Polluxian-Descent

Chapter 1

The Devil Inside

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say... Is this along the same lines as: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? No! they are completely different but let's take a look at this for a moment. Sound cannot not travel in a vacuum, but that doesn't mean the person who screams can't briefly hear him or herself as the last molecules of breath are forced out of their lungs. Sadly, we may never know because that person wouldn't survive to tell the tale. All we would see is every drop of blood vacate their pores right before their body bloats and expands twice its size. They will then freeze to death, becoming a floating piece of space junk for all eternity... Similarly, if no one is there to hear a tree fall, does it make a sound? Of course it makes a sound, but this also can't be proven. How can you prove a sound was made if no one was there to hear it? It seems that parts of life depend solely on our observations in order for something to be perceived as real. Don't get me started on that!"

Professor Keenan specialized in making your thought processes dig deeper to stay on his level. The outspoken words of his methodical approach to teaching probed the depths of our minds and took us places we have never been before. My intellect was famished and easily devoured every articulated element of speech that flowed out the mouth of this eclectic genius. I needed a role model, someone to ground me. I found this and much more from this brilliant aging man. I know I speak highly of him, and for good reason, he was truly one of a kind, a saint in his own right. He continued with that day's lesson as all eyes remained glued to him...

"Experience is the best teacher that I know, and with collective experience comes shared knowledge. Humans...we think that just because there is an answer for everything, we will eventually know everything. But is that so, well tell me this tiny human, why haven't you figured out what the precise chemical structure of a thought is? Don't get stumped on that one, we will explore that another day.

I want to close today's lecture with something truly in need of thought... Ponder this for a minute, 7 Spheres, all clustered together following the same orbit around its star, at roughly the same distance from it within the goldilocks zone. They are a million miles or so apart from each other, yet their gravitational influence defies conventional logic. Is there a simple explanation for this or is this the work of ancient architectural ingenuity? We have never found this configuration anywhere else in the universe except on our home star Pollux.

Your assignment, due next week is to come up with a one-page theory of how a star's gravity alone can create such a grand arrangement... Alright future presidents, tomorrow we will study the effects of mixing hydrocarbons with the leaves of the Dejodder plant...Why does it create micro-explosions in the ether? Tough question huh, I know... Don't forget to read chapter 5 in your agricultural kindle. It might just harbor a clue to this question. That's it for today class, you are dismissed!"

Professor Anthonitus Keenan — a profoundly wise man from the Earthly solar system. He was proudly robust in caliber, confident and saturated with knowledge, he became the only man that I ever had respect for. Even my own father lacked the savvy and fortitude that was present in the humble nature of the professor.

Speaking of a hated man, my father is dead to me. The very thought of him nauseates my soul. He was sent to the prison world of the 7 spheres for exiling my mother into deep space and refused to give up the coordinates to her life pod. She is presumed deceased as it has been over a decade of Earth time since anyone laid eyes on her. At the time of her disappearance, the most advanced pods could sustain your life for up to 3 years. It would be a miracle indeed to hug her, to hear her voice and to take in the subtle lavender scent of her favorite essential oils just one more time. But no one was holding their breath... she's gone, I lost her but gained a great teacher and mentor.

Professor Keenan use to call me bug, even though my real name is Silas. We took a liking to each other rather quick as our personalities seemed to resonate effortlessly. I often stayed after class just to admire him and talk about the way the world works. I would always come away learning more about him and his cryptic train of thought.

The professor's very distant grandfather was none other than Herbert Manchester of the now defunct SETI institute back on the blue planet. He is forever cemented in our history kindle for his amazing discovery in 2030. He was the first to find and verify the aggregation phenomenon now known as Gravitational Synchrony. It's where a newborn star's gravity becomes so evenly dispersed from a weakened electromagnetic force, that it will almost always creates 7 spheres of similar mass orbiting at an equal distance from their parent star. So far, Pollux is the only star ever detected to have these properties; therefore, nothing exists for comparison. But the theory has been worked out mathematically and remains a sound explanation. Mr. Keenan let us in on this after the entire class failed that assignment quite humorously.

The 7 spheres are all habitable rocky planets, most of which are the size of Earth or larger. Terraforming wasn't necessary as each of them evolved oxygen rich atmospheres and water at the surface but none of them had the abundance of water as Mother Earth. They are inconceivably magnificent in detail, having their own diverse ecosystems and landscapes. Lush green vegetation covers the majority of the northern hemispheres, while deserts and rough terrain covered the south. Mountains 2 times the size of Mt Everest is a normal feature on 5 of the planets. The Ocean waters are tinted yellow due to the lack of bacteria and water filtering plants. Manmade lakes have since been created to help the weather systems regulate into normal intervals, as there are areas to be found harsher than Death Valley. Animal species were not as plentiful as that of the Earth. It was mostly insects and small rodent like animals that were discovered throughout the continents, there were no birds at all. Project Noah's Ark was a brilliant idea of the Federation and brought more animal diversity to the young planets. Now they are teeming with familiar species that you read about when studying Earth's biological history.

The 7 spheres are governed as educational, commerce, theological and manufacturing worlds, all working together for the sake of the others, except sphere number 3. This is the prison world responsible for housing the most devious, unruly and murderous convicts ever to wreak havoc in the two solar systems controlled by the United Federation of Exploration or UFE. Criminals are transported to 3z59 for their unforgivable crimes, ridding the 8 planets, including earth, the need for any type of detainment facilities. Sphere number 3 is the only planet to have dangerously unpredictable weather patterns due to its faster rotation, making it less hospitable. A lightning strike on 3z59 could completely destroy structures as big as a two-story house. This is why it was reserved as a prison planet. Although they were housed in protective material, who cared if prisoners died in a storm. They are considered non-functioning, irrelevant members of society. We call the planet the DOH or Den of Hades, it's not a place you can visit or escape from, but I needed help, I needed a partner in crime. I was going to find a way to land undetected on 3z59, the prison world of the seven spheres.

The UFE claimed the 7 planets in 2291... It is now the year 2457. Professor Keenan was sent to earth a year ago to undergo cryostasis. His health was failing. He was coerced by influential members of MENSA to seek preservation until advanced studies in a rare form of stomach cancer that plagued him could be better understood and cured. I will probably never see the likes of him again. This left me unsettled with a wandering black hole in my soul...

My entire life I learned about the good things in life, but I had an urge, a persistent urge that had been tugging at me for a long time. I didn't know why I had these hidden thoughts of deceit; I didn't feel like a habitual criminal. It was like the manifestation of my bad conscious was on my shoulder all the time, like a pirate's faithful parrot sidekick. It was there to tell me that I could have done a better job blowing up that armored brigade. Or I would have planned that heist differently if it was me. Professor Keenan once said "Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. This is why you have to create opportunities; they don't just happen." I needed to do something risky, something that could get me into trouble, something that made me feel alive. There was no motivating purpose at all except to prove to myself that I can do it. I wanted a lot of things but needed nothing. I guess you can say the thrill of the hunt is what was pushing me to seek the experience. I watched the 7 worlds as they spun, pretending to be a normal abiding citizen but secretly longing for something more.

Currency in this age is all Crypto. It is impossible to hack accounts due to the advances in blockchain technology. But I didn't need money, I lived comfortably on 5z59, sphere #5 and worked as cargonaught transporting fishing hatcheries and farming equipment to all the spheres except #3. Housing on all the planets is basically equivalent to condos on earth. Although real estate development is constantly changing, separate housing structures in the outskirts of city life are still only available to the ultra-rich.

I am an only child and lost both my parents to things beyond my control. It leaves me with no family except on earth, but even with worm hole technology it's still a two-year commute which makes it a rare occasion to see anyone of blood relations.

My friends are uptight, passive and boring. After we celebrated my 27th birthday, I felt I was growing further away from the need to socialize with them. My free time was spent devising deceptive plans for monetary gain.

I learned from Professor Keenan that Tychon — a satellite moon of 7z59 is heavily guarded, not because of radiation isotopes in its soil which the Federation claims but for the diamonds that can be found near the acid pools in its southern hemisphere. This definitely sparked my interest upon learning about it. The Federation was crooked for deceiving explorers by telling them the moon was inhospitable. It was a lie; they wanted the diamonds for themselves. I, myself detected an undecipherable chemical compound on the moon with a phomatagram, a device that proved to be invaluable. I fortunately stole it from a colleague only because he bragged about having one. It was the only way to shut him up about it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat because self-centered people like him rubbed me the wrong way.

Somehow the Federation was causing the transmutation of detection devices, so when you scan Tychon's surface, it appears to be radioactive. But I know the professor wasn't a liar, he knew what they were up to. I wanted in on the reaping and sowing of the precious crystals for myself. I could sell them to the starship corporations as they used them for propulsion and weaponry. This was a masterful plan that gave me chills during its conception. Now I just had to find a way to execute it.

After constructing the many steps it would take to steal a Ginjeck flyer — a fast vehicle capable of multi-terrain travel and equipped with machinery that could mine the diamonds. I realized I first had to free a worthy felon from 3z59. This prison world was off limits. The only visitors were Centurion soldiers who maintained order in the housing units and labor camps. They delivered all the necessities the prisons required, no one else was allowed there. I spent several weeks studying the convict registry before narrowing it down to one hopeful. I preferred to free more to help me because Tychon wasn't going to be easy but since I didn't know what I was doing yet, freeing one prisoner would be an impressive feat in itself.

Constitine Vitmas was the man I had my eye on. I printed out his picture and rap sheet, it was a mile long, maybe longer. The offense that he was known for came with at least ten violations. He gained entry into the Federation embassy of 6z59 and stole the general Archive location by detaching it from its host computer. He scrambled it into a million quadrants and held it for ransom demanding 200 Ethereum for its return. This is equivalent to a billion dollars. He reconstructed all but 10 quadrants while waiting to receive full payment. Needless to say, his plan failed because he was unaware of a tracking algorithm in the security system of the archive that wasn't affected by his decoding. It quickly pin-pointed his location to the basement of a pharmacy on 6z59. He was given a life sentence. Constitine would be very useful in infiltrating the shield commands of Tychon. I needed him and all his skills quite badly.

For weeks my mind wandered back and forth about how to do this. My energy was drained to the point exhaustion. Then, a light bulb moment. It was the fifth and final possibility I would consider. I had to fake an emergency delivery of medical supplies to 3z59 during a routine count of the prisoners. Creating a diversion once I am there would be easy. Getting out with my prize was the problem.

I requested a virtual visit with Constitine, pretending to be a lawyer investigating an oversight pertaining to his sentencing. I had to get all the credentials in line because they would check the validity of them. The date and time for the meeting were set. My excitement grew because the first part of my plan was happening in a matter of days.

On the day of the meeting, I sat in a room of my one-bedroom condo, anxious for it to begin at 12 pm my time. A day on 3z59 was only 22 hours, compared to the 31-hour day of the other 6 planets. It was very confusing to keep up with, so a separate atomic clock had to be devised to keep 3z59 on the same date as everyone else. My nerves began to churn as kids nearby were playing and would be detected on the internal microphone of the Placotronic headset required for the connection. At approximately 12:11pm I stopped pacing. A blue light began to blink and chime on the front of the headset. This was really about to happen. As I lowered the virtual device over my entire head, daylight from my office space turned to blackness with every object in the room outlined with neon green lines. I was in the prison space of the 3rd sphere. I sat there at a luminous green table alone, waiting. I heard some talking getting closer to my position, then the door opened and Constitine was let in. He drifted over to the table where I was sitting like a green glowing apparition. He sat down across from me, lifted his head to reveal his electrified green eyes... He put his finger up to his mouth signaling me to be quiet. He cracked a smile as we both sat there in silence. Then I heard 3 fast beeps come from above my head. After the last beep, he abruptly stood up and quickly spoke.

"That sound you heard means we have one minute of privacy. Now tell me who you are and why are you pretending to be who you say you are!"

I didn't know why there was a time limit but didn't hesitate to respond.

"I'm your savior and you're my puppet. I promise to get you out of here if you promise me loyalty. I need you but you need me even more. Do you really want to rot in here? Remember these words, Alpha Zeta Alpha Contra. If you have forgotten this on the day I come for you, we will both die on this wasteland of a planet."

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

A centurion soldier quickly walks in confused and says,

"What happened! This room went offline for 53 seconds!"

Constitine angrily stood up and shouts.

"NOTHING! THIS MAN CLAIMS HE CAN FREE ME! BUT JUST LIKE THE OTHER LAWYERS, HE'S FULL OF SHIT! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"

Constitine gives me a thumbs up out of view of the officer as he walks toward the exit to be escorted out. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head at the bewildered soldier, telling him that his prisoner was crazy for not considering the evidence that could reduce his sentence. I then lifted the headset off of my head, returning me to 5z59. I grinned at what I thought was a quick but successful meeting. It happened so fast but left me felling positive that this was headed in the right direction...

Chapter 2

Damage Incorporated