CHAPTER 6 – GOING ONE’S OWN WAY
08:19 (Universal Time)
Tuesday, November 27, 2334
Bridge of the A.M.S. NOSTROMO
In the process of undocking from the Providence High orbital terminal
Low orbit of the planet Providence, Alpha Centauri B System
Tina had been sitting for only a few minutes in her command chair atop the center of the bridge complex of her ship when she got a call from Spirit.
‘’Tina, I am sorry to disturb you at this time but I just heard an important piece of news on the public information channel of Providence. It is not good news.’’
Tina’s mood immediately switched to cautious on hearing the voice of the ship’s central AI computer: if Spirit said that something was not good news, then you could expect about the worst.
‘’Go ahead, Spirit: what did you hear?’’
‘’Chairman Paul Stein’s office just promulgated an executive decree concerning the legal status of all androids and robots within the Spacers’ League. Basically, that decree revokes the citizenship status of our security androids and denies them the quality of ‘person’ and ‘sentient being’. I am now sending you the full text of that executive decree to your command chair’s main display screen.’’
It took everything for Tina not to scream with rage at the news passed on by Spirit. Forcing herself to stay calm, she then read the two-page text that had just appeared on the display screen attached to one arm of her command chair. What was in that text did nothing to calm her down and instead made anger and disgust only grow as she read it.
‘’That fucking asshole!’’ she muttered to herself as she read, making Dana Durning, sitting near her in the navigator’s chair, turn her head to look questioningly at her. Tina stopped Dana from asking a question by making a sign with her raised right hand.
‘’Not now, Dana. Let’s complete our undocking procedure, then we will talk.’’
‘’Uh, okay, Tina.’’
Tina took the time to carefully reread the text on her display screen as her NOSTROMO floated to a safe distance away from the orbital terminal before speeding away. Unfortunately, according to the laws and regulations of the Spacers’ League, the Chairman of the High Council had the power to publish executive edicts of limited scope without having to put them up for a vote by the High Council. This edict actually looked to be a legal one, even though it was totally wrong in her mind. As for why Stein had chosen to use the route of an executive edict, the reason was too obvious to Tina: if put to a vote of the High Council, of which she was a member, that edict would probably have failed to pass muster. While there was way too much public misconceptions and suspicions to her taste towards her security androids among the citizenry of the Spacers’ League, most of the other members of the High Council admired and respected her too much to side with such an indirect attack against her. The real question now was how far Chairman Stein would go to enforce his executive edict. One thing was for sure: she was not going to put up with such an injustice, whatever the consequences.
Some twenty minutes later, with her ship having jumped out of the Alpha Centauri B System and reappeared in the Gliese 832C System, where the planet Vinland was situated, Tina switched her intercom to ship-wide mode.
‘’Your attention, please! This is your captain speaking. I want all the ship’s senior staff to report to the bridge complex’ conference room as quickly as possible. I say again: all the senior staff is to report to the bridge complex’ conference room ASAP.’’
As she got up from her command chair, Tina spoke to her pilot, Frida Skarsgard.
‘’Keep us on an approach trajectory to Vinland, Frida. You have the bridge.’’
‘’Understood, Tina.’’ replied her pilot, barely refraining herself from asking what was going on. Tina then went down the steps linking the four levels of concentric platforms of the bridge complex, going to the lower platform and then entering the central structure of the complex before going one level further down and walking in the bridge conference room. Sitting down at her assigned chair at the large table, she transferred to the room’s displays the text she had received from Spirit, then waited for her senior officers to join her.
Her last senior ship’s officer, Chief Engineer Rose Tillman, arrived in the conference room some fourteen minutes later, her work station in the ship’s engineering control room being a full kilometer down the centerline spine structure from the bridge complex. Once everybody had sat around the table, Tina switched on the display screens of the room, on which Chairman Stein’s edict was visible.
‘’Thank you for coming quickly, my friends. I called you here urgently because Spirit just informed me minutes ago that Chairman Stein published Executive Edict 12,306, which is shown on the display screens. I will let you all read it first before we discuss our response to it.’’
As her senior staff read the edict on their own individual computer stations, Tina watched for their physical reactions and body language. She paid particular attention to the reactions of the commander of the heavy fighter wing embarked on her ship: Major Keiko Nomura was actually an active-duty Navy officer whose unit was assigned to the NOSTROMO, which was itself part of the Navy Reserves as an armed auxiliary ship. Tina herself wore the Navy reserve rank of rear admiral, so understood well the kind of conflict of authority this could create for Nomura in this case. The Japanese-born woman, whom Tina knew well and respected, displayed clear anger as she read the edict and was actually the first to speak up to Tina.
‘’Why would Chairman Stein spew such garbage? Your security androids fought valiantly to defend us against the Space Predators and have amply proved to me that they fully deserve the qualification of ‘sentient beings’. What is Chairman Stein trying to accomplish here?’’
‘’Your guess is as good as mine, Keiko, but my bet would be on simple bigotry, intolerance and political opportunism. Some three centuries ago, that same kind of bigotry and intolerance was directed against particular races, ethnicities and even sexual orientations. While Human society has evolved since then, you unfortunately can still encounter such intolerance and racism today. Just look at the negative reactions shown on Earth towards our androids some two years ago, with many crazy conspiracy theories circulating about my androids being destined to spy or even destabilize politically the European Union. Chairman Stein has always shown himself to be hostile to the concept of sentient androids and he apparently thinks that he can use such suspicions and hostility towards my androids among the Spacers’ population to enlarge his political power base, so he promulgated this piece of shit.’’
‘’But this edict is liable to do a lot more than simply strip our androids of their Spacers’ League’s citizenship, Tina.’’ said Natalia Vasilyeva, the ship’s head hostess. ‘’This could create a lot of friction between some of our passengers and our androids, and that through no fault of our androids. Remember how a couple of bigots refused to be escorted in by one of our androids, something that forced us to cancel their tickets and disembark them.’’
‘’Oh, I fully remember that incident, Natalia. You know the worst part about that? Chairman Stein, whose administration took over from Karl Langemann a mere three months ago, has already showed some tendencies towards nepotism and named his sister, the same bitch who objected to have an android escort her to her cabin, as the new Governor of Icelandia, in the Trappist-1 System.’’
‘’You’re shitting me!’’ replied Natalia in disbelief.
‘’No, I’m not! So, after today, we could expect a cold reception indeed the next time we bring some cargo or load passengers and ore there.’’
‘’Fucking great!’’ said the head hostess in frustration.
‘’If our androids are not considered anymore as sentient being and don’t have citizenship status, won’t that put our androids at risk of abuse or wrongful arrest by local planetary authorities, Tina?’’ asked Ahmed Jibril, the ship’s chief of security, making Tina nod her head slowly, while worry appeared on her face.
‘’That is a very real possibility, Ahmed. Our androids could suddenly face the same kind of situation in which black people in the United States of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries were, subject to racist attacks, public lynching, police harassment and wrongful arrests. Unfortunately, it took many decades for that intolerance and racism to fade away then.’’
‘’We can’t accept that, Tina! We have to support our androids and push for their legal rights.’’
‘’We certainly will not accept this and will support our androids to the utmost, Ahmed, that I promise you.’’ replied firmly Tina before looking back at Keiko Nomura. ‘’Keiko, I am afraid that this move by Chairman Stein could be followed by more direct measures against our androids. What if you receive an order from the Admiralty to disarm our androids or even to have them deactivated? Would you obey such an order?’’
‘’No!’’ answered at once the wing commander. ‘’I would resign my Navy commission before obeying such an abusive and unjust order. After this meeting, I will go speak with all the personnel of my unit about this and I am pretty sure that all of them will agree with me and support you and your androids, even if that means for them that they will quit the Navy. As you may know already, quite a few of my men and women have formed friendships with particular androids and nobody in my unit will be ready to disparage or disrespect your androids.’’
‘’Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this, Keiko. Please keep me appraised on how your unit will react to this edict.’’
‘’I will, Tina.’’
Next, Tina spoke up again, this time to address the whole group.
‘’We certainly will not take that edict lying down, my friends. I fully intend to call in all the political favors owed to me by the other members of the High Council. With luck, the outrage will be enough to make Stein back down. As for this ship, here is what we will do in the meantime…’’
19:42 (Universal Time)
Apartment # 554-042, Habitat Ring complex
A.M.S. NOSTROMO, docked at the New Horizons orbital station
Planet Vinland, Gliese 832 System, 16.2 light-years from Earth
Pieter Nordlung had a sober expression on his face when he opened the door of his apartment to Jehanne de Domrémy, something that both surprised and worried Jehanne. Normally, he greeted her with a big smile and a kiss when she visited him at his request.
‘’Is everything alright for you, Pieter?’’ she asked, to which the Navy fighter pilot replied with a slow shake.
‘’Not really, Jehanne. But please, enter! We will talk once sitting together in my lounge.’’
Now truly preoccupied and with dozens of possible explanations and scenarios playing inside her electronic brain, Jehanne went to Pieter’s lounge and sat in its big, three-seater sofa, with Pieter then sitting next to her.
‘’So, Pieter, what is eating you? That awful edict from Chairman Stein?’’
‘’Exactly! Major Nomura spoke this afternoon to me and to all the wing personnel about it and asked what the position of each of us was concerning the edict.’’
‘’And I suppose that you disapproved of it?’’
‘’Strongly! And so did all the others in the wing. We have too much respect for you and your android comrades to demean you all by accepting and obeying that awful edict. However, I wanted to speak with you about my own personal position.’’
Jehanne stayed silent as Pieter gathered his next words, delivered in a soft voice.
‘’Jehanne, I decided to resign my Navy commission rather than risk having to receive orders that could hurt you and your comrades.’’
A flurry of data and electronic activity burst inside Jehanne’s central processing unit on hearing that: she knew how much Pieter valued being a Navy fighter pilot. Passing one arm around his shoulders, she then glued herself to his side and looked into his blue eyes.
‘’That was a brave and noble gesture on your part, Pieter. Thank you for caring about us androids. Do you know if many of the other fighter pilots and crews also decided to quit as well?’’
‘’I do! Admiral Yamashiro is going to get a nasty surprise in the next few days, I assure you of that. But there’s more.’’
‘’Oh? Tell me!’’
‘’Don’t laugh, Jehanne, but I believe that I am kind of in love with you.’’
Hearing those words produced a burst of renewed activity in Jehanne’s electronic brain which produced something without precedent in her: she reacted without consciously thinking about it, something theoretically impossible for an android or robot. Gently taking his head and making it turn to face her, she then gave Pieter a long kiss on the mouth, to which he reacted by bending forward and enlacing her with both arms. After many seconds, they unglued themselves from each other and looked into each other’s eyes.
‘’Pieter, I will not laugh at you for saying this, because I both understand and appreciate very much what you just said. You have made my life much more enjoyable by your presence and liaison with me and you have proved to me to be a truly exceptional man: you are brave, intelligent and, most importantly, caring.’’
‘’I…I wish that you could feel love the way us Humans do, Jehanne, but I suppose that you and the other androids can’t possibly feel true emotions.’’
‘’Maybe you’re right about this… Maybe you’re wrong, Pieter. The fact is that I am as attracted to you as you are attracted to me. Isn’t that a way to define love?’’
‘’You are right about that, Jehanne. Thank you for your comprehension.’’
Jehanne then took a decision and spoke to Pieter in a very soft tone.
‘’Pieter, will you accept that we live together in your apartment? While I will keep my present apartment in order to be able to use periodically its cybernetic maintenance alcove in it, I will transfer most of my personal belongings to here. That is if you agree to it, of course.’’
Jehanne was further touched by seeing tears then roll down from Pieter’s eyes.
‘’Jehanne, I will be most happy to live with you, forever!’’
The strange feeling that had gone through Jehanne’s electronic brain then morphed into something indescribable to her and she glued herself to him again for a long kiss and embrace.
07:58 (Universal Time)
Thursday, November 29, 2334
Office of the Admiral of the Fleet, Spacers’ League’s Navy Headquarters
City of New Dawn, planet Providence, Alpha Centauri B System
Fleet Admiral Jiro Yamashiro had just walked into his office at the Navy’s headquarters, ready to start this day of work, when he came to an abrupt stop on seeing the large parcel sitting on top of his work desk. While he routinely received dozens of letters and printed messages every day, getting parcels was definitely not the norm for him. Approaching his work desk and the parcel somewhat cautiously, he then read to delivery slip attached to the parcel and immediately frowned: it came from the A.M.S. NOSTROMO. Not touching the parcel and activating his intercom, Yamashiro contacted his staff aide, who was in charge of taking care of his mail, among other things.
‘’Lieutenant Fiorenza, could you come in my office for a minute?’’
‘’Right away, sir!’’
Less than thirty seconds later, the young and pretty Maria Fiorenza walked in and stopped at attention, saluting Yamashiro.
‘’What can I do for you, sir?’’
Yamashiro returned her salute before pointing at the parcel on his desk.
‘’This parcel, when did we receive it, Lieutenant?’’
‘’Very early this morning, sir, via express courier. Since it was not marked as ‘urgent’, we kept it for your arrival this morning, sir.’’
‘’And was it checked for any possible dangerous content, like explosives or chemical substances?’’
‘’It was scanned thoroughly before it was brought to your office, sir. It contains only a large collection of badges and dozens of printed letters, according to the scans.’’
The mention of badges and printed letters, allied to the fact that the parcel came from the NOSTROMO, immediately raised an alarm inside Yamashiro’s brain, who then nodded his head once.
‘’Very well! You are dismissed, Lieutenant.’’
‘’Sir!’’ replied the young woman, saluting her superior before pivoting on her heels and leaving the office. Getting closer to his desk, Yamashiro grabbed an envelope opener and cut the parcel open along the lines of its top flaps, then opened the flaps to see what was inside. He then saw dozens of Navy badges and rank insignias, each attached to an envelope. The badges belonged to Navy flight crews as well as to Navy ground support crewmembers. Taking the topmost envelope and insignias on top of the pile, Yamashiro eyed for a moment the rank insignias and wings of a major of the Navy’s Fighter Corps before opening the envelope and extracting the document inside to read it. He couldn’t help swear quietly to himself before putting that document down on his desk and grabbing a second document with insignias attached to it. His head swam after a minute or so when he understood the significance of that parcel. Using his intercom again, he called his head of personnel.
‘’Captain Jumongo, I need you in my office, ASAP!’’
‘’On my way, Admiral.’’
Navy Captain Mbaya Jumongo, a big and powerful man, arrived after a bit over a minute and saluted Yamashiro at rigid attention.
‘’You needed me, Admiral?’’
‘’Yes, Captain! I received this morning a parcel sent to me by the 34th Heavy Fighter Wing, which is embarked on the A.M.S. NOSTROMO. I got a shock when I opened it and saw what was inside it. Please examine its content and then tell me what you think of it.’’
‘’Uh, yes sir!’’
Stepping forward next to the desk, Jumongo started reading each of the folded printed documents while examining the insignias attached to them. His face reflected pure dismay when he looked back at Yamashiro.
‘’Those are the letters of resignation from the Navy from every member of the 34th Heavy Fighter Wing, sir! The whole unit is quitting!’’
‘’Is that even legal, or should I treat this as mass mutiny?’’
Jumongo, still shaken by the reading of the letters, took his time to carefully think before answering.
‘’Technically, they are in their legal right to resign, Admiral. Our only declared enemies are the Space Predators and this is not linked to them in any way, so this can’t be called a mutiny per say. They will also be still eligible to receive whatever pensions and benefits that their years of service entitled them to. It is however a shocking precedent that could cause serious damage to both the reputation of the Navy and to its cohesion.’’
‘’What about the heavy fighters and the support equipment and ordnance presently aboard the NOSTROMO? Don’t they belong to the Navy, which would then mean that they have to be returned to us on pain of attracting charges of theft of government property?’’
‘’Normally yes, sir, but not in this case. While the personnel of the 34th Wing belonged to the Navy, their craft and support equipment were paid for by Rear Admiral Forster and are part of the private inventory of her ship, sir. To her credit, Rear Admiral Forster fully financed herself the participation of her NOSTROMO to the Navy’s combat operations.’’
‘’But, what will the personnel of our 34th Wing do now, out of Navy service?’’
‘’They will simply become a privately-operated fighter unit, flagged under Forster’s New Haven Planetary Corporation, the same way Forster’s security androids are a privately-owned and operated Space infantry unit, sir.’’
Yamashiro’s expression hardened, not liking this one single bit. He however did not have time to swear out loud before someone knocked on the door of his office, prompting a shout from him.
‘’COME IN!’’
The person who then entered the office proved to be Lieutenant Fiorenza, carrying a large parcel in her arms while looking quite embarrassed.
‘’Uh, we just received another parcel from the NOSTROMO, sir: it is also addressed to you personally.’’
Yamashiro rolled his eyes before signaling Fiorenza to approach him.
‘’Alright, Lieutenant: give me this package.’’
‘’Yes sir!’’
Watched by Jumongo and by Fiorenza, who had not been dismissed by him, Yamashiro took the parcel and proceeded in opening it. Again, he found a large collection of envelopes to which insignias were attached. Taking the top one and opening the folded document inside the envelope, to which the rank insignias of a rear admiral were attached to, Yamashiro then read out loud the letter addressed to him.
‘’To Admiral of the Fleet Jiro Yamashiro, from Rear Admiral Tina Forster. Following the proclamation by Chairman Paul Stein of his Executive Edict Number 12,306, stripping my force of security androids of their Spacers’ League citizenship and of their legal status as sentient beings, I and the crew of my ship, the A.M.S. NOSTROMO, have now no choice but to collectively resign from the Navy Reserves and to revert to fully private status under the charter of the New Haven Planetary Corporation. Signed: Captain Tina Forster, Spacers Star of Courage, Navy Distinguished Medal with three clusters, Navy Meritorious Service Medal, Jovian Uprising Campaign Star, Ross 128 Campaign Star, three Space Predators Battle Stars. P.S.: FUCK OFF!’’
As Yamashiro turned red with anger, Maria Fiorenza had to do a heroic effort not to burst into laughter.