Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) (10 page)

Brandon watched the video and Derek stayed quiet. The beginning of it was the most interesting part, as it addressed the most pressing questions on Brandon’s mind in regards to the alien planet they were now supposedly on. According to the narrator, there were once wars and diseases on both these planets, but those ended more than 2,000 years ago when the Amulites became technologically advanced enough for local space travel. That’s when the Torians confirmed the long-suspected existence of each other’s races and could begin visiting their sister worlds.

They were then contacted by mysterious beings from the center of the galaxy, known only as Erobs, who invited them to become part of a galactic coalition which promised peace and prosperity. Being somewhat intimidated by the highly advanced Erob’s, they accepted, partially motivated by fear. The Torians were given a set of moral laws to live by, a requirement of the coalition.

To oversee the teaching and application of those laws, a number of female Amulites and Banorians were taken by the Erobs and impregnated by them, in order to give birth to a race of half-breeds. It was explained that this was the standard procedure for admittance to the coalition, which included every advanced world in this region of the galaxy. The half-breeds were not to assimilate with native Torians, but reproduce within their own community and maintain racial purity. This turned out to be a non-issue, because the native population found the half-breeds to have a naturally repelling quality about them. The half-breeds did have unique and intriguing aspects, however, including extra-sensory perception, and, in some cases, prophetic abilities. During the early centuries of the Torian involvement in the Erob coalition, there were many prophets among the half-breeds. It was a time of rapid social development in Torian society, as the two worlds began interbreeding and assimilating with each other.

A time of peace, prosperity, and great technological advancement ensued. The Torians began to be visited by other members of the Erob coalition, who were impressed with the ingenuity and adaptability of the Torians, especially their great universities, and shared with them the technology which made interstellar space travel possible.

The video touched briefly on the development of that technology, which answered some of Brandon’s questions about their space travel capabilities. He didn’t completely understand how the technology worked, but was able to grasp the gist of it. They used some kind of a warp/distortion field generator which creates a bubble around their spaceships that distorts space-time, allowing their ships to traverse great distances across the galaxy without actually having to travel through all that space to get there. Brandon remembered reading about NASA scientists actually beginning to experiment with that concept on Earth. Soon, the Torians had built their own interstellar spaceships and could visit the other members of the coalition themselves, as well as begin their own space exploration program, which they did with much enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm if you asked Brandon.

A little more than 300 years ago, the Torians began work on a great space station positioned just outside the shared orbit of their two worlds, closest to Amulen. It was a tremendous construction project upon which the pride of Torian civilization manifested itself. The work took more than half a century before the station was officially opened. It was named
The Cardinal
. The Cardinal Space Station was an unmatched feat of construction within the local galactic region and magnificently displayed the creative development prowess of Torian society. It was their crowning achievement, and became the talk of the galaxy among those members of the coalition who took to interstellar travel. It has since undergone several additions and major refurbishing projects. The current build is known as
Cardinal-4
.

The video ended and a show about art and literature began. Brandon looked over to see what Derek was watching. It looked like a film on politics and government. Brandon suddenly felt tired.

“I think I’m going to bed,” he said.

 “I thought you said we’ve been sleeping for years now, man.” Derek remained motionless as he spoke.

“Maybe so, but wine always makes me sleepy. You gonna stay up, then?”

“I guess so. I slept forty years longer than you, remember?”

It was obvious Derek was still upset, and probably not sure what he believed yet. Brandon decided to change the subject.

“What are you watching there, politics? This screen has an artsy show, looks more up your alley. Goodnight, Derek.”

Brandon went back to the white room, got mostly undressed, and climbed into bed. It was very comfortable. He could see through the open doorway into the gray room from the bed he chose. Before closing his eyes, he noticed Derek had moved his chair over to watch the artsy-show.

Brandon awoke several hours later and noticed Derek was still in the chair, but a different video was running. Brandon got up to check on him. Derek had fallen asleep there. The pitcher of wine was empty. Brandon used the bathroom and went back to bed.

* * *

“Food will be delivered in 500, 498, 497.” The overhead audio voice stopped, but a picture of food remained on the big screen, along with a great number of dots that were vanishing one by one.

Brandon and Derek were already awake and dressed. They had ventured through the additional bathroom door where they discovered shower stalls. That is, Brandon had figured out they were showers based on the way the sinks worked, and, much to Derek’s horror, stood underneath one of them allowing a blue light to crawl over his mostly-naked body. Derek would have nothing to do with it, despite Brandon’s assurance it felt refreshing. Brandon’s willingness to adapt to the current situation wasn’t helping their relationship any. Derek retreated into aloofness again after the shower display.

The countdown ended and two lizard-men wheeled in a cart with food and coffee. They left, and a new countdown began.

“Your teachers will arrive in 2,000, 1,999, 1,998.”

 “Teachers?” Brandon scoffed. “What are we, students now? I thought we were prisoners …or maybe circus animals.”

Derek said nothing, but went over to the food. Brandon suspected him of having a slight hangover. He followed him, figuring they may as well get fed before their captors arrive. It could be another long day of staring at them from across the room. They stood before the cart and ate in silence. Derek then took the coffee pitcher back to the table and chairs. Brandon followed. They positioned themselves on the far side of the table, where they had been yesterday—only today, Derek kept his chair away from Brandon’s as well.

Then they came in. There were three of them today, but one of them was markedly different. Brandon recognized the appearance of the newcomer. That was an Erob half-breed, the race they referred to as
Sheen
in the film he watched before going to bed. The Sheen sat between the two natives who were here yesterday. He wore a hooded cloak so only his face, hands, and lower legs were visible, which glowed with an acute brightness. The two natives began tapping on their devices again, but the Sheen just sat there with his hands folded on the table.

Brandon was relieved when he saw they were assuming non-threatening positions. The situation was the same as yesterday, with the captors keeping their distance. Teachers—right. Zookeepers, maybe. If they were zookeepers and he was the caged animal, then Brandon was staying right over here on this side of the cage. He felt a little safer than yesterday, knowing they had yet to show any aggression.

Suddenly, Derek stood up. Without saying a thing, he began taking big strides directly towards them, cup of coffee still in hand. Brandon had a moment of panic. What the hell was he doing? Brandon stayed put. He was scared now—and worse, alone.

Derek walked right up to the table and stood before it. The two natives set down their devices and looked up at him. All three captors remained seated. Derek just stood there for a moment, and then set his cup on the table. The three looked down at his cup, and then back up at Derek, who just kept standing there for another extremely long minute. Finally, he spoke. His voice was loud and desperate-sounding.

“What is this, man? What’s really going on? Why am I here and who are you guys? Are you really space aliens? Or are you the damned oppressive government playing some kind of evil trick?”

The Sheen slowly stood up, greatly alarming Brandon, although the two natives stayed in their seats. To Brandon’s surprise, Derek inched forward—not backward—and placed his hands on the table.

“And why are you glowing, man? You’re hurting my freaking eyes!”

“You display admirable courage,” the Sheen said. He stretched out a hand and turned it palm-up over the table. His luminescent fingers were quite long, making up more than 2/3 of the length of his entire hand.

“We are here to answer your questions,” the Sheen said, “all that you wish to know. Please believe me, you are in no danger. Sit down, if you wish. We can discuss whatever you like.”

Brandon knew there was no way Derek was going to sit at that table. He would probably come back over to Brandon and await the answers to his questions; questions Brandon was now glad he asked.

Derek, however, sat down with them. The Sheen sat back down as well. This wasn’t right. Brandon was now the scared little mouse in the back of the room, and about to be left out of whatever conversation was going to take place. The ostracizing that Derek felt towards Brandon last night must have pushed Derek over the edge.

“I glow because I am of a different race than my associates here,” the Sheen said. “A minority race. My skin is bright to their eyes as well, which is why we keep it mostly covered when we are among them. Your eyes should adjust after a short period. Did you happen to watch a Torian history video which explained about my race?”

Derek shook his head. “No, I must have missed that one.”

“I saw it,” Brandon said from across the room. He got up, walked halfway over, stopped, and stood in place.

“Would you like to join us?” the Sheen said, extending his arm out towards the open chair next to Derek.

“I’m good from here,” Brandon said. “The last time I got too close to some of your friends there, I was assaulted and abducted.”

“Very well,” the Sheen said. “My name is Arkan9. My associates here are Mip7,” the bronze-colored one nodded, “and Professor Yob3. You are currently residing in a special set of rooms, arranged specifically for you, in a large research facility on Amulen, one of our two planets. We are approximately 6,000 light years from Earth.”

“How do you know English,” Derek said, “and when you talk, man, your mouth goes all freaky like and doesn’t look like you are speaking to me.”

Brandon noticed that as well, and remembered the same thing happening yesterday when the one the Sheen had just referred to as Mip7 gave his speech. It was like watching an old Kung Fu movie.

“We speak in our native tongue,” Arkan9 said, “but you hear us in your own language because there have been translation devices surgically implanted along your auditory nerves.”

That caused Derek to jump back up out of his seat. Both Derek and Brandon reacted by putting their hands on the wounds behind their ears, which were beginning to scab and heal now.

“What else have you freaks done to me?” Derek yelled. Brandon noticed he didn’t say
us
.

“Nothing else, other than what was necessary in order to revive you. Certainly no other surgery. The transmitter implants are a minimally invasive procedure. They are not harmful, and are necessary in order to integrate you into our society.”

Derek turned around and looked at Brandon, then turned back to Arkan9, who remained seated with the natives, and then started walking back to Brandon. Good boy.

He walked right past Brandon without stopping, however, and continued all the way back to the video area. Brandon readily followed him, happy to retreat to their former comfortable, defensive position across the room.

“Would you mind bringing me a cup, also?” Arkan9 said in a loud voice.

Without breaking stride, Derek grabbed the coffee pot from the small table, turned around, and passed back by Brandon. Brandon stopped where he was, momentarily perplexed.

Then, as if Arkan9’s last words suddenly registered, Derek stopped, turned, went over to the food cart, grabbed another cup, and then returned to Arkan9’s table, whereupon he poured both Arkan9 and himself a cup of coffee. Brandon was once again dismayed. This couldn’t be happening. Derek was sitting down and having coffee with their alien abductors. Brandon approached the table, several feet closer this time, and stood. This man was actually much bolder—and quite a bit smarter—than the real Derek back home.

“Thank you,” Arkan9 said.

“So, why am I here?” Derek asked.

“The professor will explain.”

The one he called Yob3 then launched into a detailed history of the Torian space exploration program. Earth was a planet just outside of Erobian space, and was as far away as any of their missions had ever ventured. It was considered an underdeveloped planet, by their standards, but was fascinating from a cultural perspective so continuing missions were commissioned. When it was discovered Earth would soon experience a violent orbital shift, “research subjects” were taken and brought back to the Amulen Science Complex for study. The deep space exploration missions to that section of the galaxy were discontinued approximately 24.4 Torian years ago, before Earth’s pending orbital shift occurred. Being so far away, the actual fate of Earth is still unknown at the present time. During the time since, until now, the Earth research subjects were kept in cryonic preservation chambers, a process which almost freezes the body but maintains life support. The aging of the body is slowed almost to a stop when kept in that type of environment.

Derek pointed his thumb back at Brandon, without turning around. “This guy says he’s from my future.”

“That is correct,” Yob3 said. “He was the last subject taken. You were the first. A time period of approximately 45 Earth years separates you, although the cryonic preservation process has resulted in your current condition being very close to that of the time when each of you were …rescued. We revived the first and the last subjects in order to ascertain if the maintenance process had developed any obvious flaws over the years. The fact that you both have resuscitated completely, and to good health, validates some of our theories.”