by Guerin Zand
Since I had apparently survived the star drive test, we moved on to full-scale testing. This involved both ships performing various test flights with a full complement of engineers and technicians keeping a careful eye on everything. I didn’t bother to ask why they didn’t think it was important to have a team on board for the star drive test to monitor the singularity, I pretty much knew the answer. In all, we spent close to sixteen months on Milly’s station in the classroom and performing flight evaluations. We even took the ships out to a few uninhabited planets, with varying levels of atmosphere, to test the atmospheric flight profile. Now, that was cool!
During that time, we did take a few breaks and headed back to the Earth ship to check on the candidate’s training. While there, I’d make a few runs with the Ryvius to shuttle supplies to Ganymede. It was Julie’s idea that I should put in my share of time living up to the agreement I sort of forced her into. It gave us some actual flight time to evaluate the other functions of the cruisers, such as cargo hauling, to tweak any issues before we went fully operational.
I even made a trip out to talk to Lori. She wanted to know when I planned on taking my little trip. I explained it would have to wait until after we got the Rangers established. I had received a few more of those strange dreams over the years, but none of them seemed as compelling as the first one. Lori wondered what temporal relationship existed between when I had those dreams and actual time in this universe. It seemed that the dreams I had were in a somewhat random order. She finally agreed my trip could probably wait, but not too long.
Gamma spent most of her time on the station going to school and being indoctrinated into the Bree way of life. Unfortunately, this meant she would join the other little Bree children in their vegan meals. I knew where that would lead if I didn’t do something about it. The station, unlike the Earth ship, didn’t have Earth restaurants, so there was no real meat available. For almost a year and a half we had to live off faux cheeseburgers and steaks for dinner. I refused to let my youngest daughter eat salads at the family dinner table.
There was also a lot of fun things for Gamma to explore on the station. We spent a lot of our free time exploring the station. Maria and Prima often joined us. I even took her outside to the center of the station on several occasions to play tag in open space. I will admit that living on the station was probably best for Gamma. Chronologically, Gamma was only eight years old at this time, but physically she was closer to a pre-teen. The real hell storm was coming up soon. I was not looking forward to that.
Soon it was time to head back to the Earth ship. We officially christened the ships before we left port on the station. Then Milly joined me, Prima, Maria, and Gamma on the Ryvius while Julie, Diane, and Huiliang, traveled back with Steve on Voyager. Oh, did I forget to mention that Julie had decided to join us to observe some of the tests? My bad. Her reason for observing the tests, and I quote, “If anybody is going to blow up the universe it will be Guerin Zand, and I certainly don’t want to miss that. Hopefully, we’ll have enough notice before the Big Bang that I can say ‘I told you so.’” I took that as just another insult, but Milly said I was being too sensitive. I’ll let you readers decide who is right.
Milly and Julie were joining us because there was going to be a little reunion on the Earth ship for the Council and Committee members who were overseeing the Earth project. It was to celebrate the coming of official first contact which was only two weeks away. Many of the Committee members would be traveling to the new embassy on Earth for the celebration there.
It was all being timed with the return of Earth’s first stellar explorer, Enterprise. Yes, they chose that name for obvious reasons and it was one that had a majority of support from all the parties involved. They were returning from the first journey to another star system, Alpha Centauri, which consists of three stars. It was a little less than five light years away, so at a top speed of 1000 c, it would only take less than a week round trip. They spent two weeks in the system exploring and testing the ship's systems. The return date was scheduled for July 20, 2269, three hundred years from when man first set foot on the moon. Yes, the politicians had decided to delay things to take advantage of the PR value of the date.
The Enterprise was designed for extended missions lasting up to 5 years. I wonder where Diane pulled that design parameter from? It had a crew capacity of 250. The top speed of 1000 c allowed humans to travel to the edge of the area of space restricted by the Collective in one year. The Earth ship was located just outside of that 1000 light year perimeter. The nebula that was the backdrop for the Earth ship was what we knew as the Orion Nebula.
Once humans crossed this 1000 light year threshold, the Collective would ease restrictions on travel to Earth by other non-Collective races. So, for the time being, humans were going to stay within this border. Within a decade, Diane predicted, they would upgrade the top speed of the star drive by 10x. This would put other inhabited worlds within our reach. Once humans made it to one of those worlds, the protection of Earth’s little playground would be lifted. The exploration by the Rangers, of course, would not trigger the end of this protection. Well, unless we did something stupid. What were the chances of that?
All our old friends were waiting for us back on the Earth ship. Sly and Stella had a big dinner planned and I was actually looking forward to it. It had been a while since Stella and I had one of our little talks. I actually missed those talks and I was hoping she was prepared to make up for lost time. Sid, Nancy, and their families would be there as well. Bart and Gladys were already on the ship, but still, they were keeping their daughters as far away from me as possible. Oh, they had some other excuse for why their daughters wouldn’t be there, but I knew the real reason. They were both scared that I might still be planning on paying them back for their little prank when I visited Erandi. They were right, of course.
I loaded up the family on a transport pad and we made our way down to the Cyletherean compound for the big dinner. As usual, the first stop was the reception area and the bar. I opted for a Gluark right off. The first Committee dinner I attended I tried to stay somewhat sober. I didn’t want them all to think the candidate for emissary was a drunken fool. Now, I really didn’t care. Besides, with all of my enhancements, it was pretty much impossible to get totally sloshed anymore. I was having a drink, and talking to the boys, when Cindy made her way over to the bar to join us.
“How have you been, Guerin? I haven’t seen you since we came back from my father’s station.”
“I’ve been fine, Cindy. A little busy trying to get the Rangers organized and our new ships tested out. How about you?”
“I’ve been good.”
The boys decided to mingle with the crowd. They made their excuses and left me alone with Cindy. They really had no concept of a wingman’s duties. That included Bart. I used to think he had my back, but I was starting to think he enjoyed seeing me suffer. One day I was going to make a surprise visit to his home and meet those daughters of his.
“You couldn’t even be bothered to send me a message in all of this time, Guerin?”
“I’ve been busy, Cindy. It hasn’t been that long.”
“No. Not a few hundred years like last time I guess.”
“You’re just never going to let that go, are you?”
“No. You know how much I enjoy seeing you squirm.” She flashed me one of her bad girl smiles and I could only roll my eyes in response. She was wearing a beautiful dinner dress that highlighted all her best features. Actually, I don’t think that woman had any bad features as far as I could tell.
“So, how are things going with you and Prima?” Cindy nodded in Prima’s direction. Prima noticed us looking in her direction and smiled back.
“Not you too, Cindy. I don’t understand why you and your cousin feel the need to get involved in my private life. Neither one of you are interested in me like that, so why do you bother?”
“Who said I wasn’t interested in you?”
; “Please, Cindy. You know damn well that I have about as much chance with you as I do with Milly. You both have your own plans, and those plans don’t really include having a relationship with me. Why do you have to toy with me like this?”
“Because it’s fun, and you know you like it.”
“Well, that’s the problem. I do like it, but it just confuses me. Don’t you think I have enough problems already?”
“Whatever, Guerin. Is it so bad having a pretty woman as a friend? One who can joke around with you like any of your male friends?”
“Well, if you knew anything about human relationships, you’d know that for a man that’s not possible. If he isn’t involved with another woman, then he is going to want more than to be friends with a beautiful woman. If he is involved with someone, then what your suggesting can be downright suicide!”
Cindy laughed. I was trying to be serious and didn’t think what I’d just said was funny at all.
“That’s what I miss about not having you around, Guerin. Your sense of humor. No one can make me laugh like you do.”
I was going to respond when Stella announced that dinner was ready. She instructed us all to head to the main dining hall, and then headed over to rescue me. She took my arm and started to lead me away.
“We must get together soon, Guerin, and have one of our little talks. I feel sort of useless when I don’t have your problems to deal with.”
“I really wish you would deal with my problems, Stella. That way I could relax and take another vacation.”
“Don’t be that way, Guerin. This is supposed to be a celebration, so don’t ruin it with one of your moods.”
“I won’t ruin your party, Stella, I promise.”
When we arrived at the table Stella sat me in my usual seat to the left of her. Gamma was seated to my left with Prima seated on her other side. My drink was empty. I thought to myself I should have stopped by the bar for a refill before leaving the reception area. Oh well.
Once we were all seated, the staff started to serve the guests wine. I have never been a big wine drinker, but I guess it was better than water. Sly stood up and quieted the crowd.
“Welcome friends. It’s been many years since our first dinner with our then-candidate for Earth emissary, Guerin Zand. Many of the committee members were convinced it would never work, yet here we are. In just a few days, many of us will be traveling to Earth for our official first contact with human society. Yes, we made contact long ago, but now we will be making our presence known to all of humanity. This project will be entering a new phase.”
“Guerin will not be joining us. Although some of us disagree with his reasons, we do understand his feelings on this matter. He wants us to credit his old team, Roger, Katie, Steve, and Diane for this accomplishment. While Guerin has been gallivanting across the universe, doing God knows what, this team has been tirelessly working to achieve the goal of first contact. So, please let’s stand and applaud these four humans for their hard work and accomplishments.”
Everyone stood, including me, and applauded my old teammates. The applause lasted at least five minutes before Sly signaled us to all take our seats.
“In case anyone doesn’t already know, Roger will be the Collective’s ambassador to the newly formed Terran government. The embassy has been completed on Earth. Roger and his wife Katie will be responsible for staffing and running that embassy. They will also be taking on a lot of the responsibilities that the Collective had. For instance, deciding what visitors are allowed access to Earth from outside worlds. As our ambassadors they will, of course, have our full support whenever it is needed.”
“Guerin and Steve will be traveling out to the ASTN worlds to introduce humans to other races. They will be paving the way for future contact with the Terran government when they are ready to reach out from Earth on their own.”
“Diane will continue her work on Earth. Her star drive is a breakthrough in a technology we and others have widely ignored. She will also be working with our scientists since we have discovered some possible uses for this technology that we’d like to explore.”
“We are working with Roger and Katie to arrange for Collective observers to join the Terran government crews onboard their explorer ships. While the Terrans are exploring the local systems, within their protected space, the observers will travel with them to help when needed, but mainly to observe. Along with the Collective representatives who will live on Earth, we will be assigning representatives to live among the Terrans throughout the Terran system. We have been working with select individuals from the Terran system and now it’s time to work with their local governments and societies. This way we can determine when the protection of the Terran system can be lifted entirely.”
“This will be the busiest period of this project for the committee. I just want to wish you all the best of luck.” Sly raised his glass. “To the future.”
We all toasted the future with Sly, and that signaled the staff to start the feast. It was the usual vegan spread. It was always good, but as a lifelong carnivore, I complained a little. It was just a matter of principal. Even my youngest daughter, Gamma, complained a bit when she realized that no meat was being served. It made me feel proud. I explained to her that we shouldn’t really complain. It was only one meal and it wouldn’t kill us. Besides, we could always go out for a cheeseburger later.
I was kind of surprised when we made it through the first course, a salad, as if you couldn’t figure that out on your own, without anyone insulting me. While the second course of the meal was being served, Sly started up a conversation with me.
“Have you reconsidered joining us on Earth for the celebration, Guerin?”
“No.”
“I haven’t asked you about this earlier, but I’d like to know why?”
“You have to understand the politics of Earth, Sly. As you know, before the Chinese incident, there were many people in positions of power who wanted me gone. After the incident, that had not changed. In fact, there were many who blamed it all on me. When I left, and Roger took over, there were a lot of people happy about that.”
“That makes no sense, Guerin.”
“Not to you, Sly. You and the others from the Collective didn’t see the full picture though. You have all the reports from me, my team, and the members of the Collective who were there, but you didn’t deal with the politics on Earth during that time. The Chinese obviously hated me. I was the one responsible for their embarrassment over the incident. The Americans were mad that I had stopped them from taking advantage of the situation and letting the Chinese off as easily as we did. You can read the Earth history about that time and you’ll see I am often painted as the bad guy. It was my selfish control of the alien technology, and access to the Collective, that caused the conflict.”
Stella shook her head. “That is not what happened, Guerin. We all know that. Your so-called control of the technology and exclusive access to the Collective was imposed on you by us. You weren’t responsible for the conflict. It was their own greed and struggles for power. Your history is simply wrong. Just recently we found out how you helped Lihwa to come to power in China. It was your influence with Lihwa that opened China and brought the world closer together. Don’t you think it’s time to correct that history?”
“No, Stella. Correcting history would be the worst thing we could do. I mean it’s not factually incorrect. It’s the opinions expressed in that history that may be wrong. The reason I never mentioned my work with Lihwa, and why it should never be revealed publicly, it would do more harm than good. It was Lihwa who made all the changes in China, not me. If it were known that I had helped her, it would most likely taint her achievements rather than make me look better. It’s best to simply leave history as it has been written.”
A lot of my friends at the table shook their heads in disagreement. I shrugged my shoulders in response and continued to eat my meal. None of them really understood. If I joined them at the celebration on Earth, I w
ould be that proverbial turd in the punch bowl. I would be a reminder of things that many would rather not acknowledge. It was true, maybe the history written about me and those days wasn’t quite accurate, but history is written, and rewritten, to reflect what those in power want it to.
Things were going well on Earth and throughout the Terran system. Those in power knew I was still working with the Collective. Even though Roger hadn’t mentioned me during the Ganymede negotiations with Earth, those in power knew I was behind the help the outer moons received from the Collective. If I showed up at the celebration, it would raise a lot of questions that most people would rather not answer.
“So, you’d rather remain in exile from your home than correct history, Guerin?”
“I’m not living in exile, Milly. I can go back to Earth, and I do on occasions. It’s just best that I not return in the public and political spotlights. Besides, you know I never craved that sort of attention.”
“But don’t you think you deserve credit for your achievements?”
“Milly, you know better than anybody, I never did any of this to become famous. Rich maybe, but not famous.” I smiled and took a drink of my wine. “Besides, I have a pretty bitchin starship now. Why should I care what people who don’t know me think about me? My friends know what I’ve done, the good and the bad, and it’s their opinions that really matter.”
Everyone dropped the subject after that. There were a lot of conversations about what we all would be doing next. In a way, this dinner was quite the departure from the others. I was not constantly being insulted and made fun of. For once I wasn’t the center of attention throughout the dinner, and I liked that.
After dinner, we all retired to the reception area for drinks. I spent a lot of time catching up with Sid, Nancy, and their families. This was the first time they met my knew daughter Gamma, and she ended up running off to the playroom with their children. It was funny to remember how, at the first of these dinners, I had run off to that same room with Sid and Nancy when we were all still children.