Story thread - chronicles

[Growltigger]

RENAISSANCE

The 23rd century has been described by historians as the second renaissance of mankind. It was a period within which humanity proved that it could recover from the mistakes of the past, and could put its internecine disputes aside for survival of the race.

A commentator in orbit looking down at Earth on New Year's Day in 2300 could see that humanity was shattered. It had been reduced by devastating wars to less than a billion people, its technological base, industrial and agricultural infrastructure were all but destroyed and the compound effect of the atomic, biological and chemical munitions employed in 200 years of war had dangerously contaminated the environment of the planet.

The same commentator looking down at Earth on New Year's Day in 2400 would only have been able to recognise the planet by its topography. The human race had reversed the decline: it had finally managed to create the technological society so long hoped for. No one on Earth went hungry, and all 4 billion people now living on the planet could read and write. The world still bore the marks of unrestricted war. Humanity had spent a century injecting most of its gross industrial output into repairing the environment. Great advances had been made - Africa was now the bread basket of the world, but still much of continental North America and Asia were irradiated wastelands. The wounds of 200 years of warfare would take an eternity to heal.

The destruction of the United Nations in the terrorist attack on New York in 2287 had led to a new world order. In the thirteen years till 2300, the remaining political blocs had joined together into a unified global body. The Terran Federation was born through necessity to save the planet and what was left of humanity. Initially, the Federation was a political alliance of the regional governments of the world, the European Union, the Australasian Federation, the South Asian Prosperity Alliance, the Pacific Unity and the South American Economic League. By 2400, the Federation had become the legislative body for the whole planet and each member country had yielded its sovereign powers to it. For the first time in its history, Earth was unified under one global administration.

By 2334, the Federation had managed to stabilise the environmental situation on Earth, and had made the technological advances needed to begin the slow steady climb to global prosperity. Earth now had the time to breathe, and to take stock of its situation. Mankind had long looked to the stars, and the Federation realised that expansion into space had to given priority. The scientific and space exploration agencies of all member states of the Federation were assimilated to form Science Command, a new world government agency with responsibility for the exploration of the solar system.

The chrysalis for the formation of Science Command was the data sent back to Earth by Beagle 17, an unmanned probe which had been sent to Mars. In 2107, NASA had formulated an ambitious plan to terraform Mars. For a period of 100 years, unmanned rockets had been launched to Mars, each rocket carrying genetically modified bacteria. The bacteria were designed to transform the atmosphere of Mars to be breathable. The Sino-American war in 2206 had put an end to this project, and what was left of the United States following that war was in no shape to maintain the huge cost of the terraforming project.

Beagle 17 indicated that the bacteria had done their job only too well. Mars had an earth-like atmosphere, and was now breathable to humans. This discovery radically transformed the ambitions of the human race. A virgin world was now available for colonisation and exploitation by humans. It would provide much needed breathing room and resources. The whole technological capability of Science Command was tasked with the endeavour of how to reach Mars, and how to colonise it.

In addition to the Mars project, unmanned probes had been sent throughout the solar system. By 2380, Science Command had completed a thorough survey of the system. The survey had revealed two unusual anomalies, gravitic whirlpools which through the use of unmanned probes, appeared to be pathways to other solar systems. No probe launched through the whirlpools ever returned, but they went somewhere, as the scrambled information the probes sent back indicated that they had transited into new star systems, before the tidal stresses in the whirlpools ripped them apart. Science Command analysed all the data, and concluded that the whirlpools could be transited, but only by much larger vessels than the small probes used to date.

The confusion at Science Command was extreme. The development of colonisation technology was advanced, and humanity knew that it had the capability to settle on other planets. Data from Beagle 17 had been invaluable for this, and had helped develop a new branch of science for humanity, the development of large spaceships able to travel through space to colonise Mars. But now, Mars was only a stepping stone for the human race.

Our commentator in orbit above Earth on New Year's day in 2400 would not be able to appreciate the magnitude of the events he was about to witness.

[ February 06, 2004, 14:15: Message edited by: Growltigger ]