by Unknown
Kel and his companions were incredulous. “I didn’t think it could happen to us,” Kel exclaimed.
“But it did,” Halldor said.
“What are you doing here?” Kel asked.
“We’ll show you,” Ulffr said, motioning toward their ship - a standard military craft with weaponry and sophisticated electronic systems. They boarded, crammed together, as the craft rose silently to 20,000 feet, and then flew eastward, where it hovered. “Have a look.”
The four visitors peered at a large screen displaying activity below. They watched people in robes and sandals, going about life in a small village in Jerusalem. Kel craned his neck forward. “I recognize some of them. My friend, Björn.”
“They’re amnesiacs.”
Kel’s face turned ashen.
“That was outlawed,” Helle said, stunned.
Nah grimaced and tears rimmed Unn’s eyes.
“Full amnesia?” Nah asked.
Halldor nodded.
Since beings were immortal, enemies were routinely handled by erasing their memories, implanting false memories, superstitions, lust for war, religious fanaticism, etc. In short, everything that would ensure a chaotic civilization. Then they would be shipped off to some distant planet. Deprived of their knowledge of the past and of their immortality they became ‘one life’ beings effectively enslaved by ignorance. In this instance they had been transported to Earth and Mars.
“How many?” Helle asked, dreading the answer.
“Ninety thousand throughout this area, probably a half million scattered around the planet and about half that number on Mars. Here, all barely subsisting – farming, raising sheep, and goats – it’s tragic, but it’s worse on Mars,” Ulffr said, shaking his head.
“What’s your job?”
“We were sent here to protect them,” Halldor replied sheepishly. Although they were friends, Kel’s tone changed, demanding answers. “Where’s your base?”
Kel’s question made them even more uncomfortable. “On the moon.”
“Let’s go back,” Kel said, filled with disgust.
In only minutes they set down beside Kel’s craft. Good-byes were said. As Kel was getting into his ship Halldor yelled, “It would’ve never happened, Kel, if you’d been there.”
Kel called back, “I’m going to do something about it.”
Back aboard their craft, heading for Mars, they sat in contemplative silence. Reaching the planet, they observed its bleak settlements. As they had been advised conditions were even worse than on Earth. While Earth was arid, Mars was cold and hostile. That they were surviving at all seemed a miracle. Kel and Helle exchanged looks, nodded a silent agreement. Something had to be done.
Kel returned to their mother ship, secured their small craft then, glad to stretch their legs in the ship’s spacious quarters, they made their way to the flight deck. Kel took the comfortable pilot’s chair, checked the charts then headed at near warp speed toward the capital.
During that trip there was much discussion about what to do once they reached home. One plan after another was advanced, debated, modified then discarded. Kel’s mind was set on overthrowing Stazzi’s dictatorship. Unn advised against it as the first order of business, saying it would take too much time, too much planning, and would be of no immediate help to the desperate people on Mars and Earth. Helle supported Kel in his desire to overthrow the government. Nah, ever skeptical, offered objections to every idea.
As their thinking evolved, helping the amnesiacs became the primary objective. Ideas flowed freely. Then Unn came up with a novel idea. “Nah pointed out that it is unrealistic to think that Stazzi would restore the amnesiacs memories. They were his enemies and would be again. And he is unlikely to do anything to make their life easier by giving them technologies. But one thing he might agree to is to make their environment more hospitable.” She looked at each of them in turn. Seeing no disagreement, she continued. “Earth is too arid. Mars is cold and inhospitable. What if the Martian oceans were transported to Earth?”
It was an intriguing idea. Kel began thinking out loud. “It’d take Stazzi’s cooperation but he shouldn’t have too great an objection. Those on Mars would have to be reprocessed then relocated to Earth.”
“How could it be done?” Helle asked.
“It’d be easy,” Kel said, his enthusiasm growing. “We’d position a shield in space to block the sun. The oceans would freeze in short order. Then we’d cut the ice into chunks and send them on their way to Earth. Nah, calculate how long it would take the ice to get to Earth.”
Nah brought a planetary chart up on his screen. “It’ll depend upon when we do it. About six months from now Earth and Mars will be about as close as they ever get. If we were to do it then, it’d take about a year.” They grew silent with thoughts of what lay ahead.
Kel radioed friends advising them of their imminent arrival, a transmission that must have been heard by the government judging from the military escort they picked up. Kel recognized the officers, waved a salute that they returned, unsmiling.
Kel parked the mother ship at the city’s outer limits. The four of them got into their small craft and, with a couple of military ships following them, they flew slowly along the broad central highway. Tall buildings were on either side but on the walkways, crowds had assembled, cheering and waving to them. Kel slid the transparent top back and returned their greetings.
In the succeeding days there was much planning – Kel and Helle with their friends and allies, and Stazzi with his ministers.
Kel was disappointed to find the government had intimidated many of his friends, who were lying low. He urged them not to abandon the idea that democracy could be restored and to just bide their time until he returned.
Kel decided to make a formal presentation of Unn’s idea to the appropriate government body, which turned out to be a bureaucracy with the officious name of Planetary Development Council. Their mission statement read, in part, “. . .to undertake the development of uninhabited planets for the benefit of The Confederation.” That Earth and Mars were populated was of no concern. They still came under their jurisdiction.
Kel prepared the project then presented it to the Planetary Development Council. After stating the general idea, Kel said, “Those on Mars will have to be moved to Earth and, as much as it is an anathema to me, I concede that they will have to be reprocessed. That’ll be your job. While that is being done, we will determine how much water there is on Mars and survey Earth to determine how much water it is capable of taking without inundating too much land. Once those determinations have been made, we’ll begin the job. We’ll place a space shield to block sunlight from reaching Mars. Some of its seas are already frozen so it shouldn’t take long for the rest to freeze. As the water freezes, we will cut it into blocks of ice; place those in orbit until we have completed our work. Once finished, we will launch them on a trajectory toward Earth.”
“As the ice descends through Earth’s atmosphere it will evaporate. Huge clouds will form with most of the water eventually falling as rain.”
“So that Earth’s people will not suffer too much as a result, we will have holographic angels appear and warn of impending floods.
When this plan was reported to Stazzi, he said he saw much advantage in it and surprised Kel with a speedy approval. Kel was elated and felt emboldened to speak out publicly, condemning the once forbidden practice of amnesiaism, decrying what has been done to the amnesiacs and berating the courts for knuckling under to the present government. Kel’s public statements had the unintended consequence of making Stazzi determined to round up those who might support Kel upon his return, and process them in his absence.
The rescue operation proceeded swiftly with Kel, again surprised at Stazzi’s cooperation in gathering up those unfortunate people on Mars, giving them a light reprocessing and delivering them to various locations on Earth.
Meanwhile the sun-blocking shield was positioned, and as expected, Martian oceans
began to freeze.
The geographic study of Earth showed it could accommodate all the water on Mars, making the job less complicated.
Kel had assembled a small team of artists expert in holographic projections for what he had named “The angel project,” an important element of his plan. He put Helle in charge of this group. To determine what the angels were to say, Kel condescended to enlist the help of Stazzi’s agents to determine the content of the Earth population’s religion implants so that the angel’s messages would conform to their beliefs. He was told several different religions had been implanted and that the messages given should be varied according to location. With detailed information regarding those implants, scripts were written. At the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, where Kel had first seen the amnesiacs, were people who believed in a stern and demanding god named Jehovah. Accordingly, a holographic angel warned Noah that Jehovah wanted to cleanse the Earth and that a great flood was coming, and commanded him to build an ark. “A rain will come from the windows of heaven,” the angel warned, “and will last for forty days and forty nights.” Obediently, Noah immediately began to construct his ark.
All around the planet, angels appeared warning of a flood to come. In those areas most, but not all, made preparations, usually by moving to higher ground
The work of cutting blocks of ice from Mars’ now frozen oceans continued rapidly and within a few weeks, the job was completed. Having been assured that the peoples of Earth had been advised of a coming flood ‘from the windows of heaven,’ a phrase repeated worldwide, Kel gave the order to send the ice on its way. Block after block was sent streaming toward Earth and to make the event conform as closely as possible to at least one religious belief, Kel made his crews work steadily to complete the job in exactly forty days.
Kel felt a huge sense of relief with the job’s completion. He and Helle returned to their mother ship for ‘a vacation.’ Eager to know how it was all going to work out, they opted to remain in the area until the rains began.
Back in Alerion, Stazzi, his ministers and henchmen were busily rounding up those suspected of being sympathetic to Kel or hostile to the present government. Many, seeing what was going on, fled. By delaying his return, Kel inadvertently played into Stazzi’s hands. When he returned he would find virtually all of his support vanished.
Again in their small craft, Kel and Helle observed the first blocks of ice hitting Earth’s atmosphere, vaporizing then, as the vapor cooled, vast clouds formed. Soon the torrential rains began. It rained incessantly, day and night. Helle smiled to see Noah’s ark bobbing awkwardly on the sea. Scouting around the planet, they noted that most populations had evidently heeded the angel’s warnings and were safely above the risen waters.
The rest is history. Earth, became a more docile planet, more temperate and more amenable to habitation. Mars was left virtually waterless, with only geologic forms to tell of its once mighty oceans.
Kel and Helle, satisfied that they had done all they could for the amnesiacs returned to Earth. This time there were no welcoming crowds and the military escort they picked up returned no salute. Kel and Helle realized they were in trouble. They were arrested and, with no explanation, taken to be processed. In a rare bit of compassion, they were allowed to bid each other goodbye.
“We’ve been together for many a long year,” Kel said, holding Helle’s hands and looking into her eyes, “and I’ve faith, we will be again. I could not have wished for a truer companion or a braver one.”
“And I, my love, could not have had a kinder, more courageous, more honest mate. I am certain we will meet again, and that we will know each other and be reunited for evermore.”
With that, the guards parted them. Kel was taken into one processing chamber, Helle into another. They were strapped into chairs, and an electronic helmet placed over their heads. Yet, in this great misfortune, a bit of humanity prevailed. The operators were sympathetic, aware that they were about to obliterate the awareness of a truly noble pair. Even though they were being closely supervised, going through all the prescribed motions, they managed to inflict only the lightest of processing.
Stazzi, now General Stazzi, gleefully received the news of Kel and Helle’s processing. He rubbed his hands together and, in his high black boots, danced a little jig. “Take the two of them,” he ordered, “and put them down on Earth in the spot where this all began.”
Side by side, clothed in robes and sandals, Kel and Helle stood on a hilltop in what is now Israel. In a mocking gesture, Stazzi had ordered that a shepherd’s crook be placed in Kel’s hand. They were amnesiacs, but dimly aware of their own identities. Kel surveyed the territory with the thought deep in his mind that he was destined to be a great leader. Squaring his shoulders, Kel took Helle’s hand, and together they walked down the hill toward a small village.
Jack in the Box
Robert Harkess
When Grandpa Jack died, they brought him home in a box. It was only a small box, but then they only brought back his head. It was kinda weird. Everybody else who died just went to the House of Rest and stayed there. One guy in my class says they burn the bodies, but I think he’s lying. Nobody ever came home.
I live with my grandma and grandpa. Well, I guess I used to live with my grandpa. Anyway, I don’t live with my mom and dad because they’re crew on a freighter, and they told me that the grav plates on a freighter would make my bones grow funny, so I have to stay here. They come and see me every time the ship comes home, maybe once or twice a year, and Grandma makes me send a vidblog every month. They don’t always answer, but Grandma says it costs a lot more to send stuff from space than it does to send it to space.
I liked Grandpa Jack. He made me feel grown up, and let me help fix stuff around the house. I liked it when he swore then told me not to tell Grandma. I was really upset when he told me he was sick and not going to get better. They told me I had to be a ‘brave little man’. He got cranky before he died, and sometimes yelled at me, but he always seemed upset after and said sorry.
The box freaked me out, and the head was really scary, but I pretended it wasn’t. I wanted to run away when Grandma first opened the box up and the head moved. It didn’t even look that much like Grandpa Jack, but Grandma said it was supposed to be him. Sure didn’t look real.
Grandma didn’t let me see the box much after that. I got to see it next when Grandpa’s football buddies came around one Wednesday to watch the game. They had always come around on Wednesdays to watch the game before. I thought it was weird they still did it, with Grandpa being dead. I hung around at the door, hoping someone would let me in. Grandpa usually let me sneak in and sit at the back, so long as I promised not to use any of the swear words or tell anybody what they talked about. One man - Doug - saw me and waved for me to come in. I sat up at the back as usual and said nothing, still wondering why they all came.
That was when I saw the box was in the room, sitting on a stool where Grandpa’s favourite chair used to be. Doug opened the box and touched something inside. The head appeared, and started to move.
“Hey guys,” said the head “Beer in the usual place, snacks on the bar. Pitch in.”
That was what Grandpa Jack always said when his friends showed up. It sounded kinda wrong coming from the box. The voice didn’t sound right, and the face still didn’t look that much like my grandpa, but it kept speaking to the men and reminding them about stuff – funny things people had done, or exciting things like accidents and hiking trips. The room started to smell like it always did when Grandpa had his friends round – muggy and stuffy from SafeSmokes and beer. Everybody ended up talking with the head then they watched the game and went home. Doug touched something inside the box then closed it before scruffing up my hair and closing up Grandpa’s room. I hate it when grownups do that.
Grandma wouldn’t let me anywhere near the box, but I caught her yelling at it before breakfast one morning. I was in my room and couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I could h
ear both voices. By the time I got to the kitchen, she’d stopped and Grandpa’s head had been put away. I sneaked down earlier the next day so I got to hang around outside the kitchen while Grandma was still yelling at the box.
“Don’t let your coffee get cold,” she said.
“Where’s my paper?” said Grandpa Jack.
“It’s in the lounge. I’m not having you bury your face in that thing today.”
I wondered what was special about today. Grandma already had a birthday this year.
“Today?” said Grandpa.
“What a surprise,” said Grandma, sounding cranky. “Well, I suppose it shouldn’t be after all these years. Married for forty-eight years. Only two off our gold anniversary and not once have you so much as bought me a card or a bunch of flowers.”
Now that I knew wasn’t true. I remembered a big party for their anniversary a couple of years ago, and Grandpa was always fixing up surprises for Grandma.
“But, dear—” was all Grandpa Jack got to say.
“I’m just a drudge to you.” Grandma had worked her way up to crying again by now, and I wondered what a ‘drudge’ was. “I’m just the hired help. All I ever do is feed you and clean after you. Never a moment for myself. No time for friends. No social life.”
“But, dear—”
Grandma didn’t say any more and I heard the box lid slam. I could hear Grandma was still crying, so I sneaked back to my room and waited for her to call me for breakfast. I don’t think I was supposed to hear her talking to Grandpa like that.