FROM orbit the planet looked like any run of the mill class -m -world! of the starHD 11582, ninty eight lightyears from the EARTH, a couple of landmasses
and a very deep ocean breeming with marine life, the parent sun is older then
the EARTH'S SUN and fourth in orbit in a family of eleven worlds and has
played host to at least to different races.
THE planet's name is TERRA'EL even in late middle age it is still a lovely
world! it's surface is littered with relics of past ages, the starprobe
nomad, a marriage of technology and living human brain tissue,an artifical
lifeform with the abilty to think for itself right now! after being in orbit
for the last three months and has mapped the entire surface of the planet, and
has cataloged every life form right down to the bacteria.
IT was time to awaken abel, the android who has been nomad's sole campanion on
this very long journey, he was needed to monitor the data coming in from the
landing procedures! it is a tricky piece of navigation to hit the window just
right, to steep of an angle and they would burn up in the atmosphere or to
shallow of angle and nomad would skip back out into space. NOMAD
fired it's manuevering thursters and position itself for planetfall, slowly
the decent rockets brought it down gently into the upper regions of the
stratosphere all the while abel watched the computer readouts with
eagerness ! down thru the lower regions of air toward the target,
the ruins of an ancient city all white bleach by the countless age of time and
weather.
NOMAD came down right on target, right in the middle of the city that was old
before mankind was born ! when the city was alive with people and
commerce, it's name was NEW DELPHI a name given it by it's most recent race to
evolve on the planet! they were a race of warm blooded primates similar to
man, there were physical differences of course, they were taller, skin the
color of blu to even darker colors in some regions of the planet, they had
developed thru genetic at least three different subspecies of the same race.
AS abel exited nomad, he stood still for a moment as if he could almost hear
the voices of the ghost of the past! this city was a haunting place in a
romantic sort of way! thought abel, he looked at the sky towers that
seemed to stretch up to the heavens, what kind of people could build on
a vast scale as this, his positronic brain was equipped with the ability to
feel. ABEL entered a structure nearest him! the dust
of the ages lay on the floor, a rodent type creature scurried away in front of
him, as large as any EARTH rat that still inhabit the cities of the EARTH,
despite mankinds attempts to exterminate the animal ! abel looked
around in fasination even after all this time, the colors were still bright
and lovely, there were reliefs on the wall depicting animals of past
ages and people enjoying the natural wonders of their world !
outside abel heard the cries of raptors, which made their homes in the high
towers, as he left the structure he encountered a glowing being, who smiled at
him and approached him without fear, what are you, why have you invaded this
world, abel identified himself as abel and that he was an artifical
constructed life form and that he had come from a distant world called the
EARTH! and that he and nomad were sent here as explorers and not as invaders,
soon others beings appeared in the form of glowing spheres of light, the alien
identified himself as ryel, and that this world and city were their
sacred home and would'not tolerate any despoiling of it.
THE alien looked in the direction of nomad resting on the weed choked streets
if the city and asked if the probe was nomad! abel said yes, it is a
combination of technology and human brain tissue and a free thinking being,
abel communcated this fact to the energy beings, ryel then turned to abel and
said that their creators would be welcome on their planet if they wish,
inteeligent life is so rare in the universe, that it must be nutured and
brought to fruitation and besides said ryel, they wished dialogue with others
not of this world. AS nomad rose from the surface of
TERRA'EL, the beings gathered together in the city of old, do you think
they will be back ask the one called tiel! yes ryel i do, to send a ship so
great a distance thru interstellar space yes quite an acomplishment for any
species and i think they are very curious and would be good to exchange ideas
said ryel, even if they are coporal .
