One pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09 arranged and layered in three different ways accounts for all three images here!
“Now, Benjamin – I knew married life to you was going to be exciting, but this is more than I bargained for.”
“Well, I did tell you I had some enemies, and about that assassination attempt last year, but even I didn't know about this!”
Aunt Almira, also known as Captain Almira Banneker-Jackson, was still laughing with her husband, Admiral Benjamin Banneker-Jackson – they had hyphenated their names as I had (Capt. Khadijah Biles-Dixon, their niece) upon their mature life marriage because of their long fleet careers before then.
“I see why you quietly retired all those years ago, Ben -- not two good years out, and already in all kinds of trouble!” Aunt Almira said.
“Well, you know, if you've still got it, you've still got it,” Uncle Benjamin said.
Oh, at 80 and 82 they were having a good time, just still being alive and having lived good lives and not worried about death – that just left my husband and I and Aunt Almira's children and grandchildren to be having the heart attacks when the news came.
Uncle Benjamin had survived an assassination attempt without a scratch, owing to the local Starrensgels of the region of space he was in having no nonsense about ambushes in their areas.
Now for that matter, a Galaxy-class fleet ship is pretty tough, and I must give Capt. Javier Borracua and the crew of the Liberator their props – they would have been able to fend off or outrun the attempt either way.
Instead, they saw something only a few people in that region of galaxy have ever seen.
Almost everyone in the late 23rd century knows what it cost a few ships in the earlier portions 23rd century to find out: you can have your little sentient-being space fights anywhere else in the galaxy that an Organian or a Ring Admiral or a Beamerling does not have something else to say about that, but the Starrensgels just aren't going to have it in their parsec. Hospitality is the basis of their worship of their Maker; the Golden Rule is the only rule.
But, it just so happened that a particular Earth-cult, quite late in the day for such outbreaks in light of total human progress (but not in light of the core features of human nature), hadn't read everything they needed to read before tearing out with their assassination group after my uncle on his way back from the Ventanan frontier after his honeymoon. He was to resume and complete his work on the Amanirenas, and thus on modernizing how warp drives and self-destruct features work to never again allow a timeline-altering incident for a whole civilization beside humanity – never again would a fleet starship be able to go to warp around another star but Earth's sun against its orbital vortex (and thus, back in that star system's time).
So, the Liberator watched and studied the results as the Starrensgels, enraged by the breach of hospitality in their space, handled their business with my uncle's attackers.
Aunt Almira and Uncle Benjamin had enjoyed every bit of the show … however, both knew that the cause behind it was no laughing matter. Because I was captain of the Amanirenas, I was also ordered to the briefing about the attack, and it was an awesome sight to see three of the fleet's eight full fleet admirals – Elian Bodega, Chenggis Chulalaangkorn, and Vlarian Triefield my mentor who had been mentored by Uncle Benjamin – in the room for this briefing. Admiral E.W. Lee was in the room as well, looking like his ancestor about 3.5 years into the Civil War, and losing it. As serenely masterful as Admiral Lee usually was in a crisis, I knew there was a big problem at hand.
“The Earth Footprint Movement has actually been around ever since the Vulcans came along and rescued Earth from the situation created in the late 21st century when humans could no longer get into low earth orbit, to say nothing of the Solar System,” Admiral Bodega explained.
“Ah, yes, the Kessler Syndrome manifestation,” Capt. Borracua said.
“Correct, Captain. What we did not know then was that there was a cult saying that the manifestation of the Kessler Syndrome was the fulfillment of prophecy,” Admiral Triefield said.
I know my face went “Wait, what?” but my mouth knew better than to say it because I am a professional, and also because my mentor's look said, “I love you but I will kill you, Khadijah. Keep it together.”
Capt. Hank Scruggs just had not been as well-mentored.
“Wait, what?
“This is a subset of that set of American religion that believes it can influence the Redeemer's return, revived really late,” Adm. Chulalaangkorn said. “According to the Earth Footprint Movement, the reason the Kessler Syndrome is in prophecy is because it kept human beings on the Planet Earth in time to be present for all the events of the Book of Revelation, as opposed to being on the Moon and Mars.”
“So, all those early conversations about the Vulcans being of the devil because they have pointy ears in the late 22nd century – there was more to that than just being silly?” said rear admiral Silas Scott.
“Much more,” Adm. Bodega said. “According to the cult, everyone encouraging humanity to spread out through the galaxy is delaying the return of Christ.”
“The most recent incident for the cult has been their celebration of the trans-warp accident and the rumblings of other galactic races about pushing humanity back to the Solar System,” Adm. Chulalaangkorn said. “But guess whose excellent diplomatic sense and scientific prowess has granted humanity a reprieve in space?”
“Oh,” I said as my uncle shook his head.
“Well, I have moved up in the world, ladies and gentlemen,” he said at last. “From captain to commodore to admiral to married to Antichrist.”
“Yes, Admiral. You are now the prophesied son of perdition, because you are doing what the Vulcans did through enabling humanity to continue to spread out in the galaxy and grow to population numbers that will never allow all of us to fit on Earth again.”
“What amazes me,” my uncle said, “is how fanatical people can get over things they neither fully believe nor fully understand – I'm too old and too African in descent, and I'm not a political leader, but there's a bigger problem: if they had read to the end of the book, then they would know they couldn't handle me if I were who they think they are.”
“You're right,” Adm. Bodega said. “The members of the cult we haven't already snatched up are saying in their circles that you have the demonic forces and the prince of the power of the air behind you, and so you survived.”
“The galling part of it,” Adm. Chenggis Chulalaangkorn said, “is that the cruelty of how humanity would have been forced home is the point. The Earth Footprint Movement was hoping that said accident would have triggered all the other sentient races of space to combine and force us home while inflicting losses high enough to make for a comfortable Earth population in the future.”
“What we now have to look back into,” Adm. Triefield said, “was whether that trans-warp accident was actually an accident, and whether there are other people in proximity to critical resources who are members of this cult.”
Uncle Benjamin considered this.
“I can relieve your minds on one front, at least,” he said. “It took a mind of the stature of my own to refuse to accept the conclusion of my work over decades and do the experiment to its end to do that – so, it wasn't an accident, but also not within the realm of the average person with a warp drive to reproduce.”
“This is true,” Adm. Lee said, “but the type of people who take out souped-up freighters to attack fleet ships probably don't know that. They can cause a lot of trouble as bad copy-cats.”
“The idea is to provoke anti-human rhetoric in the galaxy to critical levels, through terrorist acts,” Adm. Triefield said.
“Carried out by people who don't know better than to take out souped-up freighters to attack fleet ships,” Uncle Benjamin said.
A laugh finally went through the room, and the tension began to relax.
“We still have to check,” Admiral Chulalaangkorn said, “and we still have to add extra security to you and your wife and your niece.”
“But the point is well-taken, Adm. Banneker,” Adm. Lee said, with a smile.
Uncle Benjamin thought about the matter for a long moment further.
“Cults thrive in secrecy, and the Earth Footprint Movement has been a secret long enough,” he said. “I'd like to speak to the public about the attack on me in a specific way … .”
And so at the appropriate time, Uncle Benjamin gave an interview to the fleet press about “Becoming the Antichrist,” in which he fairly and kindly made the history of the Earth Footprint Movement known to the public, and how he had gotten his unusual designation. His kindly wisdom sealed the deal about the whole thing being a case of mistaken identity!
“I actually share many of the core beliefs of the Earth Footprint Movement, and so do the Looking communities among sentient races across the galaxy,” he said, to the surprise of even the interviewer. “I certainly do believe in the Redeemer's bodily resurrection, ascension, and prophesied return to Earth. The difference is, I am an old man, and I deeply know in Whom I have believed because I have walked with Him for so long. I know that He does not need my help to pick a day to do anything, but especially not help that includes me being violent to any other being. This is why I can be fair even to the organization that claims responsibility for having attempted to assassinate me – the Redeemer will handle His business with everything and everyone, in His good time.”
It took a few years for us to know for certain, but sure enough, that interview got Uncle Benjamin taken off the Earth Footprint Movement's Antichrist radar, and helped the survivors of the cult not imprisoned for the attempt on my uncle's life to move on.
Aunt Almira's comment about how Uncle Benjamin had handled himself throughout the incident was predictable, but still hilarious.
“Well, Ben, when you've still got it, you've still got it!”
Author's Note: I remember reading in The Making of Star Trek that in the 1960s, certain regional viewers in the United States associated Spock's pointed ears with the devil! I have since become aware of certain trends inside my own belief system as practiced in my home country ... so, a pre-Easter sendup of all of it, and an exposition of the kindly wisdom that should settle all these matters!