On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate
not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and
slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes
Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. The Braiders accidentally created a
resonance wave that will destroy the Milky Way and the only way to stop it is
for the Yown’Hoo-Kiiote-Human Triads to build a physical wall. The merger of
Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls Society may produce the Membrane to
stop the wave.
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Kashayla; the smallest canine pack of
Kiiote – six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of
Yown’Hoo – a prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches
away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret
for decades, allowing the two warring people to reproduce and grow far from their
home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we
encountered the Kiiote.”
“And we into internecine war when we encountered the
Yown’Hoo.”
“Yown’Hoo and
Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.”
“Together, we
might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included
Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
There was another
long silence and I said, “What are you – and how well did you know my uncle?” I
shouted into the silence.
Lieutenant
Commander Patrick Bakhsh (ret), whom I’d started calling Retired since this
whole fleeing refugee thing started a few days ago, didn’t say anything.
Finally, “I was a farm hand for your uncle when I was fourteen.”
“When?”
He grunted like I’d
punched him. Then he said, “Seventy years ago.”
“He was alive – I
mean, really alive – then, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know
there were aliens on his farm?”
“Not at first.
Then one day when I was feeding the llamas,” from behind them, the Herd gave an
angry snort all together. I was glad I wasn’t back there. Comparison to the
Earth animals was a grave insult whose only response was severe trampling. Or
an attempt to do so. Retired raised him voice, shouting them down, “I didn’t
know any better! In fact, as far as we knew in the 1970s, we were alone in the
universe!” The stamping in the back calmed down and he continued, “When I was
feeding what I thought were llamas, I petted one. In the distance, I saw what I
thought was a wolf come up over a rise. Then it stood up and pointed a stick at
us. The Yown’Hoo I was petting snarled, reared and unsheathed its tentacles.
The rest of the Herd did the same.
“The Kiiote
dropped back to all fours and ran away. By then, your uncle, who was still a
Human then, had run out. He leveled something that looked like a ray gun at the
place where the Kiiote had been and fire. A missile streaked out and hit, but
instead of exploding, a bubble of sound twanged. I covered my ears and fell
over. I must have passed out, because when I came to, I was in your uncle’s
house. Your aunt...”
“I didn’t know I
had an aunt!” I exclaimed.
“You did.” He paused
for a long time, then added, “My own mother had died of pneumonia not long
after I was born, so your aunt was my favorite person after your uncle.” He
fell into a silence as we bumped along a bare stretch of dirt and gravel. We
passed something that had been technological once. Retired said abruptly, “Ethanol
plant.”
Qap said, “That
is not plant. Nor a tree. Nor anything else I recognize.”
Retired laughed,
a strange sound coming from him. He said, “Humans had no luck developing fusion
power and depended on fossil fuels to generate electricity. When the oil supply
came to an end...”
He never got to
finish his sentence because a flash of light followed by a thunderous roar made
the truck swerve wildly. The autopilot took over and suddenly, Retired had a
gun in his hands. The truck stopped and ahead of us, the ground was glowing
green. He said, “I think our enemies may have found us.”
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