"Point taken," replied Sergei. "There was a time when the government I knew would have welcomed changes that would benefit Mankind." He shook his head before adding, "Though I must confess I don't know who is really in charge of my people anymore."
"Hyperjump transition in three...two...one...now," announced the ship's computer.
Zack had a moment to brace himself before everything went blank.
{...Hyper transit discontinuity...}
Nova York Orbital Station, November 1, 2676.
Senator Everett Dawson looked around at the assemblage of people brought together in one of the large conference rooms on the Nova York Station. With unrest festering and escalating all over the planet of Nova York, the station had been deliberately chosen for this meeting because it was far more secure than any place down on the surface. Especially now. With him was Madam Miriam Love, the noted psychic who had predicted the mess he, and the rest of Mankind, had just recently been thrust into. Just a week ago, it would have seemed fantastic that Humans would be interacting with any kind of alien species, let alone over five hundred of them!
Fantastic, yes, but the irrefutable evidence of the existence of at least one of those species was standing across the room conversing almost casually with a group of wide-eyed humans including the President of the United Federation of Planets, Soichiro Yoshida. The creature was an alien, a Lycan, who went by the name of Symantia L'proxa, and she also claimed to hold the rank of "Regional Guardian of the Galactic Sentinel" for the Grand Amalgamation of Galactic Civilizations.
Senator Dawson was still somewhat in shock from his own first meeting with the creature just a week ago. He once again silently thanked whoever had decided the orbital station was the best place for this meeting. Only a handful of humans were aware of the existence of this "Grand Amalgamation" and even fewer of them had actually met a representative of the organization. That was all going to change in the very near future. The release of this sensational information to the general public, after the meeting concluded, was inevitable given the number and the diversity of people in attendance. The governments of all of the planets were going to have to consider their public responses very carefully, or the backlash could turn out to be catastrophic.
It was about two minutes past the time the meeting was scheduled to start and Dawson realized he should ask everyone to sit so they could begin the proceedings.
He spoke loudly enough that all could hear him above their own conversations. "Would everyone please be seated?"
Several knots of people, members of which had been conversing among themselves, along with frequent glances at the little alien across the room, dispersed after a few final comments. The entire group, except for the alien and the senator himself were soon seated at the long oblong table.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Dawson began, "from the briefing materials I sent out, you should all know why this meeting was called. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, I'd like you to meet Galactic Sentinel Guardian Symantia L'Proxa, an envoy from the Grand Amalgamation of Galactic Civilizations."
The little alien executed a very human-like bow from where she had taken up station at the head of the table, right next to the senator. The group then took a few minutes for everyone around the table to introduce themselves. Symantia nodded politely at each individual after they announced who they were. There were representatives from all fifteen worlds of the United Federation of Planets and three people who were from the old Sol system. Last but not least, were seven delegates from the Union of Soviet Democratic Planets. Also present were Harold and Ariane MacPherson, Arnold Mobutu, Kathryn Harbour and Olga Dostoyevski, none of whom were seated at the main table but had instead taken seats against the wall in the back of the room.
"I thank you all for coming," said the little alien, through her translation device. "I am here to provide assistance for the transition of your species to full membership status in the Grand Amalgamation of Galactic Civilizations. You have successfully accomplished the first step in this process, which was to activate your Galactic Sentinel device and to select Representatives who will interact with the Grand Council of the Amalgamation. But that interaction is in the future. Contact will occur through me, for the time being."
She paused here and said, "I know you have many questions but, with your permission, I will take a few moments to provide you all with an overview of the Amalgamation and what citizenship means. Professor MacPherson? Would you dim the lights please?"
After the lights in the room had faded, she touched the translator medallion at her throat and a holographic projection, suspended in the air, appeared over the center of the conference table. The delegates were treated to a breathtaking top view of the sprawling, spiral conglomeration of stars that was the Milky Way Galaxy. The spiral rotated slowly and majestically against a black backdrop flecked with more distant, and thus smaller-appearing, spirals, discs and globular clusters of countless additional galaxies.
What sounded like a male human voice began to emanate from the medallion, "The Grand Amalgamation of Galactic Civilizations consists of over five hundred separate civilizations." A series of small green circles began to appear here and there within the gently rotating model of the galaxy until the entire spiral was dotted all over with them.
The view shifted to the interior of an immense and opulent structure of some kind. Within the building was a chamber that almost had to be a Parliamentary facility. The voice continued, "The Grand Amalgamation is governed by the Grand Assembly." The camera, or whatever it was, panned around the vast space of the Parliamentary chamber, showing seats filled with alien creatures of all descriptions. Some of the seating areas contained enclosures filled with liquid or gas to accommodate the special needs of the individual delegates within.
The view then changed to one of a smaller but, if anything, even more opulent chamber. Within the chamber, members of five individual species were gathered. Like a judge in a courtroom, one individual faced the other four from behind a massive and very impressive bench. The voice continued, "The Grand Assembly is presided over by the Supreme Council under the overall leadership of the Chief Councilor."
The view cut back to the slowly rotating galaxy. "The goals of the Amalgamation are to preserve peace and prosperity for all member races."
The video continued for several more minutes. The delegates learned the Milky Way Galaxy, in spite of the fact it was a conglomeration of stars so vast as to be beyond comprehension, still suffered from space limitations, especially in some regions. Though numerous, inhabitable planets were still exceedingly rare and, understandably, highly sought after. Most of the galaxy's civilizations, in addition to occupying their home planets, had moved outwards, colonizing the desirable planets closest to them within roughly spheroid blobs of space with their home planets usually somewhere near the center.
The Grand Amalgamation had originally been formed when two, then three, then five of the original members found their spheres beginning to overlap. Several very costly and very bloody wars later, it was determined some method of settling territorial disputes outside of interstellar war was imperative. More than that, the advantages of providing a framework for trade and economic cooperation between races offered benefits to all. After some inevitable growing pains, the Amalgamation gelled into the entity it currently was.
The holographic video ended with another view of the slowly rotating galaxy, and Symantia's female voice began speaking again. "I am certain many of you have questions."
The chamber remained silent for a few moments while the delegates attempted to assimilate the enormity and the gravity of what had just been revealed to them. The delegate from Nova Philadelphia raised his hand, "What is this Galactic Sentinel device?"
"The Galactic Sentinel network was established to monitor the progress of technology on planets where intelligent life forms have evolved," replied Symantia. "A candidate species is required to locate their Sentinel activation key, decipher the ins
tructions on it and place it on the Sentinel base unit to activate the Sentinel signaling device. They must then show themselves capable of translating the inscriptions on the activated device. The two parts of the activation device are deliberately placed in locations were the candidate race must develop space travel in order to activate the system. In the case of the Human race, the activation key was placed on the Planet Earth in the Sol system, and the base unit was located inside Deimos, one of the moons orbiting Mars, which was the closest suitable planet. They were both placed roughly five thousand years ago, while your race was still confined on Earth.
"What if we do not wish to be a part of your Amalgamation?" asked President Yoshida.
"That is certainly your choice, Mr. President, but there is a rival faction ruled over by a species we call 'Custodians.' Unfortunately, they are also aware of your race. We have evidence that agents of this group are already active on many of the Human-colonized planets. Custodian agents attempted to interfere with the placement of the Sentinel Key, but were thwarted by several resourceful individuals, some of whom are in this chamber. Membership in the Amalgamation will be voluntary, if you are accepted. The Custodians, on the other hand, will simply come in and take over. The consequences of falling under Custodial rule has been previewed in the mass dreams substantial members of your race have been experiencing."
"You mean to say my visions were based on a possible future?" asked Madam Love.
"That is unfortunately true," replied Symantia.
"How do we know you aren't just making all of this up?" asked one of the delegates.
"We have arranged a demonstration of our technology that should convince you all we are deadly serious," replied Symantia.
"And what might that be?" asked Senator Dawson.
"If you would all turn your attention to the display again," said Symantia, "the demonstration is about to begin."
The room had remained dark except for the light given off by the projection over the table. The view in the projection changed to one of deep space. The distinct pattern of the brightest stars in the view would have made the location instantly obvious to experienced space travelers.
"Some of you might recognize this as a view of the Alpha hyperlink zone of the Central Planets system. What you are looking at is a real-time projection from an Amalgamation Omnicast communication module, which is currently positioned where it can monitor the zone. Watch what happens."
After a moment or two, the signature of an incoming hyperlink field began to bloom in the center of the view. It grew in brightness and in size to an intensity only associated with the largest human starships ever constructed. A large, snowflake-shaped ship emerged as the field collapsed.
"What kind of ship is that?" someone asked.
"It's a ship constructed by a race of beings called the 'Hordea,' and they are your closest galactic neighbors," said Symantia. "You will have an opportunity to meet some of them shortly."
The assembly raptly watched the display as the huge, unconventional ship began to boost away from the hyperlink zone.
"That's your demonstration?" said President Yoshida. "Very impressive, but hardly overwhelming."
"That was only the beginning, Mr. President," said Symantia. "Keep your eyes on the display."
Another hyperlink field began to bloom in the view. This one grew in brightness to the level achieved by the Hordean ship...and continued to increase in size and intensity until the field was far larger than any ever produced by Human science. The hyper signature finally peaked at an impossible intensity before abruptly winking out. The transported object continued moving forward from the zone where the field had been, at an insanely high velocity. As the bright image of the field faded, the delegates could finally see the transported ship.
It was huge, easily greater than ten kilometers in its smallest dimension! Only it was not a ship. Instead it looked like an asteroid or a small moon.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," said Symantia. "I give you Deimos."
The moon was hundreds of times larger than the largest construct any human had ever even attempted to transport. There was an awed silence in the room. An Omnicast communication was sent to the chamber through Symantia's medallion.
"This is Lieutenant Zachary Lynton of the United Federation Marine Corps. Greetings to you all from Deimos. We will be arriving in ten hours and inserting this moon into orbit at a safe distance from Nova York."
"I trust this demonstration will be adequate to convey the truth and the gravity of my announcements?" said Symantia.
The room full of delegates remained in a state of shocked silence for a long moment, then everyone began talking at once.
"Order please," said Dawson. "Symantia will be happy to answer any questions you have, to the best of her ability. If everyone will calm down, we can proceed. Please raise your hand if you have questions."
Almost every hand in the room went up. Dawson sighed and picked one of the delegates more or less at random.
"It is an honor to meet you, Symantia L'Proxa," said the distinguished representative from Nova Boston. "Did I hear you state the Representatives for the human race have already been selected?"
"That is correct, Senator Bowie," responded the little Lycan. "Three representatives have been selected. Three Galactic Sentinel guardians were appointed at the same time."
A chorus of questions broke out in the chamber.
"How were the selections made...? How are we to know if these people are up to the task...? What gives you the right...?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, please!" said Dawson, raising his voice to almost a shout. "One at a time. Senator Davis, you have the floor."
The young senator from Nova Philadelphia, who had been one of the first to speak up, asked his question. "How were these delegates selected?"
"The Sentinel device was presented with a group of more than twenty individuals who represented a surprisingly good cross section of your race," said Symantia. "The Sentinel AI made the selections."
Dawson pointed to the senior Soviet delegate. "Comrade Davydkin?"
"Why were Soviet planets not included in process?"
"There were, in fact, two candidates representing the Soviet planets," replied Symantia. "One of them is in this chamber." She indicated Olga, who stood up and took a short bow. "Dr. Dostoyevski has been retained by the Representatives to serve as an advisor. As such, she will be in close contact with them. We have determined it is best if the identity of the Representatives and Guardians remain confidential for the time being.
"What gives you the right to make these selections?" asked a woman delegate from the colony world of New Slovenia, the very same planet Zack Lynton had been stationed on when the entire Amalgamated affair began to come to light.
"The Grand Amalgamation has established a set of guidelines that are rigidly followed. Once a candidate race places the Sentinel Key, the selections must be made within forty-eight of your hours. The very best personnel that could get to Deimos within the allotted time frame were summoned. Those are the rules. Of course, you could elect not to participate..."
"Don't be too hasty, Symantia," said Dawson. "This information is very new to nearly all present. We merely seek to understand as well as we can."
"We do have weapons," someone said. "We can fight without your damned Amalgamation if we have to."
"That is certainly your choice," replied Symantia.
The discussion went on in much the same fashion well into the night as the delegates at the meeting came to grips with the reality of their situation. The meeting did not adjourn until after midnight when Symantia announced Deimos would be inserting into orbit around Nova York at around 0800 the next morning. "We can continue this discussion tomorrow," she said. "We would like to take as many of you who wish to go, out to Deimos where you can observe the Sentinel device first hand as well as meet your Representatives and their Guardians."
Not surprisingly, no one elected to be left behind.
; Chapter 69. Future Plans.
Deimos, in Nova York orbit, November 2, 2676.
A tour of the Grand Amalgamation facilities within Deimos was the last step in the grand demonstration. Senator Dawson, having been briefed that a large shuttle would be required, had made prior arrangements to have one waiting. The following morning, the delegates, all forty-five of them, and another ten or so interested parties, gathered for a shared breakfast before boarding the shuttle bound for Nova York's brand new moon. Some of them were as excited as schoolchildren embarking on a trip to the zoo while others remained visibly skeptical, but all of them were convinced they were baring witness to something very much beyond the ordinary.
The shuttle approached the surface of Deimos, and everyone was astounded again when it proceeded to go through the floor of a crater and into a docking area within the moon. Just before they disembarked, the delegates were informed the interior of the moon was not only pressurized and heated, but the gravity was set at one standard G. They filed out of the docking area and headed down an arched corridor to a portal protected by a greenish force field.
The chamber they entered was lit by a soft greenish glow being generated by rows of hieroglyphics inscribed onto the sides of a transparent tetrahedron. The six edges of the pyramid were each about two meters in length, placing the peak cornice at about eye level for most of the delegates. MacPherson himself, who was leading the entourage, had been surprised to discover the new corridor led directly to the Sentinel chamber. That, and the portal they'd entered through hadn't existed before. The chamber had also been expanded somewhat, enough to comfortably accommodate all of the delegates. MacPherson hadn't received any prior warning about any modifications and wondered briefly if the Deimos AI possessed some kind of twisted sense of humor.
As the entourage crowded around the softly glowing pyramid, several of them were so bold as to actually touch it. Nothing happened, but those who did felt a subtle, throbbing vibration, as though great power were being held in check.
The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2 Page 36