Life on Mars Part Three by Antoinette Cherubini-Donaldson
I’m not sure why I’m trembling. I still can’t decide if I’m nervous or excited or a mixture of both. Two hours until we finally land. The journey has been a long 270 days. At least it gave us a chance to get to know each other better, laying the foundations of our futures together. I look forward to being settled into our new home in the complex and starting our new community. However, I worry about my girls and the life I have decided for them. I can take comfort at least in the knowledge that they have already made friends among the other scientist’s children. They will have no trouble settling in when we finally make it. I think Clara will be fine, her knowledge is so up to date with all the latest software that she will be a great asset to them in a year or two. I hope Becky will enjoy her school here, it will be very different to what she is used to. I hope when she is older that she decides on a place in the hydroponics lab to grow some of these plants that we worked so hard to create. I hope that after everything, I am worthy to have been chosen to come here to help feed the future of humanity. Our place on this ship secured by my work on gene editing and modified crops. Countless hours spent adding to the creation of the seed store, our precious cargo.
When the Earth got too warm to grow anything…………
I remember it on the news from when I was young – climate change and after the failure of the climate convention the Earth’s temperatures continued to rise. I found it terrifying to see my world change around me. The extreme weather events when the rivers overflowed and the forests burned. If it is broken replace it, that was our attitude. When did we stop fixing things? This is our biggest replacement, our planet, our home. The only home I have ever known. Space tourism paved the way for our exit when the Earth stopped being hospitable for us anymore.
I am sad to be leaving Ben, my younger brother, and his family on our broken planet. During our goodbyes, I told him to look up at the night sky 3.30 south of the Pleiades at the end of February and look for a red dot. …Maybe I will see a blue dot? We used to love planting daffodils in the garden when we were younger. Scary how our children have never seen a real flower growing wild.
I don’t suppose I will ever return to Earth. We need all our resources to set up the complex here on Mars. In time it is planned for more families to join us. I wonder when the first baby will be born on Mars.
I know the future will look back on us one day so let’s give them some good history.