Here Comes Earth: Emergence (3 page)

Dr. Julie Schein

Julie
had experimented with a number of different ways to handle men throughout her life.
She knew she was smart but had undergone the common boy-crazy phases of
adolescence that had taught her not to show it.

In
high school she could usually wrangle a date with the team quarterback or the
popular new transfer student or whomever… but second dates were rare. She just
couldn’t find chemistry with boys that spent their days playing social games,
their afternoons playing athletic games, and their evenings and weekends
playing drinking games. She didn’t think she was stuck-up, it’s just that
alcohol-addled brains that never gave a thought to the future… bored her.

Throughout
most of college she changed her approach. She was enough of a realist to know
that people (especially men) were attracted to her. She could look in the
mirror and see that even though she didn’t have the classic sharp angled
features of a fashion model all of her pieces were in the right place and her
face and skin carried no obvious defects. What she couldn’t see was the
totality of the package; the way she walked and carried herself made her the
most dreamed about girl on campus – even if most boys were too intimidated and
insecure to talk to her, let alone ask her out.

Maybe
it’s because her mom had never been around or maybe it’s because most other
girls were either intimidated or jealous of her, but Julie had had no one she
could trust to get boy advice from. So in college she made a conscious decision
to only hang out around the super-smart guys. Although much more intellectually
stimulating there was still a lot missing. These guys were either oblivious to
her or so intimidated that they could never relax around her.

She
had even allowed herself a forbidden relationship with one of her undergraduate
professors thinking he might be the perfect balance in what she was looking for
in a partner – only to be severely disappointed.

Watching
seemingly everyone around her enjoy happy relationships allowed those whispers
of doubt that she’d always kept at bay to finally take root; what was wrong with
her?

Perhaps
it was no surprise then that once she was committed to a Medical Degree she
gravitated towards Psychiatry. 

Julie’s
combination of intelligence and a dazzling smile helped her land a residency at
the #5 ranked psychiatric hospital in the nation, Menninger Hospital in
Houston, TX. She then spent a couple of years at John Hopkins before being
offered a position at what is considered to be the top program in the world;
McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA.

By
the time she was offered a position on the Broken Star mission Julie had come
to peace with her uniqueness – not valuing it as good or bad; simply accepting
that relationships weren’t her strongpoint and finding satisfaction from a
promising career.

She
still allowed herself a few personality quirks left over from her defensive
days; being a little acerbic or sarcastic with men – it kept them off guard
and, well… it was fun.

∆∆∆

Once
she’d agreed to join the mission, signed all the forms, received a leave of
absence from the hospital, and passed the physical and psych evaluations (Come
on, please…) the true nature of Broken Star was explained to her.

There
was no question that not only was this so much bigger than just her; not only
was it a tremendous responsibility; it was also a chance for her to contribute,
to really ‘fit in’ perhaps for the first time in her life. The professional
challenge of a lifetime, to figure out the psyche of an alien being. Especially
an alien being whose brain physiology was very similar to ours but whose
environmental stimulus had been totally different (exciting!).

Once
she arrived at the underground Nevada base she was innerly thrilled to discover
that she was assigned as a member of a close-knit team of seven (Blue Squad)
which included six scientists and a security Captain. She determined on the
spot that her first order of business would be to build a personality profile
of her squad mates. She knew that recorded interviews with the Noridians were
scheduled to start in two weeks so she needed to complete this quickly… and of
course, discreetly.

Dr. Anzio Spelini was the
first member of the team she met in person. The government had provided her
with a smartpad that contained basic backgrounds on everyone in the squad and
like everyone else, Anzio was brilliant. Unlike many of the rest, however, he
held a certain popular notoriety in much of Europe. As hard as that might be to
attain for a mathematician and quantum physicist, he’d come by it honestly.
With numerous international accolades awarded to him publically his ready smile
and almost child-like naiveté and sense of humor won him a following. Like many
brilliant people he could easily lecture math or physics to hundreds of his
peers but put him in a room full of people at a party and he wouldn’t be able
to remember his grandmother’s favorite pasta.

It
didn’t take Julie very many days of hanging out with Anzio to realize that he
was basically a good guy – someone with straightforward priorities, an honest
willingness to help others, a healthy desire to be socially accepted and follow
social mores, a high empathy quotient and an ego that was in check. Julie
almost laughed when she realized that Anzio was basically the big brother that
she never had.

Dr.
David Cook (Computational and Science Engineering (CSE), Electrical
Engineering, and Information Technology) and Dr. Tony Decker (Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science) came next. Dr. Cook better fit the stereotypical
mold of what a genius was. Introverted and somewhat detached, he had the social
skills of a clam – a nice clam but not one that was going to be doing karaoke
at the Christmas Party.

Unfortunately,
that was more than she could say about Dr. Tony Decker. Dr. Decker was not
quiet and carried a very low empathy quotient. He wasn’t mean per se, just
condescending to everyone. He was smart enough to realize that his attitude put
many others off but was arrogant enough not to care. Maybe it was because Dr.
Cook was oblivious to other people’s personalities but they tended to hang out
together.

The
woman that headed up Blue Squad, Captain Ito Hiromi, was a little more of a
mystery. Her file contained less information than the others (perhaps because
she was sourced from the Japanese SDF?) and she was definitely the most
reserved of the group, but it had nothing to do with a lack of self-confidence.
Although her file didn’t address it Julie suspicioned that she also carried a
high IQ. Much more of the personality puzzle made sense once Julie realized
that she was a
monozygotic (identical) twin
.

Julie
wasn’t surprised that the twins held the same profession or even that they had
both excelled more or less equally in their rank and citations. Some
monozygotic twins claim that physical closeness allows each to perform at a
higher level. She was somewhat surprised however that the military would allow
them to serve together. Maybe the SDF worked differently but she seemed to
remember reading that US forces by policy didn’t allow monozygotic twins to
serve in combat positions together for fear that an injury to one could disable
the other. For whatever reason however Ito Hiromi was the Captain of the Blue
Squad and Ito Kamiko was the Captain of the Red – and Julie was sure that the
twins wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dr.
Toni (Dr. Mom) Andretti (Genetics and Biochemistry) was at the same time more
and less than what she seemed. She was outgoing and friendly with a high
empathy quotient that many times put the needs of others ahead of her own – a
trait that endeared her to many but signaled potential problems to Julie.
Extremely bright, she’d never had that breakthrough or discovery to put her at
the absolute top of her field and Julie couldn’t help but wonder if Toni wasn’t
overcompensating a little. Nevertheless you couldn’t spend five minutes with
her without smiling and feeling welcomed.

Dr.
Mark Spencer (Anthropology, Sociology and World History) was the one team
member that frustrated Julie. One of the highest IQs on the squad (maybe the
entire team except for Anzio), but you’d never know it from being around him.
Mark made an art of never taking anything too seriously.

He
was so easy-going, unpretentious and funny but his lack of seriousness could
presumably threaten the mission at some point she told herself. He was the
exact opposite from her and that was what made this so frustrating; Julie
hadn’t had a crush like this in… well, she couldn’t remember when.

Not
that anything would ever come of it. She had long ago learned to put her career
first and she definitely knew how to keep men at bay – he would never know how
she felt and with time she knew these silly adolescent feelings would go away.
It wasn’t really convenient that the three of them spent so much time together,
but Anzio and Mark were becoming close friends and because she had a good
friendship with Anzio…

Dr. Mark Spencer

Our
mission team totaled 144 people. The organizational chart included with my
mission brief was indecipherable (and where did they come up with the name
‘Broken Star’ anyway?) but it was subsequently explained to me that once we
reached wherever we were going there would be a core team that operated out of
a central location and the rest of us would be
divided
up into operational squads and sent out on whatever missions they assigned us.
The idea was we would all come together at regular intervals to share what we
learned. It all sounded very structured and military and TV-like and I knew it
would be a disaster. I’d noticed a name listed in my Mission Brief as Head of
the Scientific Mission, Dr. Derrick Helmer. The only way Helmer was going to
encourage information to pass from one team to another was through him; and
he’d only dole it out if there was some political advantage in it. From the
outside looking in it might look like a decent plan but the people being given
leadership roles made it feel to me like a formula for grandstanding and
political ambition; but then I think I must have been absent the day they asked
for opinions.

The
good news is that my field team is made up of myself and my three breakfast
companions (Dr. Anzio Spelini, Dr. Toni Andretti, and Dr. Julie Schein) and two
other specialists (Dr. Tony Decker and Dr. David Cook) plus our squad leader
Captain Ito Hiromi. It turns out Julie was a Psychiatrist (it figures) and
Anzio was not only a well-known mathematician/physicist but also quite possibly
the brightest individual I’d ever met. It was actually Toni, our third
breakfast companion, that had made me feel so welcome that first morning. While
being a few years older than the rest of us she was vibrant and still on the
cute side of plump. She was also quite accomplished in gene mapping and DNA
sequencing. She had that quick smile and open friendliness that made her
everyone’s friend and it’s no surprise that we started calling her ‘Dr. Mom.’

The
underground naval complex we lived and worked in (actually we were told it was
an Air Force complex being run by the Navy) was much, much larger than I had
first realized and that was a good thing because we were to be subjected to
three months of training and orientation before our journey would begin. It was
like an enormous underground city; complete with offices, conference rooms,
recreation and exercise facilities, dormitories, commissaries, sick bays,
clothing and personal supply stores (with
very
limited selections),
libraries, movie theaters, and even a giant underground park (with trees and
everything – it was incredible). There were machine shops and attorney offices
(we were all encouraged to make sure our personal business was in order and of
course someone had to pretend the gazillion forms we were required to sign were
merely routine). There were even private and semi-private dining rooms that I
somehow never received an invitation to. All in all the complex was rumored to
accommodate close to 2,000 people. Our team wasn’t using but a fraction of that
but I did notice that a number of darkened hallways and off limits sections
were suddenly filling up with people – not that we could talk with any of them.
We were required to wear color coded access cards around our neck, keep them
visible at all times, and restrict ourselves to our (relatively) small section
of the base.

Our
Head of Mission was Brigadier General Dwight Nesbit, a big man who obviously
kept himself in shape. General Nesbit was a likable enough guy that always
seemed willing to listen – if you could ever get to him. He was constantly
surrounded by his staff that was headed up by his second in command, Colonel
Eugene Memphis. As far as I could tell Col Memphis’ sole duty was to keep the
peasants in their place (me being one of the aforementioned peasants) and the
riffraff away (or was I the riffraff?). Memphis took himself way too seriously
and definitely had a mean streak – as we would all soon find out.

The
first time we were all brought together in an auditorium to be addressed by General
Nesbit I was struck by the sheer amount of brainpower in the room. I’m a
reasonably bright guy and I’m used to hanging around some very smart people but
the scientists, engineers and theorists in this room would get a standing
ovation at MIT.

General
Nesbit began his address by telling all of us to take a deep breath. He was
here to explain the situation as best he could and give us as many answers as
possible. He thanked us all for volunteering (I’d
still
like to know
when I did that) and assured us that there was every reason to believe that we
would fulfill our mission and return safely (Umm… nobody had said anything
about danger). He turned very serious, however, when he started talking about
what was at stake; literally the future of mankind. He made mention of the
terrible record inferior societies had when meeting vastly superior
civilizations and how important it would be for us to befriend and learn everything
we could from our alien hosts. He then confirmed my worst fears by turning the
briefing over to Dr. Derrick Helmer.

I
am normally one of the most easy-going, positive people you will ever meet but
Helmer and I had a history together. A big history. We were actually
undergraduates together in the same fraternity at the same school. Although he
was heavier into anthropology and I was slightly more focused on history we had
many of the same classes, professors, and circle of friends. Other than that we
were total opposites.

Derrick
came from money and although he didn’t flaunt it his obvious disdain for anything
less than top-shelf marked him.

I
had been on scholarship. Son of a single, hard-working mother; I’d held a job
since I was old enough to lie about my age. Between what I’d saved up working
evenings and summers in high school as well as the income I earned working
third shift at the local aircraft plant my first two years as an undergrad, I’d
been able to finance myself long enough to start receiving grants for my
postgraduate work.

With
my background it was natural for some to assume that I’d be uncultured and uninformed
about the ways of polite society and it never failed to frustrate Derrick when
I out-cultured him at many a turn. My mother was my saving grace; a loving woman
that firmly believed that having class was more about manners, respect, and how
you talked and treated others more than it was the size of your wallet. She had
taught me about fashion, comportment, and which fork to use (among other
things) – not that I always listened (but that would be entirely another
story).

To
the outside world it must have appeared as if we were rivals but I don’t think
Helmer ever deigned to acknowledge anyone else’s competence – especially mine.
It was like he had picked me at random and then decided to make my life
miserable. Everyone that counted in the department knew that he was second tier
– and I’ve got to believe that deep down Helmer knew it too. I think that’s why
he was so arrogant and conniving. He was actually a pretty smart guy but
instead of applying himself he would work to undermine and sabotage others. You
know the type; the guy that would always laugh at your mistakes to try and make
himself look good; the guy that never missed a chance to tell others that he was
trying to ‘help’ you if only you’d listen; the guy that always asked out your old
girlfriends – within 24 hours of you breaking up. To say that we didn’t like
each other would be a gross understatement. When it came to grades and athletics
he could never quite best me; I even beat him out on the election for
Fraternity President (he had to run again the next semester to win the office). 
No, Helmer was the antithesis to every ethical standard I believed in and here
I was, listening to him lecture in my area of expertise!

One
of my greatest abilities is that when faced with unexpected challenges I can
disassociate myself from emotion and objectively analyze situations. I was
doing just that when Julie nearly broke my finger off as she pried my hand away
from the armrest of the auditorium seat.
“Relax,”
she said – misreading me completely. “General Nesbit will keep us safe and I’m
sure that you and Dr. Helmer will figure something out. There’s always a way.”

∆∆∆

“I
have been fascinated by my study of your political history. It’s like looking
backwards tens of thousands of years into our own past...”

We
were sitting in my room watching the live interview with Jaki on our smartpads.
Over the last week or so my room had become the de facto meeting place for our
gang of three. Anzio and I just naturally got along well together and Julie,
although still giving me a hard time, fit in well enough. Sometimes Dr. Mom
(Toni) would join us but it was a small room and Toni got along with everyone
so today it was just the three of us.

Dr.
Helmer and Dr. Sullivan were conducting the interview with General Nesbit also
in attendance. Jaki, as she asked us to call her, was one of the Noridians
assigned to help us acclimate and prepare for what we’d find on their world and
in their society.

General
Nesbit had started the session by saying, “This is the first interview of what
we hope to be many between our team and the representatives of Noridia. This
first interview is live and is being blogcast on our secure network to the
entire team. I’m going to turn this over to Dr. Helmer who will be speaking for
us today.”

I
was really adjusting well to the reality that Helmer was going to be a part of
my future for the next unspecified amount of months (years? Oh Lord…). I was
actually more distracted by Julie setting cross-legged on my bed than I was by
Helmer.

“Jaki,
in this first session we thought it would be a good idea to exchange some basic
information and get to know each other but as you can imagine there are several
very important questions we need to address. The first one is simple: Why did
you contact us and why are you here?”

Jaki
replied smoothly, “It is both simple and complex. Basically, we feel a duty to
protect you. As your world enters the era of spaceflight you will become
noticed by other civilizations like the Coridians – and as you experienced with
Laze Fair One, many of them are not friendly.”

“Who
are the Coridians and why would they wish us harm?”

“We
know the Coridians well. They are a less advanced civilization with an
inferiority complex. They see an emerging space faring culture like yours as a
competitive threat and unless we are here to stop them they will undoubtedly
eliminate that threat before you can become sophisticated enough to protect
yourselves.”

“Jaki,
how can we compete with the Coridians or possibly be a threat to them? If they
can move the Laze Fair One to Neptune, let alone have interstellar flight, they
must be considerably advanced over us?” Helmer asked.

“To
understand the answer to that will require you to have a better understanding
of how our meta-society is organized and what we value. That is, I believe, a
discussion better left to one of my colleagues and another day. In the meantime
I would like to ask you a question.”

“Sure.” 

“One
aspect of Earth that my people are having trouble comprehending… How can a
civilization that has attained space flight put some people in cages just
because they will not do what other people tell them to?” Jaki asked.

Dr.
Helmer replied, “When certain people pose a danger to the general population
we’ve made a decision as a society that it’s safer if those individuals are
locked away so they can no longer pose a threat to others.”

“Why
would they pose a threat to others?”

“Well,
that depends… Maybe you have something I want. If I can’t convince you to give
it to me and I take it from you anyway that is harming you and your property.
We lock people up that have shown they can’t be trusted not to harm others.”

I
was pretty sure that this was how Helmer had wrangled himself the Head of
Mission (Scientific) slot – he was a master at manipulating people through the
use of what appeared to be sound reason and logic, many times at the expense of
the truth. But hey, as long as the other guy would do what Derrick wanted he
didn’t care. He was probably mentally counting up all the brownie points he was
scoring right now by showing Jaki how reasonable and mature our society was.

Jaki
said, “I am aware that your civilization has limited resources and therefore on
a macro level uses multiple monetary systems as well as a plethora of primitive
political systems to control the distribution of these resources, and I am also
aware that on an individual level there can be much disagreement over the
equity of those resource distributions and that this can cause conflict, but it
appears to me that the majority of incarcerations do not stem from these
inequities.”