"Do you remember the day we left Earth?"
***
"Do you remember the day we left Earth?"
Makara sipped her coffee. Black no sugar. Her partner Campbell had no idea how she could stand it being tasteless.
"Of course," Makara sighed. It's a hard thing to forget leaving one's home. Earth wasn't perfect with the climate jolts: coastlines uninhabitable polar bears and tigers extinct, a hurricane every year, etc. Some places on Earth were unbreathable because of the smog and others because of the heat.
"I remember it looking so fragile as we went into orbit," Campbell sighed with nostalgia. "I felt so small."
Makara grew up in Dehli, India. She grew up in the slums of the city. Campbell grew up on the Island of Manhattan which was all that was left of New York City after the flood wiped out most of it. Makara was in her early 30s, a brilliant biologist. Campbell was in his late 40s and the leader on Project New Eden.
"What do you miss most?" Campbell asked sipping his caramel latte.
"Not the hurricanes and earthquakes," Makara snapped.
Campbell shrugged. He was the easy going one while Makara was wound up. He could be annoying but some of his jokes made Makara crack a smile. Without him it would just be androids and computers on the Odyssey II.
"I miss the pizza," Campbell sighed. A drone whizzed by delivering Campbell's extra cream. "New York has the best pepperoni pizza in the world."
"Any more sugar and you'll crash," Makara casually pointed out.
"A man my age can enjoy so little before he dies," Campbell chuckled in good humor. "You should try some things while you're still young."
Makara managed to crack a dry smile. They both sat in silence watching space drift by, passing by a red and blue nebula where billions of new stars were slowly being born.
"I guess I miss a gentle breeze," Makara leaned back and sighed.
Campbell nodded in agreement.
"By the time we get to Methuselah everyone we know will be dead," Makara continued on a morbid note. "What if by the time we send a message back humanity destroys itself?"
"Then I guess you and I will have to restart the human race like Adam and Eve," Campbell joked pouring more cream into his latte.
"I could do worse," Makara shrugged. "Older men have experience after all."
"There's that sunny attitude," Campbell toasted.
Makara stood up, "I'm going to check on the plant samples in the green house."
Makara covered everything plant-based. She was a genius in her field. Campbell was the top astro physicist. There were more scientists but they were placed in cryo sleep. Every few years a few wake up to make sure everything is working right and to relay messages back to Earth using the satellites they left behind on the way. A trail of bread crumbs for future travelers.
In fact, it was almost time to launch another satellite.
"Make sure you don't press the red button like last time," Makara reminded her senior scientist.
"That happened once and I didn't think it would break the engine," Campbell defended himself. "I'm an astro physicist not an engineer."
"Maybe I should just wake Paul up so he could do it," Makara reasoned with a yawn. The coffee wasn't helping.
"No I'll do it," Campbell rolled his eyes. "You just check on your plants. If we get to Methuselah without them we've trekked across the universe for nothing."
Makara shrugged. She made her way to the green house. The room was built with UV lights giving the trees, plants, and fruits the illusion of sun. Makara wondered what Methuselah would be like. It was one of the oldest planets in the universe. It could be where all life started.
An adroid was the gardener of this mini-Eden. But it was a few hours before it would make it's rounds. Makara pulled up a glass tablet and held it over the oak tree that was a sapling when they started their journey.
Makara moved onto the lotus pond. The pink flowers floated on the watery surface like tiny boats on a dark sea. The scene reminded Makara of when her father would sneak them into the high caste gardens after hours. He would point out every plant and have Makara tell him everything about them.
"Without these, Makara," he said. "Humanity would die. Without the beauty of these creatures life isn't worth living."
It's been 50 years. He was probably dead by now. At least he didn't die in a slum gutter. The United Nations made sure every family of the crew on Odyssey II was taken care of financially.
Makara's sleeve of her white jump suit pulled back to reveal a tattoo she got when she was 17. It was Sanskrit for "Life".
She was in America when she got it. Her father wasn't happy about it. He wanted Makara to be taken seriously. "Only thugs and spoiled children get tattoos!" he cried. But Makara never did. She wanted one thing that was her and not her father's dream.
The glass tablet beeped to show that its scan was finished. All vitals were good. Makara moved onto the fruit trees. She moved her tablet over to a lemon tree. The lemons were bursting with ripe tartness.
The lemons jogged a memory of her first kiss. A boy in the slums, Sanjay. He had one tooth missing. They were 14 and Makara's father didn't approve. She couldn't have any distractions if she was going to get out of the slums. Somehow that made Sanjay even more appealing.
"Have you ever tried lemonade?" Sanjay asked.
Young Makara shook her head, her pony tail whipping in the air.
"The rich people drink it," Sanjay grinned his missing tooth showing a black space. "You have to try it."
"We don't have any money," Makara retorted.
Sanjay placed his finger over his lips and winked. He pulled her towards a market where a vendor was selling fruit. One of his items was a basket of lemons as yellow as the sun.
Sanjay was a master pick pocket and he had Makara play the distraction. She hated deciet as her father always taught her to be honest. Makara nevertheless asked the vendor many questions to the point he became annoyed then found Sanjay stealing a third lemon.
The fruit vendor cried out but Makara and Sanjay were off like the wind with only 2 lemons. Once out of sight and out of breath they couldn't help but burst out laughing. Makara never felt so exhilirated.
"It's not lemonade but the fruit has to be sweet," Sanjay inspected the alien fruit.
"Let's bite into them at the same time," Makara suggested.
On the count of 3 they sunk their teeth into the fruit but were overcome with disgust. It was so sour it made them gag.
"People make juice out of this?" Sanjay cried.
"Maybe they add sugar," Makara spat.
Despite their disappointment they both laughed and sat together watching the red sun set. Sanjay and Makara looked at each other then leaned in and pecked on the lips. Their lips brushed against each other. They both tasted sour but Makara thought it was the sweetest thing.
Makara's tablet beeped. She blushed at the memory. Then she made her way back to where she came in. Passing the lotus pond Makara was reminded of the day they left Earth. Her father was in a hospital bed. Lung cancer from years of working in deplorable conditions in the power plant making cars for the privileged few.
"I knew you'd reach the stars, Makara," he said, tubes coming out of him as if he were a cyborg hooked up to a charging station. To have known him to be so strong in her youth only to see him broken in his old age broke her inside.
He touched her tattoo and smiled.
"I was too harsh on you for this," he admitted in a cough. "It's a good reminder for your work..."
A tear escaped Makara's eye at the memory. She knew she would never see her father again after that day. Makara walked out of the green house leaving the memories behind to focus on her mission. The mission of seeing new life on a new planet. A new start for humanity...
***
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