This all sounded pretty good to Bruce as the words rolled off his tongue. He had discovered he did his best thinking while he spoke, on the fly, though sometimes he felt his brain worked faster than he could talk, and he often struggled to articulate the ideas and concepts churning around in his mind. There was one thing he knew for sure: he needed Lake on board and leading the proto-government, because he didn't have the time to step in.
Nine
Opinion Piece: Why is the Chump administration so at odds with its support base?
Chump has adopted a contrary view on yet another key policy of his campaign: immigration. Chump’s campaign planks are well known and included increased defence spending, cutting spending on welfare, health, and education, overturning the previous administration’s environmental protection policies, and encouraging the exploitation of coal and oil production at the expense of clean energy. In his brief time in office, he has initiated discussions with Congress or signed Executive Orders taking a stance completely opposite to the standard position of his party and which he articulated in his campaign pledges. In the process, Chump has halted and turned back the march of Libertarian influence in American politics.
Chump is on record as stating he would limit spending on any form of scientific research, including space exploration, if he was able to do so. However, in power he is now actively promoting missions to relieve the lunar and Martian MFY colonies.
One of his most controversial moves to date has been to sign an Executive Order aimed at investigating how a standard living wage could be applied to all Americans and be implemented by the end of the current fiscal year.
Business leaders and ideologues from the far right of his party are calling for his impeachment, but his policies seem to have resonated across party lines and his approval rating among Democrats, people with a college education, and the disadvantaged, is at an all-time high. He might have the lowest approval ratings in history amongst people who voted for him, but paradoxically he is now hugely popular amongst those who didn’t vote for him.
Experts on both sides of the political spectrum are struggling to explain the reasons for the President’s aberrant behaviour.
While Chump may appear to have no fixed policy on any subject and is allegedly semi-literate at best, the same cannot be said of his management team, which is acknowledged as one of the most professional operations in institutional memory. Prolific leaking, a sure sign of a dysfunctional White House, has been all but unknown during the term of this administration.
An increasing number of Congressmen and women, and Senators from his party are concerned about the upcoming mid-term elections and are wondering what their stance should be. The electorate seems equally bewildered. However, the President seems to be advocating middle of the road non-partisan government: pundits say that offers the best of both worlds for business and the public.
Some conservative elements are warning that President Chump is determined to introduce European-style socialism to the United States and is attacking key institutions which have defended the greatest democracy in the western world from being undermined by a President seeking to rule autocratically.
However, business leaders have been muted in their attacks on Trump, despite his tax reform package. Unemployment is at an all-time low and Wall Street is making solid gains. Business profits are up and despite Chump's unpopularity, the economy is gowning at a faster rate than any time since the nineteen fifties.
Bruce left Lake staring into morosely into his coffee and rode the conveyor to the farm. He’d decided he should find out what was going on out there.
We have another, bigger problem, the Transcendents reported as he stepped onto the conveyer.
What could be more important than someone hacking into your infrastructure? Bruce wondered.
The population keeps fluctuating, and we don't know why, the Transcendents reported.
Bruce was a convert to the Skidian mass transit system once he discovered how extensive it was. He’d only been vaguely aware of it on his first visits to Skid. The network was made up of a series of conveyors creating personalised transport solutions based on individual carts, which connected all of Skid’s cities and population centres like a vast metro rail system. For short distances, a user simply stood on a section of the conveyor. For longer distances, small pods with seats were available.
Bruce chose to stand for this journey. The dogs weren’t as keen on the system as he was, so the three of them sat, huddled hard up against his legs, and whimpered every now and then. They preferred the pods because they could jump up on the seats. The shifting carts or plates beneath their paws freaked the dogs out, as they continually rotated, joined, and budded off again. Even Cop was discombobulated, and Bruce thought he’d have to drag the dogs off the conveyor when they arrived at the stepping-off point.
What do you mean? Shouldn’t we expect some variation because of births and deaths?
There haven’t been any births or deaths in the last week but the number of people on the planet is fluctuating daily.
So, you want me to investigate this too?
Definitely. There must be a logical explanation. We are in full control of the upload process, so I don’t believe it is possible for other users to piggy-back on it. There could be other connections, but I haven’t been able to detect them. Wisneski, Dick, Sue, Trev, and yourself use wormholes and can move between planets. There are standard patrols of the planet. But taking all that into account, the population continues to fluctuate. There may be a problem with my sensor inputs, but I don't think so.
Did you note the time I got here today on my time sheet?
The Transcendents ignored the jibe and continued. Technically we are in full control of the upload process. There might be other wormholes, but if that is the case, then whoever is using them is being very discreet.
Someone might have hacked into the MPU and is subverting it?
This is not possible! It is secure. This was a slightly different message than the one it had given Bruce earlier in the day when it had talked about firewalls.
So, is the population increasing or decreasing?
Overall it is trending upwards, but it’s volatile. One moment it drops by a small margin, then it increases over and above the initial level.
This was disturbing news. If people could be uploaded without the knowledge of the MPU and the Transcendents, who or what was behind it? Bruce thought it was entirely possible someone had hacked into the MPU and was free to travel back to Earth and upload friends and family. The Transcendents were far too complacent and dismissive of human technical capability to acknowledge this possibility. But what if there was another reason entirely?
OK. I’ll look into it over the next few days. What other details do you have for me?
I have nothing more to add. It’s not a major issue, more of a niggle. Bruce wasn’t sure that the Transcendents were being honest. They had discussed the topic with him more than once, which indicated they were worried by this discovery.
Any information you have would be useful. Location information would be a good start in helping to pin down what is happening, and who is behind it. While he articulated these thoughts, a new icon appeared in his vision and started to flash rapidly like a car’s indicator signal. Up ahead, a corresponding light flashed on the wall of the tunnel and Bruce realised it was an early warning that the cart they were standing on was going to bud off onto a branch line leading to the surface. The cart gently spun across to the edge of the conveyor and then glided effortlessly across to another track materialising in front of him.
This new pathway gently ascended, almost imperceptibly at first, and then more steeply upwards, causing the dogs more discomfort. Punch and Can whimpered pathetically. Cop just muttered to himself.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
The only reason the dogs hadn’t tried to scrabble off all together was because the carts making up the conveyor were almost flush with the wall. There was nowhere t
o go except backwards, and they weren’t keen on that direction either.
Bruce instinctively ducked so as not to bump his head on the ceiling as it slid back, and they emerged into daylight. The cart came to a standstill off to one side of the main pathway, so they could all get off while the rest of the conveyor plunged back beneath the surface.
He stepped off the cart and the dogs followed him, scampering across the endless grassy paddock. He recognised in an instant where he was, took a deep breath, and a moment to compose himself.
It felt like an eternity since he had first crested the small hill he was now standing on and looked down upon the site beside a small river where he had established a home on Skid.
He realised now, even though he had only been on the planet for a very short time when he had first conceived of developing a farm on Skid, the Transcendents had already infiltrated his brain with the tools required to monitor and communicate with him.
The Farm had grown quite a bit since the early days. On his last visit, there had been just the main house, a few sheds, the barn, and a few cottages where the indoSkidians who had gravitated to the farm lived.
Since his last visit, more units had sprouted up around the main house, and the original homestead had developed into a small village.
Beyond the buildings were the large garden and the cattle yards he had built himself. Both were looking a little unkempt and in need of a bit of a tidy up. Nobody was farming the place or working in the garden, he guessed.
He hesitated. Part of him wanted to take off as fast as possible.
He knew many of the inhabitants. There were some indoSkidians who had tried to make a go of the farm, and others from the MFY program on Earth and Mars. By now there were probably some newSkidians who had wandered out of the city.
He wanted to keep his distance from some of the inhabitants, especially his ex-wife. Some contact between them was inevitable, but he tried to use Ngaio as an intermediary most of the time, so he didn’t have to deal with Sue. While they didn’t have too much to say to each other, he knew he should bring Little Bruce along occasionally and leave him with his birth mother for a few days. Bruce vaguely recalled promising her something along those lines at the wedding.
Little Bruce was a well-mannered child most of the time, but Bruce had discovered the boy could be headstrong and wilful when he didn’t get his way. He was always getting into mischief, driven in part by his innate inquisitiveness. But, generally, he took after his paternal grandfather in many ways and was developing into an amiable character.
It would be good for Sue and Little Bruce if she looked after him from time to time and got to know her son. She usually ignored the boy, except when it suited her not to.
Wherever Sue was, Trev wouldn’t be far away. Mitch and Wisneski would also be around somewhere.
Bruce sat on his haunches, pulled out his tobacco and rolled up a cigarette while he waited for the inevitable welcome party. He had almost kicked the habit completely, but he still enjoyed having the odd smoke when he was having a reflective moment, a beer, or both.
Sure enough, Trev appeared from the house and lumbered up the hill toward him.
“Bloody hell Trev, what’s going on? You’re looking porkier each time I see you.”
“Thanks Bruce. You completely fucked up my world and destroyed my whole reason for being, then dumped me here with your cast-off wife. What else can I do besides eat and try to drown my sorrows?”
Quite a lot, Bruce thought, but he held his tongue. Of all the people on Skid, Trev was one of the few who could go anywhere in the universe. He could return to Earth if he really wanted to. He was still technically persona non-grata in some parts of the United States, but it wouldn’t present any real problems if he really wanted to go there. However, like Sue, he had chosen to stay on Skid, to fester and get fat.
“Get out of it!” Trev slapped Punch away because the dog, recognising a friendly face, had decided to drool all over him.
“How’s it going here?” Bruce asked while they strolled down the hill towards the settlement.
“Well, you know. There’s an interesting mix of long term indoSkidian residents who don’t mix much with newSkidians.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Then there are the newer Skidians. The guys are MFYers who turned up before the main uploads for one reason or another. A few other odds and sods have gravitated here too, and Mitch of course, who can be difficult at times. Overall though, everyone seems to get along and be civil to each other most of the time. Can’t ask for much else really.
“How’s Sue?” Bruce asked tentatively.
“She’s OK.”
“I bet,” Bruce muttered to himself. “I bet..” he added a little louder, “..she’ll be pleased to see me.”
“Yeah right!” Trev laughed. “Where do you want to stay?” He and Sue had claimed the master bedroom in the house, so they had been a little put out when Bruce showed up because they might have to move out of it.
“I won’t be sticking around tonight. I must get home. If I stay in future, I am sure I can squeeze in somewhere.”
“But we’re halfway across the galaxy. It’s a bloody long commute.” Trev sounded relieved he wouldn’t have to give up his bed.
“Nah, it’s all relative. I’ve got my own personalised rapid transit system to use.” Bruce laughed.
“I guess so. At least if you go, it's one less reason for Sue to make a scene.”
Bruce felt a sudden and intense urge to turn around and bugger off the way he had come. He didn't want to deal with Sue throwing a wobbly. Right after their wedding ceremony had been completed, her rapid metamorphosis into an evil witch was the main reason for their marriage coming to an untimely end.
“I don’t think she will. Really,” Trev added almost as an afterthought, “she’s mellowed a bit recently and is certainly a lot less intense than she was. She’s lost the sense of entitlement, that need to be the centre of attraction, that she had in the old days.”
Bruce reckoned the transition must have been remarkably rapid because it didn’t seem too long ago she was storming off down the road at home with Little Bruce tucked under her arm, determined to make some sort of point.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah,” Trev replied, “she’s not angry at you, if that’s what you are worried about, she’s come to terms with the way events have unfolded. I think she would really like to sit down and have a good chat to you about what went wrong, to get some closure, and work out an access agreement for the boy.”
“Doesn’t sound like the Sue I know.”
“Yeah, well I don’t know how you guys dealt with some of your issues after your first trip up here, between finding yourself back home and ending up in my place in Portland. I think you probably handled it better than she did. You didn’t have to deal with being pregnant and deal with a father who is a fundamentalist religious nutter. Did you know, even though she had been to university and owned her own business, the old coot controlled her whole life, deciding who she went out with and where she lived?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Bruce started to see Trev in a new light. These insights revealed a side of him Bruce hadn’t recognized before.
“If you're a barman, you get to listen to a lot of people and their stories, good and bad. I’ve learnt a lot about people and how they open up to a sympathetic ear.” Trev explained.
“I’d heard.” Bruce grinned. However, he wasn’t about to share with Trev how he had dealt with the niggling knowledge that something was wrong with his life after he returned to Earth from Skid.
Trev didn’t know as much as he thought he did about Bruce’s relationship with Sue, and their first visit to Skid, and how they re-connected back on Earth. Sue might have told Trev her own version of the truth, but Bruce wasn't about to put him straight and throw fuel on his strained relationship with his ex-wife. He had more important things to do.
“Let's get it over and
done with then.”
Walking through the small settlement Bruce felt uplifted. In some ways he was coming home, and it was a very intense emotion. He had always believed nowhere could take the place of his home in his heart, but The Farm came a close second. It was where he had really proved himself, confirming the pioneering, innovative spirit he was so proud of was alive and well in his veins. Sure, he didn’t have to deal with all the challenges his ancestors had, but he’d dealt with his own, on the other side of the galaxy.
“Get out of it, ya fucken' idiot!” Bruce bellowed at Punch who had bailed up an unfortunate indoSkidian, who didn’t know what to do with a big dog who was hell bent on licking him to death.
“You fucken' moron.”
Time stood still in the little world of The Farm for an instant, and even Trev was taken aback at the violent outburst. Everyone in the settlement froze in position, in mid-sentence, stunned at this new disrupt in their lives.
“Get in here, you big dumb fuck, and behave yourself.”
“This is fucken' embarrassing, Cop. Keep those two idiots under control or you can stay at home in the future,” Bruce added. Witnessing Bruce speak to the dog in conversational English confirmed in the minds of most that this new figure in their lives was wild, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous. Many of the inhabitants in earshot, new and indoSkidians alike, who hadn’t met Bruce before, scurried quickly away out of range.
Yes boss, Cop replied.
It took a moment for Bruce to remember where he was, and he was mortified at having made a scene. He’d wanted everything to be low key and he carried on to the main house, trailed by Trev, who was trying not to laugh.
“Classic,” he said, “what an entrance. I think you’ve made a great first impression.”
Sue was waiting at the front door, looking nervous. “Hello,” she said as Bruce walked up the steps and gave her a platonic peck on the cheek.
The Colonists Page 36
