Authors: Richard Gohl
The Galaxy
THEY CALLED A meeting: Wez, Claire, Bes, Madi, and Alia—and by now everyone knew there was another person, Mark, who might be sitting in. When everyone was seated, it was Madi who addressed the elephant in the room.
“Nobody knows him, nobody knows where he’s from, he’s new to the area and”—she said, over-applying the sarcasm—“he’s a lovely, lovely man… who just might happen to be a Napean spy. C’mon, guys, there are people I consider family who I wouldn’t talk to about what we do. I know we all get bored with our little group but it’s insane inviting him.”
“It’s inconsistent with our usual policy,” Claire pointed out.
“Well, he is genuine,” said Wez. “We actually approached him—but he wasn’t keen to talk to us at all.”
“So that makes it all okay?” If it could be seen as strength, Madi’s forte was her belief that everyone was out to get you and that no one should be trusted.
Bes usually had an opinion. With a strained look she said, “I don’t like it—it’s been the famous five now for years and that’s how it should stay. Unless… is he good-looking?”
“No,” said Alia.
“Well, that settles it,” said Madi. “No Mark.”
“I’ve already told him he could sit in on the meeting,” said Wez.
“Well, you’ll just have to untell him.” said Madi. No one spoke to back her up but she didn’t need it. “It’s a female thing anyway,” said Madi. Wez rolled his eyes. And she said with a wry smile, “You’re basically female, Wesley”
“Gee, thanks.”
“It’s a compliment,” said Bes
“I know,” said Wez, getting from his chair. “He’s waiting. I’d better let him know so we can get started.”
“Thank you, Wez,” said Madi.
“Yeah, yeah…” Wez left the room.
“He’s basically a good boy,” said Madi.
“Don’t talk about him like that,” said Claire. Injustice, big or small, was Claire’s call to intervention. Her friends were frequently in need of moral management.
Alia agreed, “Yeah, don’t push it—you were correct, but don’t rub it in.”
Madi’s eyebrows were raised as if to say, “What’s so bad about creating drama and aggravating people?”
When Wez returned Alia began:
“Okay, these seem to be the main points. Thanks to Ryan.” As Ryan was asleep in bed, everyone smiled at Madi, who nodded slowly, happy to take the compliment.
Alia continued, “I’ve tried to summarize everything from the recording and notes taken of Ryan’s three trips into the network. Ryan went in again yesterday—with just Madi and I. Again, there was so much information there—overwhelming—you don’t know what you don’t need to know, if you follow me. We still didn’t find anything on our children but we did find out a whole lot more. In short, it seems
some
of the Napeans, at least, are leaving.”
A shockwave rippled through the group and Alia continued.
“There are eight new planets with life. There may be more, but as far as we could tell, that’s all. The life forms seem to include, on a hot planet, primitive forms of algae, yet other planets have more complex plant life forms and oxygen-rich and temperate conditions.”
Alia continued scanning her notes. “A further twenty planets had no evidence of life, yet seem perfect for colonization- and a number of these were found over fifty years ago, which begs the question: why the big secret? It seems the Service are obsessed with secrecy—like a compulsive group delusion… anyway, it seems they have delayed announcing discoveries because they keep finding other planets with valuable and rare resources.”
“So,” said Claire, “they maintain secrecy on this because they want to maintain the Telesync system for as long as possible to locate as much wealth and resources as possible.”
“Yes,” agreed Wez, “if Napeans knew the planets were there waiting, surely they’d demand to go.”
“Exactly,” said Alia. “Except for a number of little problems: it appears that Service officials internationally do not have room on space ships to accommodate all Napeans. There is room to transport about one third of them.”
“Wow! That’s big news!” said Bes.
“I’d be keeping it a secret too!” said Madi.
“… And the stakes get higher,” said Alia. “We stumbled across the international Service forum. Listen! There is a time limit to all this. The sun is due for another explosion in three months. As scientists are not sure of exactly when—that is, which day—it is impossible to say which side of the planet will be in the firing line. They… we… need to leave before this happens—unless we can survive under here. There are maybe one hundred spaceships docked in orbit over the main Napean centers around the world. However, there is nowhere near enough room to take everyone.”
“They certainly like their secrets. That’s quite a conspiracy!” said Claire.
“Let’s just say,” said Alia, “that it’s probably the biggest scam since the idea of ‘heaven’…”
“What’s heaven?” asked Bes.
“Happy place up in the sky,” clarified Madi. “You go there when you’re dead as a reward for being good.”
“And people believed that?” asked Bes.
“Well, a long time ago—it was an ancient idea that there was a kingdom…”
“What if people were bad?” asked Bes.
“Anyway!” said Alia.
“Sorry!” said Madi and Bes.
Alia continued: “We also found that contrary to what Napeans apparently think, transition back to a ‘real’ lifestyle after Napean living has never been achieved. Most Napeans went into it thinking they would eventually return to their old selves. If they found out it’s no longer possible, it could cause... unrest.”
“But they’d never protest about anything! They wouldn’t care!” said Madi. “You never hear a Napean saying ‘I’d love to be real again!’”
“Yeah,” said Bes, “you would think that they had never been like us.”
“They hate us,” said Madi.
Claire agreed: “I really don’t think any of them would be upset to find out that they can never be real again.”
“Maybe,” said Alia. “But the point is: none of them know they can’t go back.” No one seemed to react much to the news. “Oh, okay,” said Alia. “I thought that was important… moving on…”
“Wow, you guys were busy,” said Wez.
“Well,” said Alia, “the third time we accessed the network we found lots of information, not just data. It showed just how isolated we’ve been for so long. Genuine News from other Napean states is an exception. But we know there are thirteen other Napean cities across East Asia, North and South America. Laos, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Santiago… there was one in Mexico I couldn’t pronounce, and Bogota…”
“That’s twelve,” said Madi. “Where was the other one? Mongolia, wasn’t it?”
“Oh!” said Alia, stumped. She looked back through her notes. “Er… Ulan Batar.”
“Where?” asked Bes.
“It’s in North-central Asia. A lot of people from what used to be Russia moved down there,” said Claire.
Alia continued. “Each city has a space station a few hundred kilometers above it with a fleet of ships. As to how many ships or how many people each ship can hold, we don’t know, but what was fairly obvious, by the cryptic nature of the information, was that each ship was going to fall well short of carrying the intended number of people from each city. It begs the question: who decides which passengers are going?”
“And,” put in Wez, “why haven’t Napeans taken action against any of this?”
“It seems they don’t know,” said Alia.
“Or do they just not care?” asked Claire.
“Like I said, they wouldn’t give a shit either way,” said Madi. “They’ve got everything they want. Why would they?” said Bes.
“So they should get what they deserve,” said Madi. “To be well and truly fucked over by their own stupidity!”
“Well,” said Bes, “it’s not our problem.”
Frustration was showing on Alia’s face. “I’m not saying it’s our job to rescue them—but we’re connected to them. They live just up here—on top of us. What they do directly affects us. They steal our children!”
“And how many of our people have been taken over the years?” said Claire.
“Some of our ancestors chose to become Napean and others didn’t. They pretend they don’t need anything from us, yet they’ve been using us for a hundred years. Up ‘til now, we’ve been focused on one thing: survival, but now we know that that may not be possible unless we too leave the planet—and right now, we can’t do that. Only they can.”
“So what do you think we should do?” asked Bes. “It’s payback time,” said Alia.
“Finally,” said Madi. “Speaking some sense!”
“I don’t mean that metaphorically—hitting them...”
“Oh,” said Madi disappointed.
“I mean
literally
; we need to be paid back for what is owed to us. We’ve slaved for them, borne children for them… rumor has it that Intelava which is run by the Service have been behind lots of abductions. 175 people went missing from across the Lofty Mountain region in 2182. They were gassed and woke up on the moon—or god knows where. Haven’t you wondered who does all their mining? They certainly don’t.”
“Really?” said Claire.
“I have heard that,” said Madi.
Alia continued: “We need to find who runs the Service. Business seems to be conducted from space. I mean, who are these people to think that they rule from on high?”
There was a general hubbub of outrage.
“I think we should demand children be brought forward and returned to the Real world or we will release all Telesync information and shut down their cities.”
“We can do that?” asked Bes. Alia sat down.
“Wow,” said Wez. “What’s gotten into you?”
Real Education
IN COMPARISON TO Real children, Ryan was well educated but Madi and the others decided it was for the best that he start attending a Real school where he might pick up some social skills. Children only attended two days a week as most spent the rest of their time in agriculture. Claire was a teacher at the Stirling transdome.
Each of the seven gates around Napea had between three and six transdomes and it was underneath, at the edges of these that classes took place. The class consisted of about 40 students varying in age from about 11 to 15. Teachers did not have specific subject areas but elected to do lessons on particular topics throughout the year.
“Today’s lesson is on the topic of Napean biology and we’re very lucky today to have, as I think you all know, a young Napean with us, Ryan Wing, welcome Ryan.” Many of the Real students turned slowly to give Ryan a stare. Yes it was true they all knew who he was but the adults had underestimated the level of animosity the children would feel towards him, believing their curiosity would over-ride their contempt. They were wrong. Claire decided to ignore the tension; her exhibit ‘A’ was going to be the centerpiece of a very stimulating lesson.
She continued: “We should all remember that Ryan had no choice in becoming a Napean. He was only a baby when he was taken to the surface and given the Nano Enzyme Therapy. Ryan has only just been reunited with his mother and we are very lucky to be able to meet him today.”
“How have you been finding it down here,” asked Claire rather awkwardly. “It’s been good; I’ve met lots of new people. Before, I never got to meet anyone.” ‘Had you ever met another child Ryan when you came down here?”
“No.”
The other children who hadn’t yet been staring at Ryan also turned and stared at him. Unaccustomed as he was to human company, he began to feel a distinct chill as all the faces turned coldly towards him.
“Is it true Ryan that you are becoming a Napean?” asked Claire. “Yes it’s true.”
“And what does this mean for you now?” Ryan felt she was asking him in a caring way. He thought his new teacher was lovely. He didn’t like what he felt from the students.
“It means I never have to eat. It means I won’t get sick. It means I’ll live a lot longer than any of you.” Gasps and sounds of disapproval carried very clearly across the dome. A young teenage student raised her hand. Claire responded, “Yes Donna?”
“Miss, why do they all look the same?”
“We’ll get to that later. But right now we’re going to look at some of the history and science behind N.E.T.—and Ryan stop me at any point to correct me. OK?” she smiled softly at Ryan and he nodded.
Claire turned on a machine that projected huge words onto a screen at the edge of the dome. “
N.E.T
.: Nano Enzyme Therapy.”
Claire spoke to the class. “N.E.T. was in trial mode before the holocaust. Does anyone know what caused the holocaust?
“The Napeans?” said Dieter, one of the more attention-seeking boys. There was a burst of sniggers as many turned to look at Ryan’s reaction to the slur.
“No,” said Claire, unfazed. “The sun burnt a hole through the planet’s atmosphere, killing many and making living on the surface, and of course food production, impossible. N.E.T. replaced their need for food. The body was fooled into thinking it was receiving nutrition—meaning that eating was no longer necessary.” Claire paused and looked around the room.
She continued. “Life was also extended by N.E.T. cellular decay. Viruses and disease became things of the past.” She paused again, letting it all sink in, and then posed the question:
“Is it true that all Napeans look the same? Dieter?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Incorrect. You must have only ever looked at the males, Dieter, because women are different.” More sniggers. Claire knew the joke would quiet him down for a while. She continued.
“When NET was trialed at the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists understood the specific needs of each part of the body thoroughly and completely, right down to a cellular level—but the minute differences between each person were so huge that they could only develop therapy for one human body.” Claire saw a hand raised.
A girl sitting in the third row asked, “Whose body did they use—and is he still alive?”
“Good questions, Davina. The first I can answer: the Napean man on whom all others were built was a thin, six-foot, twenty-year-old computer programmer from Shanghai. As to whether he is alive today, I don’t know.”
A ripple of whispers went around the class. Davina also asked: “And who was the female?”
Claire read from her notes: “The female cells were taken from an average-sized twenty-seven-year-old doctor, originally from Tel Aviv.” Again, this information caused a degree of excitement across the open space.
“Where’s Tel Aviv?” Again it was the boy, Dieter. Everyone laughed. Even Ryan smiled. Dieter quite enjoyed the attention of being the fool.
“Not such a silly question, Dieter, considering it doesn’t exist anymore.” The boy looked from side to side, nodding his head receiving imaginary accolades.
“Tel Aviv was the capital city of Israel, wiped out in the CME some two hundred and seventy years ago.”
“Miss?” asked Dieter.
“Yes.”
“Will Ryan turn into a Chinaman?” Many of the students laughed behind hands and some again looked around to see the Napean boy’s reaction.
“Racist words like that are a thing of the past. We live in a post-apocalyptic mélange of different peoples…”
“A poster of who?” asked Dieter.
“Don’t worry too much; we haven’t done that topic yet. As I was saying, genetically, Ryan’s genes stay the same but will be masked by those of an Asian male, yes. Of course, all humans have almost exactly the same genes anyway….” The teacher moved through the class and stood behind them before continuing.
“I’ll wait until there’s silence. Thank you. So to conclude, these were the original two people from which all other Napeans were created. There was nothing special about them other than that they were both extremely healthy, intelligent, physically fit people who happened to be available at the time.” The students gazed at the images of the Napean male and female.
“So N.E.T. was only developed to treat two people. To take the therapy you had to become one of those two people—to fit the treatment. Get out your pencil and write down these final concepts, please:
1. Over time as trojan lattice DNA invaded each cell nucleus, covering the real nucleus, people turned into the clone male or female. N.E.T. allowed the body to operate using the cloned cells and the nano-enzymes. To answer your question, Donna, a process called pluripotent stem cell fusion covered peoples’ genetic differences. Entire enzyme renewal treatment for these cloned cells was readily available because embryo cloning had become widely practiced.
2. Nano cells then delivered unipotent stem cell enzymes to the many and various locations in the body, creating organs that appeared to stay locked in one developmental phase. That’s why everybody looks the same and stays the same!
For instance, geneticists could see the DNA plan for a liver and make one. Once they had done this, they could supply that particular liver with a constant supply of enzymes to keep it in a state of regrowth, renewal, similar to what ordinary cells do but without the inbuilt decay.
To keep a body supplied with enzyme, nano cells swim around in the ‘blood’ and deliver the appropriate chemical to the desired site. What we don’t know is the level to which, each month, plasma is cleaned and new nano-enzyme therapy cells are infused.
Ryan put up his hand. “Ryan?” Claire asked.
“Our blood gets refreshed every month. It comes through Telesync.”
“Can you explain more?” asked Claire.
“My dad explained it to me. There is one cycle per month. The body works best if it goes through a period of starvation and then feeding. Over… er… thirty days, the body goes through one hunger cycle. Every thirty days the Service generates the fresh stuff.”
“Wow! Thank you, Ryan! And for you how will this happen?”
“I don’t know how well I can pick up Telesync from down here…” Davina couldn’t help herself, and blurted out, “Could you die?”
“My dad said it wasn’t known for sure what would happen if a Napean tried to become real again. I can eat small amounts, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”
Again the children of the class seemed to find a lot to say about this. They began busily chatting to each other.
Claire’s voice penetrated the noise: “Thank you! Thank you, everyone. Ryan, you’ve been amazing in sharing such personal information with us here today—give him a round of applause, please, everyone!” As the clapping died down, Claire added, “Tomorrow, Ryan has agreed to speak a little more about his life in Napea, how he survived, and what he hopes to achieve in the future.”
From off to the side Ryan heard a student say, “Freakshow!” He ignored it, just glad that the lesson was over, intending to cancel his “speech” tomorrow. He looked around the dome and with great relief saw that Madi waiting for him over at the roadway. No one would ever touch him with her around. As he stood to leave, Claire came up to him and said, “Today was fantastic for everyone in this room, including me. Thank you! And sorry about the rudeness of some of my students.”
Ryan smiled. “That’s okay.”
“Are you actually hungry?”
“No, I tried to eat at Ginny’s but… my throat just seems to be closed.” Madi came across. “How’s the star attraction?”
“What’s going to happen with the cell refreshment?” Claire asked the question of both of them.
“We have until next week,” said Madi.
Mark Luhrman stood on the mezzanine level of nearby bar, listening and watching…