LITMIR.BIZ

      Maria Grazia Gullo - Massimo Longo

      Seven Planets

      The exoskeleton and Parius's object

      Translated by Laura Jurinic

      Copyright © 2019 M.G. Gullo – M. Longo

      The cover image and the graphics were created and edited by Massimo Longo

      All rights reserved

      ISBN:

      ISBN-13:

      Table of Contents

       First Chapter

      The Sea of Silence

      General Ruegra was staring at the space through the large porthole of his cabin. It was fascinating to see the entire planetary system of KIC 8462852 and its seven planets in orbit. In that occasion he could only see five of them: Carimea, his own homeland, had already a grey atmosphere, which meant that it was destined for a leadership position; the blue and enchanting Medusa, which was as magnetic and dangerous as its dwellers; Oria, which was small and barren like the Moon, and white because of the reflection of the light of our Sun. Not too far from Oria, there was the bright green Sixth Planet, which was the most socially and technologically advanced among the planets; and Eumenide, with its pinky atmosphere, which was as fascinating as its dreadful inhabitants.

      All this was soon going to be property of the Anic population, and he was going to be appointed Supreme Leader. He only had to be patient and complete his plan: with the parchment in his hands everything and everyone was going to bend to his will.

      General Ruegra was staring at the space through the huge porthole of his cabin and he could feel his hunger for power grow inside him. It was the year 7692 since the foundation of the Anic civilization.

      Ruegra was abruptly woken up from his dreams of glory. The spaceship had hit something: they were crossing the Bonobo's rings. It would have been better for him to proceed towards the control deck. Although landing on the planet was a standard procedure, it could still have some surprises in store.

      As soon as he entered the control deck, he was greeted with deference by his subordinates.

      The procedure was not going as smoothly as previously planned: something had hit the ship, as he feared.

      "Damage in area 8, General. A rock hit us." the Captain reported immediately.

      "Isolate the area immediately and proceed with expulsion."

      The captain ordered to initiate the evacuation procedure in the designated area:

      "Immediate evacuation of the area...

      Isolate it! Do not waste any time!"

      The official immediately executed the order. Nobody dared making Ruegra notice that this move was going to cost the lives of many soldiers in vain.

      The bulkheads that were separating the area from the rest of the spaceship were shut down. Only a couple of soldiers were quick enough to jump under the closing bulkheads in order not to be swept away. Unfortunately, they were not spared from witnessing their companions, with whom they had shared their existence up until a few moments before, desperately hit on the bulkheads and then disappear into the void.

      The detachment was completed, and the area was abandoned.

      All the Carimea's ships were war spaceships and were shaped like an enormous trilobite. They were characterised by a pronounced segmentation in order to quickly expel any damaged areas. In this way, the crew would optimise their performance during battles. Both middle section and tail, which was shaped like an oyster shell, could be expelled. Only the control cabin, composed of a big plate with a semi-elliptical profile that would become polygonal in some other sections and the "spine" of the ship, could not be expelled.

      They were surrounded by the infinite stretch created by the enormous grey rings that were enclosing the planet Bonobo. They were composed of big debris of the black death of an asteroid that had got too close to KIC 8462852.

      Bonobo, the second farthest planet from the dwarf, also consisted of a big mass that had attracted toward itself a great amount of debris. In this way, it had spared the smaller Enas and had created one of the most enchanting sights of the entire galaxy.

      The planet was located right at the centre of the rings. It was so wonderfully rich and diverse that it was used as the Anic imperial reserve for hunting, slaves and supplies. Its anthropomorphic population was stuck at the beginning of civilization. Bonobians walked upright, had grasping feet and were largely covered in body hair.

      They were as big as gorillas but were as naive and accommodating as children. They would quickly procreate and were strong, which would make them perfect.

      Bonobo was the only conquest made by the Anics that had stayed under their control. And it was only because the two planets would describe similar and simultaneous orbits around KIC 8462852.

      Carimea had managed to conquer other planets too, but they would constantly lose control because of the uprisings fuelled by the Coalition of the Four Planets, whose aim was eased by their closeness to the orbits.

      The spaceship landed in perfect timing. At the headquarters the supplies had already been prepared for the allocation. Ruegra stepped on land only to talk to Mastigo, the local Governor. The General did not like that particular Evic, but his way with the local population was effective. He belonged to one of the leading tribes of Carimea.

      The Evics were big, grey-green reptiles that could walk on their chunky and strong hind feet. They were slightly smaller than the Anics and except for their faces, were entirely covered in scales. Their faces, which were half shaped like an ellipse, would

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