I walked through the greenhouse. It had been my father’s, and his father’s. It has been passed down through generations for over 12,000 years since we escaped Earth. A greenhouse full of plants long since gone from that world. With the right optical system you could see Earth, orbiting the sun, roughly a billion miles away. A little blue dot.
Our missions to Earth told us there were over seven billion people there. I found it amazing how they’d recovered from the collapse that forced us to escape the planet.
They didn’t know about us. Didn’t know about their past, and their endless cycle of civilizations that rose, and then collapsed.
In 12,000 years on Titan the plants in the greenhouse had changed. We’d made the atmosphere in the greenhouses as Earth-like as possible, but it wasn’t a perfect match. The ground was totally different, with a completely different chemical makeup. The plants had grown, but they evolved to adapt to the new environment inside the domes on Titan. I enjoyed walking among them. I wondered if any of the species they’d evolved from still existed on Earth, and how they’d evolved there.
We’d find out soon enough. After 12,000 years, the people of Earth were fast approaching the same kind of catastrophic collapse we’d caused. We had a select group of ships that would collect a few of them, and move them to Callisto, around Jupiter. It would be a good place for them to start over.
That’s the thing about life. There’s always a chance to start over. A chance to learn, and correct the mistakes you once made. We’d made it off the planet. If they couldn’t escape, we’d rescue a few of them.
And everything on Earth would start again.
297 Words
@mysoulstears
It’s Week 107 of #SwiftFicFriday, hosted by Katheryn Avila. I’m still wondering what the heck is going on with this story. There seems to be only one way for me to find out. Anyway. Please go read all the entries in this week’s #SwiftFicFriday. They are always fun to read. And there are some great writers who show up regularly.
My Soul's Tears 
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