Alpha Rising (14 page)

He joined in as the
worshipers gathered together and Altemus prayed for wisdom,
guidance, unity, and peace for the galaxy and beyond. During a
moment of reflection, Bach lost focus, drawn once again to the
inexplicable oracle. He needed to understand in engineering logic
what was happening.
How can I fathom a
light that gives off a sensation unlike anything I’ve ever
experienced? It seems tangible, touchable, with an energy so potent
I could grasp it in my hand.

Bach’s mind was still on the powerful tunnel
of light during a song of praise and closing devotionals. He didn’t
realize that Star had moved beside him and put her arm around his
shoulders until she whispered in his ear, “Thanks for joining
us.”

He jerked in reflex.

“
Are you okay?” she
asked.

Seeming not to hear, he
moved robotically toward the light, as if pulled. She followed a
few steps behind. He hesitated and looked skyward, then stepped
into the circular beam and stood like a statue. A feeling of
weakness came first, followed by a surge of hope that coursed
through every pore. The pain and anxiety of his old life faded and
his mind spoke.
I’ll never be the
same
. He stood for a while, absorbing every
possible speck of energy. Then he stepped from the beam, grabbed
Star’s hands, and stared into her eyes. “Star …,” he
whispered, “I felt like a forcefield surrounded me, enveloped me
with a power that could lift me to the stars.”

“
It’s an invitation. Let
the Creator guide your life.”

“
What do I have to
do?”

“
Yield to a power greater
than yourself.”

“
I believe I already have,”
he answered.

She pulled him aside and slipped a white
cloth pouch into his hand in a way that the others couldn’t
see.

He casually turned his back and removed an
eternity pendant on a chain, like hers, from the pouch and subtly
clasped it around his neck.

She whispered, “Tuck it into your jumpsuit.
There may be Rooks here gathering information.”

Nova broke from the group with a lanky
dark-haired man and approached Bach. “Well, guest of honor,” she
said, “are you ready for the get-together? Everyone will be there.
Oh, Bach, this is Reno, another of our co-op space pilots. His
crewmate, Elan, isn’t here today, but she usually comes.”

Reno pumped Bach’s hand with a rapid-fire
handshake. “Heard a lot about you. Nice to see the face that goes
with the name.” He punched Bach’s shoulder in a male bonding
gesture. “Want to ride on an interplanetary hop sometime?”

Bach grinned and nodded. “I’d like
that.”

“
Right now, I’m hungry,”
Reno said, “let’s get goin’.”

Altemus led in his hovercart, and the
worshipers descended the mountain path just as the planet’s
artificial light switched on. Bach shuffled a few steps forward
with the group, then hesitated, causing those behind him to stop.
He motioned them on with a sheepish grin. “You all go ahead. I’d
like to stay here for a minute or two.”

Star moved to his side and spoke softly,
“What are you doing?”

“
Need to stay a little
longer.”

She searched his face. “You can’t walk back
to the Skyprisms. It’ll take too long. And everyone will be
waiting.”

“
I can’t go now,” he
whispered, his voice urgent.

She looked around, then nodded. “I’ll ride
in with the others, then bring the ground tram back for you.”

“
Thanks.”

Bach waited until the group reached the
bottom of the hill, then stepped into the compelling beam. Head
bowed, he meditated as if gathering strength, then looked up and
spoke words he never thought he’d say. “I heard you call my
name.”

Seconds passed in pure silence. Then the air
stirred with an effect so transparent he thought it was his
imagination. Soon, a rushing wind swept across the mount with a
gentle power and every hair on his head stood on end from the
positive energy. An all-consuming presence disrupted the flow of
time and held him in the moment. The Creator spoke from the golden
tunnel.

“
Bach. I have chosen you
for my special mission among the planets of Balal. Restore the
space station and the attached spacecrafts.”

Bach fell to his knees, face expressionless,
yet words poured from his lips. “I will do it.”

The instructions continued, as if imprinting
on Bach’s memory, and a challenging deadline came in the Creator’s
parting command.

“
Tell no one, and trust no
one, except Altemus. Complete the restoration by the new year. At
that time your mission will be made clear.”

*****

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

With memories of
yesterday’s epiphany haunting him, Bach paid an early morning visit
to Altemus’s office and shared the experience. Minutes later he was
at the controls of a ground transporter heading to the earthship’s
crash site with his mentor. As they skimmed over valleys and
craters on the barren planet, Bach had a sudden lapse of
reason.
I wonder if I could make it to
Ulwor in a ground transporter?
He almost
smiled.
Have to find out if Ulwor has fuel
and nuclear power detection. This little ship could be the way to
rescue my crewmates. Oh, God, I hope they’re okay.

They landed to the sight of hundreds of
footprints in the sand and two mechanized scaffolds at open
entryways of the Wizard and space station.

Bach checked Faith’s gravesite and, to his
relief, found it undisturbed. He entered the AstroLab with Altemus
via the open ramp and found that the Rooks had removed all
electronics and communications devices and gleaned undamaged
materials from the debris.

“
Vile enemy!” Altemus
grumbled.

Bach surveyed the devastation and wiped his
face with both hands as if clearing off a violation. He didn’t look
at Altemus. “I’ll check the other two ships. We have a big project
ahead.” Using the scaffolds left by the Rooks, he entered the space
station and Wizard.

Altemus headed to the flight deck. He’d
planned to sit and review notes and the old logbooks Bach had
retrieved from the lake, then merge new technology with old, but
the flight seats were gone. He sat on the floor and opened the log,
and a few minutes later jerked off his glasses and cleaned them on
his jumpsuit. “Wretched eyes.”

Bach returned and informed Altemus that both
the Wizard and space station were also stripped of functional
items. But the mechanized lifts the Rooks had left outside would
come in handy.

The elder seated his glasses against his
nose and flipped through the logbook. “I’m glad you retrieved these
manuals, Bach, but putting these earthships back into service will
take a mighty effort. What mission could we be carrying out for the
Creator?”

“
He said the mission would
be clear when the restoration is completed.”

“
Maybe we’re to teach the
residents of our other planets to operate the restored spacecraft.
They need their independence and they’d most likely feel
comfortable with this technology, which is like our old Kingships.”
The old man’s voice wavered. “But this is a massive
undertaking.”

Bach looked at his partner without blinking.
“We have to finish by the new year.”

“
The new year? Just the two
of us and a few robots? Is that possible in a hundred and eighty
days?”

“
We
will
do it!” Bach waved his arm
around the ship’s interior. “We’ll program the robots to work here
alone for the heavy labor projects. And we’ll get the co-op crews
to bring in additional goods—live plants, extra supplies. But we’ll
have to come up with a plausible reason for it.”

Altemus put on a headset and spewed verbal
notes for renovation. His spoken information was converted and
downloaded as schematics and illustrations to a viewer on his
wrist. He frowned and mumbled, “Need a ruse for co-op crews to
bring in more supplies; space station’s internal passageway to
serve as corridor between the three ships; add more windows….” Head
down, immersed in details, he looked up for a minute. “I’ll build a
relay system using the engines on all three ships, then reconfigure
them for solid fuel. It’s my area of expertise.”

Bach nodded. “You got it.”

Referring to notes Bach had written after
receiving the Creator’s instructions, Altemus sighed. “Some of
these modifications are extreme.” His face scrunched up. “Are you
sure the Creator said that one ship is to carry animals?”

“
I’m sure. Maybe it’s so we
can haul more of them at a time … relocate them to the best
environments.”

“
There are so few left of
certain species,” the old man said, as if he’d counted them in his
head.

Bach smiled. “We’ll let them breed. Bring
’em back from the edge of extinction.”

Altemus studied information on his wrist
viewer. “Okay, partner, here’s the plan for this three-piece
spacecraft. We’ll convert the Wizard’s cargo bay into operations
and crew facilities and use it as the mother ship. We’ll house the
animals within the circular space station according to
environmental needs. And we’ll reconfigure the AstroLab to carry
numerous passengers. The station’s left to right passageway will
serve as a direct route between the Wizard and AstroLab.”

“
Sounds good,” Bach said.
“I’ve designed a two-part plan for the AstroLab’s modification. The
first will be chambers suited to every environment so all the
planets’ inhabitants will feel at home. And the second will be both
heat-collecting and electronic power sources so it can fly
independently of the mother ship.”

“
What’s the purpose of
configuring the AstroLab to fly independently?”

Bach fiddled around nervously. “So we can
use it like a visitation ship or ferry rocket.”

Altemus’s lips shuddered
with exhaled air. “Well, our old Kingships weren’t as complex, but
this
is
a new
era.” He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “What should we
call her?”

“
Don’t look at me,” Bach
said. “I hate naming things.”

“
Best name I ever came up
with for an old Kingship was ‘Starsong’,” Altemus said. “Named it
after Star—a blessing late in life for Casso and me. Star loved to
sing children’s songs when she was young. She has a beautiful
voice.”

“
Beautiful woman, beautiful
voice.” Bach raised his eyebrows up and down playfully.

“
You should have her sing
to you sometime.”

“
I’d like that.”

Altemus peered over the top of his glasses.
“What’s stoppin’ you?”

Bach felt like a schoolboy asking a father
to date his daughter. He fought a red-faced rush, fiddled with the
moldings on the walls for no reason, and changed the subject. “How
can I top a name like ‘Starsong’?”

“
Make it meaningful,”
Altemus said.

“
Meaningful,” Bach
repeated, looking around as he paced the floor. “Skytrain? Zone
Runner? Omniquest?” He walked to where Altemus sat thumbing through
the space station’s old logbook. “I’ve got it! This ship is the
first and only of its kind—the Alpha.”

The old man didn’t move. After a few
seconds, one eye squinted and a weak smile broke across his
hardened face. He rose with a grimace, pointed a laser pen at the
ceiling and announced as he wrote in the air, “Kingship Alpha,” as
if bestowing a royal title. He placed a hand on Bach’s shoulder to
steady himself, and his steely blue eyes stared into Bach’s hazel
eyes. “You know this undertaking will get dangerous if the enemy
finds out. They’ll see us as trying to gain back the favor of the
other planets’ inhabitants.”

“
What if they show up while
we’re out here?”

“
We’ll detect them incoming
and, hopefully, get away. But they mustn’t get their hands on the
solid fuel system, so I’ll build it as a component and install it
last.”

“
Great idea. And with the
light cycles of black night or golden glow, they won’t spot us
easily. And there’s nothing left of value, so they’ve probably
abandoned surveillance of this area.” Bach looked out the open
doorway. “Still, we should work alone as much as possible. And we
can’t be seen leaving the Skyprism together. By the way, you’ve
never told me how to tell when the death lake is deadly. When I’m
out here by myself, I’ll need to know.”

Altemus pointed to the floor. “Sit with me
for a minute.”

Bach helped his mentor to the floor.

“
Remember when we were in
the test lab late one night and I took you for a ride through the
facility in my personal hovercart; told you I’d share something
with you one day regarding that blue cart?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Today’s the day.” Like a
gambler giving up his best secret, Altemus leaned over and
whispered, “My blue hovercart’s a hiding place for my latest
‘mastermind’ project, my personal weapon, known only to Star, and
now you. Housed within my cart’s undercarriage is a tiny, but
powerful, device called an Electro Magnetic Organism Galvanometer …
EMOG for short. I’ve developed it to detect changes in the death
lake’s plasma field. When the water’s free of harmful enzymes, in
antiseptic mode, the EMOG will sink to the bottom like everything
else. But when the enzymes turn deadly, it repels from the water’s
surface and levitates.”