Ice Planet Page 17

  “So our ancestral story is true?”

  “Totally true, Aria. It accords with every other verified story of the origin of Humanity that has been recorded. I told you about Jarl’s sister, Benia, because it is clear that she and your team will want to meet. In addition to that, Tressin and Mian have expressed a strong interest in recruiting you and your team to the university’s research and teaching staff. Of course, we would all like to have you join our research efforts generally. Jarl and Hera are the Trade Ambassadors for the Universal Community. They ensure that the trade opportunities between member planets are optimized for the benefit of all. Because of that, they are very interested to meet with representatives of potential new members of the Community as soon as possible.”

  “Without wishing to be negative, Sorpe, don’t you think that this discussion is a little premature? We have only just begun to organize a democracy on our planet.”

  “The discussion is early, but we believe that we can assist your efforts. It is our experience that the ordinary people of a planet need a little prodding to realize where their best benefit lies. No matter how bad their present situation may be, they often prefer the certainty of it rather than taking a leap into an unknown future. That makes it very hard to convince them that they should choose the logical path that you offer. In most cases, we have found that a practical demonstration of that better option is worth many thousands of words to convince them. We can offer that practical demonstration.”

  “I suggest that we show you, rather than simply telling you about it, Aria. I would like you to come with us to visit the Council of the Universal Community to talk briefly about the Community, and then we can give you a quick tour of some of the planets, so that you can decide what to show your people. Once you’ve decided how to handle it, we can put a team onto working with you and your people to get the best results.” Geoffrey paused. “We won’t demand that you join the Community, but I think that we can show you, and all your people, that it would be in your best interests to do so. If we can come to an agreement on that basis, we all win. You may bring any of your group with you.”

  “I'd like to go, but I'd like Petros to come. Also my father and Grea. I’m sure that they would all be interested, and they’ll all have something to offer.”

  “That’s no problem, Cora. Aria, may I assume that you and Savi will come with us?”

  “Of course, Sorpe. When can we go?”

  “I suggest that you call the others, and we can go right now. I’ll arrange to have someone watch the proceedings here, so that we can get you all back in time to join in the discussion if there is a need.”

  Cora slipped out to fetch Petros, Phelan and Grea. She notified Solon that they would be away for an hour ‘organizing something’, and walked with the three backstage, where she found that Mian and Tressin were waiting at a device that resembled the beautiful skeleton of an elegant cabinet. They walked into the structure three at a time, seeing the force field come up and drop, and found that they were in a pleasant living room with an extensive view over a long valley filled with green trees. A reserved-looking man came up to them and introduced himself.

  “Hello, I’m Jirgt of Enderen. Welcome to my home.”

  The simple words set the tone for the meeting on the porch outside the room. Jirgt’s wife and daughter served a refreshing tea while the other members of the Council introduced themselves. They sat in the comfortable chairs and chatted, each person asking an interested question, or providing information.

  “We’ve been well briefed on your planet,” said Scott of Earth. “I found it interesting that the problem you face is common to so many planets. It seems that strong men find problems to present to the people and offer to fix them, provided they are handed full control for their work. In most cases, they can’t fix the problems, or don’t want to, but they hang onto power and gain enormous wealth, while the population in general suffers and the economy declines. Once they’re firmly entrenched in power, it becomes extremely difficult to shake them loose.”

  “That’s a very accurate description of the situation on Kinair, Scott,” replied Phelan. “In our case the problem was the weather.”

  “Please tell us about that,” requested Jirgt politely. “Is it always so cold? That would be unusual. The ancients seem to have selected planets to settle quite scientifically, with the result that most weather problems are the result of human intervention.”

  “In the case of Kinair, we can’t really blame the ancients. The temperature variations of the planet are caused to a large extent by the gravitational effect of a twinned sun, which orbits our sun sufficiently closely for its gravitational pull to be felt by our planet. The sun’s orbit is a little eccentric, and about every seven thousand years, it comes close enough to the orbit of our planet to elongate our orbit, making it oval, rather than circular. When that happens, the temperature drops sufficiently for the snow of winter to remain on the ground for several months longer than normal, and the temperature drops, more every year, until the orbit stabilizes again, and the temperature starts rising once more. The ancients probably evaluated our planet’s climate during a warm phase, when the second sun was far away and not affecting the planet. It would have been difficult to find what effect the second sun would have without observing the planet for several thousand years.”

  “You’re going into a cold cycle again?”

  “Yes, Karin. We believe so. The scientific records have largely been lost, but what little information we have seems to confirm the theory. The temperature has dropped significantly over the past two hundred years.”

  “In the time that we transported from, the temperature was at the warmest about fifty degrees below freezing.” Aria looked at the others to ensure that they understood the temperature scale. She saw that they did. “It was the lowest temperature on record, and we doubted that anyone else would survive. Of course, they did survive, as some members of our race have always done, but the extreme cold probably remained longer than it normally would, and the loss of scientific knowledge, and probably other areas if development, was probably greater than it had been before, which accounted for the slow and less complete recovery during the following warm cycle. If we had not managed to transport into the future, it is almost certain that all knowledge of the principles of quantum science, which had survived for some fifteen thousand years by our time, would have been lost altogether.”

  “Your discovery that time travel is possible fascinates me, Aria. You must have had brilliant scientists working on the problem to make the breakthrough that you did.”

  “Aria alone was responsible for that development,” said Petros. “There can be no doubt that she is the most accomplished scientist that our world has ever produced.” The communication bracelet transferred the pride that Petros felt in his leader to the others.

  “I was the leader of a very good team,” responded Aria. “They all had a hand in our achievement. I could not have accomplished it alone.”

  “I’m sure that you are both right,” said Jeff. “I know how hard it is to make breakthroughs alone. Even the best scientist benefits from working with a good team. Would you and your team consider joining our research effort, Aria?”

  “I'd love to do so. Research is our life, and what I’ve already seen assures me that your group has reached great heights in the field of quantum science.”

  “Your fields of interest are archaeology and geology, Cora and Savi? That’s an unusual combination.”

  “It is unusual, but we both chose to study geology in addition to archaeology, partly because geology complements archaeology, which is our first love, and partly because we could foresee the time when archaeology would not be a field in which it would be possible to earn a reasonable income. As it happens, the combination of the two fields is what enabled us to be chosen to conduct the investigation of the stone structures that had been put in place by Aria and her team to attract the interest of intelligent people in the future.�
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  “We have a number of universities that are very active in both fields. They would offer the opportunity to apply your skills on several planets. We have found that working on an inter-planetary basis often yields very interesting results.”

  “You could remain in close touch with Aria and Petros at the University of Setlen,” said Sorpe. She had sensed the mixture of pleasure at being given such an opportunity and the disappointment at being separated from Aria and Petros. “The availability of particle transport between planets makes different places only a step away. Geoffrey and I work in three different universities and two research establishment when we’re not visiting other planets.”

  “We'd love to do that. We’re both lecturers in our university, and we'd love the opportunity to give our students exposure to other places and cultures.”

  “We understand that you’re an entrepreneur, Phelan?”

  “Yes. I would have loved to study physics, but that was not available to me, so I turned to business. I have built up trading businesses in food, minerals, books, vehicles and a variety of other fields. I was forced to diversify as the economy declined. As it happens, I met Grea, and through her, the rest of her team, when Cora, my daughter, asked me whether I could sell some minerals that they intended mining by particle means. Grea is a mining expert. Not only did she mine the copper and cobalt I sold on behalf of the group to fund their activities, but she also constructed, or, rather, excavated the stone structures that led Cora and Savi to find the chamber that Aria’s team had constructed to serve as the time transport target, and she also was instrumental in developing the minerals database for the planet that enabled them to find the optimal deposit to mine for those metals.”

  “Hera told me when we met you, Grea and Phelan, that she wanted to recruit you both to our efforts. Your skills could be very well applied in our work of developing inter-planetary trade.” Jarl laughed. “Hera has wonderful intuition. When she makes that sort of judgment, I’ve learned not to argue.”

  Hera smiled, a happy smile that highlighted her beautiful eyes.

  “What Jarl means is that we'd like to chat with both of you about joining our team. We need all the skills we can get, and yours are particularly relevant. I’m sure that at least a couple of the universities would like you to work with them as well. We encourage that, because one of the success bases of the Universal Community is that we help each other wherever we can. That way, we can grow our prosperity together.”

  “We'd be delighted to join you,” replied Grea with a wide smile. Phelan’s smile confirmed his agreement.

  “As I understand the situation, you seem to be getting your government situation under control, although I’m sure that those in power will not simply roll over and die. However, that doesn’t resolve the weather problem, does it?”

  “It doesn’t, Suzy. However, Cora has worked out a method that may improve the situation. She believes that a controlled nuclear fission deep in the core of the planet will generate enough heat to make the planet livable. Grea’s mining capabilities and the minerals database could make that a real possibility. I agree with Cora’s proposal, but there are two negatives to it. The first is that it is untried technology, and that always carries risk, and the second is that we will need the consent of the entire population of the planet. It is their planet, after all!”

  “I like the idea,” responded Jeff, “and I believe that we can resolve the two problems fairly easily, simply by resettling the population on another planet for the time it will take to do the job, or even permanently, if they choose that. After all, with the availability of the transporters, it really doesn’t make much difference where you live. I’ve seen the planet from space, and I can understand why people would want to live there. It’s a beautiful place. If the theory works, the people will be able to return to their home planet and live a comfortable life. If it doesn’t, the people will not have lost much anyway. They can’t want to live on a planet where the average temperature is fifty degrees below freezing! The advantage of a successful experiment is that we could then apply the same technology to other planets where the temperature is a little below comfortable and where there’s a good reason for humans to want to be there. I think that you have a job for life, Cora and Grea.”

  “I wanted to ask a couple of questions about membership of the Universal Community, if I may. It seems to me that membership is desirable, particularly for a planet such as ours, with large and difficult problems. We have a difficult climate, and we have a dictatorial government. Do we need to resolve the question of democracy before we can go into discussions on membership?”

  “Not at all, Savi. We can discuss the matter in principle right now, provided that we can obtain the agreement of your democratically-elected government before we come to a final conclusion on the planet’s admission to the Universal Community. We need to know that the majority of the citizens on your planet want to become members, and that can really only be assured by a democratically elected government. In cases such as yours, we have no objection to accepting individuals or even groups as members, perhaps even offering them the chance to resettle temporarily, until the government issue is settled, or permanently, as I expect will be the case with Kinair. In the case of your group, or even an expanded group, you can make the decision to move as soon as it suits you. I suggest that Sorpe and Geoffrey show you possible places to settle, where the move can be made very quickly.”

  “That raises the next question, Scott. What is the cost of membership? What will you expect from us?”

  “The one thing we insist on is that the citizens be involved in the operations of government, at the least by electing the people who represent them, and preferably more. We don’t want to deal with a government such as you have now. The other thing that we ask is that your citizens, in whatever way, play a role in improving the Universal Community as a whole. Our members share education and medical facilities with all the others, they sell their goods to other planets and they buy from them. To a large extent, that is assured by the free availability of the transporters and the absence of duties and restrictive conditions on trade with other planets. People will buy goods where they get what they want at a price they’re prepared to pay. If a member taxes its citizens too highly, or fails to provide the services the citizens pay for, the citizens can move to another location, where they get value for their money. There is no possibility of a government oppressing or coercing its people. They are free to move, just as goods and purchasers are free to move. Our people generally recognize the benefits of being members of the Universal Community, and they work hard to make their presence valuable to the Community. Apart from that, there are no conditions. We merely ask you to behave as any good citizen would.”

  Savi blinked in surprise. He had expected that the conditions would be onerous, that they would have to work their way into membership. Now he realized that the rules of membership made good sense. He had seen in his own planet that rules are inducements to evade them. If the requirements are set low enough, people have no need to find elaborate ways to cheat the rules and, instead, concentrate their efforts on achieving the best result. They would be able to apply their total effort to achieving an economic result, rather than to circumventing rules that had no obvious benefit to the public. He had no hesitation in coming to a conclusion.

  “I would like to submit my application to become a private member of the Community.”

  “You and your group have already been accepted, Savi. We’ve seen what sort of people you are. The only thing that is needed now is that you evaluate the proposals that have been made to you, and then decide where you want to live, and when you can come.” Jirgt smiled at the grins of glee on the faces of the newcomers. He knew that they would be a valuable addition to the Universal Community.

  Chapter 18

  Geoffrey and Sorpe transported with the group to their base in Montagu, a picturesque village tucked into a green valley at the junction of two mount
ain ranges. They arrived in an office building in the town, and walked the short distance to the house that Geoffrey and Sorpe used as an office, as well as to live in when they returned late at night from another time zone.

  “We work on about ten planets and in numerous different time zones,” explained Sorpe. “This place gives us a comfortable place to stay when we’re not on our farm about twenty kilometers from town, and it has all the facilities that the town offers to people from other planets. It is conveniently close to the transporter office, and most people we work with know that we can often be found here. Many of the members of our teams also live in Montagu. Because we often work from here, we have the equipment we need to do a particle tour of all the planets. That will give you an overview of the Community planets. If you want to visit a particular place in person, we can transport there. During the viewing tour, you can make contact with anyone you see through the communicator bracelets, although they won’t be able to see us. If you do make such contact, the conversation will be audible to all of us. If you want to see anything other than what we show, simply request that we go there. The only limitation is that we respect the privacy of people. Now please sit comfortably. The sensations will be very real, and we don’t want you to fall out of your chair. Close your eyes, and Geoffrey will link you to the viewing device.”