Children of Anthea

By D. James Hawley

This story takes place with journey of the Anthea, the sixth and smallest of the vessels to leave mother earth in search of new planets ... A living breathing entity itself, conceived by the collective consciousness on earth, under guidance of the Divine Spirit.

It was host to a multitude of life forms collected from the biodiversity of the earth, including 6 million humans, and a vast array of animals and plants, all working in harmony representing their contribution to life.

Once capable of surviving independent of the life giving energy of the sun, it had set out to inspire the growth of life on a distant star.

During this time, life on the Anthea is suddenly threatened by an unknown disease, or cancer, affecting large parts of the population. While officials fight with the task of finding a solution, a small group of students working on their term project discover a link to the possible result of the disease.

But, will they be able to help find a cure in time to save the population?

• Language: English
• Publisher: D. James Hawley
• Release date: May 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781310393235

Book preview

Children of Anthea

by D. James Hawley

Copyright 2009 by D. James Hawley

Smashwords Edition

Introduction

The turn of the 21st century A.D. saw a time of great concern on Earth. Mankind was dependent upon resources from the earth for survival, with fossil fuels like oil and coal as the primary sources of energy.

In the last third of the 20th century, new discoveries of oil had peaked and began to decline. Conservationists predicted the end of these useful energy resources in the next hundred years, but rather than give more attention to pursuing alternative sources of energy, the issue was merely dismissed as being a problem for the distant future.

However, with the Industrial Age blooming worldwide, by the end of the second decade of the new millenium, consumption had grown well beyond production. Man finally admitted, just as they had denied the existence of global warming, that the depletion of natural resources had been ignored far too long.

Global economies went out of control for the last of these plundered resources, and only added to the already existing problems of climate, population and starvation, and social and cultural differences.

The accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon during transportation, brought to a head nations’ arguments about pollution and resources. Disagreements over religion and cultural differences had taken a back stage to fighting over control of clean water, polluted air crossing nations borders, billions of refugees from every country having to migrate from cities flooded by rising ocean levels from the melting of ice in the polar regions, and lack of sufficient food to eat, as millions worldwide in countries great and small were sick, dying, or deceased.

Poised on the edge of war, global leaders acknowledged the futility of fighting over a dying planet. A great shift occurred in the thinking of societies all over the world as nations put aside their differences temporarily to address the issues of survival.

Gratefully, rapid breakthroughs in renewable resources became the salvation of the human race, and in the centuries that followed, man experienced a profound period of growth and awakening, and learned to live in harmony with the earth, rather than merely consuming what it had to offer.

Just as a sculptor molds clay into a work of art, so did man learn to utilize the elements of the earth. A switch from the mechanical to the organic occurred; resources were no longer taken from the earth, but encouraged to become useful in a more natural form. As electrical current exists in all life forms, tools and equipment were replaced by new life forms that had been created to serve those purposes. Many new animals evolved which were designed specifically for a particular task, replacing what was originally physical labor performed by man and machine.

Trees and forests were no longer cut down to build from, but were encouraged to grow into useful structures like homes, cities, and eventually vessels capable of functioning independent from the earth’s atmosphere. Not inanimate ships, but living breathing biological entities containing within them many forms of life from the earth, including plants, animals, oceans, and man as facilitators of the process.

The following millenium was donned the Era of the Great Leaving, and was a time of celebration of life. Elements of the plant and animal world that had been nurtured in the womb of mother earth were now ready to break away in their own independence and bring life to new planets. Millions of people stayed behind as stewards to the Earth, but most left on vast bioships to bring life to other parts of the galaxy.

This story takes place with journey of the Anthea, the sixth and smallest of the vessels to leave mother earth in search of new planets to populate… A living breathing entity itself, conceived by the collective consciousness on earth, under guidance of the Divine Spirit.

It was host to a multitude of tiny life forms collected from the biodiversity of the earth, including 6 million humans, and an array of other plants and animals, all working in harmony representing their specific contribution to life.

Once capable of surviving independent of the life giving energy of the sun, it had set out to inspire the growth of life on a distant star.

Around the 17th generation of man after Anthea’s departure from earth, the planetary system of a red giant they were passing was studied for the potential of life. While the temperatures of the fourth planet were acceptable, the atmosphere and environment contained significant concentrations of chorine, sodium, manganese and hydrochloric acid… not elements conducive to the life of humans. Efforts to inspire the building blocks of life to form out of the elements present had so far proved unsuccessful.

Chapter 1

Is that the ringwall? Remiana asked optimistically as they walked, squinting at the image she thought she saw in the distance through the misty air. She knew they hadn’t passed the last costal town yet and the ringwall was still a few miles beyond, but she was hoping to make it seem closer.

I sure hope so, Imela responded, scoping the sky considering how much longer the light might remain.

Even though Imela was getting tired, she didn’t intend to sound like she was, and glanced over her shoulder at Remiana to see if she caught on, but the air above Remiana captured her eyes instead. Imela held back her grin until returning her attention forward, and exclaimed casually you're being followed.

Remiana raised her eyebrows huh?, and looked behind herself to discover a cloud of butterflies. AaahhHH! she shrieked with a giggle, and waved her arms around her head. Go away!.... Go pollinate something! she shouted, and they fluttered off across the field.

Remiana was a butterfly shepherd. Or… rather, studying to be one. Even at only 15 yearcycles old, she had an uncanny ability with them; an intuitive knack. It was her gift and special purpose.

Butterflies and honeybees had been chosen to inhabit Anthea for their pollinating value over other insects.

Butterflies were useful due to their migrant, noncolonizing and docile nature. Plus, their strong instinctual migratory habits made them weak to suggestion, so they were easy to manipulate, which was important since they still naturally tended toward specific plants and needed to be encouraged to visit and pollinate the other plants.

Honeybees were equally important and very efficient. However, their colonizing instincts required shepherds to monitor and transport their mobile hives.

The mood was light, and even though it had been two days since they started across the Plains Ring, both girls knew they would be home soon and they hiked on with a pleasant enthusiasm. The gentle breeze that always blew through the Plains Ring made captivating ripples and waves on the fields of wheat and wild grasses, and soothed the tedium of their long walk.

No people lived in this ring except for the costal towns. In fact, they hadn't even seen any harvesters since yesterday. Not that either minded. They enjoyed each other’s company and both had a hint of explorer in them. And, even though it was recommended Imela didn't travel by water, they preferred the freedom and quiet time walking.

But Remiana saw her friend glancing around at the sky and knew, it would be getting dark soon and they needed to make it to the last costal town because it wasn't safe to sleep in the open, and Imela wouldn’t be able to continue through the night without the energy from the light.

Imela was sick.

She was one of the first born with the condition... an unexplainable and incurable lung disease with asthma like symptoms that made her short of breath during strenuous activities. It used to be only mild, but her difficulty was increasing as she got older.

Once dormant… pigments in the skin of humans now allowed them to take advantage a little, of the very efficient energy producing process of photosynthesis used by plants, supplementing the fuel for energy gained from eating.

The bodies of people with Imela’s condition took even more advantage of photosynthesis, since fluid in her lungs made breathing difficult, and oxygen was produced during the photosynthesis process. During periods of low light, their body’s metabolism slowed to compensate. Remiana knew Imela would grow weaker after the daylight faded.

The girls were travelling home from the clinic in Emiston where Imela had been for her checkup. The preferred method of travel was through the waterways, as going on foot took several days. However, the confined space of the channelpods was extra stressful for people with Imela’s lung difficulties.

Remiana knew a break would be good before continuing on until dark. She made a quick jog to catch up with Imela, and sighed loudly Whew... Em, you know? I could really use a rest.

Knowing Remi wasn't suggesting a rest for herself, Imela slowed to a stop and nodded without saying a word, slipped the travel bag off of her shoulder, found an empty space in the tall wildgrass, and sat.

Remi plopped on the ground in front of her, and reached into the travel bag for a snack. She unwrapped the two remaining bilberry scones they picked up at their stop in the Dacir costal and handed one to Imela.

Remi examined the muffin as she chewed and exclaimed through a half a mouthful, You know what these remind me of?

Imela placed her fingers in front of her full mouth, raised her eyebrows and asked what?

The old chef with the bows in his beard.

Imela shook her head in confusion, huh?

Remember when we were young and mom used to get us the mango nut bread whenever we visited Genett costal?

Yeah? Imela replied urging Remi to continue.

Gesturing to her scone, These remind me of the old chef, Remi concluded and took another bite.

Imela swallowed as quickly as she could to explain What are you talking about? That was a whole different town, a whole different food, showing the remains of her scone, and a completely different baker!

I know… but that’s what these remind me of, Remi shrugged.

Em rolled her eyes, and then shrugged as if to say Okay… whatever! to her friend’s odd reminder of the biscuits to that memory.

So… is he going to take you to the festival, or what? Remiana pried, continuing their conversation from earlier that day.

Coupling was discouraged until people entered their twenties, but Imela was fascinated with a boy from Remi's village. He was a swimmer, two yearcycles older than they were, and was an apprentice learning to work with the dolpham, who were more intelligent and evolved descendants of the dolphin mammals from old Earth.

Remi thought he was simple minded and too preoccupied with the future, but Imela liked that he was sleek and well built, and liked how his cheek tasted salty when she kissed him.

I dunno... I haven't let him ask me yet, she replied confidently, smiling back at her friend.

Did your mom get your dress finished yet? Imela continued.

Our neighbor was supposed to finish it while we were gone, Remiana said, stuffing her last bite into her mouth, brushing off her hands, and pulling her flute out of her bag to check their bearings and estimate how much further they were from the final costal town.

Standing inside the Plains ring was like standing inside a long deep valley, 30 miles from beginning to end, with each of the sides sloping upward and continuing over the top, like being inside of a long tube. Looking from side to side, the slope upward could be seen starting at about a half mile away, and on a clear day lakes, main roads and a patchwork of crop fields were visible going up against the sides of the walls. If someone were to walk up the slope on the sides, they could walk all the way around and arrive at where they started. If the central tube wasn’t there, running the length of the Plains Ring, the view all the way around could be seen and people would appear to be standing on the ceiling, except that people were too small to be seen since the far side was nearly 10 miles up. There were 23 costals spread throughout the Plains Ring about 5-6 miles apart, each home to its own farming community.

Most people that carried maps had them etched on small wooden or shell dowels, often not much bigger than a finger. Many were hollowed out as whistles, and were small enough to be worn as necklaces.

At that size, there wasn’t much room for detail. They primarily indicated just the location of the Plains Ring costals and sometimes the major roads, but were at least handy for providing a general reference.

Because of the design of the Anthea, with the ground surface of the Plains Ring being all the way around the inside of a tube, and with the maps etched onto the outside of a dowel, the carved maps were a mirror of the landscape. The map could be held up and each costal location carved into the surface pointed to the direction of the actual costal town.

In addition, their usefulness was two-fold. Besides being used as a location map, if some pigment was smeared onto the map’s surface, it could be rolled against a paper and used to print a flat map which was great for planning trips and estimating distances.

Remiana’s map, however, was rare. It was carved into the surface of her flute, and the greater size allowed for secondary paths and many more helpful landmarks than most maps.

Her flute was made of from a dark hardwood rubbed to a brilliant sheen, and then the map was carved into the lower half below the finger holes. It was given to her by Karena, her great-grandmother, who was given it when she was a child, making it at least 100 yearcycles old.

As Remi was looking over the map to estimate their location without any visible landmarks, the deep bellow of the Horn of Eavay sounded the call of last light through the hazy air.

The girls looked up into the light fog in the direction of the sound, and then back at each other, both knowing the horn was to indicate there was only about an hour of light left.

Remi shrugged at Imela and pointed into the distance indicating, It’s that way.

Putting away her flute, and hoping to prolong the break a little longer, Remi scooped up a flower pod growing nearby and thrust it at Imela with a smile, demanding Here!

Don't you ever get tired of those? Imela asked with a smirk.

No!.... Do it! she demanded.

Imela took the ripe plum sized seedpod by the stem and closed her eyes. She sat for a moment holding it up between them, then slowly opened her eyes as the seam of the pod began to separate. A crack slowly gave way, then quickly raced around the top of the pod until it popped, and a burst of white feathery windseeds spat up into the air.

Yeay! giggled Remi, as she plucked another popper growing next to her. Do another!... Do this one! and she held it up at eye level between them, while a couple of lingering butterflies landed on her shoulders.

Imela took a calming sigh, lowered her head a little and stared at it from under her brow. After a few seconds, she started to smile as one growing next to Remi began to split instead, and sprayed the side of Remi’s face with windseeds.

Eewww! Remi exclaimed, wiping the tacky feathers off her face. Then said, proud of her friend, You're so clever!

Getting up, Remi grabbed their travel bag, and offered her hand to Imela, Come on.

Imela was born in the Pyrus Ring. Like her parents, she had a gift with plants and was practicing to be a botanist. She was already helping introduce several new species of plants.

Remiana was several days older, but was obviously heavier and a little more filled out. She had lightly tan skin and a full head of long wavy black hair. She wasn’t necessarily prettier, but her smile always caught the guy’s eyes first.

Imela was fairer skinned than her best friend, white with a pinkish hue, and more petite and thinner built. She kept the length of her straight light-blonde hair about mid-back, and in the right light, it also seemed to have a hint of pink.

Remiana’s mom was the midwife who had helped with Imela's birthing, and the two girls have been best friends their entire lives.

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The structure of the Anthea was like a tube; 10 miles across at its widest point, and almost 130 miles in length. It was constructed from a dense network of tree like structures, which were modified descendants of the great redwoods and sequoias that grew in the mountains of North America, millions of them intertwined.

Airways and fresh and salt waterways ran throughout carrying air and nutrients, like the veins and arteries in the human body, making the Anthea one giant living plant. The length of the bioship was divided into segments called rings, much like the segments of a worm. Inside each ring, the structure looked like the middle of a sponge, with chambers and tunnels where plants, animals and people lived and worked. Some chambers were small, while many were several stories high and hundreds of feet long, capable of housing entire towns. Each of the rings were separated by a ringwall, which were much more solid discs about a half mile thick and provided strength for Anthea’s body.

The front ring segment of the bioship was about 9 miles in diameter, and 15 miles long, with a 7 mile wide opening in the front that tapered down inside like a funnel. As the Anthea travelled, space dust and gasses were collected