Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Jarred from another night of dreamless sleep, Livvevea scrambled from the floatbed fully alert. Snatching the screeching portacon from the side table, she giggled with delight. Incredibly, the soft link she'd embedded between Sollalia’s console and her portacon worked. Smiling inside and out she listened to Dakkalia's message and stopped dead.
She never wanted anything more in her life than for this day to come, but when she should’ve been feeling the lightness of joy, the tingle of anticipation, she was instead alarmed and confused. Something was wrong, very wrong. She knew not what to expect, but the cryptic parable that echoed in her brain wasn't it...
Once a great one came upon a curiosity. If he touched it, he could destroy it. If it touched him he might be poisoned. The young one came upon a terror. If he touched it he would be destroyed by it. If it touched the him, then all will be destroyed by it...
Just as he had done on all his previous missions Dakkalia planned to contact his father by burying an encoded micro-transmission in the hyper-noise generated when a jumpship snaps the sub-light barrier. With this little trick he was able to slip a short message by Galactic’s monitoring station on Dass. It was as much a game as anything; a prank pulled merely because it was possible.
Plucking the transmission out of the sky was risky indeed, carrying ramifications not confined to her own undoing. Her position as Soll’s first assistant was on the line, as was Dakk’s good standing as a frontier surveyor. A jumpship pilot’s behavior was already scrutinized, if he were to be implicated in any such mischief he would be reassigned to an analysis team. As for Soll, there was no telling what it would do to empower his political enemies. The law was clear: a returning surveyor was prohibited from contacting anyone before debriefing was complete. His data, his mind, even his body belonged to Galactic Mining and Mapping. The age-old agreement it shared with the Orrian High Council hinged on this one simple, rigid stipulation: the rewards of deep space exploration went to the risk takers. The High Council reaped it’s own rewards from the mountains of scientific knowledge Galactic’s pilots faithfully gathered. Still, breaking the trust was a risk all three seemed willing to take.
She did not sleep again, waiting patiently until dawn. As the first rays of the sun pierced the gloom she could wait no longer. She tried contacting Soll but he didn't answer. His console wasn’t even responding, as if it wasn’t accepting incoming calls. She had no luck raising his portacon either. While it was perfectly conceivable that the portacon might have been shut off one’s commconsole was never down. None of it made sense. She sighed. She now had two men in her life to worry about.
She dressed hastily, ordering a Network transporter as she pulled a favorite old tunic over her head. Moments later as she whisked a brush through her rich black hair, the portacon sounder announced a waiting transporter perched on her welcome pad fifty stories above the city. In the heart of Terrekka’s City one never waited long for transportation.
Nestled in the rugged foothills of Terrekka’s plateau, where the deep jungle began, Soll's sheltertree was like a monument. Having raised it from a sprout Soll was understandably proud of it. She liked being there. It was there she met Dakkalia. It was there she fell in love.
Mercifully, it was a short trip. The transporter, as if sensing her urgency, seemed to fly faster than usual - matching the speed of her worry. She wondered again if he was all right.
He had been acting so peculiarly. Yes, she heard all the rumors again and again; everyone in the city was talking about him. 'Something was going on between Sollalia and that Earth woman'…
His flesh and bones had not been seen gracing the corridors of the council building for many, many months. A few hologram appearances aside, his absence only fueled the wild speculation. She worried about him constantly.
As for his son, the one she loved, her lonely heart only ached. It had been a very long wait. Every day for eight months she checked the log at Galactic’s station on Dass to see if his registered breakout point had been tripped. Every day the answer was the same. And every day she would privately mourn. Their secret love demanded it. He was eight agonizing months past the return date. Cursed return dates… Return dates were entirely equivocal and therefore literally meaningless; everyone understood that. Light trippers were time travelers and a due date was merely a delusional source of comfort for the pilots and their loved ones.
The transporter descended to treetop level as it approached Soll’s land. Her work for Soll brought her into the dark of Terrekka’s jungle often enough that she knew the way by heart. She now studied the landscape with keen interest, each familiar landmark a reassuring signpost.
It was raining steadily when she arrived at the huge moss covered tree. She moved quickly once inside the welcome room. The constant patter of the rain hid the sound of her footsteps. The commchamber was closed and energized. She was certain to find some answers behind that door. She shut down the grid and watched impatiently as the hologram faded only to see Soll’s lifeless body materialize before her eyes. Her heart jumped madly as she dashed inside. A moment of sheer panic ended with a heavy, relieving sigh. He was sleeping. The poor man, she thought, didn’t even have the energy to climb into the floatbed.
As she went to nudge his shoulder something in the holotank caught her eye and stopped her cold. She turned to face the suspended image of Julia Rayhied, the American television star everybody in the city was talking about. Her resemblance to Soll’s Teffiona was really uncanny. Like Teffiona, her beauty was magnetic. Poor Soll, she thought shaking her head, must have been powerless to resist this one.
He stirred. She held motionless; her breathing stopped somewhere in her throat. He shifted restlessly in the chair and finally after some adjustments settled in again. Breathing shallow, she reached over him for the controller. Finding no response from his console she looked in bewilderment at the flat screen. What was this? Soll was in the middle of writing something. On the screen was a correspondence of some sort. A letter, perhaps. She promptly transferred the voice response back to the controller and set it to playback and began to read...
..........................................................................................
Dear Julia,
My name is Sollalia. I wish to extend to you my warmest greetings. This letter comes to you from a place you’ve never heard of. A place far away, farther than the eye can see. It is my sincere hope that someday you will be able to visit me here, and that I can come and visit you. Since that is impossible right now, for reasons that you’ll soon understand, I’d like to tell you a little story...
Once a young man was intently carrying out his duties as a surveyor of star systems. He was charged with mapping and adding new star systems to the Star Catalog. On one of these missions something extraordinary happened to him. Historic really. Please, let me explain...
On that particular day, a day like any other, the hours of sensor sweeps dragged on, one yellow dwarf looked like any other after a while. Being a survey pilot was more often than not a dreadfully dull endeavor. This particular star was not especially noteworthy. It had three planets, not one of them interesting beyond the mundane novelty of being named in his honor. He cursed his luck for the 21st time.
Suddenly an alarm sounded! The anomaly was confined to a narrow band of the spectrum. Simple radio signals! When he dialed in the audible frequencies he heard something he had not heard since he left home. He heard voices. It was a language he had never heard before but the tone and the cadence was not unlike the delivery of his own spoken words. On several frequency bands he heard music - lively, tempo driven music. The voices made no sense to him but the language of music was loud and clear. It was a throbbing beacon in the silence of space.
The radio signals emanated from a nearby yellow dwarf system. Thousands of years of interstellar exploration and this was first event of it’s kind. Clearly, there was no precedent to act as a guide. A field decision had to made. He would move in slowly under pulse power with his eyes and ears wide open.
What he came upon was a beautiful, shining blue orb circled by one large pockmarked moon. Incredibly, intelligent beings on the planet had developed the means to generate and modulate powerful radio waves. Eager to learn all he could he took up orbit around the planet and opened his sensor array.
Julia, nothing could have prepared him for what he found that day. Shock would not adequately describe his reaction. I can scarcely imagine what it must’ve been like to see the look on his face when he realized he’d discovered that billions of human beings were living and thriving there. Shock? Why shock? Because he is human too. As human as you are. Indeed, he has two eyes; two ears a nose and a mouth. He has ten fingers and ten toes attached to his four limbs. Gender aside, an anatomy very nearly identical to your own. The difference being, of course, he comes from a planet thousands of light years away from you.
How this could be has become the greatest mystery of all time.
This, my friend, leads us to the little secret your government has been keeping from you all these years. An unfortunate incident happened in 1947 in New Mexico. It was reported on in the papers at the time but was quickly and quietly buried. It has become the stuff of folklore all over the world. Only, it really did happen. A small shuttlecraft that was used to carry artifacts to ships in high orbit crashed in the desert near Roswell New Mexico. The American army recovered three human bodies. In reality it would’ve been far easier for American authorities if they had found hideous, alien beasts; at least then they would’ve know what the invaders looked like. The very idea that the aliens responsible for the UFO phenomenon were actually human beings made it even more imperative that the secret be perpetuated. How could something like this be explained to the American people? To the world? Who were these people? Star travelers? Time travelers from your own future? Could it be Soviet super technology? The pieces of the recovered ship belied any notion such as that. The recovered wreckage represented a level of technology the best engineers could not comprehend. Clearly, no one on Earth possessed such advanced materials and techniques. Generally speaking, the American government’s reaction was perfectly reasonable.
You would ask: what of the people of my home world? What were we to think? The mere conjecture that human life could spring up independently of Orr would have been ruled a complete absurdity. Yet, here, thirty thousand light years from the galactic core, existed a planet inhabited by billions of human beings. Seemingly primitive, yes, but completely human in every regard.
As I’m sure you can imagine by your own feelings right now when this news reached the home world, a planet we call Orr, pandemonium set in. It was almost more than the collective Orrian psyche could bear. It led to the obvious question: were there more human worlds out there? Did the creator have his children spread out all over the universe?
Understanding the American government’s reason for a blanket of secrecy is easy. But you must be asking yourself why a people as advanced as the Orrians would feel the need to hide themselves from the primitives. One word: contamination. Not from disease, not from the plague, it was nothing like that. What we most feared was cultural contamination. It was plain to see that the rule of force and violence governed the Earth.
Keep in mind that not all Orrians believed in the permanency of that hypothesis. It is a common fact that one’s environment helps shape one’s behavior. The Earth, with all its beauty and abundance is a brutal place. Yours is a planet where oceans, mountains, and vast stretches of uninhabitable land separate the people from each other. Yours is world where violent weather and earthquakes can destroy entire cities in the blink of an eye. A place where pestilence and disease seem to kill at will. There were many of us who saw a people we could help. Indeed, a people we should help. The history of human agony on Earth both horrified and saddened us. Surely, there was a way we could help put a stop to all the suffering and the senseless wasting of human potential. We were dreamers. Perhaps it was unrealistic to think we had all the answers. We were young and impetuous and we believed it was the right thing to do.
It was the year 1938 when our hero stumbled across Earth. By the end of 1939 the last of the preliminary expeditions to the mysterious blue planet ended. Decisions would soon be made as to whether to declare our existence or retain our anonymity. It did not look good for our side. Need I remind you of the state of your world in 1939?
Hitler’s Germany had amassed all the might of its industrial economy into a tremendous war machine. On the other side of the world Imperial Japan mercilessly carved up its neighbors. Meanwhile, in Russia, Stalin brutalized his own countrymen, starving millions, murdering millions more. China was on the brink of chaos. An economic depression and drought that devastated the United States challenged the perception that it even belonged within the world power structure. In short, the world was on a collision course with itself.
When war broke out in Europe Earth was declared off limits. A standard compliment of satellites were to be placed in orbit not only to monitor the planet, but also to detect Orrian ships. As you might imagine, artifacts from Earth are extremely valuable on Orr. Marketeers were often tracked down and punished, but the lure of Earth was too great. To possess something crafted by the human hands of an Earthling was to possess a treasure. Many risked their lives collecting treasures during the war.
For six years we watched events unfold that stretched our capacity to comprehend. From the gas chambers in Europe to the torture chambers in the Pacific, we witnessed the most brutal episode in all of human history. It sickened the gentle people of Orr to see such slaughter. These barbarians could not be the brothers and sisters some had hoped they were.
Still, there were those who saw the good in the people we so callously labeled the 'primitives'. They wanted to help bring a stop to the war and end the wanton slaughter. No one really knows if they were successful before they were finally caught. You can decide for yourself… I must say, we were all quite impressed by the decisive victory shared by the Allied powers over the German and Japanese regimes. The level of American technological development toward the end of the war was rather remarkable, wouldn’t you say?
In the Earth year 1950, the ‘Earth Doctrine’ was drafted. The doctrine was a permanent ban on all expeditions to the planet Earth. It was deemed that nothing good could come from an association with the barbaric people of Earth. They were to be left alone to develop on their own. Perhaps someday, the primitives would become civilized enough to consider rescinding the order.
So Julia, that brings us to today. As a people, as a culture we have become completely obsessed with your world. In a sense, our culture did not survive. All our moral indignation was meaningless. In the end the precious culture we sought to protect was thoroughly invaded by yours. Your art, your music, your history, all of which is far richer than anything that has happened on Orr for a hundred centuries. It blares at us from all corners of the globe. We know more about you than you know about yourself. It is amazing, really. It's like watching fish in a bowl whose existence is more interesting than your own.
I realize all this leaves you with one rather large unanswered question. By now you must now be wondering about the UFO’s. You are asking yourself 'if traveling to Earth is illegal then where are the UFO’s coming from?' Well, this is where I make my confession to you. I am responsible for them. All of them. All the strange lights in the night sky. All the close encounters with pilots and astronauts. All the crop circles and lightning balls. All of it. Me. When I was a young man I simply could not accept the Earth Doctrine. I was clever and full of idealism. I set out to force the Orrian High Council into changing the law. They had a name for me; they called me the Renegade. In my most defiant act I zealously seeded your atmosphere with thousands of drones. Designed to be completely undetectable until activated these time-delayed drones carried out their missions for decades. Ultimately it was a failure and I now regret my ill-considered actions. The drones, unfortunately, could not be recalled. I hope someday that I will be forgiven. I never intended to hurt anyone.
That is my little story. Every word of it is true. I’m telling you, but I don’t exactly know why. Maybe it’s because you seek the answer so completely. I feel I am responsible for your life’s work and now it is up to me to make your work bear fruit. The proof is in this disk. If you examine it, you will see it comes from a manufacturer on Earth known as Maxell. You must understand that the Earth Doctrine is the law but it doesn’t mean that a few crafty marketeers can’t get through once and a while. Earth artifacts are always in high demand. This would be the proof that we have been there, on Earth. The program that resides on the disk, like nothing you have ever seen, proves the advanced state of our technology.
Try it, Julia. Ask me anything.
Sincerely,
Sollalia
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Livvevea was stunned. She was frozen in place, her mind barely registering the moment. Sollalia was the Renegade! Was it even possible? She had heard the stories they used to tell about his impetuous youth. No one ever really believed them. They were just stories… It was simply beyond imagination.
Looking down on Soll’s motionless body and then at the unwavering image of Julia Rayhied in the holotank, she sighed. ‘Soll, you old fool’, she thought, why did you have to go and complicate things. It was bad enough that her own love affair had to be hidden from the prying eyes of ‘the mining’. This affair had to be hidden from the entire world. It was now clear why Soll removed his console from the public Wave last night. If this letter was ever discovered it would be the end of his political ambitions. A brilliant man would be reduced to irrelevance. The world would surely suffer from the loss. But would Soll? From the looks of it he really didn’t care anymore, maybe his career was already over.
Soll moved. Livv slipped silently out of the room and re-energized the door. From the corridor she spoke with ample volume to wake him, "Soll? Are you in there? It’s me, Livv."
The door blipped out and Soll stood in front of her rubbing his day old beard and smiling.
She smiled back. "Rough night?"
"I really must have lost track of time."
"I tried to reach you this morning. Your console didn’t respond. I got worried."
"I took it off the public wave," he admitted simply.
"You what?"
"I was working on something. I didn’t want any prying eyes… It’s really not important." He stretched and yawned. "You could have call on the private."
"That's only for emergencies, you would have killed me? "
"Yes, actually, I would, I'm waiting for Dakk like everybody else and the last thing I want to hear is an emergency sounder."
Livv snapped to attention. Then Soll didn’t even know! He slept right through the message! Dakk’s transmission was held in the comconsole's buffer but the idled public channel never alerted him. Soll didn’t know Dakk was coming home, and worse, she couldn’t tell him. She swept right past him and laid her hands on the controller with blinding speed.
"We’d better check the buffers. You might have missed something..." In a matter seconds the console was back online. "...Yes, here’s my call. And one from Terrekka’s Council’s Secretary of Operations. I wonder what she wants? There are no sessions scheduled... What’s this!" she feigned complete surprise. "A message from the outer solar system. It’s encrypted."
His eyes lit up. "What did you say?"
"It’s from the outer solar system..."
He pushed her aside as he grabbed the controller from her. "It’s Dakk. He’s back." He carefully studied the transmission record. It was tagged with code key only Soll's console could decrypt. "Okay, let’s see what Dakk had to say."
Once a great one came upon a curiosity. If he touched it, he could destroy it. If it touched him he might be poisoned. The young one came upon a terror. If he touched it he would be destroyed by it. If it touched the him, then all will be destroyed by it...
Soll beamed. "He's back!"
"What do you think it means?"
Reveling in the notion that Dakk was coming home Soll seemed to have let the implications of the odd message slip by. "OK," he read it again... "Well, let’s take it apart... A great one came upon a curiosity... The Great One... That's Deppopio," he declared matter of factly. "Dakk’s parables are always built around keywords. Words that we recognize regardless of the context."
"Then ‘a young one’ is referring to Dakk, right?"
"That's the parallel I would draw."
"What does he mean by ‘a terror'?" She saw a momentarily twitch, his eyes dropped to the floor.
"What?" she pleaded. "What is it, Soll? What does it mean?"
"I can’t be sure, of course, but if look at the first phrase he clearly spells out the curiosity of Depp finding the Earth. This reference to poison... You tell me, Livv, what would make Earth a terror rather than a curiosity?"
Livv looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Well, if they had their own lightdrive technology... "
"Precisely!"
"Oh my, you don’t think..."
Just then the console chimed with an incoming call. The caller was Passidda, Terrekka's Council Oversecretary of Operations. Soll looked at Livv and shrugged and put Passidda on the holotank viewer, erasing Julia Rayhied's image grateful that Livv had not asked...
"Good day, Madam Secretary," Soll said cheerfully, "You look lovely this morning. What can I do for you?"
Passidda blushed. "Soll, it’s good to see the real you. You don't usually don't take my calls, this is a surprise. We’d sure like to see more of you around here."
Soll dropped his eyes and said nothing. His absence from civilization was becoming legend. He looked up and smiled, "What’s your pleasure, this morning?"
"Your console didn’t respond to our general announcement earlier this morning. Can we assume you’ll be attending today’s emergency session?"
He looked at Livv, bewildered; "Did you know about this?"
"I did not," she replied. She looked at her portacon only to see the announcement.
"I think I smell Sebbreba’s work here..." he whispered. "What emergency?"
"Last night a returning Galactic pilot sent out a distress signal picked up around the world. They're saying he’s discovered more human worlds."
Livv’s heart sank. Something went wrong. The link was corrupted. She collapsed into the chair. Soll’s eyes darted back and forth between the holotank and the young woman’s slouching body. "Livv, is everything okay?" Her sullen eyes were fixed on the floor refusing to look up at him.
"I’m so sorry, Soll," she whispered, trying desperately to hold back her sobs.
He turned back to Passidda, "Thank you for the message, Pass my dear, we will be there." With a flick of his wrist the holotank went blank. Soll put his hands on Livv’s cheeks and forced her to look at him. He could feel the wet of her tears as he brushed the hair from her eyes. "Okay, Livv, let’s have it."
What could she say? Everything was ruined. Her career was finished and Dakk’s place in the mining would be pulled. What could she tell him? The man had been like a father to her. His political enemies were probably already lining up outside the door. She sobbed "I’m so sorry, Soll. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen."
"What did you do?"
"I just wanted to know when Dakk was coming home." She frowned. "I guess I can tell you - what difference does it make now? Dakk and I are in love." Soll smiled and lowered his hands to her shoulders.
"I know. I’ve known for a while. Not to worry, your secret is safe with me. Now, tell me what you did."
"I constructed a soft link between your console and my portacon. But I swear Soll, I was so careful... I don’t understand what went wrong."
"Larrvino..." Soll said, his voice trailing off. He began to pace the length of the room.
Raising her head from the cradle of her hands Livv said, "What are you talking about? I did this."
He didn’t answer her right away. His eyes danced back and forth as if watching a bouncing ball. "He’s probably had his own tap on your portacon since the day you came to work for me. It was just dumb luck that he intercepted the transmission."
"But Passidda said the message was picked up all over the world."
"That’s right, indeed it was, because it was retransmitted by him."
"What’s going to happen? I mean... Am I done? Are you going to throw me out?"
"Nonsense. There’s a council session today, remember. I’m going to need you there."
"I don’t understand," she said looking up at him with red eyes. "Aren’t we all in trouble?"
"Relax. The only one in trouble here is Dakk himself. Listen, Larrvino isn’t going to tell anyone how he got it. If he implicated you or me, he’d have to disclose how he came by the knowledge. I know Larr and he isn’t about to do that. He knows tampering with the Wave is serious. No one is going to admit to doing that."
He took her by the arm and walked her to the welcome room. The rain had subsided, a reprieve until the next wave of clouds blew by. "Now, this is what’s going to happen. First, you’re going back to the city and get cleaned up. Second, you are to meet me at the council building, and I’ll need everything you can get on the subject of "invading forces" from High Council’s annual Scenario Committee. Then, afterward we’ll talk all about this. And Livv, for your peace of mind, your job is safe." He smiled earnestly, and said, "love, my dear, is punishment enough." She put her arms around him and squeezed. He felt a shudder of relief in her grip. She began to cry. "I know, I know," he said comforting her. "I love him too."
***
As the transporter banked slowly toward the Great Hall, Soll caught a fleeting glimpse of Terrekka’s Ancient City. Whenever he saw the birthplace of Orrian civilization his heart began to pound a little harder. On one end of town Terrekka's sheltertree stood perfectly preserved through ages. In the center of town was the original Great Hall she had commissioned but never saw completed. Standing tall and strong three hundred centuries later it still inspired awe. In its time it was considered the very center of the world. This scared place is where Terrekka, often called the mother of civilization, left her teachings and wondrous stories as a guide for all the tribes of Orr.
As the transporter finished the turn Soll moved to the other side of the cabin and peered through the transparent hull for one last look at the city that the ‘mother of civilization’ had built. He was resigned to the fact that he may be only one in the city today who even bothered give Terrekka a second thought.
Traffic was unusually heavy over the welcome pad. Transporters large and small zipped in and out of view. To a casual observer it might even appear chaotic. But the Network was seamless, like a flock of birds weaving and diving in perfect syncopation; no two transporters could ever occupy the same space at the same time.
Presently there would be reporters down there, he reminded himself with a sigh. He could already feel the cacophony of their incessant questioning. What was he supposed to tell them? Nothing he could say would satisfy them anyway. His only hope was that the Network set him down on a pad near the entrance. Once inside the building protocol required a certain decorum be observed by all parties.
From the air it looked like a swarm of tid flies were buzzing back and forth on the welcome landing. As each transporter settled on a pad the horde of holowave reporters with their little monocle camera’s blinking away engulfed the unsuspecting soul, desperately grasping for a quote they could wrest from anyone who seemed even remotely important.
The main body of the swarm was on the far end of the landing when his transporter set down near the welcome foyer. He smiled inwardly. This might actually work. He would be safely inside the Great Hall before the swarm even caught wind of him. The door of the transporter popped open. The game was on.
The circular ramp provided a panoramic view of the entire landing as he wound his way down from the elevated pad. The situation was positive. The buzz could be heard but it was still a long way off. Walking with a sense of purpose he strode toward the open doors unhindered. Feeling triumphant as he approached the point of demarcation, he began to look around. First he looked left, then right, and left again. As he swung his head around the third time he caught only a glimpse of the impending collision. The person’s slight body flew violently to the ground as Soll looked on utterly horrified. Instinctively he reached out to offer a hand up when he saw the familiar face of young Gellseno staring back at him.
“I’m so sorry, sir,” Gell bellowed. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Soll smiled broadly as he pulled the boy up to his feet. “Shouldn't I be asking you that question?”
“Oh no, don’t worry about me...” just then the swarm overtook them. Gell felt himself being pummeled, brushed away like a hapless branch hanging across the path. He was torn from Soll by a mass of moving bodies. “It’s Sollalia, over here! “ one of them yelled. “We’ve got him!” said another. Gell slipped away, escaping the fury of the swarm and finding himself wondering if Soll would ever do the same.
He absently walked away. Alone in the shadows he watched the hungry swarm move steadily toward the welcome foyer. Soll was engulfed by a crowd near hysterics. Above Gell's head a transporter silently came to rest on a pad. There was a slight discharge as the anti-gravity field collapsed; the hair on the back of his neck was left standing on end. There was no explaining it, but he was not surprised to see Larrvino standing in the open door, beckoning to him.
He scrambled up the ramp only to find Larr doubled over, belly laughing, inside the cabin. Gell looked at him curiously, his brow deeply furrowed.
“What?”
“I didn't realize you were so graceful" Larr chortled. "A regular Fred Astaire...”
Gell said nothing. Let Larr have his laughs, Gell thought. The day would come when he would be doing the laughing.
Oblivious to Gell’s simmering anger Larr continued. “Are you sure that’s the most effective way to put a tail on someone?”
“All right Larr,” Gell said with teeth clenched. “Enough... Obviously, you didn’t see my hand go in his pocket for the disk…”
“Ah… Very good." Larr said with a slight hint of admiration. "Where is it?” he then replied tonelessly. Gell looked down. “You didn’t get it, did you? If you were the bright young man I took you for... I was wrong. Why didn't you put a copying relay on that thing.”
“Wrong,” the boy said sharply. Larr was momentarily taken aback by the tone. “What do you take him for? He’d spot something as feeble as that. Just leave it to me. You’ll get the disk.” He paused. He looked at Larr closely, enough to make Larr uncomfortably aware of it. “Why do you hate him so much?” he asked.
“Hate who?” Larr replied with mock sincerity.
“Sollalia. Who else? What has he done to you?”
“I don't hate Soll, not at all” Larr said carefully, “It’s his precious Earth, your precious Earth. It’s always been Earth. Can’t you see how it’s destroying us?" He paused with a near imperceptible sigh. "No, I guess you can’t. You’ll never understand. How could you? Always filling your head with that garbage, that bilge they put on the airwaves. Tell me Gell, can you even remember the last great Orrian song, the last great Orrian performance? When was the last time you played any tree sports? Or read from the Book of Terrekka. Our history did not start the day Deppopio picked up those radio signals. You go to that Institute every day to study them like rats in a cage. Only you have become nothing more than rats yourself. It’s disgusting...” his voice trailed off with a calculated note of despair.
The boy remained silent as the words of hate echoed painlessly inside his head. Larr was wrong about Earth, he thought. He was convinced in his own mind that the fate of Orr was inexorably tied to the very people Larr despised so completely. But this was neither the time nor the place to try to convince him of that. Distracted by the ceaseless activity on the welcome landing he turned away from Larr’s scowling face and smiled inwardly, it was going to be a very interesting day, very interesting indeed.
***
Soll looked out over the assembled audience. There had not been anything like it since the day Deppopio first returned from Earth. Then, as now, the Great Hall was brimming with anxious people spreading rumors as fast as their lips could repeat them. Despite his being very young at the time, the memories of that day were as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. This time there was a different element; one had not been present many years ago. There was a collective uneasiness mingled among the subdued conversations, hiding behind the pleasantries and smiles, bubbling up in raised voices and nervous laughter. This time the chill of fear was the air.
Soll scanned the ready room. As he expected the lovely Sebbreba was nowhere to be found. She knew better than to show her face around him after pulling a stunt like this.
Passidda, the council's self appointed host, moved busily about the room prodding the council members to assume their positions on the stage. By tradition the High Chair was last to be seated. Only when each of the eighteen chairs that formed a semi-circle around the lone elevated chair were occupied would she escort him onto the stage.
With all the formality the event required Passidda, finally satisfied that everything was in place, took Soll's arm and led him into the spotlight. He hesitated at first, convinced that more than one chair remained empty. Passidda frowned as she tugged on his arm.
"It’s time, Soll," she said, coaxing him into the light, where the cheers in his honor had already begun.
"But..."
"It’s all right, she’s there."
Soll spun toward the stage to see the beautiful antagonist smiling back at him from the chair next to his. Sebbreba, his nemesis, the proverbial thorn in his side, knowing the displeasure this whole affair was causing him was immune to his scorn. She knew him all too well.
Sebb had been Teffiona’s best friend. She remained very close to Soll after the accident, never betraying her memory by using her intimate knowledge of his private life against him. It would have been easy for Sebb to turn on him. He respected her and in his own way he loved her for it. Friend or not, it was clear that she had become the very heart and soul of the Earth Party. In practice, she was the bitter rival of Sollalia and his Party of Orr.
Soll smiled at her with a note of disapproval. As brilliant as she was beautiful, Sebbreba was early to recognize that the real threat to her agenda was actually the man she was sharing a bed with. From his vantage point Soll could feel the venom spew forth from Larrvino’s eyes. Was it primal jealousy or pure hate? He could not tell which. It was an ironic twist when his political ally was more threatening to him than his sworn enemy was. So it was, and so it would be. He had to deal with it. He knew that from this day forward he was entering the fight of his life.
Despite the outward appearance of poise and control his mind was elsewhere, torn by the image of a beautiful young woman named Julia Rayhied millions of light years away from him. She was so completely unaware of his existence that the whole thing seemed like a childish crush, and felt just as ridiculous. Passidda politely tugged on his arm and finally he let himself be towed onto the stage. He smiled broadly as the spotlight hit him. One must always put on appearances.
He stood at center stage the light burning his eyes. The assembled, perhaps twenty thousand inside the Great Hall, and half again as many outside on the strollways and balconies, were cheering with thunder and fury; the sound deafening to his ears. Despite his disappearing act of the last two years he was apparently still as popular as ever. He acknowledged the audience and then turned toward the council and urged them to sit. When the roar had diminished to a din he took his chair. He raised his hands toward the audience to quell the remaining patter and at last the hall fell silent.
"My dear Terrekkans," he began, "I am pleased to see all of you again." He smiled and let them respond. He turned toward Sebb and nodded, "and, of course, I am happy to see my colleagues as well." There was a murmur of approval from the floor. "However, I fail to see the reason we should all be called together at this time. Surely, there is no emergency that would warrant such an occasion. As much as I enjoy these festive gatherings..." the audience let out a collective giggle at the preposterous statement, "what has it been? Two years... Three? Perhaps more, since we’ve had a real council session. To be perfectly honest I really have nothing to say. Let’s look at it this way… What do we really have here?"
He scanned the audience and turned full circle to encompass the council in his mock inquiry. "Rumors mostly. Do we have any facts? No, we do not. Do we have a chance to get the facts before the end of this affair? Again, the answer is no. My point is just this: there is no point in us being here now. In a few days, maybe - we will have something to discuss. For that, my friends, we’ll just have to wait and see."
He turned toward Sebb again, all the while feeling the heat of Larrvino’s glare. The first move was his to make. He had considered his options on the flight over as he poured through the material Livv had sent him. There was little precedent for this type of occurrence. An emergency session at the regional council level was quite rare. A check on the history of Terrekka’s Council showed it had occurred only thirty-six times in the three hundred centuries of its existence. He had never presided over one in his eighteen years as the High Chair. Still, he knew why Sebb had called today’s session. It was her opportunity to "shake the tree", as she was fond of saying and see what fell out. With the Renegade back in action the ongoing resolution to rescind the Earth Doctrine had been gaining momentum all over the world. From Sebb's point of view the time was now, no better time, nothing ventured nothing gained.
Two years ago, when last the council met, she was successful in swinging two votes her way. Swaying just two more and she would have the majority and the right to take it to the Supreme High Council in New Pallpoli. Yesterday it would have seemed an impossibility. Today was different; today it might actually happen.
His position afforded Soll right to frame the debate. Anything he would say on the subject would taken apart word by word. It was not his desire to stir it up and fuel speculation. It would seem the only thing to do would be to give her an opportunity to hang herself. He could accomplish that by giving the rope to the man on her right.
He spun in place. "Member Sebbreba, I ask you to channel our discussion today." The audience gasped behind him. He could hear muted gasps from stage as well. After her opening statement the council’s ranking member would start, and hopefully, mercifully crush the debate. Larrvino’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Sebb, startled by the boldness of Soll’s unusual act, was frozen in place. Sollalia had accomplished exactly what he wanted to do. He had caught everyone by surprise.
She stood and moved slowly toward the center of the stage, her saunter less confident than usual. As she passed him, she mumbled something he could not quite make out. He sat down, never looking at Larr, but feeling the unmistakable stab of his general disapproval.
She paced for a moment, her hand on her chin, her head down. "Today we stand at a turning point," she said with genuine seriousness. "Deep in our hearts we knew it would eventually come to this, only the naive or stubborn among us would deny it. The day Deppopio returned with the news of a world inhabited by human beings we all knew that if there were one out there then the odds dictated that there must be more. The possibility has always existed as we explored the galaxy that we would someday encounter alien beings whose technology would rival or even surpass our own. My dear friends, I fear that day is upon us." She paused, allowing her point to sink in. "We must decide if we are going to run away from it as we have fled from a benign planet like Earth or stand up to it and take our place in our galaxy."
Larr rose to his feet even before the echo of her dramatic words fell silent. "Never in my life have I heard such nonsense," he bellowed. "Our esteemed High Chair could not have said it any better. What proof have we? I find it unconscionable that we would all be dragged down here today to hear such drivel." He looked at Sebb and frowned. "All of this based on what? A silly little parable? For all we know the whole thing is a cruel prank."
Larr’s words though effective, cut Soll like a double-edged sword. Everybody in the building knew it had been his son who had sent the message. The registered break out point assigned to Dakk’s mission was a matter of public record. In fact, the only thing Soll knew for sure was that this was no prank.
"Therefore," Larr continued, "I urge the High Chair to call for an adjournment of this entire unpleasant affair unless someone can offer proof of what she speaks..."
There was only silence and Larr smiled triumphantly. He turned toward Soll and with a flip of his hand motioned his forfeiture of the center stage. Soll stood, not even bothering to move into the spotlight, and raised his hands toward the audience. "A wise and prudent course of action. Thank you all for coming here today, pleasant enough yes, but pointless nonetheless. I call for an immediate adjournment of these proceedings. Do I hear a second?" A chorus of ayes followed from his right. "Objections?"
"Your Excellency?" shouted Veddetti. With a little visual prodding from Sebb he moved into the light. "I request we take a poll of the council on the question of the continuing resolution for the repeal of the Earth Doctrine."
By all rights Soll had to honor the request. This was all Sebb ever really wanted anyway. She was no fool, she knew there would be no debate, but she had nothing to lose by trying. "Very well," Soll said in disgust, "we shall vote. I move that we omit the reading the resolution… Would you all agree?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "I ask all members to vote aye or nay in silence."
The results appeared instantaneously on the poll box suspended overhead. The reaction from the audience was just as sudden. Everyone in the building rose to their feet. The rumble became deafening. She had done it again! The Party of Orr had lost another vote.
None heard Soll call and end to the session. No one saw him slip out the back of the stage.
Jarred from another night of dreamless sleep, Livvevea scrambled from the floatbed fully alert. Snatching the screeching portacon from the side table, she giggled with delight. Incredibly, the soft link she'd embedded between Sollalia’s console and her portacon worked. Smiling inside and out she listened to Dakkalia's message and stopped dead.
She never wanted anything more in her life than for this day to come, but when she should’ve been feeling the lightness of joy, the tingle of anticipation, she was instead alarmed and confused. Something was wrong, very wrong. She knew not what to expect, but the cryptic parable that echoed in her brain wasn't it...
Once a great one came upon a curiosity. If he touched it, he could destroy it. If it touched him he might be poisoned. The young one came upon a terror. If he touched it he would be destroyed by it. If it touched the him, then all will be destroyed by it...
Just as he had done on all his previous missions Dakkalia planned to contact his father by burying an encoded micro-transmission in the hyper-noise generated when a jumpship snaps the sub-light barrier. With this little trick he was able to slip a short message by Galactic’s monitoring station on Dass. It was as much a game as anything; a prank pulled merely because it was possible.
Plucking the transmission out of the sky was risky indeed, carrying ramifications not confined to her own undoing. Her position as Soll’s first assistant was on the line, as was Dakk’s good standing as a frontier surveyor. A jumpship pilot’s behavior was already scrutinized, if he were to be implicated in any such mischief he would be reassigned to an analysis team. As for Soll, there was no telling what it would do to empower his political enemies. The law was clear: a returning surveyor was prohibited from contacting anyone before debriefing was complete. His data, his mind, even his body belonged to Galactic Mining and Mapping. The age-old agreement it shared with the Orrian High Council hinged on this one simple, rigid stipulation: the rewards of deep space exploration went to the risk takers. The High Council reaped it’s own rewards from the mountains of scientific knowledge Galactic’s pilots faithfully gathered. Still, breaking the trust was a risk all three seemed willing to take.
She did not sleep again, waiting patiently until dawn. As the first rays of the sun pierced the gloom she could wait no longer. She tried contacting Soll but he didn't answer. His console wasn’t even responding, as if it wasn’t accepting incoming calls. She had no luck raising his portacon either. While it was perfectly conceivable that the portacon might have been shut off one’s commconsole was never down. None of it made sense. She sighed. She now had two men in her life to worry about.
She dressed hastily, ordering a Network transporter as she pulled a favorite old tunic over her head. Moments later as she whisked a brush through her rich black hair, the portacon sounder announced a waiting transporter perched on her welcome pad fifty stories above the city. In the heart of Terrekka’s City one never waited long for transportation.
Nestled in the rugged foothills of Terrekka’s plateau, where the deep jungle began, Soll's sheltertree was like a monument. Having raised it from a sprout Soll was understandably proud of it. She liked being there. It was there she met Dakkalia. It was there she fell in love.
Mercifully, it was a short trip. The transporter, as if sensing her urgency, seemed to fly faster than usual - matching the speed of her worry. She wondered again if he was all right.
He had been acting so peculiarly. Yes, she heard all the rumors again and again; everyone in the city was talking about him. 'Something was going on between Sollalia and that Earth woman'…
His flesh and bones had not been seen gracing the corridors of the council building for many, many months. A few hologram appearances aside, his absence only fueled the wild speculation. She worried about him constantly.
As for his son, the one she loved, her lonely heart only ached. It had been a very long wait. Every day for eight months she checked the log at Galactic’s station on Dass to see if his registered breakout point had been tripped. Every day the answer was the same. And every day she would privately mourn. Their secret love demanded it. He was eight agonizing months past the return date. Cursed return dates… Return dates were entirely equivocal and therefore literally meaningless; everyone understood that. Light trippers were time travelers and a due date was merely a delusional source of comfort for the pilots and their loved ones.
The transporter descended to treetop level as it approached Soll’s land. Her work for Soll brought her into the dark of Terrekka’s jungle often enough that she knew the way by heart. She now studied the landscape with keen interest, each familiar landmark a reassuring signpost.
It was raining steadily when she arrived at the huge moss covered tree. She moved quickly once inside the welcome room. The constant patter of the rain hid the sound of her footsteps. The commchamber was closed and energized. She was certain to find some answers behind that door. She shut down the grid and watched impatiently as the hologram faded only to see Soll’s lifeless body materialize before her eyes. Her heart jumped madly as she dashed inside. A moment of sheer panic ended with a heavy, relieving sigh. He was sleeping. The poor man, she thought, didn’t even have the energy to climb into the floatbed.
As she went to nudge his shoulder something in the holotank caught her eye and stopped her cold. She turned to face the suspended image of Julia Rayhied, the American television star everybody in the city was talking about. Her resemblance to Soll’s Teffiona was really uncanny. Like Teffiona, her beauty was magnetic. Poor Soll, she thought shaking her head, must have been powerless to resist this one.
He stirred. She held motionless; her breathing stopped somewhere in her throat. He shifted restlessly in the chair and finally after some adjustments settled in again. Breathing shallow, she reached over him for the controller. Finding no response from his console she looked in bewilderment at the flat screen. What was this? Soll was in the middle of writing something. On the screen was a correspondence of some sort. A letter, perhaps. She promptly transferred the voice response back to the controller and set it to playback and began to read...
..........................................................................................
Dear Julia,
My name is Sollalia. I wish to extend to you my warmest greetings. This letter comes to you from a place you’ve never heard of. A place far away, farther than the eye can see. It is my sincere hope that someday you will be able to visit me here, and that I can come and visit you. Since that is impossible right now, for reasons that you’ll soon understand, I’d like to tell you a little story...
Once a young man was intently carrying out his duties as a surveyor of star systems. He was charged with mapping and adding new star systems to the Star Catalog. On one of these missions something extraordinary happened to him. Historic really. Please, let me explain...
On that particular day, a day like any other, the hours of sensor sweeps dragged on, one yellow dwarf looked like any other after a while. Being a survey pilot was more often than not a dreadfully dull endeavor. This particular star was not especially noteworthy. It had three planets, not one of them interesting beyond the mundane novelty of being named in his honor. He cursed his luck for the 21st time.
Suddenly an alarm sounded! The anomaly was confined to a narrow band of the spectrum. Simple radio signals! When he dialed in the audible frequencies he heard something he had not heard since he left home. He heard voices. It was a language he had never heard before but the tone and the cadence was not unlike the delivery of his own spoken words. On several frequency bands he heard music - lively, tempo driven music. The voices made no sense to him but the language of music was loud and clear. It was a throbbing beacon in the silence of space.
The radio signals emanated from a nearby yellow dwarf system. Thousands of years of interstellar exploration and this was first event of it’s kind. Clearly, there was no precedent to act as a guide. A field decision had to made. He would move in slowly under pulse power with his eyes and ears wide open.
What he came upon was a beautiful, shining blue orb circled by one large pockmarked moon. Incredibly, intelligent beings on the planet had developed the means to generate and modulate powerful radio waves. Eager to learn all he could he took up orbit around the planet and opened his sensor array.
Julia, nothing could have prepared him for what he found that day. Shock would not adequately describe his reaction. I can scarcely imagine what it must’ve been like to see the look on his face when he realized he’d discovered that billions of human beings were living and thriving there. Shock? Why shock? Because he is human too. As human as you are. Indeed, he has two eyes; two ears a nose and a mouth. He has ten fingers and ten toes attached to his four limbs. Gender aside, an anatomy very nearly identical to your own. The difference being, of course, he comes from a planet thousands of light years away from you.
How this could be has become the greatest mystery of all time.
This, my friend, leads us to the little secret your government has been keeping from you all these years. An unfortunate incident happened in 1947 in New Mexico. It was reported on in the papers at the time but was quickly and quietly buried. It has become the stuff of folklore all over the world. Only, it really did happen. A small shuttlecraft that was used to carry artifacts to ships in high orbit crashed in the desert near Roswell New Mexico. The American army recovered three human bodies. In reality it would’ve been far easier for American authorities if they had found hideous, alien beasts; at least then they would’ve know what the invaders looked like. The very idea that the aliens responsible for the UFO phenomenon were actually human beings made it even more imperative that the secret be perpetuated. How could something like this be explained to the American people? To the world? Who were these people? Star travelers? Time travelers from your own future? Could it be Soviet super technology? The pieces of the recovered ship belied any notion such as that. The recovered wreckage represented a level of technology the best engineers could not comprehend. Clearly, no one on Earth possessed such advanced materials and techniques. Generally speaking, the American government’s reaction was perfectly reasonable.
You would ask: what of the people of my home world? What were we to think? The mere conjecture that human life could spring up independently of Orr would have been ruled a complete absurdity. Yet, here, thirty thousand light years from the galactic core, existed a planet inhabited by billions of human beings. Seemingly primitive, yes, but completely human in every regard.
As I’m sure you can imagine by your own feelings right now when this news reached the home world, a planet we call Orr, pandemonium set in. It was almost more than the collective Orrian psyche could bear. It led to the obvious question: were there more human worlds out there? Did the creator have his children spread out all over the universe?
Understanding the American government’s reason for a blanket of secrecy is easy. But you must be asking yourself why a people as advanced as the Orrians would feel the need to hide themselves from the primitives. One word: contamination. Not from disease, not from the plague, it was nothing like that. What we most feared was cultural contamination. It was plain to see that the rule of force and violence governed the Earth.
Keep in mind that not all Orrians believed in the permanency of that hypothesis. It is a common fact that one’s environment helps shape one’s behavior. The Earth, with all its beauty and abundance is a brutal place. Yours is a planet where oceans, mountains, and vast stretches of uninhabitable land separate the people from each other. Yours is world where violent weather and earthquakes can destroy entire cities in the blink of an eye. A place where pestilence and disease seem to kill at will. There were many of us who saw a people we could help. Indeed, a people we should help. The history of human agony on Earth both horrified and saddened us. Surely, there was a way we could help put a stop to all the suffering and the senseless wasting of human potential. We were dreamers. Perhaps it was unrealistic to think we had all the answers. We were young and impetuous and we believed it was the right thing to do.
It was the year 1938 when our hero stumbled across Earth. By the end of 1939 the last of the preliminary expeditions to the mysterious blue planet ended. Decisions would soon be made as to whether to declare our existence or retain our anonymity. It did not look good for our side. Need I remind you of the state of your world in 1939?
Hitler’s Germany had amassed all the might of its industrial economy into a tremendous war machine. On the other side of the world Imperial Japan mercilessly carved up its neighbors. Meanwhile, in Russia, Stalin brutalized his own countrymen, starving millions, murdering millions more. China was on the brink of chaos. An economic depression and drought that devastated the United States challenged the perception that it even belonged within the world power structure. In short, the world was on a collision course with itself.
When war broke out in Europe Earth was declared off limits. A standard compliment of satellites were to be placed in orbit not only to monitor the planet, but also to detect Orrian ships. As you might imagine, artifacts from Earth are extremely valuable on Orr. Marketeers were often tracked down and punished, but the lure of Earth was too great. To possess something crafted by the human hands of an Earthling was to possess a treasure. Many risked their lives collecting treasures during the war.
For six years we watched events unfold that stretched our capacity to comprehend. From the gas chambers in Europe to the torture chambers in the Pacific, we witnessed the most brutal episode in all of human history. It sickened the gentle people of Orr to see such slaughter. These barbarians could not be the brothers and sisters some had hoped they were.
Still, there were those who saw the good in the people we so callously labeled the 'primitives'. They wanted to help bring a stop to the war and end the wanton slaughter. No one really knows if they were successful before they were finally caught. You can decide for yourself… I must say, we were all quite impressed by the decisive victory shared by the Allied powers over the German and Japanese regimes. The level of American technological development toward the end of the war was rather remarkable, wouldn’t you say?
In the Earth year 1950, the ‘Earth Doctrine’ was drafted. The doctrine was a permanent ban on all expeditions to the planet Earth. It was deemed that nothing good could come from an association with the barbaric people of Earth. They were to be left alone to develop on their own. Perhaps someday, the primitives would become civilized enough to consider rescinding the order.
So Julia, that brings us to today. As a people, as a culture we have become completely obsessed with your world. In a sense, our culture did not survive. All our moral indignation was meaningless. In the end the precious culture we sought to protect was thoroughly invaded by yours. Your art, your music, your history, all of which is far richer than anything that has happened on Orr for a hundred centuries. It blares at us from all corners of the globe. We know more about you than you know about yourself. It is amazing, really. It's like watching fish in a bowl whose existence is more interesting than your own.
I realize all this leaves you with one rather large unanswered question. By now you must now be wondering about the UFO’s. You are asking yourself 'if traveling to Earth is illegal then where are the UFO’s coming from?' Well, this is where I make my confession to you. I am responsible for them. All of them. All the strange lights in the night sky. All the close encounters with pilots and astronauts. All the crop circles and lightning balls. All of it. Me. When I was a young man I simply could not accept the Earth Doctrine. I was clever and full of idealism. I set out to force the Orrian High Council into changing the law. They had a name for me; they called me the Renegade. In my most defiant act I zealously seeded your atmosphere with thousands of drones. Designed to be completely undetectable until activated these time-delayed drones carried out their missions for decades. Ultimately it was a failure and I now regret my ill-considered actions. The drones, unfortunately, could not be recalled. I hope someday that I will be forgiven. I never intended to hurt anyone.
That is my little story. Every word of it is true. I’m telling you, but I don’t exactly know why. Maybe it’s because you seek the answer so completely. I feel I am responsible for your life’s work and now it is up to me to make your work bear fruit. The proof is in this disk. If you examine it, you will see it comes from a manufacturer on Earth known as Maxell. You must understand that the Earth Doctrine is the law but it doesn’t mean that a few crafty marketeers can’t get through once and a while. Earth artifacts are always in high demand. This would be the proof that we have been there, on Earth. The program that resides on the disk, like nothing you have ever seen, proves the advanced state of our technology.
Try it, Julia. Ask me anything.
Sincerely,
Sollalia
...............................................................................
Livvevea was stunned. She was frozen in place, her mind barely registering the moment. Sollalia was the Renegade! Was it even possible? She had heard the stories they used to tell about his impetuous youth. No one ever really believed them. They were just stories… It was simply beyond imagination.
Looking down on Soll’s motionless body and then at the unwavering image of Julia Rayhied in the holotank, she sighed. ‘Soll, you old fool’, she thought, why did you have to go and complicate things. It was bad enough that her own love affair had to be hidden from the prying eyes of ‘the mining’. This affair had to be hidden from the entire world. It was now clear why Soll removed his console from the public Wave last night. If this letter was ever discovered it would be the end of his political ambitions. A brilliant man would be reduced to irrelevance. The world would surely suffer from the loss. But would Soll? From the looks of it he really didn’t care anymore, maybe his career was already over.
Soll moved. Livv slipped silently out of the room and re-energized the door. From the corridor she spoke with ample volume to wake him, "Soll? Are you in there? It’s me, Livv."
The door blipped out and Soll stood in front of her rubbing his day old beard and smiling.
She smiled back. "Rough night?"
"I really must have lost track of time."
"I tried to reach you this morning. Your console didn’t respond. I got worried."
"I took it off the public wave," he admitted simply.
"You what?"
"I was working on something. I didn’t want any prying eyes… It’s really not important." He stretched and yawned. "You could have call on the private."
"That's only for emergencies, you would have killed me? "
"Yes, actually, I would, I'm waiting for Dakk like everybody else and the last thing I want to hear is an emergency sounder."
Livv snapped to attention. Then Soll didn’t even know! He slept right through the message! Dakk’s transmission was held in the comconsole's buffer but the idled public channel never alerted him. Soll didn’t know Dakk was coming home, and worse, she couldn’t tell him. She swept right past him and laid her hands on the controller with blinding speed.
"We’d better check the buffers. You might have missed something..." In a matter seconds the console was back online. "...Yes, here’s my call. And one from Terrekka’s Council’s Secretary of Operations. I wonder what she wants? There are no sessions scheduled... What’s this!" she feigned complete surprise. "A message from the outer solar system. It’s encrypted."
His eyes lit up. "What did you say?"
"It’s from the outer solar system..."
He pushed her aside as he grabbed the controller from her. "It’s Dakk. He’s back." He carefully studied the transmission record. It was tagged with code key only Soll's console could decrypt. "Okay, let’s see what Dakk had to say."
Once a great one came upon a curiosity. If he touched it, he could destroy it. If it touched him he might be poisoned. The young one came upon a terror. If he touched it he would be destroyed by it. If it touched the him, then all will be destroyed by it...
Soll beamed. "He's back!"
"What do you think it means?"
Reveling in the notion that Dakk was coming home Soll seemed to have let the implications of the odd message slip by. "OK," he read it again... "Well, let’s take it apart... A great one came upon a curiosity... The Great One... That's Deppopio," he declared matter of factly. "Dakk’s parables are always built around keywords. Words that we recognize regardless of the context."
"Then ‘a young one’ is referring to Dakk, right?"
"That's the parallel I would draw."
"What does he mean by ‘a terror'?" She saw a momentarily twitch, his eyes dropped to the floor.
"What?" she pleaded. "What is it, Soll? What does it mean?"
"I can’t be sure, of course, but if look at the first phrase he clearly spells out the curiosity of Depp finding the Earth. This reference to poison... You tell me, Livv, what would make Earth a terror rather than a curiosity?"
Livv looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Well, if they had their own lightdrive technology... "
"Precisely!"
"Oh my, you don’t think..."
Just then the console chimed with an incoming call. The caller was Passidda, Terrekka's Council Oversecretary of Operations. Soll looked at Livv and shrugged and put Passidda on the holotank viewer, erasing Julia Rayhied's image grateful that Livv had not asked...
"Good day, Madam Secretary," Soll said cheerfully, "You look lovely this morning. What can I do for you?"
Passidda blushed. "Soll, it’s good to see the real you. You don't usually don't take my calls, this is a surprise. We’d sure like to see more of you around here."
Soll dropped his eyes and said nothing. His absence from civilization was becoming legend. He looked up and smiled, "What’s your pleasure, this morning?"
"Your console didn’t respond to our general announcement earlier this morning. Can we assume you’ll be attending today’s emergency session?"
He looked at Livv, bewildered; "Did you know about this?"
"I did not," she replied. She looked at her portacon only to see the announcement.
"I think I smell Sebbreba’s work here..." he whispered. "What emergency?"
"Last night a returning Galactic pilot sent out a distress signal picked up around the world. They're saying he’s discovered more human worlds."
Livv’s heart sank. Something went wrong. The link was corrupted. She collapsed into the chair. Soll’s eyes darted back and forth between the holotank and the young woman’s slouching body. "Livv, is everything okay?" Her sullen eyes were fixed on the floor refusing to look up at him.
"I’m so sorry, Soll," she whispered, trying desperately to hold back her sobs.
He turned back to Passidda, "Thank you for the message, Pass my dear, we will be there." With a flick of his wrist the holotank went blank. Soll put his hands on Livv’s cheeks and forced her to look at him. He could feel the wet of her tears as he brushed the hair from her eyes. "Okay, Livv, let’s have it."
What could she say? Everything was ruined. Her career was finished and Dakk’s place in the mining would be pulled. What could she tell him? The man had been like a father to her. His political enemies were probably already lining up outside the door. She sobbed "I’m so sorry, Soll. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen."
"What did you do?"
"I just wanted to know when Dakk was coming home." She frowned. "I guess I can tell you - what difference does it make now? Dakk and I are in love." Soll smiled and lowered his hands to her shoulders.
"I know. I’ve known for a while. Not to worry, your secret is safe with me. Now, tell me what you did."
"I constructed a soft link between your console and my portacon. But I swear Soll, I was so careful... I don’t understand what went wrong."
"Larrvino..." Soll said, his voice trailing off. He began to pace the length of the room.
Raising her head from the cradle of her hands Livv said, "What are you talking about? I did this."
He didn’t answer her right away. His eyes danced back and forth as if watching a bouncing ball. "He’s probably had his own tap on your portacon since the day you came to work for me. It was just dumb luck that he intercepted the transmission."
"But Passidda said the message was picked up all over the world."
"That’s right, indeed it was, because it was retransmitted by him."
"What’s going to happen? I mean... Am I done? Are you going to throw me out?"
"Nonsense. There’s a council session today, remember. I’m going to need you there."
"I don’t understand," she said looking up at him with red eyes. "Aren’t we all in trouble?"
"Relax. The only one in trouble here is Dakk himself. Listen, Larrvino isn’t going to tell anyone how he got it. If he implicated you or me, he’d have to disclose how he came by the knowledge. I know Larr and he isn’t about to do that. He knows tampering with the Wave is serious. No one is going to admit to doing that."
He took her by the arm and walked her to the welcome room. The rain had subsided, a reprieve until the next wave of clouds blew by. "Now, this is what’s going to happen. First, you’re going back to the city and get cleaned up. Second, you are to meet me at the council building, and I’ll need everything you can get on the subject of "invading forces" from High Council’s annual Scenario Committee. Then, afterward we’ll talk all about this. And Livv, for your peace of mind, your job is safe." He smiled earnestly, and said, "love, my dear, is punishment enough." She put her arms around him and squeezed. He felt a shudder of relief in her grip. She began to cry. "I know, I know," he said comforting her. "I love him too."
***
As the transporter banked slowly toward the Great Hall, Soll caught a fleeting glimpse of Terrekka’s Ancient City. Whenever he saw the birthplace of Orrian civilization his heart began to pound a little harder. On one end of town Terrekka's sheltertree stood perfectly preserved through ages. In the center of town was the original Great Hall she had commissioned but never saw completed. Standing tall and strong three hundred centuries later it still inspired awe. In its time it was considered the very center of the world. This scared place is where Terrekka, often called the mother of civilization, left her teachings and wondrous stories as a guide for all the tribes of Orr.
As the transporter finished the turn Soll moved to the other side of the cabin and peered through the transparent hull for one last look at the city that the ‘mother of civilization’ had built. He was resigned to the fact that he may be only one in the city today who even bothered give Terrekka a second thought.
Traffic was unusually heavy over the welcome pad. Transporters large and small zipped in and out of view. To a casual observer it might even appear chaotic. But the Network was seamless, like a flock of birds weaving and diving in perfect syncopation; no two transporters could ever occupy the same space at the same time.
Presently there would be reporters down there, he reminded himself with a sigh. He could already feel the cacophony of their incessant questioning. What was he supposed to tell them? Nothing he could say would satisfy them anyway. His only hope was that the Network set him down on a pad near the entrance. Once inside the building protocol required a certain decorum be observed by all parties.
From the air it looked like a swarm of tid flies were buzzing back and forth on the welcome landing. As each transporter settled on a pad the horde of holowave reporters with their little monocle camera’s blinking away engulfed the unsuspecting soul, desperately grasping for a quote they could wrest from anyone who seemed even remotely important.
The main body of the swarm was on the far end of the landing when his transporter set down near the welcome foyer. He smiled inwardly. This might actually work. He would be safely inside the Great Hall before the swarm even caught wind of him. The door of the transporter popped open. The game was on.
The circular ramp provided a panoramic view of the entire landing as he wound his way down from the elevated pad. The situation was positive. The buzz could be heard but it was still a long way off. Walking with a sense of purpose he strode toward the open doors unhindered. Feeling triumphant as he approached the point of demarcation, he began to look around. First he looked left, then right, and left again. As he swung his head around the third time he caught only a glimpse of the impending collision. The person’s slight body flew violently to the ground as Soll looked on utterly horrified. Instinctively he reached out to offer a hand up when he saw the familiar face of young Gellseno staring back at him.
“I’m so sorry, sir,” Gell bellowed. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Soll smiled broadly as he pulled the boy up to his feet. “Shouldn't I be asking you that question?”
“Oh no, don’t worry about me...” just then the swarm overtook them. Gell felt himself being pummeled, brushed away like a hapless branch hanging across the path. He was torn from Soll by a mass of moving bodies. “It’s Sollalia, over here! “ one of them yelled. “We’ve got him!” said another. Gell slipped away, escaping the fury of the swarm and finding himself wondering if Soll would ever do the same.
He absently walked away. Alone in the shadows he watched the hungry swarm move steadily toward the welcome foyer. Soll was engulfed by a crowd near hysterics. Above Gell's head a transporter silently came to rest on a pad. There was a slight discharge as the anti-gravity field collapsed; the hair on the back of his neck was left standing on end. There was no explaining it, but he was not surprised to see Larrvino standing in the open door, beckoning to him.
He scrambled up the ramp only to find Larr doubled over, belly laughing, inside the cabin. Gell looked at him curiously, his brow deeply furrowed.
“What?”
“I didn't realize you were so graceful" Larr chortled. "A regular Fred Astaire...”
Gell said nothing. Let Larr have his laughs, Gell thought. The day would come when he would be doing the laughing.
Oblivious to Gell’s simmering anger Larr continued. “Are you sure that’s the most effective way to put a tail on someone?”
“All right Larr,” Gell said with teeth clenched. “Enough... Obviously, you didn’t see my hand go in his pocket for the disk…”
“Ah… Very good." Larr said with a slight hint of admiration. "Where is it?” he then replied tonelessly. Gell looked down. “You didn’t get it, did you? If you were the bright young man I took you for... I was wrong. Why didn't you put a copying relay on that thing.”
“Wrong,” the boy said sharply. Larr was momentarily taken aback by the tone. “What do you take him for? He’d spot something as feeble as that. Just leave it to me. You’ll get the disk.” He paused. He looked at Larr closely, enough to make Larr uncomfortably aware of it. “Why do you hate him so much?” he asked.
“Hate who?” Larr replied with mock sincerity.
“Sollalia. Who else? What has he done to you?”
“I don't hate Soll, not at all” Larr said carefully, “It’s his precious Earth, your precious Earth. It’s always been Earth. Can’t you see how it’s destroying us?" He paused with a near imperceptible sigh. "No, I guess you can’t. You’ll never understand. How could you? Always filling your head with that garbage, that bilge they put on the airwaves. Tell me Gell, can you even remember the last great Orrian song, the last great Orrian performance? When was the last time you played any tree sports? Or read from the Book of Terrekka. Our history did not start the day Deppopio picked up those radio signals. You go to that Institute every day to study them like rats in a cage. Only you have become nothing more than rats yourself. It’s disgusting...” his voice trailed off with a calculated note of despair.
The boy remained silent as the words of hate echoed painlessly inside his head. Larr was wrong about Earth, he thought. He was convinced in his own mind that the fate of Orr was inexorably tied to the very people Larr despised so completely. But this was neither the time nor the place to try to convince him of that. Distracted by the ceaseless activity on the welcome landing he turned away from Larr’s scowling face and smiled inwardly, it was going to be a very interesting day, very interesting indeed.
***
Soll looked out over the assembled audience. There had not been anything like it since the day Deppopio first returned from Earth. Then, as now, the Great Hall was brimming with anxious people spreading rumors as fast as their lips could repeat them. Despite his being very young at the time, the memories of that day were as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. This time there was a different element; one had not been present many years ago. There was a collective uneasiness mingled among the subdued conversations, hiding behind the pleasantries and smiles, bubbling up in raised voices and nervous laughter. This time the chill of fear was the air.
Soll scanned the ready room. As he expected the lovely Sebbreba was nowhere to be found. She knew better than to show her face around him after pulling a stunt like this.
Passidda, the council's self appointed host, moved busily about the room prodding the council members to assume their positions on the stage. By tradition the High Chair was last to be seated. Only when each of the eighteen chairs that formed a semi-circle around the lone elevated chair were occupied would she escort him onto the stage.
With all the formality the event required Passidda, finally satisfied that everything was in place, took Soll's arm and led him into the spotlight. He hesitated at first, convinced that more than one chair remained empty. Passidda frowned as she tugged on his arm.
"It’s time, Soll," she said, coaxing him into the light, where the cheers in his honor had already begun.
"But..."
"It’s all right, she’s there."
Soll spun toward the stage to see the beautiful antagonist smiling back at him from the chair next to his. Sebbreba, his nemesis, the proverbial thorn in his side, knowing the displeasure this whole affair was causing him was immune to his scorn. She knew him all too well.
Sebb had been Teffiona’s best friend. She remained very close to Soll after the accident, never betraying her memory by using her intimate knowledge of his private life against him. It would have been easy for Sebb to turn on him. He respected her and in his own way he loved her for it. Friend or not, it was clear that she had become the very heart and soul of the Earth Party. In practice, she was the bitter rival of Sollalia and his Party of Orr.
Soll smiled at her with a note of disapproval. As brilliant as she was beautiful, Sebbreba was early to recognize that the real threat to her agenda was actually the man she was sharing a bed with. From his vantage point Soll could feel the venom spew forth from Larrvino’s eyes. Was it primal jealousy or pure hate? He could not tell which. It was an ironic twist when his political ally was more threatening to him than his sworn enemy was. So it was, and so it would be. He had to deal with it. He knew that from this day forward he was entering the fight of his life.
Despite the outward appearance of poise and control his mind was elsewhere, torn by the image of a beautiful young woman named Julia Rayhied millions of light years away from him. She was so completely unaware of his existence that the whole thing seemed like a childish crush, and felt just as ridiculous. Passidda politely tugged on his arm and finally he let himself be towed onto the stage. He smiled broadly as the spotlight hit him. One must always put on appearances.
He stood at center stage the light burning his eyes. The assembled, perhaps twenty thousand inside the Great Hall, and half again as many outside on the strollways and balconies, were cheering with thunder and fury; the sound deafening to his ears. Despite his disappearing act of the last two years he was apparently still as popular as ever. He acknowledged the audience and then turned toward the council and urged them to sit. When the roar had diminished to a din he took his chair. He raised his hands toward the audience to quell the remaining patter and at last the hall fell silent.
"My dear Terrekkans," he began, "I am pleased to see all of you again." He smiled and let them respond. He turned toward Sebb and nodded, "and, of course, I am happy to see my colleagues as well." There was a murmur of approval from the floor. "However, I fail to see the reason we should all be called together at this time. Surely, there is no emergency that would warrant such an occasion. As much as I enjoy these festive gatherings..." the audience let out a collective giggle at the preposterous statement, "what has it been? Two years... Three? Perhaps more, since we’ve had a real council session. To be perfectly honest I really have nothing to say. Let’s look at it this way… What do we really have here?"
He scanned the audience and turned full circle to encompass the council in his mock inquiry. "Rumors mostly. Do we have any facts? No, we do not. Do we have a chance to get the facts before the end of this affair? Again, the answer is no. My point is just this: there is no point in us being here now. In a few days, maybe - we will have something to discuss. For that, my friends, we’ll just have to wait and see."
He turned toward Sebb again, all the while feeling the heat of Larrvino’s glare. The first move was his to make. He had considered his options on the flight over as he poured through the material Livv had sent him. There was little precedent for this type of occurrence. An emergency session at the regional council level was quite rare. A check on the history of Terrekka’s Council showed it had occurred only thirty-six times in the three hundred centuries of its existence. He had never presided over one in his eighteen years as the High Chair. Still, he knew why Sebb had called today’s session. It was her opportunity to "shake the tree", as she was fond of saying and see what fell out. With the Renegade back in action the ongoing resolution to rescind the Earth Doctrine had been gaining momentum all over the world. From Sebb's point of view the time was now, no better time, nothing ventured nothing gained.
Two years ago, when last the council met, she was successful in swinging two votes her way. Swaying just two more and she would have the majority and the right to take it to the Supreme High Council in New Pallpoli. Yesterday it would have seemed an impossibility. Today was different; today it might actually happen.
His position afforded Soll right to frame the debate. Anything he would say on the subject would taken apart word by word. It was not his desire to stir it up and fuel speculation. It would seem the only thing to do would be to give her an opportunity to hang herself. He could accomplish that by giving the rope to the man on her right.
He spun in place. "Member Sebbreba, I ask you to channel our discussion today." The audience gasped behind him. He could hear muted gasps from stage as well. After her opening statement the council’s ranking member would start, and hopefully, mercifully crush the debate. Larrvino’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Sebb, startled by the boldness of Soll’s unusual act, was frozen in place. Sollalia had accomplished exactly what he wanted to do. He had caught everyone by surprise.
She stood and moved slowly toward the center of the stage, her saunter less confident than usual. As she passed him, she mumbled something he could not quite make out. He sat down, never looking at Larr, but feeling the unmistakable stab of his general disapproval.
She paced for a moment, her hand on her chin, her head down. "Today we stand at a turning point," she said with genuine seriousness. "Deep in our hearts we knew it would eventually come to this, only the naive or stubborn among us would deny it. The day Deppopio returned with the news of a world inhabited by human beings we all knew that if there were one out there then the odds dictated that there must be more. The possibility has always existed as we explored the galaxy that we would someday encounter alien beings whose technology would rival or even surpass our own. My dear friends, I fear that day is upon us." She paused, allowing her point to sink in. "We must decide if we are going to run away from it as we have fled from a benign planet like Earth or stand up to it and take our place in our galaxy."
Larr rose to his feet even before the echo of her dramatic words fell silent. "Never in my life have I heard such nonsense," he bellowed. "Our esteemed High Chair could not have said it any better. What proof have we? I find it unconscionable that we would all be dragged down here today to hear such drivel." He looked at Sebb and frowned. "All of this based on what? A silly little parable? For all we know the whole thing is a cruel prank."
Larr’s words though effective, cut Soll like a double-edged sword. Everybody in the building knew it had been his son who had sent the message. The registered break out point assigned to Dakk’s mission was a matter of public record. In fact, the only thing Soll knew for sure was that this was no prank.
"Therefore," Larr continued, "I urge the High Chair to call for an adjournment of this entire unpleasant affair unless someone can offer proof of what she speaks..."
There was only silence and Larr smiled triumphantly. He turned toward Soll and with a flip of his hand motioned his forfeiture of the center stage. Soll stood, not even bothering to move into the spotlight, and raised his hands toward the audience. "A wise and prudent course of action. Thank you all for coming here today, pleasant enough yes, but pointless nonetheless. I call for an immediate adjournment of these proceedings. Do I hear a second?" A chorus of ayes followed from his right. "Objections?"
"Your Excellency?" shouted Veddetti. With a little visual prodding from Sebb he moved into the light. "I request we take a poll of the council on the question of the continuing resolution for the repeal of the Earth Doctrine."
By all rights Soll had to honor the request. This was all Sebb ever really wanted anyway. She was no fool, she knew there would be no debate, but she had nothing to lose by trying. "Very well," Soll said in disgust, "we shall vote. I move that we omit the reading the resolution… Would you all agree?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "I ask all members to vote aye or nay in silence."
The results appeared instantaneously on the poll box suspended overhead. The reaction from the audience was just as sudden. Everyone in the building rose to their feet. The rumble became deafening. She had done it again! The Party of Orr had lost another vote.
None heard Soll call and end to the session. No one saw him slip out the back of the stage.
posted by Ugh at 9:26 AM
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