Pacifica-ch0

Pacifica

Will a peaceful relationship with Earth remain political fantasy?

Introduction

Pioneers from a Lunar science base built inside lava tubes look for a new home

peace and freedom in a new galaxy

Travel to the stars will use joy power — the power that binds both quarks and their complex assemblies into the nucleus of all atoms large and small. This power was first isolated and named Joy in the mid 1970s. Much has been learned since then.

The first recording of a star’s song was made in the year 2002. Although outside the range of human hearing, computer analysis reveals star songs to be similar to whale songs. Earth’s sun sings in the key of C. It's a fact of life.

Keep in mind that the history of science includes public ridicule of a student who noticed in class that South America and Africa fit like puzzle pieces. Continental drift was not yet accepted in those days. Now imagine this; punishment for students writing left handed during a test was a swat with a ruler on offending left hands compliments of the patrolling teacher. That was long ago. Start here from a new place. Begin this story listening to voices of students and a teacher through an open window of a high school science class. Dates are approximate.

Circa 1960 - a time of great rock & roll

A logical student’s question in a 1960 science class was as follows;

“Why don’t atoms larger than Hydrogen burst apart?”

An up-to-date answer in those days was; “I don’t know. Call it Love. Call it Joy. Call it molecular glue. They just don’t.”

“But the electrons …” the student might wonder.

“What about them?“ The teacher encouraged the student with an interested teacher's question.

“Proportionally, electrons are further from the nucleus than planets are from the sun. And they move fast enough to blur reality,” the student responded.

“So?” prodded the teacher.

“You say the positives in the nucleus hold the negatives in orbit because the opposite charges attract each other.”

“Yep. Particles with positive and negative charges attract each other.”

“The positives are so strong they can hold negative electrons moving in orbit fast and far away.”

“Yep.”

“Then why don’t those strong positives packed so tight into a nucleus burst apart because they are all the same positive charge bunched so close together?”

The teacher smiled and actually sighed; “I don’t know, I wish I did— Call it Love. Call it Joy. Call it molecular glue. They just don’t.” The teacher encouraged further study with a wink and a smile.

Fifteen years later; two energetic young discoverers found the strong force that binds positive charges in the nucleus of atoms. They named it Joy.

One of the discoverers mentioned there was a time when energy was viewed as an animal force; "Tigers have a lot of energy and Panda bears don't."

"Now we’ve isolated Joy." The second young scientist continued excitedly. "Someday Joy will be delivered in pipes or wires and it will do stuff the way electrical energy does today. Maybe Joy will even power spaceships."

The next generation renamed Joy "the J particle," many more names followed. Nobody wanted to call it joy again until now.

Circa 2060 - 100 years later

A logical student’s question to a teacher circa 2060 would have been;

“The best known J force generator turns out to be the Earth and the moon working together?”

“That’s what scientific evidence indicates,” almost any teacher would have answered the same at that time.

“And this was first realized way back in about 1880?” the student wondered.

“Yes, not long after invention of the electric generator, which hasn’t changed much since then. The inventor, Nicola Tesla, thought he had an even better idea; he sold his generator patents and tried to develop a machine that harvested cosmic energy and plugged straight into the earth. The poor guy ran out of money before he was able to finish his new project and tap directly into Joy.”

“Why was this knowledge left unused until now?”

“I don’t know. It just wasn’t. Some say because Joy is free. No one knows for sure. The most likely impediment was that Joy is free. Power to the people does not fit into a financial economy very well. Especially when its free.”

2160 - notes from actual records - 2160 ce

“Lunar rebellion has become open war?” asked the communication manager.

“Yes, the battle at the gravitational equilibrium point between Earth and Moon is raging as we speak,” the Admiral responded.

“How are we doing?”

“Their ships haven’t broken through, yet.”

“Has anyone been hurt by our weapons?”

“No. We can all be proud of that. Our joy generators are set to defensively drain their ships and all their weapons exactly to life support level. They can drift in orbit around Earth for over a year if need be.”

“Are we ready?”

“Galactic probe one is positioned just inside our line and almost charged by draining the attacker’s energy. Probes two and three are fully charged and standing by with their support ships.”

“The plan is working then.”

“Perfectly. They are sending everything they have to defeat us and we are draining them dry.”

“Why didn’t the United States of Earth figure this out?”

“Hmm. There's no quick answer for that... I'm sure that question will be debated by historians for a long time. Lunar colonists started out mining water below lava tubes near the first observatory built on the moon. They went on from there to figure out joy power and then money based in thermodynamic laws of physics.

"The United States of Earth ignored those who think free so their brightest scientists emigrated to the moon. They met those who moved back and forth between the moon and research parks of Pacifica and felt free at last. Lunarians perfected intergalactic travel, autonomous democracy and science itself.

"Now twenty thousand pioneers are shuttling to the galactic probes. Support ships are crewed by two thousand and there are almost eight thousand in the three battle fleets. The course is set.”

“We’d better get aboard.”

“Let’s go.”

2160..0004 ce - a few hours later

“The United States of Earth president wishes to speak with our president.”

“Has she been told we don’t have a president?”

“Yes. She’s crying.”

“Crying?”

“More like sobbing. It’s almost unbearably sad.”

“Why?”

“In the midst of war, the United States of Earth discovered corruption among the corporate monopolies that own the government. They were caught plundering the United States treasury during the confusion of war.

But why is she crying?"

“The new president realizes there has been a brain drain and that the people and technology the old government wanted to take by war are leaving.”

“Is the distiller up and running?”

“Yes. And the USE president is willing to talk with it.”

“Personal microphones are all connected and working?”

“All but the unregistered and two who are giving birth, though even they may want to say something about this.”

“Unregistered?”

“We appear to have at least ten thousand extra people scattered throughout the fleets, it’s too soon to know exactly how many. Even so, the distiller will include them after everyone else has spoken.”

“So, Admiral, What should we do?”

“Shawn! You are the one in charge of communications and the distiller. Put the President on the fleet speaker phones and tie in the distiller so the distributed intelligence of the pioneers can be expressed.”

“Okay. Thank you — It's easy when we agree. Here we go — One. Two. Three. Done.”

The United States of Earth’s president instantly flashed onto all monitor screens throughout the pioneer fleet and the lunar research center.

“Greetings, space pioneers. Please reconsider leaving. We are sorry. You are among our brightest hopes for the future. We are sorry. Please don’t go. We have demoted and scattered those who pushed for this war to steal your science and control your work even after you had moved all the way to the moon to find freedom.

Those who lied or committed crimes will be punished. Wait a little longer. Please don’t leave us behind without our greatest dream. You actually are our living human dream that began many centuries ago while watching the stars by firelight in front of our caves.”

There was a moment of silence as the USE president looked into the cameras on her end and out of the screens on the pioneer ships. Then she covered her face with her hands and wept. “We are so sorry. We did not want to hurt you. We don’t want to lose you.”

2160..00042 – Distiller response

The distiller of every suggestion of everyone aboard was quiet only briefly before responding.

“Please note, the following statement is the distributed intelligence of 37,134 pioneers answering the United States President;

"Our scientific and social goals require us to leave hierarchy, imposed austerity, prisons, endless war, and wanton pollution of Earth. Many brilliant scientists and public employees remain on Luna as roots. They will grow into a second scientific bloom if you nurture them with peace instead of austerity and war. You have taken good first steps and we wish you the best.”

.00043 – Pioneer Time - moments after Distiller's response

A flash as bright as the sun quickly faded into a distant point and was gone. It was a soft yet brilliant light, almost benevolent, like ice then butter on a burn. The afterglow was from refined three dimensional joy squeezed through dark pion lenses and other experiments involving a long list of techniques being tested by the flower of Lunar science.

The blast-off was real-time big news all through the nation of Pacifica, which includes the west coast of north America that borders grey whale habitat and inland to the continental divide. Pacifica, a relatively new and ecologically responsible nation had seceded from the USE in a protracted economic struggle that had not degenerated into war. The ecological social democracy of Pacifica focused the distributed intelligence of all citizens and this had proved to be much too nimble for corporatist politicians who believe their own mind numbing propaganda. The United States of Earth needed Pacifica and war was not the answer. War is never the answer.

In stark contrast, the pioneer departure was not broadcast at all by NNM National News Monopoly, the United States of Earth’s only news and propaganda corporation.

United States news censorship mattered naught within the source of that golden buttery flash. There were constant lines waiting for a turn at the windows. Pioneers rode their own wave through both calm and storm. All watched in awe.

Small theaters with real time holographic views were almost as popular as windows. No prior experience prepared anyone but test pilots to see great splashes of rainbow light explode into colored waves that soon stretched beyond view. The ships leaving Earth behind skittered across and occasionally plowed through a surprisingly ocean-like topology of every dimension interacting as multi-directional waves. Mere glimpses of a far distant companion fleet bursting through a gravity spacetime wave lived on in endless discussion.

Viewing stations were always full during lower velocity surveys of galaxies. Some hoped each new galaxy would contain a suitable home planet. Others hoped the journey would continue forever.

t = 0.480 - 5 1/2 Earth months after leaving Earth

“We are almost halfway between Galaxies Five and Six. The completed survey of number five indicates several candidate planets. Is that correct?”

“That’s the news from the survey ships.”

“The galaxy itself resides in a habitable cosmic region?”

“So it appears.”

“Then it’s time to connect Distiller and plan a course of action.”

“Individual personal opinion and preference inputs are almost complete as we speak.”

“Okay. Activate the distilled conscious feedback loop, let’s find out what people want to do.”

“Turn up the volume so everyone can hear what the distiller says.”

Responding to input from 40,743 individuals, the distiller said this;

“All three fleets turn back to potentially habitable planet locations in Galaxy Five.

“Two survey ships, support ships and a small battle group continue to Galaxy 6. The extended pioneer survey fleet returns when work is complete or danger is encountered.”

t= 0.500

Six months has passed since leaving Earth. Orbiting survey and study centers continue to gather information at each of the habitable worlds in Galaxy 5. The small survey fleet at Galaxy 6 is far beyond practical radio communication range. Attention has turned to possible settlement locations, planetary impact statements and daily family routines.