He Who Dares: Book Three (36 page)

Unlike the landing bay on his ship the strange shuttle headed for a hole in the side of the alien ship that at first glance look to be smaller than the shuttle. It wasn’t, and the shuttle glided effortlessly into the opening and down a short tube all without touching the sides. There wasn’t even a bump as the shuttle settled and the hatch opened. Taking a deep breath, Mike exited, not sure what to expect, but certainly not a group of naked, hairless aliens prostrating themselves on the deck before him. As he stepped out the oddly human looking being came forward. He was clothed, but Mike suspected that it was more for his benefit rather than the aliens. The being bowed with his three fingered hands covering his face.

“Greetings honored Captain Michael Gray. These are here to assist in preparing you to meet my Queen.” He indicated the prostrated beings. “Please permit them to remove your clothing so you can proceed with the decontamination process.” So much for carrying a weapon, Mike thought.

It made sense in an off way. As isolated as they were from the outside universe, they wouldn’t want him contaminating their ship or their queen with some strange bug. Body shyness wasn’t part of his cultural awareness, and as the others stood he could see they were sexless as well as naked and hairless. To outward appearances their faces seemed half formed, in that they had two eyes, two ears and a mouth yet had a smooth unfinished look. He slowly undressed, and as he did so, one of the beings took each article of clothing and carefully folded it. He then stood back so another could take his place and take the next item. Once naked the dressed alien motioned him to enter the next chamber as a hatch slid silently open. This turned out to be the decontamination chamber where he passed through a series of sprays and lights to kill off any human germs. Exiting, another alien was waiting with a long robe with a hood and a pair of soft, boot like footwear.

“Please don the garment, Captain Gray, as requested by my Queen. The temperature in her chamber is different from what we have learned humans prefer.”

Mike wondered for a moment how he would have been dressed, or undressed, if the chamber was the same temperature. Naked probably.

From there, just the two of them proceeded through the ship by a series of moving walkways and lift shafts until at last they entered the queen’s chamber. To his surprise, the chamber was hot rather than cold as he’d expected when asked to wear the robe, at least ninety or a hundred degrees. The robe wasn’t to keep him warm but cool. He could feel the heat on his hands and face, and he quickly lifted the hood over his head and tucked his hands inside the loose sleeves. This was another example of their advanced technology. Inside the robe he felt cool and comfortable, and he thought to ask the queen later if he could take it with him. The queen’s chamber was a huge circular room with more naked, hairless beings sitting at control consoles spaced equally around the circumference from the two o’clock to ten o’clock position. Between the ten and the two o’clock position was an ornate wall of some type of metal, and as they approached, it slid sideways to reveal the queen sitting on her throne-like chair. His companion walked forward and bowed, but if he said anything, Mike couldn’t hear it. After a moment, he turned back and addressed him.

“My Queen is pleased that you have come, so she can thank you in person.”

“As I said before. No thanks are needed.”

“That is not so, Captain Gray. For without your assistance, there would be no
Harmony
. By rescuing her you became part of the harmony and made it complete.”

If someone had hit him between the eyes with a hammer, he couldn’t have been more surprised. “Come again… I mean. Can you explain that?”

“By all means, Captain Gray. Long ago and far, far away from here, our sun was dying, and the Queen knew she must find a new home. She embarked on a generation ship to seek a new home for the
Harmony
. It was during that flight the fusion reactor of the ship malfunctioned and she became trapped in nether space until you arrived to give aid.” Mike blinked, as what he was hearing didn’t make sense.

“Once free of death’s embrace, my Queen found a new home and built the
Harmony
into what it is now.”

“And what is it now?”

“The
Harmony
encompasses one thousand star systems, no more, no less, across this expanse of the spiral arm.”

“I see.” A thousand star systems was a nice round number. “But… well… how old is your Queen?” This couldn’t be the same queen he’d seen in
n
th
space.

“My Queen is the one hundredth reincarnation of her kind.” Mike thought about that for a moment. If what he was saying was true, that meant each queen had the sum total of all the previous queen’s memories.

That meant he’d saved the life of their queen at least a thousand years ago. No one had ever thought about
n
th
space being timeless. It was no wonder some of the ships seen there didn’t match any known design. Now the cylinder made sense in a way. Somehow the queen knew the exact time and place she would meet him again to thank him and sent the cylinder to Earth for him to have with him at this moment. The cylinder was also their passport and protection to stop the suicide ships from attacking him by sending out a signal of some sort. That brought up the question of how long ago this had queen arrived here. To build an empire of a thousand star systems meant she had to have arrived before the Voss, Humanity and anyone else out here. If that was true, how on earth could she have known when and where he would enter the
Harmony
? Again, it brought up the question of whether they could move back and forth in time. The main question was, why go to all that trouble?

“I’m glad I was there to help her. But why am I here?” The being turned to consult the queen again.

“My Queen has told me that the
Harmony
is incomplete without your union, and that she has been remiss in not bringing everything into complete balance within the harmony and the universe.”

“Okay, so?”

“Without you, there can be no completeness.” That didn’t sound good to Mike’s ear. Maybe she wanted to eat him or something. “My Queen begs you to become part of the
Harmony
and make it complete.”

“How do I do that?” Running was out of the question. There was nowhere to run.

“My Queen humbly begs you to join with her so the
Harmony
will be complete.”

“Err; I’m not sure it’s possible for us to have sex. Our two species are not compatible.” Despite being inside the cooling cloak, Mike started to sweat.

“My Queen asks that you permit us to extract a small portion of your DNA. This will be combined and incorporated into the next Queen to make the
Harmony
complete. Her DNA will also be combined with yours thereby making you and all your dependents part of the
Harmony
forever.” Mike let out his breath not even realizing he was holding.

Was that all? For some peculiar reason they wanted to combine his DNA sequence with the queen’s. The geneticists on Avalon knew a few things about gene splicing, but he’d never heard anything like what they were suggesting. It was common practice for immigrants, after they were accepted, to receive the treatments so they could live on Avalon without using an anti-grav belt. What alien DNA would do to him he had no idea. He shivered slightly at the thought of being turned into one of these hairless drones sitting at their consoles.

“Umm… what would combining your Queen’s DNA with mine do to me?” He had to ask the question, even fearing the answer.

“Nothing on the outside nor would it change you in any way other than that you would be able to enter the
Harmony
at any time and go wherever you pleased. Once you are part of the collective, your mind would be one with my Queen’s.” The being bowed and covered his face again, remaining that way as if waiting for an answer.

Mike’s mind was in a whirl. What he was suggesting sounded crazy, and yet, being able to enter the
Harmony
any time he wanted and cross it to strike at the Sirriens from a direction they didn’t expect nor follow him back afterwards did have a certain appeal.

“If I come with other ships, would I still be able to enter and cross
Harmony
space?”

“Of course. Once you are part of us, and those ships are with you, they may cross without fear.” That was the hook. He didn’t know if they knew anything about human psychology, but they did know about making a deal. They were making him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Okay… um… let’s do it.” Hearing that, the strange being became almost animated and quickly turned to his queen. The moment he finished, a door slid open and in walked another drone with a tray.

“If you would permit me the honor. I will extract the needed DNA and inject you with my Queen’s. Please, hold your arm out for a moment.” Mike expected to go to a lab of some sort not have a medical looking device placed around his arm. Lights began to flicker the moment it was locked in place, but he didn’t feel anything. Whatever it did, it did it painlessly and very quickly as after a few moments the light stopped flickering and the being took the device off.

“Thank you Captain Michael Gray. You are now one with the Harmony.”

“Thanks… I think…” Mike froze, he’d heard the words in his head yet the beings mouth hadn’t moved. So, that’s what having her DNA gives me, telepathy, he thought. It was a bit of a shock, knowing someone could now see into his mind.

“I greet you, Michael Gray.
” A powerful voice spoke in his head. Mike turned to face the queen, knowing who spoke to him. Instead of speaking his answer, Mike tried to speak the words in his head.

“I greet you as well… my Queen?”

“No, Michael Gray, I am not your Queen. We are now equal, and I see there is another you would call your Queen.”
There was humor coloring her reply, yet she spoke the truth.

“Yes, there is another, a female of my race who I would call my Queen.”

“As it should be with your kind now that I understand the nature of your species.”

“Yes, we are a peculiar lot.”

“It has taken us many cycles to understand your race and gain the technology needed to protect the Harmony.”

“From us?” That was a bit of a shock.

“Not just your species, but also from the many who would seek to take away from the completeness from the Harmony.”
The way she said
Harmony
wasn’t as if it was just a name for themselves, but a way of life. He had the impression of billions of beings all connected to one another and to their queen, from the highest to the lowest. All working together in one huge union. The loss of any one individual to outside forces unbalanced that harmony. It made sense they’d want to protect it at all costs. Trading with the outside universe also made sense. They’d want to gather as much technology as they could towards protecting themselves, much the same as a beehive, or an ant colony, would protect itself against anything that they perceived was attacking or threatening them. It still left the question of how she knew the time and place he would enter the
Harmony
.

“Do you travel in time as well as space?”

“In a way, depending on how you perceive time. I have the collective knowledge of all the queens who have come before me. It is through their knowledge and understanding that we knew of the obligation to make you part of us.”

“Then you understand that my race is at war with itself again.”

“This we know, but do not understand it. Space is so vast, why is it that some of you want what others already have?”

Mike mentally sighed. How to explain it to someone like this being. He didn’t understand it himself really. She was right. There was enough space for everyone, yet the Sirriens and others seemed hell bent on invading and enslaving other human populated worlds just for the hell of it.

“Sadly, I now understand, Michael Gray.”

“What? I mean… I didn’t explain…”
Then he realized that he had. The queen could see into his mind and had followed his thoughts down each pathway as he thought about the stupidity of the human race and its continuing wars.

“
Yet I see no such aspiration in your mind nor of those who inhabit the planet you call Avalon.”

Mike unconsciously nodded.
“We have no such aspirations, and only want to live in peace and to explore this wonderful universe. We also know that if we don’t prepare for war, we might be the next planet to be invaded.”

“I see the truth in your mind and what you are planning to do.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No. Like you we also have prepared to resist any attempt to invade and unbalance the Harmony.”

“Those… um… asteroid ships.”

“Yes. Before birth, a drone, as you call them, is placed in stasis in the attack ship. In the event of an incursion the drone is awakened and attacks the enemy until he is completely destroyed.”

Mike felt he could see partly into the queen’s mind and realized that the being in the attack ship was nothing more than a warrior drone. Pre-programmed before birth to do one thing much like an ant is programmed to be a worker, nest builder, nurse to the eggs, or a warrior. He understood now that the
Harmony
was a collective mind much like an ant colony or a beehive. It made sense to them. Each being had a purpose in life, a job to do for the collective benefit of the hive and its queen. In the event of a major incursion there would be an almost unending supply of warrior drones in their attack ships. A well-prepared fleet might stand off an attack for a few hours or even days, but sooner or later, the never-ending bombardment of nuclear-armed suicide attack ships would wear down their defenses until they fell. Once they did, the ships would be destroyed.