Leaving Paradise Read online

  Leaving Paradise

  By Paul A Jones

  Copyright Paul A Jones 2018

  Prologue

  To win the first lottery on his world was not something the man expected. His random selection gave him and five others an amazing new opportunity. It offered those six whose names were randomly chosen the chance to leave their star system behind in the newly developed fastest spacecraft in their history. Zenan did not feel enthralled with being one of the winners. He loved his home as much as he loved his life. It was now the day to decide whether to accept the fabulous prize.

  He walked on the slowly ascending hill above his city. He wore a basic, currently white coloured utilitarian tunic with matching coloured trousers and comfy light shoes. His skin was lightly tanned, hair dark, covering his ears and his eyes were deep brown. He was currently alone and lost in thought. Ordinarily he preferred company to solitude, but this was a time for peaceful contemplation

  Below him lay City One, curved outward in all directions. The name of the city did not signify a lack of imagination. It was numbered 'One' because so determined had they been to build a civilisation unlike any other which existed in their history they named their new world after a mythical place; Alsouartisca, meaning paradise, and gave their first city a name no other had. He turned back and looked over his great, beautiful city, which he could see in a panoramic view with a mosaic pattern of greens, slivers, blacks and greys. It covered the horizon, built above the river Acrea which was integrated into the city's design. From his position the great river was partially obscured and no fatter than his finger. He turned around and walked higher.

  He smelt the freshness of the ground and the warm, attractive fragrance wafting over from the Kee flowers, bursting into bloom. This was the most difficult decision for him to make. It was one which had faced their thinkers, dreamers, and many citizens for several generations in theory, though it seemed it was never going to become real. Space travel was a theme in certain stories, games and holos. But fantasy and reality were not the same. To really leave was an altogether more daunting proposition.

  The sky was blue with wispy weak clouds way off on the horizon, and their closest star was a glorious golden orb. He thought of those beings that were living elsewhere, looking up at the sun or suns in their sky. He was struck by the beauty of his world and considered whether he should leave perhaps to never see it again. The idea of travelling to other star-systems seemed a step into the past. This feeling was far from unique to him. Their world and society of paradise was everything that their ancestors wanted to create and more.

  He reached the top of the hill. He could have taken the transit line but wanted both the time to think through some of the questions throbbing in his mind, and to sweat a little. He admired the magnificent view. He was not aware of the enormous size of his home city normally. His comm device was in unavailable mode, and he wondered how many messages were waiting for him. It was the beginning of a new era for his people. The question was if he would take the opportunity. He had still not decided.

  He checked the time and walked back until he saw the metallic line along the ground, approached, waved his hand and waited. A flock of white birds swept past, beating their wings and stopped and glided along on the gentle wind current. After several minutes the grey carriage arrived, the door opened, he got inside and sat on the comfy seat.

  The New Era

  1. The Decision to Leave

  There was room inside the transit for thirty people, but he was the only occupant. The ride was smooth and pleasant, and absentmindedly he fumbled with his light tunic. Transit vehicles were the most popular ground-based way of travelling on his world; they were ubiquitous, reliable and quick. As he travelled back he thought the offer was unfair, and yet he knew he was making excuses for considering refusing the prize.

  These thoughts ran through his mind as the vehicle arrived. The Assembly building was a grand construction. The architecture in City One was an eclectic mixture of the best ancient Beousweran designs combined with their modernised versions and various styles which meant a wild variety of shapes, sizes and colours of buildings. Highly decorated pillars supported the large red roof of the giant auditorium. He got off and walked towards the huge white building surrounded by blue and yellow plants. Large generated words above the entrance, said in giant changing colourful letters, ‘Meeting: Reach to the Stars! Decision Time!’

  Inside the entrance to the crowded building, he was spotted by Yudia, who walked quickly to him and said, beaming, ‘I thought that maybe you were going to run away, and never come back! Not answering your comm at a time like this.’

  She stood three finger tips shorter than Zenan and had a slightly heavier build. Her tunic was a more elaborate design than his and was coloured light blue, as were her trousers. She had shiny long brown hair s and wore a delicate white shining pendant that glittered. She looked striking and her brown eyes twinkled in the light. He’d known Yudia for many years and loved her dearly. Physical beauty was ubiquitous, but such close friendship was harder to find.

  ‘I thought of running away, but here is my big chance to advance our peoples on their way towards their conquering of the universe. I only hope that they will name a city or world after me.’

  Her eyes glinted, and she replied, ‘if we had laws, I would hope that statements such as those would merit swift retribution. You set your aim high as well – to conquer the whole universe may take us some time!’

  ‘True, let’s just conquer this galaxy first,’ Zenan replied. ‘Though I’m not feeling to leave our world, I would miss so many wonderful things.’

  ‘You would forsake our understanding of the universe, of potential contact with other sentient creatures, avoid this amazing new system of travel, and have our culture stuck on this single planet, all for the sake of our friendship?’

  ‘Perhaps I might.’

  Anonymity was granted to the lottery winners to prevent their decision being unduly influenced by their peers. Zenan told only Yudia and Teric of his selection and with difficulty they kept his secret hidden.

  Yudia saw that her great friend was deep in thought. She smiled and said, ‘you look so bright today. How can you hesitate? To be one of the first people to leave our solar system for centuries!’

  Zenan realised his clothes had not changed from their white colour to his currently preferred black. He whispered and they changed. ‘Yes I feel privileged to be given the chance to leave this world, to search for other life-forms and explore, but at the same time I don't want to leave our culture and especially you.’

  ‘With the advances in technology, you won't be gone for a century, let alone a year.’ She hugged him. She smelt of sweet blossom and he returned her hold. ‘You won’t be gone for long. Then the rest of your life you stay in paradise. We’ll still have at least two centuries to spend together if you don’t tire of me by then!’

  He whispered, ‘for this new journey, all they've done is sent a few probes out, and they think that is a basis for shooting us off to distant stars. I don’t want to imagine a year without seeing or touching you. I love you deeply and cannot imagine tiring of you.’

  Yudia thought the prize was wonderful and Zenan’s fears were unjustified.

  ‘You know that our knowledge, together with the power of the AIs has not caused us any problems in centuries. All of those probes returned safely,’ she said, breaking away, beaming. Seeing his expression, she kissed him softly on the lips. ‘I will miss you incredibly if you go but will greet your return with all of my love and enthusiasm. If you agree to travel you will sleep most of the time.’

  It was a nice kiss. He said, ‘don’t as such friendship only makes me want to stay at home.’

  He was
afraid of being alone. He had experienced it once; gone to the frontier where their paradise met the competitive world of nature and walked alone into the wilderness. His curiosity and desire to experience won. He was given a weapon; the only time that he carried an energy-based one. The switch on the weapon was fixed so that it could not kill any animal only stun them. The Shield that separated his world from nature had been temporarily lowered, and he’d walked alone into the un-sanitised world wearing a protective body suit, accompanied by a small non-sentient drone.

  It felt strange and empty beyond the shield. Comm net access was available in an emergency, and a machine Sentinel would rescue him. He became lonely and wanted company. Was afraid in case of an attack by a wild creature and lasted one solitary and at times terrifying night. What was gained from his brief experience of life beyond the protective shield was an increased love of his civilisation and comforts. To travel in a ship in space was to be in a small bubble of civilisation surrounded by many dangers and a vast vacuum. He preferred his world to the idea of such isolation.

  He walked linking arms with Yudia, through the large numbers of people waiting in the large semi-circular hall. He saw few people he recognised and exchanged smiles and glances at those he did. Teric, a friend since childhood stopped him, laughed and said, ‘I never imagined you as a map-maker; in unknown waters, alone against the emptiness of the galaxy.’

  Zenan replied, ‘I will not be alone if I accept, I will have a smart AI, as well as all of my wonderful memories of my life here... and anyway I will be gone for less than a year.’

  ‘You think that you will be back within a year? If only that were so; you may well be back so soon, but only if you experience no problems, such as hostile aliens or malfunctioning computers,’ Teric replied.

  Teric was a man of Zenan’s height with black hair, a tanned complexion, blue eyes, and a smooth blemish free skin. He was dressed in similar clothes to his friend as were many men, but his were coloured dark red. The idea of a malfunctioning computer struck Zenan as an absurd idea and he smiled.

  Yudia interrupted, ‘enough teasing Teric, we all know that we wish we were able to go in one of the craft.’

  ‘I am Tasal. Friends will you allow the meeting to commence?’ a loud voice said through the sound system from the centre of the hall. The woman appeared young, dark skinned and wore a green tunic and shorts; she was one of the rotated organisers of the meeting.

  Voices murmured, conversations withered away, and people took their seats. A hush came over the hall as the meeting was of great significance. Tasal called for Zenan to make his presence known, and reluctantly he stood. She smiled and asked him if he would like to come to the centre podium.

  He felt awkward but Yudia whispered, ‘go on, you may never have this opportunity again, as long as you live.’

  From their homes tens of millions more people than could fit inside the hall were watching and would be able to vote. As he walked up he took slow breaths and stood near Tasal. She smiled and said; ‘Zenan Seventy-Nine, resident of the area of City One, randomly selected by our AIs for this mission of exploration and discovery, do you accept the prize offered?’

  He looked at the audience and found Yudia. She looked very happy. He swallowed and said, ‘yes.’

  A roar of noisy approval went up from the hall, as people cheered and stamped their feet. The tremendous sound reminded him of the giant waterfall at Agran Fush. But that was the roar of nature and this was pleasure at what they had achieved as a people. Massive viewing screens came to life around the walls of the hall and similar looking halls were displayed. Five further people; two men, and three women who had been selected were asked the same question as Zenan; one refused, and a reserve person was contacted and accepted. Six randomly selected people agreed to go into distant space once more, in the interests of their world for research and exploration.

  ‘Discussion time,’ said Tasal.

  ‘What will we do if none of our people come back? Do we send more and more craft? When do we stop?’ asked a tall, fair haired man.

  A slender woman with long white hair stood and said, ‘we cannot stop sending our people into the galaxy, we must learn by our mistakes if indeed any happen. We have been isolated for long enough and I hope our people have safe trips!’

  City One’s main AI spoke. ‘In tests all probes returned safely. The lightships performed without blemish in each of the last ten thousand one hundred and five trials. No harm came to any life on-board or to the machines running them. To imagine a single ship failing to return would astound and upset us, to conceive of all ships vanishing would require several unforeseen, catastrophic occurrences capable of wrecking each craft to occur simultaneously across many light years of space. Our probes have not encountered any such dangers nor did our ancestors in their voyage here. We would not risk sending out sentient creatures to explore if we thought they would perish. Each of your lives is priceless.’

  AI’s existed throughout the world; they ranged from those limited ones found in transit shuttles and homes to those vastly superior to humans; the Cities Computers that oversaw food and manufacturing production, distribution, power, research and the repair and maintenance drones. The main AI for a City was the supreme level of artificial intelligence, and their opinions were highly valued and respected.

  A younger woman said, ‘what happens if we discover other creatures? How do we react towards them?’

  Tasal intervened and said, ‘let us ask Zenan what he intends to do.’

  He explained, ‘I am one of you. I have grown up in the same culture that each of you has. It is hard to judge how I would react in a future encounter because the chances of encountering other life, with whom we could communicate are so tiny and because the different ways they could react towards us are many.’

  A man who identified himself as Rafelkri protested at his 'logic', and said, ‘any creatures that we would encounter could only be either hostile, friendly, cautious, indifferent or dismissive. That is not so many possibilities. We have only to fear the hostile, and hope that their level of technology is well below that of ours.’

  Another woman spoke, dismissing Rafelkri, ‘those are our responses, who can say what an alien life-form would think of us, they might see us as we see plants, and want to eat us, or as insects to vanquish. Or they might be so large life-forms, or so small that we wouldn't notice their existence.’

  Women and men of varying ages stood and spoke their mind. People in all different locations across the city, used their screens to join in the debate. The people were full of talk of space, and the six ships that would explore it, what they might encounter and how they should react. The discussion was conducted in a lively atmosphere.

  Zenan sought to reassure his people. ‘You know that I am one of you. I have not sought to harm any innocent sentient creature. I am quite sure that the ship’s AI will do everything to protect me. We travel in a spirit of curiosity, and it is knowledge we seek not combat.’

  A beautiful looking older woman spoke on one of the screens, ‘Zenan speaks as we would all hope that any of us would. His beliefs are our beliefs; his mind is like our minds. We are of the same culture, without distinction. He will do as any of us would in the same position - be an Alsouartiscan. We can ask for nothing more!’

  There was a roar of approval at this statement. He was filled by the expectations of his people, of their wonder, and hopes for the six craft and their passengers. He had seen roars of celebrating crowds in history screens, for the completion of plans, the construction of buildings, the writing out of laws, and the eventual removal of them but this was the first time that he had participated.

  He left the platform, found Teric and Yudia and sat between them. Both put their arms around his shoulders and were happy. He felt overwhelmed by what he had agreed to and all the concerns.

  ‘Well, my friend,’ stated Teric, ‘you can't obtain riches from your journey, but the possibility for infamy is great; you could la
nd on a world and stand on an unseen living creature and even start a war.’

  ‘Chilling words my friend and said at such an opportune moment as well,’ replied Zenan.

  ‘The opportunities really are boundless for committing such terrible errors!’

  ‘Since he will not only have his own excellent judgement, but also amongst the smartest machines with him I think such an infamous encounter would be extremely unlikely,’ countered Yudia. ‘I don’t want anyone to hurt my wonderful friend,’ she added, squeezing Zenan tightly and kissing him passionately on his cheek.

  2. Preparations for the Journey

  Zenan reluctantly left his friends after the meeting and went via transit to a site which contained a simulation of a lightship. Physically present were several of those who helped design it. Tens of thousands of people connected via their screens, occasionally by themselves, but usually in groups came up with the ideas and helped to construct the lightships assisted by vastly experienced AIs. The person who met him had a mane of shiny black hair with lines of red. She wore black utilitarian clothes and introduced herself as Phelio. She smiled and said in a gentle tone, ‘so you are the experimental subject for this dangerous journey.’

  He smiled warmly and replied, ‘be careful, I might run away to the stars and never return.’

  ‘It is essential that each of you comes back. We need the knowledge that you will collect. If you don't return, aside from all the people that would miss you, we would only have to send out another craft to the same area that we hoped you would report back on.’

  ‘So, you would want me back, Phelio?’

  ‘Yes, of course I would miss all of the data that you will collect. A lot of time and effort has been spent on this project’, she replied ignoring his playful flirting.

  ‘I’m excited but apprehensive at the same time.’