James Scotson - Planets Falling

“Grey, is this supposed to be corn? Nothing about it is like the varieties I grow.”

“Well, we’ve engineered it using genes from several planets. A single one of these stalks provides enough raw materials to feed three of us for a week. Can you do that with your garden? Speaking of which, the corn you grow comes from a weed that was cultivated thousands of years ago and has no semblance of its original self. It’s as alien to earth as my plants.”

“What about this?” I’m carefully holding a plant that resembles a furry toad.

Grey produces a knife and splits it open. The smell of shine nearly knocks me back. “This plant produces alcohol, a key ingredient for a lot of the polymers we need to fabricate and repair our tools. Pretty cool, eh?”

“Again, Grey, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. This plant seems to make a strong drink — something English would like. Does this come from earth?”

“Oh no. This originated on Etch’s planet, zenat. We’ve modified it to accept the different wavelengths of the earth’s sunlight. On zenat, it would be blue, not green.”

“So, you’re telling me that you’ve brought a completely alien plant — species, I think they’re called by your kind — to earth. Seems to me that this may upset the balance of things. It’s no different than the brown fog to me. Nothing good can come from it. It’ll spread and destroy earth life.”

“Oh Amy. You needn’t worry about escape. We’ve the technology to keep things under control. I think it’s wrong for you to compare us to the creatures trying to dominate earth from the portal.”

“Say what you want, but I disagree. You can learn much from me about how to harness the natural power of this world. You don’t need to use alien wares to suit your needs.”

Grey’s frustrated. “Well, we depend on it now. I’d like to see your garden someday. I’m sure you can teach me many things.”

“I doubt Thresh left any of my garden for us to visit.” The thought of home makes me sick and forlorn.

Grey gingerly puts his hand on my shoulder and I pat it. We spend the rest of the morning sauntering about Grey’s garden. I worry that I’ve been too hard on him. I do find the many plants he shows me fascinating. He knows so much about other worlds and so little about earth, the home of his ancestors. Perhaps, when all of this is over, I can teach him how to appreciate his home.

We rejoin the others at lunch. Iggy’s offspring are in the ocean grazing for food while Iggy sits at a table spraying itself with seawater. Gorian’s returned, talking with Minns and Etch animatedly. Bets sharpens her sword while Samuel sips on a glass of cider. English naps under a small tree, snoring softly.

Gorian pulls out a tablet similar to the one that Theo lifted from Troll’s compound. She hits a button and the image of another ship like the Fuerst appears in mid-air, except it is black as pitch. “I think I may know where the Raven, Melat’s ship, is. It’s right here on earth.”

She’s met by silence from all of us except English, who’s risen from his self-imposed unconsciousness. “How can that thing that smashed a planet still be around?”

Etch answers. “The Raven was not destroyed. It is difficult to explain. When it began to travel through space, it dragged the planet C9 with it. The ship survived but the planet, of course, did not. Think of our space vessels as drills that tunnel through space from one side to another. The planet tried to follow through the hole, but was too large and broke into pieces.”

Gorian’s clearly excited and seems about to burst. “I have no idea how the Raven got here on earth but it’s likely responsible for the activity we’re seeing.”

“What about Melat?” Grey asks.

“I would have sensed her presence while in the pilot house of the Fuerst. Any time a pilot is in their ship, it transmits their location to other pilots. This is an essential navigation tool, keeping us from crashing into each other.” Etch is perplexed.

Iggy’s tinny, mechanical voice asks the question we’re all pondering. “Gorian, where’s the Raven located relative us?”

“Within shuttle range in the foothills of the mountains, due east of here. We can get there in less than an hour flying at normal velocity.”

Grey strokes the back of his neck. “Whoa, we need to pause here and think about the dangers. What if Melat is still there in the ship? She can direct her weapons at the shuttle.”

“Iggy’s the best shuttle driver we know. He can evade any fire. Also, we can stay out of range of the vessel until were sure it’s safe to investigate. My sensors suggest the Raven is disabled and likely not a threat.” Gorian’s already packing her bag.

Anger wells up inside me. “Are we losing our focus here? We need to find the portal and stop it, not look for your long lost pilot friend.”

Etch pounds his fist. “She is no longer my friend. She betrayed all of us.”

“I have a hypothesis,” Gorian says. “The Raven is not completely powered down. I’m wondering whether it might be acting as an amplifier for you pilot-types out there. This may be fueling Thresh’s killing spree and allowing you to travel in your sleep. If we shut it down, then Thresh and her monsters might go away.” She smiles hopefully.

“Then, by all means, we leave now,” I say, heading to my room to gather my things.

Grey stands up. “No way are you going Amy. You’re our only asset.”

“Hell to you Grey. I’m going or I’m walking toward the dead people to get my daughter back.”

We’ve decided that Gorian, Iggy, English, Bets, and Theo will fly with me in the shuttle. Etch, Samuel, Grey, Minns, and the children of Iggy will remain at camp to await our return and look out for shuffling dead people.

The shuttle’s tucked in the rear of the Fuerst, looking a lot like the winged boxes I saw crashing into buildings in Troll’s moving pictures of the great fall. This memory gives me pause as I walk into its gaping door. Could it be possible that Iggy will lose control of the machine to the Trolls out there?

The interior of the shuttle is dark, illuminated by blue, green, red, and yellow lights. We’re cramped in the back while Iggy and Gorian sit in chairs in the front, pressing buttons and murmuring to each other. I freeze at the voice in the space. “Please prepare for departure. Stay seated.” It sounds identical to Troll.

“We need to leave,” I shout. English and Bets react similarly, jumping and standing at the door.

Theo laughs. “Calm down you three. This isn’t Troll, is it Gorian?”

“If you mean the HM interface you encountered at the munitions storage, nope. This is just the HM for the shuttle. It must have a similar voice synthesizer.”

“Thank the gods,” Bets sighs sitting down.

The shuttle floats out of the Fuerst and ascends into the sky. I feel the same lightness I did soaring in the magpie. Theo, Bets, and English stare out of the portholes in amazement. For a moment, a glimpse of a young girl passes Bets’ face. It suits her.

The ocean is so impossibly large from this vantage. Crests of waves wink at me. The water knows whom I am and what I need to do. Iggy banks the shuttle and the ocean recedes as the mountains beckon in the distance. The cabin’s silent, with the exception of an occasional wet sneeze from Iggy.

“Catch a cold in the ocean?” Gorian hands him a wipe.

“I seem to have contracted a virus. Perhaps it was the stress of reproducing. I’ll revive soon, although a good torpor would do me good.”

Gorian laughs. The rest of us haven’t a clue what the frog man or woman is talking about. Gorian catches her breath and says, “So, my friends, I have some things to tell you about Melat before we approach the Raven, if it is really there. First, Melat was one of the best pilots I’ve known. She changed after we had an accident dropping from one location of space to another. We think she was influenced by the powers in the government to abort our mission. Or something unknown got to her in infraspace. Regardless, she found out about the portal on Planet C9 and she blew it up. We barely escaped. Oh, infraspace is the place in between space and time. It’s impossible to explain without math.”