FROM JELEE'S JOURNAL

Science Fiction short story about women named Jelee

FROM JELEE’S JOURNAL

“So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written 'cross the sky
The revolution starts now”

When I opened my eyes, I saw clear bold blue sky over head. My hands were folded across my midriff. There were no thoughts running through my mind. I just felt so relaxed. I turned my head slightly to the right. That’s when I saw the tree tops. It’s also when the first thoughts started to flood into my mind.

I jerked quickly into a sitting position. Both arms outstretched behind me; propping my upper body up. My legs were still outstretched on mounds of moss-covered ground, where I lay. I did a full sweep of the area by sight. At first, I was turning my head all directions. Then, twisted my upper body to see the area behind me. I was laying in a small clearing surrounded by green deciduous forests. The ground in the clearing seemed to be roughly circular. It was covered with underlying bumpy hillocks of moss which were still squashed down in the particular place where my body had been laying. I was now on my feet examining the terrain, as I tried mentally to grasp where I was, and how I got there.

I’m Jilee, I’m from the planet Corm. I’m an environmental engineer which means I study planets and help change parts of environment, which become unresponsive, to conform to the general structure or exceptional intentions of the l planet plan.

I didn’t know where I was, But I could guess how I got here. Turning around slowly in a complete circle I examined the clearing in which I was standing and the edge of the forest, which seemed to completely enclose the clearing. On one side, I noticed a ten foot clear space leading into the surrounding forest.

Something else I noticed. A small clip attached to a pocket on the belt I wore. The clip had a very tiny pinpoint of light blinking on it. I detached the clip, broke it in half, and dropped it on the ground. I pulled up some moss by the roots and scuffed up some soil with my boot where I had uprooted moss. I scuffed soil over the top of the broken clip and smashed uprooted moss on the top of it I knew by doing this I was declaring,” The Revolution Starts Now.” Find me if you can.

With steady determination I moved across the clearing and entered the forest where I found an opening in the trees. I was not surprised to find a rather wide clear trail which went meandering on toward the unknown.

I had been walking about 20 minutes Corm time, when the trail opened up to a broad expanse of tall green grasses with reddish tops waving in a lazy breeze. I’m not tall. The grass was nearly shoulder high. I did not want to wade into it. Who knew what was living in its’ depth. About 60 feet into the field the grass started to rustle and a horse stood up. At least it was an animal near in features to a Corm horse only much taller and refined in bodily features. The withers were a foot taller than my head. The ears fastened to a long face were perked toward me. The animal shook its whole body and walked quietly toward me. I did not know whether to move away or stand my ground.

About 10 feet from me the horse spoke. I did not hear any sound, but I knew what it said.” Who are you?”

I replied using my voice, “I’m Jelee from the planet Corm."

“People from other planets must see Onyx the Gem master. Why are you here? Do you wish to graze?”

“No. I woke up in your forest. I’m startled to be here. What planet is this and where can I find the Onyx? I need to speak with it."
.
“Our home is called Larack. I will take you to Onyx. You can ride.' The horse walked over and knelt so I could mount. Once mounted, I found there was a thin harness strapped across it's chest with a handle across the withers. The animal's mane was long and soft.

“HANG ON!”

The animal sprang into the air with unfurled wings. “I was movin’ to a beat that I never felt before." Other beasts like the one I was riding had risen from the field and were ushering us toward a large ranch. I could see out buildings surrounding a centrally located building. There was also a courtyard located before the center building. That is where we landed.

“DISMOUNT!" The order was loud in my mind, and I complied.

A man came out the door of the building. He was tall and thin. He wore a working outfit that was made from some fabric I recognized. On Corm it is called space fabric. It's made from a plant structured by a human, who figured out how to structure the molecules, so they meld into fabric with no need for machine manipulation. They put the measurements in the seed, and the seed grows into a piece of clothing.

“We found this human in the grazing field. Just this one. We brought her home to you." Once this statement was completed, without a sound or stirring of a breeze or lifting of dust the horses departed.

“I’m Onyx." Just that simple statement. He spoke normally and use the language of Corm.

“I’m Jelee. I was on a transport from Corm. I woke up in small clearing in a forest. A trail from the clearing ended by the field where your horses were grazing. They brought me here. I assume I was dropped or dumped from my transport. I never heard of this planet before.”

“They are not my horses they are the planet species. Come in I will tell you about Larack. It's a gem planet. Off limits to the transports from any other place. I am the hired Gem master.”

We entered the building which turned out to be the residence of the Gem Master.

“WHAT ;YOU DO AND WHAT YOU SAY
THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW”

Sammy approached Craig quietly from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. Sammy jumped and whirled around “Stop that,” he roared.

“I was just wondering how things went with Jelee?”

Sammy looked around. “Not so Loud,” He whispered.

Craig shrugged. “Well?”

Lisa slid quietly up to the edge of the doorway. She slid a small black wire with what looked like a nodule on the end, into the room.

Sara tapped her on the shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Shh. I’m recording Sammy and Craig. Captain Lee can’t find Jelee and I think they did something to her. She has been missing since yesterday afternoon.”

Lisa as head of security keeps track of transport passengers. Sara is an assistant crew member.

“Jelee won’t bother us anymore.”

“That’s cool. Why not?”

“I slipped a little something into her breakfast cereal yesterday. By afternoon she took a long nap. Jim loaded her into a pod and dumped her in that off limits planet we passed in the night.”

“Won’t someone find her?”

“Naw, I researched it It’s off limits never explored just a wild unknown place with unending forests and fields. No space facilities." The boys chuckled at the thought of another environmentalist coming up missing. A problem regularly, in recent years, plaguing transport corporation ships.

“Come on Sara we have to notify Captain Lee. He told me he noticed some pod activity last night that wasn’t normal. I’m supposed to find out what Sammy was up too. I just hope Jelee is going to be all right until we can get to her.”

Sammy saw the head of security for the transport enter the lounge, Sargent Teddy walked up to him and said,” By order of Captain Lee I am putting Sammy, Jim, and Craig under arrest.” Sarah and Lisa watched as they were cuffed and marched off to the transport brig, where they would be kept until the transport docked at New Bird Colony.

Captain Lee entered the lounge. “ Hey Lisa, nice Job. The recording you presented fixed those scoundrels.”

“What about Jelee? What will happen to her now?”

“Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered ‘round
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing.
The revolution starts now”

“The headquarters on New Bird Colony received a message from the Gem Master on Larack. It seems there is a special species on Larack that found Jelee early this morning and delivered her to the Gem Master.

Onyx, is the Gem Master for Larack, He handles diplomatic and embassy concerns and sales and customer concerns for the gems they mine. She can catch a ride to New bird Colony on the next transport through the galaxy. However, when they found out what her special talents were, they offered her a job with Larack as an Environmental Engineer. Now the negotiations will have to go through New Bird Colony, because she also has a job waiting for her there.”

Jelee had really enjoyed her stay on Larack. The Gem Master had taken her on tours of the Gem fields and showed her the environmental living arrangements for the winged chargers and their families. The two humans were sitting on the veranda of the main house. She had been assigned a small bungalow over by a foaling barn while she had been staying on Larack.

The Gem Master was laying out a plan that had been hatched between the horse families on Larack.

"You see Jelee our sun reaches three habitable planets. The horse families have been mining and selling gems in an effort to create habitats for species that are losing their own planets or species that are under some kind of abuse on planets where they are presently living. I have a folder full of requests by animal species looking for a home, where they will be welcome, and will not be abused any more. There is more than enough room for many on the three planets.”

“The horses have asked me to give you an offer of work that would help us build a truly new way of life something dreamed of and its time has come. The best part is New Bird Colony has looked at our plans and wants to join us so you would be able to work for both as a joint effort. We could set up a small space port and you could shuffle back and forth between the communities. As an incentive the horses are offering you full citizenship and a home built to your specifications on one of our three planets. All three planets orbiting this sun will be considered Larack.”


“How could I resist an offer like this. New Bird Colony is asking to be included in rehoming these many species.” Jelee replied.

“I’ll contact their embassy in the morning. A good days work”. Onyx was smiling at the unfortunate situation that led to a new employee.

THE END

Steve Earl: The Revolution Starts Now: lyrics are a reference
Word count by WDC = 1897
Rhythyms and Writing Contest= #2002964
Science Fiction