The Silence Between the Stars

by Alan Davenport

  The minister puffed out his chest and said, “My partnership with Eternal Rest Recycling has allowed me to develop a hereto untapped source of food.” He gave Amanda an accusing stare and continued, “My partnership is not all ‘self-serving’, as you have implied.”

  Amanda ignored his barb and said, “I would be curious to know just how your partnership with Eternal Rest translates into food production Minister.”

  Professor Secker looked at Amanda and said, “I believe the Minister is referring to the ‘Soylent Green’ option. Am I correct Minister?”

  Minister Frankel puffed out his chest. “Indeed I am professor. I am quite proud of my work in getting this implemented.”

  Amanda wrinkled her brow. “’Soylent Green’. I am not familiar with that term. What does that refer to?”

  Before Minister Frankel could respond, professor Secker answered for him. “Way back in the 20th century there was a classic science fiction movie made called ‘Soylent Green’. In this video, there was a society very much like our own. There was over-population and starvation, although not as bad as we have it. Just like us though, there were environmental issues and the government was responsible for food production and distribution. The government found itself unable to feed everybody so they turned to a new source of protein… they started making food from people.”

  “P-P-People?!” Amanda sputtered out. She pointed at his face, wagged her finger in Frankel’s face and said, “Seriously Minister, you not only have legalized euthanasia and infanticide but have now initiated cannibalism as a solution to world starvation? Have you no scruples at ALL?”

  Minister Frankel sadly shook his head and said, “Do you think I WANTED this? We have no choice! As my distinguished colleague has pointed out, world starvation is a serious issue. I agree with him 100% on this. I just disagree with his allegations that our actions today are futile.”

  Secker looked towards Frankel and said, “I am not an alarmist Minister, I am a realist. Your actions, while commendable, are too little, too late. As usual, the world government ignored the problem for far too long before taking any action. If your bill had passed ten, perhaps even as little as five years ago, it may have stood a chance of success. Now, even the most optimistic projections say that the collapse of society is inevitable. The only hope for humankind lies elsewhere. It lies in the stars. It lies with The Starship Project.”

  The minister rolled his eyes and said, “Oh that pie-in-the-sky, ridiculous project? Really professor, humanity’s resources would be better spent on solving the food crisis. We cannot afford to be wasting time on such a long shot option. We need to solve the issues at home!”

  Passion filled Secker’s eyes as he said, “Nonsense Minister. It is not ‘wasted resources’, as you call it. It is the only hope we have. Thank goodness, there are other ministers with the foresight to see this and have fully funded the project. Our hope is in the stars. With any luck, one of the ships that we sent out will find a suitable world for us to colonize.”

  Amanda smiled towards the professor and said, “We are almost out of time here today but before we go, please give a brief overview of The Starship Project for our audience, professor.”

  With passion in his eyes Secker reached out, laid his hand upon her arm, and passionately said, “I would love to Amanda. Briefly, The Starship Project has created a fleet of starships. Each one is being sent out to search for an earth-like world for humanity to colonize. Each ship has but one pilot. These ships are not for colonization, but for exploration and discovery. The new superconducting reactors and anti-gravity drives are fast enough to cut the travel time between the stars to mere weeks. Projections show that there are likely one hundred earth-like worlds within just a thirty light-year radius. Chances are high that one of the starships will discover our new home. Each ship is equipped with hyper-speed messenger drones. Upon discovery of a suitable world, the pilot will launch a drone to tell Earth the good news. Gigantic colony ships are under construction in orbit. Upon receipt of a drone bearing the news of a habitable planet, a colony ship will be launched.” Professor Secker smiled and continued, “I expect we will be receiving positive news any day now. Our future is in the stars.”

  Amanda smiled warmly back and she said, “Will you be going on one of the colony ships Professor?”

  “I will indeed!” he said. “My application has already been approved.”

  Amanda again laid her hand upon his arm and caressed it. “Do you think that they will have need of journalists, Star?” She looked at him intently and asked, “How does a person apply to the program?”

  Secker, looking as if he were barely restraining himself from kissing Amanda, tremulously said, “The program has need of people of all skills Amanda. I am sure that a journalist of your caliber would receive instant acceptance. Signing up for the program is simplicity in itself. All the information you need can be found at WWW.STARSHIPPROJECT.ORG. You should apply today Amanda. Perhaps we will be assigned to the same colony ship.”

  Flustered, Amanda said, “I… I would like that professor.” Amanda shook herself and then her face quickly returned to her professional mask. She wrapped up the interview by saying, “Well, that is all we have time for today. I want to thank our two distinguished guests…”

  “Computer, halt playback,” interrupted Jonathan. The wall chimed and the digital woman reappeared. “Playback halted. Do you wish anything else Jonathan?” Jonathan ignored the computer, turned to Nathan and said, “Nate isn’t that great news? I can’t believe it!”

  Nathan stared at him in shock. “Great news? How is THAT great news?”

  Jonathan gave him an ‘Are you dense?’ look and said, “It’s great news since our jobs are secure! Eternal Rest is going to need even MORE employees now. We don’t have to worry about joining the ranks of the unemployed.” Jonathan was just about bursting with happiness. Putting his hand on Nathan’s arm he said, “We’re set. Perhaps we can even move up to a five by five meter apartment someday too!”

  Nathan brushed his friend’s arm away and stepped back. “Are you insane Jonathan? Didn’t you hear what the professor said? People are dying. Soon ALL of us are going to die! What good will a job do us if there is no food to eat, water to drink or air to breathe?”

  Now it was Jonathan’s turn to stare in shock. “Good God Nate, you didn’t actually believe all that nonsense did you? The nutty professor was just looking to alarm people to get them to follow his pet starship project. You are so gullible sometimes Nate, I swear. What Amanda failed to mention was that the garish professor is working for and is a major supporter of the starship initiative! Didn’t you see how miss impartial Amanda could not keep her hands off him? She would not mention that and spoil her chances with him now would she? Minister pompous ass had an agenda, miss loud voice had an agenda and professor rainbow had an agenda. Everyone has an angle. Sheesh, you of all people should know that!” Jonathan looked intently at his friend and gently said, “Look Nate, it’s not as bad as they made it seem… ANY of them. The only thing that matters is that our jobs are secure. We no longer have to worry!”

  Nathan gave him a worried look and said, “Do you think so Jonathan? I do not know. He sounded very sure of himself and Amanda really did look scared. I don’t think that was all an act.”

  Jonathan put his hands upon Nathan’s shoulders and gave him a good shake. “Of course it was an act Nate. Geez! You are too damn trusting. It will get you in trouble someday. Mark my words.”

  Nathan did not say any more. He stood there with his eyes unfocused, looking out into nothingness. Under his breath, he said, “The Starship Project. I wonder…”

  Chapter 2: The Decision

  Daily life on the dying Earth was a long series of horrors. These horrors were invisible to the vast majority of the population. If things had become bad quickly, perhaps the human race would have responded. As it was, people were numb. Too acclimated to the situation to react or even to be aware just how bad things had
become. It was like the old story about how to boil a frog. If you put a frog into boiling water, it would instantly hop out. Instead, if you put a frog in a pot of cool water and then gradually raised the temperature, it would stay in and be slowly parboiled before it realized anything was wrong. People on Earth were like the frog in the old tale. Life had slowly become worse and worse over a very long period of time.

  The screaming in the corridor outside their apartment rudely awakened Nathan and Jonathan. The woman’s screams were of mortal terror... throat raspingly loud. Jonathan cried out in annoyance, “Knock off the damn noise! People are trying to sleep in here!” The screaming stopped and then came a thud that shook the walls followed by the sound of footsteps quickly receding down the passageway. “And stay quiet,” Jonathan yelled.

  Nathan rolled over and sat upon the edge of his gel-foam mattress. He gave Jonathan a hard look and said, “For Pete’s sake Jon, have some compassion. That could be someone we know!”

  Jonathan, grumpy from his early awakening, spat at Nathan, “So what if it is? That will be one less mouth eating the food rations. Get in touch with the real world, will you?” Jonathan took a deep breath to calm himself down. He turned to his friend and said, “I’m sorry Nate; I just like to get a full night’s sleep on the two days a week I have to work.” Jonathan turned to the wall. “Computer, how much time before I am scheduled to awaken.” The wall chimed and said, “Your scheduled time to rise today was not for thirty-one minutes and fifteen seconds.” Jonathan sighed. “Computer, cancel today’s alarm. I am not going back to sleep.” The wall chimed again. “Understood. Today’s alarm canceled.”

  Nathan ran his hands through his long, straight blond hair and stretched. “I may as well get up too.”

  “Why Nate, you don’t have to go to work for four days. Enjoy your time off and sleep in.”

  Still stretching, Nathan walked over to their apartment’s oxygen generator, bent down close to the device’s outlet, took several deep breaths and then said, “I am going to go take a look.”

  Jonathan, his face registering alarm, quickly walked over to his friend, grabbed him by the shoulders and said, “Are you crazy Nate? What would you want to do that for?”

  Nathan shook himself loose. “Come on, I have to know who it is!”

  Jonathan quickly backed to the furthest corner away from the door. “You are crazy! It could be a trap. I heard that they do that, you know. They kill someone outside an apartment and wait for the people to come out to investigate and then rob and kill them.” Nathan gave him a sideways glance. “Seriously, it really does happen. It’s all over the net!”

  Nathan laughed. “You be serious Jon. That is all network hype. You call me gullible. They put that shit up to get you to visit their web sites to watch it so that you see their commercials. Good grief, you have to stop believing what you see on the internet!” Jonathan was not mollified. Nathan gave him a serious look and gently said, “Relax Jon; I am just going to peek out the door.”

  “Nate!” Jonathan yelled. “What if there really is something to it? Do you want to take the chance? At least take a gun with you!”

  “I suppose that would be sensible Jon,” Nathan conceded. Nathan walked over to a small table and picked up a pistol. He checked that there was a round in the chamber, thumbed off the safety and went to the door. He took a long look at the door monitor. “Looks okay. I see a woman’s body on the floor. Nothing else except for the usual corridor dwellers.”

  Jonathan nodded and said, “Be careful, Nate.”

  “Computer, unlock door.” The wall chimed and then there was a loud metallic clack as the bolts drew back into the wall and released the heavy steel door. Nathan opened the door and stepped out into the corridor with the pistol held straight out in front of him, held tightly in both hands. Looking quickly left and then right, he relaxed slightly. The corridor dwellers had moved to either end of the hallway to get away from the body and all of the blood. “Anyone see what happened?” he asked loudly. Nobody answered. They merely averted their gazes and turned their backs to him. Nathan made a disgusted noise and bent down to examine the dead woman.

  The contents of her purse lay sprawled upon the ground. Wallet opened, emptied. The victim sat in a pool of her own blood with her back against the wall and her face drooped down upon her chest. Her disheveled hair hung limply down, partially obscuring her face. She may have been beautiful before. It was hard to tell with the rictus of pain frozen on her lifeless face. Color beads in her hair still flashed their rainbow colors as if they still trying to attract attention to the woman. The attention they now drew was of a different kind than was intended. Nathan pulled his eyes from her hair and knelt down to examine her more closely… careful not to get any of her blood on him. Her loose, low cut t-shirt had once advertised a local nightclub. However, whatever club it had once advertised was now illegible. Blood had soaked the shirt, inside and out, all the way from her chin down to her blue jeans. Nathan was horrified at the sight. He had seen many dead bodies at his job at Eternal Rest, but this was different. This was up close and personal. He gently raised her head to look at her face and then recoiled in horror. Her attacker had deeply cut her throat, all the way across. The blood had gushed down her chest and over her breasts. The low cut shirt, instead of showing off the young woman’s breasts and causing arousal, repelled Nathan as nothing had ever done before. He stumbled and landed on his hands and knees. He quickly crabbed backwards. The floor was slick with her blood. His hands slid out from under him and he fell and landed hard on his side… facing the dead woman. “Oh my God, Lisa!” he moaned as he finally recognized her. Lisa’s head flopped back down upon her chest and with a sickening wet sound; she slid sideways down off the wall and onto her side as if to mimic Nathan lying on the floor beside her.

  Nathan lay there, unable to move for several seconds and then as if a switch had been thrown, he leapt to his feet, ran inside the apartment and leaving bloody handprints, slammed the door and pounded the door lock icon on the door monitor. He stood there gasping for several seconds. “Lisa…. It was Lisa. They… They cut her throat!”

  Jonathan gaped wide-eyed at the visage, momentarily unable to respond. Both of Nathan’s knees, forearms and hands were crimson with blood. Regaining the use of his voice, he said, “Who? Who’s Lisa?”

  Nathan spoke rapidly. “You know, Lisa. She lives… lived… three doors down.” He let out a sob and said, “You know, the pretty, lithe little blond dancer. Oh my God, they slit her throat for her credits!”

  Still wide-eyed, Jonathan said, “Oh yeah. Lisa. I remember her. She worked at that nightclub down the block didn’t she?”

  Nathan nodded. Looking down at his hands and clothes he said, “Aw frack!” He went to the small combo shower/toilet/sink in the corner of the room and began to wash up.

  Jonathan frowned. “Don’t use up our water ration, Nate.”

  “Can’t help it. I can’t go around covered in Lisa’s blood!” Nathan sighed. “Lisa, poor Lisa. She never hurt anybody!” Sighing again he said, “We have to do something.”

  Jonathan’s eyes took on a wary glint. “What can we do? You know not to get involved. Don’t be a fool. It will not bring Lisa back. It can only bring us trouble.”

  Nathan would not be swayed. “What trouble? We didn’t do it. The computer can verify that we were locked in here and asleep at the time of the murder. Nothing will happen.”

  “Seriously, No Nathan. You don’t want to call the police…”

  “Oh relax, will you Jon,” Nathan interrupted. He turned to the wall and said “Computer, dial 911.”

  The wall flashed to the computer avatar and said, “Dialing. Please stand by.” After a few seconds, the wall changed and a woman in a blue police uniform appeared. “Emergency services. What is the nature of your emergency?”

  Nathan took a deep breath and said, “I would like to report a murder.”

  The image of the woman showed annoyance. “A murder? Th
at is not an emergency. The emergency services line is for true emergencies only.”

  Nathan looked mollified. “I am sorry ma’am. I did not know.”

  The face of the woman softened. She said, “There are so many murders these days that we no longer investigate them. The proper course of action is to just call city recycling to come pick up the body.”

  “Okay, I will officer. Thank you.”

  “One final thing,” the officer said. “You have been recorded as having used the emergency line for a non-emergency. Do not do so again. Another offence will result in your arrest.”

  “I understand,” Nathan said nervously. “I will not do so again.”

  “Very good sir,” she said. “Have a good day.” The wall flashed and displayed CALL ENDED.

  “What did I tell you?” Jonathan cried. “You were damn lucky she was nice about it! She could have had you arrested! Then you lose your job and then where does that leave us? We can’t keep this apartment on just my salary alone!”

  Nathan put his (now clean) hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Relax Jon. Okay, you were right but it is okay. We’re okay.”

  Jonathan, still clearly shaken said, “You don’t want the police to notice you. EVER!” Taking a deep breath he added with a nervous laugh, “Good grief you really know how to scare a person.”

  Also laughing nervously, Nathan said, “I do try!” Nathan looked over to the wall and quickly said, “Speaking of work, you have five minutes to get ready.”

  “Oh frack!” Jonathan said and then busied himself.

  “I’ll call city recycling about the body outside our door.” Nathan noticed his friend giving him a hard look and then added, “Only city recycling. I promise!”

  After Jonathan had left for work, Nathan sat thinking with his head in his hands on the edge of his bed/chair/couch combo. He remained motionless for several long minutes. Shaking his head, he turned to the wall and said, “Computer, I need to talk.”