Alpha Centuri: The Discovery Ch. 18

Chapter 18

Ethan spent his weeks in Tusirus helping Rogancus in anyway possible. He helped him pick new councilmen and oversee construction. Once the villagers moved out of the stadium, Ethan and Rogancus even got to go see another Okre match, held in honor of Falakirk and Setenet. Ethan stayed in Rogancus’s household, and had meals with him. On the last night of Ethan’s stay, Rogancus and Ethan talked at the dinner table.
“Ethan, where exactly did you come from?” Rogancus asked him. It was a question Ethan knew would be asked sooner or later.
“Well, I know you’ve seen pictures of it from the history book. It’s a planet called Earth, that’s very, very long way from here. It is rather similar to Thor though. We came on a mission to find life and settle on a planet, if we found one. Our ship crashed though, not far from out city. ” Ethan answered.
“We call “Thor” Goshnaha and ourselves, not Thorians, but Gahnahs.”
And like this they went on and on about each other’s planets and what they did for fun. Rogancus was rather intrigued by football and soccer, both of which Ethan played. He promised to show him sometime.
That night Ethan lay in bed thinking. Talking about Earth brought back memories. He had not been on the planet in over five years. Sure he had been to the Martian colonies with his father, but that wasn’t the same. He missed the little things like T.V, potato chips, and video games. Most of all he missed his family. Ethan had a good life on Thor but no one on Earth would know that. Not to mention if he survived or even didn’t find a habitable planet and died in the return trip. They wouldn’t know anything. The mission had failed. Or did it? Ethan wondered. He laid a plan in his head then fell asleep.
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The next morning Ethan told his plan to Rogancus.
“Do you remember how I told you that our ship crashed?” He asked him. “Well, on the hull it had a large one time use antennae. It had a direct link to NASA. That’s the program that built our ship. We were to use it to contact Earth after our voyage was completed. I think it could still be in the wreckage of the ship. We could dismantle it and put it on the communication unit in the city, with the help of your scientists. That way we could contact Earth and tell them we are O.K.”
Rogancus threw up his hands. “Brilliant.” He said, using the word for the first time. “I’ll go with you. I can also contact one of Gashnaha’s finest scientists to assist you. One moment.” He went to a comm speaker activated it, and spoke into it. Then they waited. About ten minutes later a small, old Thorian ran in, stumbling and bumbling. His hair was starting to turn gray like Falakirk’s used to be. He carried a large number of Thorian T.V books under his arm. He wore gray leggings and a white apron over his golden shirt. Purple rubbery gloves were on his hands. Immediately he began talking to Rogancus in a fast, squeaky voice. “Sorry…am I late sir, terribly sorry sir see the solar beam reactor exploded in my face again and it well… never mind sorry about your father sir he always gave us science folk lots of money for experimenting-“ Rogancus silenced him then turned to Ethan. “This is Varnagan. If there is one person who can help us set this thing up its him. He resides here in Tusirus. Rogancus gave Varnagan orders in his native tongue. “You are to come with us and help us assemble a lost antennae so Ethan can contact his home planet. Pack your equipment.” Varnagan clapped with joy and set off.

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The trio left late that morning on keela for Waterfall City. They had reached their destination by lunchtime. Being hungry after only a mere breakfast, the three stopped at Ethan’s house for lunch. Joe greeted them at the door. He no longer was in a sling. “Hey guys! I hear the battle went well. As you can see they have got a lot of the construction done!” He said to them gesturing around. They had gotten a lot done. The wall was finished {as Ethan noticed when they walked in through the gate} and all the houses were erected along with the Great Hall. “I heard about Setenet and Falakirk. May they rest in peace.” Joe added. Then he invited them in and prepared them lunch {Joe turned out to be a skilled cook}.
As they ate, Ethan told Joe the plan. “Wow…I never thought of that. I just figured that they would never know what happened to us. Oh yeah! Look at this.” Joe walked over to the computer and turned it on. Then he stuck a minute disk into the cartridge on the side. “I’ve figured out that Thorian computers are so advanced, that I can make a whole video game in a few months are so! Check it out.” Joe said. On the computer screen appeared a visual picture of a human holding a Thorian gun. In front of him, Gutak were popping up everywhere. Joe tapped a key and the Gutak rushing towards him was shot. “Awesome!” Ethan exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Joe said “but the graphics kind of stink. You can move around too.” He demonstrated by moving the character around the screen. Rogancus and Varnagan looked on with interest. Varnagan said something and Rogancus translated. “He wants to try.” Joe showed him the controls and soon Varnagan was blasting Gutak. He chuckled every time a Gutak went “ouch” as he hit it with the gun.
Joe approached Ethan as Varnagan played. “I’m going to carry on the school Falakirk and I started. It’s what he would’ve wanted. So when are we going down to the ship? And who is that little old Thorian there?” Joe asked, pointing to Varnagan.

“Tomorrow morning. And that Thorian goes by the name of Varnagan. Silly fellow. Clumsy too. But smart. Very smart. He can help us take apart the antennae and put it back together.” Ethan answered. Together they laughed at Varnagan’s enthusiasm for the game.

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Late the next morning, Ethan, Varnagan, and Rogancus set out of the village with Joe. Under his arm, Joe carried the tattered and burnt notebook, which held the map to which showed the way to the space ship. Ethan held his walking stick and carried a small basket of kroalas for a snack. Rogancus {of course} had his sword and Varnagan with his tools in a backpack. Rogancus also led a keela by rope. After about thirty minutes they came to the clearing where the survivors first assembled. Here they ate their snack. Varnagan and Joe began exchanging words and pointing to things. Varnagan caught on to the language very quickly. {All Thorians learn very quickly but Varnagan is a genius among them.} They continued the game as they walked through the forest. Rogancus blazed a trail, cutting and hacking with his sword. After about an hour of walking, Rogancus halted them. He tied the keela to a nearby tree. There, in the clearing was the front half of the Discovery. Both Thorians and humans were awestruck. Vines and vegetation covered the whole thing. Ethan was looking at the control room. Were the glass had once been was now an open hole. He walked inside. The others followed. He walked up to the control panel and hit a switch. A nearby computer turned on. He smiled. The Discovery was built to last. “Ethan. Don’t move.” Rogancus said. He was looking behind Ethan and had his sword drawn at the ready. Slowly Ethan turned his head around. Behind him was a pack of red lizards the size of a large dog. They had skinny tails and slightly triangular heads. On their faces they had no visible ears, a mouth baring sharp teeth and crystal clear eyes of blue. “Wild escapadees.” Rogancus whispered. “They have made their den here.” One launched itself at Rogancus. He cut its head off. The others followed suite. Soon the group was under siege by the pack. Rogancus fought with his sword, Ethan with his walking stick. Varnagan coward in fear and Joe fought with a large twig. After four of the ten escapadees had been killed, the others ran off, hissing and snarling. The group was covered in cuts and bruises, most not severe. Rogancus looked farther back into the room. “It is as I thought.” He proclaimed. “They were defending their eggs. Look.” The others stepped forward to see. In a large nest made of twigs and leaves, two small eggs sat. Many others lay around the area, but these were squished or cracked. “Who are going to take care of these now?” Joe asked. “We cannot leave them here to die.” Silence.
“Joe and I will take care of them.” Ethan piped up.
“Ethan, escapadees are wild animals, not pets.” Rogancus said. Varnagan tapped his shoulder. “What is the problem sire? May I be of assistance?” Varnagan asked. Rogancus explained. “Well, many people have been known to train escapadees, provided they take care of them from egghood.” Rogancus sighed.
“You may keep them. Take care of them Ethan.” Rogancus said to Ethan. Ethan put the eggs in the basket then cushioned them with leaves. “Now…to find that antennae…it should be stationed underneath in the hull, right below us. To be used, it had to be ejected out of the hull. We can’t activate it, so were gonna have to get it out some other way.” Ethan proclaimed. Rogancus translated for Varnagan. Varnagan smirked and pulled out a small round device from his backpack. He held the round thing over the floor. He moved it around until the top glowed green. Varnagan stowed away this device and pulled out another. It was a small cylinder. He turned it on and a large beam emitted from it. Next, Varnagan made a huge circle in the floor above the spot where the round thing glowed with the beam. To Ethan’s surprise, the area inside the circle fell in with a crash. Joe looked inside. There was the huge antenna, lying on the ground and supported by thick rods of metal. Varnagan jumped down and went to work carefully cutting with his beam. He broke the antennae into small section that could be easily reassembled. Joe, Rogancus and Ethan took turned loading the parts onto the keela. It was a big project, and took at least two hours. Finally they were done. Varnagan climbed out and dusted the soot off his sleeve. Then they set off.

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The four arrived back to the city in late afternoon. They all proceeded directly to the communications station. There they unloaded the parts. Already on top of the station was a large satellite dish. Varnagan was to attach the antennae to the dish, providing extra power. Varnagan turned to Rogancus and in his own language said: “This will take time. Tell the humans that.” Then he went to work like a madman. Once again he turned on the laser device. This time the beam glowed green. With this he began connecting the parts. Every once in a short time he pulled out a number of other tools to help connect the wires. Varnagan worked until dinner, which was quite late. After a nice dinner Joe, Ethan, and Rogancus went to bed {Rogancus was staying for however long it took to get the connection to Earth, if it did indeed work}. But not Varnagan. That night he sat at the computer, typing away.