You can find life even in the most frozen tundra (notes from an explorer).

Once, Betelgeuse VII was a paradise for transgender people and rare sexual minorities, but now, the planet is in chaos. Its economy is collapsing. The sun might go supernova at anytime if neon fusion doesn't start in its core. People are captive, there is no way out and the sun might explode soon.

In the former forbidden building, where the fate of the sun was kept secret from the eyes of the people, now exists a space observatory, with all results being made public. A neutrino telescope scans Betelgeuse non-stop, to warn people if anything goes bad. But what should people do? If someone tells you: "The sun will explode in a few days and there is nowhere you can go", what good is to know? Still, better then not to know.

But now, there is something different. The neutrino telescope sends some unexpected data. There are two scientists that are constantly monitoring the telescope. As they see, they are very happy. One of them, after a routine check, calls the dictator, Caligula XV. Even if it is past midnight, the dictator ordered scientists to call if anything unusual happens.

"Your highness? I am Admiral, from the state observatory. I have very important news for you".

"What is it?"

"I see an unexpected increase in neutrino emission from the very center of the core. It looks like neon fusion has started".

"Can you give me more details?"

"It is the clear signature of neon fusion. For now, it is not powerful enough, but it's growing until it will sustain itself. The sun will not collapse too soon. We are in graphic".

"Very important and thank you. Please, tell all the press the news. I am happy that we will not die soon".

Inside the core of a supergiant star, when carbon is exhausted, no more energy is produced. The core is still heated for a while with energy produced by carbon fusion in a shell surrounding the core, but when that shell is also exhausted, the core contracts. More pressure means that the core heats-up, until it reaches the point to fuse its next fuel, neon, which is in fact a result of carbon fusion. That is, the star tries to fuse its own ash. Given the conditions inside the core, neon emits an alpha particle, which is a helium nucleus, becoming oxygen. As this happens, it consumes energy. Released alpha particles fuse with other neon atoms, to produce magnesium, a process that generates more energy then it was consumed. Neon fusion will generate energy and will prevent the core from collapsing.

However, a star has about 30% less neon then the amount of carbon it had. Neon fusion produces about 30% less energy per gram then carbon fusion. As one can see, this generates about half the energy. Carbon powered-up Betelgeuse for 600 Earth years plus an additional hundred years when the core was heated by the carbon fusing shell. One would expect neon to power-up the star for 300 Earth years. In fact, things are far worse.

The real destroyer of massive star is a tiny, pitiful subatomic particle, the neutrino. During carbon fusion, this particle takes away about half the energy generated. During neon fusion, about 1000 times more energy is lost through neutrino radiation. The star has to fuse neon at far greater temperatures and an alarming faster rate, to counter the neutrino loss. In other words, even if carbon could prevent the core from collapsing for 700 Earth years, neon will not make it for more then four. After that, as pressure and temperature will increase, oxygen will start to be fused. But, as that will happen, neutrino radiation will be 100 times more powerful then it were during neon fusion. So, the star will have to fuse oxygen and the following elements much faster.

In the year 3051, when the first detailed measurements were made, it was clear that Betelgeuse will only survive for 24 to 27 Earth years. Doomsday was expected to be between 3075 and 3078. It was the year when dictator Caligula XIII took power. Ten Earth years later, in 3061, Caligula XV took power. Now is the year 3065. Knowing that neon fusion has started, scientists calculate exactly how much time has the sun left. They know how it will evolve. That was the question, the difference between life and death. A failure to ignite neon would mean a fast core collapse. If that would happen, neon fusion should occur at much higher temperatures and a far larger percent of the energy would be lost as neutrino. But now, it is very clear.

The state observatory predicted that neon fusion will start. Their prediction was 24 days earlier. This is a severe punch for all the false prophets, who predicted that the sun will die much faster or that it will not explode within a few millennia. Having trust in their own results, Admiral, the same who called the dictator, makes a new prediction:

"Betelgeuse will survive until 3077. We have 11 Earth years left. I can estimate the date for our doomsday with an error of 45 days. Fortunately, we have enough time. Betelgeuse S will be terraformed and habitable until then. We will have about one Earth year to resettle there. Everything goes according to our calculations".

**********

This becomes the number one news on the planet.

In the town of Pink Bear, on the opposite hemisphere to the capital, it is noon. On the VV, on the radio, usual programs are rolling. Suddenly, all programs stop and the dictator, with its anime appearance, is on every screen.

"People of Betelgeuse VII, I have a very important message to all of you. The sun just started neon fusion. It will not explode now. The state observatory confirmed that it will survive until 3077, which is 11 years from now. That is an year after Betelgeuse S will be habitable. We will have enough time to evacuate everyone".

As people hear this, they shout of joy. They go out on the streets and gather in the town center. Some, continue to watch the news channels, to learn more, but even them, after a while, get out to celebrate. On the same hemisphere with the capital, it's night. There, those who were awake, call each other. Nearly everyone gets out in the night, to the town center, with lights in their hands and with music. It is time for a big celebration.

It is so much joy! People hug each other. They shout: "We will not die!" They celebrate as they never did for such a long time. In past, when Betelgeuse VII was a paradise, people did celebrate. since the planet orbits Betelgeuse in a few hundred years, they took the Earth year. They celebrated a national day, a Christmas and a new year eve and a few more important things. But since they found out that the sun will soon explode, there were no spectacular celebrations.

In past, in the good days, people took care about how they look. They had time and money to have clothes for both genders, tons of make-up and many body accessories. It was a time when body transformations were possible for everyone and not for much money. But for the last years, mainly after the storms which devastated the planet, people found hard even to survive.

Among them, there is an old transgender man. He is one of the first who settled here and one of the first who transformed its body, from a woman to a man. He is now very old, but clearly remembers all. Sitting on a bench and enjoying a cigarette, he looks at the people who are celebrating. Betelgeuse was a world where people dressed in any way they liked, as long as it was not porn. Where are the old times, with extravagant clothes? Where are the unusual outfits? Many people now have ripped clothes. In past, almost everyone had its hair painted, but now, things have changed. They fight to survive. Where is the time when people went to the extreme? Where are the unusual body transformations?

In past, people wanted to have horns, to be hermaphrodites, to have triple breasts, snake tongues, reptilian skin and not only. Now, nobody has money for such accessories. Not even the fake breasts, which were so popular for those who did not want to go to surgery, are seen these days.

"Celebrate, people! Celebrate!" whispers the old man, thinking about the old days.

It was a time when people belonging to rare sexual minorities found shelter on Betelgeuse VII. They considered this planet as a paradise.

But still, people did not forgot the days before. And they hope that, once they will make it to Betelgeuse S, everything will be back like before. One might think that all the suffering and poverty made them turn back into 'usual' people. It's wrong. They gave away something, but not their souls, not their unique identities, not their desires for cross-dressing, not their appearance to rare minorities, that this planet was made for. There is no racism and there is no discrimination on this planet.

**********

Far from Betelgeuse, on an unimportant planet in the Old World, there is a man, Charon. He was born as a man, on that planet, but always dreamed to become a woman. Knowing that people will reject him for this, he chosen to go to Betelgeuse VII. There, he had a complete body and DNA transformation into a woman. He stayed there for a nearly ten Earth years. Then, during the storms, when the economy was destroyed, he had to chose: remain on Betelgeuse and die during the supernova or return to his native place.

He chosen to transform himself back, from woman to man. Then, he went back to the place where he was born. It was very hard, vary painful. It was like its soul died and now only a dead body walks on the streets. People avoid him and he avoids people, which are far less friendly, less tolerant and less communicative then people on Betelgeuse.

In the end, Charon decides to come back. Better to die on Betelgeuse VII then to live a suffering life, where nobody will ever understand a person like himself. It is the third time for him to have body transformations and the second time to become back a woman.

The return of Charon also appears on all news channels on Betelgeuse VII. People find out that, many of those who left, even if they are doing better, are suffering. Those born on Betelgeuse find extremely hard to adapt to the outside world.

Their only hope is that Betelgeuse S, the planet for which Caligula XIII sacrificed its life, will be opened for settlers soon enough.

The news even reach Betelgeuse S. There, Delta, which supervises all work on the new planet, listen carefully and examines the data. Given the deadline, there is no doubt that terraforming processes will be finished and everybody will have a new home. The only problem is that, there will be only little time to resettle all the population. But, it looks possible.

**********

After hydrogen, helium and carbon fusion, Betelgeuse entered its fourth step: neon fusion. It doesn't take much and the core produces more energy then it loses as neutrino radiation. The neon flame expands from the center towards the outer end of the inert core, producing energy, that will help the star to survive for a little more.

Well, the year 3066 has come and there will be elections. The 16th Caligula will be elected. The sun will explode in 3077. So, only two dictators will reign, with a third one lasting for a short time. The end of Caligula dynasty is near. All this, if everything goes as it should go. Still, many things can go wrong.