Chapter 39 - A New Tribe

"Anything else I should know", asked Lü Zhi.

Hamish shook his head. "If for any reason you feel someone could handle this better than I then I'd rather be reassigned sooner rather than later."

"You're a good man Hamish, at the time I thought the best I could find. I still feel that way, but this problem is larger than anticipated. I feel you can endure this situation better than anyone. So to recap, at the highest level, Bir Tawil has been cut off from the rest of the world and they are developing their own morality. That morality not only condemns New World Explorations but the rest of humanity as a whole."

"Aye, it's the resources Ma'am. Technically they have been nothing short of incredible. They are fully independent and as far as we can tell will stay that way indefinitely. It's looking like they have the capacity to expand, albeit slowly. However there seems to be a mood rather than a doctrine of religious zeal that the rest of humanity are destroyers of the world and they're the chosen ones to fix it. However they can't for now or in the foreseeable future because they have no weapons", Hamish concluded.

"Are you familiar with the Observer effect. A classic example being checking tyre pressure. To measure the pressure the gauge releases some air from the tyre and so what has been measured has changed. Hamish what I want you to do is to give into the flow of what is happening there. Stop trying to be the policeman and provide detailed reports to our psych team of what is going on. Keep yourself safe, we wouldn't want to lose you. Specifically tell us if they acquire or manufacture their own weapons, but let the movement, the mood, the effect take its own course. I want to know how functional their society is, are they a productive team or are they self defeating as a whole.

This isn't a failure Hamish. The goal is further down the road than we thought. I would much prefer to know of these problems before we leave Earth than after. Once their society has stabilised we will seek ways of rectification. If they do self destruct we need to know how, in detail."

"The International Space Station has never had these problems?", asked Hamish

"The difference is they are dependent on supplies from Earth. That kind of dependence allows you to kick your dog. Additionally the temporary nature of their mission, ensures they respect NASA authority. Your observations will put us way ahead of the game. By the way what is their infant mortality rate, that's been previously identified as a religious stressor"

"Hard to give a figure yet, we are not that far into the project. However we have zero miscarriages, zero fetal abnormalities detected and zero maternal complications - so far. I suspected that luck has played a hand so far. But no, it can't be a factor."

"It can if it confirms their belief as God's chosen", advised Lü Zhi.