by Ken Pence
***
Admiral Kyger was having a talk with Andrew, Fran, and Susan. “What will happen with this stuff when it hits mainstream? This is explosive. We need to keep a lot of this out of circulation. I hate it but we need to classify a lot of this stuff. Just the medical could destroy a society.”
“A society like it used to be. We can make scaled down copies on cylinder. Fighting cancer to specialists…regenerating limbs and organs maybe,” Fran said.
“We will have to screen our people better. Ling said she learned enough about mental processes that she could cure half of the mental issues. We are used to working with the best here in the ERF. We work in our little island of sanity – away from the world. We can’t keep everyone from going back to Earth. Most will talk.”
“We can start programs to clean up Earth – Nine billion people and how many of us. No hope there Andrew said.
“Best we can do is classify everything and set up hit teams if anything gets out of hand,” Susan said.
“Be serious Susan,” Brad said.
“I’m totally serious,” Susan said. “What are few lives compared to millions that might die?”
“One other solution. Get some dynamite general education cylinders that we get made mandatory. Start in kindergarten. Some won’t want it. We could make them so cheap and plentiful that everyone could get a balanced education that is best this galaxy could put together. Not make them mandatory at all. Put ‘em on the black market in China. Everybody who uses it knows how to treat injuries, knows sanitation, how to fix everything. It would still blow up but the ones that know would have it head over heels better chance of surviving than the no nothings,” Susan said. “We have colonies now. We could give them survival training cylinders for anyone leaving Earth.”
“Okay. Classify everything and start a program for the best of everything. Get our best to start making cylinders. The object is to make a set of secret training cylinders. We’ll have different levels. Restrict a lot of the dangerous stuff but it will still be crazy there. I expect to lose half the population. We’ll have a lot leave the planet. You know we’ll have crazy bad trouble here too,” Admiral Kyger said.
“Let’s bring Tod and Desiree in as well as Steve, john, Ling, Xilatoi, Lee, Rett, Leilei, and Shiv. We need all of them to get this started.
***
Ling approached old cucumber a couple of days later. He was still enjoying his handheld videogame.
“Are these things addictive sometimes?” he asked.
“Yes and that makes me want to ask you if you have any information to keep an underdeveloped society from destroying itself with too much knowledge,” She asked.
“The age-old question. My race had few in it so we survived. The Ylee survived because they did not have the mettle to take the next step but they will die and fade away. You ask the question that makes a society live or die. I will use an expression I got from John. Sink or swim time. Shit or get off of the pot. I understand the first but the second confuses me – I hope it makes sense to you,” he said.
“Is there hope?” Ling asked.
“Yes. I imagine you are already planning something. Secrecy does not work for long. Mandatory training does not work. I learned much of your psychology from you. You are getting there in many areas. Ask me your questions and I will trade what I know. We are enriched beyond measure by our knowledge joining.”
Ling was crying as she touched the old cucumber. Funny she thought as she did so how familiar he felt to her. She touched him and she was crying when she finished. He reached out and stroked the side of her face. He was gentle. She leaned forward and gave him a big hug. She didn’t know if was appropriate but hell…it was necessary. He seemed to take it well. Her tears were drying as she walked back to her room to make a cylinder of her new knowledge.
***
Ling took her cylinder to Tod. She told him that all the parties in the plot, as she called it needed to take this cylinder. He took her at his word and made a copy and had all the conspirators take the cylinder. It took about one hour to run.
The users came to look for her a bit after that but she was in large conference room with bunch of drunken aliens. Large cucumbers were sloshing their saucers of beer, as was Rett – master of the keg and jalapenos. His female partner was happy and dancing – well tromping but she wasn’t drinking because she was pregnant.
LeiLei was with Joel and was glowing. She had been trading information with Easy a bit earlier in the week and she wasn’t drinking either. Ling, being of suspicious mind, asked her. Ling squealed and gave her a big hug and kiss. LeiLei leaned over and licked Joel’s ear. She whispered into it and he looked white as a ghost and then gave her a non-matronly kiss. She had learned how to merge her genes with his – they were going to have a little Human-Lemsa.
Tod and Desiree were snuggling. Desiree had announced – to Ling – after she had finished her longevity treatments that she was pregnant. Susan came up and told her she had cried for fifteen minutes after taking the cylinder. She kissed her and confided that she was going to get pregnant – in a few minutes she announced and drug Andrew out of the room. The Toi were dancing.
Admiral Kyger motioned Ling over to him. “That damn cylinder you made – it hit me pretty hard. Social dynamics and psychology from races long dead in some cases… What worked and what didn’t. Then you add your analysis of the religious factions and the different governments. It was solid. I didn’t expect a 90% chance of a 50% population loss. So five billion will probably die if we go through with our plan as is – give or take a billion. The odds of eradication of all life on Earth near 100% if we try to hide the information… Holy crap. I drank a bit and then realized I wanted to make love to my wife. We both cried as we made love. I’ve never done that before. Thank you though. Made me want to celebrate life.
Shiv came over to Ling. “The cylinder you sent was very informative. Your analysis looked correct and it looks like we are doing it the best way possible. It made me feel odd afterward and I went and found that crazy Vicvic pilot.”
“Isn’t he male?” Ling asked.
“Very male but he has exceptional genetics. I also consulted one of the traders. I used the information he gave me and I am pregnant.”
“I thought you could impregnate yourself?” Ling said.
“Oh. I can do that but I am going to have all females,” Shiv said.
“Where will you have them?” Ling asked with worry on her mind since those females will be ferociously hungry and will have Shiv’s inherited knowledge.
“Commodore Williams is going to transfer command of a frigate to me and transfer its already diminished crew to other ships. We will stock it with animal life from Green on our way back to Earth.”
“That should work out fine,” Ling said thinking how it would be with one hundred small Vicvic running around a ship – all female.
Ling saw Captain Shuler edge into the room. He came over when he saw her. “You three sheets to the wind already,” he said as he got himself a beer. “What are you drinking?”
“I decided I’d just drink ginger ale right now. Isn’t this party a little loud? Those Toi and Cucumber can really party. Why don’t we go somewhere so I can hoist your flag.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice.
***
Master Chief Mayerchak and Senior Chief Warrington were on some kind of secret mission. They were taking a ton of learning cylinders to Earth on a screwy secret mission. They were to go to half the capitals of Earth and pretend to get drunk. They had given them pocket change in the way of per diem. They said these were some hot shot learning cylinders and they could keep any money they got from selling them. They had five other guys with them and they could share the spoils with them or not. What was screwy was the cylinders were all different and designed for different locations. Yellow ones to Beijing, red for Russia, oak leaf for Canada. They had one hundred separate packages each for different cities. They only had a few weeks to d
o it and then hightail it back to the fleet. They each had five guys to guard them and a shuttle each. They were going to get drunk some but… one hundred times – not. Master Chief Mayerchak had one additional stop on the way.
***
The front desk clerk looked at the message. He had been at the Eugene Hotel on Bellatrix now for a month and strange stuff always happened here. “You need to give this to Eugene Philips personally or we will come back here and shove your head through your ass. Got that. Feel free to read the message. You’ll probably have to know too.” Richard looked at the message when the mean looking soldier left. Wow. He was scary looking.
Richard unfolded the note.
Hi Eugene. Got some real doozies headed your way. Imagine 9 – two-meter high sea cucumbers who like to party. They need a couple inches of water in the rooms – prefer slightly saline with rounded small stones. They love live shrimp – hard to keep right now – we ran out. Different varieties shellfish: mussels, clams, oyster if you can. They drink beer out of saucers on a little island somewhere – they’ve acquired a taste for oyster crackers. Sea vegetable edibles and small fish might be fun for them. They love video games. Hllumff style toilet…Earth gravity and lighting okay…Need separate rooms each with view if can do. Sleeping in glass-like aquarium might be best. Spare nothing for them – these guys mean a lot. Will pay you 1,000 times over any of your costs. Got twenty more properties for you out here and can stretch your extra 45 to 450 years now – no shit.
Thanks
Commodore Andrew Williams ERF
BTW – Stay away from Earth for a while – stock up. Might be a while before you get a chance.
About the Author
Ken R. Pence, PhD is an engineering professor at Vanderbilt University and an active martial artist, a 5th degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do, and a private pilot. He is a retired captain from the Metro Nashville Police Department where he served 31 years (16 on SWAT) and has taught police and military in the US, and Europe (England, Germany, France, and Northern Ireland) in confrontation management skills.
He researches advanced sniper location systems for DARPA and is currently investigating inexpensive magnetic levitation.
Want to hear from you – contact me at:
[email protected]
The Technology in this Novel
Several things are interesting about this technology - most of it is in practice or on the drawing board. The stun weapons exist today – two parallel ultraviolet lasers ionize the air and a high voltage charge is applied to these channels in the air like wires, to hit skin and cause the muscles to lock – ultraviolet tetanizing weapon. I was on a committee approving the study on humans in 1999 but couldn’t talk about it until 2005 when it was patented. There were other patents in 1997 – 2003 covering the topic.
Invisibility: tons of patents – meta-materials that can bend microwave and other high frequency sources around them exist today. The projection of the image of what is behind you exists today and you can see it on tanks on the Net today – already exists. MIT got a multi- million grant to make clothing that would enhance the strength of soldiers – it already exists. If you are interested – look up Exoskeleton II by Lockheed – another incarnation of enhanced strength. It already exists and is in use. We, Vanderbilt Engineering submitted a white paper in 2011 on having computers recognize threats based on behavior – it is doable today and getting better. The ability of a computer to take multiple video inputs and construct a cogent analysis, showing what happened, is doable today.
The weapons, except the molecular disruptor, could be constructed today with better power sources. Much of what we do would change if we had portable high-capacity power sources. Laser and neutron projectors are easy to build – It’s the power generation that is the hitch. We purchased a car this year that could drive itself in a limited fashion (2012). Research is close on anti-aging – if you can live another thirty years – you will probably be able to live another 50 years if you are wealthy. That will change a lot of things. I had 31 years as a police officer, and now I teach engineering and still teach martial arts at 61 – what if I lived another 60 years. Men in my family often live over 100 now. Soon the wealthy will have that as an option.
Look how Europeans affected trade in the Polynesian island nations – we need to remember the past. All aliens will not be altruistic. They will not be all bipeds. We will have ENORMOUS difficulties talking with them – I hope they have Trade, Esperanto or the like.
We are approaching the learning machine stage – it will have a huge impact and we are closer than you probably think. We can recognize symbols, letters and numbers from thought alone – and that is just the unclassified work. We are close and it will hit us hard if we do not have to memorize data – great improvement and headed your way. Currently we are looking at implanted devices that use an electrochemical reaction to power them – doable today – communications??
Kinetic armor – I have helped develop Kevlar and other ceramic/composite armor for decades – I wouldn’t want to try attacking a US soldier 50 years from now.
MemDexs – we could just say the smart phones five years from now – my phone does a lot right now. Lamlee – circuitry that evolves – maybe in the future – why not?
Biological creatures producing semiconductors – we do that now and can produce quantum dot light sources from the waste of earthworms – weird, but true.
--Ken R. Pence
I enjoy hearing from readers as much as I enjoy writing – so send comments, gripes, plot gaffes, ideas for future novels to:
[email protected]
…had some fans in the last two books and used their names (with their permission) as heroic characters. I never use fan names unless the characters are as cool as the readers…
