New Earth

by Ben Bova

  “Welcome friends,” Adri said, slipping the pet into the folds of his robe.

  As they piled out of the buggy Thornberry stepped up to Adri and asked, “Do you truly consider us your friends, Adri?”

  Blinking with astonishment, Adri answered, “Yes, of course.”

  “All right, then. I want to know how those energy shields of yours work. I want the whole story, even the basic physics behind ’em.”

  Adri nodded solemnly. “Of course.” Turning to Longyear, he said, “And you want to learn about our biology.” To de Falla, “Geology, I believe.” To Elyse, “Astronomy, I know.”

  Elyse said, “I want to see your evidence for the gamma burst you told Jordan about.”

  “That can be easily arranged. For the rest of you, I’m afraid you’ll have to subject yourselves to a rather intense education.” And he turned and started to walk into the city.

  Thornberry moved up alongside him, his bulky body more than twice Adri’s slim frame, although Adri was several centimeters taller. As usual, Thornberry wore a rumpled shirt that hung over his loose, comfortable slacks. Jordan, trailing behind them, thought of Thornberry as a sloppy, overgrown child, Adri as an orderly, wise old grandfather.

  “Intense education, is it?” Thornberry said. “How long will it take?”

  “A few hours, perhaps a bit longer.”

  Longyear, on Adri’s other side, gasped, “A few hours? How much can we learn in a few hours?”

  “Quite a lot, if the equipment functions properly. It always has, but then we’ve only used it on ourselves. You are genetically similar to us, of course, your brains are structurally and functionally similar. Yet—”

  Jordan realized what he was trying to explain. “Adri, are you saying that you can download the information directly into our brains?”

  “Yes, very much the way you downloaded your own memories when you were revived from cryonic stasis.” Before anyone could say anything, Adri went on, “Or is it uploading? I’m afraid I get the two terms confused.”

  “You can download a physics education into my brain? In a few hours?” Thornberry asked, incredulous.

  “Yes,” Adri replied. “That’s the way we learn, through direct neural stimulation. You have similar systems.”

  “They’re illegal,” said Thornberry.

  Adri stopped walking and looked at Thornberry, clearly puzzled.

  “But you used your ship’s computer to store your memories while you were in flight, and then downloaded them back into your brains.”

  Jordan stepped between Adri and Thornberry. “What Mitchell is trying to explain is that on Earth such direct brain stimulation is forbidden.”

  “But why?” Adri asked, clearly perplexed.

  “There’s too much of a chance that unscrupulous people would use it to manipulate others, to plant false information in their minds, get them to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.”

  “Unscrupulous people,” Adri murmured, as if it was a new concept to him.

  “Salesmen, for example,” Jordan said.

  “Politicians,” Thornberry added. “And religious zealots.”

  Brandon pushed his way into the discussion. “Our shipboard system is an exception to the law. We had to get approval from the World Council.”

  “I see,” Adri said. “I understand.”

  Brandon said, “I’m not sure that we should allow ourselves to be subjected to your direct brain stimulation.”

  Adri’s seamed face eased into a bitter smile. “You are afraid that I might be one of those unscrupulous people.”

  DECISION

  As they walked through the city, Adri tried earnestly to convince Thornberry and the others that their fears were unfounded.

  “I assure you, the neural stimulation will be restricted to the subjects you are interested in. Physics, for you, Dr. Thornberry.” Turning to Longyear, he continued, “Biology for you. And for Dr. de Falla—”

  “Nothing for me,” de Falla snapped. “Not until we can be sure that you’re not going to brainwash us.”

  Adri seemed stunned. “You don’t trust us.”

  Jordan said, “This is a new situation for us. We’ll have to talk it over amongst ourselves.”

  “I understand,” said Adri. But Jordan thought he looked disappointed, hurt.

  Adri led the little group around the administrative building, heading for the dormitory. “We have prepared quarters for you all. Perhaps you can discuss the matter there.”

  “Thank you,” said Jordan. “We will.” But he was thinking that Adri would be able to hear every word they said. The buildings are all monitored, he remembered. Then he wondered, Why did Aditi show me their monitoring system, then? Was she trying to warn me, or does she really think there’s no harm in it?

  Keeping his thoughts to himself, Jordan followed Adri into the dormitory building. His companions kept an uneasy silence as Adri showed them their rooms. Jordan saw that he and his brother would be housed in the same two-bedroom suite as before, the others in single rooms. Not that Elyse will use her room, he grumbled to himself.

  They all came back to the sitting room of Jordan’s suite, and Adri left them to themselves.

  “Until dinner,” he said. To Jordan, he added, “Aditi will join us then.”

  Adri hesitated at the door. Looking directly at Thornberry, he said, “I hope you decide to accept our education system. Its only function is to teach, not to manipulate you.”

  Thornberry nodded unhappily. But Brandon replied, “Teaching is manipulation of a sort, isn’t it?”

  Adri said nothing. He pulled his furry little pet from his robe and left.

  As soon as the door slid shut behind Adri’s departing back, Thornberry said, “I feel like Dr. Faustus.”

  “Making a deal with the devil?” Longyear quipped.

  “He’s making a damned tempting offer,” said Thornberry. “To learn how those energy screens work. I could go back to Earth and make a fortune!”

  “Is that what you want?” Jordan asked.

  Thornberry broke into a rueful grin. “I wouldn’t refuse a fortune, you know. But what I really want is to know. To understand.”

  “But they might brainwash you while you’re under their stimulator,” de Falla objected.

  Glancing around the sitting room, Jordan suggested, “Why don’t we go into the plaza, outside, to continue this conversation?”

  Brandon immediately caught his implication. “You think the rooms are bugged?”

  “I know they are. Aditi showed me the center where they monitor everything.”

  “Everything?” Elyse asked.

  Jordan almost smiled at the alarm on her face. “Almost everything,” he assured her. “Come on, let’s go outside. It’s a pleasant day and we have a major decision to make.”

  The plaza was empty of other people. They’re giving us some privacy, Jordan thought. If they’re bugging us here they’d have to plant cameras in the trees, I suppose, or up on the rooftops. He led the little group to the center of the plaza and sat down on the grass. The sun felt warm and good on his shoulders. The others sat, too, in a circle. Like a Neolithic band, Jordan thought. All we need is a campfire.

  “So what do we do about this?” Thornberry asked.

  Jordan replied, “Mitch, are you willing to be a guinea pig?”

  “An experimental animal?”

  “Yes,” said Jordan. “We won’t be able to tell if Adri’s brain stimulator is nothing more than an educational tool or not unless one of us allows them to use it on him.”

  Thornberry shrugged. Then he muttered, “To learn how those energy shields work…”

  “Dr. Faustus,” Longyear reminded him.

  Elyse said, “I’m going to ask their astronomers to show me their evidence for the gamma burst. I won’t need brain stimulation for that.”

  “Evidence can be faked,” de Falla pointed out.

  “I suppose so,” said Elyse. “I’ll just have to see what they�
�ve got and make up my own mind.”

  “Without brain zapping,” said Brandon.

  She shuddered.

  With his old quizzical smile, Thornberry conjectured, “So I take their brain zapping, and I come out knowing all things and able to speak with the tongues of men and of angels. How could that harm us?”

  “It could prejudice you in favor of whatever Adri’s trying to pull over on us,” said Brandon.

  “But I won’t grow fangs, will I?” Thornberry joked.

  “This isn’t a laughing matter,” Brandon insisted.

  Jordan muttered, “Davehr’yay noh praver’yay.”

  “What?”

  “It’s an old Russian saying: Trust, but verify. Diplomats use the term a lot.”

  “Trust, but verify,” Elyse repeated.

  “Which means you don’t really trust them at all, doesn’t it?” said Brandon.

  Jordan shook his head. “We allow Mitch to undergo their brain stimulation. Then we see if anything’s different about him afterward.”

  “I’ll be different,” Thornberry said. “I’ll be smarter.”

  “You’ll know more,” Longyear corrected.

  “Meanwhile,” Jordan said, trying to get the conversation back on track again, “Elyse will try to determine if this story of a gamma ray burst is true. If the evidence is reliable.”

  “So I’m the one showing the trust,” Thornberry said, tapping the front of his wrinkled shirt.

  “And I’m the one who verifies,” said Elyse.

  “And the rest of us will try to decide if we can really trust Adri and whether or not we should act on the information he’s giving us.”

  “Tall order,” de Falla said.

  Jordan nodded agreement. “But I don’t see anything else we can do. Do you?”

  He looked at the five of them, sitting on the grass in a circle around him, their faces grave as they faced up to the responsibility. No one spoke. Brandon looked disgruntled, sullen, but he said nothing.

  “I really believe we hold the fate of the human race in our hands,” Jordan said.

  No one disagreed.

  CONFLICT

  Dinner with Adri and Aditi was pleasant, but Jordan felt strains pulling him in different directions. He wanted to believe Adri, he wanted to believe everything Adri and the Predecessor had told him. But it was so enormous! So mind-boggling. And, he had to admit to himself, it just might all be a ploy to manipulate us, for some reason they haven’t chosen to reveal to us.

  God help us, he thought, Meek might be right. Then he realized, Meek’s been right all along, about a lot of things. This planet isn’t natural. Adri, Aditi, all the other people here, they were constructed to resemble us. Manufactured.

  But is Meek right about their motives? That’s the key to everything. Are Adri and the Predecessor telling me the truth about why they’ve done all this?

  Brandon was unusually quiet through the meal, and Longyear and de Falla talked with each other, but had hardly a word to say to Adri or Aditi. So be it, Jordan sighed inwardly. One step at a time.

  Then Thornberry announced that he had decided to undergo the brain stimulation, and Adri broke into a broad, beaming smile.

  “I’ll set up the procedure first thing in the morning,” he promised.

  Before Elyse could speak up, Adri turned to her and added, “And you’ll want to meet with our astronomers at the observatory.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Fine,” Adri said. “Fine.”

  “Dr. Longyear, are you ready for a stimulation session?”

  Longyear shook his head. “I’ll … wait until later.”

  “I see,” Adri said, with a glance in Jordan’s direction.

  As they filed out of the dining hall, Jordan took Aditi’s arm. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “I missed you,” she whispered.

  “I missed you, too.” And he led her down the corridor toward his suite.

  Adri said good night and headed off to his own quarters. One by one, the others entered their rooms. Soon there was no one else in the corridor except Brandon and Elyse, walking a dozen paces ahead of Jordan and Aditi.

  “Are you sure you should?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m very sure.”

  “Your brother…?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I don’t want to come between you.”

  Jordan smiled at her. “And I don’t want him to come between us.”

  She smiled back, but he could still see a flicker of worry in her chestnut brown eyes.

  When they entered the sitting room, Elyse was relaxed on the couch, but Brandon was standing in the center of the room, frowning, tense.

  “What’s wrong, Bran?” Jordan asked.

  “I wish we had something to drink. Scotch or brandy or something … anything.”

  “I can get an alcoholic beverage for you,” Aditi offered.

  “No,” Brandon said. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble at all.” Turning to the wall screen, she called, “Service, please.”

  A pleasant-looking young woman’s face appeared on the screen. “Yes?” she said, smiling.

  “Four after-dinner drinks, please. Alcoholic.”

  “Certainly.” And the screen went dark.

  “Room service?” Elyse asked.

  “For our guests,” said Aditi.

  Within minutes a handsome young man in a dark tunic and slacks appeared at their door, bearing a tray with four tall glasses filled with a dark ruby-colored liquid.

  Once he had deposited the tray on the coffee table and left, Brandon picked up one of the glasses, sniffed it tentatively, then took a sip.

  “Well?” Jordan asked.

  “Strange. Looks like port, but it tastes … almost like anisette. Or what’s the Greek cordial?”

  “Ouzo,” said Elyse.

  Brandon sipped again and nodded. “Almost like ouzo, but not quite. Fruitier.”

  As the others picked up their glasses, Jordan gestured Aditi to one of the armchairs and sat himself on the other one, facing her. Brandon sat on the couch beside Elyse. They each took long drafts of the liqueur.

  “Delicious,” said Jordan.

  Elyse asked Aditi, “What is this called?”

  She stared blankly at Elyse for a moment, then answered, “Grape liqueur, I believe.”

  “Not much of a name,” Brandon muttered.

  “Practical,” said Jordan.

  They sipped at the pleasant-tasting liqueur, making inconsequential conversation for several minutes.

  But suddenly Brandon burst out, “Speaking of things practical, Jordy, that was a nice bit of maneuvering you pulled this afternoon.”

  “Maneuvering?” Jordan felt puzzled, but he recognized the look on Brandon’s face. The same pouty frown Bran put on whenever he felt he’d been outsmarted. Or outplayed.

  “Our little conference out on the grass,” Brandon said. “You took control of things. Very slick, big brother.”

  “Don’t be obtuse, Bran.”

  “Don’t call me names!”

  Jordan glanced at Aditi, who looked alarmed.

  Elyse said, “Brandon, perhaps we should retire for the night.”

  But Brandon pointed an accusing finger at Jordan. “I was elected leader of the group. You resigned. You gave up your responsibilities and I took them on.”

  “I know,” said Jordan. “I had no intention—”

  “You undercut me out there! You just sat there and took over the discussion and took charge. I’m supposed to be the leader, not you!”

  “Then why didn’t you lead?” Jordan snapped.

  “How in hell can I, when you snatch it all away from me? Before I can get a word in, you’re monopolizing everything and giving orders.”

  Jordan stared at his brother. Can a few sips of alcohol break down his self-control so quickly? he wondered. Or is the drink just a convenient excuse for him to speak his
mind?

  “Bran,” he said softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to usurp your position.”

  “But you did it anyway.”

  Resentment smoldered in Brandon’s eyes. Jordan’s memory flashed back to other scenes, from childhood and their teen years, into adulthood, when Brandon flailed out in jealousy. That’s why he went into science, to get away from me. To build a career for himself where he wouldn’t have to compete with his older brother.

  “Bran, I said I’m sorry. What more can I do?”

  “You can stay the hell away from the rest of us. If you want to take their side, fine, go ahead. You can stay here when the rest of us leave, if you want to. That’ll be fine with me.”

  Aditi looked stricken, Jordan saw. But in the back of his mind he thought that staying here with Aditi would not be unpleasant. Silently he said to his brother, Go on back to Earth with your tail between your legs. Go on back and face the responsibility for saving the human race from annihilation. Do you have the guts for that, Bran? Do you have the brains and the heart for it?

  But aloud he said only, “I think I’ve heard enough for one night, Bran.” Rising to his feet, Jordan held his hand out for Aditi. She got up and stood beside him.

  “Good night, Elyse,” Jordan said, as politely as he could manage. “Good night, Bran.”

  He turned and walked, hand-in-hand with Aditi, into their bedroom.

  Once the door closed, Aditi said, “I had no idea he was so jealous of you.”

  Jordan shrugged. “It’s been going on for years. This is Bran’s way of getting what he wants: accusing me of hurting him.” With a sigh he sat on the edge of the bed and began taking off his shoes.

  Aditi sat beside him. “What are you going to do?”

  “Let him cool off, I suppose.” Then he looked into her questioning eyes. “But I can’t just stand by and watch Bran and the others make a mess of things. There’s too much at stake!”

  She nodded, then asked, “Would you stay here when the others leave?”

  “Yes … except…”

  “Except that you want to help your people to survive,” Aditi said, very solemnly.