“Broken limbs, vision loss, sheared skin, gastric stomach, brain concussion breathlessness, insomnia and a bad taste in the mouth- I think you are well versed with the difficulties which you might be facing in this God-Forsaken mission?”
“I am, sir.”
“So the Transplanetary Transport takes no responsibility whatsoever regarding your DNA’s future in case you are rendered dead by space.”
“I understand, sir. By the way I have a 5 year old son.”
Clarke looked straight in his eyes, “Situations that bad at home, son?”
He chose to remain silent.
“I only mean to ask you why you would like to go on a suicide mission.”
“Sir, I have to educate my son.”
“You can always go to Mars Mining, why this?”
He took a little time to answer that, “I don’t want my son to grow up on earth or on Mars.”
“No one does,” Clarke sighed. “Well son, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you. You will have to sign following documents.”
He slid forward the ipad.
The man gaped at him, “I don’t know how to type, sir.”
Clarke misunderstood his sentence, “You just have to press…….”
It took him a moment before it dawned that the young fellow cannot write.
He took back the pad and changed its settings. “Here, just press your left thumb in that red square.”
He looked at the fellow as he pressed the thumb. “You are a strange fellow.”
“Huh, sir?”
“Instead of shouting hoarse near the nearest government building, you choose to come straight up here and recruit yourself for a mission with no chance at all, does your wife agree with what you propose to do?”
“She died, sir.”
“I am sorry son.”
The man looked up. His eyes welled up, grief stricken and filled with rancor and for a moment Clarke thought the man would loose control. But he controlled himself.
“It isn’t your fault. Out of all the dangers infesting earth presently, she died of Asbestosis,” the man said, mocking tragically.
“So whom would you be leaving your son behind?” Clarke said hastily, wanting to divert the matter.
The man nodded, coming out of his reverie, “Sir, he would be placed in boarding school on the Moon, and I think by the services that I render to your company you would pay his tuition fees regularly?”
“Son, we are bound by that document. Not only would we be paying his school fees, we would also be oath bound to see to his college education. Don’t worry son, he will get the best education.”
He smiled. “So when do we start the training, sir?”
“Son, stay with your kid for a month. Then he will be thrust off to his school while you would report to L-5 for your training. You won’t be able to meet anyone then. You would be cut of from your son. This mission is absolute top secret. After that you would be launched.”
“Thank you sir,” He stood up.
Clarke smiled wryly, “I am sending you to your death and you are thanking me?”
“Sir, people have different perspectives looking at a thing. For me, you are a life-saver.”
Saying this he turned towards the door.
“Son?”
“Yes sir?”
“It was nice meeting you.”
*****************
Harsh glare of the reflected sunlight hit him into his eyes. His hands were sore, the anti-bite layer almost peeled off.
Besides him, on relatively softer upholstery, his son was asleep. In his left hand was a model of lion. He smiled nostalgically. The last of them died some years ago.
But it was indeed a harsh decision to make. The alternative was to leave the humans behind, and that they could not allow. So they had let the ice age suck everything up.
The entire human civilization laid crush beneath the giga tonnes of ice that had flattened everywhere. Skyscrapers, Bridges, Monuments, Industries- everything was stymied.
Humans had to make one last stand…….
The shoveller vibrated uneasily beneath him. Suddenly his mind panicked.
He tried to count back from 100. Please, don’t let it be water, please.
They were deep down in the ice. If they hit water at this point, they would be stuck, with all that ice above- they would be buried alive. The shoveller’s life support would last only 24 hours. And if they set charge, they would be crushed from the shock wave and falling ice. He frantically sent out microwaves in all direction.
The detector immediately responded. He sighed with relief. There was non-budging ice everywhere- one which did not allow the waves to penetrate but were reflected immediately.
His was indeed a risky business. But a job is a job. He was not doing this for a human race hungry for real estate- he was doing this for his son. He gazed fondly at his sleeping beauty- he did remind him of his mother- that sharp nose and red lips…
He might be blamed by his neighbors for reckless fondness for his son- so much so as to bring him along a profession that was fraught with risks. But he knew that if he were to die here alone, his son would surely die of neglect. Worse still he would be banished out into the cold. Earth at this point of time didn’t have many resources to spare.
The red light on the console beeped. This was his cue. He slid one of the charges down what his son liked to call-‘a worm hole’- the injector picked it up. He started the motor. With mechanical proficiency the injector drilled itself into thick ice digging deep before he unlatched the hatch that supported the explosive at the tip of the injector.
When he had ensured that the charge had hit the snug little spot and was operating as it was supposed to, he pulled the reverse gear and sped out the tunnel swiftly. He hoped that the tunnel hadn’t closed up- because it would indeed slow him down, if not stop him.
Fortunately, all his stars were in auspicious positions in space and he had almost a clear path expect for a chunk of ice which he had a little bit difficulty to crush, but he emerged from the tunnel soundly and was now racing down towards the rocky patch- because on ice, even the vibrations could kill him.
Still he knew he had ample amount of time to return back to safety.
“YES, I WILL DO IT. GIVE ME THE BALL.”
He smiled. His son was speaking again in his sleep. He tuned the Radio Everest on.
“….power blackout once again in the eighth level, section west. The residents were angry and they marched a protest at the Government Square- outside the Presidential Building in the lowermost echelon of Everest. The President in his evening address apologized for the black out and ensured that with increased supply of H2 on moon, we would now be facing much less black outs than before. So on this light note we would not be listening to one of the real oldies- this one is Numb by LinkinPark, for you Ladies and Gentlemen…..”
He loved that song- he could not explicitly tell why that was so, maybe because it was the Pre-Ice Age Song.
The ride back home was uneventful. Though there were many ice-bergs like mountain tops protruding the ice-plain, he proficiently managed to maneuver around them. Had it not been for practice, he would have been befuddled to find a way back home, because among these bergs- one of them was the Everest. Chunks of ice had covered the original rocky core and so all the mountain peaks in this area resembled each other, someone were even higher that the Everest, for some part of the year, of course!! And people of other mountains didn’t appreciate foreigners.
He saw the ice way. It was just a well maintained ice cave and one of the few well maintained entrances to the most densely populated mountain on Earth. As soon as he entered, a stream of undetected lasers hit the truck; he had to of course pull over to let the border patrol officers ascertain that this was not the infiltrator. Every mountain was like a fortress, with fewer entries and exit points, self-sufficient and well armed against any oncoming neighboring mountain military blitzkrieg. He saw the green light beam ahead in the well-lighted tunnel- this was his signal to move forward.
Soon he was revving his way inside the tunnel- it was a long ride, some 50 kilometers to the nearest military outpost. Though the mountain had a well specified height (8848 kilometers), millions of kilometers of pathways have been carved inside joining thousands of cities and scores of underground heavens. Still these pathways were road less traveled as most of the population didn’t feel the need to move out of the relative comfort of the mountain.
“I am hungry dad.”
He hadn’t noticed his son waking up. There he was, his hairs disheveled- rubbing his eyes and his mouth open in a wide yawn.
“Good Morning dear, my stomach is rumbling too. Why don’t you prepare Maggi noodles for two of the sturdiest gentlemen on planet Earth?”
“I am tired of eating 2 minute noodles every time. I want to eat some real food,” he said, his face pouted.
“Of course, we will have Biryani and Potato-stuffed chapattis with butter on them and the sweetest thick shakes which Sector 78 has to offer. We have just over 600 miles to go.”
“WE ARE GOING TO SECTOR 78?” The boy was visibly excited, “HURRAY.”
“Yup, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. We are going to have some serious fun.”
The boy became silent. “Would that Joyride in Sector 78- the last we have together?”
He bit his lip. “I told you not to think about that, son. You gave me an Ice Rumbler’s promise.”
“Dad, I am happy here. It’s so nice- I really find these ice-trips exciting. When you become old, I would drive this truck while you would talk weather sitting here on this squishy chair.”
He laughed a throaty laugh. “You don’t want to take this monster for a ride, do you?”
“Yes Dad, I do. It would be fun to watch ice go BOOM. I won’t even mind eating 2-minute noodles all day long. After all, we would be doing noble task to safeguard the interest of the people of Everest, expanding its territory deep into the continent.”
“Ha. Ha. Where did you learn to speak like that?”
“That was what Mr. Dutta told be about the job you are doing.”
“That’s a nice thing for him to say. But don’t you wish to go on the low-gravity moon, where it NEVER SNOWS. You get to see the Black Sky everyday. Didn’t you tell me, you wished to learn Moon Walk?”
“That was when you promised me you would come along. What am I to do there all alone? Besides Moon makes the softies out of you, I want to be a rough, strong and muscular man just like you.”
“Didn’t you say you like the spacemen? Your Dad is going to be the greatest spaceman of all times, you surely don’t wish that your dad should miss this once in a lifetime opportunity, do you?”
“Then take me with you. Who will cook Maggi for you, out in space? Who will check the indicators for you? Your eye is getting bad. I would be a great help to you Dad, take me along,” the kid said adamantly.
He was speechless. He could not argue with his child further, he was overcome with emotions. He did not like to think about the mission, but here he was- thinking.
Though he had assured Arthur Clarke, that he was mentally prepared to take the plunge- he could not hide his fear.
Son, you can’t tag along. This is a one way trip son, one way, there ain’t no coming back!
to be continued…….
Alienman 