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SEND IN THE DRONESA short story by Neil Dufty

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1‘We have a problem, Sir?’

‘What’s up, Smythe? Bad news, so early in the morning.’

‘Yes Sir. We’re down twenty-five people on yesterday’s count.’

‘Down twenty-five people! Are you sure that all Nationwide Population Surveillance Scanners™ are working?’

‘Confirming that all Nationwide Population Surveillance Scanners™ are operative, Sir. It is a true negative anomaly. A Code Red scenario.’

‘Code Red? Smythe, do you know what that means?’

‘Yes, Sir. It’s a major violation of the Australian Demographic Act, 2051.’

‘Have we checked all immigration exit points? All airports, ship terminals?’

‘I believe so.’

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1‘Are all deaths accounted for? All dead de-activated?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘We normally have a positive anomaly from untagged illegals identified trying to enter the country via the Electro Interceptor Barriers ™.That is, we expect unaccounted surplus population, not unaccounted less population.’

‘I know, Sir. This is a first.’

‘Then, Smythe, pull the team together, locate the problem pronto, brief me, and then I’ll inform the Prime Minister. Time is of the essence. This is an emergency of national significance.’

‘I’m on to it, Sir.’

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2A Code Red. His first.

Dr Reinhard Pepper pondered the emergency, sitting in the Department’s tea room.

Dr Pepper was a precise man – you had to be when dealing with population. People were numbers, and numbers you could count, graph, analyse, and report on.

Small in stature and in his mid-forties, Dr Pepper was immaculately groomed. His greying hair was lacquered back; his steel-rimmed glasses gave the impression of him being an intellectual (which he was, as demonstrated by his University Medal in Demography, his numerous lofty academic postings, and now his leadership of the Department of Population and Immigration).

Based on his looks, he was referred to as the ‘Silver Fox’ by his underlings. However, with his prim appearance, German first name, purposeful walk and tight-fitting suit he could have been likened to a Gestapo general. This association would have been totally inappropriate as, in fact, Dr Pepper was a descendant of Jews that had fled Germany during the war some hundred years ago now. His ancestors had gone as far away from Germany as they could: Australia. From these migrant origins, the Pepper family had nurtured generations of Australian intellectuals and leaders across a range of fields including commerce, the law, medicine, and, of course, demography.

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2At times, Dr Pepper reflected on his lot and place in the population of Australia. It must not have been easy for his ancestors settling in Australia, he mused. Australia back in the last century had not been welcoming to non-British. At least they were white; Australia had had a White Australia Policy, dark days indeed. And the indigenous people had not been counted as Australians for almost two hundred years after they were invaded by the British.

Gladly, Dr Pepper thought, Australia was now a multi-cultural country with relative racial harmony. It was now viewed with envy due to this, its riches, and lifestyle. For over half a century, boat loads of people had been trying to illegally land on the wide, brown land, looking for a better life. Successive governments had grappled with the boats; one government had even tried in vain to ‘turn back the boats’.

Come in Dr Pepper. The government of Denise Hatcher - Australia’s second female Prime Minister - had swept to power with the mantra of ‘Eliminate the Boats’. The Hatcher Government decreed that there would be barriers placed in the way of all illegal boats, and that all boats in the vicinity would immediately be destroyed and their inhabitants returned to their origin. Not only that, the Australian population would be counted daily to ensure that no illegals got into the island continent by any means. The last thing that Australia wanted was to be like California, with millions of its population uncounted illegals. The only way to get into Australia permanently was through a long process of assessment. ‘Fortress Oz’ it was dubbed by journalists at the time.

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2Dr Pepper was appointed to activate this platform. As the new Chief of the Australian Department of Population and Immigration, he masterminded the appropriate legislation and infrastructure. The Australian Demographic Act, 2051 was passed, and his department was well-resourced.

He reflected it was the technology to implement the Act that really was exciting, providing a daily census and surveillance of potential illegals.

All Australians were humanely microchipped. Microchipping had been used extensively and successfully with dogs and cats for at least the past fifty years. The microchips provided extensive details of a person’s profile – a demographer’s delight – and were inserted via a pin-prick of pain in the back of the neck. New-born babies rarely cried during this procedure. A touching part of the ceremony for new Australians was when they bowed their heads in front of the flag and had their chips inserted. On pronouncement of death, the microchips were immediately de-activated.

Certified visitors to Australia were issued Special Entry Bracelets™ that they must wear at all times. The Bracelets provided a profile of the visitor that used to be on the antiquated immigration and customs form. On exit from the country, they handed in their Bracelets.

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2A network of Nationwide Population Surveillance Scanners™ had been located at regional centres across the country and at entry points (international airports, shipping terminals) to scan microchips and Bracelets at any one time. Up-to-date and accurate census data and data on visitors (including the whereabouts of their vacations) were obtainable at any time and reported on a daily basis.

Around the nation’s coastline, a network of Electro Interceptor Barriers ™ had been installed that detected the presence of tagged and untagged people, either in planes or boats. Boarder Security was immediately alerted to the problem and carried out operations as per the Australian Demographic Act, 2051.

But now alone, Dr Pepper queried how this intricate population surveillance system might be violated. Twenty-five lost souls. Had there been a natural disaster? A flood? A fire? Nothing in the news.

Dr Pepper acknowledged that he and his team must find the find the answer. The Prime Minister needed a briefing and a solution found urgently, before the media latched on to the matter.

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3Smythe was a lady – Jane Smythe – in fact. All the Population Assessment Team was addressed by their surname. Although a tad impersonal, it was an efficient use of words, and precise. The only issue was with the Chinese-descent member of the team: whether to call her Qu or Lim (she answered to both).

The Team sat around the workshop room mulling over the statistics. A negative twenty-five. How could it be? All Deaths and Exits were analysed. No explanation.

Smythe dejectedly dropped her head. The rest of the team followed, as Dr Pepper entered the room.

‘Have we found the reason for the anomaly?’

Collectively, ‘No, Dr Pepper.’

‘I will therefore have to inform the PM of the Code Red. It is like we have lost twenty-five overboard.’

At that moment, the missing Gunawayasake burst into the room. ‘I’ve tracked the problem to Division 351, the central west of New South Wales.’

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3‘Twenty-five less from somewhere in that Division?’

‘It appears so from my detailed analysis of data from the Nationwide Population Surveillance Scanners™.’

‘Well done, Gunawayasake. Do you know what that means? Yes Smythe?’

‘Call in micro-surveillance, Sir.’

‘Yes, send in the Population Location Drones™, Smythe. The Drones will fly over the area and with their sensors detect humans, and whether they have chips or not. No stone will go unturned until those Drones find the twenty-five. The PM will be delighted that a Code Red has been averted and we once again know Australia’s precise population. I’ll go in person to question the miscreants wherever they might be.’

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4The Drones, like a pack of hounds on the trail of a fox, quickly found the Population of Concern – a township called Bidgibri.

As promised, Dr Pepper, accompanied by several police, flew then drove from the city in a convoy to the offending place. There was no field attire for Dr Pepper, no dressing down. He wore his best grey suit, business shirt, tie and shiny black shoes to the bull-dust of western New South Wales.

The convoy drove up from the fertile floodplain of the Bogan to a gravelly series of low ridges covered by scraggy scrub. No cattle or sheep. Even kangaroos were not to be seen. Why would people live in this god-forsaken place? Dr Pepper thought.

And then a dilapidated sign ‘Bidgibri’ and a few run down houses announced that they were driving into the location of the National Population Security Breach.

Nobody in sight. A mangy cattle dog eyed them suspiciously then slunk away. A few emaciated chickens pecked on the side of the main (only) road.

To find people, the convoy pulled up at a run-down building bearing the sign ‘The Bidgibri’ - possibly the local drinking place.

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4The first thing that Dr Pepper noticed as he alighted from his vehicle was the heat, the searing heat. He immediately dabbed his perspiring brow with his suit kerchief.

Inside ‘The Bidgibri’ were people raucously enjoying themselves, and their drinks. As he stood at the door, Dr Pepper observed a rag-tag bunch of mainly men. A quick count numbered twenty-five.

‘Come and have a drink. The first on us,’ called a voice from the mob. ‘We thought you might turn up soon.’

Best to do this calmly, Dr Pepper thought. ‘OK, just the one. We have to get to the bottom of this.’

As the locals handed the first shout around, Dr Pepper announced, ‘We are here to find out why you are not counted as people, as Australians.’

The local ‘leader’ - an overweight, bearded man in grubby overalls - explained that all the people of Bidgibri wished to be free. They had all come to this place to go under the radar; they were fleeing from something, in many cases themselves. At an all-nighter (no cop in town to police closing time), they had all extricated each other’s microchips using a small screwdriver. They had the marks on the back of their necks to prove it. They now wished to be left alone, he added.

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5Dr Pepper scanned the group. He could see they meant no harm. However, according to the Australian Demographic Act, 2051 Section 24(a), all recalcitrants would have to be taken into custody, re-inserted, fined and possibly re-settled to ensure no repeat offence. To keep the peace and not be lynched, he decided to shout the next round before instigating rectification actions under the Act.

Later that evening with the drinks flowing and the atmosphere convivial, a slightly dishevelled Dr Pepper reflected on his life-long demographic mantra: ‘All People Count’. He might shout another round before taking these people in.

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For more of Neil Dufty’s writing

http://neilduftyfiction.wordpress.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Neil-Dufty/e/B00580K8VI