13

Jim Kirk leaned back on the bench, head back, enjoying the fresh air and afternoon sunshine of the fine autumn day. A shadow crossed his face causing him to straighten abruptly, squinting at the tall figure in front of him. He was very surprised to see a Vulcan in the neighborhood dog park.

“Sir? I believe this is your animal?” A long arm extended, offering the unusually passive little terrier draped along it.

“Buster! What have you been up to?” Kirk reached out, but Buster was reluctant to leave his new friend. Kirk smiled at the way one large hand supported the dog's chest, apparently unconcerned with soiling the sleeve of the gray business suit; and long fingers of the other hand gently petted the pert little ears. “I see he likes you. Buster can sometimes be a bit stand-offish.” With Klingons. Kirk squelched that comment.

Eons ago, perhaps even when time itself began, a race calling themselves the Providers embarked on an ambitious scientific experiment, one that was literally on a galaxy-wide scale. They traveled throughout the universe and after careful inspection of each solar system, seeded some of the planets that appeared to have life-sustaining capabilities; others, they left alone to develop naturally. The Providers' long-term goal was to see what, if any, evolutionary differences would take place between the planets that were seeded and the ones that were not. The experiments were to be carefully monitored and controlled and if any undue consequences arose as a result of their machinations, the Providers unanimously agreed that those particular progeny would be destroyed immediately and those planets would be left alone to once again evolve as nature chose.

But after the experiment was only a few thousand years old - a minuscule amount of time in the evolutionary process - and just when the seeds were beginning to develop and grow, disaster struck. As the Providers themselves became more evolved, power grew, along with ambition. Eventually those combined forces caught up with the Providers, as invariably they must, and this race of once-benevolent beings turned against each other. The result was a catastrophic war that devastated their planet and brought the Providers to the brink of extinction. The few survivors left no longer had the means or desire to continue the experiments their race had once worked so hard to maintain, thus the seeded planets were left to develop on their own.

Covers by: Mueller Art by:Mueller

Available from:

Robin Hood
1617 N. 6th St.
Canon City, Co. 81212
www.merrymenpress.com