Music and Wonder

   "Around the campfire" is a concept we heard from stories about our grandfathers. Nobody here has ever seen an open fire, much less a conflaguration at an encampment. We do have simulated woodlands on the ship. There are places where simulated nights can be experienced here too. When this voyage embarked, the ones who boarded had only the knowledge of how to live on the Earth, with natural gravity. Now we are perhaps midway into our journey, and the ones who knew the details of campfires and Earth have long passed on. They gave the children an early balance onto good and social qualities, with the intention of forming the youthful personalities into a moral future. When our voyage started, only two things appeared certain, but there has always been doubt too. The first certainty is that the Earth was not as reliable as it once was, and the second certainty, our grandfather’s remote sensing equipment had uncovered some new information about some locations that appear to be l...

  There are many rewards for a job well done, but there is only death for failure.  There it is, a little blip in the data. A location, so far away, where the wind blows softly and the sun shines warmly and the water shimmers with life. Illusia. So far away. So she takes the discovery and shows it around. After a long time she finds two others who have the same results, the same location, so far away. They put the pieces together and there is some good news. Now there is a way to a better place, to a place where humankind can find some purchase to start again. The new Earth. The fresh start. Where things will begin. The old Earth has become unreliable. First the tap water became unpleasant, foul tasting, and then the drought got worse. Then the political situation changed and the loudest shouters had complete control. Now, they will do what it takes to make this whole thing work out. The question is, make it work out for who? Not everybody is a winner. This old Earth will not ...