The Planet

Fred Sloan leaned back as he closed and rubbed his eyes.  He had been making observations through different instruments all day, and his eyes were tired.  He peered again through the quantum telescope that was pointed at a distant object.  He was pleased with the resolution, and cautiously optimistic about what he saw, hoping that this body would perhaps be habitable.  It sat, in galactic terms, a mere stone's throw away at 500 light years distant.  Mostly blue, with some green, it seemed welcoming.  Fifteen probes had been sent to the various land masses, so each one had at least two machines exploring them.  He looked one last time at the monitor displaying the image seen by the telescope and tapped the button to capture yet another image.

Leaning back again, he yawned.  While it was the end of his shift at the observatory, the blue pebble resting in the blackness of space captivated him.  On his off days, if conditions would permit, he would take his own personal telescope, and watch the same marble, noting any observations he made.  Almost as an afterthought, he tapped another button, sending a signal to the probes to relay their recorded measurements.  He looked forward to seeing the reports, as they showed temperature, air pressure, humidity, air content, background radiation, soil quality, and air quality.  With the right figures, the planet would prove to be habitable.

Despite the distance between the probes and the receiver, hyperspace communications allowed the signals to travel one-way in 10 seconds.  Dr. Sloan reviewed the reports.  The numbers had all been at yellow levels for years, but improving.  Yellow indicated “habitable, but not ideal.”  The first monitoring equipment had shown levels in orange for years, representing “habitable, but potentially dangerous;” then moved to the red, which represented “uninhabitable, possibly toxic.”  Measurements remained there for years, before the equipment died.  After some time, more probes were sent to the planet.  Their initial atmospheric measurements on entry were promising, since they were better than the last measurements sent by the old equipment.

A broad smile crossed his face; after years of observation, these levels were the closest Dr. Sloan had ever seen to ideal conditions.  If his estimates were correct, it would be only a very short time before everything was comfortably in the green again.  Right now, an exploratory team could be sent to examine the planet.  Fred looked at the time.  It was too early to call his supervisor.  The supervisor wasn't a late riser by any stretch, since Fred sometimes saw Dr. Sommers arrive in the predawn twilight hours.  However, Dr. Sommers had stressed that Fred was not to contact any supervisor in the post midnight morning hours unless all readings were in the green.

Fred took a manila envelope from the stack near the printer.  After typing some comments and attaching them to the printed reports from the probes, he set them inside the envelope, sealed it, and marked it “Proprietary and Secret Information.”  Fred restrained himself from hopping out of the building.  Officially, the information was withheld until review from superiors.  But this was fantastic news.  Soon, not only an exploratory team would be sent, but people could inhabit the planet.

We'll be given a second chance, Fred mused as he walked the hall to the locker room by the entrance of the building.  He entered the locker room, hung his lab coat in his locker, and took his rebreather.  The equipment covered his face, keeping pollutants from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and it wasn't entirely comfortable.  He would put it on before exiting.

In the time that humans had populated this planet, they had ruined its delicate ecological systems.  In spite of having other means for energy; wind, solar, and water energy were eschewed in favor of carbon based fuels, such as coal and oil.  Industrial chemicals were thrown into the water, as though it were unlimited in supply.  They were lucky they didn't have radiation problems with everything else, but the danger of an accident loomed on the horizon.

Dr. Sloan entered the first foyer and waited for the doors to close before he opened the doors to the second foyer, where he waited for the area to pressurize.  He watched the red light, until it changed to green, before he opened the door and exited.

Outside, the sky was pitch black.  Dr. Sloan set his headlamp on his brow and turned it on.  As bright as the light was, it was only slightly effective at piercing the darkness.  No stars could be seen, no light was emitted from any point in the sky; not at this point in the day.  Sometimes, if the weather was clear, in the early morning, some light would shine through the murky blackness that dominated the planet.

Fred arrived home after a short walk, and waited impatiently as the pressurized room prepared to have him enter.  Finally, the green glow showed through the pitch-like air.  He entered the first room, and waited for the doors to close before removing his rebreather, then walked into the second foyer.  The second foyer led to a hallway, and he walked to the stairwell at the end of the hall.  He considered himself fortunate that he lived on the second floor, since he preferred walking, rather than the elevator.

Fred's apartment had a pressurized room, as well as a cleaning room, before entering the main living area.  The pressurized room was standard, and considered adequate to remove any pollutants that the rooms in the main foyer had left on individuals as they entered.  The cleaning room was added by Fred, and allowed him to dispense of his clothes directly to laundry, as well as shower, before entering his home.  Once comfortable, he settled on his couch for a short nap.



Dr. Sloan walked back to the lab, hoping to speak with Dr. Somers.  The midday walk was easier; the atmospheric smog was pierced by a bright sun, turning the thick black into a deep, dark, reddish brown.  In the shadows, a light was still needed, so Fred kept his lit, as well as everyone else, for the sake of convenience.

“Dr. Sloan, you're here again?”  Kate Jackson greeted him in the reception area.  She smiled kindly; she had known Fred to arrive at mid-day every day.

“Indeed,” he returned the smile, and nodded courteously.

The pair liked each other; Kate was waiting for Fred to invite her to dinner; Fred, when he thought of it, was either in the middle of something and would remember when he couldn't act, or would think of it at a time that he couldn't muster the courage.  But nonetheless, they cared for each other, possibly more so than what they admitted their friendship to be.

“Something new with that planet you're studying?”  Kate was curious.  She, and some other workers, knew of the planet, and that it was being closely monitored.  She also knew that Dr. Sloan was a key member of the monitoring team.  However, she did not have the clearance to know what Fred knew.  Yet, she knew it fascinated him immensely.

Fred frowned slightly, disappointed he couldn't share more.  “You know I can't say,” he responded kindly, with a slight smile at Kate.  “Is Dr. Somers in?”

Kate nodded.  “Yes.  He's clear, and said if you stopped in like you normally do, he would like to see you.”

“Thank you,” Fred smiled again, this time as a personal, rather than a professional touch.



Dr. Somers sometimes seemed a bit intimidating, but was very professional.  Dr. Sloan was a bit apprehensive about Dr. Somers when they first met, but Fred learned that he was actually quite a reasonable man.  The two worked well together professionally.  Dr. Somers admired Dr. Sloan as a protege of sorts, and saw immediately his eagerness and excitement about the planet they studied.  He had long ago lost count of the notes Dr. Sloan had taken at home, in his own time, and added to the file for study.

As Dr. Sloan entered, Dr. Somers sat back in his chair, and waited for the door to close.  “I saw your reports this morning,” he indicated a chair, inviting Dr. Sloan to sit.

Dr. Sloan smirked as he sat.  “I thought you might.”

“Truth be told,” Dr. Somers continued, “part of me wishes that I didn't ask you to not call supervisors at the time of morning I did.  The newest reports are quite interesting.”  He paused for a moment.  “Dr. Sloan, you've been monitoring this planet more often and more closely than anyone else here, both on and off the time spent here.  What are your thoughts?”

Dr. Sloan sighed, in an effort to contain himself.  “The overall climate is temperate.  Life at the poles or equator may be a bit difficult, but it would be possible, even if I couldn't personally recommend living in the extreme areas.  Then again, the histories suggest that would be possible, at least in the equatorial region.  There is plentiful flora and fauna in the ecosystem, and could sustain a great amount of humans for years to come.  Air quality is borderline ideal, as is water quality.  Soil quality seems to be within acceptable levels.  There is a protective layer of ozone around the entire planet.  Finally, background radiation levels are reported as normal.”

Dr. Somers closed his eyes thoughtfully, and nodded.  “Overall?”

Dr. Sloan sounded eager as he summarized.  “Overall, I think it's ready.  We could safely send a manned mission there to confirm, and have them land within a few months using hyperspace.  They could study the area, communicate regularly, and I believe spend a couple of years there to prove habitability.  I don't foresee it being an issue.  For what it's worth, I see it as a formality.  Based on my measurements and estimates, we could move to the planet right away.  If we plan the trip correctly, by the time we arrive, everything would be ideal.”

Dr. Somers nodded, frowning.  “It is,” he stated quietly, “a formality that must be observed.”  Resuming a normal tone, he continued.  “Nonetheless, I trust your analysis.”

“Is something wrong, Dr. Somers?”  Dr. Sloan had noticed the slightly mumbled statement about the formality, and a hint of resignation when he said that he trusted the analysis.

Dr. Somers gave a pained look to Dr. Sloan.  “Dr. Sloan, do you know that we've had a team studying this planet, as well as the one you're studying?”

Dr. Sloan nodded.

Dr. Somers continued; he sighed in disappointment and resignation.  “They have their own findings.  We have six months to evacuate.  The trouble is, as hopeful as that planet appears, I don't know if our bodies could live in clean air and water.  We've been scrubbing the air and water on this planet for the past few thousand years, and our bodies may have developed a system that tolerates this ecology, but may not be able to handle something better.”

Dr. Sloan was shocked, and after hearing the need to evacuate, barely anything else.  “Evacuate?  What do you mean?  And what's this about our bodies not tolerating clean air and water?”

Dr. Somers frowned again.  “Yes, that.  A medical team has completed its study and is readying a presentation of their findings later today.  I'm expecting them this afternoon.  I suspect,” he added hopefully, “that there won't be an issue with exposure to a clean environment.”

The reply didn't answer Dr. Sloan's question.  “What about evacuation, six months?”

Dr. Somers sighed heavily.  “The planet is effectively dead.  According to estimates, there are resources enough for six months.  After that, they will be completely depleted.  After that,” Dr. Somers shrugged hopelessly.

If Dr. Sloan had not already been sitting, he would have dropped heavily onto the chair.  “Wha …” he started, stunned, “wha …”  He closed his mouth and shook his head.  “Six months?  But … to study …”

Dr. Somers nodded.  “I understand.  I've been working for a long time to accelerate the evacuation, and there finally has been acceptance by the Global Parliament.  However, it's far too little and too late.  There aren't enough shuttles to safely evacuate, land, and return here for more refugees.”

Dr. Sloan sat in silence again.  After a few moments of absorbing and realizing, he spoke again.  “So, you're saying …”

Dr. Somers nodded somberly.  “In reality, we knew for a while that we wouldn't be able to remove everybody from this planet, to the other, and maintain the balance there.  Some people would have had to stay here and hopefully clean the atmosphere.  Now, it simply isn't possible.”  He paused for a moment.  “I've made some adjustments to shuttle launches and such, so that refugees can be evacuated.  I've also doubled the size of the science team.  There are now 5,000 members.  Of course, on one trip, only 100,000 people can be carried.”

Fred's eyes bulged as he considered the numbers and how miniscule they were.  There were easily 20 trillion people on the planet, which was well above its calculated carrying capacity.  They had been borrowing time for years, and nobody knew how.  “So that means …”

Dr. Somers continued.  “If we play our cards right, we can safely evacuate the planet and make a return trip for another 100,000 refugees, but that is the absolute maximum.”

Again, Dr. Sloan was stunned to silence.  He realized, even if there were sufficient resources to support the population, cleanup of the planet with the current population would be absolutely impossible; the well-fed population would eventually succumb to an overly toxic environment.

“Dr. Somers, what will happen to those who stay here?”  Dr. Sloan nearly dreaded the answer.

Dr. Somers looked at his desk, then back at Fred. “Authorities are anticipating mass riots, mobs, and eventual social breakdown.  Rule of law will disappear very shortly, as people kill each other for supplies.  It will be over very quickly.  Frankly, nobody is expected to die of natural causes after that six month period.  The closest anyone may come is dying from kuru.”

Terror filled Dr. Sloan.  He blanched, his mind seemed to stop, and he was silent.  Suddenly, he caught a whiff of smelling salts.  He lifted his head.

Dr. Somers regarded him with sympathy.  “Dr. Sloan, as I said, I've expanded the size of the explorer team being sent.”  He handed two passes to Dr. Sloan.  “You may take one individual of your choosing.  He, or she, need not be a researcher,” he added knowingly.

Dr. Sloan looked at the passes.  Once again, he was silenced, but in gratitude.  When he found his words, he looked at Dr. Somers.  “Thank you.”

“You're quite welcome.  I'm also promoting you to a supervisory position.  You'll be in my place.”  He stopped for just a couple of seconds, then added, again with a knowing glance, “You may need an assistant.”  He handed the official papers to Fred.

Dr. Sloan's mouth fell open.  “Thank you!”  He stopped again, in thought.  “But, what about you?”

Dr. Somers drew a revolver from his desk.  “As I said, it's expected that nobody will die of natural causes after the six months.  I won't die of hunger, I won't die at another's hand if I can help it, and I don't intend to die of kuru.”  He finished the statement, then replaced the revolver.  “Of course, that is just between you and me.”

Fred nodded, understanding the implication.  “Thank you, Dr. Somers.”

Dr. Somers nodded, with a combination of gravity, and pleasantness to Fred.  “You're welcome.”



When Dr. Sloan returned to his apartment, he used the elevator to bring his telescope to the rooftop, and pointed it again at the colorful and inviting marble, five hundred light years away.

Humans would be given another chance.

Thousands of years ago, they had shown disregard for their own planet, and the ecosystem had begun to collapse.  It was only by luck, that scientists had found the planet, and only by an exponential amount of the same, were they able to evacuate anyone from Earth.  Those who remained, died from causes related to the poisoned environment.  All that remained were a few sensors that continued to send data to a team of scientists, determined to monitor the environment and return to their home planet.  Those sensors finally failed, and probes were sent in their place.

As time passed, and without a continuous amount of pollutants pouring into the environment at all levels, the earth had cleaned itself.  The probes continued to send data back to scientists, who had reached a new planet and began building again.  Dr. Somers and Dr. Sloan were simply members of the latest generation of scientists monitoring the data.

Dr. Sloan reflected that humans seemed to treat the new planet worse than they ever thought of treating earth.  Flora had long ago been extinguished from the planet, as tall buildings reached for the sky on every available area.  After the land was exhausted, boats were launched as floating islands on the ocean.  Nobody thought of the impact they were having, or the resources they were using.  What people had dodged on earth, they would reap on this world.

Dr. Sloan sighed.



When Dr. Sloan arrived for his shift, Dr. Somers was waiting for him.  “I have the medical report.  I've briefed the team members on your promotion.”  He smiled, somewhat grimly, as he handed some papers to Dr. Sloan.  “Dr. Fred Sloan, you are to pack and prepare for departure at the end of next week.  I don't expect to see you in the office while you prepare.”  He handed another set of papers to Dr. Sloan.  “This set of papers is for the person you choose to bring with you.  Just tell me who they are after they've accepted the offer.  They'll have the same paid leave as you.”

Dr. Sloan smiled.  “Thank you.”  He knew who he would ask.

Dr. Somers reached out and shook Fred's hand.  “Farewell,” he said with a pained smile.



The following day, Dr. Sloan visited the reception area.  As usual, Kate greeted him.  “Ah, Dr. Sloan!  I don't think Dr. Somers was expecting you.  He's busy all day.”

Dr Sloan nodded.  “I'm not surprised.”  He hesitated.  “But I'm not here for him, or the lab.”

Kate put down her pencil and raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?”

Dr. Sloan nodded again.  “Kate, I, I've been promoted.  And I'll need an assistant.  But the thing is, if you accept the position, there's some travel involved.”  Mentally, Fred cringed.  This was not what he was trying to accomplish.

Kate looked at Fred, puzzled; she could tell Fred was thinking of something else.  “Well, that's good.  But what sort of travel?”

Fred turned red.  “Well, about five hundred light years …”

Kate's mouth opened in surprise.

Fred continued.  “The planet … the one we've been studying, it's habitable.  There's a team of people going there, and I'm a lead.  If you want, there's a spot for you, and you would have a paid week to get things in order before you leave.”

Kate was silent for a few moments, stunned.  “Fred … this is huge.  I'd love to, but it's such short notice.  I mean, nothing is tying me here, it's just quite sudden to ask me to relocate in such a manner.  I'm not saying no … I'm saying wow.”

Fred looked at her, somewhat desperately.  “Kate … there is a reason for the short notice, if you understand what I'm saying.”

She thought for a moment, then her eyes widened.  “Oh,” she said as she realized.

Fred continued.  “Listen, I want to say I'm sorry, this isn't how I wanted things to happen.  I was trying to work up the courage to ask you for coffee or something, then this happened …”

Kate laughed.  She smiled at Fred.  “Well, I suppose you understand how I feel about the short notice then.”  She looked down, laughing silently, shaking her head, then looked at Fred.  “Alright, I'll go.  It's not like I haven't been waiting for you to ask me out anyway.”

Fred slapped his hand to his forehead.  “I suppose I've done that, rather thoroughly.”

Kate smiled.  “Yes, from out for coffee to out of the planet.”

Fred's face was bright red.  “I'm very sorry, I truly don't mean …”

Kate shook her head, with a finger over her mouth.  “Don't.  A coffee would have been great.  And, I think we should have one, at least once, before we leave the planet.  It couldn't hurt.”

“No,” Fred sighed with a bit of relief.  “No, it couldn't.  Thank you, Kate.  I, uh, have your paperwork.”

“Very good,” she folded her hands on her desk.  “See you after work?”

Dr. Sloan nodded; he smiled as he relaxed.  “Yes, most certainly.”

Kate smiled.  “See you later, then.  We'll talk after my shift.”

Dr. Sloan turned, and headed out the door.  He and Kate were each thinking the same thing, and each of them knew it.

They were going home.