A Science Fiction Story: A Dissertation in Astronomy

A script based on the story became a film called The Study, directed by a student from Tel Aviv University, Shahar Arieli, in 2001. The script won a grant from Channel 2 and was screened as part of student films on Channel XNUMX and Cinematheque.

Yehuda Sabdarmish

Editor's note: This is a science fiction story and should not be attributed with topical meanings. have a fun read

my God my God,
that will never end,
The sand and the sea,
rustling of the water,
sky lightning,
The prayer of man.
(Hannah Szenes)

Eli was never excited about those exams held at the end of the year, but not so his friends. These final exams always excited them. Again and again they tried to convince themselves that there was nothing to be excited about, it is clear that they are the most talented in the faculty and their grades never dropped below 80%, but something always pinched inside them, an irritating feeling about the unknown, and today the fact that the exam was different may have also contributed to this, defending a project The final for a graduate degree in astronomy. They sat in the large laboratory hall of the astronomy department, covered in its transparent dome, and waited for the teachers. Eli looked at his friends with a hint of disdain. They must be jealous of him, after all he is the best in the entire faculty. At the end of the laboratory hall, next to the mass spectrograph, sat Natasha looking over and over again at her thesis on the study of supernovae. Natasha always walked behind him, from the beginning of the studies, and always tried to get ahead of him. How annoying, Eli thought to himself, to always be second. Excellent, but the second. Researching supernovae, Eli laughed to himself, how easily he could do such a research paper, but this is a research paper for second place. The first must have something special, as special as his work. Again he looked at the box which he held in his hand, caressed it, and smiled. Eli felt it was his day, he was proud of his work.

He smiled to himself - how surprised they will be when they see the topic he chose and the extent of his professionalism.

The door opened. Sign in please. Eli took the box and stepped inside.

Inside, behind a large table, sat the director of the college and the team of senior teachers. Behind them stood Eitan
The large computer adds a holy glory to the class.

- Well Eli, the manager opened and said, needless to say you keep us in suspense, you are the only examinee we allowed to keep the essence of his thesis a secret until the day of submission, a kind thing and let's hear what you have to say!

Eli smiled. He put the box on the table. with measured movements, while being aware that my gaze
The teachers follow him, he opened it and carefully took out a small ball and placed it on the table. Eli knew he was at one of the high points of his career.

- Well, said Eli, a few months ago, while searching for a subject for the final project, my eyes fell on a small planet, in a neighboring galaxy system, known by its number 1-200-90, even though the planet was in a rather primitive state, I decided that it could be The subject of my dissertation.
Eli looked at those present and added, emphasizing each word:
The team of examiners arrived exactly at the designated time, walked past the examinees, and entered the adjacent exam hall. to me
-This small planet would be suitable for the habitations of intelligent beings.

A tense silence reigned in the room. Eli knew he was making the most of the surprise he was about to land on his teachers.

-Okay, I understand, said the manager with a smile, while signaling his secretary to approach him., -But I'm sure,
That examining the conditions for the living of intelligent beings is not the subject you have chosen for yourself, it is suitable for a student at a slightly lower level, isn't it?.

The secretary took the star's number from the manager and went to get up-to-date information about him.

- Of course, of course, answered Eli with a smile while noticing the smile spreading on the faces of those present. -I am
I did something a little different.
- Well, stop holding us in suspense already, talk!
- Well,...I created them.
Absolute silence reigned in the room, Eli knew, his teachers' surprise was perfect.

The first to come to his senses was the manager.
-Who did you create?
- the creatures.
-You mean you created intelligent beings?
- Perfect!, answered Eli.
Murmurs passed among those present. The biology teacher was the most surprised of all. Eli was the student
The best in his class. Many times they talked to each other, when the subject of the essence of life came up in their conversations more than once, but it never occurred to him that Eli would try his strength in an act of creation. He turned to me while trying to hide his storm of emotions.

-Excuse me, but do you happen to not be familiar with the basic principle known to everyone here, at the college, to everyone without exception, teachers and students alike,- the absolute prohibition to interfere with the creation of living, primitive or intelligent creatures in laboratory conditions and without permission?
- Acquaintance.
- Well?
- I am not everyone!, answered Eli with a hint of pride but something inside him was bothering him.

The secretary returned to the hall, approached the manager and handed him a small diskette. The manager went to the computer and inserted the diskette into it. He looked at the collection of numbers scrolling on the screen and then slowly turned to me with a cynical smile on his face.

-Intelligent beings you say?
-Yes
-Are you sure?
-Yes.
And you know they have already started murdering each other? Eli turned pale and felt a choke in his throat. Could you??, he
He knew that even the most inferior creatures do not harm their own kind, something fundamental in his thesis is flawed. He will fail. As if from thousands of light years away, he heard the resounding voice of the manager:
Please wait outside, we'll let you know... we'll let you know... go... go...

Eli left the exam hall, approached Natasha and whispered:
- They ask you to come in.
Natasha looked at him. Natasha understood. She remembered Eli, year after year, how he would always approach him after an exam and in a defiant voice would say:
Now it's your turn my dear, accept the floor, let's see what you can do with the centenary score I received.

Or sometimes he would say:
Today you have a chance my friend, I only got 99!
Natasha knew, today is her day!

Eli smiled a forced smile at his friends who were eagerly waiting one by one for their turn. These replied with a smile
and returned as if to their own affairs. In the corner of the hall someone even laughed at him. For the first time, Eli felt the taste of failure. A bitter taste pulled him from all sides, which pounded inside him loudly and shouted: - You failed!, You failed!... He tried to ignore the situation and forget what happened a few moments ago, but the manager's voice still echoed in his ears and pierced every wall Opacity he set for himself:-

Please wait outside… outside… outside… , we
We'll let you know... go... go...

The door opened. Natasha walked out with the team of examiners. They approached the mass spectrograph.

- If my theory is correct, Natasha opened and said, then the star that is going to go supernova in exactly three minutes, is the star 1372SNP located twelve thousand light years away. Needless to say, the benefit we will have from testing the composition of the elements formed, and their quantity, at the exact moment of the explosion , which has not been done yet.

Eli looked at Natasha who was busy with the last direction of a spectrograph - the masses to the intended star. This time was so different, full of vigor, strength and confidence.

Natasha gestured with her hand, and someone made sure to darken the laboratory hall. Eli looked at those present.
The creative light of the Big Bang illuminated them with a faint reddish light that wove a mysterious and oppressive atmosphere. Vast galaxies swirled like colorful, sparkling showers against the reddish background of the primordial light of the universe. How good it would be to be engulfed in this cosmic power, he thought, to merge and dissolve, to become a collection of tiny fragments of matter, a product of the Big Bang, to dash and gallop, with ever-increasing speed, to the edge of the universe, to shatter there in a huge flash, to become part of the background radiation and fade away. And he tried so hard, wanted so much to succeed.
Somewhere in the sky the star 1372SNP twinkled a tiny point of light. It has not existed for thousands of years, only its light that shone in the vastness of the universe brought the story of a perfection that no longer exists.
Then suddenly the tiny dot began to glow and grow. The waiting hall was filled with a bluish light that was a striking contrast to the reddish background light. Huge and hot amounts of matter flew through space, spreading in circles in all directions.
Goodbye 1372SNP whispered to me, Goodbye!

Natasha tore off the data results shown by the melting spectrograph, looked at them thoughtfully, and with a triumphant smile handed them over to the manager. The manager looked at the results and smiled at Natasha while patting his shoulder:
You really hit the mark!
They returned to the exam hall.

*

The last of the examinees greeted Eli goodbye and left the laboratory hall. Eli is now left alone. He knew, they were discussing him and his future.
The door opened. - Come in please.

He entered the exam hall. At the end of the table, next to the examiners, sat Natasha. Eli knew the essence of the role that Natasha had to fulfill, a role that he fulfilled more than once. When the teachers of the faculty encountered a problematic student, for whom the decision was difficult, they used to share the decision with one of the students, the most outstanding among them. This time it was Natasha. The faces of Natasha and the examiners were blank. Bent over a copy of his final project that was placed in front of each of them. The manager was standing next to the big computer, probably analyzing his work, and looked at the output. He pulled out one of the pages and looked at it. His eyebrows rose in wonder. He approached the biology teacher.
-What do you think?, I expected it to happen in a much shorter time! Then he noticed Eli standing in front of the table. With measured steps, the manager approached, sat down behind his desk, took the small ball in his hand, and looked at it and at me with a piercing and unruly look.
Eli looked at him, and tried to understand what was going to happen to him, his little planet and his creatures.
The manager's voice is full of rebuke:- Suddenly a person gets up in the morning, ignores all existing prohibitions, and decides, just like that, that he produces living creatures?!, didn't you think that you would have difficulties in creation?, didn't you know that a small mistake would fall into the project, and all the creatures would be transformed in time Short for a collection of smelly proteins??, and maybe I missed something?, maybe I didn't get to the bottom of your mind?, if so, tell us, which of the intelligent creatures did you try to create?, tell!.
- Producers.
-Producers you say?!, Well, of course,- the manager chuckled,- Do you know, for example, what your creatures are doing now?
- No,... not exactly.
Well, your "productive" creatures are now trying to build a tower with its head in the sky, that, and a few other worthless projects, well, so you still think your creatures are "perfect?" Silence prevailed in the room. The big computer also stopped rattling.
Eli Azer Oz, ignored the looks of disdain on the teachers' faces, and asked:
-What will happen to the planet?
-What will happen to him?
- Will you destroy him?
-Why do you ask?
- I don't want you to destroy it!, Ali called with determination.
The manager smiled. He turned his gaze to Natasha, who asked for permission to speak.
Natasha got up from her chair and looked at those present. All at once, a burden of years was released from her shoulders, being student number two, and even if it's only for one day, she wants to take full advantage of it.
- I understand my good friend Ali, Natasha opened in an authoritative voice and said, - He created a project, and naturally he also became attached to it. But Eli must know that his attempt to continue to hold on to the project, which is distorted to say the least, and to devote pointless efforts to correcting it, will hinder him and the entire faculty in further studies. That's why I think, with all the sadness in the matter, that the thesis should be destroyed!.
Eli looked at her angrily.
- And the fact that these are living creatures, doesn't have any meaning for you?, and maybe other, petty motives
And are not relevant, make you request the destruction?

-Petty?!, Irrelevant?!, cried Natasha angrily,- and that you demand not to destroy a thesis that is a disgrace to the entire astronomy faculty, is that relevant?!, it is not fair that you allow yourself to speak like that to a friend, a student from your department, who is only trying to help you with the difficult decisions expected of you here!, your behavior does not add to you!
The manager looked at the two, quite amused, and asked:
And anyway, Natasha, how would you decide to destroy the project?

Natasha looked at the pale Eli with a triumphant look,
- This can be done in many ways, for example I think I could create a supernova from any problematic star, even if it is a planet, and if I may, there is no more suitable time for this than the graduation party of the faculty.

No!, called me, - I object!.

The manager looked at the two, and grinned, then turned to me,
- Eli, don't worry, there's no need to destroy the project, because... Your creatures will do it themselves, you hear, and they are
They will do so in a relatively short time.

-They won't!

Natasha stood up while waving the pages of Ellie's project, and shouted angrily:
-But you built them in a bad way, the sin is inherent in their essence!, it is stronger than them, they will not be able to avoid it!
Eli did not give up, - I will change it!
-how?
- I... I will explain to them!
- Genes, will you fix it with explanations???
A smile appeared on the faces of those present. The manager raised his hand and ordered Natasha to sit down. Silence prevailed in the hall.

Eli knew that the moment of truth would come. The manager looked at him and smiled. It was obvious that he liked this student after all.
- Eli, I like your original concern for your planet and your creatures even before you know the grade you received. It shows a responsible attitude even if it is not scientifically relevant, it proves that we are still worth investing in you. Let us not forget that the mistake is partly our fault when we gave you a free hand in choosing the thesis topic. Well Eli, we decided to give you a score of 60% and I hope you appreciate our good will. And regarding your question, we will not destroy your planet and your project will remain for teaching the high school students what not to do in the production of new worlds and intelligent beings.
Voices of approval were heard from all sides.
- Well, are there any questions? If not, then the meeting is closed.
The principal and the examiners got up and left the exam hall. Natasha still tried to say something to Eli but Hela ignored her look, and Natasha also left the hall, leaving Eli alone.

*
60% echoed the voice, 60%, only 60% and the number seemed to burn deeply inside him. Although yes, he appreciates their good will, they allowed him to continue his studies. The minimum passing grade. But, only 60% and how much he tried.
Eli walked over to the table on which the template of his world, a small sphere, was still placed. He picked it up, turned it over
with both hands and looked at him with love. In his mind's eye came images of the landscape of his planet - the sand and the sea, the rustle of the water, and the glitter of the sky, - white poles intertwined with a brilliant glow fluttering like colored feathers in its blue atmosphere. He remembers the plains of the great oceans, the snowy mountain peaks, the green valleys, the gorges of streams and rivers. Golden deserts and evergreen forests stretched from horizon to horizon, as if to give balance to a mighty ecosystem. Herds of inferior animals race through the expanses, also rams, fish and fowl throughout the land.

And there, above all, stands his rational creature - man.
Eli remembered him with love, tears glistened in his eyes. Where the hell did he go wrong? He grabbed his final project, opened it and began to look through it. Then the decision paid off in his heart. He will write a rulebook. He must prove to them, he must show them that it is not true. Maybe there is some small mistake, a small correction and everything will return to its place in peace.
He walked over to the big computer and sat down next to it. Through his moist eyes he began ticking off his book of laws, trembling letters flickered on the screen and merged into words, and the words into sentences:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."
"...I am the Lord your God, you shall not kill, you shall not steal..."
And above, in the reddish sky, twinkled stars and nebulae. The remains of 1372SNP could no longer be discerned and only a pale crimson tint still hinted at what was going on there. Somewhere far away his little star revolved, and down below Eli was left alone with the computer, alone, as only God could be.

SF

A compilation of Yehuda Sabdarmish's articles
The science fiction connoisseur

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