THE GALAXYMBION ODYSSEY

Aramek Skane sat regally in her translucent office, surveying a command centre outside that was so vast it could almost house a Carina Class Interstellar Cruiser. Indeed, over a thousand people worked in this centre – four times the combined maximum crew and passenger manifest for a Carina Class starship like Uexin Artima Gurss’s much beloved Aurora. She remembered the Ambassador’s attachement to his personal cruiser and smiled softly to herself.

It was not exactly her intention to sit regally, since Kolda-ra had never experienced an artificial concept like royalty; it was just that in taking command of the Andromeda K1 the mantle of responsibility dignified her already immaculate bearing and behaviour. As Summit Commander she was the only crew member permitted to wear non-uniform clothes. Or at least that is how it seemed, since the vessel’s passengers also wore standard pure white Galactic Peace Corps uniforms according to their rank. These had tunics with built-in mini sashes at each shoulder front, a maximum of three each side. Lowest rank (adjutant) wore one sash of indigo on their left shoulder rising to the maximum six indigo sashes for senior adjutants. Top ranks (Aramek Skane’s deputies) wore six blue sashes, with platinum accolades bearing the Galaxymbion symbol on each sash.

Aramek’s desk was a semicircle of polished gloss white plastic, sculpted with fluid curves and smoothly rounded ‘corners’. Computers, communication screens and various other devices rested invisibly beneath that pristine surface, but at a thought could rise as though by magic from invisible flush panels. On her side of the desk storage units were similarly ‘invisible’, behind a seemingly unbroken exterior, yet would agreeably slide out at her psionic command. It was a vast desk set slightly out from one corner. Behind it the wall supported multiple readout screens; ship systems, energy consumption and Chronomesh data, course and journey updates, sectional command centre diagnostics, hull and internal status monitors, stocks and stores, observation decks, internal climate data, personnel duty rosters and medical evaluations, mission schedules, polycom links with all Galaxymbion member worlds, external interstellar conditions, and long range Sensormesh evaluations of Ledara.

The remainder of the wall behind and to her right was lined halfway with bookshelves stocked with an impressive collection of ten thousand volumes from around the Galaxymbion. Each volume was tagged with a unique imprinted code and held in place by a translucent autoscan protector that made it impossible to put books back in the wrong place. It was semi opaque and its final half was occupied with sleek, clean and comfortable seating for up to ten people. It also boasted auto-drawing luxurious curtains.

The wall to her left was, like the wall in front of her, fully translucent, though she could order it to opaque at will and for additional privacy curtains would automatically draw at her command.

In the middle of her office a magnificently carved wooden table with superb lacquer could seat her twenty-five sectional commanders with chairs matching the other seating in style, elegance and straightforward practicality. Although this table was huge and must have been carved from a truly colossal tree, there was still plenty of room in her office to comfortably accommodate around forty standing guests. In the far right corner, diagonally opposite to her desk, was Aramek’s amenity suite; a private screened area where she could change clothes, wash, take personal care of herself, sleep, rest, listen to music, prepare food or other sustenance, and enjoy recorded entertainment undisturbed. Everything was white, even the luxurious carpeting, except for upholstery and curtains which were currently a lilac colour but could change hue at her command, with a choice of seven thousand spectrum variations. Aramek chose lilac to demonstrate equivalence with the adjutant ranks, as most Galaxymbion captains and commanders did. She also chose to wear white or pale grey classical Grecian-style dresses or togas similar to those worn by students and only occasionally trimmed with some stylish adornment in a bright colour.

I (Emrikan Lantt) had been assigned to this mission as a working passenger. I was one of twenty-five thousand neural enhancement technicians tasked with operating across that area of Ledara its human population called Eastern Europe. Andromeda Super Citadel K1 was now in the final part of its long journey to Earth, poised in geosynchronous north polar orbit at that world, and some three decorbs out from Monzarl. Shortly before our departure from Monzarl Primary Dockyard an Arcturus class cruiser had arrived. Reportedly only three people disembarked, though they were not on station records and nobody knew where they had gone after leaving their Arcturus.

Rumours had been circulating ever since our journey began that those three very unique individuals were on board our Citadel. Anavar of Albascade, Kendras Arion of Belvandara, and Amryk-Em-Kovy of Talara. The Galaxymbion High Council’s Inner Triumvirate of Albascade. Nobody had seen them or talked with them; they had not been spotted anywhere and were not listed on the crew manifest. Curiously, three crew quarters had been sealed on deck 120 for no apparent reason.

Seven thousand of our Andromeda’s crew were Kolda-rian, augmented by almost two thousand Monziri specialists familiar with its systems and technology. A thousand Ekrians also served aboard, along with a fifteen hundred strong crew of other species including eight hundred Vels, a few hundred Talarans and Albas-ri and seventy Belvandarans. Similar proportions were evidenced across our two and a half million working passengers; the people who would venture to the surface of Ledara and administer Velvet Panther.

Throughout each rev Aramek kept a close watch on our exact planetary location and consulted with her twenty-five sectional commanders at least once per rev concerning events on the Ledaran surface. Every evening she invited sixty-five crew, randomly chosen, to meet informally in her office for food, music and conversation. At each of these gatherings she would remain standing and be the only person serving food. I remembered how well (and similarly) she operated as Tirian Prefect, how she spoke to Ambassador Gurss and his staff in Octaladonian. Such a fantastic sign of respect when the convention was for visitors to use a host world’s language. She was a quintessential Galaxymbion citizen, the faithful representative of our society and philosophy.

It was now ship’s evening, and today I was amongst the crew she had chosen for her gathering. I knew none of the other sixty-four present, and Aramek always sensed when someone felt uneasy. She carefully included me in discussions she felt I might enjoy and introduced me to people she thought I could create lasting friendships with. She had a singularly thoughtful and germane skill in this respect, and I recalled how she had introduced me several orbits ago to Shyarin Kalbra – the beautiful young woman who is now my wife.

A side note, since this episode deals with our visit to Earth. When Galaxymbionts marry, family names (if used) do not alter for one spouse but not the other. Some Galaxymbion cultures fashion a new family name from both, but on Kolda-ra each spouse normally retains their birth name.

Daughters born to a Kolda-rian couple usually take a female first name from as far back as eleven generations on their mother’s side, including their mother, and adopt their father’s surname. For sons it is the opposite. Only in rare cases is this tradition broken. We can marry voluntarily when childless but unmarried couples automatically become married when they have their first child. This is also considered a voluntary outcome with the special designation of ‘insoluble generational marriage’. Polygamy is a serious social offence forbidden in our cultures for obvious practical reasons. This ensures that both spouses will honour their mutual loving commitment to each other and their children, and not irresponsibly pursue intimate romances or casual liaisons outside marriage as humans can do. Naturally only psionically gifted empaths can officiate in marriage ceremonies since they must be able to detect sincerity, loyalty and genuinely deep-rooted affection in both applicants before proceding. No ceremony can conclude if any of these are absent, even just one of them in one of the applicants. Consequently, our society hardly ever experiences the personal torments and miseries of broken marriages, unwanted children and divided families.

There is a process for dissolution of marriage but it can only happen with childless couples and there has to be an extremely good reason for it, since only serving Triumvirates have sufficient authority to revoke voluntary marriages. All three Triumvirs must unanimously approve of this reason and its supporting proofs. Explanations such as ‘I found someone else’ or ‘we don’t get along anymore’ or ‘I’m not given enough attention’ are considered unsatisfactory and inadequate. Such feeble excuses, often cited by humans to mask fickleness, poor mutual communication or unrealistic expectations of a spouse, are inadmissable. Triumvirs are extremely busy people with the greatest imaginable responsibilities to their own worlds and all others within the Galaxymbion. They do not have time to waste with erratic people who make silly mistakes or arbitrarily change their minds, and that includes marital officiators failing to detect any seeds of later strife or inconstancy.

Back to the evening; having made several new friends amongst crew and passengers I was getting ready to leave when Summit Commander Skane caught my attention.

“Don’t leave just yet, Emrikan Lantt. I need your opinion concerning a slight mystery.”

“Curious,” I found myself saying. “I am only a Tactical Recon Pilot Class III. I doubt that my opinions or observations could be as helpful as you anticipate.”

“No need for such modesty; I am fully aware of how well you looked after Ambassador Gurss and his team. Your actions at the Singing Caves of Toruno Kerini-I helped save lives, including the Ambassador’s. Subsequently your actions as captain in command of the pursuit of Syhe Alderhin, or Lekra, to Kytonia proved instrumental in uncovering vital truths. In the midst of such a mission you handled first contact with The Brethren. Remarkably well, I might add.”

“But Mirek Taro was lost without adequate explanation. I am responsible for that.”

“You are not, and don’t argue with me; I am twenty-five ranks above you.” She said this gently, with a warm smile. “The Interworld Triumvirate Unison know exactly what happened to Mirek Taro; he was sent on a number of what might be called temporal errands, by The Brethren. Do you remember anything odd about the day Ambassador Gurss visited us?”

“Of course; Aurora was apparently attacked by two Nivas.”

“Anything else?”

“No, Summit Commander. What else should I remember?”

“Study this recording from Aurora, made during orbital approach. Tell me what you see.” She handed me a screen pad and I thumbed the start sequence.

“Nothing odd here, Summit Commander Skane. The Ambassador talks to Orbital Control, your son is on duty. I see nothing remarkable about that; Rilmuta is a good friend and colleague. He is often on duty at Orbital Control.”

“Stop the frame at 11.17 and enhance grid N11 five times. The reflection of Rilmuta’s console chronometer is of interest. It shows a date several orbits in our future. Rilmuta also appears older than he really is; only a mother would notice. According to Orbital Control records my son was on duty and the exchange proceeded slightly differently, but with my son looking his correct age and a correct console chronometer reading. Tell me, Emrikan, do you know anyone called Panbeera Soja?”

“No. Should I?”

“What I am about to tell you has been designated as sensitive category two and sealed under Uranium 7 restrictions by The Triumvirates of Kolda-ra and Caldia. You are aware that when Aurora returned to Octaladon another attack by Glanes with superior technology took place?”

“Indeed, Summit Commander. The matter was widely reported, but in what way is planet Caldia involved in this? They are not exactly our neighbours since they are almost half a galaxy away.”

“Which version of that event are you familiar with?”

“The Galaxymbion High Council had obtained information concerning the Glane attack and were able to anticipate events accurately. The Glanes were captured before having a chance to cause any harm.”

“That information came from Caldia and our own Triumvirate, held under Uranium 7 seals incumbent upon Octaladonian President Tarss for more than four orbits. You see, Emrikan, those Glanes also had advanced technology like Syhe Alderhin, and in particular temporal technology and weaponry. It would seem that originally their attack succeeded and Aurora suffered a temporal and spatial shift as a result. It crashed on Chelen 4 near Caldia, four orbits in the past, and was recovered by Omnipotence – the personal cruiser of Princess Sebria of Caldia. Aurora was badly damaged and Ambassador Gurss died from his injuries. Two of his aides, Chedsarin and Kareebin, were listed as fatalities from the Singing Caves attack, courtesy of Lekra or Syhe Alderhin, the Glane assassin.”

I took a moment to digest this astonishing revelation. “But we prevented those fatalities. Commanding Admiral Huwain Navin guessed which cave Syhe Alderhin would choose to assassinate the Ambassador in; he had a special dampening field generator installed in that cave and suggested tactics that proved highly successful. He even reasoned where in the caves she had hidden her change of clothing and weaponry; he had them doctored – all the poisons removed. I merely followed his tactics to the letter and there were neither deaths nor injuries.”

“Huwain guessed nothing; he knew what was going to happen. The exact place, time and details.”

“How did Huwain know all this if our Triumvirate had sealed the information under Uranium 7? Unless he is a Triumvir.”

“Very astute, but don’t tell anyone. I mentioned Panbeera Soja, because the Gurss who died in that alternate reality had made a journal entry during his visit to Kolda-ra. You told him that Miss Soja was on OC duty when Aurora arrived.”

“Me? That’s impossible! There were never any questions raised about who Gurss spoke to at Orbital Control. I have no memory of this at all.”

“Consider, Emrikan, that the Gurss whose Aurora crashed on Chelen 4 came from an alternate reality. A reality in which my son Rilmuta never existed and a young woman called Panbeera Soja did exist and was indeed apparently recruited at Orbital Control instead of him. Now, about Mirek. His first destiny errand was to correct Rilmuta’s non-existence. You see, Rilmuta is not just my son; he is Mirek’s also. The Mirek you know from this time frame and my younger self when I was a student in Iloa. For that to happen Mirek had to journey into my past and stay there long enough for us to fall in love, marry and have our son.

“Shortly after that he time-shifted again. As you can imagine, his anomalous existence in an incorrect time frame alerted our scientists and Triumvirate to The Crisis quite early, and certainly some time before temporal fractures began to cause noticeable problems. Mirek’s next appearance would be on Elvakay, twenty-three orbits in our current future. Carrier 4, an Aldebaran 1 robotic probe registered to the Belvandara Space Corps, is currently journeying to the galactic rim. Twenty-three orbits from now it will reach galactic rim and encounter a temporal disturbance from Andromeda Galaxy. In evading this phenomenon it will soft crash on Elvakay and be discovered by a Shazandern vessel, though ultimately rescued by a Quelae cruiser recently built at Monzarl’s Primary Dockyard. A cruiser fitted with temporal technology. Mirek’s presence enables Carrier 4 to be brought back to this time and its data analysed and referenced accordingly before those bumbling Shazanderns get their acquisitive mitts on it.”

“So, The Brethren really are helping us, with Mirek’s assistance. Why do they need a Kolda-rian?”

“Because, he carries a symbiont Niva. The Quelae vessel that rescues him provides the temporal technology he needs to bring Carrier 4 to our time; it is Nightspear. The same Nightspear referred to in Alarni’i mysticism. The story of Nightspear over Falda. You remember how Falda received its name?”

“According to Alarni’i legends Nightspear was a ship that travelled the sky and brought Nivas to our world.”

“Yes, and its Quelae crew told us about the fifteen worlds of our system, and Falda – the part of the sky they had journeyed from. Falda contains a species related to The Brethren, but green in colour and usually gaseous or aqueous in form rather than solid. Faldans are symbionts by nature, spiritually connected to intelligent sea creatures in Falda’s oceans. They call themselves Nivas, which in their language means ‘shadows’. To survive here they initially merged with Kolda-rians, but later became independent. My son Rilmuta also carries a symbiont Niva.

“Extraordinary,” I murmured. “I have a passion for archaeology and etymology; during our cultural phase “The Opening” the word Niva appeared, meaning ‘reflection’. Over time it transformed into the words nivek (spirit) and and nival (ghost). Some etymologists claim it is also related to the Albas-ri name Anavar, which translates as “ethereal energy”, but it is quite unclear how we and the Albas-ri are related since our biochemistries are quite discrete. Where is Mirek now?”

Commander Aramek Skane lowered her head. “A short while ago he received one further mission from The Brethren; in another future incident a temporal disaster in the Seppra-Sarkron system will lay waste to half of Thesa X. Existential distortions around that world’s moon, Sirantiga, will pull in further anomalies including a vessel from Ledara’s alternate future. That vessel will be carrying a macro viral form of The Brethren – Letungexeva D – which appears to be malevolent and closely connected to this Temporal Crisis. Mirek will interact with it and survive, bringing a dying specimen of the macro virus back to Kolda-ra in our current time frame. The virus died, enabling meticulous study of it. Mirek has also died, in a manner of speaking. He came home to stay with Rilmuta and me, and his body ceased functioning. It is frozen in time but his Niva was released.”

“Do you know where his Niva went, Summit Commander?”

“Analysis of residual tachyon radiation surrounding Mirek’s physical form indicates his Niva returned to an episode in his past when he was eight orbits old, at a precise moment when his family were staying on Iclaan. That world’s Central Planetary Archive shows that Mirek’s childhood form vanished temporarily. We believe his Niva used that childhood incident, bringing his young self to the present, and then stowed away on the Canmark Rarnimdi just before it set sail for Braagan. As you know, that vessel disappeared briefly in that world’s vicinity quite recently. Evidence indicates that Rarnimdi’s disappearance occurred because it shifted three centuries into Braagan’s future.

“When it returned Mirek was not aboard, however the crew talked much about his presence and selfless heroism on Braagan. He saved them from that world’s future. His childhood form later mysteriously turned up where and when it should have been, on the cruiser returning to Kolda-ra with his parents - Canmark Soryah. Kolda-rian records show none of this, and they should if it happened originally. It would appear to be another one of Mirek’s cosmic destiny corrections. We believe that his Niva evolved significantly after his experience on Braagan, where apparently it interacted with the Letungexeva Time Guardians. It is quite possible that what remains of Mirek is virtually unrecognisable; a spiritual entity so complex and potent that it resides in all places and all times simultaneously. We believe it was Mirek’s transcended Niva acting from within Kolda-rian cloud formations that tried to warn Ambassador Gurss of danger.”

“Extraordinary and fascinating. There were two Nivas involved in that incident, I recall, and Weethis told us he communicated across time with both Mirek and Rilmuta. Was the second Niva your son?

“We have no confirmed proof of the second Niva’s identity, but it is widely suspected that it might be his original wife, Imari Taro. There were certain patterns recorded in Aurora’s Event recorder that identify her, which only became known recently.”

“Why are you trusting me with such information? I am only a Tactical Recon Pilot III.”

“You were; from this moment that is no longer true. Your record in difficult situations is exemplary, Emrikan Lantt, and you have a unique perspective on this Temporal Crisis. We are poised to educate and ameliorate humanity. I have chosen you to direct the neural enhancement process in Europe. You now have the rank of Coordinator.”

“My gratitude for your faith in me, Summit Commander. Do our European teams know?”

“Yes, and you will introduce yourself to them soon. And, Emrikan, there is no need to keep calling me Summit Commander. Aramek will do, or even Prefect Skane. Here is your mission command transfer protocol.” She handed me a data pad. “It is encoded for your bio readings and voice activation only. We will be crossing the polar terminator into night in three perchrons and will achieve target activation threshold in only two. Planetfall for your teams must therefore be complete in one perchron. Memorise your mission details and team deployment schedule before planetfall.”

“Of course, Su – Aramek. What is the current status of our counterpart Ekrian Andromeda SC and their Protectorate team? I hope that is a question I am entitled to ask.”

“Yes, Emrikan, you need to know this. Excuse my tardiness in telling you. The Andromeda SC E1 as you probably know approached Ledara along a right angular bisection to ourselves. They transited the moon’s orbit in continual synchronisation with us and are now parked directly over the Antarctic polar axis at the same orbital elevation as ourselves. Their Protectorate – Jor-Kintara and Eriana-Kalin – are a bonded couple with considerable experience of operating in hostile environments controlled by savages. They report that their integration with the local species has reached its impact point and threats have been neutralised. However, Ledarans have been observed for some time and are known to be dangerously unpredictable, territorial and deficient in reasoning capability. It is very difficult to keep savages well behaved.

“Some time ago I attended a psionic interface with the Protectorate and received the accumulated experiences of Balasaniwa and his team. It was, to say the least, very disturbing, and warned me that having to deal with such a backward species would never be easy. However, our Storm Catrina smokescreen has proved extremely effective. The humans’ transport, tracking and communications systems – including their beloved internet - are reduced to the absolute minimum essential for hospitals and similar peaceful purposes, whilst their military capacity has been completely nullified. Essentially their technical ability to mount demonstrations of puerile belligerence or other crowd mentality threats is curtailed, and the Vels are now planetside, ensuring that humans cannot easily express their primitive aggressions effectively either. What were your thoughts after attending preparatory lectures during this voyage?”

“Similar to your own, Aramek. How can we prevent casualties on both sides, when the humans are so arrogant and barbaric? They have learned so very little during ten thousand orbits’ worth of lessons from the mockery they call civilisation. I am pleased your plan has worked so effectively, removing any possibility of casualties on either side.”

“Remember, Mr Lantt, that the Ekrian teams handled initial atmospheric insertion, preparing the way for both Andromedas to assume their polar orbits unnoticed, ready to apply the Global Learning Sphere. All neural enhancement teams are now completely free to deploy in Arcturus cruisers to their equidistant locations. There they will set up the booster mechanisms, without any intervention from mindless local mobs or government sponsored half-wits. Jor-Kintara and Eriana-Kalin have already tested modified Learning Spheres on some of the worst specimens of violently depraved humans, with truly startling results.”

“I have a question to satisfy my curiosity. Is it possible to take our Super Citadels into a planetary atmosphere?”

“Yes, it is possible, but not advised on worlds like Ledara where atmospheric, aquatic and geological pollution levels are alarmingly high and the inhabitants are liable to panic on sight of anything unknown. Remember, Emrikan, it is not our intention to provoke open conflict with volatile retrogrades. The Citadels will remain in orbit. Our Arcturus class supports will enter the atmosphere under appropriate camouflage.”

“How many Arcturus cruisers are supporting us? These past three decorbs in space I have often looked out of our observation platforms but have never seen such enormous cruisers berthed anywhere or travelling alongside us.”

“We carry four Arcturus cruisers on each Andromeda SC. They are held in the outer ring under the habitat domes. You surely did not believe we would descend ourselves supported by fleets of numerous Aldebarans? Imagine how the humans would panic on seeing Super Citadels and thousands of agile transports filling their skies,” Aramek teased me jokingly.

“No, Aramek, I did not believe that. I really had only expected that we would carry fleets of Carina or Calona class cruisers and perhaps a few Dorianu or Terka cruisers, like an Orion Space Citadel does, but that we would simply carry more of them.”

“Our docking rings and cargo bays can accommodate many shapes and sizes of vessels, but the decision was taken to carry an Arcturus quartet for orbital insertion; we needed their enhanced defensive and deployment capabilities within the atmosphere. I apologise for cutting our conversation short, Coordinator Lantt, but it is now time for you to assemble your team and introduce yourself to them. Convention Bay seventeen has been reserved for you for one quarter perchron, starting in twenty lapses. Your additional encoded sash awaits you in quartermasters’ store six. Please ensure that you and your team all carry defence suits with integrated shields, light and heavy guardian devices, appropriate equipment for mission tasks, psionic translators and suitable inoculants. You will report to the GSS Vulpecula, moored under Dome Two.”

“Yes, Aramek, and thank you once more for your faith in me. I take my leave of you straight away. Have a peaceful night.”

“You also, Emrikan.”

So, this was my first major promotion. I walked over to the quartermasters’ office, enjoying the dual silence of anticipation and satisfaction.