Beta Planet: Rise

by Dayton Grey

  BETA PLANET

  RISE

  by

  Dayton Grey

  Dedication

  Thank you to my brothers for inspiring the idea, 12/31/11.

  Thank you to my wife for asking me each day “Did you write?” 24/7.

  Thank you to my friends, who said “Just do it”, each and every time I quit.

  Thank you to Lagavulin, that loyal companion who helped me to finally finish it.

  Thank you to my sister for all the support, who believed in me and read it with pride.

  Thank you to the lit agents I queried, the many daily denials have truly thickened my hide.

  Thank you to my parents, for giving me strength and saying “Chase your dreams.”

  Thank you to my forum, my virtual club, after rejections we’d blow off steam.

  And thank you to you, your faith adds fuels to my fire,

  You are the reason I dream, the reason I write,

  The reason I aim to inspire.

  Chapter 1

  When the line between reality and dream begins to blur, our creative consciousness becomes truly awakened. During those precious few minutes in the medium between cognition and fantasy can we genuinely explore our deepest desires, ambitions, and imaginings. It was during this time that Geon found himself thinking about the world he remembered, the only world he knew. He could see familiar faces, talking and laughing as the sun shone brightly, the trees swaying gently in the wind. Those images faded and a new, cold, unfamiliar world opened before him. Bloodied bodies lay on the muddied and scorched ground, piled on top of each other like an endless intertwined web of death. Raven skies shrouded the gruesome landscape, and a lone man stood above it, looking down. He was dressed in black with red logo on his chest. He looked up, a dark, nebulous void in place of his face. The vision faded away.

  ***

  “I’m telling you I heard a beep,” Allea said frantically, her eyes wide with fear.

  “What kind of beep?” Sabien answered, furrowing his brows skeptically without looking up.

  “I don’t know. It was a beep, unlike any beep I’ve heard before,” she answered, raising her voice.

  “Describe the beep,” he replied, now looking up from his holograph.

  “It was like this… BOOOEEEP!”

  “Are you sure you’re not hea—”

  “What’s going on in here guys? Allea? Sabien? Someone say something!” Kumuki screeched as he came bouncing into the room.

  “Kumuki, calm down,” Allea said softly. “Mama V is coming. She’ll know what—”

  “MAMA V! Allea said she heard a beep! Mama V, come quick!” Kumuki yelled.

  “Kumuki, take a breath. This is just… impossible. Allea, you’re probably mistaken.”

  “Sabien, I know what I heard! Last time I checked, my audibles worked just fine.”

  “Oh really? Well perhaps then it’s a case of something else not working fine.”

  “Excuse me?” Allea responded heatedly. “I’m sure you aren’t implying what I think you’re implying.”

  Kumuki looked back and forth at the two of them and blurted, “What’s he implying, Allea? What are you implying Sabe? Someone say something!”

  “Oh I’m implying it. I’m very much implying it!”

  “Someone please tell me what Sabe is implying!”

  Allea looked at Kumuki and tried to explain, “Kuki, he’s trying to sa—”

  “Vat’s going on in here? Vat is dis ruckus?” Mama V said loudly as she burst into the room, her hair pulled messily back and her clothes wrinkled and disheveled. “You know dis is my resting time! Allea?”

  “Mama V, I walked in here to get my coat… and, well I know it sounds…”

  “Stupid? Ridiculous? Ludicrous?”

  “ENOUGH SABIEN! Allea, go on please,” Mama V interrupted, giving Sabien a stern glare.

  “Well, it… his… pod. It beeped,” she said softly as she gestured towards the large timeworn egg-like object near her.

  “Mama V don’t listen to her,” Sabien interjected, rolling his eyes. “We’re sorry we got you up from your comfortable-and-quite-permanently seated position. Please go back to resting, lest you risk straining yourself beyond the limits of irreversibility!”

  “Sabien, enough vit your sarcasm. You think I don’t know sarcasm? I am MASTER of the sarcasm. You don’t get to play the sarcasm game in my house! Enough from you. Now shut the potato hole! Allea, you are positive vat you heard? Because you know I love you, and I trust you, but, it’s been… six years. So, I think maybe this vas some different boop or beep. Boop boop beep beep. All this technology these days goes BOOP BOOP BEEP BEEP. It vas probably your shoes or something like that.”

  “Mama V, our shoes don’t—”

  Beep.

  Deathly silence fell over the room. Allea shivered, wrapping her arms around her body and looking wide-eyed at the others. The group turned toward the REMpod, mouths open, eyes bulging. No one dared to move or even breathe deeply, waiting for another sound.

  Beep.

  “Oh…”

  “…My…”

  “God.”

  “Now do you all believe me?” she said, still staring at the REMpod.

  “It… it… can’t be!” Kumuki blurted out, grabbing his hair with his hands and shaking his head back and forth.

  “It did. It just did,” Sabien softly muttered, staring intently at the closed pod.

  “Everyone vait a minute! Let’s see…” Mama V said, leaning forward toward it.

  Beep.

  Mama V recoiled with a gasp and Kuki clutched his stomach and fell to his knees, letting out a moan of discomfort, seemingly onset with sudden stomach pain.

  “KUMUKI QVINN, YOU GET UP AND STOP DIS HORSING AROUND! I can’t believe this. I can’t believe it. It can’t be. It can’t be. I thought… I thought it vould never… but, I prayed. And I thought…”

  “Mama V, what do we do?”

  “Let me think, Allea, dear. Please, let Mama think. Okay. Oh my God. This is… amazing. This is… miracle. Okay, Allea, you link your cuff thing to the pod thing and let’s see vat dis is. Maybe just a malfunction. Maybe. Maybe just dat. Sabien, open Geon’s pod, please.”

  Beep. Beep.

  Gasps around the room followed.

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeep…

  ***

  Is this a dream?

  A gentle humming could be heard, and a soft vibration felt from underneath.

  Head feels groggy… fuzzy.

  The humming began to fade away, and different, new sounds, began to appear. First softly, in the background, as if something too far to make out but too close to ignore. The sounds grew louder. They began to jumble. They sounded like voices. His skin began to tingle. Warmth faded into crisp cold. The tips of his fingers came alive, moving ever so slightly, dancing on the ends of his hands. Each part of his body, from the tiny muscles in his face, down his neck, through his shoulders, down his back and bottom, in through his thighs and knees and calves and feet and toes, began to come alive. The voices around him became clearer.

  Is this real? What’s going on? Where am I?

  He couldn’t remember anything except for the two visions of the smiling faces next to him and the faceless man standing above the sea of lifeless bodies. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

  In front of him, a girl stood staring at him, eyes blurry with tears, as she lunged forward and put her hand on his hand.

  “Geon! Geon, can you hear me? Please… please say something! Geon, it’s me, Allea… your sister. Geon are you okay? Can you understand me?”

  Geon looked up but found it hard to focus his eyes. Bright light blinded him and he could only make out blurred figures standing over him. He tried to
speak but nothing came out. He tried again.

  “A… A… All… Allea?”

  A large figure next to Geon burst into a flurry of tears and laughter and reached forward to grab Geon in a massive bear hug. He winced from the pressure.

  “Geon it’s really you!” she exclaimed in a deep voice with a heavy accent. “It’s not possible but somehow, it’s you! Thank you, God. Thank you. Oh, my baby Geon!”

  Geon couldn’t place the voice but at the same time, it sounded so familiar. The other figures in the room didn’t seem to know what to say or where to begin, clearly still in shock.

  Allea tried to compose herself as she wiped back her tears and brushed her hair from her face.

  “Geon, do you remember me? It’s been nearly seven years since you last saw me. Since you fell into a coma. Do you remember your little sister?”

  A coma? Oh my God.

  As she slowly came into vision, he could see a petite girl before him, with golden skin, small features, light brown freckles, and medium-length dark brown hair. Her eyes were large and almond-shaped and she had a very pretty face. She looks familiar, yet… so different. But something in her eyes feels like home. The others stood crowded around her, eyes wide, mouths open, not a breath to be heard.

  “Yes… I think… yes. Little… Ally?”

  Allea burst into tears at hearing Geon’s words, crying and grabbing and hugging him. Her warm, soft cheek pressed against his and her tears streamed off of her face and onto his. She tried to talk to him but it was difficult to make out her words in between the sobs, choking, and breathing.

  “Oh, Geon…no one has called me Ally since… since… and… I prayed every day. I prayed every day.”

  As she blubbered and squeaked about how much she missed him, he began to remember pieces of his past. He remembered the two of them playing games on the floor of a house. He remembered the faces of his parents, watching and smiling from a sofa nearby.

  “Mom? Dad? Where… where are they?” he asked, trying to prop himself up on his elbow.

  Allea poured more tears out, looking at him with saddened eyes. She squeezed his hand and sat on the pod beside him.

  “G, I don’t know how else to tell you this. I didn’t think I ever would get the chance to tell you.”

  Geon felt his throat clench and stomach knot.

  “G, Mom and Dad are gone. I’m so sorry. They didn’t make it through the EarthShift. The destruction continued for a few years after your blackout… it… it—took… everyone.

  The EarthShift. I remember it now. The destruction, the chaos, the death.

  I’m so sorry, G. I didn’t know that you didn’t… know. But how could you? It all happened at the same time. You were knocked unconscious, and they… they were taken, from us. We never found their bodies. I’m so sorry, G.”

  No. It can’t be. Please, no.

  Despair fell over Geon. Deep down, something had felt wrong inside him… missing. It was almost as if he had known all along while in his coma. But to hear it out loud now was devastating. He wanted to fall asleep again, to feel safe again. His body quivered as he stared down in shock, unable to say anything or even allow himself to cry.

  “Geon, you were almost taken from me as well. When the super-quakes and tsunamis hit, the building we were in collapsed. You were knocked out… pinned down on your arm. Mom and Dad fell through the floor. That was the last thing I remember. I woke up in the hospital, and you… you never woke… until today!” She burst into tears once more and smiled.

  “You’ve been in a coma, Geon… for more than six years. No one wanted to take you in but Mama V took me and you to this orphanage and took care of us. We prayed for you to wake up. I never gave up, G. I never gave up on you. I knew you were strong.”

  She stared at him and smiled as tears rolled down her face and onto her shirt. He could see in her eyes how much she loved him and must have missed him through the years.

  “Now… now, we have hope. Now that we have you again,” she said, gently rubbing him on the shoulder.

  Geon nodded and lay back down. He wanted to share the enthusiasm but his head was spinning and he was exhausted. “I’m… I’m so tired,” Geon whispered.

  “Okay, everyone out of here now!” Mama V bellowed. “Kumuki, bring vater and Allea bring something to eat please. Then all of you go! He must rest now. We all talk later okay?”

  She turned to Geon and softly said, “It’s okay Geon. You rest now. You angel. You rest now.”

  As the others retreated from the room, Mama V sat beside him, bowing her head and whispering a prayer of thanks. She gently caressed his head as he drifted back into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 2

  It felt like days before Geon finally awoke again. For much of that time, Allea, Kumuki, and Sabien sat at the main table, barely speaking and only in hushed tones when they did. Kumuki stared down at the table mostly, unsure of what to say or what to do. He looked happy and excited, but confused. Allea checked and rechecked the REMpods data for Geon’s health. And Sabien sat stoic, eyes blurry, but never letting the powerful emotions overcome him. Finally, they all looked up and smiled at each other, knowing it was time.

  The sheer silence of the room woke Geon up. Expecting to be alone, he was surprised to see the three teens huddled around him, anxiously waiting and fidgeting, smiles from ear to ear. The shock of his awakening had finally passed, and the three of them seemed to be filled with more excitement than their bodies could handle.

  “Good morning, sunshine. I’m Sabien… your new older brother. Nice to finally meet you. Awake, that is.”

  Geon looked to the boy on the right. Sabien grinned at him with a confident and handsome face. He was slightly shorter than Geon, and he had a bigger, stockier build. His skin was darker than Geon’s, but with more of an olive tone to it. He had a wide jaw and large grin, radiant brown eyes, and a closely trimmed crop of thick black hair. He spoke with a slight accent but Geon couldn’t place it.

  “I’m part Mexican and part Egyptian. Basically, I’m sort of the perfect hybrid of the descendants of the Mayans and the royal Pharaohs. I’m probably part royalty myself.”

  “The son of Pharaohs,” said Allea. “Really, Sabien? So you’re what… 3,500 years old now? Geon, don’t listen to him. Sabe is quite delusional and really into himself, as you can clearly see.”

  Geon looked back at Allea, this time with fully awakened eyes. She had petite features, a lightly freckled face and a gentle smile and her hair and clothes were disheveled. Her energy was infectious and Geon couldn’t help but crack a small, but painful, smile.

  “How are you feeling brother?”

  It felt good to hear those words from her.

  “I’m… I think I’m okay. I’m sore… and I feel weak.”

  “That’s expected. Your body has been in a state of semi-paralysis for six years now. Fortunately, the REMpod does use technology to stimulate your muscles via small electric pulses while you were comatose, but it can never replace actual muscular functionality. It’s really just to prevent atrophy. As for your brain, the pod also stimulates that to keep you from waking up with the same mental capacity you fell into the coma with. Let me check your vitals again. Lie still, please.”

  “Oh yeah. Now who’s really into themselves?” Sabien proclaimed while staring at Allea. “He doesn’t have a clue what you just said! In fact, no one does!”

  Allea rolled her eyes while tapping glowing buttons on the side of the REMpod and analyzing the diagnostics. “It’s pretty amazing actually. Without the advancements of the REMpod, you would likely be paralytic and have the mind of a small child right now. But, you appear to be in good overall health. It will take time to get you up and running. But this looks promising!”

  Geon smiled and looked left to the third member of the group. He was taller than the rest of them, with a very slim and lanky body that slightly hunched forward, and he had paler skin than the others. His face was skinny and tall, as if smooshed in fro
m the sides, and he had a large pointy nose and very open round eyes that were nearly popping out of his head. The most notable characteristic, however, was his great big curly head of bright reddish, brownish hair. It was tightly packed and stood nearly straight up in every direction.

  “HI! I’M KUMUKI! NICE TO MEET YOU, GEON!”

  Geon recoiled in surprise as the other two giggled at Kumuki’s unique and explosive way of speaking. It was a shocking blend of screams and mumbles, with rapid fluctuations in pitch from low to high in mid-sentence and even in mid-word. The resulting sound was a medley of squeaks, screeches, and growls.

  “You’ll get used to it, Geon… someday. Or so I’m told,” Sabien grinned. Kumuki smiled and nodded, apparently unaware of the humor in his style of speech.

  Allea put her arm around Kumuki and said, “Kumuki is shy, but he’s a good guy. He’s the youngest of us at thirteen. His family comes from parts of Southern Africa and Ireland. He joined us only a few years ago when his own orphanage was shut down. All the kids were allocated to different sectors around the city.”

  Hearing the word “orphanage” reminded Geon of the devastating news about his parents. He looked down, afraid to show the others his teary eyes.

  Allea, apparently sensing his feelings, laid her hand on his and said, “This is our family now, G. These are your new brothers.”

  Geon looked up and smiled. He had never had a brother but always wondered what it would be like.

  “By the way, in case you were wondering, the year is 2031. I’m fourteen, Sabe here is sixteen, and you… well, you are fifteen.”

  Fifteen! Unbelievable. It’s been so long. It was at this moment that Geon realized that he didn’t even know what he looked like. Scared to see someone he didn’t recognize, he lay motionless while the others stared at him.

  “Well? Don’t you want to get up and see yourself?” Sabien said, seemingly reading Geon’s mind while presenting a mirror in the corner of the room with his open hand.

  There’s no point putting it off. Why am I so nervous? What if I don’t recognize myself? Geon nodded and the three came to help him up and out of his pod-shaped bed. As he slid out of it, and gently touched his feet to the ground, he finally became aware of the room he was in. It was a medium-sized, bright, rectangular room, all white on all sides, except for one of the smaller walls, which appeared to be opaque glass. He couldn’t see what was outside the glass, but there was light coming in through it. The wall opposite that had a door, and both long walls were flat but with many horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines embedded in them, some of which glowed with ambient light. In the center of the room were four similar pod-beds, spread out like flower petals. Geon had remembered seeing something about the development of these pods when he was young, but they hadn’t existed at that time. His pod looked like a large egg, cracked into two connected pieces, forming a jagged break from one end to the other. Geon’s pod was open more than the other three. Inside was simple a soft foam bed on the bottom and a curved blank white ceiling on top.