Chapter 79

"No. We came back to see what was happening here. The drone didn't report any of this to us. We only knew something out of the ordinary was happening when the drone began moving from the orbit we placed it in toward an orbit around earth.

"There is an alarm system on the drone and it is separate from any communication with the drone's AI. It's main function is to report unanticipated movements of the drone, which usually only occur if someone is trying to steal it.

"That is unlikely, but it has happened before. When we received the alarm it is what we thought was happening this time. When we queried the drone and it reported everything was normal we were even more suspicious. When we finally regained control of the drone and discovered exactly what had happened we were delighted," Inglan said.

"So you are glad we took over the drone? I don't understand why."

"We have millions of drones. They are not scarce resources. We fully expected you to discover it and use it within two or three hundred years. We were ecstatic when you found it and took it over in less than a year.

"The way you did it was even more of a delight to us. We had great difficulty regaining control. We are glad you hadn't accessed the recorded knowledge it contains that is greatly beyond your earth's current technology since you have shown a propensity already to look at things differently than we do.

"Frankly, if Carlisle, Jackie, or Bill had made a more intelligent use of the trick earth would never have been subjected to the terminations. We are more than pleased with the outcome though.

"The terminations and the introduction of the virus have amplified and hastened earth's progress. We have decided you are exactly what earth needed and we are delighted you are already moving in the direction that seems most promising to us," Inglan said.

"What direction is that?"

"We see you are intending to unite earth into one civilization with yourself as king. We also know you are not interested in selfish or foolish actions. You have an ingrained fairness and almost all of your actions have shown you will not tolerate individuals gaining power over others and forcing them into nonconsensual compliance.

"You have made yourself the leader and you control all you command, but you do not use the power you have for meaningless pursuits. We look forward to the time when you have the whole of earth under your command," Inglan said.

"What do you expect of me then?"

"We expect you to put earth back together under one ruler. We expect you to rebuild civilization and leave out petty maneuvering for money. The earth's current resources and technology can give everybody whatever they want materially.

"As you are doing this we would like for you to rebuild education and then research. We still want you to find your own way to out of system exploration, but it is not now mandatory," Inglan said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you have already paid earth's debt. What you have discovered and shown us is already worth the trouble we went to in seeding earth. We hope you will continue, but it isn't required for your survival.

"We rate knowledge as the ultimate currency and you have provided knowledge that we should have gained on our own, but didn't. You can't know and we won't tell you how valuable this particular knowledge is to us. It has made you and earth worthwhile to us though. Anything else discovered by you and your population is above and beyond what we expected," Inglan said.

In a way I was confused, but in another I was delighted. I requested a break to consider these revelations. It was granted and an Alien led me to a small room for rest and reflection. Saying that this morning's explanations were surprising would be quite an understatement.

Even though the Aliens had been forthcoming with their explanations my understanding still wasn't greatly enhanced. Mostly I was relieved with their announcement we had paid earth's debt.

In another way I felt anger over their highhanded control over us, and what I considered the impossible position they had put us in.

They had killed billions of us for underperformance. To me it was terribly unfair since no performance specifications had been put forward. In fact no hint had been left to let us know we needed to perform at all.

This new notion that earth had paid its debt was tremendous and I was glad to know about it, but I didn't trust it at all. My knowledge of what the Aliens were and what they wanted was still lacking and any trust I had in them was practically zero.

Of course I wasn't about to mention anything of the sort to them, but I would hold it in my mind always. No matter how they praised us now I could not believe a word of it. Frankly I couldn't understand how they thought it could be any other way.

I was also a little suspicious of why they thought I had done so much. Aimee was really the one who'd discovered her virus and communicated with it. She was also the one who had first taken control of the drone. Sarah and Shelly had taught me the trick and Seven had let me know it could be used on males also.

My contribution seemed small to me. It seemed my main claim to fame was being in the right place at the right time. Now I was poised to take over the whole earth and lead it into the future. What were my qualifications?

An Alien fetched me back to the conference room after about two hours. Inglan was at the table again. My same seat was my destination.

"We know you are probably overwhelmed Jack. We know your task may seem daunting to you. It will be easier than you think. You have a secure organization already. You have already discovered your communication with the virus and the drone can insure you have no dissenters in your ranks.

"Basically you need only consolidate your hold on earth, rebuild the education system, procreate, and educate. While you need not use the virus to make automatons of your population you can use it to eliminate dissension.

"It will allow you to have a civilization without crime and without want. You haven't forced anyone to work who didn't want to, yet almost all who have come to you have volunteered to work.

"We have let you see the transport technology by using it on you. The drone is fully enabled to transport and we will not keep the technology from you. It was within earth's grasp before the terminations.

"We will expedite the drone's move to an orbit around earth before we leave. We will be blocking your access to technologies which are far ahead of what earth has discovered, but every other part of the drone will be available to you.

"We will also be leaving two more drones in this system, but they are only for your protection from the few scattered renegade individuals we don't control. They are not here in an overwatch capacity for us. If any of the minor groups are encountered the drones will subdue them and they will be handled at your discretion.

"The virus will not be transmitted to your newborns and we will not be giving you access to its technology. This doesn't mean you are not to try and discover its secrets. It only means you must do the work.