Planet DAN-X34

by Lamees Alhassar

  “These are really giants, Professor. Even in their seated positions, they still look so tall and huge,” Richard said.

  “I agree with you, Mr. Daniels. The average Tarvian should be about thirty feet tall. By sitting down, their enormous heights have only been reduced by half. Still, they all look like high-rise buildings,” Andrews said.

  “So massive. And yet the Mendetlets made rubbish of them. Just look at how they are huddled together in a semicircular formation,” Richard said.

  “I will take you to their leader, Mr. Daniels,” the Mendetlet woman said.

  “I am sorry. But are you sure that it is safe? I mean, are they securely bound?” Richard asked.

  The Mendetlet woman nodded and smiled. “Yes. They are securely bound, Mr. Daniels. Nothing can ever break free from our ropes. Absolutely nothing. Just come with me. Their leader is the one seated in the middle.”

  “Professor, you will come with me, while Katrina and Michael should stay back and watch the shuttle. Just in case anything goes wrong,” Richard said.

  “No problem, Mr. Daniels. Understood,” Michael said.

  The Mendetlet woman led Richard and Andrews, along with some of her people, into the midst of the towering giants who were seated in a semicircular formation. The Tarvians’ hands were all bound behind their backs and their knees were drawn up to their chin.

  The woman pointed at the Tarvian in the middle. “That is their leader, Mr. Daniels. You can talk with him.”

  Richard nodded and stepped forward. The Tarvian looked at him through heavy eyes. “Are you the leader of these people?” Richard asked.

  The giant nodded. “Yes, sir. I am.”

  “Who are you, and why did you invade my planet?” Richard demanded.

  “I am really sorry about this, sir. My name is Berkl. And these are my fellow clan brothers. We are Tarvians, and that makes us scavengers by nature. We are always patrolling the universe in search of planets to convert and make our own because our home planet is completely desolate and empty. There is no food, water, or any resources on Tarvia, which makes us to continue to scurry throughout the universe and galaxies in search of where we can get supplies,” the giant replied.

  “But that is a terrible way of life. Have you never thought about entering into some form of arrangements or contracts with these same planets that you always invade? Even though your planet is desolate and empty, can you not render any sort of services in exchange for the supplies that you need, rather than just plundering, invading, and stealing away peoples’ belongings?” Richard asked.

  “Honestly, we have never thought about such an approach before. We have always believed that this way was the only way, sir,” Berkl replied.

  “This way that you have always been adopting is the way of criminals and law-breakers. And do you know what happens to criminals and law-breakers? They must answer for their crimes by being punished,” Richard said.

  “I understand your annoyance, sir. You have every right to be angry with us. But I am begging you on behalf of my clan to please forgive us,” Berkl said.

  “Forgive you? How can I just forgive you like that, Berkl? So that you can go away scot-free to another planet where you will repeat the same atrocities? Besides, look around at my planet. See the enormous damage that you and your clan caused here. Do you know what it will cost me to rectify things and put back my structures and facilities into their former shape?” Richard asked.

  “We are going to work for you, sir. We are going to help you in the reconstruction and restoration of not just your facilities and structures, but the entire planet as well. Please, don’t punish us,” Berkl begged.

  “Is that so? Okay, very well then. This is what is going to happen. Apart from promising me that you and your kind will never, ever invade this planet again, you and your clan are going to work for me for a minimum period of two years. During this period, you will not only restore and reconstruct all that you have damaged, but you will carry out any other assignments that I will need you to handle,” Richard said.

  “That is not a problem, sir. We are willing to abide by your instructions. We are willing to do anything that you will require of us, but please don't kill us,” Berkl replied.

  “This is really wonderful. I am glad that you agree with me on this. I have no intention of harming you once the two years of service is finished. Then you will leave my planet and never come back,” Richard said.

  “I understand, sir. I promise we will assist you in doing everything that you require,” Berkl said.

  Richard turned to the professor. “What do you think, Professor? Is there any other thing I did not mention?”

  Andrews shook his head. “I think you said just about everything that was needed to be said, Mr. Daniels.”

  Richard then turned to the Mendetlet woman. “I think this has settled this aspect of the mission, right? I guess your people can go right ahead with the next phase of the mission.”

  “Yes, we will do so right away, Mr. Daniels. We are going to liaise with the Tarvians to ensure that their reconstruction and repairs do not interfere with our extraction and purification efforts,” the Mendetlet woman said.

  Richard nodded and turned back to Berkl. “You are going to work hand in hand with the Mendetlets, Berkl. They are going to be here doing some work for me as well. So I expect your maximum cooperation with them. Do you understand?”

  Berkl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I understand perfectly well, sir.”

  “Good. I guess you can be untied so that you can get to work immediately,” Richard said.

  Immediately, the Mendetlets untied the giants.

  While the Tarvians and Mendetlets were having a meeting, Richard turned to Andrews. “We really need to be getting back to Earth, Professor.”

  “It’s about time, Mr. Daniels. We all need some well-deserved rest,” Andrews said.

  The shuttle was soon taking off again and heading back to Earth.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  There was a knock on his door.

  “Come in,” Richard said.

  Professor Andrews came into the office and shut

  the door after him.

  “Good evening, Professor. How are you?” “Just as anyone can expect with me. Always busy,

  Mr. Richard. Always very busy. In fact, I was testing out some prototypes when I got your call to come to HQ so I came right over as soon as I could.”

  “Yes, Professor. I needed us to have a discussion. But please, do sit.”

  Andrews sat down on one of the visitor’s seats while Richard sat down next to him.

  “I just finished talking with Queen Rashiva,” Richard said.

  “Queen Rashiva?” Andrews repeated. “You mean the ruler of the Mendetlet planet?”

  “Yes, Professor. I see that you remember her.”

  Andrews smiled and nodded his head. “Of course I remember her, Mr. Daniels. How could I ever forget such a personality, considering the role that she played in the rescue of our planet Dan-X34?”

  “I am impressed, Professor. This is because apart from the fact that it has been quite a while since we were last there, your head and hands are always literally filled with so much because of your demanding role as the head of GEI’s operations.”

  “I agree with you, Mr. Daniels. But even at that I still have to always be abreast of major personalities and developments that critically impact GEI’s operations. Clearly, Queen Rashiva is one of such personalities.”

  Richard smiled. “That is great. Anyway, we both know that she and her people have been working with us on Dan-X34 for some time now.”

  Andrews nodded. “Yes, Mr. Daniels. I am sure you have been getting the progress reports on the rehabilitation works on Dan-X34.”

  “Yes, I have been getting them, Professor. I just spoke to her not long before I sent word to you this evening.”

  “I see. What was the discussion about?”

  “Well, as you are already aware, it’s been
a year since they began to work on Dan-X34.”

  “It’s already a year?” Andrews repeated.

  “Yes it is, Professor.”

  “Funny how time flies. It seems like just yesterday when we were touring all those planets.”

  “Yes, Professor. When we were looking for the mercenaries. Well, we just spoke on the phone not too long ago. Actually, I might have considered paying her a visit in person. But, you know, for obvious logistical reasons, we decided to communicate by interplanetary satellite communication.”

  “I see. I hope the transmission is now better. When the satellites were being mounted over Dan-X34 and over Mendetl, I had asked our engineers to make some modifications to the frequencies because of the distance that was involved.”

  “Yes. The signal was okay. In fact, there was barely any static while we were talking today. Our engineers really did a good job with the communication satellites.”

  “They should have. Right now, we are getting better data feeds of all that is happening on Dan-X34 as well. This is mainly as a result of adjustments we have made in their relays and frequencies.”

  “That is great, Professor. Like I was saying, Queen Rashiva and I had a lengthy discussion, and I am sure that we are going to be able to secure their partnership on joint development of some new devices and technologies.”

  Andrews’s eyes brightened at the announcement. “You did? That is wonderful, Mr. Daniels. Very remarkable indeed.”

  “The Mendetlets have succeeded in extracting and purifying almost all of the gold on Dan-X34,” Richard said.

  The professor nodded. “Yes, they have been getting exactly half of every ounce of gold that has been extracted and purified. The records are always made available and accessible to their people in real-time.”

  “Transparency is really key, Professor. I am glad that we were able to install the monitoring and measurement systems which you had suggested initially. That way, there has never been any dispute as to the quantities of gold that have been extracted and purified,” Richard said.

  “Now the Mendetlets have gained our trust and business can grow further.”

  “And it will, Professor. I can already see it. By the way, Berkl spoke with me a couple of minutes ago.”

  “What did he want?”

  “You will not believe it, Professor. Guess what? He wants to stay on Dan-X34.”

  Professor Andrews frowned. “What do you mean by staying on Dan-X34?”

  “He and his clan want to reside, dwell, and live on Dan-X34, Professor.”

  “The scheming giants! So, after they have succeeded in reconstructing and rebuilding all that they had earlier destroyed, they now see that Dan-X34 is really a beautiful place to stay in? Was that why they were in such a hurry that they finished all the repairs in record time?”

  “Maybe, Professor. But remember that the agreement that I had with them was that they were not only going to rebuild Dan-X34 but they were also going to work for me for a minimum period of two years, during which they would do any task I assign to them.”

  Andrews nodded. “Yes, I do remember that, Mr. Daniels. They have just spent a year, which means that they still have another year to work for you.”

  “Yes. But now, they don’t want to work for just one more year, Professor. They want to continue to work for us. Did you get that? They want to perpetually work for GEI.”

  “Really? Are you sure about this?”

  “I already accepted. You can bet that I would never allow a good deal to pass me by, Professor. I have accepted and promised to send them a draft agreement before the week runs out.”

  “Well, they will really come in handy, Mr. Daniels. I mean, just look at their strength and size. They can be great with building and construction work on sites and planets that we might need them to work on.”

  “Can you now see why I had to snap up their request to reside on Dan-X34?”

  “I think I do, Mr. Daniels. But, what about all the plans we had for Dan-X34? Are you going to just shelve it all and let the giants stay there instead?”

  “Not really, Professor. I am thinking that we might still be able to go ahead with our development plans for Dan-X34. What we will do is to get the giants to buy into our plans so that they can cohabitate in whatever structures we will have there. Who knows? They could even be a part of our tourism activities on the planet, where visitors and guests to Dan-X34 can always take a tour to visit the regions occupied by the giants, maybe interact with them, and so on and so forth.”

  “Really? That sounds interesting, Mr. Daniels. You always seem to have a way of working around these seemingly complex issues.”

  “I try, Professor. I only wanted to keep you abreast of some of the things that are going on in the background while you occupy yourself with other more operational aspects,” Richard said.

  “Thank you so much for this update, Mr. Daniels. I really appreciate it.”

  After Andrews left, Richard called his PA on the phone. “Melissa, please don't transfer any calls to me, I don't want to be disturbed.”

  “Okay, Mr. Daniels,” Melissa replied.

  Richard stood up and locked his office door. Afterwards, he went to the series of paintings on his wall. He selected a particular painting and removed it from its position, thereby revealing the safe in the wall.

  Richard then opened the safe and brought out the small box inside it. He opened it and brought out the gray ball. He then began to rub it with his two hands.

  In time, a bright glow appeared in the center of his office. From a glow, it turned into a white ball of light, which started to expand. After a while, the ball of light split into three different balls.

  The balls separated from each other and then morphed into the shapes of the three aliens.

  As they stepped forward, Richard stood up and bowed his head slightly. “Intaaku, Joseeba, and Nevoaru. I welcome you all to my humble office.”

  Joseeba nodded. “Thank you, Richard. It is really good to know that you still remember our names so easily.”

  “Do I have a choice? After all, it is obvious that you are all my biggest partners in business,” Richard said.

  “Is that so?” Nevoaru asked. “Your biggest business partners?”

  “Of course. After all, it is because of you that I can say that I not only got to win an entire planet, but a planet that is so rich with resources. Here on Earth people boast of owning islands. Can you see the contrast?” Richard asked.

  “How is everything going on Dan-X34?” Joseeba asked.

  “So far, so good. Everything is working out just fine. Over the course of the past twelve months, apart from getting all the destruction and damage restored, we have been able to extract and purify all the gold on the planet,” Richard replied.

  “You were able to extract all the gold, and got it refined too?” Intaaku repeated.

  Richard nodded. “Yes, we have.”

  Nevoaru nodded. “We knew you were going to find a way around the extraction of the gold on Dan-X34, Richard. And in spite of the initial setbacks caused by the Tarvians’ invasion, you have still proven us right.” “So are we going to get the 30 percent as agreed?” Intaaku asked.

  “Of course you will, how and when do we complete the handover?” Richard said.

  “We will discuss the handover details right after we hand you the title deed of a new planet, as a reward,” Nevoaru replied.

  “You will give me a planet for free?”

  Joseeba smiled and said, “Yes, the title deed of your new planet is here . . . and we wish to tell you that it is a special planet. It has an abundance of diamonds on it.”

  “Let me guess; you are having trouble extracting the diamonds?” Richard said.

  “Yes, Richard, but we’re sure you can,” Intaaku said with a wide smile on his face.

  A few minutes later, Richard was sitting all alone in his expansive office. In his hands was the title deed of his new planet.

  There was a broad s
mile on his face as he studied it. He sighed a sigh of triumph and thought to himself, I will name it Dan-X35. The Diamond Planet.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lamees Alhassar is a prolific, inspirational writer, artist & a philanthropist. You can visit her website http://www.lameesauthor.com and you can send her an email

  Lameesalhassar@hotmail.com