Eden

Kel had always thought of herself as an adventurer. Intrepid yet prepared. Brave yet calculating. She had visited thirty star systems and countless planets. But now, staring into a monitor at the image of her distraught guide, knowing that the transporter was beyond Earth’s atmosphere by now, Kel was tempted to use other, less flattering adjectives to describe herself. Gosh, had she ever been on a planet alone before? This was a first. Her habitual tardiness had really landed her in a mess.  

“You left your comm on the transporter?” Ng, the guide said incredulously. “For heaven’s sake! You had to know that’s how we keep track of you!” 

Kel’s stomach twisted. He looked so disappointed. “I’m so sorry! It’s just that I really wanted--I was hoping for an authentic Earth experience! And I knew if I had my comm, it would have detracted from the entire, um, feel I was going for!” 

“But didn’t you want to record anything?” asked Ng, still completely baffled. Kel held up her cam device and gave an apologetic smile. He sighed and she could see from his eye flicking that he was glancing through his implant, probably making enquiries about what to do with her. “Let’s see. The thing is, there are very strict regulations about the number of transporter takeoffs and landings on Earth, obviously.” He started to wring his hands. “So, on our end, it would really be ideal if we could . . . pick you up tomorrow? 8 hours ST? 14 hours from now. It wouldn’t be any longer than that.”

Kel didn’t trust herself to speak for a moment, she was smiling so widely. “That sounds lovely!” She certainly still felt stupid, but additional time on the planet was a silver lining. Alone on the ancient Earth, she thought. But no, not alone, she mused with a shiver. Here with the myriad of lifeforms that coevolved with humans.

Ng slumped in relief. “Oh, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say that.” His eyes began ticking from side to side again. “I’ve just given you access to a place to stay. There’s an area with several bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathing facilities. It should have everything you need.” A map with helpful arrows popped onto the screen.

“I wasn’t even aware there were living facilities here.” 

“Ah, well, you know,” Ng waved a hand, “maintenance or visiting researchers sometimes require a place to stay.”

“Well, I’m glad to have a bed to sleep in!” Kel grinned. “Thank you Ng.”

“No Kel, thank you! I can’t believe I--” Ng shook his head. “Anyway, I hope you enjoy your night. Contact us again if you need anything. The facility AI can also help, they are called “J.” And,” he paused, “perhaps don’t venture too far? There’s nothing very dangerous in the vicinity, but all the same . . .”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, don’t worry!” He still looked uneasy, and she hastened to remove the crease from his brow. “I know that I, ah, haven’t been a paragon of responsibility on this expedition, but I’ll be on my best behavior from here on out,” she said, bringing her index and middle fingers nearly to her lips and then flipping her palm toward him. He nodded, mouth straight but eyes soft, and the monitor went dark. 

Kel stepped back and whirled in a circle, trying to get her bearings in the massive structure. In her haste to experience the outdoors, she had spent very little time in the facility. The building was meant to blend into the local landscape and had few windows. “J,” she said, “I wasn’t paying enough attention earlier. Can you show me where the rooms are?”

A blue blinking path appeared before her. “Thank you!” Kel walked down a hallway that seemed to extend forever. Many of the rooms she passed were likely laboratories. If only she had endless time, access, and permission. There was a biological library here with specimens of millions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, plants, and animals that had evolved on Earth, including lifeforms that had been extinct for a billion years. The archeologists had relics that dated from the earliest days of humanity. Of course, all of this information was fully digitized, so in a way, all of humanity had access to it, but it still felt strange to be in close physical proximity with such wonders. Apparently they had a Gutenberg Bible. Eli would have been in rapture. Were he in this very stupid situation, he probably would have hatched a ridiculous plan to catch a glimpse. Kel’s eyes felt swimmy. 

The blue path ended in front of a heavy door. Kel pushed it partially open, immediately heard a shrill scream, and promptly screamed herself and sprinted back down the hallway. Eventually she came to an empty room and leaned her back against the wall, her body so shaky it was almost absurd. “Okay,” she breathed, and let herself slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. “J, who else is here?”

“Rafi Wilker, visiting scientist. She will also be using the living quarters tonight.” 

Kel could swear that the AI sounded amused. “Thanks J, but really, you could have told me. I thought I was the only one left on Earth.” Kel’s heart was still pounding in her chest.

“You never asked,” said J primly. Yes, definitely amused.

Poor Rafi was probably scared out of her wits. Kel stood and wiped her clammy hands on her pants. “J, could you please be a dear and tell Rafi who I am? I think it may be better coming from you.” She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Moments later, she heard a voice calling down the hall. “Kel? Are you there? I’m Rafi, I’m a visiting scientist. Sorry about that!”

Kel emerged from the room to find a tall, smiling woman. “Nice to meet you, Rafi. I’m sorry too! I thought I was the only person left on the entire planet!”

“Likewise. You scared the living daylights out of me,” Rafi said with a shaky laugh. “Would you like to discuss this over a fortifying hot beverage? I think there are several teas, julu, coffee . . .”

“Tea sounds ideal, thank you,” answered Kel, following her back down the hall.

Apparently Rafi had been working on Earth for the past two weeks collecting samples for her study of Earth bacteriophage distribution and evolution. “I’ve just been spending the days driving up and down the coastline, occasionally I use a boat. All of that is strictly regulated of course, as it should be.”

“I know that people left the Earth a mess when we left, but from what I hear biodiversity has completely recovered.” Kel took a sip of tea. “It was such a dream to see it today. Simulations can’t compare to the real thing, I don't care what they say. More time would be nice, but I suppose I should just be grateful for what I’ve been given.”

The scientist grinned. “Well, you actually do have some more time, really. It’s a clear night. What do you think about looking at the stars with me? I’ve been doing it every evening.”

Kel gulped down the rest of her tea. “What an excellent idea. I bet that the light pollution is almost non-existent! I wish I had my comm, then I could look at an Earth sky map.” She looked up at Rafi hopefully.

Rafi scoffed and tapped her forehead with her index finger. “I’ve got all the sky maps you could ever need, up here! I started off in astronomy. Got a bit of a knack for it. Also, new moon tonight, so conditions couldn't be better.”

They took blankets, coats, a small digital telescope and a thermos of extra tea and headed outside. It wasn’t very cold. Rafi led them to the shore. Sandy beach stretched far in both directions, snaking along little capes. This was the Pacific ocean, Kel remembered. She had spent most of her precious time today beneath the massive trees of the forest. She had seen many oceans before, on many different planets, but this ocean, with the Milky Way curling above, had to be the most beautiful.

It turned out that Rafi did have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the night sky. She pointed out planets and star clusters and made Kel find Saturn’s rings with the telescope. They made a good team; Rafi identified the old Greek constellations, Kel told a little about the legends associated with them. After they had exhausted this and were thoroughly chilled, they poured the tea. 

An astronomy-related tidbit occurred to Kel. “You grew up near the Callias sector, right?” she asked. Rafi nodded. “Do you remember the Spurson supernova?”

The scientist looked shocked, and Kel realized her error. “Hmm, I suppose that was quite a long time ago. Perhaps before you were even born. Or your parents, for that matter! Anyway, it was absolutely breathtaking.”   

Rafi’s eyes narrowed. “How old are you anyway?”

Kel sighed. “Health-adjusted age or simulated Earth years?”

“Both.”

“How rude!” gasped Kel in mock affront. Rafi rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but do try to preserve my feelings and not look too shocked. 357 SEY, 38 HAA. What about you?”

“A relative infant. 128 SEY, 27 HAA. Goodness, you’ve been around for a while! Bet you’ve seen a lot of places, tried different things. Been a biologist for long? Were you in the field before Blaise analysis was developed?”

“Yes! Gosh, I’d been in the field 50 years at that point, the work was much different then as you can imagine. Dabbled in lots of areas, have seen lots of different things. It's been a long life, a good life." Kel hesitated and the silence stretched. “You know, I’m thinking of stopping my treatments. It might be time. Time to go natural.”

Kel felt Rafi stiffen beside her. “Oh,” she said softly.

“I just lost my partner three months ago. His name was Eli. We’d been together for a long time. It was very peaceful, don’t worry, and he was ready for it, but it has been making me think a lot. Maybe I’m just tired.” Rafi took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Kel gratefully returned it. They gazed into the night for a moment.

“Do you know, I’ve had my name in the Earth lottery for the last 300 years? And I’ve only just won?” asked Kel.

“Hmmm, not too surprising. Billions of applications per year, only 20 pilgrims or tourists permitted per day--I’d say you still got extraordinarily lucky.”

“It would have meant more to him, I think. Well, actually, I know it would have meant more to him,” said Kel, swallowing. “Eli was a historian. He ended up specializing in the early colonization era, got to do some work on Mars. I went with him once.” She laughed. “Even there, everything felt so old. Humanity was positively embryonic.”

“There’s something special about this solar system, isn’t there? When I found out my research application was accepted, I thought, brilliant, once in a lifetime experience, what an honor. I grew up on Shay, and you know, in terms of physical distance from here--” Rafi flung out her arms comically wide. "But being on Earth feels like coming home. Even though I’ve never even been near it. How is that possible?”

“I know exactly what you’re saying! Eli would have said that love for Earth is bound up in our DNA. He always told me that when he was young, his parents read him all of the early creation myths, some of the very first stories ever written, and he became very interested in the garden of Eden. You know, a paradise made for humans. Or, a place we were made for. Eli thought people were always meant to leave Eden, just as they were always meant to leave Earth. But what a gift, to be able to come back to the place that was the genesis of everything.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, soothed by the turning of the sea and dazzled by the stars in the sky.