Ark II: Life on Gaea - 10. Birth of the Planetary Council

The Nesmiths and the Cavills shared dinner that night. That included Apollo and Rob. Apollo had Daylia, and Rob had Alicia. Little Hank was in his bassinette being rocked gently by Rob’s foot. Joel was pleased that those two didn’t have to tell how to calm a baby with the gentle sway and light jiggle. That was in Athen’s memory. Rachel was the chef. She used the latest substitute meat for this one, and Joel would swear it was chicken.

Rachel smiled and said, “Aunt Larisa gave me this recipe.”

Hank grinned, “I smell the tomato and cloves.”

Joel took a little and sniffed it, “Turmeric and cardamom in it?”

“Ground cumin too!” Rachel volunteered. “I know from past dishes I’ve made no one here minds that it’s kind of spicy.”

“Never had a dish too spicy yet,” Joel smiled. “I’ll make you my five-alarm chili!”

Ian bounced, “You will need to wear sweatbands!”

Joel nodded and pointed at Ian, “This guy was not even a year old, and he took a meatball from my plate...I panicked!”

Chloe chuckled, “I take it they were hot.”

“It was called radioactive chucks! Yes, it was very, very hot! Like he said, you needed sweatbands!” He smiled at his son. “His eyes widened, but he was reaching for another one.” Joel threw his hands out in exasperation. “He loved them.”

Kevin shrugged, “We inherited your love of spicy food.”

Joel knew what he was going to say would hurt, “Your mother loved spicy food. She tried spicy Indian, Chinese, Tex-Mex... Whoever liked to spice up their food. She was eating it.” He watched the reaction and saw the hurt. “It's okay to talk about her. Including her in our mealtimes is important. We won’t forget her and it’s okay to enjoy these memories.”

Hank chuckled, “Rita had a difficult time with the chili. It was so...”

“Privative,” Chloe completed for her father.

“Beneath her,” Hank smiled. “Now, her Coq au Vin!” He did the famous gesture kissing his fingertips and said, “Délicieux.” He said with a convincing French accent.

“Mixing the Italian gesture with French?” Jim chuckled.

“I would love to try those dishes,” Rob said.

“You will!” Joel said firmly. He shook his head eating more of the Indian Tomato Chicken. “I must tell Manu and Andrea how good it is.”

“It’s vegan!” Ian reported happily. “No death to any chicken or other animal.”

The conversation at the table was returning to normal. If there was a normal.

“I was thinking,” Hank began. “Does what they have under that dome matter?”

“We need to melt it down,” Joel replied. “It would be better to get rid of the whole thing.”

“What was that man trying to do?” Jim asked.

Normally, Joel wouldn’t include his young children to the adult situations, but this was what happened with their mothers. “The man that did this was mentally ill.” He answered carefully. “He thought we deserted the Earth. We did, but before the awful bombs. He wanted his people to be the survivors. We may never know. He was very disturbed.”

“They couldn’t cure him?” Rachel asked. “I read about the diseases that affect older adults. Al Zimmers, and various dementias. That won’t happen here, right?”

“No,” Joel answered. “We have hundreds of doctors with us, and they will monitor each of us carefully.” He sighed, “There was help available, but his position prevented that.” He smiled, “We’ll be fine.” He looked at Hank, “We have a meeting with the other leaders in a few hours.”

Hank nodded, “And I should be there?”

Joel smiled, “I appointed you as the second in command. I think we need a council of elders that will be after that. I say the Board the put certain people as heads of the departments are good ones, but they need to be elected. You are the head of engineering. We need a replacement for Medical. There is for science...” he shrugged. “We need a council of leaders to make decisions.”

Kevin looked uncomfortable before he spoke, “It could have been so much worse.” He was pushing things on his plate without looking up.

Hank’s eyes grew and others were beginning to protest, but Joel held his hand up to stop them, “He’s right.”

“How?” Hank asked, exasperated.

“From what I know,” Kevin began. “There were three projectiles sent. One hit the Ark. The other two?” He asked them. “They could have landed here on Gaea. Mom, Aunt Rita, and Uncle Matt were the only people on the Ark.” He shrugged. “We lost three very important people, I know. There could have been many more. Mom and Aunt Rita could have taken Daylia, Little Hank, and Alicia with them. They didn’t. Once the first projectile hit, Athena could see the projectiles.” He looked at them. “The one that hit the Ark was closer than the other two. They had been traveling for thirty years. They may have been launched at the same time, but the first one was closer. If the other two had landed, we could all be dead.”

Joel nodded and smiled, “He’s right.” He sighed, “Scanning the area, there are no other projectiles coming.” He looked at Jim. “I agree. We should just melt the whole thing. I’ll feel better if I know what else is under that dome. That’s why we need to go in there.”

Hank and Joel met Nayef in the control room. Taking the headsets.

It was Nayef that grinned. “It's my first time on Mount Olympus. Be gentle.”

Joel grinned back, “You’re with friends. Of course, we’ll be gentle.”

Joel saw the familiar surroundings and saw three people looking around. He knew Raymond Boullion of Ark V and Lucus Saint-George of the United Worlds Administration. The woman he didn’t know. He was about to speak with them when someone else appeared he knew as Wilma Cox of Elysia. A woman appeared who was Korean in her mid-forties with short black hair. A man appeared who was also in his mid-forties who was balding but had the middle-aged spread. Not fat, but he was rounder in the middle...weight he did not need. He was funny. He was there then he wasn’t. He appeared again saying “Ich habe schon mal einen...” he fussed and then looked up and his eyes grew. “Was zum Teufel!?” He said in German almost breathlessly as he looked around. “Wie?” Then asked everyone. “Wo bin ich?”

Athena translated for Joel, though he knew enough German it wasn’t necessary. “Mount Olympus!” Joel waved at the cylindrical platform. “At our version of it. And you are?” Then he smiled at the man. “Or, Wer bist du?” He chuckled, “My German is terrible, I know.”

The man was caught up the with the surroundings and had to force himself back, “What?” Then he chuckled, “Oh, sorry. I’m Fritz Gruber. I am the head geologist for the Jupiter Mining Colonies based on Ganymede.”

Joel grinned at this happy man, who like Hank just made him smile. “I’m Joel Nesmith.” He waved at the man. “Next time we’ll have names displayed for everyone to know.”

Gruber waved that off, “I think everyone knows you by sight. We have images of you we all have seen.” He looked at the woman. “I do not know you.” He waved at the others, “Them, I know.”

The woman’s head bobbed slightly as she smiled, “I am Governor of the Lunar Colonies headquartered in Armstrong City. I am Binna Chol.”

“Welcome, Governor,” Joel greeted them. “Welcome Mr. Gruber.” He laughed lightly. “Our capacity here is being tested. I look forward to expanding the network where there can be forums with hundreds of beings in one meeting.”

Gruber chuckled, “I was just telling my assistant that I have used the connection before to watch movies, sports, and even done surveys. Never with other people, except for network calls. That’s how I know these others.” He waved out, “This is just so real!”

“Your mind is saying it is real,” Nayef smiled. “Therefore, it is.”

“We followed directions to create the Neuro-interface,” Gruber defined. “With the notable improvements.”

“If you get the filaments inserted,” Hank began. “It will become even more real.”

Gruber’s eyes widened more, “It’s damned real now!”

Hank grinned, “But if we shake hands now...with the filaments, it will feel very real.”

Gruber’s head wavered and he returned to why he was here, “Okay, Is Dr. James Nesmith here? I’d like to speak with him. I assumed he was a relative of yours, Commander. A brother maybe?”

“Call me Joel. I think great familiarity is needed.” Joel smiled again, “James Nesmith is a relative. He’s my son and he’s in bed. He has a busy day tomorrow at school. He is only in the fourth grade. Technically, he’s still in Elementary School.”

“Elementary School!” Gruber balked. “He’s still in school? How old is he?”

“He’s nine now,” Joel grinned.

“His data sent for the gravity boost is astounding!” Governor Chol stated. “I read in the records you have four children now; one is James Nesmith.”

“He’s that one,” Joel admitted. “He could pass many college level tests, but he’s still in the fourth grade.”

“He must be very intelligent,” Gruber marveled. “His use of the gravity field is genius!”

Chol nodded, “It will cut our power usage down to a third and give a constant gravity.”

“On our mining ships, too.” Gruber agreed as he looked at Chol. “Our moon is a bit larger than Earth’s moon. Only slightly, but gravity is needed for our children to grow and our crops.”

“You have crops on Ganymede,” Hank said to be certain.

Gruber laughed, “We have a whole forest underground in Cybelia. That’s our city on Ganymede. A real forest with birds, squirrels and other lifeforms native to a forest on Earth.” He shrugged, “We need gravity for the trees to grow up straight.” He held up and clear, reflective disk. “All because of this.”

“We all bring a little of Earth wherever we go,” Nayef nodded and shrugged that off.

Joel nodded, “That boron nitrate is the pivotal and very needed for many things. Including faster than light travel. You have a new export, Mr. Gruber.”

“It’s everywhere out here,” Gruber grudged a nod. “Boosting the power and boosting it again and again...that is genius.”

“We need it for travel and industry,” Chol said. “The Earth populations need water.”

“We will send you the information about the faster than light travel,” Hank said, looking at Joel. “I agree with Joel. Keeping it a secret, we’re creating another potential cold war.”

“We need to be careful with whom we share this,” Joel cautioned. “We can share it with everyone. I am not so sure about Barroso. Which brings me to a situation. Has anyone of you been threatened by him, or Campos Sais?”

“We’re often having terrorist’s attempts, but not like before,” Chol stated.

“There was a projectile sent,” Lucus admitted. “It failed to reach us.” His face softened, “That was a while ago. You recently lost both of your wives. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Joel nodded, “Thank you.” He sighed, “I feel a council of worlds is needed.”

“For what?” Gruber asked.

“To meet and make decisions,” Nayef answered. “We need to be working for the same goals.”

“If assistance is needed, we can rally around whomever needs it,” Joel added. “Mars and the Lunar Colonies have the greatest unaffected population. No radiation and no diseases.” He looked at Ray. “You have the most on Earth, but the Earth is being helped to recover. We will assist you with food and medical help, of course. You will recover. Getting in that dome is first, and the Space Ladder is next. Do you agree?”

Ray Bouillion nodded, “Certainly. We have our people going out to help, but it's a big job. Medical help is needed for the whole planet, but the Northern Hemisphere needs the most.”

“We will continue to help,” Joel reassured. “Manufacturing robotic help is critical.” He looked at Gruber. “You are a target. As we are using more of the boron nitrate, the use is vital in the system around Sol. Right now, the faster than light travel is restricted, but that won’t always be the case. The boron nitrate increases the power of our weapons. A they will develop more powerful bombs. You need ships to patrol the space around you. How many live where you are?”

“Cylebia has nearly one hundred thousand now,” Gruber bragged.

Joel grudged a nod, “We have over two thousand and will a hundred births coming.” Then he muttered, “We need to catch up.”

“Right now,” Wilma began. “The people of Ark II are the most stable. They aren’t threatened by other powers, disease, or famine from those terrible bombs. I recommend them for the center seat of this group.”

“Whoa,” Joel balked. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but we aren’t close enough. Yes, we have helped with travel time. We are three systems, but Mars already is center seat for the United Worlds Space Administration. They are there. We aren’t.”

“We don’t need to decide now,” Nayef cautioned. “Just think about it and how you want to organize.”

“Hank and a couple of others are going under that dome in about fourteen hours,” Joel reported and looked at Ray. “If the airlock is operational.”

Ray nodded, “It’s being sealed by the airlock now. Nothing inside will get out,” Ray reported. “There’s no way to determine what’s in there.”

“Which is why we will be going with two of the A2 bodies. Maybe three,” Hank said and muttered quietly, angry. “Then we melt the whole damned thing.”

“Forgive me,” Gruber began. “Won’t you be cut off?” He looked at Joel with caution. “You said nothing can get through the dome’s barrier...not even any signal. The neural interface is a signal. Your robotic bodies should shut off in there.”

“We have a means when in there they will be able to communicate...limitedly with the outside,” Ray explained. “Meaning the Network will get through, but no signal will get out. If that doesn’t work, we go ahead and melt the whole thing.”

“We are taking a storage unit to record everything the computers have to study at home,” Joel explained. “It won’t be able to affect any system on any planet. We’ll share what we find.”

“We’ve begun building the atmospheric processors,” Ray began. “We had them to colonize worlds off the Earth. These will reprocess what’s here. We will need the boron nitrate and lots of off world water.”

“We’ll send all we have about the boron nitrate and Dr. Joder Mast’s research.” He looked at Gruber. “You have water, as I came to understand.”

“Ganymede has more water than the Earth does,” Gruber confirmed. “We can ship clean water to Earth...maybe even more than you do.” He grudged a shrug, “We can send decaliters of water if we have the ships to get them to wherever.”

“It doesn’t have to be purified?” Chol asked. “We purify the water on the moon.”

“Water in space may have minerals and other things.” Gruber nodded. “There are no bio contaminates or such. We’ve drank it for a hundred years with no harm.”

“First,” Joel said. “Let’s get that water.” He looked at Ray. “Athena will send you the schematics for the computer storage device. You can build it, right?” He chuckled, “We can build one, but it would be a week to get there.”

Ray nodded, “That should be no problem.”

“The link is always open,” Joel told them. “We will meet again. The time will be announced. It’s great to meet you all. Joel Nesmith out.” He removed his headset.

“That was simply amazing!” Nayef stated. “Fritz was correct it was very real and with the filaments, I felt I could touch anything and feel it.”

Joel grinned, “It always is. It will only get better.”

“It’s late,” Hank said quietly. “We should turn in ourselves. I need to check on the kids.”

Joel nodded and saw Hank was still dealing with his wife’s loss, “I’m coming.” He turned to Nayef. “Good night.”

Nayef saw and knew as well, “Of course. He will be fine. Have a good night.”

On the way back from the Control Room, he was surprised as a young woman came out the office Leah used when counseling. He knew the young woman as Shelly Snodgrass, a botanist and only twenty-five years old. A petite woman, maybe five feet tall and five inches with brown hair but she was crying. She rushed past Joel. Joel was alarmed, but saw Leah, Dana, and Dr. Orlov were right behind her. Dedra was a geneticist. Joel hadn’t spent that much time with her. Then he saw Jeremy Snodgrass, who was twenty-seven years old, dark blond hair and a bit skinny. Tall and lanky? He’d get thicker as he’d finished growing up and he was a biologist. Jeremy looked a little upset but not the emotional upset as was his wife.

“Can I ask?” Joel asked quietly to them.

Jeremy sighed and just said, “Shelly’s pregnant.”

“Okay,” Joel said and waited. There was more.

“He is the Commander,” Dana said quietly. “He needs to know, if just so he’s informed. We need to tell him.”

“Informed me about?” Joel asked. “There is a problem that caused her tears. What is it?”

“The baby has forty-seven chromosomes,” Dedra said simply.

That shocked Joel. “Downs Syndrome,” Joel said sadly. They had a hundred pregnancies now. This one had a chromosomal defect. Problems were bound to happen. Nodding, he looked at Dedra, “There’s nothing we can do?”

“It’s too late,” Dedra said. “You know about Downs Syndrome?”

Joel grudged a nod, “I’ve known several people with Downs Syndrome. They varied by each. Some were very high functioning. Do we know how bad it is?”

“It’s hard to tell yet,” Dedra confessed. “The fetus has already formed. There are experimental treatment options but...”

“She’s only two weeks into her first trimester,” Dana added. “Early detection is best to deal with it.”

Jeremy almost whined, “It’s my fault.”

Joel frowned, “You did this on purpose?” He asked a ridiculous question to show Jeremy how foolish it was to take the blame.

“It was on my DNA strand! The extra chromosome was on my half of the baby’s.” He looked at Dedra. “I’m a biologist and I saw the extra was on mine. You can’t remove it?”

“It’s already through the entire fetus.” Dedra answered.

Joel frowned, “As far as they are concerned, it’s a baby. Not a fetus. I know scientists keep things at an emotional distance. I will never say fetus.” He turned to Jeremy. “You did do it on purpose,” Joel smirked. He then held his hand up. “You didn’t divide your half in your sperm properly?”

Jeremy looked even more distressed, “Of course, not.”

Joel smiled, “That’s what I thought.” He looked at Dedra, “I’m no scientist, but I studied about Human biology. I was fascinated by genes and chromosomes...all that was just so incredible! I had to know more.” He waved at the surrounding community. “We are all mutations!”

Jeremy looked surprised hearing that, “What?”

“We have twenty-three pairs of chromosomes,” Joel explained his understanding. “You are all scientists and know this. All other forms of Hominids have twenty-four. All of them but us! On our Chromosome two is where the mutation is where it is clearly a fusion of two Chromosomes, the evidence is the two ends meet in the middle, the ends are in the middle!” He said he was getting excited. He noticed the three scientists were smiling as he became more excited about it. “They have been trying to see if it was that fusion that caused us to become as advanced as we evolved. Personally, I don’t care. We are! Every Human Being carries the fusion. Even Neanderthal!” He touched Jeremy gently. “So, one of the million sperm you made wasn’t perfect. You’re Human.” He was gesturing with his arms now, “We have been so blessed to have as many pregnancies as we have with no problems. The Human Species will go on.” He looked at Jeremy, “So, why exactly is Shelly crying?”

“We discussed options,” Dedra said. “Either they continue or we abort the fetus and they try again.”

“I wasn’t opposed to terminating the pregnancy and trying again,” Jeremy said a bit weakly. “That’s when she became upset.”

Joel nodded, “Ah, I see.” He shook Jeremy lightly. “The decision is yours and Shelly’s. I know Sara Beth, she wouldn’t even consider terminating any of her pregnancies. We have four beautiful children. This needs to be discussed between the two of you.” He sighed. “Her maternal instincts will be higher now. You need to approach this carefully.” He smiled. “We will be behind you with whatever you both decide.”

Jeremy nodded, smiled, and then went to be with his wife.

Dedra smiled, “You know about so much.”

Joel shrugged, “I see something that interests me and I have to know more.”

Leah grinned, “I’ve seen his profile. He has no doctorates, but he is well versed in so many subjects. That’s why he was chosen to lead this colony. I say he doesn’t need one.”

Joel grudged a nod, “I did more than watch old movies and television shows.” He looked at Dedra, “We need to be ready when other things present itself. We’ve been lucky so far.”

“We could tell everyone they need to do it through the Kovals’ artificial eggs to ensure healthy pregnancies,” Dedra suggested.

“Absolutely not,” Joel shook his head quickly and immediately. “Sara Beth was right. Natural mothering is the best for a child. Adel and Brice are, but we’re doing all we can to give her and the child a natural as can be pregnancy.” He grabbed the sides of his head, “That’s another movie I saw. I can’t remember right now. Natural mothering became so repugnant it was practically stopped! We never will go that way.” He shrugged, “Humans have done too well so far.” He smiled, “I’ll be traveling a long way in a few hours. Forgive me if I go see my children and rest up.”

They all smiled and nodded.

Joel went back to his home. Now it was a time when Sara Beth’s absence was felt the most. The house was quiet as his children were in bed. Alone, he checked in on them. Kevin was sleeping as was Jim. He looked in on Ian. Robbie was there as always standing guard. Joel heard Robbie turn to look at him, but Robbie remained silent. Alone, he bent kissing Ian. That would soon stop. Ian was getting too big for that ritual.

His bedroom. It was so big without his life-mate and best friend. The bed was just looming. Rob was there holding Daylia as he rocked in the chair to comfort her. Joel would be lost without Robbie and Rob. Chloe and Rachel helped with Daylia and their two new siblings, but they had their lives, too. Rob looked up and saw Joel and smiled. There was music softly playing, and he heard Sara Beth’s soft voice humming now the lullaby she recorded. Baby Mine.

“She’s been fed and changed,” Rob whispered to Joel. “That was fifteen minutes ago.” He handed Daylia over to Joel.

“Thank you,” Joel whispered back. “You are a life saver.”

Rob grudged a shrug, “I’m just looking out for my family.” He grinned.

Okay, the jury was back, and it was ruling that Athena, Robbie, Rob, Robot, and Apollo were sentient! No further debates for Joel. “That’s right.”

The music stopped. He had Athena play it again for Daylia and for him. Sara Bet’s voice was calming. He saw Rob leave and Joel lowered to the rocking chair. Sara Beth had all their children stay in their room for several months. He would do that as well. He thanked God, or whatever had given him four exceptional children. No defects. The power that had given him these lives and he vowed; nothing would hurt them.