Jericho 02-02

            In my mind was a clear picture of my father…

            Or was it David?

            I squinted my eyes at him, trying to make the jumble of blurred flesh understandable again.

            Yes, it was definitely my father, he was sitting at his desk reading through a brochure on the Center, rhythmically tapping his fingers.

            “Dad?” my voice choked.

            He looked up at me and smiled as his desk became a boat.

            “What’s going on?” I asked, as Pete marched by playing a tuba. Below me I could feel the water rising to my waist.

            My brother appeared next to me wearing his football uniform and holding a box in his right hand.

            “Dad wanted to take you” he said seriously.

            The water was rising higher, my mother and Pete were now dancing the samba, and my dad was floating away.

            “WAIT” I screamed, reaching for the rapidly disappearing vessel.

            I felt the impression of a hand on my shoulder, as light as shadow.

            “here” came David’s voice, “this is yours.”

            The ghost of David was handing me the box he had been holding.

            It was a solid wooden thing, with no discernable opening.  On the outside were intricate carvings of people with no faces going on a journey to the stars.

            “I don’t understand.”

***

           

            I’m not entirely sure at what point I had fallen asleep, but I was thankful that Ms. Arch hadn’t taken notice.

            When I awoke she was discussing the in house computer system and it’s various applications. Access points could be found just about anywhere on campus and would automatically configure to my user settings no matter the location. So, if I was in the garden and I wanted to send my mother a picture of a flower (her example, not mine), I could just tell the computer to send the picture to “Mom” and it would automatically comply.

            I wondered if Ms. Arch got along with computer at the center, or if they had little squabbles. Do robots feel jealous? If so, how was that program created?

            It was a profound question so I pondered it until I became thirsty and ordered a strange tasting glass of cranberry juice.

            We carried on like this for a while, Ms. Arch reading aloud from her tablet with mechanical precision, and me staring out at the passing scenery as we flew over the miles and miles of grasslands, farms, and forests that lay between Churchill and Galton.

            Once and a while we would pass through a town or village, and I’d see the telltale signs of civilization. People out working, shopping, or eating; glistening town halls and the neon orange of military instillations dotted the landscape like flowers in a field.

            Otherwise, I saw mostly trees, rivers, crops, and the odd cow.

            When we grew close to Galton there was a sudden shift in the scenery.

            Gone were the farms and forests, replaced instead by sprawling white subdivisions, much like my own, with picture perfect families in each picture perfect house.

            As we reached the city limits the car began to slow and Ms. Arch switched her lecture from the finer points of the dining hall to the architecture of Galton.

            “On you left is the Great Bank of Earth 2, and on our right is the Museum of Regency History.”

            I looked but, besides being on opposite sides of the road and having different signs, I couldn’t really tell the two buildings apart.

            There was a horrible sameness to everything I saw in Galton.

            I had built up this idea that it was old, chaotic, and somehow regal looking, something closer to pictures I had once seen of Old Earth, but all Galton was was white and grey.

            The buildings, the people, even the advertisements, which usually swim with color, seemed to be in shades of gray. The people here moved in unified masses, expertly coordinated blobs of blonde hair and grey suits traveled down every street in the dullest dance routine ever invented.

            In the sky fliers flew in perfect lines; their locust like fury did not blacken it, instead it was orderly and sane.

            Boring. Galton looked utterly boring.

            Soon I could see a spot of green in the distance, breaking up the monotony of Galton.

            Ms. Arch picked up on this and her cheerful mechanic voice began to chime.

            “Out there is the Regency District,” she said, giving a little point, “and just beyond that is where the Center is located.”

            My eyes grew wide with anticipation.

            The Regency District was the center of power across two star systems.

            There you would find ambassadors, senators, admirals, generals, and, of course, the Council of Regents themselves, all overseeing the governing of, and day to day operations for, a vast network of planets.

            Unlike the blocky white architecture of the city itself the various buildings of the R.D. were all geodesic domes with splashes of colored glass to signify their various purposes: orange for the military, blue for the senate, black for the courts, and the golden orb of the regents. The land surrounding the district was miles of manicured gardens with man made pools and sculptures that showcased all the beauty that was available from Earth 2 to the outworlds.

            There was another noticeable change about being in the Regency District: Tourists.

            Earth 2 had very strict immigration laws, you could not even be a legal resident on E2 unless you could either: a) prove you were a descendant of the original colonists or, b) someone in your family held a government job that required you and your family to live on E2. The logic behind this was that it would “preserve our cultural history” or something like that.

            Tourism was a relatively new phenomena on Earth 2.

            It had only been a century ago that the tourism ban had been lifted, and tourists from beyond our planet began to tickle in.

            The tourists I spotted wandering in the gardens of the Regency District were quite a change from the boring people of Galton. They were patches of dark hair and dense patterns of shape and color. The women wore clothing I rarely saw outside of television. Long, gauzy summer dresses floated with the wind.

            You could feel their wealth just by looking at them.

            The prices to travel to Earth 2 were obscene. Ours was a planet where even a lowly farmer was wealthy compared to his nearest compatriot. The cost of living on E2 was twice that of surrounding planets and Six times as much as it was in the outworlds. Anyone who wanted to visit here must be either extremely wealthy or extremely lucky.

            Our car flew past a crowd of tourists taking photos of the Golden Orb of the Regency and continued towards a vast open green expanse ahead.

            Ms. Arch put aside her tablet and folded her hands over her lap again, “as we approach the school the will be undergoing a scan, not to worry though, it is entirely harmless.”

            Moments later the car, still in motion, was engulfed by a blue light.

            “Scanning in progress, please remain seated” cooed a soft mechanical voice.

            The light pulsated for a few seconds before a series of chimes rang out and the mechanical voice gave us the all clear.

            I blinked my eyes, attempting to adjust to the abrupt change in light.

            As I raised my lids my eyes came into sharp focus.

            “Welcome to your new home.” 


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Mostly world building... -KayPee