1

They were all gathered in the Garden for an important event. The occasion was Marta and Jorge’s birthday, they were both now eleven Standard, or nearly fifteen by Earth chronology. Previous birthdays had been celebrated separately, before the children were aware of each other’s existence, and had been much less elaborate affairs. Marta couldn’t help thinking that the nursemaids were making up for their previous policy of segregating the two groups of children, as they were really pushing the boat out…
Marta and Jorge were waiting ‘off stage’ to be introduced as guests of honour. There would be music, quivarde, samba and tropicalia for her, and norteno and mariachi in honour of Jorge. The boy had privately admitted that he didn’t much care for Mexican popular music, and would have preferred something classical, but didn’t like to spoil the party atmosphere. She could see tables over by the far side of the space loaded with food, both printed and grown. Far more than their normal strict rations would ever have permitted, as well as a large banner saying ‘Happy Birthday, Jorge and Marta, eleven Standard today!’
“I suppose we better get this over with…!” said Jorge, morosely. She took his hand and they paraded out into the centre of the arena. Marta noticed that bunting and streamers had been hung from the nearer trees and bushes…the butterflies and bees appeared to have retreated to the quieter margins of the bower… All of the children were there, as were all of the nursemaids, even the really stupid ones…
Nurse Gee was waiting for them,
‘She’s going to make a speech…’ thought Marta in a panic, ‘…please don’t…’
But Gee was not to be stopped,
“Today is a significant and happy day in the history of our little settlement…” Gee paused dramatically,
“…the first joint birthday party we have held for any of our children…I would like to congratulate Marta and Jorge on reaching a significant milestone…! Today you are eleven Standard, Happy Birthday…!”
The music changed from subdued quivarde to an uproarious version of ‘Happy Birthday’ which everyone joined in with…
Sal then took the lead,
“HIP, HIP…!” he cried,
“HOORAY…!” everyone chorused back three times.
Jorge and Marta were then ushered forward to blow out the candles on their joint birthday cake, which they managed in one collective breath. But Gee wasn’t quite finished,
“Before we enjoy our cake, I have one or two remarks that I wish to make…” Nurse Gee paused and surveyed the room,
“…this year has been a memorable one for so many reasons…! The joining of the two groups of children being only one…!”
Isolated cheers at this point,
“We have also, thanks to Marta and Priya, established that we share this world with other intelligent, and possibly self-aware creatures… We are making, thanks to Rai and Jorja, significant progress towards growing our own crops outside the Dome, and dealing with our nutrition issues… Sal and Jorge are working jointly on significant research that will help solve the enigma that is Alpha Centauri’s celestial mechanics…and last but by no means least…Han and Marta’s geomorphology and climatology data is beginning to give us significant insights into the recent history of our world…! To all of you, our thanks and congratulations…! We have also commenced our programme of flight training that will enable us to explore fully the planet’s surface…but all this pales into insignificance beside the significant milestone I wish to announce today…! For today, we move beyond being a Mission, beyond being merely a crew…and take our first step to being a colony…!”
Gee paused for effect,
“We have new arrivals, my dears…and you will meet them tomorrow…! For now, enjoy the party…”
Gee swept out of the room at this point, while the music swelled and the lights dimmed,
“What was all that about…?” asked Marta struggling to make herself heard over the din,
“I don’t know…” said Sal, “…but she always does that, makes this big speech…announces something really important is happening…but then says we’ll find out tomorrow and leaves before we can ask questions…!”
“I think she’s just a drama queen, really…!” said Priya
Marta noticed that all the other nursemaids had withdrawn just after Gee’s grand exit,
‘Not that you ever got anything really interesting out of them, anyway…good for taking lessons, answering technical questions…and looking after you…but none of them ever expressed an opinion…or said anything in the least bit controversial…and some of them were, quite frankly…rather dim…!’
“I believe the first dance is mine…!”
Jorge’s voice brought her back to the here and now,
“…I haven’t said so, yet…but Marta, you are absolutely beautiful…”
Marta blushed, but was secretly thrilled. She knew that Jorge liked to compliment her on her appearance even though he would never be able to see her, not properly. His location sense had recently been upgraded, he could now discern some detail, rather than just outline, but it would never be the same. Nonetheless, she’d allowed Priya to help her with her make-up, and in choosing her outfit…and they’d got the Nurses to print a little black number for the party…the sort of outfit she would never have thought, or dared, to wear before… And she loved the compliment…
They had also been practising dancing together, in Jorge’s room after Mission hours… The music they’d selected for their first dance had been cued, they were going to dance the cha cha…
She had been surprised and then intrigued when Jorge suggested they learn to dance together. But it turned out that he had stumbled on a reference to wheelchair dancing in an old book printed for him by the Nurses… He had found out there was such a thing as combi-dancing where the able bodied and wheelchair users danced together, and he had chosen the cha cha for her as it was a Latin dance that originated in Brazil. In the cha cha both partners faced each other, mirrored each other’s moves and did not use close holds, making it ideal for their purposes…
“Ready!” whispered Jorge,
“I think so….” she whispered back. In truth, she was as nervous as a kitten. But the dance went well, they stayed together during the cha cha cha and the New York… There was a nasty moment when Jorge almost missed her hand for the turn but she was able to adjust, and no-one seemed to notice…in fact they all cheered wildly, even Rai and Jorja,
‘Maybe things will be better in the future.’ she thought hopefully…

2

The morning after the night before things seemed less rosy. In deference to the night’s celebrations Six Gee had pushed back the morning briefing to 10.00 hours, but it still seemed far too early. Several aspects of the previous night’s events now struck a false note for Marta. The emphasis on the achievements of the seven of them, embarrassed her as it highlighted the lack of achievement of Su-Ying and Raj… The boy, in truth, didn’t seem to notice, but Marta had been looking at Su-Ying and could see she felt excluded… But the biggest thing that disturbed the girl was all the current emphasis on togetherness…as it only served to remind her that the two groups of children had been unfairly separated for so long… Marta couldn’t help feeling that she’d been cheated out of all those years when she could have been with Jorge, and not felt so alone…
The party had gone on ‘til nearly 0100 hours the following day, before the some of the nursemaids had re-appeared, like concerned parents, to usher them all to bed…
“What do you think they mean by new arrivals…?” asked Priya on the way to the briefing room,
“Well, I hardly think it means someone’s come from Earth…” said Marta sarcastically. Instantly she regretted her snide comment and continued rather more diplomatically,
“…I suppose it means they’ve sorted out the problems with the Hatching programme…”

---

The meeting started off routinely, there were reports back from the children on their specialisms and on recent Mission tasks. Nurse Gee then announced that next week would see the first solo flight to be undertaken by the children. Han had the honour of piloting the first Mission beyond the reach of the Dome’s communications network. He would be accompanied by Sal. The Mission would overfly the Asimov range and scout the area beyond. The mountain range extended for at least 1500 kliks, effectively cutting the Dome off from the Equatorial plain beyond. The range was, on average, one hundred and fifty kilometres across, and, if Earthcomm downlink’s scans were to be believed, impassable by ground transportation. Han and Sal would be out of contact with the Dome for several hours,
“This will be the first time any of you has travelled beyond the reach of Mission AI,” said Nurse Gee, sonorously, “…and we are aware of the risks you will be running…”
‘…but not the first time anyone had been out of contact with the Dome…’ thought Marta, that distinction belonged her and Rai when they had been stranded during Light-out, nearly a year before. She also knew there was a backup in place if the first solo flight were to meet trouble. The second flying machine had been tested and was now in service. Should Han and Sal fail to return, then she and Rai stood ready to fly a rescue Mission. The availability of a second aircraft was the main reason why Mission AI had approved this Mission in the first place, and the aircraft would of course be tracked from space by Earthcomm downlink…
She became aware that Six Gee had finished her briefing on logistics issues,
“…and now, my dears, that concludes the main business of the briefing, but as I mentioned yesterday, there is one more item…” Nurse Gee paused to beam at her charges, “…as I mentioned yesterday, we have new arrivals, and it is time you met them…”
The nursemaid swept majestically towards the door,
“Come along children, there is no time to waste…”
The route they took retraced Marta’s journey into the hidden zone earlier that year, but the corridor rather than pitch black was now brightly lit. They took the ramp down to the subsurface level, past the laboratories she had dimly seen, and on to the room at the end of the corridor. This was the first time any of them had been permitted to venture this way, and only Marta had ever been into this section. The girl noticed a number of differences. The children she had seen before were no longer in evidence, and the specimens had also been removed… The room was now a hive of activity, with a number of nursemaids engaged on different tasks, but there was now a new focus to their labours…
She had a sudden and overwhelming feeling of déjà vu…the lights, the activity concentrated at the far end of the room…around two small incubators,
“Oh my…!” she whispered to Jorge,”…so they have started the hatching programme again…!”
“But why all the secrecy…?” said the boy,
“…maybe they were worried it wouldn’t work…”
As they approached, they could now see each incubator contained a nearly new-born child…
Marta studied the two sleeping infants…something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it…but then it occurred to her that the children were too similar. All previous hatch-mates had belonged to different ethnic groups, and had looked subtly different…these children looked virtually identical, in fact they looked like twins…
Gee was now speaking,
“My dears, I would like you to meet the newest additions to our little settlement… We haven’t christened them yet, as we have decided that the honour of naming them should go to their biological parents…”
Nurse Gee was looking at Marta while she said this, and the girl suddenly had a sick feeling…as if the world were tilting on its axis…she held onto Jorge to stop herself from falling,
“Are you al…?” Jorge started to ask, but Nurse Gee was speaking again,
“Rai and Marta…! These are your children…!”

---

The sense of shock felt by those in the room was palpable…an audible gasp was followed by stunned silence… Even the nursemaids seemed to have stopped…then everyone’s eyes swivelled slowly towards Marta,
“…what are you talking about…? This has got nothing to do with me…”
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion…even the quality of the sound seemed different…taking on a cardboard quality…Marta sat down hard on the floor…Sal and Priya rushed to help, but she found herself waving them away,
‘…but this was absurd…these children couldn’t be hers…surely she would have known if she was pregnant…’ the ludicrous nature of this thought was suddenly too much, and she started laughing hysterically… Two junior Nurses rushed up to tend to her, she felt a slight sting as one of them injected something into her arm… She suddenly felt calm, but curiously detached…she started to take in the reactions of the other children….Jorge looked thoroughly confused…Rai looked angry…but Jorja looked absolutely stunned…
One of the children had woken, and its thin crying sounded through the sudden hush…
Sal broke the silence,
“I’m sorry Nars Gee, but what are you talking about…?”
“I’m sorry my announcement has caused you so much consternation…I’d rather hoped this would be a happy occasion,”
“Gee, I think you need to explain…who are these children and what have they got to do with Marta and Rai…?”
Gee ignored him and turned to Marta instead,
“My dear, you will remember when you were recovering in the Infirmary I told you that we had carried out some procedures on you and Rai to determine that you were not harmed by your ordeal… As well as checking your general health, we also needed to find out if you were both still fertile, given the amount of radiation you were exposed to…”
“What did you do…?” Rai had pushed his way to the front,
“I said…what did you do, you bitch!”
Even Gee’s equanimity was shaken by the boy’s tone, and there was a perceptible lag before she replied,
“…well, we removed some genetic material from both of you…and we carried out tests to determine if the material was still viable…and the best method of doing that, of course, is to attempt in vitro fertilisation… We were successful, and the results are here before you…!”
“So, this is what we are to you, is it…? Laboratory animals to be bred…! How fucking dare you…! Rai had been advancing towards Gee as he said this, fortunately Han and Sal realised what he was going to do and jumped in the way,
“HOW FUCKING DARE YOU….!” shouted Rai,
Both babies were now awake and crying, their thin wails adding to the din,
“We better get him out of here…” Marta heard Sal say to Han, and between them they managed to persuade Rai to leave the room and go with them back up the ramp…after a moment’s hesitation one of the junior Nurses went with them. The sedative that the nursemaids had given her had really started to kick in, and the whole thing had taken on an air of unreality… Jorja was crying and being comforted by Priya, Raj was grinning uncertainly, while Su-Ying had followed the boys up the ramp. Six Gee attempted to re-assert control,
“…I think, in the light of today’s events, this afternoon’s Mission activities will be cancelled…! And you should all return to your quarters…”
Gee paused uncertainly and then swept out of the room. After a moment’s indecision the other nursemaids returned to their duties, tending to the infants,
“We better go…!” said Jorge, but he hesitated as Marta remained sitting on the floor, and he was clearly unsure what to do. Priya came to the rescue helping Marta to her feet and looking her squarely in the face,
“Marta, you better go with Jorge…!”
“What are you going to do…?” she asked stupidly, Priya jerked her head over her shoulder in the direction of Jorja,
“I need to stay with her…she’s in bits…”
Somehow, Marta found herself in Jorge’s bunk, the boy had managed to get her onto the bed and almost instantly she fell asleep…

3

Jorge was watching her when she awoke,
“…what time is it…?
“A little after 2100 hours…!”
“Chod…I’ve been asleep for nearly eight hours…!
“…the sedative the Nurses gave you was quite potent…I got you some food…”
Jorge indicated the table,
“Jorge…?”
“Yes…!”
“Is it alright if I stay here tonight…?” she lowered her eyes, “I don’t really feel like being alone…!”
“Of course, we’ll have to share the bed…and I warn you, I snore…”
“So do I…!” said Marta with a smile, “…really loudly!”
“I still can’t believe it…can’t believe what’s happened… I can’t believe what they’ve done…!” said the girl after they’d eaten,
“I feel…violated…”
Jorge let her talk, knew that she had to get it out of her system,
“…I’d hoped when I was ready to have children…it would be with someone that I cared for…someone I love… Someone like you…”
Marta looked at him with such intensity that Jorge could almost feel himself shrinking inside,
“…but instead, I apparently have no say at all…no choice in who I breed with…no control over my own body…no control over my own life…and sometimes I just can’t stand it…”
She hadn’t meant to cry, but once the tears started they just wouldn’t stop. Jorge held her, they were now lying on the bed together,
“And I just feel so betrayed…by Nurse Gee…she raised me…she’s like my mother…”
“You have to remember that they’re not human…” said Jorge, “…sometimes they act and sound so human, especially Nurse Gee, that we forget they’re really just machines…programmes…aspects of Mission AI… They don’t think like us…! They don’t care…they don’t feel…not really…! They’re just sets of algorithms, following parameters set by the Mission Planners…”
Later, they lay together on the bed. Rather self consciously, as neither wanted to start something they couldn’t stop, they compromised by holding hands,
“Jorge…?”
“Yes…”
“Do you mind…?”
“Do I mind what…?”
“That this has happened…about the babies, and all that…!”
“But, you had nothing to with it…I mean…they didn’t ask you, all they did was do an operation…remove something from your body…without your permission…the rest was down to them…”
“But, I am still their mother…technically…”
“What do you feel…?”
“…back there…in that place, I couldn’t bear to look at them…I know that they must be related to me, but it doesn’t feel real…! When I think about it too much…the whole thing, it just disgusts me, and I know Rai feels the same way…in fact, he hates it even more… What sort of start is that for a child…?”
Marta was crying again and Jorge held her this time,
“You have to remember it’s not their fault…they’re innocent in all this…they have no sin…they’ve just come into this world and they’re not responsible for how it happened…”
Jorge turned to her,
“And they deserve to be loved just as much as any other child…they will need it…”
“You mean like we were…like we were loved…by machines that pretended…that could never feel…programmed by people light years away who just see this…just see us, as an experiment…! But of course, they don’t have to see us, not really…they’ll never have to look us in the face and explain why they did this to us…or ever have to say sorry…!”
“We’re here, Marta…there’s nothing we can do about that…we just have to make the best of it…and that means accepting those children, they have the right to be loved…”
“How can you be so forgiving…so noble….after what they’ve put you through…”
Marta stopped herself before she said too much, but she could see that Jorge understood… He didn’t say anything for while and Marta lay rigid beside him…thinking all the while,
‘You stupid cow! Why can’t you ever keep your mouth shut…?’
“…but they’ve given me the greatest gift of all…the chance to be alive…they gave that to all of us, Marta…and it’s up to us to use that gift…”

---

Another morning after the night before, the children met at breakfast, as usual…but no-one felt much like talking. Rai and Jorja were conspicuous by their absence. They’d all received a message by interface to the effect that Mission business postponed from yesterday would go ahead as planned today. But where this left Priya, due to go Out with Jorja, and Sal due Out with Rai, was not clarified…and Nurse Gee was not in evidence. Eventually, a junior nursemaid arrived with the news that Sal and Priya would go Out together, with one Mission being cancelled,
“How’s Jorja…?” Marta asked Priya before they headed off to their various tasks,
“Pretty shook up,” the girl paused, “…this is awkward…you know she doesn’t like you very much, sees you as a rival and all that…! Well, to find out that you and Rai…you and her boyfriend, were the parents to those children hit her really hard…”
“Um, I see…” said Marta, not sure what else to say, she decided to change the subject,
“…don’t you think the Nurses have been slipping recently, have been a bit off their game…?”
“What do you mean…?”
“Well, some of their decisions recently, have, quite frankly, been rather irrational…I mean surely they must have realised the effect yesterday’s announcement would have on us…but they did it anyway without even trying to prepare us…”
Priya, who found any suggestion of fallibility on the part of the nursemaids rather uncomfortable, said nothing,
“I remember reading,” continued Marta, “that Mission AI was thought of on Earth as something of a gamble…a bit of a risk, because it would involve a self-aware, stand-alone artificial intelligence being isolated from other AI, and from human specialist support for the first time…” she paused to look at her friend,
“Maybe, all’s not well with the system…”
“If true, that’s rather worrying,” replied Priya, “However, it could be that they’re finding coping with a bunch of adolescents harder than they thought…” she concluded with a smile, “See you and Jorge later…?”
Marta couldn’t help smiling in return,
“You always know how to make me feel better…” she said simply, “Have a good day!”

---

Marta spent the day working on her climatology data, but was able to nip over to see Jorge before dinner. As a mathematician, Jorge’s laboratory was his room. Marta found him hard at work,
“You know, my calculations and Sal’s observations are suggesting that Light-out may be a fairly recent phenomenon… Well, recent in astronomical terms anyway, not much more than fifty million years old…”
“How can that be…?” asked the girl,
“Well, it’s all rather complicated, and it concerns Prox,”
Jorge turned towards her for the first time,
“Astronomers on Earth were never really sure whether the dwarf star they called Proxima Centauri was part of the system, or not… Well, I think I’ve proved that it is, proved it mathematically, that is. Proved that it orbits as part of the Alpha Centauri system, but that its period is incredibly long, more than two million years…! If my calculations are correct, and I’m pretty sure they are! Then the effect is to periodically perturb the orbit of A so it approaches B more closely… I think this happens every five million years or so…”
“That would explain something that’s been troubling me…” said Marta,
“The data I’m analysing indicates that the climate started to change…become drier and more extreme, about 100,000 years ago…with a clear three yearly cycle, clearly related to the Light-out phenomenon. Prior to that the climate was stable…until you go back four to five million years, when it happened before…for about two hundred thousand years, then more stability, before the pattern repeats…”
“If we were back on Earth, I think we’d both be up for the Nobel prize…” said Jorge with a grin, “Have you told Gee, yet?”
“No, I was waiting for more data… But now I think, I will, as your data would appear to support mine…”
“Glad I could be of service…!” Jorge replied with mock solemnity,
“Jorge…?”
“That sounds ominous…yes!”
“…this business…with the children, It doesn’t change the way you feel about me, does it…?
“Look, it’s not your fault…”
Marta looked at him, thinking, ‘boys always miss the point’,
“What I’m really asking is…you do still love me…?
“You silly moo…how can you doubt that…? I will love you for eternity…”
Jorge clearly thought more reassurance was necessary, so he moved over and took her hand,
“Marta, we were created for each other, and I don’t just mean that was Mission AI’s plan… I think it’s part of a higher plan…you’re the only girl for me…we will be together, while we live…we will have children…lots of children, and we will be happy…! You must believe that…!”

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Chapter 9. If Six were Nine >>