by Randal Sloan
“When my people left this galaxy, they left behind very few physical remnants as you are well aware. For some, nothing has been more important than the discoveries of the Prophecies. Prophecies, as your Borjon friend can tell you, have always represented the true future as my people alone have been able to foresee.
“However, even the Prophecies alone are not enough, for those who represent the Dark have also studied those Prophecies. Plus, even with the knowledge of the future, it is nearly impossible to describe events that have not yet happened in words that the reader might be able to understand in their limited ability to comprehend with the knowledge they currently possess.
“Therefore, the decision was made that I would be left behind to meet with you and others as the situation dictated. Although I can’t give you all of my reasons, I deemed it wise to meet with you and your team at this time.
“As has already been explained to you by others, the Prophecies not only include you but also include your daughter who is yet to come. I have tried to maintain my distance, watching you and your team from afar since you left on your first mission, but of course, that’s not enough. Although I primarily must remain apart from you to prevent interference with your actions, I can offer you words of advice and limited knowledge.
“Unfortunately, I can’t give you all that you desire. For example, I will only be able to give you high-level information regarding those of us you call the Forerunners. There are some things your people need to discover on your own and too much knowledge of how my people came to be what we are now would be detrimental to you.”
When Jarra reluctantly nodded her understanding, he went on.
“We call ourselves the Ayden. There was a time when this area of space, just outside the galactic center, was safe for all life. There was a huge cloud of gas that blocked the radiation from the core and our people were able to prosper. We developed the technologies that allowed us to go to the stars and we explored the areas of space around us with excitement.
“Eventually we ventured out into the arms of the galaxy and discovered that in each arm a primitive people had begun to develop separately from the others. It was about that time that the clouds of gas had begun to dissipate so that we gradually realized that our homes were in danger. We knew we would have to relocate, adapt, or die.
“We’ve always been a peaceful people, so forcing ourselves upon the races in the galactic arms was not an option. We didn’t have the technology at that time that would allow us to leave the galaxy, so we chose the second option.
“The levels of radiation rose slowly, so we had time to adapt. We put a lot of emphasis on biotechnologies, much like you have begun with your implants, but we carried them much further. Still, we were lucky enough to realize the trap the Aerstone later fell into, whereby they foolishly abandoned their biological bodies and gave up the part of themselves that made them what they are meant to be. We are yet to see if their race can be redeemed.
“Another sect of our people ventured into the areas of the mind, discovering and making use of what you would call psychic abilities, but carrying them much further. Among other things, they are the ones who left each of your races a copy of the Prophecies, although for our discussion at the moment, I will refrain from going into any details on them.
“Gradually the radiation levels grew so high that we knew we would have to find another solution, which we eventually did. I will not go into any details at this time, for your race must find their way in that area on their own, but our people are no longer in this galaxy, as you well know.
“We learned some of our lessons the hard way, for in part the disaster with the Aerstone is our fault. When I say we believe it is better for you to learn something on your own, we are speaking of that from bitter experience.
“You might expect that we would side with one group or the other in your current conflict, but you must understand that we have always been a peaceful people. In particular, we will not give you the advanced technologies needed to destroy your enemy, for that is perhaps the gravest danger of them all. What would you do with the technologies after you had won the war?
“However, we believe it is important to help your races to survive, hence our assistance with the Prophecies, and otherwise, as we do today. There is a way for that to happen, along with a possibility even for the Aerstone to be redeemed and the Prophecies work toward that goal.
“That is why I allowed you to discover me and then invited you on board my station. We have much to discuss and I will tell you as much as I can, but much you still will have to find on your own. I ask only that you keep an open mind, and remember what is our ultimate goal — the survival of all life in the galaxy, including the Aerstone!”
Jarra had grown more and more excited as he talked, knowing deep inside that he told her the absolute truth in everything, including his reasons for not giving her all that she might want. Despite her intense desire for assistance, his reasons for denying them, unfortunately, made too much sense.
Their discussions continued for some time. Before they were finished, Jarra had come to realize one thing for certain. She now fully understood her purpose, how she might fit into the plan for the galaxy the Ayden strove toward with their Prophecies, the plan to save all life. She wasn’t sure how the Aerstone fit in, but somehow they did. She knew she would understand better when the time came, not that that was much help right now.
If only it would be that easy to accomplish, this purpose she now felt. She also knew it wasn’t going to be anything of the sort.
Chapter 6
Borjon
Katarina and Amfiltrite spent the rest of the day anchored in the area of the Forerunner station while Jarra and her crew prepared and sent multiple messages back and forth between the Galactic Empire and Borjon, messages declared Top Secret despite the value of the discovery.
Although Adrihel did not give them military technologies as he had forewarned he would withhold, he still gave them a lot of scientific data about the galaxy and its history, a history of his people with quite a few more details than what he had given Jarra in his earlier summary, and finally a lot of technological data that would in the future help the races of the galaxy improve their way of life. Gabo even believed that with a few years efforts, development of the carbon-based matrix that they had observed both inside and outside the station would be possible for humans and their allies. He could barely contain his excitement, but he knew he had another job to do. Someone else would have to work on that discovery.
While not a treaty, Jarra and Adrihel had come to an understanding. As the representative the Forerunners left behind for the purposes of providing a limited source of information and interaction with the Galactic Empire, Adrihel would make himself available only when the circumstances demanded it and only at his discretion. He was given a set of command codes that would ensure any message from him would be designated of the highest priority and would be passed through to any member of the royal family when requested.
Adrihel didn’t come out and say it, but Jarra had the distinct impression that he intended to only communicate with her. Well, her and her future daughter, who would someday be the One, as described in the Prophecies. Adrihel had alluded to that more than once. Jarra was both thrilled to know her daughter would one day be able to make such a difference and concerned that it meant she would be the one in the future who had to face her own grave dangers.
Even with the knowledge that her daughter was intended to be there in her future, Adrihel warned her that nothing was assured. They could still fail in the current mission or in any other future missions and it would all be undone. She could tell that he honestly did want them to succeed and he really believed they would. It didn’t mean it was going to be easy.
But finally, the next morning the two ships resumed their journey to Borjon, transitioning out of the area near the core and moving out into the Borjon arm of the galaxy. The Forerunner station disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and Jarra sus
pected If they tried to go back to find it, it would be gone.
Once they cleared the core, Kaeden once more crossed over to the Katarina. “As is duty, I have returned,” he told Jarra as he took up his station in the ship’s bridge. “I send maps to navigate our space. For you, easy as dessert.”
“That’s easy as pie,” Amy told him with a laugh. “But still I’m impressed. You’re getting better at learning our crazy lingo. Especially our idioms, as we call them.”
Jarra smiled at their byplay, but she had a request for Kaeden. “Since we’re not on a fixed schedule, would it be possible for us to take the scenic route through Borjon space so we can get an idea of your nests?”
Kaeden returned her smile in the Borjon fashion. “It would be my happiness to do so. I send course to Galen.” He closed his eyes, sending the implant data across. He had yet to totally master communicating by implant, but he was getting pretty good at it, although he still thought he had to close his eyes. He would learn with time, of that Jarra was sure.
She also suspected he would never want to part with the technology and she had no doubt other Borjon would follow along in time. Perhaps things like that would help cement their peoples together over time.
When briefing for their mission, Jarra had been surprised to learn just how large the Borjon kingdom actually was. Territory-wise they covered nearly twice the space as the Galactic Empire, but since the Borjon prized wide-open spaces and freedom of movement instead of forming large population centers like the humans tended to do, they only had a slightly higher population than the humans. Still, it was like a small fish had swallowed a much larger one and she wondered again just why Borjon had joined the Galactic Empire, allowing themselves to accept the more subservient role instead of at least demanding an equal part.
Their flight path was more than a little convoluted, but moving at the high rate of a fast ship, it still only took a handful of hours to traverse a large portion of the Borjon kingdom. Kaeden explained as much as he could about the worlds they passed, but with his broken English, it was difficult, so he mostly sent her info packets on each world as they drew near the Nest. His ability to communicate across the NET on their ship was already proving to be invaluable.
Finally, they drew near to the Borjon home world and Jarra knew the sightseeing would soon be over. She expected she would get a whirlwind tour of the Borjon home nest, and then it would be time to get to work. That suited her purpose; her purpose now that she knew just a little bit more about it.
Borjon was finally on their screens. Galen was once more back at his navigation boards. For the first time since the galactic core, the navigation job was going to be rather difficult. The trip into Borjon was going to be too much for Amy, who had taken a shift at the station as part of her training. With the addition of her and Jason, they had enough people to give everyone an off shift at times while maintaining their ship at full capability, and Galen appreciated the break.
He was needed for this stint, though, that was for sure. The Borjon were quite serious about protecting their home nest, as they referred to the Borjon home world. Whereas the humans depended primarily on ship-based defenses for their most important worlds, the Borjon had more automated defenses that they had worked over the centuries to perfect. An extensive minefield surrounded Borjon in all three dimensions and navigating through it was impossible without the assistance of a special Borjon ship that acted much like a naval tugboat might have operated on old earth. Galen suspected some of their defenses dated back to the last Aerstone war, which was much older than his naval reference, but however one wanted to describe it, it made entry very difficult.
Of course, that wasn’t all. They passed fortress satellites, fortresses that made even that Aerstone planet-`buster satellite look small. Galen shuddered to think about how much firepower they could bring to bear. Good thing they were on a diplomatic mission.
Luckily, Galen’s job was relegated to making sure they made their turns at exactly the same time as the lead ship, something the AI could mostly handle without him. He still gave a sigh of relief when they were through the minefield. A few moments later they were directed to what seemed to be a rather unusual looking orbital station. As he already knew, the Borjon view of aesthetics was different from that of humans. If he squinted his eyes, it almost looked like a bird’s nest. No surprise really — the literal human translation of the Borjon word for an orbital station was “nest flying around home nest.”
A delegation met them when they exited their ship inside the private hangar they had been assigned. Despite the Borjon Ambassador being away, several members of his staff were present. But when they exited the ship, Kaeden immediately dropped to what would be a knee on a human and placed his hand over where the Borjon heart was located.
Amy immediately recognized what was happening and she instantly sent word across everyone’s implants to do the same, “All but Jarra, bow with your hand over your heart,” she sent. “He is their crown prince, Garon Mór Dúnadhaigh.”
The group did as they were bade. Jarra had learned the protocol as well, so she offered a half bow as was due an equal to one within the Borjon monarchy.
The Crown Prince returned Jarra’s bow and inclined his head to the others. “Raibh maith agat seirbhís nead. Déan eitilt le chéile,” he said.
“Thank you for your service to the Nest. Please let us take to the air together,” Amy sent to the group as she stood at the same time as Kaeden.
“Déanfaidh mé aistriú,” Amy told him, repeating to her group, “I will translate.”
“Good,” said the crown prince. He began speaking in Borjon again with Amy translating, “Welcome to Borjon, my friends. Once I heard the Human One with the Golden Hair was coming to our planet, I knew I had to come out to meet one with such bravery and dedication to duty. I see her beauty is beyond even what I have heard.”
“Thank you,” Jarra said with Amy translating. “It is our pleasure to be here and we look forward to seeing your beautiful home nest. I believe the humans can learn much from the Borjon.”
“I believe so as well,” said the Prince. “Come.”
He led the way to a private secure elevator reserved for the Borjon royalty. This functioned much like the one they’d used back on the human capital world to allow them a safe and private trip down. Given a high priority car, they quickly made their descent to the surface.
Jarra could barely control her excitement as they stepped out of the elevator. They were standing on a planet inhabited by aliens, something only a very few humans had ever experienced in their lives.
Thus began Jarra’s expected whirlwind tour of Borjon, which indeed was a beautiful planet. The Borjon had learned to take care of their worlds much sooner than the humans, whose early planets were still mostly uninhabitable. Poor Earth was the worst.
Jarra had never been a student of architecture or horticulture, but the Borjon were masters at both. Beautiful buildings and even more beautiful gardens graced the lands they were shown and Jarra knew that even though what they saw was only a small part of the capital city, it was still typical for the entire planet. Truly, the Borjon were a special people.
They also visited a natural area of cliff caves and rock formations that their guide explained was one of the original Borjon nests from several millennia in the past, back when the Borjon people still possessed the ability of flight. Jarra could almost imagine what it must have been like to fly from one rock formation to the other and to roost within one of the barely visible caves. She would have loved to have been able to spend hours looking at some of those nests, which appeared to be carefully maintained just as they had been when they were lived in all those many centuries before.
They also toured the Borjon equivalent of museums where some of the artifacts were millennia old, yet amazingly well preserved. They learned more of the history of the planet and its people, another thing Jarra could have spent hours devouring. There just wasn’t enough time, but she acc
epted it as part of her fate. Still she was glad to see as much as she could.
They ended their tour in a technological center where they saw some of the technical wonders that the Borjon had created. Somehow, even with their technologies, the Borjon seemed to have kept a strong artistic bent to many of their creations. Oh yes, humans could learn a lot from the Borjon.
Finally, they dined in a beautiful area that appeared to be a Borjon hotel complex. Apparently they’d been given a whole floor and at first, Jarra wondered about that. As time progressed, however, she ascertained that the separate facilities were more for their benefit than for the Borjon, who seemed to have a genuine curiosity regarding the humans, but none of the xenophobia that some humans still seemed to be obsessed with. They were provided with a delicious sampling of Borjon food, but also a generous provision of human foods. Everything they ate was extremely good.
It was a tired group that retired to their rooms that night. Jarra had been kept so busy she hadn’t had time to become nervous about the upcoming day. As she prepared for bed, she began to grow anxious once more, so she spent a few minutes meditating to relax once more.
Tomorrow would bring what tomorrow would bring.
Chapter 7
Master Hadassah
The Order of the Most Vigilant had been around almost as long as the Borjon race had existed. They served the Prophecy, a set of prophetic words discovered many centuries before. Left behind by the alien race the Borjon simply called the Forerunners, among other things the words of that prophecy aided the Borjon in their conflicts with the alien Aerstone.
The Borjon had learned quickly that the AI-based Aerstone society had dedicated themselves to their mission to eliminate all biological life from the galaxy, and the Prophecies had been one of the things that had helped them to survive. The first Borjon contacts with the Aerstone had been horrific, if not bizarre. The Aerstone simply attacked without warning, never once speaking to the small Borjon nests on the outpost worlds where they attacked first, nests that had no survivors when the attacks were over. It was only after an injured Aerstone had been captured alive that they learned of their intentions at all or why they did it.