Heart of the Conqueror

The Beginning

Introduction

Deep space is filled with fundamentally startling secrets. A simple and obvious thing, perhaps. And yet, the greatest of all mysteries lie not within the universe, but without.

Humans have imagined moving about amongst the stars for thousands of years, visiting strange worlds, hosts to even stranger lifeforms. Of course, those with the best imaginations were labeled “dreamers” by their fellows. The confident self-assurances that such things would eventually come to pass, that it was not merely a dream, were much more than just what kept the dreams alive. They were what made them possible.

But like most notable advances that have occurred over human history, it was not the idle dream that brought technology or discovery forward. Rather, it was some seemingly insurmountable problem, or a threat to survival, or another most basic influence, a burning desire to know. And on the way to mankind's greatest achievements, every sort of person in existence has contributed to the interactions that ultimately determined the paths to discovery.

As this tale opens, many different sorts of people are about to exit together from what we presently think of as 'deep space.' Perhaps they should first review; it has been said, in some form, that reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. They would also do well to expect the unexpected, for very little about their point of arrival is exactly as it seems.

*********

Heart of the Conqueror

Benjamin Trayne

I. To Earth

Trapped.

Even a little brown mouse that makes a wrong turn in a maze will sooner or later, get out. But Willis could not get out; if you can't leave, you are in effect, trapped. It seemed likely it would soon become more than he could bear.

Willis leaned against a titanium-alloyed bulkhead and stared, his gaze fixed on a small round viewport that afforded a rather useless look outside. No wonder it was called 'space.' Its vastness and vacuum seemed to drain life from his very soul, and yet the darkness seemed thick, as though it had substance. At that moment it was filling in a little oval on the page next to 'I don't belong here.' The recycled air inside the ship smelled of metal and of dank filtration chemicals, and the flat gray bulkhead was frigid to the touch. The icy blackness of deep space bled through all eight layers of the ship's protective hull, until Willis was fully immersed.

Forward of his location in the sleek, silvery interstellar craft, his name was being mentioned. It was not in a pleasant way.

“I'm tired of feelin' light on my feet. When's that worthless Willis gonna get gravity up to power?” Directed at the ship's chief engineer, the out-of-sorts grumble wasn't out-of-character at all for Smith, the vessel's surly diplomacy officer.

“He's working on it. But even if it was fully operational, it would still take three days for on-board gravity to ramp up. We've only been out of suspension for two.”

“Hah! Figured he was just too lazy. As in, not actually doing anything. I can't understand why the guy was selected for this mission, 'nless administrators saw their chance to get rid of him. He's a pain in the ass!...and I've never trusted anybody with no surname!”

Chief Engineer Bates had been personally responsible for Willis' inclusion, and he grimaced. “Using a single name is completely legal. Willis is brilliant! The man could have designed a better ship than this one. He knows the workings of this craft from the ground up, and he's also the best shuttle pilot I've ever seen. And, I've known him since we were kids. Sure, he's a little obnoxious. I think of it, like, he's just more alive than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, well, I'd be okay with it if he was a lot less – alive.”

Some 'diplomat!' The only way Smith could ever have functioned in that capacity was to be himself, a two-faced jackass. Bates glowered and readied a response based on the thought, but the retort, gathering above his head like a darkening storm cloud, was destined for preemption.

“Commander, sir! You're not gonna believe this!” The forward engineer leaned, as if getting a little closer to his monitor would grant him a better view. “Hell, I don't believe it.”

Commander Nils Fordham revolved his captain's chair to look at his own fore monitor.

“Pretty simple, isn't it? It's a navigation error. That is simply, not Earth!”

“We're in the right quadrant, sir. This is most definitely the home solar system. It's not a navigation error.”

The commander, a tall, dark-haired middle-aged man, rose from his chair and strode quickly to the engineer's station. “There is no possibility that in the time passed since our founders set out for Beta, the continents could have been rearranged. I'm telling you, it isn't Earth.” He pointed to a single feature on the screen. “Tell me, if it's Earth, where did that come from?”

“It's not a rearrangement. That's the partially-submerged North American continent. There's a lot more.”

The commander's brow furrowed. “Explain!”

“This planet is completely off-axis from where it should be, sir. It looks like, based on its rotation plane since we've been within scanning range, it's about seventy degrees from where it once was. There are now ice caps, but in new locations relative to the former axis.”

The commander frowned and spoke more loudly. “System! Confirm position!”

A crisp male voice replied, “Quadrant of origin, confirmed.”

A small group of interstellar travelers had begun to gather around the forward engineer's station.

The grim-faced mission leader stood in silence for a few long moments, mentally sorting through possible reasons they might be in the wrong place. How this could still be the error it had better be, that it must be. He was coming up dry. Mental images manifested themselves, visions of possible conditions during a planetary axis shift. He tried to put them out of his mind. That wasn't working, either.

“Alright, then, bring us in, but reduce rate to give us an extra eighteen hours. Scan for magnetic abnormalities and gravitational anomalies before we get close enough to enter a high orbit. I want data, and I want it quickly. Scan for everything! Life signs, atmospheric content and stability, meteorological conditions. Treat this like any unknown planet, because at this point, that's what this is. And I still say, this cannot be Earth!”

The forward engineer busied himself with his new orders, but remarked, “Seventeen hundred Earth years is a long time, sir.”

“Not from a geological perspective! From that, it's barely a heartbeat! Not possible!”

The Terra was a one-of-a-kind vessel, constructed specifically for its mission. Small for a starship, its shape was long and squat, giving it the appearance of a somewhat flattened egg. To the human eye it may have appeared almost invisible in space unless it was reflecting strong light from a nearby star, as its polished skin usually only reflected the star-sprinkled blackness that engulfed it. Everything within and without was representative of the most advanced technology available. Its landing shuttle was a more basically functional design, a winged craft capable of short space hops and atmospheric flight. The shuttle did have an advanced propulsion system, but had otherwise been provided with no more that it needed to serve its purpose.

The working crew comprised just over half of the human complement on the Terra. The balance were technical or scientific personnel. Although it was fully equipped for extended deployment, deep-space navigation and scientific discovery, the crew considered its accommodations to be somewhat spartan. The mess hall was undersized, quarters were close and passages were narrow. Dreams have always led technology, of course, and humans on the colonized planet Beta had spent centuries building infrastructure. There had not been time or talent to spare to actualize more advanced research. Teleportation, “warp” drives, tractor beams, none of these things had yet been realized. And although a command structure was in place and everyone aboard had been assigned rank, the interpersonal atmosphere was generally more relaxed than had once been ordinary. The mission's objectives, specifically, were to check on and to report to planet Earth, as no replies to long-distance hails from Beta had been received.

For several long hours aboard the spacecraft, scientists and technicians buzzed between themselves with images, data comparisons and evaluations. Finally, a full meeting was called on the command bridge, assembling the ship's total complement of thirty-three individuals. Chief Technical Officer Jian Cheng stood to speak first.

“There's one thing I must say first, sir, I have to be on the first shuttle in.”

The commander queried, “And why is that, Jian?”

“Because I've gotta see this! Um, and, I need microbe samples. We must know what to be ready for, before we can go in without pressure suits. Because nothing is the same. Nothing at all...”

“Jian! Bring us up to speed! I've left you and your people alone so you could concentrate on your work! All non-techs are in the dark, here!”

The response was immediate.

“Healthiest planet I've ever come across, no exceptions! Atmospheric balance is better than when our people left it. Stable weather conditions, scattered but stable populations of wildlife, a living ocean, far better than expected!”

“And, human population?” The commander was annoyed by the obvious omission.

“I'm sorry, sir. Mm. As far as we can tell, there isn't one.”

“Bull-shit!”

“No bulls, sir.”

“What did you say?”

“I started by saying, nothing is the same. It appears, no species in existence is the same! There are, apparently, mammals, or at least some species are similar, but there aren't likely any bovines. Nothing alive on the surface is that large. As far as we've been able to discern.”

Commander Fordham rose quickly from his chair, trying to emerge from a sudden onset of emotional shock. He began to pace, his mind abuzz.

“Okay.” He stopped and turned to face his CTO. The set of his jaw squared, his expression showed raw incredulity creased with challenge.

“If this is Earth, show me a city. Show me ruins. Show me evidence that seventeen hundred Earth years ago, humans occupied this planet!”

CTO Cheng wilted under the Commander's gaze. “The event, or should I say, the events,

appear to have removed them, sir. If there are ruins, we haven't happened upon them yet. To be honest, though, we weren't looking...”

“Well why not?” The Commander nearly bellowed. “Don't you want to confirm we're in the right place? Looking at the right planet?”

“We damn well know where we are, sir. Sorry. We know where we are.”

The Commander's nostrils flared as he placed his hands behind his back. Without realizing it, he gripped his own wrist tightly enough to bruise it. The words that came were clipped, and sharp-edged.

“Our mission...was to report back to the home planet on the success of our resettlement effort! To whom shall we report?” He leaned over the seated CTO, scowled and stared directly into his eyes, placing his knuckles on the desktop between them.

“What the hell happened here??”

The CTO un-wilted, straightened up and appeared to be happy for the question.

“Thought you'd never ask.” He stood and motioned; the ambient lighting dipped and a luminous wire-frame representation of a planet appeared, as if suspended in air. As he gestured, objects changed and moved in response to his hand-motions.

“Although the mechanics and causes of a planetary axis-shift vary, and many are not fully understood, such massive changes do occur. In most cases it should take several millennia to complete. If the planetary core is both molten and polar like Earth's, it's generally due to a core inversion, or partial inversion, see this? The entire core shifts and the planet revolves in the opposite direction, to a new position. And with Earth's tectonics, an inversion was likely the eventual result of plate subduction. If the shift takes place suddenly and it's major, the result will be catastrophic. So, ironically, the very power-plant of a life-bearing planet that drives all systems in support of life can also become the greatest single threat to it. That's without doubt what occurred here on Earth. Quite possibly it could have taken place within fifty Earth years after the departure of the settlement mission for Scorpius.”

The CTO took a deep breath, and continued.

“To us it would have to be almost unimaginable. The moon's gravity suddenly acting in new directions on the tectonics, complete chaos in existing weather systems, extremely high-speed winds bearing fresh, abrasive volcanic materials, all of it occurring simultaneously. Immediate melting of any glacial deposits, broad faults opening to the surface, monstrous quakes unlike anything mankind had ever experienced, or recorded. Cities must have been shaken to rubble, or swallowed up in great chasms, or razed. Global tsunamis! Suspended materials blocked the sun, which of course would have reversed any atmospheric heating from massive, global volcanic action. Very likely, the rotation of the planet was erratic, such that half the world remained in darkness for weeks at a time. It's also likely there was a rapid oscillation cycle for a while. Perhaps, fast enough for those alive on the surface to feel it. Imagine! For our counterparts who remained on Earth, it was, in fact, the end of the world. So now, at last, we know why there were no responses from Earth to the messages sent. Begging your pardon, for the sake of brevity as well as the lack of better information, I will end my explanation of events, with that.”

The lighting came back up and the wireframe vanished.

“And yet,” he added, “This planet is anything but dead. When our founders left Earth, planetary conditions were rapidly approaching a point at which Earth could only be classified as 'dying.' Of course that's why our founders left, to establish a colony on Beta. Well, those conditions have been reversed! Seismic activity has settled, seemingly it's more stable here now

than it was, even before all of this. The atmosphere is refreshed! The former surface has been re-covered with a thick layer of fallout from the events. Plant life is quickly re-establishing itself, although, the foliage is no longer predominantly green! Imagine! Plankton in the oceans must be present, because we've detected sea animals. You don't have that without plankton. And there are at least several species of land animals, too.”

“But no people? No human beings at all? Fourteen billion souls, all gone?” The commander was still completely aghast.

“Not that we've found. It's unlikely, but there could be an enclave somewhere, if they went underground, although survival would've been very difficult. The events may have lasted several decades, maybe even more, before easing off. That's quite a while to remain below the surface, especially when the air above-ground may not have been clear enough to be even breathable. We've been scanning from some distance, and it's only been a few hours. Nearly half the planet hasn't even been scanned, because some of it we can only view from a steep angle, or it's on the 'away' side. We need to establish a high orbit, and look more closely.”

A long silence prevailed in the room. Then, finally, Commander Fordham spoke.

“Gravitational anomalies? Any issues with assuming an orbit?”

“None.”

“Then get it done.”

In the room, no one was smiling. And nobody, but nobody, was any less happy than spacecraft systems engineer Willis. Willis was doing the thing that had often determined his next step - taking a good, hard look at the entire situation.

Forty-eight hours passed, as orbit was achieved and scanning resumed. Commander Fordham approached his chief technical officer, once again.

“You know, Jian, interstellar space travel in a craft this size would be impossible without human diapause. I can't imagine how our founders made the trip, since only a handful of them had the advantage. The rest of them lived and died and multiplied, right there on shipboard, for six centuries. We've been out of our compartments for less than a week, and I'm about ready to climb the wall. Please, bring me up to speed. Have you found anything new?”

“Well, yes, but I can't say it isn't depressing. Even though we found...people.”

“Well hell, Jian, how could that be depressing? Have any images?”

“Yes. Strangely, they don't appear to be fully human. There aren't many of them. And, they're closely grouped in just one area of the planet, in a temperate zone.”

“And you're depressed, because?”

“Because you wanted us to look for ruins of cities, so...we did. That's what's depressing. We found them. Almost everything that remains is beneath a foot, or much more, of fallout. But much of it is still there. Bits of highways, foundations, subterranean infrastructure.”

“Subterranean? Anyone alive there?”

“No. No one. Scans can penetrate to depths of up to a kilometer, and we'd know if anything was warm, or moving. It isn't. The anomalous thing is, we can't understand how these beings got where they are. There were no nearby cities. There don't appear to be any caves in

their area. And as I said, they may not actually be human, and we don't know how that's even possible. It's a complete mystery. Look!”

Images appeared on the large monitor screen.

“Why...they're beautiful!”

“Yeah, that's exactly what I said. We fired a sounder overhead to get them to look up. That's how we got these facial images. Something, aren't they?”

“How many?”

“Eight hundred to a thousand. We believe they're agrarians.”

“They're also, uh, naked.”

“Well isn't that why they're beautiful?” Jian grinned.

“No! Most people look better with their clothes on!”

“Well like I said. Not fully human, I'd bet on it. Some are clothed, too. Perhaps their leaders...look, I've got to tell you about the foliage...”

“How civilized are they, otherwise?”

“You're asking for an awful lot from high-orbit scans. About the only thing we're pretty sure of is, they aren't cannibals. But to tell you the truth, this does complicate things.”

“How so? Would you rather they weren't there?”

“No, but we can't just be concerned about protecting ourselves from new resident microbes. Now we'll have to avoid transmission of our microbes to anywhere in this changed environment, especially, near these people. Pressure suits, everywhere.”

“Well now that's a problem!” Nils scowled.

“How so? Can't we wait to take a leak till we get back to the shuttle?”

“Not funny, Jian! We were supposed to take on, or in the worst case, manufacture fuel for the return trip! There's nothing here at all to use! No raw materials available, no equipment to adapt to the processes! We can't get back to Beta! And now you're saying, we can't stay here, because it's habitable?”

“No. I'm saying we can't stay here because it's inhabited, and their world is now comparatively pristine. This is their home now, and we have our own. I think there's another option.”

“And that is?”

“Coast.”

“That again? All the way back to the old argument, 'There's nothing to slow us down in space!' People always skate right past the fact that at near-light speed without deflectors, we'd be destroyed by meteoroids within the first month. Deflectors require power, systems for human stasis require power! Power requires fuel!! Do you know our odds of locating a closer system with a planet that would support life, at any level?”

“Look, let's at least do the math. We may find that there's still enough fuel for an initial burst of speed, even if it takes longer to get us there...then there will be a tipping point somewhere, say, you expend this much to achieve a given velocity, save this much for essential power.”

“Well then, let's power-down all nonessential systems. Give ourselves the best shot. Should we even make a shuttle landing? Can we use anything from the shuttle for the return?”

“No, there's no way to make the fuel systems compatible. And I think it's essential to take more back with us than just the images taken from orbit. In my opinion, you should make one shuttle flight with a minimal crew, gather more images, take samples, and return. Save the

rest of the shuttle fuel in case we do have to look for another habitable location.”

At this point, an obviously distraught and unhappy Willis joined the conversation.

“Commander, sir! I couldn't help but hear. May I say something?”

“Well you're a ranking engineer, Willis! Of course you can speak. What do you think of our chances of getting back to Beta?” Commander Nils nodded to him, hopefully.

“I can address that, sir, but I wanted to say something else.”

“Speak.”

“I don't care how 'beautiful' they are. This is our home planet. We came from here! They have no more right to deny us a life on the surface, than...”

“Duly noted, but it isn't a democracy here. Human life on this planet, at least, as we knew it, has apparently been extinguished, and these beings are now indigenous. Besides, if we have a choice, I want to go home! So tell me, from an engineering viewpoint, what are our chances of making it back without taking on fuel?”

“That's why I spoke, sir.”

“And?”

“Slim to none. We wouldn't make it.”

The Commander paused. “That's your opinion?”

“I'm sure it's more than that, sir. We left with a thirty-percent surplus. We still have all of it, but expecting to return on thirty percent of the fuel that brought us here? Won't happen! We have to remember, very nearly as much power is required for the drop from near-lightspeed as is required to achieve it. If we're out when we get close to Beta, we'll sail right by and travel on forever, unnoticed.”

The commander turned to Jian. “And what say you to that, Chief Technical Officer?

The CTO sighed and shook his head.

“I say opinions don't make any difference until we've done the math.”

The commander slowly lowered his gaze to the floor. Closing his eyes, he shook his head and said softly, “I still can't believe it.” He paused.

“Seventeen centuries have passed since three hundred scientists, engineers and builders set out for Beta. At that time, they only dared to hope their planet of destination would be as habitable as the data had suggested. Nearly five hundred years were spent developing infrastructure on a new world, until someone pointed out that the Beta project had been a pilot mission, intended to find a new home for the human species. Not just the few who had gotten there first. Oh I know, the devastation may have occurred on Earth soon after the settlement mission set out, but try to imagine, what were the odds?”

*******

II. A Mysterious Eden

Not far below the orbiting spacecraft, it was a typically perfect morning on the pastoral surface of a strangely beautiful planet. A tall, long-haired, clear-eyed humanoid male, known to his people as just Kalan, gazed about at his surroundings with deep, passive appreciation. Golden sunlight streamed through a sapphire-blue sky, thrusting angled shafts to the surface through great heaps of silver-fringed cumulus clouds. An oddly-sculpted, towering plateau of brownish rock was the source of a broad emerald-green waterfall, thundering amid clouds of mist to the valley floor, dropping nearly two hundred meters through arcing rainbows to a great rockfall. There, the waters tumbled and churned into the greater volume of an otherwise placid, tree-lined lake. Although the grasses were green, the foliage of trees and shrubs radiated a shimmering white. In the air and all about, clouds of billions upon billions of tiny, translucent, insect-like creatures moved like schools of fish, glistening as they turned and darted in the sunlight. The greatest of human artists would have failed miserably to reproduce any portion of this place in a painting, as its tranquil beauty was without equal, at very least, within this galaxy, on the surface and in the air. It was an ideal place for creatures to live, to evolve, and to multiply.

Kalan sighed with satisfaction, then turned to re-join his mate and all of the other people, most of whom were on their way out to gather fruit from low shrubs in the meadows.

Although they did have a language, Kalan and his people used it very little. They moved and worked and functioned as if their goals had been orchestrated and predetermined. This day, the objective food to be gathered was a species of lavender berry that grew here in abundance. The people carried baskets woven from stiffened blades of grasses, and by day's end they would collect great mounds of fruit. Most of it would be converted to juice, the remains pressed flat and dried. Around midday, all would be moving toward the lake for a drink of water and for a break. As they walked, many would be holding hands, sometimes as groups. How strangely quiet they were, how beautiful their individual appearances, how idyllic their conjugate lifestyle! To humans, an existence such as theirs would not have seemed possible.

And yet, life for these humanoids was not without excitement, not without its challenges. Although there were no predators with which they had to contend, there were “brahks,” nocturnal, long-legged fox-like creatures that moved about in packs. In a single night, a pack could clear an area large enough to feed the village for a week. There was food in plenty for them elsewhere, so sentries were posted at night to secure the local food supply for the people. For sport and for adventure, the younger people explored the expansive wilderness beyond the valley, or they scaled the great plateau. The latter exercise was dangerous, and some had died while attempting the ascent. But mourning was not something the people generally did, as all understood both the dangers and the desires that had led to the deaths.

The primary source of protein for the villagers was an similarly unusual species of large fish that populated the lake. The true craftspeople among them were those who had devised ways to cure and thus to preserve the meat.

At the end of each day, most gathered in a meadow to watch the sunset, which to all of them was like watching daily fireworks. And it was no less spectacular; the waning rays refracted in the atmosphere, an aurora wavered above undulating hills and the remaining sunlight drizzled like warm raindrops through alabaster foliage, generating a visible sparkle in each tree. The clouds of tiny insects began to settle to the lower foliage, where they would emit a soft bluish glow of bioluminescence throughout the night.

The environment here was different, indeed.

Among the gathered people was Kalan, seated in the cool grass next to his lovely mate, Kinshet.

These beings led a simple, peaceful, carefree life. They wanted for nothing, and they never quarreled. When a greater need to communicate arose, they had better means than speech. An overall sense of brotherhood prevailed between all individuals. They lived, they multiplied, they died...for theirs was an attitude unmarred by strife, or failure, or argument. None had known illness of any kind. Their only physical weaknesses came from eventual old-age. All of the children were raised by all of the people. It was the way of their culture, and as the only culture on the planet, it was the way of their world.

All of it taken together, it was, in fact, an unlikely existence. No one from anywhere else would have thought otherwise. And yet, there they were.

Far above on the orbiting starship, preparations were in progress for an exploratory and data-gathering landing.

“So what do you think our priorities should be, Jian?” The commander looked about the bridge at each of his officers.

“Information, of course! Data, images, samples of vegetation, water and air. Plain and simple. We should avoid contact with the natives. Not that I wouldn't love to examine at least one of them! But we're potentially a danger to them, and there's no need to scare them.”

“How many should go in?”

“Well,” the CTO replied, “We think we should reserve fuel for two more landings. We've run the numbers, Bates and I. Optimum complement for one brief mission, in and out, would be no more than four. That's including the pilot.”

“Well I wanna be included, “ growled Smith, the diplomacy officer. “Long as that idiot Willis isn't the pilot!”

Willis had stepped onto the bridge just moments before the harsh statement came. Upon hearing it, he brightened. Interaction with people on the ship was one of his few worthwhile diversions. Diplomat Smith was not his friend, and that made him a target. Grinning, he stepped up behind his detractor. Rapidly and lightly, he flicked Smith's earlobe, back and forth. The diplomat whirled.

“Whotsamatta, Smiffy? Do I earrritate you?” Instant outrage contorted his victim's face. So of course, Willis followed up, digging an oscillating index finger into the paunch of the diplomat's midsection. “Do I bore you?”

Willis laughed merrily and instinctively leaned back, easily avoiding the quick right hook that came sailing his way.

“Enough!” the commander roared. “I won't have physical attacks on board my ship! Get to your quarters, mister Smith! You're on report!”

“What, so my superiors can read it, six hundred years from now? Whoop-de-doo!”

The commander stepped forward and the “diplomat” stepped back, realizing that Willis had just drawn him into destroying any chance he might have had of going to the planet. Smith angrily turned and stormed toward the doorway, then stopped and exclaimed to Chief Engineer Bates.

“I'll never understand how that son of a bitch ever got to be an engineer!”

Bates fired back, “And no one on this ship will ever understand how you got to be a quote-unquote, 'diplomat!'”

“I'm gonna kick his ass, mark my words!!”

“Where, in the gym, or in the mess? You'll often find him working out! You know, while you're stuffing your face?”

“Willis!” the commander exclaimed, “That was uncalled-for! Go somewhere else, as long as it isn't near Smith!”

“I'm sorry sir. I apologize.” Willis left the bridge and headed for the shuttle to check its systems. He knew it would be his next assignment, anyway.

“Mister Bates! What is your man's problem?”

If the chief engineer had been wearing a hat, it would have been in his hands. “It's really pretty simple, sir. I've known Willis all my life.”

“Well, I'm listening!”

“'Heart of the conqueror,' sir. It's why he and Smith lock horns. They're the same in that respect. We all have some of it, it's part of what makes us human. But Willis and Smith have more than their share. Only Willis is a lot smarter, and much more capable. He's just one of those guys that no one gets the better of. Smith tries to all the time, but for sure, he's no exception.”

“Well tell him to control it!”

“I can't talk to Smith, sir...”

“I meant Willis!”

“Oh. Yes, sir!” Then with some trepidation, he queried, “Will I be piloting the shuttle, sir?”

“Well that's a problem. I'm going in for sure, and I need you to be here while I'm gone. Should anything happen to us, you're second in command.”

“But that leaves Willis, sir...”

“I bloody well know that! Like I said, it's a problem! Didn't need any more of those!” The distraught commander turned, slowly shook his head and stared at the still-unfamiliar planet that filled the viewing screen. “Fourteen billion people!”

“Sir?” The chief technical officer had stepped forward.

“What, Jian!”

“If Willis is piloting and both you and I are going, that only leaves room for one other person to serve as my assistant.”

“Have any assistants who can pilot a shuttle?” Commander Fordham scowled at his CTO, but he knew what was meant by the statement.

“I'm going, Jian! No discussion!” He paused. “I can't explain why, because I'm not sure.”

Thus it was settled. The group of four was filled out with a biotechnical specialist, Dr. Janis Watt. Willis would serve as pilot.

As he worked and waited for his orders, Willis was deep in thought. But he never suspected, nor did anyone else, that he alone was their only hope for a successful return to home planet Beta. If he'd known it, it mightn't have mattered. His objective? Life! A warm, bright, living, breathing planet. Willis had no intention of returning to the ship.

Two hours later, the course and point of landing had been plotted and the scientific equipment had been loaded. With Willis at the controls, the shuttle exited the ship, decelerated and swept into Earth's new atmosphere, rose-tinted sunlight glinting from its sleek hull.

“Sir, may I ask a question?” Willis had addressed the commander.

“Surely.”

“Don't you have the training to fly this craft?”

“Yes. Yes, I've flown similar craft. I could, in fact. Returning to the ship is a lot easier than atmospheric entry and a surface landing, of course. This mission is too important to risk flying and landing to anyone who's less adept at it than you are. Bates says you're the best.”

“Well, I don't know about that.”

“Will our entry be rough?”

“Sure hope not. Sir. Of course, our engineers, in their brilliance, didn't equip this craft with much in the way of heat shielding, so the descent will take longer. And it will use more fuel.”

The path of the little craft began to describe a broad spiral, as if riding the inside of a vortex. It allowed the thickening atmosphere to slow them down, but not so quickly. Occasionally Willis fired retros on cue from the shuttle's flight system. After a time, the craft had reached the halfway-point of its descent and Willis leveled it out, extending canard wings for atmospheric flight. After about an hour, the craft's forward speed had been reduced to a noiseless hover above a rolling, green savannah. Willis set the ship down gently on the surface, noting the degree of compression beneath each of the extended landing pylons.

“Terrific!” exclaimed Chief Technical Officer Cheng, who appeared to be glued to a viewport. “Stupendous! I can't wait!”

The commander remained silent, his expression grim.

“Dr. Cheng, are you certain the face masks are necessary?” The hopeful question came from blonde-haired Janis, who was holding her mask in a gloved hand.

“Yes. We don't know anything about this planet, anymore. I don't like negative surprises. Say, Willis. This doesn't look like the area we selected.”

For a moment, Willis was quiet as he rummaged through a day-pack. “This is the place. You wouldn't expect it to look the same from the surface, would you?”

CTO Cheng didn't respond.

“Please, go on ahead. I'll be along.”

The commander remarked, “Stay together. Communicators on! Willis, don't be long. Face mask!”

“Yes, sir!”

The visitors to Earth exited one at a time through the airlock. Each entry-to or exit-from the lock was followed by a rapid evacuation of air via compressors, which stored it. After the squashing sound of the third exit, Willis peered furtively through the viewport. As soon as the three were about fifty meters away, Willis donned his face mask, exited the craft through the airlock with his day-pack, and sprinted away from the craft in the opposite direction. None of the others saw him go.

His communicator remained behind, on his pilot's seat.

Janis and Jian were fully involved in sample collection when the commander realized that ten minutes had passed, and Willis hadn't appeared.

“Willis, have your communicator on?” No response came.

“Jian, I'm going back to see what's keeping Willis.”

“Okay, sir. This is truly amazing!”

“What's amazing?”

“This foliage has no link whatsoever to the phylogenetics of Earth's past! It's here, we're looking at it! But I don't see how it's even possible!”

“Whatever you say. I'll be right back. With Willis.”

But, Willis would not be found. Not at the ship, and certainly, not yet.

Had Willis been able to see the future, he would have known that he himself was the sole possibility for a return to Beta for the entire crew of his ship; that the gorgeous planet upon which he had just set foot was about to change, yet again; that nothing that occurs in time, as we know it, is set, or necessarily, permanent; that he, by his very nature would become a very significant player in all happenings in the universe; or lastly, that in stepping onto the planet’s surface, he had just taken the very first step into the greatest adventure that could ever be had, by any individual being.

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The above is the opening to a novel. I’ll let my readers know when it’s published.

-”Ben”