Galactica: Book 1 - Via Lactea

 

The next morning, the Marsupials were giddy. Today, they were sure, the visitors would tell them what they had been hiding. Some had slept well, but most were groggy from lack of rest. Their mind had not been able to find the serenity required for a proper recovery. In fact, the only only one that had slept like a log was Univida, and he still was roaring away when breakfast had passed.

Iridia climbed into Timor’s hand and straddled his middle finger as she explained the principles of a kiln and how it was used. She had taken part of the night to teach Mark how to make a pot so they would have something to cook in the oven. Princess Iridia spent hours explaining the use of the Potter’s wheel, how to produce different shapes, and how to prepare them for the kilning. Then, after placing some pre-dried samples in the kiln, she asked Ovid to start a fire around the exterior.

"You can not put the objects directly in the fire. They would crack. What you do is you put them inside the oven and heat its exterior. It will heat the inside progressively, and you will have less chance of cracking. You must maintain the fire running for some time. The bigger the piece, the thicker the clay, the longer the firing process. When you feel things are done, that the pieces are ready, you slowly let the fire die down and let the inside of the oven cool naturally. If you try to speed the process, all you get is shards of ceramics, nothing very useful except to do some wall decorations! Also, be aware that pieces may require re-cooking. This is an absolute necessity for glazing. First-dry pots are good to keep dry goods and keep water cold. The later is the result of evaporation on the outer surface of the pot of the water inside. It gets transferred there by percolation through the pores of the dried and hardened clay. Glazing blocks pores, so if you want to store liquids for a while, you need to glaze the container."

"How do we know when things are right?" asked some unidentified Marsupial.

"By trial and error. Note the conditions, the shape, the thickness, the apparent temperature, and the time spent in the oven for each piece and the result."

While some had spent the morning learning pot-making, a number of Marsupials had left for the Sawmill. Their first task was to replace the rope bridge with a wooden one. Twenty-four beams were painstakingly brought to the stream and piled for future use. The stream was less than 15 feet wide at its narrowest, but the current was furious and fraught with danger. At mid-day came, one Worker asked the Foreman what he was waiting for.

"What I am waiting for? I am waiting for the visitors to show up. I almost lost Univida yesterday to that stream and building that bridge, even if its design will be simple, is risky. Anyway, we still got to get the planks from the stockpile, so, after lunch, we bring them and put them behind the beams, ready for use."

"But should we not begin building the bridge?"

"With what? Do you have any rope, pulleys, studs and ties? I see nothing of the sort around. We can not make the logs fly across the stream, or throw them like we did for the lead strings so we could pull the big primary ropes across the stream to build that temporary bridge. And I shall remind you we had to send someone up-river until he could cross at a ford safely."

Conveniently chastised, the Worker kept quiet. They returned to the Sawmill and took six-inch thick planks on their shoulders, four thick, and brought them near the stream. It took three trips to bring the planks to the working area, and by then half of the afternoon had passed.

"I wonder where they are?" asked another Worker as he threw a bucket of cold water over himself to freshen up. Just then, the Diplomatic Mission team made its way into view and hopped across the stream as if it was a mere crack in the pavement.

"Sorry it took us so long, Foreman," said Ovid. "We had to teach pottery making and kilning to those in camp and it took most of the day. I am pleased to see you have brought the material required on the site."

"It is okay with me, Sir. I figured you were doing something else."

"Anyway, Foreman," spoke Timor in a deep rumbling voice, "the leadership of our World had other priorities to deal with and was not available as early as the Architect had hoped. They currently are discussing what to do given the situation, especially in light of the attitude problem you mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, Paschal and Harp have decided to join us and help you build a simple bridge."

Just as Timor finished, Paschal and Harp materialised in their midst.

"Hey guys, are you ready to build a bridge?" asked Paschal as he pulled a blueprint out of thin air.

After a resounding ‘yes’, he pulled out another sheet.

"Okay, this is the required equipment list. It includes everything we will need. Foreman, can I see your inventory, please?"

After comparing the two lists, Paschal called Harp’s attention to some major issues.

"Check this: no rope, no pulleys, no nails, no straight saws, no hammers, no jigsaws, no studs to hold the pulleys, no cross-ties... Can you manage?"

Harp looked at Paschal with a mischievous grin.

"I thought you wanted to minimise the use of Magic?"

"I still do, prat, but we can not wait forever. From what I hear, the ropes will not be ready for another two days! And I am not even considering the time required to shape tools. I am sure there are jigsaws and straight saws somewhere, probably hidden under a destroyed Carpenter’s shop, but do we have the time to look for that?"

"Not really. I get your point. Zen? Port the 40 pulleys from the stockpile in the Marsupial village please. Ovid and Mark, produce the tools required. I will produce the ropes."

The Marsupials were stunned, yet again, by the efficiency of the Atlanteans. Less than five minutes after their arrival, stockades were built to hoist the beams, a pulley system allowed the massive woodwork to be pulled across the narrow chiasm and the Pegasus volunteered, with the help of Timor, to pull the beam across. Things went quickly as the Marsupials guided the beam while the two biggest Atlanteans pulled. It took three hours to set 12 beams in place, separated by a gap of about a feet. At first, the Marsupials wondered why the gap, but Paschal had them cut some beams in segments of 60 feet then he had them use the jigsaw to cut out notches one foot wide and one foot deep every four feet. The notched beams were then laid across the primary deck and hammered into place, locking the primary beams’ position relative to each other and reinforcing the bridge deck. In all eight 60-foot beams were used. Left-over beams were then added at each end and the jigsaw used at a slant to create a ramp to allow rolling stock to reach the rather high-perched bridge deck. By then the Sun was getting low and the Atlanteans called it a day, much to the relief of the Marsupials, that had been working non-stop since early morning.

"This is a rather primitive bridge, Foreman, but it will suffice for your needs," said Paschal.

"We have to go home. We need to report to Dad on the progress. We shall be back tomorrow. I suspect the Emperor will be with us this time, but do not do anything special. He loves nature and has spend most of his life living in the forest."

The two Boys vanished directly into the Imperial Baths, creating quite a splash.

"I was getting itchy from all the mud and dust!" complained Paschal.

"When I think it took Williams throwing you in the river for your first bath, you have made progress!"

"Hey, this is warm water, not water decorated with ice floes!"

"Do not try to pull a carpet over my eyes! You, like I, regret these simpler days where we were but Boys, not Princes."

A water battle ensued, where most of their brothers took sides. At the end of the fight, there was more water outside the pool than in it.

***

On the Icy Planet, the Atlanteans spent the next few weeks exploring the transport tunnels and discovering abandoned caves. They were appealed by their discovery: the Insect sometimes left the Natives to die to the last, not returning to a cave after the off season. Huge piles of bones were found around every corner, and proof of the exaction evident everywhere. Each time a mineral deposit was depleted, the Natives were moved and the weakest left to die in the mine prisons. The Atlanteans reopened the transport tunnels quickly and tried, unsuccessfully, to feed energy into it so some form of transit system would be re-established. It became apparent that the Insects had literally pulled out the wires to recover the electrical system the original constructors had installed. And I am not counting the tracks and the cars. They removed every single scrap of metal. Luckily, the Natives of the Icy planet had managed to hide some of their planetary treasures but most were lost.

The Atlanteans debated whether to regroup the Natives into a single location or not. There were favourable arguments such as ease of feeding them, but there were also counter-indications, mainly the Natives’ inability to communicate between each other and the association between such a displacement and another genocide in preparation. Finally, Ian, who had taken over the Captain’s seat as soon as the Wars had come to a close, decided to keep them separate, but to facilitate exchanges between the isolated caves. Since surface transport was all but inexistent, the Atlanteans put their Engineers to work in rebuilding the underground. A Horde of Engineers descended on the planet using the FSS as personal carriers.

A census revealed the most populous caves, and a map, drawn up by Paschal from radar imagery of the underground, allowed planning to minimise the effort for the maximum efficiency. Almost overnight, 50,000 miles of tracks were materialised and locked into place, deriving the mineral resource directly from the planetary core, as surface minerals were all but depleted and Harold opposed any mineral be taken from Thebes’ stockpile.

"The planet is doomed anyway, Paschal. We know it. So use the core resources and then, when we finally move them into Thebes once the Biologist, Climatologist, Ecologist and other Reconstruction Specialists have done their work and your brother Harp has set up the Tessaract segment for them properly, you can recover these resources and build them their little New world. We can not disperse our resources outside of Thebes, Son. We have another planet to save as well, and that is only the beginning. We must establish a standard procedure: take what is present in-situ to rebuild or recreate a world, and then move the population. If we do what you propose, we risk running out of resources quickly."

So it was set that the planet’s nucleus supplied the material for rail track, cars, electrical wiring, and everything required to rebuild a civilisation on its death bed. Harp had set the tessaract to just prior to the onset of the last ice age of the planet and Colibri took over the reconstruction of the ecosystem in the tessaract from samples taken back in time.

Meanwhile, the Atlanteans began informing the Natives of their discoveries, including what was left of the planetary Capital and the skeletons of the fabled rulers of old. As part of reunifying the Natives under a common government, the Atlanteans figured they needed a common language. However, the drift was too considerable to overcome on the short term so Yamato, the Atlantean Linguist, decided to create a brand-new writing based on ideograms rather than phonetics, much like the Shang Dynasty had done; furthermore, the use of ideograms would help unify the Natives and and place them under a unified government, much like the Qin Dynasty Seal Scripts had helped unify China on the Earth. Yet, the issues remained complex and time was running out. Each cave got a group of Atlantean Translators knowing at least two, more frequently eight native languages.

The next priority, once these basic elements had been triggered, was establishing local governments for each cave. The Atlanteans were no fans of democracy, as it tends to bring to power the most corrupt and power-greedy. However, short of taking over the Natives as a colony, something Harold was adamantly opposed to, there was not much else the Atlanteans could do but organise elections, the dreaded word.

Once the concept was explained, the candidates selected, the election was held, and proved again to the Atlanteans that the need to control others for personal advantage was a fundamental driving force of nature. This pissed off the Atlanteans, but they could do nothing until those supposedly in power acted openly against them. No way were they going to reveal their main asset: telepathy.

Once the elections were done with, the Atlanteans brought about the need for meeting with other cave-dwellers. The reaction was always the same:

"Why should we? We can live on our own once the farms are back in production and the food is plentiful to pass the dark period during hibernation."

"You need to meet others so you can exchange resources which you might not have at hand. You need to meet others to exchange genetic material because, however resistant to diseases and well-adapted you are to these adverse conditions, they can change suddenly, and you would be without enough variance to survive."

"We survived the invaders."

"Barely. Had we not kicked their rear, you were headed for extinction."

"Prove it."

And there came the first shock to the so-called politicians: the number of abandoned and empty caves, and the realisation that their population used to be in the low billions but now barely reached a few hundred thousand. Visits to abandoned caves were good eye-openers as the Natives were taken to the most gruesome sites revealing millions of skeletons piled haphazardly on the floor of mine prisons.

But the shock, like for any dim-wit, was of short duration, and protests of interference in internal affairs by the Atlanteans would come back with a vengeance. It usually started almost painlessly by a question about the need for the exchange of genetic material.

After explaining the role of genes in the identity of a species, and the need for variance so that, should conditions change adversely, some individuals might survive and recreate a population, there came the need to explain that inbreeding generally led to a reduced variance and a weaker group of individuals more prone to genetic diseases, sensibility to certain conditions, and a generally weaker health of the inbreeding sub-segment of the species. Then came the shocker: the Atlanteans tried to make the cave dwellers realise that the isolation of populations in different environments that prevented cross-breeding accelerated the expression of aberrant genes and an accelerated drift from the norm.

"Is this what happened to you?" asked an awed Native as he eyed a dwarf standing beside a Troll.

"To a certain degree, yes. I say to a certain degree because this only covers a tiny part of our genetic history."

"I do not understand," said one Native leader. "If genetic diversity is induced by inbreeding, how can inbreeding be bad?"

"Genetic diversity is not induced by inbreeding. What inbreeding does is allow the expression of these genes. Now, most mutations usually result in anomalies that are detrimental to survival. It is like tinkering with a very complex system. Ok, some changes may improve performance, but most do not, and sometimes result in catastrophic failures. You have the same issue with genetics. It is tinkering on a vast scale, and most genetic modifications will be detrimental, but some will be beneficial for survival until reproduction. Those that will harm the probability of survival gradually get filtered out and become rarer; those that increase the probability of survival spread gradually in a population, since it is the carrier of these genes that have a better chance of reaching reproductive age and producing descendants. Now, Nature has installed a two-key system which requires that a modification be tested before it gets spread around. That is where the dominant-recessive gene structure comes into play. A recessive gene is either a gene undergoing testing, or a gene whose time has passed and is now going extinct."

"How does that relate to us being able to exchange genes with other cave-dwellers?"

"See, if you interbreed too much, defects will come out, reducing your chances of survival; on the other hand, advantageous genes the others might develop to survive will not reach you. And those genes you might develop might not reach them. Therefore, cross-breeding has two advantages: it reduces the probability of defects coming to the foreground and affecting every member of the community, and it allows profitable genes to reach your genetic pool."

"Oh..."

"In the long run, if you absolutely keep isolated, you will become a sub-species, then a totally different species when your genetic drift will have reached a certain level."

"Err?"

"A distinct species is established when the cross-breeding of different stock does not produce fertile descent or does not produce any descent at all. For instance, you see that four-legged one sitting there? He is a Wolf, and the one sitting beside him is a Dog. They are sub-species of the same species and can still inter-breed; their isolation was artificial and due to an artificial process called ‘domestication’. In the wild, they inter-breed freely and produce viable offspring. Only five generations of Lupus separate the two sub-species, or 20 of our years. However not all of our friends can interbreed in their natural form. If all members of the Canis genus can interbreed, it is not the case of all members of the Canis family, particularly the Jackals. As a rule of thumb, the more differences there are between genetic structure, such as number of chromosomes or organisation of their mapping, the less likely there will be a successful mating, as measured by the survival and capacity of the hybrid to reproduce. Now, all that does not apply to us, since we have genetic mappings and can select which genes will be expressed in the offspring, so we can successfully mate with literally thousands of apparently totally incompatible species."

"This is too much information. Why are you telling us all that, again?"

"So that you understand the necessity to not only contact the other cave-dwellers but that you have mating with their members. We shall keep a record of whom mates with whom in an effort to reduce the probability of collision between close parents during the selection of mating partners. We know you attach little importance to this, but it is vital that mating between immediate family members be put on hold indefinitely for your own survival."

"Is this a threat?"

"From us no, from Nature, yes. We could not care less if you had Children with your own Children if it did not guarantee your destruction by Nature itself. We see it in action with the number of deformities you produce at each generation."

"But they are food!"

Greywolf, which had been listening to the exchange between Alexander and the narrow-minded Councillor-elect, wondered:

«I wonder if it is worth trying to save the Natives. They are dumber than rocks.»

«Let us not despair. After all, I am sure Ian and Harp can produce intelligent rocks!»

«I doubt they will be able to understand that their planet is doomed in the short run, Alexander. If I were you, I would keep that information to myself. They seem to have a rather fatalistic approach to existence and would probably consider it better to maintain the status quo rather than unsettle their way of life. I suspect we are dealing with those that were quite content to be treated as Sheep by the Insects and that our arrival and the ensuing revolt against the occupants disturbed the most. They were the most vocal for a return to stability at any cost, and got elected on that platform. We know that this option is a road map to disaster because nothing is really stable, but they will refuse to see it that way and will hold to their tattered world views at all costs.»

«I know Greywolf. And we do not have 20 years to deal with this.»

«Let us select the youngest and most promising for salvaging and abandon the old coots to their fate,» offered the Elf King. "After all, we need not save everyone, but only a good sample of the population so we have sufficient genetic diversity to restart them in one of the Tessaracts.»

«That is an idea. But how do we know which ones to salvage?»

«Observe and see whom is more flexible, more capable of adaptation, more willing to try new things...» said Greywolf.

«Pick the rebellious! That will serve two purposes: comfort the old coots, and remove the most intelligent off the planet, dooming the idiots to their fate,» added Enron.

«This promises some fun! Given how explosively disruptive we are already, adding a collection of incorrigible trouble-makers to our population will not calm down the ebullient nature of Thebes. I am sure Dad will appreciate! Anyway, back to that idiot.»

***

On Thebes, the Privy Council was in session, and everyone that was on the space-ship and member of the Council was present. Harold was listening to Paschal and Harp report on their latest visit planet-side.

"Dad, we need to move quickly. I have put Thebes’ sensors hard at work and there are thousands of these Repositories of Knowledge. They were useful for the Marsupials, but they will tell us a lot about the effort of Atlantis One concerning space colonisation. Sitar, have you looked at the data we collected from our recovery of Atlantis One?"

"Yes. That colony, one of 12, was named Sagar. The Marsupials as we know them today were pets for the Atlanteans of the time, and were much smaller. They had been breeding them to increase intelligence and strength. It seems it worked in the long run. We never did look for the colonies in our current time since we thought they were all abandoned."

‘If I understand you, we have to find out what was left behind in the 11 other colonies and assess their situation?" asked Diamondcutter.

"I think so. But we need not rush out of this area and disperse our effort needlessly in a blind search. Sagar was the 12th colony, the furthest away from the home world, and the least advanced."

"And that is supposed to encourage us, Harp? Have you looked at how extensive the Repositories of Knowledge network on this planet is?" said Annabelle. "Just imagine the extent of older colonies!"

"Grandma, you assume that the Repositories would grow with the age of a colony. This is far from certain. I suspect the Repositories are standard issue structures the Atlanteans installed almost automatically when they decided to colonise a planet. These caves could act as redoubts, refuges, source of technology and allow the colonies to build on the natural resources of the colonised planet, thus speeding the process of independence."

"Harp is right, you know. I think it even makes more sense that the Atlanteans did this at the onset of a colony rather than when things were well underway. They could select the most strategic emplacements for the caves without the need to perturb an already flourishing colonial structure. They could then build the colonial system around the caves, with them as the core for each implantation."

"If you say so, Ian, but I still have my doubts."

"We all do. We shall know when we go down at their next dawn. Dad, have you decided to come, finally? I think we need you there."

"Yes, Son, I shall accompany you and Paschal down planet-side. Sitar, I want you with me. Have we any reports from the Icy planet?"

"Alexander and Enron are fit to be tied," said Red Fox, the second in command of the Fox Canines. "Typhoon has set aside a wing of Dragons to lend them air support, should things degenerate further."

"Is it that bad?"

"Worse than you think. immobilism is rampant. He is considering raking all the youths and the dynamic adults and abandon to their fates old coots and idle gits."

"And what is holding up Alexander and the others? They have all the authority of Atlantis behind them."

"He has yet to explain what lies ahead for those that stay behind, and he needs to teach them how to talk to each other so they can discuss between themselves what to do."

"I wonder what there is to discuss," said Bjorn. "Given what is coming, the only option is to run!"

"Fatalism. God wants it so, what can we do seems to be their attitude."

"Red Fox, when you contact the four Swarm leaders, tell them that we do not have 20 years to spare for idiots. The solution is simple and direct. Put the facts on the table, have those who want to leave raise their hand, and port them into the Tessaract reserved for their needs by Harp. Also port all minors, no questions asked, after the vote is taken, and leave the others behind. The 5^th Swarm is recalled. Paschal, time-line in-stream data and sampling is accelerated. Get the old Librarian on to work so his Horde is ready to catalogue whatever written material we collect and get the Elves ready to produce an inventory of ecosystems from the data streams and the genetic samples."

"That is already in progress, Dad. The Librarian is undergoing a major refit, so it is his second in command that will handle the task."

"I hope his temper will be improved," said Typhoon, "or I will roast his arse!"

"We can only pray."

"To whom? Ourselves?" snickered Ian.

After a couple of coughs, the meeting adjourned. The essentials of what needed to be covered had been. As the Councillors were leaving, Harold caught the eye of Samson who stayed behind.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he asked as the others left the room.

"Yes. Locate the 11 other colonies and plan a course from this location that will bring us to them in the most orderly fashion. From there, plan a course to the old Earth location where we left it some years back."

"That shall be done. Anything else?" asked the King Father of the Elves.

"No, but be ready to adjust the plans if we have more surprises along the way. That galaxy is not as empty as we initially thought."

"I know. I am as surprised as you are that the Borgs left anything behind, much less the Soul-Eaters."

"I am not that surprised. Look how long this area has been left alone, like it was deliberately left to return to its natural state after a severe reaping."

"I do not know if it anything deliberate. This area is rather out of the way, and I am surprised we found a colony."

"You should talk to Sitar. There might be a specific reason why this colony was set here, such as a defensive anchor."

"At 40,250 light-years from Atlantis One? That would be nuts! We are almost halfway across the Galaxy from their home world!"

"There might be resources we are unaware of on that planet. Ask for a complete geological study. That planet might be a rich source of Orichalque, and our ancestors went out of their way to protect its source."

"You have a point. Who is the Imperial Geologist?"

"Poor Paschal. He wears way too many hats for his own good. You better catch him before he heads for the nest. He is near collapse and you know how grumpy he is when he is woken up in the middle of a hot dream!"

"Telepathy does have its advantages. I can always select the proper time to break into his night to piss him off!" snickered Harold.

"You, my friend, are bad!"

"As if you have not done it to Enron!"

"I admit guilt, but feel none. That Boy made me sweat enough when he was young."

"Should we tell them they broadcast during their oneiric periods?"

"And deprive us of the fun of learning some things they think us old Buzzards should not know about? No way!"

"I am off to the Bridge to start on the task you just assigned to me. I want to make a head-start. "

"All right. I need to spend some energy. I will be making a new necklace for Annabelle."

"Without Magic?"

"You know the moment I touch a hammer, Magic flares at its tip? I have absolutely no control on that."

"You better talk to Harp about the issue. That might be troublesome later."

"I completely forgot and now he is busy."

"Never enough to let you handle the issue on your own. Get to him as quickly as you can, my friend. Uncontrolled Magic is a recipe for disaster given our level of power."

"You have a point. I shall make my way to the nest right away."

"Kill two Birds with one stone and talk to Paschal and Sitar about the potential strategic importance of the Marsupial planet for Atlantis One."

"I plan to."

***

Off on Icy Planet, the 5^th Swarm prepared for the recall quietly. The four ⁴⁴ ("Primus Marshallis: Latin, First Marshall.") received the Imperial decision concerning the population’s rescue and began implementing it immediately.

Directives were sent to each cave’s current Atlantean occupying force, along with a complete description of the situation and its consequences for the Natives. It was made abundantly clear within the scroll that the Emperor would not put up with much foot-dragging and that the Natives, once informed of the impending destruction of their planet by the stars’ near-collision course were to pick either to leave or to stay within ten minutes of the facts being revealed to them.

"Dad is probably considering blowing up the planet himself. He is furious," said Alexander, as he read the missive from Thebes.

"I would not put it beyond him," said Greywolf. "He is decisive if nothing else."

"Granted he is that," replied Silver Moon, "but how do we get the message across the Natives they have the choice of life or death without sounding Imperial?"

"We are Imperial, like it or not, my friend," commented Greywolf.

"Let us be as decisive as Dad then. We put the Natives in front of the choice: join us, or we leave you to die. We have done what we can to help them, but the situation is such that political bickering and delays are out of the question."

"How should we proceed?" asked Lord Agramon Silver Moon.

"Collect your translators, have them produce translations of the message from Thebes and cross-validate the translations. Then we read the documents to the populace in each cave and give them ten minutes to vent their concerns."

"And after that?" asked Greywolf as he eyed Alexander, impressed by the young Pup’s capacity to cut to the chase.

"It is time we put our true powers on the line. We have been saving their faces way too much for their own good. Proceed to a mental scan for the answer to a simple question: stay or leave? For those that want to leave, port them within the Tessaract Harp has built for them, making sure they are compartmentalised by cave origin, and leave the others behind."

"There will be revolts!"

"I know, Enron. That is why I want the last in the caves to be Mages. Once the first selection is done, tell the left-overs it is their last chance. Some will change their minds and should be ported, along with the last Children. Then get out of there, regroup to the surface and activate the FSS recall cycle."

"How is the recovery of the Natives’ culture progressing?" asked Enron, more to distract the others from the hard work that lay ahead than because he was actually interested in the answer.

"Probably as well as can be. You know how dedicated Paschal’s teams are. I have no direct information on the question, but I am sure the Collectors are working non-stop."

"I am surprised he has not shown up down here," Greywolf said.

"I am as well, but I heard he is busy with the Marsupials."

"If he does not move his arse, he will not see the Insects’ magnetic accelerator."

"He will. I have given specific directives to dismantle one and reassemble it in one of the Museum Tessaracts. After all, the Engineers in the Swarms have nothing much to do."

"Shall we feed those left behind?" queried Enron.

"I have not considered the question. I suspect we shall. It will act as a constant reminded to them they made the wrong choice."

"That is still a long-term engagement, Alexander. Twenty years to be exact."

"Greywolf, you assume they will live 20 years. I have a feeling the moment we leave, they will fall back in their old habits, whom, as you know, have a hard time dying."

"Cannibalism?"

"Yes Greywolf. On the Earth, cannibalism lasted in some areas until the final days of the Cataclysm, and restarted immediately after on a vast scale. I see no reason to believe the Natives of this planet will act differently than the Humans of old."

"How long will it take to translate the documents sent to us by Thebes do you think?"

"Over a week. It covers everything and is a hundred pages long. Then another week to validate the translations, and then we move out. Within 15 days, we are out of here. And I, for one, shall much appreciate a fresh bath and a healthier environment."

"My nose has gone numb, Alexander. I feel like I lost half of my senses."

"You are not the only one Greywolf. There are some inconveniences to shape-shifting. We keep the keenest senses in whatever shape we are in!" added Silver Moon.

***

On the Marsupials’ planet, dawn poked its deep purple nose over the horizon, and the Marsupials began waking up. The Diplomatic Envoys had been busy eating their sext lunch when the first Marsupials exited their huts.

«When are you guys coming down?» asked Zen.

«Harold, Sitar, Paschal and I are ready. The delay lies with Annabelle. She is still in the bathroom.»

«I wonder why it takes them so long to clean up? They have less equipment to handle than we do! No tube steak, no small sensitive balls...» said Mark.

"If I were you, I would keep that kind of comment to myself, young one!» replied Harold, whilst laughing at the impertinence of the latest addition to his extended family. "Tom and Jerry have decided to join us at the last minute with their Centurie. They say it is not proper for an Emperor to walk in without proper decorum and escort. I can not fault them there so I agreed."

"Then materialise on the road outside camp, Sire. The central plaza is now occupied by some rather imposing structures, that act as shelters for different machinery we made for the Marsupials."

"Okay, Ovid. It is noted," said Harp.

Breakfast was just finishing when the Atlantean delegation from Thebes ported on the road outside camp. No one except the Diplomatic Corps were aware of their arrival, so Ovid decided to move to the table where the Foremen were polishing off their food and called their attention.

"The Emperor and his suite has just landed. I wish to invite you to visit them at your gate. They wish to stay out of the camp because of the numbers involved."

"Their numbers?" asked one of the Foremen.

"Yes, 244 Soldiers which compose the Royal Escort, the Emperor himself, his wife, and three of his Sons."

"Why so many?"

"Decorum, I suspect. After all the Emperor is the Supreme leader of our Empire. It is the first time he sets foot outside of our new home, and I suspect the God of War, Sitar, was in no mood to put his Dad into useless risk."

The Foremen eyed each other and quickly ate up the rest of their breakfast before washing off the crumbs and taking each a pint of water to wash down the food. A quick inspection of each other to ensure they were presentable followed, much to the amusement of the Atlanteans.

"Follow us. They are at the gate that leads to the rising Sun," said Ovid.

The entire camp was now aware some major event was to occur and watched the Foremen make their way to the East gate. They followed the group at a respectful distance. Once the Foremen reached the gate, it opened by Magic, and they moved out to find themselves on the road. By some strange miracle, the road’s surface had been redone in yellow bricks and was totally smooth.

"Do not worry, it is not gold, it is hardened ceramics with added minerals to give it that specific colour. It will resist wear and tear for thousands of years," said Mark. "We were growing bored and redid some segments of the roads while you slept, those that seemed to need the most urgent repairs. We fixed about 120 miles of road overnight. Do not worry," he continued as he eyed the Foreman in charge of road repairs, "you still have several thousand miles of road to fix!"

After noticing the road pavement, the next thing that caught the Marsupials eyes was the two long rows of stiffly standing visitors displaying some strange things in their hands. At the head of each line was a strange-looking visitor covered in a thick layer of hair and standing on two arched legs.

"Ah, that one I did not expect!" said Timor. "How are you, Son?" as he hugged one of the strange smaller furry visitors, much to the surprise of the Marsupials.

"I am fine, Dad. We are here to escort the Marsupial delegation to the Emperor."

"From what I see, it is the entire village that will be the delegation!" said Ovid.

"We do not mind. Follow us."

The two Australopithecus Regressi led the Diplomatic Corps and the Marsupials to the camp set on top of the next hill. The Emperor appeared sitting on a simple log, sipping tea and exchanging pleasantries with those sitting near him. The Marsupials recognised Harp and Paschal, but could not place the others. Ovid decided to do the formal introductions before things progressed further.

"First, the two Officers that led us to the Emperor are Tom and Jerry. They hold rank of Centurions because they command one hundred fighting men and the support Decurie. To the left of Paschal, the Architect, is Sitar, his brother, and God of War of Atlantis. To the right of Harp, the Prince of Magic, sits the Emperor, their Dad, and Annabelle, the Queen of the Legionnaires. I expected more?" asked Ovid as he looked at the Imperial family.

"Ian is busy on the Bridge, Samson is dealing with a task I assigned to him, a few are still dealing with the Icy Planet, and others are off doing different tasks for the Empire, Son." replied Harold as he hugged Ovid.

The reference to a filial relationship between what had become the unofficial leader of the Atlantean Diplomatic Delegation and the important figure that justified such an imposing security did not go unnoticed by the Foremen. They became nervous at the idea they might have been disrespectful toward the diminutive figure presented by Ovid.

Harold stood up and walked to shake hands with each and every Foreman, reading their intentions as he did so. However effective the security set up by Sitar, mental scans were still the best means to prevent any incident. Once satisfied everything was in order, and the rest of the Imperial family present talked to the Foremen, things progressively settled down.

"What gives us the honour of your visit?" asked the Foreman that was in charge of the Sawmill.

"We wish to visit the Repository of Knowledge found near your workplace. We have reasons to believe it is our ancestors that built it and many others of its kind around the planet. But there is more than a courtesy visit to one of our deposits, there is need to talk about future events that will come to pass shortly."

"You are welcomed to visit it any time. After all, we came to the same conclusion after two of your Sons opened its main doors with their keys."

"Good."

"You also mentioned something about future events?"

"Yes. I wished my friend Samson could have accompanied us today. He has a better way to teach the secrets of the stars, but he worked late and needs rest, so I shall not behold a grudge at him for his absence."

"We shall try to understand."

"First, let me begin with a lesson in history, what you would consider your prehistory, and explain why these Repositories exist on your planet. Some 167,770 years before the current era marked by the birth of my Son Ian, which you still have to meet, our planet of origin was destroyed by the explosion of our Primary Sun. Suffice it to say that this explosion was provoked and we have since then dealt a fatal blow to those cowards that destroyed our home world. Our home world had begun exploring the stars and set up colonies. This planet was such a colony, the twelfth and last one before the colonists were recalled to the Metropolis given the assault the Home World was undergoing. It was assumed that colonies would be impossible to defend and therefore better abandoned. Do you follow us so far?"

"Yes," nodded the Marsupials, enthralled by the story.

"The first thing a new colony would do upon setting foot on a new planet was to build these Repositories, and then begin to build around them to construct a civilisation from nothing. However, apparently, this colony, called Sagar in the archives, never did take off. They had barely begun the process of taming the wildness when they were recalled. They were working on domesticating the animals native to the planet and trying to assess what could be grown and consumed locally. Your ancestors had reached a critical stage 20 years after the Atlanteans had landed and were domesticated pets. They were being groomed for strength and intelligence. Unfortunately the recall halted the artificial selection process and your ancestors were left to their own devices. But, from what we have gained from studying the interval between the retreat and our return, the changes were irreversible. You continued to evolve in an accelerated way, and discovered fire some 2,500 years after our ancestors left. That triggered the first key and the opening of the first few Repositories whose trigger was controlled combustion of organic matter."

The Marsupials were gaping like Fish out of water, and kept silent, way too intent on learning more about their long-lost past from the visitors.

"Back to our own history for a bit. A colony ship was built to evacuate the planet’s leadership to a refuge, but the Sun blew up prematurely. Only the crew, who had been doing a test flight, survived and made it to our intended second home, called Earth. There, we met with enemies of old, that feed on spiritual and emotional food, and we immediately entered in a protracted war with them for the control of our refuge. That war lasted thousands of years, each side making gains and losing ground. A rogue planet settled the score somewhat. By passing near our planet, it destroyed a small Moon that fell on the planet below and destroyed all civilisation, including our new kingdom, Atlantis Two. We had decided to build the ship you now see orbiting your world, but we ran out of time. To survive, we mated with the Natives of the refuge planet, which we had genetically altered to interfere with the plans of the Soul-Eaters that wanted to raise them as chattel to feed upon, the Humans. The Soul-Eaters knew we had Magic and hunted down any Human showing Magic, but it backfired. Our genes distributed deeply and widely across the Natives and poisoned the Soul-Eaters’ food source, much to their chagrin. Yet they continued to try and eradicate us to no avail. Some of their attempts backfired so badly it destroyed quite a few of the Soul-Eaters. As a last resort, the surviving leadership decided to place their members in stasis, hidden under a huge glacier. One of my Sons discovered them sleeping and killed them all. They had been merciless enemies so we had no qualms at destroying them. The only one he missed was the Guardian. He continued keeping watch on a huge necropolis, unaware all were dead, and to prod the Humans to self-destruction. He finally succeeded, and there was a huge war that destroyed the Human civilisation."

Harold sipped some water and returned to his story.

"It was effective and the Humans began rebuilding from nothing. However, the environment had been severely harmed by the war and they were pressured by these new conditions. The pure Humans had less chances of surviving under these new conditions than those that had Atlantean genes. Thus began a process of selection that led to our re-emergence from the general Human genetic pool. At some point, Magic resurfaced and was again common. The Guardian had taken a long nap and missed our re-emergence so he could not influence it. When he came to, it was too late. The Soul-Eaters were now too few to be of consequence, but they still tried. Let us say that they met their doom. But our refuge planet was both still severely marred by the extermination war and was doomed by another giant astronomical event. We resumed constructing the artificial Moon, collecting around the planet what our ancestors had built for our use. In the end, we barely escaped, taking with us as many life-forms from our refuge planet as we could."

"That is quite an interesting story. I am sure there is more?"

"Oh yes. A lot more. Suffice it to say that we left the doomed planet, met several armadas of enemies while travelling the stars, wiped out without an afterthought those that had attacked us in the past or dared attack us in the present. Now to the importance of this small Moon. Our goal is to rescue life. The Universe itself is going to tear up and we are probably the only force able to save life and intelligence in it. It came as a surprise you had evolved to the point of being self-aware. So we are offering those of you that wish to join us to do so. To be honest, we could save everyone, and transfer your planet’s biosphere from rock bottom to the top of the atmosphere in a container that would allow you to continue growing and evolving toward your ultimate potential."

"Why should we do this?"

"Because your planet is about to undergo the same fate our refuge planet underwent. You stand no chance of survival short of joining us. You will not be the first we rescued, nor will you be the last. Consider this a unique chance to grow and to discover the Universe as it is now with us. We have a lot of work on our hands."

"How do you plan to do it?"

"The same way we did on our refuge planet. And since we do not have to worry about dangerous areas and contaminated ones, things would go a lot faster. No need to map dangerous places, filter out contaminants and discard animals that would put others at risk."

"How long do we have?"

"Technically, 20 years, but we wish to finish the transfer as quickly as possible. After all we have millions of worlds to explore and at least 11 more colonies to check upon. We may have time, but none to lose."

After a quick discussion, the Foremen turned to the Emperor and the Sawmill Foreman stood up.

"We shall take you up on your offer. After all, if you can do those miracles, we have no reason to disregard what you are telling us about the future of this planet. However, I must warn you that the other camps might not take similar views. They are under the stiff stick of some old members of our society."

«He should not worry about those ones. I shall deal with them!» said Zen.

"Zen says he will take care of the issue."

"Okay. Once these are removed, I am sure the others will follow suit. We are practical people. But why did you bother rebuilding the road if you are moving us out of here?"

"Two reasons: to show good faith, and to begin rebuilding your civilisation, which will be allowed to survive on our ship within its own tessaract. The transfer will be so quick you will probably go to sleep on the planet, wake up in the tessaract, and be none the wiser since the conditions will seem identical from your point of view. It is only when you leave the tessaract through the gate that you will realise what a tessaract is and where you actually are."

"Then we have an agreement. Do you wish to visit the Knowledge Repository?"

"Yes."

"Please allow us to distribute work, since it is not lost, and we shall be at your disposal immediately."

The Royals left with the Foreman less then 30 minutes after the meeting came to an end. They walked briskly to the cave and entered.

«The result of the calculation asked is as such:...»

«Do not bother. We did our own,» said Paschal. «Open the gates to the Archives of Time.»

«At your command.»

Huge swaths of the cave became visible for the first time since the colonists had left, much to the stunned surprise of the Marsupials.

"Dad, go first."

Harold walked in, and a chime resonated deep within the immense cave.

«Welcome, Emperor of Atlantis!»

By the end of the exploration of the cave, the Atlanteans and Marsupials were shocked by the extent of the deposits left by the colonists. The last room was the map of the Repositories. There were thousands!

«Flash which ones are in use.»

Only a dozen did so across the planet.

"These are our next contact points. Those that have managed to reopen the Repositories are the most likely to be advanced," decided Paschal.

"Ok. We might as well port directly inside them. That should shock the others enough to make them realise it is better to take us seriously."

"Ok. Go ahead. I shall return to Thebes. Why not accompany us, Foreman? That will be your first introduction to the new world you will live in, and the first view of a tessaract from the outside," offered Harold.

The Marsupial could barely hold his joy. He would visit the home world of the visitors!

"Yes! YES! YES!"

"Before we leave, I have to ask a question from Harp, Paschal and Sitar. Guys, assess why this planet was colonised when there were hundreds between Atlantis One and this star system. I think it is vital we figure that out. I wanted to bug you on that last night, but I fell asleep in my chair."

"Is that why we found you all folded like a piece of dropped-off cloth on the floor?"

"Yes, you impertinent brat," replied Harold as he eyed Sitar.

"Okay, Dad. Do you need an escort, you guys?" as he eyed the diplomatic corps.

"Not really, but it might be a good idea to leave the two Centuries behind if only because some of the stuff found in here can be highly dangerous."

"You have a point. You heard Ovid’s request, Tom and Jerry."

"Yes, there are no issues."

"Off we go then."

The Royal party left for Thebes with the Foreman, and then the diplomatic party ported to the nearest open Repository. Things were getting in gear.

***

On the Icy Planet, the translation process began and progressed quickly. Actually, the use of several translators to work on a single document by section accelerated the process considerably. Instead of a full week, the first draft was completed in two days, and the final draft a day later. Once this was validated three days later, the Atlanteans removed most of their troops, leaving in the caves only the Mages and the translators that would read the document and the Imperial Decree.

The reading was set at dawn for each cave. The situation was clearly explained to every cave-dweller. Questions got answered, and then the last piece of the puzzle came into place.

"The situation is clear for everyone?" asked each Translator, as silence fell on the cave.

After getting general assent, the offer was made.

"You are offered the choice of staying and die with your world, or leave with us. Make your pick."

Surprisingly, three out of four immediately decided they wanted out and were ported with their children in the Tessaract segment reserved for them. The others were shocked and called the Atlanteans all sorts of vile names, most importantly the newly elected politicians.

"You have two weeks of grace. After that we leave the system. We have another planet to save in the vicinity and that is why you have that period to reconsider. After that, we will be gone."

The Atlanteans ported to the surface and then activated the recall sequence, leaving the Natives of the Icy Planet to their own devices. It barely took two hours before the first act of cannibalism occurred, and it generalised quite rapidly.

"The Privy Council had been on the dot with these people. Push the natural away and it returns with a vengeance once the pressure is removed," said Alexander as he watched the surveillance cameras display the mess in the caves. "How many are still being collected as they realise what their so-called politicians are?"

"About one out of ten Alexander, but the frequency is diminishing rapidly."

"Thank you, Enron. Let us wash up and go to bed. I have had enough of these disgusting people."

"Us too!" said the other three leaders.

"One cave is being abandoned by its inhabitants as we speak," said Silver Moon. "They are moving south but will die out because of the cold well before reaching any other cave. It is a form of collective suicide I think."

"I am not one to cry on spilled milk. They had their chance," Alexander replied coldly.

***

On Thebes, the Imperial party materialised in the lower portal deck and was sterilised by Magic while the Marsupial’s immune system was boosted by the same process.

"Follow us. I shall guide you to where your tessaract will be," said Harold. He quickly made his way to the selected tessaract, and showed it from the outside.

"According to my Son Harp, this tessaract has a compression ratio of 9.9, and will be able to contain your entire planetary surface many times over. Do not ask me how it is done, he is the Prince of Magic, not me! It is currently empty, and has no atmosphere whatsoever. Come with me, I will bring you to another that is occupied so you can see for yourself from inside and out, how a tessaract actually look when it is filled."

Harold brought the Foreman to the Pterodactyl Tessaract and showed him the dinosaurs flying around and fishing, looking for all intents and purposes like miniature flying machines.

"Keep that image in mind and follow me."

They crossed the double gates that separated Thebes’ living quarters from the Pterodactyl Tessaract and found themselves in a large grassy plain where Pterodactyls flew overhead and some were cuddled together. They got near one of the group, not eliciting any reaction from the flying reptiles, but a lot of fear from the Marsupial as he realised how massive these animals were compared to himself.

"This is what gives when we talk about using a tessaract for your species. That species is migratory and needs a lot of space. This is their winter nesting site and we give them the space required to migrate to their summer nesting site, some 3,000 virtual miles off, all within the small space you saw when you saw the Tessaract layer from the outside. And that is but one segment out of thousands that can be built within this single Tessaract layer. Let us go back outside. We try to minimise the interaction with the Pterodactyls so as not to perturb them too much."

The Foreman was then brought to the Bridge and saw his home world as the Atlanteans saw it for the first time. He stood frozen in place several minutes before he could tear his eyes off the fascinating scenery.

"One last visit for you since we have some questions concerning what we found."

Harold brought the Marsupial to the stasis chambers containing the Marsupials rescued from the Insect attack on the space ship that had revealed the existence of the Marsupials to the Atlanteans.

"These of your people were under attack from the Insects in space when we found them and removed the threat. We have yet to establish contact with them since most are still undergoing medical treatment and those that are out of danger are kept in stasis until we know more. Look at that monitor. This is their space-ship as we were engaging the Insects. What can you tell us about those of your kind that were inside the Caterpillar as we call that type of ship?"

"Not much, I am afraid. I was assigned to the maintenance of ground infrastructures when the Insects invaded our home. From rumours, the Insects targeted the most advanced areas of our civilisation mercilessly and killed any that might have a chance of launching anything in space. Their assault was brutal, merciless, and unrelenting. We were taken by surprise but we immediately initiated the lock-down of the Knowledge Caves. I regret I can not be of more assistance."

"It is fine. We shall find out sooner or later. Thank you."