Chapter 3

Things were now poised to 'take off', literally. Scout reports from probes and remote telemetry had identified over five hundred possible planets which might sustain life and were close enough to reach in Earth's primitive vessels. Few were willing to use their own ships, and those who did were more interested in man as food or the minerals they might find. It was unfortunate that those planets nearer to Earth were also on the less than possible list, not likely the best choices.

Re-settlement would be a slow process, a very slow process for everyone. The Order, The Council, The Whatever, had coalesced. Now there was only one organization committed to saving mankind.

No site for colonization had been identified and the prospect of finding a temporary home now was added to the master plan. What was not realized was that religious zealots all over the world were organizing their own scenarios. If anyone was to be saved they had determined that only those who were 'true believers' should be saved.

What had been proposed was that several different plans would be acted upon. Li Wu and his kind had much knowledge of this Solar System. With the eventual destruction of the Earth, and the adjacent planets it did not make sense to stay nearby, though.

In the first meeting of the unified groups, the impending disaster was identified. It was not a comet nor an asteroid hurtling towards Earth. It was a Black Hole on track to wipe out the entire Galaxy, at the minimum. It's approach would not be seen until it passed into the Oort Cloud. Then would be way too late to do anything.

People just did not understand that for several thousand years, warnings had been given to the humans. These were taken as religious parables, prophecy, predictions, and flights of fancy. The fight between the Grays and the Greens over Earth was related as a fight of Angels or the battle between good and evil. The coming disaster as an Armageddon and the Anti-Christ as a precursor to this doom.

It seems for hundreds of thousands of years, man's civilization rose then fell, like a house of cards.

Those worlds which cared, had finally made look-alike examples of humans, and seeded them across the world. They arranged for them to create the organizations and funding necessary to plan for an Exodus. Four thousand years ago a similar Exodus was told to the people. They even sent someone to guide them. Instead, greed, avarice and a need to take control changed the meaning of that warning.

Li Wu had tried for seven hundred plus years to undo that mistake. Too much was at stake for any group to listen. Trillions of dollars were at stake. All was meaningless though when compared to what lay ahead. Finally action had been taken by the council. They had waited a long time and still nothing to save humanity had been done.

Tons of minerals like gold and silver, precious gems and rare alloys had been harvested (some in South America, some in Africa and much in China), to fund what lay ahead. It was these rare alloys that allowed special computers to be built. The control of several key installations, vital resources from internal allies, and major pushes by several governments towards space finally got things started. This focus on space though was a curse as well as a needed next step.