The Children of Time (The Children of Time Trilogy Book 1) Page 2

  He continued to observe the things around him. The glass walls and holographic screens covered a lot of the space but he also noticed something made of silver, a clear shade, which reflected light and spread it through the entire place. Those surfaces were smooth and shiny. “Is this some kind of technology to save energy?” He wondered.

  The size of that control room was something that also intrigued Nicolas; the room seemed to have more than a hundred square meters, and he soon imagined the size of the whole ship. He couldn’t see any buttons or bars and apparently the entire control was managed by haplographies.

  He felt a scent of jasmine in the air, Zara’s perfume. “What a nice smell!” he thought while breathing the pure air of the ship.

  Nicolas was still amazed and took some time to believe in what he was seeing. Everything was new, intriguing, and he couldn’t understand what was around him, although he was trying to absorb it all.

  Zara, noticing the young man’s insecurity, began to explain.

  “Nicolas, calm down. I know it’s too much, but I’ll explain everything to you.”

  His was lost, just staring through the ship. He couldn’t believe that what she said it wasn’t a joke, but the truth. There was more to know than he ever imagined. He was still confused, without understanding exactly what was going on, but he turned to Zara, waiting to hear the rest of the explanation.

  “We’re here in a mission, and I needed to find you, for a very special reason, that I’ll explain later. I joined the college where you study as a student and it was easy to get transferred, because we can access the IT systems of the Earth information. I did this with the purpose to get close to you. But when I secured this human body, I had the same sensations and wishes you have! It was inevitable to feel something for you; I surrendered myself with no inhibitions and it was great. Keep calm, please. Our commandant Sivoc will explain things better for you. Don’t be afraid.”

  He couldn’t understand what she was saying, but there wasn’t much time to think, because three men approached from a door he hadn’t noticed before. Judging by the technology he could see in the ship, he deduced that those beings weren’t from Earth either. And despite Zara’s words, that were trying to calm him down, he began to sweat, and his heart began to race.

  Nervous, he was considering a thousand possibilities, “Will they suck my mind or make any kind of experience? Will they take me into a trip through the space? I’m going to wake up, I must be dreaming. I trust in Zara, but now I know that I don’t really know her. What if this trust isn’t deserved? And what if her, along with these three unknown men, want to harm me?”

  There was no more time for his conclusions. Soon, one of them approached and, judging by his attitude it was clear to understand that he was the commandant.

  “Greetings! My name is Sivoc; I’m the commandant of this ship. We came from a planet located in a galaxy close to the Milky Way.”

  The commandant had a human appearance. He was an Asian, very tall and wore a navy blue uniform with a cloth that shone when touched by the light. He had a serious semblance and he was concerned when he looked at the other members of the ship, who stood behind him, in silence. Zara was also there, only observing the scene that was happening.

  “I’m... My name is Nicolas. I live here in Los Angeles.” He answered, quivering.

  The commandant smiled, trying to make him feel more comfortable.

  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Nicolas. We already know a lot about you, but let me introduce you the rest of the crew. This is Drako, the responsible for the trip’s control instruments and he is also our information engineer. The other one is Tibor, chief of security. The only female crewmember is Zara, the doctor of the mission and the genetic engineer, and you already meet her.”

  Nicolas looked at each one while they were being introduced. They all looked like humans, like Zara and Sivoc. Drako used hair cut close to the scalp; he was also very tall. He barely showed any reaction when Nick greeted him and he quickly went back to the navigation system, from where he could control everything with just his fingertips on the holographic panels of the ship. The last member, Tibor, was the tallest and had a very serious semblance; his skin was clear and framed by muscled that showed a lot of strength.

  “We come from the planet Vida, which is three millions years distant from your planet. I am talking about the light speed, of course.” Added Sivoc.

  Nicolas observed his hosts with attention, and there would be things, to be revealed later, which would leave him much more surprised than that vision, but at that moment he didn’t know about it yet. He continued observing the ship’s equipments, which were still so impressive, but it looks like the navigator could control all the tasks by the power of his mind, telepathically.

  “Drako, get us out of here, immediately.” Said Sivoc, trying to not get too much attention.

  He turned to Nicolas and explained his request:

  “Although the space technology from the Earth government is somewhat outdated for our standards, they have special radar that can detect us. And it important to no reveal our presence and we need to get out of here with some urgency. You can be assured, however, that we’ll not do you any harm.”

  The vehicle began to takeoff at high speed and rose into the sky. Nicolas was looking at the Moon through the window and saw that it was getting closer. In a matter of seconds, it began to grow and became more beautiful. Soon, he was looking at its craters, and they were huge and gray, like a big and sandy desert, without water and no life at all.

  Suddenly, the ship stopped. After traveling to the exosphere, he felt his body and soul relaxing a little, noticing that his dream had finally became reality, and it was much better than he had seen in books and movies. For the first time in his life, he was capable to observe closely the grandiosity of the cosmos: the sun and its brightness, the planets in our Solar System, the stars so distant. It was magnificent.

  The Moon was clear, illuminated by the sun, with rays of light shining around. It was a wonderful image; raters of different shapes and sizes were visible from inside the ship.

  The boy already liked to admire the natural satellite in the days of full moon, even by distance, but it was even so much better to look closely. On the right he could see the blue planet he called home, the giant home of billions of human beings. He felt like an astronaut, and then he thought about how euphoric they must have felt when they saw our planet and satellite, for the first time.

  After that, he left his admiration aside and began to think again in the reason of this contact. “What could those beings from outer space want with a person like me, an ordinary student who has no connections with scientific or technological researches?”

  For an instant, he observed Zara and remembered the kisses and the embraces they shared. She looked him in the eyes as she always did since they met and sweetly smiled, as if she understood his thoughts. Nicolas answered with a smile, but deep inside he was scared.

  Sivoc, as if he knew what Nicolas was thinking, soon approached and began to explain what the purpose of the mission was.

  “Nicolas, I know it sounds very weird the way we’ve approached you and especially the fact that we brought you inside the ship with no further explanations. The truth is that we need you to help us to solve a serious problem in our planet.”

  The human didn’t understand anything. All that mystery had no connection to him. He always dreamed about knowing the universe; but he never intended to travel to other planets, especially with people he barely knew. Regarding Zara, he didn’t even know if she was the woman he imagined.

  “How can I be useful to these beings that have so much technology?” he reflected.

  “Many of our ancestors had landed here on Earth.” Drako joined the conversation. “We have information that the government of your planet tried to capture us to obtain information about our technology and knowledge. We’re here in a mission, and you can help us to protect our plane
t.”

  That was when Nicolas became more confused. “How can I succeed in protect their planet? As I can see, they could be much more useful to help my planet, showing a way to preserve human life, especially regarding the population and consumption growth and to shortage of food and water. They have much more technology and knowledge. More than I have, obviously.” He thought. Zara approached him and said:

  “The truth is that we are actually humans, just like you but from the future.”

  He became astonished with that revelation.

  Those instants inside the ship seemed like hours, it was as if time had stopped. Nicolas was more comfortable. Maybe it was an effect of the pure oxygen he was breathing, which made him feel as if nothing around him mattered.

  That was definitely a unique experience, he couldn’t understand what was happening, but he was paying attention to the information.

  After knowing about something so tremendous, he needed to know more, and Zara continued:

  “According to you time calendar, live on the Century 641. We managed to travel in time due to the technological advances of our people. We discovered gaps in space-time, what the physicists of your planet call warm-holes. We travel these long distances between our planets very quickly.”

  Sivoc interrupted the conversation.

  “Zara, we’d better be honest with Nicolas. He need to trust us, and the truth about our mission will show him that our intentions are the best possible and that we come in good faith. First tell him our main purpose, and then reveal the whole story from the beginning, so our visitor will understand better why we are here and our connection with his planet. Besides, we know he is in danger. The other ship from our planet is looking for him and they won’t have the same compassion for Nicolas.”

  – II. The Revelation –

  Nicolas didn’t know what was going on and was perplexed taking in the revelations. He looked at Sivoc with attention, waiting for the promised explanations, and trying very hard to understand what was being said. But what he wanted the most was to know why he was there.

  “In fact, Nicolas, you have an organic defense that’s completely different from the other human beings.” Sivoc said. “This unique feature made you became the object our future studies.”

  The boy became bewildered with the revelation!

  “How come he was different from the other human beings?” Nicolas thought.

  “The information about you contained in the medical files and shared in networks made you known as the bearer of the most powerful biological defense among all earthling beings on Earth.” The commandant continued his explanations while the boy looked at him with attention, avid for more. “Your blood contains an extraordinary series of lymphocytes, like no one else. Such series was called X-Lymphocytes, and it makes you immunologically strong against infections and diseases of all kinds.”

  Everything suddenly made sense to Nicolas. After all, while many colleagues had flu and other diseases, so common during childhood and teenager years like viruses, he had never got sick. He even pretended some indispositions to ditch classes, but the truth was that he had never been sick.

  “The future scientists concluded that some genetic mutation had happened in your defense cells, which would explain how your organism managed to develop this healing power.” Sivoc explained.

  “I guess I already know what they want with me. They would certainly want to make experiences with my blood in their planet. I don’t want to travel with them. I need to find a way to get out of here. I can’t lose the family I love so much! But how will I escape?” Nicolas considered.

  There was an explanation for such healing ability, but it would be revealed only in the future, and the group would still experience many adventures, before the secrets of the X-Lymphocytes were unraveled. Zara noticed the boy’s affliction and asked Sivoc to continue to explain everything to him.

  “Please, tell Nick about our purposes. He’s a good person and will understand we’re being sincere.”

  And then he continued:

  “We came for you as a request from the governor of our planet, the king Zador II. The princess Isadora, daughter of our king, contracted a rare disease caused by a virus. Not even the most modern resources available in the planet Vida were enough to cure her. However, we knew you existed and we also knew about the X-Lymphocytes. Since we owned the technology necessary to travel to the past using the gap of space and the mechanisms of fold space, we decided to reach you, the earthling being with the strongest immunologic defense. Even in our time, there was no other human with such capacity.”

  Nicolas had no idea of what was happening, especially because the strength of his immunological system would be discovered only a few years later. He noticed that he was somehow special, but he couldn’t understand how much. And he still feared what they could really want from him, because he didn’t want to become a laboratory rat and go through numerous and painful experiments.

  “King Zador II would certainly feel very pleased with those who could help to cure his daughter, and a large reward was offered. Thus, in a meeting with his counselors, he asked us to prepared two teams to travel to the past and find you.”

  “The team I am charge of was chosen by the counselor Kenan, very loyal to the king. He elected us based in our scientific and technological knowledge. They gave us the ship Science II, this one in which we’re right now.” At this moment, Sivoc opened his arms making Nicola’s eyes wander around the ship. “The other team was chosen by Mirov, a counselor who plans to steal the throne behind the king’s back, based in his military skills. They received the ship Challenge I, and his commandment Merko is a very experienced military ambitious, who is capable of anything to achieve his goals.”

  “Luckily, Challenge I had to go through some repairs and we were able to leave first. That’s why we reached you before them. Our purpose is simple we want to take you to our planet so you can donate a small quantity of your medulla cells. These cells are our only hope to cure the princess.”

  Nicolas was impressed with revelation. “So I won’t need to be a bait of experiments? They only need a donation?” the boy thought. While still thinking, the commandant continued:

  “Our biggest problem is that if the princess dies, the king will have no successors. The rules of our planet are clear. The new governor will have to be chosen among the members of the council. That was why Mirov wanted to separate a team, as a way to earn more prestige. We fear that the real intention of the crew Challenge is to eliminate you, destroying the only chance to save the princess. So, we want to protect you and assure the survival of our future queen.”

  At this moment, Zara decided to speak and tell him some more compelling arguments.

  “The virus that attacked Isadora seems to be a fairly aggressive mutant of the same virus that had already taken her mother’s life. It attacks the blood cells and can’t be fought by any of the traditional forms known by doctors. The princess is anemic and getting weaker every day. We believe that only the lymphocytes of your medulla may save her, because they’re very strong and resistant.”

  Nicolas felt himself very satisfied for being able to contribute in some way to help Isadora. At first he feared what they could do to him, but now that he knew they only wanted to save another life, and that he could help with a simple donation, he couldn’t deny the request. The sensation of saving a little girl life is a unique and he could barely wait to do it. Zara was introducing to him not only a completely different world, but also a way to be a better human.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  Nicolas knew that there were more important questions to be asked; all of them were fighting inside his mind. But at that moment, that was the only question that came out from his lips.

  “She’s a beautiful 7 years old girl, with lovely and kind face. She likes to play and really hopes to be cured.” Zara answered. “So, Nick, will you come with us? Please, help us to save our princess.”

  After kno
wing the real reason of the trip, Nicolas began to think how good would be to save a person, especially a girl’s life. He loved his sister and he could never think about her being sick and not helping. He had already decided. They were asking so little of him and it would be a pleasure to help in Isadora’s cure. He said:

  “If it is up to me she will be fine. I’ll do everything I can.” He said, with his altruistic spirit. “But promise me that you’ll bring me back. I need to take care of my mother and my sister. I’m the only one left in their lives and I can’t stay away from them.”

  “We’ll bring you back, I promise.”

  The boy was relieved after hearing from Zara the promise that they would bring him back home. He thought he would live the biggest adventure of his life, and then he could return to his family, on Earth.

  Nicolas had thousands of questions to make, but while he thought about them, a little robot, in the shape of a dog, leaned at his feet.

  “What’s that?” he asked, smiling, finding everything incredible. Now that his fears had vanished, he was very calm, and the curiosity returned in full swing. The robot’s approximation helped to relieve the mood, which was a little heavy because of the fear for the princess’ life. “I was scared when this thing touched me.”

  “We have some robots in our planet which are just like the old pets. They serve as companies, friends and also as weapons. This is Little Wolf. Sometimes he even participates in missions with us. But normally he stays inside here taking care of the ship and not allowing anybody inside.”

  “He’s scratching his head in my legs. It seems that he likes me.” Nicolas said, petting the head of the small creature, just like a dog from Earth.

  “Unfortunately, we couldn’t save all of the Earth animals. However, those we could not save from extinction, we managed to clone using the DNA and the robotic technology, creating bionic beings with some features of the extinct animal. Little Wolf had the gene responsible for that kind and domestic attitude, very peculiar to the Earth dogs. But don’t be fooled, Little Wolf’s eyes fire a laser of high precision and range. His bridle is equipped with infra and ultra sound hearing. He can be very useful in some missions. And he is a good companion, but also a very useful weapon.”