Escape to the Stars!

by Glenn L Erickson

  Chapter 9: Conspiracy

  “Senator?”

  The elegantly-dressed woman turned in the direction of the voice. She noted at once that the young man facing her was a reporter. “What can I do for you Mister…?”

  Touching his badge, the man answered respectfully “My name is Samuelson, Henry Samuelson. I represent ENN. May I ask you a question?”

  Glancing at her schedule projected virtually before her via her vid-tacs, she said truthfully “I can give you one minute. I have to meet the Chairman at the Selection Committee chambers.”

  Nodding gratefully, he touched a contact on his temple-mounted recorder. A tiny blue light showed that the recorder was active. “Now that the Selection Protocol has been released, what, if anything can be done to reconsider those reportedly being judged as unfit to emigrate?”

  Sandra had known that the exclusionary sections were going to be controversial, but she had been appalled at the reaction around the world. Several nations had withdrawn their ambassadors from other nations’ capitals. Others had threatened to withhold their citizens from serving if the Protocols were not revised.

  Looking into the microscopic lens in the tip of the reporter’s, camera, she said quietly “The Protocol has been developed scientifically to screen out tendencies towards certain diseases, or predispositions towards destructive habits. No one that smokes, uses drugs or is addicted to alcohol, gambling or other destructive activities will be included. Felons are also excluded. The possibility of revisions is always open but I doubt that the Protocol will change”

  Nodding, the reporter said “Thank you for your time Senator.” He touched the contact again to stop the recording. Stepping back and to one side, he waved a hand graciously in the direction the Senator had been heading, inviting her to proceed. Smiling slightly at the gallant gesture, she nodded in return and promptly forgot the encounter. She sub-vocally called up her notes and reviewed them as she strode the short distance to the meeting room.

  “Ah! At last! Senator Ramey graces us with her august presence.” The Chairman’s gentle sarcasm silenced the group sitting around the table. Senator Ramey took her seat and nodded at the Chair. “I was waylaid by an ENN reporter.”

  Chuckles rippled around the table. Everyone there had been set upon since the Protocol had been released. For years, they had worked quietly, out of the lime-light, shrouded in obscurity. Their mandate had been agreed upon nearly 50 years ago once ground had been broken for the Space Elevator. Now that their committee’s efforts were public knowledge, they had all been thrust into the news and had been peppered with requests for interviews and huge volumes of pleas for inclusion, changes or hate-mail.

  The Chairman picked up a tiny mallet and tapped the crystal gong, announcing the start of the meeting. “This meeting is called to order. Any old business?” He waited a few moments before going on. “Any new business?”

  “Uh Mister Chairman…”

  “No George, you may not be excused from tonight’s celebration. The Chancellor is expecting all of us there. Besides, if I have to listen to his speech, so do you. Why should you be exempt from such torture?” Genial laughter drowned out George’s insulting reply.

  “With that out of the way, I want to thank all of you and your predecessors for the quality work that has gone into the Protocol. While future generations will likely criticize many of our decisions, they will have survived to criticize! Besides, none of us will probably be around to hear them gripe and then, with the perfect hindsight of history, tell our descendants just how much better their choices would have been!” Chuckles sounded from nearly all present.

  Leaning forward to emphasize his next remarks, the Chairman added “We will be accused of everything from simple prejudice to outright eugenics! We will suffer the slings and arrows of those that will not be chosen and the political pressure to change the selection process.”

  The Chairman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting, which was offered and seconded. The members shook hands with those around them and gradually vacated the room singly and in pairs. Sandra and the Chairman were the last occupants. He held out an elbow and Sandra slipped her hand through. She leaned into him momentarily and then he waved the lights off as they stepped through into the private hallway that led to the parking garage.

  Sandra stopped the Chairman as he reached for the call button. He turned towards her with an eyebrow lifted. She glanced back up the hallway to ensure that they were truly alone. She than leaned into him and said quietly “When will the selection committees receive the Protocol?”

  He paused for a moment, considering his answer. The Selection committees had been secretly selected over the years and their identities had been carefully-guarded. Should their names and affiliation be revealed before they had been sequestered, their lives and those of their families and friends could be at-risk. He eyed Sandra, wondering at her asking him to violate procedure.

  Sandra held her breath, knowing that she was pushing the limits of their friendship. She needed to know so that her associates could monitor the suspected Committee members and move to intercept some of them.

  Shaking his head, the Chairman replied “Senator; you know that the release of the protocol and the pre-screened lists of names to the committees is being handled by another section. But, even if I knew, I couldn’t tell even you.”

  She tried to mask her disappointment. She sexual allure was usually able to sway most men to her will. He had misjudged the Chairman’s strength of will. He was watching intently as she strove to recover her poise and said “I was simply curious, that’s all Simon.”

  He nodded and then pressed the call-button. The doors to the lift swept aside almost instantly. The four armed men in the lift stepped out to surround the pair. Stepping away from her, the Chairman said sadly “I’m truly sorry Sandra. I was hoping that someone else had been the one leaking information.”

  She was flabbergasted “But, but Simon! I haven’t leaked anything! You have the wrong person!”

  Sadly shaking his head, the Chairman said “I gave each member of the committee slightly different information on key points in their copies of the Protocol. Your copy is the one that showed up prematurely.”

  Looking angrily around at the four men there to arrest and restrain her, she turned back to the Chairman and said “We will overturn this Protocol Simon. It is immoral to exclude so many people! They have the same rights as everyone else to be considered! Just because they have a DNA-based propensity for cancer or some other disease is no reason to exclude them!”

  “I won’t argue the point with you Sandra.” Waving to the leader of the men, Simon stepped back as they handcuffed her and moved her into the lift. When the doors closed, the Chairman walked back to the meeting room and sat in his spot at the head of the table. After a few minutes, the rest of the committee members filed into the room more subdued than when they had departed. He waited until they had reseated themselves to announce quietly “Senator Ramey has been arrested for leaking the Protocol.” He paused to allow them the time to glance at her unoccupied chair and then glance around at each other.

  “We and our predecessors in this room have worked long and hard to define the Protocol. It has been endlessly debated and reorganized. The pros and cons explored extensively. It is the best effort of many conscientious people over the last 50 plus years.”

  “The people selected to crew GenStar One and the sister ships need to have the best chance to succeed. Having people aboard that have self-destructive habits or a genetic predisposition for a shortened life-span or serious illness is unthinkable. We have to especially careful of those defects that tend to carry forward into succeeding generations. We are even screening out those with sexually-transmitted diseases.”

  “We have over 20 billion people to choose from. We knew from the start that only a relative few would be able to go. We needed to make sure that those few offered
the best option for positive contribution and a reasonable expectation of success.”

  “Senator Ramey’s downfall was her sympathy towards those that have health issues or are educationally disadvantaged. She felt that the selection process should have a wider application, so as to more-accurately reflect our current demographics. Unfortunately, because of her premature release of the Protocol, those that oppose this effort now have a head start on organizing an opposition.”

  He added sadly “It is entirely possible that some or all of our careful work will be over-ridden by politicians trying to appeal to the masses and appear benevolent.” He leaned forward and said quietly “The Protocol has been released so the damage is done. What we have to do now is damage-control. Fortunately, for us, another committee was formed for this very eventuality.”

  To the surprised looks flashed his way, the Chairman smiled and said “The Protocol will be followed, but from behind the scenes. A wider selection is likely as the politicians throw their support behind a popular effort to expand the selection process, but most, if not all of those people that get selected outside the parameters set forth in our protocol, will get excluded by other means.”

  Murmurs from the members swelled to a loud debate. The chairman sat back and let them express their views. He needed to sense their positions on this revelation so he could note the ones that were against the newly-revealed method. It was early enough and they knew too little to harm the process should they chose to leak their new-found knowledge.

  He glanced down at the micro-camera embedded in the microphone in front of him. He knew that each of the other microphones in the room was similarly equipped and that the recordings would be scrutinized for tell-tales of disloyalty. It was a violation of their rights to be monitored this way, but the reason for the precaution out-weighed other considerations.

  After allowing time for the members to give voice to their concerns, the Chairman called the meeting to order and then dismissed them with a stern warning about their loyalty oaths and the need for discretion.

  He shook hands with each of them as they left, giving each a quiet word of assurance and encouragement. When the last one had left, closing the doors as he did so, the Chairman collapsed into his chair and lay back, staring at the ceiling. The soft snick of a catch behind him caused him to slowly pivot around.

  The man standing in the opening of the secret panel leading to the recording room was unremarkable in appearance. He had the kind of face that wouldn’t stay with you once you looked away. He secured the door and then waved at the Chairman as he departed as well. Finally alone, the Chairman swiveled in his chair to unheard music.