by Gadi Migdal
Tom interrupted, “The moon elevator could have served as such an antenna, but it collapsed in a powerful eruption about five hundred years ago. Its parts are still floating in orbit around the Earth.”
“Alright. And is it not possible to stretch a flexible fiber to a satellite above us?” asked Nola.
“Yes, Commander. That would solve the problem and could be done easily,” Maya confirmed.
“Except for the fact that we have no interest or desire in doing that,” Sean said gently.
What? Nola looked at him in surprise. ‘Is that because of the cost?’ she wondered to herself.
“We would be happy to do that for you, Sean.”
“Thanks Nola, but we don’t want it.”
“You have no desire to communicate with the outside?”
“I’m sorry, Nola,” Sean smiled and looked right at her with his beautiful green eyes, “I really appreciate your desire to help us, but we don’t need a solution.”
“He’s cute, Your Honor,” General Bud commented inside Nola’s head.
Laura joined the conversation. “Lack of communication is not a problem. The way we see it, it’s an advantage. For the first time in my adult life, I meet people face to face, chat, work, and spend time with them. It’s a new feeling for me. I spent nearly 50 years sleeping. It’s time for me to actually live.”
Nola stared at her in amazement. She looked like she couldn’t have been more than 20 years old.
“Sorry for asking, Laura, but how old are you?”
“I’m sixty-two. I slept nearly constantly from age twelve until I was fifty-eight. It was only then that I realized that I’m spending my life dreaming about life instead of getting up and actually living it. That’s how I wound up here.”
‘From age twelve,’ thought Nola. The age that she was made a coordinator was the same age that Laura had put her life on hold.
“But Laura,” she protested. “Communication has a positive function. What will you do if something happens to you all here and you need help from outside?”
“No, Nola. We don’t need communication,” smiled Laura. “The domes are solid and well-maintained. We’ve never encountered any real danger. The people here took out all their savings in order to come here and get away from the temptation of dreaming. Sure, life here isn’t easy, and we can’t get the quality of food or medical treatment that one can find outside, but we are happy with the situation. If there were a connection here, the temptation of the sleep machines would be too great. You’ve never experienced a story. I spent thousands of life cycles in them. The machine changes the user’s perception of time, and it’s an addictive experience. The temptation to dream doesn’t exist here, and all of us in the dome prefer that it stay that way. If we would have an outside connection, the domes would fall apart within a few months.”
“All of you came here to escape your dreams?” Nola wondered.
“Definitely,” Laura nodded. “This is our refuge.”
“The temptation of the sleep machine is really that strong?” Nola asked quietly.
“Yes, Nola,” said Laura, “Much more than you think.”
“Apart from that, my sleep here is much better,” said Sean.
“Why is that?”
He grinned and winked at Nola, “because the people here are nicer. Before I got here, I spent a few decades in the machine. On the other hand, when I tried to quit and sleep without the machine, my dreams were full of nightmares.”
“Mine too,” Laura said. “That’s what made me come here, I had enough of machine sleep and enough nightmares about a dark fog chasing me when I slept without the machine. Here I have quiet.”
“Right,” Sean agreed.
“General, this place is fascinating, and I’m glad we saw it. But now I would love to hear why you wanted us to come here. Is there a reason for this visit to Earth?” Guy asked out of nowhere. Despite his height, he was a full head shorter than the General and had to look up in order to make eye contact with her.
“I have a feeling that you already figured out the reason for yourself, Mr. Guy,” the general replied.
“I have an idea,” Guy admitted.
“Alright. From the moment that I accepted the existence of the Whole as an intelligent entity, everything became clearer. I think the Whole really wants to help humanity. I don’t know why, and I’m not satisfied with the reasons that you told us, General. The Whole doesn’t really need humans just because it is afraid of loneliness. But I do believe that the Whole wants to save humankind from extinction.”
He paused a moment, choosing his words. “Earth is a perfect test laboratory. Not for growing crops or assessing protective dome technology. It’s a perfect lab for investigating the human capacity to give up its addiction to dream stories.”
Guy looked at Laura. She blushed under his gaze and he went on. “Humanity became addicted to dreaming. In ancient times, dreams moved humanity forward. Today, dreams are destroying us. Here on Earth, there are people who chose to give up the pleasures of dreaming in order to live a real life. People who gave up thousands of fantastical and pleasurable life cycles to live real life just once. That’s what the Whole wanted to see.”
He moved his gaze from Laura and turned to the general. “The Whole wanted to see if there was still hope for humankind, or if it’s too late.”
General Bud spoke slowly and in a slightly pensive tone, “For such a young man, you are very clever, Mr. Guy. I wonder why you chose to deal in trade of all things. You’re absolutely right. Earth is a huge experiment in avoiding dreaming, and it was important to the Whole that we all see it with our own eyes.”
“And what do you take from your visit here, General?” asked Guy.
“The human race is addicted to stories and is unable to give them up. Humans cannot quit dreaming,” General Bud answered quietly.
“I disagree with you, General,” Laura protested. “Tens of thousands of people that chose to give up dream sleep and live on Earth proves that you are mistaken.”
“No, Ms. Laura, I am not mistaken. You are avoiding dreaming through artificial limitations. It’s impossible to move forward by giving up on technology, but that is the only solution that you’ve found. As you said yourself, if the sleep machine were to come here, you would resume using it. The human race is addicted and unable to quit.”
“But General,” said Andre, “on Neifar there is communication and they don’t have those problems.”
Maya grinned. “That’s exactly the point, Andre, for us in the city it’s not boring enough to want to escape into imaginary life.”
The general nodded. “Neifar is very different from the rest of the galaxy, Engines Officer.”
“So, what now? Will the Whole give up on the mission and humanity, General?” asked Guy, with concern in his voice. “I suppose that the Whole sent you here in order to make a decision. The moment we get out of Earth’s dust mantle, the Whole will receive your report. Will it give up on the attempt to save humanity because of it?”
General Bud looked at him quietly and did not answer.
“Guy,” Nola turned to him. “The Whole already knows the entire situation in the Earth domes. It knew even before we got here. And in any case, the Whole is able to communicate through the dust.”
“That’s not possible, Commander. There’s no way to transmit through the dust.”
“I assure you that it’s true, Guy and I also promise you that the Whole has no intention of giving up on saving humanity.”
“So why are we here?” asked Guy. “If the Whole already knows the truth, why are we here?”
Only then did the general speak. “As I said earlier, Mr. Guy, the Whole wanted all of us to see the gravity of the situation for ourselves. That’s the only reason we’re here.”
Nola smiled at him. “Guy, I promise you that this j
ourney has only just begun, we aren’t giving up.”
He looked at her. “Do I have your word, Commander?”
“Yes, Guy. You have my word as a human being, a city resident and a member of the Whole, the Whole will never give up on its attempt to save the human race.” She paused a moment, then added, “I will never give up on humanity.”
Guy stared at her for a long moment. “Thank you, Commander,” he said quietly.
They dined with another two hundred residents of the dome in an enormous dining hall. Nola looked at the big room. Tom was deep in a lively conversation with friends whom he hadn’t seen in four years. General Bud sat between Maya and Andre, arguing with both of them. Guy sat beside Laura; his arm wrapped around her waist. Their faces were close to one another. Neither of them looked interested in the food before them. Ella was seated at a table of dome residents, speaking with her characteristic keen enthusiasm. Nola closed her eyes and listened. The diners ate noisily. Slivers of conversation and laughter reached her from every direction. It was so different from the quiet meals she used to have in the cluster. To her surprise, it felt right. Nola discovered that she was enjoying the meal experience.
Sean appeared and sat down beside her. “I saw that you are sitting alone, may I join you?”
“Certainly,” said Nola. “I am just a guest here.”
“I see that you are looking at the hall. We have five dining halls like this, and they work in shifts throughout the entire day.”
“Impressive. How do you operate them?”
“With great difficulty,” he smiled. “We rotate dining room duty. Nobody likes being the one to do it, so we all do it.”
“And you eat all of your meals together?” Nola asked.
“If people want, they can take food to their rooms, but it’s nicer to eat with others.”
“And people don’t print food in their rooms?”
Sean laughed heartily. “We don’t have private printers in the dome, only industrial printers, mostly for producing tools and devices for work. We don’t print our food; we grow and cook it.”
The dining room officers on duty came to their table. “Great, there’s chicken today,” Sean said happily.
“What’s so special about chicken?” Nola wondered.
“I mean real chicken. Not a printout. Chicken that we raised and fed here in the dome and then slaughtered for meat.” Sean’s eyes glittered as he spoke.
‘What’s so special about that?’ Nola wondered to herself.
The Whole didn’t eat meat, but that wasn’t a big deal, neither did Nola. In the city, there were almost no individual food printers. Most people acquired food in stores and cooked it in their homes. Meat was a staple item for most of the city dwellers.
Sean’s reaction intrigued Nola. She scanned the databases that she had transferred from the ship to her memory and learned that most humans had been eating only printed proteins for over a thousand years. Most humans in the galaxy were shocked by the thought of eating animal flesh. On the other hand, most of them didn’t know that their printed proteins were made from raw material whose source was insects grown in enormous robotic farms. In fact, there were a few planets that made a very good living raising insects.
Nola smiled at Sean. “Protein is protein. Doesn’t matter if they come from insects or animals, I don’t see a big difference between the two.”
He nodded appreciatively. “Most people who come here are shocked when they first hear about eating animal meat. I also responded like that. For two months, I only ate fruits and vegetables; then I caved.”
“Why didn’t you ask them to bring you printed meat in the hovercrafts from the moon?”
Sean looked at her dramatically and whispered theatrically, “Because I found out that it is made from insects.” He laughed. “That was a terrible moment for me.”
Nola laughed too. It was nice sitting with Sean.
From where she was, Nola could see General Bud pushing her plate of chicken towards Andre, who happily pulled it towards himself and dumped its contents onto his own plate. The general, like all members of the Whole, made do with just fruits.
Nola struggled to peel the meat from the bone. “You eat chicken wings with your hands, Nola,” Sean laughed.
Nola looked at her plate hesitantly, she hadn’t eaten chicken wings since she was 12 years old.
“We have a ton of fruit, if you prefer,” Sean teased her.
“He really likes you, Your Honor,” General Bud suddenly mentioned in Nola’s head.
“I have no idea what to do with that information, General,” Nola replied.
She looked at the smiling Sean and then grabbed a wing and bit it firmly.
“Way to go,” Sean said with satisfaction, biting the wing in his hand.
Nola looked at the sauce dripping down Sean’s chin. It suddenly occurred to her that he was good-looking. Where did that come from? She had never thought that about anybody.
“General, was that my thought or is the Whole doing experiments on me?” she demanded.
“Your honor, the Whole doesn’t interfere with these things. You must be doing experiments of your own,” General Bud laughed in her head.
The meal went on for over an hour. Many of the dome’s residents came in to eat and went back out to return to work. Other dome dwellers replaced them at the tables. Some of the diners approached Nola and introduced themselves to her. They wanted to know about her life in the cluster and were fascinated by her stories. She enjoyed the conversations. The food was excellent, and Sean was entertaining. At some point, she noticed that their legs were touching. The feeling was pleasant.
The meal went on. Sean poured her some wine. It was much tastier than the wine that Grant had brought to the ship. Nola laughed more in one meal than she had laughed in twenty years. When exactly did Sean put his arm around her waist? She enjoyed the sensation.
The person on kitchen duty placed a small bowl in front of her filled with warm, brown paste.
“What is that?” Nola wondered aloud.
“Chocolate, Nola. It’s made from raw cacao that we trade with the Canada dome in exchange for chickens. If you add sugar, it’s an amazing dessert,” Sean whispered to her. His lips were very close to her ear.
The smell of the chocolate was exciting. Or was it Sean’s presence?
“How about we move to my living quarters and eat the dessert there?” Sean asked her with a smile.
“What’s wrong with eating dessert here?”
“The view in my quarters is much prettier,” laughed Sean.
Nola hesitated. What was she meant to do?
“Go with him, Your Honor. Live a little!” the general scolded her inside her head.
“I have no idea what to do,” Nola transmitted, fighting to suppress a rising panic. “I lived in a cluster since age twelve, I’ve never been with a man.”
The general laughed. “So what? Didn’t you hear Laura? Many people go to sleep around age twelve. And still, when the day comes, they discover that they know what to do. Go with him. Since when are you afraid of a challenge?”
“Did you know that you can be really annoying, General?”
“Of course, Your Honor. Must be the effect of the human genes I have.”
Nola laughed aloud and took Sean’s arm. “Let’s go, come show me some pretty scenery.”
He did show her.
It really was spectacular.
Chapter 17
Nikki
The water was black, sticky, viscous, lumpy, and full of grey sediment. The hovercraft moved through it carefully, feeling its way through the eternal, muddy darkness. The quiet inside the hovercraft was heavy and disturbing, no less troubling than the murky lumps of mud outside. Nikki hummed an old song to herself, in an attempt to break the silence.
“Fire, brimstone,
hunger, and death, in an elevator we fled to the moon.
We burst from the heavens and into the worlds that we discovered one by one.
Here there is room for everyone, no Seventh, no smoke, no fear.
We left behind the remains of a world, and now our home is here.”
She was quiet. ‘And now I’m actually here,’ she thought gloomily.
The hovercraft continued its slow glide into the depths of the Indian Ocean. The darkness outside did not change or give way to clear water, the volcanic mud dominated the currents even at a depth of 200 meters.
“Hey, honey, what’s up? How’s the scenery?” She was startled by the voice coming from the speakers. She forced herself to smile before she answered, hoping that it would help her sound more relaxed, “Nothing’s happening, Gabi. There is no scenery, just black mud.”
“Excellent,” Gabi exclaimed. “That’s what we’re counting on, complete isolation and quiet. You’re supposed to get to the ledge in about six or seven minutes.”
“Great, I’ll be happy to get this over with. Are you sure that it’s unoccupied?”
“For the hundredth time, dear, yes. The robots mapped it, it’s a huge, gorgeous ledge without bumps or holes. Perfect for our dome.”
“Okay, when I get there we’ll see. I still think that a dome on the ground would make more sense.”
He snorted disdainfully, “and deal with all the reptiles and rodents that live in the ground? No, dear. I’m right, a dome under the sea will be much more economically viable.”
“Maybe,” she hesitated. “Soon, we’ll see.”
“You’ll see, dear, I’m sure you’ll find that I’m ri-...”
“Gabi? Is everything okay?” she asked. Silence.
“Activate external connection,” she ordered. The silence continued, she turned and examined the control board. The connection was cut off. There was no signal from above.
“Shit!” The fiber that connected the hovercraft to the shore was severed. She and Gabi had agreed in advance what she had to do in such a situation.