It took me a few hours to realize I couldn’t talk about it to anyone. The Ekt would think I was an idiot, and they would throw a fit if they knew I had learned something of value because of them. Vincent knows a bit about physics, but not enough to understand this. Eva and Eugene couldn’t care less. It was the strangest feeling. What I’d seen was really important. I had proven that neutrinos are Majorana, meaning they’re their own antiparticles. I had proven neutrinos had mass. I even helped constrain the mass scale by measuring the decay rate. That was a huge step in physics. It might give us a way to explain why the universe is full of things instead of nothing. It could help explain how primordial stars formed, what dark matter is made of. It was an incredibly far-reaching discovery. On Earth, I’d be a shoo-in for the Nobel prize. Here, it might get me a B? on a high-school exam. It should have been a world-changing moment, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt like I had just invented the wheel, only to realize I was standing in the middle of Broadway during rush hour.
I can live with that. I can see myself doing great science all day even if it’s primitive by everyone else’s standard. In many ways, it’s the best kind of science. It’s stimulating yet free of consequence. Nothing I do in that lab will get anyone killed. No one will use what I do to hurt people. I hope we get to stay. I hope Vincent and Eugene change their mind about this world. Fortunately for me, our fate is in the hands of the Council, not mine, and I see nothing wrong with enjoying what this planet has to offer while we wait.
FILE NO. EE108—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT
Personal Log—Vincent Couture and Eva Reyes
Location: Assigned residence, Etyakt region
—Can we eat the cake, Dad?
—I was waiting for Eugene.
[He’s not coming. He wasn’t feeling well.]
Again? Well, more cake for us then! Sorry I couldn’t find any candles. Fourteen years old! I just want to say how grateful I am that I got to spend these last four years with you, though I wish we could have spent them on Earth. Watching you grow into a rebellious teen has been … pure torture. I am grateful there aren’t any black clothes anywhere on this planet so you couldn’t go full goth on me. Oh, and one big thank-you to Itit at the market, who finally managed to recharge the batteries for our recorders.
—I’m not rebellious.
—Well, you leave the house on your own, and you talk to people. That’s rebellious enough. Esok said you spend a lot of time with one of the guard trainees. What’s his name?
—Ekim. And we’re just friends!
—Yeah, well, I hope so. He’s like twenty years old.
—They age superslow! He’s younger than me!
—Then he’s too young for you. Wait … That’s not what I meant.
—What did you mean?
—I mean … I mean you should stay here. Never leave the house, or do … anything. And whatever happens, never, ever, show up here with a boyfriend.
[I wanna meet him! Bring him over some time!]
Thank you, Rose … That was sarcasm, by the way. It’s bad enough you talked me into letting her take a job, we’re not doing the boyfriend thing just yet. MR. YOTYOT! OFF THE TABLE!
[She’s helping others, Vincent, feeding people. You should be proud of her.]
—Can you stop talking about me like I’m not here?
—Hey, have you seen Eva? You know, the awkward one?
—Very funny, Dad. And you’re one to talk. I see the way you look at Esok.
—I use my eyes. That’s how I look at Esok. If I didn’t, then I couldn’t see her.
—It’s OK, Dad! She likes you. She and I are friends. It’s perfect.
—Why don’t we talk about something else? Turn on the wall, please. We can’t see a thing in here.
[Did you just say: “Turn on the wall”?]
—He did. He’s been saying it for four years. You never noticed? Dim the wall. Turn off the wall.
—See what I’m up against, Rose. We’re the only people on this entire planet who speak English, and I still don’t sound cool enough for my kid. What do you call the wall thing, Rose?
[Let more light in?]
Oh, you’re so clever. Let’s eat that cake!
[Eva, tell me about the soup kitchen. What do they have you do over there?]
—There’s not much to tell. It’s a soup kitchen. I stir the pots. I hand out bowls of soup.
—How many people do you feed in a day?
—I don’t know. Hundreds. A thousand. A lot.
[How can that be? They’re allowed the same amount of food as everyone else. You’ve seen what they give us. We could eat twice as much and still have leftovers.]
Where have you been for four years, Rose? Half of these people don’t exist. They don’t get anything. Their children don’t get anything. Their grandchildren won’t get anything. It’s only gonna get worse unless they get rid of that stupid Council.
—Eva. Someone could hear you.
—They’re evil, Dad! Everyone here hates them.
—I’m serious, Eva.
—They’re nothing but a bunch of racist assholes.
—They’re the only ones who can help us.
—You said they haven’t ruled yet. They couldn’t come to a decision in four years! They’ll never do anything.
—They will. They’ll send us home. They’re the only ones who can. You wanna go home, don’t you?
— …
—Eva?
—Yeah, I do. But the way they treat everyone, everyone who’s not 100 percent Ekt, it’s wrong. Someone has to stop them.
—I know you don’t like them, Eva. I’m just asking you to watch what you say in public. The last thing we want is to rock the boat any more than we have to. They’re already blaming us for all those protests.
—Did you know that Esok’s people are dying?
—I didn’t know she had any family left.
—She doesn’t. On the planet where she’s from. They’re dying. All of them.
—She was born here.
—Don’t be an ass, Dad. They could cure them, you know? They could. It’s like supereasy, apparently, but the Council won’t do a thing. They’ll let a whole planet die.
[They have a law that prevents them from interfering, Eva.]
—Rose, I don’t think you wanna go there. Eva has … strong feelings about those great Ekt principles. I don’t want us to fight on her birthday. Besides, all of this is more or less your fault.
[My fault?]
Where do you think she gets all these ideas? Certainly not from me.
[You think I …]
No, I don’t. You love the Council. You’re—
[I don’t—]
I’m not done yet. You’re the one who convinced me to let her work at that soup kitchen. That place is filled with nothing but starving aliens, most of them with a bunch of illegal kids to feed. Not exactly the most Council-friendly place around.
[I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.]
Hey. You’re not the one telling them how many children they can have.
[The Ekt don’t have a lot of children. They’re trying to keep a balance between—]
—They’re trying to weed them out!
[That’s not …]
Oh, come on, Rose!
—I’m afraid Eva’s got you on this one, Rose. That’s not a political opinion, it’s just math. One child per person. That’s half as many children every generation if they reproduce the way we do. These people wouldn’t be here at all if they followed the rules.
—Why do you keep defending them, Rose?
[I’m not defen … maybe I am. I just think it’s not as simple as it seems. They didn’t pick those principles out of a hat, there’s history behind them, there’s a reason. I agree that there might be some consequences to—]
Might be?
[There are some unfortunate consequences, but there’s a lot more to the Ekt than their noninterference policy. They have as close to a pure democracy as I’ve ever seen. They vote on everything, from the color of lampposts to medical-research priorities. These people have more control over their own lives than we’ve ever had.]
—OK, Rose, that’s enough.
[I was just …]
I know. I know. Let’s just change the subject.
—I can’t listen to this. I’ll see you guys later.
[What? Why?]
—Eva, come on! It’s your birthday!
—Save me some cake, will you?
—Eva! Come back inside!
[Vincent, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.]
It’s OK, Rose, she’s … She’s …
[She’s what?]
She’s a teenager without a mother. She’s trying to make sense of the world around her, only it’s not her world. It’s … She’s also right, you know?
[About what?]
You do sound a little brainwashed. A “pure democracy”?
[I said close to.]
OK, so you know about physics. If we lived here, officially, you’d get to vote on anything that has to do with physics. If you knew about bugs, you’d get to vote on bug stuff. You’d also get to vote on mundane things you don’t need any special knowledge for, but for the important things, you’d need to know what you’re talking about.
[I don’t see how that’s a bad thing.]
But who decides if you know what you’re talking about?
[There are committees that assign credentials.]
And who decides who sits on those committees?