Alpha Rising (20 page)

“
Why did you keep the big
space station attached?”

“
For transporting animals.
We’re bringing them back too.”

“
Animals?” Star hesitated,
in deep thought, then released the lock on the passageway from the
Wizard through the space station to the AstroLab. “I’m going to
check out the other two ships,” she announced. “I need to know
where everything is and what’s aboard.”

“
You’re gonna love the
stuff on both of them,” Bach said.

Star cut through the space station to the
E-module. Inside was a small common area bordered by numerous doors
leading to climate-controlled chambers. She opened the first door
and stepped into a small living area where a dozen live green
plants grew from a floor of soil. Berries grew on two plants,
vegetables on others, and on one small shrub, violet flowers
bloomed. She touched the leaves and pressed her nose to the flowers
to get the full effect of their delightful fragrance. No one heard
when she whispered in a voice filled with wonder, “This is the
first time in my life I’ve seen real plants and flowers growing,
not simulated on a computer screen.” She closed her eyes and
inhaled the fresh, clean air. “I could stay here forever.” The
tactile, fragrant wonderland permeated every pore as she moved on
to the next chamber. There, warm, dry air wrapped around her soft
skin as she walked across the sandy floor to a knee-deep pool of
water in one corner.

Star explored the environments one-by-one,
delighting in each discovery along the way. A small circular door
leading into one chamber intrigued her so she hunched down and
stepped through the portal. Her entrance into an icy-cold igloo
came with a gasp at the unexpected contact with freezing air. She
would long remember this crystalline room where ice crystals
tingled her hands, cold air filled her lungs, and her breath became
visible and frosty. “Magical,” she murmured.

In the environmental pod’s hydroponic
garden, aromas of ripe fruits and vegetables growing in their
watery troughs exuded a rich bouquet that immediately captured her
attention. She licked her lips. “I can taste this food on my tongue
just by the smell.”

Bach’s voice came through the intercom. “You
okay over there?”

“
I’m in awe,” she shouted.
“I love it!”

When she finished exploring the E-module,
instead of using the crossover passageway leading back to the
Wizard where Bach was, Star entered the renovated space station
which now served as a replicated wildlife paradise with trees,
caves, a pond, a frozen plain, small pens and corrals, and a
water-filled chamber running the circumference. She couldn’t help
but talk to herself. “We can transport animals from all the
planets. This is like a wondrous dream and I don’t want to wake
up.” Spellbound, she strolled through the symbiotic phenomenon,
smelling and touching the natural wonders of verdant foliage,
turquoise blue waters, and natural colors long lost to Jenesis.
“Incredible!”

Then she heard a faint sound, like the cry
of a small animal. She followed it to a greenery-filled nook where
a wire enclosure nestled among the plants. Two furry faces peered
out from their roomy home on wheels. She bent down for a better
look. “My babies!” She pulled the cage onto the walkway. “Why did
your grandpa put you aboard?” Talking to the wurrs, she rolled the
cage all the way back to the cockpit. “Bach,” she said, her voice
questioning. “I found Lotus and Arro in the animals’ module. Why
would Dad have put them aboard?”

“
I don’t know.” He
scratched Lotus under the chin through the wires. “He knew you’d be
gone.” The cat-like wurr made a snoring sound and marched in place
with its front paws. The soft kneading of her paws crinkled a piece
of paper resting on the grass in the bottom of the cage. Bach
talked to the wurr. “What did you bring, Lotus?” He pulled the
paper from between the wires and unfolded it. “An
A
to
Z
roster?”

Star scrutinized it with a
shrug. “Hmmm. Your name’s beside the
B
and mine’s next to the
S
.”

He looked it over again. “A blank list your
father hid from the Rooks?”

“
We’ll figure it out as we
go.” She touched her pets through the cage wires as she headed back
to the passageway and returned them to their exciting new
habitat.

When Star got back to the cockpit, Bach
said, “Okay, Alphamate, buckle down, we’re nearing our first
stop.”

“
Alphamate?” She smiled. “I
like it.” She glanced at the computer data. “En Gedi, dead ahead. I
can’t wait to see the different planets. Nova’s told me many
stories, and I’d love to explore. Do you think we can?”

“
Averaged out between ten
planets, seventeen days doesn’t leave much time. Like one of my
favorite old Ravens’ tunes says, ‘Time … will turn you hard as
stone.’”

“
Hard as stone? That’s
strange. Sing it.”

Bach cleared his throat and sang with gusto.
“‘Time … will turn you hard as stone. Without mercy it won’t leave
you alone. Don’t count the days, and don’t waste time sleeping, the
life in your soul is not yours for the keeping.’” He chuckled. “I
gladly confess that I’ve advanced from those days.”

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “And perhaps
it sounded a little different when your Ravens performed it.”

“
Yeah, better,” he said,
smiling. “They weren’t off key.”

“
What does ‘the life in
your soul is not yours for the keeping’ mean?”

“
That’s up for
interpretation. I believe it has to do with when you die. A lot of
Ravens’ stuff didn’t make sense, but their music was my favorite
for years.”

“
Nova once talked of the
spider musicians on planet Troas.”

Bach snickered. “Ravens, Spiders. Musicians
always choose strange names. Maybe we’ll get to hear them
perform.”

“
I have a question on
something else,” Star said. “Once we locate those with the symbol,
and all the animals, what happens when we get back to
Jenesis?”

“
Don’t know. There was no
instruction for when we get back. I think we’ll bring in more
people to strengthen our population and benefit from the talents of
those individuals. And logically, certain animals will be for food.
We’ll protect others for reproduction to ensure survival of their
species.”

“
But we’ll be gone for
seventeen days; won’t there be confusion in Dura when we’re not
around during that time? If Wilde believed Dad’s note, he thinks
we’re all in Ulwor. He might spark a confrontation between the
continents to get us back.” She paused. “What if the Specter
appears and tells him that my father is dead?”

“
He won’t believe the
Specter. And I’m sure Altemus covered it somehow; he and I were
both under instruction from the Creator.” Bach looked from the
window and enlarged the image of planet En Gedi on his viewscreen.
He handed Star the travel log containing information from Griffon
and Nova’s co-op trips and began descent.

She read, “‘En Gedi, a remote basin 200
miles long and 20 miles wide, our source of minerals, was once home
to advanced civilizations and thriving cities on six continents.
Over time, one continent overtook another, and a thirst for
dominance sparked a series of conflicts among the people that
resulted in starvation, disease, and unendurable toxins.
Annihilation of the species was complete, except for a nomadic
group in an area called Anoz.’”

“
How long ago was
that?”

“
Four
generations.”

“
So we have to find that
small, isolated group?”

She read more, “‘The people of Anoz
developed an area of their homeland into bountiful orchards and
crop fields. Eventual discovery by the Ultimate World led to
experimentation. They altered crops to eliminate seeds, making them
more pleasurable to eat. After a devastating drought, Anoz
residents were unable to replant native crops because they had no
seeds.’”

Bach enlarged the image of planet En Gedi on
his viewscreen and focused on a desolate continent. A dismal grid
of empty skyscrapers; idle, overgrown highways; burned-out
farmlands, and ground hardened from years without rain formed a
patchwork of colorless ruins where cities once prospered and
civilizations once thrived. The urban skyline resembled simple
cardboard and clay architectural renderings, and parched lake beds
in outlying areas appeared as targets carved into the ground.

Star read more. “‘Anoz’s civilization has
separated into two villages. The people have a unique
characteristic—all births produce twins.’”

“
Twins?” Bach sighed. “Will
the chosen ones be twins?

*****

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Alphamates stepped from the ship onto
the parched red clay of a desert-like area. Bach kicked a clump of
dried vegetation on a sand dune and studied the surrounding
rock-ribbed hills. Deep clefts of gray, white, and tan ran the
length of their sides, and a dust bowl gully rested at their feet—a
souvenir from a waterfall long since consumed. Across the plain, a
far-away village wore a vibrant purple haze like a halo. He pointed
it out to Star with a groan. “Looks like a long walk ahead.”

She motioned to the mauve-colored sky.
“Something’s coming this way.”

An eagle-like bird approached on massive
outstretched wings, circled the Alpha once, then rode a lofty air
current while surveying the new arrivals.

Bach looked toward the distant village where
a cloud of red dust now rose from the clay. Someone was coming.
Soon he could make out four black-haired children, maybe six or
seven years old, riding on what looked to him like horses. The kids
came up fast and tried to pull to a stop, but their stallions
reared in fear. The four shouted foreign commands to their animals
and stared from curious eyes.

“
They’re afraid of our big
ship,” Star said. “They’ve only seen smaller co-op and Rook
ships.”

“
Do you know their native
tongue?” Bach asked. “It might help.”

“
I know a little.” She
called out to the children in a foreign language.

The youths, twin boys and twin girls, nudged
each other and shook their heads.

“
They know the co-op crews
so I told them I’m Nova’s sister, but it didn’t work.” She smiled,
pointed at Bach, and again shouted across the distance.

The children dismounted and moved cautiously
forward. Both boys wore animal skin loincloths and moccasins, and
the barefooted girls had on colorful, oversized dresses. One boy
broke from the group and ran forward carrying something in his
dust-covered hand. He pushed it toward Bach.

Bach accepted a pocket-sized wooden toy,
then mumbled to Star through nonmoving lips. “Okay genius, what did
you say this time?”

“
I told them you’re a
Rook.”

“
What?”

“
Shhh … they like
Rooks.”

He examined the toy and handed it to
Star.

She pondered the carved image, a native
female holding a tear-shaped hoop with a star dangling inside.
“It’s a storyteller doll. A visual reminder of past events, stories
told through symbols.”

One of the girls ran to Star and took her by
the hand, then pulled her toward the stallions, running as best she
could with her orange sackcloth dress skimming the ground. The
other children followed alongside, motioning to Bach to catch
up.

The twins doubled-up on two animals, and
Star and Bach mounted the other two. The girl in the orange dress
put her finger to her lips and whispered to Star.

Star shared a warning with Bach. “Native
tradition requires we travel in silence when approaching a
village.”

The horses had clopped off a mile of dried
red clay and had a mile to go when a chilling breeze stirred from a
distant reach of the planet and the colorful sky turned an ominous
gray. Bach, Star, and the four children exchanged distressed looks
as the new wind rolled in with a howl that sounded like humans
moaning. A half-dozen whirling sand devils rose from the parched
ground and twisted across the plain with the force of eye- and
body-blasting bird shot. The spooked stallions reared and turned in
circles as their mounts fought to rein them in.

Coughing, fighting for breath, and
sandpapered alive, the six riders barked desperate commands and
forced the neighing, frightened animals onward. Visions of
tepee-like dwellings appeared then disappeared through the
turbulent squalls.

As soon as they reached the village and all
had dismounted, the twins pushed the Alphamates into the closest
hut, then rushed off. The unoccupied tepee was structured from
wooden poles, tree bark, hides, and mud.

Bach parted the tent flap just enough to
look out. “Oh, no,” he said. Sand particles gritted between his
teeth as he talked. “Those kids disappeared into the thick of the
storm.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his
hair and clothing.

Star blinked the burn from her eyes and
brushed gritty sand from her hair and jumpsuit, taking care not to
make dust on the possessions inside. She peered over Bach’s
shoulder. “I feel uncomfortable being in someone’s home when
they’re not here. What if this storm goes on for a long time?”

“
Problem.”

“
Let’s hope it clears
before dark,” she said.

He shook his head. “All these tepees with
symbols and designs. Big search ahead. Maybe we can find those kids
again, they might know of our hope symbol, it might be a family
sign.”