by Ezra E Manes
“This has far-reaching implications regarding the future mingling of our people,” High Priest Zanchef said thoughtfully. “It appears we have divine guidance regarding the appropriateness of intermarriage between your people and ours, Prophet Sepeda.”
“It would appear so, High Priest, and if you consider that all first children of couples in our team will be male, it points even more specifically to this integration within Zilan society.”
A middle-aged priest addressed Carlos next. “You were not given a specific answer regarding finding a solution to the male infertility problem. What do you make of this?”
“I was in effect told that whatever is affecting Zilan males is also affecting me and the other males of our team. We can find the solution by closely examining ourselves. This approach will overcome the major difficulties we have encountered in trying to examine Zilan males, who are very reluctant even when they volunteer for this.”
“Prophet Sepeda, do you know what the voice was referring to when it told you to accept your destiny on Zilia?” High Priest Zanchef asked quietly.
“Generally, yes, specifically, no. I must continue following the path I am on and meet the responsibilities of my position. I will be happy to discuss this with you again once I get my thoughts sorted out about the full implications of what I have experienced here and in visions.”
The conversation then turned philosophical among the priests. They conversed until it was clear the entire group was of the same mind about ramifications of the vision. Carlos remained quiet during this discussion, except occasionally reiterating one part or another of the vision in response to questions. He was tiring fast and getting drowsy by the time the group decided to adjourn. High Priest Zanchef excused the other priests and asked Carlos if he could wait and talk briefly to him after the others departed.
“Prophet Sepeda, were you aware that you went into a trance when presenting the vision and that while in this trance there was a glowing aura around you?”
Carlos shook his head no. Slipping into a trance would account for his being in the chamber much longer than he’d thought. He did not know what to think about the glow.
“Hopefully it will show up in the recording we made of your presentation. You can take a copy with you tonight.” The high priest paused before continuing. “There is another awkward question I must ask, but I want to ask forgiveness first in case I offend you.”
“Do not be concerned,” Carlos said. “I am sure you want to ask about the partner arrangements among my team members, and if they are in effect formal marriage arrangements.”
The high priest’s face showed his surprise at Carlos guessing the question.
“We have only two that are formalized by law, and mine is not one of them,” Carlos said. “However, Gloria Ceyam and I want to marry in accordance with Zilan law and religious doctrine. I believe the other partners will do likewise.”
“You continue to bless us with your insight and actions,” the high priest said as he approached and formally embraced Carlos. “We will be happy to accommodate you and your team, and if you wish, I will personally conduct the marriage ceremonies. Now perhaps we should call it a night.”
THIRTY
ACCEPTING DESTINY
Carlos couldn’t shake off feeling lethargic after presenting his vision to the Council of Priests. Why had the presentation drained him so? He found himself outside the temple heading back to the embassy before it registered he was still wearing the attire of a high priest. He was not about to go back and change clothes, as tired as he felt. Besides, the people outside the temple treated him with the greatest respect possible. This was beginning to touch a part of him deep inside.
The trip back to the embassy as a high priest buoyed Carlos’s spirits, contrary to how he thought wearing the trappings in public would make him feel. However, buoyed spirits or not, he was still very tired when he arrived at the embassy. In spite of this, he had one other thing he had to do before resting.
The team was waiting for him in the central meeting room, and all conversation halted abruptly when he walked in wearing the trappings of a Zilan high priest. It was an image of him they had not seen, and they remained respectfully silent as he took off the cape and went to sit beside Gloria.
Gloria’s smile encouraged him, and he reached under the table to take her hand. This lady accepted and supported him no matter what. He looked around at the expectant faces and smiled. They were certain to feel as good as he did about the news he was about to share with them, and he proceeded without hesitation.
The respectful silence did not last long. Smiles, hoots, and hollers broke out around the table when Carlos made it known that their sterilization would be nullified. No matter that it was something in his vision; they really believed it would happen. Relief at their full acceptance of his vision was overwhelming. The excitement rippling around the room was contagious; even as tired as he felt, and he first hugged Gloria then made the rounds of the others, as all were doing.
After the room quieted somewhat, Carlos listened to the others discussing ramifications of the revelation that Earth’s descendants and Zilans being the same species was key to solving the infertility problem. This aspect of the vision was particularly exciting to Laura Brown.
“Of course this makes sense! We should have already looked at our men. It’s highly probable they’re now affected. We’ve examined reluctant Zilans but haven’t yet obtained any semen samples. We haven’t looked in detail at our own men except that once before we all became ill. We can find out more in a day examining ourselves than we could in several lunar cycles examining the Zilans.
“And we’ll start tomorrow,” she added, looking around the room. “I need all men to come by the infirmary early tomorrow so Alex and I can examine you and take samples. That includes you as well, Prophet Sepeda, and don’t come in a bashful mood. We have a hint of what direction to look based on inputs from the work Amanda and Maxwell have been doing.”
Carlos smiled his acquiescence as the other men agreed. Then he abruptly changed the subject. “Gloria and I have decided to get married under Zilan law and religious doctrine. We wanted everyone to know before we began making arrangements.”
Gloria squeezed his arm and smiled broadly.
There was a quick round of congratulations, and then Alex and Laura asked if they could join in the ceremony even though they were already married. George and Amanda quickly made a similar request. Then Maxwell and Sharon indicated they wanted to be married as well. The other two couples said they would likely follow suit but had not discussed the topic as much as they should before finalizing the decision.
All in all a good initial response, thought Carlos as he and Gloria headed to their private quarters.
The next morning it became unanimous over breakfast; all partners would participate in a combined marriage ceremony under the local laws and customs. Carlos shared with them High Priest Zanchef’s offer to conduct the ceremony, which was unanimously favored. He would check on the schedule and procedures with the priest, and asked Gloria to check with Ceripe regarding procedures and customs leading to and during the ceremony.
Carlos then played the recording of “Prophet Sepeda” presenting the vision to the Council of Priests. He watched intently to see what had caused the time disparity between how long he felt it had taken and how long it actually took to present the vision.
Gloria gripped his hand so tightly it hurt as they viewed the recording, but he did not pull away. He was captivated—it was like watching a stranger in a dramatic performance, portraying the vision in such vivid detail and animated expressions and gestures that he felt he was actually there sitting with the other high priests. It was far beyond what he thought he was capable of doing.
What was it that High Priest Zanchef had said about his appearing to be in a trance? Carlos looked close but couldn’t see that in the scene playing back. However, he could clearly see the bright aura the high priest had described. He
wanted to ask the others viewing the recording if they saw the aura, but they likely thought it was due to special lighting in the council chamber.
The team was quiet as the recording ended, and Carlos didn’t know what to say. What were they thinking? Did they now view him from a very different perspective? Likely so.
Gloria turned to him and broke the silence. “You were wonderful Carlos, or I should say Prophet Sepeda. I feel you were really somewhere else during the vision.”
“This is remarkable,” Laura added. “Now I have even greater optimism regarding our becoming fertile.”
The others murmured agreement, but for all practical purposes the meeting was over. It was obvious the couples wanted to be alone to assess all that was happening.
Carlos scheduled the team marriage ceremony, with High Priest Zanchef’s blessing, for the peak night of the Primary Two-Moon Phase that would begin in a little over five months. This delay seemed like an eternity to him in one respect but like only a short period in another. All team members wanted to be married and have children as soon as possible, but they were also strongly motivated to resolve the Zilan male infertility problem before then.
Carlos made sure he was first in line for examination by Alex and Laura, including providing a semen specimen, and the other men followed suit. Laura then brought in Caron Cenenteh and others of their medical team to help identify factors in the male members of the team that would cause infertility.
One reason became readily apparent; something had depleted a protein that normally provided the burst of energy needed for sperm to penetrate the female egg. This was true for all male members of the team and could have resulted from the sterilization back at the Messier Colony. But it didn’t make sense for this particular problem to persist that long.
The next obvious step was to examine the sperm of some infertile Zilan men. However, getting Starke and Caron to agree to produce semen for these tests was still difficult.
Carlos just smiled and nodded when Laura asked for help in getting Zilan sperm donors. He had an idea about what might work. After a private meeting with a fully robed “Prophet Sepeda,” Starke and Caron came around and provided samples the same day.
The Zilan sperm specimens showed the same protein depletion as in the Messier men! They had found an internal mechanism causing men to become infertile. Carlos felt relieved, for they could treat individuals to overcome the protein depletion for short periods. However, for the long-term health of the population, they needed to find what was causing the problem.
It took two months of painstaking research by Laura’s team to identify a specific metal isotope in the men’s blood that was causing depletion of the sperm protein. It took another month to identify the source of the isotope in the environment. Minute traces of the rare isotope were being absorbed into the water at waste recycling and water filtration facilities globally, and hence into the public water supply. The isotope did not appear to affect females.
The source of the isotope was crushed mining aggregate residue shipped for centuries from a southern mining zillah for use in the initial filtering phase of water management facilities. The aggregate was a byproduct of the mining process and, because of its excellent filtering properties and ready availability, had even been used in community water treatment facilities.
They had found the cause of the Zilan infertility problem, but Carlos realized a permanent solution would take considerable time to implement. It was a daunting task to find suitable replacement water filters and to replace the aggregate already in use globally. However, at his suggestion, the Zilans initiated a priority program that would have all such filters replaced within two years.
Carlos also recommended they initiate an interim program to get facilities in operation quickly to produce, bottle, and ship clean water worldwide for cooking and drinking. This program was given a top priority by the Zilan government.
Laura and her team reported there was minimal risk in continued use of the contaminated water for bathing and other noninvasive purposes. Based on recommendations by Jorge and Amanda, Carlos pushed for research into the effects of irrigation on food production. It would take years to reduce the metal isotope contamination below harmful levels in the environment polluted by effluent from waste processing plants, and they needed to know the effects of continued widespread use of this water in food production processes.
Fortunately, it was straightforward to implement an interim drug treatment effective in countering the isotope. Hence, individuals wanting to produce children could take the treatment until their spouses became pregnant. This noninvasive treatment was acceptable to the Zilans.
Carlos refocused the team doctors’ priorities on researching how to reverse the sterilization in team members, both men and women, undergone before making the journey to Zilia. If they could find a solution, it would help insure fulfillment of his vision about all the women becoming pregnant.
Laura’s team focused on determining the sterilization procedure, the first step in figuring out how to reverse it. However, they held out little hope of completing this before start of the Primary Two-Moon Phase event, much to Carlos’s chagrin. Still, he believed reversal of their sterilization would occur, as impossible as that feat seemed.
It was a relaxing Fifth Day, and Carlos was enjoying talking with Gloria in their private quarters about all that had happened to turn their world upside down over the past several years. That is, their years together while not in deep sleep aboard the New Horizon. They could not have dreamed of a more complex adventure than what they had experienced.
He was not surprised when Gloria turned the discussion to their pending marriage. “Imagine, we’ll be married and start a family in the next lunar cycle.” Her voice carried a note of innocent wonder.
Yes, and it was almost upon them. At the thought, Carlos realized how much he wanted this to happen. A slight unease came to mind as the thought of his vision crept in. Now was not the time to be second-guessing the prophesy about having children.
His and Gloria’s relationship had changed after viewing the recording of him presenting the vision to the Council of Priests, but it was hard to quantify this change, although it did not strike him as negative. As Prophet Sepeda, he had a significant leadership role in Zilan society, in religious and political circles, and in the eyes of the public. Gloria accepted and supported this, though he could see she had to steel herself to accept this sharing of him at times.
There was no denying his life had changed dramatically, and it was impossible for it to ever change back. But he viewed the situation pragmatically, as his being responsible to play out the role in life he was dealt, although he still believed he exercised a great deal of free will in the course that lay ahead. From his perspective, the change did not diminish their shared love, but it was sure to test it at times.
As the pleasant evening of mutual reflections progressed, Carlos sensed Gloria starting to tense up. She seemed to have something she wanted to discuss but couldn’t broach the topic. He kept talking about one topic then another, hoping to draw her out, and his thoughts came back around to their pending marriage and the local customs.
“It’s interesting that you learned women have the final say in whom you marry,” he mused. This was true even though the custom of arranged marriages appeared to still function in Zilan society. Then he had another thought. “Has Ceripe ever mentioned why she hasn’t married? I’ve wondered about this but didn’t want to offend her by asking.”
“She hasn’t married because she hasn’t found a Zilan male she loves enough to want to have children with him. Why do you ask such a question?”
“Well, at mention of our forthcoming marriage, she withdraws slightly, as if the idea offends her. I wonder if she might regret devoting her life so intensely to government service at the expense of her personal life.”
Gloria was quiet for several minutes, becoming more withdrawn than before. Now why had he brought up the subject of Ceripe? It
just seemed to upset Gloria more tonight.
They were lying facing one another, and she suddenly reached over to hold his face tenderly with both hands.
“I have had discussions with Ceripe regarding this,” Gloria said. “She would very much like to get married, but the person she loves has been spoken for and is committed to his relationship.”
Carlos felt a surge of adrenaline and mixed emotions; he pulled abruptly away from Gloria and sat upright, swinging his feet off the side of the bed to land with a thump on the floor. He ended up sitting with his back to her. What she had said was true, and it cut him deep to hear it from her. Damn, what was his reaction telegraphing to Gloria?
Gloria spoke softly, with only understanding and compassion in her voice. “She loves you, Carlos. And if you don’t see this, you are blind.”
His shoulders involuntarily rose and fell in a deep sigh, but he couldn’t turn around or say anything. She remained quiet, giving him time to deal with his roiled emotions.
He was able to regain some modicum of self-control after several minutes and then rolled back around slowly on the bed to face her. Her eyes sought his out, and all he could discern in her expression was love and understanding. Still, he couldn’t say anything. He didn’t try to hide the pain and conflict that were surely showing in his eyes and facial expression.
Finally, he said, “I know how Ceripe feels about me, and I have to admit to having strong feelings for her. That causes me great turmoil. I love you and want to marry and have children with you. So why have I come to this juncture with Ceripe? I’m sure she senses my feelings when we’re together. It’s not fair to you or to her.”
“There’s a solution that’s best for all, for the integration of our team and our children with future Zilan generations. Your vision said to accept your destiny. So why are you fighting it?”
