History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread

[Jmenschenfresser]

2401.5
I am returning from Xiban IV after spending several relaxing but event-filled weeks with Tallik and Pellwain. The new colony is growing. In the year that they have been here, the people of Xiban IV now number 47 million. I met the first Norak born on another planet. I am not sure how this is exactly important, but nonetheless, people love such statistics--the firsts and Lasts of things, it is the nature of those finite. A new class of ship, Maine, is being constucted on Xiban I. Tallik has shown me the diagrams for its design, and I must say, I cannot fathom it. It is just too big. It will supposedly carry several hundred million Norak. Plans are being made for the first run between Xiban I and III. I suppose real estate in the capitol will drop in price from all the vacancies. Just a thought.

The weapons systems of Xiban IV work perfectly. Tallik spent most of his time looking over schematics and drawing up strategies as usual. Our work there is done, and I am returning home to what we now call, to much joy to the Pluralist at heart, Xiban I.

Quite a bit has happened over the Last eight cycles. The Cue Cappa for one. I still have yet to meet a Cue or a Cappa, or their bonded...whatever one might call it. But I have been assured that quite a few live and work on Xiban I. The reason being, after intense negotiations and of course a period in which we got to know one another, our respective races have signed a trade pact. Rakul, the High Priest, and their leader, Gortalooth, signed it aboard one of our Conneticut class star ships. The Cue Cappa asked as well for an adendum to the pact which would bring our races together for research; however, although, the Norak enjoy peace and friendship as much as anyone else, we do not tolerate influences which would be beyond our control. Already the trade pact is a strict one. It exists mainly for the exchange of excess basic necessities and the prevention of war. Still many are skeptical of even this limited treaty. Some spread rumors that the stuffs they trade us are contaminated and impure. We refrain from accepting anything the law mentions requiring special treatment. The Cue Cappa are quite happy buying every excess we have, and seem to respect our wishes. They are not a vile people. They have alters of their own and, though pagan they may be, none of our emissaries have seen anything other than civilized rituals. We don't believe the majority of the population follow the old ways or believe in their deities. We have no equal word for it in Norak, but most CueCappa call the stories concerning their gods, myths. Fictional accounts of some kind. Speaking of which, I am proud to announce, Tallik and I will be traveling to the Cue Cappa home world, Arklite VIII. Since most of the CueCappa place little value on religion, a new foreign missionary office has opened. I have been added to this office as a consultant and will assess avenues of work that could be undertaken. The government of the CueCappa, and indeed!, their leader himself, Gortalooth, have given permission to our religious leaders to open missions on his world. His only concern was that we assure him our ways are not coerced, but rather are based on teachings and personal choices. He welcomes all possibilites for enlightenment. He has even asked that one of our wisemen be appointed to his counsel. We are aghast at such openness to foreign influence, but we know it is a sign...that the Norak have been entrusted, in their new ability to travel between the stars, the holy quest to preach the eternal words, the true path and the pure light to all the galaxy. As we speak, the High Priest and the elders are bestowing new orders to those who go as missionaries.

But on to other news. Our fleet of defense ships have grown, and are presently comprised of two Connecticut I and one Connecticut II class frigates. Since 2401.3, two of the three have been stationed on the Xiban side of the warp point leading into CueCappa territory, in order to regulate trade and monitor against our latest contact...the Amon'krie. We still know little about them. On a scouting mission our third Connecticut frigate traveled beyond the Arklite system and found the Amon'krie homesystem, Hwansul. Their ships avoided ours. They never raised contact. The captain of the Connecticut stayed in Hwansul just long enough to receive new orders before turning around and leaving. One of their warships passed within visual range, and the captain estimated their ships to be as large as ours. Not a good sign when one thinks about safety outside Xiban. The High Counsel decided to send through the CueCappa diplomats on the Amon'krie homeworld a treaty of non-intercourse. A little distrust has sprung up between some of our government and the Cue Cappa, since they failed to make any mention of the Amon'krie. Not only that, but they are allied in a much more lenient trade agreement than us. For now, the Amon'krie are speaking to us through our mutual friend. They seem like a very proud people, the Amon'krie, and we've inquired as to what they believe in. The CueCappa having little understanding of religion give vague and thoughtless answers. However, we've been able to somewhat piece together that it is extremely primitive. Nothing even remotely as formal as the CueCappa's religion. Something called the "Deep Dirt" or so that roughly translated. Weird but interesting.

I am overjoyed to announce that the Norak inhabit yet another planet in the galaxy. The third planet in the Lundra system has been opened to colonists. It is an extremely large planet and full of minerals. The planet is 50% larger than Xiban I. Who knows, one day it may boast a larger population than the homeworld. The planet is being set up as a mining colony. So far a crude space hub is being set up for transport of materials, thus, soon its harvests will be sent back to Xiban. Our rate of construction is depleting what little resources Xiban I has. Lundra is key to the future of Norak space travel. On the other hand, Xiban IV has been designated a science colony. Already, half of Xiban's top scientists have left for it on grants and official projects. On this very voyage home, we've crossed the paths of several ships.

Another colony ship is being sent to the Lundra system, to the planet of Lundra VI. The colonists on this planet will have to live inside an artifical dome, since it has no atmosphere. A marvel of construction, really. Scanners have revealed that it is high in minerals and certain radioactive materials which go into the production of our engines and weapons.

The scout ship of the Rhode Island class is on its way back from the galactic edge. Just saying that phrase, galactic edge, makes my head spin. Seems that the Last two star systems on the outlying side are devoid of...well, almost everything. In order, beyond Lundra, they are Ephandra and Qornor. In Ephandra, the captain had a difficult time I hear navigating the uncharted asteriods floating about. He called it a death trap, a mouse maze for star ships. The Last system, Qornor, is comprised of the same useless objects, but for some reason, the asteroids orbit the sun in a uniform distance. With that, the ship is on its way home. Perhaps in the future, the Norak will be able to do something with these two systems, but for now, we've simply put our claim to them. It is the Almighty's way of telling us to look inward, toward life and the center of the galaxy. Yes, I am a monk, but our quest is not in some back cave of the galaxy contemplating existance. It is reshaping the face of the known universe. Everything depends upon the message.

Now I come to this entry's final topic, and it is one which I myself am reluctant to discuss with myself. Our ways have had a hard time keeping themselves clean from the impure dabblings of science. Science has been likened unto a blind man walking on an empty flat plain. Every step seems to be progress, even though he knows not where these steps lead. Many scientists have found themselves upon the sharpened poles of the Keepers, our high judges of religious matters, for refusing to lay their scientific ground work upon the structure of our beliefs. They were promising men, and for everyone it is a saddening thing to lose potential, but we must remind ourselves. These men were not lost upon the poles; they were lost somewhere in their own laboratories. One such man I was asked to review while on Xiban III. I'd not spoken of it before because the Keepers code forbids discussing such matters before an end is reached. The Keepers had intrusted me with the task of judging this man. I am no Keeper, mind you. But they are few and have not yet drafted new members for stations on other worlds. The processes of the Keepers are slow and meticulous. So they asked me. A task I was reluctant to perform. Was it necessary? Yes. But such things aren't in my nature. They eat on my mind while I sleep. What did he do, you ask, to deserve the pole? Well, it is part of our belief, that the star at the center of the Xiban system is a portal through which the Almighty and her entourage speak to us. From Xiban I for centuries, the mood of it, perdicted the mood of our world. Time and time again, it proved correct. There was no need to say it didn't. However, this scientist, who had caused trouble before leaving for Xiban III, decided he had a different explination for the star's extreme mood swings. I listened to his theories and read his notes and talked to his collegues. He proposed that the core of our star was unstable, and had been for as long as the Norak existed, and that it was the physical which explained everything. He went on to state, that if something wasn't done about it, it could explode at any moment. I will be truthful here, and say his argument was consistant and convincing. However, he failed to show any reason why the fluctuations in the star could not be caused by the Almighty's keeper of the portal, Hikull, which we all know is the case. I then concluded that his arguments did not pertain to furthering our understanding of Hikull's portal, but rather for the simple, yet dastardly purpose of removing the hands of deity from it's operations. In essence, his work was an attempt to disprove the Almighty, a goal which many have known he sought his life long. For that, he died and his work was burned.