It was a very quiet thirty minutes. We went to sickbay to have our wounds attended to. Dr. Barrett didn't say much, which was just as well. The cut on Susie's ear required a couple of stitches, but stitches were gone forever in medicine. Instead of sewing up the still bleeding wound, Dr. Barrett used a type of instrument that both stopped the bleeding and half-completed the healing. Like the inducer, it was based on sound. He used a similar, but more powerful tool on her broken middle fingers; apparently my hit had snapped two bones, not one. Again, it speeded up the healing process enough that she experimentally flexed her finger with little pain after only several minutes of treatment.
The doctor checked me for broken ribs, but found only some bruising. It was slightly painful to breathe, hardly worth noting. I mention it only because after a dose of the sounder, as he called it, I felt no pain at all. I had an idea now why Susie played so rough; all you needed to do was survive, and modern medicine could patch you up pretty quick. The problem Susie had was she hadn't known she was going to survive. I'd been worried about that, too. I wanted to say something, anything, to get her talking, even looking at me again. But I held off, knowing now that she'd been under orders to provoke me. Why, I didn't yet know. That would be changing soon, if I guessed right.
We cleaned up and reported to Lt. Sanchez's room just as the half-hour passed. Susie had stayed silent, avoiding my attempts to get her attention. I felt awful at first. Then I was angry, because she was the one who brought this on. Then I felt smug… oh, I must have gone through a half-dozen different emotions in that thirty minutes, all of them intense and unshakable, until the next one washed over me. I was a very confused girl. Which probably made me normal, I thought glumly. Life, I decided, had been a great deal more straightforward as a guy.
Susie knocked on Lt. Sanchez's door, and he told us to enter. It was similar to Dr. Barrett's office in that it was a combination office and living quarters. He was seated at his desk as we entered. There were two chairs for us to sit in, but when Susie stayed at attention, I figured I should, too.
He went straight to the point.
"Recommendation, Counselor."
Susie snapped even more rigidly to attention and spoke very precisely.? As of this day, November 16, 2676, as counselor of Rescued Ripe 1845, John Wyeth, I recommend and urge continuation. Her new name is Abigail Wyeth."
My ears perked at the sound of my old name, and I looked at her. She kept staring straight ahead, but I saw the corners of her lips curl up a little. Lt. Sanchez noticed it, too.
"That pleases you, Susan?? She relaxed from her attention when he used her first name.
"Of course it does, sir! Any time a counselor can recommend…"
"…the continuation of a Cue,? he finished, a trifle impatiently.? Yes, yes. But you've really put more into-Abigail, is it?-you've put more into her than any other Cue, haven't you?"
"Well, she's unique. And fun. And…"
"Uh, hey, people!? I broke in.? I may be unique and fun, but I'm also standing right here. And I'm a little confused, so could we cut to the chase? What's continuation mean? And what was reason for that fight? And why all the-? Sanchez held up a hand.
"I'm sorry, Abigail. We shouldn't talk around you. Let's take care of that now.? He looked at Susie.?
You're absolutely sure, Susan?? She nodded, openly smiling now. Her whole manner seemed a total reverse from only ten minutes ago. That I was out of my depth would be an understatement. I wasn't in over my head, I was on the ocean floor, tied down with weights and sinking deeper. Sanchez nodded.
"All right. Abigail, come here, please.? He stood up as I stepped around the desk. I did it only because I had no idea what else to do.
"Attention!? he barked, and I suddenly became rigid. His authority and ability to command were incredible.? As commander of this, the Third Regiment of the Resistance, I hereby confer onto you the rank of private, second class. Welcome aboard, and may God have mercy on your soul.? He tapped me twice on my right shoulder.
I'm not sure what he was expecting me to do or say. I thought about this sudden turn for a few moments, then said,? Uhh… Don't I have a say in this?"
"You will address me as Lieutenant, Lieutenant Sanchez, or sir. And no, Private, you don't. Now that you're going to be with us for at least the next three months, you are under the same conditions, dangers and restrictions as every other man and woman under my command. If you have to share in our troubles, you may as well share in the authority and benefits. We don't have civilians travel with us, so for the duration of your stay, you're a private. What class is up to you."
That made eminent sense. I snapped to attention and said,? Yes, sir!"
He smiled.? Very good. Now, Abigail, let me show you the reason for everything we've done for you, with you, and to you. It's time you saw the puterverse.? He swung his chair over to the computer terminal and offered it to me. Hesitantly, I sat down and examined the terminal. It looked almost like the ones of six centuries ago, except that the viewing surface hung flat against the wall, perhaps thirty centimeters square and no thicker than a sheet of onionskin. It was dark. The keyboard had a nearly identical layout as the now ancient QWERTY keyboard, but it also was paper-thin and seemed to be part of the shelf in front of me. I had to admit to a certain disappointment. I would have thought computer interfaces would have come further than this by now. Maybe the Spartan environment and frequent moves pushed this more prosaic type of access onto them. Still, you'd think that…
Lt. Sanchez leaned forward and said,? Access."
And the world disappeared. The thin film monitor quivered and suddenly exploded, coating the walls, the ceiling and floor, even the air, with its version of reality. Sound came from everywhere, yet it wasn't noise. Glowing, human-shaped forms were standing near me. One turned and looked at me. I yelped, jumping from my chair, and the whole thing collapsed and I was suddenly in the room again. I looked quickly at Sanchez and Susie, who seemed to be enjoying my disorientation. I smiled weakly and sat back down, sliding back into the wild reality. Sanchez leaned close to my ear.
"Computer, standard viewing area.? Nothing happened from my point of view.? There. Now we're all in here. Normally, the entire room is accessed. I preset the level and viewing area before you and Corporal Lendler arrived, to give you a place to run to, should the puterverse be too overwhelming.
Unlikely in your case, to be sure. But the puterverse can have an unpredictable effect on Cues brought forward to our time. But enough of that! I'm sure you would like to go exploring, which you can as soon as I create your puterverse identity and access level. Computer! Puterverse authorization initiate for Abigail Wyeth."
"Certainly,? a pleasant male voice said, a small echo trailing.? Please initiate voice verification at your convenience.? Sanchez nudged me.
"Voice print verify. Wyeth, Abigail.? I very nearly slipped and gave out my old authorization code. I knew it would be worthless, though. Even if it still existed after six centuries-a near impossibility-my voice would no longer match.
"Acknowledged. Authorizing user please state level of access."
"Access level for Wyeth, Abigail is set to three limited four,? Sanchez said.
"Access level for Wyeth, Abigail is set to three limited four,? the computer repeated.? Tethers are engaged."
He clapped me on the shoulder.? The puterverse is waiting, young lady! Feel free to roam where you wish. Unauthorized areas are represented by closed doors like this one.? He pointed to a solid expanse of deep blue that had a man-sized red rectangle embedded in it. The red section pulsated slowly. He indicated another such door to our right about thirty meters away. It pulsed green.? Green doors will give you access. And see these large black walls? You can neither access nor breach them, since they represent your current level restriction."
"This is incredible!? I gasped. I looked at myself. My body had become a pale yellow form of energy. I had a basic female form-my own female form-but wore no clothing. But neither was I naked. I looked over at Susie. She had a similar glow, but it was tinged with orange. She saw me staring and laughed.
Her laugh was audible, but also made me think of warm marshmallows. It was as though I experienced her laugh with all my senses.
"This takes a little time to get used to, Abigail,? she cautioned me.? So go easy."
"How do I move around?? I asked breathlessly, turning toward Lt. Sanchez. He was a glowing, deep blue form, without specific features, yet somehow still looking like himself.
"Access to the puterverse is an almost entirely cognitive activity. Here, stand up.? He helped me up from my chair. It disappeared into the ground with a mesmerizing melting action.? You're now standing in the puterverse. In my office, though, we're all in the same position we accessed at: you in my chair, Susan and I standing behind you. Here, though, our puterverse bodies move freely to our mental wishes.
"I understand!? I said excitedly.? Then queries and data access are done entirely with a physical metaphor, correct?"
"Yes. Very good."
"Not really. Just common sense. Can I explore?"
"Certainly. That's why you're on, Abigail. You have the control. Susan and I are along for your benefit."
For the next half hour, I was like a kid in a candy shop. I poked into dozens of things, learning quickly the quirks and protocols of performing queries and moving vast distances with tonal inflection. Doors and access points were everywhere, some in the sides of large mounds, others just standing by themselves.
You could see on either side of the door, but stepping through took you to an entirely new area. It was fantastic. The only annoying thing was the constant appearance of those huge black walls. Just as something became particularly interesting, a stupid wall would pop up. The red doors were nearly as frustrating.
But the most exhilarating thing about it was the feel. Not the sensation. The flavor. This was Chris' work, all right! Oh, he'd never taken it to this level of sophistication, at least, not when I knew him, but it had his stamp on it. One of the last things I'd done at NATech was listen to his progress report on accessing a computer via a mental link. He must have hit on the right answer, because that's exactly what we were doing. It was nice to see our work had such long reaching implications.
In the back of my head, a thought came up. I knew most of Chris' backdoor access codes. Backdoor access codes are passwords inserted by the programmer to allow him admittance to the system at any time. Since the codes are never reported, and nearly impossible to root out, the passwords had an unlimited and unregulated life span. I wondered if during the… I let the thought die, not wishing to trigger another attack. But those codes were something worth considering.
I was approaching a large lake with an ice blue shimmer. At least, I thought it was a lake. Upon reaching the shore, however, I noticed there was a constant right to left flow, which made it a river. I stared into the water. The current seemed very quick on top, slower on the bottom. Slivers of glittering gold shot downstream while lines of silver worked upstream. I felt a coolness rising from the surface, though there was no wind. It was indescribably beautiful. It seemed to draw me in, over the railing that bordered it.
"This is the main data stream, isn't it?? I asked breathlessly. I was so taken with it, I needed to say it twice to be heard.
"Yes, it is,? Susie replied. She sounded surprised that I knew.? It's called the Quantum Data River.
Every instruction of every access passes through this primary channel."
Sanchez and Susie exchanged looks. I didn't know if I was intended to see their furtive glance, but I did.
Sanchez leaned down.? How did you know that, Abigail?"
They were testing me.? Lieutenant, please don't treat me like a little child.? I paused for a second.?
Well, not all the time, anyway. My guess is you probably know all about my connection with Chris Young."
Susie laid a hand on my shoulder. I thrilled at her once again soft touch. Much better than getting belted by her.
"Raul's playing the man's game of getting what he wants, Abigail.? He shot her a cool look, which she ignored.? Yes, we know. Both from our talk that morning and from your IHAD. What we don't know is how well you know his system. This is the major reason why we've been treating you unfairly at times.
"The puterverse has been around, in one form or another, for hundreds of years. We've expanded and developed it during that time, studying, modifying and trying to fully comprehend it. And while we know it was Young who created it with his webbing techniques, we've never been able to get to the how of it.
Young lived before there was riping, so there was no chance of finding out first hand about the puterverse's creator.
"Or so we thought. Then we cued you. You can't imagine the surprise we had when we found out that not only did the two technologies exist about the same time, but that Chris Young had actually worked for you."
She pointed to the far side of the data stream.? Can you see the other shore?"
I peered, but couldn't see anything at first. I called for a stand and the view shifted us up about ten meters into the air. There seemed to be a soft glow.
"There's a slight glimmer, but I can't tell if it's on the far shore. What's over there?"
"We don't know,? Susie said.? There's no access. Nobody has been able to go there. At least, not for the past three hundred years, if ever. We think there's a vast amount of restricted information that is being withheld from the world."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing,? I pointed out.? The public's need to know has to be balanced against society's safety and an individual's privacy. Telling everyone how to make an atom bomb may not be a good thing. Telling everyone my credit card numbers is definitely not a good thing."
"Credit card numbers?? Sanchez inquired.
"Never mind. The point is, there are a great many things that the world is better off not knowing, or has no right to know in the first place."
"True enough, Abigail,? Susie conceded.? We won't press it. But if it turns out that we do need that information, you may end up being the key."
"You said that my connection to Chris was a major part of my status,? I commented, changing the subject.? What was the other?"
Susie smiled, knowing what I was trying to do, but allowing it.? It's probably better that we show you.
Now I'm going to play a little game. It's called stirring up your female curiosity. Computer!? Her voice raised.? Access, Susan Lendler. Level five."
Suddenly, the whole place became brighter. The black wall to my left melted away, exposing another one far off in the distance. I turned around, and at least a dozen doors that had been red were now pulsing green, and many other doors appeared. Several platforms raised up from the ground, showing large displays.
"We're now at level five,? Susie began explaining.? I can go…"
"How many levels are there?? I asked excitedly, running to several of the nearby doors and looking in.
This puterverse was stunning.
"There are sixty-four, but…"
"How high can we go?? I couldn't contain my eagerness, and didn't try. I ran up the steps of the nearest platform and looked out over the landscape. Though not as populated as level three, there were still many other people sharing this area.? Does the access increase steadily, or geometrically?"
"Geometrically. But you can't just…"
"Then why don't we go higher? Say level fifteen? Or twenty?? My fingers flew over the access panel on the platform display, teasing colors and images from it. I was giddy with a sense of adventure and…
"Private Wyeth!? Lieutenant Sanchez barked.
I jerked to a stop and snapped to attention, my body and training overriding and bringing to earth my emotions and mind. If he'd grabbed a two by four and popped me one in the face the effect would have been the same. He walked over to me and inspected me as though I was something unpleasant he'd just run over.
"Are you always so disrespectful of your friends and commanding officer?"
I flushed with shame, only now realizing my rude behavior, and at a loss to understand it.? No, sir! I'm
… I'm sorry. I was just so overwhelmed…"
"I didn't ask for an explanation, Private. I asked for an answer."
"Yes, sir! That's to say, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
He stooped slightly and stared me in the eye.? Then perhaps you would be so kind as to show more restraint.? He paused and summed up the entire episode with,? Young lady."
Of course. That was it. I'd become so engrossed with my surroundings that I'd let down my self-discipline. In just the few days I'd been my new self I found it more and more difficult to keep myself in check emotionally, and my maturity was wearing thin in more than a few places. It wasn't a losing battle; it was a lost war. At least one nice thing about this loss of maturity was that I wasn't too worried about it.
"Yes, sir,? I replied, somewhat subdued but not much.
He contemplated me for a few seconds longer, then nodded.
"Very well.? He turned to Susie and smiled slightly.? You may continue, Susan."
Susie grinned at me, and I relaxed. I was very glad they seemed to understand. They certainly understood more about me than I did. I smiled back at her.
"Sorry, Susie."
"That's okay. I remember my first time accessing. I was three, and I acted just about the same way you did. No offense.? I blushed-or it felt like I did. I didn't know if an energy signature could turn red from embarrassment.
"Anyway,? she continued,? the answer to your question is, yes, we can access higher, and the view is even better. But there's a downside, too. Although access to the puterverse is a mental operation, there is a physical strain on the entire body. The higher you access, the more pronounced the strain. You can train yourself to an extent to tolerate the stress, but the benefit is realized normally with the length of stay and only marginally on level of access."
"How bad is the strain?? I asked, trying to sound calm.
"Very. Only one in a hundred go higher than level nine. Fewer than one in ten thousand can access level twelve. And at level thirteen, the stress on your body becomes actual damage. Few have ever been higher than eighteen and survived.
"Don't worry, though, Abigail. We're not going anywhere near there today. You'll be pretty sore tonight, but it shouldn't be too bad. No point in overdoing it. This is your first time here, so you're not ready for it.
And also, we don't need to go that high to show you what we want you to see."
"And what is that?? I asked, sounding calmer than I was. I had a feeling something unpleasant was about to happen.
"You'll see. Literally.? Susie looked at Sanchez, who nodded. She took my hand and spoke to no one in particular:? Locate Oregon fire storm, 2414."
A tunnel just large enough for the three of us opened in the air about thirty meters in front of us. We remained still as it approached and engulfed us. Streaks and slivers of light, similar to the river, flashed by us on all sides. In almost no time, I noticed we were hurtling toward a pinpoint of light. The pinpoint grew to the size of an exit, and the light reddened. Then, as quickly as it had sprung on us, the tunnel abruptly terminated and we were in hell.
All around us were the massive flames of an uncontrollable firestorm. Vague shapes of buildings could be seen through the curtain of flames. Intertwined in the roar of the flames so as to almost come from them, were the screams of the dying, perhaps the already dead. I spun around, to look for escape, but there was none. Desperate to escape, I called for a platform, and we lifted up into the air, twenty, fifty, one hundred, meters. From horizon to horizon was nothing but flames and the sickening smell of death.
I had never seen anything so completely and utterly destructive. It had been, to me, almost ten years since I had left the horror of the Ethiopian Campaigns behind me. But I still should have been able to cope at some level with this conflagration. I couldn't. My senses were reeling from the horror. I felt no heat, but the terror would burn my soul for a long time. I covered my ears and started to sink down, but Raul lifted me up. He shouted something at Susie over the flames. She nodded and the flames died out as the platform we were standing on darkened and turned into another tunnel. Instead of falling in, our orientation seemed to change and we were standing in it, traveling quickly through it, the flickering red skies at our backs diminishing into the past.
The tunnel ended in moments, and we were standing on the moon's surface. I should have been overcome with the wonder, but the memory of the firestorm demanded all my attention. It took Raul gently shaking me to make me look up and put the horrible sight behind me to see this beautiful one.
The Earth sat in the sky, only just risen. All around was the rocky, pitted surface of the moon. I recognized the site as our first permanent moon base, established only twenty years prior, memory time. I realized we were also in a kind of lunar park, for the surface area of the base had ropes around it, and roughhewn benches, cut from native rock, were scattered around. Several flags, stiff with wire and shaped to flutter in a nonexistent wind, decorated the base. In all directions, I saw dozens of plastic bubbles protruding from the surface. Air locks, most likely.
"Look over there, Abigail,? Susie said quietly. She pointed to a large rectangular rock about ten meters to our right. Walking closer, I could see an inscription. I leaned down and read it out loud.
"Forever enshrined to honor those who so valiantly fought in the Terran/Martian Wars, there lies here a fallen comrade, known but to God.? It was dated 2389.
Terran/Martian Wars. Then they had established a colony. I stood and looked into the black sky to see if Mars was up. It was, its redness even more evident in the vacuum of space. It looked so peaceful. Susie, was also looking up, but in another direction, towards Polaris. Her face was quiet and thoughtful. I turned to Sanchez.
"How many?? I asked in a small voice. Since there were no ambient noises, it still sounded abrasively loud.
"Three million from Mars, 481 million from Earth. There were four wars lasting sixteen years,? Raul said with an impassive tone.
"How can you be so cold?? I said with stunned surprise. A half-billion people. I couldn't begin to grasp a carnage that great.
"It was a long time ago, Abigail. Three hundred years. But though we may sound indifferent about it, we are not, and the war still leaves its mark. As one-sided as the numbers may appear, Mars lost the war because their entire population was three million. Fewer than one thousand survived. Mars was never again resettled. The terra forming operations were abandoned, and it is again a dead planet."
"What do this war and the firestorm have in common?"
He didn't answer me. Instead, he nodded again to Susie, and the tunnel appeared to rush us away.
And so it went for more than an hour. We saw New York City turned into a massive crater, surrounded by a flat, glassy plain, no life to be seen. They showed me dark hospital wards and filthy asylums, buried deep underground, housing horribly mutated things that may or may not have once been human. We saw a series of ripes, some of which were definitely not human, their brain cases merely welded, sealed boxes bolted into a control panel. In later images, not even that vestige of humanity was left them, as their intangible minds were moved into circuitry and hard memory. There were many, many more images, sounds, and experiences. How I managed to make it through without fainting, I don't know. Finally, we were taken back to the riverside. I looked into the ethereal data stream, shooting ribbons of silver and gold, and wondered how two such worlds could exist within each other. I looked up at Sanchez, feeling very weak from either our long access time or the mentally draining sights. Probably both.
"Why did you show me these things?"
He didn't respond, but instead leaned against the railing that ran along the riverbank, contemplating me. I looked at Susie, who stood quietly beside him, staring down at the hard floor of the puterverse. It was for me to find out.
"Computer. Access Abigail Wyeth."
"Access granted.? The obsidian walls shot up into the air, and the area became darker, less friendly.
"Locate common focus of past twenty queries."
Again a tunnel came up, and we were inserted into it. We shot along, my hand groping for and finding Susie's. Lt. Sanchez stood close behind us. I had a sudden flash of fear and shivered.
A pinpoint of an exit appeared and raced toward us. The light increased quickly; it was clearly daylight at the end. I heard the distant rumble of voices and could even make out a few faces before we were suddenly in the midst of them. No one seemed to notice us, and several passed through us, causing no harm nor having any come on them. I looked around, trying to orient myself. I first noticed the almost even proportions of race among the multitude. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, everyone was represented in almost the same number. It could have been anywhere in the world, but nowhere in mine. Many were civilians. Many more were in a military style of uniform.
After a few more moments of studying the crowds, I looked up. Being shorter than everyone but the younger children, it was the only other way for me to look.
Filling the entire sky in front of me was a massive complex of buildings. We were in a manmade canyon, surrounded on all sides by these huge structures, most hundreds of meters high and a few as wide as they were tall.
The complex was so massive that it was more a carved mountain, made to look like buildings. An unearthly steel and glass mountain, reflecting the sunlight in such a way as to be blinding, even from my low vantage point. It made it difficult to get a proper look at the structures, other than size. I did make out a logo on several of the buildings, but the shimmering reflection made it impossible to make out anything other than shape. And people were constantly getting in my way. I tried jumping up to see over, but it didn't help much.
"Computer, delete people.? They faded away and we were in a deserted valley of glassy concrete.?
Accelerate time to two hours past sunset.? Time slipped quickly by, and the large buildings flashed with the setting sun's rays, then took on a luminescence of their own in the gathering twilight. Night descended, and the stars came out. The logos flickered, then flared to life, and suddenly they were very easy to see.
At last I understood. I could see why these people had been so happy to have me, and so upset. I knew now why my I… I… IHAD had gone on for so long, why they had questioned me, and questioned me, and questioned me, though I had no memory of it. As I stared up at the accusing symbols, the ground beneath us began glowing, and suddenly we were standing on another massive logo, flooding the air with brilliant blue light. I looked down at it and realized how lucky I was to still be alive, and not burned to a cinder by Susie's gun as I lay helpless. I stared at the logo, hoping it would go away, or change into something else. But it didn't.
NATech Supreme.
"End access.? My voice was very small, very quiet.
The sounds faded, the images quavered a moment, then collapsed back into the flimsy sheet attached to Lt. Sanchez's wall.
"We don't know exactly when NATech was formed. The records have long since been lost, altered, deleted or secured. We had guessed sometime in the mid twenty-first century. Until you came along, Abigail."
I stretched out on my bed and looked up at the rock ceiling. It was a constant source of amazement that the rock could be cut to be so smooth, so flawless. I would have thought that natural imperfections in the native rock would leave the surface pockmarked and scarred. They must have some sort of blending method.
I rolled on my side to face Susie, groaning slightly as my aching muscles protested. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, largely unaffected by our puterverse accessing. Our room was so small that she was less than a meter from me, so our conversation was still pretty intimate. Not that anyone would hear us; we had shut the door for the night.
"You missed by a century,? I replied.? NATech was a result of the Second World War and the forming of the United Nations. Almost no one knew of it because it would compromise our mission. We wanted to be able to prepare society for the changes that it was going to go through. We also did a large amount of research in what were considered to be fantastic, unrealistic ideas. By keeping our existence quiet, we were able to focus on our work and not the ever-changing politics."
She shook her head in disbelief.? It sounds unbelievable. And it's so completely impossible that the very entity we fight against, and by whose hand so many of us die, could at any time have been benevolent.
But I heard it from you, now and in the past days. The shock of the story you told us is still there."
"No more than the shock to me of seeing what NATech became. We had anticipated something like this could happen, and had installed numerous safeguards to prevent it. In fact, shortly before I 'died', I…? I broke off and hedged.?…was also working on a long range safeguard. It's painfully clear those safeguards were useless. How far reaching is their power?"
She shrugged.? No one really knows, which by itself is a frightening indication. We do know it's nearly complete here on Earth. After the Terran/Martian Wars, the world government was destroyed. The planet had united under a common government as far back as 2209, but the more powerful countries, the United States, Japan, Brazil and Australia, remained autonomous. But then singularity drives were invented in 2243, and the first hyperspace corridor was established to a class M planet in 2267. And that changed Earth's future forever."
"I had wondered if space travel to other solar systems had been perfected. There seemed to be indicators in some of the things I looked at in the puterverse, but there were also very few facts."
"That's for two reasons. First is your current access level. There's not a whole lot you can find out at three limited four. As you feel more comfortable with the system, and we feel more comfortable with you, that access will be increased.
"The second reason is that space travel is not that important to us. Everyone who wanted to leave the planet did. The singularity drive ships-we call them ball chasers-allowed for exploration of Earth class planets that could be colonized, providing that they were not already inhabited by another civilization. If they were, relations would be established. If they weren't, emigration corridors would be set up after an experimental colony had proven the viability of self support.
"And I'll bet you've never found intelligent life, have you?"
She shook her head.? Of course, not. The very way the universe was created points to the improbability of intelligent life anywhere but on Earth. Of course, a lot of people still believe we'll find intelligent alien life one day."
"And maybe we will. I wouldn't hold my breath, though,? I commented dryly.
"I suppose.? Susie didn't sound too convinced, either.? Anyway, after the hyperidors were established to the first two or three planets, emigration could begin on a large scale."
"That follows. I'm not sure what a hyperidor is, but I'd guess it debunks the law of the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Probably a marked route through a type of subspace that twists those two points so they're closer to each other."
"I'll never get over that, Abigail! How do you do that?? Susie said wonderingly.
"You probably know as well as I do, Susie. As the Lieutenant pointed out, NATech didn't pick me for my good looks, nor for my more obvious military career."
"That military career would fetch you a high rank today with them. But you're right, I do know why NATech picked you; because of your success and ingenuity in the numerous recon missions you and your squad conducted. After we had you pegged, we were able to access many of your mission files.
They were sketchy, and coded, but we could make out some of the details. Your skills with logic and personnel are brilliant. They'd make an excellent study in military tactics."
I blushed a bit.? Somehow, I doubt I'd find too many listeners if I gave the lectures. As for their
'brilliance', I did what I could to obtain the mission objective and keep my men alive. You were talking about the emigration."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to embarrass you. It seems like I'm talking about a different person when discussing your past.
"Once the first hyperidors were safe, around 2270, huge transport ships could move with little effort or cost through them. The population of the world, nearly eight billion, dropped ten percent the first five years."
"Eight hundred million people emigrated?? I whistled.? I can just imagine the impact that had on the world economy."
"Don't whistle, it's very unladylike. Actually, it helped the economy immensely. Think about it. It's a gross over-generalization, but the people most likely to cause unrest or show aggressive tendencies are also the people willing to take the risk of emigration. Further, for those who remained, the stress upon the planet's resources eased by that same ten percent. Perhaps more. Do you mind if I turn down the lights?"
"No, not at all."
She called for the lights to dim. She seemed to almost fade, her smooth, ebony skin blending softly into the smooth, dark rock of the bedroom's wall. She stretched out on her bed, wriggling in under the blankets. I did the same, my sore, sore body thanking me once I lay still.
"But wasn't there support of the colonies?? I asked, picking up the conversation again.? Or did you really treat them as colonies, taking resources while providing finished products?"
"There was some of that in the beginning. In fact, they were not so much colonies as much as fledgling countries. There never was any intention to keep them as extensions of the Earth government.
"There were, however, many corporations who took advantage of the new markets to set up trade. It was pretty one-sided at first, with each new planet having an agrarian society until industrialization could be implemented. Some stayed with their agrarian cultures and set up trade with other planets."
"And Earth was the pivot for the entire trading system?"
"Well, yes, at first. Until hyperidors were marked between the other planets. And even then Earth remained the primary route of trade. Until 2373."
"The Terran/Martian Wars."
"Yes. The wars changed everything. There really is no connection between the settlements on Mars and the colonization of the Class-M planets. Mars couldn't support life on its own; the others were chosen because they could. Mars had to remain a colony, forever dependent upon a planet with a breathable atmosphere. Terra-forming had begun, but it would be eight hundred years before Mars could even approach something close to an actual life-sustaining atmosphere.
"But the Earth government held them too tightly in check, and they rebelled. Using crude plasma drives, they aimed asteroids from the asteroid belt into the path of the Earth, turning them into guided comets.
This allowed them to work with impunity, for they didn't need to wage battle directly. By the time it was discovered what had been done, dozens of these asteroids had been launched. They started to hit the Earth with alarming frequency. Nearly all of them penetrated the atmosphere. Most burned up when entering the atmosphere, releasing massive amounts of heat. A few survived and hit the Earth. Of course, it was nearly impossible to aim the things. They just had a general idea.
"The result was all consuming terror for Earth. Whole cities, destroyed within minutes, without warning.
The majority of deaths happened then, over 400 million. Even the misses that crashed into the oceans caused massive tidal waves and temporarily raised ocean temperatures and destroyed the currents. And the final injury were the primitive plasma drives themselves. There was no effort to reinforce the casings, so many times the plasma exploded on impact, irradiating the area and electrifying the air, burning huge holes in the ozone."
I shivered from the descriptions. Such total, indiscriminate war. I tried to draw up a defense plan for the scenario,
SCENARIO 1947588375 INDICATES THAT A FULL ORBITAL ATTACK ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET WILL RENDER THE PRIMARY MARTIAN CITY OF VERMILION 97% INEFFECTIVE IN ALL EIGHT KEY MILITARY AREAS, BUT ALLOW FOR A SURVIVAL RATE OF 38.86%, WHICH INDICATES THAT ASTEROID BOMBARDMENT OF EARTH CAN CONTINUE. SCENARIO 1947588376 INDICATES THAT A FULL ORBITAL ATTACK ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET, FOLLOWED BY A GROUND FORCE ATTACK OF 5,000 SHOCK TROOPS WILL RENDER THE PRIMARY MARTIAN CITY OF VERMILION 98.2% INEFFECTIVE IN ALL EIGHT KEY MILITARY AREAS, BUT ALLOW FOR A CITIZENRY SURVIVAL RATE OF 34.92% WHICH INDICATES THAT ASTEROID BOMBARDMENT OF EARTH CAN CONTINUE. SCENARIO 1947588377 INDICATES THAT A FULL OR
but was either too tired to come up with one, or one didn't exist. In a situation like that, even a plan that was ninety-five percent effective would still be a failure. Susie continued.
"After the first three or four hits, Earth was ready for total response. They launched massive strikes against the colonies, and Mars lost two-thirds of its population, two million people, in one week. But a million survived, deep underground."
I could picture the rest as she talked. It got nasty after that. What followed was unlimited warfare. They couldn't destroy the planet, so they had to go into the lair. In the meantime, only a relative few were needed to continue the offensive against the Earth by launching more asteroids. The asteroid belt is a big place, as is the Earth's orbit. By this time, Earth's defense forces had devised a method of destroying the larger asteroids. But there were too many, and the meteors continued, though fewer of them. Only the complete destruction of the Mars colony could cut the supply line of the comet launchers. And that's exactly what the Earth did. A terrible solution to a terrible war.
"It was during the wars that emigration peaked. Before the wars, nearly a fourth of the world's population, two billion people, had emigrated to one of twelve open planets. In the sixteen years of the war, another two billion emigrated, even though only three more planets were opened to emigration.
Since then, three dozen more planets have been discovered and settled, and another three billion have left. The Earth's current population is less than one billion, and has been that for over a century."
"A void like that must have caused a collapse of the very fabric of Earth's society,? I commented. Just as Susie had a hard time dealing with my personal history from my perspective, I had difficulty dealing with a history of an entire planet that was in many ways still the future to me. Indeed, I had spent most of the day in a kind of daze, trying to cope with the overwhelming events of six centuries. I was still a little numb.
"Collapse is putting it mildly. If there had not been a central government already in place, the entire planet would have fallen into an endless state of war. It almost did anyway. Those that remained after the wars and massive emigration did try to maintain order under the central government. By this time, even the superpowers had joined into the system, surrendering their nationalistic identities completely. It helped, but only a little. The people were ravaged by war, and despite justification carried the guilt of the utter extermination of the Martian colony. The ecosystem was gone, the polar ice caps were shattered and melting from bombardment, and hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land was now submerged.
"It was at that time that NATech first became public. They had developed experimental technologies that took care of the two largest problems: the damage to the ozone and ice caps.
"It was nearly a miracle. Within five years, NATech had managed to restore over eighty percent of both ice caps. And they completely repaired the ozone layer. And the biggest miracle of all was that they expected nothing in return. The government, nearly crushed by the debt of rebuilding, was grateful and accepted the service. Today that acceptance is taught, quietly, as one of the biggest mistakes of human civilization."
"From what I've seen of NATech now, I'd have to agree,? I said.? My NATech would not have accepted payment either, but neither would they have made public their role. It was up to us to find the solutions, then ease them into the public conscience through our own scientists, marketing agencies or even unrelated resources."
"It must have been wonderful, working for an organization so dedicated to the advancement of mankind.
I wish it was still like that. But it's not. NATech was soon consulted for other solutions, which they always seemed to have. Their abilities were incredible.
"Soon, NATech didn't wait for the questions, but volunteered solutions. They were given a permanent seat on the central government. Then they had veto power. It continued until 2422, when NATech assumed custody of the central government and began to model the agencies after their own structure.
Soon, the civil servants became NATech servants. Then the military. Finally, the media. By 2461, NATech controlled the Net, and effectively, the world. It was then that they became NATech Supreme.
"At first, everyone was very content with the situation. The economy continued to improve, as did the environment. There was the ongoing problem with riping, but no one had ever attributed that to NATech, and many were confident they would address the issue in time."
Despite the comfort and warmth of the bed and blankets, a tingle went up and down my spine. I could tell where this was leading, and the bitter irony of it was pathetically humorous. NATech, to save my life as John Wyeth, had started down a course that would bring me up against them in my life as Abigail Wyeth. Desperate to save me as an ally, had they ultimately turned me into an enemy? For if what Susie was telling me was true, I could not stand with NATech. Just as they had apparently abandoned their ideals and methods, so I must now abandon them. I very much doubted that my decision would upset them terribly.
"Disillusionment was gradual,? Susie continued.? In 2466, NATech closed all immigration to Earth.
There had not been too much to begin with, perhaps fifty thousand each year. But Earth was now an isolated planet. You could leave, but you could never come back. Still, no one complained. The war was still in the recent past, and there were rumors that what Mars had done to us, several of the colonized planets were willing to try."
"That doesn't make any sense, Susie,? I interrupted.? The situations are completely different. Not only would there be no reason, the logistics of another meteor war would have been nearly impossible. From your description, a hyperidor could be easily monitored. Unless one were established in a secret location.
But again, there's no motive."
"It's so clear now, isn't it?? Her voice smiled sadly in the darkness.? But NATech has mastered the use of propaganda. They never actually said that there had been secret hyperidors established, but it quickly became common knowledge, despite lack of evidence. The populace became frantic with worry.
Another devastating loss of five hundred million-essentially the planet's total population-would destroy civilization on Earth. And the mere fact of their existence proved that there was a motive, though no one knew what it was.
"Of course, it was all false. The entire hysteria was designed to further tighten the grip NATech had on the planet. They were our great protector. And so they remain today. Most still don't understand the hold NATech Supreme has on our lives."
She fell silent. I stared up at the barely illuminated ceiling. NATech. How could we have gone so wrong?
Did we change over the centuries, or had that seed been planted from the very beginning? Did their ideals falter when offered the opportunity to provide massive help at the cost of anonymity? Or could NATech have foreseen the events that led up to that opportunity? Or could they even have…
I inhaled sharply, the horror of the thought almost a physical blow. Could NATech have even engineered those events? Even as I thought it, a peculiar wave of certainty washed over me. In Twenty Years… that had been our credo. The wars with Mars had lasted sixteen years, and NATech had achieved a position of trust and power only several years after that. The idea that they could have caused something so unimaginably frightening was just that: unimaginable. Which was exactly what NATech specialized in.
I glanced at Susie. She'd drifted off. I was glad, too. With my new found youth and my refound lack of mouth control, I could very well have told her more than she was ready to know, or more than I was ready to share. She slept on, blissfully unaware that her time and society-now my time and society-had been manipulated and robbed of its potential. How else could this era be so little advanced than six centuries ago? I needed to answer that question, but couldn't. I didn't have the knowledge, the preparation, or the freedom of movement. Not yet.
I continued to think through other alternative explanations, but couldn't make a very credible effort at it, I was so tired from my first journey into the puterverse. I could tell by her steady breathing that Susie had fallen asleep.
Sleep. I rolled over on my side and hugged my pillow, snuggling further into the sheets. This was, incredibly, my first night of unassisted, non-traumatized sleep in over six hundred years. I lay there, experiencing the differences and enjoying them. My nightwear was different. The mattress, because of my small weight, seemed bouncier, and I couldn't remember the last time I lay in a bed that was so much bigger than me. My position, curled up around a pillow instead of sprawled out with hands and feet over the edge, was different. Even the sleepiness I felt creeping over me was different, though I couldn't explain how. I wondered how long I would have these new sensations of everyday life. A long time, I hoped.
I just wished I had better thoughts to keep me company. Not that it mattered. Within moments of extinguishing the lights and plunging the room into total darkness, I was fast asleep. I don't remember what dreams I had that night, but they were my own.