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)
Great Uncle Rion, who was not Human, stepped back, spread
out his arms, lifted his head and said to the ceiling, “I’m the end line of
guilt. I’m old enough – even if I wasn’t an android – to have seen the very
first time Humans had anything to do with the aliens.”
“Which aliens?” Retired asked. His stance was suddenly
loose, his hands open, hovering near his hips, he leaned forward slightly. He
looked like he was ready to attack GURion.
GURion smiled and said, “Now that, Detective Spooner is
exactly the right question.”
Without missing a beat, Retired, whom we also knew as Lieutenant
Commander Patrick Bakhsh, said, “‘I, Robot’, 2004, starring Will Smith.”
GURion smiled and said, “Exactly. And almost a hundred years
after I was activated by the Future.”
“The who?” ‘Shay said.
“No, The Who was an English rock band that formed
in 1964. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the
20th century, selling over 100 million records worldwide.”
“What’s a record?” I said.
GURion shook his head, looked at Retired and said, “What do
you Humans teach your kids these days?”
“The first aliens Humans ever met were the Kiiote,” GURion
said, “They watched this world for a thousand years believing that their war
would one day reach us.”
“They watched us for that long and did nothing to alter
Human history?” My great uncle nodded. I said, “That’s why they’re not helping
us now?”
“Of course. Both had ample time to assist Humanity through
its wars and nuclear infancy.”
Retired slammed his hand against the wall. Me and ‘Shay
jumped back, away from him. He said, “So their rape of Earth might have been
stopped at some time in the past? They let us go through the Crusades, and the
Mongol invasion of China, and the slaughter of the Children’s Crusade?”
GURion shrugged and said, “I don’t control anything, Commander
Bakhsh. I’m a simulacrum of a Human who was charged at one time with guarding
the young of the Kiiote. Sometime later, because of the nature of this farm and
its location, I was contacted by the Yown’Hoo for the same purpose.”
“They didn’t know?” I asked.
“Not at first. Of course, they found out later – but by
then, they’d both discovered that the only way they could successfully
reproduce and raise healthy young was on the surface of this planet.”
“What?” Retired shouted, hitting the wall again. Me and
‘Shay stepped farther away.
My great uncle grinned. “You, of all people should know,
Commander, that Humans found it impossible to conceive and bring their young to
term on worlds too different from this one. Our Home World.”
I looked at Retired, at GURion, then back at Retired and
said, “How would you know something like that, Sir?” I stared at him and he
turned away. “You’ve been off of Earth, haven’t you?” I waited for him to turn
around and when he didn’t, I realized that I was mad. Mad enough to say, “You
were on their side, weren’t you?”
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