Paradise Reclaimed

by Raymond Harris

  When everyone had settled she spoke. “Sorry for such short notice. I only found out myself late last night. I’ve called an early meeting because I’ve been called to the capital.”

  The assembled magnuses instinctively looked at each other to gauge the collective reaction.

  “The security commission has made a decision to announce the discovery of new planets and the initiation of operation rescue. The president will make a public announcement tonight. This means we now move into phase three – somewhat sooner than projected.” She stood. “Stay seated. My secretary will issue your new orders, although this won’t affect some of you. Now, unless there are questions I’ve got a hover waiting and a day of meetings and more meetings.” She made a move but a hand went up. It was magnus Stein from psych.

  “Ma’am?”

  “Yes,” said the strategos somewhat impatiently.

  “Do we know why the sudden change?”

  “Not precisely. My understanding is that AI recorded an exponential jump in speculation and rumour and the higher ups figured things had reached a critical mass. The population has worked out something’s up. This is a good thing people. The EDF is now out and proud.” She smiled before striding out the door, her guardian’s light flickering, feeding her new information as she headed for the waiting hover.

  49

  Nuku

  Her impending departure focused her mind. There was still a lot to do. Her sister Aloha had invited her, no, pleaded with her, to visit the family before she left. It had to be that evening but she had planned to spend it with her new crush Isla. When she contacted Isla (who was at the Academy handing over some of her duties to a colleague) to discuss an alternative arrangement she seemed hurt. It had not occurred to her to invite Isla, simply because the relationship was so new and uncertain. Isla’s age might raise a few eyebrows amongst the older women (mostly the grandmas) but that was not the reason. She found herself getting tangled in an argument as she tried to explain it to Isla – who had assumed she might be embarrassed about dating a preeb. Nuku realised mid-conversation that they were both stressed and on edge.

  “I’m sorry sweets…”

  “Sweets?” asked Isla almost laughing.

  “Yeah, what? It’s a term of affection…”

  “Sorry, it’s just… No one has ever called me sweets.”

  “Too soon?”

  “No, not at all. I think it’s cute. Now I have to think of a name to call you…”

  “Nuks will do. Anyway. I’m sorry. Will you come and meet my family?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry too… Nuky Nuks.”

  It sounded awkward and Nuku laughed. “Needs work sweets. Shall I come by and pick you up?”

  “No, no point. I’ve got a last minute meeting. I’ll make my own way. I know the area and my guardian will take it from there. Should be there around six, is that okay?”

  “Perfect. In that case I’ll do a few things and go over early to help prepare. They tend to make a fuss so be ready for a feast.”

  “Sounds great – Nuky-nuks,” she said cheekily.

  She was impressed with the way Isla mixed with the family, although she was wrong footed when Isla showed a distinct preference for adult company, gently flirting with her parental group, especially her genetic father. Mistakenly she had expected her to gravitate toward the younger members and Aloha seemed particularly miffed that Isla had extracted herself from a juvenile gossip session, preferring instead to join a conversation with the more senior males.

  The food as always was delicious and copious and some family members were getting more than a little tipsy. At this stage things became rowdy and bawdy, with her uncle Nohoarii retelling a favourite fart joke, all of which she was pleased to see amused Isla greatly.

  Desert was being served when everyone’s guardian lights flickered. She heard, “dear citizen, the president will give an important address in half an hour. Please make every effort to be in front of a screen. This applies to all citizens, no matter where they may be.”

  For a moment everyone remained frozen and then they turned to each other with a cascade of questions and comments. Nuku looked at Isla. “Do you think?”

  “Has to be. They couldn’t keep it under wraps forever.”

  Nuku’s father overheard their conversation. “Do you know what this is about?”

  They looked at each, momentarily confused. If they said yes and the announcement was about something else, then they would be in breach of their confidentiality agreements. Nuku answered diplomatically, “we don’t know what this is about papa; the president doesn’t consult us.”

  “We’re just as surprised as you Claude,” Isla said reassuringly, informally using his first name.

  He looked over his glasses unconvinced. Isla smiled flirtatiously and he smiled. Nuku nudged her and hissed in her ear, “don’t hit on my father.”

  Isla scowled. “I wasn’t, I can’t help it, besides he’s cute.”

  Nuku pinched her in the ribs and she laughed mischievously.

  Speculation ran wild as people ate dessert and drank more wine. As the time approached two of her mothers guided the large screen out on domestic levitators and they assembled in the courtyard, the children sitting cross-legged on the ground and the adults finding positions on verandas or pulling out chairs. Five minutes before the announcements the screen flickered to life showing historic footage of Eden, including the well-known faces of the Settlers. It was clear this would be an important announcement and the vid directors were pulling all the clichéd emotional strings, of which everyone was fully aware and participated in eagerly. Nuku sighed; she never got tired of these scenes, especially when they featured her ancestors. There were cheers and applause when a wet, naked Polynesian woman appeared smiling and holding a large fish on a spear. It was one of her matrilineal descendants, Dr Tehani Kaluhiokalani, a marine biologist. It was a famous shot and it always filled her with pride.

  Isla nudged her when a tall red-haired man appeared standing in front of a class in the first school on Eden. “Alistair Campbell, patrilineal descendent,” she said proudly.

  “Your line still carry that red hair recessive?” Nuku teased.

  “No, that gene also came with an increased risk of melanoma,” she said seriously.

  They knew the announcement was to begin when they showed the last vid ever taken of an aged Founder, alive and surrounded by his many ancestors. It was shameless manipulation and it always worked, triggering deep wells of patriotic sentiment.

  Finally the announcement began, and it was a very formal affair. President Ack Daw sat in the president’s chair in the Commons, with the oldest living citizen and last of the second generation of the native born Celestina Carabajal sitting on her left along with other senior elders. On her right sat the high justice Pakpao Supitayaporn with several senior justices, including, she noted, the still heavily pregnant Maeve Goya.

  Ack Daw was a popular president: charismatic, approachable but still capable of considerable gravitas. She had once been a very popular captain of a champion soccer team. Her leadership skills had been noticed and she had a successful career as a project manager before entering politics. As always she was naked in keeping with the tradition of her matrilineal descendants, a tradition reclaimed by her ancestor and one of the noble First. Her deep black skin was oiled, which served to highlight the rows of ritual scars that ran across her stomach. The only deference to her office was her elaborate jewelled necklace: the presidential twelve-pointed star made up of four interlocking triangles of silver and three shades of gold with a large opal shimmering in the centre. Otherwise she wore a traditional tribal belt and armbands of shell and feather, a large nose ring and ears pierced through the cartilage at the top.

  The image changed to a mid shot and she smiled with a mixture of warmth and formality (one of her many political skills). She spoke with a clear, authoritative tone.

  “My dear fellow citizens, as you can no doubt tell by the formality
of this gathering I have a very important announcement to make. We have reached a milestone in our history. We have rebuilt the capacity for interstellar travel. Many of you will have guessed this already and we apologise for keeping much of this a secret. We had our reasons and the minutes of the major meetings have now been released so you can examine the arguments. I am confident all of you would have reached the same conclusions.

  “In essence we wanted to wait until we had substantive news rather than allow false hopes, undisciplined speculation and unhelpful memes to erode wellbeing. That substantive news is that we have confirmed the existence of two habitable planets with three more on the verge of confirmation. We will be sending two expeditionary teams in a few short weeks…”

  There were whispers at this news and several faces turned to look at Nuku.

  “…and more are planned in the near future. New techniques of exoplanetary search have been far more fruitful than we ever expected and so we can expect even more discoveries in the very near future. This leads us to two very important considerations. The first is the increased likelihood that at some time, near or far, we will encounter other sentient species. Whilst we hope they may be friendly we must plan for the possibility that they may be hostile. Deep in our cultural memory lies the tragedy of Pangaea. We cannot and will not let that happen again.”

  The president paused for effect and even more faces turned to look at Nuku. One of the children whispered, “Nuku, you going?” The adults shushed the child as the president continued.

  “To that end we have already began preparations to create a defence force. Their role will be to protect our expeditionary teams as we begin to expand and create new colonies.”

  “Soldiers? Nuku, will you be a soldier?” asked an excited child too young to really understand what soldiers did.

  “The second consideration is the most important. It is in fact a sacred duty, a commitment enshrined in the Accord and a promise made by us to the Founder and the honoured First. To explain this sacred duty I will call on Madame Celestina Carabajal to address you.”

  There was a solemn silence that arose out of a deep respect for the oldest citizen of Eden (although most of the more mature citizens had already guessed what she was about to say). It was then that Nuku knew with certainty that she was not going to a new planet but to Earth. Isla sensed her change in mood, looked at her and squeezed her hand in nervous anticipation; also guessing Nuku was going to Earth.

  “My friends,” said Madame Carabajal in a wavering voice. “Our recovered ability to traverse the stars carries with it a sacred obligation to return to our distant home…”

  There were gasps and sighs as her extended family guessed what was coming next; some whispered the name as the honoured elder continued.

  “…Earth. It always pained the Founder and the Settlers that they had to leave so many behind. So a sacred promise was made that when we…” Her voice broke with emotion. “That when we recovered the capacity we would return…” Her voice grew stronger. “To offer those left behind the same opportunity to live on new planets. When the Settlers left two centuries ago Earth was overpopulated, environmentally exhausted and riven with terrible conflict. The Settlers had no choice but to leave family, friends and ancestors behind. They just couldn’t take everyone. But deep in their hearts they vowed that when it could be safely done, their descendants, you, would return and offer a new life to those that wanted it. Now that we have discovered new planets, we have plenty of potential colonies, room enough for everyone. A new chapter for the human species has begun. I am sure - I trust - that you will all gladly do what you can to fulfil this sacred duty. Thank you.”

  When she stopped everyone broke into excited chatter. Some were shocked, some inspired and others fully aware of the gravity of the elder’s announcement. Isla turned to Nuku and whispered, “it just got real. I think I’m a little scared now.”

  Nuku was thoughtful and took her time to formulate her words. “Isla, after tonight nothing will be the same. The ramifications are enormous…”

  She was interrupted by loud shushing noises as the camera turned back to the president.

  “We have decided to name the first two planets after two of the nine Muses of the ancient Greeks. The first is a world of giant forests we call Calliope after the Muse of epic poetry – because the planet itself seems to be an epic poem of nature.”

  The screen cut away to shots of the great forests of Calliope and again people oohed and aahed. It was a majestic world of high, snow capped mountains, huge glaciers, dramatic cliffs, rocky coasts and deep canyons, larger than anything on Eden. Nuku looked at Isla who sat riveted, even though she had seen much of this footage before. It was hard to believe that in a few short weeks she would be exploring Calliope, breathing its air, feeling its soil between her toes.

  “The second planet we call Erato after the Muse of love poetry. It is a smaller, delicate planet of mysterious and beautiful fungal rainforests, extraordinarily diverse bryophytes and fields of flowering lichen…”

  Again there were mumbled sounds of amazement, which became evermore vocal at the sight of a long sandy beach crowded with rusty coloured creatures that looked (at a distance) like a colony of giant penguins with impossibly long beaks.

  “We do not yet have vid of the newer planets but we will release it as soon as we do. We have also released all the data we have on Calliope and Erato to read at your leisure.”

  The vid of Erato ended and the screen returned to a rather stern looking president. “That I’m afraid is the good news. Unfortunately I cannot bring you good news about Earth and so you must prepare yourself for shock and disappointment. Earth did not fare well after the departure of the Settlers. War spread, environmental degradation increased and the economy imploded. Despite the warnings of many, the human enterprise collapsed, following the pattern of so many civilisational collapses in the past. Starvation, disease and pathological memes spread. The global economy and population declined, billions died, not all at once, but over more than a century, from famine, pestilence, disease and conflict.”

  Nuku sighed. Everyone was silent, thoughtful, the worst fears of the social historians realised.

  “…and just as the once proud Roman empire broke up into tribal based nations of warring Celts, Vikings, Gauls, Vandals, Goths, Angels, Saxons, Huns, Lombards, to name just a few, Earth too entered a new Dark Age of warring factions headed by chieftains and warlords. The old nation states of Earth broke up into smaller feudal states, reversing the evolutionary trend toward a global civilisation. This makes our task of rescue all the more urgent and difficult.”

  The president paused to allow this last sentence to sink in. Nuku felt a turbulent gap in her stomach open. She was certain she was being sent to Earth, but why? She squeezed Isla’s hand and turned to see a grim expression.

  The president smiled weakly, “But it is not all bad news. There are signs that there are pockets of recovery. These pockets offer great hope. I would show you what images of present day Earth we have, but I have been advised that these might only serve to confuse and distress people. The fact is that we do not have a complete picture and I ask you to be patient as we assemble one. So please try and refrain from negative speculation. Do not upset yourselves.

  “It follows that we need to send expeditionary teams to Earth to make the necessary assessments. It should surprise no one that this has already started. The return to Earth was always the first priority. We did not release this information simply because we had not then known about Calliope and Erato, and frankly, we did not know if we would be welcome back on Earth.”

  She paused again and seemed to sigh with sadness. “We had to consider the very real possibility that our return to Earth might be misinterpreted as an invasion and that our very existence might threaten certain religio-cultural power blocks.”

  She paused again and the camera moved in closer to show the emotion in her eyes. “We had to carefully plan for the fact that Ear
th might be hostile.

  “Citizens, there is much for us to do. No one will be compelled.” She smiled. “Although, I rather suspect that we will have such a rush of volunteers that we will face the contrary problem of having to disappoint some of you. Our socioeconomic planning must now be adjusted to the new circumstances. We must now band together as the Settlers banded together, to continue Eden’s growth and to expand into the stars. Everyone’s contribution will be important and vital. Thank you.”

  And with that the screen went blank.

  Everyone was stunned. Nuku knew it had been a carefully orchestrated address vetted by social psychologists. The presence of both the elders and the senior justices reinforced that this was fully compliant with the Accord and not the whim of politicians. And whilst the president may have said there would be no compulsion, the address was heavy with obligation.

  Slowly faces turned in her direction. Her mother Fa’anui stood in a solemn mood. This signalled that she was about to formally address the family as head matriarch. “Beloved daughter Papatuanuku, do you have anything to say to your loved ones?”

  Nuku stood and adopted a formal voice in response. “Mother Fa’anui, my ancestors, grandparents, parents, siblings and cousins; what you suspect is true. I am about to undertake the long journey, as our early ancestors travelled the seas and as our more immediate ancestors came here to Eden. I ask for your blessings and to bless Isla, who will also journey to the stars.”

  “Where my child?” asked Fa’anui.

  “Isla is to undertake the journey to Calliope as head of the science team…”

  “You?” interrupted Aloha incredulous and with a hint of jealousy.

  Her family protested at the rudeness of the interruption and Aloha blushed with shame. Nuku gestured for Isla to stand.

  “Isla is a full citizen and esteemed member of the Academy, and one of our best exobiologists. There are few more qualified.”