“And the population has gone mad with rage,” the President added. “You’ll have all the support you could possibly wish.”
“I know,” Steve said. “But will it be enough?”
It was victory, of a sort, but it tasted like ashes on his mouth. The world’s population had been shocked, horrified and outraged by the slaughter. There would be no quibbling about the lunar colony now, or the desperate need to establish human colonies on countless other worlds. Humanity had been given a sharp lesson in the true danger of ignoring the universe.
Now, there would be no objections to placing weapons in space. But, compared to what the Galactics could produce, Earth’s weapons were almost laughable. And yet, used properly, they’d given the Horde a very hard time.
He sighed. The first batch of soldiers were on their way to Ying, accompanied by Kevin, who had orders to purchase as many additional starships as he could. In the meantime, the Horde homeships were being converted for human use; they’d take a large human population out of the Sol System and somewhere well beyond the reach of the Galactics. Given time – and the information they’d obtained from Friend – they’d be able to set up a whole new civilisation. The human race would survive.
But at one hell of a cost.
“Let us hope so,” the President said. He paused. “What do you intend to do with the captured Hordesmen?”
“They’ll live on Mars, for the moment,” Steve said. The sociologists might swear that the captured Hordesmen and women posed no real threat, but Steve wasn't inclined to take chances. Besides, if they were placed on Earth or Heinlein Colony there was a very strong possibility of revenge attacks. “And, if they grow into something we can respect, we can welcome them into our new union.”
“We shall see,” the President said. “Alien citizens of Earth?”
Steve smiled, humourlessly. “A century or two ago, the idea that the black man or the Native American could be an equal citizen would have sounded dangerously absurd,” he pointed out, dryly. “It wasn't that long ago that Japanese-Americans like my partner were regarded as potential spies or people who would commit acts of sabotage. Why not aliens joining the United States as citizens?”
He paused. “Or the Solar Union,” he added. “We will accept aliens, if they wish to join.”
“Good luck,” the President said. “After the battle, it may be a long time before humanity is prepared to accept aliens as equals.”
“That might be a bad idea,” Steve said. “There are races out there far more powerful and dangerous than the Hordes.”
It was a bitter thought. The Hordesmen had been dangerously incompetent and prone to acting like single warriors rather than fighting as part of a team, but they’d bombarded Earth and come alarmingly close to outright victory. If Steve hadn't cheated and manipulated the aliens, the battle would have ended very differently. A smarter alien race, one that had actually developed its own technology or successfully copied technology from another race, would be a very different problem. Steve had no illusions. A battle squadron from any of the major Galactic powers could overwhelm Earth within hours, if that.
“We will need allies,” he added. “And friends. And we must never forget where we came from when we get our hands on more Galactic technology.”
“True,” the President agreed. He held out a hand. “It's time to bury the dead.”
Steve nodded. The ceremony was private, even though there were hundreds of thousands of people who had wanted to attend. Only the President, a handful of selected guests and Steve himself. New York had been sealed off, after the troops had searched the wreckage for survivors, in the hopes of preventing looting. The complete absence of people lent a surreal atmosphere to the remains of one of humanity’s greatest cities.
He caught sight of Gunter Dawlish and winced, inwardly. The Mainstream Media had promptly blasted Steve and his men for failing to defend New York, triggering off a series of flame wars online as bloggers took sides, some agreeing with the MSM and others pointing out that Steve had had no choice. Steve found it hard to argue; cold logic told him he'd done the right thing, emotion told him he’d fucked up badly. The cynical side of his mind asked, nastily, if he would have been so upset if New York had been spared. No other missiles had fallen in North America.
At least Gunter thought before passing judgement, Steve thought, sardonically. Some of the bloggers forgot to engage their brains before putting mouths in gear.
The sense of being among ghosts suddenly grew stronger. Steve staggered, wondering absurdly if the dead of New York wanted revenge. Or if they wanted to tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself and get back to work. There was no way to tell. It was quite possible, he knew, that he was imagining it. And yet the devastated island seemed full of ghosts.
“I'm sorry,” he found himself whispering. He’d sworn an oath to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. By any standards, he'd failed. The vast power he’d acuminated only made it worse. “I’m sorry I failed to protect you. But it won’t happen again.”
***
Kevin lay in his bed on Captain Perry, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Carolyn’s deep breathing as she slept beside him. The sudden change in their relationship had come as a shock; he’d gone to her, intending to share dinner as usual, and she’d practically dragged him into bed. But quite a few new relationships had sprung up in the wake of the battle, he’d heard, either through people wanting to celebrate being alive or merely waking up to the fact that they might well end up dead, soon enough.
He was worried, more worried than he cared to admit, about the future. One attack on Earth had been barely staved off, another might be far more successful. And there were powers that wouldn't want humans to enter the galactic mainstream. And then there was Steve ...
Kevin shook his head, tiredly. He worried about his brother too. Part of him had just ... folded in the wake of New York’s destruction, even though it was a victorious battle and humanity had survived. No man should acquire so much power so quickly without restraints, Kevin considered, even if Steve had had good advisors in Mongo and Kevin himself. And Mariko, Kevin added. In the wake of the battle, Steve had finally proposed. Kevin just hoped they’d get back to Earth in time for the wedding.
He sighed, then closed his eyes. Steve could leave, if he wanted, and become an interstellar trader. It would solve a great many problems if he did. And it wasn't as if he hadn't left a legacy behind. Given five years of uninterrupted development, the Solar Union would become more than just a name. There would be the start of a human-built space fleet, a growing network of defences around Earth, and both mercenaries and traders out in space, learning more about the universe.
And there would always be Stuarts, ready to defend their homeworld; Steve and Mongo had already had children, while there was plenty of time for Kevin to have children of his own. If he had them with Carolyn, he considered, they would definitely be smart. And the family had a long history of defending their rights and their homes. Earth would be in good hands.
The future would take care of itself. It always did.
Epilogue
“Welcome home, Steve.”
Steve smiled as he saw Kevin, a little older, waiting for him in the teleport chamber.
“It's good to see you again,” he said, as he wrapped Kevin up in a hug. “It's been ... what? Four years since I saw you and the kids?”
“I’m just glad you got here in time for the memorial service,” Kevin said. “In the five years since the Battle of Earth, you only ever attended the first ceremony.”
“You know the dangers of dwelling on the past,” Steve said, irked. He’d left the Sol System as soon as the elections had been held, naming Rochester as the first President of the Solar Union. Steve had felt it would be better for his successor if Steve himself was no longer around. “How far would we have come as a family if we’d kept blaming the English for kicking us out of Scotland?”
Kevin s
miled. “I think it was the charge of being drunk and disorderly that really got to our ancestors,” he countered. “But we also have to remember the past.”
Steve shrugged. “Mariko and I went quite a bit further this time,” he said. “I sent back a handful of reports, but I’ve got a complete one here. So far, the war seems to have remained firmly stalemated. That may change though, soon.”
“Because of us,” Kevin said. He took the chip Steve passed him and dropped it into his pocket. “We could do with another few decades before the galaxy as a whole realises we exist.”
“We may not have that time,” Steve admitted. “It all depends on which way the lizards choose to jump.”
He shook his head. “But enough of that,” he said. “You’re the Director of Solar Intelligence, so give me some intelligence.”
“That would require brain surgery,” Kevin pointed out.
Steve snorted, rudely. “How are things in Heinlein these days? I heard the announcement about us having the millionth citizen on the way in.”
“Oddly bureaucratic, despite the best intentions of our laws,” Kevin conceded. “It seems natural that we develop government, then the government starts growing out of control.”
“I’m not surprised,” Steve said. He took the beer Kevin offered him, then sat down. “But you know what? There's a whole universe out there. Anyone who doesn't fit in here will be able to go outwards, if they wish. And the problem will take care of itself.”
“As long as the Galactics don’t take care of us,” Kevin said. “One day, one day soon, they will notice. And then the shit will really hit the fan.”
“Give us time,” Steve said. “By the time they notice, we will be ready.”
The End
As always, if you want a sequel, let me know.
Afterword
My writing process is fairly simple. I write three chapters a day, post them on various forums and then read the comments, insert corrections, etc. (God bless everyone who sends in a typo-note, as there’s no such thing as a minor correction in the writing world.) Sometimes, I get genuinely interesting responses from people who disagree with me – or, rather, with the characters.
I had reached about twelve/thirteen chapters into A Learning Experience when I noted an interesting trend on a couple of discussion forums. People were commenting on what they saw as foolish and/or unrealistic actions by the main characters, the US Government and just about everyone else. A couple of those comments verged into ‘mistake the author for his characters’ territory and were duly ignored. The remainder struck me as interesting – and, in some respects, the inevitable result of commenting on an unfinished book.
As both Kevin and Mongo pointed out in the text, not all of Steve’s actions and thoughts are wise ones. He could have avoided the ‘skirmish’ with the DHS, he could have found less dramatic ways to make his point and he came alarmingly close to committing outright genocide. But such is character development. Characters who are perfect are not only boring, they are unrealistic. A character who grows and develops, on the other hand, is a representative of the whole human condition.
Steve starts out heavily political; he’s alienated from his country’s government, he doesn't trust those schmucks in Washington and he has more or less withdrawn from society. He chooses to spend a large amount of his time dwelling on a government betrayal and grumbling about the sad state of near-future America. And then effectively limitless power (at least on Earth) is simply dropped into his hands. Steve, as several characters point out, could attack Washington and take power for himself. Instead, he chooses to set up a new Wild West and invite anyone who feels like him to reach for the stars.
Over the course of the story, Steve grows to realise – truly realise – that vast power doesn’t solve everything. Nor can he hope to handle everything on his own. Very rapidly, his plans for a libertarian state are challenged by the need for a staff to handle things, for an effective system of government and a plan to defend Earth and all of humanity against an alien threat. Steve, who is armed with technology that makes wiping out large chunks of the Taliban and various global terrorist networks an easy task, comes to realise that it isn't as easy as it looks to rule a state. It sure as hell isn't easy to set the course of the future.
This is a common problem, in and out of both fiction and real life. Every election campaign, politicians make vast promises that, when they are forced to come face to face with reality, they find impossible to actually fulfil. One promise might be impossible to keep through lack of funds, another might be impossible to keep because there are international treaties underpinning the promise and removing them may open up other cans of worms, still more promises may be made when the politician was unaware of certain factors that mandated that the promise had to be broken. It isn't as simple as you might think to become a global leader – or to act as one, once you reach such a position.
These are not the only problems, of course. A single issue might be easy to handle if the President (or Prime Minister, or whatever) concentrated on it to the exclusion of all else. However, very few issues can receive that degree of scrutiny from the Head of Government. It is far more likely that smaller issues will be handled by the head’s subordinates, who may butcher the job or simply decide it isn't politically important. And, naturally, when (if) this blows up in the Head of Government’s face, it’s always his fault.
This represents a serious problem with our governments that, as Steve says in elaborate detail, is a major headache for the future. As politicians become more and more interested in looking good, rather than actually looking to the future, we find it much harder to respond to problems caused by the lack of accountability. In their place, colossal government bureaucracies set out to regulate society – with almost no accountability at all. Worse, the departments become more interested in preserving their own positions than doing their jobs.
Does this sound insane? Imagine you work in the Department of Homeland Security. If Congress were to become convinced that your organisation wasn't doing its job, you might lose your job. Your incentives would lead you to find work for your department even if there wasn't anything. You wouldn't say there was no terror threat. Instead, you would ask for more resources to track down the terror threat you need to justify your existence.
I do not believe there is a single government department that is free of the taint of bureaucracies struggling to secure and expand their paper empires. Consider, for example, Britain’s UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency). The forms prospective immigrants are meant to fill in are outrageously complex (applying to join the army is considerably easier), the requirements are often absurd (how many people really bother to make exact notes of when they moved from country to country a decade or so ago?) and the screening process frankly insulting to one’s intelligence. (How many terrorists would admit to it when filling in their forms?) Or various defence departments around the globe, concentrating more on defending their bureaucracies than defending the soldiers who fight and die in constant wars?
And if you were given a way to establish a society away from all that, what would you do?
Reasonable readers may disagree with Steve’s actions. I would quite agree that some of them were stupid and dangerous. But I don’t think they're unrealistic.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
My intentions with this series are to follow the next generation of Steve’s family by skipping forward fifty years, then another fifty. If you want a sequel, of course, please don’t hesitate to contact me and let me know.
And if you liked the book, please leave a review on Amazon.
Christopher G. Nuttall
Manchester, 2014
Table of Contents
Cover Blurb
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
&nbs
p; Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
A Learning Experience Page 41