Darkworld: Earth

2.28.

Eodar had been in his new home for two weeks. Despite himself, he found that it was difficult to keep his guard up. His new foster parents were strict but fair, and he was enjoying his new school, even if he found that, as a foster child, he had a certain amount of stigma associated to his living situation.

That was fine. It was better if he avoided making friends this time. Friends were a distraction, and it was the sort of distraction which had caused him to get caught by surprise last time.

He did not blame Olivia for her involvement in that mess. She was only doing her job and following her ideals. She didn’t understand the threat against her people that was posed by the enemies of high-command. She didn’t understand the lengths that they would go to in order to crush humanity under their heel. She believed the information that her officials had shared with her.

Eodar knew it was all lies.

Still, although he avoided friendships with the other children, he did his best to fit in. He made certain to get a few questions wrong on his tests now and then, and when he did engage in games with the other children he took efforts not to stand out as he had before.

He thought that he was maintaining his cover quite well.

The school he was assigned to was having a field trip to a natural history museum, and he admitted that he was looking forward to seeing the details of Earth’s past. What had it been like before humans had been introduced? The aliens used their human slaves to change the worlds they wished tamed in so many ways that it was hard to recognize the original ecology after only a few generations, but it seems that Earth was taking efforts at conserving its past.

He filed off the school bus with the rest of the children and followed the tour. The majority of the sciences didn’t interest him, his understanding of the universe eclipsed what was commonly known about it on Earth thanks to his time on the Toormonda.

The history of Earth, however, fascinated him. He wandered away from the guided portion of the tour and walked through the displays of fossils and extinct animals, reading plaques and descriptions and hypothesis of what Earth had been like before Humans had arrived.

It seemed to be a hostile and unforgiving place. Possibly even what the other races, the non-humans, might call a deathworld. The giant lizards in particular were frightening, and he would not be surprised at all if the ‘asteroid’ that had killed them had in fact been the result of a mass driver sent by one of the aliens to cleave out a potential threat.

He continued to walk through the ancient past until he reached a display that he wasn’t expecting.

The history of man.

His eyes were wide as he walked through the replicas of skeletons and the reconstructed ancients.

It was … impossible.

He was shaking his head in denial until he came up to the display detailing what was known about Homo neanderthalensis. There, he saw his ancestors.

They were hairier than the people of the Yonohoah, but the skull was the right shape. And the tools looked similar to the traditional stone weapons that his people had used before the night of the meteors. They were behind glass cases, or else Eodar would have picked one up and wept for the privilege of holding a piece of history in his hand.

It was impossible. Nobody knew where humans came from. Whether they evolved or were created from baser creatures was a hotly debated topic even within High-Command, which largely viewed the question as irrelevant. They were not interested in searching for the origins of mankind, as far as Eodar knew. In fact, locating it might pose a significant threat.

Had Eodar found it? Had he stumbled upon the secret of where they had all come from?

Had humans evolved on Earth, as the Earthlings seemed to believe?

“There you are!” the voice of one of the chaperones said sternly. “John, you can’t just wander off on your own. You have to stick with the group.”

“I’m sorry,” John said reflexively. At first he cursed the emotion that hid its way into his voice, but then he embraced it. “I just needed to be alone for a minute.”

As expected, the vulnerability he displayed caused the adult to back off significantly. “I understand. Do you still need a minute, or are you ready to return to the group?”

“I’m okay now,” Eodar said. He followed the adult back to the others, where he was once more ignored by the children who were his age but not his peers.

He thought once more about the lies he had been told about the other trainees. It was impossible. He refused to believe it. High-Command would never betray its own people like that. Eodar and the other children in the Scout Trooper Training course were loyal. High-Command rewarded loyalty with loyalty. The idea that they would commit the ultimate betrayal was beyond insulting.

Eodar would never believe it.

~~~~~

Major Mary Phillips read the report the second time. The evidence was far from conclusive, but it was enough to act on. The computer irregularities and the fact that none of the kid’s historical social workers or foster parents remembered him all lined up to suggest that John Hastern was John Doe AKA Eodar of the Yonohoans. The agents on the ground had signed their names to their reports. Mary just had to kick the report up the ladder to Turnball, and the operation would begin.

She hesitated for just a moment. Then she got to work.

The disaster of the previous operation had drilled home the need for caution. They couldn’t risk civilian casualties, and the cover that the target was using to hide his identity put the most vulnerable members of society at risk. To catch him, they would have to move fast, but cautiously.

She began to make the calls. Both to her superiors, and to her contacts among the Yonohoans. This time, every piece on the board would be considered in the efforts to bring John AKA Eodar in.

~~~~~

“In conclusion, there is a significant chance that Earth is the origin system. I repeat, the fossil record of earth suggests that Humanity evolved on this planet. I hereby attach my name to this report. I am Eodar of the Yonohoans, Scout Trooper Rank Two. Attached is my unique identifier and security data. I suggest all plans to protect the mother system should she be found be enacted to protect Mother Earth immediately upon the receipt of this message. This message will repeat until acknowledged,” Eodar said.

He left the rooftop where he had hauled the car battery before converting it into a Rocktala. The building was six blocks from the house where his foster parents lived, and he was certain that he was in for a tongue-lashing when he returned. That was irrelevant. He had completed his duty to humanity for now, having placed six beacons to alert Command that Earth may be humanities biggest vulnerability.

Unlike his previous reports, there was no time delay on these messages. They would begin broadcasting immediately. This was critical data and High-Command had to know. If the enemy discovered the location and importance of Earth, then the entire human race faced the threat of extinction.

He was a block away from home when he felt it. The slight tingle of a nanite suppression field. He froze and stepped backward, checking his systems.

He had noticed in time, he determined. Even if he hadn’t, his nanite-production organs should be fine, although their current load might have needed to be flushed. But a quick check showed that they remained 98% operational.

He’d been located by the enemy. His cover was blown, but he’d managed to escape the initial ambush. Or so he thought until the spotlight suddenly shown down on him from a silently humming aircraft.

He turned and ran, and the sound of sirens followed him.

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