Annihilation Series-Searching for a Hero (28 page)

Ping looked at her and smiled, “First, I want to see if we can determine how our two civilizations are related. Sprigly has done multiple scans and confirmed that you and I are members of the same species.”

Tess looked at Dean and said, “We came here from somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“We don’t know.”

“When did you arrive here?”

“More than thirty thousand years ago.”

Sprigly instantly said, “That would have been during Earth’s pretechnolgy era.”

Ping nodded, “Do you have anything written about it? Do you know how or why you came here?”

Dean said, “Our ancestors thought we were being punished by God for our selfish behaviors.”

Ping looked at Dean, “Really?” Dean nodded. “What did your ancestors say?”

Tess pulled up a screen on a monitor and said, “I’ll read what they said.” Ping nodded and Tess started reading from the screen.

• • • • •

My name is George William Potts and I am the Priest sent to the new world with the Planters. I am writing this down before I forget all that has happened and I know it is God’s will that his lesson to us never be forgotten. Our punishment is a burden we will have to bear for what time he allows us to live and it is my hope that our mistakes can be avoided in the future if anyone ever finds us.

Our Queen decreed that a new colony be established and we were chosen to go to the new world. I was chosen to go and serve as the priest of the colony.”

Sprigly interrupted, “That sounds like early Star’s Realm history.”

Ping shook his head, “Please continue.”

“Our ship launched and we arrived at the new world in six months. There were 117 of us and we found the new world hostile; we lost more than ten of us to disease quickly. After four months we quickly determined that we didn’t have enough supplies to survive against the new wilderness and the brutal winters. We took a vote and decided that John would go back with the ship that brought us and return in a year with additional supplies. They left and we worked hard trying to simply survive the first hostile winter.

“The savages we found here hated us because of what the soldiers, who arrived before us to scout our destination, did to them. They would take hostages and hold them for ransom. They used their weapons to force them to give them supplies. The soldiers left and by the time we arrived, the local savages would not have anything to do with us. I fear we are being punished for how our soldiers treated them.”

“The only tribe that did choose to assist us lived on an island south of our location and without their help, I believe we would have all perished. The soldiers had not come into contact with them, thank God. We worked and built a colony with homes and a wall around it for defense. A year came and went and John did not return. We all prayed for him and hoped he would bring the things to help us build a good home in this new world. Every day I prayed for God’s forgiveness for what the soldiers did; it appears God would not forgive our sins.

One day the son of the one that led the tribe of our allies arrived and informed us that a grandson had been born and the Chief requested our presence to welcome him to the world. We thought about just sending a few representatives, but the son said that if all of us didn’t attend, it would be very bad luck for the new child. After much discussion, we decided to all go. We loaded up all the provisions we needed for the two week journey, along with several bags of seeds and goods for our friends. We started crossing to the mainland and one of the young boys was screaming about losing his father. Thirty of our men were on the mainland scouting and killing animals for our winter food. The young lad worried that if his father returned in our absence, he wouldn’t know what happened. He had started cutting our intended location into a tree trunk until his mother made a sign and posted it at the edge of the community. The young boy saw that anyone that entered would see the sign with the word Croatoan on it.

“We crossed to the mainland and used three of the four wagons our men had built to transport their game back to the community. We started our journey in high spirits and looked forward to the coming celebration. It was four days into the trip that disaster struck. The son had sent scouts out to patrol around our line of travel and on the fourth day, three of them came running in, yelling in their language. The son came to me because I had learned how to speak with them and told me that more than nine hundred savages were moving in toward the colony. They were on the warpath and we would be overwhelmed in less than a day. The son also told us that we could not go to his village. The savages would attack his people if we were found there.

“The leaders discussed what to do and going back was not an option. The savages were already at the colony. We couldn’t continue to move down the coast, so it was decided to move inland and look for a place that could be used to defend against the coming attack. We started moving into the forest and our pace was greatly slowed. One of the ten men we left behind us came running to us and said we were going to be found by the next day. We could hear the muskets going off and it wasn’t very far away. One of the teenage lads came running to us and said he had found a very large cave in the side of a hill ahead. He thought all of the colony could fit inside it. We had no choice; we ran as fast as possible and found the cave really was big. We ran inside and the men turned the wagons over in the entrance and loaded all the muskets. Less than six hours later, the savages arrived and began their attack.

“The savages could have overrun us if they had charged with all of their warriors. However, the musket blasts appear to scare them and they tried to sneak in on us instead. I was with the women and children trying to comfort them but the screams of the savages scared them. The young lad who had found the cave came running out of a corridor and told me that there was an exit at the end of a long corridor. I got the women moving and went forward and told the soldier commanding our defense that there was a way out. He asked me if I was sure and I told him the young boy had found it. He looked at the ten men who had been killed by arrows and saw the savages were massing at the edge of the forest. He ordered the men to grab their guns and follow me. I asked him what he was going to do and he said he was going to set off a keg of gunpowder and close the entrance. I followed the men out of the entrance and waited at the end of a long corridor for the captain. I heard a huge blast and saw him coming down the corridor carrying another keg of gunpowder. He screamed for me to leave and he dropped the keg and pulled his small flint lock. He pointed it at the keg as ten of the savages rounded the corner. I ducked around the corner as the captain fired into the keg and I heard the screams of the savages and rocks falling. I looked around the corner and saw the corridor was blocked. I ran as fast as I could toward the end of the route out of the cave. I just knew it was going to collapse around me. I saw light ahead of me and ran out into the open and gave thanks to God for saving me. I saw all the members of the colony were standing in front of me looking over my head. Their faces were all masks of fear. I stopped, turned around, and looked up at the sky…and saw three moons shining instead of the one we all knew. I fell to my knees. God had sent us somewhere to pay for our sins. I know Queen Lizzie would have never wished this fate on her people.”

Tess stopped reading and Sprigly looked at Ping, “This is highly confusing. They go to another planet and are using ancient weapons called muskets. We’ve never had a queen called Lizzie in the Realm.”

Ping activated his communicator, “Computer.”

“Yes Searcher.”

I need you to look in our history archives for the following items that all happened around the same time.”

“Go ahead.”

“A voyage of six months; a leader named John; a queen named Lizzy; a place called Crotoan; and a man named George William Potts.”

Tess stared at Ping, “Do you really expect anything?”

Ping shrugged and Dean said, “The Priest wrote a date in the manuscript.”

“What was it?”

“September, 1588.”

“Computer, add the date of September, 1588.”

“What you are looking for is the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It is also known as the Lost American Colony.”

Everyone in the room was shocked. Ping said, “Please tell me what you used to make that determination?”

• • • • •

“On Earth, Queen Elizabeth commissioned Sir Walter Raleigh to build a colony in the newly discovered Americas in 1585. A hundred soldiers were sent to scout the area and when their supplies ran low they returned to England. The colonists arrived in 1587 at the location of the soldier’s camp. Walter Raleigh had ordered that the colony be taken to an area near the Chesapeake Bay but the Captain of the ship insisted that his orders were to take them to the old location and he forced the colonists to disembark. They quickly discovered that the site was not a good place to find the materials needed to sustain a colony and in August of that year they sent John White back to England to gather supplies for the colony. One of the colonists on the trip had the last name of Potts. When John White arrived in England, the Spanish Armada attacked and it was three years before he could return to the colony.

“When John White left, the colony was surviving against harsh conditions and children were being born. When he returned three years later, none of the colonists were found at the site. The disappearance of the colony was an unsolved mystery and archeologists worked for more than four hundred years attempting to find out what happened to it. There was no sign of a struggle and they vanished without a trace. The site of the colony did not appear to be disturbed and the only clues found was the letters, CRO carved into the trunk of a tree and a sign with the word, Crotoan, on it. The first European child born in the Americas, Virginia Dare, was John White’s grandchild and she was born there. The mystery of what happened to them was never solved.”

Ping looked at Tess and tilted his head, “It appears your ancestors came here from my species’ home world. We only had a single moon that revolved around it.”

Tess shook her head, “Your computer could have fabricated a story to deceive us.”

Ping smiled, “Tess, I didn’t tell the computer about the letters carved in the tree.”

Tess’ expression showed her realization of that detail and right behind it was shock. Dean also shook his head and said, “Our last name is Dare.”

Ping smiled, “You and I are of the same species. We’ve come a long way since you disappeared.”

Dean said, “I notice that you said your home world had a single moon.”

“It was destroyed during a war with intelligent ships that were more than three thousand miles wide.”

Tess pointed at Sprigly, “You also fought his species.”

Ping sighed, “We have been fighting to survive since you left. Some of those enemies we’ve faced would amaze you that we were able to survive. Out of those wars, we’ve built a union that loves peace and will fight to keep it. We’re here fighting those five aggressive civilizations because of our principles.”

Tess slowly lowered her head, “I thought you came here to find my sister.”

“It is your sister’s destiny to lead our fight against them. We can’t win without her.”

Dean leaned forward, “What makes her so special?”

Ping turned to Dean and shook his head, “I really don’t know. I just know what role she’s supposed to play.”

Tess sighed, “This is a lot to take in.”

Ping pressed his wrist unit, “Computer, send a copy of Earth’s historical records to this location.”

“Should I send it on the frequency they gave you earlier?” Ping looked at Dean and he nodded as he turned around and pressed a button. “Yes, send it now.”

Dean watched his panel, “It’s coming in.”

Ping turned to Tess, “I need to speak with your sister.”

“I don’t think she shares that desire.”

“Will you ask her; I won’t force her to do anything against her will.”

“You said you were going to take your ships out of the fight if she didn’t agree.”

“That was before I knew you are my family. I won’t do that now.”

Tess looked at Dean and he nodded. Tess pressed her locket, “Dolly.”

“Not now, Tess.”

“You should talk to him.”

“No!”

“We came from his home world. He shares a common history with our people and he is not going to remove his ships no matter what you decide. He promises not to make you do anything against your wishes.”

They waited for five minutes and then they heard, “You know where I am.”

Tess turned to Ping, “There is a small stream that flows about five hundred yards from the trunk of the tree you entered to come here. She’s sitting beside that stream.”

Ping nodded and looked at the ceiling. He smiled and disappeared. Tess’ brow furrowed and she looked at Sprigly, “I thought he had to use that device on his wrist to move around.”

Sprigly leaned left, “Ping has the ability to teleport without the use of any device.” Tess stared at the plant and Sprigly turned light brown, “He has endured tremendous sorrow to find your sister. I hope he doesn’t give up hope now that he’s found her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I sense he wants to die.”

Tess felt her tears and said, “He needs to get in line and do what’s needed.”

Sprigly’s leaves turned green, “I do hope you’ll tell him that.”

“Count on it.”

• • • • •

Ping arrived twenty yards from the stream and walked forward making as much noise as possible. He didn’t want to startle the woman and he started to feel excited at finally meeting the being he had been chosen to find. He walked by the last bushes and saw her sitting with her back to him with her feet dangling in the water from a rock she was sitting on beside the flowing stream. He was surprised by her long auburn hair that hung to the middle of her back and her slight frame. He judged her to be about five feet four inches and probably only weighed a hundred and ten pounds. She turned around and looked at him, “You make more noise than a Black Armored Troop Carrier.”