I leaned back in my chair and hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I’ll have to give it a good think before I build another cohort, to be honest.”
Bill shrugged. “Dunno, Bob. It’s one thing to talk about years of solitude, another thing to actually experience it. I bet you’ll build a new cohort eventually. I know I’ll be building someone pretty fast to help me out here.”
“I won’t take that bet. You’re probably right. But I’ll worry about it when I need to. I guess I’m just a little creeped out at how everyone’s a variation on me.”
“What makes you think that?” Bill looked at me with an amused expression.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“What makes you think we’re variations on you? Are you positive that you’re identical to original Bob? Maybe we—including you—are all variations on him.”
I was stunned into silence. It had never occurred to me that I might be different from original Bob. I mean, I was me, right? The whole soliloquy back on Earth about my status came back and yawned under me like a bottomless pit.
No. I’m not going to go down that way. Whether or not I’m original Bob, I’m original me.
“Fine, Bill.” I sighed. “As soon as you invent a time machine, we’ll go check it out. Meanwhile, I think Milo and Mario have picked destination systems and are about ready to take off. I guess it’s time for the going-away party.”
Bill nodded and we rejoined the group.
Bill – September 2145 – Epsilon Eridani
Seeding a planet with these organics from space doesn’t make life possible on the planet, but it does make life quicker to develop. The organics will have come together in space when the planet was still just a cloud of dust. By the time the planetary environment is ready for organics to survive, they’ve already been raining down for millennia. It saves time, and more importantly, it means that life based on these compounds will develop before anything local gets the chance to evolve. Thus, anywhere that carbon-based life is possible, it will probably be DNA-based, and it will probably be made from G, A, T, and C.
… Dr. Steven Carlisle, from the Convention panel, Exploring the Galaxy
I watched the fusion signatures as Bob, Mario, and Milo left the system. I smiled sadly. There was a lot of parting going on in my life, these days.
I looked over at the video window where the matrix and vessels were being built for the two new Bobs. One would be my clone, and I hoped he would choose to be my assistant or partner in Epsilon Eridani. The other would be Riker’s clone. He’d decided to return to Sol and check out the situation, and understandably he didn’t want to do it alone. It occurred to me that if the clone ended up like Milo, Riker might just put a buster through him. The guy was definitely wound a little tight.
I took time for a good stretch and settled back in my lawn chair. The sun was out, and the air had that crisp cool feel that perfectly offset the warmth of the sunshine. Geese wandered randomly around the park. I still wasn’t sure about the decision to include them. I’d gone for Canada Geese because I was familiar with the breed. But even for geese, they were bad-tempered, and I was too obsessive about realism to tweak their personalities.
Bob was heading for Delta Eridani. A good choice, in my opinion—very suitable star, good chance of habitable planets. Assuming we ended up having a need for habitable planets. Well, that’s what Riker’s expedition was for.
Milo was heading for Omicron2 Eridani. We’d all gotten a laugh out of that, but it was Milo’s life. And I had to admit, I was as curious as any of us.
And lastly, Mario. He was a weird duck. I’d talked to him a couple of times, and he did warm up once you got him going. But very introverted. As Bob said, Mario got a double-dose of anti-social.
Mario was heading to Beta Hydri. It was a bit of a surprise choice. Not that it was an unsuitable star, but it was so far away. There were closer stars that had just as much potential. Mario responded that he didn’t want to live in the suburbs. Bob had looked confused, but I understood. Mario wanted to get outside the sphere early. Oh, we’d work our way out to him eventually, but my bet was that he’d already have moved on.
I checked out the vessels for the two new Bobs, and the third vessel that Riker had asked for. It was a version-1 with a more heavily shielded reactor, and it would be piloted by an AMI. Riker would only say that he had a plan.
I sighed and shook my head. Bob had practically sprinted out of the system in his haste to get away. I think the whole cloning episode lived up to Bob’s worst fears. Well, that’s what you get for having children.
Milo – July 2152 – Omicron2 Eridani
I see life falling into certain broad kingdoms. I believe life on Earth-like planets will all be similar. I believe if life can develop on Jovian planets, it will all be of a type; life on Titan-like planets, where methane exists in liquid form, will all be similar; and so on.
As to metabolic compatibility, we can’t even eat everything on Earth. And vice-versa, thank goodness. There are so many types of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Some are essential, many are digestible, some are not digestible, and some are toxic. I don’t see it being different on any planet where the life started from the same building blocks we started from. We just have to be able to tell the beefalo from the puffer fish.
… Dr. Steven Carlisle, from the Convention panel Exploring the Galaxy
I decelerated smoothly into the Omicron2 Eridani A system. I was unreasonably excited, knew it, and didn’t care. I had arrived at the semi-official home system of Star Trek’s Vulcan race. Since we were an avid Star Trek fan, it had tickled my fancy to make it an early target. Truthfully, if it hadn’t been for that, I might have skipped the system entirely since it was not a prime candidate for livable planets.
I still felt bad about the way things had been left back in Epsilon Eridani. Riker had barely spoken to me after that last meeting, and I’d gotten myself out-system as soon as possible. Even Bob had looked at me strangely, although he’d continued to be civil. I promised Bill that I would send reports his way when I got here. Whether or not humanity survived technologically, it wouldn’t hurt to have a survey of near-space.
I leaned on the balcony rail of my gondola and gazed at the landscape spread out below. My VR airship was currently drifting over the south of France. I had reconstructed the view from library references, and I was confident of the accuracy. The scene consisted of mostly orchards and farms with the occasional rustic village standing alone. I could hear cattle lowing in the fields, and dogs barking. Blue sky, warm air, and a slight breeze calmed the inner animal and brought a smile to my face. I hope I never get tired of this.