The Wall Story

The Wall 9

Pierre Aldman craned his neck to stare at the vast marble block beside him. A quarry in an afterlife settlement was the opposite to one in the normal 'biggie' world, he thought. In the normal world a large hole in the ground grew from the blasting and excavation of loose rock. Thin trails allowed lorries to take the rock up the side of the quarry walls and then to a depot.

            A quarry in an afterlife settlement was a block of rock deposited by biggie crane. Pierre guessed the rock would be about the size of a small shed in the biggie world. From his point of view it was a gargantuan edifice hundreds of feet on each side. Quarrying of the rock was from the top. Lorries drove up angled paths gauged into the rock side.  

            "I hope cutting from the bottom doesn't weaken the structure. If that lot collapses, we'll know it."

            Albert sighed. "We haven't the time or expertise to work from the top, Pierre. Abigail's away for the weekend at that supposed secret Torus meeting. Patrick is on leave somewhere too. We've got to get the final rock we want quickly. The dispersal is only four days away. Between now and then a police helicopter will fly past once, that's tomorrow evening. We have to have the spider design finished by then. It's all about cutting action."

            "It's going to be tight," said Pierre.

            "I've got teams going around the clock."

            "Will that be enough?"

            "It has to be. When Abigail discovers rock has been stolen we'll be in deep trouble."

            Pierre laughed and shook his head. "If the family had gone to Mars this would never have happened."

            Not Mars again, thought Albert. One member of the family always brought Mars into the conversation during stressful times. "The grass always looks greener on the other side, Pierre. The Mars Buddhist system isn't better than a properly run afterlife settlement. I've got doubts that it's better than this settlement even."

            "You're kidding?"

            "No."

            "But on Mars the dead aren't stuck in settlements. They can roam once they've been resurrected. Roam anywhere on a whole terraformed planet, think about it."

            "Roam anywhere as a robot insect or a bug."

            "You're a bug or an insect at first. There are hundreds of different 'karma' paths to take. In a thousand years you've got a good chance of working your way up to robot dolphin, eagle or human."

            "If the system works as it should. Forgive me if I sound cynical, Pierre, but I've never known any system, company or country that isn't as corrupt as some people can make it. A private corporation owns Mars and I'm sure profit comes before social conscience. I bet the place is full of operators on the take. Moving up from bluebottle to dragonfly is going to be one part good behaviour and nine parts bribe. The whole system strikes me as farcical. If Buddha thought the cosmos was based on people re-incarnated into a better life based on monetary leverage then I'm sure he would he would have mentioned it."

            "Ah, you just talk bull, Albert."

            Albert pointed a finger at Pierre. "No, I'm focussed on what I can do for the family now not on some hypothetical situation. So get moving and stop moaning."