Those Left Behind

by Alan Davenport

  Mary immediately responded, “I did NOT call you a liar.” She held the microphone button pushed in for a second or so before she finished by saying, “I definitely heard a voice. It sounded weak and far away but I am not imagining things.”

  “Well I didn’t hear anything Mary,” Sally said dismissively.

  Mary, annoyed at her disbelief said nothing. She put the microphone back onto its hook on the dashboard and prepared to go riding some more.

  On the shuttle, the signal was not weak but blasted in loud and clear thanks to the high-powered modification that 12 had performed to Mary’s dune buggy’s transmitter. Nathan looked at his radio’s speaker in disbelief. He picked up the microphone and said, “Curiosity, did you hear that?”

  Curiosity immediately responded. “Yes, we copied that here as well 2347.”

  “Where did that transmission come from? Can you pinpoint it’s point of origin?”

  “Yes Nathan,” the ensign responded excitedly, “It came from the general vicinity of the Colony for the Continuation of Humanity site number seventy-six.”

  “On my way there,” Nathan said and then he executed a high-speed turn in the direction of Montana.

  When Nathan got some altitude under him he picked up the microphone and said, “Hello colony seventy-six. Is that you? Do you copy?” Sally stared at her radio in disbelief and then said, “Yes! Who is this?” Mary said nearly the same thing at exactly the same time. All Nathan heard was a garble as the two signals mixed together. He picked up the microphone and said, “One at a time please. Will the woman called Mary speak first please?”

  Mary, her voice shaking, said into the microphone at a near whisper, “Hello? This is Mary. Who is this?”

  Nathan, as amazed as Mary, said, “Hello. My name is Nathan Staite from The Starship Project. We came back to see if the Earth had recovered enough for recolonization.” He held the microphone keyed without saying anything for a second before he said, “We thought that everyone on the planet was dead.”

  Mary, as resilient as ever, quickly recovered. “No, both colony number seventy-six in Montana and Colony number eleven in Alice Springs, Australia have survived.”

  “Unbelievable,” Nathan said to himself. To Mary he said, “We are so happy to be proven wrong. We are so sorry, if we had only known that people had survived we would have come back years ago.”

  “It’s okay,” Mary said. “We didn’t even know each other’s colonies existed either until very recently.” As forward as ever, Mary asked, “Can you come see us please?”

  “We are already on our way Mary. We will be there in three minutes.”

  “Excellent! Please meet us outside the colony’s main door.”

  “See you in a few,” said Nathan with excitement.

  Mary bellowed into the microphone so loudly that Sally almost didn’t need the radio to hear her, “Sally! Go get Max and meet us at the door!” Without awaiting a reply, she barreled down the hill and sped across the plains towards the colony’s main door.

  Chapter 30

  Looking east, Mary saw the shuttle approaching before anyone else did. It first appeared as a tiny speck in the distance which rapidly expanded to reveal the gleaming white arrowhead shaped craft. Its anti-gravity drives eerily quiet, the shuttle made very little sound as Nathan landed it a few hundred feet away from the colony’s doorway.

  Max and Sally stood gaping with their mouths open like a fish out of water. Tiny jumped up and down and shouted, “Spaceship! Spaceship!” Mary jumped back into her dune buggy, pounded the seat beside her and said, “Come on, Tiny!” As soon as he sat down, she pressed the accelerator so hard that its front wheels lifted off the ground again as she sped towards the shuttle.

  Nathan held Kelly’s hand and stared in awe at the young blond woman and her large friend on the viewscreen as the speeding dune buggy approached. She approached so rapidly that the wind blew her long hair straight out behind her like a yellow flag. Mary skidded to a stop beside the shuttle and sat there with her head swiveling back and forth as she looked over the craft. Nathan grinned at Kelly and said, “Shall we?” Kelly grinned back and then pressed a control that opened the door and extended the exit ramp. Mary quickly maneuvered her buggy so that it was beside the ramp as it settled to the ground.

  Nathan and Kelly walked down the ramp followed by Jane and Lane. Everyone stood in silence, staring at one another for many seconds before Nathan walked up to the dune buggy, extended his hand to Mary and said, “Nice Wheels. You must be Mary. I am Nathan Staite.”

  Mary had to try several times to unhitch her safety belt. Her eyes open wide, she stood up, took the offered hand and shook it. She stared at the hand for a second, as if to reassure herself that it was indeed real and then she said in a trembling voice, “Yes. I am Mary.” In her nervousness she began rapidly speaking, “I am so pleased to meet you. This is my friend Tiny.” She pointed towards Max and Sally and said, “Those are my friends Max and Sally. They are our techs. Well, technically, I am too but I am also the daughter of Paul Hydro. He is my father and is the leader of colony number 76. He is in Australia right now visiting them. He had to use the old subterranean transport to bring them food since they had a crop failure. Max is in charge here until he gets back.”

  Max, who had been warily approaching, laid his hand upon Mary’s shoulder, silencing her. He shook Nathan’s hand and said, “Hello. I am Maximus Power.” He looked at them for a moment, at a loss for words.

  Jane smiled and said, “I am Jane McCann. I am the director of The Starship Project.” She bowed towards them and said, “I am so sorry that we took so long to return. We cannot believe that anybody survived the apocalypse. Everyone believed that…” She sadly shook her head. “Well, that’s over now. Is there anything we can offer in the way of assistance?”

  Max eyed her suspiciously. “Seriously? Do you think we are ignorant savages here? If you were indeed the real Jane McCann you would be around three hundred and seventy-five years old. You do not look a day over thirty!”

  Jane, not expecting that response, took a step back. She quickly recovered. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I forgot that you know nothing about our body replacement technology. I am indeed as old as you say.”

  Max frowned at her and did not approach. Nathan intervened and said, “Come on Jane. They are used to three-hundred-year-old technology. Give them a minute to get used to us.” He walked over to Max, shook his hand and said, “You will be amazed at some of the advances in medical technology we have discovered in the past three hundred years.” He inclined his head towards Jane and said, “This indeed is the real Jane McCann. We invented technology that uses 3D printers to print replacement bodies when one of ours wears out.”

  Max eyed Nathan suspiciously, unable to believe what he just heard. Kelly tapped him on his shoulder and said, “I understand your suspicion. It is indeed quite unbelievable. Perhaps you would like a little demonstration?”

  Nathan looked at her, cocked his head and said, “What do you have in mind?”

  Kelly winked and said, “Well, we could print them a copy of our dog, Misty.”

  Jane laughed and said, “Yeah. That would do it!”

  Nathan frowned. “Um, what about the law that says there can never be more than one copy of a person or animal living simultaneously?”

  Jane laughed and said, “Well, the director of The Starship Project waives the law in this instance. Just start a new memory file for this copy. Her memories will begin to diverge from the parent and she will become a different dog then.”

  Nathan laughed, “Okay, Misty 2.0 it is then!”

  Kelly looked at the colonists, motioned towards the shuttle and said, “Come aboard. We are going to use our medical 3D printer that we use to print our replacement bodies to print a copy of our pet, Misty. She is a golden retriever dog and she has the sweetest personality.”

  Mary fairly ran up the ramp. Max followed more cautiously. Sally, more fearful than the others, shook h
er head no and sat down alongside Tiny, who had remained seated in the buggy. “A DOG?” cried Mary. “Nobody has seen a real one since before the collapse. I’ve seen them on the computer screen of course, however to see an actual dog…” Her voice trailed off as her emotion overcame her ability to speak.

  Max lost all of his nervousness as he looked all around the interior of the shuttle. Jane smiled as she watched him staring in awe. “Lane,” she said, “Please give Max a tour of our landing shuttle.” Max did not need to be asked if he was interested. He gladly followed Lane to the bridge, asking questions the whole way.

  Kelly led the excited Mary to the shuttle’s medical bay. Mary remained uncharacteristically quiet as Kelly explained the process. She turned to Mary, took her hand and laid it upon the back of her own neck. “Feel that?” she asked. “That little lump is a wireless brain/computer interface. Not only does it allow us to access the computer network with our minds, it also keeps our memories backed up to the computer cloud. If we are badly injured in an accident or simply start to get too old, we can print ourselves a replacement body and upload our memories into it.” She pointed to an examination table in the back of the room. It looked just like a standard medical exam table with its high-resolution bio screens. However, this table also had two robotic arms, which were up against the wall out of the way. She pointed to the arms and said, “Those arms can perform micro-surgery as expected but they also contain 3D printer heads which can print replacement limbs, organs or even an entire body.”

  Mary walked over to the table and reverently laid her hands upon it. “If we only had one of these when…” She did not finish her thought. She stepped back and looked at Kelly.

  Kelly returned her gaze and said, “What? Finish your thought, Mary.” Mary muttered and averted her gaze. “Seriously Mary. What is it? If we can help somebody in your colony who is in need of medical attention, you need but say the word.”

  Mary shook her head. “No. Maybe later. There are a lot of old people and a few with permanent injuries that I am sure you can help however, well, some are a bit like the Luddites of old. They may take some convincing.”

  Jane laid her hand upon her shoulder. “That’s understandable, Mary. What we need is a sufficiently impressive demonstration.” She turned to face a monitor in the wall and said, “Computer, please have Lane bring our guest Max to the medical bay.” The computer chimed and a second later Lane’s voice came through a wall speaker. “On our way, Jane.”

  They all crowded around the scanner/printer as Kelly explained the process. “Those robotic arms will print a copy of our dog, Misty. They will build her body, cell by cell, almost too rapidly to follow with your naked eyes. The entire process only takes a few seconds. Once the body is printed we will upload a copy of her memory file.” She turned to face the small crowd and said, “Everyone ready?” When everyone responded affirmative she said, “Please step well back from the printer. It has safety sensors built in so it does not collide with anyone as it prints. If there are any persons or bots too standing close it will refuse to operate.” When everyone stepped back a few feet she turned to a wall monitor and said, “Printer, please initiate printing of the canine named Misty. Please use the latest memory backup for Misty that you have in storage. Afterwards, please create a new memory file backup database for this new version of Misty.” A chime came from a wall speaker and the printer said, “Please confirm printing of canine Misty with latest memory backup. A new, divergent set of memory backups will be created for this instance of the canine.” Kelly said, “Confirmed printer. Please begin immediately.” The printer emitted another chime and then the printing began. The arms flew out from their storage position and with a high-pitched whir, began working. Almost as if by magic, the form of a beautiful golden retriever dog appeared to materialize out of thin air upon the table. The arms retracted back against the wall, the printer chimed and it said, “Printing complete.”

  Mary stood motionless, unable to believe her eyes. Misty lay motionless upon the table. Mary turned to Kelly and asked, “Is she alright? She’s not moving.”

  Kelly nodded to her and said, “This is phase two. Her memories are being uploaded to this body. It will be done in a few seconds.”

  A second later, Misty’s body trembled and she lifted her head and shook it, like a person shaking the cobwebs out of their mind after being awakened from a deep sleep. The dog got up, gave a happy bark, jumped off the table and ran over to Kelly. Kelly knelt down beside her, ruffled the fur on her head, wrapped her arms around the dog and tightly hugged her. “Hello sweetheart,” Kelly said, her voice shaking with emotion. She took the dog’s face in her hands, looked her in the eyes and said, “Misty, you are a new copy of our Misty. We printed you as a gift to our new friend, Mary.”

  “WHAT? NO WAY!” Mary screamed. “I can’t… I can’t possibly take her!”

  “Nonsense.” Kelly beckoned to Mary. “Come. Come and meet your new dog.”

  Mary, her eyes opened wide like a deer in the headlights, remained where she was. “It’s too much!” she protested. “I can’t possibly accept this gift!” Her words said one thing however her body language told another tale. Too overwhelmed with happiness to get her feet moving, she remained motionless, trembling in place. Kelly solved the dilemma in the only logical way she could. She patted Misty’s head, pointed to Mary and said, “Misty, go meet your new master.” Misty woofed, ran over to Mary, sat down on the floor in front of her, panted happily and offered her paw. Mary fell to her knees with a thud and reached out and shook the paw. Tears of joy streaming down her face, Mary whispered, “Your fur is so soft.” When Misty licked Mary’s face, Mary leaned forward and hugged the dog. Misty licked her face again. Mary giggled, patted the dog upon her head and said, “I only just met you Misty however I already love you. I love you so, so much!” Mary faced Kelly and cried, “Oh my god! Thank you so much! I can’t ever thank you enough!” She was so choked up with happiness that her words were barely understandable.

  Kelly’s eyes were tearing up as well. She smiled at Mary and said in a shaky voice, “You are quite welcome.” Kelly watched Mary and Misty get acquainted for a few minutes and then she wiped the tears from her face. “Mary, I honestly do not think I have to ask you this, but do you promise to care for Misty? I love her dearly and would hate to have anything happen to her.”

  A flash of annoyance appeared upon Mary’s face and then just as quickly was gone. “How could you possibly think that I would ever hurt this sweet dog?” she asked in disbelief.

  “No, I don’t really think that you would ever hurt her. I had to ask because… well, because we love her as if she is our very own child.”

  Mary nodded. “I understand. I promise to take care of her as if she was my very sister and I also promise that I will never let anybody hurt her.”

  Kelly walked over to Mary and hugged her. “Good enough for me,” she said with a smile. Mary hugged her back and then Kelly put her hands upon Mary’s shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, “Since you have never owned a dog before, I am going to give you a few quick pointers. Misty has had her intelligence augmented, however you have to remember that even so, she is not as smart as a human.” With a little chuckle she added, “Although you may wonder sometimes.” She patted Misty’s head and said, “She knows how to use human waste disposal toilets so you do not have to take her outside to take care of her bio needs. Also, remember that she cannot talk. You have to be tuned into her so you can anticipate her needs.” Misty cocked her head towards Kelly and said, “Ah-roo-rooo-ROOO!” Kelly laughed and scratched her behind her ears. “Well, maybe not in HUMAN words but she certainly has a personality and can make doggie comments, can’t you dear?” Misty let out a little woof and then licked Kelly’s hand. “One final thing to remember is that a dog always seems to think it is starving, no matter how much food you give them.” With a little chuckle she added, “Don’t let her fool you into over-feeding her.”

  “It’s
okay Kelly,” Mary said, giving Kelly’s arm a squeeze, “I am used to taking care of my friend Tiny. He suffered a head injury as a toddler which has left him with the mental capacity of a five-year-old child, even though he is a full-grown man now. He eats enough for three people.”

  Nathan caught Kelly’s eye. He subtly inclined his head towards the 3D printer. Kelly gave her husband a slight nod, indicating that she understood. Without giving away her thoughts, she smiled at Mary and said, “I think that Tiny would love to meet Misty, don’t you?”

  A look of shock passed over Mary’s face. She quickly got to her feet, practically ran towards the door and called over her shoulder, “Misty! Come!” When both the dog and Mary vanished in a flash, Kelly turned to Nathan and said, “Do you really think we could print Tiny a new body and restore his mental capacity?”

  “Yes, absolutely,” he said. “The question is, should we? After all, everything he has ever learned has been filtered through the mind of a child. What would he be like if those memories were suddenly restored to a person of normal intelligence?”

  Kelly stood in silence, looking towards the door. “Good question. I don’t know,” she said with a perplexed expression upon her face.

  Sally let out a little shriek of terror as Misty ran up to the dune buggy, happily barking and wagging her tail. Mary caught up to her in a second or two. “Sally!” she cried. “Look, they gave me a real dog!”

  Sally cringed and backed away. “Is it dangerous?”

  Mary laughed. “No silly. Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just happy to meet you.” She smiled at Tiny and said, “Tiny, get out of the buggy and come meet our new dog. Her name is Misty.”

  Tiny, with the fearlessness of a child, leapt out and knelt down on the ground. “Dog? Misty is dog?” As she did when she first met Mary, Misty sat down on the ground and offered Tiny her paw. Tiny shook it and then Misty licked his hand. Tiny collapsed into a fit of giggles. Misty woofed and began running in circles around him as fast as she could go. After a few seconds, she stopped, laid down upon her back and waved her feet in the air. Tentatively at first, then with growing confidence, Tiny began rubbing Misty’s belly. Laughing so hard that his whole body shook, Tiny cried with joy and said, “Tiny likes new friend Misty!”