Emissary 12-20

12

“Colonel, the dress shop lady wasn’t much help at all. She kept saying “they were so nice…how could they be terrorists?” She did say they bought a dark brown wig, paid in cash and headed south. She thinks the man, who appeared to be in his forties and wore a scruffy beard, was named, Mark.”

“We already knew his name, dipstick. We need to update the description to include brown hair, the beard, and the age of the man. Wait…his driver’s license shows he’s 65. Did you say, ‘forties’?”

“Affirmative. The proprietor was surprised how young he looked to be the woman’s father.”

“Right now, that’s all we have to go on. Stan, find out what kind of commercial traffic went south on the highway for the past several hours – tow trucks, delivery trucks, semi’s, transports, anything that could have picked them up.”

13

“I think we should get off the road. The sign for the place up ahead says, ‘Hole-in-the-Wall Inn’ – Breakfast 24/7. I need a hot meal, a shower, and some sleep,” Mark announced, “Neither of us has had anything to eat other than trail mix and energy bars.”

“I agree. Then, we must leave at sunrise. If circumstances were different, we could unfold the ship and rest there, but it would emit an electromagnetic signature and we would run the risk of being detected.”

Mark checked-in at the “Hole-in-the-Wall,” one of those old-school motels with a handful of air-conditioner-in-the-window cabins, next to a dilapidated diner. He booked a cabin as far off the road as he could. He told Alix to hide in the car until he came to get her, so they wouldn’t be seen as a pair. Another deception, he thought, but unavoidable if he didn’t want the clerk to call 911. Still, the FBI, or whoever, had probably circulated his picture, and it would be dumb luck if the guy didn’t notice who he was. He asked Alix to be ready to black-out the internet and cable TV, and disable phone service if needed, just in case a report on them appeared at the wrong time. She awaited Mark’s signal, but he didn’t think it was necessary because all the guy wanted to do was get back to “Call of Duty.” He seemed clueless about Mark’s identity.

Alix knew Mark would need more rest than she, and the next two days would be grueling. The Inn was on the proverbial “road less travelled,” and as good a place as any for someone who had a limited amount of cash and wanted a limited amount of visibility to crash for the night.

14

“Colonel,” Stan said, “Here’s something interesting. An auto transport truck passed south at about the time the suspects could have been hitchhiking. Dispatch located the truck. The driver said he dropped off a couple matching our description in Franklin. He said he has ‘no idea’ where they are headed.”

“I’ll meet you there at 0600.”

“Oh, there’s something else.”

“Spit it out.”

“NORAD reported three short bursts of the same signal they tracked to the landing site the other night. Two occurred close together, then one a few hours later, at about the same time as the Walmart incident. If they can pinpoint a few more, we might get a fix on their position.”

“Good. Keep me posted.”

15

“What do you think of the Hole-in-the-Wall?” Mark asked, returning from the diner with a bag full of takeout. “The waitress said I sure must be hungry.”

“The shower, as you called it, is primitive, but interesting. On my world, we use chambers with micro-water droplets – mist – to cleanse our bodies. The force of the water was not unpleasant. The beds are an improvement over the cabin. Please choose the bed you want.”

“It is interesting you mention the water mist method of cleaning. One of our architects, Buckminster Fuller, proposed such a thing in the 1960s and was pretty much ridiculed by many people. It seems to me he was right about many things.”

“Let me look him up.”

A few taps of her wristband later, information about R. Buckminster Fuller was displayed on the room’s television.

“Fascinating person.” Alix remarked, “Is it common for your species to disregard the creative ideas of geniuses?”

“All too common, I’m afraid.”

They dined in silence for a while, Mark thinking about Fuller, and Alix puzzling over new tastes. After several minutes, Mark broke the silence.

“What are our chances of success?”

“Unknown. However, I like your use of the word, our.”

“I don’t really know how to be an ‘Emissary’,” Mark confessed, “I don’t know people in high places and I feel pretty inadequate for the task. Maybe chance took you to the wrong person.”

“So far, you have done well. The mission may not be linear, but it is proceeding. My people concluded we must avoid the subsets of the politically powerful and the wealthy. Every simulation of this mission showed improved chances if we chose a more representative person, with certain qualifications, who was in the frame of mind to understand and to help. To answer your question, many of our simulations were not successful, and those involving first contact with political or industrial leaders most often ended in failure or even disaster for your world.”

“Why?”

“We do not know conclusively. Our conjecture is partisanship and distrust among factions drove them to dispute one another’s credibility or authority and to claim exclusive ‘rights’ to advanced technologies intended to benefit all members of your species. The simulations, based on profiling certain of your most influential leaders, showed such antagonism and greed that either our representative, The Emissary, several world leaders, or entire population groups were killed. The best chance of success was shown in choosing a person like you.”

“Back to my question. What are our chances?”

“Approximately 53%.”

“And if you approached a mover-and-shaker?’

“Interesting term. To answer your question, less than 5%.”

“Yet, you were sent nevertheless.”

“I volunteered. I have been studying your planet for many years and I see much potential in your species. I desired only a chance to help. The alternative is, as Fuller said, oblivion.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Mark sighed.

“Say nothing for now.”

Mark shaved and then showered until he thought he might use all the hot water. By the time he returned to the room, Alix was seated on one of the twin beds in her green tunic looking out the window. She looked delicate and fragile sitting there, but he could not escape the feeling she possessed great inner strength. Not the kind offered by technology, but a moral and spiritual strength human writers have celebrated in legends and myths. She had sailed through an expanse of light-years, just as Earth explorers sailed thousands of miles through open seas. Unlike them, hers was a quest not to exploit, profit, or conquer, but possibly to save another sentient species. He wondered, what was in it for her, for her people? That was the question haunting him as he fell asleep. As she fell asleep, Alix knew she would soon tell him.

16

It seemed Mark had just closed his eyes and then the sun was up. Alix was ready to leave. She even made sure the second bed was made. In a few minutes Mark performed his morning rituals, dressed, and made sure to pack all his belongings. At this hour, there was not much chance of anyone observing Alix leave the cabin, but he reconnoitered a little before she slid into the car. The same guy was working, if you could call it that, and hardly looked up when Mark handed him the room key. Soon they were on the road again.

He knew they would need to work their way south and west rather than take the interstate system. Even so, God help them if their pursuers discovered what kind of car he was driving. He picked a late model Civic, so it would be one of the most common cars on the road. Alix had remarked the automobile had a palindrome for a name. Mark thought it was ironic she had come to embody the idea of being ‘civic’ and might end up getting killed in the process. Sometimes he did not feel he belonged on his own planet.

“I am sorry you feel that way,” sensing his thoughts, Alix spoke up, “Everyone should feel welcome on their own world.”

“I can’t help it. Sometimes all the prejudice and bigotry, fear and hatred, anger and violence, make me lose hope.”

“My world was once like yours. Everyone fought for dominance. The strong exploited the weak. Technology and productivity improvements only helped those who already had resources and power.”

“How did you break out of all that?”

“We almost failed to do so. It took a confrontation with catastrophe to change people’s minds. And we were already faced with possible extinction because of our earlier choices. If it hadn’t been for a few individuals who truly believed in something greater than simply winning some sort of global competition to control the most resources and capture the largest markets, in other words power and wealth, our civilization would no longer exist.”

“What happened?”

“After centuries of over-consumption, warfare, and profiteering, my planet, Natovara, was faced with the depletion of its natural resources. Our people were dying from pollution, climate change, famine, natural disasters, and unnatural diseases. Then we discovered our sun was about to exhaust its nuclear fuel. It was on its way to becoming a Red Giant. Our scientists determined that in 300 to 400 Earth years our expanding star would become too hot for our world to remain habitable. All our competitiveness and aggression began to look absurd when we realized our star was dying.”

“I’m afraid we could discover the same thing here and the science would not be believed. Science has become hyper-political. Each faction wants to interpret it their own way for their own purposes. The Earth is faced with clear effects of climate change and over-population, not to mention eventual resource depletion, and a good portion of society denies anything is wrong,” Mark commented.

“What if the effects became undeniable?” Alix replied. “On my planet, solar storms were already becoming more common and more severe, and temperatures were rising. And these effects were happening on top of world-wide climate change. Yet, only a portion of the population believed our scientists. Rich and powerful people had undermined science to remain rich and powerful. Then one fateful day, when multiple armies were about to be engaged in an enormous battle for supremacy, all advanced weapons on that continent were disabled by a single massive solar flare. All communications, land and ocean forces, missiles – everything more complex than a primitive hand-held weapon was shut down. In fact, all power and communications in most of the hemisphere ceased to function for months. Soldiers on both sides suddenly became convinced they were fighting for nothing. In the face of such an event, they realized they had all been duped, and they walked off the battlefield, refusing to fight for a morally bankrupt system. If all the greatest and most expensive weapons ever devised were rendered useless in a moment, what did that say about the futility of an arms race, or of war itself? We were fortunate our nuclear weapons did not simply detonate in place.

Within a year, people all over my world agreed to pool their resources to find a way to survive for the next 300 years, and more importantly, find a way to leave the planet before it was too late. Arms production and development were immediately stopped, and all military forces were dismantled. All the resources once used for these purposes were redirected towards solving a much more existential problem. My civilization was also forced to question how much of our time, talent, and resources were spent on superfluous advertising, pointless amusement, and the acquisition of mere luxuries.”

“Wait…I’m curious. How did you limit the acquisition of luxuries? On this planet the wealthy can afford to spend billions on yachts, mansions, automobiles, and antiques, particularly rare artworks, some of which sell for tens of millions.”

“Early on, we decided to put an upper limit on individual wealth. Persons who managed to acquire more than a certain amount were required to use the rest for projects designed to prevent the extinction of our species. We placed an upper limit on the price of artworks and other luxury items. We changed our economic system, so we did not waste resources in relentless advertising or producing inferior or wasteful products. In time, we found a way to end the thralldom of money. After a generation had passed, nearly everyone voluntarily agreed to participate in the effort to save our world. You must realize, when the end of your planet is near, life can no longer be a game in which a few winners control as much of the planet’s resources as possible or possess all the material wealth they can. In another 100 years, there will be no more winners or losers on Natovara, just death and destruction. We are racing against death itself. And we have already allowed too many years to pass and too many of our people to die.”

“How?”

“Many were killed in wars, but poverty, disease, famine, and the aftermath of wars killed more. These kinds of lessons are difficult and painful to learn. Sadly, the rich and powerful were never confronted with them until the day the solar flare stopped an idiotic war. That day became the most important day in our planet’s history. We celebrate it as our Day of Awakening.”

“You say many died. How many? What was the cost to your people?”

“Unfortunately, because we remained trapped in our old ways for so many generations, billions perished before we resolved to create a new social contract.”

“Please give me a moment. You said billions. I can’t imagine the loss of so many lives.”

Alix nodded and closed her eyes. They sat in silence.

“So, now you all live on another planet?” Mark asked.

“No. Some of us live in space – on spacecraft, on asteroids, on moons – anywhere we can colonize. But most of the remaining population – about 10 million – were forced to live underground on our home world. With the resources we diverted from the military, meaningless amusement, political antagonism, and reckless profiteering, we were able to develop the technology you have witnessed.” Alix paused, as if remembering something. “We had experienced firsthand what one of your presidents, a man named Eisenhower, suggested, ‘Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.’ He spoke of the dangers of what he called, the ‘military-industrial complex.’ He also said, ‘If the United Nations once admits that international disputes can be settled by using force, then we will have destroyed the foundation of the organization and our best hope of establishing a world order.’ According to my research, this man understood both war and peace, and became convinced that peace is better for everyone concerned. My people admire him greatly.”

“I admire him too,” Mark replied.

“I know…” Alix, said softly. She was in Mark’s head again.

Mark overlooked her spooky agreement. “Tell me, with all your technology, have you found a way to save your planet?

“No. There is no saving the planet. We have even been able to move our planet away from our sun thousands of miles each year, but we are losing the race. Our star will eventually expand beyond our ability to retreat from it. The planet’s surface has been uninhabitable for decades. Without the technology we developed in the last 200 years, our species would now be extinct. You and I would not be having this conversation.”

“And you believe my planet will suffer a similar fate?”

“We don’t just believe, we know your planet will face an existential crisis in the next 100-200 years. If your species fails to deal with it adequately it will also be faced with extinction, or as Fuller called it, oblivion. The nations of this world have a choice to make – possible utopia, or certain extinction.”

“What kind of crisis?”

“Does it make any real difference?” Alix stated plainly, “What matters is the will of your species to face it cooperatively, constructively, and creatively – to prepare for it and survive.”

“Surely, it can’t be that simple.”

“If I have read him correctly, Fuller thought it was.”

“I’ve thought for a long time we have already wasted too much time and too many resources on conflict and weapons just to battle for power and supremacy. It could already be too late,” Mark commented.

“Many on my planet thought so as well. Again, a relatively small group did not think so. They kept the flame of reason lit, and when the time was right, they helped others discover a better way. The confluence of history, wisdom, and a dying star proved to be the right time. The right people were there to learn the lessons of history, while others, who had held back progress with old notions about competition, domination, and control, had died, and 200 years ago a single event awakened a spirit of rationality and cooperation our world had not previously experienced. Now, the only form of competition that survives is competition for the best ideas to help my people survive.”

“Alix, do you think your arrival could prove to be that kind of event on my world?”

“We shall see.”

“But what about finding a new world? Our astronomers tell us there may be thousands of possibilities in the galaxy. Haven’t you found a place to colonize?”

“So far all our expeditions have not discovered a planet both suitable and available for our species. As you can imagine, many have no atmosphere, or a toxic atmosphere, some are too hot, others are too cold, some have no water, others are covered by ice, some have hostile or incompatible lifeforms, and so on. Only a very few are good candidates, much like the group of humans we identified to be possible emissaries. And, it might surprise you to know at the time I left, we not yet found a pristine world, suitable for habitation, without incompatible life forms. Your world is the first I have encountered with sentient life. The trouble is, when we created a new set of principles for our society, one of those principles was never take anything by force. Our world’s constitution prohibits us from conquering anyone anywhere at any time. What cannot be done through reason and persuasion, simply cannot be done. Even if a planet is completely suitable for us, we cannot just take it. Its inhabitants must agree to share it with us. We have the technology to conquer your planet and subjugate its people, but we are determined not to do this. The philosophy of ‘me first’ competition was at the root of our world’s problems. Renouncing it has been difficult, but we have solemnly agreed we must value cooperation and justice above competition and self-interest. We cannot – must not – turn back to the old ways of thinking. We have paid too high a price to be where we are.”

“What about terraforming? Do you have the technology to re-engineer a planet for your use?”

“Even if we could terraform a world, should we? If we take a world with nascent life and destroy that life to make it compatible with our species, are we not then guilty of conquest just the same as if we took it by force? And, it would take centuries we no longer have to terraform a barren world.”

“I understand, Mark sighed, “Let me get to the point. Are you planning to ask to share our world with us?”

“Yes. I am hoping in return for sharing our technology your world will be open to giving us sanctuary. It could be a new era for both our cultures.”

“We have a saying, “Hope springs eternal.”

“One of your poets?”

“Yes, Alexander Pope, I think. No wonder your probability of success is so low. I don’t believe my world is ready to accept a species from another planet. The truth is we are barely able to accept different races and genders within our own species!”

“You are able to accept me, Mark.”

“But I’m not the norm, Alix,” Mark bowed his head, “Relatively few people have the same ‘live and let live’ attitude. Too many are driven by religious dogma or authoritarian dreams. They sincerely believe they are superior, and others don’t count as much, if at all. Some will be so shocked by your presence they will be in denial about it. “Only Earth can have intelligent life!” they will shout. They will claim their god made our planet special and all others are just barren rock. To them you will be considered a hoax, like a fossilized hominid skeleton showing humans evolved from a common ancestor with primates. As you said, only a relatively small group truly believe in cooperation and tolerance. Many people cling desperately to their belief in competition and survival of the fittest, or should I say, survival of those who happen to be like them.”

“Mark,” Alix said placidly, “I am counting on people like you. Maybe you are being a little too pessimistic about your species. Sometimes humans surprise me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Humans do not always take the most violent course. While your planet’s history has had times of extreme irrationality, brutality, and bloodshed, your species’ potential for reason and compassion has never faded. Your world’s major religions all teach compassion, love, and peace, and at key moments in history these ideals have prevailed. One of your great teachers, Mahatma Gandhi, said, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.” Often, when all seemed lost, at the last moment people on your world have decided to do the right thing. Even though this is ‘not the norm,’ as you put it, the possibility exists. I am here because of the possibility.”

“It seems you believe in us more than we do ourselves.” Mark paused. “Another wise man once prayed, ‘help my unbelief.’ I pray your mission succeeds.”

“Success or failure, I am grateful for your help, my friend.”

They drove in silence until midday, at which time Mark said, “We need to get gas and then something to eat. After I fill-up, we’ll get drive-through.”

Alix simply remarked, “This automobile is not as efficient as the other one.”

After he paid for the gas and bought Alix a scarf and sunglasses – just in case – Mark pulled the car into a space near the restrooms. As he was returning from the men’s room, he saw a horrifying sight. Alix was standing next to the car, facing a snarling and barking Pitbull, dragging its leash and plainly about to attack her. As the dog leapt up to bite her, Mark witnessed one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. As quick as the angry dog was, she was faster. She reached out and gently touched the dog behind his right ear, and he stopped short, rambling over to her like a puppy, nuzzling, licking, and soliciting play. By this time the owner was there.

“I’m so sorry, miss. He’s such a handful. So aggressive to anyone but me.”

Alix quietly stroked the dog’s tummy, as he was now lolling about on his back, like a new-found friend.

“Well, I’ll be darned!” The owner exclaimed.

“He should be no problem from now on,” Alix stated.

The dog came to his owner’s call – on the first try – and walked with him – off leash – to his car. This was all captured by a teenager’s cellphone as he stood gawking at the corner of the building.

When they got back in the car, Mark gasped, “How did you do that?”

“If I can learn English, I can certainly speak to a dog. He just needed to know there was no reason to fear me.”

“Well, still, that was amazing. I’m concerned about something though. There was a security camera pointed at the pumps and I’m sure our car was on it.”

“Should I erase the device?”

“We can’t just go around erasing camera footage. That will leave a trail as well.”

“I have another idea. Drive out of sight of the gas station and I will change the color of the car. What color would you like it to be?”

“You can do that? Why didn’t you do that before?”

“It was obvious we had to get another car. There would have been nothing to gain by it.”

“Ok. Let’s get drive-through first. Then you can surprise me with the color.”

A mile further, Alix took the little silver-bronze box out of her ‘backpack’ and held it to the side of the car. Instantly the color changed from red to light blue. She placed the box back in her ‘backpack.’ NORAD registered two very short blips. A few more and they could project a location for the Colonel.

17

Mark put the battery back in the burner phone and placed a call. “Hello. Elizabeth. Has Andrew called you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know to expect me. Let’s meet at the radio place tomorrow at 2:00. You know what to bring.”

“Ok, dad. Love you.”

Mark turned to Alix, “My daughter lives in Cincinnati. She can help us figure out a way to communicate your intentions to people without too much alarm. The ‘radio place’ is the museum. There are gas stations nearby and it won’t take long to pick her up. She has a friend who lives in the Dayton area who has agreed to put us up for the night.”

“Can you trust them?”

“I think so. Her friend is an ‘X-Files’ type who is a little strange, but he takes a lot of precautions. Until now I thought those precautions were unnecessary.”

“I trust you and your family, Mark.”

18

They refueled without incident and parked in front of the Cincinnati Museum Center. They were about 15 minutes early. Then, their luck changed. One of Cincinnati’s most zealous happened to park in the space just in front of them. Recognizing them from their picture on TV and from recent cellphone footage, which by the way had gone viral, he was chomping at the bit to make an arrest.

“Step out of the car and put your hands behind your heads!”

As they did so, Mark spoke up, “You’re making a mistake.”

“I don’t think so. Stand over there.” He motioned towards a large truck parked next to his car. He had his weapon pointed straight at Alix.

“Please, put your gun down, we aren’t a threat.”

Alix began to reach for her wristband. The officer flinched.

“No. Stop!” Mark yelled, as he stepped in front of Alix.

The panicky cop fired a single shot, striking Mark in the chest. Fortunately, the bullet narrowly missed his right lung.

Alix touched a series of symbols and the cop was sealed in a force field. Another few buttons and she lifted a lightweight Mark into the back seat of the car.

“Now, you get to see whether or not I was paying attention while you were driving the automobile.”

She sped off, doing surprisingly well for a first-time driver. She touched another set of symbols and it seemed like all the green lights were in their favor.

“We have at most two minutes until the field collapses and the officer is able to call for assistance.”

For a man shot in the chest, Mark did not feel as bad as he thought he would. He called his daughter.

“Change of plans, honey,” Mark said in a labored tone. “Don’t go to the radio place. Text me the address of your friend. I’ve been shot, but it’s not bad.”

“Oh my God! What happened?”

“I’ll explain later.”

19

The dashcam footage showed the shooting and the mysterious way the officer was neutralized. His captain put him on immediate suspension. Again, Alix changed the color of the car and the plate number. NORAD detected three blips of signal and reported this to the Colonel.

When he heard about the shooting, the Colonel remarked, “We have them. They can’t get far with a severely wounded man. Check the hospitals, clinics, veterinarians – any place where he could be patched up.”

20

“Try to relax and breathe normally,” Alix comforted, “It will take a little time for the nanites to repair your chest and dissolve the projectile.”

“You mean I’m going to survive?” Mark whispered.

“Why would you not? Your injury is relatively minor. The bulk of the repairs should be complete in two or three hours. Remember, I designed the nanites specifically to conform to your unique body chemistry.” Observing him writing the address and marking the spot on an old-school paper map, Alix instructed, “Please lie still. You must rest.”

“If you say so. But, it’s hard to lie still with you driving.”

“I should be able to operate this vehicle more smoothly with a little practice.”

“Practice away,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes.

Alix was able to scan the map with her wristband and drive to her destination without too much incident, if you don’t count several honking horns, sudden stops from other vehicles, and one near-miss with a truck. Somehow, she managed to elude the police. However, they did manage to pull over 18 light-blue Honda Civics, annoying an assortment of retirees and millennials.

Elizabeth was already there when Alix pulled in to the driveway.

“What the hell happened to dad?” she blurted out.

“I am pleased to meet you, my name, in your language, is Alix.”

“Sorry. My name is Elizabeth. Will he be alright?”

“He is sleeping. The nanites he ingested are repairing his body now. In an hour or two, he will be able to speak with you and even walk around.”

“Nanites! What has he gotten mixed up with?”

Jason, the conspiracy theorist, was ready to meet them. Introductions were made, and the car was placed in his garage.

Jason blurted out, “This is so cool! I can’t wait to tell…”

Elizabeth cut him off, “Yes, you can wait, and if you don’t, I’ll have to kill ya!”

“This planet is as violent as mine once was.” Alix observed.

“I was just joking,” Elizabeth replied, then to Jason, “You’d better keep quiet.”

“Don’t worry, Liz.”

Elizabeth and Alix had a long talk after they moved Mark into the house. The next two hours were spent ‘freshening up’ – for Alix this meant a change of clothes and a new wig. For their foray into Gen-Con, Jason suggested Alix dress in a costume, like Galadriel, in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring.’

“Well, going with that theme, what if we dress as Tolkien characters?” Elizabeth added.

“I thought you’d never ask,” said Jason, “I have a source for costumes. Let me get on it right away. I assume your father will be Gandalf?”

“You have a peculiar friend,” observed Alix.

“Yes, but he’s OK. He’s an acquired taste, but I hope you’ll grow to like him.”

After some time, Mark stirred, “So that’s what it’s like to be shot in the chest…”

“Not exactly, dad. Usually you die,” Elizabeth replied from a nearby stuffed chair.

“Well, I’m not dead yet! Sorry, inside joke, Alix. You see, there was this movie by a group called Monty Python…”

“Never mind, dad. I’m just relieved you’re alright. What’s with the new look? Did you have a makeover after your hike?”

“Oh, you mean my appearance. The nanites seem to have rebuilt my body – my eyesight is 20-20, arthritis is gone, as are wrinkles, and I’m feeling 20 years younger. This morning I realized I haven’t taken heart medication since before…this little adventure.” He sang, ‘Nobody knows the technology I’ve seen’…Alix tells me I could live to be over 260. By the way, I know I shouldn’t ask a lady, but how old are you, Alix?”

“I am still quite young, only about 100 Earth years.”

“So…dad…how does it feel to be chased by a cougar? Elizabeth joked.

“Alix chimed in, “I saw no cougars in the forest. I read that their territory is usually farther south on this continent. Did you encounter one before we met?”

“I apologize, my daughter is having a little fun with me. In our country a cougar is an older woman who likes to pursue romantic relationships with younger men.”

“Oh, now I understand. Another amusing colloquial expression. I did not consider it that way.”

Jason came back, “I’ve got you three all fixed up. Liz, you and I can go pick up the costumes and leave these two love birds alone for a while.”

Mark smiled, “You do know I’m married, Jason…”

“Wouldn’t stop me.”

“As if you’ve gotten any recently,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“You must rest, Mark. The nanites can heal, but they take time. They are not magic.”

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

“I know that one. Arthur C. Clarke!” Alix interjected.

“How come you knew about Clarke and not Fuller?”

“I did not claim my knowledge was all-inclusive.”

“Back to that vicious dog. How did you calm him with just a touch?”

“Dogs – cihincia on my world – were predictable creatures. They thrived as pack animals and preferred routine and consistency. That animal had none of these and felt threatened by anyone new who came into his field of view. I empathically suggested to him I was part of his pack and meant him no harm. He allowed me to demonstrate my intentions – consistent with his expectations – and felt comfort in my presence.”

“Still, the ability to communicate without words has become a lost art on this planet. We too often have wars of words in which people talk right past each other and can’t seem to get their point across. And we neglect or ignore non-verbal cues which in better times must have been obvious,” Mark observed.

“The same problem persisted on my world, until we decided we should once again make these kinds of perceptions important. Words have limitations, thoughts and feelings less so.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will show you.”

Alix took his hands and placed his palms over her eyes and his fingers on her forehead.

“Gently,” she said.

Then she did the same, placing her palms over his eyes and her fingers on his forehead.

At this moment, Mark realized before now they hadn’t had any form of physical contact, not even a handshake.

“Now, after we implemented Nano-technology we discovered it enhances our ability to sense what another person is thinking and feeling. It also greatly increases our ability to transfer information in images and words. Please try not to be alarmed…”

Momentarily, their minds started to become one. Mark felt as though he was emerging from a thick fog into a clear space. Alix gradually became a living presence in his mind. He heard the words of an old man and an old woman, her grandparents, patiently telling young Alix about the time before, when her planet, Natovara, was alive and fertile. He learned about the seven continents and the five oceans. About the now extinct plants and animals and her peoples’ desperate search for underground water and places to build new cities. About the way life was before her people were forced to move underground or leave for distant moons and planetesimals.

Mark learned that sharing minds was once almost forgotten. He also learned long ago in extreme cases, such as for soldiers in battle, two comrades could share minds for an indefinite period. Their consciousnesses could be combined for as much time as it took to repair the body of the one who was wounded in battle. That way all the training and experience of both could be maintained. Nanotechnology notwithstanding, neither he nor Alix knew whether this technique would work for them, especially because it was now so rarely used, even among Alix’s people.

Alix was raised in a subterranean city. There were ten of them left, each with a population of about one million. They were sterile, industrial environments, with only recorded remnants of what life on the surface used to be. The city was an enormous bowl-shaped excavation, an inverted dome, located near an underground lake. The middle floors held the population, while the lower floors were reserved for engineering and life support, and the top floor was for agriculture, with some semblance of the old outdoors, an enormous hydroponic farm covered by a shallow dome of metal, with lights that approximated sunlight. Day and night were regulated to approximate seasons, and everyday life was almost as closely regulated. The population was subject to the protocol of zero growth. Alix’s society did not have room for very many mistakes, and the sense of purpose that permeated her culture was palpable.

Mark felt the oppressive weight of Alix’s childhood. She was obligated to grow up quickly. No real girlhood or boyhood was possible on her world. Alix and her friends were born to be a part of the solution to a pressing existential problem. Failure to solve it would mean death to her people. The burden of this knowledge was almost too much for Mark to bear. Imagine children waking up every day in what amounted to an underground prison. Further, one could only visit the surface in an environmental suit, and even then, only for a short time. The people who did so went purposefully to maintain surface instruments designed to measure the intensity of their star. Everyone was keenly aware how much time remained until their universal death sentence. After the countdown reached a certain number, it would no longer matter whether Alix succeeded. Time for her people would simply run out. No one went to the surface to see the sights. Ancient ocean floors were now vast deserts of silt and salt, and nothing could live in the searing heat. What Mark saw perfectly matched his impression of a hellscape. He wondered how long the people of Earth had until they did this to themselves.

Alix was among what he would call the “keepers of the flame” – those dedicated, or as he would later suggest, consecrated, to the mission to save her civilization. She and nine others, one from each city, had been selected from among thousands of volunteers who had competed for the honor of venturing out to find a planet suitable for habitation. The rest of society was busy working on one hundred gigantic ships to transport the population to a new home, if such a place could be found. The off-world portion of the population would follow. If Alix and her compatriots failed, plan B was to settle on moons and asteroids or travel in interstellar space to buy more time. In any scenario, their time was limited. Of the essence, Mark thought.

Later, Mark would recall the principles of Alix’s Society in some detail.

__________

 “In order to survive as a civilization, maintain a good society, and prevent the mistakes and atrocities of the past, we, the sentient inhabitants of Natovara, pledge to uphold the following covenant.

The supremacy of truth is fundamental to living in Natovaran society. There can be no freedom without truth. There can be no justice without truth. There can be no equality without truth. All principles follow from these axioms.

The first principles of this covenant shall be Participation, community, and sustainability. All sentient beings must participate in decisions regarding their future and the future lives of their descendants. All societal proposals and decisions must account for possible consequences to all members of the community as well as the well-being of their descendants. All people of Natovara must participate in gains made through innovation, increased productivity, and improvements in technology. Such gains shall be distributed in fair proportion, so that all members of society shall benefit, and no member of society shall be excluded without just cause. It is regarded as a self-evident truth that no member of a good society should suffer needlessly as a result of the community’s failure to plan or to provide adequate protection. It shall be understood that all people hold a stake in both the present and the future, therefore all activities must pass the test of sustainability, and no one shall be disenfranchised or dispossessed for any reason other than breaking this covenant.

For these reasons, the following actions are considered breeches of this covenant and shall be considered reasons to separate an individual from the community.

1. engaging in lying, extortion, fraud, or propaganda. A lack of truth threatens all three of the first principles.

2. engaging in any form of exploitation, enslavement, or indentured servitude of others. These actions oppose the principle of participation.

3. engaging in any activity based solely on short-term gain, such as profiteering, planned obsolescence, or the creation of disposable or inferior products. These actions oppose the principle of sustainability.

4. the taking of life or property (or attempting to control these) by coercion, conquest, violence, or threats of violence. These actions oppose the principle of community.

5. any use of force, except when necessary to prevent harm to oneself or others.

It is imperative that we, the sentient beings of Natovara, not only cooperate to build our future, but compete to make our best contributions to that future. We understand our individual fates are inextricably linked, such that each of us can and must make a difference to all the rest. We have concluded that if our primary reason for being is to achieve personal gain, our existence would ultimately be meaningless, no better than a fight to the death over the possession of matter, energy, and the work of other sentient beings. Therefore, we shall no longer struggle for individual supremacy or personal profit but work together and separately for the sake of our children’s children, our fellow travelers, and our sacred honor.”

__________

Pledging to uphold the principles of this covenant signified acceptance into Natovaran society. No one was compelled or required to agree, however those who would not, or who intentionally broke the provisions of the covenant were cut off from the benefits of living in the larger community. In the beginning, a small portion of the population refused to agree to the covenant, and these were left to fend for themselves against the ever-increasing existential threats of an expanding star and a deteriorating environment. Some believed the science was a “hoax” until the day they died. All for one and one for all, Mark thought. Otherwise, you’re on your own. The parallels with 21^st Century Earth were disturbing.

Alix was willing to leave her family and friends as one of ten specially-trained representatives on each of ten small spacecraft designed to seek new worlds and possibly allies – Emissaries – to help her people settle on a distant planet. Mark felt dizzy at the prospect of enough computational power to navigate the galaxy, as well as sift through incoming transmissions, databases, astronomical observations, and Earth’s internet to find people like him. In an odd way, technology like this made sense to him, given 200 years of further development in quantum computing and greatly improved signal-to-noise analysis. If Earth astronomers could now detect a planet crossing in front of a star dozens of light years away, where would this technology be in 200 years?

Mark began to sense Alix’s emotions about her mission; her feelings for her family and her special friend, Tull, an engineer she had grown to love. Tull had been on the team that built her spacecraft. His future was constantly on her mind. Perhaps we all need special people to care about – generic causes can’t quite spark our devotion like family and friends. People go off to war, or seek new worlds, to protect those they love as much as their country or even their planet. Alix felt a personal stake in her mission. Was that so different from so many human heroes? Mark was struck by a wave of sorrow and remorse as he saw Alix leave everyone she knew and loved, knowing that with her travelling at relativistic speeds, they could grow old waiting for her return. Her generation would likely be the last to live on her home world and might be the generation to die on it. Mark was overwhelmed by admiration for Alix. He felt her hopeful urgency on one hand and her fear of looming disaster on the other. He now understood the full effect of having another person’s thoughts in his head. “Cognitive dissonance” did not even begin to describe the conflict he felt.

The whole experience was at the same time startling, exhilarating, intimidating, and pleasurable, but not in the way of physical pleasures. To be able to see another person’s thoughts open like an immense book, to experience another’s life in words, pictures, and sensations, to know what they know, and for them to know what you know – absolutely nothing could have prepared him for sharing another mind so thoroughly. It is what he had imagined the phrase, “now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face-to-face,” might mean. We spend our entire lives getting glimpses, bits and pieces, of what others might be thinking and feeling. Was this what it meant to experience everything as it was intended to be? Imagine being able to see a person’s thoughts and memories, her life in countless images and scenes, her family, the people still on her planet, her teachers, her training, her dedication to this mission, her feelings about Earth…her perceptions of him. As much as it was enlightening to discover what Alix thought of him and humanity in general, Mark also saw things he would rather not have seen – vast armies with weapons both comprehensible and incomprehensible to him amassing to slaughter each other; a vision of Armageddon, only with no god-piloted chariots of fire to rescue Alix’s people, unless the solar flare that prevented the battle could be considered a fiery act of God. He felt humility in the face of the natural forces that will ultimately dwarf the hubris of a battle for supremacy on a dying world. He also experienced the devastating hammer-blows of profound grief for the billions of Natovarans lost and for the ongoing destruction of a once verdant planet. He wondered if his brain could take this amount of information. If his mind had been a computer circuit, it was surely overloading, yet he also wanted the experience to continue. On a deep level he understood it could not. 

In what seemed like days, but was only minutes, Alix casually placed her hands in her lap.

“I am surprised an interspecies connection worked so well,” she said unassumingly, “I have just learned more about you and your species than I learned in all my years of study.”

“I’m practically speechless,” Mark sighed as he gingerly removed his hands, “I don’t know whether to be excited or embarrassed, so I’ll settle for being grateful.”

“You now know what I know, even though you may not think you know it,” Alix replied deliberately and somberly. There may come a time when your knowledge will be tested, and then you will see I am right.”

They regarded each other differently from that time forward. It’s a powerful and awe-inspiring thing to know another person so completely, especially in so short a time. But if time was of the essence, the choice to share so much, so intensely, was the right choice. The nanites had done their work. However, more work remained for Mark and Alix. In a short while, Jason and Elizabeth returned with the costumes. Gen-Con was the following day, and with a little luck and persuasion, Andrew had pulled a few strings and managed to get passes for them as well as a spot on the opening night program. Everyone decided it would be best to get a good night’s rest and set out in the morning.

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