Chapter 1

DESTINY

 

It was like the perfect dream, in slow motion. At first touch, she yielded. The cold wind engulfed us, yearning for love. Her hair was like joy itself, flowing within reach. Slow motion fantasy, dead to the world. My weakening grip, her body feared. Our glowing hearts seeped right through each other. A feeling so sacred, it has no name. Every tear was a secret, with revelation in her eyes. Broken and treasured.

Her precious face drew me in. She trusted me, with her very soul. Failure was terrifying. All my being portrayed not only love but also fear. With a soft look, she eased my soul. I cherished her cold scented cheeks. I could breathe her in forever. Touching lips, our bodies weakened, new tears forming, and…I…am…lost. Our teeth clashed, releasing tender emotions. Galaxy to galaxy, heart to heart, we were born for each other.

Haha is this a love story or what! To have a kiss named after us (the kiss of Orion), is mind blowing. Ana and I are thankful to our fans. We had no idea it was being recorded. This is the first time I have spoken of it, and I thought what a better time than at the beginning of this book. A book with a story that we both play an interesting role in. As perfect as our kiss was, it had to end, eventually anyways.

The start of an incredible journey through the stars was about to begin. So incredible that many will simply mark this as science fiction. I am writing this, so that the truth will always be out there.

My name is Orion of the Dereli people, and our home planet is named Luminis. I was in love with a human named Ana. She was the only human on our entire planet. Her family owned and operated a private company called Slade Exploration. Her small crew, consisting of her father and older brother, was on the move after orbiting Mars for a week. They were waiting for some storms to clear so they could land their ship. They were mainly there on behalf of Earth, but they also wanted to gather some Mars samples and other data for their research.

One of their engines blew and took out a huge section of the ship, taking out the only wall with their helmets. Ana was safe and sealed on the other side. Her father was immediately sucked into space. All he could manage to say to his son before he died was, “lock her in.” Her brother was pinned inside and using his coms, he locked Ana out of the system for three minutes, so that she wouldn’t risk herself by trying to save him. Then he said, “I love you sis,” and released himself into space. She cried forever, as the ship drifted away. She will never get over that and how could she.

Her ship, the Valor-X, ended up drifting straight through a gateway into our galaxy. Call it destiny, because she could have decided to fire up the other engine and make do, but she was in heavy mourning. As she came through the gateway, our systems picked up on her location immediately. I am grateful to have her now, and it also gave my people a new way to travel.

Three months after her arrival was the first time we had spoken. We had to learn her language, but it was easy because her ship had data of entire human languages (for this very purpose). I was an engineer where my people kept her. At first, I was only able to see her through the observation glass. Some days I would just stare at her. She was very beautiful. I tried not to make it awkward, so I pretended to type notes while standing there. One day I brought an ice sculpture (our version of flowers) and waved it around to her. I was so nervous, but she smiled and waved.

The next day, a good friend was finally able to get me in to speak with her alone. I walked up to her, took her hand, looked deep into her eyes, and said “here I am with the most beautiful creature in the universe. I want you. I will do what it takes to win you. One day, I will get you out of here Ana. For now, I will see you as often as I can.” My hand caressed her face. Then I handed her a gift and walked out. After that, I visited as much as I possibly could get away with. Through my relentless pursuit, six months later she was released. I made her my woman that same day, at the place of our famous kiss. I LOVE YOU ANA! If you haven’t noticed by now, us Dereli love romance!

And yes, of course, we noticed how strikingly similar humans were to us. We started to theorize that perhaps in ancient times past, all our species were spread throughout the universe through different gateways. Eventually we just said OK we are all the same pretty much and we will just keep studying until new information comes to light. We certainly had all the samples we needed from Ana. She became an absolute celebrity on Luminis, let me tell you. I mean, imagine being the only one of your kind. Hmm no wonder our kiss was recorded!

Ok so I had to go back into 2184 to get into Ana’s past but let us get back to Feb 2nd, 2185, the day of our kiss (going by Earth’s calendar). Luminis is known for its green, yellow and orange colors, from the atmosphere, all the way down to its soil. The Dereli love to incorporate those colors in their hair and clothing, along with many other things. The native Dereli is pale skinned with dark black hair. It is a cold planet with freezing temperatures all year round. It is in what is called the Frozen Galaxy.

At the time, Luminis was thriving, with the economy the best it had ever been. Natural food sources were plentiful and balanced. We had the best agriculture tech. We had many indoor growing operations, which allowed us to control temperature and still allow daylight through. The nearest star is our main source of light, and we call it Sola. We were mining much of the raw material needed for our technology, on a nearby moon named Crypto. We shared the moon’s resources with another species called Kilgans. We had been doing so for centuries.

The Kilgans lived on planet Solka, on the far side of the moon from Luminis. You could draw a line straight through the three. They are fierce warriors as they are required to train from childhood. They also have tremendous hunting skills, honed throughout generations, due to the many species of large carnivorous beasts living there.

The native Kilgan has icy blue skin, and 30 to 80 percent of their body is covered in natural fur of various shades. For every 500 million Kilgan born, there is one born with silver fur, and they are immediately considered royalty. This happens around every 10 years or so. It is seen as a natural way to disrupt long term abuse of power and therefore widely accepted. They must start their rule at age 13. Their first order of business is to choose their successors. Sometimes Kings and Queens die early. Should they die before choosing their successors, their parents or siblings will take their place, beginning from eldest to youngest.

The Kilgan economy was crumbling, and the populations of their highest food sources had been on the decline. The tipping point for the Kilgans was an unusual decline in temperature which killed off an important food source for animals. They always knew they could depend on us to share food and resources in times of need, but they were lying about their food stores to begin with. The Kilgans had calculated the long-term probability of survival on Solka, and it was too low for comfort. If you ask me, I think they were just bored and needed an excuse to do something exciting for them.

On Feb 2nd, 2185, the Kilgans invaded us. For crying out loud, CAN I FINISH MY KISS PLEASE?

In the meantime, in the Milky Way galaxy there was another event happening. A group of humans and Ai humanoids approached Mars. Humanity was not sure how long planet earth would be able to sustain life. The plan was to explore all other possibilities. The bad timing of global nuclear war, asteroid impacts and Solar events all happening around the same time, had left them feeling little choice. Just about all the water was too contaminated to be purified. For water they were relying on a combination of manmade and natural underground reservoirs.

Most of the humans left were living underground in government bunkers. Some of the biggest and most advanced bunkers were in Colorado, New Zealand, China, India and Russia. They designed these bunkers to communicate with each other. It was one of the darkest times in human history.

Starships New Earth and Lore Hound are approaching Mars. Captain Josh Cole is at the helm of New Earth. The XO (2nd Officer in command) of New Earth is Dustin Stone. Ruby Sharma is Captain of Lore Hound, and her XO is Mei Berry. There are a total of 30 humans and 30 state-of-the-art AI Humanoids, 15 of each per ship. In the event of emergencies, they can create more humanoids for each ship, but it does take a good number of resources. The “bots”, as they are sometimes referred to, do not need air or water and that made them perfect for the mission. Earth has granted top rank to Josh Cole. The tough choices will be his.

The ship crews were briefed about the problem with Ana’s ship. One of their missions was to investigate the complete loss of signal and the last known coordinates, even though she went missing many months ago. They also planned to find the water system that was put in place decades ago and bring some to earth as needed. Another mission was to look for a place called Atlantis. A mysterious figure with high clearance had planted a photo of the city in the mission files and the photo was verified as legit! Oddly enough that is the only intel they had on Atlantis. Most importantly though, they were after the large cryogenic supply of hydrogen, so they would have enough fuel for decades. Old Mars had stockpiled tons of hydrogen tanks deep underground. At the very least, Earth wanted Mars to act as a base of operations, for the exploration of a new world. Should no world be discovered then plan b was to survive on Earth and Mars.

“Listen up everyone, we can appreciate the view, relish this amazing experience, and still maintain our composure,” said Captain Josh Cole. “Echo, Tango, detach now and head for the last known location of Valor-X.” Each ship has two very large ships, capable of returning to Earth on their own. Basically, the ship can split into three ships, the main ship and two “wings” as they are called.

“Echo and Tango have detached sir” replied Karina (a bot crew member on Echo).

“XO prepare the landing sequence,” ordered Captain Cole.

“Yes Captain,” said Officer Stone. “Landing is a go on your command sir”

“Bring us down XO and I’d like to see another day if I may. Captain Sharma, this is Starship New Earth; we are headed down and wait for the all-clear.”

“Roger that Captain, Starship Lore Hound awaiting the all-clear,” said Captain Sharma. “XO, run simulations while we wait.”

“On it, Captain,” replied Officer Berry. “Landing conditions are optimal and if I may say, it’s really good to finally see Mars.”

“Yes, indeed it is XO,” smiled Captain Sharma. “It is more beautiful than I had imagined. Together, we will shape a new beginning for all of mankind, and the history books will show how we let nothing get in our way. We will succeed; we simply must. This is our time to shine people.”

“Wow, something tells me you rehearsed that in front of a mirror” chuckled Mei. “I’m with you all the way Captain.”

Ruby halfway looked over and smiled at Mei, but she was a bit awe struck with the view of Mars. She stared at the red planet with a look of determination and respect. Her bloodline has a history with Mars. Billionaire elites in the past were the first to live on Mars. After the fall of “Old Mars” in the 2080’s, some made it back to Earth and some did not. Of course, stories were passed from generation to generation. Ruby Sharma, however, had dark family secrets. She told herself she would only reveal the truth of her family if she had no other choice. Otherwise, she would take it to the grave.

The bots on this journey were just as advanced as the ships they were traveling on. So advanced in fact, they have 99% of the rights each human has. Bots are not to be in high-ranking positions, unless necessary. It is hard to even tell the difference between a human and a bot anymore. The mission on Mars would not succeed without them. I will mostly address the bots by name in this story, unless I mention someone for the first time, or if the story calls for it.

Though they do not conceive children the way humans do, men are still able to have children with them. The image of the humanoid bot and the semen of the man are examined upon completion of intercourse. Then the data is uploaded, and the result is a bionic humanoid. The children typically start out at age seven and they are “updated” every three years on average. Depending on the parents and other factors, their starting age and updates can vary significantly.

I’m going over some bot background because they play an important role in this whole story. Captain Cole is in love with a bot named Glaze. She is the leader of the bots on Starship New Earth. Their journey ahead, let me tell you, is one for the history books!

Starship New Earth is approaching the landing zone. They touched down safely. Everything seemed to be in stable condition. The captain and 11 others stepped into the airlock, except eight crew members who were staying with the ship.

“XO, lower the ramp and open the door.” Everything the Captain had trained for was all happening too fast now. At least that is how he felt, as he stood there fully suited up and a bit sweaty. Having the fate of the world in your hands was a lot of responsibility.

“Copy that sir,” replied the XO. Dustin Stone was not just anybody that Captain Cole had to work with. He was hand-picked by Josh himself. They have been friends for many years prior. Josh wanted someone next to him he could trust with his life, literally.

The door opened and they all stepped onto land. It was like the most surreal feeling ever. They didn’t even want to blink. Quietly, they all stared off into the distance for a good minute before any interruption. The very act of setting foot on Mars was like a confirmation of hope, in everyone’s mind that was standing there. Something else the captain always had in the back of his mind, was Glaze. He was deeply in love with Glaze. Their relationship was not against the rules either. Earth’s population was lacking, and they wanted everyone to have as many babies as possible. Most people did not feel the need to hide their relationships.

“Captain Sharma, you are all clear for landing.”

“Roger that Captain. I will remain with our wing ships and Officer Berry will be my ground leader. Officer Berry, bring our Lore Hound teams to ground.” Both parties had acknowledged Captain Sharma.

“Glaze, scan all safety and life support systems on the vehicles, and double check our med supplies with your own two eyes please. This place has danger written all over it.”

“Right away, Captain Cole.” said Glaze with an admirable glance. As she started to check the vehicles, she couldn’t help but sing a little. Singing was absolutely her favorite thing to do. The captain sure loves it. The first day they met, Glaze was in the community rec area back in Colorado, singing. Josh was on the way to his room when he heard her. It was the most beautiful thing he ever heard, listening to her sing. They make all the humanoid bots different, but some things they just picked up on their own. Glaze finished checking the vehicles. “Captain Cole, we are ready to roll.” Did she just rhyme on purpose? Haha, I guess we’ll never know.

“Alright Glaze, take three men and start heading for Mariner Valley. I sent the coordinates, and the location is 75 miles northwest of here (Captain Cole pointed his finger). We will follow you but stay within 15 miles.”

“Yes sir. Billy, Jessica, Derrick, on me.” These bots were sent on foot, but they don’t get tired the same way that humans do.

“XO, Christina, grab LEVs (land explorer vehicles) and let’s head out.” The LEVs were already prepped by Glaze. They all hopped in and drove off, with four people in each vehicle.

“Captain this is Officer Berry, we have landed the bird. Our teams will be leaving for the Labyrinth within 10 minutes.” Lore Hound teams are investigating the Labyrinth of the Night region. This area is located on the western side of Mariner Valley. It is believed that the source of the water for Old Mars came from the Labyrinth and went down from there into the western part of Mariner Valley, where Josh Cole and company were headed.

“10-4 Officer Berry, over and out,” replied Captain Cole.

Christina (the lead engineer) was sitting up front next to Captain Cole. She wanted to ask him about Dustin the XO, because she was interested. The World Space Force (WSF) had recommended this approach when attempting to get to know someone. Christina looked over to Captain Cole and came right out and said “Sir, will you ask the XO if he likes me? (bots can be much more direct).”

“I most certainly will, but as you know, I am required to wait until the workday is over. I think Dustin could really use someone,” the captain said while smiling at Christina. He was already thinking about how Dustin would appreciate the love of Christina. Dustin was going through a very rough patch, with the loss of a loved one.

The Lore Hound ground team had two of their LEVs on route, led by Mei and fellow human Jordan. They also had an aerial team on standby, with instructions to report to Captain Josh Cole. “Captain Cole, AV support (aerial vehicle) is at your disposal,” said Danny the pilot.

“Copy that Danny, move that AV ahead and scout for us. Let us know if you find anything of interest.” Everyone had advanced augmented reality (AR) helmets on and always knew who was speaking to them.

“Understood Captain Cole,” replied Danny (a bot). The mission was going smoothly so far. Earth had successfully managed to safely land on Mars. They had reported back to Earth on their latest achievements. Earth was excited by the news, as there was now hope.