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The story the revolves around aliens and mankind's face-off with them (on their planet).. |
| [Introduction]
"Hey. Hey. Wake up", shouted Russell. "What? Can't you see that I am having my nap", answered the irritated Drake. Drake Archer was a single father with a daughter, Nina Archer, aged around 12. His wife was killed in an accident and he decided not to marry again. Russell continued, "Wake up, Drake." Drake yawning, "Okay. What is it?" "What does code AA310 mean?" "Why the heck are you going through those old shit files?", replied the tired Drake. "Oh come on man. Tell me. What does code AA310 mean? " Drake rubbing his eyes, "It was the name of a probe we sent to the neighboring planets in search for extra-terrestrial life. You got a problem with that?" Russell Brown was an INTERN of Drake who works as the chief communications controller at a space research center. Russell, early twenties, handsome, not nerdy but keen to learn new things. "Not a problem. But, does this probe keep buzzing occasionally?" "What? No. It never does. It is one of the dead probes.", exclaimed Drake. "Well, then we have a problem. It has been buzzing for the past 30 minutes." Drake confused, "What? But, that's not possible." "Well, now it is.", answered Russell politely. The room was full of computers and data servers. There was just a couch and two rotating chairs near the mainframe. Drake was shocked, but came into his senses, "Back up any details we have about probe with code AA310. I need to wash up." Drake went to the wash room and starting splashing water all over his face. He was staring at himself in the mirror, remembering what happened seven years ago. He was the leader of that project. At first, it was named as "Probe Number 310". His wife was in the same team. Actually, they completed their graduation at the same university. They were best friends, and most of all, they were the best couple in the whole university. They were placed on the cover of the magazine, "Young Achievers", for three consecutive months for their combined achievements in the field of extra terrestrial communications. While their concepts were too advanced for practical purposes, their research papers served as a purpose for all the other scientists around the world. When Nina was 5, they were called by the Department of Extra-Terrestrial Communications in order to create high performance probes that can track signals from a long range and return them back. This team, consisted of Drake Archer, his wife Anna Archer, Louie Vallerfy, and the young technician Scrum Dingle. It was after the tragic death of Anna Archer, they decided to change the name of that probe in the memory of their beloved. That is how, "Probe Number 310" became "AA310". |
| Drake quickly drew up a to do list in his mind. He needs to reopen the probe and check and verify confirm the source of the signal before informing Security Intelligence. He hurried back to his workstation but stopped just before opening the the file. "Damn! The Password.." he cried out in frustration. "You forgot its?" asked Russell, a little surprised. "No, each of us contributed six characters to develop it. I know mine and can find out Anna's. But Louie and Scrum? How do I get theirs?" Right after Anna's death bad luck seemed to have befallen 'AA310'. Louie, a close friend of theirs, left the research centre and went away somewhere without leaving any trace. Drake had expected him to be by his side giving him and Nina the emotional support they needed. But Louie was not there. Drake was so hurt by his aloofness that initially he didn't try to contact Louie. A year or two back however, hearing about Louie's mother's death from a common friend he tried to contact him in vain. He was nowhere to be found. Neither did he come to attend his own mother's funeral. Scrum, the technician on the other hand, was fired and arrested for selling an important information to a enemy army base on the other side of the world. While serving his term, he allegedly committed suicide. |
| "I am so screwed." Drake yelled at himself. "Don't we have a backdoor kind of thing for these kind of probes?" questioned Russell. "We never had the thought of creating a backdoor. But, I think there is an other way to open it." "How? Are you going to go after Louie?" asked Russell. "Forget Louie. We need Scrum now. " "But I checked the files. According to these Scrum committed suicide. He's dead, Drake" Russell answered a little surprised. "No. He ain't. I have a feeling that he is still alive." "A feeling? You can't go out there with a hunch. Drake, Scrum sold secrets. If they find that you are searching for him, they may arrest you." "I know. But, I have to. You got to help me." "Help? How can I?" questioned Russell. "Check the printed documents carefully again. We may find something." saying this, Drake stood up and started walking. He didn't have a pinch of idea where he wanted to go. He just kept walking. Meanwhile, Russell started to check the documents. He sat on the couch with a cup of coffee on the desk and started to go through every tiny matter. While going through, he found two pages stuck to each other. Since it was old, he thought it was normal. He took a scale and started to scrape through the pages. The pages contained notes, but there was photograph of a woman next a guy. He didn't know they were. So, he took the photo and kept it aside. While he was doing so, he noticed that something was written on the back. It was written in bold letters, "I AM SORRY, DINGLE." On the next line, "023722" |
| Louie's been a little disturbed for the last couple of days. The past, which he had forced out of his head, appeared to make a comeback. He tried hard to concentrate on his prayers but the tits and bits of last nights dream flashed through his mind every now and then. "Why Anna, why? Leave me alone," he whispered to himself fighting his memories in vain. There she was in her white top and jeans sitting on the grass in front of Science and Technology School engrossed in a book on encryption and codes. Louie was getting her coffee but looking at her simple beauty he forgot to notice the stone that lay on the ground and tripped. "Oh Louie, you are so clumsy!" she teased him with mock irritation. "I am sorry, I really am. Let me get you another," he said. "Don't bother, Drake's waiting at the lab. Said he came up with an idea to decode the Nash puzzle," she said as she quickly gather her books. "What! Are you gonna come or not?" "Oh, ummm yeah .. umm why don't you go along, I'll be there in a moment," he said gulping down a rush of emotions that bubbled up from deep inside his heart. All through university and later in their research work, Louie never let his feelings for Anna known. For him, just watching her from distance happy and beautiful as she always was, was enough. But her death was too much to bear. So he ran as far as he could from everything that reminded him of Anna and found his recluse in this old monastery. |
| Meanwhile, Drake was driving in his car towards Scrum's place. The place where he used to live. The sudden working of the probe made him relieve his past. It was their first day after the launch. They worked for 2 years straight. Their effort was immense. There was a time when the budget assigned to this project went out of hands. The Department agreed to give extra amount if and only if they could show the prototype of the probe. The money remaining wasn't even enough to build a basic working prototype. They were back to ground zero again. Then, Drake made a huge decision, a decision that was accepted by everyone but Anna. He wanted to sell his patent "An efficient and feasible solution to the Dejovie's puzzle". This was his first patented acquisition. I lead the road to his 256 patents till date. Anna was reluctant to agree towards his decision because she knew the amount of hard-work he has done to solve it. Drake wasn't rich, but for this patent, he received a cash prize of $20,000 from the university. Though Drake and Anna were in love, they never went to big fancy restaurants or 5-star dates. But, as soon as he received that prize money, he took Anna to the biggest and the most beautiful restaurant in the town. They sat down for a candle light dinner. She was looking like an angel under the yellow-tinge of the candles. "If I knew that you would be this beautiful under these candles, I would have invested extra time to complete my project more quickly." said Drake with an innocent smile on his face. Anna blushed and replied, "I hate god for not giving you 36 hours a day." Both of them started laughing and started to eat. At that time, the solution to the Dejovie's puzzle was in very high demand. A company, named DeltaTech Solutions, wanted to buy it. But, Drake rejected it because he didn't want to sell himself and his work. They started showing him their money cards. The price tag even went up to $300,000. He was reluctant to do it. So was she. But, today they needed it. Still Anna was not fully on board with this decision. Drake could see the discontent in her eyes. He held her hands, "Hey. Anna. Look at me. We have to do this. I won't do if you don't agree on it." Anna replied, "But, you worked so hard for that. You can't give it away." Drake smiled and said, "Everyone works hard Anna. The part that matters the most is how it helps us in our time of need." Anna with little tears in her eyes, "This is why I hate you. You always come up with something to convince me." He smiled and hugged Anna. He called DeltaTech, to know if they still need that solution. They replied that they need it, but they are not willing to offer $300,000. Drake asked, "Okay. How much are you going to offer me?" The reply was, "$50,000". Drake was sad because he knew the value of it. He asked, "Can you give me at least $75,000?” There was silence for a moment, and the reply was, "Can't offer you 75 grand. The last we can go is up to $60,000." Without hesitation, Drake accepted the money and within a matter of months they completed a fully functional prototype of the probe. The mobile started to ring and that sound snapped him right into the present. It was a call from Russell. He answered. "Did you find anything, Russell?" "Yes. Of course, I did. I found Scrum's part of the password." On hearing this, the suddenly pressed the brakes of his car hard. It started to skid a little bit on the rough road. He was relieved. Drake took a deep breath, “Where did you find it?" "It was in the files. The pages were stuck together. Or, someone should have done it. " "It doesn't matter. Now we have 18 characters. We just need to find out Louie's." "But do you know where he is now? “ asked Russell, with a doubt. |
| The sun appeared too bright for Louie's, now so accustomed to the cool darkness of the abbey. He even felt weird in shirt, jeans and caps and was feeling uneasy among so many people. Though he was not sure of what he would do, he felt that the answer to his restlessness lies in the past and he needs to close a chapter there. The moment he stepped in the city he had spent a major part of his life, a gush of memories overcame. It seemed all the 47 years of his life tumbled together at his feet. Louie took a deep breath. "Where now Louie?" a voice inside asked him. He had sold his apartment car and every material item before leaving this city seven years ago. Did not even keep any contact with his mother and step-brother. His life had revolved around Anna and Drake and the team's work before everything went upside down. "You need a ride?" "Huh?"Louie was suddenly brought back to the present by the kind voice of the taxi-driver. "I was asking if you wanted a ride?" he said again. "Yeah," Louie mumbled. "Hop in then," he said with a green. Then came the question Louie didn't yet know the answer to. "Where to?" He sat there thinking. "Where do you want to go Sir?" asked the taxi driver loudly and slowly, a little impatient. Before Louis could gather his thoughts, the voice inside yet muttered the name of their research centre loudly and the taxi headed towards that direction. Th " |
| Drake was disappointed that Louie's step-brother Peter didn't have any information about Louie's whereabouts. He was depressed and started to drive back to the research center. He was vexed by the way Louie left him. He decided that he should never contact him. But friendship, another feeling after love that makes people stupider each day. He called him, but it was in vain. So, he decided to move on. While driving, memories started to flash before him. The three of them together. "Louie, pass the salt." said Anna. "It's right beside you" replied Drake. "Oh come on drake, he is the only unmarried person in our batch." "In our batch?" replied Louie. "Yeah! And by batch I mean the whole university strength when we graduated." answered Anna playfully. Louie was become a tad bit impatient and said, "Hey Drake. If it wasn't for Anna, You would be passing the salt right now. I would have married her." Drake and Anna started laughing out loud. "Yes Drake, we would have married each other." Anna tried to tease Drake. Drake replied, "Oh really? So, Did you think I would leave you like that?" Anna continued, "I know you wouldn't leave me. But, Louie here knows how to hide a dead body. We could have used his expertise." Louie was staring at the angelic face of Anna, but he was able to hear every word that came out of Anna's mouth very clearly. Louie became active, "Oh come on Anna. It was the dead body of a rat. A dead rat. I had to hide it somewhere because I accidentally stepped on it." Anna continued, "Oh really Louie, tell the truth." Louie became vulnerable as soon as he heard words from the mouth of his beloved, Anna. He said, "Okay. It was a mistake. I didn't know that it was stuck between the breads of my sandwich." Anna and Drake were laughing uncontrollably. Louie continued, "I didn't notice it. So I had taken a bite as usual." Drake broke into unstoppable laughter. Tears were rolling out of his eyes. All of a sudden, he was about to hit a car in the front. He applied the brakes and the car stopped with a jerk. He became tense and infuriated and started honking his horn to make the car in front move. But there was no response. He got down from the vehicle to check what happened. To his surprise, that car has hit a taxi and the owner of the car and the taxi driver were having a huge argument. He took a step forward to stop it. While walking forward, he could see an unconscious person in the back seat of the taxi. He stopped the taxi driver showing him the person in the back seat. But he wasn't stopping. He continued to argue. Drake became irritated and opened the door of the taxi to check on that person. He was stupefied. The unconscious person was none other than his best friend Louie. Drake couldn't recognize him at first. The Louie he knew was handsome, always clean only with traces of beard and a strong yet cute moustache. But the Louie he found looked like a prisoner who escaped from the purgatory. His face was filled with long white hairs, with a beard that looked like as if it was untrimmed for decades. He started to wake him up. Due to the force exerted on him by the accident, he went into a state of shock. Drake tried to wake him up, but it was in vain. He stood up quickly and found a water bottle under the seat of the driver. He opened the cap and started to sprinkle it on his face. The response was null. He held up his heart against his ear. There was no heartbeat. Drake couldn't bear it. He left him. He let him go off his hands. He could feel all the memories and moments going into thin air. As Louie's body hit the ground, his wallet fell down open. The pocket of his wallet had a picture which was taken on Anna's birthday. A picture which was shot by Drake, a pose of Anna hugging Louie. On the back it was written, "WILL LOVE TILL DEATH." |
| Louie's sudden appearance and death cast a gloom over the scientist community. Though Russell didn't know him well, out of curiosity he accompanied Drake in all the formalities that followed Louie's demise. Back a work Drake was little distracted. "We were so close to the solution..," he said munching the rubber of a pencil in an absent-minded manner. "What was Anna's birth date?" asked Russell, a idea just shot through his mind. "Why?" Drake asked but nevertheless telling Russell the date, who quickly added it to the rest of the 18 digits and... waited. "Louie won't use such an obvious code," said Drake, turning away from the PC.. only for a split of a second. Then quickly turned back pushed Russell aside and retyped the number. And Voila... the screen showed ' You Have Done It Mate' and the probe file, closed seven years back lay open in front. Russell almost jumped in joy but had to immediately start working searching for the source of the signal. "What did you use?" he asked Drake just out of curiosity. "Our orientation day at college, when Anna, I and Louie met for the first time," Drake said, a smile hanging from him lips but Russell could also see his watery eyes beyond the glasses. |
| Meanwhile, all the back-up data of the probe and the results were downloaded from the server. The system started beeping. Russell went to check on it. He was surprised and shocked at the same time after he found out the source. "Hey Drake, where the heck did you guys send that probe?" questioned Russell. "Our target was to reach the inner atmospheric circles of Jupiter. We wanted to study about any extra-terrestrial life forms out there. Why? What happened?" "As far as I know, it did not reach Jupiter." Drake surprised, "What? Then where are these signals coming from?" "You won't believe but the signals are originating from one of the Jupiter's many moons, Amalthea" "Amalthea? That was known as Jupiter V, wasn't it?" "Yes. But it was later changed to Amalthea." Drake stood up, head held up high in confidence "Okay Russell, Listen to me attentively. Try to find out whatever you can about this moon. I'll be back in a while." Russell responded, "Okay. But, where are you going?" Drake didn't care to hear that. He took his mobile and started to walk out. He started dialling a number. The person on the other end answered it. Drake in excitement, "Hello Professor Renard , it's Drake. Drake Archer. " An old voice started on the other side of the call, "Drake? How are you? How long it has been?" Drake continued "I am fine professor. I want to talk to you about something. Can I meet you now?" "Yeah sure. Come to my office." "Sure professor. I will be there in 15." Drake went to Russell , "Did you find anything?" Russell answered, "Yeah Drake. A lot." "Tell me everything." responded Drake with anxiety. "Okay. Cool down. Have a glass of water." Drake drank some water from the bottle next to his table and, "Okay. Now tell me." Russell explained, "Amalthea is the third moon from Jupiter in terms of distance. It was named after...." Drake, a bit irritated, "Skip the crap Russell. Just tell me the about geographical conditions and life supporting gases." "Okay. Sorry. Amalthea has 6 hours of daylight. It is irregularly shaped and reddish in color, might be due to sulfur. It consists of mostly crates and ridges. But, I don't understand why the signals would have originated from there. Drake, it is a barren moon. There are no any known details about it." asked Russell confused. "Yeah. I know. What about gases? Any of them capable of supporting human life?" Russell replied, "There is a spectrum that shows characteristic signatures of water. There is an unproved claim that granular gases exist. Apart from that, there is nothing." Drake was a bit disappointed. Russell continued, "Wait. Here it says that it was not formed in the place where it orbits around. What does that mean?" Drake looked surprised, "What?" "Yes. It says so. If it was not formed in the place, how come did it land there in the first place? This moon is not even spherical in shape. It looks here in a broken ellipsoidal form." Drake thought deeply for a moment. He answered in a low voice, "I may have a theory about how it got landed out there." "What is that?" "Asteroid collision maybe. In the solar system, asteroids move at unstoppable speeds. One of them must have knocked this Amalthea out. I can say that if that sort of collision occurred, there would be a lot of changes in the atmospheric conditions of that moon. Conditions that may even support life forms." smiled Drake realizing that he has discovered something new in the process. He continued, "Okay Russell. You stay here and try to decode the messages from the probe. I have to meet my professor." "Why?" questioned Russell. "One of my professors, actually my inspiration. Their team start creating 'space pads' that can allow us to reach distant planets. A few years back I heard that they had prototypes of pads that were ready to travel even to Uranus at commendable speeds. He may help us." "What? You really want to go out there? A moon whose chemical characteristics are unknown?" questioned surprised Russell. "Yes. But not alone. May be with his crew. I will have a talk with him and will come back. Meanwhile, you try to decode them if possible." |
| To Russell's surprise the decoding of the signal was as easy as cake and it almost sounded like a welcome song, as if the creatures of that Amalthea has left an open invitation to their place. In fact in human terms the message sounds like a promotional tool highlighting all the goodies of that place. Russell was amused and couldn't wait for Drake's return. |
| "May I come in Professor?” requested Drake knocking the door of his cabin. "Yes, come in Drake. How are you? " replied an old voice, aged around 80 with white hairs circling his face. Drake came inside and closed the door. He sat on the chair facing Renard. "I am fine sir. I want to talk to you about something." Renard smiled, "Oh typical Drake. Always right to the point. No wasting time." Drake smiled. Renard continued, "Okay boy. Tell me." Drake started, "Remember AA310 sir? The probe our team built to search for extra-terrestrial life forms in inner atmospheric circles of Jupiter." "Yes. I do." "Yeah! That started responding a few days back. We were receiving signals from one of the Jupiter's moons, Amalthea. My assistant is trying to decode them now." "Really? Good to know." appreciated Renard, “Now, how can I help you with that?" Drake took a deep breath, "I was wondering if your team can make an expedition to that place. I know about your life's work on building space pads. " Renard laughed, "Drake. Space pads were a dream. It was possible in theory, but we never built any in practice." Drake smiled, "I know it in your eyes when you lie to me professor." "Huh? Why would I lie to you son?" exclaimed Renard. "Because I know my professor would never give up till last breath. I am what you made me today sir. Please." requested Drake. Renard stood up and tapped Drake's shoulder with his hand, "Follow me." Renard started walking till the elevator. They both went into it and elevator started to go down. It finally stopped at approximately 80 feet below ground level. They started walking into which looked like a huge tunnel but with light blue tinge all over the sides. They finally stopped near a wall, which looked like any other wall out there. Renard started to raise his hand with palms facing north. A blue ray of laser beam started to fall on his palms and a voice from the speaker said, "Access Granted." This opened up a door which was chiseled into the wall. He took Drake inside and closed the door. Drake was amazed by seeing the work done there. He couldn't believe his eyes. "So, the space pads are real." exclaimed Drake. "I never would have given up on my life's work Drake" answered Renard with a little smile on this face. Drake was looking around. Meanwhile, Renard started to call a fellow student who was working there. "Rachel, Rachel. Come here." A person, young enough in looks to say a girl, and old enough in knowledge to say a woman, aged around 23, turned around. "Yes professor." she started walking towards Renard. Renard introduced Drake and Rachel to each other, "Rachel here will show our latest prototype of Space pad. Come into my cabin after you have a look at it. " smiled Renard and started walking to his cabin. Rachel turned towards Drake, "This way, Professor." "Oh I am not a professor. You can call me Drake." smiled Drake. Rachel started explaining about the Space Pads, "Space Pads are low on weight and fuel efficient pads that we create here. Our technology allows us to travel up to Uranus at a laudable speed of 75000 mph." Drake was shocked on hearing that "Seriously? 75000 mph? Which technology do you use?" Rachel smiled, "Ion A." "Ion A? But, the maximum speed it can achieve is just 65000 mph right?" "You're right. But, with a few tweaks from our professor, we have upgraded the Ion A technology and created our own engine model. The results were good, till date. The hinges on these Space Pads are made of an alloy called inconel, which can withstand high temperatures. Most of the parts are made of strong silica, graphite, iridium and Reinforced Carbon-carbon. Any questions sir?" Drake was dumbfounded by looking at the prototype of Space Pads. It stood tall with a height of around 50 foot, with silver coated all the way through the body. He wasn't allowed to go inside, but from the outside he could see the six seats and the maneuver controls lucidly. Rachel asked again "Any questions sir?" Drake heard it and said "No. Nothing.". He couldn't take his eyes off the Pad. Rachel smiled, "Okay Sir. Let me show you the way to Professor Renard's cabin." Rachel and Drake started to walk towards Renard's cabin. As they reached, Rachel left, "Will meet you again sir. Bye." Drake smiled and entered into Renard's cabin and sat down facing him. "So, how is it?" questioned Renard. "Fantastic sir. 75000 mph? That must be your biggest accomplishment till date." Renard smiled, "75000 mph is for Uranus. We have to conserve fuel for that long journey, so, we have to maintain its respective speed ratio." Drake was surprised. "Are you saying that the farther the planets are from earth, the slower is the speed of your Space Pad?" "No. No. I am saying that each planet has a path from the earth around the solar system. Their paths are mostly flooded with shooting comets and dangerous asteroids. Can you just imagine what would happen if an asteroid moving at its own speed, in space, collides with a shuttle that travels at a rate of 100,000mph?" Drake smiling, "I don't even want to imagine that kind of a scenario sir." Renard smiled "Yeah. That's what we are doing here. We have made certain paths that at certain times a year can be said, theoretically, are below the normal range of risk and follow the straight route specified to it. This makes our work fuel efficient." Drake confused, "I don't understand what you are trying to convey professor." "It’s simple son. All the planets have an orbital period, i.e., revolution. Each planet has its own time. But, when they can align themselves in a straight line, the distance travelled will be less. For example, it takes 39 days from Earth to Mars when they can get clearly aligned in a straight line. The same travel takes 289 days if both these planets are on the opposite sides of the Sun. This is the time taken if the speed is 36000 mph. We are capable of more than that now." Drake was happy because he knew that their work would become accomplished in the near foreseeable future. "Professor, how much time it would take if the voyage is from here to Jupiter?" questioned Drake. Renard took a piece of scratch paper from his desk and started solving the equation. He took a calculator, calculated something and started noting some values on the paper. He started applying more calculations as he divided 365 million with 88500. Then he divided that resulting value with 24. Drake wasn't so surprised because he knew about the immense talent and knowledge of the professor. Renard started explaining, "The distance between Earth and Jupiter at their closest approach is 365 million meters. So, according to our ratio, the speed would be 88500 mph. So, if we divide distance with speed, we get time. It takes about 4,125 hours, i.e., when converted into days, it gets to a value somewhere around 172. In a gist, we can say that if takes 172 days to reach Jupiter." "But, we don’t need to reach Jupiter. We want Amalthea." "The distance between Jupiter and Amalthea is 112,500 miles. It doesn't matter when the distance is that negligible. Anyhow, you know that the orbital period of Amalthea is approximately 12 hours." "Actually, it is 11 hours, 57 minutes and 23 seconds to be precise." smiled Drake. Renard started smiling, "Yes. So, it doesn't make much a difference." A question was troubling in Drake's head. He popped it out, "How do we come back? Do we have enough fuel left?" "Ever hear about the Helios probe?" questioned Renard. "No." replied Drake. "Helios probe travels at a speed of 157,000 mph. This speed is not possible by any man-made machine in the present world. This technology can be only applied if we travel towards the sun." "What? The sun?" interrupted Drake. "We all know that Sun has the highest gravitational pull than any other star in our universe. At least, as far as we know. The concept is that, if we can use the Sun's gravitational pull and if we could create a braking mechanism that would nullify the gravitational pull as soon as we reach Earth, we can use this. But, the problem is that the braking mechanisms are a bit of risk as they were not fully tested." Drake smiled, "Test them professor. We still have time, right?" Renard took a deep breath, "I made all the calculations Drake. The closest approach between the two planets will be met in a matter of months. If we can't start this journey within a month or so, we have to wait approximately around a decade to do this again." Drake has almost lost faith and he face went pale. "But don't worry. We have met deadlines before. We will try to complete it on time." smiled Renard. "Just one last question professor. Can I go there with your crew?" "What about you daughter?" responded Renard. Then he realized that he had to do a lot of thinking. The first thing he knew was that, after leaving Renard's office, he has to go home to Nina and try to convince her. He knew in his mind that if he can't convince her, he would want to take her with him. |
| Nina was at her soccer practice, when Drake drove up and parked the car near the field. He watched his 12-year-old run around the field like a butterfly. She reminded him so much of Anna. Like her mother Nina was a popular girl --- good at her studies, at sports and was involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities. The most amazing thing about Nina was unlike other child of her age, she was very understanding. Drake often felt that Nina was more like a guardian to him rather than his daughter. 'Daddy', she threw her sweaty figure over Drake and kissed him lightly on the cheeks. 'You know what happened today...." Nina started filling up her father with every single incident of the day, without any break. Drake smiled, while smoothing her disheveled hair. "Okay, okay honey, take a breath. I will listen to everything, once we get home," he said. "I have something very important to tell you too." Nina stopped short and looked into her father's eyes. "What is it Daddy?" "I will tell you.At first let's grab some food, I am hungry." he said. "Oh Jenny taught me a new recipe yesterday. I will make that for you," she said happily. Drake delved in her chatters as they drove back home, while he kept on thinking how to tell Nina about his upcoming journey. He couldn't get to it before bedtime and it was Nina who brought it up. "What's wrong Daddy?" she asked as Drake was about to leave Nina's room after kissing her goodnight. "Huh? What" Drake was still at loss of word. "You said you wanted to tell me something. What is it?" she asked again. Drake came back inside and sat by Nina on the bed. Holding her hands tightly, he said softly, "Nina, you remember your Mom?" "Not much Daddy. But you said she loved me a lot," she said trying to read her father's thought. "She did. Very much. But she also loved the work the two of us did. And the last piece we were working on, was later named after her," he said. "Yes, you told me Daddy," she said a little impatiently. "We had actually closed that probe after your mom's demise, but it seems to be back again. We have picked up signals from outer space from one of Jupiter's moon," before Drake could finish his sentence, Nina jumped up shouting "Wow that's great news Daddy! Congrats!" and hugged her father. But her outburst of joy didn't last long, with a surprised look in her eyes, she asked, "What is it Daddy? Why aren't you happy? Are those aliens bad people? Are we in some kind of danger?" her little mind was racing with all kind of possibilities. "No, No we don't know yet. We couldn't respond to the signal yet, but ummm we need to verify.. So a team of experts would visit the moon ..." Drake looked at her daughter's face, which had changed colours all of a sudden. "You need to go?" She asked almost in a whisper. "I have to darling!" Drake said almost in a pleading tone. "I understand Daddy," choking down some bubbling up emotions down her throat. "I will miss you Nina. I don't even know whether I would be able to stay away from you, but this is important," he tried to explain, "And Nana can take care of you while I am gone, I will call her up first thing in the morning. And I will always be in touch with you..," Drake was cut short in the middle of the sentence..when Nina forced a smile and said, "I will be fine Daddy, don't you worry. I would be a good girl. You go ahead. It is important." she pulled up the quilt and said 'Good Night!' to her father. Drake's heart almost broke as he managed a almost inaudible 'good night'. He wished Nina was a little less understanding. He wished Nina would make a fuss about him leaving. Her simple acceptance of the situation made it even harder for him to leave his little angel back home. Drake couldn't get any sleep the whole night. Before it was 6:00 in the morning, he reached for his phone and was about to call his mother but instead ended up calling Renard. "Hello Renard, it's me Drake. Sorry to call you up so early. But I needed to ask for one more favour. Do you think you can make space for one more person on board?" |
| After hearing Renard's reply, he became relaxed and closed his eyes for a moment to take a nap. Suddenly, his phone rang. Drake cursing himself, "Yeah! There is no chance in hell that I will be sleeping today." picked up the phone. It was Russell on the other end. "Drake. Are you asleep?" "Well. I was about to." retorted Drake. "Oh. I am sorry. But I want to know what happened. You haven't come to the office yesterday. What happened?" questioned Russell. "I will tell you everything. Did you decode those signals?" Russell with a happy tone, "Yes. I did. It was so damn easy. Well, It has to be for an outstanding person like me." Drake smiled, "Stop kidding yourself Russell. Now, tell me. Was it a message? " "Yes it was." Drake exclaimed, "Good! What does it say?" Russell took a deep breath, "Come here." Drake confused, "Can't you do this on the phone?" "The message was come here Drake." replied Russell. "What? In English?" "No. Not English. The language was a disproportionate mixture of Mayan Alphabetic Glyphs and Egyptian Hieroglyphics." "What and what?" responded Drake confused. "Yes. What you heard is right." "But. That's impossible. They don't even exist now. But how? How did you even get the resources to decode those?" "Well. My grandfather was a papyrus fan. He always tried to decode ancient scripts found in Egypt and other ancient archeological sites. He always thought that we are not alone in this universe and someone would be trying to send a message. He taught me some things." "That's great Russell. I will call you back. Bye." Saying this, Drake collapsed on the bed. He wanted to think about the voyage that is about to happen. But due to his weariness, his mind became pitch black. |
| Drake was in the midst of a dream. "Dad. Dad. Wake up. You have to drop me at school. It's almost time." said a cute voice. He was alarmed by Nina's voice and started to wake up. The three hours of his sleep felt like a few minutes. His vision was still blurred. He could barely see his daughter. She was wearing her shoes. Drake stood up and went to wash his face. He splashed water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. The redness in his eyes told themselves a story that he didn't get enough sleep. Meanwhile, Nina shouted "Dad. Make it fast or we'll be late to school." Hearing that, Drake took one of the towels from the hanger and started to clear the water droplets off his face. He came to Nina, who was eating a sandwich in a rush and said, "Darling. Calm down. Do you really want to go to school today?" "Of course yes dad. I have to." Drake smiling "Okay. What if I said that I would take you in space? Still want to go to school?" Nina was surprised "What space? To that moon you said? " "Never mind. It was a bad idea. You have to go to school today. " teased Drake. "Please daddy. Please." Her innocent eyes started to do their work. Drake continued, "No Nina. School is important as you said. Get up quick. We need to go." "Please dad. I love you. Anyway, there is not much going in school now. So, I think I can take a day off." winked Nina. Drake smiled, "That's the spirit. Now come on. We are going to take a test drive in our space ship." "We? Our? You are the one going. I have to stay with Nana. You said that yesterday night." responded Nina in a low voice. "yes. But darling, things have changed." "So you aren't going? " asked Nina with a smile that extended her rose-colored lips till her ears. "No. I am going." Nina's face became dull again. She said "Oh. I thought..." Drake interrupted "Wait. I am not finished yet. You are coming with me." Nina was still in her depressed mood, "Stop kidding me dad." Drake looked at her and gave a gentle smile. She understood "You aren't kidding, right?" Drake continued his smile. Nina understood it and jumped with joy. She hugged him so tightly that they was no room for even air to escape. He took her into his arms.Even though she was 12, for Drake she would always be the three year old who wet her bed and complained, "Mommy did it." He kissed on her forehead and said, "Shall we go?." |
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