Ancient Reunion

By Elizabeth Donavan

Tredlak and Loki are two young people that have an insatiable curiosity about their past, and the past of their people. They left earth thousands of years ago, certain it was to die a horrible death due to environmental collapse after an ancient nuclear war devastated their world. However, they know that there is life on their home world, and want to contact their distant cousins to warn them about the dangers that lurk out in the cold expanse of space. During an accident, Tredlak is dragged through the gate that leads to Earth, and tries to return home to his people. He discovers that there are friends to be made there, as well as enemies to be avoided. Loki, impatient to bring her fiance home, goes through the gate and is captured by the military. What ensues is a rescue attempt that unites the peoples of both worlds to bring Loki (Lokhaina) back home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Donavan
• Release date: May 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463317198

Elizabeth Donavan

Elizabeth was born and raised in the Chicago area. She worked in several jobs until finally settling down in a small southern town editing two newspapers. She did a lot of short stories that went into other people’s work, at times ghost writing. You can tell her style, which is tongue in cheek, and a dry sense of humor. She traveled across the US, and came back to the south—to the old homestead before leaving for Australia, staying several months there before leaving for Europe. She is still in Europe, and is compiling material for at least two more novels, as well as corresponding with scientists and inventors that specialize in exotic technologies that are for the most part suppressed, and hidden from the public. Sound like a good plot for a spy novel? You betcha, and when that one is ready, it will be released. “No one has a novel that shows what a world might be like with free energy, and advanced tech. Tomorrowland came close, but stopped short. The world is ready for a work that shows what kind of world we could have, but is kept from us for political reasons and corporate profits. Where would we be today if those forces failed at suppressing all this stuff? What kind of alternate universe is out there with all these amazing things?” We shall soon see!

Book preview

Ancient Reunion

Copyright 2018 Elizabeth Donavan

Published by Elizabeth Donavan at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All Characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

About Elizabeth Donavan

Connect with Elizabeth Donavan

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Toledo Hues for allowing me to stay at her place while this baby was gestating, and to all those that helped. Also to Smashwords for distributing this book. It has been both fun, and frustrating at times. I am an old timer with the print medium, and ebooks took quite a bit getting used to, along with learning new software and what it can do, which was amazing.

Writing on a Linux operating system was another thing to get used to. I likened the combination of the two with climbing a mountain. There were several revisions that the text went through to get it in compliance with submittal, and each one was a step forward. I also would like to thank Karen Elkins and Kerrie Claire for their suggestions for graphics and titling. Any suggestions are good suggestions! Hopefully, this text is bug free enough for the meatgrinder, and Sigil, which is the ebook creator.

And a final thank you for the readers, who I will be depending on for support1 I make a solemn promise not to disappoint, and will endeavor to make any fiction as readable as possible, and any nonfiction as thought provoking as I can.

Prologue

This novel is about a colony that is what is now termed a breakaway civilization. The plot is this: 12,000 years ago, the survivors of an ancient nuclear and environmental holocaust (gee, doesn’t that sound like history is repeating itself?) gathers together what it can, and considering that the earth is a lost cause and headed toward an imminent global extinction level event, decide to leave. There are three factions: One decides that they will take their chances on the surface, as bad as it might be—our ancestors. Faction two decides to go far underground, and takes as much tech with them as possible, with the hopes of terraforming the earth at a later period. Those are the legends of underground civilizations that proliferate so well in the works of those such as Bulwer-Lytton, and others. The third faction decides to leave entirely, having written off the earth as becoming uninhabitable.

The Atlantean and Lemurians of legend had an obsession with the number 3, so now this faction has three different sub-divisions. One division is the scientist-philosophers, who are the keepers of the knowledge of the civilization. The next are the warrior class, tasked with protecting all three divisions. The third are the ruling, or royal class, and this one is to balance out the other two. However, all too often the ruling and warrior classes gang up against the scientist-philosophers, and it all goes to hell in a handbasket. This is what just happened and it nearly destroyed the planet. In this book, the scientist-philosophers decide to make it look like their faction blew up, and turn back to let the other two factions fend for themselves. That was preferable to having a galactic empire repeating the same mistakes that occurred on Earth.

So the story begins thousands of years after colonization, and all the hardships that the first settlers encountered. These are a people that are psychically evolved to the point where they know the Earth is still alive and populated. And curiosity as well as insight gets the better of them to the point where they see that a fusion is needed of the two societies: The old, and the new. However, the fly in the ointment is that there has already been contact between the empire and the survivors living on the Earth. That complicates matters.

And it is a very big complication...

Chapter One

Beginnings

The dream started in what seemed to be an A-frame structure. I looked up and could see dark brown exposed beams assembled with pegs of wood. I looked up and saw an upper loft in this huge A-frame that was perhaps 50 feet on a side. A staircase ran up to that level, constructed out of the same dark brown wood. On the left hand side, under the staircase, there was a short hall that was lined with books. I knew those books were the most obscure, and least popular there. Those were the ones that you needed permission to open. My name was Tredlak, short for Tredlak Ektovaas Rasselon; at least that’s what it works out phonetically. There was someone there that I was close to, what one may call a soul mate. She was called Loki, which was short for Lokhaina Bdratta. She had blond hair, same height as I was. Her eyes were the oddest shade of blue, and seemed to shift into a violet color at times. Her face was definitely Nordic, with high cheekbones. Her hair was long, shoulder length. Everyone there had a little heavier musculature than Earth, but was not heavy-set. When she was near, there was a definite electricity between us, and if you might call it, thought transference. I could feel what she wanted me to know, and it resulted in an understanding beyond words.

We were students there. It was a retreat for those who sought to learn esoteric concepts, and you had to be chosen to be there. I didn’t know the specific procedure for the selection, but had the impression that intelligence; compassion and curiosity were the prime requirements. All those who were there were of the same mind, that is to say that we had the same motives and drives. Everyone there was polite, and respected each other’s path, knowing that this respect would be reciprocated in kind. Strong emotion was discouraged, and was considered a source of shame. It was said that, Strong, unchecked passions are the death of whole worlds… Handholding was also a no-no.

Surrounding the large building was a stone path up to buildings that housed the students. There was no rent needed to stay there. Students were the future of the society, and supporting them was considered an investment in the future. There were no worries about money needed for rent or food. I had the impression that the population was perhaps only a few thousand on the whole planet. They were survivors of a distant world, and there was a craft on a stone platform, thousands of years old, polished and maintained like a relic. It reminded me of a bird of prey from one of the Star Trek movies. The people there said that as long as they did not travel, and the others (had an idea what was meant by that) didn’t know they were there--then they were safe.

The main building was close to the shore of the ocean, separated by a forest. There was only one continent on the planet, which stretched from about 20 degrees from the pole all the way to the equator. The ocean was not as deep as the one on Earth, and there were islands on the other side of the planet. I had the impression that a geological catastrophe or perhaps a meteor impact caused the annihilation of the continent on the other side of the world, breaking it up into islands.

The waves on the shore were small, not more than 3 feet at most, and I didn’t remember if there were any storms to speak of. The trees were huge, and reminded me of sequoia redwoods. When I saw the trees, I realized that these were survivors from Earth, from a civilization that nearly destroyed that world. They left thousands of years ago, vowing to never return. In the books, there was a story of the Division of Three. One third went underground, one third stayed above ground, and the rest left the Earth. The ones that left felt sorry for the ones who stayed, not expecting them to survive. The ones to leave left in factions, or cliques, with one para-military, one priest class, and the rest being colonists and scientists: Three divisions again. Each of those divided into another three, spanning across different worlds. I had the impression that the scientists were actually scientist-philosophers to provide balance. They were afraid of the other two factions finding them. The priest classes were like militant evangelists, and made the present-day evangelists look like boy scouts. The military class was a bunch of psychopaths who didn’t let anything get in their way, and was partially responsible for the destruction of the civilization. The rulers were in bed with the military, probably because they scared the hell out of them, and knew that if they opposed their edicts, they would wind up dead. Most of the ruling elite that they didn’t trust was left on an island on Earth: just stranded there. This was done deliberately; since they could have mobilized whatever population they were dropped into to eventually go after them. It was considered the last coup.

The books in the library were printed on some kind of ceramic material, a paper substitute chosen for it’s long life. The books themselves had metal covers made of a light material, and gold-looking hinges on the covers. They were thousands of years old, and copies were made, secreted away in a safe location. We were the keepers of the knowledge of the past. My teacher, Zac, had white hair, but was in good health. He was very old by Earth standards, and was my mentor.

Son, what have you learned? What does your heart tell you? Zac leaned toward me, smiling.

It tells me that the universe, this existence, is a dangerous place. I said as I closed the book.

This is true. It is said by many. But something bothers you still? Zac had a puzzled look.

I nodded. We have secluded ourselves here. What of the rest? Those who have been left to their own devices? Are we not concerned with them?

Once we see them, they see us. It is best not to be seen. Zac moved away toward the great hall. I could see the three suns through the windows. One brilliant white, another larger red, and one other smaller one, bluish-white in a dark blue sky.

Is there no other way? Can we not send our minds out to find the truth? I asked Zac. I knew that remote viewing was known there. It was forbidden to look in certain places.

There again, my son, is the problem. They could see us. You know as well as I the techniques to trace a projection back to the source. We cannot assume that they do not. The Mentor looked out the window, past the bushes and into the forest, which lay down the hill.

I understand, grandfather. We were alone in the universe. We stood alone, together.

I walked to the forest. There were flowers that looked like Tiger Lilies that grew out of the forest floor with petals that stretched out for two feet or more. The stalks that grew out of the middle of the flowers were good eating, although a bit pungent. They had the consistency of celery. I walked until I found one, and picked it, sitting against a tree. I could feel someone drawing near. I turned to see Loki.

I knew I’d find you here. May I sit with you? She asked me while knowing the answer.

Please do. It usually is not encouraged to use the power to find others. You know that. I nibbled a bit more on the stalk.

I know. But I also knew you could use the company. She sat down, looking up toward the distant branches. She took my hand in hers.

It’s just that I have this feeling that my path is not here. I need to be out there… I finished half the stalk, giving her the other half.

Don’t tell that to Grandfather. You will not be staying here if you do. No one has left this world for centuries. And when they did, no one returned. That’s why no other attempt was made. She turned toward me, lifting her eyebrows.

I read the accounts. I sighed.

You’ve probably read more in that little library than anyone here. Is that why you’re curious? Loki squeezed my hand.

Yes, and other things. Do you realize that there are books in there on interdimensional navigation? Travel without movement? There are gates mentioned. Why are there none to be seen?

It’s because they were disassembled. They were afraid that others would know of our existence. The ones the books call the destroyer of worlds. All we have left are the ships. And another little one, an escape pod that is capable of much more than they think. She looked at me and scowled, Do NOT even think of doing such a thing.

It would not be tracked back here. They do not need to know. Are they aware of its existence? I shifted my weight toward her.

NO NO NO! I will not discuss this any further. For one thing, I do not wish to lose you. And another: when I leave here, I will be the matriarch of our people. You know my father has no other heirs. She looked at me disapprovingly. If we became betrothed, she would keep the title, and I would merely be her companion. It was a way to prevent the abrogation of power, and it kept it within the lineage. I am to be responsible for an entire world, Tredlakh. She was the one to sigh this time.

You have access to resources I do not. This much is true. Do you not wonder what is out there? I was kneeling, stretching my arms out to the sky.

She rolled her eyes. There is all the evil and darkness that left our home world. That is what is out there. And then here we are, without contact with the other two worlds that our people are on. We do not know if they are alive or not. I’m sure if they were, they would contact us. Know this: we are the only ones left.

That ship that we maintain, it’s for our escape, is it not? In case we are over-run? That is why we keep our numbers low. Just enough for the ship here, and the one in the village.

She nodded, looking solemn. There would be just enough time to bring select books with, and we would go in and take off, not looking back. Just as our ancestors did so long ago. She stood to leave, and motioned to me to follow.

It would be nice to know that we are not the only ones left… who are not evil or insane. I rose and followed.

We are alone in a dark universe. That is as it must be, at least until we find otherwise. She walked toward the living area, and waved goodbye. I will see you soon. Be careful on your quest, you may not like what you find.

I waved back, walking back up the hill to the sanctuary. The suns were getting low, and the red one had already set. I read about how they found this world to be mostly ocean, with one continent without much of anything growing on it except for lichen. They brought seeds, and found that the plant life from home liked the alien soil. They terraformed this world as much as possible. There was a fungus in the soil that killed most of the insect life that they brought, and the birds died mysterious deaths, probably because of the higher gravity and thinner air. It was quiet in the forest without the chirping of crickets, or birds singing: Just the sound of the wind through the tree branches, and the rustling of leaves on the ground. The second sun was getting ready to set, with the small one that was called the ghost-sun providing light until the sanctuary was reached. This was the time of year when there was a semblance of day and night. In other parts of the orbit, only two of the suns could be seen, with the other one, the red sun on the other side of the world. I had the impression that the red one was a dwarf that the planet was in orbit around. It moderated the climate. There were two seasons, the single day, and the double day. The double day was the warmest, as the planet didn’t have a normal cooling-off period during that time. The rotation was slower than Earth, taking about 36 hours to make a complete turn. The orbital period around the dwarf was about 2 months.

I read as much as I could, trying to connect threads to weave the tapestry that became the story of the past. The alphabet was a combination of angular symbols along with letters. It read from top to bottom. It was interspersed with illustrations and diagrams when it had been called for. I left the sanctuary for the living quarters, closing the heavy redwood door behind me, turning right and taking a stone path that led up toward a rise in the back. Over the hill, about 500 feet down the path lay a pyramid-shaped structure. It was built with interlocking triangles of stone about 2 feet on a side and a foot thick. These same triangles were used for building practically everywhere, including the village. Only a few structures were made of wood, and the sanctuary was one of them. The doors were triangular, as well as the windows. There was a staircase on the outside for the second level. The stone was whitish in color, like concrete, but it had no blemishes. I had the impression that it was poured as a liquid, and allowed to harden in molds. Perhaps it was a form of concrete. The dwellings were designed to last for centuries without maintenance. There were lightweight shutters on the outside that could be pulled shut and allowed for privacy. Otherwise, the windows were open and without any glass. The south side of the dwelling on the upper floor had an area open to the outside. With the inclination of the pyramid, it was used as a patio. This is where the steps went down to the ground level. I also had the impression that this was an older world, perhaps a billion years older than Earth, and most of the life had gone extinct when they found it. There was no weather to speak of other than an occasional misting rain, and no storms. No wind more than a slight breeze. It was a stable world.

My bed was made of several layers of quilts of vegetable fiber. It was soft. Under the quilts were stone blocks with square hollows, probably one of the few with square geometry that I could see. The pillow was a quilted cover with a rolled up version inside of it, making it more of an ellipsoid. The edge of the blocks had a raised edge that pushed the quilt collection upward making it hard to roll off the bed. The bed was next to the window, allowing a spectacular view of the suns rising. There was a cook-top, which was a slab of material that amounted to a large resistor. A power supply was underneath that supplied current to the slab and was varied by a sliding control on the side. Food could be cooked directly on top of the slab, but most of the time students came to the community center to eat. It was a place to congregate, and most meals were shared together.

The diet consisted of mostly fruits, grains and vegetables. Meat was rarely consumed. There was life in the sea, but only once in a while would something be taken for the community. One form of life there was called a thraak, and had 6-8 openings radially on the edges. One large opening was on the top. There were tentacles that could come out of the smaller openings, and would shove food into the top one. The whole animal was one large stomach, with the hunger of a shark. It was one of the few native life forms there. No intelligence to speak of… just aggression and hunger. The smaller ones would try to attach to your skin and burrow inside if you went into the ocean. In size they could get as large as 10-12 feet across, having the appearance of a large summer squash. It used jet propulsion to get around, unless the stomach was full, in which case it was immobile for the time being. It consumed the equivalent of plankton, and it’s own young if it were unfortunate enough. It had no eyes, and relied on scent and vibration to hunt, originally coming from the depths where it was dark.

Loki was at the community center. She sat at a large redwood table with a cup of hot tea and cereal. She was alone. I sat next to her.

Again, it is well to see you. I told her.

It is agreeable to see you as well. Have you considered what I have told you? Her eyes pleaded with me.

Indeed I have.

And?

It is not time yet to do what I intend.

Speaking of which, do you intend to eat? She said, sipping her tea.

Oh, yes, I will return shortly. I returned with a bowl of fruit and nuts, a kind of fruit salad, and sat across from her this time.

Have they made mention of your return? I asked her, stabbing at a piece of fruit.

No, it is up to me to decide when I am to leave. The only thing beyond my choice is if my father took ill. Then I must assume his duties. She looked at me and anticipated my next question. He is doing well. Have you time to walk in the forest before your studies?

There is time. There is much to discuss. I finished the bowl and brought it back to the counter where an attendant took it to wash. She did the same, and we walked outside the building toward the forest, a half-mile trek. After a mile, we were among the immense redwoods.

I must repeat that I do not intend to lose you to the depths above. If your curiosity is unchecked, it could be your undoing. It must be tempered with knowledge and detachment, as the teachings say. She took my hand for emphasis, and furrowed her eyebrows, making a half-smile.

I understand. It is counsel my Mentor has chosen to not give at this time. I do not know why. I am grateful for your concern. I have no wish to lose you either. I have come to feel as if you are a part of me, or perhaps there is a part of our soul that we share. I squeezed her hand gently.

It is true, and not to be a source of shame. There is no error in that. I have discussed this with my father, and there are arrangements that can be made to accommodate the both of us in the Counsel House. We will be a source of happiness for our people.

The form of government there could be considered minimalist. There were strict moral codes that were self-enforced. It reminded me of the Vulcans from the Star Trek Mythos: A people governed by logic, and unshakable faith in who they are. The emotions ran strong and deep, even though they were not to be expressed openly. I cared for her deeply, and could tell that she felt the same. It was odd that love, or the equivalent word, was not mentioned there. I think it was because there were irrational acts that were committed in the name of love, and it was considered a form of insanity, albeit a temporary one at times.

The Counsel House was where parties came to resolve disputes. There were never any petty squabbles, those being resolved between parties. You looked into your own heart and soul for guidance, and most of the time it was never wrong. Counsel was usually needed in the case of indecision between parties as far as a resolution. Leaders were educated to be peacemakers above all, and to have a larger knowledge base than most would desire to have. I could tell that my knowledge was already at that level, and Loki knew that. She knew we could be equals there, although she would have the title.

We walked back to the Sanctuary. She went to the section on history and philosophy, and I went to the ancient books. I looked for maps. There was a large volume up on top that was almost out of my reach. I pushed it inch by inch with my fingers until it dropped into my hands, and took it to the table. It had maps of the world. I could see the one big continent that we were on, and the islands scattered on the other side. I had the impression that this planet was half again as large as Earth, which would account for the higher surface gravity. There were stories that the first landing was anything but soft because of that. My Mentor was standing near.

Grandfather, why were the islands not settled? I traced my finger over the far side of the world.

My son, it was much more difficult than here. The sea life in the island region was amphibious. Those that tried to settle there suffered a severe loss of life. They would have to erect battlements. In fact, a walled city was constructed… here… He pointed at an island on the equator, one of the larger ones. But eating thraak is not good all the time. It tends to poison the mind. The people turned on one another. The last time we journeyed there, none were left, even to bury. The thraak had consumed their bones. Did you know that they have an extremely strong acid that can liquefy bone?

I nodded. I can see why it was never pursued again. Grandfather, I have another question. Why is it that we do not use the technology that is in our books?

To remain unseen. If we were to use all the technology that we could, we would be a beacon to those who seek to do us harm. Every energy emission can be tracked. That is the purpose of the Sentinel. To turn eyes away from us.

I had heard about the Sentinel. He was one who was trained in the arts of remote viewing, and the only one authorized to use it. He sent his mind out into the depths of space, looking for those who would come into this star system, and placed thoughts that there was nothing here to see. He was