Chapter 6
Sanctuary on Earth
Edward Morley thought that he had been defeated. That summer night, as he sat alone on the front porch bench of his parents' home, Morley saw no possibility that he would ever realize his life's goal of leading a mission to another planet.A month ago, Morley had turned fifty-years-old, which meant that his career as an astronaut would end in a few years. He was in excellent physical condition, though. Until last spring, he had been engaged in vigorous training for a flight to Venus. But then federal bureaucrats cut the funds for the Venus program, and the mission was indefinitely postponed.Morley had gone to speak to Jake Thompson, the head of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Thompson, an old friend and former astronaut, assured Morley that he would do his best to get the funds for the project restored. Thompson had arranged to meet with top congressional leaders.Before any meetings took place, though, the space vessel filled with Noelmians landed on earth, and the planet went crazy with excitement. At first Morley had been delighted by the arrival of the Noelmians. He attended several meetings in which the Noelmians explained about themselves and their planet. Morley had even questioned the Noelmians in small group sessions. He learned a good deal from them and genuinely liked them.However, he soon came to understand that their arrival had sealed the fate of the Venus mission. The American public lost interest in going to Venus, a planet on which there was no possibility of finding life other than basic microorganisms. Venus appeared boring in comparison to Noelm, a planet teeming with all forms of life. The media deluged the public with stories about Noelm.The single-hearted were supposed to be blessed, Morley thought as he looked up at the star-filled sky in which he could name every constellation. If that is true, I should have been more successful in life because I relentlessly pursued a single goal of leading that mission. My entire life has been devoted to space travel. I never married; I was totally committed to the ships that I flew.Last week Morley had been offered a job as a pilot with a major airline, but he had turned down the position. He had never liked inner-space travel; outer space was his love. Morley was concluding a two-week vacation in which he had returned to his hometown in order to visit his parents, who were now in their seventies. Tomorrow he would drive back to Cape Canaveral in order to resume his work.A car pulled up in front of his house. The driver turned off the headlights and engine and got out. Because the street was dark, Morley did not recognize the man until he had almost reached the front porch.Morley stood up. "Jake Thompson! What on earth are you doing here?"Thompson grinned. "I just stopped by for a visit.""Well, I'm always glad to see you, but aren't you over a hundred miles out of your way?"Thompson came up onto the porch. "I can imagine that you're surprised to see me. I wanted to speak with you in private tonight. You won't need to return to the Cape tomorrow."Morley experienced a sinking sensation. "Am I being laid off?""Oh, no! I would never allow our space program to lose a man like you. You misunderstand the reason for my visit; I have great news. I have a mission for you!"Morley's face brightened. "The Venus mission is back on?" he asked in disbelief."No. Project Venus is ancient history. The nation is obsessed with Noelm now. I went ahead with my scheduled meeting with the congressional leaders and used the momentum created by the arrival of the Noelmians to secure funds for a different mission. We want you to lead an expedition to Noelm!"Morley was startled. "Why me?""The Noelmians chose you. We submitted the names of five candidates to the Noelmians, and they selected you to be the captain of the command ship and the overall leader of the mission. Bob Phillips and an Englishman, Nigel Kersting, will be captains of the two other ships under your command." "Why did the Noelmians choose me?""Apparently you impressed them during your conversations with them.""I didn't realize that I was being evaluated during those conversations.""Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.""Why don't we simply fly the Tragadomian battle cruiser back to Noelm?" Morley asked."Oh, no. That cruiser is too small for our purposes. We're going to build three entirely new ships based upon the propulsion principles of the battle cruiser. Our command ship will hold a crew of 250 persons, while the two other ships will each contain a crew of 200 persons.""It sounds like many plans for the mission have already been finalized.""Yes, indeed. In fact, actual construction of the ships began a week ago. They're being assembled at the space station. A modular approach is being used. Electronic components are assembled in factories here on the surface, then a shuttlecraft brings the components up to the space station. Some of the Noelmian engineers are already on the station, but most are here on the surface, supervising the construction of the nuclear engines. Tomorrow you and I will fly to Texas to meet with several engineers. They can show you detailed drawings of the three vessels under construction.""What is the objective of the mission to Noelm?" Morley asked."Your primary goal will be to negotiate the freedom of the Noelmians held as slaves by the Tragadomians. After that goal is attained, you will lead the three ships in an exploration of that section of the galaxy. We would like to find some other planets capable of sustaining life so that we can establish settlements on them.""From what I've been told about the Tragadomians, achieving our primary goal will be difficult. We might not get the chance to go exploring.""Perhaps not. However, the Tragadomians are greedy, and you will be authorized to offer to share many of earth's resources in exchange for the freedom of the thousands of oppressed Noelmians.""Just how much financial backing does this mission have?" Morley asked."A lot, but not an unlimited amount. Several of our nation's allies are going to share the cost of the mission. In fact, one of the three ships is going to have a crew consisting primarily of Europeans. That ship will be called the Continental. Your command ship is named the Emerald Warrior. The third ship is the Challenger.""That's an appropriate name because we might have to challenge the Tragadomians to battle. I'm concerned that they're too aggressive for us to negotiate with them. What puzzles me is why the Tragadomians want to conquer earth? Noelm is a rich, fertile planet. Its population is relatively small. There are millions of square miles of unpopulated lands, so there is no overcrowding. Any problem with overpopulation is centuries distant so that cannot be their motive for wanting earth. Do the Tragadomians seek conquest for the sheer sake of conquest? Or does the earth have some resources that they want? And, if it does, couldn't they have attempted to barter with us before taking the drastic step of planning an invasion?""It's a mystery why the Tragadomians want to seize earth," Thompson agreed. "When you get to Noelm, you'll have to ask them.""I hope that we get a chance to ask them," Morley said. "They might attack our ships before we have time to establish communications.""That's certainly possible, but you'll be leading a well-armed fleet that should be capable of fending off a Tragadomian attack. After their initial attack fails, you can arrange a temporary ceasefire with them and open negotiations. I'm confident that you can deal skillfully with the Tragadomians, and you'll have some other clever negotiators with you such as the Noelmian Loremaster, Triamber.""But what if negotiations with the Tragadomians are unsuccessful? They might want more than we can reasonably give them.""In that case, you'll have to make a difficult decision. If you think that you have the strength to defeat their force, you could lay siege to the planet and try to free the Noelmians. However, if you decide that the Tragadomian forces are too powerful, you can pull the fleet away from Noelm and return to earth. We'd then place the fleet in orbit as the main part of our earth defense system."The men continued their discussion for several more minutes before Thompson left after making arrangements to meet Morley at the airport in the morning. Because he needed to rise early the next day, Morley went to bed almost immediately, but he was so ecstatic about the mission that he was unable to sleep. After three hours, when Morley finally fell asleep, he dreamed that he was sailing into a sea of emerald light.
