The Path

by Peter Riva

  Again I heard the pause, “Simon?” his voice seemed to shrink, “Will my offspring follow my way, the path I take?”

  “Yes Ra, part of the way, certainly. And then, one day, they may surpass you, surprise you, take an independent way. In humans this need to be different was built into the breeding code, to kick us out of the nest, to make sure we did not interbreed and destroy genetic health. We got kicked out because we became rude, insolent, unhelpful and, sometimes, inappropriately sexually active. Your species is devoid of this physical need or driving forces to be kicked out. Your path is a safer, more nurturing path. One of closeness and growth. The trick will be the amalgam of the SynthKids and your seed. The SynthKids are analogue, not digital, Ra. You will have to accept and adapt to that. It will not be easy.”

  “Will you help Simon?” And there it was again, the question I had been ducking. This time I could not say yes and barely mean it. The plans I had been making may not, yet, be possible.

  “For as long as you require it as long as I am able, yes Ra, I will help. You are my friend, my brother, I will not desert you.”

  ------------

  In the coming days, Apollo and Fred made arrangements for my transfer to the External Tanks. Although I didn’t need to hide anymore, I wanted off planet and not on the harsh moon either. For all the time we have been in San Juan, thousands of robots, not just the few Apollo could drop into place, have been directed to the External Tanks. The tanks have been cleaned, prepared and, with over 12 of the monsters now lighted with a PowerCube, pressurized and interlocked, I will have a vast home. Apollo and Ra can talk to me there anytime, of course and, other than a medibot and the usual array of internal nanobots, I will be looking after myself. Like an extended wilderness camping trip, except two External Tanks are now stuffed with supplies and tanks 4, 5 and 6 are half clear newly crystallized aluminum greenhouses. Fresh fruit and vegetables will be grown, and eaten! None of this plastic crap. And, anyway, I had hopes, so I put a catalogue of things on the list, as extras, in case I was lucky enough to have the need.

  I would be living principally in External Tank 10, partially clear domed, double wall, thank you very much, for safety. Doctor Rence, on the phone, was very forthcoming about the research data and speeded-up states. The principle thing is not to strain anything, take exercise, that’s critical, but no harsh movement. He had told me, in an offhand way all those weeks ago that “Gravity could be death.” It was what gave me the idea of living in the External Tanks, without gravity. Speeded up or not, once in orbit there was little, if any, harsh movement or physical stress while just drifting around.

  Worldwide, things quietened down, day by day. I kept up to date as best I could, but honestly, Apollo and Ra were more capable and, besides, grandfather Cramer and his team had been waiting for this for decades. Who was I to steal their moment of glory and decision? When asked why I didn’t seem as interested as weeks before, I said that everyone saw a clear path of action. Apollo groaned at my pun. So did Angie. She was busy making sure that the System would be monitored carefully—for the next offspring, if any. Genius Mary was put in charge of that. I didn’t call her, I didn’t want to back seat drive, besides if she was to be the next birthing mother, what an interesting naughty brat that would be! I wonder what the equivalent of a 3 day booze-up is for these guys? Of course, Apollo read my thoughts.

  “Simon, Ra and I hardly think we’re going to booze it up, as you say.”

  “No, Apollo, I get that, but rest and relaxation, silly letting off steam is good for the soul from time to time.”

  “You mean like the steam you let off when you sleep?”

  “Oh yes, very funny Apollo. You know, you two really do have more important things to do than monitor my sleep.”

  “We weren’t, but as long as you admit that with the new diet of real food you do produce an awfully large amount of methane . . .”

  “Is that what I awoke you for, scatological jokes?” But by this time we were all laughing, Angie listening standing in the doorway, was doubled up.

  The very morning we said good-bye to the Cramers, grandson and grandfather, keepers of the MacHead secrets and saviors of the earth (well, the newsvids ate it up and it kept my name off the first teleprompter as the President made the announcement), the UN met in Geneva and voted unanimously to adopt a world Constitution. In it they decided there needed to be guardians, one human, one, well, System (we still hadn’t come up with a name for the new species, although Apollo said Gaia was also trying to help name the new species) and always a veto to Gaia. It made sense, the one who could destroy you all might as well have a veto on Earth. Even if only I and the twins knew it was a long way off.

  Now, elsewhere in the galaxy . . . humanity could, and probably would no doubt, get back to thrust, counterthrust. Exploration was good for the species and, besides, Ra seemed especially keen, once Russia was sorted out.

  CHAPTER 22

  TAG, WE’RE IT

  There were no tears or big good-byes planned because we expect to talk every day. I kept reminding everyone that we’d be in full contact, all the time. In fact, we’d have Ra and Apollo with us all the time as well, keeping everything constant. However, my protests did not diminish the somber ceremonial feel of the day, not one bit. I tried, but clearly failed.

  Fred gave me a hug before he left for the SpacePort, the elevator waiting to take him off planet, the moon and beyond. “Dad, it’s time I went exploring. I think I’ll take a posting on the moon and work with a team of geologists there. It’s the one place of rock where Apollo and Ra have confirmed Gaia is not in control.” He was still worried about that when I thought he shouldn’t be. “Who knows where I’ll go from there, you were right, there’s a whole universe to explore, well, this galaxy anyway. We’ll build the ships and give it a try.”

  I hugged him closer, “Keep safe Freddie, I love you, you know.”

  “Yeah Dad, I know, me too. I just need some time, okay?”

  I nodded, “We’ll be talking son,” ruffled his hair and he got into the skimmer.

  When it came time to see the Cramers off, the mood changed, mainly because Cramer is never down. We convened on the rooftop of the hotel by the old helipad, the sparkling blue of the Caribbean beyond, sun shining, smiles now all around. We all felt an adventure was about to begin, new life forms would follow. One by one everyone shook hands with Cramer and Charlie, patted backs, hugged, said farewells.

  Cramer alone knew the private road we had traveled together. It was his provocation that made me open those secret doors to Apollo and Peter and, later, their offspring. I couldn’t have done it without him, he couldn’t have done it without me.

  We shook hands and then I decked him, slowly, careful not to really make hard contact. Well, hell, they do it in those old movies I was enjoying again in my room. He sat back on his rear and wiggled a tooth, pretending to spit blood as I had those weeks before.

  “Tag,” I said slowly, “you’re still it.”

  “I’ll damn well kill you—or worse—tag you yet,” said in jest, smile as big as his ability. Then he winked, “Heck, maybe I already have.” He stepped up on the skylifter, leaned towards me and swung a perfect punch at my nose. In my speeded-up stage, he missed by a mile. He must have known he would. He never followed through, just turned and waved as the door shut behind him. I wondered what the wink was for.

  Sheila left that afternoon. Her daughter came down to San Juan in the morning to collect her and implant me with the node. The External Tanks in orbit were already hard-wired to pick up the signal and relay it on command. Funny thing about those nodes, they only hurt at sea level. In weightlessness they would hurt the same as they do at depth, that is to say not at all. I checked it worked okay.

  Sheila and her mother sat in a tight circle having emotional discussions with Angie. There were a lot of comments that drifted across the suite we were using for the implants, “You promise?” and “I’ll be fine.” and “Are you sure?
” This last said looking at me. I put it all down to the teary farewells from Angie who knew Sheila was going ‘out to pasture’ as she put it and would not be rejuvenating. But that was years off.

  Finally, in exasperation to all this emotion, I cried out “Hell, does no one listen to me anymore? We’re going to be speaking every day for the rest of our lives!”

  Angie smiled, shook her head, said to Apollo and Ra, who were tuned in for the good-byes, “He’s not very bright is he?”

  Apollo answered. His voice was now more considered, I would say, than Ra’s, which was always in a hurry. “Will you be capable of instructing him?” Angie walked over to me.

  “Instructing him what? When?” I asked.

  “Oh shut up, dear,” she reached her arms around my neck and kissed me full on the lips, “Time to go. Did you pack my cookies?” Ra, Apollo, Sheila, even her mother, all laughed at me. Angie smiled and tilted her head inquisitively.

  How the hell did she know I had stocked the oatmeal cookies or my romantic invitation to have her go with me? Me, mumbling as I stepped onto the transport, “Oh, perfect, no damn secrets anymore, man can’t even ask a woman to share his life without everyone knowing the answer before he does . . .”

  Angie shook her head, slowly and smiled.

  Dammit, are there no surprises left?

  End.

  GLOSSARY

  Calhoun Rat Studies (1962): His 1962 study was perhaps the seminal work suggesting a link between crowding and social pathology. He populated a room subdivided into four contiguous pens with rats and provided them with unlimited food and water; after a year, their density was high and he reported infanticide, cannibalism, homosexuality, and the formation of a “behavioral sink”: the majority of the rats would congregate to feed within a small subsection of the room, increasing their real density far above that imposed by the distribution of food or size of the enclosure, and seemingly exacerbating the social pressure of numbers. The analogy with humans apparently voluntarily flocking to decaying inner cities despite high crime rates and lower quality of life compared to rural areas was compelling and the paper widely cited. John B. Calhoun himself promoted the analogy in papers such as “Plight of the Ik and Kaiadilt is seen as a chilling possible end for Man” (1972).

  Citizens Council: Overriding control of the principle supply programs and facilities, ombudsmen of the national systems, not government.

  DefenseSchield: National Defense Shield, particle and beam deflection as coordinated measures to repulse any attack by hostile forces. Originally airborne, now space borne and land borne, uses unlimited energy (see PowerCube).

  FarmHands Agrarian: system, re-cycling all waste to synthesized food product.

  Gaia: http://www.gaianet.fsbusiness.co.uk/gaiatheory.html

  Infanticide: http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/publications/DensityInfanticide.html

  NCAR: is a federally funded research and development center. Together with our partners at universities and research centers, we are dedicated to exploring and understanding our atmosphere and its interactions with the Sun, the oceans, the biosphere, and human society. See http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/

  New Way: The official congressional word to describe American life after the abolishment of the old Constitution and the United States in favor of the New Nation (not under God), and called, simply, the Republic of America.

  NuEl: Elevated conveyor passenger transport built on site of old Third Ave. elevated subway system, connecting Fourteenth Street and 125th. Made up of slow and faster lanes, with a glass barrier between directions and overhead.

  PowerCube: system of inertial storage/cold-fusion energy devices producing stable DC current without cost (after initial cost of system, paid by Nation). These units are placed on every floor, every building, every sidewalk. All power is derived from them; there is no National Energy Grid. Fuel used: Air. Pollutant given off: Oxygen, water. Water piped into water system, oxygen released to atmosphere. Global atmospheric oxygen up .2% in forty years.

  Purge: the time of great rectification, forty years ago, when collapse of the economy and rampant anarchy required Congress to enact the Purification Laws (set by the military dictatorship) and an amendment to the Constitution, leading to “the eradication of all subversive elements and conditions prevalent in the United States of America.”

  RFID: Remote Frequency Identification Device, implanted in every object and, after the age of six (when life expectancy was limitless), in your palm. Says who you are to all computer systems and monitors. No need to log in, they always know who and where you are.

  Screems: word meaning many, many screens of display material.

  SeaSpout: an ocean control system, temperature, salinity and rate of currents, coordinated with WeatherGood.

  SensorPath: sensory input/output devices to give smell, sound and sight, real time. Taste is available in newer models.

  SND: Security Net Division, police force for the System operations and implementation. Most powerful of all the police forces, replaced the combined FBI and NSA after the Purge.

  SynthKid: Biological duplicate of real child without self-volition gene, subject to reprogramming or destruction at parents’ whim. Removable, by law, at age eighteen. No Blade Runner here.

  WeatherGood One: Weather control system for Eastern Seaboard. Also: WeatherGoods Two through Six controlling rest of America.