The Chronicles of Z'va'Xin
By Robert G. Moons
Copyright 2011 Robert G. Moons
*****
Chapter 1
Alien “fossil” unearthed
The sun brutalized the strange landscape with its all too familiar waves of heat. A landscape made up of large curved rock hills created by rivers that had cut deep into the soft sandstone and other soft rock. There were also a number of odd looking sculptures that had been carved over time – mushroom like formations; some that would make the more prudish blush, and others laugh. There was minimal vegetation in this harsh landscape, only the hardiest of plants claiming their small patch of parched, sun-baked ground. All elements combined gave the landscape an almost eerie other worldly feel. The area was called the Badlands by the early settlers, and with good reason – nothing they wanted to grow, would grow.
A solitary figure moved slowly over the solar heated ground, stirring up small clouds of dust with every arduous step. With every step he was deciding whether to go back to his air-conditioned hotel in Drumheller, Alberta, or go on just a bit farther. His stubbornness won out so on he struggled.
Dave Van Bercham was not a paleontologist or some professional dinosaur hunter – just an avid hobbyist, who used some of his vacation time hunting for fossils. This was the newest of his interests, and one, he was even now deciding whether to keep. Writing music at room temperature was starting to look better and better as the huge sweat spots on his light grey t-shirt expanded, threatening to dominate the few dry areas that remained. He was not looking for anything in particular. Just finding anything was starting to look real good right about now, but he had hoped for the rare possibility of finding a Troodon, a raptor-like dinosaur that was about two metres long. It was the paleontologist’s flavour of the month. He was looking in an area up a hill where the layers of rock were estimated to be around 73 million years old – around the right time for the Troodons. Then something strange caught his eye.
Farther up the hill of sedimentary outcroppings was a dark black colour that looked oddly out of place compared to its surroundings. It was too far away to make out what it was so he climbed the steep slope to the rock outcropping that framed the black thing.
Less than a minute later, he was conversation distance close and looking eye level at it. He thought it would have been a dark rock or something, but getting closer to it had made it even more of a mystery. Only about 15 centimetres of it was visible. Rain and wind had partially dug it out from its tomb of rock.
He touched it but quickly pulled his hand back. He didn’t know why he did this. Something instinctive, something very basic made him react like that. Like a cat seeing itself in the mirror for the first time. But like the curious cat, he touched it again. It felt like glass, but cold. It shouldn’t feel that cold in this heat, he puzzled. Yes, that was why he pulled back so quickly – the briefest touch told him something was wrong. Another odd thing struck him next – there were no reflections on it. Something this smooth should have reflections but instead of seeing his face or the glare of sunlight on it – nothing. If he wasn’t touching the black smoothness of the thing, he would have thought there was nothing there.
He noticed it was sitting within a dark layer of rock. This layer was supposedly created by the fallout after a giant meteorite hit the earth 65 million years ago – one of the many dinosaur extinction theories.
He could discern it had a slight curve to it. All he could think of was that it was a large volcanic rock, and had somehow found its way to this location. Melted rocks can be glassy smooth he tried to convince himself. Yes, that’s it, it’s a volcanic rock, and there might be a lot more of it buried. He might have found something interesting after all! He took his small wedge-shaped hammer from his backpack, and started chipping away at the layers of soft rock.
Z’va’Xin awoke from the long blackness. Her first awareness was that of success – her survival strategy had worked. She next became aware that she was alone. There were no more of her kind anywhere. Sadness.... Great sadness....
Accessing memories....
Critical error made....
Meteorite was not anticipated....
Darkness after impact....
Energy low....
Not enough power....
Cannot escape planet’s atmosphere....
Cannot absorb solar energies....
Thinking....
Not enough power to self-destruct....
Thinking....
Nothing.
Z’va’Xin could not remember what had resulted in her being swallowed up by a liquid earth; sinking down deeper and deeper. She had sent out a signal for rescue. It was a weak signal and Z’va’Xin reasoned it would not reach her planet of origin. Under more optimal conditions, Xin could have easily moved out of the quicksand. No Z’va probe had ever been compromised, captured or destroyed by others. Only by their own decision had probes destroyed themselves. No other beings should be allowed to make use of the Z’va probe’s technologies. Few sentient species are morally ready for that responsibility.
Accessing memories....
Xin remembered her frustration – she could skim over the surface of a star, melt through solid rock, travel at incredible speeds, and even fold space. Yet she had found herself stuck in the mud with no obvious options remaining – except one. She would simply turn herself off. She didn’t like the idea. What if some intelligent beings found her? No, this planet had the greatest variety of creatures she had ever seen in the known galaxy, but there were no beings that could disseminate and use her technologies. Although there were a number of intelligent species, there were none with the ability to develop technologies at the present. The chance of this type of occurrence was estimated at 1.176 million to one. However that was assuming there was some form of life in the first place, even if it was nothing more than bacteria.
Accessing memories....
No, she felt confident this was the only way. She would power down everything. Her energy cells would store the little remaining power for a few of this planets full orbital cycles but then she would experience the blackness when they were depleted. She knew the atmosphere would eventually clear, and the planet’s surface would go through constant changes. She could not predict if she would be freed from her grave through erosion or some cataclysmic event. This was a hoped for possibility, but she knew, at some point, this star would use up its fuel and go supernova. The blast would tear this world apart, and she would be freed. Yes, this was the only solution.
So she had “slept”. A thousand years passed.... A million years passed.... Layer upon layer of rock covered her – some layers were eroded by water and wind – more layers replaced them. Fifty million years passed.... Above her, the incredible diverse animal and plant life evolved. Some became extinct, some new forms added, and ever changing. An earthquake – the layers she was in were pushed up forming a mountain, but she was still deeply buried in the soft rock. Millions of more years pass, followed by more erosion. The dawn of man – the 1.176 million to one possibility is realized. A few more million years pass....
It is May 15, 2011. It is early morning. A pronghorn antelope walks too close to the edge of a hill. It dislodges a rock and starts a rockslide. A large rock knocks away a large portion of sedimentary rock outcroppings. The first sunlight in 65 million years hits a small portion of Z’va’Xin’s surface. Power cells slowly absorb the energies, systems are powered on, and the long blackness fades. Light! Glorious light! Extreme happiness!
Dave Van Bercham kept eagerly chipping away at the layers of sedimentary rock. More than a half a metre was now visible; it definitely was curved, possibly sphere shaped, although he wasn’t sure as to how much more was hidden within the rock. The sun was high overhead – he felt the blistering heat on the back of his neck. The sun was now hitting the black curved object directly, and still no reflections. It was like the sunlight just disappeared into the blackness of it. He cautiously touched its surface again; to his surprise it was just as cold as when he first touched it. What was this thing? It wasn’t like any rock he had ever encountered. Puzzled, and very curious, he continued the excavation.
Proximity alert!
Xin’s warning program subroutine became active, the threat evaluated and tactical measures taken, all within a fraction of a millisecond.
A blinding white light and everything went black. Dave Van Bercham was unconscious before his limp body hit the dusty baked earth and slid slowly down the hill about ten metres.
As the manufactured tool wielding humanoid laid unconscious, Xin continued absorbing all the different energies from the Sun: radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. It felt so good. She had been so weak for so long. Weak and helpless were feelings she had not known until this incident. Feelings she was determined to NEVER let happen again. Her energy cells were charged now. Her outer shell had done what it was designed to do – absorb any form of energy, whether it be from the various star radiations or the other less efficient forms such as sound, wind, or an occasional accidental tap from a metal hammer.
Over the millions of years she had “slept,” there were numerous occasions when vibrations in the earth had given her a small amount of energy. However, it was never enough to give her the power needed to melt her way out of the earthen tomb. Her cells were depleted long before the next earthquake hit. She used the brief periods of consciousness to run diagnostics and maintenance subroutines. Not that this was necessary but it gave her something to do.
Now the Z’va reactor was online, having been powered up by the lesser power of her energy storage cells. Soon the reactor was at minimum power. Her outer shell began the process of super heating, as it changed in colour from pitch black to white hot. A few seconds later, the soft rock around her melted away like butter in a microwave; the aftermath looking like the results of a mini volcano with an occasional popping bubble.
Xin hovered about a metre above her red-hot melted tomb. Her energy cells automatically collected the small amount of energy from the melted rock, as well as the sun’s radiations. This was a new program she had created as soon as she had freed herself. No longer would she let herself go weak. Weakness leads to vulnerability, vulnerability leads to possible compromise and the inability to self-destruct.
The Z’va’Xin probe was a perfect sphere, about a metre in width, as black as India ink, no reflections, and back down to a cold zero degrees celsius. Xin made no sound whatsoever – she was the perfect observation, recording, analytical device and so much more.
Xin’s data storage unit had the recorded, complete information from 2,941 worlds. Complete meaning every detail of a planet from temperature to life forms, from chemical compositions to orbital rotation time. She had almost finished her documentation of this world but now, much of this information would have to be categorized under ancient history rather than present or recent history. As a matter of fact, all of her information was very dated indeed.
She hovered over to the sentient life form that still lay unconscious. Xin did not damage it; she merely manipulated its nervous system, rendering it unconscious. It was an instinctive, self-preservation reaction. She knew it was the best course of action, but she felt somewhat sorry for the result. This creature had aided her release by a few cycles sooner. The humour of it struck her – a few cycles from an eternity.
The Z’va probe seemed to defy gravity as she silently went down the gradual slope, hovering about a metre off the ground. It had long been known gravity could not be controlled or manipulated. Mass, however, can. If an object has no mass, no gravitational force can act upon it. The solution was quite simple once multi-dimensional phasing was developed.
Dave Van Bercham was sitting up now and in a daze. He was a fairly average looking caucasian male, thirty-five years old, almost six feet tall, and a solid one hundred and eighty pounds. He had short, dark brown hair, a van dyke style beard and mustache that were neatly trimmed.
His blue-grey eyes now focused on the black thing moving slowly and quietly towards him. He stood up and started backing away from it. Was he dreaming? He was still a little dizzy and not sure of his footing. He stopped suddenly as if stunned. He knew he didn’t need to be afraid. He somehow knew it. It was like a feeling, an emotion that came over him. He also knew it came from the black object. Somehow he knew it. It communicated with him. Not with words like “Don’t be afraid,” but in essence, that was the message the sphere had emoted to him. The sphere emanated calmness, friendship and a need to communicate as it sent the pulses directly into Dave’s mind.
By the time the sentient had been calmed down and its curiosity could be sensed, Xin had completed her detailed analysis of this life form, categorized it and filed it away for future reference. It was a good find. It was a rare find – an intelligent, sentient life form, with tool making ability. In all her travels, Xin had only 73 listed in this category. It wasn’t technologically advanced as some, but it was still an exciting discovery. Xin labeled it 1-74.
Another interesting observation she noted was its physical appearance. It was not unlike her makers who were taller, more slender, and without body hair. Make these adjustments, and this species looked remarkably like them save for a few minor facial details. She decided to mind scan it.
Dave couldn’t believe what was happening. “Hello,” Dave said in the friendliest voice he could muster. “I mean you no harm.” He couldn’t believe he said that. He smiled and did his best to look harmless. This is some kind of alien or space type thing he guessed.
Xin became a bit apprehensive as the mammal bared its teeth, but knew now that it could not possibly scratch her outer shell with those bone teeth or the composite metal tool at its feet. She stopped 2 metres from the life form and began the scan. A bright white streamer connected the probe to the head of the subject.
Dave had to close his eyes from the brightness, his head felt like it was going to explode but he was not afraid. A message of calmness – no harm – learning about you, was silently communicated to him. The whole thing took only a few seconds; when it was done, Dave fell to his knees as his legs gave out from under him. He was left with a headache verging on a migraine, but otherwise felt intact.
Xin was shocked by the findings of the brain scan. This is not possible she thought, but the scan was accurate, and all her systems were functioning at maximum efficiency. This sentient life form had a scan result that was so close to the ones who had made her that it was an impossibility. Had they traveled this far while she lay dormant in the earth, or is it just an incredible random coincidence? She didn’t know for she was unable to witness the events that had unfolded above her over the millions of years.
Xin had learned a great deal from the brain scan. All that this individual of species 1-74 knew, she now knew as well, but it didn’t answer conclusively the one question Xin sought.
She again scanned outside the earth’s atmosphere and into space, searching for a sign that her makers were alive, or a sign of the existence of another Z’va probe out there. There was nothing except the various wave patterns of 107 different intelligent life forms, some living, some long dead. Loneliness and sadness again struck her.
“He-llo,” the probe echoed in a perfect impression of Dave’s own voice. “I mean you no harm.”
“You can understand me?” Dave stammered out.
“Yes,” Xin said. “I only wish to communicate with you. Please, what is your species origin?”
Dave was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and having his own voice asking him a question didn’t help his sanity. “Species origins?” Dave repeated back.
“Is this planet your species origin, or have you colonized this planet?"
“As far as I know, this is my species origin,” Dave answered more calmly now. “We have found fossil remains of our species dating back millions of years.”
Xin could feel a level of certainty that emanated from life form 1-74 as it replied to her question. For now, Xin concluded that this species was an incredible random coincidence, unless she discovered something to contradict the present information. In any event, this species was very compatible and she so wanted a companion when she ventured back into deep space.
She had been alone for so long the further loneliness of space was unbearable to consider. Out there she would not be able to turn herself off for millions of years – it was too dangerous. Others of her kind had merged with another Z’va probe and even a humanoid maker to ward off the loneliness of space travel. Xin was relatively young and her missions were only limited to this galaxy, so there was really no need for a companion but now everything had changed.
Xin had to find out for certain that her makers were no more and should be allocated for her history files. No civilization lasts forever. Xin knew this as her discoveries confirmed this time and time again. Deep down, she knew that her civilization was long gone. No civilization in the known Universe had ever lasted more than 70 million years. Some died from natural disasters, disease or invasion. Those that had survived these early challenges and had achieved incredibly long life or virtual immortality, died from the results of insanity. Evolving beyond the need for physical form was the most rare occurrence, but this also led to civilizations end and the dawn of the omnipotent being or God as understood by this individual of species 1-74.
The Z’va probes were Xin’s civilization’s failed attempt at creating a sentient machine that emulated this last step in the evolution of life. Xin was not omnipotent; otherwise she would not have found herself in this predicament. However, Xin has the capacity to evolve beyond her original abilities. It was not uncommon for a Z’va probe to come back to its planet of origin more improved than when it had left.
“Dave, I wish to share some of my knowledge with you,” Xin used the beings name to make it sound friendlier.
“How do you know my name?” Dave asked in amazement as if replying to some sort of magician’s trick.
“I know everything you know,” Xin echoed back. “This oral language is not very efficient. It is much too slow. I will share some of my knowledge with you. It is only... fair,” the probe strategized.
Before Dave could protest, Xin blasted his mind with information as the bright white streamer connected with his mind once again. The pain was like a migraine but all around his head. Images, thoughts, even emotions flooded his brain. It was over in a few minutes. The pain went away but Dave felt physically tired and had to sit down.
It was all clear to him now! He knew what the probe was. He knew why it was here on earth. He knew things that no human being was meant to know. He knew more about dinosaurs than anyone on the planet! Xin, yes, that was the probes name.... Xin had given him the information she had collected about earth 65 million years ago! He not only knew exactly what dinosaurs looked like, but also how they moved, sounded, even their smell and more. The probe had detailed records – visual, audio, even scans of their anatomy! Xin was an incredible treasure trove of information. She had only selectively shared a small fraction of her stored data but Dave knew there was much, much more she wasn’t sharing. Maybe his brain couldn’t take it? Maybe he wasn’t meant to know? Whatever the reason, he sensed a level of distrust from the probe.
She had also given him general information she thought he should know. Sort of like “get acquainted” information when two species meet for the first time – What she is and does, where she is from, what had happened to her, etc. His head was spinning with too much information. It would take a while to process it all.
Xin wanted to stay on this planet, to learn more about these humans, to update her recorded data of this planet, but she also knew her reason for existence was in question. Her makers were most likely long dead, but she had to be sure. “Dave, I must go now but I might be back.”
Before Dave could reply, the probe moved straight up into the sky, increasing speed more rapidly than Dave thought possible. In a few seconds, the probe disappeared from sight.
Once Xin had left the Earth’s atmosphere, she increased her speed to 299,792 kilometres per second and headed towards the Sun. A few minutes later she was skimming over the star’s unimaginably hot photosphere, charging her reactor to maximum capacity. She needed the power from this star to get back to her point of origin. Now powered up, Xin headed towards the centre of the galaxy and initiated one of a series of space folds to get her home. The space ahead of the probe became a swirling mass of black and dark grey. Xin disappeared into its centre like a black pingpong ball being sucked down a drain.
*****
Chapter 2
The bigger they are...
Xin completed the last of a series of space folds to get back to her home world. A small swirling mass of black and dark-grey formed in the emptiness of space, a few seconds later the black probe shot out of its centre with amazing speed. A split second later, Xin stopped completely, with no noticeable deceleration, and more abruptly than any student of physics would believe possible. The Z’va probe remained motionless just outside her solar system as she began her scans. If viewed from within the system, the probe would have been invisible if it weren’t for the backdrop of a large burgundy coloured nebula in the shape of some eerie tentacled sea creature.
A short time later, Xin finished her scans and made her disheartening conclusions.
Sadness....
Despair....
Most of the system was much the same as it had been 65 million years ago. There were noticeable changes but that would have been expected over the passage of that much time. However, the fourth planet, her home planet, the planet where she was created, was now dead. The planet that had once been a blue and green ball teaming with life, orbited by space docks, stations; a multitude of various spacecraft was now a grey