Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World (9 page)

The enormous rover was shiny chrome with
several, blue windows. It calmly pulled up a few yards from the
crew. Shapes of men showed through the windows, and the windows
themselves were the oddest part of the vehicle.

They weren’t made of glass. They weren’t made
of any material. They were a force field with a light, blue tint.
When doors opened upwards from both sides, like an old DeLorean,
O’Hara about wet his britches. The vehicle hummed monotonously, and
the strangest beings imaginable stepped out.

First, a tall figure worked its way off a
seat. One leg clad in black armor then another protruded. A hand
grabbed the side of the doorway, and a creature, this Thewl, pulled
itself free. It had two arms, two legs, and a head, and it
certainly moved like a bipedal being, but one, major difference in
the legs was the extra joint; they were more akin to cat legs or
frog legs with, long stocky toes, and the heel of the foot extended
at an angle towards the calf.

After exiting, the Thewl extended a massive
hand to help out more from the vehicle. Five in total gathered
around the rover, looking towards the Humans and their vessel.
That’s when O’Hara noticed another, bizarre difference; their
skin.

At a distance, Thewls looked to be red, or
mishmashed shades of red. Fitzpatrick had a better look through her
binos, though; she saw their skin was actually translucent, like
jellyfish men. It was their structure beneath the skin that was all
shades of red, pink, purple, and orange, and she saw their faces
quite clearly.

Their heads were similar to Human heads
except they swelled out behind the face. They didn’t have eyelids,
either; the eyes were completely covered by the thick membrane,
which presumably covered their whole bodies, allowing slits for
nostrils, and one for the mouth. Other than their hands and heads,
they were all clad in black, armor plated suits, and were all very
tall, perhaps eight feet.

As they started marching for the captain, who
was flanked by Swain and Martinez, he raised his right hand in
peace, before taking a step. The remaining crewmembers were on
their guard, awe stricken though they were. Once everyone was
within speaking range, O’Hara figured the ambassador was the one in
red and black garb. His suit—for lack of a better term—was the only
one with any color other than black. It had fewer, armor plates and
seemed more comfortable, lighter than the others’.

“
Ambassador Weh? I am Captain Riley
O’Hara. Admiral Lay has asked us to receive you under a banner of
peace. We welcome you,” he said, slowly.

The ambassador raised his right hand as well.
The fingers were long, there were five, but with an extra joint.
His skeletal structure was evident among a plethora of ligaments,
tendons, and muscles. Their veins were shades of purple, pulsating
beneath translucent skin. The tendons and ligaments were orange,
and the muscles were shades of pink and red, and everything moved
with an eerie fashion, not that it was any different from the way
Human bodies moved, but no one ever caught a glimpse off the
operating table.

“
I am Weh, and it is a great honor to
meet the men capable of securing their future through travels in
space. There is much to discuss,” Weh proclaimed.

O’Hara and the others were taken aback by the
guttural droning of his voice. It was monotone, but somehow musical
and gurgling like the warble of a bird that sang only one note.
During the greeting, several, other beings came walking out of the
alien craft.

They carried chairs, and tables, and other
objects. The Humans and Thewls worked together. Soon, an outdoor
conference was in session.

The crew was shocked to see the size of the
tables and chairs. They were much larger in order to accommodate
Thewlian anatomy. Once everything settled down, the captain spoke
loud enough to drown out the voices of the aliens, who were likely
conversing about the oddities of Humans, and the chatter of Humans,
who conversed about the aliens.

“
Ambassador, I’m impressed you’ve
mastered our language in such a short time. I’m also in disbelief
that your kind can travel so quickly. I assume this means your
people have mastered faster than light speed.”

“
As far as language is concerned, we
all find it simple to learn. We have existed for over four, million
years and have learned many languages. We have also traveled space
and time for three, million years, so it is not difficult for us to
acclimate to our surrounding, social environment,” the ambassador
replied.

The captain was astonished, though his
reports had stated incredulous facts about Thewls, it was another
thing to see them, hear them in person. He remained flabbergasted a
moment, saying nothing. The ambassador’s hue then changed. It was
like his face brightened.

“
As you well know, Captain,” the
ambassador continued. “The beacons you discovered were left behind
four, thousand years ago. Their arrangement on this planet was
meant to be a signal to any passing travelers, so they might rest
or meet on neutral ground. Was there a need, the beacons were also
meant to be used in unison to signal for help or relay some sort of
message, and there was a need….”

“
So…no one has attempted to colonize
Eon,” the captain asked.

“
Ah, Eon, you say; before your time,
many of us were in agreement that this planet remain neutral
territory. No one race dared to seize it, not that we blame you or
your people for erecting a colony. You could not have known such
details.

“
Alas, there have been no meetings here
in many centuries. There are other such planets, but this is
trivial at the moment. We Thewls are in the throes of a crisis,”
the ambassador said.

O’Hara stirred in his large seat. It was not
the ambassador’s voice that was earnest, but his words, somehow,
seemed genuine, and again, his face changed; it had grown darker,
grim.

“
The Lokians,” the captain finally
said.

“
Yes, the Lokians,” the alien nodded.
“This insect-like breed; over our long existence we have
encountered them on numerous occasions. The first was long before
my time. They landed on our home world just after we began space
travel. Our Element-115 is a very valuable resource, and the
Lokians coveted such treasures.

“
They came in relatively small numbers,
but we were a peaceful people. We had no real weapons at the time.
They came unannounced and attacked us. Most of them didn’t use
weapons, but their superior, physical attributes nearly destroyed
us.

“
Fortunately, we drove them back with
our superior numbers. After that encounter, we suspended space
travel for a time to fortify our defenses. We engineered weapons.
They came a second time, centuries later—still before my time—but
we were prepared, or so we thought.

“
You see, we were not the only ones who
had prepared. We were not the only ones who had advanced. The
Lokians are a strange race. They do not cogitate as you or I. They
do not adapt or acclimate as you or I. No, these Lokians harvest
other races, their technology, mainly. When they attacked the
second time, they had augmented themselves physically by using some
form of robotic technology. They were stronger, faster, and nearly
indestructible. We fought long and hard, but they could not be
driven back,” the ambassador took a pause.

O’Hara didn’t note any facial expressions.
Thewls conveyed emotions differently, it was something in their
faces, a chemical reaction, he thought, that made their color
change, and darker seemed to connote darker emotions, sadness,
anger, perhaps.

“
So, the Lokians are on your planet
now?”

“
No, no, if you’ll allow me to give you
the history, it will all become clear,” the ambassador
said.

“
I apologize, Ambassador, this is all
so overwhelming.”

“
Certainly, but we would like to enlist
the help of your people, and so it is only proper to explain the
situation,” he calmly continued. “We were staring extinction in the
face. Everything seemed lost. One night, another volley of ships
penetrated our skies.

“
These ships were radically different
than those of the Lokians. These vessels weren’t alive, yet danced
across the horizon. Some of them landed, others fired energy based
weaponry at our enemies. Then, strange men clad in suits of light
demolished our opposition.

“
It took less than a day to turn the
tide. Our benefactors were impressive. In a week, the Lokians were
banished to space, and once the threat ended, our saviors left as
mysteriously as they had appeared, yet a few stayed behind. Twelve
of them remained and helped us advance our civilization beyond our
dreams. They stayed until we were able to stand on our own again,
and then, they, too, left.

“
Since then, we’ve encountered the
Lokians again. On occasion, we fight a small fleet in the expanse
of space. Once, we followed them to a small colony and helped
another space faring race secure victory. This brings us to the
present state of affairs.

“
As I have said, the Lokians harvest
technology. They amassed around our sun over two hundred years ago.
The interference from the sun kept them hidden from our scanners
and satellites. The Lokians are now not only able to bring their
ships close to a sun, but they have the technology to create and
utilize subspace, compactor photons.”

The captain raised an eyebrow, asking, “What
are they? These subspace, compactor photons.”

“
They are not unlike your Bose-Einstein
condensates. Essentially, they fired packets of light energy into
our sun, except those energy packets do not excite the molecular
structure of the sun as one expects. They have the opposite effect
and create an energy vacuum in the space between the nucleus and
electron energy levels.

“
You see, there is a tiny space in
between the two. Your scientists think electrons are particles with
characteristics of waves or wavicles. What you fail to realize is
that electrons are everywhere in that energy level at once, like an
energetic membrane. The space between that membrane and the nucleus
is not empty. It can’t be filled with air can it? Air is too big.
It, too, is composed of atoms. That space between the nucleus and
electron is a unique, resonating energy. Some of your ancient minds
called it aether.

“
Now, these compactor photons
effectively destabilize the aether, causing atoms to implode. This
starts a reaction, slowing down the movement of the molecules,
causing a loss of heat, and finally, crystallization. Two hundred
years ago, our temperatures began falling. There were fewer solar
flares.

“
We assumed it was a natural, climate
cycle. The lack of heat and flares allowed our atmosphere to become
too cold. Initially, we lost a few degrees over the years. In a
decade we were twelve degrees cooler year round, causing crops to
fail and trees to die. We then lost Carbon Dioxide, and the plant
life was stifled. Then, we lost Oxygen. Finally, we started to
freeze.

“
After ten years, we attempted to
contact other races we had met, but there were complications.
Suddenly, our satellites veered into planets or asteroids. We lost
all forms of normal communications and were forced to board ships.
We began an Exodus into space…it took fifteen years to make our
home inhospitable.

“
As we left our home, we picked up
frequencies, which we archived and studied. Eighty years ago, we
landed on and colonized a small moon, but resources are short. We
sent scouts back to our old home to gather intelligence and
discovered what I have told you now, and ultimately decided to find
the
Yvlekesh
, a race we saved from the Lokians on that
colony I spoke of earlier, but that colony has also been destroyed.
Our only hope is to find the men who saved us long ago, but we do
not know who they are.

“
Most recently, we picked up your
transmissions, and so we find ourselves here today. I’m afraid it
won’t be long before the Lokians come for you, too. We would like
to help you with our skills and knowledge, and ask only that you
help us in return,” the ambassador then grew silent.

The chilly winds of Eon cut through the
captain and his crew. The Thewls seemed fine, though. The moronic
thought that their bodies were better insulated than Human bodies
made O’Hara angry; he wanted to think about what the ambassador had
just said, and not biology. After a minor struggle, he brought
thoughts to order.

“
So, if I understand this correctly,
you’ve been drifting through space because the Lokians destroyed
your home world.”

“
Correct.”

“
But the Lokians didn’t take control of
your world; you said they aren’t there now.”

“
You are right.”

“
Then, where are the
Lokians?”

“
They could be anywhere at this point.
All we know is that they have no home base of operations. They
likely landed on our world, took the resources and technology then
moved on. They either attacked the Yvlekesh before us or shortly
after,” the ambassador explained.

“
So, now you’ve colonized a small moon
and are in search of the people who helped you during that second
invasion,” the captain asked in a leading fashion.

“
Again, that is correct,” the
ambassador responded.