Return to Earth

By William Hyde

Altonan has become lord of the Earth and Novu Ang Heloca, but he finds public opinion turning against him just like they had earlier on Earth. After finding a new race living in the oceans that seem hostile, he tries to deal with them just as a new Sloorid uprising becomes inevitable. He is informed that the evil tyrant Worrkler, who headed the Trilateral Alliance that tried to destroy Earth, has now landed on the planet and has begun a propaganda campaign to win over the hearts and minds of the people. As the last remnants of the Ang Helocan people seem to be becoming alienated and frightened of Altonan, finally he and his wife decide to go back to Earth and begin a family. There he begins an antipropaganda war against the old enemy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796019360

William Hyde

Throughout the last part of his working life as a locomotive engineer, Bill Hyde dreamed of this story. Upon retirement he couldn't get the story out of his head, and finally, reluctantly putting fingers to keyboard he started to write it. At last, after years of slow-going, he finished the story. He lives in the Cariboo region of British Columbia,Canada with his wife and almost grown children, and he is now working on the next book of this trilogy.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THE BEST OF TIMES

T he days on Novu Ang Heloca had passed swiftly, all thoughts of war and death somehow banished from the minds of everyone. The stable rotation and orbit of the planet caused the temperate climate to remain quite stable and the illusion of time standing still was quite palpable. Crops could be planted anytime and no one worried about the weather. The rain came at night when it was cooler and the days were generally sunny. There was the odd thunder storm every now and then but they were usually small and quite localized. Whereas Stephanie considered the planet to be a kind of Paradise, many of the settlers from Earth that had settled on the large continent had expressed extreme boredom with the lack of seasons after their first year and had returned to Earth. The change of sentiment in their home countries toward telepaths had made their decision to return much easier and the people who replaced them were hardier stock and less prone to homesickness. They were also more likely to be non-telepa thic.

Aechop had semi-retired, in a way. After setting in motion his few ideas for public projects he had decided to turn everything at the Caves over to Kem Talus, since he still retained his position as Town Leader. After all, how much oversight did a tiny village need, anyway? At any rate he turned his limited attention to helping the settlement across the ocean. It was growing faster and its new inhabitants were much more active at building their community. They were growing much faster and since both Admiral Bosford and ex-president McLaren had settled there they weren’t as shy about asking The Lord Altonan for help when it was needed. As time went by the old man gradually withdrew from helping the Terrestrials at all, since they really didn’t seem to need it. He decided that he liked this arrangement better, and without making a formal announcement he faded back into retirement without anyone really noticing.

Aechop said privately to Sara that soon they would have a chance to relive the past since the balance between telepaths and non-telepaths on the planet would soon be similar to the historical situation on Ang Heloca. The old woman pointed out that the historical animosity never arose with the Sloorid because even though they were non-telepaths they possessed an automatic blocking ability and then she made a mental leap to the experiment Ninharsag was carrying out with Admiral Bosford. The animosity of the Sloorid had been spurred by the natural territorial defensiveness of any species that feels intruded upon by another. She wondered what would have happened on Ang Heloca if the non-telepathic Humans there could have been taught to block.

Aechop became quite excited. Why yes, you’re right! She’s somehow taught him to block. Do you think if she could teach others that skill then the suspicion and bad feelings would never develop?

Well, I’m sure I don’t know! I was just speculating.

Oh my Dear, that’s brilliant! We must discuss this with my grandson… and Stephanie too, of course.

So Aechop called the Lord and Lady on his comm. device and suggested that they meet them in the park near the fountain and then they walked there from their little house. The newly married couple had decided to build a pleasant cottage beside the river which was a short walk along a landscaped path that connected to the park and they were soon seen approaching on their flitters. When Sara explained her idea Altonan was flabbergasted. He hadn’t realized that Charlie had achieved an actual block and ruefully explained that he hadn’t taken it seriously when the Admiral had told him, that he had just passed it off as an exaggeration and let the topic drop. Stephanie allowed that she too had been dwelling on other problems and expressed regret that they hadn’t been keeping in better touch with their old friend.

No wonder he’s become lonely and wants to go back to Earth. came from Sara.

Stephanie gave her husband a guilty glance, Gosh, we’ve been so involved with our own lives that we…uh….sort of forgot to keep in touch.

Altonan looked crestfallen, He was my best-man and I haven’t given him a single thought for weeks. Do you think we unconsciously avoid non-telepaths?

I hope not, the Archon responded with a worried expression, but I think it’s more than that. He’s got lots of non-telepaths around him where his ranch is but since McLaren returned to Earth he hasn’t had anyone to hang out with. And I know he misses Cliff.

"Well, he’s more like our age, if not actually in years, and Aechop and I should make a better attempt at socializing with him," Sara responded. I guess he does make me feel uncomfortable, but really, Ninti has no problem with him. She’s with him more than anyone.

She’s been working with him on his aura lately. Her patience with him is extraordinary!" Aechop shook his head, There’s no excuse We must try harder!

Stephanie nodded, Yes, three years ago he jeopardized his position on the Chiefs of Staff to stand and support me…us….all of us, Al. We owe him a lot. We’ve got to do something!

Maybe if we could find him a wife? suggested Sara.

Stephanie laughed, Whew! That’s opening a can of worms. Charlie’s been a confirmed bachelor his whole life.

Altonan frowned, "That’s because he was married to the U.S. Navy. Maybe he’s ready for a change.

Ooh, look at my newly-minted husband! Now he’s a matchmaker wannabe!

At this exchange Sara blushed profusely. She had a great deal of difficulty with Stephanie’s Earth humour and the Archon picked up on it immediately.

Dear Sara, I’m sorry. I often forget how non-telepathic I can be sometimes. But old habits die hard and I probably will never be able to change, but I will try to be more Ang Helocan whenever I think of it.

It’s alright dear, I just have to become more adaptable. Not only with the Admiral, but with all of you people from Earth. I must try to become more like Ninti. She blends in with people so easily. I admire her so much!

Finally, after a pleasant but enlightening afternoon they all went their own ways, after promising to get together for dinner on the weekend. Stephanie noticed later in the evening that Altonan’s ennui had apparently been disturbed. He felt mildly troubled and after dinner he kept poking around in his study and finally he reluctantly retrieved the Kellikglazzin file on Worrkler and began to go through it again.

*     *     *

As the months had passed swiftly, Admiral Bosford, USN retired, had decided to spend some time on Earth. Colin McLaren knocked gently on Charlie’s door at his Baltimore home as his Secret Service guard stood behind him looking around suspiciously. Even though he was no longer president he would have his security detail for the rest of his life and as tedious as they could be, he at least had become friends with them. Charlie too was forced to endure being guarded twenty-four hours a day, but thankfully his r-unit was unobtrusive in its surveillance methods, using Altonan’s sophisticated electronic devices to achieve most of it, and he barely noticed it anymore.

C’mon in, Colin. Cliff is already here. You’re just in time for the last quarter of Yale versus Notre Dame…tied fourteen all. Wanna cold one?

Thanks Charlie, he said as he strolled through the open front door, catching sight of his old friend sprawled on the couch. Hi Cliff. How’s retirement treating you?

Oh, the same as Charlie, Colin. Always at loose ends. He thinks I should open up a neighborhood pub on Novu Ang Heloca.

Colin laughed, He’s just trying to get all his friends to move there so he won’t get lonely. What about Jupiterbase? You’re not retiring from that are you?

Cliff shrugged, No, but that’s fully automated. The expansion of both the base and the fleet is coming along smoothly. I’m not really needed there most of the time and when I am there I’m alone, just like Charlie in his flagship on Novu Ang Heloca.

How would you feel about giving up your command? he asked. We have at least ten years before we have to worry about the Trilateral Alliance.

You’re right, Colin, if I hope to see any action before then I’m probably whistling in the wind. Charlie tells me it’s not a good idea to cut all ties with Earth and with that in mind I’m considering his pub idea, but you’re right. I don’t want to give up Jupiterbase. After all, with a new cobra it’s only a day and a half away from Novu Ang Heloca.

Yeah, that’s worth thinking about, but consider this, put in Bosford. There’s a nice little community on the big continent and it’s growing fast. The Ang Helocans don’t drink, so putting in a pub at the Caves is a losing proposition, but the new town, well that’s perfect. It’s spreading out rapidly and the hardworking people there need a place to go and blow off steam. You could bring in entertainment from Earth and everybody’s favourite brands of beer. You could have a big dance floor, flashing lights, the works. It would be great!

Colin laughed, Now you’re talking! That’s a nightclub not a neighborhood pub, but it sounds great! Look, Elaine and I will be going back to our ranch in about a month, just for awhile. She’s got some great decorating ideas and she wants to put a pool in as well, so I’m happy that she’s taking an interest in the place. If only I could just get the kids interested, but they have their careers, their own families and lots of their own activities in New York, you know how it is. Anyway, I know Charlie has to get back too, so why not come along when we go and we’ll show you around.

"Oh, alright, but no promises. I’m still thinking about the whole idea.

Charlie felt that Cliff was wavering so he struck while the iron was hot. Who wants a beer? MAXine, while I’m being a good host, please bring up some videos of our ranches and the new town from your archives. Let Cliff see for himself. Then he turned and went into the kitchen.

Cliff rolled his eyes, Heh! You guys will never quit, will you? Well, bring it on! Might as well make a night of it!

*     *     *

Time had passed swiftly for the the Archon’s family as well. Elizabeth Barlow looked across the breakfast table and said, sternly, Well, I don’t care! It’s been almost a year since we were there for their second wedding and I want to see them again.

Ben looked exasperated, But Stephanie was just here two months ago sitting right at this table.

"Well, I would like to see Al, and I’d love to see their new cottage, right beside the river. It must be very pretty! Also I want to see the new town on the big continent that she’s told us so much about, and oh yes, I really want to look at some homes in town while we’re there."

What? Why? He suddenly sensed danger.

Well, you know very well that I dislike winters in Wyoming. I thought maybe we could get a little place on Novu Ang Heloca and in the future when the snow starts to fly, why we’d take off for our new winter home and be close to Stephanie for awhile. Oh, and Altonan too, of course.

Ben shook his head, Well, how much do you think that would cost us? I have no idea.

But that’s why I wanted to look at some places while we’re there. Please dear, can’t you just open your mind to the possibility.

I suppose so, Liz. he smiled across the table at her, It wouldn’t hurt to look. I hadn’t really thought of it before.

*     *     *

Prime Minister Daliwal of India greeted the just arrived Arloong Salaa along with the new Ambassador from Slag Korno in his lovely garden and suggested they try some tea and crumpets while they talked. It had been Colin McLaren who had suggested to the PM that he try to interest the Slag Kornans in permanently reopening the old embassy in Washington that his old Fleet-Viceroy had designed and built. The alien potentate and the diplomat were quite impressed as the PM showed them around his exquisitely landscaped gardens. Salaa explained that on his home planet they attempted to make everything look wild and untouched, so he was unfamiliar with the Human style of gardening, but he found it quite interesting. After a pleasant afternoon and some political discussion the two returned to the temporarily reopened Slag Kornan embassy where the Ambassador was to consult with the new American President and some other members of the United Nations the following day. After another day of relaxation and sightseeing the High Exalted of All was leaving for a state visit to Kellikglazz traveling on the new Cobra that the Sub-Archon Pepperidge would turn over to him permanently in a brief ceremony at which he would break a bottle of champagne over the hull in a traditional Terrestrial christening ceremony. Although Slag Kornans didn’t normally name any of their ships other than their capital warships, he planned to name it ‘The Lady Arkonan’ in honour of the friendship that had developed between Novu Ang Heloca and Slag Korno. On the day of leaving Ambassador Klakk arrived from China and introduced him to one of her aides who would return with the Slag Kornan delegation and present the High Exalted of All to the Queen. Arloong Salaa was quite impressed with the Kellikglazzins.

A handsome race! he exclaimed to his concubine. She had concurred, but privately she mistrusted them simply because they were all female, and nothing must come between her and the relationship she had so painstakingly built with the ruler of Slag Korno.

CHAPTER 2

DISSOLUTION

O n the moon of Antedicta, soon after his awakening, the tyrant Worrkler had found himself in a predicament. After the extensive executions he realized that he had left himself short of suitably talented replacements and it seemed to be taking forever to find any new blood, either from his population on the moon or from Antedicta itself. His Shadow Police would kidnap promising professors from one of the universities on Antedicta and then he’d find that the person was in no way capable of performing the function he dema nded.

The head of the police wished that his boss wasn’t so quick to kill off his staff and began to fear for his own life, since when he went prowling through the rosters of the colleges and universities he really had no idea what sort of skill sets to look for in a prospective candidate. The Emperor just assumed he would know and he was afraid to ask. The irritating thing was that because of the secrecy he wasn’t allowed to return any of his kidnap victims and they had to find them a position within the moon colony which, of course caused a growing contingent of extremely dissatisfied workers who had just had their lives callously ripped away from them. Of course, Worrkler expected that he and his overseer department would find a place for them among the moon workers as well as the resources to feed, house and control them.

The tyrant had been reviewing the events that had taken place and was appalled. How could his minions have decided to destroy the planet Earth when it’s citizens were the very people he had been searching for during the past several thousand years. They had badly misread his intentions and certainly deserved the fate he had decreed for them, but what had they set loose? The Ang Helocans on that planet seemed to have technology far beyond what they should have been able to develop. Since working their way out of the primitive state they had fallen into after their original technology had worn out almost ten thousand years ago, it seemed quite unlikely that they could have designed and built such an advanced space fleet as had so easily and quickly defeated his own. And who were these Slag Kornan allies of Earth? Where did they come from? Could they have supplied the advanced technology? Who knows? Perhaps some of the earlier pre-expulsion expeditions of Ang Helocan explorers and scientists had not perished…and maybe they had simply settled there and somehow maintained their technology. No one knew as they’d simply never been heard from again. The Ang Helocan scholars certainly didn’t know. He had only found out about the expeditions that never returned after stealing much of the secret documents from Ang Heloca’s hidden archives that were found long before he’d ordered the planets destruction. Now it seemed that his drastic actions of a century past might come back and strike him the face. He hadn’t anticipated that, and he had no idea who to blame for his lack of foresight.

When he had first awakened it had taken several days for him to start feeling himself again and he had ordered his old, mothballed fleet into service to replace the Trilateral ships destroyed by the Ang Helocans. They were very old, but in their day they had been quite advanced and for now they would have to do. For the first time in a millenia his antiquated factories began churning out ship parts and they began to be assembled in the long abandoned shipyard. He realized finally that he must stay away from his cryo-chamber and take over control of operations again. His pathetic overseer corps had let the situation spiral out of control since his last routine awakening and their decisions had all been very poorly thought out, so rather than being conscious for a month every ten years and then being put back into cryo-sleep he would have to stay awake and take charge of everything once again. Now that the non-telepathic Ang Helocans, his own kind, had been found, he could at last implement his plans and achieve his goal of saving his people that he had promised himself so long ago.

As he sat studying the data his people had collected he was dismayed to realize that someone had made a mistake. His decision to execute the Trilateral Council member, Demi-Minister Nelle of the Roorn Advocacy had caused outrage on Roorn and none of his advisers had warned him about this possibility. There should be consequences he muttered under his breath but who should die? His advisory staff had informed him about the devilish Kellikglazzin betrayal and they should have told him that antagonizing the Roorn was a bad choice, yet they didn’t say a word about sparing Nelle. He seethed with anger at the incompetence of his staff, but for once he had the thought that he should hold off on any more reprisals until he had acquired suitably competent people to replace them. He took this to be a kind of epiphany, foretelling a new, kinder and gentler reign of terror. He became quite pleased with himself.

He realized while reading the extensively padded notes about the situation that the Roorn technology was no longer even adequate and their scientific discoveries of late had not been forthcoming. This was quite alarming he thought and he turned to the intelligence reports about the Ang Helocan fleet. How could their cloak be so perfect? It was mind-boggling. This was when he had finally realized that he was going to have to remain awake and unfrozen until this crisis was over. This current Lord of the Earth would have to be dealt with. Seeing the name, Altonan Arkonan, he realized that the sabotage of the Battle Cruiser Arcturus Warrior had failed, a century or so ago.

On the planet Antedicta the rumours were spreading wildly. There had always been whispers about the Shadow Police, and now that once again important people were disappearing from the universities and the operations offices of industry, the mind-numbing fear began to spread. This had always happened but now the population was much larger and the local police were finding it more difficult to keep order.

It had been at this time of spreading chaos on Antedicta that Worrkler had chosen to get tough with Kellikglazz and force them back into the alliance, and he had sent his whole fleet after it had been taken out of retirement and refitted for duty. He did this on the spur of the moment before he had completely recovered from his cryo-sleep sickness and without doing any reconnaissance. The crews chosen for this task did not have any training on the old ships, and indeed none had ever been in outer space before. They had approached the planetary defenses of their old ally with much trepidation and weakly made their demands. There they beheld the moderately sized Kellikglazzin fleet backed up by both of their still intact battlestation/shipyards, one at each pole. The proud defenders of the Most Holy Queen never even fired a shot. They just laughed and told them to be on their way. The frantic Warmaster who had been appointed High Officer of the fleet sent a message to Worrkler explaining that the Kellikglazzin fleet and space stations were still intact and if they attacked, their antique fleet was sure to be destroyed. Besides, explained the Warmaster shakily, no one even knew how to arm the weapons on the ancient warships. Choking back his rage, Worrkler ordered them back to Antedicta vowing to himself that they would be punished accordingly when they got back, but by the time they arrived common sense had prevailed and he merely ordered them to began extensive training until the crews were able to carry out their orders.

After that fiasco he had sent his Shadow Minister, the person in charge of his police and military on a diplomatic mission to Roorn to ask for their help in rebuilding his old ships and bringing their weapons and strategic equipment up to date. He had told the Minister to take full responsibility for the death of Demi-Minister Nelle, which he did, and the Roorn promptly executed him but then sent word via an envoy that they would help. They hadn’t yet sent a new Demi-Minister to replace Nelle on the Trilateral Council and finally the Roorn government had belatedly realized that, unlike the Kellikglazzin, they didn’t have much choice. The Ang Helocans had destroyed their space stations too, as well as any warships that had been in the vicinity of the massive explosions. They only had a token force to call a fleet so they reluctantly complied with the wishes of the Antedictan Leader even though they longed to be rid of him. That had been Worrkler’s first success since he had been awakened.

*     *     *

In the meantime, while the Tyrant Worrkler was at last confronting reality, on Kellikglazz the ‘Most Fertile One’ had also become enlightened. She had decided that her people would become citizens of the galaxy, reaching out to other races and planets as she had done with the people of Earth. She was very excited about this new beginning and quite pleased with herself as well.

One fine day, several months later, Ambassador Ho Chong had awakened early. She had received a message from the Queen to meet her in her royal chambers at a time that Jasmine would normally be still sleeping. Recently a kind of friendship had developed between the Ambassador from Earth and the Queen of Kellikglazz and Jasmine was quite looking forward to this morning’s encounter. Since the Queen never left her chamber it was necessary to bring all knowledge of the universe to her and since her arrival she had been showing the ‘Most Fecund’ much of Altonan’s historical archives. She found the Queen’s fascination with Humans rather touching and was pleased that Altonan had allowed her access to the unclassified sections of the considerable video records that MAX and MAXine had been constructing.

When she arrived on this morning, the Queen was pleased to announce that Ambassador Klakk had been in touch with the reopened Slag Kornan embassy on Earth, and had been arranging the opening of diplomatic relations between Slag Korno and Kellikglazz. A delegation was coming and the Lord Altonan had arranged for them to use one of Earth’s new Cobras which would get them there in two weeks. The Queen was very excited and invited Ho Chong to be present at the historical meeting and assist her with all the protocol. This was happening some months after the threatening visit of Worrkler’s rather pathetic war fleet and the Queen was flushed with confidence. She now believed that Kellikglazz could stand alone and resist the bullying of races like the Antedictans and QRT98921 supported her in this.

*     *     *

On Roorn the situation was more difficult. Although they had no wish to continue in the Trilateral Alliance they realized that they were not in a position to stand up to Worrkler at the moment, so they had decided to play along with him, but secretly they would build there own war-fleet and then when the time was right they would follow Kellikglazz into independence. They would revitalize their higher schools of learning and harness the inherent cleverness and inventiveness of the Roorn people and once again their science and technology would be supreme in the galaxy. Never again would the people be forced into alliances with those who didn’t have their best interests at heart. They would be free, but it would take