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THE COOL BREEZE flowed over Ann, bringing a chill to the dried blood on her cheek as she struggled to wake up. The brisk wind was colder than she was used to on Proxima. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at a starry sky. She was on the planet’s nightside.
She laid on her back, strapped down, on the top of one of the hovering transport vehicles she glimpsed through the trees back in the jungle. Standing tall on either end of her helpless body were two Proximian raiders holding on to railings, their gaze fixed ahead not yet realizing she was awake. Her wrists and ankles strapped to the vehicle, she tried pulling them free, but they were bound too tightly. Another harness belt held her down at her waist.
Turning her head, she was able to descry her surroundings. The jungle environment was absent—replaced by flat plains lit by the bright moonlight from the planet’s dual moons. She lifted her head and saw beyond the figure blocking most of her view to behold a singular mountain in the distance and they were heading straight for it.
Electric lights emerged out of the ground dotting the landscape as if triggered by the vehicle’s presence. The protruding lights offered the vehicle a visible pathway to the mountain, reminding her of an airport runway lit to guide planes to the ground.
They pulled up to a stop at the mountain’s base, the peak thousands of feet above them. She decided against feigning unconsciousness and tried to fight back when they unstrapped her arms and legs, but they kept their control over her with ease. When they lifted her upright she saw a cave elevated above the base of the mountain. The spacious mouth was filled with light causing the several guards who were posted around the exterior to appear in silhouette.
The raiders tied her hands together and forced her off the vehicle, a far enough drop to the ground that Ann thought herself lucky not to have sprained an ankle. Gun to her back they marched her to the looming mountain. A cluster of rocks impeded their path that were easily climbed over by the taller Proximians, but a struggle for Ann who was two to three feet shorter with her hands tied in front of her. She could tell their patience was wearing thin as they aggressively shoved her onward bruising her back with the ends of their guns. Several times she tripped on the rocks and landed hard on her front.
Her body felt broken after the agonizing climb to the cave’s entrance. The guards offered her curious glances and little else as she hobbled inside. The cave had a downward slope, long ago the stalagmites had been filed down to nubs on the floor. The cave narrowed and the walls grew tighter the further they walked. Hundreds of feet in, the cave abruptly ended at a steel door. One of the raiders placed its palm on an adjacent scanner. It beeped three times and the door slid up with a grinding crunch that reverberated off the cave walls.
What lay beyond the door was one of the most prodigious sights Ann had ever seen.
She was standing on a platform overseeing the capacious hollowed out interior of the mountain.
Thick pillars of stone interconnected the bottom to the top to keep the mountain from collapsing and between the pillars was a city. The space inside the mountain was immeasurable. A hundred buildings, some towering fifty stories tall or more, spread out before her while she stood a few hundred feet above the city’s ground level.
Vehicles of several types roamed roadways, some on the ground and others in the air, while hundreds walked from place to place. Glass walkways connected the buildings at different levels in a series of skybridges.
At the top a bright light shone down on the city with the same color temperature as the red sun the planet orbited around.
Ann wanted to remain where she stood gazing down at this marvel of engineering, but she was almost immediately pushed to keep moving. The raiders forced her to take a pathway to her right leading into a tunnel instead of to her left where what looked like service elevators could have taken her down to the city. The tunnel was dark, barely lit by dim bulbs hung to the stone from wire. Water leaking from the tunnel walls pooled in spots under her feet. Further and further they travelled down the path until Ann estimated they were at least a thousand feet below ground, well below the level of the city.
Then she heard voices—human, cursing at the approaching raiders.
At the end of the tunnel were ten holding cells, five on each side. The raiders aimed their weapons at the prisoners inside the first cell where Ann was literally thrown into, landing hard on the stone floor. One of the raiders spoke in its deep clicking voice and shut the door behind her. Ann heard the click of a lock.
People rushed to help her off the floor. Bloodied and bruised, they were especially careful lifting her up.
“Thank you,” she said.
They helped her to a bench that extended along the width of the side wall. She looked around at the people confined with her in the cell. She recognized some from Inizio including, to her immense relief, Blaire, who sat on the far end of the bench looking despondent.
“Blaire! You’re alive!”
Her friend looked up and they locked eyes.
“Ann!”
Blaire broke into a wide smile as she jumped out of her seat and ran to Ann wrapping her arms around her.
“Ow! Careful, please.”
“Sorry, sorry. I can’t believe you’re here.”
Blaire took a seat next to Ann and grabbed her hand.
“How are you holding up?” Ann asked.
“Me? Look at you! I’m fine. Just some small cuts when I tried to fight them off. Ann, they came so quickly—out of nowhere. And so violent. We barely had time to send out a distress call.”
“Adam’s dead.”
Blaire looked away, paused.
“I know. I saw it happen as they dragged me away. He was going for our weapon, but he foolishly kept it locked away in a safe. He just couldn’t get to it in time.”
“I fired a PL-6 at one of them. They got me anyway. I’m afraid nothing could’ve prevented this.”
“We should have looked harder for signs of life. We were just too excited to get down here to thoroughly scan the planet.”
Ann had been thinking the same thing. Not one, but two civilizations were overlooked. Both were well hidden, but their scientific tools should have discovered them. They were too hasty.
“So, where were you?” asked Blaire.
Ann filled her in starting with meeting Ray in the small village of mud huts, to meeting the Past Keeper, then running through the jungle to warn the camps only to be too late. She told her about the reinforcements coming down from the STS ships only to be ambushed themselves, a calculated move on the Proximians part to maintain their presence to strike again once help arrived.
“What do you think they want from us?”
“I don’t know, Blaire. None of it makes sense. They’ve been waiting on us for so long. Perhaps they think it’s kill or be killed?”
“Or maybe they saw the damage we did to our planet and don’t want that to happen here.”
“That’s a great point. I hadn’t considered that. Either way, we need to figure out what to do next. We’re locked down here and they might have remotely taken over our ships in orbit. I don’t want to say we’re stuck, but...”
“How could they take our ships from us? I mean, clearly they’re intelligent, but wouldn’t their computer equipment need to mesh with ours? At least in some way?”
“If they were observing us before we left, maybe they picked up enough of our tech to properly mimic it here. We don’t know what they’re capable of.”
“What’s our plan?
Ann looked over herself. Felt each ache, each bruise. She rubbed a hand over the dried blood scraping it away. There was only one thing they could do.
“We wait.”
Liam and Percy stood outside the Proximian Council’s chamber doors waiting to be called in. Two weeks had passed since they left Mars behind with a plan to resettle the passengers and crew of The Hawking on Earth, specifically the coastal community of Haven Springs in the eastern North America region. The site was chosen since the majority of those on The Hawking were familiar with the area formerly known as the northeast of the United States.
On the voyage from Mars to the Earth, Liam filled everyone in on the situation. As he predicted, most wanted to stay and resettle on Earth. They said they left Earth behind to start new lives and now was the perfect chance to do just that. He couldn’t blame them. He was asking for volunteers to fight a battle light years away
Percy was the first to step forward for the cause. Crouch, Rednour, and a few others from the bridge crew and security team volunteered as well. With Debra’s help, half of the pilots agreed to stay on and even some passengers. All in all they had nearly four hundred voluntarily enlist.
Assuming they could convince the council to lend them a ship.
Zale returned to her EPSD post the day after she walked with Liam to the park. She wished them luck and apologized for doubting them.
Now everything came down to this meeting.
The council’s headquarters was located in the old city of Columbus in North America. The site was chosen because the first Unity Summit was held there one year after the Proximians arrived on Earth. To this day, a picture hung in the building’s lobby of a Proximian leader shaking hands with President Foster. Liam and Percy both enjoyed seeing that upon entering.
The city had certainly changed over the millennium—quadrupling in size and resembling Pearl City more than the Columbus he was used to. Personal vehicles soared through the city’s skyline. Many buildings now surpassed twenty-five hundred feet. The old American White House was highlighted as one of the continent’s more popular tourist attractions.
Percy grew impatient, bouncing his leg as he sat. An exasperated Liam was about to tell him to stop when the doors finally swung open. A Proximian wearing what passed for a thirty-second century suit spoke to them and an electronic translator coming from its lapel translated in real time.
“Please, come in. I am Dyran of the Wrykes.”
“Hello. I’m Liam Donovan. This is Percy Alvarez.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I believe we have a mutual friend, Zale Alday.” Dyran led them into a conference room featuring a long oval table where eleven other Proximians waited.
“Yes, she mentioned she had a friend on the council.”
“Indeed. Please, have a seat.” Dyran gestured to two empty seats on the near side of the table. Liam and Percy took their seats that were brought in before their arrival to meet the needs of the human body instead of the Proximian’s more slender frames. Dyran took the empty seat on Percy’s right.
“We understand you wish to speak with us regarding matters concerning the other four ships of your venerable fleet,” Dyran began.
“Yes. Thank you for agreeing to see us on such short notice. As you know, our ship malfunctioned and we never made it to your native planet. We must assume the other four completed the trip successfully. However, it has come to our attention that the planet wasn’t as safe a destination as we initially believed when we left many years ago.”
Liam paused to give the council a chance to confirm or deny, but they did neither.
“We’ve learned that there may be a violent society living on the planet that could endanger our fellow humans as they attempt to make a home for themselves. Is there truth to this?”
Dyran spoke, “Our species has not returned to Hyera, or as your species call it, Proxima, since we departed. But that does not mean we haven’t kept an eye on our old home. Our advanced satellite imagery has shown continued conflict on the planet. While we can’t see well enough to know who is fighting whom, our educated guess is inner-fighting between the tribes that live on the land. The ships hold a hundred thousand people between the four, correct?”
“That is correct,” Liam answered.
“The tribes number many more than that.”
“What about the civilization that lives underground?” Percy asked.
“We have no reason to believe they pose a threat. If anything, their use of technology may inspire a shared interest between themselves and the humans on the ships,” another council member said from midway across the table.
“Perhaps they could be our ally if you allow us to use a ship to reach them,” Liam said.
“We have never allowed humans to use our space travel technology before. It would be unprecedented,” the same council member responded.
“What is your name?” Liam asked.
“Jalax of the Gyvins,” it answered.
“Jalax, we don’t ever have to see how it works. If we only ride along that would suffice for our purposes. This is a rescue mission to bring our people home. If the tribes haven’t started hostilities yet, we can simply escort our people back to Earth”
“We and the humans have spent a thousand years creating peace in this solar system. There are forty billion beings that depend on that peace. If the tribes have begun fighting with your people, that could drag us into a war. We have no interest in taking part in a war that does not concern us,” Jalax said.
“If fighting has broken out, we’ll handle it ourselves. Your people will never have to leave the ship,” Percy said.
“Still, things are risky. If the other side of the planet notices our presence in orbit they will know we broke our treaty. We swore to never return,” Dyran said.
“Does the other civilization have the same access to space travel technology? Could they confront you in space? Or follow us back to Earth?”
“That is unclear,” Dyran answered. “If they can, war may be fought on multiple fronts.”
“It matters not. We take great pride in honoring our word. Our ancestors agreed never to return to Hyera. If we break it, we will be dishonoring those who’ve come before,” Jalax said.
Liam sensed the room slipping away. Without the council’s cooperation, he saw no way of getting to Proxima—to Ann.
“You're weighing the word of your ancestors against the lives of a hundred thousand people. I implore you to make the right decision.”
“It is not up to you to determine what is right. This is our culture and you’ve been among us for mere weeks. Let us confer. Please wait outside,” Jalax said.
Dyran escorted them back into the waiting room then shut the door behind them.
Liam looked to the ceiling in frustration, his hands rubbing his bald head. Percy put a hand on his arm.
“It’ll be fine, Liam. I’m sure they’ll side with us. They have to see reason.”
“I’m not so sure. They seemed adamant about keeping the word of dead ancestors.”
Liam paced the room as they waited, arms crossed against his chest. Percy took a seat and rested his eyes. The council deliberated behind the closed door for ten minutes before Dyran came out. Liam saw the conference room was empty through the door.
“Mr. Donovan and Mr. Alvarez, the council reached a decision. By an eight to four vote, we have agreed to not assist in your cause. I’m sorry.”
Percy cursed. Liam gritted his teeth. “How can that be your decision? A hundred thousand lives are at stake!”
“I understand that, Mr. Donovan. If it’s any consolation, I voted in your favor.”
“That’s great. Thanks.” Liam seethed sarcasm.
“Again, I apologize.” Dyran exited back the way he came leaving Liam alone with Percy and glaring at the closed door.
“Fuckers,” Percy uttered. “Those damn fuckers.”
“I can’t believe this. How are they just going to abandon them out there?”
Liam wanted to scream in rage. None of this was fair. He should be with Ann, right now, but fate had other plans. The universe was playing him for a fool. All the things that led him here—wars, disease, famine—only to have his road end like this. But he didn’t see any possible path to take.
He thought of how good a drink would taste. The craving surged through him. A need for it he hadn’t felt in so long. And why not? He stopped drinking for Ann and she was gone—light years out of his reach. He had nothing in this bizarre version of Earth, so different from the one he left behind.
There was a store he remembered passing on his way here from the hotel they were staying in. He remembered seeing through the glass a wide variety of beverages. If he was ever going to break his sobriety, his failure to convince the council might be a just enough cause.
“I’ll see you at the hotel,” he said to Percy who stayed behind in respect to give Liam the space he clearly needed.
Liam stormed out of the building. The weather was cold and dreary, a new experience for him, but he felt it fit his mood. The crowded sidewalks were populated with a diverse mix of humans, aliens, and holographic advertisements. He already hated those infernal ads and walked right through the stationary ones and ignored the others that tracked with him until he escaped their range.
He found the store just as it started to rain. People on the street opened their umbrellas, though these were handheld devices that generated an invisible shield of some sort that deflected the falling rain. There was a bin inside the store stocked with them and he grabbed a blue one as he went to browse the alcohol selection. There were no familiar brands that survived the thousand years since his last drink, so he grabbed a ten pack of a random lager.
The EPSD set them up with limited funds to hold them over until the PAG finished setting up their new lives. He paid the credits due and fumbled with his new umbrella trying to discern how to turn it on. The clerk, watching a grown man fail to operate a simple umbrella, looked at him funny.
Ultimately he pushed the button on the bottom and slid the vertical range bar the appropriate amount to extend the shield enough to cover him, then he was on his way. The hotel was only a four block walk and he entered the sliding glass doorway before his drinks turned warm.
Back in his room he set the carton down on top of the table and collapsed on his bed. He stared at the ceiling lost in his thoughts listening to the rain pound on the window. Was it worth breaking his sobriety? He acted in such haste, fueled by anger, but now that he was back in his room the temptation subsided. He closed his eyes and thought of Ann. What was she facing? The not knowing killed him. He’d always been a man of action, but now an insurmountable wall blocked his path. Was there still a way to help her? To help them all?
He looked at the carton of beer. It would taste good, he thought. No one was left to judge him. He arose from the bed and opened the carton pulling out one of the bottles—examining it. The cold condensation dripped through his fingers. He wondered if the taste had changed since he last drank. To stall, he emptied out the carton and put the rest of the bottles in the room’s refrigerator.
Leaning on the wall by the fridge, he made his decision. He twisted off the bottle cap and tossed it to the floor.