This is my first attempt at both SciFi and short story writing, so please be gentle with me. I hope you enjoy the very short short story, complete on two pages. //It now includes the March 30 update//
Michael Paul Hurd
Author/Publisher
Lineage Series
Lineage Independent Publishing
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Proxima
Centauri B, Please Respond
By
Michael Paul Hurd
Left behind on the third planet
orbiting Heliosolis, Kashmek was desperate to return to his homeworld. He had tried to assimilate
into the society on the planet, known as Deko to Proxima Centaurians, and had
been quite successful. Kashmek had already been a resident on Deko for nearly seven centuries
and had survived many of Deko’s disease outbreaks. Living as a quiet, unassuming
assimilee into Deko societies, Kashmek knew the sources and causes of diseases
that seemed to decimate the population on Deko roughly once a century. He had seen
the Black Death, cholera epidemics, yellow fever outbreaks, and influenza – all
terms used by Deko societies to describe diseases that Proximans had
long ago learned to avoid.
This
time was no different. Normally, scientists on Proxima Centauri B would communicate with Kashmek or his mate, Bishma, on a lightwave communicator to
warn them of an impending outbreak. You see, Proximan scientists had discovered
that most contagious diseases on Deko were caused by spaceborne residue from
comets, supernovas, and stellar collisions that often took light years to reach
the Deko orbit around Heliosolis. They knew that the only way to escape
infection was to completely and totally isolate themselves
from Deko lifeforms.
Kashmek
and Bishma were not the only Proximans on Deko. There were at least 140,000
others scattered across the inhabitable areas of the Deko landmasses. They,
too, were assimilated into the local society; some of them had even achieved positions
of power in the bodies that governed those societies. Most of the assimilees,
however, were not lucky to have Proxima Centaurian mates and were forced to procreate
with Deko natives, a process which Proximans found inherently distasteful,
at least when the progeny began life. Regardless of the messiness of the
process, the assimilees knew it was necessary for their survival as a race, even
though the hereditary pool was diluted by the procreations.
Right
before the Dekoan celebration known as Christmas, Kashmek and all Proximans on Deko received a message on their lightwave communicators:
“In two Deko moon cycles, the planet and the
entire Heliosolis system will pass through the residue from the collision of two comets. Unlike other comets, one of these contains frozen proteins from the Beta
Anteros quadrant. These proteins are highly toxic to all Dekoan life forms,
including those of mixed breeding
with Proxima Centaurians. They only need a host to replicate before becoming contagious to those within ten feet of a
respirating Dekoan life form. We recommend that you take extreme precautions to ensure your own
survival; we are not yet sure of the effects this protein will have on Proxima Centaurian life forms.”
Kashmek
knew the message was valid from the hologram of the Supreme Council that
appeared after the message had been received and translated from their native
language. He also knew that it was imperative for him and his fellow Proximans to take the necessary precautions. They quietly and
unobtrusively began stockpiling provisions necessary for survival, using a centuries-old handbook that had been handed down through generations of their revered
ancestors since they first arrived on Deko several millenia ago.
Kashmek's species also made sure they had ample supplies of biohazard waste
removal paper, as their excretory functions were considerably messier than the comparable
Dekoan functions. Dekoans eliminated waste through a single orifice at the end
of their digestive tract, making clean-up relatively easy; in contrast, purebred Proximans released waste through a ringed array of seven orifices around a
central expulsion tract. The mere difference in physiology meant that Kashmek
and his kind would need roughly ten times as much biohazard waste removal paper
as their Dekoan counterparts.
As
predicted by the Supreme Council, the Heliosolis system passed through the
comet’s residue right on schedule. In a matter of days, Dekoans began dying.
Not the prepared Proximans, though. Kashmek knew the measures they had
taken across Deko would ensure the survival of his species and all of their
progeny, no matter how diluted their descendancy had become.
Six
Dekoan moon cycles later, the planet was devastated. Their economy had collapsed.
Looting was everywhere. Anyone showing symptoms of infection from the comet waste
was summarily executed and their bodies burned in large incinerators.
Kashmek, Bishma, and their fellow Proximans assembled in one of the most devastated areas. They were survivors.
They could continue. They could take over Deko. It was just a matter of
informing the Supreme Council that their moment had come to completely destroy
Dekoan society and replace it with their own. They began compiling their
message to the Council that very evening.
“Proxima
Centauri B, Please Respond…”
The preceeding short story is the
intellectual property of the author, Michael Paul Hurd. It may be subject to
copyright laws of the United States and other countries. No part of this story
may be used without permission of the author, except for limited quotation in
literary journals or reviews.
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