by Kumar L
‘How did you learn to speak English?’ was Anara’s next question.
‘When we came here first, there were many teachers to tell us how to live on HuZryss. They showed us how to use the machines, grow plants for food and live. Then they left, coming some times to check. One time many Guardians came. They said someone is coming from the stars to meet us. We needed to learn a new language to talk to you and we needed to learn how to fly the ship. For many days they stay here and teach till all of us learned language,’ answered Lucy.
‘And that is how you could fly the ship to come and meet us,’ said Anara. ‘Tell me Lucy, all of you seem to be the same age. Where are the children and the old people in your community?’
‘Children?’ repeated Lucy as Joe bent over and whispered in her ear. ‘We have no children Captain or old people only us.’
‘And what about the Guardians, do they have children?’
‘Oh yes, many children of the Guardians on Kifrwss,’ she answered.
‘Kifrwss? Is that the name of the Guardians planet?’ asked Anara.
‘Yes. It is far away.’
‘An what about the radio telescope nearby. Who set it up and who operates it?’
‘What is radio telescope?’ asked Lucy while her people looked equally mystified.
‘That large structure of metal away from your village,’ clarified Anara.
‘Oh, you mean Post One,’ she answered shrugging her shoulders. ‘It was always here when we landed. It is forbidden for us to go there, We do not know what is its purpose.’
Her answers were raising more questions in Anara’s mind than providing information. She was sensing that these humans had somehow been brought to the Guardians planet and were not indigenous to the planet. She would have to meet the Guardians if she wanted to learn more. In the meantime there were a few things to be done.
‘We also need something from you Captain,’ asked Joe a little hesitatingly. ‘Where are you from? You look like us only little different. Are we .. related?’
‘We are from a planet called Earth which is from a solar system many light years from HuZryss.’ she answered. She was not very confident if these humans would understand her references to light years, distances and space travel. ‘We received a signal from this place many years ago and we have come to investigate. There are more than 10 billion people like you on Earth and we never expected to find humans on this side.’
She paused while she looked around the room. These people looked more confused and intrigued than frightened. God knows what they had been going through. Maybe the rumours about alien abductions were true after all but she still did not believe that the answer was so simple. There were too many variables.
‘Lucy, before I tell you more, do you mind if Dr Khan here takes some samples of you and your people’s blood and tissue to run some tests. That will help us learn more about you. I promise it will not hurt.’
‘Samples?’ a murmur ran through the group. Joe gestured for his people to join him in a corner. They all huddled together seemingly arguing on Anara’s request. This time they were speaking in a strange tongue. The Captain made a mental note to ask them for their language database so she could get her computer build a translation program.
Dr. Khan moved to sit beside Anara.
‘Captain, I carried out some basic analysis while you were talking. These people seem to be human. Of course, it’s not possible to be certain till we do the tests. But I am not sure that tells us anything about their origin? How did they land up on a planet lightyears from Earth?
‘One thing at a time, Doc. It’s beginning to look like we are in the midst of a situation bigger than anything we anticipated. Let me just contact the ship while we wait. I need Madhavan to do some digging.’
22nd June 2117
Configurations
‘Yes Captain. Copied that you want me to scan the radio telescope on the planet below and find out how it works and if we can use it to send a signal back to Earth,’ said Madhavan.
‘What is happening down there Captain?’ asked Ryan. ‘I heard the discussions, but I can’t make sense of it. Who are these people?’ He seemed to be echoing Dr. Khan.
‘I’m sending some more data to the ship that has been collected here over the few hours, Commander. Please go through it and also transmit a copy to Earth. AS to your question, we still don’t know. If they allow us some blood sample maybe we will know more. Till that time you know as much as I do, but there is progress. Dr. Khan is just getting started on getting samples, he wants to start off with a genetic analysis. He will connect with the ship once the samples are ready.’
‘Understood Captain.’
‘What about the other ship, Ryan. Any idea where it is?’
‘Negative. We have not seen any trace of the them. We have been scanning constantly. Of course if it is hidden behind an asteroid or a moon or even on the other side of the planet, we may not see it.’
‘That is a problem we need to live with. Keep the crew on alert to respond if anything changes. Anything else?’
‘Yes, I deep scanned Ship Joe while it is below. It seems empty of life but I am building up data on its structure and design. Maybe we can learn something which will give us an advantage.’
‘Good thinking, Ryan. I seemed to have missed that. Can you also deep scan for biological readings on the planet surface? It might be a good idea to drop some probes into the water bodies to take some readings.’
‘I’m on it Captain. I have three probes prepped for launch.’
‘I’ll contact you soon on schedule. Anara out.’
‘Okay people. You heard her. Let’s get to work. Manisha, you keep on the trace for the other ship. I’ll get someone to relieve you in a couple of hours. Sandy, you are on the probes. Let’s go the three areas we have selected. Collect all data and report to me in four hours. Madhavan, let’s get on the telescope.’
Everyone in Ops got busy executing their commands while Madhavan and Ryan moved over to a science station in a corner. Madhavan focused a camera on the radio telescope and received images across the spectrum.
‘There is a very low heat signature, looks like it is powered down. Getting readings on the size and scale. Narada, get a scale diagram drawn up and get me some numbers on the power pack on this system.’
‘We also need to see if it is pointing towards Earth and if it transmits in narrow or broad band. Get one of your computer experts up here Madhavan. Let’s see if we can break into its control system.’ instructed Ryan.
‘While we are at it, why don’t we see if we can tap into the alien ships system as well? Worst case we learn how the system is set up.’
Ryan nodded slowly. ‘Yes but get different teams on the two, they can compare notes later. We need answers fast and more people working on this the better.’
Leaving Madhavan to get people set up, he moved across to Manisha’s station.
‘Well Lieutenant, Hope you have the surface team on tracking? How many people are there on the surface with them.’
‘Fifty, Commander, apart from our crew. They are all in the central structure.’
‘And still nothing on the other ship?’ he asked and Manisha shook her head. ‘Keep scanning and while you keep the proximity alarms live, look for some means to see behind the planet.’ Then an idea struck him. ‘Tell me Madhavan,’ he called across to the engineer, ‘the data pods they have both send and receive capability, right?’
‘Of course, Commander,’ answered Madhavan intrigued.
‘And they can transmit over a large frequency range?’
‘Well there is a limitation because of their size but yes the range is fairly good.’
‘So, if we programme a few pods to continuously send out scanning beams and in turn relay the results to the ship, we can effectively extend the range of our own sensors?’
Understanding dawned on Madhavan. ‘Yes and if we link all of them together, we can actually extend both the width and depth of
the search. Should I get this done?’
‘Absolutely. Feed all data to Manisha. Narada, get the system setup for correlating all findings and display on holo. Also let’s get a view of the system around us, ask the astrometric team to send across their data as well. I need to go through the recordings sent by the Captain and see what they have learnt.’
‘I have scanned the recording, Commander. It’s set up to play on your station. There is regular reference to someone called the Guardians who seem to be from another system. I have asked astrometric to send across a star map so we can check that out.’
‘Good work, Narada. We have a lot of stuff to cover.’
Ryan moved across to his station and started going through the recordings. He zoomed on specific areas of the village and ran the readings through multiple filters to get a detailed layout view. He assigned individual identifiers to each life signature and mapped them to the database. He needed to build a full scale understanding of the encampment below by the time the Captain was back.
23rd June 2117
Deliberations
The atmosphere in the communal hall was more relaxed once the HuZryss people had come to an agreement to share all they knew with the humans from Earth. Dr. Khan and Lian had moved among the people to start drawing samples and cataloguing them. Base data was being sent to the ship for analysis and the results were coming back now. One team on the ship and another on the surface would be working together to tabulate the results.
The two sets of people had mixed up within themselves and there was a lot of chatter in the room. The day and night on this planet were nothing like Earth because of the shorter rotation period of the planet and over a period of time, some of the inhabitants had wandered off, presumably to attend to their routine tasks. Anara and her crew had already gone through two day and night cycles.
Anara moved to join the science and medical teams inside the environment shelter set up just outside the community hall. This was now the base of their operations on the surface where the team could work, eat and sleep without the need for EVA suits.
As she entered, she saw a couple of her people catching a shut eye while Dr Khan was huddled over the display which was spewing copious amount of data with charts and graphs. He looked up as she approached, his demeanour betraying his tiredness but his eyes bright.
‘You’re just in time, Captain,’ he said, ‘I have the first results of the genetic and physiological analysis carried out.’
‘And…?’ prompted Anara.
‘There is no doubt about it, these people are as human as you and me. At least now we can set that conjecture to rest and move ahead. Also I can confidently state that they are not a result of genetic manipulation. There is no evidence of commonality in their genes. In fact they are as diverse as I would like them to be if I was planning to colonise a planet. Only the gene pool is too small for viable propagation. And their age is similar almost to the day as far as I can determine.’
‘So we have a set of people who were most likely naturally conceived or at worst through an artificial process, and brought to life, would that be correct?’
‘Yes, and furthermore I have found no evidence of any Earth based disease having affected them in their lifetime except the genetic markers for hereditary diseases. That would indicate that in all likelihood they we raised in an environment alien to Earth or under absolute sterile conditions .’
‘Like HuZryss or..’
‘Or a lab,’ finished Dr Khan.
‘So it would seem the HuZryss have been truthful with us so far. Though I can’t imagine them living without parents or any other human contact for so long.’
‘That brings me to another issue, Captain,’ said Dr Khan, ‘Lucy is pregnant.’
‘Oh! That’s a bit of a surprise. I did not expect these people even know about conception. Does she know?’
‘I can’t be sure Captain. It’s early stages so she might have missed it. I will need to speak to her with your permission. None of the other females are pregnant by the way.’
‘Hold on to that for a while. We should not break their lifecycle without knowing more about the background and their Guardians. In fact, I don’t want this information passed beyond you and me for the moment till we decide how to act on it. I am sure you have already determined who is the father? I trust this is a natural pregnancy?’’
‘Yes it is , as far as I can determine. And I understand the need for secrecy. I will move the records to my confidential file.’
Anara nodded to him and went out of the tent zipping up her EVA suit, her mind working on overtime. She was not sure how to handle the news of this pregnancy. What had been proven again was that nature always finds a way to propagate a species. These guys had no clue on human procreation, she guessed, but that had not stopped them. Anyway, this was on hold for now.
As she stepped out, she saw a crew person working on the soil samples and decided to find out what she had discovered.
The scientist looked up as Anara approached and picked up her pad lying next to her on the ground.
‘What have you found, Tara?’
‘Quite a bit actually, Captain. I was waiting for Dr Lian to get up before we shared the report with you,’ answered Tara.
‘You can give me a gist and then we can discuss further with the Doctor.’
‘Yes Ma’am. The planet has not undergone any large scale ecological manipulations that I can determine at least in the vicinity of our location. This water body is natural and I had asked the team on Antariksh to carry out a geological survey. They have determined that the water if from underground sources. I can’t find much evidence of rainfall or precipitation so it’s quite possible the water is locked up underground.’
‘So the water occurs naturally and yet there is no evidence of life beyond bacteria and viruses and there’s very limited plant life. Looks almost barren but still after Earth, this will be the third place where life has developed if we assume there is another planet where the Guardians come from.’
‘Yes Captain. The minerals in the soil, volcanic activity and air composition are all very similar to Earth and the environment is in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone where life can develop naturally. However I will not be able to comment if that was indeed the case for HuZryss. That would be for the astrobiologists to determine.’
‘Of course, Tara. What else are you looking for?’
‘First, Dr Lian has asked me to complete the analysis of the local area and then expand the search. She has requisitioned some drones to samples farther away. Those will be send directly to the ship. We are also taking further samples from the depths of the water bodies and drilling to see if we can reach the underground water tables. All this will help us build a geological picture of the planet.’
‘Thanks. Keep it up. I will talk to you again soon,’ said Anara and stood up. She pondered what to do next. Geology was important but did not hold her interest. She was smart enough to leave the details to people who were good at it.
Knowing the history of the planet’s development would however also give them an understanding of the suitability for future colonisation, provided the Guardians approved, she thought ruefully. This question of who ‘owned’ the planet and its resources was for the legal minds back on Earth to resolve. As far as Earth’s solar system was concerned, International convention and treaties clearly applied which specified that the planets, Moons and other bodies were community resources and Earth as a whole shared them together. How those conventions would be viewed by the Guardians would be interesting.
She decided to go back to the hall and see what was developing. It was also time that the HuZryss were informed of their origin. Thought truth be told she still had very limited information to share. The Guardians on the other hand would be able to provide all the answers she was looking for. She was now willing to even reach out to the Others if it would help her task.
The Major joined her as she walked back. ‘This is a very indefensibl
e location, Captain and these people do not seem to have any weapons at all. Their guardians seem to have left them helpless,’ he remarked.
‘Weapons, Major? What do you need weapons for on a deserted planet?’
‘Ah yes, supposedly deserted but we have come here. What if we were a vicious spacefaring species out to conquer this world?’
‘You are being overly dramatic, Major,’ said Anara smiling. ‘ Anyway, I might as well get all my reports for the day. What have you discovered?’
‘Nothing special. They have no defensive or offensive capability. Their ship’s weapons seems to be a watered down version of the one which attacked us and that is the only one weapon on this whole damn planet. If they are so scared of the Others I would have expected them to have been better armed. There isn’t even a projectile rifle anywhere or even a bow and arrow. I guess since they are no animals, they have not learnt to hunt either.’
‘Maybe that is exactly what the Guardians wanted, Major. Leaving these people alone in this manner may all be part of a larger plan,’ said Anara. ‘Now I want you to do something. We have only three combatants in our group, you and your two guards. The three of you need to split up so we can react better in case of an emergency. Having all three of you in one place sort of defeats the purpose. We need a bit of stealth and honestly I do not see much threat from these HuZryss. Our threat will be from the Others or even from the Guardians.’
‘Hmm. Do you expect them to come back, Captain - the Others or the Guardians?’
‘I expect both of them to come, Major, sooner or later. The Guardians are undoubtedly on their way based on what Joe has told us and the Others I am sure are just biding their time somewhere close by within the system.’
They had reached the hall while talking and she stepped past the guard into the hall, leaving the Major to have a word with him. It was now half empty, though the designated leaders still sat together with a small congregation in the centre of the room. She walked towards the group while messaging Dr. Khan to join her.
