Cataline Downfall Read online

  Then an image popped into my mind, an image about a hybrid life form that was a heated discussion throughout the past. I didn’t know why I was thinking about this person now, but she was there in the forefront of my mind. Now that I come to think of it, perhaps she was real too. The prophecy about this world being taken over and destroyed was unbelievable. Well, it was hard to believe if you could see the huge, bellowing shield over your head. Now as I looked into the depths of space, I knew that part of the prophecy was true. Our prophet knew the future.

  I walked back into the room. It was colder than I remembered and I ordered the control system to make it warmer. The walls were solid but had a warm glow that lit the room. The walls were made from skin and the patterns moved enchantingly around, as if we were living inside a peaceful creature. It distracted me until a transmission popped up on the data screen.

  I accepted the pre-recorded message and suddenly noticed the date before it played. I was shocked, who would leave me a message 585 years ago?

  I dropped my drink on the floor and felt my legs give way. I saw the creature. She was right there on the screen. She looked exactly like the artist’s paintings. She was a Cataline female but not. Her black hair with blue highlights drew my attention first. Then my vision fell to the uniform that covered her shoulders and the rampant array of dazzling colors and lengths of natural skin that all Cataline had. Hints of pink and strange tones also crept through the assortment of features that gave me the hint she was definitely half us.

  Still, I don’t know how this was possible. No other race could reproduce with us. There were secret tests in the past that eventually leaked to the public, but in the end they all ended in failure. So the main question that went through my mind was: who was this mysterious race?

  Then, as if one shock was not enough, the creature spoke on the screen. “Hello, Ellie-Soma, I’m Jasmine.”

  It was all slow motion for me. She just explained that she was Jasmine. A very nice name, but not the standard way our race names each other. In fact, she looked like me. But I was unprepared for the rest of the message.

  “I’m in your past, but I’ve travelled from the future. I have been trapped on your world for a few weeks and I’ve finally managed to save this message before I travel back to my time. I have the coordinates for a starship that will take you to a planet called Earth.”

  Then, as an added bonus, the holographic display came online and her image appeared right in front of me in 3D. Like she was some child discovering how to use the recording program.

  Now I could see what she looked like in high detail, almost in flesh. I could not catch my breath. She stood in front of me in all her beauty. I could not believe how beautiful and perfect she was. One of the fears scientists discovered over the years was that if Cataline did breed with other races, the DNA of our species would be so complex that horrid, deformed creatures would be born and only last a few hours. But there she stood, healthy and without any sign of deformation.

  I looked at Jasmine’s figure and felt an overwhelming desire to touch her skin. The silky fin-like clothing felt smooth and the texture of her hair was complex and dazzling. It was a completely different feeling from my own. Her skin was soft and rich, like a brand new creature created by the maker of all life. She was alive and more vibrant than I could have ever imagined. I must tell my father about this discovery. He has to know.

  So I paused the message and ran out to find my father.

  It was only a few minutes, and as I suspected, they didn’t believe me, until they saw the message for themselves that is. My mother fainted and my father only watched with deep interest. He himself seemed hypnotized by this creature that was the same age as me.

  Suddenly I was tossed across the room and fell to the ground. I felt the impact with the wall and found it hard to stay conscious. I watched my father stand and rush over to me. Then everything went black.

  *

  I finally woke up to find my father standing next to the holographic projection. It was strange, and he was crying. Was he crying out of joy or the information Jasmine told him? Wait, I wasn’t dreaming. I thought the whole thing was a dream. I was praying that I would wake up in my own bed, in my own room and this nightmare would be over.

  This was not the case. My father spoke out of happiness. “This is the best gift anyone could give me: to know that you’ll be okay.”

  But I knew my father was keeping a secret; it was layered over his comment. He felt sad and was doing his best to hide it. Unfortunately, the time had expired. In the whole time that I had passed out, I learned that we had arrived at the destination and plans were already underway to create the anomaly. The enemy was not far behind. But what about my family? Jasmine said nothing about them. I ran the message again in a bid to capture what I missed and study the message for any sign of deception. Even the room she was in looked real, but with a strange hint of confinement.

  It would make sense for our government, back then, to hide her away from the public. It would cause panic and change everything we believed in. But still I didn’t think it would have done that much and they had done a good job in hiding her all these years. No one knew of her existence until this day. Before long, people began knocking at my door to see this discovery, but I ignored them and listened to her message.

  The message continued from the same place, “He’s a good man. He will be at the rendezvous point and will instantly become interested in you. I hope you can accept his gesture as a sign of good fai…………...” The message was cut short and I was left in limbo.

  What was she going to say? How was she related to me? I decided to follow the advice of the great profit Yoyua-Ocini who once said, “If you can’t make your choice, open your arms and just follow the path that is laid out for you. Don’t think; just go in the direction that pulls you.”

  Jasmine continued, “Your transport will be attacked before you enter the anomaly and you will have to pilot the transport. I have uploaded your destination that will see you drift into the path of a human starship, ISDF Peacekeeper.”

  Even the name of their ship seemed to hint that this was a non-violent race; it seemed that we were destined to find a good home. But I could not shake her last message before that. There was some kind of incident? Then the vessel shook.

  Violent explosions rocked the ship from left to right and I fell over before having the chance to stand. The image faded out of existence. I was alone.

  I heard a frantic voice over the intercom. “We’ve opened the anomaly, we must send the first ship through.”

  My father grabbed me with such urgency I nearly tripped over my own footing. We ran through the chaotic passageways to the transports and watched as more explosions tossed our people in the air like rag dolls.

  We managed to pass a window and I spotted the ship that had followed us. It was a ship, a Krainer ship that followed us all the way from our home world. I had never seen a ship so horrid in my life. It was made out of metal and completely lifeless, I could not imagine a race that would create such a lifeless ship. It threw deadly fire at our vessel and with each impact, our ship screamed with pain.

  We were always a peaceful race; our ships were made to travel through the stars and explore. Our race strived to understand the nature of new races. But our own species has discovered its terrible flaw, a hindrance that has now caused the destruction of our race.

  I don’t know what I was thinking, or where we intended to go. All I knew was the blue translucent walls of the ship beginning to die, knowing we had very little time. My family tried in vain to take me to the nearest transport when my father said a few words out of great haste. His voice was quick and filled with terror. “My daughter. You must take this transport through the anomaly we created. It’s your only chance.”

  “But father, are you coming with us?” I watched as my father stared at me with lost hope. I saw one final
stand of resistance deep within his soul, like he was to stay behind and help fight the enemy.

  Fight the enemy? Now there’s something I thought I would never hear myself say. How are we supposed to fight a relentless enemy? Our ships were not designed to fight. I suppose the only thing we could do was to bump into the enemy and cause them to break up. I’ve seen many changes in recent years. Our scientists spent the last five to ten years developing weapons that could be installed onto our ships. But our ships were huge like the cities themselves. They were not designed for such destructive power. But as I heard this ship scream out in pain again -a telepathic connection that we have with this vessel- I could do nothing to relieve its pain.

  “I must stay behind and prevent the enemy from attacking your ship. Go! This transport needs a good pilot. I know what you have been doing in your spare time. All your training and practicing. I know about your desire to fly. Now’s your chance! You know what you must do. You’ve seen that message.”

  “I wasn’t able to see the rest of the message. What is it that prevents you from coming?” As I asked more questions, I did not realize that I was taking up valuable time and in response, my father shoved me into the airlock and closed the hatch.

  I saw him mutter the words ‘I’m sorry’ before he closed the outer door. I was pushed back by the horde of people, children, inside the bay. I didn’t realize at first, but these people would be my responsibility. But my focus was on my father, who stepped back into the smoke-filled room. He muttered some more words and then took off with some urgency in his steps. That was the last I saw him.

  I didn’t know what to do. But then my instincts took over. I rushed through the transport towards the cockpit and fired up the controls.

  They were slightly different from what I was used to and seemed to be a jungle of buttons and flashing lights. I had an idea of what they did, but in the end, I could only close my eyes and let my spirit control the movements of my hands.

  Then I realized that this vessel was filled with children. Children. Not a single adult anywhere except me! I saw them all huddled in the main bay like slaves I’ve seen on the history displays back at home. It was very similar. Like the ride to their doom. I fought hard to hide my sorrow and unease even when I knew my family might not make it.

  *

  The ship shook violently and we were freefalling into space. I saw the clump of dark cloud before me, and then the shimmering blue oasis in the middle of space, which was our ship. Huge fiery blasts drilled vast holes into the side of our mother ship. The ship was a living creature, and I cried for it. How old was it? How much space did it see? Finally there was only one question left. How many were left?

  But I knew that I should not waste my time thinking about the mother ship. I was entrusted with the lives of all the children and it was my father’s last wish that I took them to safety. I take a glance back towards the group of children huddled behind me. Then some controls flashed up.

  A flare suddenly lit up the area inside the cockpit with an incinerating glow and I looked back towards the location of our city vessel. I looked on with horror and listened to the shocked murmurs from the children inside my vessel.

  My parents… No! Why was I being stripped from all my loved ones? I huddled the controls. Tears pattered the controls. I lost everyone. My mother, my father and my friend… my people… I screamed out loud, as if my words could rectify the damage those vile aliens had done, Why!

  *

  With the mother ship gone, there was no protection. But I saw the twirling mass of clouds and nothingness as we approached ever so close to the anomaly. I knew my father wanted us to take the transport through, but I felt very unsure about it. I looked back towards the centre of the ship and saw the worried children. Then I decided to act strong. My family may have died, but looking at the huge beast of a ship approaching, I knew our time was short.

  Cries bellowed out through the communication channel. It seemed that more transports had been launched, but they were heading in the wrong direction and the Krainer ship that attacked our mother ship was on the prowl, collecting survivors and I feared for us. What would they do once they captured us?

  As more cries for help bellowed through, I tried to stifle the noise so as not to worry the children, but it was too late, the horrid cracking, screaming and grunts from the Krainers as they boarded the transports was broadcasted throughout our transport. I didn’t know why they destroyed the mother ship. I guess it was easier to pick off the life transports that contained hundreds of people, but no weapons. It was like a prison transport that sent innocent people right to the gates of hell. They were all loaded into a box and delivered to the enemy. I felt angry.

  To make things even worse, I had no idea where we were going. This anomaly my people created was supposed to be some kind of wormhole that lead all the way to another galaxy inside another universe far away inside the darkness of space.

  But as I looked at the horrid vessel that was slurping up transports, like a beast picking off food from some warm beach, I saw a light, moving towards us.

  I turned the ship with rapid speed and went forward towards the anomaly... I regretted the decision to do nothing but watch. The Krainers were now after us. Each jolt was like torture and I thought they had grabbed hold of us in a wash of light. But as the stars continued to flow past the window, I knew it had not captured us yet.

  Then, when I thought we had escaped the enemy, I was deafened by the horrendous noise that rattled through the transports bulkheads. I watched as the children tumbled over like a box tossed down a hill, because that’s what we were, objects inside a box and tossed over the edge. But then something caused the Krainers to release us. I could feel the very essence of my father giving his life for me. He was still alive on what was left of the mother ship. I felt the final breaths of the mother ship, as it gave its life to save us from the monsters that wanted us. The impact tossed us into the anomaly and than I blacked out.

  *

  I knew I was having a dream. It was misty and warm. Back in our own world. The green fields, the rich open land. I watched myself run through the fresh green fields, rubbing through the tall grass that swayed back and forth with grace and freedom. I must have been about six or seven. The city itself calls for me. Wants me to enjoy my childhood and so do my friends. I don’t know what I’m thinking, or why this freefall into my memories was necessary, but I knew fate had an answer.

  The prophet that would sit in her mighty chair told me that I would face great challenges in my life. She said that I was going to be the most important person alive. I didn’t believe her, how could I? I was one out of billions of people who were more important and tasked with the jobs to keep us alive. Again, I was too young to even think about her words. My mother took me to the great lady that foretold time. She was scary at first, but then she smiled with a warm aura that filled me with calm and serenity. She took my hand and instantly knew my path. A path I didn’t know.

  I see the green fields again. Insects fluttered in the sky in harmony with the huge starships, which hovered overhead without a ripple of disturbance in the air. Even the enchanting hum from the engines was soothing to a young child like me. I often fell asleep at night with the window open, so I could hear the natural calls from ships and the city itself. It hummed, chimed and was peaceful, the city talked to people inside their minds, so did the ships. It was a perfect unity of life.

  My friend, who was always by my side through school and difficult times, said that fate had a path for all of us and for me: a special path. I always thought we had something special. I knew from later years that he liked me, my friend How-Li was always hanging around and I could see the subtle differences in his behaviour. How I wished I could see him now. But as I slept, I could only dream and pray my people would be okay in the after world. As time drew to a close, and I began to feel the air drifting past my delicate skin in the
shuttle. I felt a faint image of my mother as she stood in all her glory. She looked like me, but with more radiance and beauty that I wished was bestowed upon me. My father always called me beautiful; my father thinks everyone is beautiful to some degree. But as I watched the destruction of the city from inside my memories, I can only think about the horrible devastation that had rained down upon us.

  I felt tugging on the corner of my arm. A small child attempted to wake me. I stirred and moved in the chair and finally woke up to the blackness that was waiting for me outside the window. The child, all blue, like me, was upset. She was accompanied by other refugees who were hugging together. I watched her lips move, but I was unable to hear any words for a short time. Then after a few attempts I heard her words.

  “I’m hungry. I want my mommy.”

  I looked at her and felt my own stomach rumble. How long had we been out? How long had this ship been flying in space for? I looked at the controls and this ship had been under heavy acceleration for five hours straight. The power supply was limited and showing signs of failure and food was something I never thought of. Was there even any food on this transport?

  It was minutes before I discovered the horrible truth. There was no food or water; there was nothing. When we boarded this transport, it was done out of such fright that no one saw it fit to put supplies onboard and now the strain was beginning to show. We always had plenty of food back on our home world that would come from the buildings themselves. It was always available. Now we were in a situation where that supply of food was not available.

  *

  Days had passed and the transport was only on minimal life support. We had not eaten for days and many of the children were now non-responsive. They were alive and some had even started their cocoon cycles sooner than expected. It was a big risk.