MEEK Page 27

  “Well on the face of it, it’s a sound enough idea and is possible, but not without the co-operation of Japan and the consortium. I will do my best but the consortium may have its own agenda where Tuath is concerned,” said Mark.

  “That’s why I want a unified approach. This has to run smoothly. I don’t want them getting pissed off, taking their bat and ball and going home,” said Paul.

  “How do you expect the rest of the world to react when they realise we have cornered the alien market?”

  “Badly. That’s my problem. Right now the various religious factions are hoping they don’t come back so they can say it was a big hoax. They could all turn into assassins if they do come back so security is a high priority Mark. Islam will be left to scrabble in the sand for the next twenty-five years, a lot will perish from inadequate radiation protection and of course hunger. I can’t see any Western or Far Eastern country sending aid. Militarily they are no threat, thanks largely to the array. We of course will be number one target for their extremists and I do not expect that to change ever. I intend restricting movement of our citizens overseas and visitors will only be allowed from our alliances. Europe will bounce back quickly and we may need to do some fast negotiating with them in a couple of years. The United States will be close behind. The consortium will have the array rearmed in another two weeks. That will make me personally feel a lot more secure.”

  “Where do you want me to start?” asked Mark.

  “The Consortium firstly and through them, Japan. We also need to make sure there are always some of our people on the Mars colony. It is thriving and I want all research and development shared fairly. Emphasize to them I am not in the business of ripping my friends off but there are to be no secrets, we still need each other even though the war is over.”

  Later down the pub Mark was expressing his desire for some peace and quiet and how he envied Barry his life on the property. “Look mate, why not get yourself a real home? Buy a place near me. You have a year to wait through, why not get a head start on your future? Buy some land, build a house for you and Jade. You will feel closer to her doing that.” The idea was very seductive

  “Yes, it sounds a nice normal thing to do Baz. There is no reason for the government to insist we live on the reservation, is there?”

  “No, she would be secure enough with us around all the time. Barbara would love it. They can do girls’ stuff together.”

  Mark looked a bit uncomfortable. “You do realise what Jade is don’t you, Baz? You and I know they are not true aliens, but in lots of ways they might as well be. The age thing can be very confusing. There was a crew member, the second in command, Moss was his name, he took great pains to work out and keep himself in shape; the result was he looked late thirties. Biologically he was forty-six chronologically he was eighty. Can you imagine negotiating with a man looking sixty-seven who has 130 years of experience to draw from? Then there is their society, education and family systems, Jade told me they are not comparable to ours.”

  “Are you having doubts about this relationship Mark.? Because I’m afraid it is of national significance.”

  “Oh no, It’s not like that. I suppose I’m just in shock that she loves me the way she obviously does. I feel old and clumsy sometimes, even ignorant around them.”

  Barry smiled kindly at his friend. “Mate, Barbara and I came to the conclusion it would take a miracle for someone to come into your life after Toni. As you know we are agnostics, but we are happy to be swayed. Learn to go with the flow on this one. Don’t stress it, eh?”

  “Look Baz you are right, I’m out of the financial shit now and the money is coming in faster than I can possibly spend it. A few hectares out your way would be fun, look around for me and give me a call if you find anything tranquil with a creek. Just a bush block would be fine.”

  “Sure will, now let’s drink just a bit too much. You are heading north to the consortium facility and I doubt if our paths will cross until you get back to Canberra.”

  “Yes, Paul wants a very detailed report on them . I think it will take me a month at least. What is the relationship between them and us really like, Baz?”

  “Excellent. It is just that Paul is nervous they will outstrip us technologically and we will become the poor partner. Our limited population makes him nervous. We are certainly vulnerable. You have to remember Paul was bred to do this, he will never step down until he sees Oz in a firm position on the world stage.”

  “I like Paul even though I recognise he can be totally ruthless and he may have invented the saying the end justifies the means. He seems so absorbed in his office that I sometimes feel sorry for him.”

  Barry smiled. “It is the loneliness of the true leader, Mark. He is a true leader of his people first, a politician second. As for his personal life, well, I’m not sure he has one.”

  Mark headed north in the morning in an ex-military four-wheel drive that Barry informed him was a gift from the PM. He wouldn’t be going through any old conflict areas until he reached the facility. The landscape was almost devoid of humanity and as he drove on his thoughts were a mixture of past events and future possibilities. He only stopped for fuel and sunset found him crossing the border from New South Wales into the Northern Territory. He decided to camp and sleep under the stars that night and found a good spot near a shallow flowing creek. The day had been hot but he prepared a sleeping bag as it could possibly be needed by midnight. Mark fell asleep with the thought that the stars were smiling on him and they would send Jade back to him in less than a year. He awoke to the sound of a kookaburra and had cooked an unhealthy breakfast of bacon, eggs and beans. This was done over an open fire with the eucalyptus wood smoke enhancing the taste. He boiled up his tea in a billy can and put two fresh eucalyptus leaves in it and, when boiled, swung it on a short wire around his head. This was supposed to oxygenate the brew while infusing the eucalyptus into the taste. It was something he had learned from his father in Queensland as a boy. The simplicity of life had been lost to him for so long and now he was rediscovering an old self that he had forgotten. He made a promise to himself to keep his life uncomplicated and find time to smell the flowers in the future.

  The facility was just outside the contaminated zone and the staff constantly monitored the drift of the radioactive dust. The ecology was dry land, savannah that was prone to widespread flooding in the height of the Wet season or when a cyclone hit the coast to the north. The red launching gantry stood out against the pale blue sky and the thought of a warm shower entered into Mark’s mind. At the security fence he presented his credentials to the heavily armed guards. They were relaxed and pleased to have someone new to talk to. There were no security threats any more. The facility was twice the size it had been on his last visit and was rapidly approaching the size of a large town. Just inside the perimeter fence was a large dam fed by a permanent creek. Shade houses for vegetables had been erected and aboriginal refugees from areas to the north had been allowed to build timber houses and given work as market gardeners. Mark stopped and talked to them. They told him that the past few years had been disastrous for them. Before the War some had converted to Islam, having believed their lives would improve under the new rulers when they came. The result was disunity and atrocities among the tribes ending in the nuclear attacks that left them landless and starving. They were grateful to the consortium for the chance to live in peace and receive medical assistance. They wanted to know when the government was going to help them. Mark truthfully replied that it would take two or three years before any aid got this far north. He urged them to stay where they were as most small communities did not exist anymore and there was nothing in the cities for them. People had been going to the bigger cities in search of basic amenities on the mistaken belief that the government had reintroduced a welfare system, which it had no intention of doing.Paul had a long held belief that the old social security system had helped weaken the nation. He was looking for alternatives.

  Kana
and Richard were there to meet and greet him. They were genuinely pleased to see him and anxious to hear of his adventures. They were also excited about their own projects and said they hoped he would spare some time reviewing them as they valued an objective opinion and the possible attitude of the Australian government. Mark realised this was going to be an easy assignment as the level of co-operation was even better than he had hoped for. Mark had free rein to wander around as he pleased. It was apparent that the consortium saw this place as a permanent facility, the planning was long term with self-sufficiency at the core of their thinking. Mark realised the relationship between Richard and Kana was no longer just professional. Kana was ten years older than Richard and liked to look after him in a very protective way that Mark would have found annoying. Richard apparently enjoyed it though. Mark worked on his report for the Prime Minister but also found time to draw up plans for his and hopefully Jade’s new home. He missed her very much, the holo around his neck was being well used. Barry had made an offer on a fifty-hectare block of land just ten minutes from his own place. Mark told him to go ahead and clear a flat site for him with a good view.

  Seven weeks had passed and the basic report was finished. Over dinner the conversation turned to Mars. “Our next launch will be in sixteen days Mark. Will you be here for it?” asked Richard.

  “Oh yes, I’m just a kid when it comes to a rocket launch.” Kana shifted in her chair and took a visible breath. “Mark, I read your request for three of your people to be included on this next voyage. We have no problem with this except they have to be useful. We have no need of security people. Do you understand that your people looking over the shoulders of the colonists would create a tension we cannot allow? We have therefore come up with a proposition for your PM. You supply us with a surgeon, a dentist and a nurse. From now on we will rely on you to send for training that level of personnel at your expense. It will demonstrate to our bosses on the board that you are willing to make practical contributions that incidentally will help our bottom line. If you can agree to this then they need to arrive here in the next three days.”

  Mark knew next to nothing about the Consortium board apart from the fact it was international in nature. He had come to see Richard and Kana as the face of the Consortium, but although they had a lot of influence, they were still only employees. They probably had good stock options and retirement benefits.

  “I will contact the PM immediately,” said Mark, and hurried off to the communications room where he had a private coded line. Mark returned after ten minutes to inform them it was acceptable and the personnel would arrive in twenty-four hours. Mark knew of course they would be army trained and would be volunteers. They would receive their instructions from ASIO before arrival.

  “Good, we realise you wish to keep an eye on our operation Mark. We have nothing to hide so it is better we have this on a formal footing. We do, however, expect you to be honest in all your dealings with us in return,” said Kana.

  “Including any future developments with the Tuathans,” added Richard. Mark guessed this was going to be the case and was prepared to tell a half-lie knowing they would be expecting him to do so.

  “You will be updated constantly over developments with the Tuathans.”

  “What we are really concerned with, Mark – let me be frank here – is the sharing of off-world technology. Are we in the loop or not?” said Richard.

  “So far there has been no sharing of technology. They are opposed to interfering with our natural development. This holo-projector around my neck is the only thing we have received from them. I doubt they even would approve of that. It was a personal gift from a lady.”

  “So you are saying there will be no technological advancements, no transfer of knowledge?”

  “Precisely.”

  Richard looked perplexed. “You are giving them a huge tract of land and asking for nothing in return, when you are desperate for aid? Forgive me if that sounds a bit strange.”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that. What you have just been told is secret, not that we expect anyone to believe it anyway. You see the mere fact that they are settled on our shore receiving our protection will indicate to outsiders we have some form of an alliance. We can and will, publicly, deny it, and of course it will not be believed.”

  “So they are a psychological deterrent only?” interjected Kana.

  “Yes Kana, that’s it. We still have the array. We have a stake in Mars. Hopefully we will soon have a nonexistent alliance with a superior race. We look strong even though we will be struggling to reconstruct for the next three years while our neighbours in the northern hemisphere do not have burnt-out cities to contend with.”

  “Is there any chance they may change their attitude to us?” asked Richard.

  “Very unlikely. What I am about to divulge is for your ears only so that you can understand why they are adamant about not giving us an advantage and also explains why they may take our offer of land and protection. I have reason to believe that they are not an alien species but evolved on Earth. That they were persecuted and abused here in our distant past but technologically outstripped us and eventually left us here, wallowing in our ignorance. They came back to visit this last time fully expecting to find us either extinct or playing with sticks and stones. I believe they still have an emotional racial attachment to Earth and at some level accept it as the ancestral home they were deprived of.” Mark paused letting it all sink in. Richard was the first to speak “What evidence do you have of this?”

  “Genetic sampling and a refusal to deny the hypothesis. Their language is a slight corruption of Old Irish. Also their own admission that they still regard us as heading for extinction. They refer to us as “the Natives”. The projector on Mars was designed to transmit information about us. We have been studied for centuries. Perhaps they hoped to salvage the real estate once we had trashed it, I can’t be sure. They are very happy with the planet they now inhabit and I was told that many Tuathans feel that there is no point in visiting this planet, that it should be forgotten like a bad dream.”

  “They were unwilling to discuss their history with you?” asked Kana who was pouring herself a whisky.

  “Very reluctant. I got the feeling it was so painful that it would cause them distress to discuss it.”

  “So they arrive here, get caught up in our bullshit, one of them gets stabbed. They sit out there watching us nuke and burn each other. Holy shit, Mark. What are they going to say when they get home?” Richard was pacing the floor now. “Shit, I mean what’s to stop them ordering our permanent eradication and sending an interplanetary pest-extermination team in?”

  “The answer to that is ethics. They do not commit murder. All war is murder, each individual is responsible for the murder and suffers constant unrelenting emotional and psychological anguish. They would literally lose their sanity if they killed someone. Consequently they are pacifists and as such are vulnerable to what they see as our primitive bestiality.”

  “Oh boy, Mark. I think Kana and I need a few of these whiskies. Please tell us all you know. I think I can speak for Kana when I say we are not about to share this with anyone. The implications are just too frightening. The consortium is committed to aggressive space exploration. It will need us to steer the programmes away from pursuing the Tuathans in the hope of some cheap technology.”

  “I know, that is why I am divulging this information to you. I need you to help me protect them.”

  “Mark, how much have you told the Prime Minister?” asked Kana.

  “He understands all of this but has no interest in the real ramifications. He is looking for political advantage to buy time to save his country and will kill anyone who tries to stop him.”

  “Are the Tuathans posing any form of threat to us, such as diseases?”

  “No, they have genetically modified themselves to be disease-free. They only die of old age or by accident. They can live to be close to 200 years old. As a result time
spent in space travel is not such an expenditure of lifespan as it is to us. This is important as their starships do not exceed the speed of light. As for the Portal, they use to get here; it is apparently a space/time device that they say is incredibly heavy on energy usage and therefore limited in its application.” Mark was wondering if he should really be divulging all this information, but he wanted Richard and Kana’s input. They might even be able to do some research independently. “The disc ships, as they call them, employ molecular concentration fields to form a shield around the ships. They are trying to improve it as it is very limited in the size and ability. Their research into molecular manipulation has resulted in the transportation projector which has a range of up to five kilometres and operates on line of sight only. There is also some basic replicator technology mainly used for producing small spare parts.”

  “The Portal is a very advanced technology,” said Richard with a thoughtful expression on his face. “It allows them access to the stars and as such makes them capable of acquiring knowledge we can only dream about.” Richard looked carefully at Mark, seeking a response. When he did not get one he continued. “It is fair to assume they have explored other solar systems in our galaxy don’t you think, Mark?”

  “I try not to assume anything, Richard. They never indicated to me that they were colonising or exploring anywhere. That means nothing however as they only divulged what they needed to and I did not press them.”

  “What do they believe in? Do they have a concept of God?” asked Kana.

  Mark laughed. “Here comes the big one. They regard ‘God’ as described in the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic traditions as a form of insanity. They are evolutionist to the extreme. You have to remember they probably would not have survived as a race if they had not interfered with their own evolution. There is no religious tradition in their culture. Religion is evil to them. They do however have a reverence for many other aspects of life. Life itself is the number one object of their reverence. When asked if they believed in life after death the answer was they had no proof either way. The concept of a creator again has little interest except at the academic institutions. The purpose of life and existence? They say it is to evolve into a higher state of ethical consciousness and the fact that they are aware of their potential means they are obliged by the laws of nature to pursue it.”