Pearseus: Schism

Lucas

Lucas steepled his fingers, pressing his index fingers against his smiling lips. He had dedicated his life on Pearseus to helping the survivors and today they rewarded him with his own statue. Although not a day went by when he did not wish that more engineers had survived the inexplicable accident, the plethora of artists among the survivors meant that beautiful artifacts could be seen everywhere. A large statue of Captain Kibwe, lovingly carved in dark, polished wood loomed over the spacious timber building that served as city hall, assembly and courthouse, celebrating their late captain. Kibwe had been mourned by everyone, and they had embraced the idea of a statue in his honour. A second, smaller statue was now about to be unveiled by Croix, the new captain.

Still, Lucas could also sense the tension in the crowd. Since Kibwe’s death, the political situation had deteriorated rapidly. The community had fractured, perhaps irrevocably. He had accepted the statue in hope that the ceremony would help relieve the strain in their society.

At first, Kibwe had made all decisions – in effect, playing the role of a benevolent dictator. Crude as it was, it had been a successful model for the first year, with Kibwe proving a capable leader. Despite his success, in the second year he had insisted they follow the common three-fold distinction of power. Kibwe was voted to head the executive branch; former High Court Justice Jennifer Barrett the judicial; and Richard Walker led the city council. The latter body’s responsibilities included law-making, and everyone in their small community had the right to participate, although people often found it hard to do so while also hunting, working the fields and growing their food.

They had followed this model until Kibwe’s death. Croix had assumed leadership of the executive branch, based on seniority. Many had demanded elections; Croix’s continued refusal to do so created bitter resentment among many survivors. The city council’s monthly requests for a vote had so far been ignored by Croix and friction between his supporters and Richard’s grew day by day. Lucas tried to see both sides of the arguments, as did Barrett, but it was getting increasingly hard to do so.

He leaned forward to look on at the gathering crowd with soft eyes. In a sense, they were all his children, just as much as the twins. He had taken apart pod after pod in order to ensure their survival and had taught people how to build houses and power them with wind generators and solar panels. They had been able to salvage much from the Pearseus’ debris littering the planet. Even more would surely be found in the next years, as humanity expanded. Unlike meteors that consist of mud and ice and tend to dissolve during their descent through atmosphere, most debris had arrived in pretty good condition. Container crates were designed to withstand space and time. Their most precious find had been a crate filled with e-libs, the descendent of twenty-first century electronic books. Deceptively fragile-looking but in reality almost indestructible, they were ubiquitous back on Earth, capable of storing vast amounts of data, including books, videos and music. Even pried away from the network, their combined memory included almost all knowledge of the human race, fitted within the thin glass frames of these popular and precious items.

The man next to him rose to his feet, interrupting Lucas’ reverie. Farmer Joe, as everyone knew him, had been a simple farmer back in India, before growing his farm into a multi-billion empire. People often murmured that the empty space next to Lucas’ statue would be soon filled with one of Joe. He raised his hands to quiet down the expectant crowd.

“The man standing next to me needs no introduction,” he started, as the last of the voices died away. “Our friend, Lucas. When we first arrived, this man helped me select seeds and grow them. We were lucky enough to land in the fertile valley we now call the Capital. Many of you will remember the herds that roamed here, and how Lucas and I selected those animals that could be domesticated. You already know how we’ve produced drinkable milk. Today, I have a surprise for you: we’ve also managed to create yoghurt, cheese and cream, and Lucas here feels confident that we’ll soon produce enough of them for all of us. And it’s all thanks to this man.”