The Chronicles of Ziric: Book 1

By Lynn Lowry

With their own planet threatened the Zirconians decide to try to save their species and send a spaceship full of eggs to another planet.
The smart ship, 'The Infinity' chooses Earth. The Zirconians take on the shape of humans and live among us for a while. When they go back to Ziric with its beautiful butterflies that sing and flying horses, several Halflings and two humans go with them and help solve some of their problems. The Nic, a flying creature that eats them from the inside out. The lizard people, the Numonites from the Planet Numo that threaten their planet also are very smart and come to Ziric in spaceships. They have the idea of enslaving the gentle tall green furry Zirconians. as do the bear like Rodrigs that live on Ziric also. This is an exciting read, I hope you enjoy it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481757959

Lynn Lowry

Lynn Lowry has four grown successful children and thirteen grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. She lives in the High Sierras in California with her husband where they raise their six quarter horses and three labordor dogs and two cats.

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© 2013 Lynn Lowry. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/29/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5796-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5795-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909715

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Episode 1

The Main Characters

1 The Bubble Babies

2 Earth

3 The Hunters

4 The Farm

5 Life on Ziric

6 Tot

7 War with the Rodrigs

8 Dena

9 Cree

10 ‘The Talks’

11 ‘The Children’

12 The Mountain Escape

13 The Northern Children

14 The Southern Children

15 Coming Together

16 The Town

17 The Storm

18 Time to Leave

Episode 2

Prologue

1 Numo

2 The Fight

3 The Landing

4 The Mating Madness

5 Kinta

6 The Nic Attack

7 Killing the Nic

8 Nora

9 Kinta’s’ Madness

10 Home Again

11 The Trip back to Ziric

12 The Stowaways

13 Saving Belma

14 The Storm & War

15 Moving From Numo

16 The Wedding

Episode 3

1 The Star Children

2 New Happenings

3 The Final War with the Rodrigs

I wish to thank my loving family and friends, Karen, Michel, Cheri, Jeanna, and Barbara who encouraged me to finish this story. Thank you so very much to my brother Bill, whose expertise in editing and astronomy were instrumental, my dear Mother whose idea it was in the beginning. Finally, my dear husband who never complained about my light being on in the middle of the night and my scribbling at very odd hours of the day and night. To say thank you and I love you all just isn’t enough some how.

Episode 1

The Bubble Babies

The Main Characters

On Ziric

The Queen Mother Lilly

One of the leaders Luk

One of the scientists Rin

One Not so Smart Nul

On Earth

Older Couple Martha and Henry

Older Dedicated teacher Miss Beatrice Jones

Younger Teacher Miss Linda Smith

Teachers’ Aides Marilyn and Karen

The Hunters Edgar, Bill, Henry, Joe, Ken, Jim

The Surveyors Adam, Pete, Gary, John

The lead Bubble Babies Ted, Calvin

School Children Tommy, Willie

Northern Children Ashley, Zach, Paten, Connor

Southern Children Ryan, Wywy, Jess, Kris

Halfling Colin

Girlfriend Carol

N.A.S.A. friend Tyler

1

The Bubble Babies

Far out in space, in a not too distant galaxy called O ORGM87 , a star system has planets similar to ours orbiting it.

One planet has life on it, and the inhabitants think that it is about to be swallowed up by a wobbling, rogue black hole.

The tall, graceful creatures on the planet are aware of the black hole coming in their direction.

All of the smartest creatures on the planet are desperately trying to save the planet and the citizens. At least some of them could possibly escape somehow.

The Zirconians are a pretty people, and they are highly intelligent. We join two of them as they are wordlessly communicating. They have mouths, but mostly, talking is by thought transmission. They are near the launch site of a beautiful spacecraft.

Luk turns to Lilly, the Queen Mother. As their eyes meet, their frantic thoughts fly back and forth.

It’s going to hit us. The Supremacy thinks it cannot be avoided. Queen Lilly looked at Luk, a tear running down her gentle grey green face. We will all be destroyed.

We will not all be destroyed, Luk told her trying to comfort her, the newest craft is almost ready. He looked over at the crystal launch pad with the silver ship sitting on it. One door stood open.

The nursery service said that four gross (1gross=144) of selected eggs will be loaded on the ship. They will be placed into special containers with a solution to both cushion and feed them.

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They are tall and slender with long arms and long, slender fingers and move in a graceful, gliding motion. They have grey green coloring, almond shaped eyes, small mouths, tall ears close to their heads that rotate to sounds and silky thick fur that covers their bodies. The fur seems to move all the time by itself like our oceans. This constant moving action catches food from the air and moves it around to the front of their bodies. In the middle of their abdomen is an opening. This is where their navel would be if they were human. They use their arms to help move the food around and absorb it through this opening. If needed, sharp teeth would come out to crush bone to help assimilate the food. The Zirconian females lay five pink glowing eggs. This is how they procreate.

The Zirconians wear no clothing on the top half of their bodies as this would hamper the feeding process. The females do not have breasts like human beings.

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What good will that do? Queen Lilly lamented. Even if the machine finds a home, the babies will not know anything about us. They’ll be confused as to how they got there and why. Queen Lilly was not happy. As queen mother, it was her job to oversee the care of all the young ones once they had hatched, and to manage the teachers for their education and well being.

It’s a wonderful craft, Your Highness, Luk continued. There are banks and banks of computers to run the entire ship. It is so sophisticated; it’s almost like us. It will teach the young unborn all about us while on the journey. By the time they arrive in a suitable location, the young unborn ones will know all about us and they will be educated on our entire history. They will be loved and sung to and cared for.

Like a real mother, you will say next, Queen Lilly retorted.

It’s the best we can do, Your Highness; the holding solution will keep them alive and will take care of them, Luk told her. "However they will not grow until they find a suitable home. They will remain in a suspended state.

The ‘Infinity’ will find them a good home with lots of food available," he explained.

I guess it’s all we can do, Queen Lilly lamented. At least they will have a chance to live. There is not enough room in this ship for adults; maybe the next will save us if they can get it finished in time.

The black hole is moving this way like a big snork machine (a vacuum cleaner). We are trying to find a way to avoid the collision, but it may be too late.

The mother ship was almost ready. Luk and Queen Lilly went to the launching area to watch the eggs being loaded onto the craft. Many of the citizens were there. All were crying. Their friends Nul and Rin were there also.

The darkening green sky, with the silver spires of the city in the background and the two moons rising, provided a beautiful background while Nul and Luk walked along the tarmac. Nul asked Luk, what is this black hole that is about to hit us? I don’t understand about these things.

Luk began to explain in simple terms because Nul was not as smart as the others. In fact, Nul was not allowed to breed because of that, but Luk liked him. "Well it’s what is left of a very large star; it is small now, collapsed under its own gravity. It is in the last stage of a star’s death. Black holes can’t be seen, but they are very real. They implode instead of explode.

They suck in everything they come in contact with, just like a very large snork. That includes our planet Zuric, and we will become part of the great black hole."

If it can’t be seen, how you know it’s there? Nul asked. And how far away is it?

From the light around it, Luk explained. The scientists observed and measured with their instruments. It is very hard to be sure about black holes because they are invisible. Luk continued, There was an interstellar gas cloud in space. The scientists happened to be looking at it through their telescopes and saw it and started photographing it as it funneled down and disappeared into the black hole. It is very far away, Nul. Around a hundred cerons until it gets here, it is wobbling so it might be sooner than that.

Well, scoffed Nul, I keep hearing all about how our scientists are working hard to find a solution. But it seems as if there is no way to avoid the black hole. They started back to the loading dock because they could see some activity going on.

The eggs were being loaded, the doors of the big ship were open and the conveyor was moving the crates of eggs inside. The huge ship sat on a crystal launch pad, its gold colored lights flashing above and below the silver metallic body, bathing the area in a soft golden light.

The elliptical shaped ship had a single mark on its side ∞ which served as its name, ‘The Infinity’. It would travel throughout the entire universe in search of a suitable home for its precious cargo, testing the atmosphere and searching for food supplies on different planets.

There would not be a fuel problem because the bottom of the ship was constantly spinning, creating its own magnetic field. It would travel on its own energy. Thus, the ship could travel to the ends of the universe and explore anything it wanted to. The name was accurate; The Infinity. It could travel into infinity for it was limitless and boundless.

The open door revealed some of the computers inside the big ship. Lavender, blue, gold, and light green lights flashed on and off as the scientists scurried around, making their final check of the life saving computer.

They rejoined Rin, Queen Lilly’s Lady in waiting, and Queen Lilly and as they did, Nul asked What if the natives of the chosen place look different from us? That has all been taken into consideration, Nul, Luk replied. The ship’s computers will change the eggs so that they appear to look like the planet’s natives. Don’t worry; I think everything has been considered. The ‘Infinity’ will watch over the precious cargo like a mother. The computers must work perfectly or the thin thread of hope for the survival of our species will be lost.

Now it was time to bid farewell. All last minute checks were done. The big doors were closed and the big ship sealed itself so well that the special metal made the door seams disappear.

The engine section began to spin, slowly at first and then faster and faster. The crystal launch pad changed colors as it spun faster and faster. The craft began to lift into the air, silently, rising very fast. The many Zirconians waved tearfully as the Infinity shot up into space and out of sight within seconds. There was sadness and despair in the air on Ziric. Now it was time to prepare their souls for their next event, death. Or so they thought.

2

Earth

We are now on the outskirts of a small town on the border of Louisiana and Texas.

Martha and Henry are making their way home. They are childless and in their sixties, driving an old blue car. The basketball game lasted a really long time tonight, Martha said. Yeah, they don’t usually go into overtime, Henry answered her. I bet our team goes to the state finals this year.

Henry! exclaimed Martha. Stop the car! She leaned forward, looking up through the windshield with a startled look on her face. Henry slams on the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt stop. What is that? Look at that stuff in the trees! They’re all over them. They look like shiny little balls, all under the leaves!

I see them, Henry said as he jumped out of the car. I wonder what they are. I’ve never seen anything like them! Look up higher, Martha. Above the trees! It looks like they are coming from that band of light and onto the trees. But what’s causing the band of light? I don’t see anything, do you?

Martha, getting out of the car also, said No, I don’t see anything either.

Henry looked for a while and then said, We need to tell someone, but whom?

The school, maybe, Martha said. Perhaps it is an experiment of some kind. Well, let’s wait and see if we hear something on the news about it, Henry suggested. I don’t want to make a fool of myself talking about glowing balls in the trees, he laughed. The neighbors will wonder what we were drinking at the game!

A few days later at the grammar school, there were plans for a picnic outing in the big park. The teachers planned to take the 4th and 5th grade as a reward for good grades and behavior.

The park was a lush place, with lots of trees and flowers of all kinds; also wild grapes and berries of all sorts. Some of the trees were very old and towered high over the others. It also had a stream running through it. It looked like a botanical garden. Pretty walkways were everywhere. There were also playground slides and swings and seesaws for the children to play on. There were tables and benches along with barbeques to cook on. All of the children were very excited about the outing. Four of the parents were along to help with the cooking, childcare and playing of games, and so on.

As the buses neared the park, the kids were yelling with excitement. They poured out of the bus doors like a torrent. They made so much noise laughing and talking that no one noticed how quiet the park was. There were no bird sounds, although there were always birds in the park because of the food supply there. Butterflies were always on the flowers in the spring and bees were doing what bees do, but not today. Nothing could be seen or heard in the park today.

Mrs. Beatrice Jones descends from the bus first and waits at the foot of the steps. A 64-year-old widow and frumpily dressed, she has made a career out of teaching. As she waits for Miss. Smith to appear, she smoothes strands of long blond hair, laced with a lot of gray, back into place, tucking them back into her bun, which is wound tightly at the nape of her neck. As Miss. Linda Smith follows the last child down the steps, she flashes a smile at her colleague. At age 26, she is a strikingly pretty blue eyed brunette who radiates energy. Having just graduated from Texas A. & M. University this is her first teaching job and she has a lot of ideas to share with the older teachers. She really likes Beatrice Jones and affectionately calls her ‘Bea’. She is dressed casually in a t shirt, a Texas A & M hoodie with zip front, blue jeans and running shoes. Her long dark hair is pulled into a pony tail.

Once the bus is empty, both teachers plus two teacher’s aides, Karen and Marilyn, re-enter it to remove all the food and supplies needed for the picnic lunch. Then the four women walk slowly toward the playground. It’s so quiet here! I love to come here and just sit and listen to the birds, Miss. Smith remarks.

Yes it is quiet, very quiet, Mrs. Jones replied, as she looked around. It isn’t usually this quiet, though, is it? Miss. Smith looked around up in the trees. I don’t see any birds or anything alive in the trees. What are those things all over the trees? They look like water balloons or something. Gee, I don’t know what they are, Marilyn remarked. Look! They are all over the trees. I wonder if it is some sort of fungus or tree disease. We better ask the science department to come out and check in case it is serious.

In the meantime, the kids have noticed the glowing orbs on the trees. Jimmy, being adventurous, is the one to go and investigate. He gets up close to one and the other kids dare him to touch one. He reaches out with his right hand and touches the orb. Turning to his friends, he exclaims Ewww! It’s soft and sticky like a melted marshmallow! Suddenly, the orb grabs him from behind and pulls him to the tree. Jimmy is screaming because of the pain, and everyone runs towards the teachers who are in the play yard, preparing lunch.

I think we better go check on the kids. I hear yelling, Mrs. Jones stated, a little concerned at the panicked sound of the voices coming towards them.

Mrs. Jones! Mrs. Jones! Jimmy’s hurt! He’s caught on the tree! Jimmy’s friend Sarah screams hysterically. The sticky ball grabbed him!

The tree is trying to eat Jimmy! Peter cried. As the teachers helped pull the little boy free from the orb, he was crying that it hurt. When they got him off, there were open bite marks on his back. What the heck are these? Mrs. Jones asked. Horrified, the two women turned their attention to the small glowing ball on the tree. It seemed to pulsate and glow a soft pink. By now, a blue jay had been caught by it. Squawking, it was trying desperately to escape its captor. As they watched, too frightened to move, the ball opened and with teeth showing, it sucked in the bird. It was just gone.

Mrs. Jones, with Jimmy in her arms, quickly approaches a picnic table. It has been set with a cotton tablecloth and has paper plates, napkins, cups, etc. placed on it. With one motion, she jerks the tablecloth free, sending the dishes flying. Don’t worry about it, she says quickly to Marilyn. We’ll clean up later. The two women quickly fold the tablecloth, to make it thicker and carefully wrap it around Jimmy’s bleeding body and walk quickly towards the bus. Jimmy is moaning with pain.

We need to get the children out of here, now! Mrs. Jones said, as she handed Jimmy to Linda and reached in her bag for the bus keys while addressing the teacher’s aides that had come along to help with the picnic.

I agree, Linda Smith stated. She then called to the children. Let’s go kids, get back on the buses right now. Just leave everything and get on the bus.

As the children were running, a couple of them stumbled and fell and Marilyn and Karen helped them to get up quickly. Some started screaming because a few of the little balls started floating off the trees and were following the children. The children ran and Miss Smith carried Jimmy. They shut the doors. As they did, some of the balls hit the side of the bus and the windows with a soft, splatting sound, and then rolled down the side of the bus. Some rolled all the way to the ground. But a few stuck to the underside of the bus.

Some of the children were crying and were being comforted by the parents. Little Jimmy just sat there, ashen and perspiring. Beatrice tried to calm the children as she drove the bus, as did the teacher’s aides that came with them. Linda Smith holding Jimmy on her lap and tries to comfort him. All she could do was cradle him, not knowing the damage that had already been done to him. As she did, blood from Jimmy’s wounds soaked through the tablecloth wrapped around his torso and stained Miss Smith’s clothing.

Mrs. Jones drove straight to the local hospital, where Miss Smith rushes off the bus carrying Jimmy into the Emergency Room. The hospital staff, seeing her frightened expression and blood stained clothes, admitted the child immediately. Despite the best efforts of the doctors, Jimmy died. He had died within one hour of contact with the strange shiny ball in the tree.

The hospital personnel were very shocked and horrified about what happened to Jimmy.

His parents were called immediately but were unable to get to the hospital before their son died. The Sheriff was also called. Mrs. Jones and Miss Smith described the events to the Sheriff. The childrens’ story matched exactly, and parents, teachers and children pleaded for the Sheriff to take action. All of the children were talking at the same time about what they had seen at the park.

The Sheriff thinking that maybe this was bigger than a small town Sheriff could handle alone, put a call into the Texas Rangers. He was told that they would arrive in a few hours.

3

The Hunters

The same day on the other side of the forest bow hunting season was opening, and in another part of the forest a group of friends had planned a trip to get a deer. They would share the meat. The men went deep into the woods, about fifteen miles from town. The trees were thick here. There were lots of berry vines and wild grapevines here, also some fruit trees from an old abandoned farm here.

The deer will be after the fruit and berries they can find here, also water from the stream nearby, Edgar said. He was a large, rugged man who favored western clothing, especially fancy cowboy boots. The friends set up camp in a fairly clear spot and put up a big tent.

Edgar and Bill then went off into the forest to obtain fire wood for the camp to cook the dinner and keep them warm during the night.

This looks like a pretty nice camp, if I do say so myself, Henry said with a smile. Compulsively neat, he brushes off his pant legs as he takes in his surroundings. Joe laughed. It is nice, he said. Looking up, he added, I hope it doesn’t rain. At this, the other men glance at each other and smiled in amusement. Joe can always be counted on to worry.

Well, that would help us with a bath, and we’ll probably need it in a few days, Ken laughed. Ken was always happy and easygoing, making the best of any situation.

Where did Edgar and Bill go? Jim asked. They went out looking for dry wood for a fire, Ken replied.

We have lots right here on the ground, Jim said. I’ll start picking it up from around the tent. We don’t want to start a fire with all this stuff on the ground.

You’re right, Henry, how about if we also cut some of the low dead branches around camp? Ken suggested to Henry.

About half an hour later Henry, the designated cook on all their camping trips, was happily chopping potatoes and carrots for the stew, and adding the meat to the stewpot. He asked, I wonder what is taking Edgar and Bill so long. They should be back by now, he said, stirring the stewpot. The dinner will be done in a little while.

Just then, Bill came running into camp, screaming. Please, come, help! Something has Edgar! He was out of breath, almost sick, from running.

What do you mean, ‘something’, has Edgar? Jim hollered. Bill was hysterical. Help him, come on! He’s stuck on a tree. It looks like it is eating him. It’s horrible, he’s screaming in pain! I can’t get him loose!

The men were so shocked they each grabbed something: Henry grabbed his meat cleaver. The others each grabbed an ax, and a shovel, and ran out of camp, following Bill. Ken brought up the rear with his gun as a last resort.

They ran as fast as they could, being hit by low branches and tripping over roots on their way. The thorny berry bushes were tearing at their arms with the thorns that are on them. It seemed to take forever to get to the spot where Edgar was.

Bill was yelling and crying and stumbling along. He was screaming for them to run and hurry up, please hurry. When Bill reached the spot where he’d last seen Edgar, he stopped, clasped his head and uttered a blood curdling scream. Jim and Henry fell on their knees at the horrible sight; Ken grabbed a nearby tree for support and then let go and looked around quickly. Edgar’s mutilated corpse was stuck to a large silver orb, several feet above the ground. His upper body was torn off. Tatters of skin and tissue hung from the waistband of his blood soaked jeans. More blood oozed from his shredded pant legs. At the foot of the tree lay Edgar’s beloved cowboy boots, having slipped off his struggling feet, one