In excerpt 5 of Demeter we find out why Ryder and his friends have been kidnapped, or rather conscripted.
Rebecca raised her hand and asked, “So you’re taking us to teach us the truth so we can restore the original vision to Earth?”
“Sadly, no,” Miss Li replied. “Earth was lost for millennia. The war between the galactic arms has continued all this time. The focus within the Orion Spur is on the three systems containing the way stations, rather than developing planets. Even self-sustaining ships need refueling and repair, so control of the way stations has always been critical to the battle between the arms. In this sector of the Spur, Demeter is the way station that was controlled by the Per-Sian League for several centuries. About eight hundred years ago, the Sagittarius League began the process of retaking Demeter, which has changed hands several times over the millennia. As you can imagine, the logistics of a military campaign covering thousands of light years is difficult to maintain.”
Mr. Small interrupted. “The shift in power in the region has always been more of a battle of logistics than a battle of ships. The last actual battle I was involved in was about sixteen years ago, and that was more a skirmish than a real battle. I remember I thought I was a goner when Shadrack and his brother swooped in and—”
“Roger! No war stories!” Miss Li interrupted, staring sharply at Mr. Small. She turned to Ryder and his friends. “Once he starts telling war stories, he doesn’t stop.”
Joel looked at Miss Li, “What is logistics?”
“It’s the process of moving personnel and materials from the staging area, in this case the Sagittarian worlds, to Demeter. Not only do they have to move ships, but they also must have all the supplies needed to support those ships. Of course, the navy itself is easy, they had control of the second station, Haumeah and could build forces there. But typically for every thousand fighting men or women, you have another thousand support personnel. The Sagittarians began exploring a less expensive means of supporting the invasion of Demeter.”
Mr. Small took over, with millions of stars and tens of millions of planets in the proximity of Demeter, the Sagittarians began looking for potential developing world’s where they could recruit their support staff. Having studied the archives I know that they spent over a hundred years looking for viable candidate worlds and in all that time they found a total of two: Earth and Cryella.”
“Cryella?” Cynthia queried.
“We’ll talk about Cryella and the Cryellians another day,” Miss Li continued. The Sagittarians rediscovered Earth as it searched for potential colleagues. We were not advanced enough to approach as partners, so they began conscripting people from Earth, or Terrans, to help retake Demeter nearly eight hundred years ago.”
“Wait a minute. You mean we’re draftees?” asked Randy, with ire again sounding in his voice.
“Well, in a manner of speaking, yes,” Mr. Small responded. “However, if you read your agreement for the “year abroad” program, you will notice that it clearly states that you ‘will have a culturally enriching educational experience and be provided the opportunity to offer service in your host community. Your host community is Demeter, and I guarantee it will be culturally enriching. You also signed a confidentiality agreement, that prohibits you from discussing details of your experience with outsiders. We’re very serious about that.”
“You mean you would kill us?” Joel asked defensively.
“You’ve been watching too many science fiction movies,” Miss Li said. “No, we wouldn’t kill you. But it is relatively easy to discredit anything you say and make you look like one of those UFO nuts. Of course, not all of them are UFO nuts. Several of the most vocal ones actually served a year on Demeter.”
“On the bright side, you will learn a lot,” Mr. Small added. “Twenty-five of the richest people in the world are our former students. Many technological breakthroughs going all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci can be attributed to experiences on Demeter. Our foundation has also helped over a hundred of our alumni become heads of state. The experiences you have on Demeter are better than any college degree you might earn.”