Oh, it's Monday... History of the Galaxy (part 4)

I should post some more if I can make the time for it...
So much to do, so little time.
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Abridged History of the Galaxy (part 4)

The Zorn came here from Andromeda galaxy, where they had absorbed or wiped out many races.  They had their own method of crossing great distances quickly.  They had not perfected quantum movement, but rather they were masters of controlling black holes.  They had learned how to create them nearly anywhere, and learned how to generate worm hole corridors, through which they could travel where they wished in essentially no time at all.

Attacks on the Zorn by Abras ships did not stop them, but proved to be such a problem for the Zorn, that they concentrated all their efforts on stopping Abras.  They joined the Conclave with that purpose in mind.

The Zorn used their ability to manipulate black holes as a weapon against the planet Abras and its inhabitants.  The Zorn first created and then disrupted a large black hole about 300 trillion miles from the planet.  The resultant gamma-ray burst was enough to destroy life on Abras and shut down the planetary computers and robot workers.

Abras had only four hours warning.  That was not enough to set in play a planetary rescue mission, but they did manage to send out a small military mission to jump to Andromeda galaxy with instructions to set off their most powerful weapon near the Zorn home world.

They knew they were going to die, but they believed in "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth".  The Zorn were killing them, so they would kill the Zorn.  The weapon they sent out against the Zorn was an anti-matter time-reversal bomb.  The bomb contained an anti-matter singularity, which could be sent backwards in time and detonate in the past.

The bomb was set on a giant gas planet not too far from the Zorn's planet of origin. The singularity sucked in matter from the gas giant and when that matter met the anti-matter of the singularity there was total conversion to energy.  Eventually, this energy built up to the point where it disrupted the event horizon and the singularity exploded like a miniature big-bang.

Along with everything else within range, the Zorn home world was converted to nothing larger than atomic particles.  The time reversal effect had carried the bomb back to a time before the Zorn first ventured into space, killing them before they could cause trouble for anyone. This caused a disruption of the Space-Time continuum in that part of Andromeda galaxy.

The Zorn ceased to exist.  In one of the paradoxes that crop up when dealing with time, the time reversal only occurred locally in Andromeda, so the planet Abras was still bathed in killing rays, and the Zorn war machines still plagued the Milky Way.  The Conclave attacked and slaughtered the Nisse, Lepp-Ricans and Tomte.  The balance of power in the Milky Way turned and remaining humans became subjects of the Conclave.

The federation of worlds ceased to operate.

The Conclave controlled the Milky Way.

Only a few thousand people who escaped Abras survived.  One group of these took refuge on a planet very much like Abras in the Orion Spur, a small part of the galaxy with no known space-faring races.  It did have a rather small indigenous population of humanoids, but only about 2000 mating pairs.  If the refugees from Abras could hide among that population, they might avoid detection by the Conclave.
That planet is known today to its inhabitants by many names; a few of those include: Dharti, la Tierra, Terre, Terra,  地球, земля (Zemlia), Prithvi, Erde and Earth.

Abridged Galactic History -part 3 - the Galactic Federation

About one hundred twenty thousand years ago, the Federation of Friends expanded its charter and scope.  It transformed into the Galactic Federation of Worlds, much like the United Nations is today on Earth.  In it, individual delegations represented each world or group of worlds in the general assembly where they discussed and voted on matters relevant to their people.  The federation did not have any military arm, but since Abras was the original prime motivator of the federation, the Abras military enforced any unpopular decisions decided on by vote in the general assembly.

Being strong and powerful meant that Abras naturally made enemies, but in placing the word 'galactic' in the name of the federation, they opened the organization to all races and planets in the Milky Way, whether friend or enemy.  Enemies of Abras formed an alliance, which they referred to as the Conclave.  If all the Conclave planets banded together, Abras alone could not stop them.  To remain in control and keep the Conclave from taking over called for delicate maneuvering.  To stay on top, Abras had to rely on the combined strength of their friends and allies. so they formed alliances and kept their allies close.  Numbering among their staunchest allies were races like the Nisse, Lepp-Ricans and Tomte who were related races on planets within the same double star system.

Balance was carefully maintained for nearly 50,000 years until about 71,000 BCE, by Earth measurement.  At that time news began to reach the federation planets of an infestation which seemed to have appeared from nowhere, called Zorn or Zornan.

For some time no one learned anything about these malevolent monsters except that they were dangerous.  When planets came under the control of the Zorn, all communications with that planet ceased.  When the Zorn moved on, they left behind, not simply a lifeless world, but a world that had been stripped of valuable natural resources.

As to the makeup of the Zorn and how they operated, a breakthrough came when they encountered a world they did not strip.  The Zorn spared a water world populated by one of the Conclave races called the Slaaashleeshh.  Other than siphoning off some water, the Zorn did not have the facilities to mine and plunder a planet inundated by water.

It took some time, but the Slaaashleeshh eventually were able to talk to the Zorn.  This was a great accomplishment since the Zorn and the Slaaashleeshh had little in common to establish a mutual language.

Other races appealed to Abras for help and protection from the Zorn.  Abras realized it was in their best interest to try to stop the Zorn, before they wiped out other federation planets, so Abras accepted the responsibility of stopping the Zorn.  Through a third neutral race, Abras finally obtained intelligence information from the Slaaashleeshh concerning the Zorn; the type of atmosphere they needed to breathe and even a description of their physical bodies.

Abridged Galactic History -part 2

One race to do so:

The first to accomplish the technology upgrade was nearly five thousand years later.  Around 127,000 years ago, the first race to reverse-engineer the Abras work and develop the ability to build their own quantum drive ships was the Klai'trk'ha (Pronounced: kly-Trick΄-ha), whose home planet is called Mak'kla.  Oddly enough, the Klai'trk'ha were nearly human as well, —but any similarities were ignored by both sides.

In looks, the Klai'trk'ha were much like what Earth people think of when they picture devils or demons, —human looking, but with horns, barbed tails and skin with a definite red to reddish-brown color.  (No, I do not mean the so-called "red" of the American Indian, but rather a deep blood-red, similar perhaps to what you might think of as the color of a red rubber ball, especially when one begins to darken slightly with age.)

One thing of merit to be said for the Klai'trk'ha is that they consider themselves a warrior race and have a deep-seated sense of honor on the field of battle.  Despite their hatred of the people of Abras, the two races are more alike than either side would be comfortable to admit.

When the Klai'trk'ha engage in battle, they like to know the name of their enemy.  Part of their battle-honor includes the singing of death songs recounting battles and naming the winners and the losers in each fight.  It is their way of recording history.  When one warrior meets another of some renown, they can honor them by a simple statement such as, "I have heard sing of you."

Another oddity relating to their warrior spirit regards prisoners.  Prisoners are permitted to keep their weapons.  Here are the Klai'trk'ha thoughts on that.  To die without a fight is unthinkable.  It is assumed that a prisoner will attempt to fight their way out of a situation and are allowed to keep their weapons so they may have a 'fighting chance' to escape, or at the least to die with a weapon in their hand, as befits a warrior.  Anything but a warrior's death is a disgrace. Only the very old and infirm face death stoically without any attempt at fighting.

When a person dies this way, the most generous thing to say of them would be, "He died in his sleep."  It is still not a warrior's death, but has less stigma than to say, "He did not fight death."  The latter would be an insult and a stain upon the bloodline of the deceased's family.  All of life is a struggle against death.

An Abridged Galactic History -Part One

 Abridged Galactic History -part 1

Around one hundred fifty thousand years ago, on an Earth-sized planet on the far side on the Galactic core, scientists perfected the first quantum jump drive.  This engine allowed travel between star systems to become as easy as catching a taxi across town.  Detractors claimed that credit for the invention of the quantum drive should not go to the scientists from the planet Abras at all; –that they copied (i.e. stole) the design from a more ancient race and then attached their name to it.

As a side-note of interest to those reading these pages or my books is that the people of the kingdom planet of Abras were very close to what Earth humans are today.  The difference in DNA from people of Earth was (or is) only a fraction of a percent.  The two races could easily have come from the same progenitor race sometime in the distant past.

Who got credit for inventing the quantum drive was of little consequence, as the newly constructed shipyard on Abras was the only facility capable of building ships of this type.  Abras used their new ability to jump from one star system to another in a matter of hours and began to form new trade routes.  Friendly partnerships with other systems sprang up.  Given the availability of additional raw materials and a broader range of technologies than they previously had, Abras grew in power.  Their trade group became known as the Federation of Friends. (–best english translation)
By 140,000 BCE, they allowed their trade partners to purchase jump-ships, which the huge Abras shipyard manufactured.  Beginning around 132,000 BCE, with trade between planets becoming more widespread, Abras discovered their partners were reselling jump-capable ships to other planets and races, some of which proved to be enemies to the people of Abras.  It was too late to put Shrödinger's cat back in the box.  It had already escaped.  Those enemy races, unable to trade directly with Abras, began to concentrate on developing the technology infrastructure needed to produce their own ships with quantum drive capability.  For most of them, this took a great deal of time.

Some back story for the books

This page from a diary is on display in a glass case in the main entry hall at the Greenbriar school:

 Set by mine hande thys 23 Dae of April of 1590 —

        Upon ye storms and fflooding of thys spring time, all inhabitants of ye RoanOak colonie hae decided tae disperse tae other partes as ye storms frae ye ocean be overlye great beyand anie before experienced.  Some men following Kendall will join ye native population of Croatoans about 50 leagues southwest upon ye Croatoan Island, while others under R. Lane, not being welcomed by ye Croatoans, be travailing up ye RoanOak river tae  it’s headwater.  Ye remaining of us whiche  be of magical bearing shall take ye barque Pricilla and other four smaller boats and wyth them ye two pinnaces we hae builded at RoanOak for communicating wyth ye shore.  We will seek out a harbour wherein ye Pricilla, being ye largest, maye anchor and be safe frae storms.

        In as much as ye lands of Wococon island, RoanOak  island and Hataraske by letters- pattent, bearing date 25 of March in yeare 1584, licensed Sir Walter Raleigh by ye Englyshe  queene, Elizabeth, hae been placed under obedience & goverment of ye common wealth of England all soil with-in 200 leagues of these places (and also being infested of non-magical  peoples) all men and women of magical bearing hae decided tae take ouir seaven boates and sail north and west up ye Chesapeak Bay and beyonde tae a distance of 400 leagues.  In hope of stopping ye influx of non-magicals we will, upon finding a goodlie endowed place, set a Scots flag and claim all lands for a distance of 200 leagues in anie direction, for James, ye Sixth, Kinge of Scotland, therewyth forming a border whiche  maye stop us frae bother by ye non-magicals for a time.

            As part of her letters-pattent, ye Englyshe queene hae forbid ye  building of anie castle or fforte wyth-out her expres consent, and thus it be decided that contrarie-wise tae build upon thys newe land a castle of size and strengthe tae repell anie & all efforts tae dislodge us.  We shall in tradition of ye greate schooles builded in Scotland, such as ye schoole builded yea these five years back in Edinborough, form wyth-in thys castle a schoole specific tae teaching magical ways tae ye bairns.

            Upon building of ye castle we shall also be impervious tae anie onslaught from ye Inquisitors whiche  hae became more bolder in Europe.  All manner of spells shall be placed upon ye castle tae repell Inquisitors and non-magicals, that we mae live in harmonie in ye newelye founded colonie and be homagers tae nane.

——Gillecrist Waggrall ——

         

Intro for a Short History of the Galaxy

Background For My Galactic History

(as it goes along with my stories)

By Dan M.

Some may wonder why I started this new series of books in the first place.  What motivated me?  For those who are interested, I will give my reasons, before launching into the hinted "galactic history" which is background for the novels.

I heard of a discovery (a.k.a. theory) which came as a result of the mapping of the human genome.  About 70,000 years ago, the human race was down to only 2000 mating pairs. On the grand scale, that means we were rapidly approaching extinction.

Now here is where mental analysis joins with theory.  Seventy thousand years ago was not the end of the last ice age.  It was the middle.  If the human population was dying out due to cold or lack of food, why then did this suddenly turn around right in the middle of the freeze?  The last Ice Age began about forty thousand years earlier, around 110,000 years ago (or a bit more).  Most likely, the human population declined not only due to the direct freezing weather, but also due to the decrease in available food and fresh liquid water.  Core samples show there was some warming around fifty five to sixty thousand years back, but by thirty thousand the Earth was just as cold as it had been and then got even colder reaching its worst around 21000 years ago.  As of 70,000 years back, there were still fifty-five to sixty thousand years of ice ahead.   How did the downward slide of human numbers suddenly reverse right in the middle of a hundred-thousand years of ice and start an upward climb?

Did someone suddenly invent a warmer type of clothing?  Not too ruddy likely.  To do so would mean discovery and use of a new clothing material and in the middle of the ice age, where were they going to grow or get some new miracle material they did not think to use for the first 40,000 years of freezing?  The only easily obtainable materials would be things like animal skins and plants which they already had available.

"Nothing new to see here… —Move along.  Move along."
So what was it?

Did someone figure out a new food source?  The same things apply.  The growing of food was not an easy thing with a colder climate and as much as a third of the Earth under an ice layer.  Even in the warmer equatorial regions, the weather was generally much cooler than today's norm and not conducive to mass agricultural techniques. How could they suddenly have new plants or new agricultural methods which would make a difference in growing crops in freezing weather?

Why in the middle of a long age of ice, —a time of a frozen Earth, —did a dying populace suddenly find a new way of life and turn near calamity and extinction into near overpopulation today with over six billion, approaching seven billion, people?  What could possibly have driven the population increase even though there was still 50 millennia of Ice Age yet to come?  I puzzled about this for a time, and then one thing struck me.  If there was a "smoking gun" showing intervention by others (whether gods or aliens) this was it.  There are tales and legends of beings from space visiting Earth sometime in the past.  Some stories called them gods, but whether they were truly gods or not, they would be seen as such by the humans, if they landed and started handing out blankets and food rations at the right time.  Or if they taught the native people how to build buildings that would protect them better from the cold.  In the retelling, they may have gone from godsends to gods.

Regardless, I now had the answer that could launch a new series of books.  While many different races may have visited at different times, the ones who were of interest were the ones who were human.

How do I know some of them were human?  From the many stories told of "gods" (visitors) from the skies who mated with human females and brought forth offspring.  The only way this could occur is if those visitors had DNA very close to our own, —less than a one percent difference to be sure, —in other words, if they were human.  The great apes are only around 2% difference in their DNA and yet we cannot mate with them.  Just as we cannot mate with dogs or elephants or chipmunks, we surely could not mate with flying serpents, reptilians or other alien forms, —unless they were VERY close to human in their make-up.  Consequently, Earth was visited by people like us, and the most likely time this happened was seventy thousand years ago, when humankind was close to extinction.

* * *

Within my stories, there were indeed many different races strewn throughout the galaxy and beyond.  The people who arrived here were themselves refugees from a galactic war.  They saw the Earth with its people similar to them as a great place to hide from the enemies of man 'out there' in the galaxy.  Helping the people on this planet would increase the odds in their favor if their enemies found them.

The stories tell that the aliens, or at least their offspring, had strange powers and abilities.  Was this the beginning of the tales of magic which have come down to present day?  If there are people who can do magic living among us, are they showing their alien ancestry by doing so?

             I currently have four teen science fiction books finished, which explore these possibilities.  I hope they are found enjoyable.