by M. Alan Marr
“That’s interesting.”
“Yeah, it’s a celebration of sorts. Our seasons change during the crossover. That’s also when the companion star, Gemini, appears. Since Trieste’s orbit becomes farther away from Gemma, it would normally mean the planet would get much colder, but since the crossover brings out Gemini, relative daytime temperatures stay fairly nominal. You can tell when the crossover begins because the edge of Gemma starts to turn green.”
“How come?”
“Gemma is a blue-white star, and Gemini is a yellow star, like your own. When the corona from Gemini starts to appear, the colors blend and make it look green.”
“What makes Gemma blue-white?”
“Your yellow sun works on a hydrogen-helium fusion cycle. Gemma fuses oxygen and nitrogen; oxygen is a blue element.” Dev directs his voice to the tabletop. “Triton orbit.” The system graphic zeros in on Triton, then specifically, on a dark moon. He continues with Chaz: “Our military academy is located on Bellerophon, a habitable moon of Triton. Its surface gravity is a little over two times normal.”
“How long were you there?”
“Four years.”
“You lived in a two-g environment for four years?”
“Yes, I did. Very difficult to adjust to at first. Very tiring. Also, falling down hurts—a lot. Initially, you get a little battered and bruised, but after a few weeks, you get used to it. And for whatever reason that baffles our scientists, it sticks with you; that’s why I’m so strong. Earth’s gravity is slightly lower than on Trieste as well. ”
“How much lower?”
“On your scale, average gravity on Earth is .96 g. Trieste is at 1.03, and Bellerophon is 2.07.”
“I can’t even imagine what living in a two-g environment is like.”
“It’s heavy.” Dev chuckles. “When you’re not used to it, it’s hard to even breathe. Feels like someone standing on your diaphragm.”
“Sounds like hell.”
“Not that bad. Nights on Bellerophon can last more than forty hours. And the days can be pretty short.”
“How come?”
“False-night happens when Triton blocks the sun. But what Bellerophon lacks in daylight, it makes up for during true-night with an awesome view of Triton.”
“Wow. What’s next?”
“Next is Penthar, another gas giant about the size of Jupiter. Last is the Sextan Semi asteroid belt.”
“Semi?”
“Yeah, rather than encircling our whole system, the Sextan belt is semicircular, trapping into a narrow region held by Penthar’s gravitational eddy. That’s why we call it the Sextan Semi.”
“And you said you’re a senior officer?”
“Yes, I’m a Flight Commander and Aviator of the Crown.”
“Sounds impressive.”
“I’m command-qualified to aviate and navigate. I spent most of my career flying fighters and training air combat officers until the recon job came up.”
“Tell me more about this billionaire playboy recon job.”
Dev laughs. “You like giving me grief about the bank account, but imagine showing up on Earth with no money, no identification, and no history.”
“Yeah, bad idea.”
“And that’s not just today. Our Observers had the same issues no matter when they arrived. After the Industrial Revolution the barter system didn’t really work anymore. My grandfather, who was an Observer back in the 1920s, settled the cash problem once and for all by establishing a very healthy bank account from which future Observers could draw. So, when he arrived, he brought along enough gold to last several lifetimes. It’s your finance industry’s practice of compounding interest that has taken that initial deposit and made it what it’s worth today.”
“A billion space dollars.” Chaz shakes his head.
“It’s not a billion yet. Very, very close, though.” Dev adds, “As for me, I volunteered for this billet partly because of my lineage. My parents didn’t go the military route, but I did, and I wanted to see part of what my grandfather saw.”
“That’s really cool,” Chaz says. “So how are we doing? Earth, I mean.”
Dev takes a deep breath. “There is another reason we’ve been watching. Earth is undergoing a significant environmental shift. Far more dramatic than ever recorded. Apparently, the normal planetary cycle is being adversely affected by carbon buildup and other toxicities in the atmosphere. We’re concerned because the temperature changes are beginning to affect circulation patterns in the oceans. If the oceanic conveyor in the North Atlantic shuts down, you’re looking at another Ice Age in the Northern Hemisphere. Remember, I said my mother is a hydraulics scientist? She’s the one who raised the alarm on that one.”
“How did she know about it?”
“Our radio telescopes are pretty advanced. They can, not only detect water, but accurately plot thermographic data. My mother has studied that data for years.”
“You really do have a family history when it comes to Earth.”
“I think it was part destiny,” Dev says. “Anyway, the last Ice Age was bad enough. A present-day Ice Age on a populated world would be a global catastrophe affecting every life form on the planet.”
“What?”
“Goes back to economics. Your entire world runs on economics. An Ice Age would cripple the economies of virtually all major political powers, and Earth residents would once again be plunged into chaos. It would set Humanity back a hundred years or more.”
“Yikes.”
“Your world would be irrevocably damaged, and your people may not survive.”
“My people in the US?”
“Your people on Earth.”
“So what happens if . . . that happens?”
“Well, you may see large ships arriving in orbit with equipment to try to reverse the damage.”
“You’d do that?”
“Rather than let three-quarters of your population die? Probably. Remember, we started this whole thing. We are bound together in both past and future. Only problem is, it may not work. It could even make matters worse. It’s very difficult taming a planet.”
“What about relocation?”
“Won’t happen,” Dev says with a half laugh and complete certainty.
“I can’t imagine relocating seven billion people.”
“It’s not that,” Dev admits. “There’s . . . another aspect to my evaluation here.”
“First, you said observation. Now it’s evaluation?”
“Yeah. For almost twenty generations we’ve had a worst-case scenario plan in place, should Earth ever be invaded, or became uninhabitable. That plan did involve relocation.”
“But what . . .”
Dev admits the truth. “Based on my command evaluation, we wouldn’t offer to take everybody.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something my report covers in detail is the estimate of just how many people would qualify for relocation, if given the chance.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You have people back there digging shelters and stocking them for doomsday. You have people in your own country stockpiling weapons for fear your government is suddenly going to turn tyrannical. You also have religious zealots and a huge segment of evangelicals that would sooner die and speed their way to the afterlife rather than accept the fact that life exists outside of Earth. The rest . . . seem hell-bent on their own annihilation.”
“What are the numbers?”
“I estimate less than three hundred fifty million would qualify for relocation. Most from developed nations. That, in and of itself, would have tremendous consequences for those left behind.”
“Why? Wouldn’t that just mean more room on Earth?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Think about it: who would actually go? Young, educated people; the very people you need to advance society. If three hundred fifty million educated young people departed the developed world, you’d be left with both a genetic and k
nowledge gap that would result in a very bleak future for the rest of the planet, even in the best of circumstances.”
“Don’t forget about the paranoia,” Chaz adds. “They’ll think you caused the Ice Age to begin with.”
“I didn’t even consider that, but you’re probably right.” Dev adds, “So, once again, we find ourselves faced with the same dilemma on Earth that has plagued us from the start. That’s why, even if we offered relocation, we wouldn’t offer passage to everyone.”
“Who would be uninvited?”
“Extremists. Anarchists. Criminals. Social deviants. And after watching CSPAN, the entire Republican Party.” Dev laughs.
“Oh, that would be perfect! Leave the GOP and evangelicals behind. They’ll think they’ve died and gone to Heaven, even though they’d all be stuck in Hell.”
“Exactly.”
Chaz has a thought. “You know, during World War II, Londoners sent their children out of the city during the Blitz. German bombers attacked every night. The children were relocated to protect them. I wonder if they’d do the same thing if this worst-case scenario comes to pass.”
“That would save a lot of lives,” Dev says. “But it would also seal Earth’s fate once and for all. Children are the future of any society. Present-day Earth, I don’t see parents willingly putting their kids on alien TransCon ships and sending them across the cosmos.”
“TransCon?”
“Trans-Constellation ships; long range transports.”
“Okay, just for the sake of argument, say they do decide to take everyone. Do you have room for an extra seven billion people?”
“We do. Even if we brought them all to Trieste. It’s a very large planet; four times the size of Earth, in fact.”
“Four times the size of Earth?”
“Yeah. One of the reasons we developed flight technology early on was because our planet is so big and getting around was a problem.”
“So, it became more efficient to go up and over rather than straight across.”
“Exactly.” Dev explains further, “We started with a large network of high-speed trains like what you see in Japan. Then we developed commercial aircraft. That led to trans-atmospheric aircraft, which really changed everything. From there, we developed the drive systems to operate in space. That obviously led to further advances in speed and duration. Now we have a fleet of spacecraft with a wide range of capabilities.”
“How did you develop that kind of technology?”
“Well, for one thing, we never really had an internal combustion engine. You guys have been using that for over a century now, which is . . . ridiculous. But for us, the basic fueled turbine was the logical evolution from compressed steam. And, really, if you look at the principles of a jet engine, it’s simplicity is rather elegant. As far as spaceflight, your approach was very different than ours.”
“How so?”
“Your engineers were limited to basic physics and ballistic theory, creating multi-stage rockets that would launch, then separate, reducing the weight of the vehicle before firing another smaller chemical based engine, again and again until achieving orbit. Then, it became a matter of mathematics, firing a ship into the void, eventually intercepting the target along its own path through the system. We didn’t do it that way. We built a single multiphase engine that accomplished everything. It took time, but we were not in a cold war with a foreign power you were.”
Chaz shakes his head. “If we have a common ancestry, why hasn’t any of that technical knowledge survived or been passed down?”
“It all has to do with the knowledge base—when the advanced civilizations fell, so did their knowledge and technical expertise. The Library of Alexandria once contained records of everything.”
“The Ancient Library of Alexandria? Wasn’t that burned to the ground?”
“Yes, it was. Had it not, who knows where you’d be now?”
Later, Dev returns to the canopy from below and hands Chaz a silver mug full of a dark, hot liquid. “Here, try this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s called capulus, Tertian coffee. It’s not exactly Starbucks, but it’s got a slight vanilla nuttiness to it, and it has excellent caffeine properties.”
Chaz tries the capulus and mulls over the flavors on his palate. “Yeah, it’s smooth. It has a sort of creaminess to it. Not like dairy, but something else.”
“Yes, exactly.” Dev smiles. “Capulan is a similar plant as coffee. They dry and then roast the stems. The creaminess you taste comes from adding the raw leaves of the plant to the ground stems when they’re cold-brewed.”
“Cold-brewed. Really?”
“Yes, instead of steeping in hot water, capulus starts by soaking in cold water, which produces a sort of concentrated syrup. Hot or cold water is added and there you go, capulus.”
“They’ve started cold-brewing coffee at home.” Chaz sits back on the circular couch. “So where do you guys go? I mean, do you have a lot of these ships?”
“We do. We discovered that each constellation has unique qualities. Because of that, Astral Commerce has become a very big part of the Crown.” Dev keys in a sequence on a computer pad, and a graphic of his home system, Corona Borealis, compresses down to a small constellation. Next, the constellations Lyra, Hercules, Cygnus, and the much longer constellation Eridanus are displayed in their relative positions. The alpha stars in each constellation is highlighted first, then one or more stars within the system are highlighted in colors, green, blue, yellow, red.
Dev sits back on the couch and explains. “In the last millennium, our government launched a series of initiatives on Trieste aimed at the restoration and preservation of the planet’s natural beauty and resources. Most of our heavy industry was relocated to other worlds rich in minerals and so forth.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Why have a giant refinery on Trieste that brings in thousands of tons of chemicals to produce fuel, when you can source a smaller, more efficient plant on a planet rich in the very elements we need to make that fuel?”
“Are there people on these other worlds?”
“Most of them have thriving enclaves. Except for Cygnus, which is restricted. It’s a military research and development area.” Dev sees a question in Chaz’s expression and answers what is no doubt a burning question. “Finding planets is easy, Chaz. Even habitable planets. In fact, there are more planets out there than there are stars.” Dev motions to look outside the canopy. “Just consider, almost every star you see out there has a planetary system. And most habitable worlds follow a simple mathematical model: you take a star, apply a formula that relates the size and energy output of the star, then look for planets that fall within a specific orbital range. Simple arithmetic.”
“Yeah, our guys talk about that. The call it the Goldilocks Zone, where everything is just right.”
“They’re correct,” Dev replies. “Now imagine combining that knowledge with the means to actually get there. The possibilities are limitless.”
“Then why not just find another planet to relocate everyone from Earth?”
“It would be a repeat of the same disaster. You can’t thrust seven billion, already volatile people, onto an alien world. A world with different atmospherics, different gravity, different climate cycle. But more than that, a world without cities or infrastructure. Can you imagine what that would do to them?”
“They would adapt.”
“They wouldn’t. Your people would revert to their most base level instincts. Only the strongest would survive. It would be a repeat of the same barbarism. They’d be better off staying on Earth.”
“Jesus, we just can’t win. Wouldn’t you guys give us food and help us out?”
“We can give you food, but we can’t make cities suddenly appear. It would be like stranding your entire population on a desert island, with no chance of rescue. It’s completely unworkable. That’s why the old plan was to bring everyone to Trieste, where we have cities and un
iversities, and the infrastructure to give them a future.”
“Maybe someday that will be possible.”
“Maybe,” Dev says. “But not today.”
Chaz gazes out at the stars. “What about intelligent life out there?”
“The cosmos is teeming with life,” Dev says matter-of-factly. “Even animal life. Complex societies, which is what I think you’re referring to, are pretty rare. And when we do encounter one, it’s been our experience they’re usually not friendly.”
“Yeah, you mentioned a hostile species.”
“The Yeti.” Dev shakes his head. “We tangle with them all the time. They have similar physiological requirements as we do, although they’re used to a much colder atmosphere and can adapt to some pretty horrible conditions. A Yeti ship made it to Earth years ago and crashed in the Himalayas.”
“They—wait, did you say Yeti?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God. The Abominable Snowman—a Yeti—is a hostile alien species?”
“Yes, sir,” Dev confirms. “We eventually eliminated them on Earth, but not before they caused a lot of panic.” Dev laughs. “I hear your people still have sightings.”
“So those legends are true, then,” Chaz says, amazed. “How do you crash in the Himalayas and live?”
“It wasn’t a random crash,” Dev adds. “It’s no different than you or me picking out the optimal landing site if we were coming in dead stick. The Yeti planet is a jagged frozen nightmare. They probably couldn’t make it to one of Earth’s poles, so the Himalayas were probably their best option for whatever their situation was at the time.”
“Makes sense, I guess.” Chaz continues, “So, you’ve got this Crown place, and what else?”
“The Agro worlds of Eridanus have some of the richest soil in the universe.”
“Eridanus?”
“Constellation Eridanus.” The computer zeros in on the Eridanus. “Translates into the River Constellation. You can see it from Earth. It’s a very long stretch of stars. Twenty-nine of them have planets. Some grow a bounty of crops, while others contain only a single species.” Dev continues, “Constellation Hercules, it’s been said, contains all the riches of the cosmos. We even use the properties of one of the gas giants in our own system as a sort of scrubber for pollutants we draw out of our own environment.”