Survival
An insiders look to the basic aspect of Alpha Centauri.
Volume 1 - Zakharov
Planetfall. Provost Zakharov stepped out from his newly fashioned University Base, and looked at the world around him. The new alien terrain was somewhat reddish, and he knew the material to be a certain kind of fungus. From his pod in space, he was able to research the landforms for a short time. He spotted the aliens of the planet, and he was horrified, but intrigued. They were worms, huge worms. And from the mass of their brain size, along with the physical and mental readings, he could guess that they attacked the neural net of the human mind, so he called them 'mind worms'. From the only inner fight amongst them, they attacked with a 'Psi' attack, designed to only attack the mind. He could almost guess that because the worms did not have any sort of outer covering and the base of the creatures looked very vulnerable.
A very soft noise under Zakharov's feet sent a spine tingling feeling into his mind, and it seemed to make him paralyzed for a very short time. After he came out of the state, he only guessed that would be the sensation of a mind worm's telepathic power, on a much smaller scale.
After a few 'Mission Years', technically, a Mission Year is equivalent to 2 Earth weeks, Zakharov had been getting used to the new planet. Zakharov leaned back in his chair, watching the monitor for any new developments. So far, they had made 3 technological advancements. All 3 would most certainly give the University the edge it needed to succeed. The first new 'tech' they came upon was a well-known Doctrine, Movement. This new tech allowed the Speeder chassis to be mass-produced; hence the name 'Recon Rover' for his first land based machine. This Rover had incredible speed, and it could accelerate faster then anything that Zakharov had seen before. The second tech, Nonlinear Mathematics, enabled a Planet modified laser to be used on his combat units. The third tech was probably the most useful, but accidental, Centauri Ecology. His Scout Team had recovered a pod, and this tech had made some sort of advancement to the ability to understand the planet's natives. Zakharov had yet to fully understand this piece of technology, but he would set it aside until morning, when he was fully aware of his surroundings instead of thinking he was in a dream.
Just as he was about to retire to his room, a distinct 'bleep' was heard, and a little light was flashing by the 'Contacts' button on the screen. Zakharov stood for a moment, and said very briskly in his Russian accent, "Contact on panel 5." Nwabudike Morgan, a very powerful and greedy leader on Earth. He owned one of the most powerful industries on the planet, Morgan Industries. Zakharov happily smiled at the first contact with another faction on the planet, and bowed slightly.
Morgan happily bowed in return, and said, "Zakharov, I trust you have been keeping well? As I need for no introduction, neither do you. I am very pleased to see that I'm not the only survivor on the planet, as I had thought the other factions would've been able to contact me now."
Zakharov nodded, and cleared his throat. No such thought had occurred to him. Had the other faction leaders made it safely to 'Planet'? Zakharov looked back at the Vid-Screen, and smiled. " Just as well to see you Morgan. Has your wealth been satisfactory on the Planet? Are you in need of any assistance?"
"No, I'm quite fine actually. I have a proposition for you. As our needs are increasing every day, I think we should join forces and fight bravely the forces of Planet. We both know that you are the most intellectually gifted soul ever created, and our alliance would be a very good venture indeed. Technology needs energy to complete, and we could exchange information and energy freely for the basis of survival on Planet. So, will you accept my offer of a Pact of Brotherhood, Zakharov?" Morgan said softly.
A message popped up on the Vid-Screen that read, 'Morgan offers Pact of Brotherhood. Do you accept?' followed by a 'Yes' and 'No' button. Provost sat back in his chair, and started to think. The energy reserves of Morgan would benefit him greatly, but should he agree? He has had a history of monopolistic grasping on Earth, but the benefits of his friendship were too big to ignore.
Zakharov got up from his chair, and pressed the 'Yes' button on the Vid-Screen. Morgan smiled, and said, "Excellent. We shall converse further in the morning, as for me, I need rest."
Provost grinned, and grumbled, "Rest is a greatly needed resource, and possibly the most valuable. Goodnight, CEO Morgan." Zakharov let out a big sigh of relief, and walked into his room. His mind and body were weary, and he thought a night of rest would do him good. Among the goodnights of his secretaries, he slipped into his bed, and shut his eyes.
Suddenly, his whole body was frozen. He thought the sensation was very similar to the mind worms telepathic power, only this time it was different. The inability to move was longer, and a voice, the voice of an alien being which was not physically present in the area, echoed in his mind…"earthzakharov…we welcome you earthzakharov…"
To be continued…
