Dust of a Star

I took up Hol'rea's suggestion. I looked up a book upon the POD about Era's history. I didn't want to read a huge long thing, but I wanted to know. A few popped up, but most went farther back than I really wanted to go. I wanted the recent history. The last three centuries or so.

Then I saw it. It was the second book down. How Era came to Be. I tapped on that.

It opened easily enough. The words blinked at me, but I really did not want to read all of that. My head would hurt. Instead, I pressed the 'Read-Aloud' button.

A soft, smooth human voice came on, reading the book for me. “The world was sleeping. They had thought nothing would happen the next day. They had let their guard down. And that cost them their home, their livelihood; everything. It showed just how little humans knew about the world. They were decimated.

“The attack was fast. The shots rained down from space. They hit every major city in a manner of seconds. But it wasn't the shots that did the humans in. It was the virus that was implanted in those shots. Thousands died by the falling structures and the photon shots. And then millions dropped, sick with a virus that no doctor could recognize. Everyone thought humans were the only living, sentient being in the universe, and that changed after the attack.”

I paused the reading. This book was going into detail about the attack. It went on for several chapters how the Ghafer changed human's view. It had dairy pages and newspapers, radio announcements. I listened to a few and learned us humans thought very highly of ourselves then. Now we know we are not at the top. We knew not to challenge that any more.

I continued on after that, skimming the chapters before. Again I pressed the 'Read-Aloud' button. “The virus didn't kill instantly. Many died because they couldn't get medical attention. It was a slow death. Bleeding from the nose and mouth. The lungs would shrivel up and the people couldn't breathe. They died from internal bleeding and suffocation.” My eyes started to tear up. This was what was happening to my father. He would die this way. At least now he wasn't in pain.

“What was worse was that it was highly contagious. One cough could infect twenty people in the vicinity. And that put the doctors at risk. But that wasn't the worst part.” I didn't know if I could continue. I didn't want to learn more about the virus, so I skipped the chapter after that. I skipped until I found something else.

The voice came on again. “The government shut everyone out. People were on their own. Nearly every country's government hid, leaving the people alone, to fight alone. The military tried to do what they could without the government, but they ran into “Who would lead them? Who would they report to?” They didn't know what to do. In turn they turned into mercenary type of military. Every ship, every plane, every tank, for themselves.” Military? We had military? And our government left us? What government would do that?

“But that didn't work out well in the end. Humans lost.” Of course we lost. We wouldn't be here now if we hadn't lost. Sighing, I looked away, knowing I needed a break. I couldn't read more right this moment. Pausing the reading, I stood up. I stretched my muscles before looking around the library. It was huge. Every book that was on Era came up here, preserved carefully and out of the hands of the greedy people down on the land.

So I wandered through the largest collection, looking at the books. Some were just little things that barely anyone knew of. Then there were the ones that just about every human knew of.

After a bit, I came back to the book on the POD. It was dark, but I knew it was just saving power, energy. Tapping it, it woke up and popped up where I was. Unpausing the reading, I listened.

“Everyone there remembered the day. The day the aliens came. They weren't little green men with big eyes and huge heads. Instead they were tall and humanoid in appearance. Two legs and two arms. Then had feathers as hair, or what appeared to be feathers. They were taller than seven feet, that height being average for them.” I skimmed the rest of the chapter, learning a bit more about the alien race. The Ghafer.

The reading picked up when I stopped for a bit. “They said they had conquered Earth. And they had. They ruled for years. Humans became a secondary species on Earth, their home planet. The Ghafer, as they were called, ruled as a dictatorship. No human could be anything better than a servant. Most lived in the slums and labored hard in the camps. Camps that many were used to gather everything the Ghafer needed as well as assemble their weapons and ships.” Skipping the next two chapters about the hierarchy and technology of the Ghafer, I moved on.

“It took ten years for the humans to rebel. They took the weapons they had built and went to the top, ordering the Ghafer to leave. They wanted their planet back. But the Ghafer retaliated. All the rebels were forced to be breeders. Every child they had was put into the camps, mining for minerals and other ores. That was enough to stop every human from rebelling again.” Again more information than I wanted. I just wanted a summary of what happened. Not how “breeder” camps worked. Or how the Ghafer tower was set up.

“What are you reading?” Leatho startled me. I jumped in my seat, snapping my eyes to him as he stood to my left. The reading was going on in the background, not that either one of us minded. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My voice was stuck. Instead, I just showed him my POD. He looked it over before sitting down across from me. The voice stopped. “I am assuming you are skimming or skipping things.” I nodded. “Allow me,” he said softly, gently grasping the tablet like device. I handed it over, allowing him to read the words in front of him.

I didn't expect him to start reading. I didn't even know he could read English. I could read English better than Eltherôn, but I was listening rather than reading. “Thirty years later came a hope. Ghafer started a war with the Vükna. The Vükna were superior in tactics and in firepower. But the Ghafer had numbers.” I was hypnotized by his voice. It was slow and calming. “They fought right outside Earth's atmosphere. At times it came down onto the land. In the end, the Vükna won. They drove the Ghafer off. The Ghafer ran to Mars, hiding out on their base there. The Vükna took over Earth as their rulers, but their law forbidden them from having slaves or any species considered below them. They freed Earth and helped them grow. They gave them new ways to harvest energy, grow, new weapons. Under the Vükna tutelage, the humans flourished. They started exploring. Exploring the outer reaches of their solar system. They learned there were seven other planets in their system. Then they traveled to Vükna home world. It was eye opening.

“The world was populated by more then the Vükna. There were the Mutu'a, Teolâ, Koauln'tí, and Jeal-kyu. And that was only the sentient beings. There were thousands of creatures that lived on Wat'tula. Vükna welcomed the humans with open arms, but the others took longer to warm to the humans.

“It was years later that the humans started to enter the galaxy on a level that wasn't seen in the last century. Or even millennium. Or even since the beginning of the human race. But the Vükna always were the ones that stood by the humans and helped them grow even when they left them on their own.

“Without thinking long term, the humans opened up their borders for trade and settlement. They needed people to help them out since the human race was small since the virus and the Ghafer rule. Earth became a trade center. Other aliens came to Earth and settled, changing everything. Earth became a place that lawlessness came to rule. Many ran to Wat'tula, fearing what the place that Earth had become. It became Era. Earth wasn't Earth any more. People called it Era because it ushered in a new era.

“Then the war broke out fifty years later. The war to rule Era. Era became critical in ruling the Black Market and underground. The Vükna harbored the humans that fled when the lords of the underworld and Black Market fought against each other and the UES—Universal Enforcement Squad. The Council on Wat'tula gave the humans a place to stay, a nearby moon that was habitable and it let the Vükna watch their 'children' and be able to help more quickly. And this moon was called Ter'ra. It meant “to be free” in Üknar.

“Era though became a hostile ground. The humans that were still there led lives that they didn't want to. It was because they had to. Most humans were homeless or lived together in the slums. They had to steal or sell themselves to survive. It wasn't until the war ended, the UES winning, that things changed. They sent a sector to watch over Era, keep the people under control. Then it was turned over to the Eltherâk. A strong species with strict morals and honor system. They used Era to settle on and use for what they wanted.

“Eltherâk and Vükna were allies and kept each other informed. Together they helped the humans and everyone else on Era.” At least that was what everyone wanted to believe. But I figured that had started to change. At least by what Leatho said.

“You were summarizing.”

“Of course. This book, I have read before, goes into too much detail about almost unimportant things for the history of Era.” I watched as he read a few lines before handing the POD back. “Tomorrow will be etiquette.” Nodding, I knew the next two weeks will be hard. But I was preparing myself for it mentally. I could do this. I knew I could.