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April 19th, 2004
Chapter 19
Very early the next morning, Ethan was awaked by a soft kreeing noise. He looked down next to his bed where he put the eggs in their basket. Looking up at him were two tiny escapadees. Rogancus was already up and tending to them. Small chunks of dark meat were at the little ones feet. They were little. Each was about the size of Ethan’s hand. “They are both boys.” Rogancus announced. “What should we call them?” Ethan thought for a moment.
“Setenet and Falakirk will be their names. I think they like it!” Ethan said as the escapadees cooed. “Where’s Varnagan? Outside working already?” He asked.
“No…he’s playing that game of yours on the computer. Joe is out there with him.” Rogancus replied. Taking the basket carrying Setenet and Falakirk, the two went out to the living room. Joe greeted them. “Varnagan improved the video game a bunch! Improved the graphics, new weapons, and everything! Even new levels!” Joe exclaimed. Then he looked down at the tiny escapadees. “Ah! They’ve hatched! So what are they called?”
Ethan answered. “Setenet and Falakirk are their names. And Varnagan, must you be playing that game! Go out and work on the satellite dish!”
Varnagan jumped up, mumbled something, and then ran out. Rogancus translated his mumble. “He says that he is sorry. The dish will be completed soon.”
“Very good. Joe could you go assist him?” Ethan asked Joe.
“Can’t. I’ve got to supervise the building of the school. I also have to figure out where we will get the books. Sorry.” Joe answered.
“Then I guess I’ll have to help him. Good-bye.” Rogancus sighed. “You have of take care of the escapadees.” And with that he left.
**********
The rest of the day, Ethan’s time was consumed by caring for the escapadees. Occasionally Paul or Lily would drop in to help, but they were both very busy. After awhile, Ethan could start to make out Setenet and Falakirks’ personalities. Setenet was the first to leap for food while Falakirk waited until Setenet was done. Falakirk liked to be stroked by Ethan’s finger, while Setenet growled and backed away when he tried. But there was one thing they definitely had in common: They both wanted to get out of the basket. Finally, around lunch hour, Ethan let them scamper about the living room floor. They ran this way and that smelling and clawing. Finally after their big adventure, the two climbed back into the basket and fell asleep. Ethan seized the opportunity to check on the communication station’s progress.
Varnagan had been working diligently for the past few hours. Rogancus approached Ethan as he neared the station. “Varnagan says we will be able to use it tomorrow. He is working hard and fast.” Rogancus said.
“Good.” Ethan replied shortly. He couldn’t wait until he would get to talk to NASA.
**********
The next day Ethan awoke quite early, early than Varnagan even. He cooked breakfast as best he could for the others and himself {which wasn’t very good} then fed his waking escapadees. He played Joe’s video game as everybody slowly got up and ate breakfast. Varnagan finished his breakfast, then tapped Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan turned on him. Standing behind Varnagan was Rogancus. “The dish is ready for use now.” He said. Ethan jumped up and ran out. He was anxious to try it out. Joe had waken up and followed.
Ethan entered the station. Inside the station were numerous computers, dials, and switches all on a large dashboard at the far end of the room. In the very center of the dashboard was a small microphone. Varnagan showed Ethan how to use it by demonstrating the proper technique. {But of course, Ethan already knew how to use it.} He picked it up and turned it on. It made loud screeching and crackling noises. Varnagan flipped a few more switches and this all stopped. He walked over to his backpack and took out a small, silver colored box. On its top it had tin foil like material. On one side it had numerous buttons and dials. Varnagan connected the box to a computer by electrical wire. He turned all the dials on the box to their fullest. The box itself glowed orange.
Varnagan turned to Rogancus and said something in Thorian. Rogancus translated for Ethan. “He says that this is his newest and best invention. It gathers energy from the air around it and turns it into power. It is the first time this device has ever been used. He calls it, in your language, the Power Harvester. We need to use it to boost the power in order for the signal to reach Earth.” Rogancus explained. They all watched the box glow brighter and brighter. After awhile it started to hum. At this point Varnagan handed Ethan the microphone again. He switched it on and spoke into it.
“This is the Captain of the Discovery. NASA do you copy. I repeat. NASA do you copy.” He said. An excited voice answered him. “We hear you Captain. We hear you! We thought you guys were dead! Oh, man… Here…Uh…I’ll get you on with the director…” A cackling ensued, then another voice.
“Captain, what is your status?” The voice said. He was obviously trying to hide his excitement and maintain calm.
“We crash landed on a habitable planet, about a year ago due to a wind storm. We also found natives. They have helped us in every way possible. Only the passengers in the front of the ship survived. We established a town with a little help. All and all, everything’s okay here. How about over there?” Ethan asked.
“You won’t believe it Captain. Not getting your signal, we realized three things. One, you might have not found anything and turned to come back home. Then on the return trip something happened to you. Two, is that you got pulled into the gravitational field of a barren planet and crash landed there, or three you had mechanical errors of some kind and blew up. America mourned your deaths. So did the world. Soon the government gave more and more money to NASA to build a huge state of the art satellite to search for the missing ship and figure out what happened. It was equipped with even faster engines than the Discovery, and being lighter, got there in a relatively short time. With some help from other countries we succeeded. We set the satellite out to the system. We found the planet your on, even though we couldn’t contact you. We saw it was habitable and immediately started building a bigger and better ship much like yours called the Hope. Boy, you should have heard the cheering at NASA HQ that day…”
“ How come they didn’t send the satellite before we left? I heard of that proposition before they asked me to be Captain.”
“That would be the governments fault. They wanted to go quickly, and not take the time nor research. That is why we added extra food, water, and fuel supplies to your ship in case of a return trip. They knew it was their fault, so they covered it up from the public real good.”
“Another question. How is the U.S pulling off building the Hope? It would take billions of dollars in research and even more money in building the darn thing.”
“Well, first of all America has once again caught “space fever”. People are getting jobs in factories. Food companies are supplying the government with free food for the trip. A few other companies are doing the same thing. And that’s not mentioning all the help we’ve gotten from other countries. Great Britain is considering building their own ship. By the way, how did you guys contact us?”
“Well to make a long story short, a native genius helped us out. When will the Hope be arriving? Let me guess… eight years from now?”
“The manufacturing stage is going quadruple times faster than planned with all the help… and with the Hope’s new, faster engines…probably four years from now. But now that the public will know your alive who knows. Now we can even keep up a correspondence. It has been a pleasure Captain. Expect us in four years Ethan!”
Ethan shut off the microphone, as did the NASA director. Ethan stepped outside. Behind him followed Rogancus, Varnagan, and Joe. Crowding the area outside were humans and Thorians alike. Word must have gotten out of Ethan’s conversation. Rumors spread like grape vines I Waterfall City. Ethan stood in front of the crowd. “They’re coming!” He yelled. The crowd cheered. Ethan pumped his fist in the air. Earth was coming to them.
Epilogue
Four years later…
Ethan lived a nice, grand life in the city. Soon after his talk with the director, construction was finished and yet the town was always getting bigger. They traded with Tusirus and other Thorian cities frequently, making them very rich in talon. {Yes, there were many, many other Thorian cities.} Thorians began moving in the to begin lives as merchants in the {now fabled among Thorians} Waterfall City.
Rogancus’s city also prospered under his rule. He had grown into a wise, less hotheaded Thorian. He had a wife now, a Thorian named Rasha. His son Akala was of three years in age. Using his keen military mind, Rogancus’s armies kept the Gutak threat at bay.
Paul became commander of Waterfall City’s armed forces shortly after Ethan contacted NASA. He retired after two years of service.
Joe started the schools he promised he would make. Teaching not only English to Thorians and Thorian to humans, but also educating both species in math, science, history and reading.
Lily started a hospital, something unheard of by Thorians. She had much help from Auntie Sarah. Lily encouraged the research of Thorian plants to find a cure for cancer.
Ethan and Lily fell in love and got married and now have a three-year-old son, Gordon who looked a lot like his father. One day Ethan got an urgent message from the communication station. Along with Paul, Joe and his two growing escapadees Setenet and Falakirk, Ethan went to accept the call.
Varnagan now lived in Waterfall City, conducting his experiments in a state of the art lab. But now he stood in the station, waiting for Ethan. He knew English fluently and confronted Ethan. “We are getting a call from space sir. I have reason to believe that this could be the one we were hoping for. The one we have been waiting for all these long years…” Varnagan said. Ethan ran outside. Looking up, squinting at the light blue sky, he saw it. A minute black dot was hovering north of the city. “It’s them…” He whispered. Ethan ran back in and hastily switched on the microphone. “Hello, this is Captain Ethan Swift… is this the Hope?” He asked into the mike.
“Yes it is. This is Captain Christian Hawthorn of the Hope. They said we might find you here. We have arrived.”
Ethan whooped for joy. “Copy that. We have a designated landing area for you at these coordinates.” Ethan said as he punched in some numbers on the keyboard.
“See you on the planet Captain.” Captain Hawthorn said. Then he switched off. Ethan turned to Paul. “Tell the citizens that the Hope has arrived. Then send a message to Tusirus.” He ordered. Paul ran off to do his bidding.
*********
The Thorians had cut down a very large piece of their forest to serve as a landing area for the Hope a few years ago. The landing site was two times bigger than the Discovery was. Ethan hoped it would be enough. The site was about a mile away from Waterfall City. Ethan met Rogancus in the central marketplace in the city later the day of Captain Hawthorn’s message. Rogancus had arrived by keela under armed escort. {He was very important after all.} The two were going to the landing site as soon as the Hope landed to greet the Captain and show them the way to the city. A grand parade and or festival was planned as the Hope’s crew entered the city.
Citizens stopped what they were doing to watch the minute dot that was the Hope come closer and closer. Citizens for miles around, in cities across the land did the same. Soon Ethan could make out the details of the ship. It was huge, and looked much like the Discovery. It was all black, except for a yellow stripe on the side. Instead of having one single engine in the back, this huge ship had two on either side of the stern. It also had no “dorsal fins” like the Discovery. Soon it got monstrous as it loomed closer and closer to the ground. All over the city, a loud hum could be heard. Soon the ship lowered down below the walls. At this moment, Rogancus and Ethan set out on keela. Setenet and Falakirk followed them. The four arrived at the clearing in thirty minutes. Rogancus looked at the ship in awe. Never had he seen something so huge.
A large ramp unfolded from the side of the Hope. A tall, powerful looking man walked down it. Judging by his uniform, Ethan guessed it was Christian Hawthorn, the Captain. Behind him came four armed security forces personnel, much like the ones that were on the Discovery. After that a large group of people, both young and old followed. They all looked in wonder at the escapadees and keela, and even more so at Rogancus. The Captain approached cautiously. “Are you Ethan Swift?” He asked Ethan.
Ethan smiled. “Welcome to he planet Thor. We’ve been expecting you.” They shook hands.
**********
Rogancus and Ethan led Captain Hawthorn’s party through the forest to the city. The people were awestruck by everything: The plants, the animals, everything. As they walked through the city, Thorians and people alike through streamers and confetti onto them. Thorians played their drums merrily and human’s rejoiced at just the sight of the people. Ethan and Rogancus led them to the front of the Great Hall. There a stand had been set up in front of a large crowd. Captain Hawthorn climbed onto it followed by Ethan and Rogancus. As he waved to the crowd, Roagancus turned to Ethan. “Well, I think we’ve had our share of adventures Ethan.” Ethan turned to him and said: “I think we have Rogancus. I think we have.”
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