There was dead silence as the announcement came over the intercom.
"This is your Captain speaking. The official remembrance of Earth Day begins now. The next twelve hours should be spent in reflection of what has been lost."
We had all been waiting for it. Every year we gathered in small groups throughout the ship to listen, to mourn. If you chose, you could look up the history of Earth Day in the ships database, it was once a very different holiday. Once it was a celebration of nature, a celebration of people of all nations coming together with the goal of preserving our original home, the planet Earth.
Now, the first 12 hours are a time of mourning, of remembrance of what we lost. It turns out that the good work done by the environmentalists didn't amount to much. They saved the planet from humans, pollution was a thing of the past by 2094, Global Warming had been addressed and several solutions were making progress but in the end, none of that mattered at all. They were unable to save the planet from non-humans.
If it hadn't been for some very forward thinking people, one of my ancestors among them, humanity would be extinct. A multinational group of people, many of them the richest people on the planet, got together and started funding a colonization initiative. They were frustrated at the direction things were going on Earth and were worried enough to believe that the answer to Earths problems was to move to a planet whose resources were not running out, a place to start over. Even after the tide had turned on Global Warming they continued, fearing that overpopulation would bring the problem back before long.
It was a long search to find another planet that would support human life without extensive terraforming, the technology for which was sadly lacking. As the search went on for years, the group as a whole decided to concentrate the majority of funding on space ships for a colonization fleet. It turned out to be a very lucky thing that they did. Only nine of the proposed forty ships were completed and manned when the attack came in, seven made it out of the maelstrom of attacking enemy ships.
I watched the footage from the archives database. I felt, as a founding family member, it was my responsibility to do so. There had been some warnings, deep space probes disappearing, communications lost from the mining ships in the asteroid belt, but no one knew what it meant. People were scared though, scared enough to mob the colonization ships trying to get on board. Against all orders to the contrary, my ancestor, along with his wife and some close friends who were Captain's on other ships, opened the doors and allowed anyone to board who wanted to. The corporate offices were threatening them but he had a feeling that time was short, too short to wait for the registered people to travel to the boarding sites. The only Ship Captains who followed orders were still loading their elite passengers when the first enemy ships were spotted in atmosphere. Our ship, Avalon, and six of Her sisters had loaded themselves over capacity with anyone able to board and took off, headed for deep space. As our ships left Earth they recorded the attack and subsequent destruction of our planet, our home.
How we escaped the enemy sensors is still a mystery all these years later. Maybe they were so wrapped up in their killing frenzy they were distracted, maybe the drive systems of our ships were invisible to them, no one knows. We headed into deep space, running from an enemy we knew nothing about, with no idea where we were going.
The first years of exile were tough. The ships stayed in constant communication and came up with a governing council that included the six Captains, the one corporate officer lucky enough to be on board, and an elected representative from each ship's population. Humanity had gone from a population of 16 billion to a little over 2 million, from an assortment of nations with many different types of government to a council of thirteen ruling all. Discipline was brutal; it had to be for survival. With every ship over capacity the life support systems were struggling and food was rationed. A previously unknown virus swept through one ship, the Cape May, killing 94% of its inhabitants before a counter-virus was discovered. Three years after the destruction of Earth, the ship Putin was lost with all hands when it struck something the sensors missed while making a Translation, a small inner system jump used for navigation purposes. Things were looking very bleak for the survival of Humanity.
Eventually things got better. People got used to living in space ships, a very different life than planet side, the scientists and medical staff worked wonders. Generations passed. All we know now is ship life. If we ever do find a planet to live on, most people will be unsuited to do so. There is a plan in place to incorporate living on a new Earth if we ever find one but who knows if it will be effective, it is untested. National identities have been replaced by ship identities, but we still use Old Earth times, dates, and measurements. It is one of the many ways we try to keep our memories alive, even after all this time, of our lost home.
Another way we do this is our yearly Earth Day remembrance. We gather, everyone except absolutely essential personnel are off-duty, we remember, and we mourn what was lost for twelve hours. The second twelve hours are an insane party. At least 60% of new births can be traced back to the yearly celebration. Half a day of mourning and half a day to celebrate that we are still here. To celebrate that we will go on, that Humanity will survive.
Birth rates are strictly controlled but generally, a family will be permitted one offspring per adult family member. My Brother Husband and I share three Sister Wives giving us an allowance of five children, two of which have been born, one on the way and two to come eventually. Joe and I were best friends throughout training and it was a foregone conclusion that we would start a family unit together. The two of us are very different in looks; he is blonde, 6'2" and wide all over, I am 5'9", slim and muscular with dark hair. Our personalities though, we have the same sense of humor, similar interests, and can practically read each other's minds. Our friendship started when I was walking down a corridor and saw two boys picking on a third. I was big for my age due to an early growth spurt and I intervened. Beating up two boys got me in a lot of trouble but Joe, who had been on the receiving end of the bully's wrath, stuck by me and eventually we became fast friends. Three years later Joe hit his growth spurt and what a growth spurt it was. He rocketed up to his 6'2" size and seemed to get wider every day. Now he was the one who was protecting me. I had been a lonely boy with no siblings and Joe became my brother.
We met Ashiri in training as well. She was a gawky little thing who had never been on a date until Joe asked her out. The first time he introduced us I fell for her hard. I kept my distance and tried to forget what I was feeling but eventually Joe confronted me. He wanted his best friend and girlfriend to get along. I confessed my feelings for her figuring our friendship was over. Imagine my surprise when they started taking me out on dates together. Joe told me that any woman who tried to get between us wasn't worth dating. Ashiri agreed whole heartedly and dated us both. Eventually the shy gawky girl grew into a goddess of Indian descent, with smooth mocha skin, long black hair usually braided in a plait, and an elegantly slim body. She proposed to us after we completed training and we gave her an enthusiastic yes.
A year after we married she presented us with a Sister Wife from the ship The Amazon, a woman she had met while visiting her brother who lives there with his husband. Julie is a petite redhead with adorable freckles everywhere on her body. Her pale skin looks perfect with her bright red hair and she is deliciously curvy. Her full round breasts and big bubble butt turn heads wherever we go. When our wife called us to say she was bringing company home we were shocked. It was out of character for her. We picked her up at the air lock and before I knew it I was bowled over by a vision of loveliness. Looking at my wife in shock as I was being thoroughly kissed by this tiny woman I saw her laughing at me.
"This is Julie" Ashiri said with a smile, "She's really friendly."
Joe was having a laugh as well until Julie let me go and jumped into his arms to kiss him. None of us had ever met a person with more energy, or more love in her heart. She asked to marry into our family within a week of following Ashiri to our ship to meet Joe and me. Six months later we had a second wedding ceremony.
Mina joined us ten years later. Her first husband had died in a shuttlecraft accident and she had thrown herself into work in her grief. Joe worked in the same department with her and over time they became friends. Once she began coming over for family dinners we all fell in love with her but it took her three years to ask to join us formally. She could have had anyone she pleased in her bed or her life, being a 6' tall blonde with a killer body will take you far in that regard, but she had been devastated when her husband died and it took a long time before she was ready. Julie was instrumental in getting her to open up and love again. Mina still works more hours than the rest of us sometimes and we worry about her constantly.
I am sure that many families don't take Earth Day as seriously as our family does, but having an ancestor who was an original Ship Captain gives one certain amount of responsibility. As the Eldest of the family I take the lead in family meetings and gatherings. We gathered in our family compartment, the seven of us, to complete our Earth Day ritual. Holding hands we sat in a semi-circle around a small patch of grass containing a single Daisy flower.
"Remember," I intoned.
"Remember," they repeated.
"There were parts of Earth that you could travel for days communing with nature without seeing another person. People used to take portable shelters out into the woods, far away from the cities, and spend time looking at the trees, the streams, and the mountains," I said wistfully. "They would cook their food on an open fire, called a campfire."
Rini our youngest, at only 6, put her hand up and spoke next. "There used to be thousands and thousands of types of animals. Big giant elephants, little tiny birds, and fish that lived in the ocean..." she began before being interrupted by her brother Sam who was 12 and convinced that his little sister never had anything good to contribute.
"There were so many animals that people kept them as pets and lived with them. Dogs and cats and birds..."
"Let your sister speak Sam," Mina corrected him. "It's her turn."
With a triumphant smile at her brother, Rini continued. "Some animals were pets but most lived in the wild. When the animals started dying we had to help them and that's why we fixed the en...envi"
"Environment?" I added helpfully.
"Environment," Rini finished.
Joe chimed in. "Fixing the environment was important for the people too, not just the animals." he said, smiling at Rini, "The people would have died too."
"My first home ship is named The Amazon. It was named after a huge river, and river basin in South America that was one of the last places on Earth that had hardly any cities, towns, or people. It was a wild place full of different animals and so many flowers and trees. People travelled from all over the world to see it," Julie added in her soft voice.
Ashiri sang a song she had composed for the occasion, a slow mournful tune about loss and hope for the future that had us all in tears. We remained silent for quite a while after that. All of us, even the kids, lost in our thoughts, our memories of a better time. Predictably it was Sam who broke the silence, but for once he seemed subdued.
"There were trees called red something that were hundreds of years old. They were huge and there was one that had a tunnel drilled in it that old time cars could drive through."
"They were called Redwoods," I added.
Mina stood up and clasped her hands in front of her heart and her eyes full of tears.
"We have all faced loss. Our home planet is gone, wiped out by a foe we never knew. Space is a dangerous place. We still lose people every year to accidents," she choked up for a minute before continuing. "But we cannot let that define us as a people, as a species. What should define us is our hope. Our hope for the future keeps us going when we want to give up. It was hope that saved humanity when Earth was attacked. It is hope that keeps us looking for a new planet to call home. "
We continued for hours, talking about Old Earth, about what each of us had learned in school, about trees and flowers, rivers and oceans, but most of all about hope. Tears were shed, laughter was heard and love was felt by all. Joe and Mina left for work at the six hour mark, to relive people in their section so that they could spend time with their own families. The kids left to visit friends after dinner. Julie, Ashiri, and I sat holding hands and remembering.
At the twelve hour mark the intercom chimed for attention.
"This is your Captain speaking. The official celebration of Earth Day begins now. The next 12 hours should be spent in celebration of life. Enjoy yourselves. Have fun. That's an order."
