Chapter 3

Something which had not been done before was now begun. When the scout fleets were sent to look for where the Klaxon were and plot their positions and movements, they were also to ordered to locate and warn any civilizations or new races they might find along the way about this new threat.

Although just a hope, anything which may help the fight would be of value. An ally even more welcome, but because we had been so naive in our thinking before, a vid of how this war had started and almost ended our way of life was created to show any prospects. A world refuge was set aside for any race who wanted our protection. We did not advertise the growing dissent and active resistance we were now seeing, in our own races. Voids are filled in when created and local warlords liked the power and feeling of control they might have had on those remote planets.

Let me tell you why the search for the Klaxon was so important. It was to determine how much time we would have until this war needed to begin. The amount of time we would have would dictate what ships and weapons that could be built. We estimated that 50 - 150 of our life cycles would pass before formal conflicts were widespread. We further estimated that 75 life cycles would be needed to assemble, train crews and change our way of life to meet a new challenge, 50 if we just repaired what we already had.

Our scouts, as well as those left from the Dern, were equipped with space jumpers. These folded space and time allowing great distances to be travelled, but required large amounts of power and very small ships. This left little, if any room for offensive or defensive arrays.

If this feature was ever made a part of a war fleet, our security might be greatly enhanced.

The economy too was in a shamble. For too many cycles war was all either side knew. We were fighting for our very survival and towards the end, with billions dying, the future of our civilization gave way to a day to day outlook. This seemed to be a normal part of every culture we ever learned about. Science, technology and humanitarian concerns no longer seemed important.

The things we both valued so much in the past were replaced with the frantic attempts to replace what was being destroyed. Plain and simply, we moved, over many years, to a wartime economy. The war had long since eroded any culture, humanity and social growth in favour of what the AIs might need to keep up the good fight. Our only thought turned on that track for eons.

It would be much harder now for this combined race to leave that mentality behind. In many ways we both had grown accustomed to living in fear. Fear of the enemy, fear it would soon end with our destruction and fear that there would be no future to even worry about. This was to be our greatest issue. Trust and looking ahead was non-existent.

The scout ships were reporting that even our own remote planets did not see or understand that they were in danger. This war had so changed their dependence on the home worlds that isolation had given them the feeling that they were now safe from such things. They never even realized just how much they had lost, how backward their life now was and the cost that this war entailed of billions of deaths and hundreds of planets destroyed.

What we all had lost became very clear when scout ships discovered a new race. The Webot. No one would imagine that their simple ways were to be highly prized someday, in fact, they would be envied. It would not be told though, that long ago, we too had seen peace and personal growth as a goal for all in our society. That was long ago and until Webot styles had been seen, had been relegated to myth status for us.