Here Comes Earth: Emergence (39 page)

“Consider it done major
but you and your team need to clean up and get some rest.”

“We’ll get to that but
first I’m going to need a preliminary assessment of the situation.”

I paused and then spoke
again, “Silva, I can’t order these things from you but I would greatly
appreciate your cooperation.”

After a moment he said,
“Of course,” and the line went silent.

I hadn’t realized we’d
returned to the landing bay until the side door slid open and we stepped out
into the ship; or at least all of us except Kamiko did. She was still in her
shuttle seat staring off into space with an unreadable, emotionless expression
on her face.

Even after I walked back
and had stood in the doorway a moment she still didn’t seem to see me.

I finally said in what I
hoped wasn’t a harsh voice, “Captain Kamiko, I need you to exit the shuttle.”

Without looking at me she
stood up with her rifle and walked into the bay.

ΔΔΔ

When we landed at the
Coridian ship we were directed to a room I’d never been in before. It was in effect
a planetary command center. There were a number of Coridians manning view
screens and monitoring activities on Earth and there was a large table in the
middle of the room that currently displayed a holographic image of the downed
Noridian ship.

What made it different
from any command center I’d ever been a part of was that it was eerily quiet; the
people manning the view screens communicated with each other through their
bioware and the only sounds were the muted voices coming from the screens themselves.

As soon as I realized what
it was displaying I walked over to the central table. It was obvious that the
Noridian ship had been trying to pull up when it crashed. There was a long
gouge of destruction cut into the Earth prior to it coming to rest; the front
end buried in a 50 foot high berm of its own making.

Fortunately she’d come
down in the countryside and I realized that this was the first good look I’d
had of the ship we’d left Earth in. She was roughly circular and about 200
yards across – but she was much too thick and irregular to be called a saucer.

Except for a large
indentation where my team’s portion of the ship had detached itself for our original
excursion it looked amazingly intact – at least from what I could tell. One of
the Coridian males walked over and started dispassionately pointing out
details. Apparently there was a fair amount of external damage; I was shown
where sensor, communication, weapon, and shielding appendages should have been
attached to the huge hull.

Almost as an afterthought
he pointed out where the Coridian rescue shuttle was docked. I asked what
they’d found only to have this ongoing nightmare confirmed – we’d lost them
all.

What was left of my team
was spread out across the room, watching the various Earthnet news feeds.
Eventually Silva walked over to me and again suggested that we get some rest.
He assured me that his team would keep gathering information and have a full
report for us the next morning.  He also promised that he would wait for us to
make the first contact with Earth authorities. We could rest and approach the
situation tomorrow, together.

I made sure the bodies of
the fallen were being treated with respect and then acquiesced.

I felt dead as I walked
into the cabin that had been my home for the last several months. I was
exhausted and numb. I removed my clothes and took a waterless shower before I
went and sat on the edge of my bed. I had just lost another 18 of the people I
was responsible for, eighteen friends. I’m not sure how long I sat there,
replaying the events in my mind over and over.

Eventually I realized that
my door had been buzzing and the last thing I wanted to do was open it. I also
realized that I’d removed my earpiece and it might be important so I really had
no choice but to let them in. I gave the verbal command and was surprised when
it turned out to be Julie walking into my room.

I also had a fleeting
moment of embarrassment as I realized I hadn’t bothered to dress after my
shower but I was just too numb to care.

Without saying a word she laid
me down on the bed and pulled the covers over me. She then walked to the other
side and climbed under the covers herself, holding me from behind, one arm
under my pillow and the other across my chest.

“They were my responsibility
and I let them die,” I said after a long interval of silence.

“You couldn’t have done
anything about it,” she whispered back.

“I should have known,” I
insisted. “Jaki had planned to suffocate us the first time our group left the
ship. I should have remembered that; I should have planned for it.”

“You couldn’t have known
Matt. You can’t anticipate every move of an evil mind.”

“It’s my job to anticipate
those exact things Julie, to think through every contingency, to prepare for
everything. I don’t know how… “

“Matt, do you believe that
Iron Jaw was a good soldier?”

“Yes, I was proud to know
him.”

“And do you think Hiromi
and Captain Garvais and the others were good soldiers to?”

“I trusted all of them.”

“Then you have to realize
that none of them anticipated it either. You did the very best you could in an
almost impossible situation and they did the same.”

We were silent for a while
and I think I might have dozed a little but now I was shaking uncontrollably. I
felt Julie’s arm tighten across my chest and I could feel her pressing against
me and holding me tight.

I fell into a fitful sleep
and awoke well before morning. Sometime during the night Julie must have
removed her clothing because I could now feel her warm skin pressed up against
my back.

I slowly turned over to
face her.

ΔΔΔ

“Dr. Decker, your video of
the Noridian treachery has set a new world record for going viral,” Silva was
saying.

Four of the six remaining
members of my team, well… six if you counted Toni and Silva, were gathered for
a breakfast meeting and a briefing on the situation planetside.

“This has contributed at
least in part to the upheaval of authority in a lot of countries,” he
continued.

“While General Memphis
still commands a large number of international forces there are a number of
wannabe civilian leaders popping up claiming to speak for large swaths of the
world population.”

“What about Dr. Derrick
Helmer?” Julie asked.

“He is one of the larger wannabes,”
Silva responded. “And he seems to be loosely aligned with General Memphis but
with all the new protests and unrest the French government has gone AWOL and
that’s kind of pulled the rug out from under him.”

“Who’s in charge of US
military forces?” I asked.

“It’s pretty patchwork,
major. The Pentagon and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL were both taken out
by kinetic strikes so the Joint Chiefs and U.S. Special Operations Command
(USSOCOM) are both gone. U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) is gone. U.S.
European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) are both gone
along with a bunch of others. The only Command Authorities we know for sure
that are still in place are General David Patrón’s U.S. Africa Command
(USAFRICOM) and General Jerry Gordon’s U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).
There may be others but we can’t confirm them.”

“How did this happen?” Dr.
Decker asked and put voice to the same question I had on my mind.

“From what we can tell,” Silva
said. “While Dr. Helmer was working with Jaki to unify world-wide civil
authority under the auspices of the French Prime Minister, Colonel Memphis must
have guided or directly aided her forces in taking out command and control
structures in the United States. Some entire bases were obliterated by orbital
strikes but other HQs were taken out by insertion teams suddenly appearing in
the HQ and assassinating everybody in the command structure from the 4 Star’s
on down. If they didn’t find the officers there they went to their homes. Many
of those officers lost their entire family. I hate to say it major but with
Jaki’s level of technology and the intelligence Memphis must have provided it wouldn’t
have been that hard to do.”

“So Memphis isn’t just
misguided,” Julie said. “He really is a full blown traitor.”

“He and Dr. Helmer have
both betrayed us,” I said.

“I guess Mark was right
about him all along,” Julie responded.

That reminded me to ask,
“Silva, now that we have communications again have your people heard anything
from Dr. Spencer or Dr. Spelini?”

“No,” he responded. “But
that doesn’t mean anything. They had a long way to travel and could very well
still be in route.”

“Major,” Toni interjected.
“We all hope that Mark and Anzio are safe but I really don’t think they’re
going to be able to do anything to help us.”

“Us?” Julie asked.

Toni sighed. “I wish it
could be us,” she said. “We have to assume that Jaki got a message out to other
Noridians and that means that a whole lot of them are going to be showing up
here sooner rather than later.”

After a pause she looked
at me and continued.

“Your people have made
incredible sacrifices and shown a dedication to your principals of independence
that only those of us that have lived on your planet and gotten to know you
would believe… but as great an effort as it was you still couldn’t keep the
warning from getting out to Noridia.

“They’re coming major. And
this time there will be no pretense; they will either declare you a
protectorate or destroy your world – and they won’t even stop long enough to
ask you which you prefer.”

“How can you be so sure?”
Dr. Decker demanded.

“Because they’re out of
options and out of time. Noridia has to make the Earth Problem go away
now
- before they attract anymore galactic attention. They will act first and then give
apologies if necessary, but they will not allow formal evidence of their past
transgressions to get out.

“We are still prepared to
allow Earth the protection of Coridia. I know it’s not your ideal solution but
it may be your only way out.

“Major, your society is in
turmoil, your armies are defeated, and your enemies are on their way. Will you accept
our hand of friendship? Will you accept a Coridian protectorship?”

Dr. Mark Spencer

I felt stupid, uncomfortable,
and more than a little foolish standing by myself in the middle of the Al-Drek
Circle while my friends sat on the benches that were scattered around the
perimeter.

I had walked to the middle
of the pavilion and started speaking conversationally about our situation and
need. That was twenty minutes ago.

I had started speaking
louder and louder until I was shouting my demands for them to speak with me.

Semi and Ashima were now
both standing, obviously concerned. I don’t know if they thought I was losing
it or if they’d just never heard anyone address the Lower Houses so sharply –
for all the good it was doing. I was still standing by myself talking into thin
air; the only response the pleasant sound of an occasionally chirping bird.

I was tired and I was
frustrated. I’d never asked to be put into this situation and I was feeling the
unbearable weight of potential failure. I stood silent for the next five
minutes just trying to organize my thoughts.

I suddenly felt the urge
to hear Julie’s voice – I needed reminding of something I could count on,
something that was pure and good.

I took the holorecording
device that the major had given me from my pocket and sat it on the ground.

Her life-size image
appeared and that sweet voice filled the clearing. It was just as I remembered
it; at the end of the song her eyes found mine and locked. I knew the last few
lines were meant for me and even though I was terrified I was letting her down
I was also somehow buoyed by her faith in me.

The song ended and the
image disappeared.

“That was beautiful,” said
a voice from behind me.

ΔΔΔ

I spun around to find the
most beautiful woman I’d ever seen standing before me. Wavy blonde hair, classic
bone structure, and my height… yes her features were perfect but her beauty was
different than that of Jaki, or Semi, or Ashima. She was radiant.

Almost as if some
invisible power was emanating from her; her glow wasn’t visual so much as it
was felt.

I must have been standing
dumbfounded because she laughed.

As the initial shock of
seeing her was wearing off I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. Aware
that Anzio was now standing up with what was probably the same stupid look I’d
had plastered across his face. Aware that Semi and Ashima were now on their
knees with their heads bowed. Aware that I could no longer hear the birds or
any other forest sounds.

I’ve always prided myself
on staying cool and collected in the face of the unexpected and I lived up to
that now as I said, “You must be Malatina.”

With a wide smile she
responded, “Yes, I am.”

She nodded at the holo
device and said, “Is she a friend of yours?”

It was my turn to nod as I
said, “Yes, and she… I mean we… all of us, we need your help.”

“Unless you are a perfect
being Mark everyone needs help. May I call you Mark?”

“Yes, of course, but I
mean that my people are in a dire situation and you could help us.”

“Yes, but we could help
many different people, in many different places, at many different times. Are
you more worthy of help than all the others?”

“Umm…” This wasn’t going
the way I’d visualized it. She stood silent, politely awaiting my response.

“I think it depends on
what you mean by worthy,” I finally said. “In some ways yes, in many ways no,
but does it really matter if we’re slightly more worthy or slightly less worthy
than someone else? Wouldn’t you want to help everyone?”

After a moment she said,
“Mark, you appear to come from a primitive world. There are many things you do
not understand.

“Know this… the Lower
Houses live on a different plane of existence from your world. We have our own
duties and responsibilities; we have our own worlds and systems. If we got
involved with every problem of lower mankind we would never be able to tend to
our own.

“So I ask you again, what
makes you worthy of our time? What of value can you offer us for our efforts?”

Ok, now we were back on
track to where I had visualized the conversation going. Oh, not exactly but I
knew that dynasties had to contribute something unique and valuable in order to
move up the galactic hierarchy and I’d figured it would be no different for us.

So I mentally crossed my
fingers and played my gambit; the only possibility I’d been able to think of.

“Malatina, we give to you
and all of galactic society a gift of beauty. We give you the gift of our
music. You’ve heard but one song; know that our world is full of music and most
every one of us appreciates and contributes in some way to our songs. Our
musicians number in the hundreds of millions with every one of them creating
their own unique beauty. We will leave it to you and others to consider its
value, all I ask of you right here right now is to listen to our predicament
and consider helping us.”

A long silence passed
while she continued looking at me.

“Very well,” she finally
said. “I will listen to what you have to say but we should move to better accommodations…”

Suddenly I was in a very
different place. The transition was so unexpected that I nearly stumbled. It’s
not that it made me physically dizzy, it was more like a natural response to a
mental lurch – or at least that’s the best way I can explain it.

Because I’d spread my feet
to catch my balance I found myself looking down at the incredibly intricate
tile patterns that covered the entire floor. I was in an open-walled room made
of stone and plaster that reminded me of an Italian mountaintop villa.
Trellises with vines and colorful flowers were in full display and the view was
breathtaking.

With the bulk of the villa
behind me, I could see forested hills and gentile mountain slopes rolling away
from me in three directions. If it wouldn’t have been for the oversized moon
that was fully visible during the day I could easily have mistaken our location
for a castle in the Italian Alps.

I also realized that I wasn’t
alone; Malatina was nowhere in sight but Anzio had made the trip with me.

He must have felt a bit
unsteady himself for he was lowering his long torso onto one of the many
low-backed couches, sofas, and ottomans that adorned the open-air room.

I walked over and sat down
beside him. Neither one of us said anything.

“Of all the wonders we’ve
seen,” he finally said. “This one it is the first that is so far ahead of us to
be magic, no?”

“Well, you said you wanted
to see the other side of the galaxy,” I laughed.

“What are we doing here
Mark? And where it is here?”

“I’m not sure where we are
but as to why… Malatina has agreed to listen to us.”

He sat up straighter and
then continued…

“So, we found the right
people then, yes? That was Malatina?”

“Yes, couldn’t you hear?”

“No Mark, once she
appeared we could see you talking but there was no sound. Semi and Ashima they
got all reverent and went silent on me too.”

“Did you see where she
came from?” I asked.

“No, I looked away for a
moment and when I glanced back she was there.”

“Anzio, she said the Lower
Houses existed on another plane.”

“E tutto ciò è
affascinante Mark.
This is to me
fascinating. We are I am excited to say way so very beyond just quantum
physics.”

It was then that I noticed
Malatina walking towards us from deeper inside the villa.