← Spaceship Earth: Table of Contents

Chapter 4: A Decade Later

It has been ten years since we set on this journey. Ten years of flying through space, heading to the farthest corners, undertaking a journey that will inevitably go down in history one day. Gaia has seen some fantastic changes, and not just in terms of restructuring. The children have grown. They are now no longer children. They are adults with lives of their own. We have trained them the best we can. It will soon be up to them to take the reins.

“Z.P.E. 3.0 is almost done,” Harleen says to Marine. “We just need to run a diagnostic test. It will be up and running in no time.”

“Copy that.”

“The ship has the latest nanotech update. A full breakdown of those specs will be sent to the crew’s inbox.” Marine nods and continues to store information. Harleen has matured into a beautiful young woman. She has let go of her childish ways, yet she has that fiery passion burning inside her. Her eyes still sparkle every time she thinks of using technology to fix a conundrum. Over the years, she has commanded the respect of the entire crew. Now everyone, including the most senior officers, takes her advice when it comes to navigating the technology of Gaia.

The student has become the master, although to be fair, she was never the student. She has always taught more than she has learned from her superiors. Gaia has undergone a massive transformation. It is not the same Gaia that took off a decade ago. Time and construction sure do reshape things. You could definitely tell people were growing weary of looking at the same ship all the time. Gaia’s growth couldn’t happen fast enough. But as she began to take shape, you could feel the change in the air. I mean, it’s not as if the crew can go out and enjoy some scenery, apart from the one Mars has to offer or the one they can view from their windows.

They need to be able to walk to new places. So Harleen has an idea (surprise, surprise!). She decides to construct a room that is dedicated to some of the most gorgeous places on Earth. A simple tap of a button and the entire room can transform into the Grand Canyon, augmented reality at its finest. Sights, sounds, smells, even tactile features—something AR was never able to accomplish back on Earth—Harleen was able to figure out. Augmented reality is a perfect place for picnics.

Another tap, and suddenly, people can enter the Great Pyramids of Egypt. It’s very nice to be aboard a ship that has the latest technology, but I guess nature has its own appeal. I mean, this is also one of the reasons why we are on this ship at all—looking for more sustainable places to see what else is out there. Nothing can replace the yearning for nature that we all have deep within our hearts.

I am getting sidetracked. Never mind, moving on. That is not all that has changed about Gaia. There have been several transformations. For one, we now do not have 1,001 people. We have more than two thousand. I am sure most people who we left back on Earth would have never seen this coming. They probably thought we would never make it so far and that we would turn back.

The one thousand people would never even make it past 1,010, and that was being generous. But we did, we have doubled it, and we will continue to expand. My team had anticipated this and made arrangements accordingly. Accommodations for newer houses, schools, universities, and hospitals—when the need arises—and it will never be hard to come by. That’s why I planned for this ship to be so big.

We also have a newer generation that will be taking over once we oldies die. Along with Harleen and Bailey, another youngster is working on this team. His name is Emuukha. He is also very bright. I swear, what would have happened to Gaia if I did not have these children by my side? I shudder even to think that. Maybe we would not even have made it this far. Anyway, back to Emuukha.Did I tell you that he’s the youngest on the council? Although it doesn’t feel that way—he is smarter and makes decisions faster. He is also a people person. Most of the population on this ship feel comfortable approaching him and discussing their problems. He can appease them every time. He is good with words and even better with people, and over time, he has become invaluable to the team.

I hear Milton rounding the corner. I know this because he is wheezing. He has a very advanced stage of lung cancer, but it is not something the best doctors with the best facilities are able to cure. Cancer is a tricky disease, and in space, it’s even trickier. Our scientists on Gaia have been working on cures for different types of cancer, and we have found some. I sent that information back to Earth, knowing I wouldn’t hear anything back. It’s a reflex at this point, but sometimes it’s nice to hold onto the past.

Despite the progress, lung cancer is still overly complicated, maybe because of the manufactured air we breathe continually changing, we aren’t sure. As far as Milton is concerned, the illness is going to get progressively worse, and except for making him comfortable, there is nothing the doctors can do. I walk towards him.

“How’s it going, buddy?” I ask Milton. “Why are you cruising around? You should be in bed.”

“Ah, Simon. What good would sitting in a bed do for me when there is still so much to see? I don’t need to rest.”

His voice is thin and raspy like he has a bad cold. His hair is balding, and his physique is no longer one of a fit and capable man. He was slow when we started this journey, but cancer has clearly taken its toll. He is frail. He has lost a lot of weight battling his illness. We have come to the end of our solar system, but it seems his disease is the one thing we have not been able to escape, no matter how much we try.

“You still need to get to bed,” I say. “This is too painful for you.”

“You’re not my boss, Simon Gunslinger,” chuckles Milton.

He is smiling. Despite his illness, he manages to maintain a sense of humor.

“No, no, we have been through a lot, you and I, and now you are going to boss me around?”

He is still smiling. I give up.

“How are you today, my friend?” I say.

“I’m pretty much the same, Simon.”

He goes into a coughing fit. I watch his face get red and rush to get him some water. He holds the glass in his hand and takes a huge gulp, clearing his throat. His face slowly starts to return to normal, but it is not as if there is a lot of improvement. The red is being replaced by the pale, tingly look of a person who is dying. Every time I see this, I am filled with anguish. I do not want to say goodbye to Milton. It is too soon, so I try one last time.

“Milton, you are like a father to me. I need you on this journey, please.” I hesitate to say what I’m about to say, but I love Milton, and truthfully, I’m afraid to do this without him. It’s like having a parent, and when they pass, you are forced to become an adult, no matter how old you are. It’s a security blanket that you never want to go away. “You don’t have to die.”

Before he gives me a chance to explain myself, Milton touches my head in a fatherly, affectionate way. He has a very patient expression on his face as if he is about to explain a straightforward concept to a small child.

“Simon, life is a cycle. We are born one day, we live our lives to the best of our abilities—some don’t even do that—and then we die. Our bodies are all created with an expiration date. It is not well to fight that. I mean, we can try, dance around, and extend it by a few years. But in the end, we all have to go to the great beyond.”

Milton finishes his small speech and looks at me. He knows I am breaking on the inside. He is invaluable to me. When he was diagnosed a couple of years ago, it was hardest for me to process that he would one day be leaving us sooner than expected.

I had shut myself in my room for days and tried my hardest to convince him to take the treatment. But he was adamant. He remains adamant to this day. He truly believes that the best way forward is to die now. He clears his throat, and I turn my attention back to him.

“There is one thing I want you to make sure is given to me before I ultimately depart.” he says.

“Anything.”

“I want to visit Pluto.”

Despite the circumstances, I can’t help smiling. Leave it to Milton to cheer us up. But this is a wish I am definitely going to grant, no matter the circumstances. I make up my mind that I will tell Irving to speed up Gaia so that we can reach Pluto more expeditiously.

“Who’s the boss now, old man?” I smile. “Now, can we go back to the hospital?”

“Simon Gunslinger, you will never give up, will you?” sighs Milton.

I know what you’re thinking—with all this power, with all the speed Gaia is capable of producing, why has it taken so long to get to Pluto, when the whole point of the Zero Point Engine is to get further, faster? Remember all those years ago, five months into our journey, the entire black hole incident? It turns out, when we activated the Z.P.E., there was an unforeseen reaction that caused the black hole. So after a lot of thought, and at Milton’s request, he asked that we not engage the full power of the Zero Point Engine until after we’ve left our solar system, as not to endanger Earth or any of the other planets. Milton stands up from the bench he is sitting on. I give him some support so that he can lean on me. The two of us make our way back to the hospital. As we walk across the ship, the automated lighting system is brightly signifying that it is almost noon. I marvel again at how smoothly things have gone this past decade. Milton has made sure that the ship will not be left rogue. Both he and Irvinghave gone out of their way to train Harleen. Not that she needed a lotof training, but she needed to become more calm and steady when making decisions.

She used to be the type who would jump to conclusions, but now, she is no longer that way. She is thoughtful in her responses to complex situations. Irving and Milton have done well teaching her what they could. I am proud of the people we are leaving behind to be our legacies. In turn, Harleen has also done well. She has found truelove in Yuri’s son, Zhuang. They tied the knot three years ago. It was a long courtship full of excitement and drama, but they worked through their differences and have managed to become one. They now have a son, and guess who he is named after? Me! Yes, the child’s name is Simon.

Her wedding was a memorable one. It was one of those grand events where the whole ship was invited. She has a special place in my heart. I was also the one who gave her away. I swear, I was crying buckets of tears when I walked her down the aisle. I think this journey has made me softer, but in a good way. She looked so pretty, dressed in a gown only Harleen could pull off, a sharp con- trast from the dirty young engineer who broke into the Z.P.E. lab and stowed away on this ship. It is phenomenal what a little love and support can do for a person. She also has a protégé. That’s Bailey. Harleen is continuing to train her to take over the ship when the time comes. Bailey has become quite the leader. She is well versed in all operations of the ship, and all public relations go through her now. Harleen’s role with Bailey was to get her up to speed on the actual technology of the ship. I think those two got pretty close over the past ten years. Who wouldn’t?

Soon enough, Bailey will have to start looking for her replacement. Time goes by way too fast. Jerel is the same as ever. This is one dude who has not changed. I don’t think he ever will. He still has that same stoic look. There is never a smile on his face. It’s like he finds nothing funny. It’s not like I have never tried to make him smile. Last year, I dragged him to the Comedy Brigade Theater to watch standup comedy with me. I decided to get crazy, as it was open mic night. I’m no comic, but I started to impersonate some of the “celebrity” crew members.

One of those people was Jerel. He was, of course, part of the audience, surveying the crowd with a deadpan expression on his face. When I began to act like him, the crowd was in an uproar. I received thunderous applause, but he was looking at me as seriously as ever. He did not find it at all funny.

Then there was the attempt another couple of years ago. The crew and citizens had been missing a snow day, so we went to the AR room. We pushed a button, and it was like we were in the rocky mountains of North America, when it still snowed there. The whole landscape was filled with snow; the wintery smell of pine trees filled the room.We went in for a snowball fight. Since Jerel was part of the family, he was also there. I picked up some snow, made a ball, and threw it at the back of his head. I expected at least a smile to escape. But no, the guy didn’t even crack a smile. Sheesh! I did not give up. I enlisted the help of Harleen, and together we made a “Jerelman”—a snowman, but it really did look like Jerel. We made him tall and burly. Instead of a bunch of stones put together to form a smiley face, Harleen just stuck one stone for the mouth. It was really the perfect representation of Jerel, tall with a serious face. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

“Hey, Jerel,” I called out to him. He was standing in the corner, watching us all. “Why are you so cold?”

Jerel just gave us a look and continued to stand in the corner, indifferent to what was happening around him. Harleen and I both shared a huge belly laugh. He was not amused. It seemed despite my best efforts, he continued to remain stoic. Nevertheless, I will not give up. I, Simon Gunslinger, will never give up. I will make him laugh.

* * *

I enter my quarters and get ready to go to bed. I think to myself, as I begin to rest my eyes, how Gaia has been through so much in our first ten years. A lot of our expansion was inadvertently thanks to the asteroid belt when we were exiting Mars. Ten years ago, on our way from Mars to Jupiter, we had a difficult time navigating through the nearly 140 million miles of rock and irregularly shaped objects. I was very depressed. Our first landing mission, I had been expecting to find some hope of life on Earth, but it was a dead end. I do not really get depressed for too long. I always bounce back, and that time was no exception. My mind was diverted immediately with the first hit to the ship. Gaia almost turned ninety degrees.

“Harleen, get to the control room, stat!” Irving screamed in a panic.

Both she and Irving hurried to the control room while Milton told Marine to make a ship-wide announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, an asteroid has hit us. Blast shields are going up. Please proceed to your designated safe room, and await further information.”

“Now would be an ideal time to test our mining system,” Milton stated.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea!” Harleen shouted. “ Irving, the universe is giving us materials—we don’t need to hunt them down.”

THUD! Gaia received another blow. I wondered if the ship would survive if this continued. This was one of those decisions where I had to choose between the crew and our future. I just wanted to fly through space, let someone else make those kinds of decisions. But this is my ship, my journey, and I had to be that guy.

“Harleen, we are gathering materials. Prepare the ship for massive impacts, and fire up the harvesting generator.” I said.

“But Simon?”

“That’s an order, Harleen.” It just made me feel awful. I don’t bark orders, but I guess sometimes, you must.

Harleen reluctantly pressed a button and thick armor wrapped around the ship. This was a special type of kinetic armor that was designed to withstand situations precisely like these. The harvest- er was tied into the armor. As certain sized objects would hit the exterior, some would bounce off, but for others, the armour would slow them and catch them upon impact. The caught objects would then be deposited into a collector. The collector would then transport the rocks or minerals to a smelting station, where they would be turned into any sort of material we would need for expansion. Knowing that the materials we would bring on Gaia would be finite, this was imperative to figure out, and Irving was the brains behind this invention. Milton took over, commanding the flight crew. They navigated the ship through the belt. With the push of another button, seats appeared, and our chair harnesses automatically wrapped around us, across our torsos and waists.There was a lot of turbulence. At one point, we rotated the ship 180 degrees, which definitely would have caused some serious damage to us if it weren’t for our harnesses. See, kids, even in space, safety first—always wear your seatbelt.. Thankfully, we came out alive. As the armor receded, a few small rocks were harvested and stored within the ship’s collection center for materials. The collected materials eventually helped us to construct a number of various buildings and expand the ship’s landscape. The metals tested from our harvest were unlike anything found on Earth, except in one case. Here is a bit of a history lesson: The Pharaoh Tutankhamun had a dagger buried with him. It was made of an iron not found on Earth, and in the early twenty-first century, it was discovered that the blade must have been forged from a piece of the meteor that had fallen to Earth. Our readings told us they were identical to that very metal. That mystery solved.

The rocks made a good foundation. So another crisis had been averted, and our harvesting system had a very successful trial-byfire test. Awesome!

There is this idea in my mind about how to build on the ecosystem for this ship. We need one. It is not enough just to have an AR room dedicated to the scenery. I mean, it is really good, and people enjoy it. But what we really need is an ecosystem, where animals can roam freely, and people can enjoy sitting with them. I feel that animals need something like this more than the people do. They would have a natural habitat where they could mingle among themselves. I make a mental note to speak to Harleen about it. I am counting on her to fix this. I turn off my lights. I am exhausted by the day’s events. All I want is to sleep, but as I lie there drifting into a dreamless sleep, the face of Mahealani floats before me.

Aah, Mahealani! She is an amazing woman. I had met her when I interviewed her and her husband as potential candidates for the trip. Mahealani is a cultural specialist and would be pivotal in making sure everyone respected each other’s way of life, showing that everyone can get along as long as there is respect and communication. Her husband was a sweet man. He wasn’t as vital as her, but this expedition is about family, and I wasn’t about to try and break that up.

She was and is too important. I spent time with her and got to know her as a friend and colleague. She has two sons on this ship, and both are grown up and well-settled. She has been very distant and quiet since her husband died from a heart attack last year. I reached out to her a few times, but I could tell she is still grieving, and I would never want to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. Do I have feelings for her? Absolutely, but time is something I have plenty of, and if it is meant to be, maybe one day it will be so. My thoughts of Mahealani are pleasant as I drift off to sleep.

* * *

“We have reached Pluto!” exclaims Irving. He looks so happy.

“What?”I say.

“We’ve reached Pluto!”

“This is fantastic news. It’s only been a week since we sped up the ship.”

“Imagine the progress we will make once we pass Pluto and can really open up the Z.P.E.” Irving can’t wait to see what this ship is capable of.

I run to find Milton. I am so happy I can fulfill his dying wish. There is not much this man has asked of me. In fact, there is very little, and even when he has, it’s always with others in mind. What an amazing man. He is like a father to me! No, he is a father to me. Milton is a man that I look up to, who I strive to be like, like a son does with his father.“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached Pluto. Our last stop in our solar system. Anyone who would like to stretch their legs, please report to your nearest shuttle bay for protocol briefing.”

I hear Marine’s voice over the system. Milton comes round the corner. His face is paler than ever, but there is excitement in his eyes.

“Simon, we made it!” He clutches my arm, his grip very tight.

“Easy there, old man.” It is my turn to chuckle. “You’re breaking my arm.” We smile. “I made you a promise, Milton. Welcome to Pluto.” We look out the window, and below us is the icy dwarf planet, Pluto.

As our shuttle lands on the surface, we put on our thermal suits and matching boots—gotta have matching boots. The people who want to go out to explore Pluto gather behind us. I notice that the crowd is thinning with every new planet we reach. Are they disappointed? I wonder.Or maybe Gaia is big enough where people feel like they don’t need to risk going onto a different planet, especially one that isn’t habitable. I shake my head. This is all about Milton. Focus, Simon, I remind myself. We exit the ship, and this time, it is Milton who steps foot on the surface of the planet. In history, he will officially go down as the first person to step on Pluto. I look around. It is so deserted. Well, all planets are, I know, but this is even more so. I wonder why? However, there is a serenity that cannot be felt anywhere else. The sky is dark, and the stars shine brightly. There are icicles on the floor. They crunch under our feet as we walk on them. It is so peaceful; what a beautiful experience for all of us, especially Milton. He is just standing there, looking around in awe at the icy landscape. He keeps mentioning the oddly shaped rock formations. He even notes that some of them appeared to move. None of us see what he sees. He points to one particularly odd-shaped bolder—it was massive—and says, “They are strange, that one, there, it looks like a dinosaur.” He searches his mind for the correct prehistoric creature. “A Tyrannosaurus Rex, that’s what it is.” We all pause for a moment at look at the rock he is pointing at. It does indeed look a bit like a Tyrannosaurus. For a second, it even appears to move, but it’s probably the winds kicking up snow, causing that effect.

Milton, Irving, Harleen, and I find a nice rock to sit on. We are all packed in thermal suits, so we do not feel too cold. We sit there looking at the stars. They are so huge. I can swear that I am standing right next to them. This is unlike the Earth’s sky, where we barely see specks in the night. I am feeling completely in the moment. This is the ultimate form of transcendental meditation.

“We’ve made it to Pluto,” says Harleen softly.

“Past Pluto, in the Kuiper Belt, we can gather more materials. Then lies the great unknown,” I reply.

“Simon Gunslinger, the man with the strange name. You have done incredibly, and during my time with you and this crew, I have grown to love the unknown. The Council of Seven was wrong not to trust you. More often than not, we acted out of fear, fear of not knowing how to help humanity. All we ever had to do was trust in tomorrow’s children, and the world might have been able to see where we are today. You are on the right path, Simon Gunslinger. Stay the course, and you will have the world humanity deserved. I only wish I could have lived long enough to see it.” Milton says.

We all get teary-eyed at this. I am almost bawling. Why is he so stubborn? I can save him. But if anything, I am a good listener, and this is Milton’s wish. His breathing grows more shallow, and I can tell it is almost his time.

“Oh, come now, kids, you have the universe ahead of you. Why did Mickey Mouse take a trip to space?” Milton quietly says.

We all look at him blankly.

“He wanted to find Pluto.”

It is the ultimate dad joke, and Milton is the ultimate dad to all of us. As we all share a final laugh together, we see Milton’s body slowly slouch. Our laughter slowly fades to sadness and tears. Milton is gone. Everybody takes a moment, then they all head back to the ship. I sit with Milton for a moment more, holding his hand, my friend, my father. I love you, Milton Timesmith. ’Til we meet again.

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