This is the second of a two-part series. I hope you enjoy.
The morning dawned hot and clear, just as it had done all the days before. They woke with the sun, gathered up their few belongings, took a few gulps of water each, nibbled on chunks of bread and walked to the cave.
The mouth of the cave was dark. The girl was unnerved at the sight of it.
They paused on the threshold, and the professor spoke.
“This is it, the moment that determines the future of our people.”
“No pressure then,” said one of the men, though the play of humor had little effect.
The professor smiled but it did not reach his eyes. “The receiver is most likely going to be large and made of metal. If you find it, do not touch anything. Call me for at once and I will take over from there. Understood?” Everyone, including the girl, nodded. “Very well, here we go.” The professor turned on his flashlight (they all had one for this very moment), and stepped into the darkness.
The group filed in after him, turning on their flashlights as they passed into the dark.
From what the girl could make out in the light of the dancing beams, the cave was large, deep and made of rock. It was much cooler in the cave than outside in the hot morning sun.
“It’ll most likely be farther back, where the sun’s rays don’t heat the rock,” the professor said somewhere to the girl’s left.
She moved deeper into the cave. She moved her flashlight about, but saw nothing, but the rest of the party and rock.
Ten minutes of carefully scouring the cave later, a voice exclaimed:
“I found it! It’s here just as they said it would be! Professor come here, I’m at the back.”
They all rushed to the rear wall of the cave. The man who had joked earlier was bathing the receiver in the pale yellow light of his flashlight. The professor pushed forward and knelt next to it. The girl came forward as well to get a closer look. It was smaller than she had been expecting. It was only about two feet high and about a foot long. It was made of metal just as the professor had said it would be.
With his flashlight clamped between his teeth, the professor examined the receiver. He ran his hand along it as if searching for something. When he found what he was looking for the professor reached into his bag that was slung across one shoulder and pulled out a screwdriver. He began to work at a screw in the metal front of the receiver. The girl was facing the back of the object; she could not see exactly what he was doing.
A minute or so later, the professor put down the screwdriver. The girl edged around the object to see what he was doing, the men in her way took a step backward to let her through; that was one of the few things the girl found nice about being important.
Now she could see that the professor had removed a panel from the front of the receiver. In the light from the flashlights, she could see a tangle of wires.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. She had no idea how the professor was going to be able to see if a message had been received.
The professor didn’t answer her but instead held out his hand. “Everyone give me your flashlights.”
“Why?” someone asked.
“It’s out of power, as I expected it would be after so long. I’m going to use the batteries in the flashlights to try to restore enough power to see what is stored in it.”
Batteries were a rarity, and the girl could tell they were nervous about giving them up.
But they all did in the end. The professor collected them and began his work. It took much longer than the girl expected. Eventually, after they had all sat back against the walls of the cave, the professor stood up and stretched.
“It has power. Now, let’s see what’s on here shall we?”
Everyone crowded around eagerly. The front of the receiver was a crazy mess of batteries and wires. The girl had no intention of figuring out what the professor had done to get it to work; for it was working, a small glowing screen had appeared above the wires.
It was deathly quiet. The screen was blank. The girl felt her heart sink. This had all been for nothing; the receiver was devoid of messages. They had lost their last chance to save her people.
However, just as she was thinking this, a single vertical bar began to flash upon the screen, and a second later, it began to write out a message.
There was a hushed silence. Not from disappointment as it had been, this silence was filled with anticipation.
“What does it say?” asked the girl.
The professor cleared his throat. “It says: we are here to help, send us a response when you receive this.”
No one said anything at first; they were all shocked to the core. The girl couldn’t believe it. There was a chance they could escape the sun’s fury after thousands of years of suffering from its ever-intensifying bombardment.
“Are we going to respond? Can we even respond?” Someone asked.
The professor nodded. “I believe we can. The myths tell us that they were able to communicate through the receivers. We can send a response.”
“What are we going to say?” asked another.
“That I believe,” answered the professor, “is up to you.” He looked right at the girl.
The felt her stomach drop. “Me? But I’m just a kid; I don’t know what to say to them.”
“Yes, you do. Do we respond? What do we say? What do we ask of them?”
The girl pondered for a minute. “Okay,” she began hesitantly. “We’ll say that we are still in need of help and as soon as they can respond would be best.”
The professor nodded. He began to type in a response on a keyboard that he had taken out of the panel with the wires. “Done.”
“What now?” asked the girl.
“We send it and wait,” someone said.
“How long until we get a response?” someone else asked.
The professor responded. “It could be a long time. The message has to travel a great distance.” He spoke to the girl again. “Would you do the honor of sending our chance of survival off into space?”
The girl could only nod she was so overcome with emotions. Stepping up beside the professor, she placed her finger where he was pointing and pushed.
They hugged and cheered. Now there was a chance where there had been none. There was a chance they would survive after all.
——–
Here she was eleven years later, looking down at the Earth which was much too small. While watching the browning Earth spin below her, she remembered everything that had happened since that day.
It had been five years before they received a response. Another two until they arrived just as their message said they would. They had requested that she return with them to scope out a suitable world in the region of space surrounding them. It had taken two years to find one. The moment they did, they headed back to Earth with enough ships to harbor her people to safety.
And now here she was, orbiting her dying world. Her people were huddled on the poles unaware that she had, at last, arrived to lead them into the unknowable vastness of space.
Soon she would be down on the surface, instructing her people on what to do to prepare, what they would need, and what would happen once they began the two-year voyage.
But before she began all that, she wanted to engrave the image of the Earth turning below her into her mind. She wouldn’t have the time later, and then they would be gone never to return.
It was a small planet. The one she had found for her people was much larger. The new planet was a blue and green sphere racing through space. Earth was brown and dying. Little blue was left and even less green. In fifty years it would be inhabitable, and a hundred after that it would begin to evaporate into space. She was witnessing the Earth on its death bed. And while the notion was sad, it was also sweet. The world below her had supported life for billions of years. The sun had decided it was time for the Earth to go. They would go to along with the Earth. This portion of human life was over, but they were not. They would survive, barely, but they would. All thanks to the tiny planet that hung below her.
It was well past time that she returned to her old world to lead her people to the new. She returned to the surface and gathered her people together. Soon they were being ferried upon the fleet of ships waiting for them.
She was the last to leave the planet they had lived on for so long. She was the last human on Earth. A tear slid down her cheek. Kneeling she planted a kiss upon the sun cracked ground. Rising she climbed into the small ship and joined her people.
She took one last look back before they sped off.
It was small, smaller than she remembered, but that was okay. She whispered a goodbye before turning away, tears glistening on her cheeks. With her command, the fleet began their voyage, and the Earth was left behind.
Wow – such a happy/sad story – it made me cry.
Thank you for reading. I’m glad you enjoyed it.