Joaquim Augusto Ferreira Barbosa de Melo - Lost in Space

-That’s precisely why I asked you to come see me. That opinion we had of kidnapping by Islamic forces is completely absurd! What worries me right now is the unknown. Who are they and what do they want from us? That’s the question I keep asking myself.

-I don’t think anyone can answer that question. What I think is that whoever they are, have total control over everything or almost everything and on a level that I have never imagined possible.

-Right! What to do then?!

-With all due respect, Minister. The answer can only be one - wait and see!

As much as it would cost the Minister to admit, his secretary was right! There was nothing they could do! It was a cruel conclusion and evidence of utter impotence in the face of events! The meeting ended with an unspeakable sensation of frustration.

At a certain distance from there, the Judge didn’t think in the same way, that in conversation with his wife, Margarida, he settled a strategy.

-I suppose the best solution is to get the fox out of the hole.

-What are you talking about? - Margarida intervened with little patience to hear about burrow and foxes.

The Judge, however, did not even listen to his wife’s question, so he continued with his strategic monologue.

-Even Elsa says we must do something!

The Judge continued aloud without caring whether or not his wife paid him any attention.

-Whatever territory the offender is in, there is always a law that is above him and which he has to respect. Kidnapping is always a crime wherever it is committed. The offender infringing the rights of others, which in this case is us! Diverting an airplane is a reprehensible act that can´t go unpunished! They know that and that’s why they’re hiding. They’re a bunch of cowards!

His wife no longer had the patience for her husband’s bitterness. And, taking advantage of the proximity of a flight attendant who was passing by, she went to talk to her.

-Do we have any news? -Asked Margarida, curious.

By the initial silence of the flight attendant, Margarida didn’t expect a satisfactory answer.

-What can I say you don’t already know? – Answered Felisbela eventually, smiling at cost.

-My daughter, how is she behaving?

-Don’t worry, everything is fine at that level!

The flight attendant understood perfectly that her interlocutor only intended to deviate from some annoying conversation she was having with her husband, so she smiled an open smile and said goodbye.

Margarida, just like Mário’s mother, never had any major concerns. Their children, Cristina and Mário, grew up together in an environment free of psychological and asphyxiating ties. Educated by the same tutor, they became responsible kids. However, whenever they talked to the mothers of the other kids, they became aware of the existence of different opinions. For those mothers, an education under the supervision of adults was preferable to the freedom that any kid liked to have.

We can say that Mário and Cristina grew up in an environment of responsible freedom. Mário, for his mischief, did not leave anyone indifferent. The five now had a small space for their games. In spite of everything, here and there, stories of their discoveries and treachery were already being told, not only because people felt the need to talk about subjects other than the complex and difficult context in which they lived, but also because the kids were indeed fun and playful. Even in that space, adverse and different, they were able to find motives of interest, attracting attention and creating around them good disposition so rare in those circumstances! The absence of the need to satisfy basic conditions, such as eating, drinking and so many others, provided grounds for soft behaviour, despite the inconvenience of being outside their natural habitat. This reality jumped with increasing evidence, both for the Commander and crew, and, above all, for Doctor Clara. Who, in spite of everything, did not want to understand these signals was Marcelo.

The Judge, against everything and everyone, sought more and more to recruit supporters for his plan of revolt. In the secrecy with which he did everything, he looked upon himself as a worthy representative of the high purposes of a political strategy - cerebral, ambitious and audacious, worthy of a place in the history of revolutions in the future. The movement, although it started in a rudimentary way, initially centred on its mentor, already had a strong supporter. Elsa was a striking symbol capable of developing a web of influences of increasing exponential force. However, an accidental computer discovery of Iris led to the whole movement to a period of forced hibernation.

When Clara spoke to Ana and Pedro about the program that Iris, their daughter, had had access, everything changed. After the initial perplexity, both Ana and mainly Pedro, began to focus all their attention on the device they were carrying in their wrist and, discovery after discovery, they came to a theory about what was going on. For Pedro, the data that was displayed in the small screen represented the navigation trajectory of a vessel, perhaps the one that transported them, along the sidereal space. The speed had to be hallucinating and quantified in galactic references. The theory developed by Iris’s parents was that they had been captured by a spacecraft and were now moving towards another galaxy outside the solar system. Through this theory, they concluded that the spacecraft used similar principles of displacement to the movement of electrons in conductive cables on Earth, driven by differences in electro-magnetic potential, passing from one space orbital to another and benefiting from this commutation in space motion. The news of this discovery spread like lightning to all passengers and crew. This theory, formulated by Pedro and Ana, had a great acceptance, since it answered many of the previous questions. Some sceptics preferred to wait to see. That was the case of the Judge who insisted on the necessity of a wide contestant movement to face the crime committed. Among the remaining passengers and given the great consistency, the new information was now the subject of much conversation.

PART II

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