Section One, Part One (Zone of the Elect)
Chapter 5
The door opened onto dad’s long workroom, which at first sight resembled a corridor, but Dan knew there were several working alcoves in it. Today dad was sitting in an armchair at the far end with his back turned towards Dan, though he was clearly aware of his son’s presence. And as Dan approached he became increasingly aware with each step of his cherished figure: his shoulders, hair, arms… all the imponderables that turned this being into his dear dad. He quietly came up close.
“Look here…” Dad held out his hand and drew Dan up to him. “I might actually choose this planet as a transit point.”
Just for transit? Dan thought disappointedly. He had hoped that dad would manage to discover a destination planet, a future home for them. “Transit? Why transit?” he asked out loud, gazing at the screen in front of him, which did not, however, indicate any celestial body, just some kind of coloured blotches and lines.
“Because from our terrestrial New Planet it’s just the right distance.”
“So why don’t we just settle it then?”
“Its gravitational field is too weak to form a stable atmosphere. It’s too small. But it is 370 light years away from us, so that is just right. And…it is beautiful. Look…” Dad pointed to one of the coloured lines. “…at this. Water in a liquid state. It orbits its sun in the habitable zone, so we can start to consider G819 again.”
Dan had already heard the term G819 from dad. It was one of the planets that came into consideration as the final destination. It was actually the closest of them all, and yet it was still too far. “And how far is G819?” he asked, mostly because he knew it would make dad happy.
And dad really did come to life. “From us it’s 779 light years away. But from this little planet it’s 465 light years. Combined it’s just a bit more, but not much. It’s almost on the way.”
“So are we on our way?” Dan rejoiced.
Dad turned towards him indulgently: “What are you on about? It won’t happen for at least a hundred years. I have told you.”
“So I might live to see it?”
“You might, my chosen one.” He stroked Dan’s face and placed a kiss full of expectation on his forehead.
“And dad…” Dan wanted to ask about something he often thought about, but in the end he did not dare.
“Yes, Dan…”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing? You want to ask something, so ask!”
Dan decided to after all: “So are we on Earth, or aren’t we?”
“I’ve already explained. We’re on New Planet.”
“But you also said that New Planet orbits the same sun as Old Planet.”
“Yes, you’re right. We are located in the same place in the universe.”
“Meaning we haven’t left Earth yet?”
“Yes, physically we have not yet left Earth’s gravitational field. But…we have left. We have closed the door behind us. There’s no way back. We’ve set out on a journey of no return. Our path now only leads forward. There…” Dad nodded towards the screen in front of him.
(Translated by Melvyn Clarke, source: Prague Literary Agency)