Commander's Star Base

by Commander Sanni Ceto
© 2015 (all rights reserved)

My Home World
(from Stranded On Earth)
        My home world is called Tieu or Jadui by Zetis. It's the closest to our binary stars that astronomers know as Zeta Reticuli 2. Our suns are separated 350 billion miles apart from one another. Both are Class G2 and G1 suns (for reference, Earth's sun is a Class G0).
        Our home is about six times larger than Jupiter, which we call Juippes. There is no weather like you have here, other than winds, and water is found high up and is collected using advanced collection devices.
        Tieu is a semi-arid world that's mostly desert. There are many mountain ranges scattered across the planet. The soil is reddish tan in color. Most people live under domed cities, where everything is recycled. The air is purified and water that is collected is also purified. Plants inside cities are grown by hydroponics.

Today, On Earth
        In my spare time I love to play video games, mostly Titan Quest. I love to draw as I am gifted in art. My mission right now is to advocate for something that is very personal to me, and that something is autism awareness.
        I do this because I live with autism (Asberger's Syndrome). I find that it helps me when I can help others who are like me. I was diagnosed with autism as a toddler and I didn't speak until I was 12 years old. I have numerous sensory issues as well as social issues with autism.
        Autism is why I am expert in my limited areas, such as Art and Space. Also, in my spare time I am into entomology and ornithology. I know a lot about eagles and insects.
        People on the autistic spectrum are geniuses. We do not have a disease, and we are not retarded. Often we are gifted in music and other fields, like Mozart and Einstein.
        For most of my life I was ashamed of my disability and I tried to hide my autism. But I was actually never good at hiding my repetitions and stimming.
        [Stimming is a term that means self-stimulatory behavior, and is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, or repetitive movement of objects common in individuals with developmental disabilities, but most prevalent in people with autistic spectrum disorders. It is considered a way in which people with autism calm and stimulate themselves.
        Common stimming behaviors (sometimes called "stims") include: hand flapping, rocking, head banging, repeating noises or words, snapping fingers, spinning objects, etc. Therapists view this behavior as a protective response to being overly sensitive to stimuli, with which the individual blocks less predictable environmental stimuli. Another theory is that stimming is a way to relieve anxiety and other emotions. Source: Wikipedia]
        I'm now proud to be autistic with its gifts and challenges. Some of the challenges I face are sensory. I react to noise and lights and touch.
        Also, I had to work hard to get on my own. For years I lived in homes for people with disabilities. I have to live a routine life, which helps me to be independent. I hope that Star Beacon readers are not upset to find out I am this way. I felt it was time to be true to myself and honor my disability.
        Autism affects everything. I cannot read faces and non-verbal emotions in people. I am literal and do not think in idioms. For instance, I have a difficult time figuring out a joke or understanding humor. Routine is very important to me, and I never get tired out from doing the same things over and over, which make me feel good. Work such as stuffing envelopes and sorting things are tasks I enjoy.
        My mission now is to educate people about this disability I was born with. I also help promote animal rights and efforts to protect Earth's environment.

Our Planet Earth
        This planet is dying every day from abuse of the ecosystems and the loss of species due to human greed and ignorance of the fact that the planet is a living entity. Pollution and industrialization is destroying the environment every day, and while doing this, it is destroying humanity as well.
        An example is the loss of the honeybee population, along with bumble bees. Without these pollinators, plants cannot produce fruits and vegetables, and this affects the food chain from carnivores to herbivores. Without bees, food is harder to grow. All depend on plant-based organisms to live.
        There is less sunlight to help the plants through photosynthesis. And the manmade world is becoming too artificial. There’s no need for light and noise pollution. There's no need to make everything so chaotic and artificial, just to make you buy things. There's no need to use chemicals in everything we use and consume.
        The earth is dying because people have lost their connection to other animals and plants. They have made an artificial environment filled with pollutants and noise, including fluorescent lighting. They fail to appreciate the sun and the music of the birds around them. When nature dies, so does humanity as all are linked through DNA and RNA, and all are linked as one. Without trees and animals, humans will become extinct as well as the earth, although the physical planet will survive and replenish what was destroyed.
        Humans put their faith in outside help without using logic and the tools they have to solve global issues. Plus, humans have been conditioned through their science and governments that ETs are not a reality except in the brains of delusional people and New Agers wanting a cure now for problems that can be solved through nations ending wars and fighting poverty and hunger instead of each other.
        The lighting used on spacecraft is biochemical, such as bioluminescence in fireflies. On Jadui, the world is mostly a twilight world as it's not as close to its sun as Earth is to its star. Jadui cities and housing are constructed to blend in with the natural environment, or they are merged into the biosphere so as not to harm the natural world.

Sanni Ceto is the author of Stranded On Earth, The Story of a Roswell Crash Survivor and Zeti Child, Lost Upon a One Star World. She lives in western Colorado.