Stone and the Ravens (Guardian Stone Book 3)

by Don Koch

Folis then appeared in the core apartment and waited.

  Hank chuckled and said, "Barana, bring him on board."

  When Folis was standing before them, Hank continued, "It is an interesting experience to have our own method used on us instead of us using it on someone else. The table has turned, so to speak. It appears you are of the Rota species but not of the subspecies with whom we have had recent dealings. Welcome to Station One, Barana. May I assume that what we have just witnessed is your doing?"

  "You are just as astute as we have observed and I am pleased that you see some humor in the situation. We are indeed of the Rota primary species and the event you witnessed was our doing. It was a long overdue resolution to a problem that, I am sad to say, we are responsible for having initiated. Please understand that we mean you no harm, and in fact, good will. May I be seated, the explanation is lengthy?"

  "Please forgive my manners, of course, please be seated. May I offer you some refreshments."

  "I have really wanted to try your Ginger Ale. I understand that the drink is compatible with my metabolism and I also hear your chocolate chip cookies are a delight."

  "That tells me you have been observing us for a while, probably for a long while."

  "That is true. Does it bother you?"

  "Actually, it does not. My senses tell me you have told us no untruth, so now I am more curious than anything else. Would you mind if I invited Queen Firs to sit in with us. She has been more affected by the Rota subspecies than anyone else on board. I think she should hear that which you would tell us."

  "I agree, she should be here."

  "Barana would you please extend an invitation to Queen Firs and let her know what this about."

 

  Hank made the introduction and indicated that they were ready to hear what Folis wished to tell them.

  "First, I wish to apologize to Queen Firs for all the grief that the Rota subspecies has caused. About 7,000 years ago some of my ancestors became actively interested in genetic engineering. They felt that certain manipulations of our gene structure would result in enhancements to our mental and physical capabilities. Quite a number of our people were opposed to this kind of research and were fearful that the intended results were only a minor possibility. At the time, our Supreme Council nevertheless approved the research and after many years of experimentation a product was produced. The developers without supplemental authorization proceeded to apply the results to volunteers at an isolated location. This was not discovered until many years later when the offspring of the test subjects started to appear in our population."

  "About 90% of the offspring actually had achieved the desired result and the result was a permanent change that bred true. So my group is actually subspecies A. We are uniformly telepathic and generally pacifistic. We experienced amazing leaps in intellect and we were able to channel it positively. The problem was that the other 10% had an unanticipated result. That 10% was what we call subspecies B. Their appearance was substantially different than the general population and so was their mental capacity. None of them were telepathic. They looked like throwbacks to our pre-civilization ancestors. I think the phrase that humans would use for a similar result would be 'cavemen'."

  "Subspecies B tended to gravitate to each other and reproduced at a prodigious rate. They too bred true. The one characteristic that was most alarming was their absolute absence of any kind of moral compass. They could not differentiate between right and wrong and did not care. The only thing they were interested in was self gratification and they did not care what happened to anyone else."

  "About that time we became very interested in space travel and the potentials existing there. Over a period of time, we built five ships on the order of your stations. These ships were very large, about 230 miles in length and 55 miles across with a capacity of about 400 million persons each. Like your Stations, our vessels were fully self-sustaining. They were built in a neighboring system, so subspecies B was not aware of their existence and that was to prove fortuitous. The major difference between your Stations and our ships was that we had no military capability. We were faster than anything else we could find within 100,000 light years. In many respects we are like your Antoran humans. While we could pull the trigger, the notion was abhorrent to us. "

  "We then made a horrible mistake. Subspecies B became increasingly problematic. Their trepidations on subspecies A became a real problem, so our Supreme Council elected to exile the lot of them. They were rounded up and placed in compounds and ships were built to transport them elsewhere. Nine of the ships were stasis ships that were carrying Rotans and their supplies. The tenth doubled as the control ship and also had about 100 Rotans awake. A vacant system was selected about 360 light years from Juxet, the ships were loaded and dispatched to that system. The navigation systems on the ships were all linked so that all ships would stay together to their destination. Unfortunately, the captain of the control ship figured out how to override the programmed destination and stopped the ships in interstellar space about 145 light years from Juxet. They stopped on a trade route between Peck and Trask. There they posed as a disabled convoy. A Peck crew, delivering a very large military ship to the Trask System, stopped to offer assistance and the Rota B's captured the ship and its arms. They returned to Peck and captured the planet."

  "Unbeknownst to the Rota B's, we did have a large cloaked scout ship following the convoy to confirm that they arrived at the designated destination. When the scout ship reported in, we were alarmed. We were aware that they would try to take revenge because of the threats their leader made as they were being exiled. He promised to return and destroy us. The five Station-like ships we had built could hold our entire population so we started loading everyone on board the ships along with as much of our artifacts, history and data as we could fit. The scout ship was replaced with a larger ship and crew to keep an eye on these creatures. Meanwhile the people at Trask were upset because the ships they had ordered had not been delivered. The larger ship we had observing events, discovered the manufacturing site for the planet buster weapons and the fact that they were in full production."

  "One of the captured dreadnaughts was loaded with five of the weapons and went off in the direction of Trask. Our ship followed. The Rota B crew unleashed all five weapons on Trask. They destroyed the Planet and everything in orbit about the planet. It was a disaster. Our observation crew called in to tell us what was happening and the effect of the weapons. They left an asteroid belt. They followed the dreadnaught back to its base where the started loading more planet buster weapons. Our observation team told us that local communications chatter revealed that we were the next target. That vessel could move at about 25,000xSL so we knew we had little time. We had loaded everything we felt we could save and moved off the plane of the elliptic about 25 AU and waited, cloaked and shielded. A few days later they arrived and fired five planet busters at us. Just before firing the weapons, the captain of the ship called and gloated that they said they would be back for revenge. Juxet was totally destroyed. They showed no hesitation at destroying an entire civilization and had done it twice. The Rota B species are monsters."

  "We determined then that we had to somehow find a way to contain their trepidations. Unfortunately they were becoming more and more spread out and we were losing hope. When they moved into Gnuxet, we mined the planet with the weapon you saw used earlier today. The device was linked to the genetic code of any Rota B. It was extremely selective and would affect any Rota B within 100,000 miles of the planet's core. We could only really use it one time and it only made sense to do so if all of the subspecies B were on the same planet at the same time. We saw your actions in the Glarin-Gar region and again in the Yannar and Saba systems and realized that there might be an opportunity to use our plan. We apologize to you for using you in this way, but the 7,000 year old mistake had to be corrected. In all that time there was never any evidence that they
would ever take a different course. It was a cancer that needed removal."

  "We are forever thankful that you have taken the position that you have in this area of the galaxy. You should know that there are two other groups similar in intent to yours. Neither have the advanced technology base that you have. One is located about 90,000 light years in that direction and the other is about 50,000 light years in the that direction," pointing as he stated direction. "Eventually you will want to contact them and perhaps merge your efforts. Both groups have an altruistic motivation. They do not place guardians to protect planets as you do. They do not have the necessary construction base that you have. They do intervene and stop conflicts where they can. In the meantime your area of concern will continue to grow. Before we leave this galaxy, we wish to share with you most of our database because it will aid you in your purpose."

  "Wait a minute, wait a minute, leave the galaxy, why would you want to do that? There is still much for you to do here."

  "But we are now criminal, we have murdered an entire subspecies. How could we face others knowing this?"

  "Well Folis, I guess there is still something we can teach you if you are willing to learn. You know that our purpose is to prevent conflict in space where we can and to provide protection for the systems in our area of influence. Part of the responsibility is to go in harms way and to pull the trigger when it becomes necessary to actually provide that protection. None of us here enjoy killing and to a large extent we have managed to avoid it. I can't say that will always be the case. It was not the case this time. It is clear to me that you do not like to kill else this conversation would have proceeded quite differently. Unfortunately, sometimes killing cannot be avoided. Our experience with the Rota B is only 2 months of time. Your people's experience is almost 7,000 years. You have had to watch a mistake grow and harm innocents that had no way to know what was coming and you had no way to prevent. If we had a similar experience they would have been treated as the vermin they were. Instead you have been provided with an opportunity to reach closure on the issue. You should not run from it, for that is something you will surely come to regret. Now is your opportunity to start giving back to those who may have been harmed by your ancestors. I believe you should embrace the opportunity. Can you imagine how much more effective the protections that we offer can be if we offer them together? It has the chance to be amazing. We currently have people from eight species engaged in this enterprise. They are AI, Human, Glarin, Gar, Linan, Saban, Gorth and Canid. I would very much hope that your species would wish to join this effort. As a combine of species, we have only been together for less than two years. Yet each time another species joins us, we find that we are more together than we could ever hope to be alone. I invite you to reconsider and to join us with your talents."

  With tears in his eyes, Folis responded. "This was not a reaction that we anticipated. We expected your reaction would be one of horror and rejection once you learned of our past role in this region. I am not sure how we could have missed this as a possible reaction and that tells me we still have much to learn. All of my people have been listening in to all that has been said here. They are as surprised as am I at your offer. They are speaking to me through our Supreme Council. Our people have many of the telepathic talents that you have including the ability to detect falsehoods. We therefore know that you are sincere in your statement and offer. Is this likewise true of the other species represented on the Stations?"

  Queen Firs spoke first, "Silly Rota, of course it is. We sincerely hope that you will join us. Your action today does not give us joy, but it does give us relief. We no longer have to worry that those monsters are fully contained. This would have been a most unpleasant tour of duty to those assigned here to deal with a very negative people. You on the other hand are the polar opposite and we would welcome you readily." Other species present made similar statements.

  After a few minutes, Folis again spoke, "My people have expressed themselves and have said that they do wish to join you. We all understand that we will be distributed among your many Stations. The decision was, I am happy to say, unanimous and that is from a total population of 900,000,000. We currently have about 180 million persons on each of our ships. Most were nervous and unhappy about leaving but had not thought about the possibility that there were things we could do to be of help to others. Our ships are similar to yours but I would suggest that they be reconstructed using your template. We do not have AI's on our ships so that will be a new experience for all of us. All of the Rotans now alive were born on our space vessels. We are used to living in space. Most of us have visited planets but these were mostly unpopulated places of remote locations on planets with native populations. The idea that we on occasion might be welcomed on a populated planet is very attractive to all of us."

  "We have observed the interaction amongst your various species and that too has generated a sense of wonder amongst us. We look forward to belonging somewhere. This feels a lot like returning home after an irksome task has been completed. An opportunity to recharge our selves that we really have not had before."

  "Outstanding! I think that you will find substantial empathy amongst the various systems and species out there. I also hope you either destroyed the plans for the weapon used earlier today or buried them so deeply that they do not see the light of day. I do not think we will see its need again."

  "The event was witnessed only by this Station. There were no other observers. We felt that you needed to be present for the event for closure. I think it might be best if the event is not widely viewed as too many questions will arise that could conceivably result in the building of another like it. I will leave shortly. What would you suggest as a next course of action"

  "We will likely remain in this region for a bit longer to assure that the conflicted and occupied planets have recovered. Why don't we meet tomorrow to start planning integration. I think a good location would be at Gorth. I also need to be sure that your people will be satisfied with the roles available to them. We have much for them to learn so they can, to the extent possible, determine where they best fit. We have many people who will be curious to meet you. Our training machines have enough information to keep you busy for a while and those will be very helpful in helping you to acclimate. That should also help us to see where you can help us be more and vice versa. Folis, to you and your people, welcome aboard."

  Chapter 39: Integration

  Station 1 in the Gorth System –

  May 12 – C Day 621

  Hank had shared with the other Stations the demise of the Rota B subspecies and that it was the result of actions of a third party. The nature of the event was not disclosed but the propriety of it was. The fact that Rota B subspecies had been actively the same for near 7,000 years was a surprise to many so no one was sad to see them gone. Hank also introduced the fact that they were being joined by the Rota A subspecies and that was uniformly accepted.

  Hank’s meeting with Folis started with a discussion of the areas in which the Rotans would fit in and contribute to the efforts ahead for the Antoran Fleet. “Hank, my people want to again thank you for accepting us as you have. It was not expected and my people are still in wonder at your action. Thank you.”

  “Your experience is not so unique as you might suspect. The important thing to consider is, what are you now? What we see is a people we are happy to accept. Your experience has taught you something and now it is time to move ahead and apply the lesson. I am happy that we were there at the right time. I think you have much to teach us and I believe we may have things to teach you. I see that as a win/win situation.”

  “Speaking of that, the advances your people have made in the past few months far exceed anything my species has ever done in a similar period of time, probably by a factor of 100. It is truly amazing. Our hope is that we may in some way contribute. The only area where we may be of some immediate help is in the area of personal teleportation. Some of you are very close to performing personal
teleportation. This can be very important to your personal safety at times. You are already close to it with your T-Raptor projection exercises. It is possible to do this with your physical bodies as well. You and Sam are capable of it now, you just have not yet tried it. Ben and Mary Pine are also capable but likewise have not yet tried it. We are happy to share how this is done. You are correct in identifying destination awareness as a principal concern in using this feature of the talent."

  “There are dangers but if the Station AI's assume the role of lifeguard when learning, that can be minimized. Your training devises are as advanced as our own, maybe more advanced, so that would be an excellent place to start such training. Utilizing the Station AI's or your T-Raptor style projection are still going to be the quickest ways to teleport to another location.”

  "We may also be able to enhance your stealth and shielding capabilities. You are very close to us, but we still have a slight edge. That will likely prove to be out first area where we can assist."

  “We would like to propose that our ships be dispatched to the various locations where you have Stations posted to allow migration of our people to assigned Stations. An operating crew and those persons assigned to the new Station would remain on board to take the empty ship to Tau Ceti for reformation as a Station. Our databases are being made available to Barana as we speak to test for compatibility and to assure that they contain nothing that would harm the AI’s. These databases contain all of our historic, cultural, scientific, and personal data. We are amazed at the amount of redundant core storage space you have on your Stations. You can essentially store all of our data in about 20 cubic miles of core space. Our suggestion would be to place it in an unused core to prevent its unwitting contamination of your current data. This can be then moved to wherever the AI needs or wants it once the AI is satisfied the data is safe to use.”