The doors met and melded together and as we took off I could hear Eli answering my unspoken question.
'For what strength it may give you, my beloved son,... I am your mother.'
CHAPTER 15: Micro Island
Three hours later we had traveled some 3700 miles and were approaching the northeastern shore of Micro Island. This large semi-tropical Pacific island had risen out of the ocean during the cataclysmic earth changes of the late 20th century. It was about half the size of 1976's Australia. The Macro society maintained a well-protected base on this eastern coast from which it carried on most of its contacts with the island's interior. Carol had explained that this base, where we were planning to land, was completely protected by an invisible force field which had effectively resisted all attempts to breach it. Now as we came in sight of this Macro society enclave I was startled to see it surrounded on its landward side by thousands of people.
'What an enormous number of people,' I exclaimed. 'Do the Micro Islanders usually gather in such numbers outside the Macro society base?'
'Not that I've heard of,' Carol replied. 'In fact, Micro Island has a law against coming within ten miles of our base. They used to patrol this zone with policemen and dogs.'
'Well,' I said, 'either they repealed the law or there are an awful lot of lawbreakers down there.'
The force field was momentarily removed and we descended into a clearing beside a Gamma building which was surrounded by about 1,000 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and parkland with large swimming pools and recreation areas. As our transair touched down I saw a very tall man leave the building and run toward us. By the time we were on the ground he had reached us, and Carol introduced me to Orion, the Gammar of this base. She had talked with him during the past week via C.I. video, so now they seemed like old friends.
'Why the crowd?' I asked.
Orion answered, 'It seems that President Elgon Ten has proclaimed an island holiday in honor of your visit. He and his Vice President, Sela Nine, are out there now waiting to greet you. I'm sorry there's no one else from the Macro society here, but all the rest of our Gamma is off in the interior using this holiday as an opportunity to tutor.'
'What happened to the law against coming within ten miles of this base?' Carol asked.
'In honor of this occasion,' Orion explained, 'Elgon rescinded it for today.'
'Why did they have a law like that in the first place?' I inquired.
'That's easy to answer,' Orion replied. 'Elgon and his assistants are afraid of our influence on their people. They don't want to lose anyone to the Macro society, so any islander who is caught talking with a member of the Macro society is punished severely.'
'Are you that successful in getting recruits for the Macro society from here?' I asked.
He answered, 'We might be if they didn't have that law. Even with it we find about a hundred people each year who are ready to go to the mainland.'
Looking at the crowd packed outside the invisible force field I was surprised at the number of very small children who were permitted to gather among such a crowd without the supervision of their parents.
'Where are the parents of all those little ones, and why aren't they here looking after them?' I asked Orion.
'They're there, Jon, right along with the children,' he answered. 'You're just not used to seeing such large families. Here on Micro Island birth control is strictly forbidden. It's not unusual to see families with fifteen to twenty-five children. The more children a couple has, the greater their prestige.'
'But why don't these people limit the size of their family to just the number of children that they can adequately clothe and care for? Just look at some of them,' I remarked.
'Yes, I know,' he replied. 'They're the victims of their religions which denounce birth control as a mortal sin. The fact is, however, that Elgon would change that if he thought it would serve his purpose. Of course, it won't, for his purpose, publicly stated, is to outbreed the Macro society so he can justly claim the mainland as his territory.'
'Don't the women get tired of being pregnant all the time?' Carol asked.
'Yes indeed, they do,' Orion answered. 'In fact one of our biggest problems with Elgon and his assistants is that they interfere with our distribution of birth control tablets to those who ask for them. You see, both Elgon and his assistants have highly developed telepathic and clairvoyant powers so if a man or woman even desires birth control tablets in their presence they are aware of it and the individual is punished the same as if he had talked to a Macro society member. You probably know that our birth control tablets render the person infertile for anywhere from one to five years, depending on which tablet is taken.'
'In a culture like this it would be a blessing to be physically unable to bear children,' Carol observed.
'Not really, Carol,' he explained. 'You see, any woman who is unable to bear children is used as a prostitute and forbidden to marry. That really brands her, for marriage is highly revered here. The only cause accepted for divorce is a woman's inability to bear children.'
'I guess if a woman wants a divorce she just takes a pill!' I commented. 'But if talking to a Macro society member and taking birth control tablets are both against the law, how do people manage to get the tablets?'
'They know we are telepaths,' Orion answered, 'so all they have to do is pass us on the street thinking the request and we'll teleport the tablet of her choice to her when no one is watching. The problem is that one of Elgon's thousand assistants sometimes intercepts the signal. Then the person is immediately dragged away to the nearest public penalty square where... but then, I needn't tell you of their atrocities. You'll see them soon enough.'
My attention went back to the crowd outside the barrier and I remembered that their president, Elgon, and their vice president, Sela, were waiting outside for us. I asked, 'Do you think it would be dangerous for Carol and me to go out and meet their president?'
'Not immediately,' he replied. 'They plan to give you a royal reception, show you what they believe are the virtues of Micro Island existence, and then try to persuade you to allow them to help you complete your time translation.' '
'Then,' I said, 'I suppose they feel I'll be so grateful that I'll want to stay here forever among them, right?'
Orion looked at me very carefully for a moment before he said, 'They are very clever and will use every trick they can think of to get you to allow them to complete your time translation. You see, they believe that if this happens before you are level three it will mean that you will regress in awareness and be unable to live happily in the Macro society.'
'Okay,' I said, 'then it only becomes dangerous for us when they see that I've successfully resisted their persuasion to let them complete my time translation. We'll plan to return here just before that happens.'
I suddenly realized that Orion did not believe that would be possible and was vainly trying to hide his doubts concerning my success with the Micro Islanders. I found myself beginning to share some of his doubts, but I tried to put on a brave smile as I said, 'Well, maybe it won't turn out as badly as you think, Orion. But in any event, I must take the risk and grow from the results, whatever they may be. So if you'll be kind enough to open your force field we'll go out and meet President Elgon and the crowd.'
He slowly nodded his assent, then walked with us to the beginning of the force field, where he stopped and turned to us. 'Be sure to use the number as their last name. It's very important to them as it represents the level of awareness they profess to have evolved to.'
Looking deeply into Carol's eyes he lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them. I was somewhat surprised when he turned and gave me the same warmly affectionate farewell.
He then raised the force field and allowed us to step outside the protected area. Once we had done this, both Carol and I could clairvoyantly see the force field return and knew that we now stood unprotected, except by our own minds, before what looked like the entire population of Micro Island.
