The Girl From Space (Part 1) 1+1 Series

By Michael Kush

Yolanda returns to a Planet Earth she no longer recognise, after a successful 2-week NASA space mission from the Black Hole. Space control doesn’t recognise her and the spacecraft. Citizens are suspicious about who she claims to be. They think she’s an extra-terrestrial. She reckons this is all a prank, until authorities detain and place her in a quarantine.
500 BILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY — GABRIEL, a Xapien Warrior and new chief at Planet Gadju is faced with a make or break challenge as the leader of the tribe. For centuries, Xapien armies fought a losing war against Hakas — cannibalistic aliens every year. The Xapien population is almost extinct. Gabriel contemplates searching for a new and safe colony outside Planet Gadju, but doesn’t know how and where to start.
The Girl from Space is an extraordinary 80 000-word post- apocalyptic sci-fi story set in the Y10K era about a young amateur astronaut, Yolanda and a young Xapien warrior, Gabriel whose paths collide in a mysterious portal as both try to survive the devastation of mass extinction of human and Xapien race respectively.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Kush
• Release date: Jul 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463452394

Michael Kush

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Book preview

Chapter 1

Every time I got to my desk every morning. Ten-inch pile of files and reports waited for me to be processed. My first year at NASA as an intern was a drag. My senior colleagues ordered me around as they saw fit. I ran a lot of errands for them; buying them lunch, groceries, taking their automobiles for repairs, fetching their ungrateful kids from school etc. I didn’t mind that, it’s just I felt I wasn’t challenged enough.

Luckily for me, I had unrestricted access to all research labs. Which enabled me to initiate my own research called, Dark Matters — End of Planet Earth. Dark matter was evaporating at a rapid rate in the galaxy. I discovered planet earth could be wiped out in a matter of months. I compiled my findings, outlined realistic solutions to reverse this looming disaster. And submitted it to my superiors. I thought they were going to take me seriously. They didn’t. I bypassed my superiors and sent the research findings higher up the ranks. Waited impatiently for 3 months but nothing came out of it.

I called my old friend from varsity, Anichka and told her about my discovery. I sent the document and asked for her feedback. The following day, she came back to me. She said her employer liked it and they’d like to hire me as a consultant. I agreed in principle via email. My brain never registered what just happened until I saw Anichka’s email domain address.

‘Sheesh,’I whispered in fear.

I felt my heart beating through the walls of my rib cage, as I sat, poised over my computer. My brainpower dissipated, my back and neck in full-scale revolt. My eyes were suddenly heavy watchful, they flitted nervously to my colleagues, then darted back to my desktop screen.

‘What have I done,’ I said. A twinge of fear overwhelmed my being for a few seconds.

Anichka worked for the Russian Space Agency.

I deleted all my sent email, inbox and recycle bin. I stormed out of my office and strolled out of the building as if nothing happened. I knew exactly the rules I had breached, but I didn’t mean to. They’d never believe me anyway. They’d send me straight to prison.

By the time NSA caught on, I was already out of the country. The Russian Intelligence placed me at a secret location in Russia. I was an international fugitive. My face was all over on all Television networks. Tears welled from eyes when I saw my parents’ interview. As my life flashed before my eyes, I realized I lived a selfish life. I had to redeem myself.

By a strange twist of fate, my predictions on the research came true. Wave of disasters erupted. The sun turned red for a few days. Then everyone collapsed into unconsciousness at the same time for a few hours. A week later, gravity disappeared. Everything and everyone flew up in the air. It may sound exciting, but it left everyone horrified.

Depressed and lonely in a foreign country took its toll. I wrote a letter to the United States President, requesting a presidential pardon from prosecution. In return, I offered to assist in preventing planet earth from being swallowed by the Black Hole.

The White House reviewed my research. The president provisionally accepted my proposal. I’d be granted pardon on condition, I deliver on my promise or I’ll be sent to prison without trial.

The Russian intelligence were not impressed with my decision. They didn’t want me to reveal their names to the US authorities. As I was escorted by the US military personnel to the Russian airport, rockets of missiles jetted out of nowhere and struck some of the SUVs in the convoy. Another projectile raced directly at our SUV, the driver swerved and successfully avoided it. We managed to escape, but a lot of our soldiers died that day.

At the White House, I met with the president, politicians and my former colleagues at NASA. I proposed we send Astronauts to the Black Hole and investigate. A powerful nuclear-powered spacecraft was built. The spacecraft would be able to withstand any kind radiation and rays. All astronauts declined the offer to travel to the Black Hole. Understandable, petrified they’d never make it there alive. I volunteered to go and I asked my old flame from High School, Charles to travel with me. He agreed.

The world’s negative perception of me changed overnight. Charles and I were dubbed the ‘Last Hope’ of the world.

‘The Black Hole 2019’ space mission had to be successful. Humanity depend on it, I depend on it. That was the only way I’d be able to redeem myself. The only way.

Chapter 2

My name is Gabriel, I am a Xapien and I was born in Gadju. Like most children in the village, I never knew my parents and relatives. Some of the children had parents, but I never figured out what happened to the rest of the elders. We lived happily together in a tribal village in the middle of the tropical forest.

During the day, we hunted wild cows with our spears and brought them back to the village. Women gathered sticks, fruits, herbs as they gossiped, laughed their lungs out and cried together while the children ran around the forest, playing games without any worry in the world. Men and boys wore cowhide around their waist. Women and girls wore a larger piece of hide wrapped around their waist to the knees, their breasts were not covered.

Gadju has 2 seasons, the sunny and the raining season. Each season lasted for 6 months. During the raining season, rain teemed down hard in the daylight and darkness, with a sound like a thousand charging horses until the season ended. The sun during the sunny season shone brightly every day. The scorching heat would burn your skin if you were not under a shade during midday. Our village was built by our great forebears. The huts were built with clay bricks. There was enough rooms for everyone to sleep.

I took part in a fighting tournament which took place in the battle ground, which was situated in the middle of the woods. The winner will be the leader of the Xapiens tribe. The 50 warriors competing will fight against each other. Each warrior had 49 fights to complete during the course of the week. The best 25 warriors advanced to the next round. I fought against the toughest opponents with amazing skills. I progressed to the final and eventually won the tournament. Most importantly, I won the heart of the leader’s daughter, Pamela. Joshua was her real father, he was a fearless warrior leader of the Xapiens for many years. Legend is, he had killed more Hakas than any other leaders of the Xapiens. When he died in the battle against the Hakas, the tribe mourned for him for the rest of the raining season. Joshua’s trusted general, Leonard took orphaned Pamela under his wing as his daughter.

I became an overnight sensation in the village and enjoyed every moment of it. I enjoyed the privileges of no longer working during the day. My days of being a commoner were over. They served me food 3 times a day. I enjoyed the taste of power. I had the authority to summon any warrior or elder in the council to my royal household. They’d nod repetitively and hang on to every word I said as if their lives depended on it. Life was good.

Chapter 3

We’re few hours away from reaching Planet Earth. A warm wave of excitement and relief flows within me. The past 2 weeks at The Black Hole had been a roller coaster ride, and I’m grateful we’re still alive. Our spacecraft suffered some damage back there. The loud growling sounds made by the engines, is a cause for concern. I hope we land on earth safe and sound.

We’d been trying to reach NASA Space control for the past hour and they haven’t responded yet. I’m a bit concerned. I sighed. Then my eyes flitted through the windshield. I noticed objects flying up towards us.

‘Charles,’ I called him out.

I heard something shattering to pieces in the kitchen. It sounded like a cup because a glass or a plate sound different when they break. Seated on the swivel chair, I turned round and saw him rushing towards me at the workstation.

‘What’s wrong?’ He gasped.

‘Look.’ I pointed my right index finger through the windshield.

His eyes followed the direction of my finger. He glanced through the windshield with a confused look on his face.

‘I don’t see anything.’

‘Don’t tell me you can’t see the jets flying towards us.’

‘Uh, yes, I see them,’ he replied.

The speaker system emitted pinging sounds. Charles sat and we put on the headphones over our heads. I heard voices, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

‘We can’t hear you,’ I shouted.

Charles nodded in agreement.

‘Transmission must be scrambled or something,’ he shrugged.

‘This is the space control center. Identify yourself please?’ The voice interrupted.

We looked at each other with a smile on our faces and nodded. Then high-fived.

‘This is Yolanda and Charles, we are about an hour away,’ I replied.

‘Could you repeat your names please? What is the purpose of your visit to planet earth?’

A shadow of confusion crossed his face. ‘It’s us, Yolanda and Charles, we are coming back from the ‘Black Hole 2019’ space Mission,’ Charles replied.

A raw feeling of unease crept in. I shook my head, bent then gripped my knees. I relapsed into silence, with my chin now sunken almost in-between my knees.

‘I’m sorry we cannot recognize you and your spacecraft,’ the voice revealed.

My heart thumped erratically as my eyes glared at my white Yeezy sneakers while Charles was arguing with them.

‘We left 2 weeks ago on a space mission to The Black Hole. What do you mean you’re unable to recognize us?’

‘There is no one by the name of Yolanda and Charles working here. We haven’t launched a spacecraft to space in the last 100 years.’ the voice replied.

‘I don’t believe this.’

I took off the seat belt, got up and peered out the windshield. Then sat.

‘Calm down, I’ll handle this,’ He assured me.

‘What planet are you from and what is the name of your specie?’ The voice asked.

‘Fuck!’ I lost it. ‘Is this some kind of a joke?’

‘We are not extra-terrestrials, if that’s what you’re implying. We’re humans and astronauts, goddamn it,’ he yelled.

Calm down, calm down—I repeat this mantra over in my head and took a deep breath, and tried to still the little bursts of anger within me.

‘We left 2 weeks ago, on the 21st March 2019 to the Black Hole,’ I added.

‘I’m sorry, did you say 2019?’ The voice inquired.

‘Yes why?’

‘This is important, could you please repeat that.’ the voice said. ‘What year did you say you left planet earth?’

‘2 weeks ago, 21st March 2019,’ I replied.

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘YES, WE ARE SURE,’ we replied at the same time.

‘Alright, I will get back to you shortly.’

We removed the headphones from our heads and placed them on the dashboard. Our eyes crossed and glared at each other in disbelief as we waited impatiently.

‘Something is wrong, I can feel it.’

I felt tears slipping down my cheeks.

He took off the safety belt strapped around his waist, stood up and sauntered towards me. He wrapped his arms around my back. My face leaned against his irresistible six-pack abs.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, firm and I didn’t let go. I needed that, I needed to feel his solidity and his familiar warmth.

‘I hope this is just a minor mix-up. Everything is going to be alright’ he said.

I nodded, feeling a little bit reassured. I felt his right hand stroking my back gently. Then I felt his lips on my forehead.

My mind hovered a bit. The voice from the speaker system; how could he question us like that as if we’re are criminals or aliens? What the hell did he mean when he said, no spacecraft launched to space in the last 100 years? I slid out of my thoughts.

He held both sides of my face with his warm electric hands. And glared at me with his small, brown, hypnotic and mysterious eyes as if he is going to reveal something about myself, I don’t know about.

‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked.

‘A little better.’ I forced a smile, I didn’t want him to worry about me more than the issue at hand.

‘That’s my girl.’

He walked away from me, sat and put on the seat belt.

‘Do you think this is a prank or something?’ I asked.

‘In these kind of situations, not a chance. He sounded serious to me.’

‘What if, a lot of things happened while we were in the Black Hole?’ I hypothesized.

‘Good or Catastrophic?’

‘Both.’

He shrugged. ‘I guess we have to wait and see but that’s unlikely.’

‘Maybe it’s nothing.’

‘Exactly, just think of all the great things you’d be doing as soon as we land.

‘Now you talking.’

The thought of my dog Spooky, my warm comfy bed at home, and mom’s famous exquisite hearty meals lightened up my mood. At 22, thoughts of moving out of my parent’s home and finding my own place never crossed my mind.

The sound of jets outside, interrupted my daydreaming. I slid out of it. Military jets and drones appeared out of nowhere, forming a circular formation around the spacecraft. I could see the pilots stretching their necks like nosy neighbors, staring intently at our spacecraft.

‘We’re unable to communicate with the subjects on the spacecraft,’ said the pilot.

‘Maybe it’s the frequency or transmission. Try again,’ said the pilot from another jet.

‘Yolanda, Charles are you still there?’ The pilot asked.

‘Yes! Yes we’re here.’ I replied with enthusiasm.

‘Please show your selves through the windshield and wave at us.’ He requested.

Charles took off the seat belt around his waist and stood up. I grabbed his left arm and pulled him down.

‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

‘Wait, what if they want to shoot us,’ I whispered.

He chuckled. ‘Why would they do that, we have nothing to hide.’

I adjusted my headphone on my ears and sighed. ‘Why should we show ourselves?’

‘It’s just procedure, we just need to confirm, if you’re really humans,’ the pilot replied.

My eyes flitted at Charles. He shrugged. I took off the headphones, put them on the dashboard and clicked on the ‘Auto Pilot’ button. Then we both stood up and waved at them. The pilots glared intensely and took photographs of us.

‘Now listen, please follow us. We will show you where to land in the desert,’ the pilot said from the speaker system. It would be safe to land there because we don’t have the landing site to land your spacecraft of that magnitude,’ the pilot said.

We glanced at each other perplexed. Then sat and put on the seat belts.

‘Very strange,’ I whispered.

He nodded. ‘Indeed.’

The jets flew away from our spacecraft in a flash and disappeared down into the dark grey clouds. We turned the spacecraft around, flew down and followed them. I noticed something peculiar about the cities and towns we’ve passed along. I tried to squeeze out some memories that should tell me whether Florida or any place in America had always been quite like this. Even the ghettos or the projects don’t even come close to this sight. It looked like a post war zone.

‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing below?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, a lot of buildings,’ he said.

I shook my head then I glanced down again. ‘This is strange.’

‘What?’

‘On our way here, I couldn’t recognize a single city, every town or cities we’ve passed looks too industrial and I haven’t seen a single house or neighborhood.’

He nodded in hesitation. He looked like he wasn’t sure how to respond to my observation. Oh yes, now I remember. In high school he’d struggle to read maps and was never good at geography. My eyes glanced below. The cities and towns looked disturbingly different. Every building had a huge chimney. The putrid ink-black smoke billowed out of every rooftop. The way black smoke polluted the sky, I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night. A patch of sunlight broke through the clouds, in small parts of the cities and towns.

‘I’m really curious what really happened here,’ I murmured.

‘We’re almost there, I think we’ll land on that spot.’ he interrupted and pointed through the windshield.

As the spacecraft was about to land, crazy thoughts raced through my mind. My stomach lurched with nerves. Memories of being the most wanted fugitive was still fresh in my mind.

The fear of being shot dead or sent to prison sent chills down my spine. I was petrified, what if the government renege on our deal and send me straight to prison.

‘I have a bad feeling.’ I said.

‘About what?’

‘The moment we land on the ground, I think we’d get a rude awakening.’

‘That’s fear talking. Relax we have done our part, as a matter of fact we are heroes. It is their turn to shower us with accolades.’

‘I hope so, I really do.’

‘Now, let’s land this beast,’ he commanded.

We clicked on numerous buttons on the dashboard. Then steered the spacecraft to the ground.

‘We’re home, this is the beginning for the rest of our lives’ he said.

I wish I was as upbeat as him but I was petrified of what awaited us beyond the spacecraft.

‘Whatever happens beyond this spacecraft, I will always love and protect you at all times.’

‘Promise?’ I asked in a low tone voice.

‘I promise, my love.’ I took off the seat belt, stood up and sat on his lap. I wrapped my arms around him and our lips locked.

Chapter 4

The morning after the inauguration, I strolled towards the battle ground with my servants around me. I witnessed Xapiens warriors practicing with each other. The offensive warriors swung spears and swords vigorously with precision. The defensive warriors opposite them, shielded the attacks as if it was a real battle.

I nodded as I marched past them. Impressed with their dedication and commitment, but that was not good enough for me. I leaped on a huge a rock in the middle of the battle ground and got a better view.

The warriors were so focused and lost themselves in practice. I don’t think they were aware, I was amongst them.

‘Son of Gadju.’ I roared with a voice of authority.

My voice echoed loudly in the woods and up in the mountains repetitively until it died down. The warriors stopped, turned around abruptly to my direction and stared at me. Sweat oozed down their faces as they panted.

‘Son of Gadju, we are few weeks away from the raining season, I trust you, your wives and families have gathered enough food to last you until the sunny season returns.’

The warriors roared wildly, gesturing and confirming they have stored their foods. They settled down. My eyes glanced around them. Judging by their facial expressions, they anticipated whatever I was about to say next. The intensity from their eyes showed me, they were ready to serve their new leader with their lives. Not even one warrior showed feelings of hatred, envy or jealousy towards me because Xapiens’ most important commandment is:

Serve everyone around you, same way you would to you leader.

I cleared my throat. ‘Many years ago during the second day of every raining season, an enemy comes to our land and destructs everything our forebears worked hard for. Xapien warriors went to battle with the Hakas right here in the battle ground.’ I pointed my right index finger down to the ground and to the crowd with intensity and confidence

‘This has to stop.’

The warriors roared intensely in agreement. Then lifted their swords, shields and spears high up in the air.

‘I have been told, our forebears fought against the Hakas without any success and the number of our population decreased every year. This time, things will be different, we will defeat them. I promise you victory for you and your family,’ I shouted.

I noticed some of the warriors nodded in hesitation, their eyes popped out as if they have seen a ghost. Maybe they were nervous because they had never fought against Hakas before.

‘Son of Gadju, go back to training,’ I commanded.

The warriors dispersed then practiced.

Chapter 5

We held each other’s hands firmly as the spacecraft exit door opened slowly. I crossed my fingers as my heart fluttered with nervousness. He glanced at me in a macho manner, nodded as if he was a gladiator prepared for anything beyond that door. The moment the door opened, cameras flashes struck my eyes. I covered them as we strolled forward. We tried to figure out where to go next, but the commotion of television news crews, reporters and journalist made it hard for us to move. Overwhelmed and disorientated. I noticed Charles’s lips moving but I couldn’t hear him, the noise drowned his voice.

4 masked personnel covered with green quarantine uniform appeared out of nowhere. They snatched and herded us into a black bus. The bus had no windows except a windshield. My mind went into overdrive as I tried to make sense of the hostile atmosphere. The only thing I kept hearing were stupid questions thrown at us by the reporters.

‘Who are you?’

‘Why do you look like us?’

‘Are you aliens?’

‘Which planet are you from?’

‘Why are you on earth?’

‘Are you planning an invasion?’

They kept asking more dumb questions as they chased us up until we stepped inside the bus.

My eyes glanced around the bus. The lighting inside was green. A bit foggy, it looked like a mini chemistry lab. The quarantine personnel scribbled, leafed pages as they observed us. The bus engine switched on and moved.

‘They’re studying us like we’re some kind of rare species or something.’ I observed.

Charles grinned.

‘I noticed, maybe it’s just procedure.’ he replied.

‘No, these are not NASA staff,’ I disagreed.

Charles shrugged ‘As I said, let’s wait and see what happens next,’

I nodded in agreement.

‘Have you noticed the air and humidity is different?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, that’s normal. We spent 2 weeks in space, it will take few days to adjust,’ I informed him.

‘It’s hot in here, aren’t you feeling the heat?’

‘Could you turn on the air conditioner please,’ I requested.

The personnel went on their business, pretending they didn’t hear me.

‘Don’t mind them.’

The bus stopped, a moment later the door opened. Then the quarantine staff escorted us out of the bus towards an old warehouse.

‘Why do I get the feeling, no one knows us?’ I asked.

‘Don’t worry, I’m sure the White House will sort this out.’

We stepped inside the quarantine. I noticed more than 6 personnel charging towards us. 3 of them grabbed and pulled me towards the other room without saying anything. Before they closed the door, I saw the other 3 personnel pulling Charles to another room.

‘Take your clothes off ma’am,’ she commanded.

‘What?’ That request threw me off-guard.

‘You heard me, please don’t waste my time.’

I took off my clothes reluctantly and strolled inside the bathroom and closed the door. I ran the shower too hot. Steam emanated from the windowless bathroom, fogging up the mirror. The smell of lavender soap filled the air.

Few minutes later, I got out of the shower, toweled myself dry and wrapped it around my breasts. As I got out of the bathroom, I saw a hospital bed and medical equipment and machines in