Danielle stood there and listened to the cheering and thought, Ive come a long way from that medical floater. It seemed like a lifetime ago but here she was. She had not planned what she was going to say. She just didnt know what needed to be said to these people. As the cheering continued she looked at Tag and saw his pride of her. She saw Terl and Tgon-Gee looking out at the crowd fearful for her safety. She could have told them they had nothing to fear. Tag would sense it long before they could and Tag was at peace. Then it came to her what she had to say.
Thank you for your welcome, she said into the communicator. She waited a moment as the crowd grew silent not wanting to miss her words. Im sorry about the delay but I was informed that the citizens standing outside the arena have been there hoping to see me and I didnt want to disappoint them. There was a huge roar from the crowd outside the arena and then they quieted down and watched the huge monitors to hear her words. Danielle looked out at the crowd and said, Im quite amazed at the number of you that have come to hear me. To be quite honest, I dont fully understand why the Glod and Cainth wanted me but Im proud to serve them. I want you to understand that they call me their ruler but in my mind, I am their servant. They have asked me to show them the path to a golden age of peace and prosperity. What they have failed to realize is that they already had all they needed to achieve that age within them. All they had to do was to fully understand that before anyone can find the best that is in them they must first find the best that is in others. Too often we look at other races suspiciously thinking that we have to watch out for ourselves. Nothing is further from the truth. If you look out for the others around you, they will look out for you. My race has a long history of wars that eventually killed 80 percent of all the Humans on my world. We learned from that experience the evil that we are capable of inflicting upon our fellow Humans. It took more than 900 years to recover from the last of those wars and we would still be at peace today but we came into contact with the Alliance. We have been nearly annihilated so many times now that Ive no longer bothered counting. My brothers of the Cainth Empire were afraid of us even though they didnt know us. The atmosphere of fear has been a common meal for most worlds in the Alliance and the usual first thought is kill or be killed. So we relearned how to defend ourselves and fortunately for us, we learned quickly; but we did not forget the lessons learned from the wars where we killed each other. Eventually we were face to face with the Cainth Empire with the opportunity to eliminate the source of so much death for Humans. At that moment it could have gone one of two ways, total destruction of the Cainth Empire, or, Danielle paused at this point and looked over the crowd and everyone there thought she was looking at them individually. Then she continued, we could try to understand why they feared us. My belief is that life is precious. Every one of us can make a big difference in making our universe a better place to live and raise our families. It cannot happen in a spirit of vengeance. The Cainth killed Human colonists on one of our worlds during their invasion. However, I believe that every one of those colonists would have gladly given their lives to bring peace between our races. I know I would. At the critical moment we simply asked the Cainth, What do we do now? And then we listened to them and tried to understand them in their terms. We found common ground and now I know both our races would die to protect the other. I look out at all of you and I see what you could become and how great you could be. I wish you could see the vision where all eight hundred and twenty races would give their lives to protect the others. The knowledge that others value you as much or more than you do yourself is a very liberating experience. The urge to attack each other, take advantage of each other, or exploit each other only makes you smaller than you are. The vision I see for you is something that I would be willing to die for to bring into existence. What greater purpose could there possibly be for anyone except to make the future safe and secure for their children. My people and I agree that all of you are precious and we will do all we can to prevent any harm to you and help you where we can without interfering with your lives. We chose our destiny together. I am here today to simply ask you, what is the destiny you are going to choose? She then stepped back from the communicator and turned to walk out of the stadium.
The crowd was silent. Sten could feel the electricity in the air. All of the various races were looking at each other and thinking. Danielle had made it all the way to the ground level when she heard a young Vgrig child yell at the top of his voice, Danielle, I choose one destiny for all of us. Danielle reached up and extended her hand to the young Vgrig who took it in his talons and shook it. As she turned and continued her walk she could hear the crowd gathered around the young Vgrig start chanting, One destiny, one destiny, one destiny, one destiny, until the chant had been taken up by all on one side of the arena. Then the crowds outside the arena took up the chant followed by the remainder of the crowds in the arena. It became a roar and for all the various races that had watched the event over their communication devices on all the worlds of the Alliance, they too began chanting with the crowds at the arena. Across the Alliance billions come out of their homes and gathered to chant in the streets. They could finally see their future and now they could feel it. As the broadcast from the worlds of the Alliance was shown, they could see that they were not alone. They had other worlds and other races to be their brothers and sisters. The billions of the Alliance demanded One Destiny for them all.
Sten sat on the speakers platform and watched his console that showed world after world where the chant was taken to the street and yelled. The crowd at the arena had begun shaking hands like Danielle demonstrated with the young Vgrig. Sten thought to himself, You were right Dgzh. I have never talked with her. Now I have. I dont think that I or anyone else in the Alliance will ever look at the universe the same way after this moment. I guess now I must answer the question that the Humans asked the Cainth, Well, what do we do now? Then he had an inspiration and began smiling. He watched the Human ship lift and move skyward and thought, Well be seeing you again, soon.
Tag was sitting in a conference room with Kosiev, Dorg, and Danielle. All of them had jumped to Ross after Danielles speech and were listening to Klas as he told them what had happened to his world. Atlas provided Tag with video of the attack and the assembled leaders watched as Klas narrated the events. Atlas had loaded the Alliance language into Klas link so he could speak without an interpreter. We prepared for the first attack for a full two cycles and were able to defeat them initially. They first attacked with 900 ships but we were able to destroy them. None of them escaped and they fought down to the last ship. The monsters do not know the meaning of withdrawal. We were hoping that we had gained time to rebuild out losses but it just wasnt to be. Within sixty rotations, the fleet you see here on this screen came. We were completely overwhelmed.
Tag stood up and said, Stop the video for a moment. The screen stopped with one of the huge transports filling the screen. You said you had been preparing for two cycles; your race didnt have star drive technology, how did you know they were coming?
Klas looked at Tag and said, We have not been a peaceful race. We warred among ourselves and our nations had extensive military forces. A race came to our planet and asked if they could meet with our assembled leaders. We attacked them initially but they just shrugged off our weapons and continued to request a meeting. Our nations agreed and they landed and told us about the monsters. They asked if the leaders were willing to go with them to see what was coming and after much argument the leaders were marched at gun point into the Aliens ship. They were then taken to a planet that was under attack by the monsters and saw firsthand what they did to planets they conquered. We were then told that the monsters were moving on a direct line to our world and would arrive within three cycles or earlier.