Synopsis
In 2077, Tony
Waltrop goes for a short assignment on Octula, a planet of continual
winter. Here he meets and marries Anna, a vivacious human. Anna
and her father, an important merchant on Octula, are unaware of
Tony’s life on Earth, where another wife and family await
his return.
Things are never
easy for humans on Octula. Unsettled differences between the Science
Party and the Military Party cause Tony’s assignment to be
lengthened, and he is soon involved in a Great War. His assignment
to create the government’s commerce policy is abandoned so
he can run the budget affairs of the Science Party’s war effort.
Anna’s
brothers travel back and forth to Earth frequently. Surely they
will find out about his past.
Sample Pages
Introduction
and Early Days
My name is
Tony. I am an old man, now eight-five. My children, both here in
Pennsylvania and in Octula, have asked me to create an autobiography
that tells of my travels and my loves.
Today, my mind
is clear and my memory is excellent.
Here
is the way things work: God is essentially a computer. God’s
central processing unit, or CPU, turns Its attention to one program
at a time, processes an instruction, and then turns Its attention
to another program. You are a program. I am a program. Everybody
else is a program. Every rock, tree, and bird is a program. When
the CPU is turned toward something else, you are dormant. You do
not exist at that time.
Like
a program running on any other computer, you do not realize anything
is happening when the CPU is not turning Its attention toward you.
You think you alone receive the attentions of the CPU. For this
reason, you do not realize every other entity is part of you and
you are part of every other entity. But, it is true.
Arriving
in Octula
After 127 days
the spacecraft landed in Octula, on a special platform that folded
to entirely enclose the ship just after touchdown. For several hours
before landing the ship circumnavigated the planet, and the Captain
pointed out, via the ship-wide loudspeaker, numerous interesting
sites. These included the famous Fulcan Waterfall, the Ice Steps,
and the Granite Wall. All these are pictured in the many books about
Octula, but they were new to me and I thought, as I first looked
onto Octula, I had never seen such beautiful sights on Earth.
The State Department’s
resident ambassador met the craft and took charge of moving my luggage
and equipment to my room at the ambassador’s quarters. The
ambassador was a man of about 65 years, with a distinguished appearance
and a formal way of speaking. I felt I was hearing dialogue that
was well rehearsed and well used, and I somewhat resented it. “Just
another damned consultant to house and feed,” the ambassador’s
manner said.
We rode to the
embassy in a 1982 Rolls Royce Silver Spur. The ambassador assured
me the car was the most reliable of any on Octula since gasoline
and oil were imported from Earth regularly. That was my first and
last ride in a Rolls Royce.
We took a brief
tour around New Philadelphia, the small capitol city of Octula where
the American colony resided. I saw various government buildings,
the post office, a gasoline station, and a general store. I saw
hundreds of Octulians, dressed in smocks and trousers. I also saw
about fifteen humans on the main street, all bundled up in parkas
and gloves.
“Yes,”
the ambassador recited, “the climate here is always cold.
We are exactly on the planet’s equator, and still we find
the temperature always too low for our comfort.”
I was warm enough
in the car, but I had been asked to pack my ski jacket, boots, and
mask.
“Do the
inhabitants of this planet live on the equator, too?” I asked.
“Not as
a rule,” he replied. “Almost all the forty-four million
Octulians live within eleven hundred miles of the equator, but some
towns are even more distant. You see, their very light complexions
are a result of not getting much starlight, and they are better
able than humans to endure the cold.”
We drove into
the embassy’s underground garage. The chauffeur, a human,
was met by several Octulians and this crew unloaded my baggage and
equipment and delivered it to a comfortable room in the embassy.
These Octulians were much, much taller and thinner than humans but
had extremely large heads and hands. They were very pale, paler
than albino humans.
“You will
stay here,” the ambassador said, “until your house is
ready. I believe it will be vacated in a week or two, when the current
occupant returns to Earth on the next flight.”
The ambassador’s
wife, a comely woman of about sixty, was much more enthusiastic
in her welcome. She showed me the bar and told me to ring at any
time of the day or night for food. Regular meals for the entire
household would be served at four different, set times and I was
expected to show up at the table. She talked as though my visit
were the best thing that had ever happened on Octula.
The weather
in New Philadelphia was cold when I arrived. Later I learned it
is cold all the time and snow showers are the norm every day. Even
at the equator of the planet, the temperature does not reach much
above thirty degrees.
The streets
and sidewalks of New Philadelphia are cleared electronically of
snow almost immediately. On Octula electricity and other power supplies
are cheap; a system of street warmers is in operation at all times,
resulting in clear and warm streets and sidewalks. It is very beautiful
to see the houses and trees covered with snow and very convenient
to have the streets entirely clear.
Do not
worry about religion. God does not care about your beliefs. God’s
only interest in your sojourn in the universe is to feel your pleasures
and your pains. What does God care about your understanding of Its
great plan? You are merely a pawn in the game.
Getting
Settled in Octula
I stayed at
the ambassador’s house for six weeks. The first two weeks
were to be devoted to touring the city and the outlying regions
to get an orientation and to learn the locations of the governmental
offices. These two weeks were also to be used to become accustomed
to the atmosphere and to learn how to monitor my breathing so I
would not faint from an improper supply of oxygen. I also learned
how to shop and how to order in a restaurant.
None of the
Octulians assigned to the embassy spoke English; they spoke only
Octulan. I was driven by the ambassador’s major domo, an Octulian,
in a two-person vehicle to see the four offices in New Philadelphia
where I would meet my clients. I used my translating computer to
determine what the major domo said, and I found he was pleasant
and sometimes witty.
The reason I
was in Octula became apparent to me. The government was in a state
of confusion after the removal of the Military Party by the Science
Party. The scientists knew they wanted to oust the military officers
running the place, but they had no idea what to do next. They had
elected an elderly Octulian as the head of the government, but they
had not at that time organized the various departments. I had an
interest in what Americans called Treasury and Commerce, but what
did scientists know about money and business?
I also saw the
outside of my assigned house, and I located it on the map of New
Philadelphia. The four client sites were within easy walking distance.
The ambassador’s
wife helped me find a cook and a part-time housekeeper. The American
who was vacating my house did not use domestic help, although this
is the norm in Octula.
I found out
there is almost no manual labor on Octula. Everything is automated.
Those Octulians who do not have the intelligence to become scientists
or the strength to become part of the armed forces are either idle
or become domestic workers. There are no shopkeepers, no bankers,
no factory workers, no construction workers, no miners, and no lawyers
on Octula. Goods are distributed by automated devices that service
small stores. If you want a can of soup, you go into a general store,
sit at a computer monitor, and press buttons until the soup you
want is displayed. A few seconds later your can of soup is on the
checkout counter with your bill. There are so few choices that shopping
is easy.
Ordering in
a restaurant is also easy. The menu is displayed on a computer monitor
and you press buttons to make your selection. An automaton delivers
the food to your table and collects your money.
Other work is also done by automatons. The mining of silicon is
accomplished by a scientist who monitors the work of robots, computers
handle the work of lawyers, and houses are built by automatons under
the direction of a scientist.
Medical workers
are essentially scientists who staff hospitals and clinics with
the help of automatons.
The average Octulian is much more intelligent than the average human.
There are no idiots on Octula because Octulians of extremely low
intelligence are murdered before their second birthday. There are
no exceptions; this society does not have the resources or the patience
to work with the mentally crippled.
When
God wants to experience how it feels to be murdered for a lack of
intelligence, God sends a representative to Octula.
