The Tides of Altamar. Brian Gonzalez
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On Distant Worlds
Book #2: The Tides of Altamar
By
Brian Gonzalez
Copyright 2014 Brian Gonzalez,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by Brian L. Gonzalez
ISBN-13: 978-0-9911-0861-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or incidents is coincidental.
Cover art and illustrations copyright 2014 by Brian Gonzalez. Cover starfield courtesy of NASA.
Also by Brian Gonzalez
The On Distant Worlds Series
On Distant Worlds: The Prologues and Colibri
To Bonni
For the only safe haven I have ever known
Preface
This is the second book in the On Distant Worlds series. If you have not read the first book, you will still be able to read this one as a stand-alone novel. However some sections, most notably the Interludes, feature characters and storylines continued from the first book. To fully place these in context, I recommend picking up the first novel when you have the chance. There are no major spoilers for Book 1 in this book.
The inspiration for one sub-theme of this novel was ancient graffiti. Many centuries ago a pilgrim traveled to a temple in the Middle East and etched his name and the date in a wall to record his visit. I gave his name to the major character in Part 1, and his motivation to other characters in other sections.
The cover is pure and utter fiction. The F-drive torch should not be lit. The Ice-Ship would never go close enough to a star that you could visually make out its surface. Surface structures would not be visible at this scale. There are a couple of things wrong with the planet as well, according to the story. The odd proportions of a cover are challenging, as is the need to create a composition which has bleed room on the edges and space for titling. Let’s just say I’ve learned a lot about designing book covers. But I’m not unhappy with it; I was attempting to channel the science fiction artists of the 60’s and 70’s (if they had had Photoshop) and I think I got within striking distance of that goal.
To learn a little more about the ODW universe, visit ondistantworlds.com. The site is more or less always under construction so please excuse the dust. Don’t miss the timeline.
Thank you all for your support,
Brian Gonzalez
California, 2013
Prologue
Dark Waters
Colonial Corps Logo c. 2200 C.E.
Karl Edgar Nassim
Last Human Standing, Essay 21
88 A.C.
Am I the most fundamentally alone that any human has ever been?
Even the poorest wretch on the fringes of society might hope each day to make eye contact with another human being, if only to exchange dismissive looks or an upraised middle finger. I certainly do not have that option, marooned here alone on Europa. The sense of solitude hovers above me with such gravity that it seems there is nothing but solid stone filling the universe around these thin metal walls; as though this research outpost were a deeply buried tomb. As in fact it will become a tomb one day; my very own, and buried not in bedrock but in deep layers of time.
And yet, am I more fundamentally alone than the brave explorer dying alone on some remote peak? Am I more alone than the dying victim of the earthquake, buried under tons of rubble?
It occurs to me that the explorer and the quake victim might hope for rescue in a manner that I cannot. A helicopter, a rescue team… it would not be impossible. Of the many brave explorers lost alone over the centuries, it is inevitable that some were rescued. Survivors are pulled from beneath the rubble after every earthquake, after all.
But it seems unreasonable for me to have such hopes. If I was marooned here and there was a fully functional space fleet operating from Earth, it would still be logistically difficult to retrieve me. And there is no fleet on Earth; there is nothing on Earth. There is nothing but a shroud of black smoke choking a silent planet. The smoke is shot through with lightning as if advertising in neon the success of the extinction.
But on the other hand, I often heard it said that nobody is more truly alone than the one who is alone while surrounded by people. Would I not feel infinitely worse knowing there was still a community somewhere; one which I could never join?
And yet, in that scenario, I would not have to mourn the entire human race.
I suppose it is possible there were moments in which every single one of us was as alone as anyone has ever felt. I suppose that is, or rather was, a fundamental consequence of the human condition. And certainly I had moments in life when I felt so, despite there still being other members of my species around. In those times I reached for the presence of God. In those times I did not feel fundamentally abandoned.
But I have to confess I am having a harder time finding reassurance from the Almighty in the current situation. I struggle to understand why God would allow the Cataclysm to happen; or far worse, why He might have sent it. If it was in punishment for our sins, what of the many other lives of His Creation; simple creatures who do not sin? What of the presumptive life on other worlds; should it also meet extinction for our original sins? Or did we in fact die for sins of theirs?
In the years before the Cataclysm many new religions were born on Earth. One of the largest, The Church of the Eternal Night, espoused the belief that the Cataclysm was the will of God, and that it was a sin to attempt to survive the disaster. In my darkest moments I fear they were right, and that I am the one who has been singled out for eternal punishment.
Then I recognize that according to my own religion, I am committing the minor sin of egotism.
The Church I belonged to had a far different approach. We believed that the Cataclysm was a sort of final exam. God left clues for our survival in the form of mathematics and science, along with a methodology template and an indication of His will, in the story of the Great Flood. Blueprints and instructions, if you will, for a modern Ark. The Warrens and the BioShip were supposed to be that Ark.
But it seems we failed the exam. And although I am not quite sure why, I appear to have gotten Detention. And I have no idea what I am supposed to do here, except possibly write these humble paragraphs.
I find it harder each day to take solace from the Almighty.
But I haven’t given up faith.
Interstellar Ship One Advisory