2054

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.

It has been said that there is reverence, awe and sheer terror awaiting us beyond the stars. I believe that we have already lived the terror and it is time for us to experience the awe and wonderment that newness, anticipation and the exhilaration of discovery offers and beckons us to come hither and embrace with alacrity

Many a time have I lost myself in the majesty of the taunting, vast and mysterious beauty and wonder of that space which reaches far beyond where my eyes and my imagination long to explore and discover.

What infinite unsolved puzzles and enigmas await us in that inscrutable uncertainty beyond our understanding. Is it romance, mystique, obscurity, ambiguousness or vagueness that fills the nebulous unexplored outer limits. What unfathomable greatness are we missing out on?

There must be other lifeforms out there. Can it be so infinitesimal a possibility that I and my kind, tiny, very tiny cogs in the wheel of time, are the only living beings in the vastness of space and time. We can see, practically taste and envision the possibilities that are always just on the tip of our imagination, ever visible just enough to frustrate us is the knowledge that we cannot reach up to just touch it with the tips of our fingers. There is that irresistible lure that keeps us wanting more and more to venture way beyond the boundaries of our possibilities.

It was all deemed impossible. Until now.

"Are you daydreaming again Delonia, we will get there quicker with more action and a little less wonder, don't you think"? Commander Tharkan was amused and a little proud of his favorite space cadet, but her imagination ran too far ahead sometimes, and she had to be jolted awake many times. The commander hoped that it would not jeopardize the importance of the mission into space. He would hate having to lose his daughter's eager companionship on the long journey ahead.

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again". Delonia answered, snapping to attention. Although he was her father, she knew well to adhere to protocol and show the proper respect.

"Oh yes it will"! He thought to himself, knowing her passion for space.

Their mission into space had been over twenty long years in the making. Father and daughter had patiently worked alongside the large crew of astronauts, engineers, technical support personnel, advisors, office staff, ground support, medical team, amid the other myriad different areas and individuals it took to complete the stage for exploration and settlement on various newly discovered planets.

The year is 2054. Although we are not ready to give up on earth, the distant call of other planets is too great to resist.

I was four years old when THEY came. They were the distant inhabitants of Planet 001. The first planet . They came in peace.

My father and I were star gazing as we always did even back when I was a child. Technology had advanced back then, but we still had a long way to go to get into inhabiting other planets. I was too young to understand, but THEY talked with him a long time. They had told him what to do, given him the secrets to colonizing and living in the outer space. But it would not be easy, he would meet with animosity and great challenges of war. Not everyone welcomed outsiders, the visitors had been seeking allies. They found it with my father and the rest of the leaders on earth. Everyone wanted to visit, and if possible, live up among the stars.

And so we built spaceships with the aid of Zarkanian technology. Our astronauts were retrained and prepared for the great changes ahead. They took us to exploration into space. We met different species, peaceful ones and warlike unmoving closed minded groups who wanted nothing to do with outsiders. We erected satellites and moon bases and, with the world leaders everywhere, formed the basis of colonization of every stratum of space.

Living in space is not the same as living on Earth. First came the challenges of learning how to adjust to a totally different atmosphere and preparing our minds and bodies for the difficulties that will have to faced moving ahead. Many things are different. Our bodies change in space. The way we stay clean and neat is different too. We had to learn and adapt the lifestyle to fit our expectations and those of our fellow colonizers. We will conform and adjust as we experiment with life in a different space and time.

Animosity grew stronger every day among the many and varied classes and factions. War began. With it came twenty years of bloodshed and death among many different species.

As I grew older, I wondered if it would all be worth it. Must there always be strife, battles and hardship whenever there needed to be changes in other lifestyles. Would human beings and almost every other species always find the need to fight each other in order to exist side by side.

Commander Tharkan was put in charge of training and assembling the troops, civilian specialists and every other aspect of preparation for the colonization of the conquered and habitable planets and beyond, all this while war raged everywhere, on earth and in space. The various nations on earth wanted to be the first to inhabit space, the competition was fierce and fought in more of a cold war scenario. My father could have kept the secrets to himself, but he had been warned that selfishness would not be tolerated if he wanted to be a part of the new world order. Everyone, the Zarkanians had warned, must learn to live in peace, even though it would be easier said than done.

As always, the politics of change made moving ahead a lot harder than it should have been. There was always dissent among politicians. They took their time, but in the end common sense prevailed over personal choices.

The Zarkanians were a peaceful race, closely resembling earthlings, as they called us, except for the fact that they had no perceptible earlobes, which made their hearing extremely acute, they had features that amplified every aspect of their sensory perception. They lived far beyond the number of years allotted to humans. This secret is coveted by all other species who were constantly waging wars against Planet 001, the first planet inhabited by the Zarkanians. So they had to find allies, earth was sought out to be an ally. They saw how much we yearned to discover the world beyond our world, they had watched us for a long time.

There were a great number of habitable and uninhabitable planets, they numbered in the thousands. My father had travelled many times with the Zarkanians to their planet and other friendly planets. They had introduced him to planets that were similar to earth and which could be populated whenever it was safe to do so. But, after twenty years, it was time. Not everyone would ever be willing to share. It was time to start our journey into realizing our dream of living is space.

Even though we had been given the alien technology to aid with travel into outer space, our first attempts had met with failure. Building reusable commercial space shuttles was no easy task. Alien technology still enabled us to work much faster and with much more capability, and we succeeded in half the time. The use of fuel was greatly minimized which enabled travel to be affordable to everyone who desired a chance at space travel.

The Public address system crackled overhead. Again Delonia is snapped out of her reverie back to the present task. She looked around sheepishly, hoping that no one noticed her inattention, she was a little embarrassed.

"Cadet leaders, please escort the first group of passengers to shuttle #s 1, 2, 3, and 4. Make sure they are securely strapped in. This is a proud day for us all. Our first set of new settlers for Planet 084 is cleared for takeoff"!

Delonia and cadet Mercan were the two senior officers, they relayed their orders to the other cadets and one by one the shuttles were prepared and hurtled into the sky. Shuttle #5 was next carrying Delonia and her father among the passengers. They would be spending six months getting the colony up and running, before the next phase of their task would begin. The smaller escort ships could be seen flying in close proximity outside, visible through the tiny windowlike spaces of the ship.

The ground crew watched and waited with bated breath as their years of hard work was put to the test. After many failures they had finally been rewarded with a successful commercial aspect of flights into space being just another everyday event. To them, that was ultimately a great success.

All was going well until the ships reached orbit, when suddenly a gargantuan and menacing alien craft materialized as if out of nowhere, their dangerous and evil looking gun ports were trained directly in the direction of the advancing shuttles.

"Evasive manoeuvres, shouted the lead battleship, it's the Quandrons, be ready to fire on my mark"! The Quandrons were the most hostile of the many planets, they hated outsiders and were always ready for a fight. Before anyone could fire a single shot or blast, however, a contingent of five or more Zarkanian ships materialized from cloaking and instantly flanked the monstrously large intruding vessel. The ships of the Zarkanias were some of the most feared in the solar system, they by far dominated the design and effectiveness of almost every ship. Realizing that they were outnumbered and outgunned, the alien craft retreated at what appeared to be warp speed, averting what could have been a bloody and deadly confrontation.

The lead Zarkadian ship hailed the commander onscreen.

"Commander Tharkan, this is Commander Zai, as you requested, we are here to provide escort to you and your contingent all the way to 084".

"Thank you Commander Zai. Your opportune arrival is greatly appreciated. We more than welcome your kind offer".

"We shall meet you there then". The screen went blank, then lit up again almost instantly. "Tharkan", said a familiar voice. It was Katagt, his friend and first contact back on earth those many years ago.

"Perhaps we should use our cloaking technology for the last leg of the trip, from my experience with the Quandrons, they will not be far from our trajectory".

"Hello Katagt, good to hear your voice, suggestion understood and agreed. We will co-ordinate our cloaking time later".

"Understood. Katagt out"!

Tharkan breathed a sigh of relief. He had no desire to lose his first set of passengers to a mean and menacing race like the Uglarians or the Quandrons, for where there was one there was always the other.

After a few hours navigating the darkness of space, we finally spotted the lights of the huge domes which would be out homes. Everyone clapped and cheered. We all breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good.

Peace though welcomed, is always hard fought for.

The lead shuttle suddenly burst into flames. The Quandrons were back. And they brought friends, lots of friends.

Another battle for survival had begun.

There were screams, lots of screams!

The war is never over.

We will prevail. We will win!

N.A.