One face of the Mahatma replied, “It’s nice to meet you,” then all heads continued in unison, “We have awaited your arrival for millennia. We hope you have not come too late.”
As before, the Mahatma’s speech jumped from head to head and its references to self switched back and forth between, me, I, us, and we. The others were now familiar with this, but it seemed strange to the humans. And the darkness thing seemed a bit foreboding.
Then Sapien head of Dobro Nor spoke, “Please, tell me how you came to be from Vhamora.”
Bishop replied. He said, “By Vhamora I think you mean Earth, our home world.” Then he continued with a detailed explanation of the experiment, the sphere, the trapped galaxy, the breach, and the time with the Sapiens.
“We understand,” replied all heads. Then one in the head added, “I sense you are more to this world than you know. Come, step forward.”
Bishop stepped ahead. A nearby torso on the Mahatma reached out a hand and said, “I must confirm my suspicions. I need a sample of your blood. Just a drop, please.”
This seemed odd, but Bishop complied. Devor handed him a blade and he made a small cut on his finger. A drop of blood oozed out.
The nearby torso reached forward and took Bishops hand, then, to everyone’s surprise, it put Bishops finger in its mouth and tasted his blood. Bishop drew his away his hand in shock. He took two steps back from the Mahatma.
The Mahatma seemed to be savoring the taste of his blood, swishing it around in his mouth. Then it spoke. “Welcome Father,” it said.
“What? What do you mean?” asked Bishop.
“You are the father and the creator,” replied the Mahatma. “You and your experiment created this universe, then you somehow seeded this universe with your DNA.”
Bishop held out his hand and looked at his missing finger. He showed his finger to the Mahatma and said, “I lost this part of me into the sphere. What are you telling me?”
The Mahatma continued. “I suspected something when the Sapien Dobro Nor bonded with us. His DNA and our own shared a commonality, too much to be mere coincidence. Your DNA is the common source. Your DNA seeded, or at least influenced, the evolution of both my species and the Sapiens. Take a look. How else would you explain why we all have such similar body shapes?” Then the Mahatma added, “And how else would you explain being familiar enough with the Sapiens to be in love with one, like you would a member of your own species?”
This took Bishop aback. He was surprised at the insight, but also felt exposed. Then he realized it was true. He had tried to deny it, but he was in love with Asha. And now, everyone there knew.
Then the head of Dobro Nor spoke, “You are the creator and the father from Vhamora. It is true. There is no denying it. You are our only hope.”
Everyone was stupefied, and in awe. Both Karen and Jason believed it was true, and even the Sapiens who had set aside the old ways and denied the myths found themselves believing.
Everyone was trying to digest it all when the ship-to-surface communicator Devor carried started beeping. He answered, “Yes.”
Sava’s voice came through. “Something has come up,” he said. “We need you on the ship. It’s urgent. Please return immediately.”
The heads of the Mahatma spoke in unison, “The darkness has come,” they said.
When the crew returned to the ship they were immediately taken to a council meeting. Is was already in session. They could hear a lot of loud agitated talking down the hall as they approached. They stepped in and took a seat.
“Good,” said Sava. We just received a message from Sapiea. It’s not good. Asha, please repeat the message.”
The message went on screen:
Sapiea attacked by Tecate’. They have taken capitol and seized control of planet, captured a fleet of spacecraft. The government has fallen. Barra is occupied. The council is murdered.
All weapons are ineffective. We are defenseless. We are overwhelmed. All hope is lost.
Tecate’ mounting attack on Dolis and Aquita. Expect they will fall.
Do not return. Take refuge elsewhere.
Report of all we know about Tecate’ and strategic positions to follow. It is long. Estimated transmission time 43 hours. Prepare to receive same.
Vhamora save us. *END
Sava followed. “We received this transmission while you were with the Mahatma. About ten minutes after this completed we started receiving a second transmission. That’s still coming in and will be for some time. It appears to contain information about the Tecate’, their positions, and whatever else is known of their plans.
“Here’s what we do know. Our weapons appear to be ineffective. Sapiea seems to be lost. Dolis and Aquita are under threat, and we are many months away.”
Bishop interrupted. “Sava,” he said. “We may not be months away. We and your physicists made a breakthrough right before dropped out of FTL flight. We think we have a new technology that can get you home in hours.”
“Hours,” replied Sava. “That’s new, and that changes everything.”
Then Devor joined in. “There’s more. The Mahatma knew something bad was happening before we arrived. It probably knows more. We must give the Mahatma this news and speak again.”
Sava started to reply, but Devor cut him off. “I’m not done yet. The Mahatma also made a proclamation.” He paused, then continued, “It said Bishop is the creator and father from Vhamora, and that he is our only hope.”
Bishop bristled at the concept. He was no savior and no deity, nor did he want that role. He did not believe in myth, but now it was out. It couldn’t be retracted.
Everyone sat silent and confused. Then Bishop broke the silence. “You have more than forty hours before the rest of the message comes in. We need that information to understand the threat, so we must wait. We also do not have the quantum rods we need to create the wormhole. Those need to be built and integrated with the gravity well generator. Jason and Karen will give the specifications to your engineers so they can start assembly.”
He paused, then added, “And we have to go back to the Mahatma. We need to understand this whole thing better – you and I.”
Bishop did not realize it but the Mahatma’s predictions were already coming true. Bishop was taking lead. There was a role for him. He just didn’t see it yet.
Sava agreed they were not sufficiently informed to make any decisions at this time. He recessed the meeting and set a continuation for two days hence. He also scheduled a return to the Mahatma for the next morning.
Everyone went their separate ways. The crew was stressed. People were confused and unsure. Bishop could sense the tension, but he also noticed something else. Everyone was acknowledging him when he walked by. A nod of the head, a hello, some gesture or another. Apparently word had gotten out about the whole father thing. He was uncomfortable with it all.
Bishop needed to see Asha. He knocked on her door. “Can we talk?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Come in.”
They sat down at a table in her quarters. She spoke first. “So, I hear you have found a way home. That’s good,” she said with a look of sadness in her eyes.
Bishop said, “Yes, I think we have. But I don’t think I’m going home.”
“Why not?”
“Something the Mahatma said,” he followed, “but it was something I already knew. He said I was in love with a Sapien.”
“Oh really? And who would that be?” Asha asked coyly.
“You know it’s you,” he answered.
“I am paired to you as well,” she said. “You know for Sapiens that happens only once in their life. It’s forever. You are the one.”
They embraced, then Bishop said, “I think I’m going to need you with me, Asha. I don’t know what’s coming, but I don’t know if I can do it alone.”
She acknowledged. Bishop stayed the night in Asha’s quarters.
The next day they went to see the Mahatma. It was the same crew as before, but t
his time Sava Doll joined them. Devor introduced Sava and the Mahatma and they told him about the Tecate’ and the message from home.
The Mahatma said, “This is the darkness I have feared. I see a blackness. Contempt for all things not itself, and I see all life, everywhere, just blinking out of existence. This must be stopped.”
Then the Mahatma said something unexpected. It said, “I need to speak with the father alone.”
Everyone left as requested. Bishop and the Mahatma were alone, then the Mahatma began speaking.
“They have told about me?”
“Yes.”
“You know I sometimes see glimpses of things far away or things yet to be?”
“Yes.”
“I have seen two futures. In one, you deny your role as father and shy away. The Sapiens survive as long as they can, but they, the Doleks, the Nanda, and worlds yet undiscovered, all perish. I too will be devoured.
“This scourge will continue. They’ll consume planet after planet as they go throughout the galaxy. They’ll become stronger and stronger and acquire more and greater technology as they spread their carnage. Eventually the whole of the galaxy is lost. All that remains is the darkness.
“And you, your world, Earth will be consumed in the fire as well. They will find a way through, and your Earth will burn.”
This was something Bishop had never thought of, and with the time dilation, the millennia they took to conquer this galaxy would only be almost no time on Earth. Everyone Bishop knew would die.
“And the other? What is the other possible future?” Bishop asked.
“In the other you accept your role as father, embrace it, and lead these people to victory.”
“And why does it have to be me?”
“Because they believe in you. You are the father, the creator, the savior from Vhamora. They need that belief to find their strength.”
“But I’m not. I’m just a man. An ordinary man. No different than any other.”
“But you are,” followed the Mahatma. “You are truly the father from Vhamora. You must accept it. You must believe in yourself.
“Only you can do this. They will not make it on their own.”
This was a heavy burden for Bishop to bear. How could he possibly do this? He doubted, but then he began thinking about the steps to fight and what needed to be done. His mind moved from confusion to clarity.
Then Bishop said, “But we have no weapons. The reports say all weapons are ineffective. What can we fight them with?”
The Mahatma replied, “Now you are thinking like a leader. Did they tell about my world and how we hid down here to try to save something of our species from the destruction?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we did not build this place. We occupied it when our world fell. This was once a military base. And while I hoped they’d never be used, there is a small cache of weapons still stored here. They are old and in need of repair, but my species was once mighty, and these weapons are powerful.
“You take these weapons. Repair them. Use them as a model to build more. Defeat this scourge. Will you do it?”
Bishop felt a confidence he’d never felt before. He responded, “Yes. Yes I will.”
“The weapons are stored in that tunnel to the left. You lead the others there.
“I would speak to the others now” said the Mahatma. “Please bring them in.”
Bishop asked the others to come in and stood by while the Mahatma talked. It said, “This is the father, the creator from Vhamora. You must believe and accept this. I have done all I can for you. I leave you in his hands.”
Then Bishop said, “Follow me.” He led them to the weapons stash. They were mostly small arms, what remained of the base armory. They took them all and returned to the ship.
Later that day Sava called a meeting of the council. They met in private, then they called for Bishop to join them. There was a new empty chair at the center of the table.
Sava pointed to the chair and said, “We want you to join us, if you will. We want you to lead the council elders. Will you accept?”
“I will,” said Bishop without hesitation, then he moved to the other side of the table and took his place in the center chair.
“What is your desire?” asked Sava.
Bishop answered with a long list of directives.
“The council on Sapiea is dead. The government has fallen. The people are in need of leadership. This council will assume command. As of now, we are the Council of Sepia.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. He continued, “We have the weapons we brought back from the planet of the Mahatma. They are not enough to fight a war. We must repair them, and from them, we must create a template to manufacture more.
“I have been told of your manufacturing facilities on the outposts at Indus and Manifer. We must go there and put the robots to the task of building armaments. And, I have heard of another ship, the Adonis. We must retrieve the Adonis before the enemy learns of it.
“We must also learn all we can about the Tecate’. What is the status of the incoming report?”
Asha answered, “Sill coming in, but most of it had been collated.”
“Please distribute the report the council as soon as it’s ready. Everyone must read it.”
“And the quantum rods, what is the status of their installation?”
Sava answered, “The rods are completed. The engineers are scheduled to make the installation tonight.”
“Thank you. Let’s be sure we make extra rods. We should have backup, and we should be prepared to retrofit the Adonis with the wormhole technology. Please have the engineering teams build a second gravity well generator for the Adonis. My understanding is that this is a technology you developed in flight.”
“It is,” replied Sava.
“Then let’s make ready. We all have tasks to accomplish now. Please let me know when the weapons are repaired. We do not know what they do. I suggest we test them on the planet below to ascertain their proper use.”
All agreed. The council meeting broke up, but the feeling had gone from one of despair to one of action, and one of hope. Bishop no longer felt uncomfortable when people acknowledged him passing in the hall. He responded back with an assuredness that gave them all confidence.
He asked Asha to accompany him to dinner. Later that night she stayed in his quarters. They were now together as a couple.
In the morning, the report was complete, the weapons were repaired, and the wormhole device was installed.
Bishop asked Sava, Devor, the Dolek warrior madi-tah, and Jason to accompany him to the planet surface. Jason spent time in the Marine Corps before he completed college and probably knew the most about weapons and combat.
When they arrived they reviewed their weapons cache. They had four handguns, three rifle type implements, a case of some round orbs, and a weapon of an unknown type.
The handguns were all alike. They fired one into the side of a hill in front of them. It released an energy pulse that melted a hole in the sand and turned it to glass. On inspection the hole was less than an inch wide, but at least two feet deep. A formidable weapon.
The rifle type implements were of two different kinds. They had two of one type and one that was different. They first selected one from the pair of two. Jason pointed it at the same hill as before and fired. It released a blue energy bolt that ripped open the side of the hill and left behind a small cave, three feet wide and four feet deep. There was no glass left behind. The sand was completely vaporized. Another sound weapon.
They fired the second rifle. It fired the same energy pulse as the handgun, but it fired repeating bursts in rapid succession. After just one firing the hillside was pocked with hundreds of holes.
Jason said the unknown weapon looked a bit like a crossbow, but there was no arrow. He had no idea what it did. They aimed and fired the weapon. It released some sort of wave that spread out from the bow, expanding in a semi-circle. When it hit the hill it made
a thud sound and threw up a mass of sand twenty feet wide. This was some sort of wide angle percussion weapon.
The last item was the box of orbs. Jason had an idea these were grenades. On the top of the orb was a cover that had to be released and slid to the side. Beneath it was a button that had to be pressed deep into a depression. Bishop was a little afraid of this device. He assumed it was designed to be thrown, but he had no idea how far the original users could throw. He gave it to madi-tah, assuming a Dolek warrior accustomed to throwing spears could probably throw the furthest.
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