A Timeless Journey (21 page)

Our conversation was interrupted by the announcement to board the ride. Finally, we climbed aboard the Lunar Ride which resembled a rollercoaster carriage, but considerably longer. The ride had a transparent protection shield around its ten carriages, each carriage holding one hundred people. The shield also regulated the gravity, just enough to make us feel as if we were in the water.

The ride travelled at a slower speed to allow passengers enjoy the sightseeing. Before setting off, everyone was reminded if they wished to stand up, not to stretch their hands outside the protective shield, especially while travelling through the sunny side of the Moon despite wearing a spacesuit.

Since most of the surface was flat, or at most hilly, the ride flew only fifty feet high from the ground. It run the entire length of the Moon and after it travelled past a few other cities picking riders on the way, made it back on the other side of the Clavius city where it passed under a tunnel underneath and finally stopped at the starting point.

The lunar ride was the most amazing experience, especially when it crossed from the bright side to the dark side. The sun rays lit the bright side and then, as the ride entered the dark side, the sunlight transferred above our heads, looking like a bright irregular sunroof until it completely disappeared. Due to the slow speed of travel the whole journey lasted four hours, however, relatively speaking it only felt like minutes because of the breath-taking experience. I have to say the lunar ride was the most romantic trip someone could ever make with the one you love by your side and it is a memory that would stay with me forever.

After the ride, Luna and I returned to our guest space and stayed in for the remainder of what was an earthly day, making love and admiring the amazing view of planet Earth in the distance. Our guest space, thanks to being on the Moon, had one special feature which I have failed to mention on our arrival, a gravity adjuster. It regulated the room’s gravity through a program, which allowed us to turn it up and down, and also on and off.  We turned the four walls, the ceiling and the pavement into the projection of space between the Earth and the Moon and it felt as if we were floating into the void between the stellar bodies.

We spent our last day on the Moon walking around the protection shield in the Clavius city limits. It felt strange and slightly worrying to know that only a thin sheet of some kind of blue ray separated us from certain death.  Those hours when Luna and I walked very close to the shield, holding hands and enjoying the unusual view of dark space on the other side, have created the weirdest and the most unforgettable memories. We had never been happier and this happiness was only going to multiply in the days and weeks to come.

26

The next stop was planet Mars, a journey that took us only one hour and twenty minutes due to the hyper drive speed. The red planet had a rusty orange colour rather than red and not only its surface had an orange colour, but the sky also. Nevertheless, the views around us were astonishing.

Mars had twelve cities and was the most popular space holiday destination in our solar system. Ten of the cities were used for space tourism and the other two smaller cities, one situated at the North Pole and the other near the equator, for scientific research and corporate and global government use.

Just like to clarify the corporates did exist in the 26thh century, but in a different form. In this case they helped in the detection and shipment of rare minerals from Mars to Earth. Multifunctional corporates were allowed to be created only in collaboration with the Global AI System. The Global AI System, as required by law, had to have a minimum of fifty per cent of the shares. Since the last war there were laws that forbid any business to create corporates unless the main government took control of at least half of the business. This way they avoided the possibility for some individuals gaining extra power through financial and production control. The presence of AI system within the company, made sure the laws were respected and the companies followed the rules.

After we landed on the Mars spaceport, we were transported by the underground link to the Lake City, which had taken its name from the dry lake surface it was built on. Every surface in the city was covered by a shade of orange, just like the Earth’s sky at sundown. The orange light reflected on the shiny buildings giving them the same look as the Mars sky. The underground called the Intercity Link, connected all twelve cities together via a network of underground tunnels which ran across the planet thanks to the work of an advanced interplanetary technology. The existence of the Intercity Link, meant that we had the option of visiting other cities on the planet, as well as the option of an over ground flight around the planet which Luna had already booked in advance for our last day on Mars.

According to a research by an intergalactic team of scientists, an interesting theory had started to crystallise from their findings. They believed the planet Mars used to be inhabited some thousands of years ago and it wasn’t yet clear to them why the Earth-like atmosphere had disappeared destroying all life on the planet. They had an unofficial theory that the planet life was destroyed by some kind of high-tech war that had damaged the atmosphere beyond repair and the lucky ones had managed to escape to Earth. They believed the humans were supposed to be Martian descendants. However, there was inconclusive evidence of this theory and for that reason they had decided to build one of the study cities. The scientists were seriously studying the possibility that our human existence was originated from Mars.

Thanks to an advanced interplanetary technology, the scientists were trying to develop an Earth-like atmosphere on Mars and make the giant red planet naturally inhabitable. It was the most important project in human history, which would resolve the overpopulation issues and given the advanced technology, both planets would easily stay connected. There were of course big obstacles to overcome, for example the magnetic field and the amount of water that may form once the atmosphere was created. The scientists feared, if the water formed a large mass as greatly as it was on Earth, some cities may get flooded.

The first two days, we travelled from city to city without much to do, but wine and dine, partying in music clubs and walking around since there was no much difference in infrastructure and architecture between the cities. The Earth looked like a small blue dot in the Martian sky. Once you saw the Earth in a dark sky, you would never believe that little blue star was our home planet.

On our third day, Luna and I flew to North Pole and back to the Lake City on a small space craft as part of our holiday deal. The journey felt like flying above a desert on Earth with no much to see. Everything underneath had a rusty red colour with the exception of the North Pole which had a dark purple colour, more on the blue side rather than the red.

After the trip to the North Pole, we had just over twelve earthly hours left for our flight to Jupiter, so Luna and I decided to get some rest in our guest space for the next eight hours or so.

The trip to Jupiter took just over an hour. When the spaceship approached the planet, it slowed down as it came out of hyper-drive. All we could see from the ship was the clouds of gas moving around the planet just like the grey clouds move on Earth. In difference from the clouds on Earth, these gas clouds moved in irregular circles and had not just grey, but also different colours.

The spacecraft slowly penetrated the thick layer of gas clouds that seem to be endless. Eventually, the layer of gas ended just a small distance from above the ground. A dark-grey, stony, depressing-looking flat surface was revealed before my eyes. A feeble light, generated mostly by several small explosions within the gas clouds and the manmade lights, could only manage to reveal the dark shapes of the nearby surroundings.  

Unlike on the Moon and on Mars where there were many cities, in Jupiter there were only two small cities built. One of the cities was being used for scientific and geological research only. Although the city where we stayed had the lights on at all times due to permanent near-darkness, everything looked grim and scary, especially with the huge masses of gas moving slowly above our heads. Besides the thrill of being able to travel so far in our solar system, the rest seemed dreary and miserable to me.

Luna and I, after walking for hours around the city, decided to spend some time in our guest space in the hotel for the next few hours. I have to admit, with the carnal pleasure, the room service and a few hours’ sleep before going partying, I completely forgot being in a depressing planet. I guess, even if I lived in the most horrible and depressing place in the universe, I still would have been happy, as long as I was with Luna by my side. One look at her eyes and I would forget everything else existed.

Unawareness of the exact time and day was an interesting experience in space. Being so far from Earth and with everything going on around me, there were times when I would completely lose the notion of time and wasn’t able to guess what day and what time it was. It was a good thing we kept an Earthly timekeeping app on our Link devices. We ate, we drank, we partied and when we felt tired we slept regardless if it was day time or night time on Earth.

After a nice meal and making love in the gravity-free steamer room, Luna fell asleep. Unlike Luna, I just couldn’t keep my eyes closed. You know when sometimes you get alone with your thoughts and start valuating your life? I was having one of those moments when the disbelief that I was actually on a faraway planet hit me. I decided to switch on the live projection of the Jupiter sky on the ceiling and started to observe the giant gas masses moving slowly against the outside surface of the protection shield, as they formed small whirls on the way.

As I fixed my eyes on the projection, I noticed this peculiar visual effect with the moving gas clouds. The whole mass rotated as one solid cloud in one direction and it looked as if this movement was helping the planet to circle around itself in the opposite direction. It was hard for me to tell if it was the planet rotating fast, or just the gas clouds. I was hard to distinct reality from an optical illusion.

Just as the clouds on earth do, the mass of moving gas drifted a fair distance from the surface of the planet and created a kind of shield from the intense space radiation. This phenomenon had made it possible for humanity and the interplanetary species to build a city on the surface of Jupiter. It was impossible to see the Sun from the surface of Jupiter and perhaps, this was the reason why the ground looked frozen when seen from inside the protection shield. The city was built on a giant manmade platform, just like the ones used for the air cities on Earth. The platform itself was fixed safely on the surface of the planet. I had no idea why the city had to be built on a platform instead of solid ground. Perhaps the ground wasn’t as solid as one would expect and I chose to ignore this fact rather than ask.

On the second day, just over thirty six hours after our arrival in this grim planet, we made a planned trip to Europa, one of the Jupiter’s moons. For me this trip was an eye-opener because it had a very colourful body compare to Jupiter itself. Its surface had blue and white patches of gas and there were also some smaller streams of red and yellow gasses circulating around. The view from the spacecraft of a moon the size of a planet and a gigantic Jupiter on the other side is an unforgettable visual experience. Although I had been travelling for over a week in space, my mind still found it hard to believe the reality before my eyes and, as much as I wanted to give more attention to Luna, I just couldn’t. Most of the time, I was too distracted by the surreal sights around me.

The spaceship orbited Europa for approximately three Earthly hours before it returned to base. After the trip, we went for a long walk around a very quiet city before stopping at an eatery for a meal. With the meal over, our time in Jupiter had come to an end. In a few hours we were going to fly to our last destination, Saturn and I couldn’t wait to get away from a planet that tried to turn my mood as dark as it was on the surface.

The spaceship slowed its speed as it approached Saturn and a spectacular view of its rings filled with space debris appeared in front of our eyes. The sun looked smaller and its light weak, just like the dusk light on Earth, but it was enough to create wonderful shades on the planet’s surface. We were going to stay there for the next four Earthly days before we travelled back home. I have to say, as much as I cherished the experience of space travel, I couldn’t wait to land my feet back on Earth.

During my time in space, I developed feelings of anxiety for being so far away from my home planet, where the only hope of returning safely was travelling by a spaceship that I couldn’t fully understand how it worked. It felt as if I was never safe and at any moment something bad was going to happen and my body was going to float forever in space, frozen and lost.

Unlike on the Jupiter, where darkness reigned all the time, in Saturn there was at least some light despite the city was built on a giant meteor crater. For the next two days we were going to fly around the many moons of the planet, some of which were visible in the Saturn sky together with a fraction of the ring on the horizon. My mood had changed and I felt a lot more upbeat than I had been feeling while staying in Jupiter, thanks to seeing the light of the sun again and the fact that this was our final stop before returning home.

Just as on Jupiter, there were a few people around the only inhabited city in Saturn. Luna and I enjoyed a quiet stroll before sitting on the natural pale-looking grass in a small park near the city centre. City lights mixed with the feeble candle light of the sun and the blue colour of the protection shield gave the surroundings a very nice mellow aura and we felt the romance in the air as we passionately shared a kiss.

I rolled my eyes up to the sky with a satisfying look, but that look didn’t last long, as it turned quickly into a horrified one. I saw a large rock nearly the size of a double decker bus heading towards the city’s protective shield. In panic, I turned towards Luna who, with a smile on her face, assured me that the shield was capable of protecting us from meteors.

The meteor made contact with the shield and suddenly, the city lights flickered scarily due to the powerful vibration which shook the whole place. For a moment I thought the protection shield was going to fail any second turning us all to dust. A part of the meteor that touched the shield turned to hot lava and the rest of it bounced off the shield away from the city. That was the only time when I experienced the real power of the shield and it amazed me how it was possible that something so fragile-looking could be so powerful.

Luna saw the fear in my face and couldn’t stop laughing. My horrified reaction towards this incident was beyond her understanding and this is why she was finding my fears amusing. I wasn’t born in the 26
th
century and of course, any incident as such, would cause fear in me. Luna had thorough knowledge of how the shield functioned and she was sure there was no danger. This is why she managed to remain calm. She explained to me how lucky we have been to witness such a rare event, especially on this planet since most of the asteroids had more chance to join the rings of debris rather than raining on the planet surface. Her explanation made sense of the excitement I saw on the faces of people around. Now I understand the luck I had in seeing the meteor crashing on the shield. At the time, I was too afraid to realise the rarity of the event.

After the scary experience with the meteor, I felt the need for a drink and some comfort food and Luna happily agreed and followed me. We spent the rest of the day in a bar booth drinking and eating tapas-like food until we reached our alcohol limit and we were forbidden to buy another drink. I had insisted to display an earthly view of Laguna City in the drinking booth. I have to admit, as strange as it may sound, I had never felt so happy to see the city where I lived. Being in that drinking booth felt like being at home. At least for a few hours the view created the impression we were back on Earth.

Since I am talking about food and drink, I have to explain that in every stellar body we travelled, ninety per cent of food and drinks were produced there thanks to artificial farming, and the main soft and the alcohol drink companies who had opened small local branches. The entire farming was set up underground with the help of artificial light which was unlimited thanks to the zero-point energy technology. As for the drinks industry, water was created artificially in laboratories thanks to an interplanetary technology owned solely by the main AI government.