Mustafa and the Dancer

My name is Henrich, I am a Materials Scientist specialising in Art, Settlement and Cultural studies. I usually work for the “Museo Del Prado” in Madrid, Spain, Planet Earth. The world was very different during the spaces inception, the museum was designed in 1785 by architect Juan de Villanueva, It is now the year 3205. 

May 3. I have been sent out on an external contract by a small, select group of international delegates, to investigate the material properties on a far-off planet and migration policy, so I can report back to several universities and science institutions to inform policy there. I arrive at the London Portal on May 3 and board the ship named the Ascension, it is 1188 feet, with a capacity of 5000 people, we are bound for Planet Lyra, it is my first evening, I have put everything away in my Cabin, thank fully I have a whole room to myself. Planet Lyra, is approximately one-month journey away, population 5 billion, it is twice the size of earth, there are about 500 passengers in my quarter of the ship.  I am lucky I have been given the economical resources to travel great distances and continue to study for work Nothing is wrong at home, the intergalactic world is inhabited by peaceful beings, this has finally occurred after a period of great surveillance and experimentation.

May 15. It has been an enormous day today.  There are luminous chandeliers in the dining room, that date back to the 1920’s an era that we cannot forget, there is dancing, I sit there and I watch the commotion in front of me. All are invited to play after dinner trivia. Mustafa, a deck hand and engineer, has recognised me from the past three evenings, he introduces himself and asks me my name, he then introduces his familiar companion Mabel, I have seen her around, I couldn’t help but notice her. Mabel asks in a cautious but warm manner, if they can join me, I answer in the affirmative, she works as a dancer and activities officer, I tell her that I work for a Museum in Spain back home on Earth. She seems eager to have a conversation, I notice her dainty wrists and general grace, her long brown hair is out falling around her elbows, she is small and slightly built with a placid nature, she later interjects “My brother is an artist” she asks about the possibility of a renaissance in art, I tell her that it’s a bit like opening pandoras box, art can be dangerous. She says that her brother is interested in the ancient myths and modern technology and modernising these old understanding. Mustafa speaks about the myths as well. “Ah, yes the legends” “I must say if you have never sailed to a far distant planet, remember that seas and skies, of vast lands, ruled by moons, they are crazy. One night on this very ship, I met a friend in the kitchen making himself a late night brew, after an eerie presence in his cabin and bunk below, had disturbed him, nobody was sleeping there, so he tells me that he’s feeling a bit spooked, we go to the top deck together to look at the stars and planet through the glass wall, it can be very disorientating, as everything is fairly new and we believe a lot of different things these days, my friend was preoccupied with thoughts of ESP, anyhow he hears some song with a harp, he keeps on saying, can you hear that? he is believing that in his mind some female presence is singing with a harp, the song is telepathically transmitted into his brain, he thinks it is odd and wonders if he actually created the song, he believes that he is a tad delirious as well, so as we go down past the diner and ballroom the sound gets louder, we hear the music being played and he figures out it’s the new music program taking place in the great hall and diner. There is a lot of folklore about sailor folk and damsels, he thought he was in for a wild ride with a mermaid of the skies, he was mortified. It is funny how some of those old legends from home have translated to new present-day settings, bless him, we still have the same fears. Entertainment on ships is a growing fad, people want to travel interspace, they want to be entertained so we provide.” It’s all very radical” he explained. I start to worry where this conversation is headed.

May 20. It has struck me, I did see a woman’s beautiful face, we had spent hours together and admittedly Mabel may well be my siren. I am keeping busy, I have readings from this new settlement “Lyra”, there is mostly information about the construction of homes, plant and rock life, fertility and plant reproduction. I get distracted and think about the stories of mermaids and the sailors that have plunged to their death, my mind wanted to spend some more time on the Greek myths about star sailors, Mabel is beautiful, they might be as beautiful as Mabel. I try again to refocus, I visualise that I am marching through time toward the illumination of humanity, along with the rest of the universe. Mabel had merely told Mustafa that she respected and admired my work. I am teased, however there will be no drowning amongst the stars, objectively, there was a humanity that was observable, yet there was something sensual about it that nagged at me. I begin reading the historical accounts of migration, imperialism from Earth to contextualise all I am learning about the new planets, we have bred out meat eating and murder on planet earth, there is no death, intergalactically capital punishment and war had been outlawed in 2500, we do not reproduce through sexual intercourse, we reproduce through IVF. Men, women, intersex and all living things from all nations and worlds, have equality.

June 4. This is a strange place to be, I first boarded the ship a month ago, I have finally arrived in Lyra, I am escorted to several rooms, before I am permitted to leave the port I take a medical exam and am identified, there are no lingering thoughts of Mabel, this is the end, there is a bigger picture, I have my opportunity here in Lyra, a new planet, this new place will bring new understandings, it seems to be something that keeps me balanced. The doctors take my bloods and I dutifully report my passion for Mabel to the Doctor, I take the medicine and I am never to think of Mabel again in an amorous light, she will be informed and given a similar treatment if she report passions, Mustafa must be talked to about his conduct, people whom administer this treatment have learned to do this in the kindest possible way, with empathy, this is the protocol, for all that are affected. I meet with the delegates and the inhabitants of Lyra, there is peace again, there is love of our neighbor, for each one of them in equal measure. I understand, I smile with resignation, something within chokes up, this passion will dissipate, I feel a sense of discomfort and I cut myself off from the infection of emotion