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61 pages

English

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Description

Haran's everyday subsistence existence as a peasant abruptly changes when an alien ship and its occupants crash land by his little village. Haran's mind comes face to face with the alien mind Terach. Haran/Terach's story and the other interrelated stories in this novella probe the idea of our psyche, virtual identity, their possible coexistence, and the dark side of this duality.

Sujets

Science-fiction

Science fiction

Informations

Publié par	First Edition Design Publishing
Date de parution	15 juillet 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781937520014
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0180€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

EVERLASTING MONDAY
Part One - The Crown And The Devil

K•HARDER
08-07-2011

Copyright 2011 K. Harder –
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ISBN 978-1-937520-01-4
Published by First Edition Design eBook Publishing July 2011
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher.

Cover Design: First Edition Design

All language is normalized for interplanetary consumption
by Zentra Communications Inc.
PREAMBLE

Science Officer NeLo onboard Monitor 42 to General Likander, Spaceport
After a long and uneventful journey, we arrived at the final resting place of the missing transporter Xerx 484. To be more precise, we found what was left of it. As we already suspected, trouble started when the transporter deviated from its designated route. As ships often do, it made a short-cut through unknown space. Surprisingly, it was wrecked by a hitherto unknown phenomenon.
For quite some time the Monitor 42 has been flying very slowly, tracking Xerx 484 by the particles left behind by their propulsion unit. We started out at an arbitrary point along their last known route. Soon we found the place where they charted a new course. When we approached the crash site, the hull of our ship was bombarded with super-heavy particles. We were only saved by the fact that our ship is of the monitor class - and therefore armored - in combination with the very low speed we maintained.
In this region a super-heavy, unknown element is thinly disbursed over a vast area of space. I am trying to use our engine as a crude accelerator in an effort to describe this unknown material. But as of now I can only say that these molecules are so big that in theory they should not be able to exist under these rather ordinary conditions. And yet, here they are.
Xerx 484, a civilian vessel with no military armor, entered this contaminated region flying full speed. To the best of my knowledge, the heavy metal molecules went right through the ship and soon tore it apart. Our readings show that isotopes from their propulsion unit are now scattered over a distance of two light years, indicating that the transporter was effectively ground down to nothing by its own velocity. Otherwise, there is nothing left of Xerx 484 - except for an oblong cloud of scattered particles.
Likander to Monitor 42, Science Officer NeLo
The perils of deviating from the specified routes are well-known. And still we always do; space is big and time is money. I have personally notified the families of everyone onboard the Xerx 484.
I find your discovery of this new element controversial. Therefore I must ask you to stay where you are and conduct as many tests as you possibly can. Also you must evaluate the history of this particular region, to help us understand how the element came to be there in the first place, i.e. what kind of stellar mass produced it? Will it be possible to harvest this new material? If this metal has disintegrated a transporter, what other uses could it possibly have - military or otherwise?
Monitor 42, NeLo, to General Likander, Spaceport
I have now completed the task. A short distance away from Monitor 42 we set up a strong magnetic field which immediately started pulling in the desired molecules. When only a very small portion of the element had been gathered, the rest of the material reacted. It was as if we had crossed some threshold and arrived at critical mass. We had a real scare as the Monitor 42 was bombarded with the super heavy incoming particles. Thanks to our armor plates we survived.
The element has auto-assembled and now forms one solid metal rod. I was afraid that it might explode or emit harmful radiation, but as of now it seems quite stable. I have surveyed the area most thoroughly. We are coming home.
PART ONE

FALLING DOWN

On our way back we were hit by a powerful blast of radiation. It penetrated the radiation shield and passed right through the composite metal ship is made of. We could have died.
The radiation damaged vital ship functions - and I lost control.
Soon we were completely out of course, speeding into an unknown solar system - and heading straight for the third planet of a small yellow star.
This was bad, but not a worst-case scenario. Being so much out of control we could easily have drifted straight into the yellow star and perished in the flaming inferno.
Instead, we were rapidly approaching the third planet. And soon I learned all there is to know about the atmosphere of this particular planet - the hard way.
So down to the surface we went, in a big blazing ball of fire.
Soon we hit the ground, and I lost consciousness.
When I finally restarted, none of the auxiliary systems were up and running. Only the weapons guidance system was still intact and on-line. This was by no means a coincidence - ship is a bird of war, and the military installation is designed to remain operational until the very end.
But there I was, lying flat on the ground - in agony.
On my way through space I had passed star clusters and black holes, and I had crossed the empty void between galaxies. And now I could not move.
Only seconds after coming on-line I became aware of something that was far worse: Mother was not onboard. While I was unconscious, something had happened - and now she was gone.
I started scanning the alien surroundings, using the hyper-sensitive detectors embedded in the guidance system. And outside my broken hull I found small traces of blood and irregular footprints leading away into the great unknown.
In theory I should have been able to track Mother within a considerable range, but all my scans came up with absolutely nothing. And the more I tried, the more desperate I became.
I repeated the scans, over and over again, only to arrive at the rather doubtful - but seemingly logical - conclusion that Mother was no longer to be found on the surface of the alien planet. It seemed that she had somehow disappeared into the underground.
I had to face the fact that just about anything could have happened to her while I was dysfunctional.
The thought of Mother being dead or in mortal danger while I was lying here - unable to help her in any way - almost made me lose my mind.
And while these unhappy thoughts went through my mind, it arrived.
The landscape outside was dominated by rocks and a sporadic green vegetation. A brownish two-legged animal – almost the size of our standard civilization type III – stepped into in the clearing. And even though I was not in the mood for surprises, I did not fail to realize that this was some kind of a miracle. To land on an unknown planet and discover advanced life forms is the Holy Grail of every space traveler.
This particular creature looked like an animal - and it stared at me, with its mouth wide open. It had long, black facial hair - and it wore some kind of primitive garments. But the thing that really caught my attention was the fact that it managed to perceive the shiny, oblong thing in front of it as an object of interest.
I knew that it was impossible for this alien beast to understand what it was looking at. But the way it stared at the unknown thing made me conclude that this had to be a creature of at least some intelligence.
I have read somewhere that desperate times call for desperate measures. And believe me, by now I was really desperate. There I was, stranded on an unknown planet, unable to move. And Mother - my only companion - gone!
I did a full scan of the alien creature while it stood there looking at me. And even before the scan was finished, I jumped ship.
This is something I will never forget!
The impact - and the subsequent integration - went incredibly smooth. There was a slight blur, and the first sensation that came to me was an odor. Almost immediately I perceived the wild animal smell of my new host. I also inhaled smoke from various hydrocarbon fires still burning around me – and I was able to register the toxic fumes that emanated from our damaged spaceship. This was the first time since my ‘accident’ that I could smell anything at all.
The next thing I had to deal with was of a more practical nature. Under my inept guidance the creature was having trouble keeping its balance. So the very first thing I did in this new world was to move my new feet forward - slowly and one step at a time - very awkward, indeed. I stumbled, but I did not fall.
Believe me, it was not easy. While I was doing these things as best I could, my senses were opening up - and I was hit by waves of alien sensations that I did not know how to interpret.
And the creature was screaming.
I was very confused by the sudden rush of external noises; I did not know what any of these unfamiliar sounds meant. And the creature itself was screaming - inside. By now it obviously knew that something dramatic had happened - and it was in a state of panic! I tried to calm it down by redirecting large portions of the chemo-electrical energy it needed to support its cognitive system. After that the creature screamed less, but it did not stop.
For a very long time I had functioned like a machine. And as a machine, every move I made was perfect. Everything I did could be accounted for and explained in rational terms. And if something failed, Mother was always there by my side to help me.
Now, I was outside - alone in an unknown environment, with a new set of sounds and sights - and a new set of rules. And it was very hard to navigate this sea of confusion. Inside of me there was a total chaos and another set of new rules - including an internalized psychotic prisoner, who was screaming with fear.
In spite of all these obstacles, I started walking – and this was a real challenge – slowly following the faint tracks that Mother had left behind. I tried to us