<I am completely satisfied that it is what has been represented. The scanner that I use before I apply the implant gives me 'go ahead' readings on each adult Solaran scanned. I also tested it on some persons who are known to be non-candidates. The scanner indicated that the implant could not be applied and even turned off the implant mechanism within me. That is a nice addition. Apparently the scanner has been fine tuned to detect marginal candidates suggesting the personality flaws that would be a barrier to their effective use of Solaran capabilities. My recommendation is that we apply the new update to all Solarans that want it. It will substantially enhance our capabilities as a group. It is a genuine upgrade.>
Before anything else could be said, All of the original implant recipients volunteered for the revised implants including those with the primary implant.
<Aston, here is what we will do. I do not intend to throw caution totally out the window. The Fosters and the Codys will be the first subjects. If that has no detrimental results then the rest of the Solarans will follow. If something happens to me, Aston will appoint a new Commander and the formula will be reviewed to find what went amiss. Fair enough?>
<That sounds like a realistic approach. When do you want the upgrades applied?>
<I think now is as good a time as any. Lets all check back in this time tomorrow for another meeting. We have plenty to discuss. Janie, it is time for another visit to your 'uncle" in London. Please ask him to feed the information on those visual feeds to his friend in the press. Josè, would you please do the same with you friend in Mexico City. Let them know that this is not an exclusive. Aston, edit out the parts that indicate we are in possession of a fleet of war craft. Collum, I need to talk with you after the meeting. Can I meet you on your bridge?>
<Definitely.>
Chapter 21 - What is Ahead
# Earth Orbit on the Lotan Flag Ship #
# Monday, July 25 #
Andy, Pat, Gus and Barbara teleported to Collum's ship. <Collum, can Sider and both your families join us for this discussion.>
<Certainly, why don't we meet in one of our lounges? This all sounds ominous.>
<Oh, sorry about that. That impression was not intentional and it is not ominous at all. The lounge sounds good and I could use a drink of water.>
A few minutes later, they were all comfortably seated around a large table in a lounge with refreshments at hand. <Collum, earlier today before we met with the surprising Slegna, I mentioned that we had two issues to discuss. I apologize for the way the second issue came up without you having an opportunity to hear about it or agree to it in advance. However, I was quite serious. You have 71 ships in this system with your entire population living in those ships, that is nearly 600,000 people. You also have another 8,000,000 in stasis. The lunar bases on the dark side can house more than 10 million person in reasonable comfort. Surprisingly, they have artificial gravity enhancers there that bring the gravity to nearly 1 G on Earth. Aston tells me that is nearly the same as Lota. I would ask that you consider occupying those bases and take possession of those ships. There are issues to discuss but essentially this is driven by several factors including:
Earth is not ready for the level of technology to be found on the bases and I do not think it will do them any good to have it handed to them. In fact, probably the opposite.
They are certainly not ready for the technology to be found in those ships. Almost all of them are warships. Earth is too splintered politically to be handed warships with the capabilities they have there. They would likely destroy each other quickly.
They should only be permitted to place people on the moon that are part of a multinational effort to prevent the possibility of a massive lunar land grab not to mention the political ramifications.
Is this something that you and your people would be willing to consider?>
<As a matter of fact, it is. As you point out, a race of people living on ships is not ideal for our species, certainly not with the ships we have for any extended period of time. We are ready to have some solid land under us. We would prefer to have some air above us but that is for a future time and probably another system. We have identified a potential planet very close by in the Tau Ceti system, but that will take considerable preparation. The lunar bases can provide that in the interim.>
<It is interesting that you say that because one of the notions I had is that you may represent the catalyst that will kick start my planet to make it a better place to live. I think that there are many opportunities for your people to enjoy on our planet. We have numerous vacation spots and many tourist friendly locations. The opportunities for trade are immense and you have the ability to provide trade goods that are not readily available on Earth. That would have to be developed. At another level, I suspect that you have many people that would be prime candidates for the Solarans. I think you will increasingly find yourselves in the role of guardians for other peoples. Not a bad legacy and it sort of fits what the Slegna were hinting at for both of us.>
<Andy, I believe I speak for all Lotans here, but we would be honored to be part of what you describe. I find the concepts exciting and meaningful.>
<We have much to do to get started. The first is to assure that the Grell have left us no surprises or traps. We need to be certain that those bases are indeed habitable by our peoples. I want to establish a few of the bases as reserved for future Earth use. Those should be reasonably separated from the Lota bases because of potential Earth belligerence at your presence. I don't like that but it is a fact of life that I do not think Earthians have outgrown. Most of the advanced technology there will be removed except for the artificial gravity boosters and the shielding mechanisms that exist. We should seek a way to seal the technology that remains if it exceeds Earths capability. You and your people will have to be the judge of that. Once you are satisfied that the bases are safe and we will help you with that, you can then move in. We have also noted that many of the bases are readily expandable. In discussions with Aston and a number of our Solarans, we believe that the base capacity could easily be doubled or even tripled.>
<That is exactly as I would suggest it. I am surprised and pleased that you have such a good grip on what needs to be done. I think the Sorza are in for a nasty awakening.>
<I sincerely hope so. I am also hoping there are some freighters to be found at those bases but we do not know that yet. There are at least 50 bases there, some of which are quite large. All appear to be shielded in some manner. My thought is that after we assure that the bases are clean, we need to inventory what is there. You may want to pull in some of your ships to assist in that. Aston will be doing personality scans on your people to see who else might be a candidate for the Solarans.>
<I have already performed those scans on the two ships you have in Earth's orbit. Fully 10% of the population on both ships are candidates for Solaran implants. For sake of comparison, only 0.0001% of Earths population is potentially eligible. That is a considerable disparity. It also has something to do with Earth human maturity. Unfortunately it can't be ignored and does pose some questions.>
<I can guess what some of those might be. I think the primary question is going to be, 'Can Lotans accept Solaran command by a youthful Earthian?' The unequivocal answer to that is absolutely. The reason is that you have been carefully selected by Aston, a product of our own civilization. We were aware of Aston's construction and dispatch. We understand what went into his creation and trust his decisions. So yes, we do accept your command.>
<That is the question foremost in my mind. My inexperience in such matters will undoubtedly peek through on occasion. For that reason, I am quick to seek input from the experience of persons such as yourself to help guide our path. It appears that we are about to go through a period of rapid expansion and we do not have the necessary structure to utilize our resources properly once we reach a certain size. Aston has been a huge help in that regard and I will continue to use his capabilities. Obviously I can't be in contact with a
ll Solarans all the time so I need to consider where we go from here. If you do not mind, I would like to invite a few more folks here since this is a good time to discuss some of these things.>
<Good idea. We can accommodate another 40 persons here so if you need more we will have to move to your ship.>
<I have 32 persons in mind. Essentially our original team plus a few. Aston can attend mentally.> Andy gave his list to Aston and he arranged for them to all attend. When everyone was there, Andy provided an update to the discussion that had occurred to that point. <There are several issues that we will need to address pretty soon or stumble under our own weight. We are about to go through a period of expansion that is frankly beyond what we need to meet the Sorza. My impression is that this is the direction that the Slegna have kind of steered us into. I do not object to that but it may be a game changer for some. So here are some of the points of discussion that I would like to pursue in the coming days and weeks.
With expansion, we will need to build a military form of organization to manage the events we address and who addresses them. Aston has been of great assistance there and I expect he will continue. I would like to ask Pat Clark, Josè Gomez, Collum Farn and Sider Belst aided by Aston to develop that structure. I expect that our organization will exceed 60,000 persons within the year. What do we do with 60,000 Solarans? Perhaps the better question should be, what do we do with 860,000 Solarans? Remember we have over 8 million Lotans in stasis. One thing we can do is to really improve on the bases we have claimed from the Grell.
If we can do that with the Lunar structures, what can we do for an entire planet. The next would be to consider the construction of bases similar to those on the moon but do that on Mars and elsewhere. One thought is to terraform Mars. Just a thought but I suspect that the Lotans would like to be able to breathe on the surface of a planet.
When the Earth gets its act together, we may eventually move off the moon altogether, so locations like Mars and elsewhere may be necessary to maintain the peace.
Some or all of those carriers we claimed can be reconfigured as super freighters. Some of the vessels should be retained as war vessels but the persons operating them will have no need of the weapons on board since they are the better weapons when needed.
This next may be in the back of some minds and I am going to put it out on the table. We Solarans are now essentially a different species. What should be our role on this planet Earth and for that matter, in this part of the galaxy. So far we are driven in our actions to provide help for people with lesser capabilities than our own. But the question will come up, are we stifling the growth of the humans living on Earth? Are the things we are doing for them, going to help them in the long run? At some point we may have to consider leaving. If so, how do we recognize when that point has arrived. Do we leave a presence if that point comes? This will be a difficult decision when the day comes. Remember too that Solarans will have a substantially longer lifespan than other humans. We need to consider and plan for that eventuality.
What of Lota? Has all Lotan life been extinguished in the Lotan System? The Slegna seem to imply that there may be survivors. We have to know and we can't wait years. If there are survivors, they must be rescued and soon. That operation should be ready as soon as possible. This time the difference will be that the ships that go, will be armed with Solarans. We need to determine if the planet is salvageable. Can the damage done by the Sorza be repaired. This has to be a priority.
The Sorza will fall. They have no idea what is coming their way. I have no intention of waiting seven years to address that problem. I expect to be on our way to meet them by this time next year or sooner.
Who else have the Sorza injured? Is there something we can do to help them? I intend to find the Sorza wherever they are and push them back to their own planet. Once there, we will quarantine them. End of story. Quarantine likely means returning them to preindustrial levels.
We can't afford to ignore the Grell. They will only invade another species. That is their mindset. They too need to be quarantined in much the same manner as we handle the Sorza.
I think that Soloran candidates need to appreciate that this is where we are likely heading. One of the advantages of this is that we and our children will walk the star ways and on planets that we only dream about. Imagine the wonder of it all.>
Collum sat back in his chair and had a pensive look. Finally he addressed Andy, <My friend you continue to surprise me. I thought your treatment of the Grell was amazing, but this vision. You do not think small. I can see why Aston selected you for the role you have. Know that you have my full support. I feel like a young cadet in our military academy. I have some ideas for how we might work a rescue mission to Lota and it will involve the use of a Grell battleship. I will put a plan together for you review. You should also know that we too received a gift from a Slegna called Gabriel. He gave Sider Belst all the security codes for every Grell ship and all of the lunar facilities.>
<Oh boy. That tops it all. Gabriel was also one of the four primary archangels and his patronage was communications. He was called the messenger. Even I remember that one.>
<Son, your mother and I are also impressed and proud of you. I must admit that I wondered where this all might be heading and I can see that you are likely correct. I would still want to come back to visit Earth but that is still some distance in the future. Whatever happens, we will adjust, but our roots are here. I have no intention of reverting back to our previous normal. The idea that we might be of greater help to others than we envisioned is something of a bonus.>
<Thanks Dad. Collum, I see another need considering our desire to get out to Lota as quickly as we can. What we need is enhanced speed for our ships. The Sorza can move at 10xSL. Aston is capable of 100xSL as can your vessels. The Grell ships can move at 500xSL. If we use a Grell ship with that speed we can reach Lota in 63 days. We need to determine if we can transfer a Grell type drive to our ships. We need a crash project to enhance our drive capability to 500xSL or even better, to more than that. If that is not possible, can we install stealth capability on a Grell ship? We need more speed and we need stealth capability.>
<We had a similar discussion with some of our scientists a few months ago and they seemed to think it was possible. I have not checked back with them for a progress report. Let me check and see where they are with the project.> Collum called the scientists and noted that they were pretty excited. He asked them to come to the lounge to discuss it. A few minutes later, three men and two women arrived at the Lounge and were clearly surprised at the number of people there all in Solaran uniforms. <Relax doctors, these are our friends the Solarans. Please respond to them mentally so they will understand what you say. Solarans, I would like to introduce to you Doctors Gipp, Stew, Nees, Nest and Zent.>
<Of course, Solarans, oh my goodness, you are the ones who have chased off the Grell. Amazing. Those were nasty people.>
<Doctors, we are discussing a possible rescue mission to Lota but the problem is that our ships are only capable of 100xSL. We discussed this limitation some months ago. Have you been able to come up with any means to improve our speed?>
<It is interesting that you should call at this time because as of an hour ago the answer is yes. An emphatic yes.>
<I am almost embarrassed to tell you this because by correcting a minor error in the drive conformation we can increase the operational speed from 100xSL to 12,000xSL. I think you may now appreciate why we are all so excited.>
<Doctor, I am the Solaran Commander, did I understand you to say 12,000xSL?>
<Yes, yes, yes and the modifications to the drives will take about an hour to accomplish and can be done by our usual engine repair people.>
Andy was stunned. <How is that even possible?>
<I have to say that each of us was a bit incredulous. The error made by the builders is difficult to believe. You see the drives as originally structured
would have given us the higher speed. Unfortunately the installation instructions had a sequence of cable connections misaligned resulting in a slower speed. Even more interesting is the fact that proper installation also provides a substantially reduced fuel usage. We could not believe it when we saw the solution. Our initial disbelief caused this to take longer. By tomorrow all of our ships could be capable of this increased speed.>
<Doctors, for this discovery, your names will be in the history books. Please prepare corrective instructions so we can distribute this information to all ships as soon as possible.>
<We have prepared those instructions and they are ready for dispatch at your command. >
<This means we could have ships there in 2 days and 15 hours from the time they leave here. Could we borrow one of your engine repairmen to make the adjustments on Aston I, Aston 2, and Aston 3?.>
<Certainly. I don't think I could stand too many days like this one has turned out to be.>
Andy grinned and said, <Quantum leaps will do that to you.>
Chapter 22 - Growth and Progress
# Earth Orbit on the Solaran Ship Aston #
# Tuesday, July 26 #
<Aston, I think it is time to accelerate our search for Solaran candidates. The new features contained in the implants that limit the ability to abuse the gift should be a nice failsafe for a dubious selection. However, I would still prefer to rely on your evaluation of a candidate. The growth potential from the Lotans really suggests a bigger role for those with the talent. We are definitely going to need an organizational structure. I think it will not be very long before we start looking for things to do. With that in mind I am going to need a second in command that understands larger structures more than any of our original group. Also, we do not know just how consistent the numbers of Solaran candidates in the Lotan population will be until you get a better look at them. To speed that up, we need to bring the rest of their fleet in closer than Saturn. In fact I would like to bring them in to lunar orbit.>