Pulvirenti Giorgio - Proxima B

“LISA? Who is LISA?” the founder asked him. His curiosity was to its maximum extent.

“ I am the artificial intelligence that is helping the members of the expedition throughout the mission. I am collaborating with them in order to let their travel be less stressful and more comfortable. I was named after my programmer Lisa Fletcher, who died prematurely last year. General Stone, it will be a pleasure to serve under your command! ” the onboard female voice said, leaving all the men astonished, including Arthur.

“As I said, gentlemen, the cream of the crop!” Alejandro concluded.

Then he smiled with satisfaction.

2100, 21 March. Denver, Colorado.

It had been a long time since the Rocky Mountain National Park had ceased to exist. It had happened just when this beautiful landscape had been chosen as an integral part of the project called For the benefit of all! It was just in these mountains and in these woods that New NASA Corporate in cooperation with the U.S. Government had arranged to build a base that would serve as a sort of subsidiary of the headquarters in Washington D.C. It was a rather secluded spot and not everyone could easily reach it unless one had some precise permissions. According to the schedule of the government agency, this area would have served as a place where to train all those who would take part in the project and get them ready to it. The whole structure was composed of five big cube-shaped establishments intended for doctors, chemists, engineers, biologists, pilots and soldiers, a bigger multi-story building that looked like a hotel and served as an accommodation for guests, and finally, at the entrance, a smaller building that served as both a reception point and other accommodations for several administrative offices. The whole thing, which also included a small airstrip that was intended for medium-size aircraft, was surrounded by a wire fencing that circled its perimeter.

Soon after midday on 21 March – that was the time when buses transporting the future members of the project should have arrived –, not far from the main railings outside the front entrance of the structure, an impatient man in a suit was waiting for the vehicles to come. He peered through his dark sunglasses. A long boulevard was in front of him while behind him another mysterious man wearing a jacket with a New NASA Corporate tag on approached him.

“Sir, they’re about to come,” he said.

“Okay, Jimmy. You can go!” Andrew Powell answered firmly. Andrew Powell, who was fifty-two years old, was one of the most important members of New NASA Corporate as well as the first promoter of the realization of the project called For the benefit of all! He was an astrophysicist by profession and for passion that was chosen by the heads of the U.S. Government and the ones of the aerospace agency for his excellent knowledge and his patriotic nature with the aim of “reviving” the national corporation after the dark age previously experienced. After the semi-achievement of the Aurora program from the ESA that had succeeded in taking men on Mars for the first time in 2035, but not to let them establish there, NASA did not mean to lag behind the European space agency, so it came up with a new mission called Europa, which in fact had been in the pipeline for some time. According to the data that had been collected by the probe Flyby launched in 2020, the satellite of Jupiter had some features that made it habitable for humans. So, fifteen years later, on June 15, 2050, twenty American men took off from ISS on board a spaceship in order to reach the satellite of Jupiter with the aim of taking human life there. The travel was estimated to last for four years. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until a sudden meteor shower damaged the spaceship irrevocably on July 2, 2051. Since then, as for the crew and the spaceship, no news had ever been heard. The mission was a total economic and, above all, human failure. Consequently, NASA was shelved and space control over our planet was entrusted to ESA alone with the consent of the U.S. Government that was helpless against the failure of the mission. The U.S. Agency entered its “dark hour”, as historians call it, during which not even ESA suggested other space missions (probably because it was deterred and scared of any other failure). In the meantime, NASA kept on working quietly, though, and recruiting the best astrophysicists of the world in order to create a genuine rebirth. The main command was assigned to Edward Turner, who became the President of New NASA Corporate in 2081 and chose a young astrophysicist to be his right-hand man. His name was Andrew Powell. He immediately proved himself to be an ambitious man; he did not hesitate to put in place a great plan to find ways to identify Proxima B and organize the new mission.

The gloss black automated buses appeared at the end of the long boulevard under Andrew Powell’s gaze. They were special electric buses belonging to the government and made available for the journey from the meeting point (Washington) to the Rocky Space Center. Each vehicle was driven by an artificial intelligence and held one hundred passengers. Once the buses stopped in front of the main entrance of the base, the passengers that were in got off. David, Michael, Amelia Jerry, Abigail and Emily were also among the passengers; several escorts in gray and orange uniforms were beside them.

The group of people included 1,500 Americans, Europeans and Asians and was already divided into several categories that drew up opposite the main gate of the base; every one of them was almost disoriented and sought the other people’s gazes while looking around.

“Welcome! My name is Andrew Powell and I am the head of the whole project in which you, too, are taking part!” he cried out. Then he advanced towards the group and looked into each member’s eyes while his voice echoed in the open space surrounded by the mountains.

“What you can see behind me is the Rocky Space Center, which is the operational center of the project. Please become familiar with this place, since it’s going to be your home over the next five months!” Andrew kept on saying.

No one dared speak. Everybody looked around, rather disoriented. Andrew waited some more minutes before speaking again.

“Fine! Follow me! The sorting is beginning,” he concluded as he turned round and walked towards the entrance of the base.

“Ah, I almost forgot: you can find your nearest and dearest straight in your own accommodation,” he added before moving forward.

The group of people began to follow Andrew, even minding the directions given by the uniformed officers of the base.

Once the future colonizers found themselves in the main open space, it did not take much time before someone murmured in amazement.

“They really spared no expense,” Jerry muttered. While he was admiring the buildings around him, he was also trying to catch the eye of a young Asian biologist that was beside him.

“Well, it isn’t very much different from the photos we saw in the Tanegashima headquarters, in Japan,” the young Asian man replied.

“You’re really at an advantage, huh? Anyway, I’m Jerry. Nice to meet you,” the young biologist from Chicago said as he held his co-worker’s hand. The latter greeted the young biologist back, stopping for a while and bowing quickly.

“Good to meet you, I’m Korin Tamura!”

“Wow! So, you still do that!” Jerry exclaimed more loudly after noticing the gesture made by his new friend. Michael, who was just up ahead, heard Jerry’s voice and he reminded their turbulent encounter in Washington on the day of the lecture. The man looked back for a confirmation and once he recognized him, he shook his head. One of the officers escorting the group asked Jerry and Korin to sit down and not be even more alarmed.

The group moved forward and went farther and farther into the structure. The buildings appeared to be even bigger, and so did the mountains surrounding them from the external area. David was near the front and he that was an architectural engineer appreciated so much the way those buildings had been conceived and built. After walking one thousand feet or so, the group stopped in front of the five cube-shaped establishments where a sort of small stage was set. Andrew got ready for getting up on stage. Several men stood on both sides of the small structure; other members of the personnel were even farther – they could be noticed if one looked near some tables on which several gray uniforms were straightened.

Once Andrew was back in front of the group, he picked up a tablet, and then he said,

“Well, gentlemen! You’re going to hear your name now, and receive your uniform! After hearing your name, move forward and go towards Mr. Carter and the girls that are handing your own uniform over to you. All the uniforms are exactly the same except for their patches, whose color differs according to the professional category to which you belong! Engineers are going to wear yellow patches! Biologists are going to wear green patches! Blue patches are for chemists and physicists! Doctors are going to wear red patches! Soldiers are going to wear brown patches! Let’s start with the group of engineers! James Miller!”

From the group standing to the left of Andrew, a tall and slender man went forth. As the manager suggested, he walked towards the post where some men were waiting for him and were ready to hand his uniform over to him and show him where his accommodation was. About five minutes later, it was David’s turn.

“David Garcia!” Andrew cried out. He was on stage and was scrolling through the list of the names on the tablet. David took a few steps forward and did exactly what any other of his comrades had already done. He walked towards the officers and picked up his new uniform.

“This way, please. You can go,” a uniformed girl said to him, gesturing for him to walk towards the building that looked like a hotel.

Once the whole list was read, it was the turn of the biologists. Everything was carried out very quickly even on this occasion: all the new members got their own uniforms with their patches.

“Jerry Vandcamp!”

When Andrew uttered the name of the young biologist from Chicago, the latter went forth, as is normal, and he, who was very excited, received his uniform, too.

“That way, please,” the officer told him; she was actually a nice girl, and Jerry did not hesitate to wink at her. But she replied with a kind of ironic laughter. Among the biologists, Korin was called, too; just like Jerry, he went to his accommodation after receiving his own uniform.

Then it was the turn of the chemists and the physicists, and Abigail belonged to this group.

“Abigail Sanders!” Andrew cried out, and the woman went forth, trying to conceal her emotion mixed with tension.

“You can go, please,” the girl in charge of the delivery of the uniforms said once again.

“Thank you,” Abigail replied with her usual gentleness.

Then it was the turn of the doctors, and so it was Amelia’s turn. Her name was uttered after about thirty names.

“Amelia Fisher!” Andrew shouted. He was certainly used to a role as an orator, since his voice was as fresh as it was twenty minutes earlier. The surgeon from San Diego was asked to go forth, and so she did; she was given her uniform with the red patch on, then she walked towards her accommodation.

Finally, it was the turn of the soldiers. Both Michael and Emily belonged to this category. Michael was the second to be summoned, and even he took his uniform with the brown patch on and headed for the building used as an accommodation. Emily was one of the last soldiers to be summoned.