Broken Orbit | ONC

Gliese's Lover

    The day that scientists realized they had been wrong was the day the peaceful world ended.

   For about fifty years, astrophysicists and NASA -- alongside other countries -- watched the red dwarf star Gliese 710. It was a star only a little larger than half the size of our own sun. Scientists had calculated that Gliese was heading our way at incredible speed. Even so, it would take thousands years before it got within the Solar System. The chances of Gliese getting close enough to Earth to cause problems were astronomically small. 

   They were wrong.

   Because Gliese was behind another star, nicknamed Gliese's Lover. The Lover was tens of thousands of years ahead of her. Because the two stars were aligned and nearly identical in color, it was impossible to tell that it wasn't just Gliese until one day, Gliese was twice the size in the night sky as she had been the night before. Astrophysicists quickly found their mistake. Lover was making a straight line for the Solar System, and it would be here within months.

    The world went into an upheaval. There were three different scenarios. Best case? Lover would pass by, too far to cause any problems. Perhaps it would shift our orbit in the smallest way and we'd have colder winters and warmer summers. Worst case? In the second scenario, Lover hit us dead on and destroyed the Earth as a whole.

    The third scenario was what happened. Everyone was ordered into lockdown for the week of the predicted possible impact. It didn't go well. Everyone burst out of their homes and anarchy took over. If everyone was about to die, then what was the point in waiting around? People raided stores, took over cities, and thousands died. I was recalled from my house to try and slow down the illegal activity, but I knew the chances of that happening were slim to none. I stayed home. I'd rather die in my house than die by a gunshot in the street. It was against my code as a police officer, but I had the same thought as the rest of humanity: if I was going to die anyway, what was the point?

    Lover grew larger and larger in the sky. Soon it was possible to see during the day as it was the night. And during the night, Lover lit the sky red. The brighter the star, the more vicious the outdoors. I woke up one night to hear my neighbor screaming. Unable to deny my role any longer, I'd grabbed my gun and broke down her door. The woman was holding her daughter. The broken window and blood had told me that someone had shot blindly through and managed to kill the young girl. The woman had looked up at me, betrayed that I had come too late. I didn't go home back after that. I took to the streets and did actually try to slow the rate of crime. I was sure it wasn't doing anything, but I couldn't live with myself after seeing the girl's body.

   Then, one cold night, I stood outside and noticed that Lover had gotten smaller. The red glow was less bright. The next night, it was smaller still. A week passed and Lover was considerably smaller. It had passed by us -- Earth was still intact. The world rejoiced until one scientist worriedly pointed out that not only was Lover smaller, our own sun was smaller, too.

    Lover had passed by Earth close enough for its gravity to snag us. The tug from two stars had put Earth on a new trajectory through space. One that sailed directly past Mars, Jupiter, and out of the Solar System. Our sun grew smaller and smaller.

    Lover hadn't hit us. Instead, the rogue star had broken Earth's orbit.

637 words.