Grailem by Gary L Beer (top 100 novels txt) 📖

tempered and irritable.
His work colleagues could not work alongside him and one day he lost his temper and struck his senior manager. Violence was rare amongst his species and he lost his job and ended up on the streets.
This civilisation turned its back on those who were socially unacceptable and who did not work. Taking to sleeping in an empty warehouse he was an easy target; and he would not be missed.
Re-building Alexander Finda's profile and assumed companies was far easier than Grailem thought it would be. Crime being non-existent here on this planet as no one had the reason to behave in a criminal manner with everything being supplied – providing that you worked. Safeguards on the computer networks that covered the planet were easily avoided and Alexander Finda was easily re-established as a prosperous business man.

Grailem was aware that the executives in front of him would be aware of his 'violent' past; but aware that he is an expert in his field. This meeting would not have been arranged if they thought the invention was unfeasible.
Smartly dressed and all politeness, Grailem's appearance and manner seemed to disagree with the computer files. Before presenting the video he swore everyone in the room to secrecy, adding to the intrigue. The installed device no larger than a pin head could easily be fitted to any communications equipment and was undetectable. Incorporated into the device was a device of his own that he hoped would help him understand this planet; and who really did control it.
As Grailem presents his ideas with the help of the three dimensional projector he notices that all those in front of him are 'different'. At first he cannot understand, but the suspicion grows in his mind. As he looks around the room at the executives he notices that due to the glare of the projector many have covered their eyes with a second eyelid.
The bright light of the projector reflecting brightly off the white screen had created an instinctive reaction. Realising that all those before him, though looking humanoid, were in fact aliens is a total surprise.
Some of the aliens breathe at a different rate to humanoids, the breathing being a lot slower. To Grailem it now appeared obvious, and he wonders why he had not noticed it when he first walked into the room. Grailem also wonders what their purpose is for being on this planet; were these the controllers he was looking for?
Finishing the presentation he packs the equipment into a case and prepares to leave; "I will await your decision as you can see the device is unique; and the payment I require is a three-quarter ownership including the appropriate royalties that go with it."
The aliens look shocked at the outrageous demand and not giving them the opportunity to reply he hurriedly leaves the room.

The next day Grailem receives a communication at the false workshop address from Sirap requesting a meeting in two days time. Accompanying the short message is an attachment of a large legal document referring to his demands.
Suspiciously Grailem scans the document and can find no hidden clauses and wonders why they have agreed so easily. Maybe it is their intent to acquire full knowledge of the device (as some information he had kept to himself) and then dispose of him.
Not wasting the two days available to him Grailem visits the spaceport; the large spaceship he had seen from the asteroid had aroused his curiosity. Reported in a news column on the communications network as a colonising vessel voyaging to a distant planet two hundred and ten light years away, did not ring true.
This planet Grailem is on appears to be the perfect Eden as no humanoid (apart from the non-workers) has need of anything. The population of humanoids is spread thinly across the planet and he had witnessed no overcrowding or poverty. The society is also based on the high use of robots to do all the manual work and labour. Able to repair and improve themselves they exist only to serve the humanoids.
Why would anyone want to leave? Though admittedly, most of the people he had seen looked unhappy.
The only reason he could think of was the breeding instinct of the humans. The desire to propagate the species, especially in the females, can be an overwhelming emotion. The harsh population control across the planet would make many want to leave.

The spaceport built of a bright shiny alloy that appeared superior to the other buildings on the planet is surprisingly small. With no shortage of raw materials the outer planets and asteroids had yet to be fully exploited of their minerals and local space travel was kept to a minimum.
Grailem joins a tourist party and is shown around the entire complex. A large colonising spacecraft is being constructed at the far end of the spaceport. The huge craft has only had the skeleton framework built; but an army of robots was quickly covering it with an outer skin of the light absorbent material.
The robotic guide dressed in a smart dark blue and purple uniform informs the tourist party that the colonising spacecraft would be ready in two months time. The destination would be a newly discovered star system four hundred light years away.
The guide then recited the benefits and advantages of joining the voyage; free land and free robots who would make it habitable and comfortable. The complete freedom the colonisers would acquire would put no restriction on birth control. The destination planet was unoccupied and would be able to allow no birth restrictions for thousands of years. This appeared as the main selling point confirming Grailem's earlier thoughts.
This society had at first appeared perfect; but Grailem was realising that underneath the casual way of life there is a deep unhappiness. The new life offered is a way of fulfilling the breeding instinct and one which can be passed down the generations and is portrayed as the easy path to this happiness.


Chapter Six

Returning back to the workshop Grailem uses the computer network, connecting via an office complex close by, for information on the colonising Starship‘s. The information is poor as the news media only reported on the actual take-off and destination. Accessing the government computer system he learnt that five colonising Starship‘s have been leaving the planet every year for the last six hundred and fifty years!
Each colonising craft had carried twenty thousand passengers and fifty crew. Every colonising expedition sent out to inhabit new worlds rarely communicated back its success or failure. The general population had never been informed of this, as each voyage would take many hundreds of years to reach its destination. The passengers and crew put into deep hibernation, would have no family or descendants to remember them and became forgotten.
There were references made of colonising ships reaching there destinations in the news media. These references appeared false as no evidence was ever presented in the reports. Sirap Communications were the main source of these reports, each time saying they had received a transmission from the colonising Starship.
The supposed transmission was never broadcast.

Curious as to who had gone on these colonising expeditions Grailem tries to locate the names of the passengers.
All passenger lists prior to the starship he had witnessed passing him on the asteroid were 'unavailable at the present time' or 'The file you have requested is corrupt'.
Realising that he may soon get the same answer on the recent starship he had seen in space Grailem saves the list from that starship directly into the memory circuitry of the computer platform.
A red message is suddenly displayed across the screen;
'Your activity is considered illegal, security personnel will arrive shortly to remove your equipment.'
Prepared for this possible problem, which was why he had connected his platform to the network via one of the office complexes that housed over five hundred communications platforms. Hoping that security will take time to find the exact communications platform he hastily transfers the information onto a portable binary coded memory board and disconnects the platform before they can get a more solid fix on him.
Grailem connects the platform to two copper wires which have a plug fitted at one end. Inserting the plug into the wall socket he turns on the power. As the power surges into the platform at a thousand times more powerful than the platform is designed for, it blows every circuit and detecting device that is fitted.
Connecting another computer platform (with his own modifications) to the system Grailem is soon back on line pretending to be Finda Communications. Aware that his suspicions of the government monitoring the computer system downloads had been realised he connects this time directly to the communications satellites.
Able now, with his modified platform, to search the system anonymously he tries to trace the history of each person on board the recently departed starship. Inserting the coded memory board containing the downloaded information on the starship into this platform he studies the list of names of the passengers.
Several hours later and only a quarter of the way through the list Grailem feels he has found what he needs to know. Of the two hundred and fifty passengers he picked at random whose history he had searched for; only twenty six appeared to have any kind of history!
These twenty six passengers he is able to find their place and date of birth, their school and college reports and their current employment right up until the time of their departure.
The other two hundred and twenty four passengers first appearance on the system is when they register for the spaceflight.
Needing no sleep proved a real advantage as Grailem works through the night. His meeting with Sirap Communications was scheduled for midday and he needed to know much more about this planet than he knew now.

Starting with the mysterious passengers he had a good guess as to their origin. The rule of 'one family, one child' had been law for thousands of years to all of the sectors covering the planet. This being ingrained in society for so long it had become an accepted way of life. The law being that all extra children born are taken from their parents.
Even Grailem's upbringing and subsequent state of mind to this fact still shocks him. Birth control drugs at the present time were in limited use but the price was prohibitive to all but the very rich.
There had been strong objection to this form of birth control when first instigated thousands of years ago. According to the records the planet at the time was heavily overcrowded, food shortages were a real problem and famines were common. Birth control drugs had yet to be discovered and the population had continued to grow.
The solution, though drastic, proved over the centuries to be the right one as the population decreased to a level the planet could sustain. The result was sufficient food and comfortable living for everyone.
The centuries passed peacefully until the