by OMAR FINK
Lee shook his hand, “It’s an honor to meet you sir.” She flashed her big toothy grin.
Ulrich smiled back, and settled back into the couch, “It’s also an honor to meet you Lee. I know you are aware of the public reputation of Peter as a whiz kid and successful businessman, but let me assure you that he is quite brilliant, even though quiet and unassuming when talking about himself. His computer cloud services empire is totally underestimated because most people don’t understand what it is, and he is the mastermind behind our cyber currency project which is making all of this possible.” Ulrich turned and smiled at Peter.
Peter spoke, “I was just starting to tell Lee we want her to help out with our Magi project.” He turned back toward Lee, “Oh, I forgot to mention that I like to call our ambassadors the three Magi, because it will seem like they have been summoned from afar by a new star in the sky, and come bearing gifts and knowledge.” He grinned.
Lee grinned back, “That’s cute.”
Ulrich added, “Peter seems to have a knack for giving everything we do an appropriate name. He’s the one who coined the name ‘Humanity United’ for this project.”
There was a brief pause, then Lee asked, “Tell me about this cyber currency thing.”
Peter answered, “Do you understand what a cyber coin is?”
Lee responded, “Yes, basically. I know how the technical fundamentals work, with mining and all, but how does that fit into a project to build space elevators? I mean it’s obviously something with the funding, but why not just use conventional money?”
Peter said, “That’s an excellent question. When your reports came in from the IISS team, we knew we’d need somewhere in the vicinity of eight hundred trillion dollars over ten years to make this work. That means controlling all the industrial production on this planet, and almost all the financial resources. Given the way the U.N. and the neighborhood of political nations mostly fail to cooperate, we figured the best way to accomplish that was to create our own currency that could both unify the finances, and offer us some control over the value of the currency. With a smooth issuance rate, and a constant improvement in the infrastructure and the increase in production it represents, we can create a sense of increasing value in the coin that gives everybody an incentive to participate. We figured once the coin is established, it gives us the means to buy up the entire planet, and redirect resources into the project. Being able to make a small fortune, and help save the planet at the same time is an opportunity that is difficult to ignore.”
Lee smiled, “I’m impressed. That is brilliant, Peter. And yes, I’m in. I already know the engineering aspects, and I fully appreciate the necessity of what you’re trying to do, so I’ll have no problem advocating for the project. My viewpoint as an astronomer will lend some credibility to the credentials of the ambassadors. By the way, who are the ambassadors?”
Ulrich answered, “They’re not set in concrete yet, but we have nominated: Secretary General of the U.N. Manuel Ramos from Argentina, Foreign Minister from China Chen Tianki, and U.S. Secretary of State K.T. Rosenfeld. We also have suggested a list of leadership persons, and we’re willing to let them change the ambassadors if they wish.”
Lee said, “Those three are pretty good. They should do well.”
Ulrich rose to his feet and as Lee stirred, “Oh, stay down, you don’t need to get up. We’ll probably be talking again at dinner. We’re glad to have you on board, Lee.”
Lee said, “It will be a privilege to work with you guys. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Ulrich said, “And you haven’t even met Tony, Sam and Bill yet.” He chuckled.
+75 days, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Gitane Levesque looked into the camera, “You’ve been watching a special broadcast that as far as we can tell has interrupted every scheduled television broadcast on every channel worldwide. This is the first time in human history that has happened. What you saw was the announcement of the creation of a new organization called ‘Humanity United’. This new group was presented to us by five top leaders from around the world: President of the United States Laura Jordan, Secretary General of the Communist Party of China Zeng Shangkun, Prime Minister of India Deepak Singh, President of the European Union Arnot Guillemot, and President of Russia Yuri Andropov. They will serve as the first members of a Council for Guidance that is based loosely on the United Nations Security Council. Other countries and leaders of business and industry will also have seats on this council.”
Gitane looked down at the desk in front of him, then back at the camera, “The Humanity United Council for Guidance has also announced they are issuing a new cyber currency that will be called HU coin. They have already begun exchanging all major national currencies for this new cyber coin. They intend to use this coin to buy up all worldwide resources and means of production for industry, agriculture and business and including national military forces. They claim they can control the value of this coin to ensure that anybody who exchanges into the new currency will actually increase their new worth by doing so. The Council leaders stress that all of this will be completely voluntary.”
Gitane continued, “The Council leaders have also released a project plan designed to evacuate the entire human population of planet Earth into space in the next ten years in order to avoid the extermination of the human race when the comet fragment train returns. This plan involves the following steps:” A graphic showed the bullet points on the screen.
“Re-usable rocket boosters will be used to build multiple space stations
The space stations will dispatch a construction force to build a mining base on the Moon
The Moon base will provide construction materials to build living habitats in space
Carbon nanotube ribbon cables will be made to enable the building of hundreds of space elevators
As the space elevators become operational, people will be migrated up into space to live there permanently”
As Gitane finished reading the list, the graphic faded away, and he continued talking, “The Council for Guidance has stressed that while this plan is possible to execute within ten years, and save all of humanity, it will take everybody working together with a singular purpose to accomplish. They said further details will be announced shortly. They also said they will be sending out ambassadors to explain how the project will be implemented.”
5 Magi
“Star of wonder, star of light
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light”
— “We Three Kings”, Christmas carol
+3 months, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Marco Lagorio sat at the head of a conference table in one of the smaller work rooms in the CICG building. He smiled around the table and spread his hands wide saying, “Thank you for coming. I think you all know each other. Manuel Ramos is the Secretary General of the United Nations. Chen Tianki is the Foreign Minister of China. K.T. Rosenfeld is the Secretary of State of the United States. And of course, Lee Martin is the astronomer who first discovered the threat to our planet.”
Marco folded his hands together as though in prayer and continued, “Ulrich Giger has asked me to supply you all with a briefing, not so much of technical information, but more of the philosophy and directions of our effort. Since you will be the primary representatives of Humanity United to the rest of the world, this is important.” He paused and looked around the table.
Marco sighed, “I am a space evangelist.” He held out his hands as though to apologize. “I admit it. I’m proud of it. What does that mean?” His hands turned palms upward as though he was about to receive a gift from above. Then he put them down on the edge of the table. “It means I think human civilization is destined to move out into space. It means I have a personal stake in making that happen. And today, it means I have the job of convincing you of the same thing.”
Marco swept the table with his eyes again. “All of you com
e from positions that require you to see the big picture, to be able to understand what you see, and then to be able to explain it, and sell it to other people. I need you to understand that we needed to move Human civilization out into space even before we were threatened by the comet train. Of course, now that we are faced with this threat that can extinguish our entire species, and all traces of our civilization, it becomes obvious what we must do.” He looked down at his hands still on the edge of the table.
Marco raised his head, and his eyes shone with conviction, “There are certain things that are more important than anything else: like freedom, like truth, like equal opportunity. Only a few of the governments in our current world actually embrace those principles, and make any attempt at all to protect them for their citizens. This is the only possible excuse for people to grant power to governments. And yet, when this power is granted, the governing bodies invariably become intoxicated by the power they have been given, and begin to abuse the rights of the people they serve. Sometimes, this is the original plan, and sometimes it is a slow and quiet seduction, but it is almost inevitable.” Marco looked sadly back down at the edge of the table in front of him.
Marco smiled at the group in front of him. “When you cram people into a small space, and give them less than they need, they begin to think about how they can take what they need from the people next to them. This is sad but true. We like to think we have high ethical and moral principles we can stay true to, but when we are tested, our thinking tends to fall back to a self centered point of view. Some of the best endeavors in history have involved expansion into new frontiers. At a frontier, with more options available to us, we can afford to care more about others. We become more capable of thinking beyond ourselves when we are not cramped.” He raised his eyebrows.
Marco held out both hands as though he was trying to hold something down. “This is what will happen as we migrate out into space. You must understand this.” He nodded at the group. “The old government institutions will try to survive. They will try to continue their old ways. They will try to contain and control the people that they believe are theirs to control.” He raised his eyebrows again. “But they will fail. Let me say that again. They will fail. They will not succeed.” He leaned back against the back of his chair.
Marco wove his fingers into each other, and put his hands on the center of his chest, “In space there will be freedom like we have never experienced before. Ask yourself what confines us here on the surface of a planet? Territory, land, water, fields to grow food on and graze herds on, building materials, resources of all kinds, maybe even clean air to breath: all of these things can become short of supply. In space, we will have unlimited territory to claim as our own. In space, we will have an abundance of nearly free solar energy, nearly free resources of all types, providing an essentially unlimited opportunity to build our own futures and control our own destinies. We must mine rocks to extract the volatiles that will provide air and water. In the process, we will also extract metals that will offer value to be traded for other goods. And the leftovers will become construction material to create castles and palatial living spaces of our own design to live in.” He began nodding his head.
Marco separated his fingers and leaned back in to the table. He continued, “We will have the choice of living together with a variety of other people in a large city, or living in a smaller habitat with people of like mind, or going off in small groups, or even as an individual. Never before in the history of our civilization have we experienced the combination of both extreme freedom, and such an abundance of resources at the same time.”
Marco smiled again, “Everybody can be wealthy. Everybody can be free. Everybody can live as they want. This I believe devoutly. There will be no more poverty. There will be no more starvation. There will be no more epidemics of disease. There will be no need for war. There will be little need for government. We will live in a state of abundance and freedom.” He raised his hands like he was measuring something between them.
Lee Martin had a look of astonishment on her face, and interrupted Marco, “You really believe this, don’t you?”
Without hesitation, Marco replied, “Absolutely. You are a scientist, and I respect your ability to think logically and without bias. Can you argue with what I have said?”
Lee paused to think and before she could respond, Manuel Ramos said, “You said everybody can be wealthy. One of the problems we have here on Earth is income inequality. We need government to even that out and make sure everybody is paying their fair share. Won’t we still need that function once we’re out in space?”
Marco replied, “Many people here don’t think it is a correct function of government to even things out or redistribute wealth. The real function of government is to protect the rights of the individual, and make sure everybody has an equal starting point. Living in an environment filled with abundance will change viewpoints on that, I think. When everybody has a choice about what level of wealth they wish to attain, and has a fair chance to reach their goals, they won’t worry so much about what others have. When everybody lives in the land of the rich, and has all their needs fulfilled, what need will there be for government to interfere? If anybody can leave any government controlled environment at any time for any reason, and go live in their own space under their own control, how will overbearing governments convince people to give them control? They won’t. As I said before, they will fail.”
Chen Tianki spoke, “Surely you don’t expect all the leaders and politicians to just abdicate their positions.”
Marco replied, “No, of course not. They will try to cling to their power with all of their ability. I just expect them to fail, because they will no longer have much to offer in exchange for what they demand.”
Manuel Ramos jumped back in, “You have described a wonderful and fantastic vision of civilization in space. That will be very expensive, and will require the normal functions of government to collect taxes and fund the infrastructure. Government will still be needed.”
Marco waved one hand as though brushing away an insect, “Not really. First, everybody will be able to decide where they want to live. They can either live in one of our large habitat cities, which are currently being designed to hold roughly five million people in each ring. More than one ring can be appended to another, creating even larger city states. Anybody will also be able to jump start the process of building their own habitat ring of any size. Smaller crew working rings like the ones we are currently using for construction will be available for lease. The ring can be moved into position to prospect for a rock that can be mined. Robotic equipment will be used to mine the rock, supply the volatiles needed for life support, produce valuable metallic elements for sale, and provide the leftover dirt and rock to be used for construction of a larger ring. This is exactly how we are planning to build the rings in space right now. When anybody who doesn’t like the way a government works can leave it, and build their own new society, the old-fashioned idea of government won’t last. And the need for taxation may no longer exist. All the services people need in a big city can be provided on a subscription basis or built into the cost of a residence.”
Lee Martin said, “I see what you’re getting at. Each city or cluster of cities may have a need for some form of governing council, but if we are forming a new society where basic rights are not being constantly violated and most needs are amply supplied, the concept of government will have to be drastically revised and downsized. What if we formed a government and it had nothing to do?” She smiled at Marco.
Ramos remained unconvinced, “But people are not perfect. They will commit crimes and a system of justice will be needed. Inequality won’t simply disappear because we move into space. In fact, if we all become more wealthy as you suggest, history shows those who are already wealthy benefit most from any economic expansion. Those wealthy now on Earth are going to be even more wealthy in space. The gap between the rich and the not rich will expand, not shri
nk. The need for social justice is likely to increase, and that requires governing structure.”
At this point, K.T. Rosenfeld raised one hand with two fingers extended upward as though to ask for permission to speak, “I’m sure we all have differences in our ideas of how governments should operate. But we’re here today to promote the need for Humanity United. And in serving that most important cause, we’ll need to put aside our differences and concentrate on the primary united goal. That goal is to evacuate the Human species into space, and build new living spaces for everybody. We all know it will take a concentrating effort level the likes of which has never been seen in our history. Our mission is to sell this need to work together to all of Humanity. We can let the politicians and governments squabble over their control later, once we are out in space.”
Marco said, “That is correct.”
+3 months, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Gitane Levesque stepped out onto the stage with a microphone in his hand. Soft applause welled up from the audience. He began to talk, “Good evening. Most of you are used to seeing me on television bringing you the news. But tonight, I’m here in the Grand Théâtre de Genève simply to introduce our guests, and let them do the talking. First, we have the famous, and always flamboyant astronomer who discovered the comet that is changing all of our lives, Lee Martin.” The applause was stronger.
