Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (57 page)

"Mmm. No person
may be required in any way to accept or honor any religion in his
personal life and there shall be no process nor exception for or
against any religion – have to find a way to state it that
eliminates false religions that are established solely to challenge
– to VIOLENTLY challenge – need an inclusive while exclusive
definition here – I am muddling it again – by any person or
government agency.

"That will take
a great deal of cleaning of the language. No discrimination can be
allowed for any reason under law. That is sure, but how to word
it?

"Hmm. Maybe it
would be much better to insert an anti-discrimination clause into
each separate right.

"Property must
be...."

The hand com
buzzed so he shut off the recorder to pick it up. It was Enn
Far.

"Sop? Listen,"
Enn greeted. "We have to get our points across about the new
government. To the bulk of the people, I mean. This is important
beyond comprehension. I've arranged to get the historian, Hal Korr,
to deliver our views in a historical context. Sort of a basic idea
to get the general populace behind us and force them into taking
part in governing. That's the only way I can see to make this thing
work. We have to get all the people involved, which is a new idea
in itself. I thought you might like to have him throw in a few of
the ideas in the constitution – maybe get a perspective from him of
what's worked in the past and how they eventually got around it so
you can put in a few safeguards. We have to do something to
guarantee that some church – or anything else – can never again
wield the kind of power they recently did. We saw the results of
that without any historian!

"How's it
coming, by the way?"

Sop put on his
best oratorical voice and intoned, "We, the people of Kroon, in
order to establish a government of laws, do hereby decree the
following to henceforth be unabridgable rights of all people. No
person nor government may infringe upon one word nor upon the
intent of this document without dire penalty under the laws herein
established.

"That is the
entering paragraph. What do you think?"

"Sounds great!"
Enn cried. "It has the very SOUND of greatness, but are you sure
it's wise to make the document one that can't be modified?"

"No. There is a
clause that allows modification of the wordings of the various
portions," Sop assured him. "I spoke long with the alien known as
Z. He suggested there must be an established mechanism from the
start whereby the document can be amended as times change. What we
must protect is the part he calls the `List of Rights,' which I am
placing at the first of the document. Anything past that one
section can be changed through a process of law to be stated within
the document itself. The people themselves must vote change by two
thirds of those who vote and two thirds must vote. That is what he
called a quorum.

"I am basing
much of this on the suggestions made by the alien. He has
experience with such documents, I gather. He wrote one called
simply "The Constitution" himself – or helped write it. I didn't
ask him, but his sure knowledge of the document was very solid so
he must have been in on the inception.

"I agree it may
be wise to call this historian. Could you give me his code?"

They chatted
for a moment more, then went back to their own pursuits.

"Let me see. I
think I like the way I said it to Far best of all the wordings I
have come up with to this point," Sop said into the recorder, then
repeated the phrasing.

"The right of
the people to move about anywhere and at anytime within the
boundaries of the nation known as Klarstenland shall in no way be
restricted except to those convicted of a crime or those then being
held for trial or under stated probation for crimes.

"That can be
stated a bit better.

"The right of
the people to criticize government shall not be curtailed nor
infringed. Something to that effect. That could someday be by far
the most important part.... No. No need of that one. It is covered
in the press thing, but I think I had better directly include such
there. Keep it as short as possible – and do not use ANY ambiguous
language. Any word a politician can twist will certainly be
twisted. I do not need any historian to tell me that! Remember to
include the amendment rules right at the first of the main
document.

"I can call
Korr to see if he has any ideas. We can meet over dinner or
something. I know how these historians love to talk and I am a very
good listener if nothing else. The alien suggested he had never
learned anything while his tongue was working and I agree. He said
to always be sure the brain is engaged before putting the mouth
into gear, whatever that means. I think I know.

"Code Zen forty
one five sixty five. Busy. I will try again in a few minutes. Where
was I?

"I have to stop
vocalizing everything. I do that every time I use the damned
writer-recorder! People will begin to think I talk to myself all
the time!

"Well, I guess
I do.

"This document
may be amended only when...."

* * * * Hal
Korr

Hal Korr picked
up the hand com when it buzzed to find Enn Far on the sending end.
He saw no choice but to agree to meet with him for dinner. He got
the idea someone else would probably call and he should agree to
have them along.

Strange way of
doing things, but he wasn't a politician so he would go along with
it.

Hal couldn't
help but like Enn Far. The man wasn't really a politician so he
might someday become a great statesman. He was certainly acting in
the best interest of Kroon.

Why the hell
must I be brought into it? I don't know the first damned thing
about governing, either!

That really
isn't true and I know it. I know what has and what hasn't worked in
history.

The handcom
buzzed again and he picked it up. It was some scientist from the
council who said there was danger of some sort of plague and she
must talk with him. It was an infection that could decimate the
population of the entire planet if it weren't controlled – and
soon! This must be what Enn Far was talking about so he invited her
to dinner.

This was even
stranger than he'd first thought.

The com buzzed
again. It was some lawyer who even mentioned Enn Far so he was also
invited. How VERY strange!

First
Meerting

* * * *

I was early at
the restaurant in order to find a table that was enough out of the
way to where we would be able to converse undisturbed. I was
recognized by the waiter as the historian who recently returned
from "some place way out there where I didn't even know about the
aliens." He was accurate enough about that, but it would be nice to
be recognized for something I DID know or from somewhere where I
HAD been at a given time.

Next came the
medical scientist, Mi Yinn. She's extremely attractive, though she
tries to hide it. She sat in the closest chair and said she wanted
to ask me about historical plagues and how they were handled, what
had proven successful and what hadn't and how to educate the public
about a disease that could destroy the entire population of
Kroon!

"Are you saying
there IS such a thing?" I asked. "I thought you merely wanted my
attention about how to treat a hypothetical problem!"

"I'm afraid
it's very real," she replied. "It's a new type of virus. We have no
way to slow it, much less to stop it. It could literally decimate
or even totally eliminate the primate population of this planet.
It's a kind of thing an epidemiologist lives in constant terror of
ever finding.

"Everything's
wrong! This is the worst of all possible times! With this alien
turmoil we can't hope to reach enough of the population in time.
It's a terrible time to try to educate the people because of the
alien thing occupying everyone's mind. The government and its
agencies are as much as helpless – even the method we once had to
contact all the large sections of the population through the
churches is gone! If the aliens were still here we would possibly
be in a much better position. I know they would be able to solve
this quickly for us, but ... well.... They are NOT here!"

"Why didn't you
ask them about this when they were here? Was it something that
might have come with them? An alien sickness? Could that be why
it's such a dangerous thing?"

"No! Believe
me, this thing takes three years or more to incubate. It's NOT a
thing from the aliens and we must be absolutely sure this is made
plain. They've done much harm in some ways, but they've done much
more good. Releasing the people from the tyranny of the churches
will ultimately free us from our terrible heritage. The disease
started among the Cult of the Passioneers – a mutation of a virus
found in the desert rodents. I had initially hoped the agent from
the rodents could be used to form a usable immunological serum, but
it can't survive in primates while the one affecting us can't
survive in rodents. It was ignored for the most part because of the
prejudices against the sect.

"It's no longer
a thing that only affects those few people. We can't be sure it
actually started among them and a lot of baseless prejudice now
will be totally negative to controlling it. Those prejudices came
over here with it. People's ideas about.... Those ideas and
prejudices are the things that allowed it to spread. A person
doesn't even know he has it until a minimum of three years have
passed. From what we know it can take a very great deal longer. The
churches of Soolinn made it a far worse situation in one way with
that infidel and sinner garbage. Their rhetoric left the people
with the feeling they had been disgraced if they had the disease,
guaranteeing they would hide the symptoms and wouldn't seek
treatment – though there still IS no treatment. You can see how
widespread it's become before it begins to show physical symptoms
in the local population. Exponential progression. If we can't do
something the entire race will have it in less than a hundred
years. It's ALWAYS eventually fatal!"

Enn Far joined
us and we discussed the plague for a few more minutes, then the
lawyer, Sop Lett, came. Sop said that should we find a way to tell
exactly who had the disease they could be quarantined somewhere. He
deplored the act of quarantine, but the survival of the race would
surely take precedence.

"I am more than
glad we have not yet adopted the constitution, but at least we know
to add a section the aliens did not mention. The survival of the
race in a health situation of this gravity must immediately become
of overriding concern and extraordinary measures must apply," Sop
remarked during the arguments that followed the announcement of how
the disease was spreading. That was more than just a bit chilling.
I almost rejected the proposal out of hand, but he's an intelligent
man and explained carefully how the clause would have to be worded
so it would only apply in a case where definitive proof could be
shown before the emergency provision could be enjoined, then only
under the most stringent of guidelines. If it's to be handled
properly I'll be able to endorse it. Like it or not, some things
must be accepted as necessary to a situation and lived with. If it
is a choice between freedom for the ones who have the disease,
regardless of how blameless the individual may be, or the death of
the entire race I think there can be no reasonable argument, though
I'm equally certain there would be ceaseless emotional arguments.
There are those times when acceptance of the emotional argument can
be deadly. It's a decision that will make me withdraw any help I
may give to Enn Far and the council. I will not be placed into a
position where I must make that kind of decision. I'll agree to
read this constitution document, THEN decide if, as Sop declares,
it makes such things a matter of concerted effort of all houses of
the government with no provision for any decision by any one person
under any except full emergency circumstances. The way it's to be
worded forecloses any chance of that.

Time speaks on
such matters. We don't have time for silly philosophical arguments
now.

Enn and Sop
both claimed they had other things to discuss with me, but if this
is as presented by Mi it's beyond any question the important
matter. She isn't prone to panic. She's easily the most respected
scientist in her field in all of Kroon and is known to be so very
careful in all things she's sometimes as much as hated by her lab
assistants and fellow researchers, who say there should be limits
to her retesting after a thing is determined. She just smiles at
them and continues with that extreme care in all of her work. The
results she forces from people and the exactitude of those results
ensures anything she guarantees is foregone. There is simply no
question at all she's exaggerating this. It's precisely as she
states it to be.

Knowing what
little I do about plagues and viruses means I have to agree she's
definitely not overreacting to this crazy situation. If it's only a
percentage of the things she told us about it's beyond anything
else facing us. It's beyond anything that's ever faced the Kroon
race. She's also correct in stating that there couldn't be a worse
imaginable time for such a thing to appear. The whole world's in
turmoil, communications are poor – education is the only way, but
how to educate a world population with the problems in reaching
them is a seemingly insurmountable task! It wouldn't be so hard to
reach the people in the big cities, but that's reaching less than
one third of the people of Kroon. That isn't nearly good
enough!

Enn Far drummed
the table with his fist, Sop was laying back on his chair pushing
the front legs off the floor with his hands folded across his ample
stomach and his eyes out of focus at the ceiling and Mi was staring
into my eyes while tapping her front teeth with a fingernail when I
again became conscious of them.