God's Dogs

Yea though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil...because I am the meanest motherfucker in the Valley.

Bruce H. Norton

They held the briefing in Satya’s training room instead of the galley, because the training room was larger. Quinn dropped the cube into the reader, and the briefing information appeared in holo-form.

“Human compatible world,” Quinn said. “Pretty extensive space industry. Two opposing governments that about evenly split the habitable areas of the planet as well as off-world industry and asteroid colonization. One government – no, two, and both of them are warrior caste states.”

At that, Pax observed, “It takes some civilizations longer to move from either-or to both-and.”

Barry interjected, “Please explain.”

“It’s developmental psychology,” Pax said. “The competitive win-lose, either-or thinking is a lower rung on the ladder of evolution. When it’s transcended by win-win, both-and reasoning, like all lower orders, either-or finds its rightful place.”

A silence ensued that River took for confusion. She elaborated, “When you learn how to walk, you don’t lose the ability to crawl. You do lose the worldview that crawlers are restricted to.”

Barry said, “I see.”

Ruski asked, “Will their struggles lead them to a developmental breakthrough?”

“We can hope,” Moss answered. “It’s that or mutual annihilation.”

“The Congress would intervene,” Barry declared. “These people are members of the Congress.”

“Well,” Quinn sighed, “be that as it may. The op is to determine if the Rangonese are employing illegal weapons, which are defined as atomic fission devices.”

He approached the holo-view of the planet and highlighted a continent. “They are here.”

He zoomed in and they could see the details of cities, roads, the agricultural infrastructure, and the military complexes. Also highlighted were the suspected factories and locations for storage of the suspected weapons.

“Looks pretty straight-forward,” Moss said.

“Yeah,” Quinn agreed. “Work up your plans for infiltration and observation. We’ll meet back here in the morning.”

As the team exited to their rooms to do so, Barry approached Quinn to ask, “I don’t understand. Will your plan not be of your formulation?”

“Nope. It will be a composite,” Quinn told him. “A consensus we all agree to.”

“Strange,” Ruski muttered.

Quinn laughed. “And unpredictable.”

The planet was warm, with rainforest type vegetation extending to miles around their insertion site. Thick, lofty trees formed a canopy for a forest floor of shade-tolerant vines, ferns, and other plants. The wildlife was abundant, and ferocious predators – from insects to reptiles to mammals – abounded.

There was an extensive clearcut around the facility they targeted, and after insertion they set up surveillance at the forest edge.

After two days, the group huddled in a ground blind to compare notes. The camo tarp over their heads drummed with the patter of heavy raindrops.

Moss was saying, “We’ll need to get inside. None of our instruments can confirm any illegal weapon signatures.”

“We’ll go tonight,” Quinn said

River held up a hand. “They’ve got someone with shaman abilities. I keep picking up someone scanning for us.”

“Great,” Moss muttered.

Pax turned to River. “You sure? You didn’t used to be sensitive to that.”

River smiled. “I know. But I felt it maybe a dozen times since we’ve been here. It’s the same energy signature when we do it. He can’t lock onto us because he doesn’t know what he’s seeing.”

“If we go in,” Quinn reasoned, “he’ll get a read on us.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” River said.

Pax asked, “Can you disguise yourself?”

“I don’t know,” River answered. “Let me try. You guys, see if you can pick me up in about half an hour.”

She hopped out of the dug-out blind and retreated into the forest.

Barry said, “I think I understand what’s happening, but would you explain?”

Pax answered, “All life-forms possess an energy signature. Shaman-trained people can pick it up.”

“We know this,” Ruski said. “How could River disguise hers?”

“We’ll find out,” Pax said with a shrug.

River climbed back into her sniper nest and settled into a deep meditation. Soon she was aware of the qi-field and how it connected all living things together. She sat with her connection and lightly held the question, ‘How do I disappear in spirit?’

Life-force, she noticed, was a light within her that powered her chakras and her aura. It ran through the many qi meridians acupuncture identified. At an energy level, she was a radiance of subtle energies all stemming from her center – the hara or tantien.

She brought her awareness into her center, which resembled a cave, and began drawing her light into the cave. The energy remained, but the light had dulled. Then she backed down the cave, which became a tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel was an even more brilliant radiance.

‘Daughter,’ River heard in her mind.

‘I’m here,’ she replied.

‘You are not one of my children.’

‘No, Mother, I come from a different world. One of your sisters connected me to the qi-field long ago.’

‘You seek to hide your Light. Why?’

‘I seek an end to the destruction of your body.’

River felt a shiver in the qi-field before the Mother Nature of this planet said, ‘I am pulled to the physical by the destruction to my rivers, the devastation to my forests, the pollution of my oceans, and my air is filled with violence. Soon I will convulse and restore balance.’

‘I must hurry, then,’ River replied. ‘Many of your sentient children would die in the cataclysm.’

‘All living things return to me in their time. I give life and demand death as payment. It has always been so. Should one evolutionary track fail, I restore balance so that other tracks can flourish.’

River knew this to be true, but restoring balance didn’t always necessitate extreme measures. She said, ‘Hold my Light and give me time. If I cannot find a way, I will return and let you know.’

‘Agreed, daughter of my sister.’

“Well, shit,” Moss exclaimed when River told them of her conversation with this world’s Mother Nature.

“What’s your plan?” Quinn asked. "You can hide your presence, but what advantage does that give you?"

“I think we ought to let that guy scanning us know about the trouble his world is in,” she said.

Barry stepped forward. “You are not to let them know you are here.”

River grinned. “I won’t.”

Pax snickered. “You’ll have to let us know how you disappeared.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “but after we lose our two spies.”

The Guardians looked at each other, and then at the team. Moss started laughing, and it caught on.

The meditation to connect with the local shaman was simple enough. It was one they learned in their first year classes. River situated herself in the energy band within the Nature realm where she could communicate with a being from afar. She held the energy signature of the shaman that was searching for spies. She drew him to a meadow in her imagination, while she stayed in the shadow of the trees surrounding the meadow.

He eventually appeared. The briefing packet prepared her for what he looked like – an upright reptilian-mammal analogue. Evolution was tough here, and reptiles, as they evolved towards mammals, maintained many reptilian features: a pronounced ridge from forehead, along the spine, to a vestigial tail; a flattened snout, powerful jaws, and forward-facing eyes; a pair of powerful legs, barrel-shaped torso, and strong arms. This one wore a loose robe of many colors.

‘Hail, shaman,’ River called out.

‘Where are you? Who are you? Show yourself!’

‘Your Mother is not pleased with the devastation you’ve caused to her creations. The trees, the waters, the sky, the earth itself cries out for relief, and she will bring them relief.’

That caused him to stumble backward.

River went on, ‘And now you prepare banned weaponry to damage her further. She will not tolerate it.’

River paid attention to how his energy reacted to that statement. It was as she thought. He was found out – the embarrassment and guilt rolled off him about the illegal weapons.

‘Find common ground with your foes to cease this destruction to the earth and yourselves, or your Mother will destroy you with volcanic fire and tsunami waves, with ground-shattering earthquakes, and devastating tornados.’

Then she collapsed the inner space she constructed and ended the meditation. She breathed deep and opened her eyes to the interior of their hide.

Nodding to Quinn she said, “He’s got the message, and they do have illegal weapons.”

“Well,” Quinn shrugged, “let’s stick around to see what happens.”

Barry countered with, “The mission is complete. You have verified the existence of banned weapons.”

Moss chuckled. “Yeah, but we can’t prove it.”

Pax, who was sitting next to River, put his hand on her shoulder. “Few people can pick up emotions from a spirit body.”

“So I heard,” River grinned at him.

Pax smiled. “The gifts from your ordeal are beginning to show.”

She wiggled her eyebrows, entirely too pleased with herself.

The Guardians were monitoring the communication channels, and two days later they reported a cease-fire was going into effect. Two days after that, the opposing forces requested a mediator from the Congress.

With that development, River visited the Mother to let her know the rape of her body was over. Then River brought her radiance out of hiding and back to where it belonged.

The following night, they exfiltrated aboard the shuttle, boarded Satya, and headed back to XB-12.

Once again, Quinn and Moss entered the commander’s office. The Guardians took up their stations at the hatch.

Quinn approached the desk and said, “We’ve completed the mission, commander. We are ready for our ride back to Penglai.”

The commander stood and stared at Quinn for a long moment before replying, “You were supposed to remain hidden. This was a clandestine operation.”

“We were not identified by either side.” Quinn asserted.

“Not as such, but you did interfere with their war.”

“Can you prove it?” Moss asked.

“It is clear something transpired.”

“The peace process is initiated,” Moss point out. “It’s clear that transpired.”

The commander looked to the Guardians and ordered, “Tell me how they interfered.”

Barry answered, “They never left their listening post.”

“And you picked up nothing?”

“No, commander. They are an enigma.”

“Fine,” the commander pouted and handed Quinn a data cube that released them to go home.