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“Are we an exceptionally unlikely accident or is the universe brimming over with intelligence? (It’s) a vital question for understanding ourselves and our history.” - Carl Sagan
Date: 07.07.2092
Earth – Seattle, Washington
“For as long as man has understood the movements of the stars and planets –he has gazed at the meteors streaking across the sky and wondered what was out there, beyond in the great openness of space. Home of the gods and the unknown, our questions changed as we learned more about our world and the nature of space. Our curiosity drove us. Was there life out there, past our Earth, the cradle of our civilization? Were there other planets, ones we could travel to, that would support life, and even more importantly, human life? These questions have defined us, driven us to great heights, from bleak moonscapes to breathtaking wonders.”
Daniel sighed and slumped in his seat as the presentation droned on. Beautiful, great, he knew all this. Every high school student had heard this speech, and the awe he had felt at the idea of space travel had dimmed slightly over the years. In past centuries and even recently after the Reformation, Americans had traveled to Europe as part of their coming of age. It was a year of decadent freedom and adventure before settling into the rigors of collegiate life, marriage, jobs, children, and responsibilities. Daniel had done all of this and more. Thanks to the smartly invested trust fund left to him and Luke, he had traveled far and wide. He had climbed parts of Mt. Kilimanjaro and he had traveled to the Moon. Untold thousands of others had done the same, visiting the moon or one of a handful of space stations now orbiting it and the Earth.
There weren’t any rich kid flights to Mars yet, but given time, given another couple of centuries for the terraforming equipment to do its work seeding the atmosphere with just the right mixture of elements and Daniel was sure it would be the next new thing.
“Learn the Mysteries of Mars!” The vids already read, “Become a colonist on the newest frontier and become a part of history!”
The space stations provided links to the great beyond. Wayfarer orbited the Moon, serving as the training and launch point for Mars colonists who headed out on what was still a one-way trip for most to the red planet. Daniel wondered how they could stand it. The thought of living forever in domes sealed away from a frigid, airless, and dust-covered wasteland was unappealing to him. As for breathable air, well, that was a dream that was two centuries or more in the future.
Still, humanity kept pushing the boundaries. The colonists who went there were a different breed than those who stayed behind. Their thirst was for knowledge, an understanding of a world alien from their own. And Daniel understood how they felt in many ways. Most were scientists and researchers - dedicated to creating a new world that would be home to humanity - a home away from home.
The presentation interrupted Daniel’s wandering thoughts and brought him back to present, “For many years, scientists looked to the stars for answers to the questions of other planets. Over time, their ability to discern the movements of objects orbiting those distant stars grew. And then the world was rocked by the discovery of Planet G in the Gliese 581 system.”
The speaker paused and smiled sadly, “And just as quickly, these discoveries were denounced.”
Across the screen flashed images of old headlines that screamed:
Gliese 581g: A Black Eye for Believers in Habitable Earth-Like Exoplanets
And...
Earth-Like Planets Apparently Do Not Exist.
“This was an incredibly hard time for my grandfather, Steve Vogt. He would go to his grave convinced that Gliese 581g was there.”
He paused and clicked to an image of a space telescope.
“The James Webb Space Telescope had an anticipated launch date of 2018, but it would not be launched until nearly 2033, due to The Collapse and Second Civil War. My grandfather would not live to see his research vindicated.”
He gestured to the screen, “Shortly after its launch in 2033, my father Oliver Vogt turned the telescope once more towards the Gliese 581 solar system and found this ...”
A tiny light, orbiting a red dwarf star was displayed on the screen.
The speaker smiled, “This discovery coincided neatly with the development of the first functioning Alcubierre-Mesner drive. This device, capable of warp speeds, was perfected a handful of years after Gliese 581g’s re-discovery. The Alcubierre-Mesner drive was something previously described in science fiction tales. A dream made into reality.”
Daniel sat up in his seat, leaning forward as the images of Gliese 581g with close-ups of rocky mountain ranges and deep blue-green waters began to flash across the screen. He could see others doing the same. The auditorium was packed, there were at least 12,000 seats, all of them filled, with others standing in the aisles and clustered at the back. Despite their numbers, everyone stayed silent, the silence punctuated by occasional gasps at the dazzling images on the screen.
The images looked familiar and yet...not. As if someone had taken a wrong turn with the paintbrush. The colors were somewhat different, the shapes of the plants, the rocks, the terrain - all slightly off. Daniel wondered if someday human children living on this tidally locked planet might look at pictures of Earth and think the same thing.
“World Geographic launched the D.O.V.E. probe on January 18, 2037.” The speaker’s voice rang out in the darkness. “D.O.V.E. stood for Discover, Observe, Verify, and Extrapolate - all of the steps that the most important probe mankind has ever invented would need. We needed to know if there was any hope of establishing a colony on this distant world.”
“On board D.O.V.E. were hundreds of probes designed to collect and examine everything from the mineral deposits to the existence and makeup of surface liquids, along with untold numbers of environmental factors. These probes scoured the atmosphere, dug deep into the soil and plunged into the oceans and seas. Thousands of samples were taken and examined. The results were beamed back to the mother probe which in turn collated, summarized and transmitted the probe findings back to Earth.”
The giant view screens zoomed back to the white-haired speaker, Dr. Anthony Vogt, and he paused, looking over the packed auditorium, smiled and said, “How I wish my grandfather, Dr. Steve Vogt could have seen the figurative olive branch that D.O.V.E. found on Planet G.”
Daniel paid rapt attention now, this was the interesting part. He wondered if he would ever tire of seeing the details of this giant world. His eyes drank in the images that continued to flash over the giant view screen.
“On April 7, 2084, World Geographic received the first images of Gliese 581g, which we have now officially renamed Zarmina’s World, in honor of Dr. Vogt’s wife, and my grandmother, Zarmina.”
Anthony Vogt gestured towards the screen and the audience gasped as footage of one of the sub-probes burst through clouds and a dizzying rush of sharp mountains and lush valleys stretched and moved. They sighed collectively as the probe skimmed an immense expanse of greenish-brown water, jerking to the left with the probe as its auto-navigation registered and avoided a large rocky mass protruding from the water.
“What we have learned in the fifteen months since the probes from D.O.V.E. have transmitted their data across the black void of space is absolutely staggering.”
Again the view screen cut back to a close-up of Dr. Vogt.
“My grandfather’s dream of a world that humans could inhabit has come true. After more than three years of study, after thousands of hours reviewing data and learning as much as we can about this amazing and promising world, I have the most important announcement of my life to make.”
He paused for a moment, a glimmer of tears in his eyes and his voice rang across the auditorium.
“In honor of my grandfather who discovered Gliese 581g, and especially for the famous science fiction author who inspired my grandfather from childhood to study the stars, on this day, July 7, 2092, one hundred and eighty-five years after the birth of Robert Heinlein ... I am formally announcing the 2095 mission to establish a permanent colony on Zarmina’s World. A brave group of human scientists, engineers, and forward-thinking individuals will carry our race and our future beyond our solar system, to a place unimaginably far away and alien to us.”
The roar of the crowd was overwhelming. Many on their feet, applauding and cheering with excitement.
Dr. Vogt’s grin stretched ear to ear, his teeth a brilliant white, and then the screen changed to close-ups of alien plants and sketches of the ship. He pointed to the ship, a giant version of the D.O.V.E. probe with additional modules added to the main ship stem.
“We have named the ship Calypso, in honor of the ship of the famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Planning and construction, which began over five years ago, is now nearing completion. Calypso will depart in less than three years, on a trip that will take its crew to that distant star system, Gliese 581, and bring mankind to a new home and new frontier.”
The crowd roared again in excitement, drowning out some of Dr. Vogt’s words. The screen, however, now displayed a lengthy quote.
Dr. Vogt waited for a break in the cheers before continuing.
“Robert Heinlein once said ‘A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.’”
There was laughter at the last sentence and a smattering of applause.
“We will fill Calypso with men and women who embody Heinlein’s vision of humanity, people adept at numerous skills, brilliant in their specialties, autodidacts who drink up knowledge and increase their abilities each day that they live.”
The crowd roared a third time as Dr. Vogt’s voice rang across the auditorium.
“And we will send them to this untouched and brilliant place to learn what it has to teach us. To Zarmina’s World!”
Daniel stood on his feet, feeling the energy of more than 12,000 people surrounding him, building into a frenzy. And at that moment, Daniel Medry wanted nothing more than to stand with them and fly to the stars.
