Dr. David Cook (Computational and Science Engineering (CSE), Electrical Engineering, and Information Technology) and Dr. Tony Decker (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science) came next. Dr. Cook better fit the stereotypical mold of what a genius was. Introverted and somewhat detached, he had the social skills of a clam – a nice clam but not one that was going to be doing karaoke at the Christmas Party.
Unfortunately, that was more than she could say about Dr. Tony Decker. Dr. Decker was not quiet and carried a very low empathy quotient. He wasn’t mean per se, just condescending to everyone. He was smart enough to realize that his attitude put many others off but was arrogant enough not to care. Maybe it was because Dr. Cook was oblivious to other people’s personalities but they tended to hang out together.
The woman that headed up Blue Squad, Captain Ito Hiromi, was a little more of a mystery. Her file contained less information than the others (perhaps because she was sourced from the Japanese SDF?) and she was definitely the most reserved of the group, but it had nothing to do with a lack of self-confidence. Although her file didn’t address it Julie suspicioned that she also carried a high IQ. Much more of the personality puzzle made sense once Julie realized that she was a monozygotic (identical) twin.
Julie wasn’t surprised that the twins held the same profession or even that they had both excelled more or less equally in their rank and citations. Some monozygotic twins claim that physical closeness allows each to perform at a higher level. She was somewhat surprised however that the military would allow them to serve together. Maybe the SDF worked differently but she seemed to remember reading that US forces by policy didn’t allow monozygotic twins to serve in combat positions together for fear that an injury to one could disable the other. For whatever reason however Ito Hiromi was the Captain of the Blue Squad and Ito Kamiko was the Captain of the Red – and Julie was sure that the twins wouldn’t have it any other way.
Dr. Toni (Dr. Mom) Andretti (Genetics and Biochemistry) was at the same time more and less than what she seemed. She was outgoing and friendly with a high empathy quotient that many times put the needs of others ahead of her own – a trait that endeared her to many but signaled potential problems to Julie. Extremely bright, she’d never had that breakthrough or discovery to put her at the absolute top of her field and Julie couldn’t help but wonder if Toni wasn’t overcompensating a little. Nevertheless you couldn’t spend five minutes with her without smiling and feeling welcomed.
Dr. Mark Spencer (Anthropology, Sociology and World History) was the one team member that frustrated Julie. One of the highest IQs on the squad (maybe the entire team except for Anzio), but you’d never know it from being around him. Mark made an art of never taking anything too seriously.
He was so easy-going, unpretentious and funny but his lack of seriousness could presumably threaten the mission at some point she told herself. He was the exact opposite from her and that was what made this so frustrating; Julie hadn’t had a crush like this in… well, she couldn’t remember when.
Not that anything would ever come of it. She had long ago learned to put her career first and she definitely knew how to keep men at bay – he would never know how she felt and with time she knew these silly adolescent feelings would go away. It wasn’t really convenient that the three of them spent so much time together, but Anzio and Mark were becoming close friends and because she had a good friendship with Anzio…
Chapter 5
Dr. Mark Spencer
Our mission team totaled 144 people. The organizational chart included with my mission brief was indecipherable (and where did they come up with the name ‘Broken Star’ anyway?) but it was subsequently explained to me that once we reached wherever we were going there would be a core team that operated out of a central location and the rest of us would be divided up into operational squads and sent out on whatever missions they assigned us. The idea was we would all come together at regular intervals to share what we learned. It all sounded very structured and military and TV-like and I knew it would be a disaster. I’d noticed a name listed in my Mission Brief as Head of the Scientific Mission, Dr. Derrick Helmer. The only way Helmer was going to encourage information to pass from one team to another was through him; and he’d only dole it out if there was some political advantage in it. From the outside looking in it might look like a decent plan but the people being given leadership roles made it feel to me like a formula for grandstanding and political ambition; but then I think I must have been absent the day they asked for opinions.
The good news is that my field team is made up of myself and my three breakfast companions (Dr. Anzio Spelini, Dr. Toni Andretti, and Dr. Julie Schein) and two other specialists (Dr. Tony Decker and Dr. David Cook) plus our squad leader Captain Ito Hiromi. It turns out Julie was a Psychiatrist (it figures) and Anzio was not only a well-known mathematician/physicist but also quite possibly the brightest individual I’d ever met. It was actually Toni, our third breakfast companion, that had made me feel so welcome that first morning. While being a few years older than the rest of us she was vibrant and still on the cute side of plump. She was also quite accomplished in gene mapping and DNA sequencing. She had that quick smile and open friendliness that made her everyone’s friend and it’s no surprise that we started calling her ‘Dr. Mom.’
The underground naval complex we lived and worked in (actually we were told it was an Air Force complex being run by the Navy) was much, much larger than I had first realized and that was a good thing because we were to be subjected to three months of training and orientation before our journey would begin. It was like an enormous underground city; complete with offices, conference rooms, recreation and exercise facilities, dormitories, commissaries, sick bays, clothing and personal supply stores (with very limited selections), libraries, movie theaters, and even a giant underground park (with trees and everything – it was incredible). There were machine shops and attorney offices (we were all encouraged to make sure our personal business was in order and of course someone had to pretend the gazillion forms we were required to sign were merely routine). There were even private and semi-private dining rooms that I somehow never received an invitation to. All in all the complex was rumored to accommodate close to 2,000 people. Our team wasn’t using but a fraction of that but I did notice that a number of darkened hallways and off limits sections were suddenly filling up with people – not that we could talk with any of them. We were required to wear color coded access cards around our neck, keep them visible at all times, and restrict ourselves to our (relatively) small section of the base.
Our Head of Mission was Brigadier General Dwight Nesbit, a big man who obviously kept himself in shape. General Nesbit was a likable enough guy that always seemed willing to listen – if you could ever get to him. He was constantly surrounded by his staff that was headed up by his second in command, Colonel Eugene Memphis. As far as I could tell Col Memphis’ sole duty was to keep the peasants in their place (me being one of the aforementioned peasants) and the riffraff away (or was I the riffraff?). Memphis took himself way too seriously and definitely had a mean streak – as we would all soon find out.
The first time we were all brought together in an auditorium to be addressed by General Nesbit I was struck by the sheer amount of brainpower in the room. I’m a reasonably bright guy and I’m used to hanging around some very smart people but the scientists, engineers and theorists in this room would get a standing ovation at MIT.
General Nesbit began his address by telling all of us to take a deep breath. He was here to explain the situation as best he could and give us as many answers as possible. He thanked us all for volunteering (I’d still like to know when I did that) and assured us that there was every reason to believe that we would fulfill our mission and return safely (Umm… nobody had said anything about danger). He turned very serious, however, when he started talking about what was at stake; literally the future of mankind. He made mention of the terrible record inferior societies had when mee
ting vastly superior civilizations and how important it would be for us to befriend and learn everything we could from our alien hosts. He then confirmed my worst fears by turning the briefing over to Dr. Derrick Helmer.
I am normally one of the most easy-going, positive people you will ever meet but Helmer and I had a history together. A big history. We were actually undergraduates together in the same fraternity at the same school. Although he was heavier into anthropology and I was slightly more focused on history we had many of the same classes, professors, and circle of friends. Other than that we were total opposites.
Derrick came from money and although he didn’t flaunt it his obvious disdain for anything less than top-shelf marked him.
I had been on scholarship. Son of a single, hard-working mother; I’d held a job since I was old enough to lie about my age. Between what I’d saved up working evenings and summers in high school as well as the income I earned working third shift at the local aircraft plant my first two years as an undergrad, I’d been able to finance myself long enough to start receiving grants for my postgraduate work.
With my background it was natural for some to assume that I’d be uncultured and uninformed about the ways of polite society and it never failed to frustrate Derrick when I out-cultured him at many a turn. My mother was my saving grace; a loving woman that firmly believed that having class was more about manners, respect, and how you talked and treated others more than it was the size of your wallet. She had taught me about fashion, comportment, and which fork to use (among other things) – not that I always listened (but that would be entirely another story).
To the outside world it must have appeared as if we were rivals but I don’t think Helmer ever deigned to acknowledge anyone else’s competence – especially mine. It was like he had picked me at random and then decided to make my life miserable. Everyone that counted in the department knew that he was second tier – and I’ve got to believe that deep down Helmer knew it too. I think that’s why he was so arrogant and conniving. He was actually a pretty smart guy but instead of applying himself he would work to undermine and sabotage others. You know the type; the guy that would always laugh at your mistakes to try and make himself look good; the guy that never missed a chance to tell others that he was trying to ‘help’ you if only you’d listen; the guy that always asked out your old girlfriends – within 24 hours of you breaking up. To say that we didn’t like each other would be a gross understatement. When it came to grades and athletics he could never quite best me; I even beat him out on the election for Fraternity President (he had to run again the next semester to win the office). No, Helmer was the antithesis to every ethical standard I believed in and here I was, listening to him lecture in my area of expertise!
One of my greatest abilities is that when faced with unexpected challenges I can disassociate myself from emotion and objectively analyze situations. I was doing just that when Julie nearly broke my finger off as she pried my hand away from the armrest of the auditorium seat. “Relax,” she said – misreading me completely. “General Nesbit will keep us safe and I’m sure that you and Dr. Helmer will figure something out. There’s always a way.”
∆∆∆
“I have been fascinated by my study of your political history. It’s like looking backwards tens of thousands of years into our own past...”
We were sitting in my room watching the live interview with Jaki on our smartpads. Over the last week or so my room had become the de facto meeting place for our gang of three. Anzio and I just naturally got along well together and Julie, although still giving me a hard time, fit in well enough. Sometimes Dr. Mom (Toni) would join us but it was a small room and Toni got along with everyone so today it was just the three of us.
Dr. Helmer and Dr. Sullivan were conducting the interview with General Nesbit also in attendance. Jaki, as she asked us to call her, was one of the Noridians assigned to help us acclimate and prepare for what we’d find on their world and in their society.
General Nesbit had started the session by saying, “This is the first interview of what we hope to be many between our team and the representatives of Noridia. This first interview is live and is being blogcast on our secure network to the entire team. I’m going to turn this over to Dr. Helmer who will be speaking for us today.”
I was really adjusting well to the reality that Helmer was going to be a part of my future for the next unspecified amount of months (years? Oh Lord…). I was actually more distracted by Julie setting cross-legged on my bed than I was by Helmer.
“Jaki, in this first session we thought it would be a good idea to exchange some basic information and get to know each other but as you can imagine there are several very important questions we need to address. The first one is simple: Why did you contact us and why are you here?”
Jaki replied smoothly, “It is both simple and complex. Basically, we feel a duty to protect you. As your world enters the era of spaceflight you will become noticed by other civilizations like the Coridians – and as you experienced with Laze Fair One, many of them are not friendly.”
“Who are the Coridians and why would they wish us harm?”
“We know the Coridians well. They are a less advanced civilization with an inferiority complex. They see an emerging space faring culture like yours as a competitive threat and unless we are here to stop them they will undoubtedly eliminate that threat before you can become sophisticated enough to protect yourselves.”
“Jaki, how can we compete with the Coridians or possibly be a threat to them? If they can move the Laze Fair One to Neptune, let alone have interstellar flight, they must be considerably advanced over us?” Helmer asked.
“To understand the answer to that will require you to have a better understanding of how our meta-society is organized and what we value. That is, I believe, a discussion better left to one of my colleagues and another day. In the meantime I would like to ask you a question.”
“Sure.”
“One aspect of Earth that my people are having trouble comprehending… How can a civilization that has attained space flight put some people in cages just because they will not do what other people tell them to?” Jaki asked.
Dr. Helmer replied, “When certain people pose a danger to the general population we’ve made a decision as a society that it’s safer if those individuals are locked away so they can no longer pose a threat to others.”
“Why would they pose a threat to others?”
“Well, that depends… Maybe you have something I want. If I can’t convince you to give it to me and I take it from you anyway that is harming you and your property. We lock people up that have shown they can’t be trusted not to harm others.”
I was pretty sure that this was how Helmer had wrangled himself the Head of Mission (Scientific) slot – he was a master at manipulating people through the use of what appeared to be sound reason and logic, many times at the expense of the truth. But hey, as long as the other guy would do what Derrick wanted he didn’t care. He was probably mentally counting up all the brownie points he was scoring right now by showing Jaki how reasonable and mature our society was.
Jaki said, “I am aware that your civilization has limited resources and therefore on a macro level uses multiple monetary systems as well as a plethora of primitive political systems to control the distribution of these resources, and I am also aware that on an individual level there can be much disagreement over the equity of those resource distributions and that this can cause conflict, but it appears to me that the majority of incarcerations do not stem from these inequities.”
Back in my room Julie exclaimed, “Wow where did that come from?”
Helmer blinked a few times then said, “Ah, how do you mean?”
“Dr. Helmer, I would suggest to you that if our two worlds are to work together, if Earth would like a friend and protector from true harm, then it is imperative that we not play needless political games or try and make ourselves look better. Noridia cannot help
you unless you are honest about your world’s present situation, primitive as it may be. I can assure you that you will not reveal anything so repugnant to us that we would abandon you. However, if we feel that you cannot be a trusted partner we could very well decide that our priorities lay elsewhere. In the future I would encourage you to speak plainly.”
Helmer was stunned. I’d never seen that look on his face before – well, maybe once before but that’s not important now… He was obviously trying to retake control of the situation when he said, “I, we, couldn’t agree more. Openness between our peoples is imperative and in that spirit please let me say that I’m not sure what we said to make you think we were trying to hide anything?”
Jaki looked Helmer square in the eyes and said, “Dr. Helmer, I attempted to gain insight as to why your civilization seems to uniformly think it wise to capture and hold people against their will and you attempt to deflect my inquiry by referring to the circumstances that apply to only a small subset of all incarcerated individuals. For example, your planet jails millions of political prisoners – how are these people a legitimate threat to others or their property?”
Here Comes Earth: Emergence Page 3