War Forever By Eric of the Web A man's face became visible on the Communications Screen (Comm. - Screen). A chubby fellow he was. "Yes, I am the Minister of Recheg. You wish to settle here on this planet and your number is about 350?" "Yes, there are 352 of us, sir," replied my uncle, Todd, the leader we elected. "Where are you from?" "Why. Earth." "I can see that dummy." My uncle, startled by the Minister's reaction, replied, "North America. Quebec." "Why did you come here." Todd closed his eyes. I could sense his feelings. He knew this moment would come. "Freedom of worship," he said as the Minister's eyes opened wider and wider. "We are Christians." We knew this was now an atheist world, no place for religious people like us, and had changed greatly in the last 200 years, but we had no choice. We were what we were, and we wanted more than anything to enter a place were we would be safe. The Minister looked at the men on both sides, and then in back. The Comm. - Screen went blank and the voice said "Wait." The next instant the light next to the speaker went off, indicating the communication was cut off entirely. "What does this mean? Must we find another colony?" I asked. "I don't know. Perhaps he will speak in a few moments." "We must move on," said my older brother, Samuel, who wished to pretend he was in charge all the time. Just then the picture came up again. "By the Code anyone can banish you any day," the chubby man shouted in anger. My uncle jumped back startled. "You are killers. Your Y - signature says it." Todd let out a horrible scream. "The dirty traitors. They have given us a murder signature." "Be gone. You're lucky to be alive." "NO," shouted my uncle at the top of his lungs. "Its a lie. All a lie. We have done nothing wrong. Quebec is a place of hate. They have lied. They hate us because we believe that a supreme being exists in heaven. Quebec has betrayed its many enemies and broken the code." "Leave, or we will destroy your ship" "Stop," cried a voice from behind the Minister. "It is true. Earth has done such things before. We must let them in. They have done no wrong. "And where did you get this information from?" shouted the Minister to his advisor in back. "You will hear from us tomorrow." My father opened the door which concealed us in the Communications Room and the three of us walked into the Meeting Hall where the entire ship had been listening to the conversation. Everyone was in shock. "We must move thirty miles or more safely away from this planet. We return tomorrow at six east - central where we will learn our fate," Todd ordered, wisely. The ship was moved forty five miles from the planet of Recheg. No one slept that night. My brother and I decided to make an attempt to comfort our restless uncle. Our mother chose not to come. We knocked on his door gently. The door slid into the wall. My uncle was sitting in a chair. His face was covered with sweat. The two of us sat on either side of him. Samuel spoke first. "Calm yourself. If we're rejected we find another colony." "THEY MADE US LOOK LIKE MURDERERS." "One man understood. I'm sure many others would to," I said. "We shall see. Never mind it. I'm sure you wish to know what the they meant when they said the "Code." "Yes," I said. "The Code was established in 2050, 250 years ago. Its a series of laws that keep peace between all men. In the last 20 years it has been broken. That is what Earth has done to us." "Why did we not ever know about the Code," said my brother. "You mustn't tell anyone about what I have just told you. The people on this ship are naive and only your father and I know much about the outside universe. The less man knows the more peaceful he is. We don't want our people to know about the Code. All it will ever do for anyone is cause more fighting. Not stop it." We were both confused. I said, "But you said it keeps peace between mankind." "Yes, but that is changing quickly. I have already said that people have begun to break it. I know, as does any decent man, that the Code, or anything like it, cannot last." That morning at six, as Todd had said, the ship came back to Recheg. The Minister apologized and said that it was true that the people of Earth were liars. They had broken two laws of the Code. They had given us a false Y - signature, which means they have placed on our ship energy markings understood to mean we were killers. They had also outcast us because we were Christians. My brother and I, with our parents in back of us and our uncle in front of us, were the first to step foot on the planet. We surveyed the man - made landscape of the only city on Recheg. Recheg was only twenty years old and needed settlers. For this reason we knew from the start it was a good choice. Recheg needed basic necessities such as computer designers, expansion developers, and factory workers. Immediately we were all granted jobs. My brother and I became factory workers. My uncles sole job was to supervise the building of the "Holy Complex," which one fifth of us was to work on. This would be where we were to live and according to our plans it would have its own farmland and such. We were all still angry at the people of Quebec. Our people have, of course, wondered what was meant by the Code, and my uncle decided it was time he revealed it. Todd went to speak with the Minister and asked if Recheg would help them seek our revenge against earth. Our goal was to eliminate anyone who broke the Code, in order to maintain peace between all men of the universe. We sent word to all 69 colonies of the world that our mother Earth had broken the Code. We must have all Earthlings either come to a colony where they swear to never break the Code, or for those who already have broken it, be killed. The other colonies agreed and declared war on Earth. As the warships slowly ascended into the sky and out of sight, a thought came into my head. How are we defending peace? All we are doing is causing more war. But I guess people never will change. "And that is true. People will never change," said the grandfather. "Even 400 years into the future?" the child asked his grandfather. "Yes, as long as man is on this planet, or on other planets, there will be fighting and war," he replied. "You see, history isn't really like a line. It isn't a line at all. It's a circle. It repeats itself again and again."