* * * * *
After making sure that his luggage would eventually end up in Zurich, Martin made his way to the RUT station.
It was only chance that placed Martin on the same RUT passenger unit as Buck. For the next two days they would ride within yards on one another, unaware and at ease.
RUT is a monorail with its supporting rail below the vehicle rather than above. It maintained its balance using the gyroscopic effect of a spinning energy-storage wheel. At rest, retractable out-riggers gave stationary stability to the vehicle.
The source for operating energy was juggled back and forth between the energy storage wheel and the batteries. Some sections of track provided an extra electrical boost to maintain the energy budget.
In other areas, overhead tram cables provided the locomotion. Each RUT unit has a pair of clamps on the roof to attach and detach from the cable, very similar to those on a ski lift gondola. The overhead tram cables were used in metropolitan areas and for crossing gullies or rivers.
Each RUT unit seated a dozen passengers, with rows of two seats separated by an aisle in the middle. Doors on both sides allowed for easy entry and exit from any seat. The operation of the RUT was remotely controlled and monitored. In open rural areas, the units could move along at about 45 mph, but in the heart of the city, no faster than 10 to 15 miles per hour.
The Trinity Disaster had devastated the valley that the monorail passed through. The trees in the woods were all quit young, 10’ to 15’ in height. The anemic forested slopes struggle in their recovery. Blackened, dead and naked tree trunks littered the landscape. Any evidence of the former natural beauty was gone. It would take several more decades to recover.
By the next day, Martin had started his second reading of “The New Whirled Order” a satire on the world’s struggle to regain order in the age of global unification.
Martin was glad to see the mountains in the distance. It meant that his destination was nearer.
“This area looks really weird” came a comment in perfect English. “I wonder why it looks like this?” The young girl across the narrow aisle looked out the window as if what lay beyond was causing a bad taste in her mouth.
“I think the CME and the Trinity disaster took their toll. Looks like a lot of mutant stuff; stuff from before.”
“How could that change this “stuff” so much? Will it recover?”
“Some of it might, but it will take a while. I read that there is a lot of genetic damage here. This is what the new generation looks like, and will look like for the foreseeable future.”
As she shuddered Martin continued in a gentler voice. “Oh, I think that it will be okay in a couple of decades. It’ll be a vastly different place, from now on. We can only hope that it will change for the better. Some of it will survive, and possibly thrive. Some of it will just die off; it’s sort of a forced step in evolution, I guess. All of God’s creation is in a state of change,” Martin added. “It is usually so slow that we don’t get to see it. Sometimes it comes in fits and starts. This just happens to be one of the fits.”
“Which is it? Evolution or creation; which do you believe?” she tested.
“I think we spend too much time trying to put God in a box. We are the ones in the box. He can create any way he wishes, even if the process ends up looking like something we chose to call evolution.”
“But science has been unable to prove the existence of a higher power.”
“That sounds like pigments in an oil painting arguing about the intention of the artist.” He muddled on. “We tend to focus on the symptom rather than the cause. If we have a headache we take an aspirin. The headache goes away and we think that we’ve cured something, when in fact we’ve just masked it; we haven’t cured anything.”
“But medical science cures a lot of things.” she insisted.
“Like?” he prodded.
“My dad had a heart transplant. He would have died if they hadn’t been able to do that.”
“Well, I guess that’s my point. Did they cure the problem or did they dodge the problem. I wish the best for your Dad, but if the real cause is not addressed than that cause may be overlooked and the symptoms of the real problem may return.” He added, “If my Metro-cycle were to fail because I didn’t maintain it properly, then buying a new one hasn’t cured the problem, only delayed its outcome. That’s not to say that there couldn’t be a defect in the mechanism, only that we may be to quick to deal with symptoms rather then causes.”
“You’re quit a thinker” she said mockingly.
“I don’t know if that’s a symptom or a problem” he quipped.
“Well, as long as it doesn’t require drugs. What does that say about science and technology in general?”
“Hmm! Science and technology, in my view, are handy, but they do just provide an escape from the truth. They are both basically symptoms of man’s curiosity. Of course in modern times they are also symptoms of the love of money; the bottom line.”
“What! How do you figure?”
“I didn’t say that was bad, only that they should be seen for what they are. Science is the not the judge of truth, it is a tool, a method and has no altruistic, benevolent or compassionate qualities aside from those of the one who implements it. Science does not decide anything for us; we decide for ourselves. And it’s a mistake to allow the scientists to dictate what we believe”
Her gaze drifted off to the landscape. She positioned her handbag in her lap with her hands over it; a bad sign Martin thought. It was a long moment before she spoke again. “What about medical science? How do you feel about that?”
“Well, I’m afraid that I think it all boils down to this. There isn’t anything wrong with knowing how to set a bone, or knowing how to provide what the body needs to heal itself. What does bother me are the motives for medical care and pharmaceuticals. It is all about the bottom line. I guarantee you that you’ll never see a ‘nickel cold cure’ advertised in the present economic mindset.”
“There isn’t any such thing.”
“Sure there is. People are so trained to believe that there isn’t, that they just resign themselves to letting it get full blown. Then they pay the piper to get rid of the symptoms; that’s where the money is.
You know when you’re coming down with a cold. That’s the time to take steps. Different people take different steps; find out what works for you. For myself I find that a couple garlic tabs, vitamin C, and a couple of Echinacea will knock it down in an hour; that’s what works for me.” If it were truly about making people healthy, wouldn’t it make sense to train doctors to promote preventive measures? Did you know that doctors aren’t required to take a single semester on nutrition? If a doctor were to tell you to eat right and exercise regularly, it wouldn’t be coming from his required medical training.
We spend too much time on patching up this life when we should be preparing ourselves for next one. Death shouldn’t be considered a dead-end curse; it’s a door to somewhere else. But I suspect that’s a whole different discussion.”
“Yes, really different.
What you said about doctor’s training; not being trained in nutrition. Are you sure that’s true?” she challenged Martin with her eyes, her voice, her attitude.
“Last time I checked. And it’s not likely that it’s changed; the money just isn’t there.”
“Are you a scientist?”
“No. I just work in research; they’ve taught me how to question everything. I’m just a contractor; a technician of sorts. I’m here to visit a company near the Trinity Collider.”
“You sound like you know a lot about that stuff.”
“I don’t think ‘know’ is the right word; I understand some of it. I have been around the block. I learn of a lot of pieces, and try my best to put them together.”
“Is it true about what’s going on out there?” She wrinkled he
r brow. “At that Collider, I mean.”
“Actually, this is my first trip out here” Martin spared her the details.
Attempting to change the subject, he asked “How did you know I spoke English?”
“Your sweatshirt; I’ve been around too. Sun Valley is in Idaho isn’t it? I’m from Wisconsin.”
“Oh. I guess the sweatshirt is a bit of a giveaway. Yes, Sun Valley is in . . .”
he hesitated. “Is he a friend of yours?” Martin steered her focus with a glance to the front. About five seats ahead of them sat a man who with some effort had turned to check them out, on several occasions. Though Martin had felt quite safe up to this point, he had never let his guard down.
“He’s not my type. But he is looking for something or someone.”
“Did you see him in Brugge before we boarded?”
“Yes, I saw him at a full throttle waddle, trying to make the RUT.”
“I think he’s bad news. Keep an eye on him for your own safety.”
“A girl can’t be too careful, but I think I can handle him without too much trouble.” She patted her handbag.
* * * * *
Chapter 16 – The Goose
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
Albert Einstein