Friday 25 March 2016

The Mew - part two!

THE MEW MARTIANS



Meanwhile, the previous stowaways, ten to begin, then 16 by the time they arrived on Mars, were making arrangements for housing the next Mew. They knew that 100 had set off, but the total on arrival would be much higher.

Special screens were made to hide the Mew from the Bipeds, they managed to replicate the natural colours so well that they couldn't see them when they were finished. A Mew manned the radio constantly to keep in touch with Mew everywhere.  Fortunately they were able to augment their food via the computers and scraps rescued from the Bipeds waste system. Their finds had enabled the current voyagers to increase what they had with them for the journey and make a good effort at preparing for their future life on Mars. The Bipeds on the spaceship were not very good at utilising all their food stores, so waste was collected for examination and reuse. All-in-all, the Mew arrived on Mars with more food than they had at the start of their journey, despite having extra Mew to feed.

On board the ship, the 100 Mew had increased to 160, just enough for their quarters. The Matriarch's grandson was the oldest and more resourceful of all the Mew. Dusty had beautiful silvery grey hair and reminded his grandmother of her first husband, being fleet of foot and with a slim body. He constantly spied on the Bipeds, borrowing strange items for scientists to examine - and returning them without being caught - and was proficient at finding food. He even managed to arrange for the Biped's computer to have a hiccough on the first attempt to land on Mars, to give the stowaways time to leave unnoticed. Evem though their silver crafts were invisible, there was a chance that so  many Mew leaving at the same time would be noticeable because of the combined weight!

The Mew already on Mars were watching the sky eagerly, of course the silver craft were visible to them, and were pleased to see them arrive safely in the designated area. Ushering the newcomers to the living quarters didn't take long and all Mew found somewhere to watch the Bipeds land. They noticed that the original Bipeds went to greet the newcomers. Dusty took advantage to check the work area they left. All-in-all, there wasn't much that was new, although some plants were unknown, so he borrowed them for the scientists to inspect. It turned out they were very important food items. Very small samples were taken, then Dusty returned the plants.

A young Mew from the first group was quite interested in Dusty, and made herself known to his family. Tamsin was slightly younger than he was, but had the same silvery grey hair, and everyone soon realised that they would eventually be a good partnership.

When "spying" on the Bipeds, Dusty found there were some changes ahead. The original group were returning to Earth very soon, in the last ship, and then someone would rescue the last crew. There was a problem with the first ship, so it needed repairing before it could return to Earth. Little did anyone know that he had done the damage in order to find out what was happening. Three Mew would return to Earth with all the silver crafts they could find. Dusty had discovered that the Earth's plans for Mars had changed dramatically in that once the Bipeds had all left, there were only going to be sensors left in case of alien occupation. It was too costly to maintain manned visits and/or outposts.

Every Mew was delighted at the news, all Mew would be able to live on Mars in the near future - the Biped sensors could easily be manipulated to keep their presence from everyone. However they knew it wouldn't be possible for a grand reconciliation for a long time - how they wished the Bipeds had discovered how to have their ships fly more quickly!

The Mew were preparing for the influx that would arrive with the next Biped ship when they received a radio message - Bipeds were on their way, with new ships and fuel! And many Mew were with them! In order to take full advantage of the opportunity, 250 Mew had found space to hide from the Bipeds and used their silver crafts to ease the pressure of numbers cramped together! These |Mew would vow never to travel like that ever again!

There wasn't a lot of time to prepare for many new arrivals, so they had to make some kind of basic accommodations in an area unmonitored by the Bipeds and create hidden areas, just in case. They had a radio with them as they didn't want to miss the arrival of some family members. It wasn't too long before they returned to the landing site - and marvelled at the sight of so many silver craft leaving the spaceship. Plans had been made for as many silver craft as possible would return to Earth for the eventual return to Mars with all Mew.

The new Bipeds had thoroughly checked the old ship and discovered it had too much damage, so it was best left there. The Mew were intrigued by the attitude of the Bipeds - too much rubbish and waste strewn here, there and everywhere - a common trait of most of the Bipeds. However, the Mew decided to use the old ship as accommodation for those who were finding life on Mars difficult to cope with.

Meanwhile, Dusty and Tamsin approached the Matriarch to seek permission to marry each other. They were asked to wait a while longer as they were slightly on the young side for such an understanding. Instead there was a betrothal party, which marked their intentions for every Mew to see. This raised the spirits of those Mew who were bemoaning the fact that family members were still on Venus and Earth. There were no objections, every Mew could see that they were a natural couple.








DUSTY'S STORY



Born on the second journey to Mars, fleeing from Earth - which wasn't a good place for Mew to live, Dusty was the grandson of the Matriarch. With beautiful silvery grey hair, his stature reminded her of her first husband who had died many years before. She saw signs that Dusty would be a great leader of the Mew - a natural-born leader!

She told no-one of this, letting the future take care of itself as she had learned many years before. However she made sure Dusty, and other youngsters, learnt about their own planet and the proud history of the Mew. The older Mew realised what was happening and they took turns in passing on their knowledge. Some of them had heard about his grandsire from their elders, and could recognise the signs in Dusty.

As the large group of Mew grew eager to leave the confines of their quarters and relished the idea of 'fresh air' again!  Fortunately Mew were not ones to get over-excited, so no excessive celebrating took place. After all they weren't 'there' yet! And then they were in their silver crafts, flying down to an area of Mars where no Bipeds ever went  - or monitored. Welcome deep breaths of fresh air took up at least five minutes before they greeted each other, and then the original group made themselves known. 

Talks about conditions, etc, were left to the next day, it was more important to see what the Bipeds were doing before they settled down for their first night on solid ground in a long time. Some of the youngest Mew were having trouble, the newness after being in the spaceship for all of their short lives gave them problems.  Just before the Matriarch decided to talk to them, Dusty and a young female with the same stature and silvery grey hair went to talk to them - even though Dusty had landed with the youngsters, the two gravitated to each other at first sight. The yougsters were happy that Dusty joined them, they had grown very close to him on the long flight, and he could  discuss what was happening much easier than anyone older.

In fact, Dusty and Tamsin were mainly found together, with the youngsters in tow. He had knowledge that surprised the older Mew - it covered the time before Planet Mew moved to the Milky Way Galaxy! Very few of the Mew remembered that time. Although he spent a lot of time with the youngsters, he still managed to check on the Bipeds areas and see what he could find.

After a good sleep, the Matriarch and her counterpart from the first group, not yet a Matriarch, discussed the conditions on Mars and how best to prepare for the eventual arrival of an unknown number of Venusian and Earth Mew - at least a thousand they thought!

Then everything changed, a message from outside the galaxy caused concerns far beyond their current problems. The message was from the Martians and Venusians - telling of changes in the Milky Way Galaxy, that all the planets would  disappear due to changes in the Sun. Maps and directions to a new planet and galaxy where the Martians and Venusians had created living quarters, etc, for their Mew friends. Only the older Mew remembered their friends, who had been perfect neighbours and were excited about the prospect of meeting up with them again.  At the same time there was sadness about the Mew who intended to stay with Bipeds on Earth. However, they didn't tell them about the future catastrophe, just gave them the news about moving elsewhere to meet up with their old friends again so they could make a final choice on what they did.

Meanwhile, the scientists were busy ensuring that food, etc, would be available to many more Mew, although one was tasked with creating bloodlines to show that Dusty and Tamsin were not related - they were so similar that even those who saw the lineage chart when Dusty was born were confused. At the same time two separate scientists were given the same task - all three unaware of the others. As the Matriarch had always said - they were not genetically linked - and so it was confirmed.

Meanwhile the last Biped ship from Earth was crammed with Mew, eager to finally be on Mars. The numbers were high, but with their silver crafts they could spend time alone for a while. Some wished they could just fly to Mars in them, but realised that it was easier for those already there to have the influx all at once - while the Bipeds on Mars were distracted by their ship arriving. Some Mew who relished the thought of being free just to be themselves, were happy to wait a little longer - just a little longer!

All the youngsters were given low-key lectures on how to ensure everyone's safety on Mars, and even some older Mew attended these classes, to give the impression that every Mew needed to know these important topics. It was expected that there would be no births in the last four months of their journey, the cramped conditions would be dangerous.

The Matriarch had sent radio messages to all the Mew to announce the nuptials of Dusty and Tamsin. The Mew en route were pleased to have something good to look forward to - the adults on board the ship and those on Venus had heard of the fate for the galaxy and hoped that every Mew would arrive on Mars before the Mew left for good. As was expected, the marriage ceremony managed to distract some Mew from the reason for the evacuation plans. And, despite the happy couple being slightly too young, all the adult Mew knew that it was a fitting end to their time in this galaxy and a great beginning to living near to the Martians and Venusians again.

As the final preparations for the Mew exodus from the galaxy, several silver craft arrived from Earth - tension between Biped and Mew was causing repeated attacks on the latter, for no apparent reasons. No-one knew the reason behind this, but thought it may be due to the disappearence of other Mew. In spite of not being allowed to talk to Bipeds, the Mew who had decided to leave at this late hour, told their 'friends' that they had enjoyed their lives together but had to leave because of problems on another planet - they couldn't bring themselves to tell the truth. Their Bipeds were very understanding - if somewhat taken aback to be spoken to in their own languages at this time - and some even gave small souvenirs and photos to their Mew, which nearly caused a change of plans. Fortunately, the sound of unruly Bipeds hitting Mew made them realise it was too dangerous to stay!

It wasn't the best news to arrive just after Dusty and Tamsin married each other, but at least they were to be together for ever and eager to start their own lives in their new home and on the new Planet Mew. All female Mew were asked to be celibate until they eventually reached it - but it was slightly too late for Tamsin, who had enjoyed the night after the wedding! However, there were one or two female Mew in the same position, and no-one could accuse them of breaking the rule! As it happened. it took longer than expected to leave Mars - and all of the new Mew were old enough to enjoy their first expedition when they did!

Over time there were several Mew resembling Dusty amd Tamsin, and they had the same traits, so it was only natural that, as time went by, they would be very involved in Mew life. Every Mew felt privileged to be their friends!





HOME, SWEET HOME


Finally the time had come for the Mew to leave the galaxy forever. They had enjoyed their short tenure on Mars, but radio communications from their 'old' friends, Venusians and Martians had whet their appetites for space expoloration. The fact that the Milky Way's Sun was changing and would rip the galaxy apart was the spur needed to move to their new Mew Home.

The Mew who had opted to stay on Earth were torn between leaving their Bipeds or rejoining their own kind. A deadline was given to them as the Mew wished to leave while there was still a measure of calm in the galaxy. Eventually just 100 Mew stayed behind while the others went to Mars. About half of them decided to leave after all, so they arrived just in time to join the exodus. Messages were left with details of the journey in case other Mew decided to go after all!

Some of the senior Mew could remember their journey to the Milky Way, on their own planet, and quite liked this different method. Their silver craft were so fast that they took little time before they were travelling through other galaxies until they came to their new home - slowing down en masse to take in all the items they could see! 

All too soon the planets were before them, the maps were so detailed and accurate that they knew their past friends hadn't forgotten some of their likes. A flashing beacon on one planet was the signal to tell them it was their new home. The Mew liked what they could see as they got nearer and ever nearer - everything was just right! Most of them were happy to be home again! 

The younger Mew were very excited and wanted to explore everything, however they were persuaded, quite easily, by Dusty and Tamsin to eat and have a sleep! And the older Mew needed no second telling to go to sleep - despite the short, yet fast, journey they had been worried and excited. The next morning was spent exploring their new planet, and they were delighted with the facilities provided by Martians and Venusians, and maps had been printed in all three languages. The young Mew would have to learn the two languages, which at first seemed a chore, but with Dusty and Tamsin being in the same boat they happily settled down.

A few weeks later a number of Mew arrived, with sad stories of the end of the Milky Way Galaxy. They had waited as long as possible, hoping others would join them or the destruction didn't happen. Signs of their experiences were visible on faces and in hair. Some had developed nervous tics in their faces, and all were haunted by the knowledge that many Mew had been lost. Fortunately, with time, their features relaxed and they lost the feelings of failure which the experience had caused.

These latecomers had interesting stories of life with Bipeds, both good and bad. However, they felt that the experiences were worthy of being a part of Mew history. The Martians and Venusians had always recognised the Mew as kindred spirits, but most of the Bipeds felt themselves to be vastly superior to others, even among themselves.

Some Mew had been fortunate in that their Bipeds felt the calm feelings that was a result of mutual spirits. Overall these Bipeds were females, and it had been difficult to leave them. Some Mew had nearly talked about feelings, etc. Luckily they didn't as it was difficult to part without any sadness and speaking of the disaster would make things worse, knowing that Mew could escape, but no other life could. Fortunately, some of these latecomers had brought photos of their Biped friends, and some diaries, to show that life there, for some, had been good. It was decided that a special Memories Museum would be built in which to display the photographs and other keepsakes - from their time in that galaxy, and as far back as could be found.

It was decided that it was time for the Mew to change some of their customs - for their new life! With total agreement Dusty and Tamsin were appointed leaders - First Lord Dustin and First Lady Tamsin! The celebrations helped everyone to overcome their recent problems and look forward to a new life - albeit not instantly.

In due course young Mew became restless, wanting to look further than the three planets. Some of their Martian and Venusian peers felt the same way too. They discussed their wanderlust feelings with the Elders - who had been waiting for such a request! A general meeting was held on Mars, the largest planet, the three groups were all in agreement. The only stipulations were to stay in the galaxy and that each silver craft comfortably carried one each of a Martian, Mew and Venusian. This would given them unique knowledge of their friends. They were given permission to set up semi-permanent dwellings on a suitable planet, where they could stay occasionally. There would be no adult supervision, but there could be surprise visits to check nothing untoward was happening. The Mew had, in collaberation with the others developed other crafts which were totally invisible whilst in space!





The end!


Written by
Virginia Kop
Kop's Kattery
copyright 20 March 2016

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