Nika Veresk
In the shadow of the stolen light

“But this is utopia!”

“No. He promoted the principles of rationality. However, politicians, religious organisations and large corporations wanted to master new knowledge in order to use it for their own benefit. As the years went by, the number of our enemies grew more and more. After seven years, the confrontation between the Unity and the rest of the world reached its culmination when an attempted assassination of Andre occurred during his annual speech. On that day the Council, created by Andre to manage his organization’s affairs, faced the ever-important question of ‘what to do?’ Their philosophy did not accept any kind of military resistance, but what could they do to defend their beliefs? After the injury, our founder was very weak and the councillors were afraid that the death of their leader in the circumstances of an implacable hostility could become fatal for the whole society. It was then that the ‘Solar Flotilla’ project, housed in some of the city buildings, became the ultimate priority. In its core lay one astrophysicist’s dissertation, where he had predicted the destruction of Earth due to strong flames from the Sun. Using this paper as a base, Andre Mendes decided to develop several experimental projects-arks of some sort, able to save humanity from extinction. The construction was in full swing, but this time with a new purpose. Gradually all the society members were relocated to the ships. None of the enemies had the slightest idea about the magnitude of the project. They were only watching closely fearing a strong reaction from the ‘Unity of Opposites’ to their potential direct hostilities. This never happened and on 22 July 2025 five of the biggest city buildings roared to the air and left planet Earth forever.”

She stopped.

Derek did not move and continued staring at nothing in particular in front of him.

“I realize that my story sounds absolutely bizarre and probably confuses you even more, taking into consideration your memory loss about any events that happened to you on Earth.”

“I guess you̓re right…” the young man answered, puzzled.. “All this is absolutely incomprehensible… The two hundred years in stasis, the people who had left Earth before my birthday and who continue living now in a space city…”

Lora sighed heavily.

“And we still don’t know why your ship went after us…”

“Why are you so sure that it followed ‘Solar Flotilla’?”

“Our ships headed in the same direction. This data is supported by your onboard computer and the calculations of our experts. And although they don’t know how your on-board navigation system managed to trace ‘Solar Flotilla’, there is no doubt that our ships were meant to meet, but failed for some reason. The fact that we found you in space was a total accident.”

Derek frowned.

“I don’t know the answer. I can only recall some vague images…”

“What images?”

“The clearest is of a wooden house… It’s far away from the city, but the megalopolis towers are so tall that they can be seen from dozens of miles away. There is smog hovering over them… Black clouds… I’m sure it’s hot and stuffy there. While here, far away from it, there are trees and you can breathe much easier.”

“Is it your home?”

“I’m not sure,” he shrugged, “Also, I see a building without windows. Inside there are many gadgets like monitors, flickering lamps, some beeping sounds. There are people, many people, all dressed in the same clothes,” the young man looked at Lora’s white uniform. “Their clothes are different. They’re dark blue, I think.”

“I have an idea!” Lora abruptly jumped from her seat. “Let’s go to the archives. There’s a lot of information about Earth and, thus, it’s more convenient to look through the old files. You’ll probably be able to find something familiar.”

“Alright,” nodded her guest, a little shocked by her enthusiasm.

The interior of the archives was shaped like an enfilade, whereby a row of rooms were successively attached to one another with doors placed on one axis, creating a sense of cross-cutting perspective for hundreds of meters away. Derek unwittingly compared this place with a giant library, where thousands of shelves would stand against both sides of the central corridor, and hide in the dark under a sky-high ceiling. They were full of tiles that looked like books with glowing neon spines. Lora paused at one of the information boards, which looked like a tall table presenting holographic data.

“OK, let’s see,” she swiped the surface with her hand and a blonde-haired woman’s projection appeared over the board.

“Welcome to the data backup programme. Please state what information you are interested in: the time period or the location.”

“The period is the beginning of the twenty first century according to the Earth calendar. Let’s begin with the uniform of the organizations on Earth.”

“Please specify your request. The data volume based on these parameters is very large.”

“A blue uniform,” added Derek.

“The data has been sorted out. I’m forwarding it on the holographic interface.“

The woman’s face disappeared and in its place a virtual stack of cards appeared over the table.

“Like this,” Lora touched the card on the top and gently pushed it aside.

Derek quickly got used to the backup system and after some minutes he was easily interacting with the electronic lady, whose knowledge was truly profound.

“Firstly, I’d like to see only the images of the uniforms, without the descriptions.”

“One thousand two hundred and forty-seven images were accessed.”

Lora slowly sat into an armchair nearby, watching her companion putting aside one card after another. It seemed like the enthusiasm she had felt while coming here besieged him now. But, after two hours of constant data study, Derek’s energy level noticeably fell.

“You need rest,” she said.

“Yes, my eyes are sore and the holographic light is so bright that even the sunglasses can’t protect them any longer”. “We can continue tomorrow…”

“I’ve seen everything that the programme generated,” the young man sighed heavily. “I think, it’s a memory of a military uniform, but I haven’t found anything which matches it exactly.”

“The backup data is old. It was made long before your birth date.”

“I understand… It’s just that I want to remember about my past so much…”

Leaving Derek in his apartment; a white spacious room separated by matte glass into a living room, a bathroom and bedroom; Lora looked back at the hunched and tired figure of the man. She liked his genuine interest in everything new, but she also couldn’t help noticing how his curiosity and enthusiasm faded giving ground to longing and detachment when he was wandering in the depths of his lost memory.

Pausing for a while at the door, Lora then approached the motionless young man in the armchair and took the universal panel from his hands.

“Let me show you something.”

She spared him the explanations, and just gently touched the virtual keys on the screen causing the lights to go dim. And the walls, so white just a second before, flashed with an image of a soft sunset. Then, the silence of the room was interrupted by a light breeze and a melodic swishing of the surf.

“Get some rest,” Lora said quietly.

Giving him back the panel, she lightly touched his hand, which was motionlessly lying on the arm of the chair and left the apartment immediately. In this way she expressed her profound compassion and genuine support. She said nothing because she was sure that Derek was not a man in need of pity and consolation. Her silent presence was more important than words filled with sympathy.

Chapter 4

The next couple of days saw Lora and the man in her care embark on endless trips around the city. The teleport proved to be a convenient and fast transport means. When the distances were not very long, the young people preferred to walk. And anywhere they went they could see that life on Titanium followed its quiet and measured flow regardless of the circumstances. Everything, they said, was in its time. Even when a hasty evacuation from Taria began, the people did not panic; instead, everyone continued doing their job.

Studying anew the history of his own native planet and getting to know the world of the future, Derek recalled the Earth cities, traditions and laws more and more. However, Lora sometimes felt that his memory, despite the fast recovery, remained a picturesque but lifeless picture. He still didn’t remember the details of his own private life, events of previous years and the reasons why the earthlings had sent their transport on such a long voyage.

One evening, after having worn their feet out the busy streets and having spent endless hours in the archive, Lora announced intriguingly.

“You know, you still haven’t seen the most impressive place on Titanium!”

She typed the destination in the teleport control panel and smiled mysteriously.

“You can’t keep me in the dark for long ,” Derek chuckled, because the glass cabin doors slid open almost immediately.

“Yes, our transport system has its drawbacks…” answered Lora with pretentious sadness.

“Welcome to the viewpoint, sector B-153,” announced the programme politely.

“I don’t think you’ll need your glasses here,” noted the girl when the teleport doors closed behind their back. They found themselves in a dark hall with two pale neon lamps along the smooth floor as the only source of light. Slowly changing colour, they ran parallel to each other: one along a dark shiny wall, while the other ran along a seemingly endless panoramic window, behind which the black infinity of outer space pierced by the light of the distant stars opened to their eyes. ‘Solar Flotilla’ followed the Earth calendar and every morning Lora put on her favourite trainers and came here for an hour of jogging around this cyclic track, looking into the unchanging emptiness in front of her and trying to get rid of all doubts and worries.

“Is it always so… empty here?” said Derek looking around.

“The length of the viewpoint is more than seven hundred kilometres. It runs around Titanium and parallel to the Equatorial transport terminal. From here you can watch spaceships arrive. Besides, there are observatories in several of its sections.”

“These ships,” Derek pointed at the rows of spacecraft of strikingly different makes and looks, “Are they alien?”

“The majority of them are. For example, those ones that look like gigantic beetles are the Tarian tractors. They have to stay outside the outer protective field and pass their cargo in smaller loads to our shuttles. They, in turn, go through the energy barrier and deliver them to our transport terminal. Unfortunately, at the moment, none of the five ‘Solar Flotilla’ ships that had started from Earth are even close to Titanium. They are all on the evacuation missions. Their appearance and the technological equipment have changed a lot, of course, during these two hundred and fifty years, but they still work. The ships are named after the five letters of the Greek alphabet, the flagman ship is ‘Alpha’, and the others, ‘Beta’, ‘Gamma’, ‘Delta’ and ‘Epsilon’ are of smaller size and insignificant fire power.”

“So where is Taria?”

“We are moving along its orbit and, at the same time, we are also rotating,” explained Lora. “As is the circular viewpoint.” Lora took out the tablet and checked some data. “We are going to see Taria from here in fourteen minutes.”

“I’d like to see it.”

“Of course, let’s wait!” Lora sat comfortably on the floor, crossing her legs.

“How many stars!” noted Derek with admiration. “They seem as distant as in the sky over Earth.”

“For as long as I can remember, that’s been my view of them from here” echoed Lora.

“Why do I have a feeling that this voyage brings you sadness as much as joy?” suddenly asked Derek.

Lora tightened her lips thoughtfully.

“I’m not really sure myself. But you’re right. Even though our journey is incredibly interesting, allowing us to explore the Universe and meet alien races flying through space in search of a new home, I can’t help believing that the true home for the ‘Solar Flotilla’ people is on Earth and that we can come back…”

“It seems that not many agree with you?”

“My people have their reasons for that, I told you about it…”

“Yes, I know,” the young man nodded with sympathy. “I’m sorry that I can’t remember anything to support your assumption.”

“Me too,” Lora smiled sadly and immediately added, “but your presence on the ship gave me new hope. I believe that everything happens for a reason. All the events, encounters and separations are there to direct a person to their true goal.”

“Do you believe in fate?” Derek wanted to clarify.

“No, I believe in providence,” Lora specified. “I’ve always tried to listen to that voice of the Universe, as I call it.”

“Is it from Andre Mendes̓ teachings?”

“It’s not that literal,” answered Lora. “Everyone understands it differently.”

“I’d like to learn a little more about his theory.”

“All the information is in the central computer. You can also ask for help from any guide at any school.”

“A guide?”

“Yes, guides are people who help us study Andre Mendes’ philosophy and reach the inner equilibrium.”

“Can’t you teach me?”

“Enlightenment is a special gift, and the guides are naturally gifted. I can’t say the same about me…”

The earthling nodded.

“So I’ll have to sit at the school desk again!”

“Here, look!” Lora noticed a green light on the right. The glow was growing brighter and brighter with every second and soon the planet’s contour emerged as well.

“I thought Taria looks like Earth…”

“Hardly,” Lora shook her head. “The green luminosity of the planet is due to the gases accumulated in the top layers of its atmosphere. Only 30 percent of the light of the Doht, the star that gave name to the whole system, passes through the clouds.” She paused and then added, “Looking at these huge planets populated by billions of living beings, it sometimes seems to me that our fleet looks like a grain of sand lost in the vastness of the Universe.”

“It’s sometimes not so bad to be a tiny and unnoticeable grain of sand,” Derek tried to be funny. “Especially, when there are plenty of hostile aliens all around you.”

“Not many of them are hostile,” began Lora, but then stumbled realizing that her companion rose up from his chair and was now standing on his own legs, leaning a little on the glass.

“I’ve decided not to warn you about my intention,” Derek smiled, “to avoid the unnecessary stir.”

Frozen, Lora was watching the earthling. He cleared his throat.

“I’m fine.”

“I see,” she finally said, “This is great!”

He nodded.

“Despite the popularity of transport means on electromagnetic pillows here, I’d prefer to walk from now on. Shall we?”

“Sure!”

Amused, Lora was watching with how much effort her new friend applied to be able to walk. Despite the Council’s reservations, it seemed to Lora that she had come to know Derek very well in the past few days. He surprised her with his perseverance, hard work and energy. However, notwithstanding his obvious character virtues, the earthling was still far from having the inner equilibrium, inherent to all Titanium citizens. The latter remained calm and rational in any situation, trusting their intuition and accepting everything with wisdom. Derek’s behaviour was often quite the opposite of that. His feelings were contradicting, reactions unexpected, while his emotions were so strong that they drowned out the voice of reason.

Some days later, Lora and Derek came to have lunch in the canteen of the ‘Unity’ building. Lora’s first and foremost obligations as a junior Council member constantly demanded her presence. That’s why the majority of the day was spent doing her main job, while she met Derek closer to the evening.

“This time I’ll order food myself,” said the young man taking a seat. His hand swiped the sensor panel making a holographic menu appear over the table.

“Now choosing as if touching the names of the desired dishes…”

Derek was precisely repeating the instructions given by Lora during their first lunch together.

The young lady nodded contentedly when her companion easily completed the set task. After a few seconds, the central part of the table moved apart and two metal holders lifted a tray with two white food containers.

“Here you are, help yourself! But what did I choose?” Derek hesitated a little.

“Hm…” with pretentious seriousness Lora peeked under the round lids. “There’s an omelette with meat and an apple pie with raisins.” She moved the containers, which now looked more like plates, closer to her companion. “Here you are.”

“A typical omelette. Where do people keep the chickens that make these eggs?”

“Nowhere,” Lora shrugged, “The majority of the groceries are artificially produced from proteins, fats and carbohydrates…”

Derek was about to swallow a bite. He paused, not sure whether to continue with the meal.

“It’s just named like that!” hastily Lora calmed him down, “The taste, the texture, and nutritional value correspond to those of the natural products. You should be convinced by now!”

The young man finished chewing and gave her a cunning grin.

“Just kidding.”

“We only grow fruit and vegetables. There are several plantations on Titanium.”

“How old are you, Lora?” suddenly asked Derek, moving his glance hidden behind the dark glasses away from the meal to Lora.

“Twenty-two.”

He slightly moved his head away.

“I didn’t mean to ask personal questions… The doctor said the tests have shown that my biological age is about twenty-seven years old. But I don’t remember even one year of my past life. Do you have parents?”

“Of course, I do,” affirmatively nodded Lora. “Unlike eggs, people are born naturally here. My parents live on the Epsilon, one of the five satellite ships of Titanium. They spend most of their time in scientific expeditions. They are astrophysicists. We don’t see each other very often.”

“What about when you were a kid?”

“Parents care for their children until they are five years of age on Titanium. After that the young generation enters the educational programme. There are guides and teachers of different subjects, who pass the knowledge accumulated by the past generations to the young citizens.”

“It must be hard to get separated from your parents at such a young age.”

“Why would you think that?”

“On Earth the bonds between children and parents are unbreakable. They stay together and show their love and affection.”

“I love my parents,” agreed Lora, “And they love me too. Certainly, the strength of our feelings doesn’t depend on distance.

“Are you forced to send your children away?”

“Of course, not!” Lora was shocked, “Everything we do is done of our own free will. We have no laws.”

“No laws…” with more seriousness stated Derek, totally losing his appetite.

“Hello! I see you are having a lively discussion here!” Paul appeared next to their table. “May I?”

“Of course,” nodded the girl. “Derek, this is Paul, the shuttle captain who has brought the rescue unit to Titanium. He was in your ward when you regained consciousness.”

“I remember this voice,” Derek nodded watching Paul greet him with a small bow, his palms together in front of him.

“I’m glad you’re better,” said the young man taking a seat at the table and ordering a meal. “I think I’ve interrupted something important.”

“Just now I was telling Derek that we don’t have laws,” explained Lora.

“I don’t understand how that can be… there were laws, codes, courts on Earth… It seems like an immutable truth…”

“General information is easier for you to remember, isn’t it?” clarified Paul.

The earthling nodded.

“The doctor said that the tough part will be to remember the details of my life. My family, work, the voyage in the interplanetary ship,” he sighed poking at the cold breakfast with his fork.

“Well, laws were necessary on Earth in order to artificially control the self-destructive side of the human nature from the outside,” Paul decided to distract Derek from his sad thoughts. “All the government and religious institutions were created with the purpose of defining what is good and bad, and to force people to abide by these rules under the threat of physical or spiritual punishment. But the concept of good and evil is inherent to every human being… And we, Andre Mendes’ followers, realize that…”

“Sounds ominous… Like a conspiracy theory…”

“It’s not a theory. It’s a rational perspective on the earthlings’ lifestyle.”

“It seems you don’t identify yourself with your motherland at all,” Derek looked at the speaker.

“Far from it,” interrupted Lora, “It’s just been a long time.”

The earthling shrugged indifferently. With Paul around he started behaving in a more reserved manner and spoke with more tension in his voice.

“The difference in the point of view became a stumbling block for our ancestors,” noted the girl seriously. “But many things could have changed after ‘Solar Flotilla’ left.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t remember that,” Derek frowned.

“Take your time,” the captain reacted calmly. “Besides, our scientists have been working hard to receive the maximum information about what happened on the ship. I think you’ve heard that the autopsy of the other person found in the ark revealed that the woman had died from a virus unknown to us. Because of the substance injected in the blood, it’s difficult to understand the details of the infection and its development but…”

“I have an idea,” Lora interrupted him, “It’s most likely that the infection was from Earth. In any case, nothing points to the alien origin of the virus. It could’ve been activated during the flight, or you were already infected when you were getting into the anabiosis.”

“I doubt that the authorities from Earth would’ve sent ill astronauts on a mission in space,” commented the captain.

“Was I an astronaut?” asked Derek.

“We’re not sure. We still haven’t been able to restore the data from the onboard computer,” the girl sighed heavily, “The scariest scenario to my mind is this: what if your ship was actually sent for help? It’s possible that people suffered from a pandemic and couldn’t find an alternative way to contain it.”

“In this case, they’d have to wait for our return for quite a long time,” noted Paul.

“What if there was no other way? Or, what if the ship from Earth carried the only survivors?”

The young men simultaneously looked at the girl.

“Derek, do you remember you said that you had very little time? It could be connected with the illness. Maybe even the anabiosis couldn’t stop the virus and you knew about it…”

Paul frowned and rubbed his temples.

“If we develop this idea further we can come to a conclusion that the Earth population has been destroyed… Two hundred years have passed…”

There was a pause. Lora couldn’t see Derek’s eyes behind the dark glasses.

“Derek?” Lora was closely watching the young man, “Have you remembered something?”

He seemed to have plunged into his thoughts again as had happened many times until that moment..

“No,” answered Derek, “Anyway, I must go back. If your experts can’t find the answers on the onboard computer, I’ll find out everything myself on Earth.”

“You’ll have to cross half a galaxy to go back,” exclaimed Paul, “Literally.”

“Do I have a choice?” asked the guest.

“It’s important to wait for the test results from the IT department,” answered the captain calmly. “And, of course the medical department results as the return might not be safe…”

“What if there are survivors on Earth and they need help?!” Lora joined the conversation. “What if the old feud doesn’t matter anymore and we can go back home forever?!”

“Slow down, I don’t follow you,” said Paul.

“But I do,” Derek’s words resounded with unshakable confidence. “The only way to find out is to return to Earth.”

“Paul,” the girl looked at her friend, “We must speak to the Council!”

“Do you want…”

“To prepare an expedition to Earth!”

The young man raised his hands.

“Whoah! An expedition through half a galaxy? Based on bare assumptions?”

“We have nothing else,” Lora shrugged, “Why wait…”

“Two hundred years have passed,” the captain negatively shook his head, “Why should we hurry now?”

“We’re moving further and further away from Earth,” Lora found a sensible argument.

“Yes, but…”

“But the next Lactian year we’ll surely spend on Vistana’s orbit, collaborating with the Lactians. It’s our chance to fly to Earth and come back!”

“I’d like to address the Council myself,” the guest interrupted their argument. Lora looked at Derek. He sounded very confident. “Is it possible?”

“Of course,” she nodded.

“But what are you going to tell them?” asked Paul, “Ungrounded assumptions are not going to be enough. If only you had some facts…”

“My memories are still hidden from me. But when I heard Lora’s assumptions, they seemed very realistic. I can’t prove anything; but, in my opinion, waiting for the test results is a waste of time.”

“You’re both very stubborn,” suddenly smiled the captain. “I believe, if a sustainable expedition plan is devised the Council will give an affirmative answer.”

Lora nodded energetically.

“Will you help us?”

“On one condition, which you, I have no doubt, will find very reasonable,” Paul paused and stared at his companions. “It’s not the best idea to present a project like this to the Council at the peak of the evacuation. We’ll wait till our arrival on Vistana and then come forward with our suggestion.”

His companions didn’t think much.

“Sound logical,” Lora smiled, seeing that Derek also nodded in agreement.

“What are you doing after dinner?” Paul asked suddenly. He sensed Derek’s unhappy mood and wanted to cheer him up.

“We were going to the archive…” Lora pulled a plate with salad and a glass of juice closer.

“My crew is going to Gron, one of Taria’s moons, in two hours. We need to collect the equipment of the portable observatory back to Titanium. Would you like to come with us? I promise a walk in a spacesuit.”

“Are you serious?” Derek asked with excitement.

“Absolutely serious!”

The earthling turned to Lora.

“It’ll be nice to do something different together for a change,” she nodded smiling. “The spacesuits with neurocontrol are quite easy to use. Also we’ll show you the Equatorial transport terminal from inside!”

“Then I’ll be waiting for you at platform B-278 in an hour,” said the captain contentedly. “After a short training session, we’ll be ready to set off.”

Chapter 5

An hour later, Lora and Derek went out of the tele-cabin and onto the landing platform. The inner area of the Equatorial transport terminal, where they happened to be, was filled with air. Thousands of docking modules and landing platforms for the freight as well as the public space transport could be found there. A seven-kilometre wide circular system of gateways separated the spherical hangar, ninety kilometres in diameter, from the outer area, where there was no atmosphere and the ships arrived right after passing through the protective field. The young people were standing almost in the middle of the hangar, while the blue nucleus of the artificial planet was, as usual, glowing several thousand metres over their heads.

“So, I was brought on Titanium on board this beauty,” asked Derek, his hand gliding on the silver cover of the shuttle while he was observing the huge spacecraft with great interest.

“Yes, it’s series one hundred and one. Compared to the majority of ships, this is a tiny one,” explained the girl. “Paul calls her a whale.”

The young man looked at Lora questioningly.

“Its shape and smooth lines resemble the blue whale, living in the depth of the Earth’s oceans,” explained the captain appearing next to them as if by magic.

“Where did you come from?” said Lora surprised.

“We’re testing the teleport system on short distances,” smiled Paul. “Are you ready to come on board?”

The briefing and the flight to the moon passed in a friendly informal atmosphere. The shuttle crew clearly liked Derek, and the feeling was mutual. Also, the earthling showed great interest in the modern space technologies and listened carefully to everything Stan, the mechanical engineer, was telling him. Aswell as this, the panoramic glazing of the bridge was not left unnoticed either. When the shuttle left the transport terminal, Derek was watching with genuine amazement the blue glow of Titanium slowly melting in the darkness of the space and the sparkling lines of ships flocking towards it. However, the proximity of Tarias satellite deprived the earthling of the opportunity to enjoy the flight with all his heart. Very soon, the silver ship landed on the crater-covered moon.

“Dismantling the observatory in the vacuum of space will take about four hours,” said Paul as if still briefing, “Oleg and Mary will go with us, Chris and Stan will stay on the ship to watch after the scanners: times are rough, many ships are leaving the planet and its populated satellites carrying refugees. The Tarians are scared and, at times, behave very aggressively. Mary, can you help Derek with the spacesuit, please!” added the captain, seeing how awkwardly the young man was pulling the suit up.

Lora, who spent the majority of her flight time studying some data, also looked at the earthling and smiled almost unnoticeably.

“You’ll see, by putting this thing on, you feel somewhat fitter and stronger already. A similar technology was used by our scientists to create exoskeletons for the medical service on the planet Roma. After the war there were many soldiers unable to walk independently because of injuries. The exoskeleton performed the functions of the damaged motor nerves receiving the impulses directly from the brain.”

“But don’t forget that this suit doesn’t replace your muscles and nerves, it only strengthens them,” added Mary helping Derek to put on a helmet. “Now you’ll see a virtual display in front of your eyes…”

“I see it.”

“It’ll show your physiological indicators. You can voice request the main menu and choose the landscape scanning, ask for a geological map, the route and even music. The personal communicators are switched off only after the captain’s command; the radio connection between all the crew members must be constant.”