21st July 2013
13:37 GMT
…and again I see the clear shape of a psion's malicious desires, to harm and kill to see if things bleed and die.
I raise my right hand to my ear.
"I've found another patch. Not completely sure what it's supposed to do. Do you want me to store it or just destroy it?
"
"While I'm loath to turn down an intellectual challenge, we intend to begin resettling that continent later this year. And I don't believe that psion biotechnology is the sort of thing Tamaran needs."
I nod, then make a construct to scoop the offending earth out of the ground. It's not.. particularly deep, but I've really got no idea if this was left here by a landing party, loaded into a shell and shot down here, or flat out teleported. I can't scan it properly so I can't entirely predict its behaviour-
I look towards Liot'r and accelerate, bending space around me.
-but I've yet to see a microbe that can survive the interior of a sun. I am however careful to keep it contained within the soil I took out with it because I
am aware of psion technology that interacts with constructs.
And
release, and
step out, using my own desire to help as a
path back to where I came from.
Anything else?
I'm not sure whether the Tamaraneans would consider the ruins their forebears were forced to abandon inspiring or depressing. They're not really in any fit state to be repaired… Adam didn't mention removing them, so I suppose that they can stay. They could be a source of building materials if nothing else. Looks like either Adam or the princesses removed the weapon fragments. They didn't remove the chemical residues or impact craters, but maybe they've got plans for those.
"I can't see anything else in the same class. Do you want me to do any landscaping, or ploughing, or any other work?
"
"No, you've done more than enough."
"It doesn't feel like it.
"
"Paul, if I'd made you aware of the problem without you owing me anything, what would you have done?"
"Fixed it. That's what I do.
"
"Without expecting anything in return?"
"What I get in return is a better functioning universe. I'd.. hope that Tamaran might be more receptive to offers of cooperation later, but it wouldn't be a quid pro quo.
"
"I do care about what happens to Earth. And without you, we wouldn't have found the psions' trap. It would have triggered when that area was settled. Even if it doesn't seem like much to you… Even if it wasn't much work
for you, you've done the people of this world a great deal of good."
"I suppose you're right. So there's nothing more for me to do here?
"
"There is
one thing I think you should take a look at. Do you see the mountains near the desert?"
I orientate myself… South, I suppose it would be?
"Yes.
"
"Do you see the two-peaked one? Fly towards the valley between them."
"Alright.
"
I could just transition there, but he said 'fly'. I generate thruster constructs and power across the landscape, taking the time to look around as I do so. Over the ocean I can just about make out the city of Yeebata, and the tiny flecks of transport aircraft. That makes me smile; to see that they've rebuilt to maintain that sort of industry. And that they've got something worth transporting. The greenery of
this continent… Some of it's pleasant to look at, the forests which the gordanians didn't have the patience to bombard completely flat have been busy recovering, and the long-standing trees tower proudly over the more recent growth.
"How did it go with you and Queen Hera?
"
"She is good company, but… Understandably, she wanted more time than I could afford to spend on Earth. Perhaps once my project here is complete we could try again."
But away from that… I can see the contours of the craters, the areas where the energy released by the strikes burned the land too badly for
any new growth to have taken place.
And just for a moment I look to the sky, towards the planet where I put the survivors from amongst the people who did it.
No. No.
And then I thrust upwards, rising over the mountain-. I can see where an orbital strike liquefied one face, the glitter of crystallised minerals making it stand out. It looks a little like ice, but it's the wrong climate for that. It actually makes me think of the episode of Andromeda where the crew laughed at the idea of a giant monster attacking a planet…
Right up to the point where they arrived in orbit and saw the bite marks.
Above me, a little to the left of where I
was looking, I can see the lights of a Tamaranean defence squadron. I haven't really-. I haven't
at all kept up with their military reconstruction. I mean, since there isn't anything left in Vega with a fleet that isn't allied to them, it's a bit superfluous-.
I glance down at the craters again.
No, it isn't.
And… The mountain's beneath me.
"Alright, I'm here. What am I looking for?
"
"Do you see the valley between the peaks?"
I drop down a little.
"Yes.
"
"Go to the highest part of the valley. Look for an artificial structure."
I frown, but follow his instruction. I suppose that for Tamaraneans, getting up a mountain wouldn't be
hard…
"I don't see-. Oh.
"
A few paths, stone benches, and…
"I'm afraid all the plants are dead.
"
I land, looking around. This area wouldn't get much rain, if any. And with the Tamaraneans captured, dead or fled, there wasn't anyone to provide them with water.
"I know. The garden was created by a woman named Saray'n. The local town used it to train the children how to fly; they'd get a bucket each and get told to take it up there."
"Do you want me to clean it up? I could build a water transmutation-.
"
"No."
"I'll warn you now, I'm not good at implicit lessons.
"
"The Tamaraneans
could have supplied it before the plants died. It would involve a two-day journey and it would need to be done constantly, but that garden is semi-famous on Tamaran."
"While the gordanians were shooting at them? It-.
" Ah.
"It wouldn't be worth it.
"
"It wasn't. So that part of their history passes
into history, because it wasn't worth the blood and sweat to maintain. The community that built it doesn't exist any more, and I doubt that whoever settles the area will have the same attachment to it. I have a plan for you where you save as much as you can, and my best analysis of Batman's action. But I also have one where you
don't save Earth's civilisation. And I think that in the long run that one may be better."
"I will leave the decision up to you."
