Return to Earth: An Adventure to Recolonize

Chapter Two: The Briefing

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                                                        Chapter Two

                                                        The Briefing

Not long after my birth, our Assembly of Leaders sent dozens of aerodrones to earth to investigate its health. As a child, I had read the weekly 'probe reports' with fascination as they regularly delivered stellar news of earth’s healed scars. However, they could not tell us whether indigenous life had mutated in the poisoned ruins left behind by our ancestors. I feared such things growing up.

As we’d readied ourselves for this voyage, I harbored doubts and struggled with occasional nightmares about wild beasts, uncontrolled weather and violent, natural upheavals. Tellus had none of these dreadful traumas. I couldn’t escape the images of a nameless evil awaiting man’s return. Despite these fears, my family and I committed to this great enterprise.

I surveyed the crowd to calm my anxiety. They had a dreary similarity. Every one of us appeared young, fit, healthy and under fifty, young by our standards. All of the men, clean-shaven, had short-cropped hair. Our identical clothes accentuated the sameness. I could not help but chuckle to myself.

Upon closer inspection, however, we remained a celebration of cultural diversity. Amongst us, people of color, others with slanted eyes and high cheekbones, some with different hair and eye color mingled as one.

Fifty Thousand of our ancestors abandoned earth carrying humanity’s medley. Through the ages, we somehow managed to retain those ethnic features. Instead, what we had managed to change was our attitudes. When man discarded earth, they brought with them their accumulated barriers – nationalism, greed, religion, prejudice and more. Forced to coexist in a single vessel in the void of space, dependent upon one another, old impediments to humanities growth faded into distant memories.

Our ancestors changed their discordant ways and came together under a unified philosophy. Instead of dwelling upon their differences, they built upon their affinities. A society emerged with united beliefs including a single religion founded upon the best of all faiths and creeds

But what do I know about such things? The authorities chose me for my mechanical aptitude, not my intellectual prowess. I’m a genius with machines. They expect me to fix and create them. I’ll do my part, but I hope I’ll have time to explore.

My wife, my Doctor Dirt, is the brains in our little outfit with a Ph.D. in Agronomy, and additional specialties in biotechnology and genomic research. Our leadership wanted Tania for this expedition, while I, on the other hand, appeared as an appendage – a worthwhile appendage, nonetheless. Her intellect versus my brawn, and her inquisitive nature versus my mechanical aptitude made for a strange pairing. Despite the odds, our stars aligned.

After waiting countless minutes, someone in the crowd grew restless and yelled, “Get on with the show.” Thunderous applause whipped through the ranks, followed by whistles and jeers. A rhythmic chant began, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“The briefing will start in one minute,” the speakers squealed. The assembled multitude roared its approval and settled down.

I exhaled to calm my nervous tension. I want this over. I want to get down there. I presumed everyone else shared my impatience.