The Last Translator
Carl Elson
Freestyle

 

 

    Lyman Rohdahl woke up suddenly and found himself in a tiny space with glass all around him and he was freezing cold.  He yelled and slammed his fists on the glass in hopes of breaking out. Finally the wall in front of him opened up and he fell into a warm pool of some sort which caused him to pass out.  While unconscious, Lyman remembered what had seemingly happened moments before he was locked in a freezing container.  He had been with his uncle at his uncle’s office at NASA in Houston, Texas.  He often liked to hang out with his uncle because it was better than being with his veteran father, his obedient mother, and his sister who never stopped talking on her cell phone.  Lyman was more interested in his uncle’s life, a scientist for NASA who worked on “special” projects, which were mostly military or government classified: Lyman remembered the robot named Chat that his uncle built, which is a robot that is able to have a personality and can store tons of data.  Lyman also remembered that his uncle’s biggest project was figuring out how to create a portal to travel vast distances in space.  It was a very outlandish idea at the time, and only Lyman and his uncle were serious about the project.  
    The last memory Lyman had was sitting in his uncle’s office talking to one of his friends on the phone about a science project, when his uncle came in and grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the office.  Lyman was shocked; however, he was able to figure out what was happening when he looked at a TV and saw a large asteroid was headed toward Earth, and it would arrive in 10 minutes.  His Uncle yelled that they had to get to a small rocket that was about to blast off.  His uncle then told him to get into a freezing container, which is able to preserve life for a long time.  His uncle put him in and turned it on telling Lyman that he would go into the next rocket.  Lyman then woke up which seemed like moments later and ended up unconscious in a mysterious pool.

    "What? Where am I? shouted Lyman. He then saw the figure of someone in the darkness behind a control panel.  "Don’t worry," the figure said with a heavy undeterminable accent.  "You’re safe now human."  Lyman started to feel relief when he realized that whoever spoke to him just called him a human.  The figure then came foreword to him to reveal a being with a green body, white tentacles on the top of its head, two arms on each side, and three fingers on each hand.  Lyman breathed in a gasp of terror and ran backwords only to slam his head against the container he had come out of. "Wooooah, no! No!" exclamed Lyman.  "Oh, no! Please!  Don’t be afraid of me young human, I beg of you!" exclamed the creature with a comforting look in its eyes.  But Lyman started to run around the room frantically attempting to find an exit.  After 2 minutes of running around, Lyman finally looked up to see that the being was still standing in the same spot patiently and understandingly.
    "I haven’t introduced myself," said the creature. "My name is Ogodon, and I am a scientist here.  My team and I discovered you, and we have been trying to revive you for two weeks and 3 days."  Lyman was still scared, but he was able to talk at that point and realized that Ogodon meant no harm. "What, what is this place?" asked Lyman with his voice quivering.  "This is our laboratory here in the Yinka territory,"  said Ogodon.  "We found you crashed in a rocket near here, by,  what you would call Mount Olympia?  Yes, Mt. Olympia."  "Wait" said Lyman.  "You just said Mt. Olympia?  "Yes."
 "Ok, the thing is that the Mt. Olympia I know is on Mars." "Mars mars… oh yes, yes, this is it.  Right! You humans call this planet Mars."  Lyman started freaking out again. "So we’re on a colony on Mars?  What! Where am I?  When am I?"  "This may be a shock to you young human," said Ogodon, "are you sure you want me to tell…" "Yes, please, where-when am I?"  "Well," said Ogodon, "the ship that you crashed here on seems to be made in about the Agogo Jenkavave, and now it's the Yisomo ante Jenkavave, so in your years, with seven rotations is a week, four weeks in a month, twelve months per year... that' about 400 years, yes 400."  Ogodon had an expression of satisfaction on his face when he calculated the number of years.  Lyman, however, wasn't as enthusiastic.  "400!?!" exclaimed Lyman.  "Where, where are my people? Where are other humans?" But Lyman didn't have the patience to wait for a hesitant response from Ogodon as he darted out of the room and into a hallway.  In the corridor, he saw many creatures that looked at him with a smile on their faces and excitement in their eyes as if they just experienced the most glamerous moment in their lives.  Lyman, however, saw no human in sight and ran down the corridor while some creatures with uniforms and firing mechanisms ran after him.  As Lyman ran, he heard Ogodon running after him along with the guards of the facility.  "Stop!" Cried Ogodon.  "You don't understand..."
    Lyman then arrived at a large window in a control room.  He saw for himself the landscape of Mars, and realized that his situation was no joke.  A tall and stately creature then came toward Lyman who looked like Ogodon but was wearing armor and had a more serious look.  
    "My name is Samaron," said the creature, come with me.  Lyman, stunned from what just happened followed Samaron blindly into a room with many screens and grids on the walls.  As soon as Samaron shut the door, he spoke to Lyman.  "Alright human, I'm not as sensitive as Ogodon, so let me tell you exactly what's going on.  I'll first answer your question by telling you that there were supposedly no humans left in the universe, and that finding you was very lucky on both our parts."  "I'm the last huma...?" asked Lyman almost in a daze.  "Your people have been extinct for nearly 400 years at this point.  Are you familiar with the term meteor?"  "Yeah?" said Lyman.  "Well, then you must know that a meteor big enough would have the ability to destroy all life on a planet and that's what happened to your people.  We thought that your species had long been extinct, until our head scientist Ogodon made the most important find we could have ever made...you."  "No!" Cried Lyman.  "It can't be true!"   Lyman then started to have a nervous breakdown while Samaron watched him with serious but patient eyes.  Lyman, having experienced enough for one day passed out.                     
    Lyman later woke up and saw Ogodon standing above him.  "Good, you're awake" exclaimed Ogodon.  "I'll go get you some food and some vitamins that you humans need.  "Wait," said Lyman.  "Yes?" said Ogodon.  "Can I talk to Samaron please?  "Well I think he's really busy right-" "Please, I just need a few answers, and then I won't bug you guys anymore."  Well, ok, I'll send him in" said Ogodon.  Lyman waited for a few minutes, and Samaron then came out.   
    "Hello Lyman.  How are you feeling?" asked Samaron.  "I'm better," said Lyman.  He looked at Samaron without any fear or confusion this time.  "Ok, I was in shock before, but now I'm more stable, but I need to have a few questions answered," said Lyman.  Samaron looked at Lyman respectfully but seriously.  "Alright, you deserve it," said Samaron.  "What do you want to know?"  
    "What happened to my people, who are you, and why am I so important according to you guys?"
    "Ok" said Samaron.  "So you were there when the asteroid was moving to your home planet correct?"  Lyman nodded as Samaron continued.  "Well the reason that your people didn't see the asteroid coming before was because it was thrown at your planet by the Sartra, which is an alliance of alien nations that have taken over most of this galaxy."
     "I see" said Lyman very calmly.  "So who are you guys?"
    "We are from the planet Zeeson, which has been taken over by the Sartra, but we along with other groups are still at war with the Sartra.
    "Well, I follow you so far," said Lyman, "but exactly how do I fit into all of this?"
    "That's our biggest priority right now.  You could be essential to winning the war against the Sartra."
    "Could be?"
    "Although I could easily force you into coming with us on our mission, I believe in fairness," said Samaron.  "So before I tell you of what we want you to do, I want you to know that you don't have to if you don't want to or if you're not ready."
    "Ready for what?" asked Lyman.  
    "To be our translator," said Samaron looking Lyman right in the eyes.
    "Your translator? But I'm the only human left right?  And you already know my language."
    "Ogodon, I, and a few others know how to SPEAK your language due to recovered messages, transmissions and satelites, but understanding your people's writings and equations is a skill that only you possess at this time.
    "Ok, but why would you need that skill?"
    "Have you ever heard of the scientist named James Cooper?  He was a human who actually existed during your time.
    "James Cooper!" exclaimed Lyman.  "He's my uncle! He was the one who put me in that space shuttle!"
    "Your uncle!" asked Samaron in disbelief.  He breathed in shock for a second.  "Tell me, did your uncle ever have the knowledge on a concept in which people are able to travel through portals and thus travel vast distances through space?"
    "Yeah! Of course!  he talked about that all the time!  He had models and diagrams of everything!"
    Samaron paced around the small room for a few seconds, but realized the position he was in and quickly became dignified again.  "Ok Lyman, this is what we're planning.  We want you to come with us back to our headquarters in the Yuddi System.  There we have recovered some of your uncle's plans for building space portals, and you will translate them for us.  If we are successful, we can build a ship that can produce portals and thus be faster than any Sartra ship.  Now there you have it, but if you don't want to do this, tell me now."
    Lyman looked down for a second to think, and then looked back at Samaron.  "I fled in a rocket while the rest of my people were killed, and now I have a chance to be able to destroy the army that took away my home."  He then looked directly at Samaron."  "I'll help you stop the Sartra."
    "Very well then" said Samaron showing happiness and relief.  "Thank you Lyman."
    "No" said Samaron.  "Thank you."