The Methuselan Circuit (29 page)

Unfortunately for Alexander’s class, they took the upper tier of the formation, meaning they were the furthest away from the Holo-V. When he was finally in place the Holo-V at the center of the Tube was a hundred meters away. There was a lot of jostling and whispering, making the interior of the Tube sound like the inside of a beehive. No one knew what was going on. Finally, as the last cadets straggled in, Centurion Fjallheim called out loudly, “Cadet Corps attennn-shun!”

Ten thousand zoots clicked together.

“The Commandant of the Space Academy and honored guests!”

Commandant Augesburcke zooted out, followed by the faculty. They took their places in front of the senior class. The Commandant said nothing, but nodded to Centurion Fjallheim.

The Centurion barked, “Cadet Corps at ease, station keeping!”

Alexander relaxed. The giant Holo-V hummed to life and an incredibly large, lifelike hologram of the President of Pan America appeared in the center of their formation. The President’s dark features looked very serious, very serious indeed. “My fellow Pan Americans, Pan Atlanteans and Pan Pacificans, indeed all people of the Terran Empire and the Galactic community, I address you in a time of crisis not seen since the Siege of Rome at the apex of the Caliphate Wars.” Alexander exchanged glances with his friends. This was serious. No politician ever mentioned the Caliphate Wars by name, and especially not the siege—it wasn’t done. The President allowed the shock of his words to wear off before continuing. “We are at the crossroads of our civilization, when the needs of the majority of our population need to be met. The Pan American Congress is now in emergency session as are the Parliaments in Pan Atlantis and Pan Pacifica. The Prime Ministers of our other two great Triumvirates are in full agreement with me and have allowed me the honor of taking the leadership as Overlord of Terra.” He paused again, allowing the full weight of his announcement to sink in. The last and only Terran Overlord was Alexander of Terra himself. It was astonishing and unthinkable!

The President seemed fully aware of this, and said, “The current state of civil unrest within the Empire necessitate bold and sweeping action, and a temporary consolidation of power. I have reluctantly acceded to this action with the full support of the Pro Consul.”

Alexander exchanged glances with his friends. That was the Pro Consul nominated by the then Senator Bar-Judas. It seemed almost too transparent. “I am declaring martial law in the Terran system as of this moment. Curfews will be established according to district legionary commanders. It is my hope that the restoration of order will be swift and that pending legislation in the Congress and Parliaments of the Terran Triumvirate will result in a Terra that is more answerable to the demands of social justice and the requirement for economic equality for all Terrans.”

“The unioneers want the perks of being Citizens without the responsibility and the President wants absolute power,” Alexander muttered under his breath, seeing exactly where the President’s rhetoric was leading. Still, he was confused. How could he undertake such sweeping and radical change even with the power of the Legions behind him? As if in answer, the President smiled.

“What we need now is calm to legislate hope and change and then to incorporate it into the very structure of our society. In the past, social justice and equality have taken painful decades, sometimes centuries, to attain only to be lost to the greed inherent in uncontrolled market societies and unstable democracies. It need not be so.” He paused again, allowing his audience to anticipate his next words. Alexander had a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Fortunately, we live in an age of technological advances unavailable to our forefathers. Before, when martial law was declared, those that demanded social justice and economic equality were trodden upon—not today. This is a matter for re-education and increased understanding. To change our traditions, our history and the course of our Empire we need to change our dialogue. That we can do swiftly and painlessly through technology. Therefore, I have signed an emergency order making it possible to use technology to enhance our discussion and to bring hope and change to our world, our system and our empire. Thank you for your time and for your hopes for change.”

The Holo-V image disappeared, but there was a sharp sound within the Tube followed by a loud hum that came from above their heads. Alexander looked up to see a series of conduits glowing blue. They ran along the interior of the Tube, glowing softly, running a course from the aft end all the way to the bow five hundred meters away. A ring of pure blue light formed at the bow. It pulsed briefly and then reached out for the blue and white world below. The blue beam enveloped the planet, but all they heard from their vantage was an innocent hum.

CHAPTER 22: Clamping Down

Life got back to normal at the Academy, except that all communications with Terra were cut off. The President stayed on Luna for the time being, making weekly announcements to the Empire. At first, it didn’t seem like their scheme of using the Methuselan Circuit would work. Katrina reported that the riots got even worse and that everyone that she’d talked to outside her home was irritable and cranky. She was spared the effects, at least initially, but then she reported something terrible.

Katrina called him in the middle of the night. She was scared. “Alexander, the legionaries outside are setting up what my father called a psi-amplifier. It’s supposed to amplify the signal of the Methuselan Circuit so that it will penetrate the shields around our house.” There were tears in her eyes. “My dad’s going to turn the shields off. He says there’s no way to control the psi-amplifiers precisely; they’re Scythian, and extremely dangerous. Alexander, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me when the shield goes down; I don’t know what’s going to happen to me!”

“Don’t worry Katrina; we’ll do something—we have to!” He gathered their little group together and passed on Katrina’s communication. “It’s getting serious. All of our families are at risk. We have to do something to disrupt or destroy the Methuselan Circuit!”

“How do we do it? Only Khandar knows how to destroy it,” Lisa said.

“Then I’ve got to talk to him,” Alexander replied urgently.

“We have some time,” Treya told them. “My parents are in contact with me through the embassy, but I don’t know how long that will last. Apparently, the Methuselan beam is supposed to make the population acquiescent, but every sentient species is different and the Methuselans must have needed a certain period of time to adjust the psionic affects of the beam. So far it’s having the opposite affect the President wants, that’s why Professor Strauss has been absent from class these last two weeks. Until they get the beam to do what they want they’re at a standstill.”

“What is it they’re trying to do anyway?” James said. “Can they keep everyone under this beam all their lives; I mean, what good is it to take this chance if they have to turn it off someday?”

No one had the answer, but to their surprise, Professor Nussbaum told them the very next day. He was none too happy about it, or so he made it sound. “It’s absolutely ludicrous to talk about pending legislation to a military audience,” he grumbled, but he shrugged. “I don’t have a choice. You’re going to have to bear with me, but Commandant Augesburcke has ordered me to instruct you all on the monumental legislation now being introduced in the Houses of Congress and in the Parliaments. Again, I apologize, but for some reason the Commandant wants the Bill itself read and not paraphrased. Now, be advised this is a bill; it’s very dry and dusty reading and not always easily understood. I will try to clarify where I can.”

He was right, but despite the reading being arduous, so arduous in fact that he allowed the computer to do it. Alexander listened closely, and several things jumped out at him. The most sweeping provision was that no one, not even Citizens, would be able to own land. Everyone would be provided with government furnished housing—housing was a right. That meant his family would have to give up the home they worked so hard for! There was more. His father and mother would lose their farm and business. As working age adults they would be assigned jobs, because everyone would have a job. It didn’t matter what the job was either, everyone’s pay was equal. Despite his father’s skill and training as a space ship captain he would earn as much as the basic unioneer who parked the aerocars on the trans-ocean ferry. Alexander could expect the same when he graduated and finally left the Service. His position would be decided by a government board and his pay, housing and lifestyle would have nothing to do with his talents, training or how hard he worked.

There was more, much more. As young and inexperienced as Alexander was, even he was amazed at the minutiae in the proposed legislation. There were codes for what every unit of community housing would be like, what subjects would be taught in school and what foods would be produced. On and on the rules went, invading every aspect of their lives; it was supposed to be for everyone to be in an equal, classless society, but to Alexander it simply felt like tyranny. Professor Nussbaum perked up during these parts, stopping the computer and explaining, “A happy society, a socially just society does not put the individual over the collective, but rather sees to the needs of the collective first. As it is, people in the unions are virtual slaves for the Citizen-class. There can be no justice and certainly no equality in that.”

“Professor, isn’t that their choice,” Alexander interrupted—he simply couldn’t take it anymore and his young man’s anger showed in his voice. “After all, all they need to do to become Citizens is to enter the Service. Citizens have the responsibility of making a living, paying taxes and Serving Terra. Unioneers have no responsibility other than showing up for work. Their food, housing and trade training are all taken care of. Why should they get the right to vote if they’re too lazy to take the responsibility?”

“That’s the philosophy of someone who wants to be better than others; someone who believes he is superior than others,” the Professor responded testily.

“Don’t I have the right to make more of myself if I work harder or do better? Why should James work extra hard for an A in your class and get the same reward as I do if I just sluff off and get a C? Who is going to pay for the food, housing and training if we’re all part of the collective?”

Professor Nussbaum shook his head, saying, “The collective supports itself.”

James chimed in, and said, “It sounds like you’re not bringing the unioneers up to the level of the Citizens but instead you’re bringing the Citizens down to the level of unioneers. It won’t work Professor.”

“So says a thirteen year old cadet,” the professor sneered.

“So says history,” Lisa told him emphatically. “There is not a single example of a collective society ever working on Terra. In fact, all those societies were brutal. Millions of people were killed to maintain the oppressive governments and even then there were cases of mass starvation. Every one of those societies failed—every one!”

“The unioneer caste doesn’t have those problems,” the professor replied testily. “The problem is that the Citizens have hoarded all the rights and benefits of society’s advances. Using the unioneer model we can allow everyone the same life—there will be no one who can take advantage of the loopholes of the system and benefit from other people’s labor.”

“I grew up in a unioneer family,” James shrugged. “They do what they have to, not what they want to. There’s no motivation to do more than you absolutely have to; in reality, the motivation and energy of a unioneer is spent in trying to do as little work as possible. Who can blame them? You don’t earn more money for exceeding your quota. You don’t get better housing. If there’s no motivation for improving your life why go to all the trouble?”

“Why go to all the trouble, why for equality, that’s why. In the great Soviet and Maoist empires there was equality, true equality.” The professor got up and paced the classroom, waving his arms in agitation. “What is it about this that you don’t see? The populations of the Soviet Union and China gave up luxury for equality. People addressed each other as ‘comrade’ whether one was a laborer, officer or a member of the Peoples Assembly. Isn’t that kind of utopia worth the false pride that your job is more important than the next man’s job or that you went to college and he did not?”

“It’s not that we’re any better as people professor; it’s that each of us as individuals has the opportunity to lead a better life,” Alexander said firmly. “The government has the responsibility for enforcing the rules we set for living together, but they don’t have the right to tell me how to live my life—that’s slavery not freedom.”

“The utopia you talk about didn’t work very well in Communist Russia or China—a lot of people starved.”

“Those that complained about it were often killed by the Secret Police or sent to work camps where even more died,” Lisa added. Then she asked, “Aren’t we, as a modern society, supposed to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them?”

To which Treya couldn’t help but add, “I can’t help but think this is very anti-Terran, this stifling of individuality. I can’t imagine that Alexander of Terra would approve!”

Nussbaum emphatically ended the discussion, storming out of the room, saying, “I knew none of you could grasp this; I tried to tell the Commandant this was all a waste of time! This is exactly why we need to force this upon the population; because of the illogical voices of the bourgeoisie!”