Proxima B. Pulvirenti Giorgio

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ you can see above your heads,” LISA clarified as the members of the mission took notes in their own electronic devices.

      “Excuse me, doctor, how long would this procedure take?” Abigail asked while she was holding the e-pen that she would use to take notes.

      “It would last about fifty years!” was LISA’s straight answer, which left those who were there petrified.

      “So, tell me if we get it: how long are we staying on board that ship? Fifty years?!” Abigail asked a little scared to hear the answer.

      “No, it isn’t so… We are not staying the whole time on board the mothership… We are living in orbit inside it until we move inside the structures that are installed on the surface of the planet. And only when a favorable environment is recreated we can live out of those structures!” the doctor paraphrased.

      “Come on, look at your screens. We have sent you all the data regarding the instruments at your disposal and how to set the gasifiers. Study them! And if you have some ideas how to improve them, you will be welcome!” Lisa Horn concluded. Before leaving, she said to all the male chemists taking part in the mission,

      “What we shall face won’t be easy at all. We can get over those difficulties only if we work together, not as single members with one’s own objective to be achieved, but together as a whole species. It is the last chance we have, my dear ones! It’s time for you to leave, now! Everything is in your own hands!” After giving them her order, she concluded, “Study!”

      Finally, she withdrew by disappearing through one of the four exits of the hangar.

      At 12 o’ clock the same day, Jerry and Korin were in the biology laboratory and seemed to be entranced by what they were seeing and learning with their competent colleagues. They reached a side of the lab led by Doctor Francesco Preparata, who was an esteemed and eminent Italian biologist that until then had led their training, in front of a sort of aquarium in which a blue fluid was gurgling.

      “My dear boys, here is Caeli!” Doctor Preparata exclaimed as he pointed at the metal spherical aquarium with a glass window in the middle.

      “What’s in that liquid, doctor?” Korin asked in amazement and out of curiosity just like the whole group.

      “It’s a special blue alga that was genetically modified by us in order to make it ultra-effective,” Doctor Preparata answered proudly.

      “Why is it effective?” Jerry asked in wonder.

      “These four specimens have been modified in order that their reproduction may be thousands of times faster and their production of oxygen may be hundreds of times more effective than the initial species. What you can see in front of us is phase II, which starts after the use of the gasifiers,” Doctor Preparata answered.

      “How are we supposed to use them?” a biologist of South-American origin that was in the room asked him.

      “Here is the beauty of this alga. All you need to do is set it free, lowering it back into the solid waters if you want it to spread; you can find it in more temperate zones, and it feeds on greenhouse gases that make it able to produce great amounts of oxygen that it releases automatically in the atmosphere. After fifteen years or so, all the oceans will be already full of algae and, thus, the oxygen released will be enough for the third phase to begin. We shall be given a chance to plant trees and plants on the surface. And we shall be able to breathe without the aid of breathing apparatuses, which is not irrelevant. So, the process of terraforming the planet will be complete,” the doctor concluded.

      “Excuse me, Professor, I can understand what you’ve said about algae, plants and trees, but I think we’re underestimating a problem that has been gripping our planet for over a century… I’m talking about the animal extinction. What about the animals?” Korin asked in a tone that was both worried and curious.

      “That’s a very good question, Mr. Tamura! A great question, actually! Follow me!” Doctor Preparata cried out, and then he entered a small hallway and led the group in a room that was next to the previous one.

      “As for the issue raised by Korin, we have developed what we call THE MOTHER!” the doctor stated. Then he stopped in front of a machine that was unique. It looked like a huge box; a holographic display allowed interaction with it.

      “Thanks to this machine, you can recreate embryos and perfectly developed specimens from the DNA of over ten million animal species that was collected over the last century. Dozens of such machines are ready-to-use on board the three motherships,” he added.

      Everyone who heard him was astonished by his words.

      “How does it work exactly?” Jerry asked him. He was getting more and more intrigued by the machine.

      “The genetic code on file will allow the development of stem cells inside the database of the machine by means of... let’s call it... an incubator. This is only a type of incubator, but bigger incubators will soon be available for taller or bigger human beings that will develop outside the planet later on. It could be defined as a sort of printer of living beings!” was Doctor Preparata’s answer to the boy that could scarcely believe his eyes.

      “Can we try it, Sir? Please!” Korin requested. He hoped to see the machine working.

      “Of course, kid! But only in order to demonstrate what it can create,” the professor replied, then he turned to the machine and started it; he was tinkering with the holographic display in order to find a species whose recreation would take only a few minutes.

      “Hmm, here it is. This one should be a proper one!” the doctor exclaimed. He started the machine and begged the group to keep away and for a little patience until a living being would be released at the bottom of the particular contraption.

      “CREATION LIVING BEING FIVE MINUTES LEFT,” the automated voice informed.

      “Professor, do all the creatures need the same time of creation or rather it changes according to the species?” a German member of the group of biologists asked him.

      “The time of creation changes according to the species and the dimension. The machine has to be powered by chemical substances so that tissues can be synthesized and the living being can develop, you know,” Doctor Preparata explained.

      “CREATION COMPLETE. PROCESS OVER SUCCESSFULLY”.

      They had been informed once again that the process had been carried out successfully.

      “Look. It’s ready!” the doctor exclaimed enthusiastically. Then he opened the compartment at the bottom of the machine and pulled out what looked like a big coleopteran.

      “This is a titan beetle,” he explained proudly. Then he handed the specimen of insect over to Korin, who seemed almost afraid of the new animal at first, but after being reassured by the doctor, he held it willingly.

      “We shall do great things together! We only have to want it, my lads! Life needs nothing but a thrust, then it will find its way forward! You only have to want it. Remember that!” the Italian biologist concluded. Then he released the animal into his custody and before saying goodbye to them all, he informed them about the next things to do, including the directions for using the machine that they would need shortly.

      The group of engineers used to meet very early, but it was not a problem at all for many of them, СКАЧАТЬ