Below is an excerpt from a story I started writing a while ago. I am hoping to finish this story and share the whole thing, perhaps even publish it. A book is a lot of work and dedication and I wanted to share a small part now in case I never finish the book. Let me know what you think of it.
After taking with the stranger in the park Dak felt like he’d gotten somewhere. The man just might know something about the man who’d robbed him. Then again, the stranger could be bluffing. There was no way to tell. Dak didn’t have a lot of experience making deals with people. He’d always had food and shelter provided for him on Mars by the government.
Luckily for Dak, being the only man ever born on Mars as well as the oldest human alive and this being his first time on Earth, he had some special privileges. He was going to see the President of the United States.
“Mr. President. Thanks for taking the time to see me.” Dak said.
“The pleasure is all mine” said the President of the United States. “I’ve heard a lot about you and am excited to learn about you. The first and only man ever born on Mars and the oldest man ever to live. So what have you spent all those years doing there Dak?”
“Well sir, I’m quite well read on history of the world. I have a lot of knowledge of historical conflicts, although I must admit that the more I have read the more most conflicts seem frivolous to me. I am also a first rate technician in the footsteps of my mother. Keeping your habitat functioning when you’re on Mars is a pretty high priority! For the last 20 years I’ve been learning more about the human body, specifically my own, preparing to come to Earth. As you may or may not know, being born on Mars I grew up in one third the gravity of Earth. That lead my body to develop much weaker muscles, as well as allowed me to grow so tall.”
“So what brought you to request a presence with me?”
“I was mugged the other day. I was wondering why we have such abundance while other parts of the world people are still hungry?”
“That’s a great question Dak. It all goes back to when we figured out how to create energy through fusion in 2100, before I was born. This allowed us to produce literally unlimited electricity. Naturally we weren’t willing to give that formula to other countries. Up until that time, we relied on other countries for a lot of our energy production. That lead to us maintaining a huge military presence in many foreign countries, acting as a de facto world police at times. That was both expensive and as you can imagine created some friction between ourselves and the countries we were in, both peacefully and not so peacefully. Since we didn’t need those resources anymore we were free to leave. Opening up that much more money to spend on national defense and securing our own borders. Now we have some of the most secure borders in the world. Not many illegals get in each year. Also since we have the greatest society in the world not many people leave either. The world is a dangerous place. Much of the rest of the world was actually happy to see us go. The man who mugged you was one of the few illegals who was able to sneak in over our very secure borders.”
“So why don’t we just help the others?” Dak continued.
“They don’t necessarily want our help. Many places are afraid of outside influence, our own country included. Many people are afraid of a one world government. They expect that if we started providing favors we’d expect some influence over their government. It’s not a completely unfounded fear.”
“Is it right to continue in this way of thinking?” asked Dak.
“It is for us for now.” said the President wearily. “I like how you’re thinking Dak, but being the President my obligation is to my country, not the world.”
“Well that’s a huge discussion for another day, Mr. President. I wonder if you could help me with a smaller matter?” asked Dak.
(All characters were created by myself, Axel Hoogland. Feedback is welcome to axel-jerome@hotmail.com)
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