by Gadi Migdal
The flight to the Kenya Dome would take 40 minutes. It was clear that Ella intended to make the most of this period. She sat beside General Bud and pulled a molecular scanner from her pocket. “Doctor Ella, please don’t point that scanner at me,” the general asked.
“Don’t worry, it’s completely painless, General.” Ella said and directed the scanner at the general.
“I disagree with you, Doctor Ella. If you use that scanner on me, someone will definitely experience pain.”
Ella lowered the scanner, without a hint of panic. “That’s wonderful. The ability to imply verbal threats is a clear sign of intelligence.”
“So, let’s make sure it stays implicit and unrealized, alright?”
Ella looked at the general pensively. “High intelligence, ability to speak, a sense of humor, how did you develop all of these abilities, General?”
“Excellent question, Doctor Ella. You are the expert, maybe you can answer?”
Ella smiled. She was clearly enjoying the exchange. “As Tom mentioned, these are not known characteristics of cluster members. The fact that you won’t let me scan you suggests that you have something to hide. I can’t attribute such comprehensive changes to external factors, such as bacteria or the oxygen levels in the air.”
The general nodded without saying a word.
Ella went on thinking aloud, “it’s no secret that the different clusters are able to change certain things with enriched nutrition such as they do, for instance, in order to create egg-layers or males. Many community-oriented animals do this, but I have never heard of a species that is able to change anatomic characteristics and grow vocal cords.”
She paused a moment before continuing. “The fact of your existence is an enigma. On the one hand, the city council would never create a smart cluster member, and on the other hand, your unique features seem to indicate long-term planning.”
“Why wouldn’t the city council create a smart cluster member like the general?” Andre asked.
“Because cluster members with independent thinking would destroy the city.”
“So how was she created?”
Ella considered this in a hesitant voice, “Given the isolation and inaccessibility of clusters to humans, I have to guess that some cluster’s egg-layer created the general.” She stopped and turned abruptly to General Bud, “Actually no. No single egg-layer could plan and organize all this. No. That would require intelligence and long-term planning, much longer than the lifespan of an egg-layer.” Her voice sounded victorious, “This must be the cooperative work of all the egg-layers. They created you through genetic selection, which went on for a long time. Maybe even hundreds of years. This means that the egg-layers have been planning their steps for a long time, a very long time. It’s amazing that nobody in the city figured this out before now.”
The general smiled and clapped excitedly with all four hands. This was a strange spectacle.
“Wonderful, Doctor, you’ve displayed a very impressive ability for reaching conclusions.”
Silence prevailed aboard the hovercraft as the city people considered the matter.
Maya was the first to speak. “Ella, do you really believe that the egg-layers are intelligent enough to create new characteristics among the cluster members?”
Ella nodded, “I have no other explanation for the general’s unique features.”
Maya snorted disdainfully. “Your first explanation, the city council, Ella. That’s the right one. The council created the general and planned this mission. Mika must be planning something.”
“That’s not likely, Maya. As I said, the creation of smart cluster members goes against the council’s interests. Intelligent clusters would not be useful to the city. Actually, they could be a real threat to our continued existence.”
Maya was not convinced. “I never accused the council of excess wisdom. This is exactly the type of nonsense that they would try.”
“You’re mistaken, Maya. Mika is repulsed by cluster members,” Tom interrupted. “I can promise you that the city council is not related to this.”
Maya looked at him quietly and said nothing.
“Intelligence, vocal cords, long term genetic selection. One thing is certain, someone planned all of this. It seems unlikely to me that it’s the city council. The egg-layers are the only other possibility,” Ella said.
“So, the egg-layers just call one another on the phone and make plans behind the city’s back?” Maya asked, with no attempt to hide the disdain in her voice.
“That truly sounds unlikely,” Andre agreed. “How can they communicate without the council knowing?”
“I don’t know,” Ella admitted.
“It’s easy, they simply don’t communicate,” Maya mocked her.
“Maybe they have other ways of communicating,” suggested Andre.
‘Like what? Smoke signals?” Maya ridiculed. “Do you have secret means of communication, General?” she asked in a mocking tone.
“No, Ms. Maya. We have no need for that,” the general answered her calmly.
“So how do the egg-layers communicate?” asked Andre.
“Communicate, Engine Officer?”
“That’s it! They don’t even need to communicate,” Ella leaped with sudden excitement.
“Why are you so excited by that?” Maya demanded.
“The egg-layers don’t communicate. I was wrong. The general isn’t the product of some egg-layers’ collaboration. They don’t meet, speak, plan or determine the future of the clusters, they only carry out orders.”
Her voice rose with excitement, “There is only one element that makes the decisions. All of the cluster members carry out the decisions of that same element.”
“The council?” Maya said hesitantly.
“No. Not the city council. The entity that Commander Taylor spoke of during the meal. That could provide a much better explanation for the general’s existence. She was created by an intelligent collective entity comprised of all the cluster members.”
“Intelligent collective entity?!” Maya burst out angrily. “Ella, you yourself said that the existence of such an entity was impossible.”
“No, I just said that to date we have not encountered such an entity,” Ella noted. “But there’s a first time for everything. We can’t rule out the possibility that all of the cluster members are part of a singular, thinking unit; parts of one entity.”
“And how exactly would such an entity be created?” Maya fumed.
“I don’t know.”
“Of course, you don’t! Because it’s impossible.”
“The argument that the city council is behind all of this is also impossible,” Ella said irritably.
“It’s the egg-layers,” said Andre.
“What about them?” Maya turned to him, her eyes flashing.
Andre flinched slightly at her anger, “It’s just that... if the Whole is really one big brain, maybe they make up the neural junctions, the synapses. Each cluster functions as a micro-brain connected to the Whole via its egg-layer. The connections between all the egg-layers in the Whole creates the Whole.”
“Of course! That makes sense,” Ella was excited. “They are actually the relay stations of the Whole.” She thought about this for a moment before turning excitedly to Nola, “Commander, did you ever speak with your egg-layer?”
Nola was filled with sudden embarrassment, was her failure about to be publicly revealed? “No Ella,” she admitted quietly.
Ella nodded with enthusiasm, “Just as I thought, their role as communicators likely takes up all of their attention, they probably can’t communicate with members of their cluster at all. Their whole existence is to be a branch of the Whole.”
“She’s an impressive girl, Your Honor,” the general transmitted to Nola. “She figured out more in a minute than that co
uncil of yours did in an entire year.”
Nola looked at her, stunned. “Egg-layers have no ability to communicate?” she transmitted.
“Of course, Your Honor, I told you that they don’t talk to anyone.”
“You have to improve the way you relay information, General.”
“You have to learn how to ask questions, Your Honor.”
The city people went on talking, unaware of the exchange between them.
“General, is Doctor Ella right?” asked Guy. “Is there collective intelligence? An entity that is the connection between all of the members of the Whole?”
“Yes, Mr. Guy.”
“And are you really connected to the Whole all the time?”
“Yes, Mr. Guy. All the time.”
“Even at this moment? You are connected to the entire whole right now too?”
“Yes, Mr. Guy, even now.”
“How? We are thirty-four thousand light years from Neifar. How can you be connected to the Whole in real time?” Guy asked with evident skepticism.
“I don’t know, Mr. Guy,” General Bud answered calmly.
“That’s impossible,” Maya protested. “QE (quantum entanglement) transmitters can’t be reduced to the size of a brain implant. It’s impossible that you could communicate with Neifar now.”
“Two hours ago, you were certain that an intelligent, speaking cluster member was outside the realm of possibility, Ms. Maya.”
“Well, the existence of the Whole could explain a few things. I suppose that the Whole organized this mission, not the city council,” Andre’s tone did not imply a question.
“What?” Maya panicked. “Are you saying that insects are setting our agenda?”
“Maya!” Tom rebuked her, obviously angry.
There was an awkward silence. “Sorry General,” Maya mumbled. General Bud looked indifferent to the discomfort of the city people, “That’s right, Engines Officer. The Whole organized this mission together with your council.”
“Why?” Guy asked quietly.
“In order to save you, Mr. Guy.”
“Save?”
“Yes, Mr. Guy, the Whole hopes to find a solution for the problem of humanity’s future.”
The hovercraft’s computer interrupted their conversation and informed them that five minutes were remaining until landing.
Ella sounded skeptical as she asked, “General, how can the Whole help humans, and why would it want to?”
The general spoke in a clear, quiet voice. “Doctor Ella, as was already explained to your commander, the Whole doesn’t want humans to go extinct. The Whole needs humans, not just for the coordinators, but also so as not to be alone in the galaxy. The Whole is afraid of loneliness. That’s why the success of this mission is important to it. The Whole currently numbers 5 billion individuals. All are connected and think together as a single entity. The Whole has abilities that humans are not aware of. It is definitely possible that the Whole has the capacity to find a solution for humanity’s degeneration.”
“Commander, did you know all of this ahead of time?” Maya looked at Nola with an accusatory expression.
Nola nodded, “Yes, Maya, I am a coordinator. I am a human being, but also part of the Whole.”
A look of shock flashed across Maya’s face. “So, you’re one of them, Commander?” Her tone was cold. A coldness that was not the absence of emotion but a struggle between restrained emotions.
“Quiet!” Tom ordered firmly. “Calm down Maya, immediately. The commander and the Whole are here in order to help us. There is no need for prejudice and stupidity.”
Maya looked at him, surprised by the intensity of his reaction. She blushed. “Sorry Commander, I didn’t mean to offend you, I was just surprised when you said that you were part of the Whole.”
“That’s okay Maya. I haven’t entirely accepted it myself,” Nola replied.
The awkward silence that prevailed in the hovercraft was broken by Tom. “General, I accept the existence of the entity that is the Whole; it explains many things. I am also very happy about this mission and the opportunity to be a part of it. But I am curious to know — why travel to Earth? Do you want to demonstrate the results of the disaster of the Seventh? What are we doing here?”
“Very soon you will know, Deputy Commander,” the general said and turned to the screen on the wall. “We have reached our destination.”
Nola and the other passengers of the hovercraft glanced at the screen. Through the mantle of dust and poisonous gas clouds, the Kenya Dome appeared.
Chapter 16
Earth
The tomato was amazing. Truly delicious.
“This is fantastic,” Nola said to Laura and wiped the tomato juice from her chin. “Excellent quality. Just like cluster produce.”
Laura laughed. “Yes. Like the cluster, we also grow all our vegetables in the ground and look after them without robots, enhanced animals or brains. It’s all done by manual labor and the sweat of our brows, but the quality is worth the hard work.”
Nola looked around. The area of the gardens was about 20 square kilometers, about a third of the area of the dome. The yield was handsome, but the quantity was not sufficient to enable export. They didn’t have enough land for that.
“Why don’t you dig deeper and cultivate gardens on levels?” Nola suggested to Laura. “That way, you would double the garden space and increase the output.”
“What for?” Laura replied. “Look around you. 15 thousand people live here in comfortable living quarters. We have enough produce to feed all of the dome’s residents. If we expand the gardens, we will need more workers to take care of them. More workers means more living space that we would need to dig. Ultimately, we would become a big cluster dug into the Earth. No thanks. We came to Earth to live on its surface, not underground.”
Nola laughed. “Sorry. I’m still used to thinking in cluster terms. There’s no doubt that you’ve done great work here.”
“Thanks, Nola. That’s a huge compliment, especially coming from a coordinator from Neifar.”
“Maybe I can help you anyway?” Nola wondered. “Do you use compost for garden fertilizer?”
Laura grinned broadly, “That’s a sore topic. We have a hard time producing insect-free compost. The piles ferment too quickly.”
“I am sure I can help you streamline the process.”
“That would be amazing, Nola. Thank you,” Laura was pleased. “Here comes Sean with your friends.
Nola looked up. Sean, the dome’s representative who escorted and guided the tour, marched towards them along with General Bud and the city people. The tall general towered high above the rest of them. The dome residents followed the yellow-black general with their gaze in admiration.
The legendary aliens from Neifar’s farms had come to visit them. A cluster member, the first to ever leave Neifar, had come to visit them. They did not hide their excitement.
The general herself looked pretty indifferent to the humans of the dome, but Nola suspected that she was hiding her enjoyment of all the attention.
Ella, on the other hand, did not hide her excitement. “This is amazing, Commander. More than seventeen hundred years of heat and poisonous gases, and there is still life here. Did you know that while they were digging the foundations for the dome, they found reptiles and rodents living in the Earth?”
Nola smiled. It seemed better not to tell Ella that in the clusters, rodents were considered a pest to be killed upon discovery.
“I am pleased that you are enjoying yourself, Ella,” she answered. “Are the rest of you enjoying the tour?”
“Certainly, Commander,” Guy replied. “I had no idea that such an environment could be created so quickly. In less than a decade they created an almost entirely independent system. Right now on Earth there are eight functioning domes, and in t
he next five years, two more domes are planned to be built.”
Sean nodded. “There are still some people left in the galaxy who prefer to do something besides dream.”
“Not that sleep machines would be able to function here. In fact, that’s the main reason that people move here,” Maya said.
All of the humans grinned. Everyone except Nola. “Why don’t sleep machines work here?”
“Because above us are 50 kilometers of thick gases, volcanic ash and dirt, Commander,” Maya explained.
“How does that relate to the sleep machine?”
“The sleep machine gets its content from the network, Commander,” Andre said before Maya managed to reply. “There are no receivers that can get reception through the volcanic dust clouds above us, only an antenna reaching to the edge of the atmosphere could transmit broadcasts to Earth.
“So, you aren’t able to communicate at all with anyone outside planet Earth?” she asked Sean.
“That’s correct, Nola,” he smiled. “All external communication requires takeoff to outside the stratosphere.”
Nola sent a quick transmission, to a garden on the ship. The reply came almost immediately.
“How is it possible that I am still in contact with the Singa?” she transmitted to General Bud.
“I don’t understand these things, Your Honor.”
Nola was not satisfied by that answer. “Maya, is there a way to make external contact without getting 50 km off the ground and without an antenna out of the stratosphere?” she asked the communications engineer.
“No, Commander,” Maya replied. “Only a physical connection to the upper atmosphere will solve the problem. Even large entanglement transmitters placed on the ground can’t break through all the clouds of dust and gas to contact the entanglement satellites above us. They simply aren’t strong enough.”
“Is it not possible to place small relays all the way up to the upper edge of the dust cloud?”
“No, Commander. Volcanic dust is an excellent transmission-blocker. Like Andre said, only an antenna placed on the ground reaching up to 50 km elevation could solve the problem.”