Here Comes Earth: Emergence (6 page)

“Once
we learned how to manipulate matter, raw materials were no longer limited. Ways
were discovered to capture zero-point energy from the vacuum of space itself.
The resources needed to live a great life were abundant.

“Your
people have already started down the path of what you call 3-dimensional
printing. You are taking baby steps but you can already ‘print’ some tools,
replacement parts, and just about any 3D design you want. What happens when
every individual on your planet has access to raw materials and advanced
printers with no energy restriction on their use?”

“It
would eliminate poverty,” Dr. Bell said.

I’d
almost forgotten he was there. My mind was racing with the possibilities but he
reminded me of something…

“There’s
no shortage of food on our planet now. It’s politics that cause hunger and
poverty,” I said. “Somehow I don’t think utopia is right around the corner for
us.”

“No,”
Jaki said sadly. “Because of all of these advances we came very close to wiping
ourselves out.”

She
explained, “Hundreds of thousands of years ago Noridia nearly destroyed itself.
The advent of that kind of technology doesn’t happen overnight and the
controlling groups on Noridia didn’t want to lose their control. After all, why
would I need a government to build a road if I could print a machine that would
do it for me? Why would I pay taxes for protection if I could print my own gun (or
fortress); and why would anyone want what I have if they could print their own?
What was really left for the controllers to offer?

“The
powers that be, sensing their own weakening position, found that they did not
want to give up control; it was more than just resources and money, it was the
intoxicating drug of power and Elitism. They began putting more and more
restrictions on the population. Artificial shortages and new governmental
controls were common. Individual freedoms were reduced incrementally but dramatically
in the name of safety and security. The controllers’ ability to spy on their
populations and limit their dissent increased. The people were subjected to
constant propaganda on everything from ‘technology is evil’ and ‘back to
nature’ movements to conspiracies on technology contaminating the food supply
and destroying the environment. The controllers preached that government was a
force for good and made more and more people dependent upon it. Over time we
went from an open, forward moving, and advanced society to a scared, anti-technology,
stagnant society.

“The
Black Market brought salvation and after a long period ultimately led to the
downfall of the controllers. It laid bare the lie of scarcity. The leaders of
what you would call nations in last desperate acts fomented never-ending war with
controllers of other nations because they knew that fear was their last resort
to controlling their populations.

“We
almost lost everything,” she said.

“What
happened?” I asked.

“One
day it just all fell apart,” she responded. “The police stopped showing up for
work, or at least stopped enforcing most of the laws. People ignored what their
so called leaders were saying and started doing what they wanted; soldiers went
home to their families.

“Many
leaders simply disappeared when people stopped listening to them but for the
ones that resisted it was a bloody revolution.

“After
that technology spread without restriction and the population recovered quickly
but there was never again a reason for anyone to subjugate themselves to
another. That was thousands of your years ago and we’ve had time to mature as a
people and as a society.

“Once
we developed interstellar spaceflight and started meeting other civilizations
we many times heard similar stories, or discovered the ruins of dead planets. If
we choose to integrate with Earth it will not be easy on either of us.”

With
that ominous closing we agreed to talk again soon.

There
was a crowd outside Jaki’s quarters and Kamiko immediately walked up to me and
whispered in my ear, “We need to get you back to your squad immediately. Col Memphis
is on his way here and he sounds furious.” She then turned to the right,
grabbed the front of my shirt, and started tugging me down the corridor. I was
probably grinning like an idiot; I’d just had an historic and fascinating
conversation, I had one-upped Derrick and made him look foolish for the way
he’d dismissively handled Dr. Bell, and I’d just figured out where the little
love mark I’d left under Hiromi’s left ear went.

∆∆∆

Apparently
the base’s security personnel were visibly startled when the feed from Jaki’s
quarters suddenly stopped showing an empty room and joined Dr. Rasheed Bell,
Zeke, Jaki, and myself in mid-conversation. Dr. Helmer and Earth Team’s second
in command, Colonel Eugene Memphis, wanted to break up the session and replace
us with their dips post haste. It was General Nesbit himself that ordered
everyone to stand down and see what developed.

They
didn’t realize until later that someone had managed to leak the word across the
base to tune into blogcast channel #1137 for an unscheduled session; let alone
that it was being blogcast in the first place.

I
didn’t really know what the brass would make of the conversation and I didn’t
really care. I was more concerned with Julie’s reaction – which wasn’t good…

“You
could’ve really screwed the entire mission with a stunt like that! And I don’t
care what kind of intuition you say you had; anyone as taken as you obviously
were by some woman’s legs can’t be trusted to think straight. I knew you were
going to be trouble from the day you walked into the commissary in your
underwear.”

I
hadn’t taken a full step into my closet-sized room before Julie was in my face.
Anzio was sitting on the bed, or at least trying to sit – it looked as if he
was in the middle of laughing himself onto the floor.

“Julie…”
I said as she pushed past me out into the corridor.

“Ok
Anzio you can wipe that smirk off your face. Was it really that bad?”

“Well,
it depends on your point of view. On the one hand you made a breakthrough with
the Noridians in an area that the dips have wasted two months on.” He
continued, “On the other hand, you started out lusting after an alien and she responded
by flirting with you.”

“Anzio!
I wasn’t, I mean I appreciate a woman’s body as much as the next man but… and
she wasn’t flirting with me… Sheesh.”

I
don’t know why I was getting so worked up about this. I was having a GREAT day.
It was almost as if Julie was… No, don’t go there I told myself. She would
never… and she’s out of my league anyway. Something else has her on edge,
that’s all.

“How
did you guys find out anyway?” I asked.

“Are
you kidding?” Anzio asked. “People were running door to door telling everyone
to tune in. You must sit down my friend and tell me all about it…”

And
so I did. One of the reasons I liked hanging out with Anzio was because he was
easy to talk to and I guess he felt comfortable around me because I didn’t see
the terribly shy side of him that the rest of the world saw.

I
had finished explaining all my impressions about the content of Jaki’s
conversation and we both had several questions that we deemed important to follow-up
with if we ever got the chance. I was just starting to explain that yes, Jaki was
attractive and sexy and had a great body but there was just something about her
that left me a little on edge when another member of our team, Dr. Tony Decker,
knocked on my hatch and stuck his head in…

“You’ve
really stepped in it now Spencer. Major Reagan wants to see you in his wardroom.
Stat.”

“Stat?
You’re not that kind of doctor!” I yelled at his retreating head.

I
looked at Anzio and he shrugged. We both thought Decker was your basic asshole
but he wouldn’t screw around with something like this. As I headed off to face
the music I couldn’t help seeing Julie’s face… Was that anger or something else?

Major Mathew Reagan, US Army

“Yes
sir!” I half shouted. Was I really standing here at attention being dressed
down by this Air Force puking excuse for a Colonel? I hadn’t been ripped this
way since I was a second lieutenant. Senior officers don’t act like gung-ho TV
marine sergeants – at least the sane ones don’t.

I’d
been ordered (
ordered
– not ‘requests your presence’) to Colonel Eugene
Memphis’ office an hour ago. I’d spent the last 45 minutes cooling my heels in
the waiting room listening to the muffled shouts coming from his office and
then watched a red-faced Major Mike ‘Iron Jaw’ Reynolds leave in a controlled
rage.

“So
how is it Major that one of
your
scientists goes behind the back of the
entire diplomatic corps, makes unauthorized contact with not just any alien but
the
Head of the Entire Fucking Mission
, then gets it blogcast over the
entire base?” Memphis was practically spitting.

“Sir,
I do not have any knowledge of how the meeting came about and I am not aware of
any special authorization that would have been needed.
It is
in their
mission brief to promote dialogue and learn as much as they can. I am also
under the impression that Dr. Spencer was totally unaware that his session was
being blogcast.”

“I
am not going to play games with you Reagan. You know very well that this type
of sensitive conversation should have been restricted. And since you’re so
stupid as to not get it, I’m making it an order; you are not to allow your
personnel any unscheduled access to the alien team at least until we arrive on
their planet. Have you got that?”

“No
sir,” I responded in the steadiest voice I could deliver. “Since it violates
the mission brief I’ll be needing that order in writing and sir, I would respectfully
ask you to reconsider. If word gets out it could undermine the confidence and
good faith of the entire team, sir.”

After
a few moments Colonel Memphis responded, “Major Reagan do you have any idea what
would happen to your career if I replaced you on this assignment?”

Actually,
I knew it was too late to replace me because General Nesbit had told me so, but
I didn’t think this was the best time to bring it up.

Colonel
Memphis continued, “Watch your people Major; that
is
an order. Keep them
out of trouble and out of my hair. Dismissed.”

∆∆∆

When
I arrived back at my office Dr. Derrick Helmer was waiting for me. He wasn’t
really my superior (he wasn’t military… or security, or whatever) but he
carried the authority of the command staff and a certain amount of deference
was expected.

“Dr.
Helmer, what can I do for you?” I said as I breezed through the hatchway and
headed for my desk.

“Major
Reagan, I know it’s a busy day and I’m really sorry to bother you but if you
can spare a few minutes I think it’s important we talk.”

Helmer’s
HQ buddy Col Memphis had just chewed my ass and now he was here being all nice
and respectful? I wasn’t born yesterday…

“As
I said Doctor, what can I do for you?”

Helmer
pointedly glanced at the chair in front of my desk and I waved him an
invitation to sit down.

He
started by saying, “Major, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be in
charge of a group of civilians, especially scientists. As a scientist myself I
know that we can sometimes be obsessed, stubborn, and oblivious to things that
might be important.”

He
paused and when I didn’t respond he continued, “I’m here to offer my help.”

Before
answering I took a few moments to size Dr. Helmer up. He was definitely a cool
customer; he wasn’t fidgeting and he was politely maintaining eye contact. He
was a model friend that only wanted to help.

“What
specifically is it that you want to help with?” I asked.

“You
may not be aware of it Major but Dr. Spencer and I have been friends and
colleagues for years. He is brilliant but, and I say this as a friend; he can
sometimes be rather self-absorbed and misguided. It might be best for everyone
if you allowed me to ‘take him under my wing’ so to speak and keep him out of
trouble. Nothing formal of course, just your blessing and trust to work closely
with him. I have some projects that he could be extremely helpful on and would
keep him busy.”

After
a moment I stood up and stuck my hand out. “Thank you for coming Dr. Helmer.
I’ll take your offer under advisement but for the moment I think we have the
situation under control.”

∆∆∆

It
had been an incredibly busy day and it didn’t look like I was going to be
getting my dinner anytime soon. I’d asked Captain Hiromi to track down her
sister Captain Kamiko as well as Dr. Spencer and invite them to my office for a
talk.

Dr.
Spencer arrived first and seemed in a good mood; he started in on some friendly
small talk and I apologized for calling him into my office earlier only to be
called away by Col Memphis. I was still reserving judgment about him but he
seemed a likable enough guy. I don’t usually cotton to people that talk a lot
but he was so unpretentious that it worked for him. In our team meetings over
the last two months I’d noticed that he would sometimes appear to not be paying
attention but I’d never seen anyone catch him out on it. He never missed a beat
and could jump in on the conversation at any point. According to his file he
was one of the brightest people on the entire team but you would never know it;
he wasn’t an egghead at all.

Captains
Hiromi and Kamiko walked in together and I asked them to close the door and
take a seat.

“Captain
Kamiko, Dr. Spencer is not in your squad but I think you need to be here. Dr.
Spencer I will also thank you for your time and since Captain Hiromi is your
Blue Squad Leader I wanted her here as well.

“I’ve
asked for this powwow because of today’s events. I need to understand exactly
what happened and how it happened. A lot of people got embarrassed today and a
lot of people are looking to assign blame. Unless I know exactly how it all
came about I’m not going to be able to protect anyone and even if you have or
haven’t done anything wrong you’re very likely going to need that protection.
Hiromi, I could order you to give me a full report but I’d rather hear it from
all of you voluntarily. So, how about it? Will you brief me into your circle?”

They
all sort of glanced at each other and then interestingly enough it was Dr.
Spencer that spoke first. He tried to take responsibility by telling me that
he’d heard about Dr. Bell’s meeting with Jaki and managed to talk himself into
an invitation (Kamiko pulled me aside later and set the record straight by telling
me that she suggested Mark to Dr. Bell).

After
hearing the full version I surprised him when I asked about his friendship with
Dr. Helmer; his reaction told me everything I needed to know.

When
I point blank asked Dr. Spencer about his motivation for pushing Jaki into her
revelations he admitted that showing-up Helmer was a plus but insisted
(truthfully, I think) that the main reason was because it was interesting and
we needed to know.

The
only part of their story that didn’t fit was when I asked them how they’d
arranged for the blogcast. Captain Kamiko, Captain Hiromi, and Dr. Spencer all
denied point-blank that they even knew about it until it was already done.

I
dismissed the Captains but asked Dr. Spencer to stay for a moment…

“Dr.
Spencer that was a gutsy move you made today. Had you thought it through or
were you just being reckless?” I asked.

“I’m
not totally sure how to answer that Major. I didn’t pre-plan the conversation
but I could sense the opening to push for answers as clearly as I can see the
pictures on your wall. It just seemed self-evident that there was little
down-side; if Jaki got all bent out of shape everyone could write me off as
just a history professor. It’s not like I’m on the diplomatic team or HQ
staff.”

After
thinking about it for a couple of seconds I exhaled heavily and said, “Well,
off the record I’m telling you good job – someone needed to push those bastards
off the fence so we could start making some real progress but you need to know
that you’re now on everyone’s radar. You’re no longer ‘just a history professor’
so you’re going to have to watch yourself. I’m not going to tell you to stay
away from Jaki, she seems to have an affinity for you, but there may be others
that do want to isolate you. Keep your nose clean and don’t give them an
excuse.”

∆∆∆

Later
that night I found ‘Iron Jaw’ devouring a truly rare steak in an almost empty
Officer’s Mess. After grabbing a hamburger for myself I sat down across from
him.

After
a few bites I started, “Another great day of serving our country...”

“Yes
it is,” he sallied.

“I
don’t really know any Air Force officers,” I ventured.

“I
do,” he said. “And almost all of them are fine men and women that I’d be proud
to serve with.”

“I
also don’t really know anything about Memphis’ background,” I quipped.

“Well…”
Mike drawled. “I’ve heard tell that a certain Eugene Memphis has spent a lot of
time at the pentagon. Seems like every time he gets a field command he ends up
right back in brass alley.”

We
both knew that the good commanders tended to go from field command to field command.

“Sounds
like our friend has a patron. Has he ever had a combat command?” I asked.

“Nope.” 

Needless
to say, this wasn’t a comforting conversation.

“Word
is,” Mike continued, “that in his last field command he held a live fire
exercise and got several of his airmen killed.”

I
stared at Mike. “And just how would you know this?”

“Did
I ever tell you,” Mike said as he looked away, “that my kid sister married a
man that lost his brother in the Air Force?”

After
a moment of thought I said, “It must have taken someone that was pretty fed-up
with the diplomats to air that blogcast.”

Mike
grunted and said, “Yeah and they must have been hanging around the security
offices at just the right moment. It’s kind of crazy how things work out
sometimes.”

∆∆∆

Dr.
Spencer wasn’t the only member of Blue Squad making headway. The very next day Dr.
Toni Andretti (Dr. Mom) uncovered a bombshell with her interview. Probably
every scientist on the base… probably
everybody
on the base watched the
recording of her interview at least once.

While
it caused great excitement for the entire team, Captain Hiromi suggested I talk
to Dr. Andretti. Though she was putting up a great front her squad leader
didn’t think she was nearly as enthused. I caught up with her in the hallway
just outside of the medical section…

“Dr.
Andretti, can I have a moment?” I asked.

“Major,
how many times have I asked you to call me Toni or Dr. Mom if you prefer. There
are far too many titles running around this base for anyone to be impressed.
Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll keep on addressing you as Major – I know how
important that is to you military types,” she said with a big sincere smile.

If
this woman had ever offended anyone in her life I’d be shocked.

I
leaned up against the hallway wall and started again, “Ah, Toni I just wanted
to check in with you. You did a great thing yesterday but a little birdie is
telling me that you’re not quite as satisfied as might be expected.”

“Oh,
I’m just fine. We’re all doing such important work here and I’m sure all of us
will have some disappointments along the way.”