Chapter 26: The Dark Nature of Capitalism

Governor Maher of Strife had been to Earth a few times. Frankly, the place scared him. It was nothing like Strife, the people were completely different, and so was the society. It was conservative and broken as far as he was concerned. San Francisco was a layered city where the rich lived up top and the poor lived down on the old streets. Poverty was worse the lower you went. Even with his courage and determination, he’d never visit the Under City.

It bothered him that plans to determine the future, politics, and government were always made from smoky clandestine meetings in rooms at the top of the tallest buildings. The floor-to-ceiling windows gave the impression that the men in this room looked down on everyone else like gods, immune to the consequences of their decisions. This was not the way things worked on Strife. There, the government wasn’t this giant entity or something to be feared. It was a minimal, necessary evil to get people to do what needed to be done to keep the world running, to keep the bridges up, the star lanes working, and to put electricity in people’s homes. It didn’t tell people who they should be or how they should live their lives. It didn’t create incentives or legislate thought, and it would never ever get in the way of people being human.

This is why the Helix Network scared Maher and others like him. As far as Strife was concerned, mandating the use of a technology like this, linking everyone, unknowingly and against their will, to each other was the loss of freedom and humanity. It didn’t surprise him why Pacius and others like him chose to demonstrate their disgust in the way they did.

Maher had to be more diplomatic though. He was the one who had to come to Earth, to this smoky clandestine meeting at the top of the tallest building. He was here to remind these men they were not gods and what they were doing was beyond immoral.

He had been in conferences with the movers and shakers of the United Planets of Earth for most of the afternoon. The room was simple, more simple than he would have expected from the seat of power in the UPE, but considering the nature of that power, perhaps he shouldn’t have been.

Most other semi-sovereign colonies had a governing body like a republic or parliamentary democracy. In contrast, the highest seats of power on Earth were gained through capitalistic democracy. The CEOs of the ten most influential corporations on the planet made up its ruling board. It was these men who made all the decisions. It should have come as little surprise that the conference room would favor a cold efficiency over the type of grandeur that even Maher wasn’t completely above.

He recognized nine out of the eleven faces sitting at the table when he walked in. They all had been on the board for the last decade or more. But two were new, the first was a dark-skinned man in his late thirties who must have been a recent addition to the assembly. The second was a man standing off to the side of the unknown councilor. Maher had taken the man for an adviser, at least at first but now that he had stepped closer he noticed this man looked old, way to old to be a part of this board. His posture was stiff, the cut of his old fashioned suit too precise, and unless Maher was imagining it, everyone in the room was trying to avoid contact with the man’s pale gold eyes.

Who was this guy? Maher wondered. Who could inspire fear in these men? There was only one answer, and Maher didn’t like it. This man must be a Lambda operative, an Observer.

Maher had never been in the same room with a Lambda. He had no experience with these auditors, enforcers, and spies that, if some were right, were the real power behind the UPE.

He had to keep his mind off musing over fringe Lambda conspiracies and remain focused on the situation at hand though.

Maher sat by the dark-skinned man at one end of the table. His position indicated he was the guy in charge. Maher hadn’t known who this  man was at the start of the meeting,it wasn’t unusual for a relatively ‘unknown’ to have a company hit it big with some new product and then just as quickly disappear as more stable companies cut him back down. Today this person was here and his name was Benjamin Abel and He led the discussion. “We were surprised at the reaction from your world. We didn’t expect such a hostile response. We’ve been very gracious to incorporate your world into the Helix.”

“Not everyone sees it this way. Most of our people feel that making mandatory this type of technology is an invasion of their privacy, an alienation of their rights. It’s this type of thing that caused the protest at the Epsilon Gate earlier this month.”

“That’s troubling to hear. The Helix is unification. A way to gain consensus over the noise of humanity. We’re aiming to bring that harmony to all United Worlds. The good it brings is well worth the cost.”

“Our culture, our whole way of life, is based on our freedom and self-determination. Many would rather die than relinquish that, and that’s what you would be asking them to do.”

“Governor, the earrings don’t take away the self-determination your world seems so proud of, and certainly no one wants you to die over it.”

Maher looked into Abel’s eyes, searching for some sense of threat. He wondered if this man had been involved in that disaster, and decided he probably had, depending on how long he had been the head of the counsel he may have even been the one that authorized the enigma to take such violent action.  

“They see this as one more step to limit their freedom. One more step to control their lives, one more intrusion into their privacy.”

“We are not unsympathetic to those concerns.” Abel looked around the table to confirm what he just said. None of the board members seemed even the slightest bit sympathetic and Maher sincerely doubted they had even given the concerns of a planet an incalculable distance away a thought at all . “But, Governor Maher, you also have to understand our position. We’ve spent centuries seeding worlds. We understand all too well where unregulated freedom and thought can lead. On every world where the Helix has been mandated, violent crimes have dropped dramatically, , and polling the network shows they live happier lives over all.  Able said, leaning forward in his seat; “Surely a little less privacy is worth safety, order, and happiness.”

“Who the hell are you kidding? in your own city your people are going toe to toe with police over who does and does not have access to the Helix.” Maher fired back.

“We are uniting humanity Governor, there are bound to be a few hitches along the way. the people down there don’t yet understand how their lives are going to change because the Helix hasn’t come to them yet. A few of them fear the Helix like you do, but most just want it for themselves and in the coming months and years we’re going to do our best to make sure they get it and when they do they will find their lives better and more secure for it. For many it will be the first security they’ve ever really known.”

“No security is worth giving up the freedoms that can only exist with privacy,” Maher lectured. Like every Frontiersman, the idea of giving up their privacy, and by extension their freedom, was a sore subject. The U.P.E had been chipping away at both for generations, and Maher felt every chip like it had been carved from his soul, “The Helix isn’t the unregulated tool for expression you act like it is. It is a private network in which gentlemen, such as yourselves, can aggregate and influence the public. You generate consensus for them by weeding out anything that doesn’t fit into the agenda. You reach consensus only by limiting the conversation to what you want, and force people into arguing only those opinions you decide are acceptable.”

“I cannot just stand by and allow these shackles to be forced onto my people, and shackles they are. If given the choice, then some may wear the earrings and be part of the Network. But if you force this on us, then they will resist you like Captain Pacius and his followers. You must know this.”

“Captain Pacius was a man with little perspective beyond his bridge, governor. I sincerely hope he is no longer that blinkered man. I hope the lesson he was taught sunk in, because I doubt he would like another.” Maher looked over to the man who had spoken. It wasn’t one of the board but was instead the other unknown man, the one with the pale yellow eyes, the Lambda, “You two are friends, if I am not mistaken.”

When the Lambda spoke, everyone in the room looked over with a rapt attention born out of fear. Everyone except Abel that is, he was sitting back with profound unconcern. Maher wondered if it was bravado or genuine courage. If it were the latter, then this man may very well be able to keep his position among the capital cutthroats, or he would eventually just disappear like many around Lambdas had.

Abel smiled, “Now I am sure a man such as mister Maher here would never have anything to do with a man like Xander Pacius. If that is what you are implying...”

Maher knew his next words were probably a mistake before he said them, but he couldn’t just sit back and listen to this, “Captain Pacius is a noble and honorable man whom I am proud to know. He did what he did because he felt he had to. Because he felt it was right.”

“Now that is interesting, Governor.” Abel said, leaning forward and appearing to appraise Maher, “I am sure you know our intelligence suspects that after Pacius left our custody, he may have joined a group of malcontents and rabble-rousers. At this moment, we believe he may be planning even more acts of civil disruptions. If these things are true, then that makes Pacius and his followers very dangerous men.”

“No... It is you who are dangerous. They are only victims. You turned them into that when your ship fired the first shot. They were conducting a peaceful demonstration.” Maher knew he was digging his own grave and that he’d be lucky to hold his office for more than a few days after returning to Strife, but it was too late to stop now.

Abel looked at him, “If that’s the case, maybe you can help us find him. So all this can be sorted out before things get out of hand.”

“I don’t know where he is, and if I did, I wouldn’t be helping you find him.”

The Lambda walked over to the table, taking each step with an erie calculated precision, “Governor, You’ve helped us teach him one lesson, Surely helping us do it again is worth sparing yourself one.”

The terrible truth exploded in Maher’s stomach, releasing the anxiety and regret of having had betrayed Pacius. The statement tore him open and the Lambda continued pouring salt into the wound, “Your aid during the Archer’s Agony protest was invaluable. Without the time and location, there would have been far more damage and the consequences would have needed to be much further reaching.”

Maher’s face lost the composure it had earlier in the discussion. The truth was clear, these men meant to bring the Helix and all it meant to Strife no matter who or what got in their way.

“I helped you because I believed their protest would do more harm than good. But I no longer believe Pacius was wrong for organizing such a demonstration.”
The old man with gold eyes had an almost greenish tinge to his aged leathery skin. His hair was ghost white and his flesh seemed to hang a little loosely off of his skull, “I am very sorry to hear that, Governor because Pacius was wrong. Those who stood with him were wrong and those who rally to him now are wrong. Lessons are coming, lessons no one can ignore.” The ancient Lambda said, stepping forward to look Maher directly in the eyes. Maher could only meet that gaze for a moment before he had to turn away. There was something in the Lambda’s eyes, an abysse with something terrible lurking at the bottom of it.

“Mister Maher, please reconsider your opposition to the Helix. It’s understandable but misguided. If you have information on the whereabouts of this deeply evil man who is actively opposing the UPE, then you must help us find him.” Ables words did something to help Maher regain his composure and Maher turned away from the old man’s menissing eyes to meet the ferm but entirely human ones of Benjamin Able.

“Let me tell you about true evil. It is to yield. To submit to tyranny and fear. It’s to surrender our freedom and dignity. That is true evil.”

Maher watched a note of rage come into Abel’s eyes for a moment, a quick flash of emotion that he couldn’t quite hide. Abel’s position was a new one, and because of that still uncertain. For a man this new to authority, to have it challenged, enraged him. It forced him to react or risk showing weakness to the men of this group who would be looking for any they could find. But let him be angry, let him feel threatened, and let the other board members pounce on him like Jackals in the coming weeks for it.

“Allow me to put it this way, Maher. I have no doubt you care about your people. In order to find Pacius, we may have to go through many of them. Would you trade his one life for a hundred or a thousand?” Abel gestured at the Lambda at his side. It reminded him that this wasn’t a rhetorical question.

“I refuse to let a question like that be decided by math. I cannot say what one life is worth. Nor can I speak for the thousands, or millions, who may choose to follow that life.” Maher said.

“Then, Governor… I believe we have reached an impasse. We will be passing a law mandating all United Worlds adopt the Helix by the end of the year, including STR1-FE.” Abel didn’t even dignify it by calling it Strife.

Able stood up and Maher was struck by the sheer size of this man. Terrans were usually shorter than Strifers. When standing, he was easily six and a half feet tall and broadly built to go with it.

“You will be expected to enforce it, Governor, or there will be consequences for your planet and you, personally. This meeting is adjourned.”

As Maher stood from his chair and turned from the table, he could feel the Lambda’s cold golden stare on the back of his neck. He knew this would come back to haunt him. He just didn’t know how or when.

Next Chapter: Chapter 27: An Offer She Couldn’t Refuse