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Chapter
Twenty-One
The New
Generation
The days following Skip’s deception and proclamation, saw a
transformation in the behavior of the clones.
As stunned eyewitnesses to the lesson shown to them, they realized at
last who were the masters of the colony.
When Said-12 was revived from the knock-out blast from Skip’s weapon, he
was told, in front of a selected group of clones, that it was a miracle. Ingrid, who felt responsibility for one of
the day’s incidents, had helped Max resuscitate Said. Hearing Skip praise her
for bringing him back from the dead, she felt obliged to support this
exaggeration. Max-10, who had a
concussion, was more seriously injured, and didn’t awaken for several days, at
which time Skip orchestrated a brand new audience to witness a second miracle
by Ingrid, this time with a carefully thought out prayer. To her surprise and dismay, these
deceptions, like Skip’s first deception worked. His proclamation had set the stage for what became almost a
theocratic state. Skip insisted on Abe,
who had been captain of Earth’s remnant, being the secular leader of the
colony. In the eyes of the clone
witnesses, Ingrid’s alleged miracles had greatly strengthened her role as
religious leader among the clones, but made her seem like a charlatan among her
human colleagues. None of them could
blame her for going along with Skip.
The success of the deceptions seemed justification enough. Yet by her own estimation, she had sold out
for the sake of peace.
“What’s more important than peace?” Carla tried reasoning with her.
“Truth!” Ingrid replied.
“Truth….What is truth?…. Where is the peace?” Said rolled the words
around in his mouth. “Long, long ago we set out to explore Neptune’s dark moon
and wound up, after four savage planets, in cyber-sleep for a hundred thousand
years. Here on Kepler 186, which we
renamed Eden, we found another savage world, which had already destroyed one
civilization greater than our own, and kept us bottled up behind a protective
electric fence watching over a race of clones manufactured, not out of love,
but from our genes. How comforting is
this? Where is the peace? Now, as we age, we look ahead to a day, we
ourselves shall not see, when enough of these synthetic beings are produced to
allow normal procreation on a world five hundred and fifty seven light years
from Earth…. By then we, the last of our race, will be dead. Where is the truth or peace in this?”
Ingrid remained silent, as she contemplated his words. Drawn to Said’s illumination, Abe, Sheila,
Max, Carla, and Mbuto, listened, deeply moved.
Back aboard the Phoenix now, Skip also heard this gloomy summation from
their communication links, but, not wanting to intrude this time, remained
silent.
“Is that how they all feel?” he whispered to Rusty.
“I don’t know.” Rusty shook his head. “Sometimes I relish the cold
darkness of space!”
“We can leave yet” Skip murmured. “They’re not ready. All of them have grown in strength and
wisdom, but lack enthusiasm. The
religion of Ingrid Westfall has helped make them masters in Eden but
reluctantly so. This hour Said, once
the greatest thorn in my side, sounded like a sage, but it wasn’t philosophy I
wanted to hear. Their improvement is
marred by attitude. Most of them share
Said’s pessimism and still view their service with disdain.”
******
Skip could not leave the colony in the hands of such a gloomy
bunch. In addition to the general
malaise of the group, an important member of the human staff had become
mentally unfit after that fateful day.
Her mind already befuddled, Nicole was brought further to the brink of
insanity by the forced abortion of the pregnant clone—an action that caused
everyone dismay, especially Ingrid, who saw it as another taking of a human
life. This was, of course, broadcasted
to the adult clones as a warning of what will happen if female clones were
impregnated.
From
this day forward, all levels of clone development, from toddlers to adults was
monitored by a no-nonsense code, reinforced now by a higher power. For the adult clones, who had been the only
serious problems in the colony, this translated into two unwritten and unsaid
mottos: (1) you play/you pay; and (2) you kill/you die. No acts of violence were allowed against
keepers or fellow clones. Troublemakers
would be darted and placed in isolation for a period of time equal to the
offense. Repeat offenders would be
lobotomized, a procedure that was feared more than imprisonment or death.
The children naturally became the most
compliant members of the clone population.
Their smaller size helped the nannies maintain order in this group. Darts and needles were seldom necessary in
making them behave. Only the adults had
required constant reminders of what will happen if they step out of line, and
now that they were threatened with extinction by the Celestial God, himself, if
they didn’t tow the mark, they evolved into obedient and hard-working members
of the community.
******
During the long periods of watching over the clones
as they assisted them in tending the garden, greenhouse, fields, and
laboratory, the eight original humans had become old and worn out. With the continuing generations of clones
under Sandra’s and Woody’s constant management, the humans of Earth assisted
them, acting as nannies and keepers, while Nicole continued her role as lab
supervisor for the new batch of clones, whose genetic material continued to be
extracted from a previous batch. In
addition to these most important tasks, seven of the nannies and keepers still
had to maintain the upkeep of the habitat as well as control of the gardens,
greenhouse, and fields.
The clones were taught to read, write, and the fundamentals
of math and science, but until they were at the stage of interbreeding, which
was many years in the future, their education was limited to basic
education. As Skip once explained, they
were, as non-breeding clones, merely a stage set for normal propagation. The period from toddler to adult, unlike the
accelerated clone development in the lab, was at the normal growth rate of
approximately eighteen years. Long before
normal propagation would occur, however, time had taken its toll on the original
colonists. No longer stellarnauts and
explorers but caretakers themselves, they lacked the androids immortality. They had become old men and women. Because of the endless periods of
hibernation in space, time had become irrelevant to the humans until they
finally settled down in Eden. A hundred
thousand years passed and none of the stellarnauts had aged, and yet memories
of their families, friends, and the scientists who had given them such a fine
send-off when they embarked upon the Triton mission had been as fresh in their
minds as if it had happened only months ago.
After the years passed and, after the habitat became a city, the
laboratory produced embryos, fetuses, and newborns, and the nursery graduated
batch after batch of children, who grew into young adults, time had finally
caught up with them. By that point,
their memories had begun to fade and their bodies succumbed to human
mortality.
The first member to die was Nicole, who had lived
far beyond expectations. Despite the
efforts of Doctor Max Rodgers to save his onetime assistant, her small body was
worn out and wracked by the wasting disease caused by laboratory exposure and,
Max suspected, a microbe contacted in the field. The poor woman died thoroughly insane, flailing about and trying
to bite her physician and her friends.
Nevertheless, as rows of her patients looked on sadly, Nicole was given
a grand funeral by Ingrid, who, despite her efforts to offer a uncomplicated
religion to the colony, took the opportunity to exorcize the demon that spouted
obscenities from her mouth then after Nicole was pronounced dead, worried that
she hadn’t been truly saved, gave her Extreme Unction, this time as merely a
preacher concerned for her soul. In the
end, in the manner of the aged suffering dementia, Nicole forgot Ingrid’s
efforts at appeasement and their current friendship and cursed her for her
attitude about the clones. Because of
Ingrid’s use of Catholic rites, a precedent was set for the new humans. It was pointed out by Skip, who did research
on the subject, that the original church was, like Ingrid’s religion, a
primitive church with little ceremony and ritual. It seemed only natural to Ingrid that she follow history, after
such a momentous event. At this stage
it wasn’t important to refer to the church as anything but ‘the good news.’
Whether or not she was called a preacher, reverend, priestess, or priest didn’t
matter. Despite this insistence on
simplicity, however, Nicole, who was called the Clone Master by the androids,
had become in the eyes of her patients a saint.
The truth was, of course, Nicole had been right to
suspect Ingrid’s sincerity about the clones.
Ingrid had never really accepted the notion that they had souls, until
Skip lectured her that one day. Since
then, with lingering misgivings, she was, at times, forced to mix apples,
oranges, and bananas, as Max saw it.
After all, Said was a Muslim, Carla had her own special conception of
God, and the other colonists agreed with Nicole that it was unfair not to
include all levels of human development as being saved. Already institutionalized when Nicole was
given Extreme Unction, the rite of Last Rites was considered retroactive and
preventative, inoculating all embryonic, fetal, and current unborn infants; and
all newborns were automatically baptized into the faith. No one was exempt from salvation. Even the androids, though considered
manufactured animations, were listed among the congregation. Like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, who
was given a heart, each of them were assigned crude crosses to signify that
they had souls. Skip exhibited his
sense of humor by uttering an embarrassed laugh, and yet, to please Ingrid, he
wore it constantly around his neck.
Hence, all things considered, there was a hybrid and complex
undercurrent below the simple foundation of Ingrid’s church, which had grown
from a handful of skeptical earthlings into hundreds of colonists—natural and
manufactured.
By this time, the walls of the colony had been
expanded, so that they reached the dome forest and several kilometers
south. The crusade to conquer paradise
had not yet begun and, as before, cautious expeditions were made to various
corners of the new world. The most
important function of habitat would be for a long time to come to generate a
new population of humans, one able to interbred and act on its own.
******
The next member of Earth’s survivors to die was Max, who had been a
middle aged man when he went into space.
Living to the ripe old age of 110, he expressed few regrets when he took
ill one day. Fearful that the doctor
had never really been sincere about the church, Ingrid offered to hear his
confession. Once again, Max reminded
her that she wasn’t a Catholic priest, but by then it was too late to recant
her suggestion that he confess his sins, which she uttered in front of his
colleagues and several dozen children and young adults. Another precedent, seen by the inheritors,
had been set for the future. Before Max
had a chance to change his mind on this matter, he died in the presence of the
others, a smile on his wrinkled face and garland of flowers, placed by Sheila,
in his white hair. Without seconds
thoughts this time, Ingrid gave Max the Last Rites, certain that God would accept
this good man.
As fate or the Lord’s well would have it,
the others suffered their mortality one-by-one in less than a decade. Carla was the next to pass away, both
confessing her sins and accepting the Last Rites ahead of schedule just to make
sure. Stricken personally by the death
of this spirited woman, Ingrid painted a tearful picture for Carla before her
last breath of a wondrous city, similar to the Crystal City, but with millions
of other resurrected bodies mulling about—old friends, family, and her friends
from the colony, waiting in the timeless corridors of Paradise as Carla passed
through its golden gates. Carla’s last
words to her in whisper, which summed up her irreverence and sense of humor,
was a question that put Ingrid to the test, “will those infernal clones be up
there? Are they not children of an
alien god?”
Fortunately, those in attendance hadn’t
heard the question, but Ingrid looked around self-consciously and uttered a
hysterical laugh. No one would have
blamed her equivocating then, but Ingrid thought carefully and, in a whisper,
gave Carla a careful answer, “The Lord’s well is inscrutable. All things are possible with God.”
The following year claimed Captain Abe
Drexel, the next oldest member of the Triton crew. Abe had simply dropped dead in his tracks while in the Control
Center, so all that was required was the Last Rites. So grief-stricken was Sheila, she had a nervous breakdown and
threatened to take her life. What kept
her from suicide was Ingrid’s stern promise that this was the quickest path to
hell. Hell, after all, like heaven had
been institutionalized in the church, being the best way to make them all
behave. Not long after Sheila’s vow to
hold on until she and Abe could reunite in Paradise, as Ingrid had promised,
she too expired—this time in the garden, where she also, as the congregation
looked on, received the sacred rite.
Mbuto, of all the colonists, died
prepared. Not only had he confessed his
sins and prayed constantly during the last months of his life, he told everyone
as he lie on his death bed that he was ready to meet the Lord. No one saw Ingrid perform the Last Rites
which did not seem to be needed in Mbuto’s case, but she admitted later that
she had done so quietly, because of his earlier request. Unlike the straight forward path to
salvation for Mbuto, Said had been born a Muslim, who considered Jesus to be a
mere prophet like Mohammed. Because she
had mentioned Jesus’ death and resurrection as the cornerstone of being born
again, Said had seemed to accept this keystone of the church, and yet the last
words before he expired, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his
prophet!” were exactly what a good Muslim would say. Once again, as her last act of spiritual equivocation, she turned
to the androids, the last member’s remaining of the original crew, and
exclaimed simply, “He’s delirious!”
Then performed the Last Rites.
******
The last member of the human race of
Earth to die fittingly enough was Ingrid, herself. At 108 years old she was worn out and needed a rest but was not
really ill. For this reason, her sudden
death, while she was preaching her last sermon, was devastating for the
children of Eden. Skip and his crew
performed their last service to the colony by supervising her funeral and the
erection of her memorial. Already there
were eleven smaller grave stones in the colony’s cemetery. Because Ingrid had felt obliged to make
Nicole a saint, she felt it only proper to given the others sainthood too. The previous headstones merely gave the
saint’s name, his or her birthday, and the words ‘Rest In Piece’ at the bottom
of the stone. The date of their death,
which would have been too complicated, was left out. When the much larger stone for Ingrid was raised in the midst of
her colleagues, it had a much grander inscription below her name and birthday”
Blessed be the founder, whom God chose to rebuild
his church.
Heir
to the prophets of Earth and Vicar of Christ, whom God gave the keys
to His Kingdom, will forever be the inspiration of the children
of Eden.
Now that the last stone for the Twelve Apostles of
Eden had been raised and it appeared as if there was nothing more for the
Caretakers to do on the humans’ behalf, Skip gathered together the children and
gave them startling and disturbing news.
It was time that the new generation be on its own. They had learned to take care of
themselves. Because their numbers had
swelled into the thousands, they were able to interbred naturally. They didn’t need Caretakers anymore. The longer that Skip and his crew stayed the
longer would be the children’s dependence on them. Without fanfare and even time for the audience gathered in the
garden to protest, Skip climbed in Phoenix One with Sandra and Woody and
returned to the ship where Rusty sat waiting on the bridge. As the two medics sat idly in the passenger
compartment, their purpose in life now gone, Skip gave a simple order, unlike
the one he gave Rusty when the Phoenix began its odyssey to find a new world. This time he knew the destination:
Earth. After over one hundred thousand
years, it was time to return!