The Leap

Introduction C2010JayJDrummond I’d like to explain the setting and a little about what took place from 2010 to 2120. The technology and abilities we have these days seemed impossible a hundred years ago, just like space travel and computers a hundred years prior to that. From 2010 to 2035 we battled with recession and often borderline depression. Then it was over and the super-powers of the world went back into high gear and it seemed we were entering a new era of prosperity. Energy sources were highly improved, new sources and resources were created and it looked like the whole world was going to profit from it. Many countries had space programs and bases with settlements on the moon and Mars. We brought pollution to a stop by 2060 and even the Chinese had been convinced and participated. The world population was decreasing and the standard of living improving. There were still many problems and obstacles in our way and not all peoples got along. Most of it however could be settled without wars and terror. However there was no getting out of the way of the huge tsunamis that were now devastating islands and continents bordering the Pacific Ocean. As the earth quakes and volcanoes increased small countries were being wiped off the map. By the end of 2080 the North Pole was nothing more than open water, Greenland had very little ice left and half the South Pole was without snow and ice. We had managed to prevent the Gulf Stream from collapsing by installing pumps and underwater ramps to help prevent freshwater dilution. We actually thought we could control it. The tropical storms that cross the Atlantic Ocean each year just above the equator had begun producing more and more category 5 Hurricanes. Parts of Florida, Texas, Louisiana and the Chesapeake Bay area were reduced to little more than wet-lands. The islands of New York City had thirty five foot sea-walls around them as the ocean had risen dramatically. After 2085 Southern Florida no longer existed. It was becoming clear that the world was changing and we would not be able to stop it. By 2090 our scientists projected an ice-age that would cover most of North America. By 2095 it was clear that the earth had changed its orbit and we were headed into a possible global white-out which would destroy 99.9% of all life forms and we were among those who wouldn’t make it. We of course had stations on the moon and Mars but they would not be able to sustain themselves indefinitely. The UN put out a call to all the top authorities in every part of our lives that had specialists. They gathered scientists and technical experts from all over the world. They were to design an enormous space ship that could sustain life indefinitely. The specialists were to be part of the construction team and later part of the crew. By 2098 several space stations were assembled and minerals were being brought from earth, the moon, Mars, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn in order to create this huge space-ship. Construction was going on 24/7 as we were trying to out-run Mother-Nature. The quality of life on earth was deteriorating at a breathtaking pace. Storms were killing hundreds of thousands if not millions and entire countries were simply disappearing. It was not going to get better and everyone knew it. That’s a recipe for catastrophe and catastrophic was a good description for what was going on, on a global scale. In June of 2103 I had finished my four year training as observation specialist by the CIA. I had been trained to observe large gatherings and still see the details, individual actions of people and their body language. I was the best in my class. I was contacted by the UN and asked to be a part of the space program. They told me that the voyage must be observed and documented by a neutral party and that was what I was trained in. I accepted and was flown to the space-ship while it was still under construction. The peoples building it were to become the crew. That way when it was finished it could be launched regardless of the conditions on earth. This would not be a ship full of potbellied billionaires with their beautiful young ladies. This would be a quest to save our species with the people selected as capable of doing exactly that. Now turn the page and discover my interpolation of your future.