Ashes, ashes, we all fall

It is a beautiful day to die. I look up at the blue sky to see the Old Earth Sun looking at me happily. The sun is feeling pretty cheery today. Perhaps it is the promise of an entertaining day. I can feel the warm breeze ruffling my hair playfully, and I enjoy the fleeting feeling that maybe everything will work out. But the moment passes, and the cold truth weighs on my heart. The faint chords of a spooky song reach my ears from a remote playground:

Ring around the roses

Pocket full of corsages,

Ashes, ashes

We all fall!

Ironic. Today of all days. But they don’t know what they sing about. The origin of the song has long been forgotten. The story of a terrible plague that killed almost half of the European population, and is now a children’s song. It is fitting that you hear this song today. Children do not know what is coming. They do not know …

I look at the beautiful sky and pray for a miracle. There are none to come. I wasn’t really expecting one anyway. Almost mockingly, the object of so much talk and speculation, fear and hatred is present. It is also beautiful. It is bright, reflects the sun’s rays, and shines magnificently. I look to what will kill me, what will kill us all. I look towards what will consume the Earth completely. It is ironic that the omen of death is so beautiful.

The meteor hurtles toward Earth at 159,947 miles per hour. At least that’s what the scientists said. But they are long gone, they left in one of the first ships to leave the planet. Bound for the New Earth. Apparently, it is the trip of a lifetime. I’m sure it is. But I will never know.

One hundred years ago, scientists discovered this meteor. After much study, they determined that it would collide with Earth on November 5, 11239 CE. Turns out they were right. Today is November 5th. Any guess what year it is?

One would think that a hundred years would be long enough to evacuate all the people from Earth. There was enough time. Someone really figured it out. It would take approximately 52.53 years to completely evacuate Earth. There was more than enough time. Science had saved the day and no one would die when the meteor finally crashed a century from now.

But science is logical. Science is rational. People are not. The need for global evacuation created a new demand for spacecraft and shuttles. Everything seemed to be going well. The economy was booming. People got rich. But realizing that everyone, everyone on the planet, had to leave, corporations realized that they could increase their prices indefinitely. There were no regulations on this new interplanetary transport. If everyone needed to leave, then everyone would have to pay a ticket to the New Earth if they wanted to survive. Genius, really. A new technical marketing was devised. I call it “Pay or Die” advertising.

“Buy your ticket now if you want to live! We’re running out of seats on the USS Zephyr and you don’t want to be left behind!” The message was always the same. Pay now for your right to live. Naturally, ticket sales soared. The ticket offices were full of the rich and famous, politicians and businessmen. They were afraid, and with good reason. After about twenty years of this, the Earth supercorporation astronauts were doing better business on the New Earth than on the Old. Profits were even higher there, and interplanetary travel was barely in the black. The Board voted to minimize shuttles to and from Old Earth to free up shuttles for use on New Earth. This tripled their profits, and the CEO and shareholders sat fat and happy in their stately mansions in the wonderful modern New Earth.

There were still eighty years left and everyone believed that there was still enough time to evacuate the remaining population. But eighty years turned into seventy and seventy turned into sixty, and still only three billion people had colonized the New Earth. The stream of settlers had been reduced to a mere trickle. When the New Congress of the United States decided to draft a bill to reduce evacuation prices and force A of E (Earth Astronauts) to carry out more transports to and from Earth, there were only thirty-one years left. before the end of the world. The new public applauded the bill for its humanitarian stance and fervently hoped that it would be successful. However, it was bogged down in the New Senate for two years, pending review by seven members who were rumored to be in the pocket of the A of E. At this point, there were only twenty-nine years left. Time was running out.

The bill was passed on July 4, 11210. Three days later, on July 7, Harold Don Lankard, a representative from the A of E, challenged the New Earth Relations Act. The lawsuit reached the New Supreme Court. On the fateful November 5, 11210, the New Supreme Court ruled that the New Earth Relations Act was unconstitutional on the grounds that while the New Congress could regulate interstate commerce, it could not regulate interplanetary commerce.

Years passed and soon there was only a year left. The people of the New Earth clamored for the evacuation of the rest of humanity still on the Old Earth. At that time, five billion people settled on the New Earth. But they couldn’t do anything. The uproar here on Old Earth was much greater. But there were no authorities left to listen to us. We had no way of leaving Old Earth. We had been abandoned to our fate. We have been abandoned to our death. He didn’t have enough money to pay for his ticket to Nueva Tierra. None of us did.

Today is November 5, 11239 CE Today is the day of my death. Today is the day we all die. Today, the Earth dies. I wonder how we will be remembered on the New Earth. We may be martyrs. Perhaps our deaths can help reform the governments of New Earth, eradicate corruption. Martyrs. The fifty-three billion of us. Martyrs.

I look up at the sky. My death is fast approaching. I’m afraid. I don’t want to die. But it is not my choice. It has never been my choice. I feel a tear fall down my cheek. I am powerless. Powerless to save myself. Powerless to save anyone. We cannot run and hide. Earth dies today.

Surprisingly, two children still dance around each other, oblivious to their destiny. Although I have closed my eyes, I can see their innocent faces laughing and smiling. Their voices echo chillingly in the silence before they die.

Ring around the roses

Pocket full of corsages,

Ashes, ashes

We all fall …