The Sirius Chronicles (3 page)

Just as I was about to head back I heard Kayin yell my name. He ran over and I said “How was it?” He looked somewhat disappointed and replied “It wasn’t as impressive as I thought… I guess after seeing this place it made my expectations a little high. Still some really amazing stuff though… What have you been doing?”

I told him about Cyrus and the details of my possible new job. I was kind of upset about not spending most of my time with my best friend but it seemed like such a great opportunity. Who knows what it could lead to, and I had a feeling that Cyrus was a part of something very special and secretive.

I could tell Kayin was disappointed as well, but at the same time understood why I wanted to take the job… and also that I didn’t exactly have a choice. The guy was head of the science division. Kayin smiled and said “Well it’s not that big of a deal. We can still hang out when we have free time. Plus I might be assisting and guarding your science team anyway… You wanna keep walking or what? I’ve been sitting down listening to some stuffy old man tell me stuff I already know for 3 hours.”

To be honest I was getting pretty tired of walking but since we might not see much of each other I did it anyway. For hours we discussed the mission and the possibility of encountering intelligent life. He raised good points about the mining process as well. He explained that the ACI estimated eight years by studying similar mining conditions on Aeris.

Kayin knew quite a bit about mining and said he thinks mining 7,000 tons of anything will take longer than that. Especially since all the equipment has to be set up and it might even take a long time to find the chrysos deposits… if they even exist. Basically he advised me to expect our journey to take much longer because the ACI’s estimate was for a best case scenario. I was perfectly fine with that… in fact I think I could live in space for the rest of my life.

Eventually we decided it was time to try and get some sleep; tomorrow was going to be a big day. So we parted ways and headed to our rooms. I was almost back to my room when I realized how hungry I was. The Aisirum Hall had such a hypnotic effect on me that I must have walked right by the nutrition center.

When I got to the center five other people were already in line and it took a few minutes per person so I had a wait. While I was standing there a hand touched my shoulder – “I saw you walking around with Cyrus, you must be his new assistant… I’m Sara, part of the science team. Nice to meet you” She put her hand out so I responded in kind and said “I’m Atlas, nice to meet you too.” She seemed very kind and had a sincere look in her eyes. I immediately felt comfortable around her which was a rare thing for me.

I proceeded to stand there in awkward silence trying to think of something to say, but luckily she took the initiative. “So what division were you in before Cyrus recruited you?” – I hesitantly answered “Militia, first encounter specialist.” She looked confused for a moment – “Really? How did you meet Cyrus?”

I replied “It was right after Commander Neros’ speech; Cyrus approached me… He asked a few questions and next thing I knew the job was mine. He said something about not liking scientists as assistants... I don’t know to be honest. I’m a bit confused myself.” She smiled – “Well I guess he must see something in you. What made you sign up for the militia in the first place?” Before I could answer the man waiting behind her pointed out that it was my turn.

I rushed over to the booth, got my supplement and stood aside to wait for Sara. When she was done she walked over and said “Sooo?...” I stuttered a bit - “Oh uh.. Well I joined the militia division because it was the easiest way to become a part of the Sirius mission… I’m here because I want to be a part of healing our world. What about you?” She smiled – “Oh now I understand, you’re the first person I’ve talked to so far that said that, it seems like everyone else is here for fun, work references, or a nice paycheck. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one on the team that actually cares about all the people beyond the safe zone.”

I said “I’m sure other people care” She grimaced – “You’d be surprised… well I’ve got to go. I guess I’ll either see you tomorrow… Or in six years.” I laughed “Yeah, I’ll see you in six years”. As she walked away I found myself wanting to continue the conversation. I hadn’t met anyone quite like her before. I couldn’t really understand what I meant by that… But it meant something.

Even though I was tired, I figured since it was my last night here for 20 years I would spend some more time walking the Asirium Hall. I’d gone to the west side like Cyrus recommended, but only to the beginning.

I might as well use my remaining time to go as far as I can. I have to remember I may not come back so it could be my only chance. After I walked for what seemed like an hour I decided to turn around, otherwise I’d have a long way back to the team quarters. Cyrus most certainly wasn’t lying about the view; it was indescribable.

I finally made it back to my room and after a few minutes of lying down I started to realize I was exhausted, the excitement had just pushed it aside. I noticed a book next to the bed labeled “The History of the ACI.” I really wanted to start reading it but my eyes were far too heavy… I leaned my head back and as I drifted away I thought to myself “tomorrow will be my real beginning.”

I awoke to a knock on the door… I was immediately wide awake with excitement and I jumped up and threw on my uniform. As soon as I opened the door, Cyrus began talking; no good morning, just right to it. I was starting to get the impression that he was a very serious and driven man. I could tell I’d have to really try my best if I wanted to impress Cyrus and keep my new position.

He explained that his team was specifically sent in search of intelligent life. X-451 was not only similar to Aeris in every way, but the unmanned ship determined it was approximately the same age. The ACI believes there is an extremely good chance it could house intelligent life and in the very least a wide array of creatures and plant life for study. Many of the most important drugs and medicines come from animal and plant life. That alone could produce a wealth of information.

He continued on – “The ACI committee and scientists strongly hope to find a type of life form that is very similar, if not exactly the same as us. We have long thought of our planet as a kitchen of sorts, and the type of kitchen and ingredients dictate the type of food correct? Well, X-451 is the exact same kitchen, with the exact same ingredients… understand what I’m saying?” I looked over and said “Yes… but just so you know I’d prefer if you explained things to me in a more serious way.” He laughed – “Excellent, I’d prefer that as well… just wanted to start things off simple but I can see you don’t need that.”

He then said it was time for me to meet his team so he could introduce me as his new assistant. As we walked he told me a little more about my job description. Apparently I would be doing things like taking notes in meetings and in general, fetching equipment, handing him various things while he’s working, and also assisting the team when need be. He also claimed he liked an alternate opinion in times of uncertainty and sometimes people looking from the outside in notice things those directly involved don’t.

I had a feeling watching them work and being involved in the research in any way would be extremely interesting. Especially if the ACI was right and there was in fact intelligent life on this planet. It was very exciting to think of such a concept as that there may be an actual civilization on X-451.

Who knows, it could even be more advanced than ours and be willing to help with the mining process… Though that could backfire into a refusal, as they would need the chrysos as well. Only time would tell… Nevertheless the idea of anything other than microbial life being a reality is amazing. Especially since I would get to see it, or them, with my own eyes.

When we got to his private laboratory it wasn’t quite what I expected. There were only about 20 people including Sara, and more than a few seemed to be technicians, not scientists. It was also quite a bit smaller than I had imagined. Cyrus got the attention of the room and announced that I was his new assistant. Then he gave me a quick tour and introduced me to some of the other team members.

He led me into his office and before he could speak, I said “Why such a small team for something so important?” He cleared his throat – “Well basically, money. It’s much more expensive to employ world class scientists than any other profession on this mission. It was also extraordinarily expensive to set up the necessary facilities here and on The Sirius, even for my small group. It’s one of the reasons our work is highly classified, can’t let the details get out to the public… then they’d know how much it costs.” - He grinned.

The argument of our government was that no matter how much the ACI wanted to believe the evidence meant intelligent life; it was still a shot in the dark. I actually got in trouble during the meeting when I said it was like taking a shot in a dark room full of people… The committee didn’t like that very much.” He smiled and I couldn’t help but laugh.

He sat down and said “Just so you know, conversations that you and I have are to remain between us unless otherwise instructed. As my personal assistant you will hear and see things that the large majority of people on this ship cannot know about… even the team, understand?” - I nodded. Just then the announcement for all teams to report to the Sirius 7 rang out. Cyrus’ face lit up with excitement and he said “You ready?”

As we headed to The Sirius, Cyrus gave me some more information about my new job and explained the details of suspended animation. I didn’t really understand a lot of what he said but I got the general idea. I could tell I had a lot to learn and that I really needed to pay attention to every detail. My life was about to get much more complicated.

When we approached the gate, The Sirius 7 was nothing short of intimidating. It was so massive I couldn’t even see the whole thing through the asirium wall. I read in our information packet that it was exactly 1,367ft long and 422ft high, I didn’t realize just how impressive it would be in person at the time. It’s actually longer than some of the largest buildings in the capital are tall. It was mind boggling to think that people could actually build something like this. If the scene were taking place on Aeris, it would literally cast a shadow over the Aurora Station.

We stood there talking for around 20 minutes before the boarding announcement finally came. Right as it is did the room immediately changed. The audio blur of 1,000’s of different voices all going at once came to a complete stop. It appeared as though everyone was either too nervous or excited to talk. I knew which category I was in, especially when the announcement said the science team would be boarding first.

As we lined up, I knew I couldn’t even imagine what the inside of the Sirius would look like. I could only guess the inside would have the same effect on me as the outside… The best way I could describe it would have to be staggering.

We made our way down the walkway and passed through the monstrous door leading into the Sirius. I was right; I hadn’t even come close to imagining what I had seen in just my first few moments inside the ship. The ceiling was so high, it was almost like being under the protective field back home on Aeris. There was literally enough room for a small ship to fly around.

It seemed to be made out of materials and metals I’d never seen before. There were terminals everywhere and lots of asirium viewing windows. Everything literally seemed alien to me. I once again had felt as though I stepped into the future, only this time it seemed to be a an even more distant one.

Cyrus led us all to an elevator and turned around as if to make an announcement. - “The technical team needs everyone in stasis as soon as possible. Once everyone is accounted for it will take days to check the systems and ensure no errors will arise over the next 6 years. So we need to make this quick. Everyone else is getting the exact same speech from their group leaders as we speak... Plus look at it this way, the faster you get in, the faster you end up on X-451.” He turned around a called the elevator.

The ride up on the elevator was just as silent, and everyone was looking at each other. Almost as if they were waiting for someone else to talk to let them all know it was ok. Cyrus gave a few more words of encouragement – “Don’t look so scared everyone… Even if something does go terribly wrong on the journey we’ll never know about it… One of the benefits of suspended animation.” He laughed. “You’ll just never wake up… But that’s not what’s going to happen. The mission will be successful, the atmosphere will be restored. And we as scientists will have the unprecedented opportunity to study an alien world that is just like Aeris… So everyone look happy, you should be.” I looked at him and nodded.