Civilization Starship

CHAPTER 1: THE END OF THE WORLD

“Lee, it’s not the end of the world. Well, it is the end of the Earth. But it’s not the end of everything, not of everything we’ve planned. You’re going to get through this.” The pleasant voice echoed through the back of the egg-shaped pedestal chair in the center of the domed room. After a loud sigh, the chair swung around, and the tall thin alien figure sitting inside the white half orb shook his large ovoid head with no little condescension.

Anyone else might have guessed the dark dome they sat under was some old planetarium gone belly-up. Not twenty feet from his alien host, Civilization Starship project director Lee Creighton sat in his khaki windbreaker on the simple black leather love seat and didn’t bat an eyelash at the poorly chosen admonishment.

Above them, the curved walls glowed with several hundred overlapping video images of various sizes, showing what seemed to be random people going about their random lives. Some were in color, others in black and white. Some were grainy while others showed crisp detail. A few looked like 3-Dsonar or radar, even night vision. And the room echoed with the whispering mishmash of all the accompanying voices and sounds playing at low volume.

Lee Creighton glared at the arch figure sitting before him and twisted his lips in knots, trying not to show his annoyance at the background babble. His alien host, who called himself Platuu, as a private joke, was tall, bone thin, and clearly not human, though over twenty-eight years on the project, Director Creighton had grown used to the sight of him.

Platuu had thinning white hair to just short of his shoulders. And he seemed even paler than usual. He wore his usual stark white long-sleeved tunic of silken material over featureless, fine white boots that blended into wrinkled white leggings. Standing, he would be easily seven feet tall, but sitting he was imposing enough.

After a moment, he answered the director’s silence with a careful smile, leaning back, “In fact, humanity will be much better off, eventually. Isn’t that true?”

Without responding, Creighton looked up at the array of screens with a squint, like looking into a blowing wind, and finally asked through the mash of sound, “Do we have to listen to that?”

Without looking away from his guest, Platuu lifted a thin pale hand and made a gesture toward the screens, like waving bye to a child. And the sounds dropped to nothing.

“This whole thing terrifies you, doesn’t it?” Platuu asked.

“You mean the destruction of the Earth? Everyone under surveillance 24-7? The construction of the starship? The secrecy? This, this grand bargain mankind is entering into with the Civilizations? A new global constitution? And, oh, oh yeah; and now we’re going to go public with all of it, with everything? Just like that. Is that what you meant by ‘this whole thing’?”

Platuu sniffed and blinked at the director’s uncharacteristic outburst, and bringing his long fingers together in front of his chin, he said softly, “I was actually referring just to the going public part.”

“Does it terrify me? If I still had any capacity for fear, do you seriously think I’d be sitting here?” Creighton answered with a stiffening air of defiance that was becoming his normal state in these conversations.

“When this is done, when I’m gone, you’ll be much better off.” Platuu went on, looking out blankly into the images on the dome beyond the director, “And you’ll all, the human race, will be part of the Civilizations.”

“You’re sure about that?” Creighton quizzed.

“If you mean completing your end of the bargain? Launching the starship? Signing the new Constitution?” Platuu answered, “Yes, I’m sure the people of your world will come through. I have faith in you, Lee.”

“I meant, are you sure we’ll be better off?”

Platuu tapped his fingertips together several times, then opened them like a flower. “Oh, you can’t be serious. When your planet receives the gift of Paradigm Four knowledge, it will be just like Christmas. You’ll see. And besides, left to your own devices, without my intervention, your Earth would be coming to an end just the same, now, wouldn’t it? The damage had been done, Lee, before I even got here.”

Lee knew he was right. Earth’s time was running out. Mankind had overstepped technologically and turned our planet into a ticking time bomb. He was right—the people of Earth faced very few options.

Lee swallowed. “Yes, to get Paradigm Four. All we have to do—”

“Is complete your part of the bargain. And I have every confidence that you will.”

Creighton was going to say, “Is the impossible”; but knitting his brow at the interruption, he held his doubts to himself. Instead, he changed tack, musing cynically, “Who was it that said, ‘The ten most frightening words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”‘?”

Platuu looked off, feigning wistful. “Yes, he was the last of your presidents that I could actually talk to. He understood all of this.”

Creighton just watched his host, waiting.

The alien turned back to him. “I guess I am from the government, that’s true. I am the emissary from your soon-to-be government, the inter-galactic government, the Civilizations. But I am here to help you. And you shouldn’t be frightened. Not about that anyway. This going public thing, well, yes, it will have its challenges, I suppose.”

Director Creighton just looked at his host without a response. He’d heard it all before. Then he reported impassively, “The first round of starship crew invitations has been sent out. They’re on their way, just as you asked.”

Platuu perked up. “So what did you think?”

Creighton rubbed his mouth. “You mean, of the invitation list?”

“Yes. Of course, of the crew invitation list,” his host blurted. “Tell me. I’m curious, Director.”

Rubbing his palms together roughly and looking down at the table, Creighton shook his head through a grimace. “Platuu, frankly, I can’t make sense of it.”

Leaning back into his chair again and bringing his thin fingers together and up to a pleasant smile, Platuu blinked his large almond-shaped eyes and said with mock seriousness, “No, I’d be surprised if you could.” And after a squinting pause, he said, “No offense. Please. I just meant that you don’t really know these people”—he gestured to the screens—“like I do.”

“I guess I don’t,” Director Creighton answered, nodding his whole upper body. “But they just seem random. We’re not seeing the logic.”

“Oh, they’re not random,” Platuu said quietly, looking down at the table in front of his guest. “You’ll figure it out. Something to do in your spare time.” And he smiled wide.