Nara
Page 55
Why had she thought up this stupid idea to begin with?
“Because you had to save the people.” Turner’s voice was soft.
She opened her eyes and the voice commanded the dim light. When she could stop blinking against the brightness, no one was in her room. Great. Now she was hallucinating.
“Ri. Can you hear me?”
She glanced at the comm, but it showed no open channels. She spoke into the room, “I can hear you, Jackson, but I can’t see you.”
“Can you feel me, Ri?”
She noticed that mixed in with his words was a sense of his bright smile. Somehow it was him, she couldn’t mistake the feeling for anyone else. Suddenly a chill ran up her spine and flashed into the heat of anger.
“I ordered that no one else was to be subjected to my fate.”
His thoughts remained steady. “They solved the problem a few hours ago. They needed a guinea pig and I wouldn’t let them risk anyone else. Besides, if it didn’t work, Olias would have to treat me nicely instead of hounding my every step.”
But she could also hear what he didn’t say.
“You didn’t fail me. Especially not now. You always came through when it mattered.”
There was a long pause. He tapped at her door and, at her silent acknowledgement, slid into the room. He held onto the retaining bar.
Ri could feel her pulse quicken until it pounded painfully against her ears. She could feel Jack’s question.
“Are you strong enough, Ri?”
She wanted to laugh. After weeks of lying still at zero-gee, she was weak as a kitten.
“Just try me.”
For a brief moment a floodgate opened. Captain Jackson Turner, his hopes, fears, childhood heartbreaks, all so carefully hidden…all of who he was and hoped lay like a great plain before her. In that brief flash of insight, his disaffected attitude toward life was clearly explained. He had striven for Olias’ acceptance his whole life and his every effort had only pushed his big brother further away. Jackson could be no other way than who he was.
At a deeper level, there was something that took a moment to unravel. It was a hope. Hope that… She laughed aloud.
“There is no way I could have saved you from who you are. I couldn’t even save myself.”
A smile pulled tentatively at the corners of his mouth. Finally he shook his head and joined in her laughter. “Didn’t even know that was in there. Nope, I guess I’m just gonna be stuck with being me, aren’t I?”
She let him see that there was no anger. No blame. She could see him take it in, but knew he would not be able to accept it right away. He needed some time. He’d lost three of his crew. And he was still human.
Finally she realized there was a question waiting behind everything she had just learned.
“Yes, Jackie, it worked. But it is more than empathy.” Jackie he was to himself so he could be nothing else to her.
“They’ve been reviewing Bamker’s notes. Some twisted shorthand that has given everyone of them headaches trying to unravel. And he rambled as much in his notes as he did in real life. One hypothesis was that at least telepathy was merely an extremely heightened empathy response. I guess he was right. Too bad he didn’t live to find it out.”
Ri agreed. And she knew Jackson could feel the agreement so she didn’t have to voice it. It would take some getting used to.
“Tell the Captain, I don’t know if it will be our salvation, but I know that if we don’t try it, it will be our destruction. It’s up to you two now.”
A wave of relief washed over her. The blackness seemed to recede at the same time that the darkness grew stronger. She let herself fall toward sleep after the strain of the interview on her limited reserves. Jackie’s mind withdrew, but she could feel the thread of connection remain after he left.
# # #
Bryce sat looking out over the crystal blue sea. The illusion was nearly perfect; it swept forever into the distance. The high, flat rock was the ideal spot to observe this failed world. He’d lost track of how many times he’d watched the sunrise from here. But he could remember every moment he spent here with Ri in their brief time together.
The word had gone out. Ri’s great experiment had worked. Devra Conrad herself had come by the bar in the early morning hours to let him know all the details. People could be made more empathetic without losing self. It was said they could see into each other’s souls if both parties were willing. He looked at his hands, so strong and so useless. He couldn’t be a part of the grand experiment.
And he couldn’t save her.
Christ, he didn’t even know what he was thinking. He just knew that Bryce Randall Stevens Junior had memories that humankind did not need to be burdened with no matter what their future. No final bond awaited him in the bright future.
His parent had overseen the complete unraveling of the human genome. Even how to imprint memories upon a like brain. He had impregnated his own daughter with a clone of himself. He had found the path to immortality.
He simply hadn’t counted on Bryce Junior refusing to carry him down the path. He was not his parent. He was himself.
Bryce lay back on the rock and looked at the brilliant dawn sky. The orange and red sunbeams streaked across the firmament like great searchlights seeking the future.
He could barely feel the cold anymore as he lay on the rock Carla Wendell had chosen. It was a good place to be. The cold sun glittered against his skin. It was almost the color of the brittle frost all around him. All he felt was a strong desire to sleep and a deep sense of satisfaction.
There had been someone right for him. He, himself, had been worthy.
He was almost sorry he wouldn’t live to see the sunset.
# # #
“Good morning, Jeffers.”
She smiled, “Olias, you old beast. How are you today?” She was past formality. Such things had become unimportant lying here.
She opened her eyes. She was alone.
His mental voice actually sounded as gruff as his spoken one. “Listen. Feel. And you will know how we are.”
“Not you, too.”
“Just listen.”
It was disconcerting to feel his thoughts with her mind. She remembered connecting with Jackie last night. How had she done that?
Ri tried to listen and became aware of an array of thoughts. That wasn’t right but she had no other word for it. If she concentrated, she could see the entire ship. Almost. It only took moments to figure out that the blank spots were where no one was looking.
She reached for Bryce, but only silence returned. Ri could see half a dozen patrons sitting quietly in R4U, but only Jaz, Jasper Elenar of Tycho City, Luna, was on duty. The Arctic biome was invisible. There must be no one there to see it. She closed her mind against the meaning of that silence.
Bryce had revealed everything last night. Right down to the details of his parent’s memory implants. And his promise that he wouldn’t curse humanity with the worst of its past. All her arguments had been in vain. Finally they both changed the topic so that their last time together wouldn’t be a fight. She guarded her thoughts carefully, there were some things he had hidden his whole life and they were not hers to reveal. As he’d wished, the secret of his past would die with her.
She found the thread that was Devra and reached toward it. The Captain’s thoughts emerged from the array.
“Yes, Ri, in a single night. No ill effects detected.”
She could only lay back in wonder as she saw everyone but didn’t lose herself.
“So much for our fears.” Donnie’s voice was exuberant as ever. That woman could bounce back from anything.
It was odd. She actually felt more herself than ever before. The six thousand surviving members of Homo sapiens in the array saw her as Ri Jeffers, a unique member of the community. Four thousand gone i
n six weeks. The loss of so many was a pain to her, but it was a relief as well. Everyone in the array could now share that loss and move ahead. She was undeniably herself, but she belonged. She dabbed at the tears to clear her eyes.
When she managed to do so, she saw a solitary figure standing beside her bed. She reached but only received a blankness from the figure. She wiped her eyes again and saw Bryce.
She closed her mind to everyone and shut her eyes tightly. She was hallucinating the dead. This was not a good sign.
“Hi, Ri.”
She looked again.
“I thought…” Her struggle to voice her questions and her joy at seeing him alive made her completely tongue-tied.
“You know, I actually did it. I was freezing to death on that damn rock of ours and the artificial sun rose over the horizon and I started laughing.” His face was lit with a smile that would rival one of Jackson’s but was all for her. She basked in the feel of it.
“It is so like the Old Bastard, after having controlled so much of my life, to control my death as well. Screw him, I figure. Freezing to death on a fake rock in a dead biome. What a depressing way to go. No wonder I was so morose; living in that bloody place. Maybe I’ll set up a hammock in Robbie’s jungle. She’s breeding a new bird-cross to be her pollinators.”
Ri let a part of her mind drift open and saw Robbie running from one nest box to another. She was playing mama bird to several dozen hungry chicks.
Bryce leaned over the railing and gently rubbed a finger down Ri’s cheek. Somehow it didn’t hurt so much. He moved back.
Devra drifted into the room. She pushed his sleeve aside and placed an injector against his arm. After she fired it, she spoke aloud for Bryce’s benefit, since Ri could hear her thoughts.
“It will take a bit.”
Ri didn’t know whether to be disappointed at not having instant communion with Bryce or to feel relief that his powerful emotions wouldn’t be overwhelming her just yet. She held out a hand and the Captain gently held if for a moment before smiling tentatively.
“I should never have let you go first, Ri. You were the best of us.”
Though it pained her, she squeezed Devra’s hand and did her best to hide the agony of the return gesture.
Others drifted into the room one by one. The five remaining members of the Icarus crew and Olias all came in.
The gruff Sub-Captain offered her a nod of respect. She saw that he truly meant it. He specifically didn’t stand near Jackie. Ri waited, and finally laughed. Everyone in the room, including Jackson began to laugh. Olias offered a wry grin of acknowledgement. Clear communication or not, they still had a lot of ground to heal.
“At least you’ll have time to work it out now.”
Olias’ old scowl and one of Jackson’s smiles were her reward for offering her opinion.
“You all look like a funeral procession.” Before any could speak she realized that’s exactly what they were.
Jackie’s thoughts reached out to her, “I wish I had gone first…”
Ri reached out for him, for the thread of him in the array that was Stellar One, that was humanity. But he closed it quickly; so she simply did her best to show she wasn’t sorry for her own death but rather for not getting to see the result of their creation. The community of humankind had been born.
Finally exhausted, Ri settled back into the array and closed her eyes against the worried faces.
“Olias, you take cake of Jackie…”
His thoughts completed hers. “We’ll watch over each other, Jeffers.”
She smiled. He’d still never used her first name. She held out her hand, palm up. She could feel Bryce’s unsteady hand rest upon hers.
It was enough.
She let go on the tight hold which was all that had been sustaining her and keeping back the dark. She relaxed and listened to the slowly pulsing voice that was humanity and yet was the six thousand distinct voices of Stellar One. It echoed the beat of the ocean waves in the Arctic.
Ri Jeffers let her thoughts drift. Whatever the future held, humans had survived the technologic age without self-annihilation. There was no way to destroy a member of the array without damaging yourself.
Her thoughts turned outward. Maybe they would never reach the stars. Maybe they no longer needed to. What did it matter when there was so much else to learn right here.
Yet, something wasn’t right. There was a …disturbance. She sent her thoughts toward its source. She could feel a tentative Bryce and then the array, supporting and strengthening her query. It came from beyond Stellar One. Beyond Earth, Moon, or Sun. In the direction of the constellation Hakuchou, Cygnus the Swan. She could almost see the star Deneb, alpha-Cygni.
A deep feeling washed over her. It tasted like bright copper in her mind. A single thought that was also many flashed back to her across all that distance. Filling her mind and body with a vitality she could barely contain. It washed over the consciousness of all humankind.
“Greetings.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There is no way I can offer enough thanks to:
Abigail Alling and Mark Nelson, both members of the original BioSphere II team, who spent two years inside their enclosure in Oracle, Arizona, and have offered their insights into the world inspired by the chronicle of their experience, Life Under Glass.
Chief Justice Richard Guy (ret.) of the Washington State supreme court for his insights into the legal and ethical implications of the human genome.
Dr. Thomas Hopp, former vice president of Immunex Corporation, for his patience in expanding my knowledge of cellular function, genetic engineering, and the human genome. Any scientific oddities are my own extrapolations.
Dr. Emily Kane, Chair of Sociology, Bates College, for her guidance in readings regarding the factionalization of society.
Dorothy Wilhelm for her introductions and support to aid the research of this book.
Don Spencer, Brewmaster at “Silver City Brewing Company” of Silverdale, WA, for a tour of his brewery and putting up with a ream of silly questions on the process of making beer.
Jim Flint for his patient readings and probing insights.
Kris and Dean for reasons they know well.
And my wife for the endless application of her skills as a research librarian and her infinite patience with my penchant for discussing characters and plots late into the night.
REFERENCES / ADDITIONAL READING
BOOKS
Alling, Abigail, Mark Nelson, Sally Silverstone. Life Under Glass : The Inside Story of Biosphere 2. New Mexico: Biosphere Press, 1993; ISBN: 1-882-42807-2, 254 pp.
Dawkins, Kristin. Gene Wars –the politics of Biotechnology. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1997. ISBN: 1-888363-48-7, 60 pp.
Eitzen, D. Stanley and Maxine Baca Zinn. In Conflict and Order – Understanding Society. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998; ISBN: 0-205-26469-7, 590 pp.
Fuller, Gregory N. & Goodman, J. Clay. A Practical Review of Neuropathy. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. 2001 ISBN: 0781727782, 329 pp.
Goble, Frank G. The Third Force, The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. New York: Quokka/Pocket Books, 1978; ISBN: 0-671-81030-8, 208 pp.
O’Neil, Gerard. The High Country. New York: Bantam Books, 1978. ISBN: 0-9622379-0-6, 326 pp.
Pearce, E.A. and Gordon Smith. The Times Books World Weather Guide. Times Books, Random House, 1990. New York. 480pp ISBN: 0-8129-1881-9
Rummel, R.J. Understanding Conflict and War, Vol. 2: The Conflict Helix. California: Sage Publications, 1976; online at www2.Hawaii.edu/~rummel
Rummel, R.J. Understanding Conflict and War, Vol. 3: Conflict in Perspective. California: Sage Publications, 1977; online at www2.Hawaii.edu/~rummel
Walford, Roy L., M.D. & Lisa. The Anti-Aging Plan: Strategies and Recipes for Extending Your Healthy Years. Four Walls Eight Windows Press, 1995
. ISBN: 1-568-58049-5, 309 pp.
Zubrin, Robert. Entering Space – Creating a Spacefaring Civilization. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1999. ISBN: 0-87477-975-8, 305 pp.
ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
Antypas, Alex & Meidinger, Errol. Science-Intensive Policy Disputes: An Analytic Overview of the Literature. 1996 www.ublaw.buffalo.edu/fas/meidinger/scipol.html
AP. Sun’s layers rotate at different speeds, researchers find. 3/31/2000cnn.com/2000/tech/space/03/31/solar.layers.ap/index.html
Armstrong, John. The Value of Biotechnology as an incentive for Moral Evolution. www.ifgene.com
www.bio2.edu
www.biospherics.org
Butler, James. The Human Genome Project – Will the HGP Change Scifi Forever? 2000 209.1.224.14/area51/Cavern/1225/paradigm/archives/27jib.html; Paradigm Science and Technology
CNN. Sun aims powerful flares at Earth. 3/1/2000 cnn.com/2000/tech/space/03/01/sunspots/index.html
Grünewald, Peter. Genetic Engineering and Medicine. www.ifgene.com, originally published in Gentechnik, Was verursacht der Mensch durch den Griff in die Erbanlagen?; Arbeitskreis für Ernährungsforschung, 1994; ISBN: 3-922290-24-8
The Human Genome Project. 2000, www.ornl.gov/hgmis/ & www.ornl.gov/techresources/human_genome
The Manhattan Project –Ethical Debates Concerning the Use of the Atomic Bomb. A Science Odyssey: Resources: Educator’s Guide: Physics, WGBH, Boston
Marin, Malu S. Going Beyond the Personal. www.cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/V10n4/gbp.htm, Reprint from Women in Action No. 1, 1996, Isis International, Manila.
Readings on the Manhattan Project. A Science Odyssey: Resources: Educator’s Guide: Physics, WGBH, Boston
Verhoog, Henk. Genetic Modification of animals: Should science and ethics be integrated? www.ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu, originally published The Monist, Volume 79, Number 2, April 1996
EXCERPT FROM MONK’S MAZE