by Kurt Winans
Turning toward her with a boyish grin, Ross replied, “It’s wonderful Tori, thank you very much!”
With a return smile, Tori then said, “I’m glad that you like it. Unfortunately we need to turn back now, but we can certainly go on another flight in the future if you want to.”
Ross was not about to let such an open invitation slip past him, and Aurora smiled when she remembered that he had emphatically stated, “Tori, I would love to go up anytime the opportunity presents itself!”
Patting him on the shoulder, she replied, “Good, then let’s make it happen as soon as we can. If you would like, all ten of you who didn’t relocate to another population center can come. As you are now aware, there’s plenty of room.”
Aurora remembered having become a bit concerned at that moment, because she knew Ross’s wheels were turning when he said, “That’s a great idea, but I have a favor to ask.”
Having reached the same false conclusion as Aurora, Tori replied, “Ross, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you fly the shuttle. The process of earning qualification takes several months.”
Once again with a rather large boyish grin, Ross replied, “No, although I can imagine that flying one of these would be lots of fun, that’s not what I had in mind. I wanted to know if you could take us all to a museum on the next flight. It would mean a great deal to me if I could look upon what had been preserved from the many centuries since I lived on Earth.”
Aurora remembered being surprised that her father hadn’t even tried to talk his way into flying the shuttle. Then Tori, with a look of concern on her face had said, “I don’t know Ross, that’s a difficult request to fulfill. Honestly, I would have some concerns about the journey.”
Noticing an expression of anxiety on Tori’s face, Ross had asked, “So, what exactly concerns you about the journey?”
Tori replied, “Well, a number of things actually, but just to name a few, the distance of the round trip and locating a safe landing spot for the shuttle. You see, the museum facility is nowhere near any coastline or body of saltwater. We couldn’t refuel, and we might need to use a portion of our precious fuel searching for a secure place to land.”
Looking at the pilot, Ross then asked, “Do you have any thoughts on this topic?”
Glancing back at Tori, the pilot shrugged his shoulders and said, “Tori could be correct about the problem of refueling. I would need to crunch some numbers before I could give you an honest assessment.”
Attempting to confirm his suspicion, Ross then pressed with, “When was the last time that you flew to the museum?”
The pilot had looked surprised by the question, but then remembered that he was speaking with someone who had only just arrived a few weeks prior. He answered, “I have heard of the facility, and studied some of the historical disc recordings that reveal what’s inside, but I have never been there.”
Ross replied, “You too? Hasn’t anybody been there?”
Tori then interrupted by adding, “Ross, the historical disc recordings have made it easier than venturing to the museum, so no one that I know has ever been there. Besides, according to our records, the museum facility and surrounding area have been completely abandoned for a long time.”
Aurora had remembered asking the obvious question so that her father wouldn’t need to when she inquired, “How long has it been abandoned?”
Tori then answered quite calmly, “It’s been at least four centuries by now.”
The vivid memory of the deflated look on her father’s face at that moment saddened Aurora, but then she smiled at knowing that the situation had eventually been rectified.
Snapping back into the reality of the present moment, Aurora could see that Gabriela was now visibly more at ease. Ross was obviously feeling much better, and had proved that his memory of different decades within his life was intact. Then looking toward Ross, she said, “Thanks dad, I’m glad that you remember how fun that first flight was.”
Having satisfied Gabriela and Aurora via the recounting of events they had chosen to test his memory, Ross turned his reflection toward those first days and weeks after his return to “New Earth”. Although six full Earth months had passed since they had completed the voyage from ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2, for Ross, it seemed like yesterday. The memory of events leading to the first shuttle flight that he had discussed with his wife and eldest daughter were crystal clear as he quietly reflected upon them. Ross, and the other ninety-nine recruits within the group that he led, had been tasked with a specific and daunting challenge. If managed properly, the intended plan could help to ensure the longevity of the human population on this particular marble in space. In spite of facing unfavorable odds, a reality often experienced throughout his life on two different worlds, Ross confronted them willingly. By doing so, he also vowed to make every effort possible in order to succeed.
With help from several others, Ross had successfully set the wheels of the gene enrichment program in motion just a few days after he and the recruits had landed. Assisted by Tori Nobles, one of the administrators of the surrounding population center, Ross began the operation with phase one. That aspect required use of the same vast communication system Tori had employed to inform Earth’s current population about the surprise survival and arrival of off-world humans, and the alien species that was responsible for bringing them back to Earth. Now their message was of a different scope, as Ross and Tori informed each global population center of the program and its intended specifics. That would include the eventual distribution of recruits for very specific intents and purposes.
Upon their arrival from ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2, the alien vessel transporting Ross and his group had assumed a low orbital path above “New Earth”. After completing a few observational revolutions, a specific landing site was then determined based on a recommendation from Ross. Throughout the course of those orbits, Ross had paid close attention to the planet surface below. Having been well versed in planetary geography from the days of his youthful education at Annapolis, and then via the practical application of global travel associated with the Navy, NASA, and in political circles, it had been easy for Ross to notice the alterations of continental structure caused by the asteroid apocalypse. In some cases the changes were quite dramatic, and while peering out the observation window, with Aurora by his side, Ross had verbally listed the specifics of said alterations to her.
Beginning over the southern hemisphere, the first thing Ross noticed was a source of light near the eastern midpoint of what he knew as New Zealand’s south island. The shape and size of the island, as well as that of the neighboring north island, were slightly different than he had remembered, but it was definitely New Zealand. Another light source soon came into view along the southeastern coast of Australia, and that portion of the continent also had a different look to it. At that time he was unaware of the fact, but Ross now understood that the cause of those subtle alterations had been coastal submergence as a byproduct of a dramatic rise in the global ocean levels. Upon closer inspection, Ross believed that the location of the new light source was slightly inland from where Australia’s largest city of Sydney had once stood. When Southwestern Australia then came into view, it was obvious that the region had been far less fortunate. Ross could only theorize, but it was logical to assume that the obliteration of the land mass surrounding Perth, and the deep azure blue water that now occupied the area, had resulted from a massive impact.
Crossing high above the Indian Ocean to the west, another light source was then clearly visible within the southern extremes of the African continent. On the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, South America revealed two more sources of light. Upon the eastern shore, in the general vicinity of Brazils Rio De Janeiro or Sao Paulo, there were significant signs of habitation. To the west, over the massive Andes mountain range, another coastal site possibly near what had once been Santiago Chile shone nearly as brightly.
Ross had remembered receiving a telepathic message from his old alien friend as to the
ir intended orbital path, and had then asked, “Aurora, are you getting all of my observations down?”
She had been succinct with her mildly irritated reply of, “Yes dad, I’m writing all of it down.”
With a glance in her direction, Ross had then retorted, “That’s good. According to our friend, we won’t be going over the same ground again. Each of the upcoming orbits will take us further to the north, and we should be over the southern coast of Asia very soon.”
As if on cue, the southeast coast of Asia, at the western reaches of the vast Pacific Ocean, then revealed another light source. As one would reasonably expect, a sizeable population center existed along the newly defined southern coast of China. Although nearly half of the low lying land mass no longer existed, there were also visible signs of life in India. Another of the large and deep impact sites was then clearly visible, with azure blue water now covering much of what had been Saudi Arabia. North Africa claimed a presence with a light source within the southern section of all that remained of Egypt. Then a second source, along the extreme western reaches of the continent, suggested something in the vicinity of Senegal. After passing over the central Atlantic and the southern portion of the Caribbean Sea, the strip of land once known as Central America came into view. Although not as intensely lit as the previous sightings, a light source was discernable along the west coast of Costa Rica or Nicaragua.
A short time later, another trip over the Pacific revealed that the sprawling mega city once known as Tokyo Japan had not been completely snuffed out. Much of central Asia lay still in the darkness, but there was a clearly recognizable source of light along the eastern shore of the Black Sea. The southern portion of the European continent was then viewed for the first time, and a settlement existed somewhere along the former coast of Portugal. Reaching North America, Ross spotted what would be their eventual landing site as they flew high above another large azure blue water impact site and the newly defined coast of Texas. Ross remembered that as their series of orbits reached more northern extremes while passing over the Pacific, he had inquired of Aurora, “How many locations of habitation have we identified?”
She had then responded more congenially, “My count is fourteen at this point.”
Their final crossing high over the land mass of Northern Asia and Europe had revealed no additional sources of light, but then the British Isles came into view. Although a large swath of seawater had encroached from the east via the mouth of the Thames, and blanketed the portion of England where London had once been, all was not lost. To the northwest, perhaps in the region near Liverpool or the border of Wales, a large source of light could be seen.
Reaching North America once again, no source of light could be seen along the eastern seaboard. The previous pass had revealed that Florida, and similar low lying areas within the southeastern region of the United States, no longer existed. That sad news was compounded on the second pass. The entire high population corridor from Boston south to Washington D.C. that once housed millions upon millions of people was now void of any sign of life. Dawn lighting within the region revealed a large impact site that was now filled with sea water. The massive crater altered that section of the coast dramatically, and in so doing, had probably provided most inhabitants of the area with a quick yet horrific demise. Moving again into the darkness below, their orbit reached the northwest coast of the continent. That location revealed one final beacon of light that appeared to be nestled in the area of Vancouver within the former western Canadian province of British Columbia.
The memory of their final orbit above Earth was crystal clear, and Ross had stated, “That brings the total to sixteen.”
Aurora had confirmed the count by adding, “That’s the figure I have dad.”
The information obtained by Ross and Aurora during those orbits had been confirmed by Tori Nobles before phase one of the program had been implemented. Within the course of a preliminary discussion about logistics, she had said, “We are aware that a total of sixteen population centers, including this site, exist at various locations around the planet.”
Focused solely on the selection process, the second phase began. Small ethnically diverse groups would need to be assembled from the pool of viable reproduction candidates, and that process would include ensuring that each group contained at least one of the twenty youthful Mayans supplied by the King. For the groups that would have two Mayans within them, it was necessary to ensure that both a male and female were represented. Within the fifty-three males, and forty-three females, that comprised the collective pool, only six would remain at their current location. Of those who would stay with Ross, Gabriela, Aurora, and Janet, the four non-reproductive recruits that rounded out the one-hundred person manifest, the selections were relatively easy to define.
Aurora had been emphatic that her husband Tikal, the twenty-first Mayan on the manifest, would remain by her side. After all, the man had been fully prepared to fight to the death for her hand back on his home world. Then he willingly traveled through the vastness of space for six weeks from ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2 to Aurora’s birth planet of Earth. Although she had no problem with her husband impregnating several other women to help enrich the dying gene pool of Earth, Aurora felt that she had the right to demand that he return to their dwelling every night and sleep next to her.
The second selection was blatantly obvious as well, but Janet removed any lingering doubt when she announced, “My husband Colt must also be part of this group.”
Their young son Hank would need to remain with them, so half of the six member group was therefore pre-determined. As the only other child present on the six week voyage to “New Earth”, Kristyn had developed a strong friendship with Hank. It was decided that the interest of both youngsters would be best served by keeping them within the same group, so Kristyn’s mother Natiya also became an obvious addition. With that, only one spot of the six person group needed to be filled.
Brittany Cooper, whom Janet had originally met while in captivity aboard the alien deep water vessel, asked if she could be the final member of the group that remained. Janet had been solely responsible for recruiting the cute and curvy young woman from Montana as a participant into the program, but she also had no intention of placing Brittany in a group that lived anywhere near her husband Colt while pursuing the gene enrichment endeavor. In simple terms, Janet didn’t want her husband to impregnate anyone that she knew more than casually, and felt the younger woman’s obvious temptations were just too great to resist. Aurora possessed similar reservations with regard to her husband Tikal, and promptly agreed with Janet’s assessment. Therefore, Brittany was denied of her request and subsequently became a member of the group destined for the southeastern coast of Australia. Both Janet and Aurora felt that if Brittany could somehow manage to entice either Colt or Tikal to mate with her from the opposite side of the planet, then she deserved some credit for her effort.
As four of the five recruits already chosen to remain at their current location possessed either North American or Northern Asian heritage, someone possessing a broader ethnic diversity was needed to help Tikal round out the group. Well aware of that fact, Ross said, “I believe that we should select a woman of either South American or African heritage. Although the group does contain the fresh infusion of Mayan blood from Tikal, it requires additional balance.”
Aurora responded, “I certainly understand your point about the ethnic need in this group dad, but why a woman?”
“Well, mainly it’s due to Hank and Kristyn. It’s logical that they must remain within this group, but they are of little help genetically at the present time. Both of them are several years away from being able to reproduce, and even though you and Janet will remain here, by your own admission, you are not viable candidates either. That means Natiya is the only female currently available for childbearing in this group of recruits. You can’t possibly put all that pressure solely on her, so another woman must be selected to help balance things out.”
“Not specifically, but I do know that one of the young female Peruvian runners is on the manifest.”
“Yes, I know the woman you mean. That’s a very good suggestion dad. Let’s place her in this group and consider it to be complete.”
Once the entire selection process for the other fifteen groups of six individuals had been finalized, Ross and Aurora could then move forward with phase three, or the distribution, of the assigned members. That was when they first learned of yet another fantastic technology that had been developed by the current residents of Earth, and because of it, the process of distribution became much easier than Ross originally thought it would be. The ninety remaining recruits were sent via flying shuttles to the fifteen other population centers around the globe. The shuttles were large enough to carry twenty people in addition to the crew of four, could fly at high or low altitude with reasonable speed, and were fueled simply by using salt water from the ocean. All the pilots had to do when in need of more fuel was to belly land on the ocean and refill the tanks.
Tori stood with Ross and Aurora as the boarding process began, and joined them in the gesture of shaking the hand of each recruit. Three groups of six boarded each of the five shuttles that would be used for the endeavor, and then Ross saluted the members of each flight crew before liftoff. Seconds after the last of the recruits had departed for their assigned destinations, Tori asked, “Now what can we do to facilitate the efforts of phase four and five?”
Ross was quick to respond, “Well, working in reverse order, phase five is critical and will require a delicate touch. Although much of the baseline information won’t be available for several months, meticulous record keeping will be required. In order to ensure the spreading of a healthy gene pool, each set of parents for the new offspring must be known without exception. It’s the only way to avoid the potential problem of future generations reproducing with others who share a close common ancestry.”
