Gabatrix: The First Peace

Ifra translated the information to Tara'Talar.

"Continue....." Tara'Talar demanded.

"It is.....believed that some of the dinosaurs survived. We had birds that evolved on Earth, including sharks, snakes, lizards, and other reptilian creatures that continue from that time period. They descended from dinosaurs. I had a chance to see that the Shal'rein are sharks. The Yutilians are possibly or maybe similar to what we had that are called Velociraptors. They are small reptilian bird-like creatures known for their feathers. Your race has a little bit of resemblance to them, assuming the evolution continued. I haven't had a chance to see the Aksren, but from what Ifra told me, they might be similar to Oviraptors."

"This is......" Ramírez said, almost shaking his head. "Insane....."

Ifra translated the rest of the words to Tara'Talar. There was a pause in the communication as the two Itrean women spoke to each other.

"Kane....." Tara'Talar said. "Do you wish to see an Aksren?"

"Umm......yes."

There was a pause as the audio-only communication switched. A 3d image was displayed from the computer tablet. It showed a live feed of a face that Kane had only seen from the models shown by Ifra. The image was that of a reptilian face, but it looked different than Ifra or the Shal'rein that Kane had seen earlier. This face had a snout almost with a pointed beak to it. The large cranial crest protruded from her nose and head. The scales had a combination color of red and green mixed together. The eyes also had a reptilian look to it. Unlike Ifra, he could see that this Itrean didn't have feathers on her head.

"You are an Aksren......" Kane responded in shock.

"The Aksren!" Ramírez replied. "The same race that blew Cipra to pieces?"

"Yes......," the female image replied. "I am an Aksren. I grew up in the worlds that belonged to the T'rintar clan. I Tara'Talar have......always......." She paused as she looked at Ifra. She said a few words to each other and then continued. "I always......fight for T'rintar. The Aksren clan is.....bad."

"Evil......" Ifra corrected her. "They are evil. Tara'Talar has proven over and over again that the Aksren that fight for clan T'rintar are loyal."

Ramírez remained skeptical, but he calmed down. The Captain nodded his head.

"Do I look like the ov......ovo....riptor?" Tara'Talar asked.

"You do," Kane said.

The adjunct looked down and did a series of quick nods. She closed down the 3d live feed projection as it switched back over to the audio-only communication.

"I believe," Kane continued to explain. "That the Itreans lived on Itrea for millions of years. The asteroid impacted Earth. The results were a global extinction-level event....., but there were survivors. I think it has been shown before that nature reclaims buildings and structures over time. It naturally falls apart if things are left alone."

"It is true," the captain said. "We have good examples on Earth after we mostly abandoned it. Within less than two hundred to three hundred years, most of the buildings have decayed and fallen apart. What hasn't been swallowed up by the oceans is eroding. It wouldn't take much for a civilization to develop on Earth several million years ago. If you abandon it, within a million years, there would be nothing left of that civilization to count."

"How could the dinosaurs develop a civilization?" Ramírez asked.

"Maybe a few of those velociraptors survived. Maybe a few of those oviraptors walked away from the asteroid impact and continued to survive. Sharks can evolve too. I think they are one of the oldest known creatures that existed on Earth. Even Oshun has a sort of shark creature. Give enough time, and they start to evolve to the point that some of them start to walk on land."

"After an extinction-level event?"

Kane shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say for certain. Earth went through a rough time period to survive and recover. A civilization would struggle to make it. Maybe they built underground cities. Maybe they got to the point that they needed to find a new world to live on. The Equatis Wreck could have been one of their testing ships. They discovered folding space and abandoned Earth. Sound familiar?"

"Hmmm.....," the captain thought.

"The Equatis Wreck...." Tara'Talar called out. "Can you.....tell us more?"

"The Equatis Wreck is an old alien ship, adjunct," Kane responded. "It was not made by us, and it was located on Mars, the neighboring planet. It only had one thing that could be salvaged, and that was the technology to fold space."

"Do you.....believe that our people....long ago....we made it?"

"I have no idea. I am just throwing out guesses for everyone to hear. We just don't know."

Kane turned her head. There seemed to be some relief in her eyes.

"It was a matter of time before we would find another sentient race," Ifra said. "Make sure that you present all this evidence that I can present this to the clan government."

"You believe all this?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied as she looked at the captain and the executive officer. "I believe that our people were going to find our original world. It was sacred to us even if we started to lose faith that it ever existed. It seems that we were led to you. You have led us to the promised land."

"The question is......what happens next?" the captain asked.

"We want Itrea. We want Earth," Ifra respectfully demanded.

"Yes," Tara'Talar added. "If this is true. We want this planet."

Kane realized that this had gone entirely in the direction that he wanted. Yes, it might not have been an ideal direction, but it would lead to perhaps the best bargaining chip that the UWA could ever have. It was more valuable than any other planet that the Itreans could ever receive.

"Wait......are you seriously considering this?" Ramírez asked. "Ambassador, no."

"What would we gain by giving Earth.....Itrea to you?" Kane said.

"You would have our old warships," Ifra said. "We would be your partners in the fight against the Aksren and the Shal'rein clans. We wouldn't just be partners.....you would be our friends."

The captain nodded as he heard everything.

"Captain. This is Earth! We are just going to give it away?" Ramírez yelled out.

"I believe it would be the best course of action," Kane said.

"Politicians.....Itrean or not," Ramírez said as he pointed his finger to Ifra. "We still have people living on that planet. There are still hundreds of millions of people living there. They choose to live there after we made it uninhabitable. Are you proposing that just ditch them to the enemy that has already conquered one of our colonies? All their warships will be right next to Mars! It is insane!"

"It would work.....," the captain said.

"Captain.....you can't be supporting this. It is madness."

"With what?" the captain questioned his executive officer. "We gave up on Earth long ago. There is nothing there. If the Itreans want it, then they can have it for all I care. The catch is, of course, the 200 million still living there."

"We would not force them off the planet. Give us Itrea, and we assure you that they will be left alone."

"What about the fact that Earth.....errr.....Itrea is not suitable for the Itreans to live on?" Kane asked her.

Ifra smiled at him. "You humans apparently don't have much experience terraforming planets. I saw the video that you showed me of Earth. Our technology and resources can easily fix that. It would take time, of course, but in the end, we would have our homeworld, and the humans living on it would enjoy our company."

"Wait.....you can restore Earth?" Ramírez asked her.

"Yes. It has some problems with it. It might take about 15 to 20 of your years to clean it all up again, but yes, we can bring it back to normal conditions. Our resources are vast, and we are used to facing harsh environments. We assure you that humans will be treated well, and they will get to benefit from our efforts to make it livable again."

Ramírez seemed to calm down a little bit the moment that he heard her say that. Kane even smiled upon hearing the news.

"Hmmm....." Ramírez thought. "It seems that I might be a little quick to judge. The Earth First Movement, might either thank you or be scared out of their minds at the idea of this."

"We......will need to have the data to confirm," Tara'Talar said. "Once it is verified by our people, then the peace treaty can be.....ho.....hone......honored."

"We agree on that," Ifra said. "We understand that everything that you have said about the issue of it. Is the information correct? We must confirm it."

"Good," Kane said. "You will get it."

"There will be something else as well," Ifra said. "If all this is true, we will broadcast it to the other clans. It will either encourage them to slow down or think twice about attacking your worlds."

"Or it can have a full-blown Aksren or Shal'rein fleet on top of us," Ramírez countered.

"You say that like it isn't happening at all," the captain replied to him. "We can have a fleet come and attack us regardless. At least with this, the Aksren might not deploy a bioweapon over Earth. T'rintar would defend Mars from an assault, and with the additional ships, we would have a defense force to help protect ourselves. It is as you said, Kane. We have nothing but to gain in all this."

"Alright...," Ramírez said as he slapped his knees. "I don't know what else needs to be said about this. If the Itreans can fix Earth, then let them. I guess in the end we don't have much choice."

Ramírez stood up and proceeded to leave the room. There was a moment that Ramírez looked at Kane. He gave the ambassador a slight nod to him and said nothing else. The door opened up as he left the room.

The door closed as Ifra had a big smile on her face. She seemed proud of Kane and what he had accomplished.

"It is time," Tara'Talar said. "I have.....heard what needs to be said. Yes.....," the adjunct replied. "I will await Ambassador Ifra's return to the ship. Once the peace treaty is signed and agreed, we will return home."

"Understood adjunct," the Captain replied.

The communication signal ceased between the Atra and the UHN Gabatrix. It was just the captain, Ifra, and Kane as they looked at each other.

"Do you feel that this is good enough to convince your people to accept the treaty?" Kane asked.

"Yes......more than enough," Ifra replied.

"Good.....," the captain said. "I am happy to see we are getting what we need."

"You are not angry with giving up your home planet?"

"I am not happy with the idea of it. The reality is though that we lost Earth long ago. We had to give up on it. With the exception of the Earth First Movement, it has pretty much been given up. We had more than the opportunities and tried to find a way to restore it, but instead, we choose Cebravis as our new world. Once Cebravis was settled, everyone thumbed their nose on Earth. Giving you Earth might as well be handing you a fucked up wasteland. While I might agree that we would have an Itrean fleet right at Mars' doorstep, I would rather have the T'rintar clan within close proximity to the most important planet to humanity. Mars can't fall, and if the T'rintar are there, then the Aksren and Shal'rein will back off. We can then send the ships you send us, operate them.....with your peoples' help, and then use them to defend the colonies."

"We almost called Cebravis 'New Earth'," Kane added. "Maybe one day, we will simply rename it to Earth and rename the original one Itrea." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we will figure it all out," he turned to look at Ifra. "Ready to head to the conference room to continue our negotiations?"

"Yes," she said happily. She stood up as Kane replied as well.

"Captain.....thank you," she told him. "Thank you for your input."

"Just doing my job. It is......interesting. I remember always hearing the stories of the dinosaurs. I like to think that you are descended from them. Our galaxy wouldn't be a completely lonely one."

"We have many worlds. Maybe you can come and see them someday."

The Captain nodded. "Once these conflicts start to settle down, then yes, I will take my wife and come visit your worlds."

Kane held out his arm as Ifra used her claws to wrap around it. The captain had one last thing to say.

"You know.....you were lucky to catch on to think the pamphlet is Earth."

"How so?"

"It is obvious when you think of it. None of us in this room were born on Earth. It is a forgotten relic. I wouldn't have spotted it. Anybody that grew up on Earth would have looked at that pamphlet and knew instantly that it was their planet. You might have had a hint from the DNA evidence, but in the end, the credit goes to you for this discovery."

"Yes, I agree," Ifra added as Kane nodded. "Captain......take care."

"You too, Ambassadors....."

Kane and Ifra walked out of the room together. The captain watched as the two left his room. The door slid closed as William looked at the drawer of his desk. He undid the lock and pulled out a metal lid. He undid the clasp and it opened up for him to see.

The captain put his finger into the metal box and pulled out the cigar that Ramírez gave him. He admired the look of it and took a deep breath.

"Looks like I will get a chance to smoke you after all," the captain said out loud. He reached over and undid the Velcro chest pocket. He took the cigar and slipped it in perfectly. He checked to make sure that his one match was in there waiting for him to light it up when he needed it. He then patted the pocket closed and smiled.

Outside the room, Kane was walking down the ring passageway with Ifra. They strolled as they spoke to one another.

"Kane.....thank you for all of this," she told him.

"I am just amazed by the discovery," he replied. "I didn't think it was possible, but it did."

"Itrea.....Itrea.....," she said with a soft-spoken glee. "We do believe in destiny. Your people will save us, we will save you, and we will have the sacred homeworld to rebuild together."

"You really believe the DNA evidence and additional evidence I told you earlier?

"I believed it immediately once you said it. I just.....I just feel that it is. It seems to make sense. I see the child with Kelren, and Ven're, and I know we have a chance to survive. I can rest knowing that I can have you as a mate. I can rest knowing that if I get pregnant, the baby boy won't die in my womb. I can rest as we settle down and live the rest of our lives on Itrea. Our people will let everyone know that we found the homeworld of our birth."

"Do you think the other clans will listen, though?"

"No.....I don't," she said reluctantly. "Our people are used to spilling out propaganda. The lies build upon lies to the point that no one knows the truth. Eventually, we just learn to shut off the enemy transmissions. I like to think that a few individuals do listen in, though. Even if a few on the other clans believe it, it will be enough to slow down future attacks. There would be protests from the Aksren and the Shal'rein if they were forced to attack Itrea."

"If they believe it....." Kane said.

"Yes......"

"Well.....we have two choices," he said as they stopped walking. "We can handle finishing up the negotiations. We can get a partnership treaty established and written up now, or I can have you brought back to your ship so you can verify the evidence that I presented earlier."

She shook her head. "I believe you. I will let my people take the evidence and evil.....evan......evaluate it themselves. Meanwhile.....," she took and gripped his hand.

Kane looked at her handhold. The warmth of her hand felt familiar and comforting. He overlapped hers and looked at her in the eyes. She had a look of joy and content from her face. He was used to looking down at her by now.

"You know.....I like the idea of going into a room and finishing up our negotiations. There is......some discussion on trade that I want to make. It only involves two individuals....if the words sound correct in human English."

Kane simply smiled. "Of course. If you follow me, then we can......"

There was a loud alarm sound that gave off throughout the passageway. It was so loud that it started Kane. Ifra's feathers went straight up, and her tail swished around a little bit.

"Alert! General Quarters! Man, your battle stations!" an unknown female voice came from the overhead intercom. "This is not a drill. I repeat.....this is not a drill!"

They stopped holding hands as Kane could feel a sense of dread. Ifra seemed disturbed, as well. The alarm was electronic, and there was a calm repeating flash of red light that came from the overhead lights. Immediately, Kane could see a couple of crew members open up the doors from their quarters. They came running out to see the ambassador and Ifra, but they ran past them in a rush to get to their destination.

Ifra turned to see a familiar face come down the hall. It was the captain that was moving fast. He saw the two ambassadors that were in front of him.

"Ambassador Kane, Ambassador Ifra. Come with me," the captain said. "We have a problem....."

*******

It had been about five minutes. Kane, Ifra, and the captain were on the elevator that was leading up to the central dorsal bridge of the Gabatrix. There was tension already. Kane even wondered if he and Ifra should remain in their quarters, but they appeared to be needed. The alarm was still going, but the audio was now muted. The dim flashing red lights continued to go off to indicate the status of the warship.

"Are we going to be alright?" Kane asked the captain.

"Not if I can't help it. I will say that it isn't what I am hoping what it will be," captain William replied as he stroked his beard.

The elevator came to a stop as the magnetic shoes, boots, and wrappings held the three to the deck. The zero-g environment was in full swing. The elevator door opened up as the captain stepped forward first onto the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge!" yelled one of the crew members.

The room was as Kane had seen it before. It was busy with the crew members all working inside it. There had to be at least ten consoles in the bridge that were all being operated. Ramírez was at the center of the room. He was strapped into a chair with an earpiece worn. The executive officer was busy punching in keys on the center console keyboard when he overheard the call of the captain on the bridge. He turned his head to the side to look at him.

Kane and Ifra walked behind the captain but maintained their distance. A few of the crew members had a chance to loom at Ifra. It was the first time ever seeing an Itrean up close, but they were also focused on their jobs. Instead, both Kane and Ifra watched the entire scene unfold.

The sizeable overhead display of the bridge was focused on two things. One camera was looking at the Atra, and the other one was looking at an exit aperture somewhere in space. A wormhole had opened up, and Kane could only fear the worst.

"Commander Ramírez," the captain said as he walked up to him and put his hand to his shoulder. "Report."

"We got a problem, sir," Ramírez explained. "About six minutes ago, we got an exit aperture that is opening up in space. We contacted the Atra, but the adjunct reports that there are no other ships supposed to be in the vicinity."

"Could it be one of ours?" the captain asked.

"No....." Ifra responded. "Nothing was planned to come out beside our ship and yours. It would only have to be one thing."

Kane could only dread what was going to come out of the wormhole.

"How far is that wormhole?" the captain asked.

"At our max g force burn, it would take about thirty-five minutes, but their weapons could hit us in about twenty minutes."