At the end of her speech, Popova gave a summary of what was said, in the form of four statements. Regarding these statements, which were called Theses of Natalia Popova or Theses about Civilizations, there was a lot of talk in the upcoming days.
Thesis 1: A supercivilization cannot be destructive
Thesis 2: Supercivilizations don’t want contact with destructive civilizations
Thesis 3: Destructive civilizations have a short lifetime
Thesis 4: There are no interstellar wars in the Universe
* * *
Milos Lukic, from Niksic. The guy spent several years in Moscow, where he worked as an electrical engineer for a Montenegrin company. There he met Tamara. Following the completion of the jobs in Moscow, Milos returned to Montenegro, to Niksic. His wife Tamara, a piano teacher, returned with him. Tamara is Natalia Popova’s sister.
Three weeks after the meeting in Paris, Natalia Popova went to Montenegro to visit her sister. On the second day of her stay, Tamara prepared a lamb roast. Milos’s sister Lydia, with her husband and two little sons, came to the lunch. After the meal, Milos led a discussion about the now famous Natalia's theses:
“I’m afraid the fourth thesis will not delight the Star Wars fans.”
“And not only them,” Natalia sighed. “No matter how afraid of wars, humans have a perverse need for them, a dark desire to witness these terrible events in some way, especially if located at a safe distance, spatial or temporal. When we talk about known historical battles, we usually refer to them as ‘the glorious battle’ or ‘the great battle’, and even with pride. Epithets as ‘horrible’ or ‘terrible’, which are certainly more appropriate, we rarely use. The reason for this might lie in our strange tendency toward finding some sort of beauty in these events, primarily agonizing and tragic. War is a part of our being, it defines man. Warfare is in our collective memory. The history of mankind is, in fact, the history of warfare. So that’s what we humans are. Therefore, I fear that today's man will think that life in an advanced world, without warlike destruction, would be somewhat boring.”
“I'd love to be that kind of bored,” Filip threw in.
“I will destroy you, villain!”
“No, you won’t! This lightsaber will...”
These were the voices of the boys, jumping around the table. They must have heard Star Wars being mentioned.
“These two are a true image of our civilization!” Lydia laughed.
“Keep it down, Darth Vader will hear us!” Milos whispered, then turned to Natalia:
“What do you think of the possibility of our civilization facing a kind of rebirth, purification, to get rid of its bad habits, to a complete recovery so to speak?”
“As matters currently stand, I’m afraid our chances are not so big. Honestly, I don’t see how we would do that.”
Two days later, the company met at Filip and Lydia’s estate by the lake. Milos and Filip went to the nearby grove to gather firewood for a barbecue. Filip was whistling and humming, while Milos was pervaded in an intense thought. He was quite away from Filip, for intense thinking requires silence. And then, at some point:
“That’s it, yeah!” echoed through the woods. Milos cast away the collected branches and ran to Filip. Filip got even a little frightened at the sight of him.
“Easy, man! What’s going on?”
“I found the solution!”
“What solution? What are you talking about?”
“Sit down, I’ll explain!”
They sat down on the grass and Milos began to explain.
Somewhat later, they showed up in front of the house, with the firewood.
“Where have the two of you been for so long?”
“Call Natalia, Milos solved the problem!”
“What problem?”
“You'll see, just tell her to come here!”
Soon they were all seated at the yard table.
“So the goal is,” Milos began, “to solve the world's problems. And the problems are many: poverty and hunger, diseases, overpopulation, climate change, and so on. Of course, we mustn’t forget the basic problem...” Milos stopped here for a moment.
“Armed conflicts?” Tamara chimed in.
“That's right. Or, in other words – the evil in the world. Our inner evil, the one that we create. Why is that the basic problem? Because that exactly is an obstacle to properly deal with other problems. It deprives us of a lot of time and huge financial resources. Imagine what would happen if all of that would be used for solving other major problems. Where would the limit of our success be? So, the defeat of evil, the evil in us – that’s the main goal.”
“But how?”
“Yes, how? Can politicians solve that?”
“I strongly doubt that,” Lydia said.
“I doubt it too,” agreed Milos. “If they could, they would have already done it. They don’t know how or don’t want to solve that.”
“What about the scientists?” Tamara asked.
“That’s it! The point is that the whole problem should be considered as a scientific problem. And leave it to the scientists to deal with. A scientific institution should be established, a large scientific institution that will deal with the basic problems of our planet, from armed conflicts onward; a respectable institution that will employ the best scientists from all over the world; a humane international institution whose goal will be to provide a good life everywhere in the world. Everywhere.”
“Some actions of the institution will not suit the taste of politicians,” Lydia pointed out.
“That's true,” agreed Milos.
“So there’s a problem here, isn’t there?” Milos’s sister added. “That scientific institution will never be able to function properly due to political obstruction.”
“There won’t be any obstruction.”
“I don’t get it.”
“The scientific institution will have the greatest decision-making power.”
“Well, that's not possible,” Lydia disagreed. “No one will give it that power. Something like that requires the support of people from all countries of the world.”
“And it will have it.”
“It's easy to say. There have certainly been similar ideas in the past, I believe, but with no chance of success. To put an institution above politics – it is an impossible mission. There’s no force able to do that.”
“There is.”
“If there was, today’s world would be different.”
“If there had been,” Milos corrected her.
“Pardon?”
“If there had been such a force, today’s world would be really different. It would be a magnificent world.”
For some time now, only Lydia and Milos were talking. Someone else would have probably said something, but the siblings were very quick to reply.
“Are you talking about some kind of force that hasn’t been there before?”
“That ‘some kind of force’ is the greatest force in human history.”
“You've gone too far now! And what’s that force?” Lydia enquired.
“Who’s your favorite actor?”
“Actor? Why do you ask?”
“Answer.”
“I don’t know, say... Brad Pitt.”
“Brad Pitt, fine. Actress?”
“Cate Blanchett.”
“Singer?”
“Rihanna. But what’s this all about?”
“Brad, Cate, Rihanna. Just imagine the three of them, united with dozens of other living legends from the world of movies, music, sports, literature, science. United to promote, all over the world, the idea of a scientific institution whose name says it all, an institution called Planet Earth. That brilliant team, made up of individuals adored all over the world – isn’t just that the force we are talking about? Isn’t just that a big, irresistible force, which has the power to change things?”
Milos was very inspired. Parts of a great idea were probably wandering his mind for a long
time. A little while ago, in the grove, these parts finally formed a shape of its own.
“How are you going to gather all these people?” Lydia asked.
“The idea will gather them. These are all great humanists, involved in humanitarian actions worldwide, and there is no idea more humane than this one. If there is an idea that can unite them, then this is the one.”
“However, this idea of a scientific institution,” continued Lydia doubtfully, “it seems too simple to me; too simple as a solution to the world's problems.”
“Are you familiar with the principle of Occam's razor?” asked Milos.
“I believe I am,” said Lydia, then paused to think for a moment. “The simplest solutions are the right ones,” she answered the question after a short break. Milos made a gesture with his hands; a gesture that meant: So you do agree it may be the right solution! Lydia had nothing to say on this gesture.
“The idea is very interesting,” Natalia finally spoke. Milos grinned out of satisfaction. “But how to get to these people?” she wondered. “How could we get in touch with them and introduce them to the idea?”
“There must be a way...” said Milos thoughtfully.
“How about you, Natalia,” suggested Tamara, “maybe you could talk about it on a scientific conference?”
“I'm not sure it would have a significant effect. If a well known scientist would speak instead of me...”
“Well, you did become famous recently,” smiled Milos.
“I think I have a solution!” exclaimed Filip.
“Speak.”
“Novak Djokovic is coming to Ashfield in two days.”
“Are you serious? Where did you hear that?” asked Milos, surprised.
“Jagos told me.”
“Ashfield?” questioned Natalia.
“It’s a village about twenty kilometers from the city,” explained Milos. “Novak's family stems from there. Jagos is Filip's cousin who lives in Ashfield, his next-door neighbors are Djokovics, Novak’s relatives. It's strange,” said Milos, turning to Filip, “nowhere did I read about his arrival.”
“Maybe it wasn’t written anywhere. Maybe Novak simply didn’t want any publicity this time. If I were him, I would certainly want to get some rest from all the crowd and journalists once in a while.”
“He will get publicity, don’t worry about that, as soon as he shows up at the airport.”
“You’re right!”
“If Novak could only hear what we have to say...” Milos sighed.
“So the question is,” Filip jumped in, “how to do that?”
“Yes, how? We can't just pop in front of Novak and say, ‘Hey, we have an interesting idea!’ The guy could think, Who are these nuts?”
“You're right, we must figure out something,” Filip concluded.
Birch Valley in Ashfield, a few days later. Two mysterious shepherds were talking with Novak Djokovic. From that moment on, the mission was in Novak's hands. A week after the meeting at Katy Perry’s house, on Friday, the twentieth of May 2022, the institution Planet Earth was founded.
* * *
What have been the results of the company founded on the idea of saving the planet? Following the very first days of its existence, the eyes of the whole world were pointed at Planet Earth. The interest in the promotions of the company across the globe, where giants of arts, sports, science and other celebrities were speaking, was enormous. Activities of the company were widely reported in all media. In a short time, Planet Earth got under everyone's skin, becoming a favored topic of conversation. Although many thought this would have taken years, Planet Earth became the highest decision-making body in all countries of the world by the end of winter. Its popularity was so vast that things took place much faster than anyone could have expected.
And – a miracle! During summer of 2023, all armed conflicts in the world were suspended; even without a significant involvement of the organization, which only gave certain suggestions. As if by magic, all infantry, war planes and ships headed back to their bases. The warring parties withdrew practically by themselves, taking this as a kind of moral duty. It was as if a new state of mind suddenly ruled the world. Why wars were being fought in the first place – nobody knew how to explain. The great evil was finally defeated; the enraged planet, which was on the verge of a third world war, suddenly became an oasis ruled by peace.
That was just the beginning. Having solved the biggest of problems, the institution that grew unstoppably day after day was finally able to use all of its capacities to resolve the others; and was very successful in doing so. In just one year, living conditions in socially more disadvantaged parts of the world have radically changed. Hunger and poverty were completely eradicated, the poorest regions became areas with prospects of easy living, millions of refugees enthusiastically returned to their restored homes. In spring 2025, borders between countries became just lines on paper, passports were abolished, anyone could travel to whatever destination. By 2030, medicines for half of previously incurable diseases had been discovered, while the research on the remaining half was in full progress. Medicines were, of course, free. According to estimates, incurable diseases won’t exist at all in the near future.
What’s the secret of success of the Planet Earth institution? Many have tried to answer this question and it’s hard to say who’s right. They might have succeeded just because the moment for something like that had finally come. As if mankind, that went through hell and high water, finally fed up with its own misery, was just waiting, even subconsciously, for some sort of change to happen. This may be the reason why Planet Earth, since the very beginning of its mission, had incredible support everywhere in the world.
Whatever the truth may be, the Earth has become a pleasant place to live in, and the human race finally began a long and safe journey to the advanced civilization.
* * *
It’s the sixth of July 2030. Milos and Filip are collecting firewood for a barbecue in the grove near the lake.
“Milos.”
“What?”
“Can you see that too?”
“See what?”
“Turn your head slightly to the right.”
Milos turned his head. At about a hundred paces from the gatherers, three girls were crossing a creek.
“Don’t they seem to be moving toward us?” Milos said.
“Look at that, they really are coming here!”
“I would say... don’t you think that...”
“You mean...”
There was just something in the appearance of the approaching girls... something that puzzled the two observers. It was not their breezy walk.
“Do you see that?”
“For Christ’s sake... What is it!?”
“One of us is dreaming, that's for sure!” Milos assumed. However, no one woke up.
The girls were quite close now. The sunlight that ran through the poplars shined on three perfectly shaped bodies, two of them partly hidden by light transparent robes. All three girls radiated breathtaking beauty. They were about ten feet tall.
About the Author
Under circumstances that he never fully understood, Ukvard Mil leaves the engineering job and embarks on the adventure of writing. Such developments were less clear to those who knew him.
The beginning of the adventure took place in a strange atmosphere: whenever he sat down to write, the folks would exchange puzzled glances. “Are you now some kind of writer?” his wife questioned him on one occasion. “I thought you were an engineer.” The children asked him: “What are you, dad?” The answer was: “I have no idea!”
As matters stand now, chances are we have a writer here.
Other Titles
Malign Field, novel
About Darkness, short stories
Malign Field (Serbian edition), novel
About Darkness (Serbian edition), short stories
Excerpt from Malign Field
I grabbed the back of the chair in both han
ds and raised it high, stretching as far as I could to get a good swing. With the cry of a maddened animal I brought it crashing down with such force that it smashed in pieces.
“There! Now let’s see if you get in the way again!”
Then I lay down. There was no change on the work table, the device was running. Above the table, however, on the picture of my deceased grandfather, I seemed to notice something… something I had not been aware of before, or rather… something that had not been there before. Grandfather’s face was… something seemed to be happening to it… as if it had become slightly contorted. And his eyes, Grandfather’s large, sunken eyes under the bushy eyebrows… a light suddenly flashed from them… or so it appeared to me. Of course, it only appeared to be so. All this is because I’m so tired, I recalled and closed my eyes to rest them. And then, while they were closed, a memory came to mind. What was happening to the picture reminded me of a poem which I had found many years ago when I was a boy. It was handwritten in tiny letters in two columns on a large folded sheet of rather thick, yellowed paper. It was not signed. I found the paper on the small occasional table in the living-room of our old apartment, propped against a lamp. Interestingly, no one in the family knew where it had come from. They even thought it was one of my tricks: