The World of Myth Magazine

The results of the initial data analysis were quite clear. The second and third run of the data yielded the same results. After the fourth attempt, there was no denying the prediction. The Prime Minister of Nations United for Survival could not delay any longer. She proposed that stage one of Operation Evacuation commence immediately. The rest of the members of the executive committee agreed unanimously. There was only one solution.

Within a day, funding was diverted from nearly all existing projects. Programs designed to improve infrastructure or quality of life were abandoned. A workforce consisting of hundreds of millions of people from all around the Earth were assigned duties. In factories and warehouses, construction of an immense fleet of spaceships began. Mankind was going to be leaving its home.

Three months later the Prime Minister made the official announcement to the entire population of the planet. Seven families gathered at the home of Aaron Severson for the broadcast. Very families still owned working televisions. The Severson's were fortunate that their set had remained operative for much longer than expected.

The audience, crammed into the living room of the Severson home, watched, and listened in silence as the Prime Minister described the plan.

"It is with a heavy heart that I need to inform you that all calculations indicate that the planet Earth will reach a point where it will no longer support human life within a decade." As she spoke, the Prime Minister paused to allow translations to be distributed. There was a noticeable sadness in her tone. "All data points to a complete breakdown of the o-zone, droughts, and deadly radiation. Mankind will not survive on this planet. To survive, we must leave. In order to do so, we have to direct all of our resources towards the construction and deployment of vessels which will allow some of us to begin an incredible journey: a search for a new home. Every resource on the planet will be used to build ships capable of interstellar travel. In five years, we will begin the great migration. We will save as many people as possible."

Aaron Severson knew the end was coming. He had not realized it was this imminent. The last fifty years had been very rough for the inhabitants of Earth. The northern and southern portions of the planet had been devastated by flooding as the polar ice caps melted. Entire countries were underwater. Severe droughts had transformed almost all of Africa and many parts of South America into desert wastelands. Earth barely resembled what it was one hundred years prior. Mankind's way of life had changed just as drastically. Wars, famine, and natural catastrophes along with strict laws designed to reduce the number of children born each year had dropped the planet's population to under two billion.

Aaron surveyed the room. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged as he looked at his wife, Victoria. He knew she felt just as helpless as he did. Their one child, Andrea, was eight years old. She was at the worse possible age for this news. She was old enough to understand what it meant, yet not old enough to know how to deal with it. Aaron could see tears welling in the child's eyes as she sat on her mother's lap. He knew what was about to come would not be easy.

"Did you hear they are going to use a lottery to choose who gets to go?" asked Charlie Walker as Aaron helped him lift an automobile bumper and toss it onto the conveyor belt which would carry the metal scraps to the melting furnace.

"Yes," shouted Aaron in reply. The roaring of motors and the clattering of debris being tossed by hundreds of workers made conversation difficult. That didn't deter Charlie. He liked to talk.

"Doesn't seem fair to me," continued Charlie. "Everyone is working day and night to build this fleet of ships, yet only some of us will get to go."

"Do the math," answered Aaron. "Even if we build every possible ship there still won't be enough room or supplies for everyone. Some people are going to have to be left behind."

The pair turned and walked back to the pile of scavenged metal. The city was unrecognizable in the background. Chicago was systematically being dismantled. Every useable piece of metal, plastic, or electronics was being cannibalized to create parts for the massive ships being constructed in orbit around the planet. Aaron swore the multitude of ships being built were beginning to block the sun, giving a feeling of dusk even during the middle of the day.

"Well, with all the riots, terrorism and suicide cults the population has to be getting close to that low."

"I'm afraid not, Charlie. Even with the ban on new children and the reinstitution of the death penalty, there are still too many people."

"But I heard they're not going to take the elderly. No one over sixty-years of age is going to get to go."

Aaron shook his head. "Even if that is true, there are still going to be healthy people left behind."

"Well, I'm not going to be one of them," scoffed Charlie. "With all the work I'm doing on these ships, I think me, and my family deserve to go."

"You definitely do. I hope you get to."

The amount of power that was going to be needed for the pilgrimage to other worlds was unfathomable. Solar and wind power plants seemed to spring into existence overnight. Other factories worked around the clock creating fuel for the shuttle vehicles that would take the selected travelers to their vessels. In order to conserve power and resources, the only television broadcasts were thirty-minute-long weekly information briefings. As usual, a crowd of people gathered at the Severson home to watch. Unlike the initial broadcast, almost four years earlier, the audience did not give their complete attention to the screen. Aaron could hear whispered conversations and debates all around him.

"They say the engines that make the jump to hyperspace are nuclear. I'm worried about radiation on the ships."

"There was another terrorist attack on the Seattle building site."

"Did you hear about the secret construction sites. I wonder what they are building there."

"Someone told me that they have already found the coordinates of an acceptable planet."

Aaron moved over to sit by Andrea. She was now twelve years old and was emotionally mature beyond her years. There were no longer any public schools in operation. The government felt that the money and resources that would have been used on education could be better spent in preparation for the migration. There would be plenty of time for schooling while in space or on the next homeland. Andrea spent her days helping her mother with whatever preparatory duties they were assigned.

"How you doing. Pumpkin?" asked Aaron as he sat down next to his daughter.

"I'm OK," was her reply. "I can't wait till this is all over and life can return to normal."

"To be honest," Aaron philosophized, "I don't think any of us have ever experienced normal. We live in a very tough time."

"Hey, the Prime Minister is talking," announced someone sitting near the television.

All eyes turned toward the screen. The Prime Minister only made addresses when something important was happening.

"By our count, there will need to be five hundred million people left on Earth when the migration begins next year. Essential personnel have already been assigned positions on ships. The rest of the positions will be filled by a lottery which will begin in the very near future. However, I would like to announce that I am volunteering to remain on Earth and give my spot to another. We would like to know if any others are willing to follow my lead. If you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and allow another to have the chance to travel to a new world, you will have that opportunity."

"Not after all the work I've done," said Charlie.

Aaron smiled. He could have guessed that that would be Charlie's response. He, on the other hand, was going to give the offer serious consideration.

The Severson's sat around their scratched and uneven kitchen table. Aaron looked into the eyes of the two women who were the most important parts of his life. He knew that Victoria was already in agreement. He was not certain about Andrea.

"So, the NUFS has made it official that it has to be entire families who decide to stay."

"That seems like a stupid rule," interjected Andrea.

"I think they don't want people on the ships being depressed because they miss their family members," suggested Victoria. "I really don't get it either."

Aaron decided to just say what he was thinking; rip the bandage off, so to speak. "I want us to seriously consider opting out of the lottery and remaining here. We can stay here and help the older people and others left behind. They are going to need help. Someone to keep them comfortable until the end."

Victoria took Aaron's hand and nodded. "I will do whatever you think, Aaron. There are lots of people who deserve to go on the journey more than me. I'm nothing special, but I can do what I can to help."

"You are more than special," said Aaron. His eyes were red, heavy with bottled up tears. He looked to his daughter. "I can't ask you to stay. I know you are feeling pressure to follow our lead, but believe me, if you want to go into the lottery, we will go into the lottery."

"I don't want to die, Dad. But many people are going to die on the ships too. I'm not stupid, I know how dangerous and tough going up there is going to be. Does it make me a bad person, that I want to try and survive?"

"Not at all. It makes you normal." Victoria moved to hug her daughter. "We can apply for the lottery," concluded Aaron.

"No, wait," interrupted Andrea. "I think we should stay. I don't want to be a hero or anything, but if we can help those that are left here and give someone else a chance, we should."

"Be sure that you agree. Don't just say it because that is what you think we want you to say." The tears continued to flow from Aaron's eyes as the trio came together in an embrace. They stayed in each other's arms for a long time. They were held together physically and bonded by love.

The day of the first launch came more rapidly than anyone thought possible. Aaron, Victoria, and Andrea sat in a vacant lot that had once been an automobile dealership and watched as shuttle after shuttle transported passengers from the ground to the orbiting vessels. Other volunteers and several older individuals were also gathered to watch the beginning of the evacuation.

"There goes humanities last hope," said a young woman sitting near the family.

"Why'd you chose to stay?" asked Andrea. There had been enough volunteers to remain on the planet that the lottery had never been invoked.

"I stayed to take care of my mother. She doesn't deserve to be left alone on a dying planet. Why would a family like you remain?" The woman's expression was caught somewhere between curiosity and admiration.

"We thought we could do more here. And if someone else, who desperately wanted to go, went in our place, we are okay with that."

Aaron beamed with pride at the answer his daughter gave.

They all gazed toward the heavens. The evening sky was peppered with thousands of what looked like tiny new stars. Nearly thousands of ships were preparing to begin a convoy through space. Most would be packed with a new generation of explorers. Others would carry necessary supplies and valuable fuel. They would leave behind a depleted home world. The construction of the ships and all of the subsidiary necessities had stripped the Earth of almost all of its valuable materials. The brave, compassionate soles who remained were left with very little resources on their doomed planet.

The Prime Minister knew when and where to look. It had been three weeks since the last of the fleet of ships had left. As she contemplated the sky, a single tear ran down her cheek. She knew what she had done had been necessary. The data was indisputable. Still, the pangs of guilt were almost unbearable. She had condemned millions of people to certain death.

As she looked on, the Prime Minister noticed the first minuscule flash of light. It was soon followed by two more. In seconds, a small section of space, millions of miles away was engulfed with explosions as one ship after another self-destructed. The supply ships had not been carrying what everyone believed. Some of these ships held nuclear warheads set to create a chain reaction of destruction through the entire flotilla. Others had been filled with radioactive waste and other refuse that needed to be eradicated if the Earth was going to have any chance to cure itself. The planet was doomed without the removal of the garbage and poisons. It also needed to have its population purged by a significant amount.

The Prime Minister told herself, for the thousandth time, that the people left behind would now have a chance to save and remake the world. They were the best that mankind had to offer. They were the compassionate ones: the people who truly cared. Operation Evacuation had been a success.

She glanced around to determine if she was truly alone. Once certain, the Prime Minister reached into her pocket and extracted a small bottle which contained a single pill. It would only take one pill.

Aaron and Victoria worked in the field until the sun had nearly set. Finally, Aaron glanced at his lovely wife and nodded his head. "We better head back to the house. Andrea, Mark, and the kids should be there pretty soon."

They walked, hand in hand, through the newly planted cornfield. It had been twelve years since the fleet of ships had left for the stars. No one knew what had become of the new age pilgrims. Maybe they had found a planet and were enjoying a satisfying life on a new world. Here, the predicted earthquakes and storms had never taken place. Each day, those who had remained expected to face the end of the world. It never came. Instead, each day the air got a little cleaner, the sun a little brighter. Day after day, mankind survived.

Aaron often felt as if he and the others were the ones who were settlers on a new world. This was their new normal. They were assigned the task of caring for and nurturing the planet.

As he and Victoria crested the hill behind their home, they could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the front yard. Before long, a toddler emerged around the corner of the house and began to stagger towards them as only a toddler could. Squeals of joy were followed by a happy greeting.

"Grampa, Gramma"

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