Legacy (6 page)

“
That’s exactly what we’re saying and if you date the soil and coral samples that we found in Florida, that ship has been buried around 850 years,” he replied, “Buried without any of it’s colonial establishment equipment – items I’m certain we would find on Hydrus.”

“
So these signals we’ve been getting from the Hydri system are actually from the descendants of that crew.”

“
Indeed.”

“
So this planet is colonized by the USSC,” one of the vice presidents added.

“
Which means we hold claim to any land already colonized in the course of the past 900 years there. We already know Australia is headed to the Hydri System in the next few months and they intend to lay claim to anything they can. What they don’t know is that we probably have already claimed half the planet by now.”

- - -

Tachyon Text Received 21:32 4/8/77
… Captain Reiss to USSC: Arrived @ 4
^th
planet of Beta Hydri… Earthlike atmosphere, pressure & gravity similar enough… sighted possible evidence of Pioneer supply pods & 2 structure frames… also sighted the signal dishes, still transmitting… human-like population totaling 2 – 2.5 million… will send 4 shuttles to investigate closer.

6

Diana

Green Continent

Although I knew we were heading to the other side of the planet, I didn’t expect us to arrive there in a matter of a quarter reap. I knew we were there though based on the message the captain was offering to the people of Blaze:

“
We are here to investigate the attack on our shuttle. You are ordered to stand down at this moment or there will be retaliation,” he commanded, “We have come in peace and we will remain intent on establishing a peaceful relationship. This is your last warning to stand down.”

Despite the way I was being treated, I truly believed the captain’s statement. I looked up from my lap to see one of my stern-faced guards staring at me.

“
Can I talk to the captain?” I asked.

“
No, you will remain seated,” he replied.

“
It’s important. He needs to know about these people. They’re different than us,” I stated.

He stared at me for a moment, but never so much as moved a muscle.

“
I transmitted what you said to the captain and he said he is sending the commander,” he said.

Transmitted?
There was that word again that didn’t make any sense to me. The man did nothing at all, yet he claimed to have “transmitted” what I’d said. The door opened on the far side of the room, and the woman with the long name approached me quickly.

“
What is it?” she demanded.

I was taken aback by her aggravated demeanor and what seemed to be an intense anger toward me. I’d just as soon slap her face, but I knew I had no other options than to work at the survival of our relations.

“
The people of Blaze are different than us – different than me. Some of them need no weapons at all. We call them Mystics. You need to be careful around those people,” I said.

“
How are we to identify these Mystics?” she asked, her eyebrows still furrowed in anger.

“
Their eyes are a beautiful deep black. Also, they wear at least one glove, sometimes two. The glove has metal lines on each of the fingertips,” I said, cautiously lifting my hand, palm up.

The guard raised his rifle, but she quickly raised a hand to stop him. I traced lines on my fingertips, showing her where the metal would be.

“
Oftentimes, these gloves are locked onto their hands with a cuff, preventing them from coming off,” I said, “So just because someone is wearing a glove doesn’t mean they are violent. They may not be able to remove the glove.”

“
Why are you telling us this?” she asked.

“
I’m the one who invited you here to our planet. I believe I want the same peaceful relationship that…” I was about to say the word ‘you,’ but I wasn’t quite sure she had the same attitude as the captain, “the same peaceful relationship that the captain is looking for.”

She glared at me for a moment, then motioned for me to get up.

“
The captain would like to come to the bridge,” she said, “If you attempt anything I deem as dangerous, I will kill you on the spot.”

“
Let’s just hope you have a small spectrum of things you ‘deem dangerous’ then,” I replied, rising from my seat.

. . .

The bridge to this air-vessel was nothing like the ocean-faring vessels I was accustomed to. At the front of the room was a window that had certain areas of telescopic potential. It was as though they were looking at a grassy field with a giant metal cage in the distance. Some portions of the window had seemed to focus in on people, but they were much closer than they should appear when compared to their surroundings.

The captain, who was only one of four people that were on the bridge, had turned to face me, smiling a bit more warmly than the last time I’d seen him. The other people on the bridge seemed to be more focused on some lighted tables before them.

“
My request for peace wasn’t granted by these people,” the captain stated, “Please tell me that all the people of Legacy aren’t like the savages on this continent.”

“
No, I promise you that they are a minority,” she said, noticing that the ship they were currently on was descending according to the view in the window, “You’re not going to land here are you? Please come back to Green where it’s much safer and people are more civilized.”

“
Thank you for your concern,” he said, taking my hand gently and leading me to the window, “I truly believe you are two different civilizations and that maybe you really aren’t like these people. I wanted to show you something.”

He pointed to several portions of the window and each image that he pointed to enlarged. Suddenly there were six telescoped windows, showing close-up views of some dead people.

“
As you can see, none of these people are wearing the gloves you were talking about,” he said, “But these are the people who were attacking us.”

“
That’s the military of Blaze. They are referred to as The Guard,” I replied, “But you’re right. None of them are Mystics.”

“
And you’re sure about these ‘Mystics’ that they are the only ones who can attack people or ships with the power of their hands?” he asked, “I’d like to-”

“
Right there,” I said, pointing to a man who was coming toward the ship from the woods, “That’s a Mystic. You can tell by the black glove.”

“
You heard her, Nova. Shoot the-”

“
No! He’s surrendering!” I shouted over the captain’s voice, “He has his hands on his head. That’s the way Mystic’s show they can’t harm you – a gesture of surrender.”

“
Captain?” the woman, presumably Nova asked, hoping for some further direction.

“
Surrender? How do I know he won’t drop his hand and attack?” he asked.

“
Mystics are bound by more laws than most people on this planet. They’re considered a danger to themselves and others, so these laws are strict. A false gesture of surrender is punishable by death,” I said.

“
How do you know all this? How do I know you’re not just making this up as you go?” the captain replied.

“
Captain?” Nova insisted, nodding to the window, “He’s coming closer.”

“
My family is involved in a lot of trade. I told you about our coffee and tea farms. It’s important to know about the people who are responsible for about 40% of our sales,” I replied, “If he were to shock this ship, I would die too, so I’m not going to lead you into danger.”

The captain turned to the window and somehow caused the window to telescope his image. The man’s lips were moving as though he were shouting at the ship.

“
So, what are you proposing I do, Diana Ten?” he asked, “Invite this dangerous man into my shuttle?”

“
What’s he shouting?” I asked.

Without the window opening at all, the voice of the man entered the room.

“
My dad was trying to help your people who were injured. Your people shot him even while he tried to get a doctor. We both came out here to meet you because we’ve been interested in your metals and ceramoid for generations. Why’d you have to kill an innocent man?”

“
Who initiated the attack?” I asked, “I thought you said they started it.”

The captain simply stared at the screen. He offered no reply or even an acknowledgement that I’d asked him a question.

“
Are you doing that weird ‘transmitting’ thing again? How do you talk to each other without doing anything?” I asked, frustrated at their secret communication techniques.

“
I’m sorry, Diana. I can see how this would seem rude. Yes, I was communicating to several others including two witnesses of the other shuttle’s communiqué and it appears the Mystic may be telling a bit of truth, though indeed, the battle was started by those you called The Guard,” the captain stated, “I will try to refrain from visual image communications around you and your people if this makes you uncomfortable.”

I shook my head, “I just don’t understand it or half of what you say anyway. It doesn’t really matter.”

“
It does matter. I have one of the Indentures escorting the Mystic aboard as we speak. If you’ll be so kind as to follow me to the rear of the shuttle, maybe you can help me in determining where this young man fits into all this.”

April 9, 2377

The CEO’s image was being broadcast to the whole world. All eyes and ears now belonged to the USSC.

“
I’d like to thank you all for joining in today. I’m sure you’ll find this worth your while. We at the USSC are very pleased to announce two great advancements that have come from the both the Pioneer Investigation and from the actual crew of the USSC Pioneer,” the CEO said, smiling broadly into the homes of more than ten billion people worldwide.

“
The Jump Drive that sent the Pioneer to the Beta Hydri System was actually a success, but in a different way than we realized. It served as something of a time machine, transporting them nearly a thousand years into the past. Although this wasn’t the intent, it still made the mission into a success nonetheless,

“
Here’s what we know right now. The planet circling Beta Hydri can and does support life. We know this from the Hydrus Signals we’d been receiving for decades. We know the people there speak English and now we know why. They are the descendants of a thousand year old colony that the USSC established there. We’re pleased to announce that the USSC now has quite a foothold established there,

“
What does this mean, you ask? The USSC has been in debt by over a billion dollars for quite a long time, and we’ve lacked the funding for future endeavors. Now however, we have the means to pay that debt by whatever Hydrus has to offer. It would be a safe bet that there’s plenty to be mined on our lands there and beyond that, it’s probably a safe bet that we have plenty of property to sell to those who wish to start a new life in a binary star system. Starting tomorrow, we will begin selling slots on the next ten cruisers headed for Hydrus. If you wish to relocate there, the prices will start at $100,000, but this price will be cut in half for those willing to do a ten year Indenture mining the planet,

“
Just this morning, we sent a tachyon message to the cruiser we have in orbit there. They will have the duty of establishing a ground base for the USSC. I’d like to welcome the assistance of any other countries that wish to take part in this wonderful opportunity. Today is just the beginning.”

The CEO ended his message and turned to those seated in the room.

“
So, how do you think the Australian’s will react to this?” he asked.

“
I have a feeling half the world is going to go ballistic and we’ll probably start hearing some angry comments across the board. But this won’t change anything. We have a colony established already and we’ve probably laid claim to a large portion of the planet.”