"And I hope we never run into one," Ben-Ari said, "or the worms will make us seem advanced."
As they flew closer, details on the Dyson sphere emerged. The lights on the sphere were dim, but the Lodestar's monitors painted a picture using the sphere's infrared radiation. There were several gateways on the sphere, and many starships were flying in and out of the megastructure.
"There, that one." Ben-Ari pointed toward a round gateway. Dozens of starships were flying through the passageway. "Aurora, take us there."
"Yes, mistress!" Aurora said.
The Dyson sphere now encompassed their entire field of view, hiding the stars. It felt like flying toward a metal planet—except this planet could swallow stars. Many alien starships flew around the Lodestar. Here were ships of many civilizations, each vessel unique. Some ships were swirling balls of energy, solid cores barely visible in their centers. Others were massive cubes, bristly with pylons and pipes. Some starships were shaped like giant crabs, large enough to crush the Lodestar in their claws. Other starships were no larger than shoe boxes, perhaps containing aliens the size of ants. Ben-Ari saw faery ships that extended lavender sails. Other ships looked more like warty toads. Here was the nexus of the Orion Arm, the spiral arm of the Milky Way where Earth resided. If this galactic neighborhood had a capital, it was here.
"The ancient world had Rome," she said softly. "The new world had New York City. We have Lemuria, home of the Galactic Alliance."
As they approached the gateway, several starships flew toward them. They were shaped like starfish, each about half the Lodestar's size, and lights shone on their arms like suction cups on tentacles. Rings of cannons thrust out from their centers like teeth. They hailed the Lodestar, and metallic voices filled the bridge, speaking in a foreign language.
Ben-Ari frowned.
They're speaking Mandarin, she realized. She tapped a few buttons, setting the Lodestar's computer to translate the words.
"Earth ship!" spoke the starfish vessels. "We have identified your star of origin, and we have adapted our translators to speak your homeworld's most common language. Speak your purpose."
Ben-Ari could speak fluent English and Hebrew, both far less common on Earth than Mandarin. She replied in English, hoping the alien ships could interpret that language too. "This is Captain Einav Ben-Ari of the ESS Lodestar. I come as a representative of humanity to introduce our species to the Galactic Alliance and apply for membership."
A moment of silence. Ten of the starfish ships now surrounded them. Finally another message came through.
"You may enter Lemuria, but be warned, Earth ship. You are here representing your species. Any act of aggression will be interpreted as a declaration of war and thus met with the immediate destruction of your homeworld." The starfish ships pulled back, allowing passage to the gateway. "Welcome to Lemuria."
"Lovely welcome," Fish said. "The Walmart greeters could learn a thing or two from them. Welcome to our store! You broke it, you bought it, and we'll exterminate your entire species."
Ben-Ari ignored the Australian. She turned toward her pilot.
"Aurora, fly us in."
The Lodestar flew through the gateway, entering the Dyson sphere.
Ben-Ari stared ahead, barely able to breathe. The professor had tears in his eyes. For long moments everyone on the bridge was silent, just gazing with awe at the wonders ahead.
"Explore," Ben-Ari whispered, tears on her cheeks. "Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born."
"Sagan?" the professor asked.
"Einstein," she whispered. "He understood."
A star shone in the center of the Dyson sphere, illuminating the star system. But it felt wrong to think of this place as a star system. It was so much more. When seeing it from the outside, Ben-Ari had imagined the inside of the sphere coated with solar panels—an amazing yet ultimately uniform inner surface. She had been wrong. The inside of the sphere was . . . a world. An artificial world. Its surface area must have been millions of times the size of Earth. She saw forests, rivers, oceans larger than Saturn, soaring mountains, sparkling cities drenched in eternal light. Yes, there were solar panels here—great shimmering surfaces of them, so many solar panels they could cover a million Earths. But there was also wilderness. Life. So much life.
"If you flattened Earth," the professor whispered, "and placed it onto the inner surface of this sphere like a sticker, you wouldn't even see it. It would be as tiny as a pinprick on a tablecloth."
"I'm not feeling like an ape compared to this civilization," Ben-Ari said. "Not even a worm. I feel like an amoeba."
"No one civilization built this place, mistress," said Aurora, glancing over from her controls. "My people, the Menorians, are junior members of the Galactic Alliance. A thousand sentient civilizations cooperated to build this great shell in the cosmic ocean, and it took thousands of years. We Menorians helped fly the construction ships."
Several planets were orbiting the star, their orbits contained within the sphere. Each planet was fully urbanized, coated with cities. Countless starships were flying everywhere, moving between the planets and the inner sphere. Space stations floated everywhere. Earth would have disappeared here.
And Ben-Ari also saw military might.
Starfish-shaped fighters flitted back and forth. Great warships, larger than any Earth had ever built, lumbered across space and docked at floating ports. Silvery ships shaped like spiders, their legs as long as highways, moved back and forth, red and blue lights flashing across them, slender cannons thrusting out from their hulls.
Here is the might we need, Ben-Ari thought. Warships that can defend Earth. That can help us fight the grays. I must join this alliance. I must earn its protection. I must bring back aid to Earth.
"Aurora, do you know where the Galactic Alliance headquarters is?" Ben-Ari asked.
"There are many Alliance ports inside Lemuria, Captain," the mollusk said. "Military bases, universities, administration buildings—all scattered across the sphere like coral reefs in a warm sea."
"What about an admission center?" Ben-Ari asked. "For new applicants. Do you remember when your own species applied for membership?"
"Yes, mistress," said the pilot. "I will take us there."
They flew between thousands of starships and space stations, heading deeper into the sphere. Ben-Ari had never seen such a variety of ships and species. There were giant floating platforms topped with terrariums. Spinning rings like ancient orreries. Ships round, triangular, elongated. Ships the size of moons and ships the size of marbles. Some ships were clouds of luminous gas. Some aliens flew in swarms of tiny drones. A few aliens were riding starwhales.
The Lodestar kept flying, heading toward the sphere's inner surface. Forests rolled below them, and mountains soared over verdant valleys. Rivers coiled between towns, and waves washed over golden beaches. Ben-Ari could hardly imagine a world so large; trillions of aliens could live here comfortably and never feel crowded.
"The surface area inside the sphere must be millions of times Earth's surface area," she said in wonder.
"Hundreds of millions," the professor said. "Astounding."
Aurora took them toward a mountainous island that rose from a tranquil sea. A temple crowned the mountaintop, shaped as a white lotus. Its marble petals rose toward the sky, snowy white and shimmering. Gardens draped the mountainsides, large enough that Ben-Ari imagined she could spend months exploring them. It was a serene place, and the white lotus building, with its simple elegance, seemed as wondrous as this entire sphere.
Several round vessels rose from the temple to greet the Lodestar. They looked like giant pearls, but when they flew closer, Ben-Ari saw that their shimmering surface was translucent. Lights shone inside the orbs, and she could just make out the forms of aliens inside.
"Welcome, ESS Lodestar." The voice emerged from the bridge's speakers, deep and melodious. "The G
alactic Alliance has heard of your coming. We have never met an Earthling, and we much desire to learn more about you. In seven of your hours, we will welcome two humans of your choice—one male and one female—into our blessed Lotus Temple, where they will be honored guests. We will send a shuttle to fetch the pair. Do not bring your mothership closer to the Holy Lotus. Any hint of aggression will be interpreted as an act of war, resulting in the immediate destruction of your homeworld."
With that, the pearly ships descended back toward the temple. The Lodestar remained flying above.
Niilo, the Lodestar's hulking security chief, grumbled, and his face reddened beneath his forked blond beard.
"If I chose to be aggressive, I would smash this whole temple down." The Fin clenched his fists, each the size of a roast ham. "I would need only my fists."
Ben-Ari smiled wryly. "I'm sure you would, my dear Viking warrior. But we've come here as diplomats, not as soldiers. The time for smashing will come—once we return to Earth with a fleet and meet the grays." She turned toward the professor. "In seven hours, join me. They want one female, one male. You and I will go meet them."
Niilo stepped forth, his long platinum hair swaying. "Captain, let me go with you! You need a strong defender."
"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, Niilo," Ben-Ari said. "I might be small compared to you, but I've trained for years in Krav Maga, and I've fought in many battles." She placed her hand on Niilo's broad chest. "I need you here. To defend the ship."
The Fin loosened his fists. He placed one hand on his heart. "I will always defend the homestead, Captain. I will defend the Lodestar as a Viking defends his dragonship."
She nodded. "Good. You have the bridge."
She took the elevator to her quarters. She needed to sleep. To shower. To eat. To rehearse her speech to the Galactic Alliance. Yet she found herself restless, too nervous to sleep or eat. She washed quickly and donned a fresh service uniform. The blue fabric was stiff, too formal, uncomfortable. Often she missed the loose, casual fatigues of the battlefield. She had always felt more comfortable in them than this formal uniform.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
I'm finally showing my age, she thought. She was almost thirty-two, and she no longer looked like a kid. Her blue eyes seemed sunken to her. Too weary. Eyes that seemed too old, that had seen too much. Her blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her cap rested on her head. Her cheeks were pale. She pinched them in an attempt to restore some color.
Her doorbell rang. She checked her clock; there were still two hours to go.
"Come in."
It was Professor Isaac. He too wore his formal uniform, complete with his cap. He held a picnic basket.
"Have you eaten?" he said. "I made my famous roast venison and mustard sandwiches. Of course, the artificial venison we grow in the ship's lab isn't as good as real meat. But I think all things considered, quite tasty."
She smiled. "My stomach is too knotted to eat. But if these are your famous sandwiches . . ."
They sat at her table, and they ate while gazing out the porthole at the rolling landscape below.
"It's so vast," she said. "So much wilderness—forests, fields, and plains. Millions of Earths could fit here. We would be safe inside the sphere. Out there, in the open galaxy, it's so dangerous. There is so much evil, so many predators roaming the darkness. In here is safety. Imagine if they let us have a new home here! All of humanity, all the billions of us, would barely take up any space. They wouldn't even notice us, no more than you'd notice a single ant in a castle."
The professor nodded. "True. Of course, there would be the problem of transporting billions of people across the galaxy. We only have a handful of ships left."
She swallowed her bite of sandwich. The venison, though artificial, was good. "And as beautiful as this place is, it's not Earth. Not our home. Not the place we fought for, bled for, that so many of us died for."
"Many new spacefaring civilizations go through this period," the professor said. "We wake up. We take a step into the cosmic ocean. The water seems inviting, so we take another step. And a third until soon we're knee-deep. And then we meet the sharks."
She smiled wryly. "I've met enough sharks for a lifetime."
"Many, perhaps most species never make it farther," the professor said. "They meet an alien predator like the scum or the marauders. Perhaps they are confronted by their own demons, as we are with the grays. They fall back into obscurity. Another light snuffed out. There are ten thousand spacefaring civilizations in the Milky Way in this era alone. Millions have come before us, most of them gone now. Countless more civilizations rise and fall in other galaxies. We humans are not unique. We have, perhaps, survived our infancy. We are now going through a dangerous adolescence."
She looked out the porthole. "And out there—the species who live inside this sphere—are the adults."
The professor nodded. "And we'll soon know if they'll let us sit at the adults' table."
"Let's review my speech one more time," she said. "Pretend to be a judgmental alien."
She spent the next hour rehearsing with him, pitching humanity, tweaking and perfecting her speech. But it was one thing to deliver the speech to the professor, a kind and gentle man. Quite another to a roomful of highly advanced aliens with technology that made the Lodestar seem like a wheelbarrow.
"So did I make us sound somewhat noble?" she asked.
"You will amaze them, Einav, as you amaze me," Isaac said. "And I'll be there with you. Always."
She looked out the porthole. A pearl shuttle was rising to meet them.
"Our ride is here."
The alien shuttle came to hover outside their airlock. Ben-Ari and the professor stepped into the circular vessel.
Inside, a tall and slender alien greeted them. Her body was vaguely humanoid and coated with blond fur, and her face reminded Ben-Ari of a deer. She wore flowing white robes, and silvery antlers grew from her head. Her arms too were like antlers. They branched out at the elbows, splitting into several forearms, each ending with a slender hand with many fingers.
She looks like a cross between Bambi and a mutant elf, Ben-Ari thought.
"Welcome," the alien said, voice soft and melodious. "I am Nala, servant of the Galactic Alliance. Would you care for some refreshments?" She held out a bowl of grass.
"We've already eaten," Ben-Ari said. "Thank you, Nala."
She decided not to reveal that she had eaten venison.
"You are welcome," Nala said. "Come, I will take you to see the elders. They much desire to learn more about humanity."
The round shuttle descended toward the surface. The mountain soared below them, rising from the sea. The Lotus Temple rose on its crest, shimmering in the sunlight. The shuttle landed in the gardens, and they stepped outside. It was pleasant. The air was crisp and scented of flowers, grass, and the sea. A breeze rustled Ben-Ari's uniform. It could have been a lovely spring day on Earth. Several aliens, similar in appearance to Nala, were ambling through the gardens outside the temple.
Oddly, of all possible emotions, envy filled Ben-Ari.
Back on Earth, we suffer, we fight, we die, we hunger. Our world lies in ruins, and the grays seek to destroy all that we have left. And here is paradise!
It seemed so unfair, and standing here, seeing this beauty, the suffering of her people weighed more heavily than ever upon her.
She looked around her at the gardens. Flower beds. Pebbly paths. Singing butterfly-like aliens. Marble statues and streams. Peace.
She forced a deep breath.
Let this be a place of hope and inspiration, not envy, she thought. This is what we humans can aspire to. This is a paradise we too can build. Maybe not in my lifetime. Maybe not for many generations. But let this be an inspiration, a vision of what humanity can become. Not the grays. Not creatures of evil living in desolation. Let this be the path we choose. In a million years, let this be our destination.
Two paths. T
wo possible futures for humanity. Down one path—the grays, creatures twisted and evil. Down the other path—utopia.
The grays warn us. This place—let it inspire and guide us.
"Come, Earthlings," Nala said. "The elders will see you now."
She led them toward the Lotus Temple. Its marble petals were so tall Ben-Ari could barely see their tips. An archway rose ahead, its keystone engraved with suns and planets. They stepped into the temple.
They found themselves in a vast hall, a chamber so large cathedrals could fit inside. Murals spread across the ceiling. They reminded Ben-Ari of the Sistine Chapel, but here were scenes of science. One mural seemed to depict the Big Bang. Another showed an early universe, its planets swirling balls of magma. Other paintings depicted evolution, showing the progression from simple molecules into cells and finally into animals. Some paintings seemed to represent the elements, depicting various atoms, while other paintings showed galaxies. A few murals depicted themes she could not understand; here was science beyond what humanity had discovered.
It's a hall of science and knowledge, she realized, eyes damp. And it's beautiful.
Furtively, Ben-Ari instructed her bionic arm to snap a photograph of the ceiling. It was, without a doubt, the most astounding work of art she had ever seen.
She forced herself to look down. Beneath the ceiling too was wonder.
A horseshoe-shaped table stood on the floor. At the table sat a hundred aliens or more, each of a different species. Ben-Ari had never seen such variety of life. Most of the aliens were organic—tall and furry, slender and scaly, a few feathered, some slimy, others coated with naked skin not unlike humans. Other aliens were more bizarre. One alien looked like a giant crystal with light shimmering inside. Another alien was liquid; it swirled inside a globe of water. A few aliens were gaseous, hovering as clouds. One alien seemed to simply be a hovering metal ball. The smallest aliens were no larger than insects, most were roughly human-sized, while a handful could dwarf elephants. The largest alien, a rocky creature with lava gurgling inside its mouth, nearly reached the ceiling.
Ben-Ari and Professor Isaac stepped forward. All eyes, tentacles, whiskers, and sniffing snouts followed them. They came to stand in the center of the horseshoe table.
Earth Eternal (Earthrise Book 9) Page 9