The Book of Ominiue: Starborn (2 page)

Chapter 01

Starborn

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”
    

                                                                                          -Carl Sagan

A Decade Before Gate Day:

The retreating glare of the sun sent its dying light through the western mountain range; beams that broke through the gaps of the ranges stretched out to the endless forest before slowly sinking behind the high peaks. The north-eastern plains briefly came to life in a fiery blaze as the blue sky faded into a dusky haze, a show of absolute beauty it seemed to a single impassive observer: Shayne Forrester.

Standing alone upon the cleared hill all that accompanied this man was a gnarled old tree. He had wandered from camp creating a visual catalogue of the flora in the brief break provided, following the tracks of a large animal now long gone. The clear view had brought him to a stop as he contemplated the world before him. Looking out at the horizon he did not see what his companions saw, for there was something unusual about him. He gazed up at the point of interest that both enthralled and haunted his kind: the moon.

His people were drawn to the natural satellite. To them it was a curiosity but they also feared it, though none would ever admit it. People were fundamentally programmed for order and stability, a change too great in a world that was so similar could cause physiological trauma. Though many thought it was a wonder and there were those who were inspired by it, ultimately it served to them as a reminder of everything lost. They could try to ignore it and continue on with their lives, but for the rest of their existence it would be a beacon of all that had changed. Its sight would forever remind them and make them restless.

To Shayne it presented no such horror. Sometimes when he looked up he knew it was not quite right, but in truth all he saw was scientific statistics: a natural satellite surrounded by numbers and facts. To him there was nothing strange. He contemplated how they could be troubled by such an insignificant thing. He expected the colonists to anticipate inconsistencies with a new environment, but the moment they stepped out of the ships and into the bright new world they became overwhelmed. All preparation they made failed them, as though they were better suited to a completely alien world instead of a partially familiar one.

The continent the Earthmen chose as their settlement was home to giant lizards; creatures thought to be on the scale of the ancient dinosaurs. They dwelled in the deserts, which made up 97 percent of the landmass. They lived their entire lives underneath the heated sands. The behaviour of these dinosaur-like creatures resulted in the planet being named Iraquis. The
Pathfinder
scoutship Captain, Kendell Craine, said they reminded him of giant worms, and as a consequence named the planet from a world in a classical novel as well as an ancient Middle Eastern country.

They chose to place their settlement in a vast and unpopulated forest expanse within a lush subcontinent that protected the settlers from the arid desert beyond. This subcontinent was further broken into east and west by a dividing range, with their colony resting at the foot of one of the tallest mountains. The cold high country became known as New Switzerland and the settlement itself was named
Thorns Basin
, in honour of the planet-side Mission Commander and leading military man, General Thorn Hendingson.

This isolated oasis was the centre of civilisation on this planet. The natives called the planet Casader and the green region they lived in Dífrun; a name that was eventually adopted by the Earthmen. There were subcontinent paradises on three of the four continents, most of them located near coastal regions where weather patterns brought more rain. All of them supported intelligent life, but none were anything like Dífrun, which was by far the most interesting. There were several reasons that motivated the Earthmen to break protocol and settle so close to a developed and organised civilisation: the presence of a unique native people in itself, the diversity of flora and fauna, incredibly rich mineral deposits and one nearby region that revealed very strange scanner-readings. It was just coincidence that the moon sat in a prime location for planet-side observation.

Casader’s moon was much like Earth’s moon, Luna; it was the same composition and colour and it always had one side facing the planet’s surface. It was a small moon, but its proximity to the planet meant it was a lot larger in the sky with a two-degree angular diameter. These trivial differences held no effect on a colonist’s wellbeing, people quickly adapt to changes like that. What unsettled the new colonists was twofold, the first being that Casader’s moon was gravitationally locked in what appeared to be a
Geostationary Orbit.
It always stayed in the same position in the sky; standing guard over the colony, just above the eastern plateau. This particular feature caused the Earthmen to give it the name of “Clarkes Moon”. To the natives it was called
Yaulma
, which translated to “one who watches,” and was worshiped by many of the desert wanderers, north of Dífrun. The second did not occur to most of the settlers until they either read about it or they saw it for themselves: the moon travelled through a complete cycle in a single day. A patient observer could watch the phases change before their very eyes. It was a beautiful sight, every morning was a new moon and every night was a full moon. There was a biannual solar eclipse that could only ever be full in one small region of the world, far in the east. Each year worshipers from the desert would make a pilgrimage to the moon temple that was aligned with the centre of the eclipse, providing the maximum amount of visible eclipse days.

If Shayne had any affiliation with the heavenly body, it was with its perception in the eyes of his fellow colonists. Just like the moon, Shayne was an oddity that made his peers uncomfortable. He did not look that much different, save the fact that he was slightly shorter in stature and had a preference for facial hair. Shayne understood that the moon; in a way, represented himself in the eyes of those around him. On those rare days, when he thought about his position compared to his companions, he thought firstly of the moon.

On first appearance Shayne seemed quite normal. He was an Australian Western Front Citizen whose heritage was mostly of Welsh and Maltese descent. He was thin for a male, but incredibly fit. His beard was frightfully old fashioned for a member of the Western Empire Military, but it was always well maintained. He boasted a full head of straight black hair that had been cut short, with the only betrayal of old age being the greying at the sides of his beard and the thin lines upon his face. These things also revealed his status as a Starborn, he was only given B-grade enhanced food rations which would on contribute to his “older” appearance.

Biologically Shayne was middle aged; dated records placed him at seventy-one standard years. He had seasoned well, but given the average age of the colony was thirty-one he stood out all the more. He was not the eldest colonist; that title belonged to the general, but he was the most obvious due to his outward appearance.

The signs of maturity were a lost reminder of Shayne’s past, revealing a man who once laughed and enjoyed life, but that was another time and another life. All that stood now was considered an empty shell: a human deprived of all that was human. Shayne was officially known as a
forfeit human
.

There were many titles for Shayne’s class, one of many subgroups of humans who were ultimately classed as forfeit humans, people incapable of functioning in an intelligent or humane way. The most common used terms for his class of degeneration were:
Starborn Victim
,
Starborn
, or
SB
, due to an affliction occurring while being transported in suspended animation on the colonyships. When they were finally awakened they were required to relearn every aspect from walking to talking, just as a newborn child. The newly trained Starborns frightened the general community; originating from their silent nature. They were always softly spoken and emotionless in expression, they were incapable of communicating in a social manner, and only spoke when prompted. Humans exist to interact with each other and even the antisocial communicate in some form. The fear directed towards the Starborn was caused by the general populace having minimal contact with them. People tended to think of them as human beings, not from lack of understanding, but from lack of experience. It is natural to see something that appears human and assume it was, even if it is not. This very same phenomenon occurred with robots. The difference being people knew robots were machines so they accepted their detached natures, even the ones that were designed to be more human. What they could not perceive was that Starborn Victims were basically a machine made of flesh and bone: very little separated the two.

Far from the classic Starborn category, Shayne’s manner was considered more than disturbing. He was not
quite
right and that unsettled the most resilient of men. Shayne’s position in human influence was somewhat different; beforehand the fear was manifested with ignorance, with Shayne it was with something more complicated. There seemed to be a deep ferocity in his gaze, something so fundamentally dark that dread crept over anyone who dared to look at him. He was an individual with a soul void of empathy; the distinguishing factor amongst the Starborn and on top of that he held an understanding and intelligence far exceeding their own. When anyone stood before him they felt exposed; they knew he was studying them and that he had summed them up, a thought so terrible that many people perceived him as a potential threat to the colony, unfortunately for them others saw something else in him, providing him with freedoms unheard of in a Starborn.

Standing beside that ancient gnarled tree Shayne watched the day wane. Three new stars began to glow directly above. His gaze lingered on the brightest while he pondered its significance.

A new light would eventually appear as the years passed by and steadily grow into a star so bright that it would be seen even during the day. The construction of the
Rosen Bridge
Gateway
was the most important aspect of a successful Empire
[1]
; it enabled governments to function on a scale otherwise impossible, however the
Gate
would take at least ten years to construct, meaning the colony stood alone until that time. As the darkness grew and more flickering lights appeared Shayne heard the sound of footsteps coming up the hill. He shifted his gaze to see a dark humanoid shape rise from the forest. He knew it was one of the Class-B androids coming to collect him.

‘This entire forest once belonged to an immortal race of humans called the
Ilnanato Afradians
,’ Shayne softly spoke as the machine came and stood by his side, the metal in its body reflecting the last rays of light. Its emotionless carbon-gel features examined the landscape around them as Shayne continued to speak. ‘The lionmen say, this clearing once stood upon a hidden road between the Wayel-Éaa city and the borders of Bohaníde, they believe it to be sacred.’

The robot designated as 73B-GMSR, but often called Gemscar continued to examine the land before them. ‘I do not see a path.’

‘It’s long overgrown. We’ve been travelling on it, or what’s left of it.’

‘Why do these aliens interest you, Starborn?’

‘Why does anything interest anyone? I don’t understand them: their way, their religion or their intentions.’ The robot silently watched Shayne as he talked, ‘Your lack of interest is understandable. You’re primary programming is for manual labour, if you were here as an anthropologist’s droid it would be another question.’

The machine acknowledged this statement and then turned towards the camp. ‘I was ordered to retrieve you.’

Shayne mentally frowned despite predicting the order. With some inward reluctance he followed the robot down the hill into the darkness of the forest. Their path was partially lit by the approaching full moon; its silvery beams broken by the trees creating strange shadows. Shayne was moved by the darkness; it always brought him some level of comfort. The fading light and ensuing night was the only thing that gave him any kind of joy, a beginning of some primal emotion stirring deep within him.