Earth Interstellar_Proxy War

by Scott Olen Reid

  "Yes, Sir."

  Entering the far end of the conference room, Ambassador Dek got to the point of his visit and addressed the admiral, "Admiral Bilford. Captain Cross. As you are aware, an Exploration Service drone has entered the system and is transmitting a first contact message. As the Vrene representative, and as per the terms of the Protectorate Agreement, I require all information the Exploration Service has collected on the newly discovered race. I would also remind you that in all likelihood, the race you have discovered has been previously identified and Earth will have no claim on the inhabitants."

  "Ambassador Dek, it is an honor and pleasure to have you aboard. I would like to introduce you to Black Rock Three's Communications Officer, Captain Cross, who I do not believe you have had the opportunity to meet." The admiral ignored the ambassador's knowledge of who the captain was, and his demand, and made the introduction of Captain Cross anyway. The Rool were infiltrated into every human database connected to a network and it had become standard practice to ignore their displays of omni-intelligence of all things human a hundred years ago as it was tiresome to have it continuously pointed out humans could not keep secrets from the aliens. The only secure way to prevent the Rool from accessing computers was by using isolated networks. Single-use encryption methods, previously thought secure, were just shown by the ambassador’s knowledge of Cousteau’s discovery to be no more secure than any other communication method used by humans.

  "A pleasure, Captain,” Dek answered in greeting before quickly returning to the purpose of his visit, “Admiral, we require the location of System 48269." The ambassador remained determined to not be sidetracked.

  "Can my assistant get you a drink, Ambassador? Please, have a seat."

  Ambassador Dek replied, “Nothing to drink, thank you, Admiral,” and promptly pulled out a swivel chair at the end of the conference table and sat down.

  The admiral looked at the captain, staying any thought of having a seat the junior officer may have entertained and moved to take a seat himself across from the ambassador.

  "I must congratulate you and humanity in general on your ability to control your information and force a more equitable position in your relationship," began the ambassador. "The Vrene made a correct decision to entrust the protection of Earth to the Rool rather than giving the task to the Schel." Seeing the ambassador was leading the conversation somewhere, Admiral Bilford remained silent, “For a Level 2 species like the Schel to manage Earth would have made them quite frustrated and threatened by humans. It would have likely led to the regression of Earth, which would be unfortunate.” Bilford was not sure if he was being threatened, but it sounded like it. A "regression" was the term the Vrene used to describe blasting a planet's occupants back into the Dark Ages when they were deemed unsuitable to be a space fairing race.

  The ambassador was highly adept at sending indirect messages when communicating. To them, you were not speaking the same language as another species until you had a complete understanding of far more than just the words spoken and body language. To the Rool, by bringing up humans have a knack for hiding information and what could have happened if anyone other than the Rool were managing the annoying little humans, he was insinuating a clear message.

  Admiral Bilford had extensive training in the psychological profiles created over hundreds of years on Ambassador Dek, and to a much lesser extent, on the Vrene. The Rool tended to be predictable. They only used the most "effective" method of communication possible at any given moment. Even to the point of changing their negotiating tactics from one sentence to the next. This made for interesting conversations when a Rool was trying to get something from you and you were not responding in the way they wanted. That is if they didn’t just decide to kill you and ask the next person.

  "Ambassador, please continue," Bilford prompted, placing the onus of establishing the boundaries of the conversation on the Vrene Representative.

  "As you are aware, Admiral, a drone from one of your exploration ships, the Cousteau, is making a high sub-light speed passage through this system. A coded message has been sent by the drone. Per the Agreement between the Vrene and Humans, all communications related to discoveries made by human interstellar exploration are required to be shared with the senior party to the relationship."

  "Mr. Ambassador, if you have intercepted the message, then the requirement to share the message has been met."

  "It has not been met, Admiral. Critical information is missing from the communication essential to its understanding."

  "I see. As I am sure you are aware, humans do not have the level of technology used by the Vrene, or Rool. You refuse to share your technology. As such, we are not able to give you information on the communication as we are still attempting to receive the message. A difficult challenge considering the signal compression and distortion created when such a large disparity in relative velocity is present between the drone and this base. I am sure you are aware of this difficulty.”

  "Understood, Admiral. I anticipated this difficulty and have brought a copy of the full transmission so that you may provide the information I need," the ambassador responded while handing across to the admiral an electronic reading device. "The full data dump is contained in this file."

  Taking the device from the ambassador and carefully reading the full-text portion took twenty minutes. It was not possible to go through the massive amount of data included in the addenda to the message as it was a full data dump of everything the Cousteau’s crew had accumulated during its initial pass through System 48269. "Thank you, Ambassador. Once we have gone through the data and it has been transmitted and analyzed by my superiors on Earth, I will be able to discuss with you whatever information you say is missing. However, analyzing this much data could take some time, and I am not the proper conduit for official communications related to the terms of the protectorate agreement.”

  "Admiral, we require a single piece of information: the location of System 48269. The identifying code used for the system indicated in the transmission is not published in any Earth publication or database.” In fact, the code names and locations used for all star systems were only kept on hard copies located in the communications secure space and at UEG headquarters for security purposes.

  “That is correct, Ambassador. As you are aware, every exploration ship has uniquely coded map systems. For security purposes; in case the ship is captured by an alien race. It is not in anyone’s interest to have them showing up in Sol System uninvited as has happened in the past.”

  Ignoring the jab, the ambassador said, “Yes. It was I who approved the use of coded map systems when the Exploration Service was formed. However, the numbering system established does not include a System 48269. I will wait here while you verify the system’s location from the data I have provided."

  “I’m afraid that will be a long wait, Ambassador. I am required to deliver this information to Earth immediately and await a reply. The round trip travel time for the courier alone will be over four months. I will be sure to include your request in the package to be sent."

  "That is not acceptable, Admiral,” the ambassador said with a low growl in his voice. “I will have the information now and you will provide it as required by the Agreement, or you will be in held accountable."

  Cutting off the ambassador, which by the look on his face did not happen often, Bilford stood up and stated in a strong and emotionless voice, "Ambassador, I have studied the Protectorate Agreement between the Vrene and Humanity in great detail. Per Section 7, Paragraph 3, all required notices must be provided through official channels, and that means, Earth Central. We did not write the Agreement, it was forced upon us. But, we have accepted those terms and have abided by them for over three hundred years. You have no cause for threatening me and I have no authority to grant your request even if you were."

  "Sit down, Admiral," the Rool said, lowering his tone to a more conciliatory tenor, and giving a clue to the admiral a change from threatening t
o some other tactic of communication was about to be used, "Are you aware of why I am in this system at all? When out of the six other Exploration Service forward bases, no other has ever even been visited by a Vrene or Rool ship?"

  "No, Ambassador, I do not,” was his reply, although both he and Earth Central Command had their suspicions.

  "It is for a simple reason. This base is your closest base to another advanced civilization. Actually, two advanced civilizations. And now three, if you include the Cousteau’s discovery.”

  Admiral Bilford sat silent for several seconds as he digested the ambassador's disclosure. The fact the ambassador gave knowledge of where another advanced civilization may be located was a minor miracle and that the knowledge provided confirmed the leading theory as to why the ambassador located himself at Black Rock Three was confirmed: humanity was close to making first contact with another space-faring race.

  Before the admiral could ask the obvious questions of who the civilizations were, or how powerful and hostile they would be, the ambassador cut him off, "This is a delicate situation, Admiral. One of the civilizations, the one you are most likely to make first contact with, is a Level 2 species. We do not know how they will react to humans. We do know they have been a Level 2 species for over four hundred years longer than humans. The other civilization is their sponsor, a Level 3 species called the Chzek. The Vrene have had issues with them in the past and it is uncertain how they will react to having humans show up on their frontier; they are not known for being overly friendly and our expectation is they will react with force.”

  The concerned look building on the admiral's face was accompanied by the concern in his raised voice, "Ambassador, why has it taken this long for this information to be disclosed? We agreed to give the Vrene ten percent of our industrial capacity and have done so. In what way has the Vrene upheld their side of the agreement by withholding information that could keep us from blundering into a conflict with another race?”

  "I disagree, Admiral. Humans have been exposed to technologies thousands of years beyond the level of technology your species developed prior to First Contact. Exposure of which, I might add, humans have taken exceptional advantage. Most of the advances by humanity since first contact are directly related to that exposure. In a number of cases, humans stole Vrene technologies. There is an old human expression I find very colorful, and apt when describing how humans gained access to technologies denied to them, 'by hook or by crook.' Do you know it?"

  "No, Ambassador, I am not familiar with that expression," Bilford replied, not in the least interested in discussing old human expressions.

  "I believe it originated in your 14th Century, so it is quite old by your standards. It means, 'by any means necessary.' That is exactly how humans have pursued liberating technology from the Vrene. It is a concern for them as ambitious species tend to not survive in the galaxy and far too often take their friends with them."

  To the admiral's credit, he did not feign ignorance or pretend to be offended by the ambassador's accusation of stealing Vrene technology. Nor did he deny the truth of humanity’s ambitions or offer up his own view humans were in over their heads. He knew it was all true and to throw up denials at a time when, for the first time, the Vrene representative was actually giving away information would be to waste an opportunity. “I believe you will find, Ambassador, that when it comes to dealing with other alien species, Humans will listen very carefully to the advice of the Vrene and Rool. We are ambitious. But, we are not suicidal.”

  “Humanity is not on trial here, Admiral. If the Vrene did not see you as an asset, they would have regressed your planet long ago. But, your species is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable by a Vrene protectorate. The advancements humans have achieved from the Vrene allowing you to pursue your ambitions will inevitably lead to conflicts as you rush out and explore the galaxy.”

  “Are you saying we are being reckless? You have mentioned technology, and I believe you are concerned about how far out into space we have explored. I do not understand in what way you mean, though, as nothing has ever been said to us before about pushing limits.”

  “It is not that humans are extraordinary in raw scientific research. They are quite average, in fact. But humans do excel in the application of those technologies. Your capitalist economic system is unstructured and without centralized focus, which turns out to be of great benefit to human advancement as it allows for a multifaceted approach to the application of new technologies not available to an economy with a centralized control structure. The risk is distributed such that the cost of failure is minimized. While successful ventures are easily expanded and capitalized upon, failures are compartmentalized with minor wasted resources. Mixing and matching of technology is expected and encouraged through partnerships and licensing of rights. The diverse technologies required in the development of the EGG Habitats are a prime example. By using Oxi-Flo for both breathing and as a survivable environment for high acceleration and matching it with extensive bioengineering of your species to allow you to live submerged in the liquid for prolonged periods, you have solved the problem of interstellar survivability in a unique manner. Applying it to space flight has never been used before to achieve FTL travel. That alone saved your species hundreds of years of technological development it normally takes to overcome the hazards of traveling the stars. You were able to create a workaround to your inability to build inertia dampeners capable of allowing biologicals to function within its field. Additionally, the adaptation of your crude inertia dampeners into shields to protect your ships while traveling in space is another ingenious application of technology never before attempted. For most species by the time they work out using inertia dampeners to negate the forces of acceleration other methods of shielding have been developed such that no research is ever conducted to use dampeners as shields.”

  Taking a moment to read the expression of the admiral, the ambassador could see the rapid processing by the human of what he was just told. He paused before deciding to continue on a hunch, “Admiral, we do not know what the full potential humans have in making an effective warship. We are aware of the level of technological development of your species, but I would be reluctant to make assumptions about the creative application of those technologies that can be expected in the creation of a warship until humans actually begin developing them.”

  “I see,” the admiral replied as comprehension set in the Rool and Vrene had successfully been kept unaware of humanity’s military capabilities. He was shocked but didn’t show it.

  Ambassador Dek was the foremost expert on human body language after 320 years as the Vrene’s ambassador to Humans. No one knew how old the alien was, but it could be thousands of years as the Rool do not have a “lifespan” other than their own decision to someday decide to cease their individual existence. His skill was acquired from the study of literally millions of hours of human communications. Standing and walking to the door to the conference room, the ambassador put his hand on the panel to open the door and, just before departing the room, said, “Admiral Bilford, it is clear to me that you have been withholding human military capabilities from us. I would caution you to rectify that oversight quickly. Failure to do so will negatively impact our relationship and may result in a less than optimal strategy for the defense of this region of space, not to mention humanity’s long-term survival.” He made no further mention of requiring the location of System 48269. The meeting was over.

  As the ambassador walked out, Admiral Bilford looked at the alien’s back and wondered how much the aliens know, and for how long they have known it. These Chzek-kin they’ve known about for seven hundred years if they entered the Consortium in the same way Earth became a member.

  Ambassador Dek left Black Rock Three base without the information he came for, but that did not mean he left empty-handed. The discovery the humans had a military capability, one significant enough to cause a reaction in the highly disciplined Admiral Bilford, was in
itself an important bit of information. Enough so that it required the ambassador to cut short the meeting for even more reason than the desire to snap the annoying human’s neck. They had successfully kept the Rool in the dark for what must be many years. The failure would not reflect well with the Vrene and could negatively impact the compensation the Rool were to receive for the current term of their contract to manage the humans. It would be the first time the Rool received less than full compensation and bonuses in over three thousand years of providing protectorate management services to the Seventh Consortium’s senior members.

  Upon return to the Rool ship, a sleek four hundred meter long vessel bristling with sensor suites, the ambassador immediately sent three messages: one to the Assistant to the Ambassador, Rom Vuul, on Earth to provide the Cousteau’s message to the Human government and to demand an immediate disclosure of the location of System 48269; one to the Vrene Protectorate Oversight Committee; and one to the Rool home system requesting additional assets and a more combat capable ship for himself. His current ambassadorial ship was adequate to keep the humans suitably awed by its firepower, but that may not be the case as the humans press into Chzek space. All of the messages were delivered to the appropriate parties in star systems as far as one hundred forty light years distance within an hour of being sent.

  Chapter 6: United Earth Government, Earth

  The United Earth Government was located at the former location of the East Potomac Golf Course. It was the largest open location available 320 years prior that was near the United States Capital. A towering memorial commemorating humanity’s first interstellar travel had also replaced the Jefferson Memorial. The UEG Capital Building, not to be outdone by the memorial, was commonly referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World for its grand majesty towering over the more mundane capital buildings of the United States still standing after five hundred years. Not that the people of the United States were bothered by this, as it was the United States who built and largely controlled the UEG.