Chapter 16

The Death of a Scientist

The Montana Ranch: July 6, 2064

It was a glorious time to be alive. And Albert, at 120, knew it. He sat on the deck with Anne and surveyed the scene before him with his new eyes. The transplants and inserts gave him the acuity of an eagle. From the ridge on his left, down the valley, all the way to the river, he could see plenty before him. There were elk on the ridge. Just beyond the corral was a group of Herefords. Far down the valley, 500 or more buffalo grazed. Small groups of antelope grazed between. He had heard wolves howl on the ridge the night before. The cochlear implants often kept him awake nights hearing sounds he hadn’t heard since he was a teenager.

Dom and Seala were there. So were the kids from colleges far and wide. Anne was by his side. And he was at peace. Ping, Thuy and Jeremy were there, as were various relatives and friends, too numerous to mention. It was wonderful, celebrating his birthday like this, out where the wilderness had been renewed.

The experiment with open range had worked. A large portion of the Central Mountain Region had been turned back to its original purpose. The range and variety of protein production was immense. Range farming was allowed, on a rotating basis, in those areas formerly farmed. Temporary fencing, and no till methods, insured that the soil would be built up during these brief periods of invasion by advanced farming methods. Crops, needing little or no pesticides, produced phenomenal yields. Family farmers, in exchange for giving up their land, were given the right to rotate farm wherever it was environmentally safe to do so. These nomads produced enough food for the United States, and for those in other countries who could pay for it. Government policies forbid allowing any food except surpluses from reaching the starving.

Indians (they despised the term, “Native Americans”) of full blood were given franchises to hunt wild game for the meat trade. The trade operated under strict rules, so that the hunting would not hurt wild populations. Ranchers and landowners were allowed to hunt only on their own land. They had to follow the same rules protecting the wild populations. Recreational hunting was allowed and encouraged. The NRA strictly controlled hunting. All meat that was not consumed by hunters was required to enter the meat trade.

Albert was pleased with the sight. It confirmed what he believed and was glad that he was seeing it in his lifetime. He thought about where he had been and where he was going. He had lived a full life, and was proud of it. Who would have ever thought that he would have a family--and that they would be in clones! It was unheard of in the last century. Now that he'd made the last half of the next century, it seemed commonplace. Too bad the dead parts of the World were gone and so many had died so needlessly.

He and Anne had taken a ride with Seala and Dom that morning. It was still cool as they rode up on the ridge and surprised a herd of wild horses. The Mustangs were sleek and strong. He knew that the wolves were keeping them healthy. Riding was a bit harder for him now. But he still enjoyed it. It was worth a few aches and pains. From the ridge they could see hawks and eagles soaring overhead. Below them to the river, there were small groups of animals everywhere. The large herd of buffalo that had moved into the area the week before was the most impressive. Albert often thought that this must have been what the early explorers, like Lewis and Clark had seen. Now it was a legacy of all who could get here to see. He understood the other areas, the Pampas, and parts of the high steppes in Asia had been returned to wild areas too. He longed to see them. But he didn't think he had time to.

The rain forests were another matter. Oh there were islands of them in various places around the world. But, most had been the lumbered and ransacked by the teeming masses. It would take a long time for them to be as rich and productive as they once had been. Rain forest destruction had been a major factor in the climate change. He wondered if they would ever fully return.

"Now that you've done everything, Dad. Are you coming with us on our next journey?” Dom was at a playful mood.

"You know I would if I could. But that trip your mother and I took to Orbit Fantasy last year was probably the last time I’ll venture into outer space.”

“You know, the way this seismic and activity has been heating up, we may all have to go to outer space.“ There was a serious tone to Anne’s voice as she said it.

“You’re right. I heard that an earthquake 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Esalen Waters just last week. The volcanoes all up and the Sierras and Cascades are growing more active.” Seala turned pensive. “I wonder what Seti would have thought? He always had a good answer for why things were the way they are.”

Dom intervened. “I'm with Dad. Explaining why things are the way they are doesn't help us one bit. We have to come up with solutions, or we won't survive. The Earth is geologically young. A catastrophic event could happen at any time. Changing where you live is one solution. But you might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Anne, I think you're right. We ought to consider leaving this shaky planet. I know it's our source, but something bad could happen at any time, and we'd be wiped out. I've tried not to think about this slow death we've been experiencing. But it might happen too, if we don't get busy. Well, it's your birthday, Dad, and here I am pontificating.”

“Your right, Son. You're all right. We've got a long way to go. I hope we can make it. I know I won't be around to see it. But if nothing disastrous happens, I think we can make it. I'm just lucky to have lived such a long and prosperous life. Now, with you all around me, I really feel special.”

At the end of the week, everyone went back to where they were going: Dom and Seala to the Johnson Spacecraft Center; Albert, Anne, and Ping to the New Wilderness; and the others to their jobs and homes. The three college students, Nona. Temas, and Sendia, stayed on for their summer at the ranch. There was considerable seismic and geothermal activity at Yellowstone. Tourists, allowed into the Park only through special lottery allotment, were warned about the danger that existed. Already that summer, six tourists had been scalded when geysers erupted unexpectedly. Two of them died from their burns. Geologists were watching a major change in the geyser areas. They were expanding and getting more active. There were repeated fish kills on the Firehole River, and earthquakes were frequent, creating rockslides that closed the roads and frightening visitors.

The reopening of the Waxahachie supercollider had paid off. It took decades of painstaking experiments, but the mystery of the charmed quarks was finally revealed. With it came of power source that was not only more powerful than nuclear fusion, but it was more controllable. Dom and Seala were chosen to be part of the crew of the first spacecraft to use the power source in a new propulsion system. With the quark system, came a new approach to gravity. While the craft was an orbit, or at a fixed velocity, it would be weightless. Centrifugal chambers built into the ship, would rotate and provide 1G for the occupants when the ship wasn't underway. Once the ship was underway, things would change. The power of the quark engines was such that the ship could accelerate toward its destination at precisely 1G. Halfway to the destination, the living chambers would be turned around, and the ship decelerated at precisely 1G until it arrived at its destination. This approach only worked well for long journeys, so the Kuiper Belt was chosen for the test flights.

At a constant 1G acceleration, the craft would reach incredible velocities. In order to protect the occupants from an accident like the one Seti Repaul had, a defense system was developed to either destroy any objects in the craft's path, or give sufficient warning so that the powerful engines could be used to deflect the course enough to avoid collision. The system was also designed to prevent the kind of accident that occurred on Red Storm. It gathered together all intelligence that the vehicle had, combined it with all internal information such as air pressure, temperature, location of and status of doors, and so on, providing a source of comprehensive information about the craft. Code-named, The Senses, because of its uncanny resemblance to human sensing capabilities, the system was connected to The Collective through eCom.

There was no absolute assurance that The Senses could alert The Collective in every event of danger, or even help with this solution. But, it was a quantum leap in the way space travel was viewed. It was the first time a vehicle was equipped to attempt to protect from the unknown.

Marscape was developing well. One million, three hundred thousand people now lived in cliff dwellings on the Great Rift. The food they grew, and animals they raised, supplied 72% of their needs. Oxygen produced by the plants, and fertilizer produced by the animal and human waste was steadily reducing the need for resupply from Earth. Mining was beginning to supply all of their material needs, and some rare minerals were being exported to Earth.

The Ganymede Project was manned by 2030 brave souls. Mining had begun in earnest. GanymedeSphere, a spherical structure two kilometers in diameter, was being constructed to float above the surface. Elevator shafts would carry people, supplies, water, and geothermal heat to the core of the structure. From there, a rotating horizontal wheel would provide 1G gravity for the occupants in shifts rotating from the surface. Other portions of the sphere would contain experiments and grow crops, insects, crustaceans, and other things for food and materials.

The Sagan Array had grown to 4455 receivers. It measured 111,375 square kilometers and had became the most powerful listening device in the sky. The Setiites, mixing science and religion, eagerly awaited the Second Coming, when Earth would pick up the signal from the extraterrestrials that would save us.

Two weeks before their departure to the Kuiper belt, Dom and Seala made a visit to Albert and Anne. He was now 123 years old, and they knew he wouldn't last until they got back. Albert knew it too, and that's why he was so glad to see them. He didn't meet them on the road like he usually did, so they went looking. They found him in the garden.

“Hi, kids! I want to show you something. See this ear of corn? Corn never grew well this far north. But now I get great crops every year. It's partly due to the climate change, but think it has something to do with all the volcanic dust in the air. All those eruptions in the Sierras have fertilized everything east on the prevailing westerlies.”

“Yes, Dad. Everything seems to be growing better here. But those people out west are really worried. They're not sure what disaster is coming next. At least the ranch in Montana appears to be relatively safe.“ Dom wanted to reassure him.

"No place is safe. Look what happened in D.C. last month. That tsunami took everyone by surprise. No one ever expected the Bermuda Fault to collapse. The plan to save the city never considered a thirty-foot tidal wave. At least the Smithsonian had moved the nation's treasures to Mount Vernon. Still, it's bad that so many had to die.” Seala sighed, remembering all the friends she lost. Over 20,000 in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and D.C. drowned. The wave crested at the third floor of the Atlantic City Casinos.

Albert was old, but he still made his point. “They all had an hour warning that it was coming. Some of those politicians and bureaucrats just felt too busy and important to heed the warnings. They had plenty of time to leave the city or get the higher ground. I do feel sorry for the poor who had no place to go or were not allowed into large buildings. They should have moved the capital years ago anyway. That's what happens when bureaucrats don't listen to scientists. Millions are dying the world over because of their bad decisions. Now it's their turn. I'm sorry but this old coot has no sympathy.”

"We just want to spend some time with you before we go. We know you may not be here when we get back. And we want to spend some time just gathering and a little bit of the wisdom you have garnered.“ Dom was trying to soothe any ruffled feathers. Seala was supposed to be the diplomat.

“I have really good news. You know that I've been monitoring the high steppes since the Siberians first introduced those cloned mammoths many years ago. Mongolian herders had overgrazed that entire region back near the turn-of-the-century. It became the first dead zone. Well, to make a long story short--it's back! I got reports that the grass is growing tall and that wild animals have moved back in. Some Mongolians have been found in the cities and recruited to go back as hunters and horsemen. They will be allowed to harvest wild animals, but only under the same strict rules we have here in the Western United States.

“I am concerned about Yellowstone. You know it was the source of our early wilderness theory. Without Yellowstone, I don't think we'd be here, and enjoying the fruits of our labor. I hear that seismic activity is increasing, and that the geysers are changing. Just this year, two new geyser fields appeared that weren't there before. Volcanologists have reported a bulge in the mantle under the entire area. I fear the worst may happen. Geological history may repeat itself.”

“I hope not, Dad. Yellowstone is a national treasure and a model for the world. I'm worried too, but there's nothing we can do about nature when it's on its course. All we can do is hope that this is just a cyclical phase that will subside in a few years. Do you want us to bring back some stardust for you?” Seala clearly wanted to change the subject.

“No, just send holos. I will be watching your journey very carefully. Sometimes, this old body wishes he could go with you. But, I guess I'll just have to stay here and tend the farm, and get my adventure vicariously through you.”

Before they knew it, it was time to leave. There were hugs and kisses and tears all round. Dom and Seala knew that this was the last time they would see their father. It was hard to leave. But they had to.

The New Wilderness: January 6, 2066

Albert was having a good dream. He dreamed he was driving that Monte Carlo in the evening through the damp, warm West Virginia hills. The curves were continuous in the headlights as the white edge line of the smooth blacktop disappeared around them. They were driving to some juke joint, but they never seemed to get there. Esther was by his side, and they were singing to the 8 tracks as it played loudly and the dew of the evening brushed their faces through the open windows as they drove. The dream never finished. It ended. It ended with Albert's life.

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