Chapter 1: May 10th, 2350

There is no doubt that we can’t avoid space. Anywhere you look, we are in it. The sea of blackness and void of perpetual nothingness is the definition of its term. Instead, we look at a single planet and its moon as we zoom in on it. The world itself is covered in a haze of gray and orange. We already know what it is, and we’ve been here before.

We begin to fly closer to the planet. It is almost beyond any form of recognition. Humanity, except for a few, has decided it was a lost cause. We fly through into the atmosphere. The smog and thick dust threaten to smother us. Even if we don’t need air to breathe, you wonder how humanity ever made it through. The dense ash clouds form thunderstorms of black and gray. Lightning strikes are intense as they smash the ground hard, producing heat hotter than the sun itself. We zip through it, and then we are hit with something else.

You begin to see rainfall. The thunderstorms are intense, but you can definitely see the rain. Perhaps it brings some comfort as the winds hit us hard. You understand that the planet at least has activity.

Unfortunately, you realize that the rain has a horrific taste. The sight alone is sickening. If you could feel it, then it might burn your skin or prove toxic to the touch. It produces a taste and smell similar to plastic. It seems that humanity did not care about this planet. There were some who did, but many did not. It only proved to be disastrous.

The storms ... the acidic plastic rain, are unbearable. Hundreds of years of garbage, volcanic ash, toxic vapor, and pollution have taken their toll on the environment. How did humans survive such a calamity? Why did they do it?

Finally, we get away from the storm. It seems, for once, there is a brief respite of getting out of the thick clouds of this planet. We come to look at the ocean. It is a somewhat clear sky, even with the overlay of gray haze above us. You look down to look upon the sea. Perhaps gazing at it will give you some relief upon getting out of that storm.

Unfortunately, it does not. What should be a pristine blue ocean of liquid water is instead a horrifying orange and red color. There is no life in it but one. A perpetual dumping ground of trash, garbage, and pollution has all reduced the oceans to this. We have to, unfortunately, get close enough to look at this once glorious ocean that was once called the Atlantic Ocean.

We fly right next to the viscous liquid. You are clear from all harm that it brings you as you have to reach your hand into it. It is an orange sludge. It almost bubbles to the surface as you see air rise to the top. The sludge is so thick that it permeates your hand. It is virtually like muck, disgusting as goo. As you try to get the orange substance out of your hand, you realize that there is something stuck to it.

Bones ... long-dead marine wildlife have perished long ago—fish, dolphins, crabs, lobsters, ... all dead. The ocean is endless. It is a graveyard of death. All of it covered in this thick orange soup mix of toxic life. A bacterium is responsible for this, but in the end, humanity might just be as accountable for it.

You know what they call it. Some called it the end of the world. Some called it Bacteria Toxin 23-9. Most of the humans called it “The Orange Muck” for its almost matching pure color. The sludge is a leftover byproduct of the bacteria. So much pollution, oil, plastic, and garbage, the bacteria have plenty to feed from. It is an almost endless food source. Despite the horrific look of the ocean, nature is merely responding to the massive changes that humanity brought to it. If it needs to start over, then so be it. The bacteria will do its job. It will clean the oceans, lose its food source, and then life will eventually start over again.

Of course, there was one problem with this. Humanity was not ready for this horrific encounter. The Orange Muck was everywhere. The air was almost too hard to breathe from the ash and poison put into it. You realize that you are in hell. The storm is in the distance as you look upon it. The toxin is everywhere, and filtering the water does little. It is in the rain. It is in the ocean. It is in the sea. It is everywhere. If you drink it, then you are drinking poison. What killed off the marine life certainly killed off half the humans that lived on this planet within the first few years of its discovery.

Why are we here? You already know the condition of this planet. It is the planet of lost cause. You know the history. Humanity left Earth to find a new home, but some stayed. Perhaps they wanted to use the underground cities and dome cities as a refuge. Fewer people live there now, so space is more freely available. You have the best equipment to help you live away from this dump heave of a planet. It is not surprising when the evacuation was called out, about a few hundred million people still decided to stay on this planet. The rest of the billions found a new home. They found the ability to fold space and found better worlds to live on.

Then again, this place is horrible. Do you wish to live outside of this? Do you want to drink the poisoned water? Do you want to breathe the toxic air? You have the equipment, but in the end, is this what life is supposed to be?

For many, they had given up. Humanity has found better worlds to live in. Earth is a reminder of our past mistakes. For many, it is best to look forward rather than backward. Little resources are allocated to this world, and many feel it is best to move away from it. Let the bacteria have it, and let nature start over again. Maybe in a few thousand years, humanity will come back...

Then, we see something from our peripheral view. As you turn your head, you notice a silver cylindrical object touchdown in the ocean water. It lands with a sickening thud in the orange and red goo. The object almost seems to be a probe of some type. It is the size of a bus and has thrusters that help control the landing so it doesn’t smash hard into the ocean. Regardless, you see some of the orange substance splashing upward, and a little bit lands on your face.

Upon wiping the sickening material off of you, you notice that the silver object is buoyant. It protrudes from the surface like a beacon of some sort. Slowly, you see, the orange material is pulled into the silver container. Like a vacuum cleaner, the object is extracting the material around it. The object emits a series of flashing lights as the orange material around it is being cleared out. It is doing an excellent job of it. For a moment, you can actually see real ocean water beneath the surface. We no longer see orange and red but something below the surface.

The probe-like object continues extracting the orange material for minutes before it gives off another flash. The area around it seems ... cleaner. Is it safe to drink the water? Obviously, the answer is no, but you do notice that the object’s thrusters activate. It shoots up into the sky. The orange muck in the area that you saw is much less. Where did the probe come from? Who launched it?

Our heads turn up to gaze upon a green cylindrical object far above us. High in the sky is a T’rintar warship. Launching these probes into the ocean is an old dreadnought converted into some sort of environmental cleaner. The dreadnought looks different than what you had seen in the database. It is long and green. The ship’s guns were ripped out and replaced with box-like launchers. Antenna arrays dot the surface as its two centripetal force rings are inoperable. The probes are being deployed from the launchers. The one we saw near us is returning to the ship above it. You watch far in the distance as another similar probe is launched into the orange ocean. You can even see the ship firing the probes at the sky itself. Its target is the heavy cloud cover of ash and pollution.

The T’rintar have returned to Itrea. Confirmed to be their sacred homeworld of origin for all of the Itrean clans, the T’rintar has much cleaning to do. A bargaining chip for humanity’s survival, the once-thought aliens are used to getting ravaged worlds that are battered and beaten. The clan wars are brutal, and the planets are continuously repaired. While some Earthlings protested this exchange, it was something that had to be done. Why bother? This world is a lost cause. It is a dump of forgotten dreams and waste, but the T’rintar are cleaning up the mess in this world to make it habitable again.

Is it a good exchange? We won’t have to look at that orange substance. We wouldn’t have to run from cover by the plastic acid rain. They don’t seem bothered that humanity still has people here. They gave you warships in exchange. Warships that you need to fight the other clans. They fight because Itrea is hope to them. Their religion and mythology have turned real. The place of their origin and yours...

Unfortunately, it seems it will take time. The orange muck is everywhere. Even the probes are collecting small amounts of the material. They need more of these salvaged dreadnoughts to do the job. At this rate, maybe in about fifteen to twenty years, the world will be pristine again.

What about the ocean, though? The wildlife is mostly dead now. The sea levels have risen as well. The Itreans are going to inherit the world that humanity walked away from. The T’rintar don’t care, though. They have learned to be patient.

It is still a good sign, though. Maybe one day, Earth will look better. Perhaps you will get to swim in its ocean and breathe its fresh air like humans did hundreds of years ago. The T’rintar seem to be fulfilling their part of the bargain. Itrea will look like a beautiful planet once again.

We leave now. Let the ships do their job. Earth ... Itrea ... it’s in good hands now. Let them clean up the mess. We aren’t here to glorify the past or the future of this planet. It is just one of the many worlds that were controlled by the United World’s Alliance. Let the politicians and people argue what is right and wrong. It’s in the history books now.

We zoom and fly out of the clouds of black and gray. We fly faster than anything until we look at Earth one last time. We see the edge of Africa and the European Islands. Orange and gray illuminate the landscape as we get further and further away. Our destination was not Earth. We were here last time, and it is time to move on.

Instead, we are back in the blackness of space, gazing down upon Earth. The vacuum dominates, and only the light from the distant star fills the spectrum. Space produces no sound, but we can still listen. We switch as we begin to hear the sounds of the electromagnetic waves. Space finds a way to call to us, and with the right ear, we can listen to it. You know the sounds of Jupiter and Saturn. This solar system alone is filled with different harmonic music that it produces that sings to your ear.

Earth, even with the environmental changes, still produces a similar harmonic tone of its own. It provides its own magnetic field that resonates with the sun. It almost sounds like a wind blowing. In the distance of the hum is an electronic cave wind sound that rises and falls every few seconds. Occasionally, it produces a high-frequency electronic chirping that follows along with the cave wind hum. It is beautiful to hear. The planet almost sounds like it’s alive.

Of course, it isn’t the only thing producing sound. We turn our attention to the star itself. Sol is the guardian of the solar system. Without Sol, humans and Itreans wouldn’t exist. Light and energy flow for eons of years. Earth and the neighboring planets are used to it and can’t operate without it.

The sounds of the sun are unusual. It is deep and continuous. We fly faster than anyone can as we get closer to it. We are at a distance from Mercury to Sol. The musical tone that the sun generates permeates our ears. What you hear is a deep heartbeat sound. It rises and resonates up and down twice a second. It is a pulsating sound of electromagnetic fields, and the reason is quite apparent.

From Mercury, Sol is enormous. It is so close that a year on Mercury is almost every 88 days. The sun is twice the size when looking from Earth. You feel some relief seeing the sun. It was quite hard to see Sol from Earth. Instead, Mercury gets roasted by the sun, which can reach temperatures as high as 427 degrees Celsius. It is believed that the planet might have been a gas giant at one time, but the gas was burnt away as Sol got older and more prominent. Instead, Mercury is reduced to a solid, dense sphere of radiation and heat.

The musical tone of Sol continues to sing. The reverberating melody continues. The sun is an engine that continues to burn its hydrogen at a regular rate. The G-type star is not too big and not too small. The music also provides us with something that we can do as we get even closer to Sol. We can see other things. The light is intense. Heat is engulfing us as we look upon the surface of the sun. No star is perfect. The engine runs continuously, and the magnetic field is immense. Electrically charged gases are pushed around with tremendous force in different waves. The sounds you hear almost sound like you are underwater as you hear energy swimming around you. The photosphere of the surface of the sun generates areas darker than most. Sunspots are formed where the heat is less than other portions. The magnetic field will flux and...

You see it. A large rubber band of flames and heat erupts near the sunspot. It is so bright that it is brighter than the surface of the sun. You even have to avert your eyes because it is more intense than anything you have ever seen. The rubber band stretches outward as you continue to hear the sounds of a solar flare.

Finally, for what lasts about half a minute, the brightness lowers down. You look upon it as you see the rubber band stretch outward to the cosmos. The plasma is pushed outward, but it wants to return to the sun. You watch as a beautiful spectacle takes place. The rubber band has stretched as far as it could. As we continue to observe, the plasma rain of flames begins to form a half-ring that is slowly falling back to the sun. Sol is just like the other stars out there. It reaches out, trying to call to others to let itself be known that it exists. A minute goes by as you continue to watch the ring of flames return back to the sun. Like a waterfall flowing in two directions, the plasma has nowhere to go but back from where it came.

Unfortunately, there is a cost to these beautiful events. The bright flash of light is also a sign of intense radiation being flung from Sol’s surface. Like a gun, the solar flare has sent a bullet of intense radiation from the solar flare. The magnetic field results in radiation that can quickly kill life on Earth without the proper shielding. Satellites, equipment, and other things not protected against the electromagnetic pulse can be destroyed and rendered inoperable. Life on Earth has been used to these flares. Some say that Sol is relatively calm in its cosmic upheavals, while others say it is just as active as the other stars in the cosmos.

Maybe the only way to answer this question is to look at the other stars around us. What is the closest star to Sol? The answer is obvious. We turn our sights as we start to leave the lonely star. We no longer need to be bathed in its holy light. Humanity has found other worlds. We gave up on Earth, and it is time to venture outward.

We watch together as we leave Sol. It begins to get farther and farther away. Traveling faster than any individual has ever gone before, we watch as Sol, Mercury, and the other planets of the Sol system vanish from our sight. It is nothing but a grain of sand in the Milky Way Galaxy. Further and further we go, we see that even if Sol is a G-Type star, it is nothing. It produces white light, but then it is barely noticed. Instead, we see numerous stars all around us. Big, small, it doesn’t matter. The galaxy is enormous.

As we turn away from the insignificant sight of Sol, we see that we are zooming into a nearby star. In fact, it isn’t just one star; it is three. It is located over four light-years away from Sol. The nearby star system is aptly named Alpha Centauri. What looks like a single star actually has two stars that are caught in perpetual orbit from each other. The biggest is named Alpha Centauri A. It is a G-Type star, much like Sol but slightly bigger. The sister star, Alpha Centauri B, is a K-type star but is somewhat smaller than Sol.

This star system alone has already warranted human exploration. Humans wanted to investigate this system for a long time. Four light years seemed like a hopping distance, but the fact was that it was impossible to reach on conventional drives. Four light-years might as well be a death sentence to travel. The speed of light, the fastest known method of travel, took four years to reach it. Regardless, we get to the point where we see the two stars as they stand together proud, locked in an eternal dance together.

Surprisingly, though, this star cluster has another star in it, and it is this that we zoom in on. It is a small star and has a reddish glow to it. It is orbiting both the two stars like it was caught and perpetually trapped with the dancing sisters. It is an M-type star, also known as a red dwarf. These are the smaller stars of the galaxy. They are so dim that we can barely see it. The red dwarfs are much smaller than Sol, and it will be these stars that last the longest of them all. Both Alpha Centauri A and B will be reduced to white dwarfs while this red dwarf star still continues on.

The name of this small star is Proxima Centauri, and it is the closest star to Sol. It would not be discovered until at least 1915. It was so dim that the other two stars overtook it quickly. Thankfully, this is not an issue for us as we get closer to the red dwarf. It may be dim, but it has an exciting look to it. With it being so faint, the heat is less intense and produces a red glow for the light spectrum. We have to get closer and closer to the point that we are near it.

We are still listening to the sounds of the cosmos. You can hear the change in the sounds as you listen to it. Red dwarf stars often create a deep purr sound to it. There would be a slight ring that would resonate up and down while the purr continues. Unfortunately, the heat given off is much less than Sol. Red dwarfs are so cool that tungsten can possibly withstand its temperatures. There are advantages and disadvantages to these tiny little stars that make up the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy.