Visitation - Reality (book 1 of 2)

WAR

SEVERAL HUNDRED MORE years had passed since the Visitors arrival and the Settlers, who had managed to stay well hidden from events until then, came to the conclusion that enough was enough.

They would have to take the risks and not only show themselves but engage in warfare, if need be, to stop the abuse of their humankind.

They prepared themselves, as far as they were capable, by re-discovering in their ancient stores, the weapons that had come with their predecessors many generations previously. Determining how they should be employed and practising their use without actually energising or firing them was something of a difficulty.

When they came into the open and approached the Visitors, their sudden appearance in flying craft was unsettling; the Visitors thought they were the only ‘off-world’ persons on this planet. The Settlers did not tell them from where on the planet they came but let the Visitors work that out for themselves if they could.

A dialogue did ensue but this stalled very quickly on the fundamentals of the inter-breeding programs. A major disagreement ensued about the use of the new humans, the hybrid creation of mixed species, and the use of them for no more than expendable slaves.

The Settlers valued all life far more than the Visitors who considered that their existence was superior to all others; inferior sorts could be abused as they saw fit.

It was made clear by the Visitors that the Settlers, however technologically advanced they clearly had to be, were considered as an inferior race with little difference to the humans.

An open war broke out with the Settlers having to make themselves use their weaponry in anger and seeing for the first time the effect that such devices had on their opponents.

Their focus was sharpened and their skill increased immeasurably when, conversely, they saw the damage and deaths inflicted upon their colleagues, by the Visitors weapons, when they had been slow to engage or had not developed their skills sufficiently.

Large aerial battles particularly in the area of the great mountains near to the Settler’s home base, which the Visitors had still not discovered, took place on a regular basis. Both these and the few land battles that also ensued were witnessed by many of the new humans.

They saw this some sort of internecine struggle between different sides of the ‘Gods’, not realising that different races were involved.

Records and myths with fantastic descriptions combined in recording both verbally and in early written form, the apparently fantastic events taking place. Flying chariots with wings and bolts of lightning, 'good' Gods and ‘fallen’ Gods went into the mythical records.

Eventually the Visitors decided that this was enough, having lost heavily, with the prize now not worth the losses. Those surviving decided to leave this planet in their great spherical craft, swearing they would eventually return and exact revenge.

The Settlers had suffered losses also but not as severely as these Visitors.

This had more to do with the weapons that had come with them which been carefully selected by the great computer system for the eventuality of a major conflict, embodying an advanced technology developed many thousands of years previously, rather than in the skill of their use.

It was now considered an urgent task by the Settlers to store all the information that had been brought with them in remote and separate locations to minimise the risk of any future total loss.

By good fortune, weapon superiority or the poorer tactics of the Visitors, they had not determined the Settler’s home location. As a result, they had not made any direct attacks upon it. Had they done so, vast amounts of information and materiel kept there would have been lost and this would have threatened the very survival of the Settlers and the emerging humankind.

The information stores they envisaged had to include, not only their known history and the ancient myth conjectures, but also a record of the hominid/human development and all recent events. This was seen as a strategic move to secure their longevity of their vast collection of knowledge, the record of their presence and the works they had done to pass on their DNA.

It was all to be securely hidden in various places about the world, which only the inquisitive new humans (should their existence continue to the right level of intellectual development) might eventually recognise the significance of.

It was intended that when these caches were discovered at some future time, the result would provide a great leap forward in human understanding. This combined with the humans' access to items of an advanced technology, also stored with the knowledge, would be sufficient to project them, significantly, on the uphill climb of an advanced evolutionary and civilisation path.

In a worst case scenario, should all species disappear from the planet, assuming this was not from a similar catastrophe as the home planet then, at least, a record of the existence of a once great race of people together with an incredible store of knowledge would be available at some future time for any others who may arrive and recognise the markers.

It was decided that great monuments, capable of lasting for tens or hundreds of thousands of years should be constructed by those who had the artistic and engineering expertise to do so.

This would also echo the home planet that had been filled by such artistic ventures, as could be seen from the ancient computer records. Local materials, mainly stone, were to be employed providing some sort of guarantee of longevity. These monuments were additionally to be multi-purpose in that they should be striking, say something to an intelligent mind about the culture that built them and be signposts to where the records may be found. They would also be designed to serve another, secondary, protective military purpose.

This latter purpose was to include for the construction of shapes that could not only contain energy generators but also be capable, by virtue of their geometry, of focussing and directing such generated energy into powerful beams out into space. This would create a powerful signal sweeping space with the Earth's rotation, an unmistakeable message, to any who approached that this planet was well guarded; beware.

Great pyramid shapes, similar to those the records showed had been constructed long ago on the home planet was chosen. They had specific shapes to naturally focus the kind of energy that would be generated, and which could house the appropriate and necessary equipment safely. Two at least were to be built on 'opposing sides' of the globe so that with its rotation, beams of energy would sweep alternatively through space with a short time interval of twelve hours between each.

An artistic construction was also decided upon, with a massive cultural hint, which would provide a big clue as to the ancient nature and origin of the Settlers. From the ancient text records, the oldest known origin believed to be, not their previous home planet that had been destroyed but somewhere in the direction of the star called Sirius, known for many aeons on this and the destroyed home planet, as the Dog Star.

A giant dog statue would therefore be constructed and aligned astronomically such that intelligent peoples could determine, from its exact period of construction just when the ancient journey may have taken place, and from which general direction.

The exact starting point was not known but perhaps future generations at the right level of intellectual development may be able to work that out for themselves from the information thus codified. If the Settlers were still a viable entity by this period in time it was considered also possible then they may have determined the answer to this question for themselves.

From the pointers that the great computer records had provided, which included the constellation known as Orion, the Dog Star Sirius and the name Cygnus, all might be determined at some time eventually. The Settlers were not aware of the full significance of these pointers but in time, and perhaps with further scientific development, they believed others may be able to determine what it all meant.

Their ancestors, the first Settlers who came to this planet, had been on the point of deciphering the discovered ancient texts, which may have provided the answers but they had, of course, been lost in the great catastrophe. Maybe with the right research program and the samples of the texts brought with them, the Settlers themselves might have been able to unravel the mystery. Recent events now demanded their attention. The establishment of the planned information stores had to be the current priority while a period of peace persisted.

Records of their last home before it became a desolate and arid, dead neighbour, would be stored so that they also may be found within the hidden caches. As many items of technology, which could be spared or manufactured, were to accompany the information. These were to be typical of the Settlers’ technology, and would be capable of either direct practical use or be capable of 'back-engineering' in furthering an understanding of the science involved.

Different artists laid out different schemes and subsequently built different styles of construction in different places about the globe.

Giant monuments were no serious issue for the Settlers as their technology, including anti-gravity machines, made short work of extracting, working, moving and joining together massive pieces of stone.

Some of the humans were even allowed access, with some training, to build their own constructions in some of the strangest of places.

This would help in promulgating a simple myth that the Settlers were simply building monuments, this as a smoke screen to hide their real purpose.

It was hoped that the Visitors would never return, but now this planet was on somebody’s map, it was a massive uncertainty.

Perhaps the sweeping beams declaring that the planet was occupied and guarded might actually serve to draw unwanted attention to it, a chance that had to be taken.

If people are to be wiped out from conflict, or gross genetic alteration, then at least a record, for future arrivals, will say who they were, how they came to be here, what had happened to their home world, the extent of their knowledge and what they had achieved before their disappearance?

This was endemic in the Settlers mentality and they were sure that such a way of viewing life was also now in the new humans because of the original beneficial DNA alterations.

It was hoped that the humans would survive, prosper as a species and eventuality be the recipient of such stored knowledge. Their intelligence and curiosity may finally develop to such a stage that they would be able to recognise the signs and discover the caches, taking the leap forward being planned for them.