The Abacus Equation

by Peter Stremus

  Chapter 27

  “Finally,” Iveta thought. She had waited patiently in the lobby accompanied by another woman, when Pieter and Jane appeared from the stairs. Since she worked with Ian, Iveta had adopted his mania for punctuality. But in contrast with Ian, she did not let her displeasure show and she greeted Jane enthusiastically. The other person introduced herself as Francesca Venti. Pieter estimated her to be in her final twenties, slender with glossy dark hair and a natural tanned skin. She could hardly disguise her Italian descent. And for those who still doubted, her unmistaken accent made that doubt disappear immediately. It reminded him of the first time he heard Jane talk in her Aussie accent.

  “On the programme today there is a tour around the most important parts of our project. It will give you a good overview how Abacus is constructed, what are the best means of transportation and, maybe the most important, I will show you Peter's new place to live. It is still being finished but in a couple of days you'll be able to hold a house warming party.” She smiled warmly as only Italian women can: “follow me.”

  Pieter and Jane giggled; they behaved a bit like children on a school trip, subserviently following the guide. They stepped outside. It took a couple of seconds before their eyes were accustomed to the bright sunlight. The expected heat-blow held off, and the air was cooler and purer than expected. The hotel was surrounded by large, but relatively low white constructions that were widespread and separated by spacious green zones. Jane and Iveta quickly put on their sunglasses and moved into the back seat of the robust car that was waiting in front of the driveway.

  Francesca gave a voice command and the clicking within the dashboard indicated that the car had started. Although the word started seemed to be out of place here. With a soft humming the car drove on the red flower edged driveway. Neatly aligned palm trees provided some shade for the garden workers perfecting the landscape.

  Without stopping or looking left or right, Francesca whizzed on the deserted main road. Pieter had grabbed the handle mounted on the doorjamb and looked startled at her.

  “I hope I did not frighten you, Pieter. I still have to adopt my driving style from what I am used in the centre of Rome. We try to limit the traffic in Abacus and besides all of our vehicles are equipped with a sophisticated anti-collision system.“

  Vividly Pieter could imagine Francesca making her way around the Coliseum, hooting continuously, gesturing and certainly not caring about the surrounding traffic. On the other hand that had become the only way to even move on the crowded roads of the European cities.

  “All of our cars are electrical. Only the jeeps that picked you up yesterday are hybrids. You can reserve a car on-line via the portal of Abacus. Each evening there are courses covering all of Abacus' systems. I recommend that you enlist to one of those as soon as possible. It will make your life a lot easier here.”

  Francesca kept on rattling, apparently not expecting any answers.

  “We are now leaving the arrival complex. She tapped with a gracious finger on the large display mounted in the middle of the dashboard. She zoomed out of the satellite picture and the typical build up of Abacus became visible.

  “Abacus is being built based on the asymmetrical and pseudo symmetrical principles. You will not find one centre, but rather a collection of junctions. Those junctions may be specialized in one discipline, for instance medicine. It encourages the direct and personal interchange of people and teams. Or there are junctions that cover multiple disciplines and share those with other junctions. The purpose is to avoid the formation of city centres like in the past, which degenerate and become abandoned. A city in itself is an old fashioned approach towards living and working. Supported by the right technology people can work socially from different locations.

  She pointed out of the window. “The buildings you see over there are our biological research departments. As you can imagine, making this place as liveable as no other place on earth is one of the key objectives. The majority of the original local population is currently working on agricultural and livestock projects, which is why most of the living areas are situated in the west. Next to the labs we also have the agricultural college ensuring that the locals are playing an active role in the development of the area.”

  Pieter thought he could distinguish in the distance a large dome, not more than five storeys high. Everywhere he looked; the set-up was nicely arranged with green and well kept parks. He saw a flock of brightly coloured birds flying from one tree to another hoping to catch one of the large butterflies.

  Francesca had noticed Pieter's interest in the dome and answered: “under the dome that you can see over there is a geo-thermal coupler. It is the most important source of energy for Abacus. Next to that each building is equipped with its own three-dimensional photovoltaic power plant. And we also have a small nuclear plant. That created some controversy as you can imagine, but they are close to achieve fusion, so I heard.”

  “The buildings are quite interesting. No cold glass in concrete constructions. It seems like they have been here for centuries. They breathe something natural. The style reminds me of the houses you can find on the Greek islands. You know the white houses with the azure-blue shutters. Here they are a lot bigger and don't have the shutters,” Jane. commented.

  “That is very well spotted, Jane. The houses, offices, public buildings like our library or the schools have been constructed with natural and ecological materials. They combine natural cooling and moistening mechanisms with isolation and durability. We have used as much as possible materials that can be found in the neighbourhood. “

  “That cannot have been much,” Pieter reacted, recalling the barren wasteland image that Ian had used.

  “You'd be surprised what you can do with camel manure,” Francesca answered. She was not joking.

  Pieter could not get rid of the image of smelly rooms in spotless white buildings.

  Francesca smiled: “your house will not be that bad.”

  “What strikes me is the number of pedestrians. You don't see that in Australia. Everyone takes the car to drive a couple of meters to go shopping,” Jane continued her observations.

  Francesca agreed: “we have spent a lot of attention to mobility. Not in the traditional sense of mobility which is trying to push as many cars as possible to a certain destination. The starting point was the pedestrian, segways and electrical vehicles. Because of the typical structure of Abacus nobody has to collectively drive for kilometres to either go to work or shop at one of the malls. I think that we have learned something from our suffocating centralistic cities. And for the few times that a car is needed, it can be rented.”

  The landscape changed and alongside the wide lane appeared free standing houses in the green parks.

  “These residential areas are very naturally integrated with the environment. The windy roads, open lots, the trees and bushes. It reminds me of the French and Belgian coastal towns that were designed by architects like Stübben,” Pieter added, “my grandparents used to take me during the summer holidays to the Belgian coast. Not that the North sea is as attractive as the Indian ocean, but the small village of De Haan was a great example of urbanisation from the nineteen twenties. The windy roads and paths provided a quiet and relaxed atmosphere in that village.”

  He looked on the screen to check where they were heading to. He saw the residential parts and industrial zones as round pearls linked to each other, wider and wider in a concentric pattern where a junction could be seen as the centre or as a satellite.

  Francesca parked the car alongside the road. “We have arrived. I hope you will like it.”

  Jane answered in his place: “yes, because he is so spoiled when it comes to houses. I hope it has the grandeur of his restored estate on Egmont.”

  They walked behind Francesca via a small path bordered with tropical plants and flowers.

  The odour was striking and Jane was breathing deeply the sweet air, hoping to be able to identify the different aromas.


  "A mixture of moist, green plants with a sultry smell of earth interlaced with a bouquet of vanilla, tropical flowers and the sharp smell of clove and lavender," she declared poetically, "And this path reminds me of something

  “Just make sure you don't fall or we know immediately where the hospital is in this place," he replied.

  Francesca answered: “the hospital? That is situated on the east side, closer to the airport. You must have passed it, but it is rather difficult to see from the highway if you don't know that it is there.”

  Just like on the Egmont Island, the path ended in an open space. This time not with a restored estate, but with a white plastered house that was built like a horse shoe around a lush enclosed garden. Some colourful glittering dragonflies took off from the still swimming pond like miniature helicopters when Francesca opened the cast-iron gate. Pieter estimated the house to be about twenty by thirty meter.

  Jane and Iveta walked already in amazement through the garden that ended in a wooden terrace built over the swimming pond. There were a couple of deckchairs and they let themselves fall into the soft beige cushions.

  “I'd be happy to spend the rest of the day here,” said Iveta. Jane answered with some confirming noises.

  Pieter had entered and Francesca gave him a short tour. Everything was brand new and shiny. The furniture was simple but of the highest quality. The walls were painted in a neutral egg-white and here and there some of the wiring was still sticking out.

  “This is the typical three bedroom family home. Typical, yet unique. You will not find two identical houses in Abacus. I have to admit that this is one of the nicer ones. Some are bigger, others are more luxurious. As Abacus is growing, we see also more diversity in styles. Not always for the better, if you ask me. But that is of course my personal view.”

  She showed him the different parts and they ended the tour outside to join Jane and Iveta who were still worshipping the sun.

  “So, do you like it?” Jane asked.

  “I am not that difficult. I am more than happy with this one. After all these years I will have to get used that there are neighbours, that is all.”

  Jane corrected him: “human neighbours to be precise. Those wild hogs on the island certainly knew how to build a noisy party.”

  “As you have seen we are finishing up, so you'll be able to move in the next couple of days. That is, if you like the house of course.”

  Pieter nodded in agreement: “of course, I am more than happy with this. Besides, we are not going to stay her forever, are we?”

  Without answering his question, Francesca resumed her role as guide when they returned to the car. “Now we will have a short ride that will take us outside the current boundaries of Abacus. Not more than fifteen minutes, so enjoy the scenery.”

  The border was clearly announced by a series of traffic signs. It stroke Pieter that these were the first traffic signs he had seen in Abacus. A red-white barrier blocked the wide road. A number of armed guards gestured the car to stop and turn off the engine. Francesca opened the door and stepped towards one of the men whom she obviously knew, based on her kissing him. Together they walked back to the car and Pieter opened his side window. The man attentively observed Pieter and the girls in the back. He checked something on the small display that was strapped on his left arm.

  “Good morning ladies and sir. A beautiful day to go for a little tour. You are in good hands with Francesca. Have fun.”

  He made a sign to one of the other sentinels and the barrier went up.

  “I am happy that I did not have to show my passport because I did not bring it with me,” Pieter said. “Wasn't Abacus an open project? What are the armed guards for?”

  Francesca answered: “that's a recent development. With what is going on in the world, the control and the security has been increased dramatically. It certainly was not like that before. There is the fear that armed robbery gangs will abuse the situation to attack Abacus.”

  “I guess Ian has to protect his harmonious society,” he continued bitterly. Nobody reacted so he shut up and decided to look outside.

  Although there were still some spurs from the lush vegetation to be seen, these quickly disappeared between the red-grey barren grounds.

  “This is how the place looked like before we started Abacus. Arid, deserted, inhospitable. Not to mention the raids by rebels, clans or merely lawless gangs. This road continues for another five kilometres but ends up in a dirt road which eventually dissolves in the desert. But we are not going that far, because I am going to take a short cut.

  Without further warning or slowing down the vehicle, she took a sharp turn and left the road with shrieking tyres to race over a bumpy and dusty road.

  “This way is faster,” she shouted above the noise of the dashing car. “And I cannot resist it to for once really drive.”

  The surroundings became greener again. After some kilometres they turned back onto a normal road and they drove parallel of sloping green pastures. Not that far from the road Pieter saw grazing animals which he could not identify. They seemed a lot bigger, yet not more ponderous, than the typical cow that Pieter knew. Something seemed to scare them and the herd ran fast in one direction, driving the young animals towards the middle of the group.”

  “A lion?” Pieter asked.

  Francesca shook her long dark hair: “very unlikely. There is a laser guided system that protects those herds against predators.” She laughed: “maybe a mouse?”

  They looked in amazement how the large herd became a stampede, throwing dust and mud up in the air.

  She slowed down the vehicle: “we are arriving at the largest agricultural project. On both sides of this road you will see stock breeding and farming. Most of the original inhabitants are working here. They provide rice, fresh vegetables, meat, even fish and oysters to the rest of Abacus. The result is that more and more people are coming this way to build up an existence, learn a trade or even start up a small business. Children are going to our schools.”

  Francesca drove the car carefully up a small hill. The view over the slopes was phenomenal. Vast farmlands were interrupted by dark forests and mirroring lakes. Pieter took the binoculars from Francesca and looked to the south where he suspected the whereabouts of Abacus. From this distance he could clearly see that Abacus was built a bit higher than the surroundings, but there was no sign of any visual pollution by antennas, skyscrapers or chimneys. Through the green he could distinguish the white of some of the houses and buildings. He concentrated again on the fields and saw different groups of people doing all kinds of manual work.

  “Rather colonial, don't you think so?” he remarked. “The indigenous population can act as farmer while a couple of miles away, behind protective walls and barriers, the smart ones play with quantum physics and eat oysters.”

  “It is still a development project,” Francesca defended. “Ten years ago these people were still living in the worst conditions facing poverty and diseases. And no, they were not happier then.”

  “I wouldn't be so sure about that,” Pieter whispered.

  “Did you already meet Karum? Well, ten years ago he lived about ten kilometres from this hill, in a mud hut. Ask him how he feels about this colonization.”

  “Were you here also at that time?”

  “Yes, I was one of the first to arrive. I am the principal architect of Abacus.”

  “Annoying fly,” grizzled Iveta, flapping wildly around her.

  Their attention was moved away from Iveta's fly problem when they heard a sudden scream. Pieter aimed the binoculars and saw a group of people jumping into a pick-up truck which sped away. He followed the car driving up to the place where they had just minutes ago joked about the herd being scared by a mouse.

  “I think we should take a look at what is happening over there, maybe we can help,” said Pieter.

  Francesca hesitated. She had received clear orders from Ian not to let her deviate from the program. Obviously this
was an exception. They all entered into the car and Francesca turned into the entrance of the farm house. Excited men and women ran up and down, pointing at a group of men carrying a stretcher. An arm of the body on the stretcher shook unnaturally with the cadence on their steps.

  It was the body of a white man, covered in blood and with serious visible wounds. It was not difficult to conclude that the unlucky man had been trampled by the stampede.

  A nurse hurried and made the men place the stretcher on the hood of the pick-up. Dexterously he put the man on a drip and tried to staunch the flow of blood from the gaping wounds. His desperate expression did not promise a lot of hope. He shook his head while he again took the victim's pulse. After about ten minutes he gave up his reanimation efforts. Pieter heard the swelling noise of the ambulance sirens. The nurse took his mobile phone and stood a bit aside from the crowd that respectfully had gathered around the body. Pieter took this opportunity to get a bit closer to the man. He abhorred the destroyed body. Also the face of the man was heavily mutilated by the hoofs of the cattle. He tried to wave away the flies attracted by the clotted blood and the dripping faeces from the trampled abdominal cavity. The vicious buzzing drowned out the yells of the excited crowd that seemed to grow bigger and bigger.

  Simultaneously with the ambulance, a man arrived who was without doubt the supervisor. A big guy, with straight ginger hair and a large red moustache. Dressed in three quarter shorts like on a Victorian safari. A long machete dangling from his left hip. On his right hip he wore a heavy revolver tucked in a dirty brown holster. Pieter did not know much about weapons, but the sheer size of the gun and the shiny round copper shells in the cylinder, gave sufficient clues that it was more of a hand canon than a popgun.

  The man got out of the car and bawled something in what was apparently the local language. The crowd slowly went away, still excitingly debating the event. The man waited till the doctor had finished his fast examination, bothered by the many flies. He beckoned that the nurses could take the body into the ambulance. They turned the body to drag it on the stretcher of the ambulance and pushed it inside.

  Only now Pieter could see the man's face clearly.

  He held his breath as he recognised through the blood and the shattered bones Jonathan Stratford.

  * * *