Shan said, “We’re more worried about the Blaustein bill. Ell Donsaii may soon be a criminal.”
They drew back in surprise, “What, why?”
“That bill is targeted specifically at her.” Shan subtly patted Ell on the arm. “She’s one of very few citizens who’ve ever had a congressional bill aimed directly at them as an individual… But, anyway, it demands that she turn over contact with intelligent alien races and the technology for visiting other stars to the Ementhal committee. Ell doesn’t think that’s ethical or safe.”
They discussed Ell’s concerns and her intent to refuse to comply with the new Blaustein law. No one had any brilliant solutions.
After the conversation had made its way around to several other subjects, Morgan turned to Shan and Ell, saying, “Hey, I’m going to be in Chapel Hill Saturday. You guys want to go out to dinner?”
“Sure.” Ell’s eyebrows bobbed, “You want to go to the Velos concert that night?”
Morgan grinned, “Velos is the band a certain someone likes to dance to, right?”
Ell rolled her eyes, “A little bit, yeah.”
“Well I’d surely like to see that!”
“That isn’t going to happen. I’ll be there as Raquel with my new husband. No crazy dancing. But the music’ll be good.”
“I’m up for it.”
***
Elsa Fuentes looked around the schoolyard. She didn’t see her friend Gloria who she usually ate with. Her eye caught on someone squatting by herself over against the side of one of the buildings. It looked like it might be Gloria, so Elsa headed that way. As she got closer, she saw that it was Gloria, “¿Qué estás haciendo aquí sola (What are you doing here by yourself)?”
Gloria didn’t say anything, but a little jerking motion told Elsa her friend was sobbing. “What’s the matter?” Elsa asked worriedly.
Gloria rolled a knuckle in the corner of her eye, “My father was laid off from his job,” she said with a little sob.
Elsa didn’t really understand what a job was, but she knew they were important and hard to get. She knew that, if your parents didn’t have jobs, your family would be very poor and often hungry. Her eyes widened as they darted over and around Gloria. Her friend didn’t have a little paper bag like she usually brought lunch in. Elsa squatted beside her, “Let’s share our lunch.”
“I don’t have a lunch to share with you,” Gloria whispered.
“Well then, we’ll just have to share my lunch.” At a sob from her friend, Elsa said, “It’s OK, my mama always packs more than I can eat anyway.” She handed half of her ham and bean sandwich to Gloria.
***
With most of the students at home for the Thanksgiving weekend, Chapel Hill was quiet as Ell, Shan and Morgan enjoyed a nice dinner at Waquet, a new restaurant on West Franklin Street. After their meal they walked the few blocks to Vic’s where, despite the long line of hopefuls, they got in with three of the four tickets Ell had purchased right after they came out several months ago. Velos had become much too big a name for a small venue like Vic’s, but continued playing there occasionally; partly because of Gordon and Vic’s friendship and partly because, like many other bands, they liked playing there in order to get the excellent live recordings that Vic produced for them. The fact that big names were anxious to play and record there had allowed Vic to charge exorbitantly for admissions and he was doing very well indeed. He’d long ago reimbursed Ell for the investment her “crazy aunt” had made in his club.
Morgan looked around, “Wow, I was expecting a concert hall. This is more like a big bar.”
Shan said, “Yeah, but the owner is a fanatic about acoustics. Notice that, even though the place is packed, the noise isn’t overwhelming. When the band starts to play, you’ll find that the sound is a lot cleaner than what you’d hear in a big echoing auditorium.”
As they got themselves some drinks and wandered back out into the crowded main area of the bar the sound of a violin started sawing gently into the air. Morgan turned to Ell, “I don’t remember violin on any of Velos music?”
Ell shrugged and looked puzzled, having not heard violin in any of Velos music either.
To their amazement a spotlight slowly faded in to highlight Gordon sitting on top of the big speaker stack at the right side of the stage. He had his side turned to the crowd and was playing the violin that they were listening to. Moments later a roll on the drums brought in the rest of the band and Gordon leapt down off the speakers into the crowd. Someone held a microphone in front of him and his gravelly voice began a song. Ell excitedly realized it was a new song that Velos hadn’t uploaded to the net yet.
Morgan turned to ask Ell if she’d heard the song before and found herself looking at a guy who had moved in between herself and Ell. He looked familiar, though she didn’t recognize him at first. Her eyes widened as she recognized AJ from their ski trip last winter. “AJ?”
He grinned at her. Then Ell peeked around him at Morgan, eyes twinkling.
Surprised that, despite the loud music, he could still understand her she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Uh, I got a job at D5R.”
Morgan glanced around, “Is your dirtball friend around here? Uh… what was his name? Jordan?”
AJ winced, “Yeah, Jordan is correct. Just like your sister figured out, he never had a job at D5R. I’m not sure where he is.”
“And you did have a job at D5R?”
“Not back then. I applied just before I graduated. Actually, I called up a friend of mine.” He cast a thumb back over his shoulder at the grinning Ell, “Raquel hooked me up with the HR department.”
“Wow!” Morgan gave Ell a puzzled look. “What made you decide to come out here?”
Ell leaned back around AJ, “He’s stalking a girl.”
Morgan’s eyes widened, “You moved here because of me? I don’t even live here!”
AJ shrugged ruefully, “I figured I had a better chance of running into you here than in Colorado. At least I’m in your home state. Besides, D5R is a pretty cool place to work and I’ve got Raquel to help arrange for me run into you occasionally.”
Morgan turned back to watch the stage a moment, mind working furiously. It all seemed a little surreal. She did feel a little like she’d been stalked, but she had really liked AJ. It seemed unreal that someone would take a job all the way across the country in the mere hope of meeting a girl he hardly knew and hadn’t parted on the best of terms with.
Trying to decide if she should feel stalked or flattered she glanced at AJ again. She did like him, she thought… It had been Jordan she couldn’t stand.
When Velos finished their concert, the four friends headed to the Carolina Coffee Shop “for dessert.” Morgan had loved Velos’ music which sounded even better in the excellent acoustics of Vic’s place. To her surprise, people had danced and Morgan had really enjoyed dancing with AJ. She’d taken a turn dancing with her brother who, as always, was superb.
Watching Shan and Ell dancing was really something though. They didn’t perform any of the amazing feats that Ell did when she danced alone, but… there was something elegant and graceful about the way they did everything so perfectly. Out of the corner of her eye Morgan saw other people watching them; she suspected those people also wondered just what seemed so entrancing about the way this particular couple danced.
As they sat in a booth at the Carolina Coffee shop Morgan turned to AJ, “So, do you see Raquel out at work very much?”
He turned to look at Ell, “Uh, no. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her out at D5R proper.” Frowning at Ell he said, “I asked about it once and someone told me you mostly go to other places as Donsaii’s representative? The D5R island and the Portal Tech facilities, etcetera. Is that right?”
Ell’s eyes twinkled, “Yeah, I’m here and there. I’ve even gotten to go up to the habitat a couple of times myself.”
Morgan got a devious look, “So, AJ, do you ever see Donsaii
herself?”
AJ shook his head, “Not really. I’ve seen her from a distance a couple of times, but I’ve never talked to her.”
Since AJ had his eyes fixed on Morgan, Ell shot Morgan a look and gave a quick shake of her head. “Everyone at D5R is really impressed with AJ though,” Ell said, touching his elbow. “He’s the new whiz kid. They say he’s really turned their asteroid mining operation around.”
As they chattered on, Morgan watched in amazement as Ell ate two helpings of blackberry cobbler. With ice cream! The conversation was pleasant and Morgan realized when they got up to leave that she was looking forward to seeing AJ again. She decided that AJ stalking her to North Carolina might be weird… but it was pretty sweet.
***
Presidential Science Advisor Fladwami spoke to his AI, “See if you can connect me to Donsaii.”
A moment later her voice came on. “Dr. Fladwami, I truly am sorry President Flood lost the election. How can I help?”
“Actually, I’m calling to warn you of bad news. The Blaustein bill just got pushed through. President Flood asked me to let you know that he isn’t going to veto it. He apologizes, but it would be a pointless waste of his political capital when it’s obvious that Congress would just pass it again in January when Stockton would sign it. He doesn’t intend to enforce Blaustein either, but of course he will be out of office in January.”
“I appreciate his doing what he can.”
“There’s more. President-elect Stockton was over for a transition meeting. It would appear that she has somewhat of a burr under her saddle about you. President Flood tried to speak to her about what you had to offer and why he thought the Blaustein bill was a mistake, but she didn’t want to hear it.”
“Hmmm, I’ve been worrying about the likelihood of that. A brief search of her campaign speeches brings up my name with some pretty unflattering verbiage.”
“For a final bit of bad news, Stockton has chosen Elton Costella for her science advisor. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Costella is one of Ementhal’s cronies and I’m sure that Ementhal is the one who recommended him to her.”
“Oh, that’s sad. Costella’s an idiot…”
***
Papa had lost his job too! In the midday Mexican sun, Elsa Fuentes crouched silently by the corner of her house. Elsa’s mother had sent her out to play when Elsa’s father unexpectedly came home in the late morning. Elsa could tell something was wrong, so instead of going to Gloria’s house she had doubled back to listen.
Despite the warm sunshine, Elsa’s shoulders shivered uncontrollably with fear of this disaster she didn’t really understand.
Mama’s voice said, “No se puede Felipe ayudarle a conseguir un trabajo en su fábrica (Can’t Felipe help you get a job at his plant)?”
“No one can help me get a job Lucia! They’re all worried about their own jobs. El Norte is our only hope.”
“But, Enrique! The border is dangerous! Even trying to cross is very hard, then if we are caught I’ve heard that they may do terrible things to us!”
In a quiet voice Papa said, “We cannot go Lucia. It is very expensive. We don’t have enough money for all of us. I must go alone. When I have a job, I will send money. When I have sent enough, then maybe you and Elsa can come after.”
“I don’t want to stay here without you! There has to be a job here somewhere. Let me talk to my cousins…
***
New Delhi, India—A second woman was beaten to death in the Nagar Market. Again, the beating appears to have been in response to her application of an adhesive dot to the back of a man’s shirt. The dots say, “I groped a woman” and women all around the city have been applying them in protest against the loathsome practice. Men returning home or to their workplaces with such dots attached to them have been at the least embarrassed and sometimes humiliated in front of their wives and families. Some men who had female employers have lost their jobs.
Some men are calling the dots a form of terrorism. Many, of course, claim that they groped no one. They say their lives have been ruined by the random application of a dot by a woman who hates all men…
A tear slowly tracked down Viveka’s cheek as she read the news. She had only printed a few sets of the dots and given most of them away. She had been horrified when she heard one of her friends saying that she had just applied them to random men, “because all men had groped a woman at some time.” Viveka had vowed not to print anymore, hoping that the entire idea of the dots would fade away and no one would ever associate the phenomenon with her.
However, it would seem that thousands of young women had access to printers. Stores had sold out of printer paper with sticky dots and other women were printing them by the thousands. Viveka hadn’t been groped for days now, suggesting that her campaign had made some men nervous about the practice. However, she felt appalled by the human cost that had accrued as some women indiscriminately placed them and then men began lashing out against women seen carrying or applying the dots.
Viveka closed her eyes and sighed. Saying a little prayer she swore to herself that she would learn from this. She would work to help others. She would protect herself, but not set out to inflame others to reprisal in her stead.
She couldn’t help but think that there must be something better she could do. She had always been good at solving problems, unfortunately this wasn’t one of the engineering problems that she excelled at. She shook her head, social problems had always been difficult for her and this one was… unbelievably problematic …
***
Leo Jans and his research team watched in fascination. The display from their rocket’s camera showed the surface of Aycee. They’d been calling the planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B “Aycee” following D5R’s naming of Tau Ceti’s third planet “Teecee.” Aycee represented the only real planet in the binary star system, at least that their search of the system with the nice camera on the rocket had discovered. Without telescopic imaging they could easily have missed small or distant planets. Aycee’s orbit, at 120 million kilometers, placed it closer to B than earth was to the sun, however B was only about 40% as luminous as Sol. Alpha Centauri A, on the other hand, was about 50% brighter than the sun, but relatively far away. Leo assumed that any planets which may have formed farther from either of the stars had either plunged into one of the two stars, or been flung away into deep space. Where any closer planets might be wasn’t clear, but AC1’s orbit probably wasn’t very stable either. The fact that it may not have been in this particular orbit for very long was thought to be a likely reason why it didn’t have more advanced life forms. In addition to orbital instability, Aycee likely got pelted regularly with comets and asteroids disturbed by the dance of the two stellar heavyweights.
All in all, Aycee lacked stable hospitality for advanced life forms. Alpha A was much brighter than Alpha B and the distance between A and B was about the same as the distance between the sun and Neptune. So temperatures would be higher when Aycee was between Alpha A and B in its orbit and lower when it was on the far side from A. Intermittent bombardment from space would change temperatures by modifying atmospheric opacity and density. Leo suspected that just about when life had adapted to one set of conditions, it crashed when the conditions changed radically. At present, the planet was in the part of its orbit that was bringing it in between A and B. So, it was hot, with average temperatures of 54oC (129oF) near the equator and 3oC near the poles. Water covered about 80% of its surface. Green water. The skies were cloudy and the land wet. Green covered almost every surface above the waterline too.
Donsaii appeared to have been right in her conclusion that Aycee lacked multicellular life. Unicellular organisms would be better able to survive and rapidly evolve to adapt to the frequent changes in conditions, so Leo suspected that if multicellular forms had evolved, that they had been wiped out. “Well,” he said to the team in general, “shall we go down?”
A general susurrus of agreement was punctuated, as he’d expect
ed, by a vehement “no” from Abel Jones who constantly argued for a more careful survey of the AB solar system. Jones repeatedly demanded that they look for other planetary and sub planetary bodies even though most of the team wanted to survey Aycee itself, feeling the scientific payoff would be higher there.
Leo looked back over his shoulder at Abel who took a breath preparatory to launching into his reasons. Before Abel got started, Leo put up a forestalling hand. “I know Abel, I know. But right now we only have one rocket, and an entire solar system to investigate. We’re going to follow Sutton’s law... Noggin,” Leo said to his AI, “ask D5R to take the rocket down to land near the southern coast of that land mass that extends down from the north pole.” He glanced at the temperature chart, “Shoot for a latitude of about 70o.” The chart said average temperatures would be about 20oC or 68oF at that latitude. Leo wouldn’t admit it to his team, but he secretly wanted to look at a location where humans might be able to live—even if we had no way to get there at present.
“‘Sutton’s Law?’” Lin Mi queried.
“Willie Sutton was a bank robber, who when asked ‘why he robbed banks’ is reputed, though he later denied it, to have said, ‘that’s where the money is.’ I think this planet is more interesting than the rest of the system, even though the system is pretty interesting in its own right.”
As they watched, the rocket turned itself to a retro position, fired its engine and began dropping toward the planet. Because it would take several hours to get down they broke for a long lunch.
When Leo and his team returned, they saw a rocky green shore rising toward the camera on the bottom of the rocket. The murky green water turned briefly white as the waves broke on the lumpy shore. Out the side cameras they could see reddish brown breaking splotchily through the green on the north sides of the rocks where less light struck.
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