Return to Dakistee (26 page)

"Commander, you're a scientist. You have to realize how exhilarating a discovery like this is. No one, and I mean
no
one, has ever spoken to a twenty-thousand-year-old person before."

"That not exactly true. I've been talking with her for days. And the medical staff has examined her from her toes to her head, several times. They don't speak Dakistian, but I was happy to interpret."

"You know what I mean," Peterson said with obvious irritation. "Nobody has spoken to someone that old before this week. And we have a number of people who speak Dakistian like natives."

Peterson was naturally referring to Drs. Vlashsku and Djetch and their clones. Since their native Nordakian language was derived from Dakistian, it wasn't difficult to master the slightly different phonetics.

"I'll speak to Madu and ask her if she desires to speak with you. If she says yes, I'll arrange an interview. If she says no, I'll respect her wishes."

"Yes, yes, of course. How many others are there if
she's
not willing to speaking with us?"

"There are a few others. No more than a hundred eighty thousand, I would say.

"A hundred eighty thousand? And they're all in this facility?"

"No, thank heavens. We only have thirty thousand here. The others are in other locations around the planet. However, location information will not be shared until the proper time."

"Commander, I remind you that this is an archeological dig site and the entire planet has been placed into the custody of the Archeological Expedition."

"That
was
true, Doctor. But now that we know this planet was not uninhabited, I would be very surprised if all contracts aren't immediately nullified by the GAC. Or, at the very least, modified with the provision that the Ancients must agree to let you stay. I suggest you tread lightly with the legal inhabitants of this world if you wish the Expedition's privileges to continue. In other words, from this point on, be on your best behavior. If your enthusiasm gets the better of you while in the company of the Ancients, the Expedition Headquarters may order that you be shipped off planet in a cargo container on the next transport available."

* * *

"As expected," Admiral Moore said to the assembled Admiralty Board, "the GAC has decided to immediately suspend all previous agreements with the Archeological Expedition regarding rights on Dakistee pending verification that the sleepers reported by Commander Carver really are the original inhabitants. The agreements provide several standard boilerplate clauses that allow this, and, in fact, mandate it. Anthius must immediately halt all shipment of artifacts off planet. The warehouses will be seized and held until the proper authority is identified. The dig sites may continue to operate for the time being, but the extension of that privilege is only for six months, or until a Dakistian authority is established and ready to assume a leadership position. If an official authority is not available by that time, the GAC may extend the privilege in additional six-month increments.

"We have been ordered to assist the Dakistian sleepers with food, clothing, and temporary shelter until the proper aid agencies can gear up and support the Dakistian effort to become self-dependent."

"Who will we put in command of our effort on Dakistee?" Admiral Burke asked.

"We're fortunate to have one of the three foremost experts on the Dakistee people, who also happens to be a senior Space Command line officer, already on the planet."

"No," Admiral Hubera said. "No, no, no. We can't put Carver in command of that effort."

"Why not?" Admiral Moore asked.

When Hubera didn't respond right away, Admiral Hillaire said, "Yes, Donald, why not? Is it because you don't like Admiral Carver?"

"I never said that."

"You haven't had to, Donald," Admiral Platt said. "We all know it.
Everybody
in Space Command knows it."

Admiral Hubera just mumbled something unintelligible and ground his teeth.

"Does anyone else have a better candidate to recommend or wish to voice some reason why Commander Christa Carver shouldn't have this temporary duty assignment?" Admiral Moore asked.

After a few seconds of silence, Admiral Moore said, "No? Then all in favor, signify by raising your hand." After a quick glance around the table, he said, "Let the record show that the vote is nine yeas and one nay."

"I suppose you also want to give her a medal for finding and awakening the Dakistians," Admiral Hubera said.

"Are you making such a recommendation, Donald?"

"Me? Of course not."

"Then I think we can dispense with any discussion on that topic. Commander Carver will be notified as soon as possible of her new posting as Commander of the Dakistee Outpost. Now, on to other business."

* * *

Christa, Madu, Carmoody, and Madu's assistant were seated at one end of an enormous table in a large conference room on the Administrative level when two Marines escorted the Loudescott scientists into the room. Madu immediately jumped to her feet. Her assistant stood up quickly as well.

"What are
those
?" the director said in horror as she pointed to the Nordakians in the group who'd had to bend low to get through the doorway without banging their heads on the frame. Fortunately, eight-foot ceilings were the minimum height in the facility, and most common rooms, such as this one, had ten-foot ceilings.

"I realize you're unfamiliar with greeting alien species," Christa said calmly as she also stood, "but you should remember to remain cordial at all times. These gentlemen happen to be your kinsmen. They are the descendents of the dissidents who left your planet twenty thousand years ago."

"Surely you're joking," Madu said. "Their skin keeps flashing different colors."

"I'm perfectly serious. The speculation is that the spaceships weren't adequately shielded, and the generations who lived and died aboard ship before it reached Nordakia suffered mutating effects. Fortunately, the main effect is abundant height and variable skin chromaticity. Their color is normally a soft aqua, but they can adjust the color to almost any shade unless they're excited. At that time they lose control over the color and it reflects their mood."

"And they're all bald?"

"Ah, yes. That is another deviation, but it's a minor one. It's only hair, and it's limited to the male population. The women have full heads of hair."

"I won’t speak with them," Madu said adamantly. "They're part of the dissident group who destroyed my planet."

"Madu, the people who caused such grievous harm to the population on Dakistee were small in number and died two hundred centuries ago. I realize that for you it seems like last solar, but the Nordakians are a peaceful race of people who want nothing more than to get to know you and have you know them. You must put aside your past feelings and judge these people not on what some long dead psychopaths did but on their own merits. If you do, I think you'll be surprised to see how much you have in common. To begin with, there's your common heritage and a common religion."

"We don't have a common religion. They want to follow some perverted version of the Almuth that elevates their priesthood to almost god-like status while completely subjugating women. They preach hate and death to anyone who doesn't believe as they do while telling everyone dumb enough to listen that their religious doctrine espouses only love. They will smile and say, 'I love you, my brother,' as they push a meter-long Skree through your body. My Almuth decries
all
violence, not just violence against people who share your parochial religious beliefs."

"No, they follow the same Almuth as you. They embrace the One True Word."

Madu looked at Christa with suspicion, then relaxed when she saw Christa was apparently being completely open.

"You're sure?"

"I give you my oath as a Space Command officer and a Lady of the Royal House of Nordakia."

"A Lady of the Royal House? You never mentioned that before."

"There's been little time for us to exchange histories."

"What service did you perform to achieve such a honor?"

"As you know, the reason for the award is often confidential. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

"Something military, I suppose?"

Christa neither acknowledged nor denied the prying remark. If Madu expected to learn through elimination of possible choices, she was going to be disappointed.

Madu finally stopped waiting for a response and turned to the visitors. "Do any of you speak Dakistian?"

"Nordakian is audibly close," Doctor Dakshiku Vlashsku said.

"Audibly?" Madu said.

"The dissidents who took our very gullible ancestors from this planet changed the written language so none of their followers would be able to read the original Almuth, but speech cannot be changed as easily. However, it has evolved over the centuries you've slept as technology mandated the need for new terms and old pronunciations blurred. But, because we read from the Almuth every solar, it has not strayed too far."

"And which doctrine do
you
follow?"

"Azula Carver, Lady Christa Carver, and Lady Eliza Carver discovered the original text on this world. They brought it home to Nordakia, where it was immediately embraced as the True Word of God by the Royal Family, the nobility, and most of the priesthood and population."

Madu turned to look at Christa and said, "
Azula
Carver?"

"Azula Jenetta Carver is the original from whom Eliza and I were copied," Christa said. "Jenetta also holds the rank of Admiral in both Space Command and the Nordakian Space Force, and you will often hear her referred to by that title."

"I see," Madu said, turning to face Doctor Vlashsku again. "You said, '
most
of the priesthood and population.' Not everyone on Nordakia accepts the Dakistee version of the Almuth as the One True Word?"

"There's a very small faction who have refused to accept it as genuine. They've been growing increasingly distant from the rest of the population and we've heard rumors they might leave the planet and attempt to form their own colony somewhere else.

"As your ancestors did?"

"Apparently. The priesthood had so effectively masked the truth that no one on Nordakia even suspected our species didn't originate on Nordakia. It was only when Azula Carver and her sisters discovered the Almuth here that we finally learned our species originated on this planet."

"The Carver
sisters
?" Madu said, glancing over at Christa.

"Yes." Sweeping his arm towards the many clones in the room, Doctor Vlashsku said, "Following their example, we all now identify our clones as our brothers and sisters."

"I see," Madu said. "Christa never mentioned that so many clones had been made."

"It was an accident. My associates and I managed to open the cloning facility and the equipment was activated inadvertently. By the time Admiral Carver and her sisters were able to understand the process well enough to cancel it without harming any embryos, seventy-nine clones had been created."

"Christa mentioned there were only seventy-nine citizens on the planet but never said that all were clones."

"There can be no more," Vlashsku said. "Space Command disassembled the equipment and removed it long ago because it's a serious violation of Galactic Alliance law to produce clones intentionally."

"Before we continue this discussion," Christa said to the group, "won't everyone have a seat?"

The original scientists took seats at the enormous conference table and their clones took seats around the periphery.

"As much as this conference is an opportunity for all of you to meet Madu, it's also an opportunity for her to meet you," Christa said. "Please restrain your enthusiasm and give everyone a chance to talk and ask questions. It appears we shall be down here for some time, so there will be many more opportunities to convene if both parties wish it." Looking at Madu, Christa said, "I'll let you act as your own moderator. The floor is yours, Madam Director."

"Thank you, Christa."

"Commander?" Doctor Peterson said anxiously, just as Madu was about to speak.

Christa held up her hand to Madu. When Madu stopped, Christa said, "Yes, Doctor?"

"Could you please tell us what's going on?"

Christa smiled slightly. In Amer, she said, "I apologize to everyone in the room who doesn't speak Dakistian or Nordakian. Doctor Vlashsku just gave Madu a very brief synopsis on the evolution of Dakistian to Nordakian, the creation of the clones, and the situation regarding the acceptance of the Almuth found on this planet." Christa turned to Madu and repeated her remarks in Dakistian.

Turning back to the others in the room, Christa continued with, "It's unfortunate this conference room isn't equipped with translation equipment. The Dakistian culture had evolved to a point where only one language was spoken over their entire world, so there was no need for translation devices. And since most everyone on this planet spoke Amer prior to finding the Dakistians, people haven't typically carried a translation device with them. Until we can resolve this problem, I suggest that everyone who speaks both Nordakian and Amer pose their questions in both languages. Perhaps Doctor Vlashsku will interpret for the Amer-only speakers, and I will translate for Madu. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

As everyone in the room nodded, Christa turned to Madu and explained what she had just said. Madu nodded in response.

The next several hours were filled with statements of eye-opening importance for both sides. No one had any desire to break for lunch, and they might have refused to break for dinner if the Administrative level hadn't suddenly begun to vibrate from the sound of alarms whooping in every corridor.

Christa rushed from the room to find the two Marine sentries posed with their rifles at the ready but unsure where to direct them.

"Remain here at your posts," Christa said to the Marines as Carmoody and Madu emerged from the conference room. Taking Madu's arm, she said, "Madu, Gracie, come with me." Looking back at the sentries, she said, "Keep everyone else inside."