by M. Alan Marr
“My God.” Chaz thinks a quick second. “What you’re telling me is, evolution didn’t happen at all.”
“It did. It just didn’t evolve the way you think. We’re the missing link.” Dev squints. “Actually, there is no missing link. Your anthropologists are trying to connect lines that really aren’t related. That’s why their time line goes a bit screwy toward the end.”
“Jesus, the evangelicals would be delighted to know they’re not descended from apes.”
“Evolution is real,” Dev affirms. “It just happened on a much grander scale and had very little to do with the extinction of the dinosaurs.”
Chaz shifts back to the history lesson. “So, getting back to the original settlers. You had the governing class and the underclass?”
“Agro-class.”
“What’s it like now?”
“Well, we’re not really called Governors anymore. These days it’s generally broken down into Academic and Infra/Labor.”
“Infra labor?”
“Infrastructure and Labor; those who don’t pursue scholarly endeavors. They’re like your blue-collar workers.”
“And it works out okay?”
“Yeah.” Dev explains, “We follow the general premise that if we have the means to provide for someone less fortunate, then we do. In turn, they can provide for someone less fortunate than themselves. And so on.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“For example, if I have the need and means to hire, say, a domestic, then I should, because I’d be providing for someone who works as a domestic. They then have the means to provide for their family or someone less fortunate than themselves and so forth.”
“Do you have a domestic?”
“Sort of. I’m a senior officer, so I have a military adjutant. It’s for security purposes, but, essentially, he takes care of all my domestic needs and acts as a military liaison.”
“Is the labor group looked down upon?”
“Not at all. Infra/Labor is a vital component of society. Chaz, not everyone wants to be a doctor or navigator, or pilot for that matter. Not everyone has the faculties to do those things, same as on Earth. But in my culture, education is available to everyone, regardless of age or station. If you’re born into Infra/Labor, you are in no way predetermined to remain there. And there’s no stigma attached with that, either. Advancement is based on ability. Everyone attends school, and students climb as high as they wish and are able to.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to work on Earth.”
“Yeah, only it doesn’t. In the Crown, if you want to become a doctor, then you study all the preliminary subjects required, and if your placement scores are high enough, you can attend a medical academy.”
“What about money?”
“We have a monetary system, but our economics, it’s not like down there. Academic tuition is free, and our system of tariffs covers education and medical care.”
“No, I mean, what about people with money and rotten kids?”
“The system only works if it is administered honorably, and it is. Academic Evaluation Boards base their decisions on quantitative evidence of achievement and ability. Besides, parenting plays a larger role at home. Your people seem to have forgotten about that. Along with accountability. I noticed a lot of blaming going around down there for all the problems of society, and very little in terms of personal responsibility.”
“It’s called the blame game.”
“It’s no game.”
“Just a figure of speech.” Chaz looks at Dev. “Oh, now I understand why I have to constantly translate for you—you don’t understand slang!”
“Not everything, no,” Dev concedes. “And you developed a knack for explaining things to me.”
“So, what problems do you guys have?”
“Not that many.”
“Then why do you need a military?”
“Because there are a few hostile species out there.”
“You mean aliens?”
“Yes. We’ve gotten pretty good at astronautics. Turns out we’re not the only ones.”
“Speaking of which, how do you do it?”
Dev smiles, deviously. “Can’t tell you that.”
“What? Why not?”
Dev jokes, “I tell you the secrets of astrodynamics, and you tell someone else, and next thing you know, we’ve got angry Earth ships firing on us from orbit.”
“Okay, okay. So you guys watch us, to what end?”
“We also protect you.”
“From what?”
“A number of things. Do you remember that asteroid that passed dangerously close to Earth in 2013?”
“Vaguely.”
“We adjusted its course so it didn’t hit you.”
“For real?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. You risk your own lives to protect the primitive Earthlings?”
“You’re not that primitive,” Dev says with a chuckle. “You’re making tremendous technological leaps. The last hundred years have been very impressive. Eventually, your people will . . . figure it all out.”
“Figure what out?”
“The cosmos,” Dev says. “And with that, you’ll realize you’re not alone.”
“And then what happens?”
“And then we hope you’ll come find us. Or at least make contact. The clues are all around you. The hope is that you’ll broaden your horizons and join the larger universe. In the meantime, we keep an eye on your progress.”
“Wait, are you guys kidnapping people?”
“No, of course not.”
“What about all those alien abduction stories?”
“Well, most of them are false. The hostile species I mentioned? Occasionally, they’ll brake through our perimeter.”
“Why do they come here?”
“To learn about us—Humans, that is. Problem is, they’re not very good at it. We usually stop them long before they get too close.”
Chaz gazes out at the Earth. “Wow.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Incredible.” Chaz slowly shakes his head. “Hard to believe there are billions of people down there. Looks so peaceful.”
“From this vantage point anyway.”
“What’s your society like?”
“It’s not all that dissimilar to down there, well, the best parts of down there. We don’t have much crime, and we don’t have any civil wars. Most of us are well-educated. Just about everyone is a contributing member of society.”
“So, basically, the exact opposite of Earth,” Chaz says, cynically.
“Earth is young.”
“How come crime is so low?”
“One of the reasons is that people on Trieste don’t have any guns.”
“You’ve got one.”
“I’m a military officer,” Dev counters. “Guns have one purpose, Chaz. For reasons I can’t even comprehend, your people don’t view guns as the source of gun-related violence.”
“Ugh.” Chaz shakes his head.
The ship enters the night side of the orbit. The view is still strikingly beautiful.
“What’s it like socially?” Chaz says. “I mean, what are the odds of meeting the gay guy from outer space? Down there, we’re just now starting to be accepted.”
“I don’t understand what there is to accept. We don’t really have the hateful labels you do here. We’re much more respectful of one another. It doesn’t matter who you love. Just love the one you were meant to.”
“There are no social-sexuality issues there?”
“Sexuality is a biologic function, not a matter of political or religious discourse. And amazingly, our worlds manage to govern and populate themselves just fine.” Dev adds, “Whether you are gay, straight, or bisexual doesn’t matter. All of that nonsense down on Earth was settled millennia ago. Sexuality is in no way connected or politicized into anything nefarious. And sexuality is very different from sex-crimes. Sexual predators, as you
call them, are dealt with very harshly.”
“How harshly?”
“Rapists, for example, would find themselves neutralized.”
“Neutralized? As in castrated?”
“Basically. I mean, they don’t physically remove the organs, but they will biochemically geld them so they no longer pose no threat. Then, depending on the magnitude of their crime, they’re sent to a penal colony to live out their days.”
“That’s considered cruel and unusual punishment down there,” Chaz replies.
“We consider it effective punishment.”
“Do criminals have rights?”
“We have a trial system, of course, but the rights of a criminal do not supersede the rights of their victims. Criminals, by virtue of their actions, forfeit many of their rights.”
“Are they guilty until proven innocent?”
“No. Nor are they innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence is largely driven by investigation and forensic analysis of the situation, and we’re very good at it.”
“What about when people just go nuts?”
“We don’t see the type of mental instability you have on Earth.”
“Why does Earth corner the market on mental illness?”
“Your people consume so many chemicals and toxins, it’s actually not surprising.”
“So, Trieste is healthy, sane, and people get along. What a concept. What about religion?”
Dev laughs slightly. “Ah, religion, the cradle from which so many have warred over for so long.”
“What do you mean?”
“We tried passing on our religious ideas to you guys, but scrolls were lost, tablets destroyed; the messages muddled . . . and now you have this multifaceted mess down there, and everyone is convinced they’re right, and everyone else is wrong. And a lot of them are willing to die for it.”
“So what’s the truth?”
“The truth?” Dev smiles. “The quest for truth and enlightenment never ends. Hopefully, we find out when we die. The cosmos is a very big place. Whether it’s all science or a higher power is open to interpretation. Personally, I think it’s both. Maybe, as Humans, we don’t have the capacity to grasp the meaning of any of it. Or, maybe the key is just to do your best and treat every day like it’s a gift.”
“Hmm. So where are we as far as being on par with the rest of you?”
“You’re not that far behind. We have much more in common than you would think. The Western world is getting close, although I have to question their conventional wisdom when the Tea Partiers took root.”
“Oh God, other worlds know about them?”
Dev laughs. “Not yet. But when your political pundits describe their movement as anti-intellectualism, it makes you wonder. Now you have a group of incompetents in some of the highest offices in your country. And they have no fear of causing real damage to people. Particularly when they hold their belief system as superior to everyone else’s.”
“It’s embarrassing,” Chaz says. “But enough about the lunatics. Tell me about this ship. Is this standard issue?”
“This ship is a little different. As a Recon vessel, it has increased detection and analytic capabilities, but most of our fighters and transports operate similarly to what you’re used to. Obviously, we have gravity displacement technology, but the hands-on stuff is almost the same.”
Chapter 18
Star Drive
Dev, and a much more relaxed Chaz, return to the control deck. A tone signals the Tertian relay buoy has finished the orbital data download and transfers all information to the shipboard systems. Dev quickly programs the next set of commands to the buoy.
“Okay,” Dev says. “I’m setting the buoy systems to remain in external detection mode. Stealth plating is active. No one should notice it’s up here.”
“What’s it actually for?”
“It’s basically a relay satellite. Since I was unable to deploy the buoy when I arrived, I’ve been out of communications with the Crown.”
“Couldn’t you use the ship?”
“Yes, but sending out a powerful com signal from the surface would have been obvious.”
Chaz follows Dev to the pilot stations. Dev takes his position on the starboard side.
“Take the portside seat, and we’ll get going.”
Chaz sits down in the other pilot seat and looks at the redundant flight controls. “Do your pilots always sit on the right?”
“No, either side,” Dev says as he preps the controls. “On this ship, I sit over here so I can see the engine panels along the portside bulkheads. But since I’m left-handed, I always fly fighters from the left.”
Chaz is surprised. “You’re a fighter pilot?”
“That I am.” Dev adds, “A good one.”
“I’m sure you are. I can’t wait to see what they look like.”
Dev thinks a moment and looks at Chaz. “You fly on the right.”
“On our aircraft, the pilot in command always sits on the left. Except for helicopter pilots, they sit on the right.”
“Interesting.”
“Do I need to buckle in?”
“Nah, just hold on while we leave orbit.” Dev advances the throttles. Outside, the engines fire brightly, leaving a spectral trail behind as the ship swiftly heads into the darkness of space. Chaz watches with wide eyes as the ship accelerates.
Dev smiles at him. “How do you feel?”
“Fine,” Chaz says. “Feels like a little over one g.”
“That’s right.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re on an acceleration course toward your outer planets.”
“Cool, which ones?”
Dev checks the board. “Saturn on this tack.”
“Oh my gosh, how long will that take?”
“Present speed, about two hours.”
“Are you kidding?” Chaz says. “It takes our guys years to just get a probe out that far.”
Dev laughs. “I know. You haven’t accomplished anything in terms of space propulsion.”
“Maybe you should send your dad down to help,” Chaz says, recalling Dev told him his father was a propulsion scientist.
“I’m not sure he would enjoy working in the bureaucracy.”
“How long do you think it will take before NASA makes progress?”
“They have to perfect fusion technology first. That, and the gravity problem. Until then, I’m afraid you’re stuck with those chemical fireworks they use.”
The ship is stable and on autopilot. Dev and Chaz return upstairs to the observation canopy. Dev punches up a command in the tabletop computer and a small three-dimensional navigational display appears, along with various engine readings.
“Cool.” Chaz looks at the display and then does a double take outside. “Whoa! The stars are so vivid. There’s color and . . . texture and . . . dimension. Look at the nebula. Wow!”
“That’s right, you’ve never really seen the stars before.”
“I never imagined it would look like this!”
“Not like what you see on TV, is it?”
“Not at all! It’s like the difference between an old black-and-white TV and 3D HiDef! The star field looks so . . . real!”
“That’s because it is real.” Dev laughs. “I’m glad you like it. You seem right at home out here.”
“This is like every kid’s dream!”
“Well, enjoy it. The ship’s on auto. We’ve got some time to kill.”
“What do we do in the meantime?”
Dev smiles. “Relax under the stars.”
A little while later, they are reclined on the couch, talking and stargazing.
“So, do you have any, like . . . superpowers?” Chaz half jokes.
“Ha, I wish, but no.” Then he has a slight realization. “Come to think of it, I am pretty strong.”
“Yes!” Chaz exclaims. “You barely break out in a sweat at the gym, and you can bench press more than I can!”
>
“I’m used to a slightly different gravity is all.”
“What do you mean?”
Dev programs a sequence into the tabletop. The small holographic display flicks off and repopulates with the constellation Corona Borealis. “I’ll explain that with an astronomy lesson.”
Chaz sits upright on the couch.
Dev continues, “This is my home constellation, Corona Borealis.” As Dev narrates, the computer images dynamically change before them. “I mentioned all this back at the lake, but you were a little preoccupied, so I’ll take you through it again. This time with graphics.” He smiles. “The bright star is Gemma.”
“The gem of the crown,” Chaz says, recalling it from back at the lake.
Dev nods. “Gemma is a binary star.”
“You have two suns?”
“Technically. The companion is a small star called Gemini, which usually orbits behind Gemma, so we typically don’t see it from Trieste.”
“Okay.”
“Gemma is a blue-white star 2.6 times bigger than Earth’s sun.”
“Isn’t it hot?”
“The star itself is hotter, but it’s farther away. The climate where I live is very comfortable.” The graphic zeros in on the planetary system. “Gemma has five planets. The first is called Prixa; close to the star, very hot.”
“You said it has oceans of lava.” The graphic zooms in and overflies the surface.
“Yes, it does. Stagnum Ignis.”
“What?”
“Sea of fire.” Dev smiles. The graphics fly away from Prixa and close in on the next planet. “Next is Dué, with a neon atmosphere; about the same size and composition as Mars, close to Trieste. Gravity from both Dué and our moon influence our tides. The neon atmosphere of Dué becomes highly charged by solar wind and glows various colors. It’s been called The Beacon of Dué. It has a fixed orbit and our ancient mariners would use it to chart their course. The next two are Trieste and Triton. Trieste, obviously, has a stable atmosphere. Triton is a gas giant about the size of Neptune. Trieste and Triton exchange orbits every three or four years.”