Space Scout - The Makers

by S A Pavli

  “Yes sir.” It was the first time I had ever heard Hamolatonen swear. I strode off with Cora by my side. I wanted her instant communication with the ship, Alfred and everyone. We picked up the two robots and made our way to the bay. The air pressure was coming up to normal. Inside the bay I could see a small circular AG module, as big as a small executive jet, without the wings. Much fancier than our basic ship to ship tender. The indicator showed normal air pressure and the blue light came on. Cora operated the door open button and we walked in, flanked by the robots. I made my face grim and expressionless, which was not difficult. It was how I felt.

  The door in their ship opened and Lanatra stepped out, followed by Lieutenant Crossley and two female officers from the Kuàisù Niao. Also with them were two androids similar to the ones that had accompanied Prime. They had heavy equipment backpacks.

  Lanatra, walked confidently up to me.

  “Captain Constantine and Cora. You are a resourceful pair.” She smiled engagingly at me. “I am Jana. At any other time Captain, it would be a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  “It could still be a pleasure. For all of us,” I said giving her a meaningful look. Sorry Manera, I don’t mean it.

  “All you have to do is stop this and we can help you. Willingly.”

  “Would you agree to us taking over your friends bodies?”

  “Is that really necessary?”

  “It’s a nice body,” she said, caressing her waist and sticking out her breasts. “I would have preferred your body Captain. It would be different to be a man. And your girlfriend is very beautiful.” The look in her eyes was mocking. Suddenly I realised my earlier optimistic thoughts were naïve and wishful.

  Lieutenant Crossly stepped forward.

  “I am Santol,” he said. “My colleagues here are Ranayo and Mantali. These two androids are armed and in permanent communication with our habitat. The ship we arrived on…” he turned and pointed to the dumpy AG vehicle, “has a fusion bomb which can be triggered by any of us with a single thought. Take us to the Captain.”

  My heart sank as I realised we had been outsmarted by these creatures.

  “Cora, please convey that information to the Captain and Admiral Deshi. I would not want them to do anything foolish.”

  “Yes Paul.”

  I turned and with Cora next to me we walked back to the Bridge with the aliens following. One of our two robots led the way, the other brought up in the rear. They now appeared to be an empty gesture of defiance.

  You are a trusting fool Constantine. Maybe if I had not met the Hianja and the beautiful Manera first, I may not have been so trusting with the bloody Cypraeans.

  Back in the Bridge, there were gasps as the aliens walked in with Lanatra in the lead. Hamolatonen looked devastated. I was sure that he thought the real Lanatra was dead. Jana walked up to the Captain confidently.

  “Captain Hamolatonen, I am Jana. Please set a course for our old home planet. We wish to examine that first before we proceed into the cluster. These two androids are equipped with communications equipment and the means to interface with your ships AI. They have the coordinates.”

  Hamolatonen nodded, his face grim, and with no comment he communicated via his implant with the ships AI. After a few moments he turned to Jana.

  “The comms link with your robots has been set up and the coordinates uploaded. Shall we send them to the Earth ships?”

  “Yes, do so. Then proceed with the jump. And please ensure that only essential personnel are on the bridge. Including Captain Constantine and Cora. I want those two within my sight at all times.”

  Mmm. Got you worried have I? Good. It was small consolation but I made the best of it. The captain was conversing with Admiral Deshi, whose face was looking fierce. I imagined that was how his ancient Mongol ancestors would have looked as they bore down on their enemies, swords aloft and screaming their battle cries. They finished their conversation, the Admiral nodded and the bridge of his ship disappeared from the giant wall screen.

  “Jump stations. Prepare to jump.”

  We took our places for the hyperspace jump as the ships AI counted us down. I mentally thumbed my private channel to Alfred.

  “We seem to be in the pickle old chap. They are thinking one step ahead.” I spoke English of course in case we were being overheard.

  “The aggressor in a conflict always has the advantage,” replied Alfred. “We have been too trusting.”

  “Yes. Our fabled Makers are not quite what we expected. On that note, can we believe their stated aims?”

  “They want to communicate with their main civilisation. What is your suspicion?” asked Alfred.

  “Taking over our colleagues brains seems drastic. They could have just asked us.”

  “You believe they are hiding something?”

  “Yes I do. I can understand that the Makers moved to the Galaxy hub because there are few habitable planets here in the cluster. But why abandon all their existing planets?”

  “As they said, in the long run, all the planets here in the cluster will go through extreme climate change.”

  “I would have thought that they had the technology to prevent that,” I said.

  “Perhaps you, or someone, should try to get closer to them. Jana has already expressed a desire to be intimate with you.”

  “No, she wanted to be me. Not that I blame her.” My attempt at humour was lost on Alfred.

  “There may be no more to the situation than what they have stated,” said Alfred. “This migration took place over thousands of years. Perhaps as more and more people left, the old planets became hard to maintain and the migration intensified.”

  There was some merit in Alfred’s suggestion. Perhaps I was being too suspicious. But I was not convinced.

  Chapter 24

  The hyperspace trip to the Cypraean home planet was just a few hours. I again marvelled at the incredible closeness of all the stars in the cluster. We exited hyperspace at the usual 3 million mile boundary and focused our instruments on the fourth planet from the sun. It was certainly a habitable world, although conditions were somewhat extreme. Again, as with the other Cypraean planets, climate change had wrecked havoc on the planet. The downside of living in the cluster was the instability of planetary motion leading to extreme climate change.

  As we came closer, the ships AI picked up something odd. It threw a close-up on the big 3D and we gaped with disbelief.

  “What the hell is it?” someone asked.

  “It looks like a ring around the planet. Is it natural or artificial?”

  “It can’t be artificial. It would be huge, thirty thousand miles in diameter.”

  The speculation continued, but the Cypraeans remained smugly quiet. It was clearly no surprise to them. I switched to my channel with Alfred.

  “Alfred, any ideas on that object? It’s just about visible so its not very thick. But it can’t be natural surely?”

  “No, it is artificial,” replied my AI. “The reflectivity indicates it is made of polished metal. It is about one thousand miles up in orbit about the planet. To be visible from here I calculate it must be at least twenty to thirty metres thick.”

  Jana and her three colleagues were on the bridge keenly examining the results of our scans of the planet. Then there was another surprise announcement from the ships AI.

  “I am detecting radio transmissions from the planet.” We could see that the Cypraeans were surprised by this. They began questioning the AI immediately. Our ships AI with Alfreds help immediately got to work decoding the format of the transmissions. Results were almost immediate.

  “They are Saraya,” announced the ships AI.

  “Select one video channel and put it on screen,” said Hamolatonen.

  A display appeared on the big 3D wall screen. It showed what appeared to be a newscast. The announcer, an ugly green character wearing a pointed beret and beige green waistcoat and red shirt, announced that an ancient site had been discovered which
contained interesting and as yet unknown artefacts. We were shown video footage of the site, a mostly underground excavation of impressive size.

  The Cypraeans looked shocked.

  “The Saraya have occupied our home planet,” said one of the Cypraeans, the female Mantali, in a shocked voice.

  “Well you did abandon the planet a million years ago,” I muttered to myself. It did not seem much of a planet anyway, with desert areas around the equator and frozen wastes about the poles. There were two narrow habitable strips between the two extremes, but I reckoned even there the climate must be very changeable. It occurred to me that the Saraya may only be there because they had discovered artefacts. Did the Saraya suspect this may have been the ancient home of the Cypraean civilization I wondered.

  “Is there advanced technology there that the Saraya could use?” I asked. “Artificial gravity for example.”

  Jana and Santol looked at each other before Santol answered.

  “Yes. It was used widely in building construction.”

  I remembered the fantastic structures I had seen in the virtual city of Sentrani. They could only stand with the help of AG.

  “If the Saraya discover AG, their technology will leap ahead of the Dansai,” said Jana.

  The conclusion was obvious and we all looked at each other grimly.

  “We cannot allow that to happen,” said Santol. “The Dansai are our descendants, even though they do not know it.”

  The Cypraeans conferred with each other quietly for a minute or two before turning back to us.

  “We must attack the Saraya here and force them to leave.”

  “We did not come here to start a war,” said Hamolatonen. “I suggest you wait for your own forces to arrive. Do not use us for your dirty work.”

  The Cypraeans seemed hesitant. They conferred again, whispering quietly. They eventually turned back to the Captain.

  “Let us first determine the extent of their forces here, and the size of their settlement. Instruct your AI to proceed with this. When our information is complete we can discuss options.”

  Our technicians went into a huddle with Manera and a couple of her colleagues, as did Hamo and Guardian Commra. I connected with Alfred and waited for him to fill me in as the facts became available. I pondered on what the Cypraeans could be up to. After abandoning the Dansai, why should they now be so concerned to protect them from the Saraya?

  Our four ships accelerated towards the planet, collecting information about the planet and the extent of Saraya settlement. It became obvious very quickly that there were a number of Saraya bases on the planet and three ships in orbit. Radio silence was maintained between the ships by using short range laser transmitters. We took a slow hyperbolic route allowing us to scan the whole planet.

  After a few hours we had completed our survey and convened for a discussion. Our ships AI gave us the facts.

  “There are twelve settlements on the planet, spread around the habitable land masses.” The AI put up a display on the 3D showing the locations. “The sizes vary between just a few temporary shelters to the largest which has three substantial buildings and four smaller ones, probably storage huts and workshops. There are a number of aircraft hangers in the larger settlements and numerous fixed wing and helicopter aircraft. There are three starships in orbit.”

  Clearly the planet was not settled for habitation. But the Saraya had dedicated substantial resources to exploring it. That implied that they believed it contained riches. The number and size of their bases indicated that they had been here for some time. What had they discovered in that time? If their engineers discovered the secret of AG, the Dansai were in big trouble.

  Jana called a meeting. The Settangs officers gathered on the bridge and the three Earth ships were on the 3D.

  “We must destroy the Saraya on this planet,” began Jana without preamble.

  “Wait Jana, let’s talk about this,” I said loudly. Everyone’s attention turned to me and I stood up. “What is the problem here?”

  “The Saraya may have acquired advanced technology,” said Jana. “Obviously.” She glared at me contemptuously.

  “Or maybe they haven’t?” I looked at them questioningly. “You are prepared to kill hundreds of individuals without knowing?

  “What do you suggest? We go down and ask them?” She asked with an expression of amused sarcasm.

  “If they have already acquired the secret of AG, then it is already too late. Destroying their bases here and killing hundreds will not achieve anything. ”

  Jana looked at me blankly.

  “Obviously,” I added, just to rub it in.

  “Captain Constantine has a point,” said Santol. “But how would you suggest we find out. With respect, they are not going to tell us.”

  “You abandoned your planet with all its technological secrets. You cannot now complain if someone discovers and appropriates them. It is not the Saraya to blame, but you. The only option you have now is to give the same technology to the Dansai and assist them in defending themselves.”

  “And allow these animals to continue looting our planet.” said Jana disdainfully.

  “No. Once they see that we have superior military forces, they will have to leave.” I was on more shaky ground here I knew, but I could only hope the Saraya would see sense. But my hopes were dashed by Santol.

  “I am afraid that is unlikely. The Saraya are congenitally aggressive. Genetically engineering them was our biggest mistake.”

  “But how do you know that?” asked Manera. “You have been away from here for thousands of years. You cannot know how their civilization has developed.”

  “We monitored their progress during the early stages of their development,” explained Santol. “We were concerned then that their culture was based on individual domination instead of social agreement.”

  “I still believe we should give the Saraya the opportunity to leave here peacefully before resorting to force,” I said.

  “I think we all support that approach,” said Hamolatonen. “What do you think Admiral?”

  “As I understand the situation, the Dansai and the Saraya are mortal enemies,” said the Admiral. “We are strangers, visitors to their worlds. We should not embark on hostilities or take sides. Our governments back on Earth will take a dim view of us making war on aliens who have never seen us before. We are an exploratory expedition, armed to defend ourselves only. We have no authority to open hostilities on another species.”

  “I understand all that Admiral, and I respect what you say,” said Santol, demonstrating much more diplomacy and respect than Jana, who was scowling impatiently next to him. “But as far as the Saraya are concerned, Humans, Hianja, Dansai and Cypraeans are all the same thing to them.”

  I remembered how the first Saraya ships had immediately attacked us, believing us to be Dansai.

  “Then perhaps we should explain to them that we are not Dansai,” said the Admiral firmly. “We have a duty to do that, not to simply reinforce the status quo.”

  My respect for the Admiral went up even higher. He was not just a military leader but a responsibly diplomat.

  “Let me be clear,” continued the Admiral forcefully. “We will under no circumstances start a war with these people. You may threaten us with whatever you will, it will not force us to attack them.”

  “If we destroy one of your ships you may change your mind,” said Jana coldly. “Perhaps Atlantis to start with.”

  “If you wish, start with my own ship,” said the Admiral. “To die in battle is a warriors greatest honour.”

  Things seemed to be getting out of hand. Fortunately, Santol intervened.

  “Enough of that,” he said curtly. “Since you are so obsessed with preserving the lives of these creatures, then by all means let us attempt to reason with them first. Instruct your ships AI to put together a message for transmission to the Saraya. It should explain that they are trespassing on a planet that does not belong to them and stealing val
uable antiques. They must leave the planet immediately leaving behind everything they have taken. We have overwhelming military force. If they disobey we will destroy all their ships and bases on the planet.”

  “Er… perhaps we can leave out the bit about destroying all their ships and bases?” I suggested. “It might upset them. And you know how easy it is to upset them.”

  Manera met my eyes and gave me a little smile of support and understanding. The Cypraeans scowled at each other then Santol shrugged.

  “As you wish. The outcome is inevitable whatever you do or say.”

  Are the Saraya so bad? I asked myself. Both the Dansai and the Cypraeans were convinced that they were. But given that the relationships between them had begun with violence and genocide, it was not surprising. The crucial thing was for the Saraya to understand that we were not Dansai. Only then could we hope that they would behave sensibly.

  The message to be transmitted was prepared and agreed by all parties. It was transmitted by the Settang, and repeated every minute. We sat back to await a reply.

  It did not take too long. Two things happened at the same time. We received a reply on the same frequency directed at the Settangs location. It simply asked Who are you? And one of the Saraya starships left orbit and headed at maximum acceleration for the 3 million mile border.

  The Cypraeans conferred then instructed us to answer. ‘We are the owners of this planet. It is our ancient home and we do not want it desecrated. Make preparations to leave peacefully. Also instruct your ship to turn around and return otherwise we will intercept and destroy it’

  I wanted to persuade them not to threaten, but I decided I had got about as much out of them as I was going to.

  The next message we got was a question.

  “You are the Engineers?”

  The Cypraeans answered immediately.

  “We are.” and the reply came back.

  “Prove it. Show yourselves.”

  I knew that we had come to the crunch point. Whatever picture the Saraya had of the fabled Engineers, it was unlikely to look like the despised Dansai. But the Cypraeans seemed undaunted.