A Golden Connection

Joe drank his coffee and the smell brought back memories; A cup of Joe for my little Joe, his mother used to say to him. She named him Joe for that very reason, it was an Earthly phrase that his grandfather used to use and it always made her think of him. He thought of her as he washed his cup and returned to his locker to suit up for day 3 of the sub-station cleanup project he and his team were finishing.

While they were en route to their destination, he peered out through the small windows at the blue and white mass that always stared right back amidst the black abyss of space and stars and old satellites floating around. He had never been to Earth, he had spent his entire life on the Station. Originally outfitted as a space station turned into a research center, it was quickly built out to be a full capacity residence to house the thousands of people escaping Earth from the aftermath of the Disaster Wars. In the midst of rapidly accelerating climate change some people had figured out how to manipulate, and even cause certain natural disasters. Originally funded by dark characters with money, then used by governments, in the 2060s and 70s the Earth lost over half of its population from these events. Once the wars eventually subsided, some people moved to the remaining habitable areas on Earth, and some just fled Earth altogether. This was the only fully residential station, others were made or retrofitted to work strictly as backup supply or satellite stations for space data collection. Some were eventually abandoned and in need of repairs.

Joe was 10 minutes into cleaning his assigned area when he noticed something shiny peeking out from behind a hole in one of the lockers. He pulled the locker back and saw a small necklace that had a golden heart-shaped pendant on the end. It was so well preserved from being locked up in an oxygen-less station, he had never seen anything so beautiful and delicate. He also noticed a black, flat object laying on the ground. He bent over to pick it up, and realized that it was one of those older Earth smart tablets. Wow, would that even work here anymore? Cross-communication devices were banned 15 years ago after the Station and Earth almost blew each other up in an intense 3-day ordeal, after tensions ran high when a group of Earth insurgents held Command at gunpoint demanding more support, supplies and transport capsules to allow more people to transfer to the Station. They were apprehended and sent back to Earth, and after that only Command was allowed to have any contact with Earth to avoid any more potential attacks. In fact, there had heard rumors in passing that Station is actively working to dissociate from Earth altogether, and move further out into Space.

Although they were supposed to dispose of everything during the cleanup, sometimes the crew would find things of interest and would hang on to them like little souvenirs. He snuck the locket and device into his utility suit's inner pockets and boarded the vessel back to base.

As he climbed into bed later he pulled out the locket and examined it. There was a slight gap on the side, and he realized the locket opened, and it opened up to a small micro USB inside. Curious about the contents, the next day he used some wires and chargers he managed to scour up, and by a miracle is able to get the tablet to power on. He plugged in the USB and spends the next couple of hours looking at photos and videos of someone named Joanna. Her graduation from university, her partying with her friends, her house surrounded by unbelievably green grass and full-bodied trees underneath a blue sky, instead of the steel ceilings Joe was used to. A time and world that he had a hard time picturing, a hard time imagining how it would feel to breath fresh air and run around a field unobstructed by walls, doors, or electrical warning fields. They learned briefly about the Before-Times in school on the Station, but their education was more focused on being positive about their life here and learning useful subjects that would make them all crucial members of the new Station society. Joe had never known anything else, he could only relate to these images via the stories they were told and the keepsakes the older generations brought aboard.

Joe spent the next several days after work looking through Joanna’s life. After hours one night, he went into one of the Station’s libraries and searched the living and deceased records for anyone named Joanna aboard the ship. Unfortunately, he found her record in the deceased list. Apparently, she and several others died due to oxygen failure aboard an escape capsule 15 years ago that was departing from the same sub-station he just cleaned out last week. Back at his quarters, he later was able to find her last communication to others which was personal email exchanges to someone on Earth named Cassie.

So he decided to send Cassie a message.

"Hi Cassie, I found your information on a device formerly owned by someone named Joanna. If you receive this, let me know. Today is 6/21/2098. My name is Joe and I work on the Station above Earth."

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Several weeks went by and he didn’t hear anything, he tried sending a few messages with hopes that it would warrant a response. Truthfully Joe didn’t really know why he sent the messages. Maybe Cassie was still alive, or maybe she wasn’t and someone else would see the messages. He had never been this excited or nervous about anything in his entire life, to be able to communicate with someone on actual Earth, where no one else was allowed to! But alas, no response. He lost a little confidence in the fact that Cassie was even out there, or that he could even reach anyone on Earth or that they would believe him. He started to feel like an idiot for even thinking this could work.

It didn’t matter though, because Joe was now promoted to the cleanup crew to assist Construction in cleaning out old stations and building new ones. He spent the next several months adjusting to his new demanding role away from the Station and living in temporary housing. As he spent 12-14 hours a day for the next 6 months in heavy space suits and mending old parts into usable ones for construction work, he couldn’t stop thinking about all the images of Before Earth. He was so used to staring at the blue and white mass amidst a wash of blackness and stars, that he was now more than ever thinking about what it looked like from their point of view. Of Joanna and Cassie and their laughter, friendships, problems, worries, goals, dreams, all dashed within such a short span of time. What did they feel? How did they feel it? Did they see it coming, or if they didn't, how did they manage to escape? Where did Cassie end up? And what about the million or so other Earthers that were left behind? What did those first few years look like for them once the tsunamis and earthquakes and volcanoes wrecked their lives as they knew them? Life on the Station was calculated out of necessity, they had special counseling for virtually everything now, but there were no such protocols on Earth. How could one get used to a disaster they did not see coming or prepare for? Earth life was so fascinating and unpredictable compared to the Station.

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6 months into the new job, Joe started to feel a lingering sense of dread on a daily basis. No matter what he did on Station, he would always be there-on Station. Forever, working whatever jobs he was either assigned or even if he could pivot anywhere else, it would always be on that giant revolving rig. Everything was for the benefit and survival of the Station. We have nowhere else to go, they always said. And maybe they were right. But it didn’t make Joe feel any better about his life prospects there. Probably the same way Cassie and Joanna felt at some point before their demise.

Finally on his last day he re-boarded Station in the middle of the night well after everyone else was asleep, and as he climbed into bed he noticed the tablet was on. He must have forgotten to turn it off before he left because it was still plugged in and working. He opened it and immediately froze from what he saw on the screen.

Cassie sent him two messages during those 6 months:

“Joe, how did you know Joanna?”

“Joe, who are you on the Station? How long have you been up there? We haven’t had open contact with anyone up there in years....”

Joe couldn’t believe this, he was shaking and blurry eyed from excitement, until the confusing thought ran across his mind, now what? He thought for several minutes on where this could possibly lead. She could be a simple Earth person who just wants to find Joanna, or she could be a spy. But if she couldn’t get here, then what did it matter if she was a spy? Then Joe could spy back, right? His mind was running in circles.

Finally, he replied,

“I work in the maintenance division here on Station. I was cleaning out an abandoned sub-station and found a golden locket that had a USB with all of her info on it, as well as her old communication device. It turned on and your name was the last person Joanna spoke to, so I figured I could reach out to let you know that she died shortly after she arrived up here. Sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but I don’t know anyone else up here that has contact with Earth and thought it would be interesting to talk to someone from down there.”

Joe and Cassie continued to correspond daily for several months thereafter.

15 years later, New Tokyo, Earth

Joe walked backstage of the large auditorium, and as he turned the corner a dark-haired woman was walking in his direction. They both stopped mere feet from each other, and within seconds a mutual understanding occurred.

“Cassie!”, “Joe!” They embraced. “It took 15 years, can you believe it?” Cassie said. Joe exhaled, and said, “Yes, and I can’t believe we are here, and about to give a speech about how we helped restart the Earth-Station relationship. I mean what a way to go, but I can’t believe what one mishap achieved!”

“What do you mean?” Cassie asked.

Joe reached into his pocket, and pulled out the locket. “I was planning on giving this to you if we met, but if I’m honest, I think it’s been my good luck charm all these years.”

Cassie laughed and pushed his hand away, “It was yours the minute you found it on that abandoned station Joe. It led you to me, and me to you, and us from surviving to push our peoples back together and fight for a better future. This locket that you found? It made me and thousands of others believe in hope again. Don’t ever forget that Joe.”

They both smiled and held each other for a few moments, before breaking apart and heading out to the stage together. As they turned the hallway, Joe stopped at a window to look up at the blue sky and catch the twinkle of the Station’s lights in the atmosphere. He smiled, squeezed the locket in his pocket and kept walking.