by S A Pavli
“Andrew, don’t jump on Harry!” shouted Melanie, her eyes not leaving the youngsters. She augmented her shout with a telepathic command . Little Andrew responded with a brief affirmation, his mind a jumble of sea, surf and excited physical sensations. His brother chipped in with a telepathic “Yeah Andrew!”
After an energetic swim and lunch with a few glasses of wine, Mark was reclining on the sand in a luxurious torpor. The sun was hot but a cool breeze caressed his naked skin.
“This is the life; the beach all to ourselves, delicious food and a glorious day.”
“Enjoy it, tomorrow you have a meeting with the Guardian Council.”
“Not even the Guardian Council can spoil my mood,” grinned Mark. “I can always rely on good old Les to back me up.” Melanie smiled without comment. Mark and Leslie’s relationship was no secret to her; their telepathic powers allowed for no cheating or duplicity. The beautiful Doctor had captured the heart of one of the military officers and they had recently become a couple. Leslie was now a member of the Guardian Council, the governing body of Sunrise. Also on the council was Captain Anja and James Walters. The other members of the original exploratory team headed up various scientific committees. Jo and Andy continued to work on Elpidan technology and were the recognized experts in Elpidan Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Their work on isolating and eliminating the corrupted AIs from the ancient Archives had allowed access to the full rich history of the dead inhabitants of Sunrise and was a monument to that lost tragic civilization.
Jo and Andy, as well as Jimmy Petrov had agreed to be ‘infected’ with the Virtual, as indeed all permanent inhabitants of Sunrise were required to do. Thanks to Jo and Andy’s work, the sophisticated robots of the dead Elpidans had been repaired and brought back into service in their hundreds. Thousands still stood perfectly preserved and waiting to be brought back to life. These eager and obliging little robots served as the workforce of the new Sunrise. Released from the malevolent influence of their old AIs, they were always ready and willing to do the bidding of their new masters. Indeed if they had feelings they could be said to be delighted to have a purpose again.
“When is grandfather Carstairs coming?” asked Mark.
“In two days I believe,” replied Melanie. Melanie’s father had chosen to continue to live on Adelphi, but made frequent visits to Sunrise to see his beloved grandchildren. Melanie had been trying to persuade him to stay on Sunrise and become ‘infected’, but he had so far refused. As for Melanie, she was overall head of exploration and archaeology, coordinating all the science teams on Sunrise, a huge job which she did in addition to raising two energetic and demanding boys. Mark could be said to have the most unenviable job of all; As head of the Sunrise Foreign Relations Council, his job was to manage the difficult relations that the new planet had with the human Federation. Sunrise was a member of the Federation, but was the object of mixed emotions and relations.
It was of course, the consequence of the way that the original ten members of the expedition had unilaterally seized control of the planet, combining their new mental powers to free themselves of the military quarantine and setting up their own governing council. They had invited all who wanted to join them to come to Sunrise as free citizens. For a while it was touch and go; the only choice for the Federation military was to attack and destroy the Chameleon and the Bounty Hunter at long range. Any attempt to board the ships or exclude ‘the ten’ (as they came to be known) from the planet was met with a barrage of mental interference. All attempts to explore the planet were sabotaged by the ‘ten’ who sent two or three of their number to broadcast mental interference that disabled the exploring parties.
It was stalemate and the Federation eventually accepted ‘the Ten’s’ offer of a partnership, allowing them to continue their independent activities. The Federation reluctantly acceded to their request, they were citizens of the Federation after all and bombing them out of existence would have been seen as a crime, but maintained the quarantine. Any who wanted to join the renegades could do so, but it would be a one way trip. Nevertheless, thousands had come, and the Federation had eventually and reluctantly recognized the settlers as the legal owners of the planet. The results of all research was made available to the Federation, who also had their own scientists and diplomatic staff on the planet.
But it was an uneasy relationship; extravagant and alarming rumours circulated on Federation planets, fed by unscrupulous media outlets, that the inhabitants of Sunrise had been taken over by alien creatures and turned into supermen. That a dangerous civilization was growing on Sunrise, one that would eventually be a threat to humanity. There were extreme demands ranging from bombing the planet out of existence to invading and occupying it and exterminating all the Virtuals and freeing all the humans from their alleged subjugation. The challenge for Mark’s committee was to fight these rumours and spread the truth about Sunrise and it’s peaceful inhabitants. In this he had the not inconsiderable support of the Carstairs Media empire.
His main concern was to lift the planetary quarantine and allow citizens of Sunrise to travel throughout the Federation. No doubt that initially they would be treated as freaks and asked to do ‘tricks’ but he believed that with dignified behaviour they could eventually overcome these prejudices. He sighed and smiled at the antics of the children, which Melanie was still looking at with an eagle eye. What does the future hold for the new ‘Sunrisers’ ? he asked himself. A higher level of human consciousness? Perhaps this was what life could have been like for humanity had they had the fortune to truly possess greater empathy and an immortal soul. Now we have it, can we really use it? Or will prejudice and fear destroy the possibility of greater enlightenment?
For now, there are more important things he mused as he rose and took Melanie’s hand. Together they ran to play with the children.
THE END
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