Chapter 20
Dr. Mark Spencer
“How can you do that?”
“Do what?” I responded.
“THAT. How can you stay like that?”
How am I supposed to answer that? I'm sitting cross-legged staring at a beautiful woman that's also sitting crossed-legged directly in front of me. This wasn't even my idea... Not that I'm complaining mind you but I really didn't understand the necessity of this whole exercise. Jaki had explained that this was a traditional method of building trust between two people. To sit in silence, sans clothing, totally exposed, accepting each other for what we are without subterfuge or guile; to focus on trust and openness without reservation.
The thing is I didn't think it was working. I already trusted Jaki as much as I was probably ever going to and I had the nagging suspicion that her motives were to get me to trust her - not the other way around.
And that's what I mean when I say it wasn't working... Jaki was increasingly having trouble maintaining her focus. Of course it might have had something to do with the breaks we kept taking...
“Stop doing that.”
“I'm not doing anything. I really think this must be my natural state.”
Jaki: (unintelligible)...
"Are you ok Jaki? Are you sure...” Ok, another break.
This was the third time she’d launched herself at me, breaking my meditative-like focus. I didn't think this was going according to her plan.
Thirty minutes later we're setting at her refreshment table fully clothed, drinking some kind of juice, with Jaki glaring at me. At least I think she was trying to glare. Every time she'd start to say something she'd stop and sigh.
"I... I think we are done for the day. We will finish the exercise... We will definitely do this again."
I left feeling a little concerned for Jaki. I didn't think I'd ever seen her more distracted and less sure of herself.
Anzio and I were sitting in my quarter’s living area and he was acting as my sounding board. I’m used to talking out my problems and Anzio was a good listener and friend. I’m not used to talking about my relationships with women because I don’t usually have problems in that area and I’m usually the model of discretion, but in fairness the fate of our planet was in the balance and Jaki’s honor probably wasn’t really worth protecting anyway.
“The other weird thing,” I said. “Was that when I first got to her apartment AC/DC was blaring at high volume and she asked me if we were jamming.”
Anzio, as calm and unaffected as always said, “Sex and Rock ‘n’ Roll. All you need is drugs to totally win her over.”
Yeah, I thought. Sex, drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll launched a cultural revolution in the United States in the 1960s and ‘70s that eventually went worldwide. The Soviet Union still blames the infiltration of that culture as one of the reasons for its downfall—that and the Black Market blue jeans that went hand-in-hand with it. Oh, and then there was that whole Star Wars SDI missile defense thing but that’s getting off point…
“Somehow I don’t think we can count on Noridian kids to rebel against their parents and even if we could I don’t see how that could help us,” I ventured.
“How can we accept technology without being owned by the suppliers or killed by our own?” I asked.
“In physics, when stumped I always find it helpful to go to beginning and define problem,” Anzio said. “My first question is what do the Noridian’s want?”
“They say,” I responded thoughtfully. “That they feel responsible for the actions of the Coridians in hijacking our space station because the rest of galactic society doesn’t always distinguish between them—and presumably they need the good faith of that society.”
“Yes, excuse me Mark. Maybe you hear something I don’t but you just told me why they are supposedly here; you still haven’t told me what they want from us. Is it possible they are two different things?”
“Of course it’s possible,” I answered. “But what could they possibly want?”
“I no have any idea,” Anzio said. “But I think it is an interesting question, yes?”
Anzio is a good friend and at times like this I think he is not only one of the smartest but also one of the wisest guys on the planet. It was a very interesting question.
“Secondly,” Anzio continued. “What do we want from them?”
“Which we do you mean?” I responded.
“Ah, exactly,” he said. “We are made up of different factions that may want different things.”
“For example, I know that many of my fellow scientistas would be happy if the Noridians would just share knowledge with us—and don’t give much thought to the price of that knowledge.
“The politicos,” he continued. “Well, I would guess they would like to control that knowledge or technology because that is their nature. It is what they do; and therefore they have control over the governed.
“Many of the common man I suspect would just like to be left alone; and if ignoring the problem gains him a better TV or a shorter work week he is all the happier.
“The only question remaining then is what does Dr. Marquis Spencer want?”
“What do I want?” His question had surprised me.
“Yes Mark; what do you want? I also suspect that there are a large number of higher thinkers on our planet that do care about our long-term future. People that want to see the human race—our human race—free to capture and mold our own destiny.
“Maybe I watch too many SF channel but I think you are one of those people that really do have all of our best interests at heart and you’re smart enough to lead us in the right direction. So, you figure it out and I follow. I suspect many others will also.”
Long after Anzio left I kept thinking about it; what did I want the outcome to be? On the one hand I felt extremely selfish for reducing it to this, not to mention terribly arrogant to think I could influence events to any great extent, but if I didn’t take the altruistic side, if I didn’t try to influence things for the common good who would?
For once I was glad my sleep was undisturbed. It took me a long time to drift off but I needed the downtime to let everything sink in. I didn’t wake with any new thoughts or revelations but I had a terrible craving for bacon; and bacon is always a good place to start.
Chapter 21
Dr. Julie Schein
Julie had stopped keeping her journal; or at least she had stopped recording it on her smartpad. She had become increasingly suspicious that the Noridians could monitor everything said inside their ship. She had no real evidence of this but Major Reagan had urged her to trust her instincts and this was a strong one. Another instinct was telling her that her thoughts on the Noridians and even her own team members weren’t something that should be accessible.
The video feed from the planet had had a profound impact on mission personnel and when the 2nd Platoon returned it only reinforced that apprehension.
Probably because Julie was a psychiatrist she had always been sensitive to changes in the personalities of those around her. Dramatic paradigm shifts could often have physiological repercussions and/or leave a certain type of personality open and unguarded to suggestion.
A paradigm shift occurs when a person’s viewpoint of a situation, event, or person is suddenly yanked to a different perspective. The stronger the belief in the previous viewpoint the more profound the reaction can be.
Another way to say it; if your confidence in the truth of your worldview is shaken you might be more open to the strongly held worldview of someone else even if it crosses normally held mores, ethics, or beliefs.