Earth To Nole: It begins at the end

by Kumar Lomash

  “Who?”, asked Kevin

  “You, Kevin. Humans! Isn’t that why you humans are here in the first place?”, Moji replied.

  Kevin suddenly realised why he was on the spaceship. He was not on a vacation or an adventure trip. He was one of the few humans who abandoned Earth in search for a new home. It was not something he had forgotten. He remembered his days on Earth like it were yesterday. The terrain was desert-like everywhere. Fumes and dust made up for most of the atmosphere up to a hundred feet above the ground. Colonies were built underground with dwellings, markets and hospitals. People came to the surface only for long distance travel and it happened very, very rarely. Antarctica was the only continent where life was still possible on the surface but only the very rich could afford it.

  “I am sorry, Kevin. I did not want to upset you.”, Moji said

  “What are you sorry for?”, Kevin snapped, “It was humans who destroyed Earth, not the bots”, Kevin looked frustrated.

  “Earth is not completely destroyed, Kevin. It still can recover.”, Moji tried to give Kevin some hope.

  “Yes! and it would recover, now that we have left it. We were it's cancer, now that we are gone - Earth would live.”, Kevin showed a peculiar satisfaction. He knew humans got what they deserved.

  “Kevin, why don’t you try moving your legs now?”, Moji tried changing the topic.

  “Do you have to call out my name in every sentence? You and me are the only ones present here, you know that right?”, Kevin replied with a bit of misdirected frustration.

  “Alright Kevin, I will keep that in mind.”, Moji replied calmly.

  “You see? you are not as smart as some would think you are.”, Kevin joked.

  “Can you please try moving your legs now, K..?”, Moji stopped.

  “Or maybe you are”, Kevin smiled.

  Kevin slowly moved his legs off the sleeping pod and lifted his shoulders putting most of his upper body’s weight on his right elbow. He stretched his right arm to lift his body further up. He was now sitting with his legs touching the floor. Moji moved away to avoid coming in Kevin’s way of standing up. Kevin slid forward, bringing more of his bodyweight on his feet. His arms were completely stretched with both his palms flat on the pod’s surface to support his body. Kevin lifted his body, shifting his weight partially on his palms and partially on his legs. Then he leaned on the right side lifting his left arm above the pod’s surface. Finally, he lifted his right arm and stretched his body upright. He was happy. He looked around for appreciation but Moji was not amused.

  “How did I do?”, Kevin asked.

  “You did ok. Try to be on your feet most of the time. Give your arms and legs as much exercise as possible. I will be available to train you whenever you feel like working out.”, Moji replied.

  “Ya, we’ll see.”, Kevin was not so keen on working out.

  Kevin walked out of his cabin. He saw many hover-bots hovering on the gates of the other cabins in his sub-block. Moji was hovering in front of him, looking straight ahead and moving forward slowly as if it wanted Kevin to follow. Kevin walked slowly, his legs were shaking like that of an old man. He was wearing a robe which covered most of his thin body. The legs however were still visible below the knee. He was walking barefoot on a grass like material which paved the part of the floor meant for walking. He knew that all areas accessible to passengers have this grass pavement and that the passengers need not wear any slippers or shoes. Moji lead Kevin to the center of the south block. It had a lot of chairs and benches placed in concentric circles facing towards the centre. Kevin could see a few seats occupied by passengers who were already awake and fully recovered like Kevin. Some of them had a hover-bot hovering near them. As Kevin approached the seating area, he could see that most of the passengers were sad. They were missing Earth probably, or just tired of the long sleep.

  Kevin suddenly noticed a young woman sitting on one of the chairs far from anyone else. She was not sad but didn’t look happy either. She had an expressionless face and she looked in control of herself. She was sitting with her back erect, without leaning forward or backward, completely on her spine. There was a hint of confidence on her face, it seemed like she knew what was going to happen and she was just waiting. Kevin couldn’t help but notice her beautiful, large, black eyes. This was not the first time he had seen her. He remembered that she was on spacecraft which brought Kevin to the spaceship before leaving Earth. Her eyes seemed fixated on something but she was not looking at anything in particular, not at least in that room. She was thin but didn’t look weak. Her long hair was tightly woven into a braid. She was sitting with her palms resting on her thighs almost as if she was meditating. Kevin had not seen a prettier face in his entire life. He couldn’t get her details before because all of it happened in a hurry. Now that she was in front of him again, he asked, “Who is she?”.

  “She is Joti”, Moji said.

  “You know her?”, Kevin wanted to know if Moji could introduce him to Joti.

  “I have a database of every passenger travelling on this spaceship.”, Moji replied.

  “Cool! so what do you know?”, Kevin asked. He not even looking at Moji when he asked it.

  “She is Joti. She belongs to the ‘J’ gene pool. 6th generation. She was born in the year 2757 in Antarctica.”, Moji paused.

  “She is perfect. Isn’t she?”, Kevin asked with appreciation in his eyes as he kept staring at her.

  “Indeed! After all she is a ‘J’.”, Moji replied.

  “What does that mean?”, Kevin asked.

  “There are different gene pools, Kevin. Every human belongs to a gene pool. All gene pools are assigned an alphabet. Till date there have been 10 genetically engineered pools. The first 3, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ were catastrophes, they were discontinued after their first or second generations. ‘D’ and ‘E’ were nearly perfect. No old age and very long lives but that had its own side effects. Consequently they were banned worldwide in the Union. ‘F’, ‘G’, ‘H’, and ‘I’ are speciality gene pools. These people are otherwise normal except for an unusually high aptitude for a specific skill. For example, ‘F’s have excellent analytical and problem solving skills. ‘G’s are physically strong, they can run fast, lift heavy weights and fight hard. ‘H’s are emotionally strong and one of the wisest people around. They are good at making judgments and make fine executives. ‘I’s are highly empathetic. They make good doctors and nurses. For centuries these four gene pools were the only gene pools in which a new birth was approved in the Union. Many experiments to combine these 4 enhancements into a single gene pool failed. Scientists believed that the strength of one gene pool was the weakness of the other. Mixing them was not adding them together but actually subtracting them from one another. However, not very long ago, in 2696, they had a breakthrough. Few scientists were able to mix these four genes in a way that the resulting individuals had all of these aptitudes enhanced. After much hesitation and debate, the first generation ‘J’s were born in 2703. So Kevin you see, when I say that she is perfect, I mean it literally.”, Moji replied.

  “Why am I not aware of this?”, Kevin asked. He was surprised.

  “Kevin, you were brought up in a class 4 colony on Earth. Your education is obsolete. Class 4 colonies are almost on their own with no external governance or aid. What you currently know has been outdated for at least 500 years.”, Moji replied.

  “Hey there, I am Gollow, what’s your name?” - A young man approached Kevin. Kevin turned around and shook Gollow’s hand.

  “I am Kevin, Good Morning.”, Kevin said.

  “Wear a watch man, it’s almost dinner time.”, Gollow seemed like a friendly person. He was not as thin as Kevin and also looked in much better physical condition.

  “But I just woke up. And, how do you define morning or evening in a spaceship, Gollow?”, Kevin asked a very simple question.

  Gollow looked at Moji and said, “Aren’t you supposed to help these class 4 citizens understand
our technology, you lazy bot?”

  Moji began answering Kevin’s question, “Kevin, you are right about the fact that on a spaceship mornings and evenings do not exist. But humans are adapted to a 24 hour cycle and their routine would go haywire if the mornings and evenings do not exist. So, this spaceship simulates a normal Earth day and night cycle every 24 hours. Gollow is right, you should wear a watch.”

  “Okay…”, Kevin was still getting used to all the new information coming his way.

  “So, what’s up Kev? I hope you don’t mind me calling you that.”, Gollow asked.

  No that's fine. My friends call me Kev.

  “And my friends call me Golli. Feel free to use that”, Gollow winked.

  Sure, Golli. This is Moji.

  “Hi Gollow.I have been assigned to him till his orientation is complete.”, Moji clarified

  “What orientation?”, Kevin looked at Moji.

  “You are a class 4 resident, Kevin. All class 4 and 5 residents are required to complete their orientation which includes general knowledge about the modern human society, equipment that humans use these days, modern history and basic science and technology.”, Moji replied.

  “Modern human society?”, Gollow repeated with sarcasm. “Look around, Kev. There is nothing left to learn”.

  There was an awkward silence. Kevin always wanted to learn more about the modern society. All of this was like science fiction to him. He lived in a world which was cut off from the developed parts of the modern world from around 2238 AD. Time had stood still in class 4 and 5 colonies since then. People still read the same books, studied the same art and used the same technology. Kevin believed, as any other class 4 resident, that the world had ended outside his colony. It was only when he was selected for this mission and brought to a class 2 colony in Siberia did he realise that parts of this world were far more advanced than what his fellow residents thought. He had only spent a couple of days in Siberia when he was flown off to the spaceship which was orbiting Earth at that time, preparing for its long voyage. He had so many questions but there was no time for answers back then. Everyone was in a hurry to leave.

  “It was weird that we left in a hurry, wasn’t it?”, Kevin spoke out loudly. “It wasn’t like Earth was going to blow up in a couple of months”.

  “No one understands why the Union does what it does. It was ‘we are moving in 13 months’ one day and ‘we are moving in a week’ the next. When did they pick you up, Kev?”, Gollow asked.

  “Two days before we left Earth’s orbit. I was on the last onboarding.”, Kevin replied.

  “Last to be picked up, huh? You must have been special. What’s your legal name?”, Gollow seemed curious.

  “Kevin. Why?”, Kevin replied. Gollow made him curious too.

  “Thats interesting. Although, being a class 4 resident, you might not have a legal name at all!”, Gollow realised the concept of legal name was not applicable here. He continued, ‘Let’s walk up to the canteen. I won’t ask more questions of you, you still need to learn a lot before we can talk all this.”, Golli started moving expecting Kevin to follow.

  Kevin looked at Moji. He was seeking approval. Moji silently turned and hovered in the same direction as Gollow. Kevin started moving too. Gollow pulled Kevin to his right side and put his right arm on Kevin’s shoulders in a friendly manner. Moji was hovering just behind them. Gollow said, “So, missing home yet?”.

  ###

  On the other side of the spaceship, the cockpit was still dimly lit but now there were two people sitting on the two chairs facing outside the cockpit into space. The front glass on the cockpit had some kind of solar filter which made the star, which was dead straight, look dull. The door behind them opened and a man entered in a wheelchair.

  Both the pilots left their seats and stood up.

  “Good evening, Captain”, they said almost synchronously.

  Good evening, gentlemen. Back to work now.

  “Sir!”, the pilots went back to their seats and awaited instructions.

  How are we doing?

  “Surprisingly good, Sir”, Pilot 1 shouted. “We have more fuel than we need and all the systems are go”.

  “Alright, keep me posted.”, the captain turned his wheelchair around and started moving out of the cockpit. The cockpit door opened automatically and closed as soon as he left. The captain drove his wheelchair through a lobby and after a few turns entered a conference room. The room was occupied by 6 men and 2 women who were sitting around what looked like a conference table. The room was quite large for the conference table and a dozen wall mounted screens that it had. Most of the room was empty. As the captain’s wheelchair approached the table, he realised everyone was waiting for him. All 16 eyes were fixed on him as he parked his wheelchair at one far end of the elliptical conference table. On the other end, there was an old man who looked in control of the affairs. He spoke up.

  Now that the Captain has joined us, let's start the meeting.

  Is everything in order, Captain?

  Yes, Mr. Holum.

  “Are we on schedule for stage 9?” Another man asked.

  I don’t see any problem, Mr. Foss.

  “And what about the deaths, Captain?”, a lady asked. “Couldn’t we have avoided that?”

  I am sorry, Madam Inca. But 131 deaths among twenty thousand deep sleep passengers is not a bad figure. Given that deep sleep of more than a 100 years has a 99% survival rate.

  “Can you assure us that there would be no more deaths, Captain?”, Inca insisted in a frustrated tone. “Human life is precious”.

  “And now that there are only a few of us left”, the other lady added, “it would be much appreciated if we took utmost care”.

  “I understand, Madam Inca, madam Feli.”, the Captain said.

  “Captain…”, a soft voice seeked the captain’s attention. “Garry, we trust you completely as our captain. You have done beautifully in bringing us this close to our destination”.

  “Thank you, Mr. Ibu, Sir. I will try not to disappoint you.”, Garry said with confidence. He then turned to Inca and said, “And we will be more careful, I assure you.”.

  “Very well captain”, Holum seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to interrupt. “When are we entering Nole’s orbit?”

  We would be entering Nole’s orbit in 30 hours from now. That would mark the beginning of stage 9.

  “and…”, Holum wanted Garry to continue with the description of his plan.

  “We will complete our first revolution around Nole in 26 hours. This would be the end of stage 9. We will then establish ourselves in a geostationary orbit and enter stage 10”, Garry looked around to confirm that everyone was following him.

  Stage 10 would last for 20 days, during which we will send multiple scouts to Nole and search for a location to set up base. Once a location is finalized we will start our descent and begin stage 11. We will land and begin stage 12.”

  “And by that you mean, prepare spaceship and its passengers for the environment outside, right captain?”, Foss added casually.

  “Absolutely”, Garry confirmed. “We don’t know much about Nole”, Garry looked around, he was trying to sensitize the room towards the importance of stage 12. “We don’t know what's waiting for us there”

  “Don’t worry about that, Captain”, a strong voice interrupted. This man looked like a decorated war hero. He was wearing his uniform comfortably. “Leave that to us, we will neutralize whatever comes in our way”.

  Garry wanted to object but he knew its was not his place to challenge General Gollard.

  “We have had enough of your neutralization on Earth”, Ibu broke the silence. Inca was too disgusted to say anything, she just nodded in affirmation.

  “Let’s try not to make a mess on our first day as guests”, Ibu said in a commanding voice.

  Gollard turned to Holum and appealed, “Would you rather sit back and see Nole tear us apart?”. Before Holum could reply, Inca slammed her palms on the ta
ble and shouted “Would you rather sit back and see us tear Nole apart?”

  Holum raised his hands and waved it vertically, very slowly, asking both Gollard and Inca to calm down.

  “Let's have some dinner, ladies and gentlemen. I have not eaten anything in almost 3 centuries.”, Holum smiled.

  Server-bots stood still behind the round pillars on the circular edge of the room, waiting for Holum’s signal. As soon as Holum said the word “dinner”, they rushed with large serving plates in their hands. Server-bots looked different from hover-bots. They did not fly, instead they stood on ground like humans but instead of feet they had a sphere which was capable of rolling around any axis. The lower half of the sphere was visible while the upper was hidden inside a cylindrical opening which looked as if the bot’s legs were tied together in a cylinder. Server-bots were one of the early generations of bots and hardly had any moving parts except for hands and rolling feets. Their bodies looked more like standing human statues on rollers than any humanoid.

  Back in the canteen of level 20, hundreds of passengers were having their meals. A few hover bots were also visible hovering around their owners and current assignees. The canteen had long tables with people sitting on either side of it. A few server-bots were making rounds with trays full of beverages. This was a self service canteen. Gollow and Kevin took their already prepared trays off the shelf and started looking for an empty table. The canteen was sparsely filled, with people sitting as far from each other as possible.

  “We can’t have a table to ourselves, all the tables are taken”, Gollow noted.