A pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09, put in front of a sunset color-prepared canvas and 3D sphere made in Paint 3D, and then a black hemisphere put in front of it and colored
Some rivalries were set up before the people in them were ever born … but that does not mean that the sunset of strife and the dawn of peace cannot break out whenever the living people involved are ready.
U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, in his first genuine astonishment and then refusal to stand firm on the brilliance of Benjamin Banneker because the supposed inferiority of Africans to justify their enslavement was necessary for Jefferson and his peers, set up certain of his descendants to be rivals all the way down in the 23rd century, when, at the Academy, a modern Cadet Thomas Jefferson, in a fit of temper, made the mistake of reading Cadet Benjamin Banneker all the way back to the 18th century and to his ancestral uncle.
The second Benjamin Banneker, however, smiled.
“Well, I see certain lines of your family haven't changed their opinion since 1780 or so, but, perhaps you missed the history lesson on what happened in 1865 … but don't worry. I'll just close all those questions for you, Cadet Jefferson, in this century. After this, there will be no further mistake!”
Thus began a rough, rough 40 years for Cadet Jefferson, as he watched Cadet Banneker top out in every class, every year, and walk off as valedictorian of the Academy, to be commissioned not as a lieutenant, but a lieutenant commander. Both men were on the science track, and so every time a science award or commendation came up for consideration, guess who edged the other out of the finals on the rare occasions he did not outright walk away with said award or commendation – for forty years?
But then my parents were killed in an accident, and Uncle Benjamin retired from the fleet at age 61, just short of a promotion to commodore. Newly promoted Commodore Jefferson made the mistake of remarking about it, and again paid the consequences for that remark.
“Oh well, Commodore – I've had my way the last forty years, so I'm not begrudging you the next forty.”
Twenty more years had passed; my uncle had returned to the fleet as commodore to meet the case of a terrible accident, and upon solving it had gotten to rear admiral – so, full admiral Thomas Jefferson caught the fleet news, and there was Benjamin Banneker, again being celebrated and feted and listening to and admired as an admiral, after 20 years away, not working for that promotion like that.
Adm. Jefferson was not happy, at all, about this. He was sane enough not to do what my uncle's other rival had done and rip a hole in space-time trying to get even, but still, one would figure after sixty years, poking the bear that was eating your breakfast, lunch, and dinner for forty of those years would not be the best idea.
“But see, Captain,” my first officer Helmut Allemande explained to me, “you have never lived life as a man, and as a proud man with a proud name that is being insulted every day in a way it was not supposed to be – at least, according to what you were taught.”
“Adm. Jefferson needs to go be mad at everybody that lied about the Bannekers back to his namesake, not my uncle,” I said.
“Ah,” Cmdr. Allemande, “but then that name means that much less, Captain. It is one thing to descend from statesmen, and presidents, and those who dared to live as gods over other human beings. It is another thing to descend from incorrigible liars.”
Then came that first day on Earth in which the two old men encountered each other for the first time since graduation. I remember that my uncle and I were getting ready to board a shuttle out for an extra day's work on the Amanirenas's new systems, and he put his hand out to stop me as we turned the corner to the main shuttle bay in San Francisco.
“Go on ahead of me, Khadijah,” he ordered in that voice I had obeyed without question long before he was an admiral. “I'll catch the next shuttle out to the dock.”
Adm. Jefferson was in the transporter bay, having just come back from a night shift – he had responsibility for the Solar System's defenive systems, and with the Sun approaching its solar maximum, fine tuning often needed to be overseen. He looked tired but satisfied, and really looked like quite a pleasant old officer as he spotted me and I acknowledged him – “Admiral, sir” – and saluted before boarding. But he did not know me, and that was the point. My uncle did not want me pulled into the rivalry.
An hour after I arrived at the main docks and then beamed over to the Amanirenas, my uncle arrived, explained that he had been detained and apologized, and then settled into his day's work on the updates. Only later did he tell me what had happened.
“Sixty years is a long, long time to be mad, and over that much time, men do form habits,” he said. “Adm. Jefferson recognized me because my face has been everywhere for 18 months, but other than that I could have eased on by like you did – and he was plenty mad that he doesn't have the recognition I do. He had to remind me that I'm just a rear admiral and that was more of an honorary gift since I hadn't put in the work he has in the last 20 years, and that since he is a full admiral, he was going to make sure to clip my wings a little every chance he got.”
I put my head in my hands.
“I said to him, 'Admiral, sir, you are indeed the ranking officer in this interaction, but I don't believe my wings are available for you to clip because of this right here,' and then pulled out my tablet so he could see my command line. 'Have a look at those signatures, Admiral, sir, and notice: that's two full fleet admirals there, with a third as advisory.' ”
“Oh, I know he was sick,” I said.
“He turned the colors of Christmas, from red to green,” my uncle said. “Now I could have finished him off – I almost told him that it is wonderful that he is in Earth Defense because he has 24 hours in the day to somehow stay mad, cope harder, and still find a way to enjoy his day. But I am a man of mature age and faith now, and renewing this rivalry would be silly at this point. So, instead, while he was off balance, I told him about all the wonderful work that he has been doing, and how I admired it, and how we need his help.”
“What?” I said.
“Nobody in the fleet understands the Sun's magnetic field and its cycles better than Thomas Jefferson at this moment in time,” Uncle Benjamin said. “That's another aspect to the Sun's uniqueness, and he can teach all ships to know the Sun from any other star, hard-wired – we can put that in his hands, and know it will be done well.
“When I tell you that he was shocked, Khadijah – 'You want my help, Admiral Banneker, after what I just said to you?' – and you know he doesn't have bionic legs, so, that was a bit tricky but we got to a seat and I just let him think about what I had said for a long time before adding, 'If we play our cards right, Thomas, we'll both see the 24th century dawn … we don't have to keep fighting the fights of the past all the way down. You have a long, respectable, important career as well; there's so much good we can do together now with our combined experiences. We don't have to be friends, but let's not turn into old fools.”
“What did he say?” I said.
“He said 'I need 24 hours to think and pray about this, Admiral,' and got up and walked away, so we'll see tomorrow.”
“You figure he's had sixty years already,” I said.
“Men are different than women,” my uncle said. “Our pride is different. For forty years that man paid for a fit of temper he had with me, not understanding that I am a man and have pride too – for forty years, I made sure he remembered his foolery yearly. So, that wound is not sixty years old – it's forty years of running into the blade I held out for him for that long, out of the last sixty. I had to repent too, Khadijah … and humble myself.”
“Wait, what?” I said. “He insulted our family and our humanity!”
“And, to age 61, I felt just that way … but Khadijah, we and our people, back to the dawn of time, were always human, and brilliant. That was settled before the first Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Banneker ever lived. It settled out to if I believe that, and know it, I don't need to be stuck having to prove it any more. I can live and breathe and let Adm. Jefferson out of this trap as well, or, at least open the door.”
“That's deep, Uncle,” I said, “but I do see where you are going.”
“And that's the other thing, Khadijah,” Uncle Benjamin said. “You are a grown woman now, and married, and a captain, and still, I know you see where I am going, so I have to make sure that what you see is right. Me acting a fool with Adm. Jefferson, when both of us are at this age and responsibility, would not be right, and I like to think that by tomorrow, he will see that as well, because I gave him a way out.”
There was a call at my uncle's door, and he checked it.
“Believe it or not, it is Thomas Jefferson, himself,” my uncle said. “Stay here, and I'll entertain him in the dining room.”
Uncle Benjamin and I were down home everywhere and tended to eat in the kitchen, so I stayed put and put dessert in the oven, and eavesdropped on a conversation that brought me to tears … two old men, reconciled to God and thus reconciling to each other, after six decades.
Uncle Benjamin came into the kitchen just as I got our dessert out … took down another plate, divided his portion in two, and then served half of his portion to his guest, who laughed gently about it.
“I see how you keep your shape, Benjamin,” he said.
“Well, having a heart attack doesn't hurt as a reminder – we can all do better, Thomas.”
“This is delicious, Benjamin. Thank you.”
“You're welcome, Thomas.”
Two days later, the two admirals came aboard the Amanirenas, and Uncle Benjamin kept on doing the right thing.
“Full admiral on the bridge,” he said, acknowledging Adm. Jefferson as the ranking officer.
Adm. Jefferson turned around and smiled.
“There's no need to do that, Adm. Banneker – having two old admirals around is probably stressful enough for everyone without needing to do all that.”
We all laughed, and then Adm. Jefferson added, “I am the ranking officer, ladies and gentlemen, but Adm. Banneker is the chief science officer for your specific mission under full fleet admiral Vlarian Triefield, and I'm just here on behalf of Earth Defense to see how we can assist you.”
Eight hours later, we were uploading all the data ever compiled about the Sun's eleven-year magnetic field cycle since the 19th century, while Adm. Jefferson oversaw it – this added an additional level of safety to the new failsafes being built into fleet systems about going to warp around stars.
Adm. Jefferson was also kind enough to lay out how Earth Defense would take up the mission in the long run – the test to see if the new system worked around the sun would be cast as necessary in terms of extra failsafes of Earth's own timeline, and the test around a similar star would be cast as making sure humanity made no enemies that might retort by messing in Earth's timeline, and this would be how it was taught at the Academy from here on out.
Adm. Jefferson was also delighted to review the Uppaaimarn-inspired algorithm Uncle Benjamin had written into the Amanirenas's hardware, and this led to more healing between the two men.
“I always admired you, but I also envied you, Benjamin, and it angered me that God just gave you some things He didn't give me. It took me a long time to mature enough to be grateful for what God gave me, and realize He was enough, and so was I. It astounds me how you saw a resonance in a whole different civilization's view of the stars to do exactly the same thing we just did with my deep knowledge of the Sun – but we both are working to the same goal, to make sure humanity is safe and protected even from itself in the 24th century.”
“You are still the best pure student I have ever met, Thomas, and I admired you back then as well,” Uncle Benjamin said. “Had I understood the Sun the way you do, all this wouldn't have been necessary – but now, humanity has both, and the names of Jefferson and Banneker now are united in equal respect and legacy.”
“A do-over after this many centuries – but then again, we are dedicated to the pursuit of new frontiers, Benjamin,” Adm. Jefferson said. “Peace is always fresh and new.”
The two old admirals extended their hands to each other at the exact same moment, and then laughed and shook hands.
“Not old fools, but new friends,” Adm. Jefferson said.
“Delayed, but not denied,” Uncle Benjamin said.
The same pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09 but in lighter palette, put in front of a sunrise color-prepared canvas and 3D sphere made in Paint 3D, and then a black hemisphere put in front of it and colored
“It took sixty years, or four centuries added with that, depending on who you ask,” I said to Cmdr. Allemande about it, “but it was right on time.”
“Everything is,” my first officer said. “There are no mistakes in time and space – quantum physics and the Scripture have been saying the same thing for three of those four centuries.”
“It still feels like a miracle,” I said.
“That's because it still is,” my first officer said, with a smile. “Humans redeemed and reconciled – every case still is.”