The Legend of the Last Guardian

By David C. Finch

Jeff Greenwood-Adams is the oldest man in England, and for two thirds of his long life has been harbouring an incredible secret. A secret that will one day benefit mankind enormously.

A curious letter addressed to him is then discovered within an alien monolith on a remote and unknown world at the very edge of the solar system. Its a message from his younger brother Alan, whom he hasnt seen for almost a hundred and twenty years. It details the nature of the secret, but not its whereabouts.

Jeff is then compelled to recount a curious legend; one he has dedicated his life to studying. It begins a hundred million years ago with a failed colonisation of Earth, and the unlikely survival of a single alien being who lives up until the twelfth century. He has in his possession an artefact a symbol of his race, but when he dies passes it onto John, a lowly English medieval serf.

John is then faced with an almost impossible quest to take the artefact to a remote and sacred location, then wait an astonishing eight hundred and thirteen years for the rightful owners of the artefact to return for it. The story then fades through the centuries, until an English sailing boat bound for Ceylon strays off course and discovers an incredibly old man living alone on a barren island. He claims to have been there for six hundred years. The soul survivor of that sailing boat then begins a new life in India, but on his deathbed compels his eldest daughter to revisit the island and document the old mans fascinating story. That story then becomes the Legend of the Last Guardian!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Oct 28, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467888370

David C. Finch

David C. Finch was born in Portsmouth England in 1955, and now lives in South Bedfordshire where he runs a small business with his wife. The 'Legend of the Last Guardian' began as a rewirite of an earlier story which was actually a supernatural murder.

Book preview

PART 1. 

Chapter 1. A Message from the Twilight. 

The Very Boundary of the Solar System.

Aboard the Space Probe Procyon 3.

October 12th 2102.

Could that be sunlight filtering gently down through his eyelids? Those warm rays producing that curious orange glow - and could he also hear the rhythmic ah of the sea as it hauled countless tiny pebbles back within its realm? For Christian Reynolds – Deputy Captain of the pioneering space probe Procyon 3, it was just a dream – his first during the four-year sleep he’d just completed. For a few bewildering moments he scanned the sterilised environment that surrounded him, until a dark figure suddenly loomed into view.

Hello Chris. Glad to have you back. How are you feeling?

He gazed up at the blurred shape above him; his scrambled mind trying hard to focus on where he was, or even who he was! Gradually the fog that numbed his senses began to clear and he stared into the lean face of his superior – Captain Donald Cook. Don’t answer if you don’t feel up to it yet. Just relax a while and get your bearings, he told him.

I’m okay Donald, he managed to whisper through parched vocal chords; ones that unknown to him then had been inactive for over forty-eight months. Apart from this dreadful headache!

That should soon clear once you’ve had something to eat and drink, Donald replied, then handed him half a glass of pink liquid; one that contained a heavy dose of painkiller no doubt. Chris drank it slowly, but found the inside of his mouth numb, while his sense of taste was virtually non-existent. He presumed that it was a side effect to the cocktail of drugs and partial freezing that had kept him on the very boundary between life and death. Obviously he’d been briefed on it before the mission had commenced, but at present couldn’t recall much at all. Once again he looked up at the skipper, and for the first time noticed a slight expression of anxiety on his face. Maybe his awakening had been unscheduled?

For a little while longer he lay quietly allowing his mind to recover, but very soon that question returned. Was there indeed a problem? Everything has gone according to plan, hasn’t it Donald?

Not exactly. You and I have been brought out of hibernation early – in fact very early!

He replied. We’re only just four years into the voyage, and at the very frontier of the Solar System.

But why? Said Chris puzzled, expecting the Sun, Earth and all the other planets to be seventy-four light-years behind, and a strange new world rich in alien beauty floating beneath them.

Whether you’re going to find this strange or not I don’t know, but we’re approaching an unknown planet about the size of Mercury!

Chris sat up slowly then let the significance of what Donald had just told him roll around inside his still awakening mind. Another major world beyond Neptune! It was certainly something that had been suspected since the beginning of the twentieth century, yet would take a telescope of unimaginable proportions to glimpse such a lonely twilight world against the stellar backdrop.

There’s something else too, Donald continued. The ship has picked up a faint but regular signal coming from it, and that’s why we’ve been brought out of hibernation early!

What kind of signal?

I can’t say for certain, at least until we’re much closer. Chances are it’s probably nothing, but it will have to be checked out thoroughly before the mission can continue.

Everyone even remotely associated with space travel knew the drill, and especially those qualified to go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. All throughout the rigorous training programme that the crew for the Procyon 3 had to complete (the first ever-manned probe to attempt a voyage to another star-system), discovering extra-terrestrial intelligence had to take priority over everything, and a regular signal could suggest just that.

For almost a century and a half giant radio telescopes had been listening intently to every faint signal that emanated from the far corners of the galaxy, hoping to detect that pulse of wisdom that said, ‘Hello - we have a life too!’ Also, a collection of simple messages had been sent out in every direction and now encompassed every star within a radius of a hundred and thirty light-years; one that was still expanding at the speed of light year on year, yet all that came back was a gritty, crackly silence. Mankind was becoming almost paranoid in its isolation, but surely only the most unimaginative could ever really believe that humanity had the universe all to itself.

After Chris Reynolds had enjoyed his first meal for over four years and thankful that his sense of taste had returned, he joined Donald inside the domed observation port that bulged out above the stern of the ship. The view was unparalleled – a blaze of silent colour, and where there were no stars the sky was the blackest imaginable. Chris had though witnessed the splendour of space before, as the probe had been constructed while in orbit around the moon. He then spotted a tiny greenish disk against the starry background. There she is - almost three times as far from the sun as Pluto!

And a much larger and more interesting world, added Chris, reflecting that Pluto had turned out to be rather disappointing, and had been demoted to the rank of minor planet in 2006.

It certainly appears that way. I’ve already measured her diameter, and at 4,500 Kilometres makes her slightly smaller than Mercury, but larger than the moon. Who knows how many more of these desolate little planets are out here in the murk? There’s actually a thin atmosphere made up of fast moving clouds of Methane, Ammonia and a trace of water ice. Some even appear thick enough to give showers of hail, or maybe snow, and the surface temperature at the equator is minus 230 degrees Celsius.

Sounds like home from home! Chris replied, gazing out to that gradually approaching world. Have you thought of a name for her yet?

No, I thought I’d leave that to the boffins back on Earth, Donald replied. When we’re in orbit we’ll be able to pinpoint the source of the signal, if that’s what it is? Then Louise Carter and myself will go down and check it out. None of the others need be awakened.

As they moved closer to that unknown planet some of the surface features became visible. There were several deep gullies, a curious horseshoe shaped mountain range and a multitude of craters, as well as large areas of flat terrain devoid of anything, yet much of the surface was shrouded by dense green cloud. I have an idea about what could be responsible for the signal Don.

Go on?

I know it’s a long shot, but could one of the many unmanned probes launched during the last two centuries have crashed down there somewhere, and that’s what we’re picking up?

That certainly is a long shot. The chances of are infinitesimal, but you just never know.

Donald had actually had the same thought, but assumed that the ship’s computer would have recognised a signal coming from an Earth-born craft, however old, and eliminated it. That hadn’t happened leaving him sensing something odd – something to do with the very nature of the signal itself. To him it seemed far too faint and had the ship been just a thousand miles farther away then he doubted the computer would have picked it up at all. Maybe what was down there wasn’t meant to be found?

Donald’s uneasiness grew further when once in orbit the probe flew directly over the origin of the signal, enabling him to tune into it more precisely. Both were rather unnerved by what they heard. What does that sound like to you? Said the Captain at last. Chris Reynolds didn’t reply immediately. He was too engrossed trying to analyse the ominous chiming that filled the small operations room. He then gazed across at the Captain with a puzzled expression. The closest I can speculate is the toll of a distant bell.

As they moved out of range the sound diminished leaving behind a perception of an eerie presence, and both silently wondered what could be down there. Donald, had he the choice, would have immediately returned to his hibernation chamber and continued with the mission, but duty always had to come first. He also knew that it wasn’t a decision he was authorised to make.

The source of the signal lies about twenty kilometres north of the equator and is at present within the darkened hemisphere, said Chris, although he was fully aware that Donald knew already. Would you rather I went down with Louise?

Thanks all the same, but if anything should happen to us then you would have to continue with the mission, Donald replied.

He couldn’t believe that they would be in any real danger, but couldn’t know for sure, and mentally began to prepare himself for a historic trip down to an unknown world. All he hoped was that whatever was down there wouldn’t jeopardise the mission in any way.

The idea for the voyage was formulated thirty years before when man had finally built a very large telescope within a giant space station; one that could be manned in comfort. The Doppler reflector had a mirror twelve metres across and could photograph galaxies that could be no less than twelve thousand million light-years away. A distance so appallingly immense that the human mind struggled to even begin to imagine it. Many astronomers believed that they were viewing the very frontiers of the universe, as there seemed nothing beyond. That theory was still being fiercely debated.

However, when the huge telescope was focused on relatively nearby stars it was discovered that many were accompanied by planets, just as the sun was. That revelation though was nothing new, as the existence of extra solar planets was known way back during the twentieth century. Of course none could be seen visually. It would take a telescope of truly mammoth proportions to drag their scrambled, feeble beams of light from obscurity, yet from the slight gravitational pull that they exerted over the star they were orbiting, a surprisingly clear picture could be formed. One star perhaps more than any other interested the astronomers.

Omega Aquilae was literally the sun’s twin, and after studying the tiny perturbations of its journey through space using the Doppler reflector, it emerged that it had a family of six planets. One of them was roughly earth-sized and orbiting at very much the same distance. If any world beyond the Solar System had to be put forward as a candidate to be first visited, then that one had to be it! Of course there was no real way of knowing whether the planet was habitable or not, but recent experimentation had confirmed that a world of that size and lying at that critical distance, within the ‘life zone’, as it was named, should in theory be similar to the Earth.

The Americans, who had several bases on the moon plus a small colony on Mars, politely scoffed at Britain’s idea of sending thirty hardy individuals seventy-four light years across space to a hypothetical world, and declined any financial backing. Australia and Mexico were however more than interested, providing some of their citizens made up the crew and helped design the project. Once adequate funding was in place the first manned expedition beyond the Solar System became reality, and planning could commence. The Americans were spending billions keeping a handful of people in places that were totally hostile to mankind. Britain’s argument was why not send them to somewhere where there was a good chance it wasn’t, even though it was considerably further away.

By 2075 a reliable hibernation system had been perfected and propulsion followed seven years later. Contrary to public opinion nuclear power had to be resurrected. There simply wasn’t another viable alternative if the probe was to reach its destination in a reasonable period of time. Protests were quietened a little though when it was decided to build the vessel in space. At least then if there was an accident, nowhere on Earth would be polluted for half of eternity. With the new fuel it was estimated that the probe could theoretically reach one tenth of light-speed - a colossal jump in velocity, and easily ten times faster than anything that had preceded it. Although in reality it was more likely to be somewhat less. If everything went to plan the journey to Omega Aquilae would, give or take a decade, last eight hundred and thirty-seven years.

The crew of just thirty – fifteen men and fifteen women – were chosen from the sixteen thousand that applied to go on the expedition, then trained rigorously for almost five years. All were young (under forty), and were prepared to sacrifice their earthly existence for an opportunity to travel into the unknown. All knew that there could be no return, at least to a world that was familiar. Indeed if they did come back then it would be comparable to a group of Romans arriving during the industrial revolution! To real space-farers, there was nothing crueller than the laws of the universe. Even to send a message from Omega Aquilae to Earth would take almost three-quarters of a century, and twice that to hear a reply. Once there, the mind numbing scale of space would cut them off completely.

Chris Reynolds was feeling cut off already as he stared out to the distant sun. Last time he’d seen it from Earth its alluring orangey-red disk had been sinking peacefully beyond a watery horizon. Now it was an incredibly bright point of light in a pitch-black sky. Even more distressingly, when they finally reached their destination it would be no more than a faint speck just visible to the naked eye. The true impact of what he’d dared to challenge was beginning to dawn on him, and suddenly he was struggling to suppress the sadness and loneliness that threatened to overwhelm him. He then wondered if Donald felt the same. If he did he would never show it, or even admit to it. Perhaps that was one of the many reasons why he was chosen to be Captain?

Chris also thought about Louise Carter. She had just been revived from her four-year sleep and unlike him had left a close family behind. How was she going to feel when she stared back at a sun that in many ways already resembled the other stars that surrounded it? And if she wanted to say one last goodbye to her beloved Mother, it would take thirty-two hours before she could hear her reply.

Nearly all of the crew had left behind loved ones and each had been given the opportunity to drop out, even right up to the time of departure knowing that fully trained reserves were ready to take their place, yet not one of them did. The tantalising lure of the unknown was it seemed too irresistible. Some families even held mock funerals to help them overcome the loss. How bizarre - funerals for the living! In fact funerals for people who would still hopefully be alive and well when thirty-one generations of their families had lived and died.

Four hours later a tiny auxiliary craft landed gently on a crusted surface. Its four thin metal legs sank almost a foot before they finally rested on solid ground, but it was quite sometime before two space-suited figures emerged out into the freezing murk of that newly discovered world. They had come down at the head of a long valley with gently rolling uplands either side, but darkness limited their view as the only light came from the stars and the flashing red beacon on top of the craft. Both were equipped with night vision, but wanted to see the landscape in its true colour when the sun rose.

Chris, can you hear me okay? Donald asked his deputy up on the ship.

Perfectly. What’s it like down there?

We’ve come down in a shallow valley coated with what appears to be blue, powdery snow. There are a few rocks scattered about, but nothing like the amount on the surface of Mars. I presume the snow must be made up of tiny methane crystals?

Five hundred kilometres above, Chris Reynolds could just make out the flashing red speck of light within the darkened hemisphere; although it wouldn’t be dark there for much longer as the light from a distant sun crept closer.

How far are we from the target? Came Donald’s distinctive voice. And which way do we go?

Follow the valley floor for about a kilometre then head south for about seven hundred and fifty metres. The source of the signal seems to be amongst some low foothills, so you may have to do a bit of climbing.

Donald gazed uneasily up into the clear sky where the Procyon 3 probe shone like a brilliant star; any brighter and it would have cast a shadow. Without anymore delay the two space-suited figures set off down that strange, desolate valley, their feet crunching through the frozen surface. For a fleeting moment both could imagine that they were back on Earth and hiking across refrozen snow on a bitterly cold night. That illusion would soon vanish once the shrunken sun had risen above the low hills.

With Louise Carter for company Donald felt reassured. She possessed all the qualities needed on such a trip. Not only was she strong, fit and robustly healthy, but for a woman of just twenty-six very experienced too. She had visited the moon, Mars and Europa; one of Jupiter’s largest moons. Louise was also in love with space and an ideal choice for third in command. What was more, her Father was Australian and Mother Mexican, but above all Donald knew that he could rely on her in a crisis; although he still didn’t think that they were in any danger.

Space suits had certainly come a long way since Mr. Gagarin first went up in one a hundred and forty one years before. They were now much lighter and extremely comfortable, but both only had about two hours before the batteries that kept their bodies at the correct temperature needed recharging, and the minus 230 degrees began to bite.

The low foothills that Chris had mentioned turned out to be a lunar-like crater about two kilometres across, the rim of which was over forty metres high. Uncannily the signal was emanating from its precise centre. Is it my imagination, or is this becoming stranger by the minute? Louise remarked, following Chris’s surprise announcement. She knew that even if by some billion to one chance an unmanned probe had crash landed there, then the odds of it coming down at the exact centre of a crater had to be multiplied at least another thousand fold. Gradually their uneasiness was intensifying as they both stared up at the rocky barrier that confronted them. Donald took a deep breath then gazed across at his space-suited colleague. We dare not risk climbing it, at least not here, he told her. Even with the low gravity one slip could spell disaster. We’ll have to work our way round and hope to find a gap, or at least a spot where the gradient is more gradual.

We could always return to the craft and fly over? Suggested Louise. Although craters are usually littered with unstable rock formations and deep pockets of dust. Not the most ideal of landing sites.

That’s what I thought, Donald replied. But if we can’t find a way in then we may have to go for it.

Unlike rocks on the moon where there was no rain or wind to weather their appearance, the ones there had been gradually worn smooth and moulded into intricate shapes, but due to the lack of light most of their rugged beauty was lost at present. Louise gazed up at the curious shapes against a starry sky and wondered how they would appear lit by Earth’s sunlight. Without warning Chris’s anxious voice from the ship interrupted her trail of thought. There’s a bank of thick cloud approaching from the west and it appears to be spinning, like a storm does back home. I don’t think the wind speed is anymore than eighty kilometres an hour, but it could be worth taking cover none the less.

Both took Chris’s advice and sheltered behind a huge boulder that resembled a giant, misshapen head perched on a very thin neck, then watched fascinated as the eerie cloud bank rolled silently in. Lit by a sun still below the horizon the sky changed from black to a vivid aquamarine, and both got their first clear view down the valley. In fact it was almost as if they’d switched to night-vision. The strange vista was short lived however, as blue snow crystals began to fly in all directions and visibility vanished within a second. The two astronauts found themselves buffeted by a soundless wind, yet could hear the methane hailstones hammering against their visors. After a couple of minutes the hail ceased and the cloud rose quickly, allowing them another brief glimpse of the valley – such a strange sight as it lay bathed in an eerie glow. Do you think it’s safe to continue Donald?

Yes, I think so, he replied, brushing thousands of tiny crystals from folds in his spacesuit. Be prepared to take cover though in case we get another shower.

As they resumed their search around the perimeter of the crater, the clouds began to break revealing stars once more, and it seemed the worst had passed. Both watched as the last of the green cloud scudded across the sky and finally out of sight. This is certainly an odd little world, remarked Louise.

And it could become even odder when we locate the source of that signal, Donald replied.

At a guess they’d travelled about a third of the way round when a narrow gash in the rock presented itself. On closer inspection they found that it was a round cave entrance partly covered by a blue pillar of ice. Both exchanged glances before Donald, followed closely by Louise, stepped inside. Instantly their lamps automatically compensated for the increased darkness that now surrounded them. Does it lead anywhere?

Hard to say, but certainly worth a look, Donald replied. He then went outside to tell Chris what they’d found, as he wouldn’t be able to contact him while inside the cave.

When he returned they continued deeper, but had only gone a little way when that haunting uneasiness once more made itself present. Is it my imagination, or does this cave look ‘made’ to you? Said Louise, as the light from her space helmet illuminated not so much the roof of a cave, but a rather uniform tunnel. It stretched in a completely straight line ahead of them, while the floor was coated in a deep layer of lunar-like dust. Donald’s mind kept refusing to believe anything except that it was created by natural means. It’s probably an ancient lava flow from when the planet was younger and much closer to the sun. Liquid magma forms tunnels when it cools.

Louise wasn’t convinced. I know - I once walked through one on Earth, but it didn’t look anything like this. For a start the walls were completely smooth. The rocks here are scarred, almost as if an excavating machine has come through.

Donald knew exactly what was going through her mind. Come on, before we jump to any conclusions let’s see where this leads to and where that signal’s coming from.

As anticipated, the straight tunnel lead out into the crater’s interior and fine powdery dust gave way to more crusted frozen terrain. Both stared out across an expanse of flat land that confronted them, but darkness still limited their view, yet for the briefest of moments Louise was convinced that she’d glimpsed a dark shape someway ahead. Whatever it is, it’s just over half a kilometre from where we’re standing.

As Donald spoke, the pointed summit of a distant peak suddenly caught the first rays of the shrunken sun, and stood out like a tiny floating blue triangle amidst the lifeless gloom. As they walked, the landscape began to slowly brighten all around them and for almost the first time colour entered that lonely world. Strange flattened rocks sparkled blue and green, while a few were a curious shade of mauve. From barren land, distant sunlight had transformed the area into a vision of alien beauty.

Sunrise! Said Louise suddenly, in an attempt to dispel the shock of seeing the sun, bringer of light and life, as a mere point of luminosity, even though she’d witnessed much the same on Europa, and indeed earlier from the space probe. Donald was about to reply when for the first time he saw the extraordinary object that rose from the shimmering terrain that surrounded it.

Both stood speechless for some moments as the sun climbed clear of the opposite rim of the crater, yet the sky behind it remained jet-black disproving Donald’s undisclosed theory that the atmosphere could be denser than that of Mars. Prompted by instinct they moved closer until both were brought to a halt by Chris Reynolds’ urgent voice. He’d been listening to their conversation and was unnerved by the sudden long silence. What’s happening Donald? He jabbered excitedly. What’s down there?

We’ve found something at the centre of the crater, he managed to say at last. But for the life of me I haven’t a clue what it is.

About fifty metres away stood a shapeless object shrouded by layers of opaque green ice, much of which hung down in the form of long thin icicles suggestive of a heat source at sometime in the past. Louise estimated that it was possibly fifty feet high, but what it was or represented neither could speculate on, yet both immediately sensed the silent power it seemed to convey.

Straight away Donald recalled the eerie chiming sound that he’d heard earlier, while Louise’s imagination was going into overdrive as she tried to stem the excitement that threatened to overwhelm her. Don’t tell me that that was caused by natural means, she said. Because quite frankly, I wouldn’t believe you!

Let’s not come to any rash conclusions, Donald told her once again, trying to keep his own excitement in check. That could simply be the surviving fragment of the giant meteorite that formed this crater. It could have laid here for billions of years, while being battered constantly by the showers that we experienced earlier.

Donald Cook wasn’t unimaginative, but as Captain was prepared to explore every logical avenue, and could think of at least two other explanations about what confronted them. What he couldn’t explain though was the strange signal. To him it somehow suggested intelligence – put in a nutshell - the unthinkable!

Without replying Louise wandered closer to the curious object that they’d found. She noticed that the base resembled a coiled, scaly limb like a giant snake and rounded scales were actually carved into the black rock itself. More and more it began to appear like some prehistoric beast that had suddenly been caught out by a sudden and severe winter then frozen solid. Was it just a huge oddly shaped boulder moulded by a thin atmosphere and covered in ice that she was looking up at, or some mysterious effigy left behind by an extra-terrestrial race?

Long, spiky shadows cast by the crater wall were rapidly shortening as the sun climbed higher. The tiny planet had an unusually fast spin and in another three hours the sun would be at the zenith - very soon the object would be fully illuminated. Where precisely is the signal coming from Donald?

Somewhere inside, he replied, then checked some instrumentation. Possibly nearer the top.

His mind was still pondering over rational theories, and was indeed wondering if part of an old rocket, or unmanned probe from the past two centuries had by some incredible fluke found its way there. However, that idea was soon to be disproved when something inside the ice began to glow brightly as it absorbed the light from the sun. Louise moved even closer until she was stood almost beneath a cluster of green icicles, and through that frozen exterior could see what appeared to be a uniform globe of crystal strands; like a complex coral ball soaking up the light. Soon Donald joined her and they both stood gazing up at what now seemed to be a dark, cowering structure topped by a glowing sphere.

It was certainly a momentous moment, or so they thought at the time, and one unprecedented in the history of mankind, because at that instant in time two members of the human race now knew they were not alone in the universe. At sometime during the immeasurable past an alien race had discovered that desolate little world, and for some reason, and there had to be one, had left its mark on it. The more Louise strained her eyes to see through the layer of ice the more she could make out, and was convinced that a peculiar, gargoyle like face was staring down at her; although given the situation it could have been her imagination.

This is indeed an unparalleled occasion, said Donald at last, trying to keep his voice steady. He then briefed an equally excited Chris on their incredible find. Are you absolutely certain that it couldn’t have been formed naturally? Quizzed his Deputy up on the ship.

Ninety-nine per-cent certain, and the more I look the more convinced I am, Donald replied. It appears to be a stone effigy carved from volcanic rock, and of some bizarre beast, but the most curious component is a globe of fine crystal strands which forms the highest point. It’s obviously been designed to magnify sunlight for some reason.

Unbelievable! Chris exclaimed. I’ll note the date, because its bound to become one of the most important in the history of the world, he added, then realised that it wouldn’t matter to him, because he was no longer part of that world. His destiny- like Donald’s, Louise’s and the twenty-seven other crewmembers was still seventy-four light years away, and that fact brought back the feeling of deep sadness and certainly took the edge off of the occasion.

Both Donald and Louise were trying to think logically through a blend of shock, excitement and maybe even a little fear, but knew that their journey to Omega Aquilae would have to be postponed so that they could find out much more. I wonder if there’s a way inside?

There could be, Donald replied. Let’s take a closer look around the base.

On the opposite side was a round opening just wide enough for them to squeeze through. It led to a curious spherical chamber, like a large bubble within the rock. Its curved walls sparkled with an uneven frost, while small stubby blue icicles hung from the highest point. The first chamber was the beginning of a progression that seemingly ascended into the heart of the giant effigy, and as they climbed so the walls of the spheres became increasing transparent. In fact they didn’t need the lamps on their space helmets, as all around, green shimmering light flooded down from above. It was almost like being beneath a tropical sea.

Louise was totally captivated by the design and speculated on what nature of beings had built it. Certainly not upright, walking beasts like humans, but maybe quadrupeds? She then recalled that scaly limb and imagined snake-like creatures that could slither quickly up through the chain of spheres. She was also convinced that the statue was created in their image, but at present it was too shrouded in ice for any real detail to be seen.

After passing through at least twenty chambers they finally found themselves within the heart of that crystal globe. Surrounding them were the glassy strands. They formed a network of mind numbing complexity and split the sun’s rays into a hazy spectrum. The two astronauts found themselves spellbound amidst a thousand rainbows! This is so beautiful, Louise managed to say. Donald didn’t reply, just gazed around then placed his hands on the glass wall. The last chamber was slightly larger than the others and formed the very heart of the globe. I feel like we’re inside a model of a single cell, or perhaps a tiny bubble within a precious jewel, he said. But this place must have a purpose.

Beneath them Donald could see a mass of strange pipes criss-crossing the interior, one that was almost transparent. Its soul function seemed to be the absorption of sunlight, but what was it being converted it into? It could be no more than a symbol of their visit. Whoever ‘they’ are, or were? Louise replied. Ancient civilisations on Earth used to leave behind effigies, or standing stones. They may have visited many lonely worlds and there could be hundreds of these structures dotted around the galaxy, but then it maybe something of an even higher magnitude. Do you think it was meant to be found?

No, but then I don’t believe it was particularly hidden either. Obviously one day it would have been discovered, but I don’t think its creators particularly wanted to send out a specific message advertising the fact that it was here. If so, then they would have incorporated a far more powerful transmitter into it. Earlier I had the feeling that it could be a generator of some kind.

Generator? Louise replied, somewhat despondently. If that’s the case then they certainly went to a lot of trouble. We would have just built some pig-ugly contraption, surrounded it by a metal fence and erected a huge mast on top!

Louise then strangely felt herself warming to those unknown beings. Generator or not, they’d certainly crafted an object of rare beauty when there was little need to do so. If they did still exist somewhere out in the terrifying depths of space or, like many species had, succumbed to extinction, then it was obvious that they’d wanted to share their love of beauty. If one day in the far future when man had ceased to exist, an intelligent race discovers the tasteless dwellings that had been built on neighbouring worlds, then their first impression of mankind would be unimaginative to say the least. She also found herself questioning her religious faith; one strongly influenced by her Catholic Mother, but for the first time she now began to wonder. Did the creators of that megalithic effigy worship any Gods? Or were they like most of the Procyon 3 crew - confirmed atheists? She’d always believed that God had created man in his own image, which implied that mankind was the most important species in the universe. Sadly that now seemed not to be the case, because the builders of the object that surrounded them were obviously far more advanced, and possibly far more tolerant too?

While Louise had been analysing her feelings Donald had busied himself studying the interior of the transparent chamber, until he located a tiny blemish on the concave wall. Beyond it trailed a twisted cable-like structure that looped over several of the pipes, until it was lost in the light haze. It was as if they were inside a giant eye and what he could see was the end of the optic nerve. There, he said to her. Can you see that small mark? Louise then crouched down to look at it. That’s the source of the signal. There must be a minute transmitter in there somewhere sending out a faint pulse.

Pardon me if this is a stupid question, but couldn’t it have been picked up from Earth?

No, because it’s far too faint, he replied. In fact I believe if we’d been just a thousand miles further out then the ship wouldn’t have picked it up either.

And we would be in hibernation, with this lonely world still awaiting discovery? Replied Louise, finishing Donald’s sentence for him. Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be found after all?

Just before she’d finished speaking Donald, on impulse, waved his left hand across the blemish and suddenly everything changed. They both backed away in total shock as a section of the confronting wall became a mass of rippling colour. It looks as though you’ve triggered something, said Louise nervously. Donald was too spellbound to reply and numbed by the strangeness of it. A hundred and one thoughts then passed through his mind simultaneously.

Slowly the colours were changing, becoming more organised. They began as predominately red and purple, then orange and yellow and finally green and blue. Both felt that they were watching an old-fashioned television set that hadn’t been tuned in properly - then an image appeared. It took several moments to comprehend what they were looking at, and it came as quite a shock when they did. Pictured before them was a large blue globe floating in space! At first Louise thought it could be Neptune, but on closer inspection revealed specks of land veiled by swirls of white cloud, and as they watched, the image began to gradually turn showing larger expanses. Why that’s Earth! Louise exclaimed, but when its full extent was revealed, it seemed that there was something wrong. Or a planet very much like it.

Donald studied the shapes of the continents carefully then gave Louise a puzzled glance. You’re right it is Earth, yet not the one of today – but millions of years ago, he replied. See how just a narrow strip of ocean separates South America and Africa. The Atlantic is practically non-existent, and Australia and Antarctica are almost touching.

And the Pacific covers over an entire hemisphere, added Louise. It also means that whoever built this place must have visited Earth. How long ago did the world’s continents look like that? She added, pointing to the image. Donald shook his head in disbelief, while trying to imagine an alien intelligence visiting their home world – a world where man hadn’t even evolved yet? I can’t be sure, but it wouldn’t take long to find out from the archives on board, he replied. All I know is that it was a very long time ago – ninety million years, probably more.

As they gazed at the blue globe the image suddenly changed, and the Earth’s surface altered to the more familiar two-dimensional map form. The shapes of the continents were now much clearer and it didn’t take long to work out which was which. The only difference was that they were now covered by a complex pattern of thin black lines, which joined a number of locations all over the map. Neither bothered to count them, but there had to be at least seventy points where the lines connected and sometimes criss-crossed. One particular spot was obviously the hub of that intricate network, because eventually every line converged onto it. It appeared to be an island just off the coast of the Australian-Antarctica continent. This gets more incredible by the minute, said Louise. Not only did they visit Earth, but it seems as though they colonised it too!

I can’t believe that, Donald replied. For one thing where’s the evidence? However small and insignificant, something of theirs would have turned up.

Perhaps it has, but it’s not been recognised as an alien relic - or it’s being kept a secret for some reason - or maybe nothing has been found yet?

I find it hard to believe that an intelligent race could live on Earth then vanish completely without trace, even from so long ago. Something would have to be found! Donald replied, then focused his attention back on the map. So, what does that system of lines represent?

Somekind of transport network. Maybe they’re air routes, or long distance tunnels that run deep underground?

None have ever been found.

Perhaps they go very deep, even beneath the Earth’s crust? She suggested, letting her imagination once again run wild.

Had Louise known the truth about what those black lines actually represented then she would have been dumbstruck with awe. She was right, it was a method of transport, but one so incredibly advanced that man could only wonder whether such things were even possible. To say that this discovery will have far reaching implications when news reaches Earth is a gross misunderstatment, said Donald And no doubt our names will now be known for centuries to come. We’ve just become an even bigger part of history than we were already.

Yes, but sadly not our history, she replied, gazing back at the map with its curious lines. All the decades that we’ve been trying to contact aliens and it seems they’d already visited our world millions of years ago.

They waited a little longer wondering if there was anymore to be learned, but soon the image faded, replaced by the glassy wall. We’d better soon head back to the ship, because we’ve been down here well over an hour and Chris will be anxious for a report on what we’ve found, said Donald at last.

Louise couldn’t believe that so much time had elapsed. To her it seemed as though they’d only been down there about thirty minutes. She also knew that it wouldn’t be their only visit to that strange place, as much more needed to be studied. Donald led the way down into the adjoining chamber with Louise behind, until she spotted something on the smooth floor. Instinctively she stooped to pick it up and discovered that it was a simple white envelope coated in a thin layer of frost. Completely baffled she gazed up at her superior. Donald, tell me you didn’t drop this? She said to him and held it before her. Why she had even asked the question she didn’t know. There was no possible way he could have dropped, or even had possession of something that went out of use more than fifty years ago. Where did you find that? he replied, visibly shocked.

Just down there on the floor between the two chambers, she told him, then very carefully brushed the icy crystals from its surface to reveal a small amount of faded script. There’s handwriting on it and it looks like an address, she added, then handed it to him. Donald took it carefully from her knowing that due to the low temperature it could actually shatter like thin glass. This can’t be happening, he muttered, as he read the words.

Louise was right. Whatever the envelope contained was addressed to a man in Surrey, England, but it was the date written in the top right hand corner that staggered Donald the most. He stood for some moments trying to come to terms with its implications. It seems that we may not be first of mankind to leave the Solar System after all, he said to her. Because this letter is dated November 11th 1983?

But that’s ridiculous! Louise replied. A hundred and nineteen years ago - but that was just fourteen years after the first Moon landings! I just cannot wait to see what’s inside.

That’s right, but we can’t open it here. The paper is far too fragile at this temperature; so we’ll take it back to the ship and study it there, he replied, gazing down at the frozen oblong of paper before him. How bizarre, Donald thought. Surrounded by alien heritage – the first ever found, and within it was something ordinary and terrestrial like a simple paper envelope. Once more he studied the name and address to see if it had a familiar ring, but both were unknown to him. I wonder who this man is – or rather was, and more importantly who left the envelope here? Said Louise.

We’ll obviously know more once we’ve read what’s inside, Donald replied. And I’ve a strong suspicion that it will have much to do with the creators of this place.

They retraced their steps through the maze of spherical chambers then out into