The Journals of Zaleem: Part 2 - Renaissance

By Tommy Masek

As the result of an accident aboard their ship, Xacs Omathe, a California avocado grower, is inadvertently abducted by an alien race which has cultivated life in our galaxy and the greater universe for billions of years. He lives and travels with them for nearly three centuries, experiencing what the future may hold for the Human race.
The creation of all life on Earth was accomplished by the Aanbollth, an extraterrestrial race dedicated to the improvement and continued development of life in the Universe. They are the ultimate engineers of all organisms, great and small, on this beautiful planet known, in part, as M37CXA19B24R3.
The history of Earth and many other worlds is chronicled in the journals of Zaleem Aah Ju Amaharah Ees, Earth’s gardener until his untimely death at the relatively young age of 48,373 Earth years.
Fifteen of the seventeen crewmembers aboard the ship are killed immediately, and Zaleem, the Captain, dies five days later. A moment before his death, Zaleem slips an amulet, his recorder, into Xacs’s hand, saying it will provide him with safe passage.
An Aanbollth female, Oelphia, for short, is the only other long-term survivor of the accident. She becomes Xacs’s life-long mentor, supporting him initially through genetic modifications and rehab, and later by finding him a job and a mate.
Xacs quickly finds that the Aanbollth brain possesses capabilities that surpass those of a powerful computer, and contains a seeming unlimited memory. With the addition of telepathic communications, their society is the ultimate wireless network.
On the ship, Oelphia creates a notebook-type computer containing all the information available on Earth at the time of Xacs’s abduction. The Omac, as he names it, becomes his primary source of entertainment and mental stimulation. Later, on Aanbol, a translator program is added to the Omac to convert mutual telepathic communications.
Aanbol is a planet about ten times the diameter of Earth with a rotational rate, a rev, of twenty four and a half days, and an orbital period, a cycle, of about fifteen earth years. The planet’s axis is nearly perpendicular to the orbital plane and there are no seasons. There are three moons of significant size which contribute light in varying amounts during the night. The composition of the atmosphere reflects sunlight to produce a lavender sky. The Aanbollth race has an average life span of 200,000 years.
A year and a half after arriving on Aanbol, Xacs and his mate, Sharnielle, move to a relatively remote citrus farm as managers and his adventures with life on an amazing planet blossom like the trees.
Part 2 of this series follows Xacs’s life for his first half dozen years on Aanbol. Xacs had found that in spite of his past experience growing avocados on Earth, he’s poorly suited for managing the farm on Aanbol and turns the operation over to Sharnielle. He finds that art, in the form of oil painting and wood crafts, is a more productive vocation.
After a certain amount of turmoil in the transition, Xacs acquires a machine that allows him to transfer his paintings and drawings into carvings on desks and tables. His psychic abilities come to light as a result of his contacts with Zaleem and a well known long-dead artist. This produces significant concern in certain circles.
By the end of Part 2, the farm and his art have become profitable and Gardener Services co-signs a note that allows Xacs and Shar to purchase the farm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tommy Masek
• Release date: Jul 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005118693

Tommy Masek

In his early career, Tommy worked as an engineer and scientist, having degrees from the University of Colorado, and MIT. He worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Rockwell International, and Hughes Research Laboratories, with a primary focus on ion propulsion for spacecraft. In later years, he manufactured coal stoker heating equipment. The Journals of Zaleem Series will be six novels in the science fiction genre. In Part 1, Xacs Omathe is abducted by an alien race and must deal with survival on an alien planet. Eventually, after nearly three centuries of living and traveling with the Aanbollth race, he will be returned to Earth to publish his memoirs before his death. Tommy has also written The Alexander Affair, The Quixote Files, The Whistler Agenda, and The Heiress and the Black Monk. The last three of these novels follow political reporter Martin Cosgrove as he unravels mysteries and dodges bullets. Tommy has been married to his high school sweetheart, Claudia, since 1962. They reside in Oxnard, California, with their Yorkie dependents, Oscar and Theo.

Book preview

THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM

Part 2 – Renaissance

As the result of an accident aboard their ship, Xacs Omathe, a California avocado grower, is inadvertently abducted by an alien race which has cultivated life in our galaxy and the greater universe for billions of years. He lives and travels with them for nearly three centuries, experiencing what the future may hold for the Human race.

The creation of all life on Earth was accomplished by the Aanbollth, an extraterrestrial race dedicated to the improvement and continued development of life in the Universe. They are the ultimate engineers of all organisms, great and small, on this beautiful planet known, in part, as M37CXA19B24R3.

The history of Earth and many other worlds is chronicled in the journals of Zaleem Aah Ju Amaharah Ees, Earth’s gardener until his untimely death at the relatively young age of 48,373 Earth years.

Fifteen of the seventeen crewmembers aboard the ship are killed immediately, and Zaleem, the Captain, dies five days later. A moment before his death, Zaleem slips an amulet, his recorder, into Xacs’s hand, saying it will provide him with safe passage.

An Aanbollth female, Oelphia, for short, is the only other long-term survivor of the accident. She becomes Xacs’s life-long mentor, supporting him initially through genetic modifications and rehab, and later by finding him a job and a mate.

Xacs quickly finds that the Aanbollth brain possesses capabilities that surpass those of a powerful computer, and contains a seeming unlimited memory. With the addition of telepathic communications, their society is the ultimate wireless network.

On the ship, Oelphia creates a notebook-type computer containing all the information available on Earth at the time of Xacs’s abduction. The Omac, as he names it, becomes his primary source of entertainment and mental stimulation. Later, on Aanbol, a translator program is added to the Omac to convert mutual telepathic communications.

Aanbol is a planet about ten times the diameter of Earth with a rotational rate, a rev, of twenty four and a half days, and an orbital period, a cycle, of about fifteen earth years. The planet’s axis is nearly perpendicular to the orbital plane and there are no seasons. There are three moons of significant size which contribute light in varying amounts during the night. The composition of the atmosphere reflects sunlight to produce a lavender sky. The Aanbollth race has an average life span of 200,000 years.

A year and a half after arriving on Aanbol, Xacs and his mate, Sharnielle, move to a relatively remote citrus farm as managers and his adventures with life on an amazing planet blossom like the trees.

Part 2 of this series follows Xacs’s life for his first half dozen years on Aanbol. Xacs had found that in spite of his past experience growing avocados on Earth, he’s poorly suited for managing the farm on Aanbol and turns the operation over to Sharnielle. He finds that art, in the form of oil painting and wood crafts, is a more productive vocation.

After a certain amount of turmoil in the transition, Xacs acquires a machine that allows him to transfer his paintings and drawings into carvings on desks and tables. His psychic abilities come to light as a result of his contacts with Zaleem and a well known long-dead artist. This produces significant concern in certain circles.

By the end of Part 2, the farm and his art have become profitable and Gardener Services co-signs a note that allows Xacs and Shar to purchase the farm.

THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM

As Chronicled in

The Memoirs of Xacs Omathe

PART 2 – RENAISSANCE

TOMMY D. MASEK

THE JOURNALS OF ZALEEM: PART 2 – RENAISSANCE

Copyright © 2019 by Tommy D. Masek. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

CONTENTS

Foreword to Part 2

Prologue

Chapter 1 – Self Reflection

Chapter 2 – Vardeen

Chapter 3 – Hospital Time

Chapter 4 – A New Perspective

Chapter 5 – Visions

Chapter 6 – Arts and Crafts

Chapter 7 – The Desk Project

Chapter 8 – Zaleem and ESP

Chapter 9 – Painting 101

Chapter 10 – Groundhog Day

Chapter 11 – The Sawmill

Chapter 12 – The Wiilder River

Chapter 13 – Slabs

Chapter 14 – The Strawlrend

Chapter 15 – Aenod

Chapter 16 – Holivians

Chapter 17 – The Measuring Tapes

Chapter 18 – Time Alone

Chapter 19 – Tea with Solice

Chapter 20 – The Desk Shop

Chapter 21 – Adventures in Woodworking

Chapter 22 – The Aenod Test

Chapter 23 – A Rough Desk

Chapter 24 – A Portrait of Solice

Chapter 25 – Strawlrend Wrinkles

Chapter 26 – The Solice Experience

Chapter 27 – The Medium Issue

Chapter 28 – Representation

Chapter 29 – Strawlrend Updates

Chapter 30 – Lonreed and Brianna

Chapter 31 – Dauphine and the Paintings

Chapter 32 – The First Desk

Chapter 33 – Poendal

Chapter 34 – On the Carpet

Chapter 35 – The Two-Humped Desk

Glossary of Terms

List of Characters and Names

About the Author

FOREWORD TO PART 2

By

Jacqueline Laleh Karacasevich

Part 1 of this series, Rebirth, met with mixed reactions over the past year. Some readers think of it as pure fiction, some accept that it could be a true account of Xacs Omathe’s experiences with an alien race, and others have claimed that I’ve perpetrated a fraud by presenting it as a memoir.

My role is simply that of a messenger, and I’m definitely not the creator of these stories. Nor can I possibly judge the accuracy of the claims made by Xacs.

There is a great deal of background information and new readers are encouraged to begin with Part 1. We are presently in the process of obtaining Part 3.

XACS OMATHE

My Life with the Aanbollth

PART 2 – RENAISSANCE

PROLOGUE

Simply put, I was inadvertently abducted by aliens from my avocado orchard in San Luis Obispo, California, on October 5, 2013, and lived with them for most of my adult life.

Part 1 of this series, which ended in July 2017 by my age clock, chronicled my experiences from the time of the abduction until my life had stabilized on Aanbol. I also spent about three years and nine months in stasis during the passage to Aanbol, during which time I didn’t age. Thus, about seven and a half years had passed for my family and friends on Earth, and it saddened me immensely to realize that my wife would have had to have me declared legally dead.

For clarity, calendar dates that track the time during which I age are denoted AC for Age-Calendar. I denote the time as recorded on Earth as EC to mean Earth-Calendar. Therefore, Part 1 ended in July, 2017AC, or April, 2021EC.

Genetic modifications have allowed me to cope with a different atmosphere, higher gravity, more intense sunlight, a diversity of life, and improved my ability to communicate telepathically as that is most common on Aanbol.

The modifications increased my life span by about a factor of four, added physical strength, and provided immunity to most diseases. But the changes made only minor improvements in my mental capacity and eye-sight, and I remain significantly handicapped relative to the inhabitants of Aanbol in those functions.

I have a female companion, Sharnielle, a job managing a farm where we grow a variety of fruit, a device equivalent to a super notebook computer I call the Omac that contains every word on record on Earth as of the time of my abduction, and glasses that allow me to read portions of their complex written language, albeit slowly.

CHAPTER 1

Self Reflection

The reality of Oelphia’s departure for her mission as the first officer aboard the Gardener Services ship Albatross had been surprisingly difficult for me to deal with psychologically. The mission was expected to last more than a cycle.

She’d kept me alive aboard the ship after my abduction, and she had seen me through the processes of regeneration, genetic modification, and physical rehab. As I progressed, she’d found me a mate, a home, and a job. All significant feats. After my mate Sharnielle and I moved to a citrus farm, Oelphia remained in periodic contact with us in many ways, including as a lover.

It came as no surprise that Oelphia was leaving because she’d been training for the current mission for over forty revs. Though I was clearly unqualified, I was disappointed to not be going with her. I lacked the brain power and much more.

Shar probably understood my irrational thinking better than I, but she didn’t criticize my occasional rambling thoughts on the subject. She, too, loved Oelphia.

But qualified or not, I wouldn’t have left Shar. Marriage was not formally or legally recognized on Aanbol, but with her agreeing to become my lover and in Aanbollth terms, my mate, our verbal agreement was a binding contract for me. As I said, my angst over Oelphia’s leaving was irrational, but not a permanent condition.

Being an astronaut, or a gardener in the planetary development sense, was a huge commitment because it was a semi-solitary and often celibate lifestyle for durations of several cycles. But in the context of a typical Aanbollth lifespan of thirteen thousand cycles, such a trip was comparable to less than a few weeks in the lifespan of a human.

Considering that about half a cycle of a typical space mission was spent in stasis between the transfer port and Aanbol, the traveler aged less than the total elapsed time. As one might imagine, family life and relationships suffered as a result.

Oelphia had ended a relationship with her mate early in her career because her absences for training and future prospective missions were unacceptable to him. But she’d found that spending time with Sharnielle and me while she trained for the next mission was a comfortable and exciting alternative.

The gardener’s pay was substantial, the training and missions were fulfilling, and the prestige was as high as for any occupation on Aanbol. Other jobs within Gardener Services, or within the overall Aanbol Space Agency, were eventually available to gardeners, but the elite positions required significant service in space, preferably as a captain.

Doreeth Mordden, the farm Sharnielle and I managed, was prospering with the fruits we’d nurtured. With the help of genetic specialists, we’d grafted onto the existing citrus trees to produce three varieties of oranges and one lemon. We also cultivated avocado, mango, and papaya, a carryover of my experience on Earth.

As the popularity of our fruit grew, other farms around the planet used our seeds to grow their own trees. Competition was beneficial because distributors were more comfortable promoting the new fruit knowing they had alternative sources and fair prices.

Our fruits were all variations on the varieties abundant on Earth, which had evolved over millions of years from seeds originally distributed by the Aanbollth. Aanbol had been seeded even earlier in history, but with only a small fraction of the surface area of the enormous planet occupied by the Aanbollth, and restrictions on exploration and development, a great many of their own plant and animal species were not in public view or in use.

Exactly why the Aanbollth had helped me find and cultivate a few fruits with which I was familiar was never completely clear to me. But with their interest in species development, I was probably more than a charity case. The genetic changes they made certainly allowed me to survive, but my mental capacity was not even fractionally comparable to theirs.

I surmised that, through me, they could observe firsthand how a species of my development would cope with a completely new environment. Yes, in a sense I was a guinea pig, but I had free will and many opportunities to make of myself what I could. I hoped that my performance would provide a bit of insight for their future creations and compensate them in a minor way for my care.

By the start of 2019AC, we’d made steady progress toward making the farm a profitable business. On the Aanbol calendar, we were in the 63rd tick of rev 03 of the ninth pherod of Cycle 837. More specifically, 9.03.63, 837. Expressions of the cycle number commonly abbreviated the ten-digit number to the last three digits.

Demand for our fruit had increased significantly, so we’d hired two additional Aanbollth workers full time and employed several more part time as required. The robot crew had grown to forty. It seemed that Gardener Services was pleased to be getting a return on their sizeable investments in the farm and in me.

My original suggestions for improving the trees and productivity had proven to be mostly successful so I took comfort in that. But the complexity of managing an Aanbollth business was too much for my limited communication skills, experience, and mental capacity, even with the Omac.

Soon after Oelphia departed, Shar and I agreed that we needed to exchange management roles, conceptually making her the general manager and me the assistant. I would be in charge of new product development.

The farm operated smoothly and efficiently under Sharnielle’s natural management style, and for all practical purposes I’d worked myself out of a job. That realization dawned on me slowly, somewhat like the pace of the Aanbol sunrise.

Initially, I’d taken the new role seriously, imagining the addition of juices and dried fruits to our product line. I outlined the basics of my plan for Shar and Lusker and waited for feedback. Time passed.

While I waited, I addressed myself to the first item on my proposed action list: dried mango, something I enjoyed before. Fruit drying through dehydration was no mystery, but I wanted to understand what would be required with our specific variety. I cleared a space, constructed tables, and systematically began peeling, slicing, and drying mangos. Since the basic fruit wasn’t yet a big seller, I had all the fruit I had time to process.

After two and a half revs, I asked Shar if she’d received any comments from Lusker regarding my suggestions.

Gardener Services likes the way things are going here and sees no need for further expansion.

Did he comment on the dried mango I sent him?

He said that he and Torgs enjoyed it.

That was all?

Xacs, as a government agency, GS feels they are at the boundaries of what they can justify as research. The tree modifications were of interest to the Genetics Group and the results are now useable around the planet.

I get it, I said. Expanding production here with other products could infringe on commercial businesses. If a market develops for dried fruit or byproducts, we can sell the fruit to the manufacturers.

And, of course, you’re free to pursue new areas of plant research if you wish.

I took a deep breath. Okay, that gives me some guidelines. No new products are needed. I’ll clean up my mess in the greenhouse and figure out what to do next. If anything comes up, I guess I’m available.

I felt foolish being peeved over the setback and never mentioned it again.

• • •

I gradually took on the role of cook and handled most of the chores and yard work for our house. Our lead field worker, Pozzy, helped me program one of the robots to tend the yard around our house on a schedule that was periodically in sync with my ten-tick days.

Cooking and housework could be accomplished in ten or twenty clicks during my day. Shar and I collaborated on the menu, shopping, and other household matters during her free time at the end and start of each rev.

My periodic shopping trips into Mosphire provided free time to explore, and I began visiting art supply stores and galleries. Artistic expression would seem to be a fundamental property of our DNA, more or less independent of intelligence level. The Aanbollth were no exception, exhibiting a wide range of styles from the insanely surreal to paintings as lucid as a photograph.

Pottery, sculptures, castings, wood carvings, glass, and forms I’d never seen were also available in a number of shops at moderate prices. A few pieces were hand-made and unique, but as I became more familiar with Aanbol crafts I realized much of it was produced in factories using robots.

With no pressing engagements, the solitary nature of art might suit me perfectly. And, for all practical purposes, there was no right or wrong. Of course titling and signing my work would be an added challenge. I’d need to learn how to draw the character for Xacs in Aanbollth.

The downstairs bedroom in our house became a perfect studio. The room had been used by Oelphia when she’d visited, but it would be unneeded for that purpose for at least a cycle. A large window provided a panoramic view of the expansive front yard, the entrance road fading into the lush forest, and a boulder-strewn stream running through the property.

The Omac was helpful for my education in Earth’s art history and for inspiration, but I needed Shar’s assistance to research Aanbollth art. Such information was available in her personal memory, and after a short conversation with the programmer of the Omac, she transferred extensive files.

Unlike the Aanbollth, I could remember only a minor fraction of what I saw, so I resorted to making notes. I soon realized that with Aanbol’s millions of years of history, I wouldn’t live long enough to view even a fraction of the available images. Periodically, I wished I had a camera and finally realized that the glasses I used for reading already had most of the necessary functions.

Eyeglasses created for me by the Genetics Group allowed me to read the complex Aanbollth language. I’d named my special reading glasses Spots to distinguish them from my regular glasses, which had similar lenses but no frame, no light source, and no cameras.

In both cases, the wrap-around lenses expanded my vision range on the infrared and ultraviolet ends of the visible light spectrum, and provided modest protection from intense sunlight. During the day, the glasses moderated normal visible radiation, but in low light or in the dark they enhanced my vision.

A light source built into Spots produced a highly focused beam in the ultraviolet range. The point of light was faint, but readily visible with the lenses. Unlike reading by moving one’s eyes, use of Spots required a slight motion of the head to place the point of light on the character. A blink of the eye or a thought would initiate the translation.

Two cameras built into the glasses frame focused on the three-dimensional character and transmitted the image to a processor for interpretation. If the character was a valid Aanbollth word or phrase, the English translation was produced instantaneously and written on the Omac screen as it was sent to me telepathically.

I wondered if I could have the functions of my glasses extended to include general imaging and decided to ask.

Using the Omac, I sent a message to Gleed Sooth, the genetics specialist responsible for my modifications and well-being since my arrival on Aanbol.

Gleed, I apologize for interrupting if I am. The process was much like an email, and my thoughts appeared on the Omac screen. My health is fine and this is not an emergency. Oelphia reminded me that the reading glasses you provided were also used for your citizens with vision impairments.

Can you modify the glasses I presently use for reading to also work as a camera? Perhaps with a magnification function? The image or video could be transmitted as it is now, to me and the Omac. My brain probably stores everything it receives, but as you understand better than I, information in a Human memory is not easily retrieved. The genetic changes you made in me are helpful, but not on a par with the Omac.

My repair warranty, via Gardener Services, may have expired, so if there is a charge I’d do my best to pay it personally. I blinked.

A few beats later, Gleed responded. Bring your glasses, your phone, if you still use it, and the Omac to SPC in a few ticks. We’ll change the programs. The camera lenses have magnification capability. Bring shorts. I’d like to run a few tests on you, anyway.

Thank you. I’ll check the tramo schedule.