Jupiter's Storm

JUPITER'S STORM

“This is a nightmare,” Bao whispered.

“No,” Tan corrected solemnly taking in the 3D image of a massive storm before him. “This was a nightmare a decade ago. What we’re looking at now is – “ he shook his head as words failed him.

Commander Bao looked to the insect-like creature to his immediate left for confirmation. The species lowered his antenna and flashed his three eyes simultaneously. While Piriatum couldn’t verbally communicate, this action alone spoke volumes.

A sigh escaped Bao. He returned his gaze to the swirling colors of the display before him. The room held the storm generator, a scale model of the storm in the gaseous atmosphere above where they were currently stationed. The eye of Jupiter, the massive red storm that they had spent centuries hiding their civilization in, was growing smaller.

At the base of the swirling light show, an image of their city was barely visible. The edges of the storm still masked the perimeter, but time had run out if they wished to remain hidden in the gaseous folds of the planet any longer.

After what seemed an eternity, Bao turned toward the exterior hatch. “It’s time.” He raised the hood of his cloak as he moved from the room.

COMMANDER BAO.

The computerized introduction arrived simultaneously with Bao as he entered the chamber of the Chancellorii light years from where he had just stood. He kneeled before the supreme being and cast his eyes downward in a sign of servility.

“Rise,” the voice directed.

And so he did. He uncovered his shrouded head, although out of respect, he did not meet the eyes of the Chancellorii.

“So it’s true,” the collectives’ voice rang out through the single being. It seemed she might be female, as although many voices of different tone echoed from her at once, her coloring was a pale pink and her form appeared feminine and delicate.

“It’s true,” Bao confirmed. “The magnetic field of the planet is de-stabilizing at an exponential rate near the red eye and we will no longer be able to generate the winds needed to sustain cover for the city.”

“Options?” the being asked with a tip of her head as though the thought of destroying civilizations was to be contemplated every day.

“Evacuation,” Bao responded simply. With evacuation, it was understood that the city would be destroyed, all evidence of a civilization having existed would be removed to ensure that the immature siblings on Earth would not learn of such alien existence prematurely.

Evacuating such a large city would be a huge undertaking. The gravitational pull of the planet alone made using ships impossible. The only manner to move in and out of the city at present was through teleportation and even that was highly risky on a super-conductor like Jupiter. It would have to be well-coordinated. In some ways, merely keeping order while transplanting billions of souls would be more challenging than the physics of the teleportation.

“Evacuation,” the collective responded, “Or?”

Bao looked up through hooded lashes. He had spent a half century working through scenarios to save the Jupiter base from destruction. This was the closest location to the human populace and the only position from which they could defend their progeny on Earth.

Yet, the Earthlings were growing, and like babes exploring their environment, they had created a simplistic tool to spy upon their neighboring planets. Despite the simplicity of their Hubble telescope, just like any looking glass, it did work and would reveal the Jupiter station were it not for the cover of the manifested storm. The same storm that was losing strength.

“Or?” Bao whispered meeting the eyes of the soft liquid being before him for the first time. He was struck by the enormity of this simple word. There had been so many considerations, so many options considered and dismissed, he didn't know how to answer.

“Your Excellency,” he stammered, “We have exhausted all options that would succeed in stabilizing the gravitational field. We have no choice but to leave - - or risk revealing our existence to Earth!”

“OR risk revealing our existence to Earth,” the being repeated simply, emphasizing the alternative that Bao had not intended to offer.

Bao thought better than to speak, as clearly he had not recommended that they reveal their position. They had a complex plan in place of how this would unfold over the next hundred centuries... The plan wouldn't even be implemented until the children of Earth had mastered time folding.

“We concur,” the being responded simply interrupting Bao's thoughts.

“N-No!” Bao stuttered. Thinking better of his disrespectful outburst he amended his statement. “Your Excellence, with all due respect, I was not intending to recommend that our location be revealed. The children of Earth are not -” he stopped himself from speaking any further. The Chancellorii had been given all his theorems, they had all the information that he had and knew first hand the development of the Earthlings. If they had decided that the time had come to meet their offspring....

He paused as he allowed the overwhelming possibilities to soak in.

“Yes your Excellency,” he said before bowing and backing from the room.



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