Confrontation

by William Hayashi

  Earth, most specifically the United States, was reaping what it had sowed for so many centuries. And now the sick violence of humanity was confined to the planet and would not be allowed to spread off the surface of the Earth. The enormity of what the separatists had wrought was beginning to sink into the collective consciousness of humanity. Most governments were looking at a knee-jerk militant response and were furiously planning defiant action, foolishly insistent that a community of a couple of thousand people, American blacks no less, were not going to dictate global policy. The fact that the entire world was embargoed by just two ships was an affront to every space-faring nation on the planet.

  Those capable of any shred of honesty fully realized that the separatists were right. The habit of automatically dealing with issues that occurred around the globe with violence was either going to have to change, or everyone would probably perish in a haze of nuclear fallout.

  * * *

  Christopher was in the middle of deciphering some cryptic readings from the interdimensional probe when Maxwell called.

  “Yes, Max? What’s up?”

  “We just received a message from the Earth outpost, they had to take down a Chinese rocket.”

  “Not even a day later? We may be in for an awfully long interdiction. Do we have the will to stomach that?”

  “I believe so. The real test is going to come when they send up a manned launch; that’s going to be tricky. One day they’re going to send a nuke up with one or more kamikaze astronauts aboard to try to take out one of our jumpers, or maybe even the space station.”“Peanut, Chuck, TJ and I went over that possibility and every other contingency we could think of. With the sensor technology we have, along with Genesis monitoring all the space-capable countries and corporate concerns who could mount such an attack, I’m confident that our people are fairly safe out there. Otherwise, I never would have allowed them to deploy.” Christopher paused a moment, then asked, “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”

  “Not at all. Just bringing you up to date. I’ve forwarded the report from the crew out there to you. Let me know if you have any further questions or comments.”

  “Will do.”

  * * *

  “… in five, four, three … ” The director chopped his arm on the two and one counts, then pointed to the president.

  The camera crew had set up in the Oval Office as Laughlin, his press secretary and chief of staff polished up the address he would make to the nation and the world. It was being made away from the press room to avoid any questions from the assembled media. When Laughlin was satisfied with the text of the speech, it was uploaded to the Teleprompter and he went and sat down for the White House makeup artist. While he was being worked on, Debra brought him the final draft of the speech to look over until it was time to go on the air.

  Ten minutes before air he returned to the Oval Office, tissues protecting his collar from the makeup on his face. He sat behind the desk as the engineers attached dual microphones to his jacket lapel, checked the lighting and finally pulled the tissue from his collar. And then it was time:

  “My fellow Americans and citizens of the world, I’m speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office to discuss the events of the last forty-eight hours and the new circumstances which Planet Earth now finds itself.

  The African Americans we have labeled Separatists have forbidden the peoples of Earth and any of our technology to leave the planet until we have completely dismantled all nuclear weapons currently stockpiled or deployed on strategic platforms around the globe. However, it is quite evident that they pose no threat to anyone on Earth who does not threaten them.

  And though most, especially the governments in the so-called global nuclear club, can see this as military extortion, we can instead look at their demand as an opportunity to destroy weapons of mass destruction that should have no place in the 21st Century. We have been presented with a first step in a more rational global society.

  The United States Ambassador to the United Nations will be delivering a resolution to the Security Council tomorrow calling for the phased reduction and subsequent elimination of the world’s stockpile of nuclear armaments. This resolution is merely taking the first step in what is anticipated to be a very difficult road ahead. Many countries keep nuclear weapons as deterrents against hostile neighbors and will require ironclad assurances that the elimination of these weapons of mass destruction will not put their people in immediate jeopardy.

  Of course it would have been better had we decided to disarm on our own. And make no mistake, the road ahead will be torturous if we want to continue to expand beyond our own planet, but I believe mankind is equal to the task.

  As for the United States of America, and the role NASA plays in our national research and outreach into space, nothing has changed except perhaps timing. We look forward to the day when we return to the International Space Station, when we return to the moon, and let me state for the record we still have every intention of completing our manned mission to Mars.

  So to meet our goal of expanding into space, the United States of America is dedicating all resources possible to leading the way to nuclear disarmament. We invite those harboring nuclear weapons to join us in advancing the cause of civilization and humankind to the next stage in our collective evolution.

  Of course all of this sounds great, and represents high ideals, indeed. However, men and women of goodwill and conscience are now required to get this done. I sincerely hope that all parties involved can forge a consensus that brings about necessary change to humanity, and creates a world where the achievements of humanity are the yardstick against which we all measure our future, instead of our ability to destroy.

  Thank you, and may God bless America, and all the peoples of the world …”

  President Laughlin held his pose for a full minute after the light went out on the camera. When he finally moved again, the engineers approached him and removed the microphones from his clothing.

  Dawkins left the room with him. Instead of heading to the family quarters or remaining until the Oval Office was cleared out, Laughlin led the chief of staff back to her office. They said nothing until they were in the office and the door was closed.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “You followed me. What’s up, Stuart?”

  “I guess I want to know what you think is going to happen next,” he replied.

  “Whew!” she said, letting out a huge breath, shaking her head. “I have no idea what’s really going to happen, chief. But here’s what I think is likely: I don’t think there’s going to be much movement on disarmament before your term is up, so you’ve got that going for you. And since nothing else happens until all nuclear weapons are destroyed or dismantled, nothing’s going to be going on off world either.” She paused, then said, “I think the first thing on the agenda is a vigorous prosecution of the Svoboda crew and perhaps using that to pressure Russia to agree to disarm. Although I predict they’re going to ignore any and all calls to do so.”

  “They had nukes in orbit, for Christ’s sake! But I agree, they’re not going to go along with that no matter what.”

  “Exactly. But turning the entire world against Russia is going to be a breeze after what’s happened at their colony and in orbit. The execution of General Rowan plays right into your hands if you quietly spread the word that Rowan acted with the the support and consent of the Russian president. He’s already being economically isolated; placing blame for the embargo on him is going to be relatively easy.

  “This embargo is going to go on for a long, long time, well past when you leave office. Well past the next president’s term in office too. A lot of people are calling this Earth’s new normal. We’re just not adjusted to it yet. Neither are the citizens of the country nor the rest of the world. New paradigms will be forged and old alliances are guaranteed to change
. But at the heart of our existence today, not much will be changing at all. That’s what people will be realizing very soon.”

  “Have I told you yet today that I hate my job?” Laughlin said, the fatigue clearly in his voice. “This is not what I signed up for. And what I’d give my pension to know is what’s going on in the minds of those who lead that colony. We’ve spoken to three of their people—Walker, Atkins and that Christopher guy. Hell, if I could just sit down and have a talk with their leadership I’m convinced that something could come of it.”

  “Like one of their ships, perhaps? Longer life? The ISS back in orbit?” Dawkins said, the sarcasm clearly in her voice.

  Laughlin looked up, hearing the unspoken rebuke. “I would gladly settle for just a conversation, some room for negotiation. But this absolutism is impossible to work with, and seeing how they dealt with the Chinese launch, obviously they mean business. But what if there were some wiggle room in the whole disarmament process? No one is going to give up their nukes first, so what the fuck? How’s that going to work? Do you see Pakistan and India giving up their nuclear arsenals? What about Israel? They still don’t acknowledge the hundred or so that they’ve got even today. Russia? France? Britain? That speech was great, but getting anything done is going to be damn near impossible.”

  “You know something, Mr. President? I’ve listened to your sniveling and whining about the status quo imposed on this and every other country on this planet by the people from the colony, but the one thing I haven’t heard from you is sincere regret over having locked up Walker and Stanford,” said Dawkins.

  “What? I said you were right, what more do you want?” Laughlin asked testily.

  “Oh, I don’t know. How about addressing what put those people out there beyond Mars in the first place? I’m sitting here waiting for someone to address the reasons behind why those colonists were driven to leave this country in the first place. An admission that the conditions in America for black men and women are barely tolerable would be a good start. Believe me, I know a lot of what I’m laying on you is unfair, it’s not directly your fault. After all, how the hell would you know a damned thing about being black in America? And that’s my point, you and everyone else white in this country know so little about the built-in institutional racism that is the foundation of this country and no one white will ever acknowledge that those colonists are the natural evolution of colored people in this country. What do you think is going to happen when Latinos become the numerically dominant race in this country in the 2040s? What’s the political landscape going to be like when that happens?

  “I don’t blame you for your ignorance, your inability to understand the nuance of the colonists’ message to you and everyone else on this planet; but it’s there. It’s a warning, and, sad to say, a slap in your face as the leader of the free world; as President of the United States,” she said and fell silent.

  Laughlin waited for her to tell him exactly what he was missing. When the silence stretched out longer than he could stand, he said, almost shouting, “Well, what in the hell am I missing, that everyone’s missing? Just what do you think they were saying?”

  “Oh, Stuart,” she said, “If you just think about it for a second you’ll figure it out; it’s so obvious.”

  Laughlin’s face was becoming a bright red as his frustration pushed him closer to seriously losing it. Just before he was going to explode in anger, Debra just gave a little smile and said, “Whitey, stay home.”

  EPILOGUE

  Might makes right.

  It’s a universal truism in the family of man.

  The world’s population was confined to the surface of the planet, no more forays into space, and for the most part, multinational corporations would no longer be able to cash in on space-based commerce or new technologies in orbital communications.

  Lucius Walker, Sydney Atkins and her predecessor were just the latest conductors on America’s underground railroad, ferrying blacks away from the oppression of white-entitled America to the land of freedom beyond. They conducted the best and brightest secretly into space, to Earth’s nearest neighbor, untouchable by any Earth authority. The difference this time was that they were living in a community of their own kind, brothers and sisters who shared a common heritage, now free from the racist oppression so tightly woven into the fabric of America.

  Now, those formerly oppressed who rode the modern-day underground railroad were confining the rest of mankind to Earth with no reprieve until man rid itself of its most insane weapons. Christopher knew the chances of that happening any time soon were slim, and now that the world knew that the separatists could back up their word to deny Earth’s inhabitants access to space, he could turn his attention to the promise of his community’s future.

  With Genesis monitoring the world’s military, and the two jumpers on twenty-four-hour call, there was no way any of the space-capable nations were going to be able to catch the colony unaware.

  The President of the United States was conferring with the leaders of the other space-capable nations on what the long-term effect of being denied access to orbital assets would likely be. The bigger issue everyone faced was drafting a plan for the destruction of all Earth’s nuclear arms; on the surface, this looked to be an impossible task. Christopher and his cohort couldn’t care less. Their entire community was focused on expanding their reach into the solar system and beyond. And they were going to have ample opportunity to improve their quality of life with the serendipitous benefits of their current, life-extending, vaccine.

  Sadly, most Americans, regardless of race or color, had no idea how embedded white privilege and institutional racism was in American culture. As in the struggle for equality of the sexes, women were nearly as complicit in the oppression that maintained their second-class status in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Very few blacks passed muster in the screening for those qualified to join Christopher and his oldest friends, most infected with a perspective they were blind to. So many blacks were being killed with relative impunity across the country that the media, and even the public, were becoming inured to the daily body count.

  Given the ubiquity of the dumbing down of America, it was no wonder even so-called enlightened whites couldn’t understand the difference between prejudice and racism. School systems governed by conservative boards were rewriting history books to eliminate any mention of slavery in America’s past, or the fact that the United States of America was the only country in history to have used nuclear weapons against a largely civilian population.

  The world Christopher’s community left behind was no picnic for its forcibly transplanted Africans, but the reality was that not all of them were worthy of inclusion into their ranks. Everyone in the colony had left behind family and friends, but their solace was that what they had created was so much more than what they left behind and held so much more promise. Hopefully, their embargo of Earth would precipitate change that made life for those left behind better; however, no one in the colony, nor on Earth, expected rapid progress forward.

  And as far as the balance of power on Earth, the undisputed champs were sitting in Earth’s L4 LeGrange point, ensuring that the sickness of Earthly man’s violence didn’t sully any place else in the solar system … might was making it right.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A number of people have crossed my life in the making of Darkside who contributed to its success. First the nuts and bolts, I have to thank Linda for her editing this last installment, as she did the previous two. And what Allen Oaks did with the cover design is utterly fantastic. I’ve known Linda since college, and Allen I met next door at my musician neighbor Ron’s home. Ron co-produced music for one of the films I wrote and produced for the 48 Hour Film Project.

  And I have to mention an online community of creative peers at the Black Science Fiction Society social networking site for their unwavering support. Thanks are also in or
der for the site itself where I have been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to be the regular host of Friday’s Genesis Science Fiction Radio Show.

  Special thanks must go out to everyone who showed their support for my work, those who purchase the books, those who have given me encouragement, and those who have honored me by inviting me as a panelist for forums on fiction, on Afrofuturism, on Black issues in the news and schools that invited me to speak to students on what is possible. It was because of such an invitation that I continued with the final installment of Darkside when I was ready to give up and go back to writing strictly for business, given the contrasts in financial return.

  Sometimes the Universe either taps you on the shoulder or whispers in your ear. In this case it let me know that finishing the trilogy was not only the right thing to do, but necessary.

  A sad note of thanks has to be made to the American people, at least those who control our current culture. Without the poor stewardship of this country by the oligarches, the conservatives swept into power in the last several generations, and the small-minded bigots who spew hate on conservative talk radio around the clock, the events documented in The Darkside Trilogy wouldn’t be as close to reality as they are. All we’re lacking is that one crucial discovery by a Black astrophysics student from the story to make Darkside real.