The Last of Us
Joshua Stewart
// DAYS SINCE LAUNCH: 2938
It was my final day on Iebos. We had finished gathering resources from the planet over a four-year period. Earth was a dying planet. Natural resources were running extremely low as the population and demand for power increased. There were plans to relocate most of the world’s population to Iebos, a planet capable of sustaining human life, however this proved to be impossible, as there were not enough resources left on Earth to sustain the crew over the four-year journey to the newly found planet. Instead, the leaders of the world came together and established a program, where enormous ships, known as Voyagers, would embark on the journey with its 5,000 passengers and gather resources from Iebos, where they would be transported back to Earth. It was a stable program, and gave life on Earth a second chance. It was up to us, a crew 5,000 strong, to bring back the resources necessary to sustain human life, and save humanity from extinction.
I made my way to the command room to notify the pilots that we were clear for departure, before meeting up with Violet, second in command, in the dining hall. We sat at our regular spot, a small table by a grand window that peered into the calm silence of space. We were both ready to head home, eager to pick up where we left off. The ship began to tremble as the large thrusters ignited, and a voice over the intercom announced the long-awaited news: Home time.
// DAYS SINCE LAUNCH: 3682
I had just finished my meal, when there was a loud banging on the door of my cabin. I opened the door and Violet stood there, distraught, short of breath, pointing towards the large window in the hallway.
“Captain, you need to see this.”
Before me, floated the signal of a lost Earth.
Voyager 6, the previous ship before us, floated in space, destroyed. It was in pieces, bombarded by a sea of asteroids. The ship that carried enough resources to sustain life on Earth for twelve years, lay waste in the void of space. Debris and resources orbited around the wreck. A chilling science fell over the crew, as more and more people came to the window.
“Does this mean…” Violet said before losing herself in disbelief.
I turned to the growing crowd. “Everyone back to their stations” – but no one moved.
The faces of over a hundred people stood shocked, unable to come to terms with what was out there. I looked at Violet, who’s face had turned a ghostly white, then back to the gathering.
“We will arrange for teams to search the vessel and recover any survivors and resources that can be of use. For now, we must all remain calm and sit tight for the rest of the journey.” The crowd began to murmur, while many remained stunned. I pushed my way through the sea of people and towards the control room, Violet close behind. This was bad, very bad. We had teams search and recover resources and passengers from Voyager 6, before reporting back to the control room.
“Sir, we managed to recover 300 tonnes of...
