Chapter I — The Call from the Ancient
Man fears time, but time fears the pyramids
— Ancient Terran Sphere Proverb
Standing as I always do beneath the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the moment I shared that ancient proverb from Earth with the tourists, it instantly turned their lethargy into an outburst of laughter.
Our descent just outside the dome of the Pyramids was timed precisely for the early morning hours. At this special time, from a designated spot, one could behold the trio of Great Pyramids alongside the ancient Sphinx all at once. The sunrise, emerging from their backdrop, momentarily bathes the City of Dawn above the dome with its glow. Lit up by the sun, humanity's largest space engineering marvel appeared as a grand arch across the land, cradling the ancient Pyramids and the Sphinx within its immense embrace. This view, seemingly from another world, was named "The Call from the Ancient" by the Dawn Tourism Bureau.
The designers at the Dawn Tourism Bureau certainly have a knack for their craft. The first time I saw it, I felt as if the Sphinx's ancient gaze was reaching across the ages to me, and the ring of the dome above bestowed an indescribable sanctity on the pyramids. The ancient and the future appeared to be truly linked together by the Ring of Dawn.
The Dawn Tourism Bureau hoped to rekindle a sense of planetary belonging among the tourists with this spectacle—sadly, though, the majority of tourists weren't impressed. They were either yawning up a storm, voicing complaints after complaints, showing little interest, chatting non-stop, or acting as they are right now...
Today's tour group was quite small, with only six members. Among them, there was a young couple or newlyweds from the Arnland System (Remark 1) and a family of four—nicely dressed parents and two lively young boys—from the Corrego System (Remark 2). The older son, in his teenage years, was obviously going through his rebellious phase. He looked utterly displeased and annoyed throughout the entire trip. The little one, six or seven years old, was at that adventurous age. They are known for their strong curiosity, relentless quest for exploration, never-ending vitality, incredible hands-on skills, and the protection of minor laws.
According to the schedule, today was supposed to be the final day of the trip. Despite having completed gravity adaptation training in the City of Dawn prior to setting foot on Earth, many still struggled with enduring Earth's standard gravity for extended periods. Situated in the Giza Plateau of ancient Egypt, the Great Pyramid was the second-to-last attraction we visited. The following and last stop was the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site ruins in Central Asia. According to the original plan, our group was to participate in an experience crafted specially by the Dawn Tourism Bureau, which claimed to be a "100% accurate simulation of mankind's first departure from Mother Earth into space, ten thousand years ago."
But, the tourism bureau's hard work eventually went down the drain. Through all these years, there hasn't been a single group of tourists brave enough to sign up for that terrifying experience. And how do I know this? Well, duh, because I'm the tour guide. It's literally my job to experience everything first-hand. Honestly, despite the rocket launch being a bang-on simulation and totally safe, you couldn't pay me to do it again.
The catch is that being the tour guide means I have to participate in every single activity alongside the tourists since we're more than just guides—we're also the safety crew. So, yeah, if they opt for an activity, I'm experiencing it right alongside them, whether I like it or not. The good news? Baikonur is typically the final destination in most of our tours. And thank god It's rare for a tour group to power through the entire list of activities.
This tour group was no exception. Judging from what I've seen over the years, it's quite an achievement that they've come this far, likely marking the end of their tour. Mentally, I was already booking it: finish guiding this tour, dart off to a little bar in the ring-shaped commercial district for a drink, and then off to the City of Dawn for a vacation to really unwind for a few days...
"Hey there! Why do you Earthlings always take us tourists for fools?" That young lady shot straight at me without holding back. "You expect us to believe this thing is eight thousand years old? Come on, that's gotta be a joke."
"I'm dead serious," I countered, shaking my head as I started quoting from the tour guide booklet. "Historically, these pyramids date back to around 3000 BC, making them over eight thousand years old now. The biggest one, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, was constructed using approximately 1.3 million massive stones. Archaeologists' research suggests that its construction spanned about 30 years and involved more than half a million workers..."
"Papa, was the Stargate already built back then?" the little boy asked in his sweet, childish voice.
"Good question, my boy," the father responded, gently patting the boy's fluffy hair with affection. He glanced up at the pyramid's lofty summit and stepped back, whether overwhelmed by its majesty or trying to take in its entirety. "No, son, back in those days, humans hadn't managed to build the Stargate yet. Not only were there no Stargates, but people hadn't even invented cars yet."
"Tsk, cars? Please," the girl added with disdain. "Those Earthlings were practically cavemen, barely different from the animals around them."
Her words seemed overly harsh, almost as though she considered herself wasn't a descendant of Earthlings herself. Yet, I didn't respond, instead offering a professionally courteous smile. See, this is what professionalism is all about. Of course, you could also say I have a thick skin or that I'm mentally tough, and I wouldn't argue. But I prefer to think I've grown and matured. I'm no longer the greenhorn I used to be. Had it been the old me, a thunderous outburst would have been considered mild.
Feeling slightly guilty, the mother of the children interjected, "Oh dear, that's not entirely fair to say, is it? We are descendants of Earthlings, after all..."
"Not so sure about that," the girl mumbled, "I've heard theories that human civilization might not even be from Earth. Nowadays, isn't there a bit of a battle over who gets to be called the origin of humanity?"
Shrugging, I chose to remain silent. Such comments from tourists had become quite familiar to me over the years. Following the fall of the Sacrum Chu Imperium and the dark period that followed, a certain ideology emerged among the stars. These folks are convinced that humanity's roots lie not on Earth but on a different, forgotten planet, and they refuse to support the Terran Sphere's campaign to revive Earth's culture. But really, that's one of the less extreme views—at least they accept that all humans are of the same species. Then there's a more radical notion I've heard: certain fanatics brazenly assert that humanity isn't one species at all but rather sprang up independently on various planets across the galaxy. Believe it or not, this absurd claim has its believers. But in my view, even the supporters of these bizarre theories probably recognize how ridiculous they sound. Likely, it's just their method of expressing discontent with the Terran Sphere. Who can say for sure?
Grabbing the girl's hand, the boy tried to calm her. "Hey, let's just leave this stuff for the archaeologists and historians to ponder, yeah? We're here to enjoy ourselves, not get bogged down in these debates. Plus, I actually find these places quite impressive, real or not, it hardly matters."
Hmm, I mused to myself, one thing's for sure, this couple wasn't here on their honeymoon.
"It must be fake," the girl asserted decisively, "how could people back then possibly move such massive stones, and 1.3 million of them at that..."
"Okay, okay, whatever makes you happy," the boy quickly glanced my way, giving me an embarrassed smile. "Really, there's no need for all this. We were just keen on experiencing Earth's native landscapes, such as this desert here—" He looked back at the girl, exclaiming, "My love, can you believe it? That Earth still has deserts like this, untouched—it's nothing like the man-made ones back in our eco-cities!"
I thought about telling them that Earth doesn't just contain untouched deserts but also grasslands, snowy peaks, rainforests, the Gobi Desert, glaciers, tundra, ancient cities, and old ruins of human history. We've worked hard to conserve every bit of Earth, its natural beauty, and the legacies of human civilization... But ultimately, I kept my silence.
"Mister, how did the people back then lift these big stones?" I turned towards the voice and noticed the little boy had jauntily hopped over to a nearby boulder. With a look of fascination, he extended his hand to touch the rough and uneven surface of the stone. Over their nearly ten millennia of existence, the pyramids have experienced numerous earthquakes. Though they continue to stand firm, some of the colossal stones have rolled off the pyramids, scattering around the base. The most majestic, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, now stands significantly shorter than at its first establishment by hundreds of meters. Its once polished outer stones have vanished, exposing the stair-step structure of colossal stones beneath, resembling a giant with its armor peeled away, showing a body marked by scars. Constructed from over 1.3 million colossal stones, each stone in the Great Pyramid of Khufu weighs an average of thirty tons. Just look at that little boy to get an idea. Even with his toes stretched and arms fully extended, he could barely touch the edge of the massive stone. Keep in mind, this kid grew up in reduced gravity, so he's probably much taller than the Earth-dwelling ancestors of old.
"Idiot, they could just use a stable warp gravity generator. Flip the direction of the gravity generator, and voila, anti-gravity," the older boy explained, annoyance written all over his face.
"Hmph! You are the real idiot. Didn't you hear what Dad just said?" the little one countered, clearly not convinced. "If they didn't even have cars, how would they have access to warp technology?"
"It's all fake then!" the older boy asserted bluntly, his hands in his pockets as he glanced around with a look of boredom. "Mom, Dad, can we go now? This is so boring. Earthlings seem to thrive on making things up. Maybe this desert is just another one of their fabrications to rip us off."
"What are you talking about?" The father shot me a quick, apologetic glance before scolding his son, "He is just being silly, don't mind him."
I waved it off to show it was no issue, but I couldn't help myself and explained, "In fact, the technique for building the pyramids is pretty much agreed upon; they used water to move the stones."
"Oh, come on..." the girl laughed derisively, "We're in the middle of a desert! Where did the water come from?"
"At that time, the course of the Nile had not been altered," regret started to seep in as I spoke, "The ancient river course isn't too far away, and it wouldn't have been hard to extend a canal here."
Truth be told, from where we stood, the ancient Nile Valley was visible. Back in ancient times, the Nile ran from the highlands of East Africa, pouring into the Mediterranean Sea, back when it was considered the planet's longest river. But then, at some point, its path shifted; the Nile diverted away from the Mediterranean, curving around the East African Rift to spill into the Indian Ocean. Without the Nile, ancient Egypt withered away. What's now a vast expanse of sand conceals the ruins of ancient Cairo underneath. Indeed, Cairo was forsaken well before humankind's leap into space. I'm not entirely familiar with that part of history, and frankly, it's not something that typically interests tourists.
Unexpectedly, the little boy's curiosity was sparked by what I'd said. He gazed at me with big eyes and asked, "Mister, how did they manage to use the power of water?"
I had no choice but to keep explaining, "They made airbags out of sheepskin and attached them to the stones. Water was poured into the channels, and leveraging the principle of communicating vessels, the water could elevate the stones to higher ground..."
"I know about the principle of communicating vessels, but what's a sheepskin?" the boy fired questions at me non-stop.
"Sheepskin, you see... it's... the skin of a sheep..."
"A sheep? What's that?"
"Um... a sheep... it's an animal..." I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
"Okay, okay, we'll talk about it more when we get home. Everything's in the database." Luckily, the boy's father stepped in to bail me out. "Jason, is this the last stop on our tour?"
I let out a silent sigh of relief and gave the father a thankful glance, "Technically, there's one more stop listed in the travel guide... But if you prefer, we can wrap up the tour now. I can call a shuttle right now; the nearest sky ladder is southward, quite close to here. The shuttle trip would last about half an hour, yet..."
"I'm exhausted," the girl said, pulling on the boy's arm, "Let's just return to the City of Dawn. My legs are killing me."
The boy looked at me with questioning eyes, so I spread my hands with an innocent look, "If we're going to end the tour early, we need all members to agree upon..."
"Mom, Dad, let's head back. I don't want to go to that Baikonur place, sounds boring," the older boy said, hands in his pockets, aimlessly kicking pebbles on the ground.
"Mister, what's Baikonur?" the younger boy came up to me, asking with a serious face.
"Well..." After thinking for a bit, I decided to kneel down, looking directly into the boy's eyes, speaking with sincerity, "Kid, that place commemorates the first time humans made their way into space. Back then, Earth was the only home for humans, and there was this man named Gagarin who became the first to venture into the cosmos."
"Gagarin? What a strange name. Names from ancient Earth are so weird," said the little boy's brother.
I didn't respond.
After a brief discussion, the tourists decided to end the journey early. Even though the younger boy was clearly fascinated by the Baikonur launch site, the opinion of a single kid couldn't affect the final decision.
About ten minutes later, I escorted our small tour group onto a shuttle outbound to Sky Ladder No.7, located in the old Kenya region to the south of this continent. We ascended the ladder to reach the counterweight spaceport at its summit, finishing our trip there. The tourists then switched to a transport ship at the port, making their way to the City of Dawn. Next, they boarded a warp drive ship from the City of Dawn to the L001A Lagrange Stargate, venturing back into the cosmic sea.
Next, I reported to the Tourism Bureau's office located on the space station of Ladder No.7. Once my duties were fulfilled, I found myself with nothing left to do. I decided to unwind at my usual haunt, a cozy bar in the space station's outer ring commercial district. This ring-shaped district was in constant rotation, utilizing the gyroscope effect to stabilize the station and generate artificial gravity for its commercial areas.
I arrived at the bar and settled into my usual spot, sipping my drink while taking in the view from the porthole. Fortune smiled upon me; it was sunset, a sight I always relished. The father from the Corrego System had been quite generous with his tip, leaving me with more than enough to enjoy my evening. I figured the generous tip was probably out of apology; his teenage son had been anything but courteous to me throughout the tour, but I wasn't hung up on that. What truly captured my interest was the father's identity, which appeared to be much more significant than his understated introduction.
Suddenly, the voice coming from the holographic screen in the center of the pub grabbed my attention—and not only mine—as other customers in the bar turned their heads to watch the holographic screen.
Remark 1: Also known as the Cygnus V1768 Star System. Early in the Gold Rush Era, the Eastman Family established their clan base, Pearl City, on the orbit of the Rheeta satellite, achieving full control over the star system.
During the interstellar wars, as the conflict reached the outskirts of the star system, in order to maintain their power within the system, the clan's businesses unified and increased their military investments, gradually transforming into a centralized warlord group—the Germanicus Corps.
As of today, the order in the Arnland System is relatively stable under the governance of the Germanicus Corps.
Remark 2: Also known as the Wingstick T. This constellation is among the 109 newly identified constellations from the Sacrum Chu Imperium Era, partially overlapping with the constellation Lyra as viewed from Earth. Following the interstellar wars, four traditional enterprises merged to form the NOMA Shipping Group and established their headquarters—Belobog—in this star system.
In the century that followed, the NOMA Shipping Group established multiple large, well-equipped factories within space cities throughout the star system, making it one of the most industrialized star systems.
Although this star system was developed after the war and did not experience any warfare, it has a high crime rate and serious security issues, with several terrorist attacks occurring in recent years.
