Here Comes Earth: Emergence

by William Lee Gordon

  “Lastly, but just as important, a protected planet is free of the politics and intrigue that is part and parcel of being in The Accord.”

  “So the dynasties do compete against each other,” I observed.

  “Oh, very much so,” she responded. “The standing of our dynasty in The Accord is of daily concern to every member. Protecting and enhancing that standing is one of the obligations and responsibilities we have to each other.”

  “So Ashima, if I’m understanding this correctly, your relationship to The Accord is analogous with the Kikos relationship to the dynasties? In other words you need them more than they need you?”

  “Mark,” Ashima responded. “Remember that The Accord is made up of Lower Houses and Upper Houses, but from a technological standpoint the gulf between a dynasty and a Lower House is incalculably wider than the gulf between the Kikos and a dynasty. We don’t just need them; it’s fair to say we revere them.”

  ΔΔΔ

  The ship we were on had a mind of its own. I mean it was literally what we would call an Artificial Intelligence or AI. At least I’m assuming it was self-aware; computer scientists on Earth had been debating for decades what that really meant and how you would be able to tell if a computer was truly an individual intelligence. We had invented the Turing Test and believed it to be the benchmark until 2014 at the University of Reading where the programming of a non-self-aware computer became sophisticated enough to pass it.

  For me it was pretty simple; I didn’t care. If I couldn’t tell if it was a person or a machine when I was talking to it…

  I was ‘getting to know’ the ship through my smartpad. Like the other ships we had been on there were no controls, control room, or bridge. Coridians mentally ‘merged’ with their ship via their bioware. I’m sure my method was much more cumbersome but both Anzio and I had taken Major Reagan’s advice and declined the offer of bioware.

  The external ship views offered up in my holodisplay were incredible and I can only imagine what it would be like to experience them in my mind’s eye – I’m sure it must be a totally submersing experience that would take anyone’s breath away.

  One unexpected result of having to use the smartpad as a ship interface was to realize that the ship had no name.

  Coridians didn’t need to name the ships because they didn’t have to call out to them. They just mentally started thinking to it and perfect communication ensued. I did however need to address the ship and I had no idea what to call him (or her?).

  I settled on the name Judy and she responded with a female voice so that was that.

  There were only the four of us onboard which made the ship feel relatively large. There were six suites and even though we were really only using two of them it was nice to have someplace private to occasionally retreat to.

  We were sitting at a rectangular table in the galley eating breakfast. Semi and Anzio were on one side of the table and Ashima was sitting next to me on the other side. Her bare leg had slid across and entwined with mine.

  One of the most pleasant and unexpected surprises was how unbashful both ladies were when it came to clothing. They were never nude except in the privacy of their partner’s embrace but they had both mastered the art of wearing as little as possible and displaying their perfect physiques in as sexy a way as possible. Short-shorts, boyfriend shorts, thongs, lingerie, shortened midriff-exposing tank tops; the girls seemed fascinated with high heels. Semi came to dinner one evening in a long black backless gown that was split to her waistline. Anzio’s tux was the perfect complement and with their long-legged elegance I thought they must be the sexiest couple within ten parsecs (or light-years, or whatever).

  I forced Ashima to admit one night that she and Semi had conspired to study-up on what Earthers deemed sexy. I won’t divulge my method of torture but I got a full confession of their plot to keep us menfolk constantly aroused. Did I mention that she was fun?

  I don’t want to give the impression that I’d lost sight of our mission; if anything it was just the opposite. Anzio and I both felt as if we had the weight of the world on our shoulders and if you mix that metaphor with holding the fate of the planet in the palm of your hand you kinda-sorta understand how much pressure we were under. We needed all the distraction we could get and… Judy just informed me there would be a disco dance contest tonight on the observation deck immediately following dinner.

  ΔΔΔ

  The four of us were sitting around a cocktail table in the observation lounge that four nights earlier had grown a dance floor and sprouted a mirrored disco ball. Memories of our leisure suits and line-dancing attempts still cracked me up. With the galactic vista serving as our ceiling, I was sitting back either drinking a non-alcoholic vodka tonic or my medical nano was keeping me sober. The only thing I was missing was a bowel of peanuts. It was the perfect opportunity to sit back and think out loud. At least that’s what I called it when a group of people are free to throw out ideas and together explore solutions to a challenge. You might call it masterminding or thought experiments or a bull session; the point was to get multiple perspectives on the issue.

  “What would happen,” I asked. “If a Kiko society independently discovered faster than light travel?”

  Semi responded first, “If you are asking whether that would qualify Earthers to become a dynasty the answer is ‘probably’ but you need to remember that it would be one group or culture that became the dynasty and they would need to then make Earth its protectorate.”

  “I didn’t think that Earth was even close to that?” she concluded with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well” I mused, “many times throughout history the greatest breakthroughs come out of nowhere. For example, if a certain physicist after being exposed to the wonders of the universe suddenly had a mental epiphany and was able to complete previously unsolvable equations…”

  “It would not work Mark,” Semi said softly as Ashima placed her hand on my arm. “The math you would need has not yet been invented on your planet and our dynasty would be severely censored for giving you restricted technology. The Accord would immediately know we had helped you.”

  “How would they know?” I stubbornly said.

  “You have to trust us Mark,” interjected Ashima. “They would know.”

  So much for different perspectives.

  I didn’t for a moment sense that Semi or Ashima were trying to discourage or sabotage us. I felt they would truly help if they could. On the same token though I knew that deep down they believed Earth’s only option would be to accept Coridia’s offer of protection. They had several times tried to broach the subject of how to unify Earth so it could accept that Protectorship but Anzio and I had been of like mind not to discuss it.

  Maybe it was time to change that.

  “Look,” I said. “I am not in any way giving up on the idea of talking a Lower House into interceding on our behalf but I do think it would be prudent to have a backup plan. If it comes down to accepting a Protectorship or watching our cities destroyed we may have to pretend to go along – even if it’s just to buy some time.

  “Ashima, if I understand what Semi’s been telling me then Earth would have to unite before we could officially accept – is that correct?”

  “Yes Mark, Earth would have to speak with one voice.”

  “One voice,” I repeated. “But that’s not the same thing as unanimous?”

  “No of course not,” Semi replied. “We realize there will always be individual dissent – especially with what we know of Earthers. A dynasty however must have a reason to believe that the planet wants to cooperate – after all the dynasty is on the hook for the planet’s successful transition and will answer to The Accord if they fail.”

  “But is it the dynasty’s decision that the planet must be united or is it a rule of The Accord?” I persisted.

  Semi and Ashima looked at each other and were obviously accessing some database when Semi looked back to me and said, “Both.”

 
“So,” I continued. “If Noridia wants us to except their Protectorship they would have to give us some time to unite, right?”

  “Yes,” Ashima responded. “But if it took too long you might not like their methods to speed up the process. Mark, if they were that close to success I could see them throwing strictures out the window and arming one nation well above all others. They might even get directly involved and simply assassinate all the world leaders except their chosen one. There is no underestimating how far they’d be willing to go to achieve this.”

  “But it would still buy us some time,” I said. “And if the Noridians already thought we were making progress to a one-world government they might be inclined to let it progress naturally.”

  I don’t think I’d ever seen Ashima close to tears and it startled me, but before I could say anything she said in a shaky voice, “Mark, forget for a moment what that would do to Coridia. Think about the fate of your people under Noridian rule, and for you personally, Mark. They could never let you live.”

  I started to respond but Anzio raised his left hand in a signal for everyone to hold on – he would have raised both hands but Semi was holding tightly to his other.

  “Ashima, Semi,” Anzio started. “Please understand that Mark is only trying to buy time for us. He is not suggesting that Earth truly become protectorate of Noridia, are you Mark?”

  “No”, I said. “That is the furthest thing from my mind, but I’m not beyond letting them think we’re going to accept it. Especially if it would buy us a few months or years to figure out a better solution.”

  “That would be a very dangerous game Mark,” said Ashima; “a game that Earth might not survive.”

  She paused and then as if coming to a decision she continued, “There is no reason to choose suicide! You have options in front of you. They might not be perfect options and you might not get everything you want but accept a Coridian Protectorship and you could survive and grow in galactic society. Your people could share in all the advancements and advantages of being affiliated with a dynasty! Think of all the unfairness in your world now – you have millions of people that spend time deciding whether to have fish or steak prepared and served to them for dinner while at the exact same moment thousands of children go to bed hungry. You can change this! You can virtually eliminate poverty by raising the standard of living for everyone. Many of your diseases could be eliminated. The world Coridia offers would be a safe world, a secure world. Without wasting resources on political strife and competition think how much further your society could evolve. You could learn from us, yes; but think how much more dynamic, how much faster you could progress without the distractions of poverty and war. You would have the entire galaxy to explore and study – don’t throw it all away over some overblown sense of racial pride, please!”

  The observation deck was suddenly very silent. Despite the millions of stars witnessing our conversation I was starting to feel isolated and alone. As close as I wanted to be with Ashima and Semi there was still a gulf between us. I think I had never felt the pressure more strongly than I did in that moment.

  I tried to order the words in my mind that could explain what I felt.

  Much of this mission had been spent with me mentally vacillating on what a proper course of action would be: should we take the safe route and accept a Coridian Protectorship or should we risk everything to preserve our independence and self-determination?

  Yes, there were still children on Earth that went to bed hungry but I refuse to accept that it’s an either/or solution. We can solve hunger and maintain our freedom. We could seek security without giving up our privacy and control – there must be a way.

  I had labored over this. I had thought through every imaginable outcome. I had repeatedly gone to bed thinking about it and woken up dreaming about it. I had pondered the ethics of being a self-appointed speaker for billions of people and I had questioned the morality of making decisions for those billions without consulting them first. I knew the answer in my gut even though I was still struggling to find the words to explain it.

  There are moments in life when the spoken word has changed everything; when what is said is so profound that it causes everyone to either reconfirm or reevaluate their beliefs. When the words themselves literally reverberate with truth and consequence. Such words can be spoken publically or privately to cement a course of action, but they always change the course of history.

  I instinctively knew that this was such a moment and that I needed to step into it.

  I opened my mouth and took a preliminary breath when Anzio started to speak…

  “You have declared us a planet of dynamic people. Unique in the galaxy you say. You tell us that we have an industry and drive about us that is unparalleled in this galactic society of yours. You show the astonishment at how fast our technology advances, yes? …yet you never stop to ask the why?”

  Anzio looked up into the eyes of Semi and Ashima.

  “Earthers as you call us live short lives compared to yours and our whole civilization is much younger. Yet I wonder how it is that you measure the age of a culture? Is it years? Which star are we using to time the revolutions? Some civilizations they grow and mature at different rates, yes? So how should we compare the maturity of a civilization that takes 100,000 years to go from an animal powered cart and landing on their moon to a civilization that takes just 100 years? Which civilization is growing? Which civilization is better prepared to embrace and shape their future?

  “The Noridians, they view us as a backwards people stemming from an accidental biological mutation that should have been put down thousands of years ago.

  “You Coridians – in truth you see us the same way. You’re just much very nicer about it. You don’t despise us but you do feel sorry for us and therefore you don’t see us as equals. You see us as children that are being manipulated and maybe harmed or scared by divorcing parents; and while you might have the honest concern for us you don’t take us seriously and still see us as helpless.”

  Somewhere along the soft oratory Anzio had stood up. Not abruptly or angrily, it felt more like the truth unfolding before us.

  “We are not helpless.

  “Earthers as you call us, we may not survive the next thousand years or even the next hundred but we will not go down by lying down. You tell us that we have no choice but you do not understand that Earthers do not quit.

  “I suspect that Mark can give you our historical examples but know this my friends; Earth civilizations have rarely chosen the easy path and it rarely worked out well when we did.”

  There was a strength in Anzio’s voice that didn’t require volume.

  “Don’t cry for us Ashima, warn the galaxy – ‘Here Comes Earth…’”

  He paused, gave a sad smile, and walked out of the room.

  ΔΔΔ

  “Sit back down Semi… please,” I said kindly. She had stood up to follow Anzio out of the room but now as she distractedly looked back at me she slowly retook her seat.

  “Anzio may be saying things you don’t want to hear but he is right; all of the things that you claim to admire about us we are because we do have to struggle and compete. Longer lives don’t give Coridians a greater chance to achieve; it takes away all sense of urgency to accomplish anything. You keep claiming that we advance incredibly fast but that’s not true. The reality is that galactic societies advance agonizingly slow because there is no built-in imperative to move faster.

  “Yes, you’ve created a life where no one wants for anything, where everyone is safe and secure – and totally stagnant. Did you say that it had been hundreds of millions of years since anyone had independently discovered faster than light travel? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

  Ashima looked terribly conflicted about how to respond; I couldn’t tell if she was offended, hurt, or just feeling sorry for me.

  It was Semi that spoke first.

  “Mark, we care about you and Anzio personally but we all know th
e stakes are much higher than just that. The last thing I want to do is to offend you but the things both of you are saying sound terribly naïve to us.

  “Yes, of course we value safety and security and the fact that you would place anything above that is unthinkable to us. Your attitude towards the situation seems risky and brash – not to mention totally unnecessary. We are trying to be transparent with you; we want you to know that Coridia’s offer of protection will still stand no matter what.”

  “What exactly,” I asked. “Do you mean by ‘no matter what’?”

  “Mark,” Ashima said. “We will honor everything we have said we would do. Silva has made it clear to all of us that Earthers carry different ideas and values that might be strange to us. Nevertheless, we will aid you in seeking an audience with a Lower House; no matter how futile it might be. And as long as it doesn’t put Coridia at risk we will help you with just about anything else you ask for; but when it is all done we strongly believe that accepting our protectorship will still be your best option.”