Nobody has a Clue

In 1965, a country in Asia launched an ambitious project to design and transport millions of its populace into a galaxy  that was 13.2 billion light-years from Earth. The project was assigned to a cadre of Engineers who laid out the blueprint for the space shuttle. The launch was successful and the space shuttle began its voyage into the unknown.

Although the Engineers were on-board the Space Shuttle, they knew that it would take centuries before they could arrive at their destination. Therefore they set up an Academy on board the space shuttle and selected the top graduates to join their ranks. These Engineers eventually replaced the original team. The new generation of Engineers continued to make adjustments to the space shuttle to adapt to the changing conditions across the galaxy.

Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the space shuttle had discovered other space-farers heading towards a similar destination. The journey was not smooth sailing. The space shuttle required fuel to proceed and it had to barter with the other space shuttles. Internally there were issues with the heating systems and distribution of necessities. Furthermore the space shuttle faced the possibilities of external threats such as meteoroids and invasions. The Engineers tried their best to  navigate these difficulties. For their efforts, they were rewarded with comfort and prestige.

The stresses of life on board the space shuttle took its toll on the populace. In 2015, a referendum was held to reconsider the appointment of the Engineers. There was a diverse range of opinions.

Some of the populace throw their full support behind the existing team of Engineers. They felt that these Engineers were carrying on the legacy of the original team. They appeared to be competent enough to remain in their roles.

On the other spectrum, a loosely-connected group of individuals had emerged. They questioned the trajectory of the path set by the Engineers. Some concerns were legitimate but difficult to operationalise. The heating systems would utilise more fuel but it would reduce the incidences of the elderly freezing to death in their pods. The amount of fuel required would be subjected to debate. Other proposals, such as the removal of critical parts to reduce the weight of the space shuttle, were simply inane. Some proposals, while untested, might actually work. The difficulty lies in their ability to convince the populace.

Most of the populace were not Engineers. They worked as cleaners, businessmen, medics, administrators, traders and were not aware of the intricacies of maintaining the space shuttle. Therefore many of them evaluated the proposals on overly-simplistic premises, citing doomsday scenarios such as the space shuttle running out of fuel.

Some of them had the privilege to take temporary trips to other space shuttles. They regaled their 

family and friends with their adventures and claimed that there were very few space shuttles that could match their home. However some of their compatriots reminded them that the space shuttle primarily exist for its current inhabitants. It was pointless to asset the superiority of the space shuttle vis-a-vis other space shuttles if  it was meandering towards a complacent decline.

As the space shuttle continues into the great unknown, the Engineers tried to anticipate potential incidences and learn from the failures of other space-farers that went ahead, but these lessons were increasingly unavailable as it had overtook many other space shuttles over the decades. The individuals who proposed alternatives had no test bed for their ideas. The populace, barely literate in the domain of rocket science, were largely inadequate to evaluate the proposals of the Engineers and the individuals.

Nobody has a clue.

***All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.