A Different Kind of Growth

                A Different Kind of Growth


     Nadin waves at about two hundred other Monichians. And
they are waving back at him as he gets on their transport to
Roith. After he enters, he goes to the center of a large
empty room and steps onto a small circle there. That circle
takes him to the upper level.

     Now he’s in the center of a very large room of empty
Seaters. Nadin walks between those Seaters to Transport
Control. He sits in front of a large viewing monitor. After
tapping several buttons on the control panel under that
monitor the image of Roith appears. Roith starts getting
smaller as that transport leaves.

     After hitting one button on his control panel, the
image of Gustom appears on his monitor. “The last Section
Group have been placed on Roith,” says Nadin. “I’m on my way
back right now.”

     “That’s good to hear,” says Gustom. “I will contact
Monich and tell them to start sending our food animals here.
They should be getting there about the same time the Seeding
is ready to start its first growth season.”

     Now it’s Nadin who is on the large monitor in front of
Gustom and the seven other Monichians who are there. “What
do you want me to do? Come back to Monich Two or keep my
eyes on The Seeder?”

     “That all depends on if you are still having power
problems,” says Gustom. “Can you help The Seeder or not?”

     Nadin looks down at something below his main transport
monitor. “The power problem is still a problem. But it’s not
too bad. I’m sure I will be able to follow The Seeder while
it seeds Roith.”

     “I don’t think there will be any problems with the
seeding,” says Gustom. “But this is too important for us
not to take any chances. Contact me when are above Roith.”

     “I’m above Roith right now,” says Nadin. “You can send
The Seeder out whenever you are ready.”

     A few minutes later another small transport comes out
of the bottom of Monich Two and heads for Roith. As it goes
by the transport that Nadin is in, Nadin’s transport heads
for Roith right behind The Seeder. Once The Seeder gets to
Roith it starts seeding it with small white circles that
come out of the bottom of it.

     Gustom leans forward in his Seater. He is watching The
Seeder as it goes around the planet of Roith on the large
monitor in front of him. Spreading their seeds all over it.
As soon as those seeds hit Roith they disappear into the
land there.

     Next to the main monitor on both sides of it is where
two smaller monitors are. They are showing Nadin in one and
the image of Roith in the other one. The Roith image also
shows there is a light blue that is starting to cover it.

     Suddenly, Gustom gets up and walks to the Roith image.
He points at it. “What is that? It looks like our seeding is
starting to grow already. That can’t be happening. It’s too
soon for that to happen.”

     “I can see it too,” says Nadin. “I’m going to check out
that blue.”

     A few seconds later Gustom sees Nadin stop following
The Seeder and heading for where the blue is. It doesn’t
take Nadin too long to get to that blue. Nadin stops his
transport. “It is growth. But it doesn’t appear to be our
seeds that are growing.”

     “I’m not sure what it is,” continues Nadin. “But it’s
growing everywhere now. If we don’t stop it soon, it will
take over Roith within an hour or two.”

     “What about the Section Group there?” Gustom asks. “Are
they in any danger yet?”

     Nadin takes his transport to where that Section Group
is there. He stops again just before getting to them. “It
appears that they are okay. The Seeder hasn’t been seeding
the area where the Section Groups are. So, they may not be
affected by what’s going on with the growth.”

     “Wait a second,” continues Nadin. “The Roith growth is
starting to enter that area now.”

     “That is what I’m looking at now too,” says Gustom. “Go
get those Monichians. Getting them out of there before that
growth takes over is what needs to be done first.”

     Gustom is startled when the image of Roith disappears.
And Nadin replaces it. “The last transport is arriving now
with the two remaining Section Groups,” says Nadin.

     “That alien growth is all over Roith now,” says Gustom.
“How many did we lose because of it?”

     “Unfortunately,” answers Nadin. “It is sixteen who are
not returning to Monich with us.”

     Gustom sighs. “That’s almost one per group.”

     “It could have been worse,” continues Gustom. “How did
it happen?”

     “I don’t want to answer that question out loud,” says
Nadin. “It’s in my hourly update I’m still working on.”

     A few seconds later Nadin continues. “Now that almost
everyone is back on Monich Two, what are we going to do?”

     Gustom shakes his head slowly. “I don’t know because I
haven’t decided what we will do next.”

     “I have made my decision,” says Gustom just after Nadin
enter Command Central. “I’m going to let the Leadership of
Monich decide what to do with this problem.”

     “All I need is someone to return to Roith to get me
some of that growth,” continues Gustom. “Nadin, do you know
anyone who would like to return to Roith.”

     Nadin smile sheepishly. “I’m not. The last time I did
that I took twenty Section Groups down to Roith and then I
followed The Seeder around it.”

“Besides, no one needs to do that anyway. One of the
group Monichians have already done it,” continues Nadin.

     “Monich Two to Central Command,” says Gustom. “Don’t
send the animal transport to Roith. Roith isn’t available
for our food needs anymore.”

     Suddenly, a female image appears on the large monitor
in front of Gustom. “Why can’t we use Roith anymore?” The
female asks.

     “Because an alien growth has taken it over,” answers
Gustom. “We are on our way back to Monich with some of it
right now.”

     “Why are you bringing it to Monich?” The female asks.
“Don’t you have something to take care of that growth?”

     Gustom sighs. “Of course, we do. But should we do it?
It may solve our problem, or it may make it worse.”

     “Maybe we can take care of it and still use Roith for
our food needs,” continues Gustom. “Then again, maybe we
can’t. That’s why we are headed home.”

     A little bit later Gustom and Nadin walk around into a
side corridor and suddenly stop. “What on Monich is going
on?” Gustom asks.

     What Gustom and Nadin are staring at is a corridor
that is mostly alien growth now. “The growth we have taken
from Roith isn’t even on this level,” says Nadin.

     “It looks like it is now,” says Gustom. “And I don’t
like it.”

     Gustom goes to a wall and taps it. “Monich Two, how
many Monichians are on Monich Two right now?”

     A few seconds later Monich Two responds. “There are
thirty-four Monichians still on Monich Two.”

     “That can’t be true,” says Nadin. “There are supposed
to be slightly over a thousand Monichians here.”

     Gustom sighs. “It appears Roith isn’t the only thing
that has been taken over.”

     Junna walks over to her Contactor. “Have you been able
to contact Monich Two?”

     “Not yet,” answers Vonie. “But Monich Three and Four
have contacted us. They have both finished seeding their
planets too and are also on their way back to Monich. We
will be getting back to Monich about the same time that
they get there.”

     “Keep on trying to contact Monich Two,” says Junna. “I
don’t like that we can’t contact them. Something must be
wrong. And I want to know what it is.”

     Vonie turns toward the control panel in front of her.
“Monich One to Monich Two, contact us Monich Two.”

     As Vonie continues to repeat her contact message, Junna
returns to her Seater in the middle of Command Control.
“Monich One, how soon before we get back to Monich.”

     The voice of Monich One can be heard everywhere there.
“At present power levels, we will be getting there in about
six hours.”

     “We are almost to Monich,” says Monich One. “Monich
Three and Four are here. But Monich Two isn’t.”

     “They should have gotten back here long before any of
us,” says Junna. “Where are they?”

     Junna swivels toward Vonie in her Seater. “Have you
been able to contact Monich Two?”

     “No, I haven’t yet. And I don’t understand why,” says
Vonie. “I’m sure their Contactor is hearing me. He’s just
not trying to contact me back.”

     “I told them we would return to Monich together,” says
Junna. “But maybe they have already returned there.”

     Junna starts pacing around Command Control. Suddenly,
she stops and looks at Vonie. “Has anyone contacted Monich
Command about Monich Two?”

     “No, I haven’t yet. But the two main Contactors from
Monich Three and Four have been trying. And they haven’t
been able to do it.”

     “what does that mean?” Junna asks. “Does it mean what
I think it does?”

     Vonie taps his left ear. “It means Monich Three and
Four can’t contact Monich Command either.”

     “So, it’s not just Monich Two we can’t contact. It’s
also Monich Command,” says Junna.

     “I think it’s worse than just that,” says Vonie. “No
one has been able to contact anyone on Monich.”

     Junna returns to her floating Seater. “Something is
wrong here too. I don’t know exactly what is going on. But
I have a bad feeling we aren’t going to like it.”

     “Monich One, send a Seer to Monich. I want to know what
has happened there,” says Junna.

     A few seconds later a small ball about the size of a
fist shoots away from Monich One and disappears into the
whitish-green clouds in front of them. “Monich One, show us
what the Seer is seeing.”

     The image on the monitor in front of Junna changes from
a view of Monich to a planet that has been covered in an
alien growth. Junna looks shocked as she leans forward in
her Seater. The other seven Monichians appear to be in shock
too as they look at their home planet now.

     “I don’t know what it is,” says Junna. “But it looks
like a growth of some kind.”

     Suddenly, Junna gets up and quickly walks to the main
monitor there. “Monich One, stop seeing.”

     The image stops with what is left of Monich Two in
large, but small pieces scattered all around that part of
Monich. The alien growth is covering most of it. But there
is still enough showing to see what it is. “I think we are
looking at why we haven’t been able to contact Monich or
Monich Two,” says Vonie.

     “It appears that Monich Two has destroyed itself when
it hit Monich. And when it did, it spread whatever it is all
over Monich,” says Junna.

     “Vonie, contact Monich Three and Four. I know the final
decision about what to do is mine. But I want to know what
Inon and Lonia think we should do now.”

     Junna returns to his Seater. “I think that there is
only one thing we can do. We can’t let whatever this is
spread any further than it has.”

     “We have no choice but to destroy Monich and Roith,”
says Junna. “Then we can decide together what to do next.”

     A few hours later Junna sends several Destroyers to
different parts of Monich too. Combined they destroy it.
Junna can’t believe what she is looking at right now. When
she destroys it not only does she send the growth to Monich
One, Three, and Four, but she also spreads it out into the
universe. “I think I just killed everyone everywhere.”


                    Word Count = 1,982