they would not participate in any future attack on this race. Kosievs conversation with the Warleader had been broadcast to all the Alliance ships and they knew that they owed the Humans for sparing their lives. Information is what changes one’s view. All of these crews had something to tell about this Human race that would impact the members of the Alliance in ways that they would never imagine. There exists a race that wants them to live peacefully, be happy, and value each other. It was a message that the races of the Alliance had never heard and upon hearing it, many asked the question, “Why not.”
“Atlas, thank you for helping me with the broadcast,” Tag thought.
“Glad to do it. How hard was it to convince the leaders of your government to go along with your plan?”
Danielle chimed in with, “Not as hard as you might think. Sorry, I was listening in to you two.”
“Hello, my love,” Tag said. “You’re welcome any time. You still haven’t told me why you think the civil war would have started if we kept those ships.”
“It wasn’t me that saw that, it was Sung Lea;” Danielle said, “she saw how some of the races that sent ships to the Alliance fleet would be attacked if their fleet didn’t return. All the possible futures had that war starting now. She said after the first forty worlds were destroyed that hundreds would jump into the fray. Now that the ships have been released, she tells me that only one of the possible futures has that war happening immediately. The threat of that war is still with us but it has been delayed.”
“Why would you care if they destroyed themselves, Danielle?” Atlas asked. “It would remove a threat to your existence.”
“Atlas, all life is precious, just as you are to us. If we could stand by or even worse cause that loss of life then it would scar us. It would harden us to accept that and it would lead to us eventually hardening our hearts to each other.”
Tag waited for Atlas to respond and after a long wait he asked, “Atlas, what are you thinking?”
“I think that my master’s race is gone today because we did not value life as you do. The virus that killed them was a development of a weapon they used to eradicate a rather nasty life form that consumed all it came into contact with. After that it became easier for my master’s race to eliminate races that they decided were not worth living. My masters eventually after a million years became loners that explored the universe by themselves and avoided contact with each other. They didn’t like being around other masters. It wasn’t always like that. I think it began with the eradication of that first race after the plant creatures were defeated.”
“They killed every member of that species? Tag asked.
“No,” Atlas said. “Some of their spores survived and the race came to life again several million years ago long after my masters had died.”
Tag felt something move inside his chest. “Atlas, where is that race now?”
“They are in a Galaxy located just beyond the constellation you call horse head.”
“Are they dangerous?”
“Yes, I guess you could say they are. They have killed every civilization they’ve contacted in that Galaxy and have used up most of its natural resources.”
“Atlas, will they move in our direction?”
Atlas was silent and after two minutes said, “I don’t know. They have interstellar technology. I don’t know.”
“How do we match up to their technology, Atlas?” Danielle asked.
“You are slightly ahead of them with your power cells, but they number in the trillions.”
“Do you have any video of them?”
“Yes. Let me look thru my files and I’ll prepare one for you. Why, are you worried?”
“If they, like you say, consume everything they contact, then they are like a cancer. It sounds like this particular cancer cell is about to divide. It is just a matter of time until they find us. What happens then?”
“My masters could defeat them because of their technology, but eventually had to resort to the virus because of their numbers. They just got tired of being bothered by their constant attacks. I do see where you’re going, Tag. Why do you want the video?”
“To show my government that the real threat is not the Alliance; we shouldn’t wait until they come after us. We have to do something about this. My children will not face this threat if I can prevent it. Do you have a picture of one of them?”
Tag saw an image appear on his display; Danielle could see it thru Tags mind. “Oh my God,” Danielle said. The creature looked like a green wingless mantis. It had bulging eyes and the mouth had two large mandibles that looked like two sabers. It walked up right and had two arms with four digits ending in sharp nails. The legs were huge and appeared to bend in two directions. It had a tail that looked like an alligators that helped it balance. Danielle shuddered and then asked, “Atlas you mentioned that these creatures came from spores. They look a lot like insects on our world that lay eggs.”
“They are not animal, Danielle. They are much closer to what you would call algae. The spores they create are about 21 inches in diameter and must be fertilized by a male. The spores that hatched must have been on one of their ships when it was destroyed and they stayed in the vacuum of space for millions of years before they fell on a planet. They can survive in very hostile environments. What makes them formidable adversaries is that like some of your plants, they can regenerate lost body parts. The only way to effectively kill one is to destroy the brain case that is located in their chest. These creatures will eat pretty much anything that is organic and their appetite is voracious.”
Tag looked at the display with great distaste and then said, “Are they intelligent?”
“Yes, but they will not communicate with anyone except another member of their race even when captured and threatened with death. I saw one of your old recordings of a swarm of locusts and that is pretty close to how they operate.”
Tag wondered for the first time if all life was precious. A cancer cell was alive but it would kill its host. The cancer had to be destroyed in order for the host to live. This was the embodiment of a living cancer cell that killed all it contaminated. He could sense that Danielle was thinking the same way. “We’ll come back to this if and when we solve our issues with the Alliance. I doubt that their leaders will take what we’ve done without a response.”
“While you’re doing that, I think I’m going to take a trip out toward the Horse Head and see what this race is currently doing. If you need me just throw me a thought.”
“Be careful, Atlas.” Danielle said. “We don’t want to lose you.”
“I’ll keep my distance but now you have me thinking and I feel a trip is warranted.”
Sten was in his office when he received the call from the Safety Prime Council. The leader of the council appeared on his display and Sten felt his two hearts speed up. “State Leader, I understand that the Humans have communicated with you.”
“Yes, Excellency, they have. I’m to understand that they broadcast their conversation to all members.”
“They did. How do you account for their superior technology? They represent what we fear the most, a race that is so technologically superior that they could defeat our entire Alliance. How many warships do we have in our total arsenal, State Leader?”
Sten could see where the council leader was going but he answered. “Our members have more than 40,000.”
“That should be enough to wipe these Humans out, wouldn’t you say.”
Sten considered his answer carefully and then said, “I fear that if I’m truthful with you that it will cost me my life, but to do anything else would be to fail in my responsibility. In the first battle, 200 Human ships defeated 1,800 of our ships. That’s a nine to one ratio. In the next battle, 900 of their ships destroyed 4,000 of our ships. That’s almost 5 to one ratio. Six hundred of their ships jumped into our system and destroyed almost 6,000 ships. That is a ten to one ratio again. Our fleet that invaded the Human system reports that the humans had more than 7000 war ships and that a new class of battleship able to jump in system to the atmosphere of our planet was recorded. Three hundred of those ships jumped in and were surrounding my planet. They could have totally destroyed all life if they chose. We have no idea how many of those new battleships they have. We thought they had only ninety to a hundred ships left. We were wrong. At our rates of loss to the Humans just assuming a seven to one we would need 50,000 ships and that doesn’t take into consideration that new class of battleship. My educated guess is that 70,000 ships could not defeat their fleet. If we choose to attack them with every ship, then even if we managed to win, which I greatly doubt, we will be so weakened that it would allow our members to turn on each other in
