by Saxon Andrew
But not everyone bought into the new world order. The drug cartels refused to join the planet and continued to send their shipments into places where they were bought by those who were addicted to their poison. They killed those that opposed them but the tide was turning. The planet no longer accepted them and the forces arrayed against them were growing.
There were still those that were insane that went out and killed. These murders were ticking time bombs and were seldom caught before they acted. But the numbers were decreasing. The number of humans killed after the Apostle spoke was down more than ninety percent from the year before. Things had changed. Some felt that most of the real crazy fringe elements had died in the previous violence and those that survived had had enough. There were rare instances of violence but the wide spread killing stopped.
The World Leaders called Essay to the new One Planet Building and he wondered what they wanted. He arrived and the Australian Prime Minister stood up and smiled, “Mate, we need your guidance.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re having difficulty dividing the chores among us. We need someone who’s impartial to make the calls.”
“Exactly what are the chores you talking about.”
“You know, who produces the food? Who manufactures the clothes? How do we pay the ones that do the work?
Essay stared at the Leaders and shook his head. He sighed and looked around the room. “How many of you have no land to farm?” The gathering looked around at each other and no one responded. The Algerian Leader said, “Most of the land I control is desert.”
Essay nodded, “Anyone else?”
The President of Iceland said, “We have some land, but a very short growing season.”
“Can you feed the people you lead?”
“Yes, however, we do need some imports.”
Essay looked around, “Anyone else?” No one responded and he said, “All of you will start intensive farming immediately.”
Hodges tilted his head, “We will produce far more than we can consume.”
“What about the stores we’ll need to put on the ships we build that may have to go on extended voyages to fight the Traugh?”
Hodges tilted his head, “I didn’t think of that.”
“How many of you have factories that can be converted to manufacturing One Planet Uniforms and the personal items people would need to care for themselves?” There was a pause and most of them raised their hands. “That is where you will begin your efforts and all of you will combine your shipping and transportation systems to move what you produced to the places they’re needed. Incidentally, every drug company will start mass producing their formulas for mass delivery to the rest of the planet.”
Hodges looked at Essay, “How are we going to pay for these items?”
“I would suggest that you do away with currencies and implement a system that gives service credits to those that provide what is needed. Those service credits can be redeemed for anything on the planet.”
“How do we track…”
“Come on, President Hodges. You have enough computing software to have millions of bits of data on every person on the planet. It can be done if the will is there to make it happen.”
“What about those that are unable to work?”
“They will be cared for by an organization you establish. A reserve service credit fund will be set aside to pay for the services needed. It is important that all of you understand that this new system must be implemented fairly and evenhandedly with everyone.”
“What about the old currencies?”
“They’ll still be good, as long as someone will accept them. I imagine they will not disappear for a few years until this new system is in place.”
“But what thing of value will back these service credits?”
Essay looked at the Swiss Leader, “The hour of work done to earn them. The more difficult the task, the more service units will be paid for doing it.”
“But that means a farmer will make more than a Doctor.”
“If you choose to price it that way. This system will be yours to develop. Just remember, this has to work for everyone and everyone has to feel good about it.” Essay saw the Leaders thinking about what he suggested and said, “Do you have enough to do to get your farms and clothing facilities going?” They nodded. “Then get out of here and make that happen. If you have to go into other’s lands to make it work, do it. When you have this up and running, we’ll meet again and decide what to do next.”
Essay left the room and the Leaders looked at each other. Hodges stood up, “Well, you heard the Apostle. Let’s get on it.”
The Indian Prime Minister quickly said, “Will you start working on the pay system he described.”
“I will but I might call on some of you to get involved as well.”
Four Leaders said they would help if he needed them. The meeting broke up and they left New York for their homes.
• • •
Time passed incredibly fast and before they were ready, the deadline arrived. All of the Leaders were present in the One Planet Assembly Hall. The Leaders no longer represented a country or government. They controlled large areas on Earth’s surface and worked with the others to work cooperatively in preparing the planet to work together. Essay was the chosen spokesman although he never really liked the leadership role he was forced to accept. It was all due to a casual remark made by the Alien in their first meetings with it.
Essay watched the clock and knew the moment had arrived. “Are you present?”
The question was greeted with silence and everyone in the room felt a momentary feeling of panic. Then they heard, “I’ve actually been here a week observing all that has changed since my last visit.”
Essay released the breath he had been holding and took a quick breath. “Does this mean you will assist us?”
“Some of you are still killing others.”
Essay shook his head, “We know. There are some of us that are sick. There are others that still prey on us with drug trade and other crimes. We’re working on getting that under control.”
“Every society has those that are not sane. The important thing is that your species has turned away from organized attacks against each other. It will only get better with time. I must confess that you’ve accomplished much more than I thought possible. To answer your question, yes. I will give you the tools you will need to face the Traugh.”
The room erupted into cheers and Essay felt a huge weight lift from his mind. The Alien thought, “It appears your leaders took my advice and came to you to lead them out of the darkness.”
Essay’s head jerked back, “What suggestion?!”
“I told everyone that you were the sanest person present. If they didn’t turn to you, it would have shown me your species isn’t worthy of my gifts.”
Essay shook his head and looked around the room as he said, “We still have things to do but we’re all working together to make them happen.”
“I’ve seen that.”
“What do you need us to do?”
“You must choose the place where the ships will be built and build the factories to produce the modules that will go into the ships.”
“Do they all have to be built in the same location?”
“They will initially. After you get the first facilities built, you can build others in different locations.”
“We’ve discussed this issue and the consensus is that the first factory should be built in Japan.”
“That’s an excellent choice. I am going to send you the plans for the construction of the modules that will go into the ship. Once you have a factory producing them, I’ll send you the diagrams on where to run the power cables.”
“Is there anything we need to develop to build these ships?”
“The most important piece of technology is going to be the helmet the pilot will use to operate the ship. You will have to build a facility that can do micro-circuitry. The cons
truction of the two factories should start simultaneously.”
“Are there any special metals we’ll need to construct the hull and helmet?”
“I think you asked that question twice. The hulls can be built from the metals you used to build the weapons you once used against each other. The force field is what will protect the ship. If it fails, no metal will stop a disintegrator beam.”
“How does the force field on this new ship stack up against their warships?”
“The disintegrators and force field on the new ship are superior to their ships. If enough of them attack together, it can be destroyed but it will be faster and more maneuverable. It will be difficult to gang up on it.”
“We’re ready to start building.”
“I am sending the plans directly to the computer being used by the operator next to the wall. While you’re building the factories, I am going to assist another species. I will be back in four months to check on your process. At that time, I’ll give you the plans for the disintegrators to install on the hulls you’re building along with their wiring diagrams. I’ll also send you the specs and circuits you’re going to need to build the ship’s computer.”
“Are we capable of building that computer?”
“You’re already building computers that are close to the one I’ll send you. I see no issues with your being able to build it.”
“Will it require a different facility to build it?”
“Yes.”
“Then we will start construction of a building with the interior being a clean room.”
“It should be close to the factory building the hulls. The computer and the control panel will have to be installed together.”
“We’ll do it as you say.”
The computer operator looked up, “The download has started.”
“Prophet.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. With all our hearts, we thank you.”
“I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. Once you’re building the ships, I’ll have two requests.”
“What are they?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re building completed ships.”
“That’s fair. We look forward to speaking with you in four months.”
The attendees felt the mental contact disappear and they stood and began celebrating. Now they could go to work.
Kam sat on his ship and shook his head. What this species had accomplished in such a short time was amazing. He wondered if they might even improve the changes he made. They were vibrant and he was right about them. If they came together, they could be beautiful. He decided to come back in two months. They might surprise him and finish ahead of schedule. He hoped they did. The galaxy needed help against the Traugh. He set the stardrive and activated it. There were others that also needed his assistance.
• • •
Kam arrived above the gold and brown colored planet and immediately heard, “Welcome back, Prophet. We’ve been hoping for a fast return.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, we’ve begun extracting the metals from the sites you gave us but we are having extreme difficulty building the electrical circuits you gave to us. We don’t have the tools to do it.”
Kam lowered is head and shook it. The Bosrean had technology but it did not use computers. They were struggling with the effort of building a circuit board. He shook his head, “Focus on the hulls and installation of the disruptors. Use the diagrams I sent you to wire the ship and make sure the electrical cables have the proper number of wires in them before you seal them in the walls.”
“What are we to do about the device used to control the vessel?”
“Continue working on it and we’ll find a way to resolve the issue when the time comes to install the controls.”
“Prophet, we are moving in darkness with these devices.”
“You must continue to work on them. You will learn through your failures.”
“Yes Prophet. We will start producing the conduits for the wires. We have been able to build the device that will power the vessel. We’ve also completed the wiring harness.”
“That is a big step in the right direction. You should work on connecting the two devices to the wiring cables.”
“But we don’t have the control panel that operates them.”
“That wiring runs directly from the device to the panel. The wiring from the main control panel should be installed.”
“Yes, Prophet. We will continue our tasks.”
Kam blew out a breath. The Bosrean were going to need at least a hundred years to build the first model…and they were not alone. The others were also in trouble building what was needed. He settled in and began talking with the technicians working on the ship. He worried that he wouldn’t live long enough to help the ones he promised aid. But…he could only do what he could. Words wouldn’t change what was happening. At least none that he could think of.
• • •
“Sir?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“The Japanese have gone over the diagram for the reactor and sent a copy to M.I.T.”
“And?”
“The scientists there feel like it could be improved.”
“What?’
“They’ve looked at the plans closely and the containment vessel is much weaker than those we use on nuclear submarines. They feel we can improve on it and produce a much higher level of power. They also think they can improve the electrical generators.”
“Captain, will you get to the point?”
“The Japanese are going to build the reactors to new specifications. If we can’t use the additional power, we’ll just operate them at half power.”
“Have you seen anything else?”
“Yes, the circuitry design for the helmets can be improved so electronic impulses can be sent at a much higher speed. They’ve sent their ideas to the chip makers in Palo Alto and they agree that the changes would be simple to make.”
Whitehall thought about it and said, “Can they make one of each.”
“Sir?”
“Have the scientists construct a reactor and helmet according to the plans we’ve received and another based on what we’ve determined. I want a complete control panel and helmet made for both. We’ll use the one that works best.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Whitehall watched the Captain walk out of his office and thought about what he said. Is it possible that a better ship could be built? He wished the Prophet was around to give advice but he wasn’t going to wait four months to find out. They would run experiments with both and see how it worked out.
The Prophet arrived two months ahead of schedule and was greeted with numerous questions. The issues of building a different reactor and helmet came up fast. Whitehall told the Prophet he had ordered one of each built and he wondered if this species was further advanced than he thought. “Where is the one called Connor?”
“He’s left to have some time with his family.”
“Where did he go?’
“Back to the cave he was hiding in during the violence.”
“Take the two helmets to him and I’ll land near him and trial them on my ship.”
“We could bring them to you.”
“I know and it’s not that I don’t trust you. I prefer working with him. Will you do as I ask?”
“May I leave one of our scientists with the helmets to discuss some of the issues we’ve encountered with the new items?”
“You may. It will probably help.”
Whitehall looked at Hodges on his monitor and saw him shrug. “I’ll deliver them to him within the hour.”
• • •
Essay’s satellite phone buzzed and he picked it up, “Connor here.”
“I’m delivering the two helmets we’ve built to your cave.”
“What?”
“The Prophet is back and wants you to bring them to him. He says he’ll land his ship near you. He also agreed to a scientist b
eing there to discuss some issues we’ve encountered.”
“When will they arrive?”
“They’re on the way now. They should be there within twelve hours.”
“Why so long?”
“They’re coming from Japan.”
“Is that possible?”
“We still have some fast aircraft, Colonel. The scientist will arrive with the helmets first.”
“I’ll be looking out for the helicopter.”
“Thanks, Essay. How much longer are you going to remain at the cave?’
Essay smiled, “As long as it takes for everyone to start depending on themselves to get things done. This project is too important for everything to be decided by me. I honestly don’t know enough to answer every question being thrown at me.”
Whitehall smiled, “That’s wise. I’ll give you a head’s up when it leaves for your location.”
“Thank you.” The connection ended and Essay looked at Emily, “It appears the Prophet is insisting on working through me.”
“You should discuss that with him.”
“I will.” Essay looked around, “Where’s the children?”
“They’re riding around in the Jeep.” Essay tilted his head. “Relax. They’re not on public roads and Jim is pretty good.”
“Where did he learn to drive?”
“I taught him on the SUV while we were waiting on you to come back. Stella is better than he is.”
Essay rolled his eyes, “That figures.”
“Why is that?”
“She always handled her Barbie Car better than Jim did his big wheel.”
Emily laughed and turned to go back in the cave, “Your father said they would arrive around sunset.”
“That’s twelve hours from now.”
“They’re coming from Japan.”
“Oh.” Emily smiled, “Breakfast in fifteen minutes.”
“How do I contact the kids?”
“They have the other satellite phone.”
Essay smiled, “I’ll call them now.”
“That would be good.”
Essay made the call and looked up at the sky. His family was going to see a spaceship. He shook his head and headed toward the cave. He hoped he could stay at the cave. He didn’t want to deal with stress every day. This was where he found peace. He heard the jeep and the children arrived a minute after he entered the cave. He shook his head; Jim was a pretty good driver.
