The Atlanteans of Proxima b: Epilogue

24th - 26th December in the Year of Our Lord 2732

May 16, 2025

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Captain's Log, 24^th December in the Year of Our Lord 2732

Today is Christmas Eve and roughly 3 months since I left the Atlanteans. I have heard only snippets from Rex and Taliesin via satellite communication. Treatment of the populace is going well, construction of farming domes is lagging behind, as it is here, but we are not concerned. There are foodstuffs, limited in variety, we can eat in the interim. Father Cooperson is preparing a mission as I write and hopes to leave in the new year, his grasp of their language improves as he spends at least an hour a day in conversation with Korinna. He had, by chance, brought a Bible in the original Greek and Korinna has been reading the parts she can, there has been a measure of drift in the thousands of years, as one might expect, but not so much as to make it unreadable. Fortunately most of our priests, including Father Cooperson, are fluent in Biblical Greek, and her questions receive ready answers.

Other than attending daily Mass I have steered clear of overt religious conversation. There is no need to and while Korinna seems intrigued it is only in a learning of Earth since her people's exodus.

Korinna has settled in well, and has made a number of friends, not the least of which is Father Cooperson. I have no idea how long she plans to remain, though from appearances it is going to be a long time. The Council have permitted a permanent dwelling be erected for her, rather continuing to use part of the medical dome, given she is now fully healed from her ordeal. She has been quite amused by our decorations for Christmas, she understands decorating for a festival but finds some of them bizarre. Little clay statues that hang from trees, odd stones that have been painted red, green, and gold, the hanging of the greens, and Nativity scenes set up in Churches and homes. Of course none of the decorations were brought from Earth and have all been cobbled together here on Proxima b. There is nothing approaching a conifer tree but there are approximates which have been used. Korinna joined in decorating my own, I asked if she wanted one in her temporary accommodation but she declined, though I'm not sure if the medics would have allowed it anyway given the locale.

Since I left there have been 2 more births, some rough arithmetic suggests this is low for the size of our population but given setting up a colony, an entire society from scratch, is difficult and laborious I, nor the Council, are concerned. Besides it took centuries for the Atlanteans to lose their fertility and we have not even been here two years, not to mention the problem has been solved thanks to our scientists. Well, perhaps I should not celebrate too early, there has yet to be a report of a pregnancy among the Atlanteans.

Captain's Log, 25^th December in the Year of Our Lord 2732

0845 Hours

Christmas Day. It is “dawn” by our colony's imposed day/night cycle, the windows of my abode are gradually becoming transparent to simulate the rising of the sun. It is not overly convincing but it is comforting. I will attend Father Cooperson's Mass and then share the day with Korinna and members of the Council.

I wonder how Taliesin and the others are celebrating, I will message them.

2230 Hours

A good celebration of Christ's birth on a planet light years away from where it happened. No matter how many times I hear that we are completing God's plan I still find it wondrous that He would ever have planned humanity to go to the stars. Does it mean there are other sentient species out there needing to hear the Good News? Or perhaps they too were visited by Jesus, the Gospel story happening elsewhere.

Only time will tell.