Bitter Oath (New Atlantis) - By Nhys Glover Page 0,3

more valued than others, particularly those that survived in dry, hot and arid eco systems.

There had always been talk of a larger cousin of the Palouse earthworm that could regenerate vast tracts of arid land in a comparatively short time, but no one had ever seen one. They were thought to have become extinct before the arrival of the white man to North America. The natives found them addictively tasty, and even though indigenous tribes treated the land well, on the whole, sometimes their need for food, especially in droughts, became their prime imperative. In that way, they wiped out species that could not be replaced.

But this last piece of information was phenomenal. A white explorer, probably an early Naturalist, had made a drawing of these mythic creatures, and was reputed to have seen them with his own eyes. If Rene could find out where…

He stopped himself abruptly. What would it matter if he did find them? Unlike adult humans, they weren’t allowed to Retrieve flora and fauna from the past. The Confederacy had a policy of maintenance. Because of the damage done by introduced species in the past, and the complexity of ecosystems, it was believed it was better to follow a hands-off policy. This meant allowing the damaged ecosystems to recover as they would.

After all, there’d been five mass extinctions in the past. Theirs was only the most recent. And the ecosystems had always rebuilt themselves, hadn’t they? No one mentioned that it had taken thousands of years for that rebuilding to take place. Or that none of the mass extinctions in the past had occurred as quickly as this last one had. No one knew if the planet would ever heal itself again.

It was Rene’s opinion, as it was of many of the world’s remaining ecologists, that it was their job to rebuild the ecosystems destroyed, by strategic repopulation from the past. Why use time travel to keep the human race going, when it was responsible for most of the destruction caused to the planet, yet refuse to do anything to assist the planet, on which they relied for survival, to heal? It didn’t make sense, and it certainly wasn’t ethical.

It really didn’t matter to him personally anymore. Soon, he would be leaving the struggling, hypocritical human race behind for good. Part of him was glad death was approaching. It had been a long, long life, and a lonely one.

He’d made a point of keeping relationships superficial while in-situ, because death would take those he cared for too soon. And here… well, people kept others at an emotional distance, as a matter of course. And his long absences kept even the acquaintances he had here, at an even greater distance. For them, he was a constant in their lives – an old man, for the most part, buried in his studies. For him, they were strangers he caught up with every ninety years, like a sailor on shore leave.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex. In his first one hundred and seventy five years he expected. Before Jumping. Certainly not in-situ, or in the ten years each time he was back. His body, when he came home, was too old for such activities.

Thankfully, clones were undersexed. If not, his life would have been a living hell. As it was, he had been left free to focus all his attention where it was needed most – on his work.

Turning off the shower, he activated the drier, and enjoyed this next pleasure. Most of his lives had been in primitive cultures where such comforts were unheard of. He happily left creature comforts behind for his work. But he couldn’t deny the pleasure coming back to them gave him. His old body would at least be comfortable in his last years.

Summer 2330, New Atlantis GAIAN CONFEDERACY

Over the six weeks since his return, Rene had heard the gossip going around. Now the statement made by the Retrieval Committee was being flashed to all Tablets.

‘The successful integration of a Consciousness past its ninth life, and into a different clone, also brings into question many of our previously held beliefs about the nature of Consciousness, and the part Willpower plays in the process.

‘Where life is static. Where change is tightly controlled, the vitality of life is lost. It is our new hypothesis that a Consciousness loses its will to live when it has exhausted all potential for growth. We have limited that growth in New Atlantis, and thus aided in our