Chapter No.10 Earth

Return to the Land of Origin.

"We're in orbit, Jason," Judy said.

I sat down next to Molly. "See anything yet?"

"So far, nothing's moving down there. It's obvious that the asteroid collision did serious damage to the planet Earth. There's little trace of the major world cities, the Polar Regions cover much more area than they once did, and vegetation has invaded most of the planet's savannahs." She looked over at me. "That means that there are no major grazing animal herds left."

I pointed at the screen. "The collision's scar is still quite visible."

"It sure is. That thing left a crater over two hundred kilometers wide. You can trace out wide spread serious damage more than a thousand kilometers from the impact point."

"Too bad we couldn't see what happened after the collision. It would give us a better idea of how serious this event was."

Her eyes brightened before she turned back to her screen. "There was a satellite in geosynchronous orbit that was designed to take a photo of the planet's daylight side every day. It was called Earth-View. It may still be there." She began changing the viewing angle and zoom factor. "Yes, there it is. I guess it didn't get clobbered by the debris like a lot of other satellites did."

"Is it still functioning?" I asked.

"It could be. It employed solar panels to power it. I might be able to get access. I know some passwords from my days with Earth Control." She began entering codes into a keyboard, and after a few minutes she laughed. "Ha, ha! I got in. The recordings go back to five years before the collision and are uninterrupted to the present."

"Can you download the images?" I asked her.

"Yes, but it'll take a couple of hours. The computer system on that satellite is rather primitive."

"Well, at least it'll give us an idea of how the aftermath progressed."

"Judging by what I'm seeing, I think that the aftermath was prolonged for decades."

"That would have caused extinction."

"Pretty much," she said.

Three hours later, Molly had assembled a movie of the years following the collision event. Each year had 365 images. This allowed us to watch the event's effects as if we were watching it in accelerated time.

"Good heavens," I exclaimed. "The shroud of dust effectively blocked out the sun for nearly a decade."

"Yes," she said. "And when it did dissipate, the Earth was a snowball that didn't thaw out for another two decades."

I sank back in my chair. "That certainly shows why we don't see any signs of life on the surface. If there are survivors, they were living underground."

"If they did survive that way, you would think that they would have come up to the surface by now. The Earth is almost two hundred years older now."

"I agree. We'll continue surface observations for another day or two and then begin X-Ray scans that should reveal any colonies underground."

She nodded.

By the next day, the situation had not changed.

"Begin the X-Ray scans," I said.

"Yes, Jason." Judy replied.

"Are we going down to the surface?" Molly asked.

"Yes. We need to take on more water."

"How are the engine modifications coming?" she asked.

"Your rotating antimatter mix chamber has been installed. The androids are running tests on it to see if we can get it up to the number of rotations per second that you specified."

She sighed. "We have the ability to explore the universe and yet we have no idea where to look for intelligent life. In all these years since SETI we have not received an invitation."

I chuckled. "Judging by how easily we are to anger, it's no wonder."

"I wonder if intelligence brings belligerence with it."

"That might be the reason why we haven't received any intelligent signals. Maybe intelligence begets self-destruction. By the time a species builds up a technical civilization they annihilate themselves before thinking of sending a signal into space."

She smiled. "Maybe they're not as stupid as we are."

I laughed. "You may be right. However, our destruction was not by our own hand."

She slumped in her chair. "I wonder if the enemy alien species annihilated any other intelligent species."

"We have no way to ascertain that," I said. "Hopefully, they haven't. It's hard telling how many intelligent species they've found in this galaxy."

"That would be very useful information," she said.

"It certainly would."

When we arrived on the command deck the next day, we were anxious to see if the X-Ray scans had found anything.

After looking them over, Molly announced the result. "Nothing was detected. There are no life signs or scanning returns that indicate life anywhere on Earth. Insects and small rodents are about the only creatures that remain down there."

I sighed. "Well, I suppose we should go down to collect water." I turned to Judy. "Launch a Class-A1 probe down to the shoreline of Lake Michigan."

"Yes, Jason."

After several minutes, data began pouring in.

Molly read them off. "Oxygen is 21%. Carbon Dioxide is 0.028%. Surface temperature is 20.1 degrees C. Pressure is 30.01 millibars. Radiation is 20 mrems. Wind is out of the Northwest at 5 miles per hour."

"Sounds pretty normal to me," I said. I turned to Judy. "We'll go down for water at 0800 tomorrow."

"We will be ready, Jason."

"I never thought that I would ever set foot on Earth again," Molly said. "When I signed up for the mission I assumed that I would never return."

"Same here," I said. "And, here we are ready to stand on the Earth again. You just never know what to expect next."

As it turns out that statement was prophetic.