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Chapter 3 – The training

2099, 28 October. MATER 1, 522 miles above the Earth, 4:00 PM.

J

ust above the third generation modular space station called ISS (International Space Station), three enormous spaceships were about to be finished. Dozens of men were working non-stop inside them within what looked like a genuine yard.

“Come on, guys! We don’t have all the time in the world!” a young foreman shouted at two workers whose task was to set some weird capsules inside a passageway that was placed on the ship’s lower side.

“Oh no! It’s slipping!” one of the two laborers exclaimed, bringing the capsule as if it were only a refrigerator. The capsule slipped and fell to the deck, but, luckily, it was undamaged.

The foreman arrived in a flash, his eyes were angry, and then he said,

“You idiots! How many times have I told you to pay attention to how you handle this kind of things? Thank goodness it didn’t rupture. Come on! Get back to work immediately!”

The two laborers stood silent at first, but then they picked up the capsule immediately and brought it back to the agreed place.

“Excellent! It should be okay!” one of them said after leaning the burden. They took a breath. They did not even have time to rest a bit. They were called to muster by the foreman.

At the same moment, some people led by the foreman Alejandro Fring appeared in the passageway. Mr. Fring was a man of South-American origin that would be responsible for the work on the MATER 2.

“Good, General, this is the cryostasis compartment,” the man told Arthur Stone who was behind him. The General was there with his staff, which included politicians and founders of the project. They were just touring before being finally transferred onboard.

“Good morning, General!” the three men in the passageway said to Arthur with one voice as soon as they saw him appearing with his men and the foreman.

“Rest, boys!” Mr. Stone exclaimed and he came up to one of the capsules that had already been installed.

“So, these are the cryogenic capsules… I thought they were bigger,” he pointed out. The foreman, Alejandro, did not hesitate and answered, “They were bigger, actually, but technicians have succeeded in dealing with some issues concerning the liquid nitrogen containment, and so we have succeeded in recovering space within the whole surface.”

“Fine. Let’s go on!” Arthur told him. He looked around and came back to the passageway leading to the ship’s other sections together with his men. The three workers were left to their work.

“He was General Arthur Stone, wasn’t he? It is he who’s going to lead the expedition on board the ship,” one of the two laborers said emotionally.

“I’d rather it were Mr. Ross. I don’t like Stone because of his mindset that isn’t comfortable at all,” the other man replied.

“What can you know about that? He was the one who solved the conflict with India in 2089! He’s just a great man!” the first laborer said. He sympathized for General Arthur Stone.

“It may be so, but this guy is full of himself, which does not let him be someone to trust,” the other laborer pointed out.

“Shut up, slackers! Let’s get back to work!” the foreman shouted at them. Then the three guys resumed their work.

In the meantime, on another floor, Alejandro and the few men reached what looked like an artificial botanical garden. Every kind of plants and thousands of trees stretched over dozens of feet. Even an artificial stream flowed among the trees and the whole thing was lit by hundreds of lamps that re-created the light of the sun on the ceiling.

“Gentlemen, this one is called `The Cathedral´. Its name comes from the shape of the roof, which is precisely the shape of the roof of a cathedral, and it extends throughout the whole surface. Six hundred twenty-one miles of forest! There are thousands of plant species. This is going to be the ship’s green lung!” the foreman stated under the stunned gazes of all of us.

“Are there any animals in this special greenhouse, too?” one of the members of the group asked the foreman.

“No, Sir, there are no animals here. We won’t transport any live animals on this ship, but only their data in the form of DNA,” Alejandro answered firmly.

“How do you get the energy you need to supply it all?” General Stone asked in a tone that was curious and pleased at the same time.

“In order to answer your question, General, we have to move to another point on board the ship. Please, follow me!” Mr. Fling said.

Then he led the group to the lower zone in the ship. A few minutes later they reached the engine compartment in whose middle a metal column with some particular ports by which a blue light was given off could be noticed.

“This is the engine compartment, gentlemen! Eighty percent of the energy needed for supplying our ship comes from here! The remaining part comes straight from the sun and the cosmic radiations captured by means of special panels covering the outer side of the spacecraft,” the foreman explained. Mr. Stone was listening to those words, and was intrigued by the blue light that was given off by some particular ports with which the metal column in the middle of the huge passageway was equipped.

“What happens in here, Mr. Fring?” Mr. Stone asked him.

“What happens there is a nuclear reaction, Mr. Stone,” Alejandro replied, and his answer aroused the astonishment of all those who were there, including General Stone himself.

“Nuclear? Isn’t it dangerous to have a nuclear reactor on board the ship? Don’t you consider the risks?” Mr. Stone thundered.

“Well, if it were a matter of hot nuclear fission, it would be dangerous, but we produce energy through cold fusion. So, you have nothing to worry about. It is safe and clean. According to our calculations, it would supply the ship with enough energy to last one hundred years or maybe even more,” Mr. Fring reassured us.

“I see,” Arthur asserted. He stared at the nuclear reactor, thoughtful.

“What kind of technology do its engines use?” one of the founders asked Alejandro.

“That’s a good question,” he pointed out.

He moved a little farther and came up to a control unit, he pressed some buttons and let some holograms appear; they depicted its own engines.

“The engines of all three motherships exploit ionized plasma that is accelerated in order to generate the thrust. Such engines are hundreds of times more efficient than the chemical ones, namely the traditional ones. But that’s not all. We’re talking about engines that don’t pollute at all and with no moving parts. They are accelerating the ship to eight-tenths of the speed of light and are arresting it by means of nonstop progressive braking maneuvers. During their flight maneuvers, the pilots are helped by “LISA”. As it was said, gentlemen, the cream of the crop!” Alejandro stated proudly.

“LISA? Who is LISA?” the founder asked him. His curiosity was to its maximum extent.

“I am the artificial intelligence that is helping the members of the expedition throughout the mission. I am collaborating with them in order to let their travel be less stressful and more comfortable. I was named after my programmer Lisa Fletcher, who died prematurely last year. General Stone, it will be a pleasure to serve under your command!” the onboard female voice said, leaving all the men astonished, including Arthur.

“As I said, gentlemen, the cream of the crop!” Alejandro concluded.

Then he smiled with satisfaction.

2100, 21 March. Denver, Colorado.

It had been a long time since the Rocky Mountain National Park had ceased to exist. It had happened just when this beautiful landscape had been chosen as an integral part of the project called For the benefit of all! It was just in these mountains and in these woods that New NASA Corporate in cooperation with the U.S. Government had arranged to build a base that would serve as a sort of subsidiary of the headquarters in Washington D.C. It was a rather secluded spot and not everyone could easily reach it unless one had some precise permissions. According to the schedule of the government agency, this area would have served as a place where to train all those who would take part in the project and get them ready to it. The whole structure was composed of five big cube-shaped establishments intended for doctors, chemists, engineers, biologists, pilots and soldiers, a bigger multi-story building that looked like a hotel and served as an accommodation for guests, and finally, at the entrance, a smaller building that served as both a reception point and other accommodations for several administrative offices. The whole thing, which also included a small airstrip that was intended for medium-size aircraft, was surrounded by a wire fencing that circled its perimeter.

Soon after midday on 21 March – that was the time when buses transporting the future members of the project should have arrived –, not far from the main railings outside the front entrance of the structure, an impatient man in a suit was waiting for the vehicles to come. He peered through his dark sunglasses. A long boulevard was in front of him while behind him another mysterious man wearing a jacket with a New NASA Corporate tag on approached him.

“Sir, they’re about to come,” he said.

“Okay, Jimmy. You can go!” Andrew Powell answered firmly. Andrew Powell, who was fifty-two years old, was one of the most important members of New NASA Corporate as well as the first promoter of the realization of the project called For the benefit of all! He was an astrophysicist by profession and for passion that was chosen by the heads of the U.S. Government and the ones of the aerospace agency for his excellent knowledge and his patriotic nature with the aim of “reviving” the national corporation after the dark age previously experienced. After the semi-achievement of the Aurora program from the ESA that had succeeded in taking men on Mars for the first time in 2035, but not to let them establish there, NASA did not mean to lag behind the European space agency, so it came up with a new mission called Europa, which in fact had been in the pipeline for some time. According to the data that had been collected by the probe Flyby launched in 2020, the satellite of Jupiter had some features that made it habitable for humans. So, fifteen years later, on June 15, 2050, twenty American men took off from ISS on board a spaceship in order to reach the satellite of Jupiter with the aim of taking human life there. The travel was estimated to last for four years. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until a sudden meteor shower damaged the spaceship irrevocably on July 2, 2051. Since then, as for the crew and the spaceship, no news had ever been heard. The mission was a total economic and, above all, human failure. Consequently, NASA was shelved and space control over our planet was entrusted to ESA alone with the consent of the U.S. Government that was helpless against the failure of the mission. The U.S. Agency entered its “dark hour”, as historians call it, during which not even ESA suggested other space missions (probably because it was deterred and scared of any other failure). In the meantime, NASA kept on working quietly, though, and recruiting the best astrophysicists of the world in order to create a genuine rebirth. The main command was assigned to Edward Turner, who became the President of New NASA Corporate in 2081 and chose a young astrophysicist to be his right-hand man. His name was Andrew Powell. He immediately proved himself to be an ambitious man; he did not hesitate to put in place a great plan to find ways to identify Proxima B and organize the new mission.

The gloss black automated buses appeared at the end of the long boulevard under Andrew Powell’s gaze. They were special electric buses belonging to the government and made available for the journey from the meeting point (Washington) to the Rocky Space Center. Each vehicle was driven by an artificial intelligence and held one hundred passengers. Once the buses stopped in front of the main entrance of the base, the passengers that were in got off. David, Michael, Amelia Jerry, Abigail and Emily were also among the passengers; several escorts in gray and orange uniforms were beside them.

The group of people included 1,500 Americans, Europeans and Asians and was already divided into several categories that drew up opposite the main gate of the base; every one of them was almost disoriented and sought the other people’s gazes while looking around.

“Welcome! My name is Andrew Powell and I am the head of the whole project in which you, too, are taking part!” he cried out. Then he advanced towards the group and looked into each member’s eyes while his voice echoed in the open space surrounded by the mountains.

“What you can see behind me is the Rocky Space Center, which is the operational center of the project. Please become familiar with this place, since it’s going to be your home over the next five months!” Andrew kept on saying.

No one dared speak. Everybody looked around, rather disoriented. Andrew waited some more minutes before speaking again.

“Fine! Follow me! The sorting is beginning,” he concluded as he turned round and walked towards the entrance of the base.

“Ah, I almost forgot: you can find your nearest and dearest straight in your own accommodation,” he added before moving forward.

The group of people began to follow Andrew, even minding the directions given by the uniformed officers of the base.

Once the future colonizers found themselves in the main open space, it did not take much time before someone murmured in amazement.

“They really spared no expense,” Jerry muttered. While he was admiring the buildings around him, he was also trying to catch the eye of a young Asian biologist that was beside him.

“Well, it isn’t very much different from the photos we saw in the Tanegashima headquarters, in Japan,” the young Asian man replied.

“You’re really at an advantage, huh? Anyway, I’m Jerry. Nice to meet you,” the young biologist from Chicago said as he held his co-worker’s hand. The latter greeted the young biologist back, stopping for a while and bowing quickly.

“Good to meet you, I’m Korin Tamura!”

“Wow! So, you still do that!” Jerry exclaimed more loudly after noticing the gesture made by his new friend. Michael, who was just up ahead, heard Jerry’s voice and he reminded their turbulent encounter in Washington on the day of the lecture. The man looked back for a confirmation and once he recognized him, he shook his head. One of the officers escorting the group asked Jerry and Korin to sit down and not be even more alarmed.

The group moved forward and went farther and farther into the structure. The buildings appeared to be even bigger, and so did the mountains surrounding them from the external area. David was near the front and he that was an architectural engineer appreciated so much the way those buildings had been conceived and built. After walking one thousand feet or so, the group stopped in front of the five cube-shaped establishments where a sort of small stage was set. Andrew got ready for getting up on stage. Several men stood on both sides of the small structure; other members of the personnel were even farther – they could be noticed if one looked near some tables on which several gray uniforms were straightened.

Once Andrew was back in front of the group, he picked up a tablet, and then he said,

“Well, gentlemen! You’re going to hear your name now, and receive your uniform! After hearing your name, move forward and go towards Mr. Carter and the girls that are handing your own uniform over to you. All the uniforms are exactly the same except for their patches, whose color differs according to the professional category to which you belong! Engineers are going to wear yellow patches! Biologists are going to wear green patches! Blue patches are for chemists and physicists! Doctors are going to wear red patches! Soldiers are going to wear brown patches! Let’s start with the group of engineers! James Miller!”

From the group standing to the left of Andrew, a tall and slender man went forth. As the manager suggested, he walked towards the post where some men were waiting for him and were ready to hand his uniform over to him and show him where his accommodation was. About five minutes later, it was David’s turn.

“David Garcia!” Andrew cried out. He was on stage and was scrolling through the list of the names on the tablet. David took a few steps forward and did exactly what any other of his comrades had already done. He walked towards the officers and picked up his new uniform.

“This way, please. You can go,” a uniformed girl said to him, gesturing for him to walk towards the building that looked like a hotel.

Once the whole list was read, it was the turn of the biologists. Everything was carried out very quickly even on this occasion: all the new members got their own uniforms with their patches.

“Jerry Vandcamp!”

When Andrew uttered the name of the young biologist from Chicago, the latter went forth, as is normal, and he, who was very excited, received his uniform, too.

“That way, please,” the officer told him; she was actually a nice girl, and Jerry did not hesitate to wink at her. But she replied with a kind of ironic laughter. Among the biologists, Korin was called, too; just like Jerry, he went to his accommodation after receiving his own uniform.

Then it was the turn of the chemists and the physicists, and Abigail belonged to this group.

“Abigail Sanders!” Andrew cried out, and the woman went forth, trying to conceal her emotion mixed with tension.

“You can go, please,” the girl in charge of the delivery of the uniforms said once again.

“Thank you,” Abigail replied with her usual gentleness.

Then it was the turn of the doctors, and so it was Amelia’s turn. Her name was uttered after about thirty names.

“Amelia Fisher!” Andrew shouted. He was certainly used to a role as an orator, since his voice was as fresh as it was twenty minutes earlier. The surgeon from San Diego was asked to go forth, and so she did; she was given her uniform with the red patch on, then she walked towards her accommodation.

Finally, it was the turn of the soldiers. Both Michael and Emily belonged to this category. Michael was the second to be summoned, and even he took his uniform with the brown patch on and headed for the building used as an accommodation. Emily was one of the last soldiers to be summoned.

“Emily Parker!”

On this occasion, Andrew’s voice was a bit different due to the hour that he had spent scrolling through the list of the one thousand five hundred names on his tablet. The young girl went forth as she tried to conceal a little her emotion as well. She came up to her post, got her uniform and headed for her dormitory. The sorting was over. All the one thousand five hundred members had their own official roles in the project called For the benefit of all!

Each member had two hours to tidy one’s own belongings in his own accommodations, and then the introductory tour to the remaining buildings and structures of the base would start. Each room had been conceived to house two people belonging to the same professional category and, obviously, of the same sex. The structure was a six-story building, one per professional category. The first story was used as the area for engineers; the second story was used as the area for biologists; the third story was used as the area for chemists; the fourth story was used as the area for physicists; the fifth story was used as the area for doctors, and the last story was used as the area for soldiers. The large entry hall was furnished with dark leather sofas that were part of basic furniture that was designed in a modern style. Whenever members needed to reach any floor, they could make use of ten ultramodern and roomy lifts. Still, if someone used to avoid elevators, he could use service stairs as well. Finally, a huge hall that would be used as a canteen was arranged in the basement: every member would have one’s own breakfast, lunch and supper there.

David was busy tidying his own belongings and had already met the man who would be his new roommate throughout his stay. His name was Giovanni Rinaldi; he was an architect and engineer of Italian origin in his forties.

“You were telling me that your son’s name is Leo, isn’t it?” Giovanni asked David while arranging his things on his brand new bedside table. He was nearly finished doing that.

With a smile upon his face, David answered, “Yes, it is! He’s a pest, but I’ve always tried to bring him up quite strictly and I think I finally did.” He had a thick Montana accent. Then he kept on saying, “And what about you? Are you married? Do you have any children?”

“I’ve been married twice, but it was a failure on both occasions. As for children… No, unfortunately I don’t have any, but you know how much I’d like to have some, my friend,” the Italian architect replied in an almost regretful tone.

“You come from Montana, don’t you?” he asked David again. David turned to him and answered, “Yes, I am!” Then he asked him, “How do you know that?”

“Your accent is unique,” Giovanni added. That question stimulated David’s curiosity, so he wanted to take advantage of that moment in order to try to know as many things as he could about the person with whom he would share his room, and not just over the next five months.

“And what about you? Where are you from exactly?” the American engineer asked him.

“It’s a long story, my friend… My grandparents and my parents were of Italian origin, and I was born there too, in Genoa, precisely. I moved to the United States when I was nineteen, that is to say when I finished high school and decided to attend the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Boston. After graduating, I worked several years for a company in Boston, but then I decided to go back to Italy in order to start an architecture firm of which I’m still the owner and that is the top in its own sector and in my own country. Then I was summoned by New NASA Corporate and so, here I am! My ex-wife left me just because I’ve accepted to come back here in the United States to take part in this project.”

While he was uttering these words, he was not tidying his things. He had just finished doing that. “What’s your idea about this mission?” he finally asked David.

David, for his part, was caught off-guard by the question.

“Well, I’ve got to admit that taking such a decision wasn’t easy for me, either, especially due to my family, but, as I’ve already said to you, I’ve always helped save our planet. Unfortunately, I am very much like a drop in the ocean, and it seems to me that this mission is the only way to save our species from a certain doom.”

He had just uttered these words when a knock on his bedroom’s door was heard.

“Please, come in!” Giovanni said. One of the officers of New NASA Corporate appeared on the other side of the door.

“Everybody downstairs in ten minutes!”the bald man said. Then he closed the door.

“These are men each one uglier than the last,” Giovanni added ironically, which got a laugh from David as well, who was pleased in his heart to have met a new friend.

Upper floor, room 103. Jerry was glad to know that Karin, namely the funny Asian biologist whom he had first met during the sorting, would be his new roommate.

They were both arranging their own belongings in their own lockers in their rooms, and after choosing in which beds to sleep, they resumed the discussion they had started shortly before.

“So, how is Chicago?” Korin asked Jerry.

“I guess it’s not much different from the cities in Japan that you know,” he answered ironically. Then he continued by saying, “Tall buildings are everywhere, streets and air space are invaded by all kinds of means of transport. You know, I believe there’s nothing you haven’t already seen. As you told me, you were born in Osaka, weren’t you?”

The young Asian man did not hesitate to answer, and even if his English was not perfect, it was not so difficult to understand him.

“Exactly! But as I was telling you, I moved to England a few years ago in order to pursue my studies in biology in London, where I learned to speak your language as well.”

“And I must say that you speak it very well!” Jerry praised him.

Korin thanked him and asked him, “Do you live with your parents?”

Jerry answered, “I live with my mother. She’s a hyper-apprehensive woman and I had to struggle to persuade her to make me leave and take part in this mission. I think she’ll never accept my decision, but I hope we will meet again on Proxima B!”

“Every mother is like that… And what about your father?” the Osaka biologist kept on asking him. Jerry froze and it took him much longer than usual to answer.

“Unfortunately, he passed away when I was a child.”

Jerry uttered those words just sorrowfully; it was a sorrow that reemerged every time someone reminded him of his dead father. Korin realized that, too.

“Sorry, I didn’t know that,” the Asian guy tried to explain himself.

“Don’t worry. But tell me something about your family,” Jerry encouraged him.

“My dad and my mom still live with my grandparents in Osaka. My eldest brother, Jin, lives in Australia where he runs a domestic robot factory, whereas my sister Akiro, who is younger than me, has just moved to Tokyo in order to attend the Japan Art Academy. Her dream is to issue a graphic novel of hers,” the Asian guy told Jerry.

“I wish I had visited Japan once in my life,” Jerry said almost regretfully.

“You would have liked it, but look on the bright side. We’re going to land on what is our own planet! Can you believe it?” Korin’s voice was filled with excitement while he was uttering these words. “Come on, let’s get ready for seeing the whole complex!” he concluded.

Jerry followed his young comrade’s advice. They both got ready for leaving their room and start the tour.

Michael, Amelia, Abigail and Emily were staying in their own rooms on the upper floors. Each one of them would share it with one new comrade, so the time had come for each of the four people to meet their own roommates.

Michael was so surly and gruff that he felt he had to set him straight regarding who would be in command of that space of 216 square feet that he would share over the next five months.

Amelia immediately made friends with a Russian doctor that specialized in cardiology as well. Just like her, she was single and had no children.

Not even Abigail hesitated to make friends with Gloria, who was a young Spanish chemist that had just graduated with honors.

Emily was quite lucky, too. Just like her, Nicole was a soldier. She enlisted in the National Guard (Garde Nationale). Each comrade would be of a nationality other than that of one’s own country. And this was just the first evidence that New NASA Corporate had concocted for new guests, that is encouraging the integration between different people who shared their job, namely the sentiment that no peoples of the Earth had known for quite some time now.

The alarm clock indicated 7:59 AM and Jerry and Korin were still sleeping deeply. A minute later, there it is, on time: the electronic thingy began to ring like a symphonic orchestra and it woke Jerry first, then the young Asian biologist.

“Damn it, Vandcamp! Destroy that thing!” Korin muttered. He was referring to that deafening noise.

“I’ve been here for less than half an hour and I already hate this place!” Jerry exclaimed. He sat down on his bed, trying to understand what was going on.

Ten minutes later, all the members of the expedition gathered in the canteen. A hum was filling the room. People were talking to each other as they all were sitting at the table; a few others, including Michael, were still looking for a seat in order to have their breakfast and talk with their other colleagues.

Michael stood there and held a tray. He was getting ready to occupy one of the last vacant seats near the huge hall. The pilot took his seat at the same table where Jerry, Korin, David, Abigail and two other young chemists were already sitting. He took the central seat, and so he sat down between Jerry and David.

“Oh no! You again! You’re like a persecution!” Michael exclaimed in his usual “gentle” way, as it were, after identifying Jerry, who in return extended a kindly greeting.

“Where do you serve?” Abigail asked Michael with a hint of a smile. The question triggered the curiosity of those who were there, too.

“I am not a soldier!” Michael answered contemptuously while eating his eggs and bacon.

“Well, the patch on your uniform is brown, so you are supposedly a soldier!” Abigail echoed. Even if she knew she had bothered him, she kept on looking at him defiantly.

“It’s a wrong supposition, woman!” Michael replied, mocking her self-confidence. Then he concluded by saying, “I’m a retired U.S. Air Force pilot. Actually, I don’t even know why I’m here.” After that, he swallowed the last mouthful of food, stood up and went away, leaving the other members perplexed.

“Probably that man will have some problems with any other person. It doesn’t bode well,” David stated in his usual calmness before finishing his breakfast together with the other people.

That same morning all the members of the military department had reached their own sectors for a lesson on the equipment that they would have at their disposal during their expedition. The hall looked like a large lecture theater with large windows that let the light in on one side, making the place very bright. Probably this hall was previously used to hold some lectures or give some courses.