Many many maaany miles away from us there is a planet. It’s in a solar system, pretty much like ours but different, of course. And many many miles away from that planet there is another planet, let’s call it Andron. In Andron we could find lots of life forms and one of them developed incredible technology and science. They got to manage travel through space, genetic engineery and a whole bunch of other things we poor primitive humans don’t even dream of. The Andronians were a very superior race and they always kept exploring, inventing and expanding.
Now let us go back to the first planet I told you about. The Andronians decided to experiment with controlled life forms and they went out to space to find a good place to undertake their mission. So they got to this deserted planet, let’s call it Spidex. The atmosphere was not quite optime so they had to create some life forms that could adapt to this environment and transform it by and by into a more suitable place. Of course, Andronian scientists wanted to create a whole natural chain so they started with the basics and let a few little (very little) creatures run through the water.
They adapted well and developed for evolution is a rule even for artificial life, you know. They grew bigger and improved themselves. Also, the Andronians helped them a little to survive: they didn’t want to lose their experiment when it was going so well. It took a few hundred years to get to this point but the Andronians were immortal so it didn’t matter.
How? Well one of their finest doctors had found the solution for death a few centuries ago: he implanted two hearts in newborn babies. And there was a reflex programmed in their brain that would automatically activate the second heat if the first suffered any damage. Thus if one got too old and the heart got too weak the second heart would take its place while the first recovered. Also, since the new heart was "fresh" the cells would start recovering too, so they went back to be young again. They learned the way to get stronger bones and skin to keep the medium from damaging their inner organs. Thus they couldn’t die by wounds or age and it took a few hundred years more to find the immunization against all the viruses thy knew. There was nothing left to kill them.
Unfortunately all this genetic manipulation had affected their reproductive capacity, but since they wouldn’t die anymore there was no need for descendants. And no, Andronians didn’t marry. Their race had only one sex and the only difference between them were the lines around their eyes, sort of like our digital prints that was their way to identify each other.
Well, back to our tale. As the life forms developed in this planet adapting to the hostile medium around them, the Andronians decided to expand their experiment and put similar life forms in the planets around them to cover the entire solar system and see how life would be different in each of the six planets they worked with. It worked; life made its way and now the deserted planets were habitated.
After a few million years, as the life developed more and more complex, our Andronian scientists decided to create some intelligent life forms and test how they would adapt to the environment they created. They designed a different one for each planet. This life form did not come directly intelligent. At first it was a primitive brain ruled by programs and instincts like all the former creations. Evolution did the rest.
In Spidex we have life forms that had very sharp claws and their upper limbs created a sort of moisture sticky enough to support their entire weight attached to a surface. They could see in the dark since their ancestors lived underground and some of that capacity remained. Since they could climb any surface and had poisonous teeth let’s call them Spiders.
Spidex was the second planet following the sun. The first one was a little planet with only one moon, which we’ll call Anta. Here the lie forms still lived underground and were smaller than the rest. Since they possessed an extraordinary strength and a number of limbs let’s call them Ants.
The third planet was Bepan. The intelligent life forms could fly and reproduced by eggs so let’s call them Bees.
(All those created organisms had a limited lifetime and needed reproduction. The Andronians thought it better that way.)
We have three planets left: Waram, Cregen and Maldo, the last one being all a liquid surface. But these ones were slower to grow life since they were too far from the sun and evolution took a longer time here.
So let’s stick to our first organisms: Spiders, Bees and Ants. Their members eventually got together and lived in communities. They didn’t know each other, of course; the only life forms they knew out of their planets were the Andronians who dropped by once in a while to check how things were going. They had set their headquarters on the top of the highest mountain on the dark side of the moon (out of the planet so they could work without being disturbed). Their creations had been programmed with emotions so that they could study some involuntary responses to the different situations they went through. And the first response that surprised the Andronians was praise.
Yes, praise! Their life forms (let’s call it "people") were grateful for living! And soon their visits were greeted with cheers and presents, celebration and affection. Their people started to adore them and demonstrate positive emotions towards them, aware that their existence was Andronians’ credit. These visits had a century of distance so the people had to tell their children about them so they would be ready to praise them when they came. Spiders, Bees and Ants alike were well aware that the Andronians had created their lives and had the power to terminate them as well. They tried to keep them happy and satisfied for fear of raising their anger and getting punished. Their poor primitive brains couldn’t understand that happiness, anger or revenge was out of Andronians’ capacities: they didn’t have emotions.
As their communities grew and developed these people learned to see Andronians as gods and venerate them with silly inventions the superior beings didn’t even care about. But they didn’t interfere with their people’s behavior and let them be; let them build temples, make figurines, invent rituals and grovel at them if that’s the way they wanted it.
A few millennias passed and those societies grew more complicate and technologic. They started to experiment with inventions and machines, more and more sophisticated. Th Andronians left them alone to build their own world and simply kept apart observing them from their hidden position. Their visits eventually ceased but their people still worshiped them and based their culture around them. Some believed they’d come back, some didn’t even believed they existed. The Andronians didn’t care; all this "god" nonsense was a primitive invention from their limited conception of life; it didn’t affect at all superior beings like them.
When Spiders and Bees learned to handle travel through space they started to send little rockets to explore, take photos and samples of the other civilizations and so they discovered their neighbors. As centuries went by the planets eventually got in touch.
But our story takes place 11 million years after when the entire solar system was already developed and habitants of all planets could travel from a galaxy to another.
By now Spiders and Bees had been in war for 7 million years. Nobody even knew why: after such a long time people had forgotten how it all began and the files that contained the complete version of the tale had been destroyed in one of the thousands of sieges.
Today everybody in Bepan was hoping the Spiders wouldn't attack because it was a very important holiday: the queen was to select her heir. You see, Bees had a tradition that there could only be one queen and that role was exclusive to the first born child, if it was a girl. The next to be born should b killed. Yeah, cruel; but with his method they avoided jealousy and discord in the royal family; the planet had enough conflicts already.
Things got complicate when two or more princesses were born the same day but that was solved with a fight where only one could survive.
Muriel and Meuset were twins and both had reached the age to assume the royal duty. As good sisters they were very good friends and didn't like a bit the thought of killing each other. However they didn't have a choice. (The planet was very evoluated in science and tech but people's mind was still superstitious and savage).
The ritual, of course, began with a ceremony for the gods, which everybody was sure they were watching and appreciating, but, like we said, the Andronians were way above this mortal nonsense. (They didn't even feel flattered with the praise since pride was one weakness they had overcome too long ago).
After a long and complicated rite the duel had started. I will not give details because it was sad to see two sisters trying to kill each other after years of love. Muriel won, Meuset died. When the queen should pass away Muriel was to be the new ruler of Bepan. It gave her a bitter happiness to win a throne and lose her best friend the same day.
A good part of that credit was Farfurol's credit. He was the royal inventor assigned to design the weapons for the duel. He cheated, however, since he was so desperately in love with Muriel and wanted her to win, had given her the best stuff. Naturally nobody except him knew about it. (I hope you'll be good readers and keep the secret or the poor guy will lose his head --literally!)
Poor Muriel was now terribly lonely without her darling sister and melancholy was part of her emotion range so Bees could get into really bad depressions. The queen was prepared for that: it always happened. She sent the royal scientists to make some medicine for her (Bees had the best drug industry in the galaxy). As part of her post-duel treatment she should take a little trip to cheer her up and her maid was sent to pack her luggage and aboard her private space ship. They headed for Maldo, the last planet, to which people used to go for vacation since the intelligent life wasn't too developed there and it was mostly nature and quiet. Besides since it had so many inhabited moons it was ideal if you wanted to be alone.
At the same time Pattaz, the Spider princess, was on her way back to her planet. She had gone to the next galaxy for a little study with some of the best scientists of her kingdom for it was tradition that in Spidex the king should rule and know nothing while the queen would stay behind him but handle all the knowledge. Now she was coming home alone o see the family she had left short after breaking her egg. She hardly even remembered them.
Anyway, Fate would have it, Pattaz decided to land for a while in Kos, the smaller moon of Maldo, precisely the same place Muriel had picked. Both space ships landed on different areas so they weren't even aware of each other's presence at first.
Pattaz eventually detected Muriel with her radar but since she had lived away all her life she knew little and cared even less about the war. And when Muriel detected Pattaz she couldn't attack either since they were on a neutral territory and that would go strictly against war code. These people were honorable: they would fight but never betray.
Their stay was supposed to be short since Kos was a very arid dusty place. But nature has its own way and a very bad storm retained the two ships longer than expected. The atmosphere was so agitated both groups were forced to abandon their space ships and take refuge in a cave (different mountains, of course) when a rock rain started to fall. And I'm talking 20 or 30 tones each rock! Kos's gravity used to attract this sort of elements from the surrounding moons that had a very low magnetism.
The space ships were seriously damaged. The storm created such a magnetic distortion in the ambience that the radios wouldn't work properly and they couldn't ask for help. Muriel sent her maid back to Bepan in the little lifesaver ship to bring someone after her. You'd be wondering why she didn't use the ship to escape herself out of the planet, well, the storm was still raging and the ship was in danger of crashing against some rock. Well, it did... poor maid!
But the main problem for Muriel now was that she was alone in the deserted Kos, with no means of transportation, no communication and -worst of all!- nobody would come looking for he because she wasn't expected at home for many days! Not quite the vacation she had in mind.
Pattaz was in the same situation, but she was sure to get help soon because her family knew she was coming and they'd send someone to find her... only that might take a while if they had no clue where she was.
Anyway they weren't afraid: they knew how to survive.
But their first priority was to moisture their cells with a liquid they had to drink to keep their organs from sticking together or overheating (let's call it water). In Kos there was only one little tiny natural fountain of it. There they went.
They could see each other from afar as they approached the geyser and descended the dusty hill. Muriel got there first and started to drink out of the fountain that was no bigger than a bucket, just a hole in the rocks that was continuously filled from an underground river.
Pattaz reached the geyser and drank too, both of them in silence. They exchanged glances sometimes, but inexpressive; without hate or scorn. It was a neutral territory: here the war was not allowed in any way. They just ignored each other’s presence with a cold tranquility.
Suddenly Muriel looked over at Pattaz and turned pale... her eyes were wide and open fixed over Pattaz’s shoulders. The Spider princess quivered. Whatever she was seeing was dangerous and right behind her!
"Oh, my god!..." Muriel whispered.
Pattaz slowly turned around and the same gasp escaped her throat. Kos was full of savage life and most of them were predators. She had expected to see some ferocious creature hunting them from the rocks or bushes; instead she realized a very big rock that remained from the storm was slipping from the place it landed on and now was rolling down the hill... towards them! There was no time to think and only one direction to run to.
Both princesses hurried to the cave with the giant piece of mountain chasing them from a close distance. As soon as they entered the cavern the immense mineral monster hit against the side of the hill getting stuck in the narrow entrance, blocking the outside light. Muriel and Pattaz were safe but trapped.
Lucky for them they lived without air but still they would need to eat and drink so it was vital to find a way out.
Their emotions were controlled enough as to break in hysteric reactions so instead of being afraid they calmly started to look around for a possible exit. Pattaz could see in the dark very well and soon spotted a tunnel, but Muriel was completely lost.
"We should stay together now", Pattaz said.
Muriel lifted her head at the sound of that voice wondering who she was talking too. Spiders never addressed Bees or viceversa and she didn’t know Pattaz had lived away too long to know about this mutual hostilities. "Bee princess", Pattaz called loudly.
Muriel was shocked! This broke all their customs! She didn’t answer though: speaking directly to a Spider was much too weird.
"I’ve lived out of this galaxy all my life," Pattaz went on. "I don’t know Kos. I need you to guide me back to the water source. And you can’t see in the dark; you need me to guide you out of this cave. We’ll have to help each other; it’s the only smart thing to do."
Readers, how would you feel if you saw a pink elephant flying around your room? That’s just the way Muriel felt having a Spider being addressing her in such civilized terms. It was absolutely weird, but the worst is it was logic. She was right; they needed each other now, but... a Bee and a Spider working together? (Cringe) Okay, she didn’t have too many choices.
"I follow you", she said getting up and looking blindly for her in the darkness.
Pattaz grabbed her arm and led her along the narrow tunnel. They had no reason to mistrust each other: remember these people were in war but fought fair. Muriel wouldn’t think Pattaz would lead her to her death and Pattaz would never think Muriel would abandon her lost in the desert once she got her out. So, just like that, their little deal was paused.
Kos had a wide underground net of tunnels that crossed and twisted like a labyrinth so finding the way back above was not an easy task. The more they walked the more lost they got. They had to sit down to rest several times and go back to their wander again. As they finally found a path that led above they followed it expecting to reach the surface. It was a very long tunnel. They walked on and on for hours and finally arrived to a giant cave slightly illuminated. Both girls followed the light.
The cave turned out to be a giant lab, full of the most incredible instruments and equipment anyone could dream and strange people busy working in the most amazing experiments and taking notes, discussing, suggesting. They were fascinated.
"Oh, my god..." Pattaz murmured in ecstasy. "It’s... them."
They knew what Andronians looked like since the primitive people had left pictures of them in the rocks and caves where they lived in the early days. This was higher an honor than anyone could wish for: they had found the gods! They were the first mortals in millions of years to see the gods in person! Their emotion was so deep they even forgot they were enemies and held each other’s hand like two little scared kids, sticking together, overwhelmed by the majestic presence of these superior creatures.
"You must go back to your own world", one of them said. Incredible! The gods spoke their language! So it was true the legend that the gods had taught the mortals to speak.
"We’re lost..." Pattaz murmured shyly. The "gods" showed them the exit. Both girls still remained motionless. This was the most overwhelming moment of their lives. It was their only chance to see them... what can you do in a situation like this? Meet face to face with the one who gave you your life, your world... the ones that know everything and here they are, in front of you, able to answer any question... Muriel couldn’t resist it anymore. She fell on her knees. She had been tortured by this one question her whole life and this was her only chance to learn the truth. She had to ask.
"Please tell me, please! How did the war start?" Since it was obvious the gods were busy and there was no time for stalling she had to be quick and direct.
"A celebration commemorating the 200th anniversary of the meeting between both planets. There was Ping-Pong game. The Bee queen won. The Spider king declared war." The answer had been as cold and compact as the question.
"What?" Pattaz squeaked nearly out of her mind. "Our people have been dying for 7 million years for a Ping-Pong game?"
"Why didn’t you stop it?" Muriel asked, completely shocked.
"We’re here to watch, not to interfere", the creature replied with his usual robot-like calm.
"But you’re the gods! You created us... you created everything!"
"You gave us our world, our very life..." Pattaz said. It was the first time a Bee and a Spider debated on the same side. "Don’t you even care? Is not everything that happens your will?"
"We gave you your world but it’s your choice what you do with it. Our job is not to straighten up your mistakes. We’re here to work not to make your life easy. You’ve been here for too long. Return to your world now", he said showing them the exit one more time.
The two princesses resigned to leave and headed for the tunnel, their hearts filled with the deepest bitterest disappointment ever. The gods didn’t care! They were not going to help them! All those years they’d been praying for their help and here they said "you’re on your own"! However it opened their eyes a bit his last words: they had been behaving like children making a mess out of their world and expecting a superior creature to come and fix it for free.
But also it was shocking to learn that all that tragic history had started with a Ping-Pong game! That is not a reason to make a war! (Then again, what is, right?) But most of all they were shocked by one discovery: the gods were busy! They had always thought their sole reason to be was to watch over them and manage everything they did and here the gods had their own world and had "other things to do" than decide their lives course... They were not at all like their religion had taught them.
(Okay, we all know they actually were not gods, but their simple mortal stubbornness wouldn’t let them reach such a conclusion!)
As they finally reached the exit from the underground it was time for Muriel to take the front and lead. She knew very well her way back to the water source and luckily the storm was softer now. They had to stop and eat some rocks on their way, since the mineral in their blood had weakened and nothing in that planet was suitable for their diet.
All they needed to survive was water so they stayed beside the water source day and night, starving a little, but consuming minerals to keep their strength. They were still confused and shocked by their adventure and had the need to talk their minds but had no one to address to –and speaking with each other still seemed to weird for them.
However Pattaz, who was the least influenced by the war, was the first to venture to break the silence.
"Something so silly... brought something so big...!"
Muriel lifted her eyes at her. "I always thought they would end the war... I thought it was their will..."
"I thought everything was their will... They’re minding their own business."
"And in all those centuries they didn’t even show up... to warn us; to tell us that we’re on our own. They just let us believe..."
But Pattaz had a more objective vision: "Also, we expected too much. They never promised anything. We just took it for granted and assumed they would please us."
"So, they won’t interfere. What can we do? We can’t count on them, they don’t listen to us."
"I’d say we end the war", Pattaz declared.
"How?"
"Just declare it over! They didn’t need a good reason to start it, why should we need a good reason to end it?"
"That’s true... we’ll be queens; our people must do what we say."
"It will take you too long to become queen. Meantime the war will go on..."
"Not necessarily. The queen will die soon. I just have to help her." Such was their rationalization: anything could be justified. She didn’t even feel guilty at the thought: it was natural for them to kill their own kin.
Thus they decided their planets’ fate. The same cold and calm way it had been decided 7 million years ago.
The Spiders came to take their princess when they realized something went wrong. Eventually the Bees sent their rescue too.
The Bee queen died soon, maybe of age or a mysterious disease; we can’t really know. The only ones that were present were Muriel and Farfurol, who surely helped her. She was crowned queen and declared the war over... just like that. Everyone was shocked. Nobody had objected when they started but they protested now "End the war overnight? She can’t do that!"
However they had to obey the queen. Both planets were surprised but they obeyed. The war ended and it took a long time for the people to get used to the idea of being pacific neighbors.
The coldness with which they treated each other slowly transformed into a tranquil friendship as the years went by. They even organized a celebration to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the declaration of peace. The Bee queen met the Spider king for the first time. It was a big event. Several days of national holidays and endless party. They even had a Ping-Pong match...
After all they were only mortals; they were stupid enough.
(This story was finished on 1992)
THE END
