Retreat from Earth //or// We Make our Own Aliens

Titan, 3563.

Lewis: “Well we couldn't figure out how to go faster than light. Of course, it's not like we stopped researching it, the funding still went down to the physics departments across the solar system, but unfortunately, in spaceships travelling a fair bit below the speed of light.”

[The crowd laughs]

Lewis: “Our hopes of finding alien life, and some real variety in our existence had faded. It's also worth mentioning at this point that Mr Dupell and his control systems had been helping to keep the population down significantly, so we were actually below 5 billion in 2078. Isn't that a wonder? So many souls.”

Rahi: “That's a huge amount of people, but then it was nearly twice that a few decades before.”

Lewis: “Quite astounding, of course you would know than me.”

[Lewis laughs, the crowd chuckles quietly]

Rahi: “Well, I mean, do you want me too? We all know early A.D. History enough, let's move on.”

Lewis: “Sure, let's.”

[Lewis waves his hand, the projector picks up and resumes his slides from yesterday]

Lewis: “So this, was the first set of drawings by a woman called, I think it was Marey, of a potential, as she called it, “retreat from Earth” scenario. The basic idea was pretty well explained in the title. We leave Earth, and let the natural ecosystem take over. In the 2100's they were already doing this, as most major industrial centres were off world at this point. But we remove all human life, and all essence of human life from Earth, and let natural selection do its work again.”

Rahi: “Yes, yes. I think you've nailed it there. Marey and later Williams both argued the same thing, we weren't going to find intelligent life outside of the solar system any-time soon.”

[A hand raises in the crowd]

Crowd member: “What of the colony ships of the 2200's?”

Rahi: “Oh they left as well, that was slightly, before? Before Williams, Prof. Lewis?”

Lewis: “Yes, yes. I think about 40 or 50 E-years before Williams spoke at the ERCO.”

Rahi: “Right. So it was reasoned, not just by Williams, but by many. Kabiuy springs to mind. Instead of searching far and wide for new life, we just use the resource already available to us, to do that.”

Lewis: “Think of the earth as a vein of coal. No that's stupid. Basically, the earth had created intelligent life already-”

Rahi: “Us!”

Lewis: “Yes, and just because we were made there, it didn't mean it couldn't do it again.”

Rahi: “Exactly. Biogenisis, hell, abiogenisis could happen on Earth and long as the sun burned hot. So we thought, why not? The ecosystem efforts and the explosion of people and industry in the great belt and  around Ceres meant more and more people were moving off world.”

Lewis: “Earth was basically becoming a tourist attraction. The ERCO was making sweet money off it but, well ask Prof. Rahi!”

[The two turn to each other, and laugh heartily]

Rahi: “So this is where I step into the picture, I suppose. I didn't do much, I-”

Lewis: “Oh, arse!”

[Laugher from the crowd]

Rahi: “No, it was a team effort! My lovely husbands also played a role!”

[More laughter, several cat-calls]

Rahi: “ We're loosing track. What I'm saying is that the ERCO was convinced to go along with out plan, and the remaining odd hundred thousand people moved off the Earth. Leaving only our small research teams to handle the biogenisis. We eliminated primates first of all, a little grim, I agree. But I'm sure they're all doing just fine on their enclosures on Mars. But we'd, literally, already been down that road to primate intelligent life. So, since then we've just been waiting! Waiting from some new life to poke its head out of the primordial soup.”

Lewis: “I think you've summed up magnificently there, Prof. Rahi.”

Rahi: “And, it's worth mentioning, that even halfway through the 3^rd millennia, the project is still going strong! And our organisation is not political! Keep outer rim disputes just there, in the outer rim, away from our little experiment!"

[The crowd claps and several photos are taken]

Rahi: "The question I'm usually asked, is which taxa, which types of life is showing the most promise for the next generation of interplanetary intelligent life? , and the answer is always the same. The dolphins of course!”

[Laugher from the crowd]

Lewis: “Thank you, you can find us all online and matr-ZERO at the addresses on the screen now. We'll be back next week! And remember, keep watching the ground!”

[The two embrace and walk off stage to laugher and happy chat from the crowd]

Written by me.