Turning to head back to the sleeping room, he had an idea. He detoured to the drink dispenser and set it up to dispense a gaberry brew for her. Finding a mug, he filled it. He grabbed the p-tabs and the mug and headed into the sleeping room. Deides was staring at him as he came in.
“I’ve brought peace offerings,” he said, trying to make light of the situation.
“Just hand them over,” she replied, not making light of it.
When Narmer handed her the mug and her p-tab, she didn’t meet his eyes. He looked at her for a few more nauks, then turned, grabbed his ship suit and headed to get cleaned up for his meeting.
As he entered the stall, he tossed his suit into the cleaning unit. It would be done when he was ready.
As he turned on the cleaning head, water erupted out in a pulsing spray. Being on a large ship had its advantages. It was a real water unit. Trying not to think of Deides and to try to get his head around the prior ria in preparation for his meeting, he relived the events.
He stood in the water stream until it shut off after his ration was used. “It felt glorious,” he thought.
Snagging a drysheet out of its nook, he wiped himself down. He reached over and pulled his ship suit out of the cleaner and donned it. It was a one piece with built-in footwear, so he was ready to go.
Trying to make amends once more, Narmer walked into the sleeping room.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Is there anything you need before I leave?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine,” she said not looking up, “I’ll find things to do, so I may not be here when you return.”
“Hmm, ok, I’ll message you when I’m finished.”
“Sure.”
Taking one last look at her, he turned and exited the sleeping room. Proceeding to the hatch, he opened it and left.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It was a little disorienting to walk down the passageway to the transport tube. Narmer had come down this way the last set, hand grabbing his way along what is now the ceiling. A different perspective standing here now on this rise.
Thumbing his p-tab open to get a map to the galley and to get the correct t-pod, he saw the countdown reminder in the upper right corner, ‘3’. Departure in three rias. He shook his head at all that had transpired over these past few rias.
Walking up to the hatch and waiting for his pod, he began to take in his surroundings. Looking around he could see down passages in all four directions. Similar layouts in each. He saw that people were moving about to get to where they needed to be.
Then trying to distract himself from Deides, he spent time looking up and down the tube from the hatch area through polypanes that surrounded him. It was a great view, but it was also tad unsettling. Pods zipped by the hatch, ‘down’ towards the hull, or ‘up’ towards the core. Lots of activity.
His pod finally arrived, and he entered.
****
Narmer walked into the galley, looking for Jegit. Not seeing him, and being hungry, he then made his way to the food dispensers. More benefits of being on a large ship, the food selection was quite good, and the quality seemed to be excellent. Picking from various risemeal options, Narmer filled his plate. Finishing up by grabbing a mug of gaberry, he scanned the eating area again for Jegit. Still didn’t see him, but he did see Marda trying to get his attention. Thinking that that was a better option anyway, we went over to her.
“Good rise, Narmer,” she said looking him up and down, “did you get a chance to catch up on sleep?”
“I got some, not enough,” he said a little sheepishly while sitting across from her.
“As they say, plenty of time to sleep after Departure, and we are almost
there.”
“It doesn’t appear that getting to Departure is going quite as planned.”
“While some impediments were expected, nothing like we’ve seen, though.” she agreed, “We were expecting some technological hurdles, and we knew that there would be some societal issues. So far, from a technology standpoint, things have worked better than expected.”
“Except for the Nunet exploding and wandering transport mechs,” Narmer snarked.
“Actually, what you and the other controllers were able to do with what was left of Nunet kind of proves my point. With all of the issues that were thrown at you, you were able to get the shuttles unloaded, both people and cargo, and get them returned to Kepteyn, as planned. Success by any measure.”
“Being new to all of this, I guess I don’t have the big picture of the overall plan. For me, that was the biggest ti…uh, mess up that I’ve been involved in.”
“And that’s why I wanted to meet with you.”
Narmer looked up to see Jegit moving to sit next to Marda.
“Good rise, Jegit,” Narmer said, “I’m more than ready to find out what’s going on. The past rises have been interesting, to say the least. I’d like to know what it is all about. As an example, Jegit, who are you and what is your role in all of this? Marda’s duties as an engineer make sense, you need lots of those, but what about you?”
“Fair enough. Since the Discovery, the Council knew that the societal portion of the plan, Project Pilgrim, would be more challenging than the technological. Very little new ‘magical’ void technology needed to be created, more just scaling up what we had been using the past few twentycycles.”
“The biggest challenge was to keep our society, our culture, our way of life operating as close to normal for the twenty-one cycles. In one sense, we had too little time, that’s all the time that we had to build and launch. But in another, we had too much time too; it was an almost impossibly long time to keep our world functioning and not devolving into absolute chaos. That’s where we came in.”
“And who’s ‘we’?” Narmer asked.
“The Investigators. They were the only people, at the time, that had any skills in finding, monitoring, and handling people that were deemed to be, shall we say, anti-social. The Council knew that they couldn’t incarcerate the vast majority of the populace that were not going to be selected. There had to be a way to monitor and guide various groups and factions so that they could be controlled or redirected. If the Council came down too hard on these people, others would take up their cause in larger numbers.”
“The Investigators began recruiting and training people to infiltrate any of these groups and to stay in long as possible. We were drawn from all disciplines, professions, schools, etc. I was recruited from the school where I was studying politics. We, I and other operators, spent a couple of cycles being trained in Home Guard tactics and techniques, fighting arts, weapons, clandestine operations, communications, etc. We also were trained in the psychology of persuasion, motivation, group dynamics, among others.”
“As the Pilgrim Project was being developed and the Needs List was posted, it quickly became apparent to most people that they were never going to be selected. This caused a splintering of the normal politics. People naturally fell into three major groups.”
“Let’s call the first group the ‘Patriots.’ These were pragmatic, honorable, selfless people who knew that for us to survive as a people, a lot of work and a lot of sacrifices would be needed. Selected or not, they volunteered to help with the project. They were the ones that got us this far.”
“The next group we’ll call the ‘Sceptics.’ They didn’t believe that the Discovery was real. They felt that the Council was creating this crisis to achieve some of their more far-reaching goals. We had not yet been able to create a faster than light propulsion system. Therefore, we were stuck in our neighborhood of Ria and her children. We did begin settling the moons of Maras, and a lot of our project technology originated from that. We’ve developed energy systems that provide all that we need. Our health technology has eliminated most diseases and extended our lives. Now living longer, people were having fewer children, usually just one, or two at most. Our population began to decline over time naturally. We were beginning to show signs of stagnat
ing. The Sceptics had a point, but they were the smallest of the groups, more of a fringe element.”
“The final group, we’ll name the ‘Resigned.’ This was the largest group. These people knew the math. Their chances of being selected were low. They didn’t have a special talent or skill that others didn’t have. Or they were too old, not related to anyone that was selected, or not politically connected. They just decided to live out their lives doing as they wished.”
“Hmm, I guess I was part of a group and didn’t know it, the ‘Resigned’,” Narmer joked.
Jegit continued, “The cycles came and went, and as most people stopped having children, certain professions or vocations were no longer needed. For example; young child care, primary educators, any associated manufacturer of products or provider of services, all were impacted. This generated a new group of people, the ‘Disaffected’.”
“OK, now I’ve changed groups. I was definitely ‘Disaffected’,” Narmer interjected.
“Narmer, you just described what was happening to a lot of people. They went through the same process. Most of them were disaffected without the means to do as they wished. They had to then use public services, housing, etc. This caused a large measure of ambivalence. But like most people, they weren’t moved to commit crimes or cause unrest, so they suffered in silence. But there are always a few…”
“The more unstable or energized individuals began to cause minor trouble. Mainly protests aimed at getting other people to agree that the entire project was unfair or unnecessary. They were easily identified and dealt with. Some were incarcerated and required to, ironically, work on the project. The others had some ‘meetings’ with Investigators and had things explained to them. Those that were incarcerated were made public and used as warnings to the others.”
“That was the easy part; they made themselves obvious targets. Easy enough to deal with. But then there were those that were creating underground movements. They were trying to actively recruit people to their cause. This wasn’t an issue until they started to act.”
“Initially, they were trying to disrupt various aspects of the project. Manufacturing, delivery, even labor. The Council and the Investigators were quick to respond to this threat. Anyone caught in the act, or suspected of it, were detained, and given very long trials. By the time of the verdict, either for or against, most had now come to hold different, more moderate views.”
“But then there was a change. Realizing that the risk was too high going after project specific infrastructure, they started targeting public infrastructure. Transportation mainly. But it is hard to be mad at a high-speed transport track or a groundcar bridge that your family may use. After a few cycles, the movement pretty much died out. Remember, for the most part, these were decent, normal people, just in a bad situation.”
“So, what was your role?” Narmer inquired.
“I was part of a group that was tasked with attracting those that were organizing the underground movements, or those that were interested in joining them. We did this by pretending to be organizers of protest movements. We would proclaim that we knew-”
“-the ‘truth’,” Narmer interrupted.
“The ‘truth,’ exactly. Only we ‘knew’ what was truly happening and that only we could provide a future for our people. We were naturally aligned with the Sceptics. We came to be known as the ‘Gifted’.”
“Our job was to attract the underground segment. We would then monitor and redirect those that came to us. Not a bad task, again mainly decent people. And we were very effective.”
“I had many discussions with ‘Gifted,’ and while entertaining at times listening to conspiracy theories, no one took you seriously,” Narmer said.
“Exactly! We made the movements appear to look like a group of less than mentally capable people. This worked to delegitimize other movements.”
“The status quo held until the last two cycles. Then we began to notice a lot of activity directed at the Vanguard portion of Pilgrim.”
“Why is that?” Narmer asked.
“Marda, let’s start with Prominence,” Jegit replied.
“I need to refill my mug first,” Narmer informed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Marda began, “With the Discovery, the sighting of Muzan, the Bringer of Darkness, a plan to survive its coming was needed. The Council, with advisers from industry and the Home Guard initially came up with one to redirect it away from the Ria system. But Muzan’s angle of entry into the system, similar to shooting a jara at a target, gave no option to deflect the proto-planet far enough that it would not disrupt the orbits of Ria’s planets and moons.”
“When the scientists calculated Muzan’s trajectory, it was shown to pass between the orbits of Kepteyn and Maras. This will cause both planets to be moved out of their orbits. Not just tugging the orbit a little out of shape, but both planets will also initially be moved below the system elliptic. Kepteyn will then begin moving further away from Ria. Its apogee will still be within the life zone, but it will be a lot colder. The problem comes when Kepteyn swings back towards Ria.”
“The perigee will be out of the life zone, too close to Ria. It is calculated that life on Kepteyn will be adversely affected within the first cycle after Muzan passes through the system. Higher life will cease to exist two cycles later. The effects have already begun, imperceptibly, with Muzan scheduled to pass by Kepteyn and Maras one cycle from now.”
“Now faced with no way to save Kepteyn, the Council began work on how to save her inhabitants. With the time available, twenty-one cycles, it was determined that we could not build enough vessels to save everyone. In fact, we could build one, maybe two ships in that time. We’ve never built anything of the size of Prominence or Vanguard.”
“Project Pilgrim was born. A true journey of faith for our people to continue as a race. A lot of symbolism in this solemn undertaking. The Council wanted to show that we were going forward as a people. After a lot of thought, the seed ship was named Prominence. She is named after the bright filaments, the prominences that grow from the surface of Ria and extend to the outer edges of its bright halo. It represents our people carrying forward the light of our home system out into the void.”
“OK, I knew a lot of this…” Narmer said trying to be a part of the conversation.
Jegit jumped in, “This you don’t know. Vanguard has more of a checkered past. The industry leaders that would build Prominence wanted guaranteed selection to be on her. But the Council knew that the public would never accept that. So, a second ship was ordered to be built in secret; it was the dirty deal that was necessary to get any ship built. The industry leaders felt that the people on Prominence might not be strong or hardy enough to succeed. They felt that they would lead the way and protect our people’s chance for success, thus Vanguard.”
“The secrecy needed for Vanguard to be built was the main reason for the one-way trips for almost all people to Nunet and Chon-su. Word of the construction could not get out, or all the horrors of the Ancients would descend upon us. The public story was the industries involved would be greatly enriched as compensation for the construction of Prominence. People like Deides’ former spal, Woodam would build Prominence, but not necessarily get Selected. There were all sorts of citizens that were keeping track to make sure that the Council was not playing favorites.“
Marda continued, “We had to start building the infrastructure from scratch to get a base on Chon-su. All of it. The multiple shuttles and launchports, Nunet, Heeta, Kamlee, etc. Only then could the construction of Prominence and Vanguard begin. Now we are finally approaching the point of Departure.”
“This brings us to you Narmer,” Jegit said.
“What? How so?” Narmer asked.
“I told you about the security breach that almost ended Vanguard. Unfortunately, we were not able to completely scrub the information off the cinc before some interested parties were able to see and capture that info. We were very successful in wra
pping up almost everyone that was involved and who had seen the info. But there were copies. What we are seeing now are citizens with a righteous fervor to right a wrong. Some view Vanguard as not worthy, or evil, or beneath us as a people. Lots of different things. But they all agree that it needs to be destroyed. And no matter how it came to be, Vanguard must launch in ten chons as planned. Our people need every chance that they can get.”
“And…?” Narmer asked.
Jegit explained, “We were trying to figure out your part in the death of Woodam. He had worked his deal with the Council to get on Prominence. Wanting to be known for making the project happen, he was enjoying all the pomp and circumstance that goes with being Selected. But his death raised flags at all levels. Investigator Aut-Loren then cleared you, and Deides, but it was felt that we needed to keep you close. We didn’t know how much Deides knew of Woodam’s deal. And how much you knew.”
“She knew all of it…she learned it when Woodam told her that he was not taking her with him on Prominence,” Narmer said.
“I figured that out while questioning her. You were talking with Investigator Aut-Loren at the time. Feeling that she and you were a security risk, I told her that you’d both be going. She suggested a joining to make it appear as normal as possible. We agreed.”
Narmer sensing something else, “OK, that explains why I’m here now. But I’m getting the idea that there is more.”
Jegit sighed, “Obviously people that want to destroy Vanguard are amongst us. We need to root them out and prevent any more damage. They were willing to take out Nunet and Kamlee, but in both cases, they were not on either when the attacks occurred. Therefore, they are on Heeta. All of us on board are known from our work before. I cannot run an undercover operation. Not directly, but I can have you do it for me.”
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