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he
continued.
    “Real work?” I
asked, surprised and interested.
    I knew that
Noah must have a bigger plan than just the Park. He kept telling me
that one day we will have fully sustainable populations, and I kept
telling him that the Park just isn’t large enough. We would need to
keep releasing new prey for lions, for one thing. We could never
build a sizeable enough Park on a ship. It’s just impossible; we
would need kilometres of space on which to build fake
continents.
    “Real work,
yes,” Noah nodded, “Do you realise that if even a small meteorite
were to strike our Earth, almost all life would be extinguished?
It’s happened in the past at least once. There are things we might
do, if we have enough warning, like moving my fleet to the opposite
side of the oceans, giving us some protection. If we survive the
first impacts we have the supplies and technology to stay afloat
and alive for as long as it takes before the worst of the dust
storms and so on blow over. We could slowly re-establish the
ecosystems by releasing full-sized animals of the types we already
have, thus repopulating the Earth.”
    He spoke so
casually that it took me a second to realise what a bombshell he
was dropping. I had already suspected that surviving such a
disaster had to be the point of the whole enterprise, but having it
confirmed by Noah himself was still shocking. His plan did make
sense and explained a lot about his organisation. Why else would we
need to be mobile, for one thing? I was disturbed by the idea that
we were being followed, but in truth it didn’t surprise me as much
as it might have.
    “The Park’s not
enough, though, is it?” I asked, “Because if the meteor is large
enough there will be no surviving it by sitting on the ocean.”
    “No”, he
agreed, “and there are some threats far more likely than rocks
falling from the sky. What if there is no meteor, but instead the
type of wars that poison the world for centuries? What if some
madman creates a strain of flu capable of spreading and killing
everything it touches? It wouldn’t take much, just a good knowledge
of genetics and a complete lack of concern.”
    I thought about
Noah in his lab, playing with genes like a lesser mind plays with
Lego. I felt cold.
    “The Park is a
bauble,” he continued, oblivious to my sudden concern, “a test
tube. The real work must be far more resilient and far more
extensive.”
    He turned his
back to me and was searching for something on the shelves.
    “The Park is
too fragile, but similar structures can be built deep into the
Earth. These could be many times larger than the Park, kilometres
long instead of measly metres. They will be true worlds unto
themselves, and the animals within them will live and die in
ignorance of the true nature of their surroundings. We already have
three such places set up deep underground. Shaun will supervise
one, Harry the second and my son the third. We will need at least
ten such vaults of precious life if we mean to make our survival a
certainty. I’ve been watching your work, and I think you have the
necessary skills to ensure success.”
    I was
flattered, confused and worried. I could see where he was going
with this, and it was prophetic. He was convincing, very
convincing. In my mind I could already see the war, the bomb, the
space rock. The world was dying even as we talked, so it would only
take a small push to end it. I didn’t really think Noah would start
the apocalypse, but when it came it would not find him unprepared.
    “The animals
will survive, and we can modify their environment so that they
adapt to whatever conditions we find on the Earth’s surface… and
then use these genetics to breed the full grown animals,” I
observed, “but there is no way enough humans could survive the type
of disasters you describe to repopulate the Earth.”
    “No, you are
right. My son, Japeth, has been working on the solution. You
haven’t met Japeth yet, for his research