Somewhere Else Entirely - Epilogue 3

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The crew of the Vasco da Gama have discovered that Anmar keeps a secret, that Vast, Multidimensional Beings colonized it long before humans on Earth even had written language - and are still doing so. It seems there is a threat to the galaxy and long-term plans have been made to defend it. Some of the audience is naturally skeptical. Then King Keren makes things worse by inviting a long-dead Queen to tell them what is really happening, and the crew learn that everything they thought they knew bears little resemblance to the truth.

Somewhere Else Entirely

by Penny Lane

Epilogue 3 - The Great Plan

Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2010-2016 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.



"Preposterous! All this is a fantasy! There are no Beings, no transferees, no visitors from other planets! You seek merely to enrich yourselves at the expense of other lands with your ridiculous tales!"

Several of the others around him stood and tried to wrestle him back into his seat but he proved difficult to handle. Eventually they managed to subdue him and he stood there panting, glaring at Keren.

"Ah, yes," the King replied. "From your accent you are obviously a Terian and one who has failed to understand the lessons of the last seventy years."

Stannard, the opposition leader, stood. "Sire, I regret this outburst. I did not realize we had one of the Terian separatists in our party. I shall have him removed if you so desire."

Keren shook his head. "No, leave him be. There comes a point when even the most stupid must accept reality for what it is and not what they would wish it to be." He addressed the rest of the room. "Unfortunately for most of you, reality is not entirely what you thought it was either. Today's presentation is designed to correct that impression. I believe it is time to introduce the main speaker to our meeting."

Keren's gaze lifted above the heads of his audience. "Ancestor, if you would join us now."

For a few seconds nothing happened, but then there was a curious kind of shimmer beside the King. The next instant a mature woman was standing beside him. Most of those in the audience jumped with surprise.

"Jesus!" Someone from the ship muttered, loudly enough for Keren to hear. "They have matter transporters!"

The woman turned to face the speaker. She was dressed in what the locals recognized as an old version of the female Palace Guard uniform.

"There is no matter transporter involved here, Nirvanan. Since my Solid form is compatible with this environment, I have merely manifested myself for you all to see. My name is Garia. I was born on Earth, in Hays, Kansas, United States of America, and I was once Queen of this land."

The Terian sneered at the two people on the podium. "More trickery! Nothing more than a hologram!"

Garia turned to face her critic. "Oh? It seems that even two hundred years later I am still encountering stupidity and obstructionism. You, Terian, come down here," she commanded, in a voice which brooked no argument. "You shall find out whether I am hologram or not."

The man looked at her, uncertain of the offer he had just been made. Shaking off the hands of those who had held him, he shouldered his way past those between himself and the aisle and began to walk down to the podium. As he did so, his confidence returned and he was feeling sure of his ground as he joined Keren and Garia in front of the audience.

However, before he had any chance to even speak, Garia slapped him hard in the face. He stumbled backwards and fell to a sitting position on the floor, one hand going to his cheek, his expression one of extreme shock.

"So, tell me, Terian, how many holograms do you know that could do that to you?"

The man looked at her in astonishment, unable to speak. Garia looked at the hand she had used and turned to the King.

"Grandson, I apologize for what I have just done. I am still learning to adjust to my new mode of existence and I could have killed this man without realizing it."

Keren grinned. "I have read the accounts of what happened when first you came to Anmar, Ancestor. I am sure that you used exactly the amount of force required."

"It has been a long time, Keren, since I last trained for physical combat. It was my hope that I would never need to do so again." She turned to the man, who was attempting to back away on his bottom. "Get up, man!" she said irritably. "The only way you will die today will be by accident. Do you now accept that I am really here, and not just an image?"

The man began to scramble to his feet. He gasped, "Who are you? What are you?"

"Did you not listen? I am Garia, who was once the consort of King Keren VI of Palarand. I was born Gary Campbell, a boy, on Earth, in Hays, Kansas in the United States of America. I lived there for nearly eighteen Earth years or sixteen Anmar years. The Beings who attend this galaxy transferred me here to provoke a war which would raise the technological level of this part of Alaesia. Unfortunately for them their machines did not function as expected and I arrived as a girl." She raised her voice so that everybody could hear. "That meant that I could marry the Keren of the time and become his Queen, but it also meant that I had a much greater impact on society than they expected."

The man's expression was resentful, as though he was being forced to accept something distasteful.

"I encountered as much obstructionism then as I see here today. When I was brought to the palace the man who investigated me could not believe I knew more than he did, and once he found out the truth he plotted to pretend all my knowledge was his own. Unfortunately he was working for Palarand's enemies and they killed him when their first abduction attempt went wrong."

"You can't prove anything," the man said now, sullen. "All what you say is in the history books. Any actor could read that out."

Garia considered. "That may be true, up to a point," she conceded and then smiled. "Perhaps I could ask Captain Suarez to take you back to Nirvana with him when he goes. You would certainly discover that interstellar space travel exists, and perhaps you might come to believe the rest of what I am about to reveal." She pointed a finger. "Go, return to your seat. You have delayed this presentation long enough and there is much more that must be shown."

The man turned and stumped off the podium, heading for the seats. He chose a different one away from the group he had arrived with. Garia turned to face the audience.

"I'm not going to go into detail today about my Emergence as a Being. Let me just say that my first attempts at contact were difficult and uncontrolled, much as a newborn baby struggles to contact its own mother. However, contact was made and during those early conversations I learned that transferees were usually chosen from people on the point of death. One of the dimensions available to us involves... memory, let us say, and it is easier to obtain the memory record of a dying person.

"I learned three other things, the first being that every Being in the galaxy, and there are billions of them, became so the same way I did. Only a tiny fraction of any species undergoes this transformation and, though they have been Emerging from various Solid species for billions of years, the process is still imperfectly understood. The second thing is that I was the first known Being to Emerge after being transferred from one world to another - and knew that I had done so. This meant that I had a unique view of the Beings' activities and purposes. The third thing I learned was that the galaxy was doomed."

That statement produced a buzz in the chamber. The Terian stood up, thought better of it and sat down again. Stannard stood, but his question was directed to Kandal.

"Is this true, Kandal? Did you know any of this?"

"Since I was one of those who swore that oath, yes I did. Most of Anmar's Prime Ministers have known, but you had better direct your question to the King."

Keren acknowledged, "It has been a closely kept secret known by no more than a dozen people at any time, Stannard. My ancestor is here to explain it all to you."

Garia resumed. "The Beings have machinery that is capable of looking into the future." Somebody at the rear of the room snorted and she frowned. "They do this by measuring the exact position, motion and energy of every particle in the galaxy and projecting its path forward in time so that they can see what happens - and they can test what happens if something is changed. This is little different in principle to the methods you use for weather forecasting, for example, but obviously the machinery used is much more complex."

Somebody else stood up from the dissenters' seats. "You can't possibly measure every particle in the galaxy! That machinery would have to include itself, wouldn't it?"

"So, you're an expert on multidimensional manifold math, are you?" she riposted. "I'm glad we have Anmar's foremost mathematician here in the chamber today. Why haven't you published your revolutionary findings yet?"

The man turned red-faced, spluttered and sat down.

"Don't ask me," Garia said to the audience with a shrug. "I don't understand how it works any more than you do. Even the Beings have experts who run that sort of machinery. To continue my story, the results can be followed through time and they are of a statistical nature. It seemed that after a certain point in time the future of this galaxy goes dark. The chances of anything surviving were below forty percent. That is why the Beings have a program of transference. They are attempting to improve the galaxy's chances of survival.

"When it was explained to me what would happen, I pointed out that Solids - that is, people like yourselves - might be able to help delay or avert the impending catastrophe. The Beings had tried to avoid exposing themselves as they thought it would set up some kind of inferiority complex, the Solids knowing that they would live brief lives and that anything more was unattainable. I argued against this, as it effectively becomes a war and advances most usually happen at a greater rate during wartime. Though the lives of Solids are short, history has shown us that during the most recent wars many advances in science, technology and medicine have been made."

"A war? Nobody said anything about a war!"

Garia grimaced. "We don't know that it will be a 'war' in the same way you understand the term. I believe that it is about now that I should describe the situation to you. I'm going to use a special projector so I'll need the light lowered, please."

The chamber dimmed and the podium became dark. From out of the darkness Garia's voice began.

"Before the Universe existed, there was only void. There was no mass, no energy, no movement. Then, in an instant which some species of Solid label the Big Bang, the Universe began. Of course, had there been any Vast, Multidimensional Beings present they would not have seen the Big Bang as we see it at all, only as a logical stage in the natural development of the Universe. The Universe grew and developed in much the way that Earth and Anmar scientists have postulated."

As Garia stood to one side, a vast holographic display acted out the development of the Universe from its earliest moments. The audience watched transfixed as gas clouds condensed into galaxies and then stars, swirling and recombining under their mutual attraction.

"Stars ignited, ran their lives and died in giant explosions, seeding the void with heavier elements. Planets were born, upon some of which life emerged. Sometimes, life even evolved where there were not worlds. Species rose, thrived and became extinct. Eventually civilizations rose, thrived and also became extinct. Some matured eventually to a level where individuals Emerged as Beings and discovered the multidimensional nature of the Universe.

"Over many billions of years the Beings matured and naturally wanted to know what would happen to the galaxy they all called home. After many fumbling starts the forecasting machines I described earlier were created. Over the ages their predictions became better and better. It eventually became possible to follow the evolution of the entire galaxy, although not in fine detail. Unfortunately, their forecasts faded away at a certain point in the future, due to outside influences they could not calculate. What clues they could obtain, however, indicated that the galaxy and all the beings in it, both Solid and Emerged, looked doomed.

"Then a Being wondered what would happen if, and things changed again. By making artificial changes to the forecasts it became possible to alter the probability of the ending of the galaxy by a small amount. Successive changes offered a slim chance that a way might be found in the future to avoid annihilation.

"The first attempts were done by direct interference with Solid civilizations and they were only partly successful. The idea of transference arose and, though expensive, it seemed to offer more hope of a successful outcome. Many blunders were made and many civilizations lost or corrupted before the appropriate methods were refined and protocols laid down. In addition, worlds were discovered which had no civilization or dominant species and a process of colonization was begun, one of those worlds being Anmar, another being... Earth.

"Yes, Earth and many others have been carefully populated with species and individuals to attempt to improve the chances that, in the future, the galaxy as a whole will survive. In the main things have worked the way that was planned but since the forecasts were only statistical, they could never guarantee the result they wanted. Individuals such as myself were chosen to trigger events that would improve the worlds they arrived on and mostly the results obtained were as expected.

"My effect on Anmar was not, and that was a direct result of the unexpected operation of the transfer machinery. My original arrival here raised the result from below fifty percent to nearly sixty percent. Such a big jump indicated that my presence had somehow made a significant difference and this should be exploited. I agreed with the Beings that Anmar should be given special help and that the presence of the Beings would be revealed to the Solid population at the point a starship from another world arrived and was shown to be on a peaceful mission. That is the nature of the oath I made with them. Because of this forced development, the odds of success are now ninety percent and rising daily."

Garia made a gesture and the lights came up. The holographic display now showed the home galaxy in all its glory behind her. Several people raised their hands.

"Captain Suarez."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I have no idea how to address you."

Garia smiled. "That's an awkward point, Captain. I was once Queen of the Kingdom of Palarand so technically I could be called 'Your Majesty' or simply 'Ma'am'. However, I'm also legally dead as a Solid so I'm not sure how that works any more. Since the Beings have now come into the open, it is a question we will have to address in due course, I deem. I suggest that you simply use 'Ma'am' for the time being. What was your question?"

"You stated that there were other worlds which had been colonized. Can you tell us how many, and how many have humans on them?"

"The total number of worlds colonized throughout the galaxy must run into the millions, Captain, and I don't have an exact count. Of course, most of those will have sentient species on them that are non-human. Some are more advanced than Anmar, most are probably civilized to various levels but restricted to their own solar systems. Of immediate interest to those here today is the fact that there are eight systems within a thousand light years with humans on them, of which Anmar is presently the most advanced, for obvious reasons."

"You're expecting us to find these worlds, then?"

"Sort of. It was essential that you found Anmar first, so that the correct attitude to any further discoveries was established. We - the collective of the Beings - do not want to see those planets exploited by Earth in the way that some of your existing colonies have been, but more as partners in the long-term effort."

Suarez considered this, then nodded. "I see, Ma'am. What you're telling us is that Earth exploration is now coming up against an existing colonization plan and you don't want that to be disrupted."

"Yes and no, Captain. Your own presence here today is essential to our plan. Basically, Earth's colonization program will now become our colonization program. In the future, you need to know what you will find and how to avoid unfortunate interactions when you find it. We need you and the basic exploration drive of humanity and you need Anmar and our knowledge of what is to come. Together, we stand a good chance of avoiding that dark future I spoke of."

Suarez nodded and Garia turned her attention to Hammond. "Envoy Hammond, you have a question?"

"Ma'am, you keep mentioning this impending disaster. Can you tell us any more?"

"I can, Envoy Hammond. That is the next part of my presentation."

She gestured again and the lights dimmed. The image of the galaxy shrank until it occupied about a third of the available space. Beside it, another galaxy sprang into view.

"What you see here," Garia explained, "is an accurate representation of our home galaxy, to your left, as it exists today. Every star is plotted precisely in this image, Ladies and Gentlemen, and we can make all or part of that database available both to Anmar astronomers and to the Vasco da Gama's astrogation team. The galaxy to your right is known to Earth astronomers as the Andromeda galaxy, and it is destined to collide with our own beginning about a million years from now.

"The Beings' problem is that we are somehow tied to our home galaxy. We can plot with precision the exact position, motion and energy of every particle in our galaxy and use that to project into the future. What we cannot do is to use that same process to predict what will happen when the other galaxy begins to merge with ours, since we cannot measure almost any of the particles within it until they intersect with ours, and that is when the record goes dark.

"From some exploratory calculations that have been made, we can predict that inhabitants from the other galaxy will be able to enter our own within a very short period of time, perhaps as few as tens of thousands of years from now. That is because the gravitational attraction of each galaxy's mass will pull some systems across the gap forming a bridge."

The images began to move, to come together, and it could be seen that each had already begun to distort the shape of the other. The images froze again at the point at which the full merge had begun.

"That position is how the two galaxies will look a million years," she shrugged, "Earth or Anmar, it isn't that exact, from now. We know we are going to lose systems during the merging process," she added. "When masses of stars intersect like this it could be no other way. What we didn't expect was that civilizations would be snuffed out the moment that first bridge was created and we suspect that is because our galaxy will be invaded by beings from the other one, beings who do not desire a peaceful coexistence."

There was dead silence within the auditorium now. Most of them were astonished by the immense scale of the problem facing the Beings and the astronomically long time they had been considering the fate of the galaxy.

Stannard's voice was hoarse in the darkness. "That is what this has all been about? Maker! No wonder you kept this a secret."

As the lights came up Suarez asked, his tone one of wonder, "So we are all part of the Great Plan of these Beings, is that it? My God! To even think about doing something over such a great span of time and space. Astonishing."

"That was the point, of course," Keren said from the other side of the image. "The Beings projected what would eventually happen and they have had many millions of years to prepare for it. We are part of that preparation and so are you. The human species would not exist if it were not for the actions of the Beings."

Hammond stood. "Ma'am, this is all very interesting, but what is it you expect humanity to do? I include Anmar's humans in this, of course."

"You must understand that knowledge of the future can affect that future, so what you are about to hear can only be explained in general terms." Garia replied, "As I'm only a new-born so far as the Beings are concerned, I would hesitate to answer that question in any detail. I must therefore introduce my friend, companion and mentor, who is not a human. Because of this you will only see a hologram, since unlike me, he could not exist in Anmar's atmosphere, temperature or pressure. Because this meeting is a critical moment in the development of this part of the galaxy, I may introduce others at a later time. Senusret, please join us."

The images of the colliding galaxies faded and in their place a white hologram appeared, showing a rough humanoid figure, about a meter tall, with feathery feelers sprouting from the upper sides of his head and huge dragonfly-like wings standing out either side of his back. As on previous occasions he wore a simple full-length gown.

"This is a moment I have long expected," he said with a metallic voice, "though I am normally accustomed to working in secrecy. I am known here as Senusret, a name I acquired on Earth. Despite my form I am acknowledged as one of the foremost anthropologists on human societies and I have already spent some thousands of years studying civilizations on Earth. I was transferred to Anmar when Garia began to emerge as a Being. Over the last two hundred years our collaboration has been very fruitful."

"What are you?" Hammond asked, fascinated. "To me you look like a... traditional Earth fairy."

"That was exactly the impression intended, Envoy. Before I Emerged as a Being I was a member of a species which lives in the clouds of... perhaps you might describe it as a 'temperate Jupiter'. When it was necessary to expose myself to Earth humans I used the guise of a member of one of their many myths. In previous times I have used other guises as required for my work."

"Now we know you are around, would you tell us more about yourself and your people?"

"What you desire is irrelevant to the present purpose, Envoy, but there is no reason you may not learn more in future. Today we have more important matters to consider. As for what we desire of your species, it is this. The battles to be waged in the future will involve both Solids such as yourselves and Beings such as myself and Garia.

"For your part, you must explore your immediate region of the galaxy and prepare it for war. In time, we expect a unified collection of worlds, perhaps an Empire, perhaps a League, perhaps a Commonwealth or some other arrangement, which can help other collections of allied species defend against what might come across that bridge. This process would naturally happen over time but with this extra knowledge you can become more focused. As Garia has already stated, we cannot tell you the future in any detail since that will affect it. We can offer you a certain amount of assistance as time continues, but how much depends on when you develop the necessary math to understand it."

"Thank you... Senusret?"

"Senusret. The name is of Egyptian origin. I once spent almost a century as one of their gods. Many but by no means all of humanity's gods have been Beings operating in disguise. We make no apology for this behavior."

Hammond turned to Garia. "Ma'am, I can almost guarantee that none of this would be believed anywhere but on this planet." She glanced at the far side of the room. "Perhaps not even on much of Anmar, I'm guessing. There are people in this room who are having trouble believing it. How do we break this to humanity at large?"

Garia grinned. "Oh, I think you can leave that to us, Envoy. Now that we have been permitted to show ourselves, I'm sure we can arrange some very spectacular demonstrations which nobody is going to be able to deny." The grin faded. "There is another consideration and that is one of inferiority. Humans, like most dominant species on any world, have always regarded themselves as the pinnacle of development and to find out that they are basically little better than bacteria in a lab dish is going to cause a lot of problems. We have ideas but we would welcome any suggestions from such as yourselves. That fact is one reason we decided to puzzle you when you arrived here, Envoy, to give you the impression that there could already be people better than you out there somewhere."

Hammond bowed her head. "Consider that point made, Ma'am, and I'll think about what you suggested."

Garia turned to the rest of the audience. "I'm sure that the rest of you have questions." She pointed. "You, what's your name?"

* * *

The Garian Institute had a refectory which could provide meals for the hundred or so who could fit in either of the two auditoriums, so after the obvious questions had been asked and answered, everyone moved there to satisfy their hunger and thirst. It was a buffet meal and some chose to use the available chairs and tables while others gathered in small standing groups, plates and drinks in hand.

There were still many questions but most recognized that it would be some time before they could make some sense from what had been revealed. Garia and Senusret circulated the room attempting to provide reassurance and further information but both understood that most of those present still had trouble believing what they had just been told.

In one corner they found Kandal and Stannard, talking low.

"Kandal, I just don't know what to say! I think it is incredible that something like this has been kept secret for so long."

"It is worse than you think, Stannard. If it hadn't been for Garia, we would still not know what was happening."

They turned and noticed the two Beings approach.

"Ma'am." Kandal bowed. Stannard hesitated before following suit. The Prime Minister said to Garia, "I was just pointing out that, if it had not been for you, we would still not know all this."

"You're right," she said. Her American English accent sounded odd to their ears. "It was a tiny chance that led to me Emerging, so small that it is almost negligible. Of course, in galactic terms, 'negligible' meant that it was almost certain to happen somewhere, given enough time. Then the other Beings convinced themselves that this represented an opportunity they couldn't ignore."

"A chance remark," Senusret added. "It made such a difference to the probabilities that we were forced to try a risky project. Fortunately we were successful with the result you see before you."

"A project? What project?"

"Another time, Delegate. If the story is to be told, it should be published for all to know."

Garia said, slowly, "It is somewhat personal, even after all this time. Let the rest of humanity become comfortable with us and then we can tell it."

Stannard stared at Senusret. "Your pardon, but how do we address you? I can't think of any obvious way."

"You have no forms of address that are appropriate," Senusret replied. "We are a different form of life, such things must be considered in due course if we are to interact in future. Though Garia was once a Queen I can claim no such rank from my own former existence. I do not have an answer for you."

A number of Stannard's associates bore down on the foursome. Stannard grimaced since he guessed what might be about to happen.

"Stannard!" Alintis scowled. "Why are you consorting with these frauds?"

Stannard turned to face his accusers. "For someone who belongs to the Progressive Party, you seem to have some problem coming to terms with accepted facts, Alintis. Hardly progressive, are you?"

Alintis pointed a finger at Garia and Senusret. "Accepted facts? I have heard nothing from these to change my mind! This was just done by some trickery to back up the government's position. Colliding galaxies? What nonsense!" He snarled, "This one is just a hologram, it admitted as much itself and the other, she is as real as I am, though I doubt she was ever a Queen, merely some actress brought in to play a part."

Garia turned to Senusret. "With your permission?"

Senusret nodded and Garia stepped forward, grabbing Alintis with both hands at his waist.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get your hands off -"

The protests were cut off as Garia and the man shimmered and then vanished. Everybody left behind stood back, shocked. Seconds later Garia reappeared, dusting her hands.

"I dumped him on the roof," she explained. "Somebody will have to call maintenance to get him back down, I deem." She smirked. "I'd like to see how he explains that trip, especially in view of all the video monitors we have around the refectory."

The whole room became silent as this happened, everyone staring at Garia.

"What? I told you I could prove my position. The roof was the easiest place to leave him, I could just as easily have taken him to anywhere on the planet or even to Kalikan or the research station orbiting Gontar, although he would have been out of breath by the time I reached that far out. There's no air the route I travel these days."

The Terian who had made all the fuss before said, "I think I need to sit down. My... view of the world is incomplete."

"Aye," Stannard agreed. "You are not the only one who is going to have to review their position, but we need more information before we can do that."

"And you shall have it," Garia said. "As much as we can tell you, as much as we can demonstrate, we will do so. The restrictions on what humans can discover have been broadly lifted, beginning today."

Watching this from a table on the other side of the room were Campbell and DeFreitas.

DeFreitas said, "You knew about this all the time, then?"

Campbell replied, "I did, Tom, but obviously I couldn't tell that to you or to anyone else. We've kept that secret from everyone for two hundred years. Now, of course, I can tell you most things but Garia did that already. Is it what you expected?"

"Not in a million years!" He grinned at her. "I may have to rephrase that, I guess. After what I've just heard, a million years doesn't sound like such a long time. I came to Anmar expecting to find some different shaped plants and maybe a few odd animals, I didn't expect to be invited to take part in an intergalactic war!"

Campbell laughed. "You don't have to worry about that, Tom. It will be centuries, millennia, before the war begins. We get to do all the fun stuff instead, finding new worlds and life-forms, building the foundations for the great galactic civilization to come."

"Yes, that will be fun, won't it?" His grin faded. "But King Keren said that only a dozen people knew the secret. I'm thinking some of those have to be in your government, so how exactly is it you are on that list?"

"The secret is one that has been held by the royal family of Palarand, Tom. Every King and Queen is told it and certain of their closest relatives also know it. Of course, certain members of the current government also have to be let into the secret. I know because I'm a direct descendant of Queen Garia and custodian of property that was once given to her by King Robanar when she first arrived. My official title is Countess Milsy of Blackstone, the town where all this began."

DeFreitas goggled at her. "A Countess? And you're acting as a simple liaison officer?"

"Um, not exactly, Tom. I'm actually a field exobiologist and your crew is my present area of study. What did you expect?"

"Ouch! I'm an idiot. Of course you would study us as we do the same to you. A field exobiologist, you say? So what did you study before we arrived?"

She gave him a sidelong glance. "There is more than one active biosphere in this star system, Tom. I've been studying life-forms that live in the atmosphere of Gontar, our largest gas giant. I wouldn't call them civilized, not in the way we understand that word, but it is a little more than just plants and animals."

"Gontar? Oh, yes. Didn't the... other Being mention Gontar?"

Milsy shook her head. "Not compatible, unfortunately. The wrong mix of gases and a fifty-degree difference in temperature, so Senusret tells us. His world is warmer, but still much colder than Anmar."

DeFreitas wondered if his chances had just nose-dived. "So, you're what? An academic?"

"No, like I said I'm a field officer. I might have returned to the University in due course to teach, only some starship turned up and changed everything. I have five different of what I am told you would probably call Master's degrees, although on Anmar we use other qualifications."

"A polymath? And a Countess? Will you stop speaking to me now?"

She dimpled. "Don't be silly, Tom. I'd still be delighted to show you round the Old City and maybe some other places, too. I might be a Countess but I'm still human, you know."

* * *

Later that day, in his day cabin aboard the Vasco da Gama, Suarez leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath. "Alison, do you buy into everything we were shown?"

Hammond replied, "Without question, Captain. The way Queen Garia explained it all made perfect sense, given what we already know of Anmar. Okay, there's still the technology question but that's properly a problem for negotiation by Solids, if you'll excuse the phrase."

"Indeed. Speaking of which, has anyone found out anything more about their technology? I'm not talking about stealing, you understand, but confirmation of some of our guesses would be useful."

McDaid said, "Captain, I did, in fact. My guess about broadcast power was right on the money. I spoke to one of the University professors who was there today and he told me that they have access to... what he describes as a sheaf of dimensions which don't involve space. That is, they are effectively point dimensions of some kind, though he wouldn't explain any more than that. I wasn't certain that he could, from the way he was talking. Basically, their power plants pour some kind of energy into one of these dimensions and other units can draw out as much as they require, wherever they are."

"The ultimate tap-off system," Andrades said, nodding. "That technology would be very useful if we could gain access to it." He frowned. "Why do they need that many power plants, then? I would have thought one or two would have been enough."

"Redundancy, sir," McDaid replied, "and perhaps scalability. There's another factor, which is that although there's apparently no power loss over distance, it becomes more difficult to tune the particular 'channel', as the professor called it, the further away you get. That's why there are power plants on the moons and outer planets as well."

"You said a sheaf of dimensions," Suarez put in then. "How many in this sheaf?"

McDaid shrugged. "Unknown, sir. Possibly millions, possibly infinite numbers. I'm wondering if that is how their communicators work as well. They just tune into a particular channel of that sheaf and get instant communication over any distance, as well as power. If these dimensions don't involve distance, the speed of light would hardly apply, would it?"

"Wow," Hammond said. "FTL communication is another big one, Captain. Even if it didn't cover interstellar distances the gains would be immense."

Suarez nodded. "Agreed. It would change the whole way we utilize space within every star system. Anything else?"

Baranov asked, "There's the question of why they all speak English, Captain. I understand now that materials from Earth might have been in English but the whole planet? Why did they choose a language not native to any of them?"

Hammond replied, "Ivan, that is almost exactly the reason. I talked to their Prime Minister and he said that English became popular in the Great Valley immediately after Garia arrived because most of the materials she brought were in that language. Following that was a rapid exploration of the whole planet and English was chosen as a neutral trade language precisely because it wasn't anyone's natural language. It helps that it is so easy to learn, at least at a basic level. Today, everyone learns English and most also learn their local tongue."

Suarez looked round the table. "Interesting and fortuitous for us, don't you think? I was dreading having to learn a non-Earth language to make myself understood here. Anything else?"

Valborg said, "I had a word with Queen Garia about how she traveled from Earth to Anmar in the first place. It seems they can't send actual bodies but only the instructions for making bodies and even that is expensive in energy terms. A pity, when she first mentioned it I wondered if there was a planet-to-planet transfer system there we could use but it seems it doesn't work that way."

Andrades turned to the Life Sciences officer. "Expensive? How so?"

"It looks like the transfer involves copying the description of their DNA, not even the DNA itself, from one system to the other and then using that to grow a new body using some multidimensional cloning machinery. While the body is growing the machinery impresses the memories of the original onto the clone so that it wakes up thinking it is the original. It takes a few days for the memories to return fully, so I understand. For one person the whole process consumes about the total energy output of a star like that of Anmar for a whole day or so, Chief. Not something I'd want to do on a regular basis but perhaps a useful emergency method, if they agree to let us use it."

Hammond said, "I doubt that is going to happen, Anders. The way I understood Garia's explanation, the original has to die in order for that to work. That's why they chose people about to die as their colonists in the first place."

Valborg persisted. "That might be the way it works for them, Excellency, but we might be able to think of other ways it could be useful. I wouldn't write it off just like that."

Suarez raised a hand. "All right. I suspect we could sit here all day and all night and talk without making much headway. The bottom line is, we need to have what these people have and they need us as well, and to progress that we have to resume our original mission and evaluate the planet beneath us." He turned. "Alison, your recommendation?"

"We need to do some basic verification but I can't see that we have any option, Captain. They aren't going to be joining the Earth colonies, we are going to be joining them, and that's fine with me. We each have abilities and experiences which balance the other perfectly." She gave Suarez a fierce grin. "I can't wait to get this project under way."

* * *

Senusret: Welcome, hatchling!

Garia: Welcome indeed. I am pleased that you could find your way here again.

Milsy: It's difficult. I have no control over whether I come or not. Was it the same for you, Garia?

Garia: It was. As I recall, it does get easier over time but you need a lot of patience. Keep up the meditation because that definitely helps.

Milsy: I intend to. Your presentation was good. I particularly liked the way you appeared... manifested, I should say.

Garia: That was considerably more tricky than it looked, Milsy. I can manifest myself reasonably easily now, but the problem is, it is just myself. I would come out naked, which would cause more of a stir than I would wish.

Milsy: Oh! Of course. So how do you manage clothing?

Senusret: Most Beings do not customarily wear textiles or other coverings, hatchling, in their Solid forms, so the problem is a relatively minor one. In time Garia will no longer need to manifest so her difficulty becomes moot. In the meantime, those species with a similar problem have developed solutions.

Garia: That's right. I have a small suite at the palace under an assumed name where I keep some clothing for occasions like today. They think I'm a retired guardswoman. The clothing like everything else is multidimensional, of course, so there is no problem taking it with me. I simply went to my suite, manifested, dressed myself and then de-manifested until I needed to appear on stage with young Keren. Taking the clothes with me requires concentration but is manageable. More tricky was lifting that idiot onto the roof while not ending up with my clothes remaining in the refectory. In my first attempts at wearing clothes they dropped to the floor when I de-manifested.

Milsy [giggling]: Yes, that could be embarrassing!

Garia: You will still require tuition in simple tricks like that, unfortunately. For humans, nakedness is usually reserved for the beach. One day that may change but I'm not expecting miracles.

Milsy: Um, how long is it going to take me to finish this process? How long did it take you from when you first came here until you manifested?

Garia: Fifty-one years, Milsy.

Milsy: That long? But... that means you Emerged while you were still Queen! However did you manage to conceal that happening?

Garia: With great difficulty. I trust that you won't have the same problem when you eventually Emerge. It proved possible to delay the actual separation from my Solid body until Keren and I could take a nostalgic trip to Blackstone but it was a struggle... like delaying a birth, you might say.

Milsy: You were King and Queen then. How did you manage to find any privacy?

Garia: As I said, it was a nostalgic visit so Keren and I and a very select picked band of retainers, all in the know, went camping up at the Ptuvil Stones. The Solid body was secretly removed by the Beings and placed in stasis for my 'official' death. I then had to pretend to be a Solid for another eight years, which was interesting, as I hadn't mastered the art of taking clothes with me at that time.

Milsy: Oh. But if you were pretending to be a Solid then you just lived as a Solid would, didn't you?

Garia: Yes, fortunately, I could do that. Only two people realized something was strange and they were my maids at the time. They became part of the conspiracy.

Milsy: Do you miss him? Your husband, I mean.

Garia: Naturally I do! I have spent more than a hundred years here since he died, though, so my perspective on our partnership has mellowed somewhat.

Senusret: It is the same with us all, hatchling, at least for those species that have life mates. We do not forget our origins and our time as Solids, nor those left behind, but we also do not forget what we have now become and that few are chosen.

Garia: Keren knew what was going to happen long before we married, of course. He accepted it since in some respects it is little different to a normal Solid marriage. One must needs die before the other, unless both are taken in an accident or by violence. [A pause for recollection] After his State funeral, when our son Bradanar came to the throne, I stayed for a respectable interval and then the saved body was burned. I had promised Keren that I would not stay around as a Solid for very long after he died. I didn't really want to. [Fondly] He was a good man, a wonderful husband and a great King.

Milsy: He had a great Queen to rule beside him, overseeing the greatest changes that Anmar has ever seen. I am proud to be your descendant, Ancestor.

Garia: Thank you. It is possible your part may prove at least as important as mine, when the time comes.

Milsy: I'm glad we won't have to skulk about in secret any more.

Senusret: For the future we must be careful how we educate the people of each world, hatchling, including Anmar. To reveal all at one time will present dangers to all.

Garia: Aye, especially considering those Terian idiots. Still, we have finally gotten the ball rolling and life can only get more interesting from now on.

Milsy: It all seems so fantastic to me still. I can't believe we're actually going to do this.

Garia: The probability of success is presently over ninety percent and still rising. The future is beginning to look bright, Milsy. Our future.



The End of Somewhere Else Entirely



Some of the characters mentioned in this story may appear in future Tales of Anmar.

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Comments

I Got to cast the first thumbs up!

Penny....what a fantastic story you have given us here at BCTS. Better than anything else I have read in a long long time.

Great story. I'm sad to here

jennifer breanna's picture

Great story. I'm sad to here it's ending, and would love to read more about Garia's return from Earth. But the story is great as is. Great work and I look forward to your next undertaking.

Wow

I am sad Keren did not make it. It seems that it is somewhere in the genetic line and Milsy apparently has that X factor that she has been able to exploit to finally start to Emerge.

I can see that there will be a lot of political clashing before this whole new federation will occur. And of all this it looks like Anmar will be at the center of it all, unlike in Star Trek :).

I think she should still be addressed as Her Majesty. There is a tradition for all male presidents in the USA to be addressed as Mr President even after leaving office and to me it makes perfect sense.

The scale of this war

It also means that the war may very well mean Milky Way VMBs against Andromeda VMBs? That would be an interesting story to write.

The issue here is that "Your

The issue here is that "Your Majesty" is the designation for those seated at the throne. (King or Queen). For example, Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, is NOT "Your Majesty". He is His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He is referred to as Your Royal Highness, or HRH (in writing).

The Queen Mum (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, the wife/consort of King George VI), was referred to as the Queen Mother. That is, she was the one that held the title Queen before, but was still styled Queen. As for titles, once Elizabeth II (her daughter) took the throne, she was referred to as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. You _had_ to use the whole thing. You couldn't just call her "Your Majesty", because that was Elizabeth II (I suspect that she deliberately stayed away from times that the conflict in names would require entire titles. )

So, 'Ma'am', especially as Garia insisted on it, would be correct - especially in front of Milsy (current Countess) and Keren (Current King). - the holders of her prior 'titles' as such.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

That's Earth of course

That has never been addressed as far as a cultural thing for Anmar.

Well... Garia was from where,

Well... Garia was from where, originally? And was speaking to someone from where? And the language they were speaking was?

The answers to those lend themselves to what I already posted.

The short form, however, I answered in a short sentence. As she's not the reigning monarch, and she already said that 'Ma'am' was fine, that's the end of it.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Doesn't matter where she is from

She can't dictate that kind of tradition imho. She stepped into an existing social context. I am not saying your option is not a possibility but I hardly believe that what you say is the 'only' option, whether you think so or not.

Appendices updated

Sadly, because this is the last chapter of a stupendous achievement.

Thank you so very very much

Julia

Wonderful story

Penny

Thank you for sharing this story, it has been a wonderful ride! You held my interest for all the 141 installments and even though the story ends it is not over. Maybe in a few thousand years we can get an update of the progress. :)

(((hugs))))

Jeri

Jeri Elaine

Homonyms, synonyms, heterographs, contractions, slang, colloquialisms, clichés, spoonerisms, and plain old misspellings are the bane of writers, but the art and magic of the story is in the telling not in the spelling.

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! Great story arc. Wonderful filled out characters. Very imaginative . creative. Well done!!!!!!!!!!!

End and Beginning

it's quite true "The End of Somewhere Else Entirely"
since we now know where we are, it should be now "The Beginning of Right There"
or at least sequel could be named so :)

The End, how sad

Like all great things there must be an end. This was a great story and like all great stories I hate reaching the end as I want any great story to continue forever.

Hopefully soon you will write another great story as great as this one!?

Vivien

First to last

The total number of days between Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 and Saturday, February 13th, 2016 is 1,879 days.

This is equal to 5 years, 1 month, and 22 days.

This does not include the end date, so it's accurate if you're measuring your age in days, or the total days between the start and end date. But if you want the duration of an event that includes both the starting date and the ending date, then it would actually be 1,880 days.

If you're counting workdays or weekends, there are 1,343 weekdays and 536 weekend days.

If you include the end date of Feb 13, 2016 which is a Saturday, then there would be 1,343 weekdays and 537 weekend days including both the starting Wednesday and the ending Saturday.

1,879 days is equal to 268 weeks and 3 days.

The total time span from 2010-12-22 to 2016-02-13 is 45,096 hours.

This is equivalent to 2,705,760 minutes.

You can also convert 1,879 days to 162,345,600 seconds.

Today is 2/13/2016 and 12/22/2010 is exactly 1879 days before today.

Thank you Penny

For a wonderful series with many hours of reading pleasure. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Joanna

Perfect

I agree completely.

What a Penultimate Achievement

This sets the stage for a whole universe of stories that are extremely plausible, even for those of faith. For the longest time I have hoped to see stories that engaged the idea of beings not readily seen. For me, they have long been active here on Earth, but religionists have poisoned the waters with dogma, hatred, and stupidity as you have so adeptly illustrated in depicting the "Progressives".

So, Keren, that wonderful King is permanently gone is he? There was no way to capture his "essence"? I imagine that was heartbreaking for Garia. Sadly, some members of both Earth and Anmarian culture will not be able to deal with these new truths and may lapse into catatonia or worse. Hopefully they will be able to deal with that at some time.

Thank you for such a lovely and unexpected story. I look forward to your future stories.

Gwen

Garia has lived through some

Podracer's picture

interesting years, and some wonderful events. I'm happy that I happen to have been around, and wandered across this part of the internet, at the right time to enjoy Penny's excellent story.
Thanks to Di, Brianna, Julia, and anyone else supporting and extending the epic. Anmar truly lives.

"Reach for the sun."

Penny

All I can say is you wrote a fantastic tale. One that is easy to see you poured a lot of you into Garia and Keren. I would have liked to had more of when Garia came back but this was a good ending an also allows you to continue in another direction with new characters. I hope you do continue.

Best success to you

SDom111

Men should be Men and the rest should be as feminine as they can be

Wonderful Story

terrynaut's picture

What a wonderful story. I loved it. All of it. I can't think of a single chapter that I didn't like.

You, dear Penny, brought the wonderful world of Anmar to life for me and I'm very grateful.

Thanks and kudos (number 83).

- Terry

It all seems very strange

Sav Sara's picture

This Story is what brought me to this site, a scant few weeks ago.
And now y'all decided to end it.
But I guess I'm kinda lucky, I got to read it all without too many withdrawal symptoms between posts.
Julia is fixing to do a few more, I gather.
But really Penny honey, you need to get this out there into the whole wide world. It just has to be a surefire bestseller.

I thank you for your creativity.

Savannah Sara

A next phase?

Though I can't see how the TG aspect can be merged into the next phase, but from a pure Sci-Fi POV there is much to write about. So, the logical next major next phase is when our galaxy is finally 'wired' with sensors but using the FTL vehicles to 'play out' a series of relays based upon Anmar's comm tech. So who and what these invaders will be like. Space is vast so how do these invaders figure out what and where to invade and take over?

So will Anmar now host the GDC (Galactic Defense Center)? What is the rationale for the invaders' intolerance? What kind of battle will this entail? Vast armadas of starships? Silent invasions and then destruction?

There is a lot to think about

Oh and Andromeda

The source of the threat hearkens to the 50s sci-fi stories where so many threats came from that galaxy. Frankly I wish the Milky Way was more isolated, a galactic merge is not a pleasant thing as the resultant active black hole that forms would lead to some very uncomfortable circumstances for existence of life in the combined galaxy.

No - black holes wouldn't be

No - black holes wouldn't be the problem. Supernovae would be the problem.

Black holes are an accretion phenomena. If you smack two suns together (gravitational pull), they are more likely to react violently than collapse. That violent reaction isn't likely to end up leaving many black holes, simply because of momentum. (Think of throwing two water balloons together. )

Now, the galactic cores, which are theorized to contain massive black holes, would probably end up sweeping up a lot of systems during the pass through. If the cores met - then you're looking at trouble. If they hit hard enough, it might even disrupt at least one of them.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Current predictions

Well, current modelling of such a merge also predicts the possibility of a quasar (as you said from accretion) and that puts out a lot of disruption due to the sheer energy release. And yes, the creation of the temporary star burst galaxy phase due to all that gas smacking together would lead to a lot of supernovae. A full merge won't happen for billions of years but I did not read anywhere that the initial merge process can occur in a mere million years.

Galaxy merge

Billions, millions, what's a few years between friends?

I have to admit that I used Writer's License to 'adjust' the time before the two galaxies will merge. Of course, as with anything astronomical, Earth experts only have a reasonable estimate for when the merge will actually happen. I have heard "a million years" quoted and that sounds like a suspiciously round figure to me.

The other issue is that the merge iteslf will take a significant amount of time to complete. Before that happens, as Garia has noted, the gravitational attraction of each to the other will pull systems out of their natural orbits to form a kind of bridge between the two galaxies and this may permit star-faring species to attempt a crossing.

I will note that even here, the distances to be traveled will be prodigious so some serious methods of 'hyperspace' travel or whatever will be required to get from one to the other in a single lifetime. I do not know if that would even be practical until the merge proper begins and at that point both galaxies will have other problems to confront.

Penny

Galaxies crashing

Galaies can and do crash together. Astronamers have seen many examples.

For the most part, it is quite benign. Very few stars collide because there is so much space between them. The most noticable thing is that the nice spiral shape gets stirred up and goes away.

Of course, there are collisions, near misses, and stars torn apart by near misses. This is a disaster for the local area.

Not that this has anything to do with the story. The story is about the actions of sentient beings as the galaxies approach each other.

Something Just Does Not Feel Right About Galaxies Colliding

Bibliophage,

I hope this is something others besides me find odd, but if the Cosmos is expanding, surely all the galaxies should be moving apart from each other. So how come our neighbour, Andromeda, is thought to be colliding with our "Home" Galaxy ?

To me this seems wrong. Either that, or there never was a single Big Bang after all !

Whilst we are contemplating the Physics etc., we are told that Entropy means that the Universe decays into more disorder and loses energy, but as a Biologist I see how Life does the opposite - Living objects like plants and animals tend towards greater and ever more complex structures, and gather more energy together. So Life is a Contra-Entropic Force, I call it Anti-Entropy.

The idea of a Cosmos that grows and then contracts and then grows again, feels more comfortable to me, than a Bang emerging from Nothing and then fading back into a huge nothing. Also, if there was no Beginning and will be no End, the concept of a Creator becomes superfluous, which I personally find much more assuring than the notion that a supreme being or force that believers call god exists, when the universe, or leastways the bit of it that we live on, is so filled with cruelty, stupidity and pain. I had a baby, who was born misformed and was in great pain. She screamed from her first breath to her death less than an hour later. I refuse to accept that any supreme being exists that could punish a tiny baby for any misdeads of her parent, and in the unlikely possibility of my being wrong and there really being a god, I want to meet it so I can punch it on the nose for being so evil !

It seems that humans have ever since they evolved liked to dream up imaginary gods, as someone other than themselves to blame for anything that goes wrong for them. Now we know so much more about how this universe works, is it not time we dropped all the old beliefs, and used the knowledge we have gathered to understand things better?

I really loved the story of GARIA et al, but this last chapter moved into a dimension I found difficult to believe in. It seems that Penny Lane was trying to find a way to end the Story. I am sorry it had to end like this.

Briar

Oh my golly gosh

Can Galaxies collide?
But yes, of course they can! One scenario: a galaxy is travelling faster than the one it is overtaking. Another scenario,: galaxies do not travel straight, maybe they bend a little in their routes; one bends one way, the other bends the other way.

Just my tuppeny-worth.

Cheers

Julia

"If the universe is expanding

"If the universe is expanding, can galaxies collide?"

Yes. There are several ways. One is that their mutual gravitational pull is just enough to override their moving apart. Think of two almost parallel lines, from a common point. Partway along, they slide towards each other. They might do a complete merge, they might pass through each other, then swing back, they might pass through and continue on in a semi-slingshot effect. Another way is that one overtakes another.

Another thought is - what if there was more than one expansion?

A last thought is that everything is apparently spinning.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Also...

Black Holes. I think (I'm no physicist, let alone an astrophysicist) that the more matter a Black Hole consumes, the stronger its gravitational attraction becomes. So it's possible that one might become strong enough to exert a slight pull on the outermost regions of a galaxy, which would nudge them a tiny fraction closer to it at the relevant points in their orbits. Given enough time, the entire galaxy could be affected (think tugging at the edge of an elastic sheet), but of course to do so would take vast amounts of time.


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

A story that runs forward and

A story that runs forward and expands to a proper conclusion is wonderful to read.
Lord of the Rings was similar.
Thank you for the privilege of getting to read it before it becomes a three part movie.
Make some money.
It's as good as Harry Potter.

All Good Things...

joannebarbarella's picture

Come to an end, and this story has been a very good thing.

Thank you for a glorious and fascinating ride, Penny, and your talent and hard work is deeply appreciated.

Thank you Penny,

Thank you Penny,
For an excellent, long running story that always had me waiting for the next chapter to appear. I do believe you are one of BC/TS premier authors now; and I look forward to reading more from you in the future. Again, Thank you.
Janice Lynn

great story looked forward to

great story looked forward to every chapter. I'm going to miss it. any chance there will be a follow up about what happens when the two galaxies merge

All my life

when things got too difficult, adult or child, I sought release in books and stories. Now in the autumn of my life, in a failing body wracked by constant pain, and failing in most things I once found so very easy, I was privileged for a time, all too short a time it seems now, to journey to Anmar on Penny's wings. In the dark long hours between sunset and dawn, when the pain threatend to send me to a dishonorable ending, I would find a new chapter and be reminded of the sanctity of life. My dog Frank, would snuggle beside me, or on my lap and I would read to him quietly, and he would drop off to sleep. and dream perhaps, of when he was a puppy, while I dreamed of being on Anmar. Thank you Penny. You have done so very much more than you can ever know. You have given surcese from pain to an old man, long forgotten by most. So Somewhere Else Entiely has ended, but the hope of more, and the dreams left to me, carry me forward toward my own inevitible ending. When pain will end, and I can fly to Anmar.

I am a Proud mostly Native American woman. I am bi-polar. I am married, and mother to three boys. I hope we can be friends.

It's hard to believe the story is finished

Thank you for the wonderful story, Penny! It has always been a story I look forward to, and now it's hard to believe it's finished.


Hugs from British Columbia! :D

One can almost imagine what that eve of battle might look like

The Andromedan proxy hordes, created in their multitudes by the Andromedan VMBs who want to eliminate the holders of the dimensional space of their neighbors, have been built up for millennia in preparation for the close contact with their neighboring galaxy. Unbeknownst to them, a galactic defensive frontier has been established near the expected area of contact has been established, manned by a vast multitude of battle fleets and hard point defense stations in key sectors.

VMB scouts are actively alerting all area commanders as the close contact is enabling surer prediction of enemy movements ....

Your comment actually minded me of something.

What if there are VMB's in Andromeda? Aaaaaaaaand. What if there are Vaster Greater-dimensional Beings who've been playing both against the other for some greater cosmic goal? Ooooooooooo-oooooh!

Abigail Drew.

SEE end..

Thank you SO much Penny for this WONDERFUL saga!! This has been my very favorite tale for some time now and I'm sad to see it come to an end but I know it eventually must have. Thanks for taking your valuable time and considerable talent to keep all of us non-writers and your fellow writers alike entertained!

Blossom

Gosh-darn it, Penny!

I love this story to bits.

But I have so MANY problems with it...

Problem the first: I was so NOT ready to be done with the adventures of a Connecticut Yankee in King Robanar's Court. You created such compelling characters and they addressed such interesting problems as they struggled to forge their lives, that I was completely unready for your skip to the ending. I know it's "the thing" to leave your audience wanting more, but it doesn't make the audience happy. I really wanted to see what else Garia would achieve. I wanted to see her and Keren happy. I wanted to watch their children grow up. I wanted to watch her cope with the Industrial Revolution.

Problem the second: While the ending was brilliant and fascinating, It was really the beginning of a separate story in it's own right. Now I have two fascinating stories to mourn, not just one. What does the future hold for Milsy and Tom? How will he cope with her Emergence? How will the news of the Grand Design affect Earth and its colonies? How will the Civilized Galaxy come together to confront the unknown fate that awaits them. What actually DOES happen when the galaxies intersect?

Problem the third: I really wanted to see what kind of life Eriana made for herself.

I love and respect your accomplishment but really... WAH! This story was the reason I logged in every day, hoping for another installment. This story takes it's place for me among the most meaningful stories I've read here, along with the likes of Hypatia, Rebecca de Mere and Maggie Finson.

Thank you.

I'm sorry it has taken so long

I really am, but then that's what happens when Real Life takes a hand.

At one point near the beginning I was actually writing and posting a chapter a week but various distractions like a serious illness and a whole new generation (of human descendants) had inevitable consequences.

I understand your frustration with wanting more detail but if I did that the story would run into thousands of chapters... and while it would be entertaining, finding a suitable endpoint would have been much harder. I had to choose certain significant events as places to draw a line.

That doesn't preclude other stories set in the parts of the history which are presently blank, of course. I already have two as ideas.

As for the ending, I will admit that was tricky. I originally wanted to have that as a single "show and tell" chapter explaining the Great Plan which of course was the justification for the whole epic in the first place, much like I wedged the whole visit to Earth into a single chapter. Unfortunately it just proved too much fun to write, so it ended up three chapters...

I agree there could be a whole other tale starting at that point but it wouldn't be the same as what went before at all. It would require a considerable amount of thought and planning before I would even consider taking it on.

As for Eriana, you may be delighted to know that she is going to be the subject of one of the tales mentioned above. We'll get to see what happens when she takes the Visund up-river and back down again.

I'm pleased that you like my meager scribblings. Trouble is, it just sets the bar high for anything else I write.

Penny

omitted

omitted

As others have commented ...

... a magnificant story - certainly one of the best pieces of science fiction I have read in recent years.
I would suggest that S.E.E. is good enough so ....

Get thee to a publisher!

Oldfashioned.

Thank you Penny!

Thank you for the many enjoyable hours I spent reading this wonderful story you crafted! I will miss the anticipation of looking for the next chapter and the joy of seeing one appear and sitting down to read it!

Thanks again for a wonderful adventure!

Hugs
Gina

Partings

Garia speaks of her losing her husband as it must be so. However, she speaks not of her partings of her own children, all of whom must be dead of course. As a parent, one does not expect to outlive ones' children or grandchildren. One would think that such partings must not be any less painful.

A time to gain

A time to lose.

Garia has gained so much. To me this far more mature Garia is kinda jarring. That is of course expected since it has been about 200 years. However it just brings back to me that old folk song and it is kinda sad that the questing and discovering vibrancy that youth has is missed by me, replaced so much by the hard needs of responsibility that we adults know so well.

There is still some of the old spark in her personality in her actions in dealing with the doubters but one must wonder what living in VMB society is like and how that changes her. Whether they want to believe so or not, it is too easy to lose touch with the 'Solid' side of her as the years wear on I would imagine. I venture to say that it is good to manifest as a Solid on a regular basis helps maintain that understanding and is kinda like reliving ones childhood.

Change is inevitable

Any organism goes through a number of changes over its lifetime. It is inevitable that Garia, with a wider view of the universe than previously, will change as well.

I agree that she would probably spend time manifested as a Solid to keep in touch with 'her' people, especially once everything comes out into the open. She will initially be required as a link between Solids and Beings. That requirement will fade over time as everybody becomes more comfortable with the new arrangements, whatever they turn out to be.

But Garia has developed. She has spent fifty-six years on the throne beside Keren and she is a true leader by now. She has overseen the total remaking of Anmar to the point that it has, in certain respects, outstripped that of Earth.

She is no longer the young girl who proved herself worthy of the throne. With time comes perspective and she has new challenges to undertake. Like many of us, we put aside the trappings of childhood because what we have now is more stimulating.

Do you still play with the toys you had in your pre-school days?

Penny

Depends on the toy

Sure I still find comfort in the occasional stuffed animal but no I do not play with blocks etc.

However, my point is that to have a purely linear view of life is wrong. We are all sums of our experiences and somewhere in us is still that child like it or not and to invalidate that would be wrong too. Every perspective is useful and should be addressed. Being 'adult' is just a coping mechanism of life to have facilities to adjust to new and changing circumstances. But think on it: there is no part of one life where ones coping skills ever better than that of childhood which allows for flexibility of thinking, adaptability, lack of prejudiced perspective.

Getting too old and for beings of such long lives would mean there is a lot of gathered experiences, true, but there is the very real threat of becoming rigid and jaded in ones perspectives. Remember, it was Garia's, asking 'childlike' questions that has helped lead to this 'new breakthrough' whereas all those old fogies carried on,, business as usual for millions of years.

I wonder...

I wonder if the general knowledge that there are immortal multidimensional will cause more people to emerge. Perhaps -- actually, almost certainly we will have multiple groups of people, ranging from wackos to serious researchers, trying to figure out how to make it happen.

Will we have a problem with being knockd off of our pedestal?

Some atheists will, perhaps. Some peopl of faith will see their faith challenged. Others will just see another level of being between us and the 'creator' or 'maker.' No biggie. Angels are a common concept. In fact, I can see your averag person (of any faith) consider them to be angels. Some of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition may see them as the false Gods that we are not to worship.

How many will be worried about the big disaster coming up?

Well... How many people are worried about our sun turning into a red giant in some four billion years? I, for one, assume that mankind will have spread out among the stars long hence.

A galactic disaster?

I expect that we (sentient beings) will have spread out among multiple galaxies by then. In fact, perhaps abanding the galaxy for another would be a good strategy.

Color me cynical

But the religious conservatives will have a conniption. Look at all the Islamic nonsense going on, one must wonder how they would react if they discovers such 'infidels' who would totally blow their worldview out of the water. They would go on a rampage. It will make ISIS look like a temper tantrum. Fatwahs would be issued forbidding cooperation with VMBs while they gnash their teeth when they realize they cannot hope to kill any of them. They will however do their darnest to kill those who would work with them.

Wait until Tom's mother realizes their will be no 'church wedding'. Tom seems like your typical Christian ('Jesus!') and Milsy is not of 'the faith'. There will be very rocky waters ahead, mark my words.

Eh. Look at the Mormons

Eh. Look at the Mormons from the early days compared to now. After 200 years, it would be impossible to guess what the religions would really be like - especially after reasonably widespread space travel.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Not really

Religious zealots tend to cling heavily to their beliefs. Jewish traditions are a classic example, e.g. 'Kosher' foods. There is absolutely no reason not to eat pork or what they consider 'unclean' animals anymore, given modern animal husbandry yet that tradition survives because it is ... 'a tradition'. If anything, it seems that modernism only makes them cling all the more harder. Ultra right wing Christianity nowadays want to deny science (!) and want to believe in creationism because hey, God created them and made them special, eh?

Thing is, the whole VMB thing is going to say: You aint so special, get over it.

But ultra conservatives will always want to believe they are 'God's chosen.'

For the ISIS folks they still want to believe the wonderful afterlife with the houris and stuff, but what to do, what to do, if that is not the case?

Probably never understood God

For me, the whole God thing is right there in SEE. I am from very devout roots but watching the devout has eaten away at the validity of my belief. Remember, all the religious books were written by primitive men who did not understand much. Digging into Psychology, we begin to see that those who make us see frightening things about ourselves are to be condemned and sent to hell.

I do not think there is a living human on earth that understands what a higher power truly is. If he has a plan, I am sure that he does not need us or our approval

Gwen

I think what many have lost,

I think what many have lost, especially in the current two largest religions, is that the goal is not to understand what God wants, but to seek understanding of what God is.

(Keep in mind that 'God' is not a name. It's a description. The Hebrew name for their God is written, but not spoken; the Christian name for God comes from that written - Jehovah, or Yaweh)


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Not Sure What

Pedestal atheists are supposed to be on that we are going to be knocked off of. It's simple: There are no gods. Period, end of sentence. The sooner H. Sapiens realize that the better off we'll all be. You won't be knocking us off any pedestals, we never climbed on top of any to begin with. Religion is nothing but semi-organized hate. We're all better off without it.

John Lennon said it all in his song "Imagine".

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

<~~~>

Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

<~~~>

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

If atheists truly believed

If atheists truly believed there were no gods, they'd cease to argue. I'm agnostic. I think there is more out there than _us_, but I'm inclined to believe in gods rather than God. (Even the 10 commandments say there are other gods. )


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

When I first began the journey

of reading this story I thought... "Okay. Pretty good tale but it can't last more than a few chapters.

Boy! Was _I_ wrong, and I must admit that was one of the times when I was glad I was wrong! On and on the story went, further describing and making the characters real, or as real as fictional characters can possibly be.

It is an interesting fact, at least to me, that the TG element was NOT a driving force, but rather a plot element that helped drive the main plot. In other words, not a TG story, but a story with some TG in it. An interesting and welcome change from the... lets say..."One handed literature" that permeates theinternet.

This story was skillfully and masterfully fleshed out, chapter by chapter, letting us get to know the characters as people. It may have no equal in the genre.

I stand in awe and envy at the talented authors/writers who conceived and presented such a marvellous and fascinating tale for us to read and learn from. Yes, I said learn, for who could read this story and not learn something from it?

Mainstream this tale? Hell yes! Print it! Get it out there for the great unwashed masses to read and hopefully do some of that learning thing I mentioned. Write a screenplay! Shop it to Hollywood? Again, Hell yes! With today's CGI and other SFX, there is no reason it couldn't be easily made into a movie, or several movies.

I'll close with heartfelt thanks to all who had a hand in getting this story written, proofed, edited and posted. Your hard work is more than appreciated. Seldom does a story capture me for long enough to generate a comment from me.

You all didn't just capture me... you encompassed all my imagination and attention. My heart and mind thank you.

Thanks also for allowing me to archive the story to my own private library. Trust me, it will include every bit of the required info to make certain it remains your story... only another great entrant to my private stock of great tales.

Catherine Linda Michel

As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script. Y_0.jpg

A bitter sweet ending

Kathy Leigh's picture

Thank your Penny for 141 wonderful chapters.

To quote the Grateful Dead "What a long strange trip it's been"

Hope to see some new stories here as soon as you rest and recharge.

Hugs,

Kathy Leigh

Thank you!

"Another time, Delegate. If the story is to be told, it should be published for all to know."

This has been one of the best sci-fi novels I’ve ever read. As someone else already noted, it isn’t primarily a TG novel but just uses that as an element in an otherwise alien world. The high point for me as to the Sci-Fi element was the curtain, being I suspect, light years closer to galactic clouds. An amazing, creative phenomenon that I’ve never encountered before in spec fiction. And Snow White?! What an absolutely brilliant touch! Of course you created one of the best, and definitely funniest, first contact treatments (not in a horror novel). Had me laughing throughout.

The ending was difficult and heartrending, mainly because we are dealing with Garia, Keren and all the others on a day-to-day basis throughout and suddenly, as the story wraps up, the ending is general, not specific. I know this is a conventional way to end a story but it still made it more difficult to me, as a reader, to “enjoy” the final years. I wanted the details, especially of Garia’s return (Was she different, physically? Did the Beings make her taller?) What happened to Eriana and did Torulf return to his father’s court no longer the sniveling weakling? A couple of chapters of her return would have helped. In addition, reading about her first child might have also been interesting. I noted there were no descendants named Garia. Her name was retired, I assume.

But the fact that this immense novel ENDED was welcome and appreciated. So many long serials go on and finally disappear into the ether. I’d love to see Somewhere Else Entirely appear in hardback or paperback or Kindle but due to its length (my WORD copy runs to 3001 pages, 12 cpi, single-spaced, all comments deleted), it’s problematic. Perhaps, Dickens-like, it could be serialized for Kindles. On the other hand, the longest Kindle book I’ve read ran to 27,000 “Kindle-pages” and was part of a series, so it is doable.

Thank you again for writing one of the great novels of speculative fiction!

SEE ends, but not Tales of Anmar

So now we know the wider picture (I was right about Garia manifesting to the audience!) - but of course, while Garia's tale has now been told, there are plenty of others that can be told within the universe - both in the original timeline (during Garia's 'solid' existence) and the potential new timeline (surrounding the Earth expedition to Anmar). Penny's commited to an Eriana tale, there's the possibility of a Milsy one (covering her journey from decoy to electrical engineer), while from other hands we've got Juliana's and Maralin's tales still in progress.

Meanwhile...

"We get to do all the fun stuff instead, finding new worlds and life-forms, building the foundations for the great galactic civilization to come."

OK, who else was thinking: "Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages..."

(Come on, if there are any more tales in the +200 years timeline, you've got to have a throwaway reference at the very least to an exploratory craft by the name of "Enterprise"!)


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

Obscure reference

I wondered whether anyone would notice.

I also considered putting more of the original quote in but decided that might strike the wrong note. As it is I think it encapsulates the immediate future very well, don't you?

Penny

Noticed but uncommented on

Actually as soon as the Vasco Da Gama appeared, the theme of STNG started playing in my head.

I can already visualize the current Mistress Tanon planning on Interstellar Transport.

Thank you Penny.

Sorry I took so long to comment but real life is hectic at the moment. Moving house, rehousing younger, less fortunate tee-kids in better conditions, etc, etc, etc. Just got back from extended stay in London, Brighton, and North Wales. Ah the joys of philanthropy, you wouldn't believe.
Anyway, back home now to an empty house without much furniture and preparing to sell.
I've just read the last chapter and I'm secretly saddened that SEE has finally ended, but like all adventure stories no matter how sophisticated or exciting, it has to end eventually.
I've had some fascinating ideas about intergalactic collisions, I'm especially intrigued about the black-hole physics and I'm just wondering if the black holes could be harnessed with some sort of super technology to create a defensive weapon or force to somehow swallow up any invading force. Just a thought. My imagination is conjuring up all sorts of super-dense, infinitely 'long' tractor beams to drag an undesirable from the outer reaches of a galaxy into the central black hole and whence to 'somewhere-else-entirely' outside of this universe or dimension.
Wonderful story Penny. I'll miss it enormously.
Beverly. x

bev_1.jpg

The trouble with 'harnessing'

The trouble with 'harnessing' the power of a central black hole is that the black hole is holding the galaxy together. What keeps it from falling _into_ the hole is the constant angular momentum. If you could focus that gravity into a beam, it would 1) not move the target faster than the speed of light, and 2) would reduce the gravitational effect available to keep the galaxy together. (Gravity is an inverse square phenomenon; reduce gravity at the center, and the outlying stars would start flying away)


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Agreed.

Trying to mess with our own galactic core would spell disaster even more assuredly than if we just let the Andromedans do their thing.

The only ways it would even be remotely plausible, and even then it'd be a HUGE stretch of imagination, that we could in some way weaponize black holes would be either we somehow find out how to manufacture, contain, aim, and control black holes and send them against the enemy, and, if that is somehow possible, what's to stop the enemy from doing it to us? Or we find a way to send something straight to the Andromeda core and disrupt IT. Again, what's to stop the enemy from doing the same to us? Better to stick to the present belief that black holes are completely inherently unable to be messed with by either Solids or VMBs without risking catastrophe to both systems, which NO ONE would want.

Abigail Drew.

What a way to end the saga.

In a way, this is almost bittersweet. But then, so's chocolate so...

Abigail Drew.

Anmar/Earth trade negotiations

Anmar: We have amazing technologies like levitating cars and instantaneous transmission of radio and power and we won't trade it for any but your most important technologies and treasures!

Earth: We have billions of 3D cat videos!

Anmar: Where do we sign?!

I'd like to giggle ...

... but actually a huge belly laugh came out instead.

"Any funny explosions?"

"Any funny explosions?"


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

That's OK

I did more than enough giggling for everyone.

Question though. Serious question. Would Anmarians even know what a cat is without Earthlings giving them a couple teaser videos? Despite avians (birds) and several kinds of rodent-like creatures being mentioned in the Anmarian tales, we've never seen a single cat-like stalking them. This would explain why avians on Anmar managed to become so vicious too! They never had any cats to keep them down! :P

Then again... rodents on Anmar are still mere pests...

Abigail Drew.

Oh right!

I totally forgot the felk. I think that particular creature was only ever mentioned by Julina and only passingly? We've never actually seen one I don't think? They certainly don't seem to be very good at controlling the avian population!

Abigail Drew.

Well done yourself!

Congratulations on spending so dedicated a period consuming my tale, Dorothy. Since you commented on every chapter, I'll assume you might have liked it...

Now you can go away and lie down in a dark corner for a while before you get back writing. You have unfinished business, girl!

Penny

Sigh

WillowD's picture

What a wonderful, wonderful story. I'm afraid I was bad and did not comment on every single chapter. I read most of this on my smartphone, which is not conductive for typing in comments. And Dorothy must like the story even more than I did because she started reading it about a day before I did but finished it three days ahead.

Thank you so much for writing this, Penny.

You're welcome

Commenting on every chapter is not obligatory, especially if you are reading it as a feverish several-nighter.

I'm pleased you liked it. I have no idea where that all came from, as I explain in my commentaries. I literally did not know from one chapter to the next what was going to happen, all I had was the basic overall plot idea. Girl lands on weird planet, has adventures, marries Prince. Essentially I lived the plotline as I wrote it. Seems to have worked, though.

Now all you have to do is read all the side stories... What Milsy Did (presently incomplete), Armsman of Joth, The Warrior Princess, Julina of Blackstone (also not yet finished), Alibi Omnino and there are also a couple of short stories. Have I left anything out? Oh, the Gazetteer and the Maps for when things get confusing.

Thank you for spending some time on Anmar!

Penny

Aye!

I've wondered this all along. Why does Garia/Gary Campbell, a kid from Hays, Kansas, USA, say 'aye'? It really isn't all that common a useage in the U.S. And I didn't see it used that much in Palarand. Truthfully, whenever I see 'aye' used a certain chief engineer comes to mind. :-)


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Yes and no...

:)

I used it originally as a local mannerism. As I have gone through re-editing (very slowly: I'm only up to chapter 30 so far) I have made it a little more obvious where it is used.

By men to men; in a military context; in response to a superior, say a noble.

Women, by contrast, will almost always say 'yes' in a similar context.

This isn't a hard and fast rule. Garia may say 'aye' because she's trying to become comfortable in the local tongue and there are bound to be times when she doesn't get it right. Most men would rarely say 'yes', except perhaps in a domestic context, since they may think it too feminine.

Penny

PS: If your voices have good ideas, write them down and post them to BC!

In our lives we find some things that are so wonderful

They inspire us in a special way.
Pride and Prejudice
Lord of the Rings
Hunger Games
SEE.
Well done dear lady - you have given (me anyway) us a life story that encompasses adventure, love, country. loyalty and courage.
XXJenny

Sad

I’m sad I thought Keren was a key and would join her also I would like to read more of Garias return to earth.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna

I still wish....

Aine Sabine's picture

You showed her return to Anmar!

Also, I through Ep. 2 & 3 I seemed to have something in my eyes. They were leaking. LOL! Now one thing I'm surprised wasn't mentioned was Dr. Marcus comment about in the event of a planet named Anmar, open. That would have proven a lot as well.

In the last chapter of the main story, I thought Gary should have pointed out the name of Yves. He could have seen if such a person died in that year.

Wil

Aine

On the roof without a ladder

Jamie Lee's picture

Keeping something secret for 250 years is hard and fantastic, especially of a secret of the type revealed. Some strict precautions had to be observed in order for it to stay a secret. And then when Garia emerged but had to appear as a solid, had that got out too soon the rest might have as well.

What is it with that moron? He gets details which have been known by a select few, and sees not one but two Beings, and he still thinks it all an act. Bet he changed his tune when he suddenly ended up on the roof, or not. He may have still thought it was some trick.

Milsy emerging, wow! That's two on Anmar who can or have emerged. Perhaps there will be more.

This is one fantastic, superb, story. An extremely interesting story that pulled the reader along from chapter to chapter. Even the way one event trailed off and another began was tastefully done, giving enough information to let the reader figure out, the rest of the story. This story was more than worth the time to read from beginning to end.

Others have feelings too.

I'd say...

Aine Sabine's picture

This is a different Milsy. She descended from the Campbell lineage, as she said. At first I thought she might actually be Garia hiding in plain sight. But she is the second human to "fully" ascend, unless one of the Buddhist monks has during the intervening 250 years.

Wil

Aine