![\"photo](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DSC_0178.JPG.scaled1000.jpg\")
<\/a>photo by Alex Lear<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TRANCE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n (Based on an idea by Lynn Pitts)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Juno listened intently, his lean body hunched forward and tightly coiled as though he was preparing to leap into the screen. Bashe paced back and forth across the back wall of the control center, her head down but obviously attentive; she would pause every time a salient point was made. The debate was winding down and it was almost time for the vote of the extraordinary session. We all knew the decision could go either way.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Don’t be so stupid as to think that only tomorrow counts,” Juno snapped as one anti-project elder spoke, citing the meagerness of our resources and a need for more defense development. “What better defense than completely knowing our history?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A decision to discontinue the time travel, history-recovery project had never been this close before, but then again, we had never before been so besieged. Most people on the planet had either been overwhelmed by or had voluntarily accepted merger into the OnePlanet scheme, and only a few pockets of Diversity proponents were still active.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For me it was simple, no matter how mixed my history, I wanted Blackness to always exist. Everybody turning beige just didn\u2019t appeal to me. But then, Juno always said, the only color that counts in OnePlanet is the color of money. Social values and a way of life is where the real difference is and that\u2019s what we are fighting to preserve and develop.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I couldn’t take it anymore, I got up and started to walk back to quarters. Sometimes I just get so frustrated. Why couldn\u2019t we just be left alone. We were already reduced to tiny outposts, strategically located across the southern zones of the Americas, Africa and the Pacific Isles. We were barely twenty million strong. We just wanted to be ourselves, we\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Sheba, don’t leave,” Bashe didn’t even look up as she said that while continuing her slow strides. Her intonation told me her injunction wasn’t a request.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “This is so stupid,” I muttered to no one in particular as I sat back down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Just then Muta entered control. “Have they voted yet?” he asked flopping down into the console seat next to me.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I think they will as soon as this asshole\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Sheba,” Bashe got on my case again.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Sorry, but this is getting on my last nerve. And all we can do is sit here and wait while these guys decide our fate. And you know half of them are\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Quiet. They are about to vote.” I looked over at Juno who held up his left hand, palm out, as he gave his full attention to the screen. Muta and I moved over to Juno’s console to look over his shoulder.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The tally was almost instantaneous: 19 green, 10 red, 1 yellow. “Oh, shit. What do they do now. How do you count a yellow?” I asked, turning around to stare at Bashe. We needed at least 20 votes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She looked up unsmiling. “If it’s a vote to maintain an existing policy, yellow is counted as a green and if it’s a vote to initiate a new policy, yellow is counted as a red.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I looked around, neither Juno nor Muta seemed pleased. “So why is everybody looking so glum?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Because the yellow vote came from my father,” Bashe said as she moved to the center of our module.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I knew his enthusiasm had cooled on our project after we lost Celine on that last jump, but I thought Bashe would be able to persuade him to continue his support.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Listen up.” All eyes fastened on Bashe as she started running down the game plan, “We just got a reprieve, but it’s only temporary. My father is going to vote to cancel our program in the next session if we don’t retrieve Celine.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “That means we’re through.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Juno, don’t say that. We’ve got two more months before the next council session, and\u2026” Juno never even looked up as I babbled on trying to paint the most positive picture I could, “\u2026once the new scanner is calibrated, we should be able to find her.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Sheba, I’m not so sure of that. It takes two of us to safely operate the scanner and the transport system.” As much as I would be glad when the project was over, I didn’t want it to end unsuccessfully. As Bashe spoke, my mind started to drift. “And the council won’t authorize us to accept any more jumpers this cycle. Which means we have at the most a total of three more jump opps.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Bashe, technically, I could do two more jump operations.” I finally spoke up, but not very loudly and not very confidently.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Muta shook his head and delivered the bad news in a slow monotone as though he had no emotional investment, even though we all knew how much he wanted to retrieve Celine. “The real problem is if we go searching for Celine we won’t be able to gather critical history to complete this phase of the project and\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “If we don’t find Celine, there won’t be support to continue our project.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “You’re exactly right, Sheba. But\u2014and you know I want to find Celine\u2014we do have a chance to finish the project without finding Celine. If we go searching for Celine, we won’t have enough jumps left to finish the project, especially if we loose another jumper.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Muta’s assessment hung heavily in the artificial air of the module. When we started almost ten moons ago we were a team of twelve plus Bashe as commander. We were now down to four.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m not feeling searching for Celine.” Juno looked over at Muta, then slowly swiveled his head to take in each one of us. “Look, realistically, the technicalities don’t matter. We only have two jump opps left and what’s been our return ratio? The average is only one of every three jumpers makes it back. Celine had the best record out of all of us. We’ve got jumpers out there who never made it back from their first jump.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It got awfully quiet. Finally, Bashe attempted to bring closure, “Ok, ok. If Juno\u2019s assessment is correct, then it’s either finish the project or try to find Celine\u2014we don’t have the resources to do both.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I vote we finish the project,” Muta spoke up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I could tell Muta wasn’t speaking his heart, but instead was just saying what he thought a good trooper was supposed to say. “Well, I vote we search for Celine.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Who the hell said this was a democracy,” Juno hissed as though Muta and I had no right to speak. “We knew this was a goddamn suicide mission when we signed up. But we all thought salvaging our history was worth all the risks. Besides, what’s so special about Celine. We’ve got eight other jumpers out there. I don’t hear anybody talking about searching for them to bring them in.” Juno stood up slowly. “The fact of the matter is, we’ve got two jumps left, maybe three\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “What do you mean, maybe three. You just said\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Juno cut me off before I could finish, “I know what I said. Two jumps to finish the mission and one jump to find Celine. Bashe you’ve got to stay. Sheba and Muta, in that order, should jump to complete the mission and, after the mission is complete, I’ll take the third jump to try and find Celine.” I looked over at Bashe to see what her reactions were. As the team leader she was going to have the last word.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Juno, we can’t afford to loose you. You’re the only one of us left who really understands the technology.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Yeah, but I wouldn’t jump until the project was complete and then\u2026 well, if I didn’t make it back, we still would have a completed project.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “That’s true, but there are other considerations. Eventually\u2026” Bashe looked up at the module ceiling. We knew everything we did was recorded. “Look, there is some classified info I can’t say, but Juno you’re going to be needed. I’ll take the last jump.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Permission to enter space.” At the sound of Elder Hodari’s voice code, all of us except Juno jumped to switch our console screens on.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Screen on,” Bashe gave an immediate command.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Elder Hodari’s handsome image flickered and quickly stabilized into a sparkling picture. He looked stressed. “I assume you all saw the vote.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bashe answered for all of us, “we did.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Commander Bashe, I’m sorry. I know how much this project means to you, but it’s basically over. I was able to negotiate a stall period, but there are other pressing priorities.” He let that hang for a moment. We looked at each other but said nothing. “Bashe, did you mention the FutureBlack project to your crew?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “No. It’s classified and not everyone here is cleared for that level.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Muta stood up and moved away from the line of vision of his console screen, looked over to me and silently mouthed, \u201cWhat’s FutureBlack?\u201d I hunched my shoulders in response and looked over to Juno. Juno just shook his head no. Meanwhile, Elder Hodari continued talking. “Bashe, hit me back on a secure line.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Forty.” Our screens blanked out as Bashe started pushing code. The lights dimmed, we were switching power and frequencies. “Everybody go to helmets,” Bashe ordered and we each plugged into the black box console. We had direct contact with each other in the module and encrypted, relay-delayed contact with the outside.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Standby.” Bashe punched in some more code. An old identity shot of Elder Hodari filled the patches on our goggles as he came online. I hated these things. Every time someone talked they just showed an image of who was talking, an old ID shot. “Elder, the team is online.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’ll make this brief. FutureBlack is a classified project. The official clearances will come down shortly, but commander Bashe your whole crew is going to be switched off the history project and on to FutureBlack. The Creoles knocked out another module early this morning. We have had to make the decision to accelerate our escape program. Our immediate future depends on finding a future. Some of us are betting on you guys to find that future for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nobody said anything. We were trained to listen when a ranking officer was speaking. Whatever questions we had would be discussed later.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe’re bringing you guys in. The gang over at R-D have constructed working, time-forward transports and we have to do some quick forward probes to find a suitable space where we can community. We have no idea how far future we will have to go, nor do we have any idea of what we will find. They’ve been sending out box probes but\u2026” he hesitated.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Juno spoke up. “They come back empty.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “How did you know that, officer Juno?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “The same thing happened when we first started our jumps. I thought those guys in R-D would understand that by now. Time warps can’t transport unprocessed matter. That’s why the jumps are so hard. When we get there all we can bring back is what we remember\u2026 if we can get back at all.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “The R-D guys told us they could design a transport to jump as many as twenty people at a time.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Yes, elder. We can transport any number of people, we just can’t guarantee retrieval nor can we bring anything concrete back. Plus, there’s the problem of pinpointing where we send people. Our calibrations are just not that good. About ten minutes is max before we lose reference signals. What you need are jumpers to act as scouts. The problem is ten minutes is not enough time to reconnoiter whether a spot is safe. But then again, I imagine the new scanner might give us a bit more time.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Between 24 and 30 hours, officer Juno.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Juno let out a long, low whistle. “How did they do that?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I really don’t understand all the technical stuff like you do, officer Juno. Anyway, commander Bashe, your crew has the most experience with time jumps and we have had to accelerate our escape plan. The new scanner calibration will be complete on this end within a couple of hours. It works exactly like the previous model except it has a finer calibration. The council has decided that the FutureBlack project is critical to our survival and for the time being we will put on hold all history retrieval probes except for one more ju\u2026”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “You want us to find Celine?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Officer Juno, I want you to test the new scanner. Now if you happen to find Celine during the test run, then so be it. After the test run, we will start immediately on the FutureBlack project. Copy?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We all answered “forty” near simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Commander Bashe, download your new assignment. Oh, and one more thing. You’re running silent from here on in. There will be no further direct contact until you file a mission report. Good luck, brothers and sisters. Commander Bashe?”<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n