by Gabriel Dica
Noya: “Skip the details, Filip. We don’t have all day.”
Filip: “The real problem was that we didn’t know where to go. Space exploration was effectively shut down shortly after the beginning of the third world war while all funding was directed towards the war effort. We knew our own solar system didn’t hold any promise, extensive research had already been performed on it before. We needed a planet with conditions close to Earth’s: gravity, temperature, atmospheric pressure. The last one was, and still is, one of the more challenging problems; the atmospheric stabilizers have a very narrow operating margin. So no planet in our solar system was suitable for colonization, not at the massive scale we needed. Mars was selected as a contingency; but moving to Mars and remaining there indefinitely – its low gravity and its effects on the human body were something to be avoided, if at all possible.”
Noya: “Okay. Let’s jump ahead to the invention of the first negative mass engine: the Alcubierre Drive; better known as a Warp Drive today.”
Filip: “In the summer of 2107, more than twenty-thousand probes were dispatched to analyze the conditions on twenty-thousand planets spread across the galaxy. In a proud moment for mankind, that marked the first field deployment of the Alcubierre Drive, outside test conditions: a tremendous leap forward for space travel. NASA – the foremost authority on space exploration before WW3 – had already proven it would work before it was permanently closed. We just picked up the research after the W.A. formed, and with a whole planet of scientists working together, it only took 6 months to build the first working prototype. It was imperative we developed it into a working technology; without it, we would have spent decades or even centuries moving between solar systems – something that we could complete in mere moments using the “warp drive”. Fitted with these engines and quantum communication units, the probes that survived the transfer to other planets started transmitting data within seconds of deployment. Nineteen-thousand planets analyzed and only two candidates were viable. They named the planets Asha (Hindi for “Hope”) and Jatko (short for “Jatkotoimet”, meaning “The way forward” in Finnish). Asha was rich in the ore and minerals we needed, but its atmosphere required years of terraforming. There was also a problem with the probe, giving some strange readings just before its communication unit overloaded and we lost contact. Why it malfunctioned is still unknown. Jatko’s low-depth scans revealed only small quantities of usable ore and minerals, but its atmosphere was perfect to sustain human life. It was believed that the resources we needed could be found deeper underground, deeper than we could scan from orbit. It seemed like the more promising candidate between the two planets. On December 29th 2107 we sent a research team to further investigate the planet from the surface. By New Year’s Eve, the harm was already done.”
Wednesday, April 14, 2320
I’ve been moving faster than usual, following the cable, hoping it will lead me to some answers. I haven’t seen anything yet, but as I’m closing to the center of the Dead Zone, I’m bound to find something soon.
The cable seems to continue through a gap in the side of the mountain in front of me. As I peek through the hole, I realize that it’s not too thick and I can continue following the cable on the other side. But it’s too long to go around it, so I’ll have to climb over. Another climb… luckily this is a short one.
The rocks aren’t so cold here, no ice on them. I climb a lot faster, excited to reach the end of my journey. In mere moments, I’m on the top, pulling myself up on one side and standing up to see the far side area in the center of the Dead Zone. I’m the first of my kind to see it.
With pride and joy and excitement I move towards the far ledge, eager to see what lies on the other side.
… ?
What is this? Structures? Here!? Strange looking buildings, arranged in a disorganized spiral around a massive, tall center piece; movement; immense machinery spinning, whirring, digging, transporting huge quantities of rock, processing it; a dark cloud of black fog rising from the center building, spreading over the entire area; deafening, constant thumping noise; strange creatures commanding the machinery, organized together in square patterns, moving, all carrying weapons. What is this? What are they doing here? What’s their purpose? This can’t…
My thoughts are interrupted by loud noises behind me. As I turn around, I see them, these… strange looking creatures running towards me, generating loud, repetitive noises, their weapons pointed at me. What do they want? What are they doing?! Instinctively I grab my rifle, I grip it hard, desperately trying to aim it and defend myself…
***
Admiral Sterrow: “Colonel Harris, report!”
Colonel Harris: “Two shots, sir. The ashan is dead, situation contained.”
Admiral Sterrow: “Did it get any transmission out, Colonel?”
Colonel Harris: “Negative sir. The containment bubble is still in place.”
Admiral Sterrow: “Good job Colonel. Get back to H.Q.! We need to report back to Earth and advance the invasion schedule of Asha.”
Colonel Harris: “Yes, sir!”
Thursday, April 15, 2320. 7:15 AM, UTC
Alexei, analyzing the absent looks of all the present councilmen: “Of course it’s not a coincidence, we triggered an entire race’s rapid evolution! And just like the mistake we did on Jatko, we did it because we “didn’t know better”! That’s who’s giving you your orders, Mr. Sterrow. People who “don’t know” any better. Like small children, they stumble in the dark, they break things, and all they have to say after is “Sorry, we won’t do it again”? These are the people leading Earth and they have no sense of responsibility!”
He turns his attention to Sterrow: “I need you to realize who you work for, soon, before we reach the conclusion of this meeting.”
He turns to the War Council again: “Are you even sure that, considering what they are, they don’t know we’re coming?”
The councilman next to the President, on his right, responds: “We constantly monitor them from orbit and there are no indications that they are aware of our presence, sir. We have very efficient tech against that. After we analyzed the data we received just before the first probe’s communication unit overloaded, we theorized that the ashans were using some sort of wireless communication between themselves, some sort of telepathy. We took precautions when we sent the second probe, but we didn’t consider that the entire planet is connected, so the second probe’s communication unit overloaded as well. It took more research, but we are now fairly certain we can shield our tech from them, and ourselves. And with the help of Captain Herut’s report, we’ve developed tech to effectively shield entire areas, making them invisible. That tech has been deployed and tested with the construction of our unit production facility on Asha.”
Admiral Sterrow: “They still don’t know about it, so yes, I’m sure they don’t know we’re coming.”
President Locke is quietly observing the unfolding of this meeting; he is briefly disturbed by someone entering the room and whispering something unintelligible in his ear.
Thursday, April 15, 2320. 2:30 PM, Local Time
Noya takes over the story: “We effectively wiped out all life on an entire planet in just one day. In our righteous quest to save our species, we managed to eradicate countless others. A simple, unforgivable mistake, contaminated the planet and killed every living thing on it. A day forever engraved in history as The Jatko Genocide. Although the name is inaccurate – there were no intelligent life forms present – it describes the outrage Earth’s population had to the news. But nothing happened, no one seemed to want accountability for this event. In the years after, the World Alliance became increasingly opaque, less informative about their actions. We can only guess about what decisions were made behind closed doors.”
Noya: “Filip, how did we manage to kill everything on an entire planet? And why aren’t we already living there right now?”
Filip: “It was a virus, one that we brought with us from hom
e. It rapidly underwent extreme mutations and within hours it was attacking and infecting every single cell on Jatko. And as soon as something died, it started a rapid decomposing process, releasing an unknown, toxic gas in the atmosphere. This was a planet-wide, extremely fast process. Between the unknown gas and the new, unknown strain of the virus, it was decided that the planet was no longer viable for colonization. We did, however, manage to find some usable ore deposits deep below the surface. President Archer ordered the start of a mining operation on Jatko and the dispatch of a second probe to Asha. Mining operations began the same year and with the output it provided, scientists estimated Earth’s total collapse point would be delayed by another hundred years. With this monumental achievement, Earth seemed no longer imminently doomed and hope was restored to an entire planet”.
Noya: “As I said in the beginning, history is a great tool that gives us perspective, a way to look back and wonder how we could have done things differently. Looking back now, on this key moment, seeing the unfolding of future events in their entirety, I cannot help but wonder how things would have turned out if we made different choices about handling this accomplishment.”
Filip: “This reminds me about the “incompetence” I first mentioned. It took the World Alliance from 2105 to 2108, only three short years, to develop a functioning warp drive, scan thousands of planets and begin mining operations on one of them. But another twelve years would pass before the completion and deployment of the second probe to Asha. How is that possible? What were they focusing on, if not on saving everyone?”
Noya: “It’s called corruption, Filip. A word that’s been used so many times that it lost its meaning. You hear it everywhere, every single day, over and over again; and yet you don’t perceive it for the fundamentally broken mechanism it builds. And in our current state, there’s not much we can do about it; no matter how many riots or revolutions we have, no matter how many times we change our leadership, or in fact who we place there, corruption will still show its ugly teeth, sooner or later. Because this is but a symptom of a much, much worse, underlying problem with humanity!”
Noya smiles with the realization that she’s moving forward too fast. They must not be told what the real problem is, but come to that conclusion themselves. “Filip, tell me about the second probe we sent to Asha.”
Filip: “The probe, the first of its kind, equipped with a first generation terraforming platform, was deployed in the spring of 2120. Initially transported to a high Ashan orbit, it immediately started recording data while gradually, slowly degrading its orbit to achieve better and better scan resolutions. This mission was vastly more complex than the probes we previously sent; we were looking for a lot more data, performing deeper scans from orbit, gathering weather patterns, learning all we could about existing life forms before sending a manned mission, trying to determine what caused the failure in the communication unit for the previous probe and finally determining the perfect landing site to start the terraforming process. After a few months of data gathering, it became clear that the planet was inhabited by some sort of intelligent life. It appeared to be a somewhat primitive civilization living in small settlements, with no apparent signs of advanced technology.”
Noya: “Intelligent alien life finally discovered! Were it not for the dire situation we were in, this would have been perceived as the monumental event it was. Instead, it was met with a bitter-sweet response. We had finally found out we weren’t the only intelligent civilization in the galaxy… but this alien civilization was standing on the only planet that could ensure our survival. The news was more bitter than sweet…”
Filip: “I just wish I knew what they looked like… W.A. didn’t release any more information about them, after the initial news.”
Noya: “My guess is that they avoided building sympathy for the ashans, turning them into an abstract concept so that when the day came to occupy their planet, it will be easier for us to cope with the event.”
Young, blonde woman: “Why haven’t we invaded them yet? We’re dying, we have a planet we can take, so why not just do it? I think we should go there, wipe them out and start building a new home!”
Filip: “Really? You would take the decision to wipe out an entire civilization just like that?”
Young, blonde woman: “Look, it’s us or them. Simple! What’s there to think about?”
Noya: “Quite a lot, actually. Are you sure there aren’t any alternatives? The W.A. certainly hoped there are: over the years, they’ve dispatched tens of thousands more probes to scout countless other worlds. Unfortunately, none were viable. And with the passing time, we stopped looking for alternatives. So Asha and its inhabitants, we came to call ashans, became an obstacle between us and our survival.”
Noya: “What happened to the probe? Did it start terraforming?”
Filip: “After mapping the entire planet, we moved the probe to a low orbit and started preparing it for landing. Even though most of us were supporting an invasion, our leaders failed to come to any decisive conclusion. Instead, a cautious course of action was chosen: we’d land the probe in a naturally isolated part of the planet and start a partial terraforming process. The area chosen for landing was surrounded by high mountains, void of life, effectively isolated for the primitive ashans, but rich in resources we could use. The terraforming process would convert only the area within those mountains to Earth conditions – and keep it that way until a final decision would be made. We landed the probe in early 2121. Although we lost contact with the terraforming unit shortly before it landed, the orbital module dispatched by probe confirmed it landed safely and started the automated process. Again, it seemed like the communication unit had overloaded, and again, we still don’t know why.”
Noya unintentionally mumbles: “YOU don’t know why.”
Realizing that she’s just said that aloud, she quickly adds: “There must be someone, somewhere that knows why. Some high-ranking official helping in the invasion’s planning…? Moving on. What happened next?”
Filip: “The orbital module continued operating. And not long after the terraforming unit landed, it started sending back strange readings, abnormal spikes in its communication unit. We had to move it to a higher orbit to avoid whatever was causing the anomalies. And soon after, we started seeing changes with the ashan population: they started travelling vast distances to live closer together; at first, we thought it was some kind of migratory behavior, but when they started building new structures, developing new technologies; and we understood that… well… we didn’t actually understand anything. At least that’s what the W.A. reported… Maybe they know more about that as well, professor?” says Filip jokingly, suggesting some sort of conspiracy might be at work.
Noya ignores his remark and continues: “Back on Earth preparations were made for an invasion force, but it was unclear if it was going to be necessary, the leadership was reluctant to make any kind of final decision. However, as a safety net, technology was still being advanced for this purpose. We waited and we monitored for years, watching the ashans slowly transform into an advanced society, developing new technologies at an astounding rate, building cities and connecting them with advanced transport networks. The few images the W.A. released suggested that they were all working together, the entire planet in unison. Their only enemy seemed to be the wildlife. But with no wars, no feuds, no territories to fight over, they advanced in the hundred years we watched them more than we have in millennia. And it happened right in front of our eyes.”
But Filip catches her attention and interrupts her speech. The tall, well build young man has lost the smile on his face. Now he seems worried, evasively looking down at a device in his hand. Professor Noya squints her eyes as she tries to get a better look, but he’s in the middle of the room, too far to see what he’s holding; nothing stands out about him – all she can see is his plain gray t-shirt and messy short hair; but now, looking closer, he does seem a few years older than the students surrounding him
. Perhaps he’s tired or bored by the long history lecture?
Although eager to make her point, she decides a pause is better suited: “Before we take a short break, I want to leave you with this: by this point in our history, Earth had a little over eighty years before reaching the predicted deadline. The year was 2221 and we weren’t any closer to saving our planet than we were a hundred years before.”
The room is noisy again, all the students standing up, making their way towards the exit. But Filip isn’t moving; he’s just standing there, looking straight in Noya’s eyes.
Thursday, April 15, 2320. 7:30 AM, UTC
Alexei: “Let’s go back to your answer about the related events on Asha. Again, what does that tell you?”
Admiral Sterrow hesitates, hiding his true thoughts from the President and all the councilmembers: “… Nothing of consequence, sir… “
President Locke now seems very interested in how the conversation is evolving, leaning forward on his chair, with his elbows resting on the table; someone slightly opens the door to the room, looks at the President and makes a subtle gesture with his hand, receiving a short nod back.
Alexei doesn’t notice anything; he is too focused on the Admiral. He slightly raises his voice, determined by a rising sense of urgency to show Sterrow just how bad the World Alliance is: “But it is of consequence, Mr. Sterrow! You just don’t want to admit it; your loyalty towards the W.A., won’t allow it. Brainwashed to believe in their cause and follow their orders without question since you were a boy, taught to not seek deeper meaning in crucial events. We caused their rapid development, we caused their sudden evolution. In a way, the ashans are like our children. And we simply decided to destroy them! We could have made contact, talked to them, convinced them to allow us on their planet. But the deciding military minds were too afraid we’d be met with a negative response and that in the process we’d compromise our chances of an invasion by revealing ourselves too soon. There’s nothing we can do about it now, it’s too late. But when the decision to invade was taken, there was still time! This falls entirely on your corrupt World Alliance, Admiral! Our greatest minds helped us put everything into perspective; now we clearly understand what needs to change in order for us to break the cycle of destruction! Now I need you to see it too!”
