PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Stardate: September 29, 2049
Galaxy: Red Dwarf, Wolf
A sanitation truck is crawling along Mills Street. Its beep…beep…beep is irritating yet strangely soothing. The sound crawls into my subconscious and wakes me from cyber-sleep. I hold still while tubes recede from my ports; the pod door whooshes open.
I find Daisy, the Android, in the hydroponic orchard, picking peaches to freeze-dry for us Bios.
“Did you sleep well, dear?” she asks, and it sounds almost normal.
“Yes, thanks. How much longer?” I say.
“An Earth week at most.”
Wolf’s “Goldilocks” planet is the answer to our prayers.
[100 words]
From a NASA website:
Australia astronomers have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system so far, orbiting a star just 14 light-years away. The planet, more than four times the mass of the Earth, is one of three that the team detected around a red dwarf star called Wolf 1061… [The] ‘Goldilocks’ zone [is] where it might be possible for liquid water – and maybe even life — to exist,” says lead study author UNSW’s Dr. Duncan Wright.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the consummate host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
A nice futuristic story Li. Great imagination
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Thanks, Sadje!
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You’re welcome
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Bios and AI’s cohabiting–interesting. I wonder how long an earth Week is on a Goldilocks planet 🙂
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🙂 Glad you enjoyed my story, Linda.
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The cleverest thing about this is the designation “Bios” which tells you so much about the world they live in
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Thank you, Neil. Much appreciated.
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There’s a lot to like about this story. You’ve thought through some of the big problems with interstellar travel. And, like Neil, I’m impressed by your use of the word ‘bios’.
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Penny, thank you for reading and for your thoughtful comment. Much appreciated 🙂
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Entertaining and fascinating all in one! Two thumbs up.
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Thank you, Susan!
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Yikes. Oh look. It’s Carl Sagan doing a dance and yelling, “I knew it” over and over. Well done!
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Thank you for making me smile with your comment.
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Nothing seems too far fetched any more. That’s a great name for a planet too. (K)
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Lisa,
I’m hoping there’s no big bad wolf around the corner. A meteor? A hostile alien race? I love your writing in this story: I could see and hear it all transpiring as if on a cinema screen.
pax,
dora
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Dora, I wonder also how they came up with that name for the star. I’m thinking maybe a part 2 might be in order, but it depends on what the next image is… Thank you for your lovely comment.
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You’re welcome, and I do hope this story continues. Too interesting to let drop.
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I love this take, Lisa. So original and hey, why not have AIs and Bios living in peace together…. it feels like it’s entirely plausible.
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Thanks much, Dale, glad you like the ideas in the story.
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🙂 My pleasure.
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What a fascinating place! An educational story. I feel like there is so much more that can be written.
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Thanks much, Tannille!
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so there’s a 12th planet after all. 🙂
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🙂
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I hope it’s everything they need it to be when they arrive…
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Really enjoyed your take on this prompt.
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Sandra, thank you 🙂
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The start of a modern fable ? . .now, I what happens when that Earth week passes . . .
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Maybe they will be preparing to land on Goldilocks?
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Sounds like the potential for further posts as well as touch downs.
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🙂
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A terrific tale and an interesting footnote. Nice one Lisa.
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Keith thank you 🙂
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What a great piece of SF! I wonder when they left Earth. 2049 isn’t that far away. The interactions with the Android tell a lot of the story, too. This would, so far, be the only way we could travel to other star systems.
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In my mind the Wolf star was discovered now, and it took a few years to invent light year speed propulsion (this is a fictional story) and a few years to build the ship, train the crew, program the AI, etc. I believe if we, as a planet, devoted resources to it, we could make it a reality. Instead we’re too busy wasting time destroying ourselves.
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Absolutely. The thought alone of having speed-of-light drive is exciting.
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Dear Lisa,
I’d like to think the Wolf planet is what they’re looking for and that the Bios don’t mess it up like they have this one. 😉 Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, I’m of the same mind. Thank you for your lovely comment.
Shalom,
Lisa
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Hopefully, he will get the answer he desires. Well done.
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Thank you, I also.
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My goodness 2049 is very very soon, will I need to pack.
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🙂
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Maybe someday in the future, we’ll venture out that far. Not in my lifetime, for sure… but, someday!
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Oooooooo would love to read more!
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I think there is a lot of possibility in this story. Would love to see who or what is on the planet when they land.
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I love the atmosphere you created in this story. It’s very intriguing, and like Laurie, I want to read more. Well done, Lisa!!
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Brenda, thank you very much 🙂
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A very interesting concept that, according to you NASA snippet ,might be more real than we would like to believe. Have a wonderful weekend, Lisa … Stay Safe 😷 Isadora 😎
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Isadora, thank you for reading. I agree that this day will come.
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You conjure up this future world very effectively Jade, and the explanatory facts I found helpful. Nicely done.
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Francine, thank you 🙂
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Fun, imaginative story. You never know!
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Thanks!
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The notion of a ‘beep beep’ of a sanitation truck on an interplanetary journey is indeed oddly comforting. … 🙂 Nicely done!
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So glad you enjoyed that detail, Na’ama 🙂
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It is a part of city life here, for sure. 3am is a favorite time … 😉
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Though your story is futuristic, I could feel a very real cinematic presence all through. And all this is thanks to your wonderful way of writing this immensely readable story.
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Neel thank you for your wonderful comment 🙂
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