The Pathfinder Project (50 page)

“It just
doesn’t seem fair,” the Captain commented. “There’s so much we will have that
the survivors back home will not. They at least deserve some kind of sign, some
kind of
hope
…”

“Do not
misunderstand, Captain Kaufield. Just because we choose not to participate in
your war does not mean we will abandon your people entirely. Those who survived
the nuclear assault will need help.”

“And you
are offering it?”

“I am. My
people will work with yours to bring anyone who wishes to come here to
Proteus.”

“You have
no idea how grateful I am to hear you say that. It lifts a huge burden from my
mind.”

Noah bowed
modestly. “You are welcome, Captain.”

Kaufield’s
thoughts drifted. “I still find it difficult to believe that you simply sit
back and observe things like that battle in the wasteland,” the Captain observed
curiously. “For God’s sake, they’re destroying
entire
stars in that
galaxy! Thousands of stars… a hideous waste of lives, resources and potentially
habitable planets.”

“Yes, those
people
are
extremely violent and their damage has spread like a living
plague – but as you have noticed we have a pretty big universe surrounding us,”
replied Noah calmly. “If they
choose
to continue their path toward total
extermination then we will eventually be able to salvage the cooling matter
from that galaxy and use it to replenish dying stars whose orbiting planets
contain peaceful civilizations. Ultimately, it is
their
choice, not
ours. Nature has a way of patiently outlasting the more aggressive, less
compassionate species.”

“Your offer
to accept us into your fold is very kind.
How
, may I ask, will you help
the people struggling on Earth?” Yet again, Kaufield tried to come up with the
right answer to this recurring situation he had been trying to solve since his
decision to flee the Sol-system, but again he found himself stymied.

“If you’ll
permit me to share a few observations I may be able to help you with that too,”
said Noah with a smile. “You were obviously hallucinating the night I met you,
so I only heard one side of your conversation with the sofa in your quarters.”
They both chuckled at the recent memory. “But it seems to me that you were
beginning to recognize the importance of keeping at least
this
part of
your civilization alive and thriving and safe – if only to
guarantee
that your culture as a whole survives. What could be more important than that,
after all?”

“As my
‘wife’ reminded me, what is more important than the long-term happiness of my
son?”

“Exactly,”
Noah emphasized. “As you may have noticed, if we decided to begin helping every
civilization in trouble throughout this massive universe of ours we would
become spread so thinly that we would eventually risk extinction ourselves… or
we might spread  mass chaos while trying to impose order on everything we
touch. Remember, that is what the Brotherhood’s Triumvirate believes it will
accomplish on Earth… by controlling everything they touch they believe they can
make things better.”

“They are an
abomination,” Captain Kaufield decided with a bit of defiance. “It takes a special
kind of evil to deliberately initiate a nuclear holocaust.” He fell silent for
a moment and then blurted out, "Or to destroy whole stars and the worlds
orbiting them."

“Yes it
does.”

Noah
stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Then consider this. Many thousands of years ago
my people watched the early Earth inhabitants move through a progressive series
of covenants with an unknown entity – one which we
cannot
track and had
no prior knowledge of. This entity claimed it was the
one true
God that
shaped and designed our universe. At first this God was very harsh and brutal
to the violent and sinful people that lived on Earth. Over the years, as they
began to mature, He made and kept additional promises to them that were both
merciful and gentle.” The elder man paused carefully to watch Dennis’ reaction.
“Your scientists think galactic objects like Poseidon and Proteus are a
marvelous
discovery… the greatest your science has ever found. Well, we
created Proteus, and yet we’ve
never
seen anything quite like the
history that took place on Earth during this time. This God sent his own Son to
teach and guide them toward a path of peace and enlightenment, and that man
sacrificed
himself for those beliefs so that all souls born after him – regardless of
their sins, might live an eternal life of peace.”

“What does
that have to do with…?”

“Don’t you
see…?” Noah asked him. “The Brotherhood is choosing, for the moment, to ignore
the message of that
one
God, but given time they might recognize their
own short-sightedness and choose to embrace Him. The Triumvirate never will,
but its Brotherhood members each have a choice to make as they now must deal,
on a daily basis, with the consequences of their actions. After all the time my
people have existed, we still have not reliably answered the same question that
has plagued you throughout your entire trip out here: Is the very fabric of our
universe an
Intelligent
Design? The Earth God is the closest we’ve come
to solving that mystery, which is one of the reasons we ‘tempted’ your ship in
our general direction. You have a link to Him that cannot be denied.”

“The
majority of my people truly
believe
in a God,” Dennis said firmly. “I
don’t see any of that changing, especially given what you’ve just told me about
the uniqueness of His presence on our world.”

“Why should
it?” Noah asked curiously. “Your culture deserves its heritage just like any
other. Other races living in this galaxy worship multiple Gods, but some of
them have chosen to adopt and have faith in this Earth God. My people
themselves have many religions that have explored thousands of possibilities,
and even after millions of years with all of our advancements, we’re still not
certain and cannot conclusively prove that the universe was Intelligently
Designed.” He casually interlocked the fingers of both hands and leaned his
chin forward onto them. “That does not stop us from trying to learn more about
creation.”

“What if
this Earth God was simply an alien using technology superior to your own?”
queried Kaufield. “Suppose it wasn’t a deity at all?”

“There is
that possibility of course. What then, truly defines a deity, if not the
creation of a universe? Remember, it is the simple power of faith that has
always had the
unique
ability to heal emotional wounds that normally
would be permanently irreparable. Even in Earth’s recent history, many of its
warlike cultures have perpetrated very barbaric acts against each other before
eventually forming bonds of lasting peace… a peace based solely on the history
and example of the simple actions of this God and his Son. In each and every
war your species was headed down the wrong path, and then something almost
miraculous happened – many times a small thing – to tip the balance back on the
side of those with compassion. Do you think it is a coincidence that your CAS
technology came on-line at the exact time that you needed it to in order to
execute your escape? Do you think it is coincidental that the man who saved you
from the wasteland attack almost lost his life in a suicide attempt, but
somehow miraculously survived to help you defend your ship?”

“Do you?”

“I do not
know,” admitted Noah. “Which is why I keep searching for He who does hold these
answers. I have seen much in my life, including miracles.”

“Now you’re
talking about divine intervention,” Kaufield sharply pointed out. “That’s a
whole new discussion.”

“Anything
is possible.” Noah pointed again to the paintings on the wall. “During your
history, weren’t
some
of your conquered cultures destroyed when every
surviving man, woman and child was put ‘to the sword’?” He watched the pain in
Dennis’ eyes carefully. “We were here then and could have intervened there too…
aren’t you glad we didn’t? Your entire history would be different if we had…”
He sighed deeply. “Your civilization was thriving, mostly because it was left
alone and allowed to develop and mature at its own pace… including the wars
which are preventable by people like us. If you want to learn more about our
history I’m perfectly willing to show you some data on the times – during the
years when we first gained technology – where we
did
intervene in the
affairs of others. We didn’t like having to live with the consequences of our
actions and, after discovering Poseidon, we made a decision to build a vantage
point from which we could observe and limit its destructive effects on the
matter that comprises our universe. That vantage point is now home to thousands
of different races.”

“So you’re
saying that the Brotherhood’s war is just another step in humanity’s
development on Earth?”

“Captain,
they have the
same
right that your society did to conquer and destroy
other cultures in order to learn from those mistakes and mature beyond the need
for war into a more peaceful and tolerant society.”

“I hope you
don’t expect me to
agree
with that assessment of the situation?”

“No I do
not. But all new developing civilizations are the
same
Captain. A very
long time ago, my people were in the same situation that yours are now in. We
survived by learning from our mistakes and making better, more peaceful
choices, over time. Each member of this Brotherhood must realize for himself
that its objectives are evil.”

“That’s a
very
evolutionary
point of view,” countered Kaufield. “It sounds as
though you’re talking about ‘survival of the fittest’. Simply because the
Brotherhood built up a huge military and pulled a sneak attack, you’re
advocating that their strength in exploiting our weaknesses justifies their
survival. By
destroying
my people they’ve earned the right to
learn
from their mistakes?” He shook his head with disgust. “How closely have you
observed them? They might as well be emotionless, murdering robots.”

“The man
you have confined on deck four of this ship is not.”

“His
presence creates a dilemma for me,” Kaufield said. “We can’t attack the
Brotherhood without his help. And without that help the Triumvirate will
never
allow its humanoid clones to become fully human. There’s no way to win, here.”

“As its
territory expands, the Triumvirate will be unable to keep at least some of its
clones from discovering what it’s like to
be
human,” Noah argued.
“Resistance will grow, Captain. Their new civilization is no different from any
other – if they continue to be evil then their anger and hatred will turn them
on each other. I have seen it with my own eyes… already their transformation
has begun. Perhaps waking up each day to a nuclear-scarred horizon was the
catalyst, or maybe it was something else entirely.”

“Regardless
of what happens to their society, ours has
still
been swept aside,”
Kaufield said disdainfully. “You’ve watched cultures kill and destroy each
other for millions of years with nothing ever changing.”

“Something
has
changed,” insisted Noah. “We are
offering
to let your people stay with
us and rebuild your culture in complete safety. I think you’ll agree that this
will take a tremendous amount of time, time which will give the situation on
Earth the opportunity to resolve itself. Eventually the Brotherhood’s reign of
terror on Earth will end. They will stop
themselves
, one way or the
other.”

“What if
Earth is destroyed by more wars and left completely uninhabitable in the
process? It is, after all,
our
home.”

“I don’t
have clairvoyant capabilities, Captain, but I do have good instincts and they
tell me the Brotherhood will find
that
particular task extremely
difficult. There is something unbelievably
spiritual
happening with that
planet – it is unique and a huge melting pot of everything that is good and bad
about sentient life.”

“We’ll
rebuild our population and our Fleet,” Kaufield said simply. “Then we’ll go
back and reclaim our home world… you said you wouldn’t stop us from doing so.”

“As I said,
Captain, I’ve had a lot of experience with situations like yours. I can look in
your eyes and see a man of peace, one who still has doubts about the decisions
that were made during the attack in the wasteland galaxy. Those people were
going to board your ship and kill your people and yet you still mourn the fact
that you had to take their lives in order to defend the
Pathfinder
. Your
people
deserve
a chance to thrive again.” He paused, watching the
Captain carefully. “It will take a
long
time to rebuild your population
after such a thorough nuclear war. When that occurs, if your leadership is
still determined to go back and renew its war against the Brotherhood… we will
not stop you. But
I
think that you will look into the eyes of your
children and grandchildren and decide that the Triumvirate can clean up its own
mess.
You
and your population will be safe
here
.”

“Considering
the fact that we were going to pick a habitable planet randomly and start
completely over, the offer of help is
greatly
appreciated,” Dennis
decided. “Of course we could still choose to continue our journey and look for
other allies who
will
help us fight back.”

“Captain…”
Noah said, sounding a bit disappointed. “I’ve visited your Garden and Livestock
wings – your people have truly done a remarkable job in
simulating
a
thriving planetary environment. But what you
need
is
here
. All
you will find out there are a lot of empty galaxies and lifeless planets. There
is
a lot of life in the universe, but it is scattered so completely and
randomly that the full truth would astonish you. That’s one of the reasons we
chose to place our Proteus galaxy near the Poseidon gravity well – it gives us
the opportunity to lead a quiet life of study while the gravity river acts like
a giant arrow pointing refugees and peaceful explorers toward our quiet little
corner of the universe.”