Earth Calling Thol

By D.E. Greenfield

Earth Calling Thol is book #5 in the Thol series.

D’laine (19) and Trakon (20) celebrate D’laine’s 2nd anniversary on Thol. Trakon takes her to the observatory she never knew existed, but leave it to Jamie, the little explorer, to know all about it.

A New York publishing giant published Al’s book Doorway to Thol which becomes an international best seller.

Government agents read it. Now they’re taking Al into custody to grill him about the portal at Coronado Beach in California.

While he sticks to the story that the book is make-believe out of his wild imagination, the agents aren’t buying it—they know all about Greg Claymore. They send a team of scientists and physicists to the beach.
Disaster strikes!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Greenfield Ireland - Artistic Origins
• Release date: Aug 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781940385754

D.E. Greenfield

D.E. Greenfield (aka Dawn Greenfield Ireland) is the award-winning author of 29 published books consisting of 5 series (cozy mystery, sci fi/fantasy, billionaire shapeshifters, and dystopian), and a stand-alone sci-fi romantic adventure. Dawn’s business, Artistic Origins, has been around since 1995. Besides writing, Dawn coaches writers, edits, formats and publishes clients’ books. Dawn has a certificate from the Professional Program in Screenwriting from UCLA (2002).

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

D’laine rocked Jesslin, who seemed to have an earache. The one-year-old fretted as she sucked her thumb, cuddled to her mother, and tugged at her painful right ear. Pup, the misunderstood deadly diwal dog, licked Jesslin’s toes, doing his part to comfort what he considered his charge.

Trakon paced in front of the rocking chair, his mind filled with catastrophes. He was worried about Jesslin’s survival despite reassurances from his wife, father-in-law, and his Eartholian friends assured him Jesslin would not die. Earaches were common back on Earth. Even adults suffered with earaches occasionally.

The problem was, Tholians could never recall live births in their history, therefore they had no experience with infants. Their children grew in eggshells that expanded over three years, then they emerged as small children equivalent to the size of an Earth three-year-old toddler, but with all the knowledge and experience of a Tholian grown man or woman. Over a short period, their bodies grew to full adult size.

When D’laine passed twin eggs, which was an unheard-of event for Tholians, and presented her infants nine months later, the kingdom was all atwitter over the event. Trakon’s parents, King Jor-Dan and Queen Kitry, were practically as bowled over as the rest of the kingdom and guests who were at the announcement for the twins. Jesslin was Jor-Dan’s little angel. The king was just as distraught as Trakon over her illness.

Foota, the massive borjo who had taken it upon herself to protect the twins when they were still in their shells, clung to a window looking in at the turmoil of emotions. The female borjo proudly wore her orange collar, leg wraps, and belly wrap so people could identify her from the ground. It had taken a while, but she finally mended her ways and followed the rules. Borjos were not to be taken lightly. They were huge flying creatures that resembled dragonflies but were more identifiable as dragons by the Eartholians.

Wild borjos, unlike the neutered borjos the Kudaja rode, were more like fire-breathing dragons. They didn’t shrink down to dragonfly-sized creatures like their neutered cousins. You didn’t want to rile one, especially Foota, who expressed herself with flames and smoke.

Kara Bennet, dressed in a traditional sari most domestic Tholian women wore, came into the room along with Lee Jackson, D’laine’s father, and Ethaderia, D’laine’s stepmother. Buffy, the family dog from Earth, followed. Kara held out a small bottle with a dropper.

Grubio heated some humbro oil, which is like olive oil, Kara said. Why don’t we put a couple of drops in her ear and see if that soothes the pain away?

How should we do this? D’laine asked.

Why don’t you place her across your lap, Lee said. He had plenty of experience with every type of illness and calamity with his three children.

D’laine moved Jesslin away from her chest. The toddler screamed and tried to clutch her mother’s clothes, but the warrior uniform was molded to D’laine’s body and was not graspable.

Foota was upset and let loose a tiny spark and smoke through the window.

Trakon stomped on the spark and turned to the borjo, prepared to verbally ream her, but Jor-Dan grabbed onto his son’s arm. He shook his head.

Trakon released a breath and nodded his understanding. The borjo was fraught with worry, trying to understand what was going on. If Trakon lit into her, she could effectively burn down the palace and not think she did anything wrong.

Shh. Shh. It’s okay, Jess. Lie across mommy’s lap, D’laine murmured. She positioned her daughter across her legs with her right ear accessible to receive the drops, while she patted her back to soothe her.

The women warriors who guarded the twins around the clock, kept Kal-Dan entertained while his twin went through her ordeal.

Ethaderia blinked back tears as she watched the crisis play out. Her personal dream was to have her own baby, but Lee kept warning her she may be reaching for the stars. He didn’t have any idea whether they would have a baby, or if Ethaderia would pass a traditional Tholian egg.

Kara bent over Jesslin. She shook the bottle of oil and unscrewed the cap.

D’laine tried to maneuver Jesslin’s ear to get it into position, but her baby daughter bashed her hand away amid howls of pain.

Lee knelt beside Kara. Come on, Jesslin. Let grandpa move your head so your ear will feel better soon. He eased Jess’ head to receive the oil in her ear.

Kara quickly let some drops flow into the ear canal, then stood. That should do it. Hopefully, the humbro oil will do the trick. If not, you should have the Visionary look at her. If he can’t fix this ear, call Ghury. Those Egroms can cure anything.

Jesslin wore herself out. D’laine carefully lifted her, stood, and brought the now sleeping toddler to her crib.

It seemed as if everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Trakon, Jor-Dan and Kitry hovered around the crib. Foota flew away. Buffy whined.

Kara patted the dog on the rump. Don’t worry Buffy, Jesslin will be okay.

How did this happen? Trakon asked, his nerves shot.

Ears are funny things, Lee said. You know about ear wax, right?

The Tholians stared at Lee, confused.

Wax, like candle wax? Kitry asked.

The wax like our bees produce? Jor-Dan asked.

Trakon simply shook his head.

Your ears are waxy inside, Kara explained. She eyeballed the group of Tholian natives. Oh, come on. Are you going to tell me you’ve never, ever stuck your finger in your ear and felt the waxy residue?

Jor-Dan slowly nodded his understanding. Oh.

Well, sometimes that ear wax builds up inside the ear canal and causes problems, Kara said.

It’s a good thing childhood diseases aren’t common in this realm, Lee said. Then he thought about it and turned to Kitry. Do the Youngmen ever get sick after they hatch, and before they grow into men?

Ethaderia and Kitry shared a glance while thinking about the question. Then Kitry nodded, slowly, in thought.

Trakon had poxtop when he was growing up, Kitry said.

Poxtop? D’laine asked. What is that? Is it a communicable disease?

It can spread, so the infected have to be isolated. Tiny poxes appear on the face, then they spread to other parts of the body. It is difficult to control the itching, Kitry said.

The poxes grow, Ethaderia said. They start off tiny, like Kitry said, just barely visible, then they can grow to the size of your baby fingernail.

They’re sort of green, Amoroso threw out from the hallway.

Lee and Kara nodded.

Sounds something like chicken pox, or measles, Kara said.

Don’t forget that scalp problem, Jor-Dan said. Trakon had that white lumpy problem on his head that covered his uniform for several months whenever he scratched it.

For the love of Thol, why are you bringing up all these early embarrassments? Trakon asked.

D’laine patted her husband on the shoulder. No one’s picking on you. We’re just discussing things the twins could experience.

Trakon stood by the crib, gently patted his daughter on the back, then grumped out of the room while shaking his head and muttering to himself.

He’s touchy today, D’laine said.

Jor-Dan left a moment later. He returned to the throne room where he and his advisors, along with Marrak, the documentarian, met with petitioners and heard their problems. The king wore an ankle-length white tunic with gold trim braiding instead of his battle uniform to these meetings. His shoes brought up the question of where they came from, since they resembled Birkenstocks.

Kitry joined Lee, Ethaderia, D’laine, and Kara. Zedonia entered the room with a cranky Kal-Dan on her hip. He leaned half out of her arms as he reached for his mother.

I hope he’s only sleepy, and not getting an ear problem, Zedonia said.

D’laine grasped her son and bounced him for a moment. Kal-Dan yawned, stuck his thumb in his mouth and quieted as D’laine settled him in his crib and covered him with his soft blanket.

The group left the room and headed downstairs.

D’laine walked through the kingdom of Ebscalon city proper with Pup, her diwal dog. They greeted people as they walked to the hangers and shop area where Trakon worked on ship upgrades. Two years ago, three deadly diwal dogs tracked and attacked her when she left the Egrom village in the Cember Forest to experience survival in the wild.

She had used her newfound powers to stop their attack and discovered there wasn’t much difference between the diwals and regular Earth dogs. When Pup, the alpha diwal dog, collapsed when first petted and scratched by a human.

Pup discovered there was more to these two-legged beings than being a meal. Humans could provide some pretty tasty cooked food, and the diwals didn’t have to work for it. Pup became D’laine’s personal guard, and his small pack of two attached themselves to their own humans with soft hands.

However, as tame as they appeared, diwal dogs could strip the flesh from a human in minutes, leaving nothing but the buttons from their clothing. They were like land piranhas. No one stood a chance in an encounter with a diwal pack.

When Pup and his pack arrived in Ebscalon, the kingdom panicked. After one dog adopted the king, and another dog adopted Trakon, the community calmed down when they understood the dogs were no threat. However, when the Ebscalon Tholians saw the diwal dogs in the city, they kept a wide berth. There was no point in taking a chance, especially when the dogs were heading to the gate to go hunt.

During the previous year’s attack on the royal eggs, the warrior women hugged their backs to the wall in the turret room while Pup attacked the invader. One wrong move while a diwal dog is in blood lust would be the end of anyone within attack range. D’laine forced Pup to stop his complete decimation of the Patrosym attacker so Ebscalon could show proof to the king and queen of Patrosym.

D'laine hoped Trakon’s nerves had smoothed out. Being the first, and only Tholian human father of an infant, people constantly barraged Trakon with new concepts he had to learn and cope with regarding his children.

No one other than the Eartholians had experience with babies and infants. When D’laine and her family, then their friends, all first came to Thol, they called themselves Earthlings. But the Egrom creatures who had taken care of D’laine in the Cember Forest and taught her how to survive in their world insisted they change that term to Eartholians.

Everyone who came through the portal from Earth at different times, comprised D’laine, her father, Lee Jackson, his scientist friends Stanley Daigle, Ben Joplin, Victor Bennet, and Victor’s wife Kara, their son Darren, Buffy, the family dog that the Bennets took care of, and Trakon’s young brothers-in-law, Jamie and Brian Jackson.

The very first Eartholian, however, was Greg Claymore. He had slipped through a portal from Coronado Beach, California in the nineteen fifties, and had travelled back and forth on his own accord multiple times. He vowed never to return to his home planet after that.

Lee and Stanley had researched Greg’s history, and when they finally met up with him on the other side of Thol last year, they solved part of the mystery. Greg’s wife had moved on. His children didn’t know him, and he didn’t like all the changes he saw on the planet that had taken place in his absence.

So, while Trakon had his human friends to fall back on, his learning curve had been nerve-wracking. Something as simple as changing a diaper, feeding a baby, then burping his son or daughter, jacked his nerves up. He was fearful of hurting them out of sheer ignorance.

These things went through D’laine’s head as she walked through the city, greeting people, with Pup alongside her. They approached the main shop where Trakon spent most of his time tinkering on the crestrider ships and other projects.

The Great War of Taylon had wiped out all innovative technology and decimated the great minds of invention. It had taken fifty years to get back what they lost in the war. Ebscalon was the leader of the Tholian kingdoms that made great strides in technology. Over this past year, with the help of the Eartholian scientists, crestriders could finally fly at night again. Previously, when there was an emergency at nighttime, they had to depend on the sure-footed pakows to get them to where they needed to go.

The Eartholians always questioned where certain things came from originally. Pakows appeared to be much like a wooly mammoth with their immense size, which was about twenty-five-foot-high at their withers. From there, they could make no comparison. Six thick legs and gigantic elephant-like feet supported these ten-ton beasts, with long muddy brown dreadlock-like hair.

They use their long, thin, cow-like tails to swish away flies and other biting insects. Pakows had wide, flat teeth that made easy work of their favorite food, which were the spiny rocks, similar to coral. But these coral rocks didn’t come from the sea. They were found at the base of the agrin trees and around ponds. And the sea was on the other side of the world.

Pakows had the most bizarre face D’laine had ever seen, which seemed to be a cross between a cow and a goat. If that wasn’t weird enough, they sported two fly-type eyes that viewed in all directions simultaneously, similar to borjos eyes.

D’laine discovered Jakla Bosakin at the shop when she arrived. Pup scrambled around looking for anything edible, but Buffy and Chatter had already taken all the scraps before she got there.

The Plotal commander wanted to add more ships to his small fleet. As Plotals were near eight feet in height and weighed hundreds of pounds, their vessels had to be significantly altered to handle their bulk. There were single man flyers, two-man flyers, and larger configurations.

Jakla had been the second creature D’laine came across when she arrived at Thol. Plotals had been warring, bloodthirsty beasts back then. Saving Jakla during the robot invasion caused the Plotal commander to understand friendship was better than warring.

Plotals discovered their kinder sides and changed their ways, becoming more agreeable neighbors.

Neska, Jakla’s mate, contributed to that change. She made her mate see that kindness paid off. Neska was very insightful. Her suggestion was to paint her crestrider to match the sky, allowing it to blend in with the environment and go unnoticed from the ground. Jakla had not understood his mate was so forward-thinking. He more or less thought of her as more domestic than an equal. That changed in short order.

The Wobbly toys Neska had created out of discarded Plotal eggshells had taken off throughout the neighboring kingdoms. Before creating Ta’Byu’Vohon, the Plotals roamed Thol and captured anyone who crossed their paths. They had no need for currency since they took what they needed. Other than the Egroms, there weren’t really any other Tholians who matched them in size, or who could best them in battle.

The new toys changed everything. Money poured into the Plotal coffers. Dojesk, Neska’s business partner, hired workers to help create and deliver the Wobbly toys, and had to expanded his shop to accommodate more people, barrels, paint and other supplies. The income allowed the Plotal fleet to expand.

Egroms were the first creature-people D’laine came into contact with. They were white-furred creatures with four arms and red glowing eyes. As tall as the Plotals, they were the opposite of the warmongers. Egroms had vast powers they used for healing.

Ghury, her mentor, and the leader of the Cember Forest Egrom tribe, had restored her battered body from the tragic auto accident on Earth that had taken her mother’s life. The group of Egrom elders helped to train D’laine how to survive in their hostile environment. While Thol was a breathtakingly beautiful world, it was also a deadly dangerous place.

CHAPTER TWO

Brian Jackson, D’laine’s twelve-year-old brother, demonstrated new controls for the Plotals. He was the one who created the original controls for the first Plotal ship. The large Plotal hands could not function with the Tholian human-sized ship controllers. Brian used his unique brain to display the Plotal hand on the controller schematics for the mechanical engineers. They could actually see what had to be done to make the controllers work for their new neighbors.

Jakla Bosakin stood beside Brian at a panel the boy had created for the demo. The Plotal Commander pressed buttons, flicked switches, and grabbed controllers. Everything appeared to be the correct size for his large hands and fingers.

Yes, this will do nicely, Jakla said. He stepped back and Orongo Draganza, his second in command, who was King Jor-Dan’s friend from wartime and before, took over the controls.

Orongo said, You should adjust this switch behind the controller. See how my knuckles brush it? That could cause problems,

Brian bent over to get eye level with the controller and switch. Can you show me?

Orongo grabbed the controller and moved it like a joystick. Brian saw exactly what the problem was. Orongo’s hands were larger than Jakla’s.

Ahh, I see what you mean. Brian searched the shop. Hey, Hexlon, come take a look.

The technician joined Brian and the Plotals at the demo console.

This works for Jakla’s hands, but Orongo’s are larger and his knuckles brush against this switch, Brian explained.

Well, that’s not good, Hexlon said. He looked over the demo console to see what they could rearranged. Let’s spread these switches out across the console so the controller sits by itself within a larger area. Hexlon brought up a holographic view of the schematics and moved things to show everyone the new design.

Yes, that should work, Orongo said. That way, if a hefty Plotal took the helm, there wouldn’t be any problem with the size of his hands.

We sure don’t want a crash from someone hitting a switch when they shouldn’t, Brian said.

D’laine quietly stood by as she watched her brother in action. Trakon joined her and draped an arm across her shoulders.

I’m sure glad we discovered Brian’s engineering and design capabilities, Trakon said.

Sometimes getting into trouble and working off the time for your discretions pays off, D’laine said.

Roasting marshmallows in the hosk field in the middle of the night during a wartime situation led to Brian, Jamie, and their friends being grounded after getting caught by the authorities. Lee introduced the concept of grounded to the Tholian parents of the other children. They all saw the benefit of that type of punishment. The shop had tasked Brian with polishing the crystals on the ships until he came up with the idea to fix the controllers. Then he became a full-time worker in the shop.

Happy anniversary, Trakon whispered, as he nibbled D’laine’s neck just below her ear.

Happy anniversary, husband, D’laine whispered back.

Want to go to the observatory? Trakon asked.

There’s an observatory here? D’laine’s eyebrows quirked up.

D’laine couldn’t understand how she missed the observatory during her travels in the kingdom for the past year. The building was tucked away in a remote part of the kingdom, far away from city lights. Trakon flew the crestrider around the enormous structure that was built with the same material as the palace, the Visionary’s temple, and all homes in the kingdom.

They flew up to the top of the dome, to where a gigantic telescope was visible through two immense doors in the open position. D’laine watched as the lens emerged straight up, reaching for the heavens.

Oh! Let’s go inside so I can see space! D’laine was entranced. She recalled many visits to the Planetarium growing up, and she never tired of staring at the remarkable images.

Trakon landed the crestrider, and they hopped to the ground.

D’laine was all agog as she stepped through the door. The interior was immense. She couldn’t even guess how large it was.

Come on, let’s go upstairs to the viewing area, Trakon urged. He grabbed her hand and started toward the stairs.

D’laine stared at the zigzag of staircases. She counted over ten flights. While she was athletic, she couldn’t see herself tromping up all those stairs. She glanced around and found an elevator and steered her husband that way.

Oh, yeah, I guess that’s a better idea, Trakon said, as he let her lead him to the lift.

They entered the elevator and Trakon pressed the V button for the viewing area. When the doors opened, they were surprised to see Jamie at the lens.

Why am I not surprised to find you here? D’laine asked her little brother. How come you never told me Ebscalon had an observatory?

Jamie stepped away from the telescope. I figured you knew about it. He appeared stymied. For some reason, I can’t find Earth, or even Jupiter.

Jamie, you’re never going to find our solar system because Thol is a shared dimension to Earth. It’s like stepping through a door into someone else’s house. It’s not going to look like your house. D’laine ruffled his blond hair. The sky from this dimension will look totally different, beginning with the two suns and two moons.

Huh. Jamie stared at his sister, digesting what she said. Guess there’s a lot to learn. More than the everyday stuff. I wonder what their constellations are?

If you go watch the night sky program, you’ll learn all about it, Trakon said. It’s downstairs on the ground floor.

D’laine was mesmerized, looking through the telescope. Everything looked so different from this dimension. Have you discovered life on other planets? She pulled her eyes away from the telescope and stared at Trakon.

Of course there’s life out there! How could you think we’re the only lifeforms out of the vast universe? Trakon stared back at her as if she was a dunce. Every ten paths or so our neighbors visit. We haven’t visited them in their home world because we don’t have universal travel anymore.

Both Jamie and D’laine stared at Trakon, mouths a gape.

What are the aliens like? Jamie practically shouted. Are they monsters? Were you scared when you first saw them?

Where did they come from? D’laine asked.

Argus, the planet closest to us. They’ve been all over our solar system. Trakon projected a picture of an Argustion. They were tall beings, somewhat human-shaped, but they had four legs, two in front and two in back. They walk with a sort of strange motion. The front two legs moved forward a foot, then the back legs catch up.

D'laine studied what she saw. Sort of like a see-saw, don’t you think, Jamie?

Yeah. That’s weird.

Their eyes were oblong, and they had the longest eyelashes D’laine had ever seen. Oddly, the lashes folded over the eye for sleeping.

How do you communicate with them? Do they understand your language? D’laine didn’t see a mouth.

They speak with their minds, and they make this odd tooting sound. Trakon snickered, remembering the last time the visitors were here. He thought for a moment. I’m pretty sure they will be here this path or next. We’ll have to ask the Visionary.

Where’s their arms? Jamie asked.

Trakon showed another view. They had two long arms that were on their back.

Jamie looked this way and that. Huh. I wonder how that works? Looks like they have fingers with little balls on the ends.

Trakon demonstrated. They sort of wrap their arms to the front like they’re going to hug something.

I can’t wait to meet them. Bet I’ll be able to understand what they say. Jamie had one of those all-knowing expressions across his face as he headed to the door. See ya. Have fun.

D’laine stood at the telescope and looked through the lens. Oh, this is incredible! The stars and planets look like they’re right in front of my eyes. I wonder if my father or Stanley have been over here?

I’m not sure if any of the scientists have discovered the observatory. I’m hungry. Let’s go see if lunch is ready, Trakon said.

D’laine elbowed him in the ribs. You’re always hungry!

The dining salon was brimming with people. Kitry spoke with Treikie Soluveia, a Tholian scientist and Stanley’s girlfriend, and Kara Bennet, Victor’s wife. Jor-Dan focused on Victor Bennet and Stanley Daigle. D’laine and Trakon were listening to Darren Bennet. The ten-year-old shared a vision of his latest restoration project.

Pup, La’gar’ish, and Chatter, the three diwal dogs that lived in the palace, romped into the dining salon followed by Buffy. They took their places under the table by their people, hopeful for tidbits to drop to the floor. La’gar’ish poked his nose up to the edge of the table and sniffed the king’s plate.

Jor-Dan flicked the dog’s nose. No! You just came back from hunting and you are not getting my food. Now lie down, La’gar’ish, or go outside.

The dog looked contrite and curled up at the king’s feet.

An outsider