When Nicole didn’t say anything Archie moved to the center of the room. “I have volunteered,” their octospider friend said, “to negotiate personally with the human leaders in an attempt to stop this conflict before it escalates into full-scale war. To accomplish this, however, I must Obviously have some help. If I suddenly appear in the camp of the human soldiers, they will kill me. Even if they do not, they will have no way of understanding what I am telling them. So some human who understands our language must accompany me to translate my colors or there’s no way that a meaningful dialogue can be started.”
After Richard and Nicole told the Chief Optimizer that they had no disagreement with the basic concept proposed by Archie, the two humans and their octospider colleague were left alone to discuss the details. Archie’s idea was straightforward. Nicole and he would approach the camp near the Cylindrical Sea together and would request a meeting with Nakamura and the other human leaders. At that meeting Archie and Nicole would explain that the octospiders were a peace-loving species who had no territorial claims on the north side of the Cylindrical Sea. Archie would request that the humans withdraw from their camp and cease their overflights. If necessary, as a token of the goodwill of the octospiders, Archie would offer to supply quantities of food and water to help the humans through their current difficulties. A permanent relationship between the two species would be established and a treaty drafted to codify the agreement.
“Jesus,” Richard said after he finished translating Archie’s comments. “And I thought Nicole was an idealist!”
Archie did not understand Richard’s remark. Nicole patiently explained to the octospider that the leaders of New Eden were not likely to be as reasonable as Archie was assuming. “It is entirely possible,” Nicole said, to stress the danger of what Archie was proposing, “that they will kill us both before we are ever allowed to say anything.”
Archie kept insisting that what he was proposing was bound to be accepted eventually because it was clearly in the best interests of the humans living in New Eden.
“Look, Archie,” Richard responded in frustration, “what you said is just not correct. There are many human beings, including Nakamura, who do not give a shit what is good for the colony. In fact, the common welfare is not even a factor in the subconscious objective function, to use your terms-, that governs their behavior. All they care about is themselves. Every decision is weighed in terms of whether or not it will increase their own personal power or influence. In our history, leaders have often destroyed their own countries or colonies in attempts to retain their power.”
The octospider was stubborn. “What you are describing just cannot be true in an advanced species,” Archie insisted. “The fundamental laws of evolution clearly indicate that those species whose primary value is the welfare of the group will outlast those in which the individual is supreme. Are you suggesting that human beings are an aberration of some kind, a freak of nature violating a fundamental—”
Nicole interrupted. ‘This is all very interesting, you two,” she said, “but we have some more pressing business. We must design a plan of action that has no pitfalls… Richard, if you don’t like Archie’s plan, what do you suggest?”
Richard reflected for several seconds before speaking. “I believe that Nakamura has committed New Eden to this action against the octospiders for many reasons, one of which is to preclude criticism of the domestic failures by his government. I do not think he will be dissuaded from his course unless the citizens are overwhelmingly against the war, and, I’m sorry to say, I don’t think that will happen unless the colonists are convinced the war will be a disaster.”
“So you think threats are necessary?” Nicole said.
“As a minimum. What would be perfect would be a demonstration of military might by the octospiders,” Richard said.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Archie commented, “at least under the current circumstances.”
“Why?” Richard asked. ‘The Chief Optimizer spoke with confidence about winning any war that might occur. If you were to attack and utterly destroy that camp—”
“Now it is you who do not understand us,” Archie said. “Because war, or any conflict that can result in deliberate deaths, is such a non-optimal way of resolving disputes, our colony has very strict regulations governing concerted hostile actions. Controls are built into our society to make war absolutely the solution of the last resort. We have no standing army and no stockpile of weapons, for example. And there are other restraints as well. All optimizers participating in a decision to declare war, as well as all octospiders engaging in an armed conflict, are immediately terminated after the war.”
“Whaaat?” said Richard, not believing his translator. “That’s not possible.”
“Yes, it is,” Archie said. “As you can imagine, these factors significantly deter our participation in non-defensive hostilities. The Chief Optimizer knows that she signed her own death warrant two weeks ago when she authorized the beginning of war preparations. All eighty of the octospiders now living and working in the War Domain will be terminated when this war is either concluded or the threat of war has officially passed… I myself, since I was part of the discussions today, will be placed on the termination lists if war is declared.”
Richard and Nicole were speechless. “The only possible justification for war to an octospider,” Archie continued, “is an unambiguous threat to the very survival of the colony. Once that threat is identified and acknowledged, our species undergoes a metamorphosis and prosecutes the war, without mercy, until either the threat is obliterated or our colony has been destroyed. Generations ago, some very wise optimizers realized that those individual octospiders who were engaged in killing, and the design of killing, were so psychologically altered by their experiences that they became a significant detriment to the operation of a peaceful colony. That’s why the termination codicils were enabled.”
Richard and Nicole were still silent even after Archie had finished talking. At length Richard started to ask Archie to leave the room so that he could speak privately to his wife, but he quickly remembered the ubiquitous quadroids. “Nicole, darling,” he said finally, “I don’t think Archie’s plan is quite right for several reasons. For one thing, I should be going with him instead of you—”
When Nicole started to interrupt, Richard gestured with his hands for her to remain quiet, “Now hear me out,” he said. “Throughout our marriage, especially since we left the Node, you have always been the one out front, giving of your time and energy for the benefit of the family or the colony. Now it’s my turn. In this particular instance, I believe that I am also better suited to the proposed task. I can more easily scare our fellow humans by conjuring up images of doomsday blows delivered by the octospiders.”
“But you don’t speak (heir language well,” Nicole protested. “Without your translator—”
“I’ve thought about that,” Richard said. “And I think that Ellie and Nikki should go with Archie and me. First, with a child among us, the probability that we will be killed by the advance force is significantly reduced. Second, Ellie is completely fluent in the octospider language and can back me up if my translator is either not available or inadequate. Third, and this may be the most important reason, the only crime that Nakamura and his minions can possibly be attributing to the octospiders is Ellie’s kidnapping. If she shows up, healthy and praising the alien enemy, then the war effort will be undermined.”
Nicole frowned. “I don’t like the idea of Nikki going along. It’s much too dangerous. I would never forgive myself if something happened to that child.”
“Nor would I,” Richard said. “But I don’t think Ellie will go without her… Nicole, there are no good plans. We will be forced to choose the least unsatisfactory option.”
During a brief pause in the conversation Archie spoke in color. “Richard’s points are all excellent,” the octospider said to Nicole. “And there is one additional reason why it migh
t be better for you to remain here in the Emerald City-the rest of the humans who stay behind will need your leadership in the difficult days ahead.”
Nicole’s mind was racing. She had not been prepared for Richard to volunteer to go. “Are you telling me, Archie,” she said, “that you endorse Richard’s suggestions, including taking Ellie and Nikki with you?”
“Yes,” the octospider replied.
“But Richard,” Nicole then said, turning to her husband, “you know how you hate what you call political crap. Are you certain you have thought this through?”
Richard nodded. Nicole shrugged. “All right, then,” she said. “We’ll talk to Ellie. If she agrees, we have a plan.”
The Chief Optimizer thought that the amended proposal had some chance of success, but felt compelled to remind everyone that, based on the detailed octospider analysis of the likely outcome, there was still a high probability that both Archie and Richard would be killed, and a nonzero chance that Ellie and Nikki would not survive as well. Nicole’s heart skipped a beat when she translated the octospider leader’s reminder. The Chief Optimizer was not telling her anything that Nicole did not already know; however, Nicole had been so involved in the planning and discussions that she had not yet confronted any of the likely outcomes of their decisions.
Nicole said very little while the principals all agreed upon a baseline timetable. When she heard Richard say that Archie and he, with or without Ellie and Nikki, would leave the Emerald City one tert after dawn the next day, Nicole shuddered. Tomorrow, flashed quickly through her mind. Tomorrow our lives will change again.
She remained quiet on the transport ride back to their zone. While Richard and Archie talked about many different subjects, Nicole tried to wrestle with the growing fear inside her. An inner voice, one that she had not heard for years, was telling her that she would never see Richard again after tomorrow. Is this perhaps some peculiar reaction on my part? she asked herself critically. Am I having trouble letting Richard be the hero?
The strength of the premonition grew, despite Nicole’s attempts to combat it. She remembered a terrible night many, many years earlier, when she had been in her bedroom in the little house in Chilly-Mazarin. Nicole had awakened screaming from a violent and vivid nightmare. “Mommy is dead,” the ten-year-old girl had cried.
Her father had tried to console her and had explained that her mother was just away on a trip visiting her family in the Ivory Coast. The telegram announcing her mother’s death had arrived at the house seven hours later.
“If you don’t have any weapons stockpiled and no trained soldiers,” Richard was now saying, “how in the world can you prepare for a war fast enough to defend yourself?”
“I cannot tell you that,” Archie replied. “But believe me, I know for a fact that a conflict at this time between our two species could result in the total annihilation of the human civilization in Rama.”
Nicole could not calm her tormented soul. No matter how many times she told herself she was overreacting, the premonitory fear did not diminish. She reached over and took Richard’s hand. He wrapped his fingers through hers and continued his conversation with Archie.
Nicole gazed intently at him. I am proud of you, Richard, she thought, but I am also scared. And I am not yet ready to say good-bye,
It was very late when Nicole went to bed. She had awakened Ellie gently, without disturbing Nikki and the Watanabe twins, who were sleeping in the Wakefield house so that Patrick and Nai could have their wedding night alone. Ellie, of course, had had many questions. Richard and Nicole had explained the plan, including everything important they had learned from Archie and the Chief Optimizer earlier in the evening. Ellie had been fearful, but had finally agreed that Nikki and she would accompany Richard and Archie the next day.
Nicole could not fall into a deep sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour, she began a sequence of short, chaotic dreams. In her final dream Nicole was again seven years old back in the Ivory Coast, in the middle of her Poro ceremony.
She was half naked out in the water, with the lioness prowling around the perimeter of the pond. Little Nicole took a deep breath and dove under the water. When she surfaced, Richard was standing on the shore where the lioness had been. It was a young Richard smiling at her initially, but as Nicole watched, he aged rapidly and became the same Richard who was beside her that moment in the bed. She heard Omeh’s voice in her ear. “Look carefully, Ronata,” the voice said. “And remember…”
Nicole woke up. Richard was sleeping peacefully. She sat up in the bed and tapped on the wall one time. A solitary firefly appeared in the doorway, shining some light into the bedroom. Nicole stared at her husband. She looked at his hair and beard, gray from age, and remembered them when they had been black. She recalled fondly his ardor and humor during their courtship in New York. Nicole grimaced, took a deep breath, and kissed her index finger. She placed the finger on Richard’s lips. He did not stir. Nicole sat quietly for several more minutes, studying every feature of her husband’s face. Soft tears flowed down her cheeks and dropped from her chin onto the sheets. “I love you, Richard,” she said.
WAR IN RAMA
1
REPORT #319
Time of Transmission: 156 307 872 574.2009 Time Since First-Stage Alert: 111.9766 References: Node 23-419 Spacecraft 947 Spacefarers 47 249 (A & B) 32806 2666
During the last interval the structure and order in the spacefaring communities inside the spacecraft have continued to disintegrate. Despite the warnings of the octospiders (Spacefarers #2 666) and their laudable attempts to avoid a broad conflict with the humans (#32 806), it is now even more likely that a disastrous war between the two species, which could leave only a few survivors, may take place in the next several intervals. The situation therefore meets all the prerequisite conditions for a Stage 2 intercession.
Prior intercessionary activity has been declared a failure, primarily because the more aggressive of the two species, the humans, are fundamentally insensitive to the entire range of subtle intercessionary techniques. Only a few of the humans have responded to the many attempts to alter their hostile behavior, and those who did react were unable to stop the genocide of the avians and sessiles (#47 249, A & B) perpetrated by their rulers.
The humans are organized in the rigid, hierarchical manner often observed in pre-spacefaring species. They continue to be dominated by a leadership whose focus is the retention of personal power. The welfare of the human community and even its survival are subordinated in the implicit objective function of the current human leaders to the continuation of a political system which gives them absolute authority. There is consequently little likelihood that the threatened expanded conflict between the humans and the octospiders can be avoided by any logical appeals.
A small cadre of humans, including almost all of the family that lived at the Node for over a year, remains in residence in the main octospider city. Their interaction with their hosts has demonstrated that it is possible for the two species to live together in harmony. Recently a mixed delegation of those humans and one octospider have decided to make a concerted effort to prevent a full-scale interspecies war by contacting the leaders of the human colony directly. However, the probability that this delegation will be successful is very low.
Thus far the octospiders have taken no overt hostile action. Nevertheless, they have begun the process of preparing for a war against the humans. Although they will fight only if they determine that the survival of their community is in jeopardy, the advanced biological capabilities of the octospiders makes the outcome of such a war a foregone conclusion.
What is not certain is how the humans will react once the conflict escalates and they suffer heavy losses. It is possible that the war might terminate quickly and, in time, the two surviving communities might again reach a near equilibrium status. Based on the available observational data on the humans, however, there is a nontrivial probability that this species will continue the battle unti
l most or all of them perish. Such an outcome would destroy all the vestiges of at least one of the two spacefaring societies remaining in the spacecraft. To preclude such a disadvantageous result for the project, consideration of a Stage 2 intercession is recommended.
2
Nicole was awakened by the sound of the three children playing in the living room. As she was slipping on her robe, Ellie came to the door of the bedroom and asked if she had seen Nikki’s favorite doll. “I think it’s under her bed,” Nicole replied.
Ellie returned to her packing, Nicole could hear Richard in the bathroom. I won’t be long now, she was thinking when her granddaughter suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Mommy and I are leaving, Nonni,” the little girl said with a smile. “We’re going to see Daddy.”
Nicole opened her arms and the little girl ran over for a hug. “I know, darling,” Nicole said. She held the girl tightly in her arms and then began to stroke her hair. “I will miss you, Nikki,” she said.
A few seconds later the Watanabe twins both bounded into the room. “I’m hungry, Mrs. Wakefield,” Galileo said.
“Me too,” Kepler added.”
Nicole reluctantly released her granddaughter and started walking across the bedroom. “All right, boys,” she said. “I’ll have your breakfast in a few minutes.”
When the three children were almost finished eating, Max, Eponine, and Marius arrived at the door. “Guess what, Uncle Max,” Nikki said before Nicole had even had a chance to greet the Pucketts. “I’m going to see my daddy.”
The four hours flew by quickly. Richard and Nicole explained everything twice, first to Max and Eponine and then to the newlyweds, both of whom were still radiant from the pleasures of their wedding night. As the time neared for the departure of Richard, Ellie, and Nikki, the excitement and energy that had characterized the morning conversation began to wane. Butterflies started fluttering in Nicole’s stomach.
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