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The Crystal City
It took the clone farmers, as Carla
named this grim process, eight weeks to create the first batch of clones. With the exception of several stillborns
that troubled both humans and androids greatly, duplicates of each of the
twelve stellarnauts survived the final stage before being transferred to the
nursery. Because of her religious
objections, Ingrid had been the most reluctant of the humans, and yet even she
accepted this state of affairs. Like it
or not, they were the caretakers now.
The goal of Sandra and Woody was to generate enough clones so that pares
could, according the most rigid standards, safely inbreed. A time would come, Skip promised the
progenitors, when cloning would no longer be an issue and, as the parents,
grandparents, and, if they lived long enough, great grandparents of their
descendents, they would watch the progress of a new human race. For each of the original twelve crewmembers
of the Phoenix there would be from six to ten identical clone offspring, who,
resembling each other identically, would grow into carbon copies of their cell
donors.
For now, however, it was enough that the first batch of infants had
been installed in the nursery. To make
them responsible for their progeny, the humans must now take responsibility. It
was time for the three nannies to step forth.
Since Nicole had begrudgingly agreed for this permanent duty, only two
positions were in play, roles no one else wanted to fulfill. Now that Skip had so much as given his word,
either Carla or Ingrid would be on the next expedition on Eden. A simple flip of a coin decided the
issue. Carla, who had created the most
fuss about staying behind, lost the toss.
Taking her loss stoically, with the knowledge that she would go on
future expeditions, she was given the satisfaction to know that Said had lost
the toss to Mbuto. The exploration to
the other side of Eden, as Skip described it, would include Abe, Sheila, Max,
Ingrid, and Mbuto Thanks to Said’s and
Mbuto’s lapses on the planet which had caused Skip to distrust these explorers,
a sixth member of the crew was added at the last minute. Rusty would serve on Skip’s behalf as a
watchdog on the mission, one more reminder of who was really in control.
******
As the Phoenix hovered over the landscape at several
hundred kilometers per hour, the scenery changed rapidly. From the jungle and savannah type landform
reminiscent of Earth to desert land, the crew witnessed the first dramatic
change. Life forms were sparse—small
fleeting images below and a few fliers high in the sky, nothing to recommend it
for exploration. Nor, of course, was
the frozen area at the far north of the planet, that was similar to the arctic
but with no visible signs of life, promising.
When the rover crossed over the barren wastes, emerging on a dark side
of the planet where it was still night, it descended to an elevation of barely
a kilometer, its nose light arcing back and forth over the landscape,
disclosing a much different variety of beasts.
Long necked creatures sprouting three forward-thrusting horns from their
heads, squat creatures resembling giant deformed hogs, and packs of predators
similar to the wolf-beasts on the other side of the planet were just a few
species discovered. What was also
visible were more fields not unlike the plains in the first zone. Duly noted by the captain and his crew, this
sector would nevertheless have to be bypassed until daylight. Slowing down to a crawl but rising back up
to avoid mountains ahead, Sheila would pilot the craft until dawn. Until then the nose light continued to
reveal unseen species, including fliers resembling monstrous vampire bats and
one lonely leviathan that stopped the rover in its tracks
Mbuto giggled hysterically. Sheila and Ingrid gasped.
“What in the hell was that?” Max bolted forward in
his seat.
“Whoa!” Abe exclaimed. “Now that’s a
monster!”
“I hope your recording all this.” Rusty said calmly. “That monster had
no equivalent in Earth, not now, not ever.”
“I record everything.” Sheila reassured him. “That
one filled up the screen.”
“It looks very much like a Jurassic sauropod,”
observed Abe.
“Except that it has two heads,” clarified Rusty.
“That doesn’t look like any dinosaur I ever saw!”
“Look at that beast.” Mbuto studied the overhead
screen. “If there’s a king of the beasts here that’s him!”
“Why a him?” Ingrid asked half-seriously. It could
be a her. “Dinosaur females were sometimes bigger than the males.”
“That’s nothing like a dinosaur.” Rusty insisted. “I
just hope it doesn’t breath fire!”
Detecting what they thought was humor in the Howdy-Doody
face, the crewmembers laughed nervously amongst themselves. Placing the rover in automatic pilot as it
hovered there awhile, Abe made a few calculations. Realizing it would probably be several hours before dawn, he
ordered Sheila to continue on until they had enough daylight to land. With a giant sun such as Kepler 186, the
daylight zone came much more quickly than it would on Earth. When they could see dawn’s light on the land
below, the great sun emerging spread its rays through the clouds—one hundred
and eighty degrees, a blinding radiance too much even for their sun shades to
filter out.
“Look away—everyone!” cried Abe. “Better yet, until
it finishes, close your eyes!”
An awkward period followed, with only Rusty able to
look straight at the glow. Not until
the rays had disperse enough in the sky, did he suggest they open their eyes.
“Damn—I’ll never get used to that!” Mbuto sighed
“We’ve been lucky on this world,” noted Abe. “This
sun isn’t as close as the other worlds.
A cloud cover often protects us from its glare. But we’ve all been careless in not wearing
our shades. That sort of blast could
cause permanent blindness.”
“This will never be a friendly world,” muttered Sheila. “It would be
better if we lived in the forest where is the perpetual shade.”
“In most ways,” Rusty recollected, “forests are
infertile. To grow crops and
vegetables, you need constant sun. You
can’t hide from sun, Sheila. Like
everything else on this planet, you must adapt!”
Abe reached over and gently squeezed her knuckles.
“This is our world now!” he whispered to her. With the inflection on our, Sheila understood the meaning
and smiled.
When it was finally safe, the six humans looked down
at the far side of Eden and saw a wondrous sight…. There on an open plain surrounded
by herds of strange creatures below the wings of alien fliers was a veritable
city, its translucent spires rising starkly in the sky. Row after row of buildings that looked very
much like polished chards of crystal surrounded the spires. Despite the implications so far in this
discovery, something was obviously missing in the city: people and moving
vehicles. It sat perfectly still on the
plain.
Excitedly now, Abe turned to Rusty who, breaking the
in flight rules, was standing behind Abe and Sheila, gazing speechlessly at the
scene.
“We have to land this thing!” he sputtered. “But
where?…To avoid those creatures we need to land on one of those buildings.”
“That’s a good idea,” agreed Rusty, “but later we’re
going to have to scatter that bunch. The sound cannon might not be enough.”
“It won’t be!” Skip’s voice suddenly blared from
their wrists. “You’ll have to use your guns!”
“Oh my God!
Oh my God!” Mbuto rubbed his hands excitedly. “It’s just like a book I
once read, Crystal City, only better!”
After a short prayer of thanksgiving, Ingrid looked
upon the overhead screen, a look of peace on her face. “We should move our base
here,” she decided after a pause. “This is what Eden should look like. This should be our home!”
“It’s like the Emerald City of Oz,” marveled Sheila.
“Where is everybody. All I see is
wildlife. What happened to the people
in this town?”
“We’re not in Kansas, that’s for sure,” quipped Max.
“Be careful Abe. Make sure you have
enough room.”
After searching the roof tops of the city awhile,
Abe pointed to a relatively flat building near the spires, and directed Sheila
to land.
“Easy does it, girl.” He patted her knee. “…. That’s
it, hover a moment. Let me take a peek
down there.”
“Be careful!” cautioned Skip. “You’re going into the
unknown!”
Several scaly lizard-like creatures skittered away,
as the rover touched down. When the
rover was sitting idly on the roof, everyone heaved a sigh, rose up, and
followed Abe and Rusty out of the hatch.
The red sun’s brilliance returned as its ray struck the city. The crystalline structures glistened
fiercely in the glow. With their helmet
shades pulled down, they still avoided looking directly at the glow. Fortunately for the explorers, the roof was
now free of creatures and, as if to beckon them into the depths of the
metropolis, as stairway was positioned in the center of the roof.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Rusty summoned the
others. “Draw your weapons. Let’s find
out what lies beneath.”
“Move slowly,” counseled Skip. “Excitement breeds
carelessness. Over eagerness leads to
accidents. In closed spaces, keep your
weapons at your sides, not straight ahead!”
******
On the floor directly below the roof, as if placed there
just for them, they found another crystal, similar to but more elaborate than
the ones in the cave. This one was
larger and more symmetrical the first one.
As was the previous crystal, however, it remained dark as they fondled
it.
“Darn it!” Mbuto’s shoulders drooped. “This one’s
dead, too.”
“Not dead necessarily,” suggested Rusty, “perhaps
it’s just asleep.”
“Now there’s a thought.” Abe said playfully.
“Earthlings to aliens: wake up!”
“Here, let me try.” Ingrid moved and gave it a pat.
“In the name of the Celestial God, I bid you rise!”
“Are you serious?” Max frowned. “It was never
alive!”
Sheila, who had come to respect Ingrid’s
spirituality, looked at the crystal, as if hoping it would light up. For a few moments, as the other crewmembers
idly stood there, embarrassed by Ingrid’s expectations, Ingrid closed her eyes
and prayed silently.
“Come on, Ingrid,” Abe whispered irritably, “I’m
surprised you’d try something like that!”
Then—lo and behold—the dark crystal lit up, with a
brilliance greater than the one in the cave.
Standing back as it’s glow intensified, as if they
expected it to explode, the humans caught their breaths. Rusty murmured discreetly to Skip, “Are you
watching this?”
“Call it forth, Ingrid!” Skip’s voice echoed in the
room. “You have the power!”
“Spirit come forth!” Ingrid obliged, her eyes wide
with amazement.
Suddenly, in the midst of the crystal, which
sparkled and flashed with an eerie Morris Code, a shadow formed, grew larger
and larger, and, as the six humans backed away in fright, a face took shape:
eyeless, without ears or mouth.
For a moment, as Rusty wrestled with Mbuto’s gun, a
serious incident was averted.
“You fool!” He gnashed his teeth. “What did we tell
you?”
“I-I wasn’t going to shoot!” Mbuto sputtered.
“Really, I wasn’t!”
Ingrid, who had also been frightened away, returned
to the crystal, placed her hand on its surface, but said nothing this
time. The face seemed to tilt upward,
as if it was looking up at her. Then,
startling everything, including Ingrid, half to death, the crystal flashed,
momentarily blinding everyone except Rusty, who, in spite of scolding Mbuto,
had drawn his weapon and seemed ready to fire if the specter so much as
moved. Blinking their eyes, their hearts
pounding in their chests, they stood there, stunned and befuddled. Not even Rusty could comprehend what
stood
there in the room. Like a small tornado
of light, it continued to whirl, remaining stationary in front of the prism
from which it escaped. Gradually, a
second specter, more fearful than the first, took form: a translucent bipedal
creature, with arms, legs, and featureless head now greeted them. A bizarre, cricket like chirping, followed
by a humming, more chirping, and bleeps, was emitted by the specter. Sensing that they had nothing to fear, the
crewmembers surrounded the being.
Standing closest to it, Ingrid bravely stuck out her hand, testing its
corporeality. After her hand passed
through it several times, she turned to the others, announcing
matter-of-factly, “You see. It’s a
spirit—an alien ghost. We have nothing
to fear.”
“What’s it trying to say?” Sheila looked
at Rusty. “Can you translate for us? It
sounds like gibberish!”
“No.” Rusty shook his head. “I’m not a
miracle worker. There’s no primer for
alien language. It seems to me he’s
trying to be friendly. My database
reminds me of a cartoon. ‘Greetings Earthlings!,’ he might he saying. He’s raising his hand up, as if to greet
us. Smile and wave at him!”
For several moments, each of the
earthlings reached out to touch the image.
The fact that their hands passed though it seemed further proof to
Ingrid’s that it was a spirit. Mbuto
shadow-boxed the image awhile and Sheila stood in the midst of it, playfully
waving her arms. It was obvious to
Rusty that it was merely a projection, such as the holographic projections seen
on Earth. Though Ingrid wanted to place
a spiritual connotation upon the image, this opinion sounded reasonable to the
other explorers, and yet Ingrid’s supernatural explanation intrigued Sheila,
and Max thought it so amusing, he dubbed it the Kepler Ghost.
Finally, after enjoying this diversion and debating
why the ghostly image had suddenly appeared, in the blink of an eye, it just as
abruptly disappeared. Flashing a moment
after its departure the crystal light went out like a candle, leaving them in
pitch dark. Five simultaneous gasps
erupted. Sheila reached out to clutch
Abe’s hand. Rusty, unruffled it seemed,
turned on his flashlight. All six beams
arced back and forth and up and down, as if they expected an imminent attack.
“Well, I guess we scared him away!” Max tried making
light of it.
Rusty voice seemed tinged with emotion now. “Do you people realize what this meant? That projection was a greeting!”
“…. Or a warning,” Mbuto swallowed. “It was almost
staged.”
“It could be both,” suggested Rusty. “A simple acknowledged of our presence on
this world…. Let’s hope it’s a friendly greeting and not a warning to back
off!”
Rusty’s words, which struck Abe as half-serious,
caused the other men and women to stir uneasily. Sheila had graduated from squeezing Abe’s knuckles to huddling
fearfully by his side.
“Skip, did you record all this?” Abe
asked, looking up at the ceiling.
“Yes.” Skip said faintly. “…. I agree with
Rusty, yet I hope Ingrid’s twist on this fascinating. There’s so much about this race we don’t know. I think you’ve seen enough for awhile,
however. After further exploration, you
can return to the Crystal City. Your
main task is still finding more resources.
Clearly, this will require much more study.”
“That’ll make Carla happy,” noted Abe.
“We’ve just scratched the surface of this world!”
“Right!” Skip agreed. “Why not grab
samples from the nearby fields. I
noticed a river a ways north, which might provide a freshwater catch. From the bridge, I saw a large forest that
could offer you with more exotic nuts and fruits.”
Like a proverbial wet blanket, Skip had
put a halt on further exploration of the city, at least for the time
being. Now that the crystal had turned
off and the room was plunged into darkness, this suited everyone just
fine. There was only so much daylight
left for exploration. For such an
enterprise, daylight was essential. As
Skip pointed out when they were airborne, they would require, at the minimum, a
full day to explore the remainder of the city, which, by his tone, implied a
more thorough investigation.
******
It was thought by many crewmembers that when the food stores were at a maximum and Skip was satisfied, their important discovery would have top priority. Until clone manufacturing at the habitat was well underway, however, and the caretakers were satisfied that the colonists could manage both the laboratory and food resources on their own, exploration for its own sake was put on hold. The amazing Crystal City, though it wasn’t far from all their thoughts, remained a mentally tantalizing goal, encouraging most of them to get their work done in order for the adventure to resume. They had, after traveling through the stars, already achieved something no other humans had even dreamed of: over one hundred thousand years and 557.7 light years of hibernation, interspersed with dangerous trips to four fantastic planets, arriving finally, as destiny would have it, on another Earth-like world. This time, they were successful. Now, beyond all expectations, they had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that mankind wasn’t alone in the universe. At first, as they explored Kepler 186f, it seemed as though they had found a remnant of a lost civilization. This was far more than they had expected. A metropolis, which Sheila had likened to the Emerald City of Oz, had appeared like a mirage below. At the very beginning of their exploration of the city, they were greeted by a ghostly specter, opening the tantalizing and frightening possibility that they had somehow been expected…. The question in everyone’s mind now was, ‘Were they were still here?’”
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