New Genesis

With my eyes closed and my teeth clenched, I held on to the arm rest for dear life. “Dad! Dad!”, my son called, “It’s ok. We’re in the air already.”

Take off was not that bad. I expected a whole lot worse. I am not one that likes to fly. I have only flown twice before. The first was a rough take off and the second was a crash landing. So many were surprised when I accepted this opportunity to fly in brand new Aroura 2300. It’s the largest passenger aircraft ever built. Instead of seats, it has rooms. 500 of them to be exact. We fly in the comfort of a 5 Star hotel or maybe a cruise ship. We are traveling to a new home, a new job, a new life. Nothing like anything we’ve ever known before.

Although I was more relaxed now than I was at first. I dared not look out the window. That was for my son and daughter to enjoy. Therefore, I did not notice the moment we left Earth’s atmosphere. “Mom! Dad! Y’all need to come see this.”

“You know your dad can’t handle this.” said Becky.

“I’m fine. I think I can take it now.”

As I got out my chair and walked toward the window, the sight of the earth was awe-inspiring. The kind of sight that takes your breath away. While enjoying the breath-taking view, an announcement came over the intercom.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached orbit. We will make 100 orbits around the earth as we pick up speed to reach our final destination. This will take about 3 days.”

We were headed to New Genesis, a planet 14,000 light years away. Traveling at 100 LPD (Light Years Per Day) it will take us 14 days to reach its orbit and another 3 days to reduce speed to land. Just 5 years earlier, a group of scientists traveled there to terraform the planet. Now a new home awaits us.

“New Genesis is twice the size of earth, and its years are twice as long, but its days are 24 hours just as earth. The sky is a very deep blue around noon otherwise it’s red. Very beautiful. The temperature around most of the planet is equal to that of the tropics on earth.”

The 3-day orbit went by quite fast. When it was time to sling shot into the far reaches of space, once again, I was holding on to the armrest of my chair.

JJ, Jerry Jr, my son, was laughing at me.

“JJ”, said Bonnie, “Leave Dad alone. He can’t help it if he as scared cat.” They both started laughing.

Anyway, our adventure had started.

Day 1: Good-bye

We were on our way. We were not just leaving town, moving to a different state, or even to a different country. We were saying good-bye to the planet that has been home to the human race for over 6000 years. Never again would we see the sun rise over the Pacific, or the moon shine on the Atlantic. Many of us were saying good-bye to friends and family. Those we grew up with. Never will we see them again. That realization hit some hard. But it was too late to turn around now. In just 2 weeks, we will see our permeant new home.

That day I video chatted with my brother and sister. My cousins wished me well. My children spoke to their cousins, their friends, their classmates. My wife said that she’s trying to get away from her family. She was happy to be leaving them.

It wasn’t that big of a loss. There would be another chance for others to join us. The next ship would be leaving in about 2 years. Maybe we will see them again. Maybe 2 moons reflecting on the ocean will be twice as beautiful as one.

Day 2: Walk About

Have you ever taken a cruise on one of those large cruise ships? The ones with 5 different swimming pools, movie theaters, basketball courts, 5-star dining rooms, and more. This ship had it all.

I started the day with a run around the track. Breakfast was sausage, eggs, and a biscuit. I also had all the bacon I could eat. Next, I went to the gym, and played a game of basketball with the neighbors. My wife went to the spa. She said she never felt better in her life. I said she never looked better. The kids spent most of the day playing video games. At about 5PM we all met at the movies and ate a lobster dinner at 7. It was an enjoyable day. This would be our life for the next 12 days. A beautiful vacation before starting our new life.

There was enough to do so we wouldn’t be doing the same thing every day. Go Swimming, Play ball, TV style Game Shows, Every day, something different. In addition to movies, they live stage shows, plays, concerts, dances, the works. At the very least, we shouldn’t get bored.

Day 5: Life Gives You Lemons

It didn’t take long to miss the comforts of home. The best vacation ever can’t replace the people you care about. We all missed the people back on earth. We hoped to see them again but there was no guaranty. On top of that, no pets were allowed on this trip. We had to leave Mike and Ike, our dogs, home. We left them in the care of our next-door neighbor. To make matters worse, we were starting to lose connection with earth. Video chats were failing. Text messages were still working, but it was slow.

After seeing J.J. and Bonnie mope around, I had a great idea. There were things that families could do together. At least that’s what I told the kids. As I turned out, many of the kids from their school was on the ship. They were not the kids that mine would normally hang around, but they knew each other. They didn’t dislike each other. They enjoyed being with people they knew.

My wife and I met up with people from our companies. Not those we deal with on a daily basis, but we did know these people. We did enjoy their company. Also, I found out that in a day or two, we’d be close enough to a long-distance communication satellite to reach earth. At least we’d be able to communicate for a little while. It would still be a few years before a more permanent communication system be established.

Anyway, we became determined not to let anything get us down. Whatever lemons life decided to throw at us. We knew we would make the best of it. It was to late to turn around. We were already 5000 Light years from earth. Turning back was not an option. So, whenever life gave us lemons, we made lemonade.

Day 10: Danger

We were awakened about 6 o’clock in the morning to the ship violently shaking. The announcement came over the intercom suggesting that we stay in our rooms until further notice. “There is nothing to worry about. Just a little snag that will be fixed in a few minutes.”

The shaking continued. After a few hours, people began to ignore the “Stay in your room” order. We were demanding to know what the problem was. As it turned out, 2 of the ships’ 10 engines had failed. We were promised that we’d still make it New Genesis on time, if not a head. But the ship continued to shake. As the hours rolled by, it got worse. Soon we started to have power failure. Our wonderful vacation was turning into a nightmare. We still had another 4 days of this. To tell you the truth, the kids were handling the situation much better than I was.

“Whose idea was it to take an airplane to another planet? What the heck was I’m thinking?”

“Honey!”, Becky said, “Calm down. We’ll be starting a new life in just a few days. It will be ok! Look at the kids.”

The kids were having fun. They had their flashlights. They made games out of the on-going power failures. They played hide-n-go-seek. They played Marco Polo. All kinds of glow in the dark stuff. To them it was fun. I pretended to be having a good time, but I don’t know how believable it was.

Day 14: Lost

Finally, it was the last day. I got out of bed with bags packed the night before, ready to get off of this dump. I was happier than I’ve been this entire trip. Imagine my shock and surprise when we looked out the window and saw nothing there.

“Attention guest, due to the engine trouble we had a few days ago, we are just a little bit behind time. Nothing to worry about. We will reach New Genesis very shortly.”

That’s the lie they told us. They didn’t want us to know that we were completely off course. I’ve done the homework. Even if we were only a little behind time, we would still see our new home. If nothing else, we would see the star the planet orbited. But we saw nothing. The truth is that they didn’t know where we were.

Day 28: Food Shortage

There is a problem when a 14-day trip starts to go longer than 14 days. The supplies begin to run out. By day 28 the food was rationed to just 2 meals a day. No more “all you can eat” anything. Portions were small. Tempers were high. Fights began to start over the last slice of bacon. Nobody was happy. Nobody was having a good time. The gym was closed. The spa was closed. No movies were being shown.

Rumors started that emergency food was stored in different locations around the ship. Raids were made all around. A few locations were found with enough food to feed a few hundred people. This was meant for extended voyages. But if this wasn’t extended, then I don’t know what was.

It was good to have some real food in our bellies. I was happy that our next-door neighbor decided to share some with us. The rule was that they would only share with those who helped out. But since our children made such good friends with theirs, they helped us out. Still, we didn’t know how much longer we would have to deal with this.

Day 32: Abandon Ship

After fighting for food for 4 days, an alarm sounded. We all knew well what this alarm was. We all feared this alarm more than any other. We were told about it before take-off. Abandon Ship. Everybody was ordered to return to our rooms. In the event of an extreme emergency, our rooms will serve as escape pods. As it turned out, the ship was completely out of control and headed straight into an asteroid.

The crash would mean total destruction. Separation would mean that we would orbit, or land on, the asteroid until the unlikely event that somebody come and rescue us. I was tempted to hide somewhere on the ship, to die right along with it. That had to be better than starving to death. Actually, we’d die from thirst long before starvation. The human body can go weeks without food, and only days without water. At least staying on board would be that I’d control how I die.

But I had to put up a good front for the kids. Although I didn’t believe it myself, I convinced them that everything would be alright.

To my surprise, as soon as our room separated from the ship, a panel opened on the floor with enough food and water to last 3 months. It did make me a little bit happier. But not completely. We were still stuck. The food and water would still run out. We were still sitting and waiting to die. It would just take longer. I still fought hard to keep a strong face for the kids. But now I had nowhere to go to cry my heart out.

Day 42: Rescue

When things seemed completely hopeless, the intercom turned on. “Ladies and gentlemen, may we have your full attention. Very soon we will be on our way. New Genesis is still ahead.” At that point, I completely lost control.

“Ha! The ship is destroyed. Nobody knows where we are. We can’t contact anyone. We are all going to die. That is all we have to look forward to. A long tormentous death. ‘New Genesis is still ahead.’ What a bunch of idiots. Can’t they see a hopeless situation when it’s right in front of them. Our best bet is to see what we could do with this asteroid. Which I could tell you now is nothing. ‘New Genesis is still ahead!’”

“Mom!” one of the kids called out. To tell the truth I was too out of it to realize which one it was. I was still ranting while they had their conversation.

“Is Dad going to be ok?”

“Yes, dear. He just need a little rest.”

“Are we going to die?”

“No, dear. If they say all will be fine, then it will.

Honey!”, she said to me. She repeated it about 5 times before I responded.

“WHAT!”, I said with an attitude.

“We need to be strong. If they say it, they must know something.”

She was eventually able to calm me down. It was right on time. The next announcement was a lot better.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we do have great news. The “Grace” have come to our rescue.”

The Grace was a shuttle designed on New Genesis for the soul purpose of search and rescue. The moment The Aroura 2300 went off course, they were sent to find us. As we boarded the new ship, I smiled. I was really looking forward to putting my feet on the ground.

Day 52: New Genesis

Finally, it was the last day. I got out of bed with bags packed the night before, ready to get off of this dump. I was happier than I’ve been this entire trip. This time it was for real. I looked out the window and saw a beautiful red and blue ball below us. It was our new home, our new beginning, our New Genesis.