Those Detestable Ofkaipan

In Dr. Gregory Benford’s novel The Stars in Shroud, Ling decides to leave Earth to undertake the job of Base Commandant in the Veden System.  This is not an easy decision, as it means abandoning his wife and children when they are still suffering from the debilitating effects of the Quarm plague.  But the Veden System is important to Earth, for it manages the Flinger, which makes it possible to supply and support all the worlds mankind has settled.  And the people of Veden seem unaffected by the psychological disorder with which the aliens have brought all other Fleet worlds to a standstill.  So, faced with an important task ahead, and a mystery whose solution might hold the key to humanity’s future, Ling bids Angela, Chark, and Romana good-bye.

Ling’s racial status marks him as an ofkaipan.  Although he rose to captain a starship, those who would discriminate against minorities capitalized on his reluctance to transport the infected colonists from Regeln back to Earth.  Hence, Ling found himself court-martialed.  Tonji, his former second-in-command, has been unaffected by the plague, and has hence risen high in the new Fleet hierarchy.  On his trip to Veden, Ling finds the ship crewed by political appointees, leftovers, and former desk-jockeys, basically anyone of the majority race whom the plague has not affected.  No Sabal games are held, which prevents the crew from achieving greater unity and efficiency.  When the Captain finally calls Ling to his office, he is told that the ship will not even expend the fuel to go into orbit around Veden.  

Ling is packed into a one-man lifepod, and launched from the ship.  For the next three days, his life pod--little more than a casket--courses through the amazing forces channeled by this spacial phenomenon known as the Flinger.  Imagine being stuffed into a water-tight barrel and tossed into a river. If your barrel is not punctured and filled with water, if your air and food supplies are not compromised, if the rapids or waterfalls you traverse do not smash your barrel against the rocks, you may arrive at your destination unharmed.  In Ling's case, without the shielding, propulsion, and maneuvering capabilities of a starship, every moment of this uncomfortable journey might be his last.  During this time, he finally realizes how everyone in Fleet society always called him ofkaipan behind his back.  When his lifepod emerges from the Flinger, a new world awaits him.  He tells himself that on Veden, the situation will be different.

As a Caucasian male, there have been few times when I have felt myself in the minority.  I can only imagine what some are made to suffer, simply because of the color of their skin.  While Ling's experiences lead him to believe that his society has always viewed him as an outsider, his primary concern remains not his own social status, but the overall health of Fleet and Humanity.  All of us are constrained by innumerable factors, many forever beyond our control.  In resolving not to worry about how others view him, Ling can better focus upon the task he is determined to accomplish.  A similar resolve may help us through the hard times that inevitably await us.

Related Dragon Cache entries

Defined By Fear

That Which Divides

The Yeoman and Number One