Ken MacLeod - A Case of Consilience

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MacLeod, Ken - A Case of Consilience

A Case of Consilience

KEN MacLEOD

From Hartwell, David - Year's Best SF 11 (2006) and Gardner Dozois - The Year's Best Science Fiction

23rd Annual Collection (2006)

Ken MacLeod (kenmacleod.blogspot.com) lives in West Lothian, Scotland. He became prominent in the

late 1990s with his early novels, the four politically engaged books in the Fall Revolution series, that

began in the UK in 1995 with The Star Fraction, and in the U.S. in 1999 with the reprinting of The

Cassini Division. His next three novels are The Engines of Light trilogy, and his latest novels are

Newton's Wake (subtitled A Space Opera in the UK in 2004) and Learning the World (2005, subtitled

or, The New Intelligence: A Scientific Romance). He wrote an essay on "The New Space Opera" for

Locus in 2004, and is generally regarded as central to British space opera in this generation. He has

published very little short fiction.

"A Case of Consilience " was published in Nova Scotia. It is in dialogue with James Blish's classic, "A

Case of Conscience." The first twist is that MacLeod's Christian, Donald Maclntyre, is a Scots

Presbyterian, not a Catholic priest. The second is that the intelligent alien is a vast subterranean mycoid

—a fungus. Maclntyre's belief motivates him to bring the gospel to the alien. But then there is the alien

point of view.

When you say it's Providence that brought you here," said Qasim, "what I hear are two things: it's bad

luck, and it's not your fault."

The Rev. Donald Maclntyre, M.A. (Div.), Ph.D., put down his beer can and nodded.

"That's how it sometimes feels," he said. "Easy for you to say, of course."

Qasim snorted. "Easy for anybody! Even a Muslim would have less difficulty here. Let alone a Buddhist

or Hindu."

"Do tell," said Donald. "No, what's really galling is that there are millions of Christians who would take

all this in their stride. Anglicans. Liberals. Catholics. Mormons, for all I know. And my brethren in the,

ah, narrower denominations could come up with a dozen different rationalizations before breakfast, all

of them heretical did they but know it—which they don't, thank the Lord and their rigid little minds, so

their lapses are no doubt forgiven through their sheer ignorance. So it's given to me to wrestle with. Thus

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MacLeod, Ken - A Case of Consilience

a work of Providence. I think."

"I still don't understand what your problem is, compared to these other Christians."

Donald sighed. "It's a bit hard to explain," he said. "Let's put it this way. You were brought up not to

believe in God, but I expect you had quite strong views about the God you didn't believe in. Am I right?"

Qasim nodded. "Of course. Allah was always…" He shrugged. "Part of the background. The default."

"Exactly. Now, how did you feel when you first learned about what Christians believe about the Son of

God?"

"It was a long time ago," said Qasim. "I was about eight or nine. In school in Kirkuk. One of my

classmates told me, in the course of… well, I am sorry to say in the course of a fight. I shall pass over

the details. Enough to say I was quite shocked. It seemed preposterous and offensive. And then I

laughed at myself!"

"I can laugh at myself too," said Donald. "But I feel the same way as you did—in my case at the

suggestion that the Son was not unique, that He took on other forms, and so forth. I can hardly even say

such things. I literally shudder. But I can't accept, either, that He has no meaning beyond Earth. So what

are we to make of rational beings who are not men, and who may be sinners?"

"Perhaps they are left outside," said Qasim. "Like most people are, if I understand your doctrines."

Donald flinched. "That's not what they say, and in any case, such a question is not for me to decide. I'm

perplexed."

He leaned back in the seat and stared gloomily at the empty can, and then at the amused, sympathetic

eyes of the friendly scoffer to whom he had found he could open up more than to the believers on the

Station.

Qasim stood up. "Well, thank God I'm an atheist, that's all I can say."

He had said it often enough.

"God and Bush," said Donald. This taunt, too, was not on its first outing. Attributing to the late ex-

President the escalating decades-long cascade of unintended consequences that had annexed Iraq to the

EU and Iran to China was probably unfair, but less so than blaming it on God. Qasim raised a mocking

index finger in response.

"God and Bush! And what are you having, Donald?"

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