The Eleusian Effect
Chapter 23 A Grave Decision

October 1, 2169 1000 Hours

I grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and then got ready for the meeting on Centauri. I met up with Tanner, Jamie, Wilson and the bridge staff. I had a few med-techs on hand just in case. we shuttled down to the planet and met with Marteen and the rest of the Community.

“Come to Order.” Marteen was unusually formal. “This special meeting is now in session.” Everyone sat down. “The Elders have called this meeting because the fate of our Community is at a crossroads. As you know, The Emissary, Marcus, has been changed, altered in a way we still do not fully understand. The omnisphere is a probe from Venus and the Emissary needs to download her information to it. The problem is that once the download is complete, the resulting energy discharge will destroy this planet and everything on it.” The crowd murmured with concern. Many were questioning whether or not to let the download happen. Marteen called for order and continued. “We have a choice to make as a community. Now we were considering returning to Earth with the Kennedy; we may not have a choice now.” A man from the crowd spoke up, “What if we don’t want to leave? We have a nice working society here. Why does it have to change?”

Tanner spoke. “I know it’s a difficult matter. It was never our intention to disrupt your lifestyle, however, you may need to leave Centauri whether you want to or not.” A woman spoke up, “What do you mean? Are you going to force us from here?”

“That is not our intention. The problem lies with the Emissary. She has become a being of great power and she needs to expel the data within her else she could become critical.” “Critical? Like a bomb?”

“Yes. Fortunately, we analyzed the data from the Eleusians and this is what we’ve concluded.”

The crowd murmured again. Tanner continued, “Her genetic structure has been greatly altered. I’m not sure she could stop it if she wanted to; the way we understand it she must evolve. The only way she can do that is to connect with the omnisphere and download the data that is written into her DNA.” Another woman spoke up, “So we have to sacrifice our planet and our way of life to this Emissary?”

It was my turn to speak up. “ You aren’t sacrificing the planet. It’s an unfortunate process that has to take place. It’s not like anyone knew about this. The Eleusians set up this method of exploration millennia before any of us were born. It may have happened whether we discovered it or not. The upside is that we discovered it in enough time to do something about it.” One of the elders spoke up. He was chief engineer of the Tempest, Walter Blake. “So, if what you’re saying is true, this planet is doomed.” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Yes,” I said solemnly. “You’ll have to come with us. Once you are safe, we can discuss your futures.”

“Is there nothing we can do? Baskin had been quiet for a long time. “The Earth has changed. We really don’t belong there anymore.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Jamie Braddock was unusually optimistic. “You survived on an alien planet with next to nothing and did pretty well. Assimilating back to Earth should be a lot easier. You may even have descendants there. Isn’t it better than the alternative?” Tanner piped up. “There is another option. Those who are interested in joining GASA might be able to stay with us on the Kennedy.”

Marteen spoke. “Some of the youth expressed an interest in exploration. That may be another alternative.”

The Elders chatted between themselves and then spoke to Marteen. He turned to the community and said, “The Elders will hold a closed meeting to discuss our options. Captain Tanner, how much time do we have?” Tanner turned to us and confirmed the time left. “You have 48 hours. Please decide quickly. My crew has orders to leave orbit immediately once the download is finished. There’s only a small window of time to escape the blast once the Emissary is finished. Once we are clear, we will monitor the discharge from a safe distance in space.” “We understand, Captain Tanner.” Marteen was solemn. We went outside and headed towards the shuttlecraft. We took a moment at the shuttlecraft before getting in. “What do you think, Captain?” “I have no idea. I’m hoping they just come with us, but I’m sad that they are being forced to make the decision. I have to believe that after all they’ve gone through, the choice would be simple.” “The planet has so much potential. But-” I started to ponder.

“What is it?” Tanner asked.

“Isn’t it strange that the Eleusians put all this effort, science, technology and time into space exploration but made no provision for the inhabitants of the planets they explore to survive their download? I mean they must have known what would happen when the planets’ emissary would merge with the sphere.” “It’s an incredible oversight, if it was one.”

“All the data we’ve have on them, they never came across as conquerors or destroyers of worlds. I have a hard time believing they were this sloppy.”

“True. I guess they weren’t perfect after all. It’s seems their legacy is flawed.”

“I suppose. What about the community? Do you think they’ll come with us?”

“If they believe what we’re saying; they’ve survived through a lot adversity. I can’t comprehend that they wouldn’t.”

“I agree. I guess all we can do is wait.”

I went into the shuttlecraft and accessed the Eleusian drives on the Kennedy. I had a suspicion about the nature of the whole Emissary process and after about ten minutes of research, it seems my suspicions were correct. I called for Tanner. “Captain? A moment, please?” “Doctor.”

“Take a look at this. The reason that the Emissary process is cataclysmic is that it’s the first one.”

Tanner realized what I was saying. “You mean this is the first Eleusian download off-world?”

“Yes. The Eleusian civilization was in the process of collapsing when their scientists launched the omnispheres. They were only to launch a fraction of the spheres that they had planned. They were literally attacked and slaughtered as they reached into space.” “Incredible. I’m not sure that that will sway the Community one way or another.”

October 2, 2169, 0823 Hours

As we waited for the Community’s decision, we readied ourselves for a fast exit when the download was complete. I was in sickbay when Tanner called. “Danna, the Community just contacted me. They have made a decision.” I held my breath, “What did they decide?”

“They’re coming with us. They are evacuating the village now and are set to be aboard in 12 hours.”

I exhaled. “What a relief. I just couldn’t see any other option.”

“Me too. Marteen said it didn’t make sense that after being completely healed of their illnesses, that they would throw it away by staying on a doomed planet. It was a hard decision, I imagine but I think it was the kids that helped them make it. The elders wanted the children to survive and the children would not leave without the elders.” “It’s nice they are so close.”

“Danna, just make sure the males are protected from us. They are used to a lot of fresh air and a clean environment. I don’t want any spontaneous gender changing happening.” “Will do.”

I checked the pheromone blocking protocols and the balancing mixture. Everything was normal but I decided to have all the men from the Community inoculated just to be safe. We knew that they all had been exposed to Element X and the Omnisphere was the source. I programmed the medical server arrays to adjust for Element X and also to red flag any significant hormonal or pheromone fluctuations. I contacted Operations to make sure we had accommodations for the Community and we pulled several tons of organic food material from the planet as well.

The day went by fast and it was down to an hour before the Community was scheduled to be picked up. The download was scheduled to happen early the next morning. Things were progressing but tense.

At 1900 hours, the first shuttle went down to the planet. Marteen had required the Community to travel light; only the most important things were allowed to come aboard. Food, water, clothing and a keepsake. We provided luggage for them and the boarding went smoothly. At 2110, I checked in with Marteen and the Elders. “How’s it going?” “Fine, we should only have one more shuttle trip.” I saw that Marteen was sad.

“I’m sorry you have to leave your home. It must be hard.”

“Thanks. It was hard. We had a peaceful, calm life. It’s like we retired to Hawaii. But, in a way I’m glad.”

“Why?”

“The children. They didn’t have any other future than just surviving. We are all explorers at heart. It’s why we wanted to go into space. We figured, if nothing else we could see some of the universe before we died of our illnesses. Now, not only do we get a second chance at life, we have another chance to explore, and now the children do, too.

“That’s a nice sentiment.”

“Thanks. When is the download happening?”

“Once everyone is off the planet, we will bring the Emissary to the cavern and she will connect to the omnisphere. Once she separates herself from Marcus we have a seven minute window to get Marcus and get back to the ship.” “Seven minutes? That’s cutting it close.”

“It’s the best we can do. We’ve tweaked a shuttlecraft to make the delivery. We pulled all unnecessary equipment off and reconfigured the engines for speed. We won’t have time to test it but my engineers are confident it will do the job.” “Thanks, Doctor. I don’t want to lose anyone after we’ve come this far.”

I smiled my prettiest smile and went to my quarters. I decided to make a subspace video just in case. “This is in case our current mission fails. The chances are slim but I still feel I need to make this video. We will be witnessing a most unusual event where an alien life form will literally ‘download’ her genetic information into what has become known as the omnisphere. Technical data will follow but it’s like a probe to search out and connect with living, intelligent life on other planets. The download will cause an immense discharge of energy that will destroy the entire planet. We have found out that this is the first time this event has occurred and the technology is Eleusian in origin. The technology still fascinates us and sometimes confounds us. We don’t know if there are any other omnispheres out here but at least now we will know what we are dealing with. On a personal note, I am concerned about us not being able to outrun the blast; if so then I will archive this video. If not, and we are destroyed, please tell my family I love them and Bill, I love you very much. This is Doctor Endana Obama, Chief Medical Officer for the USS Kennedy. God Speed.” I thought that the video might have been too dour for the situation but there’s an old GASA saying that says, ‘Anything can happen in space. Anything.’”

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