The weapon, p.20
The Weapon, page 20
part #1 of Star Fighters Series
“Honestly,” interrupted Philips, a smile forming on his face, “That’s not a bad way to make the history books.”
“This is not a matter to make light of,” said John. “Don’t you see what we’ve been offered?”
Philips and Wheeler looked at each other before Philips said “No.”
John raised his hand, adjusted his bracelet and they were both immobilized again.
“You are truly among the uncalled,” said John, a hint of disgust in his tone.
“The Celestial Being offers us a chance to be reborn,” John continued. “A chance to remake the human race – more versatile, more inventive, more capable and closer to the image of God.”
“Why don’t you let us out of this thing so we can really talk,” said Philips.
“Let him finish, Sam,” said Wheeler. “What are you talking about John?” asked Wheeler.
“Learn from the wisdom of your elders,” John said to Philips. Turning to Wheeler, he continued, “The Celestial Being knows much about our, human, history. We have pleaded with it to show us the true nature of the divine. Our entreaty has not fallen on deaf ears. The Celestial Being has taught us that the only way to truly know the divine is through the self. No outside agency can do it for us.”
“So, what do you need from this Celestial Being,” asked Wheeler.
“The Celestial Being wields the cosmic pencil. A tool that can create and alter reality, timelines, re-bend and re-form space and time. In its unfathomable wisdom, the Celestial Being has determined that all of humanity can be put on the path to divine enlightenment by starting over.”
“Starting what over?” asked Philips.
“Life,” answered John. “Life on Earth. Human civilization. The ground you are standing on is the Earth gentleman, as it was millions of years ago. Before humans appeared on the scene.”
“Don’t tell me you think this Celestial Being recreated the earth?” asked Philips, incredulity plainly evident in his tone.
“The Celestial Being did not just recreate the earth, it recreated the entire Sol System,” said John, tears welling up in his eyes as the grandeur of what he had just recounted caused him to be overcome with emotion.
“To what end?” asked Wheeler. “And why here. Earth and Sol System already exist.”
John ignored Wheelers’ question and walked back towards the monolith. He knelt and beckoned the light to embrace him again.
“What do you think?” asked Wheeler. “My impression is that he really believes his story.”
“He might believe the story, but I don’t,” said Philips. “I wish we could get a hold of Leah.”
Chapter 19
“Tim. Sam. This is Leah. Come in.” said Leah as her Star Fighter entered the atmosphere of the planet below. She set course for their last known landing coordinates and put her comm on automatic cycling. It would repeat ever thirty seconds until someone answered.
While her teammates were away, she had spent the time analyzing the data their Star Fighters had recorded.
This planet was nearly identical to the earth, as it must have been nearly five hundred million years ago, roughly when land plants first appeared, and life was beginning to diversify rapidly. Land plants helped cool the climate and increased oxygen levels in the atmosphere, two events that were vital for the development of multicellular animal species to survive.
However, there were some important differences in the exact ratios of chemical compounds and in the types of plants present – in particular, there were more vascular plants with advanced root systems. Such plants have the potential to grow better, process more soil and carbon dioxide, and generally play a significant role in a planet’s biogeochemistry. One major difference was the absence of animal life proper – even small, multicellular animals expected by standard planetary evolution theories were missing.
The other bodies in this solar system were also near – but not exact – replicas of the bodies in Sol System, having the orbital and chemical characteristics they would be expected to have had half a billion years ago. Of particular interest to Leah were the slight differences in orbits around the sun – these differences would yield a slight, but statistically significant, increase in the probability of asteroid collisions over time. For a life-bearing world like earth, that could mean the occurrence of more extinction-level events or sharp, rapid climate changes.
Leah spotted the two Star Fighters on deck and angled her own Star Fighter to land alongside the other two.
She scanned the immediate area and picked up the both Wheeler’s and Philips’ suit beacons. They were seven miles away, in what appeared to be a clearing in an otherwise densely forested area. Their life signs were normal and appeared to be immobile.
That means trouble, she thought.
She packed a stunner weapon and a harpoon rocket launcher, the latter as a just in case intimidation tactic, secured her armor and went off in search of her teammates.
Along the way she stopped to take samples of the soil, flora and atmospheric gases, which her onboard computer quickly analyzed, storing the information for later use.
So far, the scans she took from orbit matched what she was seeing on the ground.
This was earth’s twin – a much younger twin – but a twin, nevertheless.
She knew, statistically speaking, that given a large enough and old enough universe, such twin worlds were almost certain to occur. What was very much less likely were the odds of finding such a twin so relatively close to the ‘original’ earth and in the present time. Had it been a different epoch in the universe’s long life, that would have been one thing – but finding it at the exact same time and so relatively close, well, that just screamed artificial intervention.
So, the cosmic pencil is real, Leah thought. And someone, or something, has used it to create an entire solar system.
For what?
--
Several hours later a clearing in the densely forested landscape came into view. From here, behind the green cover of the surrounding flora, Leah could see a large monolith bathed in light dominating the landscape.
Off to one side of the object she could see several men in robes, all bathed in the same light that bathed the monolith.
A few yards in the other direction she could see the tell-tale shape of armor covered humans – Wheeler and Philips – but they were completely motionless, as if under a spell.
But Leah didn’t believe in spells.
She’d get to the bottom of this one way or another.
Taking great care to walk the remaining distance in silence, she entered the clearing, crouched low and scooped a handful of soil and plant matter. While her onboard computer analyzed that, she sampled the surrounding air. The analysis was complete in less than a minute and she filed the data for later use.
She waved to Philips and Wheeler, but they did not respond. She could see that they were able to move their heads and eyes, and they were both trying to draw her attention to the man with the outstretched hands.
She noticed that a shimmering bracelet hung off his left wrist but was otherwise wearing the same clothing as the other men, the defining element being the plain gray robes that covered most of their bodies.
“What’s going on?” she whispered as soon as she got close enough to touch Philips and Wheeler.
“They’re from the Order of Orion,” whispered Philips. “They think that light over there is a Celestial Being, and that it’s going to help them see God.”
“Not just them, but all of us – all humans,” added Wheeler.
Leah nodded. “About what they told us to expect at our briefing. How long have you been in that immobilizing field?”
“It’s been hours,” said Philips. “It doesn’t hurt but it does cramp your muscles after a while. Can you get us out?”
Leah circled them, thinking things through. She noticed that Wheeler had a bracelet in his palm that looked a lot like the one worn by the man in the robe.
“What’s this?” she said, as she pulled it out of his hand.
“That’s what they used to immobilize us,” said Wheeler.
“John, that guy with the outstretched arms, he’s got one too,” added Philips. “His bracelet is the one holding us in this thing.”
Leah turned over the bracelet in her hands. She stared at it for a few moments before putting it around her left wrist.
She put tension on it with her right hand and then subtly flicked her left wrist, causing Philips and Wheeler to sigh in relief, as the immobilization field holding them captive dissipated and they were free to move again.
Philips stretched his arms overhead and Wheeler pumped his legs, enjoying their newfound freedom.
But their freedom was short lived as the light that embraced John the Seer faded, retreating back to the monolith as he spun around on his heal, raised his left arm and immobilized them both again.
Turning to face Leah, he said, “you must be another one who has been sent rather than called,” and raised his arm to immobilize her as well.
Leah took a small step back and blinked. Nothing happened.
She was free to move, the immobilization field having no effect on her.
She applied tension to the bracelet she was wearing and then flicked her wrist, her palm facing John. He took a small step back too and also blinked, but remained mobile.
She went through the motion again, this time focusing her efforts on Philips and Wheeler.
They were freed instantly and quickly split up in opposite directions, found cover and aimed their weapons at John.
“I’m betting you can’t hit both of us with that thing if we are this far apart,” shouted Philips from behind the cover of a large boulder. “Go ahead and immobilize one of us. I guarantee you that you will be shot regardless.”
“He’s right,” said Leah. “These things cover a volume of maybe five hundred cubic feet – that’s a box ten feet wide by ten feet high by five feet deep.”
John tried immobilizing Leah again but once again, she took a small step back and blinked, but remained completely mobile.
“I can counter this just as you can,” said Leah. “John is it? You’re a Level Two, aren’t you?”
John nodded slowly. “How did you know?”
“These can only be operated by Level Twos,” said Leah. “It took me a few seconds to figure that out, but they are intuitive to those of us with Level Two implants.”
“This was given to me for my service to the divine,” said John.
Leah shrugged. “It’s technology. Nothing divine about it.”
John didn’t seem pleased but remained silent.
The other members of the Order of Orion began to emerge from their light trances. John motioned for them to remain where they were.
“We should talk,” John said to Leah. Glancing at Philips and Wheeler, he added “Just the two of us.”
Leah shook her head no. “We are a team and we don’t keep secrets.”
“They won’t understand,” replied John. “But I believe you will.”
“Try us,” said Philips. “We learn fast.”
Reluctantly, John motioned for them to the edge of the clearing, out of ear shot from the other members of the Order.
When they reached the point where the forest threatened to overtake the clearing, Philips asked “Why the secrecy? Even from your own people?”
“They are good people,” said John of the other members of his group. “Hale is especially advanced, and I rely on him to train the others. But for this conversation, I don’t need Hale’s input. The Order speaks with one voice, and in this region of space, that voice is mine.”
“You are a Seer, said Leah. “I’ve heard that title used before in reference to the Order.”
“I am,” said John. “Seers have a special gift. We can detect an individual’s intent. High level Seers can often foretell future events.”
Speaking directly to Leah, John added, “that is why I have treated your associates so softly. That is also why I have agreed to speak with you.”
“Thank you for that, Seer,” said Leah.
Philips was standing behind John’s left shoulder and rolled his eyes at Leah’s reply, while Wheeler simply smiled. Not wanting to break John’s trust, Leah gave them both a quick hand signal to knock it off.
“Tell us,” continued Leah. “What exactly are you doing here?”
“The Celestial Being has granted us, all of us, the chance to start over,” said John. “We have the chance to re-shape the course of human history – to become a better version of ourselves.”
“From what we’ve been able to determine,” said Leah, “this planet, this entire solar system, is a near exact replica of Earth and Sol System. Is the Celestial Being attempting to recreate the conditions that led to the emergence of life, and specifically homo sapiens, on Earth?”
“Exactly,” replied John. “Only this time, we, our human brothers and sisters, will have the benefit of hindsight to guide their development. On a microlevel, they will have us to provide specific feedback on developmental and civilizational details. On a macrolevel, the Celestial Being has selected this region of space to restart our species.”
“When you say, ‘us’ who are you referring to?” asked Philips.
“The Order,” replied John. “And any allies that wish to join the effort.”
“You mentioned that the Celestial Being selected this specific region of space…” said Leah. “Why?”
“Frankly, our species has been lucky,” replied John. “The Earth was in a part of the Galaxy where other intelligent life forms were very far way. Our species evolved without the pressures from Galactic natural selection. We were never under pressure from outside sentients. It was us against the environment. Later, it was humans against other humans. We never faced a threat from an alien mind until the Xanthu. By then, we were already a powerful space fairing civilization spread out among many worlds. We had advanced technology and we beat back the Xanthu so completely that they have not dared approach the Inner Worlds for nearly a century.”
“And you think that was a bad thing?” asked Wheeler. “Had we met the Xanthu earlier in our development, they would have annihilated us.”
“If primitive humans had met the advanced, modern day Xanthu – yes, you are right,” replied John. “But had an early, space capable humanity met an earlier version of the Xanthu, or any other species, or at least became positively aware of their existence earlier in our development…imagine how such encounters would have brought us together as a species and forced us to be smarter, more efficient and more creative in order to successfully compete with other sentient life forms.”
“When you put it that way,” said Leah, “that does make some sense. This region of space is more densely populated with other life forms than the Earth’s space environs. The Tusk are just a few light years away, as are the Rugh Van. The Xanthu are probably a few tens of light years out from here. And we’ve heard rumors of other sentient beings in this region.”
Philips shook his head. “This sounds like a lot of nonsense. Even if I buy the part about how pressures from galactic natural selection would lead to more rapid and better evolutionary characteristics than ordinary terrestrial natural selection already has, that still blatantly ignores the fact that whatever proto-human life might develop on this planet would be up against already advanced space fairing civilizations. This could only work if the Rugh Van, Tusk, Xanthu and any other sentient beings in this region were reduced to their proto-sentient status and allowed to evolve in parallel with the proto-humans on this planet.”
“That’s a good point,” said Leah.
John raised his hands in a gesture indicating patience. “In truth, we do not fully understand the Celestial Being’s plans. However, it is looking to us for some guidance. It not only gives information when we are locked in its embrace, but it asks for information as well.”
“So as far as anyone knows, that Being might turn back the clock on all the other civilizations in this region, in order to make this a fair experiment,” said Wheeler. “They would all have to be destroyed and started over or somehow regressed back millions of years.”
“Assuming the Being can even do such a thing, which seems doubtful,” said Leah, “that would be favoring humanity. And we have no reason to think it does. If it did do that, it wouldn’t just have to eliminate all those advanced civilizations in the process, as Wheeler said, but it would have to eliminate the Inner Worlds too. Barring that, it would have to set up similar experiments in other regions of space and create new solar systems for where proto-Tusk, proto-Rugh Van and proto-Xanthu civilizations could rise up under pressure from galactic natural selection as well.”
“And if it follows that model,” said Philips, it would want to ‘consult’ with those other civilizations just like it’s doing consulting with the Order, on this planet.
“Me thinks this is getting very complicated,” said Wheeler. “Where does all this leave us and the Inner Worlds?”
“John, has the Celestial Being given you a timetable for its experiment with human evolution,” asked Leah.
John shrugged and shook his head. “No. All we know is that its efforts to re-boot humanity have been going on for some time. We came into this rather recently, when rumors of the cosmic pencil began making the rounds. This Celestial Being, and its plan to remake humanity, is the closest the Order has gotten to realizing a true vision of the Cosmic Godhead.”
“Do you think this Being is God?” asked Wheeler.
“No,” said John. “But it may be an agent of the Cosmic Will. We are willing to put ourselves at its disposal, to help ensure that its work in remaking the human race leads to desired outcomes, and to be ready when the true God makes a divine appearance.”
“How many of your people can actually speak to this Being?” asked Leah. “I watched you earlier, and you seemed better able to control your interactions with that light.”
“Anyone can be touched by the light,” said John. “It will call whoever it sees fit.”
