Tribal Seeds

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

“But where can it be coming from?”, Captain Lakshmi asked.

"If a tree falls in a forest but you cannot find it, does it still make a sound?”, Lieutenant John smirked, “but frankly the triangulating feature may take a few hours to load.”

A Botanical Engineer by title, Lieutenant John loved working on machines so much that it had earned him the honour of Principal Engineer aboard Captain Lakshmi's ship: the ArcSphere 2000, a space home orbiting Planet Earth for the last 100 years.

While Capitain Lakshmi looked out from what was perhaps the last giant window to Planet Earth, Lieutenant John stood fixated at the updated broadcasting panel displaying a steady neon green frequency. No such signals had been detected from Planet Earth prior to the update.

“General Adam - Glory to Collective Perseverance - has called a conference from Mars HQ this evening”, Captain Lakshmi briefed Lieutenant John, “if you can triangulate anything by then, we can include this in our report.”

“He still might want to listen to this”, Lieutenant John insisted, “the frequency, it's almost like a shrill voice, as if a woman were screaming.”

“But Earth has had no inhabitants for over a decade now - at least that's what I believed”, Captain Lakshmi pondered, “but the conference today, its Category Red.”

“Phase 2 is a go?”

“Not while Phase 1 is still wrapping up, I don't think.”

“After a 100 years, Phase 1 would be complete by now you'd think?” Lieutenant John grinned with sarcasm.

“That's how it goes", Captain Lakshmi conceded, "but the quantum heat maps scanning Planet Earth 24-7 apparently revealed no further traces of any mobile macro-life. General Adam said it would be a matter of months before Phase 2 begins.”

“Will you be redeployed?”

“There have been no briefings yet, but it's possible”

“Where does that leave us?”

“Please Lieutenant”, Captain Lakshmi looked away from the panel, “I have to prepare for the meeting. You are to report to me immediately if you triangulate the source.”

“Yes Captain”, Lieutenant John proceeded to salute as the sliding doors of his room resealed.

~

Walking down the narrow corridors of ArcSphere 2000, Captain Lakshmi wondered where the frequency source could be. Out the tiny portholes, Planet Earth hovered silently alone, revealing its blue and white marbling in glimpses. It laid devoid of all macro-life forms except for the emaciated tanned forests staining its parched terrains. Not even an ant, a mosquito or even a krill was to be found down there.

In fact, that was the whole point of Phase 1: To evacuate all mobile macro-life forms in preparation for Phase 2, the widespread injection of Genus X™ Plant Systems. With their invasive propagation, the genetically modified Genus X™ plants would envelop Planet Earth like moss over the span of just 50 years. In doing so, Genus X™ would devour the critical levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - thereby promoting a rebuild of the Ozone in the course of another 200 years, Phase 3.

Inside her pod, Captain Lakshmi slipped out of her sapphire-blue work suit and spread-eagled for the decontamination spray. Her luscious black hair with its spiralling curls sprawled gently over her coconut-brown shoulders as she loosened the geotag on her wrist before tossing it to the desk.

"An hour to prepare for the meeting", she donned her velvet green night-suit before sitting down to work. In front, everything lay aptly organized, the conference folders neatly stacked, the space-pen aligned at a right angle and a fresh mug of self-heating coffee. Still, Captain Lakshmi couldn't get herself to focus.

Shuffling through the folders aimlessly, she noticed the corner of a photograph eyeing back at her. It depicted her grandparents but not as the adorable seniors Captain Lakshmi knew them as but instead in the prime of their gritty youth. Her grandfather stood upright in his off-white kurta pajama, staring down the camera with his dead-pan expression while her grandmother’s face remained veiled behind a red and yellow ghagra choli. A sizeable nose-ring circled downed to her neck, making it the only visible ornament in the image.

Captain Lakshmi could trace her own lineage back to the Great Thar in India, where this photograph was taken. Her native tribe, the Bishnois, once flourished in the seemingly inhospitable terrain. She was told growing up that the secret was in the sacred relationship the Bishnois had with the Khejri Trees. A symbol of sustenance, the Khejri Tree offered shade to desert travellers, provided fodder for cattle and enhanced soil fertility through their nitrogen-fixing roots.

Among these handed-down cultural stories, the legend of Amrita Devi stood out in Captain Lakhsmi’s memory.

A 18th Century Bishnoi, Amrita Devi, had once defied the King by tying herself to a Khejri tree when the King’s men arrived to axe it down. Her three daughters followed her lead which then triggered several more Bishnois to do the same. The King’s unyielding men, meeting such heavy resistance, proceeded to violently chop through the shrieking bodies to get to the trees. Alongside Amrita Devi and her three daughters, 360 Bishnois became martyrs that day.

Captain Lakshmi too was severed from her land when her grandparents escaped to America at the turn of the 20th Century. The remnants of her heritage were parcelled into such fragmented stories when narrated by her father on warm Texas evenings. Against the soundscape of chirping crickets, Captain Lakshmi listened to these transmissions intently, even after her appointment as a Mission Specialist for NASA.

She laid the photograph down and walked over to her personal cabinet on the other side. In its end drawer lay a tiny paper envelope, yellowed with age. Captain Lakshmi unsealed the letter and gently spilled out the contents. Using her pen, she separated out the ten black seeds her mother had handed to her when she left for Johnson Space Center.

“Each seed is a tree Lakshmi”, her mother had explained, “in this envelope there are ten Khejri trees passed down the generations from my mother's mother’s mother.”

A young Lakshmi had tightly gripped the letter with both her hands.

“Remember Lakshmi, a Khejri seed in the Thar is linked by a thousand tendrils to the body of an astronaut in Space. Your body. In growing your wings, may you never forget your roots."

Unsure of what it all meant, a young Lakshmi still beamed with pride at having a piece of her lineage that she could literally touch. It made Captain Lakshmi recall how her mother would also advocate for deep breaths in times of stress. Breathe in and breathe out, her mother would instruct, that's how we stay alive.

Guided by memory, Captain Lakshmi took a deep breath in but before she could let it out, a blaring beep began to broadcast throughout the pod. It was coming from Mars. She darted to the virtual wall as the red dot on its panel began fluctuating in sync with General Adam's voice. He had started the meeting early.

~

Good Evening from the Mother Planet,

You are now in the presence of General Adam.

Glory to | Collective Perseverance |

My beloved soldiers, I , General Adam speak to you from the foothills of Olympus Mon, Mars - Command Center.

Firstly, apologies are in order for having begun the conference sooner than appointed. This was intentional.

As you all know, we have been dealing with a slight resurgence of bioterrorism. A few misguided souls had falsely believed they could destroy the last 100 years of our Collective Perseverance with their jerry-built gene guns.

These terrorists, the so-called “FairyCreek Life Defenders” attempted to raid our Scientific Camps last evening.

Such occasional rallying of rebellions were common in the new age, Captain Lakshmi thought to herself, having recollected her focus. Most of these incidents came from the Mars colonies but many were also reported on the Moon base. Every now and then, a fanatic group tired of living in their pods would have urges to break out into such militant schemes, but gene guns? This was advanced. There had been no such rebellions on the ArcShip 2000 since her appointment though, Captain Lakshmi reassured herself.

As always, they were proved unsuccessful in their efforts, all praise to our Elite Guards. The terrorists are awaiting trial as we speak.

Still, it is with urgent emphasis, I, General Adam denounce all affiliated individuals who may remain in our colonies. You will not overcome. Never. Turn yourself in for a fair trial or accept the consequences of our Collective Perseverance.

My beloved soldiers, it is imperative that you too, stay vigilant during these changing times and immediately report any single suspicious activity you may sense.

Captain Lakshmi questioned if she should bring up the strange frequency her Principal Engineer had located, in the off chance it could relate to this sinister incident. Then again, such rebels hardly had access to interstellar technology to allow for such scaled frequency transmissions. It could simply be an anomaly. She decided not to speak up. These meetings were typically a monologue from General Adam and frivolous interruptions could be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. Besides, there was just not enough data to support any claims whatsoever.

Now, over the last Century, we have all collectively worked towards our epic Exodus, which I can officially announce is now complete. It with with incredible pride, I can confirm that there is not a single mobile macro-life remaining on Planet Earth.

At the same time, our Elite Engineers have been diligently working to enhance the Genus X™ Plant Systems in preparation for their introduction to Planet Earth - Phase 2 Seeding. Indeed, that is why I have gathered you all, to reveal a confidential breakthrough.

Our countless years in perfecting quantum technology has enabled us to leverage fungal intelligence with neural networks as a guiding biosystem for implantation into Genus X™.

As of last week, our Elite Engineers have produced a new species, 'the Genus Z™'.

A concern overshadowed Captain Lakshmi's focus as she continued to listen. Genus X™ Plant Systems had been touted as the silver bullet for the last 1oo years, she considered, but now so close to Phase 2 Seeding, the introduction of a completely new genus seemed somewhat premature.

Genus Z™ will propagate 5 times faster than Genus X™. Their photosynthetic output volume is 20 times higher than Genus X™ while eclipsing existing Planet Earth Plants' photosynthetic output by an order of 1000.

A roar of applause ensued from the meeting attendees. It was surely a monumental milestone, Captain Lakshmi conceded, but the fact no-one had been informed of the project bothered her. What else were they not privy to?

But that is not all.

Owing to their neural networks, Genus Z™ Plant Systems have displayed novel abilities for

- Emotional Intelligence -

My beloved soldiers, I, General Adam reveal to you that we have effectively created the first species of plant systems that can truly 'feel'.

This unprecedented breakthrough means our Genus Z™ Plant Systems will be the first ever flora to express gentically engineered motivations - unlike any primitive flora on Planet Earth. Such collective emotional reasoning will empower Genus Z™ to proactively seek out existing plant systems and replace them at an unequaled rate.

In consequence, with the introduction of Genus Z™ Plant Systems, my beloved soldiers, we will usher in the promised dawn of our civilization much sooner than planned. Phase 2 will reach completion in just ten years.

Another thunderous applause broke as everyone lauded General Adam's revelation. But for Captain Lakshmi, it did not feel right. Perhaps the anomalous information observed today, she deliberated, even if embryonic could in fact be sinister. Reporting this now might allow them to account for it before the launch of Phase 2 seeding. After all, her colony was the one closest to Planet Earth.

Captain Lakshmi's finger hovered towards the SPEAK button as, at that precise moment, the pod door shot open.

"Not now Lieutenant, the conference has already started and I am about to tell them."

"You need to see this now.", Lieutenant John disarmingly pushed his charts in front of Captain Lakshmi, "the scream. I think I know what it is."

Making sure she was still on mute, Captain Lakshmi dialled General Adam's voice down, "what am I looking at?"

"You see these regular burst patterns?", Lieutenant John pointed at the graph, "they depict regular electrical signalling in trees when measured on the ground."

"And?"

"Although Botanic Communications Science is still in its infancy, it is accepted that trees can also trigger long-distance signalling through radio wavelengths, which we can intercept from space."

"So we are hearing the trees communicating with each other?"

"Well, it's a simple physiological reaction to factors such as disease, injuries, herbivory or in this case UV radiation damage, I discern. Sure these physiological reactions can be interpreted as communication, but do you see this graph?", Lieutenant John pointed to the neon-green frequency they saw earlier.

"Is that the radio wave?"

"Exactly! These waves represent long-distance radio chatter coming from trees."

"From where?"

"From all the remaining trees on Planet Earth."

"But they're just physiological reactions?"

"That is what I believed until I ran tests on the output signal. It seamlessly maps onto the sound patterns of a human scream, more specifically, a woman's scream, even right to the very timbre. "

"What do you mean?"

"Captain, it appears the trees are mimicking a human cry. I do not know how these trees figured out that screaming is a human distress signal, but they are using it. They are trying to communicate in our language. They are trying to talk to us."

"Talk to us?"

"This is unprecedented Lakshmi. If this is true, it changes everything we know about Planet Earth's Plant Systems Intelligence. This signal we saw, it is their SOS."

"That is not possible."

A brewing storm of confusion and terror seized Captain Lakshmi's heart as she refused to believe the charts she gripped onto. After moments of silence, Captain Lakshmi let out a deep exhale.

General Adam's broadcast continued on in its lowered volume, refilling the quiet of the pod.

My beloved soldiers, after all this, you may wonder, when do we plan to launch Phase 2?

I, General Adam, speak to you from the foothills of Olympus Mon, Mars - Command Centre, to officially announce that Phase 2 has already begun.

The first space shuttle carrying a hundred thousand individual Genus Z™ saplings will enter Planet Earth precisely 2 hours from this broadcast. The future has arrived.