“Nope.”
Needless to say, this wasn’t a comforting conversation.
“Word is,” Mike continued, “that in his last field command he held a live fire exercise and got several of his airmen killed.”
I stared at Mike. “And just how would you know this?”
“Did I ever tell you,” Mike said as he looked away, “that my kid sister married a man that lost his brother in the Air Force?”
After a moment of thought I said, “It must have taken someone that was pretty fed-up with the diplomats to air that blogcast.”
Mike grunted and said, “Yeah and they must have been hanging around the security offices at just the right moment. It’s kind of crazy how things work out sometimes.”
∆∆∆
Dr. Spencer wasn’t the only member of Blue Squad making headway. The very next day Dr. Toni Andretti (Dr. Mom) uncovered a bombshell with her interview. Probably every scientist on the base… probably everybody on the base watched the recording of her interview at least once.
While it caused great excitement for the entire team, Captain Hiromi suggested I talk to Dr. Andretti. Though she was putting up a great front her squad leader didn’t think she was nearly as enthused. I caught up with her in the hallway just outside of the medical section…
“Dr. Andretti, can I have a moment?” I asked.
“Major, how many times have I asked you to call me Toni or Dr. Mom if you prefer. There are far too many titles running around this base for anyone to be impressed. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll keep on addressing you as Major – I know how important that is to you military types,” she said with a big sincere smile.
If this woman had ever offended anyone in her life I’d be shocked.
I leaned up against the hallway wall and started again, “Ah, Toni I just wanted to check in with you. You did a great thing yesterday but a little birdie is telling me that you’re not quite as satisfied as might be expected.”
“Oh, I’m just fine. We’re all doing such important work here and I’m sure all of us will have some disappointments along the way.”
“But that’s just it,” I said. “You made a great breakthrough and uncovered a major piece to our evolutionary puzzle – how can that be disappointing?”
“Major, I’ll be fine. You know my specialty is genetics. I guess I just had my hopes up that the Noridians could take me to the cutting edge of gene manipulation and genetic engineering. The knowledge they have in these areas must be incredible. Of course it’s a little disappointing to find out that the subject is taboo for them. They consciously won’t educate us in this area until our civilization is more advanced.”
Yeah this was out of my area of expertise but I felt like I should have realized this. “I’m sorry Toni; I didn’t stop to think about it that way. Surely there’s a lot of valuable work you can focus on isn’t there?”
“Of course,” she said smiling brightly. “The Noridians have been eager to supply us with their own personal genetic samples and have promised us unlimited samples from plants and animals once we reach their world. Evolutionary Biology isn’t my passion but it falls well within my expertise – and there’s going to be a lot of history that needs to be rewritten before all is said and done.
“Major, please don’t worry about me. You have far more important things to worry about than this. As you said, I have a tremendous amount of work and discovery ahead of me and who knows; if I identify a new genus maybe I can name it after you!”
I’d started the conversation by trying to make sure she was ok and she ended it by making sure I was reassured. What a remarkable woman.
Chapter 10
Summary
Noridian Interview Blogcast #2243
Security Classification: Ultra Secret Black Diamond
Access Authorization: Broken Star Personnel Only
Operational Priority: Level 1
In Attendance:
For the Noridian’s: Denyet
For Earth Team: Dr. Toni Andretti – Genetic Engineering, Biochemistry
Subject Tags:
Chextigan
Evolutionary Interference
Origin
Genetics
Great Flood
Ancient Astronauts
Summary:
There is another planet (or group of aliens?) that had contact with Earth. They are called Chextigans and spent considerable time here about 200,000 years ago. Although they did not establish a true colony, they did establish a base of operations that was manned until just a few thousand years ago. Their primary purpose is unclear but a consequence of their outpost colonization was genetic manipulation of the genus Homo erectus.
This timeline roughly merges with the appearance of Homo sapiens – it is very possible that what we call modern man is a result of genetic engineering.
The Noridians have explained that involuntary genetic engineering on a pre-sentient or sentient species violates the mores (laws, superstitions, taboos) of greater galactic society and that any genetic engineering of a pre-spaceflight species is by definition ‘involuntary.’
The Chextigan civilization went into decline and the Earth outpost was abandoned over 4,500 earth years ago.
The Noridians claim to be aware of these events only because they absorbed (conquered, rescued) the Chextigan civilization when it collapsed, and took possession of its records and history. Only recently was there a need to explore the portion of those records that might pertain to earth.
Chapter 11
Dr. Mark Spencer
Word came down the next day that we were leaving; or more precisely, that we should prepare to leave. No one seemed to be sure how many days we had left before we boarded a Noridian spacecraft, only that we needed to be ready.
Everyone was busy making sure the data we’d already collected was secure and, more importantly, accessible on our journey. The Noridians had been unusually vague on exactly how long the journey would take (something about hyper-spatial quantum fluctuations) but nobody wanted to miss out on the chance to continue our studies and review interview video or summaries.
Data storage wasn’t a problem; we’d been provided with the highest technology earth had to offer. I’d actually fallen asleep one evening during dinner listening to our Blue Squad’s IT and CSE expert go on and on… and on about the incredible versatility and memory density of our hardware, the networking/computational capability of our software, and the amazing security of our encryption. Julie had nudged me in the ribs – hard. Apparently the CSE (Computational Science and Engineering) capabilities we were carrying with us would allow us to computer model just about anything we wanted to build (to decide if it was worth building) or possibly reverse engineer things we didn’t understand. All we needed was enough data – we had the computational ability by networking everything from the science team’s specialized equipment, to HQ’s computer core, even to my smartglasses.
Don’t get me wrong, Dr. David Cook was a good guy he just kind of lived in his own electronic world. He wasn’t autistic or anything, but let’s just say I probably wouldn’t be trying to discuss the last Super Bowl with him – unless they finally get around to installing those sensors in the ball, boundaries, and goal line in which case he’d be the perfect guy to talk to (for a while).
Even I had to admit, however, that the smartpads, communication devices, and smartglasses we were issued were incredibly cool – way beyond what was available on the open market.
I hadn’t spent much time in my lab. There were also a handful of other Anthropologists and History professors on the Earth Team (I think our official designation was B Company – which made me wonder whatever happened to A Company but when I’d asked Major Reagan he’d just stared at me). We all shared that one lab but until recently there really hadn’t been much for us to do except read reports and watch interviews, and I could do that anywhere.
I was walking past the Chemical Engineering section (or was it the Material Sciences l
ab?) when I heard the raised voice of Dr. Tony Decker. This in and of itself wouldn’t be anything unusual but I caught Hiromi’s reflection in the glass of the open door. I decided to pay attention in case Hiromi needed rescuing. Ok, who was I kidding? Hiromi could handle herself just fine but I was curious; so I eavesdropped…
“I don’t care how many are working; I’ve got three atomic absorption spectrometers that aren’t working. These are important pieces of equipment and it’s your job to make sure I have them,” roiled Decker.
Hiromi’s demeanor was always controlled and she had a number of different voices she used depending on the situation; this was her calming voice, “Dr. Decker I know you wanted one of these machines for everyone in the squad but realistically everyone will be busy and will have their own collections and analysis to perform. You are mistaken about it being my job to procure your equipment but I will do everything in my power to obtain replacements before we leave. Please make sure that the four that are working are packed and tagged. You need to contact security and let them know you have equipment ready to be moved to the loading bay.”
She turned and walked out into the hallway while Decker was still trying to say something to her retreating back. I didn’t think she’d known I was there but without missing a step she walked by and said, “Come with me.”
I quickened my pace to keep up when she asked me, “Have you noticed how much equipment everyone is taking?”
I really hadn’t thought about it. Months ago they’d asked us to list everything we wanted to take with us and like all properly indoctrinated scientists that were used to working with government bureaucracies I, and I assume everyone else, had given them a complete wish list – knowing that they’d come back at us with orders to pair it down for financial, weight, or storage capacity reasons. Come to think of it though they’d never come back to us.
“Are you saying,” I asked, “that everyone is being allowed to take everything they wished for?”
“As far as I know, except for a few accidental circumstances like Dr. Decker’s yes,” she said.
“How big is the Noridian ship?” I wondered out loud.
“Mark, HQ has decided that the Noridian’s must have built a new ship just to take us back. We believe that this could explain how patient they’ve been with our questions until now when they’re suddenly ready to leave.”
While I was mulling over how they could possibly build a ship without us noticing, she continued…
“Had you noticed before they yesterday turned off our access to outside media that every program available to us was on a two-hour delay?” she said as we continued walking. “The government didn’t cut our feed because we’re leaving; the rumor is that something happened they don’t want us to know about. I’ve heard that several nuclear bombs were detonated.”
“Are you serious? Where? Why?”
“The only thing I know is that word of us working with the Noridians somehow leaked. The bombs went off in the Middle East or possibly in Europe or Asia close to the Middle East. Take care of everything you need to take care of Mark… by this time tomorrow we’ll be in orbit.”
I asked the only immediate question I had left on my mind… “Are you going to get Decker his replacement equipment?”
Hiromi just looked at me as she turned into a corridor that I didn’t have clearance for.
Chapter 12
Summary
Noridian Interview Blogcast #1879
Security Classification: Ultra Secret Black Diamond
Access Authorization: Broken Star Personnel Only
Operational Priority: Level 1
In Attendance:
For the Noridian’s: Pancet
For Earth Team: Dr. Hilbert Sullivan - M.D., Contagious Diseases, Microbiology
Subject Tags:
Medical
Nanotechnology
Disease
Health
Summary:
Dr. Herbert Sullivan began the interview by identifying 232 common earth-domestic diseases and attempting to correlate to known diseases the Noridian population might suffer from. There were mixed results.
‘Lifestyle Diseases’ such as Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, and Cirrhosis, for example, are known but not experienced by Noridians.
Likewise, genetic diseases such as Sickle Cell Anemia, Hemophilia, and Huntington’s disease were either unknown or had not been experienced in millennia.
From a disease standpoint, the main threat to the Noridian population came from infectious diseases. Some Viral and Bacterial infections that were domestic to earth had their counterparts but not all. Likewise, the Noridian’s assured us that there were a plethora of bacterial and viral infections that we had never been exposed to.
Standard Medical Care (SMC) for Noridian civilization includes the use of medical nano. These are microscopic machines that can be injected into the bloodstream and programmed to do just about anything.
They can absorb cholesterol, fatty acids (Body fat), bacterium, and viral invaders and remove them via elimination. They can repair muscle, cartilage, bone, and to some extent organ damage.
Medical nano are designed with a limited ‘lifespan’ therefore ongoing ingestion and programming is necessary.
The Noridians claim nanotechnology has no direct benefit to geriatric medicine (It does not directly affect lifespan).
The Noridians will not discuss nanotechnology in the context of genetic modification.
Chapter 13
Mess Hall #3 – The Night before Departure
“Wow I’ve never seen this place so busy,” said Julie.
Anzio looked around and agreed. “I think Julie, that this is not a night where people want to be alone. I think the whole mission must be here.”
“Dr. Sullivan!” Julie shouted.
As Dr. Hilbert Sullivan was holding his tray looking around Julie caught his attention and waived him over.
“Dr. Sullivan, we’d love to have you join us at our squad table for dinner? Great, have you met Dr. Anzio Spelini? That’s Drs. Cook and Decker already seated and the rest will be joining us shortly – grab a chair.”
Once they were seated Julie started. “Dr. Sullivan, I’ve reviewed your interview regarding the medical nanotech and it sounds incredible.”
Dr. Sullivan said, “That nano-tech is not just keeping them disease fee; they can actually program it for specific trauma treatment protocols.”
Dr. Decker responded, “That shouldn’t be surprising. We’ve theorized for years that miniaturization would get to the point it could be used independently inside the body. The medical possibilities are endless. Science fiction writers have been talking about Von Neumann machines for decades.”
“Von Neumann?” somebody asked.
“Yeah, in the early part of the 20th Century a physicist named John Von Neumann, he was from Hungry I think, started talking about sending ships to other stars. The unique catch was that once the ship was there, besides sending information back to us, it would replicate itself into multiple ships and send them on to other stars, etc., etc.”
“Actually,” Anzio interjected, “Von Neumann he was a rock-star in the physics world. Among other major accomplishments, he worked on the Manhattan project to create the atom bomb and came up with the acronym MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). Because he was the first to seriously study self-replicating machines he gave the idea popular credibility and writers stamped his name on the concept after adding the spaceship element.”
Dr. Decker continued, “Anyway, if you really want to get crazy, start thinking what could happen if you combined that self-replicating technology with the miniaturization of nanotechnology. What could happen if you could manipulate matter on a cellular or molecular level? Want to build a house? Just open up a thumb sized pill of nano and 3 days later, assuming there’s enough raw materials, presto – you can move in.”
“But then what happens to the nano?” Anzio asked.
“You could program
it to automatically turn itself off or march itself off to the recycling bin. The possibilities are endless.”
“Yes, and one possibility is an ultimate weapon,” said Julie.
“Of course, that’s what all the technophiles are afraid of but any tool can be misused. The other fear that they make horror movies about is the programming going wild where nobody can shut them off. Real doomsday stuff,” said Dr. Decker.
“Well,” said Dr. Sullivan. “I don’t think the Noridians are into anything like that. From what they told me their nano doesn’t replicate and it only has a limited lifespan of a few days. So if you want ongoing benefit you have to keep swallowing the pills…”
By now all of the scientists had taken a seat.
”…and even though they can obviously work at the cellular level I don’t know if they’re small enough to work at the molecular level. That’s a great follow-up because, if they can, it opens up the whole world of gene-modification.”
Here Comes Earth: Emergence Page 7