HUMANITY: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novel (4 page)

A
tall
, grey-haired man with peach, leathery skin paced defiantly around a large circular room with no windows. He was wearing black leather garb that fit tightly around his strong frame, and flowing from his back was a black leather cape. His face was almost human, but he had raised boney cheeks and boney brows that extended further than a typical human’s would.

“We must do something about the humans now!” he said sternly.

He was Kryle Yago, a kraw, and a member of the Galactic Council.

“The humans pose no immediate threat to the galaxy,” a middle-aged woman with long, blonde hair, pointy ears and wearing a white robe said. “There is no reason to take action.”

She was one of 8 who were gathered around a large circular table in the Galactic Hall at the request of the kraw.

“No immediate threat?” Kryle snapped.

“Their numbers are small, and they live peacefully on Rashada, Kryle. The humans have learned their lesson,” an older, brown skinned man with the markings of a neander said. His head was bald and light ricocheted off of his shiny skin.

Kryle retaliated, “No Salil, the generation of humans before the last generation of humans had learned their lesson. They have since had sons and the sons of their sons now grow bored. They’re moving back towards their vile ways.”

The kraw walked back towards his seat at the table and pressed a button on his wrist. In the center of the table a hologram picture of a man appeared with details and statistics of the man written to the side.

Kryle indicate the man on the hologram. “Ken Smith, 22 years old and multiple criminal violations on his record. He–”

“Human criminals are not permitted to leave Rashada,” a man with a half metal face and a reddened eye interrupted in a muffled voice. He was younger than the previous two speakers and bore the demeanor of a fighter.

“He stole a transport ship that was carrying food into Rashada and slipped past security,” Kryle Yago continued. “He was captured 2 months later, right outside of Dresdin’s orbit, with his stolen ship carrying over 2 tons of explosives.”

The members of the Council looked at each other in silence.

The woman in white spoke again. “I see no reason to ostracize all humans based on the actions of a few criminals.”

“True, there are many criminals across the galaxy and across all species, but humans are historically the only species that has been so ever-willing to annihilate their own kind on their quest for power or religious superiority.”

Several people in the Council breathed deeply and were lost on any words to say.

Another image appeared in the center of the table.

“This is Walter St. James. The leader of a human rebellion on Rashada. It is said that he has already amassed over 100,000 followers.” Kryle paused and panned the room. “The humans no longer want to be led by Galactic Council or the Queen.”

The blond woman began, “Their numbers are small, but I suppose we could give the humans a spot on the junior council, and pending that, they–”

“They want to rule themselves, Lady Hamm, and it will not be long before they want to rule the galaxy,” Kryle intervened. “Walter St. James does not preach peace or equality. He preaches freedom… at
any
cost necessary.” Kryle slammed his hands on the table and opened his eyes wide. “Humans no longer live isolated from the rest of the universe. If we do not destroy them, we will see another repeat of
The Cleanse,
and this time every species and every planet is at risk.”

The room was mute a few seconds before a short, large-eyed creature with yellow skin and a pointy mouth spoke in a beady voice, “We understand your concern, Kryle Yago, but we cannot take hasty action against the humans. We must give them a chance…”

Kryle yelled loudly, “My father gave the humans a chance, and all he got was in return was a knife in the throat!” His father had been one of the squad leaders during the rescue missions on E-17. While searching for survivors, a human had appeared from hiding and slit his neck.

Salil, the neander, spoke calmly, “Your father was a brave man, Kryle, and is remembered for his great deeds. We should tighten the security on Rashada and monitor the situation closely. If this so-called rebellion escalates, the Council shall reconvene to decide on further action.”

“Agreed,” the 6 other council members said one-by-one while Kryle looked on.

His face wrinkled with anger, and he walked from the Galactic Hall without saying a word.

Waiting for him beside the exit was another krawl who began walking side-by-side with Kryle as soon as he stepped through the door. He was wearing a black-hooded robe, hiding his dark hair and much of his grimacing face. He appeared much younger than Kryle, and scar ran in at a diagonal angle across the frame of his left eye socket, his eye a cloudy white.

“We must travel to Nerria at once,” Kryle growled. “The Galactic Council has grown soft. The Queen is our last hope.”

“Master…” The hooded krawl hissed. “A rumor has emerged that a human was found on E-17.”

Kryle stopped in his tracks and gave his companion a questioning look. “A human from E-17?”

“Yes… They say he is a human from the past, prior to
The Cleanse,
frozen underground for nearly a century.”

“That seems unlikely,” Kryle snickered.

“The scavengers who found the human were rewarded 300,000 credits for bringing him to the Queen.”

Kryle bit his inner lip and lowered his brow. “The Queen would not hand out that quantity of credits unless he was a person of importance. Do you know where this human is now?”

“Rumor has it he is being transported to Rashada as we speak.”

Kryle’s mind pondered the possibility that the rumor was true. A human from the past, still harboring the isolated ideas that once destroyed their planet could pose a dangerous threat to the galaxy, he thought.

“Find me this human, and bring him to me… dead or alive.”

A
s the pilot approached Rashada
, Mich looked into a large display monitor in the passenger area that showed what was directly in front of them. Rashada was commonly referred to as a “fragment planet,” which is basically a chunk of a full planet which at some point has broken off and formed an atmosphere of its own. Rashada was roughly the same size of Ohio and appeared like an island floating in the sky.

A guard with alpine white skin and long, stringy ears nudged Mich with the hilt of his gun. Mich had learned from his chats with Lena that these people, the same race as the Queen, were known as alors. “Welcome home human,” the alor said.

When the ship landed, Mich stepped onto the exit platform of the ship and took in his surroundings. Rashada seemed completely flat and lush with green vegetation. Directly in front him were tall, similarly colored buildings that appeared like mushrooms rising out of the ground. Large, 4-legged machines, armed with weapons, walked slowly around the perimeter of the buildings, scanning from side to side as if looking for trouble. Small vehicles buzzed around the flat roads, some with wheels and some hovering like he saw on Nerria.

“What now?” Mich asked as he turned back towards the guard.

The guard again nudged Mich ahead with his gun.

When Mich and the guards reached the bottom of the platform, they were met with an average height, thin woman with pointy ears and feminine, frail features. Her hair was a platinum grey, and behind her glasses appeared to be a small amount of bluish and pink make-up. Beside her stood two masculine guards, completely covered in dark grey metal armor with darkened visors hiding all of their appearance, and a single human about the same age as Mich.

“This is the one,” the guard from the ship grunted.

“Welcome to Rashada Sir,” the gray haired woman said enthusiastically. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

She shifted her eyes to the guard on the platform and nodded. “We’ll take it from here.”

No sooner than she spoke, the guard returned to the ship, the platform was raised, and the ship headed back into the sky.

The lady spoke with a louder than normal voice, an overly happy tone, and a smile that Mich had trouble determining if was real or fake. “My name is Candy. Well, actually my name is Misharishindaril, but I go by Candy since it’s difficult for humans to pronounce.” She laughed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Mich returned a flat smile.

“This is Carl. He’ll be helping you adjust to your new home.” Candy motioned to the man standing beside her.

Carl waved robotically. He was standing stiffly and attentively with an overly large smile etched across his face. If Mich did not know any better he would have mistaken him for a mannequin, or someone who had a serious case of constipation. His shaved face was perfectly symmetrical, and he had a neat cut of brown hair resting on top of his head, slicked back with gel.

Candy started walking with her posse, and she motioned for Mich to follow.

“We’ve arranged a room for you to stay in for the next 3 months. It’s stocked with food, some clothing and a few necessities you might need. We realize that you don’t have any credits now, so you’ll definitely want to get a job during the next 3 months so you can support yourself. Do you have any skills? What was your job previously?”

“I was a business investor,” Mich replied.

“Oh…” Candy laughed half-heartedly. “That’s probably not going to help. Any jobs before that?”

“Well… I used to work in a restaurant when I was in high school.”

“Most food dispensaries are manned by bots, but there’s a limited amount of positions that need intelligent staff. I’ll see what I can find, and if not, you can always work in the factory or the mines.”

Mich’s heart sank. He had not considered what he would have to do to support himself yet, and the idea of working in a restaurant or a mine made his stomach turn. Things were going to be vastly different to his life back on Earth–or E-17 as it was now known.

They boarded a large opened-aired vehicle with 6 seats and began driving quickly down the road. As they passed various buildings, Candy would point and give Mich information about the various places.

“Over here is the Community Hall.” She pointed to a large dome-shaped building. “It also doubles as a stadium when we have sporting events.”

“And over here is the food dispensary.” A ground level building with humans standing in a line at the entrance. “I’m sure you can guess what that is for… And over his is…”

Mich gradually grew bored with Candy’s voice, and his mind started to wander. As they rolled through the streets, they passed a area where everyone seemed to be dressed very modestly. Clothing looked overly worn, and sometimes torn. A few times he noticed human children walking about the streets with no shirts and no parents in sight. Occasionally, he would glimpse someone with slightly less tattered attire–and Carl himself was outfitted nicely as well–but no humans were dressed in the same ravishing garb as the humanoids that he met on Nerria.

Patrolling through the streets were several covered guards wearing heavy armor and wielding weapons. “What’s with all the guards?” Mich asked.

Candy hesitated and looked a bit stunned at the question. “The guards are here to ensure safety, Mich,” she replied with the most generic answer possible.

Mich did not press for further information.

They eventually reached their destination, a gray, mid-rise building akin to a small hotel. They entered a tiny lobby with more guards watching the door, and made their way to an elevator. Up the shaft to the top floor, and finally to Mich’s room. Candy opened the door with a flat square key and then handed the key to Mich.

“This is it,” Candy squawked. “Carl is staying just a couple doors down and can help you if you need anything. If you need me, just ask one of the guards or tell Carl. I’m not too hard to find.”

“Thanks…” Mich said reservedly as Candy headed back towards the elevator.

Mich opened the door to his room. It was a small studio apartment with a twin sized bed, a table, a small kitchen, and a sectioned off area with a toilet and shower. On the wall appeared a flat screen television built flush into the wall.

Carl walked into the room with Mich and closed the door behind them. “I guess we’re neighbors now,” Carl said with a large, plastic smile.

Mich sat on the bed without saying a word.

“So they say you lived on E-17? Back when humans thought we were alone in the galaxy?” Carl was visually struggling not to laugh. “What do you think of it here so far?”

“I’m not sure,” Mich replied, “but I’m sure I’ll manage.”

“Okay, well I’ll give you some time to settle in. I’m just two doors down on the left if you have any questions.”

Mich nodded. Carl left Mich’s room and closed the door quietly.

Mich walked to the television that was on the wall and attempted to power it on, but could not find a remote or any sort of controls on the screen. He sat at the table and then laid on the bed before he started to feel bored and restless. He pulled his old cell phone out his pocket and pressed the power button several times, hoping that the battery may have magically charged itself.

He considered going to Carl’s room and asking for some instructions of how to power on the TV or ideas how to get some juice into his phone, but something about Carl seemed off-putting to Mich, and he wasn’t looking forward to spending any more time with him.

I need to get out of this box, he thought to himself.

He decided to head out to explore the city and hoped that he would stumbled across a means to power on his phone so that he could look at his pictures and review the last moments of his past life again.

He opened the closet in his room, and there were several plain-linen outfits lined up perfectly. He retrieved a set and changed out of the clothes that came packaged with him in the Cryonics cell. On the closet door was a mirror in which he inspected himself. The cream colored linens and brown leather boots weren’t his best look, and his hair was still tangled and matted from since he woke up in the Salvager’s ship.

When he arrived downstairs, two guards eyed Mich suspiciously, but did not say anything as he passed by. When he reached to the street, he started walking left on the sidewalk randomly, as he had no idea where he was heading.

He walked for several minutes, taking in his surroundings. It didn’t feel much different from earth other than the futuristic buildings, bluish-hued horizon and strange, floating cars. Most buildings and streets were unmarked, and he suddenly wished he had paid more attention when Candy was pointing out landmarks to him. The humans that passed by seemed caught up in whatever task they had at hand and didn’t give Mich a second glance.

Mich felt a bit at ease seeing that most of the creatures around him were humans. He would see the occasional alor or other creature ride by on hovering motorcycles or floating vehicles, but for the most part, he judged the majority of the occupants on Rashada were humans like him.

He soon found himself in the area that he passed earlier on the way to his room, where everyone was wearing worn or tattered clothes and children were walking the streets alone. He turned a corner and found himself in a small, darkened residential alleyway with tall buildings on each side. The shadows and grimy surfaces gave the alley a dangerous appearance, but curiosity got the best of Mich, and he wandered inside.

As he walked down the alley, he noticed people standing on their small balconies looking down at him with curiosity. A large woman appeared out of a side door to his right and tossed a pale of greasy looking liquid out into the walkway. Mich stepped over and around, trying to avoid the strange substance. An animal the size of a cat, but with the appearance of a lizard ran by.

“Hey handsome man!” a voice to his left rang out. “You looking for some action?”

Mich turned his head to his left, and a long, brown-haired girl peeked her head out of another door. She was wearing a torn cloth shirt that was cut just below her sagging breasts. She licked her lips slightly and tilted her head back quickly in an indication for Mich to come inside.

Mich smiled and put his palms up. “Oh, no thanks. I’m just having a walk.”

“C’mon,” she insisted. “We’ve got lots of girls inside–young ones,” she continued. “Only 3 credits for 30 minutes. We’ll make it worth your while.”

Mich shook his head no and continued down the alley. The girl continued to cry out “Two girls for 5 credits! Are ya gay? We can get ya a boy too if that’s what ya like!”

Mich scurried away, ignoring girl’s calls.

Laying on the sidewalk was an old man, his skin, clothes, and hair covered in dirt. Mich couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive, but a small begging jar sitting next to his body was a promising indicator that he was still living–if only slightly.

As he passed the old man, he felt a slight tug at the back of his shirt. When he turned around, a small, shirtless girl who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old looked up at him with big, blue eyes and a face covered in streaks of dirt. She held out both of her palms to Mich but did not say a word.

“I’m sorry little girl. I don’t have any money,” Mich said apologetically.

She continued to hold her palms out as if she didn’t understand, and stared up at Mich’s face with sadness and desperation.

He realized then that he needed to cut his little adventure short. No matter how much he wanted to help the little girl, he couldn’t as he really had no money at all. And although he’d like to get his hair cut and charge his phone, it was unlikely he’d be able to do any of that without Carl’s help due to his lack of funds.

Mich started to head back the way that he came, and the little girl followed alongside with her hands constantly in the air, occasionally trying to place herself in Mich’s path to slow him down.

“I’m sorry little girl. I really have nothing. I swear…” Mich said again.

Just as soon as he spoke, Mich felt a light sensation in his right pocket and looked down just in time to see a small hand gripping his phone from behind and sliding it effortlessly out of his pants.

The offending boy ran.

Mich cried out, “Hey! That’s mine! Come back here!” and began chasing the little boy.

The boy was fast, and Mich had to run at full speed to keep up. They were jumping over obstacles, and while the boy was weaving through bodies with his small frame, Mich had to push people out of the way to get by.

The boy ran past an old woman with a basket carrying some fruit, and when Mich passed her, the fruit went flying. The lady was left sitting on her rump, screaming and swearing at the pair. Mich had no time to waste and figured that he would apologize later if he could end his ordeal quickly and find the lady again.

The boy ran into the street with Mich ten feet behind. A flying car came rushing towards them and slammed on its air breaks, honking its horn loudly, stopping just inches from running Mich down. Mich held out his palms as if he would’ve somehow been able to stop the vehicle had it actually hit him. His eyes were wide, and he was yelling apologies as he continued to run.

A pair of guards noticed the ordeal, and one of them yelled in a muffled, electronic voice, “You, over there! Stop now!”

Mich continued chasing the boy, and looked behind him to see that the guards were now chasing him as well. He knew that this was going to cause him unnecessary trouble, but recovering his last memories of Earth were far more important than whatever unknown punishment he might endure. He breathed heavily as he struggled to keep up with the youngster.

The boy was fifteen feet ahead when he turned a sharp corner, and Mich started pushing with all his might to catch up. When Mich rounded the same corner at full speed, an arm reached out across his chest, and his feet went flying into the air. His head jolted backwards and for a brief moment, he saw a distant moon hovering in Rashada’s horizon. His head slammed hard against the ground, and everything went completely black.