Chapter 9: Martinez

Saturday, July 23rd. 2050

Captain Martinez flies from the engine room, his inspection of the EmA Drive left unfinished as he races towards the bridge. Face flushed he leaps through the open hatch, ignoring the steps in his haste. Skidding to an abrupt halt at the communications desk, waving away the young woman currently attending, he falls heavily into the chair. In a slightly breathless voice he speaks.

"Martinez here. Report." Momentary static erupts as his transmission leaps its way towards the ISS Research station.

"Thank God!" A voice sounds over the speaker. Her voice high pitched and panicked. "No one else has answered. You need to prep for launch and get word out Captain. You've got less than three weeks before it'll be too late to launch!"

The Captains breathes slowly, calming himself as he replies. "Have you had any contact from Mission Control ISS?" He asks, for now ignoring what the panicked, disembodied voice had cried out.

"No. We saw a massive meteor hit Texas dead on. All that's left is a crater." A muffled sob emanates from the speaker "They're gone."

Speaking in a gentle tone, Captain Martinez responds. "What's your name? Is the Commander available?"

Another sob escapes from her lips as she responds to the query. He can almost feel the negative shake of her head. "No. He was outside doing a patch up of a command unit when the meteor shower started. He..." She pauses, more muffled sobs emanating from the speaker and Martinez could already tell what she was going to say. "He didn't make it. A micro meteor pierced his suit."

"What's your name?" Martinez asks. Hoping with his calm words he can get through to the woman at the other end of space.

"Pilot Melissa Anderson Sir. Second in Command." She heaves a shuddering sigh and the sobs retreat. The naming of herself and her position seeming to help her regain control. "Captain, this is imperative. However you can get word out. We need to launch. As many of the ships that are viable, full or not, they NEED to launch!"

Martinez asks the one question he really does not want to know the answer to, fearing the answer, knowing already that life was about to change for the worst. The young woman's obvious panic and terror bleeding through the airwaves. "Why?"

Anderson's shaky voice responds in a quiet whisper. "One of the scientists found a meteor heading for earth. Captain... It's as big as a small fucking planet! Magnitudes bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs." her voice shakes and Martinez can hear her taking a deep breath. "There's no chance of it missing earth. No matter where or how it hits, earth is dead. It's not the volcanoes that are going to do us in. The planet can survive that, even if we can't. But this... This monster is going to smash it to pieces!" Her voice breaks at the end, she's sobbing now, uncontrollable hiccupping sobs that penetrate Martinez's calm exterior.

Looking around the bridge at the ghost white faces of his bridge crew Martinez feels tears streaming down his cheeks. All of his life had been in preparation for leaving earth. He'd grown up listening to stories of how it used to be, before the volcanoes. Of how the sun used to stream down plentiful sunlight. Of green fields and copses of trees as far as the eyes could see. By the time he had been born, the world was already gasping its final breath. The ash and debris already starting to filter out the sunlight as he grew up. But still, this was his home, and he, like everyone else had someday hoped that humanity could return to the planet that had birthed them.

External sobs penetrated his mournful musings and snapped him back to the present. Once again he looked about the bridge, at the tearful faces surrounding him.

"Well fuck!"