Burning Eagle

by Navin Weeraratne

  Everyone else around them had gone quiet.

  “The Foundation’s mission is to help climate refugees and conduct eco-repair programs. To channel profits into helping those left behind. It’s critical for our image, and the morale of our workers. Workers like me. Not to fund extravagant projects with no bearing on people’s needs.” He shook his head slowly. “Come on, Daryl. How could you be so out of touch?”

  Daryl sipped his coffee slowly. “You certainly never were one to sugarcoat. You’re dead wrong about one thing. It does have bearing on people’s needs.”

  “How does a starship help Bangladeshi boat people?”

  “Because exploration and science are always important, especially in times of crisis. They are investments in our future, and we cannot stop doing that. If we do, we’re as derelict in our duties as the generations that brought us here.”

  “This isn’t self-repairing dykes and drought-proof rice we’re talking about. This is building a spaceship to reach another star.”

  “Precisely. How does that not advance science? We can’t even guess at what we’ll learn. This ship would fly to the Alpha Centauri system. We know it has at least one world with free oxygen in its atmosphere. That’s the surest sign of Earth-like life there is! You can’t tell me that this an investment,” he gestured to the hologram, “we shouldn’t be making.”

  “Actually yes I can,” he jabbed his finger at the floating design, “I’m specifically pushing the case that we can’t make this investment. How much money is something like this going to cost?”

  “Well, I’ve done some calcu – “

  “No, stop. This isn’t scholarships for runaway, African, child soldiers. Even your entire personal fortune couldn’t bankroll a project like this. You’re not putting together modules Daryl, you’re developing technology. When has that ever been cheap? You’ll have to go to the board. Where is the return on investment? How can you make this something they would invest in? Even if they said yes, we just don’t have the money. We’re one company, Daryl. Something like this needs a group of nations.”

  Daryl smiled.

  “Oh come on!”

  “I’ve done some calculations. An international program is indeed the only way this could be funded. Nations have already come together for clean energy and eco-repair. The UN High Commission for Refugees’ funding exceeds the GNP of some nations. The world is pretty good at getting serious, Sam. I think the Sun Star Foundation should get the world behind an expedition to Alpha Centauri.”

  “Oh, the world is good at getting serious alright. Let’s ask the Maldives, shall we? They world got pretty serious once their UN delegation took up more dry land than their country did.”

  “Come on, Sam. You know what I mean.”

  “Do you know what you mean? You want to work with nations that only deliver when there’s a knife at their throats? And the UNHCR orbitals are not paid for with the world’s money. They’re paid for with the Big Four’s money. Sure, places like Korea and Switzerland throw in a bit. But that’s only so that they can look like they’re paying. Its protection money we pay to the poorest countries, to evacuate their desperate to space.”

  “You mean less developed countries.”

  “No, I mean poorest. ‘Less developed’ implies that they’re in the process of getting their acts together. Most of these places were decolonized almost a century ago. Those still blaming Europeans are no longer able or interested in making meaningful change.”

  “Can we do this without sounding right wing?”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You have lobbyists in Congress, both America’s and China’s. You’re the last person who gets to pretend he’s not right wing. A spade is a spade, Daryl. If we can’t agree on the facts then this conversation is pointless.”

  “Can we move on?”

  “I’ll take that as agreement. The world comes up with the money for the UN’s refugee orbitals, because it has to. It’s political, not philanthropic. Africa and Asia are full of uneducated, poor, and bitter people. Every penny spent resettling them in space, is spent on defense. It’s Low Earth Orbit, or drone strikes and Chinese peacekeepers. You can’t expect that level of international spending and cooperation for a starship, Daryl. If anything, they will see it as a competing interest. They will say yes, take control, and delay it forever.”

  “I fully understand the politics of the resettlement orbitals. You may recall they were our idea.”

  “Sun Star was strong-armed into giving up the tech to build them. Pretending that it was our idea, was my idea.”

  “And under you, the PR department has done such a good job, even I can’t remember. But the Big Four understand that no crisis, no matter how dire, should kill science spending. They got where they are, because they’ve always invested in research. Often, they’ve researched their way out of crisis. Eco-repair and climate refugees will be no different.”

  “Again I ask you: how will sending a ship to Alpha Centauri, help Bangladeshi boat people?”

  “I think I just answered that.”

  “No you didn’t. How will you make this real for a climate refugee? How can you sell this to them?”

  “It will give them hope.”

  Sam laughed. “Hope? Who needs hope?”

  “Without hope, there is no reason not to turn to extremism. A Centauri mission will create hope, for all peoples, around the world.”

  “Orbitals create hope. Your number comes up, and you’re out of the slums. Off to somewhere with more space and food. There are no minorities to fight with. There’s just one language, one religion, one caste.”

  Daryl threw up his hands, “Christ, what makes you call that hope?”

  “Have you met these people, Daryl? Your typical climate refugee is not big on middle class values. People learn to spell or to hate. They only rarely do both. If you try to force your values on them, they push back violently.”

  “Well I can’t accept that.”

  “Well you have to. This ship is a dream of a better era. People will support this Daryl, lots of people. But you can’t expect the whole world to get behind it. Only the rich, or those lucky enough to be born in a prosperous nation, will support this. People like us.”

  “Us? You support this?”

  “No, of course not. I think it’s a bad idea that literally won’t fly. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s a nice idea. I think it’s beautiful. It’s what our grandparents promised us, and our parents squandered. This wouldn’t be creating a new hope. It’s renewing one that was lost. It doesn’t get better than that.”

  “I really have no idea where you stand on this.”

  “You’re my boss. Where do you want me to stand on this? I do my best to talk you out of ideas that I don’t agree with. But if I can’t manage that, then I have to ask myself if I still want your money. Now while I’ve asked you questions, I’ve asked this one of myself. I know the answer. So now, I have one last question for you.”

  “Well get on with it.”

  “You yourself understand this will likely cost more than any single company or nation can afford. And, I have pointed out that the program would only appeal to a minority. This is however an influential minority, dominating the world’s resources. If it went forward, this program would divert those resources from the people who most need it. Are you alright with this?”

  “Yes, yes I am.”

  “Take your time with that answer, Daryl. You’re selling your soul here. And a lot of other people’s as well.”

  “No, this is how I want to buy my soul, back. The world’s most desperate need hope. However, they are not the only people in the world. We need to invest in our future, but we must also be true to ourselves.”

  “Are you sure you’re not really saying that you resent those people? The world’s most desperate? The ones who take resources away from how you’d like to see them used?”

  “No, I don’t resent them. But without something to hope in, I think I
would start to. I think my attitude speaks for many.”

  “Tomorrow, I’ll call you up and see if you still feel this way. If you do, I’ll start drawing up some focus groups.”

  “Focus groups?”

  “Just in the US. We’ll do every state. If the data for the US is promising, then we can test in the rest of the Big Four.”

  “Thank you Sam. Isn’t it a bit early to be doing focus groups though?”

  “I don’t think so. The sooner we find out if people would support this or not, the better. It’ll determine the potential budget. Your engineers will want to some idea what that is.”

  Spektorov sat back and sighed. “I’m glad you’re onboard with this.”

  “We’ll see what you say tomorrow. I want you to have a good think. Would you do that for me?”

  “I will.”

  “That’s all I can ask.”

  “Do you want to meet the team?”

  “The designers of this – what’s it called?”

  “We’ve been calling it the Pathfinder.”

  “Yes, let’s go meet them. Maybe at least I can talk them out of that stupid name.”