History 101

Naomi: “ …Taralisa intends to plant a thorny hedge across the cave and make it disappear.”

Homer sat silently for a long moment, he sighed and shifted: "I almost wish you hadn't told me... They shouldn't have killed him, maybe the head injury was treatable."

"Look at me Homer--they didn't do it--I killed him. My hands,  not an abstract 'they'."

"Yes... you--last person I would expect. You've written eloquently against Death Penalty and vigilante justice... "

"This wasn't a penalty--nor was it justice."“Okay… What then?—a mercy killing?”

“Mercy for us all… ”

“If we had a jail, I’m supposed to put you there.”

“Really, Homer… ”

He made an unenthused smile: “I’m not the sheriff… Administrators are meant to boss construction. I’ve disciplined workers—fired them, called the law on a few thieves… You actually strangled the man?”

“No longer man… ”

“Maybe,” he looked at his hands. “You’ve gone deeper than I can see.”

“It’s important to think about the colony’s reaction.”

“You can place a report over the network.”

“For once I believe my credibility will be questioned… It isn’t possible to make an objective account.”

“There won’t be many Jason sympathizers… ”

“Exactly—and in Firstown there is a lot of resistance to the presence of the refugees. When one of them commits this sort of crime they’ll take it for an excuse to punish the group. This is history, Homer—it’s how societies divide and form class/race antagonisms.”

“I hoped peace would come after the spaceport battle… ”

“We need better organization.”

“Call a meeting.”

“You call one—keep it open until we have a constitution.”

“The meeting last year… ”

“I know, but without Sikar—or Mel… We aren’t as polarized.”

“Or Mel… Would she have killed him?”

“She would have seen the necessity—she killed to stop rape.”

“Her own… Do me a favor?”

The journalist nodded.

“I’ll post a report—from a source wishing to remain anonymous—but I want you to write it—only an outline, I’ll put it in my own words. Write it on paper, only one copy, don’t use the network and deliver it to me personally. I’ll burn it when I finish, leave no trail. Omit the names of the execution party and don’t tell your role—I can edit that material if I must… ”

“You have a delicate touch, Homer.”

“Hah! I wish… ”

“It’s a good plan.”

“They’ll wonder about my anonymous source.”

“Historians will debate the topic learnedly for a hundred generations,” she demonstrated a nonchalant smile, almost convincing.

The Administrator’s lips stretched in return.

“Do you know much history?”

“School threw a lot of names and dates, battles and treaties at me—all dry and filtered. Not very exciting stuff for a guy that likes to use his hands.”

“I studied history in college, it was my major until I dropped out. I became a journalist because I wanted to be the primary source for future historians. Now I conspire with you to hide the facts. They’ll emerge one way or another, too many witnesses... But have you ever wondered about what happened before the calendar started?”

“I remember that detail—there was a supernova that destroyed the original civilization—Atlantis, they called it… ”

“So you were taught. Four thousand eight hundred thirty seven standard years ago. The light from that event will never reach Cardomon—too much Galaxy in between. What I wonder is why the archives on Brahe, Hesperia, Farenger and a dozen other worlds all begin with that moment, there are few credible documents older, a good many of the surviving fragments of prehistory are in languages nobody can decipher. I believe there was an organized purge of the ancient past and I believe the supernova was used as an excuse for the loss of history.”

“It starts from a conspiracy?”

“The three most powerful human institutions—the Brahe Merchants Guild, the Planetary Foundation—on Hesperia—and the University of Farenger—use the same date of commencement—light years apart. What kind of coincidence is that?”

“A highly improbable one… ”

“Impossible by my estimation.”

“What did come before?”

“We’ll never know, I fear. The revisionists did a thorough job. Just say ‘Atlantis’.”

“I always did like that story.”

“There are actually eight different versions—hundreds of regional variants. You’re from Calico: aren’t you familiar with the legend of the last Empress—Sacajawea?”

Homer nodded: “Her scientists triggered the supernova by accident.”

“Calico is a secularist society—on a lot of planets they say she offended the Gods… And other places have never heard of her. There’s a story of King Rama—he lit the supernova as a pyre for his beloved wife Chrysanthemum—she was murdered by a Demon.”

“Where does that come from?”

“I heard it as a child—on Farenger.”

“It’s a big Galaxy… ”

“Indeed.”

“Why did you drop out of college?”

“I’d achieved my educational goals, what I wanted to learn was in the real world, not in libraries. I saved a year’s time by not writing a dissertation. I had already published a report on human trafficking from Dayron. It was a strong emotional interest story and a lot of regional networks picked it up—I made a lot of money and a professional reputation overnight. That was the end of school… ”

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