The Chest was made as an afterthought, more like a footnote. It was made from the fragments of the meteor that was destined to hit the Earth and destroy it. They had tried their best to destroy the meteor before it reached the Earth's atmosphere but to no avail. They couldn't even get to put a dent in it, but they were just able to change it's direction. It was to have hit the Earth real hard around Australia but it missed its mark by a lot by grazing past the South Pole, where it's fragments were picked by the Founders, who had realized that the material which seemed unbreakable couldn't hold together in cold.
That was how this little box was forged. Not in any ordinary forge, but in one that was cold, extremely cold.
The box contained pictures of the crew that helped put the space stations together. Pictures of the Earth before they had left it forever. Some videos of their expeditions to other planets and other solar systems. A handwritten diary with dates and anniversaries, and a lot of numbers. A canister containing the original DNAs and a corresponding log to it. It contained a lot of papers and a few books.
Amongst other things were the original plans of 3Shells Paradise. When Orla was looking through them, Adam started to read out aloud the back of the pages. This irritated Orla and she simply put them aside.
Orla: Yeah, go ahead and read them. You won't allow me to anyway.
Saying this she thrust them into his hands.
He was just about to thank her when he was called by Roff and he had to return the papers to Orla. "I guess I'll have to let you read them in peace." He said as he hurried away.
Roff, Daren, Gibbs were all examining the box. They had never seen such a material. Perhaps because the Founders too hadn't been quite able to get large quantities of it and hence had kept it all hushed up.
Sia was busy looking at the pictures. Adam wanted to have one more look at the blueprints and decided to go ahead anyways. He left the group discussing if they should ever start searching for more fragments of the meteor or its source.
He found Orla looking at something else and went and asked her for the blueprints. She readily gave it to him saying, "I saved them only for you". He looked around and realized nobody actually even wanted it.
He sat in a corner and was going through them. He realized that while the construction regulations demanded symmetry, it was always across North and South and East and West, it was never across all four zones. Even the various sectors in the zones needed to be evenly distributed. This didn't seem to agree with the common notion of aesthetics. It had to be beyond it. Moreover, North and East zones had a different internal design. As he made a mental note of this, Sia came along with cups of hot malts.
Adam: That's a sight for sore eyes. Throat, I.. mean. I mean sore throat.
Sia: That's alright. What are you looking at anyways?
Adam: Just the construction of our...
Sia: Wow! I didn't know the North zone comes over the South like that?
Adam: huh? What?
Sia: Look at that. Instructions to Close the Shells.
Adam: Swish! I never got to that point. It's incredible. That's exactly what we need.
Sia: let's get this to...
Adam: I love you.
And he kissed a bewildered Sia.
Some time later at the Council, the closing of the Shells was being discussed with great deliberation. The general tone of the meeting was if the old plans could still be trusted. If the zones could still be closed without any disasterous results. And if they could somehow close them successfully, what next?
As the discussion was still underway, Harry returned with Maula. They had bad news. Earth was sending it's troops. Many countries deemed it a threat to their humanity and had joined the cause. They had less than week before the war.
Maula looked rather rattled and did know what to do. He hoped that everything would work out just the way it had with Vajra and Gibbs.
They could close the shells but how long could they hide. They would still have to fight but they knew that the structures wouldn't hold if there was an attack. The number of beings on 3Shells was too small to defend itself yet so large it couldn't be hidden or flown farther away to safety.
Neither Sara's strategies nor Sia's foresight could now save them. War seemed inevitable.
YOU ARE READING
Three Shells Paradise
Fantasy[Updates on Tuesdays and Fridays] Shyla woke up dreaming of having a daughter who would cause the world to crumble and yet years later was creating a wish list for her baby shower, having married the man of her dreams. She knew the inevitable would...
