“Hot dogs! My god, that is not a very nutritious food. Do you know about the studies that show that hot dogs lead to cancer, not to mention horrible stomach aches?”
Tom was speechless for a moment. Michelle was right about the nutritional value of hot dogs, but Sam loved them and they were part of American culture.
After about thirty seconds, he responded. “You are right about eating hot dogs. However, my son loves hot dogs, and Luis promised me he will make them. You can work this out with Luis and my son. Obviously, we do not want food poisoning and other gastro problems to occur very often, but we also need to enjoy our food. I will say that if Dr. Sato, my chief physician, believes there will be long-term negative effects of eating certain foods with no way to cure whatever diseases take place, then perhaps we will need to remove the particular food from our diets. Hopefully, if we eliminate hot dogs, Sam will be old enough to understand why.”
Michelle said, “I guess I am going to have to educate people on this spaceship about what foods they should eat and what they should avoid if they want to make it to a new galaxy. Hopefully the task will not be too frustrating for someone like myself.”
Tom said, “I am sure you can work it out with everyone on board, and we will all enjoy working with you.”
They shook hands. Tom suggested she contact Jose and start planning what kind of equipment and ingredients they would need on board that could be easily reproduced.
Next, Tom figured out which botanist he wanted to hire. Zeke Smith was an assistant professor at Johannesburg University in South Africa. Tom had heard about him from a mutual acquaintance that was involved in funding efforts mostly. Zeke had published several articles on plant genetics and was an expert in some rare plants that provided nutrition as well as medical benefits. Zeke had been to the jungle in Africa as well as to the rainforest on the Amazon River. He was willing to join the mission when they initiated the conversation recently.
Tom called him to sort out more of the details.
“Hi, Zeke. I am looking forward to hearing some of your ideas and answer any questions you may have.”
Zeke said, “It would be exhilarating to see new plant species when we reach a new planet or have the ability to create new kinds of plants. I am hoping to grow small plants that will provide a full day’s nutrition and energy.”
“Great. That sounds like a great contribution. I understand you also had a concern you needed to share with me.”
“Yes. I’m concerned about my pet tortoise. This tortoise is four years old but has a life expectancy of two hundred years.”
“Well, I don’t want any animals on board. Does it have to go with us?”
“It does. He is like a son to me. I actually knew his parents. He has a calming effect on me.”
“Look, you will be a valuable asset to our team. I’m sure we can work this out. I’ll let you bring the tortoise. There really is no choice.”
If Tom wished to have Zeke come on board, the tortoise was coming. “You’ll have to take care of him and we’ll make sure to consider his needs in the design plans for your space. Please let us know what his habitat needs to be of, course considering that we’re limited in terms of space of course. He’ll have to be solely your responsibility.”
Zeke readily agreed. “Thanks, Tom. Absolutely. And thanks for thinking of me. I look forward to the challenge.”
“Welcome on board!” He hung up after they made plans to check in with each other on email in the next few days.
Now that Tom had the food and bio-genetic team experts he wanted, he felt that the recruitment process was coming along well.
At least it was going well until he got a call from Luis a month later. Luis got a call from INS. Someone had found out about his illegal status and had notified him that he would be deported in two weeks. He was forced to quit his job at the restaurant. The only thing he could think of was to call Tom.
Tom flew to Chicago immediately and told Luis to pack his belongings, close his checking account, and throw away his cellphone and credit cards so that he could not be traced. They drove to Colorado to the space center where Luis immediately moved into an apartment nearby that Tom rented out for him.
Within a couple of weeks, Luis had settled into his new home. He confided in Tom. “At first, I thought it had been you who had reported me, but then I asked myself why you would do that? I decided to call you. Why would you make up such a fantasy story about a trip in outer space? I am forever in your debt for helping me not be deported.”
Tom said, “The way to pay off your debt is to work hard and feed the people on the spaceship when it’s built and help keep everyone fed and healthy during the building and development stages. I’ve never built a kitchen in a cave, but it’s looking pretty amazing despite the fact that we needed to speed things along given your predicament. It outrages me! We have some of the most stupid immigration laws anywhere even though we are a nation of immigrants. I am sorry that the INS caused you such anxiety.”
It seemed like the laws of the land in terms of immigrants were having some sort of Doppler effect on Tom, focusing on some of his chosen candidates. He hoped that there’d be no more passing threats he’d have to worry about. He also hoped that any politically motivated discrediting that was taking place of their mission had nothing to do with it. He buried the thought. He had more important things to think about and chase down. Luis was safe at least.
Chapter 11 – Not a Gambling Man
Tom Burns, Rocky Mountains
Tom watched his children grow in 2017 and 2018. Taking the drive to the Rocky Mountain Space Center to check on recent progress in turning the cave into a working facility for building and scientific testing gave him a chance to think through current events and how so much had changed for the worse. While his mission seemed to keep him going, the news was constantly sickening him. In the first two years of the Trump presidency, natural disasters occurred more frequently and with higher intensity. Hurricane Harvey in Houston caused the most significant flooding ever seen in Texas. Tom remembered watching the television as the now famous Cajun Navy brought people to safety.
This was followed by two more major catastrophic hurricanes, Maria and Irma, that devastated Puerto Rico and Florida, causing billions of dollars of damage, making millions of people homeless. Hurricanes Maria and Irma brought home climate change in a drastic way to Dominica, the British Virgin Islands, and other islands. People living there understand how dramatic and catastrophic climate change can be. When Tom had spoken with people, it was not just about rebuilding homes. Their livelihood was also being destroyed. The local fishermen had to go further and further out to catch fish.
Trump had visited both Florida and Puerto Rico, sites devastated by the hurricanes. He seemed more interested speaking out on the fact that spending all the money to help United States citizens was going to hurt his budget and did not seem to care about the number of deaths that occurred, which was probably in the thousands. Trump did not even mention some of the Caribbean Islands that were almost completely destroyed. He constantly feuded with other government officials over what needed to be done to rebuild communities. Puerto Rico was struck incredibly hard.
Tom had watched on television as the president had thrown paper towels to the locals in Puerto Rico. What were they going to do with paper towels? Were they supposed to clean up the flood with them? The clean-up process was not handled well. People were left without electricity for months, and water was not being delivered to the right locations. Even months after this disaster, much of the island needed to be rebuilt. The following year, Michael, the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall, occurred in Florida as a category 5. Most storms slow up as they near land, but Michael sped up. Mexico Beach lost just about every structure in town. The hurricane in North Carolina, which preceded Michael, brought the worst flooding in North Carolina’s history. Thousands of livestock animals were lost in the storm.