by Paul Anlee
He raised his voice to an angry cry. “It was created by the same group of people who wanted to obligate you and me to them for the duration of our lives. By the same people who had stolen our wealth, our land, our labor, and our ideas from us.”
The mob, starting to gain some small understanding of what he was going on about or, at the very least, some appreciation of his outrage, responded.
“Amen!” they shouted. “There is no God but the Lord and Yeshua is His only Son.” A few bellowed, “Kill them!” or, “Lock them up!”
Alum took a few calming deep breaths. When he continued, his voice was even, but determined.
“We will never allow those people to own us again. Here, there is no land they can take from us by force, for God has caused these lands to be made through our own divinely-inspired efforts. He has removed our enemies and brought us here to a place where we can build in the glory of His love.”
The crowd went wild. They sang praises and hollered Hallelujahs. A rumbling chant filled the plaza with a growing thrum of, “Alum. Alum. Alum!”
Janice and Lorene linked arms, and let their tears flow freely.
Alum smiled benevolently; his own moist eyes gazed down upon his people from television screens in all of the habitats on all three asteroids.
He allowed them a moment of jubilant expression, before raising his hands to calm them.
“With God’s loving guidance, we shall create a new society in these lands. We shall make a place that is just and fair, and free from the tyranny of one man over another, and we shall achieve this in His perfect name.
“There is much work to be done, and not just the physical labour. Though the devil’s home in the deep, burning pit of Hell has been destroyed, Satan’s evil lives on in the heart of man, even out here, far from Earth.
“I have prayed to our Lord to show me the way to counter his evil, to guide me in bringing His people closer to His love.”
Ah, now we’re gettin’ down to it—Rick thought. I was wondering where he was going with this. Lorene and the others appeared to be totally taken in by Alum’s speech. Not me—Rick declared to himself. I wasn’t born yesterday.
“And this is what God has revealed to me. Money is not wealth; God has already provided His great wealth for us. The universe is rich in everything we need. All we have to do is be good stewards of the abundant wealth God has bestowed upon us. Money is more like time, it’s a device to prevent everything from happening all at once. It matches resources to people’s desire to use up those resources.
“The evil rulers of mankind on Earth, those who reigned by stealing our land, our food, and our efforts, and then sold them all back to us for profit, they were not good stewards of God’s great gifts. Their greed blinded them to all the good they might have done.”
He paused, and let that thought sink in.
“Are you wondering what I’m wondering? Imagine all the good those lenders could have done in place of giving way to their greed. And I ask you, what could each and every one of us do to be good stewards? How can we organize our efforts to demonstrate our worthiness to the Lord?
“Now, you’ve all been assigned homes and work by this Administration. Your lodgings and your jobs were assigned to you based on our best estimate of your abilities and your needs. But you are not tied to these. People must have purpose in their lives and you will have the freedom to seek yours.
“These worlds are rich in opportunity. We will create new jobs together, both the Administration and individual businesses, and you will be able to apply for these in the normal competitive way that you’re used to. This will allow everyone to find a place in society, matching their contribution to their needs.
“Now, God did not make us so our lives would be spent in labor. Therefore, no one will be required to work at their jobs for more than three days per week.
“Two more days per week will be given to our common cause and to the upkeep and improvement of our communities and these habitats. That will include farming, cleaning, beautification, and other such improvements. The Administration will pay you for this work at a minimum wage of fifteen dollars per hour. This will put new money into circulation, but the increase in new money will be kept in check with the general growth of our economy. We will not fuel runaway inflation by dumping dollars into the marketplace beyond reasonable need.
“And we will give motherhood the respect it deserves. Humanity needs to grow again, to be able to spread God’s Word. Mothers and homemakers will be recognized for their contribution to society and receive the same minimum wage as service to the community.
“The remaining two days will be yours to use as you see fit. Use it for recreation, entertainment, self-improvement and, most importantly, in worship and gratitude to our Lord.”
“Praise Yeshua. Amen,” cried the crowd.
Alum stepped back from the microphone and let them cheer.
He returned to the microphone, and launched into the business that he’d really come here to sell them on.
“We will provide an Administration bank where you may deposit your savings. The bank will make business and consumer loans available at reasonable interest rates so your savings may grow. Used wisely, credit can facilitate growth in the short term.”
Alum held up a warning finger. “But credit always borrows growth from the future. It is a double-edged sword that must be carefully controlled. The bank will not be empowered to create new money; that will be the sole provenance of your Administration. The money supply will not grow faster than the economy behind it and the savings of its people.”
As Alum continued, Rick’s interest and enthusiasm plummeted. Boring! I could care less about this stuff. Or should that be, I couldn’t care less? That one always gets me. He let his mind drift, trying to reason his way to an answer.
I’d rather know what kind of work I can get, and what I’m going to do with all that extra time. We’ve been mourning for a lost planet long enough. I’m looking forward to blowing off some steam and finally having some fun.
Others were working through similar priorities and questions. They wanted assurance that they’d be able to eat and have a roof over their heads. They wanted to enjoy entertainment and vacations.
Most of them had had no idea that giving over the control of their money supply to private forces had lead, inevitably, to an outcome in which they were pushed further and further away from enjoying the fruits of their labors.
But they also had absolutely no interest in designing a new financial and economic system. They were happy to leave that to God and Alum.
The Leader wasn’t finished describing the new system. “You are free to work in your chosen fields more than the minimum three days, and to contribute greater service to your communities than your assigned tasks. You can open new businesses and change your accommodations, all as you wish. The money you earn and save is yours to use.”
He stared directly into the cameras. “And as a gift from our Lord, a reminder of His unending love and generosity, you are hereby granted full ownership of your homes and of your businesses, effective immediately.”
People stared at him and then at each other in stunned surprise. Full ownership? Few of them had ever owned anything substantial, and even fewer had owned anything outright, free and clear of bank or lender debt.
“Yes, you heard that right. Property deeds and company shares are being issued today,” Alum confirmed.
“Ownership of companies with more than one worker will be shared equally by all those who labor within. You may sell your shares and choose to be employees only, or you may keep them and benefit from the growth of your companies. In this way, we shall all have tangible stakes in making our society healthy and vibrant. Your ownership in society is a divine reflection of your responsibility to making that society strong.”
Inhabitants of all three asteroids forgot about Alum, for a moment, and gushed over the implications of his announcement.
They could hardly
believe their good fortune. For many, it was the first time in their lives they’d seen their way clear to overcoming their destiny of lifelong membership in the miserable masses. They now had ownership, an equitable reflection of their personal share and commitment in their society. And it was all because of God and Alum.
Alum gave them a few minutes to indulge in their excitement and dreams.
“By now, I’m sure you’re starting to think about what all this might mean for you on a day-to-day basis, how it might work, and what you can do. Right?”
A sea of heads bobbed in dutiful response. Scattered blank looks gave away those who’d not yet given the details much thought.
“To get these habitats up and running for us, the previous Administration used automated systems and fleets of robots to perform much of the work. But what does that leave for us humans, for you, to do?
“Well, my friends, robots have their place, and that place is the cold, dark vacuum of deep outer space. Places we humans are not well suited for. We designed the robots to go there before us, to prepare the way for our arrival. But robots are not humans, and they should not take away human opportunities.”
“Hell no!” people cried.
Their anger at things they knew almost nothing about didn’t surprise Alum. When the first Cybrids were built, the Vesta Project team recognized the threat they posed to the psyche of the average person. In spite of considerable contributions they could have made, Cybrids were not permitted on Earth. They were built as quickly as possible, and stored out of sight until they could be sent to their work assignments in space. The decision was almost entirely owing to the pervasiveness of the underlying anger and fear over automation.
“Have no fear. These automatons will not live our lives for us. They are our machines, our servants, not our replacements.
“From this day forward, these robots, these Cybrids, will not be permitted free travel within our communities. They will be restricted to areas and tasks where their services are strictly necessary. Starting this week, they will begin the process of training, and of transferring their responsibilities and duties to you, the people.”
Brief, polite applause sounded from the audience. He sensed their insecurity in being left to conduct the difficult work themselves. In some cases, the thought of working at all. But the thought of ownership, and that they would soon dominate the habitats, won over many of the doubtful. He could work with that.
“God has given us these lands,” Alum declared. “His love and generosity is great.”
That pronouncement won him a cheer from the crowd. “Right on! Hallelujah!” They pumped their fists in the air.
“And God’s generosity does not end there,” he cried. “He has made these lands bountiful. It is no one’s place to put a price on God’s bounty. In recognition of your good stewardship of the land within these habitats, food will be provided free of charge forever for all of God’s people. There will never be hunger or starvation in God’s realm.”
People in the crowd shared looks of amazement. Many still held painful memories of the decade-long food wars that had driven up prices around the world; even the developed economies hadn’t avoided the shortages and suffering. Though few in Europe or North America had experienced life-threatening hunger, more and more of their budgets had been devoted to sustenance.
Free food was something everyone could support. They hugged each other in joy.
“Our Lord has worked many miracles for His people, the most recent being when He brought us to these lands. I assure you, God is alive and active in this universe, despite the proclamations of the unbelievers of Earth.
“As proof of His undying love, He has provided us with yet another miracle that I have the pleasure of sharing with you today.
“Most of you arrived here by loop train from the other asteroids today. I’m sure you’ve guessed that loop tunnels are not able to bridge the asteroids. So how are we able to transit across space? This is only the first, small example of another of God’s miracles—free, instantaneous transportation throughout the habitats.
“Over the next few months, we will designate special transit locations throughout the cities and service tunnels where anyone may go to be instantly transported to any other station throughout the habitats.
“God has spoken to me, and these stations are to be called ‘starsteps’ for they carry within them the promise to move us, not only among these asteroid colonies, but one day, through the power of God’s Glory, they shall allow us to walk among the stars themselves.
“I invite you to go to one of these starsteps. Pray to be delivered to your destination, and it will be so.”
“Glory to God! The Lord is great! Blessed be!” cried the crowd.
“The glory is truly God’s. Praise Him and praise His son. Yeshua, we thank You for Your great gifts. We pledge to remember You in our daily lives and to devote ourselves to Your good works.”
“Amen!” the people responded.
Alum bowed his head.
The assembly mirrored his piety. They stood in their millions throughout the habitats of the three asteroids, and gave silent appreciation to the Lord for His blessings.
After a minute, Alum raised his head again. He felt humble before the outpouring of love emanating from the masses gathered before him.
He also felt a little guilt over how easily he’d been able to manipulate these people. No one raised a single cry of complaint during the entire speech. They gave no sign of recognizing, or at least didn’t balk at, the way he’d blended ideals of socialism, communism, and capitalism to suit his purposes. And yet, he had no doubt that if he’d used any of those trigger words in his speech, the outcry would have been enormous. He could have been lynched right there in the plaza, on live feed to all of the inhabitants on the three asteroids.
It was time for the final bold step. He cleared his throat and took a sip of water, more by way of mental preparation than necessity.
“Friends, during this transition period to a new way of life on these unfamiliar worlds, I will continue to head this Administration. However, I pledge to you here today to hold a democratic election with a new constitution in four years. This will give parties, platforms, and leadership candidates an opportunity to come together. I counsel you to keep in the forefront of your mind that, while elections are necessarily competitive, the privilege of public service is a holy calling. Choose your platforms and candidates accordingly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, friends, when God first asked me to lead this congregation, I accepted that burden with great humility. To be honest, when He called on me to lead you to these colony worlds, I didn’t know why He thought me worthy of such an honor.
“He called me to lead you in worldly matters as much as in spiritual matters. Therefore, I will allow my name to stand as a candidate for your President in the coming elections.”
The assembly erupted in joy. “Alum! Alum! Alum!” they cheered.
Alum let out a sigh of relief as he waved back.
And so the transition to real leader begins—he thought.
He walked from one side of the stage to the other, greeting his enthusiastic followers. He returned to the microphone and closed his speech with a heartfelt, “Thank you for your support. God bless us all.”
It had gone better than he’d hoped. Ignoring his security detail, he walked out into the crowd and soaked up their love and admiration while he could.
Tomorrow the doubters would awaken and start criticizing. Tomorrow the opportunists would realize how hard it was going to be to gain unfair advantage over their fellow human beings.
Tomorrow, their plotting would begin.
18
“Well, where is it?” Brother Stralasi shot Darak a skeptical glance. “I mean, it consumed an entire planet didn’t it? It should be easy enough to spot…if your calculations were correct.”
Darak scanned the empty depths of space for a telltale round, dark patch that would signal the position of
the detestable light-blocking Eater.
“It shouldn’t be too hard to find. I would imagine it’s as big as a large star by now, bigger than the sun of the Origin solar system it came from. Maybe even bigger than the entire solar system, depending on what’s crossed its path.”
Gazing out from their protective bubble, Stralasi detected a tiny shift in the position of the distant stars. He took a sturdier stance on the little piece of Gargus 718.5 turf on which they stood.
“Are we moving?”
“A small number of light hours every few seconds,” Darak replied. “I’m comparing star fields from slightly different perspectives to see if the Eater blocks any of their light.”
“Have you found anything?”
“Not yet, but I’ll need thousands of shifts to cover most of the relevant sky.”
“How long will that take?”
“A couple of hours. Why don’t you find something to read?” Darak pulled something tiny from a pocket and set it down where the turf contacted the transparent wall. The thing grew into a bookcase housing several hundred novels, a comfortable-looking chair, and a reading lamp.
“I’m sure you can find something in the library to capture your interest while you wait.”
Stralasi scuffed his feet in the dirt like a reticent child. A book would be better than nothing, I guess. It looks like nothing interesting will be happening here in the next little while.
He supposed he ought to be thankful for that small mercy, so soon after the battle near the triple suns. That they were ever there felt surreal to him now. The worst of the battle had taken place far enough away from him, and he’d seen so few of the pyrotechnics he’d anticipated, that their survival felt oddly anticlimactic.
At least from my perspective—he thought. I’m sure it was more than exciting for Darak.
After the plasma edge of the exploding suns enveloped them, everything had happened so fast, he’d had no time to be frightened. By the time the adrenaline rush kicked in, they were already safely removed from the physical threat.
