Orion's Children

by Rohan Moorthy

  Preface

  For the positive continuity of life

  In writing this book, one of my aims was to inspire the youth, who would hopefully understand the reasons as to why space is our future frontier and lead us into those unknown and limitless realms. I have no doubt that a planet, or, even planets like Greenleaf will be found before the new century has begun. However, when they are indeed discovered, it is my earnest hope that humanity will show great appreciation and respect towards those new worlds and be wise in utilising the wealth that they have to offer.

  Further, I have always believed that it is important to set an example for people to follow. Given the way in which the Earth’s environment has been exploited, especially over the past three centuries, is deeply saddening. However, though this negative tsunami of destruction, has swept across many nations, (where in several cases, exotic species of flora and fauna have disappeared completely), there has been a juggernaut-like effort by a brave new set of organisations and individuals, who have prevented that wave from decimating the final oasis’ of nature and exiling them to extinction. The devoted and countless effort of many noble people have kept alive so many species that continue to thrive still. I do hope that this trend will continue and grow even further, well into the future.

  At the same time, it is frustrating for me to see that apart from the recent epic machine missions to Mars, the overall efforts for deep space exploration has progressed at an appalling pace. I am well aware, that these efforts do cost astronomical amounts of money and that safety has to always be paramount for any mission. But it is my hope that the more dynamic leaders of the present and future, as well as many intrepid entrepreneurial individuals, will take up the challenge of transporting humanity to the stars at a much faster pace.

  In order for all of this to happen, I ask that you, dear reader, always cherish two things – Hope and Courage. There are enough and more cynics that have lived and will continue to be born in the years to come, who will always speak tirelessly about what is wrong with the world or why something cannot be done. They will always say something is impossible to achieve or call you evil to think that it can be a reality. They will offer no alternative solution, which in itself to me, is the one true evil of not giving humanity a positive way forward. Therefore, always remember to have the courage to stand up to those people. But not with the intent to prove them wrong; rather, to prove yourself right. As your courage fuels your spirit, you will see that hope will provide you with the right momentum to continue on, undefeated. For, as long as you hold hope close to your hearts, can you bring forth the wisdom to overcome all of your challenges and leave behind a better world or worlds, worthy for your children and those who follow them, to inherit.

  Live wisely, live freely, live majestically!

  Rohan Moorthy

  About the Author

  Rohan Moorthy is a marketing communications professional who is obsessed with creative living and creative thinking. He has been writing fictional stories since the age of five and has often unabashedly pushed his way forward, to read his work to his classmates, friends and family. Orion’s Children is his first novel.

  Having been born outside of India and raised in different countries and in multiple cultural backgrounds across the globe, he believes strongly in the term, ”a Global Citizen.” He blogs regularly; enjoys pencil sketching; clicks and captures photographs whenever he gets the chance; sojourns into the wild and gets totally lost in the universe of music: he is a diehard Hard Rock and Heavy Metal freak.

  He lives in Mumbai, India with his family.

  Website: www.rohanmoorthy.in

  Catch him live on Twitter: @RohanMoorthy

  Dedication

  To Mom and Dad.

  For giving me my wings!

  Love Rohan.

  Acknowledgements

  I do recall a famous actor once saying that no great achiever can claim that they did it all on their own, for they always had some help along the way. The same goes with me but in my case I had a lot of help from some wonderful people. So, I wish to thank them deeply from the bottom of my heart and also add that without them this book would not have been possible. They are:

  Kyra Moorthy, Prapti Doshi Moorthy, Heather Moorthy (lots of help with editing), Srinivasan Krishna Moorthy (lots of help with editing), Zohara Moorthy Ahluwalia, Swati Doshi, Ramesh Doshi, Kunal Doshi, Zidane Ahluwalia, Aum Ahluwalia, Santanu Choudhury, Ashish Thakur, Leena Sharma, Neville Patel and Shatrujeet Nath.

  In addition, I would like to call out the beautiful spirit of the following people, whose lives have deeply influenced my own. They are:

  Ann Rosario, George Rosario, Rajalakshmi Moorthy and Krishna Moorthy.

  Further, there are two other people who deserve an equal mention.

  They are:

  Dr. Daisaku Ikeda and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

  Plus, I would also like to extend a deep amount of gratitude to my close friend Vishrut Bhatt for his dedicated efforts in designing this book’s cover, visuals and helping to edit its content.

  Chronicle of Events

  Part I - The Ark Of Life

  Chapter 1 – The Mission

  Chapter 2 – The Crew

  Part II - The New World

  Chapter 3 – A New Horizon

  Chapter 4 – The Arrival

  Chapter 5 – The Council

  Chapter 6 – Hidden Agenda

  Chapter 7 – The Hunt Begins

  Chapter 8 – In Bloom

  Chapter 9 – Malfunction

  Chapter 10 – Recovery

  Chapter 11 – The Revelation

  Chapter 12 – The Assiross

  Chapter 13 – The Triadians

  Chapter 14 – The Return

  Chapter 15 – Deception

  Part III - The Protectors Of Humanity

  Chapter 16 – The Great Hall Of Records

  Chapter 17 – In The Valley Of Seymoor

  Chapter 18 – Held To Ransom

  Chapter 19 – Mutiny At Axedon

  Chapter 20 – Retrieval

  Chapter 21 – The Chamber Of Giants

  Chapter 22 – Day Of Judgement

  Part V - The Aftermath

  Chapter 23 – The New Human Order

  Chapter 24 – In The Future To Come

  Part I

  The Ark Of Life

  The Mission

  Mandela International Spaceport, Johannesburg, South Africa

  John Stroff glanced outside at the wide runway that was beginning to glow with the colour of purple. He noted in the distance the slight streaks of orange that painted a small clump of clouds at the edge of the horizon as dawn began to slowly creep upon a sleeping world. A soft voice whispered that the time was 6:00 a.m. He tapped the wrist band on his left arm from where it came. All was still quiet around him at the Mandela International Spaceport and the bar that he was sitting in would not be open for another four hours. John sighed very slowly as he reflected on how much he enjoyed being in this part of the building, describing it to many colleagues and fans as his favourite place in the world and the one spot where his best ideas came to life. He gently stroked his well-trimmed jet black beard and leaned backwards, while also spreading his arms wide against the large oak bar counter. He went over in his mind, the details of the historic mission that he was about to lead. The media across the world had dubbed it, “Noah’s Ark.”

  For the past year, the press coverage worldwide had been extensive, describing him and his team as the saviours of humanity. The African and Chinese media in particular, were vociferous in their editorial newsfeeds about the positive outcomes this particular planetary revitalisation mission would accomplish. He felt proud recalling some of the news stories, which showed him as being one
of the great astronauts alongside his heroes of the past that included Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Yuri Gagarin. Many media features, in fact, compared him to some of the more recent ones like Andy Wadhwa, Keely Stephens, Aaron Grabien, K.J. Writer, Pradeep Dewars, Morgan Witte, who had each led missions with some involved in the establishment of colonies on the Moon, Mars and Saturn, while others were focused on mineral harvesting activities in the extended Earth-One solar system area.

  The year was 2100. The date 28th May, a Friday. Ironically, it was his 40th birthday as well. But that had not been the reason for this date being chosen for the launch. No, the real reason had to do with the fact that this was the ideal timeframe to travel between Earth and Greenleaf. “Greenleaf! That is still something that I can’t quite get my head around”, John thought to himself. Indeed, he reminisced about how the actual discovery occurred.

  The governing board of The All Star Nation Space Alliance (TASNSA), formed in 2025 by the United Nations (UN), had voted to choose a straightforward name for the planet rather than just an obscure scientific label when its discovery was first made in the year 2050. The head of TASNSA at the time, Joel McIver, had suggested the name Greenleaf to symbolise a second chance given to humanity. Though there was stiff opposition against it in the initial phase, the decision to opt for his proposed name was passed in early 2051. TASNSA itself was made possible when in 2023, the members of the security council of the United Nations called for an emergency session with all other member countries to discuss the rapid collapse of several ecosystems around the world as well as the rising turmoil being witnessed near the polar ice caps. After much deliberation, the United States put forward a proposal for the world to look harder for a series of planets that could offer both natural resources and a possible habitat to begin relocating portions of the human population. The details took a year to work out but by November of 2024, all member nations of the UN signed an agreement to pool their resources together as well as share intelligence toward this endeavour.

  However, while there were rapid strides made in the TASNSA program, it took two decades for the first set of interplanetary space probes to be mission ready. There were ten unmanned vehicles in all and they were simultaneously launched in 2045 in very specific directions to begin their exploration of nearby solar systems. After five arduous years of monitoring with no concrete results, one of the probes codenamed ‘White Ice’, which was launched from the TASNSA Antarctica base, suddenly began feeding back images of a peculiar solar system it had encountered. A glimmer of excitement loomed over the space armies at the corporate headquarters. A month later, White Ice identified a very interesting planet that looked like Earth. TASNSA scientists pressed the probe ever closer and spent the next several weeks monitoring the planet. The data proved encouraging as this Earth like world resembled ours in size, shape and atmospheric density. After being given the permission to proceed by the governing body, TASNSA scientists had the probe enter this new world’s atmosphere for a close quarter assessment. Within the space of an hour, as White Ice descended through the clouds it showed in vivid imagery on the viewing screens at the Earth headquarters that the grand prize had indeed been found. The TASNSA mission control personnel were ecstatic!

  The video feed, exhibited a planet that had within it the very same flora and fauna ecosystems as Earth. After five months of analysis, TASNSA revealed this data to a jubilant world. However, during the initial press conference, the heads of staff quickly quelled growing speculation of intelligent human or human-like species on the planet. Subsequent studies showed no humanoid or artificial structures anywhere on its surfaces. While the other nine space probes were unable to send back anything concrete, White Ice had made the discovery of the millennium. The next ten years were devoted to expanding research on the new mystery planet, to fully determine if a human colony could be established there. In 2060, a new technology allowing for rapid space travel was introduced and was met with unimaginable success. With it, unmanned rockets could reach the new planet within a span of six months, rather than the five years it took with conventional methods.

  In every way, Greenleaf offered humanity a second home. At the UN annual assembly in late 2061, with TASNSA heads of staff present, it was decided that preparations should begin to assemble a crew and equipment to begin establishing a self-sustaining colony on the planet. After meticulous planning and preparation, in 2064, the first set of astronauts were sent to Greenleaf in order to start building the new world. One of the crew members was a brilliant young engineer, aged 24, named Kenneth Anderson, hailing from Scotland. He rose through the ranks of the new world order on Greenleaf and was voted as the nation’s first official president in 2090.

  Now, 36 years after the 2064 mission, a large and thriving colony existed on Greenleaf. Commercial travel to the planet began in 2081. However, permission to migrate or work there for a period of time, lay solely with the UN inter-planet migration department, which worked closely with the TASNSA transport board.

  Thirty six months prior to John Stroff sitting at the bar area at the spaceport in Johannesburg, the governing body of TASNSA had called for an urgent meeting. While Greenleaf offered fertile elements for a thriving human population, Earth on the other hand was by now bereft of much of its past glory. While the planet’s flora ecosystems and marine bodies had been vastly improved including its ozone layer, thanks to new atmospheric and oceanic technology as well as the effective worldwide ban of fossil-fuel-based technology in 2057, the global wildlife population had dwindled drastically. This had led to the passage of a new bill in the UN assembly in 2059 permitting the cloning of animal and marine species. While this had had some positive results over the next set of years, however, many majestic creatures to have roamed the Earth were gone for good. Hence, the governing body struck upon the idea of transporting some of the abundant fauna present on Greenleaf back to Earth with the intent of restoring the balance of nature. The plan was bold and the response was overwhelmingly positive at the UN assembly. From TASNSA, John Stroff was elected to be the mission leader. John had by then completed three missions to Mars and one to Saturn. He had also played a key role in the unmanned surface landing missions on Pluto, which were intended to help gather data to officially begin mining operations on the planet.

  At a ceremony held before a live world audience in late 2099, he named his crew and addressed the world media with them. While the question and answer session was reaching its finale, John glanced upward towards the TASNSA emblem high above the crowds in the highly embellished auditorium. He marvelled at it and then shifted his gaze to the silver words below it that read, “No space too far, no mission beyond our reach, as our brave hearts venture ever forward in the discovery of the new and the majestic!”

  ◆◆◆

  The Crew

  Mandela International Spaceport, Johannesburg, South Africa

  Ali Mehdi glanced at the silhouette of John Stroff placed against the wider canvas of the window, while noting the streaks of purple, yellow and red that embellished the rest of the space. He thought of walking in to say hello but just as quickly decided against it and continued down the hallway. A few paces afterward, he turned to his right and stopped in front of a doorway covered by a translucent blue screen. The sign above was embossed in gold lettering that read ‘Richard Branson Lounge’. He pressed his palm against a wall scanner, after which the blue screen disappeared and he walked in towards one of the sketch desks near one of the windows. Cosmonauts and engineers regularly used this space to flesh out new ideas using 3D holographic models or hosted group discussions on what could be the next big thing for space tourism and exploration. It was a neatly designed area and had an array of gizmos and stationery to keep an active mind occupied for hours on end.

  Ali himself was a highly creative person, who apart from being an active engineer, indulged himself in a number of ways that included painting, writing and music. Named after a famous Omani poet from his native
country, he spent a majority of his annual leave each year being involved in national art festivals across the Middle East.

  Ali placed one of his bags down when he noticed the service screen that was hovering in front of him. “Good morning, Mr. Mehdi. What will be your order for today?” a soft female voice asked. “Uh, just my usual black coffee with no sugar and milk, Jane,” he said as he rummaged through his backpack. “Very good, sir,” replied the monitor and it moved upward disappearing into the ceiling.

  Ali placed a Texifab paper screen on the desk and then pulled out an armlet, coloured in shades of oceanic blue and charcoal black, which he placed over his left hand. The device immediately began to glow and he tapped a circular button on one side, which projected a vivid holographic screen in front of him. He noted the time, which flashed 6:30 a.m. at the left top corner and using his right hand he scrolled through a series of icons for a few seconds. “Display wildlife habitat information,” he said. Simultaneously the hologram expanded and morphed into a series of 3D models, with information about each of the animal enclosures on the Wildlife One spacecraft. He tapped on several of the displays inspecting the feeding mechanism and content mixtures intended for the big cats they planned to place in Zone B. He paused for a moment and then glanced down at the Texifab he had carried with him, which immediately switched on. A note file opened containing a few lines of the poem that he had thought of, an hour earlier. “Black clouds of thunder that cover the horizon across this sea, do I dare venture forth to witness what will greet me? It seems as though I have troubled the Gods that guard this strange place, Oh will they forgive or punish me, a bold adventurer never knowing the end of time and space…” “Ah, you’re already here I see Ali!” said Nigel Greenback, as he entered carrying his large khaki bag, slung on one shoulder.