The Belt - Complete Series, page 98
“Wow.” Luca sat back in the sofa. “That’s incredible.”
“Yes, and it’s also reality.”
Luca raised a hand. “Wait a minute. You said there was a third requirement?”
“Correct.” The image of the ship faded and Solomon’s avatar returned. “Consider for a moment the time required to undertake such a journey to our nearest solar neighbor. Approximately a decade to get there, and a decade to explore, and a similar return journey. The total time commitment is over thirty years, a substantial fraction of a normal human lifespan.”
“So, only those with an extended lifespan can apply,” Luca concluded.
“Exactly. Now while this technology exists, as Xenon can attest to, it has been restricted by the VanHeilding Corporation to only the extremely wealthy and powerful in society.”
“Until I stole it and released it all, out into the wild.” Luca slumped back in the seat again. “Oh my god, you planned this from the very beginning. And made me think it was my idea, my mission.”
“Not quite, Luca. We simply nudged the probabilities in that direction. It is what we do.”
“All that research belonged to humanity as a whole.” Dr. Parween gave an expansive gesture with both hands. “It began here on Mars, a long time ago, and had been sequestered inside a corporate structure that only benefited a select few. This is no way for a civilization to advance. You achieved what we couldn’t, you have opened the doors to a new era. One where humanity moves beyond the confines of its own solar system and ventures out to explore completely new worlds.”
Luca let out a long, slow sigh and looked from one to the other. “Well, I gotta hand it to you, I didn’t see that coming.”
They were all quiet for a moment before Xenon finally broke the silence. “We would like you to come with us and be a part of this next chapter in the story of human civilization.”
Luca hesitated before replying. “Who is us?”
“There will be around five hundred people on board. Already the entire population of the academic colony on Europa has migrated to the ark, along with the entire store of human knowledge.” Xenon gestured at the QI’s avatar. “Solomon is the QI that will run the ship. I, along with Dr. Parween, Moretz, and a great many others, will also be going. This is a journey that will define the next step for humanity.”
Luca took a moment to digest all that had been revealed and the offer that was now before her. She thought back to the very start of this journey, when Dr. Stephanie Rayman came to her apartment with the neural-lace that Athena had given her for her twenty-third birthday, and offered her a chance to see and experience the wonders of the solar system. Now, all this time later, she was being offered a new adventure. To venture out into interstellar space and forge a chapter in the emergence of a new human civilization. She sat up straight and nodded. “When do we depart?”
THE END
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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ALSO BY GERALD M. KILBY
If you like fast-paced scifi thrillers then check out my bestselling COLONY MARS series.
COLONY ONE MARS
How can a colony on Mars survive when the greatest danger on the planet is humanity itself?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gerald M. Kilby grew up on a diet of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Frank Herbert, which developed into a taste for Iain M. Banks and everything ever written by Neal Stephenson. Understandable then, that he should choose science fiction as his weapon of choice when entering the fray of storytelling.
CHAIN REACTION is his first novel and is very much in the old-school techno-thriller style while his later books, COLONY MARS and THE BELT, are both best sellers, topping Amazon charts for Hard Science Fiction and Space Exploration.
He lives in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the same neighborhood as Bram Stoker and can be sometimes seen tapping away on a laptop at the local cafe with his dog Loki.
You can connect with Gerald M. Kilby at:
www.geraldmkilby.com
Gerald M Kilby, The Belt - Complete Series
