Here Comes Earth: Emergence (24 page)

She
then offered to take us up to the Coridian section.

As
several Stigerians arrived carrying trays with what looked like local juices
Major Reagan determined that he along with me, Julie, Dr. Decker, Hiromi and
Kamiko would go upstairs with Captain Silva, Toni, and the non-talkative Noridian.

The
ten of us divided up into two elevators that looked different from what we had
on the ship but apparently functioned just the same; the door opened and closed
quickly and soundlessly and there was no sensation of movement.

All
of our hostesses and been pleasant and smiled the entire time but I realized
what was missing when Julie spoke. She said, “I don’t think I caught your
name?”

Our
hostess briefly glanced at Captain Silva and then responded to Julie, “I am
called Tunica.”

Julie
told her it was nice to meet her and asked her a few polite questions about her
work and even complimented her on her dress. By the end of the short
conversation not only had our elevator arrived but Tunica was beaming; she had
obviously felt flattered by the attention.

∆∆∆

“Major
Reagan,” Captain Silva said. “I have been in communication with Semi and she
has invited you to join her at her personal retreat. It’s located on one of the
moons of the fourth planet in this system and with the ship we’ll be happy to
provide it will take you only a few hours to reach her.”

The
Coridian compound apparently encompassed at least this floor of the building
and was as beautiful as it was large. The entire floor plan was open with
thirty foot ceilings and an entire glass wall that was rippled like waves on
the surface of a mild sideways sea.

The
view over the valley floor was incredible and it was much easier to see how the
city was laid out. We were high enough on one of the valley walls that I was
able to estimate the geographical size of the city to be similar to Wichita,
Kansas; the town I grew up in. There was no way however, that there were 350,000
people in this city; I’d be surprised if there were 20,000 people here.

“Can
we take the entire team?” I heard Major Reagan asking.

“That
would be difficult,” Captain Silva responded. “The ship is probably big enough
but the retreat is not. I would suggest that you take a contingent like what
you have here, eight to ten people.”

“I’m
not real big on the idea of splitting my team up Silva.”

“I
understand that Major…” Captain Silva was hesitating to say the rest but went
on, “I would just like to suggest that it would be a great sign of respect from
you not to force her to break her retreat. I am certain that you going to her
in this instance would not go unnoticed; please believe me when I say that in
our culture Semi is highly regarded and would be a great friend for Earth to
have.”

I
turned from the window and stepped over to the group.

“Major
Reagan? If I could interject? I wouldn’t mind staying here at all as long as I
could have access to the Stigerian people. Several of us have been invited to
spend the day with Tunica so we can get a feel for the local lifestyle and I
don’t know how many more opportunities like this might present themselves…”

The
Major made a quick decision. “Ok, I want Dr. Decker, Julie, and Captains Hiromi
and Kamiko to accompany Silva and me to this retreat. How soon can we leave?”

Before
Captain Silva could answer I said, “Major, could I suggest you switch out Julie
and Anzio? I could use her expertise here while trying to understand these
people and Anzio would add a lot of observational value to your team.”

Julie
was nodding as the Major said, “So be it. Now, how soon can we leave?”

∆∆∆

It turns out that Tunica
had no real concept of a ‘full-time’ job. As a matter of fact I was beginning
to think the word ‘job’ wasn’t going to be an accurate description for anything
either.

“Do you mean to say that
on your world everyone does basically one thing; the same thing every day, all
day, for years at a time? But why?” Tunica said as we nodded.

“Well, I suppose it’s not
everyone on our planet but close enough. Tunica, on our world people need to
work so they can earn currency to pay for the things they need; like food and
shelter,” Julie said.

“I still do not
understand,” said Tunica. “We occasionally have someone that will get so
focused on an area of interest or study that they kind of forget about
everything else for a few months or sometimes even a few years but how is it
that your whole society is so passionately interested in only singular
pursuits?”

“Ah, well,” I jumped in.
“It is true that some of us are passionate about our careers but I think most
people just do the work so that they can put food on the table for themselves
and their families.”

“Do you mean that many
people are devoting most of their waking lives to doing stuff they would rather
not do?” she asked.

When I nodded she
continued, “Are they being punished?”

We explained that no, on
our world people had to earn currency in order to buy things… but I still don’t
think she was getting it.

“If they are hungry why
don’t they just go to a restaurant?” She asked.

It further turns out that
Tunica led a very active life. She had a number of things she did on a regular
basis; things we might call jobs.

Her work at the Coridian
enclave was one example of that.

“How much time do you
spend working with the enclave?” Julie asked.

“I devote a few fourthdays
a week,” she replied. A fourthday was equivalent to about six hours.

As Julie inquired further
we learned that Tunica was fascinated by the Coridians and stories of far-off
cultures and places. She thoroughly enjoyed her work there and planned to stay
with it until she no longer did.

“What will happen then?”
Julie asked. “Will you just walk away?”

Tunica looked at Julie
rather strangely and said, “Of course not. I would let them know I wished to
move on and I would help them find and train someone to take over my
responsibilities.”

“So you do have
responsibilities,” I said? “You don’t just show up when you want and do what
you want?”

“No silly, I coordinate
with Trikki who organizes the maintenance of the enclave, just like I
coordinate with Erdo who manages the restaurant where I want both of you to
join me for dinner. Actually there will be a whole bunch of my friends there
that I would love to introduce you to. Our local Rik-Tor team has a match with
our strongest rival today and everyone will be excited to talk about it.”

“So you’re going to watch
the game from the restaurant?” I asked.

“No, of course not,” she
said. “Everyone usually finds a quiet place to watch it virtually and then we
will all get together to discuss it. The restaurant will be busy but since I
devote several fourthdays a month to helping out there I am sure we can get a
table…

“There. We have our reservation,”
she stated after a moment.

All
of this conversation was taking place as we walked from building to building
and through canopied areas full of tables, chairs, and Stigerians sipping tea
or in some cases demonstrating goods and products.

It
was as if time had come full circle; I could have been looking at a marketplace
in ancient Mesopotamia except that it wasn’t noisy, crowded, or dirty. Simple
and clean were better words. The feel of trimmed grass and smooth stone under
our feet complimented the clean feelings. The lack of any dust combined with a
slight breeze made for a cool and pleasant afternoon. I felt more like I was at
a picnic party in the neatly trimmed backyard swimming pool patio of my
favorite Dean at school than I did a market bazaar in an ancient city.

The
most striking difference though was the lack of much color. Most of the city seemed
to be colored in pleasant but dull shades of white, beige, or light-grey. Even
the universal form fitting clothing of the population was in these drab colors.

She
eventually showed us to a set of rooms that had been set aside for our team.
Iron Jaw
was setting out front talking with
one of his men and we could see other team members coming and going from the
equivalent of patio doors that opened onto a central courtyard. Like everyplace
we’d seen on Stiger there were plenty of plants; flowerbeds and trellises
adorned the area. We were told that since these residences weren’t currently
being used we could stay here as long as we liked.

Tunica
left us to rest up as she went to watch her game (or experience it virtually or
however it was she enjoyed it).

Everyone
from our team seemed to have the same impression; the Stigerians were curious
about us and once the ice was broken were incredibly friendly.

A
number of the scientists had spent time with some of the locals and Dr. Beckham
was able to explain something I’d been curious about; the lack of artwork. In
all the cultures I’d ever studied the artwork of a people can give great
insight into their thinking, values, religion and history. Yet there were no
paintings on the walls. There were art nooks in the walls but no sculptures.
The interior walls of our rooms were a pleasant but uniformly bland color. I
had not expected to find any of these things on the Noridian ship but I was
very surprised not to find them in the city; until Dr. Beckham gave us the
answer…

“It’s
their bioware,” he said.

He’d
been given a tour of a local art school. “I don’t know if I was more
embarrassed from thinking they were trying to play some kind of joke on me or
if they were from not realizing I wouldn’t be able to see all their creations.”

Apparently
g Human
artists (at least on Stiger) did their work almost exclusively
in the virtual world. I was assured that if I carried my own bioware I’d be
able to see all of their creations; that the streets and building walls would come
alive for me.

I
asked him a question that had been formulating in the back of my mind and he
confirmed it. “Yes, Dr. Spencer. The artists I met were all women.”

ΔΔΔ

The
next morning found Julie and I once again walking through the city with Tunica
and some others. This time Toni had joined us; at least until I’d sent her
away.

Dinner
in the restaurant the night before had been easygoing; the Stigerians were all
friendly. The food was good and while everyone was obviously enjoying
themselves a good part of the conversation was simply over our heads.

If
you’ve ever been in a foreign country and are trying to listen in on a
conversation with a group of people in a language you’ve only recently learned
you probably have a good idea of how we felt; I was kind of following along
until I’d reach a point where I realized the conversation had changed direction
several sentences ago (and I’d have to listen very carefully to try and catch
back up)…

Their
team had won and that certainly added to everyone’s overall excitement but the
recounting of individual moves or plays in the game meant nothing to me. It
helped a little once I realized that there was an audience participation component
- somehow Tunica and her fellow fans could influence the course of the game
with their combined will as expressed through their bioware. It was the
ultimate in fan participation and I could easily understand how fan loyalty was
enhanced.