by AM Aravind
“Such a lovely view. I can spend all day just staring at this,” said Mike leaning against the window, staring at the beautiful star-studded sky.
“Exactly,” said Kumudha moving towards him.
“Even better, when your loved one is by your side,” said Mike, putting his arm around her and pulling her closer.
“Shhh… Let me go,” said Kumudha, trying half-heartedly to free herself from his embrace.
“Don’t you worry about George. He went to sleep two hours ago.”
She just smiled and rested her head on his shoulders.
“So, Mike… This vast universe, the beautiful star-field… Doesn’t all these make you wonder about the creator?”
“Heard of something called The Big Bang? Hello?”
“Not denying the Big Bang. But, just think… Why did the Big Bang happen? Who caused it? I truly believe that a supreme power created the Universe. Through Big Bang, I mean. That power – our God – controls everything in here. And, other universes which may exist.”
“I can’t believe I am having this conversation with you. We are scientists,” he paused and continued with a smile, “for God’s sake.”
“So what? I am a scientist and I’m proud to say I believe that every single thing – be it the revolution of planets around the sun or the revolution of electrons in an atom – is controlled by God.”
“My dear nuclear scientist,” he said, pinching her cheeks playfully, “do you realise that you just told an astrophysicist that all his research and your research are useless. You just discredited all laws of physics.”
“I didn’t. I love science. Science is what helps me understand everything that God has created and everything that He controls. But, it’s going to take time for us humans to decipher the laws behind God’s complex creations. For instance, we started space exploration in 1950s – that’s about 850 years ago. We have taken this long to set up a colony outside earth, in Mars. And even that is not self-sustained. Without support from home, it is dead. The progress of science is slow, but I love the journey towards understanding God.”
“But, Kumudha, this colony was born out of our need for resources, not greed for knowledge as you say. We exhausted all our fossil fuels. We used up most of our Uranium, barring tonnes of the metal being hoarded by privileged countries in their nuclear warheads. 40 years ago, when we learnt that Thorium, our potential Uranium substitute, caused hitherto unknown side effects, we had no other choice but to mine Uranium from Mars, lest our planet runs out of electric power.”
“I know this history. What are you trying to say, Mike?”
“Don’t make the Mars mining mission sound like it’s something great, Kumudha. We are on our way to Mars for commissioning the Uranium mining and refining plants, and I am not proud of it. Think of the plight of the 60+ men who have been toiling in unfamiliar terrain for the past two years, constructing the facility there, to provide electricity for the countries who are hoarding the same metal to cause destruction. I see only exploitation, discrimination and elitism. You said your God controls everything. Why does he let all this happen? It is all horrible, isn’t it?”
“Mike… You promised me you won’t mock God or my beliefs.”
“The closest I’ve ever come to experience God, if I’ve to admit, is the positive vibes that you get from a good-hearted person. That’s all there is to it. When there’s so much negativity, how do you expect me to believe in God?”
“Fine. Whatever.” she said angrily, and moved away. Both of them strapped themselves onto their sleeping bags, but sleep evaded them.
After about two hours, Kumudha turned towards Mike and said, “Mike, I have a crazy idea.”
“Oh leave it, Kumudha. Let’s not start again.”
“No… no… Not that. Listen to me. You said God’s within each of us…”
“That’s not what I…”
“… and we bring Him out through our good deeds. I have been thinking about it. Why don’t we do a good deed which will save the whole planet? “
Both of them were out of their sleeping bags now.
“What are you talking about?”
“Listen. We know the whole world is starved for energy sources and the existing Uranium will last for just a few months. We know how critical Uranium is. We will have tonnes of it in a few months. We will hold the world for ransom.”
Mike was speechless. There was complete silence. He kept staring into her eyes. He was waiting for Kumudha to burst out into laughter any moment and say, “Fooled you, Mike.”
But that didn’t happen.
“It’s not easy. But, we can pull it off, if we plan well. I can take like-minded scientists into our side. This will be a coup. We take control of the reactors. We will hold the power.”
“I’m more bothered about the ‘why’ rather than the ‘how’, you know?”
“Don’t you see it? We’ll make the world a better place, Mike. One world. No more boundaries. No more exploitation. No more discrimination. We’ll share all the wealth of the world with everyone, just like how it should be done. This will be great, not just for us humans, but for the planet as a whole.”
“Kumudha, you are not thinking straight.”
“I strongly believe this is God’s will, Mike. I think there’s a reason He brought a girl from a small town in Tamil Nadu and a boy from London, together. There’s a reason that He has given us the required knowledge and power. Only we can save the world, Mike. It’s a crime if we don’t use this opportunity.”
“Stop it, Kumudha,” he shouted. But she seemed too possessed by the idea.
“You mocked my God saying he hasn’t done anything to stop the nonsense in the world. Now, when He shows us a path, you refuse to take it.”
Mike could take it no more. He opened a pack of water and splashed it right on her face. She was completely shaken. He went to her with a towel.
“I am really sorry, Kumudha. I didn’t know what else to do to stop you.”
“Mike, I….”
“Please, go to sleep now. You are too tired. Let’s talk later.”
***
For the next three days, they hardly spoke to each other. At the end of the fourth day, as soon as George went to go to sleep, Mike went to Kumudha.
“Kumudha, I have been thinking about what you said. What you said could be possible.”
Now was Kumudha’s turn to be surprised.
“The amount of Uranium we mine now would last us for at least 10 years. We have that long a period to set the world right, and to find ways to extend our control. But there are several major holes in the plan. How long is it going to take for the army or even the cops to overpower us?”
“My dear Mike, you have not just fuel but one of the most lethal weapons too. We threaten to nuke the whole world and take the armed forces of the world on to our side. We reach the public through mass media. Tell them about how the world is ruined. Tell them how not just the rich and privileged, but every single human will have access to all the resources. We will have people on our side, protesting against the governments. Is this too far-fetched, Mike?”
“A bit, yes. But we have five months before we reach earth again – enough time to discuss and plan everything. We can take George into confidence. Or eliminate him if need be.”
Kumudha gasped loudly.
“You thought you could do this without blood-shed? All for the greater good of the planet, Kumudha.”
Mike then went down on his knees, pulled out a box from his pocket and stretched out to her.
“Kumudha… Let’s go rule the world. Will you be my Queen?”
Tears were running down her cheeks as she said, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
At that moment, the holography display system beeped. Mike turned it on.
“This is Mission Scientist Vikram, ISRO, with some terrible news. A nuclear war has broken out killing millions of people in the past hour. The resultant nuclear winter is expected to completely wipe out the entire human race, along with most complex life forms. The planet is not expected to be hospitable again for thousands of… ”
As Vikram continued speaking, Kumudha and Mike stood there, completely stunned, looking pale and white.
AM Aravind, who was a marketeer and a product manager in a Telecom company, quit the job and became an entrepreneur. He loves music and photography. An ardent AR Rahman fan, he has also composed music for short films. Bird photography really excites him as does baking. AM Aravind blogs at http://arrahmaniac.blogspot.com
Pic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dowlesan/
