Meanwhile, Luis was tying all the pots and pans down, the ones he was not using. About six hours before lift-off, he would put everything away. Until then, people had to eat.
Tom called the other three spaceships to let them know he was ready to launch and to finalize the scheduled launches. The Russians would go second, with Australia third and the Germans fourth. The other three were to wait to see the results of the United States spaceship before beginning to launch.
President Stevens informed Tom that all subs were still holding their positions, and all of them had been given specific targets. “We continue to monitor the Russians.”
“All-hands-on-deck, and I anticipate the launch in twenty-four hours,” said Tom.
Chapter 54 – Moving Parts
Dr. Sato, The Imagine, Rocky Mountains, CO
With only twenty-four hours before launch, despite her concerns about Epoh and the incubating clones, some of which would be ready for birth soon after launch, Dr. Sato felt ready for whatever came her way. She was glad to see that Tom approved of how the medical quarters were prepared for the launch. There were still a lot of moving parts. There were a lot of things to work out, especially given the recent discussions that had clamped down on her a bit, unfortunately, in terms of guaranteeing the policy and procedures she had prepared for distribution on the launch date.
Certainly, she wasn’t going to let her beliefs about how things like certain placebos would work get in her way of maintaining the health of everyone on board as they prepared for launch and launched. She wasn’t sure if they would work. But these placebos had been developed in the lab in case of major cases of anxiety or people jumping up during the take-off and needing immediate medical attention. Still, nothing would stop her from seeing the power of the mind and body to heal and the massive gaps in knowledge they were still dealing with. If it wasn’t placebos, they had other methods to turn to. There were those on the ship who had already undergone early evidence-based care and seemed to heal quicker based on the work her medical staff and Epoh, secretly, were developing.
Certainly, some of the passengers were understandably fearful of any side effects that came from any potential cures that might in theory sound good but in terms of real-world application were more powerful psychologically than researched. Time would tell. Wanting to see the science behind everything became a constant amusement of some of the passengers and despite Dr. Kintain and Dr. Sato working together to provide more information, they certainly were still keeping hush-hush about Epoh and the clones. They didn’t want any real-world hysteria to occur. Real-world applications of scientific discoveries would be found in a completely different environment away from Earth, and at times her sense that what they found in the labs might need more scrutiny and testing took her over. For one thing, last week’s meeting with Tom and the committee had been assembled to discuss her written policies and procedures. They had raised some key issues and concerns. She recalled how she had felt during the discussion.
“So, after reviewing the policy and procedures, we can at least all agree that each person on board can choose how they want to live their life. We’re also in agreement that passengers can choose not to accept cloning themselves or stem cell therapy, and that cryopreservation is a must, given that we are concerned about the duration of the trip and future potential implementation of scientific findings,” she had said.
The committee of eight members had sat around the table, combing through pages of her policy and procedures. Briefly, Dr. Sato had felt a solidarity with them that day, but soon she had noted a few of the committee members were simply not into the science of the procedures, but the application as to how they might be able to in fact ensure immortality. Several of the wealthy members had represented their views. She deduced that for many of them this question had lingered in the corner of their vacillating minds for years. For some of them, securing passage into the future of humanity with a whole new rule book developing potentially was the reward they had in mind.
“Is it possible that what we’re not able to do on Earth has less to do with ethics and more to do with a mindset that prescribes to us a certain hunter-gatherer limitation to life, or even an agricultural society domestication, that we must swallow like a pill? I mean come on! We’re about to set sail across the galaxy! Doesn’t it serve us that we break from certain ways, especially if we end up being the only ones who survive Earth’s ravages because we pioneered off? Can’t we move beyond systemic thoughts and how we develop relationships and our relationship with our mortality?” Joe Hirant, one of the wealthiest donors for the Imagine voyage asked.
Joe had joined the committee and was the most vocal the entire time during the committee meeting. Dr. Sato had barely met the man. He was tall, almost a foot taller than her, with the body of a former football player, with brown hair and a habit of wearing sports jerseys. She’d seen him before, lurking around the cafeteria, but had never heard from him in the time that they’d been in preparations for the launch. She had heard from one of her staff members that he had been following their medical programs on board with a very keen eye. Joe had taken a lot of time to talk to Tom about the direction of the policy and procedures that she had discussed at a lecture about the medical policies on board more than six months ago.
“Yes, but we need to know where you’re going with the age-old desire humans have shared to live forever and how that can be and is being explored by members of our committee. We need to determine how to address it within certain parameters,” she had replied.
“Aren’t you in the least bit curious? That is one of the virtues of a scientific mind, not a vice,” Joe had continued.
“It can be absolutely abominable in many ways, shared space, shared resources, and what if new ailments that we’ve never even heard of develop as a result of the older ages? Will our scientific endeavors keep up? And what harm do we encounter if we don’t cope with our mortality in the spiritual sense so that we stop focusing on our own selves, and extending life, but instead learn to let go? I’m afraid I don’t know the answer,” Dr. Sato had admitted.
Joe had claimed, “It starts with your fear. You are looking at this as you might look at a prey! Why not look at it as something with potential? You cannot prevent the possible human edge of innovation that we may all be able to contribute to, given our shared future onboard. You can’t ignore that we’ll eventually be landing on some distant star or even rogue planet with a solid radioactive core!” Joe had stood up. “Dammit, Dr. Sato, with all due respect—”
Tom had spoken up. “Please, Joe.”
Joe had sat back down.
Tom had continued, “In all practicality, nature-based scientific discoveries have been unable to become systemic replacements on Earth. We have witnessed industry protectionism become the standard bearer of societal guilt in embracing any potential fundamental changes that might better human and environmental life on Earth. I am sufficiently certain, having seen some of your work in the labs, that you will continue to work on nature-based advances as they materialize. I am sure there is more openness among those on board to see the applicable real-world applications to their lives and to our life together aboard Imagine. If our thinking is systemically-based, it’s true, as Joe suggests, we may adapt in the same way that we did on Earth.”
Joe had continued, “And the potential loss to humanity can be devastating. Tom, you’ve spoken to me about how important your father was to you. You knew him. Many people never knew their grandparents, from your son’s generation. They were ravaged by the latter effects of war and unfulfilled promises in life and inexcusable protectionism of industry standards. Few have been encouraged to seek medicinal plant knowledge as was once studied not just as a hobby but as a way of life by indigenous groups. And that’s the sad part. They don’t want to. When there’s a will, there’s a way, we’ve learned over and over again. Of course, some members of our wealthy minions, who we’ve also now grown to be quite skeptical of, only care about nutritional value for themselves not spreading any public knowledge.