The Shiorel Legacy

The Shiorel Legacy

By Steve Carrick

Published by Steve Carrick at Smashwords

Copyright Steve Carrick 2011

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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THE LEGACY

I had never really expected my life to reach any major high points, maybe the odd moment of success or a brief contact with the rich and famous, but beyond that just a normal routine existence like those I grew up with.

That all changed in just one day, a change that altered my life completely and put a purpose into it that people could only dream about. A lot of responsibility came with this new direction and sometimes it was not easy to see the way ahead or to accept the outcome of some decisions I would have to make.

There exists a race of beings called the Shiorel who have been involved with the evolution of many planets, guiding them through the hard times or resolving problems that were holding them back. They are not a warlike race although they have the ability to wage war on a galactic scale if the need arose; instead they seek peaceful pursuits and ways of improving and enhancing life for all those who wish to join them.

Dark times often loomed ahead in the beginning with conflict never far away and for those of us who became involved with the Shiorel Legacy life would never be normal again. We had the task of continuing the work started by the Shiorel, to reach out and expand the boundaries that already exist, to bring peace back to a universe that was struggling against a determined aggressor and protect the future of the many worlds out there with a variety of races upon them, some already enslaved, others living in fear of attack.

Realistically it is something that can never end although it is hoped that as time passes by the worlds that will need help or guidance to achieve a better existence will become less.

Nobody truly knows how big the universe is or how many worlds will support life, all that is understood is that every race deserves a chance to experience the wonders of the universe, whether they make good use of it all is a different matter.

I expect one day we will have to pass on this Legacy to others and let them continue where we left off. Until we do the journey goes on, exploring new areas of the universe and discovering worlds that are beyond our imagination. Maybe one day we will join the Shiorel and watch over those who replace us, supporting them when they falter and guiding them at times when all seems lost.

1982

The local quarry was always a good place to go if you wanted to get away from the hassle of living in town. Being a couple of miles out in the countryside it had a good view of the area in all directions and because it was no longer used there was a sort of ghostly feel to it which helped to keep some people away.

It was during summer that my friend Billy and I had gone to the quarry where we could practise shooting at a variety of homemade targets with our air rifles, a sport best done away from the confines of home for obvious reasons. We were on the south side of the quarry which is a bit less used by dog walkers because it is steep and rockier than the rest of the hill and provides good cover for a shooting gallery where people won’t get shot by accident. I was just setting up some targets for Billy with a variety of heights and angles when the rock I was standing on rolled away sending me falling down the hole it had been covering. My landing was not the best and it felt like metal that had brought me to a halt. Looking up I could see Billy staring down this hole at me grinning, he said.

Is this going to be a trick shot then?

Regaining my feet I quipped back.

It would be if you were a good enough shot in the first place.

Then I realised there was a lot of echo, this hole I had fallen through had obviously dropped me into a very large cave and there were glowing points that I could just make out stretching into the distance. Lots of them and getting gradually brighter as I watched. Billy shouted down that he was going to find a rope or something in the quarry to try and get me out and he would be as quick as possible.

I moved to the nearest one of these lights to examine it and as I got closer it became brighter still, hurting my eyes with the sudden intensity in this dimly lit cavern. As if by an unseen signal, all the other lights became brighter, fully illuminating the cavern and showing its true size. It was enormous stretching further than my eyes could focus. Once I had adjusted to the light I looked around and there below me was a massive structure, some sort of machine, a craft of some sort. At this sight excitement rose and common sense vanished. I started looking for a way down totally forgetting Billy who was above trying to find a means to help me out.

Where I had landed was some type of wide walkway probably about fifteen feet across and running to what looked like infinity. I hurriedly moved along it searching for a way down and as I ran past a doorway it opened. It was I hoped a lift. It could of course be a cupboard or even a prison cell. I glanced inside and seeing nothing that could prove dangerous went in where I saw a glowing panel on the wall near the door with strange symbols and I pressed the lowest one. Nothing happened. I pressed the next one up with a degree of caution. There was noise like air being sucked through a hose and the door quickly closed followed by movement. At first I felt it was going down but a few times it felt it was moving sideways for some distance. Eventually the lift came to a gentle halt and again that sound of air being sucked. Looking around the doorway I found I was now in a room full of various equipment, screens, buttons, and brightly-lit displays showing various symbols and what can only be described as chairs. There was also a huge window looking out at the large machine I had seen from above only now I was at ground level looking up at the front of it.

The excitement of all this made me dizzy so I took to one of the chairs and just stared at all the wonder around me. I know things like this do not exist in the world of today so what it was all about was the biggest part of the intrigue for me. Then of course my mind was telling me that what I had found had to be some sort of alien spacecraft buried here a long time ago. Indeed if this is true how do I get it out, what would I do with it and where would I go? There was so much to consider here but with common sense out the window I never even thought it might belong to someone.

I was about to light up a cigarette when something caught my eye. On a console to my right there was a light flashing in a steady beat. Sliding into the chair in front of it I watched, deciding if it meant something bad was about to happen and the whole place fill with people full with intent to kill me or maybe it just meant something innocent. Gingerly I pressed the button below the light and prayed all hell would not break loose. There was a click followed by a whirring sound. I couldn’t move. Panic was rising inside me. What was holding me? A mechanical arm rose from the console and opened out like a fan before my face. No deadly beam of light or weird sounds came out but I could hear words and see images. It was transmitting right into my brain.

There was no face to the voice and the images were like new memories running in my mind telling the story of the people who created all of this, the Shiorel. They came from a region in space that we knew very little about and could never hope to reach it for a great many years. For many millennia the Shiorel had colonised worlds or helped with the advancement of races who were struggling through the cycle of evolution. We were apparently one such race. The voice explained that even though the Shiorel had good intentions there were other races out there who abused all of the good being done and subjugated the weaker worlds to create slave planets. Despite not being an aggressive race the Shiorel still had fighting ships to keep the peace and also to help defend against attacks on their convoys or planets. Some of the images were like movies and showed spacecraft of immense size similar to the one here in this cavern, others showed attacks by Su’Len with some equally impressive war craft who came from a variety of different worlds. These Su’Len were the main cause of unrest in this part of the galaxy with allies always willing to aid them. The Shiorel by all appearances are not that different from humans just a bit taller and more athletic. They reminded me of the actors and actresses that play godlike people in the movies, perfect physical specimens. The narration continued explaining how in fact these people had appeared to us as gods or wise folk and had been the guiding figures through our history. They were with us from the start appearing as Roman or Greek gods, as Christ, as the wise rulers of the Egyptians, the Incas and the Aztecs. The city of Atlantis was their creation, their base on Earth. They were our inventors, our visionaries, our discoverers. It was they who gave us a future. Likewise agents of the Su’Len tried to subvert our chance of a future by creating global conflict from the days of Moses through the times of the Roman Empire up to the Napoleonic Wars. A few times they almost succeeded, with the Romans and Napoleon getting very close to total domination. It was fascinating to see and hear all of our history being told and how these people had done their utmost to guide us to a more worthy future. It seems their intent was that we along with other planets would eventually join them out there in space and help others like us, but none of this happened. After the Napoleonic War things had began to change in their own evolutionary cycle. For so long they had been of flesh but now they were becoming elemental, beings of energy who would have no need of physical bodies or machines to transport them across the void. So they chose to hide their all of their wondrous technology across the universe in the hope that it would be found by those who could use it as they did. All of their ships would be put into a form of hibernation until a time when they would be needed again. The locations of other sites were not shown to me but there are many and so the narrator states things will become clearer after the first craft is mastered. At this the narration ended and the images trailed off shortly afterwards. But still I could not move. A sensation unlike pins and needles began in my head sending a tingling across my skull and down my neck slowly ebbing away to what felt like an itch. When this itchy feeling stopped I could move again. Great, now what do I do. Looking around at the consoles I studied the readouts and suddenly realised I could understand what was being displayed. After the history lesson played into my mind there must have been a transfer of knowledge and language from the machine. Everything made sense to me now. My first place of investigation had to be the ship. It was called DiQom. I knew its name in Shiorelian, in English it was the 2nd Brother. This was amazing and made me feel dizzy with this new found understanding. I headed for the hanger where DiQom sat and just as I passed through the doorway I was sent flying by Billy who had been frantically searching for me.

Steve where have you been, where are we, what is this place and what’s THAT?

I picked myself up and gave Billy a hand to his feet.

Hi mate you found me then?

Trying to lighten the mood I said jokingly.

We are in a large underground hanger for DiQom, the thing you referred to as THAT. Me? I have been nosing around here half expecting something scarier than you to appear.

He looked at me strangely and asked.

So how do you know all that then?

Easy, a machine told me?

I had answered honestly but with that he broke into laughter and I could tell he needed convincing so I dragged him through to the machine that could teach him, a machine I now knew to be called an Eletor. Still laughing, Billy sat in the chair and I pressed the same button which I had pressed earlier. Again the arm came out of the console and Billy’s face calmed down and began to look blank. Now he would understand.

Forty-five minutes later we were standing outside the main airlock to DiQom. Billy entered a code and slowly it opened up into a large lobby. From here there were lifts and hover transports to all areas around the ship as well as a security station and what we would call a First Aid room. We opted for the most obvious place to start and called a lift for the control room. Silently it arrived and the doors opened to reveal a compartment that would cater for our comfort while on our journey through DiQom.

In human measurements DiQom is just over a mile long and about 200 yards wide, almost like a very tall building lying on its side. It is of such a size that it has ten landing struts to hold it evenly on the ground. From its belly to its top it measures roughly 300 feet and another 50 feet more for the landing struts. Something of this size could never be built by human hands and the cavern where it rests is equally impressive and a work of art in its own right. For all of its immense bulk most of the space within DiQom was actually used up sensibly. The ship was laid out to give ample space to every section from hangers to crew accommodation, engines, laboratories and storage bays. This ship had everything needed to support a huge number of people for quite some time or enough equipment to build a colony on a new world.

We had arrived at the control room. Billy was amazed when he saw all of the flashing lights and instruments around the room.

Steve Blackpool has nothing on this place.

Yes it certainly is something else mate

The control room was not large by any means but it was fitted out with everything required for its occupants to be in control of the most important systems of the ship.

The voice in my head said.

SIT. Sit and join with DiQom.

I looked at Billy to see if he could hear this voice also. He was examining some of the controls, no sign of having heard anything. There were two seats off to my left almost central to the room. Lowering myself into the right hand one I began to wonder if this would be like sitting at the Eletor. Once seated I could feel a presence in my head and then it all made sense. The narrator had said during my spell at the Eletor that all of the Shiorelian ships were fitted with a telepathic organic computer and they all had conscious thought. This was their way of sharing responsibility with the computers which would help make the decisions that affected everyone involved.

I formed the thought.

DiQom are you there?

Yes I am here, waiting. I was informed you would come here. You bonded with the Eletor and it is connected to all of the systems that operate in this hanger. Despite the absence of people you are still being watched, not just by me but the security systems in the hanger see you also. My role is to guide you and those who follow you through this path you have now chosen. As you are here then it is obvious you are willing to take over from where the Shiorel left off. I can teach you and your kind how to make the best use of the resources that will be available to you. Do you choose to be instructed in this way?

DiQom had a very positive and commanding tone.

Yes I choose instruction but what of my friend?

DiQom replied simply.

He will be instructed by me in different ways more suited to his skills.

And so began our instruction, teaching us how to use everything mechanical and electronic that had belonged to the Shiorelian race. It began with the simple ground vehicles which had no wheels but rode on a cushion of anti-gravity called Va’Mii. There was a similar one which could fly in space or atmosphere called Ve’Mii and it resembled a very powerful Italian sports car although again there were no wheels. We were shown how to fly craft from small fighter ships through the various forms of transport craft right up to the large Mind Ships like DiQom; to use all forms of weaponry that will be available and how to take lives as well as save them. There were various machines for terraforming, building structures and bridges, and farming, there was even a machine that could build a factory. A ship like DiQom was capable of taking war to an enemy or to help build the world for a friend. All of this technology was amazing and the minds that thought of these inventions must have been truly brilliant. They were beings who made it their purpose to help others but had to fight to preserve their mission. Every race I suppose must have its own Police and the Shiorel were no exception to the rule. Their guardians of the law were armoured robots called Darpi, tested in battle for reliability and then adapted to defend the laws of the land. Each of the Darpi, like the Mind Ships had conscious thought and could decide what actions would be required within any given command. Onboard DiQom right now there is more than 1000 of these, silently waiting for new orders.

Now that the electronic intelligence known as DiQom was active again he had been sending out signals to see if any others of his kind still existed and he would send the commands to reactivate their higher functions, partly I think because he wanted to know if he was alone and also because he felt it was his duty to do so.

His tone was sombre when he made his announcement.

Steve, I have made contact with ten others of my type. They too were sleeping but now they are awake and ready to meet with us. It is estimated they will arrive in your planetary system in one month and four days from now. Where will you meet them?

DiQom, tell them we will meet on the dark side of Earth’s moon and to send a signal upon their arrival.

The dark side of the moon seemed a good enough choice as it is totally hidden from Earth but to be honest I didn’t know anywhere else in our solar system well enough to give an exact location.

It will be done

So what had begun as a small discovery of one alien spacecraft was suddenly becoming something of a magnitude beyond realization. Soon there will be a fleet of these massive ships in our solar system and it was up to Billy and me to do the right thing with them, whatever that will be.

One thing was for certain, we needed more people.

Two days later we were discussing everything over a take away and a few cans of beer in Billy’s house. Such was our lives at this time that we were still living at home and had nowhere private to discuss matters openly. Our biggest problem was who to trust. This was not the sort of information that could be shared with family and certainly not with any government because there is just too much involved. Any friends who we will take into our confidence had to be reliable, dedicated and willing to work with us for a common goal and not abuse this wonderful technology. It was now unfortunately that we found out that not many of our friends will fit these special criteria.

I asked Billy hoping for some inspiration.

So where do you want to start

Tricky, but I reckon we should ask John and Jacko because we know we can rely on them and they are always up for a challenge.

Okay good call, anyone else?

Well there is that girl you used to hang around with, Janette. She is quite brainy and someone you used to rely on if I remember rightly.

Yeah I suppose you are right, and we can’t be exclusive on our choices either. Well shall we finish this take away and give them a call? Let’s see if we can get them all together for tomorrow night?

Right Steve, how about a meeting at The Stag just on the edge of town about 7pm and if it’s all go then we can take it from there?

Should be alright and it will give us a chance to weigh up their reactions before we show them what we have.

One thing we had not considered at this point and thinking back it was probably a major issue; what would we do if they decided they were not interested once they had been shown what it was we had to offer. Certainly we could not kill them just because they chose not to join us in this venture but somehow we would have to retain an absolute blackout on the existence of DiQom and the Shiorel. Still it was a gamble we would have to take if we were to increase our numbers and be able to meet any challenges that might arise later on if things became tougher. I don’t know how many more people we would need to join us or even if there was a limit to that number but for now it was a matter of starting a covert recruitment campaign of sorts, speak to friends who we hoped could bring along their friends until our numbers were sufficient.

Before our discovery life had been very simple and straightforward. Billy worked for the council training as a surveyor with the Roads Department and I worked for a wholesale food supplier delivering products within a fifty mile radius of home. We used to meet and go target shooting, out in the fields with our scramblers or just muck about with engines on a couple of old cars we kept but now we had the most advanced technology in the world, maybe even in the universe at our disposal and the dilemma of deciding who to share it with.

It was agreed on right from the start, something that must be mandatory for anyone and everyone that joins us is that no official body, military force or government shall know what we have or even get a chance to see it. Privacy or secrecy, call it what you will must be our first defence against the misuse of this technology always.

THE STAG

We arrived ten minutes ahead of our friends so that we could see how they reacted upon meeting each other before they were in our company. If there were any signs of future problems through a clash of personalities then it was best to know now. Two minutes before 7pm Jacko arrived. He was in the army for three years and still carried himself in a soldier like manner. Tall, lean and always watching his surroundings like an animal he entered the pub and headed for the bar looking like he was about to pounce on the bartender. His personality was one of those that shone like a beacon making all in his company relax. True to say this personality made him very popular with the opposite sex but to me he would make a good leader and hopefully later a good captain in our fleet. Next to arrive was John. A different character from Jacko because of his quieter nature, John was more of a thinker who liked to invent and design new ways of doing something. Despite his nature he is a very rational person who will think things through before coming to a decision. He saw Jacko at the bar and went over to join him while they waited. It must have been four years since they had met but instantly they were chatting like it was just yesterday. I don’t know if it is a woman’s prerogative or not but Janette was late. At ten minutes past she finally appeared although admittedly she did look a bit guilty about it. She was the outsider here because she did not know Jacko or John and she had only met Billy a few times in the past so there was reason perhaps to be nervous. A petite woman with a sharp wit and a clear mind she had always looked after herself and was a follower of her own styles and fashions. Janette had taken a career in accounting and through this she had proven herself to be successful and efficient in her work. Confidently she walked over to the bar and ordered her drink, pulling herself up onto a bar stool while she listened to the two friends chatting nearby.

Our people were here now so we made our way over to join them and bring them back to our table and discuss our ideas. Janette was the first to notice me and there was a smile of recognition followed by curiosity as she realized the two men beside her were also here to meet with me. After some hearty handshakes and introductions the trio picked up their drinks and we all went and sat at our table. Jacko was the first to ask the obvious question the other two echoing this.

So what do you want our help with after these years then Steve?

I joked with them using a serious expression.

It’s not for a bank job I can tell you that for a start

Jacko butted in.

But having us all here for a meeting like this feels more like Mission Impossible team on the TV getting ready for some clandestine operation.

Honestly what I have got you all here for is because I trust you, and know that you can each offer something useful to a proposition I have for you.

Are you proposing to me as well then Steve? I thought you had given up trying years ago.

Janette was out to prove she had lost none of her wit. John who had been silently listening to all the initial banter chipped in at last

If you have asked us here because you trust us then it must be something either extremely illegal or it is something too big for just the two of you to handle?

He had been thinking hard then.

Spot on mate. You know there are just no hiding things from you. Yes it is something big and definitely not illegal. First though we need to know a few things from the three of you. In turn you can answer this, how much do you care about this world we live in, have you commitments in your lives you can’t break and are you willing to sacrifice all you have now for an unknown future?

I gave three years of my life to help fight for right and wrong, for the right cause I would be willing to give another thirty if it made a difference in this world. The only commitments I have are making women happy but I can do that any time and any place, so you could say that is also why I care about the world.

Jacko forever the womaniser, what more of a reply could I expect. He had spent three years in the parachute regiment fighting in the Falklands and patrolling the streets of Belfast.

What about you Janette?

I am certainly not out to be kept happy by Jacko but I would like to know that I have helped secure a future that will benefit others. I have no commitments to hold me back from doing whatever I please anymore so I am free for the foreseeable future.

That leaves you John.

You know I am in even before you asked me. If what you have in mind is really that good then there are no reasons that I can think of to say no. Now will you tell us why we are all here?

I am going to do better than that. Follow me in your cars; it’s not far and very much worth the journey.

So out of the pub we all went and our small convoy headed towards the edge of town and the road to the quarry. Since our initial discovery of the cavern and the sleeping DiQom we had found other more dignified ways of getting in and out without having to fall down a hole and it was to one of these we planned to enter. Billy parked our car in a lay-by and the others pulled in behind and got out to join us by a gate which was round the back of the quarry. Just to the side of this was a wall of solid rock and by pushing a flat section inwards and upwards a doorway opened up and in we all went. The unspoken questions were many and I think our friends were very tense but also eager to know where we were going and followed us regardless. It was only a small corridor of rock we had to pass through until we came to the lift that would take us into the main cavern. Billy decided it was time to break the silence

None of you suffer travel sickness by any chance?

Then he entered a code and pressed the button for the main hanger. As he did this I noticed there were more buttons we could have chosen and not all of them were places where we had been to. Janette was the first of our guests to speak

Does this belong to the government or something? Are you sure we have permission to be here?

Calm down. Remember that there is nothing illegal going on.

I said trying to reassure her

Everything you see here does not belong to any government, company or anyone else. You could say it is on loan to us for the foreseeable future.

So what are you planning to do with this loan then?

John asked inquisitively with a slightly mocking tone.

We hope, my old friend that we can make a difference to this world and others that will be for the best and at the same time carry on the work started by a race of beings thousands of years ago. Also we will get to see the stars of this universe a lot clearer than anyone else ever will.

The lift arrived in the main cavern near the control room with DiQom visible just outside the window. The trio gasped when they saw this and Jacko let out a low whistle.

So we are going to become spacemen are we?

In part we will all be spacemen but we will also be guardians and ambassadors as well. Some of us will become more specialized and learn to do different things as we get to grips with all of this technology.

It was strange to be in this position with friends, asking for their trust in something beyond what they knew existed. We went through the hanger to the room where I was first instructed.

I asked pointing at the Eletor

Now if you can all take it in turn to sit in this chair all will become much clearer and should save me having to make a massive explanation about all of this.

Jacko was quick off the mark. He said to Janette, making a bowing motion.

You can go first.

She made a pout and sat down staring straight at me as she did so. I had a feeling that murder was in mind if things did not go well. The blank expression that I had seen on Billy’s face now appeared on hers. The Eletor had begun its lesson. John and Jacko stood watching silently wondering what could be happening to her and would she be alright when it was over. Forty minutes later it was over and Jacko took her place in the seat confident that it was safe. Janette now full of this new knowledge was eager to talk about it.

It seems they all went away after the Napoleonic Wars and they have never been seen since. How have we made it this far then without their help? From a religious point of view it does change everything and it all makes sense now why history has been so violent.

I explained to her as best I could.

Since the days of Napoleon we have still had many wars and some have been totally brutal and very questionable about the many deaths incurred. It could be that the Shiorel had agents acting for them or maybe their enemies did not have enough influence on events at the time. Right now it is information that we do not have and neither does the Eletor. Maybe we will find out more once we are up and running.

Two hours later and we were sitting in the control room of DiQom ready for the next step of their lesson. It seems DiQom has a means of knowing what a person will be good at and teaches them accordingly. Although we all got similar training in the use of equipment, our training varied in certain fields. For Jacko it was security and intelligence gathering, Billy was trained more in the use of construction techniques, John in the design and improvement of new equipment, Janette was taught the basics of linguistic translation and communication and me, well my instruction was to make the best use of all of the people I will be working with and bind them together into an effective team. As more people join our group the more skilled people I will have to deal with. It is not that different from being the manager of a very large company.

DiQom gathered us all together in the armoury situated on the third level near the fighter bays. This time he spoke through the intercom system, the speakers did not do his voice justice.

Now that you have all had your instruction it is time to give you some things you will need.

As he said this five plinths rose three feet from the floor and once they had stopped objects materialised on them. I remembered from my session at the Eletor that amongst the things that the ships like DiQom could do was to move solid objects from point to point. What I suppose we would call transporters like they use in TV. The range of this was apparently quite far, something in the region of 200 miles.

The items in front of you are for your own personal use, a com unit to contact me or each other, a utility belt which contains a portable shield and an assist for my transporter to locate and move you. Also there is a blaster pistol which you all know how to use already. Remember that your weapons are to be used as a last resort only, never in anger.

He sounded sad as he described our equipment and our need to be vigilant, to keep all that we were doing safe from misuse and how we will need many more to join us before we were even ready to leave our own solar system let alone continue with the work already begun by his former masters. Maybe it made him realise how long ago it was since the Shiorel had been with him. Perhaps there was something to be learned from the bond he had with them and that it was possible for man and machine to coexist peacefully. Could it be that a machine as advanced as he does have a soul? If he does then maybe this will be the way forward that all life will eventually take across the known and unknown universes, machines as well as life forms sharing the same emotions and sharing the same knowledge.

Now we the first five have been prepared it will be our mission to find more people who we can bring into our confidence, train and share in a discovery so vast that nothing on earth can even remotely compare with and begin where the Shiorel left off.

Janette did ask me if we knew where they were and if we could ever contact them or perhaps even go and meet them. Right now it was something I was not sure of but maybe one day we will be able to cross over to their domain and ask all of the questions that need answering. Until then we must trust in what we do know and let events take their course.

THE MEETING

For the past month we had been busy learning about the work the Shiorel had done and what we can do to continue it, what we could improve on if anything. DiQom showed us star maps of places so far away that even a terrestrial telescope could never see them. He showed us places where we could find friends, enemies and resources to help ourselves or others if needed. There were planets as yet unsettled and civilisations that were in their prime, so many places of wonder all waiting for something to happen. The Shiorel when they had moved on must have gone quite quickly and maybe did not have the time to tie up many loose ends and finish some vital projects leaving planets in limbo.

DiQom finally said.

This will be one of your main tasks. Many civilisations could fall to the Su’Len if they do not get that last push in the right direction. For some it will only need an invention or something to complete their evolution, but for others it could mean guiding them through a difficult time.

Janette interrupted at this point.

DiQom even with our ever growing numbers here we still do not have the resources to reach all of these worlds at once. We would need a fleet of hundreds like you to complete these tasks within a timescale that would benefit all these races and keep them on track. Our meeting with the others is only two days away and that will give us just eleven ships of which we have only enough people to crew eight of. How do we make up the numbers?

DiQom was silent for a moment then he replied with a positive tone

We will replicate our eleven ten times to increase our numbers; some will be crewed by specialised robots mixed with humans others totally by humans or robots and hopefully we will gain crew members from other friendly worlds also.

Puzzled by this statement I asked the question we must all have been thinking

Replicate yourself? Where? How? There are no such facilities here DiQom. We do not have the materials here to build ships of your size either. Is there something you have yet to tell us?

Again he was silent but his reply left much to think about.

There are many things you do not yet know about but they will be revealed at the right time and to the right people. There is a planet which contains the replication equipment capable of making perfect copies of anything mechanical as many times as would be required. This replication planet is four times the size of your sun and is rich in almost every mineral known to all of the races but it is totally uninhabitable because it lacks the means to support life. It does not however copy organic material as life cannot simply be manufactured. Here is where we will find the means to increase our fleet and also find some other equipment that may be of use in the times ahead.

Finding people to join us was not the easiest task we had to do but success was quite good. From our initial five, our numbers had swelled by and extra two hundred and thirty all of them good people who we knew could be relied upon and trusted. If anyone had been false DiQom would have discovered this during instruction and taken action to protect us. What this was we never really knew but guessed it could be anything from erasing the person’s memory to doing them some serious harm. Our number now included skilled fighter pilots, freight pilots, medical staff, builders, science teams, linguists, weapon specialists, botanists, environmental specialists. Basically we had a person for nearly all tasks, but only just. We needed more of each of these and many others to be able to deal with various cultures and environments that we will encounter in our travels. Of our new recruits DiQom had discovered a woman with many hidden talents that she herself was unaware of. Her name was Caroline and she was about the same age as Janette, a bit taller and more positive in her manner but more importantly she had the potential to be more than just the fighter pilot she trained as. DiQom was however a bit vague as to what she could become, I don’t know if this was because he did not know or did not want to say. Nevertheless she was a formidable pilot and a good friendly member of our team. It should be noted that although we have all these pilots not one of them has as yet flown, all training has been done in a simulator. Tomorrow when we meet the other ten like DiQom on the dark side of the moon every pilot will get a chance to fly for real. This was another puzzle which I had to ask DiQom.

How do we get a ship of your immense size out of this hanger and into space without being seen by everyone for miles around and even then how do we avoid radar?

His answer was simple to explain because he already knew, had known ever since he was put here that to get out was an easy task.

I just project myself into space at a point I wish to be and I will be there. The technology is very similar to my transporter but on a different scale. It was developed to protect the Shiorel if they were attacked but other uses were found for it also. The distance I can project is about twelve times that of my transporter but it can only be done once in every fourteen hours due to a slow recharge time. Probably this is something that we can make improvements to one day.

It was at last the day of our meeting with the other ships on the dark side of the moon. Everyone was at their posts throughout the ship. I sat in one of the command chairs and Jacko in the other. The rest of the control room crew was Janette at communications, Caroline at tactical control and recent members Dave at science 1, Lini at science 2, Ray at navigation and Les on scanners. Everything was looking good and all we were waiting for was DiQom to project the whole ship two thousand miles out from the earth’s surface and then we can start engines and be on our way to the rendezvous. There was a flicker of light and everything seemed to stop for a brief second. When I looked at the screen I could see stars when a moment ago all I could see was the hanger lights. We were in space.

As the crew reported in confirming all was well, Ray logged our position and engaged the course he had already programmed in back at the hanger to take us to the moon. With all the technology onboard, radar systems from earth would never see us and our speed would ensure no telescope could track us. From the outside we would appear as a flicker followed by a flash and then nothing would be visible, too strange to say anything was seen at all. For a ship of this size and power a journey to the moon would take less than one hour so we decided to begin testing our pilots’ skills while travelling. Caroline commanded the fighters to launch in groups of three and to proceed to a point ahead of DiQom and then requested permission to leave her post and join them. Jacko took over at tactical and she was gone to join her squadron in their manoeuvres around the ship and test their abilities for real.

Janette announced contact had been made with one of the ships we were to meet. SaQim or eighth sister was the first to communicate with us. She had already spoken to DiQom and following protocol she now contacted us directly giving her location and also to our surprise announced she was part of a fleet of fifty two ships instead of the expected ten. Others had been roused from their slumber and mustered to join the fleet heading to meet DiQom and the earth people and the hope of fulfilling their purpose once more.

SaQim to crew of DiQom we have visual contact with you now and will stop here to wait for your arrival.

Janette replied excitedly, nervous because of the situation.

We understand SaQim. Our fighters will be with you shortly, our pilots are having some exercise.

On the screen now came this mighty fleet stretching outwards beyond our range of vision, all of them old but still able to fulfil their original purpose and all of them will have their own stories to tell.

When all ships were finally at a halt their ID codes were transmitted to DiQom and their planet of origin was logged to find out what status the planet was in when they left. DiQom received all of this information and could now assess what action we would need to take to begin our first mission. He had available to him information on at least fifty three planets and the state of their evolution, economy and importantly how friendly they would be towards outside help.

Three hours after our arrival I found myself in a discussion with DiQom. I had gone to my quarters to study the data on the ships and where they had come from and found the need to ask him for more information about one of the planets.

DiQom why are there no signs of intelligent life on the planet AaQim was hidden on? Was it all wiped out? It would be strange that the Shiorel would leave one of their ships on a deserted world.

AaQim was put there to wait for the arrival of a colony ship that was expected to land there after the Shiorel had moved on. It is possible that it did not arrive because it was destroyed, damaged or captured. Whatever the reason she would remain there because she was waiting to be discovered when the time was right. It did not happen until she received the wakeup call from me.

Is there any way we can find out about this colony ship, maybe discover if it is still out there somewhere off course or damaged in some way and come to a halt?

I do have information on its trajectory at the time of discovery and the coordinates of where it was first sighted. With this I could produce a course to search along.

How long will it take you?

It is done. I have calculated the trajectory from point of discovery to the planet and have dispatched a Darpi in a long distance patrol craft to investigate further.

I was amazed at the speed at which he could do things.

Have you given the Darpi any orders to search for it or just to follow the presumed course?

The Darpi will search any possible locations that could hide the ship and if he finds it he will remain with it until we arrive. LuQom reported the planet he was on to be under attack by a race called Kiklix and that things were not going well for its inhabitants. Is there anything we can do to help these people?

His reply was not so quick in coming this time.

The Kiklix were discovered by the Shiorel many thousands of years ago. I was the ship that that took them to the planet Kikli after an initial scouting party reported a genetic problem that would end the Kiklix evolution permanently. Something had gone wrong that affected the way they were adapting to the changes we all face in our evolvement. Their lower limbs had failed to grow and this made it impossible for them to get the nourishment required to increase bone and tissue which would enable them to stand upright. The Shiorel came to their aid and developed mechanical limbs for them hoping that in the fullness of time they would eventually develop limbs of their own, even teaching them to build new mechanical limbs for their offspring. Their gratitude however turned to resentment because they never developed any further and for that they hated the Shiorel, declaring war against them, joining with their enemies and setting out to undo all the good work that had been done.

Seems to me that these Kiklix have never really stopped to think about what they are doing after they began attacking other races. What are their fighting abilities DiQom?

They use mainly small to medium craft that are not very manoeuvrable but can sustain a lot of damage. Firepower is medium but because they can take many hits they can get to fire more shots for longer. On the ground they are extremely strong and agile because of the mechanical limbs and should never be engaged in close combat. They use a variant of the blast pistol as well as shock rifles for the most part although some have been known to use Argonite pulse blasters, a very fast firing weapon with heavy recoil and supplied by their ally the Argonites.

Can we intervene at this point?

It would not be recommended at this time Steve. I do not think your people are ready for that big a task as yet.

Ok DiQom I agree with you. Now another matter that caught my attention was two of the ships out there are not brother or sister to any others in the fleet. Melitis and Sobarku are totally singular yet the rest of you are related to each other. Why is this?

I will explain how we are all related.

It sounded like DiQom was going to give me a school lesson. He continued.

Melitis is the first of us. He was the first to go through the replicator and donated part of his essence to create the entity of the new ship. When we create a ship through the replicator it has no essence to control it because organics cannot be copied so the ship being copied donates part of its essence to give life and intelligence to the replica. Sobarku was the last ship the Shiorel ever built. She was never put into hiding because she was a new intelligence created for what the Shiorel hoped would be a new age. Sobarku was however left at the replicator awaiting a crew that never came. She has been awake all this time waiting for people to talk to her.

So is she a more advanced ship? Is there anything that she can share to upgrade all the other ships to her level?

There is much she can share and upgrades have already begun to some of the fleet, primarily a faster recharge time for our ability to project ourselves to another point in space.

It was eight hours now since our fleet had assembled and all the crew members were in the huge mess hall having a well earned rest and some much needed food before we all went to our quarters. Everyone was in high spirits and excited about the whole situation that had unfolded today. From being nothing more than just citizens of Earth they were now the crew of a fleet of spaceships which were sitting in orbit on the far side of the moon with enough technology to rebuild a shattered world. I was sitting beside Dave who was with us in the control room when we left Earth and he was telling me about how DiQom had instructed him in the use of some of the more technical equipment on board the ship.

The craft that was launched to find that colony ship earlier has been reporting in every hour since it left. Did you know it is now over three million miles away from here and still we can talk to the pilot and see through the onboard cameras? These are the sort of things I have wanted to build since I was young enough to hold a soldering iron and now we have ships full of the stuff and I know how to use and repair all of it. I probably never said this before Steve but thanks for bringing me in on this. You can count on me if there is anything you need repaired or built.

Don’t mention it Dave, we need people like you to help make all of this work and there are not too many people out there that we trust. Anyway enjoy the rest of your meal and I will speak to you later.

With that I left the mess hall and headed back to my quarters which were situated just a short way from the control room. I rounded the corner leading to the control room and noticed bright light coming from a doorway about halfway up the corridor. What caught my attention most of all was the fact that I had not seen a doorway there before. I drew my sidearm and edged slowly up to the opening shielding my eyes from the glare from the now very white light and looked in. Strange equipment filled part of the room, monitors lined along one wall showed views from around the ship both inside and out, I could even see the mess hall where I had been sitting just a few minutes ago. But there was no one here. Who made use of all of this equipment? A voice spoke to me but not through telepathy or even from my com unit but from inside this room.

Enter; do not be afraid, there is no danger here.

Just then a figure walked into the room from the far side, from a door I could not see. It was a middle aged man dressed in a long Shiorelian robe. He was tall, proud and almost majestic as he strode over to me.

I am the intellect that gave life to Melitis, the first of these great ships, or at least a hologram of the man who was. It was my mind and soul who gave life to Melitis when my body failed me so very long ago. He was the first ship my intellect was passed on to and from there it has been passed on to the others. This room was only ever shown to the captain of each ship because to know it exists could be fatal for DiQom and the others. There are things that you should now be told, important things. At present there are two hundred and thirty five of you humans, quite a significant number to simply vanish from your planet especially as you are all in close proximity for where you live. You will all have to be replaced by an automaton to carry on with your life but they will know nothing of this life here in the stars, also you should know that your aging process has been slowed down and all of you will be genetically repaired to remove any damage or illness your bodies may have. Secrecy about everything we do here is everything and it must be maintained if we are to succeed.

Do you mean through surgery? That was something DiQom didn’t explain to us during instruction.

No there will be no surgery Steve, it will all be done while you sleep using the transporter. You will be scanned and any problems found will be removed without pain or knowledge. So what of these automatons will they be continuing our lives exactly or do they have limitations?

"The automatons cannot reproduce nor will they have