It had been a week since being confined to my X-1 quarters for safety reasons. Baylor had explained to me that Robert was safe, and I had been listening to newscasts in which Tora’s Director Reznik had indicated a desire for me to accompany him to the Federation’s remaining meetings regarding possible actions against Tora. He had insisted that not only I be allowed to attend these meetings, but that I debate the Federation’s historian Dr. Roolian regarding intervention rules. Also Reznik had been appointed head of the committee investigating Robert’s perceived ‘death’. So far only the one Council member had been implicated.
I was tired of waiting to hear more. I called Reznik’s office and spoke with him directly. He and I had been friends for many years and I knew he was sympathetic with my cause. He said my meeting attendance and debate with Dr. Roolian had been approved, pending our acceptance of existing security procedures. The meetings were being held on President Gambez’ home planet, Suvious. This planet was probably the most conservative of all Federation worlds, and emotions were running high regarding me challenging the interpretation of such ancient rules. Because of this, Reznik was very concerned about my safety. I told him that I would accept full responsibility for the outcome of the debate, and to please accept the existing security measures. I was convinced that after the ‘assassination’ of Dr. Smith, the Federation would take all possible precautions to prevent any more bad publicity. Reznik said he would think about it and speak with me later.
Later that evening Rexnik called and said he would fly up to X-1 immediately, and be aboard while the station repositioned to the Souvious crossover point. We would go to the meeting together in the morning. I had a sleepless night preparing for the debate and worrying about the possible consequences for Tora if I failed to justify my reasons for bringing Robert there. The punishment for disobeying the Federation 18,000 years ago had been to take away Tora’s interdimensional travel capability. Who knew what sanctions a second violation would incur?
Morning came quickly and after Resnik arrived, he and I went directly to the crossover room. X-1 had been maneuvered to intersect Suvious and was in the required crossover coordinates. Unlike Earth this crossover point was well traveled and widely known by all Torans and Souvians. There was the equivalent of a press conference and President Gambez greeted us personally. There was no mention of his earlier stance that I was a traitor and should be imprisoned.
We flew to the meeting auditorium which was far larger than Élan’s meeting hall on Tora. The meeting convened and Reznik expressed his thanks to the Council and citizens of Suvious for their warm reception and agreement to the debate with Dr. Roolian. The press coverage was enormous. This was the first time in the history of the Federation that the interpretation of any of its rules had been publicly disputed. After an hour or so of bantering between Reznik and various Council members it was decided to begin the debate. The rules were simple. Each person had ten minutes to speak and rebut the other debater’s position. These ten minute intervals would be continued until one of the debaters had nothing left to say. At this point the remaining person could continue speaking until the other debater wanted join in again or President Gambez declared an end to the debate. The debaters each had instant access to the holographic records of Federation history regarding the creation and interpretation of its rules. These records could be projected for all to see.
Dr. Roolian was the first to speak. “Council members, others here present, and all Federation members watching this broadcast, I want you to know that it is an honor and privilege being selected as the person to defend our rules regarding non-Federation planetary interventions. As you all know, these rules have been inviolable for thousands of years, and were created both for the welfare of our Federation as well as the more primitive worlds monitored by us. The rules are very specific about leaving nothing and taking nothing from these worlds. The only exception to this rule are interventions to prevent crossings into Federation dimensions by worlds which we deem either a threat, or not yet worthy of Federation membership. After careful review of ancient records justifying these rules, I have selected a number of examples of devastating intervention consequences prior to the implementation of these rules.”
Dr. Roolian had done his homework. His examples were good ones, depicting greed, deceit, brutality, destroyed civilizations, even entire solar systems vaporized as a direct result of careless or inappropriate interventions. My counter arguments regarding the justification of humanitarian exceptions seemed to be well accepted by the real time Federation wide debate poll that was being monitored, however I could tell that overall I was loosing. The risks just seemed too great. I was even beginning to loose faith in my own convictions. Maybe I was not being realistic. Even with widely diverse religious and non-religious beliefs, the general Federation consensus seemed to be live and let live, with the idea that whether created by God, Gods, superior life forms, or evolution alone, we had no business tampering with the destiny of these worlds.
The closing argument for the day was Dr. Roolian’s, and when he finished the polls showed an overwhelming support for keeping the existing rules, without any changes. His argument went something like this.
“Esteemed colleagues and Federation members, we are gathered here today due primarily to the events resulting from the crossing of Dr. Smith from the planet Earth to the Federation planet Tora. I therefore thought it might be interesting to conclude today’s debate using some examples of disaster and destruction brought about by various cultural interventions on Dr. Smith’s own planet”. The examples he used were accompanied with vivid, archived Federation video and audio records of some of Earth’s most violent wars, and conquests of primitive cultures by more advanced ones. He finished with a few ‘humanitarian’ interventions by missionaries and others, which were ostensibly intended to ‘pacify’ ignorant primitive Indian cultures. The actual results were often a near or complete cultural genocide, or sometimes exile to undesirable parcels of land called reservations. “I realize” Dr. Roolian continued, “these examples were interventions by the people of Earth on several of Earth’s own cultures, rather than by the Federation. However, as has been pointed out by my esteemed colleague Dr. Vaslow, human beings on any planet have the potential for corruption and greed. If the crossing technology to bring people and goods back and forth to non-Federation planets was made readily available to expedition teams for emergency, life-saving situations, where would we draw the line? Would we bring back an entire island’s population which was about to be wiped out by a tsunami? Also while on worlds outside the Federation jurisdiction, how could we prevent greed and corruption from spreading throughout our exploration teams? The temptation would be far too great for some to resist”.
What an act to follow! The worst thing was that I had to agree with him. In order to do any good, every Federation exploration team would have to have the technology I used to bring back Dr. Smith, and with that much equipment available, the chances of someone using it for personal gain would be very likely, as well as extremely difficult to prevent. I felt in my bones that there must be a way to overcome these objections, but I needed more time. I knew that I was not prepared to continue the debate in the morning and have a chance of winning it. I had considered conceding that afternoon, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Director Reznik and I decided to spend the night on X-1 rather than on Suvious. It was still stationed at the Suvious crossover point, so we returned there as soon as President Gambez adjourned the meeting. The main newscast on all stations was the first day’s debate. It was generally acknowledged that the issue was an unsolvable moral dilemma. Practically everyone agreed with both sides, and yet the risk to the safety and integrity of the Federation seemed to dictate that the rules remain unchanged.
Late that evening I was sitting by myself in a booth on the observation deck. I had just finished dinner and was staring at a beautiful view of space from the Toran dimension. The Suvious crossover point was thousands of miles from Tora so the view included the entire planet of Tora and its solar system’s nearby planets. The station was set to rotate slowly, giving its occupants an ever changing view. I was deep in thought about how to gracefully concede the debate in the morning. I had realized that there was just no way to win the debate without far more time to prepare. I also realized that once this debate was lost, the opportunity to revisit the subject in my lifetime was not going to be happen. Feeling lost, alone, and depressed, I was surprised to look up and see another person sitting in the booth. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was Dr. Robert Smith. I knew he was alive and well but Baylor had not given me any details of his survival. Robert proceeded to fill me in on the particulars, including his adventure with the beings he met on Silva’s moon Uralis. Robert had been translated into his own natural spirit’s form, and was taken to a non–physical dimension for education and training purposes. Without elaborating, Robert said that even though he had been gone only a short time he had the equivalent of many many years of training. This was possible due to the timeless dimensions of spiritual worlds. Robert had planned this return to X-1 in order to participate in the debate with Dr. Roolian. He knew I was not properly prepared, and offered to take my place at the following day’s debate. I was both relieved and jealous to think that this man from Earth who had been so awed at our Federation technology such a short time ago, was now qualified to do what I knew I couldn’t, even after a lifetime of training and becoming the Federation’s expert at crossover procedures. I didn’t even question Robert’s abilities to take my place. It was apparent that he had not only changed, but had acquired the power and presence of a person far older and wiser than anyone I had ever met. I was as awestruck in his presence, as he had been in mine, the day I met him at the trailhead in the San Bernardino Mountains on Earth.
I was really exhausted from the stress of the first day’s debate and Robert suggested that I get a good night’s sleep and let him handle Dr. Roolian and the Council meeting. He said to leave the details to him, and that he would see me at the meeting. With that he literally disappeared before my eyes, leaving me alone in my booth to wonder what would happen the following day.
Morning came quickly and Director Reznik and I flew to the meeting together. Reznick was very disappointed with my lack of success the previous day, however he was pleased at the Federation members’ sympathy, if not support for my desire to change the rigid inflexible rules.
President Gambez opened the meeting and asked me if, in light of the previous day’s polls, I would consider conceding the debate. On cue, Robert appeared out of nowhere next to me, and addressed the Council members. “President Gambez and esteemed Federation Council Members, I will be taking Dr. Vaslow’s place in today’s proceedings. In case you don’t remember me, I am Dr. Robert Smith from the planet Earth.” President Gambez immediately stood up red faced with anger and shouted, “How dare you disrupt our meeting like this. I don’t know who you really are, but it is certain that you are an imposter. Many of us here personally witnessed Dr. Smith’s violent death, and I myself saw the huge hole in his chest which vaporized his heart. Security, seize this man whoever he is, and remove him from the building immediately. As for you Dr. Vaslow, who do you think you are to make a mockery of this debate with such a cheap charade?
Robert stood and turned full circle so that everyone in the room could get a good look at him. Also, by this time all of the news cameras were focused on him as well as security cameras capable of long distance retinal scans for identification purposes. Security guards were conspicuously absent. He then resumed speaking. “President Gambez, I assure you that I am indeed Dr. Smith as your own security cameras have just verified, and I will definitely be defending Dr. Vaslow’s position here today, with or without your permission; so in the interest of saving the Council’s valuable time I suggest we resume the debate immediately. Also, since Dr. Roolian was last to speak yesterday, I will start the debate today”. Robert’s powerful commanding presence had everyone in the room mesmerized. Even President Gambez seemed humbled before him, and just meekly sat down. It was as if God himself had come to plead my case.
Robert continued. “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to start by sharing a recent saying that we have on Earth. ‘Technology we take for granted today would have seemed like magic or godlike powers a generation ago’. This saying indicates the current exponential growth of science and technology that exists on Earth today. As you know, even with this rapid growth, when I was brought to Tora your Federation science seemed like magic to me, as my appearance here today seems like magic, or trickery, to you. Obviously something happened to me the day you all saw me die. What that was I am not at liberty to share with you today for various reasons. Suffice to say that thanks to technology and expertise far beyond that of even this Federation I have become a considerably different and far more knowledgeable person than the one rescued from certain death by Dr. Vaslow. I have returned to your dimension and this meeting because I believe in Dr. Vaslow’s cause. I have also come to believe that we are all children of this vast universe, and that it is both our obligation and privilege to help others when possible. Your Federation’s crossover technology and expertise presents you with an opportunity to not just help other people, but many thousands of other worlds. Of course there are risks, as were pointed out so eloquently by Dr. Roolian in yesterday’s debate. All great important changes come with equally great risks. You are all aware of the huge risks taken by your distant ancestors who founded this Federation. What would be a greater tribute to their memory than to take this Federation they so lovingly created to a new level, with a higher purpose, to not only provide a safe productive environment for your own member worlds, but to also help other planets and even entire dimensions achieve the level of cultural advancement that you have.
At this point Robert caused projected holographic scenes from the Federation’s earliest archives to appear, showing a brief summary of the wars, conflicts, bravery, and the great risks which were necessary for the founders to take in order to forge the beginnings of this very ancient successful organization. When Robert’s ten minutes was up Dr. Roolian deferred to him, and asked him to please continue. Robert went on. “I know you are all very proud of your heritage as one of the oldest and most successful organizations in your known universe, and you have a right to be proud. This Federation has been built on a foundation of honesty, fairness and kindness to each other. Also Dr. Roolian is absolutely right in his assessment of the risks involved in changing such ancient, tried and proven rules. You would have to be extremely careful, and include many redundant safeguards to protect your culture from the inherent the dangers of changes to rules which have proved to be so successful for many thousands of years. But I am here to tell you that this type of change is definitely possible; not only possible, but morally essential for you own cultural advancement. The thinking that God, should God exist, is leaving humanity to evolve on its own without intervention, so why should humans interfere, is flawed. Humans are supposed to help each other. We need to help each other. We want to help each other. We have been pre-programmed with the desire to help, the feeling of obligation to do so, and as well, the feeling of satisfaction after we do. This fact is the basis of the problems crossover teams have been having for generations. Their ability to only gather anthropological data, without doing anything to help their fellow man on other non-Federation worlds has taken an enormous emotional toll.
The examples Dr. Roolian gave you yesterday regarding interventions on Earth by Earth’s own people were absolutely true. However bear in mind that these wars and misguided attempts to create Utopian civilizations were conducted by civilizations far less advanced and enlightened than yours. While it is also true that all humans are subject to the temptations of greed and corruption, your Federation has an enormous support group of enlightened individuals on all of your planets who can help make these rule changes in a safe controlled way. These well thought out changes will not only benefit many thousands of planets outside the Federation, eager to learn how to better manage their growing populations, but they will benefit all Federation members as well, knowing that you are helping those less fortunate than yourselves. I will be happy to assist you in designing the required technological safeguards to minimize the risks involved in implementing these changes. I also suggest that Dr. Vaslow be appointed head of a new Federation committee which will determine how to modify the rules to best benefit everyone involved both here in the Federation, and on the planets where intervention is needed, or requested. When these designs and procedures are perfected, along with guidelines as to the type and extent of interventions desired, the plans will be submitted to this Council for approval, and only then will they be implemented. This assurance should satisfy everyone’s desire for change without fear of damage to the Federation itself. I appreciate Dr. Roolian’s sincerity and extensive knowledge of the Federation’s history and his concerns about making any changes to your rules, and I believe he should be a key member on this new committee. In closing, I would like to thank all of you for your attention, and I now turn the remainder of this debate over to Dr. Roolian.”
“Thank you Dr. Smith. I appreciate the opportunity to be the last speaker, but I must say that in my opinion you have clearly won this debate already. I not only agree with everything you have said, but I am looking forward to working with you and Dr. Vaslow to help taking our crossover expertise to the ‘next level’ as you have suggested.”
The applause in the Council chamber was deafening, and the Federation polls were showing a landslide win in favor of crossover rule reform. As quickly as he had appeared Dr. Smith simply vanished. In light of the day’s new developments, and the huge public support for crossover rule reform even on his own conservative planet Suvious, President Gambez had no choice but to close the meeting with comments about how impressed he too was with Dr. Smith’s views, and that he would be meeting in closed session with the other Council members immediately to discuss how to proceed.