Finding Faith pt. 1

[The following is a work of fiction. Feel free to ignore this post. I would like to see more stories of culture on Chiron. One of the great things about SMAC is that the (pardon the pun) "civilization" hasn't been written yet. It's a tabula rasa that we can write upon. Anyways, if you folks feel that this is wasting bandwidth, let me know. I'm not quite sure where this story is going yet -Chairman Bob of the Peacekeepers]

Father Byron Eduardo Gomez, his pale face illuminated by the computer screen in front of him, turned suddenly to the sound of military boots behind him. "Chris!" he shouted, warmly grasping the hand of his friend.

Christian Anderson returned the handshake. Christian looked at his friend through bloodshot eyes. Traces of blue could be seen on his skin. A scar ran down the side of his face. "Father...it's been too long."

"Two months," said Byron "We weren't sure if you were coming back." Father Gomez pulled a chair up to his desk. "Was the fighting as bad as they said?"

A nod. "Worse. Sister Miriam has begun raising mindworms. Her forces ambushed us on our way to liberate U.N. Relief Base. The worms made a soldier under my command lose it. Full metal jacket round into my helmet. Breathe nitrogen for an hour or so...kind of clouds your judgment."

Father Gomez fingered the silver cross he wore over his UN issued jumpsuit. The tarnished metal felt greasy in his sweaty hands. "I can't believe Sister Miriam would have taken her crusade this far...."

"You knew her once, didn't you?"

A smile passed over Father Gomez's lips. "I don't think anyone really knows her. She was present when the Vatican sent me and the ten others as the Church's representatives." A tone of bitterness could be heard. "She was allways...zealous. Over dinner she explained to me her vision of Chiron. I didn't like it too much then in Rome. I like it less now...after all that's happened."

Christian looked him deeply in the eyes. "Since you lost your faith, you mean."

"The old discussion again?" Father Gomez sighed. This was a discussion they had had ever since the accident. Christian had been the one who pulled him from his depression. Some nights he could still feel the cold dead flesh of the woman beside him. "What if I hadn't? Even then I don't think I would have felt comfortable in Miriam's colony pod."

"At least you would have been respected." He waved a hand dismissively around the former priest's office "At least you wouldn't be stuck in Data Recovery."

To Father Gomez, Data Recovery was not that bad a thing. When the colony ship, UNS Unity, perished the main computer banks were lost. The only information left was the data stored on the colonists' personal computers. 10,000 years of human knowledge lost in the cold reaches of space. For those in Data Recovery, life consisted on sorting through file after file of stored personal data, hoping to come across a colonist who saved a favorite book, a favorite work of art. His task was the recovery of theological works. Twelve versions of the Bible had been found, but what of the great works of theologians past? Only so much of the writings of Thomas Aquinas could be found in assorted reference books. Would this be lost forever?

"It's good work Christian. I don't hold it against the Chairman for not finding a more priestly duty for me. The only bad days I have here are days where I find a colonist saved 8 gigs worth of 20th century cartoons rather than a copy of Summa Theologica. But tell me, we are not here to debate this. What did you need?"

Christian had never before been a man to skirt around an issue. On Earth he had served the UN Peacekeepers in the Sino-US nuclear exchange. He boarded the Unity believing wars to be behind him. Chiron would prove him wrong. "What's the church position on xenoforms?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I need to know how a church would view an intelligent alien being. Do they have souls? Are they to be saved by conversion?" Father Gomez sat back in his chair, his fingers forming an arch in front of his face. It was an old position from Earth. Another habit from a dead planet he could not set aside. "In the Christian faith? You ask a lot. Obviously they are not formed in man's image, they are not the descendants of Abraham, they formed no covenant with god, and they are not born of original sin, one presumes. But why?"

Christian stood up and turned his back to Father Gomez. "Because Father...the fate of the planet may rest upon this."

To be cont. in part 2

Losing Faith pt. 2

[Due to poor message propagation, I am going to give a brief recap before each section. If anyone is actually interested, I'd be happy to send any part to you. For those not interested in fiction on this NG, please ignore all future post with the word "fiction" in the header. Last chapter we were introduced to Father Byron Eduardo Gomez, a former Catholic priest living in the U.N. New World Headquarters who now works in the Data Recovery section, attempting to recover lost works of Earth history from the colonists' personal computers. His best friend, Christian Anderson has returned from a battle with the Believer faction.]

Two suns of the Alpha Centauri system hung in the sky, a painful reminder to the colonists that this was not the world of their parents. Over 105 years ago, they had boarded the colony ship U.N.S. Unity in the hope of escaping from the chaos of Earth. One of the eight living modules from the ship now made the counterpoint of Chiron's first city, U.N. New World Headquarters. Where once 10,000 colonists slept in frozen coffins just 30 years ago there were now the government offices, the schools and restaurants. Before materials were mined from the surface, the first 1,000 colonists wakened lived inside it, until a larger dome could be constructed to maintain a breathable air.

Father Gomez stared at the former interstellar vessel. Does anyone on Earth even remember us, he thought, or did they finally destroy themselves in a fit of madness. Such thoughts bothered him. If he had right, he would pray for his former home.

Father Gomez and Christian walked in silence across the steel boulevard to the mindworm breeding pits. Last year, the Gaian faction had transmitted the technology needed to build them. The U.N. had hoped that they would prove decisive in the war against the Believers. So far they had met with little success.

"Chris," asked Father Gomez "Why did you ask me about how the church viewed alien life? And why the questions about Miriam?"

Chris peered through the Plexiglass windows into the breeding pit.

"Before I answer...how much thought have you given to the native life on the planet?"

"As much as anyone," said Gomez, shrugging his shoulders. "An ecology doesn't get much simpler than this. We have four known examples of vegetation, the most pronounced being the fungus. The only thing approximating animal life are the mindworms. As for what was here a million years ago, it's anyone's guess. The monoliths we found are definitive proof of a prior intelligent civilization, but of them we know nothing."

At the mere mention of the monoliths, Chris' body tensed. "Have you ever heard of an ecology that became less complex over the years? All we know of evolution suggests that diversity increases...not decreases. For intelligent life to have once formed, we should see millions of different species...not just these mindworms. Are you aware of the theories of ecological disasters being the reason for the demise of the original Chiron race?"

"Of course, Chris. It's still speculation. The idea is that the first race here genetically created the fungus and the mindworms...perhaps as a tool or a weapon, and were destroyed by their own creation."

Chris shook his head. "What if they didn't create the mindworms. What if they had made the planet self-aware instead. Before they vanished, they somehow created a world that was of a single mind, designed to protect itself."

"I...look Chris, I won't deny that it's one possibility but it seems the other answers are more likely. As for the notion of a planet becoming aware of itself....well, the only thing that would suggest this are the reports of some colonists hearing a 'voice'. Chris, I was once a priest. I've heard stories many would consider mad ....possesion by demons or people talking with God. Perhaps I would have believed once, but now I see it for what it was. The human mind playing tricks on itself."

Christian hesitated. "Father....I heard the voices myself."

Father Gomez put his hand on Christian's shoulder.

"It was during the retreat. We had pulled back into a monolith to avoid the mindworms. That's when I heard it....it was...well, let's just leave that aside. What if there was an intelligence to this world? How would it perceive a race that wasn't of one mind?"

Father Gomez shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"I gave this some thought. If an intelligence evolved as a single entity, would it be able to comprehend a species that can't remember it's own past? Can it comprehend simple human traits, such as the ability to tell jokes or to lie?"

"Jokes, I could see" said Father Gomez. "Lies? No, I guess it would believe that every entity is telling it the truth as that entity perceives it. What does this have to do about religion?"

Chris turned his back on the former priest. "Father, when I was a soldier back on Earth, I didn't believe in God. After what happened to us on the Unity my faith changed. Religion is a....personal...thing with me. I would never force what I believe upon someone else, but what if someone was to tell the planet about God? And Christ? Would it have any choice to believe as the person telling it the story would believe?"

"And this is why you asked about alien life and the Bible?"

Chris nodded.

"I see....I think."

"No Father...you don't see. Sister Miriam is going to convert the Planet to her God....and it's up to us to stop it."

To be cont. in pt. 3