by Hylton Smith
The project given the highest priority was the interfacing of Axis power generation to Human facilities. If this could be achieved it would open up advances on almost every front. All human engineering expertise and two Symbiants were allocated to the cause.
Chapter 36
The paranoia on Earth had begun to subside but was then kicked quickly sideways into a new fertile domain when the Axis had agreed to a replication. The leader had several volunteers and the mutual choice was an engineer, to hopefully facilitate harmonisation of the infrastructure coalescence.
Xiang was experiencing cold turkey again. This time he allowed the strain to manifest itself in a rebuke to Carvalho. The Commander, however, did not take offence. He knew that Xiang was the one true ally they had back in pantomime land. His good natured response and appreciation of Xiang’s position eased the tension when he reminded everyone of the reversibility option. He won a little more objectivity when he estimated the engineering benefit could be measured in decades rather than months. “We are looking at gains from three thousand years of colonisation by a species which was more advanced three million years ago than we are now. I took the decision calmly and based on this colossal saving in both time and expense, with the parachute of reversal. I hope this can be viewed as rationally on Earth as we hoped it would.” He added the palliative, “I’m anxious to acknowledge this may have caused some apprehension there, but I didn’t want the Axis to think we were stalling in case they withdrew their consent. They have a lot to lose too.”
Xiang recovered his energy to stay the course and renewed the offensive with the politicians. He wished he was dealing directly with the populous on this issue.
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The replication was attended by Pascal 2, Alex 2, Carvalho, the leader and two other Axis officers – medical and communication experts. It was a longer process than human replication, but it went very smoothly. The colour show was evident again when the new Axis Symbiant engineer began to click in what was apparently a clear, articulate manner. The subsequent evaluation of knowledge transfer on engineering principles was deemed ‘astonishing’. The final assessment was to be one of scavenging historical interpretation of events back at the 55 Cancri Exodus. It was decided that a thorough analysis of the Axis files and exhibits by the new Symbiant, and the subject of the replication could be helpful.
Radmanov had almost been forgotten in all the euphoria. He had managed to eclipse his frustration and the time of his return was near. He was anxious to know who else would be on board. Carvalho was also keen to hear the verdict on this because he might want to have more input than normal in this situation. While it was not ‘like driving a bus’ yet, the frequent voyages had lowered the stipulated minimum requirements compared to the first missions. He needed to sketch out the Symbiant and human staffing of Axis-Earth projects and choose from the remaining individuals. The next colonists also had to be viewed with a slightly altered emphasis to optimise the flow of progress. He anticipated some potential conflict with Earth, especially as they had not recovered from the challenge to their image of themselves sufficiently to authorise a date for the trip. He pondered whether or not it would be beneficial for him to return.
The language programme had prospered well with the arrival of the Axis Symbiant. This had resulted in all Symbiants modifying their voice apparatus to cater for both Human and Axis sound reproduction. In trying to teach the humans basic words of Axis speech however, there was only frustration. The leader’s name was Tcck Tsoh Tcet, which approximated to Always Precise. The Symbiants suggested pronouncing the first two letters as one and emphasising the last of each word. The best attempts apparently related something bordering on derogatory. This resulted in the leader suggesting that the humans chose his name in their language. They conceded defeat and simply chose Al. The leader acknowledged this and asked for the Symbiants help in using their production facilities to alter the Axis voice box to enable human sounds to be included.
The information everyone was waiting for was slow in coming. The Axis engineer and his or her Symbiant were combing the archives meticulously. They eventually located a section on the Master of Fate hitherto overlooked in terms of its significance. There were several references to his ‘Consul’. This individual had no name, but other passages around this time recorded by other writers, mentioned cases of mistaken identity. These incidents were frequent enough for the Supreme Leader to insist on a means of differentiation between the Master of Fate and his Consul. This struck the current Axis Symbiant as worth checking out with Al. When he was shown these passages Al said he could open and inspect files which were normally confined to true leaders.
He reported back that indeed there was recurring mention of these ‘twins’ and the subsequent disappearance of the Consul, after he had begun to draw the attention of the Master of Fate to the risks of creating a spatial distortion close to Nexus. It had been assumed that the Consul had been dismissed, although he had never been seen again. The disappearance was not headline news because the focus was now on the mission and the absolute confidence the Master of Fate had reiterated.
This entire episode was a mixture of myth and actual events and the circumstantial evidence allowed for alternate explanations. Alex 2, however, seemed unable to accept that the Continuance would have failed to make the Axis race aware of the pros and cons of their exit technology. Despite this latest revelation, which could suggest the Master of Fate had done what the Sumerians had on Earth, he admitted this was not proof. “It would be convenient to conclude that the Master of Fate was replicated and rid himself of that replicant when he feared the loss of his own status. We could only know that for certain if we were able to replicate him or his corpse a second time.” The trawl of the archives continued.
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The realisation on Earth that the tottering infant called Mars had now acquired balance and was assuming its own character, albeit with parental inheritance, was slowly breaking down alarmist propaganda. The major player here had been Xiang, yet the decision to ratify the departure of the next colony ship was tinged with a desire to even up the ratio of Human:Axis presence on ‘our planet’. This was betrayed by the embargo status being replaced by an accelerated departure. In the middle of the decision process, Xiang had slipped in the importance of Carvalho, as the senior representative of the species on Mars, to determine the crews for the return of Columbus and the outward Newton. They would cross each other’s path at some point.
Carvalho chose two Symbiants to pilot Columbus back to Earth and briefed them on the situation with Radmanov. He issued them with strict instructions to administer sedation if necessary. They were taken from the forestation programme. Radmanov asked why Carvalho was not going. The Commander said it was more important to stay for the supervision of the new infrastructure surge. Radmanov was assured he had served his penitence and would not be detained in Beijing. The Russian was quite pleased that no humans were aboard.
Carvalho transmitted his requirements for even more engineers to arrive with Newton and the next colony ship. This was to be a mixture of pure engineering and specialised robotics. He wanted a linguistics specialist and more computing expertise. The social aspect needed beefing up with the colonists and more technical entertainment equipment was high priority.
The pursuit of the mystery knowledge disappearance was slowly yielding snippets. There was pretty solid evidence from Al opening more Leaders’ biographies that the Master of Fate had perished on Nexus amongst the four million. Somehow this drew a line under the urgency. It did not seem to matter to the Axis whether they unearthed more. They trusted Alex 2’s statement that the Continuance would have insisted there was a risk with spatial distortion. They now believed that the ‘Consul’ had been the instrument of that advice and had paid for it. The humans said that if the Axis were prepared to accept this, then they would not contest it any further. The Symbiants maintained that it had not been proven but that such proof had almost become acade
mic.
As Columbus and Newton were nearing crossover the colonist ship was launched. The air of ‘breakthrough’ was evident. The mutual language interface was up and running. The power and manufacturing transfer from the Axis was up and running. The project to collect the remaining Axis was up and running. The Earth abandonment of mistrust was up and could soon be running.
There was also a thread running - the Symbiants were experiencing increasing dependence on their time from both Human and Axis Martians, in every aspect of progress.
This would include discussions between the two on the Axis recommendations regarding the thorny subject of alteration of Human physiology. Alex 2 made broadly the same comment that he had when he first addressed the world following the return of Copernicus. “You are still facing the question of embracing a conscious adaptation of the species. This extension and modification of Charles Darwin’s logic will not cease to either haunt you or drive you to a higher plane of understanding. You can have the understanding without the implementation being mandatory. The reverse is not valid.” Al was asked by Carvalho to try to summarise the views of his kin, in Epsilon Eridani, Gliese and the solar system of the virtues and trade-offs.
The Axis leader remarked that there were slight variations from the three locations. Those in Gliese felt it was justified and had found a suitable home. Epsilon Eridani was less complimentary, and although they had found a planet which had flourished because of their presence, they missed something important. The need and means to procreate was denied. The solar based Axis had endured the most difficult experience, and as with the others, had to add the tragic price of the Nexus annihilation. By their decision to allow individuals to terminate their existence, they would have to admit to negativity towards the concept of alteration. He quickly added that out of despair, hope can arise and this was manifest by some Martian Axis reversing their decision. Al added that he was personally ambivalent on the issue. “There is always the benefit of hindsight in our comments. This will make the choice even more difficult for you. Alex 2’s point is difficult to disagree with, unless you acquire the knowledge you don’t have the choice.”
Carvalho gathered the humans for a meeting without either Symbiants or Axis present and related their comments. He wanted everyone to consider the collective and individual implications and they would re-convene.
Chapter 37
Some aspects were easy to decide upon, others were complex. The point which Alex 2 had reinforced about learning and implementation was valid and there was unanimity in endorsing the research. The best estimates about the stability of the solar system compared to the ‘sword of Damocles’ which hung over 55 Cancri was important. Humanity did not have to be railroaded into making a premature or panic decision. It was also a consensus view that no individual should be coerced into accepting ‘modification’. This discussion was heading for a cosy conclusion when Carvalho introduced a point which Alex 2 had made more than two years ago. “I can’t disagree with any sentiment expressed so far. I just have the feeling we may be deluding ourselves with respect to how long we have to confront the eventual acceptance protocol. Alex 2, as some of you may know, has been directing the work of Dr. Isaakson in repairing and assisting the human brain’s self-recovery from certain conditions. He has repeatedly drawn attention to our blasé attitude to transplants of other organs and synthetic body parts such as knee, hip and even spinal components. Isaakson’s work has been successfully extended to temporary life support by rerouting cerebral function through an artificial brain. Alex 2’s thrust is that in a short time we will face the decision over a brain transplant to save lives. The assumption at that time will be that the memory/data from the original defective organ will be lost and a ‘new identity’ may be experienced by the recovering patient. There is an ethical issue here which is less controversial with an artificial replacement and the higher potential to be able to transfer data. This decision will be upon us very much sooner than we realise. He has difficulty in understanding our inability to distinguish compassion from inevitability. I’m not canvassing support for his view; I am merely increasing your awareness of another timescale which will impact the one we are currently debating.”
There was a considerable silence. The gradual emergence of acknowledgement that there could be ‘approval by default’ re-ignited the discussion. It took a slightly different course. They felt they could only speak for the ‘citizens’ of Mars. It was time this citizenship issue was discussed in its own right. There should be no repeat of conflicts over independence or civil wars. There was a real need for such a charter which included the Axis and Symbiants. This should be considered in the same time frame as the modification dilemma. Both of these controversial issues were likely to meet with different recommendations on Earth and Mars, simply because of the prevailing circumstances in each location. For example, the decision to offer a new brain to save someone’s life on Earth would be bogged down by bureaucratic dogma and layers of moral and religious objection. It was quite likely that this procrastination would exceed the living status of the subject. That scenario would probably not occur on Mars because of the small population and the ease of identifying with the individual, and their predicament. This aspect had already reared its head with social requirements. It would only grow like a tumour if not addressed. The impact of such notions on Earth would risk future support. It was tricky. They all felt it was necessary.
The fallout of the conundrum was to test out the degree to which the umbilical cord from mother to infant could accommodate change. The logical and possibly defining issue was that which had kicked off the broader ‘constitutional’ one. They agreed to progress the modification programme by voluntary subjects and at a rate which was in synchronisation with Isaakson’s progress. It was a bold gambit and they accepted they should brace themselves for a conservative response.
This resolve meant that there was one more item to be added to the growing list of those up and running in Martian society. This was without doubt the one of most significance. It truly was the era of Transition.
The explanation of this policy was extremely well received by the Axis and Symbiants. It had all the regalia of inclusiveness. Time would be the arbiter of whether that was matched with substance.
