Kobollian Missionaries: Tyberi Patrenus, Lucy Ferro, Elosha Gale, Antonia Ursula Silva or Ursula for short, Luke Rhettus, Nikko Demos, Julian Soter, Dodona Selloi, Silas Germane, Linus Abner, Thomasina King, Jocasta Sparrow
Chapter Five
Ambassador Saltum rubbed his forehead with his handkerchief. Speaking to his own people, half of whom suspected he might be a traitor, and the other half likely a heretic, had taxed him more than anticipated. Days like these were ones he really hated. Right at this moment, anything he reported back to the Quorum might well be dismissed as propaganda or deliberate lies, and that dismissal could engender diplomatic misunderstandings that could well destroy the fragile relationship that he and his small staff and built up since they arrived here. Being an ambassador from a world many people here hated made him wish he'd never taken the job. However he had to admit that he'd developed lots of positive connections, some of which he hoped would bear fruit in the future. The Terrans were much less belligerent than they had been when he and his wife first arrived, part of which he knew stemmed from fear of the unknown and cultural bias between their respective peoples, and attacking Earth hadn't helped much either. But these people had been remarkably open, and information that he assumed would be kept from him, wasn't. That astonished him and when he asked why they were so open, the President no less told him that there was no way that most of it could be kept secret. The Colonials would find out sooner or later about the cultures and societies of Earth. It would be a waste of time and resources trying to keep it secret. Besides Earth for good or ill was proud of what they were and how far they'd come despite the enormous pressures and challenges arrayed against them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you know about the Pythian writings?" Then Damari laughed at him shaking her head in embarrassment. "Foolish question," her husband said, flushing a little at his mistake. "Forgive me. Let me rephrase that question. We know that Pythia was one of the ancient oracles who helped to write the sacred Scrolls some four thousand years ago. Is that correct?"
"We believe the date is closer to thirty-six hundred years," corrected Elosha. "But yes. Her other writings haven't been widely studied by most of our people, but those that survived were again dated to the same time period."
"And they're usually widely misquoted," Tyberi added as he slipped into lecture mode. "Like many of her writings and the scrolls of the time, they were obscure and subject of several interpretations. Many of them are even misquoted, taken out of the context of their true meaning."
Dodona jumped in. "The most famous misquote is: 'all this has happened before. All this will happen again'. This quote has been used for everything, even automobile commercials," she finished.
"Yes," said Agasha before a long-winded debate could take hold. "And everyone knows of the passage relating to our exile from Kobol and finding the twelve worlds."
"And the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland. And unto the leader, they gave a vision of serpents, numbering two and ten, as a sign of things to come," his wife, Damari quoted.
"Very good, Mrs. Saltum," praised Tyberi magnanimously. "Most people don't realize that the twelve serpents referred to the twelve types of humanoid Cylons that had infiltrated the Colonies with the intent to destroy us from within."
"It is also interpreted to mean that Earth as seen from our system, resides near the constellation Scorpius and this world and this government might represent the ten and two serpents that is the sign to come, either our salvation or our destruction," Luke said. "Earth, or rather its sun, is part of the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer," he added.
Tyberi shook his head, vigorously denying that conjecture. "That is an interpretation that I don't agree with. The prophecy has already been fulfilled by the elimination of the Cylons. If it hadn't been for Gaius Baltar, a true saint in my humble opinion in spite of his atheism, the Colonies would have been attacked and severely damaged, possibly beyond recovery and the prophecy of the sign of the twelve fulfilled with the destruction of the Colonies. Millions might have died by the hands of those filthy machines," he sniffed. "The prophecy foretold this and we were able to prevent it." Then a thought occurred to him. "Ambassador, did you tell the Earth government of the war we had with them?"
"Yes, I did."
"And they still continue to protect the machines from our righteous retribution?" asked Ursula.
"Yes."
"Then it's clear that they don't understand the sacrifices we've made to keep our people from being annihilated, or its willful ignorance on their part.""
"Their laws are different than ours. What you or I would do would not be condoned here," he said looking directly at Ursula. "I was told by the leadership of the IOA that they don't condone genocide unless there's absolutely no other choice and even then they won't choose that path lightly."
"Hypocrites," said Luke, shaking his head in dismay. "They won't condone genocide yet they would turn a blind eye to genocide happening on their own planet. I've found several examples of this in the Terran Internet last night: Darfur, Burma and a country called Rwanda, I think. And there's what's happening in the country of Yemen now."
"And that's why their world is the state it's in," scoffed Lucy. "They refuse to clean up their mess. Whole countries harbor those terrorists I saw on their news briefs. But being monotheists, it's no more than I expected. They're all savages."
"Lucy Ferro," Damari growled. "Be careful. The same things have and are happening in the Colonies and if you don't know that then you are a fool." The room went absolutely silent. "They're savages? No," she answered. "You don't' know what you're talking about. These monotheists you're so dismissive of are not the same as those at home. Your short-sighted assumptions are borne out of ignorance that can at best ruin your mission and ours, and at worst start a war with these people." Glaring at the increasingly hostile woman, she added, "I don't know why they picked you to come here. That, in my opinion, was a huge mistake."
"How dare you!" Lucy screeched. She was incensed that a nobody like that…that woman would dare speak to her that way. "You have no idea who you're speaking to and you have no right to lecture any of us about our religious qualifications!"
"I know you're Livia's niece and that's probably the only qualification that you have in coming here," Damari retorted.
"Enough of this!" Elosha jumped in. "Please! This argument is distracting us from what the ambassador is trying to tell us."
To say that his wife was passionate and outspoken would be an understatement of laughable proportions. It was of course one of the things that he loved about her. However being respectful to people she considered fools, she was not. Her bluntness had caused more than a few political glitches at home. "Damari, please," implored her husband.
"Yes, control your woman," Lucy snapped. "Speaking to me like that. No wonder Adar was sent to replace you…"
Damari growled ominously at a suddenly wary Lucy. "What in Hades' name did you just say?"
A panic-stricken Tyberi quickly jumped up. "Please, please! I implore you to cease this argument before something is said that can't be taken back. We're civilized people, brothers and sisters. Let's not fight amongst ourselves. Ms. Ferro, remember who you are and who you represent. If you can't speak respectfully to our hosts, then I suggest you retire to your room until you can calm yourself." He turned to Damari. "On behalf of all of the missionaries here, the entire College and the Colonial government I apologize for the actions of the people under my authority and my care. Will you please forgive us for insulting you in your own house?"
It took a few seconds before Damari managed to say, "I accept your apology."
The way she glared at the dark-skinned woman glaring back at her indicated that it was anything but.
For her part, Lucy glared briefly at Tyberi before looking away. Priests were supposed to stick together, but Tyberi was not backing her up when she needed him. Lucy glanced at Ursula who continued observing but hadn't yet said anything. The only hint of her feeling was a very slight curl of contempt on Ursula's lips. Lucy fumed. Livia was going to hear about this at the earliest opportunity.
Agasha took the moment of respite to retake command of the situation. "As I was saying, in one of the countries that we may be allowed to travel to see the remains of a city called Jericho. Archaeologists have proof that people in that region settled there about twelve thousand years ago. The settlement that became the city itself was built more than eleven thousand years ago." He looked around to his stunned audience. "This evidence has been confirmed by multiple sources."
French Polynesia
The Earth people or, as they prefer to be called, Terrans, certainly knew how to make beverages, mused Richard Adar, former President of the Colonies of Kobol and Ambassador of the to the world of Earth. He, his wife Marthia, and Lead Admiral Augustus Cain were spending their second day lounging around the luxurious Hilton Moorea Lagoon resort located on a part of Earth called French Polynesia. When the three of them arrived yesterday he first believed that the conference was going to be held on the exclusive, secluded island. Certainly it was a perfect if somewhat distracting place for a conference. But he wasn't about to complain, since he'd assumed like everyone else that this summit was going to take place on some space station near the Colonies, not on Earth itself, a year's distance away!
The shock of arriving at Earth less than seven hours after the journey from the Cyrannus star system had sent shivers up his spine as he tried to calculate exactly how fast the ship Mashantucket needed to travel in order to get here. In fact, he hadn't been able to do the calculations. Cain had provided those details for him, further intimidating him and his wife. The truth was, that it was so unbelievable that he assumed that the Earthers were lying to them and that this was some undiscovered garden world not too far from the Colonies. Of course, that particular theory was laughable and was quickly discarded. There were no planets like this anywhere near the Colonies that the CDF and explorers had ever found. Furthermore, the missionaries were at their New York City location and in contact with the Colonial Ambassador Agasha Saltum, the man the Quorum foolishly wanted him to replace as the senior lead in their contacts with Earth. This replacement he felt was a major mistake since the man and his staff had been here almost two years now and had made connections that if he were to take over, would have to be cultivated all over again. Nevertheless, those were his orders which came directly from President Goesel and he, Richard Adar would follow the orders of his President.
Adar, however had been given a liberal amount of discretion in this very critical mission. Several members of the Quorum were disturbed by the reports Saltum sent back concerning Earth as a whole, their culture, and their religious views. Earth was a microcosm of complexities that upon reflection would take decades to begin to understand. But what disturbed the Quorum and the College of Synods the most was the lack of any reports of the Earth people either acknowledging, or being aware that Kobol was the birthplace of humanity. Instead Saltum had sent a stream of reports showing archaeological evidence that humanity occupied Earth for a minimum of twenty thousand years or more. Then records of mankind's ancestors uncovered, examined, and recorded dated back another fifty thousand years or more.
The Quorum and religious leadership's response had been predictable.
Now, Adar was here to in effect take over the job as Colonial ambassador to Terra. Saltum's position would be reduced to assistant answerable directly to the former President of the Colonies. This declaration grated on Adar not in the least because Agasha's reputation was sterling and many leaders in the Quorum recognized that he was instrumental in keeping Earth and the Colonies from going to war during the recent incident with the Tollanians and the Race. It was his actions on Earth that kept the officials here from initiating a volatile response to the supposed intrusions too close to Earth's solar system. Of course, he recognized his people's actions for what they were–an attempt to get close to and in effect surround Earth with a Colonial presence. It was a foolish plan, fraught with dangers with a high risk of disaster. From Saltum's summations, the Terrans had no idea that the Race even existed until the Tollanians butchered several Colonial warships, making the entire CDF look impotent in the process and further degrading their relationship with Earth. If he had been president then, he would have never sanctioned such a plan, especially after reviewing the results of the failed attempt to subdue Earth almost three and a half years earlier. It was never his intention to conquer and forcefully unite Earth with the Twelve Tribes in the first place. However certain members of the Quorum, and the CDF, and several very influential corporations had decided otherwise.
First Contact with the Prometheus shocked the Colonials to their core. That such a small ship could cripple its much larger Colonial counterparts, had real energy shields, and used a form of faster than light different from anything previously imagined had sent the military command into a quiet frenzy. Most of those involved at that time, including himself he admitted, weren't as upset with the fact that they didn't believe in their rightful gods as the facts that first, Earth really did exist; second, they possessed and used technologies different from anything the Colonials had; and third; hadn't told them where Earth was located before they humiliated and escaped from the CDF. Ships were sent on frantic missions to discover the whereabouts of the Thirteenth Tribe of Man.
Once the general population found out that Earth really did exist, Adar was literally forced to find Earth and reunite the tribes of man once and for all. A huge expeditionary force was planned, but those plans fell apart when it was discovered that the Cylon menace had reared its ugly head in a most sinister way. The Cylons had created a new form of abomination, human-like monsters that had infiltrated just about every level of government and Colonial society. If it hadn't been for Gaius Baltar discovering the Cylon treachery, the Colonies may well have suffered grievous damage with hundreds of millions of casualties before they were stopped. Any plans to find Earth were postponed until the Cylons could be neutralized forever. It was reasoned that if the Cylons somehow followed Colonial expeditions and discovered Earth, they'd immediately destroy it. There was no way the Colonials would allow isolated Earth to be destroyed because of their actions.
After a brutal but short war, 'the plan' was ruined before it could be implemented and the Cylons were all but wiped out. Several small Cylon convoys did manage to escape but they were ruthlessly hunted down and exterminated. Colonial fleets took two years to track and destroy those machines. But one small group continually escaped the Colonial machine-hunt. That one small group fleeing from the Colonials discovered the one place that the Colonials had every intention of finding, and they found it by pure blind luck. And it was just their luck that Admiral Helena Cain discovered them and Earth.
Cain's hatred of Cylons was well known and the added bonus of discovering Earth's star system was simply too good to pass up. She didn't harbor any hatred for Earth but like so many others, she did want a little payback for the humiliation years earlier and this presented the perfect opportunity. There was also the added incentive to put Earth in its place since they were apparently an arrogant bunch. They had been isolated too long and needed to understand that they were simply one world, no better than anyone else and certainly not greater than the Twelve.
Adar advised a diplomatic solution but the Quorum moved to forcefully annex Earth, declaring the Tau'ri government an outlaw organization perpetrating crimes against their own people, specifically: the outlawing of religious beliefs of Kobol, refusal to rejoin the Colonies and the rightful government. The Quorum also added other crimes such as the refusal to recognize the Articles of Colonization, armed resistance against their Colonial brethren and harboring enemies of mankind specifically Cylons. It was a flimsy excuse however it was enough to create an intolerable situation and that freed the CDF to use any and all means necessary to free the people of Earth against the Tau'ri, up to limited nuclear bombardment of the planet's surface.
Angry and defiant, Adar vetoed the resolution for reunification by force of arms, but he was overruled. The military wanted payback for the embarrassment by the Prometheus and the weapons technology Earth apparently possessed, the religious Synod, furious with Earth's monotheistic religions wanted Earth sanctified for the gods, and the millions upon millions of new followers along with the credits they would bring to the coffers. The corporations were salivating over future profits. Every action, every justification came down to one simple explanation and two simple facts and those facts were these: the Twelve Colonies wanted Earth reunited and with that the promise of enormous profits that would flow into the Colonies coffers. Finally, they believed they could take it because they were strong enough to do so.
They found out the hard way that they weren't. The Tau'ri Terrans were not to be trifled with. An entire fleet that could have fought against a Cylon force three times their size staggered away from Earth's tiny military with their collective tails between their legs.
The predictable result was that a lot of political and military heads (including his own) rolled. Admirals Nagala and Helena Cain had to resign after the debacle, but were quickly and quietly re-instated when the greater galaxy began to rear its very ugly and very deadly head. Their experience was needed more than ever.
Ambassador Agasha Saltum was, in Adar's opinion, needed exactly where he was, not publicly humiliated and relegated to secondary status because the powers-that-be didn't like what he was telling them These same people that place him in the position of the hit man. Worse, Adar didn't have a choice. The next choice by the quorum was an idiot zealot, a woman guaranteed to cause friction between the Terrans and his people with her mindless shortsighted attitude. As it was, he was barely nominated for the position. Representative Adriana Contessa Iblison-Gratium was well known and had a lot of connections and further, many high-ranking officials owed her and her family favors. Their company, Morning Star Enterprises, controlled the majority of the military and civilian contracts for space design and construction in the Colonies. Adar thank the gods that he was here instead of her. The mere thought that she was a hair's breath away from representing the Colonies made him shiver. Given her family's reputation he was genuinely surprised that her brother had chosen the priesthood as his vocation. Well, wonders never ceased.
Last night would remain among his treasured memories as he stood on the beach of an alien world, letting the waves of an ocean never before seen or felt by Colonials lap at his feet. Amazed, he could feel the waves gently trying to pull him deeper into its embrace. He was delighted but not crazy so he was content to remain at the water's edge, sipping some delightful, exotic, non-alcoholic beverage made from fruits he'd never tasted before. He had to smile though as Augustus literally jumped into the ocean and took pains to enjoy himself as much as possible. And, the Admiral was right. The Colonials would pay top credit to have a chance to come and vacation at this beautiful Terran resort place. He also knew for a fact that the rich and famous would be willing to pay so much that it would very likely out price anything Earthers could match. As he thought about that, he frowned a little. Not being able to vacation here in their own home would undoubtedly infuriate the Terrans but the owners of the resort would be ecstatic and filthy rich on top of it.
The people that ran the resort were exotic in ways he'd never seen before. He simply didn't have anyone from the Colonies in which to compare them. Their looks, their complexions, their speech, the way they carried themselves spoke of an alien world. And by the gods their version of the bikini should be immediately imported to Caprica and Picon for all to see. It was a good thing, a very good thing that his wife had chosen not to attend the evening's entertainment. That one dance would have given her a heart attack. He would have never been able to enjoy it with her harpy like gaze on his neck. Thank the gods that he was merely old and not dead.
The stars above shining in all of their quiet and majestic glory intoxicated Richard. The sight of the spiral arm filling the sky filled him with wonder. Because of their location, no one in the Cyrannus system could witness such a sight as the Milky Way, and these people simply took it for granted. The new ambassador was well aware of the night skies of Caprica, Picon, and Scorpia and the some of the constellations were easy to spot and identify. This proved that the Sacred Scrolls were right when it said that when the Thirteenth Tribe landed on Earth and looked up at the sky and saw their sibling tribes in the sky, meaning the constellations that the Twelve Colonies were named after. Others constellations were not visible and this disturbed him on a visceral level as it was a reminder that he was nowhere near home. Nevertheless it was exciting. This Thirteenth Colony, was magnificent and he was quietly delighted that Nagala and Augustus' daughter failed in their attempt to subdue this planet. If they wanted to bring this world into the fold, dropping nukes on it wasn't the way to do it. There was no sense in turning places like this into radioactive zones. This was Earth! The Terrans needed to be preserved no matter the reasons why they chose to go their own way.
On the other hand, his wife Marthia acted like she had one foot in Hades. The moment she arrived she was cold and distant. Oh, yes, the political actor that she was, was there with her ever present smile and limp handshakes, but beneath that façade was a cold fear and barely submerged hostility. If he had known that she would act like this he would have never brought her with him. Normally, his wife was about as exciting as watching construction people laying bricks. Here though, she was surpassing herself with this attitude. Was it any wonder that he had a couple of affairs with women he could barely stand just to keep the loneliness from becoming overwhelming? But, he conceded, he never expected her almost panicked reaction at coming to Earth.
He noticed the signs when they first boarded the Terran ship. The decontamination process unnerved her although there were no physical effects. The sterilizing lights hadn't affected them in any noticeable way (and they had to find out exactly how such a simple looking, but obviously effective procedure worked). Being on the alien warship and at the mercy of the Terrans frightened her immensely. Richard tried talking to her but several hours later he gave up as his every attempt was met with cold silence. Last night her cold demeanor finally thawed and the truth spilled out. She was afraid of the monotheists here, an entire planet of them and what they might do to her and him. It was an irrational fear, but she held onto it like a death grip. The 'Great Calamity', the rumors of Tau'ri dictatorships, the Makaria incident, and the Tollanian incident had taken their toll on his wife. Both their sons were in the military and it had been bad enough on her during the final Cylon war. The thought of losing one of both of them had stressed her to her limit. However the Terrans and Tollanians were worse and all of her fear reached the breaking point. The sad thing was that Adar hadn't even noticed. The woman wasn't the love of his life anymore but he had no wish to see her suffer like this either.
It was close to midday when he, his wife, and Cain were again taken by that strange tubular shuttle to the summit meeting. Both men were surprised since from what they were told it wasn't scheduled to begin until the next day. His wife was under no obligation to go however both men thought it best as she was showing increasing signs of nervousness at being left all alone. Surprisingly, the three of them were taken by private shuttle. It was obvious that several of the vacationers were going to participate in the summit and he wanted to speak to them, but they were housed some ways from the three of them, no doubt purposely to keep Adar or Cain from speaking to them and the fact that they were transported in a small shuttle and not taken in the larger transport with the rest of delegates as part of the group confirmed his suspicion.
Like August, Richard was astonished by how fast they were moving and the total lack of acceleration. The blue green ocean of Earth was little more than a blur to their eyes as they headed towards their destination believed to be another island. It was apparent that whatever this summit's agenda was the Earth people were making sure that it was as isolated as possible and that nothing would go wrong.
Marthia's rocking back and forth most of the journey made her husband suspect that his wife was praying. He couldn't believe that she would have fallen apart like this. As for Augustus, he merely looked out the window respectfully and studiously avoided any chance glance at the man's wife for which Adar was thankful.
Adar didn't have an inkling how fast they were traveling but they had to be really moving and within a few minutes a shape took place quickly identified as a small city. That was surprising since he could have sworn they were in the middle of a vast ocean. But there it was, a city, rapidly defining itself as they sped towards it. As they moved closer, his eyes almost fell out of its sockets at the sight. His wife had stopped rocking and her eyes too were glued to the scene before them. Cain looked disturbed as well as very thoughtful
Outside was a city designed so much like a snowflake, floating in the middle of the ocean. It was a gleaming off white with huge towers and what looked like skyscrapers. The city seemed to just float as neither man could any place where it was attached to land.
It was when the curious shuttle with no obvious engines had passed through the infamous Tau'ri force shield that the pilot turned and said, "Welcome to the city of Lemuria. Please prepare for landing."
Next chapter: More of the conference mentioned in Worldwar: The Balanced Destroyed and more on the 'discussions' a the embassy. They haven't even started yet!