The Best Defense (near-future HFY) - One Giant Leap 01: Where Did the Natives Get Satellites?
“We classify all sentients onto three categories according to the manner in which they developed intelligence. These are, of course, the Growers, who learned to manipulate the world around them for their benefit; the Gatherers, who became adept at locating hard-to-find sources of food and shelter; and the Hunters, who rose above the beasts they preyed upon. While today all are equal by regulation, it is nonetheless a scientific truth that no Hunter species has ever organized to the degree necessary to make the leap into orbit without aid from an existing spacefaring species; as such, while our Hegemony is far kinder to Hunter species than the Domination, even today Hunters must struggle against great prejudice regarding their intelligence and use to society.”
~ “A New Examination of Behavior in Trifold Species Classification as Related to Guild Advancement and Promotion,” Dnan Foln, Senior Administrator of the Librarian Guild, Sociologist Order; published in Collections of Orbital Sociology, Kortalianasi Gnir University, 2488 HC.
Deputy Supervisor Holm Dar
Date: 2.7.2623 HC
Location: Librarian Surveyor Curious Observer, System E5J7-13
“We could extend our survey,” suggested Senior Journeyman Rossh Ig. The prangalian, his green scales making him look hatchling-faced, pointed at the hologram of the planet hovering above their meeting table. “There remains so much we haven’t cataloged. Perhaps we will find crucial answers?”
“Nothing that is worth the delay.” Chief Journeyman Kish Snon spoke with the casual authority of most farians; even here, in the unregulated wilds of the galaxy, far removed from the pillars of the First Worlds, a farian usually assumed a social status in excess of actual rank. “We must warn the Guild so they can take the appropriate steps, even if we end our sector survey here. What we have discovered is far too important.”
Deputy Supervisor Holm Dar, shipmaster of the Curious Observer, let his subordinates discuss the issue at hand and instead gazed out the ornate viewport at the slowly-spinning starfield. He enjoyed sitting in this room while in normal space just for that feature, so rare on even civilian ships. The need to spin the hull obviously limited any opportunity for such a view to either the fore or aft of the ship. On a Spacer Guild military ship there would of course be no such structural weaknesses, but the survey vessel was a civilian model with only defensive systems.
The planet in question was not visible from this angle; they were in a high polar orbit to reduce the possibility of detection, using drones and a field collection shuttle to study the primitive world below. Nothing obscured the sight of the stars, the confusing yet delightful array of constellations so similar to and yet so different from what he grew up watching in his home system. The light-cycles of distance shifted some stars more than others, as though an impossibly enormous child had scattered the stars in its toybox.
Normally, this mental image amused him. He was no stranger to seeing the galactic plane from the perspective of different systems. He had been so fascinated by travel as a child, he had almost gone against his family’s wishes and joined the Spacer Guild. Fortunately, he enjoyed cataloging the strange and wonderful motes of sand around those pinpricks of light, and so had advanced quickly in the less-desirable Surveyor Agency. It was his fifth survey mission, and the farthest he had ever been from Hegemony space; and even then, Sector E5J7 wasn’t unexplored territory. It had been surveyed once before — twice, if you counted the infamous Vonis Expedition — and so it was really just a cursory update to catalog any changes. This would be analyzed by the Librarian Guild to make recommendations for colonization and exploitation plans over the next few hundred cycles, then packaged for sale to the other Guilds. A completely routine mission, with no surprises this far from Domination-held space.
That was before they had discovered the nightmare on the planet below. The image of the cosmic child he had so cherished before now took on a more sinister feeling, as if the child had moved from finger-painting to setting a trap for wandering korga beetles with a jar full of agitated torfas, ready to rip apart anything in their way the moment the lid came off.
“Yes, but we have not even discovered the source of the contamination.” Chief Journeyman Bnhizib Kln’s antennae were spread wide, betraying her agitation. “All we would do is tell them the problem exists, and not deliver data usable for solving it.”
“And that is more than any Guild currently possesses,” Kish pointed out. “We were only intended to update a survey over a thousand cycles old. This is a simple long-range survey ship, without the equipment or the training for counterespionage or detailed cultural investigation. We don’t even have the proper storage facilities for the specimens we have already collected.”
“If I may.” Deputy Journeyman Umma Tiergan would normally not be present at such a meeting, of course, but she was the closest they had to a true computer specialist and had been instrumental in gaining access to the planet’s chaotic datanet. “There is much to be discovered, yes, but the possibility of our finding such key information on our own is slim, even if we use up all our remaining supplies for the entire mission just to extend our stay in this one system. We can read their communications, we can study their tribal interactions, but we have no context for any of it. It would be far more economical to return, equip a more capable ship, and send it here to look for answers.”
“Appreciation, Deputy Journeyman.” Kish flicked his ears at her. “Though I believe it would be far better to send a fleet.”
“What do you mean, Chief Journeyman?” Rossh asked.
“I mean that our presence has no doubt already been noted.” Kish’s voice was firm and clear. “We did not observe stealth procedures when we entered this system, and so the jumpflash would have been noted by any Domination monitoring devices. It is unlikely that the Domination left a patrol ship to guard their experiment, however, or we would have already been destroyed to keep their secret. Therefore, we have a window of opportunity before us to take our findings back to the Hegemony, possibly fast enough to return before the Domination is alerted. We must take and hold this system or it will be used against us.”
“You speak like a Farmer!” Bnhizib scoffed.
“And we will need the Farmers,” Kish replied, “but first the Spacers. This affects the entire Hegemony.”
“That is a matter for the Guild to decide!” Rossh snapped. “We are Librarians. We collect data for our Guild, not the others!”
“Calm, Senior Journeyman.” The synthesized voice of the assistant shipmaster cut through the tension at the table. Both Kish and Rossh looked surprised, possibly having forgotten Under-Supervisor Nna Tss was even there. He was a tsirlan, an uplifted hunter species known for their incredible patience, sense of philosophy, and unnerving ability to hold perfectly still. “Passions are high, but remember your rank.”
“Chastised, Under-Supervisor.” Rossh gave an awkward bow, even for a pranglian. “I forgot myself. But it is still my duty to protect the interests of the Guild! Informing the Spacers and Farmers without the decision of our superiors is . . . irregular!”
“I have no doubt that Chief Journeyman Kish fully intends to abide by the regulations of the Hegemony Pact.” Holm finally shifted his gaze from the stars to look at his crew. “But he has a point, and I intend to endorse it to the administrators upon our return.”
“Deputy Supervisor!” Rossh was agast.
“Calm, Senior Journeyman.” Holm repeated Nna’s words. “Be not afraid for our adherence to regulations. I simply mean that I shall recommend to the administrators that this matter be brought before the sector council for their consideration. If the administrators agree that it is a matter of Hegemony security, then it shall be regular. Do you disagree?”
Rossh hesitated, his scales bluing ever so slightly. “Chastised, Deputy Supervisor. Your decisions are final.”
Holm wondered if the young Geologist had intended to imply the qualifier until we reach the Hegemony, but decided against it. Rossh was not particuarly guileful nor ambitious. Kish, on the other hand . . .
“Appreciation, Senior Supervisor.” Kish inclined his head at the shipmaster, a far more practiced gesture than Rossh’s but nowhere near as deep. “This is wisdom.”
Perhaps it was not fair to the young farian to describe him as guileful, but his ambition was plain to anyone who spent time with him. His species had founded the Galactic Hegemony after the Guild Wars, and they still dominated the central First Worlds. It was regulation that the Five Guilds shared the same rank system so that all would know their place based on their own merits — unlike the vile Dominion — but as the satirist said, some Guild members are more equal than others. Holm couldn’t fault Kish’s work, but it was clear that the young Librarian was willing to trade on both family name and species identity to advance. In fact, Holm suspected the only reason Kish was in the Surveyor Agency to begin with was that it was so starved for recruits that it would provide an accelerated promotion path to anyone willing to do the work. Perhaps he saw the current problem as a gift from the universe itself.
“The wisdom of this action is for me to decide, Chief Journeyman. I have not yet determined whether we will follow your suggestion to return immediately, only what I shall recommend to the Administrators when we do.” Holm leaned back in his chair, letting the cool fabric wick away the stress-generated heat from his fur. “Deputy Journeyman Umma, have you made any more progress infiltrating the planetary datanet?”
“Some, Deputy Supervisor,” Umma responded. She was ktani, the same species as Holm himself, so he could clearly read the disgust on her face was directed at the natives rather than anyone in the compartment. “I have never seen a datanet so illogically designed, and I believe it will require a team from both our Guild and the Engineers to unravel it. It is as if there are a multitude of groups competing with each other and only vaguely keeping to the same standards. Even their hardware appears to be . . . well, very irregular.”
“The Domination influence?” Bnhizib asked. Her pale eyes blinked once.
“They do have an allergy to proper regulation,” Umma agreed with a trace of humor, “but here it seems more like what one might get if children were given the basic guidelines of a datanet and then left to design their own version. But the natives’ innate violence seems to play a part as well. Just as they do in reality, they constantly fight on their datanet. Arguments that don’t make sense. Simulated battles. Analyzing warlike games they clearly use for some sort of ritualistic combat.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“We knew from previous records that the natives of this world were warlike even for hunter types,” Bnhizib stated, “but surely this is not their sole obsession?”
“As of this moment, there are a minimum of fifty-four separate conflicts on their planet.” Umma manipulated the controls to indicate the areas. They were spread across five of the world’s seven largest landmasses. “That is only what I have been able to separate as distinct from other conflicts; there is apparently either confusion among the natives themselves, or they are all aware of context I cannot fathom. For example, there appear to be references to a planetary-scale war of fear, which I suspect must be a euphemism; others to some sort of pharmaceutical war; and some sort of war between small independent groups taking place in large cities — such as this one, called Shik’a-go. I suspect these may not be military conflicts as we know them, but I lack information to judge it. There is art and music, but the most accessed files on their datanet are not what most Hegemony species would recognize as either. Most of those are focused on war, war games, death, or mating.”
“Mating?”
“Yes. They have devoted much of their datanet to instructional music, images, and video on reproduction. They appear to be so warlike that many of them require either training or encouragement for reproduction. Oddly, though, I have not found data on their mating seasons.”
“What of Domination influence?” Holm pressed. “Technology? Beliefs?”
“The technology is primitive by Hegemony or even Domination standards.” Rossh scratched at the scales under his chin, a habit of his when he was concentrating. “Obviously, though, far in excess of where they should be, indicating significant interference by the Domination. The natives have several robots on their moon as well as the fourth planet, possibly preparing habitable facilities. There are two small habitats in orbit, though each only has a handful of natives on board, and what appear to be at least two more under construction. We have observed a multitude of chemical launches from their surface, and a vast amount of radio transmissions, but still no sign of gravitic propulsion or psionic transceivers.”
“That is fortunate,” Holm murmured, “though still peculiar. Why would the Domination choose to only partly uplift this species?”
“Perhaps it has something to do with the spread of the planet’s dominant religion?” Rossh shrugged his spines. “The previous expeditions encountered the usual types of primitive beliefs, but now it appears to be dominated by various groups believing in a single supreme being and some kind of cosmic war. Perhaps the Domination is attempting a slow uplift through beliefs rather than by force?”
“The Domination has always expanded through conquest,” Bnhizib stated, “but I suppose it’s not out of the realm of possibility for them to try something new.”
“It would explain how such an illogical belief could take hold in the first place,” Holm agreed. Religion was one of the first things that had to be weeded out of any species before it could be accepted into the Hegemony. The Domination was a strong example of the follies of belief in the supernatural, after all.
“As we return to the Hegemony — whenever you decide, Deputy Supervisor, of course — I recommend we check light-speed transmissions from this system,” Kish cut in. “It may provide essential information, and possibly even tell us when the Domination began this uplift project.”
“It would have to have been very recent, yes?” Bnhizib asked. “We would have detected such radio pollution from the Hegemony. Our closest colonies are only twenty light-cycles away.”
“Twenty-two,” Kish corrected, “but why would we notice radio transmissions from unexplored space? Psionic messaging is far more efficient. We did not even monitor interstellar observations on our journey here except for the navigation computer’s automatic range-finding algorithms used after every jump; we only focused on the differences in each system as we surveyed it at planetary ranges. If we hadn’t surveyed the system again, I doubt we would have noticed their transmissions until our colonies were within at least ten light-cycles.”
Umma grimaced, fur rippling across her shoulders and neck. “And at their rate of growth, who knows where the natives would be by the time we came that close? The Domination were clearly hoping we wouldn’t notice until it was too late.”
“It may already be too late.” Rossh pointed at the holo-display. “The likelihood of the Domination leaving such an experiment unguarded is laughable. There must be a stealthed monitoring station in this system we haven’t discovered, or picket ships patrolling the outer orbits. Once we leave, they will alert their superiors and they will return with a fleet of their own.”
“The question is one of prudence.” Under-Supervisor Nna’s artificial voice silenced everyone once again. “Not simply what is prudent for us, but also for the Domination.”
“You have a solution, Nna?” Holm asked his longtime friend. Nna rarely spoke unbidden unless he had something valuable to add.
“We are agreed that this world has been contaminated by the Dominion.” Nna unfolded one chitinous arm and placed it on the table controls in front of him. His species had only been uplifted a little more than a hundred cycles ago, on a world on the other side of Hegemony space. Their genetic editing project was still slowly producing manipulators to match their intellect, and so the tsirlan had to carefully hunt and peck even with a virtual keyboard designed for his still-clumsy digits. “We therefore are faced with the inevitable question of how the Domination are maintaining their influence — and why they are going to the trouble of being so subtle about it.”
Holm nodded, and let the tsirlan speak at his own pace. His species was a Hunter type, evolving intelligence by preying on other animals. Unlike most intelligent predators, however, they had selected for the ability to ambush others; this led them to be careful thinkers, especially for Hunters; slow to action, but quick as lightning in execution. Nna was a prime example of his careful-minded people, and the two Librarians had been friends since their days as ignorant no-rank novices.
“We see on this display the satellite network around the primitives’ world. It is far too elaborate to be a natural product of the species. However, instead of monitoring their wider system, the vast majority of their satellites are oriented to face their own planet, and many appear designed to closely scrutinize their own activity. This suggests the priority of the network is, in fact, to monitor their own world, not search for activity beyond it or control local space traffic. We all know that interacting with an experiment changes it; this arrangement suggests a minimum of interaction, in order to maximize the results of an ongoing experiment.”
“I think I see.” Bnhizib lifted her antennae. “You suggest that these primitive networks are actually a disguise?”
“More than that.” Nna tapped two manipulators together. “I suggest that as the ktang sleeps soundly among the ynir, so too has the Domination arranged for the primitives to supply their own monitoring system.”
“Then you believe the reason why we have not detected a Domination outpost,” Kish said slowly, “is because there is no Domination outpost?”
“Why bother when the primitives have launched their own satellites, almost all of which are pointed at themselves? They pay hardly any attention beyond even their own planet, much less their orbital path. All the Domination must do is jump in, collect saved information from some repository — likely aboard one or more of the native space stations — and return with very little effort. It is the only logical explanation for the lack of psionic beacons in the system.” Nna flicked his manipulators in amusement. “Unless the natives managed to do all this on their own, of course, with no interference from any other force in the galaxy.”
The others shared a chuckle at the thought. Such a suggestion flew in the face of all science. In the entire history of the Hegemony — even the Domination, from what they had learned over thousands of cycles of war — only two non-Grower species had reached spaceflight without uplift. Even then, both of them had been Gatherer types. The natives of this system were clearly Hunters; omnivorous, to be certain, but diet and behavior were not always equal, and hunter species were simply not suited for the kind of global cooperation necessary for the leap into space. Nna’s species was a perfect example: for Hunters, they were unnusually philosophical and deliberative, but they were simply too independent for wide-scale unity. Sure, they had a few genuine empires in their past, monuments that lasted a thousand cycles, works of art and literature; but they’d never managed to gather the resources and coordination to even invent the steam engine, much less leap free of their gravity well. If even the tsirlans couldn’t do it, the very idea of these primitives doing it on their own was the height of absurdity.
“In consequence,” Nna continued, leaning his manipulators on the table, “I believe it highly unlikely that we have not been spotted, even with our craft going down to the surface to collect specimens. Therefore, the most prudent course of action is, I believe, to go back to Hegemony space immediately. It is almost certain that we will have the time to equip a large enough force to contain and defend the system, as well as sufficient specialists to begin the process of reeducating the primitives and freeing them from Domination influence.”
“You really think the Administrators will agree so easily?” Bnhizib asked. “Or the Ministers?”
“Of course they will.” Kish’s voice was filled with conviction, and for a moment seemed as young as Rossh.
“We inform Guild leadership of what we have found.” Holm spoke as if the farian had not. “They shall consult regulation and determine the best course of action. The bureaucracy may move slowly, but it is regular. And if Nna is correct, we have the time.”
“It is still prudent, of course,” Nna cut in before Kish could respond, “to take the most hidden route to the jump limit. Observe.”
The tsirlan expanded the holo until it included the entire star system out to the fifth planet. “We already timed our landing visits to avoid notice by both of the crewed space stations. I am no navigator, but I already consulted our Spacer pilot — no, Rossh, it was only on matters related to his contract with the Librarian Guild — and we determined that the best course of action would be to traverse the inner system on a direct path to the fifth planet. So long as we keep between it and this world, its high natural gravity will shield both our drive and jump signatures.”
“Good.” Holm studied the path Nna outlined. It was a simplistic rendering, but none of the staff around the table were navigators; that was why the Librarian Guild contracted a team of Spacer pilots for its vessels, just as both the Librarians and the Spacers contracted Engineers to maintain their ships’ systems, Farmers for their logistics and food, and Healers for their medical needs. Interfering in the areas of another Guild was against regulation, after all. “Then I make my decision. We shall proceed immediately back to Hegemony space and report our findings.”
“What of our specimens?” Rossh asked.
“We shall take them with us.” Holm nodded. “We have the data from the previous expedition on nutrients and environmental needs. We can convert a cargo bay into a temporary holding pen. I am certain the Administrators will want to observe them. Now, if there are no other concerns, return to your stations and prepare for departure.”
As the group rose from the table, a worried Bnhizib approached Holm Dar. “Deputy Supervisor,” she chirped, “can it really be certain we have not been detected?”
“Nothing is absolute, even in regulation,” Holm Dar replied, returning his gaze to the viewport and trying to regain the calm he normally found in the stars. “But Under-Supervisor Nna is correct that the natives’ artificial satellites are almost entirely oriented toward themselves. We have not detected any sources of artificial gravity, even though we have been here for more than half a transition, so it is unlikely there are other ships in the system. There are no psionic beacons, and so long as we keep our electroweak shielding system active we cannot be detected by their primitive radio-ranging systems.”
“But we are hardly invisible,” the klint protested.
“Nothing is absolute,” Holm Dar repeated, but gave her a gentle ear-flick of amusement. “But you have to acknowledge, I am certain, that they would have to be looking in exactly the right place.”
World News Tonight
Date: February 29th, 2028
Location: Earth, Sol System
“In other news, images have gone viral on the Internet of what appears to be an extraterrestrial object passing very close to Earth. It was first spotted by amateur astronomers hoping to catch a glimpse of the StarTran gravity drive test, but has since been confirmed by various government agencies and private corporations. Is it finally proof that aliens exist? Or is this an elaborate hoax? We are joined now by renowned science expert, Tyler Neil DeGrace . . .”
