My name is Captain Paul Brunton. I work for Richard Spalding. He is my Leader. He is Wolf. I am commander of his personal bodyguard and his tactical advisor. I am also an officer in the Racial Guardians. I have been appointed by Wolf to join him on his special mission. This is a very great honour, and one that I intend to discharge to the utmost limit of my ability.
I have a degree in English Literature from Exeter University. Wolf has requested me to act as his personal secretary on the voyage to Achird-gamma, and to assist him in writing his great work on racial politics. Only once in a millennium does a truly seminal work appear, one which propels civilisation in a new direction. To participate in the creation of such a work is surely a great calling.
Wolf has instructed us concerning what he expects on the mission. He has a truly radical vision for the future of the new world.
Once we have achieved victory in war over the degenerate colonists, we will examine each individual thoroughly, and allocate each to a racial category. Those who are racially inferior will be sterilised, and used as slave labour. Those of Nordic or kindred blood will undergo thorough political indoctrination. Women of Nordic or kindred blood will be used for breeding. Members of the other expedition will be eligible to breed if they are of Nordic or kindred blood and demonstrate that they have become imbued with the Spirit of National Socialism. First choice of women will be given to members of the Racial Guardians. How many women each man gets will depend on what we find when we get there, and how much of the population survives the war.
Wolf’s instructions about his strategy for the war and after the war are very clear. He wants as few casualties as possible during the subjugation of the other expedition. This is not out of any concern other than for the size of the labour pool and the breeding pool. That apart, Wolf says that we will inflict as much harshcdz treatment as possible on the degenerates. Many of them will be confined to camps and made to work. Systematic rape will be used as a terror-tactic. They will need to be taught a very stern lesson that we are superior to them in every way. Their political and religious leaders will be put on trial and then executed. We will use torture to interrogate prisoners and also routinely and arbitrarily as a terror-tactic. We will succeed where Hitler failed: we will build a new world order based on an expanding population of Aryan warrior-farmers who take and guard their own living-space.
*
My name is Timothy Gonzales. Back on Earth, I was a Professor of Modern History and Political Science at Mona University in Jamaica. At the moment, I am making a living mostly by teaching Spanish, but I hope to be busier again in the future. I am a member of the very informal council which is the nearest thing that this community has to a government. Doctor Stark is also a member. People sometimes ask me what I think of Doctor Stark. That is quite a delicate question, but I will try to answer it as best I can.
I am virtually certain that Kelvin Stark does not yet realise the magnitude and complexity of what he is letting himself in for. This mission began as one of the fruits of his fevered imagination. It is on his initiative that we are all here. Most of the prospective colonists seem to have a childlike faith in Stark’s ability to master any situation that we may face. This is in some ways surprising, considering the average level of educational attainment among us. I have a feeling that people will eventually realise that Stark is a man, just like any other, but, before they do, I think they will try to elevate him as high as they can. I cannot see that Stark will lift a finger to prevent this, and he may even encourage it.
The main thing that concerns me about the man is his morals. He wants to be a public figure; he wants the fame, the influence, the power, the wealth, but he does not realise that, the more famous a man becomes, the more of his freedom he has to sacrifice. If he has political ambitions (and Stark definitely does have political ambitions) then he must live as if he has no privacy at all: he must live as if some-one is watching his every move, even when he is bed, even when he is in the bathroom. Stark does not realise this. I hope, when he eventually discovers it, it is in circumstances that do not destroy him.
At least he is educated and fairly intelligent. The same cannot be said of many leaders from history.
*
I have so many things to think about, sometimes I think my brain is going to overheat. It is still some way off, but I find myself dwelling more and more on the prospect of our landing on Achird-gamma. I find it increasingly difficult to face it coldly and rationally. Half the time, I am convinced that we are all going to die horribly. The rest of the time, I just can’t wait for us to get there, and to start building the new colony.
I use work to absorb myself. I run my businesses. I manage my staff. I participate in the running of the ship. I design factories and industrial plant, which will be built after we land. I study the gazetteer of Achird-gamma, and try to commit as much of it as possible to memory. I read. And I talk to Pamela.
Pamela and I are having the kind of relationship in which we only see each other at the end of the working day. We live mostly in my cabin, which is slightly larger than Pamela’s. We don’t sleep together every night, but we do most nights. Sometimes, a work-related matter brings us into contact during the day, which is a very strange feeling. We have a strict rule that we don’t allow ourselves to be distracted by physical affection or sex while we are supposed to be working.
I have to go into the sick bay soon for surgery. I don’t want to talk about what it is for. It is a damned nuisance, given my current workload, but it can’t be helped. Pamela offered to delegate the running of her businesses so that she will have time to look after me while I recuperate. I told her that she did not have to do that, but she insisted, and I am grateful for the offer. I am falling in love with her. She cares about me. I know we don’t spend much time together now but, when we do, she looks after me.
*
I was called before one of these committees that Kelvin sits on the other day, to talk about water resources on Achird-gamma (about which we have hardly any data). I was sitting there, listening to and answering the committee’s questions, and I was looking at Kelvin. ‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.’ I realised that I still love him. Whatever was going on with him before, I presume he must be over it, because otherwise he would not be with Pamela. I can’t believe he really loves her.
What the hell am I going to do? You can hardly even get drunk on this ship without seeing a bottle that has Kelvin’s name on it.
*
It has taken a very elaborate deception in order to get Kelvin to the point where I can make the enhancements to him. I have built a new simulacrum called Mr Chakrabarty, who is a surgeon and professor of neurology. Pamela started giving Kelvin drugs to give him blinding headaches (something which he has hardly ever suffered in his life). A bit of deception via the ship’s intranet prompted Kelvin to go for a series of consultations with Mr Chakrabarty in a part of the ship which is not the real sick bay, and then go for what he thought was an MRI scan in what was in fact a small cargo bay. The computer-generated image that I had prepared earlier showed that he had some growths in his head. Mr Chakrabarty told him that the full extent of the surgery would not be known until after it had begun. He offered Kelvin a consent form, which Kelvin read and correctly understood to mean that anything might happen, short of decapitation. He signed it. He had swallowed the deception with the fake doctor and the MRI scan, and he is a risk-taker.
The theatre nurses and anaesthetist were a few of Anna’s ladies, heavily disguised. The operating theatre was in the same bay that had previously housed the fake MRI machine. Once Kelvin was under the anaesthetic, Mr Chakrabarty went into a dormant state, and the surgery was carried out by Pamela.
It took a long time, but appears to have been a complete success. As well as the implants in his aural and optic nerves, I have also put fifteen small devices in his body: three along his spine, and three along each limb. This will mean that, when he is within range, I will be able to tell not just where he is, but in what position, and whether he is moving. No more clandestine shagging for Kelvin.
It is forty-eight hours since the operation, and Kelvin is now recuperating in his own cabin, looked after by Pamela. He should be back on his feet in a couple of days, and back at work a few days after that.
The biopsy on the growths will show that they were completely benign.