An interstellar survey craft arrives in a previously unexplored star system to begin to evaluate the resources which may be available. At first, everything proceeds smoothly but then the unexpected happens, and even the most outlandish theories struggle to explain the bizarre circumstances facing the explorers.
Somewhere Else Entirely
by Penny Lane
Epilogue 1 - The Impossible World
Author's Note: This chapter is set 206 years after the events in Chapter 138.
Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2010-2016 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 01:13:21.046
Subject: *** Transient Gravitational Anomaly Detected ***
*** Automated Alert Class 1 ***
Transient Detected at 143.06.28, -20.51.42, Distance 4,605,810,200 ~2,500 marks
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 01:17:36.653
Subject: *** Transient Gravitational Anomaly Detected ***
*** Automated Alert Class 1 ***
Transient Detected at 144.06.28, -19.41.23, Distance 4,606,324,850 ~8,150 marks
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 03:24:12.701
Subject: *** Transient Gravitational Anomaly Detected ***
*** Automated Alert Class 1 ***
Transient Detected at 265.58.03, +55.11.67, Distance 4,719,341,550 ~4,600 marks
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 05:51:56.844
Subject: *** Transient Gravitational Anomaly Detected ***
*** Automated Alert Class 1 ***
Transient Detected at 017.15.38, -3.58.22, Distance 4,585,273,750 ~3,100 marks
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 06:02:09.397
Subject: *** Defense Control Center Analysis ***
1. First interstellar craft arrives, previous medium unknown, method of transition unknown.
2. Second interstellar craft arrives by same method four minutes later.
2a. If the two craft communicate, it is by a means we cannot detect with available sensors.
2b. We have found no evidence of any communication method that involves Interspace.
3. First craft disappears and reappears above ecliptic and approx. 120 deg. from previous location.
4. First craft disappears and reappears a further 120 deg from previous location.
Analysis:
* Two craft arrive on exploratory mission.
* Second craft stays in outer reaches of system to flee with warning in case anything should go wrong.
* First craft makes some kind of 'micro-jump' ~120 deg around system, presumably a standard protocol to map locations of major bodies and search for signs of life.
* A second 'micro-jump' takes this craft a further ~120 deg around the system which more or less confirms the mapping theory.
* This vessel is now inbound under some kind of in-system drive towards Anmar and will arrive in orbit at approx 11:45 today.
* It is noticeable that the vessel did not micro-jump to a location near Anmar. This could indicate one of two things, or perhaps a combination: first, that such a jump is not possible due to some constraint we do not yet understand and/or second, that they desire to give us advance notice of their arrival.
Recommend immediate status change to Defcon 4.
From: [email protected]
Sent At: 1380-05-20 06:02:56.219
Subject: *** Readiness Status Change ***
*** Automated Alert Class 5 ***
Worldwide change of status to Defcon 4. First Contact imminent.
The insistent bleeping of the alarm wakened the sleeping monarch. He was used to the sound, but night-time interruptions had been infrequent of late. He groaned and turned over to view the display on the small desk in his bed-chamber and came abruptly awake, a frisson of anticipation running through him as he saw the large red '4' at the top right of the display.
Now fully awake, he turned back to discover that the other half of the bed was unoccupied, the sheets and blankets rumpled where the occupant had made a hurried departure.
Of course. She has gone to get the children up and ready.
His Imperial Majesty King Keren XI, Honorary Guardian of Anmar, King of the United States of Alaesia, Honorable Emperor of the Kittrin Isles, Over-Guide of the Eleven Cities, Warlord of Battran, Director of the Terian Confederacy, et cetera, et cetera, sighed and sat upright, swiveling for his feet to find the slippers at the side of the sumptuous bed. He pulled on a fluffy robe and sat down on the stool in front of the terminal. Rapidly he scrolled through the automated alerts which had been copied to him and then scrutinized the attached analysis. His stomach tightened.
It has come. Today is the day when we find out if it has all been true.
I trust my Ancestor but I have always wondered about the others.
I wonder what they will be like? The explorers, who might imagine they are coming to some primitive world. What will they think when they learn the truth?
King Keren grinned then. The welcome he would extend to the spacefarers was not one they would expect at all!
He pulled up a communication program and dialed.
"Ops Center, good morning. Oh, good morning, Your Majesty!"
"Marshal Dithereen, good morning."
The woman whose face was displayed wore the gray uniform of Space Defense. Her skin was so dark he could not have made out any creases or wrinkles, even if any had existed. Her eyes showed the distinct epicanthic folds associated with the Kittrins. There was an easy familiarity between them, they were old friends.
"So," he continued, "they are on their way in, then. It looks like we have a busy day ahead of us."
"Aye, Your Majesty."
"How are the preparations going?"
"Mostly as expected, Sire. The only serious problem is air traffic, as expected. Most of those craft making trans-ocean flights will land in time but we estimate between four and five hundred which will still be airborne when the visitors establish orbit."
Keren's eyebrows rose. "That many?"
Dithereen shrugged. "That is the price we pay for a prosperous world, Sire. There are many thousands of craft in the air as we speak. Most will be able to divert and land in time."
"Ocean craft?"
"We have sent out warnings, as planned, but most know they are on their own if anything should happen. Of course we hope it will not come to that."
"As you say. And our defense preparations?"
Dithereen gave Keren a wolfish grin. "Locked and loaded, Sire. We don't think we can hit that vessel while it is moving, but once in orbit it will be a dead ganifil. The other one, the watcher, we think we might be able to take that one as well, but," she shrugged, "it is a long way out and space is big that far out. And of course we have no idea what their defenses are."
Keren considered. "Okay. Let me get dressed and have some breakfast and I'll join you in Ops Center in an hour or so."
"Aye, Sire."
As Dithereen closed the connection, Keren found two arms come round his shoulders to join hands on his chest. He enjoyed a warm, perfumed breath that came past his right ear.
"Morning, love. You heard?"
Her Imperial Majesty Queen Lanilla, consort to the acknowledged leader of Anmar, kissed him on the cheek, her hair tumbling over their faces.
"I did, Keren. It's real, isn't it?"
"It certainly seems to be, if these alerts are correct. What about you? You were quick to scoot out of bed."
"Ah, Robbie had a nightmare. I was already up and about to come and snuggle back down again." She straightened up, her face showing some slight disappointment. "Looks like I'm not going to get my lie-in this morning."
"Ha! As if that were ever possible with a four-year-old."
"True." She looked at her husband, serious now. "You want me to get dressed and follow the evacuation plan, don't you?"
"I do, my love. This time we have to do everything by the book. We have no idea who or what is about to visit our world. You know the Beings' rules about this."
"Very well." She looked worried. "Will you be alright? I heard you say an hour."
"I will, I'll shave and dress and then get a bite of breakfast in one of the Defense Center canteens. I've done it before during drills, you know that."
She looked sad. "I know we have everything planned out but I can't help thinking..." She shook her head. "Be safe, Keren." She leaned in and kissed him, then strode rapidly to her dressing room as he headed for his own.
Keren washed and dressed, choosing a civilian suit for this occasion. The defense of Anmar was properly the business of his military staff and he did not wish to seem to be interfering in the chain of command. Outside the door of the Royal Suite he found a small group of people waiting. All bowed.
"What are you all doing here? We're now at Defcon Four, you should be evacuating the palace." He nodded to a Quadrant. "Not you, of course, Hamblin. You're with me. Come on, we're going to the subway to get a car to the PDC. I'll have a bite of breakfast when we get there." He raised an eyebrow at the rest of the palace functionaries. "I told you, go! There may not be a palace here by noon, I want you all safe and away from here."
Instead of eating in the family room, which was in any event deserted, the two headed for the elevators and descended twelve hundred strides beneath the palace, where a sealed railcar awaited at a small private platform. Once seated inside, they were whisked to the Planetary Defense Center, where they headed for the nearest canteen. Inside, people stopped whatever they had been doing when he appeared, but he waved them away.
"Not today, people! Carry on, if you would. I'm just getting breakfast, that's all."
The original murmur returned, but there was a noticeable bubble of silence surrounding the King and his aide as they filled trays and found an empty table. Keren took a sip of his mug of pel.
"Ah, that's better! Any fresh news, Hamblin?"
The Quadrant lifted his message pad and looked at the scroll of text on it. He shook his head.
"Nothing important, Sire."
"Good. Now, let's get this food down and head for Ops Center. I want to find out if they have learned anything more."
Twenty minutes later the two had negotiated the security ring around Ops Center and made their way into the large chamber from where the defense of the planet would be conducted, should that ever become necessary. Several people noticed Keren's entry and headed towards him. The nearest, in uniform, came to attention.
"Dithereen. I'm here as promised."
She smiled as she saluted. "Sire, you always keep your promises. Two minutes early."
Keren turned. "Kandal."
The Prime Minister grinned at the King as he put out his hand. "About time, Your Majesty. We have been wondering when our guests would show up."
"Ah, well, I couldn't predict that as you well know. Still, all those drills mean that you are all ready for action?"
Kandal swung an arm around to encompass the room. "Right in front of you, Sire. We only get one chance and we do not intend to fail."
Keren gestured. "Shall we go to the briefing room, get out of everybody's way?"
"As you wish, Sire."
The briefing room overlooked the floor area where uniformed personnel sat at terminals co-ordinating defense preparations. Through a plate-glass window the occupants could see the large displays which showed the status of everything that might become important in the next few hours. All those who had followed Keren, Kandal, Dithereen and Hamblin found seats facing the window.
"Sire," Dithereen began, "we have some more information recently obtained. The incoming vessel passed near a sensor buoy and we were able to get a close look at it. It is roughly a cigar shape and over a mark long, possibly as much as a mark and a quarter."
Keren whistled. "That's big. Thoughts?"
Dithereen shrugged. "I'll leave that to people with bigger imaginations than mine, Sire. Perhaps Baylen has some suggestions."
A small man in civilian dress spoke up. "Sire, it might be that such a size is required for whatever kind of interstellar drive they use, or possibly there is a minimum mass requirement. Until we can examine the vessel, we won't know."
"What about the crew?"
Baylen shrugged, echoing Dithereen. "Again, Sire, until we know who or what the crew is, we don't know what environmental requirements they might have or how they satisfy those needs. In terms of how many crew they actually need to get here, well..." he paused, "... I wouldn't think it will be too large, despite the vessel's size. Any crew that goes off and explores unknown planets must know they run a risk of not coming back, so they ought to just pick a minimum crew in case."
Another civilian objected. "Sire, they might need a large crew, since they do not know what they are going to find." He shrugged. "There could have been a civilization here, just animals, just plants or even just plain rocks. They would need different specialists for each of those scenarios."
A uniformed man beyond Baylen spoke up. "Unless that is a big-assed warship with the power to flatten any opposition, Sire."
Keren spread his hands. "One of you might be right. We have plans in place should any of those possibilities be correct, and we have plans in place if something else happens. You all know that."
"Aye, Sire."
The room fell silent as each was left to their own thoughts. The big displays were continually updated as events progressed. Presently, somebody appeared with pel and cookies. The onlookers watched as the vessel threaded its way through the mess of moons, satellites and sundry rocks and asteroids orbiting Anmar and placed itself into a careful polar orbit. Dithereen excused herself and descended to the floor to watch operations more closely.
"That makes sense," Baylen said. "That means that they can map the planet in a reasonably short length of time."
"Maybe," one of the other officers said. "What emissions do you think they can detect?"
"Not many, I'm guessing," Baylen replied. "Defcon Four involves shutting down most emissions anyway. Of course, on a planet this size there's always going to be something to show a civilization is here, but in theory we're not showing them anything we can avoid showing them."
"Aircraft. Ships. Power plants," Keren said with a shrug. "By now they should be able to see a lot of leakage from transportation. Most of the rest should be," he grinned at the speaker, "invisible to them."
"Aye, Sire," the speaker agreed, "but only if they don't know about Interspace."
"Granted."
The door to the room opened and a small delegation entered. Keren and the others rose and turned to meet them. They bowed to him and then their leader, an older man in civilian clothes, got down on one knee.
"Your Majesty, on behalf of the members of the Progressive Party and those others who did not believe your warnings, I come to offer my most abject apologies. Though it is difficult for any politician to say such a thing, I must admit that you were right and we were wrong. You would be within your rights to require us to offer our resignations."
"Rise, Stannard. I have no intention of asking you to resign. The Loyal Opposition performs an important function in our government and you were right to question the expenditure the government has undertaken to prepare us for this meeting." Keren paused, considering his next words. "In fact, I, and some select members of my closest circle, have deceived you all. I cannot explain now since we have an operation at hand, but later, perhaps, should we survive this meeting with travelers from another star, then you shall be told all. You have my word on that."
Not only those who had accompanied Stannard but several of those already in the room stared at their King. Hamblin already knew and suppressed a grin.
Keren waved a hand. "Come, join us, all of you. You may observe, just as we do, but I must ask you not to interfere. There is more at stake here than any of you know."
Stunned by the King's admission, the newcomers found seats behind those already there and leaned forward to discover what was happening.
Stannard asked, in a low voice, "What did you mean, Sire? Did you know these people were coming?"
Keren replied, "Not exactly. We knew somebody was going to turn up but we had no idea who or when. It could have been in a hundred years' time for all we knew. We don't know yet if they are going to turn out hostile... or even human. We just knew that we had to be prepared for them when they did arrive."
He made a motion with his hand. "I can't say any more now, Stannard. Let's just watch it all play out in front of us."
"Of course, Sire."
After perhaps half an hour Dithereen looked up at the watchers, and then decided to come up and join them.
"Sire, we might have had a big break. The moment they hit orbit they began transmitting a standard first contact pattern of a type we recognize. It's the usual geometric patterns trying to show they understand two plus two equals four." She shook her head. "Even a complete idiot can tell we already know that! As per standing instructions, we have ignored that so far, but there is that break I mentioned. It looks like they have launched two tenders, one of which seems to be surveying the hull of the vessel for damage, the other is just keeping a watching brief. We have detected tracking radars both from the tenders and from the main vessel so they are obviously wary of anything that might approach."
"I'm not surprised," Keren responded. "We already know how cluttered our skies are!"
"Indeed, Sire. Now, here's the thing: we managed to tap into their inter-craft communications. They are using some kind of cyclic encoding the experts recognize and..." She paused dramatically. "...Their communications are in English!"
"English?"
"Aye, Sire. Oh, their accent is terrible from our point of view but we can understand everything they say. For a start, we have the name of their vessel and that of the two tenders. The vessel is the Vasco da Gama and the tenders are improbably named Sleepy and Grumpy."
"That's a reference to Snow White, I think."
"Ops Analysis concurs, Sire. If these people speak something we can understand, do you think we should short-circuit some of the first-contact protocol?"
"Hmm. Would you say the probability is that these people are human?"
Dithereen nodded. "There is a small chance they could be an allied species, but in that case they should still be friendly towards us."
"Then do it. Let's give our visitors their first surprise."
* * *
The shuttle settled in the center of a vast network of concrete strips, readily identifiable as an airport. Around the perimeter were arrival and departure buildings, the boarding tubes still known as jetways, hangars, and a number of sleek shapes designed for moving rapidly through the air. There was a complete absence of any humans or other life. Those within sat silently for some time, studying their surroundings. Already this mission had thrown up some unexpected surprises and they wondered if there were any more awaiting them.
"What's the air like?"
"Better than in here, Captain. Real clean. Shall I crack the hatch?"
"Do so. We can't stay stuck in here all day, after all." The Captain turned. "Keep the defenses at action stations but don't do anything provocative. After those com exchanges, we have no idea what we're getting into. This place looks just like a mature Earth colony but it can't possibly be."
The big rear loading hatch was lowered and six of the crew ventured out to stand on the concrete. They looked around, bemused. Ahead of them was a recognizable airport terminal, with a name in two languages, one of which was English:
GARIA INTERNATIONAL
Many of the signs they could read were in two languages and the most prominent was always English. Across the field was a large hangar which hadn't bothered with the second language. Across the top of the doors it said in huge letters:
TANON
ASSOCIATES
Intercontinental
Freight Forwarding
Shaking his head, one of the men pointed.
"Lookit those craft, Captain! Ain't never seen one designed that way afore."
It was true. Now the newcomers inspected the aircraft, they could see subtle differences from designs they were familiar with. The pods which appeared to provide thrust were... strange. The Captain shook his head. If this were a case of convergent evolution, why... but it couldn't be! No two planets could come up with the same language! There was a mystery here.
"Look! A car approaches. If that is what it is."
The car had no wheels but floated just above the ground. It was large and roofless, and contained six people apart from the driver. Three were in some kind of uniform and it was plain that these people were as human as the visitors.
The car came silently to a halt and some steps unfolded so that the occupants could dismount. All six climbed out and straightened their attire before a civilian stepped forward.
"Welcome to Anmar, gentlemen. My name is Keren and I am Guardian of the Commonwealth of Anmar, although I have a representative government to run the various parts for me." The man smiled. "You will doubtless be surprised that we speak and write English but all I will say now is that it will make our task that much easier today. Forgive us if we don't shake hands but I am told we may give each other diseases if we touch. May I present my Prime Minister, Kandaletomon Baritath'hun Andor D'Foon an K'Jaltor, although most people just call him Kandal in self defense. Next is my Defense Minister, Anjiro Dithereen. This is my personal aide, Hamblin Teldorian. To his right, our anthropology expert Colonel Rosilda Mantz and finally our Chief Medical Officer Ellika Archer."
The Captain wilted under the introductions.
"But, how? You cannot possibly be an Earth colony, since we are the first to come so far out in this direction! How is all this possible?"
Keren smiled. "Let's get ourselves comfortable first... I assume you are the Captain?"
"I am." The man reddened. "Please excuse my manners, this situation is so far outside what we expected... I am Captain Maurice Suarez of the survey ship Vasco da Gama, as you have already discovered. This is my First Officer, Commander Ivan Baranov. Our cultural expert, Commander Marianne Vargas, Second Engineer Judith McDaid, Lieutenant Tomas DeFreitas, Communications, and our Special Diplomatic Envoy Alison Hammond."
"I would like to say that we are delighted to see you," Keren responded, "but honesty compels me to reserve judgement for the while. You probably understand why that might be. Captain, I must needs ask you two questions, the first being the simplest to answer."
Suarez stared at the man. "As you wish... pardon, how should we address you?"
Keren gave a wry smile. "I get called many things, Captain, according to circumstances. For now, 'Sire' will do."
"Then Sire, ask your questions."
"First, you obviously understand English, since we are both using it." The Captain and two of his officers nodded. "I just need to confirm that you can understand the written language. It is possible that your written form has changed over the years."
"It looks fine to me, Sire," Suarez replied. "We can all read the signs scattered around this airport - this is an airport, I take it?"
"It is, it is the major international airport for the capital."
"So, is this place called Garia, then?"
Keren smiled. "Indeed not, Captain, the naming is much more complicated than that. We are standing in Kendeven, which is the state next to our capital Palarand." His smile vanished suddenly. "My next question has to be, why are you here?"
"Why, we are on a simple exploratory expedition, Sire. Humans are expanding through this region of space and somebody has to do the survey work, find out what what we might be faced with. We certainly never expected to find a whole Earth colony way out here."
"I must disabuse you, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are not an Earth colony, not in the way you mean it. I must also note that the expression on your First Officer's face indicates that maybe your explanation isn't the whole truth."
Suarez turned but by then Baranov had covered his surprise and was staring at Keren. The decision Suarez had to make wasn't difficult.
"Sire, you are right, we are more than just surveyors. The small group of Earth colonies which presently exists faces a war against some kind of alien presence and we were searching for an out-of-the way system to turn into an arsenal."
He was surprised when all of the locals burst into smiles.
"Well, you've come to the right place, then!" Keren told them. "Assuming we can come to some suitable agreement, I think Anmar could be just what you're looking for. A further question, who sent you out? Is this a private venture?"
Suarez shook his head. "No, Sire, certainly not. Only a government could finance an expedition such as ours."
Keren's eyes narrowed. "Which government? Earth's?"
"We were commissioned by the second oldest colony, Nirvana, which is in the Tau Ceti system, and with full Earth approval."
Keren studied them all thoughtfully before continuing.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I trust that you will not take offense at my next words. And it is trust that is our problem. Your ships have literally popped out of nowhere and you could have come here with any intent. I have no idea if any of the statements Captain Suarez has just made are true and we have as yet no means of verifying them. You'll forgive us if I tell you that we have to treat your presence here with a certain amount of skepticism.
"If you have come here as you have said, as innocent explorers, then we will give you the welcome you are entitled to, but if you have come here with some hidden motive then be warned, this is our home planet and we will defend ourselves vigorously. I would caution you all that on Anmar, nothing is as it seems. We have access to resources literally beyond your imagination. Consider yourselves on probation but do not let that prevent you from fulfilling your necessary functions."
The visitors were silent and then the envoy spoke, troubled.
"Your ships? You said, 'Your ships', Sire. You know about the other one, then?"
Keren smiled. "Of course. We knew about your arrival shortly after you entered our space. I'm assuming that the Tristan da Cunha is keeping a watching brief should anything... untoward, shall we say, happen to you?"
That statement shocked the visitors.
DeFreitas blurted, "You even know the name of it? How is that possible?"
Keren gave a non-committal shrug. "Like I said, resources. Did you really think a civilization like ours would just sit here fat and happy? We have an obligation to look after our own home, Ladies and Gentlemen. Does not your own planet have defenses?"
The visitors were stunned into silence.
Keren said, "Look, perhaps we ought to get you people off the airport and somewhere more sensible. Over that way about four kilometers you'll find five spaceport landing pads. The northern one... the leftmost one from here," he pointed, "has been reserved for your use. I think you'll find it big enough to hold all your small craft if you so desire and you can use the attached buildings as your base of operations. If you elect to do that then we'll need to get you comfortable with our Traffic Control protocols."
Everybody turned to look in the indicated direction.
"But, if you already have landing pads, Sire," Baranov asked, "why did you ask us to land out here?"
Keren shrugged. "We weren't sure if you intended to land your whole ship or just a tender. Your ship wouldn't fit on a landing pad."
"Oh!" Suarez chuckled. "Sire, our ship was built in space and is designed to remain in space. It would not survive a landing. You want us to take our shuttle over there now?"
"If you wouldn't mind. This airport is usually somewhat busy and it would help if we can get it back into operation sometime soon." He gestured. "You fly your shuttle over there and we'll follow a safe distance behind in our car."
* * *
As the turbines whined down to silence the crew of the shuttle gathered in the spacious cabin.
"What the Heck have we gotten ourselves into?" growled the Captain. "Alison, you get first stab."
"I'm still trying to get over the shock," she said. "When we dropped out of hyperspace into this system I never expected this." There was a murmur of agreement from the others. "How on Earth did they manage to find out Tristan's name?" She held up a hand, shaking it. "Never mind, that's a technical question and I'll let others answer it." She took a deep breath. "People, the level of civilization on this planet, from the very little we have managed to see so far, is at least as high as our own and I wouldn't be surprised if it were higher. Apparently the only thing we have that they haven't is interstellar craft..." She paused. "We are assuming they haven't got starships, aren't we?"
Suarez shrugged. "Who knows? We're sitting on a landing pad which means they certainly have space travel and they are comfortable enough with it to integrate it into their air traffic."
"A point to think about, Captain," said Baranov, his exec. "The space around this planet is filled with the usual ground survey and weather satellites but so far we haven't seen a single spacecraft. As we arrived over here I noticed all five pads were empty. We have no idea what their capabilities are, what their level of access to other resources in their system might be."
"Ouch!" Suarez pursed his lips. "They are certainly playing their cards close to their chest, aren't they?"
"Do you blame them?" Alison said. "If I lived in a star system and I didn't have the ability to go anywhere else then I would be wary of anyone who came to call, wouldn't you?"
"They want to make a trade," DeFreitas added thoughtfully. "Perhaps technology they have for starship technology we have. They aren't going to just give us everything they have."
"Flying cars," McDaid said. "Flying cars does it for me. That looks like pretty cool tech to me and it solves so many problems. Another thing, did you hear anything when that car arrived?"
"What do you mean?" DeFreitas asked. "Oh - no motor sounds. No whine, like our cars. Damn! I guess there are two fortunes right there, Captain."
Suarez nodded. "You're both right. Alison, what should we do?"
"We do exactly what we came here for, Captain. If that Guardian is right, then this could be the perfect spot to start building starships and weapons and they appear to have just the right workforce to do it for us." She held up a finger. "One, we treat them with respect. If they are above our level, it wouldn't do to piss them off. Two, we treat them as equals. We have knowledge to trade and so do they. There will be no selling out for a bag of beads on either side, is that clear?"
Everybody in the cabin nodded.
She held up a third finger. "Finally, three, we keep our noses clean and abide by every rule they ask us to."
"Within reason," Suarez put in.
Hammond inclined her head. "Within reason," she agreed. "That is because it has now become essential that we complete our mission and get back to tell the others that a place like this exists... and that there may be others like it. We don't want to become stuck here because we offended them - or worse."
"Agreed?" Suarez looked round the cabin, receiving nods from every crew member. "Very well, open the hatch."
The open car was just pulling to a halt as the ramp went down. Both parties disembarked again. Suarez noted an extra person getting out of the car, this one wearing a different uniform.
"Captain Suarez," Keren said, gesturing to the newcomer. "This is Milsy Campbell, who is going to be your liaison with Traffic Control. She'll explain the protocols, which I'm sure you'll find both simple and familiar."
The young woman nodded to Suarez then fell in behind the King as he led everyone towards the buildings at the side of the pad.
"Up top is where the launches are usually controlled from," Keren explained. "Underneath there are two levels of offices you can make any use of that you want. Behind is a small warehouse where freight is sometimes prepared when necessary. If you'll follow me."
Inside the lowest level of the block was a long room with a row of tables and chairs down each side. A number of cardboard boxes had been placed on some of the tables.
"Ah, good, they have arrived." Keren gestured. "In these boxes you'll find a kind of welcome pack," he explained. "I must apologize, we have had to make it up at short notice as you might imagine. It should give you enough information to familiarize yourselves with Anmar before you begin any advanced surveys. Use this material as you see fit, we don't mind if you decide to take it back to your ship to study. We can supply extra copies or further information on request. You should know that we use hours, minutes and seconds on Anmar but our day is seventy-one minutes longer than Earth's so don't get caught out. Our year is three hundred ninety-one and a fraction days, we have a week of seven days like Earth but our months are all thirty-one days long and may overlap the year's end."
He walked over to a small box and opened it. Inside it had been divided into twelve and he pulled out one of the objects it contained.
"Um, we don't really use radio here, so it won't be easy for you to talk to Traffic Control. That's why we are giving you these communicators. Use them hand-held or you can connect to the jacks on the bottom if you want to integrate them into your systems. I thought maybe you'd keep one here, put one on each of your small craft and have the rest either on the ship or with your away parties, when we get round to allowing those."
He tossed the small object to Campbell, who clipped it to her belt.
"You'll notice that they are all numbered and that I just gave Milsy number one. There are two thumbwheels on the side and you just dial up whoever you want to talk to. Zero zero is Traffic Control. You'll also notice that I am not touching anything else in this room, since we've about reached the point where our medical officers have to take over. I don't wish to have half our population wiped out by another planet's version of the Common Cold and I'm sure you'll appreciate it if we don't decimate your crew." He grinned. "That means that this is about the point where, if you will excuse the phrase, we exchange bodily fluids."
~o~O~o~
Commander Asif Bergen thumbed the inter-ship com. "Captain? If you could join me in the plot room right away."
"What's up, Asif? We come to the wrong planet?"
"I can't answer that one for you, Captain, this comes more under the heading of 'Danger to navigation'."
"Be right there, Asif."
In the plot room a hologram over the plot table showed the planet as a wire frame with Vasco da Gama's orbit looping over the pole as a yellow trace.
"What have we got?" Suarez said as he came to the table.
"Captain, we have identified eleven other satellites in polar or near polar orbits which of course will all intersect near the poles," Bergen explained. "Those are the blue lines you can see, I've filtered the rest of the traffic out. We're somewhat close to two of them and I would recommend raising our orbit by sixty kilometers or so."
"Hmm. Wouldn't it be better if we went higher?"
"It would but there are other satellites higher up as well. Sixty would be comfortable both ways."
"What's that?" Suarez pointed to a red trace traveling round the planet.
"That, Captain, is the smallest moon of this planet. I'm just a little nervous when I find moons orbiting underneath me, so to speak."
"What's it doing down there?"
"It orbits three times a day. The situation is not unknown, Captain. Mars in the old system has Phobos which does much the same thing."
Suarez studied the plot thoughtfully before nodding. "Very well, Asif, we'll do it. Go and talk to DeFreitas, he's handling ground comms for us."
Bergen gave a brief nod. "Aye, Captain." As Suarez turned to leave he added, "Oh, there is one other odd thing we've noticed."
Suarez turned with a raised eyebrow. "Only one other odd thing?"
Bergen grinned but the grin faded quickly. "We're coming close enough to some of these birds that we've been able to eyeball them, Captain. It took a while before we realized what was odd... none of them has any kind of solar collector array."
"None? That's possible, I suppose. Maybe they power them another way. Perhaps they use Radioisotope Thermal Generators?"
Bergen spread his hands. "With all that free sunlight out there? Why bother?"
In the Communications Center DeFreitas dialed 01 and held down the push-to-talk button.
"Anmar Liaison, this is Vasco da Gama," he said.
There was a pause before a female voice replied, "Vasco da Gama, this is Anmar Liaison, go."
DeFreitas looked up at Bergen as he said, "Liaison, we have analyzed our orbit and we think we're too close to some of your ground survey and weather satellites. Request permission to raise orbit by sixty kilometers."
"Vasco da Gama, wait five."
"Five what?" Bergen asked DeFreitas with a frown as the unit went dead.
"Minutes, sir. Theirs are slightly longer than ours but near enough over short intervals. When we agreed protocol for this link we decided to use standard Earth units to avoid confusion. Apparently they have Earth timepieces down there, don't ask me how."
It was less than five minutes before the reply came. "Vasco da Gama, this is Anmar Liaison, your request is agreed. Begin at your convenience after your next polar crossing."
Bergen nodded. "Good. I'll go and plot out the course change. Thanks, Tom."
As Bergen left the cabin DeFreitas decided to keep the line open. The voice on the other end of the link had begun to stir a personal curiosity inside of him. He thumbed the talk button now and asked, "I think your name is interesting, Miss Campbell."
He was sure that her response came with a smile. "Oh, a chat-up line, is it? Well, for starters, I'm not sure that I know what a 'Miss' is. Technically my social status is Mistress but I have a rank of Quadrant Officer so you could use either."
"What's a Quadrant Officer? I've never heard of that one before."
"Oh, it's the lowest proper Officer rank, much like your Tenant."
"Tenant? Do you mean Lieutenant, Mistress Milsy?"
"Oh, yes, of course. We have a lot of weird and wonderful ranks from all over Anmar, as you might expect, but I don't think I've heard of a Loo-Tenant before."
"It comes from Earth and is rather old. I thought..? Never mind, I was asking about your name."
"My name? I'm named Milsy after a very brilliant ancestor from about two hundred years ago."
"That is interesting, but I was talking about your surname, actually. How did you get the name Campbell?"
"Oh, that's a local custom, Master DeFreitas. Descendents of one of our great Queens who are no longer part of the Royal family take the surname Campbell for reasons of honor."
That wasn't what he wanted to know but he saw that she would keep evading the question so he changed the subject.
"Ah, I'm no Master, Quadrant Officer. My rank aboard ship is Lieutenant Commander. That's a sort of junior Commander."
"We have Commanders here, as well," she replied. "It looks as if we'll have to swap organization charts, doesn't it? And Quadrant Officer is a little formal when we're speaking off the record, don't you think? Just call me Milsy."
"If I do, you must call me Tom. Everyone else does."
"Done."
~o~O~o~
Anders Valborg turned over yet another sheet of paper, shaking his head.
"If these people are supposed to be so advanced, why are they still using hardcopy like this?"
George Haruchi looked up from his own pile.
"Makes sense to me, Anders. If they have multi-use pads like ours then they'd have to hand us a heap of them to use, wouldn't they? That would mean decontaminating them, explaining how to use them and how to recharge them as well, not to mention someone in Engineering would try to pull one apart. Good old-fashioned paper is easy enough to produce and technology free." He leaned back, scratching his head. "Besides, I'm finding it easier to use. I can just pull out the pages I want to cross-reference and spread them over the table. You can't do that with a data file."
Valborg looked at the mess in front of Haruchi and then down at his own neat piles.
"If you say so. You going to reassemble that lot when you've finished?"
"Sure. They are all numbered so it won't be difficult. How's your search going? Find anything interesting?"
"Interesting? Believable would be a better word! You aren't going to believe some of the weird animals I've seen described in here, and there are 2D vid stills as well. This whole planet is a crazy mess and I can't think of any suitable explanation. You?"
"I don't claim to have found anything impossible in here," Haruchi waved a hand over his pile, "but I'm beginning to get a feel for that ball of rock down there and I like it. That rift valley where we landed is impressive and it appears to go for thousands of kilometers inland, just like the one in Africa. There's plate tectonics, volcanoes, deserts, mighty rivers, huge mountain ranges and an ice cap. In many respects it is exactly like Earth."
"Huh! The planet may look like Earth, but not all the wildlife came from there. Look at this, and this."
Valborg held up two sheets of paper and Haruchi gasped. "Jesus Christ!"
~o~O~o~
There was a knock on the office door and Suarez poked his head into the room.
"Captain," Surgeon Commander Howell Broft said, looking up from his display. "I was just thinking of calling you. Can you spare five minutes?"
"Of course, Howell. I wanted the status of the medical investigation."
Broft leaned back in his chair and laughed nervously. "I've been hearing stories of what the others have found, Captain. I'm not sure whether my own investigations will turn up anything so fantastic."
Suarez waved a hand. "It couldn't get any worse, that's for sure. Enlighten me, Howell."
Broft said, "As agreed, we swopped blood samples down at that landing pad, ten each. I can reliably inform you, Captain, that we could interbreed with the population of that planet down there, no problem. They are as human as you and I."
"Which makes the puzzle even stranger," Suarez grumped. "How did they get here?"
"I can't answer that, but I can tell you we've had a look at some of the genetic markers from the ground samples. That King of theirs has female antecedents that come from southern Germany, Captain, and not all that long ago. On the other hand, that black Marshal of theirs is, bizarrely enough, of almost pure Japanese stock despite her color. Of course," he added, "we're supposed to be exploring unknown space so we don't have a copy of the full human genome database on board. I've been extrapolating based on crew samples and I'm no expert, but we have mitochondria markers from all over Earth."
Suarez grunted. "Well, we know they almost have to be Earth stock however they got here. Question is, are we in any danger from each other's pathogens?"
"No idea, Captain. They have antibodies we don't carry and vice versa. Strangely, we don't share a single one that I've discovered so far. Without some kind of medical history of this world I can't tell you what would just give you a runny nose and what would rot your arms and legs off." He shrugged. "I also can't tell you what we carry that might be fatal to them."
Suarez nodded, rising from his chair. "That's about what I expected, Howell. Do the best you can."
"Aye, Captain."
~o~O~o~
The Captain's day cabin on the Vasco da Gama was crowded. On the table in front of many of the occupants were stacks of paper hard-copy, taken from the boxes down below, along with three of the communicators.
"Okay, settle down," Suarez said, and the room quietened. "What have we learned? Alison, you first."
"Astonishing," she said, tapping the pile in front of her. "To have come so far and so fast! At the end of our twentieth century these people were still using swords, Captain. Then, somehow, bang! we have a whole Industrial Revolution that seems to have somehow skipped several natural steps. Of course mankind doesn't have another civilization to compare it with so I may be doing them down, but some of the breakthroughs are unexpected for so short a period of time. I'll leave it there for now, if I may."
"Fair enough. George, talk about the planet."
"Captain, the information we have been given is better quality than we could have measured on our own and it has the advantage of being gathered over many years. There are seven continents of which Alaesia appears to be the largest. As you might expect there are also many island groups both large and small. There's slightly more water than Earth but that is offset by a slightly lesser axial tilt. Despite that, parts of the planet receive... interesting weather. Mountains," he shrugged, "about what one would expect. They have an ice cap at the north pole and a number of the mountain ranges around the planet would offer good skiing. For more detail than that I'd have to go down with a hammer and break bits off."
"Heh. You just want to get your skis out of store, don't you? Okay. You may get your wish, if we prove successful. Jasmine, what about astrographics?"
"The information we've been given corresponds exactly to the measurements we made on the way in, Captain. In many ways this system resembles Earth's Solar System." She frowned. "Some of this information seems to indicate colonies on several of their moons and planets but if there are, we never noticed them at all on the way in. Their co-ordinate system is about the same as ours, Captain, but they use a different measuring system called the mark which is some meters short of a kilometer. Other than that it is degrees, minutes, seconds just as we are familiar with. Oh, their capital, Palarand, lies on the zero meridian."
"Is anybody else getting spooked out by this planet?" DeFreitas groused. "They claim not to be an Earth colony but I don't see how they could be anything else."
"That's what we're here to determine," Suarez said frostily. "Let's have your own report, Tom."
DeFreitas reddened. "Sorry, Captain. Uh, I think my report is going to be the shortest of all. There are no local communications. None."
"What?"
"Just that, sir. I used both the wideband scanners and the only things they turned up were our own small-craft comms, the usual noise from the star and natural emissions from a couple of the gas giants. Nothing at all that would indicate an advanced civilization exists on this planet."
McDaid picked up one of the comms units. "But that's impossible! How do these work, then?"
DeFreitas shook his head. "We tested them thoroughly, Judith. Not a peep at any frequency."
"I had a look at them too, Captain," said Demis Andrades, the Chief Engineer. "Not only don't they emit, I can't see how they are powered, either. The only two jacks are for microphone and speaker, not for power." He hesitated. "Because we can't get into them, I rigged up a quick round-trip test. I fed a sound wave into one unit, down to a paired unit at the landing pad, out into another unit standing next to it and out to another one up here in a different room. Captain, I don't want to worry you, but the signal delay definitely breaks the laws of physics."
Suarez frowned. "Could they somehow be using hyperspace?"
Andrades shook his head. "We'd know if that were true, Captain, and it isn't. You know how big our hyperspace generators are. There's nothing we can detect with any equipment we have on this ship."
Alison Hammond reached for and picked up one of the communicators. "They gave these to us deliberately," she mused, turning it over. "To show us what they have to offer."
"I think you can safely say that they have our attention," Suarez said dryly. "Life Sciences? Anders, what have you found?"
"A weird jumble, Captain. As you might expect, the plant life is all new to us but the locals seem to be able to digest it okay so I'm guessing we can eat it as well. Animal life... there are several problems I've noticed. Some of the wildlife is vaguely familiar to us and some, like the people, could just have been shipped off Earth last week. There's also a distinct strand of six-legged life varying from rat analogs to cow analogs to something I definitely want to see, but only from a safe distance... some of the six-legged life has its middle limbs modified into bat-like wings, Captain. They call these avians and they are the Anmar analogs of birdlife. One of those grows to about twelve or so meters in length. Captain, it is a dead-spit of a dragon and about as vicious."
"A dragon? Are you sure?"
Valborg leafed through the papers in from of him, pulled one out and flicked it towards the Captain. "If that isn't a perfect representation of a dragon from Earth's myths, Captain, I don't know what is."
Jasmine Wu asked, "Do those things breathe fire, by any chance?"
Valborg shook his head. "I don't think so, Jasmine. At least, the literature doesn't mention such a thing."
Suarez studied the picture thoughtfully. It appeared to be a 2D vid still of one of the beasts in the act of landing so every detail of the body stood out clearly.
"An actual animal, here, that exists only as a myth on Earth. There has to be some kind of transfer between the two worlds! And nothing we possess could possibly have done something like that."
Alison Hammond nodded. "It's an explanation, Captain, but one I'm not sure I want to explore. The implications are terrifying."
"Agreed. Anders, anything more?"
Valborg gave a twisted smile. "After the dragon? Captain, that isn't even the best part. They have actual dinosaurs here."
"Dinosaurs? Explain."
"There are flying creatures called grakh which appear to be pterosaurs, Captain. Some of those have wingspans in the five-meter range and can kill a grown human. I have also identified plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs in the oceans and there are what appear to be dinosaur period herbivores on some of the other continents. I haven't had a chance to check them all out yet. All appear to closely resemble those that were wiped out on Earth sixty-six million years ago."
Suarez growled, "Anders?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"The next time I ask you to give me a report, tell me to mind my own business! This is becoming ridiculous! Who's next? Demis? I suppose you got Judith to do your surveys."
Andrades replied, "Aye, Captain, because I was busy making sure the ship would be ready if we needed to leave in a hurry. Jude?"
Judith McDaid, their redheaded Second Engineer spoke up. "Yes, sir. Scanning the planet shows a number of neutrino sources so I'm assuming that they use fusion as a primary energy source. There are also neutrino sources on all three moons and several near some of the other planets. I'm not sure any of those were active when we came in, Captain." She glanced at her memo pad. "Apart from that, the spectrum shows surprisingly little emissions of any kind. Captain, it's not my job but I'm guessing they have the whole system on lockdown until they decide they can trust us."
Suarez leaned back, letting out a long breath of frustration.
"I can't help wondering if this whole planet isn't some kind of practical joke," he growled.
"If it is," Hammond responded, "I'm not sure I want to meet the beings that set it all up... but I have a horrible suspicion we might do, fairly soon."
Suarez turned to Broft. "Howell, I know you've been speaking with their medical people. Any progress?"
Broft replied, "I have, Captain, but you might not like it. They have something they call Targeted Preventative Therapy which could protect us from their pathogens and clear our bodies of anything we are carrying."
Suarez' eyebrows rose. "Really? How do they propose to do that miracle?"
"That's what the Targeted part of TPT is, Captain. They use a sample of our own DNA to construct... I don't know that I'd call it nanotechnology, but something organic that does much the same thing. It's a kind of artificial white blood cell that each recipient won't reject. That stays around and actively removes anything in our bodies that doesn't match the host's DNA. Oh, and it self-reproduces, as well. Once it's in, it stays in."
The Captain's tone was skeptical. "Interesting. And they just happened to have this available?"
"I understand there was a bad plague-type outbreak about eighty years ago, Captain. This was one of their self-defense measures to prevent anything like that happening again. They didn't do it for our benefit at all."
Baranov cleared his throat. "Captain, I should warn you that this would mean they would require access to the DNA of every crew member. This story of a plague could be just that, a story. And what's to say they didn't plant a kill switch in this magic molecule of theirs? I must advise caution."
"He has a point," Broft admitted. "Kill us all off and then they have free access to all our technology. However, I personally don't find that scenario too plausible. If they wanted to kill us all off there are easier ways than by engineering a specific pathogen for every single member of the crew. That would take time and effort and they could just release a native pathogen much easier. I don't buy it, Captain."
Suarez nodded, then looked around the table. "Very well, people. Until we can agree medical clearance we'll just have to keep going over the materials they have given us. Carry on."
The room slowly cleared until only Suarez and Hammond were left.
"What do you think, Alison?"
"I think we're playing well above our league, Captain. If we can get onside with people who can pull stunts like this, then I, and all those at home, will be absolutely delighted."
"And if we can't?"
Hammond's expression was grave. "Captain, in that case I doubt we would even be permitted to break orbit. Our voyage would end here and nobody would ever find out about it."
"What about Tristan? Wouldn't they be able to get away?"
She gave a hollow laugh. "These people can read the ship's name off the paint on the hull, Captain. Tristan has about as much chance as we do."
With the quarantine now lifted, the crew of the Vasco da Gama finally get to explore Anmar. However, the questions keep multiplying with the answers seemingly too incredible to accept. Then King Keren invites them to a session where he reveals that, two hundred and five years ago, the royal family made a pact with aliens, Vast Multidimensional Beings...
Somewhere Else Entirely
by Penny Lane
Epilogue 2 - The Secret Pact
Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2010-2016 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.
The shuttle ramp lowered and a single person walked down it to
the hard-standing.
"Tom! What are you doing down here?"
DeFreitas grinned back at Campbell as he joined her. "And good morning to you as well, Mistress Campbell! I've come to collect the crew shots, which I'm guessing are in that box you're holding."
"I'm sorry, yes, hello Tom. But, I thought you were all confined to the ship until the quarantine was ended."
"Sort of. Captain Suarez knows that somebody has to come down here to collect and deliver whatever needs transferring, so those who were in the original party are permitted down. We still mustn't touch, of course, until we've taken those shots of yours."
"Of course. Here you are."
Campbell handed the box to DeFreitas with outstretched arms and he received it, but made no move to retreat into the shuttle. She raised an eyebrow.
"It occurred to me that I only actually saw you for a brief time the first landing that the shuttle made so I'm just familiarizing myself with the face that matches the voice, so to speak."
She dimpled at his frank admission but then said, "Was this your idea, Tom, or did your Captain suggest that you start to fraternize with the natives, see if you can find out anything for him?"
He flushed. "There was a suggestion made, actually, but he was pushing at an open door, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately the fact that we talk so much on those communicators is all over the ship now. Some of the engineers are even taking bets on an early wedding."
"That's outrageous! Tomas DeFreitas, we've barely met, we haven't even been formally introduced -"
"Technically, we have, I guess. The Captain did that when we first arrived."
"Don't split hairs with me! I meant properly introduced, as any good Palarandi maiden should be." Her expression softened as she added, "I don't think I would object to being properly introduced to you in due course. First of all, though, you have to get those shots back to your ship. They are live cultures and have a limited shelf life."
DeFreitas clicked his heels and bowed. "As you command, Mistress. I'll see you in a few days, perhaps, and you can show me the sights of downtown Palarand."
She snorted. "You don't want to go to downtown Palarand, trust me. It's just full of boring old government offices." She smiled. "I could consider taking you around the Old City, though. It is classed as a World Heritage Site and has buildings dating back to Roman times."
DeFreitas stared at her. "Roman times? I still don't know if you people are pulling our legs or not! Look, I'd better go, I'll call once I've handed this lot over."
Campbell retreated to the safety of her car as she watched the shuttle seal itself and then climb into the sky with an ear-shattering roar and a column of exhaust. She considered DeFreitas thoughtfully. She didn't know if there had been any suggestion from Captain Suarez but she and Tom had gravitated together naturally. The indications were positive but she wasn't planning on doing anything until the quarantine had been lifted and some kind of treaty signed. There hadn't been any instructions on her side concerning fraternization but everybody was aware the possibility was there. They were all normal humans, after all.
What will he do when he finds out the truth about me?
It might not be a problem, especially once we hit them with all the other stuff. He'll be too busy to notice!
~o~O~o~
Four days later, the shuttle landed again but this time, there was a substantial group waiting for the party that disembarked. The same crew members that had descended the first time had done so again.
"Captain," Keren said, holding out a hand. "It is a relief to finally be able to greet our visitors properly."
"Your Majesty," Suarez responded, taking the hand firmly. "It is a relief, certainly, and I am glad that I and my crew can finally begin to investigate some of those puzzling items that have caused us such disquiet." His eyes looked a question at the King. "You will permit us to do so?"
"That's something we need to agree, Captain, but in general I don't see any great difficulty. There are perfectly rational explanations for everything that might concern you but to begin with, you and your crew will need to familiarize yourselves with our local laws and customs. Again, I don't foresee any difficulty but I'm sure you'll want to avoid any incidents caused by ignorance."
Suarez nodded. "Of course, Sire, but this planet is a riddle wrapped in a mystery and I'm not sure that some of it can be rationally explained, at least not simply."
"You quote Churchill, Captain. We have our own reasons for knowing his speeches but I can tell you that, concerning Anmar, that saying is substantially correct. We intend to explain all in due course but today, we merely desire to show you some Palarandi hospitality. Come with us to the palace for a lunch of welcome, following which we should begin talks on the relationship between my world and your crew."
"We can eat your food?"
"Of course! If you do not already know that we are the same species as yourselves, Captain, then your Surgeon Commander has been derelict in his duty and I cannot believe that of him. You will find all that my kitchen provides to be more than acceptable. There should be enough variety to cover any of your more specific dietary requirements."
The two parties were momentarily distracted by the sight of a huge aircraft soaring into the sky from the nearby airport. There was no vibration or exhaust that anybody could detect and very little noise. The plane continued directly out to sea as it gained height.
"Another riddle," Suarez muttered. He turned back to Keren, pointing. "Is that your transport? What keeps it off the ground?"
That was something resembling an executive coach. Like the cars and trucks that had met the shuttles on previous days, there were no wheels.
"I don't know, exactly," Keren replied. "I'm no scientist. Something to do with a quantum effect, so I've been told. These vehicles don't properly fly, they are just repelled by the solid surface of the ground."
"My Chief Engineer can't wait to get his head inside the engine compartment of one of those. What are the chances, Sire?"
Keren shrugged. "Let's leave that to our diplomats, Captain. Now, if you and your people would join us aboard the coach, we can be on our way."
The coach had seats in pairs with tables between and Keren and Suarez took the first pair. Somehow DeFreitas found himself seated facing Campbell. Once everybody had made themselves comfortable the coach headed almost silently for an exit from the landing pad, onto an access road and then up a ramp onto an elevated highway heading south-west. The speed increased so smoothly that it was impossible to work out how fast they were traveling.
"You gave us a strange welcome that first day, Sire," Suarez remarked. "Did you know we were coming?"
"That's an interesting question, Captain. We knew somebody would come but we didn't know who or when. Or, for that matter, whether they would be hostile or not. We were therefore forced to set up an elaborate early warning system so that we could take precautions whatever happened."
Suarez nodded. "If I were in your situation, Sire, I don't think I would have done anything different. We were just surprised by the extent of your preparations."
"It has taken us decades to put the system in place and test it as well as we are able to. I will admit that we don't have an interstellar drive such as the one your ships use so we couldn't detect it in operation. All we could do was invent the best sensors we could and scatter them through the system."
"But that doesn't explain the absence of communications of any kind, even now. Do you really not use radio?"
"Only for specialized purposes, Captain. We didn't want to radiate anything that a hostile force could use to analyze our system." Keren shrugged. "That was an accidental byproduct of what we do use, as it happens, but we're not complaining."
"But supposing that hostile force could analyze whatever it is that you do use?"
"There is a very small chance but..." Keren hesitated. "There are other factors involved. If we had been forced to, we could have shut that down as well, though it would have made our task very difficult."
In the next pair of seats Campbell looked at DeFreitas.
"Like what you see?"
"It's all so... flat," he said. "I realize we're at the mouth of a big river but do the drainage ditches have to be that deep? Don't you control the river?"
"We do, to a certain extent," she replied, "but that's not the big problem. In a few months it will begin to rain and not stop for two months. With that much water, there's nowhere for it to go."
"Two months? So you have a monsoon season, then. Doesn't that make it awkward, if this is where your capital is?"
Campbell shrugged. "We get used to it. There was talk a while back about moving the capital but that came to nothing. What we have seems to work, so..."
Suddenly there was a wide expanse of water, with sailboats and pleasure craft dotted along the watercourse.
"This used to be part of the river," she said. "Now it's just a big, crescent-shaped lake which we call, oddly enough, Crescent Lake. That's the end of Kendeven and we're now into Palarand itself. Welcome to my home, Tom."
Palarand looked different than Kendeven, DeFreitas saw. Whereas the former had been mostly heavily farmed fields Palarand appeared to be entirely built up. Rows of neat, modern-looking buildings went as far as the eye could see. None were more than three storeys tall.
"All low-rise buildings, I see. No skyscrapers, then?"
"Not really feasible when your soil is bottomless alluvial deposits, Tom. It's great for subways, sewers and service tunnels but not so much for building upwards. We do have some higher buildings around the World Assembly District but it is all heavily regulated. That's not where we're going today, though."
The coach took an off-ramp and slowed right down to pass through an older district. They passed a sign saying, "University of Palarand. Kendeven Road Campus". Soon the vehicle passed through an ancient gateway in a stone wall and slowed right down to a crawl.
"This is the Old City, Tom," Campbell explained. "Most of the buildings here are many centuries old."
The coach manoeuvered at low speed through narrow streets between picturesque wooden buildings, eventually turning into a wide yard in front of the longest building any of them had yet seen. As it halted Keren rose to his feet and addressed the coach passengers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Palarand's Royal Palace," he grinned, "which also happens to be my home. It is technically a museum these days but we still use it for important occasions, and I can't imagine anything more important than honoring visitors from another star system for the first time." The smile became apologetic. "I'm sorry, everybody seems to think there ought to be some kind of ceremonial thing to do so we'll just have to put up with it. It won't take long and our lunch will be waiting when we're finished."
The passengers stepped from the coach onto a red carpet which stretched across the yard, up some steps and into the front doors of the structure. At the top of the steps a number of civilians waited. Either side of the steps, a line of guardsmen stood at attention, dressed in green with purple collars, belts and pocket flaps. A military brass band at one end struck up a tune as the last person, Keren, stepped out of the vehicle. Standards held by waiting guardsmen were lowered as a familiar tune was played.
Suarez started. "That's -"
"The Barber of Seville, yes," Keren confirmed. "We don't really use national anthems here on Anmar so the bands play popular tunes instead." He gestured at the carpet. "Go ahead. Do you want to review the troops? I've heard it is customary."
Suarez shook his head, embarrassed. "Sire, I'm just a starship captain, not a visiting head of state. I know this is the first ever visit but I wouldn't feel right doing something like that. We aren't a military operation, after all."
Keren and Suarez walked side by side along the carpet, with the crew and those few who had come with the King following in pairs. They all climbed the stairs and stopped so that Keren could introduce those who were waiting.
"Captain Suarez," he began, "This is my wife Lanilla who is of course also Anmar's Queen. My second son Steban, my eldest daughter Julina, middle daughter Merizel, youngest son Robanar and this little one is Jenet, barely a year old."
"Delighted to meet you, Your Majesty," Suarez said to Lanilla. He bowed and kissed the Queen's hand before nodding respectfully to the children, who ranged in age from mid-teens to toddler.
Keren continued, "We also have here my Chancellor Dubrin and head of the Palace Guard Colonel Surekha. If you have any queries, concerns or desires I'm sure either will be able to assist you."
Suarez bowed. "Chancellor. Colonel."
"If you would follow me, Sire."
The Chancellor gestured and led the way inside the palace. Lanilla and the royal children took their places behind the King and Suarez, the youngest child being carried by a retainer. The others followed, still in pairs. The route was relatively straightforward, ending at a pair of ancient double doors. Beyond these was a large chamber, set out now with three long tables for a formal lunch. High windows allowed light into the room while a pair of thrones were positioned on a dais at the far side. Inside the room, waiting for the arrivals, were more people both civilian and uniformed. A female servant approached Campbell and curtseyed.
"Welcome back, Milady."
DeFreitas turned at the words addressed to Campbell, surprise evident.
"You're some kind of noble? How does that work, then?"
She made a dismissive hand gesture. "It doesn't mean much, Tom. I told you, I'm descended from one of Palarand's Queens."
Now why does she phrase it that way? Why doesn't she say that she is descended from one of Palarand's Kings?
Campbell gestured at the servant. "This is Elizet, who is a kind of personal assistant whenever I'm in the palace. Elizet, this is Lieutenant-Commander Tom DeFreitas who is the Assistant Communications Officer of the Vasco da Gama."
Elizet said, "Pleased to meet you, Commander. If you will both follow me."
To the surprise of DeFreitas, they were led to the center table to be seated near one end and facing each other. Keren took his place at the center of the same table facing Suarez, with Lanilla facing Hammond and the other officers spread out along that side of the table. DeFrietas noticed that only the oldest of the royal children joined the table, seated beyond his father.
Once everybody had been shown to a place Keren stood and addressed the diners.
"Friends," he began, "today we greet the first visitors to have found their way to Anmar from another star system. On Anmar the offering of a meal is seen as a token of welcome and friendship and I hope their visit to us will prove as peaceful as it has begun. This is only a lunch since our visitors have only just begun their exploration of our beautiful world and I don't want to overload them with excessive ceremonial. Perhaps, just before they depart, we can arrange a proper meal for all of the crew to show them our appreciation.
"Once we have finished eating, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have provided around an hour for circulation before we begin the serious business of defining the relationships and limits which the crew of the Vasco da Gama will operate under. That hour will give you all an opportunity to meet and greet with each other before we get down to negotiations. Now, that's enough from me, bring on the first course!"
The meal itself was a surprise because it was unexceptional. There were silver cutlery and porcelain plates, cut crystal glassware and gold centerpieces on the linen-covered table looking remarkably like any formal meal on Earth would do. Of course, being a formal meal, there were seven courses but none seemed offensive to the crew and all portions were of manageable size.
Captain Suarez took another sip from his glass and smiled appreciatively at Keren.
"Sire, left to my own devices I would immediately sign a trade deal with you for this wine. I do get invited to a few official dinners now and again and this is at least as good as anything I've tasted elsewhere."
"I'm pleased you like it," Keren replied. "It is a local vintage from the Faral valley. Of course we don't use grapes but the end result is just as good, so I'm told." He considered. "I may gift you a crate or two, Captain, as a sign of goodwill."
"Why, thank you, Sire. I'm not sure I can offer you anything as good in exchange. I'll have to talk with our stores officer."
"Don't concern yourself, Captain. We have more to consider than just a few bottles of wine."
At the end everybody stood and watched as the tables were dismantled and the chairs moved to the edges of the great chamber. After a few moments of confusion a protocol was settled which involved the ship's crew circulating the chamber meeting all the other diners in turn. Keren joined Suarez and Hammond to make the first introductions.
"And this is Stannard Porserio," he said gesturing at a tall civilian. "Stannard leads the major party of opposition in our government, the Progressive Party."
Stannard shook hands with Suarez and Hammond. There were several others gathered around Stannard, some looking uncomfortable.
Keren continued, "The Progressive Party believed that our expenditure on defense and space was excessive, given that we have no apparent enemies within our solar system." He quirked a smile. "That lasted right up until the moment your ships appeared, Captain. Fortunately we weren't called upon to defend ourselves this time."
"We didn't believe the government," Stannard said. "It seemed paranoid to us to go on spending money that could be better used raising the standards of the poorer members of our peoples." He shrugged. "It seems that His Majesty has access to information we were not privy to, however. I don't apologize for our actions in the past, but seeing you here today, Captain, I hope that the visit of your ships will prove successful for both our peoples."
A small, dark man in his group hissed. "Why do you persist in this fiction, Your Majesty? These people are no space travelers, as you are well aware!"
Stannard sighed. "Captain, I must apologize for Delegate Alintis. Regrettably there are some on Anmar who even refuse to believe the evidence of their own eyes." He turned to the man. "Alintis, keep your mouth shut or you'll be on the first plane back to Ovardua. You're embarrassing yourself in front of everybody."
"I'm not the one who should be embarrassed," Alintis shot back. "It is the rest of you who persist in this charade! You've all been taken in by this talk of other worlds and space travel, which everyone knows is impossible. Why, they even speak English! You can fool most people, Stannard, but you won't fool the rest of us."
Suarez smiled. "We have people like you back on Nirvana, Delegate," he said to Alintis. "I'd be happy to give you a tour of our ship, perhaps that would inform your skepticism."
"And what would that prove?" Alintis asked. "A few hours spent on an elaborate vid set pretending to be a ship in space. Any fool could do that."
Suarez raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And can such a set demonstrate zero gravity? If you came up to the Vasco da Gama, I can have my Chief Engineer cut off some of the deck plates to let you experience complete weightlessness."
Alintis opened his mouth and then closed it again. He fixed Suarez with a sullen glare but said nothing.
Stannard smiled at the Captain. "Captain, I must congratulate you! It takes a lot to leave Alintis lost for words." A gleam came into his eye. "Perhaps we might take you up on that offer, Captain. This idiot isn't the only one I have to put up with and some reality would come as a refreshing change."
"Well," Keren said. "That will have to wait until we have some protocols defined, I think. The idea sounds an interesting one, if Captain Suarez is willing."
"I have no problem with it, Sire, providing we don't just turn our ship into a fairground attraction. We would anticipate a few judicious visits, of course, wherever we went, so in principle my invitation remains open."
Keren nodded. "That's good to hear, Captain. Now, if you wouldn't mind, we have to move on. If I may introduce you to -"
* * *
The visiting crew were back in the shuttle on their way to the Vasco da Gama.
"Alison, what are your impressions so far?"
"Really strange, Captain. It is both so alien and eerily familiar, if you know what I mean. These people speak English, for God's sake, and that banquet could have been set anywhere on Earth or any of the colonies. But every meat, vegetable and fruit was like nothing we've ever seen before. They speak of Earth affairs as though they have been a colony for hundreds of years, if not thousands, which is of course completely impossible."
Valborg cleared his throat. "Captain, that might not be so impossible. I'm beginning to think that they are a colony, just not one planted by humans."
"Aliens, you mean? Explain."
"There's all those other animals, Captain. Somebody's been shipping in species in job lots for millions of years, is my guess." He shrugged. "Who or why is the big question, Captain."
"There's another factor, Captain," Marianne Vargas added. "From studying their history it appears they were bumbling along for a long while and then about two hundred years ago everything changed for some reason. Their development since then has been nothing short of meteoric. In fact, I'm amazed they haven't already invented their own interstellar drive by now."
McDaid said, "They might not have an interstellar drive, Captain... that they have admitted to, that is, but they have several other advances we'd probably kill for. Those floating cars, for a start, and what I'm beginning to suspect is some kind of broadcast power arrangement. That's the only way I can explain some of the things I've seen down here."
"Broadcast power?" Suarez raised both eyebrows. "Now why didn't I think of that? No wonder their vehicles are so clean, if they don't have to carry fuel around with them! Does that explain their communicators, too?"
McDaid shrugged. "No idea, Captain. I'd be more cautious on that one."
Baranov now said, "Captain, there's a phrase I've been hearing ever since we arrived, and Marianne just used it again. That phrase is 'About two hundred years ago'. There's also the word or name Garia, which seems to crop up in all kinds of conversation."
"That does make a sort of sense," Vargas said. "If I remember that list of Kings and Queens right, there was a Queen of Palarand named Garia about that far back. Maybe she had something to do with all this?"
"But what?" Baranov questioned. "You're saying one Queen effectively managed to do all this? For the sake of argument, let's suppose that somehow, aliens brought her here to Anmar and she somehow got hooked up with the King of the time. Leaving aside the question of which aliens and why, not that we know of any aliens, of course, I can't imagine that anything she could tell them two hundred years ago has much influence on what's happening on the planet now."
Hammond objected, "That might be a crazy hypothesis, Ivan, but it is no weirder than anything else on this crazy planet. My advice is, don't discount anything just yet."
"All right," Suarez said, bringing the discussion to an end. "We're almost back at the ship so let's go and consider carefully about what we have discovered today. To my way of thinking, they have found just the right bait to put on their hook, don't you agree?"
* * *
Vargas poked her head around the door of the Captain's day cabin.
"Can I have a moment, Captain?"
"Sure. Come right in. What's on your mind, Marianne?"
"We were talking about that Queen called Garia on the way up."
Suarez nodded. "We were. You have some more information?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure it's helpful. She first appears in the records we have access to about two hundred and six Anmar years ago and marries the then Crown Prince Keren almost a year later. Since the King at the time, Robanar IV, lived for about another fifteen years beyond that point, she doesn't become Queen until 1190 their calendar. Once on the throne she does stay there for forty-six years or so but dies under mysterious circumstances four months after her husband, Keren VI." Vargas shook her head. "I can't seem to get the timings to make much sense, Captain. If we're right about a sudden jump in technology, it has to happen almost the day she appears in the historical record, which seems unlikely."
"Every thing about this damn planet seems unlikely, Marianne," Suarez groused. "That doesn't make it your fault, though. Now we're allowed down on the surface we can go through their historical records in much greater detail... but we might not have to."
"Oh?"
"We've just received a further invitation from King Keren to attend a special presentation tomorrow where he says all will be explained. He suggests that we bring as many specialists down as we wish because what will be revealed will affect everything we do and Anmar's entire relationship with the rest of humanity."
"Really? That's a relief, Captain, if I may say so. I like a puzzle as well as the next person, but this situation is beginning to question my sanity." Vargas stopped, struck by a thought. "Captain, if we bring down all our specialists, then what happens to the ship? Suppose this is a ploy to capture it and us?"
"I already had that discussion with Baranov, Marianne. We'll be leaving a picked crew on board led by Andrades. The ship will be secure even if the shore team will be exposed."
"I'm hoping it won't come to that, Captain. I need answers!"
"So do we all, Marianne. I'm a little afraid of what those answers might reveal, though. This planet has me thoroughly spooked, and I don't mind admitting that."
~o~O~o~
The shuttle ramp lowered and the passengers blinked in the sunshine as they began to disembark. Waiting for them were several of the wheel-less coaches, and standing in front were Keren, Hamblin Teldorian and Milsy Campbell.
Keren strode forward, his hand outstretched, a smile on his face.
"Captain. Welcome again, all of you. This will probably be the last time I greet you in person when you land but I thought today was appropriate. I cannot promise that every question will be answered today, but this morning's session should help you to understand Anmar's story. Can I enquire how your own investigations are proceeding?"
"To us, this whole planet is impossible, Your Majesty. We don't understand a fraction of what we see or that we have been told about. However -" He turned and beckoned to Hammond. "I believe our Diplomatic Envoy has something she wishes to say to you."
Hammond stood beside Suarez and took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, on behalf of the United Nations of Earth and of the eleven colonies, I am formally empowered to offer the planet of Anmar a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance on the basis of equality of membership, subject to the usual guarantees and safeguards. We would be willing to exchange goods and technologies assuming some kind of agreement on relative values can be reached. But first, we would insist on having an explanation to some of the more unusual phenomena we have observed."
Keren replied, "Anmar thanks you for your offer and I am sure you will be pleased to know that we will probably accept. I understand you have found much that does not make sense but I can assure you there is an explanation. That explanation has been kept secret from everybody for over two hundred years, Captain, but with your arrival the moment has come to reveal all. Today I am formally inviting you all to a special presentation where you will be told the whole story."
"That's what we are here for, Sire."
The crew specialists climbed on the coaches, many staring openly as DeFreitas walked over to Campbell and greeted her. There were grins as the two took facing seats in the first coach, some possibly thinking of future winnings. The coaches set off and followed their previous route west towards Palarand. For most of those on board this was their first experience of the surface and they were glued to the windows as the vehicles smoothly swept along the elevated highway.
Campbell smiled at DeFreitas. "Have you figured it out yet?"
The return smile was rueful. "You wouldn't believe some of the crazy ideas the survey team have proposed! Me, I'm just keeping an open mind. More accurately, perhaps, I don't think my imagination is big enough to guess the true answer. I can't wait to find out what's really going on, and I don't think any of our wild ideas are going to be wild enough."
"I really can't comment, Tom, not yet, as you are well aware. Afterwards, though, I hope we can still be friends."
"Now you're worrying me! I hope everybody isn't going to be disappointed."
"Trust me, Tom, nobody is going to be disappointed today."
This time the coaches turned off into the University of Palarand campus, making their way slowly between buildings both old and new scattered over a mature park.
"Look there!" someone shouted. "There are hippos grazing in the grounds!"
Keren looked at Suarez and shook his head with a smile. "Captain, those are not hippopotamus as you know them, instead they are a much more intelligent land-based animal which has evolved from the same ancestor as the hippo did. These animals are sentient, Captain, and they can read minds, including yours."
Suarez stared at the King but the coach had now slowed, to come to a halt alongside a long, low modern building which proclaimed itself to be "The Garian Institute".
Keren smiled at the Captain. "We have arrived. Shall we all disembark?"
With the survey team now standing in front of the entrance, Keren climbed to the top of the steps to address them.
"This building is a research facility and something of a museum. Its sole purpose is to analyze whatever we can find out about Earth. Access is normally restricted to those studying that particular field but I can inform you that, after today's audience, the crew of the Vasco da Gama will all be given access to the available materials. Today we are using one of the meeting halls deep inside, so if you would all follow me."
Hammond felt light-headed as she followed the others up the steps to the entrance doors. Study Earth? How was this possible, when Earth was eleven hundred light-years away and these people didn't have interstellar travel? Her confusion increased as the party made their way past glass cabinets, darkened now, which held random-seeming objects that could only have been made on Earth. Others in the group had also noticed the exhibits and there were sudden shocked words, but the King merely kept on leading them through the long hall towards doors at the far end.
Left at a T junction led them past offices, laboratories and reading rooms to a foyer with double doors either side. The first armed guards any of them had seen held open one set of double doors and the party filed in to find themselves in a well-lit auditorium, with a crescent-shaped bank of seats holding perhaps a hundred facing a semicircular podium.
About half to two-thirds of the seats were already filled. Keren ushered his guests down to the podium and then turned to address those who had already arrived.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Captain and some of the officers and crew of the starship Vasco da Gama. Now that medical restrictions have been lifted, it is likely you may find occasion to meet and talk in the future. I must ask their Captain to forgive the lack of introductions at this time, though some of you have already met at the palace lunch yesterday. I may briefly point out to our visitors that those sitting in the center are members of my loyal government, senior members of our military and selected professors from the university. On their left sit members of our opposition party and a number of others who have been skeptical of the government's desire to create a strong defense for Anmar."
Keren turned to Suarez. "The reason for their skepticism, Captain, apart from the usual monetary reasons, is that they saw no need for such defenses on a federated world with no obvious enemy. Your own presence here demonstrates that their logic was faulty, but they had every reason to hold the policy they did.
"I have to tell both your crew and those sitting here already that there is a secret, known to a small number surrounding the throne, which has been kept for two hundred years and that secret gave us a certain foreknowledge of your arrival. The appearance of your vessel signals the ending of that secret pact and the start of a new era both for Anmar and for Earth and its existing colonies." He gestured at the empty seats to his left. "Please, Captain, Ladies and Gentlemen, find some seats and I will explain all, though you may not believe half of what I am about to say."
The crew members filed away from the podium and found seats to the right of the government. Once they had settled, a dead silence fell on the chamber. The King's pronouncements had ensured that nobody was going to leave that chamber even if death threatened.
"This chamber, as a small number of you already know," Keren began his explanation, "is known as the Chamber of the Two Worlds. It was originally built to serve a secret committee known as the Council of the Two Worlds, and that council was set up to control the information Anmar was receiving from Earth." He gestured to the starship's crew. "Of course, our intrepid space travelers had not yet arrived, so how did all this knowledge get here? The answer, strange as it may seem, is that both Anmar and Earth have been colonized for many millions of years by aliens, Vast Multidimensional Beings, to serve a desperate plan concerning the fate of the galaxy."
There were gasps and whistles from some in the audience.
"The method of colonization was by making exact copies of creatures from other worlds, including Earth, transferring them to the target worlds and letting them develop without interference once there. Once humans came along they were also transferred and for various reasons those chosen were individuals who were close to death on the source world.
"Of course humans, and indeed other intelligent beings also being transferred by this program, require clothing and tools to survive so these were also provided. If a candidate, close to death, happened to be wearing or carrying something, those items would get transferred with them, although there are differences in the methods used. All such objects or clothing that we have been able to discover on Anmar through the years are now either displayed in the galleries which surround this chamber or are kept in storage under controlled conditions. All are available to accredited researchers, including now the crew of the Vasco da Gama."
There was a buzz among the listeners until Keren continued.
"If I may digress for a moment. The Beings discovered, many millions of years ago, that creatures so transferred often evolved at different rates and in different directions to the original stock. Many such transfers were successful; just as many produced complete failure or unusual outcomes. The creatures presently grazing the university's lawns are known to us as dranakhs and to Earthlings as hippopotamus. Both are descended from an intelligent bipedal species about the same height as humans who call themselves the Darayet. That species are telepaths, Ladies and Gentlemen, but on Earth they evolved into giant dumb water creatures and on Anmar into giant land draft beasts... who on Anmar are still telepaths.
"Other transfers seem not to have evolved at all. You all know what grakh are, and it appears that they are little changed from those which were brought here eighty million years ago. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Beings think in prodigious timescales. In fact, they have been managing this galaxy in one fashion or another for around five billion years."
Keren gestured again. "So, how do we know all this? Essentially, these Beings wanted to manipulate and improve the galaxy without anyone noticing what they were doing. Now, on Anmar, when a human transferee arrived they were usually integrated into the local population with little fuss but their knowledge becomes available to that society, and thus helps improve it. Very occasionally a whole group of people were brought here to start up a new colony and around Anmar we have discovered many of these, brought at different times. Thus on Alaesia alone we have discovered Romans, Norse, Mayans, Japanese, Arabs and many others. Some prospered, some did not.
"Two hundred and six years ago, a single transferee arrived and shook Palarand to its foundations. She was brought to the palace and eventually married my namesake and became his Queen. I'm speaking, of course, of my beloved ancestor Queen Garia."
There was not as much surprise at this announcement as Keren expected. The fact that Garia had once been an Earth person was well-known to the local community and the visitors didn't know Palarand history in any detail yet.
"She was different. To begin with, she had been a boy on Earth but the transfer mechanism had somehow misfired. We have subsequently learned that as many as one in four transferees were so switched. The Beings missed this problem because those who tended Anmar did not have genders as we understand them. The more important difference was that, once here, she began to evolve into a Being herself. Ladies and Gentlemen, all the Beings I speak of were once like you and I. We are still not sure what triggers this Emergence but very few make it. Queen Garia is the first we know of from Anmar."
There was a rustle from the government seats. Garia had been the first transferee who had been publicly acknowledged but her fate had been deliberately left obscure. Most naturally believed that she had died in the fullness of time and had been given the usual state funeral of a pyre. They regarded the adulation still accorded her by many of the population as a kind of unwelcome cult, preventing progress by clear-minded people.
"I should add," Keren continued, "that the Beings are not limited by the lifetimes of the original Solid forms they once were. Many already have lifetimes in the millions of years and they may deteriorate very slowly. Our universe is multidimensional, so that in every respect we are all multidimensional creatures but those like ourselves who are referred to as Solids are unable to perceive the higher dimensions. You may consider it similar to someone who is blind from birth and cannot therefore understand colors. The Emergence of a Solid into a Being can be thought of like that of an insect emerging from a chrysalis. The original body is discarded but the insect assumes a new, more capable body with a completely different existence.
"That is what made my ancestor Garia different than all the others who had come before. Although she had little idea at first what she was looking at, she could perceive an existence we Solids can only theorize. The Beings who tended this planet discovered her and realized what she had done. She was permitted to continue her Emergence with the help of other Beings. It was then she discovered the Great Plan and the fate of the galaxy, and that has directly led to your presence here today, Ladies and Gentlemen."
A man jumped up from the seats on Keren's far right.
"Preposterous! All this is a fantasy! There are no Beings, no transferees, no visitors from other planets! You seek merely to enrich yourselves at the expense of other lands with your ridiculous tales!"
The crew of the Vasco da Gama have discovered that Anmar keeps a secret, that Vast, Multidimensional Beings colonized it long before humans on Earth even had written language - and are still doing so. It seems there is a threat to the galaxy and long-term plans have been made to defend it. Some of the audience is naturally skeptical. Then King Keren makes things worse by inviting a long-dead Queen to tell them what is really happening, and the crew learn that everything they thought they knew bears little resemblance to the truth.
Somewhere Else Entirely
by Penny Lane
Epilogue 3 - The Great Plan
Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2010-2016 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.
"Preposterous! All this is a fantasy! There are no
Beings, no transferees, no visitors from other planets! You seek
merely to enrich yourselves at the expense of other lands with your
ridiculous tales!"
Several of the others around him stood and tried to wrestle him back into his seat but he proved difficult to handle. Eventually they managed to subdue him and he stood there panting, glaring at Keren.
"Ah, yes," the King replied. "From your accent you are obviously a Terian and one who has failed to understand the lessons of the last seventy years."
Stannard, the opposition leader, stood. "Sire, I regret this outburst. I did not realize we had one of the Terian separatists in our party. I shall have him removed if you so desire."
Keren shook his head. "No, leave him be. There comes a point when even the most stupid must accept reality for what it is and not what they would wish it to be." He addressed the rest of the room. "Unfortunately for most of you, reality is not entirely what you thought it was either. Today's presentation is designed to correct that impression. I believe it is time to introduce the main speaker to our meeting."
Keren's gaze lifted above the heads of his audience. "Ancestor, if you would join us now."
For a few seconds nothing happened, but then there was a curious kind of shimmer beside the King. The next instant a mature woman was standing beside him. Most of those in the audience jumped with surprise.
"Jesus!" Someone from the ship muttered, loudly enough for Keren to hear. "They have matter transporters!"
The woman turned to face the speaker. She was dressed in what the locals recognized as an old version of the female Palace Guard uniform.
"There is no matter transporter involved here, Nirvanan. Since my Solid form is compatible with this environment, I have merely manifested myself for you all to see. My name is Garia. I was born on Earth, in Hays, Kansas, United States of America, and I was once Queen of this land."
The Terian sneered at the two people on the podium. "More trickery! Nothing more than a hologram!"
Garia turned to face her critic. "Oh? It seems that even two hundred years later I am still encountering stupidity and obstructionism. You, Terian, come down here," she commanded, in a voice which brooked no argument. "You shall find out whether I am hologram or not."
The man looked at her, uncertain of the offer he had just been made. Shaking off the hands of those who had held him, he shouldered his way past those between himself and the aisle and began to walk down to the podium. As he did so, his confidence returned and he was feeling sure of his ground as he joined Keren and Garia in front of the audience.
However, before he had any chance to even speak, Garia slapped him hard in the face. He stumbled backwards and fell to a sitting position on the floor, one hand going to his cheek, his expression one of extreme shock.
"So, tell me, Terian, how many holograms do you know that could do that to you?"
The man looked at her in astonishment, unable to speak. Garia looked at the hand she had used and turned to the King.
"Grandson, I apologize for what I have just done. I am still learning to adjust to my new mode of existence and I could have killed this man without realizing it."
Keren grinned. "I have read the accounts of what happened when first you came to Anmar, Ancestor. I am sure that you used exactly the amount of force required."
"It has been a long time, Keren, since I last trained for physical combat. It was my hope that I would never need to do so again." She turned to the man, who was attempting to back away on his bottom. "Get up, man!" she said irritably. "The only way you will die today will be by accident. Do you now accept that I am really here, and not just an image?"
The man began to scramble to his feet. He gasped, "Who are you? What are you?"
"Did you not listen? I am Garia, who was once the consort of King Keren VI of Palarand. I was born Gary Campbell, a boy, on Earth, in Hays, Kansas in the United States of America. I lived there for nearly eighteen Earth years or sixteen Anmar years. The Beings who attend this galaxy transferred me here to provoke a war which would raise the technological level of this part of Alaesia. Unfortunately for them their machines did not function as expected and I arrived as a girl." She raised her voice so that everybody could hear. "That meant that I could marry the Keren of the time and become his Queen, but it also meant that I had a much greater impact on society than they expected."
The man's expression was resentful, as though he was being forced to accept something distasteful.
"I encountered as much obstructionism then as I see here today. When I was brought to the palace the man who investigated me could not believe I knew more than he did, and once he found out the truth he plotted to pretend all my knowledge was his own. Unfortunately he was working for Palarand's enemies and they killed him when their first abduction attempt went wrong."
"You can't prove anything," the man said now, sullen. "All what you say is in the history books. Any actor could read that out."
Garia considered. "That may be true, up to a point," she conceded and then smiled. "Perhaps I could ask Captain Suarez to take you back to Nirvana with him when he goes. You would certainly discover that interstellar space travel exists, and perhaps you might come to believe the rest of what I am about to reveal." She pointed a finger. "Go, return to your seat. You have delayed this presentation long enough and there is much more that must be shown."
The man turned and stumped off the podium, heading for the seats. He chose a different one away from the group he had arrived with. Garia turned to face the audience.
"I'm not going to go into detail today about my Emergence as a Being. Let me just say that my first attempts at contact were difficult and uncontrolled, much as a newborn baby struggles to contact its own mother. However, contact was made and during those early conversations I learned that transferees were usually chosen from people on the point of death. One of the dimensions available to us involves... memory, let us say, and it is easier to obtain the memory record of a dying person.
"I learned three other things, the first being that every Being in the galaxy, and there are billions of them, became so the same way I did. Only a tiny fraction of any species undergoes this transformation and, though they have been Emerging from various Solid species for billions of years, the process is still imperfectly understood. The second thing is that I was the first known Being to Emerge after being transferred from one world to another - and knew that I had done so. This meant that I had a unique view of the Beings' activities and purposes. The third thing I learned was that the galaxy was doomed."
That statement produced a buzz in the chamber. The Terian stood up, thought better of it and sat down again. Stannard stood, but his question was directed to Kandal.
"Is this true, Kandal? Did you know any of this?"
"Since I was one of those who swore that oath, yes I did. Most of Anmar's Prime Ministers have known, but you had better direct your question to the King."
Keren acknowledged, "It has been a closely kept secret known by no more than a dozen people at any time, Stannard. My ancestor is here to explain it all to you."
Garia resumed. "The Beings have machinery that is capable of looking into the future." Somebody at the rear of the room snorted and she frowned. "They do this by measuring the exact position, motion and energy of every particle in the galaxy and projecting its path forward in time so that they can see what happens - and they can test what happens if something is changed. This is little different in principle to the methods you use for weather forecasting, for example, but obviously the machinery used is much more complex."
Somebody else stood up from the dissenters' seats. "You can't possibly measure every particle in the galaxy! That machinery would have to include itself, wouldn't it?"
"So, you're an expert on multidimensional manifold math, are you?" she riposted. "I'm glad we have Anmar's foremost mathematician here in the chamber today. Why haven't you published your revolutionary findings yet?"
The man turned red-faced, spluttered and sat down.
"Don't ask me," Garia said to the audience with a shrug. "I don't understand how it works any more than you do. Even the Beings have experts who run that sort of machinery. To continue my story, the results can be followed through time and they are of a statistical nature. It seemed that after a certain point in time the future of this galaxy goes dark. The chances of anything surviving were below forty percent. That is why the Beings have a program of transference. They are attempting to improve the galaxy's chances of survival.
"When it was explained to me what would happen, I pointed out that Solids - that is, people like yourselves - might be able to help delay or avert the impending catastrophe. The Beings had tried to avoid exposing themselves as they thought it would set up some kind of inferiority complex, the Solids knowing that they would live brief lives and that anything more was unattainable. I argued against this, as it effectively becomes a war and advances most usually happen at a greater rate during wartime. Though the lives of Solids are short, history has shown us that during the most recent wars many advances in science, technology and medicine have been made."
"A war? Nobody said anything about a war!"
Garia grimaced. "We don't know that it will be a 'war' in the same way you understand the term. I believe that it is about now that I should describe the situation to you. I'm going to use a special projector so I'll need the light lowered, please."
The chamber dimmed and the podium became dark. From out of the darkness Garia's voice began.
"Before the Universe existed, there was only void. There was no mass, no energy, no movement. Then, in an instant which some species of Solid label the Big Bang, the Universe began. Of course, had there been any Vast, Multidimensional Beings present they would not have seen the Big Bang as we see it at all, only as a logical stage in the natural development of the Universe. The Universe grew and developed in much the way that Earth and Anmar scientists have postulated."
As Garia stood to one side, a vast holographic display acted out the development of the Universe from its earliest moments. The audience watched transfixed as gas clouds condensed into galaxies and then stars, swirling and recombining under their mutual attraction.
"Stars ignited, ran their lives and died in giant explosions, seeding the void with heavier elements. Planets were born, upon some of which life emerged. Sometimes, life even evolved where there were not worlds. Species rose, thrived and became extinct. Eventually civilizations rose, thrived and also became extinct. Some matured eventually to a level where individuals Emerged as Beings and discovered the multidimensional nature of the Universe.
"Over many billions of years the Beings matured and naturally wanted to know what would happen to the galaxy they all called home. After many fumbling starts the forecasting machines I described earlier were created. Over the ages their predictions became better and better. It eventually became possible to follow the evolution of the entire galaxy, although not in fine detail. Unfortunately, their forecasts faded away at a certain point in the future, due to outside influences they could not calculate. What clues they could obtain, however, indicated that the galaxy and all the beings in it, both Solid and Emerged, looked doomed.
"Then a Being wondered what would happen if, and things changed again. By making artificial changes to the forecasts it became possible to alter the probability of the ending of the galaxy by a small amount. Successive changes offered a slim chance that a way might be found in the future to avoid annihilation.
"The first attempts were done by direct interference with Solid civilizations and they were only partly successful. The idea of transference arose and, though expensive, it seemed to offer more hope of a successful outcome. Many blunders were made and many civilizations lost or corrupted before the appropriate methods were refined and protocols laid down. In addition, worlds were discovered which had no civilization or dominant species and a process of colonization was begun, one of those worlds being Anmar, another being... Earth.
"Yes, Earth and many others have been carefully populated with species and individuals to attempt to improve the chances that, in the future, the galaxy as a whole will survive. In the main things have worked the way that was planned but since the forecasts were only statistical, they could never guarantee the result they wanted. Individuals such as myself were chosen to trigger events that would improve the worlds they arrived on and mostly the results obtained were as expected.
"My effect on Anmar was not, and that was a direct result of the unexpected operation of the transfer machinery. My original arrival here raised the result from below fifty percent to nearly sixty percent. Such a big jump indicated that my presence had somehow made a significant difference and this should be exploited. I agreed with the Beings that Anmar should be given special help and that the presence of the Beings would be revealed to the Solid population at the point a starship from another world arrived and was shown to be on a peaceful mission. That is the nature of the oath I made with them. Because of this forced development, the odds of success are now ninety percent and rising daily."
Garia made a gesture and the lights came up. The holographic display now showed the home galaxy in all its glory behind her. Several people raised their hands.
"Captain Suarez."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I have no idea how to address you."
Garia smiled. "That's an awkward point, Captain. I was once Queen of the Kingdom of Palarand so technically I could be called 'Your Majesty' or simply 'Ma'am'. However, I'm also legally dead as a Solid so I'm not sure how that works any more. Since the Beings have now come into the open, it is a question we will have to address in due course, I deem. I suggest that you simply use 'Ma'am' for the time being. What was your question?"
"You stated that there were other worlds which had been colonized. Can you tell us how many, and how many have humans on them?"
"The total number of worlds colonized throughout the galaxy must run into the millions, Captain, and I don't have an exact count. Of course, most of those will have sentient species on them that are non-human. Some are more advanced than Anmar, most are probably civilized to various levels but restricted to their own solar systems. Of immediate interest to those here today is the fact that there are eight systems within a thousand light years with humans on them, of which Anmar is presently the most advanced, for obvious reasons."
"You're expecting us to find these worlds, then?"
"Sort of. It was essential that you found Anmar first, so that the correct attitude to any further discoveries was established. We - the collective of the Beings - do not want to see those planets exploited by Earth in the way that some of your existing colonies have been, but more as partners in the long-term effort."
Suarez considered this, then nodded. "I see, Ma'am. What you're telling us is that Earth exploration is now coming up against an existing colonization plan and you don't want that to be disrupted."
"Yes and no, Captain. Your own presence here today is essential to our plan. Basically, Earth's colonization program will now become our colonization program. In the future, you need to know what you will find and how to avoid unfortunate interactions when you find it. We need you and the basic exploration drive of humanity and you need Anmar and our knowledge of what is to come. Together, we stand a good chance of avoiding that dark future I spoke of."
Suarez nodded and Garia turned her attention to Hammond. "Envoy Hammond, you have a question?"
"Ma'am, you keep mentioning this impending disaster. Can you tell us any more?"
"I can, Envoy Hammond. That is the next part of my presentation."
She gestured again and the lights dimmed. The image of the galaxy shrank until it occupied about a third of the available space. Beside it, another galaxy sprang into view.
"What you see here," Garia explained, "is an accurate representation of our home galaxy, to your left, as it exists today. Every star is plotted precisely in this image, Ladies and Gentlemen, and we can make all or part of that database available both to Anmar astronomers and to the Vasco da Gama's astrogation team. The galaxy to your right is known to Earth astronomers as the Andromeda galaxy, and it is destined to collide with our own beginning about a million years from now.
"The Beings' problem is that we are somehow tied to our home galaxy. We can plot with precision the exact position, motion and energy of every particle in our galaxy and use that to project into the future. What we cannot do is to use that same process to predict what will happen when the other galaxy begins to merge with ours, since we cannot measure almost any of the particles within it until they intersect with ours, and that is when the record goes dark.
"From some exploratory calculations that have been made, we can predict that inhabitants from the other galaxy will be able to enter our own within a very short period of time, perhaps as few as tens of thousands of years from now. That is because the gravitational attraction of each galaxy's mass will pull some systems across the gap forming a bridge."
The images began to move, to come together, and it could be seen that each had already begun to distort the shape of the other. The images froze again at the point at which the full merge had begun.
"That position is how the two galaxies will look a million years," she shrugged, "Earth or Anmar, it isn't that exact, from now. We know we are going to lose systems during the merging process," she added. "When masses of stars intersect like this it could be no other way. What we didn't expect was that civilizations would be snuffed out the moment that first bridge was created and we suspect that is because our galaxy will be invaded by beings from the other one, beings who do not desire a peaceful coexistence."
There was dead silence within the auditorium now. Most of them were astonished by the immense scale of the problem facing the Beings and the astronomically long time they had been considering the fate of the galaxy.
Stannard's voice was hoarse in the darkness. "That is what this has all been about? Maker! No wonder you kept this a secret."
As the lights came up Suarez asked, his tone one of wonder, "So we are all part of the Great Plan of these Beings, is that it? My God! To even think about doing something over such a great span of time and space. Astonishing."
"That was the point, of course," Keren said from the other side of the image. "The Beings projected what would eventually happen and they have had many millions of years to prepare for it. We are part of that preparation and so are you. The human species would not exist if it were not for the actions of the Beings."
Hammond stood. "Ma'am, this is all very interesting, but what is it you expect humanity to do? I include Anmar's humans in this, of course."
"You must understand that knowledge of the future can affect that future, so what you are about to hear can only be explained in general terms." Garia replied, "As I'm only a new-born so far as the Beings are concerned, I would hesitate to answer that question in any detail. I must therefore introduce my friend, companion and mentor, who is not a human. Because of this you will only see a hologram, since unlike me, he could not exist in Anmar's atmosphere, temperature or pressure. Because this meeting is a critical moment in the development of this part of the galaxy, I may introduce others at a later time. Senusret, please join us."
The images of the colliding galaxies faded and in their place a white hologram appeared, showing a rough humanoid figure, about a meter tall, with feathery feelers sprouting from the upper sides of his head and huge dragonfly-like wings standing out either side of his back. As on previous occasions he wore a simple full-length gown.
"This is a moment I have long expected," he said with a metallic voice, "though I am normally accustomed to working in secrecy. I am known here as Senusret, a name I acquired on Earth. Despite my form I am acknowledged as one of the foremost anthropologists on human societies and I have already spent some thousands of years studying civilizations on Earth. I was transferred to Anmar when Garia began to emerge as a Being. Over the last two hundred years our collaboration has been very fruitful."
"What are you?" Hammond asked, fascinated. "To me you look like a... traditional Earth fairy."
"That was exactly the impression intended, Envoy. Before I Emerged as a Being I was a member of a species which lives in the clouds of... perhaps you might describe it as a 'temperate Jupiter'. When it was necessary to expose myself to Earth humans I used the guise of a member of one of their many myths. In previous times I have used other guises as required for my work."
"Now we know you are around, would you tell us more about yourself and your people?"
"What you desire is irrelevant to the present purpose, Envoy, but there is no reason you may not learn more in future. Today we have more important matters to consider. As for what we desire of your species, it is this. The battles to be waged in the future will involve both Solids such as yourselves and Beings such as myself and Garia.
"For your part, you must explore your immediate region of the galaxy and prepare it for war. In time, we expect a unified collection of worlds, perhaps an Empire, perhaps a League, perhaps a Commonwealth or some other arrangement, which can help other collections of allied species defend against what might come across that bridge. This process would naturally happen over time but with this extra knowledge you can become more focused. As Garia has already stated, we cannot tell you the future in any detail since that will affect it. We can offer you a certain amount of assistance as time continues, but how much depends on when you develop the necessary math to understand it."
"Thank you... Senusret?"
"Senusret. The name is of Egyptian origin. I once spent almost a century as one of their gods. Many but by no means all of humanity's gods have been Beings operating in disguise. We make no apology for this behavior."
Hammond turned to Garia. "Ma'am, I can almost guarantee that none of this would be believed anywhere but on this planet." She glanced at the far side of the room. "Perhaps not even on much of Anmar, I'm guessing. There are people in this room who are having trouble believing it. How do we break this to humanity at large?"
Garia grinned. "Oh, I think you can leave that to us, Envoy. Now that we have been permitted to show ourselves, I'm sure we can arrange some very spectacular demonstrations which nobody is going to be able to deny." The grin faded. "There is another consideration and that is one of inferiority. Humans, like most dominant species on any world, have always regarded themselves as the pinnacle of development and to find out that they are basically little better than bacteria in a lab dish is going to cause a lot of problems. We have ideas but we would welcome any suggestions from such as yourselves. That fact is one reason we decided to puzzle you when you arrived here, Envoy, to give you the impression that there could already be people better than you out there somewhere."
Hammond bowed her head. "Consider that point made, Ma'am, and I'll think about what you suggested."
Garia turned to the rest of the audience. "I'm sure that the rest of you have questions." She pointed. "You, what's your name?"
* * *
The Garian Institute had a refectory which could provide meals for the hundred or so who could fit in either of the two auditoriums, so after the obvious questions had been asked and answered, everyone moved there to satisfy their hunger and thirst. It was a buffet meal and some chose to use the available chairs and tables while others gathered in small standing groups, plates and drinks in hand.
There were still many questions but most recognized that it would be some time before they could make some sense from what had been revealed. Garia and Senusret circulated the room attempting to provide reassurance and further information but both understood that most of those present still had trouble believing what they had just been told.
In one corner they found Kandal and Stannard, talking low.
"Kandal, I just don't know what to say! I think it is incredible that something like this has been kept secret for so long."
"It is worse than you think, Stannard. If it hadn't been for Garia, we would still not know what was happening."
They turned and noticed the two Beings approach.
"Ma'am." Kandal bowed. Stannard hesitated before following suit. The Prime Minister said to Garia, "I was just pointing out that, if it had not been for you, we would still not know all this."
"You're right," she said. Her American English accent sounded odd to their ears. "It was a tiny chance that led to me Emerging, so small that it is almost negligible. Of course, in galactic terms, 'negligible' meant that it was almost certain to happen somewhere, given enough time. Then the other Beings convinced themselves that this represented an opportunity they couldn't ignore."
"A chance remark," Senusret added. "It made such a difference to the probabilities that we were forced to try a risky project. Fortunately we were successful with the result you see before you."
"A project? What project?"
"Another time, Delegate. If the story is to be told, it should be published for all to know."
Garia said, slowly, "It is somewhat personal, even after all this time. Let the rest of humanity become comfortable with us and then we can tell it."
Stannard stared at Senusret. "Your pardon, but how do we address you? I can't think of any obvious way."
"You have no forms of address that are appropriate," Senusret replied. "We are a different form of life, such things must be considered in due course if we are to interact in future. Though Garia was once a Queen I can claim no such rank from my own former existence. I do not have an answer for you."
A number of Stannard's associates bore down on the foursome. Stannard grimaced since he guessed what might be about to happen.
"Stannard!" Alintis scowled. "Why are you consorting with these frauds?"
Stannard turned to face his accusers. "For someone who belongs to the Progressive Party, you seem to have some problem coming to terms with accepted facts, Alintis. Hardly progressive, are you?"
Alintis pointed a finger at Garia and Senusret. "Accepted facts? I have heard nothing from these to change my mind! This was just done by some trickery to back up the government's position. Colliding galaxies? What nonsense!" He snarled, "This one is just a hologram, it admitted as much itself and the other, she is as real as I am, though I doubt she was ever a Queen, merely some actress brought in to play a part."
Garia turned to Senusret. "With your permission?"
Senusret nodded and Garia stepped forward, grabbing Alintis with both hands at his waist.
"Hey! What are you doing? Get your hands off -"
The protests were cut off as Garia and the man shimmered and then vanished. Everybody left behind stood back, shocked. Seconds later Garia reappeared, dusting her hands.
"I dumped him on the roof," she explained. "Somebody will have to call maintenance to get him back down, I deem." She smirked. "I'd like to see how he explains that trip, especially in view of all the video monitors we have around the refectory."
The whole room became silent as this happened, everyone staring at Garia.
"What? I told you I could prove my position. The roof was the easiest place to leave him, I could just as easily have taken him to anywhere on the planet or even to Kalikan or the research station orbiting Gontar, although he would have been out of breath by the time I reached that far out. There's no air the route I travel these days."
The Terian who had made all the fuss before said, "I think I need to sit down. My... view of the world is incomplete."
"Aye," Stannard agreed. "You are not the only one who is going to have to review their position, but we need more information before we can do that."
"And you shall have it," Garia said. "As much as we can tell you, as much as we can demonstrate, we will do so. The restrictions on what humans can discover have been broadly lifted, beginning today."
Watching this from a table on the other side of the room were Campbell and DeFreitas.
DeFreitas said, "You knew about this all the time, then?"
Campbell replied, "I did, Tom, but obviously I couldn't tell that to you or to anyone else. We've kept that secret from everyone for two hundred years. Now, of course, I can tell you most things but Garia did that already. Is it what you expected?"
"Not in a million years!" He grinned at her. "I may have to rephrase that, I guess. After what I've just heard, a million years doesn't sound like such a long time. I came to Anmar expecting to find some different shaped plants and maybe a few odd animals, I didn't expect to be invited to take part in an intergalactic war!"
Campbell laughed. "You don't have to worry about that, Tom. It will be centuries, millennia, before the war begins. We get to do all the fun stuff instead, finding new worlds and life-forms, building the foundations for the great galactic civilization to come."
"Yes, that will be fun, won't it?" His grin faded. "But King Keren said that only a dozen people knew the secret. I'm thinking some of those have to be in your government, so how exactly is it you are on that list?"
"The secret is one that has been held by the royal family of Palarand, Tom. Every King and Queen is told it and certain of their closest relatives also know it. Of course, certain members of the current government also have to be let into the secret. I know because I'm a direct descendant of Queen Garia and custodian of property that was once given to her by King Robanar when she first arrived. My official title is Countess Milsy of Blackstone, the town where all this began."
DeFreitas goggled at her. "A Countess? And you're acting as a simple liaison officer?"
"Um, not exactly, Tom. I'm actually a field exobiologist and your crew is my present area of study. What did you expect?"
"Ouch! I'm an idiot. Of course you would study us as we do the same to you. A field exobiologist, you say? So what did you study before we arrived?"
She gave him a sidelong glance. "There is more than one active biosphere in this star system, Tom. I've been studying life-forms that live in the atmosphere of Gontar, our largest gas giant. I wouldn't call them civilized, not in the way we understand that word, but it is a little more than just plants and animals."
"Gontar? Oh, yes. Didn't the... other Being mention Gontar?"
Milsy shook her head. "Not compatible, unfortunately. The wrong mix of gases and a fifty-degree difference in temperature, so Senusret tells us. His world is warmer, but still much colder than Anmar."
DeFreitas wondered if his chances had just nose-dived. "So, you're what? An academic?"
"No, like I said I'm a field officer. I might have returned to the University in due course to teach, only some starship turned up and changed everything. I have five different of what I am told you would probably call Master's degrees, although on Anmar we use other qualifications."
"A polymath? And a Countess? Will you stop speaking to me now?"
She dimpled. "Don't be silly, Tom. I'd still be delighted to show you round the Old City and maybe some other places, too. I might be a Countess but I'm still human, you know."
* * *
Later that day, in his day cabin aboard the Vasco da Gama, Suarez leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath. "Alison, do you buy into everything we were shown?"
Hammond replied, "Without question, Captain. The way Queen Garia explained it all made perfect sense, given what we already know of Anmar. Okay, there's still the technology question but that's properly a problem for negotiation by Solids, if you'll excuse the phrase."
"Indeed. Speaking of which, has anyone found out anything more about their technology? I'm not talking about stealing, you understand, but confirmation of some of our guesses would be useful."
McDaid said, "Captain, I did, in fact. My guess about broadcast power was right on the money. I spoke to one of the University professors who was there today and he told me that they have access to... what he describes as a sheaf of dimensions which don't involve space. That is, they are effectively point dimensions of some kind, though he wouldn't explain any more than that. I wasn't certain that he could, from the way he was talking. Basically, their power plants pour some kind of energy into one of these dimensions and other units can draw out as much as they require, wherever they are."
"The ultimate tap-off system," Andrades said, nodding. "That technology would be very useful if we could gain access to it." He frowned. "Why do they need that many power plants, then? I would have thought one or two would have been enough."
"Redundancy, sir," McDaid replied, "and perhaps scalability. There's another factor, which is that although there's apparently no power loss over distance, it becomes more difficult to tune the particular 'channel', as the professor called it, the further away you get. That's why there are power plants on the moons and outer planets as well."
"You said a sheaf of dimensions," Suarez put in then. "How many in this sheaf?"
McDaid shrugged. "Unknown, sir. Possibly millions, possibly infinite numbers. I'm wondering if that is how their communicators work as well. They just tune into a particular channel of that sheaf and get instant communication over any distance, as well as power. If these dimensions don't involve distance, the speed of light would hardly apply, would it?"
"Wow," Hammond said. "FTL communication is another big one, Captain. Even if it didn't cover interstellar distances the gains would be immense."
Suarez nodded. "Agreed. It would change the whole way we utilize space within every star system. Anything else?"
Baranov asked, "There's the question of why they all speak English, Captain. I understand now that materials from Earth might have been in English but the whole planet? Why did they choose a language not native to any of them?"
Hammond replied, "Ivan, that is almost exactly the reason. I talked to their Prime Minister and he said that English became popular in the Great Valley immediately after Garia arrived because most of the materials she brought were in that language. Following that was a rapid exploration of the whole planet and English was chosen as a neutral trade language precisely because it wasn't anyone's natural language. It helps that it is so easy to learn, at least at a basic level. Today, everyone learns English and most also learn their local tongue."
Suarez looked round the table. "Interesting and fortuitous for us, don't you think? I was dreading having to learn a non-Earth language to make myself understood here. Anything else?"
Valborg said, "I had a word with Queen Garia about how she traveled from Earth to Anmar in the first place. It seems they can't send actual bodies but only the instructions for making bodies and even that is expensive in energy terms. A pity, when she first mentioned it I wondered if there was a planet-to-planet transfer system there we could use but it seems it doesn't work that way."
Andrades turned to the Life Sciences officer. "Expensive? How so?"
"It looks like the transfer involves copying the description of their DNA, not even the DNA itself, from one system to the other and then using that to grow a new body using some multidimensional cloning machinery. While the body is growing the machinery impresses the memories of the original onto the clone so that it wakes up thinking it is the original. It takes a few days for the memories to return fully, so I understand. For one person the whole process consumes about the total energy output of a star like that of Anmar for a whole day or so, Chief. Not something I'd want to do on a regular basis but perhaps a useful emergency method, if they agree to let us use it."
Hammond said, "I doubt that is going to happen, Anders. The way I understood Garia's explanation, the original has to die in order for that to work. That's why they chose people about to die as their colonists in the first place."
Valborg persisted. "That might be the way it works for them, Excellency, but we might be able to think of other ways it could be useful. I wouldn't write it off just like that."
Suarez raised a hand. "All right. I suspect we could sit here all day and all night and talk without making much headway. The bottom line is, we need to have what these people have and they need us as well, and to progress that we have to resume our original mission and evaluate the planet beneath us." He turned. "Alison, your recommendation?"
"We need to do some basic verification but I can't see that we have any option, Captain. They aren't going to be joining the Earth colonies, we are going to be joining them, and that's fine with me. We each have abilities and experiences which balance the other perfectly." She gave Suarez a fierce grin. "I can't wait to get this project under way."
* * *
Senusret: Welcome, hatchling!
Garia: Welcome indeed. I am pleased that you could find your way here again.
Milsy: It's difficult. I have no control over whether I come or not. Was it the same for you, Garia?
Garia: It was. As I recall, it does get easier over time but you need a lot of patience. Keep up the meditation because that definitely helps.
Milsy: I intend to. Your presentation was good. I particularly liked the way you appeared... manifested, I should say.
Garia: That was considerably more tricky than it looked, Milsy. I can manifest myself reasonably easily now, but the problem is, it is just myself. I would come out naked, which would cause more of a stir than I would wish.
Milsy: Oh! Of course. So how do you manage clothing?
Senusret: Most Beings do not customarily wear textiles or other coverings, hatchling, in their Solid forms, so the problem is a relatively minor one. In time Garia will no longer need to manifest so her difficulty becomes moot. In the meantime, those species with a similar problem have developed solutions.
Garia: That's right. I have a small suite at the palace under an assumed name where I keep some clothing for occasions like today. They think I'm a retired guardswoman. The clothing like everything else is multidimensional, of course, so there is no problem taking it with me. I simply went to my suite, manifested, dressed myself and then de-manifested until I needed to appear on stage with young Keren. Taking the clothes with me requires concentration but is manageable. More tricky was lifting that idiot onto the roof while not ending up with my clothes remaining in the refectory. In my first attempts at wearing clothes they dropped to the floor when I de-manifested.
Milsy [giggling]: Yes, that could be embarrassing!
Garia: You will still require tuition in simple tricks like that, unfortunately. For humans, nakedness is usually reserved for the beach. One day that may change but I'm not expecting miracles.
Milsy: Um, how long is it going to take me to finish this process? How long did it take you from when you first came here until you manifested?
Garia: Fifty-one years, Milsy.
Milsy: That long? But... that means you Emerged while you were still Queen! However did you manage to conceal that happening?
Garia: With great difficulty. I trust that you won't have the same problem when you eventually Emerge. It proved possible to delay the actual separation from my Solid body until Keren and I could take a nostalgic trip to Blackstone but it was a struggle... like delaying a birth, you might say.
Milsy: You were King and Queen then. How did you manage to find any privacy?
Garia: As I said, it was a nostalgic visit so Keren and I and a very select picked band of retainers, all in the know, went camping up at the Ptuvil Stones. The Solid body was secretly removed by the Beings and placed in stasis for my 'official' death. I then had to pretend to be a Solid for another eight years, which was interesting, as I hadn't mastered the art of taking clothes with me at that time.
Milsy: Oh. But if you were pretending to be a Solid then you just lived as a Solid would, didn't you?
Garia: Yes, fortunately, I could do that. Only two people realized something was strange and they were my maids at the time. They became part of the conspiracy.
Milsy: Do you miss him? Your husband, I mean.
Garia: Naturally I do! I have spent more than a hundred years here since he died, though, so my perspective on our partnership has mellowed somewhat.
Senusret: It is the same with us all, hatchling, at least for those species that have life mates. We do not forget our origins and our time as Solids, nor those left behind, but we also do not forget what we have now become and that few are chosen.
Garia: Keren knew what was going to happen long before we married, of course. He accepted it since in some respects it is little different to a normal Solid marriage. One must needs die before the other, unless both are taken in an accident or by violence. [A pause for recollection] After his State funeral, when our son Bradanar came to the throne, I stayed for a respectable interval and then the saved body was burned. I had promised Keren that I would not stay around as a Solid for very long after he died. I didn't really want to. [Fondly] He was a good man, a wonderful husband and a great King.
Milsy: He had a great Queen to rule beside him, overseeing the greatest changes that Anmar has ever seen. I am proud to be your descendant, Ancestor.
Garia: Thank you. It is possible your part may prove at least as important as mine, when the time comes.
Milsy: I'm glad we won't have to skulk about in secret any more.
Senusret: For the future we must be careful how we educate the people of each world, hatchling, including Anmar. To reveal all at one time will present dangers to all.
Garia: Aye, especially considering those Terian idiots. Still, we have finally gotten the ball rolling and life can only get more interesting from now on.
Milsy: It all seems so fantastic to me still. I can't believe we're actually going to do this.
Garia: The probability of success is presently over ninety percent and still rising. The future is beginning to look bright, Milsy. Our future.
The End of Somewhere Else Entirely
Some of the characters mentioned in this
story may appear in future Tales of Anmar.