Time Jumps. The Paradigm of Immortality. Vladimir Baranchikov
and suffocation. The titanic explosion, comparable to the fall of a giant asteroid on the Yucatan Peninsula sixty-five million years ago, changed the chemical composition of the atmosphere of the entire planet for decades. Volcanic ash in the atmosphere blocked sunlight, and the world temperature dropped by twenty degrees. Cosmic darkness descended on the Earth. So a new ice age has come, replacing the era of the power of two superpowers states – the United States and China – for the period of the death of the civilization of the twenty-first century. Many areas and vast territories became victims of collapse, or were disunited and catastrophically weakened, the financial power of the richest and most influential clans on the planet instantly evaporated along with the institutions of global influence, military power and advanced industry. The world community, the international economy and politics in their classical sense, as well as the virtual world of the Internet, have ceased to exist for many years.
When Kalinkin regained consciousness after arriving at the designated point in space, he was stunned by the surrounding picture: as far as the eye could see, an icy desert stretched to the horizon. Three hundred and forty-fifth year of the thirteenth millennium! Suddenly Peter saw the world in its primeval state, as it existed before the emergence of man, and felt like a polar Adam, with the only difference that, alas, there was no standard set: Eve, apple and Snake, and you can’t walk naked here. Daria is not here either, and, of course, it could not have been, but the main thing he was not ready for was that he did not see the famous capital of the world. Around him is a snowy plain, ice hummocks – a typical Arctic, only cold and unbearable brilliance, and nothing more. Paris, the Mecca of culture and art, an amazing city, the pride of enlightened humanity, disappeared, disappeared without any trace. Whether it collapsed gradually or became a victim of instantaneous tectonic shifts is unknown. The Eiffel Tower, high Gothic cathedrals and mosques with minarets, the palaces of the Louvre and Versailles, gardens and hills, the Seine River were hidden by a reliable cold shell, a snow-white shroud, like the whole country called France, like the whole old Europe.
– And the people? What happened to them?
Yes, billions of people died. But the human tribe, unlike other biological species, is very tenacious. These elephants, steadily decreasing their numbers over the past hundred years and reducing their relatively small habitat under the influence of civilization, may become extinct, and only elephants on the dresser will remain. Representatives of Homo sapiens have settled on all continents for a hundred thousand years, with the exception of Antarctica, and have found something to feed themselves everywhere. Any global catastrophe, be it an asteroid impact, a nuclear war, a worldwide pandemic or something similar, can destroy many millions of human lives. But small populations of homo sapiens have been preserved all over the planet. Why? First of all, because of their location, isolation, perhaps because of skin color, wallet thickness or DNA features. And after hundreds or even thousands of years, they will once again enter the stable path of progress, only to find themselves again at our stage of development in the conditional two thousand twenty-second year. Only years, so, in five thousand, or ten. But, most likely, everything will then slide back to a global catastrophe, demonstrating the monstrous Foucault pendulum in the history of the planet. It was this hypothesis that dear Peter Kalinkin was able to test, moving in time and space to the point where he, without thinking, pointed his finger, under the influence of unfavorable everyday circumstances. Just think, a drunk cuckold man! However, the consequences of any rash act are often much more terrible than the reasons that caused it. But such is our human nature, a timid subconscious developed by millennia of natural selection. This is if according to Darwin. And if Darwin’s theory is not correct, then you don’t even know what to refer to.
Ten thousand years have passed since the triumph of Yellowstone, a hundred terrible centuries. Of the nine billion who inhabited the planet in the twenty-first century, few survived. In remote areas of the explosion – Australia, Malaysia, Africa – populations of intelligent man have been preserved, totaling no more than fifty million. The population of both North and South America and Eurasia could not withstand the prolonged effects of the cold, and these continents became empty. The descendants of the people of the twenty-first century adapted to live in new, harsh climatic conditions, but survival turned out to be exhausting and cruel. All efforts were made to preserve or regenerate the main natural factors of survival. The thick ice cover, low temperature and strong, cold winds dominating the sea and land had a great impact on the human condition. In the most favorable physical and geographical conditions, in areas of autonomous existence, a poor flora and fauna, water sources, power plants, industry and agriculture have been preserved. Mini-states were formed that were remote from each other: societies and local authorities, governments, the army and the police. Communications between individual islands of mind on the planet have been reduced to a minimum. The life of a particular individual in the conditions of such an existence largely depended on the state of his health, will, determination, ingenuity, concentration and endurance. The strongest survived, overcoming fear, loneliness, despondency, hunger, cold, thirst and physical pain. Being determined consciousness. And a significant role in this test was played by a new well – forgotten way of survival – tribal collectivism and shamanism. The thought of Cornelius Tacitus was brilliantly confirmed: once shaken souls are easily inclined to superstition.
The searing cold of the terrible catastrophe and the aching sense of loss penetrated Peter’s heart. He stood alone in this world of white silence, dressed in a warm black jumpsuit like a spacesuit, surveying the blinding surface with white rocks on the horizon, and at the same time not believing what he saw. The mind was not ready to accept the visible for reality. He turned out to be the only one alive today who knows the catastrophic consequences of the coming decades. The realization of the horror of the future of humanity brought tears to his eyes, which he could not even wipe off his face: his eyes were protected by dark ski-like glasses from the gusty wind and bright, blinding light. The hands kept warm in thick but flexible handles with a strange emblem – something like two crossed medieval swords. The same emblem was emblazoned on his chest. Apparently, the intertemporal atelier has started a new promotion of its products? But there was no one to appreciate his bitter humor. Even polar creatures, like polar bears, did not live here – it was very far from the cold seas. Kalinkin hesitantly took a few cautious steps; the snow creaking under his thick boots was so compressed under the influence of the sun and wind that only round holes from the spikes on the soles remained on the hard surface.
– When did this happen? – Peter was looking for a point of report on the death of the habitual world and directed his question to the Almighty Mind, if such still exists in the Universe. Who else would be able to give any answer? Ten seconds later, his doubts turned out to be extremely inappropriate and even blasphemous. Something inexplicable and unthinkable has happened. Suddenly, a violet ray, coming from nowhere, cut through the blue of the sky, drew a straight line, dividing the firmament in half, and then fell on the earth’s surface somewhere near the elusive horizon and drew gigantic signs on a huge icy rock:
– 2086, Yellowstone.
Kalinkin was speechless and silently gazed at the rock with the titanic epitaph on the dazzling white tomb monument of human civilization.
But the demonstration of power did not end there. In confirmation of the authenticity of the message, the higher powers, with the hand of an invisible artist, depicted right there, on a rock, the figure of a young slender woman in a dress of snow brocade, skirt and bodice, with ribbons and lace. Her gorgeous costume shimmered with snowflakes, buttons and silks. On his head is a huge wig, falling from his head to his chest like a frozen waterfall, and spreading abundantly on his shoulders. But the most amazing thing was waiting for Peter ahead. After a few seconds, the motionless drawing came to life… with a leisurely, graceful gait, the lady easily glided across the invisible parquet, elegantly turning her head in his direction and smiling mysteriously. Looking at her classic, chiseled face and huge transparent eyes with icicles instead of black pupils, he almost fainted from what he saw, how unexpected, recognizable and at