Lightship

by Stephan Besik

  “It may take many more years to arrive at a substantial understanding of the civilization of Planet Three, but even now we are beginning to formulate realistic theories about species behavior that would have been suspect at the best, and considered ridiculous at worst, before our discoveries here.

  “In particular, my staff believes that the demise of the civilization of Planet Three was brought about by a number of social failures. Most of these failures were the result of or were magnified by a fairly high level of technological development.

  “We know, for example, that this civilization was in the early stages of interplanetary travel, an exercise that requires vast amounts of energy compared to earlier stages of development. The effort also required a wide array of technological advances to be successful. Even as the civilization moved ever closer to travel through space, it faced a variety of dangerous social and technological trends that had to be effectively addressed and mitigated. We believe that the failure to do so resulted in the demise of the intelligent species inhabiting Planet Three.

  “The factors underlying the social failures on Planet Three appear to be these-

  Failure to establish a planet-wide government capable of dealing effectively with international disputes.

  Failure to address enormous disparities in the wealth of individuals and large social groups.

  Failure to understand and address the consequences of advancing technologies. Both the civilized species and the planetary ecosystem may have been at serious risk immediately preceding the destruction of the civilization. It is possible that the technological ambitions of the society outran its ability to understand and control the consequences of potentially dangerous technological advances.

  Failure to establish a planet-wide code of ethics and morality that protected all citizens equally.

  Failure to understand and manage population growth to prevent overuse of planetary resources.

  “It is difficult to construct a model of social behavior in which the factors presented here are logically independent of one another. For the most part, these factors appear to be highly interrelated. Perhaps the easiest way to understand this is to consider the relationship of Factors One and Four. It is hard to conceive of an effective planetary government that is not founded upon an underlying, universal code of ethics and justice. Without a global government, international conflicts could not be prevented. Wars between nations presented a risk of global conflict at a time when nuclear weapons of devastating power became available even to minor nations.

  “The result of this collection of failures appears to have been a cycle of increasing political tensions and warfare, particularly during the late stages of the civilization. Advances in all technologies, but especially weapons technologies, far outpaced the maturity of the native society and its ability to understand and deal effectively with the hazards it was creating. Benefits of technology were unevenly distributed, just as wealth was. Overuse of planetary resources, partially caused by overpopulation, increased political tensions. There was also demand for technological conveniences for the powerful few, which may have made control of ecological consequences impossible.

  “The root cause of these interrelated failures may have been a cycle of leadership failures that apparently was never broken.

  “We have found a number of long-range historical sources on Planet Three. These sources portray a continuing lack of leadership development, with repeated cycles of failure that the various cultures of the planet were only slowly outgrowing. The fundamental error of dynastic succession, in which societal leadership was passed from parent to child in increasingly ineffective lines of succession, was apparently never completely resolved.

  “While there were superficial changes in modes of government, power transfer to children never changed and was never recognized to be the hazard to society that it was. When children were not available, violent struggles occurred before power was transferred to other members of small leadership minorities, none of which managed to demonstrate an understanding of the need to promote the common good. Or at least not until the problems of technology had far outstripped societal control. Ineffective leadership was tolerated even as technology put increasing power in the hands of individuals. From what we can glean from the records we have found, there came a point at which single individuals, no matter how incompetent, had it within their power to destroy the civilization.

  “And thus it came to pass. While no control over population growth was exercised, overuse of natural resources was tolerated and global warming was ignored. Leaders whose sole objective was self-aggrandizement used advances in technology to acquire vast power over an increasingly desperate society. Leaders established themselves in perfect situations, gambling addicts playing for all of the society’s wealth without risking anything of their own, confident in their own success even though the history of the species showed that catastrophe might be only minutes away. In a duel of two or more such leaders, technology ensured that even the winner would not survive to collect the winnings of the warped power game that dominated the native civilization.

  “We do not really understand the last moments of the civilization yet, but we are likely to have enough sources of data to obtain a relatively clear picture of the demise of Planet Three’s natives. At this time all we know is that some sort of political conflict escalated to the use of nuclear weapons. Once the nuclear fire was ignited, it appears that the fate of the global society was sealed. Accounts concerning the diseases that present a hazard to us are fragmentary and it is not yet clear whether the diseases that destroyed the survivors of the global war arose naturally after the war, or were created by the natives as another form of weaponry in the world war. What we can tell is that the diseases decimated what remained of the global population after the major nuclear exchanges, and may have resulted in the extinction of the species. It is likely that the devastation from the nuclear phase of the war made the diseases we have found much more deadly than might have been expected. A primary focus of our research is an understanding of the mortality rate of the diseases. We are uncertain of the exact cause; there may be some hidden factor that we have not yet found that delivered the final blow. What is certain is that war and disease did most of the damage.

  “Now we are here, witnesses to their self-destruction. While we have learned much about some of the traps to which this civilization fell victim, we have concerns that some of their problems will be with us for as long as our species survives. It appears that we must be ever vigilant to protect ourselves against false steps in an ever more powerful technological existence.”

  The speaker halted his presentation. There was silence in the meeting. The Chief scanned the meeting space and was the first to speak.

  “Thank you for a most informative presentation. It seems that you all have made great progress toward understanding of the civilization of Planet Three. I am sure your work so far will provide a solid foundation for future researchers. I share your concerns that our increasingly powerful technologies will continue to present problems that challenge even our strong Interstellar Commonwealth.”

  The Chief of Research wasn’t sure what else to say.

  **

  The Chief Investigator of the Planetary Settlement team made the presentation.

  “While the civilization is gone, the planet itself is good condition. The pioneer teams are convinced that Planet Three will make an excellent habitation for our people. It seems that the suicide of the technological natives of the planet came just in time. We have a number of members of our teams who support the theory that had the inhabitants managed to survive another hundred years without significant changes in their survival policies, the ecosystem of the planet would have been severely damaged. Not only would the technological civilization have been destroyed, but it may be that the ecosystem would have taken thousands of years to recover. We are fortunate that after only a thousand years, Planet Three has a stable ecosystem, with most of the li
fe on the planet recovered or nearing full recovery.

  The Chief interrupted the Chief Investigator. “Please consider your words more carefully in the future. We may have found a new home for The People, but there is no joy in the discovery of another unsuccessful civilization. Our species may one day find itself alone in a vast region of the galaxy, after centuries more of exploration. How much more exciting would it be if we could discover, or be discovered by, another species who can explore the universe with us?”

  The Chief Investigator bowed his head. “My apologies, Chief. You are correct. It is regrettable that we have found another dead civilization.”

  The Chief of Research nodded her head. “You may continue.”

  The Chief Investigator composed himself and began again.

  “The extremists among the teams believe that the fundamentals of the ecosystem could have been so damaged by the native civilization that the planet would have lost almost all of its plant and animal life. There are a number of instances of such complete devastation in the exploration records of the Commonwealth. We are fortunate that Planet Three will support a viable new Community within our greater interstellar Community.

  “What about the native diseases? Are they under control?”

  “Not under control at the moment, but controllable. The ship’s medical staff, along with awakened members of the settlement community, have developed a variety of vaccines to prevent the spread of the diseases. The simulations show efficacy, and it is my understanding that a number of volunteers will soon be vaccinated and released into the environment to begin live testing.”

  The Chief Investigator showed some discomfort, and looked uncertainly at the Chief. “I presumed that you were aware of the status of testing.”

  The Chief nodded. “I have read the reports. I wanted your opinion, as an external observer, before I gave approval for final testing.”

  The Investigator looked relieved. “Our observations of progress suggest that the tests will be successful. Once the tests have been passed, we will begin resuscitation of one or more pioneer communities to have them vaccinated. They can then begin a more in-depth exploration of the planet for favorable settlement sites. The information they gather will be sent to the Review Committee, of course.”

  “The estimate I have for beginning the full awakening of the new Community out of cold sleep is two years from now. Does that agree with what you have been told?”

  The Investigator looked uncomfortable. “It does. We are quite far behind the usual settlement plan.”

  Chief of Research looked tired. “Yes, we are. Fortunately the Ship is more than capable of providing for the crew and small numbers of the settlement Community for that period of time. There is a cost to finding such an important resource as Planet Three.

  “As the old saying goes, there is no such thing as an unmixed blessing. I think there will be a great deal of discussion when the new Community leaders are awakened.”

  Five Years Later

  The Chief of Research was very nervous. She had done many informal presentations to the Review Committee and the various groups that had contributed to the preliminary exploration of Planet Three. Never before had her audience been so large. Her presentations had usually been to interested teams in her Research Group that already had some familiarity with whatever the topic of the presentation was to be. This time she was speaking to all of the personnel of the Ship who were awake, a group that numbered in the thousands, most of whom were only distantly aware of the findings of her Group. The presentation was to all of the Ship’s crew and the settlement specialists that had been brought out of cold sleep to help deal with the planet’s special issues.

  While the presentation was purely informational for most of the audience, it was critical to the Review Committee, whose members would make the final decision to begin settlement of Planet Three or move on to another star system. What she said on this day might decide the fate of the thousands of new settlers still in hibernation, and would certainly affect the Ship’s crew.

  The Commander of the Ship sat at the center of the Review Committee in the Atrium. His thoughts wandered as crewmembers filed in through the doors and found seats. The Atrium was still only partially full; only the four thousand members of the Ship’s Crew and the Research Group had been awakened to start operations and begin the investigation of the new planet.

  The Ship was in orbit around the third planet of the star system and the dome shield of the Atrium was drawn back. The planet glittered above the Atrium, bright blue for the most part, with patches of white, brown, and green. It was a lovely sight. The Commander had been to two other viable planets on an earlier voyage; there too he had been awed by the beauty of planets, no matter what had been done to them.

  It was likely that most adults not on duty would be attending the session. After all, it was the first time in history that a civilization as recently extinct as this one had been found. There might be a few off-duty crew not in attendance, but he guessed that most were here. While the presentation might not be entertaining, it was still an epic event.

  He scanned the upper deck of the Atrium to ensure that the only children in the audience were nearing maturity. It wasn’t a large group, as only the families of the crew and Research were out of cold sleep. The announcement had made it clear that the material to be presented was completely unsuitable for small children, but sometimes a parent or two would miss the message.

  The audience hubbub died down as a few stragglers hurried to find places. It took a little longer for the group in the upper deck of the Atrium to quiet down. He smiled as children and spouses organized themselves up there. Somewhere in that group was his daughter, after whom the Ship was named. It had taken a while for her to get over the honor, but as with all children grand events rapidly become old news. The Executive Council of the Commonwealth long ago, in a fit of unusual humor, ordered that all Ships of the Stellar Research Survey would be named by lottery after one or more crew family members for the duration of a cruise. The one-cruise rule was rather odd, too, but it made a certain kind of sense. If nothing else it gave more people the opportunity to have a ship named after them. Besides, when a Ship returned to Homeworld it was virtually rebuilt within the shell of the old Ship. Virtually everything in the way of artificial infrastructure was upgraded, and if necessary the interior asteroid that provided resources for the trip was replaced. Then she was re-crewed and sent back out. It made sense to give a virtually new Ship a new name.

  He regretted that his daughter had to be exposed to the presentation, but she was growing up. It was an honor and a responsibility to attend, no matter how uncomfortable.

  The soft tones that marked the beginning of the session sang briefly and the audience quickly went to silence. It was time for the Commander to begin the session. He felt awkward. It was really the presentation of the Chief of Research. As ranking member of the Review Committee, however, it was his job to start the session.

  “Fellow crew members, it is my privilege to host this Presentation of Findings by our most esteemed Research Group. The Presentation is the first in a series of lectures that will detail the findings of Research concerning the new home of the People and the civilization discovered on this mission. The series will end a standard year from now, at which time the Review Committee will present its final recommendations concerning the likelihood that reclamation and permanent habitation are feasible and justifiable. Those recommendations will be sent to the Interstellar Assembly by messenger. Assuming the Committee finds that a settlement effort is feasible, we will begin the resuscitation of the passengers who will become this planet’s new World Community. The Ship will then return to its birthplace, to be rebuilt and recrewed for her next voyage of exploration.

  “The Chief of Research will present an overview of findings gathered since we arrived in this system nearly eight Homeworld years past. She will also make a preliminary recommendation concerning the settlement of the Community in ou
r Ship.

  A list of future presentations with approximate dates and likely presenters has been posted on the Ship’s Net. As research will be ongoing during this period there may be changes in findings presented in earlier presentations. Of course the exact timing of presentations will be subject to change. Any questions concerning the schedule should be directed to the Office of the Chief of Research.

  “Now I’ll turn this meeting over to the Chief herself.”

  The Chief of Research rose from her seat and stepped to the presentation box.

  The Chief was a rather small, slender person. She was considerably younger than any of the members of the Review Committee, although the age-stabilizing treatments used by virtually everyone in Commonwealth space made such distinctions almost meaningless. There were a few telltale physical signs of age among the People, but the only meaningful difference was years of life experience. If it weren’t for the youngest-generation fashion statement of AI optics that made the lenses of her eyeware appear to sparkle it would be difficult to distinguish her age from that of the oldest members of the Ship’s crew without a medical examination. Her youth notwithstanding, she was highly respected by her team and the members of the crew. She was known for the rigor of her research methods and the rapidity with which she formulated sound, incisive hypotheses. What she lacked in life experience she made up in energy, intellectual prowess and commitment. She had also gained a reputation for skilled management of the Research Group on what had proven to be the most complex exploration of a planet ever undertaken by the People. The Commander had often thanked the Mother of Worlds that such a competent young female had been in the right place at the right time.

  The Commander noticed with some concern that the Chief looked somewhat tired and careworn. She was usually quite active, her demeanor self-assured, almost arrogant. He thought it could be the strain of the effort to put the first presentation and its successors together. There was another more likely answer, however. It had been a long, difficult job so far; far more difficult than that of any Research leader before her, with the possible exception of the chief researcher of First Voyage. And the difficulties weren’t over yet.