Apocalypse
Author: ken_r AKA ken242 AKA Kenneth Renouard
Rating: Mature
Genera: AU with aliens
Couples: CC
Disclaimer: Not claiming any of the characters as mine.
Summary: In the old days, science fiction usually had a moral or a theory or a warning to go along with the story. In a time of entitlement and world government, spreading the wealth around endangers the whole system. Does a foreign culture, a foreign planet, offer more opportunity?
No matter how you feel about politics, it is obvious that eventually, every society and government will fall. The only political stand I am taking is that there is a lot of corruption with any politicians.
Our characters are taken from a dying Earth, is there a place for them on a different, but much older planet? Or, do they just find different problems? Earth is approaching its second recorded “dark age” while the monarchy of Antar has suffered through uncountable collapses.
They do encounter different meanings of words and ideas. Translations are culturally biased. Thus they are almost never completely accurate, especially when the languages evolve in totally foreign worlds. Antar has a totally different socio-economic structure. One challenge is to see that what Antar calls slavery is not that much different from the large company work forces back on Earth. If they are examined in actions instead of intent, a cubical is a cubical Antar has been studying Earth for millennia. What they know about the history and science of Earth doesn’t exactly fit what was taught to Earth children.
Some of the predictions in this story can be taken allegorically. They all are meant to be food for thought. I will be glad to answer any questions as to where the predictions came from.
Author’s notes: This story has dark moments, but it implies better futures. If you can stick with the story, then… hope for a happy ending.
Hitler claimed his empire would last 1000 years. Isaac Asimov wrote about the collapse and rebirth of a galactic empire. This also took a thousand years. Looking at present history, I don’t think it will be that slow. When world governments fall, anarchy reigns and very quickly we are back in the dark ages. Recovered faiths, relics and maybe, unforeseen leaders all can hasten this recovery.
Author note 2: My greatest fear is that every morning when I read the news, I see something in my story which has just happened in the real world. I want to write a story not a prophesy. We do live in troubling times.
Story: Apocalypse: A tale of Two Planets
It had been two years after arriving, before Liz met the man who held her contract. Two years at what had been much like the hardest classes back home. Now, her boss seemed nice enough. Nice enough! He was the ruler of much of the nearby universe! That blew Liz away. When she had made her contract, they had not named who she would work for. Taking this contract had been difficult for Liz. Liz had been the one with the big plans. Taking this contract had been one of the lowest times of her life. She could see her failure as being forced to sell her future to a stranger. Now, she found out that she would be working for a man with more power than anyone on the planet Earth. The smallest of small Earth girls was now the assistant to a king. …
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Maria quit singing, but continued to play. Finally, she said, “My name is Maria and I am your birthday present.
Michael frowned. He hated surprises and Isabel was continually trying to give him a surprise, anyway. Maybe, she had some guilt for not being what he needed as a companion. “You play and you sing. What else do you do?” Michael asked. …
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Last night when Maria was sitting on the blood red bed sheets at Michael’s home and playing her newly acquired guitar, her music was all that kept her from melting down in fear. Maria had suffered almost everything men could do to her and she had been forced to do almost everything men had demanded of her. Where was that damned prince who was supposed to save her by riding in on his white horse? Now, she needed him. …
How did the two women we all know get here? Well first we must look at a dying Earth and read a little history lesson.
Introduction and history
It was always foretold that democracies would crumble when the aristocracy who ran the democracy that is, the politicians, could vote themselves unfettered wealth. With leaders who began to hold hereditary positions, wives taking their husband’s place, fathers passing their station on to their sons or daughters, families were created that had the appearance of political royalty. Instead of representing the people, they were representing their dynasties. The masses of citizenry saw themselves little different from those of third-rate dictatorships. With no examples of pristine democracy left, a push was started towards a single world government.
In the middle of the twenty-first century, mankind was dragged into the Age of Equality kicking and screaming. The last nation was dissolved and pulled into world government. In Mexico, the states of Compeche and Yucatan started a rebellion. Soon, they were joined by the states of Quintanaroo, Chiapas and Tabasco in this rebellion. That, in itself, was not surprising, Since the 1800s, different factions in this area had rebelled against the distant Mexico City who didn’t completely understand their Mayan ancestry. They renamed themselves Nuevo Tikal even though the original Tikal was in what used to be called Guatemala before the One World Order. Dissidents of this area had even in the mid-twentieth century, tried to secede and join the Estados Unidos way up north. At times, the Mexican government found that collecting taxes in this part region might be worth your life. Other countries in Central America were often at odds with Mexico. They either helped the new fledgling country or, at least ignored Mexico’s request for help to put down the soon to be symbolic rebellion. Many people living in the southern part of Central America with Mayan ancestry flocked to the revolution hoping to have their own new country. Like many of the world’s other countries, Mexico was impoverished. It bankrupted itself trying to defend its sovereignty. Nuevo Tikal had a short-lived glory. Mexico fell quickly after the dissolution of the United States. Say what you want, both the legal and the illegal markets of the states had been supporting the Mexican economy for decades.
The United Nations Peace Corps marched down from what was once Canada, through the former United States and the suffering shell of what once was Mexico. They invaded the newly declared Nuevo Tikal whose remaining population was less than fifty thousand people after the bloody war. The small country had had its birth from the desire of an indigenous people to maintain their heritage and culture. The secession from Mexico had been a bloody affair. They won, mainly because like much of the rest of the world, Mexico had neither money nor credit remaining. The small country of Nuevo Tikal had shown its wiliness to fight to the death and the mother country soon found that it couldn’t afford the price of another soldier taking combat pay. You might say that after paying a high price in blood, Nuevo Tikal won by default even though it was standing on wobbly knees.
Now, when the blue helmets of the United Nation’s Peace Corps formed on the borders, the citizens of Nuevo Tikal prepared again to fight. The cries from the leaders to defend the infant country to the last man fell on deaf ears. The prime of their youth had already given their lives and for what, a short-lived honor of helping create a fresh government. The blue helmets marched into the capital with hardly a shot being fired. The president and congress of the new country were taken out and shot for their affront, of developing another democracy. The United Nations proudly proclaimed that now the entire world was under the New Order of Equality. Ninety-five percent of the Earth’s population were now promised the equality that bards had sung about for millennia. You can’t work, you would be promised government support until you found a job, forever, if necessary. Hungry, the government promised food rations equally for all. Of course, variety was out. Variety would lead to elitism. We, now, were a world of equality.
Equality promised unemployment subsidies, food subsidies, free housing, free health care along with free drugs, free contraceptives and free abortions. With the power of trade unions, which to their own surprise, were now usurped into the arms of the One World State, ninety-five percent of humanity now lived in a utopia. There might be downsides, but they could be overlooked for the greatness of the “New Order.” Among the ninety-five percent, births declined. Who wanted the responsibility of raising children in this time of total freedom? Marriages declined as the need for establishing a family vanished. The few births that inevitably did occur were taken at a young age to the shadowy sister of the World Government, Free Education. A belief had festered during the first half of the twentieth century, stating education could be a tool for actively forming a society. It was in the middle of the twentieth century when this carbuncle erupted into the history and civics classes. Into what the society would be formed, was a guarded privileged plan, kept close to the educationalists. As with most educational issues, the mandate constantly was changed, never considering what the people as a whole wanted.
Up to the age of 16 or until you failed out, all education was free and mandatory, that is, until you failed out. When you failed, you could work if you could find employment, a thousand applicants for every job, or you could melt back into the masses of equality. Education also was free to those who didn’t fail until it was deemed that the individual was ready to face the miniscule job market or again, they had failed the system. Of course, “being ready” was the decision of the educators.
The stated goal of humanity was to pass the union initiations and enter the job market, remembering that the unions were all now arms of the world government. From here on, there were no guarantees. If you made it this far and were lucky enough to become employed, you had a chance of entering the five percent that had not only reached equality, but had surpassed it. The first level was the Dons. The Dons had position, they had vocations and they had paying jobs. They were allowed to have families. They learned that there was a difference from having kids and establishing families. They were those who kept the other ninety-five percent going. They were security and they were programmers for the robotic factories. They became the professionals, educators and doctors.
The last and most elite groups were the politicians. They had become completely free from all restraints, rules or law. They were the new royalty. The politician’s paths were different from anyone else’s. The world Government had become their limited oyster. The politicians were free from all laws and taxes. Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution, of the old United States, which states:
“They [Congress] shall in all Cases, except Treason,
Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from
Arrest during their Attendance at the any Session
of their respective Houses, and in going to and
returning from the same; and for any Speech or
Debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other Place.
This part of the old order was followed with impunity.
They were the ones who decided what was treason or felony so their freedom became ultimate. Why restrict themselves to law when they needed the freedom to explore laws and customs? Why tax themselves as they were going to receive the tax money anyway? Their depredations against the populous were excused as misdemeanors considering the greater good they did for the state. It was the politicians who blurred the line between themselves and the state. There was a 1950s comic called “Little Abner,” One of the politicians stated:
“He makes the rules
And he intends to keep it thataway
What’s good for General Bullmoose
Is good for the U.S.A.”
In the middle of the twentieth century this was satire. Now it was gospel.
It was for the Dons to spread the wealth around. Wealth became meaningless as the class of equality grew and grew, making more demands on the limited resources. Somewhere in this mess, the entire gold supply at Fort Knox was misplaced or stolen, the unisex law of 2016 was passed and modesty, ethics and morals became remnants of the old order, no longer relevant.
This was declared the ultimate democracy. Even in the ninety-five percent, ward leaders were elected. It could be seen that the ward bosses were the mob leaders of the past. The 19th and 20th centuries had taught them well how to control crowds. Like the “shoulder strikers” of the past, their only function was to keep their wards in line. From the group of ward bosses, they elected district leaders. The district leaders elected division leaders and so forth to the ultimate council bosses or the congress. It was argued that distancing the leaders from the public eliminated radical swings of opinion. Those in congress were responsible for directing the human population. It was clearly shown that everything was fairly done by popular election, no matter how far the election was from the Masses of Equality. What was not stated, not even whispered, was that the politicians continually came from the same families. The population was not allowed to see that there was very little change in the faces of politics from what had been there before. Mankind lived in the ultimate utopia. But, in words from “Snowball the Pig,” of “Animal Farm,” (George Orwell) “Everyone is equal, except there is a small cadre who are more equal than the rest.” Or, maybe, Snowball meant receiving more resources than those at the bottom.
Many youths took their education seriously. This was the only “sure promise for success,” or so they thought. Yes, a ward leader with tremendous charisma could rise to the council by politics, which was highly unlikely, having too much charisma, was frowned upon by those in real power always above. “Doctor Peter’s Principal” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle) was to allow advancement until the level of incompetency had been reached. This protected those above.
Security and educators were the largest groups of the employed. Security offered the largest and easiest union to join. Security was responsible for seeing that the masses were continually given their entitlements. Security was the largest union, but it also was the most insecure. They were continually being purged of wrongdoers. Security was the constant whipping boy for the politicians to say they were fighting corruption. There were so many places in security for graft, that only by using extreme care could an individual avoid falling back, failed into the void of the masses. If someone is stealing, it better be someone from the top.
Educators were chosen much later in the pathway of education. They were those who showed three abilities, one, of learning and preserving knowledge and two, imparting this knowledge to others. The third was, the undying faith that they alone knew what was best for the population. Of course best was decided by close talks with the politicians. These educators were only employed by the government run schools. The little one room schoolhouses where the teachers taught lessons of both the three “Rs” as well as lessons of life were over a hundred years behind. Home schooling would send the politicians into apoplexy. Can you imagine letting parents teach their children; parents who weren’t regularly required to pass the loyalty tests of the state? Failing a standardized “Knowledge and Content” exam could be forgiven, but even a low grade in citizenship and loyalty to the state would immediately call for dismissal and retraining. Now, a teacher taught classes of hundreds of students at a time, standing behind glass screens, for their protection, while acolytes walked among the students. The acolytes slapped their rulers against gloved hands, noting progress or lack there of, from the students in the vast classrooms. Courses of study were always government proscribed. The educators looked on with pride as every classroom in the world had the same curriculum, each subject was always on the same page, no matter, how bright or slow the students were. Citizen ship was included every year. Citizenship was a series of redundantly taught choruses, singing the praises of the New Order. Education was no longer for the students, it clearly was to support the state in what ever the state believed at the moment. The acolytes were constantly reminding the students that the masses of equality were the greatest goal for a citizen. Failure at any point wasn’t failure but simply a redirection in the pathway of citizenship, a redirection to the masses of equality.
Membership to the Dons was found by the discovery of individual skills in, engineering, accounting, medicine, manual skills, mechanics, architecture and technicians, all demonstrated during the years of notes taken by the acolytes. The Dons vigorously protected their positions, their children were allowed to live at home, the Dons had families. The Dons were able to maintain private tutors for their children so their families could retain these positions. They could do this for only two children. If by chance, they produced a third child, the child would automatically be scheduled to the equality and life of the masses. Since the employment for most of the Dons was fairly secure, they only had some of the free services of the masses. They were expected to pay for everything else. They were expected to support the massive society of equality. Except for the politicians, who, of course, exempted themselves from any taxation, every household earning over a certain amount was expected to pay high taxes. The limits of earning and the amount of taxes changed continually.
There was a path that education could take citizens. It was one of secrecy. Citizens who entered this path were constantly under scrutiny. Even the most adamant protagonists of the New World knew that they needed some sort of measuring device to account for tweaking in the system and demonstrate their progress. The vocation of historian was strictly ruled like a secrete society or lodge. The initiation was rigorous and the rules were ridged. Once a citizen became a member, he had little contact with the rest of humanity. The council saw the need of a politically correct history to proclaim the greatness of the new order. They also saw the need of a separate history to account for what actually was happening. This second history was the most secret document of mankind. It would never do to allow this information to be leaked to the masses.
The council knew that there were many dissidents who never seemed to accept equality. As long as these dissidents were local and did not threaten the council it was ignored for the most part. The historians did track these outbreaks and report to the council in secret. There were always those who worked to circumvent the equality act and better themselves. At first, the council retaliated harshly. After the second cleansing of the citizenship where masses were taken out and executed, the council decided to allow these deviations to occur unless the council decided great public unrest would follow. Like the free drugs, some men needed the outlet of minor rebellion.
The final vocation was the military. The official line was that this was a world which put warfare in their past. The reality was that there were always small outbreaks that the council decided it could not ignore. Religious outbreaks were tolerated unless they became too large or showed signs of spreading. The official line was that God was the State and the State was God. You didn’t pray to some nebulous being for your needs, you asked the State for them. If the State decided you did not need that for which you made supplications, then praying to this nebulous entity was treason. It was seen that these outbreaks occurred mostly in areas where the religions had found their birth in the first place.
The great religions of the world were quickly attacked. They discriminated against each other and, also, against those with less popular beliefs. Discrimination against others, quickly spread from any beliefs, which were not held by everyone else, to that which was accepted by the government. Everyone was equal and religion created belief in something bigger than the state. This was unpatriotic because it might challenge the state.
Yes, the State gave the citizens their needs and yes, there would always be some who felt they deserved more. If this group grew very much, the military quickly was dispatched to remove and or re-train the disgruntled.
The reward for twenty years of military service was a chance to join the Dons. If the time serving in the military developed skills that the State deemed valuable, the veterans (like those who entered from the halls of education) were given a chance to become Dons. The savings and pension the veteran had at their disposal gave them this chance. If, by the time, the savings and pension were depleted and the vet had found no useful position, the vet would again join the equal masses with the promise that the State would supply all their needs. Both men and women took advantage of the military in attempts to better themselves. The life was rigorous and because of the many funding cuts, the percentage of survivors to twenty-year retirement was few. This was not common knowledge, usually only realized by those who had miraculously reached this time and looked around to see so few of their peers were still surviving.
There were other ways the equal masses bettered themselves. As long as this didn’t endanger the council, the council tolerated these paths. From the time Ogg approached Ugg and attempted to club her into submission, Ugg had wisely stated, “Forego that clubbing and promise me a tiger striped dress and I will go with you for a time and do whatever you want,” the oldest profession had flourished. Casual sex became a commodity. Women and men could contract themselves to Dons and Council members as companions. Both Dons and Doñas who arrived at this position by education or skills could employ concubines and mistresses or whatever you wanted to call the male version. Legal children were only produced from registered unions between two people. Children produced by any other liaison, immediately found themselves down in the equality masses to rise by their unassisted wits. It was understood that occasional mistakes were probable, but do this many times and the couple could find themselves without position and all that they had, redistributed back to the state. Many young Dons and Doñas in their latter days in education took advantage of this custom. It allowed social relief without entanglements. Payment was in credits and tuition. This was not official, but it did offer a backdoor for an enterprising member of the masses who wanted to climb up. The promise that kept them going was still finding some useful position after graduation. Casual sex among the masses of equality became the norm. It was an animal instinct and nothing else.
It wasn’t noticed with all the regulations and posturing for position, that romantic love was a casualty. Yes, romantic love disappeared, but rampant sex remained. Casual sex had a calming effect, so said the leaders of the state. Casual was the key as long-term sexual ties were frowned upon. Long-term ties were too much like an alliance. Long-term affairs were too much like marriage or family. The only ones who could afford a family were the Dons. They could be controlled by taxation. With improvements in birth control, casual sex had fewer side effects. It wasn’t in the interest of the state to produce more children to feed the masses of equality.
This was the situation when men, not of this Earth appeared. Men, not of this Earth were magnificent to look upon. Mankind had lost most of their religion, but these were truly children of God. Fair, blue-eyed blonds, with the bodies of Adonis, these men were almost frightening in their perfection. Tall and dark with curly black hair and black eyes that searched a human’s soul stood beside their lighter complected brothers. The men not of this Earth came in as many shades and colors as did the humans. The difference seemed to be that there was no prestige of preference for the skin tones.
Contact and bribery with the council allowed the strangers to clear out enclaves among the masses for proper remuneration, as they set up structures “Centers of Education,” as all were informed. Those who were privileged to be near these miraculous other world creatures, saw that there were also women not of this Earth. Likewise fair or dark, they seemed to be cold examples of perfection. What these people, with so many natural gifts, wanted with Earth was unknown.
The council sensed power, power greater than anything now on Earth. Some of the masses said that these giants were the children of the gods of old. These citizens were watched carefully, the council did not want to anger the other world creatures, but they didn’t want the interference of religion to become re-established either.
Into this world was born a child. Her name was Elizabeth. Her government appended 2005 to this name, but traditions had shortened this to Liz among those who knew her. Liz could not wonder about the giants. She could not worry about the beliefs around her. Liz had to survive and excel in the paths of education, which were before her. At the age of three, Liz was taken from her parents and placed in a public school. Liz showed little interest in the actions around her. There dressed in the light blue jumper with a white blouse of the New Order, Liz only knew that to avoid the equal masses, which at this stage she had been warned by her parents were the true boogeymen, she had to excel in all her studies. At first her education was general. Even if she ended down in the masses, there were central ideas of the New Order that it was deemed she should know. Some degree of reading, ciphers and approved history, was needed by all the population. Any classes showing her talents, were always followed, by classes of citizenship. How else did you assure that citizens properly understood their place in the world of equality? Yes, she could be a genius in any subject, but it would be a genius for the state. Finally, she was prepared to enter the mysteries of science. If she showed promise she might rise to the position of researcher. In the early years, Liz had a friend. That friend was named Maria. Liz met Maria during the general education of childhood. At this time they dressed identically, both in the light blue jumper and the white blouse of the One World Government. Liz found Maria in the “Period of Contemplation,” or maybe “free time” as some of the children called it. Maria was crying. “There is no way I can learn these lessons,” she sobbed.
They had little in common, but Liz helped Maria in her studies and Maria gave Liz permission to dream. No one could call Maria dumb. She didn’t have enough background to comprehend the lessons of “Citizenship.” The little girl, Liz, never before had a chance to dream of giants, princes and castles. No one had ever told her stories about fairies, dragons and handsome princes. There was some wild rebellion in the little girl, Maria, which must be kept hidden. Even at that tender age, both Liz and Maria realized that. “Liz, when the prince from high up on the hill comes, he will take us away, no more studies, no more acolytes with their gloved hands. We can breathe clean air and see the far mountains.” That dream helped Liz for a time when she thought all was lost. Eventually without Maria, this dream became almost lost, also.
When Maria and Liz were about 12, there came a time when Maria disappeared. Liz found no information about what had happened to her friend. Liz had invested a lot of her soul in this friendship. Maria had come from a single person family and, consequently, in the times when her mother was busy trying to afford raising her tiny child, Maria felt free to dream. Liz came from a two-person household, even though it was only for three years, as early as she could remember she was told, “Education is the only pathway to success.” Liz’s success would justify the effort her parents had endured bringing her into the world. Maria was looking for her dreams to lead her to a goal that could be acceptable by this society.
Liz did the unthinkable. She asked of the acolyte in charge of her division, “What happened to my friend, Maria?”
This question could have spelled her immediate failure and return to the masses. Asking questions of the State was showing immense disrespect. If the State had wanted you to know about the existence of another citizen, the State would have informed you. The acolyte was not a novice. She understood the curiosity of a child. She also, knew that this child could be someone special. The acolyte knew that knowledge of the subject, Maria, could likely be as dangerous as the question itself. The acolyte looked at the computer record of this Elizabeth 2005 and saw she was on track to researcher, a place where questions would be encouraged. The acolyte knew “this student” might be derailed by an adverse reaction to her question. The acolyte had given up the dream of being a teacher herself, and now, she was growing close to the time when she could retire to a step slightly higher than the masses. A step created when the State discovered that they needed some reward for faithful service from those not reaching the level of a professional. The acolyte named Jane 15,002, now knew that the position of Don was not reachable, but she looked forward to a time when she might be afforded a room to herself, the ability to accumulate a few possessions and a peaceful death at the end allowed by the State.
“Elizabeth, paths divide,” she kindly answered. You have assisted Maria since you were children. Now, Maria must go on her own into the area of her ability. The State feels that her interest in music and art might best be developed if she was immersed into the friendships of others like herself. The state thanks you for supporting Maria and I am sure that Maria thanks you, also. You made it possible for Maria to develop until her talents were distinct enough to be recognized.” A like answer would be given to anyone not having official need to know.
Liz could only hope that Maria was a bit closer to those mountains.
Liz sighed. Maria had, at least, avoided what both she and Liz had feared, failure and being cast back into the masses. This very real threat was frightening to a child. Maria did love music and if she succeeded, she could reach the level of Doña on this path. Liz did miss her first and only friend.
The competition for position was getting higher. Liz, now wearing the light brown jumper of a science student, was spending every minute of her life with her studies. She had been told that she was under consideration for entrance to the school of research. A researcher had a broader education than almost every other student. As the pressures of puberty developed, Liz saw some of her competitors take on contracts of liaison. A child over 16 could contract them selves to a Don’s family. Here the student could afford a tutor and the only cost was to be a companion to some young man or woman, who were assured of their social position. Liz saw many of her competitors fall by the wayside. As the studies became more difficult, being a concubine to an up and coming Don, offered the student a chance for assistance. Sometimes, this liaison became permanent.
Liz had been assured that if she failed, there were chances that a failed researcher could get picked up by a Don and given a position in whatever vocation that Don was directing, but she knew the truth, that failure was only a slow decline to the level of equality.
It was in Liz’s fourth year of advanced education. She was at the ripe age of 16. It wasn’t her mind, which failed. It was her body.
In the time before the Common Era, it could have been said that Liz’s soul had gone on “walk about.” In the time of the “Common Era,” Liz would have been diagnosed to be having a nervous breakdown. In the “Time of Enlightenment,” it was simply said that Liz had failed. The tools of measurement were no longer good enough and Liz was not important enough for them to see that she had fallen from exhaustion. Liz, now, almost through her secondary education, had failed. Now there would be investigations into what potential she could use to serve the State. Unless something was found, Liz would finally collapse into the masses of equality. This could be a severe disservice to Liz and also a waste of resources for the state.
There were other things that were happening, known to the council and to the historians, but for fear of reprisals, they had not been disclosed to the masses of equality nor to the Dons and politicians in general. For millennia, Earth had been off limits to men from out there. Space was vast and places like Earth had been marked as barbaric. They were places neither worthy of alliance nor plunder. True, there had always been stories of random abduction and even some returns after abduction. The “Men not of this Earth,” had done their best to crush these stories, with their own people, within Earthly governments. Now, they were official trade partners with Earth. They assured the populace as a whole that their intentions were definitely of peace. With the official landing of the “Men from out there,” the enclaves of spacers scattered throughout the universe, opened Earth for pillage, especially when the spacers learned that the Monarchy of Antar was contracting with humans for service. If one group of spacers could approach humanity for contract, then other spacers could approach humanity as a treasure of plunder. Space pirates had began to establish a slave trade.
The morality of slavery always fell on those who impressed the slaves in the first place. In the early 1800s it was the tribes of Africa themselves, who through war, captured their enemies and sold them as slaves. Once impressed, those who transported and sold the slaves professed to believe that they were only offering more promising conditions. Official slavers paid tribute to Antar and were registered. They became a step up from the rogue pirates. It would be later when it was learned that even pirates had levels of ethics. The rogues were another kind of pirate who conducted their business with much more violence.
At first these pirates, (I mean slavers,) being wise and registered, used human men of avarice to obtain their booty. It would be Earth’s own leaders who chose those to sell off. Once again out of the masses of equality came a new scam, a new way to purchase the pathway to become a Don, another way of making politics pay, that of selling human beings. At first, the number of humans sold was small compared to the masses of equality. Those sold were the ones who had no chance in the system. Fail on Earth and be anchors dependent on society or go to another world for another chance. The number of those procuring them was, also, small and again, regulated. The council had decided that not enough damage was being done to warrant a show of force. It was also, noted that the council probably didn’t have enough force to protect the masses from these attacks, anyway. The cry against war had been fulfilled by ridding itself of an army strong enough to face anything bigger than the small groups of dissidents. Later, as more and more politicians turned to the trade in human flesh, they would know that they were no longer skimming those without promise from Earth’s population, but selling off whole neighborhoods for the promise of their personal greed.
There were many holes in the utopia of mankind once it got started. In the past, children under 18 were deemed to be under the protection of someone with citizenship. Children were forbidden certain vices, such as drugs, alcohols and sex. The call was that at one time, women were under the same protection. There was a time when women could not own property, have fortunes or even vote for democracy. Most of the before and after, the beginning of the “Common Era” time, held to this. It was the end of the “Common Era” that women were raised to citizenship with the rights and responsibilities as all citizens. Weren’t children citizens? They should be declared to have all the rights of adults. Drugs, contraceptives and abortions had been declared legal for any citizen. Only the State, not the parental authorities were allowed to guide the young citizens and if the state so deemed it correct, youths of any age could enter into legal contracts. It was the state, which declared children had full rights of citizenship. Except for the Dons and politicians, parental rights were a remnant of the dark time of religions. The trafficking in children became a safe and lucrative proposition. The Benevolent Government saw fit to declare certain groups of those in education as not having immediate value to society. They became another market for the slavers.
Children having the ability of signing contracts also opened a way for the spacers who were not pirates to deal in human flesh. As Liz, now at the age of 16 and worried about her prospects in the future, received a proposition, an invitation for a spacer contract of companionship.