PROXIMA B

Giorgio Pulvirenti

Marco Negrone

Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.

Pictures: Bruno Francesco, Rao Martina

Translator: Federico Favaro

Index

Chapter 1 – For the benefit of all!

Chapter 2 – A new hope

Chapter 3 – The training

Chapter 4 – Last days on Earth

Chapter 5 – The upcoming tomorrow

Chapter 6 – Changes

Chapter 7 – Fresh air

Chapter 8 – Still alive

Chapter 9 – Still waters

Chapter 10 – Kin Tooh

Chapter 11 – The hostage

Chapter 12 – Misunderstandings

Chapter 13 – Kiiya ità

Chapter 14 – Dekee

Chapter 15 – Cameter’ii

Chapter 16 – Animal fury

Chapter 17 – Future

Proxima B. Around 12:00 AM.

Nothing seemed different from any other day. No cloud was in the rosy sky, no noise broke the silence of a cane thicket whose tops shifted softly as a feeble wind flew in. There a man went forth. He was about thirty and was wearing a gray uniform with some blue details and a crest on his epaulettes had a writing, ”New NASA Corporate”. He was holding an arm in his hands; it was an assault rifle. The farther he went into the thick vegetation, the darker and the more absorbed his expression grew. It looked like it was waiting for something dangerous and unknown that would grip him. His steps slowed down. Suddenly they stopped. Silence was all around them. The forest seemed to stop, too. Suddenly the man began to raise his rifle very slowly, as if he were about to aim. He looked impassive and so absorbed. He slid his finger over the trigger. He was about to shoot, but something moved very quickly. It emitted a tremendous cry, an incredible roar; it lay in wait behind him and was ready to attack him...

Chapter 1 – For the benefit of all!

Missoula, Montana.

S

ome workers were busily carrying out their job. They were scrupulously coordinated within an area where another 14-story building that was situated in the new zone of Missoula began to take shape. Peculiar cranes with long automatic jibs were tracking the contour of the building under the management of authorized personnel wearing hard hats and uniforms of “Garcia Enterprise” – that is the name of the society where the workers were employed – and supervising everything from below by means of some computers. Other workers were in the establishment and were arranging some tubes or other materials that apparently were not so heavy. Another expansion of the residential areas of the city of the U.S. state of Montana had already started some years earlier and urban territories needed more space that rural areas, which had almost completely disappeared, were obliged to cede. It was about 10 o’ clock in the morning and that same old Friday Philippe the foreman looked away from his workers for a while. He had to answer the phone. After a few seconds, the conversation was over. He had just confirmed that the work was going on and there were no glitches.

About half an hour later, those who were there were attracted by a black sedan that was about to cross the threshold of the workplace. Philippe, who was there, too, came up to the car. He was ready to greet the person who was about to get out.

“Good morning, Mr. Garcia!” Philippe said. He presumably greeted his supervisor that answered with a hint of a smile, “Dear Philippe, a plan every eight hours. Finally, we shall go back to the schedule… Excellent!”

David Garcia, a respectable man in his forties, was a successful businessman as well as one of the most valued civil engineers from Montana. And much more. After graduating from Billings University, he came back to Missoula some year ago to keep on increasing his business; he aimed mainly at the tender to erect buildings for dwellings that have a low environmental impact. You could think it was a paradox, but the fact is that David did not really like living in the city; he did not even like the life in the city. That is why he had arranged to keep on living in his grandparents’ house in the countryside just outside of Missoula. That house had always been a basic element in David’s life. He loved to stay right there when he was free from any meeting or business travel to enjoy that peaceful and silent place together with his son Leo and his wife Gaia. David considered himself to be a lucky man, since his job had allowed him to manage that corner of paradise where he preserved most of his childhood memories with his parents, his two brothers and his grandparents. David acknowledged the important values of life thanks to them, who taught him to take care of any animal or vegetal living form. David himself had struggled against deforestation in his land, but he could not do so much as a single citizen. That is why he arranged to study engineering; he aimed to be one of those who erected buildings, but, at the same time, he would never omit to fulfill the principles that his family had transmitted to him; he would respect the environment as much as possible. This philosophy was what he wanted his son Leo to absorb, but Leo was a child who was born in a modern and innovative era where what was “essential” for life was surely something different from cultivation and breeding. David moved forward along the perimeter delimited by his plantation. What he had always struggled for was about to come to life one more time.

“Sir, there are four stories left. We think they will be ready within Monday.”

Philippe was one of the most important members of “Garcia Enterprise”; David trusted him blindly and it was to him that he entrusted the management of the work that he considered important, just like the current work in the west side of the city.

“Excellent! I can tell our buyers that we’re going to have it ready in time,” David said. He was satisfied. He got nearer and nearer the building under construction.

“Let me know when the structure is ready so that I can inspect it,” the engineer told Philippe one more time, and Philippe made a signal in reply.

The two men said their goodbyes. One more time, David got into the same car by which he had got there.

David was inside a car that was traveling along a road in the countryside. There were several houses all around. They looked like ranches. They were completely different from the buildings in the city center of Missoula. When David could enjoy that rural panorama that he loved unopposedly, he did it, as if he were attached to those trees and those typical wheat fields. Past the first five dwellings, the car was about to cross the railings at the entrance. It delimited a path that led to David’s house.

The car stopped right in front of the front door and the engineer said goodbye to his autopilot.

“Thank you, Albert. See you next Monday. Have a nice weekend.”

An automated male voice came out of the car speaker, and when the owner of the car came out of it, it started to travel along the path in the opposite direction.

After a few seconds of nearly contemplation, David went up the few stairs to the front door of his house when suddenly he noticed a tennis ball rolling on the floor. A few instants before he had been right there. Suddenly a nice German shepherd that did not hesitate to bring the ball back; when it noticed that its owner was there, it began to bark with joy.

“Roth! Come here!” David uttered after leaning his overnight case on the floor and opening his arms to welcome his faithful friend. At the same moment, David noticed his son Leo appearing from the back.

“Daddy!” the boy screamed with joy as if he had not seen him for a long time. Leo began to run towards his father that moved away the dog for a while so that he could hug his son that cried out, “Finally you’ve come back! Till Monday we’ll be together!“

“Of course, my son!” his father answered serenely. Then he continued by asking, “Is your mother in?”

“Yes, she is in! She’s doing laundry!”

“Okay, let’s go inside, then,” the man finished. The two went in.

Gaia and David met when they were both about twenty-two years old during a mutual friend’s birthday party. They immediately got on well from the first moment they had met. They would never split up. The decision to have one baby only originated from an ancient tradition in David’s family and his wife finally accepted after some afterthoughts; she loved her husband and it was rationality that let her come to this decision.

The family was finally sitting at the country-styled kitchen table. They were all ready to taste a savory pie that Gaia’s hands had prepared with love after reciting a prayer to thank God for their food. When this ceremony was over, the three people began to eat.

“By the end of the month, you will succeed in delivering the building, won’t you?” his wife asked him. David did not hesitate and answered, “We will, darling. Philippe has assured me the plans of the flat are ready next Monday. So we should succeed in delivering the building in time.”

The woman did not say anything else.

“And what about you, little man? Have you cleaned the rabbit cages as you promised,” David asked the boy, who answered, “Of course, dad! When lunchtime is over, I’ll let you see what I’ve done!“

David showed Leo his approval and Leo kept on eating and smiled.

By the time the family had lunch, Leo was already standing; he was waiting with impatience for his father to see the result of the work that he himself had asked him to do. “Come on, Dad! I’m sure you’ll be satisfied!”

Leo could not wait any longer. David was about to stand up when suddenly Gaia stopped them before they could go out.

“David, I’ve received a letter for you this morning. I have leaned it on the piece of furniture at the doorway.”

“It’s the same old letter from IRS,” her husband said finally. He looked almost disappointed.

Leo had already gone out while David stood in front of the piece of furniture that his wife mentioned, the one upon which there was an envelope with two seals that caught his attention. The man grabbed it and began to look at it more carefully. He realized that it was not addressed the person that he had imagined. On the upper right side of the envelope there was the New NASA Corporate logo with its address; on the lower side there was a phrase, “For David Garcia. For the benefit of all!” At that point, David was devoured by curiosity as to the content of that envelope, when his son’s voice interrupted him once again, saying, “Dad! Are you coming, or what?”

David kept on staring at the envelope and tried to get rid of his son quickly.

“Go ahead, son! I’ll come in a minute…”

Leo did not add anything and went ahead, but his expression was unhappy due to what he was just told. Then David opened the envelope and its content was finally revealed. It was an official invitation from the U.S. government and New NASA Corporate to appear before the seat of Washington.

New York.

A man had just left a pub after an entire evening drinking whiskey and scotch. Former American Army corporal Michael Stateman was an excellent pilot on leave in his fifties, his hair was graying and his athletic silhouette was the result of a lot of time spent at the gym; when he was at home alone, he did not hesitate to drink and dwell on his wedding, which broke up due to his impetuous character. His long, dark coat and his typical hat used to protect him from the cold nights (night had come already) while he was going back home. The streetlights were lighting the sidewalk where the ex-corporal was walking. Suddenly he was stopped by an elegant man wearing a gray suit and a black coat who appeared behind a corner.

“Gentlemen!” the mysterious guy said firmly. Michael turned round suddenly when he noticed that he was there, but he did not say anything.

“Michael Stateman, right?”

Michael just nodded. After asking for confirmation about his identity, the man wearing the gray suit delivered him a sealed envelope with two seals: a seal of New NASA Corporate and a seal of the American government.

“This is yours,” he told him and after friendly greetings he got on his black sedan – he sat down in the backseat – and he disappeared just like he had come. Michael was puzzled and at the same time curious to know what that envelope contained. After a few seconds of consideration, he put it through the pocket of his coat and went his way back home.

Once Michael returned to his flat, which was dingy and messy, to say the least, he took his hat and his coat off and threw the door keys in a bowl on a small piece of furniture. That evening he looked more thoughtful than usual, which made him even more eager to drink some whiskey. He recalled the envelope that he was given by the mysterious man wearing the dark suit shortly before and walked towards the coat to grab it. Once he had it in his hands, he looked at it more carefully than he did when he was outside the pub and decided to open it. He pulled the sheet out of the envelope and began to read. He realized that it contained an invitation to appear in Washington or, more precisely, before the seat of New NASA Corporate, but he did not know why. But he was struck by a writing at the bottom of the sheet: For Michael Stateman, for the benefit of all! When Michael took the sheet and put it on the table near the cigarettes and the half-empty glass of whiskey, he noticed that the envelope contained some flight tickets. Departure date: in three days. He, who was perplexed and contemptuous, put everything back in the envelope and let it fall to the floor. Then he lay down on the sofa and tried to sleep. He looked at the ceiling that appeared to be moving to the left and to the right. But he realized that it was the result of one too many glasses of whiskey, or maybe more, and his mind was immediately filled with memories and fragments of a happy past that had abandoned him a long time ago. The memories of his walks by the lake, hand in hand with his wife, filled his head as if a film in black and white were being played out for him. She, who was a gorgeous brown-eyed woman with honey-hued hair, looked at him and smiled as if that moment had to last forever. The air and his lungs were filled with her scent that was like flowers in the desert; he got completely lost in her gaze. Excess alcohol got gradually in his system and Michael gradually closed his eyes; the images in his mind faded gradually and were finally replaced by a deep dark and a regretful heart.

Michael’s night had passed in the blink of an eye. Morning came.

“What time is it?” he wondered. He was stunned by alcohol.

“Fuck! It’s too late!” he said. He stood up in a hurry and tried to get back to his feet. That same morning he would have a job interview. He did not even have time for a shower. But he could not miss his coffee. He poured a little in a cup from the coffee maker in the kitchen and drank it like it was water. Finally, he was ready.

He got to the meeting point, which was the hall of a five-star hotel on Avenue 147, in New York, half an hour later than arranged. The former corporal met Mr. Gale, who was a rich businessman that wanted him to be the pilot of one of his own drones.

“Hello,” Michael started by saying awkwardly; he almost stuttered when he saw the man sitting on a very comfortable and elegant eco-leather armchair in front of him.

“Sorry for coming late. The traffic is terrible in Manhattan,” he added to try to explain. The rich man looked at him for a few seconds, and then he pontificated, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stateman, I won’t stand it. What I stand least is your delay! Without a doubt! How have I become what I am, eh? Being late? This could have been a great opportunity.” Then he cried out, “Goodbye!” he stood up with his co-workers and went away. Finally, Michael was there alone. He was furious with himself.

San Diego, California.

“Open no. 2!”

The woman’s voice who uttered these words resounded through the 60-square meter hall; it was almost muffled by the mask that covered her mouth. Five neon lights were attached to the ceiling, a floor lamp with seven lamps lit a body’s patient who was lying on a table, a row of monitors surrounded the smooth walls around the place, a special machine with mechanic arms moved on the body that was lying on the table directed by a team of surgeons standing at one end of the room, inside a sort of gazebo, behind a desk, they were all busy steering little levers on a keyboard. The place was one of the San Diego Health Sulpizio Cardiovascular center operating theaters, and the hospital was one of the most modern hospitals of the whole California. Doctor Amelia Fisher, who was the chief surgeon of the center, with her team, was carrying out one more robotic heart surgical operation that day.

“Keep on widening. Jenny, keep on widening.”

Jenny Andrew, Amelia’s vice, began to turn some casters in the keyboard in front of her, and some arms of the machine started to move. Amelia was regarded as one of the best surgeons in the State even if she was thirty-eight. She graduated from the USCF School of Medicine of San Francisco with full marks and had always wanted to be a doctor, specifically a heart surgeon, since she was a little more than a girl. His career path was marked by several difficulties, such as her parents’ premature death and the fact she was an only child. However, thanks to the fondness of her friends and her colleagues and her great determination, Amelia had attained her objectives.

“Very good. We can say that’s enough.”

This sentence was uttered every time a surgery went well, like this time. Amelia took off her mask and left the rest of the team work in front of their computers.

“I’m done for today. See you outside,” the doctor said. Then she left the room.

After leaving the operating theater, the woman got ready for communicating the outcome of the operation to the patient’s relatives.

“So, how was it?” the woman’s mother asked the doctor. She was scared and full of anxiety. Amelia leaned a hand on the lady’s shoulder to reassure her.

“Do not worry, your daughter is fine. The operation has been successful.”

After these words, the woman burst out an almost liberating sob, which was the result of the anxiety she had accumulated during the time of operation; she did not give up thanking the doctor; she wanted to hold her tight somehow. Amelia was accustomed to such scenes, but their effect on her was always good and they made her feel good. After all, these situations had contributed to her being a heart surgeon.

“I’ve only done what I had to do. You only have to stay by her side now. And everything will be okay.”

Amelia’s words were always sweet when she talked with the patients’ relatives that she operated, since she knew very well what the loss of someone that is loved meant. After the last goodbye to the woman, Amelia left the room. She was walking through the long corridor to her ward.

“So? How was it?” Thomas asked, stopping her. He was one of his colleagues as well as one of her dearest friends.

“It was more complicated than expected, but in the end we succeeded,” the woman answered. She looked tired but she was satisfied with the results.

“Excellent! You’re coming to Manuel’s party tonight, aren’t you?” the man in a white jacket kept on saying.

“Well… actually, I’m a bit tired. I’d rather stay at home…”

A strange expression entered Thomas’ features. Amelia captured it very soon.

“Listen. I really don’t feel like it. It’s been a rough few days for me. Tell him I’m sorry,” Amelia tried to explain herself.

“Okay. But just know that he will take offense,” Thomas said finally. He had been walking once again. He was walking in the opposite direction to his colleague. So, they went their way.

Once Amelia entered her room, she took off her white coat and arranged it into a locker on her right. After checking her mailbox, she took some sheets and secured them in a folder. She switched the computer on her writing desk off; she took her jacket and her bag from the coat rack and got ready for leaving her room.

She walked through the hallway, took the lift and finally ended up on the ground floor where, after a quick greeting to two receptionists, got ready to pass a special card through the sensor of a picket-shaped metal device just in front of the main exit in the building. Another workday had just passed.

Amelia was quite a peculiar woman. Sometimes her character was controversial, but she only needed to be with the right people to totally open her heart. It may have been the fate or her work, but the fact is that people like these were very few. Two of these were her friends and colleagues Thomas and Jenny. Thomas was an old college roommate of hers, whereas Jenny was her deputy within her team. He, who used to feel like a brother to her, had been looking for her proper boyfriend, but Amelia had succeeded in freeing from that situation, which she found a little uncomfortable. She wanted a man, of course, but she had not found the right one yet; she hated forced and scheduled things. Thomas used to ask her to spend some time with his friends so that he could introduce one of them to her, and actually, she had met many friends of his, but she did not really like one.

The doctor used to live in a rooftop penthouse of one of the most known buildings in San Francisco with Lilly, which is her lovely dog, and Lorry, which is the parrot that had been given to her as a present brought from Africa by Jenny. The building was a modern-styled house, big enough to ensure her the space she needed. Amelia parked her electric car inside her garage in the basements of the building and she got ready for going up the few stairs to the hall of the building where a certain Charlie worked as a doorman.

“Good morning, doctor!” the man greeted her, seeing her coming. She was an android equipped with a full artificial intelligence.

“Charlie…,” she answered, going towards the lift.

“Stressful day?” the robot asked her. He had noticed that the woman was tired.

“Enough. I look forward to lying in my bed!”

Then the android said, “Wait…” The sound of that voice caught Amelia’s attention, and she reached the writing table.

“A few hours ago I received this one for you.”

The man handed a letter over to the doctor and she looked at it with surprise. Then she asked with puzzlement, “Why didn’t they put it in my letterbox?”

“I don’t know. I can only say that the man who delivered it was wearing all black. He didn’t even look to be from San Francisco…”

Amelia was still looking at the letter out of curiosity.

“I’ve understood. Thank you, Charlie. Have a nice day.”

The woman said goodbye to the android and walked towards the lift.

Once she came at home, she leaned her bag and her jacket on the sofa. The letter was still in her hands. She looked at it tone more time, and then she leaned it on the table in the sitting room. She meant to read it when she would awaken. When the mistress came, Lilly began to bark with joy. Once she put on more comfortable clothing, Amelia went up to her bedroom. She was holding her smartphone to read the latest news before falling asleep like she used to do. Before entering her room, her eyes fell once more on the letter on the table in the sitting room. The woman rested a moment while she considered what to do, and then she thought she would not hang on until she awakened. So, she decided to open it. She turned the letter inside out and noticed that it was sealed and that on the upper side there were the U.S. government logo and the New NASA Corporate logo. On the lower side there was also an inscription: For Amelia Fisher. For the benefit of all! She did not notice that detail earlier. Then she did not hesitate to open the envelope to unveil its contents. Amelia pulled the accordion-folded paper out of its own envelope and started to read it. She had been invited to a special lecture that would hold at New NASA Corporate in Washington. The woman kept on staring at the letter without saying anything…

Springfield, Missouri.

Northwest Missouri State University, Room no. 3. There were about fifty people sitting in their places while a woman was sitting behind a writing desk and was using a stick to show some schemes that had been projected on a giant screen behind her. Doctor Abigail Sanders’ AP chemistry class was almost over. She was forty-five, her hair was dark brown and curly, her bright eyes were hidden behind thick glasses that let her look like a young nerd. She had been tenured and had been teaching chemistry for five years in one of the most important faculties of the whole State. She used to hold four classes a week in the morning and serve as director and head of Springfield biochemical engineering laboratory, which she loved too much, since she had financed a part of the renovation work that was carried out nearly ten years ago. She loved chemistry unconditionally. Since she was a child, she had been attracted by all that could be turned into something else. She was fond of all that. Thanks to her father, Carl Sanders, who was a successful chemist now retired, Abigail had succeeded in carrying out all her studies, since she had graduated from high school and from university with full marks. Unfortunately, mainly due to her work and her several travels for many updates, Abigail did not have much time to spend with her family. Her husband Sam, who was an honest electric car mechanic employee of Ionix & Co., and her three children, Robert, Cody and little Gwen, were often home alone and got used to taking care of each other over the years. They knew their mother loved her work and that when she could she spent her spare time with them in the best way. It was so. No one was really satisfied with that situation, but each one did something by respecting everyone’s will for the family’s sake.

“Once again, we’re facing a partial oxidation! 1,200 degrees!”

Abigail stopped for a while so that he could take a breath.

“Well, that’s enough for today! Within Thursday I want you to send me the e-mails concerning your today’s report, which shall be at least six pages long! Thank you all! Have a nice day!”

While our professor was uttering these words, the people who were sitting in front of her began to stand up, murmuring softly.

Abigail was reorganizing her notes on the writing desk while those who were there were all leaving the classroom. A man wearing a dark suit entered. He was quite calm. He went up to the woman who was about to unplug some wires from her notebook.

“Professor Abigail Sanders?” the man wondered while taking off his sunglasses, which let him reveal his eyes, which were as dark as his jacket.

“It’s me,” Abigail answered. She began to gaze at him.

“I must give you this one.”

The strange guy pulled an envelope out of his jacket. It was sealed with two seals. The woman did not hesitate to pick it up.

“Who has sent it? And who are you?” Abigail wondered. She was almost puzzled.

“I can’t answer these questions. All you need is inside the envelope. Goodbye.”

After these words, the man put on his dark glasses again and left the classroom. The professor stood there and held the envelope in her hand. The woman observed the shadow of the man until it was gone. Then she directed her glance towards the envelope again. She turned it inside out again and again. On its back side, the envelope was sealed with two seals. On its front side there were two logos that were as big as a stamp; they represented the U.S. government and New NASA Corporate. Abigail observed those symbols carefully and her eyes opened wide in amazement. On the lower side of the envelope there was a writing that the woman did not hesitate to read: For Abigail Sanders. For the benefit of all!

Chicago, Illinois.

Jerry was an ordinary guy. He was twenty-five and had an unbridled passion for biology. After graduating, he enrolled as a researcher in the Chicago biology institute for further study (a master’s degree). That was the reason why he had studied and this made his mother happy and proud. Jerry used to live with her in a flat in the eastern outskirts of the city. He did not want to change his lifestyle at that time. Still, his intention was to live alone shortly. He never came late at work. That morning he was about to come to the biology institute. He was wrapped up in taking on another day of research. He greeted those who were working there – the doorman first and finally his colleagues – and he entered his lab where he could see his colleague Bob, who was a biologist like him but who was not as good as Jerry.

“Why are you here already?” Jerry asked his friend.

“You know… being single may have its pros!”

The two were happily playing around before work. Jerry noticed a brownish envelope come out of a stack of white research sheets of paper shortly.

“What is this?” the boy asked Bob, intrigued by it. Bob, who was sitting in his armchair, used its wheels to push himself, “Ah yes! It has been there since this morning! An elegant man left it. He was wondering where you were! I had to tell you, but I forgot to do it. Sorry!” Jerry did not hesitate to open the envelope and pull the sheet out. He read it quickly, and then put it back inside its envelope without noticing some flight tickets inside.

That same evening, after work, Jerry went home, he dined and finally opened the envelope. He pulled the sheet out and began to read with much more attention than that morning. The sheet had an invitation to take part in a special lecture in Washington that was coordinated by the U.S. government and New NASA Corporate. The letter suggested that inside the envelope there were two flight tickets that Jerry would use to reach the capital city of America.

The following day the young biologist’s mind was distracted. He thought of the letter that he had received the day before, but the most persistent thought was about his colleague Isabel. Just Isabel. Jerry was in college when he first had a crush on her. They were at the same biology class and since he caught her attention, he was immediately fascinated by her. Her skin was pale, she had cold eyes and fiery hair; he was skinny and clumsy just like an overachiever can be, but the sense of protection that he felt for her let him be quite funny. A beautiful friendship was born between them. Jerry, who had just awakened and was sitting on his bed, began to think about Isabel and how he could declare his love for her. This scene repeated itself punctually almost every morning. Just like every day, though, he was as much afraid of his feelings not being reciprocated as he was in love with her. But he got ready for going to the institute. He came into his workplace and greeted Tim, as he always did. Tim was a man in his sixties and he was the reception supervisor.

“Good morning, Tim! How are you?” Jerry asked the man that was standing behind a glass slab in front of the entrance of the complex. He, who could see him reciprocate his greetings but could not hear him from behind the glass, smiled and took the lift. Just as the doors were about to close, a hand avoided it. It was Isabel, who entered and went close to the boy immediately.

“Hey, hi! You disappeared yesterday… and I… you know… I need to tell you something!” the girl cried out in excitement. Her words upset Jerry, who could not imagine anything.

“Exactly! Yesterday I had a thing to do and I had to go away, you know…” Jerry answered with a little embarrassment.

“What did you need to tell me?” he asked her.

“There’s a person that fascinates me so much, but he may not know about this thing!” Isabel cried out. In the meantime, the lift doors had opened.

“This is our plan…,” Jerry said.

“How do you know that he doesn’t like you?” the boy kept on asking; he was in a hurry, as if he had had to take the train and had been late. He walked towards his office as if he were in the grip of an anxiety attack.

“Hey, is anything okay?” Isabel asked him. She changed her attitude for a while.

“It’s almost like you’re running away from me,” she added.

“No… it isn’t so… Why? Is there anything strange in me? Not at all…,” Jerry mumbled.

“Oh, okay! Anyway, you may know him well…,” Isabel kept on saying. Her excitement was back and Jerry was much more upset. He almost exploded due to the beats of his heart.

“I’m talking about Franz! Isn’t he one of your co-workers? Could you put in a good word?” Isabel asked him. Those words took the wind out of his sails. Actually, what Jerry had always hoped would never realize. He wanted that girl to be forever his, but she wanted to be with one of his colleagues, the one who, by the way, was a complete idiot. This fact destroyed all what he had imagined till then. His heart seemed to have stopped for a few seconds and the young biologist looked stunned. He stared into space.

“Oh Jerry! Jerry! Hello? Is anything okay?” He could hear the girl wondering, but her voice seemed far away and barely audible as if she were a few dozen feet away. Then he came round all of a sudden.

“Hmm… yeah! I’ll do what I can… I have to go before Bob blows the whole building up! See you around, Isabel!” Jerry said, walking over to his lab while Isabel was just standing there, looking at him and watching him with much puzzlement.

Phoenix, Arizona.

The day was sultry. The sun shone making the rocks, the ground and even the air incandescent. Everything would seemingly burn at any moment. A rattle snake stirred looking for semidarkness on some rocks to protect itself from the heat that surrounded the firing range where a platoon of PFCs was about to fire. Metal targets, which were a bit rusty, were there, incandescent, waiting for being shot by the bullets shot from the weapons of those young soldiers who were on the hills one mile away from them. Ten Marines that were led by their Chief Master Sergeant Lucas Douglas were getting ready to take point.

“Down, everybody! Take point!” the sergeant told them, so they all obeyed and took their own points, lay down and loaded the sniper rifle and waited for him to give the signal to commence firing. Lucas Douglas, for his part, took it easy before giving the signal. They waited for his signal several minutes. He had been used to the Arizona blistering sun since he had been serving in that helluva place for more than twenty years and he knew that he had to make them – the ones that he considered as the runts of the litter – understand that life in the army was not a game and that it would lead them to difficult decisions and exhausting waits under very hard conditions. Lucas Douglas, who was an Afro-American big-hearted, high-spirited man in his sixties and a very hard worker, too, was there today. He meant to get the best out of his seven men and his three women who were waiting for him to order them what to do. Some of them were getting impatient; others were already covered with sweat but no order had been given yet. The sergeant’s wait appeared to be intentional… He only had to yell the soldier’s name and this one would fire a shot. But he had not done anything so far. After getting a big glass of lemonade off a table under a nearby sunshade, the Chief Master Sergeant took a quick glance at the troop and immediately got an idea of whom would do one’s work well during that intense workday. He grabbed his binoculars and watched the faraway silhouettes, and then he yelled out, “MONTGOMERY!”

He barely uttered the whole name when a rumble caused by the gunshot pierced the air. The silence of the valley was replaced by the screeching of the bullet that shot the metal silhouette right on its right shoulder.

“Well done, Montgomery! Next time aim at its head!” The sergeant’s heavy voice directed its words to the young man, who murmured to himself in a low tone of voice, “What am I supposed to have aimed at?” He was a bit disappointed. He started watching the silhouettes from the monocle of the rifle.

“PINCHER!” the Chief Master Sergeant shouted again and another shot was fired by the soldier who missed the target completely and ended up behind the metal silhouettes among gravel and cobbles under Lucas Douglas’ gaze.

“Pincher! You did fucking miss it completely! You wouldn’t even be able to shoot the ass of an elephant sitting right in front of you!” the sergeant exclaimed, which elicited a smile from a few fellow soldiers. The guy that had shot, who was a bit angry and disappointed, did not laugh, but stood there and waited for further instructions. The soldiers, who were waiting for their own calls, took their own points again in the blistering sun. One of them was Emily Parker, a young soldier with light brown hair and brown doe eyes. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead to her right eye, the one that she was not using for looking through her monocle. She tried to wipe it, but as soon as Lucas Douglas saw that she was not paying attention, he yelled her name. It took about two seconds for Emily to take her own point again and shoot. The bullet shot the dummy’s head and the metal sparked, which stopped her fellow soldiers and the Chief Master Sergeant in their tracks. The latter did not hesitate to congratulate her on her work.

“You did a great job, Miss Parker! A great job!”

The training was over shortly thereafter. Each soldier broke ranks by freshening up a bit.

“Go freshen up, you deserve it! Great job, guys, except yours, Pincher and Sully. Your aim sucks…,” the sergeant said merrily from underneath the big awning. Then he turned his attention to Emily.

“Miss Parker, can I talk to you?” the sergeant asked the girl. The young soldier went up to him. She thought he would reprimand her.

“Sir, I’m sorry for…,” the woman tried to excuse immediately, but she was stopped her instantly by her superior.

“Miss Parker, I didn’t call you for what happened earlier. I called you to tell you that this morning I’ve received a letter from the Government and NASA. They wanted me to recommend somebody for a project,” the man informed her. Then he paused for a while and searched for any reaction in the girl’s eyes. Then he kept on saying, “I’ve thought of you. What about this idea?”

Emily did not expect the sergeant to tell her so. She took a few seconds to think and finally she said, “Sir, I’m confused. I don’t even know what this is about,” the young Marine said with hesitation.

“Once you’re in Washington, everything is going to be clearer. You’re too smart to get old in this fucking hole. You’ll find the invitation letter and the flight tickets in your bedroom!”

“Sir… I don’t know what to say,” the soldier stuttered one more time.

“Don’t say anything. Honor your country! For the benefit of all!” Lucas Douglas said finally. Their glances were admiring when they saluted. Emily went back to her accommodation.

She arrived there and picked up the envelope. Her hands were shaking. She was happy. She leafed through the letter and the tickets. She was ready to leave for Washington.

Chapter 2 – A new hope

T

he day of the flight to Washington had finally come. Jerry was busy getting his small luggage prepared, but the excitement and the curiosity that had seized him that same morning since his awakening had led him to hesitate over what to take with him.

“Not this one… This one is too showy… Ah! This is the one I was looking for!” the boy cried out while picking the shirts to take with him. He chose a pair of trousers and his underwear. He filled up the small bag and took it near the front. He took up his belongings, his keys, his wallet and a thin and clear-glass device whose shape made it look like a credit card but that was actually something that served as a smartphone. He took a look around for the last time to check if he had all that he needed.

“Mom! Mom! I’m ready to go!” Jerry shouted. His mother left her bedroom. She was still wearing her nightgown.

“My little man is going to Washington! I’m proud of you! Give ‘em hell, honey!” Mrs. Vandcamp said. Then she added, “Come here, let me hug you!” And they hugged each other with love.

“Mom, I’ll be back soon. I’m not going to the moon!” her son cried out. He smiled, kissed her mother on her cheek and took his luggage and walked towards the taxi while his mother was staring at him with her watery eyes, since she was sad for her son. But he let her feel proud of him, too.

Michael had just got on the plane that would take him to Washington. It would take only few minutes. The plane had an elongated shape and its wings were relatively small. Two electric engines were ready to thrust it supersonically, which was usual at that time. The motto of the air carrier stood out on both sides: The world in less than one hour. He boarded the silver plane whose inside was white and Havana-brown and took his seat. Then he sat down in the lavish seat made of synthetic material, which does not mean poor quality, and thought.

“Why the hell am I doing this?” he wondered in a low tone of voice. The passenger who was sitting next to him was attracted by his voice.

“Is it your first time on a Jet Line?” he was asked by José, who was a man of Hispanic origin. Michael turned slowly towards the man who was in his fifties and slightly overweight.

“No, it isn’t the first time!” the man answered lazily.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m José! I hope I’ll enjoy my journey with you,” the man said to Michael, who stared at him for a few seconds.

“José, huh? I’m Michael. Let me tell you something. I haven’t slept for two nights or something. And to add insult to injury, they’ve run out of whiskey at the bar in the airport, I’ve got on board this plane even if I didn’t want to, and I’ve settled myself into this seat on a plane, and now I’m sitting next to a man I’ve never seen in my life and that is already unbearable to me. It’s going to be a nice trip, you’ll see...”

The ex-Marine turned to the porthole and cried out, “The fucking rudeness people have!”

Washington D.C.

Some hours later, Jerry got off the taxi. He had got on the taxi at the airport of Dulles and was dropped off a few hundred feet away from the seat of New NASA Corporate. The building was wonderful. The way it shone thanks to its large glass windows made it look like a crystal; after admiring it for a while, Jerry walked towards its entrance. Emily arrived unexpectedly. She was in her civilian clothes. She was wearing a black coat and a pair of dark blue trousers. They both came close to the entrance and were embarrassed as usual since they did not know who would go first. So, Jerry decided to let her go first.

“Please… ladies first,” the biologist said. Then he smiled.

“Oh, a gentleman! I thought they had died out,” Emily answered sarcastically. After an exchange of smiles and gazes, they entered the structure and everybody went their own ways.

Jerry glanced at Emily for a last time. She was going away. He pulled out his smartphone to see if any emails had been sent to him from his workplace. He walked without looking around and, even if he was walking slowly, he collided with a man, dropping his trolley and some belongings.

“Oops, I’m sorry. I’m terribly sorry! I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t paying attention,” Jerry mumbled quickly as he tried to pick up the man’s things.

“Obviously! Watch where you’re going, boy! You could hurt yourself or hurt other people!” Michael exclaimed. His tone was a bit harsh, but as soon as he saw how much the young biologist was awkward while picking up the things, especially the letter from NASA that had also fallen to the ground, he was impressed with how Jerry looked frozen to see that he was there to attend the lecture, too.

“Give it to me, boy! Are you here, too, because of that stupid farce, huh?” Michael asked him abruptly.

“How do you know that?” Jerry asked promptly.

“The way you’ve looked at that letter…,” the ex-pilot answered. Suddenly a voice from some glass sheets that served as speakers interrupted him and made them vibrate by one acoustically induced vibration.

“Guests are invited to the pavilion 3. The lecture starts in fifteen minutes. Thank you!” the female voice that sounded almost metallic informed.

“Did you hear? We have to go! Take your seat and… good luck!” Michael said, addressing a frozen Jerry that stood there for a while before coming round and walking towards the pavilion.

At the entrance of the pavilion, David met two stewards who asked for his invitation letter. The engineer from Montana slid his hand in his coat pocket, and then he pulled out the letter and handed it over to one of them.

“Please sit down. Your seat is number 1367. You’ll have to go that way to reach it,” the supervisor told him after scanning David’s letter and checking his seat.

“Excellent! Is this a concert? There are so many people!” he exclaimed while he was taking a look around one more time. He noticed that hundreds of people were taking their seats in what looked like an ancient semicircle-shaped theater with so many rings facing the stage over which a giant screen stood out.

At the same moment, behind the scenes, while the audience was taking its seat, two men were drinking what looked like excellent liquor, even if they were expensive.

“Here you are. Try this one, Matthew. I can assure you that it is the best scotch you’ve ever tasted,” Ferdinand Piquet said. He was the President of the United States of America at that time. While handing the glass with two drops of scotch, he leaned his other hand on a three-star General’s shoulder, that’s Lieutenant-General Matthew Ross, who took up the glass and drank a gulp. His expression proved that the liquor he was given by the President was to his satisfaction.

“What’s the matter with you, Matthew? All those wars fought and won… and now… is a lecture enough to leave you speechless? Come on, my friend! Don’t worry! Everything will be alright!” the head of the State exclaimed and he gave Matthew some pats on the back.

“Sir, the time has come! They all have taken their own seats. It’s time to go!” one of the members of the personnel said.

“I’ll come!” the President exclaimed.

“Matthew… you know… this is the dawn of a new era. Let it start in the best possible way!” Piquet kept on saying in a low tone of voice as if he were whispering close to Matthew. Then he went behind the stage. The Lieutenant-General was left alone with his own drink.

All the guests had taken their own seats. The lights in the hall dimmed and the spotlight turned on in the middle of the stage.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States of America, Mr. Ferdinand Piquet that is going to introduce the lecture!” the speaker announced. So the President took his own place on stage behind a microphone.

“Good evening, everyone, and welcome!” he exclaimed. His words broke the silence and the guests applauded.

“First of all, I must thank you all for accepting our invitation. I must tell you that in our European branch in Copenhagen and in the Asian branch in Shanghai the same meeting is taking place. We are going to discuss a problem that has been affecting us for a long time.”

While the President was uttering these words, the audience’s gazes were getting more and more perplexed, even if there was some curiosity in them.

“You should already know that our planet has entered the zone that we have named ‘RED’, due to its serious threat to the whole terrestrial ecosystem. But before you get alarmed or become upset, I need to give the floor to the one who knows facts better than me and, therefore, is going to show you anything. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Lieutenant-General Matthew Ross!” the American President said finally, and then he gave him the floor on stage.

“They are yours…,” he added by calling on Matthew and after giving him the last pat on the back, he faded away and made his final exit. Matthew took his place, took a deep breath, licked his dry lips and started to talk.

“Good evening, everyone. As you heard, you know who I am and you know why I am here today, too. As to all of us, you and I know the name of this planet…,” Matthew cried out by indicating the giant screen behind him where the images of the Earth were appearing.

“Well, fifty years ago or so our planet looked like this. As you can see, both poles were still covered with a thin layer of ice, the deserts covered one third of the current surface and the species of animals were fifteen percent more than today. But what mayn’t be relevant – which is actually not true – is the fact that we keep on multiplying exceedingly despite the strict laws that many states in the world have imposed. About twelve billions of human beings are now living on our planet. At this rate, there won’t be enough resources for the human population and its needs!”

These words were uttered by Matthew, who tried to catch somebody’s eye while he was scrolling through some other images of the Earth behind him. The planet was mauled by hunger, famine, out-of-control climate changes and pollution.

“That’s the fact, gentlemen: if nothing changes, the human race will die out itself. And it will take thousands of animal and plant species with it into the abyss,“ the Lieutenant-General kept on saying. While moving to the right, he added, “But fate, God or whoever you want has decided to help us.”

Each face in the audience revealed an increasing curiosity. The General kept on saying, “Four years ago our telescopes spotted this one!”

The image of a new planet appeared on the giant screen.

“What you are seeing behind me is Proxima B, an exoplanet that is a little more than four light-years from us!

It orbits around a red dwarf star and, as far as we know, it is the only planet where it is possible to live,” Matthew told us. In the meantime, he kept on scrolling through the images on the giant screen behind him.

“But what impressed us was the fact that you could see that star. It shouldn’t have been so, since our telescopes aimed at a point from which no exoplanet should have been visible… We racked our brains for a long time, but we couldn’t realize why it was exactly there! But in the end we got it…”

Matthew paused for a while, scrolled through the images on the screen again and let the audience know why that planet was exactly there.

“There it is, ladies and gentlemen! Yes, you got it right. It’s a black hole, a wormhole, whatever you want to call it. It allowed us not only to see the planet but also to shorten the route, according to our calculations, from four light-years to five and a half terrestrial years!”

After that, the General went in the middle of the stage again, and the pitch of his voice changed.

“So, the real reason why you are here is that all of you have been selected after an estimate by which you have been regarded as the best in your own field. Chemists, engineers, biologists, doctors, soldiers, physicists, you, essential members for any worthy human society. I’m going to give you one week to decide if you want to take part in this one-way travel to colonize this new planet! We know that many of you have their own families and children and we know yours may be a hard choice, but, please, know that once you’ve landed on Proxima B, on this second opportunity, your loved ones can join you thanks to a second travel in a short time. So, you can start to live again all together! This is the last chance to survive.”

The man talked as if he had already faced such a mission, but actually he had spent most of his time during the last four years studying each single detail concerning Proxima B.

“Any questions?” Matthew asked as soon as he ended his speech; some boom operators began to move around in the audience while waiting for someone to ask for the floor. David raised his hand, and so did some other people belonging to several groups that had been asked to attend this lecture.

“Hmm… you! Tell me!” Matthew said, calling a chemist in his own sector.

“What is the conformation of this planet? And what temperature should we expect once we get there?” the chemist asked him. His voice came out of the speakers inside the hall.

“It’s a rocky planet, or we wouldn’t have thought of establishing the colony right there. We mean to land on the intermediate zone, and precisely near the equator, where temperatures should be similar to the temperatures of the Earth…,” Matthew answered. He kept on looking for someone else who wanted to ask him other questions.

“You, in the second row!” he said. The question was made by a physicist this time.

“What kind of atmosphere are we going to find?” he asked him.

“From the data that have emerged, according to our survey, we have assumed that Proxima B’s atmosphere is similar to the one of the Earth, since it is made of a mix of oxygen and nitrogen,” he answered.

The hands among the armchairs were raised up almost with one voice one more time. Once again it was the General who decided to whom the microphone had to be handed.

“The girl in the second row! Yes!” Matthew exclaimed as he pointed at Emily with his left hand.

“How many of us are going to leave?” the beautiful soldier asked him.

“In the first mission, thanks to which we will be able to establish the first colony, five hundred people – be they men or women – per mothership are involved. Those who have been selected, after an estimate by which they had been regarded as the best in their own fields, are being accommodated onboard the motherships. I’m honored to share this travel with those who are going to accept.”

Suddenly one of the members of the personnel came forward from behind the scenes; he went closer to Matthew and whispered something in his ear. All of a sudden, the General kept on saying,

“Unfortunately, my time is over. Those who are going to accept should report their availability in one week from today. If you accept, that will be fine. You’ll be informed of further directions; you’ll be trained for your travel. If you give up… well, in that case you’ll be replaced by other illustrious co-workers in their respective fields. And remember… For the benefit of all! Make your right choice! Always!”

Finally he said, “Thank you all.” He walked towards the backstage, which stunned most of the guests who, after a few moments of silence, began to murmur.

The President, who was holding his glass in his hands and was waiting for him behind the scenes, cried out, “Great job, first Lieutenant!”

“Thank you, Sir!” Matthew answered. Then he retired in his dressing room.

The sun was shining in Washington, even if it was really cold. Emily fled the seat of New NASA Corporate and looked for a bench under the sun to warm a little and meditate on what she had heard in the lecture. She gazed up at the sky and at the clouds through huge skyscrapers, the electric traffic noise with which the streets were filled, the buzzing of the passers-by or of those who were working nearby. The girl closed her eyes for a while and cut herself off. After a few minutes, on the street opposite the bench on which she was sitting, a taxi equipped with an automatic guidance system stopped. She had called for it before leaving the structure. The young Marine got into the taxi. “Washington-Dulles International Airport, please!” Emily exclaimed while fastening her seat belt.

“Right away, lady. The arrival is scheduled in twenty-four minutes,” the artificial intelligence in the car answered, and it set off into traffic immediately. Emily was watching the sky above her once again; there, the space among the buildings was occupied by flying aircraft and bus drones equipped with an automatic guidance system that constituted the traffic in the sky; she glanced at her smartphone before grabbing her plastic card in order to pay for the race.

After about fifteen minutes, the car came in front of the main entrance of Dulles Airport.

“Here we are: Washington-Dulles International Airport. Thank you. Goodbye.”

The robot’s voice came out of the car speakers and once Emily swiped his card, the remote power door locks were disabled and, finally, the girl could get off the vehicle.

On the return flight to Arizona, Emily could not help thinking about what New NASA Corporate had proposed to her a couple of hours earlier. The fact of leaving her beloved Arizona, the place where she was born and had grown up, made her excited and sad at the same time. She had always been a determined person, but this time she was not even able to make a choice.

Phoenix, Arizona.

When Emily entered the barracks, she began to tidy her own belongings in her cupboard. She should have stayed in Washington one more day, but she had decided to come back to Phoenix one day earlier. So, after emptying her bag, she lay in her bed and thought. After about two minutes, a knock on the dormitory door was heard.

“Miss Parker, Chief Master Sergeant Lucas Douglas is waiting for you in his office!” a soldier informed him before closing the door and going away.

On Lucas Douglas’ office door, two knocks were heard; the Sergeant stopped doing anything and exclaimed, “Please, come in!”

“Sir, did you want to talk with me?” Emily asked him, standing at attention in front of the entrance of the room.

“Yes, I did, Miss Parker. Please, sit down,” he told her. He pointed to a chair in front of him.

“How are you? How was it in Washington?” the Chief Master Sergeant asked her. He seemed to be smiling.

“What did you know about this, Sir? I’m referring to the topic of that lecture…,” asked Emily, who was a bit surprised.

“Just what it must be known… Sincerely, it was me who urged you to be applied for this project, Miss Parker!” the man clarified once more.

“Why me, Sir? Many others are waiting for this thing and are better than me,” Emily said in a trembling voice.

”Emily, listen to me. This thing is not for trained people. Trust me. Nobody can be prepared for such a thing. This is a fact of right people. And you’re the right person. I know that,” Chief Master Sergeant said, staring at Emily’s eyes for a few seconds.

“I can feel you. You feel disoriented. Probably, those who were with you feel disoriented, too. But trust me. One day you’ll understand everything,” he kept on saying.

Emily’s gaze was resolute but it was seemingly resigned when she answered, “Okay, Sir. I’ve made my decision! I’m agreeing to take part in the mission!”

“Well done, soldier! Great choice!” he exclaimed. After that, he burst out laughing. That was something redeeming.

The man finally addressed Emily, who was about to quit her office, by saying, “I was forgetting that today is your day off!“

“Thank you, Sir,” the young Marine answered. Then she closed the door behind her and walked towards her accommodation.

Springfield, Missouri.

Abigail lived in one of those terraced houses in the eastern residential area of Springfield. She and her husband had chosen quite a quiet area to live in. Her family spent its own life almost completely within that district. The University where she taught was in that district; the biochemical engineering laboratory of which she was in charge was in that district as well; the factory where her husband, Sam, worked was a few blocks away from the University; the school attended by their three children was nearby as well. You could say that particular structure was conceived for the whole city of Springfield as well as for many cities in the United States. The districts, or rather the areas, were built in order to meet the citizens’ needs; moreover, it would not be so worth moving over great distances due to the large number of inhabitants and the high volume of traffic.

The plane by which Abigail was traveling had just landed at Branson. It was approximately 2 o’ clock in the afternoon when the woman appeared from the sliding doors of the arrivals hall. She was very happy to see her husband, who had asked for a day off on this occasion, with their children.

“Mom!” her children shouted as soon as they saw her. Then they ran to her and hugged her. Their mother hugged them, too, of course, and then she said hello to his husband.

“Welcome back, my darling,” Sam told her, taking her luggage off her hand. After other fond greetings among the woman and her children, the whole family went out to their car. It was one of the latest models produced by the company where Sam worked at that time. It was an electric car that looked like a mid-sized space gray SUV with all optional equipment.

Once Sam was on his way home, he asked her wife for information about her travel.

“So? What was that travel you were talking about?”

Abigail waited a few seconds before answering.

“Would you mind if we talked later when we would be at home? I’m so tired…”

“All right,” Sam answered. They kept on traveling.

That same afternoon, after getting back home, Robert and Cody, the two eldest children, had gone at a friend’s house for studying while little Gwen had been brought to classic dance classes. Abigail had all the time she needed to relax and unpack her luggage until the front door opened.

“Darling, I’m back!” Sam said with his deep voice. From her bedroom, his wife, who was almost done with the arrangement of clothes in her wardrobe, told him something in response.

Then Sam added, “I’ve ordered some pizzas tonight.”

From the hallway he was getting closer and closer to the bedroom. Abigail locked the empty suitcase and left the bedroom to go to the sitting room while Sam was changing his T-shirt. The woman was in the sitting room in her flat; she was sitting on one of the sofas that were part of the furniture that was designed in a modern style when suddenly her husband joined her.

“So, tell me everything,” he proposed in a rather calm tone. Abigail did not hesitate and went straight to the point as she used to do.

“I’ve been selected to take part in a mission of colonization of a planet that is just beyond the solar system,” she said, looking straight into his husband’s eyes.

“What? A new planet?” he asked in amazement.

“Exactly!” she answered. Then she added, “I’ve been selected to take part in that mission as a chemist together with 1,499 people who are playing their own roles.”

Sam remained impassive at first. He tried to understand whether Abigail had something more to say. Then he began to nod, which made his wife suspicious.

“Sam, it’s a one-way travel, you know…” she added while the man was still silent.

“This is amazing!” Sam exclaimed suddenly. All of a sudden, he, who was sitting in front of the sofa where Abigail was sitting, got up from his sofa.

“Have you already decided to accept?” he kept on saying.

“Of course I haven’t,” she answered in a tone that was almost breezy. Then she added, “I’d like to know what you and our children think of it.”

Sam ran his hands through his hair, which was as black as pitch. Doubts were beginning to assail him.

“Wait…” Abigail said. She meant to break that embarrassing silence that had fallen all around for a few seconds. “We’ve been told that it will be possible for the first colonizers’ families to reach the planet thanks to a second travel that will take place a short time after the first one!” she exclaimed, intending to calm her husband down a bit. Some moments after hearing those words, he sat down again and met Abigail’s gaze again.

“Do you realize what you’re asking me to do?” Sam asked her. He was almost upset.

“I didn’t ask you anything, Sam! If you don’t want me to accept, I won’t do it. But I want you to know that we’re doing this for the future of our children. Do you remember what we talked about at Ben’s party? Our planet is seriously in danger, and this is an important way of salvation, and we’ve been chosen to be saved…,” she answered.

After hearing these words, Sam started thinking. On the piece of furniture next to him, his eyes met a photograph of himself together with his wife and their three children…

Missoula, Montana.

David was sitting on his comfortable sofa. He had drawn his head back and his mind was filled with thousands of thoughts. The silence surrounding him was broken by Roth’s barking outside. Somebody was coming. The man stood up, pulled back the curtain and watched through the window. He noticed Gaia’s car. She was coming home from work. David repositioned the curtain almost in a huff and sat down on the sofa again. The front door opened. David’s wife came in. The dog, which kept on barking, was not let in. “Finally you’re back, darling!” the woman exclaimed. She was a bit tired. She put her bag and her coat on the other sofa. David stood up and came up to her; he hugged her and held her tight. His hug was tighter than usual.

“So? How was it?” Gaia asked her husband. He stood silent for a while. Then they looked straight into each other’s eyes.

“I just need to tell you about the lecture…” But there were something in his tone that did not fully convince her.

“What’s up?”The woman asked him. She was getting a bit worried.

“No big deal, actually. Don’t worry,” David told her. He meant to calm her down. Then he kept on saying, “We’ll talk about it in a while. Meanwhile, get ready. Your supper is in the oven.”

The woman followed her husband’s advice and after making sure Leo was sleeping in his bedroom, she went downstairs back to the kitchen, and there was David. He was sitting at the table while waiting for her. The same old prayer was recited. Then Gaia’s supper began. She used to eat legumes and bread.

“So? What was the matter?” the woman asked while she was putting her first spoonful of soup in her mouth. Once more, David did not answer her immediately; rather he waited a few seconds, which let her get more suspicious.

“Listen, Gaia, I’ll put it bluntly,” he said, and then he looked up, stared at his wife that gave up eating for a while. “The U.S. Government and New NASA Corporate need to carry out a mission of colonization of a new planet that is just beyond the solar system,” he resumed, “and they would like me to take part in this mission in my capacity as architectural engineer.”

She remained impassive after hearing these words. David lowered his face for a while; he did not know whether to go on talking and how to continue.

“They explained everything to us during the lecture. They’re recruiting the best pilots, soldiers, doctors, chemists and engineers of the world, and I’m part of this group. We must reach our decision within seven days. Then we must appear in Washington again. And I’m sure that the best choice is to say yes.”

It was hard for them to hear those words, especially for David’s wife, who was increasingly dumbfounded.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Gaia wondered. She leaned the spoon on the dish almost violently, and the tablecloth was spattered with some drops of soup.

“Listen to me, my dear…,” he said.

But he was abruptly interrupted by his wife, who asked him, “Are you aware of what you’ve just said?”

“Listen to me!” David tried to press her, who, however, would not listen to reason.

“Haven’t you thought of Leo and me? How long would it take to accomplish this mission?” she asked him.

“You got it! Actually, it’s a one-way travel! Once you’re gone, you can’t come back!”

Gaia opened her eyes wide as if she did not believe in what she had just heard. David made the most of his wife’s silence. So, he could finish his speech.

“Obviously, I saw to Leo and you, too. If the mission is successful at the first attempt, the spaceships will come back and other people, including the families of those who had left first, will be caught.”

Gaia’s expression changed for a moment.

“What do you mean?” she asked him. She was full of doubts.

“That’s so. Before leaving, we must sign a contract with the Government and New NASA Corporate that assures us that we shall live a new life on Proxima B!” David said finally with increasing certainty.

Gaia’s soup had gotten cold; moreover, she had lost her appetite due to the piece of news she had just heard.

What came out of her mouth were only the following words, “I don’t know what to say…”

“Listen, my dear. This mission aims to save the whole human race, and I feel compelled to be part of this project, sacrificing myself for my neighbor, just like I was taught by my parents and my grandparents,” her husband told her.

His words sounded differently from five minutes before, which made Gaia look less hesitant about the matter.

“We should talk about it with Leo, too,” the woman said, nearly forcing herself to speak.

“Of course. I’ll do it tomorrow morning,” the man added. Then he kissed her wife on the cheek; she stood up and leaned the dish, which was still half full, on the sink.

“I’ll go home. I’m exhausted,” she said.

“Okay. Tomorrow morning you’ll see this matter in a different light. Trust me,” David added, letting her get into bed. She deserved her own rest.

David sat down again and grabbed his tablet with both hands. On its monitor a document stood out. All information about the mission could be found there.

New York.

The noise of the cues hitting alternately the cue balls on the pool table was the background to country music and the soft murmur that resounded through the same old pub on the 44th street where Michael used to go. He was a regular by now. It was about 11 o’ clock in the evening and the man was sitting on his usual wood swivel seat. He was ordering his same old glass of whiskey.

“Another shot, Sten!”

The barman did not hesitate to satisfy Michael’s request.

“Hey, my friend, are you attempting to make up what you’ve missed lately?” Sten asked him almost ironically while pouring some other whiskey in Michael’s glass that he drank in one gulp.

“By the way, where have you been?” the man asked from behind the counter.

“It’s not your business!” Michael answered in his usual drunken man’s tone. Sten had known him for a long time and he could not take it out on him. Instead, he kept on insisting, regardless of him.

“Come on, my friend, admit it! You may have done some nice blonde girls!”

Michael glanced at him almost threateningly. Sten realized that he would rather give it a rest and devote himself to the wiping of some glasses with a tea towel before putting them back in place.

“Do you mind if I stay here a little longer?” the man asked him. His expression was getting sadder.

Sten looked at him carefully, and then he replied, “You know I’d never kick you off, Mr. Stateman… You’re my best customer!”

Michael outlined some kind of smile and raised his glass, which meant that he was asking for some more whiskey.

“Actually, I did meet a nice blonde…,” he said while he was looking for Sten’s gaze.

“Did you? Who was she?” the barman asked him.

“She was a doctor in Washington… I was there for a lecture,” he answered.

Sten started to look at Michael just like he used to do after his tenth glass.

“I was asked to be the pilot of a spaceship that is going to take part in a mission of colonization of another planet in order to save the Earth,” Michael confessed. His speech caught the attention of the five men playing pool. Sten laid the tea towel and approached the ex-pilot, pulling the glass off the counter.

“So, you should save the Earth, shouldn’t you? Very good, Mr. Stateman!” Stan said; he smiled almost mockingly at Michael while he was exchanging a few glances with the pool players that began to come towards the counter.

“I dare say that we already scored today…,” the counterman said finally while beginning to wash the glass in which the man had gulped down his whiskey.

“So, tell me: what’s with the mission, bro?”

One of the five men, a colored one, went next to Michael and put a hand on his shoulder, as if he, who did not believe anything he said either, wanted to mock him, especially given the condition in which the ex-Marine was.

“And to think that I was bothering about dying here on Earth while this hero is going to save us all!” a man mumbled snootily. He and other men were surrounding Michael, who was still sitting comfortably on his stool. Sten had already realized how things would go on, so he tried to handle the situation.

“Boys, let it alone!” he said, but another big guy motioned for silence.

“So, big man… If you can’t save yourself, how could you save mankind?”

As soon as the man uttered these words, Michael swung around abruptly, hitting him with his violent fist right in the face, which made him almost fall off the stool.

A fight broke out among the five men and Michael. Kick after kick, punch after punch, Michael could do nothing but watch that show that was nothing short of poor while the remaining people were about to leave that place hastily. Apparently, Michael was doomed, since he was fighting alone against five petty thugs. Instead, he made it. He hurled the stool at two of them, who were floored and left lying stunned on the ground. Then he floored two other men by hurling two glasses at them right in the face. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the four men that he had hit moving in front with difficulty towards the exit of the pub. There was still another man and that is the first who had hit him. Given that Michael was hardly lucid anymore, the man choked him out, which made his head slam against the counter, stunning him.

“Here is your mission!” he exclaimed. He was convinced that he had knocked Michael out. So, he could walk towards the exit and join his accomplices. But the ex-Marine got back to his feet, all of a sudden; he grabbed one of the wooden cues and used it to hit the man’s neck from behind. The man felt he was attacked, so he tried to set himself free by kicking back at Michael that was therefore obliged to ease the grip. As they faced each other, Michael used one of his knees to break the cue into two pieces, whose ends were now pointed.

“Let’s go, son of a bitch, come close!” Michael mumbled through split lips. He pointed the sharp cue at the colored man.

He was about to attack him, when the man stopped him.

“NO! DON’T MOVE! OKAY!”

He was still speaking when he beckoned the four other men to leave. Finally, he said, “Let’s quit… He’s mad…”

The five men left the place, leaving Michael, who was holding what remained of the cue in his hand, and Sten, who had watched everything without saying a word, alone. Michael threw the pieces of wood on the floor once they were alone. Then he turned to the counterman. Disorder was all around.

“Sorry, Sten, sorry…”

While he was trying to apologize for what he had done, he put one hundred dollars on the counter, trying to repair the damage done in the pub. They glanced at each other one more time, and then Michael left the premises.

San Diego, California.

Amelia was in her now familiar operating theater with her team. She was struggling with yet another case of acute myocarditis in a relatively young patient. Unfortunately, it was a rather widespread pathology caused by Polytected Heartimus virus that had been gripping the global population, especially the people aged between 20 and 35, for almost ten years. According to scientists, the strain of the virus came from inadequate hygiene in most of the citizens. Thankfully, this pathology could be treated with a heart surgery that, however, most of the times could not keep the virus from spreading. That morning it was more difficult than usual for the doctor to work due to lack of concentration.

“Doctor, is anything okay?” Sady asked her. Sady was the third member of her team.

“Yes, it is, Sady. I’m only a bit tired… We’re almost done. Open the fourth arm,” Amelia answered.

Jenny kept on looking at her friend. She knew her well and she knew that there was something odd about her.

After about fifteen minutes, the surgery was successful as usual. Amelia took off her surgical mask and left the room without saying anything beneath the gazes of the rest of the members of the team.

Once she was in the corridor, she heard someone calling her from behind.

“Wait, Amelia!”

It was Jenny, who was walking fast. Finally, she caught up with her.

“Is anything okay?” the woman asked her.

“Yes, everything is okay…,” Amelia answered in a tone that sounded anything but sincere.

“I know you too well not to see that there is something wrong with you,” the woman made it clear. Then she kept on saying, “What about going grabbing something tonight?”

Amelia waited a few seconds before answering. Then she said, “Well, I don’t know…” Her tone was a bit undecided.

“It’ll be good for you to go out for a while,” her friend kept on saying.

“That’s okay. I am picking you up at 9 o’ clock if you don’t mind,” she said.

“Very good! See you tonight!”

The two friends said their goodbyes. Amelia started to walk through the hallway to reach her room.

That same evening the two friends met at one of the most fashionable Chinese restaurants in San Diego. They were sitting facing each other while having sushi and spring rolls.

“…Many more young people than older people will be going under the knife,” Jenny said before sipping some white wine, and then she looked at Amelia. “You were telling me about the lecture,” she kept on saying.

The woman’s expression changed as soon as she heard her colleague utter that sentence and she, too, drank a little white wine to take the edge off.

“So, who is that famous doctor that should hold that lecture?” Jenny asked once again.

“Actually, I lied to you…,” Amelia answered.

“What do you mean?” her friend asked her straightaway.

“It wasn’t an Australian doctor’s lecture, but the lecture of the American government in collaboration with NASA!”

Jenny frowned.

“You lost me, Amelia…,” she said.

“In short, a mission to take some groups of people on another planet beyond the Solar System in order to colonize it,” Amelia said.

Once these words were uttered, Amelia felt like she had just set herself free from a burden. Jenny did not say anything for a few seconds.

“Many professionals are being recruited. I have been selected as surgeon in order to start a new medical center on Proxima B!” the doctor added while Jenny kept on looking at her.

“Well, hell, Amelia, this is a fantastic piece of news!” her friend exclaimed suddenly. Then she added, “That’s why you’ve been so mysterious in these last days… And why haven’t you said anything about it before?”

“Well, actually, only Mr. McKenzie knew about it. And now you know it too,” Amelia pointed out while starting eating some pieces of fish again. Her gaze was still a bit lost anyway.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” Jenny wondered.

“I still haven’t decided whether to accept or not, and I have to do that in four days from today,” Amelia revealed. “Then,” she concluded, “I’ll have to appear before the seat of New NASA Corporate in Washington again.”

Jenny stopped a little longer this time. The two women had been friends for a long time, and Jenny had always agreed to be Amelia’s vice without ever holding anything against her. However, this could be the right occasion to take over from Amelia as the person in charge of the head of the team, far be it from her to rub her friend’s nose in it.

“If I had such a chance, I wouldn’t let it pass me by, not at all,” Jenny pointed out almost sarcastically. Her tone caught Amelia’s attention.

“The fact is that you’ll have to change your life totally, you know… I shall leave Earth forever, I shall abandon…,” she answered.

Jenny interrupted her friend abruptly, asking him, “What? What should you abandon?”

“Don’t you know that we are like sisters and that I always tell you what I think in a heartbeat? It’s a unique chance, Amelia! You’ll be a woman that’ll make history! Your nearest and dearest are not so many, apart from me and Thomas.”

Amelia pondered those words for a while. Jenny put the glass of wine on the table and put her hand on her friend’s hand.

“I’ve always admired you, Amelia. For everything. And you know it. But you don’t know how much envious I am of you right now... but this feeling is overwhelmed by the fondness and the respect that lead me to tell you to just accept this mission. There’s a reason why you have been chosen: because you’re the best! You have to go! You should go!”

While Amelia was listening to Jenny’s words, she put her other hand on her friend’s hand and indulged in a sincere smile.

Chicago, Illinois.

It was late March and the evening in Chicago was pretty fresh for that period. Jerry was in his bedroom and, even though it was way after 9:00, he had not had his supper yet. His mother’s voice resounded through the corridor of the flat on the seventh floor of the building on Albany Ave, recalling his name.

“Mom, I told you I’m not hungry!” the boy answered, shouting at her for the umpteenth time, which rendered him almost impatient.

Jerry was lying on his three-quarter bed while turning a letter over and over in his hand. It was a special letter for him. He had written it after the lecture in Washington and it had to be handed over to Isabel. When? How? He did not know it yet. He read it again, for the umpteenth time, looking for the slightest mistake, but his attention was seemingly distorted by other thoughts at that moment, namely the project called For the benefit of all! in which he had decided to take part. He still could not believe what had been proposed to him during the lecture. He had not showed any hesitation, since that mission was a chance that he or any other young biologist that was passionate about astronomy as well could not let pass by. There were two other issues to deal with, though, namely his mother and Isabel. He had not had the opportunity (or, rather, he had not been brave enough) to tell his mother, Francesca, about his decision; she thought that her son had gone in Washington for an internship that the University of Chicago had organized. His days were going by and maybe the time to broach the subject with his mother had come. As for Isabel, he had arranged to ask her on a date after work so that he could deliver the letter to her and tell her anything. Or at least that was his plan. But first he had to face his mother. Finally, he plucked up his courage and left his room. He knew that she used to take her seat in the armchair and watch one of her favorite TV series after suppertime. He walked through the tiny hallway and saw her sitting there. She was calm and relaxed. The right moment to tell her everything had come.

“Mother,” he said in a thin voice, as if he did not want to disturb her.

The woman did not even answer him at first, since she was focused on watching how the first episode of the TV series was going on, but Jerry did not give up.

“Mom!”

This time the woman could hear her name clearly; she turned to Jerry.

“Oh, finally you’re here! Your supper is in the microwave oven,” she said while she went back to watching the TV series on the Smart TV screen.

“Mom, I didn’t go out for lunch, but to tell you something important,” he said.

Jerry could barely speak, but that was the right moment to speak. The woman kept on not looking at him. She glimpsed in passing and she could only say, “When the episode is over we will talk about it. Okay?”

Jerry did not like to be ignored. He could not really bear it, especially if it was his mother that did it whenever they needed to talk about something important. And it was just then that Jerry did something that he had not done before. He picked up the TV remote control and turned off the television. The sudden silence in the sitting room was something strange. Seeing the monitor of the device overwhelmed his mother for a while. Jerry was still standing next to the sofa. The remote control was still in his hand. Suddenly his mother came round.

“Are you out of your mind? Turn on the TV immediately!” she yelled as if she were pretty hysterical.

“I can’t do that, mom. I need to speak to you!” Jerry tried to explain, but the woman got off her armchair in order to take over the remote control that he was holding.

“Give me that remote control!” she shouted at her son.

He took two steps back.

“MOM, LISTEN TO ME! I NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU!” he yelled back resolutely.

Those words made her stop suddenly. She stared at her son.

Jerry did the same and leaned the remote control on the sofa. He was sure he had succeeded in catching his mother’s attention.

“What’s so important, huh?” she asked him quite angrily.

“I need to tell you about my future,” Jerry answered. His tone was getting more and more resolute.

His mother did not say anything. She was ready to listen to her son’s words.

“I know that what I’m telling you may seem absurd to you, but you must believe me when I tell you that it is true,” he said to her.

Hearing these words, the woman began to get suspicious, but Jerry did not care about it too much and continued by confessing, “I lied to you when I told you about my trip to Washington. No internship was organized. No University had organized anything. Nobody said anything. What was organized was a special lecture by the U.S. Government in collaboration with NASA.”

“What are you…?”

“Please, mom, let me speak,” he interrupted her firmly. He meant to keep on talking. “I was offered a position as a biologist in their mission in order to colonize a new planet called Proxima B!”

The woman’s eyes got weird; they revealed fear and amazement.

“That means that I’ll have to leave. I can’t return to Earth anymore,” Jerry kept on saying.

Uttering those words made him feel like dying, but he had finally succeeded in telling her mother everything.

“Just so, mom,” he concluded, leaving her speechless. After a few seconds, she looked for some place to sit and could not say anything for some more time.

“Jerry, do you realize what you’re saying to me?” she asked him in a tone that was quite worried.

“Mom…,” Jerry tried to go on, but she resumed asking him, “Should I stay here all alone?”

“Mom, it’s not like that,” he tried to clear himself. Then he kept on saying, “If all goes as planned, a second voyage is already projected. On that occasion the first colonizers’ relatives are going to be taken there. So, you’re going to be there, too.”

Francesca looked straight into her son’s eyes. Jerry did not know how to interpret that gaze.

“As you know, life is expected to be not so good on Earth. There are too many people on this planet and I have to regard myself as lucky not to have caught any disease. We’re being offered the opportunity to change our lives completely, you know…” Jerry tried to insist, but his mother looked more and more upset by what she was hearing.

“It’s all so absurd… How shall we get through? How long will the voyage last? Who’ll let me know if you’re alive?”

Francesca, like any other mother, bothered about her son.

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll be told everything before leaving,” Jerry answered her, trying to reassure her. He approached her, put his hands on her cheeks as a token of his fondness and kept on saying to her,

“Mom, I’ve always done what I’d been told by you. I only ask that you let me do what feels right to me this time. I must accept this mission. It’s too much important for me.”

After hearing these words, she looked up and, after a few seconds, she hugged him and burst into tears.

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.

“As you have probably understood, our task in this mission is going to be both the easiest and the most difficult one. We’ll have to keep this people alive. We’ll be their bodyguards, their police, and their law. We can’t know what to expect once we’ve got there or what it could happen during the travel, but there is one thing we certainly know: we must be ready for anything!” Matthew cried out in front of his future fellow travelers.

“What a loudmouth! He can’t be more than thirty, and he tells us these things!” Michael said to himself in a barely audible tone of voice while he was sitting in his seat some rows behind him.

“Bring them there!” the General told two girls holding some duffel bags just behind him.

“Thank you! So, yesterday we saw some procedures under regulation as for facing any hostilities. Today we’re going to see what to use when we have to face them,” Matthew kept on saying. He pulled a weapon out of his duffel bag. It looked like a little, light and black Glock pistol.

“This one represents the first piece of your equipment, a Junker 15! It fires mid-range beams of light and it is perfect for point-blank shots but it is not recommended for long-range shots. Its frame is extremely lightweight thanks to its carbon fiber construction,” the General explained as he leaned the pistol near the duffel bag on the counter.

“Gentlemen, here it is, Baiman 3! Thanks to its high fire power, it looks like an old-school assault rifle. It fires extremely powerful mid to long-range laser beams. After fifty shots, the gun magazine is empty and you have to replace it. Ah, I was forgetting to say that, without exaggeration, an inch of steel could be clearly cracked by shots fired at a range of sixty-six feet! Not bad, I’d say.”

Then Matthew leaned the rifle on the table and noticed a hand raised out of the corner of his eye.

“Please, Miss Parker!” he said after seeing the girl who had raised her hand. It was Emily, who was sitting in the front row on the right.

“It’s all very interesting, Sir, but… well… I was wondering why all these weapons for a mission of colonization. Is there something we should know, Sir?” the girl asked without leaving her seat; she looked at the General and pointed out, “Sir, it’s more like an offensive military mission than a mission of colonization!”

“Soldier, these weapons will do what you want them to do!” Matthew exclaimed. Then he turned to the rest of the group and kept on talking.

“We are going to be hundreds and hundreds of miles away from here. More than one thousand people will have left their loved ones, their wives and children by that time. It’s a one-way travel!” he pointed out. Then he paused for a while, looked into Emily’s eyes. “None of us can know what we are going to come across up there!” he resumed. “It’s up to us to be ready for any situation, even if it were the most dangerous or the strangest one. Some might go crazy! Some others may argue among themselves. Some riots or uprisings may occur, and we have to be prepared for anything, soldier! What we have to do is keep these people alive, don’t forget it!”

These were Matthew’s words, and then he continued with the explanation of the onboard arsenal.

It was at the same time that, in the nearby building, the group of chemists was preparing to face its fifth day in the training, which did not take place in a high-tech hangar, as at first sight it appeared.

“Where do you think we are being taken to?” a young chemist asked Abigail while walking down a hallway together with the other members of the group.

“I have no idea,” the woman answered frankly while she kept on looking around.

At the end of the hallway, under the guidance of a member of the team, they approached the entrance of the hangar, which was a shed on the side of the building and whose roof was covered with photovoltaic solar panels that not only absorbed eighty percent of the sunlight, but could also become clear-glass, allowing light to filter and leaving the visitors of the hangar amazed as they enjoyed the blue Colorado sky. It really looked like a crystal structure.

“And who has ever told that functionality and ecology can’t go together?” The question was made by a high-pitched female voice. It was the voice of a woman in her fifties whose hair was copper red and whose silhouette was slender. Abigail had been appointed as member of the group whose training that woman was in charge. Her name was Lisa Horn.

“Hello, everyone, my name is Lisa Horn! I’m here to supervise you during your training period as well as to be with you during your mission! I hope we will achieve great things together!” she exclaimed, introducing herself to the whole group while some of them were still intrigued by the strange honeycomb crystal structure surrounding them.

“Follow me! If you’re here today, it’s not to watch the structure, but to accomplish the duty that is crucial to the whole mission: to terraform Proxima B!” the chemist said as he led the group to an area where there was a weird gray and white cylindrical machine that was about sixteen feet in height and five feet in width.

“What you can see here is a plasma gasifier,” LISA explained.

“Excuse me, are you saying that we are supposed to… you know… make that planet similar to ours? I mean… weren’t we supposed to live in structures with an airtight closure or something?” a girl in the group asked with puzzlement.

“Not specifically, darling! What we’re going to do is recreate an environment where life is, you know, alive!” LISA answered. Then the red-haired trainer added immediately, “The process is going to take some time, of course, but that’s what we’re going to do. In three steps, in fact.” Finally, she pointed at the machine and began her speech.

“What you’re seeing behind me is only a scale replica of one of the thirty plasma gasifiers that are going to be established along the Equator of the planet,” LISA was explaining when suddenly a young Chilean chemist interrupted her, asking her, “Doctor, can you tell me what these machines exactly do?” Diego Felisao's question aroused the curiosity of all the other members.

“I was about to tell you exactly what these gasifiers are for. So, they aim to recreate a hospitable environment for algae and plants, but… not for us, by exploiting some elements that are in the soil and the subsoil of the planet in order to create an environment with high carbon dioxide levels, which means “greenhouse effect”! Later, our fellow biologists and their genetically modified algae will create an environment with oxygen, but that’s another matter. Let’s get back to the point: a gasifier is only sixteen feet in height, as you can see, but what matters is how it works. The one we are building and use on Proxima B is going to be almost one hundred feet in height and entirely powered by photovoltaic panels, just like the ones that you can see above your heads,” LISA clarified as the members of the mission took notes in their own electronic devices.

“Excuse me, doctor, how long would this procedure take?” Abigail asked while she was holding the e-pen that she would use to take notes.

“It would last about fifty years!” was LISA’s straight answer, which left those who were there petrified.

“So, tell me if we get it: how long are we staying on board that ship? Fifty years?!” Abigail asked a little scared to hear the answer.

“No, it isn’t so… We are not staying the whole time on board the mothership… We are living in orbit inside it until we move inside the structures that are installed on the surface of the planet. And only when a favorable environment is recreated we can live out of those structures!” the doctor paraphrased.

“Come on, look at your screens. We have sent you all the data regarding the instruments at your disposal and how to set the gasifiers. Study them! And if you have some ideas how to improve them, you will be welcome!” Lisa Horn concluded. Before leaving, she said to all the male chemists taking part in the mission,

“What we shall face won’t be easy at all. We can get over those difficulties only if we work together, not as single members with one’s own objective to be achieved, but together as a whole species. It is the last chance we have, my dear ones! It’s time for you to leave, now! Everything is in your own hands!” After giving them her order, she concluded, “Study!”

Finally, she withdrew by disappearing through one of the four exits of the hangar.

At 12 o’ clock the same day, Jerry and Korin were in the biology laboratory and seemed to be entranced by what they were seeing and learning with their competent colleagues. They reached a side of the lab led by Doctor Francesco Preparata, who was an esteemed and eminent Italian biologist that until then had led their training, in front of a sort of aquarium in which a blue fluid was gurgling.

“My dear boys, here is Caeli!” Doctor Preparata exclaimed as he pointed at the metal spherical aquarium with a glass window in the middle.

“What’s in that liquid, doctor?” Korin asked in amazement and out of curiosity just like the whole group.

“It’s a special blue alga that was genetically modified by us in order to make it ultra-effective,” Doctor Preparata answered proudly.

“Why is it effective?” Jerry asked in wonder.

“These four specimens have been modified in order that their reproduction may be thousands of times faster and their production of oxygen may be hundreds of times more effective than the initial species. What you can see in front of us is phase II, which starts after the use of the gasifiers,” Doctor Preparata answered.

“How are we supposed to use them?” a biologist of South-American origin that was in the room asked him.

“Here is the beauty of this alga. All you need to do is set it free, lowering it back into the solid waters if you want it to spread; you can find it in more temperate zones, and it feeds on greenhouse gases that make it able to produce great amounts of oxygen that it releases automatically in the atmosphere. After fifteen years or so, all the oceans will be already full of algae and, thus, the oxygen released will be enough for the third phase to begin. We shall be given a chance to plant trees and plants on the surface. And we shall be able to breathe without the aid of breathing apparatuses, which is not irrelevant. So, the process of terraforming the planet will be complete,” the doctor concluded.

“Excuse me, Professor, I can understand what you’ve said about algae, plants and trees, but I think we’re underestimating a problem that has been gripping our planet for over a century… I’m talking about the animal extinction. What about the animals?” Korin asked in a tone that was both worried and curious.

“That’s a very good question, Mr. Tamura! A great question, actually! Follow me!” Doctor Preparata cried out, and then he entered a small hallway and led the group in a room that was next to the previous one.

“As for the issue raised by Korin, we have developed what we call THE MOTHER!” the doctor stated. Then he stopped in front of a machine that was unique. It looked like a huge box; a holographic display allowed interaction with it.

“Thanks to this machine, you can recreate embryos and perfectly developed specimens from the DNA of over ten million animal species that was collected over the last century. Dozens of such machines are ready-to-use on board the three motherships,” he added.

Everyone who heard him was astonished by his words.

“How does it work exactly?” Jerry asked him. He was getting more and more intrigued by the machine.

“The genetic code on file will allow the development of stem cells inside the database of the machine by means of... let’s call it... an incubator. This is only a type of incubator, but bigger incubators will soon be available for taller or bigger human beings that will develop outside the planet later on. It could be defined as a sort of printer of living beings!” was Doctor Preparata’s answer to the boy that could scarcely believe his eyes.

“Can we try it, Sir? Please!” Korin requested. He hoped to see the machine working.

“Of course, kid! But only in order to demonstrate what it can create,” the professor replied, then he turned to the machine and started it; he was tinkering with the holographic display in order to find a species whose recreation would take only a few minutes.

“Hmm, here it is. This one should be a proper one!” the doctor exclaimed. He started the machine and begged the group to keep away and for a little patience until a living being would be released at the bottom of the particular contraption.

“CREATION LIVING BEING FIVE MINUTES LEFT,” the automated voice informed.

“Professor, do all the creatures need the same time of creation or rather it changes according to the species?” a German member of the group of biologists asked him.

“The time of creation changes according to the species and the dimension. The machine has to be powered by chemical substances so that tissues can be synthesized and the living being can develop, you know,” Doctor Preparata explained.

“CREATION COMPLETE. PROCESS OVER SUCCESSFULLY”.

They had been informed once again that the process had been carried out successfully.

“Look. It’s ready!” the doctor exclaimed enthusiastically. Then he opened the compartment at the bottom of the machine and pulled out what looked like a big coleopteran.

“This is a titan beetle,” he explained proudly. Then he handed the specimen of insect over to Korin, who seemed almost afraid of the new animal at first, but after being reassured by the doctor, he held it willingly.

“We shall do great things together! We only have to want it, my lads! Life needs nothing but a thrust, then it will find its way forward! You only have to want it. Remember that!” the Italian biologist concluded. Then he released the animal into his custody and before saying goodbye to them all, he informed them about the next things to do, including the directions for using the machine that they would need shortly.

The group of engineers used to meet very early, but it was not a problem at all for many of them, including David. That morning they would start studying and being familiar with the new tools that they would have to use on Proxima B for establishing new buildings. After having their usual breakfast at the common table (they used to go there first), they talked a little with the other guests of the complex, and David and his group found themselves within the building no. 1 where the training would begin. They, too, would have at their disposal a device similar to a handheld to take notes, read and study the information that their superiors, including a man of Indian origin called Dinkar Kanak, who was one of the most important people in the world in the field of architectural engineering, would transmit to them. Kanak was a rather short and half-bald man in his sixties; he used to wear a pair of thin glasses that, most of the time, he allowed falling down on his nose. Most of the time, he used to walk by dragging his left leg due to a bone disease. Yet, he maintained his sense of humor throughout – all in all, a person that may have looked funny at first, but instead he was an inexhaustible source of resources. Powell had desired him so keenly that one of the engineers that took part in the realization of the whole complex of the Rocky Mountain National Park as well as the owner of the company that produced particular 3D printers that could build buildings in no time by using zero-impact products. David and Giovanni were together with their group of twenty-five engineers. They were sitting in their own places, waiting for their superior to explain the situation. Kanak appeared before the front door of the hall, that is the same door through which the other people had come, and he was accompanied by two other uniformed men that were his assistants.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” he said with his unequivocal French accent.

The engineers said good morning to Kanak, who immediately took his seat behind his writing desk.

“So, as I mentioned yesterday, what we’re seeing this morning is the structure of our kiddo in detail and how to obtain the highest efficiency from it. After you!”

Kanak asked the two assistants to introduce the machine that was leaned on a movable table behind a marquee. As soon as they uncovered it, that particular 3D printer appeared.

“Here it is! Our own Engineer X!” the Indian engineer cried out while introducing his creation enthusiastically to the pupils. The curiosity of David, Giovanni and many other colleagues of theirs was aroused as soon as they saw that weird machine despite most of them had already had to deal with similar instruments during their own works.

“Start being familiar with it, since it’s with it that you’re spending most of your time on Proxima B, even if this a reduced sample. The models that you are using on the planet are much bigger,” the professor explained. Then he kept on saying, “But they work exactly like the one you are seeing right now. And even the raw material that we’re using there is the same! Some samples even more reduced of Engineer X are to appear in front of you!”

While Kanak was still speaking, from their own desks all the engineers could see appear a 1:50 scale model reproducing the machine.

“That’s it, gentlemen! All you have to do is not difficult to explain. You’ll have to assemble and make a 1:100 scale model reproducing a building that is similar to the one that you’re going to erect on Proxima B!”

David and his fellow engineers paid attention to what they were ordered as they were busy watching the particular printer. One of them, a certain Bryan Stone asked his professor, “Excuse me, Professor, and what about the material that we’re going to use?”

“That’s a very good question, Mr. Stone! I was about to explain exactly that point!” Kanak cried out. These words caught the attention of those who were there, whose eyes were now upon him.

“What is peculiar to this special machine is the fact that it works with waste material only,” he specified.

They began to hum in their soft voices. The professor did not care so much about that hum at first. He turned round, pushed a button on a remote control and a big holographic display appeared behind him and showed the internal structure of the machine on one side and a list of materials on the other side.

“This outline, which you can find in your own devices, clearly explains how the printer works. As you can see, all our waste, including cans, plastic and glass, are put into this sort of funnel.”

While Kanak was speaking, his two assistants were showing concretely how to carry out the process.

“Once all our waste is inside, all the material is ready for being collected in this particular tank and undergoing a process of molecular alteration that, after compaction, results in a new form of state-of-the-art composite material. We call it ?the clix?”.

The printer next to Kanak’s writing desk let each clix filament flow out of particular hoses that were being positioned by peculiar arms in order to compose the model that would be built.

“Amazing!” David cried out while he was sitting next to Giovanni that, for his part, kept on watching the printer compose the pattern.

Suddenly Giovanni himself raised his hand. He needed to ask something. The Italian engineer’s requirement was immediately fulfilled.

“Please, go ahead, Mr. Rinaldi!”

“Sir, I was wondering what models of houses and buildings we should compose.”

Kanak stopped for a while.

“That’s a good point! I guess I’ll turn this over to my assistant, Mr. Ward!”

So, Kanak’s assistant was given the floor.

“We have already loaded fifteen different samples of houses and ten different models of buildings within the software. You ought to know that we have monitored your work over the last few years and we have finally mixed your best buildings in order to get a city that we could define as ideal,” he explained as he pushed a button on the remote control in order to scroll through some images on the holographic display behind him.

Then the representation of the model of a dwelling on Proxima B appeared.

“Behind me you can see a prototype of a dwelling on the new planet,” Jim Ward explained once more. It was a one-story house whose area was almost nine hundred square feet; it had a sloping roof and a small garden was all around.

“Almost nine hundred square feet in one story! The kitchen, the living room, one bathroom and one bedroom,” the assistant added.

“And there’s more! Near each house, a garden with certain types of plants will be tended by each inhabitant; on the back side of the house, a small vegetable garden will be tended in order to have something for one’s own livelihood and, if necessary, to help the community!” he concluded.

The engineers were all dumbfounded. But David had to ask something that had been gripping him since their superiors had showed them all the shape of the dwellings and how to make them work.

“Sir Garcia!” Kanak said, inviting David to ask his question.

“Sir, I was wondering how the system of water supply works on Proxima B,” he said.

“Please, Alan!” the professor said, inviting his assistant to explain in his place.

“Every dwelling is being equipped with a special machine for purifying water so that the whole community is not obliged to deprive itself of its own. The whole thing is being monitored by particular tools and no water will be wasted. Actually, nothing else will ever be wasted,” Alan Mose explained.

“Well, gentlemen! I shall go straight to the point, now. It is time for you to work. Let me see what you can do. Come on!” he incited them.

Professor Kanak invited the engineers to start their process of creation of the prototypes of the buildings. David could not wait to start his new device.

“Are you immune to physical diseases on Earth? Neither are you in space, where you will likely suffer from osteoporosis, space nausea, muscle and bone mass loss, heart diseases, space blindness or diabetes due to solar storms and space radiations. What I’ve just mentioned is just a part of the dangers you may encounter,” Doctor Ezekiel Phin informed us. His voice, which was almost raspy, resounded through the room where he, who was the head of the London Clinic Centre as well as one of the world’s leading experts on neurodegenerative diseases, was together with the members of the Medical Division of the expedition in a large hall surrounded by a dark atmosphere due to Doctor Phin’s necessity of resuming his lesson in a low-light environment.

“We hadn’t ever traveled so far before. Of course we’ve been on Mars and it took us six months to understand we were not able to colonize it, but it won’t happen this time. The travel will have to be eight times longer and we will need the best doctors, nurses and medical experts to succeed. So, that’s why you are here!” Ezekiel cried out. He gazed at the audience and paused for a while before pointing at a hologram representing an X-ray of a human femur behind him and asking, “What can you see here?”

Somebody raised their hands up and he began to call them out one by one.

“Stand up, please, and let us know who you are and what you think about this figure!” the professor cried out, referring to a young brown-haired girl.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Justine Poirot, I come from France and I’m a specialist in orthopedics and traumatology. I can firmly say that what we are seeing here is the image of a femur of a woman in her sixties suffering from severe osteoporosis,” the girl replied with self-assurance, being sure of her answer.

Doctor Ezekiel Phin, in his turn, replied, “Well, it isn’t really that way. You are right, this femur belongs to a woman – not an old woman, actually, but a thirty-year-old one, and more precisely one of the women that took part in the project for the colonization of Mars called “HELIOS” ten years ago. And this is her femur after staying in space for six years!”

Ezekiel’s words fell like a stone into the hall where there were several doctors and other surprised people. Then he kept on talking.

“This is one of the issues that we must resolve. And now look at this one! What do you notice?”

A video about a pulsing heart was broadcast behind him.

“I believe that this one is more… let’s say… particular!” Phin added before giving the floor to the corps of the doctors.

“You in the second row with your hand up, please!”

The doctor consulted by Doctor Phin was an athletic and attractive man, with light eyes, in his mid-thirties that got attention from the female audience.

“Hello! I’m Mirko Ivanov. I’m a heart surgeon at N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine in Moscow. Well, I think this is a case of spherical heart. Observing its shape and given the irregularity of its rhythm, the subject must have lived six months in space,” the Russian man stated firmly. Then he exchanged a look and a smile with Amelia that was a few rows in front of him and finally he took his seat again.

“That’s a good remark! This malformation is due to the less exhausting work of the heart in space. A solution will consist in the supervision of the members of the expedition during their training period,” Phin explained.

After other basic concepts of applied medicine in space life, he deliberately talked about another topic and his tone became much more serious.

“What we’re going to talk about is a very important topic: repopulation. I’d like to ask you how many men and women may be needed to repopulate a planet like Proxima B,” the doctor stated, trying to foresee the possible reactions of the members of the mission.

“Excuse me; you said “repopulation”, didn’t you? Weren’t we supposed to build some bases so that the other people could join us on this planet?” was the question of a rather alarmed oculist in the second row. People in the hall began to mumble. Doctor Phin’s countenance grew strange when he noticed their strange reaction.

“I may have been misunderstood! The mission implies that people are moved from this planet to that one, but… let’s assume that something unexpected happens…” Doctor Phin tried to explain, but he did not even have time to finish his sentence. A female voice stopped him.

“Ten thousand or so! Ten thousand men and women!” Amelia cried out, drawing all the focus towards her. Everybody looked at her, including the man that was the chief in London, who cried out in amazement, “Can you repeat, please?”

“Well, you got it. Should we put it approximately in order to avoid any cross between kinsmen and re-balance the high mortality rate taken into account for space travels, an intergenerational mission should involve at least ten thousand people,” Amelia stated once again. Those who were in the room fell silent while waiting for some explanations for what they had just heard. Some moments of silence followed. In the meantime, the professor stared at Amelia.

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