The Dark Past

The Dark Past: Chapter 2: The Intergalactic Void

There was a long, uncomfortable silence punctuated by Jahv's weeping before Martin looked at the Niklas-faced communications console, then piped up, “doesn't the radio have the parts you need?”

Jahv stopped crying and everyone stared at Martin for a second before Toben suddenly and unexpectedly hugged him.  “You little genius!” Toben almost shouted.  “Of course!  We can get the right parts - or at least close enough — from the radio!  Good thing we didn't forget to pack the tools!”

Jahv hugged Martin too.  “You may have just saved all of our lives” said Jahv quietly.  Martin seemed not to know what to say in answer to that, so said nothing.  He just looked exceptionally pleased with himself.

* * * * *

Everyone was strapped in.  After sending a message to inform the boys still on Earth of the situation, the inertia damper had been repaired (a repair requiring considerable time as well as parts from the radio) then reinstalled.  Jahv announced:  “Ready?  Decelerate!”

Toben pressed a control and the boys were pushed firmly forwards against their safety belts as the stars suddenly stopped being streaks of light then went out completely.  Nothing but blackness showed through the windows of the control room.

“What happened?” asked Fabian, “Did we stop?”

Toben examined his control panel.  “We've dropped out of warp, but I can't see anything.” He sounded puzzled.

Jahv suddenly laughed, a relieved laugh.

“Of course we can't see the stars — at least, not when we're below warp speed! We're facing the Intergalactic Void and the stars are so far away they're too faint to see with our cabin lights on. Toben, turn us around. We should get a good view of our own Galaxy from here.”

Toben pressed several control buttons in a particular sequence.  At first, nothing seemed to be happening, then a multitude of lights appeared in one window, made their way across until they were centered in the forward window and stopped as the spaceship stopped turning.

Keith:  “Wow!!!”

Fabian:  “Awesome!!!”

Martin:  “Cool!!!”

Prince Arion:  “Most impressive!”

In front of them hung the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy, filling almost their entire view.  It looked like a cluster of shining diamonds hanging in the velvet blackness as though a piece of jewelers' artwork had been placed on display.  What made the sight all the more impressive was that they could see with their own eyes that the splendor before them was three-dimensional, having not only height and width but also depth.  It was something which no ordinary photograph could ever hope to capture or convey to the viewer.

After a few minutes of awed silence, Toben finally spoke.

“Well, beautiful though it is, we really should be starting back now.  We've gone a lot further and been away longer than we meant to.”

Jahv seemed to literally shake himself out of his contemplation of the wondrous sight before turning to his controls.  “Plotting a return course now,” he announced.

Martin suddenly gasped, “what's that?” pointing off to the right and slightly up.  Jahv stopped what he was doing and everyone looked in the direction Martin was pointing.

For a moment, nothing seemed to be there.  “What...” began Toben, then he saw it.

Silhouetted against the stars of the Milky Way Galaxy was a shape.  It was almost invisible unless you looked in the right place for a few seconds, but something was there, obscuring some of the stars.  Jahv turned back to his console and began pressing buttons and turning dials.

“There's definitely something there,” said Jahv, looking at the readouts on the displays in front of him.  “Large.  Metal.  It looks like some kind of spaceship!”

“A spaceship?” queried Keyro.  He unstrapped himself from his window seat and went to sit in the seat in front of the purple console, then began to work with the controls in front of him, reading the displays as he did so.

“Yes, and it's a big one,” said Jahv, still examining his display panels.  “It only looks so small because we're a long way away from it.”

“What the heck would a spaceship be doing out here?” asked Keith.  “I thought you said there wouldn't be any traffic out here?  Isn't that why we came this way?”

“That's what's so mysterious,” replied Jahv.  “By rights, there shouldn't be another ship anywhere near here.  Keyro, are you getting anything?”

Keyro replied without looking up from the console, continuing to work controls as he spoke.  “It's difficult to tell for sure at this distance, but I'm getting something which just might be an energy signature and something else which could possibly be faint lifesigns.”

“Well, so much for the plan of going home immediately,” said Toben in resigned accents.  “If there are lifesigns on that ship, we're both morally and legally obliged to investigate in case someone needs help - which they probably do, otherwise they wouldn't be drifting out here in the Void!”

“I knew it was too good to be true,” moaned Keith.  “So much for my 'dull' trip into space.  First, something in the ship breaks and now this!”  There were a few snickers from the other boys in response to this comment, but mostly they were too interested in the object to pay much attention to Keith's grumbling.

Jahv turned back to his controls and announced: “Plotting intercept course.”

“Cool!” enthused Martin. “I'm glad I saw it, now!”

“I hope you still think it's 'cool' after we've investigated it,” murmured Toben rather nervously.  “It could be anything!”

Keith gave a disgusted-sounding snort and seemed about to say something bad, but then changed his mind.  “I guess you're right,” he muttered with something resembling good grace, “we have to at least try to see if someone needs help.”

* * * * *

It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the object, traveling at sub-light speed.  Keyro kept on scanning the object as they approached it, until he could confirm that there were definitely both an energy signature and at least one life-sign emanating from the object; both very faint but clear.  For most of the time the object was just a growing, dark, oblong silhouette against the background of the galaxy until Jahv decided that they were close enough and turned on the Silver Eagle's powerful external observation lights.

The chorus of admiring comments from the human boys as the object — now obviously a spaceship — became illuminated was interrupted by a duet of, “uh-oh,” simultaneously coming from Toben and Jahv and a quiet, “Not them again!” from Prince Arion.  Keyro was still studying his sensor readouts but he glanced up from them long enough to see the spaceship and mutter, “Oh no,” in a disgusted-sounding voice before looking back at the sensor displays.

“What?  What's wrong?” asked Keith.

“That ship,” said Toben, pointing at the ship in the window, “is a Soluan warship.  It's a really ancient design, but definitely Soluan!”

“Umm, Toben?” said Keyro, “it might be a little more ancient than you realise!”

All eyes turned to where Keyro sat, looking back and forth at the various displays in front of him and tapping on one display almost as though he thought it might be stuck and require 'Percussive Maintenance' (also known as 'give it a thump and see if that fixes it').

“How ancient?” Toben asked.

Keyro coughed a little nervously, as though reluctant to speak.  “Well, unless I'm reading these instruments wrong — and I'm sure I'm not — this ship is ... somewhere between four thousand five hundred and five thousand Earth years old.”

There was a collective gasp of astonishment.

“Are you joking?” gasped Jahv.

“That's before the First War Of Extermination!” exclaimed Toben.

“You said that there were both a power signature and life-signs from that ship,” queried Arion.  “How can a power system keep on working for that long or life survive for that long?”

“I don't know,” replied Keyro, “but the ancient legends do say that the pre-War Soluans had developed cosmic ray power generators; not as efficient as ours but workable.  There can't be many cosmic rays this far from any suns but perhaps there's enough energy to keep the power systems on that ship just idling.  As for the lifesign — your guess is as good as mine, but it's definitely there!”

Toben looked at Jahv.  “Well, what do we do?”

Jahv scratched in front of one antenna again for a moment before replying.  “The Law of Space is clear:  If there are lifesigns on a ship which is drifting, we have to investigate and offer our help.  Toben, take us closer while I scan for a docking port.  Keyro, see if you can raise anyone from that ship on the communicator.  It's a long shot that there will be anyone able to hear us and reply, but we may as well try.  Besides,” he added, “it's procedure.”

Keyro reached out to turn on the Niklas-faced radio — then realised.  “Jahv, the radio isn't working, remember?”

Jahv gave Keyro a puzzled look, then he also remembered.  “Oh, yes.  I forgot.  Toben!  Is there any way we can get the radio working?”

“Not without the parts now in the inertia damper,” replied Toben.  “The components came from the receiver circuit so we can still transmit or record beacon messages, but we can't hear any incoming signals.”

“Well, transmit a message anyway, Keyro,” said Jahv. “Let them know our receiver is damaged so there's no point in them replying and that we're coming aboard to try to help.  Perhaps there will be someone to hear the message.”

After Keyro sent the message there was silence for a minute while all of the boys looked at the spaceship slowly growing in the window as they gradually approached it.  They were close enough to see that the ship had what looked like a multitude of dome-shaped bumps on the top (or perhaps it was the bottom — it was difficult to tell).

“What was this 'War Of Extermination' you mentioned?” asked Fabian, suddenly breaking the silence.  “It sounds serious!”

It was Keyro who replied.  “Our records from that time are very sketchy.  How much is history and how much is myth or legend is difficult to determine but 'serious' hardly begins to cover the First War Of Extermination.  This is, more-or-less, how the story goes:

“The Soluans have always been a warlike race and they used to be far more powerful than they are these days.  Some of their technology was highly advanced even by our standards today, but it was all oriented towards war and conquest.

“The War began, so the stories say, because of how the Soluans treated the Vitalians, an ancient and gentle race of healers who, legend says, could heal through sheer force of will.  A bit like my healing ability, but far more powerful.  The legends say that, barring an instantly fatal injury, they could live for several millennia and anyone who lived with them could live just as long as they, due to some strange power which their bodies constantly radiated.  Many people in the Galaxy revered the Vitalians almost to the status of godhood, although the Vitalians always rejected any claim to deity.

“The Soluans invaded the Vitalian homeworld, kidnapped most of the Vitalian people and then poisoned the planet with radiation bombs.  It's believed they wanted to use the Vitalians as living medical kits, to keep the Soluan warriors alive in their attempt to conquer the entire Galaxy.

“Whatever the Soluan plan was, it backfired in a big way because the rest of the sentient races in the Galaxy were so disgusted by the Soluans' brutality toward the peaceful Vitalians that they united in an attempt to exterminate all Soluans, everywhere.  Even races who hated each other hated the Soluans more and put their differences aside for a while to fight the Soluan Empire.

“That was the First War Of Extermination.  There have been three so far, all against the Soluans.  As you would have guessed, the Soluan race has survived them all although their ability to wage war has been severely limited as a result and the knowledge of how to make some of their more advanced technology has been lost, perhaps forever.  The last War took place between the Earth years 7BC and 6AD.

“The only good thing which came out of the Wars is that some of the alliances between former enemies survive even to this day.  Two of them are between our people, the Botarans, and other races.

“Unfortunately, the Vitalian race became extinct during the first War. Nobody knows why,” finished Keyro, a little sadly.

“Wow!” murmured Martin.

“Docking port located,” announced Jahv, who had not wanted to interrupt Keyro's story.  “Docking path laid in.”

“Got it,” said Toben, adjusting the flight controls.  The Silver Eagle began to slowly turn as it approached the Soluan ship, to align its docking port with the other ship's port.

“What did these 'Vitalians' look like?” asked Keith.

“Nobody knows for sure,” replied Keyro.  “Mostly, the legends tell about their peaceful, gentle nature and how that contrasted with the brutality of the Soluans.  Some of the stories mention dark skin and red hair, but who can tell for sure how much truth there is in those ancient stories?  I can translate some of the stories into English sometime, if you'd like to read them.”

Prince Arion had been listening with interest and now added, “Deep in the archives of my race, which I studied when I was training to become the future ruler of my people, is a manuscript containing a legend which, I believe, only I and possibly my father now know.  It tells the story of how V'Keet of Vitalias, their most powerful healer, tried to save his sons, V'Kaal and V'Raan, from being captured by the Soluans, but failed and was killed in the attempt.  The tale ends by saying 'neither boy was ever heard of again.'”

Arion continued, “Other stories in the archives say that amongst my people, these 'People of Honor' or 'Honored Ones' — as the Vitalians were called by my people in those days — were respected more highly even than royalty despite their lack of fighting aptitude due to their exceptional courage when faced with great pain.”  Disbelieving looks were exchanged between the other boys.  None of them could imagine Prince Arion treating anyone as more highly honored than himself but everyone was too tactful to give voice to that thought.

Arion continued, “it is expressed thus in one story: 'As well attempt to torture a mountain to reveal its secrets as to set your will against that of a Vitalian, for they will die before betraying a trust.'  If the legend is true, they were indeed an honorable people!”  He fell silent again and nobody could think of anything to say in reply.

As the Silver Eagle approached the Soluan warship, it became obvious that the dome-shapes on the ship were gun turrets.  They looked wickedly efficient and prompted a feeling of unease in all the boys' hearts for as long as they remained in sight.

The Silver Eagle's docking port was in the rear of the ship, between and above the sub-light engines.  Toben skillfully manipulated the controls, slowly backing the Silver Eagle towards the other ship's docking port.  There was a slight “clunk” sound.  “Docking complete,” announced Toben.

Everyone unfastened their safety belts and Martin began to run towards the back of the ship, to get to the docking port first.  “HOLD IT!” came Jahv's shout.  Martin stopped as everyone stared in astonishment at Jahv.

“Sorry about shouting,” apologised Jahv, “but Soluan warships aren't noted for being intruder-friendly!  I'd like to return all of you to Earth in the same condition you left it: Alive.  Please remember that this isn't a game.  We're going into a dangerous environment.  In fact, I'd be happier if Keyro and Martin stayed behind in the ship, but I suppose that's out of the question?”  He looked at the two younger boys more in hope than in expectation.

“Completely!” confirmed Keyro, returning Jahv's look with a determined smile.

“Well, for goodness' sake be careful, both of you!” admonished Jahv.  “Don't go wandering off anywhere!  We have no idea what's in there!”  He turned to Toben and began giving him instructions, completely missing Martin's quiet, sarcastic reply of “yes, dad,” and Keyro's giggle in response to Martin's reply.

“Toben, we'd better pack some power generators.  We may have to power up some of the lights on that ship to find our way around and speaking of lights, make sure everyone has one, please,” instructed Jahv.

“Shall do,” replied Toben, heading for a storage cabinet near the middle of the ship.

* * * * *

Eventually, everything was in readiness.  Each boy carried a small but powerful lantern (each one shaped like a tiny lava lamp but providing a blue-white light) and Jahv and Toben each carried one of the all-but-bottomless Botaran backpacks full of various supplies, including two of the medical kits which had been used so effectively on Fabian earlier.  Several pockets of Keyro's spacesuit also bulged with various devices which he was bringing because he thought they might be useful.

After checking that the docking port was properly sealed and pressurized, Toben opened the hatch revealing the door of the Soluan ship, still closed.

“No power,” observed Toben, “otherwise it would have opened automatically when we opened our side.”

“On a warship?” asked Keith, incredulously.

“The Soluan attitude towards being boarded,” said Prince Arion, “is to first keep the enemy far away so that they can't launch a boarding attack.  If that fails, the Soluans either drive their ship into the nearest sun with the enemy ship still attached or, if that's impossible, fight to the last man — who will then commit suicide rather than be captured, preferably using a small fusion bomb so as to take as many of the enemy as possible with him!”  Everyone was looking at Arion.  “In other words,” he continued, “they don't bother to lock their spaceship doors while in space.”

Jahv examined the Soluan hatch door.  “Toben, does that look like an emergency power inlet port to you?”  He pointed towards a small opening near the bottom and to one side of the door.

Toben leaned down to look. “It does, and it looks exactly like a Universal Power Fitting.  Strange how some things that you'd expect to change never seem to.  That design's been around longer than I thought!”  He reached into Jahv's backpack (it was easier than removing his own backpack to look inside it) and pulled out a disk-shaped object about as big around and as high as a small cake tin with a power cord trailing from one side.  He placed it on the floor, inserted the connector at the end of the cord into the opening near the bottom of the door and went to press a button on the top of the device when Jahv suddenly called out, “wait!  We forgot to check the atmosphere in there!”

“That's my department,” said Keyro, pulling a small analyzer from a pocket of his spacesuit and waving the analyzer in the direction of the door.

There was a short pause before Keyro said, “no harmful organisms or poisons and the air inside seems breathable, although the proportions of oxygen and carbon dioxide aren't quite what we're used to and the temperature is very low; you wouldn't want to walk around in there for long without a spacesuit.  Also, no booby traps on or near the door, which I notice you forgot to mention as a possibility!”  Keyro gave Jahv and Toben a smug look and returned the device to the pocket of his spacesuit.

Jahv gave a slightly rueful laugh.  “Okay, you've made your point.  It's a good thing you're coming with us after all.  Toben?  The door, please.”

Toben pressed the button on the power generator and it lit up with a soft, golden glow.  There was a labored whine from the door, like electric motors under great strain, then a crunching noise.  The door slid inwards and then to one side as a gust of frigid air wafted over all of the boys, scattering fragments of a black substance over the floor of both ships.

Keyro immediately grabbed the analyzer from his pocket and began scanning the fragments.  Everyone seemed to hold their breath until Keyroannounced, “harmless.  Seems to be some kind of sealing compound, although what it was doing around the door...”  Keyro sounded puzzled.

“...around the inside of the door,” observed Fabian, quietly.

“Yes...” murmured Jahv, nervously, peering into the dark interior of the Soluan warship.  The light from their ship barely penetrated more than a few steps into the darkness ahead of them.

“We aren't going to learn any more out here,” noted Toben.

“I guess not,” said Jahv, unhappily.  “I like this less the more I see, but our only other choice is to abandon that lifeform — whatever it is — to its fate.  Let's go.”

Chapters 3 and 4 are missing… if someone else in the WIDE Web has them…

The Dark Past: Chapter 5: Legends

“Chthuhluu naa v'kret!”

The voice which spoke those words came from behind the boys, from the room containing the cryogenic pods. The occurrence of the voice was startling enough but what made it all the more startling was that it sounded like a barber shop quartet singing the sounds in perfect unison using four-note minor-key chords.

Several things happened in quick succession, faster than it takes to tell.

The boys (except for Martin, who was now unconscious and turning blue) turned to look at the speaker but as they turned, the person they had turned to look at ran past them and knelt down beside Martin.

A demon! That was the first thought which went through the minds of the Human boys as they looked at the newcomer. His gender was obvious since, besides rivulets of moisture running down his body, he was quite naked. He was also as black as coal with bright red hair which stood up and seemed to wave around like burning flames. His ears were pointed, although shorter than Morik's and he had two short, backward-curving antennae on the front of his head above the forehead, each one aligned with his red eyebrows. Each antenna had a small, flat, oval, gray patch on the front, near the tip. The newcomer looked to be no older than most of the other boys in the room.

The scene rapidly changed. Before anyone could react the newcomer unfastened the front of Martin's spacesuit, tearing it a little, and placed both hands on Martin's bare chest. Then the most amazing transformation took place. The newcomer's skin turned white!

There is white, and then there is white! Mostly, what people call “white” has a color cast or tinge but the color which the newcomer's skin had become was truly white, with not the slightest hint of color in it. It was the purest, most starkly plain, bright white which you could ever imagine or dream about. It seemed almost ghostly in its starkness.

At the same time the two antennae on the front of the newcomer's head began to glow pure white at the tips. Then a shimmering radiance of pure whiteness shot silently from the gray patch at the front of each antenna, hitting Martin in the chest right between the strange being's hands.

<missing picture>

There was a short pause then the bluish tinge left Martin's skin. He opened his eyes and looked at the amazing sight hovering over him. Strangely, he did not seem at all scared. Everyone in the room was too amazed to move or to question what was happening. It seemed obvious to all the boys that Martin was, somehow, being kept alive by this mysterious being. They remained as motionless as if they had been hypnotized, watching and waiting for — they knew not what.

Some time later, there was a whooshing noise as Prince Arion flew into the laboratory carrying a rolled up package under one arm. He landed somewhat awkwardly, distracted by his astonishment at the incredible sight which greeted him.

Prince Arion's arrival seemed to break the spell caused by the newcomer's powers. Keyro grabbed the Oxygenator from Arion and approached the prone Martin, unrolling the device as he did so.

The newcomer, without being asked, moved his hands up to Martin's shoulders and directed the beam of white energy further up, nearer to Martin's throat, allowing Keyro to wrap the Oxygenator around Martin's chest. To do so, Keyro had to slip the top of Martin's spacesuit off his arms and the suit again tore slightly during the process. Looking puzzled but with no time to bother about Martin's spacesuit, Keyro turned the Oxygenator on and a faint, blue glow surrounded it.

The beam of energy winked out and the newcomer's skin became coal-black again.

The newcomer stood up and spoke in good, although rather stilted English. “The plastiseal over your friend's nose and mouth will dissolve by itself in a minute. Thank you for reviving me. Now, would you please revive my brother also?” His antennae twitched rapidly around, not in synchronization but independently like a cat's ears, eventually ending up with the gray patches both pointing toward where Jahv and Tobenwere standing.

Jahv found his voice. “Your... brother?”

“In the other... pod, I believe you call it. Or perhaps 'egg' is the right word. Whatever the word, the thoughts I absorbed from your friend during the healing tell me that the device will fail very soon. If that happens, my brother will die! Please save him also!” The antennae on his head seemed to droop, emphasizing the pleading in his voice. The boys quickly noticed that the newcomer communicated almost as much emotion with the movements of his antennae as he did by any other means.

<missing picture "My Brother">

Jahv and Toben exchanged quick glances then turned and almost ran into the cryogenic storage room, followed closely by the newcomer and Prince Arion. The other boys stayed with Martin although Keith, peering through the doorway, could see what was happening in the cryogenics room.

The pod which was second from the end now stood open, two of its three segments splayed out like flower petals. Toben was unplugging the deactivated power generator from that pod. He quickly plugged it into the end pod then waited while Prince Arion moved into position before reactivating the generator. Prince Arion immediately pressed the revival button and once again a blue light on the display announced success. The newcomer stood, looking anxiously at the pod, seemingly not paying any further attention to the other boys.

Back in the lab, there was a gasp from Martin. He sat up, clutching a shriveled piece of plastic-like substance from his face and coughed once before speaking. “Wow! That was the weirdest thing ever! You won't believe the dream I just had!”

“If you're talking about a black alien who turns white and shoots white beams of light from antennae on his head,” said Keith, “I don't think it was a dream!”

Keyro deactivated and removed the Oxygenator from Martin's chest, examining Martin's torn spacesuit with a puzzled frown. Martin looked at his hand and at the strange substance in it, now turning white and starting to crumble into powder, then threw the substance away and stood up. He stared at Keith. “It was real?” For an answer, Keith pointed into the corner of the cryogenic chamber where the newcomer still stood staring silently at the pod. Martin pulled the top of his spacesuit on then went over to the doorway and looked inside. “Wow! It was real,” was all he could think of to say.

The boys who had been outside entered the chamber again and walked quietly over to the pod. The newcomer was no longer simply looking at the pod. He was now pressed against it, his eyes closed and his arms wrapped as far around it as he could get them. Nobody wanted to interrupt whatever the newcomer was doing. Indeed, they felt like intruders on a private ritual. Prince Arion examined the display panel then walked over to the other boys.

“A little under twenty minutes,” he said quietly, in response to the unasked question. “His brother must be younger and therefore smaller than he is, so his revival will take less time.”

“Yes.” The voice was little more than a whisper, coming from the newcomer. Nobody was certain whether it was an answer to Arion's surmise or a response to some communication which they were not privy to.

The boys sat down in a rough circle. Jahv handed out water containers and sandwiches from his backpack. Everyone suddenly realised how hungry they all were and did full justice to the supplies. Jahv looked at the newcomer, who seemed not to have moved from his position hugging the pod containing his brother.

“You may share with us, if you wish,” said Jahv quietly, unconsciously adopting the stilted English used by the newcomer. The figure against the pod seemed to shake his head slightly and a whisper could be heard, “thank you.” Again, the manner in which the answer was delivered meant that they could not feel quite certain that it had been meant for them but Jahv took it to be such and returned his attention to the meal.

As the boys ate and drank, Keyro kept looking around curiously at the other boys, although he tried not to be obvious about it. Something was happening which they had not yet noticed but which Keyro's quick eyes had spotted. The spacesuits worn by all of the boys were beginning to look a little shabby. Small tears and rips were appearing as the boys moved. They weren't very noticeable yet, but Keyro wondered how long it would be before the other boys noticed... and what could be causing the problem.

They had finished eating and Jahv was packing the sandwich wrappers into a rubbish bag to be placed in his backpack when there was a quiet “beep” from the pod, followed by a “click” and the two front segments began to open. The newcomer finally stood back from the pod, a look of eagerness on his face.

The pod opened and everyone could see a nude small boy sitting inside the pod with his eyes closed. He was as black of complexion as his brother and his hair was just as red but it seemed to curl more, giving even more of an impression of leaping flames than his brother's hair. His body dripped moisture from his recent revival.

Then his eyes opened and he looked around. He saw his brother.

<missing picture, "V'Raan's revival">

“Kaal!” the voice was joyous. He jumped out of the pod and was immediately hugged by his brother. “Raan!” came the happy voice of the newcomer.

“What!?” almost yelled Prince Arion, momentarily shaken out of his usual impassive calm by his disbelief. He understood the significance of those names.

“Yes, I suppose it is time for proper introductions,” said the newcomer. “This is my brother, V'Raan, second son of V'Keet. I am V'Kaal, first son of V'Keet. We are Vitalians, as I suppose you know.”

Keyro had been next to figure out the situation. “You... have... got... to... be... joking!” he gasped in disbelieving tones. Realization grew in the faces of the other boys as they also finally understood the significance of their discovery. Arion was the only one who regained his composure immediately. Everyone else just stood as though turned to stone, their mouths hanging open in astonishment. Legends who come to life tend to have that effect on ordinary mortals.

“Why?” asked V'Kaal in a puzzled tone, responding to Keyro's disbelief.

Prince Arion now took a step forward.

“My apologies for our rudeness, Honored Ones. I am Prince Arion of Korras. These are my friends, Jahv, Toben and Keyro, who are Botarans, and Fabian, Keith and Martin, who are all Humans from Earth.” He indicated each boy as he named them then bowed slightly to the Vitalian boys.

“Oh, forget the 'Honored Ones' stuff,” said V'Kaal, in an annoyed voice, “and the bowing! We may be Vitalians but we're just boys, like you.” His English was becoming less stilted the more he spoke.

V'Raan had been looking back and forth between his brother and Prince Arion during this exchange. Now he spoke to his brother. “N'freaa eem g'huu!” Again, the four-voiced harmony was there, although this time toned in major keys.

V'Kaal turned to Arion again. “He wants to learn the language you speak. I expect you know that we learn other people's languages by touch. May he touch you?”

Prince Arion seemed taken aback for a moment but quickly recovered. “The language I speak now is a human language. May I suggest one of the humans? With your permission, of course,” he added, turning to the human boys.

“Uhh...” began Keith, looking uncertainly at the coal-black youngster. “No problem,” replied Fabian, who had recovered from his shock by now. “I'll be happy to be the little guy's tutor!” He took a few steps forward and held out his hands invitingly to V'Raan. The younger Vitalian understood the gesture and came forward, taking Fabian's hands in his.

<missing picture>

The first thing which V'Raan said in English was, “You people have a strange language! You only seem to use one set of vocal cords!”

Without hesitation, Fabian replied, “That's because we only have one set of vocal cords.” Then he added, “...each.” He seemed fascinated by the young Vitalian's eyes, which started out emerald-green at the middle of the iris and graduated through various aqua shades to light blue at the outer edge.

V'Raan giggled. “How strange! We have four.” Then he added, “...each,” and giggled again. As he giggled, his antennae splayed apart forming a “V” and the gray pads on the front pointed slightly inward, directly at Fabian.

Keith's eyes were wide with wonder. “You people must have great singing voices!”

“All Vitalians are good singers,” said V'Kaal, moving to stand beside his brother who seemed reluctant to let go of Fabian's hands. “I thought everyone knew that.”

“That's something the ancient legends didn't mention,” murmured Keyro.

“Ancient legends?” said V'Kaal, looking at Keyro in bewilderment. There was a short pause. “Just how long have we been asleep for?” His antennae twitched back and forth once again, reminding the boys even more of a cat's ears.

There was another pause before Keyro replied, hesitatingly, “We think... something like... at least four and a half thousand Earth years. That's at least fifty lifetimes of humans. It could have been longer. We're not sure.”

It was V'Kaal's turn to stand silent, mouth open with astonishment. The others had the chance to notice that his eyes were deep blue in the middle of the iris and graduated through shades of violet to magenta at the outer edge. His white teeth in his open mouth formed a startling contrast to his black skin which, now that it was mostly dry, seemed to have shimmering blue highlights wherever the light caught it.

V'Raan's antennae moved to an upright position as he let go of Fabian's hands (much to Fabian's disappointment) and turned to hold his brother's left hand. “That's a long time, even for us,” he whispered, looking up at his brother sympathetically.

V'Kaal closed his mouth. “Half a lifetime,” he said, quietly.

“Err... just how long do you people live for?” asked Keith, hesitantly.

“Almost nine thousand of your years,” said V'Kaal. “Even our healing abilities aren't enough to put off death forever.”

“Wow, so you've slept for half a lifetime?” Keith gasped.

Keyro murmured, “Rip van Winkle.”

Keith looked at him. “The guy who slept for a hundred years?”

“That's wrong,” replied Keyro. “It was actually a lot less. I think forty years. Someone came up with the idea of changing the story to a hundred years because it sounds more exciting.” He turned to the Vitalians. “Forty years is around half a lifetime, for most Humans.”

V'Kaal nodded slowly, his antennae drooping again. “I suppose few of the Vitalians alive today would recognize us, now.”

There was another uncomfortable silence.

“I know that story too,” babbled Jahv, desperately trying to prevent the inevitable. “When Rip van Winkle woke up from his long sleep, he had trouble recognizing his friends because they had changed so much and some had even died. Everyone on Earth thinks the story is made-up, but perhaps there's a grain of truth in it, somewhere.”

V'Kaal's antennae twitched back and forth again. “There's something you're not saying,” he said, quietly. “Please, tell us.” The twitching antennae stopped with the gray patches on the front pointing towards Keyro.

Keyro took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“So far as we know, right now... you are the only Vitalians alive, anywhere. Until we found you, we thought — like everyone else in the Galaxy— that your race was extinct.”

V'Kaal took the news surprisingly well although his antennae drooped. “I had begun to guess as much, from your demeanor. Thank you for being honest with us. We must grieve for a short time, now.” The stilted English was back. Both boys walked a few steps away from the other boys, then V'Kaal knelt down and he and V'Raan hugged, face to face. Their antennae touched, the gray patches on each boy's antenna pressed against the gray patches on the other boy's antenna. Tears flowed silently down both their cheeks. The very ordinary tears of two extraordinary boys. The other boys watched, uncomfortably, as the two Vitalian boys mourned for their lost people. At length, the boys separated and wiped the tears from their faces.

Without any prompting, Jahv took a step closer to the two boys and stated, “you are welcome to come and live with us, if you wish.” Nods from Toben, Keyro and even Prince Arion reinforced his invitation.

“Thank you,” said V'Kaal, with a slight sniffle. “I think that would be appropriate for now.” He stood straight and recited what was obviously a formal acceptance: “Your kindness is appreciated.”

Jahv nodded his acknowledgment of the formality, making it into a small bow.

“And,” continued V'Kaal, “since we are now friends, you may call us just 'Kaal' and 'Raan'. The first sound is our Family Sound and is not required amongst friends.”

“We're glad to have you as friends,” said Toben, “but now let's get out of here. This ship still gives me the creeps, even with the lights on!” He picked up the power generator and everyone went back into the laboratory, Toben looking curiously down at his spacesuit while they did so as he noticed, for the first time, its shabby state.

“Just a moment,” said Kaal, looking towards the door opposite the one Martin had so disastrously investigated earlier. “There should be something in there of mine which I wish to retrieve.” He pressed a button and the door opened revealing another, smaller laboratory. It was lit, obviously supplied from the same emergency power inlet as the main lab.

The two Vitalian boys went in, followed by Jahv, Toben, Keyro and Prince Arion. The other boys watched from the doorway.

Kaal swept a glance around the small laboratory and quickly spotted what he was looking for; an ornately carved, lacquered wooden box about the size of a small toolbox, looking very out of place amongst the hi-tech equipment around it. He picked it up, a satisfied expression on his face. “Now, we may leave,” he said.

The others had been looking around at the lab while Kaal had been finding his property. Now, Keyro pointed at an item sitting on one bench and said, “excuse me for asking, but is that what I think it is?” Everyone looked. A glass (or what appeared to be glass) test tube tightly sealed with a plastic-like stopper sat on the bench with a long, black item inside, suspended in a clear liquid. Kaal looked at it. “My finger,” he said, showing only casual interest in the item. “So, it's still here after all this time.” Everyone looked at him and, involuntarily, at his hands. There were five fingers on each. None were missing.

“Our limbs grow back quite quickly, when severed,” said Kaal, almost casually. “The only thing which won't grow back is our heads. It's fatal to lose one's head.”

There were muffled snickers from the doorway as the human boys tried to stifle their mirth. It was obvious that Kaal's double meaning had been unintentional.

“What have I said?” inquired Kaal, looking at the giggling boys in the doorway.

Keyro explained, grinning, “Amongst humans, the phrase 'to lose one's head' is a metaphor for panicking, and panicking can be fatal, so...” He paused to allow the information to sink in.

Kaal looked bewildered for a moment, then he and Raan both burst out laughing, in which all the boys joined — except for Prince Arion, who was looking curiously at a small box on one of the benches near the wall.

“I can see that I am going to enjoy living amongst you people,” chuckled Kaal. “I wonder what other mistakes I will make with this strange language?” He took a step towards the door, still smiling.

Kaal stopped as Prince Arion spoke. “Excuse me, but you may not want to leave just yet.” He stepped closer to the bench and picked up the box he had been examining. “The closest translation for the inscription on this box is: Vitalian DNA samples 1-64.” He looked at Kaal.

Raan looked blankly at Prince Arion. “DNA samples?”

“The encoding of life itself,” explained Toben, looking with interest at the small box. He understood the significance of this find.

Arion took up the explanation. “There's only two of you and you're both male — or so I would believe from your appearance. It would be impossible to repopulate your race from males only, but with a genetic race bank and cloning technology...” He offered the box to Kaal.

Kaal took the box and looked at it with excitement growing in his face. “Yes! I see what you mean! This box contains the hope of someday reviving my race!” He turned to Prince Arion. “Thank you!” He made a gesture as if to hug Prince Arion, but saw the look of reluctance in Arion's eyes and settled for bowing quickly to him. Prince Arion murmured, “you are welcome... Honored One.” Kaal let the use of the honorific go without comment.

They departed the way they had come. Toben took the power generators as they left although he waited behind until the other boys had reached the corner of the corridor before disconnecting the generator powering the lights, then he followed them to the elevator.

The elevator was as slow as ever and Prince Arion mentioned how frustrating the slow speed had been when he knew that Martin's life depended on him retrieving the Oxygenator with all possible haste. Nobody replied. The event was still too fresh in their minds for any discussion of it to be comfortable.

As the elevator crept slowly upward, Martin asked. “Kaal, did it hurt when they cut your finger off?”

“Hurt?” said Kaal in surprise. “Of course it hurt! We Vitalians feel pain more intensely than any race we have ever heard of, although it does not last long because the wound begins to heal almost immediately. Also, we are taught not to allow pain to interfere with our normal activities.” Martin went very quiet and looked thoughtful. Prince Arion gave a satisfied nod of his head.

Jahv looked at the box of DNA samples which Kaal held and smiled as he said, “we should call that Pandora's Box, because it contains hope.” Most of the boys looked questioningly at Jahv.

“It's an old Earth legend,” explained Jahv. “Supposedly, a woman named Pandora opened a box she'd been warned never to open. When she opened it, lots of good things escaped from the box and were lost and lots of bad things also escaped and began to cause trouble on the Earth, but the box was closed before hope escaped, so people still have hope to keep them going.”

“Typical nosy woman,” growled Keith, prompting snickers of agreement from most of the other boys.

Toben glanced down at his spacesuit, then looked at Keyro. “What's happening?” he queried. “These spacesuits are practically new! They shouldn't be falling apart this soon.”

The other boys looked at each other and then at their own suits and finally realised just how badly worn the suits looked. In fact, they were deteriorating at an accelerating rate now and by the time the discussion was over, looked like they might fall off before long.

Keyro stopped trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. “I don't know! Like you said: The suits are practically new. This shouldn't be possible!”

Keith gave a frustrated-sounding growl before speaking. “Rrrhg! Didn't you once tell us that these suits are made of something organic?” As Keyro nodded, Keith continued, “and we've just walked right through a medical weapons research laboratory, probably crammed full of germs which can kill anything organic!”

Keyro's mouth dropped open and his face turned the most alarming shade of light-lavender. He nearly dropped the analyzer in his haste as he grabbed it from the torn pocket of his spacesuit and began to scan everyone in the group.

Continued in chapter 6

The Dark Past: Chapter 6: Home

The elevator doors opened. Without their spacesuits to protect them from the cold the boys all hurried through the freezing air toward the docking hatch, Toben collecting the power generators powering the elevator and the passageway lights as they went.

As they exited the docking hatch, Jahv suddenly stopped them. “We all have to go through decontamination,” he announced.

“Decontamination?” asked Keith. “Why? There were no harmful germs on that ship. At least, not to us!”

“Yes, but we'll all be covered with particles of the virus which killed the Soluans on that ship!” said Jahv. “We don't want to spread that around!”

“Why not?” objected Keith. “Look at the things they've done! They deserve to die if any race does! Why not spread the disease around? Get rid of the problem for good!”

“Germ warfare,” said Prince Arion quietly but firmly, “is a weapon of the coward! To allow a microorganism to fight your battles for you is to dishonor yourself! I'd be happy to see those two misbegotten barbarians who kept me prisoner dead, but not that way. Not the way of the coward.”

Keith ceased protesting immediately and the look he gave Prince Arion was one of both surprise and admiration.

Jahv directed everyone into a room next to the docking port in which were cubicles like shower stalls. As they stripped for the decontamination (a process which rendered the remains of the decayed spacesuits completely non-wearable) Keith sighed, “I just knew we'd end up naked on this journey!” Laughter from the other boys was the only response he got.

The “showers” did not use water. Instead, jets of warm, scented air containing, so Keyro said, antibacterial and antiviral medications played over their bodies, destroying any lingering traces of the virus which had decimated the Soluans on the warship. There were only six cubicles, so Jahv and Toben used the first two, Keith and Prince Arion shared the third, Keyro and Martin took the fourth, Kaal and Raan used the fifth, and Fabian was alone in the sixth cubicle.

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The Dark Past: Chapter 7: Epilogue: Pandora's Box

Davy's parents never had cause to regret their decision. Indeed, they found the Vitalian youngsters unfailingly polite and appreciative for every small thing done for them, never taking anything for granted. Raan even agreed to wear at least briefs while in the house, once he realised that to do otherwise would be impolite. Since neither boy had any special dietary requirements, they ate anything and everything prepared for them, although they showed a preference for fruit and vegetables and where practical, preferred them raw.

Unexpectedly, Kaal became a good friend to Prince Arion and would often spar with him while learning from him a particular form of self-defense which seemed to be closely related to Judo (also known as “the gentle art”). For his part, Prince Arion was confirmed in his belief that Kaal was an “Honored One” the day that a small misjudgment on his part resulted in Kaal receiving a very painful shoulder injury. In spite of his obvious agony, Kaal insisted on continuing the training session to the end, by which time the injury had completely healed.

Kaal also learned astrogation from Jahv and all about spaceship technology from Toben. He proved adept at both subjects, absorbing information at an amazing rate.

Raan became special friends with Keyro, who discovered that Raan could learn and understand new things more quickly than Keyro had thought possible. While Kaal's ability to learn new things was almost unnerving, Raan's learning ability was frightening to the point of being uncanny. He displayed a preference for medicine and for medical biochemistry, and learned everything on the subject which was in the Botaran data banks within the first few weeks of living on Earth. After that, he began to expand on what he had learned, adding his own deductions and the reasons behind them to the data banks. In fact, Raan added so much data that new storage devices needed to be replicated to record the extra information, all of which, when it could be checked, proved to be correct.

It wasn't all work. Both Kaal and Raan found plenty of time to play; particularly Raan, who would often disappear with Keyro (and Martin, when he was around) in the direction of the mud pool and be gone for hours. They always returned very wet and very happy after washing the mud off in the pond.

One of the more unexpected events triggered by the Vitalian boys' arrival on Earth was that Morik became determined to learn to speak (or, more accurately, to sing) Vitalian. To this end, he replicated a portable musical instrument, the design for which had been in his teaching machine, to simulate the three sets of vocal cords which he did not possess but which, when added to his own vocal cords, were required in order to sing the polyphonic Vitalian language.

Even more unexpectedly, Morik actually did learn a great deal of the Vitalian language in quite a short period of time. As the weeks passed, he practiced his new skill with the Vitalian boys as often as he could.

Jason, who had been the singer in the band which the boys had once tried to form, was also interested and although he never learned to actually speak Vitalian, he did learn enough of it to allow him to follow the gist of a conversation in the language. According to Morik, it wasn't a difficult language to learn because it was both logical and intuitive. Jason did not agree, but he avoided saying so for the sake of Morik's feelings.

Jason, discussing the matter with Niklas, opined that Morik's desire to learn Vitalian probably came from a fellow-feeling with the Vitalians. The fact that Morik and the Vitalians were in much the same situation — without a home planet to return to and with no way of contacting others of their kind — meant that Morik could understand and sympathize with the Vitalian boys' plight. Niklas agreed with this opinion.

About two months after their return to Earth, the other boys began to notice a change in Kaal's mood. He was often seen contemplating the box of DNA samples recovered from the Soluan warship. The others could guess what Kaal was thinking about and began to realise that the arrangements which had been made for the Vitalian youngsters to live on Earth might not be permanent after all.

Raan also noticed the change in his brother's mood and understood the reason for it. Accordingly, his remarkable powers of deductive reasoning and exceptional knowledge of things medical became focused on one particular subject: Cloning.

Raan began to spend so much time in the medical workshop which Toben had added to the tent for him that even Kaal started to become concerned, particularly when Raan had not emerged from the workshop after working for almost two weeks without a break. As Kaal said to the others, “Because of our healing ability, we Vitalians can go for many days without eating or sleeping, but I'm afraid Raan may be pushing the limits of his abilities too far!”

It was as Kaal finished speaking the above words that Raan burst out of his laboratory and, discarding his protective laboratory apron on the way (it was all he had been wearing), walked directly over to the replicator and dialed up a triple-cheeseburger with extra lettuce, egg and bacon, pickles, tomatoes and fries on the side followed by an extra-large strawberry milkshake. When these items were ready, he sat at a table and began to eat — one might even say inhale — the food while the other boys stared at him with great interest.

The boys' interest was not related to Raan's sudden reappearance, or to his need for huge quantities of food after his long confinement (which was only to be expected), but to the satisfied expression which had been on his face even as he emerged from the workshop and which remained as he ate. It was obvious that whatever Raan had been up to, he believed that his efforts had not been in vain.

Indeed, as soon as Raan had finished his meal, he smiled at the expectant faces in front of him and announced, “Success! I've accomplished two things which I've been working toward for some time, but I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, I must sleep!” Without further ado, Raanwalked into the bedroom and was not heard from again for a full twenty hours.

When he finally woke, Raan insisted on having everyone assembled in the dome tent before he would make his announcement (which also gave him time to eat another huge meal). Since Davy's father would also be present, Raan chose to wear briefs (blue and green, like his eyes) out of respect for his sensibilities.

“Okay, Mr. Mystery-man,” teased Toben after everyone was ready and waiting, “How about you tell us the answer to the mystery, now?”

Raan knew Toben's sense of humor by now and was not at all offended. He just gave a short giggle (which was interrupted by a yawn; even twenty hours sleep had not been quite enough after working for such a long time without a break), then became serious again as he explained his accomplishments.

“Firstly, as you would have guessed, I'm now confident that I can use the DNA samples we recovered to restore the Vitalian race. There's still a lot of practical work to do, not even considering the necessity of finding suitable and willing host mothers, but the scientific work is complete.” Even Kaal looked impressed at this, although he knew his brother's abilities better than anyone.

“Secondly,” continued Raan, “I have a gift for all of you, to repay you for your kindness to both of us.” He lifted a small box which had been lying, unnoticed, on a table behind him and opened the box revealing nine small, cylindrical objects which resembled bullets with silver caps covering the top of each “bullet”. Raan removed one from the box and held it up.

“This,” announced Raan, “is a healing serum which I have developed.  To use it, you simply remove the cap, then press the end against your skin. It auto-injects and is quite painless. Once it is administered in this way, your body will temporarily become as quickly self-healing as a Vitalian's. Each dose will last for just under two days. After this time any re-growth of a lost body part will continue until it's fully grown, but otherwise you'll be back to normal. I'm afraid I could only make nine doses of the serum. The ingredients are... very scarce and I've been unable to adjust the replicator programs to reproduce the ingredients accurately enough for medical use.” He returned the device to the box and put the box aside amid admiring comments from the others.

“Now that you know these exist,” said Raan, “you can arrange to get one of the treatments if any serious or life-threatening injury ever happens to any of you. That's the lot,” finished Raan, unceremoniously.

Raan walked over to his brother, jumped up onto the seated Kaal's knee and was once again just a tired small boy wanting a cuddle. Kaalobliged.

Mr. Caulfield went over to the box, picked it up and looked at the doses of healing serum inside.

“Is there any chance that we could make this stuff on Earth?” queried Davy's father.

“Practically none, I'm sorry,” said Raan, a bit sleepily. “The two major ingredients come from some aromatic leaves which Kaal had in his clothing box. The plants which the leaves came from are only found on our homeworld. The only way to get more would be to rediscover our homeworld... if it's not completely dead from radiation poisoning.”

Both of the Vitalian youngsters' antennae drooped sadly as Raan continued, almost as though to himself, “I wish we could find it, but there's no record of the location either in the Botaran data banks or in the data we recovered from the Soluan warship. Either it was security-coded or it was in the data banks damaged by age.”

There was a lengthy silence during which it became evident that Prince Arion was alternating between being deep in thought and being on the verge of speaking. Several times he opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again silently and return to his inner conflict. As he did so, he gradually gained the attention of everyone in the room.

Suddenly becoming aware of the many eyes upon him, Prince Arion realised that silence was not really a viable option any longer.

Arion looked at the Vitalian boys. “There... may be some hope,” he said, hesitantly.

Questioning looks prompted him to continue.

“I told the others during our journey that there were legends in the archives of my race which referred to your people. Something which I did not mention at the time because it didn't seem relevant is that one legend includes coordinates for the Honored Ones' homeworld.”

Astonished (and somewhat accusing) looks from the other boys prompted Arion to continue in his own defense, “I don't remember the coordinates, but they may be obtained by reading the manuscript containing the legend. Of course, it is only a legend. I can't give you any assurance that the coordinates are correct. I hesitated to tell you this for fear of giving you false hope!”

“But it may not be false hope,” said Kaal, with mounting excitement in his voice. “It's certainly better than no hope at all! We must try!”

“Yes,” agreed Raan, very simply (and very sleepily).

Uncomfortable looks were exchanged between the others present. They realised what was being planned and that there was little choice but to go along with it.

“I'll provide you with a recorded introduction to my father, the King of Korras, and an order for Royal Protected Passage to allow you to reach Korras safely,” said Arion, “as well as the coordinates of my homeworld. I have no doubt that my people will do everything in their power to assist you!”

Jahv looked at the Vitalian boys, his face expressing sad resignation. “You'll need to take the Silver Eagle to make the journey in. There's no other ship on the planet capable of making such a journey.” It was a terrible wrench, giving up a spaceship which Toben and he had put so much effort into building, but Jahv knew there was no real choice. What the Vitalian youngsters were planning to do was too important to allow selfishness to get in the way.

“You have all of the knowledge you'll need, even if you have to perform repairs,” said Toben. “I've never known anyone who learned as fast as you two.”

Raan was asleep again, his head against his brother's chest.

After a moment's silence, Keith sighed then said, regretfully, “I was looking forward to living for nearly nine thousand years.”

“Huh?” asked Kaal, looking puzzled. “How could you do that? I thought you humans usually only lived for about eighty or ninety years?”

Keith was now the one looking puzzled. “Uh... but Keyro said that... the legends...”

Keyro interrupted and continued the explanation. “On the journey, before we found you we were discussing legends about your people. One legend says that anyone who lives with your people will live just as long as you do.”

Kaal stared blankly back and forth firstly at Keyro, then at Keith, before suddenly breaking into a roar of laughter. Raan was so deeply asleep he didn't even stir at the sound.

The other boys stared at Kaal and began to realise the only possible reason for his mirth. Their suspicions were confirmed by Kaal's next words.

“Well, that only goes to show that you can't rely on legends!” He chuckled some more before adding, more thoughtfully, “...although I guess we're going to have to rely on one.”

“It's not true?” asked Keith, sounding disappointed.

“I'm afraid not,” giggled Kaal. “Our healing energy certainly can rejuvenate a person so that they would live almost as long as us, but it's not automatic the way you implied. We have to repeat the treatment at least two times a day — three or four is better — every day.”

“Oh,” said Keith, looking and sounding even more disappointed.

“In fact,” continued Kaal in more serious tones, “to my knowledge my people have only done that once, for a scientist who was trying to cure a terrible disease ravaging his people. It took him almost three hundred years, but he discovered a way to inoculate his people against the infection.”

Prince Arion took one step toward Kaal and cleared his throat before speaking. “That scientist's name was Arion of Korras. After the healing treatments ceased, he married, had children, and lived long enough to see the disease all but eradicated from Korras before dying peacefully, of old age. I was named after him, as all the firstborn males of my family have been for fifty-two generations. He was my ancestor.”

Everyone stared at Arion as he inclined his head, almost bowing to Kaal, who looked distinctly uncomfortable.

“I'd prefer to be friends with you than honored by you, Arion,” murmured Kaal.

“You are both, my friend,” said Arion, quietly. He extended one hand, palm forwards and Kaal extended his, touching Arion's open palm with his own in a mutual salute.

“I'd better put Raan to bed,” said Kaal, changing what was, for him, an uncomfortable subject. He carried Raan to the bedroom, followed by Prince Arion who obviously intended to help. Everyone else just stared after them, feeling rather overwhelmed by the many things which had been revealed to them that day.

* * * * *

Two days had passed. All was in readiness. To everyone's astonishment, Morik had composed a short speech/song in Vitalian to farewell the two extraordinary boys who had become such good friends to everyone. Although only the Vitalian boys understood the words, the music nevertheless spoke to the hearts of everyone present and before it was finished, both Kaal and Raan were weeping with joy. Both boys hugged Morik after he was done singing. Although nobody else had understood the words of the song, they understood that Morik had composed a suitable farewell.

When he was later asked for a translation, Morik at first refused, insisting stubbornly that only in Vitalian could the song be properly understood. He said that trying to translate it into English would be like trying to cram a gallon into a pint jug. Jason also refused even to try, stating only that the little he had understood was “awesome”. Eventually, Morik relented and provided a translation after all, although he seemed to feel a bit ashamed of the translation because it did not adequately express the meaning of the original.

Here is Morik's attempt at a translation of his song. This translation cannot provide the full meaning of the Vitalian words, but it is the best that Morik was able to do.

If you would like to get some idea of what the music sounded like at the farewell gathering, listen to the Largo from Xerxes by Handel. Morik's music was similar in style, although his piece was much shorter.

My dear friends, you both arrived so unexpectedly and we were strangers to each other.

We knew nothing about you.

Quickly we came to love you both. So close our friendship, you became family to us.

Now, you must leave, perhaps forever, and we mourn deeply at this parting.

Absolute necessity forces us apart.

We feel abandoned and lonely, as though you were about to die, for you might not return.

We will not forget you as long as we live. Our home is your home and all that we have is yours.

Sadness overwhelms us as you leave.

You will always belong here. This will ever be your home. All that we have shall always be yours.

We love you. I love you.

My friends, always.

After more tears and hugs of farewell, the Vitalian boys finally departed Earth in the Silver Eagle, bound for Arion's homeworld, Korras.

They took with them a small box containing — hope.

The End

Concerning Vitalians…

This document presents some general information about Vitalians mixed with notes related to the Vitalians who appear in The Dark Past.

Vitalians have short, sparse, downy hair all over their bodies. Normally, it's invisible to the naked eye unless you get up close to a Vitalian and hunt for it, but it does have a visual effect. The hairs are the same color as the inner part of the Vitalian's iris. All highlights reflecting from the body of the Vitalian are tinted with the color in question. Therefore, for example, V'Kaal's highlights are a deep blue and V'Raan's are emerald green.

V'Kaal's body exhibits a ghostly lack of highlights while he's performing Martin's healing due to the blank whiteness of his skin which accompanies such a profound healing effort.

Vitalian antennae are about thumb-width and come to an almost-point; just rounded enough to say that they're not actually pointed, but still pointy enough that you might compare them to a cat's ears. The antennae don't look like ears, but the tip of an antenna when viewed from the front does somewhat resemble the shape of the tip of a cat's ear.

Vitalian antennae are made of a type of “erectile tissue” which is “erect” most of the time if a Vitalian is healthy. An antenna consists of two compartments, one lower and one upper. This structure causes it to lean slightly backwards with a smooth bend in the middle. Additionally, the grey patch on the front of the antenna faces directly forwards instead of being angled down toward the ground as would be the case if the antenna were straight.

Muscle tendons attached to the base of the antennae make them highly mobile and able to move to different angles and positions with great speed. The actual muscles are mostly behind and below the ears, on either side of the head at the back of the neck; there are some smaller muscles used for fine control in the temples on either side of the eyes.

The grey patches on the antennae are microvibration detectors and also serve as the emitters for some forms of healing beams used by Vitalians. Note: Not all healings require the beams in question.

Vitalians are able to use the detectors to sense deception. The detectors pick up microvibrations in the voice of somebody who is speaking, and the microvibrations signal different types of stress, including stress related to deception. The ability to interpret the microvibrations is instinctive to an extent, but some experience is required.

V'Kaal has had dealings with people who didn't always tell the full truth, so he's started to gain the necessary experience, but his deception detection abilities are still mostly at the instinctive stage when Dark Past takes place. Instinctive reactions are the reason that his antennae start to “twitch around” and point at various people at one point; he realizes on an instinctive level that the other boys are concealing information from him.

The microvibration detectors detect “good vibrations” as well as stress. For example, if somebody likes a Vitalian that he's speaking to, this will produce “good vibrations”, and the Vitalian will pick up on it. This is why V'Raan spreads his antennae and points them directly at Fabian when they meet. He's detected that Fabian likes him and so he's positioned the antennae to gather the maximum possible input from Fabian's voice. Hearing somebody who likes you speak to you is physically pleasant for a Vitalian.

Vitalians don't grieve alone. They always grieve in pairs. A shared pain, for a Vitalian, is a pain halved. Touch Empathy, which is discussed below, plays a role. Pressing the antennae against a companion's antennae while in the position of ritual grieving helps a Vitalian to concentrate on his or her companion.

Vitalians are a highly touch-oriented people. In Vitalian culture, physical touch is normal. The more that you like somebody (regardless of gender), the more you'd be expected to touch them (and they, you).

Vitalian culture doesn't have such a thing as “bad touch”. Because all Vitalians possess a type of “touch empathy”, it's nearly impossible for an “unwanted” touch to occur. Painful or otherwise unpleasant touching would be terminated immediately by the “toucher” without any direct input required from the “touched” because Vitalian Touch Empathy would rebound the unpleasantness from the touched to the toucher.

Vitalian discipline of a wayward child is as simple as the aggrieved party touching the child. Touch Empathy does the rest.

The name “V'Kret” which V'Kaal uses as a swear word does belong to his family's ancestry, although it's an incredibly ancient ancestry even by Vitalian standards. The real name of the person known as V'Kret is long forgotten, but he was an aberration amongst Vitalians. He was selfish, self-important and arrogant, and caused a great deal of harm. Fortunately, Vitalian long life and healing ability are both linked to Vitalian sympathy and empathy, so V'Kret lived less than 450 years, which is an eyeblink in Galactic time.

The Botaran race is descended from V'Kret and an unknown female humanoid lifeform. The Dorrian race is a much-changed offshoot of the pure Vitalian race.

Vitalians are highly intelligent by Human standards, but V'Kaal is only near the top of the “average” range for Vitalians while V'Raan is in the middle of what Vitalians would call the “brilliant” range. V'Raan isn't a genius by Vitalian standards, but by Human standards, he's a super-genius.

“Normal” IQ in a Vitalian would be within 10 points of 130 by Human standards. This would put V'Kaal at about 140 and V'Raan close to 160. To qualify for “genius” status by Vitalian standards, a Vitalian would need an IQ score of 180 or more.

Vitalians tend to be slightly “flighty” in their emotions, changing them quickly from one state to another, but their emotions are no less real or deep than anybody else's.

There are few truly unrequited relationships amongst the Vitalians because Touch Empathy conveys true feelings without distortion. Either the affection is returned or the other party “gets the message”, the two share a regret and that's the end of it.

Vitalians are superb realists and invariably sympathetic without becoming sentimental. This is why they are able to kill animals for food without becoming unduly upset about it. They understand that it's necessary for them to eat a small amount of meat and although it causes them some emotional pain to kill an animal, they do it anyway. This is related to the Vitalian “courage when faced with great pain” mentioned by Arion.

Vitalians don't place great values on things just because they're rare. Being an inherently practical people with little to no sentimentality, they value food, water and similar essentials of life far more than gold and jewels. A Vitalian would regard the Human obsession with gold and jewelry as a form of mass insanity and would be both amused by it and concerned about avoiding its effects.

To a Vitalian, mining gold or jewels along with refining and working in gold, cutting and polishing jewels, and placing the jewels in settings are all “hobbies”. These activities are only regarded as important in the sense that beauty is important.

If you were hungry and wanted to buy food from a Vitalian, you'd need more gold than you could easily carry or half a potato sack of jewels to get a single bowl of food. Of course, being that Vitalians are inherently sympathetic, you probably wouldn't need to pay in the first place if you actually needed the food rather than just wanted it.

Vitalian society is based on a “freely supply whatever another needs” mentality which is part of their religion. They believe that this is the way the Creator (their view of God) would have everybody live.

“Wants” are different from “needs”. There's a brisk though light-hearted trade between Vitalians in things classed as “wants”. Only a rough account is ever kept of debts caused by such trades and the debts so created are only ever paid in other “wants”, never in “needs”.

Vitalians are very practical, so they switch the status of an object from “need” to “want” when appropriate. One example would be food that somebody wants not because they're particularly hungry but just because the food tastes good. A first helping at a meal would generally be regarded as a “need”; second and subsequent helpings would generally be regarded as “wants”, although for a child who is in a growth spurt, second helpings would be more likely to be treated as “needs”.

Because Vitalians live for such a long time, mating for life is unusual although not unheard of. However, both long and short relationships may involve a formal marriage ceremony.

The marriage ceremony is essentially a party for the entire village. It includes good food and drink and much music and dancing.

The “bride” and “groom” (as Humans would call them) come from their own houses and proceed to the centre of the village, each carrying a bejewelled circlet of woven gold. They stand and look at each other and recite vows of loyalty, love and responsibility. They then place the circlets on each other's heads. This is the point when the two people are considered to be “married”.

Both parties wear the circlets (they are made to be light and comfortable) until the marriage ends, either by death or by mutual agreement.

After the circlets are placed, the rest of the day is spent in joyful dancing, conversation, and games. Then the happy couple proceed to the hut that they will live together in. This is usually a new hut built for (and often by) them.

If a marriage is ended, the process involves a dissolution ceremony. In a ceremony of this type, the couple who wish to separate declare their agreement to do so and remove the circlets. Note: The circlets are usually recycled, either by being directly used again or by being disassembled and melted down to make new jewelry.

There is no merry-making involved in the dissolution ceremony. In fact, it has some of the feeling of a funeral, since it's the end of something which the Vitalians consider good and desirable.

Marriages generally do not end until any children involved “come of age”. Coming of age is discussed at a later point.

Marriages with more than 2 people (poligamy) are unusual in Vitalian culture but not forbidden.

Both genders wear flowers in their hair at a marriage, but boys always wear a few separate flowers while girls always wear many flowers either in bunches or “daisy-chained” together and worn like a crown or necklace.

Additionally, both the “bride” and the “groom” wear marriage robes. We'll discuss these next.

Vitalian marriage robes resemble a cross between Arabian desert robes (on Earth) and dressing-gowns. The cloth used is lightweight with an opening down the front. The opening is usually tied closed with cords. Note: Vitalians have invented the button, but they prefer a cord-tie because they feel that it's more decorative than buttons.

The colors used in the robes are almost invariably the colors of the bicolor irises of the wearer. Sometimes a third color is used to help “set off” the first two. Black, white, or a shade between the two main colors are the most popular third colors.

Cord-ties use at least three different styles but describing these styles in words is difficult. Briefly, they are the “two cords, one tie”, “one cord, one tie”, and “two cords, two ties” methods.

“Two cords, one tie” has a cord on either side of the robe opening. One end is sewn to the robe; the other end is free to tie to the cord on the opposite side.

“One cord, one tie” has a single cord which is sewn to the robe all the way around like a belt. The ends tie to each other on either side of the opening.

“Two cords, two ties” has the middle of a cord sewn to the robe with the ends free, but at two different heights. The free ends tie to the ends of another cord on the other side of the opening.

Jewels, gold, and silver threads are often used to decorate the robes.

A Vitalian does not “come of age” at a particular chronological age. Instead, there is a set of tests which a child must pass before he or she is considered an adult. These tests involve practical issues, including (but not limited to) the ability and willingness of a prospective adult to provide for themself and their potential spouse and children.

Any child may take the adulthood tests at any time they wish. A pass in all areas means a week of celebration as the former child is presented to the entire village as an adult.

Vitalian children often play games which allow them to practice different aspects of the test for adulthood.

Vitalians don't care much for complicated technology, though being eminently practical, they will make exceptions quite readily when technology is needed (such as for urgent long-distance communication or space travel).

If communication to an entire village is necessary, a Vitalian will therefore eschew the use of hardware such as telephones or computer networks. Instead, he or she will sing an announcement in a central location so that everybody in the community can hear it. If the village is too large for everybody to hear the message, other Vitalians will take up the song and pass it on until the content has reached the edges of the community.

Inter-village communication is handled in a similar way. Usually, a Vitalian will sing an announcement from the top of a hill so that more than one nearby village can hear it. If the matter being discussed needs to be passed on, the neighbouring villages will then send people out to sing the message on. This process will be repeated until the message reaches the intended destination, in the case of a directed message, or all villages on the continent, if it's a large-scale announcement.

Vitalians understand the concept of privacy, but they don't value it as highly as Humans. Therefore, personal messages may be sent this way. For example, a message of love between a temporarily separated married couple, even a message that's quite intimate, would be passed on without much comment.

A personal message of this type wouldn't be seen as inappropriate. Instead, it would be viewed as a positive and healthy communication that reinforced the social structure. Rather than, “How dare they talk about such stuff in public?” (the most likely Human reaction), the Vitalian reaction would generally be along the lines of “Aaaw, how sweet, they're still deeply in love with each other!”

Debates and votes are often conducted by song as well. One person sings the relevant details and a request for opinions or decisions is included in the song. After the song is passed on and taken up by other Vitalians in the transmission chain, Vitalians may pass their thoughts back to the original singer by the same method. In this way, a request for a vote sung at one end of a continent may have reached the other end and many replies may have been received before the end of the same day.

This is how Vitalians conduct “government”. The song-discussion is repeated until a consensus is reached. For large-scale issues that involve the entire continent, this process may take an entire week or longer.

In some respects, Vitalians are similar to Tolkien's “Ents”. Like Ents, Vitalians may take a long time to discuss all of the facts about a particular matter, but after discussion of the facts is completed, decisions are made fairly quickly.

Long song-discussions of this type don't cause problems for Vitalians since they enjoy singing and most of the time, they can take part in discussions while engaged in other activities, such as farming, cooking, cleaning or building.

The Vitalian homeworld is hot, but there are semi-frequent storms during certain seasons. Because these storms are quite violent, the Vitalians only build relatively flimsy huts which are designed to be blown to bits without scattering too much dangerous debris around in the strong winds of the storm.

To protect themselves from the storms, Vitalians dig underground “bunkers”, each of which is large enough to hold several families. Vitalians are excellent at reading the weather and always know when a storm is coming. They move all of their stores of food and clean water into the bunkers, along with their household “pretty things” (furniture, craftwork, tools, and so on) and then wait out the storm. If there are caves nearby, they're usually used instead of bunkers unless the caves are too small to hold all of the people and supplies.

Vitalians are intensely practical, so if they're pressed for space within the bunkers, they'll leave some of their “pretty things” outside rather than compromise on the essentials of life. If the “pretty things” are blown away by the storm, the owner will sigh regretfully, then get on with life. If the “pretty things” are recovered later, there will be joy. If not, they can be replaced sooner or later. Life is far more important than “pretty things”, to a Vitalian.

Once a storm ends (and if another one isn't expected soon), the Vitalians quickly rebuild their huts and move back in again. They don't grumble about this lifestyle; it's just an accepted fact of life. Fortunately, the storms don't often happen during the major harvest season (there's more than one harvest season per year due to the nature of the climate).

The interior of a Vitalian's hut is always elaborately decorated with tapestries, carved furniture, gold and wooden statues (both often enhanced with jewels) and similar decorations.

All Vitalians love beautiful and decorative things, but they're never greedy with them. Loaning decorative items back and forth (sometimes for many years at a time) is a way of life for Vitalians.

There's an exception to the flimsy huts and bunkers mentioned above. In some areas where the required materials are readily available, Vitalians build dome-shaped huts out of clay and stones with thick, strong, clay walls which are baked almost stone-hard by the sun. Huts of this type are able to withstand the storms without difficulty.

Two of the Vitalian names V'Kaal mentions (M'Reen and S'Huul) are female.

Vitalian children don't have the gender biases that Human children often display.

By the time Vitalian children reach the age when they might bully others, they have become so used to using Touch Empathy that the possible consequences of having to touch someone they've hurt effectively prevents bullying behaviour.

V'Raan's hairstyle is based on a water-drop, while V'Kaal's is more like two crests of a wave on either side with a trough in between. These are the standard styles for Vitalian boys of their ages (younger and older).

Vitalian society has only one “religion” which is not formally organized in any way and has only minor regional differences.

Vitalians aren't sentimental about dead bodies. When somebody dies, they dispose of the dead body in an environmentally friendly way.

Preexisting characters belong to Niklas and March.

Text is copyright © 2010-2011 Jonathan. It's distributed under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Sharealike 3.

Illustrations, excluding background images, are copyright © 2010-2011 Perry Van Mason and Eidan, but may be distributed under this license:Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Sharealike 3. Background images are believed to be redistributable for noncommercial purposes.

Megacosmo logo used in the illustrations was inspired by a design submitted by Simon.

Initial version of website created by James Van Mason.

Nice! It's so cool to see more Niklas stories making their way here from the vaults of the archives.

Thank you 😀 
This one has a great plot! We could build something for the missing parts… but I hope they will pop someday 🙄 

I salvaged more and shall go on digging… and posting here!