by Kurt Winans
“That’s true. Proceed whenever you’re ready Hank.”
“Alright then, here we go.”
With an ever broadening smile, Hank reached up to pull the helmet off and away from his head. Then he removed his gloves before commencing a leisurely, and for what would be the final time, a solitary stroll throughout the main chamber. While doing so, he formed a visual picture within his mind of what would transpire. The peacefulness that he now enjoyed would soon be replaced by teeming activity, and the often loud and undisciplined verbal utterances of the children. Given time though, that chaotic reality would morph into an entirely different way of life. Those who had not yet begun the process of the evolutionary shift would eventually do so, as they would receive the occasional fragmented thought. From there, the transformation into the higher plane of non-verbal telepathic communication for the entire colony would happen quickly.
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a projection from his mother. “Hank, are you there?”
Feeling somewhat perturbed by the foolish question, he replied, “Of course I’m here, where else would I be?”
“Hank, we have been through this before. Please don’t behave like that. Now is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything is fine in here. I’m heading back to the lifeboat, and we can begin preparations for the first group.”
The hours and days of transition that followed went more smoothly than Hank initially believed they would, and with regard to his preconceived notion, he was happy to be proved incorrect. In time, each of the colonists settled into their own particular patterns of behavior. People performed the tasks, pleasant or otherwise, that were necessary to keep the collective alive. The hydroponic system, enabled by the planned ice melt through the bore holes above, had continued to provide through the growth of life sustaining food. A small exercise area that had been installed on the lifeboat continued to provide, as it had done throughout the voyage from Earth, by harnessing the energy created via pedal power. The vents along portions of the exterior shell that led to the turbines, and the forward two deployed solar sails on the lifeboat, had also provided a useful amount of power. By collecting wind that existed within the atmosphere which had funneled into the canyons between the walls of ice, and the distant rays of their host star, every aspect of the old SSP vehicle had been brought to bear.
Then in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, four months of Earth time had passed without incident. Now a year since their departure from Earth, and seemingly without notice, the much anticipated moment for Kristyn was suddenly upon them. Aided by two Mayan women, each of whom had been on the opposite side of the process three separate times while on Earth, she labored through the pain. Many of those within the nearby chambers patiently waited for the outcome, as Hank nervously paced with far less of it while in front of Joseph. Soon a slap, and the ensuing cry, could be heard by all, as Kristyn had given birth to Hank’s child.
Within the group of female colonists, she had been the obvious choice for all those who had been paying any level of attention. Hank and Kristyn may not have known initially, but as they grew older they eventually came to realize that the two of them had been visualized by Ross and several others as an eventual mating pair from the very beginning of the gene enrichment program. Although it was true that the long term plan had called for Hank and Kristyn to create children from multiple mates, something about their early friendship and the way they interacted toward one another made some believe that they were destined for the long haul. Even her mother Natiya had seen the light from early on, as they were the only two of their age group on the initial voyage from ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2. Now within this current group of three-hundred and twenty souls that had braved the necessary trip to Mars, Hank and Kristyn, now twenty-one and twenty respectfully, proved that they belonged together more so than ever before.
As for the other females within the collective, only the ten Mayan women, now ranging from thirty-two through forty, and Brittany at thirty-eight, maintained a level of physiological development that would allow for childbearing. Although each were still quite able to conceive, all eleven of them had previously bore, at a minimum, two children for the gene enrichment program during their time on Earth. A few of their respective daughters, and other young ladies that included Nicki, Kristyn’s two younger sisters, and Joseph’s daughter, were quickly approaching the phase of their life cycle that would enable them to contemplate reproduction. In reality though, Janet and others understood that the practicality of their use for such purposes would still be several years away. Aside from the obvious strain it would place on their bodies at such an early age, there was the emotional level of their development to consider. As that aspect of life didn’t generally progress at the same pace as the maturity of their bodies, a young lady in her early teens shouldn’t be required, especially given the adaptation process to their new environment that each was experiencing, with the responsibility of childbirth.
Seeing Hank move toward her and their newborn son, Kristyn smiled and projected, “Well it wasn’t easy, but I did it.”
Returning a broad smile he replied to her joyful projection with, “You most certainly did Kristyn, and I will be forever grateful. We have just become the parents of the first human being to be born on Mars!”
As one of the Mayan midwives moved closer with the item that the proud parents had chosen for use as the baby blanket, Hank rubbed the emblem attached to the thin chain around his neck and flashed back to a distant fond memory of when Ross had introduced him to a young girl named Kristyn. Then his thoughts were interrupted, as the now cloaked baby boy was handed to him. Cradling the infant in his arms, he looked at Kristyn and projected, “What do you think we should name him?”
“I think that we should name him Ross.”
“Ross? That’s very sweet of you, but why?”
“There are so many reasons Hank, including the fact that he had the vision long ago of putting the two of us together, but I think that there is one reason that stands clear above the rest.”
“What’s that?”
“It just seems fitting that Ross should be the name of the first child born during the course of this endeavor to ensure that our species, however we may have and will evolve, does not die out.”
Smiling at the sentiment, Hank gazed down upon his newborn son. He was securely wrapped in the American flag that centuries before had briefly occupied the oval office within the White House during the administration of the man whom he had just been named after. The faded and tattered flag removed from the Cheyenne Mountain museum complex fit baby Ross well, and Hank was overjoyed. Then after a quick glance in Kristyn’s direction, he projected proudly, “Well hello there Ross, it’s nice to meet you.”
Hank knew the smile that then appeared on his son’s little precious face was most assuredly coincidental, but with the genetics of two telepathic parents working in his favor, perhaps little Ross had heard his father’s projection.
Then Kristyn projected, “Hey Hank, do you ever think about how all of the people back on our old home moon are doing?”
The alien who had unintentionally made contact with Ross long ago on the surface of Earths now extinct moon, and then subsequently became his respected friend and mentor, now stood for the first time next to the marked graves of Ross and all of those who had either been close friends or members of his family. Although saddened by the reality of what the site represented, and those of the several hundred other nearby human burial mounds, the alien was pleased to have been afforded the opportunity for a moment of quiet reflection before his upcoming meeting.
Having been the key player in an odyssey which had enabled the human species of ₹-829-Ԅπ-3 to avoid possible extinction on their home world, the alien had been ordered to report back to where it all began. That order had come to him shortly after his most recent audience with the high council, and had been issued by an even higher authority. Now, with the entourage approaching, he turne
d toward them and bowed his head. As a show of unwavering respect, his intent was to remain in that humble posture until given permission to do otherwise. A moment later, he received a telepathic message requesting that he look up, and having done so, he then resisted the urge to bow down once again. The ageing and frail high emperor of his species upon the home world, and all of those who had colonized different worlds, now stood directly in front of his obedient subject. Then with a faint smile on his face, the emperor projected a message of, “You have achieved excellent results with regard to this most delicate project brother, and in the process you have represented the exploratory fleet and our species with lofty distinction. I would like to discuss how you devised such a masterful plan?”
Gazing upon the face of his supreme leader for the first time, the alien returned the telepathy with a humble, “Thank you very much for your kind thoughts emperor. Of course it would be my honor to discuss anything that you wish.”
Placing an outstretched hand on the shoulder of his subject, the emperor projected, “This is the first time that I have visited system ₹-829. My assistant has informed me that we are now standing on the third planet, and that the former dominant species had a special classification for it.”
“Yes emperor, this is the third planet from the host star within this system. Long ago it was charted and then classified in our data base as ₹-829-Ԅπ-3, but the species of humans that once lived here referred to it as Earth.”
“Earth? They used a word in place of a number. That’s a strange way to classify a planet.”
“Yes it is emperor, but like many of the planets or moons that we have charted, there was no real need for the inhabitants of them to identify solar systems with numbers. I have learned from my human friend Ross that for the majority of their history, his species lived in denial that any world other than their own ever existed. In fact, many Earth centuries ago, before Ross became one of their species leaders, the arrogant human belief of singularity went far beyond that. For a brief instant during the dawn of their scientific knowledge, the human species actually believed that their host star revolved around their home planet!”
“All of those facts have been well documented in our data base via the many reports that your predecessors filed with fleet operations.”
“Yes emperor. And as I then documented within my reports, when human science finally advanced to an elementary level enabling the discovery of other planets within this system, then names were given to classify them as well.”
“Indeed. So that rather strange custom of theirs goes beyond this world. Can you provide me with a more detailed accounting of those classifications?”
“Yes emperor, I can. Before the asteroid had impacted and destroyed Earths singular moon, the planet closest to the host star was known as Mercury. The second had been given the name of Venus, while the nearest of an outward position from Earth was called Mars. The four much larger planets that comprise the outer reaches of the system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. For an instant in human history there was another beyond those four named Pluto, but the humans discovered that the orbiting body was not actually a planet.”
“Those are all very strange classifications. Do you know if each one has a specific meaning?”
“Yes emperor, they do. Ross also informed me that each was the name of a deity within the mythological structure of an ancient culture on Earth.”
“Indeed. It’s interesting that a species on the verge of serious exploration beyond their own world would place that much importance on deities.”
“Yes emperor, but those names were given to each of the planets several centuries of Earth time before the humans had the technological ability to venture into space. What’s really interesting to me is that the knowledge of such names had not faded away from their collective memory during the twenty-six Earth centuries that had passed since the most recent of large asteroid impacts. That information is also well documented within the more recent of my reports to fleet operations, but when Ross learned of this upon his return to Earth he was pleasantly surprised.”
“Surprised? Could you explain that please?”
“Well emperor. For Ross, as one of the select few members of his species to actually venture into space before our efforts to relocate him and others to ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2, the planets of this system represented something larger than the deities they were named for. The neighboring planets are the logical first step in deeper space exploration, and his species was on the verge of a manned mission to one of them before the incoming asteroid altered their priorities. Even though the surviving human population of Earth’s apocalyptic event then quickly dismissed the belief structure of deities for their daily existence, they did maintain a respect for the names of such entities given to celestial bodies. Ross understood that their new found realization of self-reliance and accountability for each individual’s own fate, coupled with the acknowledgement and respect for an ancient cultural belief system, represented a small but important evolutionary step for his species. Each of those brave enlightenments had helped put an end to many of the childish and selfish behaviors that nearly led to the demise of their own cherished species. He admired the advances that had occurred upon the world that he returned to, and as a byproduct of those advances, the lack of various uncontrollable problems that had existed on the Earth of his youthful years. It also gave Ross comfort to know that he would spend his final days of mortal life here on his birth world, and I’m glad that he could finally rest easy.”
Glancing down at the small plot of land where Ross had been placed for that well-deserved rest, the emperor removed his outstretched hand from the shoulder of his subject. Then he confirmed the thoughts of his brother, “I agree with your sentiment. Based on previous information, and what you have just conveyed, that human was a positive example of his species and a respected leader among them.”
“Yes emperor, he was. But he was not the only one of their species to show such promise.”
“That’s good to know brother, as it speaks well for their future in the galactic equation.”
“Yes emperor, I believe so too.”
Turning from the gravesite, the Emperor changed the subject of their conversation by projecting, “As to how this planet could benefit the long term goal of our species, I think that it’s time for the two of us to discuss the intricacies of your overall plan.”
“Yes emperor. As you know, we had been observing many forms of life on this planet throughout several of their known centuries, and on three occasions had seen fit to relocate a small amount of them to ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2. Many of those species of life on this planet showed minimal, if any, evolutionary progress during that time span. However, the humans had in many ways emerged as the one truly dominant species. In the latter stages of our observations their abilities from a technological standpoint had advanced very quickly. Unfortunately that so called advancement created a growing concern within our observation teams. The humans could have easily destroyed themselves, and nearly every other species of life present on this planet, before they evolved philosophically.”
“Indeed. Unfortunately there have been examples of that type of behavior on other worlds. The extinction of any species results in a loss of strength with regard to the galactic community, but a self-inflicted extinction that may also cause other species to perish is significantly tragic!”
“Yes emperor, and in the case of ₹-829-Ԅπ-3, the human species were closer to such a fate than many of them believed. Not only did they identify the vast majority of other lifeforms on their world as insignificant, but they also had a tendency to treat others of their own species as inferior. There were a minimal percentage of the humans who could visualize the broader scope and cherished it, but most just existed in blissful arrogance. They continued to develop more efficient ways of killing each other, and invented new reasons to do exactly that. For the most part they all had a deep burning desire to live, but had absolutely no problem with doi
ng so at the expense of others of their own kind. In addition to those problems, they were consuming their natural resources at an alarming rate while also polluting their atmosphere and water beyond livable conditions. At that moment of their history, their future was extremely doubtful.”
“Once again, those are facts that have been well documented in the reports that you and your predecessors filed with fleet operations.”
“Yes emperor, but that was when we began to monitor their world more closely. In spite of that general absence of moral and philosophical fiber, the human species did show a level of promise that they could belong to a larger galactic community. Although gradual at first, more and more of their species began to believe that additional planets and moons, with perhaps other lifeforms grander than their own, could actually exist somewhere else in the universe. Then a segment of their developing technology and resources were actually dedicated to exploring such a possibility, but those resources were minor when compared to all that had been dedicated toward the problems that I mentioned.”
“Indeed. So you are claiming that their developing technology led them to the brink, and that they then teetered between extinction and enlightenment because of it.”
“Yes emperor they did, and then forces well beyond even our control entered the equation.”
“Indeed. The mysteries of the universe can do that.”
“Yes emperor. We, as the potential guardians of their plight, were suddenly faced with a challenging situation. By all logic, their world was about to be destroyed by the impact of a massive asteroid, but our belief structure is to save a species whenever possible. Even though a minute percentage of their species was living on ₹-593-Ԅπ-2-2, they were decedents of Earth’s more ancient civilizations. It was unclear if members of their current technologically advanced society could coexist with them, but there was no other available option. Besides, from an observational standpoint it created a tremendous opportunity to monitor their evolutionary process. With that in mind we offered a small segment of their population an opportunity to relocate to another world, but we didn’t inform them that other members of their species were already living upon it until we completed the transport.”
