← Spaceship Earth: Table of Contents

Chapter 5: Finite

“Watch that rock, Julian,” calls out a woman. “You’ll fall and break your head!”

The pair are in an open area, and the sky above them is cloudless and of a deep blue hue. It is a perfect day for a summer picnic. There is a soft breeze blowing, and the plants look greener than ever. There are all kinds of trees covering the area: tall oak trees that you can easily get lost among, and pine trees that you can smell from some distance. Rose bushes and sunflowers are dancing underneath the open skies.

Honeybees can be found feeding off the nectar of these flowers. There are also butterflies and dragonflies zooming around in the air. To top it off, Harleen has managed to build a lake in the middle of the park. It is a proper lake that boosts marine life. Most of the time, it is serene. The clear water sparkles underneath the open sky. The calm waters mean that families can go for boating rides. Fishing is also a popular sport with the people here. It is truly astounding what Harleen has done with the place. If the people on Earth could have seen this, their eyes would have popped out of their heads. It’s impossible to tell that this is entirely human-made. It feels like we are back on Earth and this is one of the few places that has remained untainted by humans.

It has been 100 years since Gaia took off, and I cannot tell you how quickly the time has flown by. We have come this far on our quest to explore the universe. It pains me a little to say to you that we still have not been successful. We have not yet managed to find a Goldilocks Planet, but we came close a few times. However, I remain hopeful. Perhaps one day, we will get there. If not in my lifetime, I leave it up to the upcoming generation to make a new home for themselves.

Right now, we are on the verge of entering the Alpha Centauri B system. We are diligently recording everything to make sure that we do not end up fabricating history. I wonder what this new phase will be like. I hope it is nothing like the time we faced when we were exiting the orbit of Mars. I shudder as I recall the memory. Although it has been a good ninety years, I find the memory painful. The journey almost ended as fast as it started. But so far, Alpha Centauri B does not look so daunting. We anticipate that it is just like any other galaxy, except there are more stars and black holes in this galaxy than any other. So I suppose we will have to watch out for this as well.

“Come along, Julian,” commands the woman who was guiding him earlier. “Let’s go.”

The woman who is guiding Julian is none other than Bailey. That child protégé, she has lived up to her potential and beyond. Now she is a mother, ready to impart her knowledge to the next generation. It seems everyone has evolved. Not only has the next generation taken over, but the generation after them is also undergoing training. I have faith that the project I started will end in success. The people I have brought forward were handpicked and chosen to see the job through. I think I did a pretty good job, and they did an excellent job with the generation after.

Julian and Bailey come up to me. I’m now older than Milton was. An interesting side effect of space travel is that our bodies seem to age at a slightly slower pace. We noted this during the first generation of children born on Gaia. They were reaching children’s developmental milestones in what seemed like earlier stages, but they weren’t growing like we did on Earth. Our doctors deduced that this was due to the artificial gravity, resulting in the body’s natural need to adapt to survive. I’m old, yikes. Yes, it happens to even the best of us. I am no longer the young, booming, energetic Simon who used to bring life into the room. Well, I can still bring life into the room, but it is not in the same way. My bones have started to shake. I find it takes a lot of energy even to walk down the hall, let alone conduct meetings at full volume. Now, I think about Milton a lot.

Above me, there is a monument. It shows all the founding family of Gaia. There is Milton, Irving, Douglas, Jerel, me, and even Marine. The old gang. The ones who dared to dream. Putting up the statue was not my idea. A couple of people from the crew had come up with the notion, and I think Harleen may have had a massive influence on this, that kid. They wanted us to be a continuous reminder for the generation that is yet to come.

Harleen and Marine are by my side. They are busy briefing me on the upcoming agenda. Gaia is steady as ever, hurling through space at impossible speeds. There are no wear-and-tears that we need to worry about. The ship mends and fixes itself every time it breaks down. Thanks to the crew, their talents, and their dedication to their jobs and life here on Gaia. It seems they can anticipate a problem before it even comes up. I have been left virtually free from the responsibilities, which for me, is hard to let go of, but I do my best. I am only told what is going to happen or what is already happening. For this, I am very grateful. It leaves me a lot of free time to spend my final days in peace.

“We’ll enter the Alpha Centauri B system today,” Harleen says.

“Copy that!” Marine responds.

As the captain of the ship, Simon always kept a log, something I do as well. When I record my own digital logs, it reminds me of him. As a child, he would sometimes let me sit in on his daily entries, it was so neat to watch his mind at work. I smile a bit as record my entry. The food and supplies are well stocked. Given the success of the ecosystem, the natural habitats are thriving. We are farming in space. You remember, Simon, how you told me aboutthis when you first found me? I was so used to eating rehydrated meals, and you told me one day, Gaia will provide for us. You told me that even though crops couldn’t grow on Earth anymore, that didn’t mean we couldn’t grow them elsewhere. Well, we no longer need the food packs. Everything is as it was on Earth when food was abundant.I nod, marveling at Harleen and her dedication to Gaia. It never ceases to amaze me, the things she has accomplished and the things she will no doubt accomplish. I feel so proud of the person she has become. I think I just don’t say it enough. It seems everything is on track, but I do feel bad about leaving this mission before I get the chance to see everyone find a new home. I wish I could have seen the mission through, to see the new generation settle down in a new home, to answer my original question: Is there an end? I know my time is winding down, I’ve had a good run. I hope to make the best of what is left.

It is not as if I did not try to fight death. I just did not come to this conclusion on my own. It took years of experimentation and realization to get to where I am. I remember Milton’s death and his words of not trying to fight it, but I do not share that view. I want to live until I see my mission through. So I recruited the best doctors and the best scientists to look into how my life span could be expanded, longer than it naturally already has.

They experimented with my blood, tissues, bones, and skin to see how far my aging has come or how they could reverse it. The tests went on for decades, but there is no cure for death. The most that they could do was figure out a way to slow down aging. But even then, that was not enough. Sure, we discussed cloning, but we decided some things shouldn’t be tampered with. We did, for a while, clone animals and plant life, just to help get us where we are today, but have since shut down all cloning labs. In the end, death will inevitably consume me just like it did Milton. It seems science has not come so far to manage to defeat death. There may be infinity in the universe, but there is no infinity for human life. This is something I feel I can never reverse. Sure, I have achieved the impossible by bringing the ship into space and sustaining these people for more than 100 years, but there are still limitations that I cannot transcend. Who knows? Maybe my successor will someday.

Gaia has continued to expand with each year. The needs of the people are piling up, and it is up to us to accommodate them. I sometimes suspect that the people here feel like they are on Earth. This is, of course, a good thing. It means we have managed to give them a place that they can call home, where they do not feel alienated in any way. We have managed to replicate Earth, right down to the natural habitat.

I will be honest: I always knew Gaia would be big, but I never thought it would grow as fast as it did. We thought the pace of expansion and size would be sufficient, but then our population hit one million. One million! Wow! That is a huge number. We had to pick up the pace. Once again, this is something I never fathomed, even when I was setting off. I never thought we would reach this mark, this soon. To accommodate these extra people is itself a task.

However, as everyone knows, Simon Gunslinger never backs down from a challenge. So much has changed. Sweet Vivian, Jerel’s daughter, is our new head of security. And before you can even ask, no, she is nothing like her stoic father. She has a wicked sense of humor and is constantly smiling. Her eyes are always twinkling, but she is always frosty. She definitely gets that from her father—the frosty, not the twinkle. As a child, she got into a lot of trouble.It’s hard to believe that she is her father’s daughter. Jerel always hated how happy-go-lucky Vivian was, and it was a constant argument with them. But Jerel loved his daughter and knew she could handle the job given to her; she was his daughter, after all. Jerel passed a few years ago from natural causes. It was a blow to the crew. While never one to smile, he was always there for anyone in need. He protected us, looked out for us, and kept the peace on Gaia.

The architects and the engineers are called, with Yuri and Takio leading the team.

They construct more towns, and each town has apartments, houses, hospitals, schools, and universities to accommodate one million. We never run out of supplies. As long as we can keep farming materials from space, this can go on forever. Within a year, an entirely new town has been constructed. There are also parks and ponds, and each town has its own ecosystem. Yuri has done a fantastic job.Even before it was finished, I knew it was going to be something spectacular—definitely more so than the original towns we built, which were more than ninety years ago. In Earth’s time, that is almost a century, and they still stand, stronger than ever, witnessing everything. Yuri has managed to finish the job without too much delay. He did so in a way that no one can complain about. Everyone was satisfied with what came about. The towns were so appealing that there was pre-booking, and all the houses were sold before they were even constructed.

Yes, sold! We had to create a currency a few years back to help motivate people. Since we weren’t about printing money, we used leftover material from meteors. So we had metal money, like the Mesopotamian shekel. We could have gone the full digital currency route—we obviously have the technology—but the people wanted something material that they could touch and feel.This made them happy, especially since we made wages equal. People did their jobs, and we all got paid equally. Yuri’s son has done his part very well. Since he was the one who was tasked with overseeing one of the new towns, he got to be the one to choose their representative. He obviously picked his father as the new representative. Yuri was the one who dealt with the issues that were put forth, and he did so very well without needing me to micromanage him. After this, Harleen, Bailey, and their families moved into the new town to settle into their lives. They had children, raised them, and looked after the affairs of the ship. Then just as Irving and I took a chance on Harleen and helped guide her to become the engineer she became, she too started to pass on her wisdom to the next generation.

Pretty soon, she had a team of young engineers who were finding newer and more creative ways to improve Gaia. It seems creativity was growing with every generation, as was intellect. I personally know of a few occasions when Harleen was stumped and her trainees saved the day. She definitely wasn’t too happy about that. Well, I guess that is the circle of life.

Stories and rumors are making rounds around Gaia. The problem is, the older generation—which is my generation and the generation right after us— are slowly dying out. We are living with people who were born and raised on Gaia. They have no idea what Earth is and what life was like on our home world. They do not know the trials and tribulations encountered over there and the reasons this journey started in the first place. Most people on the ship think the Earth is the moon.There are stories like this, that Earth has no water and is a bunch of craters in which aliens live. That is one of my favorite ones, aliens. In all honesty, most of the people were not even born when we went to the moon, so it is easy to confuse. However, the older generation does not like our roots being forgotten so soon, or that they are being fabricated. We had to make a choice regarding the new generation of Gaians.

Do we teach kids about Earth’s history, or do they need to be educated about maintaining Gaia? We figured the historical records would always be there, should they want to learn about where they came from, so the decision was made to let the children learn about Earth as their curiosity was piqued. This ship is everyone’s lifeblood, and learning its function was, at the time, more important than where we came from. After all, Gaia is what they know, and Earth’s history, while grand, isn’t a pleasant one. There was no need to plant that seed in any of the new generations’ heads.

This was the way for a while, but eventually, Harleen had a major problem with this, and in hindsight, we did, too. Once more, it was Harleen to the rescue. She felt very strongly about this. She didn’t want her children to grow up without knowing where their roots lie. It really did make sense, but the importance of the ship had to outweigh Earth’s history, so that was our compromise.

Harleen, along with Gaia’s historians, gathered all the historical records, including and up to our current journey, and transferred and placed them in the digital library database. It then became a part of the school curriculum. Harleen and Gaia’s historians also made it a point to interview the older generation, including me. We were all interviewed separately and asked about Earth’s history as far back as we could remember. As long as three of us shared a similar memory of history, it was recorded.

Facts that were lost in time, or confused through age, were omitted. This way, we have a version of the historical information that can be passed down for generations. It was a fine idea because after a while, even I couldn’t bear with the distorted stories that were roaming around. They made no sense. I feared that once we were gone, the new generation would completely forget where they came from.

Looking back, I believe the best moment I had on this ship was when I finally revealed my feelings for Mahealani. I had been holding on to them for a while. I did not want to pressure her into anything. She needed time to grieve. It is not easy to live a life without your loved ones. For a while, it seemed that she would never move on or find love again, but I was patient, like I always am, and was happy enough just to be her friend. But, in time, she started to warm up to me. I think a mutual attraction only grew. I felt she was slowly emerging from her grief and was ready to give love another shot. However, it was not until I turned fifty that I finally built the courage to tell her how I felt. I still remember the day so vividly. We walked to the ranch that Takio built. It was a spectacular day.

We spent it together, just talking like we often did. We sat on a swing on the porch. The sky above was a brilliant shade of red, blue, purple, and orange from the sunset. The ranch house was made out of wood from the first set of trees grown on Gaia, and it was my special place away from my main quarters.

“There’s something I have to say to you,” I told Mahealani.

She looked at me apprehensively. I felt scared. This was a lot more difficult than gathering people for this mission. I took her hand.

“Life is an unexpected journey. We spend it searching for something, not truly knowing what that something is. When I came up with the idea for this adventure, it was all I wanted. I thought this is what would lead me to what I was searching for. It took some time, but I believe that this whole thing, everything around us, led me to you.” My throat was dry. My heart was pounding. “I feel purpose, drive, excitement every time I see you or hear your voice. I just want to tell you . . . I love you, Mahealani.”

Mahealani looked at me. Her eyes were gleaming. She looked surprised, but her expression was soft. She also professed her love for me. At that moment, I felt ecstatic. We spent a number of years together, enjoying each other’s company. She was my life support. She lifted me up when I was down and took care of me when I was sick, and I did the same for her. We were best friends; soulmates, if that is even a thing.

Sadly, Mahealani passed away. This was just a year after we had entered the Alpha Centauri B star system. It was peaceful, and I was there with her until the very end. Watching her go was one of the most painful times of my life. It had taken me months to recover and get back to where I was supposed to be. I had come to terms with the fact that I was finite and that life was finite. The problem with living forever is it would make you a cold, unloving person. When you find love and you are timeless, you will always be alone. You will always outlive the ones you love. You live, you die—it is the natural order. I had done what had I set out to do. I even had a family now. Yup, Mahealani, and I adopted Harleen. She was way too old to be adopted, but she has always been like a daughter to me, so we decided to make it official. She is my daughter, my family, and I leave in her capable hands the fate of this mission.

Final Log: Entry 2510 I’m alone in my quarters, which strangely seem more private than my ranch. I ask Marine to record my final thoughts. She appears before me and is ageless, a perfect bio AI. Long ago, she asked me if she should age with me, and I said it was up to her, but I thought it would be a nice constant if she looked the same through the years.

“I’m ready when you are, Simon,” she says, and I hear a crack in her voice. It has been more than one hundred years since we set into space. The things we’ve seen, the things we have accomplished, I am lucky to have been a part of them.

“I know the future holds uncertainty, but if you stay the course, follow your heart, know what’s right, then the future will be as bright as I say. You two are my legacy, Harleen, Bailey. Bailey, you are the voice of the people. They believe in you and will follow where you lead. Harleen, you are the ship’s heart, its soul—look at the world you have created, and never forget where you came from. Thank you, both, for trusting in me and trusting in this crazy old man’s vision. The future is as infinite as the space we travel in. Just remember, you will not be alone. I will always be with you.”

“I’m ready.” I quietly say.

I close my eyes, and I feel my heart slow. This is peaceful. As I feel my last breath leave my body, the door to my quarters swoosh open, and in runs Fynnegan. He is not the young man with the wild ideas about aliens anymore. He is much older now, very handsome, and very disheveled.

“Simon, I found something! Simon?!”

---