"Brenda, we are over 90,000 light years away from the closest Union Outpost. While the travel seemed instantaneous to us, it lasted 7 days! We entered the Cave on Monday Morning and it is Sunday afternoon a week later Union time now! I have very little energy left on my PDD to call. Do you have spare E packs?"
"I do have one spare, but it won't fit your SII model. Mine is a Sony Economy."
She then said." I am not concerned about that right now, I am sure we can return the same way we came. The Land walkers pass through it and maybe they know how and now it looks we might be able to communicate."
I had to agree, this would be our best chance. Even if I would be able to talk to Mc Elligott in person and with all the Energy in the world, he could do very little to rescue us other than send a long range Explorer and that would take years! As the Explorer would have to stop every 5000 light years to refine fuel and service the engines. I had no desire to spend two three years here and then two more flying back.
So I paid more attention to the Beast and Brenda. She worked her PDD and I checked out the beast and its wounds closer." I think your big friend here is in big pain and perhaps he will die before he can make it through the cave and trigger the gate thing."
"Then we must help him!"
"I am a Midshipman not a Xeno veterinarian. I don't know anything about that."
"You told me about Fangsnappers and big Tyranno's. What do you do when they are wounded?"
"We kill them and eat them."
"Well you may look like a nice girl, but you still act and talk like a Neo Viking!" Her PDD chirped and she said." I think we are getting somewhere. The Walker understands math."
Interlude: Caram
Caram had already given up. He would simply lie here and die. The Uni would not let him go into the cave and besides he did not feel he had the strength to go on much further anyway. If Uglam could die here without passing to the Valley, so could he. He too had felt the death of his friend but he was not as shocked as the other Huffh. He was thinking about death for quite a while now and his own pain and the herbs had made him number to the emotional onslaught.
Now the little Uni were right next to him. One of them made noises, he could clearly hear and it sounded almost like spoken thought.
The Uni held a little rock in her hand and it glowed with many different little lights and suddenly the little rock made sounds that made sense. Two sounds!
He made two sounds.
Three sounds...
The little rock made visible thoughts float in the air before him and one of the thoughts looked like him! Just as if looking into still water, he said."Caram"
Then he saw floating visible thoughts of a tree and he said."Tree."
More and more floating thoughts appeared and he identified them. Now the Tree came back and the little rock said." This is a Tree."
"Yes this is a Tree."
Now his reflection came back."This is Caram the Huffh"
"Yes I am Caram and Caram is a Huffh."
"I am Brenda." Said the little Uni
"Will you kill me?"
"No we will not kill you!"
"You killed Uglam."
"Uglam attacked us."
Caram had to agree, this was true. Uglam was the one who started it. Then he realized he was talking to the Uni! "Will the Uni take us away from the Place?"
"What are the Uni?"
"You are the Uni!"
"We are of the United Stars of the Galaxy. Are you hurt?"
"Yes I am and I must die soon!"
"Will you allow us to try to help you?"
"You can heal me?"
"Yes I think so."
I ran my PDD in normal mode again and without trying to call the Remote Repeater Unit, it would last for at least a month or so. I needed the PDD as I attached the little Auto Doc to the large beast, right next to the broken bone and had it connected to the PDD. Even though it was only a basis unit, these marvels of Union technology were programmed to diagnose and try to help nearly every known Union Life form. Since that beast seemed to be a carbon-based life form it should not be so hard.
My PDD was on Audio read out and spoke." Compound fracture on left hind leg lower shin bone, Transverse fracture upper left leg, severe wound trauma, infection causing wet gangrene. Immediate treatment. Producing Nanites, and antibiotics, neutralizing pain impulses, bones have to be set before nanites can mend broken bones."
I responded." No medical personnel or facility available. Request Step by step instructions."
"One moment please completing body scan of patient for instructions."
The Pain was gone! He could no longer feel his legs at all, but he was pain free! Brenda told him that Freya the other little one would need to work on his leg and asked him to roll on his side. He did
He saw the little one use the Light thunder stick on his leg! But instead of burning him to death, the light burned away the stinking black flesh and the puss and he felt nothing.
The Little ones who claimed not to be Uni but Union seemed genuinely concerned about his condition and whatever they did it was pure magic, and what all the healers of the Huffh could not they could!
Out of nothing bright yellow foam engulfed both his legs and sealed them. The little one named Brenda said." Freya is using Emergency Nanite Seal foam as a makeshift bandage so the Healing Nanites can weave new tissue and fix your bones. Since you are so big it will take a few hours. So please do not move much until then."
"I do not understand much of what you say, but I will not move. I feel no pain. What will happen to my legs?"
"You should be back to normal by tomorrow and be able to walk. I am not sure how much muscle and nerve tissue has to be rebuild, but you will be as good as before soon."
Caram could hardly believe. He had not understood the meaning of most of the words, but he understood that he would be able to walk again. For someone who was preparing to die for the last ten days and to hear he would not have to die created a euphoric feeling in him he could not describe, but other Huffh shared it! Especially Balmi who had not gone to the Cave of Things so far away like all the others, but she had sneaked back along the path to the Cave to the Valley and followed her mate.
She could feel his pain and sadness and confusion, and now she suddenly felt his joy! He had no longer pain and he did no longer think of dying! Caram could sense her as well as she came slowly closer, partially afraid but her love to him and her curiousness was stronger.
He also noticed the little one called Freya take his light thunder stick and point it in the direction where Balmi approached.
"Little One do not light thunder burn Balmi. She is my mate and she is here to follow me into death and now she feels I am no longer full of pain. I will call her so she will not come closer."
"Don't shoot!" Brenda said." It is Caram's mate. She is alone."
"So are we and while I did doctor around on that big one. I am not so sure it would be wise to trust them fully yet. I won't shoot but I think I stay on the safe side and keep the Blaster ready."
The big walker actually understood us and said." She won't come closer. She will remain where she is."
"How about the others?"
"They have gone to the Cave of Things. That is far from here and they will wait for you Uni there."
"Why do you call us Uni anyway? The only Uni I know are the ones of the Universal Collective and they have disappeared for over 250 Million Years ago."
"They have taken us from the Old Place to this Place, so many Cold white seasons ago no one can count them." The beast began to tell us a story about singing brothers that went into the water and it was a nice tale. He did mention the Uni several times and the Trans spatial gate inside the cave had to be made by some advanced civilization.
Brenda however got more excited every moment and then she said." Caram you and I come from the same planet. I think the Uni have taken you from Earth, that would explain why you look exactly like a Walking whale and it
is true about 50 to 60 million years ago the Ambulocetus returned to the oceans and are the origin of the order of Cetacean, ocean living mammals. Some of the whale species are famous for their songs."
Caram tried to digest what he just heard." You say you come from the Old Place? You say you know of the Singing Huffh?"
I was skeptical and said." How could they remember events that happened so long ago? No matter how accurate they try to tell the story, it would have changed to something completely different. There is no way oral history would last this long!
Brenda said." The Whales on Earth use the same basic songs for the same time. Yes there are new songs and variations but there are base songs that are sung unchanged for millions of years. The information of these songs is in their DNA, they can't forget it."
"But if these Land walkers are here on this world for that long, why haven't they evolved and started a civilization by now?"
Brenda smiled a schoolmasterly smile." Maybe they are the top of the crop here and did not need to evolve much and they do not have the most important things you need to start a civilization. Manipulators or Hands if you will, without hands no tools, without tools no civilization, but then it seems they have a complex community and culture so I would call this a civilization too."
Caram listened to the two Little ones and some of what they said made sense and some did not. He was thinking hard and now that his mind was free of mind numbing pain and herbs, his mind was as sharp and clear as ever."Maybe that is what the Uni meant when they said we needed to develop more word and thought. I wish our healers could have done more to me than give me herbs and I was thinking about this before you came and I was preparing to go to the Valley to die. I wondered why the Huffh could not do more things. Then you must be the Others the Uni spoke off, the ones the Old Place was reserved for."
Brenda was still excited and animated." There are many humanoid species and it is called the Human Mystery because no one knew why there are so many different planets that developed humans. The Saresii, the Sarans, even the Kermac and the Arkonids are all biologically compatible and it is almost impossible that such close related life forms develop on so far separated Places. Some believed the Uni seeded human life throughout the Galaxy and now I think we have the proof that this was indeed the case." She turned to look at the Huffh."Your DNA needs to be cross referenced but I am pretty sure the Huffh are from Earth just like I am. The oldest bones I found in the Valley so far are several million years old, and there is a steady size increase and the newest bones are almost twenty times bigger than the old ones."
While she talked I started to set up camp, and took the tent out of the back pack and activated it. The dense little brick made of memory fabric unfolded itself into a two person tent. Its bottom graviton anchored to the ground and the film thin tent walls made rigid by a field energy charge. Even though the material was only a few millimeters thick, it could withstand the most severe weather conditions and stand up against storm winds. Then I prepared a fire Place and collected firewood. While there was no thick forest, there were trees and bushes and I had no problem finding enough.
The Huffh observed me and then said." Your kind is very productive and you are doing things all the time. You have not stopped doing things since you arrived. What is it you are doing now?"
"I am setting up temporary shelter and making a fire. The shelter is so we can sleep and while we have other means of cooking and providing heat, an open fire is preferable whenever possible."
"You can make fire! Will you teach me how to make fire?"
"Tomorrow when you are well I try to figure a way out how you can make fire and I show you."
I checked the PDD read out and the progress of the Auto Doc. The little unit was still producing Nanites as the patient was bigger than anything the Auto Doc was actually designed for, but the prognosis was good and the bones would be mended in another six hours. There was a lot of missing tissue but it too would be eventually healed. The make shift bandage of emergency foam was holding better than I thought it would.
I wondered what the Admiral would say if I had to tell him these findings.
Brenda agreed to sleep first and take second guard shift.
Interlude: Anapolis Tower
There were few new buildings on Earth and obtaining a new construction permit was very difficult. Usually only something that could not be renovated or preserved was rePlaced. Ever since the Second Exodus, Earth population was kept steady at about two billion beings and great effort was taken to preserve cities and historical buildings.
Annapolis Tower in San Francisco was one of the few super modern Arcologies on Earth. At over 2500 meter height it was also the largest building of the planet. It was Union Fleet Administration Headquarters and extended far underground. It was the only Union government department on Earth or in the Sol System and over 2 Million beings worked and served here. It was nowhere near the size of Union Fleet Operations headquarters on Pluribus and did not have the same Hornets nest character and buzzing activity of UFO. While many of the Operation desks were maintained around the clock, most administrative Offices kept regular working hours and were closed at night and over the weekends. Admiral Mc Elligott was always one of the very first that arrived and usually was the last to leave; there was no difference this Monday morning as his flyer set him down at the landing platform on the 50th floor. While he was often traveling throughout the Union, when he was here he lived at his ancestral home near Edinburgh Scotland. He would not have minded to take the Trans Planet transport system, but he understood the concern of the Security Department and so he was picked up by flyer. He did not have many political enemies, especially since he never took side or part in any political arguments and managed to stay neutral for a very long time. He was a celebrity and there were many Union Citizens who could recognize him on sight, especially since he chose to wear his traditional Scottish costume whenever possible. There was no political assassination or really serious crime on Earth for the last 2000 years but Earth and especially the Union did have enemies and killing one of the Immortals would have been a great feat to them.
He turned and looked over the San Francisco bay and the rising Sun in the east, coloring the still impressive and beautiful Golden Gate Bridge in a bright orange over the deep green sea. He was one of the few people who knew that this was no longer the original bridge but rePlaced molecule by molecule with Ultronit.
As an Immortal Admiral he had seen countless worlds and the most spectacular sights of the known Universe, but to him there was no Place like Earth.
His main assistant and aide worked with him now fore almost ten years and the Commander knew him well and waited at the entrance door not disturbing the morning routine of the Old Admiral. Elligott blinked into the sun and then went to the entrance. Wondering what this day would hold, even after three thousand years he still did so every day. His old friend Stahl had the Fornax problem well in hand and it did not look like the next Y'All invasion was very imminent after all and now that they had gotten a taste of the things to come and the direction from where it would come they had a good chance to prepare for it. To have a Narth Sphere there as well was very reassuring.
The Union reacted like a well oiled machine; there was no panic in the general population and confidence in the fleet. He was very proud as how much the Union had grown and grown together since the last Y'All Attack. The Union government maintained a 90 percent approval rating for over 2000 years now and this was quite an accomplishment with all those different civilizations. Normally only dictator ships could maintain such high ratings and the Union was certainly not a dictatorship.
The largest fleet concentration and Fleet construction project in many years had begun only last Friday. 170,000 ships and sixteen of the largest mobile ship yards were dispatched and would work on a Connection bridge between Union space and the Fornax Cluster. Even conservative estimates predicted that the connection would be complete in only three or four years.
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His aide greeted him and as usual begun to brief him on their way to his office on the important developments over the weekend. Of course he would have been called if there was something really important.
The Commander held his PDD and said." The Torath have sent a delegation to Pluribus this morning to apply for membership."
"Refresh my memory on them would you?"
"The Torath are a technological highly advanced and very reclusive and aggressive Civilization in the Large Magellan Cloud. One of the few not associated to our friends of the Attikan commonwealth. Traditionally they were enemies to the Attikan. They claim a sizeable Area in that Cloud and say they have bases in the Fornax Cluster."
"Oh right, they look like large angry Hamsters and if I recall they do have an impressive fleet of little but very fast and well armed ships."
"Yes that is them alright."
"If I recall the last reports correctly they had a very negative view towards the Attikan and the Union. What changed their minds, do we know?"
"I have no detailed Intel on that, but there is an unconfirmed report that a Union legal expert managed to solve the millennia old dispute between Attika and the Torath and that is the cause. I personally think it is the big fleet build and Stahl being in that area with his huge tub that made them think they were the target."
"I guess we will know eventually. It certainly is good to gain another member. Anything else?"
"Not much, Sir. It might interest you that your special friend Midshipman Olafson managed to make a very impressive but quite stupid prank call!"
Mc Elligott stopped in his tracks." A prank call?"
"Yes the Midshipman managed to route a call on the distress channels via an old Relay Buoy all the way down in the Cygnus Arm in the outer reaches of the Downward Sector. It was an old Relay buoy chain left over from the Piostla War. That buoy chain has not been used in 700 years. It had been left there by the USS Cyprus. He could not possibly be there of course. The security department is still looking into it and how he managed to reroute the call from there."
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 284
