UFO

"It would be better to starve here than to venture outside. Those arseholes might still be killing each other without reason."

But the ship itself tried to tell us something. It even displayed a screen with the meaning of all the buttons in my language, and when Marjena looked at them, they were redrawn according to the dialect of her native town. Then, something more incredible happened: we began to hear voices and to have visions in our minds. I believed that the ship was driving us crazy with hallucinations, and then it forced us to understand that it spoke to us telepathically. We even saw the history of its origin: this was a small cruiser for space combat, very automated. But an error of programming, perhaps a computer virus or a malintentioned command turned it against its creators. Their space fleet was mobilized and repelled the attacks of this ship and this one fled, taking advantage of a deformity in the space-time continuum, until it arrived to our star system. Here its private war continued, with the consequences that we have observed. Then I came to an agreement with my lover and refocused our minds to discover how to purge the malicious codes from the memory of the ship. We spent several days like that, thinking, dreaming, having delusions, while the directive assaulted our minds, taking the form of everyone whom we feared and we hated, but we reinforced each other with our love in order to chase the images of the war that the program threw upon us. It even used the images of its makers. Not being human as us, these were more terrifying and gave us a hard time while trying to concentrate. In an almost miraculous way, we achieved an image that to that entity found more disturbing: the sensation of being betrayed, like the ship betrayed the ones who built it. Before we could drag the virus toward a trash icon that would erase it forever, the following words resounded in our minds:

"Everyone wants me for the same thing: to destroy their enemies. All of you are the same: Murderers!"

We remained exhausted and immobile for many hours, physically and mentally drained. We woke up lazily after more than one day of our last war and we got undressed for the intangible cleansing that the ship could give us. We would have fallen asleep again, but Marjena drew my attention, by telepathically saying to me:

"Why don't we use this ship to end this damned war?"

I responded to her, also using my mind and not my voice:

"Because this ship is useless. What's left of it serves us as our hiding place, or as you have already said, our tomb. I no longer fear death, because it will join me with you for all eternity."

"Enough of romantic nonsense! Ask this ship what more is needed in order to fix it."

I concentrated and the ship revealed to me the location of a truck with minor damage near the river, and it even told me what to do to repair it. Even outside the ship, it informed me how should a part the vehicle look like and with what tool to do the job. When I fixed it, Marjena rode with me and we traveled together the crash site in search of large pieces of the airplanes and even electronic components, no matter how badly broken they would be. Upon taking the small parts inside, we put them in a special chamber that reconstructed them, sometimes as very different things from what they previously were, and they were incorporated to the physical endowment of the onboard computer. Some components, such as radios and handheld computers, were reconstructed and they were even upgraded for our own use as communication devices inside and outside of the ship. The wings and other pieces of fuselage, and even parts of trucks and armored vehicles were fused to the hull of the ship.

The most difficult thing providing the energy to the ship. Although it could assimilate diverse fuels and even explosives, the yield of these was minimal compared to how dangerous the fueling procedure was. Suddenly, the ship made a supreme effort and took flight, and it even left the atmosphere. It went first to the moon, in order to feed with certain radiation, and then, by slingshot effect, it jumped from planet to planet in search of "food," for finally, turning toward the sun and that really frightened us, but my ally and I swore to accept death in peace. But now, it was the ship who demanded our help to stabilize it while it refueled off a solar flare. Too close, it would incinerate us, and too far, the fuel would be drained and the star would pull us into itself but we would all be crushed, and also, we would swelter before being shattered. We pushed all the buttons of which we thought, and suddenly, my pilot training swung into action. Between verbal and telepathic commands, I used Marjena as my co-pilot, something to what I am not accustomed. Although I have know-how in maneuvers at high speed, my companion turned out to be better than I in maintaining the ship stable against antagonic forces that the sun exerted on our ship, displaying great patience. The ship configured itself so that I could make hand gestures as if I handled an imaginary joystick in order to steer the vehicle; and so, the three of us working together, we aligned the ship so that the magnetic field generator of the ship's engine could capture certain particles emitted by the star king, we watched how the nuclear fuel indicators marked "full." But the danger was not over, so we went away as quickly as possible, back into orbit around our planet of origin. There we gave ourselves time to recover from so much effort, and we marveled of not feeling as exhausted as when we fought against the ship's perverse directives. So the name "Guideline" stuck, because the one that we proposed to carry out would be a guideline for peace and not for destruction.

One of the tasks that we performed around the planet was mapping the new border between our countries, projecting populations, availability of natural resources and adequate infrastructure for each nation. We also observed troop movements and supply lines, in order to interrupt them with the least amount of violence possible. We even investigated, linking with the cybernetic nets of both countries in conflict and other neutral states, to see the causes of this crisis. For what we could investigate, we discovered a plan in order to develop lands in both sides of the border, and we realized that somebody speculated on such lands, as if he wagered human lives to the success of their companies. The indignation that we both felt was such that we decided to act immediately, since every minute that we waited without doing anything, a combatant or even one innocent civilian died.

We patrolled the border according to the maps that we traced from space, and we began attacking squadrons of fighters and bombers. I recognized how the ship only used a tractor beam instead of a laser or pulses of destructive energy, and thus, we forced many airplanes to land. At first, our advantage was, not only our firepower, but the mere presence of our ship in the air space disabling all flying, terrestrial or marine craft that would come near us, and even more, the effect on the nervous system of the crews simplified our maneuvers a little. But this is where the gift of my beloved Marjena of balancing the destructive forces with her delicate touch, of which "Guideline" was capable, was the true trump card. Then, we paralyzed other vehicles on land and we blocked battles and skirmishes between foot soldiers, with the help of portable brain wave disruptors. Although we already got used to the psychic energy of the ship, we had to use devices that the extraterrestrial technology provided us in order to remain unaffected and avoid losing control of the situation. In a few days, we were able to impose a truce, and although the hostilities arose in opposite ends of the zone in dispute, the ship was moved swiftly to cover every contingency.

The authorities of both governments remained perplexed, not only for our capacity to demobilize their forces, but in recent times, the ship no longer destroyed nor killed indiscriminately, but rather, it paralyzed troops and vehicles and disrupted communications, respecting the lives of the human beings that were involved. It was obvious for all that anything that they planned, we would discover in a matter of seconds. At first, they called us to begin talks, and we answered in the affirmative, relying on the sincerity of the leaders. Even so, we disguised our identities by projecting images of the alien builders, not only hiding who we were, but also how many.

The talks went well enough, so we decided to reveal ourselves, but not as the leaders, but as human delegates on behalf of the aliens. I don't know if it was out of skepticism between the government officials or because of a conspiracy instigated by the speculators, but we suffered an attempt on our lives: a sniper stalked us when we came from one of the meetings. Although our senses, sharper than normal, warned us about the danger, we didn't know how to react on time and I was hit on a shoulder, suffering from a perforated lung. I was in danger of dying, because I began to drown in my own blood and other bodily fluids. Marjena didn't allow anyone else to approach me, so no one could take advantage of offering to help us to finish me off or also attack her. She desperately summoned "Guideline" trying not to cry or give in to hysteria, although the fear and the frustration almost pushed her over the edge. The ship came through and it even projected a magnetic beam to bring us inside on time. Once inside, the same ship showed her to put me inside the chamber where it carried out the modifications to the electronic apparatuses that we gave it. She protested:

"'Guideline,' this is only for machines, not for living beings. You will kill him!"

But without words, the ship and I convinced her to help me enter; after all, we didn't have much choice and we were already running out of time for taking action on me.

When I remained in the chamber, the ship manipulated the atmospheric pressure, first creating almost a vacuum for brief instants, in order to take out all the fluids, even the air, from my lungs. Then, it increased the pressure and the content of oxygen while scalpels made of laser rays closed the wound and other areas where the bullet passed before leaving my body. My girlfriend pleaded:

"D'Jeng, Dijan, don't die! I know that the bullet that you received was meant for me. You shouldn't have saved me. You must survive! Guideline, don't let him die. If anything happens to my man..."

"I will be all right."

I interrupted her monologue, assuring her that I was already out of danger. I had left only the shock of so much pain and sudden weakness. At the time of the shooting, I didn't have much choice than to put my collarbone in the path of the bullet that was aimed toward the skull of my accomplice, being I a little taller than her.

Marjena decided to continue with the talks, but she sent only holographic projections of ourselves and "the space monsters." The few times when we descended, we did so undercover in order to scan minds and identify the masterminds of the attempt. The conspiracy was too deep, and it had a lot to do with the true causes of the conflict, so we had to prolong the conversations much longer than we wanted, giving the opportunity for sporadic but bloody skirmishes. Sometimes, we could only protest instead of impeding them, because we realized that through these confrontations, the people causing so much suffering made their moves, and so they would get careless, and make a mistake and we could surprise them to neutralize them once and forever. The waiting period turned to be in the best interests of all those that, in one way or another, were involved in the peace process. Popular groups were organized in protest against the war, not only in our countries, but in every country, and that support made the warmongers nervous, and that would be the push that would be needed to unmask and destroy them, if not physically, to put an end to all of the support that they could achieve from the governments and the circles of economic power.

Through detective work, we deduced that a war between two countries could only benefit a third, because a reduction in population and infrastructure would leave us vulnerable to military or economic invasion. So we began to investigate bonds with the interests in Betalia and their possible relationship with the governments and corporations that operate in Gorania and Kishavia. We were able to identify a high executive who was able to amass a great fortune in very little time, so it was indispensable to discover how he got so much influence. We thought of correlating police reports and we found out, that during the period during which this character entered the scene, the crime rate in the three countries skyrocketed to more than the triple than in previous years. This gentleman was a gangster! Now we had to patrol schools and night clubs to investigate crimes that the police did not bother in solving. Using the powers of holographic projection, we were even able to prevent a bank robbery. So we discovered that the heist was not to steal the money, but to gain access to secret documents kept in the security vault and other confidential files in offices of high executives.

After gathering all of the evidence, we appeared at a large sports stadium that was especially reconditioned to hold the final conference there to establish the definitive peace among the three countries, because the observer country was committed into a tripartite pact of alliance. There was representation of the governments, the industrials, anti-war activists, even repentant veterans. The security that "Guideline" provided in the premises by merely hovering over the playfield was superior to the measures that the governments were able to deploy. I invited some officials inside the ship, for the first time in the whole process, so they could observe and collaborate from the inside. We also invited Mr. Harkan, our main suspect, and his henchmen, in order to indict them in an appropriate moment, while they didn't suspect what was in store for them. But they did expect an action against them, or simply, such was their ferocity, that they began a terrorist attack. They did not even hide behind some mercenaries, but instead, Harkan himself seized an assault weapon and he threatened with a massacre of the key dignitaries with his own hands. It was our best opportunity in order to triumph, but the danger was enormous for us and all of the peace effort. With caution, I approached to negotiate with him and to bring him to reason. With a newly-discovered serenity, in spite of everything that I suffered in recent times, I told him:

"Mr. Harkan, please desist. It will be more advantageous for your own interests if you depose this attitude. Your corporations could still prosper in a peaceful future. You have not killed anyone yet, at least, not here. We could help, but first, let go of that gun and tell your people to do so."

Mad and desperate, he fired against me, but one of the portable devices from Guideline provided me with an impenetrable electromagnetic shield for brief instants that protected me from being gunned down; this same field stopped the bullets and they didn't ricochet to hit somebody else. Harkan threw me his rifle, already empty, and the surprise made drop my special communicator. The guy grabbed it and began to flee, but his accomplices were not able to move, because the soldiers of the new alliance already had them surrounded, and now the only thing left for them was to surrender. I tried to pursue Harkan, but I noticed an abnormal behavior of Guideline. It went away, because one of the agents on board responded to Harkan's orders, I suppose that by means of a reward that the greedy executive offered him as a bribe.

He maneuvered the ship inexpertly, since the onboard computer rejected their orders, but Harkan provided my codes to his man by means of the communicator that he stole from me and was able to give a good fright to the crew. In the end, he took Marjena as hostage, putting a gun against her temple, but the others took advantage of a negligence caused by his nervousness and removed her from him before he could hurt her. In fact, the ship assaulted his mind, recognizing his bad intentions like the virus that tormented it before finding Marjena and me in order to heal it. Everyone returned to the stadium to turn the prisoner over to the authorities. But the problem of Harkan still remained, still fugitive. But the communicator that he took gave him away soon, and when we could surround him with a security contingent, the device itself burned in his hands, and the flash dazzled him so that he could not notice when the men caught him. As soon as Harkan fell, we all calmed down and continued the peace conference.

The new map with a more equal border pleased everyone who was present and the treaty was ratified with very little debate. The reconstruction effort involved even the traitors, who performed forced labor under strict surveillance on the part of Guideline and the earthling police officers. We even used the technology to heal the victims of serious injuries and illnesses, with only a brief visit to the regeneration chamber.

The subsequent trials uncovered many culprits, and they even exonerated many wrongly accused for crimes that were related with the great conspiracy. We didn't dare to impose them the death penalty, but we rather confined them to prison. But Guideline did something unexpected. It expelled all its crew, even us, after it made us pick up all the instruments that it produced for safe keeping inside, and then, it moved from one jail to the other, and seemingly, it helped all the warmongers to escape. Now we feared the worst: all those criminals, in possession of such a powerful weapon, they would spread the terror in the whole region and we would be unable to do anything to stop them. But after picking up the last of them, the ship jumped out of our atmosphere, and nobody knew any more about them. Except Marjena and I. Guideline communicated telepathically for the last time with us, saying:

"I had it to do it. I also carry the guilt for what I did to those who built me. I will destroy all these who truncated so many lives along with myself. I will crash into your sun."

Marjena became as hysterical as I did. We screamed hopelessly:

"No, don't you do this! You don't have to do it! You are good, Guideline!"

Guideline insisted:

"I am very dangerous in the wrong hands. I should be destroyed forever."

Although we refused to believe that, we knew that it was true. We didn't protest anymore and we said goodbye the way it is said to a friend who is dying from an incurable disease: with much sadness, but with the happiness of having met a noble being, although for a short time. The authorities demanded an explanation from us, since we promised them to respect the lives of the plotters, but they recognized that when such a prodigious ship had its mind made up, there was no one who could change its mind. There was more resentment on the part of the relatives and friends of those who died inside the ship, but they had to recognize that they chose such a horrible fate for themselves and for all of us.

Marjena and I got married, and the three countries gave us the royal treatment, smothering us with too many splendid ceremonies and luxuries. We accepted them, at first, with grace and even some sense of humor, but we soon felt uncomfortable by so much reverence and we slipped away in order to go to our honeymoon. We traveled through the battlefields, no longer as fugitives or deserters, but as free people, admiring the beauty of nature. I gave up my military rank, and I finished my engineering studies, no longer using mental powers, but knowledge and experience earned before and after my contact with Guideline, to enter the civilian life. Marjena worked as an office clerk, since she learned how to work under much pressure, as long as she wasn't harassed. We never had any complaint about that. We saved enough and my wife retired when he became pregnant with our first son. We built a house near the same river that served us as a guideline before the ship did, and this lay in the same border in dispute. At first, we were a confusing case for the census, due to our dual citizenship, but soon our countries formed a confederacy and we were all made fellow citizens, never to take up arms against each other. I bought a small propeller airplane and patiently taught all my family to pilot it, finding solace in the air from time to time, as if looking for our great flying friend. By the way, we called this plane "Guideline 3."