The Helianx Proposition/page 44

From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Lighterstill.jpg

Helianx44.jpg




Commentary


Many passages of sun and moon had passed before Noe awoke from hir long meditation, alert and suddenly aware of odd, and somewhat painful, sensations that seemed to emanate from where one of hir segmented flanks lay across a small fertile valley. Turning hir body to find out what was causing the pain, sHe was able to see small creatures clinging to hir sides, their teeth buried in hir soft flesh. Others, thrown off by hir movement, were lumbering away in terror for the safety of the trees, their heavily-armored bodies lurching and colliding with one another in their haste.

Although Noe had been briefed by the computers on the results of the uniscan and thus had a broad knowledge of the life forms on this third planet from the sun, sHe was unprepared and surprised at the immediate hostility that hir presence provoked. There was never any threat, of course, since hir enormous size prevented any real damage to hir body. But emerging, as sHe had, from a gentle and non-aggressive background, sHe found this unrestrained animosity both annoying and downright discourteous.

In their joumeys through the inhabited universes, the Helianx had uniscanned many worlds on which primitive life was developing, but had never directly interacted with any of the wide variety of simple creatures observed. There had never been a good reason, since the clues for which the Helianx were searching were only to be found on planets on which life had evolved to a point at which it could ponder its own nature and its place in the universe. When this milestone had been achieved, it was the function of administrating agents sent out from MA to activate the relevant universe broadcast circuits, allowing the inhabitants a far deeper and more detailed understanding of the way the Multiverse worked.

While the computers were making their final choices as to which world would give Noe the best chance of survival, the fourth planet within the same solar system was presented as a distinct possibility. Some of the Elders had favored this choice in spite of its small size and its generally cool overall temperature. The oceans were deep and water was plentiful and the inhabitants were well on their way to evolving a high level of intelligence. However, when the computers ran their predictive programs, it quickly became apparent that deteriorating planetary conditions would be likely to force the inhabitants off their world well before the designated time.

Patiently. the computers had explained that timing was the single most important factor in the entire enterprise. Although the fourth planet possessed many of the necessary requirements, intelligent life was predicted to be too far advanced for Noe's purposes. Besides, sHe would need many more millions of years than would have been available to hir to adjust to a reasonable size to complete hir replicatory function. This metamorphic process would dictate both the appropriate timing for Nbe's primary mission, as well as hir eventual symbiotic reemergence within the inner lives of what would become the dominant host species.


Previous Page Next Page