MEEK

by Richard Johnson

  “I suppose the plan is to continue building out in circles with green grass belts between, just like Tuath,” said Mark.

  “Yes, they tell me the next circle will be the entertainment and commerce circle,” shouted the helicopter pilot. “Beautiful isn’t it? Just wait until you see the lights come on as the sun sets. It’s quite a show.”

  On landing, they were assigned apartments in one of the towers. Evidently Hawk had a position on the council. It was modelled after the council of elders back on Tuath and was directly responsible to them. Hawk had met them as he would be taking Clover back to their new home on the clifftops by the southern ocean. He suggested they come and brief him there that evening. He wanted to be prepared for the council the next day. Barbara would be bringing Conor the next day as it was possible this meeting could drag out two days. Hawk and Clover’s house was partially covered by soil with the front facing the ocean made of laminated glass. It was single story and spacious. The view was spectacular and after dinner they sat on the covered veranda protected from the strong breeze coming in from Antarctica. Barry wasted no time and explained their request. Hawk got up and began to pace up and down. “That’s very tricky, Barry. You are asking us to pre-empt a decision by the elders; they call the shots, not us. I fully sympathise with your position but we are a colony, nothing more,” said Hawk.

  Barry was prepared for this. He had played the scene through his head a dozen times. “The only directive you have is to wait until the next fleet comes before saying yes or no to helping us. There is no reason why you can’t start the research now based on a decision of preparedness for all eventualities. What if your genetic coding isn’t fool proof? What if the virus mutates again? What if some of the newborn babies in the colony become susceptible because of a change in environmental factors? There is so much that can change. Why wouldn’t you make a decision to be ready for all eventualities? You are protecting the colony, it’s a prime directive. Our needs are a side issue.” Barry looked at Hawk’s face and knew he had him.

  Hawk stopped pacing picked up his mug of beer and laughed. “Here’s to diplomacy. May the stars smile on us.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The Plague

  The Tuathan colonial council, as it had come to be known, had no problem with the logic supplied by Hawk. It was voted to begin immediately. The smallest disc ship was to be used for collecting samples and monitoring the spread. Technology involved would not be shared with the natives. Only information that was deemed innocuous would be published.

  Jade and Mark were especially pleased with the speedy result as they could return home with Conor straight away, leaving Barbara behind to spend some time with Barry.

  Barry was tired of travelling and once they got home, he contacted Kana and invited her and Richard to be weekend house guests. Kana was delighted with the invitation. She loved being around Tuathans and Richard and Mark had become close friends over the preceding years. They arrived in a Consortium helicopter and, after much kissing and hugging settled in to a weekend of swimming, tennis and barbequing, although Kana was heavily pregnant and unable to indulge to the extent she would normally. Mark decided to take Richard on a bush walk. Nothing too strenuous, just an eight-kilometre slow walk along a creek bank. It had some lovely shady spots with tree ferns and mosses framing clear water pools. It gave them a chance to talk without the ladies being present. Kana and Jade were engaged in collecting and arranging wild flowers when they left. Richard remarked how the Japanese desire for visual perfection was shared by Tuathans. Mark agreed and said he had noticed much about Jade and especially Clover that seemed to demonstrate a Zen attitude to life. It seemed very natural that they both rapidly felt comfortable with Kana, who had retained and highly valued much of Japanese ancient ritual traditions. “What’s the Consortium’s take on the virus, Richard?” asked Mark in his usual direct fashion.

  “I can tell you we have not been taking it lightly. Huge financial resources have been placed in our hands. The facility both here in Australia and on Mars have been totally taken over by research into the virus. We have found out more about it than any national government has been able to do and I have prepared a report of all that we know to date, which I will go through with you tonight. While we are alone I should like to mention that there was some speculation among consortium colleagues that the virus was brought here inadvertently by the Tuathans. This has found willing ears among the religious groups in the northern hemisphere, the majority of whom insist it is the wrath of God directed at the Satanic Tuathans that has caused the plague. Tuathans are far from welcome in the northern hemisphere and they would be well advised to stay away. Our research has firmly established that the virus originated in Central Africa and was in existence in a slightly less aggressive form at least thirty years ago. Its existence is in no way related to the Tuathans coming here and we can easily prove it.”

  “That’s good to know. I will pass that on in Canberra,” said Mark.

  They continued their walk mostly in silence as both were contemplating the best way to proceed in dealing with this new threat to human life, and of its personal consequences.

  That night, once Conor was all played out and the ladies had put him to bed, they sat down to view the Consortium’s report. Kana took the lead.

  “Firstly, we at the Consortium refer to it simply as the Plague. Its potential to wipe humanity off the face of the planet makes it deserving of a name that strikes terror in to the collective racial memory of mankind. We have been hard at work and have come up with the following. It is an airborne virus that can exist in water supplies and at all normal temperature ranges where mammalian life exists without protection. It can adapt to all usual immune defence mechanisms and is basically cancerous in nature. It triggers cell death in healthy cells and can result in the death of its host within three weeks. The host feels fine for the first two or three days. The first signs are fatigue and a fever, then loss of motor control followed eventually by organ failure, internal haemorrhaging and death. In some cases death can take apparently as long as six weeks. We believe it is because of the individual ability of the host’s immune system to respond effectively. Its main feature is that it is highly adaptable, we have blasted it with all the conventional treatments, chemotherapy, radiation, immune-boosting diets, you name it we’ve tried it. We have been able to slow its spread and give the host an extra day or three of life, that is the best we have been able to achieve.

  “We believe the war and the nuclear radiation that now encompasses the equatorial belt and has spread to latitude twenty degrees north and twelve degrees south are the major weak spots. In these latitudes the poor quality of the immune systems of the inhabitants (what’s left of them) are making them highly contagious and vulnerable. We will not be conducting any more research in these areas as we see the risk of spreading the disease even faster than its current rate as a strong possibility. We have all the samples we need anyhow.” Kana decided to defer to Richard for the rest of the presentation and asked that they hold off with their questions until the end. Richard stood up and looked grimly at his small audience.

  “Now to the predictions. We cannot stop it at this stage and it will rapidly envelope the whole globe within the next three to three and a half years. This timespan in itself makes it very hard for us to see how we can reverse the spread. Time is not on our side. The political situation in the north is hampering any coordination of resources, in fact the situation is being largely ignored. This is because it has become politically correct to pretend the plague is the direct result of ‘the Muslim-Atheist War’ as it is come to be called. The Christian right is proclaiming that this ‘cleansing of the Earth is Good and Just and God wills it’. Muslims explain it by saying Allah has rewarded their efforts by granting them all a place in paradise. I’m not sure how their women fit in to this.

  “Paul is aware of this ideological shift and has been looking to Japan and China for alliances and trade. He has come to t
he conclusion that Europe and America will blame the Southern Alliance for everything and they will become the military threat of the future. I’m afraid Paul has not accepted the reality of the situation. We compiled this report in part to convince him there may not be a future and we are relying on you two to hammer home the seriousness of the situation. By now he is aware the Plague has reached Australian shores. That South Americans are migrating south as it spreads. That Central America, the Middle East, North and Central Africa, Pakistan, northern India, Myanmar, southern China and south-east Asia will be uninhabited in less than a year. The economic consequences of this will turn the world into insular nations trying to produce isolated self-sufficient colonies. Technological advances will largely be abandoned.”

  It was Richard’s time to take a breather. Mark seized the break to get a question in.

  “What is your attitude to the Tuathan promise to pursue research on our behalf?”

  “Ahh, well, that is where I must ask another favour. You see we, that is the Consortium, have the best research facilities on Earth. I want you to seek co-operation at every level between us and them. We want Paul to insist on it! They have the genetic edge on us and we want to explore all options including their genetic profiles. We certainly do not wish to discuss the concept of species interference. Our backs are against the wall and I believe, Jade, that you will help us convince everybody that this is a life-or-death scenario. Forget philosophy and politics. The Consortium for its part abandoned all economic pursuits a year ago. Money and power are no good when you are dead, especially if you don’t believe in heaven.”

  “I do not doubt the Consortium’s sincerity,” said Jade. “I am personally prepared to offer blood and tissue samples as such matters are not governed totally by the elders. Our bodies are our own and we are at liberty to use them as we wish.”

  Kana and Richard were both visibly moved by this response. Kana hugged Jade, “This is such an unfortunate time to live in and if we appear desperate and frustrated it’s because–”

  “It’s because we are desperate and frustrated,” Richard interjected. “We seem to have reached a brick wall as far as finding a cure in the short term. If we fail then we are at the mercy of Tuathan technology. If that is withheld we will perish regardless of any political spin.”

  Mark sighed deeply and reached out to hold Jade’s hand. “Let me review this meeting. What you want from me is to lean on Paul and the Tuathans to allow Consortium researchers total access to all research connected to the Plague? You also want Paul to consider the ramifications of the Plague’s spread and try to talk sense into the leaders of all nations. It also sounds as if you wish to consider force against the Tuathans if the response is negative from the elders, is that correct?”

  “Yes.” Richard was looking directly at Jade as he said this. “We know you are not our enemies, Jade. We are cornered and frightened for the future. No one has ever accepted extinction without firstly taken extreme efforts at self-preservation.”

  “We know everything there is to know about self-preservation, Richard.” Jade saw the irony of the situation but was not prepared to rub salt in a 3000-year-old wound. “I know my bond partner well, he will try to get you what you want. But violence against Tuathans would be useless. I can tell you now, we would not defend ourselves or harm you. We would simply say you have failed and would leave you to your chosen fate.”

  Mark squeezed Jade’s hand. “Whatever my lady says you can accept as the truth.”

  This brought some needed light relief. The conversation drifted over the global situation, but Kana was more interested in Conor and the future. It was obvious she loved Richard and it was equally obvious the situation was taking away their future together and that of their unborn child. All four of them avoided the ‘What if all else fails?’ scenario, their friendship had been strained enough. The night wore on and their friendship was in fact consolidated. Mark saw that if Richard and Kana had come to persuade him the time for petty grievances was over, they had done a good job. The future was in serious doubt yet the supposedly educated and informed leaders of this planet were still either ignorant or playing for time when there wasn’t any to play for. This preyed on Mark’s mind, the political correctness that had blighted his life seemed to be built into the social fabric of humanity even into the psychology of governance. He asked Jade about this. She actually laughed at the question.

  “Democracy was meant to serve the good of the entire people. Such a beautiful and simple concept. We have understood its weaknesses and have avoided them by exposing them publicly. You have amplified and traded in its weaknesses for gain. You have not had the true experience of democracy ever. Let me put it this way. What do you want to encourage in your society? If you do not have a consensus on that fundamental question your democracy will be a sham. If you don’t know what to value and what to squash you are not ready for democracy. You are ready to be bought and enslaved and you will accept slavery as long as you are offered freedom from personal responsibility. Democracy means work and unceasing vigilance not for your rights but for all, for you are part of the ‘all’. Yet the paradox is that individualism is the cornerstone of democracy. Society advances from the efforts of the strong, not the weak, so let the strong flourish even if they appear to threaten the status quo. The strong with moral training are the best safeguard for the less endowed. Control the strong and you will inevitably have a state controlled by the weak and the flawed. The weak and the flawed find it just as easy to propagate as the strong once they grasp the weakness in a system. They too are survivors.”

  “This is all so obvious to you, I mean our failures?’

  Jade just gave a resigned shrug in reply. Conor’s future was in doubt. His genetic code made him safe but he might grow to see the race that fathered him die in agony. She did not want that, or to lose the man she loved so deeply. She was on the side of the Consortium, she could no longer subscribe to the philosophy of non-interference. Love meant commitment, and it was setting her apart.

  Before Mark left for Canberra, Kana and Richard had handed him a single envelope. They gave him instructions to open it in Paul’s and Hawk’s presence. No one else was to be there. Three days later, Kana said they would return to the facility in the north and await a response to the letter and their request for full cooperation, without a mandate from the elders. They left and there was a sadness to the departure that was ominous. Mark left for Canberra the next day, leaving Jade to enjoy some homely comforts.

  Hawk was not at the initial meeting with Paul as he had not had enough time to make arrangements at the settlement. He would be another week. Mark took the opportunity to brief Paul on all that Richard and Kana had said. Paul agreed to call a meeting of all nations to make them jointly aware of the situation and offer to co-ordinate a response to the Plague. Mark helped in the contacting of all embassies and representatives. A conference was arranged to be held in Brussels on the first of May.

  Hawk arrived and the letter from the Consortium was opened. The initial paragraph was a request for Hawk to confirm the probability of the accuracy of the enclosed timeline. The Consortium had listed an itinery of its future plans in the event that a cure to the Plague is not found.

  They planned to:

  1 Begin the abandonment of the facility on the last day of March, this year.

  2 They would wish to establish a research facility with the Tuathans at the settlement.

  3. They sought permission immediately to move their spaceport facilities to southern Tasmania and occupy it by the end of April.

  4. They intended to begin the evacuation of key personnel by September 2039 to Mars. This was to be completed by June 2041. After that time no Consortium operations would exist on Earth.

  5 Mars would be pronounced a sovereign nation owned and governed by the Consortium on the first of January, 2039.

  Paul looked stunned. He had only just started to come to terms with the possibility that they may lose the war a
gainst the Plague and here were his allies preparing to throw in the towel within months. He had in fact no contingency plans himself and knew of none even being talked about in any of the other nations. Paul turned to Hawk, “So are they over-reacting or what?“

  “I’m afraid Prime Minister they are totally correct. The spread of the disease is such that you need to be evacuating the northern half of the continent in less than three days. Canberra will be safe for at least eighteen months, however. Moving the capital to southern Tasmania is a sensible option if you want to maintain government.”

  “Eighteen months? Is there any hope of a cure?”

  “Yes. We believe a cure is possible but time is against us. Tuathan resources will be made available as the Consortium has asked. To be frank Prime Minister we feel it is highly unlikely the Consortium or any other native agency will be able to find a cure. We are your best chance and that is such a slim chance you would be well advised not to count on it. The problem of non-interference for us at the settlement has been put to a vote which went in favour of helping the native population even if the elders forbid it. To this end we will be sending a delegation to the global conference in May. We have prepared some holos taken from our disc ships showing the level of global destruction. I might also add that most of our survey craft were fired on. It is obvious we are not wanted, but at least the ability to attack us is diminishing as time goes on. In fact you will have no need to fear any external aggression once the other nations realise they are facing annihilation from a common enemy.”