“More like millions,” Dr. Spencer responded. “And I think that’s what’s been bothering me. Any society that old can’t be evolving much or it would tear itself apart. You heard what Silva said, Earthers are ‘dynamic’—well, what’s the opposite of dynamic? It’s stagnant and I think that’s what we’re basically facing. They said that things happen slowly but from our perspective that means the galaxy is made up of stable, stagnant societies—at least on the Dynasty level. We really don’t know anything about the Houses of The Accord.”
“It still seems like it would take a long time for us to catch up with them even if they give us a push here and there,” Dr. Decker reflected.
“We’re forgetting what we just learned,” Dr. Spencer said. “Their lifetimes span thousands of years—what can Earth accomplish in just two of their generations? You heard Silva; our knowledge is growing exponentially, the total sum of Earther’s knowledge is doubling every few years - where might we be eight thousand years from now?”
“There’s another reason the Noridians would want to own or control us,” Dr. Anzio Spelini threw in. “Presumably if we are an official part of Noridia then we cannot complain about the genetic atrocities perpetrated on us in the past. Absorbing us could give the Noridian Dynasty a free pass on that account.”
Major Mike ‘Iron Jaw’ Reynolds had obviously been looking for a place to jump in and he now said, “I still don’t understand why they would remove our space platform if they really wanted our goodwill.”
“Uh major,” Julie said. “I think I’ve got that part figured out now. For some reason they want the Coridian Dynasty to look bad but more importantly they can’t afford for us to be a spacefaring society. A lot of the proscriptions laid down by The Accord seem to distinguish between civilizations with and without spaceflight. I’d be willing to bet that Noridia can’t claim Earth the way they want to if we’ve already got a space presence.”
“Julie, confirm that with Captain Silva the first chance you get but let him explain it to you; I don’t want him just agreeing to our speculation,” I said without even realizing I’d called her by her first name.
“Dr. Spencer,” I continued. “I want you and I to take the lead on tonight’s questioning. I think it’s imperative that we have an understanding of the Coridian Dynasty’s motives with us before we reach this planet of theirs. I want to know why the Coridians care what the Noridians do with Earth.
“Mike, I want you to concentrate on figuring out a way to control this ship if we need to. I don’t have any reason to believe it will be necessary but I’m tired of being at the mercy of old folks that look like grandkids.”
“Aye aye,” Major Reynolds said.
“Julie, are you still feeling good about Captain Silva’s sincerity; all this ‘living thousands of years’ stuff—can it possibly be true?”
“It’s incredibly hard to believe but I don’t get any body language that would cause me to doubt him. For what it’s worth I’ve been checking on my smartpad and The Bible lists Noah as almost 600 years old at the time of the flood. The Jewish Torah and the Islamic Qur'an also have stories of people like Methuselah, Shem, Ham and Japheth that lived up to a thousand years.
“What’s interesting though,” she continued. “Is that I found an article from a group that claims to debunk The Bible. They document that The Bible shows lifetimes getting shorter each generation after Noah. They say that’s an inconsistency that sheds doubt on its validity but it goes along perfectly with what Captain Silva is saying. If it took several generations for the human organism to adapt to its new genetic predisposition then we could expect declining lifespans over the transition period.”
I understand that the DNA modifications can affect our cell’s ability to reproduce,” I said. “But can that really affect our lifespan?”
“Definitely,” said Julie. “It is generally accepted in the scientific community that senescence, or biological aging, and the length of telomeres on chromosomal strands are closely related because it does exactly that; affects the replicating ability of all the cells in your body.
“As an MD and a scientist I find these ancient stories really hard to believe,” Julie picked back up. “And I don’t have the background in genetics to know if all of Silva’s claims are feasible but I can’t point to a single factual reason not to believe him.”
Julie was obviously still thinking so I let her thoughts catch up without interruption.
“You asked me to trust my instincts major,” she continued. “And I realize that I do believe him. As crazy as it might sound, I think he’s telling the truth.”
“Ok, noted Dr. Schein. By the way,” I continued. “Has anyone seen Dr. Andretti? I would have thought she would have joined us?”
Nobody responded.
“Julie, that’s on you too. Find her and make sure all this genetic gobbledygook is feasible. I don’t really have a lot of doubts at this point but I want to cross that off my list.”
“I’m on it Major,” replied Julie.
“Ok, and Dr. Spelini is he tripping himself up? Has he been consistent?”
“I think yes for the most part,” said Anzio. “There are questionable points that become clear with more explanation but so far everything is consistent. If I could though major, please suggest that since he has compatriots back on Earth might we not be able to establish communication with our governments?”
“Yes Dr. Spelini that is a great idea. Mark, let’s make it a priority to discuss this with Silva.
“Ok,” I said. “Everyone grab some chow and let’s get ready to knock everything out tonight. I want you all back in my quarters at 0700 tomorrow morning and I want our questions answered and a strategy in place before planetfall midmorning tomorrow.”
Chapter 28
Dr. Julie Schein
“So here you are,” Julie said as she walked into Dr. Toni Andretti’s quarters. She’d looked all around the platoon hub before returning to the squad hub; the last place she had expected to find a social person like Toni was alone in her room.
“Please Julie, come in and sit down,” Toni said from her seat around the small dining table. I had the processor make me some chamomile tea; would you like some?”
“I didn’t know it would do that but yes that sounds good.”
With a soft laugh Toni said, “Well, you just have to know how to do it.
“I’m glad it’s you,” Toni continued after Julie sat down.
“You’re glad it’s me for what?”
“I knew that after Captain Silva started talking about the Noridian genetic experiments they would want to pull me in and yes I do have some thoughts that may or may not help you but first, for a few moments, let’s just talk, ok?”
“Toni, are you ok?” Julie said in a somewhat concerned voice.
Julie was starting to realize that Toni’s behavior was off her norm. Toni was one person that could always be counted on for a big smile, a supporting comment or a good joke but now she seemed almost wistful; almost resigned.
“I’ll be fine dear,” Toni said as she patted Julie’s hand. “But tell me what are you going to do about Mark?”
This was a surprising turn of conversation… “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I think you know very well what I mean,” Toni continued.
“First Kamiko and now you; is it that obvious?”
“Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Julie sighed. Ok, maybe this was the Toni she’d come to expect. Julie had never enjoyed talking about her personal stuff with anyone, especially not her own mother who’d never had time for it anyway, but this was ‘Dr. Mom’ after all…