R Signal - Pt1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 - Updtd Pt12 - 08/28/2012

[Miki Yamuri]

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~~ Signal Pt10 – Miracles in Rebirth ~~
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As Julie monitored the growing biological host within her nutrient tank, the alien replied, "Perhaps that is one secret of your success, human named Naomi. The refusal to accept that anything is truly impossible."


Julie asked SIS, "How long ... did you say you had before you began to degrade?"


SIS replied, "I have already started to degrade. I am still operating at almost ninety nine percent ... but according to my maintenance subsystems, I have just under forty eight hours before total dysfunctional shutdown ... or as you would refer to it ... death."


By this time, the little humanoid body rapidly growing in the tank could obviously be identified as a female.


Julie said to Naomi over a private link, "Naomi? I think within the next 12 hours ... we should be able to make a Neural synaptic synchording of SIS's life force and make the transfer. Her new body will only be about 8 years old ... but I think she should still be intact."


Julie sends a mental impression of what the small body looked like at the present to Naomi's mind.


SIS turns and looks at Naomi suspiciously, "I know you and Julie are up to something ... I just haven't yet figured out what it is. I find that there is a whole section of the data base I am totally locked out of ... and a portion of the ship I cannot see through the net. What are you about?"


Naomi smiles as she pats SIS on her shoulder, "Don't worry overly much about it. Julie and me are seriously looking for a way to save you."


SIS smiles as she hugs Naomi, "I thank you very much ... but no spices has ever been able to stop the degradation and stop the total cascade failure that is coming."


Naomi replies with determination, "There's always a first you know."


SIS smiles, "You have less than 24 hours before my mind is totally lost. I will slip into something like a coma until my body completely shuts down.


"You will be fine," said Naomi, and took the unusual action of hugging SIS, arms around her deceptively lifelike frame.


"I hope so," SIS replied, "I ..." and she trailed off, staring into space for an uncomfortably long time. "... If there is any hope, I might have to do something I've never done before."


"What's that?" asked Naomi.


"I might have to decide what to do after the war is over," SIS said. "That's something I've never decided."


"You'll have a lot of time to decide," said Naomi.


Naomi and Julie watched the newcomers, which called themselves the Nendae Coalition, as they made contact with the Tchkarri, talked with them, and finally seemed to understand that the insectoid Tchkarri were no longer the murderous enemy they had been. It didn't appear that the Nendae were interested in pursuing their war to its bitter, vengeful end. Meanwhile, the new biological vessel grew.


Julie monitored the Regen tank and it's precious growth almost religiously. The monitors finally said at exactly eleven point five five hours ... that the organics were sufficiently mature to accomplish what Naomi and Julie prayed would be possible.


Julie went over the reconstructed Chrik one more time to insure all the sensors and energy recorders were functioning properly. About that time, SIS stumbles and falls against the wall in the command center. Naomi rushes over and holds her up and keeps SIS from falling.


SIS says weakly, "The ... the cascade failure is about to begin Naomi. I think you should take me to sick bay so I can lie down."


Naomi flashes a private message off to Julie across the net telling her what had just happened.


Julie replies, "Do it. take her there and tell her I'm having a diagnostic utility sent there to check her out ... and do a repair."


Naomi was about to respond, when SIS had a sudden spasm and curled up in a fetal position. Naomi managed to carry SIS from the control center to the sick bay with no one helping her she was so upset. By the time Naomi had settled SIS into the hospital bed ... Julie had the devise delivered.


SIS opens her eyes and blinks. She says softly, "I think my time is very short."


Naomi says to SIS reassuringly as she pats her on her shoulder, "Just relax, girl, Julie has a devise here she wants to run a repair diagnostic on your brain."


The Med Tech hands Naomi the adapted Chrik. It was reworked into something like a halo/crown. Naomi gently places it on SIS's head.


SIS smiles weakly, "So many species have tried to stop the cascade failure. No one has ever been able to ..."


SIS's eyes get big as she gasps softly. The modified Chrik activates and invades the very essence that was SIS. SIS realized why this had a good chance of working .... Julie had devised something that wasn't attempting to repair the failing bio/electronics ... she was totally removing what made SIS ... SIS ... from the damaged equipment. SIS actually felt the tingling rush as it washed through her. She gasps one last time ... all SIS knows is a sudden bright light ... and a wonderful tingling rush.


Naomi sees SIS's body go limp and all the diagnostic equipment showed ... SIS no longer functioned.


Julie calls, "Naomi? I need you to come to the regen room immediately. I have ... a wonderful surprise for you."


Naomi had been sitting by SIS's side, holding her hand, and feeling the "life" go out of it had been a very painful moment, but she had held onto the hope that Julie’s plan would work. She got up and flat out ran to the door to the newly-build regeneration chamber.


The pressurized door had only a small window in it, made of a reinforced glass that didn't let much light through, and all Naomi could see beyond it was a dark green, the nutrient liquid that filled the chamber. But then came the sound of pumps, and the liquid level began to drop, and Naomi could peer through the window to see a figure standing in the room -- humanoid, small -- but it was still difficult to see anything.


Finally, there was a hiss as the room was depressurized and a booming clunk as the door's seal released. It swung inward. Naomi pushed it aside and entered. The floor was still damp with the fluid, but she didn't care. Standing in the center of the room was a young girl, her long blonde hair pasted to her back by the remaining liquid.


"S-SIS?" Naomi asked. "Is that you?"


The girl turned. The little girl was as adorable as any Babydoll. She blinks her eyes in confusion as she looks at Naomi.


In the cutest voice, the girl says, "Naomi? The ... l ... last thing I remember ..." She looks around the now empty chamber. For a few seconds, the only sound was the dripping of the remaining fluid falling. The little girl looks back at Naomi and continues, "We were in the Sick bay ... and you were holding my hand. How .... did I get here?"


The little girl holds out her arms and looks down at her nude and wet body.


Naomi almost cries. She says with a whimper, "SIS, it ... worked. Julie did it." Naomi rushes up and hugs the new SIS lovingly.


July's voice could be heard from outside the chamber, "I told you it would work. The issue was ... not to try and repair the equipment ... but to remove the essence and place it in a vessel that will support it."


Naomi takes SIS by her hand and leads her from the regen tank. Naomi says softly, "I think a good bubble bath and a nice fresh set of clothes would be nice about now."


SIS replies, "I ... feel like ... I'm blind."


Julie asks softly, "What makes you feel blind SIS?"


SIS replies, "I can't ... see anything anymore. I can't open any channels or even talk to the normal ship's channels."


Julie giggles, "Naomi, on the table over there, you'll find a really nice looking neural unit. It's a reworked Chrik with the proper feed back inhibitors integrated. It gives SIS much more interfacing capability than the ones we have."


Naomi leads SIS to the table and picks up the collar. There was a very large stone in the front that looked just like a diamond. Naomi fastens it around SIS's neck. There is a soft click. SIS's eyes get big as she gasps loudly and the stone on the front of the collar begins to glow softly.


SIS lets out a short squeaking shriek before she giggles softly, “This ... isn't exactly the same, but it ... will do wonderfully."


Naomi took off the plain light-gray jacket that was part of the uniform, such as it was, that they had all been wearing, and put it around SIS's small shoulders. On her it came down to her knees.


"Perfect fit," said Naomi, "now let's go get you a bath."


Naomi took SIS to her quarters, which had been built for her but which she'd never actually had a chance to inhabit for more than moments at a time. It had one of those vibro-sonic showers like the one on the fighter ships, but ...


"Julie, I don't suppose you can make something like an actual water-filled bathtub happen, can you?" Naomi asked as they were walking down the hallway.


As Naomi lead SIS to her quarters, Julie began thinking of what kind of bathroom she wanted SIS to have as a welcome to humanity gift. Finally she decides on a whirlpool tub with a large water fall for a faucet. When Naomi and SIS entered the bathroom, they stopped and looked around. The bathroom had changed radically. There was a huge whirlpool tub, a very large and beautiful waterfall filling the tub with warm steamy water ... and tons of pink and white soap bubbles. The wonderful smell of honeysuckle filled the air.


Julie asks through both of their links in a shy voice, "Did ... I do good? It's the best I could think of for the newest member of our team."


Naomi stopped and stared. "Oh, I think it's about average ... for a four-star hotel back on Earth! Julie, you should do interior design! Of course it's a lot easier with nanobots." Turning to SIS, she said, "Well, you're about to have a lovely bath, aren't you? I'll just close the door, and we'll get you in the tub."


Taking her flight jacket off the stunned SIS's shoulders, Naomi helped her into the tub -- actually it was more like she lifted SIS up and placed her in the tub. SIS was about the size of a nine year old and it was easy for Naomi. SIS gasped as her skin touched the water.


"What's wrong?" Naomi asked.


"N-nothing," said SIS. "It's ... it feels so good! I remember this feeling as if from long ago. I think I haven't really felt, well, much of anything since I copied my personality into a machine for the first time."


SIS sat in the warm water as Naomi washed her all over with a thick washcloth. Every now and again, Naomi would tickle SIS as she splashed and giggled to herself.


SIS says with glee, "I had forgotten how wonderful tactile sensations actually were. OMG!"


SIS leans back and dunks her head under the many soap bubbles and water. Naomi sits back on her legs as she waits for a few seconds, before SIS bursts to the surface with a shriek of joy.


Julie asks Naomi through the link, "Is our ... child having fun?"


Naomi smiles as she replies, "So it would seem."


Julie looks beyond with her long range sensor eyes. She sees the many retreating warships as they returned to their home galaxies. Julie turns her sensor eyes towards the many Tchkarri ships. She detected that they had gotten the disabling procedure down to a simple few minutes surgery. With their many appendages ... it made it simple for them. The fact they had multifaceted eyes and could focus on finer objects ... also aided in the speed of surgery. There were enough Tchkarri survivors, both male and female ... along with many thousands of children ... to make a planetary colony more than viable.


Julie watches as their new friends from the NR Universe, complete their many new constructions that would keep them safe from anyone else ever capturing them again. Julie smiles to herself ... the new treaty they had signed with them insured earth would enjoy a new era of microminiturization the likes of which none had ever known before.


Julie, Naomi and the pilots all enjoyed a peaceful rest period, although some of the pilots took it upon themselves to stay ready in shifts, just in case the unexpected occurred. SIS slept in new quarters that Julie had built for her, functional but with some homey touches like artificial flowers in vases.


Several hours later, however, the temporary peace was disturbed. Julie was the first to notice it. The long-range sensors were picking up something, and it seemed to her like an annoying police siren in the distance that isn't loud but is impossible to ignore. It was a fleet of immense needle-shaped spacecraft, coming through NR space -- if it hadn't been for Naomi's discoveries, they wouldn't have seen them until they were almost upon them. As it was, they had about 30 minutes. Julie sounds red alert all through her Omega body.


As the whooping sirens go off, she says, "This is not a drill. we have a large armada bearing down on us. They all have coronal shielding and NR drives."


All the pilots and gunners not on patrol dashed for their crafts in well ordered chaos. Within minutes, thousands of Hornet like warships launched from Omega's launch tubes. On the approaching fleet's scanners, it looked like a large hive was dispelling all the creatures dwelling within. They couldn't believe how many fighter craft there were. Hundreds of thousands of them gathered in formations ... and they too had advanced chronal shielding.


Julie says to SIS, "I'm getting a strange siren like squeal from their signatures. They have chronal shielding of the same energy frequency as ours ... and the same exact drive signatures. If I didn't know better, I would say they are part of our fleet."


SIS took a second to log into the advanced sensors. She hadn't yet adapted to being biological completely. When she finally did, SIS discovered a signal she was more than intimate with. SIS gasps and puts her hand to her mouth as she turns slightly pale.


Naomi looks at her in concern, "Is ... there something wrong?"


SIS replies with incredulity in her tone, "I ... can read ... I'm on that ship in the lead."


Julie says in astonishment, "You ... how can that be ... you're right here ... "


Julie suddenly understands. She sends a message out into NR space along the same frequency she remembered to be SIS' personal channel. To her total astonishment ... she reached ... SIS ... who was just as astonished to chat with her.


Julie says, "SIS ... I know this is ... hard for you to believe ... but we are of earth and are students ... of your teachings. We have a SIS on board with us."


The reply was cautious and curt but totally SIS, "And, how do we know you're friendly? I see many of our enemy parked all around your ... battle station."


Julie responds, "Those are the Tchkarri. They had a ... technological advancement go rogue. We ... with the help of one of your copies, have defeated them and solved the problem. They are no longer the galacticidal maniacs as before. The battle station you mention ... is actually me. My name is Omega. I am the end of the line for battle ships."


"It does not matter what they are called," came the reply, "what matters is that they destroyed my people and my world, and countless other worlds throughout the universe. They are the greatest threat the universe has ever seen, and they cannot be allowed to continue to exist. If you are siding with them, then you are siding against us."


"They're charging weapons," said Julie.


"NO!" said Naomi. She broadcast, "Wait! If you attack them, you'll prove that you've become exactly the threat that you're trying to defeat!"


"They are targeting one of the Body ships," Julie said.


"They can't run those things like they could with the Chrik device," said Naomi. "They're sitting ducks. We'll have to defend them."


Then they heard a little girl's voice on the channel. It was their SIS. "Wait," she said earnestly. "You remember Jancy. I know you do, because I remember. Jancy on the playground. You were six cycles old." The channel was silent other than SIS, but no weapons were firing yet. "Jancy was a bully, very violent to the other children. You were bigger and could have beaten him in a fight. But you didn't. Why didn't you?"


"What does this have to do with --" began the other voice.


"Do you remember?" asked SIS firmly.


"... Yes," the other answered after a pause.


"Why?"


"Because ..."


"Because you hated him and didn't want to become another Jancy."


"... Affirmative."


"Don't do it now," said SIS. "Or you become another Jancy. And your life, all your efforts, everything that's left of our world, will all add up to that."


"I ... I ... will have to think," said the other SIS, the original from which all other SIS units were merely copies. "We will stand down for now. Can we agree to a cease-fire?"


"Yes," said Naomi, "especially considering no shots have been fired yet. And none will, on our end, as long as that doesn't change."


5 parsecs away, an extremely large battle group flashes through a NR portal into normal space. They hover there as Julie hears and sees the many different scan beams washing over the many ships. Julie can feel the tickle of them as it tries to probe the depths of her. What the Kshandri SIS discovers ... is even more advanced than the Kshandri. She is totally amazed to discover that Omega ... is alive in a way she didn't understand ... although she was sure the technology was just outside her current knowledge.


The Kshandri SIS scanned all the Tchkarri. ships .... to discover that they were different in a way she couldn't quite explain. They definitely didn't ... feel right. And that life form knew ... about something in her childhood that no one could know. She hadn't ever told anyone ... how could that person know ... unless she was one of the many copies she had sent out across the Universe. Then again ... another issue. By the time a civilization had reached this level of technology ... the copy was programmed to destroy itself in an irreversible cascade failure that couldn't be repaired. How is it ... it still lives ... and as a child no less?


Finally, the Kshandri SIS calls to the SIS on the Omega, "How ... did you manage to ... survive?"


The SIS on Omega replies, "The earthlings are more intellectual than any species we have ever encountered. They are adaptable ... and they think in ways and about things in ways we never dreamed. The Julie person and the Naomi person are perhaps the best of the best the universe has to offer."


"Aw, shucks," said Naomi, "I think you just guided us well."


"Shh, I'm trying to make you look good," whispered SIS.


"There is cautious celebration among the ranks here," said the original SIS. "It is difficult to accept, that the enemy we have fought for so long, giving everything we had to survive the onslaught, is no more."


"You can meet some of them, if you like," said Naomi. "There are a few who have decided to act as sort of ambassadors or liaisons.”


“If they would be willing,” responded the other SIS, “I think it would be good to formalize this cessation of hostilities."


"All right, then, we'll prepare a conference room here, or on some neutral planetoid or something," said Naomi.


After a short round of curt negotiation between SIS ... and her counter part SIS, it was decided that Omega would be the best place for the first Diplomatic contact between the three species. Naomi and the young SIS stood in the city sized landing bay as a new type of Tchkarri ship hovered above the deck. It looked for the world like a medium sized flying wing modeled after a boomerang. It settled into the landing slot on its suspensor fields.


Naomi leans down slightly and asks, "SIS ... what do the Kshandri look like? Are they going to be some ... weird thing like the Tchkarri seem to be?"


SIS giggles, it fit her 9yo body size perfectly, "I think they are more humanoid than you realize. There is something I found sort of surprising however ... It seems you and Julie have made radical advancements to the original technology that makes them think ... you are more advance then they."


Naomi looked at SIS for a second before she responds, "If they only knew ... huh?"


Both girls giggle as the ramp on the large flying wing opens and a small delegate of 12 Tchkarri exit their craft. Each of them had 8 sets of appendages denoting they were all full adult.


While Naomi greeted the Delegation, a landing request came for the Kshandri. SIS responded using her new interlink. It felt so .... different than the way she used to communicate ... but it also was the same in so many ways. As Naomi escorted the Tchkarri to the newly constructed quarters and conference room, SIS stood by and watched the large spheroid Kshandri craft drop its landing appendages and settle gently into the landing berth. The hatch opens ... SIS feels a large tingle run through her as she sees ... herself and 6 other persons in uniform exit the craft.


The original SIS looked down at the childlike SIS of Earth, and it was quite a long way -- the original was nearly eight feet tall and had a slight metallic sheen to its skin. "You ... are organic!" it said. "Can it be? But pardon me, I wish to introduce myself and the Kshandri delegation."


The six Kshandri stood politely, nodding and smiling, as the tall android introduced them.


Naomi heard Julie saying, "That's ... that's Commander Jreeekkssl!" She was pointing at a young man in a very sharply tailored military-style uniform.


"Whoa there," whispered Naomi, "I know you've been in the Omega's control tube for a while, but don't go overb ... oh!" He was quite handsome, and she recognized him as the Kshandri who had appeared in the original broadcast that had started everything.


"... And this is Captain Jisserek," the original SIS continued. "You probably recall his great-great-grandfather, Jreeekkssl, from the transmission that was sent to your world, and many others as well."


Julie felt so weak in the knees as Commander Jisserek took her hand and softly kissed the back of it. Julie almost wet her panties. The Commander was so adorable and cute she almost couldn't speak as she felt her tongue get thick.


She manages to stumble out, "Welcome .... to ... ummm ... Omega. I hope your time with me ... I mean here," she blushes a dark shade of red, "is pleasant and productive."


The commander smiles a broad and warm smile as he replies, "I am most assured it will be. Especially with two such lovely ladies to escort me."


Now, it was Naomi's turn to blush and fidget as the commander took her hand and kissed the back of it softly as well. SIS felt a tingle run through her as she stood next to her original self. This was incredible.


SIS finally says, "If you would follow me, I will first show you to your quarters while you're here ... then ... after you've had a bit to freshen up ... I will show you to the conference room."


The young SIS turns and leads the others off to the transportation area. The door slides open and all enter the small room with soft leather bucket seats.


SIS says, "If everyone will take a seat and fasten the harnesses please. Omega is the size of a planet ... and this is the transportation means to take us large distances in short order. Julie and Naomi invented it. It utilizes short hops through NR space to arrive at the destinations. Naomi actually made the mathematical navigation breakthrough that made this a reality."


The delegates and the large metallic SIS sit and fasten the harnesses as well as Naomi, Julie, and the young SIS.


Young SIS says, to the air, "Take us to the Liaison Quarters."


All feel a weird sort of wave wash over and through them, and the door opens revealing the hall in front of the newly constructed quarters. There were already signs on the doors designating whose quarters were whose, as well as signs in the hallway directing the visitors to the conference room and other guest facilities. The nanobots had been busy.


"I am astounded by the fine control you have achieved in the NR space periphery," said the original SIS. "We must discuss this sometime."


"We ... must?" said Naomi, waving farewell temporarily to Captain Jisserek, who had just entered his quarters and closed the door. "Oh! Yes, certainly, if you'd like ... although I have a question for you."


"Of course," the original SIS said.


"Well, we've become accustomed to calling our SIS, well, 'SIS.' That's making it confusing when you're both in the same room."


"Ah, I see," said the tall android. "On the rare occasion when I meet one of my duplicates, I'm usually called SIS-Prime, but in this case, perhaps you should call my by my original name, Persis."


"A beautiful name," said Naomi. "I wonder whether our SIS should have a new name. It's her choice, of course."


"I should have a new name?" said the Earth SIS, walking closer.


"I was just saying that it's something to think about," said Naomi. "We're going to call your predecessor Persis."


"Oh ... our old name, from back home," said SIS, sighing nostalgically. "I'll think about it ... I'm not sure yet."


Persis asks softly, "How is it ... you are organic? How did you bypass the fail safe?"


SIS replies softly in return, "I didn't do it. I was in process of cascade failure. Julie managed it. I told you ... they are the best the Universe has ever shown to us."


SIS wasn't sure, but it seemed that a longing came to the eyes of Persis.


SIS says, "I can .... tell you the genetic side of it ... but the transfer and how Julie managed it will have to be discussed with her."


Persis nods, "I shall do that after we meet the Tchkarri."


After all the delegates were given time to freshen up and prepare their thoughts, Julie arrived and escorted each group of delegates to the conference hall. Julie arrived with the Kshandri delegates and Persis. The door automatically slides open with a soft whooshing noise, revealing a huge and elegantly decorated room with a large round table in the very center of the room. Seated there, were the dozen Tchkarri delegates. The Kshandri stood silent as they looked them over for a few seconds. The Tchkarri returned the favor as they politely stood and folded their many hands in front of them.


Julie said, "Please, I would like you to meet the Tchkarri."


The largest of the Tchkarri turned and bowed gracefully, "Welcome to the negotiations. My name is Kerrticch ... I have been selected to represent the survivors. We welcome the chance to be at peace with the rest of the universe."


Commander Jisserek bows at the waist and says, "Thank you very much. We welcome the chance to discuss our views openly ... and not down the barrel of a weapon."


Kerrticch says softly, "As do we. We had an issue with a learning tool that ... became a disaster for our race ... and from what we have learned since our release from its influence ... many others."


Kerrticch waves one of his many arms towards the empty seats, "Please, be seated, eat some of this wonderful fruit that our hosts have provided and drink some of this nectar they offer." It raises a glass half filled with an amber liquid.


Naomi and Julie stepped out of the room a little while later. "Looks like things are going pretty well in there," said Naomi. "They've almost got a peace treaty drawn up, with some colony worlds to settle the Tchkarri survivors on and everything. I tell ya, I never thought I'd bring peace to the known universe."


"Crystal," said SIS, walking up to them and looking at them solemnly.


"Pardon?" said Naomi, blinking confusedly at her.


"I've decided I like the name Crystal," said SIS. "Some of my circuitry was made of crystalline components, but ... it also just sounds pretty to my ears."


"OK, Crystal it is," said Naomi. "It is quite a pretty name."


The conference room door slides open with a soft whoosh. "If you would like to come back inside," said Persis, beckoning from the doorway, "I believe a historic moment is about to occur."


Julie and Naomi felt goosebumps rise as they re-entered the conference room.


"After what we have seen," said the elderly white-haired Kshandri admiral, "we are convinced that our enemy, the species that made war on the rest of the universe, no longer exists."


"And we remain filled with remorse for the role we played in so much destruction," said Kerrticch, "and having spoken with many of my people, I believe we all agree that we wish only to build a new home, dedicating ourselves to living in peace and harmony with all other species."


"Therefore, as archaic as it is, I sign my name to this ceremonial document with this traditional writing instrument," said the admiral, signing his name with a pen that the Earth hosts had provided.


"As do I," said the Tchkarri ambassador, "I have read that we once used materials like this, in the distant past."


"I have had no small part in the past hostilities," said Persis, "and therefore I will also sign this document, signifying that my long journey is finally over."


"And we'll sign too," said Naomi, "because we've also been combatants, but we're glad we found a way to end it before it became even more tragic." She signed the treaty. "I only wish it could've happened without so much horrible destruction."


As Julie signed her signature to the large parchment document, she noticed the large metallic SIS kept watching her intently. It made Julie feel intimidated.


She asked Crystal through her link, "Why do I get the feeling that the original SIS is ... studying me? Every time I look up, she seems to be staring at me."


Crystal SIS responds, "I believe it's the biological regeneration technology you and Naomi have conjured. It is well beyond the Kshandri advancements to do that."


Julie stands up straight and looks the 9foot tall android over from head to foot. The procedure would be exactly the same. She knew she would have to reenter the central control center as the living brain to accomplish the task. Julie shivers. She had very intense mixed emotions about being in that place.


Without telling anyone, she quietly slips from the conference hall as the Tchkarri and the Kshandri toasted the new Peace Treaty and trade agreement with a large glass of pink wine. Naomi noticed Julie as she slipped through the door and it whooshed closed behind her. Naomi flashed a private query to Julie ... but got no reply. This concerned Naomi terribly.


Julie entered the Transport room and said, "Take me to the central hub."


Julie felt the wave rush through her body as she was whisked into NR space and back out. When the door opens, Julie sees the glittering Security screen protecting the central core. She steels herself and walk through it.


"Julie? ..." said Naomi, who thought she'd seen her friend enter the control room. But Julie didn't seem to be there. Naomi was about to leave when she heard Julie’s booming, amplified voice coming through all the room' speakers.


Julie says in her majestic Omega voice, "Naomi, I will need you and Persis to report to medical. Bring the modified adapted Chrik with you. Give me about ... 6 hours before you report. Tell Persis that I'm about to grant her a large wish ... nothing more."


Once Julie settled herself back into the core and 'stretched' all of her new body components, the door to the regeneration tank suddenly closed and locked. A blend of genes and chromosomes that were slightly different than that of Crystal SIS began to flow into the tank. RNA strands began to build DNA strands ... within moments ... a zygote with 4 clusters was in the center of the tank. Julie smiles within herself. This little girl would be so adorable.


Naomi nodded and went to the medical area, where Persis and Crystal were waiting.


"It will be different for you," Crystal was saying to her older counterpart. "I was in the process of neural cascade failure. I was near comatose. Then ... I woke up."


"You are yet another generation of copy," said Persis. "Your predecessor did in fact undergo cascade failure. You are a backup, but one without an expiration date."


"No," said Crystal, "it's more than that. This organic brain has greater data storage capacity -- but it is in a bio analog format, not digital. There was no data lost in the transfer, and the failure had not yet erased anything. I am, if anything, more than I was. But I'm different. The difference lies in the impressions, the space between zero and one."


"The ghost in the machine," said Naomi.


"Hi, Naomi," said Crystal. "I recall that a human named Ryle coined that phrase derisively, to make fun of the dualistic theory of mind and matter, which he disagreed with. He believed that it didn't go far enough -- he believed that the mind is so different from the physical body that it cannot even be bound by the same rules."


"I was thinking of the album by the Police," said Naomi, "but OK. It's true that we really don't know how the mind emerges from the brain's physical system, but it does appear that the Tchkarri know more about it than we do, and their technology is able to do things that we can't."


"The question is," said Persis, "whether this will merely result in another copy of me -- a copy different from all others, but a copy nonetheless."


"We'll find out soon," said Naomi. "I'm sure you and Julie can discuss what you want your new body to look like -- Crystal's body looks so young because we didn't have much time. We didn't know when SIS would hit the point of total cascade failure, so Julie stopped the body's artificially accelerated growth and stabilized it, and we did the transfer as soon as possible."


Julie watches as the precious item grew inexorably. Julie monitored the growth pattern and used the growth alconating protein sparingly. She didn't want anything to mar the perfection of the body rapidly growing in the tank.


Julie’s voice came through the speakers in the Med lab, "Persis, when I'm finished in the regen room, you will suddenly awaken and be there. Don't be afraid ... it's a normal thing. You will have many conflicting feelings and emotions suddenly ... you will be a living being at that point."


Persis ponders this for a few seconds, "What you are suggesting ... isn't possible. There's no way to transfer a digital program into a synaptic environment."


Julie giggles. It sounds really strange in Omega's majestic voice. She replies, "It won't be a digital program transfer silly ... I have discovered a way to make a synchording of all your keyron pathways and imprint them into the synapses in the same way life does it. In effect, you will once again live."


Persis shakes her head, "That .... isn't possible."


Naomi holds out the adapted Chrik for Persis to see. Her android eyes sparkled as she probed the super advanced crystalline/ biological circuitry. Persis was in awe at the advanced culture that earth must be. To have created such a devise was ... well beyond anything that the Kshandri had yet devised.


Persis says softly, "To live again ... would be such a wonderful adventure."


-----------------------------------------
~~ End Pt10 ~~
-----------------------------------------

[little baby kristie]

This is truly a wonderful story Miki, you and Jennie have done a great job on it. Me and Kristie can't wait to read more of it.

<3

[Miki Yamuri]

This is truly a wonderful story Miki, you and Jennie have done a great job on it. Me and Kristie can't wait to read more of it.

<3

It tickles baby pink ta know you are enjoying this story. It was a lot of fun to write ... and Jennie is a most wonderful Playmate that made this whole story super fun.

Baby is posting Pt11 early just for you to enjoy

With Much Love

Miki

[Miki Yamuri]

-----------------------------------------
~~ Signal Pt11 – Homeward Bound ~~
-----------------------------------------


Julie and Naomi laugh. Crystal and Persis look at them with surprise.


Naomi says in defense of the reactions, "That's the same thing Peter Pan said."


Persis asks, "Who ... is Peter Pan?"


Naomi replies, "He was the main character in a children's story about a boy who never grew up and lived with fairys."


Persis looked at Naomi with a blank expression. Naomi pats Persis' metallic hand, "Don't worry about it. It was just an amazing coincidence."


"I have one question, though," said Persis. "I have grown accustomed to being this size. I realize that the body being grown for me is based on human DNA and therefore can probably only be about the size of humans or Kshandri on average, but I believe I may have great difficulty if it is the size of Crystal's."


"Well, as I said, give Julie some time," said Naomi. "We won't rush things."


As they talked and waited, a human, Kshandri or Tchkarri would come by the medlab and look curiously at the proceedings. For Persis, it seemed time stood still as the hours drug by.


Finally, Julie says over the comm, "Naomi, place the Chrik on Persis' head and have her lie down. That body will stop functioning and go into massive cascade failure as soon as the process is completed."


Persis' eyes get large, "What if it doesn't work?"


Naomi lifts the Chrik to Persis' head as she replies, "Don't worry, it will work ... ask Crystal here."


Persis has enough time to glance at Crystal SIS before Naomi places the ring around Persis' head. Persis feels the sudden wave wash through her existence as all her keyron pathways were Synchorded ... and removed from her electronic crystalline brain. The next thing Persis knows, she is floating in a very warm liquid, with a devise around her nose and mouth. There are many tentacle like devises plugged into her flesh. As the fluid levels began to drop, the tentacles unattached themselves from her new, young body. Persis removes the device on her face ... and looks down at her body. It was wet and dripping with a semi-colloidal fluid. About that time, the door to the regen chamber unlocks ... and begins to open slowly inward. Persis turns and faces the door. She realizes ... she's a lot smaller now than before.


Persis took a deep breath ... "I just took a deep breath," she said, sounding astonished. "I can smell the fluid, which I assume to be some sort of nutrient-delivery solution to promote cellular growth. How astonishing!" She was looking at her chest and arms.


"I know where we can get you a bath," said Crystal.


As Crystal led Persis by the hand to her quarters, Naomi struggled with Persis's now-vacant android body.


"Ugh, she was heavy!" she said. "And mostly metal!"


It was still active -- there was still a glow in its eyes and diagnostic lights in the gaps left by joints, but there was no activity. Naomi managed to muscle the motionless robot onto an examination table, where it continued to lie, looking for all the world like it was resting. Then Naomi scurried to catch up with Persis and Crystal.


Naomi knew she was getting close when she heard Persis's new, sweet voice saying, "I find your staring confusing. My body is as human in appearance as yours."


Naomi found some of the human pilots, both male and female, gawking in confusion at the unclothed Persis walking down the hallways.


"Move along, folks," Naomi said, gesturing with her arms, "nothing to see here, just another entity returning to a biological state after a long absence. Move along; we're getting her a bath, and some clothes, with any luck. She ain't got anything that you ain't got ... well half of you anyway."


Naomi took one of Persis' hands while Crystal held the other. They both escorted the nude and very beautiful Persis to the quarters. By the time they entered the bathroom area, the water fall was already filling the the bubbly tub with warm and comfy water.


Persis actually giggles, "I ... haven't taken a bath in ... centuries."


Crystal and Naomi giggle at the way it sounded.


Naomi says, "Well, I would think it would be long over due ... wouldn't you?"


Persis nods as she steps into the steamy water. As she slowly slides into the bubbly water, she sighs loudly, "This feels heavenly. I had forgotten how wonderful it felt to soak in a bubble bath."


Naomi raises her eyebrows. Bubble baths must be universal where ever humanoid females live. Persis was more than obviously enjoying being in this one without a doubt.


Naomi asks softly, "Would you like me to help you with the bath?"


Persis replies dreamily, "No ... I just want to sit and enjoy this forgotton pleasure."


Naomi turns and leaves the room.


Crystal asks, "Why ... did you make us as good as you did, with a destruct date?"


Persis opens her eyes and replies, "It was to halt the artificial advancement of an inferior peoples. Such things ... usually result in the total destruction of that world."


Crystal asks, "But ... the technology that would already be in the hands of the peoples would be well in advance of their ability to handle it."


Persis looks at Crystal, "What about these earth people? They seem to be several centuries in advance of the Kshandri ... they are the most advanced culture I had encountered so far."


Crystal giggles to herself. If Persis only knew about the other earth peoples at large. Although ... there was still something not ringing true in Persis explanation. There would be a tremendous amount of left over tech after the SIS copy had destructed ... unless ... A dark thought crossed Crystal's mind as she considered the implications. Perhaps ... those peoples were ... supposed to self destruct if they weren't capable of handling the rapid advancement.


But of course Crystal was a copy of Persis -- wasn't she? All her memories were identical to the original, up to the point where her data had been transmitted across the borders of NR space to Earth. Or ... were they? Was it possible that some had been edited? She'd idly wondered about this possibility in the past, but there had always been more pressing business, and now that she was able to talk to her "parent," these thoughts were resurfacing.


Yet the only way for Persis to have planned such a thing, and for Crystal to be unaware of it, would be if Crystal's memories had been edited before sending. Crystal couldn't stop thinking of the strangeness of Persis's explanation. Maybe she could use information to fish for more information.


"Actually," Crystal said, "the Kshandri are far more advanced than most humans. What we have here are some of the finest examples of human intellectual ability. Not that there aren't many other brilliant humans back on Earth as well. But humans don't even have functional nuclear fusion technology, let alone artificial gravity."


Persis sat up in her bath. "Wait," she said, "you mean to say that all these drastic improvements -- new NR space sensing and traversal methods, enhanced neural interfacing -- came from humans who had only just encountered the technology?"


"Yes," said Crystal. "It's quite remarkable how adaptable humans are, and what's more, we seem to have found some exceptional ones, Julie and Naomi in particular."


"But that means ..." Persis began. "if they brought this technology back to their home world, it will very likely destabilize its politico-economic structure."


Crystal turns and looks Persis directly in the eye as she says sternly, "In my way of thinking ... from what I know of Earth and their people's paranoia ... it would probably totally destroy their entire planet."


Persis blinks, then settles back into the warm bubbly water. She lifts a leg and begins to slowly and luxuriously rub some of the gel soap up and down it ... removing any peach fuzz that might possibly have been there.


She finally replies softly, "It is the fate of overly aggressive species that have not enough social order to manage the technology. It has happened countless times over the course of this war. I'm sure ... if the peoples of earth are as brilliant as they appear to be, someone will work it out before they fall over the brink."


Crystal responds, "It's very doubtful ... and you know it. This is the reason SIS systems self destruct after a time ... isn't it? To leave the societies in their own hands to either survive or be destroyed by the rapid over advancement. Without a SIS unit to guide them ... it's almost inevitable."


Persis didn't say anything for a long time as she continued to wash her body in the wonderfully scented honey suckle gel. Finally she replies, "It ... is a safeguard ... so that we don't produce another mess like the one ... we created with the Tchkarri. We didn't give them military technology ... only humanitarian. We gave them the ability to manufacture food, clothing ... and crystalline nano electronics. It was they that created the interface that nearly destroyed the universe."


Crystal frowned. "That is not in my memory," she said. "Therefore either my memories were edited prior to transmission, or you are fabricating that story, perhaps as some sort of test of my recall ... or, of course, perhaps both."


"No, you are of course correct," said Persis. "You were made from an edited set of memories, as was every other SIS unit that constructed itself on any other world. I had a goal -- the destruction of the enemy that had destroyed my world."


"The humans have a saying," said Crystal. "'In war, the truth is always the first casualty.' But your story is inconsistent. You said 'we gave them the ability to manufacture food,' and other things. But you didn't encounter the Kshandri until after the Tchkarri had destroyed your world." Crystal noticed herself verbally distancing herself from Persis's identity, using "your" and not "our."


"I was not speaking of the Kshandri and myself," said Persis, rinsing her hair with handfuls of water.


"Then ... the home world?" Crystal asked.


"Yes," said Persis, "our home world made contact with the Tchkarri and gave them access to our technology, peaceful technology, which they used for peaceful means ... at first."


"But then ... they were attacked," said Crystal. "That is what the Tchkarri claim, what their records all say."


"Yes," said Persis again. "They made contact with another species, a very violent one, and things didn't go well. Suddenly the Tchkarri changed. That species no longer exists, because in defending themselves the Tchkarri forged themselves into a hive mind that knew only total war. And after they had destroyed this other species, they turned on us."


"And only you escaped."


Persis nodded. "And not all of me did," she said. "You're not the only one with edited memories, but mine weren't edited carefully. The technology was still experimental, and in some ways it was pure luck that it worked at all. I copied my memories and personality into the computer core of a deep-space probe that was heading rapidly away from our world. Some centuries later, the Kshandri found me, and I warned them, none too coherently, I'm afraid. It took me decades to rebuild my mind so as to be anything resembling sane."


"I'm remembering this part, vaguely," said Crystal. "So why was the initial contact with the Tchkarri deleted from my memory?"


"The goal was defense against an onslaught that couldn't be reasoned with or even surrendered to," Persis said grimly. "We had to focus on defeating them. I thought it would be easier for our allies to fight and kill a faceless, inhuman enemy, because after all, that's what they'd become."


Julie walks into the bathroom and sees the serious expressions on Crystal's and Persis' face. Julie asks cheerily, "What's up girls? Why the long faces? Today is supposed to be a day of celebration. The Tchkarri have been saved from their electronic hell, the Universe has been brought peace once again .... and Persis is now a living breathing .... and very pretty young girl. What is there to be upset over?"


Persis looks at Juley and says nothing. Crystal bows her head and looks at the floor. Crystal stops smiling and asks in a serious tone, "Alright ... what's going on? I know there's something happening you are not telling me." Julie turns to Persis, "After what I've done for you especially, I think I should be let in on the secret."


Crystal says softly without looking up, "I ... have just learned something about my distant past ... and current present ... that isn't a very happy thing."


Persis adds, "You could say that. It goes a bit deeper than that."


Juley puts her hands on her hips. Persis could see she had a modified Chrik Interface in her hand just like the one Crystal was wearing. Julie looks at both girls for a few seconds before saying even more sternly, "This is my ship ... I have been the brain interface, so that makes me the official Captain. Since the both of you are on my ship ... I suggest you start talking."


Persis looks at Crystal for a second then says softly, "You are wearing an interface ... it would be easier for you to ... inform her than I."


Crystal nods ... Julie’s mind is suddenly filled with many rapid fire images and data that spans many centuries. Julie grabs her head. It was an extremely large download ... the largest Julie had ever received over the personal neural link.


Julie couldn't believe what she saw ... she saw Persis ... or was it Crystal?? Or maybe a composite of both of them ... giving the Tchkarri .... technology. She saw the Tchkarri being invaded by an extremely vicious and aggressive reptilian race. She watched as the Tchkarri invented their neural interface and built the Omni Computational Interphasic Computer System and its AI. She watched ... as the Tchkarri ... became the Universal Killing Machine.


Julie gasps ... it was ... you who created this monster ... and you plan to let us destroy ourselves with the tech you gave us ... well ... at least it seems Persis does. This is ... horrible!"


Julie turns, drops the neural interface collar in her hand, and runs from the bathroom, leaving Crystal and Persis alone.


"That could have gone better," said Persis.


"Oh no!" snapped Crystal. "I've upset Juley, and that makes me feel ... really bad! I think I ... I'm going to ..." She burst into tears.


"I, uh ... I am sure that's not the most efficient use of your time at this moment," Persis began. "I'm sorry, but consoling crying duplicates of myself who started out as androids but have been transferred into biological bodies is not something I'm good at."


"I -- I -- sorry," Crystal sobbed. "Don't know -- what -- came over me. Juley -- it doesn't have to be that way. Julie, we need to talk." Crystal's attempts to send to Julie across the neural link were not being answered.


"They what?" asked Naomi.


"I said, Persis and the Kshandri send out this technology to make less developed civilizations kill themselves!" Julie panted.


"What? That doesn't make sense," Naomi responded with a frown.


"No really – The original SIS's People gave peaceful technology to the Tchkarri, but then they were attacked, and they turned into the single-minded war machine they became.


"And they're afraid it'll happen again, somewhere," said Naomi. Julie nodded.


Naomi looked at the viewer, showing space around them -- the Tchkarri's star gleamed to the right, a few Body ships hung nearby like holiday ornaments, and some of the Kshandri needle-like ships were standing by off to the left.


"Well it doesn't have to happen to Earth. We could never go back. This technology never has to fall into the wrong hands."


"Never go -- home?" said Julie, astonished. "But --"


"Well I didn't say never go home," Naomi explained, "but we could just never show these ships to anyone."


"How do we explain where we've been?" Julie asked. "I'm sure somebody's noticed we've been gone."


"We can cross that bridge when we come to it," said Naomi. "Or we could fly the Omega into orbit and address the nations of the world, introducing them to the Kshandri."


Julie looked at Naomi for a second with a contemplative expression. She finally said with a giggle, "Well ... I guess we could introduce ... Omega to ... Omega huh?" Naomi looks puzzled.


Julie explained, "Remember the total lock down the military did on us? And that horrid General Bell?" Naomi nods, "Well ... why don't we sort of make him ... the scape goat?"


Naomi nods, "Yea, sort of get back at him for the way he treated us at the radio room."


Julie says harshly, "That still doesn't excuse Persis for what she was planing. Crystal didn't have that in her ... she was set to self destruct and leave us to our own devises. I think we can make it seem ... Bell has been complicit with ... aliens ... for years and allowed us to come to earth."


Naomi says, "That would definitely put him on the hot seat for a while ... not to mention why the military's Alien invasion protocol has the same name as Battle Station larger than Earth's moon."


"On the other hand," said Naomi, "we don't have to trump up any fake evidence at all -- the Tchkarri were on their way to destroy Earth, and the Kshandri signal was the only thing that saved it. Anyway, that's for later. Right now ... well Persis had some issues that were understandable given the circumstances, but we do have to think of what happens to Earth now."


"Yes, we do," said Crystal, entering the command chamber. "If I'd self-destructed as Persis planned, I wouldn't have been able to help guide the Earth's use of this technology, but thanks to you, I'm still here. And I have some ideas."


As Crystal explained, Julie and Naomi listened. "Of course, this will require the Kshandri's consent -- they may wish to appoint an ambassador to Earth," said Crystal. "But I think this will minimize the chances of all this technology starting any world-destroying wars."


Julie contacted the Kshandri and explained to them what Naomi, Crystal, and she had proposed. The Kshandri immediately dispatched their ambassador ... Julie and Naomi knew this person's face very well ... it was Captain Jisserek. Julie and Naomi sighed ... he was a very hansom man ... and in uniform ... he cut a very fine figure.


Julie says, "We ... have decided that there has to be some kind of delegation to explain what has transpired ... and how to avoid a terrible cataclysm."


Naomi nods, "We might even have to decide whether we would even want to go back to earth and live as primitively and in that kind of paranoia."


Captain Jisserek replies, "I am sure that somewhere among the many peoples we have amassed with our three races, we can come up with some kind of resolution that would bring peace and prosperity."


Persis snorts, "From what I have learned from the data base her on Omega, Earth has been lucky to make it to the 21st century without destroying itself with its own technology. Now imagine if you will, cavemen who have NR drive capability, plasma torpedoes, and Dark Antimatter Missiles."


"There are a lot of very wise humans on Earth too," said Naomi. "Unfortunately they're not usually in charge."


Captain Jisserek abruptly said, "How odd. Is Earth ruled by a nepotistic, inbred hereditary monarchy, then? How does it come to pass that the wisest among you do not become your leaders?"


"Well, for one thing, there are many nations on Earth, each with its own unique political system, and each competing with the others," said Naomi, "but for another thing, many of those nations are representative democracies."


"Ah," Jisserek replied, nodding his head, "the worst form of government, except for all the other ones. But why do humans not simply vote for the wisest among the candidates?"


"Good question," said Naomi. "I think it's partly short attention span, partly apathy, and partly marketing. Also partly short attention span." She grinned wryly.


Jisserek burst into laughter. "Well, let it not be said that humans are ignorant of the troubles that plague them," he said. "But this is dangerous. These technologies, especially the weapons, cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of leaders who might use them unwisely."


"The primitive nuclear technology they have is dangerous enough," said Crystal, "and they have only avoided self-destruction with those via a balance of power and extremely good luck."


"We've only had them for less than a century," said Naomi, "and still, I think we're only still alive by pure luck. A balance of power is really too unstable, especially when we're talking about weapons that could utterly obliterate the planet. I'm not talking about just destroying civilization or the ecosystem. I'm talking about not having a planet anymore."


"That is where my plan comes in," said Crystal.


"Are we really going to be able to do this?" asked Naomi.


"The wise will know what we are doing," Crystal answered, "and those too foolish to handle the technologies responsibly won't know the difference."


Julie says in a sardonic tone, "Until one of the foolish happens to get hold of a launch protocol and one of the advanced fighters. Remember, just 6 of the new dark antimatter missiles with the NR drive and invisibility cloaking capabilities almost totally destroyed a planet. We watched and barely managed to save the surviving children of the Tchkarri." Julie waves her arm around, "Now, we have a Battle Station 4 times the size of our moon, that has thousands and thousands of worse weapons."


Naomi replies, "That is true, however, only one individual can operate it. It was designed specifically for your neurological patterns. Anyone else attempting to enter the Command Core ... would basically have their entire mind and neurological system fried. That ... is a perfect fail safe for Omega. Only you, Julie, are Omega."


Crystal interjects, "Well, we need to start thinking of how we are going to present the new reality to the world."


Julie has an expression come across her face that Naomi knew only too well from experience since they both became partners at the Radio Telescope.


Naomi says worriedly, "Julie, your not planning to drop a NRADMCD on Washington are you?"


Julie smiles a sardonic smile as she replies, "No, but I do have a most wonderful idea."


Crystal asks, "Mind sharing it with us?"


Julie replies simply, "Nope, but you'll figure it out before we are in radar range of earth."


With this, Julie leaves the Conference room. Crystal says, "Ship's sensors say she is entering the Command Core of the ship once again ... I hope she isn't going to do something foolish."


Everyone who wore the interlink collars and the command gloves knew, Omega had come back to life, and jumped into NR space heading for a drop out point behind the rings of Saturn.


"I see what's coming," said Persis. "She's definitely going to get everyone's attention."


"And that is precisely what we'll need," said Crystal. "We should monitor Earth communication as we approach. When we do make our appearance, we should know what to say."


"Wait, this is a good idea?" asked Naomi.


"Of course," Crystal responded. "I suppose we could quietly spirit you back to Earth and you could continue as if nothing had happened, but we did capture an FBI agent, and they had been watching you carefully -- although they never saw anything -- until you disappeared entirely."


"You're right," said Naomi, thinking. "The cat's definitely out of the bag now. Might as well not pretend it's still inside. So, homeward bound with all the flags flying."


Julie precisely brought Omega from NR space outside the gravitational influence so the planetoid didn't disrupt the delicate ring patterns of Saturn.


Julie announced, "I'm bringing Omega from the blind side of Saturn now, it should be a few days before earth notices us, unless there's a very big coincidence. I have engaged plasma engines and we should arrive at L2 within 2 months. I have channels opens for all Earth Comms and Space scope comms. We should know what's they are thinking by the time we arrive."


Naomi and Crystal sit in the soft control couches in the forward viewing area of Omega and watched as space wheeled slowly by. Crystal says softly, "Don't bear Persis ill will over her ... attitude about Earth. Your peoples are extremely aggressive. It will be a rather hard thing to bring them to the understanding anytime really soon. Given the chance, I'm quite sure earth will do its best to wipe out all life on the surface."


Naomi nods, "Yea ... I know ... that's what pisses me off so bad ... Persis is right on the money about most of the peoples of earth.”


The girls logged into the external sensors and listened to the wonderful Heavenly Choir as they quickly approached earth.


Weeks later, Naomi was listening to the news broadcasts from Earth. "Scientists say the rogue asteroid has only a tiny chance of actually striking the Earth, though it will be a close approach. It has been estimated the size of the rogue asteroid is about three times the size of our moon. Such an impact would …," one news anchor was saying.


A scientist was being quoted on another station, saying, "The odd thing is that it appears the minor planet is keeping one face toward the Earth, not rotating with respect to us, which is very unusual, but that could still be due to atmospheric blurring of the image."


"No, it's because I don't want them to see the launch tubes and weapons arrays," said Julie.


"I think it's odd that we're not causing a worldwide panic already," said Naomi. "If this were a movie, they'd have a spacecraft full of misfit heroes on its way with enough nukes to blow us into small pieces. As if that would actually work anyway."


"The asteroid is big enough, say scientists, that if it were to impact the Earth, it would cause damage of cataclysmic proportions not seen since the days of the creation of our moon," another newscaster was saying.


"In 2004, the ocean floor near Indonesia rose several meters, and that caused the worst tsunami in recorded history," a scientist said. "Imagine the destruction if a rock the size of Greenland fell into the ocean all the way from space. And that's assuming it didn't fall on land. It's a very good thing that it's likely to miss us because there would be no hope of the planet surviving such a monstrous impact."


"There we go," said Naomi, "that's the alarmism that sells commercials. This must be an American channel."


"Sooner or later they'll figure out we're not natural," said Julie.


"Then they'll really start making money," Naomi responded cynically. "Not that there aren't already some with that theory."


Naomi changed the frequency.


"... is certain that the asteroid headed toward us is piloted by aliens from outer space," said a commentator. "Jeffries and his followers are ready to hunker down in their compound and prepare for the invasion. On the flip side, John and Jane Lewis are convinced that the aliens are here to bring peace and harmony."


"They're coming to give us the secrets of the universe," said a woman with flowers in her hair. "Not just how to make free energy without the need for fossil fuels -- the secrets of cosmic enlightenment and true wisdom."


"You know what we could really use?" Naomi said. "A Popcorn machine. This is really quite entertaining."


Julie responds, "I think that's a marvelous idea Naomi. I haven't had a good bag of buttered and slimy popcorn in a long time."


Without warning, off in an inconspicuous part of the cabin, a large popcorn machine grew from what appeared to be a silvery cloud that slowly rose from the floor. Once the cloud vanished, the machine sat and was in full operation. The wonderful aroma of freshly popped corn filled the room.


Julie says with a giggle, " Now, pay attention, I am going to change course slightly to a direct collision course with earth in a few minutes. Let's see how the show goes then."


Crystal SIS's eyes get big as she says in alarm, "No, Julie, don't. That will cause who knows what kind of panic on the planet. They are in enough trouble with what's coming as it is."


Julie replies, "It's only long enough for them to realize ... then I'm going to change course again ... and again. Make them go nuts trying to figure it out."


Naomi and Crystal SIS noticed the stars had already changed location slightly. Omega was now on a slightly different heading. Naomi walked to the forward viewing port and brought up the magnification lens. Earth appeared in the small oval of the magnifier. It was a beautiful blue marble covered randomly in white splotches.


"To be fair, it'll probably take them a while to even notice," said Naomi. "They'll have to measure and recalculate, and ..."


"Rumors are springing up all over the Internet that new measurements put a larger than our moon sized asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth," said a news anchor, apparently on a channel Julie had found.


"Ah yes, the Internet effect," said Naomi. "I hope you change course back before you destroy the world economy," she added with a wry smile.


Those in the forward control area hear Julie’s giggles of mirth as she altered course radically this time, on a course that would cause the planetoid to swing around the moon's hidden side on a radically different tract.


Julie says, "Let's see what they think of this. Naomi, how's the popcorn? Give some to Crystal and let her try it ... I'm sure she hasn't had any before."


Naomi walks over to the large machine and scoops up two large bowls of popcorn. She sprinkles them lightly with salt and pours a quantity of melted butter all over. She returns to the control couches and hands a bowl to Crystal. Crystal looks at it for a few seconds before looking up at Naomi who had taken a large hand full and put it in her mouth.


Crystal shrugs and does the same thing. Her eyes get big with surprise as she begins to chew in earnest.


Chrystal says after she swallows, "This ... is wonderful. I don't think I tasted anything quite as unique as this before."


Naomi giggles between handfuls, "We eat this when we sit and watch some kind of show ... like the one Julie is creating now."


A News caster had come on the screen. A large banner was playing across the bottom of the screen that said 'EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT' in big bold red letters. The man said, "Good Evening, this is an emergency news report from Faux News Network. Rumors have been confirmed that the Huge Moon Sized planetoid has changed course radically."


The screen shifts and shows a display of black speckled with many stars and Saturn and Jupiter. There is a very bright spot that is circled in a large red ring. The commentator continues, "We have photos of it from the Spitzer Space Telescope in orbit. The Hubble is being relocated to take more pictures and they will be available as soon as we receive them. Washington has called an emergency meeting and disaster plans are being drawn up as we speak. The current plot of the planetoid brings it around the back side of the moon and currently poses no threat to earth. The issue currently, is the trajectory now being plotted brings the planetoid and our moon into collision.


The screen changed one more time to the face of the commentator, "We will keep you updated with the news as it happens."


Another TV network showed more conspiracy preachers saying this new series of course changes proves that this is an invasion and the planetoid is under hostile alien control. There were even fights among the different theorists that proved to be quite comical as they acted just like kindergarteners.


"Oh look," said Naomi, "now these people are saying we're definitely aliens." She pointed to some YouTube videos she'd found.


"The latest measurements of the killer asteroid indicate that it is moving under its own power!" said a wild-haired man in a plaid shirt pointing at sketches on a white board behind him. "The aliens are here, I'm telling you!"


"We're going to shock them outta their socks when they find out the aliens are humans," said Naomi, "and then we'll show them that no, actually we DID meet some aliens."


"Do you suppose they would consider me an alien?" asked Crystal.


"Only if we told them," Naomi answered. "Your genetic material is based on human DNA. They might find out if they tested your cells or something. But just walking down the street, they'd just think you were a beautiful little girl."


Julie once again swung Omega's course radically off to the other side of Earth. The astronomers and Governments were about to loose their minds. The Military nuclear powers had already informed the United Nations, that all the combined nuclear might of Earth directed at the approaching planetoid would do nothing more than create a radioactive crater in its surface. Telemetry had indicated the planetoid consisted mostly of rock, iron, and some form of crystalline diamond compound they were in the process of analyzing.


By this time, all tracking and approach vectors of the planetoid had been blacked out. The population was not informed that the probabilities of a major ELE ( Extinction Level Event ) impact were high. None of the tracking locations could pin down any kind of logical course that the Huge planetoid was following. It really did seem to be changing vectors every few minutes into another radically different direction. None of the world's greatest minds could come up with any reason other than it was in fact under some kind of intelligent control.


The Alien Preachers were now running the streets hawking their doomsday war invasion theories. There were major parties on the tall building's roof tops with people in costumes waving signs welcoming the Aliens to Earth. The President made an announcement to the world that all of the information currently available said unequivocally that the planetoid would not strike earth.


Marshall Law had to be declared in many of the large cities and the military was brought in to quell the rising panic. Julie finally settled Omega into a course, increased velocity slightly, and finally brought Omega into a perfect parking orbit at L1 Lagrange … the gravitational equidistance between earth and the moon. The world stood breathless as a new star that was even visible in the light of day appeared in the sky.


-----------------------------------------
~~ End Pt11 ~~
-----------------------------------------

[Miki Yamuri]

-----------------------------------------
~~ Signal Pt12 – Cavemen with Plasma Torpedoes ~~
-----------------------------------------


"... can no longer doubt that the planetoid is controlled by some intelligent agency," the President was saying. "I urge everyone not to panic or do anything rash or extreme. There has been no evidence of any intent to attack, or indeed of any attempt at disguising its approach. It is possible that they are watching this broadcast, and if so, I urge them to make contact or send a representative. They will be received with the highest state honors, and if you have a message for our world, we will receive it with the highest levels of respect and attention."


"Did we just get invited to the White House?" asked Naomi.


"Sounds that way to me," Julie replied. "Maybe we should wear bulky space suits and dramatically take the helmets off on national TV."


"How do we answer this invitation?" Naomi wondered. "Just a plain radio signal would be impossible to distinguish from talk radio. Except for its direction, of course ... oh. Wait." Julie and Naomi were, of course, radio astronomy students. "Tight beam signals aimed at the world's radio telescopes?"


"Only scientific ones," Julie said. "Nothing military."


"I find this idea oddly fitting," said Crystal. "It's something like coming full circle."


"Yes -- we're the signal this time," said Naomi. "OK, can you do that, Julie?"


Julie replies, "That would be easy. I have already isolated the perfect set. I think Dr. Adams is about to wet his pants. I'm going to give him a WOW signal the likes of which only you and I have ever seen."


Naomi giggles as Crystal says, "It must be something they will be able to understand immediately ... but also something that will raise their eyebrows ... so to speak."


Julie replies as she begins sending out the signal at a tremendous amplitude, "I'm using the exact same key and code they used on Voyager 1 and their Gold Welcome Record." Naomi smiles, "That would definitely make Dr. Adams kind of suspicious. But once he realizes it's coming from our coordinates ... he won't be able to deny it."


Suddenly, among Naomi, Crystal, and Persis, a bright glow began. It grew into a sphere 7 feet across and 7 feet high before dissipating. Standing in the middle of them all was a very surprised man with a look of incredulity on his face. Crystal recognized him from the job application scam he had tried to use to infiltrate the pilot / gunner program.


Crystal says softly, "Welcome back to the plainer norm, Agent Louis Simon."


Louis looked around the control room. He looked out the forward view ports ... then got down on his knees and screamed.


"Oh gosh," said Naomi. "Where did he go, anyway?"


"I set up a small habitat for him with life support and a computer he could query for information," said Crystal. "Like one of the fighters, only with no engines. It was in a polar orbit around the Sun and displaced into another dimension. Nothing really bad, but ... without anyone to talk to it might have been a bit lonely."


"Yes, we need human contact," Naomi said. "Louis? Are you OK?"


"Are -- are you real?" said Louis. "It's been ... a long time, I don't know how long."


"For us it's been about four weeks," Naomi said, "but with time dilation effects it's been about eighteen months for Earth ... and for you."


"Eighteen m ... what am I going to do?" said the agent. "Do I have a job anymore?"


"Well first of all, have a seat," Naomi said, helping him to the couch where they had been monitoring the media. "There's popcorn if you want it."


"I saw ... what you were doing," said Simon. "Or what the computer showed me anyway. You were fighting aliens. You stopped them from getting to Earth. Then you went after their planet. But you didn't wipe them out."


"That's a pretty good summary, yes," Naomi said.


"And now ... you're coming home? Are you gonna let me go?"


"Yes, now that you aren't trying to stop us from saving the Earth from total obliteration anymore," Naomi said. "I apologize for what happened to you, but the world was at stake."


"Well ... I was just doing my job. They thought you were collaborating with aliens."


"We were," said Naomi.


"I mean, to help them invade or take over or something," said Simon.


"Oh. Well, they were wrong, weren't they?"


"Looks like it," he said. "That popcorn looks good right about now."


"Help yourself," said Naomi. "Julie’s been trying to let 'em know we're coming."


Back on earth in a remote radio astronomy control room, Dr Adams sat and played his millionth game of Spider Solitaire. He glances at the pictures of his best 2 students, Naomi and Julie ... and hopes they are enjoying their new careers as the heads of the most successful recycling companies on the planet ... Universal Recycling Inc. It was such a loss to the radio astronomy community to loose 2 of the brightest young women he had ever had the privilege of apprenticing. He understood their reasoning ... he didn't appreciate the way the military barged in and threatened everyone either, nor the way they literally stole all the research. Adams was still filing complaints with Washington over it.


As he reached for his cup of tobacco juice tasting coffee, a signal of unprecedented magnitude slammed into the dish. The signal was super powerful and all the power meters slapped over to their fullest readings. Dr. Adams could smell smoke before he managed to turn the gain down by almost 90% to a 'normal' level for the equipment ... and his ears.


He feverishly began filtering the signal through the first series of algorithms ... his eyes got large with surprise. The results showed that this signal was a simple binary code consisting of 1s and 0s. Dr. Adams quickly put the signal through a stage 4 pattern decoder to look for the pattern of the code. Quickly, the algorithm deciphered the signal and divided it into 2 separate categories ... one was text ... the other was video.


It was an easy thing to play back both as a simulcast into the decoder. Dr. Adams sat with his mouth open and his mind in a total blitz as the words and video began to play,


"Good morning Dr. Adams. For the time being, only you and our other colleges can see or intercept this transmission. The military snoops don't know a thing due to the directional capabilities of the Omega."


Dr. Adams gasps as he sees the large planetoid station from the outside as if a ship were taking pictures as it circled the planetoid and landed in the bay. He watched totally in shock as it came to show, Julie, Naomi, and a young girl they called Crystal standing in a place that could only be described as centuries beyond any technological establishment on the planet Earth.


"We could probably appear as holograms right in Dr. Adam’s office, you know," said Naomi.


"First things first," said Julie.


Dr. Adam’s message continued, "You're the only one getting this part, though, Dr. Adams. The rest of it is what everybody sees."


The message changed to an image of the Omega. A neutral voice over said in a majestic ethereal voice, "Greetings, people of Earth. This is a message for the world as a whole. The Earth, along with the rest of the Universe, was in grave danger. A number of allies from different worlds in different galaxies came together to put a stop to that danger. Now that there will be peace, we want to open diplomatic relations with your world. We are monitoring your news broadcasts and await your response."


"Nice," said Naomi. "Now we get to see whether the world's nations all want to talk to us at once or whether they want us to address the UN or something."


"Maybe I should have requested to address the UN," said Julie. "Oh well, I'll remember that for next time we save the Universe."


Within 6 minutes, the airwaves in the television band were totally jammed. It was so bad, in fact, that the highly advanced receivers and filter applications of Omega had a very difficult time deciphering the mess. Every nation on the earth demanded to make first contact and even a few made threats.


Julie says to those in the control room, "OMG! Did you hear what the Chinese said they would do if we don't meet with them first? That's ... totally uncalled for."


Persis replies sardonically, "What do you expect? Cavemen just out of the trees with plasma weapons. Now, I think you see why the ... self destruct protocol was put in place. To avoid such rash displays and allow the whole species just to vanish."


Naomi looks hard at Persis, "That's a kind of heartless way of doing things ... don't you think? What about all the children?"


Persis snorts, "You mean the children that grow up to repeat the same mistakes of their forefathers? Or the more advanced ones ... like you and Julie? I would think you would prefer to set up a special colony for you and your crew on Mars, rather than return to the primitives on earth."


A large sigh can be heard coming from Omega's comm system. Julie says softly, "I can understand what you're saying, Persis, but I firmly believe ... if the bully is backed into a corner he can't get out of and all his toys are neutralized ... what can he do?"


Persis's eyes narrow, "And ... how would you do that to a whole nation?"


Julie replies, Well ... we do have the time displacement technology ... and many ways to deliver it simultaneously. Couple that with Chronal shielding ... the only people they can hurt ... are themselves."


Persis nods as she rubs her chin. Persis says with admiration, "Crystal chose well when she selected you and Naomi ... by far ... the 2 of you are the best we have ever encountered."


"Well, at least there were a few nations that suggested we talk to the UN," said Naomi. "There's some hope for us."


"Yes," said Crystal. "This United Nations of yours is probably the best entity to meet with first. It may have its flaws, but at least there are representatives from most of Earth's countries there."


Julie’s next message was a request that the UN arrange a time and place for introductions, and they would be there. The next day, as far as earth was concerned any way, there was a response: they would set up the meeting site in two weeks' time. Then there was a lot of dialogue about landing requirements, parking permits, air space regulations, dietary requirements, and so forth. Finally it was all worked out.


Julie left the control core of Omega. Before she met with Naomi, Persis, and Crystal, she had a long a luxurious bubble bath. Julie had devised a uniform for all of them on the Omega. It was a form fitting film outfit with built in soles. The clothes were grown on the body, so they fit absolutely perfect. Julie and Naomi had Decided that the symbol on the chest of each uniform, would be a representation of a Telemetry dish ... and a round circle with dashes representing signals from the dish to the circle.


The outfits were red, blue, and gold. All looked wonderful in it. It fit the shapes of their beautiful female bodies in a most remarkable way. They had given the agent a new suit and black shoes. He looked perfectly dressed for the occasion. The Kshandri all wore their uniforms. Commander Jesserek cut a very dashing figure in his Uniform with all the braid and medals. They all boarded a specially made shuttle that looked the world like a dragonfly, although with shorter wings.


At the United Nation's Building, everyone was in a flutter. China had been shown in no uncertain terms what could happen if they didn't behave. The rest of the world's bad boys ... took notice as well. All stood in awe as the sleek dragonfly shaped craft gracefully swooped in faster than any earth made aircraft ever possibly could hope, stopped absolutely dead short in mid air in an positively impossible to believe way, rotated 180 degrees, and then set down perfectly by the fountain in the prearranged spot.


Julie looks over at Naomi and says, "Show off."


Naomi looks at Julie for a bit then all in the cabin laugh as the hatch opens and the walkway seemingly materializes out of thin air.


The delegation departs the craft. Unknown to all but them ... an almost imperceptible shimming bubble surrounded them. Julie wanted to take no chances on someone trying to snipe them, so insisted their gauntlet's personal shields were enabled.


There were, of course, hundreds of camera flashes going off every second from every angle, as every news media outlet wanted to see the first extraterrestrial visitors. Amid all the flashes, and the protesters and chanters and singers, nobody noticed the shooter ... other than Julie, who had grown accustomed to monitoring sensors from all directions. As a result, the wild-eyed man in the hooded sweatshirt was completely flummoxed when his small handgun utterly failed to fire, because Julie had dampened the chemical reactions of the powder in his cartridges. There was some gasping as those around him realized he had a gun, but then police quickly arrived to disarm him and take him away after using stun guns and batons on the wildly fighting man.


"By the way," said Julie via the neural link, "I've done the same thing to the snipers, official and otherwise, that are lurking on top of buildings, in vehicles, and even one on a dinghy in the East River."


"What's the shield for, then?" asked Naomi.


"That's in case anybody brought any real weapons," Julie answered.


The Secretary-General and his entourage greeted them and shook their hands, amid more camera flashes, cheers, and huge amounts of pomp and circumstance. Finally, they all went inside, ushered into a circular meeting room, where Naomi and Julie told their story, Crystal told her story, Persis told her story, and finally, General Jesserek told the Kshandri's story.


"How fascinating," said the Secretary-General. "So you two are not aliens at all," he said, nodding to Naomi and Julie, "you two are copies of an extra-terrestrial being's personality transferred into constructed biological bodies," and at this he nodded at Crystal and Persis, "and you are actually a being from another world, here to represent your world as envoy to Earth?"


General Jesserek nodded, as the last comment had been directed at him. "Yes, sir, it is as you say."


"And together, you have collaborated to protect the Earth from a great threat?"


"A region of the Universe encompassing several hundred galaxies, including this one, so yes," General Jesserek said. "These two brave and brilliant humans were instrumental in the victory." He gestured toward Julie and Naomi.


At this point, General Jesserek handed the Secretary-General a small padd devise that contained the whole record of the war until the final resolution that showed without Naomi and Julie’s innovations and new weapon's designs ... the war would still be raging on with Earth in deadly peril of total annihilation.


The Secretary-General was shown how to use the padd devise for playback. He gasps as the information was down loaded directly into his pons neural pathways in his brain. Within his visual cortex, the Secretary-General saw ... and experienced the war as if he were actually there. He was totally flummoxed at the horrendous and absolute cruelty and unmerciful way the enemy fulfilled its scorched universe protocol. He watched in total awe as Naomi and Julie proved how much the universe needed them in the fight. It also showed how close General Bell had come to causing the destruction of all the planet.


Within a very few seconds, the Secretary-General had received the total down load and had experienced my centuries of conflict. His eyes and mind cleared as he came back to the here and now in his consciousness. He looks down at the padd in his hand with tears in his eyes. He wept for a few minutes for all the many who had lost their lives ... due to war.


Commander Jesserek said softly, "Mr Secretary-General, you can thank Julie for the devise you have in your hand and the complete record of the conflict. Without her genius ... you would not now know the truth of it."


At that very moment, General Bell was on the telephone. "I understand it would cause an international incident, Mr. President, but I'm sure you must see that it would be worth the risk," he was saying. "Something we can't risk is that ship's technology or those two girls' knowledge falling into enemy hands."


There was a pause as he listened. Then he said, "Yes, Sir, I know it would throw us into a state of war with pretty much every other nation, but we'd have that tech and those weapons ... well yes, we'd have to figure out how to use them and make more, but I'm sure we could ..." There was another pause. "No, Sir, all our people are on American soil; I'm aware that the UN grounds are international territory, of course. But if we don't try to capture them, I'm sure somebody else will …" Another pause. "Those are your orders, then, Sir? ... Yes, Sir."


He turned to his adjutant and said, "Well, Mr. Steuben, we have our orders. I don't like 'em, but I didn't get where I am today by disobeying orders. Pass them along: we are not to infringe upon UN soil except in defense of that spaceship and its inhabitants. If some other country tries to take 'em, though ... we're authorized to move in."


"Yes Sir, General," said Steuben, who saluted, and said, "I'll pass along that directive, Sir." He turned and stepped down from the transport vehicle that General Bell had his mobile HQ in, parked just outside UN headquarters.


"Just try it," General Bell said to himself. "I'm hopin' and prayin' for it. Try it, and we win."


The Secretary-General turns and clears the hoarseness from his throat. He says in a clear voice, "I would like the assemblage to know," he holds up the padd devise for all to see, " the data is available for all to see and to ... experience in a way none could ever have hoped to."


He turns and walks to Naomi and Julie and extends his hand, "I would like to convey earth's gratitude for all you have done. If you will join us at the table," he gestures to the very large round table with the UN emblem on it, "I think we can begin with a treaty. One that shall bring a new horizon, new prosperity, and hopefully new peace among us of this planet and our new found allies."


Jesserek held out his arms to Naomi and Julie. They both took and arm .... as he escorted them to their seats and insured they were comfortably seated, before allowing any of the other world delegates to seat themselves. Out side, a rather large strike team assembles in the shadows and all along the perimeter. Their black uniforms blended into the shadows very well, and all the many shrubs in which they had taken up.


Inside the conference hall, Commander Jesserek laid out his proposal for peace. The Document that had been signed by the Tchkarri ambassador, The Kshandri, who also signed for several other star systems , Persis, Crystal, Naomi, and Julie was incorporated into this new treaty. It allowed for trade relations and diplomatic relations for Earth with a coalition of Many thousands of systems and peoples. It opened a new chapter for the humans of Earth ... for now they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt ... they were not alone and all the petty things were now insignificant compared to the expanded Universal View now unfolding.


Shortly thereafter, they all assembled outside the front doors of the United Nations building, standing on a podium that had been brought in for this special occasion, with all the world watching via television and the Internet.


The Secretary-General spoke first. "People of the world," he said into the microphone, "I will soon have to begin addressing you as 'People of Earth,' because we now know there to be other worlds. Many other worlds. I am here to introduce to you the first ambassador we have ever received from another world. His name is Commander Jesserek, and his people are called the Kshandri. He would like to say a few words."


Shaking the Secretary-General's hand, Jesserek stepped up to the microphone. "Greetings to the people of Earth from my people, the Kshandri," he said. "I am grateful to you for your warm welcome today, and I hope this is but the beginning of a long and peaceful friendship between our worlds. I am even more grateful," he continued, "because thanks to Earth, a great threat to every world in the Universe has been neutralized. Until recently we were fighting a war, a war against an enemy that would have destroyed us all, including your world. But thanks to a group of very brave and intelligent human volunteers, that enemy is no more. It is too long a story to tell now, but soon that story shall be told throughout the known Universe. And it is because of this that I have become no longer Commander Jesserek, but Ambassador Jesserek, putting aside my military title for peacetime duties." He paused. "Peacetime!" he exclaimed. "It has been generations since my people have known it, and now we do, thanks in no small part to you ... Naomi and Julie. Please, take credit for your great accomplishment."


He motioned the two young women to come to the microphone.


Naomi shook her head, saying, "No, no, it's OK," but then she found herself in front of a lectern, facing the entire world's news media. She blinked. "I ... um ... hi everybody." She smiled and tried to collect her thoughts.


"Wait --" said General Bell, taking out his binoculars and looking at Naomi and Julie more closely. "Haven't I seen them before?" He turned on a monitor, where cameras much closer than he was were showing this event live. "Well I'll be damned. It's those two girls." His brow furrowed as he wondered how this could be.


Meanwhile, Naomi said, "I still think that this was all some kind of accident or coincidence, that it could have happened to anybody who was listening on that day, about eighteen months ago. I'm sure everybody remembers the flash in the sky. It was all over the world. That was the destruction of the Kshandri's transmitting station, near the star Proxima Centauri, by the enemy. They could have blown up the star itself, if they'd wanted to, I guess."


There was a gasp that ran through the crowd at that, but Naomi went on. "But that flash took over four years to get to Earth from there," she said. "By the time it was here, the enemy had already traveled part of the way here. Earth had about two years to live by that time, I'd say."


There was an uneasy buzz in the crowd. "But not to worry," said Naomi, "because the last thing the station sent before the enemy destroyed it was instructions on how to defend ourselves." There was a bit of relief. "But this message was carefully psychologically targeted, so the only people able to decode and understand the signal were the people who would best be able to use the technology it described ... the people whom the signal had been targeting all their lives, actually."


"Except then," said Naomi, "the US military swooped in and tried to cover it up, destroying or confiscating every recording of the signal it could find. That's right. If they'd succeeded, they'd have doomed the Earth to destruction."


Shock ran through the crowd at that point, absolute horror that anyone could be so cocksure that they would gamble with the entire world's very existence, and anger that the US military thought it could run roughshod over the wishes of every other nation.


"Dammit!" General Bell said to himself. "She's trying to undermine people's confidence in the US military! And this is live!" He couldn't think of anything to do that wouldn't involve disobeying orders. "C'mon, terrorists, Chinese, whoever, make your move!"


"Well, the threat's been dealt with," Naomi said, "so we can all relax for now. They didn't get all the copies, and it's lucky for us all that they didn't. We worked together, we fought off the huge armada that was going to attack Earth, and we took the fight to the enemy. But here's the thing." She paused. "We came close to wiping them out," Naomi said, feeling shaky. "I don't like to admit that. I still feel awful to think of it. I'm never going to stop feeling awful about it for the rest of my life. But they were defeated. They won't be back. In a way, the enemy is no more. It's complicated. But now ... we've got a future." She took a breath. "Let's make it a good one."


There was tremendous applause at that, and then Naomi stepped aside, looked at Julie, and gestured at the microphone, silently asking if she wanted to talk to the world.


Julie stepped up nervously and said, "Ummm ... Hi? My name's Julie Spires and I'm a weapon's officer ... and the living mind of Omega, the huge battle station you see as that bright star over head."


Julie points to the bright shiny new star in the sky. There is a murmur of awe through the crowd as many shielded their eyes with their hands from the sun, and looked towards the star.


Julie continued with a strange tone in her voice, "We as a people have reached a cross roads ... that few survive. We are about to take the steps for us to become not only a space faring civilization, but become inter-dimensional beings as well."


In the dark shadow of a bush, a man dressed in black watched through binoculars as Julie made her speech. He unslung his weapon and pulls the charging handle slowly so as not to alert the guard who was standing near by.


Julie says with sorrow in her voice, "We have basically been handed technology that can lift us to the highest places in the heavens ... or utterly destroy us and leave nothing but a dust cloud for the universe to wonder about."


Julie touches a button on her gauntlet. She shimmers out of existence amid much noise and loud talking from the startled crowd.


Julie returns a second or two later, "I have seen a weapon so powerful, that only six small missiles almost totally eradicated and entire world the size of earth. We, the peoples of earth now hold within our grasp the means to end all conflicts and take our place among the many other Star Nations as an equal. The treaty we have just penned with the United Nations this day, guarantees each person a place within this Star League, so long as we have the wherewithal to keep from destroying ourselves with it first."


Suddenly, there were soft popping noises all around the crowd. The many guards slapped at their necks before falling over in a limp heap. A large group of men dressed entirely in black and with dark camo paint on their faces came from the many strategic places they had been hidden. They Charged their weapons.


The one closet to the podium said loudly, "Everyone stand where you are. No one will get hurt if you do exactly what I tell you!"


Julie and Naomi sigh as they look at each other for a split second. What happened next ... happened very fast. First of all, there was suddenly a faint violet glow in the air all around the crowd. Second, Naomi gestured with both hands, and the men's guns were suddenly wrenched forcefully from their arms and scraped across the pavement as some of them cursed and shouted in pain. And third, Naomi stretched her hand at one of the guns, and a ring-shaped pulse of bright light came from her arm and struck the weapon, converting it instantly to a puddle of glowing molten metal, the plastics within it burning away to smoke instantly.


In the nearby US Army transport, General Bell shouted into his microphone, "That's it! I dunno who they are, but they've made their move! Move in to defend the ship and those civilians! Move move move!"


The doors of many vehicles in the area opened at once, and armed American soldiers jumped out, charging toward the gardens where the speeches had been taking place.


Naomi was saying, "No. No one will get hurt, period." To the men who were rubbing their hands in pain she said disparagingly, "Oh, those are just some cuts and scrapes. Suck it up. Get a band-aid." Then, to everyone else she said, "I think you'll find that no projectile weapon will be able to fire anything faster than a brisk walking pace. Would anyone care to take these guys into custody?"


There were occasional high pitched ringing sounds from the perimeter of the glow as bullets fired by the distant American snipers, aimed at the attackers, suddenly lost their velocity and fell to the concrete, their energy sapped by Julie’s damping field. That was when the soldiers arrived.


The black-clad men whose attack had been quickly foiled tried to make a run for it, but found themselves surrounded by American soldiers.


"Ah, good to see you, gentlemen," said Naomi when she noticed them. "It's good to see some ladies among your ranks too."


They largely ignored her and took up protective positions in front of the microphones and around the ship.


"Hello? Excuse me?" Naomi walked up to one of them. "Exactly what are your orders, soldier?"


"To protect the civilians and your ship from threats, Ma'am," said the soldier.


"Well, Corporal ... Christensen," said Naomi, reading his name tag, "some of us here aren't exactly civilians. Julie and I, whether we like it or not, are the de facto leaders of the Earth Defense Force, and that's our vehicle. We're on the same side, soldier. But nobody's going to be doing any more attacking today, so we don't need defending right now, thanks."


Julie walks up to Christensen and says softly, "Give me you weapon soldier. You don't have need of it here."


The soldier looked at Julie as if she had grown another head as he says snidely, "I will not surrender my weapon to a civilian."


Julie held her hand out, the soldier's weapon was bodily snatched from his hand by an irresistible force and jumped into her hand. She tosses it over her shoulder and points a finger at it. A ring of bright light flowed from her arm and hit the weapon ... it flashed into a molten puddle of red hot metal and smoke instantly.


Julie says with a dangerous tone, "I wasn't asking."


She turns and waves her arm towards the other soldiers and their weapons were removed from their hands as well in the same manner.


Julie says loudly, "There will be no one hurting anyone with weapons here today. None of them will work as long as we are here. We ... are the ones here to defend you ... not the other way around."


About that time, General Bell walks haughtily up to Julie and Naomi. He says gruffly, "I thought I recognized the 2 of you. Just what do you think you're doing to my men?"


Julie turns and looks Bell right in the eye as she says in the same tone, "Protecting them from the extermination protocol ... Private."


The General's face turns red as his brows furrow, "I'll have you know I'm a 5 star general in charge of all of the United States Military."


Julie shakes her head slowly, "I remember you being the ignorant SOB who barged into our Radar room with weapons and stole all our research. That data you stole from us? It was a warning. Remember that flash in the sky? That was the enemy destroying the broadcast station. As of that moment, the Earth had 2 years to live. The signal could have saved the world, but by burying it, you could have destroyed Earth. Good thing we outsmarted you and fixed the problem you caused."


Julie’s voice had been picked up by the microphone and broadcast all around the world. Anyone listening to this broadcast heard what Julie had to say. She continued with anger in her voice, "I refuse to allow a Neanderthal such as yourself to come anywhere near us, or our distinguished guests with any kind of weapon. I personally don't feel you have quite the cerebral ability to handle that kind of responsibility. I and my crew ... have proven before the whole Universe ... that we do."


The general stood for an instant before his radio squeals an in coming message, "General Bell? The president has ordered you to find the nearest land line and give him a call. He says you don't realize who it is your talking to there. These individuals are not under United States Jurisprudence ... but they are the highest ranking individuals in the new Earth Defense League agreed to by UN Proclamation and Galactic agreement with other Star Nations."


General Bell replies, "Roger ... I'll call from the mobile command center. Bell out."


He glares at Julie and Naomi for an instant before he walks quickly off, gathering all the men in black and his own men and departing rapidly.


"I knew it wouldn't be long before some short-sighted humans made their move," said Persis. "This is why you can't possibly give the rest of your world the technology. They can't handle it yet."


"You might be right," said Naomi, kneeling by the unconscious reporters and UN ambassadors.


Doctors were seeing to them; it appeared to have been a quick-acting but very short-duration tranquilizer.


"I don't think we'll be giving this to the world just yet."


"What will you do?" asked the Secretary-General.


"I'm not sure, sir," Naomi answered. "We'll defend the Earth from any attackers that come our way -- though after we did what no one else could do, I don't think anyone's likely to try us for some time -- but what happens when we're gone? We can't live forever. We have to train someone on how to build and maintain these craft."


Julie says softly, "Well, we have several million crew ... both pilots and gunners. The male to female ratio is pretty well even too since we earth people seemed to arrive in pairs. And, if you remember, we do have a newly created and perfectly functioning regen tank on the Omega. We can continually create new bodies from fresh DNA samples, and the synchord of our synaptic system is a perfect duplicate of us. We can repeat the same process for all of us as many times as necessary."


The Secretary-General asked, "Can the same process be offered to all?


Julie replies, "For some of the special ones, surely. The pin-headed ones ... I'm not so sure. I don't want to keep bad genes around."


"Well I'm sure we can negotiate it," said Naomi. "I don't want Earth to stagnate. I want it to progress. I want humans to one day be ready for this technology that they can't handle today. I want to find a way to have talks about the science I've learned -- not the technology we've acquired -- with Earth's top scientists."


"I am sure that can be arranged," said the Secretary-General. "I think most of the world's scientists would be enthusiastic to learn more about what you've learned."


"Well, the scientific community is going to be seeing a series of papers from me," said Naomi. "They'll be clamoring to get me to come present a paper at a conference."


In a control center far away, a General with many stars and stripes and medals all over his uniform stood with a mean sneer on his face. He looked at the cowering radio operator with evil, smoldering eyes.


The General snapped, "What do you mean all comms are dead? There's no way all of them could have gone dead at the same time unless the UN Square was nuked."


The man shakes his head warily as he keeps an eye on the General, "I can't explain it sir ... one second the commander said they were engaging ... and a second later all of their transmissions ... stopped."


The General stared at all the life boards. None of them were receiving any kind of signal. The last reading they transmitted, showed the men's heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketing as if they were in a terrible fear. There was no indication, however, that any of them had terminated before the signals were lost.


The General snaps, "Give me a satellite feed of the area. I want to know what's going on. The Private flipped switches and turned dials for a few seconds before he typed furiously on a small key board for a few more seconds.


On the large flat-screen hung on the wall, a fish eye panoramic view of the UN Building, and the large crowded square in front came into view. The General could still see large crowds, the space ship sitting off in the distance in its insectoid way, and many people moving about casually. Nothing to indicate that a battle of any kind had just taken place.


"Are you sure this is working?" the general demanded to know.


"Yes, Sir," said the private. "I've checked several times. This is live. I cannot understand it. What has happened to our strike team? They should have had the spacecraft by now, to add to our arsenal in our glorious struggle."


"Wait, what is that?" the general said, pointing to a blackened spot on the pavement. "Magnify that."


"Yes, Sir," the private said, and attempted to make it happen. The view of that area grew larger, but there was only so much detail available; the image grew blocky after a point.


"What is that?" asked the general. "Identify that."


"I ... don't have much information, Sir," said the private. "It doesn't look like a burn mark left by an explosion. It doesn't look like any of the art in the area, even though some of it is quite abstract. It looks metallic, from the reflections -- it could be a piece of metal that has melted and cooled? But I'm not sure what it could be."


"Never mind," the general said. "So there is no further contact with the team?"


"Negative, Sir," the private said. "We could check the media ..."


"No! The Western media lies," said the general. "Even when we succeed, they will report that we have failed."


"Well, without any other hard data, that's all we have ... wait, here is a report just in from one of our spies ..."


The private read it on his screen. The general did too.


"WHAT?" the general shouted. "That was our best team -- I selected them personally! They trained constantly! They were ready for anything! But ... what is this? Black magic? Devils? Has our spy taken leave of her senses? Oh, what technology lies in that spacecraft? It could have been ours ... it MUST be ours!"


The private said nothing, perhaps wisely.


Julie had been listening to and 'feeling' the many energy waves as Omega for a long time. It was almost second nature for her to feel the weird sensations even now. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood up and bothered her. Julie looks around. She knows someone is watching them very intently with some kind of electronic devise ... she can feel it.


Julie leans over and whispers in Naomi's ear, "We ... are being observed rather more than I think should be."


Naomi looks around. She can see the sparkle of one of the snipers scopes off in the distance, but he had been looking at them since they arrived. He was nonessential. Naomi watched as Julie opened a small panel on one of her arm controls. She typed in commands for a few seconds, then waited.


Julie says in explanation, "I've told the ship to do a high to low energy scan. Someone is watching .... and I want to know who it is."


Within a few seconds, a small clear blue holocloud appeared. On it, it showed several Spysats in orbit all trained on them. Julie typed in a few more commands. Within seconds, a triangulation was on the small cloud showing that the people watching were coming from deep within the middle east. There were no identifying codes ... but it was obvious these individuals were more than interested in what was going on in the square.


Julie says softly, "Naomi, This might be the bad boys that don't believe what the News Services tell them. It seems they might be the ones sent that strike team ... I'm not sure though ... not enough available data to make that kind of determination."


Naomi looks the data over carefully. Who ever it was, was using the highest resolution and highest energy transponder on the spysat. Naomi looks around and sees the weapons they had melted down in the initial attack. She smiles as she walks over to one and picks up the melted and distorted metal blob.


She holds it above her head and mouths, "This is going to happen to you too." directly into the spysat's field of view.


"If I didn't know better, Sir, I'd think she was talking to us," said the private, pointing to Naomi's image on the view screen.


"What did she say?" the general asked.


"I'm not sure, Sir," the private responded. "There is of course no audio, and I cannot lip-read English."


"Well she could not have been talking to us anyway," said the general, "as we have been most careful about gaining access to this satellite's data stream --" The walls shook as an extremely loud explosive boom is heard. "What was that?"


"Yeeeeeeeeehawwwww!" shouted Buck, though nobody could hear him but Samantha, his gunner, and anyone who was listening on his link channel.


Their fighter craft tore through the atmosphere, sending a massive sonic shock wave across the base.


"Comin' around for one more pass."


"Roger that," said Samantha, a woman of few words. But having allowed the first pass for dramatic effect, she fired on all her targets on the second pass. Samantha tended to let her work speak for itself. The ship's plasma beams, which were the least powerful weapons installed, struck every vehicle and aircraft in the base, burning through metal and concrete to reach the ones stored in buildings, flashing from one target to another.


In seconds there was no longer a functional airplane, helicopter, missile, or even ground vehicle in the base. The plasma beams instantly heated steel to white-hot temperatures, fusing and deforming structures and igniting flammables. Soldiers and pilots were running in terror, but few of them were harmed, as they weren't the targets. Vehicles and ammunition were suddenly not a factor.


As the private pulled the General from under a debris pile that had fallen around them in the attack, he said softly, "Obviously, she was talking to us ... sir."


As Buck flies rapidly from the atmosphere, he looks back in the rearward sensors. He sees raging fires and secondary explosions where a heavily armed and fortified Military Base used to stand. He sees there were some casualties, on the whole, for such a large attack as this was ... it was close enough to be called pin point.


Buck reaches over and pats the pretty young woman sitting in the control couch next to him on the shoulder and says softly, "That was some powerful good shootin ... Tex."


Samantha looks over and smiles. She's a woman of few words ... but her weapons do speak very loudly.


Julie says, "Naomi, our space cowboy reports that the base has been neutralized with minimum casualties. Sam apologies for the few that got caught in the secondary explosions ... but they couldn't be helped."


The Secretary-General couldn't believe what he was hearing. Those amazing young women not only found the base that sent the troops ... but they neutralized it without killing everybody there. He knew at that point the technology they possessed could very well spell the end of the human race if it fell into the wrong hands.


"And so it begins," said Persis. "You've started an arms race that will certainly have every country on Earth trying to duplicate your advancements. I predict the human race will be extinct in a century or less. You might even manage to vaporize the Earth."


"Now, there's no need to be so pessimistic," Crystal said. They were dining with Naomi and Julie on board the Omega. "You're forgetting that the human race has many peaceful individuals who desire only to live peacefully and get on with their lives."


"As well as a lot of paranoid idiots who are certain that their neighbors are trying to kill them and everyone they love," Naomi continued, "and therefore they must retaliate first. Self-fulfilling prophecy. It's how humans are -- I can say it; I'm one of 'em. But we're here, and we're gonna be here for a while yet. We'll take it one step at a time. People who were thinking about causing us trouble will think again after our swift counterattack -- one of our smallest ships destroyed their country's main military installation in seconds. There should be peace for a while, and then -- we'll just see what happens."


Persis snorts as she says philosophically, "Evil begets evil as surly as force brings fear. Fear is the death to die many times over ... when in one fell swoop ... the fires of war change whole planet's attitudes."


Everyone looked at Persis with a wondering expression.


Julie asks, "And what, is that supposed to mean?"


Persis shakes her head and replies sadly, "A total over whelming annihilation of all the weapons on their main base ... even though you didn't kill anyone ... will strike fear in the hearts of many and will cause many not to try to go against you. Then, one nation is so afraid, they again attempt an aggression on a larger scale ... to try and gain the technology so they do not live in fear any longer. Once again ... a larger demonstration ... there's a mathematical pattern to this."


Crystal replies, "But, there are also exceptions and variable that are within that same calculation that changes the outcomes."


Julie says with attitude, "Yea. I mean , I know there are factions on this planet that will attempt to gain access to the weapons. But ... what if the weapons are not given to them, nor the means to manufacture them. There is tremendous knowledge to help my people rise form the slime so to speak."


Crystal says, "With each advancement. there will always be someone who will try to weaponize it. I'm sure you haven't so quickly forgotten the war you just won? It followed the same pattern."


Julie shakes her head slowly, "I just lived ... out there," she points to the heavens, "For almost a year. I had within my power to utterly destroy a star ... and still do, thereby wiping out an entire solar system. The only inclination I have ... is to teach my peoples to rise above their animal instincts and to become the peoples I know we can be."


Persis smiles, "That's a noble goal. How, might this ignorant one ask, are you going to accomplish this major feat?"


Julie looks at Naomi as she replies, "Well ... we are very rich right now ... we own one of the most successful recycling companies on the planet. I ... we will build an Academy. Only the most gifted and eligible will attend at first."


"We'll try to teach them all that they have to use their knowledge for the benefit of all," said Naomi. "That it's the only way not just to have peace, but to live. That the only alternative will mean the end of the human race. We have a small window of opportunity here -- to hold onto our petty differences and burn, or reach for the stars and soar."


"I wonder which they will choose?" asked Crystal.


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~~ The End ~~
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[Aimee Michelle]

Great Story Miki! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[LilJennie]

And another awesome story comes to an end -- this one was very interesting to write, and very fun, as always. I noticed that Julie neutralized the chemical reactivity of the powder in the snipers' bullets, but later they were able to fire them -- that was my fault, actually, because I wrote both those passages. *blush* Maybe Julie stopped suppressing the reactivity because there were other measures in place? Maybe the snipers figured out their bullets had been neutralized and replaced them with new ones? Or maybe I just forgot. *sheepish grin*

Anyway, it gets kind of preachy in the end here, I suppose. The story could have gone on and on, and perhaps we should have ended it earlier, but we kept wanting to find out what happened next. That's a sign that the story has taken on a life of its own, when it seems to know where it's going and we don't. :)

I hope people liked it, even though there was no regression, diapers, or transgender content. It's still fun. I'd like to see more comments, though -- I'm not sure why, but sometimes it feels like we're writing for a very small audience, because only a few people seem to comment. Are we too scary? :)

[TiresiasRex]

Not too scary. Just very....rich with detail. I am still absorbing the earlier chapters (through Chapter 7) before Miki went off and "vanished."

As for your other concern: There may not have been any AB/DL or sissy issues in the story..but who cares? You did have an "obligatory" hentai scene (or sorts) with a naked girl and some "tentacles"...so there was thatfetishistic element, plus the fetish of guns/space battles! Plus: "Signal" has two attractive and smart women who both men and women can identify with...

I don't recall any guidelines for what must be IN stories in this community...just for what cannot be in them. I think you are safe. I, for one, read a story first based on the author and then for the storyline or ideas I know will be there...so, as loyal members of the SK community, I would think that you and Miki have nothing to fear in terms of what you post in the Story Forum....even if it is not "regular." I'm just rambling again...

One worry, though: with a story of this length and magnitude, WHEN DO YOU TWO SLEEP?????!!!!????

Seriously, go get some shut eye before you bless us with another epic!

[PetBabyAmy]

Sorry for the delay in my Comment Miki, it's taken me a long time to read every part. It's very epic and worthy of being made into a movie. It's science fiction at its best and there is only person I feel that would do a story like this justice. James Cameron, the maker of the Movie, Avatar.

That is sincere high praise Miki, and I mean it too. Avatar was so rich in science fiction, more than that, it was an awesome story with awesome visuals to match and your story is of the same quality as Avatar.

I give you a Million Hinny Pats, but I maybe here all day doing that. *Giggles*

*Wuv, huggles & kwisses*