Return to Earth

Chapter 29

The drones had been launched and sent out their signals to give a clear indication of what was happening. While they waited, the search by both the Nostos and Cascadia continued to seek out those sent by the usurpers. There encounter with World's End had reached other villages not under the rule of the church. There was no fear in their eyes when they met, only greetings of joy and offers of trade.

Each village had been left with a means to contact the Nostos in case any contact was made by those claiming to be from Cascadia. The villagers were the best means to find those they sought, since word must've spread that they couldn't return home. They were enemies of their government and the Nostos.

The German's had been lying about their connection to Europe, since Weisman feared the contact between him and Boyd would come to an end. Their bond was stronger than either cared to admit, despite never having actually met the other.

Drones were sent to search for the locations given of where the others were supposed to be, but found only ruins and decay. They were places that had fallen decades ago with no sign as to what happened to the people who used to live there. Kierst got the sense they were searching for something that would never be found, but kept it to himself. There was no need to speak of such things when others were of the same mind.

Time seamed to slow as they waited and Kierst threw himself into finding out what happened to Earth. With Martial technology added to sort through everything, it was easy to find the pertinent information. It was either that, or read the Bible, which Kierst had no interest in.

It was a cult of sun worshipers who destroyed everything. What was believed to have only small pockets scattered throughout the world, turned out to be much larger than any intelligence agency was willing to accept.

When the flare hit and the fires started, they made their move to take advantage of the chaos and panic that gripped the world. Their leaders gave the appearance of having all the answers, which is all it took to grow their forces until the last vestiges of the old world had been destroyed.

The destruction took more than a generation, but every building that could be brought down had been as others were left to decay on their own and every book and manuscript was burned. Militaries did what they could, but the masses of people were too great to stop. Only those who were hidden in places used to be reserved for high-ranking politicians and dignitaries were left untouched, since they never knew they were there.

Communications were set up by the various militaries around the world. All reported the same events occurring. Books may have been lost, but most were on the internet. They couldn't save the original works from the flames, but could save the knowledge of the world.

There was talk of action from one generation to the next, but never any action taken. Despite having the technology to act, they lacked the will to stop the suffering. It was as if they kept hoping for some sense of sanity to retake the people who were all under the control of a single church.

Kierst had a hard time accepting what he had read, since those from Mars had already had an impact. No one, not even Cascadia, thought about reaching out to a single village until the attempted takeover, which resulted in the wrong kind of reaching out. Places like Cascadia should've been expanding, but were frozen in place until they were discovered and destroyed until there were only two left. There was no other explanation for the ruins.