Isolation Part 1 (Chapter 2 of 4)

2. Drawing Names

     A large dust cloud had grown around the people waiting outside. There was no moisture in the air, perfect for a science facility. We all crowded around a large stage and podium that looked like they had only recently been constructed. From speakers atop large poles triumphant music played, encouraging us that we had made the right decision. That eight-hour wait seemed like the longest of my life. The sun gave way to the moon and flood lights kicked on around us.

     At approximately 8:45PM the lights dimmed and pointed upward. The music slowed to a low thrum and a deep voice came over the loud speakers. “Look to the skies above you. In our sky there are hundreds of billions of stars just waiting to be explored. Each blink of light is a new system just waiting for us to reach out and touch it.”

     The lights turned off giving way to the purest night sky I had ever seen. The stars shone brighter and clearer than I ever knew they could. There was no light pollution here, the factory was the only building for hundreds of miles and it had been completely blacked out for the event. Across the sky tiny winks of light began to appear as full darkness fell.

     “Today we are taking the first step towards a new generation, a generation of progress, a generation of the future. What we do here today will be written in every history book, every newspaper and every child’s bedtime story. Tonight ladies and gentleman we are going to make history.” A large cheer erupted from the audience. I screamed along with them. It was exciting. It was something new! How could we have known what it would really be like?

     “Without further ado, I give you the founder and CEO of Praxis: Nick Burton!” The lights focused on the stage. They changed colors rapidly until they eventually turned to bright white. A man in a black suit stepped onto the stage. He looked like the classic 2000’s CEO: Hair unkempt, suit a little too short for him, and I’m sure that his shoes were Vans, but damn was he charismatic.

     “Welcome travelers of the future!” Another blind cheer erupted from the audience. “I know why you’re all here, and we’ll get there in a moment, but first, some background.” In front of him a light shot up into the air, forming a bluish green orb. Silence fell over the crowd. The orb swiveled and pivoted and formed into a space shuttle.

     “Over forty years ago we launched the first space shuttle. Since then, there have been 135 flights to various places in our planet’s close vicinity. However, after the cessation of these flights, the urge to explore the cosmos slowly waned. The curiosity that man once felt to challenge the unknown and push our boundaries is dying. NASA loses more funding by the day. Kids don’t dream of being astronauts anymore. Opportunities that were once abundant have disappeared into the inky abyss. The golden age of space has come and gone, but in the void there is room for growth.

     “At the death of one great civilization there is always room for another to rise. We can be the conquerors of the last great frontier. Many years ago the spark that ignited a generation died and went quietly into the night sky. The dreams of a generation were no more than mere stardust. Tonight I want to reignite that spark. Tonight I have something very special to show you.

“Allow me to introduce the flagship of the new Praxis fleet: The Humbolt-I.”

     The lights went off on the stage and behind him a massive rocket was illuminated. It was the largest I had ever seen, stretching up towards the heavens in seemingly unending stature. Watching the launches on a television screen as a kid had made them all look so small, but in the flesh it was dumbfounding. The crowd ooh’d and ahhhh’d at the sheer size of it. Nick let out a long whistle as if he was just seeing it for the first time. “Well that is quite a ship isn’t it?”

     We all agreed with him. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It put all of the other shuttles to shame. It looked like it could have carried several of them on its back.  “What you are looking at is the first of a new generation of space flight. Let me tell you a little bit about how it works. Don’t worry, I won’t get too technical. I can see the eager faces of our new cadets in the audience, and they just want to know whether or not they get to fly it!” He flashed the audience a grin and I swear his teeth sparkled like the stars. Never trust a used car salesman.

     “Three engines mounted on the bottom, fueled by the biggest tanks the industry has ever seen. They burn clean fuel, creating no external waste other than water pure enough to drink! There is enough fuel on this ship to make it to the farthest planets in the solar system, but let’s start with Mars shall we?” He beams another smile. The audience laughs at his joke. I’m entranced by his speech, every moment I am more excited than the last.

     “Sitting on its back is the crew module. Our Pilots sit inside that cockpit while engineers aboard the other half guide their trajectory. Once they’re far enough away from earth’s pull the rocket and the ship will separate. But that’s not all! The rocket will split into three separate pieces. These are the life support systems that will sustain our new colonists.”

     The blue hologram was on again and showing the pieces separating as the floodlights illuminated them on the rocket itself. “These four pieces in total will travel in a synchronized pattern to the red planet. Once they reach the surface, the colonists will begin constructing a biosphere which will become their new home.”

     On the hologram the surface of Mars appeared. There was a great glass bubble, just like in the movies. Inside were exotic plants and large water-gardens. It all looked beautiful, and so much more interesting than home. I wanted to go there so bad, wanted more than anything to hop on the rocket the second he was done speaking and to head off into the great unknown. There was so much to be discovered and I wanted to be a part of it.

     “In total I’m sorry to say that we will only be able to take thirty of you, but in the years to come, opportunities will only grow. Know that these first pioneers are just that, pioneers. They will blaze the trail forward for us, so that others may follow in their footsteps. Take my hand ladies and gentlemen, and together we can stride gallantly into the future.”

     With that the crowd went quiet and a light blue hue fell over the stage. Burton motioned to the hologram and in place of the mars colony a large list of names appeared. “Standing before me are ten-thousand, or at least, that’s what the analysts are telling me.” Another smile. When someone has to try that hard to seem genuine, they’re hiding something. I know that now.

     “To those of you watching at home, looking out at your loved ones here tonight, wish them luck. Without any further ado I will give you the names of the first thirty pioneers to join me on our expedition to greatness and glory.” The names began to shuffle and rearrange themselves, slowly whittling their way down to a smaller number. “Remember this day, for it is the first in a long line of progress.”

     The names stopped shifting and thirty stood on the screen. I barely had a chance to look for mine when a massive picture flashed on the screen. “Benjamin Hartley!” He yelled out, beaming all the while. My heart froze and melted all in the same instant. Illuminated in a three story hologram was an image of myself.

     Before I knew what was happening a bright light was on my face and everyone around me was cheering. “Come on up here Benjamin! Be the first to join the Praxis team!” Two men in grey suits came down to help me through the throng and to the stage. It was over in an instant. I don’t even remember fighting my way through the growing crowd. The next minute I was on the stage and Nick Burton was talking to me. Me! He looked me up and down and actually seemed impressed!

     “What do you think America? Is this the face of the future?!” Everyone in the crowd cheered and screens lit up showing more of the same from around the world. “So what do you think Ben? If I can call you Ben that is.”

     “Fine—that’s fine. Call me Ben.” I must have sounded in shock because next he was laughing jovially again.

     “Dare I say he’s ‘star’ struck?” That got a big laugh from the audience. I laughed along with them, loosening up. I still couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. “Well Ben? What’s your answer?”

     My answer?! Is there even a question to it? Of course I will join, this is my dream. I can finally do something for the world, do something memorable. I will be looked upon with fondness; people will know my face! That’s not what came out. Instead there was a flurry of guttural noises and I nearly vomited. In the end I managed to mutter one word: “Yes.”

     “Well alright then!” There was some more pomp and circumstance, I signed my name on a large stack of paper filled with fine print a few times, and then the other twenty-nine names were drawn. One-by-one the other thirty ran up and took their place next to me on the stage. Each seemed to be more charismatic than the last. I had managed to be the only shy person picked out of a global lottery. I don’t remember much about the others, we were separated shortly after the drawing.

     Praxis might have wanted to bill us as a team, but the truth was most of it was an act. We were fed scripted lines on a daily basis, and those were in turn fed to live cameras; all of this before the launch of course. Communications relays would go down shortly after due to the nature of earth’s atmosphere. As it turns out years of pollution and debris can create quite the barrier.

     As the music died down and the crowd began to shuffle away, the true nature of the beast was revealed. We all began chatting excitedly about the months to come, training, the whole nine yards! We were going to be astronauts! The best part was these people actually took an interest in me. We all had something in common, we were never coming back, and we didn’t want to. We were comrades in that moment, and that moment alone.

     We continued to wave and listen to people shout our names, but in the end, men in grey suits came to collect us. “Please, come with us so that training may begin.” One of the guys made a joke, something stupid, I can’t remember it now. They grabbed him first. A black curtain dropped around the stage and the crowd died away.

     “Come with us now. Training will begin.”

     “Hey man, come on, don’t we get to celebrate first?” He wasn’t done joking apparently. No one else seemed to grasp how serious the situation had become. They hit him hard. One of the other cadets screamed. My legs went numb, everything felt cold around me. More men in grey suits came and we were asked once more to move.

     “You will come now, or be punished.” None of us needed to be told again. We walked off the stage and into a concrete tunnel leading under the facility. One of the girls began to cry. She was grabbed and drug off down a side hall. I didn’t see her again for a full day. They weren’t messing around. The world around me had suddenly turned from opaque to clear. On that stage we had signed our names blindly, accepting the fact that Praxis was generous on faith.

     Who takes the time to read a contract when everyone around you is pressuring you for an answer? We all wanted to be astronauts, and nothing was going to get in our way. I don’t think any of us even read the first line. We all went straight for the red X and signed without thinking. Praxis had said we were going to be earth-shakers, that we were their pioneers, their pride.

     The truth dawned on me: We weren’t their pioneers, we were their prisoners…