Star Clash

By elveloy

PROLOGUE

Irra, Vishna Star System

"We were arrogant, perhaps foolish but most definitely naive. Confidence in our defences was high and rightly so. As a highly evolved, technologically advanced race of beings, we have often—galactically speaking—been the target of foreign powers wishing to take our technology for themselves. We had always repelled such invaders though, without fail. Perhaps that is where the arrogance came from.

Perfectly happy in our tertiary star system, its thirteen life sustaining worlds more than sufficient to house our modest population of almost eighty billion, we thought we were untouchable.

Then they came. Humans. They looked like us, walked like us and the technology they possessed allowed them to talk like us. That is where the similarities ended. Never have such a brutal, bastard race existed and it is the sincerest hope of myself and every single surviving member of my species that never will such a race exist again.

Will we survive? I can no longer say for certain. Our cities are in ruins, our lands pillaged. Men women and children taken captive and put to work doing whatever their human masters demanded of them.

We will fight. We will do so for those of us that came before and for those of us that come after. We will fight not only for our species but for every other species. Humans are a stain on the very beauty of the Universe.

We will end them, or we will die trying."

Jax Naga (Council leader)

~~~

Mars, Sol Star System

"We are now in the sixth year of this damnable war.

By all rational criteria we have won, but the Gliesers won't admit it, they keep on fighting. Sometimes I think they will keep fighting until the last man, woman and child is dead.

They attack our ships, flaunt our laws and ambush those personnel sent to maintain peace, at every opportunity. Their acts of terrorism have forced us to destroy their cities and imprison those who resist us, planet by planet until they surrender. It is a huge cost to us in terms of resources, both human and material, but we have lost too much to give up now.

Much of Earth lies in ruins, whole cities washed away by the tsunamis, caused by the shift in the Moon's orbit. Perhaps we were arrogant, believing our defences around our home planet impenetrable—we were certainly mistaken. When the Gliesers attacked, they didn't attack the Earth with weapons as we expected, they targeted the Moon, moving the huge satellite into a new orbit with their technology. Just enough to cause chaos on Earth.

Many of us wanted to annihilate their race, obliterate them from the face of the universe. You will hear people say they look like us, talk like us, but... they do not act like us.

They are monsters."

John Nelson (Commander)

~~~

PRESENT DAY

Troni, Vishna System

"Did you realise that every Earth colony has Vishnan slaves to do their dirty work?"

Premier Tev Nesa looked down at the small, white headed figure in front of him whose hand was clutching his arm, seeking his attention. He frowned, "And what in Vishna's name makes you think that is something I want to hear?" he asked, almost angrily. He tried to walk on past her, he had far more important things to do than listen to the obvious.

"But if you look at it another way," she continued, not letting go, "we now have our people inserted into every one of their bases."

Tev Nesa came to a sudden halt, his attention caught. "Come into my office," he directed. "Tell me more."

Vishna was a tertiary star system, which meant it had three suns. The two orange dwarfs, Bi Xiu and Ca Xiu, were in close orbit and supported most of the thirteen planets between them. The third, Xui, a red dwarf, was a distant third in the partnership, orbiting on the outskirts of the system, with only a single planet in tow.

Usually the least desired place of residence in the system, after all not many people wanted to live underground the whole time, Troni had come into its own after the humans attacked. It was distant and small enough not to attract their immediate attention and now the humans had their hands full dealing with the twelve central planets. They thought they would deal with Troni later. Their mistake, Nesa smiled, grimly.

For Troni was the centre of the Vishnan resistance, the scientific part that is. The military front was still on Irra and the other central planets, fighting for every inch of ground.

The military was doing the best it could, but their weapons were no match for those of the humans. For centuries, the Vishnans had prided themselves on their technology, technology which they had used for engineering and public infrastructure projects, communications, not for developing individual, transportable weapons like the humans. Now it was time for their scientists to come up with a solution, or at least, something to give their fighters the edge. To date though, there had been lots of theorising but little concrete result.

And now, here was one of their oldest, most respected scientists in front of him. Was it possible she had something practical to suggest, or only more theory?

"What do you have for me, Ula Tesz?"

~~~~

Mars, Sol System

Captain 'Hawkeye' Hallow shot the skyplane through the mountains, swooping and twisting like his namesake, following the slipstream. He'd disconnected himself from the autopilot which would have given him the exact co-ordinates. As far as he was concerned, his own eyes were good enough to get the job done. The day his eyes started to fail him would be soon enough to rely on instruments.

The rocket launcher was primed and ready to fire as soon as he spotted his prey. There! Something moved on the ground.

He aimed and fired in one smooth movement. Then smiled tightly as a pink and crimson cloud sprayed into the air. Looked like a bullseye as far as he could tell. He supposed he had better go down and check. Never mind that his equipment would give him the answers he sought, this was one thing he always liked to do in person. One survivor was one too many in his opinion.

Damn Gliesers didn't know when they were well off. You'd think they'd have given up by now, been resigned to the consequences. Been grateful that they weren't dead like their friends. After all, as prisoners of war, they got three square meals a day, shelter, even school for the sprogs until they turned twelve and were big enough to earn their keep. But no, there was always one or two who had to make a run for it.

Always running for the mountains, as if they could find refuge there.

Never got them anywhere, of course. He made sure of that.

~~~~

Troni, Vishna System

Ula Tesz seated herself on the stool and looked gravely at the Premier. "I have a development to report to you, sir, but unfortunately, in its current form, it's a strategy of last resort."

Nesa pinched his lips, and nodded for her to continue.

"I've been working on adapting our identification nanobots to simulate a virus. I've reached the point where I can trigger the production of an artificial 'virus' in the nanobots inside our people, which will attack the human immune system."

"Excellent!" Nesa enthused, but Ula Tesz wasn't smiling. "But?" he added, warily.

"The downside, is that the triggering of this particular 'virus' causes the mutated nanobots to attack our own genetic code. In layman's terms, unless I can find a solution, the virus will kill humans, but it will kill us as well."

Nesa frowned, his brows a single line across his forehead. "A suicide bomb, in effect." He thought for a minute and came to a decision, straightening his broad shoulders. "Keep working on a solution. Your project has the utmost priority, I'll authorise all the resources you need. I hope to Vishna we won't have to use it, but... if things get worse..."

Black eyes met silver for a long moment, neither voicing the unspeakable. That if things got worse... they might have to.

~~~~

Mars, Sol System

Steven Coleman stared at his supervisor in dismay, his brown eyes blinking behind the wire rimmed glasses he insisted on wearing. He hated space flight, even the short trip from Earth to Mars had him throwing up or, even worse, feeling as if he was going to, for the entire journey.

"Sorry, you want me to go where, sir?"

"Harmony. Near Sirius, I'm sure you have heard of it, Steven."

"Yes, sir. But isn't that where people go to—"

"Yes, it's the one called the 'pleasure planet'," Leon Gonzales interrupted, his voice testy. "But that's only part of it—admittedly the most famous part—but scarcely the most important. It's also the home of the Ancians, the race everyone seems to think is the oldest in the galaxy. That's whom you will be visiting, not the pleasure houses."

"Yes, sir." For the first time he felt a flash of interest battle with the dread he felt at the idea of travelling through space. "But what—"

"If you'll stop interrupting for a minute, I'll tell you!" Gonzales glared. "We've heard that the Gliesers, sorry, the Vishnans I should say," he corrected himself with a sneer, "are going to appeal to the Ancians for help. I really don't know what they hope to achieve but they are sending a diplomatic envoy to present their case and we are going to do the same."

"But why me, sir? What can I do?"

It was a good question, Gonzales thought to himself, looking at the slender scholar, who had been declared medically unsuitable to fight during the last conscription roundup.

"We need an expert," he answered bracingly. "An expert in Earth history and you're it. You'll be assisting Commander Harry Parker in an advisory role. He will be the one doing the negotiating. You will simply be there to help him, to answer any questions the Ancians might have about our culture, our history. Now if that's all, Ensign Browning will escort you to your quarters and help you pack. He knows what is suitable to take on the ship and what isn't. Oh, before I forget, your ship, the Voyager 21, leaves tomorrow morning at 10:00. Be on it."

Coleman followed the Ensign in a bewildered daze. One minute he had been sitting happily in the library, poring over an ancient text, the next he was about to be flung across the galaxy to Sirius.

He cast his mind back, recalling what he knew about Earth's relationship with Gliese 667, or Vishna, as its inhabitants called it. He supposed it had all started centuries ago, when the primitive astronomer, Gliese, had discovered and labelled the tertiary star system. Mildly interesting from a scientific point of view. But what had really caught the public's imagination then, and subsequently, was the fact that it was the nearest system to Sol with habitable planets.

It was almost inevitable, that when Earth eventually achieved space flight several centuries later, Gliese 667 would be their first destination.

The initial journey to the star system had taken years, twenty years if he recalled correctly. He had read about the first meeting, the excitement of the early voyagers when they realised they had found the first other intelligent race. The thrill, when they discovered the aliens were an advanced society, that they had a Faster Than Light drive, far superior to that used by Earth for travelling between the stars.

When had it all gone wrong, he wondered?

When the aliens refused to trade with humans, refused to sell or trade them the FTL drive? Or when an enterprising bunch of traders had stolen a ship and appropriated the drive for themselves? Who had fired the first shot in anger? More dispassionate than most of his species, accustomed to wading through the victors' reports of history with a critical eye, it hadn't taken him long to realise that it all depended on whom you talked to.

As for the Ancians, now there was a race he was eager to meet. He had never encountered one in the flesh, so to speak, but from what he had read, they were a race more in tune with his own ideals of study and scholarship. Slow of movement and speech, he had heard space men joking that most of the time it was hard to tell an Ancian from a statue.

The Ancians lived on Harmony, but appeared content to let other races run the part of the planet devoted to pleasures and recreation of all descriptions. Harmony had everything from theatres to bars and drug dens; from peaceful retreats to extreme sports for the athletically inclined. In addition, or perhaps as a result, Harmony was accepted by all races as being neutral, a place where differences were put aside, at least for a few hours. Anyone tempted into forgetting that, found themselves returned to their ship unconscious, and their permit to disembark revoked.

Steven soon packed his bag under the close supervision of Ensign Browning. It didn't take long as he could only take three kilos with him, and after Browning had left, he decided to spend his remaining time researching the Ancians.

There were numerous texts on the subject, many dating from the early years of first contact. Images showed creatures bearing a passing resemblance to an old Earth animal called a walrus, but with six fingers on each appendage and without the long tusks. Accounts described them as passive, spending much of their time observing other races and preserving historical and cultural records, rather like curators in a museum.

As far as Steven could ascertain, only one person had actually been to their city in the far North. She described long, curved white buildings, filled with artifacts and hologram displays, confirming the description of them as curators. They appeared to live a relatively simple life with nothing remarkable in the way of technology, other perhaps than the sheer lack of it, for such an old race.

There was a short article from a Commander Liu Zhang, concluding that the Ancians appeared to be no threat to Sol and its aspirations. As far as anyone knew, the Ancians never interfered with either the pleasure cities or the other races who visited them. Seemingly, they were content merely to monitor and observe.

It was evident to Steven that the government had been taken by surprise, when they learned that the Vishnans were appealing to the Ancians for help. Was it possible the ancient race wielded more power than previously assumed? Was their authority real rather than symbolic? Or was this simply a Vishnan diversion?

~~~~

Harmony, Sirius System

Kal Truz was strolling through the Venturi bazaar when he saw the human. He froze behind a rack of brightly coloured silken cloaks, staring at it in fascination. It was the first live human he had seen. Its skin was browner than a normal person, dull and lifeless without the glossy sheen one would expect from a young male. The fur on its head was mud coloured and coarse, like a Canid's hair, and it wore odd wire circles on its face.

It bared its teeth as it spoke to the stall owner. Was that meant to be a greeting or a threat? Kal watched as the Venturi returned a courteous reply, unruffled by the stranger. A greeting, then.

He was distracted for a second as two children dashed past, chasing each other down the lane. Watched in horror as one of them cannoned into the human, knocking him nearly off his feet. The human reached out to grab the child and Kal found himself rushing forward without a second thought, ready to defend her. Except that, even as he skidded to a stop in front of them, he saw that the human had set the girl gently on her feet and let her go. "Whoa," he was saying in a cheerful voice. "Careful there!"

He looked up at Kal, who was panting after his mad dash, and smiled. "Yours?" he asked. The smile faltered as he took a closer look at Kal, gradually realising that he wasn't human. There was a sheen to his skin that humans didn't have, and he had never seen eyes quite that colour of gold before. Kal saw the exact moment when the stranger realised he was facing a Vishnan, one of the enemy.

There was a flash of fear in his eyes, but he held his ground gamely. "Harmony is neutral territory, is it not?"

"It is."

"I'll be on my way then." He glanced down at the little girl, still standing there between them, staring up at him, wide-eyed.

"Do you really eat babies for breakfast?" she asked, awed.

The human gave a startled laugh. "I'm afraid not," he replied, with a smile. "Usually I just have a piece of fruit."

"Oh," she replied, half disappointed.

"I think you should go and find your parents," suggested Kal, firmly. "They must be wondering where you are."

For a split second the two men exchanged a look of amused indulgence. Kids! Then they realised what they were doing. Kal gave a cool nod and turned away. Steven looked after him for a brief moment then continued on his slow perusal of the market, his heart beating a bit faster at the unexpected encounter. His first Vishnan.

It was funny, but after that first impression, he hadn't seemed all that different.

Commander Harry Parker was kicking his heels outside the door to Ancian's municipal reception room. He had been told the Administrator would see him shortly, but that had been an hour ago. He fretted, unable to decide if he was being snubbed, or whether it was just that the Ancians had a different notion of time.

He wished now that he had sent Coleman along to make the appointment, but he had been trying to make a good impression, show that he was treating the occasion with the appropriate degree of importance.

Another half hour crawled by before the door opened, and a Venturi assistant ushered him inside to where the Ancian was reclining on a low couch. Its heavy grey body bore an even stronger resemblance to a walrus.

"You are welcome, human," announced the Ancian in ponderous tones. The words emitted from a small black translator box placed on the couch. The Commander was taken aback for a moment. Surely the Ancians had a more sophisticated method of communicating than this old fashioned device? It made him wonder again, about what sort of power they actually wielded. He had certainly seen no signs of advanced technology so far. Still, the Vishnans evidently thought it worth their while approaching the Ancians for assistance. Perhaps they knew something he didn't.

The Commander bowed briefly. "Thank you for seeing me, Administrator. I am Commander Harry Parker of the Combined Sol Forces. I understand you have a meeting arranged with Vishnan representatives?"

There was a lengthy pause, then, "Yes. That is true."

"I, too, have come to request a meeting, so that I and my associates may present our side of the conflict to you."

The Ancian appeared to study him for a long time with large brown eyes, as if it were weighing up the pros and cons of every possible response and outcome. It blinked slowly. An unfortunate image of a cow chewing its cud flashed across Parker's mind, but he kept his face politely respectful.

"Your request is granted." The Ancian announced eventually. "You and the human called Coleman may attend us in the City, in seven days time. My assistant will give you the details."

"Thank you, Administrator, but... Coleman? I have more senior advisors who are looking forward to speaking with you." Parker was trying to be diplomatic, hiding his dismay at the invitation for the most junior and least experienced member of his party. The man he had only reluctantly accepted as having any relevance to the mission at all.

"Coleman," insisted the Ancian.

"Of course, Administrator." Parker accepted with resignation.

The Ancian closed its eyes, signalling the end of the interview.

Parker bowed to the Administrator, and he and the Venturi bowed to each other. The Venturi followed him out. "I'll send the details across to you this afternoon," she advised, as she closed the door behind them both, then added, "It's an honour, you know. Few people are invited to the City."

Parker was confused. Surely they were in the city right now? The Venturi gave what passed for a smile and explained further. "The invitation is for you to attend the Ancian City, in the North."

~~~~

Troni, Vishna System

The Premier waited anxiously for Ula Tesz' update. The situation on Irra was deteriorating by the day. The latest report advised that the Vishnans were on the verge of losing control of the entire planet; most of the big cities were in ruins, the only significant remaining pockets of resistance were in the mountains and the smaller towns.

Ula Tesz entered his office out of breath. "Sorry I'm late, sir. The last test on NIL8 took longer than I expected."

"I hope that means you have good news for me."

The scientist grimaced. "No, I'm afraid not. All I've managed to achieve is a greater potency in the death rate. By that I mean, with the latest modifications, an average human will live about six days after becoming infected instead of ten. A Vishnan—anything from five to fifteen days depending on their age."

"How virulent is it? If, say, we triggered NIL8 in only a handful of Vishnans, would that be enough to have a significant impact on the humans?" Not for the first time, the Premier wished he had paid more attention in his biology classes all those years ago.

Ula Tesz looked up at the ceiling for a minute. "All my projections indicate that once we activate NIL8 it will continue to spread through the population until either someone finds a 'cure' or everyone in the killzone is dead." Her tone was flat.

"The 'killzone'?"

"Any discrete area containing human or Vishnan life. A spaceship, a space station... or a planet. It won't stop until it has nowhere to go."

Silence.

Tev Nesa cleared his throat. "Uh, it is being kept in complete quarantine, isn't it?"

Ula Tesz gave a grim smile. "Completely, I assure you. Anyone working with NIL8 wears a full hazard protection suit, and goes through three separate decontamination procedures when they have finished."

The scientist paused for a moment, allowing him to digest the news, waiting until she had his complete attention once again. She leant forward unconsciously on her stool, emphasising the importance of what she was saying.

"Sir, this weapon is the most deadly yet devised, by either of our races. In my opinion, the Council should either decide to use it, and be fully prepared to face all the consequences, or... destroy it. Even given our most stringent security arrangements, I still have nightmares, imagining that the NIL8 is released somehow by accident, or by sabotage."

Tev Nesa found himself nodding, very slowly, in agreement.

~~~~

Harmony, Sirius System

Steven Coleman trudged silently beside the Commander through the streets of the City. He risked a quick glance sideways and saw that the Commander was still annoyed. He wasn't accustomed to walking through snow, not unless he was going skiing that is, and neither of them were dressed suitably for the cold weather. Although, come to think of it, Coleman remembered there had been a short weather report included in their directions. Evidently it had been intended as more than general information about their destination.

Weather aside, Parker was not happy with the fact that they had been made to leave their hovercars—and the staff who had accompanied them—outside the gates to the City. They had been directed politely but firmly to a flat square of ground where they could park the hovercars. It was enclosed on three sides by long white huts containing sufficient—if basic—accommodation for all the people they had brought.

Steven stopped worrying about the Commander and looked about with interest. Despite wet feet and a cold nose, he was excited. Here he was, in a city only one other human had ever been allowed into to the best of his knowledge. He wasn't going to waste a second. The buildings they were passing were long and white, curved slightly to ensure that the snow didn't pile up on the rooves. He could see nothing to distinguish one building from another, though presumably the Ancians knew which was which.

Apart from the Venturi leading the way, he saw no-one else out and about on the streets. Perhaps there was some underground method of transport?

A few minutes later the Venturi stopped in front of one of the buildings. To Steven's eye it looked just the same as every other building, but the Venturi opened the door and ushered them inside. Steven blinked. For a second there, he had thought the building was bigger on the inside than the out. What an odd thing to imagine. Of course this building was large. He remembered quite clearly thinking it was the largest he had seen so far, when they halted out the front.

He realised the others had walked on ahead, and he hastened to catch up.

The two humans followed the Venturi through an empty hall, lined with colourful murals depicting different star systems and galaxies. Steven would have liked to linger but the others were keeping up a brisk pace, heading toward an open door at the far end, through which he could see an Ancian already lying on the customary low couch.

As Coleman followed Parker into the audience room he heard the gasp of an indrawn breath from his left. He spun around and froze. Two Vishnans stood there, to the side, both wearing dark blue cloaks which covered them from their shoulders to the ground. One looked like an older male, his hair was pure white, and the other was... the young Vishnan he had run into in the Bazaar. Both of them were staring, in what could only be described as shocked dismay.

Evidently humans were not the Ancians' only guests today.

Steven made a huge effort to gather his scattered wits and managed a credible bow to the Ancian. Then he turned and bowed his head very slightly to the two Vishnans in acknowledgement.

Commander Parker was still battling for control. His face was an angry red. "Administrator," he ground out. "Can I ask, what is the meaning of this?"

The elder Vishnan stepped forward as if he, too, would ask the same question.

The Ancian's face took on an even more impenetrable expression, if that were possible.

"Of course, Commander, Councillor. Both your races have requested a meeting with us to discuss your current conflict. It seemed to me the ideal opportunity to start by showing you the exhibitions we have on display for your respective cultures. It may prove enlightening."

Coleman could almost see the struggle on the Commander's face, as offence battled with the possibility that they might gain an advantage, by seeing what the Ancians thought was important about Vishna.

In the end, curiosity won. "Of course, Administrator," Parker agreed stiffly.

"We accept, Administrator," said the white-haired Vishnan, at almost the same moment.

The two opponents studiously ignored each other.

"Let's go and have a look then, shall we?" said the Ancian, sliding off the couch. However, instead of flopping or sliding along on its belly as Parker had expected, the creature rose up onto its tail. Vertical, the Ancian towered over everyone else. The Venturi hastened forward with a small chariot-like vehicle and the Ancian slithered onto it. Its forward appendages grasped the front of the chariot which then proceeded to glide over the floor at a leisurely pace, allowing the others to follow.

To Coleman's disappointment, for he was now convinced that there must be an underground transport system, the Ancian led the way back out into the streets. The chariot moved effortlessly over the snow, leaving the humans and Vishnans to trudge behind as best they could. A couple of hundred meters later, it drew up in front of another indistinguishable white building. The door opened and the Ancian led the way inside.

There was a brief awkwardness as both Parker and the elder Vishnan tried to enter the door at the same time but soon all four were inside, Coleman politely bringing up the rear. Once again, they found themselves in a large hall, except this time, there were rooms spaced evenly along the walls, the fourth side of each completely open to the hall. The Ancian stopped at the first.

"Here is the human exhibition," it announced. All four crowded around behind it to watch the holographic display as it followed human development over the centuries, beginning with the very first cave dwellers. The display showed the development of spears and swords, then guns and rifles, up to the most modern rocket-launchers; before branching out into the weapons of mass destruction, bombs, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

Coleman felt ill. Were weapons the only things worth remembering about his species? He looked across at the Vishnans. They were aliens, he couldn't be certain he was reading their expressions correctly but he was pretty certain he could see disgust on their faces. More worryingly, he thought the older Vishnan looked satisfied as well, as if his expectations had been vindicated.

"But where is the art, the music?" he blurted out. "The beautiful buildings? I'm sorry, Administrator, but surely this is only one part of our culture?"

The Administrator turned to look at him without speaking. The Vishnans both looked smug, that was the only word for it, thought Coleman, grinding his teeth.

Still silent, the Administrator moved to the next display room before speaking. "Here is the Vishnan exhibition."

Coleman had to take a couple of deep breaths before he could concentrate. He saw images of wheels, bridges, buildings. Cities covering vast tracts of land, then space ships and interstellar flight. Coleman shut his eyes for a minute, it was chillingly obvious which race the Ancians thought was more worthy. And what was worse, maybe they were right.

But when he opened his eyes again, he saw whole planets being altered, their burgeoning ecology cleared away, everything reformed and reseeded to suit the needs of the Vishnans. He stared at them in horror. How was this any better?

~~~~

Harmony, Sirius System

The older Vishnan, Councillor Zwan, was watching the display with pride, but the younger turned to look at the humans, to gauge their reaction. He flinched as he recognised the horror in Steven's eyes. Both young men looked away from each other, fixing their gazes on their superiors.

"Shall we return to the Hall?" asked the Ancian, turning the chariot around and gliding toward the door. It was clear the suggestion was not open for discussion.

They returned to the Hall, and seated themselves around a circular table which had been brought in during their absence. All except the Administrator, who was still standing in the chariot, towering over everyone else.

"Have you considered a peaceful resolution of the conflict?" asked the Ancian calmly.

Instantly there was a clash of conversation as the two elders spoke at once. Phrases such as "won", "surrender" ,"rather die", peppered the air.

The Administrator listened for a few minutes before interrupting. "Enough!" it announced firmly, silencing both of them. "You have both asked for our assistance and you shall have it."

Steven felt a coldness seep through his body. He glanced at the others. Was he the only one who heard the utter implacability in the Ancian's voice?

He felt exactly as if he was standing before a judge passing sentence. He was terribly afraid the sentence going to be "death."

The Ancian flicked a quick look at him, as if it could read his thoughts, then it addressed the two elders.

"Henceforth, you will be placed in isolation. Both your races will be prevented from communicating with any systems outside your own, until this problem is resolved."

"What?"

"You can't do that!"

"You have no right..."

The Administrator stood silently allowing the protests to wash over him. When they eventually ran out of steam, it continued, "The decision has been made. You, personally, are welcome to stay here on Harmony, or you are free to visit another planet, anywhere except Sol or Vishna."

"I would like to be escorted back to my hovercar, Administrator," announced Commander Parker in a stiff tone. There was no way anyone was going to prevent him from returning to Mars, but it wasn't worth making a fuss over, here and now. This whole thing had been a complete waste of time. The sooner he got back to Mars and wound up this war, the better.

Councillor Zwan was fuming inside. What had gone wrong? Right up until the last minute he had been certain the Ancians were going to support the Vishnan side of the conflict. Then, suddenly, it seemed that the Ancians were lumping the two of them together as both deserving of some sort of punishment!

What did the Administrator mean, 'placed in isolation'? Whatever it meant, he knew the important thing was to get back to Troni as soon as possible, Premier Nesa needed the information he had gained from watching the exhibition here.

As soon as he was seated in the hovercar, on his way back to Harmony City and the spaceport, Commander Parker signalled the Captain of the Voyager 21 to get ready for immediate departure. He gritted his teeth; if the Ancians tried to stop them they would just have to blast their way off the planet.

They reached the spaceport without incident and Parker ushered everyone on board, brushing aside Coleman's foolish request to stay on Harmony. The quicker they were on their way, the better. He hadn't heard any reports that the Ancians had weapons or even a spacefleet, but his gut was telling him to get out of there as fast as he could.

He didn't start to relax until the ship moved out of orbit and prepared for the first FTL stage on the way back to Mars. He allowed a brief sigh of relief as he strapped himself in for the jump. Just as he had thought, they were all talk and no substance. No-one had lifted a finger to stop them.

He came out of a brief doze after the jump, to the loud sounds of irritated voices from the bridge.

"What do you mean, you can't find it?"

"Check the damn co-ordinates again! A whole star system can't just disappear!"

"Get the engineer up here, give the whole frigging system an overhaul. There must be something wrong with it, and switch over to the backup system in the meantime."

"It's not? Look again! Both systems can't fail at the same time, it's not possible."

"What's the problem Captain?" Parker asked, a cold lump already settling in his stomach.

The Captain gave an angry laugh of disbelief. "Apparently Sol has become invisible since yesterday! The navigator can't find the damn co-ordinates, can you believe it? If we can't get this thing fixed soon, we'll have to go back to Harmony and get the whole navigation system replaced!"

"See if you can get the co-ordinates for Vishna," Parker asked, his voice urgent.

"What?"

"Just check!" insisted the Commander, already dreading the answer.

There was a short pause. "Damn it! That's missing too! The whole navigation system must be screwed. There's no choice, we have to go back, while we still have the co-ordinates for Harmony!"

Only Steven Coleman was unsurprised by the news. He had begun to suspect, from the moment he entered the City, that the Ancians had far more sophisticated capabilities than they wanted people to believe.

~~~~

EPILOGUE

Harmony, Sirius System

The Administrator picked up the pen and paused for a moment over the book, opened to a nice clean page.

It gave a wry shake of the head. The Vishnans and the Humans, both believed they had been judged and punished. Although most races regarded the Ancians as curators, the Administrator considered itself more of a Guardian. When a race was very young, as were both the Humans and the Vishnans—galactically speaking—sometimes they needed some time out. Time to work through problems and come up with a viable solution beyond mutual annihilation. No matter how many centuries that took.

On the first page, the Administrator wrote carefully,

'Report : Homo Sapiens

Shows potential. Needs to learn to play well with others.'

And on the next page,

'Report : Vishna Vani

Shows promise. Needs to learn how to share.'