- PROLOGUE -
* "... they exterminated some of the wild species on which
they depended for food. The result was that when they had eliminated their
resources of wild protein, they then turned to the only source of large protein
that remained, which was human. They turned to cannibalism. All of the rain
forests will be destroyed by 2030."
"... the world population is doubling every forty-two
years. The planet Earth is an island in the middle of space and we are in the
process of destroying our civilization just as Easter Island destroyed its
civilization." (1)
"Our population and scale of enterprise is essentially
growing exponentially, and we could very easily face a demise such as that of Easter
Island. What we need to do immediately is to rise to the top of the human
agenda the whole issue of how we reduce the scale of the human enterprise to
the point where the planet can sustain us on essentially permanent. If we don't
start doing that immediately, I fear for the future of our civilization."
(2)
TERRA SYSTEM: THE NEW ERA
The late 1970's
felt the repercussions of modern industrialization throughout the world. New
technologies in research had discovered a direct link between air, water and
soil pollution to disease, birth defects and increased mortality. Activist and
special interest groups protested and lobbied governments into forcing industry
to clean up their act. Unfortunately, efforts to repair the damage were too
expensive, and therefore, too mediocre, and far too late to heal the wounds of
the previous 100 years of reckless abuse. Some industrial giants chose to
ignore the warnings and simply moved their filth to another part of world,
where the pollution laws were less restrictive. They seemed to think
contaminants would not spread if they were further away from home.
However, the
fervent cries to "clean up the planet" never extend past the industrial
waste problem. The notion of population control solving the pollution problems
found no place in the environmental scheme. Government tiptoed around the
subject throughout the twentieth century and well into the twenty-first
century. Any suggestion of a correlation between escalating human population
and soil erosion, dwindling resources, crime and terrorism throughout the world
was only discussed openly through illustrative science fiction novels or nature
documentaries about the effects of animal over population. But those were
elephants, not humans. The serious possibility of humans actually suffering the
same fate as elephant herds was passed off as the radical ranting of the
atheistic science community out to debunk the existence of God and his
commandments.
Some western
countries invoked strict regulation to control the toxic pollutants emitted by
industry, forcing them to move their industries to countries with fewer
restrictions. But, the population issue only found legitimacy in China and Japan,
where space was limited and over procreation was discouraged with laws. The
rest of the civilized world dealt only with the effects; some even resorting to
cannibalizing livestock to compensate for depleting hay and grain stores. The
diseased cattle which resulted did kill a relatively small number of human
consumers; but only enough to effect an outrage of the practice, but not enough
to significantly reduce populations of any one area.
It seemed the world
was dominated by ancient beliefs, religious customs and civil philosophies
which feverishly resisted government sanctioned birth control and family
planning of any kind. Groups claiming to represent moralistic ideals resorted
to terrorism to fight relentlessly for the unborn, grossly deformed and the
dying. Enormous sums of money and energy were invested for disease researchers
to find the illusive cure for human death. They waged a successful coup on all
of nature's attempts to rid itself of the human parasitic infestation - and
Earth succumbed to the onslaught. Like any other victim of a rampant, malignant
cancer growth, she was helpless against the disease. She entered the end stages
of her life by the latter half of the Twenty-first Century. Death was imminent.
While political
powers continued to play Russian Roulette with the home planet, the space
programs were infesting the rest of the cosmos. Abandoned probes, satellites
and disposable equipment was being tossed around the galaxy like beer cans
hurled out the windows of speeding cars. The cancer was no longer localized;
but had entered the blood stream and was beginning to spread to neighboring
planets and galaxies.
Eventually, one man
determined to save his planet and the life it supported, conceived an idea and
set about formulating a plan of action. Renowned astronaut and physicist, Col.
Carlos de la Puerta, the first man to traverse the surface of Venus, and his
entrepreneur wife, Eleanor Marcus, teamed up with an elite group from the
engineering, technical, health and science communities and began investing
heavily in a bold scheme. The plan sold to the public described an orbiting
resort for the wealthy to play in. It would recycle and utilize scrapped
satellites, war vessels and equipment for parts and materials, and take about
twenty years to complete. But, the resort was merely a front for a far more
noble cause - to save life itself from extinction.
The project was
code named "Operation Noah" and involved constructing nine
satellites, each capable of housing ten thousand species of plant and animals
and five thousand humans. The science community was hesitant to support another
frivolous escapade for entertaining the rich and famous; but most were eager to
become conspirators in Operation Noah.
By March 23, 2065,
the construction of the first satellite was completed and ready for staffing,
two more were very near completion and the framework for the fourth was being
assembled. They had beaten the bogus hotel schedule by over ten years. On April
17th they began recruiting candidates for the grueling screening process.
Phase one screened
out the curiosity seekers and the potentially uncooperative by requiring that
candidates with families be willing to permanently relocate immediately. Those
that managed to slip through would eventually be eliminated in the subsequent
phases that demanded extensive physical examinations, health and genetic
histories, and a battery of psychological tests. Attitudes carried far more
weight than experience, education and skills. "It's not what they can do
that should determine their survival," Carlos had stipulated, "but
their willingness to do what is necessary to survive that is most important.
They must be ready to abandon ideas of morality, righteousness and individual
freedom. They must embrace concepts heretofore considered abominable."
The first freedom
to be sacrificed was the right to bear children indiscriminately. Candidates
would either agree to limited families of four and sign the sterilization
contracts or be disqualified in the final phase. It was the primary placement
condition; but the risk of public exposure and ridicule was so extreme that
only those candidates not eliminated by intensive screening ever reached the
final phase. But, the cunning of tests successfully precluded which candidates
would find the requirement offensive; and it was not surprising when all three
thousand finalists had agreed to the bizarre conditions of the contract.
On February 17,
2066, the first immigrants settled into Star City I and recorded this date as
the beginning of "The Great Migration" in historical annals. The
staff was permitted to bring very little with them from the home world since
everything they would require was issued; including a tiny hearing aid remotely
linked to the master computer language bank. (The device was soon upgraded to
attractive studded earring and later, a tympanic contact which rested on the
eardrum.
As the migration
progressed, new satellites were constructed at an accelerated rate. Each new
satellite hosted a site to manufacture materials and eventually replaced all of
the suppliers on earth. Star City IX was completed only three years after the
original twenty-year estimate.
As predicted by
Carlos and his colleagues, the planet population had soared to such excess that
global famine was gradually eliminating prospective candidates. Personnel
shuttles were returning with fewer and fewer recruits as human cannibalism
overtook civilization. On December 22, 2082, The Great Migration was officially
terminated when the last shuttle returned with only thirty-eight passengers.
Mother Earth, Col. Carlos de la Puerta and Eleanor had all died and the new age
of Terra System had begun.
When the immigrants
recognized that they were the last humans in the galaxy, they decided to mark
the day and declare it a new age. Just as the Christians had noted their age as
"Before Christ" and "anno Domini", so this new age should
be measured as well. The new era was named "TS" for "Terra
System" and began with the new date of 01/01/00 TS.
It was also decided
that the planet surface be considered forbidden territory; now because it was
no longer habitable, and later to prevent future generations from destroying
her again, providing she ever managed to regenerate herself.
The people
recognized, too, that they needed some kind of governing body to keep Terra
System united and to prevent any individual satellites from segregating. There
should neither be one individual dictating laws nor a group of legislators
arguing over unimportant issues; but a type of representational government that
would focus on survival as a whole. Because the original designers and builders
of the satellites had known from the beginning what was at stake and all took
equal risk from its conception, nine senators for a first Galactic Council were
elected from them. Each represented one Star City satellite; but with the
proviso that certain laws be established immediately:
1. Periodic
examination of the Earth for research purposes may be debated and commence
after the year 2000 TS. However, the reclamation of the planet for colonization
shall forever be forbidden.
2. Contracts signed
by the original immigrants regarding human propagation will be honored by
future generations in order to maintain population stability.
3. For the purposes
of individual status equality, let no monetary or value systems, nor any other
factor used in measuring individual wealth, poverty or power to be established.
Let no form of trade influence or interfere with an individual's right to
nourishment, health, shelter and comfort. Because we began as equals, let us
remain as equals.
4. As need
predicts, lot one senator from each of the nine Star Cities be selected as a
designated representative of the people of that City to the Galactic Council
for the probationary period of five Terra Years. If his representation
effectively reflects the gross majority, then let him enter a Council probation
for ten years, where his character will be analyzed for the authority of
Council by senior representatives of not less than three in number. Senior
reps. will debate, and if judged appropriate, he will be granted the full Level
30 clearance of a Galactic Council Senator until he is unable to function in
the capacity of his duties. If, however, he is found to be withholding of the views
of his Star City, ambitious in motive or abusive with authority, then let him
be dismissed and a new candidate be found.
5. All Galactic
Council Senators will be in agreement to submit new laws and regulations to
Terra System. These will be debated with the people, who will vote for the
acceptance or rejection of the new law. Any single senator, group or Council
will mandate no law or regulation without the approval of the gross majority of
Terra citizens. The Council will then oversee the enforcement of approved laws.
6. It will be the
duty of the Galactic Council to update and maintain a continuous knowledge of
the Terra System and its Star Cities. To collect and research data for the
purpose of settling disputes through mediation, determining if an act is a
violation based on the effects of an act on the safety and well being of the
populous; to maintain a continuous information link with his assigned Star City
and its citizens, and to be continuously aware of the status of Terra System in
all aspects. Competent aids will be assigned to assist Senators with the
performance of these duties.
The first act that
the Galactic Council unanimously determined to be a violation involved medical
research and prolonged extension of individual life by extraordinary means.
Council took great pains in considering the limits in available space and
natural selection. They determined that the practice of medicine should be
controlled and limited to comforting the sick only. No organ transplants to
save a diseased life should be permitted, with the exception of fluid
transfusions in the case of loosing a healthy life because of accidental
injury, and only then if the life saved could return to duty without continued
medical intervention to maintain it. Disease research would be restricted to
those communicable diseases which threaten an epidemic of life loss; those
effecting only one individual or family, and those not considered life
threatening violates the natural predatory function of disease and aging in
controlling population status. Research for improved limb replacement, enhanced
recovery time from simple illness and effective pain control was acceptable and
encouraged. They constructed a new satellite for housing the sick and
controlling potential epidemics.
Though no need
existed then, they considered the likelihood of individuals becoming mentally
and emotionally unstable though physically healthy and capable of performing
duties in some future generation. They decided that this would require another
separate complex to protect the populace and rehabilitate the effected
individuals for return to duty.
In all, the first
Council initiated the construction of five new satellite complexes, which they
called Auxiliary Stations, for specific purposes. Auxi I, the Medical Frigate
and Auxi II, the Mental Barge, focused on physical and mental illness. Auxi
III, The Galactic Institute, was for education, research and government. Auxi
IV, Transport Central, concerned itself with the distribution of products and
personnel between various satellites. And Auxi V, Security Central, dealt with
anything that threatened the system.
All in all, life in
orbit proved to be more comfortable than anyone could have imagined. The
foresight of the builders and the precautions taken by the founding fathers and
original immigrants had prevented the population from exceeding Terra's ability
to support. Auxiliary Stations increased the housing capacity to sixty thousand
and at times, there were as many as four to six generations of personnel reporting
to duty.
Terra System
thrived and Earth remained unmolested, to heal herself, for the next 2300
years.