by Astrid Cielo
Surrender Serenity
By: Astrid Cielo
Prologue
16 years ago…
The sun’s rays caressed her face, her dark brown hair hanging in unruly curls down her back. She always liked coming to the field when she dreamed, she didn’t need her glasses to see, and the sun was always warm and inviting, never hot. This was her favorite place. The place she visited in her dreams. She looked around taking in the field of wildflowers with butterflies flittering amongst their colorful blooms, and the crisp blueness to the sky with fluffy clouds that framed the golden sun whose rays bathed this world in light. The field was surrounded by a forest of tall trees, its depth inviting her to play in its shade. There was the little creek with water that was the clearest she had ever seen and always seemed to be the perfect temperature.
She twirled in the sunlight, her pale blue nightgown puffing out around her knees. She picked the closest daisy, her favorite flower and looked into the line of trees, waiting for him. He always came. They had played together in her dreams since she was four years old, and though she didn’t understand his language, they always seemed to manage communicating with one another. He played any game her heart desired. They would lie in the flowers for hours in silence just looking at the clouds roll by. They would swim and splash in the little creek. They would play hide-and-seek in the forest. He would tell her stories and though she did not understand his words, his voice was soothing to her.
Her heart leapt for joy when she saw him emerge from the trees and she ran, her bare feet taking her to him. He had grown a lot since her first dream. She didn’t know exactly how old he was, but he seemed to be around her age. He was the most peculiar shade of red, where her skin was a pale alabaster with smatterings of freckles, his was clear and a ruddy, reddish color. His black hair fell softly around his jaw, his beautiful golden eyes, full of intelligence always following her every move.
He looked her up and down as if taking in her nightgown and smiled, he always had liked this nightgown. She laughed as she closed the rest of the distance and ran into his open arms. He hugged her close laughing with her then spinning her by her hands her feet leaving the ground before setting her on the ground again. He hugged her close, once more. They broke apart and she ran to the middle of the field, like she had so many times before, waiting for him to hide. He always played with her, anything from tag to hide-and-seek. Sometimes he would bring her little gifts. She always hugged him for them, but wished she could keep them when she woke up. She counted slowly, “One, two, three ….ten.”
She turned looking around the field, knowing he hid in the forest just beyond. Her little bare feet ate the ground as she searched for him. His low chuckle led her to him, just beyond a tree. She chased him, her curly hair flying behind her. He made it back to the middle of the field, and she collapsed at his feet, breathing deeply, trying to catch her breath. He sat down beside her and held her hand. When she looked into his eyes, she frowned at the sadness reflected there. She sat up and faced him, never releasing his hand, she smiled at him and spoke, “What’s wrong, little boy?”
He smiled sadly, perhaps because he couldn’t understand her, but he spoke to her like she always spoke to him. His voice calming her like it always did. She didn’t understand it and probably never would, and at ten she really didn’t care she just accepted it. He pulled something from his pocket and placed it in her palm. A tear fell down her cheek as she opened her palm to stare at the stone with what she thought was a word inscribed upon its smooth surface. Her little heart breaking because a small voice was telling her that this was the last time that she would see him in her dreams, that this was goodbye. He wiped the tear from her eye with his finger and spoke to her. She nodded, even though she really didn’t know what he said. He kissed her cheek and pulled her to him. They lay in the grass side by side, hand in hand as sleep claimed them.
Serenity opened her eyes, her tears wetting the pillow beneath her head. Opening her palm she stared at the stone. She held it tight as she drifted back to sleep. She smiled to herself. She got to keep her gift.
Chapter 1
Present day
Eon looked at the view that he had only once seen in his dreams, dreams that told him to come here, to this planet, so far away from his own to find a race that was kin to them in some way. Legend stated that they had once been inhabitants of a beautiful planet with plenty of resources and life at their disposal. Their race became greedy, taking from their planet, without thought of consequence. After many, many generations of ill use, the planet began to die. In an effort to erase their mistakes and save their race, the people of the planet sent their people to different planets far from each other. On Eon’s home planet of Salin, the people adapted to their planet, changing with the planet rather than altering their home to themselves. This didn’t mean that they forewent the knowledge from their ancestors. They kept the space travel that their ancestors used to colonize their home planet. They had scientists and healers, and their society flourished without taxing the planet’s resources with careful checks and balances that kept their planet viable. That was until a virus, the Blue Death, swept through their female population.
Eon still didn’t understand all of the specifics, but apparently the virus attacked at the X chromosomal level. The scientists discovered that since males had a Y chromosome to fall back on then, they in essence escaped with just a minor illness. Kylan, his friend, had theorized that the difference in hormone production was the reasoning behind the male immunity. The females weren’t so lucky. What female’s survived became sterile and those who didn’t survive suffered as the disease shut them down system by system. Eon considered that this was the only time in his life that he was happy that he had no female relatives to have suffered in such a manner.
With the remaining females sterile and the last child born on their planet reaching his 5 year, the Council had decided alternative methods had to be used. In vitro fertilization didn’t work, because the virus had effectively destroyed all of the remaining female’s sex cells, thus eliminating that possibility. After many useless experiments, the planet’s Council was at the end of its rope when a seer on his planet stumbled into the debate room and as if in a trance stated “What you seek shall not be found, Salin isn’t the answer. Our people’s ancestors cry to me stating the cousins of Salin must be found. Seek the Terran colony, or we all will fade from existence.” After which the older lady collapsed to the floor. She had died on the floor. Everyone assumed the Blue Death had returned, but the medical scans concluded that the elder female seer had died from heart malfunction. The Council took the seer’s words to heart, having the galaxy searched for their cousins. After much research and scouting, the star mappers had finally found a faint reading from the galaxy two over. The readings were suspected to be intelligent life. Maybe these beings could be their salvation.
As Eon contemplated the reasoning for their coming across the galaxies, his only shipmate came onto the bridge. He stood silently watching the view that they were hoping meant the continuation of their species. “Eon, we must choose where we will disembark. My preliminary findings suggest that the planet is densely populated and advanced, though not as advanced as we are in some ways and more advanced in others. I have made a list of the similarities and dissimilarities of our species, just from the transmissions we have received. I believe that the country they claim as America should be our primary interest, mainly because of their influence and power that their media depicts. I also have a feeling that this is where we should be. I believe that we should exercise cautio
n, due to, some startling history. Apparently this group of people has diversified greatly compared to ours, but they are also suspicious of things they do not understand. It will be in our best interest to be covert about our species and its plight. Furthermore, I believe we should choose one of the less densely populated areas because there will likely be less government interaction.”
Eon smiled to himself, then stated “I think that will be fine, Kylan. We will discuss it in more detail before we actually go down and see the planet for ourselves.” Kylan nodded and stood silently beside him.
Kylan had been Eon’s friend since they were about two years old and friendship was nothing more than playing in the sand. They went to the same schools and even studied at the same college. Although Kylan decided to study in genetics and healing and Eon in piloting, space travel and conservation they had always been together. “So, what do you hope comes out of this expedition?” Eon asked his longtime friend.
Kylan, as usual, spent a couple of seconds contemplating his answer. Thoughtfully, he looked at Eon, “I know it may sound selfish, but even if we don’t find the salvation for our race, I wouldn’t mind finding a female for myself. I am lonely. I always thought that I would have time to settle down after my studies, then work happened. I naively thought that it could happen later. When the Blue Death devastated us so soon into my job, I realized, I no longer had time or options. I had put off finding a mate, maybe because I felt as if I hadn’t found her yet.”
Eon looked over at his friend. His friend had never spoken in such a manner. Kylan never thought of Kylan, probably why he was a healer. Eon never understood the genetics part. He could only surmise that the never-ending flow of data that needed to be structured soothed his friend. Eon clapped his friends shoulder the said, “If the least selfish person I know states something like that, then all I can say is whether or not the females of this planet are viable for reproduction with our species, then I say you should get one if you want her. Of course, that is if she is willing.”
Kylan smiled at him, and said, “Well, since that is the case, I can’t wait. I have the preliminary plan all laid out. Come to the galley when you are ready to discuss the species and the plan. Until then I will leave you to your stargazing.”
Eon laughed out loud. He also privately vowed that Kylan would get his heart’s desire.
* * * * * *
The plan was simple. Fit in with the species and find two subjects that would do for the testing. The good part of testing was that a small sample of DNA was all that they needed, the actual being wasn’t necessary. If they were genetically similar, then a subject would have to be taken just for the ovum. This was going to be super tricky. When they came across the research on fertility clinics, an easier way to harvest said ovum was born. They could grab a few ova from the clinic then test on them in the safety of their ship’s lab.
Kylan especially wanted to use this method because he said he couldn’t guarantee the safety of the test subject. His feared that he may not understand their physiology and anatomy like he did of Salinians. Eon agreed, while their plight was borderline desperate, the two couldn’t bear the thought of causing harm to those who didn’t deserve it.
Their chosen location had the best of both worlds, a slightly dense population with less dense outlying populations. This would give them enough population to choose from and an area to hide in with the less densely populated areas. Eon never told Kylan that his gut was telling him that they would find something in the area they had agreed upon, even though the site was ideal. Their skin color was another thing they discussed. Salinians were varying shades of red, but Kylan, after pouring over the skin variations of the humans, decided, that they would use an agent that was used to lighten the females of their world. It was temporary and would give them a less deep red that would look sort of like the “spray-on tan” they read about. After planning, they had immediate results upon landing on Earth.
Chapter 2
Eon was studying the local wildlife when he heard Kylan’s cry of victory. Kylan broke through the underbrush nearby their camp and a big grin split his face. “I’ve got some excellent news.” He said.
Eon looked at him and smiled back, “Tell me, friend. Don’t leave me in suspense.”
Kylan’s smile never faltered as he said, “Well, it appears the stories our people have passed down hold some truth. We are a genetic match. Not a slight match, but a total match. I mean, considering some of the research I did on their animal life suggested we would be closer than their most genetically common relative, the primates, but I didn’t hope to believe that we would be this closely matched. They are Salinian and we are Earthlings, and vice versa. My hopes that we will be able to interbreed are 99.9% to 0.01% in our favor. I have no reason to believe that we will not be able to interbreed viable children.”
Eon gave a whoop of victory at Kylan’s announcement. “So, now we just need an ovum to test our theory, then Kylan, my friend, we will pick out our mates.” He said.
Kylan nodded in agreement then stated, “While you are retrieving me an ovum specimen, I will work on figuring out their language. If I’m not mistaken, we can implant a chip within the ear, like we do for those on our planet who have been unable to hear, but I will make this chip translate our words into theirs and vice versa. The language is very complex, but surprisingly their language is a close match to ours. What is puzzling is the amount of languages that seem to span their planet. They are the same species, yet they divide themselves. I don’t understand it, but we will start with their English language. They use many words, and sometimes they don’t mean the same things when used in a different way. I have most of their language broken down, but even with the translator, we will struggle with certain phrases because they use their own dialect. I should have it completed within three hours’ time, however, it is my opinion we should still limit our interaction to avoid detection. Even though we will be able to understand them on some level, they will not be able to understand us.”
Eon nodded in agreement to Kylan’s observation. He looked up at Kylan and said, “Well, I’ll work on getting that ovum. I should be back in one day.”
Kylan nodded and walked back to his makeshift lab in camp. Eon looked out at the small body of water in the wooded area they had chosen for their camp. He dared to dream of a female he could protect and love. In the years the Blue Death had raged on Salin, he had lost all hope of having such things. He thought he would be forced to live amongst his people and watch them die out. Shaking his head with a small smile to himself he walked back to his shelter to pack a few essentials.
* * * * * *
The fertility clinic Eon canvased seemed a good choice. It offered an array of different humans to choose from. What he failed to understand that most of the selection would be from males. In a moment of indecision, he grabbed a sample of the males as well as one of a female. The small containment units were said to contain hundreds. He hated that he was stealing from these people that were also having a problem with reproduction, but when faced with the continuation of his species, he squashed this feeling.
He also made a copy of the profiles that seemed to accompany the specimens he had taken. Surely, Kylan would enjoy these materials. Feeling good about the retrieval, he exited the building and walked down the street. The shadows were just beginning to settle into the landscape. As he rounded the corner the local Healing facility came into view. He noticed her from a distance. She was rolling out a wheelchair and struggling with the other human, to get him off the ground. He moved to get a closer look, when she looked up and noticed him.
“Sir, please help me get him in this wheelchair. All the EMT’s are busy and I do believe he is having a heart attack.” She said. He heard the hint of steel in her voice, which said she was used to being obeyed in these instances. He walked over, thanking Kylan silently for finishing the chip so quickly, he actually understood her. He picked up the older male and placed him in the wheelchair. She huffe
d out a breath, before stating her hasty, “Thank you” and rushing through the sliding doors.
He stood there for several moments, before shaking his head. She wasn’t beautiful, no, but pretty. She looked young, probably too young. But then, she was working at a healing center, so she couldn’t be too young. She wore, what Kylan had described as glasses. Her eyes didn’t work normally. Kylan had seen statistics in his research suggesting that approximately seven percent of the population necessitated corrective lenses. This society didn’t see it as a potential for not reproducing, or keeping that gene from being passed onto offspring. They had corrective surgeries, or so Kylan had said, and he wondered why she hadn’t taken advantage of such a surgery? She had brown hair that she wore in a tight bun at the back of her head, but even a few of the tendrils of hair escaped. She had pushed them away as if her hair didn’t matter. Her frame wasn’t thin and lean like most of the females of his planet, but, well he couldn’t describe it. He thought it looked plush, but he wasn’t sure if she would consider this a compliment. She was about a foot shorter than him and her breasts were large. She seemed familiar, but Eon brushed this off, he couldn’t possibly know the little human. It stunned him to realize he was experiencing lust for this little human female.
He began to wonder what she would be like. She ordered him around like a little spitfire, but in a way that could only be seen as sweet. She had him helplessly under her control, and yet it seemed as if she didn’t understand the power she wielded. “I guess, if Kylan’s experiment gives us the expected results, I will have to discover more about this little human,” he said to himself.
Chapter 3
