Here Comes Earth: Emergence (5 page)

“We’re
certainly going to do everything we can to be prepared,” I continued. “All of
the major Earth governments appear to be cooperating – which I’ve never seen
before – and our military, just like yours Hiromi, is at full alert but at the
end of the day there’s not a lot more we can do. The technology differential is
incredibly steep and our best defense at this point seems to be the goodwill of
the Noridians.”

∆∆∆

“The
diplomats are fit to be tied,” said the Marine in charge of 1
^st
Platoon, Major Mike ‘Iron Jaw’ Reynolds. I have no idea why they’d put a Marine
in charge of our only diplomatic platoon but on the other hand Mike was as
about an intimidating of an individual as you could get – so maybe it didn’t
hurt for the Noridians to know that there was some muscle behind our Dips… uh,
diplomats.

We
had struck up a casual friendship four or five staff meetings ago when it
became clear to me that he couldn’t figure out why they’d put him in charge of
the diplomatic platoon either. Mike wasn’t really a touchy-feely type of guy
and didn’t respond well to all the complaining from his group of diplomats
which included a number of State Department careerist, a dozen international Poli-Sci
university professors, a personal appointee from POTUS (the President of the
United States), and even two nationally known career politicians (that were
rumored to hate each other).

“The
aliens won’t give them the time of day,” he continued. “Apparently every time
our guys try to talk about formal relations between our peoples they’re told
nothing can happen until after the science guys know enough about each other to
appreciate our differences. It’s driving my guys crazy.”

Mike,
like all the other platoon leaders had brought his own command group with him
to this assignment. Mike’s group however are… well, Marines. I had no doubt
about their fighting ability. The other two platoon leaders were Navy and Air
Force; services not especially known for their service-wide hand-to-hand
skills. Being prepared is not the same thing as being paranoid and I’d found a
kindred spirit in Mike.

From
a tactical standpoint we had no idea where we were going, how long we’d be
there, whether our hosts would remain friendly, or how we’d get back if they
didn’t. Typical military FUBAR planning; but then that’s why they paid us the
big bucks…

Summary

Noridian
Interview Blogcast #863

Security Classification:
Ultra Secret
Black Diamond

Access Authorization:
Broken Star
Personnel Only

Operational Priority:
Level 1

In Attendance:

For the Noridian’s: Scampos

For Earth Team: Rev. Charles Rohn -
PhD World Religions, Neo Christian (ordained)

Subject Tags:

Religion

Origin of the Universe

Monotheism

Summary:

While
the Noridian representative, Scampos, expressed an Atheistic viewpoint that he
claims is shared by all Noridians and a large majority of galactic society, the
Rev. Charles Rohn feels the very fact that this is an issue in itself is
revealing.

Apparently
there are some few civilizations in the galactic sphere that believe in a
Devine origin; most (all?) of them adhering to a monotheistic (one God as the
Creator) belief.

Of
note is that (according to Scampos) the idea that God sacrificing His son or
otherwise giving humanity a human savior is unknown outside of earth. The
closest thing he is aware of are some ‘mystic’ (his term) prophesies predicting
a Chosen People saving all of humanity.

Although
Scampos dismisses them, our concepts of Heaven, Hell, Angels, and Demons have
their galactic counterparts and are common (in some variation) across these planets.
Scampos seems to view these beliefs as a contamination and these civilizations
as infected. Also of note is that these ‘backward’ civilizations are spread out
across the full volume of known galactic space.

Scampos
had no response as to how such common beliefs could have travelled over a large
galactic area. Dr. Rohn wonders if there could have been a heretofore
unidentified ancient galactic civilization that spread them.

The
Origin Question is an area that Dr. Rohn was particularly concerned with and after
deflecting, Scampos reluctantly admitted that there was no good answer while at
the same time confidently insisting it was of little interest or importance.

He
did confirm that some variation of the Big Bang Theory is held as valid by all
advanced societies. In this theory the ‘order’ of the universe (everything from
the speed of light and the laws of physics) were established on a quantum level
within the first milliseconds of this grand explosion that created everything.

Life
in our universe could not exist if the rules of physics were much different
from what they are. For example, the four Fundamental Forces of Nature are
critical: The strong Force (holds the nucleus of atoms together), The
Electromagnetic Force (as in magnets), The Weak Force (cause of radioactive
decay), and The Gravitational Force (an attraction between any two pieces of
mass). If any of these forces were changed, or had different strengths, or
weren’t present, life as we know it – even our universe as we know it – could not
exist.

These
are just four out of billions of physical constants.

What
if chlorophyll couldn’t support photosynthesis? There would be no plants. What
if oxygen was unstable with hydrogen? There would be no water.

We
know the odds of all these constants randomly being set in just the right
manner to support life are incalculable, but we also know that on a quantum
level simply observing an event can order the outcome.

The
Origin Question is: Who or what observed the Big Bang to give our universe its life-supporting
order?

Dr. Mark Spencer

“You’ve met the philosophy
specialist in my sister’s squad, Dr. Bell?”

“Mmm Hmm…” I responded.

“Stop that… my sister
Kamiko thinks you should speak with him,” said Hiromi.

“Yeah, ok. I can… hey wait.
Did you just giggle? I didn’t think Special Forces knew how to giggle?”

“I wasn’t giggling. I was
setting you up for an ambush but pay attention. She thinks this is important. Dr.
Bell may have figured out why the Noridians aren’t cooperating with the Dips.”

Ok, that was important.
Maybe not as important as trying to figure out what happened to that little
love mark I’d left below Hiromi’s left ear yesterday but definitely right up
there.

I threw the covers off,
climbed out of the bunk and stretched. “Ok, I’ll talk to him today but right
now I’m going to hit the head then come back and let you ambush me.”

“No. I’m going back to my
room now. I’ll text my sister to set it up right after breakfast.”

“You know, it wouldn’t get
you a demerit badge to be seen leaving my room in the morning; you Asians are
so terribly formal.”

“I’m not always formal.”

As I stood there admiring
her, I couldn’t argue.

∆∆∆

It
turns out that while Dr. Rasheed Bell had been interviewing the Noridian we
were calling Zeke some interesting information slipped out. Actually, we
weren’t sure if Zeke slipped or really hadn’t realized the impact of his tidbit
but it didn’t sound as if the Noridians even have a government.

“How
does that work?” I asked.

“I
really don’t know. Zeke wasn’t really enthusiastic to my follow-up questions.
He kept claiming we needed to stay on topic but I did get him to agree to meet
me later today to explore the issue,” said a smiling Dr. Bell.

“What
do the Dips think?”

“Ah,
well… I don’t really know. I went straight to Dr. Helmer with this one. I
thought it was a big deal but he kind of shot me down. He suggested that I’d
misunderstood and then politely told me to keep my nose out of diplomatic
relations.”

Yep,
that sounded like Derrick.

“So
this meeting is just with you and Zeke?” I asked.

“Well,
Captain Kamiko thought that I should have you sit in; if you’re willing?”

“Rasheed,
I wouldn’t miss this for all the tea on Noridia.”

∆∆∆

It
wasn’t going to be just Zeke, Dr. Bell, and I after all, Kamiko explained as
she escorted us to a section of the base I’d never been in before. My questions
to her were being interrupted just about every 45 seconds by another security
checkpoint but I managed to gather that Jaki had suggested that the four of us
meet informally in her ‘quarters’ to clarify some details. Kamiko waited (stood
guard?) outside the hatch as we were welcomed by Zeke and lead to a sunken
living-room filled with couches. These ‘quarters’ were beyond VIP and were the
first obviously non-military space that I’d seen in the two months I’d been on
base.

The
Noridians didn’t seem to understand the art of small talk. Jaki started the conversation
abruptly but with a very pleasant and friendly tone of voice. “Dr. Bell and Dr.
Spencer, Zeke mentioned to me that he may have gotten off-track in his last
conversation and I thought I would invite you to an informal sit-down to clear
up any misunderstandings so we do not lose any valuable time on relatively
unimportant details.”

Jaki
was even more strikingly beautiful in person than I’d realized from watching
her on the blogcast. With short cropped hair, a well-endowed torso above a flat
stomach and extra-long legs highlighted by the form-fitting mini dress she
wore, she had fashion model good looks. Apparently Rasheed had also noticed
because instead of answering he just nervously glanced at me, so I spoke first,
“Jaki, we appreciate that but if we understood correctly and if your people
don’t have a government then that’s hardly unimportant to us.”

“This
is exactly the type of misunderstanding that I want to clear up,” said Jaki.
“What our two peoples define as government might differ but there must be some
hierarchy, do you not agree Dr. Bell?”

“Well,
certainly… I suppose,” said Rasheed. “But then what exactly is your hierarchy?”

“Gentlemen,
a complete explanation of how our society operates could take months and still
will not be properly understood until you have spent some time amongst us –
which is why we have extended the invitation to take you back with us. We would
like the courtesy of explaining over time to your diplomatic corps,” continued
Jaki. “If we understand your hierarchy correctly then this would seem the best
way to proceed for all concerned.”

As
I watched Bell nodding to himself I could see that he, like everyone, was
caught up in the grand adventure of meeting a new ‘people’ who were superior to
us in every observable way. I had to admit that the allure of the knowledge
they could give us was a strong motivation to make fast friends and not ‘rock
the boat,’ but my bullshit meter was going through the roof.

One
of my better qualities has always been to sense hidden agendas and I had
developed tactful ways of getting to the truth…

“I
don’t buy it,” I said.

“What?”
everyone replied.

“Jaki,
with all respect…” I continued. “Today’s recordings will already be reviewed by
the diplomats so there is no reason not to start down that long road of
explanation right now. At least you can give us a general outline - is there
any reason you wouldn’t want to do that?”

Jaki
and Zeke exchanged a long glance and she then leaned back on the couch and
crossed her long shapely legs, which interestingly enough didn’t bother my
concentration one iota.

Jaki
began, “You will learn that in greater galactic society patience is considered
a virtue and it is a virtue that your race will need to cultivate if you desire
to survive and prosper…”

Was
that a helpful hint or a threat, I wondered?

“I
have already stated that this was an informal meeting. I guess I should have
elaborated to explain that our conversation is private – no one else can hear
our discussion.

“I
had hoped,” she continued, “that we could move forward with a friendly
understanding that all would be explained to the diplomatic corps in due
course… Dr. Spencer, will you allow us that grace?”

With
all eyes upon me I responded with one word, “no.”

“Very
well,” she said after a moment. “But this will take some time. Do you need
anything to make you comfortable?”

At
the same time Dr. Bell was saying ‘no’ I said, “Yes. Jaki, I need you to turn
the recording equipment back on.”

In
a tone of voice that was just short of dismissal Jaki told me that she had been
assured that her quarters weren’t recorded – so there shouldn’t be anything to
turn on. Even if I hadn’t been able to sense the evasion there is no way I
would believe that our government would willingly leave anything to do with the
Noridians unobserved. “Jaki,” I repeated. “Turn it on.”

After
a long look that probably should have intimidated me Jaki said, “Very well,
your security offices now have full access.”

∆∆∆

I’m
not sure how many hours that first session lasted but it ended up as the most
fascinating of my life, even if for me it started slow.

Jaki
began by laying the ground rules; explaining that because some of these
concepts may be new to us she reserved the right to explain them in her own way.
She would be using what we called the Socratic method of teaching; asking
questions that could guide us to understanding.

The
first question she asked us was the most complicated, “What is government?”

Dr.
Bell responded by saying government’s purpose was to do for society what
individuals couldn’t. I don’t know if he was influenced by Plato’s writings on
the subject (he
was
a philosophy professor) but he spent a rather
lengthy amount of time expounding on how those that had the vision and
resources should have the authority to tailor society to best benefit all.
Personally, I had eschewed all politics above a departmental level for years
but since I had degrees in both History and Anthropology I recognized his
viewpoint as reflecting the styles of influence and government most currently
in vogue: liberalism and socialism.

Jaki
seemed totally absorbed in Dr. Bell’s words and my mind might have wondered a
little; I had taken the opportunity to glance around the room and I had to
admit to being a little fixated on the hemline of the short dress that Jaki was
wearing but my demeanor was totally professional when I suddenly realized that Rasheed
had finished and Jaki was staring at me intently.

“You
do not seem to agree Dr. Spencer?” Jaki said with a small smile.

“It’s
not that I disagree,” I responded. “I think Dr. Bell has done a great job of
summarizing what most people think of as the duties of government… it’s just
that I don’t think that’s what government actually is.”

I
explained that from a historical viewpoint, at its core government was nothing
more than a small group of people exercising control over a larger group of
people. Dr. Bell argues that the motives are for the greater good but history
shows us otherwise. The small group of people inevitably uses their control to
funnel the resources of the greater group through themselves and while some of
those resources get redistributed to others, a significant amount enriches the
controlling group. Of the resources that do get passed on the controlling group
controls the distribution and therefore enhances its own control and power. If
you understand this definition of government you can understand how the ancient
City-States came about, how feudalism tied the peasants to the land, and how
monarchies built kingdoms. It gets a little more complicated in modern times
but whether it’s socialism openly redistributing wealth or capitalistic
politicians extorting donations from businesses it’s all the same. We talk
about the importance of fairness and freedom but those are just window dressings
to placate the majority that are controlled. In my country we actually have
governments within governments. We have the Federal government as well as State
and Local but we also have labor unions and powerful trade groups like the
American Medical Association that all fit the definition.

Early
in my explanation Rasheed had been interjecting frequently; sometimes with
clarifications and sometimes with questions. By the time I finished I realized
that I’d been lecturing solo for quite some time.

Rasheed
actually broke the silence first by implying that my viewpoint was fairly
radical. I insisted that there was nothing radical about an observation. I
don’t march in the streets, practice politics, or assign moral value to any side;
I simply study history and observe it when I can.

“So,”
Jaki said. “You believe government is an unnecessary evil?”

“No,”
I replied. “More like a necessary evil.”

Jaki
surprised us both with what she said next. “Dr. Spencer, that is exactly how
government developed on our world thousands of years ago but we have long since
moved past it.”

“I
would be very interested to know how you did that and what you’ve evolved into,”
I said.

“Let
me ask you another question,” she almost whispered. “What if your resources
suddenly became abundant? What if there was no longer any need to manage their distribution?”

While
I was trying to get my mind wrapped around that possibility, in a stronger
voice she went on to explain that on her world they had suffered the same kind
of wars and social injustices that we had but as technology provided more and
more answers the
need
for conflict became less.