Dreams of Ithaca Read online

  Dreams of Ithaca

  Dave Brunetti

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  For Amanda

  Forever and Ever

  Contents

  1. Before the End of the World

  2. Reaction

  3. Technicians

  4. Sick

  5. Physician

  6. Money

  7. Awakening

  8. Saved

  9. Peaceful

  10. Diagnosis

  11. Danger

  12. Insight

  13. Seen

  14. Abandonment

  15. Plan

  16. Fissure

  17. Sacrifice

  18. Orphans

  19. Accomplished

  20. Farewell

  21. Safe

  22. Home

  One Small Step

  How You Can Help

  Acknowledgments

  1

  Before the End of the World

  1 December 2204 CE - Ten Years Before Departure

  “In conclusion, people of Earth,” Dr. Ramsey lowered his voice, and the hundred gathered journalists duly inched forward in their seats. He let the silence hang, the anticipation build. And then he dropped the bomb. “Our planet is doomed.”

  Disquieted whispers rippled through the room. He allowed it for just a few calculated seconds, then held up his hand, and silence returned. The room belonged to him.

  “And so, in this most desperate hour, as humanity faces down its first true existential threat, I invite the nations of Earth to unite and strive towards the last great achievement of planet Earth: the means of salvation for our species.

  “I, Dr. Colin Ramsey, as President and CEO of RamTech Enterprises, along with our Board of Trustees, have begun to liquidate all non-essential assets of my late father’s Empire and realign all our resources toward the completion of an interstellar spacecraft within the next ten years.”

  A louder, longer ripple, tinged with tones of incredulity. Several hands shot in the air.

  “The road will be long,” Ramsey’s voice thundered now, drawing the room back toward himself, back under his authority. The raised hands lowered again. “And there are any number of pitfalls along our narrow path to salvation. But we are the species that built the Great Pyramids and the Great Wall. We traveled to the moon with computers less powerful than today’s calculators. We traveled to Mars with the computing power of a modern neural lace. In our own lifetimes, we have built thriving space colonies, such as this one, in orbit around our planet.

  “We have always been a species capable of the impossible. And our task has never been more urgent, nor more dire.” He raised his hand in both triumph and invitation. “Join me as our species rises to meet its darkest and finest hour. Yes, the age of Earth is ending, but the age of humanity among the stars is only about to begin.”

  The shouts of a hundred journalists chased Ramsey through the rear door of the conference room. The door slid back into place and sealed with a hiss. Silence replaced the din. Ramsey took a deep breath and allowed himself to be still for the first time in over forty hours. He loosened his tie and started undoing the buttons on his wrist under his blazer.

  “Well, you never were much for subtlety.” Dr. Tyson Daniels leaned against the wall, arms tightly folded against his chest. The disapproving scowl etched on his face complemented the deep bags under his eyes.

  Ty was Ramsey’s best friend, going back to their early years as the two brightest students at The Fitzpatrick Academy — a preparatory school renowned for churning out top academics in nearly every field. Ty also lived and worked on Troy Orbital Station with his wife and their young daughter, Izzy. Ty headed the operational side of Ramsey’s many departments in addition to his work as an Earth Systems Researcher. A waste of talent, in Ramsey’s opinion. Ty should have applied his intellect to something more concrete where he could have really pushed the boundaries of scientific knowledge instead of languishing in the analysis of intractable systems that had managed themselves just fine for four billion years.

  A damn shame.

  Clara, Ty’s wife, was a mathematician. Ramsey liked her as well as he liked anyone. Izzy was tolerable for a three-year-old.

  “There’s no time for subtlety, Ty. You’re the one who told me that.”

  “No, I said there was no time to waste.” Ty pushed himself off the wall, moving with familiar ease in the two-thirds-gravity. He had put on some weight ever since the news cycles had first picked up his research, but at thirty-two he still had much of his natural athleticism. “There’s always time for more subtlety than that.”

  Ramsey sighed. “What did you want me to say? ‘We’re monitoring a potentially dangerous situation and if anyone wants to invest all their resources into our outlandish project that will probably fail, that would be super nice of you?’”

  Ty shot him a withering glance. “Of course not.”

  “Well, what then?”

  “For starters, you could have played politics a little to gather some support for the project before unilaterally deciding to tell the whole world that they’re ‘doomed.’”

  Ramsey began the long walk back toward his quarters and motioned for Ty to follow him.

  They were in the middle ring of Troy Orbital Station, the crowning jewel of RamTech’s space innovations. Home to nearly three thousand permanent residents, plus vacation accommodations for another eight hundred, the space station was the world’s first economically viable, permanent, non-terrestrial living environment. Three concentric, wheel-shaped rings, each itself composed of multiple levels and connected through long spokes for transportation between them, made up the bulk of the station, which simulated gravity through its rotation. In some parts of the station, you could leave a room, walk in a straight line, and end up back where you started.

  “Politics,” said Ramsey, sneering, “are exactly what got us into this mess in the first place. Politicians have always been too concerned about getting reelected to risk anything.” He held up his hands in mock contrition. “Fine, I’ve taken a risk. I admit it. But doing nothing is a death sentence for every man, woman, and child on Earth.”

  “There will be mass panic. The world wasn’t ready to have this slammed down on them.” Ty slid behind Ramsey to avoid three oncoming scientists deep in conversation.

  “They’ve been talking about your research in all the news cycles for the last three weeks,” Ramsey said as Ty hustled to catch back up. He adopted a melodramatic tone, “Dr. Daniels’ findings paint a bleak picture for the future of the planet. More bad news as independent research groups all-but confirm Dr. Tyson Daniels’ apocalyptic predictions. World leaders prepare to meet to discuss the Daniels Dilemma.”

  “Are you done?”

  “There’s plenty more. Just tell me when you’ve got the picture.” Ramsey smiled as they stopped at large elevator that would take them to the outer ring of Troy.

  “I understand your argument, but that’s the whole point, Colin. Your point was the only one you considered. You can’t just act unilaterally and expect the world to react how you intended.”

  The cylindrical elevator car, large enough for fifty people, or, more frequently, heavy shipments that needed to be distributed throughout the station, arrived. They entered, and Ramsey pressed the button for the outer rings, where his quarters were. The doors rotated shut and sealed with a hiss.

  Ramsey and Ty braced themselves against the side railing. Ramsey’s stomach dropped with the car as it began to accelerate with a gentle whir downward alo
ng its magnetic track. Almost imperceptibly, the gravity began to increase as they passed through the outer floors of the middle ring, heading for the outermost ring. The main tourist and scientific levels were on that outermost and largest ring, where the station experienced about 80 percent of Earth’s gravity.

  Between its rings, the wheel of Troy Orbital Station was empty, except for eight spokes connecting the layers together and providing a tether for elevators such as this one to connect the rings. As they entered the spoke between the rings, the elevator car’s lights dimmed to black and its solid walls turned transparent.

  From here, the infinite black of space expanded in nearly every direction, riddled with shining stars. The very fabric of creation, unfurled and resplendent. A view of space unparalleled in the history of space tourism.

  Somewhere out there was the new home of the human race, and Ramsey was going to find it, whatever the cost.

  Much closer, filling the foreground, the great wheel of Troy Orbital loomed, shining silver in the rays of the sun. The gods had the cosmos to testify to their greatness, but this space station was exhibit ‘A’ in the testimony to human greatness.

  And it was Ramsey’s.

  As they approached the innermost layer of the outer ring, the Earth came into view back in the direction of the station’s hub.

  The dying Earth.

  Perhaps Ty was right, and there would be mass panic on the little gray marble. Perhaps RamTech would receive backlash from the weak and short-sighted politicians of Earth. But Ramsey was counting on his speech to force their collective hands into public support and funding of his project. Let their speechwriters find the words to unite their people behind the noblest of causes: the preservation of the species. That was their job. Ramsey was the prophet, the speaker of truth, the lighter of fires, the bringer of knowledge.

  It was the only way to save them.

  The cosmic vista vanished unceremoniously as they entered the outer ring and the elevator car’s light flickered back to full brightness.

  “I never get tired of that view,” Ramsey said.

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “Which subject?”

  “You. Acting unilaterally. Not taking advice. Being reckless. Causing panic. Destabilizing governments-“

  Ramsey waved a hand. “Et cetera, et cetera.”

  Ty let out an exasperated sigh and folded his arms again.

  “Look, Ty, I know what I’m doing with this. I already have my whole plan laid out for CIV. All we need is to find five thousand people to repopulate the species when we get to our target world.”

  “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about!” He began to count on his fingers. “What the hell is CIV? How are we going to pick these people? How are we going to get them to this target world? Where did you get those numbers from? Does anybody else know about this?”

  The elevator came to a stop and began its automated integrity and pressure balance checks. The doors would open when those were complete.

  “Do you really want those answers or are you being rhetorical?”

  “Well, I was being rhetorical, but sure, why not. Let’s hear it.”

  Ramsey shrugged. “CIV stands for Colonial Interstellar Vessel, which is what I’ve named the colony ship, the plans for which are nearly complete, by the way.”

  Ty’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

  Ramsey continued. “Whoever wants to live can apply, and if they pass genetic screening and have skills to help a new colony thrive, they will be considered. Our final selections will be run through an algorithm - I have a team that starts development on that next week - to ensure fair representation of all nations and people groups and the best overall genetic compatibility among the population. We’ll get them to the target world in cryosleep-“

  “Which doesn’t exist,” interrupted Ty. “Not how you’re talking about it, at least.”

  Ramsey raised his eyebrows.

  Ty looked back at him with suspicion. “You don’t. You can’t.”

  “Rolling out year after next. Q3, probably.”

  “Unbelievable.”

  “Believe it. My father was obsessed with cryo, and we’re just working out some kinks now.”

  “Kinks?”

  “Yeah, the chemical makes 25% of the apes we’ve been testing it on… erm…” he waved his hand idly, “die.”

  “Killing one in four users is a lot more than a kink!”

  “Calm down. We’ve got time to perfect it.”

  “You’re unbelievable.”

  Ramsey smiled even though he knew it wasn’t meant as a compliment. “Thanks.”

  Status checks complete, the elevator doors rotated open. Ramsey stepped out and Ty chased after him.

  They had entered a long, wide, open court. Hundreds of people speaking a smattering of prominent languages milled about in the nearly Earth-like gravity of the outer ring. Wonderful smells of cuisine from every part of the world wafted through the air. Word of Ramsey’s announcement didn’t seem to have reached here yet. Most of these people were about to be sent unceremoniously back to Earth. Looking up, a transparent canopy thirty feet or so above the floor revealed another sweeping panorama of space and of the more inward ring groups.

  They crossed the courtyard, Ramsey attempting not to draw attention to himself. He loved the public eye, but cared little for the public.

  They came to the much smaller elevators used for movement between floors of the outer ring. Ramsey’s quarters were all the way out on the outermost floor, where windows in the floor provided views of space and the gravity was closest to that of Earth.

  “Two questions to go,” Ty sighed as they entered the more traditional elevator.

  Ramsey pushed the last button on the panel. “I came up with the five thousand number by calculating how many people we would need to keep the surviving population genetically diverse and how big I think we can build CIV given our ten-year window. And, to answer your last question, no. No one knows much beyond their own projects. No one except for me, and now you.”

  “Why me?”

  Ramsey shrugged. “No one else I trust.” It wasn’t exactly true, but it was true enough that he could say it convincingly.

  The door opened to a white hallway. The curve of the station was gentler here, but the upward curving corridor still vanished after a few dozen feet in either direction. This was the scientific module of the station, where most of RamTech’s space-based innovations were tested and studied.

  Soon, that description would fit most of Troy Orbital.

  Ramsey and Ty were quiet as they approached Ramsey’s quarters. Ramsey swiped his right index finger backward across his right sideburn, just above his temple, brushing a strand of dark blonde hair out of his face and activating his neural lace in one motion. The small, subcutaneous transmitter broadcast his arrival and the white plastic door to his studio retracted into the wall.

  “I still think you’re being reckless,” said Ty, following Ramsey into his quarters.

  “That’s ok.”

  “You’re not perfect, you know. You can make mistakes.”

  “I’ll be sure to mark the calendar when the day arrives.” Ramsey loosened his tie and shed the sport coat.

  The main living space of his quarters was not much more than ten feet deep by thirty wide. A kitchenette, trimmed in shades of black and white was immaculate, primarily due to lack of use. Meta-material couches were situated around a window in the floor of Troy’s outer ring, offering live views of space in lieu of a more traditional area rug. Ramsey rolled his cuffs to his mid-forearm as he crossed to the kitchenette and pulled a bottle of 2189 Blanton’s from the otherwise empty main cabinet. He poured two glasses and passed one to Ty, who took it without objection.

  Ramsey invited Ty to join him around the transparent floor panel, and they sat down in the perfectly-conforming comfort of the couches. Ramsey draped his left arm along the top of the couch and crossed his ankle to rest on his kn
ee.

  “You’re waiting to tell me something you don’t think I’ll like,” said Ty. “The bourbon’s a nice gesture, but I’m not touching it until you tell me what you really want me for.”

  Ramsey took a slow, drawn out sip, letting the aroma and the flavor of the Blanton’s fill his senses. He savored the burn as he swallowed. “I work with some of the smartest people in the world, Ty. But, damn, if you aren’t the smartest.”

  Ty failed to stifle a derisive laugh and placed the bourbon on an end table. “No, no, no. Don’t waste your flattery. Out with it.”

  “I’m not flattering you,” Ramsey stated.

  Ty raised a thick, black eyebrow as he stared Ramsey down.

  There was no backing down now. “We’ve known each other for a long time, Ty. All the way back to the Academy.”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “Ever since we graduated and temporarily went our separate ways, I’ve studied under the most accomplished physicists, mathematicians, and chemists in the world. From sixteen years old I had an inside view on this organization my father built. He would buy entire companies just to capture their best and brightest minds and add them to his empire. Under my leadership, we’ve continued that policy. I can look you in the eye and say that there are less than a handful of people in the world who I wish worked for me who don’t.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  Ramsey took another savoring sip of bourbon. “Do you remember how soon after my father died I offered you a job?”

  Ty shifted his weight on the bio-responsive couch. “It was pretty fast.”