The Planet 8.3

8.3 L 391-1

L 391 was the mineral that was mined there. How was I to know it was also an alien race. It was not like we have the who’s who in the Universe. We had travelled light years into the nearby several galaxies and all the ‘hello, I am Earthlings’ was never replied. We did meet some of those; well, it was an intelligent move by some academic misfit. She was a misfit; she believed we were never alone. It was a proven false prophesy then but she held hard on it. She assumed anything that was growing must have a life inside. Perhaps a soul exits too. Or like her critics concluded for her, God exist in their beliefs too. By her name was Alice, and her author Lewis Carrol concluded it for us; ‘we are all mad here’. So was Copernicus when he theorized the planets orbited the Sun. He was said to be mad so we must be mad to assume the other. Or we were all mad after all. With our far flung travels, we have seen galaxies with two Suns and not all the planets orbited around them. Anyway those planets did not present habitable conditions so we abandoned it. Okay back to Alice and not to my readings of ancient texts.

Alice thesis then was she discovered alien life form. She was communicating with a living organism that resembled a tree; well, it was the mode of communicating that baffled us. She was talking to it by the roots level. She would have been appealing to the others with her benevolent crouched position but she did have an undesirable beauty form. In layman; pardon the clique she was two sizes too large. Oh, back to her thesis, the other academics dismissed her findings as non-conclusive and closer to madness. Well, when we finally did meet them, it had to be me who bungled it. Well, it was me; the half human and construct. I can’t be fully responsible; I was half human. Given the fact I actually encounter two versions of the race; could I declare that I was only a quarter responsible then. Alice last words before her solitary confinement were that we are a selfish race.

Damned! I never volunteered for this.

“Dusty” It came out involuntary from me. I meant to say I never meant to tell him his namesake was Dusty but in my moment of exasperation I splat it out. I tend to do that involuntary. That was how I got my ex-first wife pregnant. She groaned out my best mate’s name when I was on the verge of withdrawing for the final push but she made me come. 

Damned! The kid looked like my best mate too. Now you could appreciate the fact that she was ex-first wife. All my other two wives were told that fact; they thought they were the first. It helped when you could register at different planets. They sync all the data except the interplanetary marriages. Don’t be alarmed; it was still a Man’s world. After all, we always pull the question of ‘would you?’ with the runny piece of finger ornament.  

“Dusty?” The dusty frame showed an expression which edged towards grim in the looks. Actually, I think Dusty expression was one when the bowels get tangled or was it when my wives realized I fake my virginity then. No, I did not get torn but it was more like unwrapping a new present. I know it was a screwy mode of describing it but I had to tell you it was pleasing then. So was Dusty which may actually like his name. It was his mode of expressing it that was in contrast. So was mine when my ex-wives found out.

“Yes, it sort of fitted you.” Shucks, I was one bad player at the game of poker but dusts do not know poker. Well, I was a bigger fool then. Like when I was with my third ex-wife.

“I liked it and you won’t survive a bout of poker with my grandma.” Dusty showed his true self with the tinge of sarcasm. Bloody dust penetrated my mind. So did my third ex-wife when I confessed but her reply was different; “Cut the act. I am tired of being domineering on you. Can we reverse roles? I disliked the cow ride; my knees are giving way on the joints. I need you to bull me.” I did not partake in Machete’s affinity; I went lower. Well, the fuck extended for another year before she grew tired of doing the thread counts on the pillow case.

“Tell me who’s L 391-1?”

“Who are us? We are the outcast of L 391.” Dusty explained. “We were pro-created at the height of the empire. Our elders saw the change in the race. A section of us disengaged from the others.”

“You stopped interacting.” I had to be the smarter ass there.

“Yes, we went separate ways. We soon formed a new race and designated ourselves L 391-1. We do not want to share their aspiration. We made some genealogy adaptation to make us their rival. We grew in numbers and strength when more joined our cause.  We were soon equal to them on all levels until we discover we were created with one fault; we have not deceit in us.”

“We challenge them on every space in the galaxies; never giving up on the battle. We fought them with the hijacked fleet of ships. We fought them on the surfaces. Eventually, we won and imprisoned them.” Dusty continued. “L 391 was defeated by us who were once … like them.”

“How did you defeat them?” I asked. It was the warrior in me asking. I needed to know. There are the enemies around me. I had to know how to defeat them.

“We turned them to minute particles. It was our ultimate weapon. We evolved them into the present form. That was how we battle them. Our growing numbers overran their positions and then they surrendered.”

“I am confused.” I had to admit it then. I was then.

“Okay, let me re-phrase it. We were all L 391 before. We defeated them and had L 391 sent to here.”