he know ours. I think it would make things more comfortable for all. Don’t you?”
“Yeah, OK. Whatever,” replied Sabrina. “So, where are Vera and Dedrick, anyway?”
“Well, I know I said they were coming, but I only said that because I didn’t think you would have, if I had told you it was just gonna be you and me.”
“François! I already told you, I’m not interested. You’re not my type! I find you obnoxious, egocentric, and you don’t respect women!” she said upset, slapping her napkin on the table.
“Give me a chance. Just this one time, please. I promise, I can be really nice. And look, I got us a table at your favorite restaurant.”
She had to admit, he appeared genuinely honest about wanting her to stay. And, truth be told, she did not find him so unlikable. On the contrary, although she would have never admitted it, she found the Frenchman quite charming and lovable, at times.
“I admit, you did good on the place,” she finally said with a sweet grin, seating back down.” I didn’t expect that from you,” she added looking around the room.
“Thanks!” he replied a bit sarcastically.
“See what I mean… No, I’m sorry. I gotta go.”
François caught her wrist.
“Please, stay… Please…”
After some hesitation, she sat back down.
“OK. But the first sign of-”
“Yes, yes, absolutely,” he smiled at her. She looked particularly beautiful tonight. She was wearing a stylish, shoulderless evening dress, and her dark curvy hair fell perfectly to one side of her face. She looked gorgeous. Prying his eyes away, he raised his hand and called the waiter.
“Garcon? Garcon? Jean-Luc?”
#
A half hour later, both laughing hysterically, Sabrina casually touched his hand.
“Do you wanna dance?”
“Dance? No, I’m a terrible dancer. Trust me, you don’t want to see me dance.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t be
that bad. Come on, let’s dance,” she repeated, pulling him off his chair.
“No, I’m serious, I can’t dance.”
“Come on, François! You said you would do whatever I asked, remember?”
“No, wat I meant was-”
He finally gave up and let her pull him up. On the stage, the band introduced their new song. “Hi, everyone. My name is Corinne Bailey Ray. This song is called “Like A Star.” I hope you’ll like it.”
“Shoot! A slow one,” he thought. And then, it dawned on him. “That’s odd…What is Corinne Bailey Rae doing here?”
A few songs later, François was holding Sabrina in her arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Seizing the moment, he whispered something in her ear. To his pleasant surprise, Sabrina’s usual rejection of his clumsy advances was replaced by a longing look. Her lips met his.
The two had just returned to their table, when François, staring through the large bay window behind Sabrina, noticed a very bright star in the dark distance. He couldn’t tell what, but something about it looked odd. Suddenly, an alarm began screaming, and people began running in all directions. Above them, a red light was now flashing brightly. Unable to pry his eyes away, he stared, as the star grew rapidly. It was heading straight for them. Grabbing Sabrina’s hand, he tried in vain to run, but his legs felt too heavy and slow. Helpless, he could only listen to the tremendous roar of the speeding inferno, helpless as it crashed onto the building, sending him and Sabrina flying into the air. Their bodies were about to get crushed by the collapsing ceiling, when he woke up, drenched in sweat.
“Fff! Fff! Fff!...” He was still breathing heavily, when he noticed the alarm in his pod had gone off. A red light was flashing on the panel in front of him. Rushing to his feet, he quickly entered a few commands on the keyboard. A graph appeared on the screen, partially covered with the word “WARNING!” After pressing a few more keys, the message changed to “AIR COMPOSITION INCORRECT!”
“Merde!”
#
“And that’s France. That’s where Uncle François is from.”
Chasma was looking at the map on the screen with dedicated attention. Seated on Dedrick’s lap, she asked her dad another question. “Where were you born, Daddy?”
“You know that, Chasma. I’ve shown you many times.”
“I know,” she said with a smile. “Show me again.”
Suddenly, a loud voice came through the intercom above them.
“Dedrick! Dedrick!” François sounded out of breath.
“What?”
“We have a serious problem. You need to come to pod two, right now!”
Dedrick could hear the gravity in his friend's voice, and that immediately worried him. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
“On my way!”
“Sorry, baby, I have to see what uncle François wants. Be a good girl. I’ll be back soon.”
Dedrick put his daughter down and grabbed his tool belt. He rarely went anywhere without it. Jumping through the adjoining tunnel, he rushed past Vera and rushed down the next passage, before she could ask him where he was going in such a hurry. She turned her attention back to her work. She knew François was in the next pod. “What did he do this time?” she thought to herself.
François was seated in front of the main monitor when Dedrick entered the room. He spoke immediately, without looking at him.
“This is bad. Real bad.”
Dedrick leaned over François' shoulder, and stared at the monitor.
“What am I looking at? What is it?”
“You don't see that? The venting, there!” replied François, putting his finger right on the screen. Dedrick finally saw the blurry line.
“Crap! What is it?”
A small column of clear gas was escaping from one of the pipes. It was barely visible, was it not for the wobble effect it was causing on the display, as it spewed quickly from a joint in the tubing system. It was already causing the readouts on the panel to their right to rise rapidly.
“Looks like we're leaking CO2, or carbon monoxide. The readings are conflicting. Maybe the sensor is defective too. I don’t know. Anyway, it's in pod one, in the back of the west panel where all the support lines meet. I've already sealed the room and rerouted some of the feeds. But this is not good. Not good at all. We need to fix that leak pronto.”
“Fuck! FUCK!”
“Yep, exactly! I don't even know what caused it.”
“You think a small meteorite could have come through the outer shell?”
“I thought about that as well, but the sensors didn’t detect any outside damage.”
“I was able to reroute most of the oxygen lines, and I shut down the electric ones, but the real problem remains. If we're leaking CO2, it's workable, but if it's carbon monoxide, the slightest spark, and the whole thing will light up like it's the fourth of July.”
“Carbon monoxide?” asked Dedrick obviously surprised.
“Yeah, it's part of the air recycling system. Those gas pipes go through all the pods. Right now, the leak is contained to pod one, but… Either way, better hope it's not what we’re leaking, or we're screwed!”
“Don't even say that. Can the air system function like that?”
“For now. But we need to patch this leak soon. And I think we should tell the others,” added François.
“Yes, of course. I'll ask Vera to gather everyone in the main room.”
“No, I mean the 'others.’ The aliens.”
“The Kahnus?”
“Well, maybe they can help. They are technically more advanced than us, right? I mean, they have a spaceship, and technologies we can't even comprehend. Maybe they can help us fix this. I think it's worth trying. You know me, I don't worry easily. But I'm telling you, if it’s what I think it is, this is bad.”
“Hmm... I guess you have a point...”
But Dedrick didn't look very enthusiastic about it. The Kahnus had not left their ship since the team had awakened them. He wasn’t sure of the reason, but he had wondered if it was because they couldn’t. Then again, as François had pointed out, they were definitely more advanced. Maybe they could still do something, even from there.
“Well, it's worth a shot,” he thought.
Vera was sitting in front of the console, with Chasma standing next to her, when Dedrick entered the pod.
“Hi Daddy! Look! Isn't she beautiful?” Chasma was holding a yellow flower between her fingers, her hand raised towards him.
“Wow! That is a pretty flower, Chasma. Where did you get it?”
“It's a potato flower, Daddy. There are lots of them in the greenhouse right now. They are so pretty. Don't you think?”
“Yes, very pretty. Listen, I need to talk to Mommy. Why don't you go see what Liu is doing? I think she's in pod four. You can show her your beautiful flower. I'm sure she would love to see it.”
“Ok Daddy,” and off she went through the small corridor, carefully holding her flower.
Vera turned to Dedrick.
“What is it?” She could tell something was wrong.
“We have a problem. There's a gas leak in pod one. Don't panic, we should be able to fix it, but I need you to get everyone to greenhouse three. I’ll explain everything.”
“What do you mean a leak? How serious is it?”
“Just call everyone in the main room, will you? I'll explain everything. I need to check something. I'll be right there.”
“Right now?”
Dedrick was already sliding feet first through the passage, when he replied “Yes!”
A few minutes later, Vera and five other team members were sitting in the conference area of their station, talking and trying to figure out what this leak story was all about, when Dedrick entered the pod.
“Where is François?”
“He said he would be here as soon as he could,” replied Vera.
“Dedrick, what's going on?” asked Tendai.
“Hold on, we need François.” Then, moving t
o the console near him, he pressed the intercom control.
“Hey, you're coming?”
“Yeah, I'll be right there. I was gathering some data.”
“Ok. We're all here in the main room. We're waiting for you.”
“I know.”
Dedrick turned off the mic and turned to the small group gathered around the “coffee table”, as they liked to refer to it, in the center of the room. The circular desk housed a library of digital backup drives, full of informative documentation on pretty much anything and everything. It included a large number of videos, movies and games, as well as references on a wide variety of subjects, from medical procedures, to Martian geology and planetary data to safety protocols.
Most importantly, it also included all the blue prints and maintenance information on the entire station and its inner workings; a section François was glad to have at hand at the moment.
“So, you wanna tell us what this is all about?”
Dedrick grabbed the seat next to him and sat down. Facing everyone, he was about to say something, when François entered the room, holding a small digital pad in his right hand. The Russian commander immediately sensed things were even worse than they had hoped.
“Well?” asked Vera again.
François took a seat and looked around the room before answering. He scratched the back of his head and began.
Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 33
