"Alright, anyone have any ideas on how to approach this?" said the lead Geologist. His name is Prof. Donavich. He had been a Geologist since twenty years before the war and still continues to be today. He is the most experienced among us.
"I don't think Venus is what we're looking for." I stated.
"Why would that be, Mr...?" asked Prof. Donavich. The Professor and I have made acquaintance before, but I am unsure if he remembers.
"My apologize. My name is Walter. Walter Craven." I answered.
"Ah. So, tell me, Mr. Craven, how long - if at all - have you studied science in general?" he asked very sternly.
"I have parallel studied both Geology and Astronomy for eleven years, including after and before the war." I answered, attempting to remain calm. There is well over a hundred people here and I've always hated public speaking. But, I felt my knowledge and opinions would be accepted and possibly even needed here.
"Good. You are actually coming in here with knowledge of both subjects, so your opposing against this idea is valid, but whether it is to be taken into consideration, depends entirely on how strong your argument is." he said. He was right though. Everyone in here had at least five more years of study and experience over me. Talk about tough crowd.
"Alright, well for starters, how would you get there?" I asked.
"We still have some leftover Colony Transport Vessels from the moon colonization period and a few standard spacecraft from when we put people on other atmospheric based moons and on Mars." said one of the leading engineers.
"What would you use to build housing and other essential buildings for people that go?"
"High-Velocity Kinetic Resistant Steel-Plating." he answered.
"From what you've told me, you would encounter serious problems before you even landed." I said.
"Oh really? Why would that be?" he asked defensively.
"Well, for starters, the cloud layers of Venus are of a Sulfuric-Acid based composition. Then on top of that, the planets extreme temperatures and a lack of viable landing spaces. The planet's surface is laced areas of molten magma. Even the solid ground that is there would still be too hot." I said. He then aggressively replied,
"You're full of it! You're just making all of this up, aren't you? I bet you're one of tho-" the Professor interrupted him before he could finished.
"He's right. The planet's surface is too hostile for our equipment and us. The risk is too great!"
"Thank you, Prof. Donavich." I said genuinely.
"But, I get the feeling that you didn't come here to tell us just that." he implied, curiously.
"Correct. I believe I have an alternate plan. One that should yield greater results and be low-risk." I replied. Prof. Donavich seems very eager for my involvement in the mission, but his colleagues don't seems to believe that I am capable of 'stepping up to the plate'.
"Excellent!" he exclaimed with a smile, "Let's hear your plan, in a nutshell." But, before I could begin, the same leading engineer from before blurted out,
"What?! You can't be seriously considering his proposal! We have months of planning for going to Venus and you would just cast it aside?!" The Professor looked at him, stood up from his seat, and said,
"Yes, I would." His appearance and tone was calm and stern.
"Why? Why would you listen to some punk kid who claims he studied the subject, when there's no proof of it?!" he said aggressively.
"Because he's telling the truth." said Prof. Donavich, still maintaining a calm and stern stance and tone.
"How the hell could you possibly know that?" asked the engineer, who was getting very irritated. "Could you read his mind? Hear his thoughts?" he added sarcastically. There were a few snickers from the other people in the crowd.
"No. He is a former student of mine from before the war." he replied. So, he does remember me. He then added, "He is passionate with his work and is careful to be sure he has all of the facts first, before taking a stand like he just did."
"He still has no experience in real situations!" said the engineer, who seemed very content on making sure my thoughts weren't considered in the final decision.
"Then what would you recommend that he do to get experience, in real situations, without being put into a real situation?" the Professor asked the engineer. The question stumped the engineer and put him back in his seat.
"Now then, are we willing to hear-our Mr. Craven and give him a chance to prove himself?" said Prof. Donavich. A few subtle nods from the others was enough for me to continue with explaining my plan. "Alright, Mr. Craven. Proceed." said the Professor.
"Thank you." I said. "Now, we all know that another planet like Earth would be very far away and it would be impossible for us to get there within a reasonable amount of time."
"Yes, Mr. Craven," stated another geologist, "this we already know. What of it?" he then asked.
"What if we're thinking to specifically? What if we're not thinking of every possible, available source of resources?" I said.
"Are you saying we should look at moons and/or asteroids?" asked one of the astronomers.
"Maybe, but those would likely be a hit or miss with the asteroids and resource rich moons would be too far away and would likely pose too great of a risk as well. What I'm talking about, is Mars." I said. The room was struck by a very deep silence. Then, in an instant, the room erupted in conversation and debate. Only Prof. Donavich and I remained silent. The Professor looked at one of the security guards and nodded. The security guard approached the center of the room where the Professor and I were and when he reached the center of the room, he pulled out his sidearm and fired a single shot into the air. A heavy silence, once again, fell over the room. Everyone slowly began seating themselves again and once everyone was seated again, the Professor stood up. He then said,
"We do not have much time. We cannot afford to delay this much longer less we ourselves are the ones who end up truly dooming mankind."
"Why? What's the rush for?" a scientist said.
"Alex, if you would be willing to explain, please." said the Professor as he looked toward a man sitting in the front row.
"Of course, Prof. Donavich, I'd be happy to." he said. Alex Baron is the leading Astronomer in the group. He's studied the stars since he was a child and had worked with NASA for many years before the war. He would be responsible for plotting whatever course it is that we take. In his hand, he had some sort of remote. He clicked a button and a holographic image of a star came up from the central table.
"This is our Sun," Alex began. "As you know, for those of us who have been studying and keeping close tabs on our sun, it has slowly been increasing in surface activity." After he finished his sentence, a man barged through the door, panting and sweat. One could tell that he had been frantically running, the likely reason is that he was trying to get here.
"S-sorry I'm late. I had some difficulty collecting my notes." he said. He was still heavily breathing, but he then manage to ask, "Alright, so what did I miss?" Everyone was silently staring at him. The Professor, Alex, and I silently looked at one another with surprised and confused looks. Alex was the one who finally broke the silence and asked,
"Sir, who are you and why are you here?"
"Oh, where are my manners? I am Jackson Reach," he said. He then added, "I am here because I figured that... well..." he was hesitant to answer, likely because he was nervous. The Professor said,
"Out with it." Jackson sighed and finally answered.
"I figured that my engineering skills would be useful."
The leading engineer stood up, walked over to Jackson, and looked him over, head-to-toe. The lead engineer's name is Paul Stone, and he had the stereotypical look of a factory worker. He was a big, broad-shouldered man that stood at least a foot over Jackson, who had the more so, stereotypical look of a computer engineer.
"You? An engineer?" sneered Paul. "Ha! Don't make me laugh!"
"Paul, enough. Please return to your seat." said the Professor.
"Absolutely not! I will not allow you to jeopardize this mission! You can't just let everyone into the group who claims to know something about engineering or astrono-" he was cut off in mid-sentence by the Professor who stood up and yelled,
"Enough! Sit. Down." The room had a very thick and heavy silence over it. Paul and the Professor continued to exchange soul-piercing glares. The Professor then sternly added, "Now." Paul finally yielded to the Professor and sat back down.
Alex and I both glanced over at each other. He then said, "Well, I'd say there has been enough stress and tension for one day. What say we continue this tomorrow and call it a day? Hm?"
"I agree with Alex." I said.
"Alright." said the Professor. "We'll call it a day and continue this tomorrow." Others gave a few subtle nods or a 'Yeah'. "We'll meet back here tomorrow around 1:00 P.M. and that includes you Mr. Reach." said the Professor. Jackson had a joyful look on his face after hearing this. He simply replied, "Thank you very much, Prof. Donavich." and he then left the room smiling. Eventually, most of the scientists and engineers had left the conference room, some remain who were talking with one another, and I had left with the Professor. He invited me over for dinner with his family so we could catch up.
When I was still in college, before the war, I was not only his top student, but also his most caring. We developed a close friendship, but we haven't talked to or even seen each other for the past ten years except for today. But, it will be good to work with him again. We must also still remain focused on the task at hand. We could very well be, the only people that can save Earth, and Humanity.
