What would an alien society look like?

Toreni, Chet, and Jirra

I'm sure you all know I'm working on the WIP – Mystery of the Ice Warriors. It's set firmly in the Manesai (Morgan Selwood) universe, so I have to make sure that I stick with that society's structure. While the Manesai are evolved humans, they are a little bit different from us. They have better eyesight and cat-like eyes. They're stronger, suppler – and they have a rigid class system.

There are basically four classes:

• Mirka - These people are the leaders. Military command officers, presidents and senior politicians will be found in their ranks, as well as police.
• Vesha - Vesha form the business class. Merchants, traders, layers, accountants and the like. Some of them are very wealthy.
• Hasta - These are the technical people. Engineers, technicians, chemists, scientists, doctors.
• Shuba - The working class. Laborers, foot soldiers, farmers.

Genetic engineering has made it impossible for people from the four classes to create offspring with a member of another class. Manesai culture is heavily based on the Indian caste system. But even if it wasn’t, point a finger at any part of the world and you’ll find classes, castes, restrictions on marriage and the like. The daughters of merchants would marry the sons of other merchants. Princes married princesses. Common serving men didn’t bother lusting after the daughter of the house. Although, in male dominated societies, men in authority thought nothing of having a bit on the side with the serving wench. Marriages were (and still are) very often arranged by the families. And folks, this is still, by and large, true. I have simply taken one small step further in my science fiction and had idealistic genetic scientists make matches between classes childless. A place for everyone and everyone in their place. That’s sure to make for a peaceful society. </sarcasm>

Since humans are essentially tribal and we love to belong to groups, each class has developed sub-classes. Shuba are the foot soldiers, but one group was deliberately modified to make them bigger, stronger, more fearless than the rest. They are the Fleet's elite troopers who also fill civilian roles as security police and body guards. Admiral Ravindra is a member of the Darya sub-class within the Mirka. It is an elite group which produces most Manesai admirals. And the children of admirals (of course) tend to marry the children of admirals.

My three Morgan's Misfits are Jirra, who is a Hasta ex-Fleet engineer, Chet, who is Mirka and was a detective, and Toreni, who is elite Shuba. Romila, who they rescue from a raid on her shop, is Vesha.

I suppose I'm looking at the boundaries between people of different classes. In Morgan's Choice, Ravindra falls for a (shock-horror) ALIEN. But that opened up other questions. What happens if a Mirka man falls for a Hasta woman? Or A Vesha woman for a Hasta man? Or if two people from the same class have incompatible interests? Or if an arranged marriage is not to the liking of the two parties to the marriage? It's an interesting exercise.

In Kuralon Rescue Jirra is being pursued by a bounty hunter, sent after her by her parents, for refusing to honor an arranged marriage. Jirra, who's Hasta, is in love with a Mirka officer. Mystery of the Ice Warriors will explore a little more of the star-crossed lovers theme.

It has been fun developing a history for these stories. I'll confess that some of the folklore in these made up stories is loosely based on real history, or myths and legends. The Mirka temple MAY have derived, at least a little, from the cult of Mithras. Here's a little excerpt, and then I'll get back to the book.

********************

"What is this place?"

Sunil lifted his shoulder. "It's a temple."

"To what?"

"A Mirka temple. There are no gods, of course. Hardly anybody believes in things like that anymore. But the Mirka are warriors, first and foremost. This is a place to honor the dead and to gain one's courage. There's one on Mahanadi, still in use."

Of course. The Mirka temple on Khalas Island. She'd never been there. Women were discouraged. In the past they'd been forbidden. But she'd seen pictures of the interior, and she recognized the similarities. She ran her gloved hand over the altar, still polished smooth. "How old is this place?"

"It's hard to tell. But I think it goes back to the earliest settlement on this world. I spent a few days at the Central Library at Mahanadi trying to find out as much about this world as I could. It wasn’t always called Akhlut. That happened when everyone moved to the main town. From what I can piece together, the weather was much milder when the first people landed here, but weather being what it is, the climate changed. After I think about one hundred years this place in the mountains wasn’t tenable anymore. Akhlut is the name of an ice demon."

Romila nodded. "The cold drove them out."

"That’s right. And they've developed their own folklore. Ice witches that cause water to freeze, that sort of thing. And the ice warriors – the statues you sell – they keep the forces of cold at bay. But while the ice witches aren't real, as you can see, the ice warriors are. Or were."

The allure of history in SF

Terracotta warriors at Xian

I'm over 40k words into my new book, and it's all falling into place as science fiction with a large helping of history. It seems to be a pattern with me, maybe because I find history fascinating. I have a BA(Hons) in history and that fascination that got me through university has remained. I'm especially intrigued with stories about civilizations that disappeared. I don't mean Atlantis - because I'm not convinced it actually existed - certainly not as portrayed in Plato's book. But there's reason to believe it may have been loosely based on the volcanic destruction of Santorini.

But there are more actual, real examples. For instance, the city of Troy in the Iliad did and does exist. When it was excavated, it was found to have been built on top of itself nine times. Then there's this amazing Mayan city in the jungle. The extent of this place has only recently been revealed using aerial mapping techniques. The Mayans abandoned their cities in around the 8th or 9th centuries, and nobody is exactly sure why. There are so many mysteries in history - who built the pyramids, and how, and why? Who built Stonehemge? How and why?  There are more prosaic discoveries, people who stumbled upon a treasure trove in their back paddock. Something like Sutton Hoo. And then there are the fabled terracotta warriors guarding the tomb of Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China. The tomb was constructed before the modern era, but it disappeared from view, and knowledge for close to two thousand years. It was stumbled upon by a farmer in 1974. And just now, as I've written this, there has been another stunning discovery in Egypt, a necropolis that has been untouched for two thousand years.

What about tantalising fragments hinting at technology we have only recently 'discovered'? The Mayans knew a great deal about astronomy and tracked the planets long before Copernicus. Then there's the Antikythera mechanism, which is an analog computer dating back to before the modern era.

So it's hardly surprising that my science fiction stories often have a bit of (made up based on real) ancient history in them. The Mystery of the Ice Warriors is no different. The ice warriors are statues of mythical beings, carved from a crystal rock that has a blue glow. Unfortunately for Romila, who has inherited her parent's antique shop after their death, the statues have been used to smuggle drugs. Romila is in trouble with the drug dealers, but Morgan's Misfits (Jirra, Chet, and Toreni) see an opportunity to help her, and destroy a leading criminal at the same time.

Since I'm very much a make-it-up-as-you-go writer, I'm finding out the most amazing things about these ice warriors and their history. Are they mythological figures. like the Greek and Roman Gods, or were they real? There's a bit of climate change in the book, too. Places that were temperate became too cold for humans. The Viking settlement on Greenland is an Earth example.

Here's a snippet - warts and all, not even remotely edited - but it'll give you an idea what the ice warriors are like.

Lorpat took them to a closed off area to the left. "This is our workshop. Sunil has told you the story of the statues? What they are?"

Chet smiled. "He told us so many things details have slipped past me. Please explain again."

Lorpat frowned and chewed at his lip before he spoke in heavily accented Standard. "They be mythological figures, taken from legends of our past. Ancient warriors. He picked up a statue standing on a shelf. "See? Helmet for fighting, body… how you call it… protection…"

"Armor," Chet provided.

"Yes, armor." He traced the pattern on the chest with his finger. "Each is different. Each carver uses his own pattern."

"Really?" Chet stared at the design. "You can say who carved a piece by looking at the armor?"

He smiled at her, nodding. "Yes. This one is made by Krishnan. You will meet him."

Jirra waved her sanvad. "May I take pictures? So we can remember what you said?"

He shrugged. "If you want."

"Is there anything else different about them?" Chet asked as Jirra recorded. "Are they supposed to be different characters?"

"Yes. All are different. Weapons can be different. This man carries sword." He picked up a second finished statue. "This has no sword but has spear. Helmets can be different." He pointed. "This one has design. This one plain."

"May I?" Jirra's hand stretched toward a statue, waiting until Lorpat nodded before she picked it up, tracing the lines of the helmet. "Almost looks like breathing apparatus."

Lorpat took a moment to process the words.

Jirra put her hand over her mouth and made breathing noises.

The man laughed, shaking his head. "No. Not… what you said. They are warriors, part of the mountains. They fought the evil spirits who live in the ice rivers, banished them to the wild places."

It was a common trope, the forces of good and evil set against each other, the knights of the mountains fighting the demons of the deeps. 

There you have it. I'll keep on writing.