Cesar took a deep breath and smiled. "It hasn't all been catastrophe and hard work, though. We have celebrated over a hundred weddings, including my own," he paused as a roar of applause arose, accompanied by shouts and whistles. "…And welcomed over a dozen new births into our growing colony," he continued. "More on that later, but to continue, our monthly fiestas continue to be a great success, thanks to the efforts of the volunteer planning committee. In short, in our two years on Crashlanding, we are confident we have established a thriving, successful colony.
"Still," he continued, "there remain many challenges to overcome, and this meeting is intended to address some of them.
"We have much to cover today," he continued, "and many diverse viewpoints. The Council wishes to make certain that every point of view is heard, so we have devised the following procedures and rules:
"First, as Chairman, I will conduct the meeting. The first orders of business will be those the Council has deemed important and controversial enough to require votes of the entire colony. Speakers representing various points of view on these topics have already been scheduled, and will be heard in predetermined order. Once the scheduled speakers have been heard, the floor will be opened for general comment and discussion. At that point, you may feel free to address only the subject being discussed. Once the predetermined topics have been addressed, the floor will be opened for unscheduled topics.
"As I have mentioned, these topics are controversial, and emotions will no doubt run high. But disruptions and disorder will not be tolerated. You opinion will be heard if you will simply press the star key on your tablet. The computer will register your press, and you will be invited to speak in the order in which your signal was received. But if you just start shouting, or interrupting another speaker, you will be ejected from the meeting, and will able to attend only via your tablet, which will not accept verbal input for the duration of the meeting, except during your requested comment period. So please grant those with whom you disagree the same courtesy they will grant you in your turn.
"When called upon, you may opt to address the meeting from the podium, or simply through your tablet."
He smiled. "We expect that this meeting will take most of the day. So, we have arranged for the computer to provide a lunch from ship's supplies. If necessary, it will also provide an evening meal.
"After the meeting, there will be an ice cream social on the colony square." His smile turned to a genuine grin. "We hope the ice cream will help cool some of the tempers raised by the meeting.
Cesar straightened. "And now," he continued, "I would like to introduce Dr. Susan Renko, who has a matter of great importance to bring before this meeting. The Council feels that the issue she is to raise is so important, and so controversial, that only a vote of the entire colony will suffice. Please give Dr. Renko your full attention, and hear her out without interruption."
There was a shifting, a loud mutter, and even a spattering of applause as Cesar took his seat, and Susan approached the podium. Cesar suppressed a wince at the loud groans audible even over the applause. For two years, Susan had been preaching 'genetic diversity' to anyone that would listen, and many in the audience were certain they would be enduring another lecture on the subject.
They were right, of course, but Susan managed a wavering smile as she placed the tablet with her notes on the podium before her. She, Vlad, Cesar and Helen had spent hours polishing her presentation and smoothing over objectionable parts of the plan she was to propose. Still, she was not a skilled public speaker, and her manner was nervous as she began.
"Thank you Messer Montero. Good evening, fellow castaways. That is what we are, you know. Castaways, marooned on a deserted planet by a shipwreck.
"Unlike castaways on Earth, though," she continued, "we have no hope of rescue. There will be no other ships. As you know, EarthGov does not launch any two ships on the same course. They want to spread the seed of mankind as widely as possible. Whether we survive, whether our children or their children survive to build a new world on Crashlanding is entirely up to us.
"As of this morning, there are one thousand, one hundred and eighty-two of us. 1240 actually survived the plague, but even with the births we've had, colonists are dying faster than they are being born. At our present rate of loss, the last of us will die in less than twenty years. Long before that, of course, the population would become too few to survive this hostile environment.
"It takes twelve to fifteen years to raise a child to the point where he could be expected to survive on his own for more than a few days, and eighteen to twenty years before we consider him adult.
"But that is not the only threat. Twelve hundred people are barely enough to be considered sufficiently diverse for a viable community; but it is sufficient only if their genetic makeup is carefully monitored and, yes, controlled.
"In short, our population is too low, our birth rate is too low, and we will soon begin to see defective children born unless we take action now."
"Once again she tries to make our women bear white babies!" A voice shouted from the audience.
Chaos erupted, with colonists shouting at each other, shouting into their tablets, and a scuffle or two broke out. Cesar muttered into his tablet, and then his voice roared out, overwhelming the loudest of the shouters. "SILENCE" he roared. Silence fell, and he continued in a more normal, if agitated, tone as the computer readjusted the volume, "You will be heard, but you will do so in an orderly fashion," he thundered. "And when you speak, Doctor Renko will do you the courtesy of hearing you out without interruption. You are free to be as stupid, rude and uncivilized as you wish in your own homes, but colony meetings will be conducted in a courteous and civilized manner."
There was a scuffle and shouting as two of Boyet's militiamen grabbed the shouter and hustled him from the meeting.
"Doctor Renko and the medical staff have spent many hours working to design a program that will ensure our survival while considering morality," Cesar resumed. "You may agree with it or not, but you will hear her out, without further disruption." He stepped back from the podium and nodded to Susan to resume.
"No," she said quietly, "we do not intend to force anyone to have white babies, or any other kind except healthy ones.
"Actually," she continued with a shrug, "I suspect that in a century, if our colony survives that long, racial identity will be little more than a memory as genetics and human nature exert their influences. What we have done is find a way to make reproduction safer and more convenient.
"According to the computer, the average maximum number of children that a woman can bear without risk to her health is four." She swept a glance around the chamber. "Many of you have already borne more than four children, and pressure from your mates and your neighbors to conceive again is mounting. Many of our children died in the crash and the plague, and there is a natural drive to replace them.
"And if our colony is to survive and to flourish, we must replace them. In fact, we must not only replace them, but dramatically increase their numbers. Yet, we cannot afford to risk the health of our women.
"Another factor that needs consideration is that for the last few weeks of pregnancy, the health risks to both the woman and the fetus demand that she must be placed on light duty. If we begin an aggressive breeding program, as we recommend, we face the possibility of a large percentage of our population restricted from strenuous activity; and the Council tells us there is simply too much to do to make that desirable.
"With the help of the computer and the medical staff, we think we have come up with a solution. But we and the Council are well aware that moral and ethical sensitivities must be a primary consideration.
"We have found a way to use the incubators, normally used to produce livestock, to instead serve as artificial wombs to produce human children. At the same time, we have developed the ability to produce viable fetuses from the sperm and egg donations on hand.
"So," she continued, "We now have the capability
of producing healthy zygotes in the lab, 'test tube fetuses', as one Councilor referred to them. We can then incubate the fetus, and produce a full-term baby without risking the woman's health, and without making her undergo the discomfort and physical limitations that accompany childbirth.
"Naturally, this raises many moral and ethical questions. We have already confronted many of these, and perhaps I can save time by anticipating some of the questions from the floor.
"First, no, we are not producing 'designer babies.' That was science fiction twenty years ago, and it is still science fiction. Our intervention is limited to deciding which egg will be fertilized by which sperm. We can identify some possible genetic problems, but that is all.
"And no, we are not 'playing God,' or 'creating life.' The life already exists in the sperm and egg donations we all made. We are merely activating it, fulfilling nature's plan for those substances. Or God's plan, if you prefer.
"What we have proposed to the Council is a comprehensive plan for managing the colony's population, to keep it viable and diverse.
"To summarize, we would establish a department to manage population. Colonists desiring to have a child would apply to this department. The department would analyze the request, and verify that no significant genetic risk exists, and that both donors agree to the use of their donation. The egg would be fertilized in the lab, and the zygote transferred to an incubator. Nine months later, the parents would be delivered a healthy, full-term child.
"The procedure actually carries less risks than 'normal' childbirth, since fetal development is monitored constantly, and the mother is not physically involved at that stage.
"Of course," she continued with a shrug, "If a man and woman prefer to undergo 'normal' pregnancy and childbirth, that is their right." She smiled. "In fact, I see no way the colony or the Council could stop them. So, our noisy neighbor back there can have as many babies as he can get his mate to agree to, and not a white face in sight.
"In other words, we have tried to make the program as morally and ethically sensitive as possible. It would be strictly voluntary, so if it upsets your moral sense, or violates your beliefs, you simply need not participate."
She took a deep breath. "I will now entertain questions and comments."
Cesar's tablet had been ablaze with talk requests. By the time Susan was finished, the computer showed a queue of over thirty. He pressed the signal and the first began talking from his seat, glaring into his tablet's screen.
He railed for over five minutes, complaining that the decline in population showed that God had marked the colony for death, and they had no right to try to overcome His will.
Finally, Cesar decided the man had used enough time. "So, what would you have us do?" he asked. "Should we all simply lie down and die?"
The man's face reddened even further. "It is God's will!" He thundered. "It is blasphemous to oppose it!"
Cesar nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your comments, sir, but we must move along, and allow others a chance to speak."
Thankfully, most of the other speakers were not so long-winded. Most simply had questions for Susan, and a number of women just wanted to know where they could sign up.
"How will you deal with dozens of men wanting children mothered by the most beautiful woman, or women wanting children fathered by the smartest, or best-looking men? Like your husband, the brilliant Dr. Renko?" The question was asked with a mischievous smile, but it was a valid one.
"I would hope that the brilliant Dr. Renko would be selective," she said, turning to wink at Vlad. "We expect that the permission of both donors would be required, together with completion of a form, or contract, spelling out the donor's responsibilities toward the child." She shrugged. "These are administrative details, to be worked out by the Department," she continued. "I'm certain such issues would be addressed by them."
As prearranged, the last questioner was Mr. Sun. Cesar was not above stacking the deck when necessary, and he wanted to make certain that Susan's bombshell fell at the end of the comment period.
"This all still sounds like science fiction to me," Mr. Sun said. "How do you know this whole 'test-tube baby and incubator' plan will work?"
Susan smiled widely. "We know because our beautiful daughter is due to be 'born' day after tomorrow!" she proclaimed.
While the crowd still sat openmouthed at Susan's announcement, Cesar announced the vote. Since everyone voted on their own tablet, it was the closest they could come to a secret ballot, but the computer announced the result in minutes.
The proposal passed by a wide margin. Cesar later verified that the margin had been driven by an overwhelming favorable vote by the colony's female population, while the men had voted by a thin margin to defeat it. He classified the computer's report; there was no sense stirring things up.
Cesar was actually a bit surprised the Council had referred the next topic to the colony meeting. He felt it was obvious, not controversial.
"The next question on the agenda," he began, "is exploration. We have been on Crashlanding for two years, now, and I am continually shocked at how little we know about it.
"We have been as far as the river, and we have installed the head of our overflow pipe there. But after two men were lost to thorn trees, exploration of even the river bank was halted. Our scouts have traced the progress of Earth-derived plant life over the plains, but they have never even been out of sight of the ship.
"We desperately need to explore our new home, to learn of resources that can help us survive, and threats that can destroy us. Our Scouts have done an admirable job of protecting us; but they are protectors, not planetary explorers.
"The computer tells me that it contains a full training curriculum for planetary explorers, and we would like to begin recruiting students for that training.
"The plague also claimed our only skilled pilot. Now, many of us can operate a simple flitter, but we actually have a fairly wide variety of aircraft aboard the ship, which will prove of immense value in our explorations. So, we would also like to begin recruiting volunteers to be trained as pilots.
"Until we can get these explorations underway, however, we must again emphasize the necessity for all of us to stick close to the colony. Doctor Susan Renko has done an amazing job of analyzing samples submitted to her, and has isolated a number of threats. The med teams have used her data to develop inoculations and treatments that have prevented many deaths. But as we spread farther afield, we are bound to encounter new threats, and possibly even a new plague. So please, do not stray far from the colony or the improved fields. Prairie rats and Wolf lizards will not be the only hazards with which we will have to contend. Leave the exploring to those we will train for that mission!"
Cesar didn't expect any discussion requests, and had expected to move directly to a perfunctory vote. So he was surprised when the computer announced several requests.
The first, he was surprised to see, was Councilor Douglas Ryles.
"As Doctor Susan Renko mentioned before," he began, a look of regretful concern on his face, "Our population has actually declined since the plague, and there are barely over a thousand of us left.
"As much as I, like Chairman Montero, would like to explore our new home, it would be irresponsible and even foolhardy to do it now.
"Even the Chairman would agree, I'm sure, that exploration is a dangerous business. Over a dozen of our people have died just to learn the little we know about Crashlanding, and the farther afield we go, the more lives we will lose.
"We would be better served to enhance the training of our scouts and our militia, to defend us against the possible threats Chairman Montero mentioned. In fact, we should increase their numbers. Nothing should take precedence over our security!"
He paused dramatically, and then resumed with rising intensity. "Now that I think of it, colony security is not a subject on our agenda today. Well," he continued, "it should be! I urge you, my fellow colonists, to defeat Chairman Montero's attempt to r
ecruit fools to go off adventuring while the colony lies open to destruction! Defeat this proposal now, and I promise that colony security will be considered later, during the open period!"
The other two speakers followed Ryles' lead. One claimed Cesar's proposal was an effort to get Boyet's friends off work details and into 'an easy life'. The other was more forceful. "We can't afford to have people haring off on exploring trips while they leave us to face the wolf-lizards. Montero might not care about us, but by God, Doug Ryles does! Vote with him! He'll keep us safe from people like Montero, who only care about their friends!"
The exploration proposal failed by a large margin.
"What is Ryles up to?" Vlad asked during the break for lunch.
Cesar smiled sourly. "Same as always. He wants to take over the colony."
Vlad snorted. "He couldn't run it if he did," he proclaimed. "He's no Cesar Montero. He'd have us all dead in a year."
Cesar chuckled. "Well, it might take him a little longer than that to run it into the ground."
Helen Montero was frowning. "But what's this thing about exploration?"
Cesar shook his head. "He doesn't care about exploration. I think this is part of a carefully orchestrated plan. His whole reason for speaking in opposition was to shift attention to colony security and plant the idea that the militia should be expanded. Then he had a couple of his toadies throw some bombs at me, and plant the idea that I don't care about the people, and Doug Ryles does. Ryles is a cheap grifter, but he's got that 'us against them' act down to a science."
Susan's frown was as deep as Helen's. "Maybe we'd better be wondering why he wants the militia built up."
Vlad shrugged. "Probably to provide easy jobs for his toadies. Get them off manual work details and onto something they think is easier. After all, it's not easy to come up with rewards in a beer-based economy."
Helen shook her head. "He doesn't fool with beer much. He's still running beer and bingo. And he doesn't take anything but ship scrip for both."
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