The Long Day

by Robert Harrison

  “I have two,” Paumi typed in. “If you can select two Nanda and send them to the beach to meet us we will help them mount the harness. Hopefully you can select two who travel separately. That will give us a broader range of data.”

  There was a flurry of flashing amongst the Nanda, then the large one approached the window again and flashed, “We have selected two. Go to beach. Meet your helpers.”

  Paumi and Asha went to the beach where two Nanda awaited them at the edge of the shore. They waded into the water, fitted the harness, and mounted the remote units. The Nanda swam off.

  The transport arrived early the next morning. Paumi had one last conversation with the Nanda and introduced them to the new ambassador. He explained that the remote units should be returned in five days so the data could be downloaded. The Nanda acknowledged.

  Paumi typed in “Goodbye my friends,” and began to walk away. Just then the entire sea lit up. The message read out – “Goodbye friend. Thank you.”

  Chapter 3: Return to Sapiea

  The transport ship was now in orbit around Sapiea. Asha and Paumi looked out from the observation deck where they could see the clear, teal ocean and a large swath of assorted land masses scattered about below. Sapiea had one ocean and eighteen small continents distributed more or less uniformly around the globe. The land masses comprised about forty percent of the planet. The remainder was ocean.

  Because the planet consisted of so many continents surrounded by ocean, there were few deserts or infertile arears on their world. Most of the land received ample rainfall, and any storms that formed in the ocean generally encountered a land mass early on, so most storms were interrupted before they could become too intense. Sapiea was a garden planet thriving with life and diversity. The ocean was clean and pure, and the air was fresh and cool, but it wasn’t always this way.

  There was a time when the Sapiens nearly destroyed their world. When they first developed industry and created the mega-manufacturing plants, they were unaware of the impact this could have on their planet. They allowed the exhaust gasses from their factories to whaft away into the atmosphere. They let their waste and chemical byproducts drain into the rivers and streams, and ultimately, the ocean. They assumed the planet was large enough to absorb it all, but there was a limit.

  This went on for several hundred years before they fully understood the impact their industry was having on the environment. The ocean had turned a ruddy brown color. The skies had gone from the beautiful blue they see today, to a reddish-orange color that darkened the sun and decreased the light reaching their crops. Crop yields diminished and large numbers of plant and animal species were dying off. Food production was becoming more and more difficult. The situation was dire.

  Many scientist thought they had already gone beyond the point where the planet could heal itself, but the Sapiens were capable of change, and they were a rational enough species to realize that immediate and substantial change was needed, but the technologies they relied upon could not simply be abandoned. They were now dependent on those technologies and the products they manufactured. Their population had grown beyond the point where it could be sustained without these industries, and their culture and lifestyle too were built on these technologies. It seemed almost insurmountable, but they realized they had a hope – science.

  They made science the top educational priority for their young. They changed their culture to value science as among their most important endeavors, and they honored scientists and creators as heroes. They invested heavily in research and development and applied vast amounts of their resources to pure research, without asking what gains would be made from it. There was a scientific renaissance, and their capabilities and potential exploded. In less than fifty years everything had changed.

  The scientific advancements they made quickly began to give pay back. They found new, clean sources of energy. They mastered fusion and now energized their society with powerful cold fusion reactors, whose only by-product is an inert gas, helium. They created new materials that, after use, degraded into non-toxic chemicals that could be re-absorbed into the biosphere, and they mastered space travel. And perhaps it was space travel that gave them the greatest returns.

  Their first vessels were only capable of travel within their own solar system, but it gave them the capability to move the more dangerous parts of the industry off-world. They banned mining on Sapiea and began harvesting asteroids for raw materials. They moved several asteroids to orbital positions near the planet and now had an abundance of raw materials. They moved their more invasive manufacturing operations to the larger of their two moons, Minos. Minos was a cold rock world with no life, where the byproducts of the industrial processes would cause no harm.

  The other of their two moons, Barra, was made into living space for off-world workers. It had also become a popular tourist destination, and many of the inhabitants of Barra now made their living on servicing the many resorts and spas they had built there. While Minos was a cold rock world, Barra was geologically active with lava lakes, magma geysers, and slow flowing volcanoes; all popular tourist destinations.

  Barra was positioned in such a way that it was constantly pulled and tugged by the gravitational forces from both Minos and Sapiea. This created tidal forces within the moon that heated the center to molten magma. Barra even had a rotating iron core at its center. This gave the moon a magnetic field that protected it from the solar winds and allowed it to support a thin atmosphere. The atmosphere was comprised of the gasses released from the volcanic activity and consisted mostly of water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfuric compounds, nitrogen, and hydrogen. While the atmosphere was not breathable it did contribute to a greenhouse effect that kept the moon’s surface temperate.

  Once the scientific revolution had begun, it quickly became the core of Sapien culture and dawned a new age of enlightenment and prosperity. Within a single lifetime, the Sapiens had ceased poisoning their planet and had extended their reach and prosperity throughout the solar system. Within a century, their planet had healed. The skies returned to pale blue, and the air was again fresh and clear. The ocean regained its bright teal color, and life once again thrived. And then, a new discovery. The Sapiens discovered the FTL (faster than light) drive. Interstellar travel was now possible. The age of exploration had begun, and this was the age in which Paumi, Asha, Devor, and the rest of the Sapiens now lived.

  The Sapiens had now explored hundreds of nearby start systems, some of which had life, and a few of which had intelligent life. This is how they came to know the Doleks, the Tecate’, and now the Nanda. Of the many life sustaining worlds they had found, only these three species were capable of communication. This was how they judged a species as being intelligent. If a species was self-aware and capable of communication, they were deemed sentient and designated as a species with whom they should establish a relationship. And now they had a new candidate: the originator of the message. It seemed they had received an invitation to come.

  From the observation deck, Paumi and Asha could see the planet beneath, the two moons Minos and Barra, and a legion of ships and stations orbiting Sapiea. There was a variety of vessels: inter-planetary transports, mining vessels, cargo ships, and three deep space interstellar craft.

  The nearest of the interstellar ships was one of the older, first generation models. It was large, but most of the ship was engine. The first generation craft required massive fusion engines to achieve FTL speeds and could only sustain a small crew. The first model could take only the pilot. Later models could carry up to six passengers. Most all power was used for propulsion and little was left for life support.

  The second craft was a current generation vessel. There were eight models of this generation. These craft had smaller, more efficient fusion engines. These ships could carry up to sixty passengers and crew, and were faster than the previous generation. This ship was the same model as the ship they were currently aboard; the ship which had brought them back from Aquita.
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  Paumi could just make out a third ship rising above the horizon as its orbit brought it over the edge of the planet. As it came into full view Paumi could see this ship was huge. This was the newest ship in the fleet, the Maximus. It was the first of a new generation vessel. This ship did not use the old fusion drive - it was powered by a quantum singularity - essentially a black hole residing at the heart of its engine. This ship was capable of sustaining over three hundred passengers and crew, and was designed for extended missions and deep space exploration. It was said to be ten times faster than the fusion ships.

  There were two of these ships in the fleet, the Maximus and the Adonis. The Maximus was completed on Sapiea and was ready for its maiden voyage. Paumi had heard that the Adonis was nearly complete, but he could not verify its state. The Adonis was being constructed off-world on the manufacturing planets, Indus and Manifer. Indus and Manifer were the next step in off-world manufacture and had replaced Minos as the largest of the off-world production facilities. The great factories on Indus and Manifer were fully automated and populated entirely by robots.

  Paumi wondered how far along the Adonis was in its development. He pictured the robot worlds of Indus and Manifer in his mind, but he had never been to that star system, so he had only a vague idea of what they were really like. As his attention was focused on his own thoughts, he did not see Devor approaching. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

  “It’s time to go,” said Devor. “The shuttle is ready to take us to the surface. We’ve been scheduled to meet with the Council of Elders as soon as we land. Let’s go.”

  Paumi and Asha followed him to the shuttle, and they departed for the surface. On the descent, they could see large concentrations of tall, sleek buildings in the cities and the colorful extended plots of vegetation just outside the city perimeters.

  There was a time when their cities were mostly flat and extended far out from the city center, but they had since learned this type of sprawl was not conducive to a clean environment. Now their populations were gathered into concentrated urban centers that rose high into the sky, sometimes beyond the clouds. The spaces between these compact cities were either agricultural land or wilderness. Since the move to the vertical cities the Sapiens had been able to return almost half the planet’s land mass to wilderness. It turned out the wilderness areas played a key role in filtering toxins and keeping the planet healthy.

  They landed at Center Station in Burgo, the capital of Sapiea. The streets bustled with a flurry of activity. Life was everywhere. People moved around on their way from place to place and animals roamed freely about. The animals on Sapiea had no fear of the Sapiens, and likewise, the Sapiens had no fear of the animals. The cities were now designed to accommodate easy passage for both. Streets and sidewalks for the Sapiens and robots, lined by contiguous strips of trees and grass to allow the free movement of wildlife.

  Sapiea had evolved in such a way that there were no predators on the planet, and there was no reason for any animal to fear any other animal. Early in the planet’s evolution the plant life and animal life had developed a symbiotic relationship. The plants developed hardened fruits and vegetables that required they be eaten and digested by animals to propagate. The animal’s digestive tracks freed the seeds and softened them for germination. The seeds were spread to new locations as the animals moved about and defecated, and the dung surrounding the seeds provided a valuable source of fertilizer and nutrition to help the new seeds spout and take root.

  The plants, in return, evolved to the keep the animals healthy. The plants provided a rich source of amino acids, vitamins, protein, and calories, and satisfied all the nutritional needs of the animals. In fact, many plants had evolved to specifically target certain animals, the animals that naturally roamed the same areas in which that plant most easily flourished. This relationship ensured all were fed well and kept healthy, with no need to expend additional energy hunting, killing, fighting, and breeding unnecessarily to make up for the loss of offspring due to predation.

  Sapiea was indeed a peaceful garden planet. And this evolutional path had heavily influenced the Sapiens’ behavior and psychology. Sapiens were trusting, caring, empathic beings. They were completely non-violent and seldom showed aggression of any type. This was also reflected in their society, their culture, and their government. If you looked at it from a human perspective you might say their government was socialist, but that’s not exactly correct. Their government supported the core belief of the Sapiens, which is what is best for the good of all is ultimately best for the good of the individual. Sapiens believed their teamwork and cooperation created a better life for everyone, and it did.

  Paumi, Asha, and Devor boarded the transport bound to the council building. There was no driver. The transport was an autonomous vehicle. On Sapiea most all vehicles and machines were autonomous, and most all service and labor functions were handled by a variety of automated machines or robots with artificial intelligence. Except for hobbies or entertainment, few Sapiens did manual labor or performed repetitive tasks. Most Sapiens made their careers in the arts or sciences. Entertainment, art, engineering, science, management and organization, or exploration were among the common vocations for most Sapiens.

  The vehicle arrived at the council building, and they proceed to the meeting with the Council of Elders. They were called the Council of Elders, but they were not necessarily elder by age. They were called elders because of their positions of authority and the respect the Sapiens had for their judgment. These individuals were experts in risk-benefits assessment and organization. They were trusted to set the goals of the society and best asses which endeavors offered the most promise of benefit for the risk and effort.

  There were twelve elders on the council. They sat at a large table facing outward toward several rows of tables and chairs which, in turn, faced forward to the council. Paumi, Asha, and Devor sat together at one of the open tables. The other seats were being occupied by others who had also been called to the meeting. In all, there were over a hundred people at the meeting.

  The lead elder, Abatta Hai, opened the session by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their participation. She acknowledged the efforts everyone had made to attend, and gave special thanks to those who had traveled from off-world locations.

  She continued, “As you all know, we have received a call to ‘come’. This call was heard by the Sapiens, the Doleks, and apparently it was it seen by all the Nanda. For those who did not know,” she interjected, “the Nanda communicate by visual means, where as we and the Doleks communicate by audible means. The Nanda saw the call. We heard the call. But in truth, there was no sound and there was no flash. The call was perceived directly in the minds of those who received the message. We therefore assume they call was some sort of ‘thought wave’ or telepathy. Regardless, it is a communication form unfamiliar to us.”

  She paused for a moment, then resumed. “The call was apparently not heard by the Tecate’. It was heard on most, but not all off-world locations. We are uncertain why Tecate’ did not hear the call, but we do know why the call was not heard on some off-world locations. Observe,” she said.

  A large holographic image illuminated over the heads of the council. It was a map of the galaxy. “This is, to the best of our knowledge, our universe. You see before you the spiral galaxy in which we live. Our planet, Sapiea, is here, a bit more than two-thirds out in one of the outer bands.”

  The position of Sapiea highlighted on the map, pinpointing its location in one of the outer bands in the lower left quadrant, near the bottom of the projection. “As you know we have been exploring the band of stars in which our planet resides, heading in both directions from our home world, toward the outer reaches of the band and following the band inward toward the galactic center.” About one fifth of the stars in the outer band highlighted in red to designate the explored areas. Sapiea was in the center of this highlighted region.

  “When the call was heard we recorded the
passage of a distortion wave that seemed to be propagating across the entire universe. The wave and the call occurred simultaneously, so the call, whatever it was, seemed to be riding the wave. We were able to triangulate the source of the wave. We believe it originated from the great void.”

  Some people took a deep breath. Others shuffled in their seats or fidgeted. The great void was a black spot in the universe. An observable area from which no light returned and from which no readings could be taken. It was a vacant spot that seemed not to exist at all, thus it was called the great void. The void itself could not actually be seen. It was observable only by the lack of features. All the rest of the universe was illuminated or detectable in some way. The void was a blackness blacker than black; a nothingness. On a clear night it could been see by the naked eye.

  The void had been visible from ancient times, and the most ancient history of the Sapiens suggested that it had not always been there. According to legend it just suddenly appeared in the sky one night, thousands of years before. It had been part of their existence and had influenced their culture and development from the beginning of recorded history.