“The computer readouts were available two weeks ago but we have been discussing the importance of the findings at great length. The basic picture painted is that the Earth is populated by people who are victims to their own psychological imperatives. They prey on one another in a hope to get short term personal benefits. What we call normal life, they see as an idealistic dream. They are highly destructive and would destroy us without question if we tried to change their philosophy, or to interfere with their life in any way whatsoever.
“The major important conclusions are these. The likelihood of them fully destroying themselves or reverting to a prehistoric level is a thirty-nine percent probability in the next one hundred years.” Briar was reading the figures now from his handheld. “If they do not do that and survive to continue on as they are now, then the probability they will discover us here on Mars in the next hundred years is a certainty. The probability that they will have evolved enough so that there can be mutual respect, is at six percent. Therefore the probability they will destroy us is a ninety-four percent probability.” Briar looked up from his handheld. “The elders are in a quandary over this information. It foretells our possible extinction and the elders will not release it to the public unless there is a solution they can offer. We need to give them hope.”
“What is the outlook scientifically on Earth over the next hundred years?” asked Orion.
“War and more war, famines, disease, ecological disasters, but all the time advancements in technology to a point where they could be able to remotely attack us in as short a time as eighty years from now. They could even physically land here in that time.”
“Oh no! That’s dreadful, this is the only home we have.” Rose could see her dreams of a contented life with Orion fading.
“What do you intend to do Briar?” asked Orion.
“At this stage, nothing. We have no solution apart from begging for mercy when they get here.”
“Could you please keep us informed even though I can see that you need to play for time with the general public in the short term?”
“Yes, certainly, and if you think of anything that could be helpful let me know. We will only keep this from the public for another month, we will beg for their forgiveness at that time and accept full responsibility for our unconstitutional actions.”
Rose and Orion went home with heavy hearts. They no longer spoke of the bonding ceremony or even looking for new careers. Orion spent his time following events on Earth, which had become horrific. A week passed, and news came that an interstellar probe had returned to the solar system and was in orbit around Neptune. A disc ship was prepared to collect the information and, three days later, just as it was taking off, the last probe was reported as slowing ready to position itself in orbit. Another two weeks passed, and the elders had not made any announcement. Orion and Rose were debating whether they should contact Briar and ask what was going on. Rose did not like to interfere but in the end decided a casual friendly visit would be permissible. So six days after the supposed announcement date that had not happened, Rose and Orion were once more in Briar’s office.
“I am glad you are here, and I am fully aware of why you are here. In a moment some of my colleagues will enter, many are elders from central government. I have proposed to use you two as experimental subjects. I am going to give you the same information we are about to release to the general population. The first part of the report you already know so we will dispense with that. The second part is what we want your reaction to. Feel free to ask any questions and do not be overawed by the presence of the president and ministers.”
Rose and Orion looked at each other with uncertainty written on their faces. They then positioned themselves in two very comfortable chairs. The luminaries arrived and they stood in respect until, after introductions and some recording equipment was set up, everyone sat. The Minister of Science stepped forward and got straight to the point, “The information from the last two probes has been collected and examined. The discovery of one of the probes is highly significant. It was in fact the very last probe to return and had reached an estimated distance of 497 light years from Mars. Please note distances are approximate. The probe entered a solar system of six planets orbiting a red dwarf. It sought out the most likely candidate for life and proceeded to monitor it for ten earth months.” At this point he projected a huge holo image into the middle of the room. It showed a planet with clouds and a surface of green and brown. There were large polar ice caps, seas and continents with lakes and mountains.
“There is a breathable atmosphere, slightly more oxygen-rich than Earth. It has a protective ozone layer. On the negative side it is slightly larger than Earth, it is estimated that gravity at surface level would be four percent stronger. Due to the Star being a red dwarf, the temperature on the planet’s surface on average is twelve degrees Celsius colder than Earth. Permanent ice and snow cover one quarter of the planet’s surface. The light from its star is weak. Days are dark, nights are long and the single moon is so small that it would appear as little more than a bright star. So nights would also be unilluminated apart from starlight. It has a thirteen-hour day and a thirteen-hour night, its year length is roughly fifty-five weeks based on seven twenty-six-hour days. There is no sign of intelligent life anywhere in its solar system.
“The probe also had another small success in that it discovered a planet almost identical to Mars. It was Earthlike in size and had no moons, but had a thin atmosphere with polar ice caps. No surface water or vegetation. It also was in orbit around the red dwarf and is the nearest planetary neighbour to our target planet.”
At this point he sat down and Briar stepped forward.
“Thank you... I now come to the proposal. All here are aware that the AI has concluded that there is a better than a fifty-fifty chance the natives will come and slaughter us. Therefore, as an insurance against possible future aggression against our people, we increase our technology as rapidly as possible and concentrate all our resources to building an interstellar fleet capable of evacuating the entire population of Mars to the planet aforementioned. This of course, would take many years to achieve and I’m afraid it is necessary to curtail any breeding in order to reduce our population to a level that will demand less resources. Estimated time span for construction of the fleet is twenty-one years. All evidence of our existence on Earth and Mars is to be erased. The journey itself would take in the region of 497 years, travelling at almost light speed. The population would spend most of that time in individual hibernation pods for which we are currently perfecting the technology. The process would slow our rate of ageing considerably so that those who leave Mars while still young will be able to breed on arrival. To have a planet, a home of our own has been a long held dream of our people. Mars has saved us from extinction but we cannot walk naked under its sky. We are visitors, nothing more.” Briar signalled for the recordings to be stopped and then turned to Rose and Orion. “Verdict?”
Rose turned to Orion, “You go first, I’m still stunned.”
“Well, one flaw that leaps to mind is that in twenty-five years’ time when we are supposed to leave, there will be people who will be in the last ten years of their lifespan. Why would they want to spend it in hibernation and die without even getting to the new home world?”
“You are correct. Those who have a probability of not surviving the voyage will be given the option of staying here or in a few of the enclaves that will be left operating. The facilities left operating will self-destruct when the last remaining Tathuans die.”
“What is to stop the natives from pursuing us to the stars?”
“The AI says this is highly unlikely as they must first avoid their own self-destructive tendencies to reach Mars. Then interstellar travel will still be out of reach for them as we already know the distances involved are almost impractical for us, and our average lifespan is 172 years, theirs is eighty-two years. Another aspect is that even if they overcome the previously stated pr
oblems, they have to want to find us, which is unlikely given they don’t know we exist. The computer concludes that this will be the last time we will have to run or hide.”
Rose spoke then, “The people will take it hard to have to go through the pain of a society with no young children again.”
“It will be very sad for some, but most will still be able to breed on the new planet. They will be able to give their children for the first time in our history the freedom to play without fear under an open sky.” Orion and Rose had a lot more questions of a technological nature, to some of which there were currently no answers. At the conclusion of the discussion Orion and Rose had to admit that a full scale evacuation was inevitable or at least an attempt. It was a deadly race against time. The elders had managed, thanks to the good timing of the interstellar probe ,to offset the bad news of a probable discovery by the natives of their existence in the near future. Now they had provided new hope. It was decide that the President would give an address to the people with the new directives first thing in the morning. Government departments would be working through the night. As soon as Rose and Orion reached their unit, Rose said, “Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that Father chose us to be exposed to the Government’s plans? Surely he could have chosen others better qualified?”
“I really don’t know your father well enough to comment on his motivation my love, but we do have a unusual insight into the affairs of Earth and the three colonies compared to the average citizen.”
“Hmmm... I think he wanted us to know before it became public. Why?”
Orion looked at her and shook his head. “I have no idea Rose.” A brief pause, then, “Well now, perhaps I do. Let’s go to bed early tonight and take a bottle of wine with us.” Rose was smiling. Orion laughed, “Are we going to celebrate your father’s unfathomable motivations?”
“Yes, I suppose in a way, you could put it like that.”
Nine months later Rose and Orion were proud parents and Briar was a cunning grandfather.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1936 AD
“Life is a preparation, for what we are not sure. But it’s always better to be prepared for all eventualities.” President Aspen.
Orion had joined the fleet executive command. He would have his own ship to command. There would be six other captains on his ship and a hundred other executive officers. The expected population to be moved would be around 280, 000. A fleet of fifty ships was to leave carrying samples of every living species existing on Earth. The ships were in Mars orbit and at the internal fit-out stage, which was proceeding more slowly than expected. They were four months behind schedule. Departure date had been set for October 1937; it was not going to happen. Every time there was a delay, it was compounded by the need to recalibrate instruments. Rose and Orion’s daughter, being the last of the newborns, was loved and spoilt by everyone. They had named her Briony. This had proved to be a source of pride and amusement to her grandfather. Tuathans had little to do with their children after the educational period had finished, normally at twenty-two years of age, but this was not happening in Bryony’s case. The enclaves on Earth had been reduced to just nine. They were now being used by tourists from Mars doing their last nostalgic trips. At departure time seventy older people would inhabit the enclaves. They would for as long possible relay information about Earth to Mars. On Mars a total of fifty-three people would remain to relay the information from a light projector facility which had only just been recently developed, to the fleet. Rose, Orion and their daughter Briony had already done the farewell trip to Earth. Increased air traffic and Earth’s own unchecked population growth, had made visits a risk not be shrugged off lightly. War was on the verge of breaking out again, not that it ever actually stopped. This time the death toll was going to be massive. The fleet had not left when the Second World War broke out even though the plan had been to have been a light year away. Eventually they were ready. All three of the Martian colonies were erased, leaving the remnants of the population at the projector facility. The people in the enclaves watched the departure on their screens openly sobbing. The great, silver ships each a kilometre long hung in space above Mars, the disc ships attached to their sides. The people aboard the ships were not expected go straight into hibernation. The ships left slowly, people watched from view ports and on screens as they drifted away into the blackness. Orion stood on the command deck holding Rose and Briony. The tears flowed freely until Mars could not be distinguished from the stars. People quietly moved towards their hibernation capsules and got in. Crew members checked each capsule carefully, then enclosed the occupant and turned on the life support. The command executive then encapsulated the crew and took their positions on the bridge. The photon light thrusters were initiated and the fleet disappeared, into the void.
Orion was in charge of the first shift. He and eleven others were left on the bridge. The silence was deafening. He called out to the ship’s computer, “AI three! Report status.” He was aboard number three ship, each one had its own individual artificial intelligence which was capable of communicating with the whole fleet, but not near light speed.
“NLS achieved, life support and ship integrity optimal,” replied the computer.
Orion relaxed a little. Later in the shift he went to check on his family. They were safely sealed away. In another two weeks he would join them for a five-year sleep until his next shift. On Earth and Mars, life settled down to a subdued routine. On Mars the explosions and implosions had left scars where the colonies had been at the bottom of the canyons. All the achievements of the past lay buried a kilometre below the surface of the planet. Now it was the turn of the red dust which drifted down like rusty snow to cover the glories of the Tuathuan Golden Age.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1944 AD
“Life itself lives its own life. It will ignore you if you allow it. The choice is yours alone. Live in life or outside of it.” The Friend
Orion was woken by his counterpart. He spent the next two hours in a shower, a sauna and the gym. The captain he was relieving smiled as he entered the dining area. “Oh yes, you are looking better now. The pallor is a little less and some solid food will fix the rest. You will be pleased to know I have absolutely nothing to report except boredom, I’ve just completed my first six-month stint and quite frankly even the hibernator looks interesting.
“Feel free to go whenever you like, I’ll come and tuck you in.” After checking the captain was safe, Orion went to the Bridge. “AI Three? Orion signing in, please update.”
“All systems functioning perfectly. Speed NLS. We will be exactly five light years from Mars in three hours.”
Wow, that was easy, I hope it stays this way, Orion thought. The other members of his shift turned up over the next five minutes. “You all have your routine functions to perform. I’ll see you again at dinner time,” he said, and off they went. Orion shook his head, We really could have automated this voyage. I’m feeling pretty useless he reflected. He went to see his family, who looked wonderful. He was very tempted to wake them up just so he could hug them, but that would have been purely selfishness as the waking process was not particularly a pleasant one. He would get to spend time with them the next time he was on shift. They would be thirty light years out, then. Orion was beginning to see the enormity of what they were trying to achieve; from this early in the journey it had an unreal quality, ‘Five hundred light years? Just do it, don’t think about it!’ Perhaps I should get into a daily health regimen or learn a language. Orion laughed out loud at that last thought, “I’ll learn Ancient Greek, that’s got to be useful where I’m going.” He laughed and decided to go to the toilet instead, that would be more productive. The ship was big enough for him to wander around without ever bumping into any other members of his shift. When he did meet them they said they could easily complete their daily routine in an hour. Orion told them not to feel guilty about it and it was fine by him if they wanted to play tennis or eight ball. Orion wen
t back to the bridge as he had thought of going through the videos of their destination. It was good incentive. “AI? Show me pictures of our destination.”
“I require one minute to download, downloading now... Attention! Interrupting directive... An anomaly has been detected. The velocity of the ship is reducing. Please give a directive.”
Orion was out of his seat. “AI, call all awake personnel to this room. Why are we slowing?”
“Personnel summoned... Our velocity is being... interfered with.”
“AI, is it a malfunction?”
“No.”
“Then what and where is the interference coming from?”
“From outside the ship. In space.”
“Show our speed on a meter in the central vid screen.”
The current ship’s velocity showed in large bright green numbers on the overhead screen. Orion could see on other individual monitors the executive personnel waking and running towards the bridge. By the time they had all gathered, still in their sleepsuits and looking half dead, their speed was down to half a light year. “As you can see we are losing speed rapidly. It is being caused by something outside the ship and is not the result of a malfunction. The AI can offer no explanation. Has anybody got any theories?”
There was a quick buzz of conversation and then quiet.
“Possibly some form of matter in a cloudlike form with just enough density to cause resistance to the Hull?” someone offered. “Is there any kind of matter impacting on the ship’s hull?”
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