White mars by Brian W. Aldiss & Roger Penrose. Chapter 14, 15, 16

I saw in her expression ambition and hostility, which were quickly wiped away by a mask of patience; the confusion of human senses is such I remained unsure whether I had read her correctly, or was projecting my own misgivings.

‘It’s benevolent but cumbersome to operate,’ I told her. ‘Who would you find willing to take on these burdens of assisting the young, perhaps often in opposition to the natural parents?’

‘People are surprisingly willing to assist when they see a worthwhile enterprise. Their lives would also be enriched.’ She added firmly, ‘For a civilised society, there is no other way.’

I paused, wondering if I cared to contradict this forceful woman. ‘There is another way. The way of medicine. Simple supervision of a child’s hormone levels – oestrogen, testosterone, serotonin – is better than many a sermon.’

As if the thought had just occurred to her, Sharon said, leaping in, ‘And what if all this well-meaning stuff did not work? What if the kids still offended?’

Without hesitation, Belle Rivers said, ‘They would be beaten before witnesses. Where kindness fails, punishment must be available.’

Sharon screamed with laughter, displaying the inside of her mouth like a tulip suddenly opening.

‘Would that do them good?’

Crispin said, ‘At least it relieves the frustrated feelings of the teachers…’

‘So be it,’ Tom said. ‘Let’s take it to the forum of the people and try to gain support for your plan. We’ll see what our friend Feneloni has to say to it.’

All this while, the days and weeks and months of our lives were eroding away. As we entered on the third year of our isolation on Mars, I had to speak to Tom about the news of Olympus’s accelerated progress towards the science unit.

‘I know,’ said Tom. ‘Dreiser told me.’ He sat there with his head in his hands and said not another word.

Testimony of Tom Jefferies

16

Life is Like This and This…

My head was extremely bad. I did not attend the discussion when Belle Rivers stood beneath the blazing Hindenburg and argued her case for continuous education. As expected, it was opposed by Feneloni. Cang Hai and Guenz and the others reported the essence of the meeting.

After Belle and Crispin had outlined their plan, there was general applause. Several people rose and affirmed that the upbringing and care of children held the secret of a better society. One of the scientists quoted Socrates as saying that only the considered life was really worth living, and that consideration had to be nurtured in the young to sustain them throughout life.

Feneloni thought differently. The whole Rivers scheme was unworkable, in his opinion, and deserved to be unworkable. It was against human experience. It was wet nursing of the worst order. He became vehement. All living things had to find their own way in life. They succeeded or they failed. Rivers’s plan, in trying to guarantee there were no failures, guaranteed there would be no successes.

Was she not aware, he asked, of the tragic sense of life? All of the world’s great dramas hinged upon error or failure in an otherwise noble or noble-minded person. He cited Sophocles (‘already mentioned’), Shakespeare and Ibsen as masters of this art form, which purged us with pity. Tragedy was an integral part of human society, tragedy was necessary, tragedy increased our understanding.

And at this point, someone laughed. It was the murderer, Peters, under mentatropy, who to many remained an outcast.

Others idly joined in the laughter. Feneloni looked confused and sat down, muttering that people who took him for a fool would soon find they were wrong.

It was agreed that the ‘Rivers plan’ should be implemented, and allowed to run for a test period. The universe was too young for an emphasis to be laid on tragedy.

Volunteers were called for. They would be vetted and asked for their qualifications.

As usual, the proceedings were recorded, and the decisions arrived at entered on our computers.

My state of mind was low. Although we seemed to be making progress, I feared some malignant force from within might burst like a cancer into the open and render our plans and hopes useless. Outside, beyond our spicules, beyond our community of 6,000 biological entities, was the great indifferent matrix, a confusion of particles inimical to humanity.

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