Legacy (3 page)

Tomorrow, a fully crewed Colonial Supplementary Cruiser would be headed toward Hydrus at 95% light speed. It would be a trip that would take 25 Earth years, but would only take about eight years for those aboard the ship. Einstein’s Relativity was a good friend of the space-faring community because it promised a nice warp of time’s flow for those involved.

Tomorrow, over twenty-six hundred people would be heading to Hydrus. Tomorrow, the people of Earth would gain their faith back in the efforts of the USSC. Tomorrow, the world would have something to put their hope in once again, but this time, there would be no chance of failure.

3

Braxton

Blaze Continent

As I look back on that morning, I’m forced to believe it was more the fear of my father’s wrath than any amount of curiosity I had about the iron dragon. It took a little convincing on my part to get Kiernan to come along.

“
I’m supposed to be working with my dad at the Metal-Master’s site today,” I said, running along the riverbank toward the bridge, “If those dragons from Ronna take my dad, I’d never forgive myself.”

“
So, you want the Ronnans to take
both
of you instead?” Kiernan asked, still clutching his fishing pole as he followed closely behind, “Look at that behemoth just floating there like a kite in the wind.”

We could still see the top of the iron dragon peeking out above the treetops across the river. We finally reached the walking bridge and started quickly across the river.

“
I just can’t have him facing that alone,” I replied, knowing full well that I had nothing to offer in any kind of battle.

“
Well, if they start attacking, I’m running and I’m not waiting for anyone. Not for you and not for your dad,” he said.

We cleared the river and located the gravel path that I usually followed through the woods every morning. I offered no more explanation for my actions as we followed the twisting path through the woods. When we finally reached the clearing, I noticed the hovering giant was actually lowering itself to the ground beside one of the Metal-Master’s giant cages. My father and three of his helpers were standing dangerously close to the beast, seemingly pleased with its presence in their neighborhood.

“
And you work everyday with these idiots?” Kiernan asked, probably reading my own thoughts, “No offense about your dad. I just mean…”

He didn’t finish and I didn’t have anything to add to his spoken thoughts. The ground rumbled only slightly as the beast finally rested firmly on the ground. My father and his associates took a couple strides back, though still too close for my comfort. I didn’t like the fact that my father was smiling like a goofball despite the fact that he was standing next to a Ronnan monster.

“
Get back, boys,” a deep baritone growled from behind us.

Kiernan and I both noticed in that moment that The Guard had somehow snuck in behind us. There were three men bearing RD-10s and one guy lugging a full size RB Rocket Shaft on his shoulder. I couldn’t determine if that made me feel more comfortable or just a bit more nervous.

Just from what I could see of the metal monster before me, I was fairly certain the Rocket Dart rifles wouldn’t do much of anything. RD-10s were only good against fleshy beings such as men or animals. The RB however was a dual shot shoulder-mounted rocket launcher that fired an explosive projectile as big as my arm. I’ve never seen anything survive a hit from an RB Rocket Shaft.

“
That’s my dad out there,” I whispered to the man who appeared to be the leader of the unit, “I’m not going anywhere unless he leaves with me.”

“
What makes you think these aliens are letting anyone leave?” he replied, “Now fall in behind before I drag you back here.”

I glanced at Kiernan who was already obeying the soldiers. I didn’t move however because they didn’t scare me one bit. They prided themselves on never shooting the unarmed. I turned to my dad, then sprinted toward him before the Guard had a chance to stop me.

“
Dad, get away from the dragon!” I shouted, drawing the attention of my father and his associates, “Come on!”

My father just smiled like an idiot and waved me over to him. I was quickly running out of options. My only other option was to return to the Guard in the woods behind me, so I continued toward him.

“
Braxton, do you recognize the metal?” he asked, fanning his hand across the length of the dragon.

I noticed it was similar to the Metal-Master’s material, but that really didn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. I’ve come to the conclusion long ago that we’re just a country who is far behind the times in our metallurgy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the people of Green have already perfected these coveted metals of the Metal-Masters.

“
Looks a little like the Metal-Master’s iron,” I replied with a shrug, “Doesn’t matter though, Dad. Let’s just get-”

“
Look,” my dad said, handing me a large sheet of ceramoid.

I reluctantly accepted the sheet from him, wondering what archaeological finds could be more important than a Ronnan dragon. I examined the sheet casually, then turning the rectangular sheet on its side, my jaw immediately dropped. Embossed on the sheet of beige ceramoid was a perfect diagram of the iron dragon resting on the ground before us. This ceramoid imprint appeared to be a diagram of its internal structure, showing two levels with probably twenty or thirty seats.

“
We uncovered this here?” I asked, my heart pounding audibly in my own ears as I anticipated his answer.

“
I found this many lunes ago when I was digging up yonder,” he said, nodding with his goofy smile, “Yeah, I found it here and I think we are about to meet the Metal-Masters.”

I just stared at the amazing piece of ceramoid, unsure of all the beliefs I held so dear. Questions arose in my mind from the simplest of ones, such as “Who am I really” to the more complex such as “Who am I compared to the millions of creatures who must be living on the millions of planets in the universe?”

“
Do you think they’ll share?” I asked, barely more than a whisper, “Their secrets of metallurgy, I mean.”

“
I was hoping they’d share their secrets of
flight
,” he replied, patting my shoulder, “I mean, could you imagine what that would do to our trade with Green? We could cross the Eastern Sea in a half-lune instead of the four-lune it takes today.”

A door very similar in size to my own bedroom door suddenly slid open midway down the length of the metal monster. A thick platform moved slowly outward in front of the doorway about the length of two people. Then, even before I had a chance to question the purpose of the platform, it broke into hand-length sections and dropped to create a perfect stairway.

“
Maybe they will share a little of that too,” I muttered.

“
That was unreal. I almost want them to pull it back and do it again,” one of Dad’s associates said.

A partially bald man stepped into the doorway, looking really no different than any of us. I had almost expected to see a blue-skinned monster with four arms and six legs. I looked to my father and realized that I wasn’t the only one taken aback by the appearance of this Ronnan.

“
Thank you for your message of invitation. We come to you in peace from a planet we call Earth,” the alien said, raising his hands to the sky in an odd gesture.

Planet, Earth,
and
thank you
were all the words I fully comprehended from the speedy blurb he’d spoken to us. His speech was very fast and besides there were a couple words I’d never heard of, but I can honestly say that I caught the general essence of his greeting. It was a greeting of friendship from some planet he called Earth – perhaps the same planet we called Ronna.

“
Hello and welcome,” my father said, stepping bravely forward, “Welcome to Legacy.”

The bald man progressed down the stairway, followed by two people who looked very similar to him in appearance. The third man carried a black object that looked to be a longer version of the RD-10s that our own Guard carried. I had almost a second to process the image of that sleek-looking weapon before a flaming rocket blew past my shoulder from behind and into the doorway of the Earth vessel. It exploded inside the metal behemoth, blasting a yellow-orange fireball from the doorway and launching the three Earthians onto the grass outside the vessel.

“
What the-” my father shouted, running toward the fallen aliens.

I think my dad and I were both feeling the same amount of frustration in that moment. I couldn’t believe the stupidity of our Guard and I had half a notion to grab that Earthian rifle and shoot back at my own people. I rushed toward my father who was now knelt next to one of the prostrate Earthians. That particular Earthian was crying out in pain now as my dad searched frantically for a way to help him.

“
Braxton, go run back to the Med Facility,” he shouted to me, “Get some doctors over here.”

I knew in that moment that things were getting really bad. These Earthians were probably thinking we were a bunch of ignorant savages now. I nodded an acknowledgement to my dad, then turned back toward the woods. Suddenly, another rocket blurred past me, leaving a perfect line of smoke pointing to the villain in the woods. I turned just in time to see the rocket explode harmlessly on the side of the Earthian vessel. I noticed in that moment that two more doors had opened on the side of the vessel and perched at both doors were armed Earthians. I was now standing directly in the middle of what could very well be the first battle between Earth and Legacy. I was wide open with no weapons.

But if I had a weapon, who would I shoot? Yes, this particular thought truly entered my mind just a second before the whipping started. I don’t know any other way to explain the sound of the Earthian rifles other than to compare it to the sound a whipping branch makes as it slices through the air. Their rifles whipped rapidly, probably twenty invisible rockets in the same amount of time it took my heart to beat twice.

I turned to the woods in time to see fire starting on the bottoms of three large trees. I have no doubt that those aliens hit their intended targets and personally, I didn’t blame them for retaliating. I turned back to the ship in time to see one of the Earthians in the doorway aiming his rifle at my father.

“
No!” I shouted, “He’s trying to help!”

The Earthian looked at me, standing with both my arms in the air, then looked back down at my father. He fired three times at my father’s back, dropping him to the ground like a lifeless rag. Then to my shock, he fired several more rounds into the three Earthians who were already lying dead or injured on the ground.

I screamed. But I didn’t just scream. My whole body tingled, from the pit of my stomach up to the tips of my fingers. This had only happened to me three times before and each time, it was in a moment of rage.

. . .

Allow me to explain something before I proceed. It’s believed that the name of our continent comes from the fact that we have a bunch of people who somehow manage to kill people without weapons. Oftentimes, these people kill themselves in the process, but that’s beside the point. For some reason, and no one knows quite why, certain people have the ability to shock others. I’m not talking about the little static shock that we all get sometimes when we touch metal. I’m talking about a full charge thunderbolt.

Our doctors have done all the research into this, and the best they can come up with is that our vegetables have different nutrients than the vegetables of Green and this is what causes us to have evolved into beings that can hold an unequal charge for an extended period of time. One doctor states that the electricity in our body is always neutral – the same amounts of positives and negatives. When we get more positives or negatives from friction with our clothing, this creates an imbalance and in turn, we get a little shock. According to this same doctor, the “Mystics” as we call them, can hold this imbalance for long periods of time without even knowing it. It can build and build with no ill effects to the Mystic – that is until the Mystic chooses to release that energy.

Just the same way that a minor static shock hurts both people involved, the energy released from a Mystic could kill both people involved or at least seriously burn both people. But just the same as with a minor static shock, if you are carrying a piece of metal in your hand when you touch someone, the energy of the shock goes through the metal and doesn’t hurt the electrically imbalanced person. This is why I’ve been forced to wear a Mystic glove everyday of my entire life. If I ever had a “surge” as I call it, I could very readily kill myself.