A History of Rubrum
The inside story of an antagonistic alien race
Science fiction stories are filled with hostile alien races who inspire fear and hatred for other characters inhabiting those fictional worlds. From the Borg in Star Trek to the Gou’ald in Stargate SG-1, antagonistic aliens push protagonists to their limits and challenge them, body and soul, through their horrific actions.
Aliens from Rubrum fill this role in the fictional universe within my science fiction novels.
Rubrumian atrocities have affected many inhabited planets. The mere mention of Rubrum inspires extreme fear or hatred from Earth to Lathos. The aliens from Rubrum serve as the primary antagonists in Under a Fallen Sun and are background antagonists in the Alien People Chronicles trilogy.
Crimes of Rubrum
A cell of Rubrum refugees invaded Travis, a small town in West Texas, several weeks prior to the opening chapters of Under a Fallen Sun and slaughtered many residents. The Rubrumians performed nasty genetic experiments on captured survivors with a desperate aim of adapting the extreme photosensitivity of their skin to conditions on Earth, opening the door to converting the planet into a new Rubrum homeworld. Their terrifying actions ultimately led to the annihilation of Travis.
Rubrum scientists swayed the final outcome of the Separatist War on Lathos that liberated Ra'ahm from the despotic rule of Confederation of Northern Tribes. They created legions of genetically modified soldiers from a blend of Lathoan humanoid and animal DNA and placed them under the direct control of Delcor, the main antagonist in the Alien People Chronicles series. He used these hybrid soldiers to massacre tens of thousands of enemy soldiers and civilians, forcing the Confederation to sue for peace. Delcor became the chief sovereign of Ra'ahm and terrorized millions of innocent people with his tyrannical rule over a span of four decades.
Rubrum Origins
How did aliens from Rubrum become recurring antagonists in my fictional universe? Fully answering that question requires taking a deep plunge down a rabbit hole.Â
Rubrum is a small rocky planet mirroring Venus in size and mass. It orbits a red dwarf star, called Kapteyn's Star on Earth, which lies 12.76 light years or 3.91 parsecs from our Sun. Unlike Venus, Rubrum orbits within the habitable zone of its parent star. A closer orbital proximity means Rubrumian years are shorter than Earth years. One year on Earth equals roughly three years on Rubrum.
Plant and animal life flourished on Rubrum for several million Earth years. A humanoid race also evolved on the planet. Lower sunlight levels than Earth caused photosynthesis to produce black vegetation instead of green plants. This influenced the physical evolution of Rubrumians.
Humanoid aliens from Rubrum possess some stark differences in physiology from residents of planets like Earth, Lathos, or Colonia. Their arms are twice the length of an average human arm. They have pale skin, large black oval eyes, small and pointed noses, sharpened teeth, and large skulls. Their average height ranges from six feet to eight feet. They speak in an awkward formal cadence. Rubrumians are typically most active around dawn and dusk due to extreme photosensitivity with their skin. Harsh bright sunlight or artificial lights can produce fatal burns with prolonged exposure.Â
Fate of Rubrum
Living on a volatile homeworld influenced how Rubrumians have evolved. Recorded history on Rubrum spans 12,000 Earth years. Rubrumians grew technologically advanced beyond 21st century Earth within only a few thousand years. Rubrum advocated genetic research and interstellar travel above all other scientific pursuits. Emphasis on research in these fields came from a combination of natural curiosity and necessity.Â
Persistent solar flares buffeted the planet throughout its recorded history. Rubrumian scientists became skilled at detecting and forecasting future flares. Those forecasts took an ugly turn when Rubrumian leaders learned a superflare powerful enough to strip away much of the planet's atmosphere and destroy all life on the planet loomed on the horizon.Â
Planetary leadership formed the Rubrum Transition Council. This council organized research cells to identify and study habitable planets within the Milky Way Galaxy close enough to transport their population en masse within the lifetime of that current generation. Ideally, these planets were expected to match living conditions already present on Rubrum.
Difficulties arose from the fact that Rubrumians were already feared and hated on many other planets where they previously made contact. A prominent faction of Rubrum scientists practiced unethical genetic manipulation using a device called a bio code splicer and abducted species from other worlds to use for genetic experimentation. Many inhabited worlds battled Rubrumians and chased them away from their respective planets.Â
Rubrum has reached folklore status on Lathos. No one has reported seeing any Rubrumians since the end of the Separatist War. Many Lathoans from the generation of Calandra and Xttra now see Rubrum and Rubrumians as a race of virtual bogeymen because of tales surrounding their exploits.Â
The Rubrumians will return and make their presence known again. Tens of thousands escaped destruction on Rubrum and found a new homeworld. Once they are fully settled into their new home planet, a new Rubrum will arise to afflict protagonists in some of my future stories.
