Chapter Five

"When it became clear that the dirt of Terra Two could be brought to life the gears of our terraforming enterprise started moving faster, putting programs in place, facilitating procedures, allocating funds, encouraging communication. We were so caught up in our day to day work that we didn't realize the magnitude of the system that made this project unfold flawlessly."

"Sequences and fine points were painstakingly evaluated, searching for possible flaws, missed details or overlooked minutia since the impact of any mistake grew exponentially with the distance and our lives literally depended on good execution and fail-proof contingency plans." 

 

It was drizzling in New Orleans when they arrived, the warm air held on to water like an oversized sponge. Hydrocars floated back and forth on the narrow foggy streets, sliding over the old pavers without really touching them, silent as whispers. Seth and Sarah walked briskly without words, trying to dispel the unspoken tension. Seth was tense because she knew who they were meeting, Sarah because she didn't. They took a turn on St. Peter's street, then Chartres, and cut across Jackson Square to reach Decatur street.

The street was crowded as always at this hour, with busy people waiting to make the transfer from land to water at the Decatur sluice gates to join the tumult of boats and hydrocars floating on the Mississippi river. The vehicles moved in a fluid apparently random pattern that was intuitively understandable, like blood flows through a dense and comprehensive network of arteries, vessels, capillaries and interstitial spaces to ensure that every cell is reached and fed.

The sweet and enticing aroma of vanilla and hot chocolate followed them for a while as they advanced on Decatur and passed the equestrian statue of Jeanne D'Arc. Sarah would have liked to stop for a beignet but didn't dare propose such an outrageous breech of schedule to the very tense Seth who forged ahead as if propelled by an external force towards the Space Science Center. Its imposing building marked the end of the street with a shiny chrome astrodome, half opened for the evening observations.

Seth often forgot to eat and considered the craving of food a base and pointless lack of self-control and she would have liked to instill this higher level of discipline into her pupil. Sadly the brief time they had spent together did not allow her to teach a reasonable level of self denial to the redhead. 

Cheerful shop windows put on a continuously moving display of advertisements as the glass changed from clear to broadcast and then to colorful artwork faithfully aligning itself to the information on Seth and Sarah's neural interlink bracelets in a proactive attempt to anticipate their every wish. A softened watercolor ad for steaming hot cocoa appeared repeatedly, so lifelike with the accompanying aroma that it diverted several people from their path and led them to Cafe du Monde, the plausible source of the comforting smell. Scented ads had become so popular that one couldn't tell if one was in a bakery or a perfume shop anymore. Seth frowned, irritated, but said nothing.

The yellow brick road  kept materializing in front of their feet to mark the next few yards of their journey as charted by their travel guide. Sarah liked to input random quotes in the yellow bricks and entertained herself by reading comments about her journey as she put one foot in front of the other.

A group of kids on a school field trip crossed their path, spread out to inspect the fruit stands in the market and then reassembled on the other side to reach the river bank, just as Sarah was reading "Nobody told me it was impossible when I did it.", written in phosphorescent lime green font, cursive and covered in curlicues.

"We're late", Seth spoke nervously, even though they had at least half an hour to span the five minute walk to the Space Science Center. The highlighted brick in front of Sarah read "Any place is within walking distance if you have enough time". She could swear even the travel guide read her mind sometimes. She giggled inwardly, rushed to keep up with Seth's accelerated pace and didn't think of getting anxious about their presentation until they reached the gate. "You have arrived" said the yellow brick road.

"Parents give children middle names so they can tell  when they are in trouble", said the yellow brick road. Sarah was suddenly relieved her parents didn't think to give her one, then shook her head at the absurdity of the thought.

"When in doubt, mumble", said the yellow brick road, and then shut down with a delicate and reassuring chime.

 

***

 

They ran up the transparent stairs whose gleaming in the light on the setting sun created the precise out-worldly effect that the architect's team was hoping for. For the life of her Sarah couldn't understand why they were rushing so since it was twenty five minutes to the hour of the meeting. She took a second to observe the eerie structure they were entering. Held together by transparent boron cables and structural glass it seemed made of water. Waves of changing light and reflections of passing hydrocars caressed the ever changing transparent envelope, alternately concealing and revealing the fervent activity behind it.

It felt strange to walk inside this completely see through structure, with fiberglass re-bars showing through the translucent columns, and step on the thin crystal floor that revealed the steady movement of the Mississippi river below it. The obvious metaphor of walking on water warmed Sarah's heart; she smiled and went over the last details of the presentation in her mind.

The double doors slid open to allow them to pass from the antechamber to the meeting hall, in a very strange move of entering a space while you are actually in it. The terraforming committee was waiting, more friendly and relaxed than Sarah expected, considering that the elite training at the Space Science Academy had tested every boundary of their physical endurance and intellectual capacity. Sarah felt out of place in her plain cotton sweater and khakis standing in the midst of this spotless surrounding where everything was so precisely designed; she was starting to get nervous and looked at Seth to see if the latter felt the same. Seth stood tall, shoulders straight and chin up, her steely eyes burning with intense determination, and all of a sudden her presence here made all the sense in the world, she looked like she belonged.

"Sit down, please", said the chair. "We reviewed your findings and would like do discuss some of the details of your report that brought up questions."

Four hours later the doors slid open again to let out a completely drained Sarah and a seriously tired Seth. Sarah could not remember in her long history of taking exams and research presentations a time when she had to draw upon all the things she had ever learned in order to answer. The questions were exhaustive and very specific at the same time, dragging her from botany to chemistry, geological analysis, chemical physics, environmental science, botanical genetics, biotechnology and of all things professional writing. The plant trays laid on the table between them during this volley of questions and answers, oblivious to the technical improbability of their existence and defying common sense.

Tired as they were they stepped over the endlessly moving waters of the river without noticing them as they walked towards the front door, only to bear testimony to how easily the human spirit embraces the unusual or seemingly impossible once it has experienced it and turned it mainstream.

"You did well", Seth spoke, walking down the stairs in the soft and humid darkness of the night. The fog surrounded the fast moving headlights with glowing haloes and softened the crinkled contours of the trees, fading them in the distance.  "I wish we had more time, we can always send more data if needed." Sarah didn't answer, she was tired and her head was spinning. The yellow brick road said "Experience is the kind of thing you only get after you need it."

"Let's find a place to eat", said Seth, "but first cocoa and beignets."