The Long Day

by Robert Harrison

  He whispered in his sleep. “I understand, and I agree. Of my own free will,” he said. Dobro woke. He stepped out of his sleeping bag and walked towards the back of cavern. The others continued sleeping in a surprisingly peaceful and restful sleep.

  The next morning, Devor was the first to wake. He stepped away from everyone and faced the cave wall where he relieved himself. Afterward he wanted breakfast. He was shuffling through his ration bag when he notice Dobro’s sleeping bag was empty. Dobro was nowhere to be seen.

  He woke up the others, “Where’s Dobro? Has anyone seen Dobro?”

  Everyone jumped up and began calling out for Dobro. The Doleks readied their spears and took defensive positions. Then the light came back up.

  “Dobro, what are you doing?” Devor called out as he saw him looking out at them from the rear of the cavern. They all approached. Dobro was embedded in the mass of flesh, from the lower chest down.

  “Don’t be alarmed,” Dobro said. “I did this of my own free will,” he followed.

  Then he explained, “Last night I was presented an option. This entity showed me two possible futures in a dream. One was where I returned to Sapiea, retired, and just faded into obscurity. The other was this. An opportunity to contribute. I have chosen this.

  “It’s wonderful,” he said. “I am one with the entity. We are of one mind, and I can see and perceive things in a way I never imagined possible.”

  “Get out of there,” Devon sternly said.

  “I cannot,” said Dobro. “I have been absorbed into the creature. I am one with it. My internal organs have been absorbed and my life is now supported by my new body. We are nurtured and fed from the growth on the surface. It gathers energy from the sun, and roots that run deep into the ground beneath this cave gather moisture and nutrients from the soil. It can sustain us almost forever.”

  Paumi interjected, “I guess this means we can speak now.”

  “Yes,” another head of the entity replied in Sapien. “I know all Dobro ever knew. Dobro knows all I have ever known. I am made of twenty minds which are each all they ever were, but also one which is greater and capable of far more that all those separate beings.”

  Another head began speaking, “Let me explain the twenty. Many eons ago, my people were confused by politics and focused on their own petty desires. We had many separate governments on this one planet, each of which had its own rules and its own desires.”

  Another head continued, “We were about to destroy ourselves in a horrible war. We had created weapons, the likes of which we could not survive. Some of us decided to save what we could and we retreated to this cave to try to withstand the coming cataclysm.”

  Another continued, “Eighteen of us, scientists and believers in peace, created this method of survival. At first we used our technology to sustain us in the support cylinders, the wreckage of which you see here, but that was not all. We also created a biological organism to help sustain us. We created this organism and gave it a brain, a mind we designed. This organism was integrated with our life support and had organs that would clean and filter our blood and provide us nourishment. The eighteen of us, Dobro, and the synthetic mind make twenty. Twenty which are one.”

  A being in the rear began speaking, “We not only made the organism, we designed it to grow and change as needed to survive what we could no foresee. We integrated into the system a genetic sequencing machine.”

  “Myself and one other were genetic engineers. It was our intent to use the machine to design new organs and add new capabilities as we needed them. It worked, but something unforeseen happened.”

  Their speech now freely went from one to another. One head would speak while another fell silent. Sometimes several, or even all, would speak at once. Regardless of which spoke, the conversation flowed as if spoken by one, except for the entities reference to itself. It referred to itself as I, us, we, and me as though there were no difference.

  “Over the years, the equipment began to fail. Each time a machine failed we replaced it with an organic equivalent. We even created an organ that builds DNA by our design. That replaced the failing sequencer eons ago.”

  “We relied less on the machines and more on the organic components, the brain we created grew and sent out long nerve fibers that infiltrated the brains of each being and integrated with them. We were now one. Of one mind. Of one body.”

  The head of Dobro now spoke. “I now perceive in a way unlike anything possible for a Sapien mind. Unlike anything possible for any of the individual minds which comprise me. I can sense things across the vastness of space and the expanse of time. And that is why you were called.”

  Another head began speaking, “We do not see exact things. We perceive glimpses of things that are ongoing, things that have been, and things which are coming.”

  “And there is a darkness coming,” they all said at once.

  The head of Dobro continued. “We do not know exactly what it is, but it threatens all life in this universe.”

  “There is a great war coming,” said another head. “Only this is not a war of spite or greed or anger like that which destroyed this planet. This is a war for the survival of all things.”

  “We had foreseen your coming,” said another. “We could not foresee who would come, only that the call would be answered, and in that answer would come hope. We know that you are on a mission. You are headed to the great void. Your trip there was initiated by our call, and it is imperative you complete your mission.”

  Another spoke, “What lies beyond the void must be found. Without that, all hope is lost. The universe will fall into a darkness from which it can never escape.”

  “You must complete your mission” all heads said at once.

  Dobro continued, “You must find what lies beyond the void and you must bring it here.”

  “You must go now,” they all said at once. “See me when you return.”

  This was shocking and confusing news. Everyone was perplexed, but they all believed it, and now more than ever they knew they must continue on. The crew donned their environment suits and made the climb back to surface. They boarded the shuttle and lifted off to return to the ship. On the ascent Paumi came up with a name for the entity. He called it the ‘Mahatma’, or great soul. All liked the sound of that word, and all agreed it was a suitable name.

  They explained to the crew as best they could what had transpired below. They called a council meeting to discuss their options. They tried to understand what the Mahatma meant by a great ‘darkness is coming’. As far as they knew, all was right with their world. They had no enemies and no guesses as to what could threaten all life in the universe. Most assumed it was something yet unknown to them. Regardless, they were clear on one thing, their mission had taken on a new sense of urgency and must be completed.

  They were all apprehensive about a ‘great war.’ The Sapiens had never experienced war and had little understanding of the concept. The Doleks, on the other hand, had had war. It was part of their history. They still sang songs of heroes and told tales of epic battles, but these were no more than ancient lore now. The Doleks had long since overcome their petty differences and had lived in peace for many generations.

  Just as a matter of protocol the council took a vote on whether they should continue on or return to Sapiea. The vote was unanimous – continue on; complete the mission.

  They also discussed the loss of Dobro Nor and how they should report that to home world. They decided to list Dobro as a casualty. He was to be recommended for a commendation of the highest honor. It was called the Oblation. It was only given when someone knowingly sacrificed themselves for others. There was no higher honor a Sapien could receive.

  Before closing the meeting they activated the QETAR so they could send a communication to home world before reentering FTL flight. They decided to keep the message short and not mention the matters of war or a coming darkness. Since they had no idea what that all meant they thought it would only crea
te anxiety on Sapiea. Their message read as follows:

  Successfully reached star system Hail. Found two planets with life. One is a forest moon with savage beasts. Note location and post warning for future travelers.

  Second planet is home to the Mahatma. It was the Mahatma who sent the call. The Mahatma is the most intelligent creature ever discovered. Has concepts of space and time beyond our own understanding.

  Mahatma informed us it foresaw our mission and sent call to initiate same. Insist we must reach the great void. There is something of utmost importance to be found

  there. Unknown what.

  Dobro Nor lost. Sacrificed self for good of all. Detailed report upon return. Recommend commendation Oblation Award.

  Will continue on uponC confirmation. *END

  Even with the instantaneous transmission by entangled particles, the message would still take over an hour to compile at home world. They waited for their response. It read:

  Message received. Confirm notes on Mahatma, Forest Moon and Dobro Nor. Recommendation for Oblation award pending.

  Continue on. Best of luck. *END

  The notes and logs of the council meeting were updated and the meeting was closed. Sava ordered the ship to resume FTL flight and continue on. The ship headed toward the great void.

  Chapter 7: A Breakthrough on Tecama

  It had been three Sapien years since the Sapiens and Tecate’ had exchanged emissaries, and as was the practice, emissaries and ambassadors were cycled out and replaced after their term had been served. The Tecate’ emissaries were in flight and scheduled to return later that day. There were no replacements coming for the Sapiens. The Sapien emissaries, Avan Moc and Gaba Dor, had made little progress and had recommended the exchange program be discontinued.

  The Sapiens were thrilled as they waited for the shuttle to pick them up and return them to Sapiea. Their time on Tecama had been tedious and boring. The Tecate’ were not social creatures and not particularly good company, at least not with other species. And from a Sapien point of view, Tecama was a dreary world. The planet revolved around a red dwarf star, and even though it was quite close to its star, full daylight was dull, like a dark cloud covered day. On Tecama every day felt like bad weather.

  The planet’s nearness to its star did make its sun impressive. When the sun it was at zenith it filled nearly half the sky. But even then it was still no brighter than dusk on Sapiea. And beside the dreary days, the nights were long.

  On Tecama, a day was four Sapien months - two months of light, followed by two months of darkness. Not only was the darkness long, it was boring. The Tecate’ went into a state of torpor during the night and were almost completely inactive. It was like some sort of hibernation, probably the equivalent of sleep for the Sapiens, but it lasted nearly the entire two months. The entire Tecate’ society would shut down, leaving the Sapiens with little to do. During the day, however, the Tecate’ worked ceaselessly and never stopped. They never slept. They never rested. They never took a break.

  The only Tecate’ that did not go into this inactive state was the one that had been assigned to assist them. It stayed active the entire night. The Sapiens were never sure if it was staying active to remain available to them, or if it was monitoring them, or maybe it was because the Sapiens used artificial lighting that interrupted its day-night cycles.

  During their stay the Sapiens had learned little about the Tecate’. The Tecate’, it seemed, had limited technology and only minimal industry. Early in their stay the Tecate’ had taken them on a few tours. They saw some mining operations where they mined metallic ores. They saw a quarry where they mined a lime type material they used in construction, and they saw some foundries and a smelting facility where they refined the ore and made girders, reinforcements, buckets, and other implements. And the Tecate’ did have the wheel.

  What the Sapiens did not know, though, was that the Tecate’ had not developed any of these. They learned the skills from another species that lived on Tecama a long time ago, and the facilities were inherited from them, and now used and maintained by the Tecate’.

  The Tecate’ cities were also of simple design. Repetitive pyramid type structures filled with avenues of tunnels running through the formations. Rooms were primarily dug out niches and chambers embedded in the buildings. The pyramids were, however, strong and impressively large. They were made with a concreate type material they created from the lime product they mined, and reinforced with the metallic girders they made in their foundries.

  The Sapiens had also seen tunnels burrowed beneath the pyramid structures and believed much of the city was underground, but they could not confirm the extent of it. For one, the tunnels were designed to accommodate Tecate’ in the horizontal position. There was insufficient height for the Tecate’ to make themselves upright in these tunnels and insufficient height for a Sapien to traverse the tunnels without bending over uncomfortably, or crawling. And the Tecate’ had made it clear they were not welcomed there. They said those spaces were for their children.

  One industry done on a massive scale, however, was agriculture. The Tecate’ had several mega-farms that stretched as far as the eye could see. They were clean and appeared to be highly efficient operations. The crops they grew were unfamiliar to the Sapiens. With the low light levels on Tecama, green photosynthetic plants did not grow well.

  The Tecate’ raised some sort crop that looked like mold or mossy ground cover. It was called manava. Apparently it was nutritious. It sustained substaintial numbers of Tecate’ and it had also sustained the Sapiens while they were on Tecama. It was not unpalatable either. The addition of a few Sapien spices made it quite acceptable as a food source.

  The Sapien emissaries stood by as the shuttle landed. As they waited they were joined by another Tecate’, a Tecate’ with an electric blue shell. They had not seen one of these Tecate’ in the entire three years they spent on Tecama, and now they see one just as they are about to leave.

  The first off the shuttle were the Tecate’ emissaries. As soon as they exited they stood in the upright position and greeted the blue Tecate’. They embraced and hugged on another, holding that embrace for an unusually long period. This was the first time the Sapiens had ever seen any display of affection by the Tecate’.

  Afterward, the blue Tecate’ turned to the Sapien emissaries and spoke in a series of rapid clicks. The translator responded and played out an audible message, “Please wait here. The queen will see you. We will summon you shortly.”

  This was a surprise. “Queen? What queen?” the emissary Gaba asked. The entire time they were on Tecama they had never seen a blue Tecate’, and they had never know anything about a queen. They had to investigate. They sent word to the ship that their departure would be delayed and waited for an escort. After about an hour another blue Tecate’, or maybe the same one, arrived. Sapiens could not easily tell one Tecate’ from another unless they had some definitive marking like a scar on their shell.

  The blue Tecate’ said, “The queen will see you now. Follow me.”

  They followed the Tecate’. It lead them through the city to the largest of three pyramids set in a straight line along a central boulevard. They went up several flights of stairs to near the top of the pyramid and were led in through a large, majestic doorway. They entered an oversized grand room. The walls were decorated with of variety of lavish ornamentations. They had never seen anything like this on Tecama.

  In the center of the room stood a colorful, highly decorated dias. On it was a new type Tecate’, one of a type never seen before. It was the queen. She was flanked on each side by two blue Tecate’, positioned to the right and left of the platform as if standing guard.

  The queen was a bright golden color. Her head was larger and shaped differently than the others, narrow and elongated. Her eyes were golden; more forward facing and more telling of where she was focusing her attention. Her abdomen was also larger than the others, fatter and slightly longer.

  As the
y approached she rose to the upright position. Like the other Tecate’ she had the shield shaped crest on her thorax, but her crest was dark red and had a vein that ran from the bottom of the crest, down the center of her thorax to her abdomen. No other Tecate’ had this feature.

  She began making clicking sounds. These were far more numerous and rapid paced than anything they had heard before. The translation device paused for a moment, unable to keep up. She continued speaking and, after some time, the translator adjusted.

  “Excuse me,” interrupted Avan. “We have not heard this level of Tecate’ speech before. Our translation device could not keep up. It has adapted. We can understand you now.”

  She said, “I am queen. My intellect exceed the others. The blue Tecate’ beside me are my drones. The other black Tecate’ are workers. They cannot talk speak of royal court.”

  The speech was still choppy and abrupt, but communication with the Tecate’ had always been sketchy. The Sapiens did not fully understand the term ‘royal court’. Avan asked, “What is the royal court?”