Read Online The Synchronicity War Part 3 by Dietmar Wehr - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dietmar Wehr
Ads: Link
They
had to be doing it somehow, and touch and/or chemical signals were probably as
good a way as anything else.
"Do you know if the death of the egg-laying female, the
Queen, will disrupt the behavior of the drones?"
"We do not know."
Shiloh was running out of questions, but a glance at the
chronometer showed that the data transfer was still in progress. As the seconds
ticked away he thought of another question.
"Is your planet in this insect ship's path?"
"There is a possibility that their scout ships may not
visit our star system, but we are prepared to shut down all energy emissions
from our entire civilization if they come close. We believe that they will
ignore our planet if they don't detect signs of intelligent life there."
"Can you defend yourselves if they do discover your
civilization?"
"No. We are a pacifist race. We have no military caste
the way you do, and we are not skilled in the arts of making weapons. We are
therefore not a threat to anyone. By our willingness to share our knowledge
with everyone, we eliminate any incentive for another race to use force against
us. By helping others, we hope to save our own race."
Shiloh's ears perked up upon hearing that the 'friendlies'
would share their knowledge with everyone.
"That's very interesting. Right now you're sharing your
temporal communication technology with us, and we're grateful for that. Do you
understand that with approximately 11,000 of us left, we need to compensate for
our reduced population with more effective weapons against threats like the
insect race?"
"Yes, but as I stated, we don't build weapons and don't
know how to build them."
"I understand that. You may have a better understanding
than we do of physics and how energy and matter can be manipulated. If you
transferred that knowledge to us, we could then look at how that knowledge
could be applied to new weapons."
There was another pause, but this time Shiloh noticed that
the alien's behavior was different. For the entire conversation so far, the
alien's eyes had been blinking periodically just as a human would, but now the
eyes were shut and the head was tilted slightly downward. It suddenly hit
Shiloh what he was seeing. I'll bet he's having a precognitive vision of his
own!
After roughly twenty seconds, the alien lifted his head and
opened his eyes again. "I have just received a Trans-temporal message from
our future selves that our race will ultimately benefit from the transfer of
the information that you seek. However we are not ready to transmit that
information now. We will have to return to our planet, gather that information
and return. Will that be acceptable to you?"
It'll have to be, thought Shiloh. "Yes. I
understand. How soon would you be able to return?"
"The earliest that we might be back is 24 orbits of the
moon around this planet, but do not be concerned if it takes longer. We will
return as promised. Transfer of the temporal database is complete. We are now
going to terminate communication and leave this star system."
Before Shiloh could say anything, the image dissolved and
Valkyrie said, "That ship has entered Jumpspace, CAG."
Shiloh was surprised at how quickly the Friendlies, as he
now thought of them, reacted. After some further thought he said, "What do
you think of their temporal technology, Valkyrie?"
"I was receiving the data too fast to be able to
analyze it, so I can't answer your question now, CAG. Since I'm the only one
who has this data, I recommend I share it with other A.I.s as quickly as
possible. Space Ops is calling us, CAG. Commander Kelly wants to speak with you
on Tac 1."
"Your recommendation is accepted. I suppose I should
let the people on the ground know what happened between us and the
Friendlies."
"Not necessary, CAG. I retransmitted the entire
exchange to the Base as it was happening. They saw and heard everything, even
Commander Kelly. Shall I
had to be doing it somehow, and touch and/or chemical signals were probably as
good a way as anything else.
"Do you know if the death of the egg-laying female, the
Queen, will disrupt the behavior of the drones?"
"We do not know."
Shiloh was running out of questions, but a glance at the
chronometer showed that the data transfer was still in progress. As the seconds
ticked away he thought of another question.
"Is your planet in this insect ship's path?"
"There is a possibility that their scout ships may not
visit our star system, but we are prepared to shut down all energy emissions
from our entire civilization if they come close. We believe that they will
ignore our planet if they don't detect signs of intelligent life there."
"Can you defend yourselves if they do discover your
civilization?"
"No. We are a pacifist race. We have no military caste
the way you do, and we are not skilled in the arts of making weapons. We are
therefore not a threat to anyone. By our willingness to share our knowledge
with everyone, we eliminate any incentive for another race to use force against
us. By helping others, we hope to save our own race."
Shiloh's ears perked up upon hearing that the 'friendlies'
would share their knowledge with everyone.
"That's very interesting. Right now you're sharing your
temporal communication technology with us, and we're grateful for that. Do you
understand that with approximately 11,000 of us left, we need to compensate for
our reduced population with more effective weapons against threats like the
insect race?"
"Yes, but as I stated, we don't build weapons and don't
know how to build them."
"I understand that. You may have a better understanding
than we do of physics and how energy and matter can be manipulated. If you
transferred that knowledge to us, we could then look at how that knowledge
could be applied to new weapons."
There was another pause, but this time Shiloh noticed that
the alien's behavior was different. For the entire conversation so far, the
alien's eyes had been blinking periodically just as a human would, but now the
eyes were shut and the head was tilted slightly downward. It suddenly hit
Shiloh what he was seeing. I'll bet he's having a precognitive vision of his
own!
After roughly twenty seconds, the alien lifted his head and
opened his eyes again. "I have just received a Trans-temporal message from
our future selves that our race will ultimately benefit from the transfer of
the information that you seek. However we are not ready to transmit that
information now. We will have to return to our planet, gather that information
and return. Will that be acceptable to you?"
It'll have to be, thought Shiloh. "Yes. I
understand. How soon would you be able to return?"
"The earliest that we might be back is 24 orbits of the
moon around this planet, but do not be concerned if it takes longer. We will
return as promised. Transfer of the temporal database is complete. We are now
going to terminate communication and leave this star system."
Before Shiloh could say anything, the image dissolved and
Valkyrie said, "That ship has entered Jumpspace, CAG."
Shiloh was surprised at how quickly the Friendlies, as he
now thought of them, reacted. After some further thought he said, "What do
you think of their temporal technology, Valkyrie?"
"I was receiving the data too fast to be able to
analyze it, so I can't answer your question now, CAG. Since I'm the only one
who has this data, I recommend I share it with other A.I.s as quickly as
possible. Space Ops is calling us, CAG. Commander Kelly wants to speak with you
on Tac 1."
"Your recommendation is accepted. I suppose I should
let the people on the ground know what happened between us and the
Friendlies."
"Not necessary, CAG. I retransmitted the entire
exchange to the Base as it was happening. They saw and heard everything, even
Commander Kelly. Shall I
Similar Books
