Edge of Revelation

by David John West

  The planning meeting for the first contact ceremony for planet Earth in the Sol star system was initiated by the trinity of Worders responsible for millennia of Gayan guidance on Earth leading to this moment: the embodied Chiara and the solely-soul Lykke and Ghazan. Such planning meetings were conducted in the Great Hall of the Worder Mission on planet Chamarel, one of the most impressive grand spaces enclosed within a single Ivory Vine. The Great Hall was situated in the capital city Porte Douce where the river Eau Bleu spread five fingers through the city in a tight delta out to the Opal Sea. The Ivory Vine city rose tall and strong like a massively vaulted mangrove forest from the web of cross connections between the major watercourses of the Eau Bleu delta. This was the same Eau Bleu that arose from a mountain lake as a shining silvery thread where the Worders responsible for development of planet Earth had located their mountain home.

  Chiara had organised the Message Welcome Ceremony at short notice immediately the expected message from Christopher in the Cambridge Cosmology Department had arrived at Gayan sensors at the edge of dark matter in the Solar System and then warpwaved on to the Gayan home range for official acknowledgement. Welcome Ceremonies were of the greatest importance to the Worder council. Nothing compared to the vitality injected by a brand new human race joining the Gayan Empire. Thousands of planetary races already belonged to the broad confederation, assembled over millennia so each new arrival was cause for great celebration every few years, accelerating exponentially as the empire grew in a loose sphere of influence with the Pleiades star cluster at its hub.

  Chiara piloted a spacecraft similar to the starship Maria but lacking the DMF drive required for warp flight through space. Technically only Chiara required physical transport, being embodied, but Ghazan and Lykke travelled on board also for convenience so that the three Worders could plan the formalities of representing the case for Earth to be persuaded to join the Gayan Empire. The craft needed no instruction other than the naming of the destination to rise and flow along the course of the infant Eau Bleu stream, 1,000 kilometres from the great mountain range down to the coast where the Ivory Vine turrets lustred in the creamy sunlight of their sun Splendor, one of the minor stars of the Pleiades and home to planet Chamarel. The proliferation of large stars in the cluster shone through the skies even in the daylight of Chamarel’s host star. When Splendor fell from the sky the mass of stars was so bright that no street lighting was required in Porte Douce.

  The ship manoeuvred between the many towers of Porte Douce, each with administrative and residential levels intermixed, where Worders and administrators plotted the business strategies affecting trillions of people across the Empire. The architects of the different levels defined the external appearance where the vine had been induced to form graceful cornices and balconies occasionally decked with growths of fern and flower by hormonal treatments to growth buds in the weave of the vine walls. Chiara could see into the rooms within the towers through the seemingly open spaces to the exterior, the occupants protected from wind, weather and accident by invisible force fields rather than walls and windows. They approached the Great Hall at a height of a hundred metres so the broad oval structure towered above the approaching ship. The buildingscapersvii who laid out the Ivory Vine plan for the Great Hall imagined a broad oval floor plan with walls that rose vertically to a great height where the internal space could be used for three-dimensional projections of parts of the galaxy under consideration at various meetings. The Great Hall was surrounded by a broad walkway where crowds could assemble for formal assemblies so street-food vendors or seating was prohibited all around the Hall. The craft came to a halt outside a wide arch at the end of the oval structure that faced the river. The arch was decorated with a formal wreath of Ivory Vine rising several stories. Chiara disembarked followed by the ethereal souls of Lykke and Ghazan. They crossed the portal into a large area lit as brightly as the exterior. The walls of the hall were supported by great Ivory Vine columns with entwined cross branches for strength and visual delight. Between the matrix of columns and cross braces light entered or projected from the exterior. Where the light would have dulled into the lofty spaces above, light butterflies floated like faeries with tall wings extending above and below their luminescent bodies. They managed their numbers, position and altitudes so that the equivalent lighting of a pleasant sunny day was maintained in the interior, combining the shimmering hues of their bodies into an aggregate semblance of the buttery light outside.

  The Worder council sat around a circular table, twenty metres across and grown from a lateral root below the floor. If the floor plan of the Great Hall resembled the oval of an eye then the round table formed the pupil of the ocular model. The chairs were elegant yet simple of design with comfortable seat backs rising to support the long necks of their occupants. The remainder of the creamy floor was empty of people. There was no possibility that Worder security could be compromised by rival agencies such as Spargar, but the risk was too great if the general public were allowed entry to such a sensitive meeting. The general public were an eclectic mix of races from across the galaxy including worlds under Spargar rule. Three chairs awaited the Worders of Earth and they took their places among their elders. Probably a third of the council were embodied, the remainder solely-soul, but the Worders were accustomed to such a mix. Multiple conversations could take place simultaneously, both vocal and spiritual, directly soul to soul. The whole Worder council stood to welcome the Worder trinity responsible for Earth and applauded generously as they approached the table.

  “Please take your seats,” waved the Worder Matriarch. In earthly culture a society elder would be aged but Afshan was a young woman of finely chiselled features, large dark eyes framed by black lashes above high cheekbones and a sculpted chin forming a long arc to the hinge of her small ears. The youthful appearance of her latest incarnation was in inverse proportion to the immense number of her prior lifetime regenerations.

  Chiara smiled and took the central of the three remaining seats. Lykke and Ghazan slid into the two flanking chairs. There was a brief pause as Chiara savoured the moment they had been working towards for 10,000 Earth years. The luminous butterflies swayed in the breathless air, reflecting the light sifting through the walls and joining with their own luminescence in bright shades of electric blue through white to gold.

  “The time for first contact with planet Earth♫ of star system Sol♪ is at hand,” Afshan spoke and sang together in surprisingly deep tones, giving full pronunciation of this particular planet Earth, defined in words and associated musical identifiers, uniquely describing the planet for diplomatic and navigational purposes. “Let us commend the trinity of Chiara, Lykke and Ghazan and all the Travellers of Dawn that have worked down the ages to make this moment come to pass.” The Worders knuckled the table in a chorus of knocking support. “You have all arrangements in place to meet with Earth♫ people while the moment is at hand?”

  “We do, Afshan. We plan to gather a meeting of Earth leaders through our primary contacts. They have several potential venues that are associated with planetary peace initiatives. We have one in mind that will not stoke too many rivalries between the most powerful governments of the leading countries. Earth people are organised into 200 countries defined by land borders with many subdivisions and superset alliances. Only six or so countries or groupings have a serious claim for planetary leadership but we will ensure they are all invited to our arrival ceremony.” Chiara summarised the plan; further detail would be too time-consuming and any Worder elder with concerns would have pored through the details from the same analytical systems that the Trinity had used since Earth had first been discovered.

  A skeletal elderly soul, manifesting in continental Indian appearance, shimmered to Afshan’s right hand for recognition.

  “I see you, Sutantu,” Afshan spoke without turning to her neighbour.

  “We have some conflicts in regard to our planet Earth♫ campaign,” Sutan
tu said deliberately. “There will be challenges when we stake a claim for the planet for Gaya.”

  “We are aware of Spargar operations over very recent generations on Earth. They have many more personnel deployed than ourselves though they do not have our history there helping the people, our embeddedness in earthly cultures. Spargar only arrived in numbers since the start of the technology age, a short time ago. Prior to that they were no more numerous than ourselves,” Afshan replied.

  “Spargar have indeed issued us a cease-and-desist command in relation to our operations on Planet Earth. This is to be expected, of course. Their case is mostly based on claimed proximity to planet Spargan and their superior numbers at present, neither of which have any authority in law, but do carry some practical advantages compared to ourselves.” Sutantu raised his arms where the light butterflies cleared to reveal a three-dimensional schema of the major star groups from the Pleiades to Earth’s Sun in the centre and important constellations past the Sun to the edge of the Orionviii spiral arm of stars. Notably between the Pleiades on the right of the schema and Earth’s Sun was the Hyades star cluster. The schema changed to show Gayan influence in shades of blue and Spargar influence in red. There was a significant bulge of red between the Gayan home range and Earth’s Sun that was the hub of the Spargar Empire. Beyond Earth’s Sun the interest of the stellar neighbourhood was perhaps enhanced but there was no doubt that the broad scythe of stars out to the edge of the Milky Way galaxy was numerous and largely uncharted.

  “Spargar have no detailed understanding of our intense campaign on planet Earth, its longevity or its spread. We have no doubt that the peoples of Earth will welcome alliance with Gaya once they understand the alternate option of Spargar. It would be cruelty indeed to abandon them now to thraldom to the Spargar Empire when they could so easily be a new outpost for Gayan values to the outer Orion Arm,” Afshan said.

  “It is agreed that the Spargar complaint is merely business as usual but we have one other, from a surprising and unusual source,” Sutantu continued. Chiara and her two companions were genuinely surprised at this and waited for Sutantu to continue.

  “We have received a message from the Great Whales of Cetacea. We understand the tone but the detailed content of the Whalespeak is a mystery to us. The tone suggests that the cetaceans have a prior claim to planet Earth over the human race. The tone suggests the cetaceans have tolerated the upstart human race despite ill treatment of their kin and the marine environment there. The longevity of their habitation and their utilisation of the planet are undeniable.” Sutantu projected a three-dimensional view of planet Earth rotating clockwise with the north pole at the apogee. A pinpoint model sun illuminated the sphere from above the equator over the Pacific Ocean. The planet Earth was almost entirely composed of ocean from this perspective. Sutantu projected images of whaling ships over the ages brutally harpooning and slaughtering whales. The mood of the Worder group was sombre indeed. “The Great Whales would seem to have a very good point,” he said quietly looking at the almost entirely blue globe viewed above the Pacific Ocean.

  “Have the Great Whales ever demanded rights to a planetary domain before?” Ghazan asked.

  “Never. Cetacea is generally regarded as their planet though some humans inhabit there on tiny floating islands. There could never be whale hunting on Cetacea. It would not occur to the human population. They live there by the grace of the whales and could not survive without their help. Perhaps the whales have some special investment in planet Earth we are unaware of.

  “In any case the habitats of humans and whales are separate by necessity,” Ghazan continued. “We could convince the whales that peaceful coexistence with humans after joining with Gaya would be to their benefit. We would certainly expect to end the last whaling interests as part of any alliance.”

  “I agree,” said Sutantu. “We should remain attentive to any further intervention from Cetacea in case there is more to this matter than is immediately obvious. Perhaps you can try to discover if there is any conflict? Try to persuade the whale population of our good intentions?”

  “We will try. There has been contact between our Travellers and the Earth whales but of a purely research nature. We may be able to parlay that into a more direct conversation about our plans. In any event we are likely to be much more acceptable to the whales than Spargar. They would have no interest in any consideration other than themselves.”

  “Have you decided the logistics of first contact as yet?” asked Afshan.

  “We thought we would take Spiritix in the first instance. We do not want to raise unnecessary anxiety by taking too large a craft that may seem threatening. We three would attend and take two others embodied so that people on Earth can witness more than just myself stepping out on arrival. First impressions are important and I would not want to have to explain solely-soul existence in the earliest days,” Chiara replied.

  “And your complement of souls, Chiara. Do you have all the souls you will need post contact?”

  Chiara smiled. “Yes indeed, Afshan. We have a sufficient number on planet already plus these others that have helped us down their generations.” At that introduction, souls started to enter the Great Hall. They were excited, chattering among themselves animatedly. They arrived in all colours of costume and races from all of Earth’s history. There were souls in the dress of the most recent nations of the Earth as well as Hopi Indians, Europeans and Asians of recent history. Further back were the Greeks and Romans, representatives of lost tribes as well as ancient Egyptians, Aztecs and Sumerians. The Hall began to fill with the happy throng with so much to catch up on ahead of the fruition of their millennia-long plan to raise the peoples of planet Earth to the stars. A cheer went up from the most ancient souls to visit Earth, the San people of Africa, the Mayans and even those of long-lost Atlantis. The Hall became so full that the souls crowded together and then overlapped as only souls can use real space such that they became a single mass of bright bodies and a sea of diverse heads tightly gathered together.

  The mass of souls filled every corner of the Hall leaving only a small ring of space around the round table of Worders. They fell silent as Afshan started to speak again.

  “I see you have all the resources you will need, Chiara,” Afshan smiled. “We wish you well with your mission and skill in how you deal with our rivals. We are under no illusion the campaign for planet Earth♫ will be straightforward. You have our support and must call on us if you need our help.”

  “Thank you, Afshan. We have the resources we need for now, let us deploy our plan and see how things develop,” replied Chiara as the meeting concluded.

  TWENTY-ONE

  The long radio silence in response to Earth scientists’ calls to alien life ended with an answer from the heavens directed to the Mullard radio observatory located in the countryside outside Cambridge. Staff had been warned to expect something imminently so they were better prepared than they might have been. They quickly called the Cosmology Department and sent Chris an electronic version of the message at his request. It was provided in both Morse code and Lone Starx general purpose binary language and was therefore very easy to translate and was a complete reply to the outgoing message from the Cambridge Cosmology Department.

  The Professor was not on site so Chris met with Joe and Charlotte. They printed the decoded message and took a paper copy of the message to Professor Kitteridge in his college rooms. The message provided a direct reply and also an invitation to formal contact in person with an alien race. Additional details of the formal contact and how the logistics would be managed would be provided closer to that time.

  The three undergraduates and Professor Kitteridge sat around his old coffee table, each with a printed copy of the most momentous message in Earth history on the table in front of them. The message was a simple acknowledgement of receipt of Earth’s transmission seeking out alien races in the universe. It promised actual
visitation by a friendly alien race in the near future and assurances that the visitors would come in peace and there would be no danger to people on Earth, only the promise of great advancement and knowledge.

  “Is it believable that an alien race would definitely come in peace?” Professor Kitteridge asked of Joe and Charlotte.

  “It is what people will want to hear,” Charlotte said. “But there is bound to be anxiety when people think about alien movies in film and pop culture designed to frighten the life out of them. Countries with advanced military capabilities will soon go to high levels of readiness and accidents could happen if they take any action.”

  “A few moments’ logical thought should indicate that there is little the authorities here can do to defend against an advanced alien race. The indication they are coming in peace is the best that could be hoped for,” Joe added.

  “But still there can be no guarantees they will be peaceful as they say in this message,” Professor Kitteridge replied. “The period between us releasing this message and the actual arrival will be fraught with media hype and superpowers readying their war machines to protect their people.”