In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 14

The rest of the day was uneventful. By the time they went to bed that night it was clear that Jack was working with the plasma, but no obvious progress had been made. The next day progressed just as slowly. The crew of the Sparrow spent most of their time on the bridge watching Jack work his magic. They talked about the missing girls and speculated about what they would find when it came time to go to war.

“I still wonder how things turned out back home,” Richard said. “Did Governor Nicholas erect the Wall around Sol? What happened next? Did the Rangers ever form a union of some kind?”

Captain Max nodded. “I’d like to know too, Rick, but it all happened so long ago that it might not be possible to find out. Andy isn’t even sure if mankind has survived the endless war that’s been raging. If any historical records have survived they’re probably from a much more recent period.”

“Still, you never know,” Richard replied. “It’s possible that Andy might know – he wasn’t built too long after all these things happened. We could always ask.”

“I still find it hard to believe that we’re actually in the future,” Laura said. “It feels like we could just turn around and head back home and everything would be back to normal again.”

“I know what you mean,” Captain Max said. “I wonder what Sol is like these days.”

It was late in the afternoon before the planet finally began to take shape. All at once the brilliant white light dimmed and a solid mass began forming from the shapeless plasma. Jones monitored the construction of the planet from his console.

“This is very impressive, sir. Jack has managed to match the gravity and mass of Mars exactly. That planet is going to be an exact duplicate of home.”

As they watched the white light went out altogether. At first a haze obscured the planet itself, but as it cleared they began to recognize various surface features.

“It really does look just like Mars,” Richard replied at last. “I even see Olympus Mons. Jack knows what he’s doing.”

“Only it doesn’t have any oceans, or life, or anything that might make it habitable,” Laura said.

“I’m sure he’ll get to that,” Jones replied. “All in good time. In fact, it looks like atmospheric pressure is already starting to build.”

Over the next several hours the empty ocean basins of the planet slowly filled with water and the atmospheric pressure leveled off. Clouds began forming over the newly-minted world, and slowly but surely green areas appeared on the continents.

“It seems so slow,” Laura said at last, right before everyone headed off to bed.

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Sergeant Howell said. “Our best technology would have taken ten years to achieve what we saw done today – and that’s not counting reforming the entire planet, which we could never have done at all. It’s really quite impressive.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to move in tomorrow?” Laura asked.

“It’s quite possible,” Captain Max replied.

* * * * *

Sure enough, the next morning after breakfast the ship was hailed from the planet below.

“It’s Jack,” the captain said, as he settled down at the comm station on the ship’s bridge. “He said he’s done and wants to know if we’d like to come see the planet.”

“Sure,” Richard replied, who was standing right behind him. “And tell him that he doesn’t need to keep contacting us by radio. He’s welcome to just drop by whenever he wants.”

Captain Max nodded and relayed the message to the surface. A moment later there was a soft flash of white light and the inhabitants of the Sparrow found themselves standing in the middle of an enormous grassy field under a wide blue sky. In the distance was the shoreline of a beautiful blue ocean. A soft wind stirred the grass.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jack said, as he walked toward them. “I had no idea this would be so much fun! I really should do this more often.”

Alex began running around the field, barking like crazy at some birds in the distance. The Steward watched their dog and smiled.

Richard blinked twice. “What happened to our ship?”

“It’s still in orbit, right where you left it,” Jack explained.

“Where we left it?” Captain Max said uncertainly. “I didn’t realize that we were going to be leaving it.”

“You said you wanted to see the planet,” Jack replied. “And here you are! Isn’t it grand?”

“Ah,” the captain replied. “Right. We did. Only I was expecting to actually land the ship and then get out of it.”

“Oh. Not a problem.” Jack waved his hand and the Sparrow appeared in the clearing behind them. “There we go – no harm done! But really, what do you think? Is this what you had in mind?”

Laura took in a deep breath of the planet’s air. “This is a beautiful world, Jack. I love it. You did a fantastic job.”

“It really is incredible,” Richard agreed. “But you know, this place reminds me of something. I get the feeling that I’ve been here before.”

Jack nodded. “You have! Kind of. This is the great plain of Tikal, only without the city. I haven’t started constructing the buildings yet.”

Richard snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Of course. And that’s the great Martian Sea up ahead! Only I don’t remember it ever looking quite as beautiful as that.”

“I have taken a few liberties with the weather, as you requested,” Jack explained. “Quetzalli is not as dry as Mars and the sky is quite a bit bluer. I think you’ll like it here.”

“I definitely agree,” Laura said. “This is amazing. Thank you. I’m sure our daughters will love it.”

The group watched as their dog raced around the field, barking at birds that were hidden in the grass. Alex was clearly having a wonderful time.

“I bet he’s glad to be off the ship,” Richard said, smiling.

“He’s not the only one,” his wife added.

“Speaking of that, we do need to discuss living quarters,” Jack said. “What kind of buildings would you like for me to construct? I can rebuild Tikal, if that’s what you would like.”

Richard shook his head. “No, Jack, let’s not do that. I appreciate the offer, but this is a new planet and I think we need a fresh start. Build us something new. Something that looks like it belongs in the future.”

“Quite so,” Captain Max replied. “Build us a real city of tomorrow.”

“An entire city?” Laura asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little extravagant?”

Richard shrugged. “Life is going to be a little boring if the only building on this entire planet is our house, don’t you think? Besides, I don’t think it’s any additional work for Jack. At the very least, exploring it would give us something constructive to do.”

Jack nodded. “Not a problem! You know, I can do much more than just build one city. There is room on this planet for many thousands of cities. Just let me know what you want and I will make it happen.”

“Thanks, but I think we’ll start with just one,” Laura said. “We’ll see how that goes first.”

“As you wish!” Jack said. The Steward looked into the distance and spread his hands apart. He was silent for a moment, as if he was watching something that only he could see. Then his hands began to move. A moment later the crew of the Sparrow could see a faint glowing in the distance, just above the grass. The glowing mass began to grow, emitting a powerful white light.

“That looks just like the plasma we saw earlier,” Sergeant Howell remarked.

“It’s not plasma, actually,” Jack replied. “In your time you had a concept known as ‘programmable matter’ that is somewhat similar, although not quite the same. The atoms within that field have been changed to something that has energy and intelligence. It can be customized to form any material of any shape and purpose. I’m going to use it to grow the city. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“You’re going to grow it?” Richard asked, surprised.

“Of course, Mr. Stryker. It is a very old technique – in fact, it is how the Artilect was built.”

“Right,” Captain Max replied. “Very, very old, I’m sure.”

Jack smiled. As they watched the white mass began growing very much larger, until it covered an area far greater than the size of the original city of Tikal. Over the next few minutes the city began taking shape.

“I think I can see the outline of buildings,” Laura said at last.

“It’s amazing,” her husband said quietly. “I never thought I’d see anything like this.”

With a final move of Jack’s hands the city suddenly sprang to life. In an instant the white glow disappeared, revealing a sprawling metropolis of incredible beauty. The city appeared to be made out of glass and light. The enormous buildings refracted the afternoon sun, creating a beautiful light show as far as the eye could see. From the distance they could see long interconnected streets, each lined with mature trees and brilliantly-colored flowers.

“It has such a look of peace about it,” Laura remarked.

“Is that what you were looking for?” Jack asked. “If you’d prefer a different design I can try something else. It’s really no trouble at all.”

Richard shook his head. “No, Jack, I think that will do fine.”

“What should we call it?” Sergeant Howell asked.

“The obvious choice, of course,” Richard replied.

“That’ll work,” Jones said. “New Tikal it is.”

“Very good,” the Steward replied. “Would you like for me to give you a guided tour of your new home?”

“Lead the way!” Richard replied. “I can hardly wait.”