by Paul Harm
The next day they met as planned. John did not show up at 7 AM, which made them worry. Maybe it had been too much for him and he also might have pleaded to his parents to move him to another school. This did not fix their problem, though, because they were into trouble themselves now. Mathilda was the first one to speak, after they had greeted and waited silently. It was partly because they were still pretty sleepy and partly because no one had come up with a good plan so far. “I guess we should tell the Principal the truth and hope they throw him out of school.” Mathilda pointed out while nibbling on a cucumber sandwich. “Wow, that’s one hell of a plan.” Lucia sarcastically replied. “You got a better one, Lucia?” Mathilda snatched back at her. “I’m not in trouble anyway, remember, you punched him to the ground. I guess I’m just fine doing nothing at all.” “Oh what a brave person you are Mathilda, since you aren’t willing to do anything. Anyway, why don’t you just carry on and let us grownups deal with it? Run away like the chicken you are!” Mathilda clenched her fist, the one that wasn’t holding the cucumber sandwich. “What’s your problem Lucia?” “Please, that’s not helping at all.” Joseph tried to calm them down, but the girls did not even notice him. “My problem is,” Lucia continued “that you’re just trying to pull out. We can’t ask anyone for help, this Rick guy might be an asshole, but unfortunately he isn’t stupid.” “Well, he’s a little stupid.” Mike chuckled. The two girls stared at him with wide open angry eyes. The cucumber sandwich pointing at him did not make it any less threatening, but it did deliver the message to shut the fuck up. Mathilda started to wave the rest of her cucumber sandwich violently in the air. “Why would you drag us into this anyway?” She was almost screaming at her by now. “I warned him not to touch my brother and he didn’t just touch him, he also insulted me afterwards, I will strike that bastard down again if I have to.” “Just that you won’t get another chance, dummy! You think you can pull a move like that again? You just caught him off guard, next time he’ll see it coming and there’s just no way it’ll end like that again in a straight up fight.”
Mathilda’s waving had become so violent that two more slices of cucumber had left her sandwich, swirled through the air in a high bow above the group and almost landed on Johns cap. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late.” They were so engrossed in their dispute they did not even see him coming. “Who cares?” Mathilda snapped at him. “You realize we’re all fucked because of you?” The cucumber sandwich pointed at him like a gun, underlining her accusation. Although you could not call it a cucumber sandwich any more, since due to its owner’s violent rhetoric, it had degraded into an empty shell. Just a sandwich then. When John looked up from the sandwich, which floated in front of his face, he started to unravel the plan he came up with last night and it really wasn’t such a bad one. After he had explained all the details, the group seemed to ease up and the only victims of the early morning conversation were some slices of cucumber laying in the grass, leaving their former owner with slightly less vitamins.
After they split up in their classrooms, the first step of the plan was ‘Always meet right after class and stick together, because there is stuff to do’. Even though they did not see Rick or his henchmen in the morning they, expected them to be there, maybe Rick just came in late to avoid the crowd. When the bell rang for the first break, they met instantly and started preparing for things to come. One of the central parts of the plan was to always stick together. In a straight up fight, the five of them were still better off if they were together, or at least someone could escape and get help from the teachers. Well, so far so good, the moment of truth was upon them and they headed for the public hallway ready to face their horrors.
***
“Dad?” The word rang through the speaker of the school, Joseph looked up in disbelief. “DAD?” Louder and more intense this time. Joseph looked at his friends as they and the school slowly dissolved and then his living room appeared in front of him. Mia smiled and offered him a cup of coffee. “What time is it, Mia?” “About 10 o’clock dad, better get ready to go, cause we need to leave soon.” “OK, ok.” He took a sip from his coffee to give himself time to wake up. “I just had the weirdest dream, more like a memory, really.” “Was it a good one?” Mia was already back in the kitchen. “I don’t know, it had its ups and downs. It was about when we met John back in school.” “Oh, that sounds interesting, John sure had a good story when he joined you.” “Well, I give you the interesting part.” He chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. “So, John joined you guys later?” “Ah yes, John was the new kid in school at some point.” “Ouch.” Mia hissed when she came back with her own coffee and some pastry. “Rough start I suppose?” Mia remarked as clearly as possible considering that half-chewed cookie in her mouth. “You could say that.” Joseph raised an eyebrow and took another sip of his delicious coffee. They talked for another couple of minutes, but Mia was already in a hurry, the visit at her parents’ was her last stop. In the evening she would be back at Lunar University conducting research and unravelling the mysteries of advanced space station construction. So far, they had just four space stations in the solar system one of them obviously in a high orbit around Earth, another one very similar to the station on Mars, one station is hanging in the high orbit of Saturn and one of them on Enceladus. Their purpose was rather unclear probably some sort of geothermal research centers, for all Mia knew. The moon and Mars habitats did not qualify as space stations any more since they were self-sustaining. It was all about self-sustaining these days, to supply those things from the outside would not be possible with the stations current design.
After Claire, Joseph and Mathilda all had had a long talk with Mia, they said goodbye. “So, we’ll see you again in August?” Joseph bravely kept his tears at bay. “Yes, and maybe I’ll be down the cascade at the end of June.” Mia was not too sad, but more excited to finally start working again. If she had known what a pain in the ass the shore leave was, the part where you actually had to make the bones denser and not lose too many muscles in order to not develop any serious conditions associated with long term low-gravity exposure. Joseph wasn’t worried about his little girl, no, but he was sad because he loved her a lot and ever since she became an adult, he saw her less and less. Of course, he was proud, as proud as a father could be but still, he missed her. Maybe he just missed the times where he was a father. Not like now where he was more of a granddad. Sometimes visited but not very involved any more. - Never mind, I guess I have to hope for grandchildren. - He did a good job fighting back his tears, but the second Mia vanished out of the door, a big tear rolled down his cheek, he did not even realize it. Mathilda’s elbow in his ribs gave him a hint that he leaked one though. “Joseph, get it together.” He sighed. That woman almost cracked a rib, he thought. “God damn it Mathilda, I’m having a moment here!” Claire laid his arm around him and gently rested her head at his shoulder.
V. The New World Order
Joseph still had the whole day before him and after he had spent the whole morning brooding over old photo albums, in one hand a handkerchief, in the other a rich and comforting fruit tea. The smell of the tea filled the whole room and Claire’s hand on his head caressing his hair helped a bit with the grief. “Are you alright Joseph?” She did not sound very worried, more like a veteran in dealing with him like that. “It’s all good, sweetie, I just…” he sniffed “I just really miss her, you know.” “I know honey, I miss her too.” She always admired him for not holding back any kind of feelings toward anything really. Unlike many other men, he always embraced his emotional richness. Claire always suspected his strong and healthy relationship to his own emotions was what made him such a good therapist. He made a heart-breaking sniff and then the worst was over, for now. He was exhausted, intense feelings are something body and mind could only deal with for a certain amount of time.
“You think she misses us too?” “Sure.” “It’s just not as intense for her because she has all those new people around her and her care
er has just started. I think she’s really busy, you know what it’s like when you’re young.” “Yeah, busy times, I guess.” Another minor sniff occurred as he stated it. “You should be happy for her!” “I am!” “Yeah, that’s what it looks like.” She chuckled. “So, are you going for your Sunday afternoon thing again?” Claire asked gesturing at the bookshelf. “Yes!” A fire lit in Josephs eyes. “In fact, I am. I just arrived at the dark ages again.” Claire smiled, she knew the pain was gone for good now because Joseph had an obsession with history books, especially modern history. Joseph got up and after he had refilled his tea, he took out a large book from the shelf “The Chronicles of Humanity. 2150 - 2250” Truth was, they could have named this part of human history “The Last Civilization”, because after the magnetic storm, humanity united under a single flag. Not immediately, but slowly, and Joseph loved to read this part, the one with humanity’s last war. They called it the Last World War, even though, again, most of the world’s nations were not involved. When he sank back on the couch he felt the pain of Mia’s absence leaving his system entirely and from where he was now it even seemed like another man’s problem. “Prologue” the chapter title told him. “Have fun, honey.” But Joseph was already gone. Usually he warmed up with the chapters’ short descriptions, kind of like abstracts of the content.
"Prologue"
To understand the processes responsible for change to occur and the implications of reconciliation in the aftermath of the war, you have to understand three separate developments within the human endeavor. First, the technological revolution made possible what had never even been thinkable, starting with the development of the steam engine and peaking in the mid-21st century, when humanity started to wield the power of the sun as its main energy source. Therefore, technological development mostly depended on the ability to conjure and distribute energy. The fusion reactor made it possible for mankind to banish unstable nuclear power.
The second big influence in the aftermath of the catastrophe and the war was the worldwide network of individuals connected to each other for various reasons. A term from the late 20th and early 21st century - globalization - was responsible for this interlinked humanity, in fields such as science, politics, business, society, community, hobbies etc. When communication was re-established a couple of weeks after the catastrophe they were not only relieved to hear their fellow humans were alright, but immediately started to create a support network as far as limited resources would allow it. This network tried to coordinate the logistical challenge of distributing goods such as food and medical supplies.
The third was the unfortunate loss of livestock and the outbreak of worldwide famine in the aftermath of the war. Due to its incapability to feed the hungry fifteen billion people on Earth, for decades after the crisis government had to force veganism upon its citizens as the only chance for feeding the masses. After the famine was ended, the government never changed it back to the old ways and in the process, the life expectancy of citizens rose by about eight years on average in the following generations to come. Those were the three major processes leading towards UEF, the United Earth Federation.
"The years before the magnetic storm 2150 – 2189"
Data on the subject is vague, therefore I’ll point out any unverified data or sources that suggest a different view. However, we took it very seriously at the time and we are sure that for the data and information we had, this picture is accurate. For all we know the sources almost point to an era of peace. Unlike the years surrounding the second millennium, humanity valued peace as a sacred good and clashes over resources where mostly sorted out. This was probably for one part due the unlimited energy production and for the other part to the advancement in material science, which basically gave humanity unlimited resources. Food production as well as distribution was in a state where almost 100% of Earth’s human population could be fed.
The last big transition in this period was the adjustment of the three economic sectors while we witnessed the green revolution in the late 20th century, where most of the agricultural jobs transitioned into the production sector. In the late 21st century we saw the same happen with production transitioning into the non-productive sector. With a labor force that peaked in 2130, where 85% of the population engaged in scientific endeavor, humanity finally followed its calling: they started to go for the stars. In the point of politics this was a time of transition and profound change too: while the regular Earth citizen achieved ever higher education, they were globally mobile at the same time. So, in the early 21st century we can see a student movement, studying abroad, gathering incredible momentum with around 14% of students constantly on the move. This global mobility furthermore increased when they entered the labor market and thus eliminating racism and national differences as a result of their lifestyle.
Editor’s Note: The concept of nationalism is explained in detail on page 134 – 148. For now imagine it as a randomly drawn border, in which a certain group of institutions held power.
When the magnetic storm hit Earth, the world went dark on the 28. May 2189. Reliable information during the following ten years is scarce and Professor Miller of Columbia University suggests that some sources seem to be unreliable, forged, rewritten later, etc. What we know for sure is that the magnetic storm wiped away every form of electronic-based communication. Machines, batteries, logistic systems, memory units, basically it purged humanity of wielding electricity. If the 17th century was the Enlightenment, the 22nd century was the exact opposite.
Joseph leaned back and took a sip of his tea, now comes the good stuff.
"The Dark Ages"
For ten years humanity struggled to get back up on its feet. The population loss at impact was about 30%, approximately five billion people were lost over the course of the next ten years. Most losses occurred in the northern hemisphere due to the inhospitable nature of the region. Famine was mankind’s biggest threat, followed by water shortage. It is highly likely that during this period of humanity’s setback, warlords, local groups, etc. were in power over most rural parts of Earth, where police and military could not establish order. Fortunately, Admiral Sumiko Kobayashi managed to get Japan up on its feet earlier than any other region on Earth and from there she helped humanity during the next decade. This is why we still celebrate Sumiko Kobayashi’s birthday as ‘Phoenix Day’ on June 27th where humanity rose from its ashes. What happened within this timeframe we cannot exactly tell, fact is afterwards humanity reconfigured its whole technological sector, making it fall-out-secure and installing an early-warning system on the float within the solar orbits of Mars and Venus.
"The Rise of the UEF"
It was in the aftermath of the catastrophe when leadership decided to refit the government, or what was left of it. What they came up with is still in place today. It is partly a democracy and similar to a caste system. Although over the course of centuries the system has been adapted, its principle remained the same. Everyone has a say on a matter but there are council suggestions. Every major issue has to have three councils which will provide three independent solutions. After the solutions are handed in they will be voted upon in the high council except two solutions or more are super imposing, in which case scientific research suggests the solution is highly likely the best way to approach the issue, since two independent councils arrived at the same conclusion. Since that approach turned out to be successful, no further development in the government of humanity seemed to be necessary. The principles of the UEF is “Freedom, Democracy, Order and Peace.” The insignia every UEF Officer wears is Earth shielded by the symbol of nuclear fusion.
Joseph put his coffee aside after taking a big sip. He sighed. It felt good to know his species was the most badass bunch of monkeys in the solar system. People were always obsessed with the sun, he thought, after studying the UEF symbol in detail for a while. There was Akhenaton, who put Aton on top of the Egyptian Pantheon. There was Louis XIV the sun king, back in the 15th century, who was famous for h
is long reign. In 20th century China, astronomers had to be particularly careful when declaring anything related to the sun, such as sunspots, because their supreme leader Mao was considered the sun’s personification. It made sense that the declaration of a ‘sunspot’ in a scientific journal most likely cost you more than your career. Throughout history the sun had always been worshiped like a god, and he felt it was ironic that humanity’s first unified banner displayed a sun itself, but its essence, the nuclear fusion, guarding the expanding realm of men. - Maybe mankind did finally grow wise. - Joseph thought, sipping from his coffee.
Planetarian civilizations can be categorized in three major stages of development. Joseph’s mind slid away following his recently nurtured philosophical thoughts about humanity. Basically, the categories were sub-classified in the amount of energy the civilization wielded. Type I civilization was the supreme master of their planet, they mastered and controlled it, the weather, the volcanoes, everything. Their cities could be built on the ocean and everything else on the planet could be manipulated at their will. Experts consider the transition into a type I civilization as the most dangerous part and it has been theorized that most civilizations fail and fall victim to their own technology, such as weapons of mass destruction, anthropogenic climate change and things like that. The second type was a stellar civilization. What was true for the type I was true for the type II as well, except it was now on the scale of the solar system and in addition they learned to wield the sun’s energy for their advanced machinery and technology. Type III was the godlike part and it is unlikely the human body as we know it still exists in this galactic civilization. Type III civilizations wield the power of a galaxy, and their technology and machinery were unimaginably far ahead of anything you could even imagine nowadays. - Unfortunately. - Joseph thought, we still have not found anything.
