Here Comes Earth: Emergence (13 page)

“Ah
Mark,” Anzio contributed. “This doesn’t sound like you. Do you really expecting
us to believe that you sat quietly by while Helmer acted like big shot and
ignored you – especially with the history you two have?”

“
Expect
us to believe,” corrected Julie.

“What
history?” asked Toni.

“I’ll
fill you in later,” said Julie.

“Hey,
I was on my best behavior,” I said at the same time I was wondering how Julie
knew about my past with Helmer. “I’m not some undisciplined firebrand that
can’t control my emotions. I don’t want to be excluded from the interviews so
I’m playing nice; regardless of how inept some of our so called leaders can
be.”

“Mark,”
Toni asked. “Did you get the impression that they were excited to get Noridian
technology or were they cautious?”

“I
never even once heard them consider not getting it,” I answered truthfully.

I
was trying to let my friends know that I was in control of the situation and
that any pettiness on Helmer’s part wasn’t going to distract me. I still thought
there was a whole lot more that we needed to know before dickheads like him
sold-off our future, so I was formulating a plan. And it would be a great plan.
Like all great plans, of course, figuring out the first step was the hardest
part, but I was confident that things were moving in the right direction.

“I’m
meeting tomorrow morning with Dr. Bell and the other Historians and
Sociologists on the team and we’ll pool our thoughts,” I informed the group.

“Anzio
you’re snoring,” Julie said gently.

As
my guests left my mind returned to what Jaki had asked me; did we really want
the Noridian’s help? Maybe a better question was, would we have any choice?
With so much going on I knew the best way for me to process it all was to get a
good night’s sleep and let my subconscious work on it.

∆∆∆

Hiromi
slipped into my bed sometime after midnight. At least I think it was Hiromi;
years ago I’d learned not to question the ethereal machinations of the female
species. 

“Mmm…
Hey, how did you get in the door?” I sleepily asked

“Ninja
stuff,” she replied dismissively.

“I
thought you were Samurai!” I distractedly said.

“General
Nesbit is going to be ok,” she said.

“What
was wrong with him?” My mind was suddenly alert and I turned over to face her.

“Didn’t
you hear? The Noridians are claiming to have saved his life. Some sort of stroke
that they detected and prevented. Dr. Sullivan was with him when it happened
and he said it was incredible.”

“When
did this happen?”

“Last
night,” she responded. “That’s why Memphis was in charge when everyone was so
panicked. You remember; that’s when you made your girlfriend a hero by shouting
down Helmer and letting her speak.”

“She’s
not my girlfriend,” I said. “And besides, she doesn’t even really like me.”

“Be
quiet.” Hiromi put her fingers over my lips and coyly said, “I’m going to show
you a Shinto move that will take your mind off of her.”

“I’m
not thinking about her,” I whispered the lie.

Major Mathew Reagan, US Army

It
wasn’t until our first morning on the Noridian ship that I learned about
General Nesbit’s medical episode from the night before. I can understand the
military desire to keep information like that compartmentalized but for Memphis
to keep it from his Platoon Leaders was inexcusable.

Captain
Silva tipped me off that I would want to talk with Dr. Sullivan immediately.
Apparently the Noridians had been giving General Nesbit and Dr. Sullivan a tour
of the ship which included the belowdecks areas that the rest of us had no
access to. When they walked into the room that served as a medical bay lights
started flashing and several other Noridian’s appeared and asked the general to
lie down. On a view screen they showed Dr. Sullivan, in high detail, an artery
in the general’s brain that was swollen-up like a small pea-sized balloon. After
asking and receiving the general’s permission they somehow sedated him and then
non-invasively proceeded to treat the potential hemorrhage.

The
treatment itself had Dr. Sullivan, a normally dignified and reserved man,
exuberant. The Noridian’s had used micro force fields to strengthen the
weakened artery and then used a negative polarity to attract certain electrolytes
into forming a sheath around the weakened area; a treatment which would take
several days to complete. Dr. Sullivan had been assured that the general was no
longer in danger but until the force fields were no longer needed it was
necessary for him to remain sedated to guarantee perfect immobility.

I
had mixed feelings about a number of things. I was certainly glad the general
was safe and I’m glad they caught the problem but the timing was incredibly
convenient or inconvenient depending on your point of view. We were deprived of
quality leadership at the exact moment in time that our team had so far needed
it the most. In addition to that there was something about the whole episode
that was raising red flags in my subconscious that I couldn’t seem to put a
finger on. Colonel Memphis had been no help and while some of the team,
especially a few of the scientists, were actually buoyed by the idea of chasing
of into the depths of a technological space-time abyss, most people had
realized that they were rather horrified by the idea.

Just
bringing everyone together like Julie had, let alone her comforting words, had
gone a long way towards reminding everyone that we were in it together and that
we had a purpose.

Mark’s
interview with Jaki the next day had also helped. To the chagrin of Dr. Derrick
Helmer, Dr. Spencer was quickly becoming a folk hero to many on the team. It
was obvious from the interviews that Jaki was attracted to him and, logical or
not, people felt that aided our cause.

And
that was another thing I had mixed feelings about; just exactly what was our
cause? Most people including Colonel Memphis and Ambassador Rutledge seemed to
think that attaining Noridian technology should be our prime focus regardless
of cost. Our mission, however, was to discover the extent of that technology,
determine if we had anything they valued or wanted, and learn everything we
could about the Noridian and galactic cultures so that earth could formulate a
strategy. Without General Nesbit around to remind everyone the group was
quickly losing sight of this.

I
wasn’t anti-technology but there were a lot of questions to be answered before
we dove head-first into this. I knew that with a direct technology transfer
from the Noridians there was zero possibility we could be an equal partner with
them. Getting the technology was one thing; maintaining it was something
different. Did we want to be trained monkeys using tools we didn’t understand
or was there a way we could develop our knowledge and understanding at the same
time? If not they would gain a tremendous amount of control over us and I’m not
sure we knew what their true agenda was.

The
other side of that same equation, which could give the devil chills, is who was
going to get that high-tech equipment first? Would it be individuals,
corporations, or countries? Surely you couldn’t just give that stuff to anyone
that asked for it? It would be one thing for people to know how to create clean
water in the desert, it was quite another for every terrorist on the planet to
suddenly be able to create plutonium 239.

Whoever
first controlled such technologies would effectively control the world. As a
military man I couldn’t imagine wars not being fought over the issue. I also
couldn’t imagine any circumstance where scientists and politicians wouldn’t
say, ‘give us more’ when it came to acquiring it. If the Noridians wanted to
destroy us it wouldn’t be very difficult; just give us what we wanted.

∆∆∆

I
touched a spot just below my right earlobe and said, “Captain Kamiko, could you
join us in the 3
^rd
Platoon Conference Room please.”

Our
communication earpieces had appeared in each of our rooms one morning. There
was a very small piece that wrapped around the back of the ear and a small
section that fitted inside the ear canal. I could’ve sworn when I first put
mine on it molded itself to me. At any rate it was extremely comfortable and
easy to forget you were wearing it.

I
was conferencing with my squad leaders and my second in command, Captain
Antonio Silva. I had also asked Dr. Spencer, Dr. Schein and Major Mike Reynolds
to sit in.

In
the few days since we’d boarded the ship interviews had resumed and it seemed
like there was a new technological revelation every day. One of the interviews
this morning had confirmed the already suspected ability of the Noridian’s to
communicate over distances at faster-than-the-speed-of-light. It had something
to do with quantum entanglement and I got the impression that it was a pretty
advanced science even for them.

When
everyone was present I opened the meeting, “General Nesbit should be back with
us tomorrow and I thought it might be a good idea for us to take stock of our
situation so we can give him an accurate summary.”

 Major
Reynolds snorted and Kamiko asked, “Will it be possible for us to give a
different report than what Dr. Helmer and Colonel Memphis will offer?”

“This
is an unofficial get together,” I said. “So it’s not like we’re generating a
separate report. On the other hand when I speak to the general I want to make
sure that I’m giving him the truth as I see it – or maybe I should say as ‘we’
see it. That’s why I’ve asked you here; to see if we have any kind of consensus.”

Captain
Kamiko was from a different military organization and I suspect she really
didn’t know if I’d be able to offer a differing opinion from my direct superior,
and I understood why she was asking the question. Over the last couple of days
it had become clear that Helmer and Nesbit were totally sold out to
‘The
Noridian’s are our friends’
line of thought along with most of the Dips and
an unknown number of scientists scattered here or there.

Most
of the military personnel however were a little more skeptical. Dr. Spencer had
been very reserved in his public opinions on the subject and, I suspected, once
he came to a conclusion he would probably sway a lot of people in his
direction. Dr. Schein to a somewhat lesser extent also carried influence but
most people were aware of her intense dislike for Jaki and assumed they already
knew her opinions on the issue.

“Well,
I don’t like it,” said ‘Iron Jaw.’ “Most of the diplomats are running around
acting like they’re negotiating the Treaty of Versailles but it just reminds me
of a bunch of politicians maneuvering for credit. I haven’t heard any of them
addressing the really hard questions; they’re too busy divvying up the power
that’s going to come from the influx of new wealth.”

“What
Jaki has offered is very seductive,” ventured Hiromi. I heard a different female
voice quietly mutter words that sounded like
‘the skank’
but Hiromi
continued, “The Noridian offers to ‘protect us’ and ‘guide’ our development
sound like euphemisms for totalitarianism. There is no question that our
standard of living would improve immeasurably but it could still very well be
slavery. You have an expression about prisons of gold…”

Everyone
was stumped for a moment until Dr. Spencer laughed and said, “Gilded cages.”

“Yes,”
Hiromi finished. “A gilded cage is still a cage.”

“But
what’s the alternative?” Captain Silva offered. “Even if our government turned
down the Noridian offer someone else would take our place overnight. Without
some kind of outside help I don’t know if our society is big enough to handle
the violence that’s bound to erupt the first time somebody feels they’re being
left out.”

“If
we accept Noridian technology, which seems inevitable,” Dr. Spencer slowly
chipped in. “A one world government is the only possible outcome.

“I’ve
been meeting with other professors and scientists in related fields and we
can’t see any other plausible course,” he continued. “Rightly or wrongly that
will be the direction our world takes and the only question is the degree of
violence that occurs until we can reach some sort of social equilibrium.”

Dr.
Spencer’s words left the room very quiet. I think what he was suggesting had
been in the back of all our minds but I for one was hoping there would be some
way around it – or at least a way to forestall the violence.

Captain
Silva interrupted the silence by saying, “There’s something else you should
know. Rumor has it that 2
^nd
Platoon is going to be taking some kind of
excursion; they’re going to be visiting a planet that’s fairly close along our
flight path. The word is that it’s a dead planet from a dead civilization.
Supposedly the Noridians are holding it out as an example of what can happen to
a civilization that has to transition from scarce resources and the group that
controls them, to abundant resources and the controlling groups no longer
having any leverage.”

“In
other words,” Dr. Spencer said. “They’re making the point that we need them.
Again.”

I
came to the unsurprising conclusion that we weren’t going to resolve this today
and I had a good idea of what directions we needed to go, but I had to be
careful. First of all I wasn’t Iron Jaw’s superior and secondly I couldn’t
afford my troops to think I was openly subverting the leadership of our mission.
I was walking a narrow line; I wasn’t breaking orders but I was in danger of
heading in a direction those superiors wouldn’t like.

“Major
Reynolds,” I asked. “Had you or your team heard anything about this excursion?”

Shaking
his head he said, “No; not officially or unofficially and I have to tell you
that bothers me.”

I
took the plunge. “Ok everyone. I’m going to make some suggestions and the only
thing I ask is that if you don’t agree or don’t want to participate be up front
about it…

“Our
own chain of command, both civilian and military, has been slow or negligent in
sharing important information with us. I don’t know what the motivations are
for that or if it is even a permanent condition, but our mission is too
critical to take chances. We will assume that our leadership has its reasons
for keeping us in the dark but I am also going to assume that they would want
me to pursue the mission to the best of my ability. Captain Silva has proven
rather adept at finding out things and Dr. Schein and Dr. Spencer are fairly
well plugged into the science community, so Major Reynolds, you’re welcome to
plug into us and we’ll share our info with you. The only thing I ask is that
you keep it to yourself and share anything you might learn in return.”

Iron
Jaw didn’t hesitate. “Count me in,” he said. “But I’d like to bring my second
in command, Captain Bradley Gervais, into the picture. He’s been with me for
years and I can vouch for him.”

I
glanced around the group and quickly said, “No problem here. Why don’t you
bring him over this evening and we’ll introduce him around.

“Dr.
Spencer you’ve got maybe the most important assignment,” I said. He looked up
and I continued, “If you’re willing I need you to continue meeting with your
peers and formulate a strategy for us – or maybe I should say for earth.”

“What
kind of strategy did you have in mind?” he asked.

“Twofold.
First figure out scenarios where we can accept Noridian technology without
ceding our national sovereignty and second, if it is necessary to form a one
world government, figure out how we can do that and take on the new technology
with the least amount of violence possible – preferably with none.”