by Theo Marais
When the first harpoon struck Angel, my raw instincts took over and I swam away from them as fast as I could, but then hating myself as I made my escape. I know that Angel is dead, but I don’t know what happened to our baby. After the ship had left, I looked around the area for days but did not find her. I still think that I may find her one day.”
I could only say how sorry we were that some of our people had been so cruel to them; and that we hoped he would find his child.
That first time that Aristotle really talked to me was the most amazing month of my life and I did not want it to end, but of course it had to. One day he said that he had a very important meeting to attend, far away, and that he would be leaving the next day. However, he promised to be back at the same time next year, and thanked us profusely for the efforts made.
It was time to reflect on what we had achieved and how we had achieved it. I had pretty much used an approach that went from the known, already understood sounds and ideas, to the unknown and not yet agreed, and from the specific and concrete to the more general and abstract concepts and ideas. It was becoming a type of ‘esperanto’ language of English and whale sounds, or what is known in South Africa as ‘fanakalo’, a mixture of popular words from most of the languages we speak, with a simplified level of grammar and syntax used.
I passed on my more positive results and tips for the future to the researchers at the other stations who, in turn, gave us their results and new ideas. By doing this, we made rapid progress, and we found that certain whales and dolphins shared our enthusiasm, staying for longer periods and coming back with new methods and ideas, as though they had consulted some of their wisest members.
By the mid-2030s, we could claim to be having meaningful exchanges with cetaceans. We learned the most amazing things, including about the history of Earth and the possibility that aliens have visited us in the past.”
CHAPTER 5
Alex is talking to Mariada on the beach at Nature’s Valley.
“Apparently, Beethoven said that music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.
Well, his music often does both of those to me, so maybe we are all masculine and feminine in varying degrees. I loved many of my dad’s collection of rock music from the 60s and 70s, maybe because I had heard them loud and clear from the womb and had no choice but to dance along with my mom. I remember all five of us singing The Beatles’ ‘Eight days a week’ with gusto on regular occasions. One that usually still brings tears to my eyes is Blind Faith’s ‘Sea of joy’.
‘Following the shadows of the skies, Or are they only figments of my eyes?
And I’m feeling close to when the race is run.
Waiting in our boats to set sail,
Sea of joy.’
These days I imagine the next verse could be sung by a dolphin.
‘Once the door swings open into space, And I’m already waiting in disguise.
Is it just a thorn between my eyes ?
Waiting in our boats to set sail,
Sea of joy.’
The open sea has always been like eternity to me, with endless deep water stretching all around under me, and endless sky going into deep space above. We are a small speck in the immensity of space and time, but feel so complex at the same time.
As a student I used to wonder if I could discover the ‘real me’ inside all the layers of socialisation I had already been clothed in; so that I would really know if I was being totally ‘honest and true’ to what I was ‘supposed’ to be doing with my life. Maybe thinking of Wordsworth’s Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.
‘Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.’
I suppose I found that there are few, if any, static ‘truths’ in life, that we are constantly changing and must just follow our intellect, intuition and conscience in trying to make a better world for all. Not so profound, hey! Or is it?”
“Yes, it is, Alex, but not always so easy to live like that, without being stupid and selfish at times.”
“Exactly, Ada. One needs to have self-awareness, of where these intuitions and instincts are coming from, and awareness of how they are affecting others. Otherwise, one can go through life just repeating cycles of unconscious behaviour, always with the same motives and being quite predictable. As though you have been conditioned like Pavlov’s dog or programmed like a robot to repeat history; to be living in the past, as it were, instead of in the present with full awareness of yourself and others. It’s something like the analogy of the cave in Plato's Republic, where one sees reflections or shadow images on the wall, but not the real thing in the full light of day.”
“Yes. Where ‘All the world’s a stage’, as the bard put it, with us echoing predictable lines in predictable stages of life.
CHAPTER 6
The marine linguist at the Marine Research Station at Plettenberg Bay is completing her translation of Aristotle’s song-history :
“Our ancestors say that, at that time (about 15 000 years ago, it seems) at the end of an ice age, Earth was increasingly hit by asteroids, with much destruction and loss of life.
One day, large craft like ships but flying in the sky, appeared. People, like humans but not exactly the same, had contact with us and dolphins. Legend has it that dolphins claimed that four of their number were taken onto the ships, never to be seen again. The aliens also took many samples of fish and other sea life.”
Alex completes his talk with the following conclusion:
“And here I am, about to leave next week for Earth 2 as the Chief Marine Biologist.”
PART 3:
EARTH 2 ( 2044 )
“And when the day comes that we can communicate intelligently with dolphins, they may introduce us to the concept of survival without aggression, and the true joy of living, which at present eludes us.”
H. Dobbs. ‘Follow a Wild Dolphin’. 1977
CHAPTER 1
Mariada is dreaming again, this time while lying on a beach at Keurboomstrand.
She is going out into space, to the edge of a ‘Black Hole’, from where she is transported to a planet in another solar system, which is like Earth but in pristine condition, a ‘paradise’.
But then she ‘reverses’ back through space to the polluted, poisoned, flooded, over-heated and asteroid-hit Earth. She wakens and is relieved to find that the sand is not soaked with oil as in her dream.
Mariada is, once again, 20 years after her Mars talk, giving a talk to a special sitting of the United Nations general assembly, in 2044, on ‘The History of the Earth 2 mission’. Visuals of what she describes appear on a screen.
“A fundamental question is, what is our purpose in spending huge amounts of money on space exploration? Are we trying to escape from Earth?
After the Moon landings from 1969 onwards, space expeditions were mainly to see if stations could be established in space and on our Solar System planets. After constructing an International Space Station, settlements were made on Mars from 2024 and then on Pluto from 2030.
After that, we could only hope that we would eventually be able to explore other solar systems in our Milky Way galaxy. However, the nearest star, or sun, Proxima Centauri, is 4,3 light years away but with no known habitable planets. The huge star, Betelgeux in the Orion constellation, is 300 light years away, possibly with habitable planets, and the nearest known habitable planet, Kepler 452B, is about 1 000 light years away. These distances from Earth are so great that it would take many generations of travel to reach them, even travelling at close to the speed of light.
What has made space exploration become an urgent priority is that life on Earth appears increasingly threatened and tenuous. Pollution of the air, earth and water has poisoned the planet. Greenhouse gases have
added to global warming. Destruction of phytoplankton in the polar regions, which produce 70% of our oxygen, as a long-term effect of whaling, and of rain forests has caused a dangerous drop in oxygen levels and a rise in carbon dioxide. Melting of polar ice fields has led to sea levels rising, with widespread flooding of coastal areas and some of the biggest cities in the world.
There is spreading desertification of huge inland areas which used to be the centres of food production. These are just some of the ravaging effects that humans have had on our planet as we continue to multiply and over-populate the environment.
In addition, Earth is increasingly being bombarded by asteroids, causing destruction and further earthquakes and tsunamis, far worse than the effects that nuclear weapons and previous natural disasters ever had.
Where is the money coming from to pay the huge costs?
It should be remembered that the first Mars mission was substantially funded by the TV programme ‘Life on Mars’ and assisted greatly by companies such as Elon Musk’s for use of rockets. When good deposits of highly useful and rare minerals and metals were found, there was an agreement that they should be mined and used by all the nations contributing to the further development of the space programme. These and other legal and economic issues were managed by various sub-committees of the United Nations. For the first time in human history, the ‘super-power’ nations have been co-operating fully with each other, using their ‘defence’ budgets to fund our space programmes. The main challenges have been to find faster methods of space travel, using nuclear power, electro-magnetic force fields and more. Considering the distances of the nearest seemingly habitable planets as potential sites for human settlement if our future here is threatened, we would need some totally new method of travel, like the teleportation you see in science fiction movies.
Will it only be a matter of us saying, “Beam me up, Scottie”?
Unfortunately, not yet.
However, the next major breakthrough came when researchers, mainly quantum- and astrophysicists, learned how to use the enormous power of the ‘Black Hole’ at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. In particular, the ‘Wormhole’ proved to be the gateway to travel to different places and even times.
It was ‘just’ a matter of about six month’s travel to the outer edge, the ‘event horizon’, of the Black Hole, and then, using the energy available in the Wormhole, to ‘project’ the craft further. By altering the speed and precise direction of the craft at critical times, one can zone in on one’s destination.
Where are we going?
Last year, in 2043, when I was 60 years old, an unmanned space craft was projected to the nearest habitable planet, already called Earth 2, the pun being intentional of it being so similar to Earth that it was Earth too.
Here was a planet which could save humanity and some of our flora and fauna. The craft orbited the planet, photographing in minute detail the surface, and then touched down in a number of places to gather samples of soil, vegetation and insect life.
The conditions for life to flourish are all there : an atmosphere with oxygen and an adequate shield against radiation, stable temperatures and general climate similar to Earth’s, fertile soil with permanent streams, rivers and fresh-water lakes, as well as salt seas, regular alternation of day and night, and minimal destructive forces like violent winds, dust storms, floods or droughts.
Incredibly, while there are some differences, the flora and fauna are similar to Earth’s, with grass, trees, insects, reptiles, birds and fish, but no large predators.
There was even a sighting of a school of bottle-nose dolphins surfing the swells.
A few month’s later, the first human was successfully projected and then returned, with no ill effects, and so we are ready to live in another solar system.
When are we going?
I am elated to have been chosen, yet again, as a pioneer with ten others, to leave next week on a major mission for not only humanity but for life on Earth, and we thank all nations for the combined effort to make this possible.”
CHAPTER 2
The space craft blasts off on its six months’ journey to the outer edge of the Black Hole.
Mariada is being interviewed for a new T.V. programme called ‘Life on Earth 2’.
“Last year I was at a crossroads in my life. We had cracked the codes of using Wormholes in space travel, of photosynthesis in optimally harnessing solar energy, creating oxygen and growing highly nutritious plants, with minimal environmental damage.
I was also nearly 20 years older than on our departure for Mars, and while I lacked the raw energy I had then, I now had the deep confidence of experience gained in the most trying conditions, but had no particular project to channel it.
In my younger years, my research and studies had precluded the possibility of any serious, long-term romantic commitments, and I had decided to forego the thought of settling down one day, so I was available for some new challenge.
The space programme director came straight to the point one day.
“As you know, we have an excellent team ready to go to Earth 2 next year. We asked them to suggest one person that they felt would make the best addition to the team, as an anchor, an adviser, a wise old consultant; and you will probably not believe whom they chose — you! So I have the honour of asking you if you would be prepared to retire on Earth 2, but as a part-time consultant.”
I had absolutely no hesitation, and so, here I am, on my way to a new solar system.”
‘Life on Earth 2’ is running a series of game shows in the tradition of the old programme ‘Life on Mars’, based on videos made on each of the astronauts before departure. Alex is next and he has chosen Knysna as the venue for his show, at a site over-looking the town and the famous ‘Heads’ where boats leave the lagoon for the deep sea in the direction of Antarctica.
“I grew up in the marine environment of Knysna, where I spent much of my youth fishing, surfing and sailing.
As I didn’t really play the traditional boys’ sports of rugby and cricket, and as I loved reading and studying, when I went to a secondary, boarding school in George, I was seen as ‘different’. In fact, I was bullied by seniors in the hostel in my first year or two, until I learned to stand up for myself and they picked on others. In 2000 I went to Stellenbosch University for a BSc in Marine Biology as I have always felt passionate about marine conservation and have a special interest in cetaceans, as I have often encountered them when sailing and surfing. Dolphins seem to trust me and I often find I can paddle among them while I try to talk to them. I have always fancied that, one day, like Dr Dolittle, I will be able to understand and communicate with them.
My Honours and Masters degrees had taken me to all the centres of involvement with cetaceans, from Walvis (Whale) Bay in Namibia to South Africa’s West Coast at Saldanha Bay, from Cape Town and Hermanus to Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Port Elizabeth, from East London to Durban and Kosi Bay on the border with Mozambique.
For my PhD, as I had also done Linguistics and Communication, I focused on cetacean languages and communication. I was fortunate to be awarded scholarships which enabled me to travel globally and to visit and assess marine research institutes regarding the progress they had made in this field.
I visited dolphinaria and university and state marine research centres from Australia to Zanzibar, analysing the effectiveness of these endeavours.
By 2030 some progress had been made and South Africa established sophisticated research centres, one of them being at Plettenberg Bay, where I have been based for the past 14 years. We have made huge strides in cracking the codes of cetacean languages and today, with the help of computer programmes, we are able to understand and communicate with cetaceans.”
The ‘Life on Earth 2’ quiz show in Knysna is a huge success. The winner is a young Marine Biology student at the University of Stellenbosch, just like Alex was. When he was at primary school in Knysna, Alex and a few other local surfers used to come and fetch him
and some other township youngsters and take them to the beach and teach them how to surf. Alex fired his enthusiasm and then passion for marine conservation, besides also becoming a top junior surfer. He thanks Alex for taking him off the streets and away from the influences of the gangs who rule their neighbourhoods.
On the spaceship, the 10 other astronauts compete enthusiastically to win the prize of no routine duties for a day.
CHAPTER 3
The craft nears the outer edge of the Black Hole, then enters a Wormhole and the entire craft and crew are projected to Earth 2.
Mariada is being interviewed by ‘Life on Earth 2’ again. This time, it is very ‘delayed live’, by about a week.
“It’s almost impossible to describe the passage of time in the Wormhole, as though time was literally standing still, while we hurtled through space. Or was it that we in our little space ship were standing still in space while time rushed past ?
We landed exactly where planned and everything is in perfect working condition. It was unbelievable to step out of the ship without a space suit and breathe the air of Earth 2 with its strange new smells and hear the singing of the insects and birds.”
Once again, Mariada is the first person to step on the planet and she announces a new variation of the Moon-landing speech:
“One small step for a human, one new solar system and planet for humans to live on.”
And adds, “This is not only another station on the way to somewhere else, this is somewhere else for us to live. We have brought with us some samples of life from Earth, especially threatened and key species for maintaining the food chain, like bees, butterflies, frogs and so on, and future settlers will bring further specimens.