Chara and the Planet

Ryan Hoffman embarks on a new life with Chara in a science fiction tale set in the dystopian future where wealth and power are at the epitome of technical achievement and Planet Earth is in the throes of extreme climate change, or it's a story of two individuals trying to find peace.

Story and illustrations Copyright © 2021 by John Shirey. All rights reserved.

Some photos are the property of Google.

Locations and Names are fictional even though they may be real. No offense is intended to any person, place or institution.

I wrote this story because it will be a problem for humans in the future.

Chapter No.1

Earth at the end of the second half of the twenty first century is locked into a desperate era of climate change. Ocean levels are at record heights, drought is commonplace, and weather events result in horrific death and destruction. Despite government promises, no real progress has been made to mitigate this climatic calamity.

The United Space Command, USC, is concerned more with wealth than space exploration. Asteroid mining provides wealth in precious metals and justifies the proliferation of robotic technology. Corruption in the officer staff has created a problem for recruiting and it has resulted in a breakdown of authority, especially for a particular commander who has risked his career by voicing displeasure with the command structure.

The sun dominates a brilliant, blue sky as its energetic rays heat everything to boiling, or so it seemed. Ryan Hoffman didn't need the sun to make him hot under the collar of his formal Space Command dark blue jacket. He was headed to a procedural hearing that would decide his fate, both professionally and physically.

Ryan has the rank of commander, but he realized that it was in jeopardy because he had the misfortune of losing a cadet in a mock battle session. All it took was a split second of inattention to change his life forever. The desk bound commanders of Space Command didn't care about his former prestige as the best space fighter pilot in the USC's history. Mistakes were not tolerated, and the upper command was hell bent on making an example of him.

Ryan's lawyer was an appointee and really didn't care what happened to his client. Even worse, Ryan's wife had recently divorced him, and his two children avoided him like the plague. He was alone now and in deep trouble.

Even more serious was the fact that he was in his early forties, an age where commanders were often sent out to pasture. Despite his good looks with close cropped black hair and a fit physique, he was in the twilight of his career, and there were plenty of eager beavers ready to take his place. Space command had become more political of late and was making concessions to the aerospace industry in their lust for wealth.

Earth was in the throes of a climate disaster with rising oceans, more severe weather events, and prolonged droughts. Much of this was exacerbated by political intrigues that prevented any meaningful changes.

Ryan's trial was conducted by Gary Fenson, a top commander of Space Command, and Edward Tusor, the chief prosecutor. Both were the epitome of corrupt leadership. They really didn't care a twit about Ryan. All they were interested in is the wealth that they could acquire at the expense of the Space Command institute.

The head of Space Command was a former commander. Jay Stenson was a devious leader with visions of glory and wealth. He enjoyed taunting Ryan when he testified at his trial. It was the reason that Ryan had become disgruntled with Space Command.

Unfortunately, Ryan's hearing didn't go well. He was stripped of his command and sentenced to work on an asteroid mining facility, suffering the rigors and punishments that it entailed. They encased his right wrist with a metallic location band that would prevent him from going anywhere even though there was no possible way for him to escape his horrible fate.

Chara, on the other hand, was having a totally marvelous day. She had just received notice that she had achieved the rank of pilot first class, which meant that she could take control of space vessels using the latest M-drive propulsion units. The latest version of the magnetoplasmadynamic thruster system could achieve velocities of a hundred thousand kilometers per hour in less than four hours.

She examined her appearance in a kinetic mirror that allowed her to view her body in total. Her deep blue eyes scanned her perfect figure. Her brilliant blond hair framed an unblemished face, especially the way she had it pinned up. She smacked her bright red lips before she encased her perfect body in a light blue Space Command uniform.

Chara had only one more hurdle to conquer, a test of her computer control knowledge as it applied to the M-Drive technology. That exam took place in a simulator where she had to handle several critical situations. She completed those tests without any hesitation. She had proved her expertise and her knowledge, and it resulted in her chance for a space mission.

She celebrated her success by indulging in a pastime that she truly enjoyed. She wasn't sure why she liked to swim. It didn't make sense. Why swim in a fluid that was not compatible to life unless you were a fish. She enjoyed moving through water as if it were air. It pleased her sense of being. She could relax and be alone, not having to endure the chaotic noise of normal life as a Space Command officer.

She preferred being alone. It provided her with time to think, something she was especially good at. She loved to work out difficult math, especially dealing with quantum physics. Nobody cared about it because it was too difficult even though it was a Space Academy prescribed course. She reveled in the complexity of it, but it had consequences that would eventually change her life.

Her love of math had evolved from doing precise calculation involving the movement of planets in the solar system. She did these in secret because they were considered nonessential. She considered them to be paramount to her eventual goal.

Despite her procedural success as a Space Command officer, she was not happy with how she was treated. It was as if they didn't think she deserved to exist. She couldn't understand why they despised her. She didn't gloat or brag. She just did her assignments without complaint. Yet, they hated her. She didn't deserve that.

Ryan spent his day in a holding cell. All his knowledge and expertise were no longer of value to the idiots that controlled United Space Command. He was offered an escape from his fate, but it was not something he was willing to accept. Commanders were permitted the option of taking their own life by poison. He would simply fall asleep forever and would be given a sendoff befitting his rank, but he decided that it would only justify their desire to lay blame, and he was not going to give them that satisfaction.

Mock battle exercises were inherently deadly. They were construed to be an entertainment for the top officials, an ill-conceived combat enactment that would be considered an ancient gladiator contest on a more cosmic level. Ryan wasn't the first commander to suffer under the ridiculous rules of a blood sport and he wouldn't be the last.

However, the situation he was in would unearth something that had been hidden from Homo sapiens since its rise from the evolution of the species.