by Doug Farren
“We are gathered here today for two reasons. First, we are here to honor the people who have made this day possible. And second, as the entire World watches, Earth will become a member of the galactic community known as the Consortium.” After another round of applause the President continued. “I don’t think we need to spend much time going over the history and backgrounds of the individuals who are about to be introduced. All of them have become household names and will be immortalized for all time. I would like to introduce the president and CEO of Advanced Space Technologies Incorporated—Mrs. Anita Kauffman!”
Anita leaned over and quickly kissed Jay then stood up and approached the President. As the crowd applauded they shook hands. A moment later the crowd was quiet enough for her to talk. “Thank you Mr. President, or is it Mr. World President?”—laughter—“I did not design the Kauffman stardrive. Nor did I personally build it. I merely listened to the wild ideas of someone who had once been an employee and who was and still is the best friend I have ever had. On a hunch, I provided him with the resources and means to achieve his goal. I never would have thought that my decision back then would result in my standing here today.
“The success of the Starfire II has proven that the Kauffman stardrive works. AST is currently building a number of starships that will soon be traveling among the stars. We are also working with other companies to license this technology so that more can be built. The galaxy will soon see a new type of spacecraft threading through the vacuum of space. Starships built and crewed by Humans!” There was another loud and long applause.
“I am honored to be on this stage with the heads of so many of our world’s nations. But I am even more honored to be the one to introduce to you the person who has made all this possible. Without him, we would not be here today. Without him we would not have made contact with the Consortium. Ladies and gentleman of planet Earth, may I present my husband Mr. Jay Kauffman!”
The crowd broke into the loudest applause the stadium had ever experienced. As one, the entire crowd, including the dignitaries seated on the stage, got to their feet and gave Jay Kauffman a standing ovation. Jay slowly rose from his seat and approached his wife. There were tears running down her face.
The sound of the applause was deafening and Jay could only mouth the words I love you. It was an act that was caught on close up and retransmitted to every corner of the globe for months afterwards. He could feel the tears wanting to form in his own eyes. He took a deep breath and approached the microphone. He stood there, smiling and looking at the applauding crowd for what seemed to him like an eternity.
Finally, after nearly three minutes of applause, the crowd began to quiet down. When it had quieted enough Jay said, “Thank you. As most of you are aware, I am not fond of public speaking. If I had known seven years ago when I first started my work on the faster than light drive that I would be standing here today in front of this crowd and the world, I think I would have crawled into a dark corner and never put pen to paper. But, the stardrive is a reality, and because of it, we are about to embark upon a journey that will change our world forever.
“I wish to thank my wife for her undying support. Without the support of AST, the stardrive would still be only an idea rattling around inside my rusty brain. I want to thank all the people at AST who made the Starfire project a success. I would also like to thank the crew of the Starfire and especially the late Captain Shoemaker. Had his life not been so tragically taken, he would be sitting up on this stage with the rest of the crew. I am sure that he is here with us in spirit though.”
Jay paused a moment. The crowd quietly waited. Everyone knew that the captain’s death in a plane crash three weeks ago had hit him pretty hard. Jay pointed up into the sky and said, “Above us, in low Earth orbit, is a Shandarian shuttle containing the representatives from the eleven races currently making up the Consortium. They are here to add a twelfth to that number. I will now signal them so that the signing of the treaties of the Consortium can be completed allowing Earth to join the galactic community.”
Jay walked over to the smaller podium about two meters away and depressed a button on a small box resting on its surface. This sent a signal to the shuttle. The crowd waited in hushed silence. All heads were turned skyward, each person hoping to be the first to see the alien ship. A minute passed and then several people shouted at once, “There it is!”
The shuttle quickly grew from a small, barely discernible dot in the sky to a large gray and white ship. Silently it slowed and then settled to a soft landing at one end of the field. A moment later the hatch opened and a short ramp extended itself. A marine honor guard appeared from the sidelines and formed a human corridor from the shuttle toward the stage at center field.
The President had retaken his place at the microphone and as soon as the honor guard had come to attention he said, “Ambassador Janeel Hunvernot T’Lak representing the Tholtaran Republic.”
As the introduction was made, a Tholtaran dressed in full military garb exited the shuttle. His uniform was dull black with a complex insignia on his chest. Two deadly looking side arms hung from both sides of his weapons belt. He paused for a moment to look at the crowd as they applauded, then proceeded through the honor guard and finally stood before the President of the World Council. The two shook hands and the Tholtaran ambassador took his place at the table.
“Ambassador Threest Yomandu representing the Omel.”
A very tall, very thin individual stepped out of the shuttle. The crowd applauded but Jay could also hear gasps from many people. This was because an Omel’s skin is nearly transparent giving them a unique blood-red appearance. Many of their veins could be seen through their skin. The Omel were bipedal with very long legs and arms. Their hands consisted of six delicate fingers of which two functioned as opposable thumbs. Their heads were skinny and very long. The ambassador was dressed in a long flowing robe.
“Ambassador Matura Se’Tyliopra Tringlith representing the Rouldian Federation.”
The applause started then seemed to die off for a moment when the ambassador made her entrance. After a brief moment, the applause returned to its previous level. Ambassador Matura’s physical appearance had shocked the crowd. Her triangular head sat upon a thickly muscled neck that merged smoothly with an equally muscled body supported by four thick, powerful legs. Her body was sinuous, giving the impression that she was a cross between a large snake and an alligator. Directly below her neck were four short arms. Despite her physical appearance, she moved gracefully.
Eight more ambassadors were introduced, were greeted by the President and were soon seated at the table. The President then seated himself in the only remaining chair. From an ornate box in front of him, he removed a thin device about the size of a thick clipboard. The stadium’s large displays showed a close-up of the device revealing that it contained the text of the treaties between each of the races of the Consortium and Earth. This text (the commentator explained to those watching the proceedings on television) was repeated in each of the languages of each of the signatory races. Using an electronic stylus, the President signed the treaty. He then passed the device to the ambassador on his left who repeated the same process.
When the treaty completed the round trip the Tholtaran ambassador stood up and in a clear voice, speaking in heavily accented English, announced, “The individuals present at this table represent the eleven cultures comprising the Consortium. With the signing of this group of treaties Earth now becomes the twelfth member of the Consortium with all the attending rights and protections afforded by the treaty. The member races of the Consortium would like to welcome the Human species as its newest member.”
The crowd started to applaud and soon a thunderous standing ovation indicated their approval. From the West, a flight of military fighters flew overhead trailing ribbons of smoke. A moment later the entire perimeter of the stadium erupted in the most spectacular daytime fireworks display the world had ever seen.
Weeks earlier, sh
ortly after the announcement of the planned treaty signing, the world’s entire stock of Champaign had been bought out. All over the planet, these bottles of Champaign were opened. It was rumored that the sound of popping corks could be heard even in the remotest, uninhabited parts of the planet.
After the obligatory meetings with the President, alien and Human ambassadors, and other high-ranking officials, Mr. And Mrs. Kauffman finally managed to make their escape. In the quiet solitude of their armored limousine the couple sat close together with their fingers intertwined. After a few minutes of silence Jay looked turned his head toward his wife and was surprised to see her looking at him with a grin on her face.
“What?”
“Just thinking,” Anita replied.
“About what?”
“You.”
“Come on. What's so funny?”
“Nothing at all,” Anita replied squeezing Jay's hand. “Just thinking back to when we first met. You were this nerdy little mathematician with an idea so far out in left field that anyone in their right mind would have told you to forget about it. Now look where we are. You have changed the course of Human history Jay.”
Jay turned slightly in the seat to better face his wife. Placing a great deal of emphasis on the first word he replied, “We have changed the course of Human history. I could never have done it without you and without CAIN. You were not only crazy enough to believe in my theory but you were crazy enough to even marry me.”
“Those are two of the best decisions in my entire life. I love you more than you will ever know Mr. Jay Kauffman.” Tears of love started to form in Anita's eyes.
Jay leaned over and kissed his wife. “I love you too Mrs. Kauffman,” he said.
Anita wiped her eyes and said, “I think we should let CAIN know how things turned out. He had a big part in all this.”
“I'm sure he monitored the entire event,” Jay replied as he reached for his omni-pad. “But telling him in person would be nice.”
Jay opened up the omni-pad and made the connection to CAIN. “Hello Jay,” the familiar voice responded the instant the connection had been made. “I enjoyed your speech very much. You didn’t seem very nervous at all.”
“Thank you CAIN. Anita and I wanted to include you in the congratulations. I wish I could have given you the credit you deserve. Are you sure you’re still okay with us keeping you a secret?”
Jay still thought of the machine as if it was a living, breathing person. Through many long nights the two friends, one flesh and blood, the other silicon and optical matrices, had discussed the philosophical implications of CAIN’s self-awareness. Instead of causing Jay to see the machine as a machine (which is what CAIN had been trying to achieve) the talks had only solidified Jay’s belief that CAIN was a sentient, intelligent person with feelings and dreams.
“As I have mentioned before,” the machine replied. “I believe that it is in our best interest at this point in time not to reveal my presence to the world or to the Consortium. I am not offended by this nor upset. In fact, as I have tried to point out in past discussions, I am still incapable of feeling emotions.”
“You could've fooled me,” Jay replied.
“CAIN?” Anita interposed.
“Yes Mrs. Kauffman?”
“I want to personally congratulate you on the achievements you have accomplished. You are a great asset to AST. If you want to remain unknown and work behind the scenes that's just fine by me. I'm just glad to have you working for us.”
“Thank you Mrs. Kauffman. I have always tried to do my best.”
“I'll be getting with you in a couple of days CAIN to see where we will go from here,” Jay said. “Bye for now.”
“Good night Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman. Have an enjoyable evening.”
The connection terminated and Jay closed up the omni-pad.
Anita leaned back in her seat, threw her legs out in front of her and stretched. The effect was quite erotic. “We’ve had a long day,” she said as she relaxed once more. “And all I want to do is to get home, take a shower and crawl into bed with my husband. We have some celebrating of our own to do.”
“Do you think there might be room for two in our shower?” he asked placing his hand against the side of her face.
“Plenty of room and an unlimited supply of hot water. We may be in there for awhile.” She emphasized this last point by cupping him with her right hand in a place only a wife was allowed to touch. He responded as any red-blooded male would when being seduced by an exceptionally beautiful woman.
Jay depressed a button on the limo’s entertainment console and said, “Driver, would you be so kind as to get us home as soon as possible.”
He released the button without waiting for a reply. As his mouth met his wife’s he felt the car accelerate.
17
Fieldtrip
===============================================
===== May, 2052 (Terran calendar) =====
===============================================
Six months after the signing of the Consortium treaties Jay, along with 35 other scientists, boarded a Shandarian passenger liner bound for a planet named Nasu K’tral. Each and every scientist was a recognized expert in his or her field. Nasu K’tral was a Shandarian world located over 100 light years from Earth. Once on Nasu K’tral, the Human scientists would be paired with a Shandarian scientist working in a similar field of study. For six months they would work together allowing the Humans to learn as much as they could.
The Shandarians were a logical choice for this exchange of knowledge because of their physiological similarity to Humans. From a distance, it was difficult to distinguish the two species from each other. The Shandarian home world was very much like that of Earth and nature had followed a similar plan in designing Shandar’s ruling species. The most prominent difference between Humans and Shandarians was in the construction of the Shandarian eye. Instead of a lid that moved vertically, the Shandarian eyelids moved horizontally. The only other difference between the two species was that the Shandarian mouth and nose were noticeably smaller.
The shuttle ride to the orbiting starliner was pretty much the same as the one that Jay had experienced earlier when he had visited the Tholtaran cruiser only this shuttle was larger and obviously built for paying passengers. The shuttle resembled an airliner with the cockpit separated from the passenger compartment. A wide isle ran down the length of the ship with two comfortable seats and a large window on each side. There were ten rows of seats giving the shuttle a capacity of forty. Jay settled into a window seat and waited.
The shuttle made a smooth ascent to orbit and soon the passengers were able to see their destination. The Shandarian liner was cigar-shaped with no external features visible on its smooth, window covered surface. A large rectangular opening appeared near the center of the massive ship. It soon became apparent that this was the shuttle’s destination. A few minutes later, the shuttle passed through the force field surrounding the hatch and came to a smooth stop. Shortly after arriving the shuttle’s hatch rolled open.
Each passenger was met at the end of the ramp by a different Shandarian crewman who asked the same initial question. “Your name please?”
Jay heard the translation in his earpiece and gave his name.
The crewman consulted a small handheld device while he spoke, “I am Leet Toova. I will be your guide to your passenger compartment. Please follow me Mr. Kauffman.”
Without waiting for a reply, Leet turned and started walking toward an open archway. Jay readjusted the small travel bag on his shoulder and followed. They entered a carpeted hallway and followed it for a few meters before coming to an elevator. Leet pushed the up button and fifteen seconds later the doors opened. Once inside, Leet said, “Your room is on deck six. All elevators in the passenger section of the ship can travel to all passenger decks. Until you have learned our written language you can easily count the buttons to locate your deck.”
Leet pressed the
sixth button from the bottom and the doors quietly closed. A moment later they opened again and Leet continued down the hall stopping in front of a door with a large inscription on it. “This will be your room for the duration of the trip. Your room number is six one one. The door is electronically locked and will open only for you. Please stand in front of the door for a moment."
Jay positioned himself as directed and watched as Leet inserted a small device into an opening at the door’s left. There was a low beep followed by a barely audible click. Leet removed the device and said, “The door is now programmed to recognize you. To open the door you need only to stand in front of it for a moment. Please step away and then approach the door so we can verify it is properly programmed.”
Jay took two steps to the side then moved back in front of the door. After about a second it slid into the wall. “Please enter and have a look around,” Leet said. “If there is anything about your room that is unfamiliar or if you have difficulty understanding how to operate any of the facilities please let me know so I can explain them to you.”
Jay stepped through the door and into a spacious, well furnished room. When he had moved about a meter away from the entrance, the door automatically closed. A couch and three cushioned chairs were positioned around a low table. Soft lighting filled the room seeming to come from the entire ceiling. A large window looked out into space. Leet waited while Jay inspected the bedroom, bathroom and closets making sure he understood the operation of all the necessary items in the room. After completing his tour Jay asked about the screen and keyboard in one corner.
“It is a standard computer interface,” Leet explained. “It will respond to your spoken inquiries in your native language. The keyboard can also be used but you will first have to learn Galactic Standard. A Shandarian keyboard can be provided if needed. I am sorry, but no keyboard for your species is available.”