Stargods by Ian Douglas (best summer books TXT) 📕

The Godstream

2015 hours, FST

“So how many people have ascended so far?” Gray asked.

Technically, they were in the Godstream. At Koenig’s invitation, Gray had stepped through and was in a virtual space now with Koenig, Konstantin, Laurie Taggart off the Yorktown, and Captain Mackey. Konstantin, he saw, was using his old avatar . . . the prissy-looking Russian schoolteacher wearinga pince-nez, the historical figure for whom he was named.

“A precise number is impossible to derive,” Konstantin said, adjusting the glasses on his nose. “People are entering and leavingthe Godstream in large numbers, but as yet no software has been created to keep track of them all. A rough estimate wouldbe around one billion, including both humans and conscious AIs.”

“Two percent of the population,” Koenig put in. “Give or take.”

“I always thought the Singularity would be a kind of mass exodus, you know?” Gray said, thoughtful. “One moment, there’s humanity,going about its business. The next moment . . . piff! Everyone’s gone.”

“Piff?” Taggart repeated, amused.

“Something like that.”

“Given the nature of the phenomenon,” Konstantin said, “it seems extremely unlikely that things would be that . . . neat.”

Gray nodded. “Sure. We know from the Sh’daar that not everyone is going to pass through. There are going to be Refusers, peoplewho reject high technology, or who like the life they’re already living, or whose religion forbids them from ascending forsome reason. They’re clinging to Earth and screaming, ‘I don’t wanna go!’”

“Sounds right,” Taggart said. “Still, I have to admit that I expected more than two percent!”

“The numbers are continuing to go up,” Mackey said. “Maybe it’ll just take a while for everyone else to catch up with what’shappening.”

“Maybe,” Gray said. “You know, I really hope everyone doesn’t go.”

“Why’s that, Admiral?” Mackey wanted to know.

“The Baondyeddi. There’s an object lesson there for all of us. We think they were hiding from someone or something,” Gray continued. “They’d drastically slowed the passage of time for themselves and were blissfully zipping off into remote futurity when the Consciousness came along.”

“The evidence,” Konstantin said, “is that the Consciousness actually absorbed the data patterns in the Etched Cliffs, madethem a part of itself. It was an extremely powerful group mind, remember. The Baondyeddi and the other species dwelling withit within the Etched Cliffs may exist now within the Consciousness.”

“We’ll never know,” Gray said. “Point is, the Baondyeddi didn’t have anyone on the outside to keep someone from coming alongand pulling the plug. Earth is going to need something like that.”

“What did you have in mind, Admiral?” Mackey asked.

“I’m not sure. A defense force of some sort. A special forces unit or a carrier battlegroup with access to the Godstream,but that stays outside and protects it from whatever threats might come along.”

“Something like the Consciousness?” Taggart asked. “That’s a pretty tall order.”

“The Consciousness,” Gray said, “or the Nungiirtok, or even extremist groups like Humankind First. Different threats, butall of them dangerous.”

“I’m not sure a single battlegroup could have taken on the Consciousness,” Mackey said. “We needed help from the Denebans,you’ll recall.”

“Unlike the Baondyeddi virtual worlds,” Konstantin said, “the Godstream is accessible to the outside, and the Godstream offersHumankind a staggeringly large advantage.”

“A singular advantage, would you say?” Taggart asked, smiling.

It was possible that Konstantin missed the pun. “Indeed. Within the Godstream already exists an enormous potential in humanand AI minds, a concentration unlike anything experienced in human history.”

“What do you mean?”

“Historically, geniuses who appear in a place and time and under circumstances where they are able to contribute to humandevelopment are fairly rare. Imagine, however, a community where every genius has full access to the education and culturalfocus that allows him or her to achieve her full potential. Imagine them in an environment where they have immediate and fullcommunication with others such as themselves, access to important projects, guidance in the application of their talents.”

“A powerhouse,” Taggart said quietly.

“To say the least. The process has already begun within the Godstream, and it is accelerating in an asymptotic curve.”

“That’s right,” Koenig added. “At this moment, we have entire worlds of med specialists working on the eradication of diseaseand the indefinite extension of human life for those left behind. We have a new theory of quantum gravity that still needsto be tested, but which is extremely promising. We have one virtual think tank that’s working on what they claim is a wayto extend the Godstream to other stars.”

“How is that even possible? The speed of light would block any interaction between systems. You can’t extend the Godstreamif there’s no communication infrastructure.”

Koenig’s ghost chuckled. “The infrastructure that would support the Godstream can be constructed in other systems. Hell, mostexosystems with a base more advanced than a research station or outpost already have most of what’s needed. People in theGodstream here could beam themselves to another system by laser com.”

“But that would take years,” Mackey said. Then he looked surprised. “Oh . . .”

“Exactly. For someone traveling as digital packets of information at the speed of light, no time would pass at all. They stepinto the machine here and exit the machine there. Instantaneous travel.”

“Yeah,” Gray said, “but objectively, four and a half years would pass for a trip to Chiron.”

“What does that matter?” Koenig asked. “Admiral, we are witnessing the birth of what may be a truly immortal society. Thoseof us living within the virtuality of the Godstream, we won’t age. What does a hundred-thousand-light-year journey acrossthe breadth of the galaxy matter to individuals billions of years old?”

Gray shook his head. “This is going to take some getting used to!”

“I imagine most people will stay put. The Godstream is now growing asymptotically—a graph plot of its increase would go straightup. The number of worlds available within virtuality is growing at the same rate.”

“What are they going to do with all those new worlds?” Gray wanted to know.

“I saw a news feed about a whole new fad,” Taggart said, shaking her head. “Temporal recreations.”

“Yes,” Koenig said. “Worlds representing different historical periods.”

“I’ve heard about that,” Gray said. “Ancient Rome and Greece. Versailles. Pharaonic Egypt. And not just legitimate history,either. People can hobnob with the gods of