Here Comes Earth: Emergence (32 page)

“And what’s in it for
you?” I asked. “Why would a dynasty want to take on that responsibility?”

“We usually will not,” she
sighed. “That’s why protectorships are so rare – it takes an overwhelming
consensus of dynasty members to approve it.

“Typically, Protectorships
serve as a base of operations for dynasties. There are obvious advantages to
having a centralized base of operations for communications, repair, and certain
types of manufacturing. We are also a social species and having established
gathering points spread throughout the galaxy eases the isolation a spacefaring
culture can sometimes feel.

“Lastly, but just as
important, a protected planet is free of the politics and intrigue that is part
and parcel of being in The Accord.”

“So the dynasties do
compete against each other,” I observed.

“Oh, very much so,” she responded.
“The standing of our dynasty in The Accord is of daily concern to every member.
Protecting and enhancing that standing is one of the obligations and
responsibilities we have to each other.”

“So Ashima, if I’m
understanding this correctly, your relationship to The Accord is analogous with
the Kikos relationship to the dynasties? In other words you need them more than
they need you?”

“Mark,” Ashima responded.
“Remember that The Accord is made up of Lower Houses and Upper Houses, but from
a technological standpoint the gulf between a dynasty and a Lower House is
incalculably wider than the gulf between the Kikos and a dynasty. We don’t just
need them; it’s fair to say we revere them.”

ΔΔΔ

The ship we were on had a
mind of its own. I mean it was literally what we would call an Artificial
Intelligence or AI. At least I’m assuming it was self-aware; computer
scientists on Earth had been debating for decades what that really meant and
how you would be able to tell if a computer was truly an individual
intelligence. We had invented the Turing Test and believed it to be the
benchmark until 2014 at the University of Reading where the programming of a
non-self-aware computer became sophisticated enough to pass it.

For me it was pretty
simple; I didn’t care. If I couldn’t tell if it was a person or a machine when
I was talking to it…

I was ‘getting to know’
the ship through my smartpad. Like the other ships we had been on there were no
controls, control room, or bridge. Coridians mentally ‘merged’ with their ship
via their bioware. I’m sure my method was much more cumbersome but both Anzio
and I had taken Major Reagan’s advice and declined the offer of bioware.

The external ship views
offered up in my holodisplay were incredible and I can only imagine what it
would be like to experience them in my mind’s eye – I’m sure it must be a
totally submersing experience that would take anyone’s breath away.

One unexpected result of
having to use the smartpad as a ship interface was to realize that the ship had
no name.

Coridians didn’t need to
name the ships because they didn’t have to call out to them. They just mentally
started thinking to it and perfect communication ensued. I
did
however
need to address the ship and I had no idea what to call him (or her?).

I settled on the name Judy
and she responded with a female voice so that was that.

There were only the four
of us onboard which made the ship feel relatively large. There were six suites
and even though we were really only using two of them it was nice to have
someplace private to occasionally retreat to.

We were sitting at a
rectangular table in the galley eating breakfast. Semi and Anzio were on one
side of the table and Ashima was sitting next to me on the other side. Her bare
leg had slid across and entwined with mine.

One of the most pleasant
and unexpected surprises was how unbashful both ladies were when it came to
clothing. They were never nude except in the privacy of their partner’s embrace
but they had both mastered the art of wearing as little as possible and
displaying their perfect physiques in as sexy a way as possible. Short-shorts, boyfriend
shorts, thongs, lingerie, shortened midriff-exposing tank tops; the girls
seemed fascinated with high heels. Semi came to dinner one evening in a long
black backless gown that was split to her waistline. Anzio’s tux was the
perfect complement and with their long-legged elegance I thought they must be
the sexiest couple within ten parsecs (or light-years, or whatever).

I forced Ashima to admit
one night that she and Semi had conspired to study-up on what Earthers deemed
sexy. I won’t divulge my method of torture but I got a full confession of their
plot to keep us menfolk constantly aroused. Did I mention that she was fun?

I don’t want to give the
impression that I’d lost sight of our mission; if anything it was just the
opposite. Anzio and I both felt as if we had the weight of the world on our
shoulders and if you mix that metaphor with holding the fate of the planet in
the palm of your hand you kinda-sorta understand how much pressure we were
under. We needed all the distraction we could get and…  Judy just informed me
there would be a disco dance contest tonight on the observation deck immediately
following dinner.

ΔΔΔ

The four of us were
sitting around a cocktail table in the observation lounge that four nights earlier
had grown a dance floor and sprouted a mirrored disco ball. Memories of our
leisure suits and line-dancing attempts still cracked me up. With the galactic vista
serving as our ceiling, I was sitting back either drinking a non-alcoholic
vodka tonic or my medical nano was keeping me sober. The only thing I was
missing was a bowel of peanuts. It was the perfect opportunity to sit back and
think out loud. At least that’s what I called it when a group of people are
free to throw out ideas and together explore solutions to a challenge. You
might call it masterminding or thought experiments or a bull session; the point
was to get multiple perspectives on the issue.

“What would happen,” I
asked. “If a Kiko society independently discovered faster than light travel?”

Semi responded first, “If
you are asking whether that would qualify Earthers to become a dynasty the
answer is ‘probably’ but you need to remember that it would be one group or
culture that became the dynasty and they would need to then make Earth its
protectorate.”

“I didn’t think that Earth
was even close to that?” she concluded with a raised eyebrow.

“Well” I mused, “many
times throughout history the greatest breakthroughs come out of nowhere. For
example, if a certain physicist after being exposed to the wonders of the
universe suddenly had a mental epiphany and was able to complete previously
unsolvable equations…”

“It would not work Mark,”
Semi said softly as Ashima placed her hand on my arm. “The math you would need
has not yet been invented on your planet and our dynasty would be severely
censored for giving you restricted technology. The Accord would immediately know
we had helped you.”

“How would they know?” I
stubbornly said.

“You have to trust us Mark,”
interjected Ashima. “They would know.”

So much for different
perspectives.

I didn’t for a moment
sense that Semi or Ashima were trying to discourage or sabotage us. I felt they
would truly help if they could. On the same token though I knew that deep down
they believed Earth’s only option would be to accept Coridia’s offer of
protection. They had several times tried to broach the subject of how to unify
Earth so it could accept that Protectorship but Anzio and I had been of like
mind not to discuss it.

Maybe it was time to
change that.

“Look,” I said. “I am not
in any way giving up on the idea of talking a Lower House into interceding on
our behalf but I do think it would be prudent to have a backup plan. If it
comes down to accepting a Protectorship or watching our cities destroyed we may
have to pretend to go along – even if it’s just to buy some time.

“Ashima, if I understand
what Semi’s been telling me then Earth would have to unite before we could
officially accept – is that correct?”

“Yes Mark, Earth would
have to speak with one voice.”

“One voice,” I repeated. “But
that’s not the same thing as unanimous?”

“No of course not,” Semi
replied. “We realize there will always be individual dissent – especially with
what we know of Earthers. A dynasty however must have a reason to believe that
the planet wants to cooperate – after all the dynasty is on the hook for the
planet’s successful transition and will answer to The Accord if they fail.”

“But is it the dynasty’s
decision that the planet must be united or is it a rule of The Accord?” I
persisted.

Semi and Ashima looked at
each other and were obviously accessing some database when Semi looked back to
me and said, “Both.”

“So,” I continued. “If
Noridia wants us to except their Protectorship they would have to give us some
time to unite, right?”

“Yes,” Ashima responded. “But
if it took too long you might not like their methods to speed up the process.
Mark, if they were that close to success I could see them throwing strictures
out the window and arming one nation well above all others. They might even get
directly involved and simply assassinate all the world leaders except their
chosen one. There is no underestimating how far they’d be willing to go to
achieve this.”

“But it would still buy us
some time,” I said. “And if the Noridians already thought we were making
progress to a one-world government they might be inclined to let it progress
naturally.”

I don’t think I’d ever
seen Ashima close to tears and it startled me, but before I could say anything
she said in a shaky voice, “Mark, forget for a moment what that would do to
Coridia. Think about the fate of your people under Noridian rule, and for you
personally, Mark. They could never let you live.”

I started to respond but
Anzio raised his left hand in a signal for everyone to hold on – he would have
raised both hands but Semi was holding tightly to his other.

“Ashima, Semi,” Anzio
started. “Please understand that Mark is only trying to buy time for us. He is
not suggesting that Earth truly become protectorate of Noridia, are you Mark?”

“No”, I said. “That is the
furthest thing from my mind, but I’m not beyond letting them think we’re going
to accept it. Especially if it would buy us a few months or years to figure out
a better solution.”

“That would be a very
dangerous game Mark,” said Ashima; “a game that Earth might not survive.”

She paused and then as if
coming to a decision she continued, “There is no reason to choose suicide! You
have options in front of you. They might not be perfect options and you might not
get everything you want but accept a Coridian Protectorship and you could survive
and grow in galactic society. Your people could share in all the advancements
and advantages of being affiliated with a dynasty! Think of all the unfairness
in your world now – you have millions of people that spend time deciding
whether to have fish or steak prepared and served to them for dinner while at
the exact same moment thousands of children go to bed hungry. You can change
this! You can virtually eliminate poverty by raising the standard of living for
everyone. Many of your diseases could be eliminated. The world Coridia offers
would be a safe world, a secure world. Without wasting resources on political
strife and competition think how much further your society could evolve. You
could learn from us, yes; but think how much more dynamic, how much faster you
could progress without the distractions of poverty and war. You would have the
entire galaxy to explore and study – don’t throw it all away over some
overblown sense of racial pride, please!”

The observation deck was suddenly
very silent. Despite the millions of stars witnessing our conversation I was starting
to feel isolated and alone. As close as I wanted to be with Ashima and Semi
there was still a gulf between us. I think I had never felt the pressure more
strongly than I did in that moment.