Last night, some people were suggesting making isolation rooms, I guess with visions of prospective fathers sitting inside, waiting for their sperm count to recover. But Ellen said that women are so flooded with the estrogen complex that males couldn’t develop in the womb. We could probably fix it so that a few boys were born, but once the high-tech resources from the Celaeno run out, there wouldn’t be any way to carry on.
I can’t believe Himoti didn’t spot it in her original survey, but she says the estrogen complex wasn’t detected, as it is not, strictly speaking, poisonous.
01-April-02: It’s a beautiful day. The sun is out. The grasslands are ablaze with small red flowers and the air smells so sweet. For the first time in my life, I haven’t been protected from winter, and now that spring is here, I can feel the new life about to break forth in the world. It would be exhilarating, if it weren’t for the reminder that no life will ever come forth from us. Pretty much all work in the colony has stopped. I went out this morning and looked at the prototype furnace. I stood there for ages, crying. I feel so useless.
13-May-02: So now we know what Dr. Himoti has been working on for the past few months. No wonder she’s been keeping it quiet. Even Ellen didn’t know what she was up to. And no wonder the Earth authorities back home had kept quiet about the results of the research done by the neo-eugenicists. Himoti must have been close to the gods just to get a look at the reports. I wonder how she ever got permission to bring copies with her on the Celaeno.
I knew the neo-eugenicists had played around with bioengineering, wanting to create a race of superior beings. I’d heard they even had a few experimental fetuses in tanks when the government nailed them down. Like everyone else, I had assumed they were trying to make 2-meter tall supermen with IQs of 500 plus, but according to Himoti, their goals had been in a quite different direction. I was surprised when she started talking about the neo-eugenicists’ work on genetically inducing extrasensory perception, but it just confirmed my view of them as potentially dangerous cranks. When she told us they’d succeeded, I was stunned. Even after the hours of explanations, I think a large section of the colonists still can’t take it seriously. If it wasn’t that Ellen was convinced, I’d probably be one of them.
Apparently, the neo-eugenicists had managed to bioengineer telepathy, telekinesis, psychic healing, and the all rest, but it’s just the psychic healing that Himoti has concentrated on—the ability of one person to manipulate the bodily functions of another, using only the power of their mind. Himoti claims we could genetically engineer the potential for psychic healing into our descendants, to create a self-sustaining population for this planet. It will be an innate ability that will be passed down the generations, long after the high-tech equipment from the Celaeno has worn out. At first, I thought Himoti was suggesting some sort of magical cure for the male infertility, but her proposal was even more startling.
According to Himoti, not all the children would have the ability, and those that do, won’t have it equally. I got a bit lost with the math of recessive genes, but Himoti estimates that in the population, one in a hundred would have enough psychic ability to be a highly proficient healer. Beyond this, one in a thousand would have enough of the ability to be able to mentally manipulate individual cells so as to induce women and animals to spontaneously clone themselves. At this point in the meeting, I think the audience was equally divided between those who were laughing and those whose jaws were hanging open. But Himoti went one stage further. She said that one in ten thousand would take psychic healing to its ultimate degree and be able to deconstruct genetic material in a cloned cell and imprint sections of another person’s DNA onto it.
There was absolute silence in the meeting. I don’t think any of us could really believe that psychic powers could achieve something it would normally take a fully equipped genetics lab to do. But Himoti sounded convinced it would work. She said we can do it, but is it right? She’s given us a decision to make, and every vote that has gone before is kindergarten ethics by comparison.
16-May-02: We sat up all last night, arguing. Ellen is utterly opposed to Himoti’s plan, and not because she has doubts about it working. She’s seen the calculations and agrees they are scientifically correct, although not morally right. But I’m not so sure. The neo-eugenicists’ work was outlawed because they wanted to create a select master race. On this planet, every baby will start with the same chance of having the ability, and without it, no one will be able to live here at all—and although I know it sounds pathetic, I want someone to use my furnace.
Of course, rational arguments don’t really come into it. It’s all on emotion, and there’s plenty of that going around at the moment. Cedric joked with me that wherever you see two people together, you can hear four points of view. I’m not even sure whether Ellen’s objections are because her training has encouraged her to think the issues over more fully, or because she is developing a marked personal dislike of Dr. Himoti.
No, I’m not being fair to Ellen, she wouldn’t let her professional ethics be compromised by petty animosity.
22-May-02: The vote is over. There was a narrow but significant majority in favor of Himoti’s plan. If we’d had to vote on the proposal on day one on the planet, it might have gone differently, but after months of dreaming and working for a new world, we couldn’t give up. There are still a lot of issues to consider. Not the least is that it will be an all female world. Even if boys are conceived, they won’t develop as male with all the estrogen complex in the environment. I know the lesbians in the colony decided as a group to abstain from the vote, but I have a feeling most other people did not notice, or misunderstood the gesture.
There are going to be some problems, but at the moment everyone seems relieved. Even Ellen isn’t quite as upset as she thought she would be. She can feel that her conscience is clear, as she voted against, and I think she is a little ashamed to find herself excited by the new hope. It will be some time before Himoti finishes her experiments, but then the first embryos will be engineered in the lab.
26-November-03: Himoti’s finished her initial work. The first batch of embryos are in the artificial wombs. We’ve been told one is going to be ours. I stood in the lab with Ellen, looking at the monitors and thinking of Himoti’s predictions about the children being potentially healers, cloners, or imprinters. We’ve all become a bit cavalier about using the terms, but for the first time, the reality hit me. I tried to work out how I’d feel about rearing a child with psychic ability.
11-August-03: We received our daughter today. She’s beautiful. Light brown skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and totally wonderful. We’ve named her Parnella after Ellen’s mother. To get the genes she needed, Dr. Himoti has had to mix and match all the genetic material at her disposal. The DNA has been so well blended that there won’t be much in the way of ethnic differences between the children, they’ll all be uniform, homologous human. But Himoti has managed to make some concessions. Parnella even has a tiny section of Ellen’s and my DNA in her makeup.
20-March-04: Ellen has convinced me that Himoti’s behavior is becoming a concern. More and more, it feels as if Himoti, rather than Captain Dernic or the elected council, runs the place. She is definitely the one pushing the agenda. Ellen is supposed to be in charge of the gene bank, but she often finds her authority sidestepped.
20-January-05: Parnella is now running around and starting to string a few words together. Sometimes I look at her and just can’t take Dr. Himoti’s talk of paranormal abilities seriously. Parnella is such a wonderfully, beautifully, ordinary toddler, and her sister will be with us in under four months.
22-October-12: Himoti is becoming ever more autocratic. She’s surrounded herself with an adoring clique. It takes an appointment for Ellen to see her, and lesser mortals like the elected council have no chance of getting her ear. Even Ellen’s position is shaky. She has a senior post in the labs, but no real responsibility. She usually only finds out about decision-making meetings af
ter they’ve happened. But at least it gives her time to spend with the girls. We’ve been allocated a fourth daughter, sometime next year.
01-September-17: I’m still shaking and stunned. Which is insane, given the amount of time I’ve had to get used to the idea of psychic healing—but to actually see it—
There was an accident in the tool room, and Cedric cut himself badly. There was blood everywhere. I was panicking and looking for the first aid kit, when Jake’s eldest rushed over, put her hand on Cedric, and the bleeding stopped—just like that. Cedric said the pain vanished as if it had been switched off. Afterward there was just a nicely healing scab left on Cedric’s arm that looked as if it was three days, rather than three minutes old.
I’ve just realized that, until now, I’ve never really, truly believed in Himoti’s assertions.
19-July-19: Parnella is in love again. It’s Cedric’s daughter this time. Cedric came around to talk to me and mumbled and cleared his throat and then said, “Do you think they’ll grow out of it?” I didn’t know whether to laugh or what. Then suddenly a dozen or so odd conversations fell into place—the things people have said or not said over the years. I wonder what they have been thinking. I suspect some haven’t been thinking at all. They can’t have been assuming their daughters would be forever celibate, but perhaps they’ve been imagining sisterly, virtually platonic friendships. They look so surprised when their daughters start acting like love-struck adolescents.
I guess growing up with Anne gives me a different perspective. Younger siblings always get the advantage of the older ones breaking the ground for them, pushing back the boundaries of what your parents will allow. Anne did it for me with a vengeance. I know Mom and Dad never tried to criticize her, and they read all the pamphlets on how to support a gay or lesbian child, but they were so pleased I turned out straight, I could have brought home an alcoholic mud wrestler as a girlfriend and they wouldn’t have minded.
As the years go by, I find myself thinking of Anne, more so than Mom and Dad. We were so close as children. I wonder what she would have made of this world. I think it might have amused her, or then again, maybe not. But one thing I got from her for certain. She never, for a second, let me get away with thinking that her relationships would be any less passionate or more sensible than my own.
12-April-24: Jean Smith came around here tonight, storming mad—not with us, she just wanted a sympathetic heterosexual ear. Dr. Himoti has accused her of corrupting the young. It seems that Himoti has been so bound up in her lab that she’s only just noticed the children are forming steady relationships. One can but wonder at what she was expecting. Then apparently Himoti overheard some people saying how glad they were about there being a few lesbian couples in the colony to provide good role models.
It’s the standard space agency line. Although it is no secret that heterosexuals are preferred for new colonies, the authorities do at least recognize that statistics will assert themselves in the second generation. That’s why they insist on a few stable homosexual couples in every colony. But whatever the space agency might expect, it has obviously caught Himoti totally by surprise. Jean was the nearest lesbian that Himoti could lay her hands on, and she caught the full force of her anger. It occurs to me that Himoti might have more than a touch of homophobia about her, which I find incredibly ironic. Jean probably will too, when she calms down. But in fact, lesbianism doesn’t come into it. People are innately sexual, and for our children there is simply no other option.
18-January-25: I’m going to be a grandfather. Parnella and Lilian have decided that after being together for two years, they are ready for children. They’ve got an appointment at the labs for tomorrow afternoon. They’ll get one of Himoti’s prepared embryos, but Parnella is going to carry the baby herself. All the artificial wombs are working flat out, but the waiting list for them is growing day by day, and having made up their minds, they don’t want to wait.
But it gets me worrying again about the long-term future of the colony. There is no problem splicing DNA in the genetics lab, and it will be able to keep going for decades, but it won’t last forever. I pray Himoti is right about cloners and imprinters who’ll be able to create embryos without the need of scientific equipment. The population is getting big enough that some should start to show up soon—if Himoti’s statistics were right. After all the work, it is unthinkable that the colony might die out.
It’s a worry that must flit through most people’s minds once or twice a year. But Himoti was certainly right about some of the children having the ability to heal by touch. The regular medical team is almost out of work.
01-September-25: Even if an imprinter does arrive, the lab will have to keep going for years. Dr. Himoti has been training some of the children in the necessary techniques, so they can carry on when all of us older ones have gone. It’s a very sensible thing to do, but I share Ellen’s concern about the cult growing up around Himoti. There’s almost something of religious fervor about these young women at times.
12-August-28: Lilian’s daughter was born at 5:00 this morning. Ellen and I have just gotten back from seeing the new arrival. Parnella and Lilian wanted to name the baby after me. We tried to explain that Peter wasn’t a suitable name for a girl, though I’m not sure if it was worth the bother. Does it really matter? In the end, the baby was named Suzanne, after my mother.
23-February-30: Ellen has had a major argument with Himoti. Two of the young women working in the labs have been having a turbulent affair, although they’ve tried not to let it affect their work. But when she found out, Himoti refused to tolerate it and has thrown them out of the labs. Ellen took their side, and so she has been kicked out as well. Himoti will probably relent when she calms down, but Ellen says she doesn’t want to go back. Says she can’t put up with Himoti’s games of omnipotence any more. I can’t say I blame her. Ellen’s offered to help the rangers studying the native wildlife, one last go out in the field before she gets too old.
I can’t make Himoti out. She’s not a classic homophobe. From what I can tell, it’s not so much the physical act of making love that upsets her, but rather the emotional commitment. Although I think she’d be happier if they practiced neither, and of course, the distinction is lost on the children.
07-November-39: It’s just been confirmed that little Suzie is a cloner! The tenth in the colony. It’s been obvious since she was about four that she was going to be an exceptional healer, and I know Ellen has been convinced that she would be able to induce cloning, but I wasn’t sure if her pride as a grandmother wasn’t giving her false hopes. Of course Himoti wants to take charge of the child, but Ellen and Parnella have put up a fight. Suzie will go to the labs for lessons in genetics, but Ellen’s determined she won’t become one of Himoti’s acolytes.
12-April-41: The mare has produced a foal. Suzie’s first cloning. Back when she had initially induced the mare’s pregnancy, I tried to get Suzie to describe how she did what she did and what it is she sees inside other living beings. She made an attempt to explain, but I guess it was a bit like trying to tell a deaf person about sound. I’ve stopped questioning all sorts of miracle healing by the laying on of hands. I’m just going to have to add psychic cloning to the list.
Suzie dragged Ellen and me along to see the foal. She is delighted at her first creation. I’m trying to work out whether this makes me a great-grandfather or not. But I guess this means that the colony is viable. Even if no one ever manages to psychically imprint DNA patterns onto an embryo, at least it will be possible to clone people once the lab wears out, although I can’t help feeling it would be better to produce unique individuals.
09-July-47: I’ve just gotten back from Cedric’s funeral. We buried him with a section of the original smelting furnace. I hope there will still be a piece left when it’s my turn to go. We older ones from the Celaeno are starting to thin out slightly, but the children are doing well. Last population count was just over 18,000 people, including twenty-eight cloners
and two possible imprinters.
It’s strange how the eye adapts. All the children have light brown skin and dark brown hair, but I’ve gotten so used to it that they now seem every bit as varied as the original population from Earth. To their own eyes, the differences are probably even more marked.
03-February-48: I’m not sure whether to be amused or horrified by Himoti’s disciples at the labs. They’ve taken to calling themselves the Sisterhood and wearing their lab masks and lab coats all the time, like a badge of office or a priestess’s robes. But once the labs outgrow their usefulness and the imprinters take over, it will put an end to the nonsense.
27-October-53: Ellen was invited back to the labs to help file away Himoti’s papers. I’m surprised the Sisterhood let her in, but now that Himoti is dead, Ellen is the most senior geneticist, and I think they wanted to be certain that nothing important was overlooked. Ellen says everything is very well ordered, so it shouldn’t take her too long. Himoti had her hand on the rudder right up to the last, even though she was over 90.
04-November-53: Ellen has smuggled out a wad of Himoti’s personal papers, those giving her private thoughts and plans. We don’t know quite what to do with them. It’s probably too late now to do anything sensible. We haven’t shown them to anyone else, we just sit and read them, horrified.
At least we now know why Himoti insisted on creating a single racial type. She actually seems to have thought that with a single race and a single gender, she could create a sisterly utopia. One big melting pot, or something equally banal. No sexism or racism—as if people need race or gender to find an excuse to treat each other like shit. She even thought that with only women, there would be an end to possessive, manipulative relationships. Half an hour talking to my sister Anne would have set her straight—or maybe not. Himoti seemed to think that her perfectly engineered specimens would not make the mistake of getting passionately irrational about each other. Words fail me. How could someone so clever be so naive? And it’s too late now to challenge Himoti, or try and modify her legacy. Already her followers talk about her as if she was semi-divine.
The Temple at Landfall Page 30