The fall of Crick 14 (14th of January 2013)

Orbital science station Crick 14

Frequent tourists on their way to hotel "Feelin' High" on the Moon knew well that old piece of gigantic orbital trash which was not in use for a hundred years. But none of them knew that the decaying orbital station once hosted a respected Institute researching the kvittocibin mushrooms for bending the space-time - Crick 14. Its former glory, which enabled the millions of brave space pioneers to leave and never return, decayed in the same manner as its solar panels and artificial gravity wheel. Its decay was predicted more than a hundred year ago in a prophetic warning issued by ac. fung. Borgio Tittus whose letter to Mushroom Academic Council of Crick 14 was found in the Crick's archive:

Namely, institutes need not necessarily survive. For all of those who think differently I will project a mental image which tortures me for years. It is the image of decayed Crick 14, the place that once was our institute with dreams of applied science. Exactly this year we should decently and merry celebrate 50 years which this institute survived. But the Institute should survive also the next 50 years, next at least 100 if anyone asks me. It is a biological fact that our institute will in that period live of scientific activity of some other people. Of some people who are today relatively or completely young, and perhaps of some who we did not meet yet. Therefore we need to see how we prepare the ground for that future scientific activity.

Nobody in the Mushroom Council, of course, took ac. Borgio seriously. He was, after all, completely yellow, a novice unaccustomed to magnificent moist and mold of Crick 14 which was inhaled, by much older members of the Council, almost since the beginning of Crick.

Orbital science station Crick 14, detail

A hundred years after the fall of Crick 14, almost no one remembers anymore neither what was it that Crick's scientists did, nor why did the Institute dissolve. But, researching for his dissertation the history of the use of mushrooms for bending space-time, ac. hist. Toan Twen discovered pieces of the forgotten Crick's story. In order to do that, he bravely risked by secretly going to the wreck, the access to which was forbidden for decades. From the memory cores he managed to save the pieces of the Mushroom Council's archive.

The archive contained all sorts of things: technical reports, alternative quantum-gravity models of long-range wrinkling of space-time, some details regarding Crick 14 finances, but all those data was exceeded by the records of the Mushroom Council meetings. Holographic data enlivened in front of ac. hist. Twen pessimistic, but brave Borgio, malicious and grey-eyed ac. fung. Doromir Zebris, always smiling and always prepared to cheat ac. ac. fung. Horuna Rutlog, and especially mean, half-crazy and completely confused director warden of the station ac. fung. Ryttop Rennaal.

Orbital science station Crick 14, detail 2

Ac. hist. Toan Twen published recently the story of the fall of Crick 14 and the main actors in that shameful play, in the most prestigious history journal of The Library, Nature - History, and his majestic reconstruction of the disintegration of the Crick's scientific community was especially helped by the letter of ac. fung. Borgio Tittus to Main Scientific Secretly, ac. tech. Tatti Alenykky. The letter in the memory cores was especially ciphered and obviously deposited there without respect to the protocols of the Archive, and also, almost certainly, without knowledge of its author.

And the letter which ac. hist. Toan Twen managed to reconstruct almost completely went like this:

Continued: >> Part II.

<< Haiku about child-Buddha Firemen >>

Last updated on 14th of January 2013.