The Crystalline Planet

By S. B. Andresen

Sam and Christopher grew up together on the Earthen Moon Colony. Their fathers were best friends, so their sons were constant companions. Now grown up, Christopher is sent to a newly discovered planet on a secret mission, but communication from Christopher is long overdue. In an act of desperation, Sam now travels to find his best friend.
Sam’s mission is to find Christopher, recover all information about this new planet’s Crystal Cavern, and return. The only evidence he has is a scan chip with a recorded message from Christopher that speaks of the enigmatic, spiritual inhabitants of seaside dwellings. In this recording, Christopher claims these people might be the key to finding the material he seeks.
When Sam meets the people of this planet, he begins uncovering secrets the planet is hiding but also the secrets of his own father. With Christopher having vanished without a trace, Sam must know what his best friend found. Is Christopher now safely part of this planetary tribe, or is there something much more devious—and political—at play?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982256692

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Copyright © 2020 S. B. Andresen.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-5670-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5671-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5669-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919980

Balboa Press rev. date: 10/16/2020

For my husband

and children, who give me the courage to dream, Emil, Emil III, Scott, Jennifer, and Linda. For my grandchildren, who teach me to make those dreams bigger, Hailey, Brandon, Amelia, and Abigail. For my siblings, who started the journey with me and remain as anchors in the storms of life, Tom, Amy, Jennifer, John, and Mary.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Seaside

Chapter 2 The Forest

Chapter 3 Lakeside

Chapter 4 Bloodwoods

Chapter 5 Red Rock Desert

Chapter 6 Through the Parcels

Chapter 7 High Mountains

Chapter 8 The Portal of Awareness

Epilogue

Prologue

CHAPTER 1

SEASIDE

S am had traveled through a star gate once known as Orion’s Belt in one parsec, or 3.26 light years, to the planet known as Iloora. He stood in the same position Christopher had stood one year ago. Now Sam’s best friend was missing and had left only one clue to his whereabouts in the blind: a scan chip with a recorded message.

Time as we know it is but an illusion. It is just as malleable as the space we inhabit. The inhabitants of the seaside dwelling are known as Mythystocians. They wear purple rock or crystal pendants around their necks, though the meaning of these ornaments is unclear. They seem to be calm and spiritual in nature. It is important to rise before dawn to view the procession. I believe the cave the dwellers enter contains the material I am looking for, Christopher had said on part of the recording.

Christopher had set up the camouflaged bunker to study the planet’s inhabitants and then vanished without a trace. It was a grassy clearing situated in the middle of a circle of bushes that stood with a large tree branch overhanging the top. There was enough room to stand in the middle of the remaining supplies left by his friend and peer out through the bushes without being noticed. Sam replaced some extra branches that had dried out and fallen into the blind. It was situated on a hillside only two miles from the seaside cave. He looked around to find a food tab pack, binocs, and a walking stick leaning against the tree. Night was falling.

Samuel Lawrence Merritt and Christopher Lawrence Madison had grown up together on the Earthen Moon Colony. Their fathers had been best friends from the time they were young men working in the Assembly, and their sons were almost constant companions growing up. Christopher had been cynical and slow to action. As an archaeologist he worked his way up from research assistant to site tech—or digger, as they were known—to a teaching position. Enthusiasm and energy were not words one would associate with Christopher at this stage of his career. To Sam’s surprise, Christopher had quickly jumped at the chance to explore an uncharted planet. Sam remembered their last conversation.

Sam, I have to go; you know that, said Christopher. I will go in, find the source of the energy trail, and be out before the inhabitants know I was there. I will know what I’m looking for because I have the experience.

Sam looked down at the Archaeology Robotic Bio Indicator, ARBI. ARBI can do the same thing: go in and collect rocks and come back in no time, he said.

A bot will muck it up. There is a good chance it will come back with radioactive rock instead of the crystal I’ll be looking for.

I should go with you.

You avoid conflict as much as possible and put a great deal of time and energy into trying to align your principles and criticisms into a middle ground that satisfies everyone. You’re good at what you do, but I don’t need a negotiator.

No, you need a babysitter. I know you; one look at the rocks and you’ll want to investigate the whole planet, said Sam with a scowl on his face.

Sorry, babysitter, this is a solo trip, Christopher said as he smiled at his friend.

Sam had been the one always searching and reaching for something more, new, and full of boundless energy. As he got older, the boundless energy declined, but the heart was still open, especially to diplomatic solutions. Sam listened to Christopher’s message once more. He couldn’t help wondering about the tone of Christopher’s recording. His voice was animated, excited, and … open. Was open the right word? His friend sounded like he was wide open to possibilities, something beyond belief. Sam could almost swear that Christopher’s voice vibrated with sheer joy. Sam had to find out why.

Most of the information Christopher had transmitted was transported to the wrong annex of the territory on the Earthen Moon. It was accidentally destroyed as Earthen Historical Miscellaneous information. Sam was here to find Christopher, quickly recover all information about the Crystal Cavern for the prefect/chief magistrate of the Moon Colony, and return.

The prefect will use the information to further his own career, Sam’s father said in warning. It is up to you and Christopher to bring that information back to me so we can present it to the whole Assembly first. This should benefit all colonists, not just one man. As you know, there are some who thought Chris shouldn’t have gone in the first place. Only his parents and I will know where you are really going.

Sam had situated himself for a long wait and had drifted in and out of sleep through the night. Coming fully awake, he realized he had almost missed the sunrise. The sun was cresting the distant mountains. He scanned the beach with binocs, noting the procession had already begun. Far below he could see a long line of dwellers, as Christopher had called them, walking two by two into the cave set back from the beach. Christopher had said in one of his reports that they wore robes made from some sort of shiny material, but it looked dull from Sam’s viewpoint in the blind. Their heads were bowed, and Sam could only view their backs as they walked slowly into one of the caves. Some appeared small enough to be children. There had to be at least eighty or ninety dwellers still entering.

As the last of the group, or tribe, as Christopher had called them, entered the cave, Sam wondered what they were doing and, more importantly, how long before they came back out. He was normally a patient man. Research, his type of research, took time and patience—a lot of it! But just now, as the sun had fully introduced itself over the mountains, Sam felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. He had to know what Christopher found. Was Christopher still with this group after a year’s time? There had been no mention of any other dwellers on other scan chips sent to the prefect, just this one tribe.

About twenty minutes or so had passed since the last dweller had entered the cave. None of them had Christopher’s build. Sam was cautiously scanning the surrounding area with binocs once more when he saw the first of them come out. He was anxious to see their faces and get a feeling for these beings. The vegetation surrounding the blind suddenly distracted him. It had a soft vibrating glow. What was it? He couldn’t have been drugged. He had been careful not to gather any food source from this planet the evening before. He stayed faithful to his vegetable and fruit tabs and other provisions he had brought with him. He looked around and realized that everything he saw had a soft vibrating glow. He glanced back to the beach and the dwellers exiting the cave. They were no longer dull but also had a soft glow emanating from them.

Christopher had found something of value; that much was clear. And it was not Sam’s imagination that something in the air had changed. He felt energy around him, much like an electric charge tingling on his skin for a short while. A sense of well-being flushed through him as the tingling decreased. He realized time was not a luxury he could afford and packed a few provisions. Leaving the blind was a necessary risk.

As Sam carefully made his way down the cliffside, he noticed strange words carved on a tree as the only vestige that a civilization lived here. Reaching the beach, he stood behind a tall rock, looking out over the sea that gently lapped up to the sand under his feet. As he looked out over the sea, the light from the translucent sun seemed to illuminate the water and sand with twinkling