“Why?” I asked.
“By the year 2030, the polar ice will break up much more quickly, leading to the rapid rising of the oceans. It has already started doing that. As you know, we have already lost a lot of islands and land. Your dad has visited many of those places. According to most historians, Earth started to fail when the Industrial and later the Technology Age boomed. Siegfried Marcus built the first gasoline-powered combustion engine in 1870. Soon after the automobile was invented, we made too many chemical products including gasoline for automobiles and did not provide protection for the environment. The impact on the environment totally destroyed the ozone layer, which helped to prevent the sun’s rays from leading to terrible skin cancers. It also led to global warming. Temperatures soared to 120 degrees in such cities as Houston and Miami; Death Valley reached 220 degrees. All of this global warming led to the development of more powerful air conditioners run via nuclear reactors.
“In the late 1900s and early 2000s, many leaders including Al Gore brought attention to the environment, but many politicians, especially the Republicans, ignored the warnings until it was too late. Actually, it was during the 1960s that scientists started to really notice the difference in global warming. People lobbied Congress to no avail until they realized it was futile to do any more convincing. Your dad spent years putting together four teams located in four mountain locations around the world. Mountains were chosen to avoid flooding and rising temperatures. I was part of a top-secret worldwide engineering team that developed the four spaceships. All four teams plan to launch on the same day. These spaceships are virtually indestructible and made of the finest materials. So, do you have any questions now?”
We approached the spaceship. “Wow,” was all Jose and I could say. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen. I had no idea how many people had worked to create it.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Bob asked.
We entered the spaceship by walking up a huge ramp.
As we started walking on the Imagine, Bob noted, “In the past, spacecrafts were built primarily from titanium, vanadium and carbon steel. The ship can withstand extreme temperatures and speed without structural failure. The ship weighs 255,000 pounds right now. There are 1,800 rooms on the ship of which many are sleeping quarters. Sleeping quarters are designed to allow families to live in small apartments. Those that are single may either have their own room or share a room depending on their rank. We have tried to think of everything possible to make the traveling enjoyable. We have many laboratories, storage areas, and training facilities. We also have places for recreation. It will be your job to familiarize yourself with every room on this spacecraft.”
I was dumbfounded. I asked, “How long do you think it will take me to learn about every room? I cannot imagine knowing where 1,800 rooms are located.”
“Probably about 200 years,” Bob replied.
Jose and I were not sure he was telling a joke or if he was serious. “Well, for starters, how many people will be on the Imagine?” I asked.
“Each spaceship can hold up to a thousand people. This includes the crew. Everyone will have duties to perform. This means that each person will either have or learn specific skills as needed. If you are not an officer or have an essential job on board, you will be assigned to various duties such as cleaning the ship.”
“Will all of our classmates be assigned specific duties on the ship?” Jose asked.
“Yes. But I understand that one of your friends, Janet Romano, and her father, Grissom, will not be coming with us. However, you may not all be awake at the same time, as some of us will be sleeping in stasis for long periods.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“In order to lengthen our lives, we hope to put people in stasis for short periods of time. This could range from three months to a year at a time.”
Jose asked, “Will Sam and I be working together all the time?”
Bob said, “Yes. Most likely you will be together, as you are both training to be officers. There will be times you may both be on the bridge. Other times Sam may be on duty, and Jose could be asleep or in cryopreservation.”
“Yes. My dad explained about cryopreservation,” I said. “Will you be showing us where this happens?”
“Yes, you will see the cryo unit and many other places on the ship. You may be most interested in the bridge, as that is where you will be training to work with your dad. It is the command center and can control anything that happens on board.”
An unbelievable feeling came over me. How could I possibly be responsible for the lives of a thousand people on a spaceship? I could not even drive a car yet. Or fly a plane. There was going to be so much to learn.
Bob seemed to sense my feelings.
“Don’t worry, Sam, you will be fine. It will be many years before you become a full captain of this vessel, and you will have many others to train and assist you. Both of you must be hungry or thirsty. Why don’t we start with something enjoyable like the cafeteria? Follow me.”
Chapter 26 – Does it Actually Taste like Chicken?
Sam Burns, Rocky Mountains, CO
Jose and I arrived at the cafeteria. The chefs greeted us. Luis and his assistant Carla Benito were the chefs on the ship. They both wore typical chef uniforms.
“Nice to meet you, Sam and Jose. Sam, your dad actually saved my life by not letting me be deported. He is a great man,” Luis said.
Luis explained that since we would not be able to go food shopping like we did on Earth, we would eventually run out of food unless we could genetically engineer food from plants and animals. What is great about this is we can make food samples with the DNA from other plants and animals.
“We can also alter those genes so food will grow faster and taste differently. This will provide us with more nutritious food and food that will hopefully taste better. We have a full stock room of DNA samples of plants and animals that we can use to experiment with and make enough food for the entire ship. We also have a nutritionist who will help to ensure that we all eat healthy meals most of the time. Would you like to try a genetically engineered chicken sandwich or hamburger?”
“Sure,” I said, not knowing what to expect. “I think I will have the chicken sandwich.”
Jose said, “I’ll try the burger.”
A few minutes later Carla brought both sandwiches and some bottled water to our table. Carla said, “Please let me know how it tastes. We take feedback on everything so we can improve the taste and quality of our food.”
I took a small bite. The sandwich actually tasted precisely as a chicken sandwich should taste. In fact, it was probably better than any chicken sandwich my mom had made.
Jose also liked his hamburger. “Delicious,” he said.