Solar Twins

by Jason F Crockett

  “From what I hear your tessering abilities are such that it won’t be a problem for you to go there quickly. Take my advisor, Nenele, with you and continue to track this object here,” he said indicating the object closest to the sister planet, “until we recall you or the object disappears. Nenele, take one of the guards stationed outside with you.”

  Baryesu made note of the coordinates before he made his way outside where Nenele and the guard were waiting. He motioned to them saying, “Lend me your strength. Together it will be much easier to tesser and I must save energy to operate my scope as well.”

  They faced him and each placed a hand on his shoulder while concentrating. There was no visible exchange of power, but Baryesu could feel the energy building. He allowed his physical vision to dim as he focused his perspective into the fourth realm. He let his awareness expand until it reached his observatory at home. Gathering Nenele and the guard to himself he transferred them to his observatory and they swirled out of sight of where the other guards were watching their departure. Though they had arrived, he did not return fully to the third realm, but instead drew in his scope and a recording slate into the fourth realm with them and tessered yet again. Nenele and the guard were shocked but could do nothing without endangering themselves since they were linked to him in that fashion.

  Baryesu expanded his awareness again reaching up this time towards the bridge between worlds. One of his favorite places to go, it was on the edge of their own atmosphere and tunneled through space to the atmosphere of their sister planet. There were a lot of anomalies about the bridge, things that were not normal or that just shouldn’t be possible. It had its own gravity so that rather than falling from it towards the planet, you were drawn towards its sides. Since it was roughly a cylindrical tube of a meteorite-like composite, you could walk through its core and could stand on its floor, ceiling, or wall. The entrance was cupped like a large spoon poised to dip into the planets ocean and was a few kilometers from the surface. That was where they first set foot, and as soon as he released them from their bond, he had one very upset guard and one very frightened advisor.

  Nenele immediately threw herself to the floor and grabbed onto the guard’s feet. The guard immediately tried to get into a defensive crouch with his crystal-tipped spear planted in front of himself. However, with Nenele holding his feet together, he was relegated to using his spear to keep himself balanced and on his feet. Nenele screamed uncontrollably.

  “I hate heights! Get me down from here! Take me back! Aiee! We’re going to die!”

  The guard growled angrily though whether at Baryesu or Nenele was hard to tell.

  “Unhand me, woman! What is the meaning of this NLAIKHA?” he stormed. “You go too far!”

  Baryesu set down his scope while putting as much distance between them as he could. He held his hands up, palms towards them communicating that he was not a threat. His posture pled for them to give him time to explain. “I have been tasked with tracking that object, and this is the best spot to do it. Nenele, be quiet. You’re in no danger.”

  The guard thumped her on the shoulders. “Release me and be quiet.”

  She let go but continued to whimper and buried her face in the obsidian volcanic-looking rock that she was facing.

  Baryesu continued, “I apologize for the surprise it must have been for the both of you, but I did what I thought was necessary to fill our Mwene’s orders to the best of my abilities. I…”

  The guard walked menacingly towards Baryesu and warned him. “You should know that there is a presence in this bridge that can turn the unwary or unskilled against their own values rendering them enemies of the state to be stripped of their skills and sent to the other side.”

  “This I know full well, but its presence is weak here on the edge.” Nenele whimpered as he said it, but he ignored her, “It cannot affect us since we are aware of the dangers and skilled enough to withstand the pull.” They stood and stared at each other for some time as if to weigh the other’s intents.

  The guard was the first to break the silence. “Very well, but I will stand at the tunnel mouth with my spear just in case. No one is to enter the tunnel.” As he spoke he touched Nenele with the crystal on the tip of his spear and infused her with strength while placing a block on her fear center. “Fear is the tool of the shadow spawn and you are on its doorstep. Be bold and don’t give in to the fear that threatens to overwhelm you. Rise and attend to Baryesu.”

  Nenele rose while the guard strode purposefully to the entrance to the tunnel where he turned around facing them with his feet spread, holding his spear more like a shield than a weapon of combat. “Thank you for this small release,” she said. Then turning towards Baryesu, her gaze hardened, “Were it not for the service I owe to our Mwene, I would have words with you. I cannot in good conscience properly berate you now, but when we are done with this task, you shall be held responsible for the impulsiveness of your actions here today.”

  Not even acknowledging her tirade, Baryesu began to direct her in helping him to get his scope set up; which she did, albeit somewhat stiffly. Soon after, he located the object they were to track. It was indeed much closer and crisper in the viewfinder without the atmosphere distorting the view. “You may take first watch, Nenele. When it gets close to the edge of the viewfinder, let me know and I will readjust it. If you see anything abnormal happen, tell me right away, too.” Turning without waiting for a response, he picked his way over the rough surface to its edge. It was one of the most unnerving places to stand, but he loved the view and the reactions he got from those he brought here. It was not like standing on the very edge of a tall cliff, rather, it was like standing on the face of the cliff; face down towards the ground, yet without gravity pulling you down. The only gravity one noticed here was that of the bridge itself, which should have been nothing. Baryesu let his gaze wander towards where the other object should be. If it continued on its course, it might even pass within physical sight of where he stood. If only there was a way to make contact without drawing the attention of either Nenele or the guard. Perhaps... “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he thought, trying to ignore the stern gaze of the guard standing at the entrance to the tunnel. He turned back to his admiration of the view.

  Captain Gaston shifted his eyes back to the console where a graph of their entry trajectory was charted out.

  “Five ticks till final burn and ten ticks until the point of no return. Mark.” Said pilot Ram Evans, his bright, blue eyes almost glowing with anticipation. Almost everything else about a spacecraft pilot’s job was ho-hum and tedious, but the planetary entry process, though assisted by the ship’s computers, was still in the hands of the pilot. Gaston almost wished it was his “turn,” but in looking at the excitement on Ram’s face, it was worth just watching.

  “Lori, make the final positions announcement. We don’t know how rough a ride this is going to be.” Gaston looked again at the countdown clock while she made the announcement. When she was done, he continued, “Lori, try to contact the COMET or the Outpost once again. We have six ticks until com blackout.”

  After a couple of ticks of nothing but static for a response, they heard Dorothy’s thin voice narrowly slicing through the static. “Confirm…Outpost…trajectory…15”

  “This is Captain Gaston confirming final burn and on course as planned. Over.”

  “Read you…8. Continue as planned. Outpost has already…problem. No need…and Godspeed. Over.”

  “You are breaking up, please repeat your last transmission. Over.”

  Nothing but static responded to his request.

  “We’re initiating final pre-entry burn on my mark…Mark.” Ram looked up as he spoke and they felt the nudge of their thrusters as they fired their 16-second burst. Fuel was limited on the shuttle. It had been built more as a portable dormitory and warehouse than a spaceship. Its design as a landing craft also served as a temporary home for the hundreds of settlers that she housed. It had a glide path as
steep as that of a large boulder and Ram wanted to leave plenty of fuel for the maneuvering necessary to set it down smoothly on whatever terrain they could find. They had decided on an area that looked fairly flat, but things had a way of changing once you got up close and personal.

  Jasc looked relaxed enough and that meant no problems with his propulsion. Ram could tell Captain Gaston would love to take the helm, but he was glad he’d let him have it for the last hurrah. All Ram wanted to do after he landed, was find a secluded beach or pool under a waterfall and fish and sleep out under the stars. He’d always dreamed of doing that where there wasn’t just a portal-sized window to see them. Ram broke out of his reverie as he saw their landing site creep over the horizon. Nick Wright, their navigator was only a second behind him announcing the fact officially to them all. “Captain, we are now in sight of our landing zone.”

  “Put on the navigational markers on the heads-up display, Nick,” said the commander. Moments later the markers flashed up on the main window neatly overlaying what they were seeing out the window with the distance and trajectory information.

  The shuttle shuddered a little before settling back down. “I’m now under manual control Captain,” said Ram. “I’ll take it the rest of the way in. The gravity is just a little greater than earth’s gravity. I estimate it to be at about 10.0 m/s2 instead of 9.8 m/s2. I have already made the adjustments in the onboard computer, so our trajectory information should be correct.

  The view out the window was stunning. It took a lot of effort to keep their attention on their instruments rather than just gawking out the window. They were currently over the “ocean,” but could make out the changes in the water's color as the depth of the water changed. Probably because the sun was a bit more yellow and orange, the water seemed to be more of a green tint than what an ocean on the earth would have been. The sky was even a bit greener than the sky back on earth was. It wasn’t so much so that it looked weird or anything, but they could definitely see a difference. Even those who had grown up in space had seen pictures of sky and oceans. The land itself looked like a brown and green patchwork quilt with “holes” of teal-colored lakes across its expanse. The ground rose up into foothills that were a darker, almost purple color before disappearing into the clouds. They could not make out much detail as they whipped along. However, they were able to confirm the information the drones had gathered. There were no signs of life on this portion of the planet. There were no dwellings, no gardens, roads, or fires, just a huge expanse of land with vegetation on it and, according to the probes, animals as well.

  Their flight path followed the coast for some time. The coast seemed to battle against the foothills as they first encroached on the water’s edge and then slowly fell back to allow room for a large plain between the foothills and the sea. It was at this point that they had decided to land. Ram turned slightly inland at that point and began to fire the thrusters to break their speed. They all braced themselves as the ground rose up to meet them. Ram’s fingers were flitting over the controls as he ran through the landing checklist: landing gear down, fuel mixture correct, speed slowing, altitude—unknown, and on down the list. He popped the thrusters forward and their weight seemed to double before they felt the soft thump of the landing.

  “Great landing!” commander Gaston said practically leaping out of his chair. His knees almost folded when he took his first step though as he tried to adjust his space legs to the new and higher gravity. The clicks and clacks of the personnel restraints disconnecting filled the air as they all stood and stretched while gazing out the window.”

  Brent Angel strode over with the portable COM device. “It is set for ship-wide announcement Captain. I hope I’m not presuming too much.”

  “Not at all Brent, it’s nice to have people on my crew that plan ahead and think for themselves.” The captain thumbed the mic on and the announcement chimed down the long corridors and into every berth and storage closet. “Now hear this. Now hear this. This is your captain speaking. Welcome! Welcome to Windfall, Magellan. Thanks to Ram, Nick, Brent, and Darla and to the rest of you. We have touched down safely on this new world and we will all have our work cut out for us very soon as we establish the new town of Windfall. I know that you all are excited and raring to exit the shuttle. However, for the next two days, only the selected initial landing party is to exit the ship. It is my goal that we lose nobody to hapless accidents that could have been avoided by a more thorough knowledge of our surroundings.

  As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the gravity here on Magellan is greater than on earth. That, coupled with our long voyage in the weightlessness of deep space, will surely take a toll on us all. Great care must be taken so that we do not injure ourselves before our bodies have time to adjust. Nothing, and I repeat nothing, is to be eaten from the wild until Dr. Samuel, Nicole, and Elton have declared that is safe to do so. Use the next two days while you are still here in the shuttle to accustom yourselves to the gravity. Prepare for setting up and settling down in Windfall when you can leave.” Clicking the mic back off, he handed it back to Brent before strolling over to get a better view out the window. It was absolutely stunning. Probably it was stunning for the mere fact that he’d been cooped up in a tin can and propelled through space. Still, there were so many rich colors to dazzle the eye. He could see a couple of different flowers and trees with long oblong fruits or nuts gathered under their branches, what appeared to be bulrushes or some type of reed, and further out just a long expanse of a savannah-looking plain reaching out to the foothills in the distance.

  Captain Paul McNally stared restlessly out the cockpit window of the F.L.E.N. Outpost. His ample girth pressed up against the control panel at his waist, threatening undesired results.

  Terry jabbed a couple of buttons temporarily freezing that particular panel. There was no reason to flirt with disaster carelessly. The whole flight crew stood silently off to the side behind the captain. The shuttle was nestled in a valley at the center of a horseshoe-shaped ring of mountains. Terry had done an amazing job landing them where he did. As far as the crew could tell, there was only one way out of the valley, and the minerals available in the hills that formed the ravine directly ahead of them promised a wealth of minerals and materials.

  They watched as Peter Buster, the geologist, and Michael Rooney, the geneticist, followed Rex into the ravine. There seemed to be a pretty fair mixture of trees and brush, but they were somewhat stunted in their growth compared to some of the images they’d taken closer to where the Windfall had headed. It was definitely drier here, but the stream that flowed past the ship promised a constant water source as long as it was drinkable. That was exactly what the ground crew would find out.

  The captain almost ignored the idle chatter coming back from the ground crew as he filtered out just the pertinent information. The exclamations over the flowers, cacti, and harmless bug life were all mundane to him. He was only concerned over a place to build the town and any dangerous wildlife or signs of intelligent life that could hamper the mission. The crew, both in the cockpit and in their cabins below, mirrored the feelings the captain was trying to hold in check. They were already ready to disembark and begin setting up camp. The plan was to build the town out from the shuttle leaving just enough room around it so that a vertical take-off would not damage the buildings around it. It was already agreed on; they were just required to go through the motions of verifying that they were not encroaching on the habitat of another sentient being.

  His attention snapped back to the view out the large window as Rex bounded into view all but bouncing on his feet down the side of the hill.

  “Report Rex,” he snapped into the microphone. Peter and Michael appeared further up the hill calmly walking with helmets in hand. Looney Rooney’s long black and gray hair streamed out behind him blown by the warm wind funneled into the ravine.

  Rex slowed to a walk when he realized that they could see him from the shuttle and had drawn the wrong conclusion that he
was in trouble. “I love gravity, Captain.” You could almost hear the laughter in his voice. “Everything is fine. The air is good though it’s hot and dry. There are no signs of intelligent life, and the iron is practically oozing out of the hillside!”

  The entire cabin took a collective sigh of relief and knowing and expectant smiles were shared. The captain was not so easily placated, however, and the scowl immediately returned to his face. “Well…grow up, Rex, and tell Peter and Michael to keep their mics on even if they take their helmets off!”

  “We’re headed back in captain,” Rex said. “We’ll report to you as soon as we go through decontamination.”

  “Make it snappy, we’ve got a whole shuttle wanting to disembark, and it looks like we’ve got a lot of daylight yet today.”

  “You’ve got it Cap’n.”

  Captain McNally turned to the crew, “Terry, go ahead and start cycling everything down for an extended stay. Joe, run some radar scans of the area and print out some reports before you close up shop. Suzie, set the power on minimal. We will be turning off everything, but the most necessary equipment if everything goes as planned, and the draw will be minimal. I’m headed down to decontamination. When you’ve cycled your area down you may prepare to disembark.”

  The captain stepped off the bridge and into the swirl of activity out in the corridors. People were so eager to get off the shuttle that they were already stocking their backpacks and storage cases outside their cabin doors and the excitement in the air was like the first day of spring after a long hard winter. He waved off any replies as he strode to the elevator. The lower level was worse than it had been by the bridge, and he had to step over boxes and around people as he headed to decontamination.

  Linda and Timmy Moe darted past him nearly bowling him over. “I tagged you, Timmy. You know I did!”

  “Did not, Lind! You have to touch me to tag me!”