CHAPTER 1

The Voyage Home

September 20th, 2644

Kelem woke up and remembered where he was. He raised himself,swung his long legs over and sat on the edge of his bunk, his bare feettouching the deck plates of the Kren ship. He could feel the vibrationof the ship's mighty engines through the soles of his feet and wishedthat these vibrations were instead those emitted by the bodies of theDreamers. Behind him to the left of his bunk was a circular portwindow displaying a myriad of stars whizzing by in elongated strips oflight. The spectacle cast a dim shadow play on the opposite bulkheadnext to the pressure door of the cabin. He looked at the time displayon his wrist comp lying on the metallic night table to the right of thebunk, and saw that it was 11:00 AM.

He hadn't worn a wrist comp in the last six years but soon he'dbe re-entering the world of humans where time and schedules werenecessary. He had slumbered for more than twelve hours, much longerthan his usual sleep cycle. For the last week he had taken to sleepingunusually long hours, perhaps because he was depressed and saddenedby his departure from Plantanimus. He felt listless and bored but mostof all, he felt unmotivated. A kind of emotional, mental paralysis hadtaken over his mind and he suddenly wished that his old friend andmentor, Professor Nicholas Alfano, were there to help him out of thisdepressed state of mind. He realized how much he missed Anima, hissoul mate, and the deep psychic connection he had with those mightysentient plants he'd come to know as the Dreamers. His decision to leavePlantanimus and return to the solar system had been made solely onbehalf of his dear friend Ndugu Nabole. Other than himself, Nduguwas the only survivor of the ill-fated Solar Nations expedition. It wasthe first time in history that man had ventured away from his home andinto the cosmos, and tragically, it had all ended in disaster. The loss ofthe rest of the ship's complement, ninety eight crew members in all, stillweighed heavily on his mind.

The two of them had been stranded for six long years on analien planet now known to them as Plantanimus. They had resignedthemselves to spend the remainder of their lives on that world. Butwhen the Kren, a peaceful insectoid species, fortuitously showed up onPlantanimus and offered to return them home, Kelem had to make thepainful decision to accompany Ndugu back to Mars.

Ndugu was the only member of the crew that was of Terran origin,and even though he'd been granted Martian citizenship before the shipleft Mars, Kelem knew that he'd likely be blamed, at least in part, forthe fate of the expedition. Earth and Mars had been on the brink ofwar when the Solar Nations left on its maiden voyage and Kelem knewthat if Ndugu returned to Mars on his own, the shadow of suspicionwould fall on him. Additionally, the Phalanx had a price on his head,so returning to Earth was not an option.

By the time the Solar Nations left Mars six years before, The Phalanxhad pretty much taken over Earth's government and was instrumentalin creating the tension between the two planets that was leading towar. Kelem prayed and hoped that a war between the two planets neverbegan and wondered what had taken place during the past six years.

On Plantanimus, Kelem had found the peace and tranquility thathad eluded him all of his young life. His connection to the Dreamers,and especially Anima, had changed his concept of reality. Anima, whoin time became his soul mate, had been the most difficult for himto leave behind. The Queen Mother, who ruled the Kren hive, hadpromised Kelem that Harry, the worker drone that she'd assigned toreturn the two of them back to Mars in a Kren ship, would wait forKelem for six months at the edge of the solar system and then take himback to his beloved Plantanimus.

The Kren were a peaceful species but after communicatingtelepathically with Kelem and thus learning about the human psyche,the Queen Mother decided, perhaps wisely, that humanity at largewas not ready to meet the Kren, who were as tall as a man and whoseresemblance to certain cricket/locust insect species on Earth wouldmost likely create fear and panic in humans.

Kelem stood up and stretched his long frame and stepped into thesmall latrine next to his bunk. After relieving himself and washing hisface with cold water he grabbed his flight suit and headed for the controlroom located five decks above the sleeping quarters.

On his way to the control room he stopped at the large cargo holdwhere one of the two landers from the Solar Nations that had survivedthe disaster, sat secured to the deck. He went inside and walked up toone of the six Lectrosleep chambers on the ship where Ndugu lay insuspended animation and checked on him to make sure that his vitalswere normal. The small screen above the chamber displayed heartbeat,blood pressure, body chemistry and brain activity. All functions wereoperating according to normal parameters. Through the window Kelemcould see Ndugu's wide nose dilating slowly every few seconds everytime he took a breath. The African looked like he was simply asleep butKelem knew that a series of subcutaneous nano probes were controllinghis body functions and had rendered much of his brain inactive.

A human under Lectrosleep state was as close to being in a comaas was medically safe. The nanos were continuously feeding the bodywith concentrated nutritional enzymes that maintained muscle toneas well as eliminating urine and fecal matter and the accumulation oftoxins. Upon entering Lectrosleep the probes automatically filled thestomach with an inert gel like material that prevented the organ fromshrinking while under Lectrosleep. Twenty three days from now, thechamber would begin removing all artificial substances from Ndugu'sbody and revitalizing his organs prior to awakening. The only sideeffects of Lectrosleep were slight confusion and difficulty focusing theeyes for a few minutes.

Harry, the Kren drone that the Mother Queen assigned to take thetwo humans back to Earth, had told Kelem and Ndugu that the voyageto their solar system would take twelve months. They drew lots andNdugu got to go under Lectrosleep first. There was plenty of air andfood to last both men for the entire voyage, but considering the spareamenities of the Kren ship and the length of the trip, it was decidedthat each man would spend every other month in Lectrosleep. The onestaying awake would monitor the other's vital functions.

Satisfied that his friend was in good shape he continued climbingthe narrow stairways that led to the ship's control room. The one thingthat the Kren had not considered when they refitted their ship to carryKelem and Ndugu back to Mars, was the width of the stairways thatwere wide enough to fit the Kren's small narrow bodies perfectly well,but not those of humans who were physically much wider than theinsectoids. Still, except for a little discomfort, both Kelem and Nduguwere able to go up and down the stairs.

When Kelem reached the control room he saw that Harry was notthere and went down two decks to what he and Ndugu had dubbedthe "rec-room". The large space contained several monitor stations forall the vital systems of the ship, and Kelem had discovered that Harryseemed to spend most of his time there. When the door opened, Harry,who was standing by one of the stations, turned around.

"You are awake, Kelem. Did you have a good sleep period?" theKren asked through his voice box.

"Yes, Harry, I slept well. Actually, I slept too well. Twelve hours istoo long a time for me to stay in bed."

"I can synthesize a liquid stimulant that will guarantee that you'llstay awake for hours," the Kren offered, gesturing with two of his fourarms.

"No thanks, Harry, my oversleeping is due to my mental condition,not tiredness," Kelem informed him listlessly.

"As you know, we Kren do not sleep although we hibernate. Do youcare to explain how a mental condition can render a human unconsciousfor more than twelve hours?" the Kren said looking at Kelem through hisiridescent compound eyes. The insectoid was still trying to understandthe concept of sleep in humans.

"Humans normally sleep eight hours or less, but when a human isemotionally distraught, depressed or saddened by circumstances, oneof the effects of such condition is sometimes extended sleep periods.It's one of the ways that the human mind copes with certain types ofstress."

"I am sorry, Kelem, but the concept of human emotions is stillbaffling to me. I have read the files on human behavior that you gaveme a few days ago, and although I understand the meaning of thewords, I have no way to conceptualize what an emotion is. Perhaps intime I will."

"I understand, Harry, but don't you miss your Queen? I know youtold me that she changed your brain and that you no longer hear hervoice in your head, so don't you feel a sense of emptiness from beingseparate from the hive, or being lost?" Kelem asked with curiosity.

"I do feel different, Kelem. Perhaps what I am experiencing is anemotion, but if I am, it does not seem to affect me the way that emotionsappear to affect you and Ndugu. From everything that I've learnedabout human psychology so far, emotions are often unpleasant. Perhapswe Kren are lucky in that regard."

"Perhaps you're right, Harry. There have been many times in mylife when I wished that I didn't have emotions, and right now is one ofthose times," Kelem replied quietly.

"You and Ndugu asked that I not hibernate during the voyage sothat I can keep both of you from experiencing loneliness when eachone of you is awake. Is not my company enough to keep you fromexperiencing strong emotional states?" the Kren asked naïvely.

"I know that this is confusing, Harry, and I apologize. Humans needcompanionship to keep from going insane or experiencing delusionalstates. However, emotions strong or otherwise, are part of the normalmakeup of our personalities. Your agreeing to stay conscious during thevoyage to keep each one of us company is of great help. Unfortunatelyhumans cannot help but experience emotions."

"How can I enhance the quality of the time you spend with me?"Harry asked.

"Hmmm ... Humans need entertainment and unfortunately youKren don't seem to need that type of activity. But, we humans like todo things such as playing games and watching fictional dramas andthings like that. If you're willing, I can teach you to play card games.Such things will stimulate my mind and keep me from thinking aboutAnima and the Dreamers. Would you be willing to learn to play somegames?"

"As you know, Mother asked me to learn all I could regardinghuman behavior. Your request falls under the parameters of my mission.When do we begin?"

"I'll go back down to the lander and bring up a deck of cards. I'llteach you how to play poker!" Kelem said, suddenly feeling a bit ofexcitement.

After Kelem taught the insectoid the basics of poker and played afew games with Harry winning and losing some, the Kren appeared tobecome obsessed with card games. After he mastered other card gameshe asked Kelem to teach him new games. Kelem decided to teach himhow to play chess. After two weeks of several chess games in whichHarry had become an expert, Kelem decided to show him how to playvideo games. By the time Kelem's watch had come to an end, Harryhad learned just about every game that was in the lander's database. TheKren had become a gaming junkie.

"Ndugu, watch out for Harry, he'll drive you crazy if you teach himany new games. I spent the last thirty days teaching him every possiblegame that I knew, as well as every video game that was in the computer'sdatabase and he's mastered everything! He seems to have a never-endingcapacity to assimilate new information. So be careful what you teachhim, otherwise you won't get much sleep," Kelem warned Ndugu oncehe'd come out of the fog of Lectrosleep.

"Really? You mean he wakes you up and doesn't let you to go backto sleep once you're up?" Ndugu asked somewhat worried.

"No, he doesn't wake me up or prevent me from going back to sleep,but whenever he sees me now, all he wants to do is play games," Kelemreplied with concern. I know the Kren claim not to have any emotions,but Harry's become positively obsessive about gameplaying. It's as if apart of his brain has been activated that Kren drones normally don'tuse.

"Listen, man, I'm not much for card games or video games for thatmatter. I'll just tell him that and he'll leave me alone. I'll probably stayin my cabin reading some books and playing my keyboard. I don't needa lot of company so Harry won't see much of me during the next thirtydays," Ndugu said with confidence.

"I hope so Ndugu. But I'm telling you, don't teach him anythingnew," Kelem warned as he lay down on his Lectrosleep chamber.

When Kelem came out of Lectrosleep during the next watch,Ndugu surprised him by performing a Nigerian wedding dance thathe had taught Harry to play on his portable keyboard. Kelem wasdumbfounded as he watched Harry and Ndugu perform the dancewith Harry playing the keyboard using all four of his hands whileNdugu danced. Later that day, the Kren played some piano pieces byBeethoven, Mozart and Hayden. With four hands and sixteen fingersHarry had quickly become an expert pianist.

During the next three watches Kelem became more and moreamazed by the transformation in Harry's personality. Although thevoice box that translated his thoughts into human speech had amonotonous mechanical sound, his conversation had definitely gainednew dimensions of expression. He now was saying things like "I can'twait until I play you this next piece," the insectoid would say to Kelemregarding a new piano piece that he just learned. Or, "I had no idea thatmusic was so interesting."

By the end of the voyage the Kren had mastered every possiblegame that Kelem had taught him. He had also learned all the popularmusic that Ndugu had taught him and the entire classical repertoirethat was in the lander's database. In less than twelve months he hadassimilated every bit of information that was in the lander's computerswhich contained several petabytes of data. Kelem wondered what wouldhappen if Harry was let loose in one of Earth's or Mars' many libraries.Or how many degrees and doctorates he would earn if he attendedLatonga City University on Mars. And although Harry still maintainedthat he didn't understand human emotions, Kelem was sure that he wasdisplaying humanlike behavior.

Exactly one year from the date the ship left Plantanimus, Harrydisengaged the faster than light engines and decelerated the massiveship to a relative crawl. When they reached the orbit of Pluto, Kelembegan searching for a small planet or planetessimal that could hide thelarge Kren ship. After a while they located a misshapen lump of rockbig enough to hide the huge sphere. They secured the ship in a largecanyon that faced away from the interior of the solar system and thenHarry shut the ship's chemical engines off.

Kelem asked Harry what he would do while he and Ndugu weregone. The Kren informed him that he would go into hibernation. Kelemcould wake him up when he returned from Mars. Harry would wait forKelem for six months. If he didn't show up at that time, Harry wouldreturn to the hive. Kelem assured him that he'd definitely be back in lessthan six months. After Harry shut down all main systems, Kelem andNdugu boarded the lander and departed for Mars. The Kren entered hiscylindrical shaped hibernation chamber, wrapped his six limbs aroundhis thorax and went into a deep state of unconsciousness.

As Kelem maneuvered the lander away from the ship and into openspace, he wondered what kind of reception he and Ndugu would getwhen they returned home. He was sure that family and friends wouldbe thrilled to see him and Ndugu, believing that they had perishedduring the voyage. He suspected that many things had changed in thesix years since the Solar Nations departed. He realized that the MarsMining Company now belonged to his childhood friend Billy Chong.Before departing on the Solar Nations mission, Kelem had made out awill leaving ownership of the company to Billy in case something wentwrong. But Kelem had never cared about being the wealthiest man inthe solar system, and aside from being reunited with family and friends,his main objective now was to be there when the Martian governmentdebriefed him and Ndugu. Once he was sure that Ndugu would not beblamed or held responsible for any aspect of the solar Nations' ill-fatedvoyage, he planned to go back to Plantanimus with Harry.

He wondered what the current state of n'time technology was, nowthat he'd been gone for six years. He hoped that his colleagues at theStephen Hawking Center had managed to build a new working modelof the n'time generator and that new ships had been constructed. If not,he knew that he'd be under a tremendous amount of pressure to remainon Mars to supervise the development of a new ship.

(Continues...)