She Tried To Kill Us.

I stood at the top of Mount Augus, and gazed intently into space.

A supply shuttle should be in sight real soon. Although monitored from the control centre, the details weren't shared for this reason - the event always gave us a thrill to see a speck emerge and grow, and then the delicious excitement of identifying the incoming shuttle. We put friendly wagers on these things: it kept us out of deeper mischief.

Shuttles were rare enough to be exciting, and I was surrounded by a mass of space suits all bouncing gently in anticipation.

A shout went up and a space suited arm shot out far to my left. A hundred helmets followed the outstretched hand and one by one we spotted it.

“Nimrod! It’s Nimrod!”

There was a ridiculous sense of accomplishment in telling what ship was incoming. Each of us had hopes of who’s ship it would be, all of us having loved ones as crew aboard the shuttles.

The show was over, the troop started down the hill in lumbering long leaps - a slow motion herd migrating back to the business of living, but with a freshened hope of freedom.

I stayed, and allowed the aloneness to fill my senses. I shut out the redness all around me, the blackness above me, and only let the starlight in. Every now and then, I was seized with panicked claustrophobia - a desperate tearing need to be out of this suit, running free! I was well coached now to manage this, and so I breathed into it, allowed the grief of our lost world wash over me, leaking from my eyes, cramping my heart…

Life wasn't so bad, really. The community here were good people, and we all worked hard. Without any other option, its amazing what gets done. There was never talk of wages or injustice - being the remnant was enough, and working together was our hope for survival. Interesting how survival priorities cut through all sorts of pettiness. Living was an exact, measured, well organised affair with staying alive as our goal.

I joined the others to watch Nimrod set herself down. Asteroid damage showed on her antenna. Her hatch popped open to cheers and waves. No doubt Nimrod was packed with all manner of fabulous supplies, but we were all eager for the real treasure: NEWS.

Back in the protective dome of Base, and Nimrod’s crew having completed ship shutdown, we all assembled and roll-called so that Base could be sealed. Best moment of every day: our suits came off, and we were human again for a whole 12 hours. Hugs and laughs. I could finally scratch the itch on my nose. And tonight, we were all super excited for updates!

Nimrod’s crew joined the mess hall, and we all clapped, whistled, yelled - and soon enough fell to chanting, “Tell all! Tell all! Tell all!”

We settled, Nimrod’s Captain began to talk.

“We brought back air and soil samples, so we shall see. Lab says results will be out in 30 minutes. She looks incredible - breaking atmosphere going in we were all yelling, we were so excited to get home. But we kept our suits on, we didn't want to risk it. We found loads of great supplies, but they are quarantined in Nimrod until the lab results are in. Not a single other human did we find. We saw Stallion - her crew were combing Europe again, but also no sign of human life. Nature is properly taking over - you wouldn't believe the beauty…”

She stopped talking, lost for words. I felt for her. We could only imagine from their stories, but she got to see first-hand the aching purity of our Blue Planet. The Mother who ate her children.

I was only 4 years old when news of the Fungus broke - at first, it was rumours, but very soon it became the terror of the worst nightmare you ever dreamt. Scientists traced the Fungus to what they believed was its birthplace: the pollen of a new species of flower, toxic only to Human. To all other earthly inhabitants the pollen was completely harmless, but to the human lung, it was as toxically effective as swift, nasty and very sure death could possibly be.

For years we wore charcoal masks ALL THE TIME, not daring to take a breath of unclean air. The flowering plant was hunted down but attempts to eradicate it failed.

Earth 1 : Humans 0.

Half of the world’s population believed that we deserved death by pollen, the other half went mad. “If we are gonna die soon, we might as well make it count!”

Anarchy. It became a race between humans destroying humans and Earth destroying humans. If ever Earth second-guessed her drastic action, she was surely vindicated in it then.

But there were good people, too. Really good. A crowd got together and pitched in skills, resource, ideas, everything they had - and built the fleet: Nimrod, Stallion, Auchilles, Savos and Remnant.

They inhabited Mars, and this was our home now.

Base was built in extreme circumstance - for 3 years, all the crowd did was shuttle supplies from Earth to Mars, each trip becoming more efficient and more bold. Remnant was lost, the Captain was my father.

That was a bad day.

I was 10 when we moved here. In just 6 years, this group of brilliant minds and hands had built this place, and ensured a tenuous connection with Earth.

Our hope was that one day, when the Fungus had run its course, we could return home.

I was now 45, active community member and long-term partner of Stallion's navigator - our 7 children and 2 grandchildren were born on Mars. The young ones rarely left Base - they lived with the full-time Mars Moms in the Growing Rooms. Our elder 3 were active community members, grown into fine and beautiful adults. I dreamed of the day I could roll in grass with them, dive into the ocean, watch tiny fish swim between our fingers, climb the tallest tree and view mountain forests from up there…

But here we were. Working and living for the survival of our species.

We had built 3 more ships while on Mars, painstaking work that used many more painstakingly acquired resources than we thought possible. But supply runs back to Earth were essential for our survival. The crews told of derelict cities overrun with animals and vegetation, and yet shops full of merchandise untouched. They brought us back materials we needed like seeds, tools, metals and anything they could scavenge. The ships were rigged with a lot of payload space.

I wasn't very interested in the engineering mechanics of how they travelled backwards and forwards, landed and took off…. Yawn. What I was interested in is the treasure bags they always brought back.

Nimrod’s quarantined treasure bags were vacuumed, cleaned, de-fungus’ed and ready to be opened the next day. (Days on Mars are VERY different to ‘days’ on Earth - marked by sun and moon - but moving swiftly on…)

One of my most favourite jobs on Mars was unpacking these bags.

In we went - Josephine, Watson and I - and carefully up-ended each large heavy-duty mailbag. We had Fungus masks on, the chamber was sealed as precaution, and we got to work.

Treasure meant clothing, a rare piece of finery, a relic for the children’s museum, paper, BOOKS! Anything the crew came upon that we could use or learn from.

We sat sorting through treasure, chatting and exclaiming, when I lifted up a square cloth and out tumbled a beautiful, ornate jewellery box! I gasped: I had not seen such a beautiful thing for decades One of the crew must have wrapped it in the cloth to protect it.

Josephine and Watson scuttled over, and wide-eyed we passed the box around between the three of us. How utterly exquisite! Watson handed it back to me, and I flipped the catch. We smiled at each other, and then opened the box.

Inside lay a heart-shaped, silver locket. Just a pendant, lying on a tiny satin cushion.

Well. If ever anyone felt like Aladdin in the cave of wonders, that was me. I took the locket out, squeezed the tiny catch, and it immediately sprung open. I held it forward so we could all see what was inside…

“It’s the Fungus!” boomed Watson in a creepy-deep voice.

I swatted him over the head (because I would never admit to what a jump-scare he gave me) and we giggled. Tucked into one side was a message. A message in a locket. On the other side was a little dry leaf - I didn't touch it lest it would crumble.

We swapped glances, and I went in. Carefully, I fished out an edge of the tightly folded message inside and drew it out. Laying the locket back on its satin bed I held the folded note up - and slightly away. My eyes…. what can I say.

The tiny writing said, “My last words”.

Oh boy.

Unfolding it, I realised that this was going to be a challenge. Tiny, tiny lettering meant a job young and healthy eyes, so I handed the note to Josephine.

Josephine took the note and began to read.

“If anybody ever finds this, then there is hope. I have the Fungus. Everyone is dead. But I have seen what it will take. If we - humans - can learn to give more than we take, to care more for others than ourselves, learn to be selfless and walk lightly with respect, then one day Earth will find that we are worthy to save. Then she will send us a cure. Please live! Banish darkness from your hearts. Let only goodness live in you.

Farewell.

Hope Mabuya - Malawi - Africa - Earth”

Did Hope know of the remnant on Mars? Did she see when she was dying that we needed this message? How did the crew of Nimrod find this tiny box on the whole of Earth’s huge surface?

And so the Message in the Silver Heart has become a prophecy for us. We placed the locket on a necklace, and we take turns wearing it nestled against our hearts. We work to banish darkness from within us, and we work to live.

We work for the day when we can go home.