Chapter Twenty One - Known!

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Commitment demands action, and actions may bring rewards.”

Chapter Twenty One: Known!

Dated: 8th July, 2461

The seedling that sprouts into an action is always an underlying commitment, whether voluntarily assumed or entrusted upon by the situation. Without commitment of some kind, any action is unlikely. It could be an official duty, a moral obligation, an abstract desire to achieve something, or it could even be a conscientious call arising out of the situation at hand, but the initiating point of every action lies in a commitment. But whatever be its source, a call for an action upon an identified commitment, cannot be turned down without experiencing regret or guilt. As easy it might be to assume one, a commitment cannot be shed in the same vein!

Actions obviously lead to results, which may be desired, unwanted or regretted. Most often these results are foregone conclusions, and the actions are already tied to a predetermined remuneration for the efforts that might be expended in performing them. Rarely however efforts go so far beyond the scope of commitment, that merely results and remuneration are not enough to equitably satisfy their worth. This is where rewards come in! Actions beyond the call of duty deserve satisfaction beyond the scope of results and remuneration. Still rarely however, the results themselves are so brilliant and outshine every expectation, that even rewards seem inept to satisfy the demands of gratitude. This is where awards come in!

However, there is no automatic right to awards for brilliant work, or automatic connection to rewards for special efforts. No one becomes worthy unless honestly judged by their peers. However, peers who fail to perform their moral obligation, to judge impartially, are forever condemned by history and questioned by posterity. A simple commitment thus becomes a seed that yields numerous future values. People like Captain Ahluwalia know this, and hence are not perturbed by the fact that they may be judged for their actions. What they are more concerned about are their commitments, and lest they be left unsatisfied by an error!

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The rest of this chapter, which concludes this line of stories in the series, will be published as a Kindle book, which should be available for purchase worldwide latest by 7th March, 2017. Arrangements are being considered for hardcopy prints too, so please bear with us.

Sincerely,

Fatal Urge Carefree Kiss

Amanpreet Singh Rai

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Chapter Twenty - Never forgotten, never forsaken

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“A loss helps develop empathy.”

Chapter Twenty: Never forgotten, never forsaken

Dated: 5th July – 7th July, 2461

It is easy to get lost in the whirlwind that life is, so much that one begins to neglect whatever one gets accustomed to. If it is always there, it need not be acknowledged! A loss however can bring life to a grinding halt when what had been lost was so integral to daily play of life, that one suddenly no longer knows how to manage life that seemed so easy barely the other day. And this is the starting point of a vast learning; about how to first get your life back together, then how to appreciate and not lose what is still left on you, and finally, what others might be feeling when going through a similar phase. Empathy is born that very instant!

Empathy can be taught as well, by those who know how to teach values to their kids. But artificial learning is like knowledge that has been committed to memory without understanding. Such empathy is rarely felt from deep inside one’s heart, for that heart hasn’t experienced the pain that empathy is expected to understand. None who hasn’t lost all their money to a thug knows how it feels to sleep hungry when you had worked hard to earn your meal and much more. They may understand that the victim is distraught, angry and in need, but what they don’t feel is the deep angst that burns inside the victim’s heart, and how empowering as well as consuming that might be. But those who have been in a similar situation would know exactly the thoughts that would cross the troubled mind.

But even still, knowing how a person feels, will not tell anyone what would best help that person, for their needs might be different even if their pain was similar. Needs are a balance of abilities, resources and desires. Same loss may not leave two different individuals in same situation, even though the two would feel similar pain. The question is; who else knows what Captain Aman Ahluwalia really needs?

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The rest of the chapter, and in a similar way the last chapter after this one, will appear in full in Kindle published work. This has been done as a mark of respect to the vote polled on twitter where the lovers of my work had responded in favour of a Kindle direct published work, rather than as a weekly free read.

Fatal Urge Carefree Kiss,

Amanpreet Singh Rai

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Chapter Nineteen - Who wants to live?

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Rationality and belief are mutually exclusive!”

Chapter Nineteen: Who wants to live?

Dated: 4th July, 2461

The premise of belief is based on the unquestionable validity of the assumptions held dear. It is not that beliefs are not questioned by those who hold them. It just happens that they don’t stop looking for answers to those questions until they find ones that support their beliefs. Anything to the contrary is always considered an anomaly, or perhaps a result of insufficient effort. Their research is always clouded by their desire to find a construct that fits their beliefs perfectly, so they could be encased in an even firmer background. The best case scenario in such circumstances is the fixation of a natural exception as a universal rule, while the worst case scenario is when the entire belief ends up being supported on an imagined framework. Needless to say, in either case the holders of such belief are living on a flawed theory.

Progress happens when rationality replaces belief. No thought is beyond questioning, challenge and replacement, provided the questions raised against it are valid, honest and investigatory. Rationality accounts for every answer encountered, to build a database of all known scenarios, so that exceptions are known and explainable, while the emerging rule is truly universal in application otherwise. The best case scenario then is advancement of knowledge, while the worst case scenario is a rule subject to further alteration or replacement as the society would progress. But progress would happen nevertheless in any case.

The reason the two cannot co-exist is; once a mind starts thinking rationally, it also acknowledges that beliefs are no longer permanent. And when beliefs are no longer permanent, they stop being beliefs, for then they are merely understandings subject to further questioning followed by a validation or rejection. While a rational life becomes stable, for it is always supported by firmer ground of reason, the rational mind is always in a state of flux, always on the lookout for what would challenge the current state of affairs for good. Humanity that still breaths on a lost earth knows this, and is thus prepared for whatever may come.

Nobody wanted to leave their loved ones behind, for everyone preferred to die and rest in peace with them forever. But everyone was still interested in knowing their fate as and when it gets locked or avoided. All eyes today were on the constant dark skies above, with telescopes focussed sharp on the incoming demon of death. And then there were two last remaining hopes of humanity, NSSS ‘The Impact’ and NSSS ‘New Bounty’, under Captains Shania Williams and Stephan Grojenski respectively, making haste to make a last stand. Grojenski’s team was to take the first shot, having had ample time to rehearse their actions. Williams’ team had barely returned thirty six hours ago, from their sojourn to the supposed lonely planet. They were the backup.

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The rest of the chapter, and in a similar way the last two chapters after this one, will appear in full in Kindle published work. This has been done as a mark of respect to the vote polled on twitter where the lovers of my work had responded in favour of a Kindle direct published work, rather than as a weekly free read.

Fatal Urge Carefree Kiss,

Amanpreet Singh Rai

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Chapter Eighteen: Whose world is it?

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“There are two ways to solve a problem; you either deal with it, or you deal it.”

Chapter Eighteen: Whose world is it?

Dated: 29th April, 2461

Of what good is intelligence that rather than being intelligent about how to secure more avenues for future, wastes its’ sweat and blood over available resources from avenues known since past? Humanity cut itself into pieces over and over again, for a piece of land that always belonged to it, rather than securing pieces of land beyond its own. No wonder when the time came to save itself from annihilation, an intelligent species that had only spent its intellect in developing better ways of self annihilation, found itself staring at a dead end, literally. There were always too many differences to stare and concentrate on at micro level; from natural like colour, to artificial like religion, and situational like geo-cultural. Humanity never stopped to look at one stark and overbearing similarity; of everybody being a human!

Religion was the biggest culprit of all; for those who believed in any were ready to kill anyone who believed in another or none. It is arguable if there were really any God at all; those who prayed and believed were actually worshipping a Satan who couldn’t let them live together in peace as one. The older the religion, the worst its level of social control, for there were far more layers of superstition and lies about things no one had ever seen; from horoscopes to astrology, from palmistry to clairvoyance, an endless list of psychological devices. That these lies lasted well beyond scientific enlightenment, is a testament to the corrupt desires of various priesthoods, to maintain their shop and control, and the impressionable gullibility of the so called intelligent species. It would be an understatement to make, that by twenty first century, some ancient religions had lived way beyond both their best before and use by dates. For very little good they had to offer to humanity, they took a way heavier toll on it.

It took a catastrophe to wake humanity out of its numb stupor. The pain was real when the reality was starkest, and the efforts were hectic when the straits were dire. Stumbling and rolling, humanity finally found a way to get itself out of a deep grave. That it took more than a fair share of wild probabilities to work in its favour; bears a testimony to the lack of commonsense displayed by the most intelligent species of earth. But lessons taught the hardest are learnt the best, and there were over a couple hundred human souls on earth two, temporarily named ‘Heaven’ as an ironic acknowledgment of the past and grateful acceptance of the future, who could have vouched for the accuracy of the assertion.

The delight was real when everybody onboard the six spaceships learnt that the new found solar system was indeed a piece out of their universe, as much out of place as they were. But the worlds they were looking at were not dead dark places like the one they built five of their new ships on. They were alive and thriving places, with humans having no idea as to who and what they might encounter down there. Careful observations were precisely the recipe of the day, and they took seven of them. But the results were finally out, and they had a post Jurassic world, and a post ice-age world right in front of them. The third one was still coming out of its original freezer. There were a few more worlds around the area, but none close enough to interest them as a matter of urgency. Time was always important, but somehow it felt like ticking way too fast now, especially now that they had all started thinking fondly about those that they had left behind.

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The rest of the chapter, and in a similar way the last three chapters after this one, will appear in full in Kindle published work. This has been done as a mark of respect to the vote polled on twitter where the lovers of my work had responded in favour of a Kindle direct published work, rather than as a weekly free read.

Fatal Urge Carefree Kiss,

Amanpreet Singh Rai

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Chapter seventeen: Tell me a story

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Hindsight is free of baggage aware of result, foresight chained to desperation forced to speculate.”

Chapter Seventeen: Tell me a story

Dated: 18th April – 22nd April, 2461

Decisions are made in real time, even when they are about situations that will transpire in some distant future. There is a background of known circumstances, and a plethora of probabilities ahead, that one has to consider. Wise will always try to restrict the range of probabilities to those they desire, make a decision which would sow the seeds for an intended future, and then try every possible means to restrict the flow of events along that intended direction. What the wise however will always fail to fully account for, is the inherent unpredictability of everybody else who will be crossing their way, with desires different than theirs. No doubt they would have accounted for most of those scenarios within an expected range of error. But it is the expected error itself, which adds many more probabilities into the mix than the wise had originally accounted for. This is because when they first accounted, they hadn’t made that initial decision.

However, hindsight is not the best way to analyse past, for it may understand the pressures of that time bygone, but it cannot feel their influence the way those in the middle would have. No one likes to make a bad decision, yet bad decisions are made! It is never the intention or intelligence of the protagonist that is the real determinant. Rather it is the pressure of the circumstances that provides constraints.

Great are leaders who know how to handle pressure and make the right choices. It is however another matter, a distant future will invariably find flaws in their best decisions whose results didn’t go according to their desires. Rear Admiral Gurubaan Ahluwalia and Commander-in-Chief Anne De Villiers both know this. Hence neither could be expected to question either’s choices.

Men are made of stone, not meant to cry! A father-son bond however is an exception to that rule, for it is always special. In fact, it is so special that even years of military training can sometimes fail to keep the restraints on.

“Bradley,” a poignant Rear Admiral cried out at the very first sight of his long lost son, for Bradley wasn’t just an adopted son. Rather he meant a lot more to the decorated soldier than his words might have ever mentioned to anyone.

“Father,” cried out Bradley as he gave a weak salute, overcome by emotions, “You recognize me!”

“Of course I do,” exclaimed Gurubaan, almost as if complaining that Bradley first thought of giving a salute to the army officer in front, rather than rush to give his father a hug, “What kind of a man wouldn’t recognize his son, just because a minor incident has changed his appearance?” And the duo rushed ahead to give each other a warm hug, moistening every eye on the deck.

“I thought I had lost you,” Bradley finally exclaimed as the duo broke the blissful embrace.

“But I never for a moment thought I wouldn’t find you again,” exclaimed a proud Rear Admiral, “Look at you; a true replica of my brother Shaun, you look every inch like him, the day we passed out of the academy.” He then wiped his tears before continuing, “Your father was never just a friend my boy, he was my brother, right from the day we were born in the same hospital, to the moment he looked at my face for the last time, as he lay there on that stretcher. He didn’t just leave me with a one week old treasure to take care of, but he left me with a piece of himself, to be a piece of him in my life forever. I would never be able to forgive myself if something was to happen to you.”

“Wouldn’t you ask about Aman?” an emotional Bradley asked.

“He’ll be alright,” Rear Admiral quipped defiantly, “If you are alright, I am sure he is alright too.”

“He is,” replied Bradley as he wiped his tears.

“Sir, should we initiate contact with the mother-ship,” finally Engineer Dodd thought it was time to remind everyone of the job that was still at hand, for uncertainty lingering for too long wasn’t in anyone’s best interest.

“Yes of course,” Rear Admiral quipped wiping his own tears. He then looked at Bradley and asked, “What frequency are you communicating at these days? We’ve tried a lot to get to you at the frequency that was recorded in official notes we retrieved from the space library.”

“We intentionally switched that frequency off,” Bradley replied, “Commander-in-chief of the mission Miss Anne De Villiers, her second in command Mr Charles Harrison, and I, we decided to switch that frequency off in order to avoid picking up any distress signals from our earth. Our crew was not in a mental state where we could have risked such a scenario, for there was nothing in our power that would have altered earth’s fate at that time, and neither did we have the largesse to miss even a single space gate.”

“Probably the best decision too in those circumstance, I agree,” Rear Admiral quipped shaking his head in acknowledgment, “So how do we contact your mother-ship now?”

“Depends on whether you want to address the entire fleet,” Bradley replied, “Or just want to contact Miss De Villiers onboard NSSS ‘Eternity’!”

Experience helps in determining precautionary measures that should be in place from the outset. Of course no such list can ever be exhaustive, for experience is always cumulative. But the starting point always has to be what has already been covered!

“Would you like me to have a look?” Aman asked Captain Davis, unaware that his father was having a conversation with Miss De Villiers on the independent channel, “It’s been a while since ‘Firestorm’ docked with that alien ship.”

“Hold on Captain,” Chris replied as he turned around and looked at Anne for instructions.

Anne meanwhile had just about finished her long conversation with the Rear Admiral. She gestured to Chris to pause for a second while she switched communication channels on the screen in front of her, “Captain Ahluwalia, you are about to receive a set of instructions in less than a minute. Please wait for them!”

“What’s happening,” a confused Aman asked, “What’s wrong? Why is nobody giving me the details?” He however didn’t have to wait any longer, for barely had he uttered those words that his communication channel beamed a familiar voice that shocked and surprised him.

“NSSS ‘Full Bloom’ calling NSSS ‘Phoenix’,” Rear Admiral Gurubaan Ahluwalia’s voice boomed from the other end, “Captain Aman Ahluwalia, do you copy?”

“Father,” a shocked Aman exclaimed, before he corrected himself and replied, “Captain Aman Ahluwalia receiving the communication loud and clear Sir!”

“Captain Aman Ahluwalia, you are hereby instructed to standby and wait for Captain Connors’ NSSS ‘Firestorm’ to relieve your ship from the duties at the top of the Caravan,” Rear Admiral continued, “As soon as the changeover is complete, your further instructions are to immediately arrive at NSSS ‘Full Bloom’, when I would embark your ship, to then proceed to NSSS ‘Eternity’. Are these instructions clear?”

“Loud and clear Sir,” a loud and exuberant Captain replied.

Every message does not need to be enunciated word by word. Some things are clear by their very apparent appearances.

“Quick Jack, we need to dismantle this solar panel before it gets dark,” Jenny exclaimed as she did her best to make use of the easier light of the fading evening.

“But why are we removing these panels?” Jack asked as he held out a plier for Jenny, and took a wrench from her hand.

“Because if we won’t move them into a shadier place, I am worried the heat might destroy their wiring and structures,” Jenny replied.

“So are we going to move them inside from the yard now,” Jack asked.

“Yes, but not here in our house,” Jenny replied, “We are going to move one of them into the front porch of the property we are readying for our stay, and put the other one safely away inside it, to make sure we have one left if that fire storm ever comes this way and destroys the one we are going to use for now.”

Preparing for the unexpected is always easier when you are preparing for the worst, for then you would have covered up for any other circumstance anyway. But unexpected doesn’t always have to be bad! Good things happen too, and in fact, most of the time it is seldom half as bad as one might have feared.

The caravan of six had travelled on for three days, one more for the faster ships, for they could have only travelled as fast as their slowest one. But it was still close to twenty hours of waiting time that they had to sit around. Luckily, those twenty hours were well spent partying and celebrating the return of their lost. The zing in their steps had increased, and artificial gravity didn’t feel that artificial after all.

“The space tear is about to open,” Jhiang informed everyone.

“Launch the inspection craft,” Anne ordered the launch of their brand new next-generation inspection craft that now served the purpose of establishing safety beyond the space gates.

Everybody waited with baited breaths, a confirmation that the other side was safe, like they had done thus far. Only this time, there was a surprise waiting for them; a surprise they had dreamt of, but not yet expected, at least so quickly.

“What’s that?” Anne asked, a bit excited for she knew what the pictures sent back by the craft meant. However, there was no time to be wasted, for the gate had to be used quickly, so she didn’t wait for a response from anyone, “Proceed without delay!”

In a bit more than a flash, one after the other, all six crafts were through the space gate.

“Wow, I can’t believe,” an excited Anne exclaimed, “Are we in the middle of a new solar system?”

 “It looks to be so,” Jhiang replied and then added, “Our systems are detecting three planets in our vicinity. The sun is directly behind us, about five minutes back, while there are two planets in Goldilocks zone, and one just beyond it.”

“I hope these are from our universe,” a wishful Anne exclaimed as Jhiang set on the task of collecting data about the chemical and physical nature of the nearest planet.

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Chapter Sixteen - The sphere of symmetry

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Machines have needs, organisms have wants.”

Chapter Sixteen: The sphere of symmetry

Dated: 18th April, 2461

Artificial intelligence can learn how to fulfil its’ needs, but artificial intelligence cannot self generate desires, for desires are not a product of intelligence but chemistry; the hormones. Any intelligent species could be expected to master the art and science of artificial intelligence sooner or later. It could also be expected, the intelligent species would protect its kind by deploying artificial intelligence to tasks that are inherently dangerous. But when that intelligent species begins replacing itself with artificial intelligence in ordinary routine, it loses its’ claim to intelligence all together. Efficiency is the essence of nature, not life, for life is slow while nature hectic. Life would be mundane, boring and stretched out for an intelligent species were there no ordinary tasks to accomplish daily. To replace yourselves with machines in doing those simple tasks, even in the name of efficiency, is inexcusably dumb.

There could of course be a way out, even if every intelligent being may not exhibit an intellectual or artistic bent of mind. An artificial but perfect-real world, made up and supported by artificial intelligence, could be created for the underprivileged majority to live their lives in. Hooked to machines they may never need to know the real world right from their birth to their demise. This would immediately take away the bludgeoning mass off the fast depleting planetary resources. The whole planet would then be a free and open space for the small resource rich minority to enjoy it in its’ real form. Both sides would get what they want; the majority will have jobs and ordinary lives of their choice in an absolutely efficient artificial utopian world, while the small minority would have the whole real world at their feet with no threat to their self or resources, or their peaceful enjoyment.

But like everything unnatural, this way too is fraught with dangers and negative side-effects. For starters, there won’t be enough of the intelligent species to deal with unpredictable natural events. Then the scheme would lead to a great deal of inbreeding, destroying the natural variation prevalent in a broader gene pool, leaving the entire species vulnerable to ever evolving bugs and parasites, and gradually pilling up genetic defects. The old proverb ‘strength in numbers’ will probably never lose its relevance. There is a charm in having a real man or woman behind the wheel of life, for it is their natural imperfections which make them better adept at nature and life than artificial intelligence. An example is the men at the helm of NSSS ‘Full Bloom’.

“Sir, we’ve got company,” Engineer Marcus Dodd raised an alarm just as NSSS ‘Full Bloom’ flew through the space tear.

“Where and how many?” asked the Rear Admiral Gurubaan Ahluwalia.

“Five of them; just appeared out of nowhere,” Marcus replied, “With our current axis always set as 360-180, and direction of travel as 180, the crafts appeared at 29115 degrees Upper-Back-Right.”

But any further conversation was abruptly ended by the emergency call made by their Chief Flight Officer Antonio Marks, “Emergency! Black-hole ahead; 72010 degrees Lower-Front-Left! Fifty seconds to avoid!”

An ensuing pin-drop silence, worth three or four seconds, was very quickly interrupted by the affirmative action call from the Co-Pilot Gerry Gold, “Initiating a quick glide off at 62933 degrees Upper-Front-Right in ten seconds. Countdown started; three seconds down!”

The countdown was quick and the black-hole at the heart of the Milky Way still a few light months away, yet the seven seconds felt longer than ages. The turn off was very abrupt, yet in a gravity less space it felt impact-less. But the matter of conversation that had been cut out of thought lines by the little twist in tail; was once again upon them. Five crafts, unknown to them and holding their own kind, zipped in through the dying space gate.

The fear of the unknown lasts either only as long as its mystery, or as long as ones’ nerves. When either of the two is overcome, it is never anything more than an issue to be dealt with.

“There it is; your space rock taking a detour,” Jhiang exclaimed as soon as NSSS Eternity crossed the gate.

“Are they turning around to attack us,” a concerned Anne asked, but she didn’t have to wait for the answer, for Captain Davis had already spotted the reason.

“Black-hole ahead, 72010 degrees Lower-Front-Left,” Chris had a similar estimate to share.

“Oh my mother madness,” a petrified Anne exclaimed, “Evade!”

“We’ll be alright,” Professor Dunmore however eased her fears, “Our mother ships are capable of flying as close as two light months from the black-holes, while the smaller ones can go as close as one light month. We have a comfortable half hour lead to take evasive action.”

“Thank you so much Professor; that is reassuring,” a calmed Anne exclaimed before immediately returning to the other pressing question, “What about the alien craft; is it hostile?”

“Camouflaged; yes, but hostile; no,” replied Captain Davis.

“Camouflage is both a device to ambush, as well as avoiding getting preyed,” a finally stable Captain Ahluwalia replied to Anne’s question, “It could be a defensive tactic deployed by someone who is likely doing exactly what we are; trying to stay alive.”

“I agree,” Captain Connors chimed in, “We need to give them some space and then analyse their actions and reactions. They know the space tears and the two universes as much as we do, and they are likely deploying a similar scientific technique as ourselves, even though their craft looks less capable than ours.”

“Any suggestions or recommendations Mr Harrison,” Anne asked the second in command of the mission, Charles Harrison, who was on-board NSSS Infinity now.

“Perhaps we can send an emissary to them at some point in time,” Charles replied, “Soon, that is!”

“Captain Connors should probably head out to them along with Mishansa,” Captain Davis threw his weight behind the proposal, “That way we would cover up for both side scenarios, if you know what I mean.”

“I accept that proposal if there are no objections, and of course, no assaults pre-empted against us,” Anne made the split second decision that was needed, “Besides, it helps that Mishansa is on board NSSS ‘Firestorm’ itself.”

Better judgment is always reasoned, and reasoning is sharpened by experience. It is thus imperative that the earlier decisions made by any person in their lives would be less thoroughly deliberated than the later ones. Yet even the bad decisions have their due place of importance, for it is the learning that came out of those that made the person what they eventually have become since.

“Sir, what do we do?” a concerned Marcus asked.

“We are waiting for your orders sir,” an enlivened Lieutenant Jake Reginald exclaimed thumping his chest, “And each one of us will personally rush into those enemy ships with nukes tied to our bodies.”

“And that’s exactly what I expect from each one of you, Lieutenant,” a proud Rear Admiral exclaimed before continuing, “However, we have no evidence that the unknown company is hostile.”

“Sir, will we get a chance to fight back?” Antonio asked, “Their crafts are clearly superior to ours; judging by the ease and aplomb they are flying so dangerously close to the black-hole, and such greater speed than ours.”

“We don’t have missiles that travel at half the speed our craft travels at young man,” the Rear Admiral however reminded him, “If we fire first, there is no chance we will ever even scratch any of them. But that’s not all of it! The worst is; there would be no chance of peace once we have fired first. If their technology is as superior as you have just described, then we stand no chance. Hence, we wait!”

Waiting is a game on its own; a game that your mind plays with you as the subject. It will raise issues and probabilities on one hand, and make you desperate for an end to the suspense on the other. It would test as to how long before you begin cracking up, and then crack as your own self, should you crack.

“I know Anne wants you to go down there with me,” Bradley explained to Mishansa, “But I want you to stay back until I feel safe to call you in.”

“But why can’t I just go there with you in the first place?” Mishansa however argued.

“Because if things go wrong, I cannot protect you, while they would likely not be able to kill me,” Bradley replied, “Besides, we could have destroyed them anyway, if it were not for the humanity that is still intact in our hearts.” He then turned to Margaret, “Get ready to dock around any hatch area you identify on their craft’s either side. We don’t want to make them think we are aggressive by looking for a hatch on the top or lower end of their craft’s body.”

Symbolism has its uses; it conveys meanings when and where language fails. However it may never replace language, for on its’ own it is seldom enough. More troublesome are the cases where the same symbol can have a different meaning for different people.

“Sir, what should we do,” Marcus asked, “One of their crafts is on to us; coming fast to our left side.”

“I don’t see it assuming an assault position,” Rear Admiral however replied, and to add credence to his statement, the craft soon assumed a parallel position, flying side by side to their craft, and approaching laterally. “Looks like they want to dock with us,” Rear Admiral immediately understood what the sublime message was, “Lieutenant Reginald, prepare to welcome our guest.”

“Sir, what if they attack?” Jake however asked.

“They already would have, had that been their intention,” Rear Admiral however eased his concerns, “They can anyway, if they want to!”

Good people don’t try to confuse others with their non-verbal clues, for they are themselves seldom impressed by such behaviour. In fact, should a situation arise where someone might have mistaken their intentions, good people generally go out of their way to clarify the air of uncertainty.

The hatch door on NSSS ‘Firestorm’ opened as soon as it docked to the side of NSSS ‘Full Bloom’. A dark figure, sans any helmet or oxygen mask descended out of it, still connected to his ship by a thick cord, and floated towards the hatch on the side of the host ship. The hatch unlocked and slid open as soon as Bradley approached the ship, allowing him a free entry inside. As soon as he stepped inside, he grabbed a handle bar meant to provide a grip inside the small chamber, and let go off the cord connecting him to his ship. The hatch closed back again, lights lit up, and artificial gravity immediately kicked in. A door to the side of the chamber opened.

“Welcome on board NSSS ‘Full Bloom’ our dearest guest,” a bowing Jake exclaimed humbly, without caring to glance properly at his extremely surprised guest. And so did three others accompanying him.

“Lieutenant Jake Reginald, is that really you?” Bradley’s voice however shocked them out of their intellectual slumber, as the quartet looked up.

“Captain Connors,” a surprised and shocked Jake murmured, almost to himself, as he took a long deep look at his vaguely familiar looking guest. But once he realized it was his senior and former commanding officer on board NSS ‘Full Bloom’, he saw beyond the changed look and immediately gave the ceremonial salute, “Sir! Lieutenant Reginald reporting to you, under direct command of the Rear Admiral Gurubaan Ahluwalia.”

“Father, he’s here,” a far more pleased and elated Bradley exclaimed as he heard the words, “I can’t believe it is you people.”

“And we can’t believe it is you Sir,” an equally elated Jake replied, “It’s been a really very long story.”

“Lieutenant Reginald,” Rear Admiral’s voice boomed on the radio, “What’s the current update on our guests.”

“Sir you won’t believe,” Jake replied back, “We have a surprise for you!”

Surprises, whether or not they are welcome, still have a role to play in one’s life. They wreck the original plans most of the time!

“Jenny, are we going to die?” the innocent little Jack asked a concerned Jenny as she gazed at the night sky, the bright glow of the slowly evolving solar storm growing by each passing day.

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Chapter Fifteen - The morality of immorality

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“No man is born to be a coward or a slave, unless his mother raises him to be so.”

Chapter Fifteen: The morality of immorality

Dated: 18th April, 2461

Nothing is more erroneous than the assumption that ‘men and women are the same’. No, they are not! Beyond the fact that both are human, the two sexes are inherently different, anatomically as well as physiologically. Female bodies produce one set of hormones, and are designed to perform one set of natural functions, while male bodies produce another set. Nothing could be more expositing than the one event that marks the end of reproductive ability in females; the menopause. Not only do female bodies stop producing the original set of hormones, and start producing a set similar to males, but the change alters there emotional spectrum too. Then consider the case of super-sexed individuals, and the way the extra sex chromosome affects their behavioural and emotional patterns. What else could these examples point to if not the inherently different character of the two sexes? And what else could these differences exposit, if not their very different needs?

Men should always be men! The health of a society is directly dependent upon how the territorial sex carries itself. It is not to say that women cannot fight. They can, and they do! But while women fight for what they think society wants, men fight for what they think society needs. This very fine difference of want or need is imbedded in the way the nature has designed the two sexes; their hormonal profiles. A woman is designed to safeguard herself and her progeny, and hence wants a safe environment. A man on the other hand is designed to control territory and resources, for they may be needed for provisions over a period of time. Greed is equally natural to both sexes, and there would always be a power imbalance in a society made up of any intelligent species. But to make sure the powerful are always within the bounds of reason, men would always be needed to step up and defend whatever territory is being contested; be it physical or intellectual.

Of course, this does mean that physically stronger sex would dominate the physically weaker sex, and there is no denying that issues would always need to be addressed and proper limits imposed. But this does not mean that the entire society should be brainwashed into believing that the two sexes can be equally strong, for not only such an assertion would require a mental and physical weakening of the inherently stronger sex, but it would also directly put the two sexes at war with each other. This two sexes going to war with each other will not solve any problems, but rather create more to contend with. But when the two sexes would have an independent and equitable space to prosper, the two will gel with each other, and be each other’s strength. And what would exemplify this better than the small band of humanity onboard five space-crafts, where neither sex needs to yield their space or rights, yet they all cover each other’s back whenever needed.

“What sort of fire are we dealing with,” Anne immediately asked.

“There are close to five hundred and forty physical warheads, each travelling at fifteen units of speed,” Jhiang detailed the incoming hostiles, “And their size apparent suggests they are multi-head projectiles; or cluster-weapons. At ten objects apiece, we are looking at close to five thousand four hundred individual incendiaries.”

“What’s our effective radio-magnetic defence shield strength at the moment Professor Dunmore,” Anne immediately sought the Professor’s evaluation.

“With our five crafts combined,” the Professor replied as he quickly calculated the strength of their projectile defence shield, “Anything above four thousand incendiaries could prove destructive to fatal. Individually we would barely resist two hundred to a thousand of them, depending upon the size of the craft. Plainly speaking; we are heavily outnumbered.”

“One minute and a half to impact,” Jhiang interrupted to update the information.

“Fifteen units of speed you said,” a concerned Aman commented as Christine managed the flight, “That’s three more than our smaller crafts’ maximum capabilities.”

“What are you thinking brave warrior,” the Tarandile continued as he gestured to his colleague, who pulled out a shining vial from his gown’s deep side pocket, “Behold the marvel of Tarandile engineering; a nano-physical poison. No it’s not chemical! No it’s not biological! It’s a machine!”

“Just that much,” Aman asked surprised as he looked at the small size of the vial.

“Don’t be mistaken by its size young warrior,” the Tarandile replied, “It works inside the host body, using the resources that body makes available, to build itself up, until it is strong enough to destroy the host body completely. It is super intelligent even though below micro levels in size.”

“That sounds impressive,” Aman however quipped with a smile, “But you might wish to know that I am not from your universe. So your Universe’s matter will not work inside my body.”

The Tarandile smiled back and replied, “Only an honest man like you could have told the truth, for another might have just taken the poison and made us make good on our side of the deal.” He then looked at his colleagues who too smiled back, and then continued, “But this batch was specifically prepared for you over the last couple of earth weeks, using matter from a planet from your universe.”

Diligence is inherently married to patience, for without patience none would invest their time in a pursuit that demands unwavering concentration and effort. It is much easier to rush in under-prepared and over-confident, than to lay low and work to improve your strengths and cover your weaknesses.

“Ten hours fifty seven minutes,” sighed Marcus as he stretched his arms and back.

“Is that all?” Rear Admiral joked as he understood his Chief Engineer was referring to how long they had been sitting idle at that place, waiting for the space tear to open.

Time feels slower when one is counting it up to something, and faster when counting it down to something. But what’s the difference between the two, one may ask! The difference is in the impact the eventuality is expected to have; one is desired, the other rarely if barely ever.

“Forty five seconds to impact,” Jhiang reminded everyone.

“Should we return fire?” Bradley asked Anne.

“Negative,” Anne replied, “There’s no point in wasting the little ammunition we have, for it would make no difference. But should we somehow survive, we might be able to find some better use for it.”

“Why do you do this?” Aman meanwhile asked the Tarandile.

“We test the bravest of the brave of every species, to see how good their specie’s moral health is, for bravery is married to morality” the Tarandile replied, “We have even tested Tyrene warriors on more than one occasion, with each one of them failing miserably. We warned this Universe’s then five world alliance, but obviously they didn’t pay head.”

“What would happen if I drank it,” Aman asked.

“Don’t you even think about it,” was Anne’s immediate cry of intervention.

“Don’t fall into the trap,” Bradley too cautioned his brother.

“For starters, the moment you will empty this vial into your digestive tract, we will teleport your entire fleet close to the space tear that you were wishing so badly for,” the Tarandile replied, “But before you decide to do so, we must tell you about your chances of securing medical intervention that removes the poison from your system before it has done any damage, and also if we have any information about how long you have to do so, or how long you could expect to live after that.”

“Ten seconds to impact,” was the final valiant warning from a sweating Jhiang.

Captain Ahluwalia really didn’t have a choice anymore. He couldn’t even have waited for the information the Tarandile were supposed to give him. “I accept your offer,” exclaimed Aman as he grabbed the vial from the Tarandile’s hand, and emptied its contents into his gut.

“No,” was a painful cry from Anne, who saw each and every moment of it on the screen in front of her. Bradley was left speechless!

Words don’t matter when duties are clear and protagonist upright! One is supposed to do something, and all that’s left is that it be done and done so properly.

“We just received a dispatch from earth,” Flight Deck Engineer Tomas Bayern informed his Captain, “They have requested our expedited return. Apparently a big meteor is headed towards our planet, and our next job is expected to be an intercept mission.”

“CFO Morris, speed up to the maximum speed our crew is capable of managing,” Captain Williams wasted no time in instructing her Chief Flight Officer, and then turned back to Tomas, “Relay our receipt of the message with an estimated time of our arrival.”

Estimations are no more than guesses until they materialize. What could often be estimated may however never materialize!

The Tarandile wasted no time in teleporting the five crafts to safety, and close to where they would have been, had they not been delayed originally. The projectiles had expectedly disintegrated into many more, but very few of those made through the space gates behind the space-ships, but whatever few did, never had a chance to pierce through the radio-magnetic defences of the caravan. Everybody was safe, except for the unknown fate of Captain Ahluwalia, who immediately gripped his stomach and nearly collapsed. Christine however stood up to give him support that he needed.

“You are indeed a man of virtues,” the Tarandile exclaimed in awe, “For you didn’t even wait for us to tell you; there is no one with technology to intervene and assist a human in removing our poison. You didn’t wait for us to tell you, that never before have we tested our poison on a human from any of the three worlds that we know. We have no idea how long you will survive.”

Perhaps that last statement was due for a quick answer, for Captain Ahluwalia immediately rolled into a ball and on to the floor as a shocked Christine let out a scream, and Anne nearly fainted. To further add to everybody’s terror, Captain Ahluwalia immediately vomited out a mass that burst into flames even before it had fully escaped his mouth.

“Amazing,” an astonished Tarandile exclaimed as his colleagues looked on equally surprised, “We can’t believe it.”

“That you have killed an innocent man,” a bitter Christine blurted out.

“No, he’s not dead,” the Tarandile replied, “And he won’t die.” His words however surprised everyone. The Tarandile however knelt down and put his hand on Aman’s shoulder, who was now finally feeling a bit easy. “It appears that the radioactivity your race has been forced to live with, has become such an integral part of your bodies, that the radiations immediately destroyed our poison,” the Tarandile tried to explain what had just happened, “In order to avoid our poison technology falling into wrong hands, it is designed to self destruct in case it is incapable of working, or is removed by medical intervention. And as it happens, due to the nano nature of the particles making up the poison, they are vulnerable to radio-active radiations.”

“So you mean his body has been relieved of all your poison,” a concerned Anne asked.

“Absolutely,” the Tarandile replied as he pulled out a gadget to inspect Aman’s chest and abdomen, “And relieved without much damage except minor abrasions, caused by our self destructing poison. Nothing more than a mere discomfort for a couple of days should be expected.”

His words spread a wild cheer amongst every soul present on the five spaceships.

Aman finally managed to get back on to his feet, with some assistance from the Tarandile and Christine. “You said three worlds,” Aman however was curious about a statement the Tarandile had made barely moments ago.

“There are many forms of matter, all existing in complementary forms,” the Tarandile replied, “Of three such complementary forms, you are already familiar with two; one making up your universe, and one making up this. But there is a third form that makes up another Universe that we know. And like homo-zygotic twins, they are broadly similar in most aspects, and yet have very fine differences. There is a world like yours in the third one too, but different from the two that you know so far. That one has neither seen a third world war, and nor an alien invasion. Just like the world in this universe, you will find everything you people have sorely missed because of the destruction caused by the war, but of course, you cannot relish any of it beyond a physical enjoyment of its beauty.”

“But will we ever get there,” Bradley asked.

“Your species just might one day,” the Tarandile replied, “For one of your teams have already discovered the principle that works behind this natural phenomenon that you are using to your advantage. Our own technology is based on that principle.”

“How do you know,” Anne asked.

“For the only species in a hundred universes with teleportation technology,” the Tarandile replied, “We are highly underrated by everybody else as far as our technological advancement is concerned. It just so happens; we are way more responsible.”

“But we will not be one of them, for we are grateful for what you have done for us today,” Aman however replied.

“We wish you good luck and comfortable stay at your new home,” the Tarandile however quipped as he and his colleagues opened up a portal to leave, and a space tear started to open up some distance in front of the caravan.

“Our new home,” a surprised Aman exclaimed as he looked curiously at the Tarandile who was going to be the last one to leave, “You guys can see the future?”

“No,” replied the Tarandile shaking his head in negative, “But we know our universe very well.” He then stepped inside the portal and turned around to say one last thing, “You might even find the sites where we mined to get the materials for your poison.” And the portal closed, leaving Aman and everybody dumbfounded.

“Did I just see a piece of rock fly through that space tear,” Captain Davis however had all his concentration devoted to managing the five crafts through the space tear.

“Wait,” Jhiang however immediately cautioned, “That was no rock! The radar shows a space ship!”

“Camouflage,” was the concerned call that Captain Davis made about the finding.

*************

Chapter fourteen - Not for the weak

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Fame is not for those who abuse the privilege or relinquish their responsibility, and least of all for morons.”

Chapter Fourteen: Not for the weak

Dated: 18th April, 2461

An exalted status of any form or shape comes with a responsibility. When others look up to you, whatever be your expertise, your personal life becomes an example. You are where you are because you did something right, which others don’t know. So they all look up to you, to see how you do things just so they may get it right as well. They may love you for just one thing that you do right, but that is enough to entitle them to have some learning from you. Your responsibility does not arise out of your status, but out of your conscience to repay the love in kind. And this is why love is different from sexual interest; it does not demand access to your physical body, but it takes its toll on your emotional self.

One may choose to be the cynosure of every eye, or one may have been thrust into that limelight, but everybody enjoys it. Those who don’t, their lives become a sorry state of affairs, and others push them to the back of their minds. Their fame ends soon after they have been absolved of their responsibility, and their familiarity rather becomes a curse, for they can no longer hide in obscurity.

But for those who enjoy being in spotlight, the demand of love on emotions is forever high. They no longer have the right to not make a choice at all, or make a wrong choice. They have to live a life that would help others in ways their work won’t, and if they won’t, their fame would end soon after they relinquish their responsibility, or make a mess of it. This is what the price of fame is, and fame need not be universal. It could only be a position of prominence in a small group. It’s enough that one cannot hide amongst the cattle anymore, for they are the lion. And there are more than one lions on board the caravan of five: Eternity, Infinity, Phoenix, Firestorm and Apache.

“Emergency,” was the chilling one word to escape Jhiang’s lips that brought every activity to a grinding halt across the caravan, “The radar’s picked a fast gaining enemy fleet thirty minutes behind.”

“Initiate NSSS ‘Infinity’ Control-Transfer-Protocols Captain ‘Rocker’ Jean Perry,” Anne, who had based the command onboard NSSS ‘Eternity’, immediately ordered. She then continued to Captain Chris Davis, “Captain Davis, prepare to max the travel speed for the two crafts.” She then immediately turned her attention towards the three attack crafts, “Captain Ahluwalia, you stay on course leading the caravan with NSSS ‘Phoenix’, and Captain Avery, please fall back alongside Captain Connor’s NSSS ‘Firestorm’. NSSS ‘Apache’ would take the rear left flank, while ‘Firestorm’ will keep the rear right flank.” She finally turned back to Jhiang, “How long before we are in their firing range?”

“Twenty eight minutes max at current speed,” Jhiang replied, “Thirty five at full speed.”

“Any change in enemy approach rate expected?” Anne asked.

“Negative,” replied Jhiang, “They are already maxed out on speed.”

Great dangers often bring the best out of people because they make them take risks that they wouldn’t otherwise, while maintaining extremely high degrees of concentration. Normality on the other hand makes people complacent while doing things they know they can. Efficiency thus is enhanced by the demands of the situation!

“Quick, we need to make sure there is no vegetation next to this house, especially dried one,” Jenny exclaimed as she continued axing the only tree left standing in the yard of a big open property she had identified on the block, while Jack shovelled away the leaves and grass.

“Are we going to live here now,” Jack asked her.

“Only in case that solar storm comes close to our planet and scorches things on our world,” Jenny replied, panting from the extensive effort she was putting in under the sun, “And then, if every other house on the block, including ours is scorched.” She then wiped the sweat off her forehead and took a couple of sips of water. She turned back to Jack and asked him, “Are you alright? It is too hot! Make sure you keep drinking your water. We’ll have to remove all woodwork, furniture and clothing from this house next.”

Fighters neither know how to quit, nor when to quit, for when they learn how to fight, they are taught neither. Those who quit are not fighters but rather politicians, who were in it merely to gain something, even if barely an advantage of having attempted.

“How long do we have,” Aman radioed ‘Eternity’.

“Five more minutes and we will be in their firing range,” a visibly distressed Jhiang replied as he desperately gazed at the radar screen in front of him, as if hoping the enemy fleet would vanish merely by his looking at it.

“Damn!” Aman exclaimed, and then continued to Anne, “Commander, are you sure you don’t want me to fall back and take the centre flank?”

“Negative Captain,” Anne replied, “Your job is to escape with whoever is left with you should we all perish.”

“What? I can’t do that,” Aman immediately disagreed.

“That’s an order Captain whether you like it or not,” Anne replied, “There is no way our three crafts can defend us against such a big fleet, and no means on board our two mother ships to defend anyone. So you will have to bear the burden of being the last hopes of humanity should the rest of us fail. And you will have to do it for the sake of any of us that may still be alive anywhere in either of the two universes.”

“You can’t be serious,” a distraught Aman however wasn’t ready to take such an order. He was a soldier, and not a businessman who would balance profit and loss, and then speculate on future. “I refuse to take this order,” Aman replied, “I would have happily died with the rest of the humanity back on earth, and I would happily die here if it is our time today.”

“Don’t be a fool,” Bradley interrupted the conversation, “Stop thinking about what you can sacrifice for everybody, and start thinking about what you can achieve instead.”

“Captain Connors is right,” Captain Daniela Avery, former air-force volunteer and wife of fellow volunteer and fellow economist Captain Steve Avery, the duo flying NSSS ‘Apache’, joined in the conversation too, “We all can die here and let everybody else who might be alive perish as well, or you can make a difference to those who might be alive.”

“That’s the whole point,” Aman replied, “We may already be all alone! Imagine how lonely it would be, especially living with a conscience that would always remember how the solitaire was a personal choice.”

“It is not your choice Captain,” Anne reminded him, “It is my order, backed by the Defence Core Committee majority.”

“You cannot do this to me,” Aman however argued.

“They are right Captain,” Christine, who was getting ready to take charge of the craft for the next shift prior to the declaration of emergency, told her co-pilot, but then added, “However, I am with you, and believe if this is our end, then it should be all of us!”

“Three minutes to vulnerable zone,” Jhiang however interrupted the discussion and reminded everyone of the reality that faced them.

“Oh how I wish we could have made it to that space tear that we were originally supposed to make to today,” Aman rued, “Damn you Norman!”

But something strange happened at that moment, only inside NSSS ‘Phoenix’. A mysterious portal made of light appeared in the middle of the small flight cabin, lighting up everything, and three mysterious figures; one after the other, stepped out of it. Aman and Christine immediately took out their laser weapons and aimed them at their heads.

“Our most respectful greetings to the great warrior from the other earth,” exclaimed the leader of the pack in a language the duo had always understood, as the trio bowed to them, “We are the Tarandile.”

Hardships are like tests and tests are like sieves, meant to separate chaff from grain. Easy are journeys that take none anywhere! Tough are travels that go around to bring one back wiser and matured.

“Eight minutes to the space tear sir,” Antony informed the Rear Admiral.

“What is our projected re-entry point into our universe Chief Engineer?” Rear Admiral asked Marcus.

“Somewhere close to the centre of Milky Way sir,” out came the reply, as Marcus carried out his calculations free of any stress.

Stress however is unavoidable part of existence, for everything needs an effort, and every effort is directed to a result whose controlling variables are not in the hands of the individual. One needs oxygen to breathe, and one breathes to survive. There is no stress as long as there is enough oxygen and one is aware of it. Put a leak and the situation will change faster than the speed of light.

“What do you want?” Aman asked his unwanted arrivals.

“Nothing,” came a cryptic reply, made intriguing by the words that followed, “And everything.”

“I don’t like puzzles, especially those put by people I don’t know,” Aman however replied.

“We the Tarandile, are the only people across hundred known Universes, to posses the technology that can save you and your entire fleet from annihilation today,” the leader of the Tarandile pack continued.

“A hundred known Universes,” a shocked Aman exclaimed.

“Who are these people that you are talking to Captain Ahluwalia,” a concerned Anne’s voice boomed on the communications channel. She then turned to her own ship’s pilot, “Give me the video feed Captain Davis.”

“When you have the technology to teleport across space,” the Tarandile continued, “A universe is just a number.”

“And you want me to believe that,” Aman quipped, almost chiding him.

“Well, we are here, aren’t we?” the Tarandile asked.

“One minute forty five seconds to vulnerable zone,” a panicking Jhiang intervened.

“Perhaps a quick demonstration will help,” the Trandile quipped as he turned towards his companions who both nodded in agreement. “I will open two portals; one here, and one in your Commander’s ship. You can send her whatever you want to through it.” He then looked back at his companions and nodded to give them a go ahead. One of the Tarandile lifted his wrist and tapped some buttons on the wrist band he was wearing. A smaller light portal opened in front of Aman.

“What’s happening,” a surprised Anne asked, “I’ve got a light portal similar to yours in front of me too.”

“Would you like sending your Commander something,” the Tarandile gestured Aman to go ahead and try it.

Aman looked around, but with nothing else to think off his head, pushed his laser gun through the portal, along with his hand.

“I can see your hand and gun in front of me Aman,” Anne replied back.

“Take the gun from my hand,” Aman exclaimed.

“She can give it back to you too, should you want it,” the Tarandile exclaimed as Aman pulled his hand back, his gun having been left behind with Anne. Anne immediately put her hand through the portal and handed Aman a cup she had on her, instead of the laser, just to test it properly.

“It works,” Christine exclaimed in delight.

“Forty five seconds to vulnerable zone,” Jhiang reminded everyone the Damocles’ sword hanging above their heads.

“Do you want us to turn around and intercept the enemy,” Captain Connors immediately asked Anne.

“Negative,” Anne replied back, “Stick to the course. We will retaliate only as the last measure when the enemy would be finally upon us.”

“What do you want?” Aman asked his guests.

“What’s more important is; we can save your entire fleet,” the Tarandile however replied.

“You are not going to do it just like that for fun, are you?” Aman asked in response.

“Of course not,” the sharp Tarandile replied, “You were saying how good it would have been had you not missed the space tear that you are going to miss now.” The Tarandile paced up and down as he addressed Aman, “We can teleport your entire fleet there right away, giving you enough time to make through it comfortably, but there is only one condition.”

“And what’s that,” Aman asked.

“You’ll have to drink our poison,” the Tarandile replied.

“The enemy has fired; two minutes to impact,” was the chilling announcement from Jhiang.

*************

Chapter Thirteen: One betrayal enough

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God of a Man

Across Two Eternities

“Enough walls make a comfortable grave; none lets wind blow all away.”

Chapter Thirteen: One betrayal enough

Dated: 16th April, 2461

Balance is always found at the fulcrum and volatility at edges. Too much light is as blinding as too much dark. There is just enough of everything that makes a perfect stockpile. This is true not because it is a law of nature, for nature makes no laws. Nature only leaves open every opportunity for probability to build a dense network of matter interactions. It is these interactions between different forms of matter that set a pattern of existence, with these patterns eventually becoming laws of nature. A star will always be born out of a cloud of dust and gases, leaving behind the non-fusing mass of inert matter to make planets that will revolve around it. The bigger beast will consume the smaller beast to satisfy its hunger. The laws of nature are born out of the traditions of matter interaction!

The important question thus is; how does one find the balance, or more aptly, the point of fulcrum? The answer lies in identifying the direct opposite, or every possible alternative of a given situation. What defends you will also stop you from attacking. To attack you will need an opening, but an opening would also create an opportunity for the enemy. Yet without an opening, an enemy outside will eventually find a way to break in through your defences. To stop that you will have to step out and pre-empt the enemy at some stage. One situation too many variables! The solution probably lies in a defence with an opening that you can control better from behind the defence than the enemy staring down at it.

Once the competing alternatives are determined, the next step is to evaluate all the benefits and drawbacks that associate with each one of them. Thereon it is merely a matter of deciding what one can afford to give up, and what is too indispensible. The choice is then merely a formality. Michele knows this, but her only problem is; she cannot decide on everyone’s behalf what is best for them without considering their opinions.

“So we can actually deflect the meteor mid space?” Michelle asked Admiral for umpteenth time, just to be sure she got the information correctly.

“There is a fifty percent chance that our crude atomic bomb, if it detonates as per our calculations, can yield enough force to alter its’ path,” the Admiral replied.

“The only questions then are,” Michelle exclaimed nodding her head, “What if it doesn’t, or does so too late?”

“We can test a weapon in a couple of weeks,” Admiral replied, “We’ll lose some fuel we were stocking up on, but we would know for sure how good our technology is. The problem that would persist however is; there is only a short window of time to deploy one during the event, because the force of the blast needs to be transferred at a time where it would deflect the meteor far enough that it misses the earth. We cannot blow it into bits by a head on impact, and too early or too late an explosion could mean no significant effect to even acceleration.”

“So we are back to square one,” Michelle let out a sigh as she knelt over and pressed her forearms on the desk, “What is the status of our space-ship construction program?”

“We have enough to save one out of every three individuals,” Admiral replied, but paused before uttering two carefully weighted questions, “But how will we choose whom to save? Or rather; would you want the choice to remain with us?”

His questions had put Michelle in the same unenviable position as her predecessor in office. “But, how can we do what we hate others for having done to us,” an exasperated Michelle raised a question the Admiral was expecting, but she had more to say, “We can’t be like those who left us behind. There is always another choice! We just need to find the correct one.”

Choices do not depend upon circumstances, but rather probabilities that emerge out of those circumstances. Circumstances are merely the condition determinants of the action transpiring, while probabilities are results that could happen depending upon the decision the actors involved in action might make.

Not for the first time in his life had Norman feared for his life, for he had seen his senior partner in crime executed right in front of his eyes. But this time the fear was overpowering as there was no place for him to hide, and he was unmistakably aware that an enemy was on his way. He didn’t have to wait too long, for in less than twenty four hours the dark sky above him was lit up by the lights of an entire enemy fleet. Norman was sharp enough to run out of his spaceship, rather than be a sitting duck in case of an assault. Yet the irony was; he wouldn’t survive without it anyway!

The enemy however was sharp enough not to rush in without having gauged the strength of the defences. A handful of crafts were dispatched immediately, to access what lay in their path. One after the other those crafts flew by, waiting to be attacked from somewhere, so they could spot the defences. But there were no defences; only a single man on his knees, perched atop a frozen mound with folded hands. He didn’t have to wait long. Soon enough one craft flew directly above and in front of him, like a fly ready to swoop down on to a creamy cake. Norman on his part stayed still, lit by the bright spot light fixated at him by the alien craft. 

After some apparent discussions with their seniors, three Schneridian warriors climbed out of the hovering craft. Two of them stopped some distance behind, while the leader of the pack stepped up to the knelt Norman, and walked around him in a circle, having a good look at him, while at the same time scanning the surrounds for any activity. Finally, he stopped right in front of Norman, took a couple of steps back, and then tossed a device at Norman’s knees.

“Is this the language that you speak,” the alien asked using a similar communicating device in his hands, “Shake your head three times and pick up the device to communicate.”

Norman for once had a chance to relax his nerves as he energetically shook his head in affirmative and grabbed the device.

“Human,” smirked the alien as he typed away in his device, before turning back to look at his colleagues who smiled back at him.

Being human also means being fallible, for humans are fragile, just like any other animal species. All other virtues of greatness, uprightness, honesty etc are man-made creations; suited to serve various social needs, dispensable at the option of the protagonist should the need be dire and the protagonist unwilling to make the sacrifice needed. These virtues cannot be taught alone, without imbibing the persona with adequate amount of courage and selflessness, again a couple of man-made virtues. This is where stories come into play; some written by imagination and some by suffering.

“Today we are faced with a very difficult situation,” Lady Michelle Davis had decided it was a matter fit for the public to decide on its’ free will, “And once again we have two choices; we can panic and press self-destruct like we did the last time, or we can be sensible like an intelligent specie should be, especially now that we have the ability to make a difference to our fate.”

As the Lady made a complete disclosure to the public, her speech was being broadcast live on every television and radio station, and people everywhere were all ears and eyes. There were no whispers, there was no queer pitch. Everybody had somehow grown ages in only a few months!

“There’s a giant meteor heading our way, and for the first time in human history, we have the technical expertise to take on the giant mid-stride,” Michelle continued as Ivanka stood behind her, “We can not only travel at some fraction of light speed, but we can deploy fissionable charge to deflect the monster away.”

Her words had finally started to make people stand up from their seats, nodding their heads as they grabbed tighter whatever they had in their hands; drinks, remotes, books and all.

“But of course, we cannot be blinded by over-confidence, and must be prepared in case of an unexpected failure,” Lady Davis however cautioned everyone, “But we are prepared for that as well, although not as much as we would have liked to by this point in time.”

Traffic had come to a halt on the roads, as people pulled over to listen safely and keenly to each and every word the woman had to say.

“It took us a lot of time to ensure we would survive on our very own planet first,” Michelle continued, “And then we had a sudden revelation of new technology, thanks to our lost but not forgotten brothers on NSSS ‘Full Bloom’. But thanks to them, today we can take on the monster headed out to destroy us, and should we fail, to save one out of every three people alive today.”

Almost everybody took a deep breath as they realized the time might have come for them to make some tough decisions.

“No, I am not saying we are going to save only so and so,” Michelle continued, “We are not going to do what was done to us; betray our own loved ones.”

Her words had the people nodding in appreciation and understanding once more.

“Instead I want you to decide what you would want to happen,” Michelle continued, “We have three to four months, so I give you one, to send us your suggestions, that we can then shortlist for a quick poll. My suggestion is that you on your own free will pick one member of your family, to be put on board our ships that we would allow to temporarily leave our atmosphere, just in case we fail in stopping the meteor mid-tracks. In case we succeed, they all can come back immediately, so we all may leave together whenever we are ready. But that is just one option that I have come up with. You might have some better! So get sharing!”

And everybody now looked around at those who were around them, each one nodding their head in unison, that this is a good way to deal with the situation.

Michelle however had one last thing to say, “And remember; there is still hope, like there always is!”

One may need to find hope at times, and the tougher it is to do so, tougher are their circumstances. But finding hope itself begins with a hope that some will be found somehow.

“Jenny, look, the sun has got a huge wig,” naughty little Jack had disobeyed Jenny’s instructions to not look at the sun, and gazed at it using a thick blackened glass piece.

“Didn’t I tell you not to look at the sun,” Jenny scolded him as she walked up to him.

“I know, but just look at this,” Jack however insisted, “It looks so funny!”

“Let me see,” Jenny exclaimed as she grabbed the piece of glass from his hands and put it to her eyes. But the sight she saw scared her down to her bones, “That’s a massive surge of energy from the Sun.” Her throat immediately dried out as an immediate fear gripped her. She started palpitating, “I hope it won’t come this way!” She exclaimed out of fear as she watched haplessly the growing storm at the horizon of the sun she was gazing at.

Fear however is not the option when death and life are the only two outcomes possible. If the only other thing that could happen to one is death, then the only choice to be made is staying alive at all costs.

Norman was promised he won’t be killed provided he co-operated. And co-operate he did; explaining not only what he knew about the differences and incompatibility between the matters making up the two universes, but also disclosing their own origins, escape, and current intended direction of the crew that left him behind. Finally satisfied with what Norman had told them, the Schneridian sought final instructions from his superiors, and having got them addressed Norman again.

“We promised not to kill you,” the Schneridian exclaimed, “And we keep our word. However, we are going to make sure your craft is not capable of flying anymore.”

“What,” a shocked Norman exclaimed and inquired, “Are you too leaving me behind? Please take me with you, someplace else, some place warm!”

“We promised not to kill you, and not to save you,” the Schneridian smiled, and replied using his communicator, “Besides you said it yourself, that our matter is of no use to you. So even if we were to take you away, there is no other place that we know of, where you can stay alive. This place is your only hope!” And he walked away, back to his waiting colleagues, and up into his craft, leaving Norman behind to analyse where he went wrong.

*************