Pull (Deep Darkness Book 1) (4 page)

Errikus might have been a backwater world but it was still full of
hundreds of spiraling towers, rivers, and home to many different species and
hundreds of different lifeforms (most of which were the wildlife that lived
outside the city walls). Some of these species we even considered our allies.
The ones that stand out in my mind, or at least the ones that I can name, are
the tall and grey Eek, the short and fuzzy Pok, the Arr7, the duck-faced
Myra, and the batl-like Kir. The city ran for miles surrounding rivers and
atriums. Some areas rose far above were the eye could see covering hills and
creating shadows on slums and ghettos. Homes were placed on top of one
another or etched into the sides of rocks. The sky was full of paper-thin birds
and triangular beasts that floated through the air like flying manta rays.
Massive ships would stretch and block out the horizon came and went from
the ports that made up most of the inner city. A massive wall stretched all
around us protecting us from the wild outside. It also separated us from the
air in which we couldn’t breath. Even close to the outskirts we had to be
weary or wear breathers. Inside the city organic vines ran through the streets
and sides of houses purifying the air while massive plumes of gas poured out
into the sky from oxygen factories. The wall was the line between life and
death.

My father had died when I was young just before I was born. Killed by a
hellbeast that came through the wall. From what I had been told he was a
valiant man, honorable and well respected and liked by everyone. He had
protected the city with his life joining the guard that hunted it down after it
slaughtered several Eek and Pok. I still had my mother but my family wasn’t
just my blood; my family were my friends: Hayden, Aira, and Dom.

Aira and Dom belonged to the Aelita crew and Hayden, well he was a
member of the Erebus crew like me but unlike me Hayden was a Drok (yes,
one of my best friends was an alien. Get over it.). The Drok were kind of like
our brothers-in-arms, an endangered species (our fault) that were so similar
to us it was almost impossible to tell humans and Drok apart. Two hundred
years ago before any of us were born ‘the Trintiy’ stumbled upon a world
filled with a human-like species. We thought for a moment that maybe we
could breed with them (we couldn’t - at least not without a few altercations).
The only real difference between our species and their own was that the Drok
had yellow eyes and their blood was darker then ours. Some had red skin
pigment but for the most part they were just like us. The Drok were also one
of the first alien civilizations (aside from the Skrav) that we encountered in
deep space. Primitive warriors when we first met them we spent two years
learning one anthers language developing communication and networking
with them. In less time then you would imagine we became allies. Imagine in
the conquerers that came from Europe had become best friends with the
Indians.

That bond cost the Drok dearly. Like the times before the Skrav caught
up to us and we fled taking several hundred Drok with us. We have no idea if
there world was destroyed or not but from what we have heard from others is
that that area of space has been swept clean of biological life. Hayden was
born on Errikus like myself. One of the few Drok children that joined us on
our crusade through the stars.

Education on Errikus started at age three. Though most everything
before handing my mother my drawing feels like a blur. Even many of the
events that came after feel blurry. I do remember the lessens I had been
taught. The history of Earth. The ancient empires that ruled, the different
periods that we went through (Greek, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance,
Victorian, Industrial, the rise and fall of superpowers and nations, the world
wars, the resource wars, the rise of the space age, the destruction of our sun
which became known as ‘the collapse’, the lost colonies, planets of the dead,
etc). By seven we had become experts in all of these subjects and began
training in combat simulations, virtual reality simulations, kendo, and
mathematics. We were taught how once the human race had been made up of
different skin colors, eye colors, and hair. We were taught how living in space
had changed us how with the help of genetic engineering we had adapted to
live in starships. Our stomachs were smaller, we required less food, our lungs
could hold more oxygen, our muscles stronger from artificial gravity (the
constant turning of our ships and the gravity of worlds in which we
temporarily inhabit), and we were more resilient to toxins and disease thanks
to implants given to us at birth. We were still human only still… we were
something more.

The journey to Eden was all anyone ever talked about, “Eden this, Eden
that”. Once it was a myth. Humanity drifted in space so long the Erebus and
Tritan disabled from a battle with the Skrav. It was a ‘user’ on the Aelita that
had a vision of our paradise and helped inspire everyone to continue on our
way. Whatever this ‘Eden’ was no one actually knew for certain, that
information was a private and could only be accessed by elders. You would
think that someone would have kept such important details where everyone
could see but all we knew was what had been taught to us in school. It was a
destiny I like everyone around me had been born for. Maybe it was more like
a ‘sin’. Sin that was hardcoded into our DNA. The journey to ‘Eden’ was a
burden, the ‘sins’ of the father passed down generation after generation.
Priests and scientists debated and elders and captains meditated for hours
arguing over what this journey meant, whether there was any point to it at all.
What are we without purpose? In the end the opinion of one man could do
very little to sway anyone. We had already been on the run for so long it
didn’t matter. If there was any reason for this other then habit it had been
lost. Many speculated ‘Eden’ had been the source of the nexus. They believed
this ‘Eden’ was leftover from the creation of our galaxy - a divine passageway
to the heart of God. Others said it was a doorway to another world. They
believed the nexus was a small veil covering the face of god, a keyhole. They
taught us all this and more by the time we were nine. It was all theory.

Nobody knew why touching the nexus showed us visions - realities that
mirrored the past, present, and future. Nobody knew if these visions really
had any meaning aside from preventing the first invasion and leading to ‘the
collapse’. We only knew for certain that the future could be changed but who
was to say we weren’t actually puppets inside someone kind of game. Maybe
the nexus was a keyhole or a doorway - both of those allowed someone to
look both ways. Maybe it was something more. It no longer mattered. I
stopped caring. To me being a ‘user’ was nothing more then a chore and I just
wanted to see the stars.

I was always picked on when I was young I was nicknamed ‘bones’ and
called ‘weak one’. Other kids were stronger, faster, smarter, and they said I
was nothing but a tool. My mother told me they had just been jealous because
I was going to be a ‘user’ and they would be soldiers or repairmen. My
mother told me they were jealous because I was special. That didn’t matter. It
didn’t stop the hurt, the pain I felt wishing I could fit in. I was seven when I
fought back. A kid twice my size that had always made fun of me and taunted
me was picking on a girl. She was only half our age. I was use to the bullying
- I could take it - but not her. I was in fact proud of how I was able to take it
day after day. In a way I felt like that had made me special. They needed me
because they were weak and I was strong.

He had gone too far. This was different. When he began picking on her
he crossed a line. I could feel the anger inside me building. It was the last
straw. The thin ice I had been walking on throughout my life had finally
broken. I attacked him planting my fist into his jaw. Before I knew it I had
scraped a piece of skin off his face with my nails. He grabbed me bent my
arm around my back pushed his weight against my spine. It was over before
it began. Who the hell did I think I was trying to fight such a monster? I
never stood a chance. He had won the fight but he didn’t stop - he was going
to break my arm.

I could feel my shoulder popping out of place. All around us a group of
students had gathered. No one was screaming out to stop him. I think a few
had run away to find a teacher but for the most part we were alone. They
watched as helpless as I was. I could feel the bone in my arm about to break.
I was crying when a figure appeared, grabbed him from behind and forced
him to let me go. The figure pressed on the bullies arm, breaking it (just as
the bully had tried to do to me) and forced him to submit. When it was all
over the crowd dissipated, the bully ran off and the young man introduced
himself to me as Dom.

I had seen him around. I had always kept to myself though and had
never made many friends. I continued to keep to myself for days after that
but Dom continuously checked in on me. He was a year older then me
though he was much larger then I was. He said he use to be small like I was
but one of his friends, a Drok named Hayden had taught him self-defense and
helped him get stronger. He said that Hayden had done the same thing for
him once and that he was now paying it forward. It wasn’t long before the
two of us became close friends. The first person Dom introduced me to was a
girl named Aira. She was gorgeous. She had long black hair that curled at the
ends. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. She had seen what
was happening to me and had actually been the one to find Dom and ask him
to save me. That fight changed my entire life. Before the week was out no one
was calling me ‘bones’ or ‘weak’ anymore.

Hayden, Dom, Aira, and I all lived close by one another under a small
group of guardians. Though there were few guardians there were hundreds of
children. Each guardian watched over and taught ten of us. For fourteen
years we grew up together. Since age seven we became close friends. Our
home was called various things; some called it a nursery, or even ‘the’ nursery.
Truly it was more a school or camp then anything else. We didn’t spend all
our time there. We still had homes in our parent’s quarters. Most children
though didn’t get to see their parents much but we were all taken care of by
the best guardians around. I would know, my mother was one of them. The
parents of the other children each worked jobs in the city, all for the greater
good I suppose. Some parents like Dom’s and Hayden’s were engineers.
Other parents were teachers, scientists, tradesmen, and service workers. The
guardians that looked after us were strong and tough and like my mom also
sweet and caring. I guess I could be biased about this but I am pretty sure
that she had been everyone’s favorite. Our school was located just outside
the inner city. We were close enough that we were protected by any hellbeast
and wildlife and far enough that we had red trees we could climb and clean
rivers and woods we could play in. Playing outside. It was always a risk. The
danger of being swept away in a river or falling into a ‘cold spot’ in which you
couldn’t breath was always present. We were allowed to explore the city by
ourselves but we were always told to stay within a few miles of home. We
were always exploring the world around us and visiting the inner city and
ports just to see the strange new aliens that showed up day after day. It was
nice living on a port, it seemed everyday held something new. We would
watch from docks and bridges as ships docked or appeared out of thin air.
Most of the docking was automated so there was never any risk of ships
appearing too close. Some exotic ships we imagined traveled here across
dimensions, going from one spiral arm of the galaxy to another. The aliens on
board those ships thousands of years old sleeping the ‘deep sleep’ waiting to
trade for ‘lahne’ and other items.

We heard plenty of horror stories at the docks as well. Stories about the
Skrav. The Skrav had decimated hundreds of worlds and committed genocide
all across the galaxy. It was almost a relief to think that it wasn’t just humans
they didn’t like. Most of the ships that came were simple trade vessels
programmed to fly trade routes. All anyone needed was some basic math and
a star chart to know where they wanted to go. The Erebus, Aelita, and Tritan
were the same. When they came they would appear out of thin air like some
cheap magic parlor trick, it would wow the masses but it was all just the push
of a button. No. It was more then that. It was hundreds of years of
technological innovation. Even if we hadn’t stolen tech from the Skrav we
would have found a way.

My mother had shown me videos and pictures of previous worlds and
battles since I was three. It amazed me that despite our low population we
still had the strongest and fastest ships. I guess this was one of the reasons
they called us savages… stealing technology from the Skrav. Half the reason
they wanted to kill us right there. They were right in many ways but also
wrong. We not only stole and successfully reverse-engineered Skrav tech we
improved it.

Dom, Aira, Hayden and I had several games we would play. Some days
we were singing songs and rhymes of the old world, others were much more
exciting, like trying to talk to the strangest alien we could find.

Most aliens in the city were nice, we each had a translator implanted in
our ear as a child that allowed us to understand most alien languages. The
translators were gifts from the Eek who were actually the ones responsible
for establishing the colony and oversaw many of the trade routes and
agreements between various alien species. The Eek were smart to say the
least. Smart and peaceful, the way aliens should be. In a way many aliens in
the city had no choice but to be nice. The Eek were a part of a consul called
the Aggregate, a collection of many alien civilizations that had formed a union
watching over one another. Even the Skrav refused to burn Aggregate
controlled worlds (most of the time). Errikus was also so far away from any
star or world that wasn’t controlled by the Aggregate or Skrav that those that
developed the technology to get here had done way with war, crime, and
prejudice. Only a few times did we ever find ourselves in real trouble.
Occasionally our body posture, accent, or other parts of us would offend an
off-worlder into attacking us demanding we sever such limbs and sacrifice
them to their deity (or eat them). They cursed us in languages our translators
couldn’t pick up and we couldn’t understand.

One time Aira had blinked too many times causing a trader that was a
strange cross between a mantis and a slug to try and bite her hand off. It
believed that her blinking four times in a row meant she had offered her arm
as an edible gift (apparently its species grow limbs back very quickly and
could do that sort of thing). Lucky for us the constables came and worked it
out. Our punishment (though really we should not have been punished at all)
was to follow the mantis slug hybrid around all day during its stay and clean
up the greenish trail it left in its wake. This only ended up offending the offworlder more as the trail was a vital part in its mating ritual. It was bad day
to be a constable.

The old Earth fascinated Aira and I. We loved reading and watching
film
and holos passed down to us generation after generation. SOme of the best
were seeing the way the humans of that time had envisioned aliens - all in all
they weren’t far off aside from the real ones are dirtier. It was interesting to
see how different humans looked back then, colorful and beautiful and full of
so many different distinct features. The four of us would act out old world
movies or come up with our own versions set on our world. Cowboys and
Indians became colonists and Drok; war movies became reenactments of
battles between the first humans to escape and the Skrav. “I am your father,”
Dom would say to me, holding out his sword as I lay over a rock next to a red
river bend. The swords were bone taken from Hayden’s collection. Most if
not all our toys were actually weapons taken from Hayden’s home. We were
trained to use weapons such as swords and rifles by teachers at a young age
so that we would know how to handle such things properly. While of course
we would never fire real guns we had no problem playing pretend with sticks
and stones. We were responsible but that wasn’t to say we didn’t have a few
cuts and bruises now and then.

I would pretend to get knocked down or jump into the river bed. Aira
would cry out for me as Hayden blasts Dom into the river with a pretend
blaster. After that we would all go for a swim. We did this almost every single
day.

The river was never deeper then four feet around the area we played but
further down and away from the city it was so deep the river bottom would
disappear. We were always told never to swim in the deep end warned to stay
away from undertows and riptides. Aira would joke and say there were
leeches that would jump out and wrap around your face or mermans that
would capture you and drag you under. No matter the monster they all did
the same thing, they suffocated you and dragged you back into the bay and
that is why the water was red. I knew it was a lie but I still made sure to
never swim too far from shore. The idea of any animal wrapped around my
neck scared me to death.

We could see our quarters from where we played. The spirals on the roof
and balconies were just above the tree line. We could see the black gate of the
city and the fumes from buildings seeping breathing life into the atmosphere.
Huge factories shaped like ant mounts fumes of oxygen from the center of the
city and ships coming and going. Errikus had not always been a hospitable
world. It was once a world full of giant monsters, beasts with eighty silver
eyes, four mouths, others with no eyes or eyes on their hands and feet. It was
ancient civilization called the Lethe who originally built this colony. They
were the first civilization EVER to venture into space or at least the first that
we knew of. They discovered the immer and had even left markers too; ones
that acted as warnings - areas of the immer that were unstable or unsafe.
Everything past Errikus was unknown int was in that unexplored region we
would soon be leaving. Most of the trade routes ships followed, hell, most of
the routes we followed getting to Errikus had come from markers we
followed left behind by Lethe. Other civilizations had almost made it to their
level. The Erebus had found at least two or three other ancient civilizations
that succumbed to violence and war wiping themselves out of existence. No
one is sure wha these previous civilizations like the Lethe looked like or what
happened to them that made them disappear. We do know that they created
our alien, the Arr7.

The Arr7 were once nothing more then machinery, then for no real
reason at all one machine seemed to just ‘wake up’ and gain free though. A
programming error had caused it to question its very own existence. The first
thing it did. It ‘cried’. It cried out screaming for its mother, its father, its
creator. A thousand years of repetition and finally it had realized that those
which it had served had vanished. It looked up at the sky, tired of wandering
alone and it began to question everything. The Arr7 were built to adapt. They
were machines but they had many biological components. Soon after the first
another awoke and then on and on like a fire spreading though the
wilderness. Some say consciousness infected them like a virus. No knew for
sure whether it was real or not. Maybe this was the path the Lethe had
intended for them all along. The Arr7 believed it was a gift and the Lethe
their gods. After years of loneliness and searching they accepted who they
were and what they were and moved on. They used technology left behind by
their gods to create cities and starships. They have started as machines but
the Arr7 were no different now then any other sentient species in the
universe.

When we
first met them, whether it had been fear or paranoia we
attacked. Perhaps at the time we thought they were Skrav. Shortly thereafter
the Arr7 destroyed our ion drives and threatened to leave us for dead. When
we put down our arms and surrendered the Arr7 developed a way to
communicate with us in our own tongue. After several short conversations
about storytelling and fiction our two species quickly became great friends.
The Arr7 loved the collections of english literature we gave them spending
weeks contemplating Shakespeare as well as Aristotle, Freud, Carl Jung, and
Depeche Mode. The Arr7 were fascinated by our journey and while they
feared where we were going they traded with us and helped fix and upgrade
our ships. In return for their kindness we agreed that if we ever find the
Lethe, or rather whatever it is we are looking for we will ask question on
their behalf including the all important, “Why?” and if possible transmit our
answer across space to the nearest known Arr7 world.