“I don’t know if this recording will ever be heard, but in a little while I’m going to hit “send” anyhow. I figure there is a chance, despite the transmission we received months ago. Lou said things on Earth had gone to shit and we might not hear from mission control again, much less expect a supply mission. “You’re on your own. Good luck. I promise if there is any way…” These were the last words we heard. I’ve played them back in my mind hundreds of times since then. Well, it’s down to me, and I haven’t got long. We were supposed to be on our way home by now, but that clearly wasn’t in the cards.
We observed multiple flashes in Earth’s atmosphere – then radio silence. Lou wasn’t kidding. We watched our beautiful blue marble turn a hideous grey. Apparently, tribalism won, and humanity lost. If anyone ever gets back to Mars someday, I hope they find us. We’ve done our best to preserve our research. It was an honor to be on this mission even though our leaders turned out to be pompous self-absorbed fools. It’s a shame so many good people had to die because these men and their supporters always feel the need to prove some goddam political point. Not that there could ever be a good reason to nuke an entire planet. And not that it even matters who started it. All I can say is that some people wanted to live in the dark ages more than they wanted to find positive ways to use technology. I had hoped homo sapiens would have chosen rationality. Instead, too many people chose prejudice and superstition. Hundreds of nuclear explosions are proof of that. The next time a human might set foot on another world might be thousands of years in the future, if at all.
Lev died a couple of hours ago. One by one, the best crew to ever volunteer for a mission lost their lives. My friends and I spent decades preparing for this mission. We worked through our differences. We learned to live together in peace. Why is this so damn hard for political parties and nations? It seems to me all the so-called great countries on Earth should have tried harder. Or at least their leaders should have pulled their blinders off long enough to see the bigger picture – Earth as we have seen it. Lev and I didn’t agree on everything, but we still had each other’s backs.
Life support has been failing for weeks. We did our best to keep things running. We rationed food and water. But we knew our supplies wouldn’t last forever. Lev and I made sure the others had proper burials – even the two who walked outside to die, holding hands and staring towards Earth. We agreed that the last man standing would send a message to Earth before the power went out. That task has fallen to me. If I’m found someday, please bury me next to Lev. He was like a brother to me. He saved my ass more times than I can count. We can live for two weeks without food, a few days without water, and only a minute or so without air. Even so, I’m sure none of us can make it without friends like Lev.
It was hard to watch my team giving up hope, resigning themselves to the inevitable. It seems to me things didn’t have to end this way. The Earth died in a conflagration of arrogance – caused by small-minded men who understood very little about the universe, but still wanted to be the Master of it. In their quest to gain power over others, these frightened little men exploited science and technology. But what is the point of taking power when the weapons used to take it end up destroying those you seek to control? This is also true for weapons other than nuclear, chemical, and biological. If you use disinformation, dishonesty, and disenfranchisement to gain power, what will you really have in the end? Followers? Minions? Death cult members? Lies can be as destructive as guns and bombs, given enough time, because without lies, people will have little motivation to use guns and bombs.
People will wage war only if they can be persuaded to de-humanize the so-called enemy. If the man who would be Master can convince his followers that those who choose not to follow him are all evil or are mere animals or insects that “deserve” to be slaughtered, he can perpetrate all kinds of atrocities in the name of making his country great. He can even justify the use of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. Or he can convince people to ignore the warning signs and destroy the Earth over a longer time. It turned out the Earth did not have that kind of time. Neither do I…
I can’t go on much longer. I’m using the last of the oxygen to record this message. I am angry, sick, exhausted, no…completely heartbroken by the actions of those we all should have been able to trust with our lives. The end has come, just as we were beginning to hope that our mission might show everyone that people from many countries can work together for everyone’s benefit. Well, as far as I’m concerned, WE did! It’s a damn shame so many others couldn’t or wouldn’t. Somehow I don’t think God will forgive them.
There is very little oxygen left…Now, I suppose I miss the little things we all took for granted. Things we used to call routine. Hugging my wife. Going out to lunch. Taking a walk. Looking up at the sky. Picking up the kids. Listening to music. Even mildly annoying things. Helping in the garden. Washing dishes. Cleaning the house. Changing a lightbulb. Mowing the lawn. This morning, I told Lev I really miss mowing the lawn…”
MurrayWorks 