The cars were divided into levels, but passengers sat on the top level. It’s the only one that offered a view of the space station on arrival. The cars were lined with floor to ceiling windows to give the best possible sights. They were about half full when the AI conductor announced the imminent departure. There were seats, but the ride was smooth, passengers were not required to sit if they didn’t want to. Rick was not sitting. He was stood by the window looking out, giant clamps were slowly retracting. Gary walked up behind Rick.
“Right Rick. Let’s talk to some of these passengers and find out where they’re travelling to and maybe why if it’s interesting!” All Rick could think was for fuck’s sake Gary! But he’d play ball.
“That’s a great idea but I think you should find out their stories first so we don’t waste any time. Then bring the good ones to me here. We can use this amazing backdrop.” Gary didn’t argue but Rick could tell he didn’t like it. Good, now fuck off for a bit.
Gary directed his camera bots, and they started exploring the passenger car for TV-worthy stories. Rick’s attention returned to the departure preparations, the clamps were practically off, and machinery was coming to life. Suddenly the scenery was moving. The departure was smooth; not even the smallest of jolts as their ascent to the heavens began. Rick removed his helmet again; Mom’s excitement was too much. He had to admit it was quite the sight, he too was in awe. Then he was annoyed. Gary was back to interrupt Rick’s window gazing.
“Rick, meet Pete, he’s a transporter.” Gary pushed Pete closer to Rick. “Tell him what you’re transporting, go on.” Pete seemed a bit uncomfortable. He didn’t want to be there. That makes two of us mate.
“Mr Archer…” Pete paused nervous-like, “I’m a big fan of yours.” Pete was a big, tough-looking cyborg. His nervousness seemed out of place. Cool Rick would help him out.
“Pete”, Rick dragged out the first e, “Chill my man, look at this epic view!” Pete approached, and Rick put his arm around as much of the cyborg as he could. “Now, how about you tell me about what you're transporting?” They had exited the troposphere and were passing the stratosphere. The awe-inspiring view was undeniably relaxing. Pete approached, and Rick shook his hand. “So Pete, my man, what are you so worried about?”
“I’ve never been on TV… And I’m not sure I should be talking about the job.”
“Is it confidential? Or military? Because unless you’re a soldier, your cargo can’t be that important.” Rick laughed. Pete seemed to think about it for an instant.
“I guess you’re right. It’s not that important.”
“And what might your destination be?” Rick was still intrigued.
“I’m heading to Proxima.” It was said so casually though it was everything but for Rick.
“Wow! Amazeballs! Didn’t expect this!” Rick tried to compose himself. “Right, so, this is exciting. OK, OK. So, why are you heading out of Solus?
“I’m transporting cargo to a theme park.”
“Come on Pete, don’t make me beg. Tell us what you’re transporting. Everyone wants to know.” Pete seemed to hesitate for a bit. Rick had to press him a little more before he broke. A bit of fake crying eventually did it.
“I’m transporting dinosaur embryos…” That was too much for Rick. He instantly reverted to age twelve, bouncing up and down and shouting “ooh” like a teen on a school bus watching a yo mama fight.
“Holy fuckballs that’s fucking amazing!” Rick had to compose himself again. He kept shaking his head in disbelief at the camera. “OK, OK, so you’re transporting dinos out to the Proxima colonies. Why? I think our viewers are going to want to know why.”
“Sorry I’m just the transporter, but I’m guessing for rides or a petting zoo…. I just need to get these safely to their destination. Or I don’t get paid.” Rick wanted to go to that theme park. Twelve Jurassic Park movies had ensured no such park would ever grace the surface of Earth.
Rick grabbed one of the camera bots and asked the viewers how they thought the dinos would be used. He announced a poll and prizes for the winners. Dinosaurs had fascinated people of all ages since their discovery, and Rick was no exception. As a kid, he was really into this Ancient Aliens show. They had alternate history theories that involved aliens and although considered pseudoscience for a long time, in the end, they were somewhat vindicated. Although not entirely correct their interpretations were a hell of a lot closer to reality than religion ever got and even beat past century mainstream science in some cases. Rick thought back on the first post-war episodes.
The war had unearthed new fossils that showed humanity some incredible things. People literally didn’t believe it. Rick did. He'd always wanted stuff like alien gods and dino-riding people to be real. And it's easier to believe when you want to. The truth was fossils rarely formed. Many species never fossilised. Unless something died in watery mud, there were no records of it. Die anywhere else, and you’re food.
As Rick was often reminded, humans knew far less than they thought. Throughout history, greed and arrogance had interfered with their understanding of the world. The adventurers and scientist of old had lied to make themselves look good, and religion always stood in the way of results that damaged its dogma.
The discovery of irrefutable evidence of advanced civilisations dating back a hundred million years shocked humanity into humility. Artefacts and fossils pointed to the existence of dinosaur riding humanoids with advanced tools and nuclear power. Fuck yeah. Much to Rick’s delight, these discoveries led the scientific community to start bringing extinct species back from nothingness. By then research had shown that most dinosaurs including the T-Rex were slow and no real threat to transhumans.
Though scientist could bring back these harmless giants, no parks had ever opened on Earth. The Jurassic Park law forbade it. It was a stupid law that may have made sense twenty years ago, but now the world was populated by superhumans. The threat was negligible. Rick had dreamt of riding a T-Rex for as long as he could remember. He might have to go to Pete’s theme park...
Rick and Pete came off the dino tangent as the space lift passed the Kármán Line. Gary was back with a girl and a dog. The girl was stunning. Just over shoulder length black and purple-bluish hair, green eyes, dressed in mostly black with a bright red T-shirt with a devil on the chest asking people if they felt lucky. She looked like a bit of a badass. The dog looked like a shepherd dog cross — good looking dog.
During his childhood Rick had played with and fed many stray dogs displaced by the war and purge. He loved dogs, but his lifestyle hadn’t been very pet-friendly. Still, he had the gift with animals. Rick thanked Pete for his appearance while not-so-subtly pushing him away. The girl approached Rick seemingly against her will. Gary was still trying to convince her. Sure knows how to pick them. When they were close enough, Gary gave her a nudge into frame.
“Hi there! How might you be doing on this fine ascent?” Rick was trying to be charming, but it wasn’t working. No answer came. OK different tactic. “And what might this little fella’s name be?” Rick was down on one knee petting the dog now, giving it all his attention. The dog immediately took a liking to Rick, and the licking began. Rick was laughing trying to avoid the dog’s lightning quick tongue as it lashed out at him. The girl smiled.
“This is Moondog, Moon for short. They call me Moongirl, also Moon for short.” Rick wanted to ask her why but he held his tongue. He stood back up and extended one of his hands while leaving the other down for Moondog to lick. Moongirl shook his hand and smiled. Before Rick could follow up with his next questions, she spoke again. “So what’s the Last Human doing on his way into space?”
“Have you not seen the adverts?” From her expression, Rick could tell she hadn’t. “We’re doing The Last Human Solus Tour. Basically, I go around the colonies talking to people and looking at cool stuff.” If Moongirl cared she wasn’t showing it, she wasn’t showing anything. Solid poker face. Rick had to ask the question the viewers
would ask. And they would want to know about the name. He knew it was a bad idea the moment the words left his mouth. “So, Moongirl? Is that your real name?” Sure enough Moongirl looked annoyed at the question.
“Yes.” One word answers made for terrible conversation, and TV, Gary wasn’t smiling for once. Rick had to save it. Back to the dog.
“So what breed is this handsome pup?” People love talking about their dogs.
“He’s a Border Collie German Shepherd mix. And he’s three so he’s not a pup anymore.” This was not going well. Rick needed to find a way to bond with this girl. The whole scene would be cut if there was no chemistry. And she was hot. Rick wanted her on the show.
“So, what brings you to space? Heading anywhere nice?” Rick tried his most charming smile. It did not woo her.
“We’re headed back to the Moon. We live there.” That got Rick excited.
“That’s amazing! You’re my first Moonlander!” Rick was genuinely amazed, not Moongirl though... What excites her? “What do you do on the Moon?”
“I’m a researcher at the Alien Moon base.” Finally, this shit gets good. Rick saw Gary smiling in the background.
“Small world! We’re doing the next episode there. Tell us about your research.” Moongirl perked up. This she would talk about.
“We mostly explore the base, catalogue artefacts, try to decipher markings and reverse engineer technology. Anything that can help us understand where they went and how we can find them.” Rick liked this hard-ass-sexy-scientist-alien-hunter.
Moon was passionate about finding aliens, as she iterated several times, it was her life’s work. Rick had always been fascinated by the alien disappearance, and he wanted to talk more about it, but Gary was giving him the wrap it up signal. They had long passed the ISS Museum and were nearing the exosphere and ESS. Just about time for one more guest.
“Moon, I want nothing more than to talk about aliens with you but our time is up! How about we continue this conversation next time.” Rick turned to the camera. “More on Moongirl’s work and aliens next week when we visit the Alien Moon Base!” Rick thanked Moongirl and Gary pushed the new guy into frame.
“This is John Pilg. He’s famous too.” With that, Gary stepped back.
“John great to have you!” Rick shook John’s hand. He had a firm grip.
“Rick good to meet you, finally.” Rick was trying to place the name and face. “I’ve recently become a fan of yours.”
“Oh really! Were you not a fan of the show before?” They both laughed.
“Thanks to you aquacyborgs and dolphins are getting councillors. It was a big win for the rights of all living beings.” Rick was remembering. He’d seen him on TV during the summer, talking at rallies. Pilg was an anti-war and anti-imperialism journalist. He’d made a documentary about the Mutant Revolution. His passion was starting shit that made trouble for the elite. Pilg had long been a critic of the Council’s slow integration of new councillors. He believed the Council should represent all species and all colonies, and do it faster. “I hope you keep up the good work.”
“That’s the plan!” Rick liked this feeling he got when he did good. The praise isn’t too bad either. “So, John, what causes are you off to defend now?” Rick was trying to pretend he was on a serious talk show. John was visibly amused.
“Well Rick, I’ll be travelling the colonies to shoot the follow up to my documentary Colonation.” Rick hadn’t seen it. “I’m going to be exploring the colonies to see if there have been any improvements to their lot.” Pilg smiled, “in this way we are similar Rick because I like to wing my documentaries.”
“Well I can’t deny it! I do like to wing it!” Another one of Rick’s catchphrases, and the crowd goes wild.
Rick needed to get this guy to make a documentary on the Agency. Gary was gesticulating about the arrival or something. Rick got the gist of it. “John it was great to meet you, and hopefully we cross paths again. Very soon.” Rick emphasised the “very soon”, narrowed his eyes and squeezed Pilg’s hand. Hopefully, he’d get the message.
Moonland
They’d passed the exosphere and were nearing the ESS. Rick was in space. Earth shrank, and the vast darkness expanded around him. Rick felt something. Something new. He’d heard about that feeling. It was hard to put into words — a sort of primeval pang of nostalgia mixed with the raw realisation of insignificance and a sprinkle of complete awe at life, the Universe and everything. It was a powerful feeling. Perhaps the most powerful he’d ever felt.
They started to slow, Rick sat down and looked up to get a first glimpse of the space station. The cameras were in place to capture his bewilderment, though the lacklustre view somewhat diminished it. Rick could only see the bottom of a black sphere. Amy came to the rescue and projected a hologram of the station for Rick.
“It looks like a snow globe.”
“The ESS is an enormous structure. One of six super stations orbiting Terra. Home to thousands and a constant flow of passengers.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why build these stations? Why don’t ships just land on Earth?”
“Inertia dampers can’t handle the weight of large ships... That’s why they still use the elevator for cargo.”
Rick turned to the nearest camera bot and made one of his stupid human faces. “You learn something new every day!”
The space lift docked beneath the station. From there hundreds of cabs and shuttles departed for Moonland. The AI thanked everyone for their custom and wished them well on their journeys. Rick had been busy staring out the window and hadn’t noticed Moongirl, Pete and John leave. He’d have liked to stay in touch with them. Hopefully, Amy had noted their AI IDs.
Gary had gotten the bots in place, and they were ready for Rick’s exit into the terminal. The shuttle departures were every hour on the hour. They’d just missed one. The team hadn’t planned on a visit of the station, but Rick insisted. Death-Star-space-city, guys? Under the pretence of being hungry Rick dragged the crew above to look for food. He had Amy locate a place, and they followed her out of the terminal. The stations and all new cities tended to follow the Zero City model. The scale was not the same here, but Rick saw the resemblance. He wondered if they had a pit. Gary was having none of it.
“We’re not missing that shuttle, Rick! Let’s grab a bite and get out. You can party on the Moon.” The cameras were rolling so Rick did some begging and dragging his feet. Didn’t want to alienate the fans of drunk Rick.
In the end, they had to get that Moon shuttle. Gary would not relent. Fucking Gary. Brock and Amy reassured Rick that this was going to keep happening. Every location he’d visit would blow his mind. Rick thought about that on the shuttle and about whether he should still go ahead with his plan. Maybe he could spend the rest of his life travelling the stars. Play ball. This way he’d see Earth again. He had the suit now perhaps he didn’t need enhancements. There was still the brain thing. He might become unscannable. And then death and soul recycling. The end of this life. Back to the Universoul. It all boiled down to whether Rick wanted to die or live longer and die later in an intergalactic war as a hero or something.
The Universe picked that moment to remind Rick of his plan. The armoured suit’s bone and tissue stimulation therapy started, and the pain answered the question for him. The shuttle AI informed the passengers that the ship was ready for departure and that artificial gravity would be switched off in a moment. Robot attendants patrolled the aisles, ensuring seatbelts were buckled, and belongings were stored. The moment they were out of sight Rick unbuckled, this was his first real microgravity experience. He wanted to experience it without being tied down. Gary had given the go-ahead. There would be enough time before take-off. Rick floated up out of his seat laughing like a child and swearing this was the best thing ever. Some passengers laughed and others not so much. Blasés assholes. Rick performed for his fans and himself. He pretended to swim and rolled and had an excellent few
minutes before the attendants put him back in his seat. The commotion swiftly subsided, and the ship resumed its departure countdown.
In his window seat, Rick was back to enjoying the view. He didn’t think he could ever get bored of looking at the stars. They’d become rare on Earth. Light pollution blocked out the stars in every Zero City. And, although great achievements of countless benefits, the space stations were bright and they too outshone the starlight. The shuttle ride was quick. Too fast to fit any interviews or interactions. Rick got to enjoy his first real spaceship ride in peace. The kidnapping didn’t count.
◆◆◆
Luna, the Moon, had fascinated people since the dawn of civilisation. Rick was no exception. Currently, Amy was educating him while his face was pressed against the window trying to glimpse the Lunar nation of Moonland.
Moonland was enclosed in a twin magnetic force field. It shielded life from radiation and kept the atmosphere within. Artificial gravity generators set to Earth-g kept people grounded; microgravity was fun, but the long-term effects weren’t. Rick would be reminded of that once a day for the foreseeable future when his stimulation modules kicked in.
The lunar population had plateaued at about a million inhabitants as it mostly served as an R&D world. Luna City was the only city on the Moon, and it was home to scientists and travellers mostly. The outskirts of the city were littered with military bases and research labs. Moonland’s tourist appeal had substantially diminished in the decades since its colonisation.
The Last Human Page 14
