“That’s true, Representative Misra, but after the first dozen, any returning ships can still take people out.”
Swarna Misra looked down at her desk for a moment, then looked back at the camera. “Here’s the problem, Mr. Johansson. Under the current system, about three hundred thousand more people will go out to colonies within our lifetimes. Under your proposed system, possibly half of the population—seven million people—will die of old age on Earth before pods are ready for them. The other half will get into pods, where they will remain for some indefinite amount of time, possibly centuries. Mathematically, your suggestion makes some sense. But emotionally, it is not attractive. At least while alive, we are masters of our destiny.”
Reaching forward, she said, “I cannot endorse this plan. Sorry.” She switched off her microphone and sat down.
Damn.
Next up was Minister MacIntyre. He had replaced Gerrold in New Zealand after the VEHEMENT situation. He was barely less hostile to me than Gerrold had been. Despite several clandestine investigations on my part, I hadn’t been able to find any connection that would warrant the antipathy. I guess I would have to accept that I would never be New Zealand’s favorite replicant.
“What assurances do we have that you’ll even wake us up?” he asked, not even bothering with any warm-up remarks.
Oh, for crying out loud. “Because if that’s how I felt, Minister, I could just leave right now with no subterfuge.”
“So you are threatening us, now?”
I rolled my eyes, and I let the cameras see it.
The session went on for several hours, and the upshot was that it would be discussed and debated more at future sessions. Meanwhile, we would continue with the current schedule.
I sighed and closed my video window. Stupid humans.
The Departed
Marcus
March 2215
Poseidon
An angry mob faced off against the security personnel. “You do not have a right to prevent us from leaving!” someone yelled.
The security squad stood squarely between the citizens and the parked flyers. They weren’t quite pointing their weapons at the crowd, but the threat was definitely there.
It seemed the Council had finally gotten their act together. Within minutes of my announcement that the fourth aerial city, Thark, was taking immigrants, security squads had moved in and cut people off from the flyers.
I’d been expecting them to come up with something eventually, although they seem to have figured it out a little more slowly than I’d have given them credit for. But that was okay. Time for phase 2.
Behind the crowd, opposite the security forces, a half-dozen cargo drones landed. I floated my observation drone up high enough to be seen and heard clearly, ordered the drones to open the cargo bay doors, and announced, “Buses for Thark are now loading. Please move to the back of the bus.”
Within seconds, the crowd had loaded into the cargo drones. The security personnel gritted their teeth, and several of them made as if to point their weapons. The squad leader growled an order and they desisted.
I released a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. For all my bravado, I knew I was engaged in a game of brinksmanship. If the Council decided to call my bluff, people could get hurt or killed. And that would be on me.
But we’d now loaded four cities without violence breaking out. A precedent of sorts had been established.
Very likely I’d be getting a call from Councilor Brennan any minute now.
*
Riker popped into my VR. “I just got an earful from the Poseidon Council. Fomenting revolution, are you?”
I bobbed my head back and forth, as I waved him to a chair. Riker sat down, accepted a coffee from Jeeves, and gazed at me silently, one eyebrow up.
“C’mon, Will, you know what they’ve been doing! Clamping down on travel, use of flyers, dictating jobs, living arrangements…”
“It’s a unique situation, Marcus. Poseidon’s got all the room you could want, but only if you’re a fish.”
I waved the comment away. “I understand the scarcity situation, but there’s no aspect of we’re all in this together. They just hand down pronouncements, and you do as told or else. And or else now includes consequences—anything from loss of privileges through house arrest all the way to incarceration. And if there’s anything dumber than jailing people when you need every single person working, I’ve never seen it.”
Will sighed. “Okay, bud. Off the record, I agree with you. And I’ve read your blog about the monitoring, which I find as galling as you do. But the official line from the Council is that you’re interfering with the development plans for the planet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course I’m interfering. That’s the whole point! But,” I held up a finger in a lecturing pose. “What I’m not doing is screwing up the timetable. Putting people on aerial cities spreads the population quicker, gets people off the mats quicker, ramps up the technology quicker… A planet-full of aerial cities would be the ideal situation. Come to that, we could do the same with the floating cities. But the Council is building just enough of them for industrial and commercial purposes, with residential use not even on the priority list. They don’t want people out there on dozens of different independent cities, because there’s no way to control people in that scenario.”
“I don’t know how we managed to end up with a bunch of reactionary types in charge. It sure doesn’t go with the stereotype of laidback tropical islanders. Sharma would never have allowed this to develop.”
I sighed. “Ephemerals, Will. They die.”
“Don’t let Bill hear you say that.”
“Yeah, I know.” I got up and started to pace. “Look, bottom line, I’m not doing anything in any way illegal or immoral. It’s like Howard with his distillery. It pissed off Cranston, but it was a completely reasonable business venture.” I turned to Will. “And speaking of, aren’t you one of the guys who got Cranston deposed, because you didn’t like his policies?”
Will grinned at me. “I didn’t do it, nobody saw me, and you can’t prove it anyway.”
“Whereas I’m a little more obvious about it. But it’s the same problem: how do we keep working with a government that we believe is wrong on a basic moral level?”
“Okay, Marcus. I’ve talked to you, which is what the Council asked me to do.” Will got up and gave me a quick salute. “Just don’t get anyone killed, all right?” Without waiting for a response, he popped out.
Yeah. That’s the trick, isn’t it?
Sighing, I pulled up the latest reports. Two more cities, almost ready to launch. Kal had come up with a bunch of suggestions for the next generation design, based on feedback from early residents. And Thark was full, and in full operation.
It was all looking good. But sooner or later, the Council would decide on a strategy. I couldn’t completely suppress a feeling of dread.
Underway
Icarus
January 2232