“Sister, you’re not going to tell the people of Earth about the sterilant, are you?” I asked, unthinking. I put my hand over my mouth. “Oh, forgive me…”
“There is nothing to forgive. No. We will not tell them. Siblinghood has a definition of evil that our group has tried to keep in mind during our deliberations. ‘To cause any creature willful pain is evil; to pretend that another sentient creature cannot feel pain is evil; to enjoy the pain of another, sentient or insentient, is ultimate evil.’ We would be causing willful pain if we told them; we would be committing evil if we allowed the slaughter of mankind through our own inaction. The population drop will not be sudden. Those who die will be those one would expect to die, the aged, victims of accidents, the chronically ill. The human population will dwindle gradually over the next century, slightly over one percent of the original population per year, with only a tiny fraction of that number being born. At some point, when living conditions have improved, we will set the record straight for future generations.”
I asked, “What about those who want to have children and can’t?”
The mirrored hood turned in my direction, showing me my own troubled face. “Some couples may be disappointed not to have children, but in most cases they will not speak of it, and neither will anyone else. It has been a long time since any pregnant woman showed herself in public on Earth. Since the plague, the war, and the Lifer-Limiter uprising of ’81 and ’82, people on Earth have not spoken of reproductive matters except behind closed doors, and very rarely even then.”
She was perfectly right. People would not speak of it. They would be glad to have a little more water in their ration, a little different food to eat. Perhaps two “admit-to-the-park” permission slips each year instead of only one.
Sister Lorpa left us, and I asked Chili something that had been on my mind since the session. “What is this Siblinghood everyone refers to?”
She frowned, shaking her head. “They don’t define it. One gets the impression it’s a kind of lodge or secret society that does very technical, scientifically advanced work. It has both humans and Gentherans as members, and it is alleged to have members from other races as well. Their financing is secret. Their work is secret. When they have something to offer, they offer it. They’re the ones who found out why mankind always destroys his environment…”
“What?” I demanded in astonishment. “There’s a known cause?”
Chili gritted her teeth. “Margaret, forget I mentioned it! Remember, you’re under a vow of silence. Yes, there is a reason, but it’s not to be mentioned. You may learn of in time.”
She returned to the table as the group reconvened, and several Gentherans spoke of the plans for rehabilitation of Earth. Much of it would be done by the Gentheran-Human Rehabilitation Corps, a body organized by the Siblinghood (here they were again). As soon as five percent of housing space opened up in any city, people would be moved into that space from suburbs of that city. The suburbs, when emptied, would be razed, highways leading to them would be removed, the land would be reseeded and reforested. These would be enormous jobs, so we were told, that would offer full employment to anyone wishing to work. Merely replanting desert provinces such as those formerly known as Brazil, Canada, Central Africa, and Indonesia would occupy several centuries’ worth of effort.
Since cities were more efficient and easier to maintain as habitat than extensive, land-consuming suburbs, they would continue to absorb smaller urbs until all of them were gone. As space opened up in the cities, dwellings would be consolidated, and buildings would be razed to create parklands within the cities themselves, so that no dwelling would be far from open, green space. Outside the cities, reclaimed land would not be farmed until the population had dropped to the point that some or all of the algae factories could be closed.
Eventually, dairy animals would be returned to Earth, they said, and the seas would be restocked with fish and other living things. “It is possible even whales may be restored in time,” a Gentheran said, visibly moved by the idea. “We have the genetic information, and it is not beyond our capabilities. When natural space is restored, human people will be allowed to wander through it at will, so long as they do so on foot or on muscle-powered vehicles, taking with them only what they can carry. The use of destructive, noisy machinery for recreational purposes must become anathema to humans, as unthinkable as eating one’s young.”
We were referred to the reports and studies supporting the plan, and to the specifications for each separate area, available in the document department together with a timeline of the expected stages of rehabilitation. I was not allowed to see or receive the documents, of course, just as I was not allowed to take notes or speak with anyone about what I had learned. All very strange and frightening.
The most frightening part, however, came the following day. The other three students who had attended the meeting were not in class. It took me only a split second to decide it would be inappropriate to ask where they were. Later that day, the Provost sent for me, and I found her sitting at her desk, looking rather pale.
“You wanted to see me, Provost?”
“We have had a…great loss,” she said. “I wanted you, particularly, to know of it. It seems the others of your class who attended yesterday’s meeting announced to one of the participants that they
