Blurb: Climate change is ruining the planet. All sorts of natural disasters are tearing up the entire world. Zavier is a selfish, clever, young adult who is seeking attention and a better life. When he hears of a chance to save escape Earth, he does anything in his power to be a part of it.
Yet another wildfire has attacked the Southwest of our country. Almost all life from California to Texas has been destroyed. The midwest has been destroyed by tornadoes. It is expected that all life on this planet will go extinct due to the climate change caused by humans. The same public announcement daily, the same fear of death and extinction lingers. Zavier begins to ignore the announcement, and continues to walk to the grocery store to gather his rations, as he always does.
The United States is still experimenting with the new rations system. Everyone is given a choice of food to bring home for the three meals. There are different amounts of food based on the size of the family receiving. Zavier lives alone.
Zavier walked back to his dull apartment, still ignoring the announcements. He then went to help clean up the remnants of the tsunami that destroyed the city of Boston. The same routine daily. Waiting for extinction. He wants so much more with his life. He can imagine himself with fame and fortune, but none of it matters. They are all going to die anyway.
The next day, when Zavier went back to get his rations, there was a different announcement that got his attention. There may be an escape from this planet to save the human race. Zavier stands like a statue in the middle of the town square. Only a few people will be chosen to go to the final destination, tasked to reproduce. These people will save the human race. There will be a survey with your rations today. You will get an invitation to go to the test if you qualify and are interested. Those who pass the test will thenーZavier doesn’t need to listen to the rest. He runs to the get his rations. This was his opportunity to be noticed and possibly have a better, more exciting life without expecting a coming extinction.
When he got back to his small, dingy apartment, he starts filling out the survey. They are simple questions. Age, gender, weight, height. Zavier fills out the survey with no trouble. He is in perfect condition for this mission. He is young, fit, and he won’t be leaving a family behind. Despite all, the easiest question on the survey was “are you interested in participating in this mission.”
He brings the survey back to the food facility as instructed on the paper.
“Think you’re gonna be chosen for the mission?” Asks the survey collector cheerfully.
“I know I will,” Zavier tells the man. He is a little full of himself. “How will I know if I was chosen?”
“A note will be sent with your rations tomorrow telling you whether you qualify or not. The paper will also give instructions on where to go for the next tests. All participants who meet the requirements will be sent on the mission.”
“Thank you,” Zavier concludes.
Zavier went through the rest of the day with minimal effort, only thinking of the day to come. When that day came, he rushed out to gather his rations.
It was quite a beautiful day. The lack of clouds in the sky allowed the sun to beat down on the people in the town square. Its brightness irritated Zavier’s eyes. Only the deep, constant sound of the fountain filled the air. On other days with weather like this, people usually enjoy it and take their time getting home home. However, today, the cheerful air was filled with excitement and anticipation as people rushed to their homes. Zavier was doing the same. He did his best to ignore the beauty of this day. All he could feel in his mind were the pains in his feet as he walked to his apartment.
The coolness of his apartment sent a shiver down his spine. Zavier quickly ran to the kitchen and opened up the container holding his rations. There was no note. He took all of the food out the package and searched all around. No note. Zavier couldn’t believe it. He believed that he was the perfect fit for this mission.
The next day, when he went to get his rations, there was a sign. It reminded those who received a note to go to the train station. When Zavier got to the town square, instead of taking his usual left to get his rations, he took a right and took the road to the train station.
He made it to the train station and followed the signs to the platform. He then bought tickets for the train and boarded.
When he arrived at his destination, he followed the guide that was leading the participants to the facility where they will be evaluated.
When they got there, there was somebody collecting the notes. When Zavier was next up to hand his note over, he pretended to look through his pockets.
“Where is it?” Asked the note collector.
“I swear I had it in my pocket! I even checked before I got on the train! It was in my pocket the whole time!” Zavier responded.
“If you don’t have your ticket, you can’t enter.”
“I don’t think you understand. Somebody stole my note! Somebody here stole my note so they can be a part of the mission!” Zavier yelled, a little too loud. This got everyone’s attention.
“I’m going to look you up on the results of the survey. If it says that you were successful and recieved a ticket, I will investigate and find out who stole your note. Now what is your name?”
“Barnaby Olade,” replied Zavier with no hesitation. Barnaby boarded the train just before Zavier, and he could overhear the train ticket collector say Barnaby’s name. If all goes to Zavier’s plan, then he should be able to take the evaluation and possibly go on the mission. Of course, this is at the expense of Barnaby. Zavier also saw him leave for the restroom as soon as he entered the facility. Zavier may be selfish and lucky, but his is clever.
“Thank you. I will now go find your results on the survey. I am leaving Wyatt in to keep you all here.” Wyatt was the guide.
The ticket collector returned very quickly. “Looks like you are all set. You actually received one of the top scores! You are expected to pass the next examination and be on the mission. I also looked at the order of the cards and the video, and I think I see who stole used your ticket!”
Barnaby then walked out of the bathroom. He noticed that there seemed to be some commotion and looked confused. Everyone was staring at him.
“You! You’re coming with me!” With no more words, the ticket collector grabbed Barnaby’s arm and lead him out. Zavier’s plan worked.
The facility was smaller than Zavier was expecting. Everyone spent most of their time sitting in the waiting room. The room was a little cramped for everyone. The lack of conversation let Zavier fall deep into thoughts and expectations for his part in the mission.
The tests were done individually. They scanned Zavier’s body and brain, simply to see if he could last on the mission without falling ill.
“At first glance, Barnaby, you look to be quite healthy!” Exclaimed the lead doctor.
“Do you think that it is likely that I will be selected?” Zavier kindly responded.
“Seems possible. Probably the most likely out of the people we have evaluated so far. If you are selected, you will have a week of training starting next week. For now, you can head back to the waiting room!”
“Thank you.”
Zavier expected there to be more physical tests, to evaluate the strength and resilience of the possible participants. He is not complained, since it seems likely that he will be chosen
The training week was pretty simple. There were about 100 people from across the country were going on this mission. Only two others from the Boston area, and Zavier does not know them.
They learned how to use all of the necessary equipment. It was very basic, for there would be people on the mission with the chosen participants. Zavier also got more information on the mission. They will be going to Mars. They will need to work to make the environment suitable for humans.
Finally, the day of takeoff came. Each of the participants were interviewed. Lots of cameras.
“How does it feel to be chosen for to save humanity?” One interviewer asked.
“It feels good. I am happy that I was chosen!” Zavier responded.
“What was your life like before this?”
“I lived alone and cleaned up from the recent tsunami. I mostly just volunteered around town…” the interview went on and Zavier answered the questions with ease.
They boarded the ship at 7:00 am. Zavier guessed they might board earlier in the day, but he didn’t complain. Many of the expeditioners were nervous on takeoff, but Zavier was excited.
He was amazed by what the astronauts handling the ship were able to do, and he offered to help. They left him with some simpler tasks. Zavier wanted to show that we was dominant in this mission.
“Everyone to your seats! We are landing soon!” The lead astronaut, Cedro Lockradge announced.
Zavier rushed to his seat. The space shuttle began to gain speed and heat up. Once they got closer, they released a parachute and it gradually slowed down. Zavier’s heart was racing.
Once they were on the planet, he astronauts left and began preparing the planet for sustaining life. They sent up small, hemispherical rooms that held enough oxygen for humans to survive. They also unloaded some of the plants that were on the spaceship. These helped keep the air fresh and would eventually provide more food.
The first night after landing was the first time that the participants had time off to themselves. They took advantage of this by getting to know each other.
“I don’t believe I have met you yet!” I young woman said as she approached Zavier.
“My name is Zavier Balker. Nice to meet you,” Zavier responded, forgetting to us his fake identity.
“Huh. One of the astronauts said that your name was Barnaby or something. Weird. Anyway, my name is Blythe Clerval. Nice meeting you!”
Zavier was disappointed in himself. Being a pessimist, he assumed that they would find out that he cheated his way in soon enough. He just needs to delay it until they are settled.
“Are we ready to check out the units?” The lead Cedro asked. The units being the hemispherical dwellings the astronauts have been constructing. This was very exciting, and brought needed energy to the participants. They rushed to the exit of the shuttle.
“I will accompany all of you individually, there is currently limited oxygen. Do your best to continue to acclimatize yourselves.” Cedro explained.
After a few minutes of waiting, it was Zavier’s turn.
“Come on in, Barnaby,” Cedro told him. Out of the corner of his eye, Zavier could see a dirty look coming from Blythe’s face. This wasn’t good.
“So here it is! Not much now, but eventually it should be just like Earth.” Cedro told Zavier. It was very cold. Zavier was breathing better than he was expecting. All there was at the time was a glass dome with some small vines growing up a string on the sides. It was small enough that Zavier could touch the top without jumping. It smelled very fresh. It was way more Earth-like than Zavier was expecting, except for one major difference. It was very dark. To start, they were only working with the light from the sun. The light was much dimmer here on Mars. Overall, Zavier was impressed.
“We are working on getting more light in here. Getting electricity might be an issue. We will probably need to adapt. Anyway, we should probably go to the next person. By Barnaby!”
The next day and beyond, the astronauts and participants went work with expanding their shelter.
Zavier had trouble working with the team. He was very selfish, and when doing tasks with the other non-astronauts, he wanted to do all the work. He even shut people out of helping him. He seemed to be more concerned about getting the credit and fame than saving humanity.
One week after landing, they had all settled. It was also time for the astronauts to send a report back to Earth. Zavier and the other participants got no information on how this was done or what they put in it until after they sent it. They gave the chosen people their evaluation of their performances. Zavier was not mentioned as one of the leaders in the astronauts’ eyes. They only showed the 10 chosen leaders how to send messages back to Earth.
Not being chosen as a leader made Zavier mad and inspired him to work even harder. He continued doing this for a month, when the next report was due. The astronauts then noted that he may not be qualified for this mission anymore, for his work was not sufficient. He has been trying to do too much, but his results weren’t even up to par. They recommended that he works with everyone else so that they can be as successful as possible. Zavier disagreed with this. He then realized that these reports were probably being followed from around the world.
Zavier wasn’t seen as the person single-handedly saving humanity, but as the one who may be slowing it down. He was so focused on getting the attention and doing everything alone, that he didn’t even realize that we was ruining it. This has been a problem all throughout Zavier’s life. He never worked with other people. It occurred to him that this may be why he was not originally chosen for the mission.
He decided to turn that around. He worked with others, and helped make the mission a success. This made Zavier a totally different person, and actually allowed him to be suitable for this mission.
After six total months, the half of the astronauts went back to Earth to bring more people to the planet. The original people were stable and surviving on their own. They were able to keep clean air and continue to grow vegetables for food. They expanded their garden of vegetables, and one woman on the mission was pregnant.
Two years later, the astronauts returned. They had more people, more vegetables, more water, and more material to expand their ecosystem. The original people were looked up to, including Zavier. The next trip the astronauts made, they would come back with cattle.
One evening, Zavier sat in the grass of a great nature-filled room, reflecting on all of the hard work that their team has gone through. He was then greeted by Blythe.
“Amazing, isn’t it. You know, before this mission, I didn’t have faith in people. I am really impressed with what was accomplished.” She stated.
“I agree,” Zavier responded, “this room always reminds me of Earth.”
“Yeah this room is one of my favorites. Do you remember when this mission first started?” She asked.
“Yup.” Zavier started remembering the close calls with being caught for cheating his way into the mission.
“You never really told me who you really are. What is the truth? Are you Barnaby, or Zavier?’
Zavier sighed. “Well, I really am Zavier.”
“Then where is the name Barnaby coming from?” Blythe pressed.
“To be honest, I never received a note that I was selected for this mission. I followed the selected members to the train station, then framed the real Barnaby for stealing my note. They fell for it, and never caught me after that. To this day, nobody knows but you and me. I suppose it doesn’t even matter now.” Zavier sighed again.
“Well, obviously what you did is wrong, but I think you evened it out with the hard work you’ve put in on the mission.”
“You think so?” Zavier asked.
“Yeah. I think that you deserve to be here.” Blythe responded.
The mission was very successful. Blythe went on to give birth to two beautiful girls. Zavier made a great father. Humanity has been saved, and life should be able to continue on this planet for a long time.