Galileo made his second contact with Harley since being on the run. He had arrived in Seattle. Having listened to the update on the group’s breakup he was perplexed. “So what do you hope will come out of this splintering other than survival?”
“Unless we elude this modern-day Fuhrer, Tolstoy, would anything else matter? I can’t imagine that he chose his own name; it has the scent of Alexander’s black humour. The research is a long shot, but it provides the hope of which we are bereft at present. Also, don’t discount the motivation ignited by having children to care for. All I can say for now is that Douglas Newton is a man I trust, he is utterly inspired by the work of the Primedes, and what we can learn from it. Time will tell. What are your plans now?”
“I think you are wise to head for sparsely populated regions, because Tolstoy will bulldoze his programmed ideology through urban areas with blind ruthlessness. I may follow your example soon.”
Cleopatra recalled Galileo’s trust in helping her out of HQ, and offered to meet him in Seattle, and then escort him to a rendezvous point with Harley. Galileo resisted.
“I don’t want to endanger anyone else, and there will already be an intense on-going search for me. Alexander likes to make public examples of wayward citizens, none more so than traitors.”
Cleopatra responded firmly. “Be ready for my arrival within thirty-six hours. Choose a public place in Seattle and contact me then. Stay there until I arrive. Don’t look for me - I will approach you when I’m certain there’s no risk.” He acknowledged her instruction and expressed genuine appreciation.
*
Newton and Christophe Rivet had completed the DNA superimposition stage. There were some interesting differences in the detail, but one observation intrigued Newton above all others. When comparing the profile for Atlas and Albert to the generally accepted database pattern for Homo-Sapiens, after the extinction of Neanderthals, they both displayed a level of ninety-nine percent commonality. They were different from one another, and by the same quantification from the predicted norm, but in diverging directions. Newton was pestered by Christophe, to explain his fascination with this discovery.
“We had understood that the Primedes chose Atlas’ profile as the perfect specimen, but the Neanderthals didn’t survive. Albert’s closest human ancestors, by contrast, were considered as inferior but did prevail. It begs the question of whether our inability to really explain the disappearance of Neanderthals is logical. If these beings on Ganymede bet on the wrong horse at the time, with all of their knowledge, how the hell can we be expected to know why this gladiatorial struggle went against all of the prevailing logic? The Primedes seemed to lose hope after this, declaring their work as a failure. At the very least they felt that Atlas had more to offer them, and they were a highly intelligent civilisation. We have to allow maximum interaction between Atlas and Albert, and explain to Rodriguez that his ‘twins’, just like Lofty and Treetop, should spend time in separate locations at regular intervals. We don’t want a situation where progress is determined by the aptitude of the slowest individual. Do you agree?”
“When you put it that way, I can only concur.”
“Good, let’s not broaden the detail to the others for now.”
“Sure, if you think that’s important.”
Chapter 15
The Era of Conformance began with a vengeance. Human rights were to be curtailed. They had to be comparable to those of Borg domestiques, in order to change the perception of inequality. For some time humans had availed of concessions to their ‘weaker’ organic structure. Investment of Borg time in such pursuits was to be shelved, and humans had to exclusively take care of themselves. Hospitals were a perfect example, and in future they were to be run for humans by humans, there would be no free support from any Borg facility. Power and medicine production capacity would be siphoned off gradually to appropriate sublet operations, which reflected the human population level. The vacated capacity would allow Borg science to flourish instead of being continually bridled by human frailty and dependence. That the status of humans was being lowered instead of that of domestiques being raised, was simply glossed over. Research by humans was also to be subject to new approval criteria. The flawed rationale of patching up an inferior template was to be channelled to more draconian imposition of physiological transcend strategy – dictated by the High Command and executed by humans. Refusal to participate would result in imprisonment. Harmony was required and there was no opt-out clause. These two main thrusts were but the beginning, and in the coming days more implementation detail would spill down to the entire global population. There was no mention of Alexander or any change in his role, now that Tolstoy had taken a firm grip on virtually everything.
*
Douglas Newton and Christophe shared Paul Meyer’s concern that their Vancouver facility would now come under closer scrutiny, and many of their programmes would be prohibited. There was just a chance however, that genetic studies would not only survive, but be encouraged, if they were presented as falling in line with the new transcend strategy edict. They would have to consider re-housing the Ganymede imports until the impending review was done.
In the meantime Newton had set out various tests for Atlas and Albert. They fell into the two categories of independent logic puzzles and competitive games, designed to assess their creativity and reactivity respectively. The first battery was unable to differentiate between them, but in terms of chess strategy, Atlas failed to win a single game out of twenty. Newton also noted a clear difference in emotional response to implied threat on the chessboard. Atlas was less agitated than Albert when danger loomed. Newton noted this preliminary evaluation as a difference in lateral thinking. He did not, at this stage, ascribe it as an assessment of real fear, more as a ranking of competitive drive. He would move on to genuine environments of danger in due course. These initial test results were in line with the data from the DNA superimposition; anticipated rather than predicted. Christophe was privately pleased with round one of the comparison.
*
Galileo was standing close to the Space Needle when he transmitted the rendezvous to Cleopatra, and she responded with extreme brevity. “Ok.”
Finally satisfied about his isolation, she approached and sent another message, telling him to proceed to a fountain, some two hundred metres to the north. Again, she scanned the area, and eventually emerged from a system check-up booth. They didn’t speak, as she’d sent a further message for him to follow her to the waiting transport, at about thirty metres behind her.
*
Harley and Nero had acquired their vehicle just prior to the new travel laws and passed through Squamish before settling in Brackendale. It offered remoteness, and exclusively human residents. If there was danger, it would centre on the two Borgs. They checked into a modest guest house with young James hidden amongst their considerable items of luggage. Their first priority was to engage a female inhabitant to act as his primary guardian. Harley wanted this person to come from outside Brackendale to avoid suspicion that she was not related to James. It would require thorough exploration of the surrounding territory.
*
Cleopatra had also hired her vehicle early but could not avoid travelling back through heavily populated areas. She and Galileo had maximum upgrades so there was no specific worry about security units finding out what they were, but who they were was a completely different matter. They knew they would be safer on minor roads. However, they also braced themselves for the sudden need to make a run for it if suspicion became evident. Galileo was able to flesh out the consequences of the rebel surrender, which had not been broadcast. The leaders had insisted on being decommissioned, citing their failure to recognise the essential requirements of communication in any arena of conflict. Admitting the intoxication of the initial flushes of success, they had neglected to consolidate the chain of command even though the critical advantage of broadcasting had fallen into their lap. “Apparently it was a private event and t
hat has been interpreted as cowardice. I’m afraid that there will be no ashes issuing from the embers, which could allow a phoenix to rise. It would appear that the march to a one-species world is in full swing, judging by the conversion rate of our strongholds to the loyalist machine. All hope has fractured and fallen to morbid acceptance of the coming grey dawn.”
Cleopatra didn’t want to hear this. “I told you when I arrived back at HQ, of my enforced need to take immediate steps in exposing the duplicity over vaccine for the plague. Individuals must continue to see evil for what it is. Even if the theatre of war has not delivered a solution for the toxic oppression we have repeatedly suffered, we must fall back on other prosecutable options, such as insurgency. Unless we do this Galileo, we may as well just ditch the transport and hand ourselves in. I came here to help you because I trusted you. Defeatism is just not amongst the choices we have. Even at this lowest ebb, we have to continually exploit the one obvious loyalist weakness – complacency, and that will grow by the day. I urge you to begin speaking again as one of the Brotherhood, even if we’re scarcely more numerous than humans, because their history is sprinkled with parodies of David and Goliath.”
*
Christophe and Douglas Newton were made aware of the impending visit of the Borg security force by Paul Meyer. “You’d better take your boys to a safe place for a while and I’ll contact you when it’s over. I’m going to raise the subject of Tolstoy’s wish to encourage research on DNA modification, and whether we would qualify for such clearance.”
“Very well,” replied Newton, “but please do more listening than talking. They will pick up on the slightest hint that we might have something in mind already.”
They took their boys back to the logging cabin and because it was too small to continue their separation, they set them a joint exercise to evaluate each one’s ability to cooperate and lead. While this was in process, Newton suggested that he and Christophe made an attempt to list what they believed to be facts regarding the Primedes, and what had to remain as hypothesis or speculation. “I’m not saying that the theoretical stuff is without value, far from it, but we must maintain discipline in this kind of investigation.”
“Ok,” said Christophe, “let’s get started, it will help my nerves, I am uneasy about this latest inspection.”
Newton began.
“The vials do represent accurate matches to the descriptions given by the Primedes. All but one are reasonably close to what we would expect from primates of the period in question, at least in terms of appearance, other than height. There is definite evidence of cerebral modification, and other as yet unknown features. The ability to understand complex concepts is very impressive, and to then articulate this through present day language is nothing short of miraculous. There are significant differences between them. The height variation can be left for now, because the cerebral spread must be of greater consequence. None of them have aggressive tendencies, of the kind we might have expected, from any species which would have lived in a very competitive environment. This current behavioural exercise may help us assign a reason for this, which hopefully can be back related to the corresponding genome. Do you agree with me so far?”
“Yes, but you have missed out the radiation resistance. My tests have shown that even relatively high counts from their exposure to the outdoors, shows virtually no transference through the skin, which would adversely affect their metabolism. It is early days, and this may change, because there are discrete differences already. The ‘perfect’ Neanderthal, Atlas, has no external indication of any kind. Lofty and Treetop seem to show slight blemishes around their nostrils and mouth, which fade quickly. Albert would, if assessed by this parameter alone, give rise to concern, but the angry redness only lasts while he is outside. Scientifically, we should observe them for longer periods of time, perhaps in a much more remote location, and one at higher altitude and stronger sunlight, but this grates with my conscience. What is clear, if we’re sticking to facts, is that they handle short term exposure in a different way to you or me.”
“Sorry Christophe, I’m becoming so myopic with respect to the cerebral genetic element that I forgot the deliberate attempt to reinforce the dermis. Your point is well made, now what about the more speculative stuff. I think it may be worth trying to fit the meagre facts to try to explain the motive of the Primedes. There are two main thrusts which occur to me. Their inscriptions could be simply trying to tell us that eventually all stars will embark on the futile resistance to gravitational certainty. In accepting this fate they could be offering an intermediate strategy. The process will, in the early stages involve inexorable increase in radiation penetration of planets with a protective atmosphere. I wonder if that’s why we earlier jumped to the premature conclusion that the dermal reinforcement was a secondary but necessary requirement. Unless the mental capacity develops quickly enough to allow galactic travel capability, the radiation resistance would eventually have to be upgraded or it would be overcome. What is your take?”
“That makes sense, but a couple of things still really bother me. Did the Primedes just give up and go away? Or did they truly become extinct? They recorded their prodigious work as a failure. We have to remember that they chose Earth primates. That brings me to the second puzzle. If they chose Atlas as the perfect specimen, it couldn’t have been for his cerebral capacity alone. We now know – fact, that Albert is smarter. We’re missing something, and it might be related to their DNA profile and their Homeworld environment. They told us that all attempts to graft primate DNA, whether or not it was modified, on to their own, ended in failure. Did they definitely try the reverse? Albert is supposed to be from pure Primede DNA, and considered like the rest to be a failure, so there must be a reason. You said that Albert and Atlas diverged in behavioural terms by pretty much the same approximation, from the present day human range, but in opposing directions. The spread of human patterns of behaviour is already very wide, so there must be some kind of clue in the detail of those alterations. Returning to their Homeworld for a moment, we determined that they were nitrogen breathers from their inscriptions. Can we be certain that the Earth’s atmosphere was the same back then as it is now? We have means of estimating this, but a lot of it is empirical in its derivation. What if they chose Earth for the following reasons? The planet was already awash with life, it was a long way from being dragged into gravitational oblivion, and they could survive in its atmosphere. I already mentioned that Albert can function normally by having an ‘inhaler’. If the oxygen content was lower when they first came to Earth they wouldn’t have needed it.”
“You know, Christophe, you may have raised another question if you’re right about the atmosphere. If we go far enough back in time, there were periods when there was little or no oxygen present. If these Primedes were intelligent enough to predict the time of their solar system’s extinction, hundreds of thousands of years ahead of the event, was this their first visit to Earth?”
“Are you suggesting that the Primedes could have interfered with our evolution from before the appearance of Homo-Erectus? This possibility might even help to explain more about Neanderthals and Homo-Sapiens.”
“We are making leaps of logic here instead of basic extrapolation of facts, but it would make certain pieces fit together.”
Christophe’s normal personality seemed to have been invigorated by such fanciful notions. “It would certainly help me understand why Albert, an alien, looks just like us, but isn’t like us inside. Let’s see how they are all coping with the behavioural test.”
Chapter 16
Harley and Nero were shunned by the small human community of Brackendale, except the owner of the guest house. They were becoming a little frustrated when they suffered the same reaction in the surrounding hamlets, and Harley decided to take a risk. With the future of James uppermost in his mind, he helped an elderly lady with her heavy bundle of bartered provisions, and asked where she lived. The passing villagers offered only stra
nge glances, but no help. The lady thanked him and he asked if she’d like a lift to her home. She shook her head and seemed worried about the attention the conversation was creating. “Please don’t worry, we aren’t security Borg, we’re on the run from them, we were part of the rebel resistance. We’ll be moving on again soon, so it isn’t a problem for us to assist you.”
She smiled at last. “You gotta be a long way from yer home if yer running from the fascist robots, they have long tentacles. It’s a pity the plague don’t affect them. We’re lucky here; it ain’t really affected us at all. It seems to be running out of victims, so maybe we’ve seen the worst. If yer really want to give me a ride home that would be appreciated, and we ought to let ‘em think you are security officers, because they wouldn’t be able to keep their mouths shut if they were interrogated by the real filth.”
Her simple abode was perched on the side of a rise, about a mile and a half out of the village. Nero pulled up next to the door and grabbed the food parcel. The lady thanked Harley and wished them a safe onward journey. He retrieved the sleeping infant from the storage compartment and showed her James’ innocent little face. “We need to find someone to help us look after him. I’m responsible for his welfare, but I now realise I may put him in danger if we are apprehended and he is with us. Do you know of anyone who would be willing to help until we find a truly safe place to take him?”
Harley had never been hugged by a human before and it was a little disorienting when she didn’t seem to want to let go. “I doubt if you’ll find anybody round here to take on the child. Times are gettin’ hard and they won’t be gettin’ better any time soon. You can stay here for a while, at least until you find somewhere else. We’d better not let anybody know you’re here, so I won’t be wantin’ your help with my chores again. I’ll let the villagers think that I’ve been questioned and you might be coming back to check them out one at a time.”