"Which one of you is the president? And, who is Captain Sheridan?" Catherine asked.
A woman not wearing military garb stood up and one of the men stepped forward.
"I am President Levy," the woman said, and waved to the man who stepped forward. "This is Captain John Sheridan."
"Thank you. It's nice to see that this time around the military isn't in charge of the race," Catherine said with a smile.
President Levy was taken aback a bit by that, but recovered. "You said you are here to give us technology and history?"
Catherine Nebulart placed a small chip and device on the table. "That chip holds all our history and technology save two pieces. It took us a bit to get the reader to display in your language, but we pulled it off. However, just in case...."
Captain Nebulart touched her ear and said, "Shilda, now."
Nodding, she turned back to the group who looked at her in suspicion.
"I have just had Shilda dump a copy of all our technology into various computers on this world and your colony world. I think you call it the World Wide Web."
Levy rubbed her head and stared at Captain Nebulart in shock. "You just dumped all your technology into an area where any ordinary person could just pick it up? I'm not sure that was such a good idea."
"I'm quite sure that there will be people like Journey and Born who will try and use the technology for their own ends, instead of the betterment of our race. However, there should be people like myself who try to find other options besides war. Notice, the person who tried to find another way besides war was the survivor."
John Sheridan suppressed his laughter. "She put her words into action. She gave us her technology free and clear. It's just not the way we expected it. I am curious about something. You said you weren't quite human. What did you mean by that?"
Catherine Nebulart looked at the chair and seeing a nod from the president sat down. She sighed heavily, as she put her thoughts into some sort of order.
"The Solinoids were created by another race, long before what I'm going to call the Stardust War, ever started. Our progenitors colonized Malthus, like we colonized Earth. They were destroyed, leaving something that looked somewhat like them but differing in some aspect. John Sheridan, the Solinoids had no people like you or those who stand behind you."
Sheridan looked behind him and saw a group of soldiers and then looked at Catherine Nebulart in confusion.
"I don't understand."
Catherine put the chip in the reader and brought up a holographic display of the crew of a Solinoid ship.
"What is the difference between this crew and a crew of one of your ships?"
John Sheridan asked, "A crew of all women? Where are the men?"
"Exactly. There were none. If you delve into our history and biology sections, you'll find out more," the Solinoid captain said.
John Sheridan looked very uncomfortable. "O-kay. I'm not going to go there."
"You said that there were two pieces of technology that you didn't give us. Why?"
Catherine Nebulart tapped a bit more on brought up an image of the Solinoid home world.
"Malthus and all the other Solinoid worlds are no more because of that technology. I hate them for what they cost both sides. I left them behind. All those weapons create are nothing but stardust," Catherine said, as she blinked back the tears. "The planet destroyers and the system destroyers should have no place in this universe, except as lessons on what not to do. At any rate, I am going to tell you my story. You should know who I am and what I did."
Captain Catherine Nebulart went into her own personal history. She told of her mission and then later how she broke orders and went to the Paranoid science group to try and create the third race that would stand between both the Solinoid and Paranoid. Some amusement crept into her voice, as she explained the Catty android series. Sadly she explained the failure of the experiment and the later battle that took place in the Sol system that almost ended humanity before it had a chance to begin. She continued with her final desperate plea to stop the two sides from fighting to no avail and her decision to bring the technology in person. She left out one little detail. She left out that she gained the full history of humanity before she made the leap forward.
"That was quite a story," President Levy said, as she glanced at a person wearing black gloves who nodded. "I do hope that what you have given us will turn the tide. We're losing the battle."
"It won't be the first time we've been destroyed. This time, I'm going to try and break the cycle. If you fortify, keep them back, and don't invade their territories, hopefully you'll avoid another Stardust War."
"A war that leaves nothing behind of either side," Levy said. "I don't want to go there either."
"Now then, Mimbari?"
"General Leftcort can explain that better than I," President Levy said
The General, upon hearing his name, stood up and bowed. He sat down and told Catherine Nebulart of the war. He hesitated, but seeing the president nod once more, he explained how the people who first met the Mimbari mixed up peace signals for war signals. Captain Nebulart got a sour look on her face when she heard exactly how a Mimbari ship approaches another ship peacefully.
"The Paranoid had better reasons to hate us then these people do. All this death and destruction over the death of a single person? We'll help you out to repel them, but that's as far as I want to go. The Mimbari are firmly on their way to getting involved in a Stardust War, but it's not going to be humanity they start it with. Far Hunter was a flagship, and as such it has factories on board. My ship can easily handle ship engines, shields, and ship weapons. You'll have to provide the hulls for them. I don't like getting involved in another war, but I see no choice. You tried to unconditionally surrender and yet they keep up the war. Personally, I'm going to say fight until enough ships are built and then evacuate all the planets that you have colonized, including Earth."
"If we did that, where will we go?" President Levy asked.
"The most important bit of technology I gave you is the planetary activators. Using them, you can turn an uninhabitable world into a paradise in under a week. The Solinoids never colonized a planet that lived on its own until Earth. Neither side wanted to drag innocents into the war."
Catherine Nebulart stood up and headed for the door. She stopped and looked back.
"I'm sure you have a secret military meeting that you'll be having after I leave. I would do the same. I want to say something before I head back and get some sleep. If I can find a way to end the war with a minimal of bloodshed, I will do so. I became a traitor and renegade from the Solinoid army, because I tried to find a way besides war. War leaves nothing but devastation."
With that, Catherine Nebulart left.
The PsiCorps telepath that Levy had looked at said, "She was telling the truth. However, she hid something near the end of her story before she came into this time."
President Levy said, "It's not important. What's important is dealing with the massive tech dump that she did. Earth is going to change very quickly due to her actions."
Another officer by the name of Jeffery Sinclair spoke up.
"I trust her. She was completely honest with us. She might have hidden something; but compared to all that she gave us, it is probably negligible."
President Levy picked up the reader, still showing a picture of Malthus. "Get the information off the net and update our various factories with Solinoid tech. Oh heck with it, get several groups of scientists on the data and get as much tech into production as fast as possible. The planetary activators are a top priority item. Even with the weapon upgrades, the Mimbari are still going to be very powerful. We might have to run. We were given a second chance, let's not waste it. Dismissed."
The various officers saluted and left. President Levy gazed at the image of Malthus.
"Humanity's previous home world. It was destroyed and yet humanity lived on," President Levy muttered.
The President of Earth took a bit to figure out the controls of the reader. She managed to change it to what she was looking for.
"I've been wanting to get something interesting to read. The complete history of the Solinoids looks interesting.
_______________________________________________________________________
On the Far Hunter, Catherine Nebulart sat down in her quarters with the android Catty looking at her. Captain Nebulart put a metal headband with wires attached on her head. The wires were connected to another headband that she placed on her android double. Catherine activated the device and nodded in satisfaction.
"Catty, you now know everything I know."
"Are you sure that was wise, Ma'am? The Paranoid never fully copied your memories when they created me and my sisters."
"You mean the off chance that if I get killed, my essence will be drawn into you? It's a chance, but the benefit far outweighs the risk. I asked to know it all before the destruction began. I was given that information. You have it, as well as a duplicate of the chip that turned over to the Earth government. In a way, you are the repository of history of both the Paranoid and Solinoid."
"If you get killed?" Catty asked.
Catherine looked out a window to the stars beyond. "The Mimbari are fond of symbols. The person who most represents Dukaht for humanity is I. If I have to walk up to their Grey Council and let one of them stab me through the heart to end this stupid war, then that is what I will do. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the Mimbari realize how important to humanity that I am."
Catty nodded. "I understand that. I was referring to the chance that as time passes, you will be drawn into me, leaving nothing behind but a mindless body."
"The survival of our history and knowledge is more important than anything that might happen to me."
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(Posted Thu, 20 Oct 2005 01:55)
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