Earth Two

© 2011 Chick Lung. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 1/7/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-2502-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-2501- 3 (e)

Printed in the United States of America

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

This book is dedicated to Pam Simmons who finds the time and patience to correct my numerous gramatical errors. She reads and edits my books with a critical eye, just as she does with the numerous papers her studentsl have come to expect at the Putman City Central High School English classes she teaches. Thank you Pam.

Earth Two

Prologue

The debate over global warming stopped in the summer of 2075 when the last ice field at the South Pole vanished. By then the oceans of the world had risen between twenty-one and twenty-four feet, swamping every city and town located on the coastal plains of Earth. Twenty-one billion people were living on a planet that was running out of time. The pollution streaming from the factories of the world had poured into small streams, which in turn had drained into the larger streams and rivers that had dumped their toxic arsenal into the oceans.

From the beginning of time the oceans had fed the human race with such an abundant variety that no one ever dreamed that one day there would be no more fish or other crustaceans to fill their bellies. There were still a few places in the middle of the oceans that had not yet felt the toxic arsenal or acid rain. However, they were few, and they were guarded by the powerful warships of the few nations still able to maintain a battle fleet.

Mankind had cut and burned the forests of Earth and cemented over the fertile ground to make way for buildings and factories that took more by the hour from the Earth than the Earth could replenish.

By 2160 the last tree in the once mighty Amazon rain forest fell to the saw. Weather patterns around the world changed drastically. Where clear fresh rains once fell, only a baked land stood witness to the destruction.

A third of the world’s population now lived and worked underground. The two-thirds living on the surface had to cover every inch of skin with a protective shield as acid rain would turn any exposed skin a bright red after only a few minutes.

The Earth by 2180 was shrouded in a thick, black mist that let little sunlight penetrate to the cities below. Children were born who had never seen a star in the sky above or remembered what it was like to go to bed without hunger.

Three rich and powerful countries had seen the handwriting on the wall and had joined together in 2055 to establish permanent settlements on both the Moon and Mars. Vast amounts of the resources of America, Canada and China went into the effort, and by 2096 they had established domes more than a mile long and half a mile tall and wide to house the people clamoring to leave Earth for either place. The three nations had their pick of the best and brightest from around the world, and within thirty years the people on the Moon were completely self- sufficient. Mars took another ten years before they too needed nothing from Earth. After that it seemed like overnight that both Mars and the Moon were sending critically needed supplies to Earth for the starving masses. In return, the few precious metals such as gold and silver that the Earth was still giving up were sent to one of the two colonies.

For the next hundred years as Earth continued to die, both Mars and the Moon flourished. Each expanded its domes by thousands of acres and released thousands of tons of oxygen into the atmosphere .By 2205 a third of the food consumed on Earth was supplied by Mars and the Moon, but as each year passed the demand for more from the poor nations of Earth grew louder and stronger.

Mars had a population of five million in the year 2211; the Moon, because it was so much closer and had been settled earlier, had a population of seventeen million. The Governors of Mars and the Moon signed a treaty in 2211 limiting the emigration from Earth to one ship per month. Each ship carried two thousand emigrants and ships had begun landing on a daily basis by this time. Seeing that they would both soon be overrun with people that they had nowhere to put, both Governors signed the Earth Emigration Treaty which allowed one ship per month to land with new emigrants, knowing it would bring a storm of protest from the people and nations on Earth.

Technically, both Governors were subject to the laws of the three nations that had sent them to their new home, but in reality they ran their own world as long as they did not cross the three nations. In fewer than six months, Mars got its answer to the treaty; one of their ships had exploded in flight just after delivering food to a country in South America.

Mars was still delivering supplies and food by way of ship; they had not yet built the Atom Stairway that connected the Moon to Earth. Scientists had found a way to line up individual atoms which was called nano-technology. A nano string was a thousand times stronger than the strongest steel man could make and it did not deteriorate or wear out. By bundling millions of these strings together, they built a stairway to the Moon. It wasn’t an ordinary stairway but was used in the same manner. Magnets were placed every three feet, and when an object passed one magnet then the next magnet in line pulled the object in the direction the magnet was lined up in. This way a container or a ship or even a human in an enclosed shield could be transported either up or down. It took exactly the same time no matter the mass of the object being transported. It took exactly nine hours and seven minutes to either reach Earth or the Moon.

The three nations stepped in and negotiated a treaty which allowed two ships per month to bring emigrants to both the Moon and Mars, and both were to increase supplies and food by three percent. No one was pleased, and in the next twenty-nine years more and more of Mars’ ships would explode once their cargo was discharged somewhere on Earth. Threats were thrown back and forth from the colonists and Earth until the Governors realized nothing would stop the human masses from descending upon their world, and they too would then start down the same path that Earth had taken. After years of discussion and negotiations and getting nowhere, the two Governors, with their people’s approval, made their decision.

In 2240 Mars and the Moon cut off all communication, food and supplies to Earth. China and Canada stood by and did nothing but threaten the colonists with things they would do, but in the end they did nothing. Only the United States took action after arguing for months with the other two nations. They sent a fleet of battleships, first to Mars to remove the Governor and his staff. The few ships Mars had ready for battle stood passively by as the Earth ship’s Admiral removed the old government and inserted a new one.

The defenders of the Moon did not stand by passively as the battleships from Earth descended into their air space. The battle in the air and on the ground lasted nine long months. In the end, half of the Moon’s facilities lay in ruin. What food and supplies that could be sent to Earth after the war were now far less than before, and the United States government, as it had before, saw the handwriting on the wall. Without enough food to sustain the people of Earth, mass starvation would not be long in coming. That was when the three nations emerged from a year long meeting and announced the decision to begin the building of the life ship.

It would be the most massive operation ever accomplished by man as thousands of men and women worked on the project on all three worlds, then sending the finished material to a station twenty-five thousand miles above Earth. There was no way to keep the project a secret. After a few years none of the three nations tried because once the recruiting started, every human wanted a chance to be included in the life ship. Every human wanted a chance to escape the drudgery most lived in on Earth. Anything would be better than staying and slowly starving to death on a dying planet.

Resources were thrown behind new technology that had never before been tried. Nano-technology became the material of choice as thousands of scientists rushed to make the next great discovery that nano- technology would allow them to make.

Chapter 1

Stepping from the shower Carson Chase lifted the light to his face. Starting just above his right ear as he did each morning, he traced the outline of his jaw, coming to a stop at the same spot above his left ear. Next he slid the light across his upper lip before lowering it to his neck. Taking seven quick strokes, he turned off the light and felt his face and neck. Satisfied he had removed the last twenty-four hours of hair growth, Carson leaned forward with his eyes closed as a number of tiny nozzles sprayed his face and neck with a flowery scent. Moving to a small alcove in the corner of his bedroom, he stepped naked on a round disk and raised his arms above his head. Feeling the warm air gently dry his skin, Carson relaxed for a full minute after his body was dry before he spoke, A traveling outfit please. Putting his arms down and slightly away from his body, he felt the heavy mist start at his ankles and work upwards until it stopped at the top of his shoulders. Holding perfectly still, he waited a full minute for the mist to conform to his body and harden. Looking over at the full length mirror Carson frowned.

Change the color to a light tan, please. He watched the mirror as another much lighter mist again started at his ankles and ended on top of his shoulders. Nodding his head that he was satisfied with the color of the suit, he raised his left foot for ten seconds and then his right as the spray formed the material that made his feet look like a pair of alligator shoes that had been purchased just that morning. Once the material had hardened and then softened on his body, no one, even if he ran his fingers across the material, would be able to tell if the material was real or part of the new nano- technology that so many of the rich citizens used now in their daily lives.

Once again looking at the mirror, Carson took in the full picture. Standing six feet two inches tall with dark brown hair and blue eyes, he was satisfied with the reflection he saw looking back. Carson Chase was thirty-four years old and had been married for the last four years to the most beautiful woman on three worlds.

Maria Chase propped her elbow on her side of the bed as she leaned slightly forward to watch her husband as he got ready to once again leave her all alone in their big lonely house high in the Colorado Mountains. Maria was a needy person: she needed her husband by her side, and she needed people to tell her how beautiful she was, especially her husband. And why not? She always thought she deserved to be pampered and looked after. After all, she was the one woman five years ago that had been chosen as the most beautiful woman on three worlds. All three worlds, for only the second time in forty years, had sent their fifteen beauty queens to be judged against the beauty queens of Earth. Maria Chase, Miss America, had beaten them all and was crowned the most beautiful woman in the Solar System. She liked men and women around her, fussing over her and telling her how much she was loved by the people. She especially liked the looks all men gave her and the thoughts she could see in their eyes.

Slipping out of bed, Maria pulled the small silk top over her head and let it drop at her feet before walking over to the full length mirror where Carson was running a brush through his hair. Maria stood in front of the mirror, her hands on her hips, twisting from side to side as she looked for any sign of sagging or aging in her twenty-four year old body.

Do you think my breasts are as perky as they used to be, Carson?

Putting his brush down, Carson sighed, but not so she would notice. He turned and answered her. Maria, you are more beautiful than the day I married you. You work out two hours every day. You never did that when you were nineteen and twenty, so of course your body looks better now than a few years ago.

As Maria smiled and continued to turn and twist in front of the mirror, Carson thought back to the first night of their honeymoon and what she had looked like as she had slipped out of her wedding dress and had stood naked before him. Maria was a tall woman, almost five feet eleven inches tall, with jet black hair that fell to her waist. Her complexion was almost pure white, and Carson was sure the sun’s rays had never touched her body. His breath was almost taken away when he had sat on the edge of the bed and watched her as she had undressed. But with all the beauty from the top of her head to her delicate feet, the thing that stood out the most was her emerald green eyes. Seeing the face and body, one just would not expect to also see such beauty coming from her eyes.

Carson had met Maria a year after she had won the biggest beauty contest ever and her picture was splashed across the worlds. He was giving a lecture on planets, and a reception was being held in her honor in the same hotel his lecture was. She had left her reception and walked to where he was speaking when she found out that the famous astronomer was giving a series of talks just down the hall. Although not anywhere near as famous as Maria, Carson was by now well-known for the discovery of a planet he called Earth Two. It was so named because all the signature of gases and elements coming from the planet matched the signatures and gases that the Earth once had before people destroyed the rivers, forests, and even the seas. The planet was found in the constellation called Phoenix; it even had an orbit around its sun of 328 days, not too far off from the Earth’s rotation around its sun. The planet was 91.3 million miles from its sun, much like the Earth’s.

Watching Carson speak, Maria could see the crowd was fascinated by what he was saying. Maria had no interest at all in planets outside her own solar system, but she had heard of Carson Chase and she knew he came from one of the wealthiest families in America. That was why she was standing in line to shake his hand and let him see her beauty when he finished his lecture. She knew nature would do the rest, that is, if he was the one she wanted. When she held out her hand and was introduced to Carson, he was almost tongue tied as his eyes took in her beauty. By the end of the second week of dating, Carson was acting like a college freshman on his first date. Six weeks later he proposed.

On their honeymoon it didn’t take Carson long to realize that Maria was well-experienced in the art of making love for she showed him things he never imagined a couple would or could do. A year after they were married, he returned home from a trip two days early and found two of her male lovers sleeping in his bed while she entertained another beside the pool. Maria cried and then begged Carson to forgive her. She was so lonely she had told him; with his being away so long she needed people around her. She had never been alone; always there were men and women that wanted to be by her side. He knew he had been away a lot that first year and after six months of marriage counseling he agreed to forgive her and start over. Maria had kept her word as far as he could tell. He had found no further evidence she