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Proxima B
Pulvirenti Giorgio
One day not too far from now there will be too many people on this planet. When that day comes, what will we do? Jerry, Michael, Emily, Amelia, Abigail and David receive their answer in the form of a letter. Proxima B is waiting for them and is going to expose their differences and their fears, which will let them make unexpected choices. Sometimes, a more obvious answer is not more predictable. Co-authored science fiction novel about a space mission that leads a group of colonists to land on Proxima b, which is an exoplanet in the habitable zone of the red dwarf called Proxima Centauri and whose distance from the sun is 4.24 light years. The year is 2099. Due to world's pollution, the excessive number of inhabitants, the subsequent lack of resources and other reasons, Earth is no longer fit to live in. The only hope is to try to reach what appears to be a ”second possibility”, Proxima b, indeed. This is why New Nasa Corporated is planning a mission called ”For everyone's sake!” that imposes the recruitment of several practitioners in their own field, including biologists, doctors, chemists, engineers and soldiers. These include Jerry, Michael, Emily, Amelia, Abigail and David, in addition to Matthew Ross, who is the captain of one of the three mother ships (the MATERs) that after the ”new colonizers” have been trained leave Earth and manage to reach the new planet through a wormhole. But during space travel something does not go as planned. Terrestrial beings find something different from what they expected on Proxima…
PROXIMA B
Giorgio Pulvirenti
Marco Negrone
Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.
Pictures: Bruno Francesco, Rao Martina
Translator: Federico Favaro
Index
Chapter 1 – For the benefit of all! (#ulink_36985980-400a-5f4b-89b6-1b8a2760e39f)
Chapter 2 – A new hope (#ulink_4d0e8bf1-af79-5ec6-8cca-758070bab1e0)
Chapter 3 – The training (#ulink_4d092295-4899-594c-bf24-114701bd74a6)
Chapter 4 – Last days on Earth (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 5 – The upcoming tomorrow (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 – Changes (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 – Fresh air (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 – Still alive (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 – Still waters (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 – Kin Tooh (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 – The hostage (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 – Misunderstandings (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 – Kiiya it? (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 – Dekee (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 – Cameter’ii (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 – Animal fury (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 – Future (#litres_trial_promo)
Proxima B. Around 12:00 AM.
Nothing seemed different from any other day. No cloud was in the rosy sky, no noise broke the silence of a cane thicket whose tops shifted softly as a feeble wind flew in. There a man went forth. He was about thirty and was wearing a gray uniform with some blue details and a crest on his epaulettes had a writing, ”New NASA Corporate”. He was holding an arm in his hands; it was an assault rifle. The farther he went into the thick vegetation, the darker and the more absorbed his expression grew. It looked like it was waiting for something dangerous and unknown that would grip him. His steps slowed down. Suddenly they stopped. Silence was all around them. The forest seemed to stop, too. Suddenly the man began to raise his rifle very slowly, as if he were about to aim. He looked impassive and so absorbed. He slid his finger over the trigger. He was about to shoot, but something moved very quickly. It emitted a tremendous cry, an incredible roar; it lay in wait behind him and was ready to attack him...
Chapter 1 – For the benefit of all!
Missoula, Montana.
S
ome workers were busily carrying out their job. They were scrupulously coordinated within an area where another 14-story building that was situated in the new zone of Missoula began to take shape. Peculiar cranes with long automatic jibs were tracking the contour of the building under the management of authorized personnel wearing hard hats and uniforms of “Garcia Enterprise” – that is the name of the society where the workers were employed – and supervising everything from below by means of some computers. Other workers were in the establishment and were arranging some tubes or other materials that apparently were not so heavy. Another expansion of the residential areas of the city of the U.S. state of Montana had already started some years earlier and urban territories needed more space that rural areas, which had almost completely disappeared, were obliged to cede. It was about 10 o’ clock in the morning and that same old Friday Philippe the foreman looked away from his workers for a while. He had to answer the phone. After a few seconds, the conversation was over. He had just confirmed that the work was going on and there were no glitches.
About half an hour later, those who were there were attracted by a black sedan that was about to cross the threshold of the workplace. Philippe, who was there, too, came up to the car. He was ready to greet the person who was about to get out.
“Good morning, Mr. Garcia!” Philippe said. He presumably greeted his supervisor that answered with a hint of a smile, “Dear Philippe, a plan every eight hours. Finally, we shall go back to the schedule… Excellent!”
David Garcia, a respectable man in his forties, was a successful businessman as well as one of the most valued civil engineers from Montana. And much more. After graduating from Billings University, he came back to Missoula some year ago to keep on increasing his business; he aimed mainly at the tender to erect buildings for dwellings that have a low environmental impact. You could think it was a paradox, but the fact is that David did not really like living in the city; he did not even like the life in the city. That is why he had arranged to keep on living in his grandparents’ house in the countryside just outside of Missoula. That house had always been a basic element in David’s life. He loved to stay right there when he was free from any meeting or business travel to enjoy that peaceful and silent place together with his son Leo and his wife Gaia. David considered himself to be a lucky man, since his job had allowed him to manage that corner of paradise where he preserved most of his childhood memories with his parents, his two brothers and his grandparents. David acknowledged the important values of life thanks to them, who taught him to take care of any animal or vegetal living form. David himself had struggled against deforestation in his land, but he could not do so much as a single citizen. That is why he arranged to study engineering; he aimed to be one of those who erected buildings, but, at the same time, he would never omit to fulfill the principles that his family had transmitted to him; he would respect the environment as much as possible. This philosophy was what he wanted his son Leo to absorb, but Leo was a child who was born in a modern and innovative era where what was “essential” for life was surely something different from cultivation and breeding. David moved forward along the perimeter delimited by his plantation. What he had always struggled for was about to come to life one more time.
“Sir, there are four stories left. We think they will be ready within Monday.”
Philippe was one of the most important members of “Garcia Enterprise”; David trusted him blindly and it was to him that he entrusted the management of the work that he considered important, just like the current work in the west side of the city.
“Excellent! I can tell our buyers that we’re going to have it ready in time,” David said. He was satisfied. He got nearer and nearer the building under construction.
“Let me know when the structure is ready so that I can inspect it,” the engineer told Philippe one more time, and Philippe made a signal in reply.
The two men said their goodbyes. One more time, David got into the same car by which he had got there.
David was inside a car that was traveling along a road in the countryside. There were several houses all around. They looked like ranches. They were completely different from the buildings in the city center of Missoula. When David could enjoy that rural panorama that he loved unopposedly, he did it, as if he were attached to those trees and those typical wheat fields. Past the first five dwellings, the car was about to cross the railings at the entrance. It delimited a path that led to David’s house.
The car stopped right in front of the front door and the engineer said goodbye to his autopilot.
“Thank you, Albert. See you next Monday. Have a nice weekend.”
An automated male voice came out of the car speaker, and when the owner of the car came out of it, it started to travel along the path in the opposite direction.
After a few seconds of nearly contemplation, David went up the few stairs to the front door of his house when suddenly he noticed a tennis ball rolling on the floor. A few instants before he had been right there. Suddenly a nice German shepherd that did not hesitate to bring the ball back; when it noticed that its owner was there, it began to bark with joy.
“Roth! Come here!” David uttered after leaning his overnight case on the floor and opening his arms to welcome his faithful friend. At the same moment, David noticed his son Leo appearing from the back.
“Daddy!” the boy screamed with joy as if he had not seen him for a long time. Leo began to run towards his father that moved away the dog for a while so that he could hug his son that cried out, “Finally you’ve come back! Till Monday we’ll be together!“
“Of course, my son!” his father answered serenely. Then he continued by asking, “Is your mother in?”
“Yes, she is in! She’s doing laundry!”
“Okay, let’s go inside, then,” the man finished. The two went in.
Gaia and David met when they were both about twenty-two years old during a mutual friend’s birthday party. They immediately got on well from the first moment they had met. They would never split up. The decision to have one baby only originated from an ancient tradition in David’s family and his wife finally accepted after some afterthoughts; she loved her husband and it was rationality that let her come to this decision.
The family was finally sitting at the country-styled kitchen table. They were all ready to taste a savory pie that Gaia’s hands had prepared with love after reciting a prayer to thank God for their food. When this ceremony was over, the three people began to eat.
“By the end of the month, you will succeed in delivering the building, won’t you?” his wife asked him. David did not hesitate and answered, “We will, darling. Philippe has assured me the plans of the flat are ready next Monday. So we should succeed in delivering the building in time.”
The woman did not say anything else.
“And what about you, little man? Have you cleaned the rabbit cages as you promised,” David asked the boy, who answered, “Of course, dad! When lunchtime is over, I’ll let you see what I’ve done!“
David showed Leo his approval and Leo kept on eating and smiled.
By the time the family had lunch, Leo was already standing; he was waiting with impatience for his father to see the result of the work that he himself had asked him to do. “Come on, Dad! I’m sure you’ll be satisfied!”
Leo could not wait any longer. David was about to stand up when suddenly Gaia stopped them before they could go out.
“David, I’ve received a letter for you this morning. I have leaned it on the piece of furniture at the doorway.”
“It’s the same old letter from IRS,” her husband said finally. He looked almost disappointed.
Leo had already gone out while David stood in front of the piece of furniture that his wife mentioned, the one upon which there was an envelope with two seals that caught his attention. The man grabbed it and began to look at it more carefully. He realized that it was not addressed the person that he had imagined. On the upper right side of the envelope there was the New NASA Corporate logo with its address; on the lower side there was a phrase, “For David Garcia. For the benefit of all!” At that point, David was devoured by curiosity as to the content of that envelope, when his son’s voice interrupted him once again, saying, “Dad! Are you coming, or what?”
David kept on staring at the envelope and tried to get rid of his son quickly.
“Go ahead, son! I’ll come in a minute…”
Leo did not add anything and went ahead, but his expression was unhappy due to what he was just told. Then David opened the envelope and its content was finally revealed. It was an official invitation from the U.S. government and New NASA Corporate to appear before the seat of Washington.
New York.
A man had just left a pub after an entire evening drinking whiskey and scotch. Former American Army corporal Michael Stateman was an excellent pilot on leave in his fifties, his hair was graying and his athletic silhouette was the result of a lot of time spent at the gym; when he was at home alone, he did not hesitate to drink and dwell on his wedding, which broke up due to his impetuous character. His long, dark coat and his typical hat used to protect him from the cold nights (night had come already) while he was going back home. The streetlights were lighting the sidewalk where the ex-corporal was walking. Suddenly he was stopped by an elegant man wearing a gray suit and a black coat who appeared behind a corner.
“Gentlemen!” the mysterious guy said firmly. Michael turned round suddenly when he noticed that he was there, but he did not say anything.
“Michael Stateman, right?”
Michael just nodded. After asking for confirmation about his identity, the man wearing the gray suit delivered him a sealed envelope with two seals: a seal of New NASA Corporate and a seal of the American government.
“This is yours,” he told him and after friendly greetings he got on his black sedan – he sat down in the backseat – and he disappeared just like he had come. Michael was puzzled and at the same time curious to know what that envelope contained. After a few seconds of consideration, he put it through the pocket of his coat and went his way back home.
Once Michael returned to his flat, which was dingy and messy, to say the least, he took his hat and his coat off and threw the door keys in a bowl on a small piece of furniture. That evening he looked more thoughtful than usual, which made him even more eager to drink some whiskey. He recalled the envelope that he was given by the mysterious man wearing the dark suit shortly before and walked towards the coat to grab it. Once he had it in his hands, he looked at it more carefully than he did when he was outside the pub and decided to open it. He pulled the sheet out of the envelope and began to read. He realized that it contained an invitation to appear in Washington or, more precisely, before the seat of New NASA Corporate, but he did not know why. But he was struck by a writing at the bottom of the sheet: For Michael Stateman, for the benefit of all! When Michael took the sheet and put it on the table near the cigarettes and the half-empty glass of whiskey, he noticed that the envelope contained some flight tickets. Departure date: in three days. He, who was perplexed and contemptuous, put everything back in the envelope and let it fall to the floor. Then he lay down on the sofa and tried to sleep. He looked at the ceiling that appeared to be moving to the left and to the right. But he realized that it was the result of one too many glasses of whiskey, or maybe more, and his mind was immediately filled with memories and fragments of a happy past that had abandoned him a long time ago. The memories of his walks by the lake, hand in hand with his wife, filled his head as if a film in black and white were being played out for him. She, who was a gorgeous brown-eyed woman with honey-hued hair, looked at him and smiled as if that moment had to last forever. The air and his lungs were filled with her scent that was like flowers in the desert; he got completely lost in her gaze. Excess alcohol got gradually in his system and Michael gradually closed his eyes; the images in his mind faded gradually and were finally replaced by a deep dark and a regretful heart.
Michael’s night had passed in the blink of an eye. Morning came.
“What time is it?” he wondered. He was stunned by alcohol.
“Fuck! It’s too late!” he said. He stood up in a hurry and tried to get back to his feet. That same morning he would have a job interview. He did not even have time for a shower. But he could not miss his coffee. He poured a little in a cup from the coffee maker in the kitchen and drank it like it was water. Finally, he was ready.
He got to the meeting point, which was the hall of a five-star hotel on Avenue 147, in New York, half an hour later than arranged. The former corporal met Mr. Gale, who was a rich businessman that wanted him to be the pilot of one of his own drones.
“Hello,” Michael started by saying awkwardly; he almost stuttered when he saw the man sitting on a very comfortable and elegant eco-leather armchair in front of him.
“Sorry for coming late. The traffic is terrible in Manhattan,” he added to try to explain. The rich man looked at him for a few seconds, and then he pontificated, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stateman, I won’t stand it. What I stand least is your delay! Without a doubt! How have I become what I am, eh? Being late? This could have been a great opportunity.” Then he cried out, “Goodbye!” he stood up with his co-workers and went away. Finally, Michael was there alone. He was furious with himself.
San Diego, California.
“Open no. 2!”
The woman’s voice who uttered these words resounded through the 60-square meter hall; it was almost muffled by the mask that covered her mouth. Five neon lights were attached to the ceiling, a floor lamp with seven lamps lit a body’s patient who was lying on a table, a row of monitors surrounded the smooth walls around the place, a special machine with mechanic arms moved on the body that was lying on the table directed by a team of surgeons standing at one end of the room, inside a sort of gazebo, behind a desk, they were all busy steering little levers on a keyboard. The place was one of the San Diego Health Sulpizio Cardiovascular center operating theaters, and the hospital was one of the most modern hospitals of the whole California. Doctor Amelia Fisher, who was the chief surgeon of the center, with her team, was carrying out one more robotic heart surgical operation that day.
“Keep on widening. Jenny, keep on widening.”
Jenny Andrew, Amelia’s vice, began to turn some casters in the keyboard in front of her, and some arms of the machine started to move. Amelia was regarded as one of the best surgeons in the State even if she was thirty-eight. She graduated from the USCF School of Medicine of San Francisco with full marks and had always wanted to be a doctor, specifically a heart surgeon, since she was a little more than a girl. His career path was marked by several difficulties, such as her parents’ premature death and the fact she was an only child. However, thanks to the fondness of her friends and her colleagues and her great determination, Amelia had attained her objectives.
“Very good. We can say that’s enough.”
This sentence was uttered every time a surgery went well, like this time. Amelia took off her mask and left the rest of the team work in front of their computers.
“I’m done for today. See you outside,” the doctor said. Then she left the room.
After leaving the operating theater, the woman got ready for communicating the outcome of the operation to the patient’s relatives.
“So, how was it?” the woman’s mother asked the doctor. She was scared and full of anxiety. Amelia leaned a hand on the lady’s shoulder to reassure her.
“Do not worry, your daughter is fine. The operation has been successful.”
After these words, the woman burst out an almost liberating sob, which was the result of the anxiety she had accumulated during the time of operation; she did not give up thanking the doctor; she wanted to hold her tight somehow. Amelia was accustomed to such scenes, but their effect on her was always good and they made her feel good. After all, these situations had contributed to her being a heart surgeon.
“I’ve only done what I had to do. You only have to stay by her side now. And everything will be okay.”
Amelia’s words were always sweet when she talked with the patients’ relatives that she operated, since she knew very well what the loss of someone that is loved meant. After the last goodbye to the woman, Amelia left the room. She was walking through the long corridor to her ward.
“So? How was it?” Thomas asked, stopping her. He was one of his colleagues as well as one of her dearest friends.
“It was more complicated than expected, but in the end we succeeded,” the woman answered. She looked tired but she was satisfied with the results.
“Excellent! You’re coming to Manuel’s party tonight, aren’t you?” the man in a white jacket kept on saying.
“Well… actually, I’m a bit tired. I’d rather stay at home…”
A strange expression entered Thomas’ features. Amelia captured it very soon.
“Listen. I really don’t feel like it. It’s been a rough few days for me. Tell him I’m sorry,” Amelia tried to explain herself.
“Okay. But just know that he will take offense,” Thomas said finally. He had been walking once again. He was walking in the opposite direction to his colleague. So, they went their way.
Once Amelia entered her room, she took off her white coat and arranged it into a locker on her right. After checking her mailbox, she took some sheets and secured them in a folder. She switched the computer on her writing desk off; she took her jacket and her bag from the coat rack and got ready for leaving her room.
She walked through the hallway, took the lift and finally ended up on the ground floor where, after a quick greeting to two receptionists, got ready to pass a special card through the sensor of a picket-shaped metal device just in front of the main exit in the building. Another workday had just passed.
