Contact - Part Four

Nalwar tried not to panic as Sandeer explained in general terms the extent of Kalawani military technology. The Kestrels were troop carriers, built for speed and mobility, apparently only lightly armoured with the fearsome repeating projectile cannon a mere light support weapon. In addition, there were massive tanks, highly manoeuvrable rotating wing aircraft, fast fixed-wing attack craft, flying remote robots and more.

"Who, or what, are you fighting with all these weapons?" said Nalwar. She tried to think of what sort of threat would require such a medley of devastating weaponry, but considered analysis and even her imagination failed her.

"Other nations. Pakistan for example. China is another worry. Also, who knows what the future holds? It remains that we have these weapons to show that we can defend ourselves. I would like to say your visit would cause us to put aside our petty differences, but I fear the opposite." said Sandeer.

The names of the other rival Philosophies meant little to Nalwar. No, not Philosophies. These were primitive nation-states. Primitive nation-states with sophisticated, devastating weaponry and an understanding of nuclear power. 

“It is strange that you are not unified. Most civilisations have embraced a single ideology well before mastery over steam and steel. I know of no species in a state of barbarism after unlocking atomic power. Contact also usually brings about unification, it doesn’t foster disunity,” protested Nalwar.

Sandeer wondered how that ‘embracing’ of a dominant ideology typically occurred. If I ask Nalwar about Invar unification would I receive an honest or more correctly, an accurate answer? As a scientist himself, he decided to satisfy his curiosity.

“So, how does the process normally occur? Using say, the Invar and the Ascendancy of the Union as an example,” he said.

“The Ascendancy is a coming together of Invar thought, uniting us all with a commonality of outlook and purpose. While there are many contributors the initial locus of Ascendancy is attributed to Mazrin the Great. From her writings and early work of unification began what is now the Ascendancy of the Union,” began Nalwar.

The definitely truncated history lesson gave a rough outline of the life of an Invar version of what sounded like Alexander of ancient Greece. Except that she conquered her version of India and her new Empire did not collapse in dynastic squabbling as was the fate of any Human equivalent. Within four generations Mazrin’s descendants had conquered almost all of Invarra. Sandeer noted that Nalwar did not use such terms. Rather, most nations after Mazrin’s initial expansion had ‘seen’ the ‘obvious benefits‘ and ‘enthusiastically’ joined what was now the great Ascendancy of the Union. 

They achieved unification in what was the bronze and early iron age. They have been one nation, no, philosophy since then. Nalwar could have been Mazrin’s direct descendant or from the last annexed province and it would make no difference. They have been one people since before we Humans developed agriculture. 

“There was never a succession or a fracturing? A setback to the Ascendancy?” he asked as neutrally as possible.

Would they have recorded it? Would this galactic explorer even know of such subtleties of her own history? Many Humans were ignorant of much more recent events after all.

Nalwar twitched as she considered the alien’s preposterous question. Of course, the Ascendancy of the Union had always been so! Then she remembered something from her history lessons and also, the injunction to be honest in all matters during Contact.

“There was such. Yes. We call it the Unity crisis.” said Nalwar.

“Unity crisis?” asked Sandeer.

“Yes, soon after developing interstellar transit capability we explored along the gravitational streams spinward of Invara. We encountered the Pacherri at the very end of the logistical reach of our ships. They had already formed the Advocacy of the Consensus and had flight capability.” said Nalwar.

“And this species came into, contention with yours?” said Sandeer. 

Nalwar’s head shook in an all to Human-like gesture. “No. Contact with the Consensus was peaceful. We shared knowledge and ideas before having to return. One of those ideas was Unity, the underlying philosophical basis of the Advocacy of the Consensus and others.”

“What is this Unity? How was it dangerous?” asked Sandeer.

Nalwar again shuffled and twitched, “It is hard to explain. The Pacherri are Ambulants, a very different type of life to Invar or Human. In fact, we have detected no examples of Ambulants on Kalawan. Perforce, the thoughts and ideals of such a truly alien species are hard to explain.”

“Perhaps you can try. It must have made some sense to cause a division in your Ascendancy,” said Sandeer.

“I suppose that is true. Very well. Unity is a belief of working together with ultimate loyalty to the entire population rather than to the individual or close family group. A believer in Unity strives for what they call ‘The Greater Good’ and that all are sisters, regardless of genetic distance.” said Nalwar, attempting to explain the rival philosophy that had shaken the Ascendancy.

“I see,” was all the alien said as it rubbed its chin. Nalwar had noticed that the alien did this when accessing deeper memories. Was it a physiological aid to recall or just a nervous tic? “These believers in Unity. Did they speak often of the means of production or labour? That all things should be owned by the collective as a whole?”

“Why yes. That sounds like their mad slogans. How could you know of this? It is a completely alien philosophy. We saw no signs of previous Contact.” said Nalwar.

“Some Humans have also come up with ideas very similar to the Unity of these, Pacherri was it? While in India they are an understandable minority, in other parts of the world it is, or has been the dominant philosophy. Here, it is called Marxism or Communism.”

Nalwar tried to calm herself at the latest outrageous revelation from the giant alien. Remember, this Kalawani is an alien she thought to herself. Despite all the similarities to an Invar it is an alien. It is the evolutionary product of a completely separate version of life. It has been subject to different conditions than you and, as such it is as alien as a Pacherri or Brilomar. Also, as an alien its society will be alien and strange. 

All that warred with the evidence that the hirsute homeothermic vivap with clearly no biochemical or psionic links to its fellow beings could ever envisage, let alone embrace Unity. Like all sensible Invar, Nalwar considered those of her species that embraced the Alien ur-philosophy as mad. It was possible that it was so here. Still, the Kalawani were, well aliens.

After a moment she spoke, “So, is it a tried, tested and discarded idea? This version of Unity was proposed and rejected?”

Sandeer shook his head, “Discarded by some, embraced by others, it is thought to be in decline. Still, Earth’s largest nation, China is Communist. They are our neighbours and rivals to the north of India. There are also some small nations that are Communist, so, about twenty percent of Humans at a guess.”

It was in decline and still at twenty percent! At its height the deranged followers of Unity could only dream of such numbers! 

“It was more popular in the past?” said a shocked Nalwar.

Sandeer nodded, “Oh yes, many thought it to be the way of the future. If you had come here fifty years ago it would have been half the world and apparently growing.”

Nalwar did a brief calculation. That was only eighteen thousand days ago! While a long time even for a civilised being like herself it was but an eyeblink in political terms.

“What happened?” she found herself saying.

Sandeer rubbed his chin again, perhaps it was an aid to recall after all. “Understand, I am a scientist like yourself and not a historian. The last two hundred years have seen massive technological and sociological leaps on Earth which led to some of the bloodiest conflicts and wars ever. If it were myself I would call our recent history the Age of Ideology or perhaps Genocide.”

Nalwar could only stare blankly as Sandeer began describing the horrific nightmare that was Kalawan’s recent history. 

Nalwar knew what genocide was, in the abstract at least. The systematic extermination of one species by another was one of the few crimes demanding the extermination of the offending species. After all, a species so xenophobic was just too dangerous to be allowed to exist. 

Humans however systematically murdered each other over the slightest of differences. Too tall, too short, wrong shade of colour, wrong religion or, in some of the bloodiest cases simply the wrong version of the same religion. 

Still, intra-species genocide was not under any Galactic prescription. Nalwar was beginning to suspect it wasn’t because normal Galactics were unified before industrialized slaughter was an option. Even the infamous genocides were so.

“How is it that you have survived?” said Nalwar since running back to the ship screaming and demanding an immediate ascent would be, impolite. 

“I am not sure. Maybe it is just something we don’t think about when not directly involved. Until you brought it up as something to talk about I had never given it much thought myself.”