Countdown to Extinction

by Louise Moss

  “That is good. And you? Have they granted your transfer?”

  “No. They have told me I must stay and to report to them every day.”

  “I will make sure there are no more disruptions to the plan.”

  “You must find a way to control the Primitives.”

  “We relied on the workers to control them.”

  “They have told me we are to proceed without Workers,” Zorina said.

  “But how can I do that? The Primitives resist any orders and if I force them to obey, it risks damaging their brains.”

  “You will distract the Primitives with words, while I probe their minds to discover what method will work.”

  “I must use the molecule stabiliser to heal my foot first.”

  When the pain in his ankle had subsided and it was no longer swollen, Hagan walked along the corridor to Gerald and Emma’s quarters.

  As he approached, he heard Emma say, “Zorina wasn’t even interested in whether he’d hurt his foot, as if the idea of touching him was repugnant.”

  “They are not close – not in the way we understand it, anyway.”

  “The workers weren’t like that.”

  “It’s as if they are two different species.”

  “Who controlled the workers?”

  Hagan appeared in the doorway. “Let me tell you something of the history of our people so you may understand better. Our ancestors came from far away.”

  “What, like Australia?” Emma asked.

  Hagan perched on the edge of the bed, trying not to think of what had gone on there. “They came from a planet many light years from here.”

  Gerald and Emma exchanged glances.

  “They were being persecuted for their beliefs and made the decision to flee to a place where they knew they would never be found. They were a highly intelligent race, and taught the Primitives to be more than savages.”

  Emma looked as if she had been punched in the stomach. Usually so defiant, her eyes were wet with tears. “I’m tired of you calling us Primitives, and we weren’t savages.”

  Gerald put his arm around her. “You must remember Hagan doesn’t know our language very well. He doesn’t understand that some words are offensive.”

  Emma wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I suppose we’re like those refugees, a long way from home.”

  “You’re right, Emma. You have such a good way of expressing things.” Turning to Hagan, Gerald said, “Go on with your story.”

  “They were not made from the same dense material.”

  “What’s he saying now?”

  “Just that we’re solid,” Gerald said.

  Hagan aimed to engage the frontal lobes by presenting abstract ideas while Zorina probed their minds.

  “We came here from a galaxy many light years away, a small group of peaceful people who believed that the essence of Creation lay in every living person. At that time, there were still people here who believed in one God, but the Kudlu believed that every person, creature, even the plants and rocks, contained a soul. They believed that progress could only be made if these souls could be joined together. If everyone joined their minds together, they would harness the creative force that drives the world.”

  The Primitives were sitting forward in their chairs, as if to catch every word, unaware that Zorina was noting which areas of the brain were being activated by Hagan’s words. “They wanted to use this power for good. It was the thoughts of every living thing in the Universe that caused the world to grow, evolve and change. There was much that was bad in the Universe, but they believed that together we could create something wonderful. They were skilled at leaving their bodies and blending their minds together, blending and mixing to create new forms and new ideas. It made them powerful, but they had many enemies. They chose this planet when they decided to leave, and eventually bred with the people here.”

  Suddenly Emma fell off her chair. Gerald rushed to her side. “What happened? Are you all right?”

  Did you do that? Hagan asked Zorina.

  Yes. Controlling them is easy.”

  “I suddenly felt dizzy. I don’t know why,” Emma said. She glared at Hagan. “Was that you?”

  I do not think it is a method that will be successful.

  “No, it was not I. Let me continue with my story. What the Kudlu could do that Primitives could not, was join their minds together. Out of that would come brilliant, creative ideas and the power to carry them out. Because they were so open, they were also vulnerable. There were those on their planet who sought to tap into this source of power and manipulate it for their own ends. They infiltrated the tribe and tried to manipulate them to help with the downfall of the government. When the Kudlu realised what was happening, they resisted and were murdered.”

  “And so they fled their world and came here?”

  “Yes. There were only a few hundred of them left by then.”

  Are you continuing your exploration?

  I am compiling a detailed map of their brains. “They knew they would be safe here; the people were not powerful enough to destroy them. Besides, they admired them for their superior intelligence. Gradually they were integrated into this world, breeding with the earth people, and passing on the Kudlu’s abilities.”

  “So, you are a mixture of us and something else?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “And in the process, you lost something,” Gerald said.

  “I do not believe that to be true. The Kudlus were a highly intelligent race who brought many benefits to society.”

  “What about you and Zorina?” Emma asked. “You don’t seem to like being with her much.”

  “Ssh, Emma, I don’t think Hagan wants to talk about his relationship with Zorina.”

  “I feel sorry for you lot now. You think you’re more intelligent than us, but really you’re not.”

  “Emma, we need to try to understand each other.”

  “He thinks he’s so superior.”

  The woman reacts differently from the man, Zorina said. Why do you think that is?

  This is an aspect of the Primitives I do not understand. They do not always react in the same way each time. What have you found?

  Different parts of the brain are active in the female than in the male.

  So we might need different means to control each of them.

  Hagan said, “There are things that I do not know, but I am hopeful that my research will lead to a greater understanding of the human condition.”

  “What’s he talking about?” asked Emma. “I can’t understand him. And anyway, all he’s got to do is spend more time with us. He spends too much time alone.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple. We are social animals, but perhaps the people of the future have developed a greater desire to be alone.”

  “So what is this research?”

  “I hope to discover a part of the brain that has lain undiscovered and thereby bring a greater understanding between the two races.” It was nonsense, but it was what they both wanted to hear. “Once I have dissected a brain I will know more.”

  He watched with interest as the male’s face changed. His eyes looked harder than they had, his lips tighter, his colour changed from pink to red. It was the same with the female.

  Have you recorded this change, Zorina?

  Yes, part of the brain is very active in both Primitives.

  “Where are you going to get this brain?” Gerald asked.

  “There are many specimens in the vault.”

  “What do you mean? You can’t do that!” Emma shouted.

  “Emma, quiet now, let me explain,” Gerald said. “These people in the vault are alive. I won’t let you kill someone just to look at their brain.”

  “I do not intend to kill them. The body will remain in a frozen state.”

  “Are you stupid or something?” Emma burst out. “As soon as you dissect their brain, they’ll be dead. Even I know that!”

  Hagan w
as puzzled. If these Primitives did not understand, why did they not simply ask him in a normal voice?

  “The body will not be killed. “You may watch the process if you wish.”

  “That’s not possible,” Emma insisted. “How can you dissect a brain and not kill the person?”

  Gerald said, “Remember where we are…more than two thousand years ahead of our time. They will have technology we couldn’t even dream of. He could be telling the truth.”

  Emma sniffed. “We can’t be sure he is.”

  Hagan stood in front of a body he had identified as having normal brain patterns. As he leaned forward, the neural activity increased and as he moved away, it decreased. This was to be expected. He moved backwards and forwards until he found the point of balance, the place where the activity was still normal, but if he moved forward the slightest amount, the activity increased. He measured the distance. It was closer than the same point in his own people. This was interesting. The Primitives would believe he stood too far away from them.

  Primitive man’s brain was smaller than modern man but the hippocampus with its bulging folds was three times the size. Significantly, the pouch of skin attached to the amygdala was missing. It was the same in all the vault bodies he looked at.

  The most likely explanation was that this adaptation had occurred as a result of breeding with the Kudlu. If this was so, it would mean that this pouch was connected to the Kudlu’s ability to link their minds to each other. Hagan had never believed meaningful communication with the Primitives was possible. Now he knew for certain that it was not.

  Zorina had reported a favourable change in brain chemistry when Hagan had pretended to be engaging with them as equals. He concluded that there was no alternative to the Primitives’ slow, laborious communication using words.

  He returned to his own quarters to prepare his report for the Leaders. He wanted to show them that they had been right to give him a reprieve. He began by saying that he believed the Plan would have failed, even without the riot, because it was not possible to control the Primitives using workers. Of prime importance to them was the concept of equality and freedom. They would always rebel if they felt themselves to be imprisoned.

  He included Gerald’s idea to start a community where the Primitives lived as they wish and his assertion that they would breed naturally if left alone. They had a great deal of detailed knowledge about farming that they gained over many generations which would be useful.

  He sent off his report. There was one more thing he had to do before he could rest for the day. Baestel claimed that his mother was a Worker. Wild though the story was, it could that explain why his brain was tainted. If Baestel was telling the truth, he was not pure Superior.

  He pulled a hair out of his head and submitted it to the system for testing. The answer came back almost immediately. He was twenty percent Worker and eighty percent Superior.

  12

  Hagan destroyed the record of his DNA. Nobody must know, not even Zorina. Now he knew the truth, he must at all times strive to prevent the Worker qualities from taking hold of him again. There would be no reprieve a second time.

  The Primitives were to believe they were free to go where they wished, but the Leaders had instructed him to create a barrier some distance from their enclosure that would be invisible to the Primitives. They also wanted the Primitives to believe that they would one day be integrated into society, to avoid any further trouble.

  “I’m glad the Leaders listened to me,” Gerald said, when Hagan gave him and Emma the news that they were free to walk wherever they wanted.

  “What about the babies? I won’t let you take them away.”

  “The Leaders have realised this was an unwise move and have decided to leave the offspring with the parents.”

  “Do you mean it? You’re not just saying that?”

  “The Leaders have spoken.”

  “There are many things we need to explain to you if the plan is going to be successful,” Gerald said.

  He turned one of the many empty rooms in the vault into a command centre and covered the walls with diagrams, using a piece of chalk he had prised from the hard, impacted soil.

  “The buildings should be two or three stories high at most, and each couple needs their own bedroom, bathroom, and place to prepare food,” Gerald said.

  Hagan nodded as if in agreement. The process was tedious and pointless. The Leaders had already decided upon the construction of the clinic. It would be rebuilt to its former size. The large hall where the Workers had eaten would be the Primitives’ dining hall, with a kitchen off of it. The only change the Leaders made was to allocate the Primitives two small rooms per couple instead of one larger one, and, at Gerald’s suggestion, provide them with a door to the corridor that locked. There would be more washrooms on each floor, and the hand basins would be enclosed in private cubicles.

  “We must be in a position to produce enough food before we release bodies from the vault,” Gerald told him. “For a healthy race, we need more than seaweed.”

  “I am developing a method of erasing pollution,” Hagan said. “Once I have succeeded, I will begin planting, firstly inside the dome where the soil has not been subjected to decades of erosion from the wind.”

  “My sister read this book about growing plants in water,” Emma said. “She stuck a few of Dad’s dahlias in the pond, but they died. Dad was furious!” She smiled briefly, but her eyes spoke of the pain she felt whenever she thought of the past.

  “Emma, you’re a genius!” Gerald said, kissing the top of her nose.

  Hagan kept a neutral expression, hiding his anger at the way they did not consult him if there was a problem, but sought to find a solution by themselves. That was something no Worker would do, and these Primitives were lower than them.

  Reminding himself of the Leaders’ orders, Hagan said, “It may be possible. I am nearing the successful completion of my experiments to produce a chemical filter that will improve the quality of the water without damaging human life.”

  “We could put all the frozen bodies into one of the larger halls, leaving the other halls free for the plants. It will take a few weeks for those halls to warm up. By then you should be ready.”

  “We’ll need something to make shelves and troughs,” Emma said.

  “All materials were removed from the clinic after the riot. I will request that these are returned for your use.”

  The next day, Hagan informed Gerald and Emma that the building materials had been delivered. They hurried outside and picked it over. Gerald held up a large piece of metal. “We might be able to construct some troughs,” he said. “We need a few tools, though, and something to line the troughs with. I’ll have a word with Hagan.”

  Gerald had just finished explaining the hydroponics systems to Hagan when, Emma appeared with a big grin on her face and a large cut on her arm. “You’ll never guess what. I went exploring and found some old storerooms. There’s all sorts of things there. Come and see.”

  Screwing up his eyes against the ancient lighting, Hagan followed Emma through a maze of corridors to a part of the vault he had never been in. “Careful not to touch the sides,” she said. “The rock’s sharp in places. That’s how I got this cut on my arm. It’s so dark here.”

  She stopped at a door before flinging it open dramatically, revealing a room about fifteen feet square, neatly stacked from floor to ceiling with large, opaque plastic boxes covered in hundreds of years of dust. One stood open and was filled with hundreds of screwdrivers in different sizes.

  They pulled down two more boxes and opened them. One contained pliers and spanners and the other rolls of wire.

  “There’s other rooms too. Loads. I didn’t go in them all. There’s miles and miles of corridors,” Emma said.

  “We’ll need to draw a map when we’ve got something to write on. For the moment, just let’s go in a straight line so we can’t get lost.”

  One room was full of copper pipes, tap
s, sinks and shower units; in others there was furniture, kitchen equipment, garden and farming tools, ladders, power washers, washing machines and chain saws. A find of coir doormats and hemp rope brought exclamations of delight. They would make excellent liners for the plant troughs.

  This was a major development. Hagan returned to his laboratory to contact the Leaders. History had taught them that it was the Primitives’ obsession with possessions that led to the death of the planet. They plundered resources, destroyed habitats, leading to the extinction of plants and animals; they used more and more harmful chemicals, with no thought of the way the planet was affected. He could not allow the Primitives to do the same thing again.

  After receiving the Leaders’ instructions, he returned to the storerooms. He must handle the Primitives carefully.

  “Take what you need back to your room, then come and look at the wheat,” he told them

  “I’ve missed so many things. I’ll stay here and see what I can find,” Emma said.

  “Please come with me. If the wheat is ready to be harvested, I will need your help.”

  The wheat stood two feet high. The moisture content was 14%. It was ready for harvesting, but he asked the primitives to test it as he was relying on their expertise. Gerald chewed a few seeds and declared it ready.

  After allowing the Primitives to tell him what he needed, Hagan produced a scythe. They cut down the plants and separated the wheat from the chaff. Using a machine in the laboratory, they ground it into flour. Next, Emma asked for yeast so she could make bread.

  There was no record of yeast having been stored in the vault. After some thought, Gerald remembered its Latin name, saccharomyces, which was available in the vault. Some hours later, the smell of bread cooking in the laboratory kiln filled the corridors.

  Emma asked for a clock so she could time it. “Time is measured using sidereal algorithms,” Hagan told her. “For cooking, the kiln measures the chemical reactions within the food until they are at an optimum level.”

  Emma turned to Gerald. “What’s her talking about?”

  “The oven will turn itself off when the bread’s ready.”