by Jack Vantage
Thirty could be seen by him, large spherical stations rimmed with thousands of windows that offer the greatest view in the solar system. They connected like the bloods cellular structure inside the human body and were reflective with a photovoltaic shell. The spheres themselves were massive solar conductors. Each globular station harnessed its own power from the sun, conducting heat and solar radiation for its own reproductive purpose. On one of them was the most powerful man alive, the planets leader, who wanted to speak with him.
As the elevator slowed, the guards moved to the sealed exit, positioning themselves on either side. The elevator stopped with a whining click, and the door slid slowly upwards.
A senior presidential representative, suited in a grey all in one synthetic uniform, waited with hands formally behind him, short black hair atop his head, and a smart clean look across his face. “David Bell?”
“Yes,” David replied, as he stepped into the space station.
A labyrinth of cubed corridors stretched away in front of him, with dozens and dozens of uniformed personnel moving around, some chatting together, some alone.
“Please follow me, the president is expecting you.”
“Can you shed any light on what this is about?” David asked.
“I’m not authorized to say anything, sir. My job is to collect you and show you to the meeting room in the observatory bay.”
David nodded and followed the representative.
He passed a large glass window, which peered into an empty chrome-kitted lab, where biological experiments took place. The operation bay was clinically clean, the experiment table within gleamed chrome. The experimental tables always inspired David, as they sat with eight arms reaching outward from them. They always looked to David like an arachnid on its back, but they were state of the art and could perform operations with no human interaction. They possessed laser cutters and pincers on arms that had multiple axel points. They could wave and pivot with supple simplicity, much more so than a human’s motion.
Small, rectangular message droids scurried across the floor. The corridors walls directed personnel around with directional arrows and route plans. David passed a turn that read “Station 25, this way.”
Windows played videos of landscapes, mind trickery for the station regular. David passed an ocean view. A rare sight as Quazar owned no ocean on the surface. All of Quazar’s life giving liquid was under the crust, a miracle of planetary design. He was adamant that Quazar was the only place in the universe where H2O was hidden.
The representative turned a corner and looked back checking David was following. David smiled and moved beside him.
“Who is at the meeting?” David said.
“I don’t know any information sir, just that you need to be there. I have been told that you’re the last to arrive and to hurry you there.”
At the end of the corridor was a group of heavily armed guards.
“Needless to say, security is pretty tight. They will take you from here.”
“Please hold your position” the right security guard said through his visor. The guards beside him pointed their assault blasters at David, who stopped intimidated.
“Raise your hand.” the guard ordered.
One guard lifted a small oval silver chip locator and waved it over David’s hand. It bleeped with genetic recognition.
The guard read the name that appeared on the small monitor, then waved the locator up and down his body. It bleeped again.
“All clean.” He stepped back and gestured. “Please enter the first door to your right. They’re expecting you.”
He took a deep breath and stepped forward. The door lifted, then he entered. The room was dimly lit. A round, black-marble table, glossed the middle of the room. It was surrounded by thirty large white padded chairs. Centre table was the Quazar military emblem, a round green ball circled by red and yellow lines. An engraved message read To Protect And Uphold.
Around the table were the most powerful and influential people alive.
Neil Jennings, the sixty-year-old chairman of the scientific committee, sat five seats from the president. He was the man who dished out every credit to the world of science and made every key decision about scientific changes that affected the planet.
Next to him sat the general of the Quazar army, Henry Lincoln, with his angular worn features, and short grey hair. Dozens and dozens of honour tags lined the breast of his uniform. He was the most influential figure in the planet’s defences. Every member of the Authoritarians and military answered to him. His strong posture reinstated his authority.
At the top end, sat a friend named Michael Lewis, who led the world in astrophysics. The young genius sat with hands on table looking up at David with apologetic eyes. His corporate crew cut dressed him with a dark handsome look.
David vaguely recognised a few more, but the remaining people that filled the chairs must be assistants and smaller political figures, as he did not recognise them.
Why am I here? David thought.
The president stood up and spoke. “Hello, David. I’m sorry about the short notice. Please, take your seat.” He gestured towards the seat next to Michael Lewis.
After David sat, the president continued. “Okay, everyone. Some of you have already been told, some of you have not. Today, on the eve of a new millennium, we’re facing the biggest obstacle in the history of the human race.”
The president leaned forward and placed two hands on the table. He looked everyone one by one with grave eyes, “We have to evacuate as many people from the planet as possible in the next two days.” He glanced at Michael. “Michael please explain.” The president sat down.
Michael rose from his chair, walked over to sealed window, and pressed a button on the wall beside it.
Slowly, a room wide window shade lifted to reveal the giant sun of Quazar burning brilliantly yellow-blue in the void of space. The sun was millions of miles away, yet it cast the shadow from the room like it was God.
“Last week we received a distress call from a ship we sent to study the outer layers of our sun. It was to study the outer layers, which included the chromosphere, corona, and photosphere, to get a detailed reading at all wavelengths with newly developed spectrographs. The team were also reading the dynamics of solar flares, in relation to the internal magnetic fields. Also, they were sending probes in to gather matter, to get a perfect reading on ion levels, carbon levels, and how ionized the corona atomic energy is. I would go into detail, but we don’t have time.”
He paused, then said to the room, “Play call number two please.”
A female astronaut’s voice said, “Mission control we are back in range after returning from the far side of the sun. We have a problem. Computers have confirmed there is a black hole, just three hundred thousand miles from the sun. We have witnessed the effect of gravitational lensing with our own eyes, what should we do? Please confirm. Our current calculations estimate the black hole will grab the sun in two days. We’re returning as protocol states.”
General Lincoln was the first to react. Everyone else huffed in shock. “I’m no scientist. What do we need to do to destroy it?”
“That’s the problem, sir. Nothing can stop it. A black hole is something that cannot be controlled,” Michael said. “A black hole eats matter. If you fired a weapon at it, nuclear or anything, you’d be feeding it. It’s what it wants.”
“What will it do to the sun?” General Lincoln asked.
“It’s not just the sun, but the solar system. Like a vacuum cleaner, it will absorb the sun, the system, and us.”
“Who is to blame for this, why hasn’t this been spotted before?” the General grunted.
Michael said, “General, galaxies move. Black holes don’t. We didn’t know this rogue hole was lying dormant in space, it must have been for thousands of years for us to miss it. If it had been active, we could have spotted it, but it’s been quiet, hiding in plain sight” Michael continued.
David s
aid, “General we don’t have enough eyes on the sky. We’ve been trying for years to get every spot of the universe under the microscope, but we kept being rejected. The cost was too much, is what we were told.”
Neil Jennings shifted in his seat and retaliated with a defensive stance. “Don’t you blame me for this.” His youthful look disappeared with worry.
“I’m not blaming you. It’s just the truth.”
“I have done as much as I can for the astronomy division, it’s not my fault the universe is so big,” he shouted.
“It was your job to watch what was going on around this world, your job Jennings.” the General said. His finger pointed blame.
The president dispassionately said, “Everyone please, I know this is hard. Please everyone, just take a deep breath. There is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is save as many people as we can. Within the next hour I want a plan, and I want that plan in action within three hours. Nobody leaves until we start the evacuation.”
The intensity of the situation drowned David’s thoughts. In two days Quazar would be no more. David looked around and saw the fear and hurt inside each person’s eyes. How do you take it in?
For the first time, he noticed Samantha Knowles, Quazar’s social protector. She oversaw every little detail of the public’s behaviour. She set goals and small changes to compensate for crime and any public fallout. Tears had formed at her small round eyes; her tied-back red hair radiated the horror in her face. Her soft, meek features conveyed that she was terrified.
“Samantha,” the President said. “Please let everyone know what would happen if this got out, and why we need to be silent in our approach to this.”
She composed herself, wiped her eyes, and stood. “Okay, mister president. Quazar’s society is built on peace, order, and safety. We have reached a stage within our society where every Quazarian takes for granted their easy life. Basically, our society in many respects is practically perfect, give or take a few criminals. If this got out society would, within a few hours, collapse, completely turn to chaos. The equilibrium would turn into disarray. The world would riot in a blink of an eye. Religious riots would begin, people who couldn’t make it off the planet would kill, and people would kill to get off. Social order would turn to social panic and people would turn into animals with only the very basic instinctive will to live driving them. Chaos is all that would happen, and a world of chaos is hell. We need to be silent in getting people off the planet, or nobody will get off the planet. Too many people would craze, and it would be impossible to hold the millions of people back from the galactic carriers that we need for our escape,” she said with a wavering voice.
The General said, “You mean to tell me that we have to just let our people slowly realise, when that thing grabs our sun, that something bad is happening. That our people are going to get no warning, no help, nothing from us.”
“Please, General,” the president begged.
“You’re telling me that we have to leave the majority of people here to die? Let them tear each other apart trying to save themselves.” The General didn’t like admitting defeat, but he was powerless against the universes best offensive weapons.
“We have to, or no one will be saved,” Samantha said.
“How many people can we get off the planet in time?” Jennings asked.
“We think around ten million, if we act right away,” Ed Ryan said. He stood as Samantha sat down next to him. His wise looks and grey hair overlooked the table.
Ed Ryan was head of all intergalactic transport, exports, imports, and leisure. His shifty gaze covered everyone.
“I have my men prepping every available ship right now. They have been for the past few days. We need to work out who is coming, and how to get them on the ships with no one from the media finding out.”
“Good luck with that one,” the general said. “They’re like god damned secret flies, millions of the little fuckers all buzzing around, hiding and finding out things. It’s all they’re born for.”
“Please, general, cool yourself. Start thinking about how to go about this,” the president said.
“I will order my army to start rounding them up like cattle straight away, they will do it as they’re trained and do it, with no questions asked. I suggest the names are put forward right now as to who is being given a chance at life. My orders will be to arrest the lucky people, and transport them to their designated ship,” the general said. “The media will be threatened when they begin asking questions, which will be within, I’d say, three hours after the collection starts. My men will have to keep in the dark the people they are arresting and pray that no one realises what is going on. Or like Samantha said a god damned social world war will start.”
“Okay,” the president said.
David could see how hard this was for him, the man that maintained his people’s way of life so perfectly and caringly. With each second the nightmare turned closer to reality, the apocalypse neared. The biblical implications of the event would rewrite the books of civilisation. It would change the way humanity looked at the universe for eternity. Everything that science in modern times could offer had no effect, or rescuing power to this. The devil himself had decided to make a few changes, changes that would scar the race until the end of time.
“Michael, let them know there still is a chance nobody will make it.”
“Like I said before, there is a chance that the sun could collapse. When the black hole begins tearing the outer layers off, it could collapse internally. The sun may explode and supernovae its outer layers in a blast. If the galactic ships are not far enough away, it will kill everyone. I’m talking a minimum of five to ten light years, there is no guarantee. We have recorded supernovas that have exploded and covered hundreds of light years.”
“That’s just great. We might just as well all sit here and take it like men,” the general said.
“We have to try,” the president reiterated. “We all have to try. There is no guarantee that it will supernova. We have to run as fast as we can from here.”
David looked out of the window, to the life breathing ball of fire that had no idea it was about to enter a fight it couldn’t win. Its granules bubbled its photospheric surface, that sinister world of heat and fusion.
Michael asked, “David, is there any way we can take a look at the black hole from where we are?”
David looked up at Michael. “Where is it coming from?”
“We believe it’s coming from the direction of the Gaseous constellation. On the current far side of the sun,” Michael said.
“There is no way of viewing it until the planet orbits around, which will take another two months before we could get the angle and line of sight to do so,” David replied.
“Great so we’re also blind. Can’t you see the entire universe?” the general remarked.
“We can see the entire universe, General, but not all at the same time. Our satellites must stay within Quazar’s gravity hold. We don’t have enough staff, or satellites, to keep check on all of space at the same time. There is no way of predicting what’s going to happen if we can’t see it coming.”
“Right,” the president said. “Let’s start picking. Who is being saved?”
Samantha stood again. “Mister President, I feel it would be wise to take as many scientists as possible, and as many politicians as possible. Most people here on the stations will have to come. We could dock the galactic ships here.”
“Okay, where do you get the names from?” the president replied.
“I have already gone through our database. It has selected two million scientists from around Quazar, and one million political members from various departments,” she replied.
“Right. What about the public? How do we choose them?”
“Quite simply a lottery. I have run the program and it has selected four million people, of all ages, races, and both genders. It is the best way possible. The military and Authoritarians will ensure tho
se people make it to their designated ship. That leaves three million places, and everyone here has to decide who fills them.”
Jennings spoke from his seat. “We have to have medical people—doctors, nurses, etcetera.”
Samantha said, “They have been included within the scientific group. Each galactic ship will hold numerous amounts to ensure the health safety of each colony.”
“I want some of my men to come with us, each ship will need their safety. I’m not leaving every member of my men here. I want a million out of my thirty,” the general said.
“I agree,” the president said.
“So do I,” Samantha said.
David said, “What about children? I mean we need the youth for our way of life to stand any chance of surviving.”
The room fell silent.
“I agree with David we need more families. Maybe we should take as many families as we can,” the general said.
Finally, Samantha said, “I think you would have to allocate a million places to large young families.”
“One million left,” the president said.
Michael looked around and spoke. “I think the last million places should go to the public. We should give a few more people the chance. Run the lottery with it.”
“Is everyone agreed on this?” the president asked.
Everyone agreed with a murmur. Most people around the room were still dumbstruck, in shock.
“Within the next hour Samantha, I want every name given to the general. All addresses and communication details. General, I want the collection to begin tomorrow morning at the latest.” the President said, with all of his power behind his voice.
“Mr President the media is my biggest concern. I will tell my men to cease, when arrested, every communication device from the captors. They will lock them in their ships and continue their round up,” the general assured.