Colony One
Page 27
She had used much of the trip rehearsing the story she would tell the EMP officials when they returned. It was a story perfect for the press if they couldn’t return undetected. The four Colonists, unhappy with their decision to start a New World, commandeered Hyperion, along with her Captain and returned to Earth without sanction.
Avery would get paid and a clean record.
The unexpected company seemed to have had actually worked out better than she could have possibly expected, given the circumstances. As they got closer and closer to being home, Avery distanced herself from the others. It was only because it was their big homecoming that she had joined them on the bridge.
“We’re within visual range,” Patrick was saying. His arm was still in a sling, but could still monitor the pilot’s console with one hand easily.
“Did you recode the transponder like I told you to?” Avery asked.
“Hours ago,” Patrick confirmed.
“This will be a sight for sore eyes,” Ndale grinned widely. “I never thought I’d be so happy to lay eyes on South Africa again.”
“Cut power to all non-essentials, we’re going to drift in from here.” Avery instructed.
“Why?” Patrick wondered.
Avery’s brow furrowed at his question, “Because I said so.” Patrick fixed her with a brief look of defiance, but complied after the symbolic display.
Earth grew larger and larger from their view on the bridge. They were approaching from the outside of Earth’s ellipse around the sun, and immediately Avery recognized something was wrong.
The others did as well.
“Where are the lights?” Ndale wanted to know. He’d seen enough images of Earth from space to know that it emitted an ever-present glow from the densely populated land masses.
“It’s so… dark,” Lucy commented.
“Patrick, start making small adjustments now. Let’s try to take a look from the light side,” Avery instructed.
Patrick nodded, his mouth slightly agape at the view and a growing sense of unease bubbled up in his stomach. “There’s a lot of debris,” he reported.
Avery paced over to the Navigation consol and tapped the display. She adjusted the measurements and scrolled through the readouts.
“Space junk.” Demetri commented.
“It’s big debris,” Avery confirmed. “Some are drifting, others are directional.”
“What does that mean?” Lucy asked.
“Ships, maybe. Satellites, space stations… more than we had when we left.” Patrick answered.
“Ships,” Avery confirmed in a breathless voice. “A lot of them.” There was more than a hint of disbelief in her tone.
“Maybe they finally ran out of space on Earth,” Demetri pondered. “Space condos.” He guessed.
“I’ve adjusted our trajectory. We’ll be able to see the daylight side in minutes.”
Avery just nodded, alternating views between the console readouts and the view from the bridge. She watched as the Hyperion drifted noiselessly towards Earth at such a pace that it gave the illusion of being able to see Earth spin. She strained her eyes to make out what could be seen from space with the aid of daylight. It was difficult to make sense of at first, but her eyes darted across the curved view and it finally clicked.
Her hand went to her lips and she sank into the console seat. For a long time, all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart in her ears.
Mushroom clouds were billowing up from Earth’s surface. Not one – not even two. Dozens of them. The clouds blotted out any view of land, and it was immediately clear – to all of them all at once – Earth was gone. Made uninhabitable not by the gross pollution and smog, but by the dense destruction of nuclear explosions and radioactive dust blown into the atmosphere.
Her eyes changed focus to the floating debris – to the ships that were able to evacuate Earth in time. What had these people done? What war warranted the destruction of the only home – albeit broken and flawed – they had?
Sure – she had had her hand in destruction on Earth’s surface – wide scale, even. She’d been hired to do jobs others refused on moral grounds. And she had done them well, but nothing could compare to what she laid eyes on now. She could not possibly imagine being responsible for such widespread destruction.
Lucy began to cry quietly into her hands, unable to take her eyes away from the vision. Demetri held her tightly, though with shaking hands and knees. Ndale sank to the floor, unable to support his own weight. Silent tears streamed down Patrick’s face.
Their home. Their one home. It was a memory.
And in that moment of horror and emptiness, there was the realization that for all their effort, all their moral and ethical sacrifice, for all their scheming, greed and cleverness, they were no better off than the population of Colony Alpha.
End Part One Transmission…