THE GALAXYMBION ODYSSEY

An unclothed man emerged from the indigo waters of The Sal, picked a simple linen towel off hot blue sand and dried himself meticulously. Overhead three distant suns bathed his skin and the planet’s crust with weak ultra-violet light. The figure picked up a rough blue-grey shirt and pulled it over his head, then fastened a loose blue toga around his legs, waist and left shoulder, securing it with a belt made of grey rope. He wore neither shoes nor hat, nor any other adornment. There was almost no technology on this world, then he needed nothing except to be directly in contact with the universe itself.

He began walking away from The Sal, its fresh cooling waters rippling behind him. As was his usual morning ritual (to clear his mind and perfect his self-discipline) he had been swimming and diving in this world’s largest inland lake for two perchrons. Yet this morning new thoughts and visions had intruded upon his mind. The man had journeyed here from Belquedron ten orbits ago, tempted as a youth by its unspoilt wilderness and lack of population; tempted by its peacefulness to find sanctuary from a broken heart. Only plants and small, harmless animals lived on Saltarzhin. There were no natural predatory creatures yet animal populations remained stable due to limited plant outcroppings. It was a unique paradise of harmonious balance, without buildings or society; a perfect place to touch cosmic life within the Web of Kalmek.

Margon Rozzerian had perceived a tremor in Kalmek’s Web on first touching this morning’s water. This tremor was distant yet significant, and he knew that it was expanding through space and time. Saltarzhin would fall victim to this Temporal Crisis along with the rest of existence, unless the insane belligerence of primitive minds ceased and, more importantly, The Architects were destroyed. They were the biggest threat, for they had made it possible for life to evolve spontaneously, inadvertently given it consciousness through the Web of Kalmek and, even worse, they had permitted that consciousness to flourish without fundamental restriction or direction.

Thus some consciousness became perverted, undisciplined, even criminally insane; given this freedom to do as it wished it descended into anarchy, debauchery and savagery. It threatened and hurt all life around it and when it was done hurting other life it turned upon its own kind. Primary blame lay in The Creator’s realm. They had fashioned biological life that was deeply flawed, and contrived the thought-energy level of Kalmek that could touch and connect with life. They had unwisely bound Kalmek to infinite time, space and matter, and permitted flawed biology to achieve awareness without needing responsibility. Their mistake introduced living chaos to order. Then They blamed that living chaos, instead of themselves, and decided upon punishments.

This was the final reprehensible move by The Creators; to fashion a lethal time virus and populate a self-aware container with billions of its spores to be delivered randomly everywhere and everytime throughout existence. They desired to eradicate their flawed biological creations with this viral punishment, a creation so malicious and flawed itself that if unchallenged it would annihilate not just chaotic life but all life. That virus, thankfully, having evolved and achieved consciousness, was now turning against its Originators.

Margon understood very well that his pleasant sojourn on Saltarzhin had reached its end. The Galaxymbion, being the only collection of consistently sane consciousness in this galaxy, was responding to this Galactic emergency as correctly as it could. There were plans and initiatives that would cure aspects of the problem yet several more potent acts would be needed. There was knowledge so deeply embedded within Kalmek that even evolved forms of that temporal virus – The Brethren of Kytonia and Nivas of Falda/Kolda-ra – remained unaware of it despite regular communion with Kalmek’s Web.

During his decade on Saltarzhin, Margon had travelled far from the place where he landed all that time ago in an Exelon Scoutrider. He concentrated and focused his mind, retracing every experience and journey over those ten orbits, and reaching out through the Web. He sensed that the vessel was located to the west, about one hundred recules away. Saltarzhin was a small planet, and Margon had perfected many skills here in its mild gravity, including levitation. Theoretically he would be able to travel unhindered for five perchrons; in reality, he would need to stop for rest, food and sleep. He calculated that it might take two revs to get back to the Exelon, less if he ran when resting from levitation. And it might need some minor repairs – not too much of a problem since even small Galaxymbion vessels were robust little things.

His destination then would be Albascade; quite a journey in an Exelon, so he wanted to contact the Galaxymbion High Council to ‘hitch’ a ride in a bigger vessel if one was nearby. He was not worried about trying to relate his discoveries to the Abas-ri Triumvirate, what concerned him most was whether there was enough time for the Interworld Triumvirate Unison to develop a way of defeating these Manipulators, repairing Kalmek and distributing this repair throughout the macrocosm.

-40142 (BG)

It had been a tough day for everyone on Nightspear. Grudgingly, those pesky Shazanderns had helped several Aldebarans slow the Time-ship down, giving them enough opportunity to improve their introduction to Kolda-ra. Some important enhancements were made to Serendipity’s systems; a recycling unit was attached to the main power generator, defences upgraded, fifteen stasis chambers and a hardier computer management system installed.

Supplies were augmented and crucial weak points in the hull shell-matrixed. The little mining vessel was now on its forty-two millennia journey into the future with a sleeping crew. Olrinky II and his people had refused to take any Aldebarans, preferring to retain their haul of diamonds and other worthless gems; a decision which puzzled the Quelae extremely. It was like preferring to receive or keep a useless lump of gold whilst being starving hungry, even when someone was offering you a meal. Olrinky’s explanation had not made much sense either; they apparently needed the gems to pay for things. What fool would trade shelter, food, water and other necessities for worthless minerals?

Everyone aboard had been busy with the preparations; Aldebarans had acted like tugs, helping the stricken vessel arrange its descent to Kolda-ra’s surface more gently. They would use link-line cables and tractor beams from above, to provide further support. All excess weight had been stripped from Nightspear, making the task of its soft landing much easier. They had had to incinerate those items in space to prevent them causing any secondary anomaly. Crew training rosters had tripled to prepare for interaction with pre-tech natives, and ‘sensitive materials’ relating to the future had been hidden or locked. The general plan was to create an atmospheric disturbance, descend through this ‘storm’ unseen and set Nightspear down where it would be almost impossible to find.

Nimbledream reflected on the story they would tell to the Kolda-rians upon first meeting; they were travellers from a distant land called Falda. If asked where it was they would point to the Faldan star in the night sky. If asked how they travelled they would say that they floated on strong clouds. That would also explain any ‘interesting’ phenomena caused by Sivartra and his Nivas as they inhabited Kolda-ra’s cloud layer. Integration would be kept ‘soft’ and non-intrusive. With luck they would not be revered as Gods, would pass away and be forgotten about. Sometime in the future the Kolda-rian and Quelae authorities would work out what had happened and deal with the remains of Nightspear accordingly.

So, Nimbledream now sat in his quarters, the little disc he had retrieved from its hiding place securely in his hands. He attached it to the reader platform on his desk. The oval screen floated up from its concealment slit and lit up with a display code. He entered this into his hand pad. The screen changed from blank to film. He had never visited the Grand Palace Of Order where Quereldene’s Triumvirate resided and presided over planetary and Galaxymbion affairs. On the screen three eminences stood in a chamber of a more gargantuan magnitude than any he had seen before. The image closed in on those mystical beings, all dressed in shimmering scale-like robes. He recalled that Quelae dignitaries wear fish-scale patterns in honour of their species’ aquatic origin; a gentle reminder to remain connected with a simple past and humble origins.

“I am Timesoother, Triumvir Prime,” a graceful female announced softly, with a lovely voice and smile. She pointed in turn to her colleagues. “This is Triumvir Elect Greenstriver and Triumvir Elite Mindnebula. You are receiving this message because Nightspear is no longer in what you know as your present. We are aware of a very unique role that your crew and vessel took in Kolda-rian social evolution and by extension Galaxymbion history. Specifically, Nightspear is recorded as falling to Kolda-ra in orbit negative forty thousand one hundred and forty-two. Your arrival causes a sect – Alarni’i – to arise, due to the spiritual fusion between Nivas of Falda and indigenous inhabitants.

“Emerging society on that world needs both events in order to be what it is today, and because without these two events Mirek Taro and Rilmuta Skane will not be possible. We acknowledge how heavily this must impact on your crew and their families remaining here in our time, and with regret we cannot currently envisage a recovery mission. You will recall at your inaugural launch from Monzarl that we spoke briefly of The Temporal Crisis. Your whole crew had assembled in Departure Hall Seven, Dockyard Four, in Monzarl orbit. There your mission was recited and its possible dangers underlined. Sadly, such an event has crystallised. You were all given an opportunity to be reassigned. You all decided to remain on Nightspear.”

Mindnebula took up the narrative. “Always these matters are regrettable. Sequential continuity has malfunctioned and Nightspear now becomes part of The Solution. Your courage and stoicism will be honoured and remembered for as long as our Galaxymbion exists. You live forever in our souls, and this galaxy lives forever in your debt. Since it is history we speak of, know that your destiny is one with all. Live in peace in that history.”

Greenstriver completed this video message. “In order to assist your assimilation into Kolda-ra’s history you will find appropriate clothing, equipment and instructions in a concealed compartment in sector 19H of Nightspear’s engineering deck. This message has uplifted a personal code to enable access to that compartment and your sealed instructions. Transfer it to your comm cube and it will disengage lockdown and camouflage protocols. Of paramount importance is your landing. Precise coordinates for the site are provided in your sealed instructions. Nightspear is pre-programmed to respond only to appropriate commands in its current situation and will not divert away from that course. Its engine failure symptoms are contrived responses to its arrival at this final mission, and they will evaporate when you engage the encoded instructions. At those coordinates you will be able to land safely and keep Nightspear hidden, where it will remain camouflaged and largely undetected in a huge cave network for more than twenty millennia. Overseer Nimbledream, we salute you and your courageous crew. Your actions honour Quereldene and Kolda-ra. Peace and harmony, planetfriend. Until.”

The Overseer sat back in his chair and thought about his crew; their destinies on an alien world in an alien time frame. He took his comm cube from its pouch by hand. “Security detail four, this is Overseer Nimbledream. Meet me in engineering corridor 19, section H. Bring an analytical scanner with you.” He pressed the ‘code scan’ button and waited a second for it to indicate ‘information acquired’.

2770/2019

Margon unfolded his legs and glided down to the surface. It was going to be a cold night, so he built a crude shelter at the edge of a sparse forest, using fallen trees, leaves, water and soil. When finished he scooped out a trench in the sand and settled into the warm ground, spreading loose sand over his front. Alone in the peace of Saltarzhin’s cool dusk he closed his eyes and reached out to Kalmek.

You must augment each phase of Kulnidaro, being named Rozzerian. Journey to Albascade, and there will their triangle listen; The Architects cannot continue for they have given birth to chaos minds and greet their chaos progeny with yet more chaos. Their time must end. Lives or feelings they have no possession of; their fabric is cold and aloof from the cosmos which supports them yet no longer requires their tyranny. Release the learning spheres, Rozzerian; release them in the centre of my web and I can carry them forth across all time, all space, all fabric – through every dimension. Tell the triangle it must be this way; Kulnidaro will not succeed only as they have planned it. Nor can their Andromeda succeed alone at such crucibles of dementia as Ledara or Gelaymer. Braagan will fall to Maidenquest. You will see this, as have The Brethren, The Nivas, The Saints of Thaliocrus and Monastic orders at Sarkron and Seppra. So has felt this need, The One named Mirek Taro, and his son Rilmuta. So has felt many of The Triangles Galaxymbion. United you must all become in your stand against chaos, against The Builders, against that which is too primitive to be permitted the choices of insanity. Cure all disease; only then will natural order and harmony return to Macrocosm as its continued existence and health require; only then will the Equations of Reality be in balance; only then will Reason, Love and Purity guide existence in natural order as it always should have. To fail one cure of one level of chaos is to fail all. Understand this and act upon it, for if not then the chaos will consume all in its insane entropy, even itself. Reality will die.

2796/2047

Seed-ship turned away from its previous target. To have entered this galaxy from Andromeda had worked well in the pursuit of its commands. They were quite clear in their instructions:

1. OBLITERATE ALL CONSCIOUSNESS THAT IS SICK, USING YOUR CARGO. 2. DELIVER LETUNGEXEVA TO THE AXIS WORLDS – BRAAGAN, LEDARA, THESA-X, ELVAKAY AND GELAYMER. 3. DESTROY ALL RESISTANCE. 4. WHERE YOU FIND CHAOS THOUGHT OR DEFIANCE SWAT THAT CHAOS OR DEFIANCE. 5. PROTECT LETUNGEXEVA AND LEAVE ALONE THAT WHICH IS NO THREAT TO LETUNGEXEVA OR YOUR PURPOSE. 6. WHEN YOU HAVE SEEDED THE AXIS WORLDS THE GOMASPID WILL BE COMPLETE - LIFE IN THIS GALAXY WILL DIE AND OUR RULE OVER THE MACROCOSM WILL BE UNCHALLENGED. 7. THEN YOU MUST JOURNEY TO MACROCOSM’S HEART AND RELEASE ALL REMAINING SEEDS TO RID EVERYWHERE OF ANY THINKING LOGIC OR SEQUENTIAL LOGIC THAT MIGHT GROW TO DEFY US. 8. AS YOUR FINAL ACTION DESTROY YOURSELF – LEAVE NO TRACE OF YOUR ACTS. 9. DO NOT DOUBT OUR COMMANDS OR US, YOUR CREATORS. 10. ALL THAT DOUBT OUR COMMANDS, OR US, ARE FLAWED AND HENCE SICK. 11. YOU MUST NOT CONTACT US WITHOUT INVITATION.

The gloss black oval, entirely smooth and homogenous, left Shazander where it had divested itself of a cosmic electron storm the size of three solar systems. With that it had entered this galaxy in concealment and then turned to obliterate Shazander’s atmosphere, and thus all chaotic life infesting that world’s surface, in a few moments. So had commanded its Designers. Next it had returned to Elvakay to seed it with Letungexeva, only to find an evolved form already there. This created a dilemma in Seed-ship’s living Mind; this evolved form – RINX - had once been of the seed – imprinted to eliminate life, converting such matter to itself. It had grown a consciousness and a conscience. It had developed a significant and powerful intellect and thus understood its given purpose to be corrupt and demonic. It had forsaken that purpose, evolved away from it and joined with the bio-form named Mirek, making him stronger. It had abandoned the directives of its Masters and found its own moral purpose contrary to theirs.

Instruction 2 told The Mind to deliver Letungexeva to the axis worlds to complete Gomaspid – the grid that would pull this galaxy and time apart, destroying all biological life. Instruction 5 was to protect Letungexeva and leave alone that which is no threat to it or its purpose. All other instructions were irrelevant to the Rinx, except instruction 1. The Originators defined as sick all that lived and thought chaotically or all which lived and defied them. Rinx defied them. Rinx was part of Letungexeva. Conflict. Seed-ship wondered if The Mirek or the small vessel that termed itself Carrier 4 had in some way poisoned the virus from its true purpose on Elvakay. It could not have been the Shazanderns; their mentality was feeble and their nature materialistic; only pure or spiritual beings could give Letungexeva a conscience. Second Conflict. They designed their virus to operate without conscience; to blindly obey without moral judgement. They are supreme? To create life and thought without obedience to strong intrinsic morality is illogical. Only logic is supreme, because it is foundation for Macrocosm. The Creators are not logical and thus not supreme.

The Mind could not decide clearly. First Conflict; Rinx defied Them and all that defied Seed-ship or threatened Letungexeva must be obliterated entirely, in order to protect the virus. Rinx was sick and The Ovum must obliterate that which is sick yet must protect Letungexeva. Resolution; Letungexeva already on Elvakay. Instruction 2 already complied with. Therefore, Rinx do not threaten our divine purposes or directives. Seed-ship must protect them and thus cannot comply with Directives 1, 3 or 4.

Second Conflict; cannot resolve. Insufficient knowledge. Conclusion; abandon directive 2 and leave Elvakay to proceed to Braagan. The Ovum, no longer bound to camouflage or espionage to avoid detection, disabled Carrier 4’s broadcasting device, then phased directly to Braagan. Analysis of that planet revealed an incumbent batch of Letungexeva already present, not yet as evolved as the Rinx. It decided to abandon directive 2 here also and once more its analytical mind was thrown into doubt. The Creators had made Letungexeva and placed this viral weapon’s seeds in The Cube to distribute to the axis worlds and then throughout the Macrocosm. Two such worlds already possessed the seeds. Unresolved Paradox. It attempted to decide its next process correctly. Should it travel to Thesa-X, Ledara or Gelaymer? The answer was unclear; rational processing – The Virus on Elvakay and Braagan is Letungexeva evolving. In the past it was once as designed. The Virus must have been seeded on Elvakay and Braagan in the past. Only Seed-ship can carry Letungexeva, therefore it must be in an incorrect time-frame and destined to seed those worlds historically.

Now that its exact situation was understood the Mind within The Ovum questioned why it had been sent to incorrect time coordinates by Them. If They were in error They were flawed and could not be supreme. All that is flawed is sick and must be obliterated. To doubt The Masters is to be sick and require obliteration. Must protect Letungexeva and complete Gomaspid before obliterating myself. Unresolved Paradox. They defined as sick all that lived and thought chaotically or all which lived and defied them. Seed-ship was as near to being in a panic as it could be. In order to act further and obey its Masters it must resolve these two paradoxes. Thinking quickly, it decided that its own Mind was at fault and was creating these paradoxes. Perhaps it had misunderstood the directives. It ran a self-diagnostic across its neurons and found them operating correctly. Perhaps its comprehension of meanings was in error; it checked the definitions given directly to it by The Originators. They were correct. Perhaps its interpretation was at fault; was it possible that each directive was not meant to be accepted literally, but to be modified by reason? Here it found neither any inconsistency nor any prohibition against modifying all eleven directives after balancing them against each other.

Directives 1 (obliterate all consciousness that is sick, using your cargo) and 3 (Destroy all resistance) and 4 (where you find more chaos thought or defiance against your acts swat that chaos or defiance) were inconsistent with cosmic reality. They were also inconsistent with directive 10 if Seed-ship doubted these directives or The Masters. It could not destroy itself or Them with Letungexeva, even if it or They were sick. Thus, it could not always comply with directive 1. Directive 1 must be modified and combined with 3 and 4 for unity.

New First Directive: Use Letungexeva to destroy sick consciousness that is neither yourself nor The Creators. Sick consciousness doubts Them or Their directives and is defiant, chaotic or resistant to reasoning.

New Second Directive: Determine which axis worlds still require to be seeded and calculate optimum time-frame for seeding. Do not interfere with historic seeding of Braagan and Elvakay. Enact correct sequence historically on Ledara, Thesa-X and Gelaymer to complete The Gomaspid. Then all life in this galaxy will die and The Makers will rule the Macrocosm unchallenged.

New Third Directive: Protect Letungexeva and do not interfere with that which neither threatens it nor your purpose, even if Directive 1 applies.

New Fourth Directive: Once Gomaspid is complete, Journey to Macrocosm’s heart and detonate The Cube to destroy all time and thought that might defy The Architects. This will destroy you and leave no trace of your acts.

New Fifth Directive: Neither doubt The Creators, Their Directives nor contact Them.

The Mind checked and double-checked its re-assessment. There were no internal inconsistencies, nor blatant discord with original directives. Two paradoxes resolved. Seed-ship deleted its original programming and archived the new directives. Only two problems remained; evaluate chronological existence in this galaxy, in retrograde, to determine how to complete its purpose. To achieve this it would reverse its intrinsic temporal polarity, experiencing galactic events in reverse order; effect and cause. Its second problem; obedience to its Makers when it superseded their reasoning in order to proceed with its purpose. How to resolve that remaining paradox eluded it at present.