Panspermia Deorum

by Hylton Smith

  “Ok, Geraldine, just calm down, please. Exactly what kind of problem?”

  “Well, she has had a couple of fainting spells recently. I pestered her to see the doctor, and although she said she would, I had to get the doctor to come here. He found that she has had bouts of kidney failure. He says she will need a transplant soon. She is on dialysis at the moment, but the problem is becoming more acute. I thought you should know because she now seems to take no notice of anything I say, she only listens to this new friend of hers. She doesn’t seem to grasp that the doctor is telling her she has a very serious problem. Julien, you have always been so good to me, so I feel I can say this. I don’t trust this man. He only became really interested in her after you inherited all of that money. She will not say a word against him, but I have to be honest, I have a bad feeling about him. He wants to marry her. Elise doesn’t want that, but he won’t stop asking her, even though she’s so poorly. Can you come to Lyon, please? She is getting weaker instead of stronger, and I am very worried about her, as is our doctor.”

  “Ok, Geraldine, now first of all, don’t think you are alone with this. I’ll get a flight tomorrow. Don’t tell anyone I’m coming, I want to meet this man after I’ve seen Elise. Thank you for getting in touch. Leave it to me to tell the kids.”

  “Yes, of course, and thank you so much, I’ll stay with her until you get here.”

  *

  The descent to the surface of Mars was something of a white knuckle ride. Not having an atmosphere to slow the module, or generate such intense heat as an Earth entry would, gave the illusion of being in a Bobsleigh with no brakes. A silent runaway vehicle destined to break up after a hard landing. At last, with the red dust approaching at an insane speed, the burn kicked in and began to transform the free-fall into a glide, followed by a gentle bump. The three scientists aboard thanked their counterparts on the orbiting Laika for guiding them safely to such a moment of destiny. They had already agreed to a simultaneous first step on to the orange-red carpet.

  The television pictures relayed back to Earth, showing the first of the species to leave their footprints on another ancient planet strangely produced a nanosecond of unity. Explorers had always been respected for their bravery. That it registered as such with the anarchists was but a flicker of homogeneity. Even before they’d heard a word of the commentary, coordinated explosive devices were detonated in or around several major cities of the world.

  *

  A second meeting had been arranged with the oligarchs to officially distribute the share certificates, giving them their respective amounts of equity in Soyuz. This formal gathering was at the Dacha of Malenkov, in the countryside just outside Moscow. While the ceremonial trappings were being orchestrated by Kolorov, Malenkov was busy getting the others to sign a side agreement with the Swiss bank that the certificates would be lodged with them for safekeeping. They had all agreed that in the event of some disaster, either cosmic or anarchic, any individual’s shares would pass on to the rest of the group. They had all made provision for their families separately, and didn’t want wives, sons, and daughters to become targets for the anarchists simply because of inherited ownership in a controversial blue chip company. The meeting was brought to an end with the agreement to meet once more in the Ural Mountains. The venue was the same secret location as before, for a thorough update of when the destructive nuclear warheads were to be launched at the asteroid, and more importantly, precisely where the strikes would take place. This was not a subject for discussion in a place where there was the slightest possibility of bugs having been planted. Malenkov outlined his reasoning.

  “Gentlemen, we shall take all precautions to keep our business private. You all know where we first met, and this note I am about to hand to you details the questions to be raised by us as a group, and the answers to those questions will be provided by our friend at the head of the table. With the escalating spread of terror groups, we should no longer mention anyone’s name, unless we know we are not at risk of eavesdropping by anarchists or what remains of government control. Thank you for your time, and please help yourself to Vodka and Caviar.”

  *

  With the habitat and lab facilities secured, the scientists gave the all clear to their colleagues in orbit. Laika’s mission had passed the first meaningful test. However, the establishment of a base was but a single task in a long list of those scheduled prior to any consideration of returning to Earth. Because the planets were closest to one another every two years, and the journey would take nine months, Soyuz had to make a compromise call regarding distance, fuel, time in space for the astronauts, and the crossing points with the next shuttle. However, they had come down on the side of keeping those on Mars alive as the highest priority. Laika had enough nuclear fuel generating capability to make a one year return trip. The next outgoing craft from Earth, already named Yuri, would launch when Laika was seven months from Earth. Yuri would have only three crew, and more than four times as much survival commodities as Laika. These adjustments had been made because of the initial reports from the surface of Mars, in particular, the discovery of both water ice and liquid carbon dioxide in scattered sinkholes. Stage two of departure clearance was related to the wellbeing coefficients of the surface dwellers. A clean bill of health after a minimum of six weeks was considered necessary before those on board Laika could submit a request to exit orbit. It would be a tense period of doing very little but observation, of both a scientific and medical nature, plus the creation of a map of interesting alternative sites for the future. Locations which weren’t too far from the first touchdown in Valles Marineris.

  *

  A peculiar trend was emerging in society, which in retrospect appeared to be quite logical. With the five-year death threat still hanging in the air, the rebellious, terror-fuelled, bottom-up rejection of authority, spawned two inevitable trends which conspired to turn the divide from one of a perpetually stretching elastic membrane, turning it into a stiff plastic barrier, which would inevitably reach a threshold of fracture. As the government and industrial world suffered escalating attacks, destroying lives, institutions and buildings, so the rise of coordinated anarchy lurched to new levels of brutality. The consequent shrinkage of established fiscal controls pushed the transition from monetary notes ever more quickly to electronic-only trading. When this filtered down to smaller and smaller businesses, the rate of bankruptcy spiralled, and a siege mentality within large corporations essentially killed off competitiveness. This was most sharply illustrated by banks and other related financial services, which then cascaded down to availability of life’s essentials. If you didn’t have a plastic friend with ample funds, you effectively didn’t have any money or bargaining power. No means to see beyond the next sunrise – and crucially, little or no recourse to escape the transition to stealing just to survive. Ironically, this mudslide of closure of traditional production output for mass markets raised the floodwaters of demand on those who had advocated revolution.

  During this phase, infighting and disillusionment led to rapid growth of Anarchist Barons, creating a massive surge in turf war, which became pandemic, and devoid of even the basic infrastructure with which to fashion a cure. Without either banknotes or electronic trading, direct exchange of goods was the only currency. However, with barter came plunder, and a definite slowdown in perceived equality of anarchic doctrine, which had been its raison d’etre. The process had in fact already begun to evidence big fish swallowing slightly smaller fish, and the corollary of becoming blind to the founding objective.

  There was now a chasm of irreparable dimension in the time left before it would be the asteroid alone which would decide the outcome. An uneven, three-way contest between oligarchs, mafia, and cosmic indifference. The final reckoning, whichever persuasion one might admit to, would lay the ghost to rest that in reality, there was no such thing as money. Life, food, water, chemicals, technology, were all that really mattered, unless a person’s faith in the afterlife prev
ailed.

  *

  When Julien and Geraldine arrived at the hospital, Elise had a visitor. Bernard Denis, her friend, was holding her hand. Geraldine turned to leave the private room in intensive care, but Julien asked her to stop.

  “No, Geraldine, I want to speak with this gentleman outside. Please stay with Elise while we find a quiet place to discuss the situation.”

  “Yes, of course I will, Julien.” Geraldine brushed past the visitor without exchanging a word. Denis rose from his bedside seat and began to protest.

  “I have no intention of…”

  Julien walked out of the room. It took a full two minutes for Denis to follow.

  “I gather your name is Bernard. I want to keep this as civil as possible so let’s find a table in the café.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are? Giving orders to people you have never met, in a place of compassion. I had heard you were a difficult man, I can now see that for myself. I am going back to sit with Elise.”

  Julien grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close, whispering into his face.

  “Listen, you stupid bastard, this is about Elise’s welfare, not you sitting holding her hand. I have access to the best medical care on the planet. You have a hand for her to cling to, nothing more. I assumed we both want the best for her, so knock off the boyfriend attitude and get to grips with the seriousness of the situation. You know fine well that virtually all public services have collapsed and the only exception is health centres, as they are now called. They only survived because they went private. You can only get treatment if you have a plastic debit card with guaranteed funds, and you pay before treatment is authorised. How much have you paid for Elise so far? Nothing? I thought so. How much will you pay from now? Nothing? I thought so. Elise has paid for her own treatment with funds I transferred to her.”

  Denis tried to interrupt.

  “Let go of me, I will report…”

  “I’m not finished explaining what is going to happen, do what you like after that. Now, I spoke with our son, who, like myself, has contacts with the top people in the medical world. He, his sister, Geraldine, and myself, need to be checked as suitable kidney donors for Elise. Can I put you on that list?”

  “Well…well of course I am probably…uh… too old, but yes, I suppose.”

  “Fine, I think I got that. Now, hospitals such as this have lost their leverage on organ donation. It’s a sad fact, but I’m afraid it is what it is. People needing transplants are in an auction from day one. She could wait for months to even get on the list for a random kidney to be available if she stays here. I am going to tell Elise that my son has spoken to a prominent surgeon in Boston about her condition, and her medical notes have been sent to this woman. We even have to pay to be tested in our new society, so you’ll excuse me if I think you haven’t totally convinced me of your intentions to give Elise the best chance of recovery. I’ve got a private jet waiting to take her to Boston. There is room for you if you’re serious about being a donor. Now, let’s cut the crap and speak with Elise from the same page. If you can’t do that, just get the hell out of my face while I get things moving.”

  Denis became furtive and excused himself to use the men’s room. Julien rushed back to Elise’s room and explained the situation to both women. Elise’s voice was very weak but she offered no resistance as the tears began to flow. Julien had made the hospital staff aware of the plan before he had boarded the flight from Guiana, but asked them not to worry his wife with the decision until he arrived to tell her in person. Geraldine stood up and hugged him tightly, not wanting to relent until she stopped shaking. Julien made the call to Eugene, telling him that everything was sorted, and asked if he could inform the surgeon in Boston. He would communicate directly with her just before they were airborne.

  Chapter 21

  The whole family met up in Boston after a tiring journey for Elise. They were introduced to Dr Marion Westley and she explained the order of events. Elise was admitted to a private room and the others followed the surgeon to her office.

  “I’ve studied Elise’s records from Lyon, and I agree that she needs a kidney transplant. The efficiency of her left-side renal processing is very low, and that’s a serious problem. Although it can be alleviated by dialysis, that treatment is required more frequently than I’d like it to be. Her right kidney is not too bad right now but shows signs of the same symptoms. If we can replace the left one satisfactorily I can review how this will affect her overall dependency on dialysis in the short and longer term. So, I’ve arranged for all of you to be screened as potential donors. I’m afraid there aren’t any matches on our database at present. Julien, I think you should be checked last, not being a blood relative. Geraldine, perhaps you should wait until Eugene and Sophie have been checked as your age and DNA lineage may have the same potential weakness as your sister. Eugene, you and Sophie can get ready to be assessed, as we need to know if either of you are suitable donors. There is no time to lose; it seems your mother has been suffering deterioration in kidney function for some time now, and I’m surprised that this was not picked up at least a couple of years ago. Let’s get started then, and if we find either of you can help your mother, I’ll go through all of the stuff you need to know about how kidney donation might affect your own life. Julien, you and Geraldine can either wait with Elise while we get her settled, or get some sleep while we get on with the tests.”

  As exhausted as they were, Geraldine said she wouldn’t be able to sleep and preferred to have more caffeine until they could be told how the tests on the kids had gone.

  *

  Julien was becoming fidgety. Geraldine kept insisting that Bernard Denis was a leech, and was worried about his intentions toward her sister, especially if he kept on pushing Elise to marry him.

  “You know, Julien, she already approached you about a divorce, but that was him, she didn’t feel right about it.”

  “I hear you, but that’s all for another time. I can’t concentrate on anything other than getting Elise a new kidney at the moment. I just hope either Eugene or Sophie can help her. She could have one of mine tomorrow, if it was approved by Dr Westley.”

  Geraldine echoed his sentiment just as Julien saw people gathering around the coffee shop TV. He pushed through to the front and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Waves of Soyuz missiles headed skywards. The commentary was in Russian, and into focus came Ivan Kolorov. The penny dropped immediately. Soyuz had only acknowledged the need for a scoop because they could never have launched such a cluster of warheads without them being picked up by multiple observers. They couldn’t allow speculation that it was a strike against the west, hence the detailed explanation of where and when this expeditionary arsenal would take out the asteroid. It was being marketed ruthlessly; as Soyuz simply not being prepared to rely upon good fortune any longer in dealing with the threat. Kolorov referred to the VB Aerospace project as ‘gambling by pretending they had proven it was essential to wait to play pinball deeper within the solar system’.

  “Their strategy could have many undesirable effects, including destabilising the orbits of other solar bodies which could negate the primary objective. We have taken a bold step and invested considerable resource to eliminate the threat as soon as we could assemble the means to do so. More details will be forthcoming in the next few days.”

  Julien knew that he would be hounded by the media to answer Kolorov’s claims. He had enjoyed unwavering support from the populous, but this was a direct attack on him, aimed at eroding that trust. He didn’t want to be stampeded into a premature riposte, preferring to wait until Kolorov honoured his promise of more details being released in the coming days.

  *

  Dr Westley had good news and bad news. The tests had shown both Eugene and Sophie were acceptable donors.

  “I’ve studied the test data thoroughly and I have only one major concern. Although both profiles would certainly extend Elise’s life and get her off
dialysis relatively quickly, Sophie would be the better choice. I’m afraid Eugene has markers which indicate he may suffer from his mother’s condition later in life. That is by no means certain, but it seems like an unnecessary risk, if he did end up with such a problem while he was relying on a single kidney.”

  Eugene and Sophie excused themselves from the rest of the gathering to mull over the situation.

  “Sophie, I didn’t want to say the wrong thing in there, but what about your addiction?”

  “That’s in the past, Gene. I’m clean, you know that.”

  “Of course, but if you fall off the wagon with one kidney it could be you who ends up in a box. History tells us that many people can’t kick the habit permanently. It’s the same with alcohol.”

  “So why would Westley say I was the better choice? She knows my history.”

  “Well, that’s another thing, maybe the results got mixed up, it does happen.”

  “What the hell has got into you, brother? Hello! She wouldn’t have said you might have problems in years ahead without checking. Anyway, none of us might have years ahead…oh, now I get it. That’s why you’re spouting the bullshit. You think none of this will matter by 2039, we’ll all be grains of dust. Listen, I know how hard you’re working to find a way to help me with your ‘gene farm’ stuff, but for once in our lives, let me be the one who gets the plaudits for being unselfish. Your shiny halo can stand just one tiny hit. I’m not going to move on this, Gene-genie, so let’s tell the Doc we’re good to go.”

  “I still think…”

  “No you don’t, we’re done here.”

  *

  Julien was still reeling from the Soyuz launch of their battery of nuclear warheads, when a second news item caught his eye. The headline said it all for him.

  ‘Carnage as Russian Oligarchs are assassinated in remote location in the Ural Mountains.’

  It was followed by a photoshoot of an oligarch whose life had been saved by his train being late arriving at its destination. He spoke unsteadily, despite his good fortune, and condemned the perpetrators who had planted the explosive devices. The hotel had been levelled to the ground, killing forty-eight staff and guests, in addition to the oligarchs. Julien recognised the man who was consoling the surviving oligarch. It was Ivan Kolorov.