One Way Expedition (Science Fiction)

2078 had been a tough year for the citizens of New Asia. The chilling ice frost had gradually penetrated 51,786 Domes around the Capital within a few months. The Domes served as the city’s protection from the destruction of abnormal weather patterns for the past fifty years. But for a tiny ten-year old like Anita, all she knew was that the snow had been falling down each day - endlessly.

            Anita Rajan has been locked up for fourteen days. She did not do anything wrong nor has she been disobedient. Her parents choose to let her stay in her room and do everything she wants except for one rule: she is not allowed to open the windows and go outside the front door. The rule was supposed to protect little kids like her from being consumed by the Freeze. She seemed to enjoy the idea of being at home away from school. Although the virtual classroom has been shut down for days, Anita enjoyed her freedom away from class and homework.

She had nothing but Dana, an Android doll she got from her last year’s birthday to keep her company. Sometimes, she would sneak into her parent’s room and turn on the holographic walls to watch her favorite cartoons just like today.

            When her father came into the room with a deep sense of urgency, she already sensed it has something to do with an emergency call from NASA again. Anita gazed at her father as she watched him run back and forth from the closet to a medium-sized suitcase sitting on the edge of the bed. And just like her regular habit inside the virtual school, it was something she knew by heart; her father leaving before midnight with a carryon suitcase that could almost fit a two-month supply of his “space clothes”. But tonight will be the end of those nights where she have to wait in agony for her father along with his little chunks of glazing meteorites to add to her collections. This is the final expedition of her father for the Project Mars Express.

            When he was done packing, Anita looked at her father hopefully and asked, “Can I go with you at the space station today?” but her father shook his head and smiled.

             “This is unfair! I wanna go outside!” said Anita, exasperated.

            “Well, I’d rather stay in bed and watch the Geo Channel if you ask me,” his father replied jokingly.

Her father, Aswath Rajan is a mission specialist in NASA for ten years. Before he made it to the NASA Space Station, he was a former Geology professor at Jadavpur University. He is known on the field of cosmochemistry, a geology discipline concerned on the origin and abundance of the elements in the solar system. When Project Mars Express started, NASA handpicked twenty scientists to look for possibilities that could bring the Red Planet to life. Aswath Rajan was one of them.

“Oh, before I forget I have something to give you,” Mr. Rajan whispered softly as he walked towards the lamp desk and pulled out a mobile hanging toy from the drawer. It was a replica of Mars along with the two of its satellites, Phobos and Deimos and a few stars circling around it. “I got it from the museum gift shop. I hope you like it.”

“Oh! Papa!” Anita exclaimed.

Mr. Rajan raised his arms a little higher from Anita’s gaze while holding the mobile replica on its strings. Anita stared at the little red planet circling slowly in its orbit. She lifted her hand to reach the toy and let her fingers traced the uneven craters and patches along the planet’s sphere.

 “Papa, how far is Mars?” Anita turned to her father.

“Mars is approximately 56 million km from Earth. But with the antimatter Airship, we can reach Mars in one week tops!” he said assuringly.

“What is an antimatter Airship?”

“The antimatter can make space travelling much faster. From years of space missions, it can reduce it to months or weeks!”

 “Is it true that we will be the first people to live there?”

“Not exactly, my co-scientists and their families will be joining us. We will be called the Pioneers. But for now we have to make a few arrangements for the Transfer.”

“For how long, Papa?”

“A month or so.”

“How are we supposed to live there?”

“We’ll live in glass houses. Just like the Domes, but a sturdier one.” Mr. Rajan winked.

“Oh.”

Anita paused. She always loved their house in New Delhi. The thought of leaving worried her so much that she thought about the promise she made with Prisha and Aayush that they will graduate in middle school together. For a moment, she tried to drift her gaze towards the window where a growing fog creeps through the skyline. She imagined what the stars look in real life just like in the pictures. According to the Holo, fifty years ago, the stars and the moon used to be seen across the sky. The world used to be a myriad of bright colors of blue, green, yellow and everything else. Now it’s all grey and transparent.

But no matter how the Earth rapidly changed every year, a part of her thinks that life is still possible. She knows it because she had seen on the 3D holograms on how Earth looked like years and years ago. The people walked freely to their destination and children rode on four-wheeled yellow buses to school. Everything appeared to be pretty much normal from today except for the Dome. She read it once that the Earth was once directly exposed from the sun. It was not until the deadly heat waves plagued each continent every year and started killing and blinding anyone who gets a glimpse of the sun’s rays. Her father told her that she should be thankful for the countries who decided to enclose the cities in heat-resistant Domes before the sun eventually burned everything it touches.

 “We cannot thrive on Earth anymore, sweetheart,” Mr. Rajan interrupted her thoughts. “It would be difficult at first, but don’t you think it would be a lot exciting if we could be in a place where we could start anew?

“I guess..?” But Anita remained doubtful.

“I tell you what, the only thing you have to worry right now, is that the longer we stay here the more dangerous it is for us.”

“How about the Earth hundreds of years ago? How was it like walking outside the Domes?”

“I was just been born when the Domes were installed in each city. I have faint memories of what the world used to be before. But your Grandpa and Grandma were one of the few who witnessed the final enclosure. Back then, reaching various points of destinations was easier for people back then. They don’t have to think about the cyclones and heat waves along the roads because it rarely happened. Not until Europe became a desert nation and the Council decided to create a controlled indoor environment where the countries can escape from the worsening calamities. Thanks to the Council they have found a better way for us to live peacefully!” Mr. Rajan chuckled.

Anita scarcely knew anything about Mars except from a few lessons in 3^rd grade Astronomy. She heard from her teacher that several years of planet rehabilitations had turned Mars into an inhabitable planet for millions of people. The Earth’s dwindling resources had left thousands of people dying every year. It’s about time we move in to a new home, her teacher said. Ever since the news broke out that Anita is one of the Pioneers, she became popular among her friends. One of her classmates from Elementary Robotics told her that she is fortunate to have a father who is a member of the Project Mars Express. “Talk about having free rides,” they said.

 “I have read that Mars was different from Earth before. No animals, no flowers, no trees…”

“It used to be true. But years of space missions made life possible in Mars! We have brought hundreds of species over the last years, and all of them survived!”

 “If you can fix Mars, why not Earth, Papa?”

Mr. Rajan was left speechless.

Through the years, people have become more dependent on the skills of programmers, researchers, and scientists like him. The changes and manipulation in the human environment had indeed made life easier for everyone. They become god themselves from the world they inhabited. But Earth was something they could not fix nor restore. They tried but they always fail in the long run.

“Fixing our planet is not something we could do overnight. Nothing is enough to keep these deaths and disasters from ruining our lives. The Earth is not an ideal place to live in anymore.”

“How about those families we’ll be leaving behind?” Anita asked. “Abhi said his parents cannot afford the Mars Express so they’re going to stay here instead.”

“Abhi? He’s the Bhagwati’s son isn’t it? The decision for the Transfer has been announced by the Council years ago, Anita. Every family was given enough notice to save enough money for the Transfer. But families like the Bhagwatis are just too stubborn. No one disobeys the Council!” said Mr. Rajan sharply.

“Why don’t we ask Abhi’s family to join us? I’m sure the Airship has enough room for a lot of families! We cannot just leave them and let them die!” said Anita.

“It doesn’t work that way. We need the right candidates to roam the soil of Mars to make it a better planet for all of us. Once the Pioneers built a stronger city, we can take this people to live with us! And they are not going to die. I promise.” he said. “While in Mars, the NASA can regulate the Domes.  No need to worry now my dear. They are going to be just fine.” Mr. Rajan tousles Anita’s hair.

 “But aren’t you scared Papa?”

“Scared?” Mr. Rajan laughed. “What should I be scared of?”

“I don’t know. What if we encountered problems you couldn’t fix? What if…what if you failed?” Anita looked at her father questioningly.

“Of course it’ll work! Why shouldn’t it be? We have made all the necessary arrangements that there will be enough artificial oxygen, water, and other resources that will help us survive. Mars can perfectly function just like how the Earth used to be, minus all the calamities of course. The Project Mars Express has no room for failure.” Mr. Rajan gazed at his daughter with an air of reassurance.

Amidst all the doubts she had felt before, Anita finally felt a nice feeling growing inside of her.

“Do you want me to tuck you into bed?”

Anita nodded and encircled her arms around her father’s back for a warm embrace. As her head fall against his neck, she pressed her lips on his shoulder and said, “Come back for us, Papa.”

“I will sweetie. I will. Once I’m home, we’ll be packing our bags and fly to Mars together.”

After a few seconds, Mr. Rajan finally disengaged from her daughter’s tight embrace as he bid his goodbye. He turned off the lamp on the bedside and carefully closed the door.

***

A few days later, the day that Anita had been waiting for has finally arrived. After her three-hour make up class from the virtual classroom, she went to the receiving hall and head off to the couch and switch on the Holo. “NASA TV,” Anita spoke to the screen with her little voice. The voice recognition took her to the NASA network which is currently airing the Airship launching. Her father’s space ship is scheduled to take off this afternoon. The announcer said that it will be the last space probe to Mars before the arrival of the Pioneers in two months.

The Mars Express launch vehicle will boost the Airship spacecraft into a trans-lunar trajectory bound for Mars.

Roger, launch team. We are go for launch.

Stand by for terminal countdown. We are T minus 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…

Ignition…2…1 and LIFTOFF!

We have liftoff.

The Holo suddenly turned into static. Anita waited for the signal to come back but it didn’t. She turned off the Holo.