The S.U. Space Station

“You gotta be freaking kidding me!”

The first one to react was Al; the others gawked at the image with looks of dumbfounded amazement and shock. In their defense, it was a completely improbable sight. A tall man was standing in front of that ship, and he had two big white wings on his back.

His features were a little strange; there were all the things anyone looking at the mirror would recognize, two eyes, one mouth, the nose, and a full head of long hair. To Michael, the strange being looked like a modern depiction of an elf. Very tall and skinny, with characteristically pointed ears; but those wings negated his elfin image. His skin color was another strange thing; it was the color of old gold. He was dressed in white clothes resembling a robe, similar to the one a priest would wear, which reflected light as very expensive silk does.

“How… how is this possible?” Emma asked. Expressing the same thought everyone had.

“Have patience, Dr. Williams, everything will be explained, this story is far from over,” Ision replied.

On the hologram projection before them, Atlanteans started to kneel before him, thinking he was a deity from the heavens. The angel slowly walked down the platform to the one closest to the ship. It was Ision, and through his eyes, they saw what the being did next. Barely touching him, he indicated that he should rise and not kneel. He lifted his five-fingered hand and held his palm toward the confused man, waiting for a response. The confusion soon ended and Ision too raised his hand and touched the angel’s palm.

“They could have portrayed themselves as gods, and we would have worshiped them, but that was not their way. At that time, we followed a variety of gods, those of fire, air, ice, and the sun; we would have accepted them as such, yet they told us from the beginning that they were just people, like us. Born in a different place, but no better, and certainly not divine.” Ision spoke in a silent room.

“I know you have seen their artistic representations, and their image has become an integral part of several Earth’s religions, but to us, they were our friends, our teachers, and our saviors.”

The hologram before them showed other angels coming out of the ship, male and female.

“There were seven of them, and that first one who came from the ship and greeted me was their captain. Coincidentally enough, Leader Freeman, you were named after him. The actual pronunciation of his name sounds a little different, something close to Mikell, but in your culture, he is known as Michael the Archangel.”

This was a piece of information Michael did not know how to process. He knew the origin of his name was biblical, but it would seem that it was actually… extraterrestrial. That would have been a great surprise to his late grandmother as she was the one that named him.

“In the following months, angels were frequent visitors to our home. They would spend the days with us, and by night, they would go back to their ship. We were astounded by how quickly they learned our language, and during that time, they did something that almost had us worship them like true gods, despite what they said. You see… they cured us.

“They healed those that had deformities, and all the children that were born after they arrived—were perfect. DNA manipulation, words I would not have understood then, but they changed our world. They even improved our genes to give us longer lives, immunity from diseases, increased intelligence, and senses that were more acute.”

The man paused again, lost in his memories. His face showed a smile full of sadness, remembering a happy time. He took a deep breath and then with a resolute nod of determination, he continued.

“Of course, they were testing us all; trying to learn if they could trust us. After six months have passed, Mikell came to me one day and told me their story.

“They were refugees, running away from a great calamity that has befallen them, and wanted to make part of our oasis into their temporary home. They wanted our permission to live with us because they had a colony ship in orbit and there were many more angels on it… sleeping in stasis. Yet, Mikell did not want us to make such a decision without telling the story of what they were running from.”

The holograph in front of them changed into an image of a planet, it looked similar to Earth, but the continents and the percentage of land and water were all wrong.

“Their home was in a star system they called Hemina, and the planet on which the angels evolved was Gaina. Though Mikell and the others did not live on that planet, they all came from a small colony on the edges of their solar system. It was more of a penal colony, a place where those who rebelled against their world’s strict rules were sent into an exile.

“While the entire angel’s species was a peaceful one, it was not always so. In a distant past, they were a highly technological society, achieving such heights that to people of modern Earth, it would be seen as magic. Yet, as Icarus of your myths, they reached too high and paid the price for it.”

On the surface of a beautiful rotating planet, bright flashes started to appear. Multitudes of small mushroom clouds were all too easy to identify.

“There was a war that almost made them extinct and it was fought with high technology, involving artificial intelligences and nuclear weapons. Thus, after it ended, the survivors decided to change their entire society, trying to prevent such things from ever happening again. Their solution was draconian and in retrospect… unwise. They destroyed most of the technological remains of that previous civilization, artificially keeping their technology at a far lower level by forbidding certain fields of research. Religion, which was once almost abandoned, once again took precedence in the lives of people, and the priests became those who controlled and regulated allowed technologies. Their species was now ruled by the council of priests that called themselves The Elders. From the freedom of thought they once enjoyed, the entire planet became a theocracy with very strict rules.

“Naturally, in any society, there are always those who disagree with the established order and want more out of their existence. The dreamers, geniuses, and those who yearned to reach the stars that were once within their species' grasp.

“The Elders were faced with a very difficult decision. On one hand, they needed to maintain the stability of their new society that those people threatened, and on the other, they could not kill those malcontents since that went against everything they believed in. Their solution was to exile them to an old research station that was built while they still dreamed about colonies in space. One spaceship from the previous age still remained, and it was used to transfer the nonconformists from their perfect society. The new outcast colony was so far away, that the light of their star barely reached it, yet, despite the passage of the years, the autonomous maintenance systems kept it in working order. That exile would, in the end, turn out to be a blessing.”

The holographic representation of Gaina showed them a speeded-up image of the planet and centuries of climate change; from the all-encompassing nuclear winter to stabilization of the environment, in a few minutes. Then the focus shifted away from the planet, and for a moment, they all felt like the camera was traveling a great distance until it settled on a small planetoid. Its image was similar to Earth’s moon; gray in color with thousands of craters on the surface. That image zoomed even more until they were looking at the settlement under a geodesic dome. Through that transparent dome, they saw houses, trees, and parks; vaguely resembling the Ascension’s own residential level.

“Life was hard there and riddled with uncountable challenges. Very soon, the colony was inadequate to house them all; those on Gaina kept sending more people every year, not caring if they would survive. Even so, despite all the harshness of their daily lives—the colony thrived. During the ensuing decades, the exiles dug underground to create new livable space, and even managed to reclaim parts of their technological heritage, turning that desolate world into an underground heaven.”

The view of the hologram went through the entire colony, showing them the environment the exiled angels made for themselves. It was beautiful, akin to something that Michael envisioned himself; what he wanted the new station to become. It was an artificial world, but the one where people could live their lives and choose their own destiny. Level by level, they went deeper underground, seeing a series of enormous caves that were ecosystems in themselves. Of course, the color of the plants was wrong, and animals were very different from anything on Earth. Through all the images, there were flying angels, with smiles on their faces and joy in their movements.

“Technology to reach other stars was rediscovered from the ancient data they brought with them. A few unmanned probes were sent to the distant stars, looking for those promising new worlds where they could live under the sun. With the growing population of their own, the need for them to have more space was essential. That is why they started the project to build a colony ship, using old designs. The spirit of their forefathers was still alive in them, yet there was no strife and disagreement in their actions, they were all united. That colony ship was supposed to be the first of many… it ended being the only one.”

The ancient AI gave them a piercing look. “The next event will change everything, and will directly lead to the destruction of Atlantis. Hemina solar system was visited by a new alien race, one whose image you will also recognize.”

“Holy mother of God!” Al yelled after the holographic three-dimensional image of the new race appeared in front of them. The reaction of others was less vocal but as distressed as his. Jack, Ben, and Tyron chose far more colorful profanities to describe how they felt. Elizabeth was silent, however, she grabbed Michael’s arm and held onto it tight.

This was an image from the darkest nightmares of the human race, one as familiar as that of an angel. Dark red lizard skin, monstrous face with a mouth full of sharp teeth, and two wicked horns rising from the forehead; the creature even had a pair of lathery-clawed wings growing from its back.

“Oh hell, this can’t be real…” Pete whispered while holding a small gold cross that was hanging on a chain around his neck.

“I’m afraid it is,” Ision said. “This is a true photo image of their kind, not a graphical representation, and is in fact downloaded directly from the Knowledge-Vault.”

Michael felt as if every muscle in his body had become taut, and something deep and primal within him… felt shaken. Yet, he couldn’t allow himself to show that; Elizabeth and the others were counting on him to lead them.

Ision continued his story.

“Your name for them is demons, and I shall address them as such since their name for themselves is unpronounceable to us. They speak in a harsh and guttural language, that human vocal cords could never imitate. Demons arrived in the Hemina system using the same way of crossing the space between the stars, as angels from the colony rediscovered. A way to bridge the space in a relatively short time, compared to how long a trip would take if using even a theoretical drive that could travel at the speed of light.

“Every star has its own unique frequency, and if you know it, this technology enables you to build a link between them. They called it a bridge drive, even if it is not a bridge but rather a method of translating from one place to the other using a higher dimension. Yet, the translation cannot take place too close to the star; the gravitational forces of the Sun and its planets would have destroyed the ship upon arrival. Therefore, the exit point for the translation is always outside the targeted system. What’s more, the ship needs to travel in the exact direction of the desired destination, or else it will miss. Imagine how many stars you can see at night, which is the number of systems that can be reached from Earth, but only if their exact frequency is known.

“It was sheer luck that the demons came from the opposite direction from the exiles colony, so they were not detected. Five enormous ships were in their fleet, each a two-mile-long behemoth. It took weeks for them to arrive at the orbit above Gaina, and they immediately contacted the angels on the planet.”

The images of the demons ships stood above the beautiful planet, like menacing predator birds looming above their prey. Even if he did not know who was controlling those ships, Michael would still feel something menacing about them. There was no doubt in his mind that those were warships, built exclusively to bring destruction upon their enemies.

“Ariel, Mikell’s father, was the leader of the colony, and as soon as the demon ships were detected, he ordered that all transmissions from the colony should stop. He was a very suspicious individual and those translations into the Hemina system displayed the same energy signatures as their own did, which troubled him greatly; as did the fact that those demons knew the angel’s language. The colony ship was very close to completion so he decided that all efforts would be used to finish it as soon as possible. Everyone helped and they shaved months of work, somehow managing to complete the ship in time. I wonder if he had some sort of premonition, or if it was instinct.

“A few of malcontents remained on Gaina undiscovered, and they kept sending regular reports to Ariel using a refurbished and highly illegal transmitter. I guess there were spies of sorts; their presence on the planet enabled the exiles to understand what was happening. The demons expressed offers of peace, saying they were travelers on a scientific mission of exploration. For the first month, the beginnings of diplomatic relations between demons and angels were established. It seemed as if Ariel’s fears were ungrounded, and even to him, it looked like he was jumping to conclusions by listening to the voice of fear within him.

However, as time progressed, the demons started demanding more information about angels’ past, as if they were searching for something. For all the time they were above the planet, their ships were scanning the surface with ground-penetrating scanners. Justifying it as one of the objectives of their mission, to map all planets in any new system they discover.

“One day, without any warning whatsoever… the attack began. The demons apparently demanded something from Gaina’s elders and were refused, but that information is only word of mouth, which Ariel’s agents managed to transmit in the final hours. No matter why, the consequences of the elders’ decision were devastating.”

Holographic presentation kept pace with his story and Michael could see the beautiful planet once again marred with sudden points of destruction on its surface. It was not nuclear weapons this time that fell on the fragile ecosystem, it was a kinetic orbital bombardment, equivalent to the one Michael used on the members of Boko Haram. The demons must have used far larger projectiles because the explosions were a thousand times stronger.

“They showed no mercy, targeting the biggest cities, not answering to angels’ pleas for them to stop. Ariel knew that the same fate would befall their colony too, when they were inevitably discovered. He ordered an immediate evacuation. Unfortunately, the colony ship was not big enough to take everyone… or even the most.

“Mikell and six others were trained as the ship’s crew and they were essential for flying it, but those that were previously chosen as colonists never got on board. They all relinquished their places so the youngest members of the colony could be saved. Twenty-five additional adults accompanied them to take care of the children when they woke up. Parents hugged their children, said their goodbyes, and laid them to sleep in the stasis chamber. Mikell embraced his father for the last time and entered the ship that was the only hope of their species survival.

“The colony ship launched as soon as it could, carrying within every single child of the colony.

“Unfortunately, as soon as its Gravity-drive engaged, there was an immediate response from the demons. One of the behemoth ships was detached from the demon fleet and speeded up on a trajectory to intercept the escaping colony ship. Somehow, they were able to detect energy fluctuations of the Gravity-drive, faster than the speed of light. Mikell chose the closest route for the translation, and for a while, it looked like they would have enough time to escape.

“Meanwhile, the automated video transmissions that Ariel's agents set up on Gaina, never stopped, and they showed images of devastation. Many demon troops were on the planet now, killing survivors or gathering them in large groups for some unknown purpose. One image emotionally scarred every angel that saw it, it was the last recording sent from the planet,” Ision said and pointed at the hologram.

The video was of poor quality, there was dirt and dust on the lens from the bombardment, which obscured part of the view. Even so, what could be seen was horrifying enough. A very large demon, dressed in some sort of battle harness, was sitting on the rubble from a fallen building. In one hand, he held the menacing-looking rifle, but the other hand held something else. It took a few moments for Michael and the others to realize what it was; the sight was too disturbing for them to acknowledge the reality of it.

He was holding a severed arm, and by the size of the limb, it had belonged to a small angel child. On the wrist was a pink colored wristband, now partially soaked in blood. That was a gruesome image in itself, but the fact that he was gnawing on it with his sharp teeth—was nauseating.

Elizabeth covered her mouth and leaned her head on Michael’s chest; the others also had a strong reaction to seeing that scene. It was one thing to see gore in the movies, but quite another when you knew what was recorded was the real thing, even if it happened thousands of years ago.

“Yes, they were carnivores, and didn’t care if the meat came from sapient beings; I can only imagine the ultimate fate of angels on Gaina,” Ision said quietly.

“Mikell made the colony ship fly as fast as it could, but the demon ship had more powerful engines and started gaining on them. For the next week, he watched as the distance between them grew shorter. The telescopic cameras captured a swarm of missiles descending on the colony, launched from the ship that was chasing them. He witnessed as the huge explosions destroyed the geodesic dome on the small planetoid, obliterating the only home he had ever known.”

Michael had a hard time holding his rage inside, even if he knew that there was nothing he could do to change what has already happened. He remembered the images of the benign angels, and those missiles have killed every single one of them. His fist, that was not holding Elizabeth, was squeezing so tight it was testing the limitations of his upgraded bones. He wished to be in the presence of the demon that was in charge of that ship, so he could choke the life out of him.

“In the end, Mikell was left with no choice; as soon as the ship reached the gravitational limit, he engaged the bridge drive and made the translation. It was a good decision, a few minutes later the missiles that the demon ship had launched would have caught them, and destroyed the ship. Even so, it was not the way translations should be done, and there were consequences for that decision.

“You see, the computers did not have enough time to do full calculations of their destination. He had executed a blind translation, an insanely dangerous maneuver, and by the data the ancient probes provided, fatal in most cases. Luck was with them that day, and the colony ship exited the translation jump around the new star system, one that could sustain life. They came here.”

The hologram showed them quite a familiar image of the Solar System and the blue jewel of the third planet from the Sun.

“That is how they came here, the random chance of a blind translation which caused the destruction of the ship’s bridge engine. Those aboard the colony ship had no engineering knowledge to rebuild one. For better or for worse, the angels were left with no choice than to make Earth their home.”

The hologram image again showed Atlantis and the group of angels sitting on one side of the table, across Ision and some of his people.

“This is the story that Mikell told me when he asked us to decide if they could live with us. There was not really much to consider, our debt to them was already more than we could ever repay, so we said yes.

And that is how the golden age of Atlantean civilization began.”