Titan Encounter (14 page)

Leo slowly shook his
head. “So, what did the Titans supposedly do?”

Chewing on another
bite he said, “They waged war against their creators.”

“Creators?
They teach you that
normal humans created us?”

“Of course you…we…
were created. The Project Titan creators gave us our strength, our mental
powers?”

“We’re naturally fit
and most of us work to stay that way, but we’re not superhuman.  As for
the mental abilities, no one knows for sure, but when the original Titans
departed Earth, they left as normal humans.” 

Justin shook his
head.

“Project Titan
selected intelligent, genetically healthy and athletic humans, the best and
brightest, to fight the alien threat. Our ancestors left, in a fleet of
sub-light ships, for the endangered colonies.”

Justin nodded.
Except for the part about sending normal humans, Leo was repeating Norm
history.
“But the mental powers?”

Leo shrugged. “Some
think they are the result of random mutation, others say it is a miracle, a
gift from God or the prophet. What we do know is that our ancestors, the early
Titans, left Earth more than a century before these abilities began to appear.”

Justin frowned
skeptically.

“However it
happened, those capabilities slowly spread through the population so that we
now all have them, to varying degrees.”

“So, after the Alien
War, the Titans just
decided
to wage a war of genocide against their human
brothers?” Justin asked sarcastically.

“Genocide?
That’s what you’ve
been taught?” Leo rubbed his head. “Tell me the rest. What do they teach you
about the Battle of Earth?”

“After defeating the
main Norm fleet, they continued and attacked the remaining forces over
Earth.  The Titans bombarded the planet, hitting every continent.”

“Does history tell
you who led the attack on Earth?”

“Fleet Admiral
Leonidas.”

The old man nodded
and seemed to age in an instant. “Yes, the historians got that right. It was my
responsibility.”

“Your
responsibility?
That was four hundred years ago. How could it be…
”

“As they say, time
is relative.”

Justin’s eyes
narrowed.  

“Have you studied
time dilation?” He tilted his head. “What happens to a ship traveling at a
significant fraction of light speed?” 

“Time slows down for
those on the vessel.”

“After capturing
Terra Nova and making a couple of short FTL jumps we have been accelerating at
sub-light speed for nearly twenty years as we measure time. Apparently about
four hundred years have passed from your perspective.  Relative to you,
time for us has slowed to a crawl.”

“Are you saying….?”

“Four hundred years
ago as you measure time, I led the Titan forces in their attack on Earth and
the capture of Terra Nova. I am Fleet Admiral Leonidas.”

Justin’s words came
slowly and almost at a whisper. “Millions died in the battle and nearly a
billion in the civil war and the famine that followed.”

The old man’s eyes
dimmed and he nodded slowly. “I knew that many…many died and I feared that even
more would die in the chaos that would surely come, but we had to go.”

He didn’t understand
what Leonidas meant about having to go, but Justin wanted to go, to run
somewhere—anywhere. Since he had discovered what he was, he’d hoped that, over
the centuries, the Titans had changed. No nation, no group, were the same after
so much time, but for these people it had not been so long. They had lived—had
fought, the Battle of Earth. They were the creatures who had turned against
their human brothers and slaughtered them in a series of attacks leading up to
the decisive battle. It was only there, high over Earth, that the Titan fleet
had been defeated with, as many claimed, the help of the
Nephilim
.
All that devastation and death had led to civil war and famine. 
Historical images ran through his mind of burning cities, dead bodies, and the
walking skeletons of the survivors.

Anguish swept from
Leonidas. With eyes closed he held out his hand as if to stop Justin’s
thoughts.

Those nearby turned
their heads toward them. Some stood and moved closer.

Others moved away.

Justin stood and
ran.

*              
*              
*

Justin heard a dog
trot toward the table in a quiet corner of a park where he had sought refuge.
As the animal approached he glanced to his right to ensure it was
Thor
.“
So
, you found me,” he said
with little emotion.

The dog seemed to
smile as it sat beside him with its tongue flopped out to the side.

Moments later Fleet
Admiral Leonidas, the worst war criminal in human history, walked up, carrying
a tray. “I brought you another breakfast.”

“Thanks,” he said
flatly and motioned for him to set it down.

“You realize that
it’s impossible to hide from us until you learn to conceal your thoughts.”

Justin had figured
that out an hour earlier.  He had sat at a table and attempted to sort
through all he had been told while waiting for someone to approach and…. He
wasn’t sure what might happen.

“Would you like me
to show you how to do that?”

Huh?

Teach you how to
hide your thoughts.

Sure. 
He motioned for the
old man to sit down.
As he did their eyes locked.
How could I be a
Titan?
The thought had just occurred to him
.

Leonidas shot him a
questioning glance.

He hadn’t meant to
ask the question, but in this place his every thought was part of the conversation.
“If all of you have been on this ship for four hundred years, how am I a
Titan?”

“It’s not just this
ship, we have a fleet, but we needed Exodus to carry the bulk of our marines.”

He nodded, but was
still confused. 

Leonidas took a deep
breath. “Once, years ago, I had a wife and four sons.” He paused and his eyes
became very distant. “Only one survived the wars. Simon was young and
ambitious, eager to prove himself.”

Justin pecked at his
food as the old man again paused.

“After capturing
Terra Nova and jumping away from Earth we sent a vanguard mission to Lepanto.
Simon volunteered to go.”

“They never came
back?”

The old man shook
his head. “I thought it was safer than staying with the main fleet, so I was
glad to see him go, but engine problems onboard Exodus caused us to miss the
rendezvous.  We couldn’t contact them after that.” The life seemed to
drain from the older man’s face. “I feared all were dead.”

Justin put down his
fork. “But they didn’t die. There were several cities on Lepanto.”
Memories of the wrecked ships and a planet engulfed in a nuclear
winter
lept
to his mind.
A
battle
.

Leonidas
  nodded
. “Apparently many years later, as you measure
time, the Titans on Lepanto were discovered by the Empire but,” he paused, “we
found very few bodies in the rubble and only one ship with Titan markings.”

“They escaped?”

Again, the old man
smiled. “We believe so—hope so. They had warning.”

He leaned forward.
“Warning?
How?”
And how would
you know?

“The Prophecies of
Justin warned us.” Leonidas pulled a small book from his jacket pocket. “Our
children memorize it in school.” He set the book on the table.  “Justin
brought us the message of a loving God.”

“Titans believe
this?”

His face still
serious, the older man gave a hint of a smile and nodded. “Your parents
probably named you after him.”

Justin shook his
head.

“His message spread
slowly at first. I didn’t believe until the normal humans turned against us.”
He tapped the book. “Justin foretold it.”

It was then he
remembered his original question.
How am I related to all of them? How can I
be a Titan if all of you have been traveling for hundreds of years?
For
several moments he tried to put the pieces of information together. “So I am…?”

“A
survivor from Lepanto.”

Justin picked up his
fork and played with his food. He didn’t believe in prophets or messages from
God, but the missing pieces of his life seemed to be falling into place. He was
a Titan and his family had lived on Lepanto until someone, probably Earth Empire,
attacked the planet. Childhood memories of alarm bells and the rumble of
distant explosions raced through his mind. He had closed the hatch on his
mother during the attack. He had killed her. Probably, his father had also died
that day. His mouth felt dry. An old thirst had returned. He stabbed at the
food.
What next?

“You and your
friends are Titans and the only known descendants of our vanguard. It is my
hope…our hope, that you will choose to remain here, but we will not force you.”

Justin’s eyes locked
on Leonidas. “So, if I…we, my friends, choose, we are free to go?”

“I don’t believe you
have a means to leave at the moment, but when you do, yes you are free.”

He recalled Naomi’s
stated willingness to kill Titans and Mara’s attempted suicide when she
realized she was one.  They would not want to remain. He sighed. “We may
never have the means to leave.”
Even if we all wanted to.

“I’ve asked
technicians at our space dock orbiting Lepanto to repair your vessel.” He
smiled weakly. “Even an old admiral has some influence.”

“Really?
When will it be
ready? We can help.”

“I’m afraid your
ship is of low priority, but it should be ready when we get to the system in
just over a week.”

“A
week?
Why so long to get there?”

“Remember, we are
traveling at sub-light speed.”

“But Terra Nova was
an FTL vessel, the biggest one ever built.”

Leonidas nodded. “
Was
is
the key word in your sentence. Earth forces
hit the ship several times during the battle, damaging the FTL engines. They
failed after a few short jumps. We’ve been trying to fix them for years. Our
repair dock is attempting to salvage the needed parts from the many destroyed
ships still in orbit around the planet.”

Justin eyes drifted
down to the table as he allowed all he had heard to sink in.  Finally, he
lifted his gaze. “It seems that I have a week to get to know you before I make
a decision.”

The faintest hint of
a smile crossed the old man’s face. “That is all I hoped for—right now.”

Justin leaned
forward. “Where are my friends? We have a lot to talk about.”

*              
*              
*

Justin cautiously
opened the hatch wondering how he might be received.  A chair crashed into
the wall beside his head and exploded into fragments. Instinctively he dove behind
the door. 

“Get out or die!”

From behind the door
he called out, “Naomi it’s me, Justin.”

Silence.
  Then a
sheepish voice, “Really? Justin is it you?”

“Yes.  I’m
going to open the door and…”

The hatch flew from
his hand and Naomi swept him into her arms. “They said you were alive, but…I
didn’t know if….” She kissed him.  “You should have told me.”  With
her arms still around him, they stumbled back into the room. Her eyes locked on
him. 
You could have—should have—contacted me this way.

They taught me
techniques they said would keep my thoughts private, but I couldn’t be
sure.  You were the test.

Confusion clouded
her face.

If I could get
close, without you knowing, then I would know my thoughts were private.

Minutes slipped by
as they sat beside one another holding
hands
. Only
occasionally a sound escaped their lips as Justin described the light that he
thought was the ship, the pack of telepathic dogs and being stunned.

Naomi nodded.
When
I couldn’t contact you, I dressed as best I could against the cold and opened
the hatch. They were waiting for me. We fought. I think I hurt one or two, but
they had the advantage of both surprise and some form of stun weapon. I awoke
here.

Have they treated
you well?

Yes, I guess, but
when they told me they were Titans I…
Her eyes darted about the spartanly
furnished room and rested first on a busted table in the corner and then on the
shattered chair by the door.
I broke off contact.
She giggled.