...And We Will Have Snow

Chapter 8-11: Seeds of Gaia

"The trick is in how you travel. No more setting up a long orbit and coasting. Remember the rocket calculation? It's built into drone software now so all you have to do is give it the GPS coordinates and it will calculate the path and flight time for you. With a DDM drive, you basically accelerate halfway there and decelerate the rest of the way. Drones typically accelerate at about ten g's. At that rate the Moon is only an hour away. It takes less than a day to get to Mars if you wait for the orbits to close. You don't even need to carry extra water."

"We could get to the Moon in an hour?"

"Yup. The Moon and Mars are being actively explored by drones, singly and in groups. There's serious talk of mining asteroids with drone equipment. The asteroid belt is only a day and a half away."

"That's closer than China was for cargo ships fifty years ago!"

"Jupiter and the other outer planets and moons are nearly as accessible. They're all just a matter of days away for a drone."

Newt paused. Then he said, "For a drone. The Space Pod program is something different. It will allow humans to live in space, for as briefly or as long as they desire. That's a much different level of risk, and NASA is keeping a tight rein on it. But already there's talk of flying them to the Moon and Mars. NASA's approach is that those places, and any others, will first be 'settled' by drones."

"I imagine the human settlers will operate the drones, so they'll know their way around before they get there?"

"That would be optimum. Lots of planning and preparation to be involved in. But like the Sky Domes and the orbiting Space Pods, there will be tourists, short term visitors."

"Really? Even on Mars? But people can't accelerate at ten g's. Won't it take them a lot longer to get there?"

"Actually no. Travel at one g takes only three times as long as going at ten g. You can get to Mars in two days when it's close. Worst case is about five days. So people could pretty much come and go as they please."

"Asteroids? Moons of Jupiter?"

"Tack on another day and you're there."

"Wow! How come we're not hearing more about this?"

"I don't know. Around here we talk about it all the time. Or did. I guess now the stuff I just told you is all sort of 'well of course.' For the rest of the world it must be like you said; they're too busy adjusting to changes here at home to give much thought to what's out there."

"If Bear was here he'd be telling us it's completely in character for the New Ravens to be launching themselves into space any way they can," Sedna told them. "And not bothering to tell the rest of the world about it," she added.

"How so?" asked Dema.

"Ravens are free spirits, in the truest sense of the word. They don't think about life and death. They just do it. They have a gut level belief in their own immortality. It's not a topic for discussion, it's not even an accepted fact or an act of faith. It's a natural attitude. Life is for living. If they kill themselves off in the process, big deal. They'll be back in a couple of years going at it again, full tilt."

"What if they die in space? Or on the Moon, or Mars?"

"Space, smace. C'mon Mom. You know all this. You too Dad. Sure, this little world is special. But it's little! The Raven has thrown us another big curve ball. We're not stuck here anymore. Space Pods. Seeds of Gaia. We can fill the planets, fill the galaxy even. Who knows. The Ravens don't. And they don't care. They just want to go."

Newt was grinning ear to ear at this outburst from his girl. Dema was unexpectedly puzzled by it. "But isn't it enough to just send drones?" She knew as soon as she said it that it was the mother in her speaking. She realized for perhaps the first time that she was no longer the Maiden incarnate. She was the Matron now. Lord help me, she thought, when I become the Crone! But it was the job of the Matron to turn her children free. And of the Crone, she knew, to pass on what wisdom she could.

All in good time. What she was witnessing now was Sedna donning the mantle of the Maiden, celebrating life. Sedna, who had played all three roles of the Triple Goddess so well in the past, and hadn't forgotten. She broke into a smile. Cern and Sedna smiled with her.

Children of Gaia. As always, the Ravens would explore, the Eagles would settle. The seeds of Gaia would spread. Children would die, but many more would be born.

She looked around at the others. She was almost surprised to see them. She felt like she had expanded into the cosmos, launched into the heart of the Q. In a way she had really done that, and they were all there with her.

"The drones," she said. "We can use the drones, certainly. But these bodies help us feel. The drones can't give us that. They are far too primitive, for all their special features. I know that for a certainty. Newt, spread your seeds of Gaia. With her blessing."

They all sat silently for a while, letting the moment mature. They all knew, with Dema, that what she said was true. They could, as spirits, operate their drones via the Q, and fly them anywhere. But without their bodies, they could not truly live the experience. The Q would provide only an echo. It would take the Space Pods, and all the seeds of Gaia they contained, to realize this dream.

Dema, with her history, especially welcomed this new vision. "I'm hopeful," she said, "that at long last, there will be no more persecution of shamans as witches, no more animal mentality among humans, preying on one another."

After a while Sedna got up, and hauled Newt after her. "Come on," she said, "We're going to the Moon."

And they did.