Eden: A Space Allegory

[SadGeezer]

“Eden”

The dream was always the same:
Markus was being paraded through the streets of New Earth, the lost home of the Human Empire. Thousands upon thousands of warriors in shining black armor, donning red berets plumed with purple feathers all standing at attention with their Ion rifles upon their shoulders as he was carried through the streets bathed in colorful party streamers, and the adulation of an entire race. At the end of the parade grounds stood the President, the Senate of Democratic Worlds, and Markus entire family and loved ones all beaming at him as the savior of the human race. It was then the warriors of the Empire turned as one, and fired upon Markus and his leaders. As Markus life slipped from him the last words he always heard were: “Inferior”.

The radio crackled loudly waking Markus with a jolt. Several voices were arguing, laughing, some giving commands, others were singing or reciting poetry, some were even screaming. Markus shut off the glowing console, with it’s flickering red and green lights, meant to pick up any nearby radio based transmissions. As he flipped the switch he heard one final voice cry out “Free at last.”.

“Apropos.” he said to himself, as he looked down upon the husk that was once a planet. The radio transmissions had been captured in nearby planet atmospheres, their age anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of years old. From the vids they knew this planet was once filled with verdant green life, and animals beyond counting. Violent animals, docile animals, even animals kept as pets. On his homeworld Markus had a pet himself, but not of the organic kind, instead a machine meant to replicate the behaviors of small mammals. Mostly nocturnal, these animals protected the living space as well as provided stress relief for humans. No doubt the animals on this world were used for the same. The planet Markus was approaching had been named Soleth, a name born from the deep range probe which returned that information nearly one hundreds years ago. His job was to investigate any human activity of any kind, not already known by the Democratic Worlds.

“Scanning, stand by.” The machine told him. Markus took the opportunity to survey his surroundings. He was deep in the innards of the Survey Ship “Nephilium”. The Nephilium was a new top of the line cruiser, named for an old colony ship back during the Lost Days when they first left their original planet “Earth” for the stars. The original Nephilium had been one of a dozen colony ships, meant to save their race from Atomic annihilation during the World Wars. It’s whereabouts were lost as was the ship after launch. Rumors had grown taller than an ancient oak tree in the thousands of years since its disappearence. Many accepted that it had been destroyed, others told a tale that it had colonized it’s world, and that world had become an Empire that stretched its hand to the furthest reaches of space.

The belief that this Empire was out there waiting to be rediscovered had over time become a religion to his people. Literature, films, poetry were all mediums for expressing the desire of reconnecting to their past. The truth was they were a hungry people, a lost people, investing all their hopes and dreams in another group of humans who would one day stop their pain and the suffering of all humanity. It was their destiny to rule the stars alongside their brothers and sisters from the Empire. All they needed to do was be patient, and keep looking. Markus like most others had lived his life by this belief.

Every Survey Ship inevitably hoped it would be the one to discover this Empire. Most joined the Star Force for this very reason. To be the first to reconnect it’s ancestors and share their power and glory amongst the stars. It was Markus dream, It was also his nightmare. This Empire may just choose to squash them, considering them inferior, or unworthy of their evolutionary path. In any event, this planet held little hope in ways of explanation.

“Scanning complete.” The computer buzzed and whirred as it sent the report to the output scanner. Markus picked up the completed form and read it carefully, then he read it again, not believing what he was seeing.

Results indicate 99% chance of human life existing upon this world. Cross molecular binding indicates 93% chance of being “Earth” based humans. Flora and fauna indicate 99.9% chance planet was destroyed by nuclear war. Background radiation suggest multiple weapons including: Neutron, Hydrogen, and degenerated radioactive carbines. Further analysis impossible. Suggest entity known as “Markus” travel to the surface to investigate.

Markus sighed. He was almost convinced this was a special place, a world that had been destroyed by the Empire on their way to glory. Instead it was apparently just another “Lost World”. The Lost Worlds were places where they sent inferior humans, and criminals, colonies that could never agree with one another and eventually destroyed each other with the technology they had brought with them. It was hard to believe these were sentient beings, let alone from the same stock as them: Human. Markus pulled on his environmental suit as he downloaded the final readouts of the planet. It was divided into multiple continents divided by large depressions in the planet that once were filled with water. Markus programmed a course to take him to the most isolated continent, the one where the transmissions had come from, where they learned the name of this planet: Soleth.

As Markus was about to touchdown on the dusty brown surface his computer sent an image of a nearby emerged landmark, a small metal plaque that had once read “Sun Land”.
“Sunland?” Markus said aloud to himself. The computer confirmed the translation. Markus had wondered how his race could have devolved so far as he examined the crude construction of the monument, made from minerals of all things. He surmised that this race was primitive, barbaric, and most likely a former prison colony.

Markus stepped out of the ship into the bright light of this world, it’s atmosphere all but gone, sending dangerously radioactive waves down upon it. He brought out his Navigational tool and searched for the location of the Soleth marker. After a few minutes of walking the device beeped twice to let him know he was on top of it. Pulling out another tool he slaved in the coordinates from his ship and slowly the dirt around him shook, bringing the sign to the surface. It was large and course, apparently made from a type of compound these humans discovered shortly before their destruction. It had survived like many other objects formed from this material. His race had once called the material “Tungsten Carbide”, a primitive but yet effective material during their infancy. He pulled out an encompasser and attatched it to the sign, the encompasser would take the sign back to the ship to be fully translated. He noted the word “Soleth” the only word on the sign he could read, the rest of it was covered in the byproduct of their war.

Markus continued onward, looking for any indication if these humans survived, or where they came from originally. He located a nearby crevice and dropped into it, using his anti-grav harness to suspend himself. As he descended into the darkness, green light flooded the cavern from his harness. He began recording what he saw on his computer, it appeared to be a city made of steel and iron, the rubble of a large white dome was in evidence near the center. His carbon analyzer revealed millions of human remains, long since turned into dust. It also picked up the presence of primitive weapons, slug-throwers for the most part, a few gauss weapons, and the background radiation of an atomic device long since detonated. The background decay indicated the destruction happened only a thousand years ago. Markus immediately ascended for the surface. These people could not in any way have been connected to the Empire, or the long lost colony ship “Nephilium”.

It was odd too, the solar system was perfect, shielded by an immense asteroid field, hidden between a star and a massive Gas Giant Star, that had never ignited. It was perfect for hiding humans upon, it made no sense that it would be wasted on a Prison Colony. The computer sent back information on the translation of the sign:

Primary analysis calls this place “Australia”, translation unknown. It was used as a Prison Colony, the ship that brought them here called “Botany Bay”. Analysis indicates that typical measures were used, and the Botany Bay is employed as the core for a small planetoid satellite, surrounding this planet. The name Soleth is a corruption of what normally translates as Sol System: Earth.

“Dirt, Earth, Terra, can’t humans ever be original and stop naming their places after organic waste?” Markus noted as he looked into the sky, the moon shone brightly down upon him. He considered for a moment destroying the crust and examining the spaceship. Old Prison Ships were rare, and would fetch a valuable price on the Stellar market. Markus weighed this against his dream of finding the Empire and choose to leave instead. As he exited the solar system it occurred to him that another may return one day to fetch this ship, thus stealing what is rightfully Markus find. Markus did not stick around to watch as his missile hit the moon sending fragments of an ancient craft into the sun, nor did he see the name plate which read “Nephilium: From Earth to Eden”. Instead he only uttered one word as he left the system forever, “Inferior”.

[Anonymous]

Great story, LexxLurker! Very professionally crafted writing, and an interesting plot.

[Author]

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