Two
thousand years ago a planet was paid a visit by a Galactic Council emissary. It led to the greatest story ever told, as written
here by Sky Rivers.
The Immortality Man
HERE
IS THE FIRST HALF….
1
The
eagle shifted uneasily from one leg to another on the craggy ledge. Behind her in the eerie were two young and
hungry mouths to feed. She tilted her
head one way, then another before launching herself into the air. Spreading her great wings she dropped like a
stone towards the valley floor a thousand feet below.
Pulling out of her descent fifty feet
above the ground she skimmed along the the valley, gliding on extended
wings. Her eyes darted left, right, up
and down. She soared up and over the
huge metallic object, tilting her head curiously as she did so but continuing
on down over the escarpment. The
metallic object was of no interest to her.
She had mouths to feed.
From inside the metallic object Saron
looked out through the observation panel.
The eagle soared away into the distance.
He leaned back in his chair and relaxed, enjoying a feeling of
pleasure. He had chosen to rest for a
few days in the mountains before embarking on the long journey across the
cosmos.
It gave him time to complete his report. There was time to check out the spaceship's
systems too. The nearest advanced
habitation was Baluvi so the ship needed to be in good order.
It was a good feeling. To be returning to modern civilisation as he
knew it and with the report of a mammoth task done well. Had it really taken just one year? One year of this planet's time, anyway. He was not leaving without some misgivings.
Some planet this one. It could have a great future with the right
guidance. Strange how he had taken to
it. A year ago he had by no means
relished the prospect of conducting a planet-monitoring update task. However, he had been summoned by the Sidereal
Council no less, a command channelled down to him through the sub‑council
Intergalactic Integration Section. He
had not had a lot of choice. It had been
a command.
In any case, he had been one of the few
Palteans in Sector 9 at that time and possibly, the only one sufficiently
qualified and experienced to take on the task of providing a thorough ecological
assessment of an entire, inhabited planet.
He had been steeped in research in Trac 7
of the Galactic Sector 9 at the time he had received the order. His work had been part of a developmental
study on the Skorina people - their language and culture. Typically this was
one of his duties as a Galactic Environmental Councillor but it happened to be
one of his more favoured projects - participating in the ongoing studies of
anthropological development in various parts of the galaxy.
He was one of the many who played their
parts in the Universal Anthropological Development Project (UADP) launched by
the Sidereal Council some hundreds of years ago. It had been launched with high but achievable
goals: the hope and aim that one day there could be an acceptable code of
sociological standards for the whole of the galaxy and the basic requirement
was a common language throughout the 30 or so galactic Sectors.
It had been decided all those aeons ago
that the future of galactic development depended on a transgalactic
language. The present system of
intergalactic communication through the photon interphase had been in use for
many thousands of years but would be superseded in the fullness of time by
natural evolution. The UADP was an
integral and important part of accelerating that process.
The instructions had been clear, `Planet
25.9.3, orbiting star Ra, is due for its periodic sociological
assessment'. It was to be Saron's task
to do this and the time for it to be completed would be one planet orbit of
star Ra, that is, one year in the planet's own timescale. Saron had put his
work on Skorina into meson store for future retrieval, so that the work could
be continued when the new project for planet 25.9.3. was completed. He had contacted Paltea's central
computerised information store for known data on this 25.9.3 world, one of
which, he had to admit, was unknown to him.
Saron knew that he would have to seek his
information from there. He contacted
Hadron, a phason-powered brain, by keying in his personal communicator and
telecommunicating his request, but he knew that he would have to wait until he
returned to his personal galactic ship, Takara, before he could have access to
the data which he would need to assimilate.
Hadron was a thinking neural-networked hypercomputer. It was the ultimate source of wisdom for the
galactic masters the Sidereal Council as well as the database for all known
information on the entire galaxy.
He soon reached Takara and entering, made
for the communications room. There,
already on the consol was a visual display indicating that the data he had
requested was available. He clipped his
transfer discs to his head, fixing them just behind his ears and spoke to the
communicator. Saron knew that his request
had been automatically tested on Paltea for authenticity and accreditation and
that the data was now available to him assuming the voice recognition
interrogator would accept his voice validation.
"Saron, ready for data transfer."
The communicator compared his voice
characteristics with the analysis that had accompanied the data it had been
sent and responded silently. Within the space of several minutes it had
transfered the entire contents of Hadron's transmitted information file on
planet 25.9.3 into the depths of his brain.
Although instantly conveyed to Saron's
memory for storage, the information needed, as did all similarly transmitted
material, time. Time to be fully
absorbed by, what was after all, however advanced only the human organ of the
recipient. Saron relaxed and gave his brain, his intelligence, his intellect
and his sub‑conscious mind and brain cells, time to assimilate and
accommodate the brain cell changes that the mefluoric energy would bring about
before leaving each cell with a new packet of essential information.
The data criss‑crossed his brain's
neural network from cerebrum to cerebellum, from memory to intelligence,
intelligence to reason, back to memory for conclusion storage..... "planet
3, situated in Trac 9 of Sector 25 is known to the Sidereal Council. It has various names according to the
language of the tribe, the tribes making up a population of some 2 million.
Its source of prime energy is the star Ra. It has an orbit with a precise and constant
apogee and perigee related to Ra and other bodies within its galactic trac, the
orbiting time known as the year. The
companion planets orbiting Ra have differing apogees, perigees and orbit times
or years.
"In its year, planet 3 itself rotates
about its own axis 365.242 times, each rotation giving a period of light and a
period of darkness to most of its surface area.
The orbit is oval and eccentric and the planet's axis has a tilt of 23
degrees relative to its orbital path. These factors combined give it four
distinct climatic phases or seasons.
"The land masses, which had previously
been in a state of instability some 100 million years ago, are now in a stable
condition but the surface land mass migration has led to the evolution of
various diverse races of people. Distinct languages also have evolved with the
different races of people but the language base is adequate for the
photontranslator.
"Various culture forms and beliefs in
various mystic powers originating outside the planet itself have
materialised. The last ecological
assessment took place 500 years ago but arranged surveillance visits have taken
place from time to time in accordance with Hadron's instructions based on
programmed intelligence gathering. Life
form is physically similar to the prefered humanoid and intellectually similar
to the way Paltean culture was several million years ago. Civilisation rating is currently similar to
Telga, Poligny and Manno in Trac 9, Sarg and Garlin in Trac 8..." the data
went on for almost 50 planets in the galaxy and Saron's conscious concentration
wandered away from the activity within his brain which he let slip into the
subconscious. He began to formulate a
plan of approach to his new task, a task that was scheduled to last at least
one orbital period, a whole year.
"...... the planet's year comparison
with Paltea's is that one Paltean year is almost equivalent to two years of
planet 25.9.3. Close enough to use as a practical working yardstick. Life expectancy of the inhabitants, however,
is less than one tenth that of a Paltean at 70 planet years...... "
The command had been given one year
ago. Now his task, the initial contact
with Terrea, his investigative work and report were completed. Saron was more
than satisfied because of the way he had systematically dealt with the
project. He could recall having located
planet 25.9.3 from the galactic atlas and seen the visuals on his console. He had programmed Takara with the coordinates
and not long afterwards had followed a gluon‑powered intragalactic
transfer before having his first glimpse of a planet that had turned out to be
his home base for a whole Terrean year.
Saron spun round in his chair and spoke to
his voice‑sensitive control console.
"Prepare for transit to Paltea.
Retrograde navigational data planet 3 Trac 9, sector 25".
The control console instantly glowed pale
blue indicating its readiness for further instructions and that the verbal
instructions were inputted and the system primed.
"Proceed to Paltea" Saron commanded.
He turned towards the observation window of
his ship. Below, he saw the planet, one
for which he had begun to develop an unusual fondness, recede. At first the
ship accelerated slowly up to mass critical zero speed dictated by the human
body tolerance. Hitting negative photon
speed, almost in an instance, Terrea vanished as if it had never existed.
Takara was soon well into its transit
path, silently but powerfully cruising through the galaxy, taking its
navigational data from selected galactic bodies and stars, now heading for one
and then changing its direction to locate another. Skirting past planets here, an asteroid there
and avoiding cosmic dust and debris along the way, much time would pass before
it would arrive at Paltea, but Saron knew he could spend the time
usefully. He would have the opportunity
to recall and reflect on some of the details of his recent experiences on
25.9.3. and refresh his memory on most of the events that had taken place over
the last Terrean four seasons. He would
be asked on his arrival to give a full and systematic account of the past year
at his debriefing session with Salik, his line sub‑Sidereal. All the information was as a matter of
routine stored in a molecular positron capsule, but verbal interpretations of
accumulated data were always required as standard procedure.
He put his feet up on the console top as he
slowly shook his head. It now hardly
seemed like one year since that day he had requested Takara to enter an
observation proximity orbit and activate the light‑energy absorber at
level 3, to prevent the ship from being seen from the planet by its stellar
light reflection.
The first view he had had of the planet had
been quite impressive. The spherical
planet possessed an incredible natural beauty not often seen among the galactic
worlds, either the inhabited or the uninhabited, even by an experienced
galactic traveller like Saron. It had an
overall blue and white appearance with touches of orange haze picked out here
and there by its distant orange‑yellow star Ra. The white clouds, sprinkled with haze‑blue
grey, formed irregular designs over the planet's surface, almost imperceptibly
moving in everchanging patterns.
Having put his ship into a low orbit angled
to the planet's axis, so that successive orbits would enable him to scan
different swaths of the surface area, he could not help but admire how accurate
the scapecharts of 25.9.3., supplied in printout form teletransmitted from
Hadron, had been. He had activated his
biomacroscanner and studied the information.
It had indicated enormous variations in human and animal life. The humans were all similar in physical
stature and remarkably similar to Palteans but differed from each other in skin
colouring and, the indications were, in culture also. The degree of development of the various
groups varied widely and seemed to depend on the particular land mass on which
they were to be found. The long strip
which stretched from one of the planet's rotational axis points to the other
seemed to be populated with reddish‑brown skinned races with tribal
cultures and structured societies.
Across the blue ocean the main land mass had peoples of varying skin
colours from brown to yellow to white, with what appeared to be more advanced
cultures and ways of life. Another
continent appeared to be populated almost entirely by black skinned people, but
this continent appeared to be almost completely detached from other land
masses.
After many hours of stand-off remote
scanning, Saron had switched off his biomacroscanner and had considered his
position. As he had seen the task ahead
of him, it was basically of two parts; a visually recorded electro‑scan
of the planet, from various positional references, and personal observation and
fact gathering at ground level. For the
latter, he had known he would have to be programmed for the particular language
of the region and would have to absorb the analyzed data on habits and social
behaviour of the people amongst whom he would go. The rest would depend on his superior
intelligence and his collomatric energy controller which would enable him to
control his own immediate environment, if need be, and the behaviour of other
nearby persons if needed for defensive or survival purposes.
His leptoanalyser was activated and
directed towards the edge of the central land mass where the green forests
swept down to the azure‑blue sea.
Soon it gave a graphic display of the regional populace. People with slits for eyes, yellow skin, jet
black straight hair, and, on the males, long, thin, drooping hair which grew on
their upper lips and often, also from their chins.
Saron had looked at the faces knowing that
soon he would be subtly disguised to look like one of them. This method of getting to know a race of
people by a form of integration was not new to him. He had had to do the same thing on many other
planetary visits. It sometimes posed a
problem when the life form was very different from the humanoid form, but there
on planet 25.9.3. there were hardly any problems, if any at all. The zetalator
took care of the physical changes necessary so that he could mingle with the
people unhindered.
He smiled as he recalled preparing himself
for the zetalator treatment and for extravehicular involvement, clipping on his
communicator and strapping his biolite and a class 1 collomator, for which he
was classified as `entitled', to the belt around his waist. He had stepped into the zetalatoric booth
looking forward to his first visit to planet Terrea.
He could still remember that day almost one
year ago ..........
2
Caldorosh
the Galactic Sidereal Quantum sat at the end of the large Federation Council
chamber table. There was time yet before
he would be joined by the 30 other council members, the Sector Leaders, for
this yearly meeting which took place between the heads of the galactic sectors
who between them kept the galaxy in good order and organised its development.
Pilure the Deputy Quantum and Dqu and Maron, the two sub‑Deputy Quantums,
would be in attendance for this meeting also.
As well as being a Deputy Sidereal
Quantum, Pilure was also the Leader of Sector 3, one of the founder member
sectors when the Galactic Federation Council was formed many thousands of years
ago. Pilure had a long and faithful
service record as a member of the Federation Council and was being groomed to
succeed Caldorosh as the head of the galaxy.
He was to be the next Sidereal Quantum.
The daylight, warm in appearance only,
flooded the atmospherically-controlled room, filtering in through the optically
controlled translucent towering white glass walls of the chamber. From where he was sitting Caldorosh could
see, through the transparent zones of the walls, the breathtaking landscape of
Atraka the capital and one of the loveliest cities of the Federation Master
Planet Paltea. It rolled out before him
in a mixture of green, blue, brown and gold.
The beautiful environmental development of the area, with its perfect
blend of landscape and climate, served as an ideal example of the achievements
of the galactic environmentalists. And
as a model for many of the 200 or so environmentally controlled planet worlds
in the galaxy to follow.
Many of the remaining populated planets
had not yet reached the stage when environmental control was either feasible or
desirable. In time to come, they too
would have their environments and atmospheres controlled as they would their
energy utilisation, climates, population growth and cultural direction. This
was the way the galaxy was run for the benefit of the galaxy as a whole.
The report on planet 25.9.3 that had been
submitted by the Galactic Environmental Councillor Saron had been taken in by
Caldorosh with great interest. He had
mentally tuned in to the hadronispheric computer known universally as Hadron,
using thransfert.
The thransfert process, a way of
communicating by thought, was a common ability that most of the Federation
establishment personnel had. Controlled
by the user through his or her own personal thought code, one had to think
positively of the personal code to switch into the system. If the positive thought of the personal code
was not made, the thoughts of anyone with the power stayed private. They were
impenetrable by others although all those with this ability and in a state of
privacy would remain sensitive to the attempts by others to make thought‑contact,
by a development of what was once some crude extrasensory perception.
Caldorosh had used his thought transfer
ability to absorb the Hadron‑held report and assimilate its contents,
after which he was able to recall details of the report at will and think out
many of the implications of what he had received. He had also thought‑commanded Hadron to
produce hard copies of the report for use at this Council meeting.
He was intrigued by it all. The pattern of development on planet 25.9.3.
was almost a parallel of planet 8.11.5 some 1000 years ago. This, of course, had been pointed out to him
by Hadron, flagged within the related hard‑copy of the report presented
at his command. A report on the action
taken under the 8.11.5 project, which had a dedicated name of Onward, and the
rated level of success, was produced for Caldorosh to consult if he so
desired.
The
luminescent green panel inset in the table in front of Caldorosh pulsated in
light intensity. Although deep in
thought, he looked up, sensing that someone was trying to contact him by
thransfertance. He placed his hand on
the pulsating panel and, simultaneously, thought his personal, general entry,
thought‑code number.
"Hello, Caldorosh. You seemed to be miles away" came the
message. Caldorosh recognised the `voice' of his correspondent which was always
received by the receptor of the thoughts in exactly the same tone, resonance
and timbre as if the sender were in actual voice contact. It was Pilure.
"Greetings, Pilure" thought
Caldorosh as his eyes alighted on Pilure sitting at the far end of the huge
table.
As Caldorosh thought‑greeted Pilure
he raised his hand in a gentle gesture and Pilure did likewise in mutual
acknowledgment. They stayed in thought‑contact
and exchanged views on a number of items relevant to the Federation business in
a general sense and on Sector 3 in particular, taking advantage of the quiet
opportunity before too many council members arrived. They also slipped easily into a generalised
exchange of views for a short time.
Soon however the seats around the table
were filled by Council members and their aides, some members placing their
hands on their Hadron panels as soon as they arrived in order to greet
Caldorosh, Pilure and other fellow‑members. Words were unnecessary and none was spoken at
this stage but all were aware of the pleasant interchange of greetings and many
heads were nodded to old friends of many years standing and hands were raised
in gentle salutes of acknowledgement to each other.
A short while after all the council
chamber seats were filled Caldorosh placed his hand on his Hadron panel and
formally welcomed everyone on common thransfertance. Remaining in thransfert mode, he outlined in
general terms the business for this session, which was to last for two, or
maybe three, days, but more if more were needed. There were three planetary environmental
modification projects, ten interplanetary disputes with which to make some
headway, if not settle since none was of a particularly serious nature, one
planetary destruction proposal caused by the planet's redundancy and two
planets which were due for molecular impregnation with a view to its leading
to, eventually, some form of life form materialisation and development into
higher animal life forms in the coming millennia.
Although there was a lot on the agenda,
much of the session was routine and the items tended to end in formal
agreement. There never was much
dissention since all the members were normally fully briefed on the session's
business well before the meeting itself, through the galactic communications
network and Hadron. This strategy meant
that well before the actual meeting, ideas and viewpoints on the specific
session's business had already been interchanged across the cosmos with a
consensus already reached for most, if not all, of the business.
And this was how the business was dealt
with throughout the first two days and into the third when the prospect of
dealing with planet 25.9.3 came up.
As was also normal at these, and many
similar, meetings, thransfertance was not used after the preliminary details
were outlined and, at this meeting, the changeover to verbal communication had
taken place after the opening address by Caldorosh in which he had outlined the
agenda. Verbal communication did not
give rise to any problems since the multiple function panels in front of each
seated person served to carry the voices of the individual speakers to every
other member. The voice of whoever spoke
was carried to every listener perfectly in his or her language and at the level
and speed of the listener's choice.
Caldorosh opened the discussion on the
item of planetary sociological modification deemed necessary by Hadron for
planet 25.9.3.
"Fellow Councillors" he said
drawing in their attention, "we come now to the problem of planet 25.9.3
which is in your sector, Metron".
He nodded in the direction of the
handsome, fair‑haired man who sat in the third seat along on the left of
the table. Metron lifted his eyebrows in an acknowledgement of Caldorosh's
remark.
"All the factors relating to this case
indicate to Hadron the necessity of adopting a policy similar to that used for
planet 8.11.5, which became universally known as Nran." Caldorosh
continued. "To refresh your
memories on that project, we set on the planet an implant in a form identical to
that of a native Nranian programmed for maximum anthropological and theological
effect." He paused. "The
implant was engineered to fit the form of the Nranians' long‑awaited
physical manifestation of their own theological beliefs - in other words, what were
and are known as gods in primitive societies.
This implant, with its attendant monitoring, controlled the course of
Nranian history for 1000 zurns. There is
need now to similarly influence the course of development on planet
25.9.3."
Caldorosh waited for a few long seconds
before looking towards Metron.
"Your views are awaited with
anticipation, Metron. We already have
your general strategy on Hadron printout, but we would like to hear about the
tactical details which, I understand, have been formulated at a late
stage."
Metron allowed a gentle smile to appear on
his lips as he looked towards Caldorosh who had been very diplomatic in his
last remark and it remained there as he looked around at the members seated
around the table. He knew all of them to
a greater or lesser degree, having served on the Council for many, many zurns.
"We have come a long way since the
event on planet 8.11.5" Metron opened his address in an unhurried manner
and continued in the same vein. "And we have taken the success that was
achieved there as a model for the modified versions used for other
planets. However, planet 25.9.3. is
inhabited by a race of beings similar to ourselves and although the
civilisation is many, many thousands of zurns behind us in terms of scientific
and sociological development, the people of the planet are undoubtedly of a
high primitive intelligence rating. I
have studied the report of GEC Saron, the Galactic Environmental Councillor responsible
for the latest periodic study of the planet and discussed with him his in situ
experiences at some length.” Metron
paused to take a sip of water before continuing. "It is my considered opinion that any influence
we seek to impose on this planet, as a result of Hadron's directive, will have
to be far more subtle and far more sophisticated in its application than any we
have imposed on any planet hitherto."
Metron's fellow council members looked at
him with interest. The sessions,
although thought by everyone to be essential for the well‑being of the
galaxy, could be very routine and it had to be admitted, often somewhat dull
and tedious. Anything out of the
ordinary run of things was welcomed by most of the members. The opening of Metron's address looked
promising and heads tilted, eyes were raised and, in many subtle ways, they
moved, shuffled and changed their sitting postures to give more attention to
what they anticipated Metron was going to say... something interesting?
"May I be allowed to digress into the
realms of technical and historical detail for a few moments" Metron requested knowing full well that no
one was likely to object. "Planet
25.9.3. has been observed by the Department of Planetary Development for many
galactic orbits. The planet is some 500
million of its own time years old and rotates about its energy source twice in
a Paltean year. The planet has an
elliptical orbit and an axial tilt of 23 degrees to its orbital path and this
combination gives its temperate regions four distinct seasons with temperature
variations from extremely cold to extremely hot, both extremes being such that
in certain areas of the planet human life cannot survive."
The members around the table were enjoying
the discourse of Metron who went on. "These climatic variations over the
planet have caused the indigenous inhabitants to become diverse in skin colour,
degree of sociological development, behavioral patterns and so on." He
again took a sip of water.
"What is not well known, since it is
so far back in our galactic history, is that the planet was originally chosen
as one of our life form development areas.
The planet, some 3 million Paltean zurns ago, or 6 million of its own
time years, was implanted with primitive forms of human life and some thousands
of years before that implanted with many and various animal life forms from
time to time, for compatibility experimentation. The aims were then and still are today to see
how specific types of human and animal life forms can coexist, survive, develop
and advance in, and the humans eventually migrate from, a resourceful but
finite environment. Planet 25.9.3. is of
course but one of many such experiments going on today in our galaxy, albeit
with different permutations of animal and plant species, eh," he added
quietly, "as I'm sure you all know."
There was no doubt that Metron's words
surprised quite a few, although in most cases only mildly, since many of the
council members were well aware of the galactic life development projects.and
experiments. They considered them as a
natural and normal part of galactic progress but did not normally take any more
than a passing interest.
"Many parts of 25.9.3." Metron
went on, "are today populated by particularly gregarious races, one of
which has long held the belief much like the Nranians that a manifestation will
one day take place. This race is bound
by great religious faith and I would judge this to be the result of the work of
Griss some 500 years ago. The people
await the manifestation that they believe will come in the form of a God‑like
man, to free them from the oppression they have suffered for hundreds of years
in one form or another and I, my fellow councillors, propose to give them their
man-God or heavenly messenger."
Metron paused to let the full meaning of
what he had just said become apparent to all those around the table, many of
whom nodded their heads and `mm‑mm‑ed' noises of agreement to those
sitting adjacent.
"The subtlety of my approach"
Metron continued, "is that the man‑God, or to use the term the
inhabitants themselves use, Messiah, will be one of the planet's own, natural‑born,
inhabitants, but" he said, pausing
once again to emphasise his next sentence, "the very seed from which"
he repeated for extra emphasis "the natural-born inhabitant will grow,
will be biogenetically engineered here on Paltea and transferred to one of the
planet's child bearers by sicron‑coding and mu‑activation."
Everyone paid attention as Metron now
added "The seed will have a normal gestation period for the humans of that
planet while the male child, for male it has to be, will have a normal birth
and upbringing. Thus the child will
become a man designed, and from time to time tutored, by us, but importantly, reared
by its own people."
One could see by the activity of some of
Metron's fellow council members that they had questions on their minds and they
hurriedly scribbled notes. Some
physically wrote on the panel in front of them, some put their thoughts
verbally into the recall facility also incorporated in their panels. The questions, however, would have to wait
until the appropriate and allotted time.
Metron had not yet finished and went on
explaining his plan. "He" he
stressed, "will have powers that, although fairly rudimentary by our
standards, will seem miraculous to his contemporaries. And" he added, rising to the sense of
drama his speech seemed to be creating, "there is more. Two other factors will play important parts
in my project: the birth itself will attract great attention; and the child
will be made aware of his special role in the planet's development, little by
little, as and when the times are right."
And to bring my address to a close"
he added, "I would like to mention one or two small details." He paused.
"It has not been decided what powers should be given to him but I
will decide on this issue after further talks with GEC Saron, and I am calling
this project by the name SEK. If any of
my honourable fellow councillors wish to monitor it as it approaches its
initiation, or at any other stage, it will be available from Hadron under its
designated name. Needless to say perhaps
but I would welcome anyone's call for discussion, or anyone's offer of advice,
particularly from more learned and experienced members, on the implementation
of the concept or indeed any other aspect of it."
Metron finished his address and looked
unhurriedly to the left and then to the right, looking briefly at every fellow
member around the table in turn. When he
had visually toured the table he gave a slight nod of his head in the direction
of Caldorosh, indicating that he had terminated his presentation.
There was no immediate response to
Metron's invitation. A thoughtful
silence filled the room. Then, a low
murmur gradually took the place of the silence that had extended itself beyond
the time that Metron had taken to make his presentation, as members spoke to
each other in informal discussion. There
appeared to be a general atmosphere of approval prevailing.
The murmur was interrupted by Dqu. "I assume Metron" he asked in a
friendly manner, "that you have studied in‑depth the full post‑implantation
history of planet 8.11.5." He put
his question so that the matter would be entered on record and because he knew
the answer would allay some of the fears that fellow members may have.
"In‑depth might be overstating
it Dqu" Metron replied, "but I
had an intelligence status precis from Darin of the full authorised
report."
"And what would you say were the
major problems of that project?" Dqu asked.
"As I see it" Metron replied,
"the main problems arose from the interchange between implant, which we
designed, and the indigenous Nranians.
It was too difficult to predict, even for Hadron, the outcome of the complex
interfacing of our version of a Nranian and the planet dwellers
themselves. Not a rare occurrence when
it comes to the complexities of the human mind.
It was this that led to a great deal of monitoring and modification of
the project."
Again there was a silence so Metron went
on. "I may add that a lot has been learnt from the exercise and,
undoubtedly indicate the areas from which most of the difficulties of project
Sek could arise."
Maron then posed a question to
Metron. "Can you reveal at this
stage any particularly important steps you may, or even will, take
Metron?"
"The most important step for me to
take, I think" Metron replied, "is to have GEC Saron supervise the
project as my personal emissary and report direct to me."
One of the Sector Leaders at the far end
of the table put a question. "Can
you briefly outline how you see this as giving the planet some direction,
Metron?" he asked.
"Indeed, indeed" Metron
replied. "The man will become, as I
said, the people's Messiah. He will
teach his fellow men the importance of high moral standards in everyday
life. It is as much as we can hope to
achieve if you bear in mind that we are dealing with the delicate fabric of
complex human behaviour."
The chamber lapsed into silence once more
as the members mentally chewed over the details they had been given. So far all had gone well for Metron. It was quite normal to have unanimous
agreement on all Federation Council decisions.
The plan Metron was putting forward was, however, a major undertaking
even at galactic level and it would have been a considerable achievement to
have put forward such a plan without some element of dissention. There was some feeling in the air that
someone would surely dissent but as the moments passed the anticipation of
dissent from anyone began to subside.
The members were mildly surprised but their surprise was soon dispelled
as dissent did arrive. It came from Darak
the Sector Leader of Sector 9.
Darak was from the planet of Galan, situated
in Trac 11 of his sector. He was a tall
well‑built man with strong, dark features, very typical of
Galanites. Large thick eyebrows topped
his piercing black eyes while his head was covered with black wavy and
glistening hair. Yet his looks were not
as menacing as his description might suggest.
His mouth, with its well formed lips and the suggestion of a smile,
softened his otherwise overpowering appearance.
"You will know, fellow
councillors" Darak opened his address as he rose to his feet, "that I
have always been opposed to implantation.
It is a long and risky business, and the outcome of the influence it has
is never accurately predictable." He paused to look around the chamber at
many of his contemporaries.
"I will admit that Metron's plan is
one of some considerable strategic forethought and will, undoubtedly, use the
most modern biological synthesising techniques we have at our considerable
disposal. He will, also undoubtedly,
produce a man who will effect the course of, what is it, planet 25.9.3., or
whatever it is called." he said, showing a slight degree of irritation at
having to refer to the planet by its astronomically coded galactic location.
"It is officially called Terrea but
by many versions of that name by its inhabitants" Metron voluntarily
interjected, "in a number of languages."
"Many languages?" Darak
responded rather sharply. "Are
there many sub-planetary languages spoken on this single planet?"
"Many tongues" Metron
replied. "The planet is populated
by many races of people, each group small in number but with its own
distinctive language and in many cases distinctive appearance."
"A multi‑racial planetary mix?
That is all the more reason why I should cast doubt on the wisdom of proceeding
with project Sek" Darak came back, picking up where he had left off on
showing his irritation with the planet's numerical coding.
"I am, like many Galenite leaders
before me, for allowing inhabited planets to evolve to evolutionary stage 7
entirely unaided once an indigenous order of higher life form has been
established. In 1000 zurns, or 2000 of
the planet's own time years as predicted by Hadron, the population there will
be probing deep into their own sector of our galaxy. Would it not be more prudent that the planet
is contacted, on a limited basis, at that time and, then, gradually introduced
into the galactic brotherhood, to its numerous and various life forms and,
eventually, to the Galactic Code?"
He paused to look around at his colleagues who listened intently,
leaving the question hanging in the air.
Not waiting for an answer he went on.
"Until then I'm for leaving the
people of that planet alone for its own people to decide their own
evolution."
Caldorosh thought that an important point
was being overlooked.
"But Hadron's predictions are based
on the influence of an implant, Darak.
Are you not overlooking the fact that Hadron suggests we influence the
planet and bases its assumptions of the planet's future progress on our ability
to do so?"
"That may be so" Darak replied,
"but we must be cautious of steering the life of this or that planet in a
particular direction. The danger is that
this influence of ours could lead to all life forms becoming too similar or, as
the belief of the Galanites has been for 10 000 zurns, we may foster a race
that will rapidly develop its intelligence, resources and technology so that it
will be beyond our further influence and control. It may become a hostile planet" he
paused, the emotion he was feeling was obvious as he continued in a trembling
voice, "disrupting the harmony, not only of its own galactic sector, but
of its neighbouring sectors also."
As he finished his address, Darak waited
to give others a chance to comment. His
feelings were well understood by the members.
They knew of the historical significance of Darak's remarks. The Galanites had once lived on Chapra, which
had been on the far side of Sector 25, and had had their planet totally
destroyed by an alien race of Ferugs, a mutated race that had evolved following
an early experimental implantation of genetically engineered life forms on
Ferug. Ferug was one of the inhabited
planets of Sector 17, the neighbouring sector of Sector 25. The Galanites, or Chaprans as they were,
survived only by a massive migration to the planet Galan from where they were
able to do nothing more than witness the total destruction of their beloved
planet Chapra. The fact that planet
25.9.3. was in the galactic sector on the other side of Darak's sector did
nothing to ease his mind.
Dqu looked at Caldorosh and asked "If
I may speak....... ?" in a way which was more out of courtesy than seeking
formal permission.
Caldorosh gave an almost imperceptible nod
in Dqu's direction and Dqu spoke.
"We are all sympathetic to your
feelings, Darak. Hardly anyone present
is unaware of the suffering of your ancestors and how vital to your people's
history that event is. We all respect
that. Yet Hadron has indicated a course
of action we must follow and we must ask ourselves if it is wise to question
its directive."
Nodding heads around the table indicated
that many were agreeing with Dqu's line of approach.
"May I suggest, therefore, that we
accept the decision and wisdom of Hadron, adding," he repeated the word
for emphasis, "adding a proviso that project Sek is monitored and reported
on periodically and will be allowed to continue from any monitored point only
if unanimous, I repeat unanimous, agreement is reached on its continuing at our
Federal Council meetings."
It was obvious from the expressions on the
faces of the councillors that the suggestion of Dqu met with general
approval. It seemed to most to be a
rational way out of an otherwise delicate predicament. This appeared even to appeal to Darak as the
look in his eyes somehow softened, although when he spoke his voice had lost
nothing of its strength and emphasis.
"If no one objects to Metron's
proposal with Dqu's, shall I say intelligent suggestion of adding a
proviso" he said, "I will not dissent either."
It was left to Caldorosh, to whom the
members now turned their attention, to formally record the assent of the
Council to Metron's proposal. "Let
project Sek proceed" he said in a
formal manner adding "let us hear of its progress as often as any council
member requests it and let us reserve and guard the right of Darak, or any
other Sector Leader, to call for a deep and detailed discussion, for a review
if necessary, of the project whenever he or she so desires."
Metron lowered his eyes to the table in
front of him. His feelings were a little
mixed now. Up until this time he had
been somewhat anxious to be able to present his proposal to the full
council. He had come to the meeting
wondering if all his work would be for nothing, or if there would be serious
objections on grounds which he had overlooked.
Those had been his thoughts up until the time that he had stood up to
speak. Immediately afterwards he had
felt elated at having his plans accepted but now, to his feelings of anti‑climax
at having successfully put his plans to the council were added the feeling that
another, complicated, factor would have to taken into consideration.
`As if' he thought, `the project is not
sufficiently challenging as it is.'
However, Metron understood fully the
concern of Darak, knowing more than most the history of the Galanites, having
studied astropology at the
He raised his eyes and looked across the
table at Darak. The two men exchanged
friendly smiles and noddings of the head, each recognising, acknowledging and
respecting the responsibilities - and the sincerity - of the other.
3
The
sun had not quite fully risen over the distant dark brown hills to the east
although the early morning mist picked out a green mosaic patchwork as its rays
stole through in places to the west. The
overnight coolness still dominated the morning as Jal looked out across the part
of the town he could see from his home.
He knew that soon the breeze would start its gentle caress, increasing
its warmth and intensity. The
temperature would reach its mid‑day peak before gradually decreasing as
the day wore on. "Ah well," he
thought philosophically as he looked up at and around the brightening sky,
"it's only Spring." To him it
meant that even the afternoon temperatures would not be unbearable.
Jal was happy and pleased with life in
general with himself and this morning, even with the coolness and promised
moderate temperature of the day. He was
a contented man.
He strolled along the street, between the
houses made of sun‑dried mud-and-sand bricks, up the hill towards the
village square. He was on his way to do
some repair work at the bakers shop. He
and his father were carpenters and both liked the work. It required creative
skills and brought them into contact with many other people. The bakery job would last between two and
three days so there was no desperate hurry to get there. In any case his bag of tools was not
light. His chosen leisurely pace suited
his relaxed mood and the absence of urgency of the job ahead.
Up ahead the town square with its deep
well and water‑filled surround in the centre was already the hub of
bustling activity with people milling around.
It was by no means crowded, but there were enough people to give the
place an air of commercial preparation.
Some men pushed loaded handcarts, women carried water pitchers and
bundles of washing and stallholders were setting up their tables. The early birds were putting the finishing
touches to their displays. No one rushed
about, most were just purposefully going about their business of setting up the
marketplace as they did three times each week.
By the time Jal reached the square itself
he could see across the whole area. Over
to the right he could see Islac and a wave from Jal brought a `Good morning'
shout and a wave in response. Others he
recognised and some hand waving was exchanged as greetings. Over on the left, Jal thought he heard
another voice, this time a resonant baritone voice, say `Good morning.' Jal did not know if the greeting was intended
for him and out of curiosity turned around to see who had spoken.
He had not recognised the voice yet sensed
it was aimed at him as it was so close.
He saw a stranger who was, he guessed, in his late thirties, early
forties, some six feet tall and very good looking. His fair hair was kept in place by his halan
band and a long smartly cut white gahj hung down to just below his knees. Around his waist was a thin gilded rope. The man was smiling at a Jal, who wore an
expression of curious puzzlement.
Although he did not recognise the man, Jal was unsure of himself because
he thought he should have. It was as
though he had seen the face before but the where and when escaped him.
"Good morning" the man repeated
in a friendly voice and directly at Jal so that Jal would have no doubt as to
whom he was directing his address. He
added a reassuring "my name is Saron." He went on "I see you are
puzzled as to who I am and why I should greet you."
"I, eh, yes I am" Jal replied uneasily "although" he
paused, "I, I have a feeling that I have seen you before."
"You have" said Saron. "It was in Delrin - do you remember
Delrin? You were much younger then than
you are now." He paused. Jal was silent. There was no need to hurry this meeting. "I spoke to you outside the temple and
encouraged you to go in."
"Yes....... I..think I remember
now" said Jal as the puzzled expression evaporated. "So that was you. I don't remember all
that happened" he went on thoughtfully, "but I do remember now, oh
yes, landing in trouble with my parents.
They had to come back to Delrin to find me when they realised I was not
just following behind. Oh yes, I really
did get into trouble that day."
"I am sorry to hear that" Saron replied, adding, with a slight chuckle
in his voice, "I hope the visit to the temple was more fulfilling than the
punishment was demoralising."
"Well...... I suppose it was in some
ways." Jal responded, trying hard to think back to that day so many years
ago in his young life.
"Well, I had a good reason for
persuading you to go into the temple" Saron said. "Yes, a good reason
for that just as I have a good reason for being here this morning to meet
you" He paused to carefully form
what he next had to say.
Jal had a chance to allay his curiosity
"You came here to meet me this morning?" he asked, stressing the
`here' and `me'.
"Yes, to meet you" Saron replied
and added his question "Tell me, have you ever wondered why you have such
a wide knowledge of your religion? How
you so easily understand the ways of God and the teachings of the Prols?"
"Wondered? No, not really. Quite honestly, it has not
crossed my mind. Have I any more
knowledge than anyone else of my age?"
"That you undoubtedly have."
Although Jal had only just met the
stranger and was still in a puzzled state of mind, he found it easy to engage
in conversation with him
"I don't know about that" he responded thoughfully. "When I was
young I did think of becoming a religious cleric of some kind but, as it turned
out, I became more and more involved in my father's work and became a
carpenter. I still enjoy a relationship
with God just as I love, well, carpentry.
I think that respecting our God and honouring the laws and customs of
our people is the only way to achieve happiness and fulfilment."
"I am impressed by the way you have
expressed yourself" remarked Saron.
"You show a maturity well above your years. But then that does not surprise me knowing
you as I do."
"I don't understand......." Jal
interjected with puzzlement in his voice.
"Forgive me" Saron interrupted,
realising that what he had said might seem peculiarly strange and disrupt the
relationship he was trying to promote with Jal.
By interrupting he had also avoided giving Jal the chance of asking a
direct question about his knowledge of him that he did not want to have to
answer at this stage. Saron knew that
his whole approach to Jal would have to be tactful, gentle and built up over a
period of time. He did not want to put
his plans in jeopardy. "I didn't
want to sound mysterious" he added.
Jal looked slightly confused and
embarrassed and mentioned that it was about time he got to his place of work
and got on with his job.
"Would you mind if I walked along
with you?" Saron asked. Without
waiting for Jal's reply, he turned and walked in the direction in which Jal had
been going when they had met.
"My meeting with you this morning was
no accident" Saron opened after some minutes of silence. "I think the
time is right for you to be made aware that you are no ordinary person." He held up his hand to check any response
from Jal so that he could go on with his revelation. "You are one chosen to play a special
part in the lives of many others........ "
"What are you talking... I mean, what
do you mean by that..." Jal forced his way into Saron's speech.......
"chosen by whom, and for what?"
Saron did not respond hastily. He knew that it was too early in the scheme
of things, too early in Jal's own life to give a direct answer to that
question. He avoided it by asking his
own. "Let me ask you if you know
anything about the events which took place when you were born, from your
parents, I mean. Has your father ever
mentioned anything to you?" he questioned, looking intently at Jal for his
reply.
"Well, yes", Jal reflected out
loud, "but I've not paid much attention to the stories. Neither my father nor mother have appeared to
want to talk about the event very seriously to me and I have not given much
importance to the, well, anecdotes as I have heard them. I've not thought the details very special but
just the natural recollections of parents about the birthdays and anniversaries
of their children. It's normal."
"Normal? Well yes, I suppose it
is" Saron replied. "And some
of the events at your birth were as normal as any but, as you will learn, many
of the events were created by, well, shall we say, powers you could not
possibly understand at this point in time." Again, Saron held up his hand to stay Jal from
any hasty remark. "In good time you
will be told everything. It will all be
explained to you."
"It all sounds so mysterious."
Jal responded with puzzlement in his voice.
"Again, I can only ask the questions. By whom and when?"
"I beg you to forgive me for not
enlightening you further at this point." Saron replied, adding "as I've already intimated, you have a
special destiny. It will influence the
future of all the people of Ilaama, the people of this part of the world and
the people of many other parts of the world in the fullness of time. How that will come about, and why, will be
made known to you later in your life. We
have much time. All I ask is that you go
on learning about your," he stumbled and corrected himself quickly,
"our god. Study that which is
written, learn it well and give it as much analytical thought as possible. All these things will form the essential
background, as important a part of your destiny as you are to form an important
part in the destiny of others."
Jal was unable to say anything and was not
sure how to react. Did he believe
Saron? He did not know for sure and
yet...... he did not feel special in any way although it was true he did have a
natural aptitude for learning and for eloquence, but this seemed no more than
the good fortune that others had in the way of athleticism or rich
parents. He had, naturally, been proud
of his ability to learn, of his possessing a good brain. But it was just good fortune surely? He certainly hadn't thought of it in any
other way before.
"No," Saron said, breaking the
silence and into Jal's own thoughts, "it is more than good fortune."
Jal took in a short, sharp, breath and
looked at Saron "How could you... did you know what I was
thinking?" he asked and added, as
if answering his own question, "How did you do that?"
Again Saron raised his hands in a
defensive motion. "All in good
time" he replied as calmly and as matter‑of‑factly as he
could. He realised that revealing his knowledge of Jal's thoughts might upset
the delicate relationship that he knew was essential to build up between
himself and Jal, who had been brought up in a Terrean, not a Paltean,
environment. He of course knew what had
happened. He had caught a fragment of
Jal's thoughts that Jal had inadvertently transmitted. After all, Jal's mind was Paltean by design
and could be taught to transmit thought at will and in a controlled way, but
there was no doubt in Saron's mind that Jal had not been aware that he was
transmitting his thought processes nor would he have had any way of controlling
it even if he had.
Yet Saron had quite clearly received Jal's
thoughts which slightly disturbed Saron.
It was reassuring to know that Jal's mind was capable of transmitting
thought and was definitely Paltean and not Terrean, but he asked himself why
had thought transmission occurred at all?
Was there some flaw in the genetic make‑up of Jal? Saron had no way of knowing. He put it out of
his mind.
Jal could not help feeling that he was in
the presence of someone extraordinary.
An intellectual. Someone with
what? Magical, supernatural powers? It was a strange feeling, yet he had no fear
of Saron. Saron appeared to know him although Jal had met him only once
before. He was friendly, charming and
polite, yet with an air of authority, of maturity and wisdom. 'Where could he have come from...... ?' Jal thought.
"...... like you to go on
learning........" Jal's thoughts were interrupted as he realised Saron was
talking to him. "........ and think a great deal about the rights and the
wrongs of the teachings of the Prols. I will see you again when you are
older. Then I will reveal more of your
destiny and that of the others.
"When I am older?" echoed Jal,
his intonation questioning, his voice somewhat quieter than usual.
"When you are older," repeated
Saron with just enough firmness in his voice to indicate to Jal that he would
say no more. "Until we meet again,
then." Saron said.
"Yes until, uh, yes, until we meet
again" Jal said, still a little bewildered by all that had taken place
during the past half hour, literally out of the blue.
Saron bade farewell then turned towards
the east. Jal stood where he was, his
head buzzing with a confusion of questions.
He watched Saron slowly disappearing from view until he reached a side
street where he appeared to turn left.
But as Jal watched, Saron suddenly vanished from view as though he had
evaporated. `Perhaps a trick of the
light' Jal thought, since he had been facing directly towards the sun as he had
watched Saron walk away. He remained
mystified, puzzled, and slightly confused.
There was no doubt that Saron had made a
deep impression upon Jal. His bearing,
his manner, his style of dress had all combined to have that effect. In addition his apparent personal knowledge
about Jal left the feeling that Saron knew a lot about him, more than he had
revealed. What he had said was
thought-provoking, but Jal did not doubt that what Saron had said about him and
about his destiny had a ring of possibility about it. He didn't know why. It stayed in his thoughts even though he
tried desperately hard to put it out of his mind. Jal was not to know then that it would occupy
his mind for some time to come.
Having started out happily and jauntily
for work that morning, he had now lost his natural sparkle and felt as though
he had lost his appetite, whereas, just before the encounter, he had been
having his usual pangs of morning hunger that he normally satisfied with a
scone or two from his food bag. He felt
the effects of the encounter as though he had received some bad news yet, he
did not rationally think that what Saron had told him was bad. Far from it, it was something that should
have caused him some excitement. The
excitement that any mystery might engender.
Nevertheless he was, much to his annoyance, inexplicably disturbed.
Arriving at the corner of
By early evening Jal was feeling his usual
self. The job of repairing the baker's
window was going well and would occupy his time for today and for tomorrow, but
would probably be finished by then. Jal
had returned home and sat with his mother, father and brother at the table,
having just finished a good supper. As
he and his father later tidied up the small room which served as the workshop
he decided it was as good a time as any to raise with his father the subject of
his birth, the events which were now vague but which he had been trying to
recollect in his mind during the day.
"Dad" he opened, "do you
remember telling me about the things which happened when I was born?"
"Yes" Jaml responded with a
slight hint of curiosity in his voice.
"Do you, could you, eh, tell me again
about those things, now that I am well, older?" he asked. "Would you mind?"
Jal's father unhurriedly put down the plane he
was holding. "No, son, I don't
mind" he said. "We've just
about finished here so I'll put away these few things and then we'll have the
rest of the evening to ourselves. Pass
me that saw there."
Jaml continued to tidy up and was soon
finished. Seeing that Jal had finished
also he beckoned to him with a raise of his eyebrows and a nod in the direction
of the small rear courtyard. As they
left the workshop his father placed his arm around Jal's shoulders.
They went to the back of the house and sat
in a small area that was closed in on three sides. It was open to the sky and had a view out of
the open side across the Agden valley.
Jal's father had fitted the alcove with wooden seats on which his mother
had placed some cloth and skins. His
father made himself comfortable and seeing that Jal had done the same he began
to relate the events that had happened some eighteen years ago.
"The story really starts here in Tone
before you were born" he opened.
"I was working in my workshop.
Not here but in our old home which, at that time, was my father's house,
completing a ploughshare frame for Saer I was. I was engrossed in my work,
concentrating as you know I do, when I became aware of a man standing just
inside the doorway.
I hadn't noticed him coming in and I
probably looked surprised when I realised he was there, even, perhaps, a little
startled. He spoke to me saying `I'm
sorry to have alarmed you. I have some news for you.' When I got my breath back
naturally, I asked `For me?, From whom?'