...And We Will Have Snow

Chapter 8-10: The Shift

That evening Sedna and Newt joined Cern and Dema for dinner. Talk naturally turned to the Space Pod, and from there to who goes into space, and why.

Newt said, "I grew up dreaming of space travel, but I was on the outside looking in. My parents were old school. To them, getting into space was all about chemical rockets. I've been to visit them with my drone and they have QAR lenses, but I think they still don't comprehend the change. You people, you were all right there where it started. You saw it happen first hand. What was it like?"

"You mean more than just the recent DDM development, don't you?" said Dema. "You mean the whole Shift, from the first DM power plant, the Farm, the Sun Dome, the whole thing."

"Exactly. People were in a different place before that. The world was in a different place. What was it like?"

"The world was on a cusp," said Cern. "Nobody knew for sure what was to come. Most took seriously the projections of disaster, with no real hope of a way out. No one seriously believed there was any way to reverse climate change, and attempts at limiting CO2 emissions were never more than half-hearted. The doom-sayers were given free rein, money was thrown their way to give an appearance of doing something about it, but nothing was accomplished that gave any evidence of really making a difference.

"At WBI, we were tasked with coming up with ways to offer hope. We had an early model of the dark matter power plant, so we had a glimmer of the potential. We knew that reliable and abundant energy was fundamental to maintaining the world's advanced technology. We also knew that something like the Farm was fundamental to sustaining life in extreme situations. We ended up offering the world the Sun Dome."

"Which didn't prevent disasters, but mitigated them," interjected Dema.

"And helped introduce the Sun Bottle, and led to domed communities even in places that didn't need disaster relief but wanted protection from extreme weather."

"But why was everyone so slow to understand the potential of DDM?"

"You have to know the answer to that better than anyone, Newt. You were the first one to see it."

"All I saw was Sedna. Flying her drone out of the sky, the answer to my dreams. How could I miss it?" His look at her spoke further volumes. "My question is, how could I have been the first? I still can't believe that."

"I think you answered it pretty well telling us about your folks. The world had come through a huge paradigm shift with the Sun Dome, from looming doom to a new kind of freedom. We spent a whole generation adjusting to that. The space technology infrastructure remained in pretty good shape. It didn't get a lot of attention."

Dema added, "We had a technological solution to the climate crisis. But the shift into relying on that solution brought on a new crisis, a cultural one. Which we have Bear and Xayna to thank for resolving."

"As well I know. Our little group here didn't cope very well with dome life. I was as bad as the rest of them. Until you and Bear showed up. We owe you guys so much. And I have to admit, without that eye-opening I might not have been ready for Sedna." He looked at her fondly again.

She spoke up. "QAR changed human experience. By making the existence of the Q an unavoidable fact of life, no longer a mystery, it brought a new perspective on existence. People retain their individual awareness, but with or without the aid of QAR, awareness of the Q opens awareness to the connectedness of life to life. It removes the sense of isolation. No one is alone anymore."

Cern nodded. "Still, there are those who resist, or remain in denial. There are those who seek solitude. And there are those who relish the challenge of the unknown, and view the Q as a new frontier. Nearly all of these are New Raven types."

Newt nodded in turn. "Already many of your New Raven types fly drones into space, for the thrill of looking back – and forward. Sedna opened the way with her World Dream, but she is too much the Eagle, too balanced, to have ventured as far as some of them have gone just for the thrill of it."

Dema was astonished to hear of this. She looked at Cern and could tell that he had an inkling of it, but not much more. She turned to Newt and said, "But I thought NASA..."

"Still ran the space program? Sure, NASA is a willing coordinator when asked, and a willing collector of data gathered by anyone. But access to space is no longer limited by access to costly launch vehicles. Nearly anyone can acquire a DDM drone. NASA has no control over that aspect of the space program, except by agreement. Guys have sacrificed drones to make QAR recordings of visits to Venus, Mercury, even the Sun, basically just for bragging rights."

Dema realized that she and Cern were too invested in their Earth realm and its troubles to have paid attention to what guys with drones were doing outside it. Sedna was her main link to the drone world, but Sedna's focus too had been on Earth, not on outer space.

Sedna voiced the next thought. "But those places are so far away! How do they do it?" She knew all about operating a drone at a distance for long periods. She knew it wasn't always easy. Her question was real.