The New Mankind

Eric stood at the edge of the crater, looking towards a lone spaceship on the other side of it.

He had to reach it before it took off. He had been paid handsomely for the job, too handsomely. He could buy a country with that kind of money. But the sad truth was that there were no more countries left because there were no oceans left to separate them. Only a neverending expanse of dry, barren land and the occasional crater. And they were even worse than the barren land.

The one lying in front of him was of medium size. He could easily cross it in one night. But it was full of dangers unknown to the Old Mankind, of which few were left. The Great Shower had vaporized all the water off Earth’s surface. And the lack of water had wiped out most of Earth’s life, including most of humanity. The New Mankind Project set up on the Moon, years and years ago had accepted as many refugees as they could. But now only one spaceship was left, with the last lot of refugees about to leave tomorrow morning.

He looked down into the crater. It was covered in a dense alien forest, full of bright orange, purple and pink vegetation which mocked the barren land with its beauty.

Eric sighed deeply. Traveling around the crater would take him longer than one night. He had no other option. Pulling his thermal cloak around him more securely, he hitched the compact travel bag on his shoulders and started the descent into the crater. His lightweight ergonomic shoes, which fitted his feet like a glove, made it possible for him to pick his way through the alien ground cover without making a lot of noise. He was careful not to touch any of the exotic and beautiful plants surrounding him. He had heard some of them had powerful healing properties, but he had also heard of the endless accounts of horrific attacks and bizarre transformations that happened to those who tried to interact with the alien life.

He managed to make his way through the crater, without a lot of trouble for most of his journey. In fact, by the time it was almost dawn, when he had made it more than halfway through the crater, he felt relieved and confident that this had been the easiest crater he had ever crossed. Maybe the alien life here was benign.

When he reached the base of the crater’s other side, he congratulated himself as he looked at the steep rise which would take him only an hour to climb. And then only fifteen minutes to the Space Launch Station. He removed the bag from his shoulder and pulled out a cigarette box of pills. It was almost full of tiny transparent pellets, which the old lady had gifted him. Only four known people had access to these pills, and three of those people were already on the Moon.

He picked out one pill and placed it gingerly on his tongue. He hesitated only for a moment before crushing it against the roof of his mouth. The pill exploded with torrents of water. He had to swallow the water as quickly as he could so that he didn’t choke on it. Ideally, the pill was crushed in a biggish water dispenser, but Eric didn’t have that kind of time or energy.

Thirst quenched he pulled out another box, this time the size of a small candy box. He pulled out a cube wrapped in aluminum foil, which he peeled off before swallowing the cube whole. As it slid through his esophagus, he could feel it expand, and when it finally reached his stomach he felt the cube bloat more freely. He immediately felt as if he had eaten a day’s worth of food. It was an exceptionally effective food supplement; it didn’t need any chewing and was great for the teeth.

Eric tried very hard not to think about the time when he had eaten real food. When he had a wife to cook those things for him and his children. Things he missed every day and could never get back, despite his pleading with the powerful lady to grant him his one wish. Science had managed to solve the longevity of life, but it hadn’t yet reached the point of resurrecting the dead.

Shaking his head, he fiercely scrubbed the tears which threatened to come to his eyes.

No more musings, Eric warned himself. This is how he had almost got killed on the last mission when navigating another crater.

Hitching the bag on his shoulder, he entered a dense thicket in front of him, which was the quickest way to start the ascent.

It was all going well until he stumbled upon their village.

As he rounded a clump of tall luminous pink fronds, he came to an abrupt halt. He rubbed his eyes and again looked at the cluster of huts in front of him. He was shocked. Judging by the structures, he was sure these were made by humans. But who would be crazy enough to live in a crater? It was impossible to live down here!

Eric heard a twig snap behind him. He whirled around, pulling out an old-fashioned dagger from the hidden sheath on the side of his leg.

At first, he couldn’t see anything. He almost relaxed before he made out a tiny shape hidden between the luminous fronds. Eric could tell that it was a child.

“Come on out,” he said gently, “I won’t hurt you.”

The tiny shape didn’t move.

Eric pulled out his candy box and held out one of the food supplements towards the shape.

“You can have this,” he told the kid, “Only if you promise not to tell anyone about me.”

The shape stirred a little. After a few minutes of hesitation, it finally stepped out of the fronds.

When the moonlight hit the child’s face, Eric stepped back in horror, lost his footing, and fell painfully on his back. The child had oblong beetle-like eyes, scaly skin, and a tail that swished slowly.

He had heard of desperate humans who took refuge in the craters. They were called the Lost Kind. They didn’t have to worry about thirst down here, the alien plants removed the human’s desire for water. But what they consumed, became part of them. And judging from the child’s features, it looked like these people sustained on a diet of insects and lizards.

The child reached out to help him and in an unthinking moment, Eric swiped his hand away in fear and revulsion. The child stood frozen for a moment. Then he started crying. His soft sobs soon escalated to real wails.

Eric scrambled to his feet and clamped his hand over the child’s face. Little did he expect the child to bite down hard on his hand, but even worse, his tail shot upwards and wrapped around his neck, trying to choke him.

Eric didn’t know how it happened. Maybe it was natural instinct, but his dagger flew out and the child gasped and let go of Eric. He looked down at his chest, from which the dagger hilt protruded. The child whimpered in pain and looked at him in bewilderment.

“I’m sorry,” Eric whispered. He quickly pulled the dagger out, and grabbing the child again, cut a gash below his jaw. He gently laid down the limp child on the purple grass, even as he saw the life flowing from the child’s misshapen eyes, as it choked on black blood which was oozing from his neck and mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Eric whispered again. He didn’t even wait to see if the child’s wail had woken up anyone from the village. He wound his way through the thicket as quickly as he could and started the ascent without pausing for a break.

The dark sky was turning pink at the top of the crater. It was almost dawn, and he couldn’t afford to waste any more time. The killing of the Lost Child was an unfortunate mistake, but there had been no other way.

He was almost at the summit when he heard the inhuman shriek from behind him.

The child, Eric thought. They must have found the child.

Eric started sprinting. He didn’t know when he cleared the summit and when he reached the gate of the launch pad, but he sprinted all the way, despite his throat running dry and a stitch developing in his side.

His arrival didn’t go unnoticed. Soldiers flooded the gate and perimeter of the fence and trained nuclear firearms at him. He almost collapsed at the gates and had to hold onto the metal to keep himself from falling over.

“Stay back!” One soldier shouted at him. “Get away from the gate!”

“Please…” Eric gasped. “Please, I have…”

The soldier shot him in the leg. Eric screamed and collapsed on the ground.

“Please!” he shouted. “I have a gift for Lilly Wind!”

“What gift?” the soldier asked gruffly. “How do you know Lilly Wind?”

Eric shrugged off the bag from his shoulder and pulled out yet another box. But this one was a blue velvet jewelry box.

“It’s from her grandmother!” he gasped as he held it towards the soldier, who turned to murmur with the other soldiers. A commander with grey hair approached the gate and looked down haughtily at Eric. The main soldier whispered something in his ears and the commander turned to look at Eric with new eyes.

“Quick, let him through,” the commander ordered. “He’s the man we were informed about.”

Eric sighed in relief and struggled to get to his feet. The gate screeched open and two pairs of hands grabbed him under each shoulder. The three of them hobbled through the gate, where he climbed into a jeep. The commander took the wheel, revved up the engine, and shot towards a low white domed building.

Screeching to a halt, the commander jumped out and came around to grab Eric single-handed.

“Leave your bag,” the commander instructed. “We don’t have time.”

Together, they hobbled into the white dome which had Launch Centre written over its entrance. In a vast empty waiting lounge, sat a young woman cradling a small child. The commander headed towards them. Hearing their footsteps, the young woman turned to look at them and an expression of relief broke out on her face. She whispered something to the child, who turned around to look at them too. When he reached them, Eric held out the blue velvet box.

“For you,” Eric said. “Your grandmother wanted you to have it.”

The child stared into the jewelry box with wonder. Eric opened the box to reveal a silver heart-shaped locket with a coat of arms engraved on it.

“It’s a special gift,” he said gently. He took out the locket and opened the heart. A holographic image of a couple holding a baby sprang to life and beamed at the young child. She stared at them with wonder and then clapped her hands in delight.

“Can I have it?” she asked the young woman who was clearly her nanny.

“Of course sweetheart,” the young woman said with tears in her eyes. “They’re your parents!”

The child took the jewelry box and thanked Eric shyly. A nearby official, who had been hovering impatiently, sprang forward and started hustling the child and her nanny towards a portal.

The child turned her head and looked at Eric. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

As Eric and the commander watched the portal gate slide shut, they heard distant rapid gunfire. Turning in alarm, Eric and the commander headed outside. But even before he cleared the entrance, Eric also heard distant inhuman shrieks mingled with the gunfire.