Utopia Gone

Utopia Gone

By Zachariah Wahrer

Copyright 2014 Zachariah Wahrer

All Rights Reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.

Wahrer of the Worlds
Publishing

www.wahreroftheworlds.com

[email protected]

The man sat on the beach and watched as the
bright blue star settled on the horizon. He had no name because
such things were superfluous when you were the only intelligent
life in existence. When he had to give himself a label, it was
usually that of “brown”, a characteristic of his highly tanned arms
and legs.

The last of the fiery blue disc sank and the sky
began to grow dark. Soon small points of light began to speckle the
entire sky, the tiny dots forming patterns the man knew so well. He
was unaware of when he had begun to notice the patterns. The man
was also ignorant of how or when he had gotten here.

He knew the schedule of this place perfectly, so
when the huge moon crept above the horizon, he wasn't surprised. He
could see lands and seas when it was illuminated by the star, but
this time the disc was dark on the side that faced him. This
allowed the man to see bright lines forming irregular shapes and
strange geometries.

Growing sleepy, the man decided to return to the
squat little hut that was his home. He covered the distance
quickly, the luxuriant sand giving way to fine grass, the grass to
pebbles, the pebbles to a slope covered in larger stones. He had no
trouble finding his way, even in the dark, for he had covered
almost every square mile—if not every square inch—of the planet.
The man knew it all, and knowing the shape and size of his entire
world gave him peace of mind.

When he finally reached the hut, he ducked
through the low doorway and entered the one small room it
contained. The structure was only three meters to a side, but it
was large enough for all his needs. The man remembered when he had
lived in a nearby cave, but after building the hut, he now only
used that for food storage.

Stretching out on the springy fronds that
comprised his bed, he closed his eyes. A light breeze stirred the
large leaves that formed the hut's roof, lulling him to sleep. He
had no dreams. His night was peaceful.

It wasn't until the star rose again that the man
awoke. He got up, did the small amount of cleansing necessary, and
left the hut. It was a beautiful morning and it appeared the
weather would be pleasant for the rest of the day. He decided, on
what seemed the spur of the moment, to walk around the planet. It
had been awhile since he had completed a circumnavigation and he
deemed it was time.

It was possible to complete the trip in the
course of a single day, but it would require him to push himself.
He had no desire go that hard, so he opted to make it a two day
affair. He would stop for the night in the opposing hemisphere.

The man knew he wouldn't need much in the way of
supplies. The planet was fertile and had plenty of food if one was
industrious enough to harvest it. Many of the plants were edible,
tasty even. Almost all the small wildlife produced excellent meat,
delicious when cooked with the right spices. The man rolled up his
frond sleeping mat and stashed it and a couple of small hunting
tools into a roughly sewn leather bag. He slung the bag over his
shoulder and was ready to leave.

His bare feet had long ago grown accustomed to
the different types of terrain found on the planet. The hot sands
of beach and desert, the jagged rocks of the mountains, the grassy
fields of the plains: all were enjoyed and cherished for their
pristine beauty and solitude.

As he set out on his journey, he rejoiced. The
trip would take him through lush forests, across mountain tops,
along a beautiful beach, and then end with a short swim across one
of the planet's oceans. His heart felt as light as his feet.

Maxwell Dent—Captain Maxwell Dent to the men he
commanded—stood on the command deck of the United Enclaves of the
North cutter class ship “UENN Wake Darmekus”. It was a shiny new
vessel Captain Dent was more than happy to command, even if it was
only just a system ship. He wished it had been named something more
fearsome, but since it was honoring a mythical hero, he couldn't
complain too much. The name didn't really matter to him in the end.
All that mattered to Captain Maxwell Dent—Dentist when he and his
wife were alone—was the Cause, the Mission, and his Men.

That's what was bothering Dent at the moment. He
had his Mission and his Men, but where was the Cause? Picking up a
science experiment off one of the ultra-elite pleasure moons didn't
seem worthy of such a glorious ship and crew. Weren't there ships
in distress that needed saving, starving colonies that needed food
dropped to them, or space pirates that needed captured? All of
these he had done before, but now he was stuck with this corporate
transport job.
How did Nex-Delta get the UEN to dispatch us?
he wondered, wishing he hadn't drawn this assignment. Dent had it
though, and he, along with his men, would do the job in record time
and to the best of their combined abilities.

“This pleasure moon isn't very big. Why is it
taking so long to find the target?” he asked, a hint of frustration
entering his voice. They had circled around the small moon several
times, but had yet to see any sign of the subject. After a moment
of thought, an idea occurred to him. “According to the briefing,
there is no way this guy could have gotten off the rock, so he must
be underground somewhere. That's the only explanation for where he
went. Set the equipment to probe under the surface. We could
probably see through the whole damn rock, but that might return
false positives. Set the resolution for a depth of twenty meters
for the time being. See if that returns any results.”

The ship's communications officer configured the
equipment with the appropriate settings and the ship began making
passes. After a brief time the officer hailed the captain and told
him a lone figure had been found in a cave five meters below the
surface. Dent was angry with himself for not performing the depth
scan earlier. The guy had seen or heard the ship, gotten spooked,
and run to the nearest cave to hide.

“Keep the scan going and let me know if he
moves. Bring the ship in as quietly as possible so he won't get
more spooked than he already is. This guy has been up here by
himself for a long time, so it will be a bit of a shock when he
sees us. He is considered valuable data and is not to be damaged,
even if he resists. Is that understood?” All the crew nodded and
gave a hardy “Yes, sir,” in answer.

A mantra of fear ran through the man's head.
What was the large thing that had just floated across the sky, near
the horizon? Seeing it brought up a strange feeling of foreboding,
a remembrance of something his mind fled from. If it was a moon, it
was unlike any moon he had ever seen. It traveled in strange
directions and changed course in unexpected ways. Its very presence
raised many disturbing questions. The feeling he was being watched
did little to ease his troubled mind.

Doing what came instinctively, he hid in a
nearby shallow cave. Crouching against the back wall, he tried not
to think about the moon that was not a moon. Perhaps it would go
away and he could resume his trip around the planet. His favorite
parts were just up ahead. As he thought about the rest of his day,
a strange, throbbing sizzle of energy filled the air. It crackled
and tingled. The hair on his body wave as if in a breeze, yet there
was no wind in the cave. His heart began to thud and fear slamming
back into his gut.

The man hated the sensation of the airless wind.
Maybe could get away from it outside. Perhaps the moon that was not
a moon had left and he would be safe to continue his journey.
Cautiously, he stuck his head out of the cave's mouth.

In the sky, directly over head, was the moon.
The man's knees began to shake so hard he almost fell back down the
cave entrance. It was massive and very close. Its bright surface
had magnificent, graceful curves unlike anything he had ever seen
before. He knew it had been looking for him, had seen him. Now it
was going to hunt him down.

The man froze with indecision. If he went back
down into the cave, he would be trapped. Running away was equally
dubious because the moon was very quick.

Just as he was about to decide between hiding
and fleeing, the choice was taken from him. Several black shapes
came rushing out of the scrubby undergrowth. They circled the spot
the man stood on, cutting off any escape. At first he thought they
were animals, but then he realized there were no creatures like
this on the planet. Just before the forms reached him he realized
they looked much as he did, with the requisite arms, legs, hands,
and feet. Although he was filled with terror, the man felt a
kinship with them.

“Sitrep,” Captain Dent ordered, his voice steady
and demeanor calm.

“Sir,” a junior officer said, turning to face
Dent. “DNA has positively confirmed the man's identity. The doctors
have run all tests ordered by Nex-Delta. Currently, the man is
being held in a secure room in the infirmary and is still
sedated.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Dent replied. The
officer snapped a quick salute and turned back to his station.
Well, that's some good news at least,
Dent thought. There
had been a bit of a
situation
when they
had tried to take the man off the pleasure moon.

The ground team had done a good job on the
pickup. Dent supposed “capture” was probably the better term in
this particular situation. The guy had tried to run, but the team
reacted quickly and had taken him into custody. Thankfully the UENN
Wake Darmekus was able to get underway quickly after his capture
and would be planet side before their deadline.

Captain Dent let out a sigh of relief as the
vessel continued to accelerate. He would be happy to get this guy
off his ship and into someone else's custody. Perhaps his next
mission would be something he could really pour his heart into,
something more honorable than being a taxi service.

The man awoke inside a cold metal cave, his head
groggy.
What is this place?
he
wondered, unable to control the ever present fear that now defined
his life. The confinement and the abnormality of the situation ran
against everything he knew.

A portion of the wall moved to the side and a
man walked in. He was in drab, unfamiliar clothing. Before the man
could resist or flee, the newcomer stuck him with a needle, forcing
a bluish liquid into his body. The man jumped back, nervous the
newcomer would try to stick him again.

“That's the last injection. You'll be on New
Terra soon.” The newcomer's voice was flat, inflectionless. “Try to
be calm.” The man was shocked he could understand this other human.
He wondered if he could speak back, but decided
against trying. He'
d used his voice in wild singing on the
planet, but outside that, he'd always been silent.

After a short time, the newcomer left and the
man was able to relax slightly. He looked around, seeing a small
hole in the side of the cave. He walked over to look at it and was
amazed to discover the moon he had seen every day was beginning to
grow closer and closer. This caused a small measure of comfort to
blossom. He understood the moon, it made sense. Soon, the large
amorphous shapes began to resolve into tall, tightly packed
structures with small wedges speeding all around them.
Those are
transports,
he thought losing his
reassurance.
How do I know that?
The sense of foreboding
he'd had when he saw the moon that was not a moon returned.
It
was never a moon,
he thought,
despondent,
it's a starship.

***

The air felt cold and foreign to the man as he
was lead down the ship's ramp. It violated him, crawled along his
skin in a way that made him feel sick. He was in shock, all the
sensory input from the past few hours overwhelming him. Once at the
bottom of the ramp, he was taken to one of the transports.

Once the man and his escort was inside the
transport, they flew quickly through the tightly packed buildings.
The speed terrified the man. It seemed at any moment they would
crash into another transport or the side of one of the towering
buildings. He wished he was back to his planet, walking on the
sandy beaches. Finally, the transport jolted to a halt in front of
a towering structure. It was an ugly building, but at least it had
some grass and trees around it.