Rescue Mission to the Stars

by Philip R Benge

  **********

  The next morning was a busy one for the crew of the Galactic Traveller, who worked hard in the large and spacious main hold to turn it into a dining room, with all the luxury foods and drinks set out onto the lightweight foldable tables that John Blazer had also provided. The shuttlecraft had been moved from the freighter’s hold, and was parked nearby. All was ready by lunchtime; all that was needed was their guests who suddenly appeared en-masse, led by the captains of the Mazeren space fleet who were closely followed by their officers. Admiral Stator followed on behind, as was in keeping with his elevated status, for he had to be seen to be playing it cool. What did surprise the crew of the Galactic Traveller was Ambassador Kennedy walking into the large hold, closely attended by his aides and the officers of the Intrepid.

  “You didn`t really think that you could keep this from me Charlton?” Kennedy said disdainfully. “I expect you all to act like officers and gentlemen while your guests are here. Please bear in mind that this interstellar meeting between two intelligent races cannot be allowed to fail because of your quest, no matter how important it may be to you. If you will only think for a moment about this momentous occasion and how it affects Mankind. I will explain its importance so that even you can understand it Charlton. The Earth is four and a half billion years old, but life only appeared on its landmasses some three hundred million years ago. Mammals didn`t arrive for another one hundred million years after that, and it is now thought that proto man only turned into homo sapiens because of a series of constant environmental changes in Africa, starting just over two million years ago. Homo sapiens, that is to say us, only escaped extinction narrowly in our distant past, but somehow we survived to dominate the world. Now while life may well be common in our galaxy, intelligent life may not yet exist in more than a handful of the planets blessed with life. For on many other worlds the environment may have remained constant and the need for Mans brain to develop might never have arisen. This meeting between the Mazeren people and the people of Earth is as I said a momentous occasion, and early misunderstandings on their part cannot be allowed to stop it evolving into a great friendship between two great worlds. For who can tell when we may be fortunate enough to meet another intelligent being, it might not be for a very long time and I don`t want to go down in history as the man who failed to establish links with this one.”

  Kennedy finally came to an end of his lecture, and David for his part was impressed with the argument, but for his part he still didn`t trust the Mazeren people, and couldn`t as yet see how they would ever be called his friends.

  “I accept all that you have said Ambassador, and I promise that we will do nothing to harm your attempts to take a treaty back to Earth. However, Ambassador, I will also reserve the right to carry on with my search for my father and his crew. Now if you will excuse me, I need to circulate amongst my guests.” With that, David left him and approached a senior looking officer who was in conversation with Jimmy Fielding.

  “David, let me introduce you to Captain Zara of the space cruiser Timor, we were speaking about space pirates, and it seems that the Mazerens merchantmen have to be extra careful at the moment to avoid falling prey to them in some of the more distant worlds of the Mazeren Empire. Captain Zara, let me introduce you to my Captain, David Charlton.” Jimmy Fielding said.

  “It is good to meet you Captain Charlton, I hope that you weren`t bothered by pirates on your way to this meeting?” Captain Zara asked politely.

  “No, we came in the company of the space cruiser Intrepid, and there isn`t a space pirate alive who would dare go up against such a starship. But surely your ship isn`t bothered by such pests either Captain?” David replied.

  “No Captain, that they would never do, our fire power would soon make short work of them.” The conversation carried on about each other’s planets, about the other life forms upon them but then Jimmy Fielding changed the subject to a more technical level.

  “You have just the one hyper space engine while the Intrepid carries two, does that mean that your ship is slower or have you managed to beat the size barrier that still baffles our scientists?” Jimmy openly declared.

  “I should not speak of such things to you, but the fact that you can see my space cruiser sitting out there on the space port for yourself means that it would be pointless for me to ignore your question. Yes, the Timor has a revolutionary new hyperspace engine, which will be the power behind our future explorations into deep space. There were a few teething troubles to begin with, and we even had one of our smaller craft crash, killing some of the crew but we have finally managed to iron out the creases that our own scientists missed in their hurry to put the engine into production. The Timor is now operating at peak efficiency, and as my crew are the best in the fleet there is no better starship in the whole of the universe.” Captain Zara proudly stated.

  “I`d give a years wages to see your hyperspace engine, even to have just a peep would be a fitting end to my career, for I am retiring from space after this trip.” Jimmy said wistfully.

  “Well I suppose that I could reciprocate your own kind invitation and have you both come aboard the Timor tomorrow morning for a hot drink of kakao, and then maybe I might let you have a quick look at it, but only a quick look mind you. I`d be shot if I allowed you to get more than that.” Zara had an honest respect for all starship engineers, and was very happy to offer this invitation to the earthmen.

  “Thank you Captain.” David said. “Jimmy and I would appreciate the abridged tour of your starship, and as Jimmy said he is retiring as soon as we return to Earth, so as an engineer he will be as happy as a pig in muck to have a quick look at your engine room.”

  After explaining the phrase about the pig, David was called across to speak once again to Admiral Stator, who wanted to speak further with him about the people of Earth, and he thought that he was more likely to get the information from David rather than the sophisticated and experienced diplomat Ambassador Kennedy. Tony Miles was with the admiral at this moment in time, and he for one was happier now that he knew that the Mazerens weren`t tea total, for the admiral had just told him how good their selection of wines was. He held a glass of the finest Californian wine in his hand. Which he drunk down with relish. Tony had thought that his stay here would be dry, when the Mazerens hadn`t offered him anything alcoholic at the presentation of the gifts from Earth in the large marquee. Unknown to Tony, the Mazerens had deliberately not offered them anything stronger than fruit punch, as they weren`t eager to cement friendly relations with the people of Earth just yet.

  “Captain Charlton I was hoping that we could talk about the many different peoples that populate Earth, to see if fact coincides with a pet theory of mine.” Admiral Stator said.

  “Yes, and maybe you might tell me about your own people and about your people’s voyages of discovery amongst the countless planetary systems of our galaxy?” David replied, for he was certainly not going to supply this alien leader with all that he needed to know about Earth, not without getting similar intelligence in return. Admiral Stator smiled.

  “But of course Captain Charlton, but maybe this is a little noisy here for such a talk, maybe you would agree to join me aboard my starship Sentinel tomorrow morning, when we could enjoy a hot drink of kakao and you could try some of my people`s delicacies.” Admiral Stator unexpectedly asked.

  “I would be delighted Admiral, until tomorrow then, but now you must let me refill your glass for you.” And so the luncheon party went on until well into the evening with Sarah making friends with all of the locals, and also sharing the Admiral`s invitation for conversation and a hot drink the next day. When their guests had finally departed, David and his fellow adventurers got together inside of the shuttlecraft, which was once more sitting snuggly inside of the cavernous hold of the Galactic Traveller, and talked of all that they had to do the following day.

  Jimmy Fielding had an invite to go aboard the space cruiser Timor, and Tony Miles would accompany him i
n place of David. David and Sarah of course had their own invitation to join Admiral Stator on the space cruiser Sentinel. Steve would have to play Cinderella and stay aboard the Galactic Traveller, he would have Barney with him to ensure that they didn`t get any uninvited guests.

  However, before they all went off and enjoyed themselves, Steve still had to finish his part of the task. It was lucky that John Blazer had had the foresight to suggest to Steve that he bring along six of his latest android tablets. John Blazer had thought that they could be used either as barter or just as a present, but now the suggestion had paid off in spades. Steve was busy finishing off the reprogramming of his android tablets to enable them to be able to read the very complex computer language of the Mazerens, which Barney had downloaded and deciphered on his trip to the crashed starship. Steve had also built into the software a sub routine that would erase the relay if anyone attempted to access it without its password. Steve would soon be able to give the android tablets to David and Jimmy so that they in turn could present them to the Mazerens. They would be the best games platform that the Mazerens would ever have experienced. However, hidden within their software was a program that would also allow him to hack into the Mazeren starship computers, just as Barney had done on the crashed Mazeren starship? Once inside he would be able to search for any mention of the Blazer Explorer and its crew within the data files of the starships. He was still working when the others had retired to their cabins, leaving Barney on watch for the remainder of the night.

  As David handled the reconfigured tablets the next morning, it occurred to him that he had in his hands a very real chance of finding out if his father was still alive, and he couldn`t help smiling. The screensaver on the device was of a prancing stallion and he thought how apt it was. These two devices would be their Trojan horses, but not to gain entry into an enemy city; it was to gain access to their thoughts.

  Later in the morning, Jimmy Fielding and Tony Miles went aboard the starship Timor for a hot kakao, which turned out to be very similar to coffee, and they enjoyed a quick tour of the starship, including a trip into the engineering department to see the hyper drive drive engine. When the two men left, Jimmy Fielding handed over his ‘Trojan horse’ to Captain Zara, and after saying thank you for the Kakao and the accompanying meze, they headed back to the Galactic Traveller.

  David and Sarah had a more formidable host to meet, Admiral Stator. They were soon sitting in his stateroom enjoying their own kakao and a meze, that this time was a selection of small pies that both David and Sarah found to be very tasty. He would have felt guilty at the thought that he would repay this hospitality by leaving his ‘Trojan horse’ if he was not certain that Admiral Stator not only knew about the attempts on his life but also the fate of his father. Admiral Stator opened the conversation by asking about the various religions on Earth, and this gave David the opportunity to hand over the android tablet.

  “Admiral will you please accept this gift on behalf of the many non governmental people who would like to meet your people. It is primarily a games platform but it also has an extensive encyclopaedia built into it. A large section deals with the various religions that abound freely on Earth. It also deals with the many different nations and their governments. It tells how they are uniting behind the idea of a central united government of Earth. Indeed, it has been obvious for some time that we need to become one people, and our brightest and most forward thinkers have been pressing for this to happen, especially now that we are travelling to the stars. There is also a necessarily large section that explains the many cultures on Earth and a section dealing with the multifarious types of non-human life forms that abound on the planet. Maybe it is these life forms that help make Earth such an oasis amidst the inhospitable environment of space.”

  “Thank you Captain for this gift, hopefully after I have finished studying it we can talk more of your world?” Admiral Stator said.

  “We would be delighted to explain anything that you do not understand, but now maybe you will tell Sarah and me a little about your own world, such as its form of government. For example are all of the Mazeren people allowed to participate in the election of their government?”

  “All of our people who attain a certain level in their education and graduate are made full citizens of Mazere, and are then permitted to participate. It is thought that anyone who has not reached this level, would not have the necessary intelligence to allow them to consider all of the facts, and so permit them to make a considered intelligent choice, and not one based on outmoded sentiment. Only a small minority of our people are denied this right. As well as these uneducated people of Mazere, those who have committed a felony are not considered worthy of such a right.” Admiral Stator said.

  David felt unwilling to argue against these ideals, for he had some sympathy with this view regarding felons, but he was firmly opposed to restricting the right to vote of the less educated. For the moment though, he decided to probe deeper rather than to attack the fundamentals behind the Mazeren government.

  “May I ask just how many of your people graduate to become full citizens of your world, and are then entitled to vote in your planet`s elections?”

  “It has now risen to over ninety five per cent, and it may well be because of an extra incentive given to those who graduate. They are included in the ranks of the people on our planet who have the right to have more than one child. All those who fail to graduate at the first attempt are allowed to stay on at school, so they can sit their examinations again. However, those who fail a second time will forfeit some rights. For example, they are only allowed to have one child. These failures are mostly children who are born to our Non Citizen families and so maybe it a mitigating factor behind their unwillingness to work hard at school. Recently our government has decided that those who are amongst the lowest rank of these failed students are denied even more rights; the right to have any children will be taken away. This is a part of the new pair of laws that were brought in just three years ago as an incentive to all our students to try harder.” Admiral Stator said this in a so matter of fact sort of way that he may have been talking about the weather. David and Sarah were both a little shocked by his words, and even more by his following words.

  “The second law that was brought in requires all of our Non Citizens to wear a particular coloured tunic when out and about, to denote their position in society. The higher grade of Non Citizen have yellow and red striped tunics, and the lower grade have yellow and grey striped ones. It is felt that this uniform will make them feel proud, for they will now realise that they are part of a greater whole.” David thought that this new law stank of something else, fascism.

  “The law that regulates child birth, surely those people who are denied the right to have a child don`t obey such a law, and surely a civilised world could never enforce such a law as that. Don`t these people simply disappear into the crowd and resurface elsewhere to have a family?” David asked.

  “The criminals on Mazere are sterilised while they are in prison, this is to stop them breeding further generations of felons. It is painless, a chemical is added to the drinking water supplied to all of our prisons, and they are sterilised this way, it is quite simple and painless. As to the Non Citizens disappearing into the crowd, well that maybe possible on Earth, but on my world it is all but impossible. Oh, there is an underworld on Mazere where some of the malcontents hide away, but the punishments are enough to deter most people, and those that try to hide find it hard to stay hidden from our state police for long. Our law abiding citizens soon inform the authorities of any undesirables who have moved into the neighbourhood, and they are immediately picked up. We have a planet wide database of all of our peoples DNA, and their fingerprints. We also have a facial recognition database which is updated whenever a person votes, and voting is mandatory every five years. This data base is also checked and updated when anyone goes to court, or the local town hall for any particular reason, so you see our data base is kept quite u
p to date for all of our people.” Admiral Stator boasted.

  “What happens if a citizen fails to vote?” David enquired.

  “He is fined the first time Captain, and stripped of his citizenship if he fails to vote a second time.” Admiral Stator informed them.

  “Well I can see that you would get one hundred per cent turn outs then.” David said, but now Sarah had a question.

  “Getting back to the sterilisation of your criminals Admiral, doesn`t sterilising these people only serve to brutalise them, surely the number of assaults has increased over the last three years?” Sarah asked in amazement.” And how about the worst achievers in your school who then become Non Citizens, how do you prevent these people from having children without having a civil war on your hands?” Sarah wondered.

  “As regards the lowest rank of Non Citizens, they live in our industrial centres; there they either work in our mines or in our heavy industry. A certain amount of their water is treated with the same chemical as is in the prisons, it is a simple matter to sterilise them to prevent them from having children. The other more fortunate Non Citizens either live in the satellite towns around the many cities of Mazere, and supply the cities with low paid non skilled labour, something that is more suited to people of their educational level, either that or they work as domestics in the larger more affluent neighbourhoods and live in.” Stator said condescendingly. “As regards the criminals well they are also given a drug while in prison that ensures that they don`t commit any further crimes when they are released, it makes them very docile and they become valuable workers in the industrial towns.” David Charlton was sure in his own mind as to the rights or wrongs of such an action, but decided against verbally attacking Admiral Stator for fear of upsetting Ambassador Kennedy`s talks, instead he asked another question.

  “I still don`t see how you get away with it, surely a simple filter on the incoming water supply of the towns associated with mining or heavy industry, will supply a source of clean drinking water for these poor unfortunate citizens?” David said now finding it impossible to keep the horror of the situation from his voice.

  “You must understand that they are simply not able to think as you and I are. In fact we regard them all as our charges, and it is our responsibility to care for them and see that they have the necessary food and shelter.” Stator said haughtily. He didn`t add that their water supply was also laced with the same drug used in the Mazerens prisons, the one designed to make them docile.

  “You said that these people aren`t allowed to participate in any of your worlds elections, but surely they have a right to be represented in your government, and by their own peers, for without that who can truly speak for them?” David argued.

  “The Mazeren government has a ministry dedicated to just those people; their welfare is its only concern.” Admiral Stator replied with a slight raise in the tone of his voice, for he sensed the distaste in David and Sarah’s` voices.

  “And yet you will not allow them to have any children, they are sterilised without their knowledge and forced to work in the heavily industrialised and polluted towns. I put it to you that the Non Citizen population are not truly represented at all, Admiral.” David said defiantly. “And isn`t there a good chance that due to this policy of partial sterilisation that you might also create an actual labour shortage in your mines and heavy industries?” David asked.

  “No, our robotics industry has more than made up for the decrease in such workers.” Admiral Stator replied.

  “But don`t the workers realise that there is a decrease in their ranks, a decrease that will become more marked as the years pass by?” Sarah put in.

  “The workers are moved from town to town so that the reduction in jobs goes unnoticed.” Admiral Stator replied quietly, for he now began to realise that he may have said too much on this subject. His visitors’ comments had begun to strike at the heart of the Mazeren governmental policy, a policy that many on Mazere had begun to contest. Especially since ‘Action against Tyranny’ had begun to attack the government’s policies.

  What Admiral Stator also didn`t say was that he and many of the senior officers in the military now agreed that some of the newer policies being enacted by the present government were very wrong, and that they would eventually bring down their society if the present politicians were left to rule Mazere. This was why a military coup was now being planned. The only problem was that the planet`s state police were everywhere, and so only the most trusted of the senior officers were allowed in on the plan at this stage. For too many people to be in at the planning stage would mean that they would be found out, and then probably executed, for the state police had thousands of spies throughout Mazere, which is why the protests of three years ago had failed so completely.

  David decided to change the subject as he was feeling anger boiling up within him at the Mazeren rulers, and at this man in particular with his condescending attitude regarding not only many of his own people, but with his visitors from Earth as well.

  “But enough of such talk Admiral; let us change the subject of our conversation. As you may not be aware of, we are still a multi-government world, as you will find when you open the tablet. There are a multitude of parties all vying to win as many seats as possible in this multitude of governments, is this also true of yours?” David asked the question but he had already worked out the answer.

  “There is only one party on Mazere, a multitude of parties’ means that the best people are often not elected to government because they are in the wrong party. Another problem associated with having more than one party is that policies change when the government does, whether the original policies are correct or not. Our system ensures that the best men are elected to govern, and that the policies are changed only when those best suited to govern decide to do so, and not because of the outdated dogma followed by the new government.”

  David was not too sure that Admiral Stator had stated the case fully for the cons, for a major problem associated with a one party government was their trend to become dictatorial. They were hard to argue with and even harder to replace, but he kept quiet about this, as it was not the right time to argue politics with a leader of the Mazeren military. Anyway he was only an insignificant space man, so Admiral Stator probably wouldn`t consider that he had reached the required level of education.

  “I feel that you are not in agreement with much that goes on regarding the way we treat our Non Citizens, but I put it to you Captain Charlton that on Earth there are still many serious crimes committed, and even wars waged between sovereign nations, at least on Mazere both these particular plagues have all but been eliminated.” Admiral Stator now turned to Sarah.

  “But enough of politics for now, let us speak about the women of our two worlds, first Ms Hardin I will tell you a little of the women of my world and then maybe you would consent to speak to me as a woman of your world?” Admiral Stator suggested.

  “Of course Admiral, I am very curious to know a little about the half of your planet`s population that are not represented here on this barren planet?” Sarah said smiling at the alien. She listened with interest without interrupting as he told her about the way of life of most of the women of Mazere.

  “The women of my world have exactly the same rights as the men, except for a few minor exceptions. They are not allowed to join the armed forces of our world, but as we haven`t fought a war in two of your centuries that is of no consequence. They are not allowed to join our fire brigade or our police force. When they have children, they are expected to leave their job of work or profession to look after their children. This is better for the children and therefore better for the women in the end. They will enjoy a happier life if their children also enjoy the comfort and protection offered by living within a normal functioning family, one with the mother at home to care for them. And finally of course they are kept away from dangerous places such as deep space and first contact meetings with an alien race when anything might happen.” Stator l
ooked condescendingly at David for just a moment before looking back at Sarah, and he now smiled, for he believed that he had made a case that few could argue with, he didn`t know Sarah Jane Hardin all that well.

  “I will pass over your first two points Admiral, as I personally have no wish to become a soldier or to join the fire brigade, although I would fight for the right of other women to join either of these services if she so desired. As to whether a person should leave their chosen way of life to tend to the wellbeing of their children, which I too firmly believe in, if it is not made impossible by financial or personal reasons. However, I would argue whether the woman should be the one to put aside her way of life, and not the man. There are as many able women as there are men, and so it should be decided on merit between the couple, and prior to their decision to having a family rather than just understood that it is the job of the woman. As for your point about women not being allowed to work in deep space Admiral, and that they be kept away from all potential places of danger, I must firmly disagree. I as a woman have no desire to be wrapped in cotton wool to ensure that no possible harm befalls me, I would rather help fight against any who would put harm in my way, than see another risk their own life in the defence of mine, especially without my doing anything to help. And finally I firmly believe that women should be present within a planet`s police force, if only to ensure a just and fair approach when dealing with women. However, I also believe this because many women are as able as any man is and better than many whom I have personally met during my life. Your world is missing out on a source of ability and understanding within those professions closed or restricted to them through their duties as a mother, and Admiral, by so much that I cannot even estimate the amount.”

  Sarah looked firmly but politely at Admiral Stator but from her attitude David could see that she was determined that she would not shift one inch from her declared position. It was shortly after this that David and Sarah left Admiral Stator, whose own position was not quite so firm following the meeting.

  Admiral Stator looked at the tablet in his hands and decided to read everything that was on the android tablet that David had presented to him. He didn`t find anything important on the tablet that the Mazeren agents on Earth hadn`t already told him, but it did add to his knowledge about the various cultures. It confirmed his opinion of his two recent guests from Earth, that they weren`t fools, and that they had been honest with him when they had answered his questions. They had not however told him their real reason for coming to this area of space, to search for the missing starship and its captain and crew. Stator smiled for he knew that they must fail in their search, unless they received assistance from someone high ranking in the military or the government of Mazere, and this was never likely to happen. As the admiral looked at the tablet once again, a smile spread across his face, for the information stored on the tablet had given him a totally new plan that would give him the result he so much desired, control of Mazere. It would also give them the excuse that would send the delegation from Earth back home to their planet, and with their tails between their legs.

  Admiral Stator immediately sent a coded message back to Mazere telling his senior conspirators of his plan. He explained what they needed to do to ensure that it would go like clockwork.