Space Scout - The Makers

by S A Pavli

  “They can be transferred back into the Celmaton,” Manolious replied. .

  “Oh? She did not think that was possible.”

  “It is a new process in which an AI can be given a full bio-compatible substrate.”

  “Would that not create two Jana entities?”

  “It will, but they will be separate entities, able to live separate lives. Or she can be given an android body.”

  “She could have an android body?” I asked.

  “Yes, if that is what she wants.”

  I was relieved. The idea that Jana and the other nine Cypraean virtual entities would die was an uncomfortable one.

  Over the next few days we consolidated our repairs to the ships. But the main event was the re-integration of the ten Cypraean virtual entities back into the virtual habitat. They were taken to Ancantor, the Cypraean starship, and connected up to some futuristic looking machines. Probes were inserted through their skulls and they remained unconscious and connected to drips for three days. It seemed a very drastic procedure and I worried about the health of the host bodies, but the Cypraeans were reassuringly confident.

  “If the living consciousness can be uploaded into a substrate, does that mean that any of us could do the same?” I asked Manolious.

  “Yes, but it will not be the complete person,” he replied. “The upload will be missing the memories of the individual. But the consciousness can continue. It is an immortality that is possible for all sentient species.”

  “Damn!” I muttered to myself. That’s going to shake things up when we get back home. Everyone will want immortality!

  After three days all ten were disconnected and remained unconscious in their beds. Friends of the unfortunate victims took turns to wait for them to recover. lieutenant Crossley and Lanatra were the first to be given the procedure and they were the first to recover. Manera and Captain Norton were on watch at the time. She called me and Captain Hamolatonen and we jumped on a tender to cross over to Ancantor .

  They were both woozy and confused, believing that they were still on the Cypraean virtual habitat. It took a while to explain to them, and the others as they awoke one at a time what had happened in the interim. They were predictably amazed, stupefied, and then angry at what had happened to them.

  Lanatra had no idea who Captain Norton was and I could see he was subdued and pensive. It must be an odd thing to love someone, and then find they have turned into a stranger who does not know you.

  We asked the Cypraean technicians, where was Jana, Santol and the others? They showed us some glowing golden balls. These are their new brains, they said. Did we want to talk to them? We agreed to talk to Jana and Santol but Captain Norton wanted to speak to Jana privately first. He entered a cubicle and remained there for a few minutes before coming out. He gave us a grin and shook his head.

  “This is all so bizarre, I just don’t know what to make of it.”

  “You spoke to Jana?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, she’s there alright. Go look for yourselves.”

  We entered the booth to find that it was an enclosure for a ten foot high 3D covering one wall. It was displaying the humanoid Jana and Santol we had first seen.

  “I want to keep this appearance,” said Jana. “Alex approves.” I bet he does I thought.

  “It was an adventure, but soon we will be going home,” said Santol. “We all want to return with the Ancantor and re-acquaint ourselves with our home civilisation. It has been a long time.”

  “We can understand that,” I said. “It has been an experience.”

  “I want to go to Earth and Hian some time though. Captain Norton, Alex, wants to take me climbing in the Himalayas,” said Jana. “I look forward to that. And perhaps seeing you again.”

  “You will be very welcome Jana. Look us up when you get your new body,” said Manera.

  “We apologise for misleading you,” said Santol. “We made a mistake.”

  “It’s good to know that even fifty thousand year old individuals can make mistakes,” I said it as a joke, but it was clearly painful for Jana and Santol.

  “Culturally, we are like children. We have a lot to learn,” said Jana pensively.

  “You are a new life form and we are a different species,” said Manera. “It is not surprising.”

  After another day of recuperation, Lanatra and the others were fully recovered. We transported them back to their ships to much celebration. After that, trips to the Ancantor were in great demand. Everyone wanted to explore the giant starship and the Cypraeans were happy to oblige. We exchanged and sampled food products with mixed results. But booze is booze all over the galaxy. After a boisterous outing to the Ancantor, some Earth crew were transported back to their ship in an advanced state of inebriation, to the amusement of their newly acquired Cypraean friends.

  We could very happily have stayed where we were for weeks, enjoying the hospitality of our new Cypraeans friends and exploring the Ancantor. But we all had duties to attend to. Ancantor had to return to the main civilisation in order to find out why contact had been lost with the Sentinol. Then arrange for contact to be made with the Dansai and the Saraya, and either negotiate or impose peace on the squabbling species. And of course, in the longer term, to initiate contact with Human and Hianja civilizations.

  Manolious wanted to investigate the worm hole control centre on the planet and we arranged a return with him and a couple of robot technicians. This time we gained access without any resistance from the flying insect like defenders. The Cypraeans had some small dumpy AG vehicles that hovered over the ravine then gently came down to the level of the metal doors. They used a sub Space comms device to communicate with the AI controller who obligingly opened the doors for us.

  “Simple when you know how,” I said to Captain Norton, who was accompanying me on a symbolic visit.

  “The automated defences were activated by your visit,” explained Manolious. “By the time the AI came on line you had made your escape. Had you returned the AI would have talked to you.”

  The robots carried out some checks with the AI and pronounced everything in working order. I asked him how long ago the worm hole generator was completed and he said about 150,000 years.

  “And how long ago was this planet abandoned?” I asked. He replied about 50,000 years.

  “This has been here without attention for 50,000 years?” I asked.

  “No in fact there have been some visits. But for the last five thousand years this planet and the virtual habitat have lost touch with the main civilisation. Something has gone wrong and when we return we must investigate,” replied Manolious. It seemed odd that such an advanced civilisation could have neglected such important technology. I asked Manolious how this could have happened. He thought for a minute before replying.

  “Our civilisation has become very decentralised,” he said. “Each planet, and habitats such as ours, are independent worlds, answerable to no one. As long as they do not turn to violence. Whatever organisations were set up to service and support the old worlds must have fallen into disuse over thousands of years. It is a weakness of our decentralised way of life.”

  “So, if we wanted to deal with the Cypraean civilisation as a whole, that would be impossible?” I asked.

  “We have no idea how many worlds and habitats there are,” he laughed. “There is no central government or authority as such. But I am sure that news of your existence will spread and you will receive numerous visitors.”

  It seemed amazing that the Cypraean civilisation had become so big that it no longer even knew how big it was. It was not even a single civilisation any more.

  “How did this come about?” I asked. “I mean, was it accidental, as a result of the sheer size of your civilisation?”

  “Well, in fact it has come about over a long period of time and as a result of some bad experiences,” he replied slowly, looking at me carefully, as if to reinforce his words. “What we discovered is that any form of central control,
even democratic, inevitably leads to a centralised Establishment, whose whole existence is then directed to furthering its own ends. Even democratic states become…, well, undemocratic.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “We have many examples of that in our own history.”

  “Yes. So we made the decision that all planets and artificial settlements will remain independent. There are no Federations or Empires,” explained Manolious. “That way, we rely on each other, trade with each other, support each other, but do not attempt to dominate or conquer each other.”

  We left the control centre, stepping gingerly across the small gap onto the Cypraean shuttle. The doors hummed shut and we headed back to orbit. Sitting in the comfortable seats, which fortunately adjusted to one’s size, otherwise we would not have fitted, I raised another subject with Manolious.

  “Those who first set out to engineer alien species, do you know who they are? Or were?”

  “We have the original history of their travels, and which species were changed. But for thousands of years they were considered failures, dismissed as an eccentric episode in our history, and forgotten.”

  “Seriously?“ I was amazed. We owed our existence to a bunch of eccentrics?

  “But, who sent the Hyperspace message to Earth, with the digital representation of our common DNA?” I asked.

  “That looks to have been an ancient message. Others may have been set up to all the planets where species were changed, but they failed,” said Manolious. “Perhaps only the Earth message survived. Thanks to the foresight of those ancestors, you are here and their efforts were not in vain.”

  “Indeed. Were it not for that one Hyperspace message accidentally discovered, we may not have met for thousands of years,” I agreed. And the Saraya may have become so powerful they would be a threat to the whole galaxy I wanted to add, but decided diplomacy may be preferable.

  Back on board our ships, preparations were under way for departure. But first, a number of large parties had been organised to celebrate our departure. The Cypraeans were delighted to try out Human and Hianja music, food, drink and just about everything else. They were like a bunch of adults genuinely enjoying a children’s’ party. We exchanged recordings of music, art, literature. We taught them chess, played tennis and squash, and introduced them to the any number of ball games.

  We were enjoying a drink in the Kuàisù Niao bar with my Earth colleagues. Alice Jensson had invited me and Manera for a ‘piss up’ as she called it. The Captain and his mate Sergeant Narayan, were invited by me, as well as a bunch of their mates and acquaintances. “We thought you may like a break from all them stuffy Hianja,” Alice had said. “Manera excepted of course“.

  “My grandchildren won’t believe that I was part of this,” said Alex, taking a swig of his drink. The barman of the Kuàisù Niao was renown for his inventive cocktails.

  Alice looked archly at the handsome Captain.

  “You have grandchildren?”

  “No, I’m hoping to start work on them soon,” he replied with an amiable smirk.

  “You are welcome,” said Alice. “Baby sitting smelly little bundles is for losers.”

  “You may have that the wrong way around Alice,” I said. “According to evolutionary theory.”

  “When men decide to do their fair share of having babies, I will volunteer,” said Alice.

  “I hear someone has invented an artificial womb,” said Alex. “Implant the fertilised egg and watch baby grow. When it’s done, open the door and out it pops.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll bet some daft cows will still want to do it the old fashioned way,” said Alice contemptuously. “So they can have a feeling of … intimacy with their baby… or something.”

  “Alice girl, are you devoid of all feminine instincts?” asked Alex.

  “No, just the ones that have enslaved women for a million years,” she replied. Alex looked at her with admiration.

  “Oi thinks oi loikes the cut of your jib young lady,” he said with a comical piratical accent.

  “Ooh arrh Cap’n!” replied Alice, as they clinked glasses.

  I reckoned the Captain was getting over the loss of his Cypraean amour!

  The evening progressed happily. Others joined us, and some left us and the bar filled. There was a couple of tables with Hianja revellers enjoying Earth hospitality. This is the future I thought. And it looks great!

  Later, we enjoyed the food in the Kuàisù Niao’s restaurant. It had a superb Chinese menu, as you would expect, but it also prided itself for serving food from all over the world. Manera was relaxed and clearly enjoying herself. She had a go at most of the food and found lots that she liked. Alex and Alice were seriously tipsy and I was sure there was only one thing on their minds!

  Manera and I took our leave late in the evening. Alex said he would ‘bunk down’ in the Kuàisù Niao, with a broad wink, Alice waving us goodbye and blowing kisses.

  We boarded a Peacekeeper fighter to return to the Settang., just the two of us, lurching just a little.

  “Imagine, being pissed on a starship in the Omega Centauri cluster, with a bunch of aliens,” I said. “You could not write the script!”

  The next day, after taking anti-hangover pills and some breakfast, we had our final meetings with the Cypraeans. We went over to the Ancantor, the Captains and officers from the Settang and the two Earth starships, in order to say farewell to our Cypraean friends.

  The Cypraean method of greeting was similar to the Hianja shoulder hug, but just with right arm,. on to the left shoulder. It was odd getting close to the small Cypraeans. We had to stoop our bodies down to their level. We talked a little, and then bid goodbye, the whole episode recorded for posterity.

  And so we took our departure of the fabled Makers. They were now very real and I was sure would become so for all Human and Hianja in the future. We were sad, but jubilant. We had just taken part in the most seminal event in Human and Hianja history.

  Back on board our ships we prepared for departure. We had to return to the Dansai planet to collect our two Peacekeeper fighters and see how our friends were getting on. Had the Saraya left them in peace, or were those stubborn aggressive reptiles still up to no good?

  Chapter 35

  We jumped into Hyperspace. The trip to planet Leffra would take just a few hours. I was on the Bridge, talking to Captain Hamolatonen. We were discussing what we could do about our depleted armaments. If we had any more bother with the Saraya we would be hard pushed to deal with them, so depleted were our munitions. Lanatra was talking to Colrania, the two girls laughing about something.

  But there was something personal bothering me. Every time I saw Lanatra, I could not help remembering our passionate interlude on the floor of the Peacekeeper fighter. Should I talk to her about it I asked myself. Or should I just keep quiet. I could not decide so I consulted with Manera.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Er… guilty. Embarrassed about what I did to her body without her consent.”

  “But it was out of your control.”

  “Yes.”

  “So don’t make it worse by telling her.”

  “Will it make it worse?”

  “Yes. She will feel used. However much she likes you. You will have to bear your guilt on your own,” she said firmly. I looked at her closely.

  “You are deriving a certain pleasure from this aren’t you?”

  “No.o.oh..” But her ironic and amused expression said otherwise! I should have realised that I was not going to get any sympathy from there.

  We arrived at planet Leffra and exited Hyperspace. Radio messages were sent to the Dansai government on pre-arranged channels. There seemed to be no Saraya ships in the vicinity, which was a relief for all of us. We received a response from the Dansai military command, who welcomed us back and said they would contact Tara Con Sata’s government.

  The lady herself contacted us directly. Sitting in her office with her ministers and deputies around her and smiling
broadly. She looked very handsome and official, wearing the presidential cloak and brightly patterned and embroidered headscarf.

  “Welcome my friends,” she said happily. “How was your search for the fabled ancestors?” Guardian Commra was again our spokesman.

  “It was exciting, interesting and ultimately successful,” he said enthusiastically. Tara gazed back goggle eyed, then turned to look at her ministers who were equally awestruck, before turning back to speak.

  “That… is incredible,” she exclaimed. “We were convinced it was a myth.”

  “They are very real, and we look forward to telling you all about them,” said Commra.

  “We are dying to hear,” she said.

  “Oh, and of course, they will return to the cluster. So expect a visit soon,” added Commra with aplomb.

  Tara clapped her hands in delight and the deputies stamped their feet and cheered loudly.

  “If they can control those Saraya vermin then a new age will dawn for all of us,” said Tara.

  “You have had no more problems with the Saraya?” asked Commra.

  “No, since you left there has been no sign of them.”

  “Your Dansai compatriots have also left?”

  “All except our friends from planet Temalat,” she replied. “They have left one of their battleships to supplement our forces.”

  I remembered the handsome and direct deputy who had accosted me during our first social get together with the Dansai. What was his name? I asked myself… Sol something, yes that was it, Solan Enser. It was he who had asked me some very awkward questions, as well as inviting me and Manera to visit his planet. It was good to know that Tara had one firm ally. But one was not going to be enough. The Dansai needed to present a united front against the Saraya.

  Despite Commra’s confident words, I was concerned about Cypraean promises to help the Dansai. I had got the distinct impression from Manolious that the Cypraean civilisation had become so large and fragmented that united action from them was almost an impossibility. Whether Manolious would be able to organise adequate forces to impose peace on the Omega Centauri cluster was an open question.