Chapter 82. The Republic rushes to the Taurus Colony
Noah sat back on the command chair and shook his head. Then he looked at Nilf. "You heard me. Get us out of this system."
"Where to go?" Nilf asked, his tone slightly provocative. Jeffrey looked at him reproachfully.
"Whatever. Leave this galaxy first."
Nilf hesitated, then turned around. "Captain, may I be frank?"
"Of course." Noah encouraged him to speak his mind.
"Why don't we send out ships and force them to cooperate with us?"
Noah looked at him in surprise. He didn't expect that this half-Vulcan, who was usually so disciplined, would ask such a question. "We promised them. We will keep our word."
"Even if this is our only chance to correct the timeline?" Nilf said in a provocative tone. Apparently, he didn't handle the situation as well as expected. Or, was there something else that bothered him besides this situation? Otherwise, how can one explain his emotional outbursts?
"Yes, even then. We will not take force." Noah remained calm despite the turbulent feelings inside. Nilf is challenging his authority in front of the entire crew. He gave an order and it must be carried out.
But Nilf seemed not to have finished speaking yet. "No one will ever know. Once the timeline is restored, all of these people will never have existed."
"But we'll know," Noah interrupted. "I am unwilling to betray the principles we and the Federation believe in. I will not betray everything we believe in. Now, set a course out of this galaxy." Noah's tone became more severe. He wanted to make it clear to Nilfer that the discussion was over and he was awaiting execution.
Nilf nodded reluctantly, then turned to the console again and entered the command. The Republic ship slowly turned around and then left the debris field of the original planet it was traveling on. Noah mentally went over the things they might have done wrong, but he couldn't find anything wrong. He shook his head helplessly and turned to Jeffrey.
"Captain, someone is calling us." Ingmar reported in surprise, before Noah could speak.
"Who is it?" Noah turned around.
Ingmar raised his eyebrows. "It's Tchaikovsky."
Noah stood up in surprise. "Then let's hear what he has to say. Put him on the screen."
Tchaikovsky's face appears again, this time looking friendlier. "Captain, please wait. You may come with us. My allies would like to get to know you and exchange some insights."
Noah looked at him doubtfully. "Why the sudden change of attitude?"
"This is a trust test. You kept your promise to leave this system. This is the final proof of our trust in you. In a resistance group like ours, it is very important that you keep your word."
The anger that Noah had begun to feel at first disappeared again. Although he felt a little fooled at first, he also understood the team's approach. Ultimately, what matters is their chance at gaining an ally who might help them correct the timeline.
"Still, we will not provide you with the coordinates of our colony. Please simply follow us. We have transferred some data to your navigation system. These are sufficient to set the first course. We will send more on the way Update. Hope this is acceptable to you."
Noah nodded. What choice does he have? "Well. I look forward to seeing you again in person at your destination."
"I'm equally pleased. Please follow us now." He disconnected.
Noah looked at Nilf. "Do we have the navigation data we mentioned?"
"Yes, Captain."
The boat on the screen also accelerated, set a course, and entered hyperspace.
"Follow the ship," Noah finally ordered. "Add speed. I guess they're going to be a little slower than us. We don't want to pass them."
"Yes, Captain," Nilf confirmed. Soon after, the Republic also entered hyperspace teleportation.
They followed the small boat for hours. With each passing hour, the tension on the ship increases. The leadership team refuses to take a break because everyone wants to be there when they arrive at their destination. Since no one knows where the destination actually is, it could be reached at any time. Or it could take hours or days.
The alien ship was small, and the technology was quite old even for this universe. It can only be used as Wa
forward at the speed of p 2. Noah felt like they were moving at a snail's pace. However, as time passed, they felt longer and longer, and eventually Noah ordered a forced rest. The core members of the ship reluctantly left the bridge and returned to their quarters. Although everyone knows that no one can truly sleep, everyone should at least be given some rest. Everyone must be in good shape when they arrive at their destination. There may be so many tasks waiting for them there that they will not have time to rest. But if you end up with some information, the effort will be worth it.
Eventually, Noah also stepped back. He must be an example to others, and he cannot ask others to do something that he is not willing to do himself. He couldn't sleep so he sat on the couch in his place with a book in his hand. However, he was very unfocused. After each passage, he would ask himself what he had just read. Then he had to re-read it, sometimes twice. Therefore, he could not read more than two pages, so he sat up and put the book aside. He buried his face in his hands and enjoyed the silence for a moment.
The hum of the ship's communication system made him straighten immediately. "Captain Noah, please come to the bridge." A voice came from the communication device.
Finally, a sign of relief. They might have reached their destination, otherwise why would they have summoned him to the bridge. He looked out the window and saw sparkling stars. They have already conducted Wa
p jump, otherwise the stars will continue to zip across the field of view. He stood up hastily and headed to the bridge. When he finally stepped out of the elevator, Nilf turned directly to him. The half-Klingon had apparently arrived for work early. "Captain, we are moving at half pulse speed and following the ship to the sixth planet in the system. Obviously, that is our destination."
"Thank you." Noah nodded and sat on the command chair. "Ms. Shu Ran, please call the leading officials to the bridge."
"Yes, sir," she nodded. Her voice betrayed disappointment. Apparently she'd rather stay. Here they had direct access to events, whereas elsewhere on the ship they had to rely on official reports and stories. And those reports and stories usually come later and are only half as interesting.
The screen showed them slowly approaching the planet. This galaxy has a star about twice as large as Earth's sun. There are eight planets in total orbiting the central star. Due to the Sun's mass and gravity, closer orbits are not possible. Any object that comes close to the sun will be inexorably attracted to it until it is eventually burned up within the sun. The sixth planet in the galaxy is the only planet suitable for human life. It's slightly smaller than Earth, but just as green. Dense rainforests cover much of the planet. Over the rainforest, thick clouds can be seen, indicating that the planet's climate is stable. It certainly wouldn't be difficult to establish a colony here and survive. Most planets can only be colonized through massive terraforming. And those planets that can naturally host life are mostly arid, providing little water. Living on such a planet is a challenge. However, they often have abundant sources of important metals, making the effort worthwhile.
The small spacecraft heads directly to the planet. Just before entering the planet's atmosphere, Tchaikovsky sent a message ordering them to enter geosynchronous orbit. They will receive more information about the meeting soon.
The designated tracks kept them directly above the colony's main settlements. In this way, there is no need to worry about whether the communication signal is blocked. If the spacecraft is on the back side of the planet, then the signal needs to be transmitted via satellites orbiting the planet. But there are no satellites here.
Meanwhile, the entire leadership team had arrived, so Noah turned directly to his science officers. He hopes to gain something while waiting. So he stood up and walked to the guardrail behind Jeffrey, the small guardrail that separated the upper deck from the lower deck.
"Mr. Jeffrey, what do we know about this planet?"
"We are currently in the Taurus system," Vulcan explained. "Before us is Alpha Tauri 6. In our universe, this planet is uninhabited. It has almost no fossil resources. These fossil resources require the deposition of organic material for millions of years to form. The lack of this resource indicates that the planet is relatively young .There are few metal minerals or other mineable resources. Therefore, the planet has been of low concern to the Federation.
In this universe, that seems to be the case as well. The scan results were no different. The planet has two continents, one extending slightly to the equator in the southern hemisphere, and the second covering almost the entire northern hemisphere, touching only lightly the equator. The southern continent is entirely covered in jungle, while the main continent, except for its southern edge, consists mainly of grasslands and forests. The colonists settled here. Since the planet's axis was at right angles to the sun, there were no problems that would have caused any seasonal changes to the colonists.
There is a capital city directly below us, and four other cities further north, directly facing the sea. "
Noah nodded thoughtfully and looked at the planets on the screen. It made sense to establish a colony here. While the planet has little to its credit, as a new living space to alleviate a severely overcrowded Earth, there are few better options. In his universe, this was never necessary, as contact with Vulcan allowed for rapid technological advancement and thus the establishment of colonies on other planets at an earlier time. Before the Earth became completely overcrowded.
"Taurus Alpha 6," Noah muttered under his breath. "Why does this name sound so familiar?"
"Kanuni was abandoned on the neighboring planet Alpha 5 Tauri," Jeffrey recalled for him.
"Yeah," Noah recalled. "That's improved humans from optimized genetic warfare. I wish that didn't happen in this universe for these colonists."
"Highly unlikely," said Jeffrey. "Kanuni was found and abandoned by the Enterprise after he nearly took control of the ship and killed a crew member. In this universe, the Enterprise does not exist. Therefore, it is likely that Kanuni's ship was never recovered either Found. In this case, there is no way Kanuni and his men are here."
Noah nodded. As usual, Jeffrey was right. Kanuni is a survivor of the optimization genetic war. The war breaks out on Earth when genetically modified superhumans seize power and dominate the rest of humanity. After an uprising, the war lasted four years. Subsequently, the super humans were defeated and humanity regained its freedom. Kanuni and some of his men managed to escape, floating in a dormant ship for nearly two hundred years until they were discovered and resurrected by the Enterprise captain and his crew. The rescue nearly kills the Enterprise crew as the superhumans seek to take control of the ship to regain the power they take for granted. However, they ultimately failed and were abandoned on the planet Taurus Alpha 5. From there, they never had a chance to leave, as there were no ships to allow them to escape.
"Can you determine where Tchaikovsky's spaceship landed?"
"There is an airport of sorts near the larger settlement. Our escort team landed there," Jeffrey Hui reported.
"That might be a while," Noah muttered. He was tired of waiting. "It may be some time until Tchaikovsky reaches the settlement and organizes everything." He returned to his command chair. Before sitting down, he looked at Jeffrey again. What kind of Vulcans await on the planet below? Their history is thousands of years older than them. Will they be different from Jeffrey?
"Mr. Ingmar, inform Dr. Celia and Lieutenant Gladys. They will accompany us to the planet," he ordered Ingmar. A team of four is enough. Dr. Celia can confirm if there are really Vulcans there, and Jeffrey will be the link. And since Io Murakami is still unable to fully return to work due to injury, Gladys must form a safety team.
Tchaikovsky felt indescribable the tension he felt when he returned to the airport. It's like looking forward to Christmas as a kid. The anticipation of gifts is coupled with the worry of getting the right thing. Tchaikovsky felt the same way. The data he saw was incredible. With these people as allies, they no longer have to fear Earth. Eventually he convinced others to trust the strangers as well. But what if it's all a scam? Then he will be ruined. No one will believe him anymore, and what's worse, he will be seen as an incompetent person who trusts strangers rashly. He would never even get a chance to participate in any resistance movement again. His fight against the Earth will be over. He could hardly think of anything worse. He spent his life fighting against the unfair treatment given to the colonists.
He belongs to the second generation born in the colonies. For him and others like him who were born here, Earth meant almost nothing. They have no memory of Earth, their homeland has been this colony from the beginning. For his generation, the connection to the earth is so far removed from that of their ancestors that it means little. Earth, from what they had heard from the elders, was just a distant planet that brought high taxes to the colonists without giving enough in return. The colonists believed that almost all of the tax revenue went to the earth and very little came back. People on Earth live a prosperous life, but colonists struggle for survival every day. At least that's how it seemed to the colonists.
Therefore, Tchaikovsky knew from an early age that the earth was their enemy. When they were children, they used to play the game "Colonists vs. Earth Police," where the police hunted down the colonists. To the kids, it was just a game and they didn't feel much about it at the time. But as they grew up and the game disappeared, they realized the gravity of the situation.
