The scans also revealed a deep system of underground caverns running from Lavada to the location of the mining vessel. The Tecate’ had been using the mining ship to dig massive tunnels deep into the surface of Barra. They had created another fortress embedded in the ground, not dissimilar from the adobe fortress they constructed on Dolis. Only this was larger and the caverns and tunnels were far deeper.
When the Maximus arrived at Barra they took a new set of scans and compared them to those taken by the Adonis. The tunnel system was even more expansive than before, and the mining machine was continuing its excavation, digging deeper still. Everyone understood the implications of this. Barra was going to be a nightmare to purge. More fighting in tunnels and more heavy loss of life.
Jason said, “I would advise against going in there. You saw the losses we took on Dolis. It would be a slaughter.” He paused for a second, then added, “And they’d have to wear environmental suits. That makes it even worse.”
Everyone sat silent. No one had an answer, then Jason said, “What about a thermo-nuclear bomb?”
Bishop exclaimed, “No. There must be something else.”
Jason responded, “What else? Look at the scans. That network of tunnels extends for miles. It’s a maze. It’s at least four times the size of the adobe fortress, and they’re making it even bigger as we speak. Do you actually want to send anyone into that mess?”
“No,” acknowledged Bishop.
Sava interjected, “I don’t understand. What is a thermo-nuclear bomb?”
Bishop said, “It’s a fusion bomb. A single one of those bombs could wipe out the largest city on Sapiea, and it would leave it poisoned with radioactive waste for thousands of years. Barra would be uninhabitable.”
Jason added, “It’s uninhabitable now. And think of the lives it would save.”
Bishop responded, “That’s exactly the same logic they used when they dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And that’s probably what happened on the planet of the Mahatma.”
“Maybe so,” said Jason. “But what else?”
Bishop had no other ideas, nor did Sava, nor Jason. They all thought it was sickening, but it seemed the only viable option. Both Bishop and Jason knew how nuclear bombs were constructed. If they provided the Sapien physicists with a plan they knew they could build it. Still, it seemed unthinkable.
Bishop said, “Let’s think on this for the night.” They all agreed and retired for the evening.
The Maximus remained in orbit around Barra. Bishop went to his quarters where Asha awaited him. He told her about what they had learned and about the nuclear weapon and its effects. She was also sickened by the thought of it. Nonetheless, she tried to comfort Bishop.
They spent the evening together, but as had been that case for some time now, they were not intimate. Bishop had been distracted and uninterested in that type of intimacy since he first learned of the Tecate’ eating Sapiens, and now with the possibility of a nuclear weapon, Asha was equally distracted. They still loved one another deeply, and they still gave one another comfort, but for a while, they would sleep apart.
The next morning, Bishop, Sava, and Jason met again. They had all come to the same conclusion. There was no other option. Bishop said, “I don’t think this is a decision we should make on our own. We should consult the council.”
Bishop was about to summon the council when the scanners detected something unexpected. The mining vessel on Barra had just exploded. They focused all the scanners at the point of the explosion, when up from the ground came a glowing red substance. It was magma. Molten rock started oozing from many points across the surface, spanning the complete distance from the mining vessel to Lavada.
No one was sure what was happening, then Sava had an insight. He said, “They mined themselves to death.”
“What do you mean?” asked Bishop.
“I mean, they went too deep. Barra is a volcanically active world, filled with magma, surrounded by a thin crust. It’s kept molten by the tidal forces created by the gravity from Sapiea and Minos constantly tugging on it, and Lavada sits on top of a gigantic magma chamber, the source of all the thermal vents and hot springs. They didn’t understand that. They dug too deep and breached the magma chamber.”
Sava was right. All the readings showed the entire tunnel system was filling, or filled with hot magma. And magma was oozing out onto the surface at Lavada as well. The Tecate’ were dead. They had killed themselves.
“What a relief” said Sava.
“The hand of providence,” said Bishop. “Maybe the gods in Vhamora really are looking after you.”
Everyone laughed at the irony in that statement, coming from the father from Vhamora.
This was a great stroke of luck. Barra was free of Tecate’.
Sava made additional scans just to be sure. The caverns were filled. Lavada was a pool of hot lava. The Tecate’ were indeed gone. One odd thing did stand out, though. The atmosphere on Barra was showing six percent oxygen.
Sava said, “Look at this. The first set of scans from the Adonis read only four percent oxygen, and historically, the atmosphere on Barra was generally less than two percent oxygen before. This has to be from the manava. The manava is terra-forming the moon. I wonder how far it will go. Could it become a breathable atmosphere?”
Bishop answered, “Don’t know. We don’t actually know that much about manava, but it’s an interesting thought.”
That night, Sava and Jason met Bishop and Asha for dinner. For the first time in a long time they were relaxed enough to enjoy the food and converse about things other than war and Tecate’. The conversation was pleasant. Everyone even had a couple of drinks. Things had gone well. The evening had gone well.
Bishop and Asha went to their quarters together and made love again. It was like their first days together, warm and passionate. For the first time in months, everyone slept soundly.
They all met for breakfast the next day and Bishop said, “Now we have another thing to deal with. We need to deal with Tecama.”
Sava asked, “What are we going to do? Are we going to be talking about nuclear weapons again?”
Bishop responded, “No. That would be genocide, and I’m not sure we have the right to do that, even with the Tecate’. I have something else in mind.”
Jason asked, “What?”
“It’s an idea you gave me, Jason. Remember when we were working on the wormhole simulations with CHRIS?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you made the comment that ‘we could open a wormhole large enough to envelope an entire solar system’. The simulations seemed to show it was true. So think about it, what if we could put the entire solar system in a pocket and separate it from all the other multi-verses?”
“Ok,” said Jason. “But wouldn’t that still be genocide?”
“My understanding is that Tecama revolves around a red dwarf star. That’s the longest lived type of star there is. That start will still be burning when most of this galaxy has gone dark, so how is it genocide? It would be containment, more like prison. And I think the Tecate’ have committed sufficient crimes to be imprisoned. Would you all not agree?”
Everyone agreed.
“So let’s run some simulations and see if it really can be done. Ask Karen to meet us at the portal to CHRIS. Let’s just see.”
They ran the simulations again and again. Each time the result was the same. It could be done.
Bishop called Sava in a person-to-person message. “Sava, can you take us to the Tecama star system?”
“Yes”
“We need to be outside the system, beyond the Oort cloud.”
“Will do,” replied Sava.
They opened a wormhole, and the Maximus moved to open space, just beyond the boundaries of the Tecama system. They ran the simulation one more time, then ran it live. A massive vortex formed beneath the Tecama system, then it closed. Tecama was gone. No genocide, no murder.
The ship shuddered for a
moment. It was a shock wave. A gravity wave to be precise, but it passed with no harm to the vessel.
The Tecate’ were no longer a threat to anyone, anywhere. They had been sealed in their own eternal prison. The darkness had been purged. It was done.
Now another thought came to Bishop’s mind. It was a thought that had plagued him from time to time all the while he was there, but now there were no missions left and no distractions. It was something he had to face. He needed to speak with Asha.
That evening when he and Asha were alone, he broached the subject. “Asha,” he said softly.
“Yes.”
“Do you remember when we first met, I told you about my experiment and how your entire universe was sitting in a sphere in my lab?”
“Yes,” she said anxiously. She already knew where he was going with this. It was something she had thought of too, but she always shoved it to the back of her mind and ignored it.
“I have to go back. I have to release this universe. I can’t leave it sitting in the lab. It puts everyone in danger. It could be thousands of years, but eventually someone will discover it, and they will mess with it. I don’t know what they would do, but what if they somehow disrupted the barrier, burst the bubble, so to say, your universe and mine would collide. I don’t know the consequences of that, but I fear it would mean the destruction of both your galaxy and mine.”
Asha knew he was right. She wanted to cry, but she’d know this all along.
Bishop added, “I will see the Mahatma first. Maybe it can foresee a future where I don’t go back. Maybe there is a way. I want to stay with all my being. I don’t want to lose you.”
“What if I came with you?” she asked.
“I’m afraid my people aren’t ready for that. They’d take you from me. They’d experiment on you, maybe even dissect you. They’re just not ready.”
Asha understood. She said “Hold me, my love.” They spent the night in each other’s arms.
Bishop and Asha both were trying to ignore the situation and decided to delay as long as they could, and maybe find some distraction. The next day, Bishop asked if he could get a group together for a small dinner party. He invited, Karen and Jason, Sava, Paumi, and Asha, and Asha’s friend, the Dolek manna-rah. He asked to have the dinner in the observation deck by the Nanda.
That night they met and had a good time. Everyone played Bemsi. Bishop and Karen did not know how to play, but everyone was willing to teach them. Bishop thought he liked the Doleks, and he liked the Nanda, but the thought of the Nanda made him think of something else. He excused himself for a minute then came back with a strange object.
Karen saw it and said, “Hey. That won’t work here.”
Bishop said, “I know, but I want to show it to Paumi.” He handed his cell phone to Paumi and said, “Let’s take a walk, I want to ask you a favor.” As they walked away he could be heard telling Paumi, “This is technology from my world. It’s called a cell phone. Maybe you could get with the engineers and…” his voice faded out as they stepped away.
They were back in a moment, then Jason suggested something called ‘shots’. They all did several. It was a good night with good friends. They were a bit tipsy, then Bishop looked at the Nanda and asked, “Do you want to go home now? It’s been a long time. I bet you do.”
The Nanda flashed to one another then replied, “Yes, it would be nice. We would like to go.”
Bishop leaned forward and put his hand on Sava’s shoulder. He said, “Let’s take the Nanda home, old boy.” He was slurring his words a bit. No one had ever seen him do that before. He was rather drunk. That was a first, but no one minded in the least. He deserved a break.
Then Dot interjected, “But I’m on the council. How do I fulfill my responsibilities if I go home?”
Paumi replied, “Remember the console where we used to meet? I’m sure I can hook it up to a QETAR so you can stay in contact from home. Would that be good?”
“Yes. That would be perfect,” replied Dot.
The next day, they opened a wormhole to Aquita. Paumi and a couple of the engineers prepared transport vessels for the Nanda. They took a shuttle to the old outpost. The engineer attached a QETAR to the console while Paumi released the Nanda into the sea.
Dot approached the shoreline where Paumi stood. The Nanda extended its long arm from the water and wrapped it around Paumi’s right arm. It was a true sign of affection.
“Good bye, my friend,” Dot said. “I will truly miss you.”
A tear ran down Paumis’ cheek. He choked just a bit and said, “Goodbye, my friend.”
Dot released his arm, but as Paumi turned to go, Dot drew his attention yet again. “Are the Tecate’ still going to poison our waters?” asked Dot. “I’m hearing the queen is coming back to kill us all.”
Paumi replied, “You tell them the queen is dead. She won’t be coming back.”
All the nearby waters started churning. It was the Nanda jumping for joy.
All returned to the ship. Sava was about to set course back to Sapiea when Bishop said, “Sava, I have a request. I need to speak with the Mahatma. Can we please go there?’
“Of course,” replied Sava.
They opened a wormhole and exited at the planet of the Mahatma. They sent down a shuttle with Bishop and a landing party. When they landed, Bishop said, “I need to speak with the Mahatma alone, please.”
Bishop stood before the Mahatma and explained the situation. He asked it if it saw any future in which he did not return to Earth.
The Mahatma said, “I’m sorry Bishop. I see no future in which you do not return.”
Bishop thanked the Mahatma and turned to go, but one of the heads stopped him. “Bishop,” it said. “First, we must tell you, you have done a great thing. We are all grateful for your leadership and your sacrifice. Without you the darkness would have spanned the galaxies, ours and yours. You have saved countless lives. You are indeed the creator and the father from Vhamora.
“But I have one more thing to add. I do not see any future where you do not return to Earth, but at this point, I believe you know to trust my insights. I do not know what or why, but I do see great happiness ahead for you. Trust this, please. I know it is true.”
“Thank you,” said Bishop. He saw no way he could ever find happiness without Asha, but he believed the Mahatma must see something. He returned to the ship and requested to speak with the council.
He stood at the head of the council and spoke with sincerity and directness. “As you all may remember, I left your universe sitting in a sphere in my lab. I must release it. As long as it sits in that vessel both your universe and mine are in danger. I must return to Vhamora. Once you are released, I know of no way to return.
I would like to spend one final day with my friends here. I ask that tomorrow you take me to the great void and return me to my world.”
Everyone was saddened by this news, but knew it was right. Asha added one more thing, “I know it seems impossible, but I’d like to add that we give a directive that if a way to bring the father back to us is ever found, we do so.”
Everyone thought it was a symbolic gesture, but all agreed. The directive went on record.
Bishop spent the remainder of the day visiting with the friends he had made during his adventures. It was both sad, and pleasant. He had many friends and was well loved.
He told both Jason and Karen about the return home. Neither of them saw an alternative either. He asked if they wanted to return.
Jason replied, “Look at my prosthetic leg. This technology is far beyond what they have on Earth. You know they’ll take me apart. I can’t go back.” Then he added, “Besides I really made a lot of friends here, especially with some of the Doleks. I was hoping to spend some time on Dolis.”
“Of course,” replied Bishop. “And you, Karen?”
“Well,” she said hesitantly. “I’ve been offered a full professorship and teaching position at a university on Educates. It’s what I’ve alwa
ys wanted to do. If I go back I’ll just be a graduate student again. I want to stay.”
Bishop said, “I understand completely. I want to stay too. You know I’m in love with Asha. I’ll never find another. I want a life with her, but it seems that is not what fate has in store for me.”
The rest of the day passed quietly. That night Bishop and Asha spent in their quarters, talking, hugging, and sharing. They made love deeply and warmly, several times. Nether slept. They just talked all night.
That morning they met by the collector of the gravity well generator in the cargo hold. They had devised a reverse process that would return him to the lab. All his friends were gathered around; Asha, Sava, Paumi, Karen and Jason, the Dolek warriors, and several others.
The Long Day Page 17