Here Comes Earth: Emergence (4 page)

Back
in my room Julie exclaimed, “Wow where did that come from?”

Helmer
blinked a few times then said, “Ah, how do you mean?”

“Dr.
Helmer, I would suggest to you that if our two worlds are to work together, if
Earth would like a friend and protector from true harm, then it is imperative
that we not play needless political games or try and make ourselves look
better. Noridia cannot help you unless you are honest about your world’s
present situation, primitive as it may be. I can assure you that you will not
reveal anything so repugnant to us that we would abandon you. However, if we
feel that you cannot be a trusted partner we could very well decide that our
priorities lay elsewhere. In the future I would encourage you to speak
plainly.”

Helmer
was stunned. I’d never seen that look on his face before – well, maybe once
before but that’s not important now… He was obviously trying to retake control
of the situation when he said, “I, we, couldn’t agree more. Openness between
our peoples is imperative and in that spirit please let me say that I’m not
sure what we said to make you think we were trying to hide anything?”

Jaki
looked Helmer square in the eyes and said, “Dr. Helmer, I attempted to gain
insight as to why your civilization seems to uniformly think it wise to capture
and hold people against their will and you attempt to deflect my inquiry by
referring to the circumstances that apply to only a small subset of all
incarcerated individuals. For example, your planet jails millions of political
prisoners – how are these people a legitimate threat to others or their
property?”

It
was like a drowning man grabbing at a lifeline… “Jaki, it’s true that in some
countries people are jailed for having different political beliefs but that’s
mostly what we refer to as ‘Third World’ countries. The modern world doesn’t
condone that.”

Tilting
her head Jaki said, “Really? I think you are mistaken but that is only one
example. I know your people have an incomprehensible fixation on the act of reproduction.
Your planet is overpopulated and you have many ceremonies and rituals
surrounding procreation; everything from the ceremony of ‘marriage’ when
declaring a short-term sexual partner to the ritual of making a ‘sex tape’ to
seek fame. These acts are glorified and rewarded yet if the same acts involve
the direct exchange of currency you call it prostitution and put the consenting
adults in a cage. These are the things you need to explain to us so that we can
better understand your civilization.”

“Uh,
Jaki, that one might take a little time…”

“What
about Controlled Substances? Fifty-five percent of federally incarcerated
individuals in your own country have harmed no one but themselves – and in a huge
number of cases they have not even done that. Yet you lock them away. You talk
about Third World countries but
the United States has less than 5% of the world's
population
and 24% of the world's prison population. The reality is
that on your planet the more ‘advanced’ you claim a country to be the higher
percentage of its population it locks up.
How
does your society justify this? Why do your people let it happen?”

It
was here that General Nesbit showed why he was the mission commander; “Jaki, I
think this is a good time to recess. We want to answer your questions but I
think we need to confer and make sure we’re giving you as objective of answers
as possible. Let’s reconvene the same time tomorrow.”

∆∆∆

“Well
that wasn’t what I expected,” said Julie as the interview ended.

I
agreed and told her that I was under the impression that this was supposed to be
them informing us about their society, not the other way around. Anzio of
course remembered the exact wording… “Actually it was promoted as a free-form
exchange of cultural information but I agree that it seemed totally one-sided.”

The
three of us were still in my room; I was at my desk while Julie sat at the head
of my bed and Anzio was lying back at the foot of the bed with his long legs
sprawled out across the floor.

Anzio
continued, “Jaki didn’t become confrontational until Dr. Helmer gave her an
answer that she clearly believed it to be disingenuous, yes? The thing is I
probably would have answered the same way. We lock people up because they’re
bad, right?”

“Or,
because they’re mentally unstable.” Julie added.

“Well…”
I said as I started to think it through… “We’re taught to believe that and more
or less socialized to think that way but in reality we’re judging people based
on our moral beliefs. We justify these beliefs by claiming we need protection
but according to these incarceration numbers I just pulled up on the net,
that’s not exactly true. If these stats are right Jaki is technically correct
when she says we lock up a majority of people simply because they won’t live
their lives the way we want them to. As a society we’re kind of fibbing to
ourselves and Jaki is calling us on it.”

“So
the Noridians don’t share the same morals as we do. That’s probably to be
expected,” Julie said. “Until we each have a better understanding of how our
societies ‘think’ there’ll probably be more misunderstandings like this one.”

“You
think it was a misunderstanding?” I asked.

“Well,
don’t you?”

I
wasn’t so sure. Somehow I didn’t believe that Jaki’s little speech was impromptu.
The more I thought about it the more I was sure that she staged it. There are
certainly a number of things about our civilization that would be hard to
defend but we’re not on trial, are we?

“I
don’t know. It just seems that she probed an area that we can’t logically
defend, and it, well… it gave her the moral high ground. If nothing else it sure
put us on the defensive…” And changed the subject as well, I thought to myself.

Major Mathew Reagan, US Army

The
interview with Jaki sent large waves through the Broken Star team, the
military, and the government. We already knew that there were hostile entities
out there and it was now obvious that our protection had a price. Our
protectors were making it clear that they could withdraw that protection at any
time. The biggest questions then were what did the Noridians want from us and
could we afford not to give it to them?

The
international politics had to be landing squarely on General Nesbit’s shoulders
and I was thankful I didn’t have his job. The Noridians had contacted several
other Heads of State in addition to our President, but had made it clear they
would deal with Earth through us. How this didn’t cause a war I’ll never know
but it set the stage for Operation Broken Star.

We
were a scientific and diplomatic group overseen by the military – as opposed to
being a military operation with a scientific and diplomatic element – a
distinction that only a true Washington bureaucrat could appreciate. Also, I
was told not to refer to myself or my staff as military but rather as security
forces. Regardless, we were officially designated B Company, commanded by
Brigadier General Nesbit and our personnel strength was 144. B Company was made
up of four Platoons and Gen Nesbit’s Headquarters Staff. 1
^st
Platoon
was the diplomatic staff, and Platoons 2
^nd
, 3
^rd
, and 4
^th
were given over to scientific duties. I commanded 3
^rd
Platoon. Captain
Antonio Silva was my Second in Command and along with three staff members made
up my own headquarters. In addition to my HQ my platoon had four squads;
Orange, Red, Green, and Blue. Each squad had a security Captain as a Squad
Leader and six science personnel. My Squad Leaders and HQ Staff were all
handpicked by me except for Captain Silva.

At
any rate, my Squad Leaders and HQ staff are very special people. Since we would
be weaponless once the journey started (I don’t know if that was a stipulation of
the Noridians or an idiotic politician’s idea of showing faith) I wanted the
very best hand-to-hand experts on the planet. I was told that I could have
anyone I wanted as long as they could be vetted so I had put it to the test and
called a friend of mine in the Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF). I thought the
two files he sent me were a joke until I watched the video of their martial
skills. Twin sisters, attractive and deadly; real Femmes Fatales. I also called
every Special Forces officer I had a working relationship with in the U.S. and
the U.K. and used their best people to round out my staff and Platoon Leaders.
The result was my own seven-man army that could probably, with their bare
hands, kill 40 people in a crowded room before anyone had the sense to scream.
The other three Platoon Leaders thought I was playing politics by selecting an
international team but I didn’t care. I can understand why they’d want to bring
their existing staff and command structure but I was going with my gut on this
one. I figured it was easier to train Special Forces how to do staff stuff than
it was to teach staffers how to be Special Forces.

All
of this hadn’t gone unnoticed by General Nesbit. Sometime before we’d arrived
at our Nevada facilities he’d called me into his Washington office and
questioned me extensively on my choice of personnel. I don’t think he trusted
the alien bastards any more than I did but it was our mission to play nice and
make friends. It had to have been somewhere in that long conversation that he
decided he’d trust me on this. The very next day all but one of my selections were
approved and Captain Silva was assigned as my second. General Nesbit actually
called me later that evening and apologized for not being able to approve
everyone…

“Major
Reagan, I tried to get you everyone you asked for but the psych boys were
pretty adamant about Clayton’s emotional stability… something about his
divorce. Anyway, I pulled some strings and fast-tracked approval on Captain
Antonio Silva for you. I know this might look like I’m trying to plant my own
personal spy on you but you’re going to have to trust me that’s not the case.
After you’ve read his file and talked to him if you need to call my office I’ll
back you on replacing him but you’re going to have to do it quick – we’re going
to be moving the team to a secure location soon and there won’t be any changes
after.”

“Yes
sir,” I said. “Thank you sir.”

“Matt,
I don’t have to tell you how crazy and unprecedented this mission is. You’ve
started out thinking outside the box and I respect that but just make sure your
team stays in line. I won’t tolerate any threat to the mission.”

“I
understand, sir.”

What
else could I say? I guess this was the quid pro quo… I got the unconventional team
I wanted but I had to take a spy as well… or not. Maybe Captain Silva was a
great officer and Nesbit was trying to do me a favor? Only time would tell.

∆∆∆

“Ah,
Major Reagan?”

“Yes
Jerry?”

“What
was the web address I needed to file these requisition forms?”

Maybe
this wasn’t such a good idea.

Just
then Captain Silva walked in and said, “I’ll handle it.”

We
were now moved into the underground Nevada facility and I was just becoming
familiar with my new staff at the same time as we were all starting to work
with the scientists and now, through interviews, we were all starting to meet
the Noridians.

Since
Jaki’s initial interview about 20 different Noridians (the actual number was
classified) had started meeting with different teams of scientists and
diplomats. It was amazing how much talking it took to learn or confirm
important details. You might have a simple list of ten questions and never get
past the first because the entire session is taken up exploring some new detail
that was in the answer which, of course, brings up more questions, etc. A skill
I was really learning to appreciate (and cursing that more people didn’t have)
was knowing when to stop chasing the rabbit down the rabbit hole; stop following
tangents and stay/get back on track.

Although
the interviews were still being blogcast live it was impossible to keep up with
them. They were all recorded and available 24 hours to Broken Star personnel
but the simple math was that there were far more than 24 hours of recording
made every day, so most people just read the summaries – and it was still tough
to keep up.

The
Noridians, for their part, seemed very patient. With my duties to organize,
prepare, and protect my platoon of scientists I had even less time than they
did to watch interviews but there were a few that stood out for me…

According
to the Noridians we and they are originally from the same gene stock. No one
knows how many mega-civilizations had populated our galaxy before now and no
one knows if they were galaxy-wide or had just inhabited large portions of it. The
Noridian’s know of two such civilizations. The first thrived around 500 million
years ago and seeded life throughout (at least) this part of the galaxy and the
second established itself about 70 million years ago.

This
‘second wave’ civilization was not a builder, but rather a destroyer. There is
evidence that they bombarded many worlds with asteroids and the speculation is
that this was their brute-force method of bioforming – wiping out the
non-desirable indigenes species and letting evolution start over. The Noridians
believe this ‘second wave’ civilization was alien to our galaxy and they speak
of them as invaders.

One
of the scientists on my team, Dr. Mark Spencer, pointed out that this timeline
roughly matches up with the meteor impact ‘extinction event’ 66 million years
ago that created the Chicxulub Crater on the tip of the Yucatán peninsula. That
event wiped-out 90% of all plant and animal life on Earth. Perhaps the ‘second
wave’ aliens didn’t like dinosaurs?

Ironically,
the Noridians know more about the ‘first wave’ civilization than they do the
second. Besides seeding planets throughout this arm of the galaxy they
apparently left behind some artifacts. Dr. Anzio Spelini calls them Stasis
Bubbles.

Found
at seemingly random points throughout explored space they are speculated to be self-contained
stasis fields – in other words, for whatever was inside them no time would
pass. This theory was proven correct when over the last two thousand years a
very few had started to ‘pop’ – and for the contents time had been suspended.

Theoretically
a live being could be waiting to take their next breath in any one of these
bubbles but so far only inanimate objects had been found. It is an incredible
look back (500 million years) at a preserved piece of galactic history.

Perfectly
reflective and perfectly round, the size of the bubbles vary from that of a
basketball to the largest which is in orbit around a solitary gas giant
orbiting a G Type star. It is big enough to hold a good size space station or
ship. There is no known way to shut off the field from outside the bubble and
the few that have turned off have revealed no ‘stasis machinery’ to reverse
engineer.

Enough
has been learned however to know that these ‘first wave’ Prometheans (as
everyone has started calling them) are the ancestors to all known sentient life
in the galaxy. In addition, much of the non-sentient plant and animal life are
of similar
genotype and phenotype. Our
theories on Last Universal Ancestor (LUA) were going to have to be re-explored.

All of this information on first and second wave
civilizations was revealed during an interview that was trying to focus on why
both the Coridians and Noridians were becoming involved with us; why us, why
now? It turns out that the Coridians ‘discovered’ us when a Stasis bubble
popped.

The
latest bubble to turn itself off was originally discovered 1,334 years ago deep
underground in a large mining operation in the Sirius III system and was about
the size of a small room. For 1,057 years it just sat there until one day it
revealed what may have been a small office or workstation. Although the
contents had not deteriorated over time the work console itself appears to have
been damaged before it was bubbled – the smell of smoke and burned relays were
still present when it popped. While very little information was salvaged one
important datum was determined. On what appeared to be a star chart some
importance was placed on the fourth planet of a solar system far out in the Orion–Cygnus
Arm. Extrapolating backwards 500 million years it was determined that the star
was Sol and the planet was what we now call Mars. The Coridians, they explained,
discovered us when they went to investigate the Sol system and it was only
through happenstance that word of mankind later reached Noridia.

We
are fortunate, they said, that Noridians feel a sense of responsibility
regarding the actions of Coridia; they share a (binary) star system and the
rest of galactic society doesn’t always distinguish between them. The
Coridians, left to their own devices, would have no use for Earth and their
aggressive nature would have led to certain conflict – and with their
technological advantage…

∆∆∆

“So,
is Earth arming for war?” asked Captain Ito Hiromi.

We
were in my wardroom (which my service, the Army, calls an office). The biggest
concern on everyone’s mind, of course, was how much danger we were in. It’s one
thing to contemplate your personal risk on a mission but it’s quite another to
think your entire species might not survive. Feeling helpless in the face of an
enemy is something none of us had ever experienced before – but these were good
soldiers and would never come right out and admit something like that
(especially to themselves).

“Yes
and no,” I answered truthfully.

Captain
Hiromi was Blue Squad Leader and her twin sister, Captain Kamiko, was Red Squad
Leader. Ito was actually their last name (I think) because I’d been told that
certain Asian naming conventions used the last name first, and that’s the way
my roster read, and since it was trouble enough keeping them straight I was
calling her Captain Hiromi. Captains Hiromi and Kamiko were identical twins and
unlike others I’d met they didn’t try to distinguish themselves. Actually, I
suspect they went to great lengths to dress alike, look alike, and even carry
many of the same mannerisms. Their personalities were reserved by nature and if
it wasn’t for the differences in the Blue Squad and Red Squad patches I doubt I
could’ve told them apart. I wasn’t regretting my decision to put them in charge
of the squads (they were extremely efficient) but I was concerned enough that I
sat them both down for a serious discussion after our first week of working
together. I let them know that I demanded the trust of my command staff and
that I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, accept any identity games on a mission this
critical. After sharing one of those silent communicating looks that only twins
can accomplish they both looked me in the eye and vowed that as their
commanding officer they would never deceive me. I accepted that at the time and
only later realized that this still left virtually everyone else on the mission
wide-open. Oh well…