“Good to see you too?” Fred said, clearly unsure if he remembered her or not. Nevertheless he introduced Qi and Ta Shu. “We were told you might be able to give us asylum?”
“We don’t have to give you asylum,” she said to him. “For your friends here, we’ll take you all to our local station chief, and you can discuss the situation with him. I’m happy to talk with you, but policy and personnel decisions are above my level.”
Qi looked unimpressed by this declaration, and indeed Valerie saw that and seemed embarrassed to have said it. Ta Shu quickly asked, “Is your station chief still John Semple?”
“Yes. He told me he knew you, and he’s looking forward to seeing you again. He’ll be at the base to meet you.”
“Good. I look forward to seeing him too. We worked together in Antarctica, long ago.”
This little diversion seemed to have been enough to distract Qi, who had looked like she was about to snap at this helpful American woman, but was now swiping her wrist and reading what came up.
“Is anything happening?” Fred asked her.
She shrugged. “Demonstrations have begun in Shanghai and Chengdu. Big enough that they can’t shut them down. They haven’t been able to do anything about the one in Beijing either. And now … now a big crowd from Hong Kong has crossed into Shenzhen and joined a demonstration there.”
“What will the police do?”
“They’ll probably wait them out and hope they go away. But maybe this time they won’t go away. The crowds keep getting bigger. And a lot of people are taking their savings out of the banks, like the Americans. A lot of them are moving it into a cryptocurrency called carboncoin.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not sure. I think it’s a coin that is created or validated by taking carbon out of the air. Something like that. It’s a credit system, and its coins can only buy sustainable subsistence necessities, but since everyone needs those, it’s looking like they’re getting widespread buy-in and acceptance. What will happen if everyone shifts their savings all at once?”
Fred shrugged. “I don’t know.”
The rover they were in was a very slow and vibratory experience compared to the train they had been on. Nevertheless they soon reached the American base, which was a single tall cylinder standing on six legs of various heights that together compensated for the bumpy ground it stood over. The transfer into it was by way of a short tube, which extended like a jetway and locked onto the rover’s door. The three travelers followed Valerie up the shallow steps and through the station’s lock, where they were greeted by John Semple.
“Welcome to Little America,” he said, giving Ta Shu a hug. “This place kind of reminds me of Pole, don’t you think?”
Ta Shu nodded politely. “Like the galley, maybe. Thanks for taking us in.”
“My pleasure. Sit down and tell me more about what happened.”
They sat around the table in the station’s common room. John Semple brought them up to speed on events of the last few days on Earth. The fiscal noncompliance campaign was going stronger than ever in America. Markets had crashed, banks had closed to stop depositors from withdrawing amounts beyond what the banks had on hand, and now most of the biggest ones were giving themselves over to control by the Federal Reserve to make themselves eligible for a government bailout, which they all now needed. In effect these banks were being nationalized. Everyone was now trying to understand terms like citizens’ fiscal revolution, cryptocurrencies, especially carboncoin, and blockchain governance. People were also trying to figure out whether these mass actions were going to create real representation. There were a million opinions, or maybe a billion, but no one actually seemed to understand what was happening.
To add to the confusion, China’s government was buying more US treasury bonds, which in effect meant China was supporting the US Federal Reserve Bank’s “salvation by nationalization” of the private banking industry. This looked to many in America like a takeover disguised as aid, and anti-China alarm in the States was rising in some quarters, while others were welcoming the help. Whether China buying American T-bills was a help or a hindrance no one could say for sure, but whatever else was happening, it looked like the dollar might be coming to the end of its long century of global dominance, as it was now being propped up by the renminbi. The scramble to leave the dollar for more stable currencies, assuming there were any, was getting desperate and chaotic. Nothing that China or anyone else could do was going to be enough to save the American economy from a huge disruption, which was either a self-induced collapse or a startling triumph for the idea of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That it had been caused by legal actions taken by millions of Americans intent on changing the political system made John Semple think that although it was confusing, there might be some promise in it. How many Americans were part of this takeback of their federal government from global finance was unclear, but the Householders’ Union now claimed two hundred million active members.
Meanwhile, back in China, John said, individual savings accounts were shifting at such a rate to carboncoin and other cryptocurrencies that withdrawals from the state-owned banks had been temporarily banned, as well as all traffic in cryptocurrencies of any kind. But stopping speculation in these currencies didn’t actually stop people from using them for exchanges. All this was now only a sideshow to the widespread street demonstrations, but possibly more important in the end. Demonstrations came and went, but law remained, money remained. Still, it was looking less and less likely that the policy of waiting for the demonstrations to sputter out, a tactic that had worked for many decades now, would succeed this time, or succeed fast enough. But the other options were so dangerous that no one wanted to see them tried, not even the PLA—or at least a majority of the PLA. Hostile pilot syndrome was of course always a real danger.
“Nothing will stop the people,” Qi said as she looked through a selection of photos and maps. “They can’t be stopped.”
John Semple regarded her. “So what do you think will happen?”
She gave him a quick glance. “Change!”
Part of Ta Shu would have been very interested to hear what Chan Qi thought change could be in the contemporary context. Dynastic succession—really? Who or what could replace the Chinese Communist Party, which had led the country and served as “the government of the government” since 1949? He had often wondered about that himself, feeling that they were all riding a tiger together, a tiger that these days ran along the edge of a cliff. He had sometimes felt that Winston Churchill’s description of democracy was equally suitable as a description of the Party’s rule in China: the worst possible system, except for all the rest.
And maybe it wasn’t even fair to call it the worst. Socialism with Chinese characteristics: it was, he felt, a good idea. And he was quite sure that no one could rule China without the Chinese people’s consent. So the fact that the Party still ruled meant de facto that the majority of the people still wanted the Party, and approved of its governance, feeling it was their system. In that sense, as long as that feeling endured, it was a representative system.
But now it appeared that everywhere in the world governments were suffering a crisis of representation. Possibly this was because it was all one system, which one could call global capitalism with national characteristics, each variation around the Earth marked by the remaining vestiges of an earlier nation-state system, but still making together one larger global thing: capitalism. When it came to those national characteristics, China had the Party, the US its federal government, the EU its union; but all were ruled by the globalized market.
So what would Chan Qi say to this?
But Ta Shu was not going to have his curiosity about Qi’s ideas answered at this particular moment, because the lock door leading out to the rover tubeway opened suddenly, shocking John Semple and all the other Americans in the common room; then even more shockingly, a crowd of Chinese men holding Taser pistols fi
led into the room and stood against the walls, watching the Americans and their guests closely, guns in hand pointed at the ceiling.
“What’s going on here?” John Semple cried angrily.
Bo and Dhu entered last. Tall and short. They were not holding weapons, but they were holding power. All eyes fixed on them.
Bo spoke in English, which surprised Ta Shu. “We have come to take in our charge this Chinese national”—gesturing at Qi—“who is accused of grave crimes against the state, including murder of a policeman.”
“This is an American base,” John Semple said. “You have no jurisdiction here, and in fact you’re trespassing. You must leave at once.”
Bo shook his head. “This is not American territory. There are no valid territorial claims on the moon. Each nation can make scientific experiments wherever they like here, then they have the right to continue those experiments. You placed this station here long after China started an experiment on this very ground.”
“What do you mean? We located this station on empty land!”
“No. We laid a network of wires over this entire area, as part of an experiment to determine strength of solar wind. You put your base right on top of a preexisting Chinese experiment. Very inappropriate. We stand on lunar territory first used by China, so we have jurisdiction here. And we must take this suspect into custody.”
“No.” Semple stared at Bo. “If you try to do that against our wishes, by force, you’ll have a dangerous fight on your hands, and then an international incident.”
Bo pursed his lips, shook his head. “Our authorization and command comes from the very top of Chinese government. They will deal with incident. As for fight here, please notice that we outnumber you greatly, with men who are peace officers, willing to use nonfatal tools to disable you.”
It occurred to Ta Shu that Tasers were probably more effective on the moon than guns, as being more likely to be used, because less likely to puncture the chamber holding both victim and assailant. A Taser would affect only its target person, and being nonlethal (hopefully) would keep any diplomatic repercussions from being too severe. And Tasers perhaps didn’t contravene the Outer Space Treaty—not the most pressing consideration in this moment, admittedly, although Bo and Semple were in fact trading legalisms.
Ta Shu watched John Semple think it over. Out of the blue he recalled something he had heard about law enforcement in McMurdo, back when he and Semple had first met: its thousand residents were policed by officials who had only a single handgun on station, a pistol which was disassembled into three parts that were kept in three different locked offices, to prevent anyone from going crazy and using it on their comrades or themselves. People stationed in remote places were self-regulating, for the most part. Weapons were dangerous to all. But sometimes there was a need, and when that happened, a Taser was no doubt the equivalent of McMurdo’s disassembled gun. Almost a symbolic show of force; but not quite.
Ta Shu decided to act. “You have no authority on the moon!” he exclaimed to Bo, standing as he spoke.
He saw that John Semple was surprised he had spoken. But a flicker of a glance from John suggested that John now wanted him to keep talking, to buy time perhaps. He was also flicking glances at his assistants, eyes roving in a way that might suggest confusion or pondering, but Ta Shu thought could be meaningful looks.
So Ta Shu continued. “The administrator of Petrov Crater Station declined to allow you permission to take this same action, and he is an official of the Lunar Authority and the Lunar Personnel Coordination Task Force, which outranks any other policing body here. All other regular lunar agencies would likewise refuse to acknowledge your authority, not to mention your illegal incursion into an American station, no matter where it happens to be located. So you are not in fact a Chinese administrative group. You’re some kind of rogue operation, soon to become a criminal operation, guilty of trespassing, and kidnapping, and who knows what will come next—maybe coercive interplanetary transport! Surely you must be members of a splinter group like the Red Spear, repudiated many times by the standing committee of the Politburo, and even the People’s Liberation Army’s Central Military Command. No one in Beijing will support you if you do this thing! Surely you must know that you yourselves will be sacrificed by any commanders you may have for this mad action, even if they ordered you to do it. They don’t care what happens to you afterward. You’re as much a tool to them as that Taser is to you.”
Bo and Dhu and all their men were looking completely unimpressed by Ta Shu’s argument. But a little time had passed.
“One moment,” John Semple said, glancing at his wrist. “Hold on, please.”
Then they were all shoved violently to the floor as the American base blasted off into space.
Normally at the moment of takeoff everyone would be lying down strapped into cushioned launch chairs, because old-fashioned chemical launches from the surface of the moon were very abrupt affairs. One-sixth of a g meant launch rockets exploding downward from the bottom of a spacecraft made it leap quite suddenly into space, as was now made evident by the fact they were all knocked to the floor by the hard lurch and subsequent powerful acceleration. Ta Shu thumped to his knees, then sat down and didn’t even try to rise. All the other people in the room fell over one way or another, and one of the men standing against the wall fired his Taser pistol, on purpose or by accident, hitting one of his fellows, who grunted and spasmed across the floor kicking people and furniture. For a moment all was chaos and noise; loudest of all was Bo, who had crashed to his knees shouting “What are you doing? What are you doing?”
John Semple had been prepared for the launch, Ta Shu presumed, and therefore had had time to grab a table. Holding himself upright, he stared down at Bo and said, “Put down your weapons. We’re headed for the American base at the north pole, guided there by an automatic pilot that you don’t know how to alter. Anything you do now to try to redirect or impede this craft could get us all killed. So put down your weapons and talk like civilized people.”
“Civilized people!” Bo cried. “You are protecting a criminal who is attacking the Chinese state! There will be trouble from this, big trouble!”
“That remains to be seen,” John Semple said. “For now, please tell your men here to stand down. That one appears to be hurt, and this guy’s been tasered by his own teammates. Let’s all sit down. It’s safer that way. Do any of your people have medical experience? No? We have a couple first responders on board. They can help your men if you want.”
Bo and Dhu and their men retreated to a corner and muttered among themselves in Chinese. Ta Shu couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he noticed Qi cocking an ear in their direction as she sat on a chair holding her belly up against the strain. He wondered if she could hear them, but in a way it didn’t matter; when they landed at the north pole they would be surrounded by Americans, also by an international community that included only one small Chinese consular office. Things were going to be resolved outside this flying room, and the people here were going to have to live with it one way or another. Bo and Dhu were smart enough to recognize that, presumably.
“Lean to the side,” Ta Shu suggested to them, hoping they recognized Mao’s old injunction.
He shifted across the floor to sit by Fred and Qi. The flight to the north pole would take an hour or so, and for the time being there was nothing to do but wait.
“What happened to you two after I left?” he asked the two of them in English. “Why did you leave Fang Fei’s place on the far side?”
Qi shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about it. Fred said, “She didn’t like it. She wanted to talk to some friends back on Earth, she said. And she thought that place was just a prison dressed up as a classical Chinese theme park.”
“A refuge,” Ta Shu suggested again.
“I know, that’s what you said, but she didn’t like it. Then these helium three prospectors said they could get us out and take us to the near side, where she could
get a message to Earth. So that’s what we did.”
“And then?”
Fred regarded Qi, who was sitting with her eyes now shut, faking sleep. “We got to the edge between near side and far side.”
“The libration zone.”
“Yes. Then she used a laser comms device to get a message back to Earth. After that the prospectors needed to refuel their rover, so we went to the nearest station to do that, and as soon as we got there they arrested us. Then after a while you showed up, and you know the rest.”
“This keeps happening,” Ta Shu observed.
“I noticed,” Fred replied, looking at Ta Shu a little suspiciously. “I don’t like the look of these people, they seem familiar somehow, but I can’t place them. Who are they? Why do they want her so bad?”
“I was told they were working for an old student of mine who is very high in the government.”
“But if this student of yours is helping you, they should be helping us, right?”
“I don’t know if it’s that simple.”
Fred sighed. “Nothing is ever simple when it comes to you guys.”
“Very true. So, there’s nothing else that happened to you two?”
Fred frowned. “Qi used that mobile quantum key device you gave her when we came here this time, and she had a conversation with someone over it.”
“I see,” Ta Shu said, though he didn’t. “I wonder who that was. Do you still have the device?”
“No. These guys took it from us when they arrested us.”
“Maybe we can get it back.”
John Semple came over to sit by them.
“Sorry about this,” he said. “I didn’t have any other way to deal with the situation.”
“That’s all right,” Ta Shu said. “We’ll get where we are going eventually.”
Red Moon Page 36
