The Solar Wind (20 page)

The temperature on Kyanos ranged from thirty to ninety five degrees Fahrenheit; depending on the season. The planet experienced everything from light snow to pouring rain. The humid atmosphere lent itself to frequent violent lightning storms during the rainy season. The mixture of gases were similar to that of the atmosphere on Earth with a slightly higher oxygen level, but still acceptable for human life. The planet received warmth and light from two different suns, creating a twenty-eight hour day, with sunlight possible for near twenty of those hours. Solar power would be the primary source of energy. Unfortunately, the water found in several of the large bodies of water contained many minerals and toxins, rendering it unsafe to drink. However, the high level of precipitation made it possible to collect rainwater for processing, storage, and drinking. If rationed carefully, there would not be a shortage. In time, a technique for filtering and distilling the lake water was developed, solving the water issue from many angles.

The soil analysis revealed a fertile environment for plant life. The mineral composition gave the soil a slight purplish hue. The light reflecting off of the ground created a faint lavender appearance to the sky. The planet had plenty of tall green grasses and slim lofty trees with fern-like foliage, however no obvious sources of food for humans. Rowan held the responsibility for determining the types and amounts of plant life from Earth that would be transferred to the new planet. The delicate operation took several decades and was tightly controlled. Careful experiments were performed to check the compatibility between the plants on Kyanos with the plant life from Earth that Rowan wanted to introduce. The captain and crew did not encounter any major intelligent forms of alien beings. Despite the abundance of greenery on the new planet, there was a scant small alien animal population. Introducing animals from Earth would be a sensitive operation. Once again they did not want to tip the balance by bringing in animals that could potentially destroy the environment. Importation consisted mostly of farming animals, whose population could be monitored and controlled. The crew cautiously hand selected willing humans along the way that they trusted and knew would be key to the success of the new world. In time, these humans would come to know what kinds of beings Wesley and his crew were, and they were surprisingly not at all fazed by it.

Over time, the crew of the Andromeda collected various resources from the Earth and brought them to Kyanos. Together, with the new human inhabitants, they built a main compound with a hangar for the Andromeda to protect it from the lightning storms, several  free standing homes, a hospital/clinic, and a small farm. Eventually the fledgling community grew to a small colony with advanced technology, efficient recycling, and it began to flourish with the abundance farming, agriculture and solar power. The people of Kyanos lived simply, in peace. Communication with Earth or with any of the space stations was non-existent. This was the way it had to be to preserve the new world. With a population nearing five hundred, Wesley and the crew selected only a handful of people per year to take to Kyanos, mostly humans they had known and trusted over many years. Wesley hoped one day soon, Kyanos would be a safe enough place to bring Ava to. However promising the new world seemed to be, it was still very fragile. Unfortunately Wesley and the crew were not the only beings of their kind in existence. A man named Kaden, who had several henchman devoted to him, threatened the survival of the colony. They did not like to see Wesley and his crew protect humans and take over a new planet, upsetting the natural order of things. They felt that humans should follow their natural fate, living on the stations they created for themselves for survival as the Earth continued to deteriorate. Wesley suspected that Kaden wanted Kyanos for himself.

The captain and crew knew time was of the essence. They had been away from Kyanos far too long and the reports of the attacks on their colony concerned them. As they neared the small planet they became once again in range to receive the transmissions from the hangar. The news was not good. A recent raid by Kaden left several of the buildings destroyed and a great portion of the crops ruined. They could see the black smoke billowing as they prepared to make their landing. Wesley anxiously awaited the full report from Kyanos’ appointed Chief Officer, Trevor Vance, or “Vance” as they simply called him. As Ash gently set the Andromeda down in the hangar, Wesley and Andre immediately exited the ship and walked hurriedly towards the communications deck where Vance was waiting for them.

“Captain.” Vance nodded to Wesley and Andre as they approached.

“Vance, how bad is the damage? Were many lives lost?” Wesley immediately inquired.

“We lost thirteen people who were unable to seek shelter,” he answered solemnly then continued. “Kaden came out of no-where as usual. Our scanners cannot track him and they did not detect his approach for some reason. He has developed some type of jamming technology.” He paused. “From what we can tell he came from out of the west, striking at about 0800 hours yesterday. He made two sweeps, one over the crop fields and then one over the residential district, then he was gone. We were able to get a few defensive strikes in before he was out of range, however I don’t think we were able to do any damage to his ship before he left.”

“That vile coward!” Andre remarked. “That’s just his sick way of saying hello.”

“It’s a miracle he didn’t fire on the main hangar or the new ones on the other side of the compound,” Vance remarked calmly. He was used to Kaden’s raids as he had grown up on Kyanos. Wesley and the crew brought him to the small planet after they found him orphaned as a young child. “I think your idea of disguising them as agricultural silos worked.” The engineers on Kyanos were busy building a new large starship for interstellar travel as well as a few more of the small, solar powered hovercraft land-bound vehicles called “couriers” that the people of Kyanos used for everything from localized travel to towing plows to tend to the fields, etc.

“How much of the crops were destroyed?” Wesley asked.

“Most of the soy, corn, and a great portion of the wheat as well as about half dozen of the livestock.”

“Will there be enough food for the colony to make it through the winter?”

“We have some reserves from last season. It’ll be tight, but as long as there isn’t another raid, we should be all right.”

“We’ve brought the supplies you requested as well as some power cells, food, medications and other miscellaneous things we thought you’d need.”

“Excellent. I’ll have the Andromeda unloaded immediately. I already have the agriculturists salvaging what they can from the crops before they re-work the fields. It’s too late to plant another crop this year, but at least we can get it ready for next season.”

“Sounds like you are on top of things.”  Wesley continued. “How is the decoy coming along?”

“She’s almost done. I’m thankful it wasn’t damaged or discovered in the raid.”

“We’ll stay and help you finish it and also to re-build the homes that were destroyed. We need to put an end to this nightmare.”

Vance nodded. He, like the rest of the colony, respected Wesley. He looked upon him as sort of a father figure, even though Wesley appeared to be in his early thirties and Vance was now in his mid forties. He grew up under the strong leadership of the captain and the crew who set good examples for diligent hard work, kindness, peace, and respect for the environment.

The colonists of Kyanos had no other name for Wesley and his kind other than the name Naomi had creatively offered so long ago: “The Asterions”, which loosely meant “ruler of the stars.” It was not meant to be arrogant and in fact seemed a bit corny but the name was catchy with the locals so it stuck. Wesley and his crew were one of the largest group of Asterions they knew of in the galaxy. There was Kaden of course and his crew, as well as Bryant, and then there was also Xavier and his family clan whom they almost never had contact with. Wesley felt pretty sure there may be others out there, although in his 316 years of being human he had never encountered any. Before becoming human, Wesley had known the essence of many more of his kind, however, being human was a choice he had made, not popular with the others. After choosing and transforming himself, Wesley was unable to communicate with them again. They could see and hear him, however, he had no more knowledge of them. Perhaps they still watch over him. It did not matter, being human was all he wanted, and it was worth it, especially now that Ava had appeared in his life. Over time, he was re-united with the Asterions that now made up his crew, his natural family that followed him from their state of essence to being human. 

The decoy, as they called it, was a metal shell being built as a replica of the Andromeda. When it was finished, they planned to tow it out into one of the empty fields as bait for Kaden to initiate an attack. They hoped the decoy would occupy Kaden’s attention long enough for them to launch their own attack against him and destroy him once and for all.

During the following week the captain and crew split up to assist the colony with the rebuild projects and to develop a strategy for after when the decoy was complete. Wesley worked tirelessly on the decoy. The sooner it was complete, the sooner they could use it to lure their enemy down for a counter attack. Wesley could not stop thinking and worrying about Ava, wondering if she was okay, if she was safe. He had only been gone for two weeks and was anxious to return to her. He was the only one left in the hangar for it was very late at night and stopped welding as he saw Vance approach.

“You still working Captain?”

“Just finishing this side. If we continue at this pace, she’ll be done in a few days.”

“This decoy looks almost identical to the real one, minus all of the important stuff. You would have to be standing right next to it to tell a difference.”

“Our efforts will be worth it. Kaden may be a coward but he’s not stupid. It needs to look convincing, otherwise he won’t come in low enough for us mount an assault.”

“With your help we’ll be ready for him this time.”

Wesley knew that while Vance valued being on Kyanos instead of Earth, he worried about the future of the colony. Changing the subject, he asked about his wife. “Vance, how is Rochelle doing?”

“She’s doing great. She’s now six months along. Everything has been just fine, we are fully expecting a healthy term baby,” he said proudly.

“I’m happy for you. We will do our best to destroy Kaden and give you and this colony the peace of mind it needs to continue successfully.” Wesley was not a father, however he could imagine what an expectant father would want, a safe place to raise his child. The two men continued to converse for a few more minutes before Vance retired, leaving Wesley to finish the side of the decoy he was working on.

The next day Wesley and the crew held a meeting with the colony officials and the military to discuss the strategy for the battle. The decoy neared completion and they prepared to tow it out onto one of the empty landing pads furthest away from the residential district. The timing could not be more perfect. Ash had detected that Kaden’s ship was not far from Kyanos.

The next morning couriers towed the Andromeda decoy to the landing pad. Wesley and the crew would now wait in the real Andromeda hidden from sight in the hangar for Kaden to descend upon the colony. They needed to be ready, no matter how long it might take.   They hoped that Kaden would see the decoy as an easy target. Kaden knew that without the Andromeda and its captain, the strongest of their kind, the colony would be defenseless against him and his own crew. There would be nothing left to prevent them from taking over.

Two days passed with no hint of an attack, however on the third day, Ash detected a transmission from The Draconis, Kaden’s starship. It was nearing Kyanos’ atmosphere at a rapid pace.

“This is it!” Ash announced.

A flurry of activity exploded on the Andromeda. Andre notified Vance and the colony officials to prepare for defensive strikes. Wesley took his place at one of the main assault cannons. Justin followed suit with the other one on the opposite end of the ship. The rest of the crew took their positions with Andre remaining in the flight deck with Ash to assist with evasive maneuvers. Ash powered up the ship, ready to race out of the hangar at a moments notice. A siren rang out, alerting the people of the impending attack. The citizens of Kyanos took cover in the few underground bunker/storage facilities that had been built. The small military prepared from the ground to attack the Draconis if it became within range.

Suddenly a massive jet black blur became visible in the atmosphere and streaked rapidly across the sky at an alarming rate, heading right towards the decoy.

“He’s taking the bait! Get ready!” Ash bellowed over the intercom and also to the ground defense. The Andromeda hummed loudly as it prepared to lift off.

“Wait ‘till he’s past us! Then we’ll attack him from the rear,” Wesley commanded.

The Draconis tore through the sky past the hangar heading to the Andromeda. The thunderous sound of a torrent of cannon fire erupted as the Draconis fired mercilessly on the decoy. The military began firing on the enemy ship with only a few direct hits gained, deflected by the ships electric shield. The Andromeda raced out of the hangar, gaining on the Draconis quickly. The Andromeda was about the same size of its foe, there would be no way the Draconis could outrun them. The decoy exploded easily as it was nothing more than a shell. Flames and smoke billowed everywhere. The Draconis picked up speed as Kaden realized he had been tricked and was now being hunted by the Andromeda. The Andromeda chased the Draconis ruthlessly. Ash aligned the ship and Wesley fired harshly upon his enemy, followed by Justin and the others. The hits were successful. A chunk of melting metal fell off of the back of the Draconis as a line of white smoke appeared from its wake in the sky. The Draconis changed course and began soaring higher in the sky.