The Family

by Saxon Keeley

  “If I am not mistaken, you also met your wife, Zhang Li, at university as well. Your wife is an interesting person, is she not?”

  “By that you mean my wife is Chinese, yes,” Charles said bluntly.

  The audience murmur disapprovingly.

  “A month after my expulsion a planet dubbed Delta Nine was experiencing catastrophic disasters,” continued Charles, ignoring their prejudice. “Many of the scientists likened the red planet of Delta Nine to that of Mars, as it too is believed to have once supported its own atmosphere. However, it was always one of the more volatile planets colonised. The planet was rejecting the terraformed atmosphere. Hundreds died as result. Delta Nine was proof pre-existing ideas of terraforming were wrong and Harrison had no answers as to why it was happening. Bypassing the University, myself and my team travelled to the States to submit my thesis on terraforming to the American government itself. Within a week, we found ourselves on a ship travelling to Delta Nine with an expert team of engineers and generous funding.”

  “Why did you go out there too? Wasn’t it dangerous?”

  “Yes, but I insisted that I was to oversee every aspect of the construction. Besides, we did not have time to brief anyone on the ins and outs of the design. Once we got to Delta Nine, it was worse than any of us had expected. The colonists were suffering radiation poisoning and the acid rain had begun to eat away at the colony. It was the longest sixteen months of my life. People falling sick every day; food supplies spoiling; accidents because of sleep deprivation; and equipment degenerating due to the harsh conditions. Pockets of air low in oxygen would make the hard labour even more dangerous. The thunder at night would shake the very ground. Winds reaching up to a hundred miles per hour, destroying our previous day’s work.

  “I knew my Terraforming Plant would be violent in the first stage, so when we finally flipped the switch, for three months we were stationed underground. The only indication of what was happening outside were the sounds. Any monitoring equipment we had brought along was destroyed in the first few days. Because our bunker was attached to the Terraforming Plant, or the TFP, the structure would rattle and creek under the pressure of the forming atmosphere. But through the hardship, we became a sort of family. Putting on shows for one another, drinking and laughing. There wasn’t really much else we could do at that stage,” he said.

  “So how did you know it was finally accomplished?” asked the hostess.

  “The noises stopped one day and I took a walk outside,” Charles smiled.

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  “But that’s not the end of the story, is it? It’s no big secret that you are being summoned to the CERE tomorrow. Tell us what happened next Dr Jung,” said the hostess.

  “Certainly. The USA government was reluctant to recolonise Delta Nine after all that had happened. Which I suppose was understandable. I protested it was safe and managed to secure legal rights to Delta Nine’s Terraforming Conditioning and Security, imposing certain sanctions and regulations that would ensure my TFP to only ever be intervened with direct permission from myself. Further it meant I held the rights to regulate the rate of colonisation and the fundamental technology and infrastructure of such colonies to ensure no strain would be placed on the environment. I secured those rights with support of the American government,” explained Charles.

  “This is where your wife’s connections to the Independent Republic of Shanxi in China enabled you to colonise Delta Nine, was it not?”

  “My wife is the daughter of Chairman Zhang Guozhi. During the war her father sheltered Chinese pacifists in a small community amongst the mountains of Shanxi. After the nuclear attacks that ended the war, this small community then declared independence from the remaining militant city states of Beijing and Shanghai. The community grew, with a focus on pre-Republic of China traditions and philosophies. They lived more earthly lives, providing for one another. But as it grew, more and more strain was put on them.

  “I met my wife while at university. She had lived in Britain ever since she was a young girl, Chairman Zhang knew her life in China would be a harsh and brutal one. The next time she met her father, since the age of eight, was with me during our second year at Oxford. I’d paid for us to go out there. When we arrived in China, it was…desolate.

  “I’ve been to the West Coast and seen what has become of LA, but it is not on the same scale as China. Men, women and children starving; the soil contaminated with radiation, unable to grow crops; most of the cattle are eaten or rotting out in the fields; buildings eroded away. The last remaining city states are at war with their own people, raping and pillaging. Slaughtering the weak and indoctrinating the strong. China may have launched the missiles first, but the total devastation that the US left the country in is unforgivable and so very unrecognised.

  “I wanted to give these people a fresh chance. A new home. If the USA were unwilling to colonise Delta Nine with American colonists, they might approve the Chinese, and they did. Chairman Zhang lead a peaceful community looking to survive, so the USA appointed him as the head of the colony’s assembly and the colony prospered despite the conditions on Delta Nine. A new city was erected in the place of the old one and because of the wealth of natural resources, individuals became affluent, enabling further construction and development of the colony. In honour of Chairman Zhang, the Council of the Elected Representatives of Earth renamed Delta Nine to Neo-Shanxi.”

  “There is no doubt that Neo-Shanxi has been a success and by the sounds of it has been largely commissioned by the CERE itself, but your influence doesn’t stop there,” said the hostess

  A map of the Charted Systems is brought up in the glass floor below their feet. On people’s television screens at home, it looks as if Charles and the hostess are celestial beings sitting above a galactic empire. The planet to be highlighted first is Earth, then Neo-Shanxi many systems away, then the remaining First Nine, and finally several new planets are highlighted. Each system is connected by their EMR lines of trajectory.

  “So, we just saw the First Nine and here are the planets terraformed and colonised since. In the ten years since your success on Delta Nine, you were commissioned to terraform the other eight planets and managed to successfully terraform others, imposing your conditions and sanctions, which in turn allowed you to populate each of these colonies with large populations of Chinese and Asian colonists,” she explained.

  “All sanctioned by the American government and the CERE,” interrupted Charles.

  “Now you want to build a Terraforming Plant on Earth,” said the hostess accusingly.

  The audience gasps in disbelief.

  “Is this true? And if so why?” she pressed.

  Charles reaches over to the glass of water and takes small sips. His palms have become clammy and his tie feels tight around his neck, he is not sure if it is because of the heat from the lighting, the audience’s glares or the nature of the questions. Slowly and gently he places his glass of water back down.

  “Earth is dying…” Charles began.

  The audience goes into a frenzy. Staff attempt to silence them, but the more the they are hushed, the louder they become. Charles plays chess often enough to realise he’s been set up. The hostess was unknowing, her career isn’t well enough established to have a man such as him on the show. He sits there disappointed; his optimism having been sorely misplaced.

  The show cuts to another commercial break. Before anyone has given Charles the OK, he has removed his ear piece and is darting for the exit. Behind him the hostess fans herself, complaining to the producers about the heat.

  One of the assistants is waiting for Charles at the exit with his coat. He throws it on and continues marching through the backstage.

  The long-fitted black coat falls to just below his knees and the collar is high, reaching just above his nose. A thick lining is made to withstand the cold, radiation and acid rain. In built gloves and a hood are made of the same material
. It was the same coat he wore twelve years ago when stepping out onto the surface of Delta Nine. A memento from his crowning achievement. The one material possession he has any love or true sentiment for. Designed by himself, the coat is one of many given to the rest of his team. If Charles learnt anything from his mother, image is everything and if anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing in style.

  Charles steps out of the studio and into the rain. While doing up his coat he looks across the street and attempts to read the worn-down billboard:

  If you can read this, it means acid rain.

  Stay indoors.

  New York City, a mess of different skyscrapers from across the last few centuries, one of the most overcrowded cities in America, and far away from the West Coast and the nuclear fallout zones. The people here have no sense of community and are greedy and desperate. Some have lost their sense of humanity.

  “Dr Jung,” a voice called out.

  Charles looks down the road to find an old man dress in an expensive Chinese suit holding an umbrella. The suit has beautiful embroidery, over his left chest the embroidery meets to form the shape of a dragon’s head. The dragon of the Neo-Shanxi Assembly.

  “Chairman, what are you doing on Earth?” Charles called back as he walks to meet him.

  Without saying anything, the Chairman wraps his arms around Charles and embraces him, making sure to keep the umbrella over his head. He pulls away and holds Charles in place.

  “You look like you could do with a drink. Come, there is a local bar that allow Chinese,” said Chairman Zhang sympathetically.

  The bar is high-class, dimly lit, but most importantly tolerant of Chinese customers. The seats are red velvet and the fixtures and fittings are a dark rosewood. The lamp shades match the seats and have golden tassels. Behind the bar are spirits that date back before the war, a rarity in these times.

  The men and women of the bar are finely dressed, many are Western businessmen with Asian mistresses. Seeing the Chairman and Charles walk in, every Asian customer brightens up. A waitress directs them to the best table in the bar overlooking a small lake. She explains that anything they order is on the house.

  “Thank you my dear. Xifeng for us,” said Chairman Zhang in Chinese, slipping a generous tip into her hand.

  The waitress acknowledges the gesture and shoots a look up at the CCTV camera. The red light, that indicates it is recording, switches off and the scientist and the politician can speak freely.

  Zhang waits for the waitress to wander off back to the bar. “I saw your interview…”

  “I do not want to talk about it,” dismissed Charles quickly, also in Chinese.

  “Very well,” said Zhang while watching the rain fall over the lake. “You know what is going to happen to you tomorrow, they will take everything from you.”

  “I do not get what it is they want to take from me. I made those planets viable, they commissioned all my regulations. They even were willing to gamble with the lives of thousands of Chinese.”

  “It was fine all the time they were unsure whether the terraforming would be successful or not, but now each colony is flourishing, new companies are finding traction and with the unlimited resources out there, day by day they are starting to rival even the most profitable conglomerates here on Earth. This planet is not only dying on an environmental level, but on an economic one too. Your regulations mean that powers here on Earth cannot establish themselves on the planets out there and therefore cannot compete. More people are signing up to colonisation programs every day. As more people leave Earth, the larger the colonies grow, the more they demand self-government. Neo-Shanxi is a shining example of stable and peaceful living. True democracy, something Earth gave up on before the war,” explained the Chairman.

  “I just wanted to make things better for people,” said Charles sincerely.

  “Excuse me,” the waitress intruded.

  She places down a flask and two cups. After bowing she leaves the men in peace once again.

  “What you did for us was an act of kindness and compassion. You gave many innocent victims of war a second chance,” said Zhang, pouring them both a drink. “That is why you are dangerous.”

  “Kindness and compassion, dangerous?” reiterated Charles, slipping back into his native tongue.

  “After tomorrow, Earth will no longer be a safe place for you. If you lose they will want to apprehend your life’s work, ensuring there is no piece of the puzzle that they do not own. With your research, they will not need you any longer. You will become nothing more than a voice they need to silence. If somehow you win the case, then within a month some accident will happen, there are dangerous divisions to Earth’s governments that the public have no clue even exist,” warned Zhang.

  They both sip their drinks.

  The rain was only the beginnings of a storm. The glass windows rattles, water collects in the road outside forming a stream and rubbish is blown into the air. Lightning strikes, illuminating the city. Thunder that follows causes the surface of their drinks to ripple.

  Zhang points out to the lake over the road. “You know New York never used to have a lake. It was formed because a bomb was dropped on the city during the war…”

  “And once the war ended and the sky was scorched, the hole began to fill with acid rain. The water seeped into the soil and destroyed the greenery of Central Park. Over the years, the rain eroded the ground. Some of New York’s oldest buildings began to collapse. People became homeless. Hundreds of people died of exposure,” Charles finished the story.

  “No one was willing to house them, give them refuge.”

  They fall silent and sip their drinks again.

  “What do you suggest then?” asked Charles, aware of the implications tomorrow’s hearing may have.

  “Come with me to Neo-Shanxi,” offered Zhang.

  Charles laughs, choking on his drink.

  “Charles I am serious. My daughter, my grandchild, my future grandchild. I will not sit by and see them in any form of danger. I have sacrificed too much in my life to ensure Li lives a good and safe life,” said Zhang.

  “Move to Shanxi, where rain eats through the metal frame of umbrellas, heat that melts the rubber of your boots and sandstorms that can last months. You think Shanxi will provide a safer existence for my wife and children than Earth?” chuckled Charles.

  “You have not been there in years. Things are better now than they have ever been. We are growing cherry blossoms in the soil. The canyon is filling with water which we are purifying. Last winter we saw snow fall on the tops of the mountains. The Red Colony is now the crown jewel of the First Nine. Life on Shanxi would not be so bad for you. The people of Neo-Shanxi love you. For the rest of your life you would want for nothing. Your family would be treated with the respect and gratitude that they deserve. You would have a home in the Imperial Gardens. Young Alistair would have a good education, free from the prejudice my daughter had to endure. Charles, you could establish your own labs away from the restrictions of Earth. These people do not appreciate your genius. If they will not let you save Earth, help build Shanxi,” said Zhang keeping eye contact with Charles all the while.

  Charles looks out of the window across the street, the stream flooding over the sidewalk looks more like a river now, beyond the lake and at the city. The storm rages on and sirens can be heard in the distance.

  “It is a generous offer, but Earth is my home. Despite how broken it may currently seem,” he replied.

  Zhang sighs, then finishes off his glass in one. He pours them both out another round from the flask.

  “Sleep on it, the offer is always on the table. Come, let us drink. We should prepare for the hearing tomorrow. I hear that you are representing yourself. What madness drove you to such measures?”

  Charles leans in and joked, “Not madness, just sense on everyone else’s behalf. No decent Western lawyer wanted to come near my case.”

  Michael Hastings

  “Hello Charles. Not t
hat I don’t love hearing from you, but you do realise it is three in the morning here in London? Hey, hey. Slow down…what is it you want me to do?” asked Michael, listening to a distressed and inebriated friend over the phone. “OK, so you want me to secure your research. Don’t worry, I’ll head right over.”

  Michael puts the phone down, rubs his eyes and lays there confused as he tries to figure out why Charles sounded so worried.

  Waving his hand in front of the lamp, a dim light gently brightens the room. He sits up on the edge of the bed and begins to get dressed in the clothes he’d discarded onto to the floor only a few hours ago.

  From the wardrobe, he finds his coat, identical to Charles’, and straightens out the high collar as he marches through the hallway, grabbing his keys on the way out.

  London is a silent and dark city at night. Frequent power outages keep the city on edge.

  During the war, Britain’s conglomerate government held off the advancement of the Russian Army from entering Western Europe. The government has secretly funded coups in the Middle East and Africa. Despite its influence and presence during the war, in the time of peace that followed the country could not sustain itself. Business thrived on the war economy and since plunging into austerity, the government’s actions have become shady and steeped in conspiracy.

  Armed police patrol the streets, ensuring anarchy does not erupt. Through fear and force, the country has remained stable. Worker’s unions being disbanded and harsh curfews imposed on the population.

  However, London, along with several other European cities, is recognised world over as one of the last beautiful cities on Earth.

  When Michael arrives at the lobby of Charles’ London apartment, neither the door man or night porter are there to greet him. He approaches the desk and looks over the counter to see a smashed coffee mug. Michael searches around again to see if anyone is there. No one in sight, he proceeds to the elevator.