Chapter 11.
The flight around the planet was short in duration, but long in excitement. The three friends marvelled as the sights flashed past. First, lush forests, then lofty mountain ranges, then barren deserts, finally, vast stretches of turquoise blue oceans.
After several minutes of aerobatic maneuvering, the three friends were feeling a bit queezy. Evander recognized the symptoms and so slowly ascended until the craft no longer responded to his stick manipulations.
Once again he punched the INS button as the craft rose out of the planet’s atmosphere and it’s gravitational pull lessened. The view through the window quickly transformed from familiar sky-blue, to white-specked black.
The craft continued “rising” until in the far distance they could just make out the shape of the Brighid.
“We won’t be moving quite so quickly this time, so you can get a better look at the Brighid. It is truly an amazing spacecraft. It’s almost like a small world in itself.”
Taking the craft through a few helical laps around the mother ship, Evander maneuvered back to a hangar bay, this time on the opposite side of the ship.
As they entered through the hangar door, several other craft were visible parked along the perimeter. These were different from the others they had seen on the other side.
“These craft are much more specialized than the ones you’ve seen. The smallest ones are for two people only. They’re carried inside those larger craft parked on the far wall.”
“The larger ones are designed to remain for extended periods of time on the worlds we visit. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes it becomes advantageous for us to remain on a planet for more time than is usual.”
“Why would you want to do that?” asked Amon. “Is it not your objective to allow races to grow on their own, without interference? It seems to me that this is a contradiction. Do you not increase the chance of being detected if you stay for a longer period of time?”
“Certainly that is true.” responded Evander. “But our technology is such that we can avoid detection with a high degree of success. Just to cite one example, did you know that all the time your father was experimenting with weapons, he was being monitored? It’s unlikely he would have told you this because it all happened before you came along.”
“I knew nothing of this.” said Amon.
Evander brought the craft to a stop in one of the vacant parking stalls. Once the green ‘all clear’ signal came on, the four men exited the craft. Evander lead them out of the hangar as the conversation continued.
“We also monitored the progress of you and Broc and Nahm and your clans, as well as many other clans, a few of which failed to thrive. Though it pained us to remain uninvolved, those other clans had made choices which took them in directions where failure was inevitable.”
“Why then did you choose to intervene with us?” asked Nahm.
“We didn’t actually intervene in the sense that we did things to influence your development. All we actually did was provide you with transceivers, so that if you chose to do so, you could contact us.”
“Could you not have done so with the others, rather than allow them to perish?” asked Nahm.
“I know it might seem that in so doing, we were being cruel. But the truth is we cannot save all those whom we monitor. Our first priority must always be to allow people to make their own decisions. When we made contact with you, you had already demonstrated a willingness to stand for what you believed to be high moral standards, standards which we too uphold. You chose the right course of action. Had you not done so, we would not have made contact.”
Broc was not satisfied with Evander’s response. “Does that not beg the question: What is morally right? And who of us is qualified to make that decision?”
“Excellent question, my friend.” Evander was pleased that the conversation had taken this direction. “All people are born with a conscience, that is, an ability to discern between right and wrong. There are, of course, many factors which influence the decisions we make. Sometimes we make bad decisions and must suffer the consequences of those decisions. If we are wise, we will not make similar mistakes again.
“All too frequently, people make decisions based on their own selfish desires, with little or no concern for the long-term consequences. If they repeat these bad habits enough, at some point it becomes almost impossible for them to redirect themselves back in a positive direction.”
“That must be what happened to the Tal.” said Broc. “They were beyond reason.”