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  • Colonizer, 28th Century (plus SciFi Short Novel)

    Total View from a Distance

    View: Frontal Pull Propulsion (inactive)

    View: Frontal Pull Propulsion (active)

    View: Small and Medium Hangars for Utility Craft

    View: Insignia of a Male and Female Settler

    View: Long-Range Antennas at the Front

    View of the Early Endurion, a Rocky Planet

    View: a Coast on the Terraformed Endurion

    View to one of the Gas Giant Moons that has Basic Life

    - 1 -

    Peaceful and undisturbed, as they did for billions of years, the planets moved along their quiet lanes around the two suns in the center of this star system. But now, in the 3rd billion year of their existence, something had entered their system. And here it was - a large object from somewhere far, far beyond the outer rim of this solar system, large like a medium-sized asteroid.

    The big black object moved swiftly and silently towards the inner system. But as it passed the five asteroid belts of the system, it spit out small geological probes by the thousands and a few larger objects. Each time as it passed the orbital lanes of the twelf outer planets, it again spit out dozens of small probes and a few larger objects. And as the big object closed in to the green zone around the twin stars and more and more light reached its surface, it slowed down. There was something colorful on its surface, its strange-looking builders would call it an insignia. It showed a male and female individual of their species. They called themselves "humans", a gas-breathing life form with four extremities. But it was bio-cybernetic intelligence that controlled the ship, not them.

    There were three planets within the green habitable zone around the twin stars, one of them orbiting just the smaller blue sun alone. The colonizer ship, on automatic mode, sent out yet another cluster of geological and atmospheric probes as it moved towards the inner edge of the habitable zone, Having reached the hot zone of the star system, the ship launched a number of larger objects towards the four hot planets. Then the colonizer slowly returned towards the center of the green habitable zone and waited for the incomeing results. This would take two years.

    And as two years had passed, the ship's highly sophisticated artificial intelligence decided that this star system met all required criteria for human colonization, even after the surveys locally had been conducted. It was the 604th star system of a network of star systems the ship had been programmed to visit. Some systems where added by its human builders, and a number of systems were added by itself during its long-range scans during its voyages further and further away from the dying planet Earth - the planet that was the homestead of its builders. Sometimes, some systems looked very promising from afar, but the local surveys through its probes and antenna lead to a correction of the preliminary data and to the conclusion that certain frame conditions could not be met within that system. Two times in the past five thousand years of its search for a new homestead, there were indications that another colonizer had been arrived before, and that humans had colonized one or some of the planets there. But there were no humans anymore, for some reason they had disappeared after a few thousand years. Failked colonies due inner or outer problems. And so the search continued, avoiding these systems.

    As a number of repairs had to be conducted before the humans could be woken up from their epic five-thousand years long sleep, the ship first woke up the Engineers. Those were genetically engineered by their human masters, and adapted to space, repair and no individualism. These tiny beings had four thin arms on a thin but legless body. There were also some among them which looked very different, adapted to some different tasks. They were able to speak, but the formerly human genome was twisted to such an extend, that they had no individualism left. They worked in groups, acted in groups, identified themself with the group they were assigned. Group leaders had their own genetically changed genome.

    As each group completed the awakening of its members, it started to do the repairs on the parts of the mighty colonizer ship as directed by the ship's intelligence. The repairs took another two months. The ship also started to receive the first deliveries of ore from the automated mining factories it previously had launched together with the probes. The mining factories had their own mining vessels and worked since launch into the asteroid belts. Some of the moons of the gas giants in this system had their own primitive life, the probe results indicated, this would be something for later, for human scientists to look at. Interestingly, the same primitive life occured on a number of the moons. This might have been caused by asteroids of the same original planet that impacted different moons.

    And after the two months of repairs had passed, the ship activated the awakening procedure of its human freight. Human engineers first, then the scientists, and afterwards all other professions. One million settlers.

  • Colonizer, 28th Century (plus SciFi Short Novel)

    - 5 -

    Gentle, warm winds were bending the long golden halms of the wheat. The wheat fields extended endlessly towards the horizon. Amaee summoned the small transporter, and a few minutes later it arrived almost with no sound. The small blue sun would appear beside the larger orange sun, which indicated the end of the spring. The summer would be hotter, but not unpleasantly. The rich atmosphere blocked most of the emissions and ensured pleasant temperatures during the seasons. On her way back to the distant farm buildings, Amaee was now of full age, and would receive tomorrow the book of her ancestry as part of the ceremony. Her own name would be added, still with not much text about her. She felt excited. When her small transporter landed, the fine thin rain that came each late afternoon had started, not being more than increased moisture and a few drops of water here and there. Such was now the climate on Endurion.

    Her brother and parents were involved with decorating the place. Much was done by hand, no unncecessary machine power was involved. Even her grand parents were involved and prepared cakes, pies and cookies for the expected guests tomorrow. The house computer had ordered in advance food ingredients based on hundreds of years of recorded experience for such festivals, and it also ordered prefabricated housing elements to privide temporary accommodation for some of the guests. Amaee wanted to see all the preparations, but was of course not permitted which made her even the more curious, she could almost not manage it.

    "Amaee, please take the transport and pick up your great grand parents" her mother asked her. Of course, that was not necessary as all transports knew who to transport and from where to where. And her great grand parents were also very fit, as it was normal in this society. Disease and aging were under control. And a limit to two children for each couple ensured no over-population. She knew, her mother sent her so far away to get her out of the way for some hours. Well, and besides, it was simply a nice gueste to personally pick up someone. And she would see some new landscapes, something different than the endless wheat fields of their region.

    Amaee was always been a good settler's child. well-behaving, interested to learn, helpful to others, and bad emotions well under control. The latter was part of the learning programme for every child on Endurion. here, mankind had learned from the errors of the past, and did intend not to ever again repeat them.

    Two hours later, her transporter landed on the planet's far side, the side where the first humans colony on Endurion was established, long long ago. Interestingly, the colony had a name that was similar to the planet's name, but she had forgotten the name of that colony as language had changed over the centuries and names or terms of the past did not mean much today anymore. The transparent canopy opened and she felt the gentle warm rain on her skin. The entire planet had that fine-dropped rain almost each late afternoon and evening. Her great grand parents came out of the house, and they hugged each other. They were so much in joy to see her again, after so many years. "how much you have grown", "a real yougn woman" and "how fast time goes by" she heard them saying. Her great grand parents always had good stories of the old times. The times long before her great grand parents were even born. At least, the flight back wouldn't be boring. But the real excitement would be the next day, when Amaee was receiving the book of her ancestry and could read though all the old records and stories of the past.

    They arrived back at the family's farm long after both suns were gone. There was now something in the night sky that looked like a large round blurred cloud, emitting a diffuse brownish glow. That was the proto moon, still not more than a billion of asteroids clustering tighter and tighter driven by their own micro gravity.

    There was a happy welcoming of her great grand parents. A few other guests from the far regions had arrived in the meantime, too. The other guests would arrive tomorrow. They had a rich and well-tasting dinner altogether, Amaee being the center of most of the talks. Not just about her, but also with her.

    The next day was the day of her inauguration as adult. Her parents woke her up in the nicest way ever, her little brother danced around her and was curious if she would suddenly change after the ceremony. She smiled when she heard his question. All the missing guests came, the entire farming community of the Golden Highlands, and there was music, laugh, talk, and enjoyment. She was asked a hundred times what profession she would chose, an she answered a hundred times with a smile. In the afternoon, the official shuttle from the regional capital arrived, bringing her ancestry book. The mayor of her farming community took the book, and it was time for Amaee to stand in front of the mayor. The mayor asked her the obligatorical test questions, and Amaee answered all of them well. Finally, the mayor offered her the Ancestry Book, and Amaee received it under applause of all her guests. It was heavy, having over two thousand pages. She was now a full member of the community, with all responsibilities and abilities. She couldn't wait to read it this evening. It was a real paper book, compiled just for her. the latest complete records in it would be those of the achievements and work of her parents. Her name would be in it, too, but with an almost empty record, of course. But what she was longing for was to read the early records, the stories from the time of the first colonists and even the time before. Were the stories of her great grand parents true?

    And so, that very night when she was by herself again finally, Amaee opened the chapters of her own ancetry book. She knew already from her parents, that her family had a long history, a straight line to the first heroes. And so she read the old chapters. And the hours passed by, the suns rose again, and she was still reading. She learned about the dying planet Earth, and all the greed-driven errors the ancients made, how they destroyed their own planet just for the sake of something called "money". She read about one of the first settler couples, Yon adn Eonee, who where the first settlers to have own animals. There were no animals before them. Today, it was common to see domesticated and wild animals, though the number of species was very limited as not all species could have been saved from planet Earth or could adapt to a different planet.

    A few years later, after she had finished her studies, she worked as an engineer and oversaw the expansion of the Quantum Communications Hubs. It was a difficult procedure to install new hubs, as massive mathematic operations where involved to determine, which quantum strings could be used to reach specific other solar systems. There was enough computing power on Endurion and on the colonizer, but there were endless number sof solar systems, and it was unknown which solar systems would have a living and functioning human society. At the end, it was just a trying out. String after string was probed, for years now.

    When Amaee was in her early thirties, they finally had success! Another human colony was somewhere out there, deep in unmapped space, beyond all the solar systems that were originally considered by their ancient forefathers. Their ship, due to lack of unvisited solar systems nearby, was heading out to Nubeculae Magellani, to the Large Magellanic Cloud. Because it was a relatively straight flight with the space bender engine, despite of the much larger distance their ship arrived three thousand years before Enduria had been founded. They built a thriving civilization, but also had a terrible downfall that cost them two thousand years of civilization. They were back now, and technologically ahead of Endurion. Both human colonies started to exchange data and history, and would soon form what is today known as the First Human Hegemony, a group of eighty original settler worlds and a growing number of new colonized worlds, thanks to the life-long devotion and hard work of its founding settlers and the settlers afterwards.
  • Colonizer, 28th Century (plus SciFi Short Novel)

    - 2 -

    The Quantum Communications Hub was working, but there was been no response from planet Earth since over three thousand years, the ship responded to Yon. And before, the last communicarion where automated responses, machines and atmospheric probes probably left behind by the last humans on their dying planet. Planet Earth was now a second Venus, all technological knowledge of its human burden could not stop the radical changes that were started by earlier generations. Chain reaction after chain reaction.

    Yon originated from the Great Northern Habitat, while his partner Eonee came from the large aquacultural platforms so typical for the Great Southern Habitat. He remembered scenes from his childhood, far away now by time and distance. It was during a hide-and-find game with his friends around the masts of the huge wind generators, when he accidentially and unknowingly ventured deep into the yellow zone. He lost his way and couldn't find back, instead moved deeper and deeper in the yellow zone. When the refreshing, cool night ended and the brutally hot day came, he could barely bear the heat. Alarmed by is failure to be home before day-break, his parents alerted the police. And a search team finally found him. It was highly uncomfortable to linger in the yellow zone. Fifty kilometers beyond the huge wind generators, the red zone would begin, where all life would be fried within minutes. The green zones however, where the last human populations lived and tried to outlast the ever-increasing heating up of planet Earth, were pleasant by night and still acceptable by day.

    A few years later, when he was in his early twenties, he remembered his last sight of an arctic whale. He was in an enclosed fishing boat that was able to endure the heat outside during day. The poor whale showed visible signs of malnutrition and stress. Just three months later, the Human Directorate decided that all somehow surviving whales must be killed as they competed against humans for the last surviving fish reserves in both artic habitats. The whales joined a long line of other animal species that had to be eliminated by humans in man's fight for the last of the ever-dwindling natural food reservers of their dying planet. Of course, no animal would be wasted, even the whale meat would be used for feeding the human population.

    When Eon was in his early thirties, the border of the green zone was taken back again by another one-hundred kilometers as atmospheric pressure, moisture content in the atmosphere and heat levels steadily rose and it became more difficult for the great wind generators to fight off the hostile environment. It became increasingly difficult to provide enough space for those humans still living in the Great Northern and Sourthern Habitats. Some of the great wind generators, now deep in the red zone, also started to fail, and a new periphery of wind towers, in greater numbers than ever, had to be built. The extermination of animal races had now reached the last few surviving cats and dogs, the last remaining pets of humans. There were already no birds anymore. It was then, when Yon decided to abandon the harsh life on the dying planet and seek a new begin in space. He first went to the Martian Colonym but after a few years there it became increasingly clear to him, that here too there was no long-time future. With dwindling support from the dying Earth, the Martian terraforming was impossible to maintain. Yon did not want to have his children in yet another dying planet.

    It was in Hope, the largest and first Martian city, where he met Eoneee. She came from the Great Southern Habitat and, deeply angered by all the animal-slaughtering to keep the last food reserves for humans only, had studied adaptive biology, from the very begin to aim becoming a passenger of the new colonizer ships that Earth and Mars were now building. A break-through in propulsion science laid way to the development of two new propulsion methods: the space bender and the black-hole pulling propulsion.

    The first colonizers where filled with the rich, with the industrial leaders, with politicians, all who denied global warming, those who ruined since generations planet Earth for the sake of personal enrichment. Those where the first to escape now from the dying planet. They went to one of the nearby star systems that had the most promising conditions. They also warned the remaining human population to never aim for the same solar system as their colonizers where heavily armed and would defend their right to seek a new begin.

    But now without other solar systems close enough that could be probed easily from planet Earth for favorable planetary conditions, it was a problem to find new destinations. A few colonizers tried indeed to reach the same star systems that the industrial leaders occupied, and where indeed destroyed immediatly after arrival.

    From now on, colonizer ships would have to search by themselves for suitable star systems. Their voyage would not take anymore decades like in the case of the industrial leaders and their families, but hundreds or even thousands of years, with uncertain prospects. There would not be any human communication between ships and the human population in the solar system. the human population in the asteroid belts around sol started a numberr of projects to terraform some of the larger moons around the gas planets, but it was clear that time had run out for such desperate long-time projects. Yon initially intended to join them, but his new love for Eonee made him changing his plans, and so they two enlisted as couple for the coloniers.

    And here he was now, over seven thousand light years away from his home planet. With him a million of other settlers. No response from anyone alove on planet Earth, but that was expected, as five millennia had past. And at that time, no communication with any successful and surviving new human colony in any other solar system had been established, either. It might be very well, that in the past millennias, human colonies came into existence, built new civilizations, and eventually sank back into the void when their hey-days were over. Nobody would now, for a very long time. But Yon and Eonee where here now, and that was what counted. A new begin.

  • Alien Life (An Expedition through Our Galaxy)

    The following photos were made during my last expedition through the galaxy... :lol:
    Any comments are welcome.

    Mesh creature used: a game editor and plenty mods
    Photo equipment used: Photoshop
    No animals were harmed.
  • Colonizer, 28th Century (plus SciFi Short Novel)

    - 3 -

    Caun was now seven years old, and Eonee told him again one of his beloved stories: from a distant planet, where there were humans and other living things not human and living their own lives. Caun remembered that his grand parents called them "animals". He never saw an animal but he longed to. based on Eonee's tales, some of them even lived, once a long time ago, with humans together. Some others did not. His parents were engineers, working on the terraforming machines that would one day, hopefully, make it possible for him and his friends, to play games outside the protective walls of Enduria. He knew, humans would die if their nose filters failed to function, or if the suspension shields over their heads would stop to block the strong emissions of the twin stars. Resources were there but sparingly, and luxury had to wait for later generations. The big colonizer had left the planet towards the largest of the asteroid belts, receiving ore and autimatically building more and more mining ships. Deep in the belly of the colonizer, incoming ore was melted and refined, and production chains produced the most important things the human colony required to survive its early years.

    One day, Caun decided, he wanted to be a scientist and make it possible that animals could be around again. He really wanted to see them.

    - 4 -

    Now in his late nineties, farmer Yon and his beloved Eonee were on their small farm that started to exist around the huge atmospheric enrichmet towers. They prepared a special meal as Caun, their grandson who was now in his early fourties and a capable scientist, would arrive soon to their farm outside of Enduria. Their small farm could not grow a wide variety of crops yet, but a few hardy vegetable species it already produced. It had taken a long time to establish this colony, as the sterile planet differed a lot from the ancient Earth. At first, bacterial factories enriched the poisonous winds on Endurion as this planet was named, and countless impacts of ice asteroids sent from space to add sufficient moisture and eventually even water oceans to Endurion made it dangerous to be on the other side of the planet. When the atmosphere thrived of bacteria and the first shallow lakes were full of cyano bacteria, all still genetically modified to endure the still hostile environment, the settlers stared to release the first genetically modified plants, but they were primitive - just lichens and moss. Just decades later, fungi and higher plants were added when the environment was more stable. By that time, the atmosphere was able to block most of the immense radioactive emissions coming from the twin stars.

    Endurion had two small moons, but those consisted of light materials only and did not provide enough gravity to cause tides on the planet and take the force from its atmospheric features. To provide a more stable environment, the outer asteroid belt was almost depleted as its billions of medium-sized asteroids were sent in an orbit around Endurion. They clustered already and would eventually form a new moon, that would take eons. But that didn't matter, even as a cluster the future moon could provide enough gravity to cause tides on the planet, and that was needed for a stable environment where atmospheric effects would not be too rough.

    But today Caun did not come just to visit his old grand parents. He came today with a present. The present that Caun made to Yon and his Eonee, was very special: the first kittens on this planet. Yon had tears in his eyes, and Eonee had even more tears. Memories from the past. Emotions. The three small kittens mioued, one of them closed its eyes and cuddled into Yon's hand. The colony was now able to support the first animal life, brought from Earth as deep-frozen sperm. Just a few of the first settlers would receive such a precious present, and they both were been selected. It would still be a long time, before more, and bigger, animals could be born and released. But that was the aim for the colony. The colonizer also served as ark, and it was now up to the new generations to avoid the greed-driven mistakes of their forefathers on planet Earth.