A Tale of Two Worlds.

The digital screen flickered on. The screen frame reveals an astronaut in a pressure suit sitting on the command bridge of an unknown starship. The man is holding an antique heart-shaped locket in front of him intently staring at it, collecting his thoughts. After a moment he lowers the locket and slides it into a utility thigh pocket and begins speaking.

“…. this is Captain Jonathan Chamberlain of the United Nations Space Command exploratory ship Barrett, date unknown. The Barrett was tasked to explore the Alpha Centauri AB star system. The Barrett launch date was January 5th, 2060. Initially, the Barrett crew complement was 10 with three surviving crew members: Myself, Captain Jonathan Chamberlain, First officer Meiying Chen, and Chief Engineer Ahmad Khan. The original crew manifest is embedded in this log entry.

Upon detecting multiple fatal system failures, the ship’s AI system initiated an emergency hypometabolic stasis activation protocol. After surviving crew members had been revived, the crew assumed their stations and performed a visual review of the ship's status and position. A visual scan indicated the Barrett was on approach to a planetary body. All long-range scanner sensors and automatic navigation systems sustained extensive damage and remain inoperable.

After manually navigating an intercept course for the unidentified exoplanet, the crew successfully established a geosynchronous orbit approximately 190 kilometers above the planet’s surface. I have initiated cargo hold detachment procedures in anticipation of implementing surface landing protocols. The cargo hold will remain in orbit with Lieutenant Commander Khan remaining onboard in command in the auxiliary CIC to affect repairs. The command module with myself and Commander Chen will descend to the planet’s surface to begin a planetary survey, collecting samples and environmental data. I realize implementing surface landing protocols with sensor and non-functional navigational systems violates regulations and procedures. However, I believe exigent circumstances exist justifying my command decision. Crew consensus is such that having a stationary planetary position may allow us to repair and recalibrate inoperable systems. I take full responsibility for my decision.

Crew morale is positive considering the situation. The remaining crew members are in good health. Obviously traumatized by the loss of our fellow colleagues. Individual crew log entries are also embedded in this transmission. Visual inspection from orbit disappointingly indicates M205 is an arid planet devoid of any substantial water. First officer Chen is hopeful trace water may exist at the poles. There seems to be a ring of material encircling the planet with the inner edge of the ring approximately 350 Km from the planet’s surface. The ring extends to 1000 Km to the outer edge of the ring. The ring itself is made of several concentric debris rings with the inner rings consisting of small rocks and boulders and the outer rings appear to be made up of lighter material of small rock, dust, and fine particulate matter. First Officer Chen has theorized the rings may be debris of a past planetary satellite or asteroid impacting M205.

Several internal systems remain offline including the ship’s internal fusion reactor. We are currently operating from auxiliary battery backup and have deployed emergency solar sails to recharge fuel cells. I have temporarily shut down all non-essential systems including artificial gravity and inertia dampening systems to conserve power. Dr. Khan is very optimistic concerning Barrett’s internal reactor and estimates the reactor will be back online within 36 hours. The ship’s matter anti-matter pods appear to be undamaged and functional….”

“Ensign Smith, Ensign Smith?” the current watch officer repeated, his voice becoming increasingly irritated. The young officer paused the digital screen in front of him with a startled jump and turned in his seat toward the voice. “Yes, sir…sorry sir.” the young officer replied. Walking over to Ensign Smith’s assigned duty station the watch officer, Commander Jones, peered over the Ensign’s shoulder wondering what was consuming his attention. “Slacking off again Ensign?” Jones said. ”No sir.” replied Smith. “What are you looking at with more interest than responding to your superior officer, ranger?” Jones demanded. “Apologies sir, I was reviewing the message log you ordered me to decrypt… sir,” Smith responded. Straightening Commander Jones grasped his hands behind his back. He looked down at the freshly minted Ensign and tersely said, “Report, Ensign.” “Sir, the intercept appears to be a secure log transmission from a ship orbiting Earth that disappeared 526 years ago,” Smith said. Commander Jones looked long and hard at the Ensign and spoke. “Repeat that son?”

Lieutenant Commander Jones looked out through the large viewer windows encircling the Martian command center. Before him lay the Valles Marineris. Commonly known as Mariner Valley. This Martian natural wonder is a system of canyons that runs roughly along the Martian equator. Approximately 4000 kilometers long, 200 km wide, and up to 7 km deep it is one of the largest canyons of the Solar System, surpassed in length only by the rift valleys of old Earth. Commander Jones who marveled daily at the valley's sheer enormity and breathtaking beauty saw nothing of that today. Presently he was listening to his newly assigned Ensign report on a recently intercepted communique from the planet Earth, the human race’s previous home that been reduced to a barren rock, through a cascade of global ecological disasters.

“Take a breath ranger. Settle down and start from the beginning,” Jones said. Smith nodded, calming himself. He took a deep breath and started again, “Yes sir…. sorry sir. At zero two hundred yesterday September 10th, 2588, an encrypted military communication transmission from old Terra was detected and intercepted. Initially, it was believed to be an echo transmission traveling through the galaxy and somehow bounced back toward us.” Commander Jones interrupted Smith, “Elaborate.” Smith hesitated a moment and continued, ”I didn’t recognize the frequency or encryption algorithm of the transmission, so I asked the communication and crypto team about it. They did not recognize it either and reviewed the data banks for reference. That military frequency has not been used since the early 22nd century. Using the archived algorithm keys available in the data banks, I decrypted the message this morning and was just finishing reviewing the message for errors. Then I was going to write my report and forward it to you, sir.” Jones nodded thoughtfully and said, “Ensign, playback the message on the viewer.” Smith tapped a key and both officers turned around to see the viewer behind them on the inside wall of the command watch center. Due to the lateness of the Martian day, in between watch shifts, they were the only Martian space command staff present in the room.

During the message replay, Ensign Smith suddenly realized Captain Chamberlain looked vaguely familiar. While the two Martian Space Command Rangers watched the perplexing transmission, Smith continued to think about Captain Chamberlain. When the message ended Jones was quiet for a few minutes and then he said, “Refresh my memory… what happened to the Barrett and the crew?” Taking a deep breath Smith began speaking,” The Barrett was the first in its class of starships with the newly developed matter anti-matter implosion propulsion system. In fact, Ahmad Khan the Chief Engineer assigned to the Barrett was credited as one of the engineers that developed the propulsion system capable of accelerating a spaceship to 98% of the speed of light. The Barrett was tasked to travel to the Alpha Centauri system. The operation was named ‘New Hope’. The UN starship, Barrett, had a crew complement of 10. The ship had an early version of the hypometabolic stasis hibernation system to conserve resources. The last communication was in June 2062 and the ship was never heard from again. It was presumed to have been lost with all hands. Subsequent exploratory missions of the Alpha Centauri system have never revealed the fate of the mission or crew.” Ensign Smith paused his recounting and looked expectantly at his superior officer. Jones after a few quiet moments said, “I thought in the late 2060s the Martian expedition got full priority?” Smith nodded and said “Yes sir, in 2069 with the failure of other exoplanetary exploratory operations the Martian expeditionary command received the UN’s full support and was prioritized over all other planetary contingency plans. With the runaway acceleration of greenhouse gas accumulation, the earth’s atmosphere had substantially deteriorated, motivating Earth’s political leadership to accelerate Martian colonization and terraforming. The first few Martian colonists had just settled on Mars when the super volcano eruption on the North American continent occurred in 2120. As the earth’s northern latitudes became uninhabitable and population migration to the southern latitudes threaten to overwhelm the government’s ability to manage the crisis. The decision was made to migrate as many colonists as possible to Mars. Then the event happened.” Smith’s voice faded. Commander Jones spoke quietly. “…the comet Hades.”

Clearing his throat Smith began speaking again. “Yes sir, according to the historical archives the comet Hades had surprised everyone. Hades had not been detected until it was too late. Roughly three months before impact. The UN managed to evacuate about half of Earth’s remaining population. A sizable number of refugees were awaiting UN evacuation on the lunar base when the comet collided with the moon. The comet Hades struck the moon slightly off-center. The comet, with substantially greater mass than Earth's moon, destroyed it. Resulting in a sizable fragment of the comet veering off toward the outer planets. The remaining debris field struck the earth at the equator over the African continent, ripping the earth’s atmosphere apart, releasing 10,000 times more energy than the comet impact that ended the Mesozoic Era. Resulting in a true global extinction event for all life on earth. With reduced atmospheric pressure and no moon to provide gravitational force for oceanic tidal forces the earth’s oceans simply vaporized off into space. Eventually, reducing the earth to a barren rock. Ironically, a similar global fate for Earth occurred on Mars billions of years earlier.

Both men became quiet as Ensign Smith finished his narration. Commander Jones was the first to speak. “Alright Ensign, let's escalate this communique to Mars Central Command with my compliments. Do we have any idea what happened to the Barrett and how the ship managed to suddenly appear in orbit around old Earth?” Jones asked. “No sir.” replied Smith.” Commander Jones turned and walked briskly toward the watch command’s self-opening door. Just as the door opened Jones tersely said over his shoulder, “Dismissed Ensign, report back to your quarters.” With a quiet whoosh, the door closed behind him. Ensign Smith stood to complete his end of watch procedures.

Smith wearily entered his cramped quarters beneath the massive Martian Space Command headquarters complex. He flung himself down on his narrow bunk and closed his eyes. After an hour his eyes snapped open and he jumped off his bunk. Mumbling to himself he began to frantically tear his small room apart. Jerking drawers open, flinging neatly folded clothes on the floor. Breathing heavily, he stood motionless in the main living space. Pausing for a moment he closed his eyes and gathered himself. With a shout he returned to his closet and grabbed his class A coat uniform, sliding his hand into the inside pocket he withdrew a small battered wooden box. With shaking hands, he removed the top box cover, tossing it to the side. He gently removed a small golden heart-shaped locket. Holding the locket with his left hand he eased the hinged front open with his right hand. Drawing a deep breath as he looked at the image embedded in clear plastic. A valuable antique had been handed down from one generation to the next from some distant relative in Smith’s fragmented family. The antique heart-shaped locket predated the Great Mars Migration from Earth. The priceless antique contained a color photograph of three figures posing as a family, a smiling attractive woman, a young infant, and Captain Jonathan Chamberlain.