New Earth Chapter 5 Begins!
A new chapter kicks off and you should watch Groundhog's Day
Happy February! One of my favorite movie’s is Groundhog’s Day. I didn’t like it at all the first time I watched it. It kept finding me somehow and it drew me in and got better and better every time. Anyway, look for Punxsutawney Phill to make an appearance on Monday, February 2nd.
This week I’m excited to provide the beginning of Chapter 5 of New Earth. Where we left off, Tao, Reed and Liberty harrowingly escaped via hyperspace on a technologically advanced ship. Max, the mad genius, looked on plotting his next move as he continued his reign over New Earth. Now, there is business taking place back on original Earth.
For new readers, here’s a very brief introduction of New Earth:
Tao Lynn is a simple man raised on an island off the shores of Asia. He finds himself on a spaceship approaching a new planet to help select its governmental structure. He and the other delegation members find themselves captive by the genius who invented all the technology to discover the planet, Maxwell Rhodes. The story touches on the foundations of humanity, including religion, technology, AI and government.
You can see the previous entries of New Earth here. Paying subscribers can read the entire series all the way through here.
The new entry is below.
Peace.
Chapter 5 Begins
Back on Earth…
The doors flew open, the sound ricocheting off marbled walls and floors. “Julius Jacobs!” said the white-haired man in a suit and tie. “Why is it whenever there’s a problem, you show up?”
JJ smiled. “I’m a superhero—ready to save the world at a moment’s notice, Senator Kane.”
“Get in here!” Kane ordered.
JJ’s long legs kept him near the Senator as they hurried toward the conference room. JJ’s unbuttoned collar and jeans made him stand out, but not as much as his briefcase. Personal digital storage systems recorded everything you saw, heard, or uploaded—instantly searchable, instantly retrievable. A convenience JJ avoided. He preferred his memory and paper.
In the conference room sat eight members of the Interplanetary Committee. Kane sat for but a moment, then raised his voice. “Do you think we’re idiots?”
JJ shrugged. “What’s this about?”
“Listen,” Kane said, “you tell that boss of yours—Max—we know what he’s up to. We have been monitoring New Earth. We see exactly what’s going on.”
JJ thought: Did they know about the delegates not being allowed on New Earth? About Max not giving up control of the planet? How could that have leaked already? It had barely happened.
JJ said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But what I can assure you is that there have been no changes of plans to provide all the Exomatter the US government needs for the next ten years. But if you have no need for precious metals and minerals, other countries would—”
“—Don’t try to threaten the US government! And I’m not talking about Exomatter. I’m talking about hyperdrives.”
All the committee members stared at JJ. He thought, hyperdrives? They were at least a decade away. “I can assure the committee, The Corporation is not—”
“—We’ve detected massive gamma ray readings,” Kane said. “We were told Max would develop the hyperdrive with the government. Not commercialize it on his own. If other countries get a hold of this technology, who knows what they will do with it, where they will go and what they will find out there to use against us. To control Earth.”
JJ was perplexed. Could Max have developed a hyperdrive without his knowledge? Well, of course Max could, but why? This was part of the plan for years. Hyperdrive technology would allow humans to travel vast distances in much shorter amounts of time. Did Max not trust JJ enough to tell him about the advances in hyperdrive technology? He feared the committee was right.
Committee member, the wide, tall General Hall rose and said, “We demand that hyperdrive technology be turned over to us. Now.”
JJ wiped his brow. A man and a woman wearing white lab coats entered the room. Government scientists, no doubt.
The entire committee rose as if the arrival of the scientists shifted the gravity in the room.
“You may be seated,” the female scientist said. “This is a serious situation, Mr. Jacobs. We tracked a gamma burst originating from New Earth’s orbit. And your corporation’s satellites went dark for six seconds—right when the spike occurred.” She was red with anger and said, “I demand—”
“—What she meant was,” the male scientist interrupted, “even if a hyperdrive was made, it is likely an unmanned test. This is because inconsequential human travel via hyperdrive is not possible without a shielding algorithm around the ship to protect the passengers from aging ten years in ten minutes.
“Yes,” the female scientist said and looked down. “They would surely die.”
JJ felt the floor tilt beneath him. Max had hidden things before—but never from him. If a working hyperdrive existed, would humanity be ready?
General Hall said, “What about robots? Or humanoids? They can conduct military hyperdrive missions without any time lapse issues.”
The male scientist replied, “True. But those would be very limited missions. We can only do so much with non-humans.” He walked to the center of the room. “Hyperdrive technology will be a breakthrough, but not yet.” His voice cracked as he said, “I demand—”
The woman cut him off with a thin smile. “What he means is this: we expect a full video brief on the hyperdrive technology at 3 pm.”
The two scientists gave a slight nod and left, releasing the room.
****
As the scientists exited the building, neither spoke. Zhee reached for Lysa’s hand. They had to contact their son, Tao Lynn. Was he the one who entered hyperspace? He was the only hope of saving humanity from itself—but was he even alive? Neither of them could bear the answer.