As I walked to the capsule that would land me on the planet Kepler-21, I was under the influence of the Cosmoline I had taken to sleep during the interstellar travel. I was on my way to Kepler-21 because of a mediation mission provided by the World Federation, and I had to hurry to land on the surface, as every wasted hour increased the risk of war.
With the help of an officer from the starship crew, I sat in my seat in the capsule and fastened my seatbelts. When final checks were made, and I was cleared to leave the ship, the door to the hangar opened, and the capsule I was in began to slide slowly towards the planet. In the first seconds that the capsule entered the planet's atmosphere, I thought the landing would go smoothly. But as soon as we entered the atmosphere, purple lightning began to strike all around us. The buzzing, rumbling, and shaking continued until the moment the capsule was put on the planet's surface. The storm we encountered during landing caused the capsule to land quite a few north of the planned point. So after months of sleeping in the water on a starship, I would have to take a long walk on this planet, which has 1.8 times the earth's gravity. In addition to hating wars, having a fit body was also effective in my election. So the fact that my hips were crushed under the weight of my body was a difficulty that I could overcome. As my fear of failing in my mission outweighed the influence of the Cosmoline, I unbuckled my belts and carefully stood up, and walked towards the exoskeleton opposite me. Like a baby trying to get inside a walker, I put my legs in gaps with pals movements and covered the front of the surface suit. I was ready to go outside when I made sure the device was locked.
My exoskeleton-supported surface suit was a marvel of technology that could solve problems such as high gravity, as well as strong atmospheric pressure, and low oxygen density. The airbags in it supported my chest and legs, regulating my blood circulation, and sensors inside the hood allowed me to control the exoskeleton. After taking a few steps inside the capsule, I get used to my outfit.
Although Kepler-21, or Umbawa, as its native race is called, is a planet that looks like Earth on paper, I felt like a Gulliver visiting the land as soon as I stepped on its soil of dwarves. The reason for this feeling was that there was not a single tall tree, or even a significant elevation, around me. The volcanic soil under my foot had become almost smooth, shiny, eroded by the sands carried by the planet's strong winds. The sky was covered with grey clouds stretching all the way to the horizon. The plants I came across most often as I walked to the meeting point were thick branched shrubs and ivy coiled like snakes on the ground's surface. Despite the exoskeleton supporting my body, within minutes, I was drenched in sweat. War could have broken out at any moment, and I was walking through the countryside because of the deviation during the landing. In the terrifying atmosphere of the Umbawa countryside, I kept my steps tight.
As I approached the point where the capsule was scheduled to land, I saw two officials from Umbawa lying on portable deckchairs chatting. With their broad shoulders, bulging rib cages, and huge nostrils, the Umbawans were like Pocket Hercules. They didn't even notice me when I got close to them because they paid attention to the conversation between them. When they suddenly saw me standing in my exoskeleton, they stood up in a hurry.
” Sorry to keep you waiting; my capsule got caught in a storm during landing, " I said. Although I tried very hard, I did not learn Tuku, the official language of the planet Umbawa. The artificial intelligence apparatus on my cap translated what I said into the Tuku language.
“The main problem is that you came to our planet uninvited,” said Umbawan, who is big compared to the other.
He wasn't even a meter tall, I guess; he looked pretty funny with his nose, which resembled a huge fist, and his overly broad shoulders. ” Permission to land on your planet has been granted, " I said.
“Your spaceship came from trillions of miles away and entered the orbit of our planet. So you forced us to do so.”
Standing on top of them could have prevented me from communicating effectively with them. For a moment, I thought of sitting on the floor, as I did when talking to my nephews, but that kind of gesture could also be misunderstood. I took a step back and said, “Thank you for not turning me down. I bring you the love and greetings of the Earthlings.”
"You came here to save the lives of the Perans. They know that if they end the invasion of our planet and return to their homeland, their lives will be spared."Although he resembles a general with epaulets that show his broad shoulders even more grandiose, the man I spoke with should have been an Umbawaian diplomat.
"It is true that we want the dispute you have with the Perans to be resolved. We want to achieve this through effective mediation.”
“When Umbawa became advantageous against Pera, you engaged in the politics of mediation,” said the Umbawan diplomat.
"There have been problems we've had in the past. But this time, we want to offer you an attractive offer,” I said.
"I don't think President Vlad would be interested in an offer from Earth. I will still bring the matter up to him,” said the Umbawan diplomat.
A few minutes later, I was driving to the area where our embassy building was located in the vehicle they assigned me. The gray clouds in the sky disappeared and were replaced by a dark blue sky. The uvarda I saw on the road helped ease my tension slightly: this cute animal, which looked like a tiny elephant, was rolling on the ground and trying to get close to its prey. Along the way, I saw an oxygen fountain from times the population of Peran was dense. I have read that these fountains are common, especially around the capital, which is the center of trade, because the oxygen level in the atmosphere of Umbawa is not sufficient for the Perans. Now, since no one uses it, the fountain's side surfaces were dusted, even the grass ran out on it.
Painted in shades of green and blue, the consulate general building was built on the Great Ocean's shore. The consul general who greeted me in front of the building looked more like an athlete than a government official with a tunic tightly wrapped around her. The fact that her body had become muscular, like weightlifters, did not diminish the elegance of his posture.
"Welcome to Umbawa, Ohrin; you're younger than I thought.”
"You're just what I thought you were. Norma, the legendary ambassador of Umbawa.”
"People exaggerate my abilities.”
"If you let me, I want to get rid of this exoskeleton.”
"You can take out your exoskeleton inside and go straight into the pool.”
A few minutes later, I was lying on my back in the pool in the basement of the embassy building, waiting for Norma to arrive. Even the waves formed in the pool were different, as strong gravity condensed the water. The same was true for the pudding-like ocean visible from the large windows. Moving in an eerie slowness, the waves did not break on the shore; they were weakened and reflected off the beach.
When you first entered the water, I thought Norma's athletic body was completely transformed in Umbawa. As she approached me, I realized that her glow, reminiscent of Mermaids, was due to her see-through bathing suit.
"Staying in the water will make it easier to adapt,” Norma said.
"I was in the water all the way, and now I am too.”
"Maybe half of my last seventeen years have been spent in this pool.”
"I don't think it's fair for them to keep you here so long.”
"I think we're at the end of an era. We're no longer welcome in Umbawa.”
“What do you think has changed?”
“In recent years, they have developed semi-conscious algorithms. So their robots reached the limit of self-awareness. There are also improvements they provide in high-energy chemistry. As they grew stronger, they narrowed down the areas they assigned to the Perans and began to ignore our transstellar civilization.”
Outside, the wind hardened, and the ocean's surface, which rose and fell like the chest of a giant, formed patterns resembling tooth marks. Clouds painted purple by helium over a dark blue sky showed an eerie appearance. I couldn't be sure of the safety of the environment we were in, so I delayed getting to the point. But maybe we didn't even have a minute to lose. “Can we speak about work here?” I asked.
Norma came out of the pool and signaled me to follow her. I had to spend extra effort walking to the elevator, that would take us upstairs. Upstairs, Norma gave me a telepathy cap that looked like the black masks of thieves, and watching her. I entered the darkest room I had ever seen in my life. As the door to the room closed, I hit Norma because I was shocked. “I'm sure they're not listening to us here,” Norma said, wrapping her hand around my waist and placing me in a chair set in a half-reclining position.
I've never communicated through telepathy before. "I wonder if he knows when the big attack will happen."
"They'll carry out the big attack tomorrow night.”
“We have made some preparations to ensure peace.”
"I don't think we can convince them.”
"I rely more on the preparation we make than on my ability to convince.”
"We must attract president Vlad to our side, and of course, the Perans must be willing to make additional compromises.”
“The biggest problem is their unnecessarily elevated self-confidence. I hope they agree to meet us.”
"If the great attack succeeds, they will want to hold us hostage.”
At the end of the interview, I passed on our preparations to prevent war, linking them to possible scenarios. When my narration ended, she grabbed me by the hand and lifted me out of my seat, and we left the darkroom.
While we were inside, the two service gynoids set up the table in the dining room overlooking the ocean and took their seats next to the table to serve the food. During my first dining experience in Umbawa, Norma said that we should wait for a call from the presidential palace, resting in the pool; if we went there rested, we wouldn't have to use a supportive tool an astronaut's stroller.
The android in charge of the pool put a mask on my face that would allow me to breathe in the water and weights on either side of the swimsuit that wrapped my body. As soon as I dived to the bottom of the pool, I felt like I was in the middle of a meditation session. After I closed my eyes and completely relaxed my body, I began to repeat the words I would say to President Vlad in my mind and rethink the details of the dangerous gamble we would be playing. Norma had twice reminded the president's secretary of our request for an emergency meeting; there was nothing else we could do.
It was past midnight when the message reached the embassy that President Vlad was waiting for us. “They're wondering what we have,” Norma smiled as we left the embassy building. Anyone who saw her walking in a purple dress with a strap would not have guessed that she was one of the world's first cyborgs. She had an innocent expression on her face that her hard life could not erase.
Officials at the entrance to the presidential palace greeted us with exaggerated respect. They put us in the elevator, hidden inside the wall on the left side of the high-ceilinged entrance hall. “The president was very busy today, but now it is your turn,” said the official, who pointed us to sit in the seats inside the elevator. I thought it was strange that there were seats in the elevator because the building we entered was two floors. The friendly officer said the president had many rooms and, as per security procedures, only reported his location to his elevator. After the elevator went upstairs, it went through sharp turns like a mouse in a maze, and after a long journey, it took us to the president's room. With his epaulets, medals, and mattresses, President Vlad greeted us reclining in his seat, which looked like a gaudy chaise longue. “Welcome, come and lie down,” he said, in a gesture like calling his nephews, whom he hadn't seen in years. Norma, who knew Umbawa culture better than me, laid on the chaise longue next to the president like Cleopatra visiting Ceasar, and I imitated her, trying to hide my unease.
President Vlad, a terse and round man like all his fellow citizens, started the meeting by saying, "My friends from the world, how can I help you."
“Thank you for accepting us to your office. In your person, I offer our greetings and love to all Umbawans. We would like to make an offer if you permit me.
” You reminded me of my youth, my dear friend; I'm listening to you," President Vlad said in a fatherly tone.
“You have certainly heard of the Huan thrust developed recently in the world. The cost of space travel has been radically reduced thanks to this technology. We know that Umbawa could not get a share of interplanetary trade because of the original gravitational conditions. We intend to transfer this technology to you. In this way, your dependence on Perans on interplanetary transport will disappear.”
"You will have some demands from us in exchange, I suppose."
"We do not want Pera and Umbawa to engage in a total war. Why do we care about it? Personally, I hate all forms of violence. And the authorities of our planet are concerned that trade will be disrupted.”
"You can only prevent war by allowing the Perans to approach matters more reasonably.”
"We strongly advise Perans to evacuate their bases on your planet. If we can address their concerns together, we can achieve our common goal without the need for war.”
After this dialogue, a tired, distressed expression appeared on President Vlad's face. He touched one of the straws coming out of the coffee table next to his seat. The straw curled in the air and approached Vlad's mouth, and his tiny lid opened. “You can't understand my imperatives because you're unaware of Umbawa's internal balances,” he said after absorbing the liquid coming out of the straw for a while.
"As far as I know, all Umbawans appreciate your wise personality. Peace may be possible under your leadership.”
"My dear friend, I understand my people perfectly. We have been deceived many times in the past by external forces. Now you have a strong and United Umbawa. Our interlocutors find it difficult to accept this fact.”
“Your people cannot understand that Umbawa's power is limited,” Norma said, slightly confirming.
"Dear Norma, my people and I know that war will bring suffering. And we don't like our guests interfering in our internal affairs,” President Vlad said.
We came out of the president's room, deciding that war could not be prevented through diplomacy and activated our weapon hidden in the asteroid belt surrounding the planet. As the asteroid headed for Umbawa, which had Huan-propelled rockets installed in it, we got into our self-controlled car. When our meteorite exploded in the middle of the High Energy Chemistry Industrial Complex, everything there would evaporate, so they wouldn't know who did it. Despite this, it was clear that the attack would lead to rage on the planet, and we would be put in jail.
When we arrived at the embassy, Norma came to me with a hook similar to the one used by butchers to hang meat. The difference between this tool and meat hooks was that it was empty, like injection needles. "We'll inject a computer into your neck to prepare for our dungeon days. In this way, you will have a basic level of IT competencies.”
"Will it hurt?”
“Yeah, a little. More if Donald makes mistakes. He's a droid and a specialist surgeon. He won't drug you because otherwise, he won't know he made a mistake.”
"Then let's do it as soon as possible. The expectation of pain is worse than itself.”
Donald, who looked like a wheelie bin, didn't give me any confidence. I was twisting in pain when he put that big hook on my neck. The pain gradually eased as a numbness occurred in my neck area immediately afterward, and I felt nothing as Donald removed the hook from my neck.
When the operation is complete, Norma said,” it will take some time for the computer injected into the neck to adapt to the nervous system." To help us sleep, we drank a glass of wine, put on our bathing suits, and slept in the pool downstairs. Although I was used to lying in the water, my sleep during the night was divided by nightmares.
When I woke up the next morning at the first light of day, it was less than an hour before our meteorite hit the High Energy Chemistry Industrial Complex. I assumed they had detected the meteor through observation stations. Since they had no military assets in space, they could only hit it after entering the atmosphere; this move would not change its direction, even if the meteor could break apart. They should have already evacuated the facility, and based on the specifics of where it fell. They would have guessed that someone had organized it. Although Perans did not know about the attack, they probably would have claimed responsibility. In any case, they would blame us Earthlings, whom they considered allies of the Perans, for the attack. My heart was in favor of them sitting at the table to prevent a repeat of such an attack, but something told me that their pride in narcissism would prevent it. Norma and I sat down and reviewed what we would do if the bad scenario happened.
The Umbawa Federation police arrived at the embassy building before the explosion occurred, and they detained us in a flashy raid. The meteorite, too big to burn in the atmosphere, reached its destination as the cops took us to the presidential palace. As we drove along the road, we heard the sound of the explosion, felt its shaking, and saw the mushroom cloud it had caused. It was a good sign that the police did not resort to primitives such as brute force, profanity, and insults during the detention process and transfer, and I held out hope that common sense would prevail.
They were surprised that we readily admitted during interrogation that the attack was our job. In between, I squeezed the bragging that dozens of other meteorites were ready to go to restore peace. They put me on a polygraph to test the accuracy of my words, but since I knew how to mislead the machine, this attempt did nothing but confuse them further. At one stage of the interrogation, I realized that I could receive Norma's telepathy messages, but the neural networks in my brain had not yet learned to send messages.
The police couldn't detect the semi-organic quantum computers inside us so that we could hear from the outside world under captivity conditions. The attack had provoked outrage across Umbawa; while the public was eager for revenge, the administration tried to decide what the appropriate move would be, according to my guess.
By evening, our interpreter, who spoke standard world language with a funny accent, said that our interrogation would continue in prison. They sat us in chairs and tied our hands and feet with phosphorescent orange bands. When I saw a truck that looked like an aquarium in front of the presidential palace, I understood what the oxygen masks on our faces would do. They lifted us with cranes like we were big fish and lowered us into the tank of the truck. The Umbawa Federation flag, the same color as the phosphorous bands that wrapped our arms and legs, was flying on the two flagpoles in front of the van. The van, accompanied by police vehicles, made its way to the city's center, exhibiting us as exotic fish. On the way, various foreign substances were thrown at us, as they were done to death row prisoners. When we left the city, my oxygen was low, and I wanted to get to our destination as soon as possible. Before long, we reached the Bank of a river through which lava flows. A large crowd gathered here to throw up their hatred for us. The police only managed to break through the crowd, which cut off the front of the convoy, shooting into the air, and as a result of the fire from the crowd, the windows of the van were covered with nets of cracks. As I crossed the high bridge over the river through which the lava flows, I noticed that the land we were entering was surrounded by the river of lava. This image reminded me of the myth about scorpions surrounded by fire. Now that my oxygen was running low, I started punching the transparent walls of the truck to make my voice heard to the guards. At this time, I heard Norma say to me through the computer inside, “everything will pass, hang on a little longer.” After the van stopped, they pulled us out of the water, and as soon as the mask on my face was removed, I began to breathe Umbawa's oxygen-deficient air passionately. The toxic nature of methane in the air was completely out of my mind at that moment. Fortunately, before long, they had a hood on my head that would allow me to breathe healthily. I think there was a semi-active volcano in the middle of the land surrounded by a river of lava. As we tried to figure out what had happened in a confused state, a cop pushed us horribly and put us in an elevator that landed in the crater. As soon as the door closed, the elevator moved and took us down seven floors. Below we are met by two robots that look like giant black insects. After we untied the ties on our feet, they pointed out where we should sit. The floor we were on was like a mezzanine, and the lava vessels below seemed to intensify the darkness instead of lighting it up. After I was tied to the seat by insect robots in this dark crater, tears began to flow from my eyes under the influence of a little sulfur smoke. My nerves were turned upside down by the intense stress I was under, and I faced the fact that I wasn't as resilient as I thought.
“We're so close to winning, don't worry,” Norma said over the telepathy device.
I guess she said those words to comfort me, so I asked, “What makes you think that?”
” People like us always do the dirty work, " she said in a thoughtful voice. "Because we need to be heroes. It doesn't matter to me, though. I was born into hell.”
I couldn't understand how or why the word had come to this point. I asked Norma to explain her words.
"My Siamese twin Adele died during the operation they separated us from. I was nine at the time, and I'm still alive. Adele was such a sweet girl; she never deserved it.”
"The memories of our loved ones never disappear. Just like my brother, who I lost during the Civil War.”
As soon as I mentioned my brother, a deep expression of sadness appeared on Norma's face. “I took over the Sentry robots,” she said soon after, blinking her eyes.
Soon, the Sentry robots, who look like black insects, came to us and untied our bonds. I knew that there were Artificial Organs on the left side of Norma's body, as well as a powerful quantum computer, and it was on this occasion I learned that this system was powerful enough to take over robots.
"Now we're going straight to meet President Vlad, aren't we?"I said.
"Yeah, let's take our chances.”
Since the war was less than an hour away, we had to hurry. It wasn't hard for us to get to the surface since the robots Norma took could control the elevator system. On the surface, unfortunately, we were greeted by Umbawan soldiers along with two giant robots. Norma quickly raised her arm like a cowboy facing her opponents, instantly bringing down three soldiers. She did it using the microwave guns embedded in the fingers of her left hand. Because the microwave gun was a stun gun, it did not affect the robots running towards us. Norma telepathically told me that we should stall them. As the robots tied our arms in rough movements, I left myself on the ground and began to shake as if I had an epileptic fit. I had no trouble putting on this theatrical show because my nerves were already broken; I just started to have a headache because I was putting on excessive effort. Norma told the robots that I had a crisis that I had to be taken to the hospital immediately. Otherwise they would lead to an interplanetary diplomatic crisis. If they didn't take me to the hospital, they could wipe the minds of all the robots of their generation. The robots try to reach out to their superiors to ask them what to do, but they cannot do so because Norma has disrupted their signal. One of the robots froze where it was, subject to a deadly lockdown. Meanwhile, I accelerated my tremors and contractions. Eventually, one of the robots picked me up intending to take me to the hospital and told Norma, “you're going to stay here.”
Norma told him,” if anything happens to you on the way, you'll be responsible."
The Robot, ignoring Norma's words, turned his back on her and started carrying me to the military van. As I was thinking of remedies to save the situation, I heard an explosion, and the robot rolled to the ground, leaving me. Looking back from where I fell, I realized that the shooter was a military robot that Norma had captured. Normas came to me and helped me get up. I didn't have a problem except that my hood was broken. Our military robot started the van, and we started moving towards the location of the lava river. At this time, I was thinking about my speech to convince the president, despite my aching head as if it were going to crack. The military robot that Norma captured brought down the portable bridge over the lava river, and we crossed the bridge, leaving behind the area where the volcano was located.
As soon as we reached the presidential palace and got out of the military van, it seemed certain that we would be detained, so Norma reached out to President Vlad by phone and informed him that we were on our way and wanted to have a secret meeting with him. Although President Vlad stated that he would definitely not meet with us, we continued our path with determination. Methane in the Umbawa atmosphere had also started to give my body lethargy after the headache. Fortunately, Norma seemed perfectly healthy.
When we reached the presidential palace, the president's private secretary greeted us and put us in the elevator in a hurry. Because my head was spinning and my legs were shaking, I immediately left myself on the elevator seat, and something in my gut said that the president would accept us into his office, contrary to what he said on the phone, he might have expressed an opinion otherwise, taking into account the possibility of resting the phone. Norma asked the president's secretary to find me a proper hood. The secretary said he'd take care of it after dropping us both off in the president's office. Like the first time, the elevator wandered for a long time through the jumbled corridors of the palace and finally stopped and opened its door. We entered through the open door in front of us.
This time, President Vlad greeted us in a simply furnished room with a baggy T-shirt and shorts. He had a more distressed look on his face than the previous time. After looking intently at our faces, I said, " Do you know what I'm doing here?" he asked.
”We don't know, but we are grateful that you have accepted us," Norma said.
"Attacking the high-energy chemistry complex was a bad idea. We've already started building a new one, " President Vlad said. At this time, we took our seats on our sunbeds.
“You wanted to evaluate the decision to fight one last time,” I said with inspiration from the bottom of my heart.
"Congratulations, young man, you're a smart man. To think healthy, you need to be away from titles, and noise.”
Norma mentioned that the Perans came to Umbawa upon an invitation, that they never used military force in Umbawa, that they were ready to transfer all their bases and production centers on the planet, and wanted to pay for it. She said that Umbawa is completely vulnerable to threats from space, that we did not give Huan propulsion technology to Pera to avoid disturbing the balance of power between them, and that if an All-Out War begins, it is highly likely that we will do so.
President Vlad's old face was confused by the pain of indecision. ” We can't stop the attack after this time, " he said.
Now the dizziness and drowsiness were added because my heart accelerated and slowed down with sudden attacks. "Can't you give peace a chance?” I asked.
When President Vlad was silent for a while, I said, “Don't you think it's time for Umbawa to put his archaic fears behind? Give us a month for peace talks. In the meantime, let's guarantee that Perans will not bring new power to your planet.” My dizziness and drowsiness increased, my eyes began to darken; I fainted before hearing the president's response.
When I woke up, I was lying in an astronaut stroller that strongly supported my body. From the elegant interior design of the place, I deduced that I was in the area of Perans. After I made sure that the computer injected into my neck was working, I reached Norma's mind through telepathy.
I could now read her general mood and her thoughts, and the atmosphere of her mind had a comforting effect on me.
A little later, Norma came into the room where I was and said, “I felt like it was connected to my mind.”
“Where am I? Did we make it?”
"We are in the spaceport of Pera home base. We're about to board the shuttle that will take us to the high-orbit Starship. President Vlad has postponed the attack, and peace talks will begin next week.”
“I'm glad you're coming too. Now it was time.”
“One of the conditions of peace was for us to leave Umbawa. The people see us as enemies.”
We got inside the takeoff tanks before the rockets exploded under the space shuttle of Perans, which looked like a tall pyramid. In the tank full of water, I could hear my heartbeat, as well as the pleasant murmurs of Norma's mind.
Image Source: pixabay.com
nice