Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet 07

Chapter 7: Distant Events Interlude

Carl Kerry leaned on his staff and let his gaze wander over the peaks of the mountains and the alpine meadows before him then he looked over his flock of goats grazing on the herbs and grasses. The orange sun in the sky migt eventually be fixed by Wurgus engineers, but there was no hurry. The local star would last a many hundred million years before it begun to expand, reach the next stage in a suns life and become a red M Class star. In the process of this development swallow the Planet Annapurna he was standing on.

Annapurna was a lovely world very earth like with slightly more land than water and lots of high mountains. The fact that the planet had two large moons that pulled on the magma and lava and caused much tectonic activity especially in the planets early existence was the reason for the many mountain ranges.

There were eleven planets in the Buonanno System, Annapurna was the second closest planet to the sun. None of the other planets were settled or even much surveyed. The planet was about as far from Pluribus as you could be and still be in Union Milky Way territory. This was the Fornax Dwarf a so called satellite galaxy to the large Milky way Galaxy and the Buonanno System belonged to the Fornax 4 cluster. Almost 46,000 light years to Blue Moon. Sixty five star systems were utilized and colonized in the entire Fornax Dwarf.

So far no sentient life form had been found native to this cluster. Even though Fornax was considered a dwarf galaxy and a satellite to M-0, it was still a galaxy. There was no real reason for the Union to be out here, but ever since the Attikan Commonwealth joined the Union there was an increased interest in these satellites.

When Fornax Four was surveyed by a Union explorer, they found a great number of star systems with beautiful garden worlds, just like Annapurna. Moderate climates, water, rich local fauna and flora but nothing sentient claiming it as their own. Sixteen light years from Annapurna was Hubble System and Fornax Hub. A Fleet Outpost and one day would be the traffic hub of this region.

When Carl’s group, the Simples looked for a world they could colonize and live away from the rat race of the galaxy the Colonist Bureau suggested Annapurna. The planet was surveyed, but because it was so far from everything. No one had claimed it so it was free for the taking. That it was not served by space bus was just what they wanted. A courier ship with mail would come once a month from Hubble and they were able to keep contact with the rest of the Universe via GalNet.

Now the colony was in its second generation and existed for 48 years and all went well so far. The local fauna and flora was of consumable and nothing really terribly dangerous existed. Yes there were a few predatory animals but nothing more dangerous than a Terran Lion or Tiger.

The main settlement was twenty five kilometers from Carl’s hut. A small town of about twenty thousand colonists. The rest of the about ten thousand settlers were spread all across this globe.

Carl used to teach prehistoric agriculture and husbandry at the University of New Cambridge and was considered an expert in his field. He heard of the Simples movement and joined the society and never regretted his decision.

He made goat cheese and every two weeks he would take his rumbler and drive it down the mountain to sell his cheese at the local Xchange. During the first twenty years there was no space bus, but now it would come once a month. Annapura was a Union Planet and as such had a Union school, a Post office, an Xchange and space bus connection.

Technically you could travel all the way back to M-0 and Upward, however the trip took many month. You would have to do this trip in many stages and aboard one of the long range freight trains, pushed by slow long range freight tugs, doing the trip once a year. Of course no real Space Bus connection existed connecting this collection of distant colonies with M-0. The existing connection was to to Fornax Hub seventy light years away and via that hub to the other colonized worlds of this distant little bubble of Union space. There was however a relay chain of GalNet buoys that allowed these truly remote colonists to keep abreast with news and developments. Not that many really wanted to, they had chosen this remote location for a reason after all.

The Simples had no real rules, technology was not prohibited. The whole philosophy of being a Simple was to have the right to live a simple life style and do what they pleased away from social norm and pressure and free of violence. Weapons were considered the seed of evil and scorned. Carl was a fervent believer in pacifism. He believed that nothing ever justified war. When one of his students signed up for the Union marines, despite all his preaching and month of anti war sermons.

He felt he had failed that student protecting the young man from making a decision to become a state sanctioned killer and murderer. Carl hated everything military. It was useless. Anything could be solved with communication. The last straw came when he learned that seven of his nineteen students considered careers with in the Union armed forces.

So he quit his teaching job, joined a gathering of Simples and took the very long trip to this far distant world.

Not much of Carl’s cheese made it off planet, it was bought right here and the rest was purchased by a restaurant owner on Fornax Hub. He would also sell goat furs, collected herbs and rocks he found. For the money he bought medicine for his goats, spices, coffee, beans and his beloved smoking herbs that made him always feel nice and mellow.

Recently experimented with growing his own herbs, with little success.

As he looked over his herd he noticed Elsa missing. The salt and pepper fur stubborn girl wandered off again. She was to nosy for her own good.

Carl walked briskly towards the cropping of boulders he suspected Elsa to be somewhere behind. Here up in the Mountains was only one predator he had to worry about, Stone Scratchers. But he had not seen them attack anything during daylight, they were very shy and usually all had to do was yell loud wave his stick and ran towards them to scare them off, so he was neither concerned nor afraid of anything as he surrounded the boulders from where he could see into the valley.

A small space ship had landed right there, no more than 250 meters from where he was standing. It did not look like any ships Carl knew, but that meant little as he barely was able to tell the difference between a space bus and freighter. A four armed creature not unlike a Petharian had emerged from the ship and held Elsa in one of its claws. From the way Elsa hung and the dripping blood he knew she was dead. His outrage over the senseless killing of one of his goats made him completely unaware of the situation and he approached the alien. “You better have a good reason for killing poor Elsa. I have a good mind and calling the Ranger.”

The being threw the carcass away and said with a growling voice. “I am the Herald. Your language is consistent with the language pattern of those defeating the hordes before.”

Carl now began to understand the situation, This was not something he could solve with a sit in, or a stern discussion with a disapproving note in his voice. He was well educated and knew Galactic history was sure the creature was talking about the Y’All.

“Now Mister Herald, there might have been a misunderstanding that made the Y’All hordes so angry at us? Maybe if you communicate to us what you want, war is not necessary.”

“You are of that group called the United Stars of the Galaxy and you do remember the Hordes. War is not necessary no, but your complete extermination is. We shall abstain from war if you commit suicide. All of you and without delay.”

“What is your reason for your anger about us? Is there nothing we can talk about? If you want us dead you must have some reason for your anger.”

“We are not angry. You simply d not deserve to live. You carry the seed of the master and you must not be allowed to exist. Now you will answer me every question and then I will kill you.”

“I am a man of peace and I will gladly answer all your questions”

“You would sell out your own kind on your free will?”

“For the sake of peace, of course.”

“How did you defeat the hordes?”

“I was not alive back then, but from what I understood. This war monger Admiral Stahl returned from some sort of Exile and brought along weapons and shields that could defeat the Y’All.”

“Tell me the exact function of these weapons.”

“I am a man of peace.I told you. I don’t know how Translocator Cannons work. I never touched a weapon in my life. But we have a GalNet terminal in the Village and you are welcome to use it. I am sure you can find such information there. You see no need for violence.”

The Herald ripped Carls stomach open, with one swipe of diamond hard claws. “If you do not know about weapons you usefulness has ended. Everyone on this planet will die.”

Carl collapsed feeling horrible pain. Just before he died he wished he could stop the Y’All herald somehow or at least warn the others. There at the moment of his death he questioned his own philosophy and wondered if there was a justification for war after all.