In the shadow of the stolen light

“So where is Taria?”

“We are moving along its orbit and, at the same time, we are also rotating,” explained Lora. “As is the circular viewpoint.” Lora took out the tablet and checked some data. “We are going to see Taria from here in fourteen minutes.”

“I’d like to see it.”

“Of course, let’s wait!” Lora sat comfortably on the floor, crossing her legs.

“How many stars!” noted Derek with admiration. “They seem as distant as in the sky over Earth.”

“For as long as I can remember, that’s been my view of them from here” echoed Lora.

“Why do I have a feeling that this voyage brings you sadness as much as joy?” suddenly asked Derek.

Lora tightened her lips thoughtfully.

“I’m not really sure myself. But you’re right. Even though our journey is incredibly interesting, allowing us to explore the Universe and meet alien races flying through space in search of a new home, I can’t help believing that the true home for the ‘Solar Flotilla’ people is on Earth and that we can come back…”

“It seems that not many agree with you?”

“My people have their reasons for that, I told you about it…”

“Yes, I know,” the young man nodded with sympathy. “I’m sorry that I can’t remember anything to support your assumption.”

“Me too,” Lora smiled sadly and immediately added, “but your presence on the ship gave me new hope. I believe that everything happens for a reason. All the events, encounters and separations are there to direct a person to their true goal.”

“Do you believe in fate?” Derek wanted to clarify.

“No, I believe in providence,” Lora specified. “I’ve always tried to listen to that voice of the Universe, as I call it.”

“Is it from Andre Mendes̓ teachings?”

“It’s not that literal,” answered Lora. “Everyone understands it differently.”

“I’d like to learn a little more about his theory.”

“All the information is in the central computer. You can also ask for help from any guide at any school.”

“A guide?”

“Yes, guides are people who help us study Andre Mendes’ philosophy and reach the inner equilibrium.”

“Can’t you teach me?”

“Enlightenment is a special gift, and the guides are naturally gifted. I can’t say the same about me…”

The earthling nodded.

“So I’ll have to sit at the school desk again!”

“Here, look!” Lora noticed a green light on the right. The glow was growing brighter and brighter with every second and soon the planet’s contour emerged as well.

“I thought Taria looks like Earth…”

“Hardly,” Lora shook her head. “The green luminosity of the planet is due to the gases accumulated in the top layers of its atmosphere. Only 30 percent of the light of the Doht, the star that gave name to the whole system, passes through the clouds.” She paused and then added, “Looking at these huge planets populated by billions of living beings, it sometimes seems to me that our fleet looks like a grain of sand lost in the vastness of the Universe.”

“It’s sometimes not so bad to be a tiny and unnoticeable grain of sand,” Derek tried to be funny. “Especially, when there are plenty of hostile aliens all around you.”

“Not many of them are hostile,” began Lora, but then stumbled realizing that her companion rose up from his chair and was now standing on his own legs, leaning a little on the glass.

“I’ve decided not to warn you about my intention,” Derek smiled, “to avoid the unnecessary stir.”

Frozen, Lora was watching the earthling. He cleared his throat.

“I’m fine.”

“I see,” she finally said, “This is great!”

He nodded.

“Despite the popularity of transport means on electromagnetic pillows here, I’d prefer to walk from now on. Shall we?”

“Sure!”

Amused, Lora was watching with how much effort her new friend applied to be able to walk. Despite the Council’s reservations, it seemed to Lora that she had come to know Derek very well in the past few days. He surprised her with his perseverance, hard work and energy. However, notwithstanding his obvious character virtues, the earthling was still far from having the inner equilibrium, inherent to all Titanium citizens. The latter remained calm and rational in any situation, trusting their intuition and accepting everything with wisdom. Derek’s behaviour was often quite the opposite of that. His feelings were contradicting, reactions unexpected, while his emotions were so strong that they drowned out the voice of reason.

Some days later, Lora and Derek came to have lunch in the canteen of the ‘Unity’ building. Lora’s first and foremost obligations as a junior Council member constantly demanded her presence. That’s why the majority of the day was spent doing her main job, while she met Derek closer to the evening.

“This time I’ll order food myself,” said the young man taking a seat. His hand swiped the sensor panel making a holographic menu appear over the table.

“Now choosing as if touching the names of the desired dishes…”

Derek was precisely repeating the instructions given by Lora during their first lunch together.

The young lady nodded contentedly when her companion easily completed the set task. After a few seconds, the central part of the table moved apart and two metal holders lifted a tray with two white food containers.

“Here you are, help yourself! But what did I choose?” Derek hesitated a little.

“Hm…” with pretentious seriousness Lora peeked under the round lids. “There’s an omelette with meat and an apple pie with raisins.” She moved the containers, which now looked more like plates, closer to her companion. “Here you are.”

“A typical omelette. Where do people keep the chickens that make these eggs?”

“Nowhere,” Lora shrugged, “The majority of the groceries are artificially produced from proteins, fats and carbohydrates…”

Derek was about to swallow a bite. He paused, not sure whether to continue with the meal.

“It’s just named like that!” hastily Lora calmed him down, “The taste, the texture, and nutritional value correspond to those of the natural products. You should be convinced by now!”

The young man finished chewing and gave her a cunning grin.

“Just kidding.”

“We only grow fruit and vegetables. There are several plantations on Titanium.”

“How old are you, Lora?” suddenly asked Derek, moving his glance hidden behind the dark glasses away from the meal to Lora.

“Twenty-two.”

He slightly moved his head away.

“I didn’t mean to ask personal questions… The doctor said the tests have shown that my biological age is about twenty-seven years old. But I don’t remember even one year of my past life. Do you have parents?”

“Of course, I do,” affirmatively nodded Lora. “Unlike eggs, people are born naturally here. My parents live on the Epsilon, one of the five satellite ships of Titanium. They spend most of their time in scientific expeditions. They are astrophysicists. We don’t see each other very often.”

“What about when you were a kid?”

“Parents care for their children until they are five years of age on Titanium. After that the young generation enters the educational programme. There are guides and teachers of different subjects, who pass the knowledge accumulated by the past generations to the young citizens.”

“It must be hard to get separated from your parents at such a young age.”

“Why would you think that?”

“On Earth the bonds between children and parents are unbreakable. They stay together and show their love and affection.”

“I love my parents,” agreed Lora, “And they love me too. Certainly, the strength of our feelings doesn’t depend on distance.

“Are you forced to send your children away?”

“Of course, not!” Lora was shocked, “Everything we do is done of our own free will. We have no laws.”

“No laws…” with more seriousness stated Derek, totally losing his appetite.

“Hello! I see you are having a lively discussion here!” Paul appeared next to their table. “May I?”

“Of course,” nodded the girl. “Derek, this is Paul, the shuttle captain who has brought the rescue unit to Titanium. He was in your ward when you regained consciousness.”

“I remember this voice,” Derek nodded watching Paul greet him with a small bow, his palms together in front of him.

“I’m glad you’re better,” said the young man taking a seat at the table and ordering a meal. “I think I’ve interrupted something important.”

“Just now I was telling Derek that we don’t have laws,” explained Lora.

“I don’t understand how that can be… there were laws, codes, courts on Earth… It seems like an immutable truth…”

“General information is easier for you to remember, isn’t it?” clarified Paul.

The earthling nodded.

“The doctor said that the tough part will be to remember the details of my life. My family, work, the voyage in the interplanetary ship,” he sighed poking at the cold breakfast with his fork.

“Well, laws were necessary on Earth in order to artificially control the self-destructive side of the human nature from the outside,” Paul decided to distract Derek from his sad thoughts. “All the government and religious institutions were created with the purpose of defining what is good and bad, and to force people to abide by these rules under the threat of physical or spiritual punishment. But the concept of good and evil is inherent to every human being… And we, Andre Mendes’ followers, realize that…”

“Sounds ominous… Like a conspiracy theory…”

“It’s not a theory. It’s a rational perspective on the earthlings’ lifestyle.”

“It seems you don’t identify yourself with your motherland at all,” Derek looked at the speaker.

“Far from it,” interrupted Lora, “It’s just been a long time.”

The earthling shrugged indifferently. With Paul around he started behaving in a more reserved manner and spoke with more tension in his voice.

“The difference in the point of view became a stumbling block for our ancestors,” noted the girl seriously. “But many things could have changed after ‘Solar Flotilla’ left.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t remember that,” Derek frowned.

“Take your time,” the captain reacted calmly. “Besides, our scientists have been working hard to receive the maximum information about what happened on the ship. I think you’ve heard that the autopsy of the other person found in the ark revealed that the woman had died from a virus unknown to us. Because of the substance injected in the blood, it’s difficult to understand the details of the infection and its development but…”

“I have an idea,” Lora interrupted him, “It’s most likely that the infection was from Earth. In any case, nothing points to the alien origin of the virus. It could’ve been activated during the flight, or you were already infected when you were getting into the anabiosis.”

“I doubt that the authorities from Earth would’ve sent ill astronauts on a mission in space,” commented the captain.

“Was I an astronaut?” asked Derek.

“We’re not sure. We still haven’t been able to restore the data from the onboard computer,” the girl sighed heavily, “The scariest scenario to my mind is this: what if your ship was actually sent for help? It’s possible that people suffered from a pandemic and couldn’t find an alternative way to contain it.”

“In this case, they’d have to wait for our return for quite a long time,” noted Paul.

“What if there was no other way? Or, what if the ship from Earth carried the only survivors?”

The young men simultaneously looked at the girl.

“Derek, do you remember you said that you had very little time? It could be connected with the illness. Maybe even the anabiosis couldn’t stop the virus and you knew about it…”

Paul frowned and rubbed his temples.

“If we develop this idea further we can come to a conclusion that the Earth population has been destroyed… Two hundred years have passed…”

There was a pause. Lora couldn’t see Derek’s eyes behind the dark glasses.

“Derek?” Lora was closely watching the young man, “Have you remembered something?”

He seemed to have plunged into his thoughts again as had happened many times until that moment..

“No,” answered Derek, “Anyway, I must go back. If your experts can’t find the answers on the onboard computer, I’ll find out everything myself on Earth.”

“You’ll have to cross half a galaxy to go back,” exclaimed Paul, “Literally.”

“Do I have a choice?” asked the guest.

“It’s important to wait for the test results from the IT department,” answered the captain calmly. “And, of course the medical department results as the return might not be safe…”

“What if there are survivors on Earth and they need help?!” Lora joined the conversation. “What if the old feud doesn’t matter anymore and we can go back home forever?!”

“Slow down, I don’t follow you,” said Paul.

“But I do,” Derek’s words resounded with unshakable confidence. “The only way to find out is to return to Earth.”

“Paul,” the girl looked at her friend, “We must speak to the Council!”

“Do you want…”

“To prepare an expedition to Earth!”

The young man raised his hands.

“Whoah! An expedition through half a galaxy? Based on bare assumptions?”

“We have nothing else,” Lora shrugged, “Why wait…”

“Two hundred years have passed,” the captain negatively shook his head, “Why should we hurry now?”

“We’re moving further and further away from Earth,” Lora found a sensible argument.

“Yes, but…”

“But the next Lactian year we’ll surely spend on Vistana’s orbit, collaborating with the Lactians. It’s our chance to fly to Earth and come back!”

“I’d like to address the Council myself,” the guest interrupted their argument. Lora looked at Derek. He sounded very confident. “Is it possible?”

“Of course,” she nodded.

“But what are you going to tell them?” asked Paul, “Ungrounded assumptions are not going to be enough. If only you had some facts…”

“My memories are still hidden from me. But when I heard Lora’s assumptions, they seemed very realistic. I can’t prove anything; but, in my opinion, waiting for the test results is a waste of time.”

“You’re both very stubborn,” suddenly smiled the captain. “I believe, if a sustainable expedition plan is devised the Council will give an affirmative answer.”

Lora nodded energetically.

“Will you help us?”

“On one condition, which you, I have no doubt, will find very reasonable,” Paul paused and stared at his companions. “It’s not the best idea to present a project like this to the Council at the peak of the evacuation. We’ll wait till our arrival on Vistana and then come forward with our suggestion.”

His companions didn’t think much.

“Sound logical,” Lora smiled, seeing that Derek also nodded in agreement.

“What are you doing after dinner?” Paul asked suddenly. He sensed Derek’s unhappy mood and wanted to cheer him up.

“We were going to the archive…” Lora pulled a plate with salad and a glass of juice closer.

“My crew is going to Gron, one of Taria’s moons, in two hours. We need to collect the equipment of the portable observatory back to Titanium. Would you like to come with us? I promise a walk in a spacesuit.”

“Are you serious?” Derek asked with excitement.

“Absolutely serious!”

The earthling turned to Lora.

“It’ll be nice to do something different together for a change,” she nodded smiling. “The spacesuits with neurocontrol are quite easy to use. Also we’ll show you the Equatorial transport terminal from inside!”

“Then I’ll be waiting for you at platform B-278 in an hour,” said the captain contentedly. “After a short training session, we’ll be ready to set off.”

Chapter 5

An hour later, Lora and Derek went out of the tele-cabin and onto the landing platform. The inner area of the Equatorial transport terminal, where they happened to be, was filled with air. Thousands of docking modules and landing platforms for the freight as well as the public space transport could be found there. A seven-kilometre wide circular system of gateways separated the spherical hangar, ninety kilometres in diameter, from the outer area, where there was no atmosphere and the ships arrived right after passing through the protective field. The young people were standing almost in the middle of the hangar, while the blue nucleus of the artificial planet was, as usual, glowing several thousand metres over their heads.

“So, I was brought on Titanium on board this beauty,” asked Derek, his hand gliding on the silver cover of the shuttle while he was observing the huge spacecraft with great interest.

“Yes, it’s series one hundred and one. Compared to the majority of ships, this is a tiny one,” explained the girl. “Paul calls her a whale.”

The young man looked at Lora questioningly.

“Its shape and smooth lines resemble the blue whale, living in the depth of the Earth’s oceans,” explained the captain appearing next to them as if by magic.

“Where did you come from?” said Lora surprised.

“We’re testing the teleport system on short distances,” smiled Paul. “Are you ready to come on board?”

The briefing and the flight to the moon passed in a friendly informal atmosphere. The shuttle crew clearly liked Derek, and the feeling was mutual. Also, the earthling showed great interest in the modern space technologies and listened carefully to everything Stan, the mechanical engineer, was telling him. Aswell as this, the panoramic glazing of the bridge was not left unnoticed either. When the shuttle left the transport terminal, Derek was watching with genuine amazement the blue glow of Titanium slowly melting in the darkness of the space and the sparkling lines of ships flocking towards it. However, the proximity of Tarias satellite deprived the earthling of the opportunity to enjoy the flight with all his heart. Very soon, the silver ship landed on the crater-covered moon.

“Dismantling the observatory in the vacuum of space will take about four hours,” said Paul as if still briefing, “Oleg and Mary will go with us, Chris and Stan will stay on the ship to watch after the scanners: times are rough, many ships are leaving the planet and its populated satellites carrying refugees. The Tarians are scared and, at times, behave very aggressively. Mary, can you help Derek with the spacesuit, please!” added the captain, seeing how awkwardly the young man was pulling the suit up.

Lora, who spent the majority of her flight time studying some data, also looked at the earthling and smiled almost unnoticeably.

“You’ll see, by putting this thing on, you feel somewhat fitter and stronger already. A similar technology was used by our scientists to create exoskeletons for the medical service on the planet Roma. After the war there were many soldiers unable to walk independently because of injuries. The exoskeleton performed the functions of the damaged motor nerves receiving the impulses directly from the brain.”

“But don’t forget that this suit doesn’t replace your muscles and nerves, it only strengthens them,” added Mary helping Derek to put on a helmet. “Now you’ll see a virtual display in front of your eyes…”

“I see it.”

“It’ll show your physiological indicators. You can voice request the main menu and choose the landscape scanning, ask for a geological map, the route and even music. The personal communicators are switched off only after the captain’s command; the radio connection between all the crew members must be constant.”

“Thank you,” said Derek with gratitude.

“How are you feeling?” Lora quickly put on her suit and looked at her protégé with curiosity.

“Great,” he answered with excitement.

The girl smiled and slightly nodded to Paul thanking him.

“Any time,” answered Paul moving only his lips.

Cold darkness enveloped the pale grey, as if covered in time dust, moon of Gron. Paul and his companions left the shuttle airlock one-by-one heading to the observatory at the top of the cliff. Derek was carefully watching Oleg and Mary ahead of him. He figured out that the space suit could sometimes reduce gravity, thus allowing small jumps or kind of leaps to be made and also increases it and so helps to achieve a more accurate transportation in the direction of the beacon, indicating the location of the portable observatory. Derek felt more and more confident with every step and every leap, forgetting completely about his weak muscles after a long anabiosis. The spacesuit wasn’t heavy and allowed him to manoeuvre and make precise movements. For instance, it was easy to squat in it and pick even the tiniest object. When the group reached the observatory and Paul with his assistants set to work, Lora and Derek had plenty of time on their hands for a real walk on the moon. However, obliged to stay within view of the rest of the group, they didn’t go very far.

After about an hour, Chris’s agitated voice resounded in everybody’s ears.

“Guys, come back immediately! There’s military action on the orbit: a group of ships with the refugees onboard tried to escape the planet and came under fire of the Tarian border cruiser!”

“In this case, let’s not waste any more time walking back! Chris, teleport everyone in turn, except for me,” he ordered, “Lora, Derek, copy?”

“Yes,” answered the girl.

“Great, I’ll just attach the container with the dismantled parts of the station and then join you. Start calculating the route to avoid the fire zone. Stan, check the defence systems and get the shuttle ready for launching.”

“Yes, captain!”

When Lora and Derek came onboard, Mary and Oleg were already hastily taking off the protective suits. Paul also didn’t take long.

“Show me what’s going on,” the captain approached the holographic projector.

“Here’s the cruiser, and these are the eight passenger ships carrying about two thousand refugees. Things don’t look well for them. It seems the cruiser has made some warning shots since there is no external damage to the ships. The agreement with the Tarians doesn’t allow us to listen to their broadcasts, so it’s difficult to say for sure.”

“They demand the refugees to return back to the planet,” said Paul almost without any hesitation.

“Wait,” Mary called to everybody, “We’re receiving a signal on a neutral frequency.”

“Turn on the speakerphone,” immediately reacted Paul.

The loud speakers transmitted some rustling and swishing. The crew members could hardly discern the words among the stray signals. Derek shook his head.

“It’s obviously a speech, but I understand nothing,” he whispered into Lora’s ear, “Do you know Tarian?”

“You could say that,” answered Lora still trying to listen carefully. “A UCD,” she barely touched the small gadget at her temple, “is multifunctional, and can work as a translator. The part of the communicator that you see is the receiving part of the gadget, while the part that analyses and archives data is implanted directly into the brain. All the Titanium citizens undergo this operation at sixteen. I’m sure that when you get better, Doctor Borshchevsky will suggest you to have this simple procedure done. The implanted element creates grammar and vocabulary memory zones that allow us to understand foreign speech. Thus we could say that our brain actually studies languages by itself.”

The earthling nodded.

“It could come in very handy.”

“By the way, the Tarian refugees are asking for help from all closely located alien ships now,” Lora added quietly.

After a few seconds all they could hear were some rustling and swishing sounds. Everybody simultaneously looked at Paul, awaiting further instruction.

“We’re going to…” confidently started the captain.

“Sorry captain, there’s some movement!” reported Chris.

The crew members tightly surrounded the holographic projector.

“One of the refugees’ ships manoeuvred and is trying to leave the fire zone,” Paul pointed at the green dot moving to the edge of the projection.

“It’s not being followed,” noticed Oleg. “The cruiser is holding the others at gunpoint, while the fighter planes are yet to arrive in order to cut off the fugitive’s path.”

“The cruiser is ready to fire!” added Chris. He was now at the holographic projectors in front of the captain’s seat and on one of them he showed a detailed picture of the border ship with the embattled artillery

From that moment on, the events started evolving as quick as a flash. The ship with the refugees turned out to be cumbersome and was unable to avoid the line of fire. The first series of volleys hit it directly, depriving the spacecraft of its, though weak, protective field. As a result of the second series, the back engine was damaged.