Proximo Colonies/Stories/117-120

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Dark Times

The night desends slowly on the barren desert planet Sanda. Cool winds from the polar regions announce the night and therefore a decrease in temperature of up to -30°C. Practically all the mine and factory workers have already withdrawn from hours in the false comfort of their homes and spend the last hours of the evening trying to drown in self pity. Abandoned in the noise of the cool sand winds, two figures are sitting on a huge rock, watching the last of the sun's rays.

One of them appears to be a little boy, swinging his legs, looking somewhat bored. Lost in thought, he looks ahead to the horizon and watches the last sunlight slowly give way to darkness.

"Dad?", asks the seemingly almost 8 year old child, "If I'm big as you, then do I get such nice, thick fur like you?"

"No, you will not get fur like me.", Caitian answered the question without averting the gaze from the horizon.

Astonished, the son thinks about his father's words and looks quizzically at his bare arms. A few hairs are clearly visible, but nevertheless these are nothing compared to the glory of his father's fur.

"Dad?", begins the boy again, "But my teeth will be just as strong and my paws will be just as large as yours, right?"

Tchark slowly turns around and looks intently at his offspring

"No little one, your teeth will probably never be that strong and you'll never get paws as large as mine!"

Sadly, looking at the child's hands, which looked very different from that of his father - instead of the burly paws with sharp claws several of his limbs looked like thin sausages which seemed powerless. When the little boy thought of it like that a tear rolled down his cheek and a suppressed sob penetrated to Tchark V`Chassal's ear.

"There is no need to be sad my son. Just because your mother was not Caitian does not make you any weaker than a pure-bred Catian!", The father tries to comfort his son, and places his paws on his shoulders gently."

"You have a beautiful long tail, excellent hearing, much better vision and reflexes as well as the strongest claws I have ever seen!"

The 8-year-old wipes the tears from his eyes and looks at his father undecided.

"But my paws bleed every time I use my claws", argued the child, "and my ears aren't as flexible as yours!"

"Well the shape of your feet is not intended for claws, but they are much more flexible allowing you to use, operate and repair small things."

Silently thinking the child, suspicious of his fathers words, moved his fingers.

"But...", said the boy wanting to start again, but Tchark interrupts him sharply.

"It is not so! You shall grow up to honour the name I gave you when you were born. Someday you shall become a great leader and warrior!"

Interested, the boys ears pointed forwards and his tail wagged excitedly.

"I have the name of a great warrior?", the boy asked, questioning his father.

"Yes", answered the boys father, "A very strong, brave warrior, he saved my life and was the wisest leader I ever met. I was honoured to have him as a friend"

With glittering eyes the child looked at Tchark in the hopes of learning more, but his father does not tell him any more about it.

"Go inside and go to sleep now", he says, "you're already trembling all over my body!"

Slightly disappointed and thoughtful the boy obeys his father and goes into the little mud house which was his home. But what would happen to him in the future? What did his father mean by those words? Deep in thought he falls asleep. Tchark remains sitting in front of the entrance of the house, looking at the stars, waiting for the distant day of judgement...

27.11.2007

Victim of Genetics

Another 2 years have now passed since Tchark told his son part of the truth. In the meantime, Proximo has grown into a strong boy with very special abilities which he uses and trains with great enthusiasm, but he still has more and more doubts which he cannot simply shake off. He can literally feel the stares of his father and all the other children who are captivated by him as soon as he uses his abilities. He also realizes more and more clearly how extraordinary the changes to his body are and that they even upset Tchark. So he makes the decision to discard everything that sets him apart from the other children and after a while he is now even able to suppress the bright green in his eyes, which used to take hold of them especially in stressful situations.

At last he seems to be accepted by other, albeit few, Caitian children, even if he is missing some parts as they say. Finally, the explanation that he is half-Caitian seems so obvious, despite his strong knowledge of genetics, that even he himself believes this seemingly obvious truth.

It would probably have stayed that way if Proximo had not suffered a harmless injury one fateful day while tussling with a Caitian. The marks of the claws are clearly visible and blood is flowing from the wound. His teacher quickly sends him to the school doctor to have the injuries treated with a dermal regenerator.

The doctor is amazed when the boy holds out his arm and the deep cuts begin to heal.

“Are you sure you were sent here because of these injuries?” the doctor asks the boy incredulously.

“Yes!” the little Proximo replies uncertainly, ”But Entrak started pulling on my tail and said that it was much shorter and weaker than his!”

He strokes the hair on his rump a little angrily to demonstrate that he was not to blame for the argument. The doctor, on the other hand, is less interested in the argument than in the fact that the scratch has healed almost completely within a few minutes.

“Please lie down on the biobed, I need to take a closer look,” the school doctor orders and fetches a medical tricorder to examine the boy more closely.

He observes the examination instruments with interest when he suddenly senses a change. He can't place it exactly, but the feeling that seems to come from the direction of the doctor makes him freeze. Proximo sniffs cautiously and notices a familiar scent that he has smelled before. If only he could remember the appropriate situation.

“Stay here!” the school doctor interrupts his thoughts and hurries out of the room while the boy continues to think about the recent events...

06.11.07

The Sleeping Beast

Proximo thinks hard about the smell and the connection with past experiences. A few minutes later, he remembers a situation in which he fell a few meters from a large rock and knocked a field worker to the ground. His eyes must have glowed in the initial fright and the worker ran off in sheer panic.

“But of course!” he recalls happily, ”It was the same smell!”

At the same moment, a shiver runs down his spine and the hair on his tail spontaneously stands on end, making it look even bushier than usual. The boy realizes the connection the moment he hears footsteps from the other side of the door. The sliding door slides aside and two men with heavy phaser rifles enter the room.

“Take it easy!” shouts one of them, ”If you move, I'll kill you on the spot!”

Although the development is unexpected for Proximo, he involuntarily ducks and prepares to jump. In his fear of death, long denied and suppressed senses awaken, capturing his body like fireworks and silencing all other thoughts.

“Don't even think about it!” warns the armed intruder again, but he is simply too slow to carry out his threat.

Like a spring, the threatened man leaps forward and leaves the room in a single bound through the still open door. A phaser shot accompanies the spectacle, but it misses the target completely and vaporizes some drugs on a small side table.

“Kill him! In the name of Entar!” he hears another voice roar before he finally leaves his opponent behind.

“Stop!” Proximo hears another armed man shout from the other side of the corridor, but this time he reacts a little too slowly.

A phaser beam catches his body and pulls him to the ground with such force that he immediately blacks out. He no longer notices how two people approach and scrutinize his figure.

“Is he dead?” a man's voice asks uncertainly.

“I don't know,” he hears from another direction, ”but let's play it safe!”

When the confirmation beep of a phaser rifle, whose energy level has probably just been adjusted, reaches Proximo's ear, it seems distorted and confused, but the boy senses the imminent danger. In shock, he spins around, pulls up his hand and hits the weapon, which then leaves the attacker's hand and falls to the ground with a thud.

As surprised as the second man was, he quickly catches himself and aims with military precision at his victim's head to give him the coup de grace. At the last second, the boy's instinct for self-preservation takes hold of him and, without a second thought, a hand clenches into a fist and darts forward. In the blink of an eye, four claws pierce through Proximo's tense fist and finally through his opponent's chest.

The blood not only spurts from the wounds of the victim, but the boy also loses a lot of it from the injury to his own hand. Both scream in pain and surprise. The third member of the group simply stands there, paralyzed, watching the spectacle without being able to lift a finger.

A moment later, completely confused, Proximo lets go of his victim and runs off. His only goal is to leave this place as quickly as possible...

09.12.07

Difficult Age

The front door to Tchark V'Chassal's house opens with a loud crash and closes just as quickly as it was opened. A small figure rushes in, covered in blood, and throws himself into his father's arms, crying.

“Dad! I... I've... I...”, the boy begins a sentence, but the tears prevent him from completing it.

Before Tchark can ask any further questions, the door bangs again and three people in uniform rush in.

“Stop!” shouts one of the men, ”Hand over the child immediately and nothing will happen to you!”

Tense, Tchark V'Chassal looks at the intruders and pushes the boy behind him, who trembles as he endures this. Tchark then begins to speak matter-of-factly.

“What exactly has my son done? I will punish him for it!”

With an evil grin, one of the uniformed figures approaches and aims at Proximo, who presses himself even closer to his father.

“I don't believe that the murder of a secret service agent can be atoned for by a simple punishment,” the figure replies, ”Besides, the death of your son is already a done deal. Orders directly from Entar himself. Because you are the father, I am giving you one last chance to hand over the boy before I kill you too!”

Tchark suddenly flinches at these words, but is in no way intimidated by the accusations.

“Your secret service can't even handle 10-year-old children?”

Gasping with indignation, the man takes another step closer and now stands directly in front of the Caitian.

“Watch your tongue and hand over the child immediately or else...”

He doesn't get any further, because Tchark's paw grabs the rifle that was pointed at him and puts the intruder in a headlock. Almost simultaneously, he kicks Proximo backwards with his right paw and throws him roughly into an adjoining room, where he lies motionless.

“Hey!”, Tchark V'Chassal hears one of the men yell, ”Let him go at once!”

“If you insist...” replies the Caitian briefly, letting go of the rifle on one side and pushing his victim with all his might towards the intruder, who has demanded to be released.

Unfortunately for Tchark's last victim, his comrade reacts incorrectly and fires the phaser out of fright. The Caitian, however, leaps against the wall, grabs the spear attached to it and hurls it with pinpoint accuracy in the direction of the third attacker, who then falls to the ground, pierced through and through. Completely paralyzed, the last survivor of the squad has to watch as his opponent grabs the boy and leaves the house in quick strides...