Messages from the Deep (6 page)

Incredibly, while there are some differences,
the flora and fauna are similar to Earth’s, with grass, trees,
insects, reptiles, birds and fish, but no large predators.

There was even a sighting of a school of
bottle-nose dolphins surfing the swells.

A few month’s later, the first human was
successfully projected and then returned, with no ill effects, and
so we are ready to live in another solar system.

When are we going?

I am elated to have been chosen, yet again,
as a pioneer with ten others, to leave next week on a major mission
for not only humanity but for life on Earth, and we thank all
nations for the combined effort to make this possible.”

The space craft blasts off on its six months’
journey to the outer edge of the Black Hole.

Mariada is being interviewed for a new T.V.
programme called ‘Life on Earth 2’.

“Last year I was at a crossroads in my life.
We had cracked the codes of using Wormholes in space travel, of
photosynthesis in optimally harnessing solar energy, creating
oxygen and growing highly nutritious plants, with minimal
environmental damage.

I was also nearly 20 years older than on our
departure for Mars, and while I lacked the raw energy I had then, I
now had the deep confidence of experience gained in the most trying
conditions, but had no particular project to channel it.

In my younger years, my research and studies
had precluded the possibility of any serious, long-term romantic
commitments, and I had decided to forego the thought of settling
down one day, so I was available for some new challenge.

The space programme director came straight to
the point one day.

“As you know, we have an excellent team ready
to go to Earth 2 next year. We asked them to suggest one person
that they felt would make the best addition to the team, as an
anchor, an adviser, a wise old consultant; and you will probably
not believe whom they chose — you! So I have the honour of asking
you if you would be prepared to retire on Earth 2, but as a
part-time consultant.”

I had absolutely no hesitation, and so, here
I am, on my way to a new solar system.”

‘Life on Earth 2’ is running a series of game
shows in the tradition of the old programme ‘Life on Mars’, based
on videos made on each of the astronauts before departure. Alex is
next and he has chosen Knysna as the venue for his show, at a site
over-looking the town and the famous ‘Heads’ where boats leave the
lagoon for the deep sea in the direction of Antarctica.

“I grew up in the marine environment of
Knysna, where I spent much of my youth fishing, surfing and
sailing.

As I didn’t really play the traditional boys’
sports of rugby and cricket, and as I loved reading and studying,
when I went to a secondary, boarding school in George, I was seen
as ‘different’. In fact, I was bullied by seniors in the hostel in
my first year or two, until I learned to stand up for myself and
they picked on others. In 2000 I went to Stellenbosch University
for a BSc in Marine Biology as I have always felt passionate about
marine conservation and have a special interest in cetaceans, as I
have often encountered them when sailing and surfing. Dolphins seem
to trust me and I often find I can paddle among them while I try to
talk to them. I have always fancied that, one day, like Dr
Dolittle, I will be able to understand and communicate with
them.

My Honours and Masters degrees had taken me
to all the centres of involvement with cetaceans, from Walvis
(Whale) Bay in Namibia to South Africa’s West Coast at Saldanha
Bay, from Cape Town and Hermanus to Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and
Port Elizabeth, from East London to Durban and Kosi Bay on the
border with Mozambique.

For my PhD, as I had also done Linguistics
and Communication, I focused on cetacean languages and
communication. I was fortunate to be awarded scholarships which
enabled me to travel globally and to visit and assess marine
research institutes regarding the progress they had made in this
field.

I visited dolphinaria and university and
state marine research centres from Australia to Zanzibar, analysing
the effectiveness of these endeavours.

By 2030 some progress had been made and South
Africa established sophisticated research centres, one of them
being at Plettenberg Bay, where I have been based for the past 14
years. We have made huge strides in cracking the codes of cetacean
languages and today, with the help of computer programmes, we are
able to understand and communicate with cetaceans.”

The ‘Life on Earth 2’ quiz show in Knysna is
a huge success. The winner is a young Marine Biology student at the
University of Stellenbosch, just like Alex was. When he was at
primary school in Knysna, Alex and a few other local surfers used
to come and fetch him and some other township youngsters and take
them to the beach and teach them how to surf. Alex fired his
enthusiasm and then passion for marine conservation, besides also
becoming a top junior surfer. He thanks Alex for taking him off the
streets and away from the influences of the gangs who rule their
neighbourhoods.

On the spaceship, the 10 other astronauts
compete enthusiastically to win the prize of no routine duties for
a day.

The craft nears the outer edge of the Black
Hole, then enters a Wormhole and the entire craft and crew are
projected to Earth 2.

Mariada is being interviewed by ‘Life on
Earth 2’ again. This time, it is very ‘delayed live’, by about a
week.

“It’s almost impossible to describe the
passage of time in the Wormhole, as though time was literally
standing still, while we hurtled through space. Or was it that we
in our little space ship were standing still in space while time
rushed past ?

We landed exactly where planned and
everything is in perfect working condition. It was unbelievable to
step out of the ship without a space suit and breathe the air of
Earth 2 with its strange new smells and hear the singing of the
insects and birds.”

Once again, Mariada is the first person to
step on the planet and she announces a new variation of the
Moon-landing speech:

“One small step for a human, one new solar
system and planet for humans to live on.”

And adds, “This is not only another station
on the way to somewhere else, this is somewhere else for us to
live. We have brought with us some samples of life from Earth,
especially threatened and key species for maintaining the food
chain, like bees, butterflies, frogs and so on, and future settlers
will bring further specimens.

It was such a sobering thought to hear a
child say, many years ago, that if humans were to become extinct on
Earth, it would actually make a positive difference to the
proliferation of life, as we are definitely the most destructive
force on Earth.

I am the official photographer, so that gives
me a good excuse to poke my lens in the various activities
happening, and to be available for ‘consultation’ when needed,
which is seldom. We prepared very thoroughly for the tasks to be
done on arrival, in order of priority, so it was a pleasure to be
doing them at last.

What an honour it has felt for me, to be the
first known person on Mars and Earth 2. I say ‘known’ because who
knows what or who once may have lived on either planet ? Here, at
least, there would be a better chance of finding evidence, as the
planet does not appear to have suffered any major catastrophe.

The first main tasks revolve around
constructing waterproof dwellings, using the local resources,
basically making log cabins with thatched roofs, as only later will
we start making bricks, and then later finding iron ore to smelt
and make more metal tools, equipment etc, besides the basics we
brought with us, like spades, rakes, hammers, saws and knives, and
a 3D printer. There are very strict criteria for mining or even
collecting natural resources. The general idea is that only clay,
sand and stones may be collected, in suitable places, with
excavation not exceeding 1m. Rock with iron ore is to be mined only
as far as replacing essential tools. There will be no other mining,
such as for coal.

Energy needs must be supplied by, at first,
the solar panels brought from Earth, and then also by natural means
such as wind and water turbines.

Water is a priority, so finding the best ways
to collect and store water from the nearby river is very
important.

Further, we need to find an area to develop
fields to grow the crops so crucial to our survival. Luckily, we
have found a spot with natural damming up of the river, from where
we can dig a trench to lead water down to the large, natural field
nearby. Once we have cleared, dug over and fertilised our garden
area, we will lead water down the canal to irrigate the waiting
seeds.

Organising our waste disposal without
pollution is next, then setting up the solar panels for our energy
supply and connecting up all our equipment, lights etc.

We also have to do regular checks on the
levels of oxygen and other gases in the atmosphere, radiation
levels and so on, so the laboratory has to be up and running quite
quickly. As on Mars, we have started off by using the space craft
as our communications and records centre, as everything was there
already and easy to use.

At the end of most days, especially if the
weather is warm, we head for the beach only one kilometre away, and
have a relaxing swim. One day I was alone, floating on my back in a
small bay, when I became aware of something or someone nearby. I
looked around and saw a dolphin just metres away, looking directly
at me. I was mesmerised as it looked so intently at me, surrounded
by what seemed like a golden aura, shimmering with energy.

Reflexively, I said ‘hello’ and it actually
piped what sounded like ‘hello’ right back at me ! But then, some
of its pod came by, and they all went off at high speed.

Naturally, we have Alex, the Marine Biologist
from Plettenberg Bay, as part of our team, who has extensive
experience of cetacean languages and communication on Earth, so he
is obviously interested in these dolphins too. He joined me the
next day to see if the dolphins would return to the small bay. We
had been floating around for a few minutes, calling to each other
both in and above the water, and slapping the surface with our
hands, just as dolphins and whales do sometimes with their flippers
and tails.

We started to hear clicking and whistling
noises approaching from the deep sea until one dolphin, probably
the one from the previous day, came closer and engaged me as
before. After greeting me with a ‘hello’, it went into a series of
sounds, amazingly like a song, a simple ditty like a children’s
nursery rhyme or a sailor’s jig. To show my understanding, I
repeated the notes and then added another ‘verse’ off the top of my
head. The dolphin seemed delighted and repeated my verse, ending
with what sounded remarkably like cheering and laughing, while
‘clapping’ its flippers on the surface a few times.

Alex and I continued to go to the bay at the
same time each day, where we saw the dolphins again, each time
finding them more trusting and more eloquent. But still, we did not
understand most of their apparent speech, and Alex said that he
found the more natural dolphin sounds they make to be different
from those he has studied and used on Earth. But we did not have
the sophisticated technical equipment like the receivers used to
record and programmes to analyse dolphin sounds. So he decided to
record their sounds for a few days, playing some of it back to
them, first to their consternation, then to their delight as they
appeared to understand what was happening.

After about a week of daily contact, we went
to the bay one day and realised that they had gone.

So Alex sent the recordings back to Earth for
analysis, even though it would take many months for a response.

Alex and I know each other well from many
years of seeing each other on and off during my holidays at Plett,
but we discovered that we have a very special bond now and, for the
first time in my life, I feel that I could settle down and just
enjoy being with this very special man every day.”

Alex is reporting to ‘Life on Earth 2’ about
what they do all day.

“Well, we have pretty much only what we could
bring with us, very limited to the essentials, of course.

Other than in the Communications and Data
centre, each person only has like an iPod, linked to the C.D.
centre, so there is access to anything you want. There is also a
large screen in each building, mostly used for watching news, sport
and films. But most of our day is taken by doing routine manual
labour, like weeding the fields and laying down pipes and so on, so
by the end of the day, most of us like to get together and chat
about how the day has been and just chill out a bit. We have tested
our first new home-brew here and all agree that it’s the best we
have ever tasted on the planet ! The cabins, or rondavels or
bungalows, mostly made from wood and thatch, form a large circle,
with some facing in- and some outwards. The area in the middle is a
garden and play area, and in the centre is a meeting place with
seats around a fire-place, where you can cook or just enjoy the
warmth. Sometimes we have special evenings of music, singing or
dancing, or poetry readings or telling stories, or all of these,
non-stop for 12 hours. We have filmed some of these and you may
have seen them on late-night TV, so keep watching.”

A small group of the settlers is lounging
around the fire. Alex has the gift of the gab or has kissed the
Blarney stone tonight.