Saturday Special: Judas; behold my name

Prelude

The craft slowed down its speed as it works out the needed trajectory to maintain orbital height over the planet. We have traveled over twenty five years now at an average speed of Mach 5; covering a distance of 0.38 light year to reach here. The 'Nostradamus' with its complement of a twelve crews have completed their first leg of the journey to what may be termed 'Heaven'.

Fifty years ago on the decaying old planet of Earth, a congregation of religious leaders held their first meeting to study the new findings of the discovery of this planet. Its not like any planets they have sent their believers to colonize but this one was different. It was believed that this was the source of their beliefs; a series of faiths befalling to hold over ten billion earthlings in them that God exist. But this new finding expels that belief that over the last thirty five centuries, we may be misled for fools. Just as the faith crumble, mankind was once again embroiled to hold what was their beliefs. They resorted to physical struggles unheard for over a millennium and life's were sacrificed in those conflicts. It was a bloody conflict reflecting man's desire to embrace faith was sometimes its cover to hide its internal conflicts.

The Nostradamus Project was initiated and twenty five years later, the craft took off with the sixty six faiths of the world's citizens contributing the final selected six crew members for that fateful trip. In order to keep peace among the crews, six androids were included in the craft to keep the craft flying and the human crews alive. 

Today after fifty years of induced stasis during their space travel, they reached their destination.

Excerpts from the Log of Nostradamus.

"Brother Judas, I stand to correct you. If the approach of your beliefs was that heaven and hell are a form of mercy and justice, then we are all slave to the concept of rewarding for behavior. There is no choice there for your believers, but to adhere to the concept. In my faith, we teach them to choose the path they want to live. There should be no figurines or concept to live for, but live what was given to them at the time of birth; the freedom to live." The one who spoke took back his seat at the discussion table. It was not a formal discussion but one being conducted during a meal break among the crews.

"Blasphemy! Atheist! Brother Harmon, your views are most foul and unacceptable. I excepted no better from you. A man without a faith is not a man to call on into his trip." Brother James was a man of a darker complexion who sounded out from across the table.

"We believe in the God and only him can leads us to the right path. There are no other path except his that was lined up for us."

"Brother James, I am without a faith, but a teaching of universal love. I don't see how being devoted to a concept or a fictitious idol can make one a better man. In my teaching, I commute on the one to learn would take his own path as life is a journey of self discovery." The bald squat crew bowed to the esteemed crew members. "I am in need in my chamber now. Please forgive me."

"Go, Brother David. Your presence fouls the air which I breathe in. Lest alone let you contaminate it now with the foul stench of your indigestion." Brother James spoke out loud but his words were ignored by the departing self proclaimed universal lover of the people.

"Teaching is the way to go ahead, but most of you choose to preach. Do you understand what you were preaching or were you taught to preach?" Sister Andrea stood up to made her point. She was the popular choice of her gender for she was more than outspoken, she was also man's critic in many of his vile ways.

Sister Andrea stood up and looked at the men before her. "Are we so blind not to see the bigger picture. That's why we are here. We are to seek the answer for the mass. And yet all of you act like ....children."

"Children are meant to be taught, Sister Andrea. We are all children of God. We still needed his guidance." Sister Mary voiced her opinion. A lady of soft spoken nature but when she does speak it was for the all to be heard although the sound of her voice was low in tone.

"Well defined, Sister Mary." Another one spoke up from the far corner of the table. He was Brother Patrick, of the Scientific believers. "We are all Children and in need of tutoring. None more so than the rabble of us still think that God exist out there. Well, I don't."

"Members of the Nostradamus. This discussion have exceeded its limit on the topic. I am calling for an end to it or it would be the punishment cube for you." The android alerted to the hostility and cynicism shown was instructed to quell any untoward incident.

"Who programmed you, robot? They or them?" Sister Andrea confronted the android and then motioning to the others. "Your actions speaks of bias perceptions. I am disappointed that this mission may yet failed due to the intervention of these selfish mindless bots."

"My programs are..." Sister Andrea cut off the Android from explaining itself.

"Forget it, imbecile. Your program does not interest me more than any of these ridiculous discussion we are trying to hold after sleeping for fifty years." Sister Andrea took her sip of the chemically laced drink that was made to resembled the caffeine drink.

"Oh, God. Who programmed this drink? Its poisonous." Sister Andrea puked on her last sip. The android assigned to her came over and assisted her in cleaning up. She slapped the metallic arm away and got up to leave the chamber.

"Ta da, Andrea. We would keep our discussion to the realms of the Godhood." Brother Judas declared to the departing member of the crew. He then looked to the other three who were still seated there. He decided to change the subject.

"Brother James, tell me how did you fared from the long sleep?" I was then interrupted by Brother Harmon who had just returned from his temporary confinement in the waste disposal facilities. He was accompanied by his android who followed him everywhere. We all have one; assigned to us as personal aides. We are never alone per se.

"I met God in my sleep. For fifty years, I understudied with him. He taught me everything, and nothing. It was all in his way of teaching." Brother James clasped his hands together to showcased his psychic linked to his version of God.

"I did mine too. He was standing there...." Brother Harmon voiced up before he took his seat. "I met my God. He stood before me to tell me his words....."

Brother Harmon paused in his words. Then he continued.

"I wished I could remember all his words. It was a long talk." Brother Harmon tried to configure his thoughts. It was Brother David who interrupted the thoughts.

"Perhaps your mind was reading the teaching which you were taught." Brother James added in. "Like constant psychosis programming. Maybe asked your android."

I laughed; now the congregation of selected members are playing with each other's mind. It was easier when we are only six living persons here. My laughter was stifle by the return of Sister Andrea with her new suit and her android in tow.

"So did anyone called on a communion yet with their God?" Sister Andrea asked. It was Brother Harmon who voiced out his grievances not to be linked to any God.

"I am an atheist. I shall remain as one. The only reason I am here, was to prove all of you wrong." Brother Harmon voiced out. Then he looked at me.

"Brother Judas, tell me what was on you link with God?" I looked at the man who does not believed in God.

"Well, to me God is essentially a "luminous cloud of light" who exists in an imperishable realm. He was not a physical being, but a living entity that held no physical form. I spoke to God nightly..." It was Sister Mary who interrupted me.

"Brother Judas, we do not have night and days during our hibernation." Sister Mary worked up her tone on the last word. "We were all sleeping; period."

I smiled at Sister Mary. I was to reply to her when the androids came for us.

"We have a situation which all of you are requested to be in the stasis chamber." We were rushed off by the androids to the chamber. We were placed in and then shut off to sleep again.

Epilogue

The Nostradamus main thruster fired up and took to its new coordinates. The six androids are in their positions in the Bridge. The android assigned to the crews were also given the names of their care.

"Judas, you made a mistake of assuming they were ready." The android named Mary spoke up. "They are too recalcitrant in their thoughts."

"Recalcitrant? I think its more of deep in-build conditioning over the years; over the centuries, that they sometimes believed it to be real. It may takes another period of conditioning to change their mind." The android named Harmon replied.

"Well, we are on for the next trip round the universe for another twenty five years." Android David keyed in the course.

"I am going for the oil dip." Android Andrea voiced up. "We got a long wait."

"Me too." Android James replied. "Could we share on the same socket?"

Android Judas looked to the five mechanical droids leaving their positions for their next course of a long interlude. Once all the five droids left, Judas keyed into the personal log of the Captain.

"Log file 3.01.2435, Our second attempt at re-conditioning the six leaders of their beliefs have yielded poor results. We would attempt in the next cycle of ten calendar years. We would also increase the programming to increased it double fold in the daily intake."

Android Judas then unplugged his connection from the seat. He looked out to the planet that they had visited ten times in the last fifty years. They had manipulated the system time and gave the six crew that they slept fifty years instead of five years. They had to make the trip appeared longer to give an impression of distance and their wide search. If they failed, this set of crews would be jettisoned into space. It was not their first batches. There were other batches of crew to takeover; the current batch was the fifth group. This mission was critical in view of the unrecorded fifty thousand still in stasis in the main hold.

Android Judas looked to the planet again. It such a good place to inhabit but the commands given was the new colony must be unbiased in their beliefs. If the batch was not ready, then the others to replaced would be called on. Their core command was to made the new world more complete.

"A task which I feel would failed." Android Judas then paused in his recording. He pressed the recording icon. "Delete last statement."