Hyperspace Nocturne

Chapter No. 26. Confusion.

Chapter No. 26. Confusion.

After some effort, Janet was able to get high magnification images of the village outside the city. We gathered at the command station to view them.

"They look like humans," I said. "What the hell's going on here?"

"Maybe these are the humans that the aliens abducted," Natale proposed.

"They would have to be their offspring," I said.

"I didn't get any images of children," Janet said.

"Or, they were brought here in hyperspace and don't age like us," Bridget said.

That made me cringe. What she was suggesting was very disturbing.

"I've done some magnified images of the city, but I found no evidence of any living beings there," Janet said.

"I think we have to assume that the aliens brought these humans here and then they perished, maybe by some human infectious disease."

"That would be the ultimate revenge," Natale said.

"That it would, but we'll have to go down there to verify that theory."

"Are we going to wear bio suits?" Bridget asked.

"I don't think that would be necessary. Whatever killed the aliens shouldn't harm us."

We waited to the next day to travel down to the surface of the planet near the village. I took a laser rifle and had the women arm with laser pistols. I didn't think they would end up being used, but I felt it was a necessary precaution.

We landed near the village and exited the shuttle. The weather was not unlike any other day on the Earth we remembered except for one big difference; two suns dominated the sky, a sight that was definitely alien for earthlings.

The human colonists came up to greet us. They didn't appear to be armed or exhibit signs of violent intent. What surprised us was the fact that they all looked to be in their 20's, and there were no children.

"Who are you?" a male asked.

"We are the survivors of the first attempt to explore Proxima-b. Our mission was launched in 2043 but failed because of an engineering mistake that put us in hyperspace."

"We have no idea what year it is," the male said.

"We came here from Earth, which is in the year 2250, but it's probably a few years older now.'

"How did you come to settle here?" Janet asked.

"We once lived on Earth but were taken by alien creatures."

"Where are these aliens?" I asked.

"They became ill and died," he replied.

"We note that you don't have children," Sharon said.

"We are unable to birth," a woman replied. "We haven't had periods."

"We understand," Janet said. "We have the same problem. It's because of being in hyperspace. Obviously, the aliens used that process to bring you here."

"Are any of you from Mars?" I asked.

"They were vivisected," another male said. "The aliens wanted to understand them."

His statement momentarily angered me, but I refrained from expressing my anger.

"Are you okay living here?" I asked.

"We have plenty of food and water," the first male said. "The weather here is moderate."

"What is Earth like?" a female asked.