"… and our guest, Mr. Gordon Bland, was a friend and great admirer of the Founder. Mr. Bland left Earth before the solar holocaust and has been travelling the cosmos for some time. As a consequence of time dilation, something many of you have learned in classes, his return to Earth is just a few months later, in his lifeline. So now, please give a hearty welcome to Mr. Gordon Bland."
The children all rose and began to clap vigorously. Did she say Bland? That was my character, but was that my name? I stood and went to the podium. I waited until the applause dwindled. I looked down at the front row. Susan was beside herself with muffled laughter. I raised my hand. The kids went very quiet.
"Uh...yes, Harry Clemens, Sir harry Clemens, Founder Harry Clemens. I knew him, yes. He was...he was...tall, maybe two meters or more." I heard the oohs and ahs from my audience. "Yes, definitely two meters and very handsome." More oohs and ahs. I was warming to the task. "He was always pointing. Pointing here and pointing there. Wherever he pointed, that's where people went. When he talked, people listened. He was so smart, smarter than anybody. He was tall, very tall." What else could I say? "And Harry was kind and considerate and people loved him for what he did, what he would do, what he had done." I paused, trying desperately to think of something else to say. I thought I would finish with: "He died so others may live." I had heard that phrase from one of the children.
A kid near the front raised his hand.
"Yes, son?" I said.
"I heard, today, that the Founder sold used cars."
Uh-oh. I was in trouble.
"Yes, used cars. That was before he was famous. Used cars. That's why he was so persuasive, a smooth talker, he convinced people that they were to go to the transport area. He pointed and they went."
The brat had his hand up again.
"Yes, what is it now?" I asked.
"What is a used car?"
Shit! I should sit down, stop this charade. "Ask your teachers," I said. "They will explain." Then I sat down. There was silence, then Shatoya stood up and everybody started clapping, even Susan in the front row.
"I'd like to thank Mr. Bland," Shatoya said. The kids went quiet. "I'm sure we can all see the Founder better, in our mind's eye, pointing the way to salvation."
Part 9.5
We walked back to our room, Susan clinging to my arm. I felt as tall as Harry Clemens, two meters, maybe taller.
"You were wonderful," she whispered. "I'm sure that statue of Harry, in the park, it'll be polished to a high gloss by tomorrow night. You left these people with a vivid picture of their Founder."
"I've rewritten history," I said. "Two meters tall? Handsome? Hardly."
"Rewritten history is the best history. It's what these people want, what they need, a history to make them proud."
I felt good. Maybe I could sleep like a log tonight. Another sip of rapple and I'd be out like a light.
David and Gill were walking ahead of us. I could see they were talking, but I couldn't hear a word they were saying. Susan, seeing that I was staring, said, "They're discussing the big event tomorrow."
"What big event?"
"You'll see." Susan could be so frustrating.
I walked over to David and asked about the 'big event'. He said I should ask Gill. Gill said: "You'll see." Damn it! Why was I the only person who didn't have a clue? I had learned to mind-talk to our Godship like everybody else, but now it seemed to ignore most of my questions. If I asked for a warm sweater, I got it. A pork burger? That, too, was okay. But questions? They were ignored. I was being kept in the dark. Why me?
CHAPTER TEN
Part 10.1
After a terrible night of tossing and turning and rolling to new positions to ease the pain in my back and shoulders, I fell out of bed. I looked about but saw that I was alone. I quickly changed into something presentable and rushed to the cafeteria. They weren't there. I wandered about the room and found a counter with a guy in a white outfit.
"Can I get something to eat?" I asked.
"Of course," he replied. "What would you like?"
"Uh...do you have pork burgers or fries?"
"Pork?" he said. "Isn't that from a pig? We have no animals in Aquarius and most certainly no pigs. And fries? Could you describe them?"
Before I had a chance to respond, he said: "You're the fellow who gave the talk on the Founder–am I right?"
"Uh, yes, that's me."
"You never answered that question about the used cars. What are they?"
"Years ago, many many years ago, people traveled, on the surface, in motorized vehicles called cars."
"Why did they call them 'cars'?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe it was short for 'carriage'."
"We have vehicles. They're called trams. You don't see many because mostly we just walk."
"Aah," I said. "Why do you call them 'trams'?"
He paused for a moment then asked: "Please tell me about the fries. What are they?"
"Forget the fries. I'll have a glass of rapple."
I grabbed my glass of rapple and walked to a far corner of the cafeteria. I sat and looked about the room. There weren't many people there, but one fellow kept looking at me. Then he got out of his chair and started walking in my direction. Shit! It was that asshole Lucas.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.
"No, I guess not."
He sat and grunted and ran his hand through his bushy red hair then grunted again.
"I must apologize for my foolish remarks the other day," he said. "I have little contact with people and my social competence is minimal."
He held out his hand. I guess he wanted to shake hands, so I took his hand and shook it. He smiled, a very nice smile I must say.
"No problem," I said. "I'm usually a social freak myself."
We both laughed. He wasn't such a bad guy, I guess.
"I usually say the wrong thing," Lucas said, "and regret it afterward. I rarely think of the effect the words would have."
"Welcome to the club," I said. "My worst feature–well, one of the worst–is criticizing people, even if I hardly know them."
"Yes! I do, too! Why do we do that?"
"My wife says it's because I want to drag them down to my...my cerebral level. To diminish them. To..."
"Oh, that can't be the reason," Lucas said. "I am clearly the most intelligent person in Aquarius. I absolutely know that."
Hmmm, this was the asshole talking.
"Intelligent in what way? In social rituals? In inter-personal relations? In the ability to gauge another person' desires, dreams? In knowing right from wrong, what's good and what's bad. In..."
"Okay, please stop," Lucas said, pleading. "I'm an ass."
"Again I say welcome to the asshole club. I'm the president."
Again we laughed.
"Can I ask you a question?" I said.
"Of course, anything."
"I've heard there is going to be some big event today. I seem to be the only person who hasn't a clue what it is. Do you know?"
"Yes, of course," he said. "Come with me and I'll show you what is about to happen. It is the result of my recommendation, galvanized by the arrival of the native children."
Part 10.2
Lucas took me to a rather small room that had a transparent ceiling. He pushed a button on the wall and the light dimmed. I could see the water above the dome. Pointing to the ceiling he said: "This is my private observatory and you can see that we are deep in the ocean, at about ten thousand meters. The future of our race lies in our ability to adapt to our ocean environment. Now that viable gill structures have been devised, we have to contend with the enormous pressures at this depth. My recommendations involve moving Aquarius to shallow water just off the North American tectonic plate. There, the pressure is not great and we will have complete access to our ocean milieu." Lucas hesitated for a moment then said: "And that, my friend, will happen today."
"What? This entire structure will be moved a jillion kilometers t
o the east?"
"A jillion kilometers?"
"Well, lots of kilometers."
"Nine thousand, two hundred and seventy kilometers, actually. With the help of Uruk–and, of course, the other vessels that have arrived from around the galaxy, including the one on which you and your friends arrived–we will be transported to more favorable waters. In my original report, I suggested transport to the Philippine Islands. They are much closer. However, Althea has convinced Uruk to go east. I feel that Shatoya was influenced..."
"Jesus! I think I'd better find Susan. She may be frightened at the prospect."
"Your wife? Frightened? I don't think so. Indeed, she is now in touch with your ship and your other friends are in touch with other vessels–organizing the transit."
Damn it! I'm asleep and Susan is talking to Gilgamesh. Couldn't she have awakened me? Even a punch in the side would have been okay.
"Lucas, I gotta go. Many thanks for your explanation."
"But you can stay here," he said, almost sadly. "I have many observation locations where we can watch it happen. I also have many range finding devices and video monitors and..."
"Thanks, Lucas, but I think I need to be with my wife."
I waved goodbye and left. I had this feeling that Lucas had made a friend, me, and I was perhaps his only friend. I felt sorry for the guy. He wasn't such a bad chap.
I rushed back to our bedroom. Empty. Then I ran to the cafeteria and asked the food server if he had seen my wife. He didn't know who I was talking about. I then ran to the park where Harry's statue was located. Nobody there except a few children. One young girl was sitting on a park bench. I recognized her: Althea. I sat beside her and asked if she saw my wife. She had her face in her hands, her elbows on her knees and she ignored me. I asked again. No response.
"She won't answer," somebody said.
I looked up to see Shatoya.
"She's in a trance, in conversation with Uruk. Althea won't come out of it until we are on our way."
"Is she assisting Uruk?" I asked. "Does he really need her help?"
Shatoya smiled. "No, Althea is just listening in, as it were. She will give the rest of us a commentary on the proceedings–later in the day. Tomorrow, when we arrive, she will listen in again."
"Tomorrow? That quickly? We have a jillion–over nine thousand kilometers to go. How is that possible?"
"Oh, I see. You think we are traveling along the bottom of the ocean. Not true. We will rise above the waters and fly to our new location. It's been discussed for several weeks now and the flight and our final location was established two days ago."
"Fly? Are you kidding? This huge dome can fly?"
"Not without the Godships. They are here to implement the transport."
"Shatoya, please, where is Susan, my wife?"
"I don't think you'll want to disturb her. She and David Granger and the android called Gill, they are in contact with the Godships. There needs to be careful coordination of the liftoff. I think five Godships are involved in that maneuver. There will also be some habitat modifications when we arrive, to accommodate many thousands of new inhabitants that have been carried here by the Godships."
"Fine, but can I see my wife? I promise not to disturb her."
Shatoya looked worried. Then she pointed to a far door and beckoned me to follow.
Part 10.3
It was a curious room. Rooms with a view normally had skylights in the ceiling, but this room had dozens of portholes on the wall. There were several benches facing the portholes and Susan was sitting, along with David and Gill. They were all leaning forward, concentrating, focussed, with their heads lowered. People were gathered to watch, leaning against a wall. I walked to Susan and sat beside her on the bench. Without moving her head or interrupting her concentration, she placed her hand on my lap. I stayed perfectly still, staring out the nearest porthole.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a wall suddenly glisten. I looked around and saw that all the spectators had turned to look; it was a large map. A crescent shaped region was blinking, labeled Mariana Trench. There was a legend with a distance scale. It looked like the Trench was maybe two thousand kilometers long and just a few dozen kilometers wide. West of that, the Mariana Islands, Guam and farther, the Philippines. There was no indication of the western coast of North America, which, I presume, was our final destination.
The blinking light became smaller and smaller until it was just a red dot on the eastern edge of the Trench. All eyes were on that stationary dot, flashing within the Trench. I felt the bench shake and Susan removed her hand from my lap and held her head between her hands. Out the porthole I could see movement, strange sea creatures floating by, a few rising bubbles. I looked again at the map; the red dot was moving east. When I next looked out the porthole, I could see sky!
The sky was a glorious blue and in the distance, on the horizon, there were a dozen Godships. The sea was very calm, with the sun's reflection bright and orange. It was morning, it seemed, and a splendid day. The Aquarius was rotating, the porthole displaying a changing scene. It looked like we were now a hundred meters above the ocean surface and spinning, probably facing east. Nothing marked the ocean surface; no waves, no islands, nothing. Once Aquarius had steadied and was no longer revolving, Susan shook her head as though she just waking up. She turned and gave me a marvelous smile.
"How are you, my darling," she said.
"I'm great. Have you been...uh, talking to a Godship?"
"Gilgamesh. That's the only Godship that I can talk to. Well, actually I wasn't talking much, Gilgamesh was. I'd just note the conditions within Aquarius, whether we were topsy-turvy or balanced and level. Gilgamesh was in communication with the other craft and I listened in. David, and especially Gill, they were in touch with four other Godships. It actually took all five vessels to raise Aquarius. They did a great job, don't you think?"
"Yes. Great. Now we're headed east to the North American coast, right?"
"Yes. It'll take most of the day. Acceleration has to be gentle so as not to disturb conditions within the habitat. Full speed won't be attained for several hours, then it's clear sailing to the coast. I'm supposed to be back here to help with the settling to the ocean bottom, about three kilometers offshore. In the meantime, I'm starved. Have you had breakfast?"
"Yes, indeed. A full glass of rapple."
Susan punched me in the side.
In the cafeteria we sat at a table and waved at the white-coated server. He rushed over, excited.
"We're moving!" he said excitedly. "We're heading to shallow water, warm water, very little pressure, a place to escape the dome, to maybe swim, walk on land."
Then he rushed back to his counter, a big grin on his face.
I waved at him and he came back, looking apologetic.
"I'm so sorry," he said. "My name is Claude. I'm just so thrilled. I told my girlfriend–her name is Jenny–that we could be married, we would be married on land. Isn't that fantastic?"
He was about to rush back to his counter when he spun about, looking embarrassed.
"I'm such a klutz," he said. "There are very few marriages allowed in Aquarius Pacifica and we got our approval just last week. I'm so excited."
"Very few?" Susan said. "Why is that?"
"It's written," he said simply. "That's why. We have to apply, they check our birth records, schooling, health history and I don't know what else. Then, if we're approved, we can get married. That's me and Jenny. Jenny is my girlfriend. For us, it's next week!"
"I suppose it's to control the population," I said. "To prevent too many babies being born in such a limited habitat."
Our server looked confused.
"Control?" he said. "There is no control. I see you're new to Aquarius. I saw you give that talk about the Founder." He pointed to me. "Anybody can have babies, any time, anywhere, any color. We do need approval, though. Sexual encounters are encouraged. In fact, the Copulation Center is usually crowded. My girlfriend,
that's Jenny, asked to delay until we were married. Then Jenny and I will spend as much time in the CC as is necessary. I can hardly wait."
"Yes, I can imagine," Susan said with a smirk.
"It's the low population here," Claude continued. "Life expectancy is apparently decreasing for reasons our scientists don't understand. It's anticipated that living near the coast and being able to exit Aquarius from time to time, that will help. Anyway, my girlfriend, that's Jenny, she and I will certainly do our part."
He was beaming, beside himself with delight.
"Now," he said in almost a whisper, "did you want something to eat?"
Part 10.4
It was difficult to maintain any sort of calm within the dome. Everybody was rushing about, chattering, peering out every available porthole and skylight. Occasionally one could see fluffy white clouds and there were endless oohs and ahs. From time to time, a silvery, cigar-shaped Godship was visible. It was fascinating to see the effect that normal surface features, such as sky and clouds, had on people who had lived their life deep within a dismal ocean. When I was living on Earth, just a few months ago, I did appreciate a beautiful sunset or the red and gold colors of Fall, but never got too excited about a plain blue sky. The children were especially charming. Each time they saw a cloud they would jump and point and scream with pleasure.
"I see one!"
"Look there! It's pink and white!"
"That one looks like a sea cucumber!"
"I know that one–it's a cumulus thing."
"No, it's one of those strato things."
It was clear that these kids learned something about their planet, even if they couldn't see much of it. Maybe I should have said something about life on the surface, when I gave the Founder talk. I would have been more comfortable with that topic. I could spend an hour talking about pork-burgers and fries and chocolate milkshakes. Even Susan could add her impressions. In fact, David would be a great one to describe certain unfortunate features about...
There was a sudden lurch. Some children fell. Susan jumped up and left the room in a hurry. I followed her to the observation room where she had earlier been in contact with Gilgamesh. David and Gill were already there, concentrating. Susan took her place on a bench and held her head in her hands. She seemed quite worried. I sat beside her, but she was too busy to notice. She was obviously listening and, I guess, involved in mind-talk with our Godship. I heard David grunt and wave his hand. I looked out a porthole but it was dark. It seems we were back in the ocean again because I could make out what looked like a group of dolphins encircling our dome. We weren't falling but rather seemed to be stationary, judging by the movement of the dolphins. Susan looked up and sighed.