Chapter 35
Major Mathew Reagan, US Army
We had just boarded our new ship and were still settling in when Silva found me.
Except for the shuttles all the alien ships we’d boarded so far had been a relatively flat square, oblong, or circle in shape; and even though I’d thought the original Noridian ship was large its diameter had been measured in hundreds of yards. Our new ship’s diameter could be measured in miles. When you view things in space you really don’t get a good perspective on size until you actually touch the object you’re moving towards. When our shuttle was on approach I was impressed by our new ship’s size but it just kept getting bigger and bigger the closer we got.
It was the first time I’d felt vertigo in space. If you’ve ever experienced that funny queasy feeling as your rollercoaster slowly tops its highest peak and prepares to plunge straight down you know the feeling. Once we were inside everything was normal but on approach the size of this ship was intimidating.
Unlike our previous trip we would be stowing all our personal gear in our own staterooms; we had a long trip ahead of us but I also had a demanding training schedule in mind. I wanted everyone to have instant access to everything they might need - including the civilians.
To that end I was helping everyone get organized when Silva pulled me aside.
He’d just gotten word; Jaki and our original team had arrived back at Earth.
I considered delaying our departure long enough to send another message to Earth but there really wasn’t anything else to add to our previous report. I made the decision to continue with our imminent departure. I did pause in my duties to check one more time but there apparently wasn’t any way to speed up the months-long transit time in front of us.
The ultimate ‘Hurry Up and Wait’…
That’s why I’d called this meeting.
Within hours of leaving Largan orbit I’d arraigned for our entire team to meet in what passed for a Coridian amphitheater. If you’ve ever attended a required college basic freshman course with over 300 students on the roll, or an old-time movie theater, you know the type of seating arrangement I’m talking about; each row rising level by level from a lower stage and acoustically designed so that the speaker can talk in a normal voice and still be heard by all.
The main difference from what I was used to was that the lower stage was completely encircled by the raised seating. There was no wall or whiteboard to write on but my understanding was that the vast space above my head could be filled with holographic projections totally controlled by the bioware that I didn’t have—not that I was planning on using slides anyway.
Minus the casualties we suffered on Stiger, and minus Dr. Spencer and Dr. Spelini, my entire team was present along with Silva, Toni, and a couple of dozen other Coridians that had tagged along for the ride to Earth.
What percentage of the Coridian ‘crew’ this represented I wasn’t sure. When I’d asked Silva, more than once, exactly how many of his dynasty would be accompanying us he’d been very nonspecific. The closest he would come to giving me a straight answer was ‘over a hundred.’
Did I have mixed feelings about bringing so many Coridians back to Earth? Sure.
Could I even be sure that the real number wasn’t over a thousand? The ship was certainly big enough.
I didn’t like to think that I might be bringing an invasion force back with me but at the end of the day I realized that I had very little choice. None, actually. The Coridians were fully capable of heading back to Earth with or without me and we didn’t have any other options to get home. I spent a good part of the cruise forcing myself not to dwell on the subject.
“I thought it best that we recount our experiences so far so that we can contemplate all of our future actions with a full perspective. In my experience it is sometimes very easy to let our decision making get swayed more by recent events than by the full picture,” I said to the crowd.
“Our civilization was shocked when we discovered that we weren’t alone in the universe. It was even more stunning to realize that not only were at least some of the aliens hostile but that our technology was also vastly inferior to theirs.
“We had no idea of the galactic political games being played when the Noridians first openly contacted us. and because they were claiming to be our friends many of us found hope again.
“That hope turned to fear and dread as the truth of the Noridians slowly became known. We learned that they bioengineered our race and then later attempted genocide on us. We also learned that we were denied our heritage and purposely given shorter life-spans in that genocidal attempt. Both Dr. Schein and Toni of the Coridian enclave tell me that many of our cancers and other genetic diseases could very well be byproducts of that same genetic engineering.
“And the Noridians aren’t finished with us. Today they’re trying to enslave us. Following the political rules of The Accord they’re trying to absorb our achievements and cap our freedom and sovereignty.
“They make it tempting to us by offering a higher standard of technology and living but they would still own us, our achievements, and our future. And even if they were sincere about giving us a better life how could we ever trust a people that attempted to wipe us out?
“We must remember that every mousetrap has its cheese.
“The Coridians have given us hope again. They have protected this team and worked behind the scenes to thwart the Noridian’s plans for Earth. The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend is a good way to describe our relationship thus far.
“We are grateful to them.
“But I must say this to you in front of them—just because we like each other doesn’t make us friends; and just because we help each other doesn’t mean we can trust each other.
“Many of the original Earth Team have been duped into believing Noridia is a friend and some, like Colonel Nesbit and Dr. Decker, have betrayed us. They have already returned to Earth and have a large head start on convincing the rest of the population to accept Noridia’s offer.
“We personally have lost friends on this journey. We’ve watched our colleagues callously cut down or sacrifice themselves so the rest of us might survive. There will be a time and place to properly mourn them; today I suggest we honor them by learning from them.
“When we realized that we’d been separated from the rest of the Earth Team and marked for death not a single one of us laid down to die. When the Noridians came after us with futuristic weapons we fought back with sticks and stones and our bare fists, and in too many cases paid the ultimate price.
“What we did not do, however, was give up.
“The Coridians need the Noridians to fail but they’d also like us to be their protectorate. We need Noridia to fail but we don’t want to give up our sovereignty to anyone.
“When this is all said and done, when we’ve gotten all of this figured out and Earth is still free, whether it’s six months from now or six hundred years from now Coridians need to understand that Earth will either think of you as bystanders that gave moral support or allies that openly fought alongside of us. We will either think of you as a people that would help us only if there were something for you to gain or as true like-minded friends that we owe a debt of gratitude to.
“What Earth will never think of you as is our owners; our superiors; our protectors.
“We appreciate you taking us to Earth. We appreciate you giving us familiar weapons to defend ourselves. We understand the political expediency of keeping your involvement quiet for the time being, however, know this; there will come a time when you will need to take a stand.