Lessons from Earth

Lessons From Earth

Steav and Molec gazed through powerful telescopes at ruins 380,000 kilometers away. The decimated planet hung in just the right position to present the lunar observation dome a clear view.

"Why is the Earth ruined Daddy?" Molec asked with a puzzled cock of the head.

"We did it, son. Not us, I mean, but our ancestors from almost two hundred years ago." Steav looked down at his son and asked, "Haven't they taught you the Apocalyptic Tales in your symposi-vids? I thought kids learned about that in third tier."

"Yeah, we did. I just like hearing about it." Molec's eyes widened and he smiled. "It's so cool!"

"It's so cool! It's so cool!" Steav mimicked. "Where do you kids get these strange expressions?" They both chuckled. "Okay then, I'll tell you about it again." They took seats along the wall of the dome.

Molec loved hearing his Dad tell stories, almost as much as Steav liked telling them. Though he really wasn't an expert in most of the subjects. "In the early part of the last century, our ancestors on Earth caused a disaster that changed the weather patterns almost overnight," Steav began. "Of course, it wasn't on purpose, but it led to a global ecologic collapse that their technology couldn't fix." Steav shifted in his seat to better face Molec. "Do you know what that disaster was, Molecule?"

"Don't call me that Dad. And yes, I do know. It was Black Gold. Texas Tea." Molec made a motion resembling a stage actor. "Oil, that is."

"Where did you hear that?"

"We learned that in the vids. I swear. We watched a thing on oil and its history. That's from an old television show. Like they had on Earth back then." Molecule was nodding his head up and down as if to add credibility.

"Okay, so tell me about oil."

Molec rattled off facts like machine gun fire: "They used it for everything. They made stuff out of it. They burned it for fuel. Their vehicles used it. It really stunk up the place too. They even used it for currency." Molec paused and looked at his father. "That's like the credits we use now," he explained. Steav smiled, and Molec continued, "And their sectors had wars over it. That was maybe the worst part. Well, I mean, before the big spill."

Steav placed a hand on Molec's shoulder. "You sure know your stuff. But back then they had countries, not sectors." Molec gave his Dad a yeah, I knew that head nod.

Molec continued, "There was this big oil spill in a place called The Gulf of, uh, Medigo, I think. It kept spilling and spilling and caused lots of problems. The animals and plants died, and the temperature heated up, and it caused huge storms. Big hurricanes like the Red Spot on Jupiter. But not as big as that, of course." Molec paused as if to refocus his thoughts. "It changed the temperature of the ocean currents, and then the ice caps melted and volcanoes erupted and earthquakes happened and it was horrible. Our symposi-vids showed us old images of big cities, just burning and burning. But the expinction took another ten years."

"Extinction," Dad corrected.

"Yeah, extinction. All the algae died in the oceans, and then everything on up the food chain. Even all the people."

"We're not extinct. Not here on the Moon, anyway."

"That's the part I don't get," Molec wondered out loud, "There's a million people here on the Moon. If we got extincted, how come we're here?"

"It's more than a million now, son. And it was a whole lot less than a million when it started. Which was before the oil spill." Steav continued with the conviction of a true believer, "The human race had the foresight to expand Moon Program and space industry long before the disaster hit. Smart people, the best and brightest of their time, convinced society that space development was crucial to the viability of our species. The planet was fragile, and had already suffered countless extinction events. They knew, even then, that the only long-term hope for humanity was to get colonies onto other planets."

"Or the Moon, right Dad? We were first. Before the Mars people or the Europioids, or the Hawkings."

"Right. First the Moon was settled, then Mars, then the Hawking asteroid, and finally Europa. Thanks to human foresight and dedication to scientific endeavors, the Human race survived. They were able to send thousands of people up here, and from here, we were able to send some out to the further colonies."

Steav hoped he was in the same league as those brilliant thinkers of the 20th century, the visionaries who pushed man into space. Maybe not so much like the bumbling leaders of the early 21st century.

"I sure hope that doesn't happen here," Molec said, sounding worried.

"We don't drill for oil here, Molec. You know that. We get our fuel from Helium-3 that we mine from the regolith."

"A lot of people on the vids say that we're mining too much of the Moon away. We're crunching it up and processing it, and soon there isn't going to be any Moon left."

"There's plenty of Moon to go around. I think if we were smart enough to colonize space, we're smart enough not to use up the Moon." Molec didn't look convinced so Steav continued, "And besides, the Helium-3 industry is important to our whole way of life. They give jobs to people, and spread credits around, and help our leaders make decisions."

"I just get scared, because maybe they're like the people back on Earth."

"What do you mean?"

"On Earth, there were people who thought drilling for oil was a good idea. And then when it spilled, they thought they could fix it. And while they were trying to fix it, everybody died. They all thought they were so right about everything, and look what happened." Molec pointed at the grey planet through the dome.

"Molec. Really. You don't have to worry." Steav said in his most reassuring parental tone. "There won't be a disaster. I'm sure the Helium-3 people know what they're doing. They take all precautions. And I'm sure they wouldn't create any problems they can't fix."

Molec sighed in relief. And then so did Steav. They made their way to the transports leading to the communal living pods. Steav placed a hand on Molec's back as he guided his son forward. He was proud of his boy. So inquisitive and smart. And thoughtful. He always wanted the truth and was not easily riled up. But the story about the oil spill really seemed to get to him. Luckily, all seemed well now.

The evening followed its typical path, with dinner, followed by bathing, followed by Molec going to bed. He really didn't like the going to bed part, but it was a Symposi night, and he had vids in the morning. Steav tucked Molec in, and made his way to an empty self-molding comfort chair in the common room. He pulled out his hand-held iVid and waved it on. He still couldn't bring himself to get the vid cortical implants, even though most of his friends loved theirs.

He looked up the Apocalyptic Tales. He read about the oil spill. He watched a video record of the destruction. He saw the pictures of the burnt cities. Then he read about Helium-3. Its sources. Its uses. Its mining methods. It's wonderful to have knowledge at your fingertips, Steav thought.

He contemplated the day. He thought about his bright child, with all the questions and almost all the solutions. But he was the father. It was up to him to provide the right advice. The right answers. He looked down at his iVid and paused only for a moment. Maybe Molec had a point. Maybe the Moon wasn't the safest place to be anymore. Then he navigated to a language site, and started learning Martian.

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