Georges

I grew up with a father, who was an engineer at EASE, the Earth Aeronautics and Space Exploration. My mother worked as a secretary for a major corporation. She never told me which company and if I asked, the response would be “It’s a secret” or “It’s top secret”. I just always thought it was a stock company or one of those companies that controlled the world.

My father was always busy with work, even at home, he would bring his work with him. Until he got a promotion, which allowed him to only check on and make suggestions to projects EASE members were working on. This meant he had more time for me. He let me use the rocket simulator the astronauts used to practice flying a rocket. I dreamt of becoming an astronaut or an engineer like my dad was.

But, in my early twenties, all of this would change. World War III broke out over a trade ban that would disallow shipments of any kind from China to enter the US. Most were against it, but mostly China who didn’t have a say in it. It was a ban, not a deal. Once the ban was set in place by the president, China shot missiles at the US. Only major cities like Los Angeles, New York, D.C., and Boston. I was sent into the draft. As of 2050, women were drafted, as well as men if a major war broke out. I was sent to Beijing to fight on the front lines.

After years of fighting, news broke that China was sending out a nuclear strike to the US. I was in the US when I heard, I was sending out messages to our troops in China. And once I sent out this one, I ran for the nearest EASE base and stole one of their rockets. I flew off, knowing the worst was yet to come. I put in the coordinates for the nearest habitable planet and I turned around toward the window to see nukes flying left and right at the US. I could see retaliations directed toward China and other Pacific island countries. I got news updates on my screen of the end. I cried knowing my family was going to perish. “Mom, Dad, if you can hear me, I love you and I always will,” I said. I turned off the screen.

Years later, I arrived on a planet that I called Georgan after my name. But why did it matter as I was the only human who would know about it and see it? The only human who would live on it. I stepped off the ship and were greeted by aliens, who I couldn’t understand since they spoke another language. I tried to speak phonetically, but they still didn’t understand. They took me to their ruler and they strapped on a device around my head and over my mouth. It was lip-shaped and had an ovacular screen on the front of it with sound waves. A little speaker was on the back, which I talked into and a female voice spoke. I had translated my auditory language into their language. I told them, “I seek shelter as my planet was destroyed by nuclear war.” They agreed and let me stay with a family. They fed me and clothed me until I died eighty years later.