“Mars?” Darrian
asked.
“Right. We believe
it was named after one of the fictional characters that the humans have killed
each other over.” responded Cherryl.
“So what’s its
actual name, then?” inquired Cagool, the
Yool ambassador.
There were a few
sidelong glances and a look of distaste from some of the politicians. It was
rarely considered acceptable to simply dismiss another race’s opinion during open discussion. Even
something as simple as a name for a planet deserved respect. Unless there was a
population on “Mars” currently, the human name should have sufficed for it. To
simply dismiss it was to act as though the species wasn’t sentient and didn’t
deserve consideration.
Apparently, this
convention was lost on Cagool. Whether he didn’t care or didn’t realize it, he
seemed to ignore the uncomfortable silence.
“Well. The
planet’s p-previous name was Muspel II.” Stammered Cherryl, obviously nervous
and trying to maintain respect towards the humans naming conventions. “It was
one of two planets in the system that the Guillae had populated.”
“Had?” emphasized
Ferris.
Cherryl nodded in
response. “Correct. The Guillae used up the majority of the natural
materials on the planet and vacated once the atmosphere began to dissolve.”
“Back up.” said
Darrian. “Who are these Guillae? I’ve never heard of them. For that matter, if
AV32- sorry. Earth. If Earth is part of this Muspel system, then why didn’t we
know about it previously?”
“The Guillae are a
species of floramorphic hybrids. They have a tendency of wandering galaxies and
sending a large spore filled with their ‘colonists’ to any planet they deem
useful.” The old judge rattled off.
“Floramorphic?”
asked Darrian.
“Plant people.” whispered
Ferris.
“Once they land,
the Guillae tend to be both a blessing and a curse. Their cities and
technologies are all biologically based. No mechanics of any kind to speak of.
Because of this, every part of their society tends to blend with the given
planet and give birth to a host of new life. The planets tend to flourish for a
few rotations, at which time the noxious gasses that the Guillae naturally give
off have done their damage. The atmosphere tends to burn off and the Guillae
take off for other planets elsewhere.”
“That sounds horrible.”
said Illiquina with a shudder.
The old judge
nodded his agreement.
“Many people in
the scientific community tend to have mixed emotions about the Guillae. On the
one hand, their very presence on a planet can do fantastic things. They promote
untold numbers of species to come to fruition during their time on a planet.
However, because of their genetic makeup, the Guillae tend to do permanent
damage to any world that hosts them. Mars is just such an example.”
"A telltale sign that the Guillae have been there is the landscape tends
to take on a reddish hue of rust. It has something to do with the
gasses the put off."
“So what was Mars
like?” asked A’alan’t 32, the rather quiet Bivvie representative.
Darrian couldn’t
help but smile as he realized that both A’alan’t 32 and the old judge were
outright ignoring Cagool’s rudeness earlier by using "Mars" as the planet's name. On top of that, the Yool
definitely was taking notice as he was sitting there looking rather annoyed.
“Actually, Earth
and Mars weren’t unlike each other in overall design.” stated the old judge.
The holographic
imager in the middle of the table gave birth to a spherical planet that was
indeed very similar to the planet the humans occupied. It was covered in giant
splotches of greens and blue with speckled browns and reds here and there.
“Is that water?”
asked Darrian in surprise as he stared at the image.
“Yes, it is.”
responded the judge. “Much like many species in the galaxies, a plentiful water
source is what drives the Guillae to populate new worlds.”
“It’s quite
pretty.” Observed Ugul.
“I must agree.”
said the old judge. “At least until the Guillae showed up.”
To Darrian’s
surprise, he watched the image before him morph and change. He watched
as a
sudden green spot appeared in one of the planet’s oceans. Perhaps the
spore the judge spoke of? It began to boil
and spread green through the waters until it reached land. There, rich
emeralds seemed to entangle and overtake the verdant hues that had
already been present.
“As you can see,
the introduction of a Guillae spore can have truly amazing effects…”
As they continued
to watch, the entire planet soon completely turned a rich emerald green. All of the
browns, reds, and blues seemed to fade away. For a moment, the planet simply
rotated there like a spherical green gem. Then, without warning, speckles of dusty red appeared and spread
with frightening speed. Within seconds, the entire planet was the heavy red of
rusted iron.
“…as well as
devastating.” finished the old judge.
“These observations
were taken over the course of seven rotations and occurred thirty two rotations
ago.” added Cherryl.
“That’s all well
and good, but I have to agree with Darrian.” said Juag-e with obvious tension.
“Why the hell haven’t I heard of this species before now?”
“The Guillae are a
nomadic race.” stated the old judge. “They come to a planet, use it up, and
leave it a rotted, rusted husk of what it once was. While the species is
sentient, they don’t seem to operate with the same drives or capacities of
other civilizations.”
“Frankly. They’re
too alien.” he said with a hint of disgust.
Darrian felt a
tinge of surprise. It was rare to call any species alien. In a galaxy filled
with so many different types of life, singling one out as an “other” was bizarre.
“As such,”
continued the old judge, “The Consortium made agreements with the Guillae some
fifty rotations back that they would not bother each other. The Guillae can
continue to wander out further and further away from us and none of our planets
are at risk from their colonization. In exchange, the Guillae can do as they will without Consortium interference.”
There was a long
moment of eerie silence. Darrian couldn’t help but feel nervous thinking
about
these Guillae. While the humans were erratic and warlike, monsters by
many
descriptions, they were still frighteningly young with the potential for
growth. They still had time to grow into something better. This other
species,however, was so different and almost accidentally dangerous that
the Consortium did not bring
them into the fold but rather insisted they not even engage within their
sphere
of control.
He couldn’t decide
which was more unsettling.
“While I'm sure we all appreciate the monster story,” said Ferris. “I think we have gotten a little
off topic.”
“R-right.” Cherryl
said with another little nod.
“What are we going
to do about humans attempting to reach Mars?” asked the judge.
Next Chapter
Previous Chapter
Start at the Beginning
===
