Looking back I suppose it all started on Armstrongday. There had been a visit from the Valerian Ships just the day before and these wandering merchants had brought all kinds of goodies. Zarod and I had gone on a picnic. We had waited eons for permission to leave the city dome and many of our requests had failed, but this time we were lucky.
We had donned our suits and packed the buggy with the juiciest yarobs and the nuttier slices of the Valerian's nutcake, along with the usual rehydrating tablets and dessicated banyan fruit. We set off, over the bridge to the Glen Satellite-Island and erected our personal, climate controlled Pod when we saw strange lights in the sky.
It was just a few green flashes at first,
"Some sort of meteor shower !" Zarod said.
But then the whole sky was green and huge lumps of rock, weighing at least 100 lunar-pounds began to rain down upon us.
Zarod helped me into my suit and then put on his own and packed our things. It was obvious that we were not safe in our Pod, cracks began to appear in the air-locked shell as heavy blows hit it with frightening regularity. We set the buggy to 'Mega-speed' and drove to the bridge back to the mainland. All around us there was chaos as people rushed to leave the Satellite-Island and headed towards the nearest City and safety. I could imagine this happening on all 5000 Islands around the planet. In fact, being a bit of a dreamer, I wondered if it had been like this all those years ago when the Great Evacuation began. When our Great-great-great Grandparents had realised that their Birth Planet was dying, the life squeezed out of it by pollution and the destruction of the environment and the fragile eco-system. The Great Project began, the rush to find a refuge for the Earth- Planet's population. The colonisation of the Lunar base, the building of huge cities, contained in transparent bubbles, protecting the inhabitants from the deadly atmosphere.
There had been civil revolt and great unrest when the Earthlings had realised that there would not be room for everyone. The situation was desperate, their Birth Planet was turning brown, vegetation was withering, soil was poisoned and the seas turned to sludge. All the animals were sickly and many of the poorest nations were perishing through lack of food. Huge triage Centres were set up, where people were assessed as to their suitability for space travel and meanwhile, on the Lunar Planet, the Satellite Islands were constructed to help accommodate more and more folk once they had been triaged and shipped out. It was an enormous undertaking, but it was truly a matter of life or death. soon the Earth Planet was left alone, just a dried up, husk of a planet, orbiting the sun, lifeless.
An loud explosion brought me out of my reverie and back to the present and our perilous predicament. A meteor had hit a section of the bridge, behind us and pieces of titanium were floating off into space. Zarod switched the buggy into 8th gear and we almost flew the last few Lunar-miles to Aldrin City.
Everywhere folk were talking about the meteor shower and also about the strange green light , that had now moved away and was beginning to envelope the Earth Planet, far in the distance.
The Info-phones were calling for all Science experts to convene at the City Forum and, as Zarod teaches Physics at the University, he set off immediately. The meeting lasted a Lunar-week. People rushed in and out, the giant telescopes were deployed ..... all trained on Planet Earth and an exploratory ship, manned by Androids, was sent out.
This all happened 6 Lunar-months ago ..... oh, I have got to get used to a new way of measuring time, haven't I ? The meteors stopped showering down on us but the green light stayed around the Earth Planet and gradually, through some sort of Space osmosis, vegetation began to return. Air began to freshen, grass began to grow and the sea became clear and blue once more. No-one has been able to explain the change in the Earth, probes have been sent out, all returning with the same story. The Earth Planet is alive once more. Humanity has been given a second chance !
I loosen my suit as I enter the Ark ship. Zarod is by my side as we join the hundreds of eager colonists. We are among the first wave of Lunars, going to a new world, a new life, a free way of living. Without survival Pods, without space suits, without the hard grey rock and dust of the moon's landscape. Back to the Birth Planet of our race ...... we are going home.
This week's piece of nonsense has been brought to you courtesy of Matt's word game, details on http://miblodelcarpio.blog.co.uk/
This weeks words are
Triage, loosen, juiciest, dreamer, revolt, pounds, blows, teaches, failed, nuttier.
This was also published on my other blog page at http://tearose.blog.co.uk
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