Chapter 6
The Federation
After an early breakfast, Ian and I went straight to Elan in his private shuttle plane. I had learned from Myra that Ian was a famous and somewhat powerful person on Tora. He was Tora’s Interdimensional Director of Cultural Anthropology and Archeology. In this capacity, he was responsible for the planning and execution of all visits to other non-Federation worlds where there were any interactions with the indigenous people. He was even well known in the Federation due to his innovative techniques to preserve the non-intervention policies when visiting these worlds. Myra told me that Ian’s main motivation for developing these techniques was to prevent exactly the situation we were faced with now. He had helped implement his procedures on countless other Federation planets. This extensive contact with the crossover personnel of these other planets had afforded Ian a great deal of insight into the common problems encountered. By far the most common problem was psychological trauma caused when witnessing really terrible situations and being powerless to do anything about them due to the non-intervention rules. Years ago in order to better advise people on how to deal with this trauma, Ian obtained the training and credentials comparable to that of both a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist on Earth.
On the trip down to Elan, I asked Ian to clarify something that had been bothering me. “Ian, I’ve been thinking about the early history of the Federation you described to me. How could peaceful, advanced civilizations destroy other planets?” Ian gave me a pensive look and said. “Civilizations can be very advanced technologically and yet be very violent. Also, sometimes violence is the only alternative available to assure survival. In the early days of the Federation there were a lot of ‘kill or be killed’ situations, which resulted in the destruction of entire planets as a matter of self-defense. When possible, the peaceful members of these planets were evacuated. Fortunately, in the last hundred thousand years or so the Federation technology has improved to the point that it is possible to isolate violent planets without destroying them. The Federation has satellite technology which can be placed in orbit around a planet and prevent any type of contact with that planet. This technology also shuts down the computers and power systems of any vehicles attempting to enter or leave the planet’s atmosphere. There are still planets today bent on invading and occupying other worlds and a number of them have been isolated in this manner. They are warned first, and after being isolated they are periodically given the opportunity to prove their peaceful reform. The Federation still has weapons of mass destruction, but hasn’t had to use them in a very long time.
I was relieved to hear Ian’s explanation, but I couldn’t stop myself from mentioning the old adage ‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. I said, “It appears to me that the Federation is extremely powerful, and with humans at the helm there has to be a great potential for at least some misguided use of this power.”
We were approaching the planet’s surface and the city of Elan was clearly visible. Calling this city beautiful would be a vast understatement. I had already viewed it from my suite on X-1, however actually flying over it, and down through the lanes of air traffic was much more satisfying. The entire city was designed to be one continuous architectural work of art. There were large parks and greenery everywhere. I thought the glass dome structures on X-1 were amazing, but the ones on the planet itself were truly monstrous, with some of them spanning well over a mile in diameter. It seemed as if all of the buildings were interconnected with a myriad of huge arched roadways which had on and off ramps that doubled as airstrips. A large percentage of the vehicles were landing and taking off from these roads. Invisible traffic lanes extended from the roads to the air giving an appearance of huge freeways in the sky. We entered one of these lanes and took a roadway which had a ramp leading directly to the front a mammoth building.
Ian parked his shuttle in front of the entrance. It turned out that this was the Assembly hall where our meeting was to be. We left the shuttle and entered the building. Ian explained that his shuttle would be garaged much like valet parking on Earth. The interior meeting room of the hall was immense. The seating was tiered rows in a semicircle with a large stage in the center. We were seated in the front row, facing the middle of the stage. Other than a few rows of reserved seats, Ian said that the seating was open to the public on a first come first served basis. The seats in the reserved rows were nicer than the best first class airline seats, each complete with a desk containing what looked like a computer screen, microphone and other items I didn’t recognize. There were a number of mezzanine levels, each with its own circular hallway on the perimeter. We were about an hour early and the entire hall, with the exception of the reserved seats, was full.
While waiting for the meeting to start, Ian briefed me on the Federation meeting protocol. “Since the Federation is an advisory body only, this is primarily an information gathering meeting. First Andor will present a summary of his investigation, and then the federation council members will have the opportunity to question Andor, or anyone else that they feel could shed light on this matter. This will be an informal meeting with some two way dialog allowed. The council members are usually cooperative, and willing to answer questions as well as ask them. Tora’s Director Reznik will be the moderator. He also happens to be a Council member.” Ian explained the desk functions. The main language spoken would be the universal language of the Federation, which included Tora. The desk microphones however would automatically translate each person’s voice, and the speakers were set for that person’s native tongue.
The meeting came to order, and Director Reznik introduced the other Council members. The head of the council, President Gambez, was first to speak. “Greetings citizens of Tora, I am happy to be here in your beautiful city of Elan. It has been many years since I have visited Tora. I only wish my visit could have been under more pleasant circumstances. As you know, this meeting was called to resolve a very serious rule infraction issue. Before we start the meeting I would like to welcome our guest from the planet Earth, Dr. Robert Smith. Dr. Smith, I wish that the first crossing for a native of your planet had been timed better, although authorized travel for Earth’s citizens will no doubt not occur for many millennia. I want to assure you that although your presence has been the main impetus for this meeting, it is probably long overdue. Also, there can be absolutely no blame or responsibility for your part in this drama. After this meeting, however, for security reasons, you will be required to stay on X-1 until this matter is resolved.”
After Gambez spoke, Andor presented a summary of his investigation. Following a lengthy discussion it was obvious that there were no conflicts with the statements of those involved. The facts were clear. The task of the council now was to determine the consequences for the planet Tora. To this end Gambez asked Dr. Horvath, the leader of the science team that was responsible for my crossing, “Dr. Horvath do you have anything you would like to say to this council which might have an influence on our final disposition of this case?”
“President Gambez, and distinguished members of the council, I would like to start by saying that I am deeply sorry if this incident causes any sanctions which will affect Tora’s Federation membership rights. I want to assure you that the motivation to develop this technology was purely humanitarian in nature. As you have heard from Andor’s investigation, my science team had been planning to announce our developments to the Council very soon. We had hoped to present our case before the council, and were prepared to either demonstrate this technology, or abandon it, if the Council did not agree with our proposed usage. We have incorporated many safeguards in the design, to assure its use for the saving of life only, and to block any organisms potentially harmful to life in our dimension.
I have rarely traveled to planets which were not members of the Federation. However, stories abound concerning Toran crossover personnel being traumatized because of their inability to help dying and endangered people on these planets. This is especially true when the visits necessitated close personal contact with these people.
I knew that it was technologically possible to bring these people here for treatment. I always had been given to understand that the Federation rules were created to prevent looting and pillaging planets with inferior technology. My team and I decided to brainstorm designs which would stand a chance of gaining Federation approval. When we were successful we created a prototype. We had no intensions of trying it out without approval. Unfortunately other projects came up, and since we didn’t have a plan as to how to present our case, the prototype was shelved.
When I heard about Dr. Smith’s mountain lion attack, I agreed to try the prototype to bring him here. No one knew for sure if it would even work. We had planned on extensive testing, had we received approval, but there was no time! All of us got caught up in the urgency and decided that Dr. Smith would definitely die if left on Earth, so our untested technology couldn’t make matters worse for him. I hope my team and I have the opportunity to review our designs with the Council before you make any final decisions. That is all I have to say.”
“Thank you Dr. Horvath”, Gambez said, “We will consider your request. Now Dr. Vaslow, do you have anything to add to the testimony already presented here?”
Ian stood up to speak, and I realized that I hadn’t ever heard him called by his last name. “Yes Mr. President, I have a few points I would like to clarify. If there is anyone to blame for this incident it is surely me. While the science team had developed the unauthorized technology, they had no intention of using it without the Federation’s approval. I am the one who returned to X-1 to solicit help to save Dr. Smith’s life. I shamed the others involved, by implying that it was their moral duty to help me save him. However I make no apology to either my colleges, or this Council. For the first time in my career I followed my conscience rather than the rules which I felt were too rigid and inflexible. As you are aware Mr. President there are many others in the Federation, including some members of this Council who feel that these rules are unfair. I have tried my best to follow them in spite of my disagreement with them. As you know, the crossover protocols that I have developed to avoid close involvement with indigenous life during our planetary explorations, have become standard procedures throughout the Federation. As you also know, the reason for these protocols is to prevent just such an incident as this one.
Lately I have been questioning my own protocols however. The Federation is supposed to be a coalition of advanced, peaceful, humanitarian civilizations, yet we absolve ourselves of any responsibility to help ease the pain and suffering of the people on the non-Federation planets that we study. We do this under the convenient, pompous, guise of non - intervention. I have been as guilty of this as anyone, maybe more so, since most people haven’t visited these planets, and have not seen the terrible things that I have in person. I have come to believe that the trauma which I and others have experienced when getting too close to those dying and in pain on these worlds, is only a symptom of something much more significant.
Dr. Smith has only been on our planet for one week, yet his presence and insightful questions have been a catalyst for my realization as to what the real reason for our crossover personnel’s trauma is. We have been turning our backs on entire civilizations that desperately need our help. I now believe that our whole concept of non-intervention is terribly flawed. If you saw someone here on Tora dying, or in pain from a fall or other accident and did nothing to help, you would be viewed as an unfeeling monster.
Well this is what I have been teaching people to be, unfeeling monsters. I train them how to not get involved, so that the pain and death of others will seem more removed from our safe, enlightened existence. I believe that the rules we have been guarding so carefully for several hundred thousand years have been misinterpreted most of that time. As Dr. Horvath said, these rules were created to protect disadvantaged civilizations. Our present approach is to do nothing as we watch real time genocide, wars, plagues, and natural disasters on our inter-dimensional viewers, in the comfort of our homes. We could help at least mitigate, if not eliminate many of these disasters entirely. I believe most of us realize that aside from our advanced technology, we are no different or better than the people on Dr. Smith’s planet Earth. Why can’t we treat them with the same respect and concern we do our own people. We have had the benefit of thousands of years of peace due to the lessons learned from the same types of wars and unrest that exist on Earth. Why should we keep all of these lessons and wonderful technology to ourselves and watch others die needlessly. They may reside in other dimensions, but as you can see for yourselves in Dr. Smith, they are our fellow human beings as well. I would like the Council members to each recall their own dimension’s many thousands of years in which war, disease, and ignorance prevented Federation membership. Your ancestors were watched, just as we watch the people on Earth, and no one gave them a helping hand either. I believe it is time to stop this insanity, examine our beliefs, and make some major changes in the way we deal with non - Federation planets. Thank you for listening, that’s all I have to say at the present time.”
There was absolute silence in the hall for quite some time, and then the slow start of what quickly became a crescendo of deafening applause from most of the audience, and a number of Council members as well. It was as if Ian had unleashed the repressed unconscious guilt of practically everyone in the meeting hall. After the roar subsided, President Gambez continued the meeting without commenting on Ian’s monolog. He asked if I would care to say anything. I stood and said something like the following.
“Mr. President, esteemed Council members, X-1 crew, and all others here in attendance, I would like to say how impressed I have been with the beauty of Tora and level of technology you have achieved. As you might imagine there has been a lot for me to absorb in only one week. I feel honored to be here even under these circumstances. I want to thank you all for welcoming me so warmly, considering that my presence has caused such anxiety for everyone. My special thanks go out to Dr. Vaslow, and the members of the science team who have risked everything by bringing me here in order to save my life. They have showed me such kindness and consideration, I only hope and pray the Federation can see that this unselfish act of theirs was motivated by compassion rather than willful disobedience.
As you all know, I come from a planet with a vastly more primitive technology than yours, and as Dr. Vaslow mentioned, a planet riddled with wars and disasters of all kinds. From what I have witnessed here so far however, I believe that basic human nature is the same on Tora as it is on Earth. The need to hang on to our basic beliefs for example. There is a human tendency to reject change and radical new ideas; for fear that their safe stable world will collapse. I have experienced that feeling probably more intensely than most people just by being brought here.
As a Physicist I have always prided myself on my knowledge of science and the basic structure of the universe. This experience has turned my entire belief system upside down. Some of these beliefs however have not changed, and my belief in the power of kindness is one of them. I’m sure that in such an advanced, peaceful civilization as yours, kindness is at least as highly valued as it is in mine. I agree with Dr. Vaslow that planets like Earth could benefit from various types of help and tutoring from a civilization as advanced as yours, but adversity is a great teacher also. Sometimes you can’t take short cuts in this learning process. In this respect I believe that changing a planet’s natural evolutionary process probably has risks. Children need to fall and feel pain in order to help avoid falling the next time, and also to be able to appreciate how good it feels to have no pain.
I hope that whatever course the federation takes, it is careful to balance the ability to show kindness, with the need for allowing the natural consequences of the learning process. I personally feel that kindness is the most appropriate thing the Federation could show the wonderful people who saved my life at such huge personal risk. Thank you for allowing me to express my opinions.” With that I sat down.
Again there was an unbelievable applause. President Gambez thanked me for my comments and adjourned the meeting. He said the Council members would return to the Federation Capitol and convene the entire Federation governing body in an effort to resolve this issue quickly and fairly. Director Reznik thanked the Council for their quick response in coming to Tora to help resolve this matter, and wished them a pleasant trip home.
Ian, I, and the X-1 science crew members were ushered out of the hall first, to a standing ovation. As I passed through the outer doorway I felt a tingling sensation throughout my body. I heard screams behind me. Turning I saw a man laying on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest. Looking closer I could see that the man was me. A person with a high tech looking gun was running away from the scene.