Alliance, page 19
Once back on Earth, Theo and Lizzie took the opportunity to have some rest after the events that they had been thrown into not too long ago by Vice-Admiral Clarke. It was good to take some well-earned leave on Earth and to realise that they quite liked each other’s company, despite everything they had been through.
“If you had asked me a couple of years ago what I would be doing now,” laughed Chris, as the four friends enjoyed a meal in one of the best restaurants Earth-side, “I couldn’t have even begun to imagine what has actually happened. From seemingly being alone in the Universe to knowing that we most certainly are not is quite a leap.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” replied Theo, with a grin. “Let’s hope that things are a little quieter from now on.”
“I’ll drink to that,” said Mike, as they all raised their glasses.
Epilogue
The Eruthian High Council had taken a decision that did not please all the beings of their system of linked planets. There had been an unwritten law in place from time immemorial that they would not try to make contact with any other beings in the Universe again, even if such beings came looking for signs of life beyond their own worlds. So far, they had largely maintained the seclusion in their galaxy that was on the edge of a cluster of galaxies orbiting a Black Hole. They had escaped once from the threat of destruction. Their records spoke of a war in the deep past and in a far-off solar system that had forced them across vast tracts of space to be where they were now, on the edge of an elliptical galaxy, far from any known beings. Even their brief alliance with the Tressillians was now over. The Guardians of Eruth had kept them all safe in their corner of the Universe.
There were changes, though, that were pushing many to question the seclusion they maintained. Evidence was mounting that a distant war between worlds might mean that they would be found sooner or later. It was now no longer beneficial to remain unknown. Something had to change, however disconcerting that change might be.
A message would be sent from the High Council. It would be boosted by the combined mind-net of the best communicators available. Once sent, there would be no going back. An automatic recognition beam would alert the High Council if the message was received by anyone or anything.
Ronal Trebor, one of the oldest of the Guardians on the planet Eruth, became aware of a memory that rose unbidden from his vast neural data base. It troubled him. He had reached the highest neural level achieved by any Eruthan and should not have felt such things. Still, there it was. A memory buried deep. A memory of finding out about a time when all Eruthans moved as individual entities on a world far, far away across the Universe. He had dismissed the memory more than once. Why was it there again? Surely, he had deleted it from his data banks. Experience told him that there was a reason for everything. He was patient. The reason would become apparent eventually.
Time passed. Early in the twelfth morning of the third quarter of the Eruthian year 4235 the receiving systems were activated. The message had been intercepted. Someone or something knew again of their existence. A new era was about to start. Ronal Trebor was to finally understand that memory.
Around 7:30 in the morning a couple of weeks after their return to Earth Theo was woken by the insistent buzzing of his communicator. As the lights in the room came up to full brilliance Lizzie stirred beside him.
“Who is that at this ungodly hour?” she asked sleepily.
Vice-Admiral Clarke’s deep voice brought her fully awake in an instant.
“My apologies for waking you, but something has just happened that I think will interest you both,” he said. “Do you remember when we first discovered that there was another intelligent species in this Universe of ours? In fact, that there were at least three other sentient species. One of them, the Eruthans, was considered to be descendants of a race that apparently had lived on Earth and were now in deep space. It was quite a shock to us all at the time to find out that our human race may not have been the first to inhabit the Earth.”
By this time the vice-admiral had the full attention of both Theo and Lizzie.
“Well,” he continued, “we have just received what I am about to relay to you from the Tressillians.”
The screen changed to a view of a humanoid being, totally hairless and with strange markings on its forehead that resembled an ancient script from the area of Earth known as the Middle East many, many centuries ago.
“Greetings from Eruth to those who are called Tressillians. We have been watching your struggle with those known as the Antarians, who once nearly destroyed our race and forced us to flee across the Universe eons ago. We have also seen, with growing interest, that those who survived on the planet you call Earth are now your allies. We are also from the lineage of those beings according to memories hidden deep in our vast libraries, memories that were thought to be more myth than fact for millennia. Your defeat of the Antarians in alliance with those from Earth has rekindled a longing in us to know of our past and our place in the Universe. We can no longer seek to hide away, but must reach out to our brethren in the hope that the future can be one of co-operation and trust. We also have a warning; just as you have done, we too thought that we had escaped the forces of Antaria long ago. We were mistaken. They are not to be trusted, even when they have seemingly been cowed. Now is the time to put an end to their ambitions so that they can no longer rise again. We are prepared to join with you, your allies the Orgon and the new people of Earth to rid the universe of this threat. We await your reply in the hope that our future can be one of peace and prosperity without the continued threat that is still apparent from the Antarians. Our communication nets are open, ready for your response at any time.”
The relay ended and the face of Gerry Clarke appeared once again.
“It seems that the allies been contacted by our cousins from deep space,” he said, “and they want a family reunion. Are you both willing to attend? Might be interesting.”
Theo and Lizzie looked at each other, then back at the face of Gerry Clarke on the screen in front of them and both smiled.
“I’ll take that as a yes then,” he said. “Enjoy your breakfast.”
Containment
The second novel in the far future series.
Eruthan stories tell of a time in the distant past when there were two civilisations existing on a planet that was like a jewel in the Universe. It was a planet of blue and white, with marvellous creatures that roamed the two large continents and swam in the ocean that covered over half of the planet’s surface. The civilisations lived alongside each other for generations, usually in peace. Differences were sorted out by discussion and compromise. As the years past, the civilisations grew and gradually covered most of the continental areas that were inhabitable, pushing out the wonderful creatures to the margins of the land or the depths of the oceans. As the members of the two civilisations increased in numbers, so the variety of the creatures they shared the planet with decreased. The civilisations competed with each other in a race to find new worlds. They invented marvellous ships that could eventually leave the planet and search amongst the stars for other worlds they might colonise. That is when things started to go wrong.
Theo Newsome unhooked his neural implant link from the Tressillian library that had been made available to any human or Tressillian for research. He still found it hard to believe that the human race was far older than the evidence on Earth would indicate. The humans of the thirty-second Earth century were descended from the remnants left behind on the planet when two competing civilisations had nearly wiped-out life completely, driving them both into the depths of space.
Now those of old Earth and their allies have been contacted by the Eruthans again. Can they still contain the race that started the devastation and drove the Eruthans so far away?
Graham E Howarth, Alliance
