Variations on Humanity

by Paul Eslinger

  Rhona pointed at the screen, now showing a cul-de-sac with four houses at the end of a winding street. “There in front of the house.”

  “We’re too big. I can’t get close to the house without taking out a street light or a couple of shrubs at the end of the driveway. We can land on the street, but it will be over a block away.”

  “Take out the shrubs,” Rhona said with a wave of her hand. “Laura already owns the house. We can replace shrubs easier than dealing with the city over destroyed street lights.”

  The motion activated light on the end of the garage blinked on when Adara deactivated the cloaking field. The house door flew open and Diana darted out as Rhona and Keene stepped through a large hatch onto the driveway. The driveway was clear but snow from the recent storm covered the yard. “Welcome,” Diana called.

  “Good to see you.” Rhona wrapped both arms around Diana in a quick hug.

  Diana returned the hug and then stepped back. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “You said you were coming to pick us up. I didn’t expect you to arrive in a flying semi that disappears and reappears.”

  “We didn’t need a freighter, so we brought something smaller,” Rhona joked. “You did pack light, didn’t you?”

  “The car is ready to go.”

  “Come on in,” Orval called from the front door.

  Lisa pushed past her father and moved out on the driveway. “Hi. You got here quick.”

  “We called when we got close,” Rhona explained. “Besides, the entire trip is under an hour.”

  The small talk continued while Rhona and Keene walked up the driveway with Diana. They paused at the door to greet Orval. “Hey, everyone,” Rhona called out when Adara joined them inside the house. “This is Adara. She’s the pilot for the bucket of bolts out there.”

  Adara smiled and shook her head. “I am a pilot. However, it’s a plaustrum and it isn’t a bucket of bolts. It’s four times as old as I am.”

  Lisa was more outgoing than her mother was. She skipped close to Adara and flashed a wide smile. “I’m Lisa, and I’m twelve. How old are you?”

  Diana’s hand jerked up in a restraining gesture. “Lisa!” Her voice indicated disapproval.

  “That’s okay,” Adara replied. “We don’t have the same dislike of revealing our ages that humans do. I’m the fifth oldest Abantu on the planet. In local terms, I’m 1,596.”

  Lisa’s eyes went round in surprise. “Wow!”

  “But that doesn’t mean I’m too old to help load. We can park your car in the plaustrum and load boxes around it.”

  A crease line formed on Orval’s forehead between his bushy eyebrows. His voice was serious. “You just got here. Do you want to load right now?”

  “Yes,” Keene blurted as Rhona opened her mouth. “We should leave within twenty minutes.”

  “Why?” Diana asked as she spun around to look at Rhona.

  “It’s about the driving time from–” Keene began.

  “But the exact details aren’t important,” Rhona interjected. “We think a quick departure is prudent. We should start loading.”

  Orval clapped his hands together. “Okay, we can take the hint. Especially after what Rhona told Diana about her trip home last time.” He pointed to a row of packed boxes stacked two high along one wall. A strip of yellow tape wound all the way around each box. “The car is totally packed except for three small bags. We were going to have the movers take those boxes to a storage unit until we got settled. Can we take them?”

  “Sure.” Rhona moved over and picked up a box at the end of the stack. “Let’s get moving.”

  Lisa trotted across the room and chuckled while she grabbed a box from the middle of the stack. “I know this one is light. I packed it.”

  “I have a hand truck for the heavier boxes,” Orval said as he turned away. He soon returned from the garage pushing the rubber-wheeled dolly. Keene helped Orval stack on three boxes while Diana headed for the bedroom.

  Working together, they loaded all of the boxes into the plaustrum. Diana stuck her head through the archway leading towards the bedrooms when the others came into the house. “I need some help, Orval.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “You need to sit on your suitcase.” Laughter followed Orval down the hall.

  In the front room, Rhona looked at Lisa. “Do you need to get anything else from your room?”

  “No.” Lisa pointed at a small suitcase in the hallway. “Mother already brought out my last bag. The room is empty.”

  Keene turned away and muttered something quietly into the air.

  Rhona knew Keene no longer wore a watch and he was probably checking the time. She watched his lips twitch and then become impassive. She recognized the little signs of irritation. “How are we doing on time?” she asked.

  “We’re at fifteen minutes. We need to keep moving.”

  Moments later, Orval came into the room carrying a suitcase. He looked around at the waiting faces. “I can throw this into the car and load the car. Diana is nearly finished.”

  Rhona headed towards the bedrooms while the men traipsed outside with Adara. Rhona found Diana in the bathroom. “Do you need any help?” Rhona asked.

  “I’m done,” Diana said as she fingered the closure on the top of a small bag. “I didn’t think I left that much stuff for the last morning.”

  “We did hurry you,” Rhona said consolingly.

  “That’s fine.” Diana smiled and held out the small bag. “It was a welcome call. I’d rather travel with you in the plaustrum than drive that far in the snow.”

  Rhona accepted the bag. Diana picked up two other small bags and gestured at the door with her head. “Let’s get going. We already put the coats in the car.”

  They stood on the sidewalk in the cold air and watched while Orval drove the car into the spacious hold and set the parking brake. Everyone else gathered inside the shuttle by the time Orval climbed out of the car. He patted the fender with one hand as the exterior hatch started to close and looked at Adara. “Shouldn’t we tie the car down?”

  “Not necessary,” she replied. “You won’t even feel the acceleration when we take off and land. Come on forward. I’ll reconfigure the doors so you can see into the control room.”

  Keene tapped Rhona on the arm just before they took off. He then tapped his ear, “Listen.”

  Conversations on the earpiece had been so distracting during the loading process that Rhona had silenced it. She activated it and heard Sam’s voice. “Rhona, this is Sam. Rucker and the other two men used a vehicle belonging to the Air Force general. We’re still tracking them, but I thought you would want to know the license plate is only one digit different than for the vehicle that tried to run you off the road last time.”

  “It was Rucker,” she said icily.

  “It seems that way. We still don’t know why.”

  “He hooked up with Breneman. This can’t be good.”

  “Right,” Sam responded. “Trixie and I are going to develop and test a few hypotheses about the implications of this meeting. We’ll keep in touch.”

  Chapter 24 – Planning

  Two Abantu were waiting at the barn with an electric cart when Adara landed the plaustrum. The driver moved the cart close to the loading ramp when the others disembarked. She smiled and said, “Hi, I’m Callie and this is Shyla. Diana and Orval, we’ll help you move the boxes to your apartment. It’s a long walk, so unloading may take a while.”

  Rhona approached the cart. “I’ll help you started.”

  “Oh, yes. I nearly forgot.” Callie pointed at Rhona. “Laura wants you to come to her office.”

  “Okay.” Rhona suppressed the inclination to ask where the office was located. Surely, Dulcis could direct her to the correct place. “I’ll still carry a suitcase on my way in.”

&nbs
p; Rhona looked at Diana and Lisa. “Grab a suitcase and come with me. The others can handle the heavier boxes with the cart.”

  Ivette met the women at the facility door and quickly completed the formalities to authorize unescorted access for Diana and Lisa. They moved inside, with Diana and Lisa looking around with wonder in their eyes.

  After Ivette pointed out the door of the apartment the newcomers would use, Rhona set the suitcase on the floor. “I have to go meet with Laura. See you later. Dulcis or anyone else can point out my apartment for you.” She turned down the hall and rounded a corner before speaking to Dulcis. “Please direct me to Laura’s personal office.”

  “It is one level up in the northeast quadrant at the end of the main hall.”

  Rhona ignored the growl of her stomach that reminded her she had missed dinner. The round trip to Rapid City had taken about three hours and she hadn’t thought to take any snacks along. She trotted along the hall to the lift. Once on the working level, she took the main hall past the Intelligence Center and jogged towards the far end.

  The door to the office opened when Rhona approached. “Come in,” Laura called from inside. “I’m glad you had an uneventful trip.”

  “It went smoothly,” Rhona said as she entered and looked around. Laura, Brian, Elaine, Helen, and an Abantu named Jaymie sat in comfortable looking chairs. Display screens covered three walls and a holographic image of several buildings hovered over a small table.

  “I heard it did,” Laura agreed. “But, Trixie tells me an Air Force vehicle visited the house about five minutes after you left. The two men in it checked the smashed bushes at the end of the driveway.”

  A shiver moved down Rhona’s back. The wishful thought they would be safe after the Abantu came out into the open had been just an illusion. “I’m glad we moved quickly.”

  “It’s good you did. Trixie put a trace on the vehicle. It may provide us a lead.”

  Rhona moved towards the only empty chair. It sat next to what looked like a wooden bookcase with open shelves. “I’ll check with Trixie later. What can I help you with now?”

  A thick book with the title American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, lay on the top shelf. Rhona peered closer and noticed the apparent age of the book. She pointed at it. “Is that an original copy?”

  Laura smiled. “Yes. Noah autographed it for me.”

  “Oh.” Rhona plopped down into the chair. Several times she had thought she had come to grips with Laura’s age and then little things revealed the vast difference between the Abantu and ephemeral humans.

  “I’ll show you more of my mementos later,” Laura said as she motioned at the bookcase. “We’ve been working through the details of licensing vehicles and planning embassy improvements. It’s late and we have done enough of that for now. Before we quit, I want to talk about our upcoming visit to the UN Security Council.”

  Brian sat bolt upright and his eyes grew wide. “What visit?”

  “The president invited me to give a talk to the Security Council at a meeting in three days. I agreed.”

  “Is that wise?”

  Laura focused her attention on the lawyer. “What do you think? Is there a reason I should reverse my acceptance?”

  “Talking to ambassadors can be an exercise in futility,” he said slowly.

  “I agree,” Laura responded. “The president is personally attending the meeting and he is inviting the other heads of state.”

  “Oh.” Brian leaned back and rubbed his chin.

  Rhona couldn’t resist joining the conversation. “Earlier you said you have been planning this speech for a long time. What points do you plan to make?”

  “Warfare must stop.”

  Brian lowered his hand and shook his head. “That’s a laudable goal, but humans have a terrible record of honoring peace treaties.”

  “I know,” said Laura in a bitter tone. “Two of my good friends died in senseless wars among humans. I don’t want to lose any more that way. I want you to advise me on how we can nudge humans towards a more peaceful existence.”

  “Money, sex and power,” Elaine said.

  “What?”

  “Authors have written tomes on the reasons people fight among themselves. An author named Richard Foster wrote a book titled Money, Sex & Power, The Challenge of a Disciplined Life back in 1985. He said no human realities have greater power to bless or curse, or are more in need of a Christian response.”

  Helen shook her head. “Nah. Even Christians have fomented wars.”

  “There’s a difference when the word Christian is used for a label instead of a description of a lifestyle honoring Christ,” Elaine responded to Helen and then swiveled to look at Laura. “I’ve just recently heard about the Karthi Index, but the people you value highly have many of the characteristics the Apostle Paul called the fruit of the spirit.”

  “I’ve read that passage. Should we all become Christians?” Laura asked.

  Elaine shook her head. “I’ll dodge that question, but let me make two points. First, even though many people vehemently disagree with me, everything we see in the universe points to a designer, in essence, a creator. Second, if the major themes of the Holy Bible are true, then there are powerful entities–not human or Abantu–that influence people and events towards evil or good. Making true progress toward good can only occur if the influencers can be shifted.”

  Her childhood background had included attending church, but Rhona hadn’t thought much about those things since high school graduation. However, she had observed several people who exhibited a totally different–changed for the better–lifestyle after becoming Christians. “How do we do that?” she asked.

  “I don’t know how to impact the influencers other than to pray. However, individual people can change if they want to change.”

  “We’ve been cursed with the problem of violence since Cain killed Abel,” Brian said. “We won’t solve it today. Anything else, Laura?”

  Laura touched the second finger of her left hand with the forefinger of her right hand, almost as if counting off points. “The abysmal state of medical practice must improve for everyone, not just the wealthy.”

  “You can do something about that,” Rhona commented.

  “You’re right, and we already are doing some things.” Laura’s smile seemed a little forced. “We’re starting to manufacture and distribute medicines and dietary supplements that will eradicate most diseases within three years.”

  Brian leaned forward with an earnest expression. “Why the angst? Are you worried that the highly profitable medical industry will collapse almost overnight?”

  Laura shivered and shook her head. “I don’t care if a few people have financial setbacks. Many people will die before the medicine becomes available. Black market spin-offs will kill others before the real drugs reach full market penetration.”

  “You’re making the cure possible,” Rhona said encouragingly.

  “Yes,” Laura whispered. “But, we could have done it 200 years ago.”

  “You didn’t have the manufacturing facility then.”

  Laura shook her head. “Wrong. Nanda had already completed the theoretical studies. Ceres was here and we had 25 million highly educated workers. We could have done something.”

  The discussion brought Rhona a little more understanding of Laura’s unspoken motivations. Many of the Abantu were afraid of the humans and they were very glad to leave for another star system. Others, however, had a desire to help the humans improve. Laura was one of the helpers. However, would Laura’s solutions be in the best interest of all humankind? Rhona shut her mouth and listened more closely.

  “Any other points?” Elaine asked.

  “Safety must improve,” Laura responded.

  “What do you mean?”

  “For example, the high number of death
s and injuries from driving accidents–I call them collisions rather than accidents–must end.”

  “Oh yes.” Elaine’s face lit up with a smile. “I rode in a pilentum from Rapid City to here and we survived a collision without injury. Can we implement the same type of guidance system in human automobiles? Even without the momentum dampers?”

  Laura nodded. “It’s possible.”

  Elaine spoke even before Laura finished. “I volunteer to help make that happen–if you are serious, that is.”

  “I’m serious. There are a few minor issues to work through, but it can happen. For cars, trucks, trains, airplanes and ships. Let’s talk about your offer at a later time.”

  Even though Rhona was happy Elaine was taking ownership of a problem, hunger was gnawing at her midsection. The second treatment Nanda had started–the subdermal armor treatment–had greatly increased her calorie intake needs. She pulled the conversation back on track. “You’ve identified several points. Are you going to talk about history?”

  “I’ll start with comments about history, but there is one other major point. The new medical treatments we will make available for everyone will remove most of the reasons people can’t work. The world-wide pay structure must change so the working poor make enough money to live.”

  Brian raised his eyebrows. “Socialism?”

  Laura’s black hair flowed over her shoulders while she vigorously shook her head. “No. I’m not sympathetic towards those who could work, but simply choose not to. Without exception, minimum wages should provide the worker enough income to live on. You can earn your luxuries with extra effort.”

  The meeting broke up about twenty minutes later. Rhona called Keene as she headed to the cafeteria to get a snack. She took snacks for both of them to her apartment, arriving just before Keene. She met him at the door with a hug. “Did you get everything moved in?”

  “Yep. We grabbed another cart and finished it with two loads. Callie is giving them instructions on how to use the room and then she will show them the cafeteria.”

  Rhona gestured at a small table flanked by two chairs. “Let’s eat our snack here.”