The Supreme Council had, as expected, given its consent to proceed, even though unofficially, work had begun some years ago. Now it was official, and there was an air of apprehension and excitement across the entire planet.
From a logistical point of view, the forthcoming mission was truly immense. No project so large had ever been undertaken. There were more three hundred thousand Karonians involved in moving just eighty four thousand into space. The staging ground was in a deep valley, and occupied an area of over thirty square kilometers. It had become known colloquially as “The Valley of Hope”. Looking down from any ridge into this valley, one could see the magnitude of the work underway in what seemed like a virtual small city. It was obvious to anyone that preparations were well advanced for a significant event.
So far, nearly four hundred ships had been completed, with a further two hundred nearing completion and one hundred in various stages of construction. Since the launching of all seven hundred was scheduled to take place over a full six months, there were sufficient numbers of ships already completed to enable launching to commence at any time. In fact, at the rate of four per day, the next one hundred days were available to complete just one hundred ships, and one per day was easily achievable. But there would be more time than that. Because so many other things needed to be done, launching would not commence for some months yet.
The enormity of this project is difficult to imagine. With each ship carrying twelve hundred Karonians, together with their equipment and supplies, tools, food and water, as well as laboratories, medical facilities, plants and animals, it goes without saying that they were gigantic. As each launch took place, new ships would be transported and loaded into the docks, and the work would continue day and night until every ship was gone.
To monitor and control this mission, a station was set up in Juzrel, Karonia’s second largest city, and it employed no less than twenty thousand staff. From day one, each ship would be in constant contact with all the other ships, and with mission control. If just one ship made it to a new habitable planet, then all the others would know it, and it might be possible for other ships to make their way to that planet.
Of course, there was the question of who was going and who wasn’t. The explorers had each been meticulously selected and screened in every way imaginable. Even the slightest hint of psychological or emotional instability would render one an unacceptable candidate. They would all be experts in their respective fields, highly intelligent, healthy, of a suitable age and be free from family or other connections that might make such a long and perilous journey stressful for anyone left behind.
Husbands with wives who were appropriately qualified could travel as couples, and especially such couples with infant children were selected. Unmarried individuals of either gender with infant children were equally eligible for selection. There needed to be a perfect balance of occupations, ages and genders so as to enable the highest possible likelihood of mission success, while simultaneously ensuring social harmony on board these massive vessels.
Most Karonians were oblivious to the fact that this was indeed a last ditched effort to salvage their very existence. For the vast majority who would remain behind, this was, for all intents and purposes, just another exploratory mission, but on a much more massive scale than had ever before been undertaken. So instead of despair, there was a deep sense of pride in what was being undertaken by so many brave and talented fellow Karonians, who were embarking on such a dangerous exploratory mission.
The prospect of this mission failing had not really been canvassed, because anyone could see that although there were risks, most ships would return triumphant within a relatively short time, say twenty or thirty years, and they would bring back new and exciting knowledge and technologies. Who knows, some may even discover new life forms. It might be that some ships are lost, but that was the nature of space exploration. It was a calculated risk, and one that was worth taking.
While all this was happening, scientists on the planet would continue to search for a solution to the problem most immediately at hand; that is, what to do about the Salleem’s infertility. Everyone was convinced that soon, a solution would be found. Maybe the solution was out there somewhere in deep space, and if found quickly, the ships could all return home early. Then things could get back to normal on Karonia.
“This is a true marvel of engineering excellence” Yora said, as he walked around the bridge of the ship. “It’s even better than my home!” Everyone laughed. “And I can’t wait to get going”, he continued. “It’s going to be an honor to serve with you all”. He looked around at the smiling faces, all beaming with pride and admiration. Yora would be their captain, and from today, they would be with him every day, maybe for the rest of their lives. They were about to commence three months of training on board this stationary docked ship, using simulators when needed. Many of them had known Yora from previous space flights on smaller vessels, and all those who knew him, loved and respected him. He had earned a fine reputation for treating his crew with great respect. He knew that his crew comprised highly skilled specialists, and all were totally committed to the success of the mission. In total, there would be one hundred and eighty under his command. Although he was just thirty eight years of age, which was young for a Flight Captain, Yora was well experienced in space travel, and he demonstrated that he was mature enough to make sound executive decisions.
“Later this month, this vessel will be open for inspection to the public” Yora said. “So let’s hope we all know our way around it by then”. There was a another burst of laughter, because this was such a huge ship that it would be very possible to get lost on it, so they would all need to familiarize themselves with it fairly quickly. Of course, one wouldn’t really be lost, because the exact locations of all on board were monitored from the bridge, and also by ground control.
“In the meantime, please go about your duties in anticipation of a smooth and uneventful journey of discovery”. So they all worked as though they were actually traveling through space, dealing with many different situations in drills, and learning about the very new technologies on board the ship. There was much excitement in the air.
The collective Karonian term for children was linden. The singular was lind. Today, there were linden running around all over Yora’s ship, using the simulators, pretending to fire the weapons, and watching instructional vision on the many large floating screens that hung in the air. These were micro-thin clear sheets that would automatically turn to face the majority of viewers.
There were classes where linden could learn about space, and afterwards, they could ask questions, many of which would bring huge smiles to the faces of the tutors.
“Where are the animals?” one lind asked. “Someone said there would be a Zoo on board”. Some linden laughed or giggled, and the tutor, a Salleem Flight Technician named Kala said “Well, we have an unlimited number of animals on board, of every type you can think of, but they haven’t been born yet”. The lind looked puzzled. “When will they be born?”
“They won’t be born until we need them”, said Kala. “They’re in the laboratory, sort of like seeds from a plant, and they’re all frozen.” She looked around to see if the linden understood. Clearly some didn’t, so she went on. “If we never need them, they’ll just stay frozen, but we might go to a place where we can make them come to life, by fertilizing them, and then they can grow up just like they would on Karonia”. “What’s fertilizing?” asked another lind. “Well, we take a tiny egg and mix it with some fluid, and it starts to grow, just like any seed will grow when you put it in the ground and put water on it, but you can’t do that when they’re frozen. They need to be at our normal temperature”. “So do they get put in the ground?” There was much laughter and some groaning from the older linden, and even Kala had trouble controlling her laughter, but the question did deserve a generous smile. “No, this all gets done in the laboratory. Only the plant seeds go into the ground”.
“But aren’t there some animals living on board”, asked one of the older linden. “Yes, there are”, said Kala. “These are for us to eat, and they will reproduce themselves so that we will always have enough food. Many of them lay eggs, and we can eat those too. We grow plants to eat as well, but we always keep plenty of spare seeds of all the animals and plants, just in case we ever need them”.
“But if the animals are born somewhere else, and then you all come home, can the animals come home too?” This was a tricky one, thought Kala. These linden were too smart. “Well”, she said “It depends if we have enough room. They might be very happy and want to stay where they are, but I guess we could bring some babies home if their parents didn’t mind’. There was a long silence, as though the older linden were thinking “You must be kidding!” and the younger ones wondering if they were being tricked. Luckily, the door slid open and a Kelen called out, “When you’re ready, we can all go down to the propulsion centre”.
“Thanks Podel” said Kala, with a sigh of relief. She had known Podel for a long time, and for some reason, he always seemed to appear just when she needed help. “Mmm...did he feel that?”
The linden were so excited, all walking happily in a long line. Some were chatting away and others were looking around with wide eyes at all the amazing high technology they had never even imagined before. They all carried bags full of mission samples and GoRounds. These were small coin-like tokens that held data of all sorts; video, virtual reality, simulators and much more. Linden of all ages collected them, and they were often swapped or bartered. Most parents wished that GoRounds had never been invented, but they had been, so they just sighed, “Linden will be Linden!”
Podel was the ship’s engineer. He was a happy sort of Kelen. He was confident, and had a keen sense of humor, something that Kala admired in him, and he wasn’t bad looking either, she was thinking as they walked towards the elevator.
“This was going to be a long trip, and you never know what might happen” she thought as they bundled in. It would take three trips, down to LBC21, that was, twenty one levels below center of ship. When they were all there, near the entrance to the light tunnel, Podel gathered the linden around him and started explaining how the ship would be propelled. There was the very latest Quantum NLS plant on board, and Podel went in to great detail about this, and about the discovery of sub-quark atomic particles called "Unified Tri-Optic Pulsers" (UTP’s) which made NLS travel possible.
Unfortunately for Podel, his enthusiasm got the better of him and he began to rattle-on, so to speak, explaining in depth about the workings of things. As he progressed, the linden began to fidget, and their yawning increased. Even Kala yawned, and when Podel caught her trying to hide it by keeping her mouth closed, he realized he might have gone on a bit too long, so they began their tour of the light tunnel, which was the ship's real power center. Kala tagged along behind, wondering what she had been thinking earlier.
“The Light Tunnel” didn’t really have all that much to do with visible light, but it was casually referred to as “Light” because it made use of light in a very technical way. Its proper name was the “Sub-Quark Particle Tunnel” (SQPT). Hundreds of years ago, Karonian scientists made a quantum breakthrough when they discovered minute particles called sub-quarks, which when converted to waves, produced enormous amounts of light-generated impulse energy.
Harnessing this awesome power required the development of SQPT’s, which in turn led to more sub-particle discoveries. In rapid succession, exciting new discoveries were announced, and now Karonia was truly able to venture out into space using an amazing power source that was weightless, non-explosive, and could never run out. SQPT’s took up very little room on board a ship. They were just three meters in diameter and one hundred meters long, and circular. Sub-Particle conversion took place inside them, producing enough energy to propel and power a ship twice the size of a Qven-SubQ.
The ships didn’t need to go any faster. Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second (186,282 miles per second). SQPT’s had produced Tachyons, that is “faster-than-light” sub-particles, but in practical travel these had proven useless, because their use would mean arriving at an event before it had occurred. So unless you really wanted to pop out of existence, this was not a good idea. In reality, at such speeds, ships would simply disappear, lost forever in time.
Instead, the Quantum Venturers moved along at a nice steady 295,138,323 meters per second, which is of course just short of light speed, and is therefore safe. Over relatively short distances, say up to fifty light years, the time difference was negligible. Of course it was possible to go slower, but no-one on board these ships could think of any good reason why you would do that. Time was running out.
When Podel had finished showing the linden the light tunnel, explaining its function as they had all walked around inside it, everyone made their way back to the LAC02 lounge, and it was time for the linden to prepare to disembark. There were over two thousand visitors still on board, and it would take some time to clear the ship.
Podel and Kala watched as the various linden were reunited with their respective parents, and they each wondered how many of these civilians would actually be travelers on this or another QVen. There would be many linden with working parents. Fertile salleems would of course be selected. In fact, after crew, they would take priority. They would provide hope, as a means of continuance for the Karonians. Many would become impregnated en-route, or even after arrival at some new place, if any existed and could be found. Of course it was yet to be determined if these fertile salleems would remain so, or even if their female off-spring would be fertile in years to come, but right now they were an essential part of the mission, and they would be treated with great care and respect.
For Podel and Kala, it had been a long day, with too many questions and too much noise, but now they could both take some time off, so they made their way to LAC32, where they could eat and get to know each other a little better. It turned out that Podel wasn’t that boring after all.
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