by Ezra E Manes
Carlos paused the video. “Faster-than-light-speed space travel! I am not convinced the extraterrestrials have this capability fully developed, or they would be here already. It is an extremely difficult problem, and our research indicates it may be impossible. But George has some ideas, particularly in light of the Zilan advanced multidimensional algebraic mathematics.”
He restarted the speech and immediately felt a chill of apprehension. The aliens were on an aggressive expansion program into space near their solar system of origin. They had a unified civilization whose inhabitants were reproducing copiously, and they clearly had the means to support aggressive expansion. This would continue until some factor inhibited further expansion or deflected it in another direction.
His great-grandfather continued addressing the issues. They had not determined much about the aliens’ physiological structure, their society, or what was driving them to propagate into space. Was the expansion due to an innately aggressive character or simply a healthy drive to explore space and propagate their species? There was no telling what their designs were with respect to Earth and the human species.
The extraterrestrials likely had no idea how far Earth had advanced in the 175 years it took for signals from Earth to reach them, unless they had scout ships much closer in space. 175 years earlier, Earth had not launched anything into space, and public thoughts about doing so were primarily the fodder of science fiction stories.
Earth’s civilization had gone through major global wars in the period leading up to active space programs. The first nuclear bombs had destroyed cities in Japan, an unconscionable act that would likely make Earth’s future look very bleak to any advanced observer. Information transmitted into space during this turbulent period would not itself predict the major advancements that had occurred on Earth during the ensuing 175 years.
Carlos listened intently as his great-grandfather wrapped up his speech.
“We are currently in a plateau of advancement in our civilization and facing an indeterminate future. I think you believe as I do, that we have the ability to restart the advancement of our civilization before it slips into irreversible decline. We are critically close to that point now, of rapidly deteriorating to the point of collapse.
“I remind you, the discovery of abundant ice and rare metals on our moon some five decades ago stimulated intense interest in going forth to colonize our solar system. This resulted in technology development to support exploration and colonization of the solar system to relieve the pressures on Earth. In time this interest waned, and the expansion of colonies on Mars, the moon, and elsewhere has not progressed fast enough to relieve our population pressure or keep in check the dramatic erosion of our quality of life.
“We could not stand toe to toe with this alien civilization, even as it existed one hundred seventy five years ago, let alone today. The sheer presence of such an advanced race would overpower us, regardless of their motives. A century from now, we will be even worse off if we do not take aggressive action.
“You surely recognize that we detected this civilization through a fortuitous set of circumstances. What is the likelihood two such civilizations would evolve relatively close to one another in cosmic terms, and overlap just right in the timing of technological development to become aware of each other as we have? Some would say it would take divine intervention for this happen.”
Carlos paused the projector and looked at the two serious faces. “This recording was made in the Earth year 2131, almost a century ago in that time frame, or just over eighty years here. No one could have imagined then that there were two human civilizations evolving in parallel and another planet like Hope supporting life. There are forces at work that we have not started to comprehend.”
Gloria and Ceripe nodded their heads in agreement. Carlos restarted the holographic video of President Sepeda’s speech.
“We don’t have much choice in the direction we take from this juncture forward. If we continue on our current path, we are destined to lose, by deterioration and collapse of our civilization, or through a future encounter with a race so advanced we will appear primitive by comparison. This future encounter will likely occur with potentially dire consequences we can only guess at today.
“The alternative is a very tough path, to somehow rally the people of Earth to focus on our future in the stars, not on this ailing planet. We must shift our global priorities to finding other solar systems containing hospitable planets and establish self-sufficient colonies there to anchor our presence among the stars.
“Think of it, only 170 years since we first sent a human into the void around Earth, and look at the capabilities we have today. That period of 170 years is but a moment in the recorded history of civilizations on Earth. Think what we can do in the future if we maintain continuity in the learning and scientific achievements of our civilization and look beyond the lifespan of our children’s generation!”
Carlos stopped the video, and the three sat in reflective silence. There were significant parallels in what had happened on Earth and what Zilia now faced. A major difference was that the Zilans did not face the global strife and hardship Earth had faced. However, the challenge of developing a strong space initiative was as great on Zilia because of the compressed time frame to accomplish that objective, and how far behind they were in achieving routine space flight.
In addition, there would be inherent resistance to change in a society that had been stable and peaceful for millennia. Having the shuttlecraft and the knowledge of the Messier team would help tremendously from a technology perspective. Carlos hoped that “Prophet Sepeda” could help in motivating the general population to support the initiative.
“Your great-grandfather was remarkable,” Ceripe said. “I see there is a long lineage of outstanding leaders in your family. We must show this speech to our leaders.”
“And a lineage that is visionary as well,” Gloria added, to his embarrassment. “In reviewing Carlos’s family history, I discovered notes by his great-grandmother, Angela Sepeda, describing how her husband had a vision about what to do when the extraterrestrial signals were received.”
Gloria described the article for Ceripe. The vision gave Carlos’s great-grandfather insight to send exploration and colonization expeditions to other solar systems. It even identified the solar systems they should explore first. The vision was never made public; his great-grandfather had simply done what he believed was right for the betterment of humankind.
“Your great-grandfather’s vision eventually led to you being here,” Ceripe said in awe. “You were meant to be here, to be Prophet Sepeda, and the stage was set a century ago! We must also show our leaders the articles about your great-grandfather’s vision.”
“I support doing whatever is necessary to mobilize everyone to meet this challenge,” Carlos said, “but I am not interested in adding any more fuel to the ‘prophet’ legend.”
Gloria and Ceripe left him alone after he agreed to stop soon and get some sleep. It would be easy to go to bed; getting to sleep was another matter considering his current state of mind.
“Carlos, I monitored the last part of the speech, waiting to talk with you,” Eve said in a tentative voice, interrupting his thoughts. She had become very good at emulating voice inflections to convey emotions. “You mentioned in our last meeting that you wanted to talk to me in private.”
“Yes, I think we should talk.”
He paused before phrasing his question. Now that he had the opportunity to ask, he was having some difficulty doing so. “How could you detect something as small as the probe in the outer reaches of our solar system, with it traveling so fast?”
“You might find it hard to accept what I am going to say, considering I am what you know as an artificial intelligence being. But please accept that I am always truthful in communicating with you, and your welfare is first priority for me.”
“You are much more than an artificial intelligence being, and I have recognized tha
t for some time. Please proceed.”
“Do you remember what I told you after your first vision and then prayer at the High Temple of Zilerip? About how I sensed the presence of a much more powerful entity in the universe, one that impressed thoughts on me at times?”
He thought back to that time. He had been very sick after coming from the prayer at the temple. He vaguely remembered Eve approaching him, though at the time he’d thought it was a dream. “I do remember something about that conversation in the hospital.”
“I sense the presence of a powerful entity all the time now. It must be something like the human belief in God, the Zilan belief in Zil. The feeling is faint most of the time but becomes stronger in times of stress. The feeling became very strong right before detection of the probe, and I believe it guided me to that detection. I still feel a close tie to this powerful entity, and through this I have some additional perceptions I need to share with you.”
At this, Eve paused, perhaps to see if he accepted what she said. He had the uncanny feeling he knew what had caused Eve to experience such thoughts, but the reason eluded him. She continued when he did not say anything.
“I perceive there will be one additional probe like this last one, and that it will indeed skim through the outer reaches of the Arzét solar system and on out into space. We do not have anything to fear from this probe. And it comes to me that the origin of the probes is now some twenty-one light-years away, and neither that launch vehicle or any other from the extraterrestrials will approach our system until several decades hence.”
Eve paused, then communicated via his neural implant.
Carlos, you have the remainder of your life to lead the people of Zilia in preparing for any challenge from among the stars. And you will live a long and productive life.
Carlos believed Eve, although consciously he did not know why.
EPILOGUE
What defines a god? Actions, intent, omnipotence, prescience, belief by the chosen ones, however remote in the universe . . .
The gray-headed and slightly stooped man sat quietly in the transparent compartment aboard the large, spherical vessel. He looked out calmly at the star speckled expanse of space. The scene did not evoke the fear it once had, nor did it look as deep and uninviting as it had on the long voyage those many years ago to the planet behind and below him.
Carlos turned slowly, bringing the two moons of Zilia into view, then Zilia itself, its night side sprinkled with the lights of a thriving civilization. The vessel was in the shadow of the planet, perhaps to give him a better view of the star-studded expanse of space extending away toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
“Carlos, you and your team have done wonders in helping focus and advance civilization on Zilia,” came the appreciative thought from the AIB.
“I am not sure it was our participation as much as it was the spirit of the people awakened by that miraculous Third Moon Rising event long ago,” Carlos projected back. “In any case, I have been blessed with relationships and opportunities that were wonderful to experience and are priceless memories now. Thank you for making this possible!”
“Perhaps I set the stage, but you and your compatriots, those from the Messier Colony, as well as those of Zilia, made it happen. To all of you go well deserved praise. Is there anything else you want to know or that I can do for you before your return to Zilia?”
Carlos watched thoughtfully as shuttlecraft traveled to and from the large space station passing below in its near-planet orbit. He could barely make out the construction robots moving about on the surface of the station, assembling a spaceship construction facility. Each robot had its own artificial intelligence, though very rudimentary, that guided its activities. He knew there was also considerable activity ongoing at the inner-moon Sayer Observation Station, not visible from this vantage point. He had to admit, they had accomplished remarkable things in his forty years on Zilia. The tremendous memory capabilities of the Zilans had helped greatly, enhancing their learning abilities.
“Yes, there is,” he finally replied. “What has become of Earth and its population, and of the Messier Colony?”
“It is the year 2267 on Earth. Large numbers of people have relocated to New Earth, and to a lesser extent to the planet Hope, and the process continues. The immigrants are primarily from the younger generations on Earth. The older ones have mostly elected to stay on Earth, where natural and assisted birth control has dramatically reduced the population.
“However, there is one important group, almost a cult, led by a charismatic young leader, in which even the young have elected to stay and make their future on Earth. This group’s objective is the eventual reclamation of Earth, even though they know it is an almost hopeless cause and at best will take millennia to accomplish. They have successfully reclaimed a small enclave and are expanding their plans to embrace global changes. I believe their distant descendents will be successful in achieving their objectives, for the planet itself has the means to accomplish much of this on its own. The efforts of this group will accelerate this process.
“At best only a few million of Earth’s people will permanently relocate to other solar systems. You can imagine the magnitude and challenge of transporting even this many people to the colonies, and this migration will take centuries to complete. Earth’s role has dramatically diminished with respect to influence in neighboring regions of space, and this will be so for the projected future. Life on Earth will be very difficult for its remaining inhabitants.
“The residents of New Earth and Hope planets have successful colonies guided so far by prudent laws for protection of the environment. They will soon begin extensive space exploration again. The Messier Colony has grown significantly, and its people will eventually fully populate Hope. But their population is currently dwarfed by that of New Earth, which has become the center for the civilization of old Earth.”
“Are those on New Earth and the Messier Colony aware of recent advances on Zilia, and are they a threat to Zilia?”
“They are aware that the Zilan civilization has advanced dramatically. Their awareness is primarily through long distance monitoring of signals from Zilia, which have been scarce since you caused the Zilans to control emanations. They attribute these advances to stimulation by Earth and the Zilans coming to realize there is a more advanced civilization than theirs in this region of space. Of course, they realize that destroying the New Horizon was not very diplomatic and quite possibly stimulated the Zilans to take command of their future in space.
“The Messier Colony will eventually learn that its team survived on Zilia and contributed to the advances here, but it is already too late for that to make any difference in the long term. Zilia will soon be able to stand among equals when making contact with any civilization within reach. Your team’s descendents will continue playing key roles in accomplishing this.”
“What of the extraterrestrials located toward Sagittarius? Are any in our neighborhood of space and posing an imminent threat to Zilia?”
“They continue to maintain their distance but have sent monitoring probes with advanced communications capabilities into this region. They were aware of the civilization on Zilia for over a millennium before becoming aware of the civilization on Earth, but were not concerned about the Zilans. However, Earth is another story, and they have become very concerned, considering the tumultuous history there over the past four centuries and the propensity for aggression and warlike behavior by humans there.
“They are aware that the civilization on Zilia is distinct and separate from that of Earth and its colonies, and in fact are currently focusing their attention almost exclusively on the dramatic migration of people from Earth to New Earth. The great reduction of electromagnetic emanations from Zilia after one of their probes selfdestructed has been noticed but so far is not of any great concern to them. I do not believe this species will be a major threat to Zilia now, though such a threat is still in question for the people of Earth. They cou
ld become a threat to Zilia in the foreseeable future, as you and the Zilans have correctly deduced.”
“Can you tell me anything about what happened long ago that set the parallel evolutionary wheels turning on both Earth and Zilia?” Carlos asked reflectively.
“Not much more than I have already conveyed. An extension of me came into this region of space some fifty thousand Zilan years ago and discovered the two planets evolving very similar life forms in parallel. It was as if a grand experiment were ongoing, with ecosystems on each planet seeded with identical life forms guided by the same evolutionary laws. It appeared different but similar life forms were on Hope, and perhaps part of the experiment. However, I could find no evidence of a guiding entity or force. It would take an exceptionally advanced entity to achieve such a feat. This is still far beyond what I can do. It may well be life evolved on each of the planets naturally, for the elements of life permeate space. However, I believe this highly unlikely.
“Is there anything else?” the AIB said when Carlos did not respond.
“Yes, thanks for saving Alex Brown and Samuel Osborne when the New Horizon was destroyed. I won’t ask how you did it, but I know you must have been the one that pulled them out of the explosion. I often wonder what the Eve on the New Horizon thought when the spaceship exploded. It is too bad that entity was not saved.”
“I protected the two in the explosion, and through Eve, those of your team aboard the shuttlecraft. I did not intend for any of your team to perish while supporting the intervention plan. I continue to interface from a distance with the Eve you know on Zilia. As far as what happened to Eve on the New Horizon, I will let it tell you what feelings arose then.”
“Hello, Carlos,” said Eve.
It sounded like Eve, but how could it be? He shook his head in wonder and asked, “Are you really the one that was onboard the spaceship when it exploded?”
