Teran stood at the edge of a cliff composed of tightly packed circuit boards, degraded silicon, and rust. An ancient feature of a civilization that had lived there on the shadowy planet centuries ago. Their metal husks littered the ground, positioned like marionettes cast aside after play, shadows dancing in the fading daylight. The atmosphere had recently become breathable since the Bio-farms had arrived. Towering metallic structures rising from the surface to the heights of the atmosphere pumped life back into the dormant giant as they chewed through the ground extracting the elements necessary for a breathable environment. Teran breathed in the cold, crisp air and took in the infinite nature of the beautiful, quiet wasteland that lay at his feet.
It had been four months since he had felt the ground under his pristine combat boots, polished and re-polished more times than he can remember in his sentence inside the ship. Four months of breathing recycled, stale air faintly seasoned by the aluminum of the walls had left him counting the seconds until he could get outside again. Over the time in the ship, he became less concerned about his physical appearance until he was told they would be opening the doors to the outside.
“There you are!” Teran heard from behind him, ruining the peace that had fallen over him. Hank dropped his pack several feet away and walked up, taking in the view. “Damn, this is pretty.” he spat, black liquid drooling down the side of his lip. He wiped it away with a thick white glove that was stained a dark brown in the same spot. “Enjoyin’ the freedom for a minute?”
“Trying to.” Teran responded, keeping his eyes on the mountains of broken machines in the distance. “What brings you out here? I thought you liked the shell.”
“Shell’s fine by me. Better than this trash heap.” He spit again. “But a week from now this place will be swimming with new meat to talk to, if you know what I’m sayin’.” he winked and nodded his head with a wolfish smile. “Commander Salt told me to get everyone together. Said there’s gonna be some big announcement in the mess at sixteen hundred. Figured you’d be out here after that long in the shell. How do you like these new suits? We look like a million bucks, I tell ya’ what. Too bad we ain’t got nothing to take out.” he grunted pretending to mow down whatever his imagination had conjured with holding an invisible gun.
Teran looked down at his newly donned suit. Its thin fabric felt thick against the atmosphere around him and it reminded him of the feeling of being trapped inside the ship. The grey mesh, interrupted by the several port holes for hose and cable management, covered white opalescent fabric over the entire suit as it form fit against his body. Its separated armor plates locked into place, pristine and new over the mesh. “I guess it’s alright, a little snug if you ask me. They got the idea from the people on Kamrys.” he paused for a moment as if trapped in a memory. “You know the Babelbots translated the texts they found here and figured out these guys actually spoke a language similar to the Elves, much more primitive but similar.” Teran said walking over to a nearby husk. He crouched down and peered at the lifeless eye sockets hewn into the head through exposure.
“Well, those weirdos had to come from somewhere, so I guess this is it.” Hank chortled. “I didn’t think they had metal bodies like these guys did.” Hank said lifting an arm of a nearby husk only for it to disintegrate in his hands. “But then again, I’ve never seen one. What about you? Weren’t you stationed somewhere near there before you got this assignment?”
“Yeah, I was stationed at the colony orbiting the planet. Kamrys is the main trade planet in that system so you tend to see a lot of Elves there.” Teran confirmed. “Nothing metal about them.”
“What are they like? I hear they look kinda like humans but with more eyes and sharp teeth.” Hank exuberantly professed as if referencing a horror film. “But even worse than that, I hear they eat people. That’s why we made sure to keep ‘em in line over there.”
Teran turned and shook his head lightly with a furrowed brow. “No, sorry to ruin your nightmare inducing fantasies, but they look a lot like humans honestly. They’re a good bit thinner than regular humans and a foot or so taller on average but other than the ears and eyes, they aren’t much different.” Teran shrugged off the reminder of his company’s stupidity and returned to inspecting the weathered husk. A faint glimmer caught his eye, and he began to move the crumbling pieces aside carefully to inspect the source.
“So they do have a lot of eyes! I knew it. They probably have spider faces with so many eyes. And what’re their ears like? Are they holes in their heads like lizards?” Hank said trying to hide his excitement for the grotesquery he was crafting. “And I hear some humans have even started getting involved with them. What kinda sick-”
Teran turned to look at Hank. “What? No. What the hell are you talking about? They have two eyes. They’re just colored differently than humans. Kind of like turquoise smoke. And their ears are just longer, thinner, and pointed. That’s why the people who first encountered them called them Elves. Some old story or something about a race of people with pointed ears who could use some kind of mystical abilities or something.”
“Well, whatever they look like, we’ll take ‘em down.” Hank said pumping his fist against his chest in pride.
Teran nodded in false agreement to try and end the discussion. Hank, with nothing to talk about fell silent, continuing his exploration of the area’s skeletons, looking for some old and expensive relic to pawn-off on an unsuspecting tourist at the next port. Soon the wind picked up and the sun started to set. The shadows stretched across the open landscape and Teran fell back into the calm that he had had before he had been interrupted.
He stood up and turned to look back over the cliff at the valleys below. The recruiters at home boasted how great it was out here but no one talked about the broken species you see, or the changes that come as you depart your home. The hopelessness of space. He thought to himself. “I always believed there was something about Earth that set us apart from the rest of the people out here.” he confessed to an uncaring Hank. “You know, something that made us...us.”
“Who the hell knows? We just say ‘Yes sir’ and do what we’re told so we can get back home in one piece.” Hank replied, rummaging through a pile of dusty console parts, without paying any attention.
“Right.” Teran sighed.
Hank stood up and brushed the dust off of his gloves as the sun’s last light dimmed near the horizon. “I’m going back inside. They still haven’t fixed the temperature yet and it’ll be cold as hell soon so you might wanna to grab your gear and head on in.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.” Teran said gazing off in the distance.
“It’s your hide if Salt catches you late.” Hank paused with a smirk. He shook his head, “I’ll see you in the mess.” The air lock hissed opened and Hank sauntered in, waving and loudly calling after another ship mate. The doors closed behind him and the noise of the inside slowly faded.
Silence draped over the world around Teran and time passed without notice. His breath had become thin clouds billowing from his lips and tiny ice crystals formed along the edges of his hair. Still, he sat vacantly gazing into the distance. A foreign nostalgia held him in a tight grasp before a loud clanging woke him from his trance.
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“I thought you were going inside, or were the burgers replaced with mystery meatloaf?” he chuckled assuming Hank was scavenging again but was taken aback when he turned and found an old man, surrounded by thin navy blue smoke softly billowing off of his shoulders, standing where he expected Hank to be.
The man held a tall, gnarled walking stick that stood a foot or so above his own head when upright and prodded at the same husk Teran had been looking at before. He was dressed in a lengthened olive-green robe made of coarse fiber and wore a long-tipped hat covered in symbols that drooped behind him. It came down to a thin point at the top of his back. His age was apparent even from the distance Teran was standing. His face, what little was not covered in hair, was wrinkled and several age spots were visible. His grey beard drooped down to his chest and was neatly held together at a midpoint by maroon and gold string which clutched a bell with stars as holes etched into it. Teran had never seen this man in his life but he, for whatever reason, felt familiar, like an old dream rushing back from childhood only for a moment to remind you of what is past. Teran sat in silence watching the old man for several minutes.
Noticing he was being observed by Teran, he cleared his throat raspily. “My boy, you wouldn’t happen to know the times we are in, would you?” he said looking around with an odd smile.
Flustered by the realization of how cold it had gotten, Teran hurriedly held up his forearm to show the screen of his dust covered monitor without saying a word.
“Uhh…w...uh...well…N…No…I...I…uh can’t read whatever language that is.” The old man responded explaining himself nodding and motioning with his hands for Teran to speak. The old man stood staring at him and after a brief pause continued, “You can speak, can you not? Of all the places I go I always get something like this. A mute. Some untranslatable dialect composed primarily of gaseous emissions. It’s always something.”
“No. Yes. I can speak, sir. The time is 15:43. Earth time.” Teran hurriedly exclaimed. “May I ask what you are doing outside of the ship at this time of night? Only military staff are allowed to monitor outer hull activity until full planet stabilization has been acquired.” Teran rattled off as if reading from a neatly printed handbook. Quickly he came to the realization that this man was likely one of the older scientists cooped up in the lower deck laboratories too long and had more than likely wandered out forgetting when, or possibly where, he was. Teran felt himself experience that often enough and he was only twenty-three.
“Oh… No… I meant time period. What is the year?” the old man said completely ignoring Teran’s question.
Positive this man was on the verge of senility, if not deeply immersed in it, Teran decided to entertain the man’s inquiry. “2243 A.O.C. We are on the fourth planet in the Cortis System. Today is burger day in the mess and it’s a –”
“Monday?” The old man replied pointing a finger in the air smiling vibrantly. “They never change that no matter how far you go forward. Or back! Ha! Monday is always burger day. Well, that is unless you go too far back and then there are no burgers, or forward really, as they, sadly, begin to turn into something less burger and more...well who knows what they are at that point.” He laughed shaking his head.
Teran watched the man for several moments as he shifted back and forth talking to himself and decided it might be best to try to get the man in the ship. “Sir, May I escort you inside? The temperature is beginning to drop drastically and at your age it could be harmful.” Teran said, looking to end the joke and get in the warmth of the ship.
“At my age? My word, I had no idea I was so thoughtful.” The old man said smirking and giggling as Teran took him by the arm. He was surprised by how warm he was though the temperature had dropped well below freezing. “I’ll have to remind you of that… Him… Someone… I’ll have to remind someone of that. Well, if you are looking for some good food and warmth, we can definitely get out of this place if you’re ready to go.”
Tired and confused by the way he was speaking, Teran pointed at the ship, “No need to go far. What’s your name?” he asked, guiding the man towards the ship.
“Oh, I’m not affiliated with anyone on this vessel, my boy.” The old man said holding up his hands, reluctant to enter the doors.
“Well, if we don’t go in soon, you will more than likely experience a severely unpleasant death by freezing, so I would prefer you go inside.” Teran responded. Although his suit still kept the majority of his body warm, he was beginning to lose patience as the nip of the cold crept through his uncovered ears and nose.
“Would you mind if I examined the door before we entered? I’ve never been one to enter a place I don’t know without at least looking at the door first.” The old man said explaining himself in such a way that he seemed confused but reasonable.
“I suppose that is fine as long as you are quick. We haven’t got much time and I am beginning to get quite cold myself.” Teran said firmly.
The old man laughed audibly, slapping Teran on the back and walking over to the door. Slowly, he began to inspect the frame while periodically looking back at Teran. Knocking on it in several places and pausing for a moment to listen, he finally walked back over to Teran and exclaimed, “I’m ready when you are, although you did forget your bag over there.”
Teran looked over and his bag was slumped against the husk that he was examining earlier covered in a thin layer of ice. As he reached his bag, he heard two snapping sounds one after the other and looked back to find the old man standing as though nothing had changed and Teran assumed it was just ambient noises coming from the metal of the ship as it changed under the dropping temperature.
“Come on, boy. You were right, it’s too cold for a man my age. Let’s go!” The old man shouted, suddenly changing his hesitance from moments earlier.
Teran hurried over and joined the old man as they walked through the door. “So, what was your name again, sir?” Teran said hoisting his bag over his shoulder.
As they stepped across the threshold, they stood for a moment, the surroundings had changed from a dark lifeless planet to a warm room, cluttered with knick-knacks of all kinds. Tapestries with intricate designs which told unknown tales and bubbling liquids of strange colors in oddly shaped glass containers strewn about throughout the large room on massive dark oak tables. Its aged walls were covered in shelves of old manuscripts and texts which, in turn, were themselves covered in layers of dust. Strange aromas wafted into Teran’s nose and he was warmed and enchanted by the life of the room and for the first time in a long time, he felt home.
But he was not home, he was in a foreign place away from the ship he despised but had become accustomed to. Confusion swept over him, his chest pounded wildly, and he became dizzy in the wake of the changes that had taken place. Teran fell forward and in the blink of an eye a puff of smoke appeared and a tall thin man, blurred in his vision, appeared and caught him.
“Oh, how strange. Talk about déjà vu. It’s so odd to watch the memories happening from the outside.” The old man said shuffling over to a nearby statue. He began to rifle through his robe’s pockets which seemed endless in number. “Hmm. Now where is that thing?” he said inquisitively furrowing his brow and tapping his chin briskly. “Oh, set him over there until he recovers. Thank You.”
The tall man lifted Teran into his arms with little effort and walked across the room, giving him the sensation of gliding. He softly placed Teran down on a dust covered couch nestled in a corner, lit up by the soft light from a nearby window and a crackling wood of the fireplace. The slender man took a step back and bowed disappearing once again into a thick cloud of navy-blue smoke.
Moments passed and Teran’s heart rate slowed and his vision became clearer. Things slowly came into focus and he could see that he was inside an enormous room. Standing slowly, he stumbled and caught himself on the wall. “Old man.” Teran said raspily searching his vision for the man who had no doubt brought him here. “What the hell is all this? Where am I?”
“You know, you are quite inquisitive. I never remember that being the case.” The old man said appearing a few feet in front of him rifling through a cluttered pile of knick-knacks on a nearby table. “You are still suffering from the effects of the journey. You should try to sit down before you do something obnoxious and-”
Teran, in his haze, lurched forward to try to catch the man who disappeared in a puff of smoke and leapt into something hard and metal. He fell to the ground in a slump as the old man appeared again bending down near Teran’s head. “I do remember that.” he said standing up. “Take him back to the couch, please. I don’t think we will have much fuss from him for a while but do me a favor and watch him anyway.” Teran heard him say as the hard metal thing he had crashed into began to move and lifted him from the ground as a fog crept his mind and the darkness of sleep took him over.