Shattered Earth Chapter Excerpt
Chapter 1
The world had become an increasingly chaotic place. There seemed to be no order or morals among most of the population. No one batted an eye when someone was murdered, mugged, raped, or beaten. Laws were increasingly ignored, looting was a regular occurrence, and when a group of people thought they were ignored, riots occurred, which caused much economic destruction. There was a tiny nation known as Terra in a remote part of the planet that had been progressing technologically faster than anywhere else in the world. Their ancestors saw the direction morally that humanity was going, had joined together from varied kingdoms, and had found this land a thousand years earlier. Once they were settled, they quietly worked on technological advancements for the betterment of their people. hey were currently experimenting with crude spacecraft, which were used to explore the Moon, and were sending out probes to explore the solar system. The Terrans had already invented the means for flight, the combustion engine, radio, and installed satellites and telescopes in orbit, among other technologies. They had no desire to share their technology with anyone, especially since the others would use this advanced technology against each other. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was in the first stages of an industrial revolution, beginning with the construction of steam engines, factories for mass production, trains, and the telegraph. The Terrans wanted to leave the planet, to search out one in which they could live peacefully, away from all these primitives. Some humans, but mostly Terrans, were living upwards of six hundred years, so the same people who were planning, developing, and working on a technology could continue to do so until the technology came into being. One day, Terran astronomers were searching the skies at one of their observatories, cataloging all sorts of astronomical wonders, when they came across a massive meteor headed for Earth. The astronomers were very concerned, went to consult with some scientists. The scientists inputted the data into their computers, and minutes later had the answer as to when this meteor would impact Earth. The news was not good, so the astronomers and the scientists asked for a meeting with the President of Terra, Esther Koorey. In the President’s office a week later, the head astronomer, Gregory Lomanco, said, “Madam President, we have asked for this meeting today because we have some grave news,” “What is it, Mr. Lomanco?” “We have located a meteor that is on a direct path towards Earth. According to our computer simulations, the meteor will impact Earth in a little over six years. While it is a considerable distance from us now, what makes this significant, ma’am, is that this meteor may cause an extinction level event for the entire planet when it hits. Humanity, plants, and animals will come within ninety-nine percent of extinction. We need to do something about it,” Lomanco handed the report to the President, who looked it over, and began to look a little pale. “What do you propose we do?” “I propose we begin ramping up the time it takes us to research and develop new technologies. Get our rocket technology upgraded quicker, start building a starship to carry some of our population so we can re-settle elsewhere, possibly the Alpha Centauri solar system. I believe we can develop everything we need in less than three years, Madam President.” “Can I ask why those of us who do get to survive this event, have to leave Earth entirely?” “We need to leave Earth entirely, because we believe this meteor will cause an Ice Age of sorts with the level of dust that will be kicked up into the atmosphere by the meteor. None of us are sure how long this will last, so we feel it is necessary that we leave Earth,” “What about the rest of humanity, what should I do about them?” asked the President. “Honestly, there’s nothing you can do. We’ll have limited space to begin with, maybe you could warn them, but I don’t know what good it’ll do.” answered Lomanco. |