by Parker James
Apocalypse 2073
(Volume 1)
“The Prophecy”
By Parker James
Volume 1 In The 3-Part
Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Series
Copyright © by Parker James 2013
ISBN Number: 9781301362110
Published by Parker James
“Time serves no man.
Make of it what you will
in the time allotted.”
(The Alien Message Received In the Year 2064)
Table of Contents
Episode 1: “The Immortals”
Episode 2: “Apocalypse 2073”
Episode 3: “Into the Bunkers”
Episode 4: “Precipice”
Episode 5: “Armageddon”
Episode 6: “Journey”
Episode 7: “Rescue”
Episode 8: “Arrival”
Episode 9: “Eve of Destruction”
From the Author
Episode 1: “The Immortals”
“Time serves no man. Make of it what you will in the time allotted.” That was the alien message received in the year 2064; 155 years ago. In the beginning that was true, as true as anything. Certainly Erin Conyers knew it. The year was now 2219. Against all odds through her many decades of life Erin had survived catastrophe upon catastrophe and somehow despite everything still survived. She was one of the few, most of mankind having been literally wiped off the face of the earth. Yet technology had continued to march on; ever forward. In the late twentieth century mankind had conquered space, or the beginnings of it, if you could call it that. If one were to look back on those early years of exploration it was as far removed today from the first flight at Kitty Hawk compared to the International Space Station. For now, in this year, man had truly conquered the stars.
Mankind was also at a crossroads. Footholds were established on various planets and habitable moons with the ability to support life within the confines of humanities’ ability to survive, yet resources were scarce and an ever present problem. Captain Erin Conyers’ mission, at least on paper, was a simple one - “Locate other forms of intelligent life, specifically those encountered in the year 2064.” The Alliance had given Erin control over the vessel “Discovery,” launched in the year 2167. The ship was technologically state of the art, no expense having been spared. Its primary propulsion system consisted of polarized magnetic drives complimented by a rocket fueled propulsion system. With a small contingent of fourteen, she and her crew embarked upon their journey; the mission directive clear. What the outcome would be was a complete unknown, yet this much was a certainty; the future destiny of mankind depended upon their success.
Once leaving the solar system she and her crew had been travelling in the Outer Territories for more than 50 years, locked away in retention chambers suspended in animation. Despite her many years of life Erin Conyers looked beautiful, having aged only one week for each year spent in the chamber; a slight tradeoff all things being considered. The chamber certainly carried risks, especially in those early years when they were first brought into use one-hundred and fifty years ago, but they were risks that Erin was willing to take. She had taken them many times before. On this journey she would be called Captain for the very first time during her very long career. Recruited into the Alliance in 2137 at the tender age of nineteen, much had taken place during the prior two centuries. Despite being in the retention chambers during most of “The Great Upheavals of 2073,” she had personally been witness to much of it only to once again retreat back into the chambers in times of peril. The year of her birth coincided with one of the greatest discoveries bestowed upon mankind; that we are not alone in the universe.
It had been known for some time that intelligent life had existed in the universe, and what was once thought to be a “fluke” of nature was in fact commonplace. Life existed in many forms. Not only was life not a rarity, life was more of a commonplace. Appearing to be perhaps in her mid- twenties, she was in fact 32 years old according to universal adjustment standards. This adjusted for the time spent in the chambers; aging only one week for each year spent in stasis due to the reduced metabolic rate. Technically, in linear years she was 155 years old; perhaps the oldest human being in existence. Often she would hear the words “you look good for your age.” She got used to it. For those who came after her it would be difficult for them to fully comprehend.
Mankind would not have been in the desperate situation it now found itself in except for its vast excesses, using up earth’s limited resources at an unsustainable rate inevitably leading to a global nuclear holocaust. Where once there had been over nine billion inhabitants on earth alone, only 900 million remained on that planet. On the other planets and orbiting space stations, perhaps another 200,000 souls existed. Somehow mankind had survived the nuclear holocaust and once again gained a foothold.
Although her mission appeared simple on paper after the original short-lived encounter with the unknown alien intelligence, mankind had virtually no contact with them, the original encounter being as brief as possible. A simple message - “Children, we are watching you and our concern is great. Look into yourselves if you wish to avoid the future that is inevitable, for it is upon you.” It was an electronic message sent by a circling vessel; human kind not even knowing what the aliens who sent that prophetic message looked like. Their predictions had come to pass, and at this point, this crossroads, mankind desperately needed assistance from any and all sources available; no matter what the risks involved. It was deadly serious business. Over eight billion human beings had been wiped out almost two centuries earlier, what would it take to wipe out the remaining one billion? The best Allied Space Command could hope for was that the Discovery had been sent in the proper direction; that in which the alien vessel had taken upon its departure.
As Erin “slept” in the suspension chamber, she also dreamt. Dreaming was such a rarity; so very few were capable of it. Perhaps it was due to her many times in the chambers, four in all, many having been for extended periods. Perhaps it was due to her original method of suspension. She let her mind wander back to her birth prior to the “Great Upheavals of 2073.” The ensuing years were a series of catastrophes the likes of which earth had never before witnessed; nuclear war, famine, and death on such a massive scale that the face of the planet had been changed forever. She had survived the great upheavals due in large part to her parents. She was one of the lucky ones. The retention chambers were a new technology at the time and no one knew what the ultimate outcome of their use would be. Their construction was rushed and fully three out of every ten individuals placed into those first chambers hadn’t survived regardless of age, although the younger ones seemed to fair slightly better. Erin had. She hadn’t only survived, she thrived. While most lacked the ability to dream, the chambers had the opposite effect on Erin. Her ability to expand her mind and direct her thoughts served her well in the decades to follow. She was thankful for that. Some woke after many decades feeling as though only one single day had passed, while Erin felt as if she had lived every moment. And as she dreamt she often imagined she heard a voice - “Come child, I await you.” Was it a dream? She couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just her mind playing tricks on her, simply passing away the time in any way possible. Sometimes she felt as if she could even sense the presence of her crew. Including herself there were fourteen individuals in the vast chambers of her ship. While five of the crew members were located in close proximity to her, another eight had been placed lower in the bowels of the ship for the sake of safety. Many improvements to the chambers had been made over the years, and Erin fully hoped and ex
pected that each member of her crew would awake intact and healthy. All were veterans and had survived the rigors of the chambers several times before. She expected no different this time.
Fifty years in deep space could wreak havoc on a ship; time taking its toll on both man and machine. Continuing to dream she thought to herself that “it won’t be long now.” Was it her own inner voice she was hearing, that they were close to their destination and soon it would be time to wake and continue with their mission? She sensed that the time to wake was close at hand. Yet she dreamt on, back to her youth when it had all began. Had she not been in the suspension chambers during those extended periods of time, she would long ago have been forgotten; a footnote in history. Despite being one of the oldest living human beings in existence, it was not a particular source of pride for her. Born in the year 2064, her parents were terrified when the extraterrestrials’ ship first appeared on NORAD’S radar. Her father, Mitchell Conyers, was a Professor at MIT and had been deeply involved in special projects for the military. Together with his wife Anya, they were the ones who for all intents and purposes invented the chambers. Having a young child only fueled their drive to complete a fully functioning chamber; the alien’s message having been extremely clear. A catastrophe was coming; one that would drastically change mankind’s future, if not in fact eliminate human beings for all time. Their daughter was their primary concern, giving them the determination required to complete their task.
The prototype was simple. With all of its wires and diagnostic equipment, it looked more like a glorified toaster oven in its earlier stages than what in fact it truly was. That would change quickly. Originally their timeframe to completion was 15 to 20 years to produce a fully functioning chamber, complete with testing at minimal risk. At the behest of the military these risks were pushed to the limit.
In her early years Erin had a relatively normal childhood; the only additional knowledge common to all was that mankind was not alone in the universe. Being the age she was that knowledge seemed as normal to her as someone who had grown up with a telephone when first invented; it seemed as though it had always been known. Daycare and then kindergarten at the age of five; only four years and the great upheavals of 2073 would be upon them. But that was unspoken by her teachers. They preferred to talk of other things; basic education and the enlightenment of knowing that humans were not alone in the universe. Occasionally she did catch an inkling of a more dire situation; sometimes her parents would argue about one technical aspect of the chambers or the other, what course of action to take, what might potentially work and what was not working. She was a little ahead of others her age, having possessed a knowledge that they did not.
With over nine 9 billion people on the planet, food, gas, housing, clothing; the cost of anything and everything required to live a basic existence was astronomical. Erin was somewhat relieved of this burden. With her parents’ positions at MIT and most especially working on special projects financed by the military, the normal worries of life were somewhat alleviated. Her parents and General Phillip McCreary, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had one goal; the General making his expectations of the Conyers’ clear – “get those damn things up and running, and get them up and running fast.” That was their objective, made even more imperative over their concern for their daughter and her future survival should the worst occur. They had no desire to have any more children brought into a world with such an uncertain future, especially when told to mankind from a higher authority.
Where testing on live individuals had been originally planned within 5 to 7 years, it had in fact been occurring as early as 2067. First with lower forms of life followed by testing on mammals, and then for those willing live human beings with terminal illnesses; usually at an advanced age. Once told of the implications, many wholeheartedly wanted their lives to have meaning and simply volunteered. They had seen in their youth the growing inability of earth to sustain the sheer number of people on the planet, consuming its resources at an astounding rate. More and more people, with wars developing over food and control. The “third world” was in absolute turmoil. One dictator one day only to be ousted and executed the next. It wasn’t about power and control per- se, it was more about the ability to control those limited resources. The top dogs eat first and were privileged to all the extra amenities that came with power, which was only further fodder. In the earlier years the international news stations had a field day as situations escalated worldwide, giving a blow by blow description of each and every day’s events. Yet like everything else people’s minds eventually became numb to the news, always the same as they retreated back to their own daily drudgery and struggle for survival.
In less than three years full- blown trials were taking place on the chambers. They still had their diagnostic wires and electronic feeds coming out of them but overall the structure was beginning to take shape. Progress, although slow at first was gradually being made. The chambers were even becoming advanced enough to monitor the inhabitant’s health complete with pet scans, CT’s, magnetic resonance imaging, but that was all secondary to their initial goals. The priority was to have the inhabitants exist within the chambers in absolute health for extended periods of time. Weeks; months; years, and then indefinitely. Erin’s parents somehow felt they wouldn’t be there to see the ultimate results of their research, but their one overriding goal was the survival of their only daughter.
At first a number of people were lost in the trials for a variety of reasons. Some were simply too ill to survive the physical requirements of the chambers in its early form. But with each and every trial, knowledge was gained and improvements made. Finally a breakthrough was made. It wasn’t a single bit of technology that allowed the chambers to function; it was the accumulation of all known technologies brought together in a cohesive manner that enabled them to perform as originally envisioned.
By 2064 medical technology had come a long way. Initially Mitch and Anya Conyers’ experiments were simple. First a test of the subject’s for overall health. Then, prior to being placed into the chambers the subjects would be induced into an artificial coma. The body temperature was lowered further enabling the patients to survive in the chamber for greater lengths of time by reducing their metabolic rate. Those early experiments were encouraging; they hadn’t lost a significant amount of volunteers and the length of survival time within the chambers had begun to approach three months. Though barely noticeable at the time it seemed that the aging process had been slowed slightly, most noticeable in the older patients. In the early trials there were several close calls while resuscitating the patients to full coherence, mostly due to the lowering of body temperature. The solution presented itself in the form of resuscitating the patients in a very slow and methodical fashion. Eventually Mitch and Anya pushed the length of survivability within the chambers to four months for one patient; multiple experiments occurring simultaneously. Once successful the implications for the use of the technology was mind boggling, not only in its potential to reduce the planet’s reliance on what limited resources were available, but also to change the course of events and the many wars occurring throughout the globe. Their use could potentially enable mankind, even in the worst case scenario, to survive.
Simultaneously with the experiments occurring at MIT, similar trials were also being held in China, Japan, and the European Union. The Russians were making great strides in space technology, and as were other countries also preparing huge underground bunkers able to support millions. Sufficient food supplies would always be a problem; the chambers would not eliminate that ever present need but would certainly minimize it.
The final breakthrough came in the following manner. The technology well advanced but theoretically still in its infancy; gene splicing. It was well known that certain existing organisms had unusually long lifespans. Where human’s lifespans assuming proper nutrition and medical care had approached 95 years, various species could live to be well over 350 years old. If Mitch and
Anya could isolate that gene in the human DNA strand, then perhaps it could be turned on and off at will, further enabling long-term use of the suspension chambers. If not, then splicing would simply be a possibility but the less desirable of the two alternatives. NORAD and high-powered government computers were working on the problem night and day for months. And then the solution presented itself. The isolation of the aging gene in humans as compared to that of reptilian species. If somehow human DNA could be manipulated through gene splicing technology, then the human genome would then be able to be modified with artificial modification. Several trials would be run, all taking place simultaneously. One would be to artificially turn off the aging gene, isolated from those with a family history known to have lived unusually long lifespans being used as a control group. The third set of subjects would have the DNA splicing technology introduced into their DNA, and all three groups then placed into the chambers. Unbeknownst to General McCreary, the Conyers’ considered a fourth group having both procedures done simultaneously. The group undergoing DNA gene splicing technology risked adverse effects, but if these effects didn’t show up immediately, they very possibly could present themselves years or even decades later. No noticeable effects were initially observed and all test groups were prepared and placed in the chambers. Three months passed with all subjects doing well. After a period of several months the subjects were brought out of suspension with no noticeable differences in the outcomes. All survived. It was too early to tell which procedure would best serve the purposes required; perhaps if Mitch and Anya had another twenty years to work on the project all data would become evident, but time was short. The planet was on the verge of catastrophe.
In order to best ensure mankind’s survival, all methods would be used if and when the time came. The heartbreaking decision was which method to use on Erin. They would make that choice at the last possible moment. They’d even considered the possibility of using a combination of methods. 2071 and the clock was ticking, internationally things were getting worse by the day. People once again turned to the news, this time ignoring their own problems for a short period. What was occurring in the world was going to affect them somehow, someway, whether they had food on their table that night or not.
Something was going to happen; it had to, and in the not too distant future. Meanwhile an international group of governments and large corporations were continuing to busily work on the completion of the underground bunkers, with the hope of securing over 500 million people. The initial goal was 1 billion, but it was well known that some of the bunkers wouldn’t be completed in time, and some would be lost if worst came to worst and nuclear war broke out. Stockpiling food within the bunkers was difficult and only made matters worse than they already were for those barely surviving on a day to day basis. The planet was overwhelmed and the situation seemed to be getting more precarious by the day. The infrastructure, availability of food, water, electricity, medical care; it was all just too much. So Mitch and Anya busily worked away continuously keeping in contact with General McCreary, who effectively held overall responsibility and authority over the project. He was also their liaison to higher authorities. On the one hand McCreary was encouraged by the Conyers’ continuing progress, yet overly impatient on the other.
“We don’t have forever, folks. Let’s get this thing done”
Those words were often heard by the Conyers’ on the part of the General.
“General,” Mitch often responded, “We’re going as fast as we can. We’ve already cut so many corners and people have been injured; too many. I fully understand the necessity for the immediate and ultimate success of our project, but I also have to sleep at night. Anya and I are doing this for our daughter, conscience be damned.”
The General understood completely, yet it was a small sacrifice to pay. Several lives, dozens if need be, in exchange for saving millions. Perhaps even billions. If it came to it, McCreary would trade millions of lives without a second thought; it was simply the lesser of two evils. The entire existence of the human race was at stake, with or without a global nuclear holocaust.
“God forbid this comes to war, Mitch. It will be no holds barred, and I’m talking nukes.”
Mitch understood the importance of the ultimate success of the project in the very near future and let the General know.
“General, we’re on the same page. I know the odds just as well as you, and I agree. It still doesn’t make it any easier; we’re talking about the very existence of mankind. If the nukes fly, God help us when it comes to that. We’re making progress here on this end and our hopes are in sight. You just make sure the bunkers are ready and factories fully tooled and staffed when we get you the final prototype.”
“It’s already been taken care of, Mitch. All of the workers in the factories as well as the labs will have a spot waiting for them in the bunkers, if and when it comes to that. That’s incentive enough. They’ll also be allowed two members of their immediate family to accompany them with the remainder on the lottery system.”
“It sure puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Mitch, this thing’s a powder keg. It could be a week, a month, a year; maybe even two if we’re lucky. I’m certain we don’t have any longer than that. You keep me up-to-date daily. And Mitch, any additional breakthroughs or pre-production aspects that we can get started on, I want to know about immediately. Got it?”
“Understood. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, General. That is assuming that we’re all still here. Anya and I have come up with something promising, and if it’s possible I’d like to set up a conference with the President and his staff at some point next week once we know a little bit more. Can it be done?” Mitch asked.
“Consider it done, Mitch, and make it good. I want those factories and labs moving as soon as possible with whatever you have up until this point.”
“General, I can’t be sure yet, but I think Anya and I are very close to the solution, but that’s for the conference. We’ll know more in a couple of days.”
“I’ll give you that. McCreary out.”
The conversation was over. It was uncharacteristic for General McCreary not to delve further, but he’d worked with Mitch and Anya for so many years now he knew they’d keep him completely apprised of their progress. He trusted them in that they knew the alternatives and he didn’t want to push Mitch. If it was 100%, Mitch would have told him so. There had already been enough dead ends; one more week wouldn’t make a difference. He’d rather hear something concrete other than another “what if?”
As Mitch hung up the military encrypted phone he thought back to that fateful year, 2064, and the message the aliens had sent.
“How could the birth of my child and the happiness I felt that one single day be so intertwined with the absolute terror of their warning?” he thought to himself.
On that day he made a promise to himself.
“Erin will survive. If it costs me my life or that of a million others, by God I swear she will survive.”
Episode 2: “Apocalypse 2073”
