“Painful?” asked Mike.
She shrugged, “That first one was more disorienting than anything. I felt odd, lost, different but most of all I felt so much stronger and alive. My mind worked so much better. All the schooling I’d done kicked in and came to the surface. I learned languages in days, I learned guitar and piano in days. It was as if I knew everything and only needed hints to pick everything up.”
“Resident said you’d be far ahead of us,” put in Mike, wondering where that would go, what she’d say.
“Every year,” she said slowly as if thinking of a painful memory, “I suffer another change. It sweeps over me, engulfs me. Some are unbelievably painful, some not so bad. My growth comes in spurts and then it hits, the bigger the growth the more it hurts. My first after awakening nearly killed me, and Resident said that if I hadn’t done what was required, to withdraw, I might have died. After each change I feel a difference. I can sense myself being stronger again, faster, more sensitive or more agile.”
Martina had to ask, “This feels very personal. You’re OK telling us?”
Kate grinned, “The one thing I am afraid of is exposure. Telling people of my existence and what I truly am would be damaging. It would make my life, my role difficult, retard my ability to get things done.”
There was silence for a few moments then Mike asked the obvious question. “You said your role. What do you mean by that?” He thought he knew, but he would like it hear it from Kate’s perspective.
Kate looked at them both. “Well,” then she stopped. “This is difficult. This exposes me fully.” She sighed as she leaned back in her chair.
Said slowly, with feeling, “It is to make good. That’s it in a nutshell I suppose.”
Martina was lost with that, “That sounds odd. Very simplistic.”
Kate nodded, “Yes it is but at the bottom of it all, that is what it is. Martina, you head me called ‘Planet Tamer’ by our friends?”
Martina nodded, “Yes. It sounded very, I don’t know, powerful or grand I suppose. Dangerous too.”
Kate chuckled for a moment. “Yes. It’s all those things and it sounds rude to me also. Demeaning of the human race. That’s their perspective of someone who is able to make a difference on a planetary basis. Someone who can affect the course of history, make things happen, remove impediments to success and reduce discord. That’s me.”
“She said you were powerful but looking at you, it doesn’t seen right. Sorry.” Martina felt the disconnect between the description and the person.
Kate smiled at that. “Perfect. Just what I need. I told Mike that I can lift my cell phone and summon a support that comprises some of the most influential people on the planet. They pay attention when I speak.”
“That’s just one aspect. I could release a product next month that harnesses fusion energy and releases us from the energy crisis. It would not be difficult to do. The problem is that the human race would use the technology to wipe itself out. We’ve be gone by tea time, the side blown off the planet and the shock wave killing us all.”
---oOo---
He and Martina enjoyed life but they took up a new hobby. ‘Kate Watching’ gave them hours of pleasure. They’d read all the news they could, surf the web, collect and read newspapers and look for the mark of her works.
If a president was performing vastly better than he should, then was she behind it? If there was a resolution to a situation somewhere on the planet and the SecState resolved it quickly, was he truly responsible?
Suspicion became their guide.
Some years later there was a ‘Coming Out’ event, a Network News special two part broadcast where Kate was revealed. The media had been increasingly predicting the presence of some person or persons unknown who was manipulating events in the background. He and Martina knew exactly who it was.
They laughed when in the second part, she
Of all the people on planet Earth, they alone knew her the best.
---oOo---
Time Gentlemen, Time
The years passed with a shared pleasure he'd previously lost hope of finding. They passed mostly happy, but sometimes bittersweet when time won against his best efforts. However as Kate had said all those years ago, the years had been worthwhile.
Martina had stayed with him till her recent passing which left him grieving but also glad for his time with her. Kate had been right, he'd made a new friend and it had been so worthwhile. Their time together had been more than he could have hoped for.
Not long after he met Martina, Kate had helped again. She’d given Martina a treatment the same as she had for him which granted Martina extra time and explained much to Martina. However time, the relentless enemy, had worn her down before it had for him and it was her heart that gave way early. He'd always hoped he would go first, being without her was not something he wanted to contemplate but his wishes meant nothing.
At her passing, Resident, Companion as well as Kate and Cat had celebrated her life then eased her passage. Kate and he had held Martina's hands as she passed, sharing and caring with her at the very end.
Now, he knew it was his turn. He knew deep inside, the same as last time all those surprisingly good years past. This was his last night. He regretted it was his end time but did not for one instant regret the time itself. He'd had more than his quota and for that he thanked Kate, and through that for the gift of Martina.
Something that pleased him greatly was that they'd been able to avoid the retirement village. Accepting his end time now, here, and cheating the retirement village made him smile quietly to himself. ‘I call that a win’ he said quietly to himself.
Martina had been sensible with her money so the two of them had pooled together to purchase a larger property by the seaside. Martina's time of surfing had ended years prior but the pleasure of walking hand in hand by the ocean had never passed. For her passing celebration they'd piled a bonfire high on the sand then enjoyed their last night together.
Tonight he decided to do the same but it took him a week to make the bonfire, to have plenty of spare wood to keep it lit for hours. He wanted a huge bonfire to mark his passing, his celebration.
Now, sitting in his chair he let his mind go slack, he tried to feel the area as he smiled, feeling the power of the surf, letting himself expand out to feel.
It would be nice to have friends with him. He projected out 'come friends, celebrate with me' then he waited.
Without a sound the area was suddenly flooded with beings. Kate, Resident then Companion and Cat joined him with all the others suddenly there. They moved to him, touched him gently, then moved to be near the fire then over to the sea to experience the power and sound of the waves crashing. He felt their joy at the power of the surf as it rushed into the beach, and he smiled. They'd delighted in the bush, now the wild surf was something else again.
"Welcome," he said gently, "come friends, stay a while, enjoy the night." Then he remembered from all those years ago, "Have a passing celebration with me."
Resident smiled, nodded, remembering his words.
When his time came, same as for Martina, Kate held his hands and again he saw her sadness, but also her felt her strength flood into him making his passage easier.
His last thoughts were, 'so that's what it's like...' with surprise.
---oOo---
Kate sat with Mike, the fading fire lighting the area, she the last to leave. She'd listened to the surf, she'd heard the snap of the fire and she'd held Mike's hands as his life left him, and then sat for a time thereafter.
'You beat me to the finish line' she said quietly. She knew this would be her one day, after her passing, her empty shell sitting lifeless.
It would be easy to feel maudlin at a time like this, to dissolve into self pitying tears. She was tempted to cry, to feel the loss of a friend but over the years she'd come to accept this as a part of life. People lived, lov
ed, then passed and all she could do was experience as she could.
Was she being selfish in feeling the loss so keenly, forgetting the person?
Did she, and should she care about feeling selfish?
She decided ‘not’ - to care was to be human and sometimes that was a difficult thing, a difficult way to be.
She could not change the end though, yet, but she did have some ideas on that. She knew life and death were two faces of the same coin called existence.
She then wondered 'what exactly is the coin.'
Now that was the real question.
---oOo---
Epilogue
Timeline AK+10M
“We’ve expanded to much of our spiral arm, yet we decline,” the current leader said to the assembled gathering. “We rose to a trillion beings, now we decline to a handful of billions.”
Gatherings were, like much of their society, quiet times of shared pleasure. Seldom was there discord. Disagreements were regular and disputes settled with a meal, with a shared clasp of hands and a smile.
The leader continued, “The single child family is the exception now. Most do not produce even one child. Our decline has been rapid. In a few generations we will be leaving empty planets in our wake. In a millennia we will be in the millions. Do we accept this?”
The remainder of the afternoon they resolved to assemble again in a month to discuss their findings.
As was their way, each member would do their own research and reach their own conclusions. Then after a discussion and agreement, action would or would not be taken.
---oOo---
There was consensus, something should be done within the next few decades else the human race may indeed become extinct. It didn’t feel probable but it feel possible. The trend of population decline indicated than in a millennia only a few inhabited planets would remain. Thereafter a few more millennia and that would reduce further. Following statistics in a linear manner without thought to the reality was fraught with error. They all knew that. But it was an alarming trend.
“We could wake a Stellar. But which?” That was floated out by an assistant and all by itself it gathered thought. Silence ruled for minutes as each thought of the long gone Stella's.
“Jellz had hidden depths. Her ZenBu background gave her appreciation for the wild environment of Providence. She was unique in her connection to humanity.”
That was considered by many. “A good choice,” was a comment.
The same assistant voiced a concern, “But she was gentle. Do we want that? What do we need? We must use our understanding of needs to guide our choice.”
Again there were thoughts. Food was eaten in silence, drinks taken, chairs and cushions relaxed back into. One counselor fell asleep but no one commented. They’d all fallen asleep at council meetings. It was expected. If there was a need, he or she, or they, would be woken. Time was never a problem.
Another assistant floated up the comment, “To change humanity will be painful, it will cause unrest. Bringing social change would cause pain. Who would be strong enough for that. Who would be,” and the time stretched as the words were considered, then, “wild enough. Who, which Stellar would be wild enough to bring about such change?”
That was the defining moment. There had only been one Stellar who had the aggression, the strength and raw untamed violence. She stood out in all their thoughts.
That generated concerned thought. The name did not need to be spoken.
“She killed,” one said. The concept of taking a human life making them all feel sick.
“She was unpleasant,” said another, the concept being almost as repugnant as the taking of a human life.
“Waking her has risk,” one said remembering the conflict near her tomb that had woken her, and the retribution she had laid down on the combatants and the region. Waking her was not to be taken lightly.
---oOo---
Walking along the path from the landing pad he felt the park that split the city, it’s river bringing water, making it the centerpiece of the region.
He was the leader and so the task fell to him. He had considered delaying for a few months so another whose turn to be leader could take this burden but that was weak. Their society was not one of hurry or rush, but truth and understanding of motives was important. He would be letting himself down, denying himself his self respect if he did not do this thing.
The park was beautiful, just as she had commanded it to be. The scented shrubs, the colorful shrubs and the fruiting trees all cared for and healthy pushed their presence into his happiness. People sat on grassy areas, people worked the garden beds, people sat on bench seats and everywhere the gentle feeling of peace floated out.
Much of the human race was like this now. He saw that as their heritage come true. Conflict had ceased millennia ago. Now disputed were settled with talk, a feast, time spent understanding needs and people.
Coming finally to the tomb he stopped. There we people walking nearby, looking, experiencing the presence as it was called. To stand beside the tomb to feel was a life’s journey for many, but standing too close was to be avoided. That carried risk.
He approached, looked up at the massive stone buried in the ground and remembered its history.
The huge rough rock had been brought to this place from high in the mountains, taking decades and the work of thousands. Only human hands and human muscles had done the work, and because of such it stood as a memorial not just to its inhabitant, but to the strength of the person who had commanded such effort and in a war torn area.
It was a tomb, but also it was a symbol of much more.
He knew it was as deep in the ground as it was tall above the ground. On its face the weather had hardly intruded but the pock marks of projectile fire were visible. Three small pock marks were all that remained of a time of conflict.
He approached, he passed those feeling the area, he finally stood beside the tomb. Few did this, it carried great risk, the risk of waking a sleeper, her.
He put his hand forward and laid it over the imprint of her hand, an imprint that was said to have been caused by her pushing her hand into the rock, the rock unable to withstand her presence, giving way and leaving her indelible hand print.
He felt something coiled up, something growing, then he stiffened when it hit him. An avalanche of sensation overwhelmed him. His senses overloaded, his eyes wide as his body was locked rigid in a grip of iron. He stood unable to move as an eye opened in his mind, an eye that inspected, that moved then after taking his measure relaxed back to withdrew, allowing him control of his body again.
‘So, you have a need,’ the small feminine voice said.
He was not taken in. The voice was in his mind was small but nations had trembled when it spoke in anger.
---oOo---
Appendix-A. Dream With Me
Go out into the countryside on a moonless clear night. Look up at the stars.
What do you see, how far do you see, what percentage of our galaxy alone do you see? Use google. References suggest we can see stars that are up to about 8,000 light years away. The universe is approximately 13.8 billion light years across. We can’t see much of the whole.
What do you dream as you look out on our galaxy of the universe?
Do you look up and wonder who could be looking down? Do you wonder at your dreams and know they are born from the limits of earthly knowledge? How will reality be different?
Then with a little thought, just like countless millions of people before you, you can wonder at how many of those stars have planets with life on them.
Now, with time stretching for billions of years either side of our short existence, how many have had, will have, or have already hosted life?
Where will that life 'go' - will it grow and prosper? Will it flourish to endure, become able to spread from a home star then inhabit a galaxy? Will that life meet other races and what will be the outcome?
Or will time be the victor and those race
s, having been born then risen and lived, will they die out and cease to be, without a trace as years in their million pass? Will they succumb to their own problems, unable to escape their planet, their race unable the endless possibilities for catastrophe?
Most of all, how will the human race embrace its future? Our civilization has existed for how long? Ten thousand years? In two thousand years we have progressed from the iron age to walking on the moon. Give us ten thousand more years, then where will we be?
Now extrapolate the numbers out. Our ‘civilization’ is a mere one-thousandth of a billion years. The universe is approximately thirteen billion years old, and change. Clearly there is huge scope for a race to develop, flourish then die out.
Those have been enduring questions for science, science fiction and best of all, for anyone with imagination who can look up at the stars and dream.
---oOo---
Appendix-B. Q&A. Kate and Super Powers etc
Spoiler Alert. Here I’ll explain and release extra information.
If you hated the book, I can understand that, it is deeply fictional and you probably didn’t get this far in that case.
However here are some of my ‘thinking points’ and the way I’ve arranged the story and the protagonists.
You got the President of the United States involved?
Yes I did. If you want to make a change to the way the human race lives and moves into the future, this would be a reasonable starting place.
Yes. I know. Some of them have been, well, underwhelming but they do stand at the forefront of a superpower. Science fiction does like super powers.
Why would the president do anything for Kate? Spoiler. Simple. Resident introduces himself and convinces the president he is an emissary from the stars. Manipulating a president with that information is not a big leap.
What’s in it for him? What is the motivator? His self interest, the benefit to his country?
The Camper: First Contact and the Planet Tamer (The Stellar Universe Book 0) Page 22