Chapter 3: 3. Conversation

Luke was frustrated. I could sense it now. The telepathy was getting easier. Really though, we need to recommence. I'm due to our council of nations soon to schedule and coordinate the Harvest. Please, ask them to continue. I'll answer all their questions. The Harvest is where we allow part of the population of the colony to return home with us. It is strictly voluntary. We harvest to keep the colonies from growing so large they damage themselves. This colony is rapidly approaching a threshold limit. If you grow much larger, population controls programmed into your strands will enact. These are highly volatile control methods. Millions will die when that threshold limit is exceeded. Please, convey this.

I glanced at Leia's bottom and an image leaped into my head without me meaning it to. I quickly smothered it, but not before that thought carried over to her. The look she gave me was not friendly and a little confused. I hurriedly did as Luke bid me.

"It's strictly voluntary?" the UN dignitary asked, seeking clarification.

"That's what he said. They were supposed to come long before this. I don't think they'd normally reveal themselves in this fashion otherwise. We're way over capacity so they figured they'd make a more direct approach," I said, receiving a nod of confirmation from alien ambassador.

"Were they responsible for the disappearance of the Lost Colony?" Richard asked. I tried to recall which alphabet he was with. I was pretty sure it was the FBI. I knew the story of the Lost Colony, and I was not sure why he cared if it was them. They were the colonists from Roanoke who had mysteriously disappeared leaving behind only the word “Croatoan” carved into a palisade. I quickly relayed this question to Luke.

How long ago? he asked, irritated with the question. He thought it frivolous. The look on Leia's face showed she was finally in agreeance with her brother.

"I don't know," I replied, looking to Gold-rims for the answer. The scientist gave me an inquisitive look. "The colony at Roanoke, when was it abandoned?"

"Late 1500's," Mercy supplied. She shrugged when I gave her my surprised face. Her answer had been automatic. I was impressed. "I like history," she said it without apology. I liked her. She was short and feisty. I looked back to the alien ambassador and quickly calculated the number of years.

It would have been about four hundred years ago. I said, approximating it. He seemed confused by this, and I realized he was unfamiliar without units and measure. One revolution of our planet around our star is a year. It takes 365 rotations to equal a year. I expected his conversions to take time, but he had the answer instantly. His eyes only flickered once, and he responded.

It wasn't these countries, but it might have been a drift that broke off and proceeded us. There have been several through the years. Why do you ask of this one? he inquired.

"The word ‘Croatoan’ was carved into a tree or something when the colony was revisited. You've been saying Croatoan a lot since you arrived," I said this out loud for the benefit of the seven ambassadors.

Croatoan is our word of greeting. It is like your aloha. It means hello and goodbye depending on how it's being used. I revealed this to the ambassadors. When they asked what I meant about drifts, I had no reply. I asked, and he laid out the structure of their society. It dawned on me as he described the structure of their governments how it was all arranged, and the significance of a drift became apparent. I hurriedly explained this to the ambassadors.

"Each saucer is a different country in their society. Each saucer has its own government. A drift is when some of the countries break off and go their own way. He's suggesting that maybe one of these drifts beat them here back when the colony was small and took the Roanoke colonists with them. He doesn't know for sure though, but he acknowledges that Croatoan is their word and their word alone. The short answer is yes. It was them." My head was starting to throb horribly. I needed an Aspirin or Tylenol.

"How is the Harvest conducted?" Peter inquired. He was keenly interested in this act.

Your leaders explain it to your people and give them the choice to go or stay. They decide. A tour of the ships is provided for any leaders or functionaries who care to visit. We will explain all. We will dispense all knowledge as to the inner workings of our government and even provide one-on-one testimonials from our citizenry. Those who wish to return home will rally in locations around the planet. We'll send skiffs to ferry them to our ships. This is full disclosure. We will provide representatives if you provide translators. We identified all of your translators for you ahead of time. Luke gave his sister an irritated look, and I realized she had been sidling off to the side. His look was enough to freeze her in place.

Is that why you forced that word into our heads? I exclaimed. That hurt.

It was necessary, Leia interjected callously. Don't be so weak.

I relayed all that was said to the seven, and they spent a few moments murmuring amongst themselves. The man I knew as Aaron McDonald was not relieved by the open-air discussion. Evidently, he had been elected by the seven to voice their concerns.

"I appreciate your candidness. What you propose is interesting and would solve a problem that has become an increasingly troubling thought in the minds of our world leaders. We had thought to spread to beyond the stars ourselves. It seemed the only real solution to the problem we're facing. We'd planned on doing it ourselves though," he said, smoothing his tie.

"Why reinvent the coobla?" I loudly exclaimed, irked that Leia had seized control of me again. Get out. I sensed hostility, but she vacated the driver's seat readily.

"What?" Aaron blurted in confusion.

"She took control again," I replied, "and it's getting really freaking old." I snapped, giving her dagger eyes. She sniffed disdainfully and looked away. I wanted her so bad.

"Okay," Aaron said, dismissing me. He turned his attention back to Luke. "That being said, we have a few concerns and a couple troubling questions that need to be addressed."

"What are they?" I said, repeating Luke yet again.

"We were attacked. You attacked us twice," the Director of Homeland Security revealed. "And not just us. You attacked every nation on this planet. You killed tens of thousands. That is a declaration of war." Luke was taken aback and confused by this.

"You don't want us for enemies," I told the seven ambassadors. Leia and Luke turned on me in confusion. They had not forced me to say that. The seven ambassadors paled so cold was my delivery of the threat. I was winging it. There was no way I was going to let this dingleberry start a war with me at the helm.

"That wasn't us," Leia announced, taking control of me again. She surrendered control as quickly as she took it, but it was all the time she needed to undo what I had tried to do.

Don't do that, she admonished before going silent once more. The dignitaries all eyed me caustically.

"What attack?" I asked, knowing that was the question Luke would ask.

"You hit us with a massive electromagnetic pulse that wiped out our electronics worldwide," the science guy accused. "It killed almost twenty thousand people.”

How? It was Leia who asked this. She was genuinely troubled by the accusation.

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Many of the people killed wore pacemakers. They're electronic devices that help individuals with bad hearts. They looked confused. I considered my words. With bad cardiac muscles. The pacemakers regulate heart beats. I shot an image and position of the organ into her head. Your EMP overcame their shielding and killed thousands of them. It also shut off the life support systems for many injured patients. That was tens of thousands. A few air transports fell out of the sky and a few industrial facilities were destroyed killing workers and civilians. It wasn't a very good way to say hello, I confessed. Luke and Leia look crestfallen.

We warned you ahead of time, Luke quailed. The magnetic interference we caused first was so you would know to prepare for the EMP burst. We gave you time to prepare.

"How is that time to prepare?" I asked incredulously.

"What's he saying?" Tessa barked.

"He said that was what the interference was for. They were giving us warning to prepare for the EMP burst. I think they expected you to take precautions to protect our EMP vulnerable electronics."

"Four days?" Aaron grumbled. "You gave us four days to prepare?"

"We gave you four days. You grounded all air traffic. We assumed you'd understood the reason for that interference. Then we greeted you verbally by way of your telepaths. We cleaned our feet and knocked," I said. Leia was gesturing her disbelief while hijacking my voice box. I farted and she departed, throwing me a disgusted look. "It was her," I explained yet again. "Well, the speech was her. The gas was me."

Bring us their bodies, Luke entreated.

"How can they think that makes it alright?" Tessa complained.

"You had weapons trained on us. We couldn't descend safely while you could see us. An EMP should have blinded you temporarily so we could land and have this meet and greet," I told them with Leia's voice. I did not fight her this time, but I really did not like her taking control without permission. It was rude.

"Whether accidental or on purpose, it was you who killed our people. This needs to be addressed before we go any further."

"Bring us those who've died," I said with Leia at the helm once more.

"Why?" Mercy asked.

"We can return them to you. We can make them whole," I whispered, stunned by what I was hearing. Stunned that this was possible. There was silence all around. I roused my mind and tried to force her out. She did the mental equivalent of kung fu kicking my brain into my stomach.

"We'll need to confer," Mercy said.

"We will meet one week hence," I told them as Leia. She spilled out of my mind like water warm water from an ear canal. It was pleasant and creepy.

Please convey my apologies, Luke said, guiding his sister back toward the ship with one hand. She went without resistance. Luke stayed behind and extended his hand to each of the ambassadors. I must address our council and apprise them of all that has happened. And any of those who died as a result of our EMP, have them present when we return, and we will make them whole. We must make them whole. We did not mean for this to happen. We will reprint them for you, then proceed with the Harvest. Please, convey my apologies and tell them we will make this right.

I mumbled, “Croatoan,” each time he shook their hands, but I was not paying attention. He had finally said something that lived up to expectations. Finally, he had said something that was hardcore sci-fi. He was going to print new humans. I had no idea what that meant, but it made me want to rush home and plunder my Netflix account for everything sci-fi. Luke and Leia boarded their ship, climbing the impossibly long ladder. I studied Leia's body intently. I could not keep the thoughts out of my mind. More than once, I caught her returning those looks. Each time she was irritated and confused. I was beginning to wonder just what the limit on this telepathy thing was. How far away was too far? Then I remembered they had put the word “Croatoan” in the brains of over a thousand telepaths . . . from orbit. I let a thought leap into my head of me and Leia naked in a pool of lime Jell-O. There were no words. The response was just a mental backhand that left my eyes unfocused and my head buzzing. She could still hear my thoughts. This made me smile through the blurriness.

I quickly conveyed Luke's apologies to the ambassadors and delivered his message concerning the dead. With my obligations met, I headed toward the funnel cake cart and hoped they had not run out of stock. Behind me, the gigantic shuttle in the midst of the field began to hum and whine as its engines came online. I felt the hair all over my body stand on end as whatever form of engine they used powered up. Several cows were tossed and tumbled beneath the ship when it took off, and watching it take off was impressive to see. There was no hesitant pause before a slow acceleration. One moment 40,000 tons of ship was sitting in a field, then it was gone. It rose so fast that people were drawn forward into its wake. Unfortunately for me, the funnel cake cart was among them.

"Shit," I exclaimed, pulling my cap from my back pocket where I had kept it holstered. I unfolded the bill and pulled it on my head then headed for home. I made it nearly thirty feet before a group of soldiers descended upon me. Two of them grabbed me—one under each arm—and dragged me back to the ambassadors. I tried to struggle, but they were Marines, and I played a lot of Xbox. I was not going anywhere, so I relaxed and let my heels drag.

"Mr. Dumbledore, would you kindly follow us?" Tessa asked. She was not really asking. The Marines had not let me go.

"Where?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"Washington to brief the President, and then to New York to address the United Nations," Aaron answered.

"Why?" I whined, confused.

"To debrief. To face charges of interfering with a presidential dignitary. Sedition. Treason. Hell, you're going to come with me because it pleases me," Tessa told me snidely. "I don't really care the reason. You're coming and that's final. You were in their heads, and they were in yours. You're a threat to national security just now. You won't be leaving my side anytime soon."

"Fine," I declared strenuously. "But I have one condition. Otherwise, I'm . . . I'm . . . otherwise, I'm biting this Marine."

"You don't want to do that," Mercy warned. The Marines bringing up the rear grinned and shook their heads. I suddenly missed warm cuddly Leia. The mental back hand left me dazed and seeing double. Dammit! How freaking far was far enough?

"What is your condition?" Mercy asked.

"Funnel cake." Tessa drilled holes in my head with her fiery gaze. "Extra powdered sugar," I added, looking pointedly at the up turned cart.

"You're kidding, right?" Tessa snapped, marching around the Marines to face me down. I smiled, she groaned, and the funnel cake was delicious.

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