Viscoun

Chapter 2: Impact

2 million (human) years passed, with no sight of me ever landing on a single planet. I did not age, however, due to the stasis of my body. The Medusa Cascade was a smudge of light from the capsule and Andromeda was a red blur, and then a blue blur as I passed it. The chance of impact became more promising when the capsule was pulled in by another galaxy, the Milky Way. For years I had wondered why it was named that, but now I comprehended why. The capsule ended up in the spiral arm of Orion, and then into a cluster of unique planets, some of which seemed familiar. I landed 28,000 light years from the galaxy’s centre, on a mysterious blue-green planet.

From first observations, I saw it’s cloudy atmosphere and vast oceans, much like on Gemstania; and I saw its solitary moon and spherical shape, nothing like on Gemstania. I felt as though I had read about it somewhere, but my mind was still hazy. As gravity caught the capsule and brought me towards the surface, it started to combust and heat up; but I knew that nothing would happen, as it was built to withstand supernovas and meteor strikes, or even the Big Bang, should I have been flung through space for long enough. I landed on an island continent, with a curvy shape, a small southern island, and a significantly larger northern island.

Crashing into an arid region, my arrival was discovered almost immediately by strange creatures in a nearby town. They looked eerily familiar as well, with pinkish-white skin, elliptical eyes and unique clothing. By nightfall, the capsule was surrounded by thin metal fencing and flooded with lights shining from metal cylinders. Still unable to move, in my mind, I feared the possibility of being despised by these alien beings; they may be sentient, but they may not be accepting of other species. A lot of intelligent species are like that; believe me, I know.

As time passed, many more of these two-legged quadrupeds came to the site, with flashing lights and metallic telescopes. Some wore white coats, and were the only ones who were allowed within the fenced-off area. Every time, they would bring some strange device and then proceed to try to break through the capsule layers. How oblivious they were to its godly strength.

The planet’s days were incredibly short compared to Gemstania’s. Day and night interchanged very rapidly, with each cycle lasting what felt like seconds. I thought that the remainder of my life would be spent here; how wrong I was.

The foreign sun was overhead, and the white-coats were attempting to penetrate the capsule again. However, not all of them were occupied with the machine, as one of the creatures was standing away from the group, staring at me. Her eyes were level with mine, and I stared back, fascinated by her cold gaze. Something must have caught her eye, as she then approached the capsule. I was surprised as she reached out toward the capsule and lightly touched it. The moment she made contact, green electricity burst forth and shocked her; I presumed it must have been a built-in failsafe. But to my surprise, the capsule deteriorated and my body fell to the ground, inanimate. The world turned black around me due to the broken stasis. 

*

I came to quite quickly. I was unsure how much time had passed, but I estimated several day-night cycles. Upon further observation, I realized that I had been transferred to somewhere else. This place seemed more technological, with concrete walls, a coloured flooring and a strange rectangular object set into the wall. A band was around my arm, which was connected to another smaller rectangular object, but this one displayed something in green light. A weird line moved up and down, and a sound transmitted each time this occurred. I exited what appeared to be a bed, and advanced towards the rectangle in the wall. A button press activated the device, which was projecting images and text, both of which seemed familiar to me.

Looking around, I noticed another bed alongside my one. Contained within was someone I thought I would never see again: Emerina. What a relief to see that she had survived.

She also had a band attached to her arm, which was linked up to a separate monitor. Removing her from the bed, she was still wearing her royal robes, which were the same as mine. But that didn’t matter right now; I needed to figure out our current location. With my arm securing her around the waist, I busted out of the room and flew within orbit of the planet. It was then that I realized where I was; after years of learning about this place, I had finally reached it: Earth, the Planet of Hope.

As I admired the view of it from my position, Emerina awoke and, startling me, silently screamed in fear. The telepathic communication from her was unordinary. Where am I? What’s happened to me? How am I breathing in space? Am I dead?

 I tried to comprehend her reaction, and then I reached the conclusion that this may not be the true Emerina. She might look like her, but potentially be an entirely different being. In order to quell her fear, I flew back down to the planet’s surface and pondered as to what to do with her. Releasing my grip around her waist, I waited until she appeared to be in less distress, and I calmly asked, “Madam, may I inquire as to who exactly you are?”

She responded in a nervous manner, her legs slightly shaking. “Eil … Eileen … Eileen Gillespie … human … female. Please … please don’t hurt me.”

I was astounded; how could a human such as her have been converted into a Gemstanian like myself?

Acknowledging her fear, I said, “Eileen, please remain calm. I am not going to hurt you; I am simply leaving to find assistance with this planet’s authorities. Hopefully, they will be able to help you recover from this incident.”

She looked at me, her eyes frantically staring at me, then ran to my side and clutched my arm. “No, don’t do that. Just leave, hide; if he finds you with me, he’ll torture you for the rest of your life.”

I stared back quizzically. “If who finds me?”

Before she could reply, a large group of humans emerged from nearby; they wore a green uniform, and carried metal weapons. I guessed that this must be the ‘army’ that the human tribes possessed, and that I must have trespassed onto their land.

Eileen watched with panic as they marched towards us. I could feel her grip tighten. “Run; I am telling you, run. You can’t negotiate with him.”

I was confused by her words. “Who’s ‘him’? How can you say that I can’t reason with this person?”

She began, “Because…”

I missed what she said afterwards, as something heavy hit me in the back of my head. Dazed, I fell to the ground, perched on the edge of consciousness. I realized that I shouldn’t have let my guard down before I had even negotiated. The last words I heard before I blacked out came from Eileen: “No…father…”

*

The room I woke up in was not as pleasant as the previous one. It was a dank metal box with strange instruments lined up along the side. While I was out cold, I had been clamped to a giant table. That was all I could see before he came in. The human male appeared to have some form of high authority, and judging by his attire, I assumed he would have been the ‘general’ of that militia that attacked us. He looked rather old, with a grey moustache, wrinkled face and weary blue eyes.

I tried to liven the mood a bit, as he looked rather aggravated. “Ah, you must be the general. I was rather astounded by the prowess of your army, if I may say so, sir.”

“Quiet, you freak.” His voice was gruff, and as cutting as steel. He turned away and grabbed one of the implements off the wall. “Now then, freak…”

“I have a name, you know; it’s Emerald.” I was getting rather sick of him calling me that.

“Ok. Now then, ‘Emerald’, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. What have you done to my daughter?”

Confused, I replied, “Huh? Your daughter?”

“Yes, my daughter! Because of you, she’s no longer human; she’s … one of your lot. So answer my question: what have you done to her?”

He was close to losing his cool, so I tried to figure out whom he was referring to. Then it occurred to me: that girl.

I inquired, “Wait a minute; is your daughter called Eileen?”

That question caught his ear. “Yes, that’s her name: Eileen Gillespie.”

After he said that, all the pieces came together. “Oh, so that’s who you’re talking about. I’m not entirely sure what’s happened to her, but I believe that the capsule had a genetic seal embedded within; so when she reached out and made contact, her entire genetic code was transformed from human to Gemstanian. Although I don’t understand why her appearance was completely changed, including her face.”

Having taken all of this in, the general juggled the object in his hands and responded, “Ok, then; if that’s what happened to her, then maybe you can change her back.”

I knew that I couldn’t, so I told him. “Unfortunately, I am unable to perform that kind of action.”

He didn’t want to hear that, which explains why he then tried to crush my fingers with what appeared to be a hammer. He obviously didn’t know about the elemental defense mechanism that every Gemstanian had, and so the weapon passed through without damaging me.

His temper flared. “That’s not what I want to hear. Your people did this to her, so you can change her back.”

To surprise him even more, I floated straight through the clamps and sat on the edge of the table. “I’ve told you, I can’t do it. If any of my family was still alive, they’d be able to restore her, but I haven’t acquired that power yet.”

“YOU LIAR!” In rage, he grabbed something resembling a sword and swung it at me. It passed straight through without harm, and in retaliation I morphed the blade into water, which splashed onto the ground.

I said calmly, “General, I am not lying to you. Some processes in nature cannot be reversed; this you should understand, being a well-ranked fighter. In my current state, I cannot do anything to make her human again; but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. There is a chance that my family was capable of reversing the genetic seal; so if I do figure out how to in the future, I promise that I will restore her for you. This I promise you.”

I held out my hand to him, and he reluctantly shook it. “You better not be lying to me, or there could be a bullet through your brain.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry; I always keep my word. Now, on to more pressing matters, I need to speak with all the international generals.”

He looked at me quizzically. “Why? Is something coming?”

I replied, “Not something, but someone.”

*

I sat in the head seat of the room. With me were General Gillespie and all the other generals from around the world. I got up and addressed the gathering:

“Good afternoon, gentlemen; as you would have been notified about, I am Prince Emerald. I have gathered you all here because of an entity that threatens this planet, this universe and myself. There is a cruel dictator of dark matter, by the name of Vitrolax. He is currently chasing after me to kill me, for what reason I do not know. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goal; he will even obliterate entire planets to get to me. I do not wish to have innocent people killed any longer, so I propose to apprehend him here; we can make this planet the final frontier in this struggle for survival. What I require from you generals is simply surveillance: maintain observation in your respective countries and notify me if Vitrolax appears. I am not certain about when he will arrive, but I would estimate within a month. You people will be crucial to preventing this corrupt leader from slaughtering millions, so I am heavily relying on you. I care about the safety of the people as much as you do, and so I will ensure that minimal casualties are sustained. We will bring this tyrant to justice, and with your help, that can be swiftly achieved. Thank you for your time; meeting adjourned.”