Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
Thanks to all who participate. With great gratitude, I accept my 12th championship
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Well paced, well constructed tale. Congratulations, Jot.
I like the green hands surprise at the end. very well done, sir.
Ⓒ2022 by Jot Russell
“The Earth is dying,” said Luke.
“What do you mean, dying?” asked the President.
“According to our best estimates, the desert's growth is accelerating by an additional fifty-thousand acres a year. At that rate, it will span the planet and overcome even our most fertile land within a hundred years.”
“How do we reverse it?”
Luke looked down. “We can't, sir.”
The President jumped up, stormed around his desk and stared Luke in the eyes. “’Can't’ is not in your job description! The world is united behind me to find a solution to this problem and you were hired to solve it, which is exactly what you're going to do!”
The President walked past, poured a glass of water from the bar and stared back at Luke from the wall mirror. He turned, bringing the glass with him. “You see this? This is all we need! All you have to do is extract it from the sea or from subterranean supplies.”
“Our conservative estimates include our best efforts to desalinate water from the sea.”
“Then we have to double our efforts!” demanded the President.
“There's more, sir.”
“This better be the good news!” he shouted angrily.
“I'm afraid not, sir.”
“You tell me the Earth is dying and then you say that's not all the bad news you have to tell me?”
“I'm sorry, sir.”
“Don’t be a schmuck! Stop kissing ass and tell me what it is!”
“We're dying,” Luke spoke, with the words painfully escaping his lips.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“The epidemic that's spanning the planet; it's not viral, it's something else.”
The President let go of his anger and gave Luke a somber look. “If it's not a disease, then what is it?”
“Its start coincided with the initial expansion of the deserts. At first, we didn't think the two could be related.”
“You're saying the same thing that is killing the planet, is killing us?”
“It seems so, sir. The question to us was how? About twenty years ago, our navigational sensors slowly stopped pointing north.”
“I remember. What does that have to do with this?”
“We understand now why the compasses no longer work. Something within the Earth herself has stopped. Something that does more than direct our boats. A magnetic core at the heart of our planet, spinning within a sea of magma.”
“Spinning within a sea of magma? I find that a little hard to believe.”
“We were able to reproduce the effect in an experiment. By spinning a large ball of iron, we were able to control the compasses. What's more, when we blew metallic dust at the ball, its course was partly diverted.”
The President shook his head. “So, what does that mean?”
“We believe the Earth’s core is a massive metal ball. That somehow, it was able to spin faster than the rest of the planet. And by doing so, it created a magnetic force-field around the planet that protected us from something. Something from space.”
The President let out a deep breath. “Did you verify any of these results?”
“Yes sir, in several ways.”
“So what do we do? We can't just sit around and hope for some type of miracle.”
“I don't think there is anything we can do, except to plant a seed.”
“Plant a seed? You tell me we're dying, that our world is dying, and you want to plant a seed? You take me for fool?! You did say anything we plant here is just going to die anyway, no?”
“Not here, sir. We've been experimenting with rockets. We think we might be able to send microbes or even small animal life to the third planet, Ocean. If we evolved from this life, perhaps we will again.”
The president slowly regained his seat and placed his green hands upon his bald head as he lowered it to his desk. After a moment, he looked back up at Luke. “Plant the seed.”