Love on the Red Planet (COMPLETED)

Chapter 1

October 24th, 2050 was the day we watched the Earth die.

We watched from our colony on Mars. Our satellites circled the Earth sending video back. The room was quiet as the satellite's feed was projected on a screen in front of us. I had never stepped foot on the Earth but I was acutely aware that as a human being that the Earth would always be "home".

I never met my parents. I was a frozen embryo that traveled to Mars along with thousands of other embryos. I was born with a surrogate. I never knew her either. I was put into a nursery and was raised with the other lucky Mars children.

We watched as a rogue planet slammed into the Earth at seventy thousand miles per hour. It was a Jupiter sized planet, four times the mass of the Earth. It had already destroyed the moon. It was sickening to watch.

Humans still lived on the Earth. As many as the colony could handle, were taken in but there were still people, animals and sea life on the Earth. They stood no chance of surviving a collision with the rogue planet.

Our colony was only able to support a thousand people. Those lucky enough to escape the destruction of the Earth pushed our numbers way over what the colony was meant to support. According to the President, there were now two thousand people in the colony and we would all have to make due.

We already lived in small apartments. I wasn't sure where they were going to put another thousand people. I lived in a studio apartment. I wasn't sure what the President expected us to do.

I was sure that the filtration and oxygen systems could not support all of those extra people breathing. I tried not to think about the septic system. I shuddered.

I looked at the clock and realized that I was late for work. My profession was chosen for me when I was born. It was rare that you could get your profession changed but I did. I was supposed to be a teacher but as a child I had a fascination with anything medical. My advisor petitioned the government to have my profession changed when I was thirteen. The government agreed that I would be better suited for a job in the medical field.

I was a nurse and I was damn proud of myself. I helped people every day. I saw people at their absolute worst and did my best to help them. I was so grateful to my advisor. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

I worked at the community hospital. As I ran inside, there were three men in suits sitting in the waiting area. I shook off the ominous feeling that I had and went into the ER.

As I was signing in for my shift, the head of the emergency room stopped me.

"We have a special assignment for you, Emily." He looked grim.

"A special assignment?" I asked.

I noticed the three men in the suits enter the ER and I started to get nervous.

"Please come with us."

I followed the men into a conference room and sat down when instructed.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" I asked after everyone had sat down.

"I'll cut to the chase. These men are the President's most trusted advisors. What is said in this room is confidential. Do you understand, Ms. Smith?" A dark-haired man asked me.

Us parentless people have very generic last names. My first name was given to me by my advisor. You would get an advisor at twelve years old. They served as your parent and teacher. You still went to general classes but by twelve or thirteen, you start learning what will ultimately become your profession. That's when you got your name. Up to that point I was literally, just a number.