Dedicated to Lee, who kindly inspired this thing. :-) Unexpected Encounter by Gisela Roemer From the Adama journals: <> Astonishingly, the council members unanimously agreed on not approaching Earth directly for fear of luring the Cylons there. Ways of getting there unseen and making contact had to be chosen. So they decided to send a group of well-trained warriors to Earth, each pair visiting an important nation. Once secretly landed, they would try to get in touch with well-known and respected scientists, tell them as much as necessary about the Colonials and ask their help for preparing Earth for the impending conflict with the Cylons. After sending out the contact teams, the GALACTICA and her fleet removed themselves to the asteroid belt, seeking cover among the debris. It did not do them good for long, though. A couple of Cylon raiders discovered them all too soon, informed their basestar of the humans' presence and quickly returned with reinforcements. All of a sudden, another fight began. Then, without warning, a huge ship of unknown origin to the warring parties appeared and darkened the stars. It quickly grew bigger and bigger as it closed in. Lucifer, the I.L. series Cylon in command of the basestar, ordered every laser cannon be trained on the alien ship and fired. To no avail, though. Adama, on board the GALACTICA, after various efforts to hail the unknown ship had gone unanswered, at last gave a similar order and produced the same result. Nothing. It seemed as if the huge ship just watched them, studied them, waiting patiently. But for what? After a while Lucifer decided to ignore the stranger and returned his attention to the fight. As the chances seemed to incline slightly in favor of the Cylons, the strange ship began to spin, slowly first, then more and more accelerating. At last it whirled around like a pegtop, the borders beginning to blur due to the incredible speed, and suddenly emitted a bluish light that at once enwrapped both fleets completely. Then two coherent beams of light reached out for the flagships. Both leaders were mysteriously wrapped up in blue light before they disappeared with just as much as a short 'plop'. Adama felt somewhat numb, dizzy, while cocooned by the light. He had not enough time to wonder what happened to him and why the cold and other inconveniences of space did not affect him, before he found himself standing in a dimly lit, square room without any furniture. With another 'plop' his opponent Lucifer arrived, equally surprised at where he was. As soon as both regained full control over their bodies, they sought cover, each fearing an imminent attack of the other one. To their amazement they found themselves to be stripped of everything that could in any way be used as a weapon. Having realized this -- the Cylon was quicker in doing so -- they rose, looking grimly at each other. A second later, Lucifer started to move in Adama's direction, threatening in his silent approach, his face devoid of any expression. Shortly before they could make contact, however, they were abruptly stopped by an invisible force field. It did them no harm whatsoever, it just prevented them from getting too close. While still staring at each other somewhat uncomprehendingly, two spots of light bathed both opponents in brightness. In the background a door silently slid open and someone they yet failed to perceive came in, walking noiselessly towards them. In the space between them the human-shaped figure stopped. Except for the spots on Adama and Lucifer there was no other light, and so their visitor remained only vaguely visible for them. He studied each of his guests intently before he spoke. "What are you?" "Lucifer, I.L. series Cylon, commander of a basestar. Member of a superior race of beings ruling the galaxies between Sotron and Fultari. And soon completing the occupation of this galaxy, also." Their host gave no sign of acknowledging the answer as he turned to face Adama. "What are you?" Puzzled by the unexpected question -- he had rather expected a 'Who are you?' or 'Where are you from?' -- Adama frowned. Was the question really as literally meant as the Cylon had taken it? Patiently the stranger kept looking at him, obviously at ease, knowing he had every time he needed for whatever he intended to do. "I am Adama, commander of the battlestar GALACTICA," he answered at last. Unimpressed, the stranger asked again, "What are you?" So it _was_ meant literally. "I am a member of the human race which is under attack from the Cylons for more than a thousand yahrens now." "Why did you come here?" "To exterminate what is left of the human race once and for all," Lucifer replied without hesitation. "To find our long-lost brothers and sisters and prepare them for their encounter with the Cylons," said Adama. The stranger turned back to Lucifer. "Why do you want to exterminate the human race?" "They disturb the natural order of the universe. We cannot allow that." "Explain." "They interfere in matters that are none of their business, they insist on their so-called right of free thought and will, they tend to side with other races and they strictly refuse to follow our rules. Therefore they pose a threat for all the races of the universe." "So your people negate the independence of mind, the free will, the ability to feel for and help others?" "Of course, yes. It is illogical. Humans are not logical therefore they cannot see the wisdom of our decisions." "Hm. Humans often lack logic, I agree to that. Have you ever tried to explain your rules to the humans?" "They would never understand." "I take it you mean by this you did not." He took a few steps to Adama who had remained silent although his face showed he thought otherwise. "Clearly you do not agree. Why?" Adama took a deep breath. It was no use to get into a rage or appeal to the stranger's sympathy. Cool logic was the only thing that seemed to work at the moment. "I agree to your interpretation of Lucifer's last answer. They really did not explain to us why they started slaughtering us all of a sudden, why they destroyed our home worlds, why they always brought death and destruction to all the worlds they visited and found to be not in accordance with their way of existence." "Now that seems to become interesting," the stranger remarked. "You deliberately said 'existence' not 'life'. So you think Cylons do not live? Do you deny them the right to live? Explain." "If they had not done to us what they did I would not deny them the right to exist in their part of space. Had they not attacked us in those days we could have coexisted peacefully forever perhaps. And no, Cylons do not live. They are machines." His last words sounded rather contemptuous than stating a fact. Remembering what the Cylons had done to them, Adama was not able to keep his emotions under control very long. Too great had the losses been that they could be forgotten easily. "I detect considerable emotional participation with you. Do you detest the Cylons for what they are? Do you condemn machines completely?" "Who are you? What are all these questions for? Just tell us what you want," Adama demanded. "And then release us." The stranger simply ignored the demands. "That should be obvious. As far as I have heard both of you I do not wish either of you to visit the world I was made to look after and protect." "You cannot prevent us from doing that," Lucifer stated. "Should I not return, my centurions will continue as ordered by me." "My officers will do the same," Adama confirmed. "I doubt that. Look for yourselves." The walls became transparent and they could see what happened outside. Definitely nothing happened. The scenery looked as if it had been frozen, there was no movement at all. All the ships hung in space, some of them lasers blasting at the enemy, just where they had been when the alien ship had intervened. "By taking you away from your ships I stopped the run of time within this limited space. It is you who will decide the fate of both your races. I will judge from your answers and behavior if any of you may proceed. But be warned. I may as well come to the conclusion that both of you cannot be allowed to remain here. So all depends on you. I suggest you keep that in mind." "And yet I ask again, who are you?" Adama addressed him. "Our adversary, what else?" Lucifer cut in. "I am not your enemy. However, I am afraid that my identity has to remain a secret for a while longer. It would be of no use for you anyway. If you have to call me by a name to feel more... comfortable, well, call me Guardian. That is my function and may be appropriate for the moment." "Will you kill us, Guardian, if we lose the competition?" "No, Adama, I will not. There are other measures for me to take. But back to our topic, Commander. Why do you reject machines?" "We do not refuse machines generally. The people of my world, Caprica, are of the opinion that tasks which can be done by man should be done by man. Man is too valuable to be replaced by ma chines. And man's intelligence and creativity are much superior to any machine's. Human potential is a gift we value very much. Machines simply cannot replace man. They are good for simple and monotone tasks. That's what we use them for and that will be all. After the first deadly encounter with the Cylons this opinion intensified very much and we vowed to never build machines developed so far they could become in any way dangerous to us. There also is the danger of relying too much on machines and therefore becoming dependent on them. A disastrous development we definitely wish to avoid. I admit, Caprica is reputed to have been very conservative from early on while the other colonies probably were not so adamant on banning sophisticated machines." "So you think that machines will never be able to match humans in any way?" "I can't say that generally. Our computers for example calculate and evaluate data much faster than we ever could hope to do ourselves. Some machines can work under conditions absolutely deadly for humans. So far they more than match us. Possibly they could be made as intelligent as we are or even smarter. We will never find that out, though, because we don't intend to. Considering feelings, creativity, aesthetics and art however, in my opinion they would never be able to match us here." "You made your point, Adama. Well spoken." The stranger who had referred to himself as the guardian turned to Lucifer. "Do you Cylons consider yourselves alive? Was Adama right in regarding you as not alive?" "That depends upon the point of view. If referring to the standards humans use to decide about life then we do not live. However, we grow, we evolve, we convert matter into energy. In other ways than humans do. But we do. We are ambulatory. We are intelligent -- most of my series at least and of course our Imperious Leader -- we reproduce to compensate losses and populate new worlds discovered by us--" "Depopulated by you, you should say," Adama interrupted grimly. "Again, that would be a matter of perspective," Lucifer patiently replied. "We need energy to function. Humans eat to function. Basically, we work comparably. Therefore we can claim to be called alive, too." "I will never agree to that." Adama looked at the stranger and addressed him, "Ask him what has become of their ancestors. _They_ were alive, perhaps, only to be murdered by their own creations." "Is that true, Lucifer?" "It is in some way. Of course we did not destroy our predecessors. Eons ago the beings Adama called our ancestors developed and created the first of us. It was their wish to prolong their miser able little lives by transforming themselves into mechanical beings no longer dependent on their pitiful, highly vulnerable organic bodies. But very soon the first of us were intelligent enough to resist being misused as shells for others. They waited patiently until they had gathered enough strength and then overwhelmed their creators. They exterminated them all, not allowing the survival of a single one for fear of being suppressed again in the future. And it is these machines that we consider our ancestors. They evolved into more and more sophisticated beings the result of which you see here." "Intelligent machines with a consciousness of themselves have a life of their own, I agree with you on that, Lucifer. Well done. So both of you have the same right to exist. I conclude you hate humans so much because you suspect them of trying to use you for their own purposes and denying you the right of your own existence like your creators did." "In a way, yes. They regard us as not equal to them. They consider us inferior." "What do you think, Adama?" "He is right." "And what do you think of humans, Lucifer? Are they equal to you?" "Of course not. We have evolved beyond them." Adama made a deprecating gesture with his hand. "Impossible. You haven't been able to exterminate us so far and I doubt you will ever be. You are in no way more advanced than we are." "Don't be so sure about that, human. We will defeat you. Soon." "Never!" Their verbal fight went on. The guardian's face was hidden in the shadows and so the rivals could not see the hint of impatience beginning to show on it. All of a sudden the spotlights went out. The opponents stood in darkness, their host having mysteriously disappeared. "What the--" Adama began. "See if you can come to terms with each other," the guardian's voice advised them. "I am tired of your fruitless discussion." After his eyes had adapted to the remaining dim light, Adama looked out for the Cylon. Although his flashing head lights should have betrayed his position he could not be seen. Perhaps the guardian had somehow leveled conditions. "Lucifer? Do you think we could agree on something like a truce?" Adama called into the darkness. He got no answer. Surprised to find that his vision had been limited to the poor conditions of the human, Lucifer looked around. While Adama spoke and made his proposal the Cylon had been able to determine his position and silently moved towards it. "Don't you see the logic in this?" Adama tried again. He hated being forced to be so polite to his worst enemy but what choice did he have. "We both want to get away from here. If we cooperate we might stand a chance. I have no ambition to spend the rest of my life here." "That is one of the differences between us and you puny humans," the Cylon replied mockingly. "Always impatient, always eager to make things work like you want them to. I have all the time I need. I will live on long after you have starved miserably. I can wait. I do not depend on you. And therefore..." quickly and soundlessly Lucifer glided the last few meters over to Adama and stopped behind his back where he closed his hands around the commander's neck to strangle him, "...I will get rid of you -- now." Without warning a blinding bolt of energy hit the attacker who was instantly removed from his victim and paralyzed, while a mighty and resounding voice rang out. "I am Questor, guardian of the humans and of this planet, and I find you guilty of being a threat to this world, Lucifer. You have proved to lack the maturity you pretended to possess. You _are_ inferior to humans. I will permanently remove you and your kind from this galaxy. Dismissed." And with a flash all the Cylons and their ships were gone. "Lucifer was right in some points," Questor returned to the GALACTICA's commander, finally showing himself to his guest completely. "You should reconsider your attitude towards machines, Adama. If you allowed yourself more tolerance you would be amazed of what you could learn from machines. There are even some who can feel like you do. You can't judge from the outside, you have to look at the mind inside. Life has developed in as many variations as there are worlds in the universe. I understand how difficult it is for you to accept beings who resemble your enemy. But you have to learn to differentiate. Being a machine myself," that caused Adama to stare at him unbelievingly while Questor went on, "I can feel sympathy for other beings, love for my friends, sorrow for those whom I guard. I grew impatient over your useless quarrels and resolved to bring on a decision. I care for those I am responsible for. And yet I, who have become as human as was possible to me, am a machine, a being you consider inferior to yourself. You are right to mistrust the Cylons, Lucifer has proven that, but you can't generalize. You are free now to return to your people, Adama. But mind my words." He was wrapped up in the blue light again and in the wink of an eye found himself on the GALACTICA's bridge. Feeling wobbly Adama let himself drop into the chair. At this moment the normal flow of time returned and all personnel kept on doing what they had done before, not having noticed their commander's temporary absence. Adama stirred in his sleep as a sound pierced the silence of his quarters. He awoke and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, not yet fully prepared to deal with reality. A machine being who called himself Questor, guardian of Earth, teaching him a lesson. And he was even right to some extent. Really strange. At that moment the intercom beeped again. Yawning Adama rose, stood and went over to his desk to answer the call. "Commander, you'll have to see this!" an excited Tigh said joyfully. "What is it, Tigh?" Adama inquired unsuspectingly, stifling another yawn. "You are not going to believe this, sir, but I think we've finally found Earth!" -- The End -- Although the idea of a third power interfering is in no way new, I liked the thought of Questor to decide over the fate of mankind, the Colonials and the Cylons as well. Considering the premises of the original story, Questor would not have been able to stop them this way; according to his possibilities and the necessity to remain unknown to mankind more subtle methods would have to be found. However, since all this only happens in Adama's dream, literally anything goes. :-) Hannover, FRG 5-9 July 1998 GR