Here Comes Earth: Emergence (33 page)

 I tried to order the
words in my mind that could explain what I felt.

Much of this mission had
been spent with me mentally vacillating on what a proper course of action would
be: should we take the safe route and accept a Coridian Protectorship or should
we risk everything to preserve our independence and self-determination?

Yes, there were still children
on Earth that went to bed hungry but I refuse to accept that it’s an either/or
solution. We can solve hunger and maintain our freedom. We could seek security
without giving up our privacy and control – there must be a way.

I had labored over this. I
had thought through every imaginable outcome. I had repeatedly gone to bed
thinking about it and woken up dreaming about it. I had pondered the ethics of
being a self-appointed speaker for billions of people and I had questioned the
morality of making decisions for those billions without consulting them first.
I knew the answer in my gut even though I was still struggling to find the
words to explain it.

There are moments in life
when the spoken word has changed everything; when what is said is so profound
that it causes everyone to either reconfirm or reevaluate their beliefs. When
the words themselves literally reverberate with truth and consequence. Such
words can be spoken publically or privately to cement a course of action, but
they always change the course of history.

I instinctively knew that
this was such a moment and that I needed to step into it.

I opened my mouth and took
a preliminary breath when Anzio started to speak…

“You have declared us a
planet of dynamic people. Unique in the galaxy you say. You tell us that we
have an industry and drive about us that is unparalleled in this galactic
society of yours. You show the astonishment at how fast our technology advances,
yes? …yet you never stop to ask the why?”

Anzio looked up into the
eyes of Semi and Ashima.

“Earthers as you call us
live short lives compared to yours and our whole civilization is much younger.
Yet I wonder how it is that you measure the age of a culture? Is it years?
Which star are we using to time the revolutions? Some civilizations they grow
and mature at different rates, yes? So how should we compare the maturity of a
civilization that takes 100,000 years to go from an animal powered cart and
landing on their moon to a civilization that takes just 100 years? Which
civilization is growing? Which civilization is better prepared to embrace and
shape their future?

“The Noridians, they view
us as a backwards people stemming from an accidental biological mutation that
should have been put down thousands of years ago.

“You Coridians – in truth
you see us the same way. You’re just much very nicer about it. You don’t
despise us but you do feel sorry for us and therefore you don’t see us as
equals. You see us as children that are being manipulated and maybe harmed or
scared by divorcing parents; and while you might have the honest concern for us
you don’t take us seriously and still see us as helpless.”

Somewhere along the soft
oratory Anzio had stood up. Not abruptly or angrily, it felt more like the
truth unfolding before us.

“We are not helpless.

“Earthers as you call us, we
may not survive the next thousand years or even the next hundred but we will
not go down by lying down. You tell us that we have no choice but you do not
understand that Earthers do not quit.

“I suspect that Mark can
give you our historical examples but know this my friends; Earth civilizations
have rarely chosen the easy path and it rarely worked out well when we did.”

There was a strength in
Anzio’s voice that didn’t require volume.

“Don’t cry for us Ashima,
warn the galaxy –
‘Here Comes Earth…’
”

He paused, gave a sad
smile, and walked out of the room.

ΔΔΔ

“Sit back down Semi…
please,” I said kindly. She had stood up to follow Anzio out of the room but now
as she distractedly looked back at me she slowly retook her seat.

“Anzio may be saying things
you don’t want to hear but he is right; all of the things that you claim to
admire about us we are because we do have to struggle and compete. Longer lives
don’t give Coridians a greater chance to achieve; it takes away all sense of
urgency to accomplish anything. You keep claiming that we advance incredibly
fast but that’s not true. The reality is that galactic societies advance
agonizingly slow because there is no built-in imperative to move faster.

“Yes, you’ve created a
life where no one wants for anything, where everyone is safe and secure – and
totally stagnant. Did you say that it had been hundreds of millions of years
since anyone had independently discovered faster than light travel? Doesn’t
that tell you anything?”

Ashima looked terribly
conflicted about how to respond; I couldn’t tell if she was offended, hurt, or
just feeling sorry for me.

It was Semi that spoke
first.

“Mark, we care about you
and Anzio personally but we all know the stakes are much higher than just that.
The last thing I want to do is to offend you but the things both of you are saying
sound terribly naïve to us.

“Yes, of course we value
safety and security and the fact that you would place anything above that is unthinkable
to us. Your attitude towards the situation seems risky and brash – not to
mention totally unnecessary. We are trying to be transparent with you; we want
you to know that Coridia’s offer of protection will still stand no matter
what.”

“What exactly,” I asked. “Do
you mean by ‘no matter what’?”

“Mark,” Ashima said. “We
will honor everything we have said we would do. Silva has made it clear to all
of us that Earthers carry different ideas and values that might be strange to
us. Nevertheless, we will aid you in seeking an audience with a Lower House; no
matter how futile it might be. And as long as it doesn’t put Coridia at risk we
will help you with just about anything else you ask for; but when it is all
done we strongly believe that accepting our protectorship will still be your
best option.”

Now I wasn’t sure whether
to be angry or just resigned to their never understanding us…

“Explain to me again why
you don’t believe House Gabloriel will speak to us,” I asked.

“We cannot command contact
with the Lower Houses Mark,” responded Semi. “They appear to us at their
discretion.”

“Are you saying there is
no two-way communication with the Lower Houses?” I asked.

“It is rare. Some of us send
our thoughts and messages to them when we’re alone at night; we want their
advice and guidance but they rarely respond directly and if they do respond it
is when and where they choose.”

“Then why are we
travelling to Dreken?” I asked.

“Because regardless of how
crazy we think you are,” Ashima said while smiling sheepishly. “We really are
trying to help you the best we can.”

“You are travelling to Dreken
to show your respect and hopefully increase your chances of being heard,” added
Semi.

“Like a pilgrimage,” I
muttered to myself.

“When we arrive,” Semi
continued. “We will guide you to an edifice where they have been historically
known to receive visitors. Once there you will be free to make your case for
Earth.”

ΔΔΔ

“I could get very used to
this,” Anzio said as he lifted another Shrimp Diablo to his mouth.

“Hey, you can’t change
your mind now,” I said. “We’re committed.”

Tonight’s midnight snack
were large gulf shrimp deveined and laced with a strip of jalapeño, wrapped in
bacon, and grilled to perfection.

It had been a little
challenging at first but we’d finally gotten the hang of instructing our smartpads
to tell the food thingies how to prepare genuine simulated Earth snacks for us.

Or, more precisely, how to
prepare the ingredients. This leg of our journey had finally given Anzio a
chance to demonstrate this love for cooking he kept claiming to have.

I of course was determined
not to admit he had any talent while insisting that he keep trying. So far it
was working out very well.

It was also a great excuse
to escape the women for a while.

We had explained the whole
‘Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus’
thing and fortunately they
were both willing to give us some space. I would never admit it but I needed a
break, both physically and mentally.

So we had commandeered one
of the unused staterooms and turned it into our unofficial man cave, or
clubroom, or… whatever. Anyway, it was ‘
No Girls Allowed’
.

“Have you given any more
thought to how we get these Gabloriels to talk with us?” Anzio asked.

“Yes, a ton of thought,” I
said.

After a moment he said,
“And…”

“And I still don’t have a
definite plan, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I had come to the
conclusion that there was very little else we could do except show up and hope
for the best. I didn’t really think the major would approve of ‘hope’ as a
strategy but in this case I truly didn’t see an alternative.

Fortunately we weren’t
going to have much longer to wait. One more full day of traveling and then we’d
wake up day after tomorrow in orbit around the planet Dreken.

ΔΔΔ

We had just finished lunch
and the four of us were quietly passing the time away on the final day of our
four month trek. No one felt like doing anything elaborate. Anzio and I were
nervous about hopefully meeting one of the members of House Gabloriel and I
think Ashima and Semi were nervous about how we’d react when we were inevitably
ignored.

We had some background
music going and Ashima was quietly humming along with
‘You can’t Always Get
What You Want’
by the Rolling Stones when I remembered something I’d been
meaning to ask.

“Ashima, everywhere we go
I keep hearing music that I recognize. Come to think of it it’s always
classical rock-n-roll.”

Anzio immediately jumped
into the conversation, “You’re right Mark, except on Semi’s retreat I was
listening to an orchestra playing classical music.”

Semi, looking somewhat
surprised answered, “Yes, I guess my tastes are somewhat off-center; most of us
do prefer your rock-n-roll.”

“We could all sing some
songs; you can choose,” Ashima said, thinking I was still looking for a
distraction.

“No,” I said smiling. “You
really don’t want to hear me do that… but I guess what I’m asking is how
widespread is Earth music?”

“It is becoming very
popular,” Ashima answered. “It is really unique and it just makes us feel
good.”

“Why have I never heard
any Coridian music?” I asked.

“Well, some women do
specialize in harmonics, and we have quite a number of mnemonic story-tunes for
our children to learn and remember important information with. It wouldn’t do
for them to be totally reliant on their bioware without ever using any of their
own cognitive function, but we don’t have any music as complex or as exciting
as what Earthers produce.”

I suddenly remembered the
rapt attention everyone gave Julie when she sang that last night on Larga.
Everyone seemed fixated except for several of the male Coridians.

“Ashima, why is it only
the women that enjoy our music?”

“Mark, our men are not at
all musical. It is simply something they consider frivolous.”