Francis Meyrick

The Echo-ite Observations

Part 2: “The Hermitude”

A quarter of a Star Period had passed.
They had shared, and lived, and thought. And explored their innermost feelings.Deeply.Intensely. Passionately. The Universe stretched out around them, in all directions, waiting, patiently, vast, mysterious, and beautiful. Whilst two lovers shared a small, artificial, three dimensional space. It was good. For a Time. Healing. Encouraging. Inspiring.

But there came a Time…when he felt the urge to resume the quest. He had grown restless. She had known. And understood.

Dominic 52431 had once again egressed his physical body, and in his Pure Thought State, he had swept through inter dimensional regions at indescribable speeds. Past galaxies and quasars, through pulsars and gigantic dust clouds of interstellar gas, birth places for stars, he had blazed his thoughts and emotions, his impressions, and his longings. At last, he had arrived at one of his favorite spots in the Universe. There he had paused, as he often did, for a full Star Period.

It was a lonely place, far out in interstellar Space, and light years away from even the nearest rocky asteroid. But in a strange and haunting manner, it embodied for his creative spirit some key element of Beauty and Time. From here, he could gaze in never ceasing awe at a so-called ’emission nebula’, far away in the distance, known to his race as the Eagle Nebula, in the constellation Serpens. He would come here when he needed to think, and he would gaze in wonder at the sprawling interstellar dust cloud. He would ponder the mechanics, the rays of bombarding ultra violet radiation, blasting away even the electrons from hydrogen atoms. The excited atoms and ions produced an eerily glowing effect, a multi colored, swirling extravaganza, a birth place for incredibly hot, young, blue stars. There were so many shades of color, blue and pink, mauve and red, brown and indigo, all framed against the silent backdrop of blackness. He had traveled many times through and inside the Eagle Nebula, and when he was a young Echo-ite, a mere sprat with less than ten Galactic Time Periods to guide him with wisdom, he had impatiently spent much Time there. He had wanted to grasp Understanding, not with Patience and Humility, but with the sheer force of his restless mind. He had thrown himself into the study of photo-ionization and photo-evaporation. He had studied planetary and ring nebulae, supernova remnants, and veil nebulae. He had marveled at the sheer range of colors, and how much could be learned and understood from those colors. The way you could, for instance, recognize a ‘reflection nebula’ by the faint blue hue, caused by the simple fact that shorter wave blue is scattered more efficiently than longer-wave red light…

But to stand back from it all, at a great distance, and to see it all in glorious Technicolor, and to be so aware of all the creative and destructive processes taking place there… this he never ceased to love. He marveled at the Richness of Life, the Dynamism of Creation, and the sheer Exuberance of the Universe.
He would spend much Time here, silent in his thoughts, communing with no one. Even Celesta 21268, who was closer to him than any being had ever been, knew when he needed his Space, and troubled him not. Only when his mind signaled it, when she knew he wanted her, did her gentle thoughts permeate his consciousness.

“Welcome back, darling… how was the hermitude?”

He would laugh in his heart, and often he would suddenly need her, physically, with an intensity that burned brighter than the hottest, youngest, blue star.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Echo-ites, as a widespread culture across the Universe, had long, long since foregone wars and internecine violence. Over hundreds of galactic cycles, measured from the first birth of the first star to the final death of the last star, they had learned to cherish peaceful means of expression, including debate. What they saw all around them, in primitive societies, only served to reinforce their convictions. At frequent communal mind-lock events, where many of the brightest and best Echo-ites presented their latest findings, this horror of all things violent and aggressive was frequently expressed. Many Echo-ites believed themselves to be by far the oldest race in the Universe, but nobody was really sure. Indeed, doubts were to some degree increasing, as Time went by and Knowledge expanded. The line of Argument from those who strongly suspected that there was a Higher Race, ran as follows:

“We, the peaceful race of Echo-ites, have existed for much longer than any other advanced civilization we have encountered. We have no scientific proof of a Higher Race. But we know that we, in respect of the Universe, and the Inter Galactic Principles of Enlightenment, have made every effort to conceal our existence from lesser life forms. We have made every effort to neither frivolously exploit, damage, nor alter that Natural Flow of Developing Life Forces. How then, can we be sure, that there does not exist, above us and around us, an even higher order of intelligent beings? Who equally respect the Inter Galactic principles of Enlightenment? To whom we owe our very existence, by virtue of their tolerance, forbearance and wisdom? Dare we risk offending such benefactors, by mocking even the very question of their existence?”

There was much support for this view point, especially in the wake of startling discoveries relating to multi-dimensional awareness. It seemed that whenever Echo-ite Science had reached a point deemed to be close to Ultimate Understanding, that some extraordinary discovery, scientific or archeological, would come along, and completely upset the Scientific Status Quo. Sometimes these discoveries shed unexpected light on Ancient Scrolls, and Writings handed down by their Early Ancestors. Archeology, strangely, far from disproving the Truth as written in the Ancient Scrolls, tended to support it.

The grouping that encompassed this view point were referred to as the “Mind Open” Disciples, often shortened to “MOD’s”. Dominic 52431 was deeply involved in this Discipleship. The term “MOD’s” was often used by opposing believers with a degree of irony and mischievous amusement. Many “MOD’s” were younger Echo-ites, passionate, and serious.

Ranged against this view point,were many groupings, but chief amongst those were the so-called Believers in the Ultimate Knowledge of the Echoite Culture. Those who felt the Echo-ites reflected the highest level of Sentient Awareness. There was -simply- no higher. These believers, who essentially saw the Echo-ites as the Custodians of Ultimate Knowledge, were referred to as “the Ultimates”. In the use of this term too, an observer would note the presence of some irony. The Ultimates tended to be older, more staid, and conventional. The MOD’s privately mocked them jokingly as too self satisfied, complacent, and resistant to changing ideas.

The overwhelming revulsion towards violence, and the ancient weapons of war and destruction, was universal amongst Echo-ites. There were no exceptions. There was a genuine and deep rooted astonishment at how violent, cruel and barbaric so many observed civilizations actually were.
Of the half million planets that had been discovered so far with advanced life forms, a depressing majority were violent places, where species based their existence on the killing or raw exploitation of other members of the same species, resident on the same planet. And the additional exploitation and/or killing of any and all lower sentient species inhabiting the same biosphere. The simple but nonetheless fundamental fact that ALL were necessary to continue the viability of that biosphere, was a basic Step in Logic that was, apparently,very hard to grasp. It made the quietly observing Echo-ites as a race, completely convinced of the necessity to remain undetectable in the Universe. Not out of fear, but out of respect, and love. It was a key principle. One hoped these primitive life forms would advance and make it. But it was a rare event indeed to welcome a new species into the Echoite Civilization. There were stringent requirements. Long periods of increasing monitoring. And finally, extensive deliberations, that could last for many star cycles. Even then, History had proven that at the eleventh hour, an advanced civilization, such as Beta Zulu 666231 Omega, could suddenly destroy itself. The ill fated Omegans had been terminally exterminated by a tiny sliver of their population. The ghastly images of giant, searing, radio-active clouds would never be forgotten by the Echo-ites.

The Omegan disaster had led to renewed calls for benevolent Pre-Emptive Planetary Intervention. It was an old debate, the so-called “benevolent PEPI debate”, almost as old as the Echo-ite civilization. It was almost always settled in favor of NON-Intervention. There had been rare, limited exceptions, which in turn, had experienced decidedly varying results of success and failure.

In practice, this all led to a movement by some Echo-ites to concentrate on finding the Good amongst new civilizations. These Echo-ites, very often represented by MOD’s , with their open mind philosophy, would earnestly seek out positive Art Forms, positive and wholesome societal projects. They would study the culture, the creatures, their industry and their beliefs, their languages and literature, their means of settling disputes, and their degree of unselfish caring for their weaker members. Inevitably, some Echo-ites became experts in different civilizations, and would find themselves firmly rooting for a particular emerging planet.
However,they would find ranged against them, two different discouraging trends.

Firstly, the many difficulties that new civilizations faced on their irregular path towards Enlightenment. It seemed that, time and again, in the Real Universe, the conscience and moral compass of societies always tended to stumble and inevitably falter. Wars and armed disputes would spring up time and time again. Often with terminal consequences.
Secondly, all this observed bestiality and primitive savagery made the majority of Echo-ites, often dominated by the Ultimates, proud of their own race, and adamantly insistent on non-intervention. It made it hard for those MOD Echoites, who favored helping certain developing societies that they felt they knew well. Hard, next to impossible. It was troubling for many open minded MOD Echoites to always accept this.

Such a frustrated, disappointed, well meaning MOD Echoite, full of idealism and good intentions, was Dominic 52431. His favorite planet, his favorite society, his favorite hoped for target to, one day, make the Quantum Leap into joining the Echoite civilization, was a small, blue planet, with an extraordinarily beautiful biosphere.

Planet Sigma 610087 Epsilon Alpha…

(to be continued)

Francis Meyrick

Last edited by Francis Meyrick on August 10, 2012, 3:47 am