Nine-year-old Billy Davis
never saw anything more impressive. It was the coolest looking
spaceship he had ever seen.
“Is that it Dad?”
asked Billy. “Is that really, really it?”
“That's it, son,” said
Dad. “That's the spaceship that's gonna take us to live on another
planet.”
Billy, Dad, and Billy's
mom loaded their things into their private cabin in the ship. It
would take a few months to get to the distant star, but such a travel
time was pretty amazing considering that the star was 18 light-years
away. The relatively short journey was possible only because of the
warp-drive engine of the starship, which meant that its effective
travel speed was many times the speed of light. The genius
physicists of the generation before Billy's had found a way to cheat
on the laws of nature, by using a warp drive that effectively shrunk
the space in front of the starship. by creating a series of spatial
mini-warps as the ship traveled toward the star.
“I can't wait to become
a real space pioneer, kind of like Daniel Boone,” said Billy. “I
want to learn all about being a space pioneer, so I can help out,”
said Billy. “But how can I do that?”
“Why don't you use the
holographic simulator?” suggested Mom.
Billy went to the
spaceship's holographic simulator, which could convincingly project a
360 degree simulation of a vast variety of landscapes. He requested a
program that would let him practice cutting down trees and building
log cabins, just like Daniel Boone. For many days he practiced with
the simulation, until he finally got the hang of it.
“I'm done, Mom!”
exulted Billy. “Now I know how to build us a house when we get to
that planet.”
“That's great, Billy,”
said Mom, glad that her son had found some activity to help relieve
the boredom of the interstellar voyage. “But what about food,
Billy? We'll need to grow food somehow on that planet.”
Billy went back to the
holographic simulator, and requested a simulation to help him learn
the basics of farming. He learned how to plant crops. He also learned how to irrigate crops and harvest them. Finally after days of practice, he announced his new
skills to Mom.
“I'm done, Mom!”
exulted Billy. “Now I know how to grow us some food when we get to
that planet.”
“That's great, Billy,”
said Mom, glad that her son had found some way to stay out of
trouble. “But what about predators, Billy? We'll need to be able to
protect ourselves from predator animals that attack us on that
planet.”
Billy went back to the
holographic simulator, and requested a simulation to help him learn
how to defend himself from predators. He learned how to use a bow
and arrow to kill attacking animals. He learned how to use a shotgun
to shoot dangerous animals. Finally after days of practice, he
announced his new skills to Mom.
Finally the ship arrived
at the distant planet. Billy, Dad, and Mom got on a landing craft
that would take them down to the surface of the planet.
“So we're really the
first humans ever to land on this planet?” asked Billy.
“You bet,” said Dad.
“No human has ever set foot on this planet.”
“This is going to be the
toughest adventure I've ever had,” said Billy. “But I'm ready for
it.”
When the landing craft
landed, and Billy and his family got out, Billy couldn't believe what
he saw.
“Dad, what is that?”
Billy asked.
“That, my son, is our
new home,” said Dad. “It's a gleaming 15-story luxury apartment
building with elevators, a gym, a heated swimming pool, a variety of
restaurants, and a huge ground-level supermarket well-stocked with
5000 varieties of tasty food, not to mention full-wall holographic
screens in every apartment.”
“But I thought we were
the first humans to get here,” said Billy.
“We are,” explained
Dad. “But this planet was pre-colonized twenty years ago by a
spaceship of robots and nanobots. They got things all nice and ready
for us, so that everything would be ridiculously convenient for us.”
“Aw Dad,” said Billy,
lowering his head. “This isn't gonna be much fun.”
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