The Starchild Compact, page 30
Aram pulled all the bots into the air and tried to focus on the man. When the man saw the "hummingbirds" flocked together in the air above him, he gave a startled yelp and ducked into the thick underbrush, disappearing from sight.
"Well," Ishtar said, "something survived after all."
The group remained silent for a moment, absorbing what they had just seen. Lud took over a console and did some manipulations. On the screen the man as seen from the air before he vanished was stripped of background, then hair, and then rotated to a frontal view. "That's a human male," Lud stated matter-of-factly. "He's wearing some kind of loin cloth and something on his feet, but that's a human man."
Vesta, who had not uttered a word during the entire event, spoke up. "We have to get a blood sample." Turning to Aram, she asked, "Can you do it?" He nodded.
For the next several minutes Aram busied himself with bringing the still-working bots to the flyer, and launching several microbots that looked almost exactly like mosquitoes. "If Nature Boy shows himself, I'll get a sample."
Eber could feel the excitement that filled the control room. He felt his own heart quicken. Aram set the monitors to present a unified view from all the mosquito-bots, and Eber stood behind him, admiring his brother's skill with the system. Aram brought the several tiny bots to rest on branches surrounding the location where the man had disappeared. It was pretty obvious that the man had seen Merkavah, but Eber had no way of knowing if he associated the strange birds with the flyer. Eber was certain that the man had nothing in his experience to connect with the flyer. They were counting on his curiosity to bring him back.
The group waited patiently for several minutes, and then the ground cover began to stir below the branches where Aram had parked the bots. A partial head poked up through the leaves and looked around. Slowly the creature slipped out of his well-designed foxhole and crept to the edge of the tree stand to look at the flyer. While his back was turned to the assembled bots, Aram brought three of them to the man's back simultaneously and jabbed their proboscises through his skin. The man yelped and slapped his back, smashing one of the bots. The other two withdrew their samples and headed back to the flyer. Aram brought in two more to the man's back, and lost another one, but also obtained a third sample.
"Okay, that does it," he said, turning to Vesta.
"Now we have something to work with," she said.
When the three mosquito-bots were safely ensconced in a vacuum safe jar, Eber ordered the Resident to take Merkavah back to the Arc, retracing their above-the-ecliptic path.
"Let's see what Nature Boy can tell us," he said to no one in particular as Merkavah left the atmosphere and commenced its high arch over the ecliptic.
The name stuck.
#
Vesta, Azurad, Shakbah, and Lud worked tirelessly with the plant and blood samples they had retrieved from the third planet. They used the gene sequences Joachim had transmitted to them as a starting point. Vesta took the lead, assigning Azurad to the plants and Lud and Shakbah to the blood. She used a sample of her own blood to sequence and compare with Joachim's sequences. Azurad found nothing unusual. Comparing her plant material samples to the native plants from the Arc, there simply was no measurable difference.
"The plants are neutral to us," Azurad reported to Vesta. "Whatever happened a thousand years ago did not affect the plant-life."
Lud, on the other hand, found himself chasing down a curious variant in Nature Boy's blood – an additional protein attached to the surface of his red blood cells. Vesta picked up on this variant and ran a cross-check against a comprehensive database of every known blood-type variance for the Ectaris mammalian ecosystem. She discovered that the extra protein in Nature Boy's blood when compared to her own was linked to several deeply layered sequences that, taken together, apparently granted immunity to the genetic mutation that had ravaged the population.
In trying to explain what she found to the group, Vesta said, "It is as if some of the immigrants had somehow taken up a genetic characteristic inherent in the animal population already present on the planet. When the population was ravaged by the genetic mutation, the individuals with this genetic characteristic survived. There is no trace of the original genetic sequences we introduced to the entire planet a thousand years ago. Apparently, they self-destructed as they were designed to do. Somehow, this variant protected its hosts from the effects of the mutation."
"I'm not sure I understand," Rasu'eja said, to nods from some of the others.
"Think of what our biologists introduced into the planet ecosystem as a computer subroutine introduced into the operating system of a resident computer," Vesta explained. "The subroutine's task is to seek out and modify certain other specific subroutines. Part of the new subroutine's programming is that when it runs for, say, two seconds without encountering one of the specific unmodified subroutines it is programmed to seek out, it then shuts itself off, and removes itself from the resident operating system. Similarly, the DNA sequences our biologists introduced into the Earth's ecosystem were intended to seek out and modify those DNA chains that were incompatible with our own. Once they did their job, they self-destructed. Somewhere in the process, a mutated DNA sequence became active, a sequence that still made the DNA chains compatible, but also killed its host. Apparently, it was still subject to the suicide mechanism, so that when there was nothing more to change, it self-destructed. The modifying subroutines did their jobs – including, unfortunately, killing the host, but they are gone now. Does that help?" Nods all around.
"So…what does this mean?" Eber asked for the rest of the group.
"Simple," Lud answered. "The third planet is safe for us. We can eat its plants, its animals – we can even mate with the human inhabitants."
"The problem is," Ishtar interjected, "their culture has vanished. What I saw was a Stone Age savage who survives at a bare subsistence level. Cut off from whatever civilization remained, I guess the isolated groups of survivors quickly reverted to bare subsistence living. It would not take but two or three generations to bring them to this level. They have had a thousand years."
"There's nothing there for us," Noah said, his voice sounding tired and old, "nothing at all."
They sat quietly, each in private thought. Finally, Persia lifted her face, wet with tears. "It's so sad. I feel so isolated and lonely." Shakbah took her hand and sobbed quietly with her.
Eber looked around at his brothers. Although trying not to show it, they were affected by Persia's outburst. It got to him as well, he admitted to himself. It seemed that if he didn't take control of the situation immediately, they might all decide to abandon space for whatever they might find on the third planet.
"Listen," he said, "there's nothing we can do for the primitives on Earth right now. They need to move themselves forward just like our distant ancestors did. If we plan things properly, we can do some real exploring and come back when some kind of meaningful culture has taken hold on the planet. Maybe we can even inject some technology before we take off again, only to come back another time to see how our injection worked."
Arpachshad had been following his brother's comments with close interest. Although trained as an engineer, his main function was as the warrior of the clan. "I like that. We can step in, find a group of smart survivors and give them a couple of weapon improvements that will cause them to prevail." He grinned. "Hey…we can even inject some of our genes into the group…"
Rasu'eja poked him in the ribs with her elbow. "You'd like that, I'm sure." A chuckle passed through the group and their mood lightened.
"He makes sense, you know," Vesta said.
#
Three years later shipboard time, Merkavah settled into orbit above an Earth that clearly showed signs of real advancement – 70,000 years farther along the path to civilization. Eber put a modified Arpachshad plan into effect. The spacecraft settled to the surface in a dozen places to the awe of local natives. Individual crew members spent days, and in some cases weeks, working with locals trying to insert a bit of useful technology into a civilization that was scratching its way out of stone-age culture, and even exhibiting metal-working skills here and there. Universally, the natives viewed them as gods, and Merkavah as some kind of heavenly dragon.
And yes…when Merkavah departed, the clan had left some of its genetic material behind in the form of several impregnated females who had been presented to the gods as a living offering.
"I couldn't refuse," Arpachshad commented as Merkavah lifted high over the ecliptic.
"He makes sense, you know," Vesta said.
#
When Merkavah flashed again into Earth's atmosphere some five-and-a half shipboard months later, the landscape over which she passed was another 10,000 years older. A planet-wide civilization once again flourished sporting an advanced technology that included international air travel, a vast telecommunications web, and incipient space travel evidenced by a network of satellites. Moments after entering the atmosphere high above the body of water that would later be called the Mediterranean, Merkavah reported that targeting radars had locked onto the spacecraft and several surface-to-air missiles were fast approaching from the eastern end of the Med. Merkavah took immediate evasive action by moving rapidly into a geosynchronous orbit.
The Founders watched in horror as the initial missiles aimed at them were followed by massive launchings from bases all around the Med, and then from sites across the oceans to the west and southeast. This time, however, the missiles were not surface-to-air. As they watched, explosions that could only be nuclear saturated the Mediterranean shoreline and then began to appear along the shores of the double continent across what would later be called the Atlantic, throughout the largest landmass to the north, and to a lesser extent the continent extending southward from the Med where it had all started.
In less than two hours it was over. As the terminator swept the devastated planet below them, where the bright glow of thriving cities had illuminated the darkness twenty-four hours earlier, only darkness remained. Eber and his clan returned to the Arc, disheartened by what they had observed. They were discouraged by what appeared to be their role in the self-destruction of the 80,000-year-old civilization that had risen from the remnants of their race's first attempt to establish their presence on Earth.
#
When Merkavah again returned some two-and-a-quarter year later shipboard time, the human race had spread across the planet following a 50,000-year climb from the brink of nuclear extinction, and civilization had once more taken hold around the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The Founders left their imprint again and again over the next several thousand years, concentrating on an ethnic group in the northeastern quadrant, inserting genetic material at each visit, until when they visited they began to see some of their own physical characteristics in these people.
#
"I'm tired," Noah said to no one in particular after a particularly long day of toil preparing Merkavah for departure after three years of actually living in one place with one group of people. "When do you plan to return?" he asked Eber.
"Several hundred years," Eber answered, "give the seeds we planted this time room to grow…see where it takes these hardy folk."
"You know," Persia said, "I don't think of them as "these hardy folk." I think of them as my people. I've developed some real friendships here, people I don't want to lose…" Her voice trailed off.
Noah nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Eber saw Vesta look sharply at her aging spouse. Before he could say anything, however, Shem spoke up.
"Persia's right. We've got a granddaughter here…"
"Granddaughter?" Azurad's voice had a slight edge to it.
"It's complicated," Shem answered.
"Live long, my Love!" Vesta told Noah three days later when she boarded Merkavah by herself. As the spacecraft lifted, Eber and the rest of the Clan watched a stoic Noah fold his arms with a slight smile on his lips, while Shem placed a protective arm around Persia. Eber would forever remember his mother lifting her hand in final farewell.
#
The next set of visits served a special purpose. While Merkavah made a ten-light-year round-trip out and back over a subjective time of just under four hours, each brother took turns spending ten years actual time on Earth connecting with Noah's and Shem's descendants, producing as many offspring as possible. They inserted a one-hundred-year gap between each visit to space out their stays. The end result was that each brother including Eber aged ten years while the women remained virtually unchanged.
Their genetic testing showed that their own, uncontaminated genes had survived over the centuries since Noah, Shem and Persia had remained behind, and now predominated in the Semitic peoples in this region. Their testing produced only one apparent negative consequence of their genetic insertions. They found that all humans had four blood-type groups that manifested themselves as proteins attached to the surfaces of the red blood cells. The descendants of the original settlers all carried an extra protein on their red blood cells that seemed to have derived from the original genetic manipulations upon their first arrival. The Founders lacked this protein. From time to time, a man with the protein would mate with a female without the protein, producing a fetus with the protein. The mother's blood would then produce antibodies to combat the protein in the fetus's blood. This could cause the death of the fetus during later pregnancies, or problems upon birth.
Vesta made sure that information about this potential problem was inculcated into the folklore of the native populations, even though there was very little people could do about it at that stage of human development. She developed simple blood tests that the Founders could use to ensure their conjugal involvement with the locals would avoid the problem.
While the ten-year process was well thought out and both the men and women were agreed to the necessity of the project, Eber had some doubts about Aram's wife, Sari. Little Sari was trained as a civil engineer, but her life was exploration, and he knew that she was loathe to leave Aram to his own devices for ten years, even though she obviously understood that it would be just a few hours for her.
When it was time to leave Aram for his turn planetside, Sari pleaded with Eber to let her at least spend a few hours alone with Aram, exploring his new environment with him. Eber relented, believing he had no choice.
Several hours later a sobbing Aram returned carrying Sari's tiny, lifeless body in his arms. "She slipped and tumbled into a ravine," he sobbed, his swarthy face wrenched with anguish. "I couldn't save her…"
"You want to rotate out with Lud?" Eber asked, reaching for Sari.
Aram stepped back, holding tightly to her lifeless body. "No, and she'll stay with me. I need time to work this out." He turned and walked away, shoulders stooped with pain.
When Merkavah returned four shipboard hours later, Aram had fully recovered from his loss, but he looked like he had aged more than ten years. Eber chatted with him privately during the subjective day-and-a-half of the hundred-light-year out-and-back, deciding that he was fine, although he still clearly missed his little Sari. As for the rest of them, Eber understood that they hadn't had time to mourn her loss. Later would be time enough.
#
Eber and crew flitted in and out of Earth history, leaving a mark on every major land mass in every epoch, impacting the local civilization in ways that they never could predict, but always with one constant – they were seen by the locals as a heavenly manifestation, gods sent to help or punish.
They watched civilization rise around the Mediterranean, reaching a pinnacle at the height of the Roman Empire about 1,200 years after Noah, Shem, and Persia had decided to settle down and live out their lives. The Semite peoples, especially those characterized as Hebrews or Jews still spoke a close derivative of Founder-Speak, although it had devolved into a language of much lower sophistication than what it originally was. The Jewish culture never forgot that it was special, chosen by the gods to carry forward the ancient traditions originally handed to their ancestors by God Himself. For their arrogance, Jews everywhere found themselves the focus of social anger and discrimination. Conquered and reconquered, even scattered to the ends of the Roman Empire, the Jews never lost their cohesiveness, never lost their identity.
Seventeen hundred years after Noah's death, the Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of its own bureaucracy and the ravages caused by lead poisoning from their lead-lined cooking pots and water lines. Less developed but more robust cultures sacked Rome. The Christian church replaced Rome's secular bureaucracy with an even more intricate one based on religion, and civilization stagnated for several centuries. Where they could, the Founders injected pieces of technology, but it became increasingly difficult to pose as gods in world dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, and virtually impossible to pose as anything else in the remote locations where the Church had not yet penetrated.
Then the entire civilized world went to war; but somehow, it pulled itself together, only to fall into the same abyss a second time. Out of that second war emerged two superpowers with the capability of doing once again to themselves what – unbeknownst to them – their ancestors had done 64,000 years earlier. The Founders watched in fascination as the world moved right to the brink of annihilation. Then, miraculously, the world pulled back, and for the first time in 145,000 years humans stepped foot on the Moon.
The Founders watched worldwide allegiances change, morphing into an odd combination of the ultra-modern alongside the nearly ancient as the Persian Caliphate spread across the Middle East.
Out and back for another jump forward – the Founders returned to a completely changed paradigm. Humans once again were a space-born race. Their fumbling, low-earth-orbit activities from before the establishment of the Caliphate had become full-fledged operations not only within the Earth-Moon system, but extended to exploration of the fourth planet as well.
