“Well for the first time in recorded history mankind has sight of infinity.” Henry replied. “To truly know our universe.”
“Weird question though.” Nari replied. “That map is still compiling millions of quadrants of space. What happens when it catches up?”
“Catches up?” Basta asked.
“Well the universe is ever expanding.” Nari explained. “So, presuming the mapping is happening faster than the universe expands it will eventually catch up to it.”
“That is a powerful idea.” Henry replied. “That there is a spot that is beyond all that there is. What exists in the space before it becomes our universe.”
“I do not know if I want that answer.” Basta replied. “Or if I am even ready for it.”
“Well it is something that definitely deserves to be on the list of questions to be answered.” Henry agreed. “Though first we need to make this little network of ours smaller. We need to connect this world to our system and using the drives that is exactly what we must do.”
“I have a question though.” Basta added. “Something important.”
“Anything.” Henry assured.
“This jump technology is about to go wide.” Basta began. “It will give us an edge against the raiders…but what happens if they get a hold of it? How do we protect ourselves from something that can make a ship go from any one place to any one place?”
“I was thinking of that as well.” Henry admitted. “As much as I would love for all humanity to have access to my work as it did with the magnetic wave generator…this one might be too dangerous.”
“Well how can we restrict its use without restricting every jump drive?” Nari replied. “We need it more than we can afford to be secretive with it.”
“The map.” Henry replied. “We can control who has the coordinates to what. If only places we offer the coordinates to can be used then we at least know where people are going.”
“Like highways through space?” Basta asked. “And we are the highway patrol?”
“Precisely.” Henry replied. “It is only a matter of time before humanity as a whole gets control of all of it. However, we can do as we did with space travel…use precise moves to keep one step ahead of chaos.”
“I suppose that is all we can do in any regard.” Nari agreed. “Do our best to do good with the knowledge we have, and hope that it outbalances the bad.”
“Agreed.” Basta replied. “When we get to Mars we will back up the map in the supercomputer on the surface. We have Henry, Winter, and myself in charge of the map.”
“Works for me.” Henry replied. “This map should not and cannot be a secret forever. It just gives us a head start.”
“My hopes are for a society of man that no longer has limitations.” Basta explained. “Many of the wars of humankind were brought about for fighting over finite resources. Whether it be land, oil, precious metals, much blood has been spilt looking for a thing faster than someone else can. Soon we can be truly rich as a society and not just in what we have, but what we can do.”
“Knowledge and potential.” Henry replied. “Two things both priceless and desired…things that will someday be free.”
“Exactly.” Basta replied. “Though for now we should get underway. Nari, has the ship we are leaving here landed and the one we are keeping come back?”
“Both ships are where we want them.” Nari replied. “I contacted the surface, they are all set and wish us safe travels and a safe return. Also, they have suggested a name for this new planet.”
“That’s right!” Basta remarked. “We have been so preoccupied with what we need to do we have not named it. What have they suggested.”
“Atlas.” Nari replied. “For like the Greek god that held up the world…the hopes and dreams of humanity are now held by this new planet.”
“I like it!” Basta replied. “Though I will leave the final choice to Henry…after all…he is the one who found it.”
“Works for me.” Henry said with a smile. “Planet Atlas…it has a nice ring to it.”
“I just sent a message that the name was accepted.” Nari replied.
“Good.” Basta nodded as he sat down in his chair. “Prepare to make the jump to Mars.”
“Laid in and ready to go.” Henry replied. “We can jump at any time.”
“Any surprises this time?” Basta asked.
“I am confident that there won’t be.” Henry replied. “And if there were…I will take care of them.”
“Works for me.” Basta replied. “Take us to Mars.”
Henry nodded, putting in the coordinates and running them past Nari to approve. Once she set them in. Henry initiated the drive. The ships systems flickered slightly but came right back on.
“Is there a problem?” Basta asked. “Can we still jump?”
“We just did.” Henry said proudly. “Nari can you bring up the outer camera?”
Nari nodded, opening the view screen to show a massive red planet in their path. “We are in visual range of Mars. Will put the ship in geo synchronized orbit.”
“That was pretty smooth.” Basta replied. “I thought it would be like last time.”
“Last time the ship was not ready for it.” Henry admitted. “It caused feedback and electromagnetic events. This time the ship just powered up, went from one place and arrived at the other. It takes literally half of one second.”
“Well that will be something to add when we pitch it to people that they should go to the new planet.” Basta said with a laugh. “The softest travel ever invented by man. Even faster than getting up to go to the fridge.”
“I don’t think we will have to sell it to anyone.” Henry replied. “We get a half decent establishment there and there will be no shortage of people who want to go there.”
“It will be a good thing.” Basta replied. “Earth is overpopulated and the push to space stations and Mars has only stopped the swelling. I estimate that if even thirty percent of the population leaves earth it will help the planet and allow us to create some much-needed equilibrium.”
“There is no shortage of people who want a better life.” Henry added. “That is why people took to the technology Dr. Winter and I built. Things were very rough and it was the path to something better.”
“Speaking of which.” Nari interjected. “Dr. Winter contacted us from below. She is very eager for us to come down.”
“Then let us go down.” Basta replied. “This might not be home but it is pretty close. I think we all deserve a respite on Mars.”
Within the hour, Nari and Henry were on the landing craft and heading to the surface. Others from the crew were on board, all with tasks to do and eager to relax a bit on the massive domed city of the Martian capital. Basta had requested another lander from Mars and it was being sent up as they came down. Basta still had some work to do on the ship and would rejoin later. The matter of the raiders and there now non-secret hideout had to be dealt with quickly.
Henry admitted to be happy to be coming to Mars. It seemed like a lifetime ago he had promised to Winter he would visit her there and though he had been there a few times before, Mars still held some mystery to him. Upon landing, Dr. Winter was waiting to greet the group.
“Henry, Nari.” Winter said with a wide smile. “I am so glad to see you. “Is it true you found a new planet? One that was on the other side of the galaxy?”
“Both true.” Henry replied. “Let us discuss it a bit later. I am excited to take a look around. “This place was still under construction last time I was here.”
“We have done a lot.” Winter admitted. “Let me show you around.”
Winter took the pair on a long tour of the main dome of the Mars colony. There were thirty-six in total, all ranging in size and function. Henry admitted he enjoyed the feeling of simulated earth gravity. Though it was harsh and unforgiving outside, it felt as good as his ship on the inside. The amount of advancement on Mars and the completed biospheres were not what impresse
d Henry, it was the pure amount of people. Somehow it had gone from a mission, gone from being a colony to being a living breathing society. A thing that had surprised Henry, that no matter the technology, no matter the leaps, it was humanities ability to adapt. He admitted that he had his concerns and worries about Atlas, but seeing how people not only survived on Mars, how they lived on it…put them all to sleep. As long as there were people who dreamt for the future, there would always be a way for humanity to persevere.
“You have created a paradise here.” Nari commented. “It is truly a home away from home for humanity.”
“You are the last generation that has to refer as home with such exclusivity.” Winter said with a proud smile. “There are now many homes for humanity.”
“And perhaps more.” Henry replied. “We found Atlas quite by accident. “If there are two planets like earth, there will likely be more.”
“How detailed can we look?” Winter asked. “Do you think we can find others like it.”
“Well the map is literally as basic as I could program the computer to make. “It charts stars and major special forms such as asteroid bets, black holes, and quasars. Though when we start actually charting, searching…we know precisely the kind of thing we are looking for.”
“Stars with planets that are within the habitable zone.” Winter agreed. “Ones that are large enough for comparable gravity that are within human heat tolerances with unfrozen water.”
“We know what to look for, we just need to start looking.” Henry agreed. “Though we still have the first one we found to work on.”
“You’re right.” Winter agreed. “This is just another beginning.”
-
Seven
Within six months Henry and the others returned to Atlas. There were twenty-six ships in all, mostly larger vessels filled to the brim with supplies, machines, and colonists. As anticipated, there was a large response to the idea of settling a new ready-made world. Dr. Winter has accompanied the expedition, her work on Mars well underway and her technical expertise no longer needed and passed onto other capable hands. There would be new, fresh challenges on Atlas and they would need a full time tera former to overcome any challenges that might arise.
The Endeavor stayed in orbit but the other ships used magnet wave drives to descend to the surface. It was a massive undertaking and Henry could not help but be impressed as he saw the massive high-tech machines work together. He had personally overseen the retrofit of the ship engines to make these ships jump capable. As decided, though the drives were ready to use, the coordinates were closely guarded. The space force had been very successful in dealing with the hidden raider base but there was still a good chance they had another, hidden somewhere. With the rapid expansion that had been going on it was easy to lose sight of the safety of the people. Henry admitted that he had to sometimes double back to think of the implications of what his work could be used for. When the raiders attacked, using a weapon clearly powered by a magnetic wave generator he felt a certain dread inside. For every good intention that he might have for his work, there might also be someone who might have the opposing dark plan.
Henry rode down in a drop ship with Basta, Winter and Nari. The other vessels were already landing and setting up. As he got off the ship he saw a flurry of activity in seemingly every direction. In the months since he had last been there several buildings had been erected with the basic components and ones they could find. It was no longer just a camp, it was a small town, the first of its kind. With the machines and ships, they would now be able to construct more permanent structures, harvest more complicated materials, and make a way of live on the planet similar to that of earth or mars.
As the herculean effort continued to catalogue the reshipments, French came out to meet the group.
“Well if it isn’t the king of the world.” Basta said, shaking hands with his comrade.
“For now, I suppose.” French said with a laugh. “We have kind of a provisional government. I am calling myself the project leader.”
“How have things been?” Basta asked. “How is Atlas treating you?”
“It has not been without it’s challenges.” French admitted. “The predators have come back a few times. There were some close calls but no one was hurt badly. The doctors have been monitoring everyone pretty closely. There are a few new types of bacteria here and we are working to get used to them.”
“I can modify a wave scanner to modify the human immune system to adapt to it faster.” Winter commented. “We had to do something similar on mars. There might not have been much atmosphere to be exposed to, but there was more than a few surprises in the sands.
“Your expertise would be very appreciated.” French admitted. “We have done what we can to tame this world…but the act of learning how to comfortably LIVE on it is something that will take time.”
“I turned an inhospitable red planet into a new home for millions.” Winter said with a smile. “I am sure we can make Atlas at least a bit more comfortable.”
“Well the much-needed supplies and personal will help greatly as well.” French admitted. “We were almost out of…well pretty much everything.”
“Well we have brought a lot of everything.” Basta replied. “There will be supply ships following within weeks and they will have a constant cycle of restocking as we create shipping lines between here and earth.”
“Also with my help we can use the wave generator to reconfigure materials.” Winter added. “Within a year this planet should become self-sufficient.”
“Excellent.” French replied. “I must talk about the people. There were not many of us from the endeavor that stayed behind. We risked life, safety, and everything on an idea. It has been a challenge and likely will continue to be so. However, these people have rose to it, faced it all and the city, the world, will remember this time as when humanity showed that it had a lot of strength left and that there is a bright future in front of us.”
“This is our intention.” Henry added. “It had been from the start. Winter and I saw an end, a finality for the human experience. We were almost done and there seemed to be no future. Though we made the machines to help, we knew that we could not do it alone. It was up to humanity to reach up, to claim the future and prove that we deserved to thrive again.”
“Well the people that started this world are perfect examples of those people.” French said with a proud nod. “And I have no doubt the people you brought will add to that.”
Over the next few weeks, Henry worked with Winter in setting up the wave emitters and technology. There was so much to do and Henry felt like it was the old days. He admitted that his work on the Endeavor had been fulfilling but there was not as much to do for long stretches of time. He liked the challenges, the crazy timelines and the increasing challenges. He had missed working with Winter as well…though they had not collaborated much in years it was like no time had passed once they got to work. They always had an intuitive bond, when one person needed something it was almost like the other knew to get it. Soon there was self-contained power, then came the complex machines, buildings next. In the short amount of time they worked the landing sight went from a basecamp to a small city.
As time went by, Henry got more and more into the work, he knew he was doing well and felt a connection to the world but he could not help but feel the call of the stars. As much as Atlas might need him, he needed to be moving forward. They had, in their possession, a fledgling map of the universe and with it they could unravel the secrets. He was focused on the needs of the colony, but could not forget his calling.
Before Henry knew it, the colony was celebrating a year since the planet was discovered. Henry and his group were guests of honor and there was a celebration and party. The colony was not just surviving, they were enjoying their new life. Henry was not usually one for parties, however he knew how important the others and his contributions were. He made an appearance, had something to eat and then returned to the
building his group had been using while on Atlas. Soon Nari, Winter, French and Basta joined him.
“You alright Henry?” Basta asked. “You seem a little…less focused than usual.”
“To be honest.” Henry began. “Though I love this planet and what we are doing here…I feel that I am not needed here.”
“Of course, you are needed here!” Winter replied. “You are one of the smartest people in the universe. Everyone here benefits from your work every day.”
“I am not saying that I have nothing to contribute.” Henry replied. “I am just saying that there is nothing here that needs me. I just feel like there are other things to be done…things that only I can do.”
“You are talking about the map?” Nari asked.
“Yes.” Henry admitted. “We know exactly where the center of our universe is. The very place that matter and antimatter met and created all that we know. We have only scratched the surface in theoretical science in how it happened and for the first time ever we have the technology to go there and take a look.”
“Do you know what we might find there?” Basta replied. “Is there benefits to it…dangers?”
“To be honest Basta…” Henry replied. “I have no idea. Though we know what has happened there we don’t know what it will be like. There could be nothing there, there could be anything there. The point is that we do not know…but for the first time have a way for finding out.”
“This is the next logical step to our research.” Winter said as she looked to Basta. Imagine that you had not looked at our technology and decided to take it to the stars? This is where it is going and though we might not have a defined plan of where it will go…we have a responsibility to follow it.”
“What about Atlas though?” Basta asked. “It needs all the help it can get.”
“I never said that I wanted to go to the center of the universe.” Winter said with a laugh. “Henry is the explorer, I am the builder. I will stay here and continue this work. Open the universe to humanity, and when you come back we will have created a world to be proud of.”
Waves: The Collapsing Universe Page 6
