Here Comes Earth: Emergence (8 page)

Mess Hall #3 – The Night before Departure

“Wow I’ve never seen this
place so busy,” said Julie.

Anzio looked around and
agreed. “I think Julie, that this is not a night where people want to be alone.
I think the whole mission must be here.”

“Dr. Sullivan!” Julie
shouted.

As Dr. Hilbert Sullivan
was holding his tray looking around Julie caught his attention and waived him
over.

“Dr. Sullivan, we’d love
to have you join us at our squad table for dinner? Great, have you met Dr.
Anzio Spelini? That’s Drs. Cook and Decker already seated and the rest will be
joining us shortly – grab a chair.”

Once they were seated
Julie started. “Dr. Sullivan, I’ve reviewed your interview regarding the
medical nanotech and it sounds incredible.”

Dr. Sullivan said, “That
nano-tech is not just keeping them disease fee; they can actually program it
for specific trauma treatment protocols.”

Dr. Decker responded,
“That shouldn’t be surprising. We’ve theorized for years that miniaturization
would get to the point it could be used independently inside the body. The
medical possibilities are endless. Science fiction writers have been talking
about Von Neumann machines for decades.”

“Von Neumann?” somebody
asked.

“Yeah, in the early part
of the 20
^th
Century a physicist named John Von Neumann, he was from
Hungry I think, started talking about sending ships to other stars. The unique
catch was that once the ship was there, besides sending information back to us,
it would replicate itself into multiple ships and send them on to other stars,
etc., etc.”

“Actually,” Anzio
interjected, “Von Neumann he was a rock-star in the physics world. Among other
major accomplishments, he worked on the Manhattan project to create the atom
bomb and came up with the acronym MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). Because
he was the first to seriously study self-replicating machines he gave the idea
popular credibility and writers stamped his name on the concept after adding
the spaceship element.”

Dr. Decker continued, “Anyway,
if you really want to get crazy, start thinking what could happen if you
combined that self-replicating technology with the miniaturization of
nanotechnology. What could happen if you could manipulate matter on a cellular
or molecular level? Want to build a house? Just open up a thumb sized pill of
nano and 3 days later, assuming there’s enough raw materials, presto – you can
move in.”

“But then what happens to
the nano?” Anzio asked.

“You could program it to
automatically turn itself off or march itself off to the recycling bin. The
possibilities are endless.”

“Yes, and one possibility
is an ultimate weapon,” said Julie.

“Of course, that’s what
all the technophiles are afraid of but any tool can be misused. The other fear
that they make horror movies about is the programming going wild where nobody
can shut them off. Real doomsday stuff,” said Dr. Decker.

“Well,” said Dr. Sullivan.
“I don’t think the Noridians are into anything like that. From what they told
me their nano doesn’t replicate and it only has a limited lifespan of a few
days. So if you want ongoing benefit you have to keep swallowing the pills…”

By now all of the
scientists had taken a seat.

”…and even though they can
obviously work at the cellular level I don’t know if they’re small enough to
work at the molecular level.  That’s a great follow-up because, if they can, it
opens up the whole world of gene-modification.”

Toni jumped into the
conversation; “Fat chance of that. These people get all tense just discussing
genetic evolution, let alone DNA modification. It’s almost as if I practice
Black Magic as far as they’re concerned.”

 “Would you pass the salt,
please?” Dr. Spelini pointed.

Julie said, “Every culture
has its phobias, or at least I would think so, but that’s more your area Mark.”

Dr. Decker said, “Of
course they do but we’re talking about an advanced society here.”

Dr. Sullivan added, “Well,
I’ve noticed it too. They have some prohibition when it comes to genetic
enhancement.”

“We’re not advanced enough,”
said Dr. Mom. “Check out my interview on the subject; you can search it under
the keyword: origin. Unless a civilization has attained spaceflight and created
viable off-planet colonies they don’t consider the society mature enough.”

“Toni, I think everyone’s
seen the recording of your interview,” said Julie. “If these Chextigans really
did violate law or custom by messing with our DNA don’t you think they’d be
willing to make an exception and explain to us exactly how it happened?”

“Of course I tried that
approach,” replied Toni. “But they were inflexible.”

Dr. Decker said, “I think
you’re giving up too easily. Now, trying to get one of the Ito twins to eat red
meat; that’s the definition of inflexibility.”

“You’re just upset because
Hiromi wouldn’t have dinner with you,” Toni quipped.

“She wouldn’t?” Anzio
asked. “I mean, we all eat together anyway don’t we?”

Grinning and in a teasing
voice, Julie explained to the table that Dr. Decker had invited Hiromi to a
‘private’ dinner in his room.

Anzio said, “Ahhh…”

A red-faced Dr. Decker
exclaimed, “Oh for god’s sake! I’m inviting everyone to dinner. I think it’s
important we get to know each other on an individual basis.”

Several ‘Uh huhs’ mixed
with laughter were heard around the table.

“Where is Captain Hiromi
anyway?” Anzio asked.

In a teasing voice Julie
said, “You haven’t invited me to dinner.”

Dr. Decker said, “That’s
because it would be pointless. Unless of course you’d really like to…”

“No thank you,” Julie said
quickly.

“Anyway,” Dr. Sullivan
picked up. “There’s definitely a proscription on talking about genetic
enhancement.”

“Would anyone care if I were
to eat the last chicken wing?” Anzio asked.

“Go for it.”

Dr. Sullivan continued, “I
mean it just doesn’t add up. These guys are opening up about their society in
so many areas yet they play dumb when it comes to DNA by design.”

Dr. Decker interrupted
sarcastically, “Yes and there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll and the
entire Obamacare episode was just a ruse so the Federal government would have
to step in and nationalize the healthcare system… really, you’re too smart to
believe in conspiracies.”

Anzio said, “Mark, you’re
being quiet. What do you think?”

Dr. Sullivan continued his
back-and-forth with Dr. Decker, “We just had 300 people murdered by an alien
civilization and you think we should automatically trust the next group that
comes along simply because they’re more advanced than we are? I just think
that’s a little crazy.”

Mark finished a wing and interjected,
“I don’t think we should trust the Noridians, I think Obamacare was a ruse, I find
the twins to be very flexible, and I think our own Dr. Mom did an incredible
job getting the information out of the Noridians because I think Dr. Sullivan
is right- they’re holding out on us. Also, are there anymore wings?”

Dr. Decker added
pointedly, “I’ll tell you what crazy is. It’s making judgments on a people when
their thinking is light years ahead of us!”

Julie said, “Anzio, are
you ok?”

“Did he just snort beer
through his nose?” Toni asked.

Dr. Sullivan asked Dr. Decker,
“Are you serious? You think that just because their technology is ahead of
ours, it makes them superior to us ethically and morally?”

“Anzio, what’s so funny?”

“This is going nowhere.
Mark my words…” Dr. Decker was interrupted when everyone’s attention was
suddenly taken by the noise of the house speaker system turning on…

General Nesbit was
standing at the front of the room and started talking into a hand-held
microphone. “Hello everyone. I didn’t plan on addressing you tonight but since
it looks like everyone is here it might be a good time.”

“I know there has been a
lot of rumors and speculation going on and it can be exhausting worrying about
what’s true and what isn’t. Washington hasn’t exactly authorized me to confirm
anything or release any information but I think this group represents the best
and brightest our planet has to offer, and I want you to know as much as I do.

“First of all, there is no
reason to think that any of your loved ones that you might be leaving behind
aren’t safe or won’t be safe. It is true that the fact that we are in
communication with the Noridians, and the fact that we are preparing to send a
team to their world, has leaked. The world’s population has had mixed reactions
to this news. There have been protests in many countries but by far most of
these protests have been peaceful and nonviolent.

“As I say, most of these protests
have been peaceful but not all. Two days ago what are suspected to be state
sponsored terrorists were interdicted trying to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the
Israeli city of Haifa. Unfortunately, the bomb was detonated before it could be
neutralized.

“Three hours later, in
response to what it considers an unprovoked act of war, Israel launched two
nuclear missiles; one each at military bases in the Syrian cities of Damascus
and As-Suwayda.

“For the handful of our
team members that live or have immediate family in that part of the world
please rest assured that our State Department has already confirmed that your
families are safe and unharmed. If any of you that don’t live in those areas
have solid reason to believe that family members could have been traveling in
those areas you are authorized to file a safety verification report on your Smartpad
and we will do everything possible to confirm their safety before our departure
tomorrow.

“It is the government’s
belief that this situation will not escalate although I’d be lying if I said
that things aren’t still volatile.

“There is a rumor that our
sudden departure is because the Noridian’s didn’t want to stick around and get
caught up in a nuclear war – I can personally confirm to you that this is not
the case. I was informed a full 36 hours before our mission leaked that the
Noridian ship was ready to receive us and to prepare for departure. Our
government has asked us to accelerate that departure by a few days in the hopes
that our leaving might lower tensions.

“We all owe a big thanks
to the Head of our Diplomatic Mission, Ambassador Quentin Rutledge. Ambassador
Rutledge was able to get the commitment from our government that in the
unlikely event that hostilities do escalate to other regions all earthbound
family members of this mission will be moved to safety on a priority basis. I’m
guessing he probably had to twist some arms to get a concession like that but I
think it’s important that we can focus on our mission without having to be
overly concerned about those we leave behind.

“And this brings me to the
important part of this impromptu discussion; focus. I don’t have to remind you
how important this mission is. To say that it’s historic would be an
understatement. Mankind is at a nexus; we can find a way to be respected, to
contribute, and to bring something unique to the galactic table or we can
settle into a second-class existence and possibly lose control of our own
destiny.

“We need to understand the
situation better. Every single member of this mission is not only important for
your ability to understand what they show us but also as a set of eyes and ears
that can gather information and help us understand what they don’t show us;
what they might need, what they might hide. Remember, as awe inspiring as their
advanced technology is every culture has its ugly side. Yes, we want to make
friends but as they say in the real world, this is business.