by Ike Hamill
“No!” Jacob said. He pushed back from the table. He blinked at the darkness. Jacob found it unsettling that the group liked to strategize in a dark room. The only light was a narrow beam that hit the center of the table. When he tried to take notes, he could barely see his own writing. “Can’t we put on some lights?”
“It inhibits creativity,” Brook said.
“And it’s distracting. Why can’t you average the information?” Caleb asked.
“That average is always wrong,” Jacob said. “Regardless of which method you choose, you have to follow it to repeat the results. Imagine you’re baking a cake. You can’t just average recipes. Baking is chemistry—it requires specific ratios of ingredients to produce the right outcome.”
“I’ve never baked,” Brook said.
“Me neither,” Caleb said.
Jacob threw up his hands and grunted. Caleb and Brook sank back in their chairs. They had grown up differently and just didn’t speak the same language. Jacob doubted if he could ever effectively communicate with them. That wasn’t true—when they talked about mechanical things, the conversations were easy. They spoke the same language when it came down to something they could see and hold in their hands. It was when they discussed the ether that they had such different points of view.
“What if I just posted something that, on this day, such and such happened?” Brook asked.
“Fine,” Jacob said. “How would I find that?”
“Let’s just say you did. We agreed beforehand on a search and we crafted the message so it would respond to that search,” she said.
Jacob rolled his eyes. “Assuming that worked, and I found your message, then it wouldn’t mean anything.”
“But why? Why isn’t all the information preserved?”
“Because that’s a path,” Jacob said. This was the point he had been trying to convey for an hour. In Oslo they had circumvented this restriction in a manner of speaking, but it was only because they all understood the concept of why they had to circumvent it. Jacob was tasked with instructing the group on the Oslo methodology, but he didn’t even share the appropriate vocabulary with his peers. He could describe the procedures, but they needed to know why the procedures had worked. They had read the writings of Cosgrow, but they just didn’t understand the logic.
“What do you mean?” Caleb asked.
Jacob paused. He needed a fresh approach.
“Imagine there’s a river that runs through town. It has a good flow and the water is pristine. But your town is divided into sections and nobody can talk to each other. What would you use the river for?”
“If it’s pristine, obviously we would drink it,” Caleb said. “One of our top energy expenses is pumping water from the ground. And purification can load even more cost.”
“You said the sections can’t communicate,” Brook said. “Do they know about each other?”
“Why do you ask?” Jacob asked.
“Waste,” she said. “If we thought we were the only people using the river, we would be tempted to pull drinking water from the head and dump our waste at the end. We wouldn’t know that we were poisoning downstream”
Caleb began nodding. “Ah. I see your point. And then the larger point as well.” He turned to Jacob. “You’re saying information is a path and you’re suggesting that its consumption is destructive.”
Brook’s face lit up. “It’s not that the ether can’t accept time references. It just eats them.”
“As far as we know, yes. There was more knowledge on the subject at one time, but even that knowledge didn’t survive storage.”
“Right,” Caleb said. “How could it? It would be like a pencil trying to write on itself.”
They all considered that image for a second.
Brook asked the original question again. “Okay, so we now have an image of why you can’t theoretically communicate directly over ether. How did Oslo use ether to create a near real-time link?”
Jacob nodded. “Instead of making it a source of information, we made it a source of confirmation. Back to the river analogy—we broke through the walls and told all the different sections of the city that the river water was for consumption only.”
“Start from the top and explain it all again,” Caleb said.
# # # # #
Caleb ran up the old stairs and tucked the envelope back under his arm. He made sure to catch his breath before he knocked on his commander’s door.
“Come,” the man said.
Caleb pushed open the door.
Ryan looked up from his papers and moved his glasses to the top of his head.
“Good,” Ryan said. “You have results for me?”
“Yes,” Caleb said. He moved through the doorway and shut it behind himself. “I think it’s even better than you hoped.”
“Really.”
His commander didn’t look like there was a thing in the world that would surprise him. Caleb regretted his own enthusiasm.
“I mean that it seemed like really good news to me.”
Ryan held out his hand. Caleb put the envelope in it. The young man stood while his commander unsealed the envelope. Ryan moved his glasses back down to the end of his nose. He studied the summary and revealed nothing. Caleb tried to read the paper from his vantage point. He was second guessing his conclusions and wishing that he had spent more time constructing his arguments.
Ryan flipped to the second page. Caleb had included his notes and the data that he had collected.
Ryan continued to read as he asked, “And you’re sure that this is everything Jacob knows?”
“Almost certain. He was pretty young when he lived in Oslo. Obviously he studied the structure, but it wasn’t as if he was a part of the decisions. The people who set things up had a better understanding, but I believe Jacob has been completely forthcoming.”
“Almost certain?”
“I can’t know his mind. If he’s lying, then he’s better at it than I am at lie detection,” Caleb said.
Ryan laughed softly. “That’s always a danger. You should learn to tell if someone is being generally evasive. Even if you can’t spot a specific lie, you should be able to know if someone is genuine.”
Caleb thought about that for a second. “I guess I don’t see the difference,” he said.
“That’s the problem,” Ryan said. “So tell me exactly why you were encouraged by this session.”
“As I said in my conclusions, although Oslo didn’t manage to expand the capabilities, they just exploited it better than anyone else.”
“I read your conclusions, Caleb. Didn’t you just see me do that?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me why that’s so encouraging.”
Caleb realized the problem with his report. He had accurately summarized the brainstorming session, but he hadn’t inserted any of his own insight into the document. He had left that up to the reader, and missed an opportunity to guide them to the proper realization.
“We can use the same method to make our own system better,” Caleb said. “There was nothing revolutionary in Oslo. We’ve been trying to come up with one strategy that completely solves all our problems. What Oslo found was that they could use the best parts of many different systems and coordinate them together into a whole, better than the parts. That’s what we’ve been missing. That’s why it’s so encouraging.”
“Well done,” Ryan said.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll look for your plan on my desk by the end of the week.”
“Plan? I’ve only done investigation and implementation. I’m not qualified to write a plan.”
Ryan set his jaw at an angle and considered Caleb. He put the papers back into the envelope and slid them back across his desk.
“I’ve got a decent team of strategists who don’t know the intimate details of the tech. And I’ve got a roomful of techs who can’t plan to save their lives. Until today, you were one of those techs. I’m telling you that you have
the ability to see the bigger picture. You’re a tech who could be the better strategist. I suggest to learn to recognize and accept a promotion when it’s in front of you.”
“Yes,” Caleb said.
Chapter 5
{Reclamation}
CLEO TOOK THE PODIUM to light applause. Most of the people just shook their hands in the air to show approval. Elijah looked around. The spectators were spread out in the clearing. People shifted from foot to foot and the ones at the perimeter couldn’t help but glance around for potential danger. Madelyn hadn’t arrived yet.
“Let’s all give thanks to Commander Ryan Brown and his team for making this possible,” Cleo said. Another smattering of applause followed. “And, of course, we have to thank and remember the sacrifice of the twelve brave citizens who gave their lives in pursuit of our enduring future.”
Despite their fear, everyone clapped. The loudest was from Commander Ryan himself. He moved towards the podium.
“Commander Ryan would like to memorialize the fallen himself,” Cleo said. She stepped aside as Ryan moved to the podium.
“Thank you, Leader,” Ryan said.
Elijah saw Madelyn approaching from the other side of the path. He tipped his chin to her and she moved in his direction. Meanwhile, Ryan continued.
Ryan read the names of the twelve brave citizens. Elijah recognized all the names, but the last one was the only one that he really knew.
“And, finally, Liam Hopkins, who gave his life at the outpost in this building behind me,” Ryan said. “The yield was only one eighth of a square kilometer.”
While Ryan paused, several murmurs broke out in the crowd. Elijah tried to imagine the space that Ryan was describing. It seemed impossibly small.
“That’s a two-hundred meter circle around the center. You’ll find the center marked with a green pole,” Ryan said. He pointed towards the opposite shore of the dry lakebed. “And the radius marked with red poles. It’s a terrible price to pay for such a small reward. But this is ours. We have exclusive dominion in here. In this circle, man is once again the apex predator.”
Elijah joined the applause. He looked over to Madelyn. Her arms were folded across her chest.
“We have two residential apartment buildings already in the circle. We’d like to reserve one of those buildings to house the people who will work to build more housing. The other apartments will be made available by lottery. And, of course, we’re all free to use the area for camping and recreation.”
Elijah smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been worry-free outside. His smile faded. It would take a while before he really let himself trust the safety of the new space. After all, they only had theories to support the claims. And, to date, the theories were untested.
Ryan continued with his speech. “I’m hoping that the harvesting crews might open up some of the area on the north side of the circle.”
Elijah looked to Madelyn. She was practically scowling at the idea. Elijah moved closer to her.
Ryan’s speech continued with details.
“What’s wrong?” Elijah whispered to her.
She tore her eyes from Ryan. She turned to whisper back in Elijah’s ear. “I don’t like this guy. He’s phony.”
“This is a landmark day. Hate the man if you want, but you have to admit that this is quite an accomplishment.”
He gestured around. In the center of the dry lakebed they actually had a bonfire burning. Meanwhile, they were only a couple of short kilometers from where the town’s official fires entranced the Zumbidos and made the place safe. Normally, none of the citizens would be caught dead this close to a fire. Convincing everyone that it was safe was a major accomplishment on its own.
“Nobody knows how long this will last,” Madelyn said. “Talk to me in a year. Maybe then I’ll believe it.”
“Theoretically, if it’s working at all, it will work forever.”
Madelyn frowned and shrugged. Elijah normally liked her pragmatism, but sometimes she veered into an attitude that was downright pessimistic. That’s when they clashed. Elijah preferred optimism. There were too many things wrong with the world to go around looking for opportunities to be grouchy.
Behind the podium, Ryan was finishing up to another round of applause.
Cleo took back the attention of the group.
“Please stick around if you’re part of construction or you’re interested in the housing lottery. Otherwise, I invite you to explore our new domain.”
She spread her arms to no reaction.
The bulk of the crowd used the opportunity to move off in various directions. Elijah suspected that very few of them were going to explore the domain. These people were all headed towards more familiar territory. They would have to gain confidence in their new domain over time. It wasn’t going to come just because people stood behind a podium and declared it safe.
“Come on,” Madelyn said. “Let’s head home.”
“Let’s look around,” Elijah said.
She glanced towards the fire. Most people he knew would have fled.
Madelyn nodded and took the challenge. “Okay.”
# # # # #
“I heard this was where Liam was positioned,” Elijah said.
Madelyn’s eyes were everywhere as they climbed the staircase. She knelt and scraped something from the tread with her thumbnail. She put it up to her eye as she stood.
“They’ve got a lot of work to do to make this place habitable again,” Elijah said. “Smells like a family of skunks were camped out in here.”
“Someone bled their way up these steps,” she said.
“Could have been anyone,” Elijah said. “Half of the houses around here look like crime scenes inside. People being run down by Zumbidos flee towards familiar places. That’s indoors more often than not.”
“This blood is not that old.”
Elijah shrugged. They climbed the stairs.
“It feels different, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“What?”
“The air or something? Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I swear I can feel a difference. Whatever process they did—however they cleared those things out—this place feels free. It feels unencumbered. I don’t feel like we’re in any danger at all. Honestly, I haven’t felt this way in a long, long time.”
“If I’m understanding you correctly, I’ve never felt that way,” Madelyn said.
“Oh, please,” Elijah said. “You always have to act so tough. Can’t you admit that they might be onto something. Maybe they have figured it out. Haven’t you ever let yourself hope that it could be true?”
Madelyn climbed to the top of the staircase before she answered.
“Yes, I have felt that way. Maybe it’s because I allowed myself to believe that once, that I won’t let myself do it again.”
“You need to have hope,” Elijah said. To make his point stick, he walked away. He found the door that was ajar. Elijah swung the door open a few centimeters and peeked inside before he committed.
Madelyn took her time in the hall before she followed him into the apartment.
She joined him at the window. They looked down on the dry lakebed and the few scattered people who were standing near the bonfire. Elijah put his finger against the window. His finger just covered a dark spot where it looked like the glass had been burned. When he removed his finger, a ring of fog had formed on the glass.
“Most of the volunteers were young people,” Elijah said. “But Ryan chose to utilize older citizens. He said that they wanted experience. Liam kept calm and finished his mission even though he knew he would likely die.”
Madelyn raised her eyebrows. “Sounds like that Commander guy picked old guys who felt like they had something to prove. He picked people who nobody would miss. It was a human sacrifice.”
“You’re tarnishing the memory of great people by suggesting that they didn’t know what they were up against.”
Madelyn nodded. “Sorry. I know he was your f
riend.”
“He was the guy who took me in after Robin died. Fairbanks used to have a sponsor system. When a newcomer came to town, they had to be sponsored and mentored by a resident if they wanted to stay,” Elijah said.
“You want to join the lottery? See if we can get an apartment here in the safe harbor that Liam created?” Madelyn asked.
Elijah didn’t hesitate in his answer. “No. This is an important experiment, but it’s not the only important thing happening. You and I should keep our efforts focused elsewhere. There are other people more qualified to see if this whole thing is going to survive.”
Madelyn nodded. She turned to explore the rest of the apartment. The condition of empty dwellings always fascinated her. Sometimes, she would find a place that looked like someone could move in the next day. Clean up the dust and wash the windows and the house would be ready to go. Most other places were disasters. Having sat empty for a few decades, the rooms were in ruins. Those houses needed human life moving through them to keep the walls up and keep the roofs intact.
This apartment was like that. She saw trash on the floor and streaks on the walls. Someone would have to gut the place and start over before the apartment looked clean.
Madelyn wondered about her grandmother’s place up in the mountains. She wondered if it was deteriorating with every second that Madelyn was away.
“Hey,” Elijah called.
He was in the bedroom. Madelyn stepped over a moldy blanket and went to see.
The child flew at her as soon as she stepped through the door. If Madelyn had any question about her fitness to be a mother, it would have been answered then. She turned her body away from the impact and swatted the child in the head. It collapsed on the floor.
“Wow, Mac, what’s wrong with you?” Elijah asked. He crossed to her and knelt by the child. He flipped it over and she saw its startled expression. She suppressed the urge to kick its little face. Elijah lifted the doll to prop it up against the wall.
As Elijah tried to wake the doll, Madelyn moved around him and knelt down next to the window.
