“Do you have a destination in mind?” asked the chairman.
“Actually we don’t. Not yet at least. We’re still searching our galaxy for a suitable planet. If we don’t find a suitable planet in our galaxy, we may have to search the Andromeda galaxy for our new home planet,” answered Dr. Sonderson.
“Do you realize how long it will take to get us to another planet in our galaxy let alone to another galaxy? How will we get there as we are, or will it be our successors, many generations from now that will arrive there?” asked a concerned delegate.
“We have discussed this problem and we do have a possible solution. As you may or may not know, Dr. Carlton has started experimenting with a process that will put a person in a state of suspended animation deeper than a coma. He is also working on a process to revive the person. We think we need to put all of our energies into building a rocket or spacecraft that can be equipped with Dr. Carlton’s deep sleep chambers, when they’re perfected of course, that will transport us to our new home.” Dr. Sonderson spoke with deep concern.
“Dr. Sonderson, how will we decide who goes and who stays here on Earth?” asked the delegate from the Soviet Union.
“That’s a very good question Mr. Jargaf. The answer is quite simple, it will be optional to everyone and we plan to take every person that desires to go. We also need to take everything that we can. We should plan to take samples of every plant, animal, and insect. This even means animals and plants from the sea,” answered Dr. Sonderson calmly.
“Have you thought about the cost of this plan? It will cost billions or even trillions to get this project going,” said the British delegate.
A great debate broke out on the floor of the UN. Some delegates wanted the rich and powerful to be the first on the global escape ships. Others argued for the poor. There were yet others that wanted to know how much the project would cost and who was going to pay for it. They argued and argued for hours. They also realized that this information could not be released to the media; therefore the decision was made to continue the talks the following day.
The next day came and went and still no decisions were made. It was many weeks before they finally agreed on anything. The UN delegates finally decided on the global escape plan. Bids would be discretely and privately made and without public knowledge. Meanwhile the decision was made to give Dr. Carlton all the time and resources necessary to develop and perfect the deep sleep chambers. The year was 1953.
***
As the years went by, many developments were made in space travel. The Soviet Union was the first to put a satellite in orbit and the first animal, man, and woman in space. However, the United States put the first man on the moon. In fact it was not just one man but two men on that historic day, July 20, 1969. A number of other missions to the moon were made, proving that men and women could survive a trip through space and live on another planet.
More space missions were attempted. The Apollo missions and the Saturn missions both proved that space travel was possible. Most of the missions were very successful; however a few ended in tragedy. Saturn 204, also known as Apollo 1, was the first when a fire broke out in the capsule on the ground and killed three astronauts. There was a near disaster of Apollo 13, and then the tragedy of the Challenger shuttle disaster on January 28, 1986.
Faster and better space ships and rockets were built. Plans were made for an international space station to further prove that people could live and work in space. The Soviet Union launched the first space station, Salyut 1 in 1971. Salyut 2 was launched in 1973, but an engine exploded and the station crashed after only being in space two weeks. Despite these setbacks more reliable stations were constructed. Of the successes were Skylab, Mir, and the International Space Station.
Developments in telescope technology were made to help find a suitable world for mankind’s escape. The biggest and best telescopes were used to search the galaxy for a planet close by, but with no success. Astronomers decided to search the nearest galaxy, Andromeda, to perhaps locate a star that could be the sun for a solar system that had a planet that could sustain life. The Hubble telescope was designed and developed to search for just the right star and planet.
Finally, Dr. Sonderson’s son, Claude, found a planet that might work. It was a tragic and triumphant day. Claude Sonderson, with the help of his own adult son Evan, found a star and planetary system that they thought would be appropriate. It was situated a fourth of the way into one of the spiral arms of the Andromeda galaxy. They quickly made their discovery known to the United Nations committee in charge of the escape plan. The course to this system would be worked out by another group of astronomers and scientists. Two hours later the call came that Samuel Sonderson had passed away.
Dr. Carlton, his assistant Dr. Heckard and their team continued to work tirelessly to perfect the deep sleep chambers. However, Dr. Carlton was killed in a gas station robbery, so it would be his assistant Dr. Heckard who would make the deep sleep chambers a working reality. The success of the deep sleep chambers consummated what was needed for the global escape ships. The space ships were nearing design completion and were only waiting for final approval so that the Crick Aeronautics Company could start production on the prototype. Patrick Crick, the president and CEO of Crick Aeronautics, gave a rather bold and audacious bid that won the contract to build the Global Escape ships. The bid was so comprehensive that they would build all of the ships for every country around the world.
Within months, the plans for the global escape ships were completed, approved, and given the go-ahead for production. At the headquarters of NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, scientists, astronomers, and programmers were plotting the courses the ships would take to fly to the new world. An interesting feature of the system where the world was located was that its sun was four times larger than Earth’s sun. This feature had made the system easier to find. Claude and Evan Sonderson, who had found the system, used a delicate equation to verify that the second planet in the system was the same size as the Earth and was far enough from the sun that it could probably support life.
With seemingly everything in place for the global escape, a definite escape date was established and the countdown was started. Factories all over the world started working on the prototype escape ship. It was decided at this time that information about the coming disaster be gradually released to the public to avoid global panic.
At the same time more and more space missions were performed. The public was only aware of a portion of the experiments. The experiments being performed were to see the effects of space and zero gravity on insects, plants, animals, and people. For awhile people were convinced the experiments were for an International Space Station, but in reality these experiments were to verify that every species could survive the trip to the new world.
Meanwhile, decisions were finalized about individuals who would journey to the new world on the escape ships. A middle-aged delegate from the United States, Mark Restin, proposed the plan that was accepted. “I have an idea that would help decide who goes and who stays. My suggestion is that we set up a randomizer that will pick names of people from every city. A registration and information packet would be sent to those selected.
“They can then privately read the information and consider whether they believe in the coming disaster and if they want to proceed. They can then fill out the registration forms and prepare themselves to leave on the escape ships.
“Of course, the heads of governments will be allotted space on the ships. As the registration forms are received, those selected will be informed about updates of when and where they will need to go to commence the global exodus. Also, as new ships are built and readied, the randomizer will be used again and again to select names of people to fill each additional ship.”
Everyone agreed that the plan sounded very wise and plausible. It would be impartial and give everybody who should receive information pac
ks the opportunity to make up their own minds. It would also pick people at complete random from every walk of life. There were, of course, some that secretly plotted on how to cheat the system just enough to get their entire families on board as well as certain friends. Some also thought that the very rich should be allowed first and then use the randomizer for the lower classes. Some even thought that there should be a committee to aid in the selection process, one that would screen undesirable, criminal, or mentally ill people and prevent them from registering. But in the end, it was decided that there would be a supervisory board that would be in charge of the randomizer and registration. This supervisory board would insure that the randomizer was not tinkered with and that they didn’t discard any registration for any inappropriate reason and would strictly monitor everything.
Of course no matter how well the system was guarded, there were those that went around the system to get registered. Those that did this were some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world.
The information packet sent to those who registered gave them the information about the approaching planet and the Earth’s eventual doom. It also told them of the global escape plan and the escape ships. The packet would also contain the date of the global exodus, and when and where they were to take their belongings and where to go when it was time to board the escape ships. There was also a nondisclosure agreement to prevent people from releasing the information about the global escape to the general public. This was to help prevent premature global panic.
The registration also had an entire list of questions for those who were selected to answer and fill out. It included a section for the head of household to register the entire family. In that way, households could be registered and immediate families could stay together. That was most generally accepted and was especially the case in the United States. Other countries would modify the process to fit their varied cultures and governments. Yet the randomizer was used across the globe.
The committee governing the global escape also decided what information to release to the general public at any one time. They decided to give hints to moviemakers to make movies about traveling in space and eventually movies about the Earth being hit by a meteor or asteroid. They would gradually release news bits to the tabloids and slowly to the regular media. Their plan was that they would give full disclosure ten years before the global escape. At that time they would have open registration for the available global escape ships. The randomizer would no longer be used. It was reasoned that they would not be able to hide information from the general public any longer.
Within a year, the prototype was ready and a test crew was assembled to test the ship. The ship went through dozens of tests to prove it was space ready, and the deep sleep chambers were installed and found to work properly. As the first ship was being tested, more and more were being built and assembled. The randomizer was activated. As each ship was finished, packets were sent out and soon the global escape committee started receiving registration forms from those that accepted the opportunity to escape the Earth’s destruction.
During the process to develop the global escape ships, advances were also being made in rocket engines and jet engines. Better and faster rockets were being designed and built, pushing the speed barriers. The public was never informed exactly how fast the engines could push the ships. The sound barrier was broken and then the goal was twice the speed of sound. Three times, four times, five times the speed of sound became the ongoing goals. The designers were determined to build faster engines to push the global escape ships faster, enabling them to reach their destination faster. The ultimate goal, of course, was to get the escape ships to go the speed of light. For a while, it seemed that this goal might not be realized. The designers were still okay with their progress. They celebrated each achievement. Still they kept trying to get the engines to achieve greater speeds. At last there was an amazing discovery.
A group of scientists made up of members from a number of countries made a very timely discovery. They found that a new element could be used in a nuclear-type engine that could push a ship to greater speeds. The element was named Pomponium since it was discovered beneath the ruins of Pompeii. With further research of the nodules of Pomponium, scientists and archeologists located the true source of this element, Mount Vesuvius. With each test of the nuclear engine the test ship flew faster and faster. In fact, it was on the verge of light speed. And then the day came when they reached the magical goal and remarkably surpassed it. These engines were immediately added to the designs of the global escape ships.
Yet as the ships were being built faster, in numbers approaching the production of bombers for World War II, there was a controversy about the approaching planet. It wasn’t a controversy about politics or social and class divisions, but about religious issues. The controversy started among religious leaders. Some of the Jewish leaders didn’t believe that the Earth was going to be destroyed, insisting that it was against what the Torah said. Many Christian leaders agreed and quoted numerous Biblical scriptures stating that the planet approaching could not destroy the Earth. Other religious leaders around the world agreed and tried to argue that the world was not about to be destroyed. These numerous religious leaders convinced many people that they were perfectly safe, and that the government had made the whole thing up. The religious leaders called it a global conspiracy.
Apart from the religious controversy, there was another problem the UN had to address. There were many smaller countries and groups of people that were hoping that the major nations, their governments, and their populations would leave the Earth so they could take over. A few started plotting ways to take advantage of the situation, and how to conquer and rule the world. In one extremely ambitious group, based in the middle of Europe, was a rather energetic and enigmatic leader named Karlonis Moberly. He was feared to have access to weapons of mass destruction.
The UN did its best to keep law and order with these troublesome countries and groups. In most cases diplomacy ruled, yet for some countries force had to be used. Order had to be maintained while the escape ships were built. Despite these conflicts production of the global escape ships continued. The world leaders at the UN tried their best to keep the peace, while they kept their eyes on the approaching disaster that they were sure was coming.
Chapter 2
Grandfather’s Dream
Despite the religious controversies and the problems with the small countries and groups trying to convince people that the Earth was safe, there were still many families that believed in the coming catastrophe. One family in particular that believed in the disaster was the Sonderson family. Claude had made sure that as many family members as possible were made aware of the coming disaster and convinced them to register as soon as possible. He was a Christian and knew all about the religious controversy. He believed that this might be a test, or maybe the fulfillment of a new Earth, literally. He further believed that if the disaster was indeed real, then God had provided humanity with the ingenuity and intelligence to figure out how to save it.
Late one night, nineteen years before the scheduled global exodus, Claude lay in bed with his wife and thought about the global escape. He thought about his family and hoped that they were all registered. He lay awake thinking about all of them and praying for them. Slowly he slid into sleep and started to dream.
In the dream he was at the nearest launch site. He looked around at the beautiful day and heard the birds singing in the distant trees. The great ships were lined up a short distance away from him. He stopped and watched as a group of people that he’d never seen before filed past him headed for one of the ships. As he looked around, he saw other groups of people going into other ships as well. “So this is what it’s going to be like on that day,” he thought out loud. Then he heard somebody call his name and turned and saw a man approach him.
The man was clean-shaven and had neat brown hair and wore the white
outfit of a technician. His face seemed to glow from within. The man’s smile radiated calm and peace. His voice when he spoke was soft and gentle.
“Hello Claude,” said the man in greeting. “Is all your family aboard the ship?”
“Yes, I think so. At least I hope they are all on board one of these ships,” Claude replied, relief showing on his aged face.
“Is your grandson aboard?” the man asked casually yet watching Claude intently.
Claude thought and replied counting his grandsons off on his fingers trying to remember them all. “There’s Billy, Dennis, and James, Martin’s boys. Then there are Gary, Troy, Carl, and Jean, Tony’s boys. And there are George’s sons, Benny and Matthew.” These were currently all of his grandsons.
“What about Evan’s son. Is he on the ship yet?” the man asked more urgently.
Claude thought about his youngest son, Evan. This son hadn’t married and didn’t have children. “Evan. Why he isn’t married. I think that he’ll be on board, but he doesn’t have any children.”
The man shook his head pleasantly. He knew that Claude was thinking of the present as he slept, but this was the future. This was a vision of the future, and he knew Claude wasn’t thinking about the possibility that Evan would eventually be married and have children. “Isn’t Evan seeing Eileen Steinicky? Maybe he should be encouraged to settle down with her, start a family. There is still time,” the man prompted.
Claude gazed at the man, trying hard to figure out whom he was talking to and how he knew so much about his family. Why was it so important that Evan should marry and have children? “How do you know about my family? Who are you and why is it so important that Evan marry and have a family?” Claude asked, curious to learn what this was all about. Why was it so important that Evan have a son?
Space Knights: The Arrival Page 2