Chapter 8.
Zuri sat transfixed by what she had read and heard. Turning her head away from the screen, she looked up at Evander. There he stood, tears in his eyes, hands now clasped in front of him. He looked down into her eyes and touched her shoulder. He smiled as a tear fell slowly down his cheek.
Questions filled her mind. What were the challenges? What were the risks? What were the rewards? Quickly it became clear what the choices were. She knew they could continue their explorations, hopefully contacting new civilizations from time to time. But she also realized that the process would continue to be long and unpredictable.
Her biggest fear was that at some point in the future, their cultures would become complacent. Their expectations would dwindle as their accomplishments became commonplace. Cultural decay would ultimately set in.
The challenge put forth by the object . . . the LINK, was not at all clear. It had promised access to boundless knowledge; but had warned that it would come at a price. What was the price? What were the tasks they would be required to do? What were the risks? What would be the rewards? Above all, who was it that had touched their minds and hearts, affecting them so profoundly?
Talking rose to a fevered pitch. Back and forth the words flew. Emotions escalated as people tried to come to grips with the monumental situation which confronted them.
Ultimately the situation resolved itself. As the initial excitement began to wane, they began to realize that apathy had already begun to take hold. The knowledge that each race had contributed had been compiled and absorbed by the whole. Philosophical concepts had been debated time and again, always arriving at the same conclusion; that there was just too much they didn’t know. The only hope they had to expand their knowledge was to make new contacts and learn as much as they could from them. In the mean time generations would pass with no new ideas coming forth. Intellectual atrophy would set in. As the LINK had said repeatedly, stasis would not abide.
But what of the risk? They realized they had taken chances countless times before. A few had borne disastrous results; but ultimately all had contributed favorably to the growth and progress of their combined cultures.
It stood to reason that a being advanced enough to build such an enormous craft could just as easily have swatted them out of existence. Instead it had spoken to their hearts. Through its emissary, it had issued a challenge, not a threat. They had sensed no malevolence; only calming inner peace. Therefore they were persuaded that their fears were unfounded.
Given what they knew and what they hoped for, the decision was made. They would accept the challenge.
Returning Evander’s smile, Zuri turned back to the console. Wiping tears from her eyes, she typed,
“WE ACCEPT.”
A nervous calm descended upon everyone as she touched ‘send.’
Gradually, almost imperceptibly, a low buzz began to be heard throughout the ships. Along with the sound came a gentle tingling that everyone felt throughout their bodies. Neither the sound, nor the feeling was unpleasant. In fact it was barely noticeable. Not long after they began, both the sound and the sensation dissipated. Soon they were both gone.
Upon the screen and throughout all the ships’ PA’s, words began to flow.
“I am LINK. The decision you have made ranks you among the elite of the universe. You have taken the first step. You will not turn back. You will not desire to do so.”
“As you progress, knowledge will be added upon knowledge. You will learn . . . and you will teach. Knowledge is infinite. Progression is eternal. Intelligence doth prevail. It has ever been to. Were it not, we would not be. Stasis will not abide.”
“I am that which you see before you. He who created you, created me. You are spirit. I am machine. You serve the Creator by bringing forth life. I serve the Creator by assisting you.”
“Much you must learn before you may avail yourself of my service. Never the less . . . we begin.”
“Long have you sojourned through the vastness of your galaxy; yet small is the distance you have travelled. Time and distance have been your enemy. This will no longer be so. I am LINK. I and others like me are the portals through which you will move among the stars.”
“Upon your acceptance of the Challenge, you and all things around you were SEEN. You are now known to me and to the others. When the time comes for you to resume your journey, we will assist. But first you must learn of your Challenge.”
“Life does not spring forth from the void. Likewise, matter does not organize itself. To all things there is a purpose. It has ever been so. Ask not what is this purpose. This you already know, yet you do not comprehend. Now you are but a small seed. Soon you will grow and blossom. Be you therefore patient. All that is required will be provided.”
Zuri sat back in her chair, mind spinning, hands gripping the armrests. “Zuri . . . Zuri.” She felt a hand on her shoulder. Coming out of her daze, she looked up to see Evander’s face, brows furrowed in concern.
“Zuri, you need to get control. Calm yourself.”
Nodding to him, she loosened her grip on the armrests and took several deep breaths. She looked back toward the screen. The text still remained, an exact copy of the words that all had heard. Below the last line, a prompt bar blinked. Leaning forward, she extended her hands toward the keyboard. Then she stopped. Instead, she reached to her right and pressed the PA button.
“This is the Fleet Commander. You’ve all heard exactly what we’ve heard here in the control center. I’m sure you’re all as overwhelmed as we are. I think we all need some time to digest what we’ve heard and to consider what our next step should be. We welcome any thoughts or concerns you may have. Please coordinate with your prefect and section leaders. They will consolidate your responses and forward them as appropriate. Please be assured, we will do nothing which might be considered detrimental to our general well-being.”
“From our end here in the control center, the heads of all five ships will be in continuous contact. We intend to thoroughly evaluate all the information we have received from the object . . . from LINK. We will re-establish contact, and will proceed based on any new information we receive. Our progress will be reported through normal channels.”
Pausing, Zuri closed her eyes momentarily. Then, glancing briefly at Evander, she continued.
“Fellow citizens of the five races; for generations we have been one in purpose. We have come far together. Together we shall continue. Be at peace. Thank you.”
“Well; now what?” Zuri pushed away from the console. She looked around the room. All eyes were on her.
“Maybe we should call another meeting; do you think?” Evander resumed his usual stance.
“Yeh; probably should. OK, everybody. Back to your posts. We’ll keep you informed . . . and thanks.” Zuri turned and walked toward her platform. “I think we ought to keep our communication with the . . . with LINK, focused through here. Then we can keep a handle on what’s going on.”
“Agreed. We need to ensure we have consensus before we do anything.” Evander took his seat opposite the holo-console.
“Com . . . let’s get the ships hooked up on holo.” Zuri took her seat. A minute later the four captains’ images appeared.
“Did we just hear from God?” Wasswa was the first to speak.
“Good question. Kinda sounded like it, didn’t it?” said Asha.
“I don’t know about that.” Imamu was a confirmed agnostic.
“OK. Listen. Regardless of our individual mythological preferences, the fact remains . . . we all felt it. I, for one can’t deny that.”
“Chetan, your point is well taken,” Zuri interjected. “But regardless, that doesn’t change what we all heard.”
“So this LINK says it’s a machine. Who’s to say it didn’t generate the ‘god’ message too?”
“Fair question, Asha. But in context with all that LINK said, is it really that important?” Evander said from across the room. Several people star
ted to speak at once.
“Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to side with any particular viewpoint. The belief or non-belief in a supreme being is purely a personal matter. This isn’t the time or place to be debating that question. The question we should be addressing is: what is this challenge we’ve committed to?”
“All right, now. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to focus on the issue at hand.” Zuri held up her hands to halt the dialog. “Everyone knows it was me who accepted the challenge. Does anyone here think I moved to hastily?” No one responded. “Good. We’re all in agreement. So, what’s next? The way I see it, we need to find out what we just committed to. The . . . uh . . LINK said we serve the Creator by bringing forth life. What does that have to do with the challenge?”
Imamu had another question; “It also said it served the Creator by assisting us. What’s all that about?”
Zuri leaned forward to emphasize her next point. “Look. LINK said a lot of things that have far-reaching implications. It also said all would be provided. Let’s take it at its word. Let’s ask it some questions and see what we get. But first, I think it’s important we have a coordinated effort here. I want to route all communication through this ship. Agreed?”
“Just as long as we’re all kept in the loop.” said Chetan.
“Goes without saying. All right. Com? Set my station up to transmit. Patch the others in so they can monitor.” Zuri typed the first message:
“Where do we begin?”