The Journey of Atlantis- The Children of Earth

Arrival

Captain Levi Metcalfe woke up from his rest period or naps as he called them, rejuvenated as usual from his thirty minutes of stand down mode. Being the first E-human had its pluses and minuses. Levi only required thirty minutes every few days to allow the nanobots in his body and brain time to catch up ridding it of built-up fatigue and toxins. The brief rest also helped him to preserve his sanity and to take some quiet time. Levi no longer had an intestinal tract since the bots converted energy intake much more efficiently. He had absolute memory. The artificially intelligent machines Sonny and Alice aboard ship explained memories were like paths to an event. When you summoned a memory more often, the more well-worn the road is, and so, a more permanent memory. The typical human does not recall memories from their distant past, like say, their childhood. Those paths become choked and do not point the way to that memory plainly. The bots cleared those paths, so you had access to all your memories. Yet, some things should remain forgotten. Becoming an E-human was experimental. In fact, out of everyone in the military back on Earth, the only successful candidate was Levi. The previous candidate did not fare well. His brain turned into a slushy; however not literally. Unfortunately, he could not assimilate the extensive information, both past, and present, which flooded him in the beginning.

Levi could process information almost as fast as Sonny or Alice. Combined with a direct data pipe to the A.I. machines, the captain became the smartest human alive. Decisions came lightning fast and accurate. This attributed to the main reason that Sonny wanted an E-human in command of the Atlantis. The first and last Ark class ship that saved humanity from extinction by the neutron star. The star had decimated his home solar system some eight months ago. Committees and staff meetings were too slow to carry out decisions in critical situations. There still were committees and staff meetings for the less critical day-to-day stuff. Captain Metcalfe realized early on Sonny was quite correct about having an E-human at the helm.

Today the Atlantis orbited Searth, establishing the first stages of determining suitability for a new home for the homeless humans. Levi stood up, poured himself an orange juice, and picked up a vitamin. As he downed the last of his juice, he noticed Admiral Leonard Johnson approached his apartment door. The captain preferred to monitor the hallway outside his door when he expected company. Levi could tap into any feeds that were available to either Alice or Sonny. Everybody else could too except he did not require a keyboard or use verbal commands. This allowed him convenient omniscience aboard his ship. He ordered the door to open as the admiral strolled up to it. "Come in, Admiral. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"You realize that spooks me when you do that, right?"

Levi wore a mischievous smile. "It is one of the guilty pleasures I indulge from time to time,"

Admiral Johnson responded with a friendly jab. "Yes, I will have some of your coffee,"

Things like coffee and orange juice were high demand commodities aboard ship. Atlantis grew orange trees and coffee beans, but not enough to serve the needs of everyone for caffeine and breakfast drink. Those things had to be rationed. The captain, of course, had a generous budget even though he hardly ate or drank much.

"That reminds me," Levi began as he poured the admiral his coffee. "I realize you have been quite a busy bee since pulling into Searth orbit. I do not drink hardly any coffee. It is more for my guests than for myself. I have delivered a memo to the quartermaster to adjust my allocation of coffee and curtail it to ten percent of the current budget. You can have the other ninety percent, Leo."

"I have grown accustomed to doing with less on this trip," he replied.

"Yes, but as I mentioned, you have been much busier in the last month, keeping longer hours and receiving more guests. Why, when the word gets out, you will have people lining up at your door to have a chat with you, so they can have a cup of coffee!" Levi joked.