The Comet Riders: Book Five of Seeds of a Fallen Empire

by Anne Spackman

  Chapter Three

  Lier's mission guideline had allowed for the crew to remain one Seynorynaelian year on the planet, but for some unexplainable reason, he had not expected to remain that long. At least, he had not anticipated that a year could stretch so long, as every day seemed to bring new revelations, cultural and scientific discoveries of soaring magnitude.

  At first the language barrier made communication with the Kayrian people difficult, and progress did not extend much beyond simple identification vocabulary. The nuances of Kayrian culture and beliefs remained a mystery, but Lier and his crew tried to document everything they witnessed.

  At the same time, the Kayrians were able to clear up one misunderstanding right away. When Chiyenn showed the Kayrian woman Mica-luadei, who appeared to be some kind of important figure in their society, the recorded image of the first visual the Seynorynaelians had received, she had nodded, nodded like she perceived his question. Later, she contrived a meeting, in order to show them the construction plans of their first satellite and the ship that had brought that man to their moon and schematics of the atmospheric interference that scattered visual signals from the planet.

  "Of course," Chiyenn’s eyes were lit with a bright spark of comprehension; the Kayrian woman just smiled and nodded at them, tolerating this unintelligible gibberish. Lier suppressed a desire to laugh, and tried to suppress his own sense of wonderment that Kayrians smiled to show their amusement just like Seynorynaelians, when wild animals might have interpreted a smile as a threatening grimace. Yes, every biological and social coincidence Lier encountered forced him to experience a disquieting sense of wonder. Yet Lier was in no way disappointed that this was the reality he found, merely intrigued by it.

  As it turned out, the Kayrians had sent the signals by laser beam to a newly launched space satellite, which had broadcast signals by radio dish into space. When the Kayrians received an answering signal a few years later, they had begun to create a space vessel to launch them to their moon while others worked on processing the transmissions from Seynorynael. They had gone to the extent of sending someone to their moon to try to install a receiver and transmitter, to try to learn more about their alien neighbors.

  Lier found himself more and more impressed by the Kayrians’ ingenuity. He tried to emphasize that sentiment in his reports.

  The Kayrians gave his crew a permanent living dwelling in the city the first evening of their arrival, prepared much the same as Seynorynaelian homes, with greenery, low lounge chairs, and sleeper panels.

  That was how Lier and the others knew— the Kayrians had known the Seishinna was coming, and they had already prepared for the cultural meeting.

  Of course, this made scientific sense, though Lier hadn’t thought about it beforehand; the blueshift in the Seishinna's last transmission this year had alerted the Kayrians that some celestial object was approaching the Kayrian system, and the transmissions ruled out any other possibility other than that the object was in fact an alien vessel. So the Kayrians were not as ignorant of Seynorynaelian knowledge as the crew were regarding Kayrians; the Kayrians had been analyzing what they observed for some time. Since the Kayrians had been receiving video transmissions from Seynorynaelian airspace for years, it hadn’t been difficult to attempt to recreate a facsimile of the Seynorynaelian domestic settings they had observed for the convenience of their visitors.

  Lier found it odd that the Kayrians hadn’t invented food facilitator units; to his mind, the entire field of Kayrian science was a strange mixture of the highly advanced alongside the anachronistic. Kayrians had developed highly refined building materials, and yet the use of curved, aerodynamic shapes in their buildings struck Lier as odd.

  However, after the first wind storm, a roaring, destructive thunder that proved as violent as those outside the weather-safe ring on Seynorynael, Lier began to appreciate the dwellings, and the wind-resistant function of the architecture.

  He had already noted the Kayrians' extraordinary perception ability.

  Chiyenn already had plans to bring back some technological devices from among of the Kayrians’ greatest inventions. Lier was more impressed by the Kayrian temperament and thought the Kayrians handled stress well. They tackled problems with an approach certain of success, and usually, uncannily, always seemed to find the answers they sought.

  Lier derived great amusement taking his new Kayrian friends out on the alarmingly fast Seynorynaelian shuttles.

  Some of Captain Lier’s Seynorynaelian crew also grew to like and admire the Kayrians they met, particularly the children of Mica-luadei, whom Lier understood to be some kind of spiritual leader. After a year passed on Kayria, about half of a Seynorynaelian year, her children had learned to speak rudimentary Seynorynaelian, and it was through them that the Seynorynaelians at last began to see the Kayrian culture.

  The open candor of Kayrians surprised the Seynorynaelians. A few of the others who had remained on the ship until the mid-year after their arrival came to dislike their hosts because the Kayrian children would tell them anything they thought, without thinking that anyone might be offended.

  The Kayrians believed in a divinity different from the Seynorynaelian Great One, the creator of all, who was known by many names across Seynorynael. The Kayrians believed in a spirit that moved through all living things, and that some of a person's energy remained where they had lived after death until it was called to another world by the Great Spirit. Their beliefs called for them to treat themselves and others honestly, or the Great Spirit might not allow them to join it in its journey. For if they could not face the truth no matter how unpleasant it may be, how could they ever expect to make the longest and most testing journey?

  Despite all this, the Kayrians showed a great sympathy to those who found their way difficult to follow, and many of the Kayrian children amused the explorers with made-up tales. Mica-luadei had explained that there were also people in the Kayrian provinces who followed different religious beliefs, though their racial characteristics as Lier called them seemed much the same.

  Other Kayrian sub-cultures spoke different Kayrian languages, ate different foods, and had different cultural practices, arts, and architectures. And though Lier saw no difference between their physical appearances in the pictures he observed, Mica-luadei assured him that some other Kayrians had darker eyes or lighter hair. Lier wondered if the Kayrians then saw all gray-skinned Seynorynaelians as similar to each other; but, he decided he didn’t really want to know the answer to that.

  During their mission, most of Lier's crew had begun to learn Kayrian, and had been invited to stay on the planet and continue their learning. Lier's mission guideline promoted this; Leader Maklian and his council had hoped that if an alien race were to be contacted, a mutual understanding of each other should be encouraged as soon as possible to prevent any possible outbreak of interplanetary war. Lier strongly hoped that war never happened, but he made mental notes about Kayrian weaknesses in case of a future exigency.

  Shortly before the departure, Mica-luadei asked through her son if she might join the returning crew to visit Seynorynael.

  Lier thought about that. Should she come back with them?

  Apparently, Mica-luadei was willing to put her life in their hands.

  Lier respected that. After a day or two of consideration, he decided to give her a large quarters on the Seishinna and then invited as many Kayrian scientists as were willing to come with the crew to study Seynorynael. He didn’t want Mica-luadei to think that she was in any danger going to Seynorynael alone, or that Kayrian hospitality had gone unappreciated.

  At the same time, Lier warned the scientists that the Seishinna would first have to go on to meet the Velastria. The Velastria had traveled to the planet in the neighboring star system, and the crews were to rendezvous before the ships returned home.

  Chiyenn was adamant in explaining to them the danger in approaching
the unknown planet—but after a brief moment weighing their alternatives, the Kayrians accepted.

  Lier decided their decision took guts; and creator above! He admired their trust.

  "Come in, Velastria," Specialist Maika Deria said, sending a short range communication to the starship under Nilery's command, now only three hundred thousand units away in orbit around the planet called Tulor.

  Lier and the others waited, shifting around in the silence of the bridge.

  Nilery's third long range message had updated the crew of the Seishinna on the events that had occurred since Velastria's launch from Seynorynael; apparently, the maverick mission leader Nilery had arrived on the fourth planet of a white-yellow star system, a place called Htuulorh by its humanoid population, a name which Nilery rendered “Tulor”.

  As for the Tulorians, it seemed that they were nothing like the Seynorynaelians or the Kayrians Lier had come to know.

  At long last the Seishinna finally approached the rendezvous location just outside the planetary orbit. Lier tapped his fingers against the side of his chair, and on impulse decided again to re-play the last message in the holo-monitor. He hated the silent waiting.

  After some time, a recorded message came through from Captain Nilery.

  "To Captain Lier of the Seishinna." Captain Nilery said in the holo-sphere, drawing the eyes of several Kayrian passengers on the bridge; Lier sat down heavily in his command chair as the bridge communicator waited for him to continue the message. Of course, it had taken some time for the message to reach Seishinna through space; it was simply not possible to have a two-way conversation over such distances, so, as in days of old, the captains of space fleets sent dispatches to each other, and tried to sum up all of their questions and comments before recording them.

  "Observation report on the planet Tulor.” The message said; Nilery could only have made it less than an hour ago, likely before he even received Lier’s message requesting an update of information.

  “As you know, the Velastria arrived in Tulorian airspace 1.13 years after our departure; it has now been 1.3 Seynorynaelian years since that time. The Tulorians have at last decided to disarm their defense missiles after intense negotiations. We have remained in orbit for some time to keep any hostilities from escalating, sending down but a few emissary shuttles for our scheduled meetings.

  "Our visuals depict a society of large productive cities worldwide. There are numerous manned satellites in orbit around the planet which we have already visited by invitation. Analyst Hider seems to think that their technological advancements have all been within the last twenty years, dating at the point in time when Seynorynael began to receive the transmissions from the planet.

  "Linguist Meron, who had taken what little of the language we guessed from the visual communications we received after passing Kai-rek to form our salutation, has been hard at work piecing more information together.

  “We continue to try to persuade them as best we can of our peaceful intentions. We tapped into their communications system and sent a broadcast worldwide within the first tenday of our arrival, but the Tulorians have forbidden future broadcasts.

  “In the last year, we have made but little progress in persuading the Tulorians of our peaceful intentions, but the disarmament of the missiles shows progress. In the past two months, we have been entertaining a delegation of Tulorian scientists on board the Velastria in order to promote these peace talks.

  "The decision to allow them to investigate us with an armed guard proved to play a positive role in breaking down their hostilities." Nilery said, his voice betraying a hint of satisfaction. "The scientists have remained on board since that time, observing our way of life, in particular paying attention to our scientific advancements. From what little we understand, we have sufficient evidence to believe that the Tulorians had no idea of their proximity to Seynorynael, and did not expect our arrival.

  "Many of the transmissions from Seynorynael have been distorted by the gravitational forces of the black hole Kai-rek, though I hear that a small group of scientists on Tulor were beginning to suspect that some of the radio transmissions they had received might be of alien origin, yet they could not resolve the signals into any kind of comprehensible format.

  "When the scientists boarded Velastria, we also had an opportunity to observe Tulorian culture and behavior. Between you and me, they seem to me to be an extraordinarily practical race—every Tulorian I have encountered possesses a great fascination with tools and how to use them and a penchant to create new devices.

  "But in their enthusiasm for creating possible time-saving innovations, they have created an array of useless trinkets as well. Indeed, many Tulorian inventions appear to serve no other purpose than to provide pleasure or to serve as a topic of conversation, or to function as a catalyst for further creative endeavors. Some of the crew, however, have taken a peculiar fondness for Tulorian cuisine, in particular the region of Biliri. And yes, we can digest their food fully.

  "When we finally presented Seynorynael's proposal to the Tulorian government to join a kind of 'planetary federation', the Tulorians held a planetary conference and agreed to consider the proposal. Then when the scientists' reports of our culture were spread across the planet, the Tulorian people seemed intrigued by the possibility of studying our innovations.

  "I think they are inclined to join us," Nilery said thoughtfully, "but the government would first like to send some ambassadors to Seynorynael before reaching a final decision, and so we agreed to take them with us. In exchange, we were persuaded to allow some crew members to remain on Tulor. I think the Tulorians would like to believe our intentions are good, but they seemed more secure with the arrangement once half of our crew had been relocated to the Tulorian capital.

  "I myself spent a month in the capital city among the ambassadors, preparing them in Seynorynaelian customs. The experience has left me with an odd impression of the Tulorian character, I'm afraid. Already I have noticed that the Tulorian rooms have been refitted with adaptations of our own food facilitators that their scientists studied on our ship. Most of our science is too far ahead of their understanding so far, but as you know the food facilitators are relatively simple to produce.

  "Still, the entire experience strikes me as a demonstration of how easily the Tulorians will accept unusual ideas, but their adaptability has allowed them to advance from a civilization that did not have aerospace transport twenty years ago to one that has already sent satellites into orbit.

  "But I think you will be more surprised by the Tulorian zeal for life, and their equal dedication to enjoying what they have worked hard to create. I think of you every time I visit one of their cultural recreation centers, and I am strongly considering suggesting our people recreate them when I return to Seynorynael.

  “The one thing I hadn’t anticipated, Lier,” Nilery paused, “is that the Tulorians were at war with each other until the very arrival of the Velastria. I have to admit, I was surprised to learn of this, a year later! And nearly three years by the Tulorian calendar.”

  Lier suppressed an exclamation of complete and utter surprise, afraid profanity would ensue; for the sake of composure, he maintained an unsteady silence; he kept his mouth shut.

  “I’m still trying to ascertain all of the details regarding this planetary war; it seems to have been primarily an air war, rather than a land conflict. I still don’t know; perhaps the Tulorians have only let us see what they want us to see. There has been rapid change on the surface since our arrival, so it may already be too late to root out the evidence of what truly happened prior to our landing.

  "This is my last transmission before the rendezvous. I report that some of the Tulorians have insisted on accompanying your vessel's crew when the Seishinna arrives; it seems imprudent to me to deny them, but you will have to make your decision when you arrive. Since we received your transmission about Kayria, the Tulorian
people have been eager to meet with them and your crew.

  "I will send a shuttle to bring you to Velastria where our meeting will take place. Then we can begin to discuss how best to assimilate our alien companions.

  "Before I sign off I want to request that you ask if any of your Kayrians would be willing to exchange their quarters for one on the Velastria. The Tulorians have expressed an interest in meeting with a few of them. You have implied that your Kayrian companions may be reluctant to accept such an offer, but since my Velastria is a much smaller ship than the Seishinna, I confess I would be relieved to relinquish some of my Tulorian passengers in exchange. Their delegation is much larger than we anticipated.

  "One other interesting anecdote—several of my crew who lived on the planet returned with Tulorian female companions; I hadn’t anticipated it, but there is a possibility that we will never return to Seynorynael, and there is nothing in the mission guideline against bringing back aliens on board; as you know, the guideline encourages us to accept delegations—”

  Lier jumped out of his chair.

  “And of course, I myself thought that any kind of physical relationship with these aliens was absolutely impossible. But Medical Specialist Koralev, who was among the returning crew, informed me that the Tulorian biological systems are not incompatible with ours—”

  “Good God.” Lier said, somewhat horrified.

  “Of course,” Nilery’s report went on, ”I was more shocked to discover that some of my crew had actually gone through a Tulorian attachment ceremony, but the greatest surprise came only a few tendays ago when we discovered that one of my female crew members is carrying—a half-Tulorian child. Medical Specialist Koralev has termed the embryonic male 'a half-race child'.

  "This information has virtually single-handedly erased the last of the Tulorian reservations to an alliance with us, but the scientific community of both worlds has been thrown into an alarming frenzy that will only be calmed when we determine how this miracle was possible—yes, miracle is how I see it. Perhaps I am a fool, but I can’t help wondering if we are not related to these Tulorians somehow—and... I find myself wondering if perhaps... the Comet Riders of our past existed, after all, eh?

  "This is Captain Nilery, signing off."

  It was some time before Lier was calm enough to sit down again.

  "I called you here, Medical Specialist Koralev, because I wanted you to explain your findings to Captain Lier. Captain Lier has just arrived on board Velastria from the Seishinna." Captain Nilery said, tight-lipped, glancing at the slight-boned young medical specialist and his steady, even eyes. Nilery was a round-faced, stout man with great jaws, a sturdy, big-boned frame, and broad shoulders. Nilery moved aside to let Lier and Koralev clasp hands in greeting; hard-soled boots made sharp clicking sounds against the smooth metallic floor.

  What an odd gesture, Nilery thought, regarding them. The Tulorians hadn't understood the gesture at first, but to tell the truth, he never had, either. Near Nilery's home in the Kilkoran province, the gesture was infrequently used, but it was standard in Ariyal-synai.

  "Pleased to meet you, sir," Koralev said to Lier. Koralev wondered why Lier seemed so anxious; from all he knew of the legendary Lier, third in line of a family of famous space explorers, Lier wasn’t unsettled easily.

  “So, Koralev,” Lier said. “I hear you’ve been investigating the half-race child incident.”

  “Yes,” Koralev agreed; they moved towards a conference table, Nilery leading, and sat down to discuss the matter.

  “And?” Lier asked.

  “"As to my findings—they do not completely clear up the matter of the Tahlburey child.” Koralev admitted, a crease forming between his brows. He seemed a man to whom life held no surprises. That, or else he no longer found that anything could surprise him after the recent discovery of the half-race child incident. “However,” he continued, “when I began my genetic experimentation on the foetal fluids and individual chromosomes of the genetic contributors, I discovered something in the chromosome combination.”

  “Yes? What, exactly?” Lier asked.

  "Well, it seems that individual Seynorynaelian chromosomes will create copies of themselves in order to combine with Tulorian humanoid DNA.”

  Lier was very quiet. Koralev paused to gauge a response, then continued. “I don't know why, and the odds of our two races being close enough in form to reproduce was unheard of until the Tulorian inter-attachments. I can only conclude that this supports a hypothesis that the conditions in which life evolves do not determine the end product as much as we thought—that is, life can evolve along a similar path even when given slightly different starting conditions.”

  “Interesting,” Lier said. “You mean to say in order for life to evolve at all, it may require a certain range of environmental conditions, and those conditions will give rise to species that are similar enough to interbreed.” Lier seemed uncomfortable with the idea.

  "Something like that.” Koralev agreed. “Life may have infinite choices in evolution, but the viable routes on worlds similar to ours in atmospheric composition and pressure, gravity, and light intensity may produce humanoid creatures similar to our own race. Though it may not always be so, and though other forms may have been tried and failed, the humanoid form may well be a highly successful and thus favored end product in evolution."

  "Yes, I see," Lier nodded thoughtfully. “Though I can’t agree, and I think that there is something further at work here.”

  “Hard to believe, Lier?” Nilery laughed.

  Lier nodded. "Are you sure Seynorynaelian chromosomes are as adaptable as you claim—that they can lose some of the set twenty-five chromosomes in combination?"

  Nilery glanced at Lier as though he read some hidden agenda behind Lier's question.

  "I'm absolutely certain.” Koralev replied directly. “I’ve repeated the experiments with fifteen other Seynorynaelian genetic sources."

  "Good," Lier sighed. "Then you can discuss your case with our medical expert.”

  “Specialist Thelatesse?” Koralev asked. “Why?”

  “Because.” Lier exhaled loudly, pushing back his chair. “She’s found that some of our chromosomes can be lost in combination with the Kayrian chromosomes."

  "How do they know for certain it is possible?" Nilery turned a sharp eye on Lier.

  "Because Chiyenn's Kayrian partner is going to have a child."