by Wil C. Fry
Cochran managed to let me stowaway in one of his ships, and snuck me to Luna City, where I was stuck into cryostasis, at his expense. He never told me what he was going to do with me when he let me wake up, or even if he was going to wake me up. The next thing I knew I was being hustled onto the Hope, and taking a crash hypno course in mineralogy. The day after I woke up for the second time, nine months ago, Cochran took me to his office, and explained what I was doing here. By the way, I wouldn't be telling you this if he hadn't said you were the only other person that he really trusted on the ship."
I didn't get a chance to respond, since the door slid open about that time, and large numbers of hungry workers began pouring in. The communicator beeped at the same time, informing us of the need for food in the hangar. We jumped up and humped through the rush.
After two weeks of testing, exploration and observation, all done by Crew #5, with only minimal help from the other crews, Cochran and the other Captains had agreed to begin the permanent colony, and named the planet "Bliss". So the large shuttles had begun their trips, bringing down the mining equipment, the rovers, the boats, communication equipment, etc.
Our manifesto (Policy), written by the Committee for Colonization had set up guidelines for the entire colonization effort, including how many crews were to be left on each planet. And here was a "Catch-22". Supposing that the most likely planet in the Banard's Star System had not been ideal, the Policy recommended we leave only one crew and go on, since they did not want to risk all five crews on a dangerous or non-supportive planet. The problem was that for worse conditions, a greater number of colonists would greatly increase the chances of the colony's survival. Conversely, if the planet were perfect, as was Bliss, we were supposed to send everyone down, since the Committee was willing to place everyone on the same planet if there was a high chance of success. Again, the problem is that if the planet were so nice, it wouldn't take as many people to colonize it.
Bliss was perfect, by all our preliminary tests, with a gravity of 0.81-g, and an atmosphere much like Terra's had been before the Industrial Revolution. There was a very low salt content in the oceans, a tropical climate over much of the surface, and plenty of native plants that produced edible food, even in their wild forms. Even the animals we had found so far were edible, and many were probably tamable. So, by the Policy, the entire crew should be set down, even though one crew could easily survive. But by a vote of all five executive counsels, we decided that only Crews 3, 4, and 5 should be let down, while #1 and #2 went on to BS-2, and then on to our secondary system, if BS-2 was not satisfactory. Of course the two crews that were moving on would still have a chance to see the planet's surface.
So the three "lower" crews had all joined in, helping to set up barracks at first, in which to live, while the permanent building programs got underway. For the time being, the political officer of Crew #3 was the planetary head of government, until a vote could be had. And after seven weeks in orbit (late in September of 2315), those of us from the other crews began to visit the surface in rotation.
My skin crawled as I felt the alien atmosphere breeze in around me. The airlock door slid back into the hull of the shuttle, exposing the beautiful landscape before me. Vertigo began to creep up on me as I stared out at the surface of Bliss. The grass and other foliage were green, just as in the pictures I had seen of Terra, and the sky was a soft baby blue. But it was so BIG! The ground stretched away in all directions, seemingly forever, until it hit the sea, and that is when I passed out.
We had sent all the gathered information on a tight laser communication beam back to where Terra would be in six years, addressed to Hope City, since the Committee no longer existed. Our latest news flash from Terra had told of widespread financial panics, famines that had tripled in strength, and a "small nuclear war" in Asia. The 143-year old Solar Federation had crumbled, leaving Terra to fend for herself. Only the Dohr habitat had sided with Terra, since her owners still lived on the mother planet. Most other space cities and habitats had either become independent or joined with other planetary nations. Confederate Luna continued to remain aloof, being the only government that had never joined the Solar Federation. Hope City became one of the richest independent nations, because of their sales of foodstuffs to colonies all over the system. The Mars-Ceres Republic had become an "Empire", and bombed Venus into submission, thus, the beginning of the "Martian Empire".
Epilogue
Mr. Forrest Harmon, Senator (2385 to 2405 AD), Republic of Bliss, Banard's Star
There are a few of us left. The First Ones, I mean. The planet is crawling with humanity, civilization, and even some resident aliens from Farla, our nearest planetary neighbor, but of the First Ones, there are only a few.
We arrived ninety years ago, the first known humans from Terra to land on any planetary body outside our own star system. We left three hundred colonists here, and the other two hundred continued on to Farla, then known as BS-2. That is where we found the Farlans, another intelligent yet... - I am sorry, that's another story.
In order to keep from interfering with the Farlans, we returned to Bliss, to join our other comrades in the colonization effort. Within months permanent buildings had been erected and a city planning committee had forecast the growth of our first and capital city for the next hundred years. They were wrong. The city now looks nothing like their plans said it would, and we've still got ten years to go.
First City now boasts a population of over a million, while our planet contains something like six million. It's hard to tell, though since we really don't hike out through the virgin wilderness looking for the hunters, loners, and other people who are out there. This planet's a big place, and we've all got plenty of room.
It was only four years after our arrival here that the next colony ship came. Well, it was more like a sardine tin, with 10,000 refugees packed in it. They brought almost nothing besides the clothes on their backs and a few supplies. And they populated our planet quickly. But most of them were nice, hardworking people, as were the next 10,000, five years after that.
Then the ship from Farla arrived, bringing ambassadors from our neighboring planet. Trade began, and the exchange of knowledge.
It is nothing like Terra or the New Terran Federation (NTF). In fact, I haven't thought about Terra in nearly thirty years. Of course we get radio messages from them that are six years old, and we send them news briefs that get briefer and briefer. And they send us 10,000 or more "colonists" every two or three years.
Petr still lives on Bliss, but I haven't seen him or his wife for a few years, ever since they retired, leaving their church in the care of their very capable grandson, Alexander. Marie Clark grew old badly and still lives in the wealthy but dark side of First City. There might be a few others, but I can't think of them right now. I'm considering returning to Terra in my former capacity, to maybe clean up that government's act, but I'm getting a little old for that sort of thing.
Character List for Nadyozhda
Elizabeth Novgorod: Chief Engineer; wife of Petr N.
Petr Novgorod: Chaplain, linguistics expert, and architect; husband of Elizabeth N.
Scott Hayford: Chief Programmer and Assistant Designer of M.C.C.; husband of Marie C.
Marie Clark: Computer Programming Expert; wife of Scott H. (officially single)
Captain James Cochran: Captain
Dr. José Riceberger III: Inventor of first true longevity treatments; died 2292 AD
Governor Ortega: Chief Political Scientist;
Dr. Haank Massaan: Chief Doctor; married
Harley Davidson: Chief Hydroponics Expert (Farmer); single
Hope: English name for Nadyozhda; given name for M.C.C.
Forrest Harmon: Chief Mineralogist; secretly Chief Bodyguard to the Captain; single
Robert Wilson: Captain of Crew #5; Quarterback at H. Davidson's college; married
Robert Gillespie Adams-Muñoz: Inventor of artificial gravity fields
Robert Gillespi
e Adams-Muñoz II: Son of [above]; inventor of anti-gravity propulsion systems
Vargas Glover I: Chairman of Independent Mars, 2160-2206; originator of Mars-Ceres Republic
Janie Fowler: Chief Engineer of Crew #2; married
Mishael Joseph: Rabbi of Martian Orthodox Jewish Assembly; Chaplain of Crew #5; married
Kristie Jurabi: Minister of Reorganized Martian Muslim Churches for Christ; Chaplain of Crew #2; single
Jonathon Gallagher: Shuttle pilot and cargo bay worker, Crew #2; married
Crew #1
Captain James Cochran
Computer Officer Marie Clark
Medical Officer Haank Massaan
Political Officer Mauel Ortega
Hydroponics Officer Harley Davidson
Engineering Officer Elizabeth Novgorod
Chaplain Petr Novgorod
Mineralogist Forrest Harmon
Mrs. Cochran
Mrs. Massaan
Mrs. Ortega
Crew #2
Reverend Kristie Jurabi
Engineering Officer Janie Fowler
Chief Shuttle Pilot Jonathon Gallagher
Mr. Fowler
Crew #5
Captain Robert Wilson
Mrs. Wilson
Rabbi Mishael Joseph
Future Timeline in Use for "Hope"
2022: United Nations moves headquarters from NYC to Buenos Aires
2026: Twin Towers of the World Trade Centers completely destroyed by local terrorists; NYC declared a federal disaster area
2027: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) moves to Dallas, to be renamed DTSE
2041: Boyd, the first space city, begins accepting applications for inhabitants
2043: First permanent habitat on Luna established; quickly grows into a small city
2049: First manned landing on Mars; 25 people land, explore, leave 20 there, in sealed dome, doing scientific exploration
2050: Regular trips from Terra to Luna take colonists on the way out, bringing raw materials back with them
2059: First colony ship heads to Mars, bringing 200, establish first city there, called Marsport
2062: Prospecting begins in Asteroid Belt; Permanent habitat on Ceres
2066: Space Station built in Venus orbit, manned by fourteen scientists, and four astronauts; studies focus on the feasibility of transforming Venus' atmosphere into a breathable one
2075: Nuclear Reactors first used in space propulsion systems; long-range effects: space travel becomes much cheaper, and travel time is cut by fifty percent
2080: First humans reach Jupiter's orbit, begin exploring her satellites, looking for a site for a scientific outpost
2081: Ganymede is selected, and a base is built; scientists immediately request that mining equipment be sent
2082: Lichens and other simple plant life has taken hold on the surface of Mars, freeing oxygen, nitrogen, etc.; atmosphere project goes forward full speed
2086: First human walks on Venus' surface without a respirator; he immediately gets sick, so the respirator rules remain in effect; however, the atmosphere project proceeds with full confidence
2087: First landing on Saturn's moon, Titan
2092: Third ship to Titan continues on to explore outer planets, manned by 30 humans
2099: First manned landing on Pluto; scientific outpost is built and left; scientists and equipment are scheduled to arrive in 2106
2100: Dr. Adams-Muñoz has first son, Robert II
2102: Luna's population tops 100,000; Second city built on Mars, atmosphere is growing, first outdoor farms successful; Respirator law on Venus revoked;
2112: Dr. Adams-Muñoz invents artificial gravity fields
2115: A space station installs the first a-grav field, is renamed Astropolis I
2120: First train tunnel utilizing a-grav field is complete, from Washington, DC to Los Angeles; takes only forty-five minutes
2129: Forrest Harmon born, March 17, in NYC Federal Disaster Area
2133: Petr Novgorod born, June 20, in Dohr Habitat
2142: Planning begins for first interstellar voyage
2145: The 800 inhabitants of Jupiter's moons declare themselves independent of Terra, becoming the first planetary inhabitants to do so, calling themselves JUM, the Jovian United Moons
2148: Dr. Adams-Muñoz dies, his son takes over his research
2149: Petr defects to Armstrong City
2150: A Captain Cochran of the Terran Federation captures the most elusive pirate vessel known to the Solar System (it actually belonged to the Marxa Clan of NYCFDA
2150: Petr joins Armstrong Militia
2152: Petr enrolls in Armstrong ICBS
2154: Petr becomes "Reverend", through New Revised Interplanetary Calvinistic Pentecostal Church - had to return briefly to Dohr to get credentials; plants new church on Armstrong City;
2155: Building of mankind's first starship begins, in Lunar orbit
2161: Crew selection begins for Hope
2165: (July) Hope is completed one month ahead of schedule
(August) Dr. Riceberger III releases longevity treatments
(August) Hope is launched
(November) inhabitants of construction station rename it Hope City, and decide to continue building starships
2166: (March) Venus declares independence from Terran Federation; there is war for two weeks, until Treaty of 2166;
(April) Terra and Venus join to form Solar Federation and Solar Patrol
2167: Luna becomes independent as well: Luna Confederacy; population tops one million, mostly in underground cities
2180: Citizens of Mars (independent from inception of Marsport) can now walk the surface with only respirators; good used pressure suits are sold to TF trade ships
2189: Venus' population tops 50 million
2190: Ten-year study shows that humans living anywhere besides Terra have an average lifespan of 120 years; Terran lifespan has dropped drastically, due to famine, etc., to 65 years; factors: no wars, no famines, high health and intelligence requirements for space travel, less gravity, almost no diseases
2199: Ganymede atmosphere project begins, planned to take two hundred years
2200: Independent Mars' population tops 50 million, in over a dozen cities and thousands of settlements; Mars is financially independent
2209: 2nd starship launched; holds 2,000 people, destination: Tau Ceti (14 light years away); trip should take 250 years
2213: Independent Mars and the Nation of Ceres form a joint Republic (Ceres pop.: 5 million); Ceres is now almost completely hollowed out from mining ventures; the interior of the asteroid is quickly filling with habitats
2223: Terra's pop. tops 13 billion; Terrans began populating the oceans, with floating cities and underwater cities
2224: Terran Federation outlaws longevity treatments, except for people migrating off-planet, scientists, politicians
2225: TF collapses; war covers the planet for a decade, until the nations form the NUN (New United Nations), and rejoin the Solar Federation in 2235
2230: Population in Terran orbit exceeds 25 million
2247: Mars-Ceres Republic joins the Solar Federation
2249: Governments from all outer satellites (not including J.U.M.) join to form the Outer Satellites Republic (OSR)
2252: J.U.M. and OSR join the Solar Federation; J.U.M.'s pop.: 10 million plus; OSR's pop.: 4 million
2256: Asteroid mining unions revolt, successfully blockade most space traffic from inner to outer planets
2257: Prisoners on Phobos mutiny and hold off Solar Patrol for 6 months; declared the Phobos Confederacy
(December) Famine on Ganymede; lasts until June 2259
2259: Pluto's scientist reestablish contact after 15 months of silence; resulting when the last comet came too close
2260: 3rd starship launched by Hope City; holds 1,000 people, reactor has newly discovered modifications; destination: 20 light years away; trip ETA: 2610
2280: A-grav propuls
ion finally invented by Dr. Adams Muñoz II, at the age of 180; he creates a company that sells both the product and the technology to build them; becomes filthy rich overnight
2302: (January) First Mass-Converter built, on Mars
(December) 4th starship launched by Hope City, powered by mass converter, propulsion system: a-grav; holds 10,000 people; destination 19 light years away; ETA: 2340
