Chapter Seventeen “The Founding Order” Zetchka watched as Drodek appeared on the view screen in front of him. Drodek made the symbol of Honored Respect and began to speak. “Honored Lectin, I have theorized in every manner possible to attempt to develop a solution to our dilemma; involving the discovery of the Sixth Directive. As you are well aware, to this point my efforts have been unsuccessful. However, I believe I have theorized a solution. It is my belief the biologic essence of the ship systems is somehow manipulating the information which we seek. As unreasonable as it may sound, I believe the system is literally hiding the information from us. I have never seen anything like this before….I do not believe this is by the result of any type of error or malfunction in the ship system; rather, I believe it is an intentional sub routine entered into our operating system upon its construction.” Zetchka paused the message to consider that thought. Very little information was known regarding the time period of the ship’s escape from Talisia. Their only information was the stories passed from one generation to the next in their learning sessions. He turned his attention back to the screen and continued with Drodek’s message. ******************************************************* Not every resident of Chilton had been welcoming towards theTalisian visitors. For Jake Henderson, the influx of new residents had been cause for alarm. His position at the Quarry was no longer stable due to the new thinking towards an energy plant being considered for construction. Under the old plans, there would have been more than a year’s worth of work from the project. Now, thanks to the Talisian scientist who had been named as an advisor on the project, the work load was to be greatly reduced. The Talisians had introduced the world to Magnetic Stability Process. This process allowed for the reinforcing and stabilizing of a light material to allow it to withstand the pressures of what would normally be a much heavier material. In this case, rather than concrete and steel, much of the construction would consist of lighter materials such as wood and lighter metals. Jake had been informed his position was no longer viable. He was welcome to remain at the quarry, but he would be working at a lower level and would need to work out in the elements rather than in the office. Jake had always had an issue with controlling his temper, and now the Talisian problem, as he put it, was pushing him to a point he had never crossed before. He and Heather were in the middle of eating their dinner when Heather began to tell him how concerned she was about Porlace. Jake told her he didn’t care about the filthy piece of alien trash and he didn’t want her talking about them anymore. Heather immediately became angry with him and told him he shouldn’t talk about her friend that way. It was the first time she had ever spoken to him in this manner and he showed her how he felt about it by jumping up from his chair and slapping her across her face. His assault stunned her; she pulled her hand up to her face in shock at what had occurred. Jake stood over her, his hatred of his life seething from him. Heather always knew he was a bully, especially towards Peter in their youth, but this was the first time she could actually see how dangerous he truly was. She began to rise from her chair and told him to get out of the house. He grabbed her by the forearm and gave it a painful twist. As she shrieked in pain, he asked her why she felt more loyalty towards the Alien trash than she did him, her loyal, faithful husband of all these years. He had worked hard to take care of her and he deserved her appreciation and devotion. She shook her head in fear and confusion and could not find anything to say. Her only response was to begin sobbing. Rather than calm down and understand he should be controlled by the love he felt for his wife, Jake instead was now driven by his anger. He struck her repeatedly and cursed her for her lack of respect for him. Upon the completion of Drodek’s message, Zetchka sat in utter silence; his mind refusing to accept what he had just witnessed. He was unable to comprehend what to do next, what plan to enact, what orders to give. His hands were trembling, and as he attempted to stand, his legs were unable to withstand his weight. He fell to the floor of his quarters as tears filled his eyes. He laid there for what seemed like an eternity as his mind began to return to him. He rose to his feet and entered the Star Chamber. He sat and stared out upon the Earth as the information he had witnessed crisscrossed through his mind. Drodek had surmised that the biologic portion of the ship system had stored data from the initial period of the journey. The ship is a living organism that reacts to impulses input from the crew members. The imprint of each member is stored in the system, which allows for immediate interaction of the operation systems. The ship also hears information for storage as well. The operation system was so engrained in their daily tasks, it was often forgotten that the ship was a biologic entity. If Drodek was correct, it may be possible to reveal information hidden in the system as far back as the time of the Founding Order. Drodek has theorizes and developed a method to connect his brain synapse to the ship system. He had placed himself into an Awareness Capsule and remotely launched it into the reclamation chamber. His theory was that if the reclamation captures the energy of the body, it must capture the information stored in that body’s memory as well. Perhaps it was possible the pathway was in both directions. Perhaps he could capture the data stored from every Talisian who had been reclamated; and possibly the data stored by the system itself. If that were possible he would be able to identify the hidden data and find the secret purpose of the Sixth Directive. He had set the system to respond to a remotely controlled unit he carried into the capsule with him. He also set up a data crystal recording unit to capture every bit of information he witnessed. Zetchka placed his finger on the control panel and requested the unit to replay the transmission last played at the opposing unit. He wanted the information fresh and not from his memory. Perhaps he wanted to see it again for a simpler reason. Perhaps he had missed something the first time. Perhaps if he watched it again, perhaps this time he would be able to believe what he saw. Drodek had done the impossible. He had connected his brain with the ship system and was traveling through the data in search of his query. As he discovered information he deemed relevant, he relayed it to the data crystal. He quickly acquired the formerly witnessed data announcing the Sixth Directive. There were so many items he would like to have retrieved but they were not in relation to his objective. He needed to remain focused on his task or risk losing his connection to the system. The system attempted to keep him out several times, but he was able to work his way around the blockades and finally he discovered the files that had eluded him for these many cycles. He had found the Founding Order. As their learning sessions had taught them, the Founding Order was a group of Scientists who developed the ship and instituted the Five Directives of Order. They had built the ship in an effort to extend the life of their species. Throughout the generations of learning stories, the Founding Order became more of a deity than a group of individuals. In the ship crew members reasoning, the Founding Order was a perfect entity, and one not to be questioned. As Zetchka witnessed the information Drodek revealed, he quickly discovered the Founding Order was not perfect; in fact, they were not what was taught about them at all. Stan Matthews had been cutting wood for three days now. It was hard, exhausting work and he was very thankful to have some help for a change. The two Talisians who were staying in his home had graciously offered to assist him in his task. He had suggested they stay in the house and be comfortable. Both of the visitors were recovering from the mystery illness that had run rampant through the Talisian visitors on Earth. They insisted they were feeling physically capable of performing the task in an acceptable manner. Their body temperatures had returned to normal and were no longer feeling any pain. The only remaining symptom was the dark discolorations of their skin. In fact, the discolorations had gone from brown to more of a light green and was less splotchy. Stan had spent many days cutting wood, and was an expert with an axe. Perhaps it was simply a result of his feeling exhausted, but on this particular swing of the axe it deflected off of the side of the piece of wood and caught into his leg. The pain was incredibly intense and he fell to the ground in agony. He grabbed his pants leg and placed his fingers in the tear created by the axe. He ripped the material away from his leg and was instantly thankful. Although it hurt terribly, the gash was not nearly as deep as he had thought it was going to be. He tore the pant leg material away and began to wrap it around his wound. It was then that he heard a shrill screaming sound. He looked up and saw the Talisians towering above him. Their eyes appeared glazed and they were looking at him in a manner that immediately brought fear to him. It was then he noticed their hands. To be more precise, it was their fingers. They had no discernible fingernails before, but now they had what could only be described as claws. The gills of their noses were opening and closing in a fast, intense motion. The two visitors had been respectful and intellectual in their previous interactions, but now they appeared unable to speak. The only sound they offered was another shrill scream as they violently attacked their host. As one attacked his leg, the other tore his new found claws into Stan’s mid section. In an instant his intestines were spilled out onto the ground and the shrill screams intensified as they devoured the human. Nothing that was honored was true. Their entire history was a lie; their entire existence was a lie. Their journey, their mission…..lies. His destiny was no longer his desire. The truth was that the star in the Talisian system was extinguishing itself. As it died, it would become violent and reach out and destroy the planets around it. The Talisian Scientists did build the ship in an attempt to save their species, but, he was not Talisian. He, as well as the others before him, were a hybrid experiment. The original members of the ship’s crew had been genetically modified. They were given false memories and their bodies were chemically enhanced to thrive in the closed environment of a life long journey onboard ship. The Five Directives of Order were implanted in their minds as the highest priority of their function. The reclamation process was a method of removing the chemicals from their bodies and introducing the same chemical dependency onto the future generations. But what of the Sixth Directive? …Why was it separate from the others?....It was feared if the Sixth Directive was openly known, it’s contradiction of other Directives may bring about curiosity and possibly a deeper investigation into their mission. Upon arrival and assimilation with the Earth inhabitants, the reclamation process was to be ended. This would bring about a transformation of the crew members. To complete their journey they needed to be scientists, engineers, medicinists, and Officers; but as the chemicals in their bodies diminished and were finally depleted, they would become the animals they were intended to be. Unmanageable, vicious, merciless…. They would become an invasion force onto the population of the Earth. Zetchka continued to ask questions to the empty room. The information in the crystal was giving him the answers but he needed to put them into context for any sense of reason formed in his mind. Why?....Why do this?...Why attack the Earth when they have accepted our people in the manner they have? The answer to his question was simple. The Talisian race was a warring race. Their home planet had been ravaged by war for more time than anyone had recorded. When the evidence of their planet’s impending destruction became evident, they put aside their differences and prepared to evacuate their inhabitants. Each faction was responsible for the construction of their own ships. It was a race to see who would survive. The decision was made to send out an advance ship. Rather than load it with troops who would more than likely end up killing each other during the journey; they instead placed the hybrid warriors on the ship. These warriors would destroy the Earth population, and in time, they would also die from the lack of the chemical they needed in their bodies to survive. Once the Earth inhabitants and the Talisian Hybrids were dead, the planet would be open for whichever faction arrived first. Once a stronghold was developed on the surface, it would be nearly impossible for future arrivals to defeat them.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 06:47:25 +0000
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