Author:  [Whispers, like announcing the Masters.]  Readers, today I’m interviewing another of my main characters, Spacer Brent Mueller, a minor character in Survivors of the Chaos and a major protagonist in the soon-to-be-released Sing a Samba Galactica.  He’s the Methuselah among my characters, so we should expect some words of wisdom.  [My normal voice.]  Brent, you were just Jenny Wong’s love interest in Survivors of the Chaos.  Are you enjoying your promotion in Sing a Samba Galactica?

Mueller:  Is that your idea of a promotion?  First, I lose Jenny, then I lose Rita, and finally I almost lose exoarchaeologists Edith Shumsky and her two friends as well as explorers Lisa Malenkov and Minerva Boutotte.  You really rake me over the coals—I think I’m using that old expression correctly.  I become a Guide to the Way and then become disillusioned and abandon my calling.  This isn’t a Broadway show, you know—my name isn’t up there in lights, showing my promotion to top billing.  However, I am satisfied that things sort of work out for me and my friends, so thank you.

A:  Sorry about your stressful existence.  I could have killed you off.  Speaking of the Way, how do you feel about it now?  Do you intend to return to being a Guide?

M:  You tell me.  At the time this religion started, many Spacers were looking beyond Earth’s religions to something more pertinent to their lonely lives.  I worked on a big rig for many years.  The home planet had gone through tremendous upheavals between the forces of fundamentalism and xenophobia that often reduced to terrorism.  I think Spacers were looking for spirituality without the fundamentalism, so it became very popular.  It is related more to Zen but certainly borrowed elements from many religions.  It provided spiritual glue in a very hostile environment.

A:  So why did you abandon it?

M:  After Rita died, nothing made sense.  Depression isn’t spiritually uplifting, so I couldn’t do the job of Guide like I was supposed to.  Moreover, I had just used my training as a Guide to defeat the Tali invasion of Sanctuary.  My simple peaceful existence as spiritual counselor to my people had suffered a terrible blow.

A:  Understood.  Is this a weakness on your part?

M:  If you say so.  I’m not sure your readers will agree.

A:  Maybe not.  After all that has transpired, what do you think of the Tali now?

M:  They’re not bad fellows.  Considering their history, their treatment of sentients was not completely illogical.  If Humans had been fighting for centuries against intelligent kangaroos, for example, we might have ended up in the same place, unless the kangaroos exterminated us first.  Meeting us, of course, was the best thing that ever happened to the Tali.

A:  Because Humans taught them a lesson?

M:  If you want to put it that way, yes, on a number of occasions.  Don’t forget that they weren’t very nice to the Rangers either.  They deserved the lessons.  Sometimes humility has to be pounded into you.

A:  Isn’t it a bit strange that we got along with the Rangers from the start, when these ETs are so different, and not with the Tali, who are somewhat similar?

M:  I’m no social historian, but the Rangers were willing to work with us from the start, and vice versa, while the Tali wanted to exterminate us.  Mere appearances and behavior are irrelevant in those circumstances.  Jon Silent Eagle Lewis looked and acted pretty much like me, but my ancestors certainly didn’t treat his very well on many occasions.

A:  Do you have any other regrets beyond Rita Kellogg?

M:  I regret not protecting Jenny Wong a bit more.  Too many years passed for her.  She’s not quite Human now either, but still quite a woman.  My other two regrets are not getting to know the Singer and the Swarm better.  Maybe I’ll run across another Singer.  The Swarm still seems very strange to me.

A:  What about Odri, Phumon, and Badja?  They were in your head.  Weren’t they strange too?

M:  Of course, but manageable, thanks to my Guide training.  The Swarm is something entirely different.  I doubt that Humans will ever be able to comprehend it.

A:  Both the Singer and the Swarm, though, seem to have a highly developed morality.  How does their moral system relate to the teachings of the Way?

M:  Back to religion, huh?  The Singer told me they were one in the same thing.  I never received the Swarm’s opinion.  One thing is sure, though—the old Earth religions are anthropocentric.  That’s natural, I think.  Try to imagine an Earth religion that incorporates ETs.  I can’t.  Even Buddhism, which is so close to the Way, is Human-based.  The Spacers got it right.

A:  We talk of Spacers and Downies, but was their relationship one of conflict?

M:  Spacers often looked down upon Downies and their petty problems, if you’ll pardon the pun.  The Martian colonists were often called Downies too.  I shouldn’t say “looked down upon,” I suppose.  It was more of a pride thing.  Like the old time rodeo cowboy looking down on the people who watched him riding the bulls and wild horses.  It was sort of like saying, “Here I am and what I do is more important to me than what you do.”  Me, I’m just a mechanical engineer who worked a lot with scientists and smarter engineers.  It gave me humility.  I never had any desire to be the top alpha-dog in the pack.

A:  As many politicians did during humanity’s trip through that social singularity called the Chaos.  Do you think that things could have changed if it were otherwise?

M:  I’m an engineer, but not a social engineer.  I could only guess.

A:  So, what is your guess?

M:  My guess is that the Chaos was inevitable.  Its roots go all the way back to the 18^th century, at least, when scientific and technological development started running ahead of social development.  We were lucky.  In our explorations, we have seen other groups of sentients who destroyed themselves and their planets.  In some freakish way, the Chaos kept us from blowing ourselves up, although we came close to it a few times.  Again, I’m not an expert.

A:  But you seem to have an opinion.

M:  Everyone has an opinion.  Mine is as good as anybody’s, I guess.  Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to visit Omar Calhoun.  He still has Odri and company in his head and is quite mad, the poor fellow.  Outside of visits, I don’t see any way to help him.  Most of the time he doesn’t recognize me when I do visit.

A:  What about Henry Posada?  How’s he doing?

M:  He’s not sure he likes corporal existence, but he’s mentally stable.  Jenny, Henry, and I are best friends.  Nice guy.  Lucky, too.

A:  Lucky?  Do you believe in luck?

M:  Positive karma, then.  Take care.  Keep writing.

[Note:  Survivors of the Chaos is available in trade paperback and eBook formats directly from Infinity Publishing, or from Amazon and other online book dealers.  Sing a Samba Galactica will only be available as an eBook.]

 

 

 

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