Scales

by Anthony G Williams

  'What are "H18" to "H20" like?'

  'Not very different from your world; just some variations in religious, cultural and political history which have delayed their technological development, so they've only recently developed radio. What concerns us more, though, are the other saurian worlds. We call ours "S1", but they run up to "S6". None of the others has the technology to detect parallel worlds; they all believe that they are unique.'

  'How do they differ?'

  'They all suffer to some extent from the decision not to adopt mind-linking. Only one – S6 – has any kind of world government, and that is due to a philosophy similar in some ways to human Buddhism; they are relatively backward in terms of technology. In fact, none of the others is as advanced as we are, since mind-linking helps greatly in enabling scientists to work together. The most advanced technically is S2; but in some ways that is more like your world than ours.'

  'How so?'

  'They still have nation states, which combine in shifting patterns of alliances, with a relatively weak planetary co-ordinating body. They are less trusting, more suspicious and intolerant of difference, and have focused much of their technology on weapon development. Their population is also ten times greater than ours, and is organised in a very hierarchical way. We want to contact and help them, but we need to be sure that this will not cause problems, for them or us.'

  'Why don't you devise a mind-linking virus for them?'

  'We do not feel that such interference would be justified. Unlike yours, their way of life is sustainable; their population is stable and the environment is not in danger. They are logical enough not to use weapons which would threaten their civilisation. They are skilled in genetics and have been aware of the possibility of mind-linking for a long time, but have rejected it. It is not for us to override that by force.'

  'So what are you going to do?'

  'We have decided to make contact with their planetary co-ordinating body, in the hope that we can convince them that our society offers better solutions for living than theirs.'

  'Good luck…if they are so like humanity, it may be that I have a better idea of how they may react than you do.'

  'That's possible. You seem rather cynical about our chances.'

  'What you have to think about is who would gain and who would lose. The ones who would lose, from their perspective, are the ruling classes who make the decisions. They would regard your offer, quite accurately, as a threat to their way of life, to the comfortable dominance which they enjoy. They obviously don't want to link with the lower orders – they want to keep them at a distance, and as far as possible determine what they think as well as what they do. They probably keep them distracted with trivial consumer goods and mindless entertainment.'

  'I see. That sounds depressingly realistic. I think it would be useful for you to address the Assembly tomorrow.'

  The next day I was back in my swivel chair, mentally braced for what was to come. The Convenor summarised our conversation of the evening before and I spelled out my thoughts on the likely response of the Rulers of S2. The Assembly heard me out in polite mental silence, then excused me while they went into discussion mode. I wandered outside the building, and sat down to enjoy the warm spring sunshine. After a few moments I became aware of being observed. I turned around and saw a very small saurian staring at me in fascination; her mental signature indicated her gender. When I smiled and sent a "welcome" signal, she fearlessly hopped over towards me. She was exactly like an adult, but only about a third of the size. Before she reached me I noticed a couple of other saurians looking on, with a mixture of anxiety and pride. I realised that this must be that very rare thing, a saurian child. I had seen very few of the regular inhabitants of Laketown – they tended to keep a respectful distance from the Assembly – but given the infrequency of births this was probably the only child they had; the pride and joy of the whole community. None of the locals understood English, of course, so we could only communicate in emotions. I got up and walked around, the child's unguarded mind reflecting her amazement at the strange way I moved.

  I was called back to the Assembly shortly afterwards and waved goodbye to the family. The Convenor addressed me with what I recognised as a touch of sympathy. 'We are troubled by what you have told us, but have to acknowledge that you may be correct. I am afraid that we have got so used to understanding each other, and regarding our way of life as obviously superior, that we had not fully appreciated that others may not see things in the same way. Some of our members have pointed out that humanity may also pose a threat to us, that your recent accession of mind-linking might not be enough to override millennia of aggressive behavioural conditioning, at least for a few generations.

  I thought about that for a while, marshalling my thoughts which the Convenor waited to translate into saurian symbology. 'I reluctantly have to admit that there is something in what you say. There has always been the potential for much good in humanity, but also for the opposite. I sometimes think it is as if we all have a beast within us. It is the selfish animal which tells us to take what we want, do what we like, take revenge on those who wrong us. It is constrained by the chains of civilisation we put upon it: social constraints which are trained into us as children so we accept them as our own, rules which we see the purpose of and impose on ourselves, or the chains of law which place limits on our behaviour. Even so, when law is ineffective or breaks down, the beast emerges in some people; in violence, rape, murder, or ultimately genocide. Laws are not always just, especially religious law; in some cultures it regards females as subservient to males, for instance. But without some form of law, there can be no society. Humanity is not perfect, and never will be. But we have constantly struggled to restrain our beasts, to make our societies worth living in, and we have mostly succeeded. The advent of mind-linking has already changed some things dramatically but it is too early to predict the ultimate form of human society which will emerge. I am confident that it will be better, or I would not have introduced the virus, but there will inevitably be many surprises; we have a "law of unintended consequences" which will ensure that.'

  'Thank you for your honesty. We will consider what you have said and how it bears on the issue of our relationships with other worlds.'

  That evening the Convenor was more than usually thoughtful over dinner.

  'The Assembly has decided that a degree of caution is advisable in dealing with other worlds, given that their populations tend to be far more numerous than ours and sometimes demonstrate very aggressive traits. We will accordingly be restricting access to slider machine technology; the human scientists who have worked with us know the theory, but actually constructing one is well beyond the H17 technology level, and will probably remain so for several decades. The other saurian worlds are even further behind.'

  'I don't blame you; I'd do the same in your place.'

  'However, we will make contact with the other saurian worlds, one at a time. We feel that we have an obligation to reveal to them just what they are missing through not mind-linking. There is a long-term hope that we can build a saurian community across all of our worlds, so we have to start somewhere.'

  'Won't there be problems with confused identities if people exist in more than one parallel world?'

  'No. Our worlds all separated generations ago, so we have few direct equivalents; where our other biological selves do exist, they have been brought up in different environments and are no more similar to ourselves than identical twins who have been brought up apart, in different cultures.'

  'So what's the next step?'

  'Communication first, then, if that goes well, the first physical link.'

  I spent the next couple of days exploring around Laketown, waiting to hear the outcome of the planned link with the Rulers of S2. The saurian headnets allowed global mind-linking via satellite, so their scientists were immediately aware of the decision and had set up the required system, plugging into S2's communication network as they had with
me. I saw less of the Convenor, who appeared preoccupied – it was clear that the initial links were not proving easy. I spent much time swimming in the lake, following its meandering links to the marshlands and the great bay of the Zuider Zee. I felt a strong sense of peace, of wholeness here, which was missing from my human world. I had not even been consciously aware of the sense of stress which underlay my awareness of the environment of my world, even in the deep ocean, until I experienced its lack here. I wondered if finding some way of transmitting this sense to humanity might help with the urgent struggle to withdraw from the environmental brink.

  That evening the Convenor visited again, and even I could tell how tired she was.

  'It seems that our remote observations of the people on S2 had not properly informed us of some of the details of their society. We already knew that their Rulers were far more long-lived than the rest, but had not realised that they had secretly developed mind-linking and had also kept that to themselves, as an instrument of control over their populations. In one sense that helped, since we can link with them, although mental communication is no easier than with humans, because although many of us have learned their language we use different symbology and cultural references. They took a lot of convincing, but have finally agreed to a meeting. They will send a representative here, and one of us will simultaneously visit them; I'm not sure why they insisted on that.'

  'Mutual hostage taking.' I guessed.

  The Convenor looked at me, her body colour as well as her mind reflecting her astonishment. 'That did not occur to us.'

  'It used to be a common diplomatic practice on Earth – my Earth, that is. They certainly don't seem to be a trusting bunch.'

  'No, they are not.' She looked at me thoughtfully. 'Perhaps you had better stay close when we meet; we might find your advice useful.'

  'Yup – I can provide the necessary leavening of suspicion and paranoia, informed by a long cultural history of insincerity, deviousness and double-dealing. At least, we should be able to tell if they are plotting something really nasty.'

  She hesitated. 'I'm not so sure; they have the most powerful mind-blocks we have ever experienced and are very hard to read.'

  'Not surprising; the Rulers of the different countries will be used to dealing with each other, and the ability to keep their plans and thoughts to themselves will have had a very high priority for them. I'd better review whatever you have on S2 and its inhabitants.'

  'Yes of course – Primo will set up a briefing.'

  The next morning Primo and I watched video clips of S2 and its inhabitants, while he gave me a running commentary.

  The world looked very different from S1. The settlements were closer together, considerably larger and more crowded. Most of the buildings were still low, but there was noticeable differentiation between areas of large dwellings which were well spaced out, and those in which the buildings were packed much closer together. This was a physical manifestation of the hierarchical society which the Convenor had mentioned.

  There were three broad categories of saurians in S2 society: the manual workers, the professional/managerial/entrepreneurial group which kept the society running, and the small ruling group. Membership of these three groups was largely hereditary, but the chance existed for outstanding supervisors among the manual workers to be promoted to the managerial group – and for movement in the reverse direction for those guilty of crimes or unlucky enough to lose their credit. The ruling group in each country formed a tightly-knit clan, and changes to its membership appeared to be almost unheard-of.

  There were clear physical differences both between and within the groups. The manual workers varied between large, powerful saurians and smaller, more nimble types – bred for specific tasks, according to Primo. There appeared to be little in the way of self-determination on this world. The professional group looked the most like those in S1, while the Rulers showed marked sexual dimorphism; the males were the tallest of all of the saurians and athletically built, while the females were smaller, more slender and (Primo assured me with a tinge of admiration) highly attractive in a rather exotic way. The S2 Rulers had evidently utilised their genetic skills in a very different way from those of S1. One interesting detail was that as well as mind-linking, the Rulers reserved for themselves the power to heal – another way of reinforcing their control over their people.

  I asked about military potential and Primo called up some clips of soldiers in training. They were also big and strong, and specifically bred for both endurance and fast reactions. They had been given the full benefit of self-repairing abilities so were very difficult to kill or disable. As a result, the standard personal weapon consisted of a large rifle which fitted over the shoulder to allow for a long recoil stroke – necessary to absorb the kick of the high-velocity explosive ammunition they fired. The shells were designed to detonate a few centimetres after impact, in the pious hope that the huge wounds thus caused would be beyond the capabilities of the most resourceful repair patch.

  Training included hand-to-hand combat, or more precisely foot-to-foot. Saurian legs were much longer and more powerful than their arms, and their natural form of fighting was kicking. The military thoughtfully added the refinement of long, upward-curving blades attached to the top of the feet which, as one instructor was shown demonstrating on a dummy, allowed them to rip their opponents open with one kick.

  The clips showed the rest of the military technology, which wasn't much different from what my own world was capable of; an odd coincidence considering the vast disparities in timescale. It appeared that the Rulers were a highly conservative lot and by mutual agreement had restricted the development of more devastating weapons which might threaten their own existence; that wasn't in their interests at all. They played war in much the same way that humans played chess, with the only blood shed being that of the purposely-bred warriors. They had even defined specific areas for battles to take place, away from any risk of damaging their economic interests. There were armoured vehicles armed with beam weapons of various types to disable the soldiers and each other. Sea battles were not fought – there was speculation that it was because the economic cost of losing ships would have been too high – and military aviation was strictly controlled, being used only for reconnaissance and troop transport. Their records showed that this lesson had been learned in an earlier age, when some Rulers had been killed by air attack. Now, the Rulers kept well away from the battlefields. Any attempt on the part of one country to use combat aircraft or develop more advanced weapons would attract an attack by the combined might of the others. As it was, there was a constantly shifting pattern of alliances between the countries; diplomacy and warfare seemed to be the primary pastime of the Rulers, who otherwise had little to do, their societies were so tightly controlled.

  One other detail of the S2 society intrigued me. 'Primo, some of them are eating meat!'

  'Err yes, that's right. We used to be omnivorous too, but it was really the development of mind-linking which changed our habits. It's difficult to eat an animal after you've become sensitive to its emotions. Although I have to say that the S2 Rulers seem to take a positive delight in rearing and slaughtering their animals; they have a rather barbaric society in some ways.'

  'Yep, it all seems very familiar. Rather like the Middle Ages on my Earth, only with more advanced tech. You're going to have a real problem trying to persuade that society to change. Not only will the Rulers be very happy with things the way they are, there is no tradition of the other groups participating in government.'

  'We realise that. But we feel that we have a moral obligation to try.'

  Having decided to act, the saurians got on with it, setting up the exchange for a few days later. Their initial contact had been with the Primary of the co-ordinating body – their Council of Rulers. This post rotated around the national Rulers via a pre-set pattern, and had no real power other than to call and chair meetings of the Council. As with the S1 Assembly, the Council met onl
y occasionally, in their case to resolve disputes. The Primary had responded to the initial contact by calling together the Council; a delay of a few days ensued while they gathered together. The S1 Assembly site was farmland in S2, not far from the capital of one of their countries, so their Council set up a temporary encampment ready for the first physical exchange. A slider machine had been set up in the middle of an open space on the edge of Laketown, a kind of bowl-shaped arena created by piling up earthen banks and turfing them – used for communal events such as concerts, Primo explained. The Assembly members gathered on the slopes. I was at the back, along with my three friends. Other visitors included their academic experts on S2. It was a fine spring morning, the air freshened by a breeze, cumulus clouds marching across the sky. I looked at the machine, a pair of tall blue boxes on either side of a thick ring, standing on end, within which the two-metre diameter hole would be created. The boxes were covered with ventilation slots, and a thick power cable ran from the machine out of the arena.

  A thought occurred to me. 'Do they know about me? About the human worlds?'

  'No. We thought that it was better to move one step at a time.'

  The moment arrived. The Assembly Ambassador, a male (out of diplomatic deference to the sensibilities of the S2 Rulers) stood in front of the slider machine. Holographic viewscreens around the arena showed the view on S2. There was no arena there, but a temporary low platform had been erected around the equivalent space. Interestingly, the weather was different; it was a grey day, with a gentle drizzle. Several thousand years of different levels of saurian activity had obviously had an effect. The S2 Rulers looked rather different from the people of S1; apart from the fact that they were all male, their bodies were covered by loose, colourful clothing. Primo mentally whispered that they apparently only stripped off to display their skin patterns among family and close friends. Another way for them to conceal their reactions, I realised.