Zein: The Homecoming by Graham J. Wood Read Free Book Online

from their slumber. On the third deck there were more civilians than soldiers, the expedition’s army resources mainly on the lower floors.
    Tyson saw the expedition’s leading scientist, Dr Walter Moore stretch and fumble around for his glasses, which were resting on the bedside cabinet next to his cubicle, before clumsily climbing from his capsule. Walter had spent many hours with the small group of companions prior to the journey as he pieced together the cultural and scientific differences of the two species. He saw Tyson and waved. Tyson, who had taken an instinctive liking to the clumsy, spaced out but highly intelligent scientist, waved back.
    Walter’s gaze rested on the famed scientists and experts he had helped handpick as they pulled their protesting bodies from the capsules. He saw the nervous glances of his fellow colleagues towards the Zeinonians, adding to his discomfort. Before they had entered the hyper-sleep he had detected the distrust, envy and downright dislike towards the aliens from some of the greatest minds on Earth. Walter had gone out of his way to convince them that the Zeinonians would share their knowledge and he thought judging by the medical and farming advances they had demonstrated that this had largely been done. He was wrong. The memory of the destruction of New York still rested in the minds of even the most advanced minds. Walter sighed as he flexed his limbs, helping the circulation in his legs. He had much work to do to make the different species work effectively together.
    Kabel and the rest of the group had nicknamed him Boff, short for boffin. Walter, who rarely had been part of any group, even at school, took it all in his stride. He was one human who welcomed the friendship of the Zeinonians; they made him feel special and part of their world.
    On each of the decks, they had not used the full capacity of sleeping capsules. On the third deck, over two thousand people were just coming out of their hyper-sleep. On the other dormitory floors, where the bulk of the forces rested, there were between one thousand and three thousand people per deck. The other floors carried the bulk of the Expeditionary Task Force with a mixture of Zeinonian warriors from each clan and a multi-national force gleaned from around the world, although the bulk of the soldiers came from the United States and Russia.
    In total, including the support ships the Expeditionary Force numbered an impressive eighty thousand people, consisting of mainly troops, tradesmen, a variety of scientists and supporting crew. With over six billion people on Earth it was relatively easy to make the decision that if the human race was to step into the wider Universe it wanted a substantial armed capability coupled with some of their best brains across a whole range of specialties and industry sectors. A large proportion of the main crew provided the catering, cleaning and general administration required for such a large expeditionary force.
    ‘How long is it until we reach Zein, Boff?’ Gemma asked.
    ‘We have just travelled nearly thirty trillion light years in three months,’ said a disbelieving Walter shaking his head in wonder. ‘We should be very close to the Capulus Novus System and then a matter of days to Zein,’ he concluded.
    ‘You said during our training that the atmosphere on Zein is fine for us. How do you know for sure?’ said Tyson,as he hugged Amelia close to him. Gemma monitored the display of affection with a pang of jealousy; she was missing Kabel. Tyson picked up the strength of feeling and a thrill went through him before guilt took over. He stopped his probing of her mind.
    Behave yourself Tyson .
    Walter was running the modifier instrument over his body scanning his vital organs for any areas for concern to check that he was fully fit for duty. His mother always said he was a hypochondriac. He looked up at Tyson’s question.
    ‘The tests we ran on the biological differences between both races,’