The Expansion

AgAin

The sound of the door of the machine and the feeling of the water being emptied made me open my eyes. But, the light of the room hurts my eyes and I didn't have a clear picture of the room. I didn't know what was going on. I told myself whether 60 years had elapsed!
My eyes were getting accustomed to the light. Meanwhile, I noticed everybody else was getting out of their machines.
“What a pity”
“Just as result of a bad accident, all of us might have been awakened at the same time.” I couldn't guess what had happened!
Sally was in the middle of the hall with Professor Noah standing next to her with a more wrinkly face and whiter hair. It was evident that he had not used the time machine. Without coming out of the machine, I asked with concern, "What's going on?"
Noah said, “Please come next to me to explain you what has happened in the last twenty years.”
Noah said, “Six year after your arrival, the second team consisting of sixteen Venus inhabitants could successfully get through the tests and courses, and they set off for Earth; one of them was your friend, Sarah. Unfortunately, during the launch, the shuttle caught fire due to technical problems and the shuttle was destroyed before leaving the space station."
Poor William took his hand in front of his mouth, shedding tears as he was listening to Noah.
Professor added, “Of course, nobody got disappointed and they resumed efforts. Five years after the accident, or eleven years after your arrival, a historically unprecedented fire storm hit Venus, unfortunately, taking the lives of a large population. The financial loss of the incident not only slowed down the company's activity, it also put the government in a grave situation. Unfortunately, under such a horrendous condition, a group of self-seekers made use of this chaos, attacking various military zones and taking their control. They began propaganda against the scientists, describing the incidences as the divine punishment. They denounced the travel to Earth as being in conflict with the God's providence. They convinced people that the Day of Judgment is close. They believed everybody must die so that God would take good people to heaven and bad people to the promised hell. Maybe it's hard to believe, but they executed a large number of people who disagreed the theory. They also seized control of the space company and even set new legislation.”
Eve said, "Well, why didn't people unite and put resistance to their rule?"
Noah said, “Because they suppressed anyone who opposed them. Since they lifted the ban on childbearing and gave a series of freedom, some naive people were absorbed by them.”
All of us were stunned to hear this story; even its imagination was ridiculous.
I asked, “What is our duty now?”
The Professor said, “I have tried hard for more than five years and have negotiated with many individuals. Venus inhabitants opined that we should return and repent. They have called on us to dispose of the idea. They believe that God is supposed to began the doomsday and that it will be delayed if some people remain alive. They have also threatened that they will send a spaceship and destroy the base if we fail to return. I have left everything behind to be here and get the project ahead. I can tell you with certitude, upon my return, no destiny except for execution awaits me. Therefore, I prefer not to leave here. I'd rather die for something always important to me. I awakened you to decide for your life. Do you like to be here? Venus inhabitants might one day come and destroy here when we are in the time machine. It is improbable though. They have destroyed all equipment and even executed the aerospace scientists, so it will take a lot of time for them to get to Earth. Another alternative is to stay here. We can wait and see whether the Earth condition for living will improve. 
Finally, the destiny lying at the end of the life path is death; you should only choose whether you'd like to spend your life in the way of science or religion!"
Up until then, I had heard of God and the day of resurrection off and on. Although science had many reasons to do away with God, and religion did not generally a matter of significance in people's life, I couldn't personally deny the existence of God. I had always felt I was a boatman in the middle of the sea unaware of his whereabouts and unable to row, with the waves taking him to the right destination. I believed it was God who put me on the right path.
The Professor added, “Guys, I don't want you to make an illogical decision. Within the next two days, you will have the opportunity to stay together, think about it, and discuss the issue. We told you that this was a no-return journey, but the situation has changed.” Unfortunately, my project failed after the recent events. We do not receive any support from Venus, and it is unclear what will happened next. There is spaceship occupying four people, and everyone can leave at will.” He left the room.
Undoubtedly, it was the most sorrowful scene of my life. The professor's expression implied melancholy and lack of motivation.
William said, “It is incredible a large number of people still think about well-worn issues and believe in such superstitions, in an era when the human attempts to make other planets habitable and seeks to find life in other planets and galaxies.”
Eve said, “William, I agree with you, but we’d better agree each other's opinions. Please do not put this up again. With the progress of human knowledge, it has been proven that we cannot speak about anything with certitude. Maybe, someday we'll realize how wrong our beliefs have been!"
I replied, “My friends, from the day I stepped on this path, I didn't intend to give up, and I don't feel like getting back. I don’t let anybody to decide about my death. If God wants to start resurrection, He will exterminate us with a calamity. So, now I’ll go to Noah and tell him I won't give up until the end of the project. I don't waste time and prefer to go to the time machine and try to stay alive."
After my remark, the rest left their seats and we went to the Professor's room. I said my point of view to Noah with confidence, and others confirmed it strongly.
Noah was wreathed in a smile. Shedding tears, he came to me and hugged me. Others added to this circle. We all receive positive energy as though nothing had happened from the first.
Affected positively by our remarks, Noah said, “My friends! When you were asleep, I estimated that Earth will not become habitable in less than two to three thousand years contrary to the belief I used to hold.
We have, however, enough life storage in the spaceship because nobody is supposed to join us. If we don't die as a result of a disease or an accident, we’ll be alive as long as three thousand years. I have to change the machine's setting. From now on, every one hundred years, two people wake up to fill the checklist and fix likely problems, then they get back to their machines. In fact, we receive no support from Venus. I hope we can face our own problems.”
We got back to our machines. I closed my eyes and thought, “As calculated, the last two individuals will exit the machine three hundred years later.”



Three hundred years later
There came the sound of the machine door sliding open. The water was flowing out with pressure. The machine door had completely opened. My body was a little numb. It was hard to move my feet. It invoked the feeling of school days, when I must leave the bed with reluctance. First, I tried to move my toes a little. I fisted my hands a few times. Finally, I came out of the machine. I found that the door of the Eve's machine was open. Her eyes were open. Still in her machine, she couldn’t move a muscle. I went towards her machine and gave her a smile. I said, “Would you please come out?”
She extended her hand as a sign for me to hold it. I helped her to come out. She came out of the machine and suddenly embraced me!
It was like a dream. It was a really good feeling. As she was in my arms, I put my hand on her head. I gave her hair a gentle stroke. It took a few seconds before she stepped off my arms. She said, “I'm sorry. My feet was numb. I fell suddenly!”
I guessed she wanted to play a prank. It was not important at all. I was fine to have her in my arms after so many years that I'd loved her.
I looked at the calendar on the wall and shouted, “Oh my God! Has three hundred years really elapsed? This is unbelievable!”
Eve said, “Adam! Come here and read reports of Venus! For more than two hundred years, no report has been sent from Venus. The fire storm that hit the planet that year seems to destroy everything suddenly.”
We began to control Venus satellite images. It was a real hell. Despite their high resistance, the intensity of the heat had distorted the buildings. Everywhere was covered by red dust. There were no plants or animals. There was no sign of life.
Eve said, “I don’t know how we're going to die, but I'm happy to be here now.”
I couldn't think about Eve’s remarks. The scene was really horrible. It was impossible to imagine how many living organisms had died. To distract my attention from Venus and the way it had been destructed, I began to fill the checklist, but Eve kept sticking to it. As she was doing her tasks, she was loudly speculating how animals, people, and forests had been destructed.
Fortunately, all Earth travelers were in good condition, and journey could go on without worry.
My mind was so involved with the events of Venus that I had completely forgotten my romantic feelings. I preferred to go to the time machine to escape from those thoughts.
When I found everything satisfactory, I helped Eve fix the connections of her time machine. She smiled and said, “I’ll see you three hundred years later.” As the machine door closed, I went to my own machine. I fixed the connections of my machine and switched it on.










Five hundred years later
The sound of the door of the machine and the feeling of the water being emptied made me open my eyes. I felt extreme fatigue in my whole body. I tried to relieve my muscle cramps by stretching my hands and feet. I came out of the machine. There came the Eve's voice. “Adam! Can you come here and help me? I cannot move at all."
The time machine was not designed for all these years, and Noah was forced to set it for three hundred years. As I went towards the Eve's machine I realized that the machine doors of William and Sally were open! But there wasn’t anybody around.
I got to the Eve's machine and took her out. There was a chair in the middle of the hall. I helped her sit. Frail as I was, I gave her shoulder and arms a massage. Eve said, “It is weird! Where are William and Sally? Why are their machine door open? I think something has gone wrong. My body really hurts this time. Are you sure three hundred years have elapsed?”
I turned my look at the calendar. Eve was right. Some five hundred years have elapsed since the last time we saw each other.
When Eve's condition improved, we went to the control system to check it. As reported, an autoimmune disease killed Sally 180 years ago, and the controller failed to cure her.
When poor William came out of the machine, he couldn't tolerate the death of Sally, along with the loss of his best friend, Sarah; sadness and depression prompted him to commit suicide. William had left a voice message for us. He told us that he had always believed he was an unfortunate man and that the biggest chance of his life was his recruitment as the Earth traveler; however, upon his separation from Sarah along with her loss, as well as the ensuing disasters that hit Venus, and then Sally's death, he decided to do away with the project so that his bad luck would not influence it badly, and finally he preferred to add his remaining life storage to that of us as his contribution to the triumph of the project.
It was unexpected, but I didn’t make a judgment about William. If I were him, I might have done the same.
There was a grave situation. We had lost two of our best friends. The health rate of Tom had declined to 70 percent. The worst of all was the health rate of Dr. Noah, which had declined to 55 percent. Noah was like our father. If something bad happened to him, it would be very hard to control the station with so much bad incidence in the making.
The single good aspect of the previous eight hundred years was the rise in the average temperature of the area surrounding the station to minus ten degrees.
We filled all checklists, and I accompanied Eve to her machine as I did so before. We firmly hugged one another. I took a grab of her arms, saying, “I have something in my hearth, having kept it as a secret for myself. I’m not aware of your feeling towards me, but I receive a good feeling from you the first time I saw you. In the years that have elapsed, you have calmed me down in the day and the failure to see you at night have agitated me. I was always worried about you not feeling the same. I sincerely love you and hope to see you again."
Eve smiled sweetly and just said, “Thank you!”
I helped her join connections and switched her machine on. My mind was awfully busy with the thought about her answer! “Why did she just say "Thank you” after I expressed my love so intensely?” It was a good idea that she would firmly hug me after what I said and replied she had felt the same!
I was down. As I prepared to turn on my machine, I thought, “If Eve is going to be so indifferent to me, I prefer not to wake up again.”






Two thousand years later
The noise made by the opening of the door awakened me. I opened my eyes. Being alive, I didn’t have a good feeling. I preferred to have been died in the machine without realizing it. I lost my nerve. I didn't feel like encountering my friends’ dead body.
Up to five hundred years ago, when I entered the time machine, just William, Eve and I were still alive among the Venus population. Then, when I exited the time machine, Tom and Eve might have died.
I went out of the time machine. There was no sound. First, I went towards Eve. Fortunately, she was alive, but her time machine had been set for two hundred years later. And she would had had enough life storage by then.
William died seventy years ago. I went towards the control system. I found that everything was in disarray. A warning message could be seen in most parts of the system.
The outside temperature had risen to two degrees above zero. The snow must have melted,
I rushed to the window. As far as I could see, there was water. I could only see water from the other windows.
I said, “Wow! Up until now, we were waiting for the ice to melt down. Now, we should wait for the water to evaporate!”
Intense waves had separated the station from its main position. It was being carried by waves like a ship. Fortunately, the weather condition, the oxygen level, and all other things ware favorable, but land was nowhere to be seen. The power system was not in a good condition, and using the time machine again was stupidity.
I decided not to bother Eve and began the mission individually.
I went to the lab and launched all systems to clone aquatic animals. At least, there was a proper condition for their life then, and aquatic cloning would not take long. A few years passed, and I worked uninterruptedly. I felt that I could clone the birds so that they would fly and find terra firma.
One day that I was looking at the sea through a window a bird landed on a pole next to the window. Drowned in my imagination, I noticed that its feet were covered by mud. It meant that somewhere on Earth had come out of water and made its feet muddy. For the first time, I felt that Earth had become a lovely place to live.
I couldn’t tolerate anymore and went to the Eve’s machine to awaken her.
As Eve saw me in front of the machine, she said, “What's going on? You have changed a lot. Adam, how long have you been out?”
I helped her go out of the machine, telling her the whole story.
From the following day, we sped up cloning. In less than a month, Eve gave me the good news of her childbearing. They were twins, a boy and a girl.
Unfortunately, nobody was out there, so we couldn't share our happiness, but it was undoubtedly the greatest human achievement. I wished the generations to come would not forget the Venus history and Noah attempts and that they wouldn't take all the endeavor made by millions of people for granted.
It could be said that human mission to Earth has come to a close successfully. Since our twins could not get married, Eve and I decided to clone a couple for our children.
One day, we found that the food heating system had broken down. Eve said, “It was a good idea if we could make a fire.” It took a few hours to find a way to light the fire. I came to realize that if we lost our state-of-the-art, user-friendly technology, we would neither have the required equipment nor the knowledge to reproduce and relaunch them. I got worried about our children who would have to sift through the science blow-by-blow like the primary men after we wore out our equipment a few years later.


Year 2017
Taking hold of a glass of beer with both hands, I observed the bubbles of beer like stars in the sky. I had always felt indebted to the person who brewed it for the first time, although I didn’t know who he was! Drinking beer made me fat, yet it was the only way to drown my sorrows for a while. I am a student of history. I have occupied my mind by a series of questions for a long time which I have yet to find a convincing answer to them. I believe that anything in history books has been articulated with a touch of hyperbole. Many books have been written about Adam and Eve leaving paradise and descending upon earth or Noah, who lived to turn 1,000 years old and managed to put a couple of each species of animals in a single ship without them causing a problem to each other! These stories have repeated over and over, defying logic even with the modern-day knowledge and science!
I usually joined my friends at the café for drinking and chatting, then everybody went home. We often talked about business and methods of generating further income. Sometimes we held a discussion about parties or the buddies bragged about their antics.
A small television screwed onto the ceiling with a strange stand was on. It was broadcasting a program about the possibility that human race might not belong to Earth and that we human might be the decedents of an alien race, having traveled to Earth in the distant past.
Conducting research on the architectural aspects of ancient structures, Archaeologists try to find an answer to the question as to how civilizations like Mayans and ancient Egyptians managed to build such extraordinary monuments 3,000 BC using primary technologies.
Some believe that human beings once had the most advanced technology available, but couldn't keep it for an unknown reason! Perhaps, extraterrestrial beings used to live with us with the latest technology and left us alone for an unknown reason.
I bid farewell to my friends and got out of the café. On the way home, I occupied my mind with various thoughts. What is the truth, anyway?
I memorized a sentence by Stephen Hawking, “Human beings have no future unless they travel into deep space.”
Perhaps, once human beings didn't have a future and had to travel to Earth!