The sole person at the western gate guardpost looked up and silently watched as the young colony administrator approached on foot. The guard saluted when the man reached his window and signed out one of the armored rovers. The big boss saluted perfunctorily as he turned and climbed into the driver’s seat, obviously lost in thought. This was the evening before Founders Day, after all, and you could hardly blame this one for wanting some alone time. The guard had been at this station long enough to witness this event before, five years in a row as of tonight. It still felt odd to let such an important person leave the safety of their walls by themselves, and they were relieved to see three drones fly overhead.
In truth, the administrator and his colony had been so successful that there was little territory in the immediate vicinity that was not under cultivation, or was not dotted with fortified settlements full of brave farmers. He drove to the nearest memorial park, preserved grassland leading to a steep dropoff. If the sun were shining, the view out over the canyon below would have been even more stunning. Five story tall waterfalls in the distant horizon reflected the more muted pale orange tones of their companion moon instead, as it dominated one corner of the clear night sky.
He parked near the edge, by one of the larger than life commemorative statues, and waited for drone confirmation that he was alone. These grasses were favored daily migration spaces for the indigenous megafauna, huge shaggy beasts supported by this atmosphere’s higher oxygen levels and this planetoid’s lower gravity of 0.89 G. They were vegetarians and mostly harmless, but it was best not to fill the role of mouse to the elephant, if given the choice. They disliked electric fencing when built tall enough, and tasted awful, so a peaceful coexistence with their new human neighbors had otherwise come to pass. The colonists had learned what nutritious local plants we enjoyed that they did not, and slowly, even the farms were ignored, mostly.
Such caution was at the insistence of his chief of staff, who happened to also be his wife, but the colony administrator did not plan to leave the rover tonight. He shifted in the driver’s seat, loosening the harness, and flipped a switch that activated the onboard audio recorder. He settled back into the seat, gazing out the rover’s large windows at the stars overhead that were able to shine next to the moon, strange constellation patterns more and more familiar with the passage of time.
“Hi, it’s me again. They assure me that your ship still receives these little transmissions. It was nice to discover that your battery reserves remained intact after the accident, keeping communications powered. Why, I remember we only have had to realign your dish remotely once in these past twenty years, and even that was only done to orient you better with our first major city. I have to admit that it does feel better to think part of you is still out there, listening.”
He smiled. “You would have loved it here. Sure, the oceans ended up having too many heavy metals, but inland water sources proved to all be safe. We have settlements on all three continents now.”
He watched two giant beings with four wings dance in the air, a mating ritual bathed in moonlight. “This night in particular always brings this back up, so bear with me. I was only six when you tried to explain the significance of winning the lottery for that exploratory contract, and then left. I just remember fear and anger that you hadn’t included me in the plan. Uncle Leon tried to put it all in perspective later. Sure, we were colonizing the planets near Earth by that time, and that was already very dangerous work. The contract specified adults only for a reason, blah blah.”
He remembered the initial news reports, and other documentaries over the years that followed. A clearly artificial, manufactured, fully functional wormhole had been discovered in orbit around Saturn, where there had certainly been nothing of the sort there before. Apparent first contact with aliens had made a lot of people nervous, before they started to worry and fight over who should make the most money. Strangely, only a few raised concerns over who these aliens were, what their motives might have been, why they never showed up again. Was this even the work of aliens, or something else? Men and women of science and capitalism were convinced that this was merely another tool for exploration and expansion, something we were invited to borrow and exploit. He was briefly angry all over again that the Sol authorities had not sent drones instead, since we had no idea what was on the other side. Maybe the aliens were waiting there? Alas, no. He made sure to implement his own policy changes that deemphasized any remaining profit motive in modern times, in light of the outcome.
He scratched at the sleeve over his left forearm. “I grew up too soon when your signal cut off, and again when the second scout ship returned with the news we had all anticipated with wonder and dread, collectively as a species. The discovery that would change the course of history had been verified, and the credit was yours. Safe and instantaneous passage thousands of light years across the galaxy was now possible, directly to another solar system with a habitable zone. But, they also found your derelict ship, its automatic emergency beacon thankfully long past broadcasting these days. They say there had been evidence of a freak fuel leak inside the cabin, one of those improbable things that only happens when you build too many starships too quickly, I guess. I am sure that Leon thought he was helping, when he told me that you both probably suffocated from the gas quickly, before it ignited. At least, you managed to reach a stable orbit up there. That has made your memorial easier to maintain.”
He wiped a tear from his face with the heel of his right palm. “Small comfort. Still, first is first, and I remember leaving the only home I’d ever known on Mars when I turned 16 to follow you here, only to find a thriving population, the first new colony in generations. And, I technically owned the place. These days, it seems to run itself. I am getting bored, which sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud.” He sighed. “Ugh, sorry. That is my burden, not yours. It feels stupid to complain about such a generous birthright, yes, even one due solely to such bittersweet luck on your part. I just wish there were more for me to do, you know? Good night, Mother. Good night, Father. I’ll speak to you again tomorrow.”
He toggled the switch and transmitted what he had recorded into the sky above. After sitting in silence for a while, he was about to restart the rover’s engine when the radio beeped. He pushed a button. A familiar voice came on the air. “Sir, this is Secretary Noonien. My apologies, if I happen to have interrupted you. I know this is an important private anniversary. They’ve woken the rest of the Colonial Authority, and we’re convening an emergency session in 15 minutes.”
“What could possibly warrant that? It’s the middle of the night.”
“System surveyors logged a very strange report. Suddenly in orbit around Zweitesonne V, you see… Well, it looks exactly like Hannah and Michael’s Gate, sir. Initial drone sweeps found an entirely new solar system on the other side, waiting for us. And, sir, this time there are large structures on two of the planets. Doctor Billings thinks they look very much like cities.”
Overhead, a fast moving satellite twinkled in the night sky.
Reddit WritingPrompt [WP] Your parents were astronauts who tragically died in space. On clear nights, you drive into a deserted field, gaze at the stars, and talk to them. gave me a nice opportunity to flex the sci-fi over the creepy crawlies. I’m not crying, you’re crying.