Chroniech!

by Doug Farren

  Stricklen had thought long and hard about what his first words would be. He had run over several conversation scenarios in his mind while he had waited for the conference to begin. When the moment arrived, he promptly forgot everything he had thought he would say and instead said, "I am Captain Ken Stricklen of the Alliance heavy-cruiser Komodo Dragon. On behalf of the Galactic Alliance I would like to welcome you. Please be assured we wish you no harm."

  One of the Kyrra stepped forward and said in clear, although slightly exaggerated speech, "I am Trel'mara. I assume the phrase ‘Alliance heavy-cruiser Komodo Dragon' means we are aboard a spacecraft. Where are you taking us? What has become of our transport ship?"

  Stricklen glanced at the others in the room. He knew they were all thinking the same thing. These Kyrra don't beat around the bush. Out loud he said, "Your transport ship was destroyed during a battle with a hostile race which has been attacking our outposts. You are being taken to a safe place on a planet within the Alliance. Tell me, why were you drifting in space?"

  "Our ship experienced a drive system malfunction. We placed ourselves in stasis until help could arrive. From the length of time we have been in stasis it is apparent that help did not arrive as planned. May we see star-charts to determine our location?"

  Stricklen thought about that for a moment then replied, "I shall have our computer transfer star-chart information to your computer. I see you are not using a vocoder but are speaking our language directly. How did you manage to learn it so fast?"

  "Kyrra are an old race. Many hundreds of years ago we evolved to the point where each of us has perfect memory recall. We crave knowledge and understanding. The ability to remember everything without error has enabled us to learn and understand even more. What type of vessel are we aboard?"

  "The Komodo Dragon is a warship. It was built to protect the Alliance against the aggressive acts of others. According to the information provided by your computer you are a non-aggressive race, yet your ship appeared to be built for military purposes."

  Tel'mara hesitated before replying, as if he was debating how to answer the question. "We did not build the ship. It was acquired from another race."

  The answer seemed to fit the facts but there were still a large number of questions that remained unanswered. Stricklen decided to ask the one at the top of his list. "You have been in stasis for thousands of years. We have never encountered your race before. Can you tell us where your home star is located and perhaps why we have not met your race before?"

  Trel'mara seemed to melt before their eyes. It was obvious that the question had upset him. "Our planet was destroyed long ago by a cosmic catastrophe. Since no help ever arrived after we entered stasis I cannot answer your question. We do not know what has become of our race. It is possible that we five are all that remain of the Kyrra."

  It was hard for Stricklen to imagine the destruction of an entire civilization. He felt sympathy and sadness for the Kyrra. Stricklen glanced over towards Sorbith who had remained silent during the entire meeting. "The Alliance is made up of a number of races that have joined together for the benefit of all. We coexist peacefully together. As a member of the Alliance I would like to offer you sanctuary." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sorbith nod his approval.

  Trel'mara glanced back at the rest of his group and conversed with them for a minute. He turned back around and said, "We do not know what to do. Your offer is appreciated but at the moment we cannot decide how to answer."

  "Perhaps it would be best to meet face to face so we can discuss this further."

  Trel'mara consulted with the other Kyrra. "That is acceptable," he said after a moment. "We would like to meet with a limited number of your people."

  Stricklen thought for a moment then replied, "Would four be okay?"

  "Agreed. We will await your arrival."

  Stricklen adjourned the meeting after informing the ship's psychologist and the chief engineer that they would be accompanying himself and Sorbith to the stasis chamber. Commander Kovalesky complained that he had not been invited but Stricklen stood his ground. Sorbith then surprised everyone by deciding not to attend, stating that his non-biological appearance may affect the outcome of the meeting.

  A few minutes later, Ken stepped into the now inactive stasis chamber and introduced himself and the others to the five aliens. One of the Kyrra stepped forward and introduced itself as Trel'mara.

  As soon as the introductions had been completed, Ken suggested that the meeting be moved out into the hanger bay where there was more room. The Kyrra discussed this suggestion among themselves for a moment and then agreed that two of them would leave the chamber.

  Ken ordered the marines to set up a makeshift conference table and then had them clear the hanger bay. Once the marines had left, the group moved into the more spacious area and got down to business.

  Stricklen and the others spent most of the rest of the night talking to the Kyrra. Partway through the meeting they took a brief recess. Not knowing what types of foods the Kyrra ate the captain had an assortment of foods brought in along with pure water.

  It was quickly learned that the Kyrra did not eat any type of meat at all. In order to prevent a possible cultural issue Ken had the meat removed. The Kyrra sampled several of the items and after tasting an orange asked if more could be brought. Stricklen had a large basket of oranges delivered and watched in fascination as all the Kyrra joined them at the table.

  As they talked, Ken began to believe that what the computer had told them about the Kyrra was true. He learned a great deal about them and they, in turn, learned a great deal about the Alliance. The barriers between them began to fall as each side started to trust the other.

  The Kyrra were scared. They had been in stasis for so long they feared their race was either no more or had relocated so far away that they were essentially unreachable. They were at the mercy of the Alliance and were now dependant upon them for their very survival.

  The Kyrra declined Ken's offer to assign them staterooms preferring to remain, for the time being, in the stasis chamber. At 0700 the now very tired but excited group broke up. Although he was ready to fall asleep on his feet, Stricklen felt he needed to hold a high level conference to discuss the results of the meeting as soon as possible.

  "Doug," Ken said into his wrist-com as soon as the XO had answered his call. "There is to be a senior staff meeting in the conference room in thirty minutes. I want representatives of all senior staff to be present and representatives from the Tholtaran flagship as well. Most especially, I want Sorbith to be there. I'm going to go freshen up and I don't want to be bothered until then."

  "Understood Sir! Scarboro out."

  Stricklen forced his tired body to ignore the soft bunk as he passed it by on the way to the shower. Although his body was tired, his mind was still racing as it tried to assimilate all the new information he had obtained. As the cool water seemed to wash away at least part of his weariness Stricklen started composing what he would be saying at the meeting. The story he had to tell was almost unbelievable.

  8 - Early Kyrra History

  "What has happened," the council leader asked bringing the meeting to order.

  "Attack force MK-114 has been destroyed," the Chroniech fleet commander reported from the bridge of his command ship. "Several warships of unknown type were detected as we approached but fled prior to our arrival. I have scanned what remains of the ship of the ancients and have found nothing. The pieces are being retrieved for closer examination. I await the orders of the council."

  The council leader did not hesitate. "Leave one ship to continue the retrieval. Locate and destroy the enemy ships which were in the area prior to your arrival. When you have completed the task return to base."

  "Orders received. I serve with honor," the commander intoned.

  The instantaneous communications link closed and the council leader turned to the rest of the six Chroniech in the room. "The enemy calling themselves the Alliance hav
e discovered an artifact of the ancients and have taken it. We all know the legends concerning the power possessed by the ancients. If the artifact that was taken is a weapon, then the enemy is now in possession of a vastly superior technology and our plans for their extinction are in jeopardy. We must act now before they can learn to harness the power they have discovered."

  The members of the council had been chosen from the various clans of the Chroniech. Their race's homeworld was harsh and unforgiving. During their ascent to dominance the Chroniech had been forced to band together into clans for mutual protection against the incredible violence of their homeworld's predators.

  Nearly every species on the Chroniech planet competed violently for dominance. Thousands of years ago two intelligent species had existed. One, the Chroniech, lived in the forests which covered vast areas of their world. The other, the Turashag, lived mostly in the mountains or on the open plains. The Turashag were the stronger and larger of the two species and regularly hunted the Chroniech for food.

  The Chroniech banded together into clans for mutual protection while the Turashag maintained only loosely knit alliances among their various tribes. When food was scarce, the Turashag would war with each other whereas the Chroniech would become even closer, sharing their resources in order to survive.

  Over the centuries the two species grew in intelligence and the conflict between them became increasingly violent. Technological advances were a direct result of the ongoing war for dominance of their planet. Slowly, the Chroniech began to gain the advantage. Their close knit society allowed them to share technological advances between clans where the distrust between Turashag tribes prevented this from occurring.

  The Chroniech were the first to develop nuclear weapons. Realizing that they finally had a way of once and for all eliminating their timeless enemy the Chroniech created a stockpile of nuclear weapons then deployed them with devistating results. Ten years later the last Turashag was hunted down and killed.

  The Chroniech had finally become the supremely dominant species on their planet. The clan structure which had served the Chroniech so well had become so ingrained into their culture that it continued today even though it no longer served any purpose.

  Individual Chroniech were fiercely loyal first to their clan then their race. Due to the nature of their homeworld, Chroniech had an intense hatred for other life forms. During the war with the Turashag this hatred had become amplified until modern Chroniech felt the need to destroy all possible competitors.

  The council leader knew that only one solution to the problem presented by the Alliance existed. "I suggest that our plans for the extinction of the Alliance be accelerated. I would also like to propose that priority be given to locating the ship that made off with the contents of the ancient's ship. If we cannot recover the artifact then it must be destroyed."

  "Clan Tzalmlak agrees," one of the council members spoke up. "I pledge all available ships and men toward this objective. The Alliance must be eliminated to preserve Chroniech purity." The others echoed this pledge until a unanimous agreement had been reached.

  The leader then said, "The council has reached agreement. All attack forces will be rescheduled immediately and additional forces added as they arrive. The extermination plan will be modified as needed. This ruling is effective immediately."

  The council members then turned to the grisly task of laying out their plans for the extermination of the Alliance.

  * * * * *

  The conference room was packed with members of the senior staff and representatives from the science team. Stricklen looked around the room and was glad to see that both Sorbith and Fleet Commander Trisk were in attendance. He stood up and motioned for silence. The dull roar of dozens of separate conversations died down until only the soft rustle of clothing could be heard. Even though Stricklen's shower had helped a little he still looked and felt fatigued.

  "This meeting is being recorded," he began. "At its conclusion, the recording and all other information we have obtained concerning the Kyrra will be transmitted to sector command. Much of what you are about to hear will surprise you; some of it will shock you; and some of it you may not believe. I am also absolutely certain that many of you will not agree with some of the actions that I have taken.”

  "This is going to be a one-way meeting. I have not slept in over two days and, quite frankly, I am dead tired. I will present the information and the meeting will end. I will answer no questions until after I have had at least eight hours of sleep."

  Stricklen glanced around the room to make sure that his last point had been understood. "Before I begin, I wish to inform everyone of a situation which has come to my attention within the last ten minutes. The ships that have been examining the remains of the Chroniech warships have left the area and are returning to Almaranus. A large group of Chroniech ships has been detected approaching the area and the group commander decided not to engage them in combat.”

  "The transmission also included a bit of information which is alarming from a logistics point of view. A recording device was retrieved from one of the Chroniech ships and some of the records were still intact. A playback of these recordings suggests the Chroniech may have a method of instantaneous communications across interstellar distances. If this is true, they have a tactical advantage over us which will be very difficult to surmount.”

  "At present, the communications device used to accomplish this has not been discovered among any of the recovered wreckage. I will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

  "As you have all heard, about an hour ago I concluded a long meeting with the Kyrra. A total of five have been released from stasis and are now our guests. They are; Trel'mara, who is a communications engineer; El'Narra and Nordlatak who are both biologists; Norgoola who is a field dynamics expert and was also the pilot of the cargo ship; and Tee'Chea a construction engineer.”

  "Although most of our talk centered around their current situation, we did manage to find quite a bit of time to discuss the history of both our cultures. Theirs is a very interesting history and I would like to share with you what we have learned." Ken then began to tell the story of the Kyrra.

  Thousands of years ago, the Kyrra race had achieved a level of technology which allowed them to begin the exploration of space. After discovering faster than light drive, the Kyrra began to explore the surrounding star systems. Eventually, they found a planet which harbored life. They were very lucky that this life was not intelligent because what they found shocked them.

  Violence and aggressive behavior was something unknown and totally alien to the Kyrra. The crew was shocked and horrified when they observed the local wildlife fighting each other to the death and the victors consuming their victims as food. After a crew member was killed by one of these animals, the exploration team quickly left the surface. Robotic probes were used to continue the observation.

  Over the years, the Kyrra managed to understand this aggressive behavior and, as they explored more and more planets, they learned this was the norm for all other life. The Kyrra reasoned that if this were the case for primitive life, then it might also be the same for more intelligent life. This worried them greatly. It was eventually decided they would not contact any other intelligent species for fear of their possible aggressive behavior.

  At first, the Kyrra remained content to stay within the confines of their own star system. It was feared that their risk of discovery by other space-capable cultures would be increased if they established colonies on other worlds. Nearly two hundred years after first achieving starflight, Kyrra technology reached a point where they could build probes that were virtually impossible to detect. They built a large number of automated probes and sent them out to explore the surrounding star systems.

  As the technological sophistication and knowledge of the Kyrra grew, the probes became more and more advanced. Over the course of the next hundred years, several intelligent, space-faring races were discovered and observed fr
om a distance. It soon became apparent to the Kyrra that a large number of space-capable cultures existed.

  Then, one day, a probe encountered an object which, until then, had somehow avoided detection. The Kyrra were shocked to discover that a small, solitary neutron star was approaching their star system and there was nothing they could do to avoid the destruction that would result by its passing. The Kyrra race had roughly two hundred years to survive.

  The resources of the entire Kyrra population were directed towards finding a way of saving their race. They needed to find a new home. The probes which had been previously launched were reprogrammed to begin searching for a suitable planet. This was a mistake which the Kyrra would eventually regret making because this reprogramming caused the probes to purposefully search for areas of space which seemed to be devoid of existing space-capable cultures. This prevented the Kyrra from keeping track of the activities of the existing space-faring races which they had already previously discovered.

  Colonizing a habitable planet was out of the question because of the aggressive nature of the life which would most likely already exist on that world. The Kyrra realized their best hope would be to find a suitable uninhabited planet which they could terraform for their own use. They also realized that terraforming a new world would require hundreds of years and a method of sustaining their population while this was taking place was needed.

  Years of research finally resulted in the development of the time stasis device. The machine offered a solution as to what to do with the population until a suitable home could be created.

  In addition to the thousands of probes that were now exploring all nearby space, it was decided that a group of exploration ships would be sent out as well to look for a possible new homeworld for the Kyrra. These manned ships would follow up on possible targets located by the probes. Until the new world could be made habitable, the vast majority of their people would be held in stasis.