Sumeru - 9. Chapter 9

The interrogation lasted several hours. Then security led the Earth men to their quarters. A man introduced them into the food processor and the bathroom and then left the room. Dan rushed to the door, but it did not slide open.

“Locked up,” Dan said. “We’re probably being monitored, too.”

“We would do the same,” John said, sounding tired.

The men sat down in chairs around a table.

“They got all the answers they wanted, but they told us little,” Dan said. “Where is this space base? How big is it? Who is this species?”

“They call the station Sumeru,” Rob said. “This is interesting, isn’t it? Sumer was an ancient civilization. Project Oric analyzed ancient writings. They thought that Earth had been visited by visitors from outer space in the past. They studied Sumerian writings, too.”

“Probably just a coincidence,” James said. “Yes, they were not forthcoming, It’s understandable. Why should they reveal more than necessary. They did at least not kill us.”

“Will they kill us when they’ve got what they wanted?” Dan asked.

“I don’t think we pose a threat to them,” John said.. “They are much more advanced than we are. But, yes, I’m wondering what they will do. Let us go home? I can’t imagine.”

The others stared at him.

“What do you think?” James asked. “Keep us here? What would they gain from it?”

John shrugged. “I have no idea, honestly. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m totally drained.” He rose to his feet. “How does this food processor work? Does anybody remember?”

They managed to get themselves meals. The men ate quietly.

“Not too bad,” Rob said. “I have no idea what it is, but it has a faint taste of lemon grass. I like it.”

They lay down on their beds after Dan had found out how to dim the lights in the room.

“I wished they gave us fresh clothing,” James said. “I can’t stand the smell of stale ship air anymore. It’s everywhere in my clothes.”

They talked a while longer and then drifted to sleep.

Sumeru control watched the room closely.

Commander Saar and his men left. Naamah and Azrael stood in the corridor, looking after them. The commander had asked them to write a brief report about the species from Earth.

“What do you think?” Azrael asked, turning his head to Naamah. His eyes showed an excited glow.

“The Earth men?” Naamah asked. “They look exactly like in the old pictures. And they behave exactly like described in the reports.”

“Yes, I thought that, too,” Azrael said. “The real thing is different, however, don’t you think so?”

Naamah looked at him, thinking. “Yes, of course,” he said.

“I wonder what they know of the past. They said they detected the collector ring, but there’s more, I would guess,” Azrael said.

“I bet,” Naamah replied. He looked at his time display. “Time to sleep. It was a long day.”

He turned to walk away, but Azrael pulled on his sleeve.

“Wait,” Azrael said. “We can’t split up like this. We must co-operate now.”

Naamah gave him a surprised look. “Sure,” he said. “How about tomorrow morning? Commander Saar asked our opinion. We had experience with the species in the past. He wants a report. We can as well write one together. I’ll ask Tamiel to join us.”

“Good idea,” Azrael said. “He knows all of Asuras history and our connections with the humans in the past. Have a good night.”

Naamah gave a nod and they parted ways.

Naamah’s sleep was restless. He woke up early, feeling drained. He had just pressed the button of the food processor to get himself a drink when his brain implant announced an incoming message. It could only be Tamiel or one of the group. Naamah downloaded the message. He was surprised. Azrael contacted him via the outdated messenger system.

“What do you think?” Azrael asked

Naamah sipped on this drink, then placed the cup on the table. He went to the window and looked outside. He was thinking. Commander Saar had asked their opinion, but did they really have a say in the matter? Naamah doubted it. Sumeru Supreme Command would deal with the matter and decide on the Earth men’s fate. Commander Saar would probably not even read their report or just brush through it and then put it aside. His request had only been a means to silence them and not stand in the way.

“I think we can’t wait,” Naamah replied. “In front of their door in an hour?”

Azrael confirmed.

Naamah got ready and left his quarters. He hurried to Tamiel’s room. He had not yet informed him of the meeting with the Earth men. Tamiel opened the door. He was half-awake and gave Naamah a questioning look. Naamah told him what had happened. Tamiel got overtly excited.

“You want to help the men from Earth?” he asked while he dressed. “I thought you wanted to take over their system.”

“We have been through this a thousand times,” Naamah said. “Their system was the only system we could possibly go to. Where else would we have gotten permission to establish a base? Your findings were invaluable. A connection between humans and Asuras in the past. And the main base on the outmost planet probably largely intact, ideal for a start. And I thought I’d get Azrael to support the cause.”

“Didn’t he?” Tamiel asked. “I downloaded the meeting. He proposed what you wanted. Supervision of the humans. That’s our way into their system.”

“No,” Naamah said. “What do you think? Thousands, millions of individuals will download the meeting and save it to their memories. Many won’t care about the Earth system, but still enough will and they will watch our steps. The Devas undermined our plan by their public proposal. The plan has failed. Forget about it.”

Tamiel stopped short and looked at Naamah in disbelief. “It’s all over?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” Naamah said. “Let’s discuss it later. Now is not a good time for it.”

“I’m actually glad the plan has failed,” Tamiel said.

Now Naamah looked in disbelief. “What?” he asked. Then it dawned on him. “You got wind of our activities and planned to undermine them. We would have sent you there as an Asuras teacher. This was your plan to get there and watch. Watch over every and each of our steps. You are a traitor. Who sent you? Azrael?”

Tamiel’s cheeks flushed. “No,” he said. “I have not spoken with anyone. It was all my plan. I thought it was for the good of all worlds. Reconciliation between species....”

Naamah mustered him. Tamiel stared back.

“Never mind,” Naamah said finally, waving his hand. “Are you ready? We must talk with the Earth men before Supreme Command will interrogate them again.”

“Will security let us in?” Tamiel asked in a doubting voice as he walked to the door.

“Azrael and I are representatives of our species. We have special permissions,” Naamah said.

“Permission to interrogate intruders from space?” Tamiel asked.

“No,” Naamah said curtly. “But they need not know.”

“And how will you explain my company?” Tamiel asked.

“Expert in human affairs,” Naamah said.

“Expert in Asuras activities on Earth,” Tamiel replied as they passed the door.

“Not much of a difference,” Naamah said. “Now come, let’s hurry.”

Security complied quickly and Naamah, Azrael and Tamiel entered the quarters of the Earth men.

Two were sitting at a table, looking drowsy and tired, two were sleeping in their beds. The men at the table startled upon their entrance and the other two awoke. Dan and James climbed out of their beds and joined the men at the table.

“We must talk,” Naamah said. “We must know why you came here. You must tell us what you know of the past.”

The men exchanged looks.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” John said. “We answered many questions, but you answered none. Why do you leave us in the dark?”

Azrael stepped forward. “We will answer your questions, but do trust us now. Supreme Command didn’t send us. We came here on our own accord. I’m Azrael, representative of the Devas. The Devas belong to the Asuras species. They are a split group.” He pointed at Naamah and Tamiel. “Naamah is the Asuras representative and Tamiel is a historian, an expert in Asuras history.”

The men looked between them in confusion.

“I still don’t understand,” John said.

“The Asuras visited Earth in the past,” Tamiel explained.

“Did you know this? Is this why you came here in the first place?” Naamah asked. “Did you hope to find the Asuras?”

John glanced at Rob, then looked back. “We came here to investigate the Dyson ring, the collector ring around the sun of the system. Our scientists figured an extraterrestrial civilization had built it. We came here to find hard evidence.”

“There was some talk about ancient myths,” Rob said. “Project Oric, the initial project, was about finding evidence in ancient myths of visitors from outer space. However, this wasn’t the primary reason for our space trip.”

“We’re astronauts, not archaeologists. What’s this crap all about?” Dan snorted.

“You landed on Cailan to investigate the ruins,” Azrael said. “To me this sounds like retrieving artifacts.”

“Bullshit,” Dan said.

“We were sent to your system to find hard evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization,” John said. “We detected the planet from Earth with our telescopes. The exoplanet was a promising target. In the habitable zone and earth-like, practically a second Earth. We didn’t know of the ruins. We detected them from space and I took decision to land the ship and have a closer look. Who could have foreseen what happened.”

The Asuras exchanged looks.

“Well, then, I believe you,” Azrael said. “The planet Cailan was once inhabited by the second race. The majority of the inhabitants migrated to Sumeru a long time ago. The last inhabitants left the planet then thousand years ago or so, but Sumeru security monitors the planet and visits it now and then.”

“Sumeru? That’s the name of your space base, isn’t it?” Rob asked.

“Yes. Sumeru was constructed by the first race a long time ago,” Azrael said.

“How long ago?” John asked.

Azrael was thinking. “Two billion Earth years ago,” he said.

James took in a breath, John and Rob exchanged a shocked look, and Dan slumped in his chair. The men were shocked to the core.

“I knew we wouldn’t stand a chance,” Dan said resignedly.

“But where is this space station located?” John asked. “We scanned the entire system. Our sensors didn’t detect a space hub.”

“The sensors of your ship are unable to detect it,” Naamah said. “Sumeru has shields that conceal it perfectly. No civilization in the entire galaxy is advanced enough to find Sumeru.”

“Sumeru is the core civilization then?” Rob asked with interest. “I’m a linguist and anthropologist. I’m the expert in cultures. They put me on the ship just in case we find a trace of an extraterrestrial culture or even get in contact with one. I have of course space training, too. They couldn’t afford to take along a mere book-worm,” he said with a smile.

Tamiel turned to him excitedly. “You’re an expert in cultures? History, too? Did you read all the writings that have been passed on through the centuries?”

Rob’s look turned serious. “Yes,” he said. “Ancient Egypt was an ancient culture. It was highly developed and emerged practically out of nowhere. Like the Indus valley civilization and ancient Sumer. Is there a connection to your space base Sumeru?”

The Asuras exchanged a glance.

“Yes, there is,” Naamah said. “This is why we came here. You must tell us what you know of the past.”

Rob summarized the research findings on ancient Earth cultures. He made it short.

“You see, these ancient cultures, the Indus valley civilization, Ancient Egypt and Sumer, still remain a mystery,” he said. “They built outstanding architecture, the pyramids, possessed outstanding knowledge, astronomy and mathematics, and in their writings described unbelievable things, spaceships, space trips and a big war in space. Can it really be that humans practically from one day to the other turned from an agricultural society into an urban society that mastered mathematics, physics, astronomy, architecture and many more sciences? Many have argued over the centuries that these achievements could have been gained only with the help or by direct intervention of the gods. Ancient astronauts came into play in the previous decades after human space activities had begun. These people are called conspiracy theorists to the present day, albeit you can easily see the plain truth once you analyze the findings or read the ancient myths with an open mind.”

“Why do the humans deny the truth?” Azrael asked.

“Fear,” Rob said. “Once we have hard evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization, we must change our view on space. And we must get prepared for a contact, for a visit, for a possible intervention, whatever. The world would change drastically. The humans are not ripe for it. We are a primitive species.”

Dan snorted.

“Well, yes,” Rob said. “We can’t control our emotions. We fall for manipulations. We are quick to start and fight a war. The human species has not yet matured. We wouldn’t know how to deal with an extraterrestrial civilization.”

“I don’t understand,” Naamah said. “You said you came here to find an extraterrestrial civilization.”

“Yes,” Rob said. “We verified the Dyson ring and we reported it to ground control Earth, but I’m certain the finding will never be revealed to the public. The elite will know, but the majority of people will be left in the dark. For the common good, you know.”

There was a silence.

“What will you do?” John asked. “Will you keep us here or banish us to some place in space. I can’t imagine you will let us go back to Earth.”

“Come on,” Dan said. “We all know they will kill us.”

“Will you?” John asked.

“Supreme Command will decide on your fate,” Naamah said. “Murder is not an option. It’s against Sumeru laws.”

“We will speak in your favor,” Azrael said. “They can’t take drastic measures, not after the meeting yesterday. The High Council held a meeting,” he explained. “The representatives of all species decided to promote young civilizations.”

“But they won’t let us go?” John repeated his question.

“Probably not,” Azrael said.

“We should have never set foot on this planet,” Dan hissed. “They got us and Pete is dead. Your fault, John. Well done, commander.”

John lowered his eyes.

“They would have taken your ship in anyways,” Naamah said. “You managed to enter Sumeru space, but you would never have left it.”

“Pete is dead,” Dan said forcefully. “This makes the difference.”

Azrael glanced at Naamah. Naamah gave a nod.

“We learned yesterday during the interrogation that his body was taken to the medical center. His body is in a good shape. It was a good idea you took him to your ship’s cryo chamber. His life system could be reactivated. The man isn’t dead,” Azrael said.

“What?” John asked in disbelief.

“There’s no magic behind it,” Naamah said. “It’s just a rearrangement of space-time layers and lines. As long as the anchor point of a vital system still exits, you can promote it with a space-time treatment. The man lives. He’ll be fast asleep for some time, though.”

“You don’t tell us lies, do you?” John asked doubtfully.

“I swear it’s true,” Azrael said with a small smile. “Now do you believe that we will not kill you?”

The men stared.

“Thank you,” John said finally. “Can we see him?”

“In a couple of days probably,” Azrael said.

“Well, why did you come here?” John asked. “Perhaps we start all over again.”

“We are interested in our own history,” Tamiel said. “I found that a part of Asuras history was covered up in the books. We want to learn of our past on Earth. The Asuras and the Devas split up. The same arguments are repeated again and again, but they are stale and clichéd and only serve to hold up the separation between the groups. We would like to know what Earth has preserved. I conclude from your words that the truth was passed on, distorted maybe, but anyway, it’s there. You say the humans fear extraterrestrial cultures. Maybe they could calm their fear once they accepted our connection in the past. You say the humans are not ripe for the truth. You say they must mature. Yesterday, the council decided on promoting young civilizations, send a teacher to them in some cases. The Asuras want to send me to Ki, I mean Earth, as a teacher. Now that you’re here, I could as well teach you here. I mean, we could find out more about you and us and what we think is important.”

“Sure, I would be glad to learn more,” Rob said enthusiastically.

“Well,” John said. “We’ll send Rob as a representative of the human species. All right?” he asked.

The Asuras complied.

“Where and when can we talk?” Rob asked eagerly.

“Not here and now, but I’ll find a way to arrange a meeting,” Tamiel said with a sparkle in his eyes.

Two enthusiasts had found each other.

“And now?” John asked.

“Now we’ll work on getting you men back home,” Naamah said.

Azrael nodded.