The New Gaia Chronicles-Past Secrets
Prologue-One thousand years later...
Star Fangor sighed as she dug another bundle of papers out of the old chest. Genesis was only a week away and here she was filing old papers.
"That’s what you get for sneaking out to go flying." Star muttered to herself. Then she smiled. "But is was fun."
She glanced at each paper before she placed it in a pile. Most of them were lists or diagrams. Probably old records. Many of the papers were old and brittle. The History Circle would be interested.
Star worked diligently for another hour. Finally, she was down to her last bundle. As she pulled it out, she noticed it was a leather-bound book. Centuries old.
Star blew off the dust and turned to the first page.
My name is Rachel. Soon to be Rachel Fangor. When Tobias and I marry, I will take on his name. He took it out of respect for his real father.
This is a record. A record of my life, our lives. And the history of New Gaia.
Today is the one-year anniversary of New Gaia. One year since we arrived.
The truth will one day be known. The day this is found, history will be rewritten.
We are humans. We are all that is left of a once great race.
One year ago, we came to this planet with nothing. Now, we are prosperous. That’s ironic. We left our beloved planet to her fate and escaped to here out of desperation. How our attitudes changed after we arrived.
But Earth still haunts us. The people we left behind. The Yeerks we failed to defeat. But one day, we’ll go back. Go back and reclaim our native planet. Perhaps not in my lifetime, but we will go back. Because even if you can run from the past, you can’t hide from it forever.
But for now, we are content with our lives on New Gaia.
We have done much to improve our lives. No TV yet, but it will come. Perhaps even before I die. We have log houses, and some pots and pans. Jake’s working on bricks. Ax, Marco, and Dr. Cornwell are working on electricity.
We are repeating our ancestor’s discoveries, but at a much faster pace. We know what to avoid, and what to focus on. That is why Jake wants me to write this. We must preserve history for our descendants. Much of our knowledge will not be used in our lifetimes.
This is perhaps our greatest achievement: Paper. I am perhaps rambling, and therefore wasting, but this is not a technical manual like the one Marco will be writing.
This is the story of our lives.
Star stared at the words swarming before her eyes. This can’t be. It can’t be true. Or can it?
Clutching the book tightly, Star dashed out of the room.
Chapter 1
Star stood before the High Council. Her eyes flashed with defiance.
"The President of New Gaia: Sir John Clayton." An announcer spoke as the President walked to his seat in the Council Chamber.
The President cleared his throat. "I have reviewed you theory. I have found that there is no definite proof of Terrans originating on another planet."
"What about the book!?" Star cried.
"It could be fictitious."
"What if it’s not. What if that’s true?"
"Would it matter? A thousand years have passed."
"These humans, they are our people. We should at least make contact."
"What makes you think we can even find this…this Earth?"
"There are old star charts in our records. These Animorphs obviously left good records. We can find them if try. We can find our home."
"New Gaia is our home!"
"Do you know where that name came from? ‘New’ we all know, but ‘Gaia’ means ‘Earth’. It was a word in an ancient language on Earth called Greek. The name of our planet means ‘New Earth’! Doesn’t that suggest something to you?"
"I will not hear anymore of this nonsense. The Council is dismissed."
Star stared in horror as one by one, the High Council members left. No one would listen to her. There was nothing she could do.
Finally, after a long period of silence, Star felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Junior Officer Jacob Robinson. A friend of hers. He attended school with her.
"We need to go. They’re closing the room."
Star sighed. "Guess I didn’t make a very good impression." She kicked a chair. "It’s just because I’m a junior, they won’t listen! If some famous scientist found it, I bet they’d believe them. Just ‘cause I’m young doesn’t mean I make things up! They should believe me."
Jac but a hand on her arm and lead her out. "I believe you."
"You do?"
"I only skimmed through the report the History Circle made, but there is evidence. More could be uncovered it they put some people on it."
"If they won’t, I will."
"You can’t do it yourself."
"Are you offering to help me?"
"Maybe I am. You read the entire book?"
"Yeah."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Gather more evidence, I suppose."
Jac smiled. "Then what are we waiting for?"
"We?"
"I said I’d help you."
Star smiled. "We."
Chapter 2
Star rubbed her eyes. She had been staring at the computer screen for hours. "I can’t believe we have this many records."
"The oldest I found was dated at about 1000 years ago."
"That’s what I have. In fact, there’s no record of any kind in an earlier period."
"That supports your theory. Records would have been kept only after people came."
Star smiled. "No evidence of evolution either. These people appeared out of nowhere."
"Hmm. This is weird." Jac muttered, distracted.
"What?"
"We never discovered an Andalite skeleton."
"What’s so weird about that?"
"The book said an Andalite come with them. Unless he was immortal, we should have found his remains."
"Maybe we just haven’t come across them yet."
"These people only lived in a small area. That whole place has been evacuated. It’s been scanned. There’s nothing left in the ground."
"Are you saying he just disappeared?"
"What else could have happened?"
"I don’t know." She frowned. "I don’t know."
Jac shrugged. "There’s a lot we don’t know."
"Have you looked at the census list?"
"The what?"
Star handed him a copy. "Names, birth and death dates, age, marital status, and some other stuff of everyone on the planet at the time."
"Rachel and Tobias Fangor. Relatives of yours?"
"I think so. I need a better DNA sample than the one the History Circle has to verify that, though."
Jac stared at the paper. "Jake. Jacob."
"Hmm?"
"Nearly every generation of our family has a ‘Jacob’."
"You think you were named after him?"
"I wish I knew."
Star pulled up another file. "This is a updated list from 50 years later. The population just about doubled."
Jac leaned over her shoulder to look at it. "Looks like our Andalite married!"
"Ax and Michelle Esgarrouth."
"Who’s Michelle?"
"The daughter of one of the Originals."
"Kids?"
"Yes. Two boys, one girl."
"Esgarrouth. That name sounds familiar." Jac muttered.
Star called up a search. "There is a family named Esgarrouth living here." Star’s fingers flew. "Here’s their file."
Jac pointed to a name. "Sarah Esgarrouth. She goes to our school. A level below us." He whistled. "Robert William’s niece."
"The Robert William? The one who owns Star Enterprises?"
"How many Robert Williams do you think there are?"
Star turned back to the file. "Smart girl. She already skipped a level, and now she’s skipping another one."
"She’ll be attending some of our classes."
Star smiled. "I wonder what she’d say if she knew she wasn’t completely Gaian."
Jac laughed. "You’re not planning on telling her, are you?"
"No. We have no proof. She might not believe us. It could cause a uproar."
"It’s too bad. I don’t think she’s your usual little rich girl. I think she might even help us."
Chapter 3
Star watched the girl sitting across the eating room. Sarah. "Jac." She hissed.
Jac followed her gaze to the student in the front, her back to them. "I peeked at her school files. Perfect student. She’s already been accepted to Harv Law for her Advance next year."
Star raised her eyebrows. "That’s the best school there is."
"I know."
"So what are you doing for Advances?"
"The Academy. I want to be a science officer in the New Gaia Space Force. You?"
"You know what I want."
"Dig up the past and tell the world?"
"I just want to truth to come out."
"You need money for research."
"I know. I never was the Academy type, but I guess I’m headed there anyway."
"The pay’s good. We can continue your research."
"We can continue our research."
"I wish someone would just believe us."
"But they don’t. It’s just the two of us."
"We’ll make it. I promise."
Star dug at the protein cube on her plate. "Ye. We’ll make it."
Jac smiled at her. "I like you, Star." He said unexpectedly.
Star looked up at him. "I like you too."
"Maybe, tonight, we can go to the Center. Have dinner."
"Are you asking me out?" Star teased.
"Maybe I am."
"Then maybe I accept."
"Shall we say, 7:00. Dinner and then SimTheater?"
Star saw that he was serious and smiled. "I’ll be waiting."
Epilogue-Five years later...
The General smiled. "Lieutenant Jacob Robinson, Lieutenant Star Fangor, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Jac leaned over, and to the cheers of their friends, kissed his wife.
General Chasten tapped him on the shoulder. "We’ve got a surprise for you."
Jac and Star looked to where he was pointing.
"As your commanding officer, I have the pleasure of presenting to you, from all of us, your wedding present." He hit a switch.
The screen lifted and underneath was a shinning, brand new spaceship.
Star gasped. "It’s beautiful!"
"It’s all yours! What do you name it?"
"Avion." Star whispered in Jac’s ear. "I read that in Rachel’s book. It means ‘plane’."
Jac smiled. "The NGS Avion. I like it."
The General nodded. "The New Gaia Spaceship Avion."
The End