SAMPLE: The state of the Earth has become perilous. Is it time to start lining up the animals two by two?
The Last Ark is the greatest machine ever conceived and holds the future of the surviving species of planet Earth within its confines. It was created by the Inventor to overcome the extreme difficulties of deep space exploration as a new habitable planet is desperately searched for.
The Inventor started from humble beginnings with some simple inventions that allowed him to independently develop the great ones needed to develop practical deep space travel. This was done in total secrecy so that the great and the greedy could not take and use them for their own ends. The Inventor builds the Ark in orbit around Mars after first having built a space station and lunar base as starting place for the great journey. The survivors from Earth, who inhabit the space station ten thousand years into the future, discover and recount the stories of the Inventor and the Ark.
And so..
CHAPTER 1.
BEGINNINGS
Brook Lyn was delighted. The Pro Creator General has just granted him a daughter. Resplendent in his formal robes of red and gold which were draped around his normally thin and stooped shoulders, they reflected the dull glare of the over head lights in the corridor. Today he was a conqueror, straight backed and noble, an emperor ready to leap forth and claim what was rightfully his. This was his day and he had every intention of fulfilling his long-held dream. Despite this he still felt the beads of perspiration trickling from his brow as he maintained his posture in the demesne so close, as it was, to the Centre. As he was making his way in a dazed and somewhat confused manner past the banks of humming instruments, his mind a whirlwind of confused images and desires he looked at them and he saw a fine patina of dust and felt that something was not quite right with them. Shouldn’t they be clean? Shouldn’t he have a better idea of what they were there for? Coming to an abrupt halt, he gazed up at the stars, twinkling their never ending light in a glorious display for all who would look upon them. Infinity beckoned and he felt that at last he was in a position to leave his mark, to say that I was here, that I existed and that I mattered; the siren song of mankind before him and undoubtedly after.
It was his day. He, after all, was the Historian. The only officially appointed historian, appointed by none less than the President, not one of those semi-professional do-gooders who thought that they know better. He determined not to let any mundane or distracting thoughts disturb his day.
He resumed his journey towards Virginville, a little more aware of his surroundings, having taken the time to collect his thoughts. Lady Balt More glided past looking disdainfully down her nose at a person whom she considered beneath her, even though she too had been summoned to attend the Pro Creator General in his lair. Her glittering cloak swished on the floor behind her before floating up slightly as she accelerated away from him in disgust. Brook Lyn sighed heavily. It was known in Society that he was not part of the Elite despite his appointment. He was just an educationalist, albeit a good one.
Once more, gathering himself together, he resumed his journey with intent. First he must stop off at his abode in the poorer quarters, that still retained much of their original décor and, he thought, charm to pick up the artefact. Travelling from Whitehouse to Virginville he crossed the docking bridge with its wide panoramic views of the stars through the plas windows, the tiny gaps into the void stark against the white metal surroundings, held steady by forces he could only half imagine, gaps made during a long ago forgotten something or another. A something that he intended to find out about one day soon; after all it was his job to do so. Holding his breath against the onrush of vertigo he charged across the bridge not daring to look too closely at what he perceived as imminent death. His thoughts remained focussed on the artefact. It was still pristine in its stasis field. As new and as pure as the time it was made. Made by an intelligence that was no longer known and it was only he who realised this. He stopped outside his door, leaned over and placed the palm of his hand on the door lock and it hummed as it opened and as he entered the abode’s automatic systems chirruped into life.
He made his way to his secure, swerving around the various obstacles which were the living area that made his home and allowed his retina to be scanned. The hermetically sealed door opened with a susurration and the smell of slightly old, fetid air assaulted his nostrils. Gazing longingly at the artefact, he reviewed his best estimation that its age was in the region of eighty centuries or so; it was a thing of awe and reverence for him. He gently picked it up and cradled it in his lap staring at a long lost and forgotten beauty almost forgetting the purpose of his intent. Pressing the button on the stasis tube it turned immediately opaque. Brook Lyn moved away from the secure, whispering shut, as he did so, the automatic systems governed by stem picking up the almost unspoken instruction, firmly closing the door and resealing it behind him.
Edited for submission ..
With a sudden burst of determination he made for the door of his abode. Moving with unhurried speed to protect the precious object he now cradled in his arms he did not hear stem’s farewell of bye, bye now. Turning he made for the lobby with its vaulted ceiling and plush drapes and paintings, a remnant of the bygone age in which such ostentatious finery was made to make people feel rich and privileged beyond their wildest dreams. It made him feel sad. The main docking bridge from Virginville to Central beckoned him onwards, this was a more substantial affair, enclosed and safe and protected, providing you did not look at the dark scorch marks and twisted metal of a once strong and robust air lock door. With a little less trepidation he crossed and headed along at a brisk pace deigning not to notice the little plumes of dust that rose up as he passed. As he made the main corridor he felt the pull of the Centre with its incredible rows of humming, whirring, blinking instruments and he wobbled slightly. Adrenalin coursed through his veins as fear gripped him and he gasped out loud, clutching, more tightly than he had ever done, his prized possession.
Edited for submission ..
Continuing down the quiet corridor at a faster pace now that he was away from the higher gravitational areas, Brook Lyn quietly mused on the Games, as they were called. A barbaric entertainment, that drew in the crowds, reminding the masses of the value of their lives. Leaving Central he made his way via Portview, with its large empty spaces onwards to Hilton, the palatial demesne of the well-to-do and influential. Brook Lyn had come this way so many times in his imagination that he did not really need to think about where he was going, his mind still fixed on an uncertain point in the future. The grand chandeliers still beautifully bright, illuminating all around with a candescence of pure white light and shimmering rainbow colours, just on the periphery of consciousness, drapes and paintings more eloquent and whimsical than those which adorned the Virginville lobby. Statues surrounded a large bowl, ornate and gaudy in the same breath. Stunning and pointless they were from a time long gone by; a nostalgic sadness hung about them despite the best efforts to pretend that all was right and proper. Several residents of Hilton glanced over at Brook Lyn as he passed, their looks said it all, but not to be put off he made for the silver-suite area up several flights of stairs around the central foyer that was behind the lobby entrance. Still moving in his somnambulistic trance he passed some more Elite ignoring them as best he could, his head held high because he had business here. Real and important business. Unthinkingly he stopped. A feeling of nausea flooded over him, the smell of chemicals lingered around the door. The brazen yellow white light beating down from the lights overhead, this was it.
He was outside of the Gen Master’s door.
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