Macroscape (working)

CHAPTER ONE


My name is Adrik of Glebe. As far as I know I’m the last living Glebian in the universe. This isn’t the story of Glebe, though. This is the story of the survivors of the war. You don’t know anything about the war? Have you been living on an asteroid? The war started years ago- longer than I can say. I don’t know why. I’m just a kid, but as far as I can tell the Trahls started it. They’ve been raging across the galaxy since before my dad was born. They invade a planet, destroy its people and take its resources. Then they disappear for a while until it’s time for them to take another world.

I guess you could say I’m lucky. I mean, sure, everyone I’ve ever known is gone forever (including my parents), but at least I’m alive. That’s something, right? That’s what my mom would say if she were here.

How did I escape, you ask? Well, I was sent off-world to a school on Telraxx. In my third year I heard my final message from home. It was just an aud-clip from dad.

It said, “Adrik, Glebe is under attack. No time to explain! You mustn’t come home now. Spread the word! There’s no chance for Glebe....but you must stay strong! And always remember the Principles of Glebe! For you there is still hope. We love you son”

That clip is pretty much all I have to remember him by. That and a locket my mom gave me are all that’s left of Glebe I guess. Those things and me.

At the time I received the message I was on a transport headed for Glebe. We had just jumped through a hypergate and were only a few hours from home. The captain must have panicked upon hearing of the Trahlian attack fleet. Instead of setting course for the nearest friendly system we dove blindly through the gate. Something went wrong on the jump. Either a stray blast from an attack ship winged us or we mis-navigated the hypergate. Now we have no idea where the heck we are. The ship is damaged and we are drifting through space. We’ve been out here for days. I guess this is about as bad as it gets.



Adrik of Glebe
Personal Journal
28.57.11

-----

Adrik closed his journal and gazed out the viewport. All he could see was an ocean of stars. Normally he’d think it was beautiful, this milky spread of celestial lights. But now it just made him feel lost. If all you had to judge him by was his journal you’d think he wasn’t really all that bothered by the loss of his parents...his world even. But if you could see the way he stared blankly at the vast expanse of the universe. If you could spy on him to see his pale eyes and defeated posture you would know the truth. This young Glebian had lost it all. All that really mattered to him was gone forever. His home, his father, and his mother had been deleted from his life.

Adrik glanced down at his hands and said to himself, “I guess this is it. We’ll just drift until we run out of food....or oxygen. Whichever comes first.” He fiddled aimlessly with the locket his mother had given him, wrapping the chain around the three fingers of his left hand and then unwinding it and wrapping it around the three fingers on his right. He did this for several moments back and forth and thought about nothing in particular.


The locket was gem shaped, and made of a dark yellow metal. It was old and had been highly polished at one time, but now was tarnished and failed to shine. It was hollow and inside he could hear a small object rattling around when he shook it. Adrik had never opened the locket as it seemed to have neither clasp nor hinge. When he first received the keepsake he imagined it was a magical amulet given to him to protect him during his time away from Glebe. He was young and foolish then. Now Adrik knew that there was no such thing as magic. There was no such thing as hope either in spite of what his dad had said.

CRASH!

Outside his cabin he heard the noise. It could only mean one thing- Yawp.

The first being Adrik met upon leaving Telraxx was his cabin-mate, Yawp. He was also a student. Though what exactly he was studying was never made clear. Yawp had introduced himself with a calamitous clatter of metal plates that he wore hanging about his head and body, obscuring most of his face and vision. All males from the planet Ornax were expected to hinder their bodies in such a way as part of some religion. Yawp was dreadfully clumsy and even more dreadfully good natured. Everywhere he went he smashed into walls and other passengers with a loud crash followed by an even louder apology.

“I’m sorry!” Yawp said to whatever poor fellow he had knocked over as he ambled gracelessly through the portal into the cabin he and Adrik shared.

“Adrik, have you heard?”

“Heard what?” said Adrik, not really caring.

“They found it! They found it!”

“Found what?”

“Get up” he said, pulling Adrik from his bunk. Metal plates of various shapes and sizes were braided through his hair and clothing and they clanged as he moved. Adrik was a rag doll in Yawps arms, but he stood awkwardly and looked up at his hardware covered mate.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on, Yawp?”

“Nope,” said Yawp, “It’s better to come see for yourself!”

The ungainly Yawp led Adrik by the hand out into the corridor and down to the common room where many other shipmates had already gathered.

There was already a discussion as a half dozen or so huddled over the view screens.

“How big is it?” One voice said.

“What is it primarily composed of?” said another.

“I’m getting a readout on the composition now.” said a third, more authoritative voice, “Iron thirty-two point one percent, oxygen thirty point one percent, silicon fifteen point one percent, magnesium thirteen point nine percent, sulfur two point nine percent, nickel one point eight percent, calcium one point five percent, and aluminium one point four percent; with the remaining one point two percent consisting of trace amounts of other elements.”

The voice belonged to Professor Byzbee who looked around at the excited faces.

He said, “As for the size...it has a mean radius of -no...that can’t be right. There must be something wrong with the equipment...still. The likelihood of this planet supporting life is extremely high.”

A resounding cheer filled the room. They were saved! A planet that supports life found out in deep space seemingly at random was almost unheard of. It was a miracle!

Even Adrik thought this was a reason to have hope. At least he and the other passengers were not doomed to float in space for eternity.

“Attention passengers, “ said a voice over the intercom, “This is Captain Naybi speaking. As I’m sure you know by now we’ve been fortunate enough to locate an inhabitable world. Our life support systems are already partially drained so we will be attempting an emergency landing immediately. I repeat, this is an EMERGENCY landing. All passengers and non-essential crew are to return to their cabins and strap in. This may get bumpy. Planetfall begins in five bleems.”

“Everyone get to your cabins, you heard the Captain!” said Professor Byzbee.

The Professor turned toward Adrik and said, “Young Glebian, your mother and father were members of your world’s Science Council, correct?”

“Umm...Yes sir”

“Good, I shall accompany you and...Yawp, is it? I need to discuss some things with you while we are making planetfall.”

Adrik regarded the Tamozian Professor for a moment. Like all from his world Professor Byzbee had pointy ears and a long snout and was covered in short brownish fur. One of the Professor’s ears was cocked in attention while the other was bent and flaccid. Adrik had taken a class with the professor and heard that his limp ear had been injured years ago but he had chosen not to have corrective surgery on it. Adrik often wondered how the professor got hurt and why he never had it fixed, but never asked.

“Our cabin isn’t far...right this way.” Adrik said.

The corridor was awash in a clamor of passengers rushing to their cabins. All were excited, but there was a hint of fear in the air. The intercom was running a repeating message over the commotion that urged passengers to calmly proceed and be mindful of one another. Adrik, Yawp and the Professor trod down the passage to the space the two students shared.

It was a simple cabin like dozens of others aboard the ship. It contained a pair of bunks, three seats, a computer terminal, a washing space and a small viewport. The viewport resembled a window, but was actually a video screen that depicted images from the ship’s external cameras.

The Professor and the two students strapped themselves in to prepare for the bumpy ride ahead of them.


----------

The ship lurched a moment and there was a humming vibration throughout the cabin. Adrik wished he could see the planet they were approaching on the viewport, but the cameras were fixed on the opposite side. He could see the brilliant glow of the galaxy’s spiral arm rushing by in a blur. Adrik thought that maybe one of those stars was Pak, the sun around which Glebe rotated. There would be no way to tell as lost as they were. Even the navigational computers couldn’t make sense of the star patterns in this region of the galaxy.

The vessel started reeling with a growing roar as they hit the atmosphere of the world below. Yawp had a combined look of fear and joy on his face as if he were taking a thrill ride. Professor Byzbee’s ears were tilted back and his eyes tightly shut.

Adrik looked back at the viewport and could see the new planet now. It was covered in vast oceans, but there were massive continents as well. He couldn’t make out much as they blew into the atmosphere. The ship jolted for several moments then was suddenly placid. Still, the world below was coming alarmingly fast.

Adrik started to calm a bit, his heart pounding a little less. He thought for a moment that the landing would be easier than predicted.

Then his guts began to somersault. His head lost up from down and he could feel the ship was spiraling out of control. The Professor started to whine quietly and Yawp was holding his mouth shut as if to keep in his lunch.

Over and over the vessel turned faster and faster. The noise of the atmosphere blasting against the hull joined the Professor’s whimpering protest. Adrik could not say how long this went on. The ship spun and spun and fell and fell.

Browrlf!

Yawp lost his lunch in a burst of purple and green chunks. Ornaxian stew it looked like. The stench confirmed it but at this point Adrik was beyond caring and ready to barf himself. He could feel his stomach attempting to heave, but nothing came. He had barely eaten since receiving word on the disaster on Glebe. Now he was glad for that fact.

He was shocked by the sudden serenity as the ship seemed to miraculously right itself. They were still in freefall, but no longer tumbling.
Yawp, the Professor, and Adrik looked at each other and gasped for air as the ground came up to meet the ship.

The descent seemed to slow.
“That must be the ship’s graviton generator finally kicking in,” Said Professor Byzbee, “Finally.”
They drifted toward the planet for another decibleem or two and then there was a short and sudden drop followed by a horrible crash.



CHAPTER TWO

“Have another slice of grumbel pie” said Adrik’s mother, “I know it’s your favorite.”

Adrik tucked into the pie with his grumbel spoon. He couldn’t believe it was Glarggday already. How had he forgotten? It didn’t matter. He was home and eating the greatest desert in the galaxy and soon his dad would be in with the cermonial Eerk. Then the fun would really begin.

“Did you like the gift I got you?” he said between gulps of pie, “It didn’t cost too much, I swear.” Of course it cost almost all of his savings. He didn’t care. This Glarggday was important. He wanted her to know. He wanted her and dad both to know how much they meant to him. How glad he was to be home after his journey.

His mother looked at the present. It was a silvery blue gwomp fish which was odd because gwomp fish were usually orange. But that wasn’t what made it special. He’d had it engraved.
in big red letters it said, “WAKE UP”.

He knew it was just the gift for her and dad. He knew it would make them happy and proud of their son and that they would never send him to an off-world school again.

“Oh Adrik, it’s beautiful,” she said, “but I think it’s really a gift for yourself.”

“No, mom. I swear. It’s all for you and dad. I-”

Adrik looked at the fish. He traced the words with his fingers.
“Wake up.” He said.


“Wake up.”

“WAKE UP.”

The room was dimly lit and filled with the faint odor of Ornaxian stew. Adrik wasn’t home. He was back in his cabin with Yawp...and Yawp’s vomit.

Adrik had to choke back tears when he said. “It was Glarrgday, Yawp...Glarrgday.”

“What’s Gargleday?” said the Ornaxian.

“It doesn’t matter.” said Adrik. “Where’s the Proffessor?”

“He’s out with the captain surveying the damage to the hull. He says it’s possible the ship could be made spaceworthy again.”

“What? How could he have gotten out so fast...how long was I unconscious?”

“About four decableems, Adrik. I was getting worried.”

His head felt like it was wrapped in Telraxian spinesnakes, but Adrik shot straight up.

“I need to go too,” he said, “Maybe I can help! Maybe we can get back to Glebe and look for survivors!”

Yawp was using a handvac to clean up the mess he’d made with his sick, but Adrik could still smell it. One whiff of Yawp’s chunder sent him reeling toward his bunk again.

“You’re not well, Adrik. Besides, Captain gave orders that no one is to leave the residential deck until she gives the go ahead. We’re under violet alert. Apparently this world is teeming with life.