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[Somewhere outside space]
From the transparent windows of the massive spaceship (Xalrotta B29), Gregory Brooks- an astrobiology trainee, stared relentlessly through intergalactic space as he journeyed with man-crew (remnant of the human race) on a mission to reach Plasdiet (nearest planet with highest possibility to support life forms similar to that of earth. Xalrotta B29 has been mankind’s greatest achievement for over a decade and also their hope to reaching their destination with speed that transcend that of light at a ratio of two to one. Rumor has it that aliens help build the ship. Xalrotta B29 engine runs only on pure energy from elementals in the surrounding space. Plasdiet was estimated to be 52 light year away from earth.
Hard to tell what time of the year it is. It’s been a while anyone kept record of time since the ship totally lost communication with those left behind on earth. However one look at Gregory, you could tell he’s probably in his mid-twenties. Gregory was two years old when he was brought onboard. Hence, the ship had somewhat travelled space for about 25 years. The whole man-crew knew it wouldn’t take long before they spot the surface of Plasdiet in the distance.
Gregory had very attractive features; tall and handsome, and also has this comely grin that always manage to stick forever on his face. One could assume he’s never experience pain in his life, but if that were true, perhaps none of the man-crew ever did. Gregory barely knew his real parent or even remembered what they looked like but he had pictures of them in his possession. Pictures has a way of jumpstarting memories that you never thought existed.
Gregory’s presence on the ship could be attributed to the lucky nine (9). Pseudonym lucky nine was used in the event of survival permutations and combinations carried out by scientists’ on the whole human race. To preserve and ensure continuity of each distinct race; nine people were chosen from each race of human there is. There were a total of 18 distinct races, hence, 162 people are onboard the Xalrotta B29. Gregory was however one of few crossbreed onboard. Gregory and many others had lived out their childhood on the ship. The technology used to supply and replenish oxygen on the spaceship was designed to last thirty years on the minimum but a large number of the oxygen tank onboard are now empty, and yet uncertainty awaits on Plasdiet.
Learning was never an exempt. They were provided with adequate facilities that ensured proper and excellent learning. There were people of various profession on the ship and about 85% of them are teenagers, only few adult remained. They’ve had to take care of a sizable number of elderlies throughout their journey. Once a person dies on Xalrotta B29, the outer vents of the ship is opened and the body is casted out to float and roam endless space. To those onboard, nothing as glorious as that.
Gregory mused within and smiled.
Memories from past history lessons flowed.
Year 2020 was a memorable year for remnants of the human race. A large portion of the ozone layer depleted, letting in more sun rays than is required, thereby giving rise to a high level radiation which threatened the very existence of life forms on planet earth. Six years before the radiation apocalypse, scientists from all corners of the world came together to express their concern on the critical condition of the ozone layer. The urgency was spotted in their outcry meant to address the world leaders on the failing nature of earth’s protective shield against radiation from the sun, while also emphasizing the possible need to evacuate earth to preserve the human race from going extinct.
All hands on deck. Collective Institute for Space Research (CISR), in one of their space expedition discovered Plasdiet (a planet with similar life forms to that of earth) pegged at a distance of 52 light years away. Xalrotta B29 at that time would never have been thought possible, but it is said that man has great affinity to achieve the unimaginable when faced with life and death situations. Great minds contributed and sacrificed towards the success of the space voyage.
The Xalrotta spaceship accommodates technologically advanced weaponry system and also has a combat arena for training in prep for the inevitable. The builders never ruled out the possibility of hostiles in Plasdiet, hence, Xalrotta B29 was fully armed to protect against pending threats. Foods were grown in some section of the Xalrotta B29 to ensure starvation doesn’t apply to the crew, and many more of such features to ensure long time sustenance. Nonetheless, people who stayed back on earth did not give up hope on fixing the ozone layer to averse the radiation threat. There’s no telling if they actually did survive and right now, no way to confirm because the ship lost communication with them many years back.
Gregory doubled-back immediately he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, it was Tom’s. Tom Miller is Gregor’s best friend and sparring partner. Tom’s military. He enlisted as part of the assault squad, a force that might be very necessary when they reach into Plasdiet’s atmosphere. Tom has this crazy accent that often send a chill down spines but doesn’t seem to have much effect on friends.
Lila told me you were up here.
Lila Frost and Gregory Brooks had feelings for each other, and in fact, have been seeing each other. Probably the first thing they’d do when they reach dry ground is ask to marry each other.
Oh! She did?
Never mind, silly me.
How do you do that? "Tom’s eyebrow widen as he maintained a bewildered facial expression."
Do what Tom?
You always manage to keep a smiling face even though deep down some things still bothers you.
Gregory let out an even more convincing smile.
Your evaluation? Tom…
Oh my God! Did she put you up to this, Gregory added.
Leave her out of this conversation Gregory. I was just looking out for a friend, nothing else. We look out for each other remember?
Yeah! You must have said this same thing more than a million times, how could I forget.
So what bothers you?
You want the truth? Of course Gregory!
Well, I’m scared.
Been thinking. Our chances at surviving seems pretty slim. I mean, for God’s sake we don’t know what we might find down there.
You worry a lot Gregory. We have each other.
Right…
The ships alarm blared midway into Gregory’s sentence. It seem everyone is rushing to the command center.
Commander Van Dyke in his late forties, still agile as ever. It’s been a while since they were gather together as such. Usually, it is to disburse vital information. This is probably the most important of them all.
The commander cleared the air.
I’m happy to inform you all that we have Plasdiet within eye’s view right as we speak. So, everyone had better get prepared because finally we might soon have a new home.
Xalrotta B29 to Plasdiet is perhaps a day journey away, and all the crew member could do is hope, hope to find refuge in an alien planet. Should the worst come, they may have to fight their way down in order to survive.
Gregory understood this pretty well, as do others.
He was probably the most scared of them all but still he kept his face lit. Tom took a quick glance at his direction and observed him for a while. Musing within, he wondered how long his friend planned on fooling the mind that he wasn’t scared.
Lila walked up to Gregory’s side, fingers interlocked, he could tell from the way her hands fidget that she too was very scared.
Tom was too.
Truth is; everyone was scared.
The End!
Here is the contest link; https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@bananafish/tell-a-story-to-me-why-mankind-left-earth
I really love the detail you have gone for here. You have put a lot of technical thought into it, and it shows.
The way Gregory deals with things, keep on smiling, is really powerful. The uncertainty, the fear is so vast, they have put all their hope and faith in this one planet, and undergone this journey knowing they might find a planet that couldn’t support them. The element of not knowing exactly how long the oxygen will last, other than being slightly longer than is needed to get to Plasdiet combines with that to really build tension. I like that the ship doesn’t just contain experts, but genetic diversity has been considered. Also appreciate that the ‘lucky 9’ were indeed lucky, and not selected for representing their race at its ‘purest’. You do a great job of really giving the feeling of a generational seed ship (and damn, that is a great choice of art to go with this), especially with the references to the cultural developments they have experienced.
Life already existing on the planet they are seeking refugee on is a fantastic element, it really conveys the deserpation of those who commenced this journey, they could find a race more advanced than them, they might have travelled across space to die before they even touch the ground. There is so much they don’t know, all they can do is hope. It isn’t that Gregory isn’t scared, he knows the fear is too great, so instead of giving in to it, he keeps going. The touch on the idea of getting married, the way you phrase it, secondary to survival. They are in this together, and when they make it out, there will be time for that. For now, Gregory tries to keep smiling, and keep his head above the uncertainty that could easily overwhelm him.
Really enjoyed this <3
It was really an interesting piece. You allowed your imagination run wild, that's one of the things I love about your writing.
And I love that Gregory character portrayed. I love the fact that he's always acting like he's got everything figured out. Well done @aduragbemi, I do hope you win this contest.
Thanks @ozaz for reading through. It's been a while, are you fully back on steemit?
I see. The messed up ozone layers assumption. Works for me!
There are a couple of technicalities that caught my eye in the meanwhile.
If the ship was moving with the velocity of 2 light speeds then the time inside the ship was slowing down significantly and the fact that Tom was around 25 years old could mean that the time elapsed on Earth was close to 50 years or more. So their supply of oxygen should have been quite sufficient.
A child of American and Australian parents could easily be of the same race for example of Aryan, Semitic, Mongoloid, etc. So actual ancestry of his parents should have been extended on if it mattered at all. From my point of view, it was a strange consideration. More appropriate would have been to select people on the base of talent. But that's just me.
Not sure what nine races you are referring to but suppose it was so. How could they be preserved? The budding technique works only on plants. People need to have male and female pare.
Overall though I enjoyed reading your story. There is some air of adventure in it.
😉
Thanks for reading through @mgaft1.
Well let's take a look at those technicalities.
For the first one: I never mentioned that the oxygen won't be sufficient, but I did talk about the oxygen tank just to point out the fact that they were already nearing their destination. Yeah, 2 light speed means they've journeyed for about (25-26) years, and even at that the oxygen mechanism was designed to last a min of 30yrs but I didn't give the exact, or did I?
One of the reason I had to emphasize that was to paint the critical nature of what they got themselves into... What if plasdiet is not habitable or probably hostiles were more powerful than they anticipated.... Should they decide to flee, will the oxygen mechanism be enough to keep them alive for long?
I didn't mentioned they actually picked him based on the ancestry of his father and mother. I only pointed that out when I was talking about pictures of his parent in his possession. However, Lila too was on the ship, right? So I think I tried to avoid making the "lucky nine" stuff sound ingenuine and unrealistic. Hence, the permutations and combinations include both male and female. The presence of people of different profession on the ship I believe is enough to convince that they also did the math and made sure people of profession are onboard. The line- learning was no exempt is a proof.
Well, I didn't say 9 race but of course I didn't do enough justice to this part. I should have mentioned the number of races there is. In this case, fictitious number of race would apply: I'd say 18. Hence, the lucky nine survival mechanism will mean (18 x 9), 162 gets onboard. Preservation of the human race means a small sample of all that matters, so, the female won't be left behind, or would they?
However I really appreciate you reading through... It means a lot. I will effect the needed change immediately.
Well cool! I must not read carefully enough and just voiced out what seemed unclear to me.
Looking at it now... on number 1 I was actually diametrically wrong. If Tom was 24-25 then with that speed they traveled already 48-50 Earth years. Thus, oxygen tanks should really be depleted just like you wrote.
And I misread this ...
I guess I didn't understand what was the reason why this information is pertinent. Why was it so important for the reader to know this. BTW, which accent did Gregory have American or Australian? Also, I am confused about why it was evident from his look that he was not a pure breed American. Was his mom Australian aboriginal? I was trying to imagine this and met with some lack of info. So he had the picture of his parents. Ok. Still, you know something that I don't.
Anyhow cool! Now, your overall thinking pattern is much clearer to me. I feel like we've spent some time together talking about the future. )))
Good luck with the contest!
I think I should work on that part still unclear. Thanks for voicing out your opinion @mgaft1
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