Change of Tide - Part 1 By Norma Ranieri

      'Today was going to be a great day', Mark thought to himself as he poured himself a cup of mint tea. He slowly picked up his cup, being careful not to tip it too far to one side or the other. He didn't really trust his hands anymore. There was a time when he never gave them a second thought. His imagination would guide them to create many things, mostly toys, for which his children were always grateful. Things they would not have had otherwise. Mark was a proud man and provided well for his family, but there was rarely any money for extras in their lives. Something he was determined to avoid where his grandchildren were concerned.
      He slowly made his way from the kitchen to his favorite Lay-Z-Boy(tm) chair, taking a moment to partake of the beauty of his late wife's picture. Her name was Edna. Not a name one usually associates with beauty, but a name is only a name. Her beauty was both on the surface in her ever youthful skin and silken hair, but as well she had the heart of an angel.
      His granddaughter, Jessica, shared several of Edna's finest qualities which was partly why he enjoyed Jessica's company so much. Jessica was also the source of his happiness today for she and her brother Randy would arrive soon to spend the afternoon with him.
      He smiled as he carefully placed his tea on the side table and eased himself down into his chair. Time had not been kind to him since he lost Edna, but his days were happy ones in which he took great joy in spending time with his family. Edna had died only two months before Jessica was born and he often wished Edna was still with him to share in the joy of having Jessica as a granddaughter. Somewhere deep inside he almost believed that Jessica may in fact be a reincarnation of Edna, but despite all their similarities, Jessica still possesses a distinct personality that is all her own.
      With his tea cooled and half drank he started to doze. It never hurts to get a little extra rest before the grandchildren, powered by youth, arrive with their endless supply of energy. It was getting harder for him to keep up with them, but the joy was in just having the opportunity to try. It felt like he had only been dozing for a few minutes when he heard a knock at the door and the unmistakable giggling of small children. He took a quick glance at his watch as he pulled himself up out of his chair to answer the door. Two hours.
      'Well, now that was a little more than a few minutes, wasn't it?' he thought to himself. 'My tea is definitely cold by now.' He was still smiling at his own humor when he opened the door and was tackled at the knees by Jessica and Randy. It was a good thing there were two of them, one on each side, else he'd surely have lost his balance and fallen over. He leaned down and gave them each a great big hug. It wasn't long before they pushed in past him and headed straight for the candy jar. Mark stayed at the door a little longer to say a few pleasantries to his daughter and son- in-law. His relationship with his daughter, Lisa, was never what one would refer to as being special. She favored her mother over him, and when Edna died, it seemed to end any real reasons Lisa had for visiting. Coupled along with the fact that Mark really didn't care for her choice in husbands just meant there were plenty of reasons for the two not to get along. His grandchildren were another story entirely. Mark was almost to a point of believing that his son-in-law may actually be an all right guy because after all, he did father two gorgeous children.
      After their parents were gone the children took the opportunity to perform the ritualistic 'take advantage of grandpa' business. He had wisely only half filled the candy jar, knowing the children would eat whatever was available to them. When he reached them, they had already caused a good third of the candy to vanish, but of course they were more than happy to do so. He smiled and said, "Come now. Your parents didn't leave you with me to get you both high on sugar now did they?" They both stared at their feet for a minute, looked at each other, then returned their gaze to Mark, and with big grins on their faces they both nodded crazily. He laughed and made his way over to his chair. He pulled two sit-upon mats out from behind it, one pink, one navy blue, and placed them down on the floor in front of his chair. The children knew what they meant and happily ran over, their hands full of candy, and flopped down on their mats; Jessica the blue one, and Randy the pink one. The children saw nothing wrong with their color choices. Even their parents saw nothing wrong with Randy's selection of colors. They were convinced that his choices of bright and vibrant colors were signs of creativity and that he would one day develop great artistic skills. All Mark knew was that in his day, this sort of behavior meant something totally different and boys like Randy became make-shift punching bags after school.
      "So children, what story do you want to hear today?"
      "I wanna hear about Mars!" Randy said very enthusiastically.
      "Yeah! Mars!" Jessica was doing her cheerleader impression again.
      "Mars? Why Mars? There's nothing special about that old planet anymore." Mark was confused. Not only had he expected a reply asking for another story about Elvis or something, but he never realized they were even old enough to understand the concept of other planets.
      "Sure there is!" replied Jessica. "We were watch'n the news on TV and they said that there were aminals on Mars, and water, but they didn't find it yet, and some really smart things cuz they carved this big face in a big rock that looks sorta like a people, and there were these tiny little backy, bicky, bacters... ummm... you know, those tiny little buggy thingys that lived in water and you can't see cuz they're way too tiny."
      "Bacteria?" Mark asked quietly.
      "Yeah! That's them! See, I knew you'd know about 'em Grampy. You know everything!" She sure does know how to suck up to an old man, doesn't she?
      Randy meanwhile was sitting quietly. He was 2 years younger then his sister, only three and a half, so he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. He just knew that the pictures on TV really looked cool with all the stars and stuff so he figured any story about that would have to be cool too.
      "Well. I must say I wasn't expecting you to ask for a story about Mars. So how about if I tell you about something that really happened instead?" He could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't really like the sounds of that. Probably sounded too educational. "It'll be about Mars."
      "Yeah!!!" They both nodded enthusiastically. Mark smiled and started to tell his story.
      "It all started a very long time ago. There were no people on the planet Earth and life was very different for everyone...."

      Justin sat at his desk staring out his window as the waters of the eastern sea washed over the gray sand beach below. He could see the Elders' meeting cove off to the south and as always, the waters within were serene and reflected the landscape better than any mirror. His small space heater continued to hum in its hiding place under his desk, its soft warmth rising out from under the desk and flowing over him. These little oil heaters were supposed to be restricted for emergency use only. People were instead suppose to only use their fire caves for heat, but to feel warm, it was such an uncommon thing these days. Years of research and still there was no-one who could determine why the planet was cooling so drastically. The Elders were becoming restless, and with good reason. They depended on Justin and his people to figure out what was wrong, but the Elders were the ones who understood these things. It was always a case where those who were capable of doing the work didn't have the intelligence to make things possible. To make the situation that much more complicated, the Elders were the citizens worst affected by this cooling trend, which made them that much more disturbed by the whole thing. It was probably also why they had been virtually no help at all when it came to trying to determine the problem and formulate a solution. Many had died already and there was very little anyone could do to help them until it was known what was causing the cooling.
      His mind was racing. Every time he started to think about it he always got worked up and agitated. He slouched back in his chair, blanking his mind; his arms and legs almost asleep with a tingling sensation brought on by his self-induced trance; his whole body felt like it was floating on air.... warm soothing air. He was his happiest when he was able to relax like this. It was a technique taught to him by his specialist to help him deal with the day to day stress of his job. Very few understood how stressful it was to be constantly told that you were the only one capable of doing the work, but at the same time told that you were stupid and not capable of anything.
      Justin had only a few minutes to enjoy his bliss before the phone rang. He fumbled for the phone, his hands would not respond, still numbed by his trance, so lifting the receiver would be impossible, so he smacked it with his wrist, knocking the receiver over onto his desk. He laid his head down next to it and lazily asked, "Hello?" 'This isn't so bad', he thought to himself, 'Almost just as good'. He started to chuckle a little and caught himself as he noticed the voice on the other end of the line was not nearly as content as himself.
       His semi-conscience state had caused him to miss exactly what it was the young woman was talking about, but he did recognize the voice as being that of Tracey Jarvey; one of his researchers. One of his more "likeable" researchers. He straightened himself in his chair, as his heart rate increased he regained some use of his arm and raised the receiver to his ear.
      "Huh? Hold on and talk slower. I can't understand a thing you're trying to say... What do you mean the weather is because of the sun?..... OF COURSE the weather is because of the sun. I didn't need a specialist to tell me that.... Lack of sun?.... Smaller?.... Now wait just a.... You can't be serious.... You mean to say that..."
      Justin was becoming visibly distraught. He nodded a few times as he listened, as if he thought Tracey could see him. The longer he listened, the longer his face grew. No relaxation techniques known could help him now. His solemn look grew to one of determination as he spoke for the first time since he started listening 10 minutes ago, "Call the Elders together pronto. We'll have to verify your theory, but if what you've told me is indeed true," he paused, seemingly searching for the right words, "Then creator help us all."

      Mark felt a tug at his pant leg. He looked down to see Jessica staring very intently back up at him. Her hair was in two little blonde pigtails, one on each side of her head. Mark never understood why Lisa did her hair that way. It was cute, there was no doubt about that, but Lisa had despised having her own hair done up like that when she was 5.
      Knowing she finally had his attention Jessica swung her head to move her pigtails out of the way and started to speak, very matter-of-factly, "But grandpa, how can the sun get smaller? It's only this big." Jessica was holding up her left hand making a small circle out of her thumb and index finger. Mark could only chuckle and his reaction made Jessica give a little giggle of her own.
      "My child, the sun only looks so small because it is so very far away."
      "Oooohhhhhh!" Jessica said knowingly. Well, at least she tried to make it look like she understood what in the world it was her grandpa had just said, but she still had a confused look on her face with her nose wrinkled to one side. Randy made a little snorting noise and mumbled a comment under his breath about silly girls. Jessica scowled back at him but her scowl was still too cute to be threatening. Mark chuckled again and continued with his story.

      The meeting of the Elders had been scheduled for the next morning. It was the earliest time available considering the amount of time it usually took for the Elders to congregate. Sure they could probably swim across the planet in under 12 hours if they tried, but chances were they would be someplace on the other side of the planet when they were called for a meeting.

      Mark felt another tug at his leg. "Grampa!?" It was Jessica again. She really looked confused now. "How can they swim to work? You can't swim on land. And even I know you can't swim halfway across the world. That's crazy. Even my friend Susan gets tired swimming across her swimming pool and she has one of those sorta big ones that you have to climb up the ladder to get into cuz it's so high up above the ground."
      Mark just looked blankly at Jessica wondering where exactly she was going with this story of her own. "You see sweetie, they -had- to swim to work. The Elders are dolphins."
      "Dolphins?! Oh! Now I've heard everything." To get the full effect of that statement you must realize that it just came out of the mouth of Randy; a 3 and a half year old boy who was expecting a story about the stars and other cool stuff. NOT dolphins.
       "Yes, dolphins. And I told you that things were a lot different back then. Dolphins and humans worked together, and everyone lived on Mars. Now, can I continue with the story and have you trust me, or will you continue to interrupt me?" Mark wasn't mad, but he was curious as to how many times these two would be able to come up with another question after only two sentences of the story were told. Randy rolled his eyes but seemed determined to stick around until the story got good. Jessica was quite happy to hear there were dolphins. She had seen some at SeaWorld(tm) in the spring and there was a baby one and it was so cute... But that's another story.

      "I now call this meeting to order." A dolphin with a cleft shaped nick out of its dorsal fin was speaking into one of the many translator units positioned around the edge of the meeting cove. There were 7 dolphins present in total, the one speaking being in the center. Each dolphin was positioned with a translator, used to make their speech audible to humans. The humans spoke normally as the dolphins were capable of understanding them with a minimal amount of concentration. "Justin, I understand you are responsible for calling this meeting?"
      Justin carefully rose to his feet, trying to make sure he didn't fall over. He never was a great public speaker and he was so nervous his knees were shaky. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. No matter how many times he was called upon to speak with the Elders, he always became nervous and afraid he would make a fool of himself. "Yes, Sir Ronald. As you are aware my researchers and I have been working diligently for years to determine the cause of the cooling trend which is threatening our peoples."
      "Spare us the formalities, Justin." It was the dolphin who was positioned second from the right who was speaking now. "We all are aware of the problem. What we all want is the cause and solution."
      Justin nodded, "Yes, Sir Arthur. It is the cause which my researchers have discovered." There was a general hum amongst all present as citizens began to converse with their neighbours and a general anticipation spread throughout the crowd that had gathered to witness the meeting.
      Sir Ronald spoke up again, "Order! Order. We must have order if Justin is to continue to speak." The crowd slowly quieted and all eyes present were fixed upon Justin. Justin could feel his face turning various shades of crimson from his nerves, but he built up the strength to speak again.
      "As I said before, our researchers have worked very hard to determine the cause of our problem. So to prevent myself from taking credit which belongs to others I would ask Tracey Jarvey, our Chief Executive Researcher, to rise and tell those gathered here what it is they have discovered." Tracey shot Justin a look that could kill, but his returning gaze was one that screamed, 'HELP ME WITH THIS!'. She knew he was almost at the end of his composure and she wasn't about to allow this important meeting to be disrupted by a fainting dignitary. She rose to her feet as Justin thankfully reclaimed his.
      "It is true." Tracey began. "We have determined that our change in climate is a direct result of our sun decreasing in size." She deliberately paused to allow her initial words to sink in. This bombshell had an obviously huge effect on all those present. The squeaks and squeals of dolphins mixed with the gasps and murmurs of all present. Many others sat in their seats silent, not fully comprehending what Tracey's statement meant. Sir Frank was the first to compose himself and speak.
      "Ms. Jarvey, have your researchers found a way to solve our problem yet?" Tracey looked downward for a minute, collecting her thoughts and trying to find the right way to break this to everyone. She could think of no way, except to tell them all straight up and forwardly.
      "Our sun is shrinking. As it becomes smaller, it produces less heat and thus has less ability to warm our planet. The only solution would be to somehow reverse this process. Even our most sophisticated space craft are not capable of travel to, or anywhere near, the sun. We have no way to study the sun closely, nor do we have any previous experience in this field. The murmurs were building once again and Tracey was finding it increasingly difficult to continue to speak. "At this time we have no choice but to assume that it would be impossible for us to deliver a solution to this problem." With that statement the crowd broke out in a huge discussion. It seemed everyone was talking at once and each of them thought voicing their disbelief and discontent would make everything better. Again there were the scattered few who sat completely motionless, seeming to be in shock and denial.
      "What is the meaning of this!?" It was Sir Kyla, the youngest and only female member of the Elder clan present who was sitting last on the left. "You call us here to spread rumors of the end of the world and to cause mass paranoia and panic!? How dare you!" She was obviously very upset by what she had heard and she was simply voicing the same feelings that everyone was having.
      "That wasn't my intention!" Tracey was being put on the defensive. She had no choice but to stick up for herself and her fellow researchers. "You asked what was causing our problem so we found out and told you. We didn't maliciously create a problem just to cause everyone to be scared. We simply told you what was already happening, and people -should- be scared. Our planet is dying and there is nothing we can do about it. I certainly don't enjoy standing up here telling you all this, but if I don't no-one will." She quickly glanced at Justin as she said this, but he wasn't paying much attention to her. He was being beaten on by a purse which was being driven by a little old lady furiously swinging it at his head. Tracey guessed the lady must be blaming Justin for the sun's deterioration; something beyond his control, but some people just need to blame -someone-. "We have only a few options. One, we can try to spend the next few years feverishly trying to adapt our space flight capabilities to allow us to deliver a solution to the sun, followed by several more years spent to determine exactly what a solution might be."
      "Meanwhile we all freeze to death." Sir Ronald had spoken again, his voice very calm and steady considering what he'd just learned.
      "That would be a definite possibility." She looked around herself for a moment. Most people were now relatively quiet, staring at her with the anticipation that she will come up with a solution to save them. "Two, we could concentrate our efforts on trying to find ways to adapt to a colder climate on a permanent basis. For example, it would involve such things as mass heaters for the oceans and a complete re-design of all homes."
      "Again we're talking about many years, over which many people will die." Sir Ronald had spoken again. He was certainly turning out to be a pessimistic one wasn't he? Tracey mostly ignored him and continued.
      "Our third, final, and most likely successful option is to evacuate everyone from Mars and go to a new planet." Well, this counted as the second bombshell of the day. Tracey was definitely on a roll. The uproar this time was even worse than before. It was a mixture of fear, repulsion at the idea of abandoning their homes, and excitement at the thought of a new planet.
      "You're talking about the moon aren't you Ms. Jarvey?" The voice was that of Sir Robert. He'd been completely silent up until this moment, but now he had the complete attention of everyone. He had their attention because no-one knew what in the world he was referring to. Sir Robert was the Aerospace co-ordinator and thus he knew all activities currently underway in outer space. Tracey was glad to see that there was at least one person present, or in this case dolphin, who was thinking along the same lines she was.
      "Yes, Sir Robert. I do mean the moon." Sir Robert took this as a cue to inform the other Elders of some activities which had been underway for the last few years.
      "For the last 3 years, as many of you are aware, we have been making many regular trips to and from the moon orbiting our planet. The purpose of these trips have been to erect a station on the moon, or more accurately, -in- the moon. We've been rather successful at hollowing a relatively small section of the moon and erecting a rudimentary base there. If I understand where Tracey has been leading us in this discussion, then those activities are about to increase." The reactions of the other Elders could only be described as astonishment. No-one seemed to have had any knowledge at all of the space activities.
      "This moon base will be our way off Mars to a new planet." Tracey added.
      "How will we all fit?" "Where will we grow our food?" "How are we all going to get there?" "I can't leave my flower garden!" "There's no way we'll all fit!"
      The fury of questions was more than Sir Robert or Tracey could handle. Sir Ronald tried to call the meeting to order again but this time the people were simply too worked up over the whole situation. Even a couple of the Elders had swam off now and were trying to relieve frustrations by chasing a few squid out of the meeting cove. It was Tracey who finally managed to regain the attention of those gathered.
      "Please, everyone. You must understand that this third option is our only option. As expected we have been giving it a great deal of thought recently. We have chosen a planet, and even have a plan of means to get there. Everyone must understand that we are trying to find ways to make this as easy as possible on everyone, but it is our only choice." People didn't seem to want to hear such direct talk of the situation. They wanted some hero to fly out of the sky and fix everything up nicely so they wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Tracey realistically knew that wasn't going to happen and she was going to do everything within her power to save whatever she could of her home planet. They may not want to hear it, but they don't want to miss any of the details either.
      "Our plan consists of completing the moon base, including a few alterations from it's original intent. The moon base would actually become a carrier ship which we will use to transport everyone to the new planet. The moon will only serve as a temporary home for the length of the trip. We must try to think positively about it and not look upon it with trepidation. As soon as construction is complete everyone will be required to move to the moon. Quarters will be tight so you will only be allowed to bring your most necessary things with you." She paused for a moment more. The crowd was completely silent, soaking in her every word like a dry sponge. "The planet we have chosen is earth."
      "But that planet has no water! No plants! It's a desert!" The voice came from a very concerned citizen sitting in the front row.
      "Yes, this is true. But what you must understand is that Earth is the way it is because it has always been closer to the sun than Mars. With the sun now smaller, Earth's climate is now much like ours was before the changes. As for the water problem, we will bring our water with us. Our population can fit within the moon with plenty of space to spare. This spare space will contain as much water as we can cram into it. The water we bring with us will have to be enough to irrigate an entire planet."
      "You are insane!" A young man in about the twentieth row of the stands had risen to his feet. "You can't really expect us to believe your story. We can't simply pack up and move to another planet where there is no water. Our whole culture is based around water! Elders, you especially should be contemplating the severity of this! It's your home, your survival which they are toying with! Sure, us Terrans could exist on dry land with only enough water to drink, but you live in it!" The young man's words were having their effect. The Elders were indeed changing their views on the whole situation, and it was seeming more and more ludicrous the more they thought about it.
      "Please, I understand your apprehension. The whole move is going to take at least a year to prepare for. There will be plenty of time to go over each concern and try to address them one by one. We're not saying this is going to be easy, but we have no other choice."
      "Why do we need something so big? Why can't we just make a few more trips?"
      "I can answer that question in one word... Time." Tracey was acting very serious. She wasn't in the mood to be second-guessed right now. "Space travel isn't like getting on your bike and peddling to the local grocery store. It's going to take approximately eight months to travel to Earth."
      "We have to be in that moon, rock, cage for eight months!??!"
      "I'm afraid we will. And by the time we organize everything, we'll be lucky if there is time to do it before the Elders are dead." The crowd fell silent. The idea of life without the Elders wasn't something anyone had ever had to consider before. "Life will be very different on Earth. We won't have any of our modern conveniences, and we all must train to be farmers before we leave Mars. There won't be any need for appliances or video games. There won't be any electricity for a very long time. It's going to be as things were here many years ago when our ancestors first worked to make our lives better. It's going to be very hard, but it's the only chance we have. Earth is larger than Mars. In a way that is a blessing because it will allow us to set aside larger areas for growing food. It is also a hindrance for the same reason. Our water, even if we can manage to take all there is here on Mars, will cover much less of the Earth's surface than it does Mars'. We will have more land for humans to grow food, but the Elders will be at a disadvantage."
      "Why can't we move the Elders first, then come back for everything else?"
      "Yeah!?" This option gained support at a miraculous rate while Tracey remained silent for a few minutes longer. All this was wearing her out, but she understood how the people felt. She already had two months to sort this out in her own mind, whereas everyone else only had approximately the last hour.
      "The moon influences our planet more than you may realize. The force which pulls things downward towards the ground is present on the moon too. Our planet pulls the moon toward itself, and at the same time the moon pulls Mars toward itself. It's what keeps the two masses traveling together. It will take a lot of force to break this attraction at the moon can travel to Earth. This force, combined with the resulting changes on Mars will leave Mars in ruin. Earthquakes will occur with strengths we could only imagine. The atmosphere will be irreparably damaged, possibly destroyed, and the planet will be lucky if it remains in one piece." The crowd was surprisingly silent. Leaving Mars was one thing, destroying it in the process was something completely different. "Anyone, or anything, not on the moon when it leaves will be destroyed and lost forever." The crowd's continued silence prompted Sir Ronald to end the meeting.
      "I believe we all need time to figure this all out for ourselves. Tracey, Justin," Justin rose to his feet next to Tracey, "We all thank you for your honesty and hard work. Despite our gut reactions we do appreciate what you are trying to do for all of us." With that said the Elders swam slowly from the cove and people started to wander away. After some time only two people remained in the cove; Tracey and Justin.
      "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" Tracey was beginning to doubt herself as she looked away from Justin with tears in her eyes. He put his arms around her and held her tightly.
      "We're doing the only thing we can. We're giving them hope."

      Mark looked down to see Jessica hugging his lower leg for security, a single tear running down her cheek. 'She always was a sympathetic and emotional child,' Mark thought to himself. Randy on the other hand could barely contain his excitement. "All right! A spaceship! Now we'll get to the good part!"