Country Boy

"Beginning tomorrow, we will expand our shields outward from all existing compounds here on earth. After we have interviewed those within the newly expanded area we will place the criminals and undesirables in a separate safe area. The newly selected Terrans will be invited to join us. Training will be provided so you may assimilate into our society. Those who choose not to join us but are not a criminal or terrorist, will be allowed to leave and will be placed in a separate safe area until such time as they can be allowed to move freely about the world once again."

It took fifteen months for the entire world to be slowly cleansed of the bad elements. The initial statistics seemed to hold for the population as a whole. About 17% of the population was deemed beyond salvation because they were either hardened criminals or terrorists or fanatic in some way. They were segregated as near their old home as possible. They were allowed to live using current earth technology. Not surprisingly, within about seven months almost all of them were dead because they turned on each other and fought for domination. Surprisingly, some countries yielded a very low percentage of acceptable new citizens for Larry. The Middle East for example, only provided about ten percent of its total population to the new world order.

Some groups of people were almost all unacceptable. Politicians, many attorneys and religious leaders from nations the world over did not qualify. They were not just routinely excluded, but they almost always failed many of the tests given to weed out the undesirables. Those few who could possibly qualify for citizenship in the Empire almost universally chose to go with the people who wanted to be excluded but were good folks. Almost all senior religious leaders failed to qualify. Many senior administrators in civil service and business were corrupt and failed to qualify also. In general, the rich and powerful were so corrupt and self centered they were beyond salvage and allowed to live or die in their old digs.

About 37 percent of the population was deemed good people but they did not want to join what was now commonly called the Terran Empire. They were allowed to live in the same area they had resided in before Larry decided to take over. Their lives were drastically improved because not only were the politicians mostly gone, but they benefited from the non-military alien technology the Terran Empire gave them. They did not have the shield or weapons but they did have almost all the civilian technology. They lived their lives doing mostly what they did previously but had a much higher standard of living and much better health care. Their government was minimal as were the needed law enforcement resources because the bad people had been weeded out. From time to time one of these people would petition to join the Terrans. As children reached the age of majority, they were given the right to petition to join also.

The remaining 46% of humanity was assimilated into the Terran Empire. Of those assimilated, only about ten percent chose to remain on earth. Larry and his family could be found nearly anywhere within what was now considered Terran Space. He had a small family compound on each of the colony worlds as well as Earth and still ruled, or, as he chose to call it, administered the company.

Minimal government was required in the new civilization. The bureaucracy and administrative personnel were all hired to do the job rather than elected. The government ran much as a business would run. Efficiency, honesty and ethics were demanded. Those who did not work within these guidelines were fired.

This time, crime and fanaticism of any sort was never allowed to gain prominence. As soon as a violent criminal was found, he or she was immediately put to death. Fanatics and petty criminals, if they reused to change their ways, were simply expelled from the worlds and returned to the fanatic compounds on old Earth.

By the time the next inspection ship from the galactic civilization made its appearance in Earth's sector, the Terran Empire held four planets, including Earth and had a population of over 9 billion people. Of this population, only about one billion lived on Earth.

There were weapons of mass destruction on every planet and ship, however, after the take over of Earth they had never been fired in anger. Larry and his crew saw that almost every weapon of any type existing on earth from before the takeover was destroyed. They did retain much of the explosives and allowed simple hunting weapons to exist.

Each ship had a small contingent of Security personnel using military ranks. These people were the same people who served as police on the planets of the empire. They were armed with the modern weapons from Lander's civilization.

There was commerce between all the planets but it mostly was for luxury goods. Each planet was self-sufficient and had the capability to manufacture everything they needed to live well. Of course, some items, especially food items, which grew well on one planet might not grow well on another. These items were routinely shipped from planet to planet. Some old Earth varieties of flora grew well on one of the new planets but either had different colors or in the case of foodstuff, different taste. If the color or taste was considered superior, the item was exported across the empire. One example of items such as this was Earth Tea and Coffee. These plants would grow in some areas of all the new planets, however, they did not have the same flavor as that grown on earth. Many people preferred the earth grown teas and coffees, however one planet—Paradise—grew coffee that was considered superior to that grown on earth.

CHAPTER 18

A COUNTRY BOY CAN SURVIVE

BY SW MO HERMIT

Larry and Rachel happened to be on Earth when the next surveillance ship from the Galactic Civilization broke from supra light speed and began an approach to Earth. Detectors immediately detected it and alerted Earth Defense. They immediately alerted Larry.

Lander was still with Larry wherever he went. He knew the contact protocols and language so contact was possible using both English and the common Galactic tongue. All Earth forces were placed on alert in the unlikely event the approaching stranger should be or become hostile.

Lander said, "Larry, there is no need to place your forces on alert. I can assure you this ship will do you no harm."

"That may be so. In fact, I believe that to be so, however, what kind of a ruler would I be if I didn't take all possible precautions to safeguard my people? We will remain at combat alert until such time as we know beyond a shadow of a doubt these people are peaceful and mean us no harm."

"Very well, but I will have some difficulty convincing them you mean them no harm. They, after all, know how warlike you humans are."

"Lander, you know that is incorrect. Our warlike tendency came from a small group of people—mostly politicians and religious leaders. After we eliminated them, we became much more civilized. We were very warlike in the past but we are not any longer. We have weeded out those in our population who were aggressive power seeking assholes. Now we can and will fight if we are threatened, but we are no longer unreasonably aggressive and warlike."

"Yes, I know Larry but they do not. We must be very careful not to cause them to become fearful enough they attack you."

After Lander established contact with the newly arrived ship Larry took over the conversation. He said, "Welcome to the Earth. On behalf of myself and the Terran Empire I wish you a pleasant visit."

An individual that appeared to be of the same race as the ones manning Lander's original ship came on the view screen. He looked at Larry for a few seconds then said, "Thank you for your welcome. I cannot help but believe it is not sincere, however, since your ships and planet based installations have weapons manned and ready to fire upon us. I would know the reason for this. I would also like to know how you came into possession of our ships and technology."

"I understand your concern, however, please understand we mean you no harm, assuming you do us no harm. I am now the leader of the human race. I would be a poor leader, indeed, if I did not try to protect my people. We detected your ship entering our system. You did not announce yourself and came in uninvited. It was prudent that I take precautions. After we are assured you are and will remain peaceful, we will stand down."

"We will see. Your race has a reputation for violence known throughout the galaxy. I fear you will have trouble convincing us you are truly peaceful and mean us no harm. We have seen how you befriend each other, then, when you want something your friend has, you turn on them.

"We still demand to know how you obtained our ships and technology. If you are so peaceful and mean us no harm, how did you get control of our ships?"

"First of all, none of the ships you see around you within this solar system are your ships. Humans built all the ships Terra owns and operates. We do have five of your shuttles however. Your last surveillance ship had severe engine problems when they arrived in our system. Unfortunately for them, they arrived at nearly the same time we were having a meteor shower. The ship was destroyed when it was hit by meteors. One Lander made it to earth with one of your people aboard. Unfortunately all your personnel died as a result of that accident.

"I personally found your Lander crashed on my land. I assisted it in making repairs, then we salvaged the mother ship. When we found one of your crew we gave them what Lander assured me was the proper honors due a deceased person from your civilization. Rather than me giving you all this data verbally, I suggest you allow us to download our actions from the time I discovered the Lander until the present. All files on your personnel, the salvage operation and subsequent actions I took here on Earth will be in the file. After you have reviewed this information, I will be happy to talk with you again.

"I am assured by Lander that you will be able to verify the authenticity of the data because he will use the protocols and encryption security your civilization employs. I am positive you will see we are now as peaceful as are your member races. We each have the same or nearly the same weapons and neither has used them so how can we say one of us is more warlike than the other? I notice you have your weapons manned also..."

It took almost two whole days before the Captain of the surveillance ship again contacted Larry. Larry was confident there would be no problems because the Earth forces detected the weapons in the surveillance ship going offline about three hours before the contact. In a gesture of good faith, Larry ordered all Earth weapons taken offline also. He did leave shields up as did the surveillance vessel. This was normal procedure however in order to protect the ships from damage.

The alien Captain called Larry and said, "Greetings once again your Eminence. We have reviewed the data our Lander provided. We are willing to provisionally concede you and your race have become, if not peaceful, much less apt to be warlike. We notice, however, that the population of your home planet is now significantly less than during our last successful visit. Could you, perhaps, enlighten us as to the reason for that? Did you have to murder that large a number of your race to attain this peacefulness you profess to now have?"

"No Captain. Most of the missing people are no longer on Earth. They have emigrated to one of our colony worlds."

The alien Captain—Rodin—visibly paled when he heard that humanity had colony planets. He quickly said, "That data was not in the download. Now you make me wonder if you are hiding a military buildup. Why did you not tell us you had colonies?"

"Why should I tell you about something like that? It is not your business. We provided you enough information to prove we are no danger to you and your civilization. As we become more comfortable with each other I expect you will be made aware of the location of our colonies. I am sure we can all benefit from trade. I am assured at least one of our worlds would be a highly sought after vacation site for many of your races. I am sure we can still be friends if that is your desire.

"As to why we did not tell you about our colonies or their locations, I say again, that is only prudent. Have you provided me with the location of all your worlds? No, you have not. How do I know you are not hiding a military buildup on one of them that would be a danger to my people?"

"Yes, I suppose I can see what you mean. When we meet a new space faring race, we each tend to, as you say, hold our cards close to our chest.

"Well, back to the discussion of the data you provided. I am unsure of the validity of your and Lander's reasoning in determining you owned the Lander, shuttles and salvaged ship. I question his decision to allow you the right to Command him, however it is too late to do anything about it. As you humans would say, the cat is already out of the bag. He was right, should we find an unknown ship drifting in space, it belongs to the ship that salvages it, however, that was not the exact case in this situation. I think we will have to completely reevaluate our procedures for surveillance ships and AI's once again.

"If you do have as many people and colony worlds as you say, it would be impossible to regain our technology. I suppose we will have to watch and wait to see how your newly revitalized civilization progresses. In the meantime, I have a schedule to keep. As I am sure you are aware, I have other worlds I must inspect before I return to my homeport and make a report. Shortly after I return home I suspect we will send a delegation to negotiate some type of relation with your race. Until then, we wish you well."

Late that ship night the surveillance vessel broke orbit and accelerated away, heading for its next stop. Larry reported the successful and peaceful first contact to his people. After the Empire wide televised speech, Larry sat on the back deck of his favorite home on Earth. He wrapped his arm around Rachel and smiled when she laid her head on his chest. They sat watching the sunset over the beach and listened to the waves roar as the tide came in at their Hawaiian Imperial retreat.

Larry said, "It has been a long and sometimes scary, unpleasant road we've travelled but, somehow, I know we have turned the corner. We have accomplished so much more than I thought would ever be possible. All I wanted when I started was to improve our life by using alien technology."

"Honey, you did all that and so much more. We are not fighting each other any longer. It is safe for anyone to walk anywhere in human occupied space now without fear of death or injury from another human. There are no poor and the sick are cared for promptly. There is no hunger. Humanity is a vital, spacefaring, and above all peaceful race now. And it's all because of you and your vision."