Trappist-1_The Tree of Life

by Todd Fries

  Nickolas remembered the times spent with his father, conducting “digs” at various locations around the globe. He was on-hand to see some of his greatest discoveries and all the while his father mentored him to understand the “human” side of archaeology. He remembered excavating a man buried over 3000 years ago. Nickolas recalled leaning over the pit and wondered at the boney face staring back at him. When he imagined the man in his mind, he visualized this person as he had been. He was short and stocky, but regal in appearance, sporting jewelry and what appeared to be a band of gold across his brow.

  “What do you see?” His father had questioned.

  Nickolas recalled concentrating with all his might until he visualized the boney face becoming flesh. He was a dark skinned man with piercing brown eyes who looked back at him with intelligent wonder. He was muscular and lean and the bottoms of his feet were frosty white, thick skinned from walking without shoes. He was colorful. So colorful. He had beads of aqua blue, yellow and red and a cloth extended from his waist, secured by a leather strap. He held a spear in one hand, angled across his chest and his knife was tightly secured to his belt.

  The man was impressive to behold. Truly he’d been a king in his country. Nickolas started assembling the pieces in his mind. The post holes and fire pits, the animal bones and tools. They were hunters. They must have hunted these lands long ago, looking for prey.

  He remembered kneeling close to the bones. There were no signs of disease. This man was well-built and athletic. He didn’t sit in a hut all day waiting for offerings of food and drink. He was a leader. A warrior who led his people in all aspects of life, participating in the hunt and leading the way into battle.

  At any rate this man had been a valued member of society and his burial was executed with care. He could imagine a scene of loud weeping; women beating their chests and men standing in silent memorial as his body was laid to rest. Perhaps he died in battle.

  He turned to examine his surroundings. While this was a desert now, his world had been green and lush. The grain and corn were evidence that water once filled the fields, carpeting these lands with flowers and shrubs. As he looked out, he saw small parcels of land with stalks of waving grain and beyond, trees and shrubs. Each set of post holes was a hut and in each hut a fire pit. Smoke curled from the top of each and the murmur of voices filled his head.

  “Do you see?” Questioned the dark man. He rose like a mist and entered his mind, like a soft whisper eager to be heard. He stopped next to him and looked out over the endless desert and spoke once again.

  “Everything as far as the eye can see was my kingdom. My people lacked for nothing and the land produced a harvest of plenty.”

  He pointed with his spear, moving it across the horizon in one broad sweep.

  “Our children played in and around these huts as the women prepared our food. The land provided us with wild game and fish and we enjoyed the peace of prosperity.”

  The wind ticked his hair and the man walked through him as he bent down to pick up sand, letting it run through his fingers.

  “Then the water stopped coming. We prayed for water and danced for the Sun, the goddess of the sky, begging for mercy from the angry star. But she didn’t help us. The crops started to fail and my children grew thin. The sound of tears replaced laughter and the hunters were gone longer and longer.”

  The man stood again, his gold band shining in the sun.

  “Eventually other men started coming who were searching for food and there was famine and war and many died on both sides. For years we watched while the water slowed to a trickle, as the hills stopped giving their rain.

  He moved to one side and pointed again.

  “And so we lifted our huts and followed the water and we became the trespassers, looking for supplies, but only finding pain and death.”

  His face became dark and sad.

  “I watched as my family suffered and longed for the days of old when we were a kingdom of power and might, but now we were beggars in hostile lands. But we never gave up hope and we never lost our honor. Our people were strong and proud and we held our heads high and sang the songs of the ancients, passed down from generation to generation.”

  He took the bottom of his spear and pounded the ground. He closed his eyes and tilted his head, rocking to the rhythm. ‘Boom – Boom – Tap, Tap – Boom.’

  Jillian touched his shoulder.

  “Are you ok? You seem distracted.”

  Nickolas gathered his thoughts and answered.

  “Sorry. I was wrapped up in my own little world. What can I do for you?”

  “I was just bringing these reports you requested. These are production and yield estimates for a 20 acre plot. I believe we should stagger the growth by dividing the gardens into five acre parcels. In this manner, we’ll have many fields in various stages of development. It will provide a more stable and reliable source of food and by separating each plot, we can control disease and grow a variety of crops.”

  Nickolas turned to her and mindlessly reached for the report. His mind was still processing the images in his mind. He wondered if humans might eventually adjust to the dark environment of Proxima b. Almost all species had the ability to adapt to new environmental conditions if given enough time. So was it possible for humans to become sensitive to UV and other forms of light? Might their eyes become larger to compensate for low light conditions? Perhaps the format of the alien text was made for a future state of man? This was a bit unnerving and so putting his thoughts aside, he thanked Jillian and continued with his work.

  While planning was important, he was pressed for time and just like the day he robbed that sports store in Montana, he felt as if he was being rushed to make decisions and in a way he was doing exactly that. In order for this plan to work, they needed to move quickly before the opportunity was lost. The ship was heavily guarded and locked inside a hangar and once the General was ready to launch, that ship would never be seen again.

  The only plan they had was to tie their entry into the hangar with Major Brooks or one of the others who had free access. Using the first person to gain entry, they’d all come crashing through and ‘rush’ the ship before the guards could react. Once the door was shut, they’d be protected from guns and bullets, but opening the hangar door would be the final challenge.

  It was a large door, but not very strong. It didn’t need to be. The primary function of the barrier was to protect the ship from prying eyes and he reasoned that they might be able to push through it using the indestructible mass of SM1. Given the amount of time needed to secure the ship, there was no way to leave one person exposed for that long without being shot or captured. That door didn’t open quickly and the activation switch was on the far wall. It also required a key.

  As he pondered these obstacles, he noticed an envelope slipped under his door. Cautiously, he walked over and picked it up. When he opened it, he saw a short note. When he read it, a chill went down his spine.

  “I know what you are planning. I’ll help in any way possible. I’ll contact you soon.”

  His hands trembled as he read the message. Who else could possibly know about their activities? And how did this person know what they were planning? Was it a reference to their plan to hijack SM1? Quickly thinking, he pulled open the door and looked up and down the hallway, but nobody was in sight.

  Crumpling up the note, he quickly disposed of it. He would have to talk with the others before proceeding. If someone was sharing the details of their plan, he had to know who and then try to find out if their scheme had been compromised. This was not a welcome development.

  GEBURAH

  Kathi read through the will. Her fiancé had left everything to her, but it wasn’t much in the material sense. He had a good bank account and a pension, but that was about it. He never put value in ‘things’ and lived a simple and sparse life. There was nothing he had that could ever replace him and she missed their time together.

  Everyone participated
in his memorial and it was so touching, but now that it was over; she was alone again and the weight of his absence crushed her soul. There had been such a showering of support in the days immediately following his death, but as time went on, she was left to herself more and more and now that he’d been put to rest, there was a sense of closure for everyone but herself.

  While she understood he may have been murdered, she also realized that there was little they could do to investigate it themselves. This General Taylor controlled everything and when he volunteered to say a few words at Samuel’s memorial, she nearly died. His participation was an affront to everything she believed about Samuel and while she would have liked to refuse the offer, she had to protect the others from unwanted scrutiny. The last thing they needed was an angry and vengeful commander.

  In some ways she didn’t want to live anymore. She wasn’t suicidal, but for the first time in her life she felt as if a piece of her had died. This man completed her in so many ways and while their time together was brief, she appreciated his warmth and love in so many ways. Now all that remained were memories and an empty apartment.

  Struggling to hold back her emotions, she concentrated on the task at hand. Tomorrow was the big day. This was the moment of truth when they would try to capture SM1 and take it away from this place of violence. Violence in what they did and violence in what they planned to do with SM1. It would be very satisfying to see the look on General Taylor’s face when he came to inquire about her participation in the ruse.

  She had no intention of going along. She was too old and set in her ways and the amount of work they were describing wasn’t something she wanted to commit to for the rest of her life. Instead - she would play a supporting role by distracting the guards long enough to allow the team to enter the craft. She eyed the weapon sitting in the closet. This was the one ‘thing’ the General left to her that might prove invaluable. It was a vintage M1 carbine with plenty of ammunition and all she needed was the opportunity to use it.

  Once they made their escape, she would have her own closure of sorts. By fulfilling the dream of her fiancé she’d be “sticking it” to General Taylor in the best way she knew how and she didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it either. If they locked her up for the rest of her life; so what. This wasn’t about saving the human race as much as it was about unquiet justice for a crime of unspeakable horror that found no comfort in righteous judgement. She would become judge, jury and executioner if necessary.

  Even here on the base, fortunes turned and leaders changed. Someday a new regime might take control and actually investigate the circumstances of his death and then she’d be justified for her actions. But like any revolutionary, she would have to start with a private war before it became popular for others to join in her solitary revolt. No matter what happened with SM1, she had a singular objective in mind and that was to bring his killer to justice.

  She wondered how many others in Area 51 had similar stories of injustice and pain. While this might be a highly restricted military facility, they were still Americans with rights and privileges and despite any document she may have signed to the contrary, there were some inalienable rights that were above contestation. This included the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Samuel lost all three and in a way so did she because her life was now over without her partner and friend.

  If the founding fathers could see this place and her situation, they’d be appalled by the totalitarian regime of General Taylor. What was it that they said in the Declaration of Independence?

  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

  That’s all she was doing. She was merely standing up to a form of government that was becoming destructive to those ends. While this base was a part of the United States, the Government she served was in the form of a general who had full control over all aspects of her life. There was no higher power on which she could depend and so being trapped in her circumstances, she felt compelled to take matters into her own hands.

  She remembered Jacob talking about the different Sephirot on the Tree of Life and one named Geburah, which meant “Severity” in strength of judgment, intention, awe of God and she felt her desire for judgment over-riding all other emotions. If her life meant nothing else than being a catalyst for change, she could die knowing she did everything possible to return some measure of life and liberty to the ‘non-persons’ living on this facility. For even prisoners had rights and they were just as much prisoners here as in a jail outside the confines of this remote oasis.

  So as she read the words in his last will and testament, her eyes welled with tears and she broke down once again. The feeling of being overwhelmed was too much to bear and she felt drained of all energy. All she wanted was to shut the shades, turn out the lights and sleep her life away, but that was a luxury she couldn’t afford right now. Her friends needed her and she wouldn’t disappoint.

  When the time came, she would perform the duties of a soldier and put aside her own needs for the benefit of others now and in the future. If this was her destiny, then so be it.

  ESCAPE

  Nickolas gathered everyone together. The moment was at hand. They had plenty of 15Ea in the reactor room and Jillian had been given permission to experiment with different methods of storing food and agricultural supplies in the rooms upstairs. This had been done on the guise of creating an efficiency report for possible long-term missions into space - or under the ocean if the ship was ever used as a form of submarine.

  They had plenty of MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) as well as fertilizers, farming tools, clothing and other necessities of a long term voyage. Eventually this would all be cleared out to make way for other experiments, but for now everything was in place to commandeer the vessel in a Blitzkrieg attack which was designed for speed and surprise. Once Major Brooks opened that door, they’d all rush in behind and sprint toward the ship in an effort to outrace the guards.

  He would be the last one to board so that he might initiate the control panel and close the hatch behind them. Once the ship was sealed, there was no power on Earth that could stop them from leaving that Hangar. Once beyond the confines of that final barrier, they’d be free to navigate the universe as they saw fit and he was looking forward to seeing the stars once again.

  Nickolas whispered to the group.

  “I received a disconcerting message the other day.”

  Major Books replied.

  “What?”

  “A note was slipped under my door. The author claimed to know what we were planning and promised to help us, but I don’t know who may have sent it. When I opened my door, there was nobody in the hallway and no way to verify who might have delivered the letter. If this is true and someone is aware of what we’re doing, might the General be involved as well?”

  The group remained silent for a moment until Mark spoke up.

  “What do you think it means? I mean, the guy didn’t threaten to turn us in, but seemed intent on helping us? Correct?”

  “Yes. I would agree, but it’s unsettling to know that someone else has access to our personal plans. Did someone here talk to or disclose information to anyone outside our group?”

  Again there was a hush as each person looked around the room, but nobody fessed up to leaking information. Nickolas continued.

  “This puts us in a bad situation. I was hoping for total surprise, but if there’s a chance General Taylor knows wh
at we’re planning, this could fall apart before we even get started. I wouldn’t fault anyone if they wanted to back out now.”

  For a third time the group remained silent. If they were going to do this, they were doing so despite the risks. Hannah added to the conversation.

  “Perhaps it’s just some prankster who thinks he knows something, but really doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. Maybe this is all a coincidence or has nothing to do with SM1.”

  “Maybe, but it worries me.”

  Hannah continued.

  “Are you thinking of calling it off?”

  “No. I don’t think so. This may be our only opportunity. We can’t afford the risk of delay because once that ship sails, we’ll never see it again and everything we’ve planned for will be forever lost; and I for one would regret that very much.”

  Nickolas looked around the room and addressed each individually as he spoke.

  “We’ve been planning this for several weeks and understand the timing of our attack is critical to success. We don’t have the luxury of waiting for a better opportunity or to confirm if we’ve been compromised. In my mind; we sink or swim on what we do next and there’s no turning back. Once we commit, we’re criminally liable for anything we do. I don’t have to remind you of the risks. You’ve agreed to put your careers; no; you’re very lives on the line to do something beyond our limited abilities to comprehend. Each and every one of us is moving forward on ‘faith’ alone to accomplish a task that was pre-destined, long before any of us were born.