Albert explained, “It’s because it’s a non-rotating and non-accreting neutron star. Its energy output or lack thereof is what makes it difficult to observe, even if you’re looking right at it. It was an accident that we even found it. I was supposed to be taking readings on the cluster that was obscuring it.”
“So how long do we have? Please tell me a billion years or so,” John asked in a pleading voice.
“Eighty-four years.” Albert hated saying that. He’d only said it a few times and repeating it did not make it less painful.
“What the hell!” John struggled to keep his voice down. “Assuming your data and its conclusion are correct, what are we going to do about it?”
“Unfortunately, nothing John,” Steven replied. “The only thing we can try to do is preserve the human race and get the fuck off this rock!”
“There’s no protocol for this,” John announced. “There is no way that the governments of this planet will get together in less than a thousand years for any project of the magnitude you’re implying.”
“But we must try,” Steven said. “We came to you, didn’t we?”
“That doesn’t mean that I’m buying in yet,” John said. “I want that data. I know some people. They’ll vet your data, and we’ll go from there.”
“Might I make a suggestion?” Albert interjected. “We release the data to the brightest astronomers from all over the planet. They, in turn, will advise their governments, and then we can all get on the same page together much sooner. Time, as I have pointed out, is of the essence.”
“I’ll look over the material, and speak with the President,” John said. “He’ll probably want to speak with you. I’ll be in touch soon. But right now, I have to get back to the office. I can’t be gone long without someone noticing. Security watches behavior patterns, and if I do anything unusual, it will arouse suspicion. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. On the surface, this looks legit. I’ll drop you at your hotel on the way back.” The director collected his gadgets. Albert took the sizeable brief on the neutron star from his briefcase and handed it to him.
“I can transmit or drop off any of the data that we’ve collected whenever you need,” Albert offered. “Thanks,” John replied. “Shall we?” He gestured toward the door. His heart was in his throat, and his stomach didn’t feel too good, either. He understood more than he was letting on. How was he going to tell the president?
The Fallout
The meeting with the president wasn’t any better. There were pretty much the same responses that Director Nolan had. Some ‘WHAT THE HELL!’ a lot of, ‘are you SURE?’ and a couple of, ‘what do we do now?’ In the end, the president was convinced. He’d already had Director Nolan run discrete checks on the information supplied by Albert and Steven. They had verified a lot of the information. The reality was if you accepted the first part about being obliterated by a neutron star, then you only had two choices. You could go home, crawl in a hole, and wait for oblivion, or you could make the most of what you had left. Leave our only home—and this neighborhood of the galaxy—for another home somewhere else.
Back in Director Nolan’s office, John, Albert, and Steven were looking at options. Humans were not the suicidal type. We were driven to bite, scratch, and claw every day until we died. Just like everything else on this planet. It was full of life, and life does not give up very easily.
In the weeks that followed, more and more of the world governments were brought in on the news. Countries discussed the planet’s options through summits and conferences that dignitaries and high government officials attended. Sometimes news would leak out, and stories would have to be discredited or explained as fiction. Disproving a neutron star smashing into the solar system was easy to do since it’s such a fantastic thing to believe. It eventually came to pass that the president of Brazil told his people on national television. The shock sent ripples around the globe. That was a busy month for the White House. The cover story that almost all the other governments went with was that the U.S. investigated this story and the scientists concurred that the neutron star is indeed coming in our general direction but is not going to hit us. No need to worry. In the meantime, there were more meetings. The global governments knew they could not keep a lid on this forever, nor did they want to. They had to find a way to ensure compliance from people who were most likely going to die here.
It had been just over a year since the discovery that something was taking shape. After consulting with experts in psychology and behavioral sciences, a plan to handle the population was also forming. Everyone understood that you could not keep that kind of secret buried forever. To get the kind of global cooperation necessary to complete a task on the proposed scale, it was best to come clean. It should also be done in a way that would stir altruism. Almost no one alive now would be alive when the star arrived. It should be easy to get people to contribute and volunteer. As time went by, it would get harder and harder to get the support from the 99% of the people left behind.
Albert had to admit to himself that the president did a good job explaining the issue to everyone. He went on television and for the first time in history, spoke to everyone that had a communication device throughout the world. Sure, there were riots and such while the humans of the planet Earth collectively shivered in fear. There were lots of suicides. People were frightened. People were angry. People were grieving. After the dust had settled, people were ready to hear what the governments were going to do about it. It was at this moment psychologists agreed to declare the Project. If people had been shocked to hear of the neutron star coming, they were in for a bigger shock. The U.S. President spoke at the U.N., the symbol of international cooperation. The United Nations had long been considered a symbol of how governments didn’t get anything done. In the coming decades, it would shine as a symbol of what it was always meant to be.
The speech was long but kept everyone on Earth riveted in their seats. With each passing minute, the way of life that humans once knew was vaporized in this single speech. Steven and Albert watched along with every other human on the planet. They knew some of the contents of the speech but were not privy to all the high-level meetings that were going on. They were astonished. In short, the speech outlined things that had to take place to save some of the human race from this disaster.
World currencies were going to be abolished. It was necessary to expedite all phases of the Project.
Because of number one, world governments would just ‘take care’ of their own much like they always did except they would see to it that everybody would have a place to live and something to eat.
All land on the planet would be ‘eminent domain’ for the Project’s sake.
The world’s largest militaries would take on different roles as security in conjunction with the Project. Local police would still be in charge of keeping the peace.
World governments were commanded to give up their secrets to the Project. Ideas and resources would not be taken to the grave.
A consortium would be put together taking the brightest minds in the respective fields. A chairperson would be elected from this pool.
The Hawaiian Islands would be commandeered to serve as a nexus for the consortium. It was chosen for security and resource reasons.
Simply called ‘The Project,’ it was the design for a ship (an ark of sorts) to take as much of Earth as possible in the time allowed.
Since the ship must be gone before the star reached the system, a strict timetable had to be observed. There would not be any consideration for environmental concerns or interference from anything or anybody. Nothing would matter except the completion of the Project. The world governments will at least see that minimal attention to social services and basic human needs are addressed. On the plus side, Steven noted was that the poor and homeless were getting a step up!
In the first years, Albert and Steven worked directly with the Project. Tens of thousands of others that were brilliant in their fields form
ed the base of the Project. The rest of humanity was still grappling with what to do. What was their role? The psychologists were right about how people would react. Suicidal depression was common. Antidepressants were as easy to get a hold of as cold tablets. Angry people formed militias and organizations to resist the Project. Then there were the religious fanatics that claimed that they were finally correct about the end of the world. They collected large crowds offering salvation. Then there were the Enders. They believed that there was room for all at the end of days. Anyone having a notion of ‘escaping’ the end of the world was cowards and did not deserve to live. They lived by the philosophy that if “I’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go too.” But most of the world had an altruistic outlook and wanted to be a part of something big. It was going to be the biggest thing ever, a parting gift to the human race.
The Hawaiian Islands was the perfect spot to have the kind of privacy that the consortium needed as the nerve center of the Project. Some of the islands were used to conduct testing. The Keck observatory that started it all was already there. The islands also served a Mount Olympus-type setting for dignitaries, high-level talks, and the consortium’s day to day business.
Choosing the consortium members without politics was daunting, to say the least. Each country felt their scientists were the perfect choice to lead the Project. In the end, the scientists themselves voted to choose the best-suited individuals. It was not enough that they were the best in the field. They also had to have good leadership skills to manage their many departments from the top down. The consortium members would choose the chairman.
In the meantime, resource managers all over the planet identified the raw materials needed. Extreme mining (without regard to environmental impact) was in full swing. Facilities and manufacturing cities began to spring up, retooled from the cities of old. The securing and commandeering of land had been touchy. Security took people to relocation centers so that families could stay together. There were some who chose to ignore the eviction notices and security forcibly removed them. Doing that without sparking urban warfare was sometimes a real trick. Most people did not like it, but understood, and did as required by the consortium. There were some directed attacks on security forces by some of the Enders or other militia factions. They were dealt with decisively and without mercy. Security’s mindset was that if you were not for the Project, you were against it and were dealt with accordingly. After all, there were billions of people that were not going, and a few less was not going to matter. It is difficult to get compassion and mercy when doom is on a timetable.
T-Minus 75 years
“Yes, Mr. President. You wanted to see me?” Robin Sheffield popped her head into the oval office. Being the president’s personal secretary was historically a strenuous job. Since the world was coming to an end, Robin was thinking about cloning herself several times over so that she could get her work done. Forget about finding time to sleep. Everyone at the White House had given it up, so to speak, the President included. There was so much work to be done getting the enormous machine that was United States manufacturing and resources focused on the Project.
“Robin,” President Buckley began, “did you send off that letter to President Selinski about the budgeted natural gas shipments recommended by the Resources section?”
“No, Mr. President. It was my understanding that the letter was still in draft mode.”
He looked quickly on his secured terminal. “My apologies, Robin; I must have thought I had more to say and didn’t finalize it.” A few more keystrokes and he finalized the document. “There, it’s now officially finalized and ready for sending.”
“I’ll use the secure line to fax it to his office to facilitate it.”
“You’re the best, Robin. What’s my immediate itinerary?”
“You have a meeting with the Resource section chief in forty-five minutes.”
“Dr. Mahmud, right? I need to speak to him about the Russians dragging their feet on the natural gas allotments.”
“That’s correct. After your meeting with Dr. Mahmud, you have a meeting with the members of the House Appropriations Committee. But before all of that, you need to have a quick bite and a nutrient supplement drink to keep you going.”
“Those guys from Appropriations just want to piss and moan about how I’m stripping out too much of our resources and cheating the needs of the American people.” An aide came in with a tray containing a well-portioned breakfast wrap and some creamy chocolate-looking liquid in a glass. “Thanks, Robin. You know I like chocolate milk.”
“It’s because I’m the best, Mr. President.”
∆∆∆
Consortium Meeting
Samantha thought the meetings were unnecessary since they were all very much connected to each other—practically at the hip, as they say. They were in constant communication since they had to coordinate tasks involving multiple disciplines. But it was good for all of them to get together face to face and brainstorm the bigger picture. Sometimes they degenerated into bitching and finger pointing, but the chairman would remind them why they were there. There was no room for egos. The chairman always knew just what to say to keep them on track. The meetings went as follows: Each member would give a presentation on the status of their section. They would discuss progress and setbacks, concerns and needs, followed by individual and group of meetings to brainstorm and negotiate logistical and technical matters.
Dr. Harizuki Ling waited patiently for everyone to take their seats. He was one of the best in his field of microbiology and the head of the P.A.M. (plants, animals, and minerals) section. Hari, as his fellows called him, was also the chairman of the consortium.
“We will now hear from the Selection section if you’re ready Sam,” Hari announced.
“Sure thing, Hari,” Samantha Childress said brightly. “As you know, the process has begun to identify the best genetic stock available. Genetic test kits are being made available to every man, woman, and child on the planet, no small task. In places where mail still works, we’ll mail the test kits to the households. Where there is a breakdown of services or no services at all, we are setting up collection stations in high-traffic locations. We’re broadcasting to all media outlets. Security is engaged in areas that are dangerous, and places we’re not exactly welcome. The Selection Committee strongly urges people to participate, as it is imperative that we identify the healthiest stock.”
“What good is it to identify people now, since they’ll be dead by the time we leave?” Rajesh Mahmud asked.
“I’m glad you asked that Raj,” Sam replied. “By identifying good genetic stock now, we can follow their children. By identifying bad stock, we can cross that family off the list. This way, it’ll be easier as time goes by. Besides, it takes a while to test eight billion people. Then we need to process and catalog all that information. It’s like constructing a family tree of humanity. Again, no small task. As time grows near, passengers will be selected and transported to the ship. Depending on how the Project turns out, there will be as many as seventeen million passengers on board, and in the neighborhood of fifty million sperm and egg donations. By the journey’s end, there will be a rich selection of genetic stock to propagate the new world.”
“Thank you, Sam,” Hari said. “If you’re ready Brad, we’ll hear from the Security section.” General Bradley McCormick stepped forward. Sporting the red tunic all planetary security wore, he took his place at the podium.
“Good afternoon, all. As you know, since the reorganization of the world’s military, we have been very busy. It has taken some time just to create a global security force. It was helpful that there were just a handful of countries with major militaries. Those countries served as focal points to organize and train the smaller units over the rest of the planet. Oddly enough, military people from around the world seemed readier to do whatever has been needed to get the job done. I think that it’s the ‘common enemy’ philosophy that has made them ready to act. They get the
big picture. We have deployed security units to all phases of the Project from construction and mining to manufacturing, laboratories, and spaceports. We are also providing personal security for Selection and PAM sections when they must go into dangerous areas of the planet. There has been a growing need for security at the construction site in orbit. As construction finishes more and more of the ship, there will be more need for security personnel.”
“Brad, can you elaborate on civilian casualties in the construction areas?” Hari asked.
“Certainly,” the general replied. “When construction arrives to clear tracts of land, for example, a spaceport, we try to give the residents plenty of time to move out in an orderly fashion. When they don’t, we try it the nice way first. We even help them get some of their things. We know how hard it is to be displaced from your home. But when firearms or worse are involved, our tolerance for the owners diminishes rapidly. The Enders or other militia factions sometimes use vacated houses as ambush points. We have had to rework our protocols to ensure the safety of our men. Recently, we have been given the responsibility of human resources. Since we’re good at doing background checks on individuals, it only makes sense that we perform this function. There has been some adjustment in policy and protocols for hiring for all sorts of backgrounds, but we’re working on it.”
The Journey of Atlantis_Leaving Home Page 2
