She entered the assembly hall of the United Nations Security Council. Looking up at the mural by Fernand Leger, the abstract work’s symbolism of future peace and personal freedom gave Aki a moment of pause. She felt it stare at her, just as it had stared at the hundreds of people who had guided global events during the last seventy years. She arrived at the round table. A plate in front of her bore her name and her title of UNSDF Science Subcommittee, Special Advisor.
Aki’s reputation wielded far more power than her title of Special Advisor would normally grant. Despite how rarely she tried to use her fame’s power, the world listened when Aki Shiraishi spoke. Giving a speech on the Worldunity Network led to half the planet watching and many simply adopting her opinions. Aki respected the faith that people placed in her, and she had never used her reputation for personal concerns, until now.
The chairman nodded. Aki began beaming the slides of her presentation. The title “The Ring: An Alternative Design” appeared on the monitors in front of the world leaders and on the gigantic screen behind her. The second slide showed the solar system circumscribing the Ring, as it had done for many years. The third slide showed the same Ring perpendicular to the orbit of the planet.
“I propose that we allow the Ring to rebuild with this orientation. It will allow sunlight to reach Earth and allow the Builders to come to rest in local space. Compelling the Ring to reproduce itself in this configuration will be a major undertaking. Fortunately, our role in this project would actually be relatively small. If this plan succeeds, we would be freed from the burden of having to dismantle the Ring as it rebuilds itself. It is a simple concept. The Ring has followed Mercury’s orbit. Since this plane is only a few degrees different from our planet’s orbit, the Ring has blocked a fraction of solar radiation large enough to create the well-known ecological and economic crises of the past fifteen years. A perpendicular Ring, conversely, would still allow the Builders access to their deceleration lasers, while also serving to reduce total solar blockage to less than 5 percent of the total that is currently caused by the Ring in its initial orientation, a dramatic improvement.”
A Pentagon representative asked, “Is it possible to change the configuration? We can’t get close to the surface without the grasers disintegrating as much as they can hit. How do we alter the trajectory of eighty thousand tons of ring material per second so that the Ring it builds will stand on its side? Will the nanobots continue to rebuild the Ring according to their programming?”
“Those nanobots communicate with each other. I am sure the nanites are equipped with a function that allows reprogramming and the replication of information throughout the system,” Aki said. “Introducing this instruction as new programming, like a genetic mutation, is extremely likely to alter the behavior of the production facilities on Mercury.”
“With all due respect, Special Advisor Shiraishi, the Ring killed almost two billion people,” said another member of Science Subcommittee, one who Aki knew had not stepped foot in a lab since before the Ring had even formed. “Even if their technology can be repurposed for this reconfiguration, why would we reward the deaths of two billion with a new Ring, especially one that will still block enough sunlight to kill…how many people? Another ten million?”
“I believe those unfortunate deaths were unintentional. The Builders failed to perceive intelligent life in the solar system. People in this very room would have sworn we were the only intelligent life in the universe before the appearance of construction on Mercury. It is an honest mistake. Now that we know that we were wrong, we need to face the facts in a new light. Sentencing the Builders to death without communicating our intentions would be inhuman.” Aki set her shoulders and looked out at the representatives of the world. Many were looking down at their monitors.
“Protecting ourselves is our number one priority! Let them sail into oblivion!” shouted an angry voice. Several cheers followed.
“Destroying the Ring must have appeared to be an act of aggression. For all we know, the Builders will retaliate during their flyby. We must explain that our intentions were not hostile but rather a simple matter of self-preservation. Our safest recourse is to show that we mean no harm whatsoever. We need a message that transcends language to avoid misunderstanding. Rebuilding the Ring would communicate our amicable intentions more clearly than any other action we can perform.”
Various shouts arose from the crowd. Multiple languages were quickly translated into tilted and passionless remarks through Aki’s headphones. “We’ve done enough!” “We’ve allocated ample budget to your research of the ring material and granted access to the Phalanx,” and finally, though she could not see who said it amidst all the grumbling, “I think the ETICC’s messaging efforts are more than sufficient.”
“I disagree. We have not done enough to contact the Builders, to communicate with them.” Aki’s frustration was mounting.
The meeting’s chair sounded an electronic gavel that also served to temporarily cut off translation. The floor was his. “Ms. Shiraishi, regardless of whether this unusual request can be funded or not, the flyby, and first contact, may be as little as six years away. How do we know that the Builders were not planning on colonizing Earth or purposefully trying to extinguish life on this planet for their own ends? They have fifteen billion tons of mass traveling at 6 percent of the speed of light. A slight course correction by one of their ships could result in a direct impact that would easily extinguish all life on Earth.”
Aki exhaled and tried to look less upset than she was. She knew better than to point out the contradictions in the chair’s statement. Finally, she said, “Fixing the brakes would make a collision less likely. Think of the Builder fleet as a car. Even if the driver is ill-intended, wouldn’t you prefer that driver to have control over the vehicle?”
“The first Ring took sixteen years to build. How could it possibly be rebuilt in six?” the chair asked.
“The production facilities are still in operation, which suggests that the Builders have some margin for error built into the schedule. It would be unfathomable for a species to master interstellar travel but have no buffer in their design specs.”
“You wrote several papers describing how the technology of the Builders lacked fail-safes because of an apparent inability to comprehend the possibility of either miscalculations or specific interventions by another technologically advanced species, did you not?” the man asked as he rose from his seat.
Aki decided not to say a word. Any explanation would sound like she was either contradicting herself or backpedaling—chum in the water for politicians and career bureaucrats.
“Many of our people are starving. Funding this project makes little fiscal sense. Our resources must go where they can do the most good for humanity, not to benefit a potentially belligerent alien species,” said the chair, turning to face the other members of the council.
Aki leaned on the podium, unsure if any argument could change the situation. The debate moved on. Preparation for a potential retaliation during the Builders’ flyby was the next agenda item, and one that captured the imagination of the old hawks among the General Assembly. Aki could not help but feel that majorities rarely wanted anything more than to dominate anything that could be labeled as different. She was too disheartened to keep listening. Absentmindedly, she stared at the mural on the ceiling.
AFTER THE SESSION, in the way that politics often work, Aki was required to attend a reception. It was little more than gladhanding, drunkenness, and expensive cheeses. After three glasses of wine, she returned to her hotel, exhausted from the experience and her jet lag but too restless to sleep. She checked her phone for the number she needed. The barrel-aged Cabernet removed any reservations about calling Raul this late. He answered immediately.