LEGENDS I : Legends of Loss
by Nicole Mayer (destiny@wwdg.com)
August, 1996
Revised June, 1998
LEGENDS OF LOSS
---------------
Jerry stared at his computer screen and groaned. Whose dumb idea
was this anyway? They were all stupid questions and he had no idea
of the answers.
"Jerry, please keep your comments to yourself," warned the
teacher. Jerry ducked his head and scowled. He didn't like Ms.
Baines. She had some weird idea that school was important.
'Question 1: What is the common name for G889?' ~G889?~ Jerry
repeated in his head. ~What's that? C'mon, Jerry, think!~ he
coached himself. This was a quiz about their history, their
planet, so, maybe G889 was the catalogued name for New Terra. He
punched in the answer, eliciting another glare from the teacher for
pounding the keyboard with unnecessary force.
'Question 2: Who led the first colonist expedition to G889?'
'Some dumb lady,' typed Jerry. He didn't care. The past was the
past, and it had no usefulness for the present day.
'Question 3: Who founded Devon?' ~Someone called Devon,~ Jerry
supposed. No, that wasn't right. It was a man who established
their city. An old, crazy man who was a local legend - what was
his name again?
'Danzig,' Jerry keyed. He knew he was going to fail this test,
even though it didn't really count for anything. Ms. Baines had
decided it would be nice to have a quiz on their general history
knowledge, considering that tomorrow was Commemoration Day.
'Question 4: Who was the town's First Administrator?' That one
Jerry knew, at least. It would be hard not to, considering that
half the country was named after the man! 'Martin,' he typed with
satisfaction. His family lived by Martin Creek, near Morgan's
Meadow in the province of Martin.
But the next question was just as obscure as the first one: 'Who
was the first to undergo the Transformation?' Jerry frowned again.
He didn't like the kids who were Transformed. They were stuck up
and thought they were so good, just because they could communicate
with the Terrians and the planet!
Jerry looked around the room. Most of the other kids were typing
furiously, but there was one other face with a distressed
expression. The new kid, Lukas. His family had arrived on planet
three days ago and Jerry wasn't sure if he liked Lukas yet or not.
But if Lukas also couldn't do this dumb test, then maybe they could
be friends for life.
Jerry read the next question, and almost gave up. 'What year did
the reformation of the Council take place?' No idea. The history
books went on and on about how important that was, but what
relevance did it have now?
'Question 11: Give the date that G889 was declared a free planet.'
Okay, time to show this teacher exactly what he thought. 'New
Terra is NOT a free planet because kids like me have to go to
school!' he typed with satisfaction. Smiling triumphantly, he met
Lukas's eyes and decided to get to know the new kid.
***
"Hey, Lukas, wait up!" called Jerry across the courtyard.
Lukas looked around, confused. He didn't know anyone yet.
"Hi, I'm Jerry. Wanna go do something fun?"
Momentary indecision crossed Lukas' face. He knew he should wait
around for his older sister Gillian, but this was the first gesture
of friendship anyone had extended to him since coming to planet
G889, or New Terra, as the locals called it.
"Okay!" he replied.
"Cool," said Jerry, and dashed off towards the trees. "My friends
are waiting!"
Lukas adjusted the straps on his school bag, and took off after the
boy. He joined the small group - some of the roughest looking kids
at school, he noted. But Lukas was so desperate to make friends
that he didn't care who they were!
"Let's show Lukas the sights of Devon!" announced Jerry, who was
obviously the leader. This began a crazy race through the streets
as they ducked through drains and slipped under fences. Jerry
laughed with wild abandon, and Lukas felt a guilty thrill run
through his body. He'd never behaved like this before, and he
liked it.
The afternoon wore on, and eventually the group paused by a
statue. It had once been a prominent landmark, but few people
stopped at it these days. It was just something that was *there*,
a dilapidated tourist attraction, and nothing more.
Jerry picked up a rock, and hurled it. It bounced off of the
statue with a resounding thunk.
"Let's see if we can chip its nose off!" he challenged. The boys
began raining rocks in quick succession, all but Lukas. He didn't
want to do anything really bad that could get him into trouble.
As the game wound down, Lukas stepped closer to the statue,
curious. It had obviously once been very special, as the image of
a proud, beautiful woman wasn't diminished by the years of wind,
rain and sun. Tarnished, yet still ornate, lettering decorated the
base, and Lukas strained to make out the words.
"This monument erected in memory of Devon Adair, leader of the
Eden Project and visionary of the future. She will not be
forgotten."
Lukas read the words with a sense of sadness. People had
forgotten her, whoever she was and whatever she did. And now,
little boys were making a mockery of her.
"Hey, Lukas, have you heard about the ghost?" said Jerry
wickedly, sensing that this was an opportunity for some fun.
"What ghost?" asked Lukas.
"The ghost of this statue." Jerry lowered his voice ominously as
the afternoon grew darker. "They say that she's still out there,
buried alive in the desert. And her spirit walks the planet,
trapped forever because everyone forgot where she was...."
A chill wind whipped through the small clearing, and Lukas
shivered. The shadows seemed to lengthen menacingly, yet Lukas
also sensed a sadness in the air.
He cleared his throat, and attempted to look brave. "How could
someone be buried alive? No one would be stupid enough to do
that!"
Jerry laughed, loving every minute of his power. "Her friends did
it, they took her and shoved her away in a frozen coffin. She
thought they'd come back, but they never did! So now, every night
when it gets dark, her ghost comes into the houses of little boys
and searches for her son that left her behind. Has she visited you
yet?"
Lukas shook his head. He didn't really believe in ghosts, not
him...there were enough creepy things on this planet without
spirits to worry about!
"You even look like him," snickered one of the other boys. "You'd
better watch out tonight!" Just then, the low moaning sound of the
wind filled the air. The ground rumbled beneath their feet.
"That's just the Terrians, right?" Lukas asked, his voice
quavering. Even Jerry looked a little spooked right now.
"Lukas..." a voice seemed to come out of the darkness. "Are you
there?...."
"IT'S THE GHOST! RUN!!!" hollered one of the boys, and the group
split off in several directions at once. All but Lukas. He was
frozen in place, petrified.
"Lukas!" the voice came again, but sharply this time. It was his
older sister, Gillian.
"Over here, Gill," he called weakly. He was angry with himself for
getting so spooked by the tales of the other boys.
"Lukas, you know you were supposed to come home with me straight
after school!" she admonished. Then she stopped, and did a
double-take.
"The statue..." Gillian whispered, her attention drawn to it. A
flash of memory washed over her, a momentary feeling of
recognition, and with it came a sense of sadness. Slowly, Gillian
stepped forward and stared at the woman's face, etched in marble
for eternity. The features were strong and commanding, yet also
gentle. Whoever had fashioned the monument had obviously cared for
the woman a great deal.
Undoubtably, image reminded Gillian of something, of someone. She
read the inscription at the bottom. "So that's it," she mused
aloud, attempting to convince herself that the creepy feelings
related to the statue were nothing of consequence.
"That's what?" asked Lukas.
"Why the statue looks so familiar. There's a girl in my class,
someone Adair, who looks a little like this. I think she was the
one who was bragging about her great-great-grandfather being the
first of the Transformed." Gillian frowned. "Or maybe that was
great-great-great grandfather...."
"Well, I think it's a spooky statue."
"Spooky? It's beautiful! Why do you say that?" Gillian asked her
brother. He explained to her the story the boys had told him and
Gillian was immediately fascinated. Unlike Lukas and their father,
Gillian had been ecstatic when she found out they were moving to
planet G889. It had something of a reputation amongst the
colonized worlds for being, well, weird. People didn't think it
was natural to communicate with a planet, and there were rumours
that if you stayed there long enough, you, too, would become
Transformed.
But after arriving here, Gillian didn't think that would be such a
bad thing. She'd met both Transformed humans and Terrians who were
perfectly nice and normal (if she could overlook the underground
travelling). G889, the first of humanity's new homes and a legend
among the stars, was now her home. She wanted to find out all she
could about it.
"Let's go," whined Lukas, as his tiredness caught up with him. He
decided that even though Jerry was fun, he didn't like Jerry's
friends much. Maybe he would meet someone different tomorrow.
"Okay," answered Gillian, taking one last look at the statue. For
a moment, the world seemed to whirl around her and the image
wavered into life. Ice-blue eyes looked into Gillian's soul as the
woman whispered, "Don't leave me...."
Gillian gasped aloud, and a tugging on her arm brought her back to
reality. Bewildered, she allowed Lukas to pull her into the night.
***
Gillian sighed as she brought up yet another historical account of
G889 on her computer. Boring, dry, dull. Where was the drama of
the ghost story Lukas had told her? The facts of the Eden Project
were there, as were details of the advance ship's crash, but then
nothing more than a list of names. Devon Adair, leader of the
project. Commander Broderick O'Neill, deceased shortly after
planetfall. John Danziger, mechanic and eventual founder of the
city Devon. Morgan Martin, level 4 bureaucrat and First
Administrator of G889.
The list went on, but Gillian was bored. No mention was made of
the trek across the planet, something that had thoroughly piqued
her interest. She was especially curious as to what had happened
to Devon Adair, but there was no mention of that either. Not even
a death date, but then again, many of the records of the original
settlers were incomplete.
Frustrated, Gillian leaned back in her chair and yawned loudly.
She was spending her lunch break in front of the library computers
and the building was quiet and dull. Gillian knew she had to make
some friends soon, but it was so hard being new. Especially since
everyone already had their little cliques and would never tolerate
an outsider.
"Is there something I can help you with?" asked a kind voice
behind the girl. She swung around, startled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was so loud..." Gillian began,
but the woman smiled.
"That's quite alright. It gets boring in here with it being so
quiet anyway!" Leaning over Gillian's shoulder, the woman studied
the computer screen.
"History of G889? I wish I could get my class so interested in the
history of our planet!"
"But it's fascinating stuff!" enthused Gillian. "Well, it should
be. I just can't find any real accounts. Do you know what I
mean?"
The woman smiled. "I think I do. I'm Ms. Baines, by the way."
"Gillian Brody," she replied. "My brother and I just moved here a
few days ago."
"Oh, so you're Lukas' big sister! Nice to meet you. He's a very
well-behaved little boy, and I think he'll be a great asset to the
class."
Gillian smiled politely. She hated it when teachers began their
traditional speeches. But Ms. Baines noticed the look on the
girl's face, and smiled knowingly.
"I'm sorry, that's the sort of boring comment I should save for
your parents! Now, where were we? That's right, history of
G889." Ms. Baines typed rapidly on the keyboard, and brought up a
new file.
"If you're really interested in this planet, I recommend this."
Gillian looked at the screen. "It covers the early history of
G889, but it's written in such a beautiful way that it makes
wonderful reading. I think my great-grandparents knew the woman
who wrote it. There was something of a tragedy attached to the
whole incident, but I won't spoil it for you."
"Thank you," replied Gillian. This file was long! She scanned
the file information - autobiographical novel by Bess Martin.
Suddenly, the school bell rang and it was time to return to class.
"See you later," said Ms. Baines and Gillian headed off for
another afternoon at school.
***
It was night before she had a chance to look at the file. Gillian
had visited the statue for the second time that afternoon, and was
once again haunted by the sense of sadness surrounding the image.
Gillian wondered if the sadness was her own imagination, and could
not shake the impression that she *knew* Devon from somewhere.
Hoping to find the answers she sought, Gillian began to read.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I don't know why I'm writing this, maybe for myself, maybe for my
friends, or maybe for our children. I just believe that our story
should be recorded somehow for the future so that we are not
forgotten. So many friends have been lost during this quest for
our freedom, and the freedom of millions of others, that I have to
keep reminding myself that it was all worth it.
It seems a lifetime ago when we boarded the ship for planet G889.
It was a lifetime ago. All those people who have become so
important to me - I barely knew them back then.
Even Morgan, my husband, was still something of a mystery to me.
I knew I loved him with all my heart, but since we left Earth and
the space stations, he changed. Or maybe he just revealed more of
his inner self. Either way, I'll never forget the excitement on
his face when he announced that we would be part of this mission -
the beginning of the future.
My first meetings with the others are not so clear. I barely
remember anyone from the first few terrified days: our perilous
departure, then the crash, the loneliness as Morgan and I realised
that we could be the only two human beings on an unknown planet,
stranded....
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I remember meeting John as I
first came aboard the doomed Advance ship. He introduced himself
as Danziger back then, but he's been John to me so long that I
can't think of him any other way.
I was immediately impressed by his sense of purpose, and
strength. He knew what he had to do in life, and nothing would
stop him getting there. He wanted the best for True.
Yet the John I knew later was...changed. This planet, so good for
many of us, in essence destroyed the man that he once was. Was
that a good thing? Would it have been better for him to have never
known love again after True's mother was taken from him? Or, to
quote a famed Earth saying, "'Tis better to have loved and lost,
than never to have loved at all." I don't know if that's true in
John's case. His heart caused him more pain than any living soul
should ever have to endure.
If I were to lose Morgan, I would not regret our time
together. Every moment of every day of every year has been worth
the pain I know I will one day face. Together, we have faced that
same pain many a time. But one day, either he or I will be alone.
Sacrifices...life is all about sacrifices. The sacrifices of
dear friends - Devon, Julia, John - I will never forget any of
them. They built a better world for us all.
So maybe I'm writing this for them, my dearest friends throughout
time. They shall always be remembered.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gillian read deep into the night, the wonderful, haunting tale
tinged with sadness and fear. Of their struggle to reach her new
home planet, of their adventures crossing the vast wilderness. And
finally, to the place where they began to die.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eben was dead. We buried her and said our goodbyes, heartfelt
from everyone. We had become so close during this trek, that to
lose even one brought sadness upon us all.
Little did we know that she would help save us, and we would
return. Only to face an even worse horror....
-- -- --
END Legends of Loss.
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