Posts by KP - Kafuka Boards

I was an astronaut, a traveler and explorer among the stars; but I had a specific mission to explore the planet which I had just landed upon. There were three of us in orange, bulky environmental suits. The small lander had just opened its hatches, and we climbed out. We were immediately greeted with a landscape not dissimilar to Earth’s; white clouds, patches of blue sky, and reddish soil. Gravity was very similar to Earth’s. We haven’t traveled far by foot until we found an obvious sign of civilization. It was a large building; rectangular, and seemed to be of the same hue as the soil, albeit a slightly different shade. It was about a mile away, and we immediately set forth towards it.

Our excitement caused us to forget about our oxygen reserves. As we made our way to the building, our breathing became heavier, and the supply of breathable air thinner. Eventually, we had arrived, but we were desperate for a breath of fresh air. Not knowing what kind of atmosphere we were in, and being delusional from the lack of oxygen, we noticed a strangely earth-like door on the building and decided to enter; hoping for an opportunity to shed our helmets. Once inside, we broke the airtight seal and lifted off our helmets in a last-ditch effort of desperation. Fortunately, the atmosphere was as earthlike as we hoped, and drew massive, deep breaths as we lay collapsed on the floor of the alien building.

After recovering, we left our helmets in a recognizable spot and left the alien building to begin to cover the perimeter. As we made our way around the next two sides, we were struck with amazement with what we had discovered on the façade of what was most definitely the front of the structure. It was a movie theater! And, the sign was in English!

As we stood there, awe-struck with the truth before us, we were greeted by two options: explore the theater or follow along the road that led to it. Again, the road was earth-like, made of asphalt, and bore orange center lines and led about 500 feet to the crest of a hill, which we could not see past. Since we knew what movie theaters looked like, the prospect of finding out what was beyond that hill was infinitely more appealing to our curiosities than what could have been in that old, abandoned theater. So, we started on our way along the road.

As we walked, we wondered if we had even left our own planet. Were all the astronomical calculations incorrect? Did our eyes deceive us as we landed? These thoughts were soon relinquished to a wave of amazement when we beheld a particular break in the clouds that revealed this world’s sun; a massive disc of white; at least four times the size of Earth’s sun in the sky. Their sun was larger, or closer. Perhaps both. But it was pleasant to look upon, as it didn’t overwhelm our eyes. It was a silvery white, unlike the yellow of the sun in our native system. We could see sunspots with our naked eyes. This confirmed that we had indeed landed on an alien world, and we came to the immediate realization that there’s more in common between humans and extraterrestrial life than we had imagined.
We continued along the road, still in our orange survival suits, breathing the cool air; three strange looking stalks brushing along the nearly crimson soil. We didn’t feel completely out of place as we did before; we were breathing the alien air, walking along a road that looked just like Earth’s, after having found an abandoned movie theater with a sign written in English. Finally, we reached the next crest of the hill. What we saw should have been expected, but it was astonishing to us nonetheless.

Cars, trucks, and motorcycles navigated the intersection that was now in front of us at the bottom of the hill. The four-way intersection was nearly filled to capacity most of the time, with traffic routing itself in three of the four possible routes.

“I guess nobody watches movies anymore.” Said one of my colleagues, seemingly in a tongue-in-cheek fashion; the first time something has been said since we left the lander. The three of us had all been preoccupied with overwhelming sense of wonder that all we could do is observe what we were seeing.

“Let’s split up.” I said, pointing to the three different directions. “Our radios will keep us in contact.”

As we started off in our separate directions, I began to get a closer look at the vehicles. It was enough to make out that the technology was similar to Earth’s, but the design was unlike anything of Earth’s vehicles. They seemed to have their own alien touch. All of the vehicles seemed to be branded, and I saw only about three or four different brands on them. Strangely enough, the motorists seemed to ignore us as I continued along the side of the road. I looked back at my colleagues as they walked, out of apparent danger and without interest to any of the motorists as they went along their way. I tried to get a good look at them but I couldn’t see inside.

Another few miles or so, I came to the outskirts of a city. I radioed back to my colleagues, but no answer. Without a choice, I pressed forward, realizing I could be walking to my death or imprisonment, or worse. I walked about two more miles as I reached into my pocket along the way for some emergency rations. I didn’t know if anything in this city in front of me was edible, but I certainly wasn’t going to be hungry if I met my end there.

As I neared the city’s edge, I came to a sort of courtyard, which was part of an opera house or art center. The aliens were obviously into expressions of imagination through performing arts. It was a peaceful setting, and that’s where I had met my first alien. They didn’t look much different from humans, but their features were still very recognizable as alien. Different colored skin; some parts yellow, some parts green. They noticed me, but continued along their way, shooting a look of puzzlement at me as they passed. They knew I wasn’t their kind, but made no attempt to stop me or communicate to me. Another individual, a female, sitting on a concrete bench which was part of a tall, stone sculpture, stared at me as I passed in front of her. I glanced over and saw a face of highly expressive disgust as she stared at my orange, pocketed jumpsuit. She didn’t look away when I saw she was looking at me. Rather, she looked at my face, raised an eyebrow, and said three words.

“Are you serious?”

I stopped, turned towards her, unsure if I should say anything. I was unsure of the laws of the city I had just entered, fearing I may have broken one of them. I walked her direction and sat on the concrete floor a few feet away from her.

“I’m not from around here,” I said, again surprised at the English that she spoke. “I’m not even from this world, yet somehow it seems familiar to me. What is this place?”

“You’re safe,” She said, still with a tone of disgust in her voice. “Just relax. And go get some… normal clothes.”

“Sound advice.” I said, standing up and turning back around to look at the rest of the city. I turned around to speak, only to discover her walking away. The one question I wanted answered was left to a mystery, for now. I wanted to know why it seemed like nobody cared that I wasn’t one of them. I sat down on the concrete bench that the alien stranger sat on, when I saw something that caught my eye.

A human. It wasn’t one of my colleagues, but definitely human. Then, another one in a small group. I saw two more to my right. They were all over the place, but I was so fascinated with the aliens that I hadn’t noticed them. Everyone was wearing some form of fashion that didn’t seem to depart from the artistic theme of where I was. This helped to blend the humans in a bit more. I began to understand that my presence was only strange because of the hideous, dirty survival suit I was in.

Randomly, one of the humans came towards me with a change of clothes and asked me to follow him to a changing room nearby. He gave me the clothes, and I went inside and closed the door. I quickly shed my survival suit, but kept my protective undergarments and put on the gift of clothes over them. I emptied the pockets of my suit and put the contents in the pockets of my new outfit. I exited the changing room, wondering why I haven’t been detained by some protective authority.

“Why has nobody come for me?” I asked, still puzzled at the kindness of these people. “And what are humans doing 35 million light years away from Earth? The human stood up, poised as if to answer, looked at me with his stern, but soft expression.

“Wait here.”

Then he walked off down a hallway. Why didn’t he answer? What is going on?

Before I could continue in my stupor of questions, the human returned, with two aliens, who sat down across from me. One of them, an alien male, had a question of his own.

“Do you not know about the Gauntlet Ship?” He asked.

I told him I had no idea what a ‘gauntlet ship’ was. He knew where I was from, because I looked like the other humans. He told me of a ship that some other alien race built that brought a group of humans to this planet. The native aliens were not a spacefaring species, so it wasn’t their ship. He explained to me that one day a ship carrying only the humans arrived, dropped them off, and left.

I marveled as I began to make the connection to Earth’s history. About three hundred years ago, a group of 2800 people went missing from the Asian continent and nobody knew why. The only thing that was found in their place was hundreds of metal, square panels placed particularly in spots where they would be found. They were all elaborate copies of a star chart depicting a planet 35 million light years away.

It all started to make sense. My whole mission was based on this discovery. And now I sat here, in a room with two aliens and a human who was a descendant of the humans who were transplanted to this planet.

“You and your other friends are the first ones to come here under your own power,” Said the native. “Your journey here was guided by the direction of the Gauntlet Ship. You followed the path that those who built it desired.”

“It took people!” I screamed in anger, remembering the loss my descendants felt. “All those people, and we never knew what happened to them!”

The other alien, maintaining his calm, spoke up. “You’re here now, right? So are the descendants of your people. We know about the map that the Gauntlet Ship left behind. It was by design that you’re here.” Then, without another word, he left; nodding his head to the first alien who spoke.

I felt defeated. But I also felt comforted. I fully understood the scope of our mission, but only until now did I realize the purpose of it. My mind quickly returned to the well-being of my colleagues.

“Where are my crewmates?” I asked, with an urgent concern in my voice. I pulled the radio out of my pocket that I had removed from my suit. “I am not able to communicate with them!”

“They are safe, and have been informed as well as you have. You will be free to communicate with them soon.” He explained, showing me a sort of hologram of their whereabouts. This freed my mind of concern for them, and quickly my thoughts returned to the city itself.

Before I could ask any of the myriad questions I still had, one of the aliens told me his name; Oltan. He introduced the human man as Davis. Oltan invited me to experience the structure of civilization. We began to walk, exiting the building and starting through the city. Oltan explained that the humans who were transported here were very industrious, and upon meeting them, began to teach them their language, English. He related the story of his people’s enlightenment by the humans, and their unique way of thinking. Then Davis began to reciprocate the compliments given by Oltan.

“Atrians. This is the name the natives gave themselves when they learned our language. They term it to have a meaning of direction and peace. We had been in stasis on the Gauntlet Ship, still wondering what happened to us when we arrived here. These Atrians gave us peace, understanding, and focus. In return, we gave them our industry and ideas.”

As I walked with my new friends, I saw a very similar city to one of Earth’s, circa 2000. Technology was dated compared to what I know. The facilities I had visited had computers, printers, desk chairs, tables, lamps, and all the necessary fixtures that such a building would need. Although the technology was old, it was functional, and the space hardly seemed dull or boring. The office seemed fresh, and almost lively despite there being nearly nobody inside. I could tell that the industry of humans was being intermingled with the qualities of the Atrians the human spoke of.

“This city is only one of three on this planet,” Said Oltan. “Our society is carefully crafted, and does not call for multiple cities scattered about the land. Our appreciation for focus and order has enabled us to expand our colonies for our two species’ mutual benefit. We would still be living in huts of animal skins and clay had the Gauntlet Ship not brought the humans to us. We uplift one another, and lend each other the qualities the other lacks. It is by this method we are able to grow as exponentially as we have, in number and in progress. “

Davis, said that, at first, they wanted to feel the comforts of home. Soon after having arrived, they built places of memories and times they had experienced back on Earth.

“You must be talking about that movie theater we found soon after we landed,” I said. “Pretty stark difference between that and the art center I stumbled into at the mouth of this city.”

“Thank the Atrians for that.” Davis said, holding his hand out in gesture toward Oltan.

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(Alarm woke me up; might develop this story into something.)