New World

‘The world is amazing. Have you ever wondered how it works? How it was put together? Watch the sunrise as the colours spread across the sky. Colour gradually fills the world and the mist slowly rises. As the clouds start to clear, the first sunbeam punches a hole and golden light unhurriedly spreads its warmth. But the amazing things aren’t always huge. Look down at your feet. OK, there’s probably concrete somewhere under the carpet tiles, so imagine you’re standing in a field. Look down. Closer. See the tiny blade of bright green grass. That lets you breathe. Look at the buttercup next to it. Study the details of each lustrous petal. The world is amazing.’
Aiden was still staring down at her feet when the image faded. The bright green grass vanished and was replaced by the plain matte black of the holo-lounge. Back to reality then. With the sights and sounds of the world still fresh in her mind, Aiden closed her eyes and smelt the air. Her imagination told her there was a faint, fresh hint of spring in the air. Her nose told her she was in a room that smelt of hot metal. She sighed, then squaring her shoulders, quickly left the room.
With a minute to spare, Aiden entered the bridge. She only spared a glance at the view plate, as usual showing the silver stars shooting past in the velvet blackness of space. Stunning to start with, but soon becoming monotonous.
‘Anything of interest yet Helm?’ Aiden asked as she stepped to her chair.
‘Nothing since that red dwarf a few days ago. The probe we left there has shown no sign of change as yet.’
‘Did we expect it to?’ she responded.
‘I suppose not. So why are we here?’ the pilot, Terin, asked. He had never been keen on the name ‘Helm’ and was never sure if the captain was taking the Mickey when she used it.
Aiden smiled. ‘Wait and see’ was all she said.
Looking around at the other occupants of the bridge, she checked if any of them had anything interesting to report. No, the engines were running smoothly, the passengers were doing fine, both human and animal, and there were no problems with the food supply. It had better be worth the humdrum journey, Aiden thought. She had found it difficult to suppress her boredom with the soporific routine.
‘I’ve got something!’ the xenologist suddenly shouted, staring at the screen on his work station.
‘At last!’ thought Aiden. ‘What have you got Marken?’ she asked.
‘Would you believe,’ he answered, ‘I’m picking up a nice little gem of a planet, atmosphere is 73% Nitrogen, 20% Oxygen. Sounds good to me.’
‘I’d agree. Helm, change course.’ Aiden smiled as she caught Terin’s slight wince at her use of the nickname. She couldn’t resist. Terin obviously hadn’t grown up watching the right programmes.
‘What else have you got to report on this planet Marken?’ Aiden asked. ‘No, hang on, let’s see. Normal gravity, average temperature, about a 70/30 sea/lane mix?’
Marken looked back at his screen for a short time, then he slowly turned back and looked at Aiden. ‘How did you know?’ he asked.
‘This is where we’re going, isn’t it?’ Terin asked.
Aiden smiled back at them. ‘Wait and see’ was all she said.
Finally, after weeks of voyaging, the ship approached its destination. The view plate had gradually been filled with a blue/green pearl of a planet, cloud formations visible in the atmosphere, the yellow primary behind it growing brighter by the minute. Each person on the bridge had sat in awe as they gazed at the wonders visible on the final approach to their destination. Each heavenly body they passed was different, from the small, cold and sterile outer planets, past the gas giant and the breathtaking ringed planet.
As more details of the target planet became apparent, Terin became more confused. He tapped a few keys on his station, then looked round at the captain. Aiden saw the question coming and before Terin could ask, Aiden answered. ‘Yes,’ she confirmed, ‘you should recognise it from your history lessons.
‘We were last here 1000 years ago. The planet was so badly damaged that although we were able to find a solution to put it right, we simply had to leave it be and give it time to recover. We took everything man-made with us and any living thing we feared might not survive. We gave it time, learned our lesson, and now we’re back. Welcome home, people. Welcome back to planet Earth.’