Silver Rain
Part 1: The Great Journey
The old red sun, Sol, is growing larger day by day.
The ice caps have melted.
The sea is rising.
We have no hope for the future.
Kris read the spidery script of a Poet, the few people who wrote stories on fragile paper like the ancients did millions of years ago. Kris rarely had time to read a story, but this was no fiction; this was a chronicle of the last days of Man’s existence on Terra, the days Kris and his crew were forced to bear witness too.
There had been many times before that Man had felt that his time was running out. The Millennium Madness occurred every thousand years, and the pollution scare of 1990 A.D. was a classic textbook case, solved by the arrival of the Tuctuks of Pluto that brought the hydrogen fusion plants that could sustain the energy needed for human life. Later there had been uncountable threats of elimination by the Galaxy Council, but all those had ended about 2 million years ago. Since then, there had been peace among all in the Galaxy and the people of Terra had prospered. But those incidence of the past had been just brief moments when Man’s universal consciousness had been temporarily disturbed by His actions. That was not the case this time. The End is near.
Sol, now red and glowing day and night, was dying from a common cause. He was old and tired, burning for over 10 billion years. His hydrogen fuel had dwindled, and now Sol was expanding into the familiar shape of a red giant. Of course, Technicians and Astrophysicists had been examining and planning for years, but only recently did the panic start in the people.
20 years ago, Mercury had been absorbed, but nobody had paid much attention, since Mercury’s wealth in rare ores had been mined out long ago. 10 years ago, it had been Venus. Again, not too much attention for a planet without any commercial value except for volcanic and hydroponics research. But 5 years ago, the collapse of the star’s fuel banks had begun to affect Terra. At first, the global elevation of the sea had bothered no one. After all, had not such phenomenon occurred before in Terra’s long history? But then the Great Cities were being threatened by flooding and great storms of tremendous power were destroying houses built to withstand any natural disaster. But those would be shadowed by the destruction to come. Clouds boiling in the air, Luna melting and falling to the earth in metal droplets. The ground itself beginning to soften like a chocolate sweetbar. The common citizen was shocked and horrified. All that the people had work for was now in vain. Sol was going to destroy it all. Destroy them all.
But not all was going to be lost. Four years ago the official evacuation had begun; the people given 100 years of refugee status in the Galaxy before they would be cast out, exiled to a small moon where as sure as sand, many would die.
By now, the planet was empty, deserted except for the Technicians and other professionals who had chosen to stay. Not all was going to be lost, if Kris’ crew and the other elite Star Rangers succeeded in their mission.
When it had been first observed that the Day of Destiny was near, plans were quickly made. The Technicians had quietly begun to build massive spaceships able to withstand the strains of long intergalactic travel, which meant both time and space. At the same time as the Telepaths and Empaths began to use their mental powers to seek a new world for mankind, a new Terra. Their searching had turned up 7 possible solar systems for exploration, which just happened to be the number of spaceships.
The Star Rangers, the Terran warders of Her boundaries and protectors of Her people, had been elected to complete this exciting journey. Each one of the Captains would be proud to be the discoverer of the new world. But somehow, Kris was certain that the honour was his. When the lots had been drawn, Fate had chosen Polaris, the ancients’ Northern Star. Many children had wished upon that bright star for good luck. Luck is what was needed for success in our desperate mission.
And now the day was almost here. The last exodus would be tomorrow, but the possibilities were numerous. There was a whole universe out there and there had to be an empty hospitable planet somewhere.
There was no dawn, nor night anymore, yet deep within the veins of the Star Rangers, they knew it was time to go. All the last good-byes had been said long ago; now only the fear of the unknown kept them landbound. The seven Captains had breakfasted with the remaining Officials and received their final instructions. There hadn’t been any surprises; everyone knew what to expect. Find a suitable planet, matching as close as possible to Terra and return immediately with co-ordinates for Jumping. The initial voyage to the future worlds would be the longest, straight star-hopping, since they could Jump back to Terra within a Luna cycle, or had been before Luna had melted.
Now the moment was here. Kris boarded the spaceship and strode up to deck level, the control room rich with modern technology and comfort. A brass name plate proudly proclaimed the ship to be Epoch.
“Appropriate name,” he murmured to himself, “I wonder who chose it.”
“Oh, you know Technicians. They love to prove they have talents in other areas.” A voice giggled from behind. A face approximately at his elbow grinned up. It was a human face, yet somehow it was different. Those green-gray eyes were shining with mischief right now, but they looked too old for its owners smooth cheeks. The woman’s hair was in the style the Canadians of Northern Terra preferred: black with a stripe of white. She looked familiar.
“I don’t think that we’ve met yet. I’m Minavera of the Great City of Toronto,” she shrugged. “At least, I used to be.”
Of course. Now he knew why she looked familiar.
“Are you related to Technician Belveren?”
She laughed. “You recognised me? He’s my twin. The both of us are travelling together on Epoch.”
She added in a low voice, “Veren designed it. You were year-mates. You know how protective he gets over his creations.”
“I know.” Kris said in a dry voice. A thought occurred to him.
“Veren is the Technician. Why are you here for? Surely you can catch a Jumper to Ghanas 2.”
“Veren didn’t tell you? I’m hurt.” She flipped through the personnel list. “Minavera of Toronto, Telepath of the Second Level, Empath of the Sixth.”
He took the list back from her.
“Funny. I never associated the name with the face.” He smiled. She smiled back.
“Few people do.”
He broke the eye contact to examine an odd device by the helmsman’s seat, a black box with a glo-globe on top. Counters and levers ran down the sides.
“What’s this?”
“It’s called a Molecular Accelerator, or something like that. It’s brand new, just developed. It allows us to travel beyond the speed of light. Veren helped to develop it.” Minavera proudly answered.
“Really?” Kris was interested. If this could move them at a rate faster than light...Maybe there was a god after all.
“Don’t count on it. The theory’s sound but the machine has never been tested before. Better to rely on the usual methods. Safer, too.” A flamboyant woman in a regulation duty suit crowned with bright red hair saluted him. He returned the gesture.
“Honour to meet you sir and to see you again Mina,” she turned to Minavera.
“Technician Belveren’s invention is safe and ...” She began angrily, but was cut off by the other woman.
“I mean no insult to you or your brother, but you can’t deny the fact that it hasn’t been tested. I just don’t want to put all my eggs into one basket, so to speak.”
Minavera grudgingly agreed. She suddenly looked at the countdown clock.
“Oh, dear! I must get my equipment aboard!” With that, she ran off.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I have yet to get your name.”
“Altara of Sirus 5, at your service.” She bowed.
“And I at your family’s.” Kris responded correctly. “I’m lucky to have a Second who gets on so well with the other crew members.” He meant it for a joke, but she began to get quite flustered.
“Oh sir, please don’t take offence. Mina and I served ship together on the Pelagian’s voyage to the Outer Limits of M54. We’re old friends. I was just...”
“Speaking freely, which certainly is permitted during long voyages like ours will be. It’s necessary for some protocol but it’s even more necessary for the crew to be able to talk to their Captain and his Second.”
She nodded. “I understand sir, but some Captain insist on formality.”
“I know. See that we’re properly provisioned for the voyage.”
“Certainly.” She strode down the stairs to the beamers for teleportation to the lower levels.
Kris had another of those gut feelings that told him everything will work out fine. If only he could believe it.
In less than an hour, Epoch was already far away from Terra, rapidly approaching the Inner Asteroid Belt that took great skill to manoeuvre through. They were making great time. Mina had been right; they were travelling past the light barrier, but by the time they saw an object, they were already through it. It would be impossible to cross the belt without hitting something, so they would have to power down to normal speed. Not a real problem, since they could return to full power once they were clear.
Kris scanned his deck crew. Altara was reading a book on ancient Terran prose since there wasn’t a black hole, comet, or anything threatening from Terra to the Inner Belt. Veren was anxiously watching his Accelerator, his green-gray eyes intense with a carbon stylus tucked in his long, tied back, dark hair. Mina had pleaded that she needed to rest and focus her mental powers in her rooms. Skylere, a Healer originally from the Great City of London, was quietly leaning by the back doors. He had no real reason to be on deck, but he claimed that he liked to observe how a crew worked together. Strange reasons for a strange little man.
Aliss was not a mystery at all. Or rather, the mystery was on the surface. He had seen enough cool, distant yet determined females in the Service to understand her. A woman set to prove her strength in a field of mostly macho men, to win glory and praise for all of Womanhood. Kris personally didn’t prefer the type, but he at least knew that his Navigator would obey his orders to the letter.
“Captain, we’re entering the Belt.” Aliss’ crisp voice broke his train of thought.
“Steady. Reduce velocity, Veren. Hold at normal.”
“Yes, sir.” Veren bobbed.
The giant icy boulders came into view on the monitor.
“Aliss, plot a path through the Belt.”
“As you say, Captain.”
The crossing through the Belt wasn’t very hard, so less than an hour later, Epoch was clear enough to use the Accelerator. But it didn’t work. Veren fiddled with the switches, dials and counters, yet it didn’t work.
“I don’t know why Kris,” he almost wailed, “the calculations are correct, the readouts report no damage. I don’t know why!”
“It’s okay, Veren. We’ll just have to go on travelling without the Accelerator like we did before.”
“Truly?” Veren’s eyes were child-like in the need for reassurance.
“Yes. I’m sure that with some time, you can fix it.”
“Oh, yes. I’ll fix it.”
With that, he began gleefully taking the machine apart, under the glares of the deck crew. Kris didn’t blame them; he wanted to glare too. Without the Accelerator, this voyage could take thousands, perhaps even millions of years. Too late for humanity. Too late maybe for them too if the stasis chambers failed, the sleeping rooms within a powerful magnetic field where time stopped. Now all hope rested in the power of time and space.
Part 11: The Promise Unbroken
The hiss of gas escaping was the first sound Kris heard as he regained consciousness. Slowly his eyes began to adjust to the soft lights of the stasis chambers as the magnetic field was being gradually reduced. How many years had they been sleeping beyond the flow of time, forced to leave the ship running on auto pilot? Thousands if not millions of years past the time Sol had engulfed Terra.
Countless generations of humans had been born and died without ever touching the firm soil of their ancestral home. Perhaps the others had failed in their missions too and there was no human race left to save. Maybe his crew were the only humans left. The thought wasn’t comforting.
The others in his chamber began to awaken. Kris found that he could feel his arms and legs again. Experimentally, he wiggled his fingers. Looks like we made it through all right. But others may not have fully recovered. Occasionally, a person might have a reaction to the force created by the magnets like temporary or full paralysis of the limbs. The possibility grew the longer the duration in stasis. Some people once in stasis never awoke again. Nature had not made humans to live in such conditions.
Luckily, everyone had awakened in good health, if a little hungry. Now it was time to return to the deck and see exactly where they were and how long had they been asleep. He found all of the ship in working order, with nothing that a Junior Technician couldn’t repair in a minute.
When he reached the deck level, all of his vital members: Altara, Mina, Veren and Aliss were seated in their places. From the corner of his eye, Kris saw Skylere leaning as usual at the side. He was happy, relieved was a more correct word; that his crew had survived, but his attention was on a blue planet that dominated the monitor screen.
“Oh, Captain! Glad you here at last. I was one of the first freed from the chambers,” Altara explained. “We’re presently orbiting the planet, scanning for life, air, geological features, you know the drill. This planet is the fourth from Polaris. The computer awoke us as soon as we entered the solar system and Mina guided us to this planet.”
Kris sat down in his chair. It felt quite familiar.
“What do you sense? Any threats or intelligent life forms?”
Mina shook her head, her dark hair swaying.
“I don’t feel any threat to us or any intelligent life forms below. It feels to me...” She grasped for the right words. He ended it for her.
“Like Terra?”
“Yes, that’s the words. It feels like home. I feel welcomed by the planet. I think this is the one that we’ve been looking for.”
Her eyes gave that sentence a lot more meaning. Kris turned to Altara.
“When will the initial probes be back?”
“The atmosphere’s similar to Terra’s so it will take probably one hour for a complete analysis.”
“Until then, I want Veren to organise and assign a technical crew to fix up the ship. Altara and Mina, continue you observations of the planet. Skylere, don’t try to sneak away; you will examine and make certain that everyone on board is in good health from the stasis period. Oh,” He added, “Veren, keep working on the Accelerator.”
Veren gave a nod and they separated to do their duties.
Kris walked into his private rooms and sat down at the regulation desk with a timer he had placed there shortly before entering stasis. It read: 7,500,000 Terran years. Dear God. By this time, humanity would be so different and so mixed with alien races that even if they could return, their work would be in vain. His crew would be by now definitely the last pure humans alive, the victims of chance. But now chance had given him gift: a new world and by the shadow of Luna if they didn’t try to complete their mission now that they had come so far and sacrificed so much. What was that ancient saying? ‘He who flies too closer to the sun shall get burned.’ It seemed to fit their present circumstances.
Over an hour had past when there was a knock at his door.
“Enter.” Kris said absently. To his surprise, it was Mina, carrying something in her hand. He rose to greet her.
“Here Kris,” she pressed the item into his hand. “I was instructed to give this to you when we reached our destination.” Her eyes were sad, as if she had lost something that she had loved. In his hands was a portable computer disk. Without a word, he fed it into his portable and his Commander’s face appeared.
“Captain Kris of the spaceship Epoch,” he intoned as grave as ever. “If you are viewing this, then you must have reached the new planet chosen by the Telepaths and the Empaths. I know that by this time, you know that it is impossible to return here in time to save the majority of humanity. Humanity as you know it will not exist at all, so it is hopeless to turn back now. It is our belief that the planets harbouring refugees will take them in as citizens in time, but that is none of your concern.”
Really? Then what was the real purpose of their mission? He had sensed that there was something fishy from the beginning of this trip. First, the Accelerator was an untested, unproved invention that powered the vehicles to save humanity. Must not be a high priority. Second, inside the ship’s supplies were books on survival, primitive laser gun, knives, solar panels, basic mining equipment, not your usual supplies for a scouting vessel. And thirdly, why would a highly talented Empath and Telepath accompany them. Oh, sure. To locate the planet and help check it out. Both quite capable with basic personnel. And some of his crew he would bet had skills other than their jobs.
His Commander continued on.
“It was true when we told you that you were to save humanity by finding a new planet, because all of humanity that’s left is you and your crew.” He paused to allow that frightening thought to sink in. “Everyone aboard your ship has been chosen for your genetic patterns as well as physical, mental and emotional traits. You are the best of the best, although it may not seem it. It is your responsibility, as the leader of your crew, to settle on the planet and begin to repopulate the human species, beginning as an agrarian society. The odds will be against you, yet you are our chosen people and we have faith in you. Please don’t fail our expectations.”
His Commander’s face was twisted as he made that last plea. Love of God, it was one thing to think of yourself as being alone, another thing to hear it. He wanted to join Mina in her silent tears. Finally she spoke, her voice dry and cracked.
“I knew the whole time. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you, but you were so full of hope...I didn’t want you to know the truth, to hurt you. I’m sorry...” She broke off into a whisper at the end.
It hurt, knowing the truth. Yet deep down, he had always known that it would come down to this. He had to be strong and lead his people into their new lives on the planet. In a way, it felt like he had been reborn after the 7.5 million year sleep. Reborn to lead a reborn race.
“Captain, we’ve ready to sent down the first group,” Aliss crisply announced.
“All right. Let’s go.” He tightened his protective wrist bands. “Execute beam.”
“Beam executed.”
Instantly, they were on a grassy plain, stretching for miles around with the dark haze of mountains to the west. The probes had come back with surprising results. Pressure of one atmosphere, temperatures moderate enough for life (which was quite varied, from early reports), atmosphere a near match of Terra, as was land to water ratios. It seemed entirely too perfect. The only unusual find was that there wasn’t many old trees except on mountainous land and unexplainable black circle patterns on the ground, which they had come to investigate. Immediately after being beamed down, Altara began scanning with a portable.
The team consisted of himself, Altara, Mina, Veren and Skylere. Skylere had come for his medical knowledge of plants, Veren for observation of possible natural disasters, Altara had a surprising knowledge about survival training, and Mina insisted to come, saying that she wanted to see their new ‘home’. Only Kris and Mina knew the true interpretation of that; he hadn’t the heart to let his people know the truth. Not yet, at least.
Altara finished her scan of the local area. She stood up, apparently pleased with something.
“There’s a black ring not so far away. West by southwest.” She pointed. “There’s not too many animals around. Probably scared off by our arrival. Let go, Captain?”
He nodded. There was no question why Altara was chosen, even though she wasn’t a pure-bred Terran human. You tell that she absolutely loved the wild outdoors.
It was a long hike to the mountains with occasional breaks for Altara to update the position of the black ring. It was probably nothing but burnt grass from a wild fire, but even that helped them. It would mean that the grasslands were unsafe to dwell in the summer, whenever summer was here. That gave him a thought for a very good question.
“Veren, what season is the planet in?”
He thought for a moment. “I’d say that this is late summer, judging from the tilt of the axis. Of course, it would be winter in the south, and spring...” Veren had a bad tendency to drag on when answering a question. Intelligent, but talkative when given a reason to talk.
“How long is a day? And moons, how many?”
“There is approximately 28 hours a day here and three moons each rising in its own time.”
A longer day and night. That would take getting used to, but if they were working half as hard as he thought they would be, they’d be too exhausted to grumble about a longer night.
By mid-afternoon, Kris judged, they arrived at the black ring. It was larger than he expected it and the vegetation was burnt. Skylere intently examined the grass and promptly said,
“It’s been burnt, but it happened awhile ago. It’s almost ash. See how the grass just outside the ring is high? Fires don’t burn like that. They burn a whole field, travelling with the wind. I fear this is some kind of global predator.”
Mina nodded.
“I agree. All the animals I’ve sense so far are mostly young adults, few old or new ones. And I don’t mean just rabbits! All the animals. That indicates the same: a predator.”
Veren also agreed.
“These rings are all over the planet. It’s just too exact to be mere chance. I suppose we should get aboard the ship and start plotting a course to the next star.”
Surprisingly, everyone vetoed the idea.
“I like this place. It reminds me of home, of what was home.” Altara said thoughtfully.
“The fact that there is still life on this planet shows that there is places to escape from this rare occurrence. It is rare if the black rings are caused by it.” Skylere argued. Mina calmly spoke.
“This is the planet that the ones who sent us to find, the ones who died for us to survive. In honour of their memory, we will stay here and prosper as the last members of the fearless humans of Terra.”
All eyes turned to Kris, their leader.
“We will stay here. This is our home now until Polaris engulfs us as Sol did. We are the only survivors of a great people with a fantastic story of hope, tears, blood and sweat. We are proof that the right to life is worth dying for.”
That seemed to fit the occasion and the challenge that his people would have to rise to in order to survive.
Within a day of their first explorations, most of the supplies for their resettlement were done on the planet’s surface. The word that this was their new home had spread like wildfire among the crew. The air was festive as people happily worked in the caves Kris had designated as their main base.
Altara was constantly moving, checking on the unloading of the crates, directing and assigning people to new tasks. Mina was in charge of the craftsmen, listing the tools and materials to create baths, a kitchen, a sanitary bathroom, the basic necessities of life. Skylere was scouting, testing the unfamiliar vegetation to see if they were useful or not for food or medicine. Veren and his crew of Technicians were enlarging the caves, smoothing the bumpy floors and roofs. Everyone was eager to move into their new homes and to explore the unmarred land.
At first, everyone had ignored the stories from the children old enough to fetch water from the nearby stream about strange flying lizards. At least, that was what they sounded like; small, scaly, red animals with wings that laid down on the flat warm rocks by the stream that flew away whenever the children approached. With a stern lecture to stay alert and away from strange animals, the childrens’ stories were soon forgotten by the adults under the weight of practicality, but not by the children at all.
For two whole Terran months; it was the only way the new settlers had ever told time, there had been no major problems. Most of the vegetation wasn’t harmful and they had discovered roots and grains to supplement their diet of synthesised food. Some of the young men and women had become hunters of the two-prongs, grazers on the plains that resembled deer on Terra, and rock cats. Like the ancient big cats of Terra, they too were a dangerous predator, yet their hides made excellent insulation in cool nights. The days were now turning colder, and most of the settlers had gone berry and fruit picking down on the plains where a few bushes lay for the taking, and a leafy forest south of the plains.
They had combined both modern technology and basic living in their settlement, Cave Hold, as it was now named. They used glo-lights, psi-sleds and lasers while chopping firewood for cooking with hatches and hunting animals with the arrows, spears and slings their primitive ancestors had. Kris had ordered that high tech instruments and devices were only to be used in occasions where their basic tools couldn’t do the job safely or at all. For once the batteries and parts of the high tech stuff were broken, there was nothing that they could do to fix them. It was hard for all to get used to, yet it people felt a sense of accomplishment when they had done a task without the help of machines.
So they were all surprised when the Silver Rain came.
It was mid-afternoon when a very distressed boy ran into Kris’ office. He was scanning a report on the grain and meat storage in the lower caverns, wondering how to discourage vermin when the winter came.
“Captain,” he panted breathlessly. “There’s been a horrible disaster! My mum...” He trailed off, uncertain of how to continue. “My mum sent me back to tell you. She’s a Healer. We were outside, gathering tea plants to plant in here for winter. I looked up, ‘cause I was bored, and I saw shiny things falling from the sky, with no clouds above. I thought that I was seeing things so I called to my mum, and she yelled to everyone to take cover under a big stone outcrop. But some people didn’t hear her or maybe they ignored her; I don’t know, but they stayed outside and...” The boy couldn’t finish.
“They got caught by the rain? They were hurt badly?” Kris gently probed.
“No sir,” the boy almost sobbed. “The rain...They were screaming as the rain ate their bodies. When it past, my mum ran to them but there was nothing there. Just a dark ring around where the rain fell.”
Kris absentmindedly comforted the boy as he cried. Inside, his thoughts raced. Mystery solved about the dark rings, but what was this rain? Mindless chemicals or evolved animals? Was it native to this planet or was it from outer space? He needed the advice and help of his deck crew to help keep this threat away from his people and their new home.
Their chairs were arranged in a circle in Kris’ office. Kris was finishing his report to the Council, as the representatives of the different organisations were called. It consisted of Kylere for the medics, Mina for the Telepaths and Empaths, Veren for the craftsmen and Altara as the general representative of the ordinary people, the hunters and gatherers. Aliss, as it had turned out, had become a great cook, able to create dishes similar to Terran ones and heal the home sickness that sprung once in awhile.
“...And so, I’ve researched the Memorex for any other aerial disasters and predators of a global scale. The closest match is the acid rain of 2005 on Terra.”
Altara snorted. “That’s impossible in our case. CO2 and pollutant levels are nil. No, I think that this is a highly evolved organism devouring all forms of life on this planet.”
Mina laughed. “Get real. First, if your life form is so intent on ‘devouring all life’, why does it act in such a random fashion? Second, why do I sense nothing? Thirdly, it can’t be part of this planet’s ecosystem because it came straight out of a cloudless sky. It must be extraterrestrial in origin.”
Veren nodded. “I agreed with that conclusion. I will study the angles of the moons, and see if their gravitational pull could have dragged these organisms out of space into our atmosphere.”
Skylere shivered. “An organism capable of totally consuming a complex organism as a human in a few minutes. I would have never thought it possible. No creature that humankind has ever encountered has been able to do that. And it seems that there’s nothing that can be done when a person is infected by that rain, for a lack of another word. Except to quickly end their suffering.”
It surprised Kris to hear Skylere speak so emotionally, yet the man was a Healer. He was sworn to alleviate pain and suffering, to heal any injury. It must be horrible to see any illness that there was no magic antidote, no pill or injection, no hope of survival.
Kris stood up.
“Right. I will post watchers, all fast runners and near caves or outcroppings. Veren, have your whole team working on this problem. Find out where they come from. Altara, I want your hunters to search the plains and forests, by the large lake as well. We need to know the interval between falls, what stops the critters and what kills them. And if possible, bring back a specimen for Skylere to dissect.”
They all gagged at that undertaking.
“It’s important to know everything we can about them since we need to plan our defence. We now have modern tech at our disposal; our descendants won’t. We must plan for the future.”
They all agreed with that sombre statement.
The news wasn’t good. The life form was extraterrestrial in origin, and the pull of the moons’ orbits drew them earthward on to the surface. The only problem was that the large cloud in which they came from was approximately the size of two red Sols, encircling the whole solar system. It would be impossible to completely destroy the Silver Rain, as Altara dubbed the threat.
However, there was some good news to report. Veren and his crew had figured out mathematically the intervals between Falls and the places where it fell for the next hundred years. There would also be a long period of time coming up when no Silver Rain would fall for a year; possibly even longer. That would give them time to prepare and begin their defensive plan, although it was undecided at the moment what they could do.
Altara had reported that the Silver Rain drowned in deep water, nor could it bury into hard rock. It devoured anything living: plant and animal. Cold could freeze it and fire burn it. The only question was how were they going to burn it without getting killed.
So far the suggestions were simple. Have watchers watching the sky during days when a Fall was scheduled to happen. Don’t leave the caves on those days. Build a settlement near the ocean. Nothing except run and hide.
Kris was so frustrated. So far, everything was going so smoothly and then, wham, right between the eyes. He was a fighter, and he wasn’t about to quit and let a mindless piece of string have its way. If only they had protective suits and a flame thrower. The flame thrower part was easily done, but they had yet to come up with an inorganic fabric that Silver Rain didn’t destroy. What if they could fight them in the sky, blasting them before they touched ground? Yeah, he thought to himself, with psi-sleds that moved so slowly that the driver would be instantly dusted. There were so many what-ifs.
Mina came into his office, her face glowing with excitement.
“You have to see this! Come on, it’s amazing! I think we have a solution to our problem!”
His ears pricked up at that. A solution? For that he would run to Timbuktu.
Mina led him to one of the main meeting rooms where people gathered to talk or sit at night to tell stories. The room was full of people, circled around a girl and a red lizard with wings about her own height. Kris nudged his way to the front, half-dragging Mina behind him.
“What is this? A pet?” He asked the girl who shared Mina’s wise eyes in a young face.
“Never a pet, sir. This is Tekakwitha. She’s my friend.” She said proudly.
“How did you meet your little friend?” Was this lizard what Mina wanted him to see. It wasn’t large enough to swallow a two-prong, much less the Silver Rain in a Fall.
“My mum sends me down to the little stream to fetch water everyday and I met Tekekwitha there. At first, she would see me and fly away, but now she comes every time I call. I brought her here because my brother didn’t believe that I could catch a dragon.”
He was startled. “A dragon?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Don’t you know about dragons, sir? They live by the little stream in the hills. They’re real smart; they shout when the Silver Rain is coming and if you get lost, they’ll lead you home. When they eat river rocks, they breathe fire-I know, I saw it once- and they scorch the Silver Rain, darting here and there.”
Bang, it was like a bomb had hit him. If they could make the dragons understand their need, they could become living flying fire throwers. There would be no risk to his people. It would work perfectly if, and it was a big if, they could make them understand.
Mina’s hand was on his shoulder. “Pauli was tested for psi potential when she was born. A level eight telepath. Your average person. If Pauli can speak and bond to the dragons, then most people can.”
“What do you mean about speaking and bonding? The dragon is just a little simple animal.”
She made a very vexed noise. “Didn’t you listen to what she said? She ‘spoke’ to Tekekwitha, and ‘asked’ her to come here. Also Pauli’s Tekekwitha only comes when Pauli’s at the stream. You’re a level six telepath, right? Try to mindspeak to the dragon. You’ll see what I mean.”
He concentrated on the little animal, willed a hello to it.
Don’t talk so loud; it hurts my ears. Hello to you too; by the way.
Shocked, his mouth fell open. Quickly he asked if they would help them, visualising the Silver Rain. Tekekwitha’s eyes whirled as she sent a reply.
Kris immediately ordered for all personnel with a psi level of telepathy above eight to come with him to the little stream in the hills.
It was a strange sight to see, over a hundred people slowly walking home to their caves, carrying or walking beside little scaly bodies of the colours of the rainbow. Kris had bonded a bronze male, Neurath. It seemed strange to have a constant companion in the back of his mind, a friend who always sympathised with Kris, yet the feeling was a good one. Cabrini, a green, was Skylere’s new friend. He clutched her small body protectively. Faisal was a rather large golden specimen of her kind, and was bonded to Mina. Veren, who not surprisingly had a high psi-level, had a brown named Dinesen, while Altara had a blue named Bandello, who shared her sense of humour from the sound of her frequent laughter. Aliss had found a quiet red dragon named Tenniel, who seemed to enjoy scowling as much as his new partner.
Kris had rushed here as quickly as he could when Tekekwitha had sent not words, but pictures, first of humans standing by the stream, embracing their new allies in their war. Then an image of dragons, many times the size of them now, with riders on their backs, breathing fire at masses of Silver Rain in the sky, constantly flickering here and there in seconds. Possibly the dragons could teleport between distances? That would be a great skill to possess when the psi-sleds stopped working. Finally, the last image was thousands of dragons, this time the size of a small house, carrying a metallic device to one of the moons. Along with the final image was a sense of freedom, of completion of their task. The end of the Silver Rain.
He knew how many generations it took for animals to increase in size, so he knew that he and his people would never see that last day. Nor their children’s children either. God alone knew if Kris would see the first of the dragonriders, as he called those brave men and women, his descendants.
Mina touched his arm. “It’s a long path ahead for us, yet the dragons know that it will happen one day. They are patient enough to wait and so must we.”
Yes. For now, they would have to hide in the safety of the caves, breeding the dragons, but one day... He shook his fist at the sky. One day we will meet the Silver Rain in the sky, and then... And then, the stars. Humankind had been built to survive adversity, so...
Excuse me, but I’m very hungry. Are we near this cave place?
We’re almost home. There will be food there for you and the others.
Neurath snorted. I’m hungry. I am not the others!
It was just like a dragon to have the last remark.
Kris and Neurath stopped on the hill near the main cave entrance, looking up in the twilight sky where the first moon was rising. We will survive, Silver Rain, Kris whispered in the part of his mind that only Neurath heard, we will survive.
They walked into their new home, beginning a new chapter in the book of humanity’s past.
One day you and I will be under another sun,
One day the day will end before it has begun,
One day the stars will dim and die,
One day our spirits will rise and fly.
Fly fast, fly far,
Fly over the darkened land,
To where the river
Doesn’t meet the sand.
-Except from ‘One Day Soon’, unknown Poet of Terra.
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