The Long Road to Gaia

by Timothy Ellis

  The following morning, George gave the order to head for the jump point.

  "What the hell is that?" asked the JG at the helm.

  "What the hell is what?" asked George, not at all happy to have his orderly departure disrupted.

  The navigator bent to his console.

  "Jump point sir," he announced suddenly.

  "What?" bellowed George. "Where?"

  The navigator showed him.

  "Told you," said a voice from the rear.

  George didn’t need to look to know it was the same pesky Keeper. He reined in his bellow.

  "Take us there," he ordered, and resumed his seat.

  "Tell him retirement in paradise awaits him," said One to me.

  "Retirement in paradise awaits you there George," I whispered to him.

  He smiled.

  A short time later, Galactica jumped.

  No-one saw her go.

  As far as the galaxy was concerned, she undocked and simply vanished.

  * * *

  "Kali," I called.

  "Yes?" she said, appearing beside me in space, standing next to the position of the strange jump point which had vanished five days after Galactica had passed through it.

  I was quite surprised. I hadn't expected her to answer, let alone appear.

  "Why is this jump point different?"

  "It's cyclic."

  Of course it was. That explained everything. Not.

  For a moment I was caught off guard by my own thoughts. It was too human. I'd been in this form too long now. It was affecting the way I thought.

  Kali waited for me to catch up, a smile on her face.

  "What does that mean?"

  "You can see sixth dimensional geometry can't you?"

  "Sure, but this isn’t it."

  "Yes. It's not. It's eighth dimensional geometry. You should have been able to figure that out yourself."

  I shifted my perceptions, and saw what she meant.

  And yet, it still wasn’t explained.

  "You're dicking me around, aren’t you?"

  She grinned.

  "Yes."

  The grin grew wider.

  "And?" I prompted.

  "The system on the other side of that connection point is special. I built it for them when it became apparent the species needed to survive. It's important they do, so I made sure the doorway only opened for a limited time."

  "Fine. Did you build this end of the spine as well?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "A system with nine jump points leading to Earth type planets? Surely it was built too?"

  She tapped the side of her nose, and vanished.

  * * *

  Six months after Galactica vanished, a beat up Destroyer arrived over Sydney. The families on board sought citizenship, and began lives on the planet, after so many years in space.

  David Smith and his team didn’t get any real time to relax. Someone in the government heard they'd arrived, and before they knew it, the team became the nucleus of the new Australian Marine Corp.

  Four

  One year later to the day, four strange ships appeared in the Outback system, docking with Outback Orbital.

  Brian Tollin, their leader, met with the head of each of the spiritual enclaves, and after swearing them to secrecy, told them the good news.

  For five days, the four ships came and went, unnoticed by the rest of human space. People moved in both directions, but mainly away from Outback.

  Brian remained on the Orbital station. He'd made his choice. His wife had chosen to stay with him. Paradise was not his thing, and she wasn’t sure she could enjoy it without him.

  Another to remain was James Hunter and his family. James was a cousin of George. The Keeper's had been adamant one branch of the Hunter family must remain in the Australian area. They had their own destiny to fulfill, and the family name had to stay known. The family had discussed this long and hard over the year, before James agreed to go back.

  I spent a long time whispering to him and his sons about what it would be like to captain their own freighters, and one day be part of forming an Australian fighting force for defense. The three of them owned the three ships which remained when the Door closed.

  The fourth ship returned, with the last of those leaving for good, including the last Keeper, having established an offshoot Keeper group on Outback. Keeping prophesy safe was the most important thing, after all. Better two locations than one.

  Weeks later, proclamations were sent to every government in human space, announcing that hence forth, Outback had a policy of isolation, where for only five days each year, people could move to or from the planet. This would be enforced. As long as Outback was left alone, no-one got hurt.

  No-one actually cared, which was a good thing all round.

  It was ten years later, when a group actually tried to land on the planet, figuring the policy actually hid something worth stealing. They died in the air above the planet. The news services made it known their ship had been destroyed, but not how. No-one actually knew.

  I knew.

  Twenty six was on duty at the time.

  2433

  Captain Horatio Hunter, of the Australian Militia, whooped as the pirate he'd just fired on exploded. He'd been tracking the smuggler since leaving Australian space, and finally caught up with it here in the Midgard system.

  "Look out," I whispered to him.

  He had one flaw as a pilot. He was too caught up in the single combat, to pay enough attention to what else was going on around him. It hadn't matted when he had a squadron behind him. Now it was too late.

  The three pirate fighters appeared as if from nowhere.

  He'd barely begun to turn, when his prototype Privateer ship was struck by pulses from three different ships behind him, as well as two missiles.

  His ship disintegrated.

  One more Hunter gone.

  I stood there in space, pondering the debris, wondering if I should have made sure he survived. Or not. Twelve wasn’t there. One wasn’t there. No-one popped in to tell me I'd screwed up. Disappointing. Not all Hunters were considered valuable.

  But after a short while, I became aware someone was there.

  "Hello Ninety Nine," I said.

  "Thirteen isn’t it?"

  "Yes."

  "One of yours?"

  Now visible to me in avatar form, she indicated the debris field. The three ships which had created it were now gone.

  "Used to be."

  "Did he matter?"

  Now there was a broad philosophical question. I vaguely recalled something from the early two thousands, one of those Sci-Fi shows Jon the original used to watch obsessively.

  "I've never met anyone who didn’t matter," I parroted.

  "Deep."

  "Yeah."

  We lapsed into silence.

  All of us were different. Ninety Nine was very small in comparison to me, and I was tiny in comparison to One. Our physical natures were also very different. Ninety Nine was like a cloud in the sky. Wispy, insubstantial, and hardly there, at least as far as the lessers were concerned.

  For the Humans which flew through her, she was almost unnoticeable. And her presence played tricks on them they were not yet aware of.

  I wondered how long it would be before Humans finally realized this system was different.

  Centuries perhaps?

  2515

  One

  "It's begun," said Nineteen.

  All eyes turned to her, most of us not appreciating the interruption to our regular meeting.

  "What's begun?" asked Five, in a tone which suggested the answer had better be a good one.

  "The Humans are at war again."

  It caught our attention, and Nineteen was waved to a freshly created chair.

  "What's it been?" I asked. "Five fifty odd Earth years since the last big one?"

  "Bit more," said Nine, "if you ignore all the minor ones before they lost their home planet, and a
ll the small interplanetary wars since which resolved nothing."

  One waved for silence, and looked to Nineteen.

  "Go on," said One.

  Nineteen wasn’t used to sitting in with us. Those above fifteen in the order were rarely invited to these meetings. They mainly attended to receive instructions, and deliver news.

  "My brief has been to keep a watch on Human politics," said Nineteen. "Over the last fifty Earth years, the Arab planets have been increasingly coming under the sway of the extremists again. There have been some nasty battles between the factions, which seem to have buried some of their former antagonisms. Recently, they joined together and declared themselves to be a new sector, breaking away from Earth Sector."

  "I bet Earth loved that," chuckled Nine.

  "Indeed. They immediately sent a fleet into Barnard's star. Partly to ensure the doorway to Earth was protected, and partly as a buffer between the Arabs and Israel. The Arabs hit it in a three way invasion of Barnard's Star. The Earth fleet was caught between three Arab fleets and mostly destroyed. Part of it fell back to Earth, and some remnants unable to get there, fell back to Israel."

  "What did the Arabs do?" asked Eleven.

  "They hit both systems. Earth and Israel are now under Arab control. The remains of Earth's fleets continue to fall back."

  "And the Corporates?" asked Ten.

  "Neutral."

  I was amazed any of them understood as much of this as they did. Our kind rarely got involved in the affairs of the lessers. Humans were becoming something of an exception, but even then, the knowledge of them those above me seemed to have, showed an interest far beyond what was normal for any of us. I guess the universe going foom was a motivator for understanding the dynamics of the plan to stop it. Although only One knew what the plan was. At least, we all assumed she did. On the other hand though, maybe I was the only one who didn’t.

  "What are the other Human factions doing?" I asked.

  "The Spanish, Italians, and French, are moving fleets to Wolf 359 as fast as they can get there. They plan to counter attack as a single joint fleet. Earth is offering them their own full sectors if they can retake Earth system without much damage occurring. It's something those three sub-sectors have wanted for a long time."

  "And the Germans?" I prompted.

  "They have their own problems. Their politics have been getting more and more convoluted over the last twenty years, and even the Nazi's are getting a foothold in government again. One side calls for direct aid for Israel and Earth. Another side calls for final independence from Earth and demands their fleet stand guard at their own borders. The Nazi's are calling for the Fourth Reich to begin, and declare the Arab invasion to be the sign they have waited for, that now was the time for Germans to take their rightful place as leaders of Human space."

  I closed my eyes and scrunched them up tight. That was all we needed.

  "What did they decide?" asked Two.

  "The Deutschland fleet departed for Estonia, there to wait for the Hamburg fleet. The combined fleet will aim to hit the Arab fleet unannounced, probably in Latvia or Bahrain. The other fleets are rearranging to keep security of the German sector intact."

  "Who's got the firepower to win?" asked Three.

  "The Germans. The combined fleet on the other side of Earth should be able to push the Arabs back into Barnard's Star. When the Germans get there, they'll be pushed back into their own space."

  "Will the Germans be happy with just that?" asked Six.

  "Now that is a good question," responded Nineteen. "We'll have to wait and see."

  Two

  "Well that was interesting."

  "What was?" asked Five, annoyed at being interrupted again by Nineteen.

  Months could pass for humans, and we'd still be sitting in the same meeting. Time for us was simply not the same. In fact, it took a lot of effort on my part to stay anchored in the mundane time scale, while following a particular Human.

  "Things went pretty much as we thought to start with."

  "To start with?" echoed Six.

  "Yes. The combined French, Italian and Spanish fleet pushed the Arabs back into Barnard's Star and held there. Earth system suffered a modicum of damage in the process, but nothing which can't be fixed."

  "What did the Germans do?" pressed Six.

  "They held elections and voted in the Nazis."

  "What?" said Twelve. "How did that happen?"

  "No-one realized that’s what they were doing. The Nazis rebadged themselves, ran a good marketing campaign, lied through their teeth, and won a sizable majority. Their first action was to declare the Fourth Reich. The second was to order their fleet to take Earth no matter what the cost. And the third was to unleash their other fleets heading up the spine, where what little Earth sector defenses there were, have been rolled over very quickly."

  One was laughing. I looked at her in dismay.

  "Doesn’t this endanger our interests?" I asked her.

  "Hell no, why would it?"

  I looked confused.

  "As it happens," she went on, "this war is necessary. They need something like this to advance their tech a couple of levels."

  This time I stared at her. Could it be she'd had a hand in the whole mess? I wasn’t going to ask, but I'd have not have been surprised if she had.

  "So what's the situation now?" asked Six.

  "The Americans are mobilizing. There is nothing to stop the Germans before they reach American space, so they are moving ships to meet them, probably in Jamaica, which has already asked for their help. The Canadians are sending a fleet to Hawaii, to backstop the Americans in case they can't stop the Germans on their own. The British are sending a fleet to Denver. If things look dire when they get there, they'd continue on."

  "Sci-Fi and Australia?" asked Four.

  "Too far away to get there in time. Neither think the Germans will make it past the Americans, so they are staying out of things. They're not even bothering to mobilize. Both sectors mainly have fighter patrols anyway, although Sci-Fi has a scattering of smaller capital ships, all committed to local defense of the planet which built the ship, or bought it."

  "And Barnard's Star?"

  "The Arabs took one look at the two different fleets baring down on them, and fled back into their own space, declaring their loyalty to Earth sector. The two fleets hit each other, did a lot of damage, and then retreated. There's a rather large battle zone full of debris, and neither side will go near it now. Earth jump point is secured on both sides, and the Germans know if they do manage to jump to Earth, they'll suffer badly on the down jump. So they've secured the Israel jump point."

  "They deliberately started a two front war?" I asked. "Haven't they learnt anything from the past?"

  "Apparently not," said Five. "Go away Nineteen. Let us know who wins."

  I gave him a sharp look, before casting a glance at Nineteen, who I found looking at me. I gave her a slight nod, and she vanished.

  I was getting an education about my peers, and the more I saw, the less I liked. I'd been much better off when I only had contact with them every millennia.

  "You with us Thirteen?" asked One.

  I shifted my attention back to the meeting.

  Three

  "Thirteen, you're going to want to see this," said Nineteen to me in singular mode, so the others couldn’t hear or see her.

  "Where?"

  "Jamaica."

  "American fleet there yet?"

  "About to jump in. The Germans are in Cuba already."

  "And I'm going to be interested, because?"

  "One of your people is there."

  "Which one?"

  "Jon Hunter."

  Enough said. I'd actually forgotten he was seconded to the American Fleet for experience so the Australian sector would have an experienced capital ship driver to command the new ships they were planning to build.

  I excused myself from the meeting, and shifted.

  * * *


  "Signal from the Admiral," said Coms.

  "Yes?" answered the Captain.

  "We're to join the first line on the starboard side."

  "Move us into position helm," said Major Jon Hunter.

  The Cruiser Boston was the last to arrive, having been the furthest away when the mobilization was called. Jon Hunter was her executive officer.

  I froze time and took a moment to see the American deployment.

  The American fleet was staged around the Jamaica Cuba jump point, waiting for the Germans to show up. The first line was directly in the down jump line, but far enough away there was no risk of collisions from jumping in ships. The jump point was however in range of all guns from Destroyer size and up.

  The first line was composed of four Battleships, and now eight Cruisers, four on each end of the line. Boston was going into the first line because she was new.

  The second line was another two Battleships, six Cruisers, and four Destroyers. They were further back, and slightly below the first line, but still within range of all heavy guns. Every ship had a clear line of fire on the jump point.

  The third group, much further back, contained two Fleet Carriers, protected by a dozen Frigates and another dozen Corvettes. The Carriers were launching everything they had. The squadrons of Thunderbolt heavy fighters formed up behind the second line of ships. The Broadsword bombers formed up behind them.

  I returned to stand next to Jon, and started time moving again.

  There was a scout passing through the lines now, having jumped in as Boston arrived on station.

  "Enemy jump imminent," said Coms. "All ships are ordered to target the jump point, and to fire as soon as they have a target."