April 22, 2018, 12:02:36 PM by Jim Statton
The Omega Quadrant
by Jolene Wilkerson
Sweat dripped from the deep ridges of his brow onto the hard earth. Each drop seemed to sizzle on the dirt like a egg dropped into a frying pan. Zy wanted to shake his fist at the entity that stranded him on this forsaken planet, but fear gripped him at the very thought of it.
Zycroft Nash II was handsome with opaque skin and pronounced ridges on his forehead and bridge of his nose. This was a sign of strength and virility on the thriving planet of Aldaron in the Epsilon Quadrant. Zy had achieved the rank of a Two Star Captain in only four years out of Aldaron’s elite West Star Academy. Captain Zy always felt a sense of destiny, and had his sites set on advancement. He hoped to make three star status inside of a year.
As Captain of the Aldaron Space Cruiser IV, Zy sank confidently into the big chair. The crew was pleased to have completed a dangerous, but successful mission delivering vital medical supplies to Elmtar and retrieving refuges, who were seeking asylum from the war torn planet.
“What’s that ahead?” Zy asked his first officer Rand. “Five hundred meters starboard.”
“It looks like a giant crystal,” Rand said with the moon’s light reflecting upon the rare object in space.
“Amazing! Zoom in with magnifiers on full strength,” Zy commanded with a breathless excitement.
Pure light bounced off the glass like object of about twelve by six diameters.
“Rand, what is the space capacity for storage bay one?” Zy asked.
“Storage bay one would hold it sir, but we would need to investigate its properties first as a safety protocol.” Rand said nervously.
“Let’s move in closer, lieutenant,” Zy said. Light from the crystal filled the helm, as the cruiser approached.
“Rand, issue a containment field, storage bay one, immediately!” Zy said, with the vision of his promotion in hand.
“But sir,” Rand hesitated.
“That’s an order,” said Zy. “Before it is out of range.”
The first officer beamed the crystal aboard with a quiet hush of anticipation. Once aboard, the entire vessel filled with a pure light. Zy covered his eyes and gripped the captain’s chair, where he sat comfortably only a moment ago. The vessel began to shake violently as thousand of asteroids and stars whisked by. Moving at an unthinkable speed, Zy tried to keep his eyes open, but the light from inside the vessel made it impossible.
***
After suffering unbarable conditions, without electricity, and only crude tools made from the ships components, Zy knew what he had to do. It would not be long before the crew turned on him and each other. He got up early and washed himself in the stream by the cavern where they slept. He looked up towards the top of the cliff. He had felt the presence of the entity. He knew if he was to ever find passage home and escape the harshness of the desolate planet, that the entity was the key. He had no choice now, but to face it.
He began the long hike up the mountain. With each step, he thought of his weary crew that forged for food by day and huddled by the fire, as electrical storms lit up the night. His boots were covered with dirt, worn and punctured from the rough terrain. His hands dripped with blood, as he pulled himself up, inch by inch, balancing his feet on the jagged rock surface. He climbed in desperation, his heavy guilt upon his back. He felt his former life and his desire for advancement melt away like a ocean wave hitting a castle in the sand. As rocks crumbled under his feet, he tried not to look down. With each gasp, he was more certain that his crew, and the additional nineteen refugees, would not survive. With one final pull, he lunged himself upward and stood on level ground upon the top of the rocky mountain cliff.
He bowed his head in silence and fear. His bones quaked. Zy’s opaque skin burned from the heat of the five suns upon him. His clothes were tattered and his eyes looked as a man at the brink of destruction.
“Tell me why you have brought us here?” Zy cried out to empty sky.
Silence fell over the land.
“What can I do to get my crew home?... Surely you have not brought us here to perish?” Zy cried out with a determined, but weakened voice.
Light began to swirl around him like a storm. Zy felt a presence in the light and his body collapsed. He saw his planet, Aldaron, in a vision; blue and green with vegetation from a distance. His eyes batted back and forth, as he lay prostrate on the ground. But as the vision continued, Zy began to see soldiers marching in lock step through the streets and citizens quaking in fear. He could see miles of land, devastated from storms and quakes, and cities flattened in rubble. Zooming in closer, he was horrified to see all the inhabitants, moving about in a trance, void of soul or spirit in servitude to the state.
Zy began to shutter on the ground, as his vision began to fade.
“My beloved Aldaron, a slave planet? How can this be?" he said, struggling to stand. Deep strands of white hair now highlighted his temples, on the sides of his head.
As he looked out from the cliff to the land below, the wind blew. With it, the trees rippled providing shade below. The land seemed to be looking up, ready to be worked.
“There will be much hardship ahead,” Zy sighed.
But he bent down and cupped the dirt into his hands and sprinkled it onto his face. Drawing it near to his lips, his eyes wet with tears, he kissed it.
The End