Paradise Reclaimed

by Raymond Harris

  “That quick?”

  “Oui, many of the corrective sequences and enhancements are stored in viral vectors. It is a series of injections, that is all.”

  “And this is safe?”

  She used a hand gesture to indicate that she was living proof. “As I said, there have been rapid advances. There is a Moore’s law in genetics too. In a few years we could start eliminating some of the really nasty mutations and diseases from the world’s population.”

  “That would take a massive effort.”

  “Of course, but perhaps it will never happen, not until there is a revolution and these conasse are physically overthrown, dragged out of their corporate boardrooms into the streets. Surely you must know that they withheld vaccines during the pandemic, that it was an act of war? Millions could have been saved. Imagine if we eliminated disease altogether using genetics, what would they do with their expensive medicines then? We threaten their cash flow.”

  He nodded that he understood completely. He could have chosen to fill her in on what was really going on but decided to leave that to Aviva. “So how long before you can bring them in?”

  “Maitenant,” she said as she confidently walked toward his desk. “May I?”

  “By all means,” he said moving out of her way.

  “This should amuse you,” she said as she sat in his chair and commanded the screen, “find Cambridge pubs”. It remained blank.

  “Sorry, it’s voice activated.” He gave a command in Sanskrit and the screen instantly displayed a page showing a transport map highlighting the pubs of Cambridge. She used a hand gesture to select The Cricketers and the page changed to a description of a pub that included a photo. She opened the photo and chose an enlarged version. Then deftly using another gesture she placed the cursor over a pub sign showing a painting of a county cricket match. She placed the cursor directly onto the batsman and used the keyboard to enter a password. The picture disappeared to be replaced by a blank command prompt screen.

  “Clever, a bit old school, but still effective. A secure chat room I assume?”

  “Oui, routed through many servers. It is not just the sign. There are set steps. You may not have seen that I moved the cursor in a particular way, a further caution to prevent anyone accidentally discovering the embedded links.”

  He watched as she typed in the name Warnie. “A cricketer?” he asked.

  “Oui, an Australian, you really do not know anything about cricket do you?” She typed in the letters AGM. “This will alert everyone. We are now in a secure, encrypted chat room.” Then she typed “One small step”.

  “Armstrong?”

  “They will understand. It won’t be long now.” A second later the word Bradman appeared, followed shortly after by Gavaskar, then Khan. Within a minute the screen was filled with close to thirty names. “That got their attention,” she said smiling. “I just told them interstellar travel has been realised.”

  “Was that wise?”

  She typed FA and waited. The names remained.

  “What is FA?”

  “Funestum arcano – deadly secret in Latin. A bit overdramatic maybe, but they were drunk in Cambridge and Latin amused them. I just told them you can and will protect this secret with extreme prejudice. I am right am I not? It is what I would do.”

  He nodded.

  “It gives them the option to bow out. We know very well how it works at the highest level. You remember that I said that various military concerns have been experimenting with genetics? Well it includes new genetic diseases as well as enhancements. Secrets they will kill to keep; that we know have killed to keep. It is a deadly game, non, taking on the military-industrial complex?”

  She typed a longer message. “It has finally happened. This is real. Allow me to introduce…” She turned and looked at Akash. “You need a cricket name.” He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “I know,” she said turning to type “Tendulkar”.

  The screen lit up with dozens of comments and questions. “You can be specific. They are well informed. We have spent many long hours talking about these things. Some form of large-scale quantum teleportation has been the mostly likely candidate, non?”

  She got up from his seat and let him take over. They finished four hours later at two in the morning, his mind swimming with new possibilities.

  “One more thing,” she said as she started to leave for her room. “I would like to speak to the people planning the actual colonisation stage. I am sure they know what they are doing but I have some concerns. I am sure you have studied the history of some of the first European colonies in the New World. Not all of them succeeded. The Jamestown colony almost starved; they resorted to cannibalism. I am hoping you have thought these things through. I do not like the look of the others, they look rather unappetising.”

  She turned and left. He was stunned. She had completely turned the tables. He had thought that being so young she would struggle to comprehend the enormity of it all, but now he was the one struggling. Cannibalism? He and the logistics team had had long discussions about colonisation: how many to send, what supplies and support, but cannibalism? It hadn’t even crossed their minds.

  38

  Cynthia

  She was feeling overwhelmed as she was escorted into the main camp. There were people everywhere and she was used to a degree of solitude and quiet. They were also staring at her – she was new meat, a taught, muscular girl amongst more lithe and athletic shapes, many of them bird-eye runners from the north.

  “It’s basic,” said the male runner assigned to show her around.

  “I’m used to spartan, but it was stone, there’s so much wood here.”

  “Oh yeah, you said you were from the mountains. This is temporary. Who knows, maybe you’ll go inside.”

  “Inside?”

  He pointed up at the Olympian Mountains. “Creeps me out up there. I get claustrophobic. I was raised in the woods.”

  They entered a long wooden dormitory that slept ten people. “A transit dorm,” he said. “You probably won’t be here for long. If you are assigned to a unit you’ll sleep with them. But by the look of you I reckon you’re headed for a mech or logistics team. Just how much can you lift anyway?”

  “Around one-twenty, but I don’t really count.”

  He looked impressed. “Remind me not to pick a fight with you then. You a floater?” He asked changing the subject suddenly.

  The question surprised her. Ordinarily she would have said yes but she was not sure of her status since committing to training with her mentor. “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh you know. Most people are floaters. This isn’t the life for circlers or monos. You a rod or slit girl?”

  “Rod, you?”

  He smiled. “Depends on which day it is. Look, if you are committed that’s okay. Word’ll get around but I’m just letting you know that there’s a lot of off-duty fucking and a big floating scene and new meat is always appreciated, especially an exotic like you. Command says it builds morale, but if you get assigned to a combat unit, well that becomes like a circle. Anyway, you’ve seen your bunk – you hungry?”

  She nodded. “Ravenous.”

  “It’s open from 4am to 10pm. You’ll be assigned prep and clean-up duty. We all do it. This way.”

  He took her down a wide dirt road past wooden dorms hidden in dense forest. A platoon of defenders ran past at a fair pace, the sexes in proportion to that of the general population, two-thirds female. One girl wolf-whistled at her as she ran by, making a sexual gesture with her tongue.

  “That’s Franco; she’s probably fucked everyone in the camp, including the wildlife. She’s okay. Just a bit of an attention seeker.”

  The mess was buzzing with the sound of multiple conversations. He explained mess etiquette as they lined up to be served. She piled her plate with gheesh sausages, beans and scrambled teff curd, as far from the vegetarian fare of the monastery as possible, a real treat. He found her a space at a partly filled t
able and introduced her to the other diners. They made her feel welcome, plying her with the usual introductory questions: where she was from, what her specialty was, what music and sports she liked, her sexual preferences. She enjoyed their company and even though she still felt disoriented she thought she might like being a defender.

  After a leisurely lunch the orientation continued with a look at the training facilities: a fully equipped gym, an obstacle course with muddied defenders cheering each other on, hand to hand combat and a firing range. Her guide went through the various rules and regulations and she surprised herself by asking about furlough, her thoughts immediately turning to Aris. She was relieved to hear it could be generous, especially if there were extenuating circumstances. Aris, why had she just thought about Aris?

  When they returned to the mess two lev scooters were waiting.

  “You know how to operate one of these?”

  She nodded, “yep, easy.”

  “Good, then see if you can keep up.”

  He jumped on one and headed off at speed. She wasn’t about to let him get way and flew after him. These were new machines, faster and more responsive than the ones she had used when she was younger. She was upon him in no time. He laughed and increased his speed, taking her through the forest so that she had to dodge and weave to avoid trees and bushes. Finally he took her around the base of the mountain and into a wide entrance that lead into a large, brightly lit cavern filled with people and equipment. They came to a stop before a man dressed in a purple sarong, the first officer she had seen.

  “Magnus Shimazu, this is defender Grimaldi,” her guide announced.

  “Welcome aboard Grimaldi, I’m magnus Tojo Shimazu. I’m your commanding officer.”

  She dismounted and he offered his hand for a formal handshake. “Magnus,” she said acknowledging his authority. As soon as she was clear of the scooters her guide sped off, leaving her scooter hovering.

  “I’ve read good things about you Grimaldi…”

  “Magnus?”

  “It seems you have a highly developed structural intelligence, on your way to being a master builder. I understand you have an affinity for stone.”

  “Yes sir. Thank you.”

  “Your skills will be useful.”

  “Construction?”

  “No, I had something else in mind. It occurs to me that your structural intelligence might equally be applied to destruction as much as construction; that you might be skilled at finding the weaknesses in structures so that we might efficiently destroy them.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “There’s an old French military term that doesn’t get used anymore, sabotage. How would you like to learn how to blow shit up defender?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Explosives?”

  He smiled. “Amongst other things, yes, but also lasers, sonics, robotics, void mechanics, whatever will be the most effective.”

  39

  Li Li and Akoi

  “There you are, you are a hard woman to find,” said Li Li as she approached the lone figure leaning over the roof top balcony looking over a panoramic view of the Thimpu valley.

  “Apparently not hard enough,” said Akoi in her hybrid German/African accent.

  “I can go if you wish,” said Li Li softly but defiantly. “But you and I both know we must come together as a team.”

  Akoi turned and looked Li Li up and down, her eyes piercing, almost threatening. “Not necessarily. My job is to protect you. Sometimes it is best not to get too close. It might cause a loss of discipline.”

  Li Li met her gaze and smiled seductively. “You are a proud woman. A warrior non? You have killed?”

  Akoi folded her arms. Li Li imagined that she was strong and quick, like a lioness. “All the women of my tribe are proud.”

  “But they are no more, your tribe, they are defeated and you were raised in Germany, in Bavaria.” It was a calculated comment and Akoi responded as predicted, first with anger then with barely controlled sadness, her eyes starting to well with tears. Li Li did not allow her to speak. “You are not the only one. My father was a famous Chinese dissident. He was arrested, tortured, killed, his body dissected and his organs sold. The same fate befell my uncle simply because he was his brother. Then they destroyed my family, pushed them into poverty and disgrace. I am the last of the line. I have never been to my ancestral home; I was raised by white European bourgeois, just like you. We are not so different. We are both outcasts with no real roots.”

  “They are in Africa now, your Chinese imperialists, buying up farmland, stealing resources. My people could not resist, first the Muslims, slavers mostly, then the Christians, now the Muslims again. The Chinese deal with both and ignore the abuses.”

  “Janjaweed?”

  She nodded. “Yes, the fucking Arabs, the descendants of slavers. My land was left out of the new nation of South Sudan. The war continues. It is genocide, to impose sharia. My people are animists. The Arabs call us black dogs. To them we are animals.”

  “You fought?”

  Akoi spat. “Yes, and killed. A group of Arabs raided a village, killed the men and boys and raped the women and girls.”

  “J’regrette.”

  Akoi reacted angrily. “Save your meaningless apology. Have you ever seen the body of a girl bleeding to death from wounds to her vagina because some Arab fuck shoved his rifle up her and fired it just for fun? You cannot understand me. You cannot.”

  Li Li’s eyes narrowed. “As I said, my father was tortured, my family destroyed. You and I have the same enemy. Do not underestimate me…”

  “You are a mere girl, a pretty China doll…”

  Li Li reacted immediately by slapping Akoi hard across the face. Akoi was shocked and retaliated by throwing a hard left hook. Li LI dodged and returned with a flick kick to Akoi’s torso. Akoi barely had time to block the blow and staggered back a few steps. She was surprised by Li Li’s skill and speed and laughed defensively. “My mistake, I see you are also a kung fu girl.”

  “I am sorry to fight you but I needed to make a point. As I said, do not underestimate me. I do not fear you.”

  Akoi bowed graciously. “So I see, but I thought you were just a gymnast?”

  “I am, but I also trained in wushu, they enhance each other naturally. I need to be able to defend myself, because of my father, because of what I am involved in.”

  “So, is this what this is about, a leadership challenge? The new lioness asserting her authority?”

  “More like the lioness protecting her cubs.”

  Akoi scoffed. “What, these ivory tower misfits – the team?”

  Li Li objected. “No, the project; the future; the planet. You are thinking small Akoi, still caught up in a local conflict, unable to see the bigger picture.”

  Akoi shrugged her shoulders. “This is just a job to me, a well-paying contract.”

  Li Li shook her head in disbelief. “Merde, do you have any idea what is happening?”

  “We are going to another planet. So what? I watched all those scifi movies when I was younger too. I used to laugh at them because so much of it was preposterous. I saw the film 2001 in 2017 and nothing in the film ever happened. Don’t think I’m stupid. The reality of space travel is laborious, boring and expensive. Look at what has happened to NASA. They were supposed to have colonies on the moon by now. They stopped the Apollo missions because they were too expensive. Now they fly their astronauts to a little space station using private corporations. And these jumpers, they are little tin cans, not big starships. Just how much money do you think it will cost to colonise other planets? Even with this new technology there are billions of people on this planet. They can’t all go. And what would be the cost per head? Have you thought of that? Let’s say it’s a million per person, to send just a million would cost a trillion dollars. Where does that money come from? Thin air? This Indian genius – he will spend his billions and when it runs out, then what? It’s a vanity project.”r />
  It was Li Li’s turn to be shocked by such an astute observation. “Yes, you have a good point, but of course, I could say the US defence budget is now over a trillion, the world wide…”

  Akoi laughed contemptuously. “Now it is you who is being naive. We are the ones taking guns into space. I will be taking a combat automatic. Once this technology gets out, what happens then? Space will be militarised and countries will fight over planets. The Chinese, they will do exactly what they do now. Send their cadres to strip the planets of resources just like Africa. Maybe there are other planets and we divide them up, but is there a planet for every country, corporation, religion and ethnic group that wants one? Do we have a New Russia, a New America, a New France, a planetary caliphate for the fucking Arabs?” She looked at Li Li with a mixture of defiance and hopelessness. “It will be the same old shit heap, only larger.”

  “Of course, you are right, that is a real possibility,” Li Li said carefully. “But don’t you think they’ve thought of that? Why do you think this is so secret?”

  Akoi shook her head. “For now. All conspiracies are eventually exposed. What if someone else discovers this void physics? Didn’t Darwin simply beat that other man…?” Akoi closed her eyes trying to recall the name.

  “Oui, Wallace, it is true.”

  “So how do we know someone else isn’t on the verge of making the same discovery?”

  “You are right. We don’t. I know people who thought something like this was just a matter of time. But for now it hasn’t happened any other way. You and I are in Bhutan now, nowhere else.” She swept her arm to indicate the mountains looming behind them. “It is Akash who has done it, no one else. They have chosen you and they have chosen me, not others. It has fallen in our laps. We may have a very narrow window of opportunity, don’t you think we should make the most of it?”

  “Ambitious little bitch aren’t you?” said Akoi sarcastically, yet Li Li thought her words were beginning to have an impact. “You actually trust this Indian billionaire? Isn’t he a capitalist like all the others?”