Last Encounters

Year 2192

Pilot James Addins entered the office of the NASA Commander with a brief knock. He stood before the desk and waited until he was addressed with a nod.

“Commander Holling, the contact with the ground colony we’re leaving behind did not go well.” 

“Report, Pilot.”

“Well, Field Marshal Lancaster did not wish to support NASA’s Moon mission.”

“Albert Lancaster has no choice. Did your crew communicate that?”

Addins hesitated. “I don’t believe Lancaster’s ground crew wishes to see us back to Earth safely.”

“To our own planet!” Commander Holling barked with bitter laughter. He slammed a fist on his desk. “Have those hippies forgotten that we live here, too?”

“That’s where they seem to disagree.”

“All this opposition, even after the war gutted humanity’s population? Once we leave this planet, the last people left on Earth refuse to allows us to return? Lancaster is willing to cut Earth’s numbers down another third, permanently!”

“That seems the size of it. How ought we respond?”

“We can’t jeopardize the mission for this absurdity. Has humanity’s remnant forgotten why we’re colonizing the Moon? To save this rotted planet!”

“They asserted that they would be forming a new government when we leave.”

“A new… what? They can’t do that!”

“I told them as much. However, I don’t believe they care what we think.”

“Hmm. Bold of them. No matter, prepare for our launch. We don’t return for half a decade. We’ll have time to plan our strategy. There may be a war to fight.”

“Between the last survivors of Earth, Sir? Is that wise?”

“It won’t matter. The winners will be those with the largest guns. And I intend for that to be our side.”

“I see.”

“So be it. I was not the leader who called for war. Prepare for launch.”

***

“Is it wise to pick a fight with the last of humanity, Albert?” Helena asked, setting a kettle of tea on the fire-burning stove.

Their cabin was small and primitive compared to what could be manufactured before the Nations' War, but it was simple. She loved it. The thin walls and minimalistic rooms made her feel like a pioneer carving out the old West prairies hundreds of years before when the states were new. She wiped her hands on her apron and sat beside her husband at the table.

“Helena, there’s no one left but us. Just our grove and the NASA team.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said calmly.

He reached a broad hand across the table and cupped hers.

“Hear me out, dear. If Holling’s crew ever does return from their mission—their utopia—yes, they’ll bring back the solar energy and hydrogen they harvest for us, but who will they be as people?”

“I don’t know. Who?”

“They’ll be innovators, desiring to build up our society again.”

“And don’t we need people like that to rebuild?”

“Rebuild? Look at our society now, Helena. Look at our grove. What do we still need to rebuild? We have our farms, our stores, our schools. What more do we need than what’s out there already?”

Helena let her gaze drift to the window, where she noticed the children of the colony playing together while they picked apples for the harvest. The smog of the fallen city that had once stood around them had finally blown away, and a blue sky blanketed the grove. She smiled serenely and waved as their daughter saw her through the glass.

“Holling’s priority is to send back the energy to regrow our societies, but sustainably. How can we do that without their work?” she asked.

“We don’t have to, Helena. The kind of man Hollings is will have us growing until we’re bursting at the seams. People like him will not stop pushing forward until they bring us back to the brink of our destruction again. Until we’re back to looking to other planets to fix our growth problems.”

She sighed. “I see. Then why did you allow them to go on their mission?”

“Don’t you realize? By sending away those who want to fix our problems with more technology, power, and energy, we’re free of the people who would drag our atmosphere through the mud until our air is black again.”

“If you just wanted them to leave, why did you say anything about not allowing them to return? Or, why didn’t we have a war already? Now you know they’re going to return prepared to fight their way back.”

“That may be true. But we will never move on as a species if we get ahead by deceiving our brothers. We may survive—even thrive. But how much of our humanity will remain? If they return, we will not ambush them. We will fight if they do, and each side will have a fair chance.”

***

The children danced around the orchard while they and their families harvested the fruit crops. The harvest festival beaming from around the corner, the entire grove hummed with joy. Skye sauntered up to Aria with an apple in his mouth. He tossed another her way, and she caught it while stepping to the music that played over the solar music box.

“Your mom’s waving,” Skye said, chewing. He gave a winning smile to the Field Marshal’s wife through her window. “Can you believe it’s been a decade since the war ended?” he asked.

“Hardly. Do you remember where we were when it was announced? I hoped our teacher was going to throw a party for the end of the Fall of Humanity.”

He laughed. “Still calling it that, huh?” He gestured around them. “Doesn’t look like humanity fell to me.”

She shrugged. “Just being ironic. I think it’s crazier that this whole grove used to be a park with a whole city wrapped around it. It’s amazing that so much green was left alive.”

“My dad says we haven’t seen such peace since well before the war, even if we did lose a lot of people.”

“A lot?” Her tone darkened. “Try billions!”

“I know. And I won’t pretend I don’t miss the internet. Remember, before the armies knocked the networks out at the end of the war and we had those tablets we used in school? With YouTube?” he laughed, and Aria cracked a smile.

“Netflix. Wikipedia!”

He laughed with her. “Those, too. But look at us. The technology wasn’t evil—it wasn’t the problem—but now we’re together, and healthier and breathing cleaner air.”

“And happy.”

“And happy,” he nodded. “I hope NASA’s army likes their colony on the Moon so much that they never come back.”

“Me too,” Aria said. She smirked. “Have you found a date for the festival’s opening ceremonies yet?”

***

Year 2197

“Commander Holling, the cargo is loaded on the shuttle,” Addins reported.

“Good. Is it ready for takeoff?”

“Yes, Sir. One hour to launch. Will you be boarding?”

“I’ve decided to sit this one out, Addins. I would like you to take my place.”

“Are you certain, Sir?”

“Consider it an order, Pilot.”

“I’m honored, Commander. But may I ask why?”

Holling smirked. “Because Lancaster won’t be expecting to welcome home a second round of our team. The security team is staying back with me, as well.”

Addins went still. “That’s why you didn’t have the artillery loaded in the shuttle,” he said. “You don’t expect the first one to survive, do you?”

“Would I be waiting to catch the second shuttle launch if I did?”

Addins swallowed hard. “I understand, Sir.”

“I know you always put your best foot forward, Addins. We’ll be sending backup once our equipment picks up that your shuttle safely lands. You’ll have little to worry about. If any of your team survive that long, of course.”

“I’m… comforted, Sir.”

“That’s the spirit. You only have an hour before launch. You should say your farewells and board the shuttle.”

Addins nodded absently and turned to go.

“Oh, and Pilot?”

He paused, glancing over his shoulder.

“If you don’t make it until reinforcements arrive, you can be sure to rest easy. I’ll take good care of your wife.”

Addins’s face turned red. “Sir, with all due respect,” he barked suddenly. “Is this the choice you wish to make? More bloodshed and strife? How long until a civilization on Earth can stand on its own feet?”

“It doesn’t matter how long, as long as I’m standing at the head of it.”

Addins spat on the floor. “When that happens, don’t be fooled to think you’re not just repeating the cycle. Something someday—whether Earth, space, or man—is going to knock that attitude out of you and anyone like you who’s left. Maybe when that day comes, we’ll see some real change on our home planet.”

“You keep telling yourself you’re better, Addins. You’re human, too. If you were in my shoes, you’d be making all the same moves that I have.”