Space Scout - The Makers

by S A Pavli

  “Could really use a coffee,” I muttered to Manera as we entered the ship’s air lock. “The service on this flight is terrible.”

  “Would sir like a refund?” she enquired sweetly.

  Once we were connected to our colleagues on the Settang, they began by expressing their pleasure that we were all still alive, and congratulated Cora on her heroism. After that, the main subject of conversation, was whether we should return immediately.

  We all felt that we should remain, if only to thank Tara for her part in rescuing the situation and establish good relations with the new ‘regime’. Cora however had to return for repairs, which was a slight risk but a necessary one.

  We were informed that Tara Con Sata and her retinue had arrived and were waiting for us at the palace courtyard. Hamo was adamant that we should not put ourselves at risk any further. He politely explained to the Dansai that, given what had happened, we were reluctant to leave the sanctuary of our ship and asked Tara to come personally to the ship so we could converse. She readily agreed and we exited the ship accompanied by our robot soldiers to wait for her.

  She arrived after a few minutes in an army jeep, accompanied by a squad of soldiers and a veritable convoy of cars. The soldiers assumed a semi-circle and Tara with a bunch of other Dansai came towards us. She gave us the Dansai half bow and touched her forehead in greeting and we reciprocated.

  “Friends, how can I apologise for this unprovoked attack upon your persons? I am ashamed.”

  Commra stepped forward to reply.

  “Thank you for your intervention Tara. I hope there will be no further attempts to coerce us into military action against your enemies? And we will be free to leave at any time?”

  “Yes of course,” she replied. “You are free to leave at any time. But I hope you will stay so we can show you some real Dansai hospitality.”

  Commra turned to us and one by one we nodded our agreement.

  “Where is your colleague Cora? Is she injured?” asked Tara.

  “Yes, she has been injured. She will return to the mother ship for re… treatment.” Commra was about to say ‘repairs’ but caught himself in time.

  “Will she be alright?” Tara looked concerned and Commra nodded reassuringly.

  “Yes, they are not serious injuries.”

  “Good. I have been impressed with your dignity and courage,” said Cora. “I hope we can move our relationship to a better level.”

  “I thank you on behalf of my colleagues,” said Commra. “Would you want us to take up residence in the palace again?”

  “Yes. The palace is central and conveniently located. But if you feel uncomfortable there, we can arrange other accommodation. I will be occupying a neighbouring apartment to yourselves until the new leader of the congress is elected. There are many deputies who wish to meet you and the people have yet to be informed of your presence.”

  I was not surprised that Tozak had not released information about our arrival. It looked like we were about to become celebrities on the planet Leffra. And no doubt in the Dansai Federation of planets, once the news got out.

  Chapter 12

  Our stay on Leffra after that became much more pleasant. With Tozak out of the way there seemed to be a release of tension around us. Our presence had cowed Tozak’s supporters and restrained them from fighting back, and correspondingly emboldened Tozak’s enemies. Cora returned from the Settang, fully restored to her former elegance.

  We questioned the Dansai on their knowledge of the Makers, but most of what they knew seemed to be legend. They were, apparently, God like being residing in Olympic splendour at the centre of the cluster. The Dansai had sent a number of expeditions to the centre without any success. The Makers had vanished.

  But the main concern was the war with the creatures they called the Saraya. I knew that Tara wanted to ask for our support, but was reluctant to do so. Leffra was the leading planet of the Federation, although apparently not where the Dansai originated. There was huge jealousy and competition amongst the Dansai planets and although support for Leffra against the Saraya had been promised, none had been forthcoming so far. Tara was sure that many wanted to see the power of Leffra broken before they grudgingly came to it’s assistance.

  Over the next couple of days we became tourists. Our presence was revealed to the Federation and predictably excited huge interest. We were invited to visit the other planets of the Federation and promised to do so. For the time being, our arrival had put a curb on the normal rivalry between the planets.

  Three days after Tozak’s demise, Tara Con Sata was elected leader of the Federation and took up residence in the palace. Things were going very well and we were looking forward to the arrival of the Earth expedition in a weeks time.

  We had given some thought on the problem of the Saraya and decided that we needed to make some kind of move to bring about reconciliation. But I had serious doubts that we could bring an end to hostilities that had gone on for thousands of years. Nevertheless, as the Chinese say, every journey, however long, begins with one small step.

  We were invited to a meeting with Tara and her top deputies where I was sure we would be asked what help we could provide to break the Saraya blockade. The palace meeting room was huge but there was just a handful of people in one corner. Tara and a few of her trusted deputies. She came forward to welcome us and we all exchanged bows. Our colleagues on the Settang Despass were patched through. A giant screen displayed the control room of the Settang with Hamolatonen at the front, Lanatra next to him and the rest of the crew behind them. After a few formalities, Tara got down to business.

  “This is an exclusive meeting,” she began, when we were all seated. “What we discuss here remains between us. We can all speak freely. I wanted to sound out our friends on how we can end the military conflict with the Saraya, and to ask them what help they can provide.”

  Commra was our spokesman again.

  “As we said to the previous president. We are reluctant to use military means against the Saraya. We prefer to be intermediaries. We suggest that we contact them and offer our services in that capacity.”

  “I can tell you that the Saraya will not cooperate unless they know that there is a military threat,” she replied. “But, you are welcome to try.”

  “Perhaps you can tell us more about the conflict between your two species,” suggested Commra, following the line we had discussed earlier. Tara nodded.

  “Perhaps that can be done by my colleague, Deputy Holcan. He used to be a historian before becoming a politician.” She smiled at a bony lugubrious individual sitting with the deputies. His eyebrows waggled comically, which I was beginning to discover was a sign of agreement amongst the Dansai, and he stood and cleared his throat ostentatiously.

  “Certainly Madam President.” He paused, thoughtfully before continuing. “It is a very long story, but I will attempt to keep it short. Much of it is hearsay. Because of war, some official records have been lost or destroyed. The Dansai and the Saraya discovered star travel at about the same time. First contact with the Saraya was a disaster. We landed a small team in a shuttle on one of their frontier planets. On first sight the Saraya attacked and took all the explorers prisoner. They managed to get off one emergency transmission. This was an exploration mission so we had minimal arms, but we landed a second team with the other shuttle. They attempted to negotiate with the Saraya to release the prisoners but with no success. The Saraya brought in military support and a battle ensued in which the second team were all killed or taken prisoner.” Deputy Holcan paused and looked around, a grim expression on his long bony features.

  “The mother ship only had two shuttles so there was nothing they could do. They returned to our home planet with the bad news. There was outrage and a military mission was equipped and dispatched to the Saraya planet. Unfortunately the Saraya on the planet had also called for support from their home planet and our military met their military. We had underestimated them and we were beaten ignomi
niously. Fortunately one of our three starships were able to return home with the bad news. A massive military force was assembled and two years later dispatched to the Saraya planet. They again met our expedition with violence, attacking our ships on sight. But we were prepared and our forces overwhelmed their defences and bombed their planet with nuclear weapons. We caused massive damage, millions died and large parts of the planet were turned into radioactive desert.”

  Manera looked at me, a pained expression on her face and I pulled a face in return.

  “How awful,” she whispered.

  “Sounds grim,” I agreed. I raised a hand to attract the attention of the speaker and was recognised.

  “Deputy Holcan, sorry to interrupt. Can I ask if any attempt was made by any of your expeditions to talk to the Saraya?”

  “We did not know their language and they did not know ours. We also did not know their communications protocols. Perhaps we should have taken the time to decipher that so we could communicate. But our first expedition did not expect to be attacked. After that, events escalated out of our control.”

  I thought Holcan’s explanation was a little thin. But the mystery remained; Meeting an alien species for the first time is a momentous event. So why did the Saraya attack the Dansai at first sight?

  “Of course, at that time, we did not know how many planets the Saraya occupied. We initiated a program of exploration, scanning for radio emissions and sending starships on stealth missions,” continued Holcan. “Unfortunately, their home planet was not too distant from ours and we were both expanding into the same sector of the cluster. We had only populated three planets at that time and they had populated four, including the one we had destroyed. It would clearly not be too long before they discovered our planets, and our home planet. We decided it would wise to explore away from the Saraya. We also embarked on a massive expansion of our military forces.” Holcan paused and sighed heavily.

  “You can imagine the fear that gripped our people. These terrifying reptiles seemed to be congenitally aggressive. Our future at that time seemed to be one that would be dominated by military conflict. But as it transpired, it was not so bad. During the next hundred years we avoided all contact with the reptiles. We monitored their communications and learnt their languages. Perhaps we had taught them a lesson, we thought. But then we began to notice a much greater military build up on all their planets, particularly their home planet.”

  “We decided to make some attempt to communicate with these creatures. We sent a number of radio and Hyperspace messages inviting them to an uninhabited system for a conference. We expressed our desire for peaceful coexistence. The galaxy was big enough for both of us. To our surprise, they accepted our invitation. The contact teams were to arrive in unarmed starships. Initial contact would be remote. We agreed communications protocols and set up computer translation facilities.”

  “The first remote contacts went well. The Saraya expressed the desire to meet face to face. Our contact team was invited to their ship and we agreed. We sent seven individuals. Three scientists and four political leaders.” Holcan paused again, his face grim.

  “As soon as they arrived… they were set upon and butchered. With swords and knives.” He almost choked as he continued. “In full view of the watching millions. The scene was transmitted to all three Dansai planets. We have the video to this day. We can show it to you. But it gets worse.” His voice rose, breaking with emotion. “At the same time dozens of missiles dropped out of Hyperspace next to our escort fleet. We had just seconds warning before they homed in and exploded. Only one ship managed to jump to safety. The other three were vaporised. One hundred and ninety seven died. The treachery of the Saraya was total.”

  “After that there was no trusting them. And so for the last five thousand years we have been at war with these creatures. We have tried to avoid them as much as possible but as we expanded into Space and occupied more planets, so did they. Inevitably our paths crossed and we would exchange hostilities and move on. There were many tragedies. Ships lost with hundreds of people dead. But they never attacked planets. Until recently.” Holcan sat down and Tara thanked him. We were sobered by the catalogue of disasters he had described.

  Tara stood up again and began talking.

  “In the last fifty years their military forces have gradually increased, as has their aggression. It’s just a matter of time before a major tragedy occurs. This blockade of our planet is a provocation. They keep making sudden bombing runs. Tactics designed to disturb and alarm, to make an opening for them to cause serious damage.”

  “When do you expect help from your Federation?” asked Commra.

  “We all have our problems with the Saraya,” said Tara. “If they weaken their defences then they will also be vulnerable.” Tara leaned forward and looked at us intently. “We believe that with the help of your warship we can break their blockade.” She held a hand up to stop any protests. “I know that you wish to remain neutral and you have already offered to act as an intermediary. We believe that the Saraya are not to be trusted and that they will break any agreement they make.”

  “Nevertheless, we believe that we should try for a peaceful solution first,” said Commra.

  Tara gave a resigned shrug.

  “Whatever you do, do not trust them,” she said. “But, if you are prepared to try, then good luck. Now, to more pleasant subjects.” She smiled broadly and opened her arms invitingly. “This evening you are invited to a banquet, then to an arts and music evening at our largest concert hall.”

  We accepted the invitation with thanks. Drinks and snacks were brought out by cutely dressed waitresses and the meeting broke up into informal groups. We chatted with our guests who were all very curious about our civilisation, which was a problem for me. I stuck next to Manera and allowed her to do most of the talking, but then found myself cornered by a muscular looking male delegate.

  “You interest me,” he began. I hope not in that way I nervously told myself! “Because you appear different from your colleagues. Are you a different race? From another Hianja planet?”

  “Ah, well, there has been some genetic diversity between the Hianja planets in twenty thousand years,” I said, hoping he would not ask for details. He was tall, as were most of the Dansai, thick set, with shoulder length red hair in complex curls and wide set big golden brown eyes. The eyes of a cat I thought. Manera was talking to a couple of elder Dansai statesmen and her azure eyes flashed in my direction.

  “I am Solan Enser, delegate from the planet Temalat,” he touched his forehead and I followed suit.

  “Captain Paul Constantine from planet Earth.”

  “Is Earth one of the older planets of the Hianja Federation?” he asked.

  “Er, yes,” I said.

  “That explains the genetic differences between yourself and the others.”

  “Very observant of you to notice,” I said, beginning to feel a bit exposed.

  “Is your partner Manera also from Earth?”

  “Ah, yes, indeed. How did you guess she was my partner?”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” he gave a little chuckle of amusement but changed the subject. “Are you a military captain?”

  “No, I was the captain of an exploration starship,” I said.

  “Why are you not the leader of your expedition?”

  You are direct I thought.

  “Captain Hamolatonen is my senior in years,” I explained. “And also a member of the Guardian council with Guardian Commra.”

  “So you came to the cluster to find the Ancestors. But I am puzzled.” He paused and looked keenly at me. “What made you believe that your species had not evolved naturally?” Oh shit! I thought. Think fast Constantine. Then it came to me.

  “We received a hyperspace message containing some digital code,” I said. He looked questioning. “We deciphered it as a string of our DNA. We traced the message to this cluster.”

  “That’s… amazing.” He looked stunned. “But we
thought the Ancestors were a myth. Did you find the origin of this hyperspace message?”

  “Yes. The transmitter was inside an asteroid on the periphery of a nearby system. There was nothing else there. But we triggered another transmission to the centre of this cluster. We thought we would stop and talk to you before continuing our journey.” I decided not to tell him about our meeting with the Saraya ships for now.

  “And we are very happy you did. Your presence may change many things for us. Tell me…” he paused thoughtfully for a few seconds. “Do you think your warship can take on the Saraya?”

  I thought carefully before speaking.

  “We have one ship. Very powerful and well armed, but we cannot take on the Saraya single handed. In any case, if we do open hostilities with the Saraya, that will rule us out as intermediaries. In the long run, there has to be a peaceful settlement between your two species.”

  “In the long run, one of us will be exterminated,” he said firmly. A shiver ran up my back. I felt, for the first time, the sort of physical fear that the Dansai had lived under for thousands of years.

  “We will do all we can to avoid that tragedy,” I said firmly.

  “Captain, I would like you and Manera to visit my planet.”

  “Thank you Solan. We would be delighted. If the opportunity presents itself.”

  “Which opportunity is that Captain?” Manera had torn herself away from the elderly delegates and come to my rescue.

  “Ah, Deputy Solan has kindly invited us to his home planet, Temalat,” I explained.

  “That will be very interesting,” said Manera. She and Solan greeted each other. “We have many places to visit in the future.”

  “Do you think that you personally will return to the cluster?” asked Solan.

  Manera and I looked at each other, and we both shrugged. Solan chuckled at our response.