Variations on Humanity

by Paul Eslinger

  “Fine with me.” Keene wrapped one arm around Rhona as they walked across the room. “What did Laura want with you?”

  “Discuss the upcoming speech to the Security Council.”

  Keene pulled back a chair for Rhona. “Learn anything new?”

  “No–and yes.” Rhona’s mind returned to the discussion at the meeting. “If left to make the decision by herself, I think Laura would have brought modern medicine to humans when she arrived.”

  “Really?” Keene picked up the bagel sandwich Rhona had made and studied it. “A medical missionary?”

  Rhona chuckled. “Although I probably wouldn’t have used that term before today, I like your choice of words.”

  “What changed today?”

  “Laura has strong feelings about improving living conditions for humans.”

  Keene chewed a bite of the bagel and swallowed. “Can we trust her approach?”

  “I hope so.”

  “You don’t sound convinced.”

  “I’d be a howling skeptic if I didn’t know about the Karthi Index.”

  “I know.” Keene gestured vaguely at the facility they were sitting in. “They had the means to take over when they arrived, but they didn’t.”

  “I also thought that.” Rhona studied the last bite of her bagel. “But, I’ve stayed slightly skeptical. How would you define takeover?”

  Keene shrugged. “I was a jet pilot. I was thinking in military terms.”

  “I had similar thoughts. I’m moving over to thinking of more subtle ways.”

  “Like what?”

  “Sam once said Laura had enough money to buy the state of Kansas.”

  “Ah…” Keene leaned back. “I never thought of takeover in those terms, although some business dealings can be cutthroat.”

  “It doesn’t have to be cutthroat–one can simply be cooperative in the right way with a multitude of people–for a couple hundred years.”

  “That works, too. But it takes a long time.”

  “Time.” Rhona shook her finger in the air. Several recurring thoughts she had been chasing several nights after crawling into bed came into focus. “We have cultural blinders with respect to time just like Laura has blinders with respect to violence.”

  “Oh.”

  Rhona watched Keene silently touch the tips of all ten fingers together over and over again. Tap, tap, tap.

  She finally spoke again. “Laura is slowly collecting a group of loyal humans. She, and I think the other Abantu are helping more than we originally thought, is setting up a world headquarters. They are putting those loyal people in charge of industries that in time will control much of the wealth of the world.”

  Keene folded his hands and looked at them with narrowed eyes. “If they stay on track.”

  “The head CEO won’t change in 30 years.” Rhona reached around and rubbed her deltoid muscles where Nanda’s machine gave the DNA modification injections. “The subsidiary CEO’s will also be around a long time.”

  “Damn,” Keene muttered. “I’ll have to do some more thinking.”

  Rhona stood up and reached out towards him. “I’ve had about enough deep thinking for the evening. Come on over to the couch and relax with me.”

  Keene didn’t protest.

  Chapter 25 – Security Council

  They used a plaustrum to carry three Abantu-manufactured vehicles from Jetmore to the airport in Vienna. From there, Sam, Trixie, and Maya ferried Rhona, Keene, and Laura to the International City. Laura, Rhona, and Keene quickly passed through the security checkpoint at the entrance reserved for high-level diplomats. Two other Abantu, Creola and Lubna, stayed in the plaustrum and monitored the local region for possible threats.

  Rhona still wasn’t used to moving in the corridors of power and she whispered to Laura as they walked quickly down a long hall. “Are you nervous?”

  “No,” Laura responded with a chuckle.

  The feeling that Laura considered the government leaders to be kindergarten children swept over Rhona. She quit asking questions.

  After a short introduction by President Leek, Rhona and Keene stood to one side when Laura stepped to the podium and looked around the chamber at the leaders of fifteen nations. She began speaking in English without any hesitation. “Ladies and gentlemen of Earth, thank you for inviting me to speak.”

  She moved away from the podium, knowing Dulcis was providing a real-time translation into ten different languages. “Everyone knows that effectively understanding another person requires a common basis of knowledge. Thus, I will start with a few comments on philosophy.

  “One way to define philosophy is the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. Noah Webster’s 1828 version of the American Dictionary of the English Language has a lengthy definition of philosophy. One excerpt from that document is that philosophy is a general term denoting an explanation of the reason of things; or an investigation into the causes of all phenomena both of mind and of matter.

  “I mention Noah Webster’s dictionary for two reasons. First, one of the reasons he prepared the dictionary was to rescue the language from that dabbling spirit of innovation that is perpetually disturbing its settled usages and filling it with anomalies. He embarked on a noble endeavor, and he produced a remarkable dictionary, but he was unable to stem the tide of innovation and tame the introduction of anomalies.

  “The Abantu language does not suffer from a dabbling spirit of innovation. We add new words from time to time, but existing words are unchanged and the new words adhere to the rules of structure and conjugation. There are no exceptions to the rules in my language. The second reason to mention Noah Webster is that I met with him several times and I personally donated some funds to help him focus on the work.”

  Laura paused just long enough to indicate a shift in topics. “There are two distinct and disjoint schools of thought among humans with regard to the origin of the universe, this planet, and life upon the planet. One school ascribes the origin to the actions of a creator acting from outside the space-time construct. The other school ascribes the origin of all things, including space-time and life, to mere chance.

  “Abantu believe the universe and life were created; it did not evolve by chance. Of course, there are variations over time among living things, but the variations do not add up to matter appearing from nothing or life springing from nonlife. The universe is structured and orderly, and those facts tell us something about the nature of the Creator.

  “Although the universe is structured and orderly, there are also changes. A few days ago, human scientists recorded the transition of Polaris from a star into a nova. Fortunately, we had enough advance warning to move away before the nova occurred.

  “Recorded human history on this planet covers approximately the last 6,000 years. The recorded Abantu history goes back further, approximately 150 lifetimes. A lifetime is a common Abantu term for a span of years, and it represents slightly over 10,000 Earth years. Thus, our recorded history covers more than 1.5 million Earth years.

  “A lifetime ago, some of our scientists predicted that minor solar flares on Polaris would increase in intensity and the star would eventually go nova. We already had the capability to travel between stars, developed 2.5 lifetimes ago, but travel times are long. We conducted only a few trips.

  “The initial spaceships were about the size of the Abantu freighter that visited here a few weeks ago. We built more of them and sent them out exploring while our scientists began developing methods to evacuate the entire population of a planet. About 6,000 years ago, some of our scientists figured out how to adapt the drive for a single ship to a much larger body. Unfortunately, instabilities prevent us from applying the same technique to a planet more than 1,000 times the mass of Ceres.

  “We stripped 38 moons from lifeless planets in several star
systems and moved them to Polaris. We spent half of a lifetime building underground cities on the moons and moving our people from the surface of our planet to the interior of the moons. The first moon left Polaris about 100 years before Ceres. The last one left about 100 years after Ceres. In all, we moved just over one billion people.

  “One of the ships searching for a new world to colonize visited Earth in the year you know as 4103 BC. There were humans here, but the population numbered only a few hundred thousand and they all lived on one continent. Although there was some metal-working, they had little technology. A young Abantu woman named Nanda traveled on that ship. While here, she became fascinated with the physical similarities between Abantu and humans, and she began studying human and Abantu DNA.

  “We recently published a paper in Science magazine discussing human and Abantu DNA, so I will not dwell on the topic. However, I need to make a few points. The humans, you would say ancient humans, living here in the past were healthier and lived longer than you live today. Several lived over 1,000 years.

  “I previously defined an Abantu lifetime and it is more than a philosophic concept. Nanda now lives here on Earth. She spent many of the intervening years studying our DNA and learning how to manipulate it. She perfected the techniques to make cosmetic changes in our DNA so we can live comfortably on Earth.

  “One of our exploring ships made a second visit to this planet in 241 BC. That ship arrived just at the conclusion of the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Nanda participated in that second visit with the purpose of determining whether a colony ship could come here. The human population was larger than before, but there was no significant level of technology. That ship stayed here for thirty years studying the world and the culture.

  “There are remarkable differences in our cultures. Strife and bloodshed define your culture. Our ship arrived at the end of a long senseless war. Our scientists were amazed that mankind had not gone extinct and they were astounded at the genetic drift. Mankind at that time lived only ten percent of the length of time they did previously.

  “Although there are differences and struggles in Abantu culture, there is no mention of war in any of our historical documents.” Laura paused and looked around. Every head of state was listening intently. “Humans must abandon the practice of warfare if they are to become good neighbors.”

  She paused again, but more briefly than before. “The last murder in our culture occurred more than 120 lifetimes ago. In addition, we design our technology with safety in mind and accidental deaths are rare. I have not heard of an accidental death during my lifetime, and I was born a few years before Jesus of Nazareth was born.

  “We arrived here in Ceres late in the year 1800. The Italian monk Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres on January 1, 1801. As you now know, Ceres left here heading for 59 Eridani after studying human society for 215 years. My people concluded there was little chance of the Abantu achieving peaceful coexistence on a planet populated by humans. A few of us disagree, and we stayed behind.

  “The first exploratory voyage Nanda participated in also visited the star you know as 59 Eridani. It has one habitable planet with plant and animal life, but no intelligent species. In all, we have identified 200 planets within 500 light years of Polaris supporting animal life, but none of them, other than Earth, has an intelligent species.

  “The DNA of plants and animals on all other planets are vastly different than the DNA in humans or Abantu. Human DNA has many similarities to a number of Earth animals, but Abantu DNA is vastly different from the animal life that lived on our home planet.

  “I use the term home planet out of fondness rather than in a scientific sense. I already mentioned DNA similarities and differences. It does not appear the Abantu originated at Polaris, even though we have lived there for a long time, even by our standards. The origin of our species is one of the mysteries we hope someday to resolve. Our physical similarities with humans are one of the reasons Ceres stayed here so long.

  “In contrast, to the rare death of an Abantu in an accident, we have lost three Abantu to violence since we arrived here. One died in the American Civil War, one died in Europe in World War I and one was murdered in Chicago three years ago. We recently increased our personal protective measures.

  “We ask that you let our people move freely in human society. We have been doing that since 1801, long before any of you were born, but no one previously knew what we represent. The difference now is that we ask you to set aside petty conflicts and make the world a safe place to live and play, not just for us, but for yourselves as well.

  “If you make progress in cooperation and safety, some of my people would like to visit Earth. Some of those with that desire now live on Mars, but others are living on Ceres. There is a chance tourism could move in both directions, but we will choose who can visit. You are already used to such restrictions because many countries require visas.”

  She paused and shifted positions, signaling a change in topics. “Part of our longevity is due to good genetics, part is due to the absence of violence, and part is due to excellent medical techniques. We have studied human diseases extensively since we arrived. Fortunately, we are immune to them. That immunity also helped us understand how to develop medicine useful for humans.

  “We recently distributed medicine to people living in a village in Cameroon. About twenty of them had contracted the Ebola virus. All of the sick people were cured within a day. You can check with the local representative of the World Health Organization, a man named Hugo, to verify my comments. The medicine we used there will cure any known viral disease within a day. Even though these vaccinations do not restore the ancient DNA in a human, we believe everyone taking the vaccinations can live healthy active lives for approximately 350 years, provided they also take dietary supplements. We will start selling the vaccination kits to the public in three months and we will produce enough doses to treat everyone on the planet within two years.

  “But,” Laura raised her hand in a common gesture of caution. “We do not plan to apply for, or obtain, approval for, these drugs from any human regulatory body. Not now, not ever. I plan on being around longer than the past recorded span of all of human history and I don’t often change my mind. If the vaccinations are successful, your medical industry will suffer a great contraction.

  “You have made great strides in developing new technology in the last 200 years. Our technology has benefitted from a much longer development timeline, but you can understand from my previous comments why we do not plan to transfer it to you. However, we are willing to share a number of things in medicine, chemistry and materials science. Corrosion resistant materials will be a boon. For example, back in 2003, the cruise ship SS Norway had a boiler rupture caused by corrosion. The rupture caused 8 fatalities. With proper materials, such things will not happen.

  “In addition, we have a long history of developing safe systems. The concept of zero risk is an oxymoron, but one can achieve close to zero risk, even for reasonable cost. We are willing to share some of those operational concepts so accidental injuries or deaths can be reduced or eliminated. For example, the number of injuries or fatalities every year from car wrecks on the roads in North America is astronomical–and it doesn’t need to be that way.

  “Finally, the governments and industrial leaders of several countries represented in this room have sent covert teams after my people.” Laura turned and gestured at Rhona and Keene. “Keene was kidnapped, starved, and nearly killed by one team, and that team also kidnapped Nanda. Members of a different team shot and nearly killed Rhona. Another team nearly destroyed two houses we lived in. A different team penetrated into a tunnel near our facility and seriously wounded two of our people. My people consider the elimination of these teams a top priority. In the past, we exercised extreme restraint in our responses. We will show less restraint in the future. Thank you.”

  Rhona stepped to the podium w
hen Laura gestured at her. She looked around at the world leaders gathered in the room and was somewhat surprised she didn’t feel cowed. She spoke without waiting for an introduction. “I am willing to answer a few questions under the established ground rules.”

  President Leek signaled for recognition even before Rhona finished her comment. She gestured at him. “Go ahead, sir.”

  “Can we visit in Jetmore?”

  Although she had expected a question from him, Rhona was momentarily surprised. The surprise faded as she considered the political situation. He wanted to give the appearance, if not the substance, of shared access to the Abantu. “Yes, sir. Heads of state are welcome to visit in Jetmore. We ask that you call ahead and you arrive with no more than two unarmed attendants, just as Keene and I are the only individuals attending this meeting with Laura.”

  Moments later another leader signaled for attention. “Do all of the Abantu on Earth live on the embassy grounds?” she asked.

  Rhona had discussed this issue with Laura and she chose her words carefully. “The Abantu world headquarters is in Jetmore. Their reporting structure is significantly different from the structure of human nations. It is based on voluntary cooperation rather than oppressive laws.”

  The number of people exchanging glances told Rhona the others in the room understood her evasive answer.

  The head of state for a small third-world nation asked the next question. “We know the Abantu have mined mineral resources, including uranium, and sold those materials off-world. Have the Abantu also invested in the human economy?”

  “Yes,” Rhona replied, thinking that her sessions with Laura and the others had prepared her well for the questions so far. “They began investing shortly after arriving on Earth because their ethical basis says they should buy goods and services rather than stealing them. They purchased the materials recently sold off-world. They also used advanced computer support long before humans developed such investment aids. They even paid all taxes due.” She smiled, “however, they have invested very little in socialist societies that operate under the premise everyone should have the same income.”