Alpha Rising (45 page)

Bach squeezed in beside Deni and draped his
arm over her shoulder. The dazzling bands of color arched across
the sky in a path ending right on the ship’s windshield. He looked
back through the cabin; the drab ship was awash in color.

Kaz flung herself into Lynch’s arms, nearly
knocking him down. “My prayers have been answered!”

Having no understanding of the excitement
over the rainbow and talk of a Garden of Eden, Star slipped away to
the environmental module where, since touchdown, the inhabitants
had anxiously waited to learn their fate. They quickly gathered
around when Star entered. “We’ve safely arrived at a biospheric
planet known as Urusa,” she advised. “We’re running security checks
before going out.”

After answering questions and explaining
their plans thus far, she moved on to the animals’ module where the
various species had adjusted to daily human interaction during the
long time adrift. Her wurrs, Lotus and Arro, roaming freely among
the other species, ran to her for a daily reunion filled with her
loving hugs, and their head-butts and nonstop purrs. She spoke as
if they understood. “I can’t wait to take you into the main cabin.
But you might get spooked and escape when we open the big door, so
stay put for now, and soon you’ll have a beautiful new home to
explore.” She kissed her pets on their fuzzy heads. “I’ll be back
soon.”

Star headed straight to the cockpit to
launch a battery of tests in search of other life forms. “Someone’s
caring for this beautiful planet,” she said under her breath.

In the galley area for celebration, Bach
uncorked a cylinder of aquamarine sparkling water while the others
readied to try the intoxicating, lemony drink. He poured a small
amount into a cup and enjoyed his cohorts’ surprise at seeing
crackling streams of starlike bubbles rising to the top. With all
eyes on him, Bach took the first sip, then passed the cup to Lynch
with a warning, “Drink just a drop. Those crackling bubbles have a
highly intoxicating effect that hits almost instantly.”

Lynch ignored the warning and, like a
swarthy sailor, gulped the popping water without regard. An instant
later he looked around in wonder, grinning from ear to ear. “Whew!
Wicked stuff. But it released my apprehension.” He handed the cup
to G.R.

G.R. watched Lynch for a moment then took a
couple of sips. He waited, then grumbled, “It didn’t release my
apprehension,” and passed the cup to Deni.

Deni sniffed the crackling aquamarine
liquid. Her eyes opened so widely that, against her black skin,
they looked twice their normal size. “No thanks.” She passed it on.
“I prefer to stay in control.”

Kaz swilled the last few drops, then raised
the empty cup high over her head with a smirk. Grinning like the
Cheshire cat, she loudly declared, “I’m ready to explore
Urusa!”

Suddenly, G.R. yelped, “Woo hoo!” and threw
his arm around Kaz’s shoulder.

She looked him in the eyes, put her arm
around him, and giggled. “Let’s go. Grab a spacesuit. I’ll go
first.” Without another word she bounded to the storage hold on
feet barely touching the floor.

Lynch sat back, chuckling at her antics. “My
true love wants to find a little green man for her boyfriend.”

Bach pulled her back. “Sooner or later we’ll
all go out, Kaz, but now’s not the time.” He led her to Lynch and
said, “Pretend he’s your little green man.”

Deni suddenly spoke out, “’All of us?’ Oh,
my gosh, we forgot about the passengers. I’ll go check.”

Star stopped her. “Don’t worry, I already
checked, and they’re doing great.”

A reality check hit Bach. “That’s it, guys!
We were so caught up in our own joy that everyone except Star
overlooked the E-module occupants. Time to regroup.” He opened the
fold-down table and Deni helped position stools in their bases in
the floor. “Kaz, Lynch, and G.R., sit down!” he said. Bach went to
the food storage center and returned with a vacuum-sealed packet.
He took out three fuzzy red berries. “Firefruits are an antidote
for intoxication,” he told the happy crewmates. “Eat them now.”

Star stood by as the tipsy crewmates sucked
on the cinnamony fruits. When the three had calmed down, she
announced, “Good news. Research shows no problems on Urusa’s other
quadrants. As soon as we store enough energy and find it safe for
all to live outside, we’ll fly the E-module and explore the other
areas. If the passengers eventually want to relocate to those
places matching their natural habitats, we’ll organize a
four-quadrant food and supply sharing co-operative.”

“
I still have an uneasy
feeling,” G.R. said. “I can’t help wondering about extraterrestrial
life forms and thinking about what happened back on Jenesis when we
opened the door.” He waved toward a porthole. “Who do you think
tends those gardens and grounds?”

“
Oh, no, ” Kaz whispered,
“I hadn’t thought about that.”

“
I’ve wondered the same
thing,” Star said, “and don’t have an answer yet. But I’ve looked
for energy sources and other life forms, and ran fuel emission
detection, and found nothing.”

G.R. wiped his face with one hand. “Well,
that’s good. But this planet didn’t get this perfect by
itself.”

“
We have a few more tests
to run before going out,” Deni said. “They’ll take about an
hour.”

Star added, “So far, I’ve found Earth’s
research correct. Urusa rotates, and so does its sun.”

“
Answer this one,” Bach
said. “Are we in the same universe, or was Einstein right and there
are parallel universes?”

“
Oh, boy,” Lynch said, “now
it’s gettin’ interesting.”

Star sighed. “I believe it’s the same
universe, but I have no point of reference because the events
generated by the black hole altered the structure of our view of
space.”

Lynch asked, “Are there any other planets in
this customized universe?”

“
It appears,” Star said,
“that Urusa and its sun are a zone, or solar system, of
two.”

Deni added, “We saw a few stars at times
while traversing space to get here. That means we’re also part of a
virgin galaxy—an alpha galaxy.”

Star returned to the cockpit. “The
electronic brain’s on automatic. We’ll have new download soon.”

“
We have a lot to catch up
on,” Deni said.

Bach, Lynch, and G.R. stayed at the
fold-down table at mid ship. Kaz looked out a porthole. “Hey,” she
hollered, flagging her hand at the others to get their attention.
“Let’s name our little solar system. We’re in an unknown place in
time, and we’ll be here forever, so we can name it anything we
want.” When no one responded, she pressed harder. “If you guys
don’t make an attempt, I’ll name it something really weird.”

Lynch got up and headed aft. “Lemme get a
pad and pen.” He moseyed back to his crewmates, stopped in front of
them, and ruffled his hair into an Einstein-like “do.” Then, to
their amusement, he paced to and fro, mumbled in a monotone, and
scanned the sky from a viewport. “Hmmm. Urusa, a bit of paradise
with unknown dangers in a small solar system.” He rubbed his chin,
tapped on the notepad, and pointed to G.R. “Name that solar
system.”

G.R. raised his primitive-looking brows.
“Nirvana!”

Kaz rolled her eyes. “No, more clever. Maybe
Oz, from the Wizard of Oz.”

“
Not Oz!” Lynch shouted
out. “That might signify bad things to come.” He strode to the
cockpit. “Star and Deni, you gonna play?”

“
You’ll hear from us only
if it gets out of hand,” Deni answered.

Bach said, “How about
Genesis? This
is
a
new beginning.”

“
That’s good,” Kaz said.
“Or, how about Heart? It’s an earth anagram. Or, what about Urth?
We can make it an acronym for Under Rainbows There’s
Hope.”

G.R. whispered,
“
The Twilight Zone,
” in a creepy voice, to a round of laughter.

Inspiration flowed and the crewmates tossed
out one suggestion after another, including Paradise, No Mosquito
Land, and Tomorrowland. One-by-one the offerings ended in giggles
from the dog-tired crew.

Lynch strolled back and forth a few times,
then hovered over the cackling crew with a sneer. “Something funny?
Want to share it with the class?”

Bach looked up at him, chuckling. “Our
galaxy was called the Milky Way. Where did that come from?”

“
It came from the Mars
family,” Lynch said, amusing only himself.

Kaz giggled. “How about solar system
Mirth?”

“
Bedrock,” Bach
howled.

“
Proton,” G.R.
yelped.

Minutes of uncontrolled hilarity left Kaz
splayed across the table convulsed in laughter, G.R. snorting and
holding his sides, and Bach wiping tears from his eyes.

When Lynch could no longer maintain his
stern Gestapo act he sat at the table with the others and said, “On
a more serious note, how about solar system Atlantis?”

G.R. frowned. “We’ll consider it,
Lynch.”

“
I kinda like it,” Kaz
said. “Remember, Lynch said that Atlantis was like a new
Eden.”

“
Actually, Plato said
that,” G.R. replied, “but Eden didn’t turn out so well, and that
was with just
two
people.”

“
Okay,” Lynch said, “then
how about Shalom? It’s a greeting of peace and good wishes, said to
others when either coming or going.”

Kaz whined a little. “Lynch … remember,
Urusa also means Place of Peace. But I guess going for a
double-helping of peace can’t hurt.”

“
Whoa,” Bach suddenly said.
“Say Urusa and Shalom together fast and it sounds like Jerusalem:
UrusaShalom.”

Lynch repeated, “UrusaShalom … UrusaShalom …
Jerusalem.”

Deni looked back from the cockpit and
actually broke a smile. She whispered to Star, “I think Kaz’s youth
is good for Lynch. He would never have joined in anything frivolous
in the past. It’s interesting to watch.”

Star smiled and nodded.

The Arkmates wore themselves out with ideas
before whittling their top-ten list to two. One was Lynch’s
suggestion of Atlantis; the other Kaz’s offering of Urth.

Bach wrote both names on slips of paper and
approached the cockpit with a ballot gripped in each hand. He
looked back and forth between Star and Deni, extended both closed
fists and asked, “Who’ll do the honors?”

Deni shook her head and pointed to Star.
“She will.”

Star chose the right hand and dragged out
the anticipation by taking a peek, then refolding the note before
handing it back.

Bach unfolded it, cleared his throat, and
spoke as if heralding royalty. “In this infinite universe, in our
alpha galaxy, on day one, year zero, herewith it is decreed that we
christen our solar system, the foundation of our new civilization,
Atlantis.”

A cheer went up and somebody yelled, “Hail,
Atlantis!”

G.R. leaned back on his stool and pouted. “I
still like Nirvana best.”

Kaz sighed. “Give it up, G.R., Nirvana
didn’t even make the top ten.”

“
Okay, you all,” he goaded.
“Who’ll be first to walk
au naturel
onto peaceful planet Urusa?”

Kaz let out a yelp.
“
Au naturel
, are
you nuts?”

“
It’s just an expression
meaning no suits. I didn’t mean nude.”

“
Hey, quiet!” Bach’s fun
turned serious. “The Ark’s testing devices were built for Balal’s
zone, so it’s possible they won’t detect, interpret, or display
foreign matter here. Before we try to breathe the air on our own,
we should send out a bird like Noah did.”

Lynch thought about it. “Sounds like a safe
bet. We’ve plenty of birds. Sorta like when the coal miners back
home used to take a caged canary into the coal mine and if the bird
died, they knew there was poisonous gas in the shaft and they got
out.”

Kaz winced. “Ohhh, how cruel.”

“
We’re sendin’ the bird,”
Lynch drawled. “I’ll go get one.”

Not wanting to hear more, Kaz held her ears
and headed aft. “I won’t be a part of this.” She entered the
passageway to the E-module.

Lynch placed a white dove into a narrow
decompression tube leading to outside, then sealed the inner flap
and released the outer flap. The innocent bird pigeon-walked
through the pipe, hesitated at the end, eyed the outdoor area, then
spread its wings in flight.

“
Godspeed,” Bach whispered,
watching as the bird ascended into the clear blue sky.

The crew moved from the portholes to the
observation windows and back again, trying to keep an eye on the
dove as it flew higher and higher. But they soon lost sight of it.
After waiting, and waiting for its return, G.R. said, “Something’s
wrong.”

“
It was a good sign for
Noah when his dove didn’t come back,” Lynch said.

“
But he wasn’t worried
about hazardous conditions,” G.R. retorted, backing away from the
porthole. “Good thing we didn’t go out.”

“
You don’t know that
anything’s wrong,” Deni scolded. “Poor bird’s been cooped up too
long. He’s out scouting for a mate in paradise.”

As time passed with no sighting of the dove,
one by one the crewmates stepped away from the windows. Star moved
to the cockpit and the others waited for results of her tests.

When Kaz came back from the E-module and
learned the bird had not returned, tears flowed.

#

The chosen one-hour wait before going out
had passed, and Deni was the only one who believed the dove was
still alive. She continued to look out from time to time, but
wasn’t watching when the bird landed outside the cockpit
window.