This is background to all of my colony worlds novels and a good deal of the rest of my writing. Please note two things:
-this is fiction set on an alternate Earth -I truly hope we have a much brighter future ahead of us than this In the year 2054, a pair of graduate students from a small university made a huge break through in beyond light speed travel. The small craft they created could go anywhere on Earth in the blink of an eye. However, fearing they would lose credit for the discovery, the students enlisted the support of a wealthy philanthropist. He provided the location and means of building a full scale prototype capable of space flight and atmospheric re-entry. When the prototype was ready, the philanthropist obtained clearance for a single test flight for his ‘private space yacht.’ At the appointed time, the students launched their craft. Once outside Earth’s atmosphere, they activated the beyond light speed engine for the fastest ever trip to the moon and back. The success of the trip was broadcast to Earth via the International Space Station. However, instead of returning to the Earth’s surface, the students refueled and restocked at the ISS. This time they took their craft to Mars, where they visited the surface. Again, they returned to the ISS to refuel and restock. But this time, they contacted the United Nations. They explained that they did not want any one country to have control of this new travel capacity. The UN agreed that this was best and a new International Space Agency (ISA) was created. The students gave this new agency the plans and specifications for their craft. The students and their prototype never returned to the Earth’s surface. Instead, they visited each planet of the solar system, each time returning to the station with new information and images for Earth’s scientists. Each trip also assisted in refining and improving their prototype. All modifications were transmitted to the ISA. But when the students attempted a trip to the nearest solar system, they and their craft vanished. In the meantime, the ISA began construction of a fleet of exploratory craft. Supply and passenger ships were also commissioned by various countries and individuals. Elsewhere on Earth, a separate group of scientists was investigating means of reclaiming land damaged by pollution and nuclear disasters. By 2055, they had succeeded in creating a ‘terraforming kit’ capable of rehabilitating even the worst damaged sites. In 2056, the ISA began adapting the kit for use on the moon and Mars. 2060 saw the grand opening of the Lunar Research Station. 2062 saw the founding of the colony on Mars and the establishment of an international station in orbit over Neptune. Neptune Station was the command centre for the exploratory fleet launched in 2063. The fleet was made up of thirty small, self-sustaining ships, each assigned to explore one of the newly designated sectors of space. With Earth as the point of origin, four quadrants were established. Each quadrant was further broken into sectors. The ship crews were tasked with finding potential for mining, uninhabited Earth-like planets, and terraform-able planets. Earth was rapidly becoming increasingly over populated and many countries were looking to establish offworld colonies. The severe winter of 2065 caused an unprecedented population explosion the following year. The resources of Earth and Mars were taxed beyond their limits. In an effort to resolve the crisis, thousands of ‘undesirables’ were loaded into colony ships and conditioned to forget Earth and never again seek outer space. They were then sent to the planets the exploration teams had recommended for colonization. Even with this, Earth remained overpopulated and tensions rose between countries. Eventually, any pretense of civility and international co-operation died and the UN was destroyed. Lunar and Neptune Stations were abandoned, exploration was disrupted, and Mars colony was left to fend for itself. Nuclear war broke out on Earth, drastically reducing the population and rendering much of the land unusable.
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AuthorAlexandra A. 'Lexa' Cheshire is the author of numerous novels and short stories published through Howling Wolf Books. Lexa is a wife, mother, cat owner, and music lover. Archives
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