2.(30-39) The End of Our World

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30. Is It a Dream?

Afterward, Ali and Kimura sleep side by side, Kimura lying face up, left arm flung out on a pillow above Ali’s blonde head, and the room faintly lit by a yellow glow from the radio they had left on at low volume and which is playing East of the Sun and West of the Moon. East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon) - YouTube

   Kimura opens eyes and, glancing left, sees Ali - sleeping peacefully, head on pillow, chest rising and falling. Sitting up, he stares with growing alarm at a smoky whirl of yellow, like a genie from bottle, coming out of the radio’s lighted front. He tries to speak and wants to get up but cannot. A glow forms – head, arms, torso and extremities of discretely limned flame. Kimura watches terrified as it lifts right arm – showing flame-like yellow lines where fingers should be. Now it stands with right index finger pointing at him.

31. The Thing

Kimura seems to be sitting on a comfortable ledge in a faintly lit seamless walled cube. In one instant he is gazing at its blank wall; in the next, he sees the Thing -  a yellow-white form with no surface feature and neither fat nor thin. It glows brighter than the walls but Kimura feels no heat.
   (In the following dialog, the Thing's words are italicized to keep the reader aware of his sometimes strange word use. Also Kimura's thoughts are, as usual italicized)

   “Not fear,” Its words are not sounded; they come from within. The communication continues: “I from other Galaxy.”
   A pause: Kimura is regaining his sense of humor. He thinks, Are they turning over the audio disc?

32. Explains

The Thing, as Kimura calls it, continues its mental words: “Life develop from Original Molecule. Once Original Molecule in existence it set evolution loose. On stable sun with life-zone planet, evolution lead to life, and life lead to intelligence and civilization. From your Earth example – half billion years to develop from non-life to Original Molecule and four billion more years to start civilization. That need right size planet in life-zone around stable sun for 4 to 5 billion of your Earth years. Your neighbor planets, what you call Venus and Mars, develop life but no intelligence because too short times, too far of distances from Sun and, in case of Mars, because small size and low gravity unable to hold atmosphere to allow life for intelligence. In most star systems, possibility of life low because planets orbit more than one star and make unstable condition because complex non-closed orbit with 2 or more suns. And for life to develop, it need stable sun, not too early, not too late in star life; and sun not too large, not too small. I give you this detail so you understand why life in Universe so rare; and even rarer, intelligence.”

     The words stop. Kimura's initial fright is calmed by curiosity.

33. Lost in the Stars

It continues: “My civilization pass through war and disorder; then unify and make space travel and radio contact across space. I was sent to search for intelligence. To explore and chart your Galaxy took 100-million years and need vehicle speed to 100 kilometer/second, one third speed of light. I found 99% of stars no good for life-development because unstable. The 1% where life possible gave one million stars to check. Of the one million, 99% show no planet with possibility to give rise to life and then intelligent life . Still the other 1% leave several thousand stable stars with at least one stable planet.
   After five-million years, the data force one conclusion: Intelligent life in Galaxy exceeding rare. This emphasize importance of my Mission.”

  The Thing stops for a moment and Kimura pinches back of hand hard. It hurts.

34. Monitor

It resumes message. “In our galaxy in one star system on one planet, one type of Original Molecule, my life-form develop and I am of it. Advent of intelligent life is so rare as to be one or two times event in Universe.”

   “If another life form on planet develop, I must find it early to protect from accident. So the Monitor project! On any planet where chance of life I set up Monitor to go off at first sign.
   And, at last, came signal from a star system at edge of Galaxy -  your early Earth, still mass of molten rock and hot sizzling steam ocean and atmosphere nitrogen, methane and water vapor and no free oxygen.
   Monitor sample and find new type Original Molecule.  Start of new form of life. I remember it well.”

   Kimura cannot control his audible gasp. The Thing is saying it had overseen the development of life on Earth.

35. Guardian Angel

Its message starts up again: “Earth Original Molecule develop in seawater. Surface then hot ocean and contain chemical from simple salt to complex amino acid; atmosphere - nitrogen, ammonia and methane. All oxygen tied up in ocean chemical. No ozone layer then so, more than today, ultraviolet light reach Earth top of ocean down to 6 meters and make chemical reaction.

   “Creation of Original Molecule, 3-dimensional. It template to make more of its molecules, a carbon-hydrogen-nitrogen-oxygen structure with phosphorus and sulfur.

  “Original Molecule creation is natural process that greatly favor self copying. On early Earth it is as if fertile male and female rabbit start as only life on lushly vegetated continent: Original Molecule in Sea of Plenty! Soon sea fill with copy molecules and when it reach 0.01%, my mission next phase is preservation of New Life to become Intelligence and Civilization.”

   Pause and Kimura mutters, “Operation Guardian Angel.”

36. Fin de Siecle (End of an Era)

It continues: “Your scientists today might not recognize primitive life on Earth at start because it was molecular and chemical . On your Earth then, only crash of waves on rocky barren shores; wailing and whisper of wind; crash of lightning. Seawater seem to show no life: no eating, no excreting, no reproducing. Yet to me, your Earth ocean teem with molecular life – nucleic acid in loose combination with protein. In first billion years, development of life progress to 3-dimensional paired spiral that make copies of itself. After, come evolution of cell life – bacteria, single-cell with nucleus, multi-cell organism, plants and animals! Life on Earth then not vulnerable to cataclysm extinction like today when one civilized life form – the result of 5 billion years - can be snuffed out by cosmic collision leaving no time for evolution to work again to produce civilization.

  Two-hundred-fifty-million years ago, I watch one asteroid collision wipe out 95% life on Earth. And I watch ice age and global heating freeze and cook life on planet surface, but still life survive in depths to regenerate to higher form. Such cataclysm speed evolution of intelligence as when, sixty-five-million years ago, a ten-ton asteroid strike Earth, kill off dinosaur and give mammal a chance. But now, your civilization is at fragile, irrecoverable stage on verge of nuclear fission and fusion. And a time bomb tick in man-made build up of fossil-fuel-generating carbon-dioxide that heat up atmosphere here. Earth temperature is system poised on unstable feedback, and new temperature rise will trip off runaway global heating and sizzle civilization to quick extinction. Realize, after more than four-billion year effort to first primitive civilization, a new regression now to deep sea worm will end chance for intelligence on Earth. Even assuming evolution in four-billion more years produce new intelligence on Earth, it place emergence of second Earth civilization on collision course with explosion of your Sun as nova!”

   The Thing pauses and in its next words Kimura thinks he detects a hint of regret.

  “And new difficulty. I am last of my kind. And I am dying.”

37. The Weariest River

It continues: "Like all life, my race experience youth and growth, adulthood and maturity, senescence and dissolution on molecular level, where time span is cosmic. After several billion years from first Original Molecule, my life-form's electronic and positronic atoms show change in fundamental constant of how electron and positron affect and are affected by gravity; so, the energy that holds my  life-form's atoms in place is weakening. And my life-form die off. You call it "entropy" – that every organization must dissipate randomly. The affect on intelligent organism become, at certain point, catastrophic: In me, the central system will malfunction – I will go mad.” 
   The thing pauses. Kimura sits utterly fascinated.

   “Already long, long before now, it become clear my life form will go insane. Then my race commit mass suicide except me.

   My reason for continuing existence is search for new intelligent life, and I find it on Earth so I need to survive to guard and guide your fragile civilization. To slow my body, molecular senescence has needed huge infusion of energy to give me a thousand more years before terminal madness. Now I live close to edge. That why I contact you now.”

The pause is long. Kimura sits quietly waiting for what he guesses will be final words. A fragment of a poem comes to mind.

...That no life lives forever;

That dead men rise up never;

That even the weariest river, …
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

38. Fate of Earth

Minutes pass then The Thing resumes, mental voice, jerky but intelligible: “Have managed to keep functioning … little time remain. Now you know all intelligent life only two life forms, each develop civilization. But very soon I end and Earth be lone intelligence in Universe. And now fate of Earth and with it of intelligence and civilization is on the edge. To continue here, your life-form must unify and cooperate but time too short, and coming World War make global over-heating certain. Only chance for Earth civilization survival is rapid development space flight for colonization of your Moon and Mars.”
    The mental voice fades. A series of clicks and then loud irregular static follows and the room darkens, and Kimura, just before blanking out thinks three words: “Heading for Hell.”

39. End of a Dream?

Most persons if old enough and observant will recall, occasionally, waking from sleep with amnesia. For seconds one’s memory is absent and several seconds of panic ensue and then remembrance returns. Such an experience happens to Kimura now. Ali’s familiar face on the pillow beside him brings back his recall.  Ali is still breathing regularly, sleeping. He shakes her.

   “Kim, wazzup? Lemme sleep, Hon!”

   “Ali, tell me! Did you dream?”

   “Huh? Yeah! I always dream. We were makin' beautiful love: you and me and Glo in Hawaii. B-U-T-EE-ful!”

   “Was that all you dreamed, Ali?  Think carefully.”

   “Well, not all. I always have lotsa dreams but disjointed – you and I in hotel in Tokyo!”

   “Was there one about being with me while some weird apparition lectured us about life in the universe and the end of Earth?”

  “No, Hon, nuthin’ like that. Sounds like you had a nightmare?”

  “I guess I did.”

The dream (Was it really?) starts a thought leading to action that will cause Kimura’s life to become dedicated to The Thing's last words. Kimura’s will be one small voice and one small pair of hands. But, with enough small voices and enough hands, perhaps intelligent life can be saved for its destiny in the stars instead of getting burnt to cinders. Thus the need for Science Civilization, which Kimura will now dedicate his life to!
To read on, click on 2.40 Cross Country