Origin: Eternity's End

by Uneeb Qureshi

  Jo jumped onto the saddle effortlessly and covered her head preparing to ride into the desert winds. Dar was feeling uneasy atop the beast’s back, had it felt the slightest inclination to remove her it would probably do so.

  Sheppard reassured her with a laugh and told her to hold onto the rider. Dar wrapped her arms tightly around Jo’s abdomen as the beast immediately took off.

  Sheppard prepared the packs of his camel and made sure the Aterian chieftain would not fall off anytime soon. He looked at Jo and smirked, he smacked the camel’s leg sending the beast forward without him.

  Jo gazed back and turned her camel around.

  “What are you doing, Sheppard?”

  “It took us weeks to get this far did it not young Jo?”

  She gave him a confused look.

  “I still have work to do in these lands, I’m halfway already, there’s no sense in going back in the current state of mortal affairs.”

  “You’re not returning with us?”

  He shook his head. “For now I leave this Aterian to Solb.”

  Jo nodded and motioned to Dar, “And of her?”

  “I entrust her to you, Jo.” A look of amazement filled her face, “I think you’re finally ready. I have trained you long enough, plus I’m beginning to get a little tired of that face,” he said sarcastically before continuing. “Mentor her in our ways. Teach her everything I have taught you.”

  Jo flustered at the request, it was highly unusual and abrupt.

  “You have always been ready Jo, but until now I had none to entrust to you.”

  Jo was feeling ecstatic at first but was disheartened at her mentor’s parting.

  “When shall we see you again?”

  “Soon, I will return to our lands in time…and I look forward to seeing great things of you, daughter of Anach.” Dar was too scared atop the beast to respond.

  He felt content as Jo resumed her journey without question.

  The camels followed one another into the distance over the hills and ledges of the valley on their way south.

  Sheppard stayed in the valley until sundown, preparing his packs for the days to come. He was sure he would find this island the Aterian chieftain spoke of in the great sea to the west.

  Mekias joined them half way through the story. And he could not believe a word of it. He did not spend four years in college to be hyped to by some horny swimmer.

  His disinterest did not impact Monica one bit however; she was absorbed in the tale, on the inside she still felt like a little girl meeting her prince charming.

  “Seriously now?” Mekias asked, “I’ve taken vertebrate paleon-tology courses and human anthropology classes for years and you’re trying to tell me they had organized permanent settlements by twenty thousand BCE? Much less domesticated camels?”

  Mekias! Monica tried to hush him.

  “I’m not saying that everything I’ve told you is true but that is what I have heard. Many people know the tales of Commander Sheppard and they believe in it, he continues to inspire hope in all of us, young and old.” Avi responded.

  Avi added, “And don’t forget that he is an ancient. I believe there are a little over a dozen people that are anywhere near Sheppard’s age out of the billions of immortals.”

  “Billions!” Monica interjected.

  “Yes, and the majority of them were born in the past ten thousand years, when immortals finally took to the stars.”

  “Can they can make people immortal now?” Monica asked.

  “Their biotechnology resources are at that point now, it’s not perfect but it works…most of the time.”

  “So…who can make me immortal?” Monica asked.

  “Only the Legions, and not without their permission. They hold the monopoly on the technology because there is an extremely high mortality rate. They are the only ones willing to take blame for its testing process.”

  “How high?”

  “Considering the mutation’s sensitivity to your cells, and based on a number of genetic factors it’s as high as one-in-two…”

  The statistic was very steep and Monica grew a little uneasy, this would be a much more dangerous decision than she thought.

  Avi checked the time.

  “Hey I’m feeling a bit tired. I’m gonna take a nap but if you have any other questions feel free to catch me in an hour or so.”

  Monica bid him farewell and sat rather glumly.

  “What’s wrong Monica?” Mekias asked her.

  “What if…” she dropped the thought, “Never mind. I think I should get some rest too…”

  Chapter 11

  Old Allies, New Enemies

  Moments Later,

  Aboard the Eternity

  Sheppard was beginning to become bored since his return to the station. Though his people had exalted him to a near mythic status he realized he did not wish for any of that.

  He had lived too long to be such a celebrity. He had borne the consequences of such exposure time and time again. He maintained his friendly nature on the outside but his outward self did not reflect his real self.

  Sir the ship has been cleared of all non-critical personnel. His computer AI reported.

  He nodded in affirmation to the flat hologram of a glowing ball that was his AI.

  “Soul. Patch me into the ship’s PA system.”

  “Attention,” He began, “tonight’s secret society meeting will be held in the Commander’s study on the central aft, at approximately 7 TST. Refreshments will be provided, thank you.”

  The ship’s denizens recognized the voice and enjoyed the joke. Arnael sent him a text-based communiqué to his desk that read in the immortal script:

  REALLY SHEPPARD? REALLY?

  A small craft appeared at the ship’s upper dock minutes later. A man draped in coarse robes exited the craft. His robe was lithe and worn by many pilots and technicians in the immortal legions.

  The man’s crest emblazoned on his chest revealed he was in fact a legion Commander, the ships denizens saluted with a fist held over their chest and a polite nod. A young girl approached him with flowers.

  “Welcome to the Eternity Commander Solb.” She said as he patted her on the head.

  “Thank you young one, it has been a while.”

  He stood up and bid the soldiers farewell as he traversed his way through the ship.

  By the time he approached the Commander’s study he felt at home. Those in the room were recognizable, nearly unchanged by history.

  “Hi, I’m here for the secret society meeting?”

  Sheppard smiled and motioned for him to sit, “You almost missed the tea and crumpets.”

  At his sides sat Dar and Arnael. Jo was present through a tele-presence hologram; she was reclined on her vessel’s plush mattress. The light dispersed out of the prism so finely that the colors emitted from the diodes were visible three hundred and sixty degrees around. They could each see Jo as she could.

  “I thought it was funny at least Sheppard,” Dar said pouting her lips sarcastically. She patted him on the back. “Why are you so freaking awesome?”

  Solb could see the hologram was scaled to the table, projecting Jo to a much smaller scale than normal.

  “Lose some weight Jo? You look nice.” Solb asked.

  “Har-har.” She replied, obviously tired from her travels. “Can we end this meeting soon? We are about to reach a safe jumping distance to Denosc Dene.”

  Sheppard agreed, he looked around and saw his close companions, he was proud to see that they were still as resolute as always. The emblems emblazoned on their armors represented each to their different legion. The silvery-blue Phoenix insignia was marked on both the table and his armor as clear and inspiring as always.

  The Phoenix itself was not only a symbol for his legion but a symbol for all the immortals. It was to be the undoubted symbol of rebirth of their order and it would remain their symbol for many millennia to come.

  Each commander was a specialist in their ow
n way. Solb and Arnael were the two commanders of the skies, their specialty in aeronautics and engineering made them the backbone of the immortal legions. Its wings and glory.

  Jo became the Legions’ diplomatic consul to the Immortal Federation worlds. Her words rang as soundly and true as the diplomats of old, she bore an immeasurable respect amongst peers.

  Daria on the other hand commanded the shadowy sects of the immortal Legions, her assassins and spies made their intelligence operations a force to reckon with, both politically and militarily in the galaxy.

  The two who were not present still commanded respect even from afar. Lee and Ali, the last of Sheppard’s prodigies waged his eternal war against his brother on the front lines. Over half of Sheppard’s men were under their command far from the Earth.

  “So what were these…refreshments?” Arnael asked.

  “Water, bread, some…” he glanced behind the table at the skewers of meat garnished on the plate, “shit sticks.”

  Solb broke out in laughter, “Got that from Edric did you?”

  He nodded, “I guess we’re all here, I was told Ali and Lee were not able to be here with us, they are...quite busy at the Eri fronts. But no matter, they will keep the peace until the time comes…”

  The commanders did not say a word. They knew all too well what was running through the mind of Sheppard.

  Sheppard fiddled with his fingers as he attempted to relearn the hologram controls in front of him, a large constellation map appeared on his screen. Several overlapping shades of red, blue, green, and white littered the stars on the hologram.

  “I see the war front has not changed since I last left…” Sheppard pointed to the green and white shades that overlapped, he was deep in his thoughts as his voice sank, he did not want to return to see his war still where he left it.

  “Sheppard, by all means we have contained the Eri fronts. They have lost considerable grounds on the outer fringe, but your legions have also lost innumerable numbers from that war front. You won’t be able to wage this conflict forever.” Daria beckoned.

  At first Sheppard did not respond, he connected stares with Jo and like old friends they connected thoughts.

  You know we have to stop this eventually. He read Jo’s thoughts. But you’re too scared to commit to it, you’re afraid of losing… He stopped and put his hands on the table, his lips were parched. He reached for a glass of water before continuing.

  “I understand the losses, my men understood it when they conscripted with me. This is our war as much as it is all humanity’s.”

  No one questioned Sheppard, he had instilled his ideals into each one of them. His ethos their own.

  Solb, his closest friend, hated to bring it up but felt the debate necessary. “Do you think your orphan army can last forever, Sheppard? Come on, be realistic. You know as well as I do this is going to be a lost cause. Your army was the ultimate backbone of our fighting force but your men have fought almost as long as you and I have…since the beginning…they will grow weary of war soon enough. You need to end this now, or stop this futile stalemate… think of your men…”

  He stared back at the star map, nearly a tenth of the Milky Way was covered in some color but much of it was still not colonized. The arbitrary borders were meant only for theoretical military scenarios.

  “Maybe we can get Edric to eat them all up!” Jo’s lighthearted quip did not alleviate the gravity of the situation.

  “Or Dar could assassinate them all,” Arnael added.

  “Like that’s gonna happen.” Dar responded.

  The lighthearted side chatter eased some stress off of them. But Sheppard remained locked in thought as always. His mind had always wandered, at times he felt like a philosopher pondering about the quandaries of thought itself.

  “Jo’s Legion is stationed across the Federation home worlds. Dar is stretched thin as well across the known galaxy. Arnael and Solb as far as I know are maintaining logistical operations for almost everything, and my men are split between the Earth and the front lines…not much has changed.”

  Time in their world was never-ending.

  “Come now Sheppard, do you really think Dom is that desperate for the Earth? You have a quarter of your men stationed in this system alone, harvesting useless materials from the Solus system and guarding our home world.” Daria could not take the senseless waste of man power for much longer, “I love the Earth as much as you do Sheppard but I think we have been the guardians of the Earth for too long…”

  Solb interjected, “I have a ten thousand vessels, primarily colonization and research vessels under construction, queue times of over a millennia at the rate our man-power is spread currently.” He paused for a moment as he read his reports, “And a little over one-thousand actual military vessels. Almost all of our civilian vessels are in use by the Federation so retro-fitting them isn’t a possibility anytime soon.”

  ETA to safe jumping distance… 10 minutes.

  Jo’s hologram broadcasted that in the background. Her ship needed sufficient distance from any celestial bodies before initiating its powerful Jump drives. The technology was extremely recent, harboring on resources from the farthest reaches of the known galaxy.

  The pinnacle of their engineering rested on the mining of resources contained in mostly Eri territories, worlds much closer to the galactic center where dangerous celestial conditions prevented much probing.

  To the Immortals, this war was as much for political pandering and economic worry as it was for ideals. Sheppard began to distaste the aspirations of the Federation in these pursuits. But in these politically sensitive times, allies, much less friends, were hard to come by.

  Taking advantage of this occasion, each Commander broke off into personal side conversations, it was the first time they had all met in person for over a millennia. Sheppard’s two century absence from the Legions elicited not only vague skeptical inquiry but also internal dilemmas.

  But his self-exiles were not new, he always had a habit of disappearing during the worst of times, leaving his closest friends and companions to complete his master plan. His consistent absences were not out of abandonment but rather curiosity and his personal sanity.

  None could say that they could understand the inner workings of the man who had forged the Immortal lineages as they have now. From the first immortal empires of the Earth to the three largest powers in the galaxy Sheppard had been present to see and experience it all first-hand.

  But he was disgusted by the ravages of time. Mankind had a way of returning to its separate and often misguided differences. And to everyone there, it seemed the present was no different.

  He had seen mankind from the throes of the Ice Age to the pinnacle of the Space Age. Only time could tell if he would live to see it all end in a fiery blaze as it had during the immortal Dark Ages.

  What would life be like if we didn’t exist?

  He asked himself that question nearly every day. It boggled his mind but prepared him for the worst. To many the thought was incomprehensible. Could their existence be impossible in some other plane? Sheppard avoided such improbable quandaries, he was realistic and visual and not subject to the same errors of the mortal tribes.

  Sheppard knew if he rested his mind on those thoughts for long that he would succumb to, what he saw, as the bane of man; decadence. The mortals had always ascribed sins to be rooted in decadence and in Sheppard’s eyes they would be no different to immortals.

  He had seen dozens of civilizations collapse from within from their internal squabbles and mindless greed. He smirked as he pondered the idea, what if he didn’t care?

  He was interrupted in thought by Jo’s farewells through the hologram. Her vessel finally vanished into deeper space.

  Sheppard paid no mind to anything after that. He turned his head to the side and watched his hands as they tapped the desk. The thuds of his fingertips against the hard metal table turned his fingers red. He continued to beat them, slow at first then sporadicall
y. His mind was devoid of coherent thoughts, he was contemplating something deeper.

  Back to war and politics, eh Sheppard?

  He periodically gazed around the room, his old friends conversing fervently with one another as they made amends for much lost time together.

  Why am I immortal…why-y…am I imm-mortal! He was now singing to himself in his thoughts, both sarcastically and out-of-pitch.

  Though his life had been full of bloodshed and pain, he ultimately knew life more intimately than death.

  But for now he felt none would be able to comprehend his plan. He would continue to watch them from the shadows, protecting them whether they knew it or not.

  It was not to say that there were not times he realized he used to be one of them. He was a product of his own misfortune, there was never a day that passed by that he never appreciated how lucky he was to have made it this far in his life.

  “I knew you’d come back,” Daria nodded her head and pouted her lips, “we all missed you.”

  He forced a smile onto his face, to his friends it looked genuine but deep down he was telling himself, It’s time they realize they don’t need me to lead them anymore.

  “It’s good to be home.” He resigned.

  He smiled and looked around the table, he had much more to tell them but they cared little for it at the moment. Everytime they came together as one they anticipated Sheppard telling them to make a triumphant return to their Earth.

  They wanted to see and enjoy the beautiful waters and exotic wildlife much like Sheppard did each time he left them. They all wished to appreciate their former homelands as casually as he did.

  But Sheppard wished he could leave it all behind.

  “What have they learned so far about vacuum energy or ‘dark matter’? I hear my new mortal engineer recruits are baffled by it still.” Solb added with a smirk.

  “Cut them some slack,” Daria agreed, “their brightest scientists only live for so long…ours, well almost forever. They will resume the work of their forebears. Isn’t that right Sheppard?”