The Zyronian Book 1 - Destination Africa excerpt

Prologue

Beyond the enormous sea of stars in our Solar System, about six hundred light years away and completely unknown to mankind in our world, there existed a planet known as Zyron, just a quarter of the size in comparison to Earth. Evolved in a universe that preceded ours by nearly fifty thousand Earth years, it took its form duly from tiny particles of dust, when a big blast of energy occurred abruptly in space at the time. Matter and energy came together, pulled inwards by surrounding gravity forces, the events consequently leading to the generating of the planet and the beginning of life on it. From the genesis of the first signs of its creation many life forms were engendered, one in particular was comparatively adjacent to the human race on Earth. Zyronians; a race, much older, by far older than when the first prehistoric humans wielded clubs and dwelled in caves on Earth. As the Zyronians advanced in knowledge and technology, and as more frequent climatic changes occurred on Zyron, it seemed eventually, only the north eastern areas of the planet had plentiful water due to the many lakes derived from the immense suspension of moisture in the changing atmospheres. This allowed lush vegetation to rise from the recesses of the soil now very fertile in that part of the hemisphere due to massive erosions throughout Zyron also having taken place at the same time. The other areas were barren and dry as a desert, completely unliveable to the future generations of Zyron, and so by the beginning of the twentieth century Earth time, the habitable areas of the planet Zyron emerged as one large sector, creating miles and miles of crystalline glass buildings and small citadels equivalent to roughly ten times the size of the state of New York.

Zyron rotated one hundred and five times on its slightly tilted axis around a yellow star, completing one year of their time. That star was truly their sun, consisting of hot plasma interwoven into magnetic fields, a necessary outcome to the creation of their universe for life to exist on Zyron. The revolving of Zyron perpetuated the setting of its sun indicating days or nights accordingly as it spun around, with the southern hemisphere facing more towards the massive star. Gradually, Zyron’s climate maintained only two seasons; cold and dry turning slowly to warm and humid, with temperatures rarely reaching below four degrees Celsius nor above twenty five degrees Celsius providing the planet with an almost perfect Mediterranean type of climate.  It was a world different and yet quite like ours yielding intelligent beings with physical appearances quite similar to those of our world as we know it.

Zyron had a moon too known as Byron, also formed when their universe was created, just as the moon in the skies of planet Earth. It revolved around Zyron taking roughly twenty turnings, showing crescents as it slowly aligned with Zyron and its sun, allowing a full moon when it did not, generating nights so beautiful at times, they were unforgettable.

Zaine, one of Zyron’s most accomplished and youthful of the geologists and scientists, looked out to the stars and the full incandescent golden moon above, on a chilly night a few days after Jon, his mentor had required him to have a meeting with their planet’s team of scientists. Zaine loved this recurring peaceful beauty of the Zyronian nights taking place in their skies which he felt held many secrets, always fascinating him endlessly. It was the middle of the cold spell and he was warmly clad in typical Zyronian attire as the stark night breeze cooled his face. Fashioned after the colours of the science center, Zaine was comfortably dressed in skin-tight black pants paired with a closely fitted dark purple and grey tunic, long enough to cover his sinewy thighs midway. Added on to complete his attire was a metallic silver belt fastened over it, feet protected by below the knee black boots, and a fleecy grey hooded cloak to shield him further from the low temperatures outside. Gripping the solid rail guards with his strong, tense, gloved hands, Zaine stood alone, a few feet away from his quarters, on a jutting circular balcony, a semi- enclosed structure of clear glass integrated with grey metallic rods on one of the highest buildings of the science center on the two hundred and eighty ninth floor, where he had been lately taking stock of the upcoming dilemma that Jon had sprung upon him. In the past few days, he had been put under a lot of pressure, consumed by this problem - in the very near future Zyron was in danger of losing all power and energy resources!

Zyron’s moon, for a very long time had been rich in the ‘rocks’ currently being used with the amalgamation of their sun’s rays synergised into them in the management and transformation of the powerful energy applications that were used progressively throughout the planet. Supplies of the ‘rock’ were now depleting and there was just not enough to last through to the next generation. At times, asteroids had been engulfed by Zyron’s space vehicles as they had provided some amounts of the ‘rock’ but these supplies proved to be minute. The ‘rocks’ disintegrated over time and new ‘rocks’ had to be periodically replaced in the planet’s ‘Zyronium’ energy storage application banks. With the advent of this powerful energy being used by their race at an alarming rate as their technology advanced rapidly, they had to discover another source soon!