Part 213a – Dolfraxis

Byklokinator

"Time to arrival: One hundred seventy nine standard time units."

The AI on board the scouting ship Dolfraxis counted down the time until they arrived in Sector 16, Point 402 space. Preliminary scans had shown a possibility of life on board this planet, though the great majority of other such planets had found no other life.

"Are we alone, Elder Nufaris?" Primus 16 spoke quietly to the highest officer on the ship.

"It is of little consequence. If we are alone, we must secure a future for our people. If we are not alone, we must meet with new life forms and determine their willingness to ally or submit to our rule." Nufaris was a tall Volgrim, one of the longest lived of his species, several thousand years old at the least. Standing twelve clicks tall, he dwarfed the others on the bridge.

The Volgrim came from a planet teeming with life. As the sole bipedal species, their dominant brains allowed them to make quick work of other life, cowing all other species into submission. The Volgrim were not a needlessly violent species, but they always aimed to win, and never fought among their own kind as it was considered a waste of energy.

"I contemplate, and I comprehend." Primus 16 raised his five-fingered hand up and stroked his facial hair soothingly. "But, I still must ask the questions. Are we the only life in this unending black void? From one gaseous ball to another we travel, yet barren planet after barren planet is all we find."

"It matters little to me. I have traveled to over a thousand systems in my long lifetime. Even if no life exists, I still find a rush of excitement in the discovery of new sights, new vistas, new wonders to marvel at. The gaseous plasma clouds of Sector 4 void, for example, are among my most treasured discoveries. Only my ship has ever seen them, mind you."

Primus 16 nodded quietly as he stared at the blackened viewscreen. "What is the homeworld like, Elder?"

Nufaris grumbled softly. "It is a planet teeming with activity. The hundred or so of our people here cannot be compared to the homeworld. They have technology far exceeding ours. In the thousands of cycles since my departure, I can only imagine how far they have advanced technologically. Beyond that, they have trillions of our kind living there, entering new ships, and traveling to other gaseous orb clusters and systems. I’ve told you this many times, yet you still ask."

Primus 16 was too young to recall the homeworld. He was created on board the ship as a supplementary assistant to the Elder, meant to only exist for finishing required tasks for him.

"Will I ever be able to see the homeworld?" Primus 16 glanced up at the elder with hope in his eyes.

"Of course. After this last sector inquiry, we will be making our return to the homeworld to refill the Dilithium reactor. We will also be taking a twenty orbital cycle vacation in light of our successful discovery of multiple new planetoids. Unfortunately, the majority of them would require many centuries of Volforming to remake the surface into something more hospitable for our species."

Primus stared ahead blankly as he thought about many things. "I do wonder about one other small detail. What if we discover life in this sector, and the life is hostile towards us?"

The Elder sneered slightly. "We eradicate it. Simple."

"What if they destroy us? What if they possess greater technology than we do?"

The Elder sighed. "It would be unfortunate, but our destruction would alert the homeworld. It will not happen however, as our scout ships possess the ability to easily escape most dangerous situations. If we come under attack, we will simply flee."

Primus 16 groaned. "Fleeing. It appalls me to even consider the thought."

Nufaris bared his teeth slightly in a tiny grin. "Fleeing to fight another day allows us to win the war. Keep your worries to yourself though, as I have every belief this new world will be without any consequence."

The youngest member aboard the Dolfraxis sighed quietly. "I contemplate, and I comprehend."

47 Comments

        2. Seinfeld: “Whaaaaaat’s the deeeal with Volgrim? Are they nice? Are they not nice? Do they just really really like kobe beef? Someone help me out here!”

      2. Makes me guess they normally don’t have 5 fingers but Primus 16 lost some digits or had a genetic defect resulting in more fingers. Otherwise it would be kinda weird to specifically mention a 5-fingered hand if that was the norm in their species.

  6. So now we are viewing things from the Volgrim’s perspective I am betting we are going to have sympathies for them eventually and if they are gas giant dwellers, we should just drop neutron stars into their worlds and make mini stars.

    For further reading on gas giant dweller genocide, please read Saga of the Seven suns.

  7. So what it appears is our hero Jason actually causes the war by preparing for it when our alien friends just want new friends 🙁 Bad Jason Bad.

  11. I’m calling it now, the ending is going to be Jason stuck in a time loop where he goes back in time to stop the Volgrim, accidentally causes the war, and future Jason wakes up and has to go back in time to stop the Volgrim, repeat.

          1. SO MANY SPOILERS

            I actually really liked the ending. I know it’s a little jarring to not have an “and they lived happily ever after” ending, but I think that the way King wrapped it up (or didn’t lol) really fits well with both Roland’s weird, almost unnatural motivation to find the dark tower and with the dark tower never being able to be reached.

            Also!

            It drives home king’s point, which is ‘It’s about the journey, not the destination.’ Yeah we didn’t get what we expected, but wasn’t it just a blast along the way? Besides, who is to say that Roland’s journey has to end this way? Even on this last time, he was willing to stop for Eddie, Jake and Susanna right before the Calla. On his newest trip, he even has Cuthrbert’s horn (which symbolizes his increasing willingness to love his companions in the face of being against his mission), so maybe this time it will be different?

            It’s hard to say for sure, but one thing is for sure, and it’s that Roland is making progress. That, coupled with the overarching themes of the series, makes the ending just a fantastic conclusion (kinda is a conclusion) to Roland and the ka-tets adventure.

  12. I miss being behind this story.

    Please don’t pull a “hell radio” on me and stop posting.

    Also, still no idea about a word count? Or are you just writing in Reddit?

    As soon as I do some, uh, stuff, for my wife, I’ll be donating.

    One day I’ll get my balls back.

  13. Oh shit, Jason just time paradoxed himself.

    He went back in time to stop the Volgrim. So now, hes going to attack the Volgrim. Which is going to make the Volgrim fight back. Which is going to make Jason go back in time to stop the Volgrim.

      1. I love the Hmms on others readers’ speculations. Now I sit here analyzing what every Hmm means. Is this what it means to have an addiction??

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