Human Starpilots

by F Stephan

  Master Reinkel came after him to the center of the dais. “Last but not least, the joint training operation on nanite overuse by Mistress Taloy, who spent her last two years cruising with you, is showing real effects. There were three percent fewer incidents on spaceships over the last ten months. You are our most valuable assets, and we will protect you in every way we can. Please applaud Mistress Taloy, currently on the Toooldforthis near Madoul.” Again, the crowd erupted in cheers, but the response felt even more contrived. They did not like what they’d heard. But Brian had no clue why. And he did not really understand what master Reinkel had meant by nanites overuse. Their hosts took so many things for granted they rarely explained the fundamentals.

  “Look at poppy’s baby. He’s mimicking his father, but he doesn’t see how contrived he is. Yeck,” whispered Shanak, pointing at Sonter.

  “Look like he is watching every move on the dais, ready to jump to help. Bring a nice glass of water. Very dutiful. Very efficient.”

  “You need to be the best in class to be allowed to bring water to the Envoy. Only the best are allowed to”.

  “He is looking down on us all of the time and for what?” said Brian.

  “Oups, sorry pal. To be able to invite Emily to open the party with the first dance. On my world, this is a key honor.”

  “What snot. He doesn’t even guide her. She is doing all the job. On his world, on a dance she never knew”. The attacks felt weak in his mouth. Good or bad dancer, Sonter was in the middle of the floor, not Brian.

  A few minutes later, Li Bao and Illoma, a gracious petite brunette out of Pelor, appeared to invite them to dance. Illoma had huge golden eyes set in an oval face. Brian was already fascinated by her quiet strength; she accepted all around her, and at the same time, she seemed to pierce everyone she met to the core of his soul. Brian hadn’t talked much to her yet, thanks to Shanak’s advice. After a glance at Emily and Sonter, she whisked him away to another part of the room. Later, after many dances, Brian offered her a drink, and they began to talk, which soon became very difficult with the noise surrounding them. They quickly found, through a side door, an access to the rooftop, below the solar panels and overlooking the main entrance. There, they leaned on the rail to watch the city.

  They overlooked the main entrance of the corporation and could see rooftops around them. Many were occupied by groups of people, having dinner, parties, or simple quiet evenings. Birds were chattering above them, and sometimes they could see tipol, small mammals similar to monkeys. They were feeding on all the rubbish and leftovers they could find in the city. Everything was quiet under the foreign stars.

  “I expect your friend Shanak has warned you about us, Pelorans? Untrustworthy and switching side wherever the wind blows?”

  “He may have said something in that direction.”

  She laughed with a clear crystalline myrth. “You are a diplomat, aren’t you? So, this was probably even worse. Just a quick word on that. The Illikens and us were contacted nearly at the same time by the Federation. We made our first step among the stars together. It created initially a bond between our people. But...” Her voice trailed at that, hesitant.

  “Yes?”

  “We made mistakes at that time. Stupid blunders of projecting our culture to a foreign planet. We praise ourselves for our mind skills and we missed it entirely with them. So, we broke a series of agreement we thought were light and which were not for the Illikens. And they do hold a grudge for a long time.”

  “How long ago was it?”

  “Around sixty years. And a ken Illmar was present when the breach happened. So I suspect Shanak has had a clear recounting of the events on Illik’s side”.

  “And the Federation didn’t help?”

  “They did. They forbid Illikens to attack us on. But they don’t intervene in local contracts. It is our job to rebuild our relationship”.

  “How could you mend the breach?”

  “You cannot. Only time will help. Or not. Let’s stop talking about events long gone. What about you, dear diplomat and your planet. Tell me more.”

  Brian found himself quickly describing Earth, Chicago, and his family.

  “My parents come from a rather poor working class. With my older sister, we were the first in generations to reach higher education. And I was fortunate to have her in front of me. Then I graduated and suddenly, there was the exam and I was selected to go out to the stars. My parents were astounded. My sister, well …”

  “This was the first time you were doing better than her? She didn’t like it.”

  He nodded. There had been bitter words when he announced his choice to his family.

  “It may have been hard on her initially and she also may have been very frightened of losing her younger brother. Try to write to her and tell her how it is here”.

  “I can try that. But what about you?”

  “I am from a small island near the Equator of our planet. We don’t have large continents but many archipelagos on Pelor. We are mostly a seafaring people”.

  “I was told you had developed specific psychological sciences?”

  “We have pursued that venue in the last four hundred years. There was an accident at that time although we don’t have many recordings.”

  Brian felt an instant curiosity. “And?” She looked at him intently and sighed after a while.

  “We don’t like to talk much about this. A very large metal structure has always been present near the pole. No one had been able to enter it until a few explorers found a way into it. What is sure is that they used some explosives to pierce the internal walls. They were probably looking for treasure. But when they detonated the charges, the building glowed and emitted a pulsating ray of light. The fire lasted fifty years and our orbit changed, sending us into an ice age. Since then, we pursue mind research more often than pure science”.

  “What is a building of the old civilization?”

  “All assume so. This is why we are all here. The building is empty of manuals or instructions. But if we could find some and repair it, we could probably change back our orbit”.

  Brian was astounded. This was an impossible tale. Again, the doubts from Shanak surfaced.

  “So you prepare since that time?”

  “Only since the Federation contacted us and we found a possible solution to our plight. I have trained for many years to be here. There are a lot of pilots in my family and there were a lot of chances I would be qualified. I will fly beyond what is known today and find an answer”.

  “Why were there a lot of chances?”

  “A part of the selection is based on genetics. Both my parents were pilots, so unless accident, I was going to be one.”

  “This looks like you have a dedicated program to create and prepare pilots.” Brian’s voice became grave. There had been such programs on Earth, usually with dire consequences for their subject.

  “We do. And we know that it is not a normal way to nurture a child. We are taught what would be normal and why we are doing it. I was lucky. I feel my parents were really in love. It isn’t always the case”.

  Brian stirred the conversation away to more mundane matters. The topics were too heavy, too grave for a first talk under the moons. The temperature was nice, and they continued to talk quietly until shouts of anger drew their attention to the entrance. A burly woman with a shabby dress and badly coated hair was struggling with the marines.

  “I have the right to be here. Kilet, you old dog! Come and tell them,” she repeated, cackling. For a minute, she tried to break through, applying more force. The light from the evening was poor, but Brian saw her hands cloud into a mist as she tried to force the entry. The marine’s hands blurred also in the same manner, and caught her hands in his own. Brian blinked, startled. “What, what happened to her hand?” He had already seen such a blur with Althal. The woman found herself against the wall with her arm locked behind her.

  After a few minutes, Kilet appeared, and the woman quieted. “
What is it, Netrel?”

  “There is a party and again; you forgot to invite me.”

  “Oh, no, my dear. I did not forget. You are not invited.” With that word, the woman’s shoulders slumped. She had expected the rebuke and had come to check. “As with the last parties and all the next. You have failed us in the worst way anyone can. You crashed a ship, Netrel. You destroyed one of the precious few we had. And yet, we took care of you. But then you had to go on nanite drugs. Look at what you have become now—and the scandal you make everywhere you go.”

  “But…”

  “There is no ‘but.’ You are a shame for your corporation, for your family, and for yourself. Until you stop your drugs and take care of yourself, you are not my sister anymore.” The quiet words lashed at her, and she withdrew, red faced and shoulder slumped.

  After the woman had left, Brian’s happy mood in the quiet evening was broken. He walked back with Illoma to the main hall. Whatever had begun that night would wait a bit longer, and hours later, when a merry and slightly drunk party of students went back to the academy, singing loudly in the empty streets, the images walked with Brian through the night. Her hands had lost their shapes and been transformed into a mist. And the marines had countered her move. How could it be possible? How could anyone do that? He would have to give all these details to Don Mariano.

  10 Don Mariano

  Don Mariano wore his classic suit, from a long-forgotten era of diplomacy, and the old-fashioned glasses he used to read the memo he had brought with him. Back on a digital Earth, he had always read memos on paper, taking after a family of diplomats, because it gave him time to think. He knew also it unsettled people in Adheek, now entirely used to digital media, and he could use it to his own advantage. He had had Mathias search the city two days until he found an equivalent. If his primary mission was to care for his students, he was also tasked with finding some new income for Earth. He had been looking for local opportunities since his arrival and was now looking for ways to bring goods back and forth.

  Kilet Namek was seated opposite, his back straight, the 3-D reader on his left crunching numbers from the latest data dump. His office was luxurious. It boasted heavy and rich carpets with intricate patterns and impressive tapestries and leathers from the Second Adheek Renaissance. Mariano suspected the man had a more spartan private office somewhere else in the building. Yet the ambassador recognized the power this room projected. Kilet was not only guild master; he was also a master merchant, the head of one the few families who controlled the space trade in and out of Adheek.

  “I hear your request, but I cannot do more than what you have. You just don’t have any valuable product to offer,” said Kilet.

  Don Mariano had been warned before leaving Earth by the Federation Envoy to Earth. Shipping goods among stars was extremely expensive. “Rare minerals? Our planet has a few of them,” interjected the ambassador. He had drawn a list with Mathias of potential items that would interest the master merchant.

  “No, they’re too expensive to move around and not that hard to find locally in asteroids. You don’t have any interesting technology or medicine. I am really sorry, but until one of your students graduates, you have no resources,” added the master.

  Don Mariano had understood that pilots were extremely rare. But until then, he had not felt how rare they were.

  Kilet continued. “Your pilots will need at least three years to qualify and then five more years before they lead their own ships. You cannot borrow against their future status, as we have no histories on your planet and no one knows if they can succeed.”

  “They have all passed the first phase. And you said yourself this was quite an achievement.” If they were his only asset, he would use them as he could.

  The merchant answered with a chilling smile. “They have already done very well, but the next phases and the injections are going to test them in ways you cannot imagine. What is required to cross space is very … unusual. Master Reinkel will take all precaution to save as many as he can, but even the famous Doctor Nilse cannot work miracles. You need to be patient.”

  The ambassador remembered the tale from Brian, this shape changing, this blur. Was it what Kilet was hinting at? He wished he knew more but his only direct answers on that matter had been “You will know more when you go through it”.

  “How long until we know how they fare?” said Don Mariano in his best subdued voice.

  He knows, thought the ambassador. He knows our current situation, and he is playing his hand. Well, we cannot wait. The climate degradation is worsening. We need to hire more scientists and transport more equipment back to Earth to counter the latest ice melt, work on the radiation link and restore the ecological balance in the seas. There were so many tasks at hand.

  “If your pilots survive the academy, two and a half years from now, they will get the intrasystem licenses. It will allow them to fly within star systems, usually from Earth to the transfer corridors we use to fly between systems”.

  “Between systems, those are the intersystem flights?” Don Mariano knew they were two types of flight licenses but wanted the vision of the merchant.

  “Yes. With intrasystem licenses, you can fly and meet ships in deep space. It will reduce the costs of your space operations tenfold and would also allow them to grab resources from the asteroid belt to reduce the need to mine your planet. This is one of the rationalization I have implemented to increase our efficiency”.

  Master Namek sounded pleased with himself at the idea.

  “And the license for intersystem transfers?” The Federation Envoy on Earth had only had a bureaucrat’s perspective on the licenses, highlighting the support they would get from the Federation depending on the two types. The Federation supported both licenses in the same way, needing both types for their operations. Now, he would have to ask his colleagues back on Earth to dig more into this with the Envoy.

  “Those flights are more complex to operate and rely on another type of hyperspace. That would be two years afterward, at the Core Federation Academy. But I must tell you. No one in the first group of a new planet had ever reached it and this remains very unlikely for Earth. But as soon as you find pilots for intra system jumps, you will find pilots for inter system sometime within the next fifteen years. They will bring more resources to the planet and even allow Earth to operate a ship and to choose some cargo.”

  Don Mariano knew that this average dated from the beginning of the Federation and had since been reduced to ten years. Yet from the last dispatch he had received from home, they couldn’t wait ten more years to stop the degradation. The President of United Organization, which had succeeded to the United Nations, the New Directorate and a few other organizations, had sent a personal message with a few pictures. The permafrost was warming and eroding fast creating massive landslides, coastal areas were still evacuated, typhoons happened within weeks of ice rains and massive new diseases were created from the various pollutions. The situation was increasingly worse, reaching a point where all efforts on the planet were now dedicated to it, contrary to the last hundred years. He focused back to the words from the Guild Master

  “…And they will have to work for the next fifteen years for the Federation to repay the debt. Only the first intra license is free of debt.”

  Don Mariano knew already the last part. But with the graduation of full pilots, Earth would get a more complete membership and with that, an increased allowance for special supplies. But this was a long while away, and until that time, any option, any cargo, any scientist was needed.

  “We cannot wait, Master Namek. Among other things, we need to control the rise in carbon dioxide now. Like Adheek one hundred years ago. Or waiting will have no avail and you will lose a trade partner.” Maybe this would be his best asset. Merchants hated losing customers.

  Kilet frowned. “I do understand your plight, and we Adheekens feel strongly about this. We still face our difficulties with the warming, and we haven’t won our own
battle yet.” He paused to think and look at a star chart on his reader. The ambassador found the pause very convincing, even if he doubted the trader needed to look at the chart. “To be honest, we don’t even have such money to lend you.” He raised his hand slowly (but a bit theatrically, thought Don Mariano), “But there might be another approach.”

  Now would come the bait, the ambassador knew, and he said to himself, “Come on, speak it man. You know I have to accept.”

  Finally, Kilet spoke in his somber voice. “If you give us a concession to search your asteroid belt for relics, we would have a presence in your system all year round. We would move spaceships back and forth and we could give you two berths and a ton of cargo per year as a side.”

  The ambassador’s face did not move, but he smiled inwardly. Earth was not bankable, but they may yet find something to barter. Don Mariano concentrated on the negotiation to come. The day would be long. He listed in his head one last time what he truly wanted and plunged into what he did not want.

  11 Brian

  They were so excited for their first run with the simulators that they rushed their meals and ran immediately after to the third tower, all in one tumultuous group. Twenty students had been promoted to this class, including the six from Earth. Five came from Adheek, four from Fizhert, two from Pelor and Nelom, and Shanak, from Illik. The large number of graduates seemed to have happened from time to time with new planets and, from the rumors, would diminish after a few years.