Fiction logo

Hope

can be very dangerous

By Caffeine DuckPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 4 min read
1
courtesy of Shutterstock

The news spread slowly.

It was perhaps sooner discovered that destruction had been averted only because it never came.

Those who had not committed suicide, been murdered, or fallen to illness or injury with no support infrastructure available, sat staring at the sky, waiting.

The day came, the day, and passed.

Then another day came followed by yet then another.

Humanity itself was a being torn by emotions of anticipation, terror, and a refusal to believe there was hope.

The internet had been shut down months earlier.

Most media had ceased as people simply stopped caring.

For almost 6 months chaos ruled.

There was no law, no rules, no hope.

Anyone who should have been able to inspire hope had left.

The scientist, the world leaders, the rich, they all left.

25 massive ships capable of carrying 150,000 in total had left the earth.

Built in secret, in space, by a combined military force that was truly a marvelous achievement of human unity. The powerful had left a planet that was doomed to a fate worst than the one that befell the dinosaurs.

The rock measured nearly 200 kilometers in width. An M-type composed of nickel-iron, not that it mattered as it was more than twice the size needed to destroy all life. It would likely return the Earth to its original state at birth. A molten lifeless mass.

Mars would be the home of humanity. All history of our existence on Earth would be completely erased.

Though we were nowhere near making it habitable yet, supplies for years in advance, but life would be hard, if possible at all.

It was about 3 hours after they began to decelerate on their 7-month long journey that reports from other ships began to spread.

Coming from the cold depths of space and passing several strong gravitational fields on its way there had apparently pulled just enough on the mass to create a fracture.

Brittle fracture failure is sometimes seen on ships and massive structures as the metallic atomic structures line up and sheer themselves apart, but never was it thought to happen on something of this scale.

The massive rock split in two, remarkably almost in half.

Having near-equal mass as they hit each other they sent themselves on different trajectories.

Space, being quite big, is not forgiving when it comes to accuracy.

These subtle changes were enough to prevent what was already something to have a probability so small it was negligible.

The response on the ships was a polar opposite to that on Earth.

Joy, elation, pure happiness.

But, that quickly came to a halt.

The ships were designed for a one-way trip. There wasn’t enough fuel to return as there was never the thought there would be anything to return to. They were far past the halfway point where the thought of return would have at least been feasible.

Cargo was limited and everything was carefully calculated to ensure the survival of the human race so things like return fuel, or any communication equipment to contact Earth were abandoned.

But hope remained.

Our home remained was all that they held in their hearts and while challenges lay ahead, home was their target.

But such a challenge was nothing for the combined effort of some of the smartest people of the time. Additionally, the passion and desire to return were more than enough to fuel the long hours of work ahead for them.

The ships had landed on Mars, needing the supplies there to establish a means of refueling for the return. It was concluded that one ship would return with a skeleton crew in order to come back with the needed supplies to return the rest.

In only 8 months a ship was prepared and launched. With the plan in hand, it would take at most 2 years to return everyone home.

The dismal red planet, the cramped living quarters, the bland rations. The strict conditions made life no more than confinement to a red prison.

This new life to come had been accepted initially since death was the only alternative, but the hope of returning home and memories of blue skies and vast oceans made the situation near unbearable.

4 months after launch, communication with the ship was established.

2 months later the ship contacted Earth.

The 15 min delays in communications made what was to come, a living nightmare.

“This is the captain of rebound 1, we’ve established coms with Earth, but we have a situation.”

“Mars base Alpha, we read you, please elaborate”

“They are broadcasting a message…

Don’t come back”

“Rebound One, please repeat”

“Earth is telling us not to come back”

“Rebound One, we are contacting someone of higher authority, will you please bounce us through to a channel to communicate with whoever is sending that”

“Mars Alpha, the communication is one way, they are broadcasting but not receiving. Wait, we're receiving some new information.

What? How's that even...

Command, they have control of the nuclear weapon launch satellite system that was initially designed to deter the asteroid.

Shit! It's been armed and set to destroy anything coming in!”

“Repeat rebound one, please clarify your situation."

“One of the techs here says we've been locked on by a weapon and... What! There is a launch! We have an incoming nuke! Move! We will try to evade”

“Rebound one, status update. Rebound one, status update. Rebound one, status update…”

This went on for an hour… no one ever replied.

What happened in that com room was kept secret for only 42 minutes.

What happened on Mars after that was even scarier than what the Earth had gone through in the time leading up to… Hope.

Sci Fi
1

About the Creator

Caffeine Duck

Sci-Fi and Horror writer hopeful.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.