This story, I would call a dialogue from minor post-apocalyptic noir colors, is runner-up result Competition at the Space Prohecies Episode VI, and Hypatia Award, both in 2010. E 'is currently number 29 published in the journal Living Force and in the anthology Chronicles on the Moon, which originated from the two competitions.
Haile Poiron Marathi usually sat in the corner of the bar at the top of the building's central Ababa City. He was staring into the sky and close your hand around an empty glass.
recent customers came over to him, and like all last night when he had taken refuge there, the man was alone.
The bartender was sleepy.
-he wants another, sir? "- He asked from behind the counter.
Besides the large window, the hemisphere of the Earth emerged from the darkness like an abandoned floating in space.
-Yes, Thomas. Thanks.
Haile could almost hear the silence that came from that planet clumsy and cumbersome.
Thomas joined him and left the bottle on the table. He snorted, he returned to the counter, and picked up his head in his hands. The clock on the wall scored two in the morning.
Vicar Hassler entered at that moment, glanced to greet the bartender and then headed to the only customer. For the arrival of Thomas
a drinking buddy things worse. The wait to dismount and close shop would have been longer than expected.
-Good evening, .- Haile said the newcomer.
Africa continues to set the Earth.
-Shit, someone should go pick up at least a bit 'of all that stuff. I say, Vicar, can you imagine what good things there is still up there?
-I fear most is now unusable, Haile.
Haile looked away from the sky and looked in the direction of his friend, to balance the assertion that the speed with the reduced amount of alcohol allowed its neurons. Non-
parlo della superficie, Vicario.- aggiunse in maniera distaccata, e tornò a rivolgersi verso il cielo.
-Mi riferisco agli avanzi rimasti in orbita. Cristo, riesci a immaginare quanti ce ne siano? Solo con i pannelli solari, potremmo rifornire di energia almeno dieci nuovi insediamenti. Venti, forse. Per non parlare delle unità abitative autosufficienti delle stazioni spaziali, dei telescopi, dei satelliti per le telecomunicazioni…
-E i sistemi missilistici. Vorresti recuperare anche quelli?- domandò Vicario, sedendosi al tavolo.
-Cosa? Ma di che parli?
-Come pensi che siano riusciti a sterminarsi così in fretta? È per questo che non c’è stata alcuna maniera di fermare tutto. Prima che i funzionari ONU sollevassero la cornetta per organizzare una riunione di pace a Kabul o a Helsinki, i missili cinesi avevano già raso al suolo Nairobi, Dakar e Mandela Town. E i vostri avevano generosamente riservato lo stesso trattamento a Pechino, Shangai e Tokio, naturalmente.
-Avevo sempre saputo che gli accordi internazionali proibissero gli armamenti orbitali…
Vicario guardò l’altro in tralice.
-Pensi che una civiltà capace di autodistruggersi avesse davvero intenzione di rispettare simili accordi, Hailé?
L’africano rinunciò a una risposta che esigeva un ragionamento troppo complesso per le sue condizioni di that time.
-Be ', we could take the rest, though. After all, we have the right. The survival of the human species is assigned to the moon by now. Am I right?
Haile laughed. Perhaps he was convinced he had said something funny.
-The Research Center is working on it, patiently answered .- Haile Vicar-The problem is that we do not have enough resources. To get that good things would risk an energy deficit. And because the survival of the human species is entrusted to us, we can not afford it. In a few years, maybe. Provided that you scientists facades your job well.
Haile laughed again.
-Mi fa piacere che l’argomento ti diverta. Vedo che hai trovato un rimedio efficace alle sventure del genere umano.- sentenziò Vicario scoccando un’occhiata alla bottiglia.
-Il Centro Ricerca, il Comando del Settore Apolide, il Governo Lunare… dove ci porteranno tutti questi altolocati istituti di comando, Vicario? Guarda cosa hanno fatto i loro pari sulla terra. Me lo hai appena detto tu. Violazione degli accordi. Missili a pioggia. Sterminio di massa. Fino a un anno fa l’Umanità credeva in un futuro radioso, prometteva felicità per tutti, progettava di colonizzare tutto il sistema solare, e ora…
Hailé si fermò, e tacque.
-Le cose sono cambiate. Parecchio.- Vicario said breaking the silence.
-Yeah. A lot. It's easy for you, Agent Vicar Hassler, eh? - Haile replied testily.
-Neither more nor less than anyone else, Haile.
- But feel it! - Broke the African. -You were born here, Vicar. You never know what it means to live on Earth. Are you an agent of the Sector Command Apolide . A, a ... cop. Do not have a fucking nationality, have not lost anyone. For you the war was a distant event, one thing occurred on another world. And you that world you've never known.
Vicar left to run. There was accustomed. Haile was not the first to blame him, and others like him, and would not even be the last.
now seemed that this was the most important social function of the agents of the CSA collect and dilute the anger of all. Stateless persons as if they had remained indifferent to destruction. As if their nationality was a lack of guilt.
In this demanding task was added and declared the formal need to investigate violations of the Lunar Laws, violations that until a few months before had been insignificant in number and scale.
But the crime rate on the Moon was increase. One obvious consequence of the end of civilization on Earth. Anyway, it was a miracle that the satellite was not broken out anarchy, must have been the instinct of self-preservation to prevent it. The awareness of being the last representatives of the human species, except for the tiny colony of Mars, which employed hundreds of researchers with whom contact had been lost, had escaped the worst.
But the early weaning from the mother country had also become a colony and peaceful international society devoted to research in the only existing one. With its rules and its deviations. With its weaknesses and its temptations. With the entire set of drives that determine the need for a control system.
Vicar knew little more than a hundred agents would be insufficient for such a purpose. Still, it was all they had on the moon, and the community sector of the stateless, in which he and others had been recruited, it was quite prolific as to provide for an increase in staff at short notice. Sooner or later, the government would have to authorize access to the small police force to citizens of the Moon National Zone.
The decision to recruit agents African, Chinese, Slavs and Caucasians, and seeing them on the loose, armed and with duties of public policy, entailed significant risks. It would do even more to resemble the moon dear old Earth. Moreover, before the community of national zones provided through autonomy, it was good that someone took that decision, and quickly.
-You never heard from Karen, Haile? The African
pretended not to hear.
-Sorry, Vicar. I always say the same things, right? Be patient. I'm just a microbiologist, I. Until yesterday, my main problem was the study of cell replication in the ice at the lunar pole. Have patience, my friend.
-I hope you'll continue to work, Haile. We need science. Much of yesterday.
Haile drank yet another glass of vodka. All in one breath.
-I have a glass too? - The policeman shouted in the direction of bartender.
Thomas was prepared to obey. The closing time was long past, but it was better not to upset an Agent of the CSA.
-So, - said the African-How's your investigation? Have you discovered something about the death of Jonas?
Vicar looked up from the table, on which he had stopped to count the circles drawn from all the other glass that had been drinking. According to the autopsy-
your colleague died of suffocation.
-Be ', fuck, what I mean. You said that you have found the edge of the crater Galvani without oxygen.
-.- This is not the point the agent said. -See, quando la squadra di esplorazione lo ha rinvenuto, il cadavere era lì da non più di sei o sette ore. Il che è certo, perché la stessa squadra era già passata di là, e non lo aveva visto. Ma secondo l’autopsia Jonas è morto almeno un giorno prima del ritrovamento.
-Mi stai dicendo che si tratta di un omicidio?
Vicario versò un po’ di Vodka e ne sorseggiò con parsimonia.
-Il primo della storia lunare. Si direbbe che ci accingiamo a raccogliere per intero l’eredità della civiltà terrestre.- rispose il poliziotto.
-Questa sì che è grossa. Quindi, qualcuno lo ha portato lì dopo averlo ammazzato, giusto?
-Giusto.
-Yeah ... with the reduced gravity that's out there, should not have been too tiring, is not it? The culprit must have thought that you believed in an accident. Vicar, Jonas was an expert walks outside. He would not be surprised by a lack of oxygen, unless there was a leak in the booster, but even then would have noticed and would be returned, or would have asked for help. He was an experienced astronaut. Whoever is the murderess, it should not be too smart, if he thought to trick us like that.
Haile seemed surprised, yet, despite talk of a colleague, made the sober tone of his slow and apathetic. Vicario lo avrebbe trovato irritante, se non fossero stati amici.
-Sulla Luna mancano le competenze per uccidere senza lasciare tracce, Hailé. Per il momento, almeno. Magari fra qualche anno, quando gli interessi in gioco saranno cresciuti e le professioni del crimine si saranno sviluppate alla maniera terrestre, avremo anche noi i nostri assassini esperti. Ad ogni modo, in questo caso ho l’impressione che all’omicida non importava un fico secco di poter essere scoperto.- replicò l’agente.
-Stai pensando a un movente personale, quindi. È assurdo. Jonas era un tipo pacifico, non aveva nemici. Non che io sappia, almeno. Se ne stava sempre in giro a raccogliere campioni dei minerali lunari, e il resto time spent at the microscope. Who could be interested in killing him?
Vicario took his cup to his lips and sipped some more 'of vodka.
-Why do you think happened, Haile? E-
you ask me? You're the cop.
-I'm not talking about Jonas. I refer to the war. How the hell you may want to sacrifice all that you only have to defend a principle, an abstract idea? To my knowledge, Panafrica was tough until the last minute. Until the outbreak of hostilities, any member of your government has expressed its willingness to find a compromise on the mines. And even the opposition.
-Do not call my Government, my friend. Vicar, I'm on the moon for almost fifteen years. With the policy of the Earth no longer had anything to do. I'd also say that I left because of my intolerance to certain bad habits. However, since you ask me, I think our history, the history of my people, had a decisive role.
-Your story?
-You are young, Vicar. And you're a stateless person. A mix that makes you a true citizen of the Moon. I bet when you were little more interested in the position of the lunar oceans of Earth's continents. You must enter the Earth and say "above", while I, even after so many years here I feel suspended nel cielo. Ed ora il cielo è tutto ciò che ci è rimasto.
-So che Panafrica ha vissuto periodi difficili…- disse il poliziotto mostrando un certo imbarazzo.
-Africa, Vicario. Era così che si chiamava, un tempo. Decine di stati, centinaia di clan, migliaia di tribù, che si combattevano in una maniera atroce. Con il bastone, e il macete. E per che cosa, poi. Per spartirsi le briciole del pianeta. Ci sono voluti quasi due secoli per diventare quello che eravamo. La più grande potenza mondiale.
-Eravate terrorizzati di poter tornare nelle condizioni precedenti, dunque.
-Qualcosa di simile, immagino.
-E pur di mantenere la vostra potenza, siete stati disposti to stake. You know, that's what worries me more. I understand that a single human being can fall into such a folly to prefer the total destruction of self and others. I've seen it happen, but ....
Haile broke out in a fat laugh.
-You have seen this happen? Where? You were born and lived here. What do you know the history, culture, human beings, you? What do you know of relations, social relations, the dynamics of a complex system like a planet inhabited by twelve billion people?
His laughter had turned into a furious grinding.
-About-continued-not be easy to disentangle in the search for a murderess, for a police force whose maximum liability, until recently, was the control of the flaws in the systems of protection of the colonial settlements.
-Sai, Haile, you are right to sell. I am a stateless person. I had no ties to the Earth. I had relatives there. I did not even have the right to move, unless they had embraced one of your nationality, and you can believe me when I say that I've never had any intention. But unlike what you think, for this in my area know about the Earth many more things than you think you people. Our lack of roots has not eliminated our curiosity, by contrast, has worsened. We police officers, in particular, we study very land uses and customs. I know many more stories of your procedural planet than you can imagine.
Vicar lit a cigarette.
-evidently, a long time ago, somebody-shoot-predicted that this would have happened. Someone smart enough to figure that far-sighted and a population of settlers land would not be able to self-determination peacefully, was the beautiful thought to isolate an area of \u200b\u200bthe newly formed colony and establish the law that those who had lost his citizenship would have transferred land . In return, their children were destined to rule the Moon, and to maintain order. That someone, my friend, knew quite well your culture of fear it.
Haile looked down, threw the bottle over the glass and poured himself another shot. Much Vodka fell on the table and Thomas came to clean, but without haste.
-careful, Haile, that's one of the last remaining bottles of Vodka Ukrainian humanity .- said the policeman.
-However, - said Deputy staring each other's eyes-I understand that a single man can fall as well, but I find it amazing that can happen to an entire civilization. Sacrificing everything, rather than yield. Sentenced to death rather than cause death to their perceived enemies. Believe me, it's really hard to accept.
-Hey, agent .- Haile broke almost woke up the drunk,-From what you say, it seems that we did everything ourselves. I remind you that the Chinese wanted to take our land, our mines, our bio-systems, without even asking permission.
-I know, I know, Haile. Each had his reasons. Unfortunately, conversations like this are increasingly common. Your respective communities do nothing but accuse each other. Brawls and beatings are commonplace. The Moon was a beautiful place in the past, because we could have the luxury of leaving the Earth with the task of dealing with politics, history, laws and progress. Today there is all this shit fall on him. Now we "civilization."
-guess what all this is hard for someone like you, who on Earth has ever set foot there, Vicar. The policeman
the bottle away from the other and crushed the cigarette butt in the ashtray.
-not really want to talk to Karen, true, Haile? The African
rested his head on the table. And for the second time it seemed that he had not heard that name. He seemed on the verge of falling asleep.
-.- We have some clues, then whispered in his ear the policeman approached.
Haile gave a groan.
-fact, more than one, for the truth. So much so that the Government has authorized the Lunar detain a person suspected .- precise.
-E what the fuck are you waiting for tell me who? - The African said, pointing to lift his head.
-A woman. A beautiful woman of the settlement of New Seoul. A nuclear engineer. Jonas on the body of his DNA was everywhere. Even on the genitals. I would say, especially on the genitals.
Vicar smiled good-naturedly.
-Just think, 'was a voluntary .- Nothing added-wages, only expenses. Would you have done if I were in his place?
-Jonas if made by a Chinese ... who would have thought .- Haile murmured.
-My limited knowledge while geography of the land allow me to say that its origin is Korean, Haile. We have kept the information confidential. If it became public domain, you know what would happen.
-diamine. We would do the same fate of the Earth .- The African grinned.
-Jonas you happened to have talked about this woman?
-Mai. It amazes me that even know he had one. I mean, one fixed, one that did not pay. Tell me, Vicar, because China has killed this bitch?
-Indeed you are right, my friend: after the destruction of the Earth had begun to make a whore. I sometimes have the impression that the real victims of war are the ones that survive. Apparently this woman, Han Li, had been allocated to the lunar colony, thanks to Jonas, who had rigged its tests for admission. At that time, however, she did not prostitute. Who knows, maybe they were even popular. The hypothesis is that the prosecution had argued, and anyway she was afraid of being discovered.
BG-What? Return it to Earth? - Haile broke into laughter and cynical tone deaf.
-Collision illegal in the only possible world must be an unpleasant condition, apart from being a grain for the few remaining lawyers in the forces of civilization. However, any speculation on the matter is purely theoretical at present .- backfired the policeman.
-job easier, Vicar. You have the culprit.
The African looked back to sobriety.
-Haile, I do not have news of Karen? - Asked the policeman before downing another glass.
Thomas, the bartender, sat two tables away, snoring loudly with the bottle of detergent still in hand.
-Karen is somewhere in the American Zone, Vicar. Or maybe in the European Union. I do not know anything about her .- murmured in a tone of the African plate.
-Hey, Vicar, in half an hour the sun will rise! There are six days waiting for the dawn. Damn lunar cycle .- broke then raising the glass toward the sky.
-Haile, when you spread the news that an Oriental woman is responsible for the first murder in the history of the Moon, and that the victim is a geologist in Kampala, will be chaos. The Chinese are considered responsible for the destruction of Earth. The pan-African will have the pretext they seek. This story may have unimaginable consequences.
E-what can I do to help you, Vicar?
-You look into her eyes, Haile. It is not easy. It is a beautiful woman, lost her husband and children in Taipei, and was reduced to get fucked by strangers for a few pounds, or yen. Believe me, it is not easy starsene lì e fare il proprio lavoro davanti a uno schifo del genere.
-Ti sei innamorato, poliziotto? Attento, a quanto mi hai detto, quella donna è pericolosa.
-Amore? Volesse la Terra, amico mio. Ma se uscirà viva da questa storia, penso che l’aiuterò, in qualche modo.
Vicario si rese conto che stava arrossendo, e abbassò il volto.
-Qualcosa ti fa pensare che non sia stata lei?- esclamò Hailé.
-Senza dubbio è innocente. Sarà anche una puttana, ma in vita sua Han Li non ha ammazzato nemmeno una mosca.
-Non ci sono mosche sulla Luna, Vicario. Hai studiato troppe cose della Terra.- ritorse l’africano.
-I want to tell a story, Haile .- sighed the policeman, before they fill both the glasses and light up another cigarette.
-see, I had a friend once. A friend who had two things that would have given everything: his wife, and his land. Unfortunately one day his wife leaves him. It happens, is not it? She falls in love with another, and leaves. So far, so normal. My friend is suffering like a dog. What is more he discovers that the man who took away his wife is a Chinese bastard. My friend began to write, begs her to return with him. But it's useless. She now lives in Bangkok and is happy. They spend a few months, until suddenly, with a simple messaggio di posta elettronica, lei gli annuncia che sta per tornare.
Vicario estrasse un foglio dalla tasca della giacca e la lasciò scivolare sul tavolo.
-Forse deve solo regolare alcune questioni, o forse ci ha ripensato. Chi lo sa? Ad ogni modo, gli scrive che partirà con la navetta del lunedì successivo. Il mio amico torna a vivere, e inizia il conto alla rovescia. Mancano solo cinque cazzo di giorni. Ma dopo appena tre giorni, tre soli dannati giorni, la città del mio amico viene rasa al suolo. E così tutte le città, sull’intero pianeta. Il mio amico si sente finito. Ha perso la sola donna che ha mai amato, la sua terra è stata distrutta, e ora lei è morta, insieme ad altri dodici billion people. Humanity has betrayed him. His partner has betrayed him. Everyone, have betrayed him: his enemies have destroyed their land, and one of them has stolen his woman. His friends have allowed this to happen. All that was most dear is gone. No one deserves understanding. On the survival of mankind prevails a verdict without appeal: the survivors do not deserve to stay alive, my friend and condemns them to perpetuate the error that was fatal for the Earth. Just as the government Panafrica, prefer the total destruction to a life of mourning. My friend believed in civilization, and as it was over the trust reposed in it as a man of science, now it's just as crazy over the idea that civilization deserves to disappear from the universe.
Vicar paused and looked at Haile. The African
clutched in his hands the empty bottle, eyes closed, tears beginning to rigargli face.
-My friend has decided to punish everyone. Himself, his colleagues, the people around him every day. One lonely night like many others, you put on the trail of a beautiful Korean, and if he finds the door to the bed. After the war she has lost everything, and sex workers. As it happens, she finds herself on the moon thanks to a colleague of my friend, a man of peace and genuine, just as he once was. My friend is a great microbiologist, and during the night has no difficulty in collecting samples from all over the body of the beautiful Korean. A few days after tracking his colleague and poisoning with a rare type of diphtheria toxoid, which kills the victim to suffocation, then sprinkle the corpse of traces of the woman and then delivers it to the edge of the crater Galvani, where fifteen hours after the mining team comes to.
Haile's face had dried, the lids were still down.
-is on the details of the hours that I have not yet been entirely rebuilt my story. I do not know if my friend is coming home or whether it came directly to this bar, like all subsequent nights since then, letting go agli ultimi stipendi per scolarsi una costosissima bottiglia. Non gli è rimasto molto. Ha ancora la sua vodka, e una gran pazienza di attendere. Sa che lo stesso odio sterminatore che ha spazzato via la civiltà terrestre non tarderà a fare lo stesso quaggiù, sulla Luna. I suoi amici coloni panafricani non aspettano occasione migliore per vendicarsi. E i cinesi, a loro volta, hanno già affilato i loro pugnali di ceramica, che sfuggono così bene ai nostri metal-detector. Tolti di mezzo il giovane Vicario e altri cento idioti senza nazionalità come lui, la guerra sarà facile e rapida. È solo questione di tempo. E magari lui, il mio amico, ha già deciso sull’orlo di quale cratere andrà a contemplare gli ultimi istanti the end of Humanity. The end true humanity. Maybe that's why every night he sits at this table, and looks out. I do not think that covers the Earth, as he would like to believe in me.
Haile opened his eyes. The tears were over, the facial expression was absent.
-up there. It is there that I was going to enjoy the show, Vicar .- said casually, pointing to the hydroponic greenhouse on the north ridge of Nectaris.
The policeman saw in the eyes of his friend one last gasp of life. After fifteen days of darkness, a thin red line on the horizon announced the beginning of the dawn moon.
Soon, the sun had chased away the darkness.
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