by Todd Fries
His burning bush had been that nuclear blast on the Moon which took the life of Jin Lei. While God didn’t speak to him directly out of that fiery furnace, the words that Hannah translated just moments before, seared themselves onto his conscious mind as if he’d been branded like a cow.
“I tell you of great and unsearchable things that you do not know. Nothing is inseparable and all of creation is linked together for the greater glory. Remember the biggest lie is that there is no consequence of your own doing. Evil will give whatever you ask, as long as it can lead you where it wants you to go. Do not be deceived by the selfish desires of this life, but live for your kindred family by serving the master of this world. For the truth cannot be long hidden and if the measure of your life is no more than the memory of unconditional love, it will win out against the coming evil.”
It was those mysterious remarks that set him on his journey of discovery. God had literally brought him to the Promised Land to see for himself the truth of its existence. All of his life had been one long apprenticeship for a plan that was established long before he was even born. Nickolas turned to his bible and read the words of Exodus 14:4;
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
God spoke these words as the Israelites were standing at the edge of the Red Sea, hemmed in by the water before them and the Egyptian army behind. They felt as he did now. They were in an impossible situation, but he also realized that it was a situation that God had brought on himself. It was God who had hardened Pharaoh’s heart to pursue the fleeing slaves. But he wondered why God would do such a thing? It occurred to him that He wanted to make it crystal clear to Egypt that He was Lord, so that He could receive Glory over Pharaoh. And because God wanted to teach Israel that He was their deliverer and their Salvation.
Nickolas understood that he was incapable of escaping with SM1 on his own. What he needed to do was wait for God to move on his behalf. The real battle wasn’t between himself and General Taylor, but between General Taylor and God. He could only pray that his words would be enough to sway this group to help with His endeavor.
As he finished reading those words, he heard a small knock on his door. When he rose to see who it might be, he was greeted by Mark Sallsmann. He seemed in a jovial mood as he patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey buddy! What’s going on?”
Nickolas felt a little awkward at first, but then smiled and replied.
“Great! Come on in. What can I do for you?”
“Lori and I have been doing a lot of thinking since your speech the other day. As Physicists, we’re actually curious people. We want to know how things work – everything from atoms to galaxies. We study the world around us through observation, measurements and tests in an effort to prove or disprove a new idea or theory.”
Nickolas interrupted him.
“I agree. In Romans 1:20, it says:
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the Earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
Mark responded.
“So are you saying that the enhanced vision of God’s greatness as provided by physics, enhances a belief in God?”
“It doesn’t hurt. That’s why the precision of something as mundane as the orbit of our world makes me feel confident in my faith. So yes.”
Mark took a seat on the couch.
“Weather I believe or not is irrelevant in my opinion. I work in this field every day and I see advancements in technology that are revolutionizing our world. Computer experts are predicting that computers will exceed human intelligence within fifty years, and these de-materialization mechanisms can be used to make weapons that are to atomic bombs as atomic bombs are to spitballs. Such weapons and super-computers will make human survival unlikely in my opinion. “
“What do you mean by de-materialization?”
“Basically it’s the process of converting the physical into the electronic.”
“Ahh. Ok.”
“You have a vision of God, but do you really understand it?”
Nickolas gave him a quizzical stare as Mark continued.
“Let me ask you this: When you imagined an ‘electron,’ traveling along a copper wire, did you imagine an excitation of a quantized, relativistic fermion field? Part of an electroweak doublet? Unless you’re a professional physicist like me, I know you didn’t. You probably imagined a ‘little ball’ of some sort, which is easier to visualize even for us physicists. I can compute a fairly accurate value for the ‘drift velocity’ of the electrons through a copper wire using the ‘little ball’ image of the electron, but did you know that the electrons which carry the current through your home are at a temperature of 140,000 degrees Fahrenheit?”
Nickolas appeared surprised. Mark continued.
“You may be wondering right now - if they’re that hot, why don’t they melt the wire and burn down the house? The answer is that the conductive electrons can’t give up their heat to the wire, but to understand this, one has to go beyond the ‘little ball’ image of the electron and think in terms of a ‘quantized fermion.’ Does this make sense yet?”
Nick nodded his head: No. Mark explained.
“You’ve made claims about the miracles of God. Traditional Christianity has always claimed that ‘miracles’ do not violate ultimate physical law, although a miracle may violate our limited knowledge of physical law. If we know the ultimate physical law – we should be able to explain all the miracles of Christianity. From the perspective of the latest physical theories, Christianity is not a mere religion, but an experimentally testable science.”
Nickolas was still confused.
“So what are you saying? You’re on our side?”
Mark looked at him in wonder as if he’d been talking to himself all this time.
“Isn’t that what I just said? There’s only one religion which claims that God is a Trinity; Christianity. According to your beliefs, God consists of Three Persons; God the Father (The First Person), God the Son (The Second Person) and God the Holy Ghost (The Third Person). But these aren’t three Gods, but only one God. Using physics to study the structure of the Cosmological Singularity, we can see that indeed the three ‘parts’ of the Singularity can be distinguished by employing the idea of personhood. In particular, physics can be used to show how it is possible for a man – Jesus, to actually be the part of the Singularity that connects the Initial and Final Singularities. So the incarnation makes perfectly good sense from the view point of physics.”
Nickolas just smiled and replied.
“I can’t follow half of what you’re saying, nor can I compete with your knowledge of physics. I can only relate it to 1 Corinthians 8:1, which says that:
“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
Mark laughed. Nickolas continued.
“Between the two of us, we have plenty of love and knowledge. I still don’t understand if you believe or not?”
“Does it matter? I’m intrigued by the science of it and if I can explore the physics at the same time, I might just come upon something new and exciting. For me, it’s worth the risk.”
Nickolas sat back in his chair and folded him arms. This guy was a real genius. He wondered how he could relate to him on his own terms, but maybe he didn’t have to. Maybe all he had to do was trust in his version of wisdom and truth and perhaps that would set him free? He remembered the words from that day when Jin died.
“Nothing was inseparable and all of creation was linked together for the greater glory.”
If so, Marks version of creation was tied directly to his version, and were they that far apart in what they believed? A singular moment when the universe was created? He offered Mark some water as he responded to his statement.
“I’m glad you’re on board with us, but now I have an important question. Do you have access to the ship as part of yo
ur work?”
“Yes.”
“Is that your equipment I saw down in the reactor room?”
“Yes. That’s mine.”
“Can you bring whatever you need on board?”
“Absolutely. I have full discretion regarding equipment and personnel. Why?”
“I may need your help. Do you remember that magic fertilizer that Jillian was discussing?”
“You mean the 15Ea?”
“Exactly. From what I understand, a single 50 pound bag can support a ten acre plot of plants from seedling to harvest. I need to start transferring stuff like that to SM1. Do you understand?”
“I think so. You plan to launch an experiment in Exo-Botany?”
“I want to establish a colony. Plant crops. Establish farms and live off the land. I want to see if humans can build a self-sustaining ecosystem outside this world. This may be our only hope before this de-materialization mechanism takes effect. However, I’m not allowed in or around the ship without constant supervision and a host of armed guards. You have the ability to slip in and out without as much notice and we’re going to need things. Lots of things.”
Mark turned toward him with a look of wisdom in his face.
“To be honest, you’ll need very little. You told me yourself how you robbed that Sports store in Montana? Why not get what we need once we have the ship? The only thing you can’t find out there is 15Ea, so that’s the only thing you need to bring. The rest we can procure outside the base. The more you try to secretly pack into the ship, the more suspicion you arouse and the greater our chance of discovery.”
Nickolas couldn’t argue. The man had a point. The main objective was to steal the ship, so everyone and everything would have to be carefully coordinated if they were to succeed. Circumstances would need to play in their favor and time was critical. Major Brooks only needed a few more lessons and then he’d be proficient enough to branch out on his own. Once he wasn’t needed, he’d be locked out of SM1 forever, provided he didn’t find himself dead first.
He returned to pacing the floor as Mark looked on. The last link in the chain was Jillian. Without her, this venture couldn’t succeed and with that knowledge, he finally understood why General Reynolds collected this amazing group of people. They’re expertise was critical to a mission of this magnitude and without them, his dream could never come to pass.
PLANNING
The next few days went on without incident. Jillian agreed to help by supplying the bags of 15Ea to Mark, who stowed them inside some hollowed-out cabinets that appeared to be working pieces of equipment. Because of her position as a Botanist, she had access to the soil and water samples that Nickolas collected while visiting Proxima b during his last excursion.
Nickolas was creating a database of necessary items and then parsing that out into things that were absolutely necessary, supplies that would be nice to have and then luxuries that couldn’t be justified. They had limited space for storage and could only include those things most critical to survival. The most important task was determining how to filter out the harmful CO2 in the atmosphere. They needed to breathe on this new world? The CO2 content in the air was too high and while they had the spacesuit from the ship, there was only ‘one’ and who could be sure how many people might travel with them in the end.
Nickolas realized that when he re-entered SM1 to train Major Brooks, the suit had returned to its solid state which was unusual because Earth was a habitable environment, but if the suit had been designed for use by humans, then it would have no need to be operational on its home planet. In his opinion, this served as additional proof that this spacecraft was made for human operation.
For years he assumed the spacesuit was a carving or statue of some alien being. It wasn’t until he landed on Proxima b, that the suit dropped out of stasis to become pliable and wearable as a protective garment. Since it never exhibited any change in form on the Moon or Mars, he reasoned that the ship was able to sample the environment and if it was suitable humans, the suit was activated. As long as the environment was habitable, it protected the wearer just like a modern space suit.
After Jillian reviewed the results of the lab tests on his soil samples, he met with her to discuss those findings. She found the regolith contained calcium oxide and other minerals including serpentinite, magnesium, silicate hydroxide and olivine which could also function in the same capacity, being the ability to absorb harmful CO2. The most common substance was quicklime (calcium oxide)
In addition, the samples he took from the hills showed traces of natural uranium which could be used to feed a small reactor. Soviet physicists had concluded that heavy water was the only feasible moderator for a natural uranium reactor. Natural uranium could be used to fuel low- and high powered nuclear reactors, so using this natural power source, they could construct a kiln, which was the first step in cooking quicklime. The oven would need to reach a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius to be effective in causing thermal decomposition.
First, they’d harvest local rock and load it into the kiln, but because the stone didn’t contain 100% quicklime, they’d need to acquire more rock than needed for the amount of quicklime they wanted to produce. Fortunately the materials needed to harvest quicklime were abundant, so with very little effort they should be able to manufacture all the calcium carbonite they needed.
However, Mark told them of an even easier way and that was to use sea-salt to make sodium hydroxide. This could be done with far less power, eliminating the need for a nuclear reactor. Basically, they’d harvest water directly from the “Roshenko Sea” as it contained salt. Then using electricity, they’d insert two wires into the solution and wait for the reaction. As the bubbles percolated, more and more NaOH would be extracted, forming on the bottom of the container.
The mixture that condensed would only be 15% NaOH, meaning it was highly diluted, so in order to achieve a highly refined product, the final step required evaporating the solution on a stainless steel or platinum evaporating dish, and then boiling it until the NaOH concentrated into a pure form of sodium hydroxide.
Once crystallization occurred, it could be scraped into a filter bag which would then be used to absorb the excess CO2. All they needed were some commercially available fire escape respirators and they’d replenish the filters manually. NASA liked to use lithium hydroxide (LiOH) because it was lighter, but for their purposes on Proxima b, the weight of the material wouldn’t be an issue and since they had plenty of salt water as a natural resource, why not use it.
Speaking of which, when Jillian completed the tests results on the water, the analysis was promising. The water was a dynamic mix of 25% light water, 25% heavy water and 50% semi-heavy water. This was good because any water with concentrations over 50% of deuterium were actually detrimental to plants. So with everything in order, they only needed to bring seeds for planting and the 15Ea.
Proxima b had many key elements critical to survival, but once they landed on this new world, life wouldn’t be easy or simple. They would have to live off the land almost immediately. The production of NaOH would be a constant chore as their filters would quickly become saturated. In addition, they would need to start digging trenches to form a crude aqueduct system, allowing water to flow down from the hills into the fields. Once that was complete, the land would have to be plowed by hand, planted by hand and tended by hand for the next few months. Using their own solid waste, they’d fertilize the fields.
While Jillian would have preferred to bring labor saving devices such as roto-tillers and tractors, there was simply no room and they required gasoline. The bottom line is they’d be transporting shovels, rakes, hoes and human powered steel plows. Anyone who participated in this venture would be thrown back to the Stone Age, foregoing anything related to a technological society. Even their medical supplies and surgical capabilities would be extremely limited.
Given the lack of light, Lori reasoned that a bicycle driven generator could be used to keep their batteri
es charged. Unless they could find a way to export power from SM1, they would have to resort to people powered energy which would also consume a lot of calories. This meant bringing at least six months’ worth of supplies to bridge the gap between planting the first fields and reaping their first harvests.
Artificial vitamins, especially vitamins C and D and other nutritional supplements would be needed long term. Since they didn’t have any cows or other animals, they would be vegetarians at first, but once hay and other ‘feed’ crops were ready, chickens and other small farm animals could slowly be introduced. In the case of Proxima b, they’d always require a life-line back to Earth. In order to propagate continued plant growth, they’d need lots of 15Ea.
While Jillian understood how to synthesize it in a lab, there were no facilities on Proxima b. For that she’d need power and her idea of utilizing local uranium deposits, combined with heavy water to create a small nuclear reactor, could be constructed to produce all the electricity needed to outfit a small production facility. If they could build and transport a small reactor core, it might be possible to get it up and running quickly.
When Nickolas heard everyone describe these things, he realized that colonizing a new planet wouldn’t be for sissies, but he was ready. He only hoped the others understood the extreme sacrifices required to make this a success. There would be no time for rest and leisure and just like their counterparts of hundreds of years ago, the sweat of their brow would make or break this new colony.
Terra-forming and human bio-diversity would be the next steps in the process and over time a small outpost of humanity would finally break free from their dependence on Earth and form their own groups, expanding and conquering this new world. At least initially, life would revert to the old ways, when tribes roamed the plains and men lived off the land, subsiding on whatever they could gather.
