Zein: The Homecoming Page 4

  All other Earth and Zein institutions still existed; however, the mandate for The Council covered all space and Earth Zein Colony business.

  The dual Chairs of The Council were decided on a yearly basis and selected from the Inner Council members. The first year was in the hands of the United States President and Lord Southgate and the second year would be in the hands of the new United Kingdom Prime Minister, Charles Hamilton, and Lord Fathom.

  At the first meeting of The Council it was unanimously agreed that all focus would be on refitting the powerful and enormous Elanda battleship and building two smaller destroyers to act as convoy protection. The Tyther clan, now released from the tyrannical Zylar, applied their ancestors’ knowledge stored in the archives to build the two destroyers. The manufacture of the impressive ships was also supported by the full array of raw materials and skilled tradesmen on Earth. Knowledge and skills were shared to create a formidable team.

  The principal objective of the refitting of the Elanda and the building of the two destroyers was to free Zein. On Earth “Free Zein” badges were all the rage and people started to wear the different clan coloured tunics. The Blackstone clan blue tunics were, of course, the most favoured due to their place in the stories now circling the world. The tunics of the Fathom clan were not far behind with the Battle for the Core entering folklore for its ferocity and ingenuity. For your children you could even buy plastic seckles to pretend you were a Zein warrior; a favourite at Christmas time for both girls and boys – dolls and swords fading into the past.

  Initially the inclusion of the Zeinonians into Earth’s population was welcome, though there remained voices against relaxing immigration rules too far, especially around business and social benefits. It was now common for the strangely attired Zeinonians to be seen walking the streets of the Earth’s tourist sites. They had built up a solid fan base around social media sites and Zeinonian themed parties were all the rage. In return the Zein Inner Council opened up their quadrants to the humans and people flocked to their villages and environmental coded countryside.

  Approaching the launch of the Expeditionary Force in full pomp and ceremony, the initial euphoria felt, began to fade on both sides, with the humans the worst. Envy of the aliens’ greater technology and the resulting fear of hidden agendas, created an uneasy alliance.

  In relation to the quadrants, you could still look into the sky and see no alien world, as they still kept the Outer Perimeter Walls active, as not to do so would cause issues for the airline businesses and also act as a block to the sun.

  The Council passed laws enabling greater mining of zinithium and new mines were opened in Europe and in the Antarctic. The Core settlement was expanded and now was covering nearly double the area for mining that it had before.

  In political circles, Victoria Kirk was the surprise winner as she was appointed Head of Zeinonian Support, or as she was quirkily dubbed “Kirk HaZs arrived”. Victoria was the principal contact with the clans, overseeing their integration into the Earth population. She had her work cut out. Charles Hamilton, the British Prime Minister, knew that her family’s long military history including the adversity they had faced in the World Wars and before gave her the natural organising and never-say-die attitude needed. It was an easy appointment, one which Victoria accepted with much humility. She was everywhere, attending memorials for the fallen in the Battle for the Core or the Southern Palace triumph, handing out blankets to the survivors of the New York nuclear blast, meeting and greeting Zeinonians in the different quadrants. She had her own issues to deal with though, the murder of Michael Dunstable; the last British Prime Minister at the hands of Zylar, still haunted her. The Zeinonians took to her forthright and easy manner and she was instrumental in supporting them in the increase in mining substantial amounts of zinithium.

  In the United Kingdom and the Ruhr Valley in Germany old mining collieries were reopened, drained and repaired after Tyther and Fathom scientists pointed out, that under the coal, some of which had once driven the Industrial Revolution and two World Wars, was an enormous tonnage of zinithium. Using new techniques and the greater technology of the Zeinonians they had bored new mine shafts and were now bringing up significant tonnage of zinithium, quantities that would have only ever been dreamed about when the coal industry was in its heyday. Everyone was growing rich.

  This never ending supply of the powerful raw material brought about a considerable leap in the Earth’s technology – previous deserts were dusted with the zinithium and within weeks flowing grasslands appeared. The Sahara became a rich land for farming and Africa was one part of the world that saw an immediate impact on its quality of life due to food shortages becoming a thing of the past. Plentiful food was not the only success as medical enhancements leapt forward. It was a unique moment in Earth history when cancer was eradicated, as a new X-ray like scanner pumped zinithium into the body killing the diseased cells with very few side effects. On the days leading to the launch of the Expeditionary Task Force the Zeinonians had started on enhancing humans’ ability to travel by teleporting. This was not a straightforward task with the huge volumes of people – they had started with small groups and hoped to increase numbers with time.

  Tyson looked at the still half a sleep and slightly stunned faces of some of the previously sedated civilians, who had been nominated for the journey. Some of the greatest minds from all fields were on this ship. There were biologists, civil engineers, physicists and geologists to name but a few of the professions supporting the quest. Chosen from a wish list of the Inner Council the majority had put away their fear of the unknown to have a chance to see a new galaxy and alter mankind’s destiny.

  Someone slapped Tyson on the back. ‘Hey, dreamer how are you?’ It was Hechkle and beside him was a grinning Bronstorm. Tyson’s face lit up and he gave them both a firm handshake and a manly clasp around their shoulders.

  ‘See you have put a bit of weight on, big fella,’ said Bailey to Hechkle.

  The giant of a man leaned forward as if to hit him and Bailey briefly flinched, at which point Hechkle roared with laughter and good naturedly rubbed his still very firm stomach and said, ‘Well Bailey, I am like you, I needs my food, boy.’

  ‘Look at that?’ said Gemma, pointing out into space, ‘Hi Tyson,’ she added with a long appraising look at him. Amelia saw the look and hooked her arm protectively around his as they joined her. Gemma just shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to what had caught her attention. Separating them from space was the floor to ceiling of specially toughened glass. The vision gave them a wonderful, clear view of their surroundings outside the ship.

  They stared out in amazement at one of the ships providing escort duties, which since they had entered their cubicles prior to launch, they hadn’t seen in all its glory. The ship was a quarter the size of the Elanda, with its beautiful sleek hull making its serene way though the cloak of blackness that surrounded it. The ship name, Manhattan, glistened in black italics on the side of the silver hulk named in honour of the New Yorkers who had lost their lives. They could only guess how impressive the much larger Elanda looked to those on the Manhattan. The other ship which flanked them on the other side and was hidden from their view was named Brooklyn.

  Behind the ship the depths of space stared back at them, deep, never ending and mysterious. The friends looked out in awe, slightly intimidated by what they saw. None of them could have expected to experience what they were seeing now with their own eyes. The noise around them grew as more of the third deck personnel sleepily awoke from their slumber. On the third deck there were more civilians than soldiers, the expedition’s army resources mainly on the lower floors.

  Tyson saw the expedition’s leading scientist, Dr Walter Moore stretch and fumble around for his glasses, which were resting on the bedside cabinet next to his cubicle, before clumsily climbing from his capsule. Walter had spent many hours with the small group of companions prior to the journey as he pieced together the cultural
and scientific differences of the two species. He saw Tyson and waved. Tyson, who had taken an instinctive liking to the clumsy, spaced out but highly intelligent scientist, waved back.

  Walter’s gaze rested on the famed scientists and experts he had helped handpick as they pulled their protesting bodies from the capsules. He saw the nervous glances of his fellow colleagues towards the Zeinonians, adding to his discomfort. Before they had entered the hyper-sleep he had detected the distrust, envy and downright dislike towards the aliens from some of the greatest minds on Earth. Walter had gone out of his way to convince them that the Zeinonians would share their knowledge and he thought judging by the medical and farming advances they had demonstrated that this had largely been done. He was wrong. The memory of the destruction of New York still rested in the minds of even the most advanced minds. Walter sighed as he flexed his limbs, helping the circulation in his legs. He had much work to do to make the different species work effectively together.

  Kabel and the rest of the group had nicknamed him Boff, short for boffin. Walter, who rarely had been part of any group, even at school, took it all in his stride. He was one human who welcomed the friendship of the Zeinonians; they made him feel special and part of their world.

  On each of the decks, they had not used the full capacity of sleeping capsules. On the third deck, over two thousand people were just coming out of their hyper-sleep. On the other dormitory floors, where the bulk of the forces rested, there were between one thousand and three thousand people per deck. The other floors carried the bulk of the Expeditionary Task Force with a mixture of Zeinonian warriors from each clan and a multi-national force gleaned from around the world, although the bulk of the soldiers came from the United States and Russia.

  In total, including the support ships the Expeditionary Force numbered an impressive eighty thousand people, consisting of mainly troops, tradesmen, a variety of scientists and supporting crew. With over six billion people on Earth it was relatively easy to make the decision that if the human race was to step into the wider Universe it wanted a substantial armed capability coupled with some of their best brains across a whole range of specialties and industry sectors. A large proportion of the main crew provided the catering, cleaning and general administration required for such a large expeditionary force.

  ‘How long is it until we reach Zein, Boff?’ Gemma asked.

  ‘We have just travelled nearly thirty trillion light years in three months,’ said a disbelieving Walter shaking his head in wonder. ‘We should be very close to the Capulus Novus System and then a matter of days to Zein,’ he concluded.

  ‘You said during our training that the atmosphere on Zein is fine for us. How do you know for sure?’ said Tyson, as he hugged Amelia close to him. Gemma monitored the display of affection with a pang of jealousy; she was missing Kabel. Tyson picked up the strength of feeling and a thrill went through him before guilt took over. He stopped his probing of her mind.

  Behave yourself Tyson.

  Walter was running the modifier instrument over his body scanning his vital organs for any areas for concern to check that he was fully fit for duty. His mother always said he was a hypochondriac. He looked up at Tyson’s question.

  ‘The tests we ran on the biological differences between both races,’ he gestured to those listening, ‘confirmed that we are ninety-nine per cent similar in our DNA.’

  ‘That’s good isn’t it,’ said Tyson.

  ‘It is not as simple as that,’ replied Walter, who was now in his element as he talked to the eagerly listening group. Other scientists also joined the group, interested in his view. ‘If you take the difference between a chimpanzee and man, most biochemists feel there is only one per cent difference, and I am guessing that you don’t feel like a monkey?’ he pointed to Bailey.

  ‘To be fair Boff, not the best example, Bailey acts like a monkey most of the time,’ said Tyson sardonically and then moved hastily as Bailey aimed a playful punch at him.

  Walter joined in the laughter and then continued, ‘In that one per cent we found major differences. Our body mass is denser which makes us stronger but our internal functions act much less efficiently then the Zeinonians.’ He saw the expectant faces and knew that he had started so had to finish his explanation. ‘There seems to be something impacting the Zeinonians’ key organs, they are very resistant to viruses and illnesses. It seems they have an internal medicine that drives away things that we as humans come to expect, like colds.’

  ‘Is it due to our magics?’ asked Bronstorm. Walter saw the unease spread across some of the scientists.

  Why does everyone fear what is new? We really haven’t changed since we found that the Earth was round and not flat! He shook his head in despair.

  ‘Yes, I think it is. You have these wonderful capabilities and they benefit you broadly, but push these capabilities too much and I worry that it has a destabilising impact on your chemical balance,’ said Walter, Bailey saw Tyson frown and swap glances with Amelia. ‘Now when we arrive at Zein, I expect that the mixture of air to favour the Zeinonians and that additional strength we humans experience will not be such a factor during any fighting.’

  ‘Hey, Boff, look, these beauties are always going to show up those weak aliens,’ said Bailey as he flexed both his arms, showing off his large biceps.

  ‘Oh my hero,’ said Kabel’s sister, Belina, jokingly, as she joined the group. Everyone again broke into laughter. Since Belina had been rescued from the Eastern Quadrant by her brother, the change in her morose attitude was remarkable. Now with freedom to travel and make friends her cheerful demeanour made her popular amongst all those that met her.

  Amelia happily joined in with the merriment pleased that the group were all together again. Except Kabel. Where was he?

  Chapter 4: Deep Space

  Kabel watched the stars go by. He marvelled at their brilliance against the black landscape, their number seeming to stretch to infinity and beyond. Was this how his grandfather had felt?

  Excitement? Dazzling stars and endless space, with the anticipation of seeing a new galaxy or planet? He wished he could have been part of the Zein Expeditionary Force that found Earth. That day must have captured a truly memorable occasion with the Zeinonians desperate for a new start and a renewed hope of returning to Zein and rescuing loved ones left behind.

  The piloting crew, handpicked to support the humans and Zeinonians fast asleep in their individual hyper-sleep cocoons, busily went about their everyday tasks. The crew were mainly Zeinonians but there was a strong human military presence supporting them. When the orders were sanctioned by the Joint Earth and Zein Council, trust was there but also nervousness. The humans wanted control of the military aspects of the expedition and the Zeinonians, who had retained autonomy through many conflicts and enjoyed their independence, required input into key decisions. The humans would only support the recently named Expeditionary Force of the United League of Planets if military control was placed into their hands. Reluctantly, the Zeinonians agreed. They needed the humans to support the long journey to their homeland. The whole process left grumbling on both sides.

  He smiled at the elaborate title of the expeditionary force. The title was grand, the Earthlings liked their organisations; The United League of Planets, consisting of the populated Earth, Zein, Oneerio, Skegus and five other inhabited planets in the Zein galaxy, was the title given to a vision. The vision objective was not just to free worlds but to free the Capulus Novus Sector from tyranny.

  Kabel remembered the bold speech he had given at his inauguration and as he did, he couldn’t prevent his smile growing wider. He never knew he could speak like that. At the United Nations in Washington, everyone stood to applaud; he was initially shocked, but then proud when he caught his adoptive mother, Maggia, in the crowd, cheering him on. He ached to see Delilah and missed his late adopted brother Drogan. Even though he had lived with Drogan all his life, after being rescued as a baby from the Southern Quadrant of the Earth C
olony, his relationship with him had been distant until, in those final weeks before the quadrant was invaded, they had grown close. Real brothers.

  The loss of Drogan tugged at his emotions and he had initially looked to Tyson to replace him. But Tyson was distant, almost cold or indifferent to Kabel, and even though he knew the magics Tyson had inherited were impacting his half-blood brother, the rejection still hurt.

  For company, on the first phase of the journey, he had Zebulon, the Changeling, who kept to his wolf shape nearly all the time, in an attempt not to freak out any of the ship’s crew. Kabel found his presence and insight comforting and he reflected on how far their relationship had progressed since he had rescued the enslaved creature at the Federation Fair in the Western Quadrant. Kabel sighed, that seemed so long ago, before all this madness started. They had fought many pitched battles and hopeless situations together. The ability for this creature from Zein to change its shape into any animal it had seen proved extremely useful and had pulled the group from some pretty tough scrapes. Zebulon had wondered off to meet up with the other companions and Kabel found that he missed the creature’s reassuring company.

  ‘Chancellor Lord Blackstone, General Corder wants to speak with you,’ said Lieutenant Anton Morrison, jolting him from his thoughts. It still took him by surprise to be called “Lord” let alone “Chancellor”. Once the clans had come together in peace it had been unanimous that the next Chancellor would be him. He had rebuffed the initial attempt saying that it should be Lord Fathom or Lord Southgate but they wouldn’t have it. He was the Chancellor. The Blackstone clan were the principal clan by Zein Law and nothing he could say or do could change their minds.