The E Utopia Project (16 page)
Singing the E Utopia anthem
called the Green Hymn, the men and women of Harvesting Fleet 4 saluted when the
E Utopian green flag was raised. When the singing of the Green Hymn ended, Base
commander, Vice Admiral Frankson addressed Harvesting Fleet 4.
“We, the E Utopia pioneers,
are the only protection of flora and fauna from man’s greed.” Droplets of
saliva rained from the vice admiral’s mouth as he spoke. “Without us plants and
animals would eventually be brought to extinction by the polluters and
plunderers. Together, we shall forge a new Earth free of defilers of the
environment and together, we shall bring life to E Utopia. When we finish our
operation, we shall have two planets on which life shall prosper. We shall have
two planets that we shall govern under strict environmental law. Victory is
near. Victory is certain. Victory is ours. Soon we shall be reunited with our
families and together we shall live happily ever after in our new paradise.”
The vice admiral spoke with
conviction. He was a good soldier. In the Afghan war, he had been a disciplined
and brave soldier even though he was fighting for a cause that he didn’t
believe in. Now he was fighting for a cause he believed in. When Frankson
joined the E Utopian cause, the President of the Executive Council quickly noted
his leadership skills and promptly whisked him into space to get the training
he needed to become a member of the high command of E Utopia’s space force.
“Your fleet commander,
formerly Captain First Grade Sopoaga, has been promoted to rear admiral,” Vice
Admiral Frankson went on. “The size of the fleet has been increased, and for the
first time the Oxygen Harvesters shall go on their mission armed with missiles,
and they shall be escorted by Vanquisher fighter ships. Many of you have been
promoted. When Rear Admiral Sopoaga calls out your name, you come in front of
the parade and receive your new badge.
“Captain Second Grade
Hyvönen!” Rear Admiral Sopoaga barked.
Captain Hyvönen marched to
the front of the parade and saluted the two senior officers.
“You have been promoted to
Captain First Grade,” Sopoaga said.
“Thank you, sir!” Hyvönen said,
standing at attention.
Vice Admiral Frankson took
off Hyvönen’s old badges and replaced them with badges that had one star more
than Hyvönen’s old rank insignia.
“Captain Bera!” Rear Admiral Sopoaga
barked.
The Nigerian marched to the
two senior officers and received the badges of a captain second grade.
“Commander Nuate!” Sopoaga
barked, his voice shaking a little. He had missed her a lot.
Commander Nuate marched to
the two senior officers and stood at attention, chest out, a posture that
accentuated the fullness of her breasts.
Sopoaga swallowed and cleared
his throat, his unblinking eyes fixed on Nuate’s bosom. “Commander Nuate, you
have been promoted to Captain.”
“Thank you, sir!” she said.
Vice Admiral Frankson gave
Nuate her new badges.
“You have been assigned to
the newly commissioned ship, OH497,” Sopoaga said.
As he watched Nuate marching
back to her place, Sopoaga wished he had made his move whilst she was still a
member of his ship’s crew. He banished thoughts about her and called out the
next promoted officer.
“Rear Admiral Sopoaga, you
can address your charges,” the vice admiral said when he had finished
decorating the promoted officers. “I’m going to my office.”
Sopoaga saluted. “Thank you,
sir.”
Frankson lazily returned the
salute and walked away from the parade.
“We are fighters,” Sopoaga
said to his subordinates. “We fight not only for ourselves but for all living
organisms that are facing extinction because of man’s greed and negligence. We
have a monumental task in our hands and we have to be disciplined to succeed.
Our fleet, together with our sister fleets, shall complete the task of oxygen
harvesting. The atmosphere of E Utopia will soon be able to sustain life. Let’s
work hard and finish this operation so that we can be reunited with our families.
We’ll be leaving in ten E Utopian hours. I want you here at exactly 6 o’clock Base
time. You’re dismissed.”
The men and women of HF4
dispersed. Newly promoted Captain First Grade Hyvönen walked to Sopoaga and
saluted.
“At ease, Hyvönen,” Sopoaga
said.
“Rear admiral,
congratulations on your promotion,” Hyvönen said, extending his hand toward Sopoaga.
“The same to you, captain,” Sopoaga
said, shaking Hyvönen’s hand.
“I’m a little nervous about
carrying missiles and fighter ships with us, sir. Are we going to face
resistance on our next mission, sir?”
“No. The missiles and the
fighter ships are just precautionary measures, Hyvönen. The people on Earth
haven’t created a space force.”
“Thank you for the
information, sir.”
Hyvönen saluted and left the
rear admiral. Sopoaga went to the residential area. There was an
OCCUPIED
sign on the first cubicle that he passed when he entered Section A of the
residential area. The next four cubicles were unoccupied. Sopoaga had never
used the first five cubicles in Section A because they were above his rank. The
first cubicle belonged to the base commander and the other cubicles were
reserved for the admiralty and the Executive Council. Only the base commander
had permanent quarters. Upon arrival at the base, the rest of the servicemen
checked into cubicles in residential areas of their rank. He walked into
section B and passed two occupied cubicles before he reached his current cubicle.
He stood at the door for half
a minute, waiting for the scanners to scan his irises. The door opened and he
entered the cubicle, which was eight square meters smaller than the cubicles in
Section A. He plugged his flash disk into the entertainment system and watched
a pornographic film for minutes before he switched on to his invitation video. Every
E Utopia pioneer had made an invitation video which would be used to invite the
hundred people he wanted to be evacuated from Earth.
His face immediately appeared
on the screen. “Hello loved ones,” Sopoaga’s voice spoke in Tuvaluan. “I am on
an extrasolar planet that we call E Utopia, short for Environmental Utopia. As
its name suggests this is a planet with a clean environment that is free of
pollution.” The camera zoomed out, showing some mountains in the background.
“As one of the E Utopia pioneers, I have the privilege to choose a hundred
people to come and live with me on E Utopia. I have been given the privilege to
save hundred loved ones from certain death on Earth.
“The first people on my list
are my mother and father, Maatia and Milikini Sopoaga. I love you, mum and dad.
I can’t wait to be with you. Please come and join me on this paradise that we
call E Utopia. Here the weather is fine and the atmosphere has enough oxygen. My
brother, Enele...”
Sopoaga listened to his voice
reciting the list of his hundred chosen ones. It had taken him three weeks to
compile the list. The invitation video was recorded inside a pressurized cabin
full of oxygen-rich air and had been edited to look like it was taken in the
open. The video was recorded during the start of the milking operation when
there was hardly any oxygen in E Utopia’s atmosphere. Sopoaga believed his
loved ones would be evacuated even if he died before the end of the oxygen
harvesting operation. The Executive council had promised to save the chosen
ones of every pioneer. Sopoaga had no doubt that his loved ones would agree to
travel to E Utopia when they saw the video. Sopoaga’s father, Maatia, branded
him a loser but soon his entire family would owe its survival to him.
* * *
George and
Sara woke up late the next day. The previous night’s love-making made George feel
exhausted but Sara felt energetic. She always felt energetic after sex, as if male
reproductive juices contained a stimulant.
She went to
the bathroom and performed her ablutions. He had hardly moved when she returned
to the bedroom.
“Morning,
darling,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“You know how
I’m feeling. I’m wasted.”
Sara laughed.
“And I feel lively.”
“I know. You
always seduce me in order to steal my strength.”
“From the way
you pounded me last night, it’s obvious you enjoyed letting me steal your strength.”
“I didn’t want
you to steal my strength, you witch. I just can’t resist your evil charms.”
“I’m
starving.”
“Me too.”
“Let me ring
the bell and see what our Russian benefactors will serve us for breakfast.”
Sara rang the
bell and in seconds someone rang the doorbell. Sara opened the door and came
face-to-face with a young maid.
“Good morning,
Doctor Cummings. I’m Helen. What can I do for you?”
“Morning,
Helen. Can we have some breakfast, please?”
“Give me a few
minutes, ma’am.”
She returned
to the bedroom. “Darling, breakfast will be ready in a—” she broke off in
mid-sentence when she realized he had gone to the bathroom.
She sat on the
edge of the bed, thinking about El Monstruo. She prayed the US governments and
other governments would listen to her and create a space force. She hoped ordinary
people would believe that the attempt on her life was linked to El Monstruo. Many
countries of the world had some form of democracy, which gave the populace some
say in the decision-making process. If the people of the world believed her
story and her extraterrestrial factor theory, they could pressure their
governments into establishing a space force to defend the Earth from possible infiltration
by extraterrestrials.
George
returned to the room just before the doorbell rang.
“That should
be our breakfast,” Sara said, walking past him.
She opened the
door, admitting a tray-laden Helen. The maid put the big tray on the table.
“The
ambassador said you asked to be served whatever he is served. I brought you the
ambassador’s favorite breakfast, tea, toast and fried chicken slabs.”
Sara’s mouth
watered. “You mean you brought us real chicken? I thought there was a UN
resolution against animal husbandry.”
“Yes and no,”
the maid said. “The chicken slabs did not come from real chickens but rather
from chicken cells that were grown in a culture solution.”
“Thank you,”
Sara said, feeling her stomach grumbling. “It’s a long time since I had chicken
of any sort.”
“Call me if
you need anything,” Helen said, walking out of the apartment.
Sara walked to
the bedroom and found a naked George looking at his clothes.
“There’s
nothing as disgusting as putting on dirty clothes after bathing,” he said
without looking at her.
“You’re right.
We need a change of clothes. I’ll talk to the ambassador about that. I’m sure
the Russian taxpayers won’t mind buying us some clothes. Breakfast is waiting.”
George
hesitantly put on his clothes and followed her to the living room.
“Oh my God!”
Sara said when she took a bite of a chicken slab. “It tastes like real chicken.”
George
frowned. “Did they use artificial flavors? I hate artificial flavors!”
“No. They grew
chicken cells in a culture solution.”
George bit a
slab. “This is super-tasty!” he said. “Do they sell this stuff in the supermarkets?”
“Maybe it’s a new
product. If there are chicken slabs there should be beef slabs.”
“I don’t get
it.” He paused as he swallowed. “Why can’t they just grow real chickens? Isn’t
it more difficult to grow the chicken cells in a culture solution than to keep
real chickens?”
“There is a
food shortage in the country. Real chickens need more food than cells grown in
a culture solution. Real chickens need energy to run around, groom and fight.
Not to mention that some of the food they eat gets assimilated into inedible
parts like feathers and intestines.”
“That’s the
advantage of being married to a scientist,” he said with a dazzling smile.
“It’s like being married to an encyclopedia.”
Sara’s eyes
bulged. “Did you say married?”
“Yes, Sah.” He
dropped to his knees and took her hand. “Will you marry me, Sah?”
“Yes. Yes I
will marry you, George Surman.”
“I don’t have
a ring now but I’ll buy it as soon as I get out of here. For the moment, you
can have this.” He held her ring finger and kissed it a dozen times.
