“Roland, you are getting over concerned about him. Savvy… Savio is our last chance. We are doing it in the best interest of everyone.”
“Mr. President, I understand everything. But, why did you involve Anjelica in this? You are putting their lives at risk.”
President turned his face from Roland. “You have been in the game for long enough to know the rules better than me.”
“Emotional blackmail, is it?” Roland was angry yet submissive.
“Roland, no matter how much we evolve or how much the technology develops, some things cannot be changed.” He stopped for a moment and continued, “Roland, let’s do it. I want you to be the helm and bear the complete responsibility of this mission.”
“As you wish Mr. President.” Roland headed the exit, his heart filled with contempt.
Savio Rodriguez snoozed the alarm and rolled in his bed.
“Honey… It’s the wake-up call. Come on, get up.” Anjelica’s voice resonated through the speaker he kept near his bed.
“5 more minutes, please.” He replied in his half-asleep voice.
“Savvy, we have to report to Roland by 9 in the morning.” Her voice echoed again.
“Why don’t you come here and greet me with a warm hug instead of mumbling over the speaker?” Savio replied, still his eyes closed.
“Savvy, it is getting late.” Her voice grew sterner.
He got up from the bed and headed towards the living room where Angelica was arranging the gadgets they needed for their travel.
“How could you sleep so long? Aren’t you excited to travel where you dearly wanted to go?” She asked.
“Can we rethink about it? Why don’t you be here and take care of the internal affairs while I go and return with all information they need? Baby, you know you have a lot to handle here, don’t you?”
She looked into his eyes and said with a serious tone, “I am not letting you go alone by any chance, alright! You do not have an option to pick and choose. We ‘ll go together or stay back together.”
Savio knew that he cannot win over her. “Let me take a shower. Make everything ready. We are going.”
Soon they were on their way in an eco-friendly electrically charged car.
Angelica interrupted the silence, “Savvy, you look so dull. Isn’t this what you wanted? It is your dream, remember.” She stressed.
“Yes, it is my dream but not yours.” He replied.
“Your dreams were always mine too but you never knew it.” She replied with a smile and he looked at her without a change in his facial expression.
Angelica continued, “We are going to where we have come from, where we really belong. What more exciting could ever happen in a human’s life?”
“It’s exciting. It’s really exciting… Do you have the pills? I am hungry.”
“In the dashboard.” She replied.
He took two of it from the dashboard and washed them down with a glass of water.
While they reached Roland’s office, he was busy filling the formalities for their travel.
“Good morning, Roland.” Savio wished him on entering the room.
“Very good morning! Angelica, how are you doing? All loaded up?”
Savio didn’t mind his question and Anjelica replied. “All good Rol. How is our little champ? Ready for the ride?”
Roland rose to his feet and slid the curtain of his window. “There you go.” He said.
Angelina looked out of the window. She could see the space shuttle getting ready for their travel not very far away from the building.
“One last round of check and she will be all yours.” Roland and Angelica exchanged a smile.
“Why don’t you check it yourself once?” He asked Angelica.
“Sure. Keep Savvy engaged till I come back.” She said and headed the exit.
As she went out the room, Roland asked, “Savvy, are you sure about this?”
Savio looked at him and said, “You know it better than me, Rol. She won’t listen. Anyway, brief me about the shuttle. What’s her name?”
“Expatriate!” Roland replied.
Savio had a smile on his face, “Fitting one.”
“It’s ironical I know, but we didn’t have a choice Savvy.” There was a minute pause and he continued. “Well, she is equipped with the best and most modern equipment the human race had ever invented. And I can assure you the safety of a mother’s womb inside her. Equipped, caring and trustworthy. You will have a good time out there.”
Savio looked at Roland expecting few more pleasantries. “I… I am sorry about Angelica. I never thought it would end up like this.” Roland replied.
Savio took a deep breath and said. “Let’s do this Rol.”
Savio and Angelica were inside the shuttle half an hour later.
“12.9716° N, 77.5946° E. We are set to go.” Savio said over the radio and nodded to Angelica.
“Be safe Savvy. Take care Angelica.” Roland’s voice was heard over the speaker and they were lifted off to the remoteness within seconds.
“Lightning fast, isn’t she? These guys are unbelievable. We wouldn’t have dreamt of this while we started off with space exploration. Human Invention!” Angelica said excitedly as they headed towards the Earth’s orbit.
“It’s more to do with destruction than invention.” Savio replied.
“Why do you think so?”
Savio pointed to the screen in front of them and asked, “Do you see that planet?”
“Earth. That’s where we are heading.” She replied nonchalantly.
Savio corrected her “There’s more to it. That’s where the human race was born, that’s where the human inventions were started. And we are going back to the same place to seek a further extension of our race.”
“Savvy, we wouldn’t have been alive today, if those so called inventions weren’t made.” Angelica argued.
“Oh, is it? What did we invent? A colony in mars? Artificial gravity? Sophisticated lifestyle?” Savio was furious.
“We had no choice Savvy. The human race had to survive when life was impossible on earth.”
“And how many years did it take for us to look back at earth again? 500 years! Do you sense the reality? We destroyed another planet in 500 years and are going to implant life on the one we had destroyed earlier.”
Angelica was quiet. Savio continued. “You know, it had taken 5 freaking centenaries for that planet to recover from half the damages done by it’s most dangerous inhabitant species.”
“Savvy, we never thought it would propagate to this extent. The alarm signal was too late.”
Savio raised his face from the monitor and said. “Check your monitor. I have dropped a document. It’s a pagelet from one of the diaries written by my ancestor Copernican who once lived on Earth.”
Angelica began to read the page appeared on her screen.
“22’nd April 2117. Terra Firma, my wife gave me a wake-up call by sharp 6 in the morning. It was my last day in the city. It brought me all the fortunes I wanted. I took the oxygen mask, put on the UV protection filter and started my last round of jogging. Roads were almost empty but the shopkeeper who had nowhere else to go were still there sitting with their hopeless and helpless face. Other natives were busy drilling bore wells into the depth of mother earth to suck out the last remaining droplets. Well, who cares for the mother!
Sewage treatment hit the blocks with every hundred meters I passed. Leaders and politicians have eloped in search of alternate shelter. The place was left with few unwanted souls struggling to find a reason to fight each other. Heat waves were unbearable and dead animals and birds were shattered all over. I could smell the fear and death all around me. A swarm of flies covered the entire sky of the city like a filthy smelly blanket. Practicality loomed in my head. I have to leave this cursed place. I had no one to blame but myself for being my own self all these days until today.
Its 22’nd April today, World Earth day. We had many such days in our calendar which only served to post a few quotes on social media. We lacked action which in-turn resulted in turning a city of opportunities into the city of abandoned. The end, the inevitable is nearby and there is no escape from God’s own will. If you read this, I apologize to you for whatever we have done to your generation or whatever we couldn’t do for your generation. Learn from our mistakes and build a world with less greed and more happiness. Good luck for your life.”
Angelica raised her face from the monitor, “Touching isn’t it? We got to blame only ourselves.”
Savio smiled and said. “Fasten your belts. We are landing in 10 minutes.”
He turned to the voice transmitter and said. “Rol. Mission Expatriate. Landing on earth in 10 minutes.”
Angelica looked at the emerging picture of earth and said. “And finally we are back to the place of our origin. Savvy… look there.” Her voice was filled with excitement. “This is the place where Newton, Edison and Galileo lived.”
Savio thought for a second and said. “This is where the communal riots started, effects of which we are still suffering.”
“Savvy, this is where Yuri Gagarin, our hero and the godfather of all space travelers lived.” Angelica rebutted.
“Here is where the atomic war started which led to the end of a beautiful planet God has ever created.”
“Roger Expatriate. Mission control room here. All the best and have a safe landing.” Reply from mission control room sounded and they looked at each other.
Expatriate landed on earth safely and both of its travelers stepped out to a world which didn’t have even a minute resemblance to the pictures they have seen before. They could see nothing but endless futile land with no sign of life around them.
“Rol. Mission expatriate success.” Savio told over his gadget while Angelica was looking around in astonishment.
“How cruel were our ancestors!” She said, ” And how cruel were we”. It’s just a wasteland.”
“We need to make a heaven out of it.” Savio replied.
“Where did we land Savvy?”
Savio looked at his gadget and replied. “With the coordinates we set during the start, back then it was Bangalore, a beautiful city in a country named India. In fact, it was known as the garden city at some point in time.”
“They have turned a heaven into hell and now wish to revert it. Do you really have a hope?” Angelica asked.
Savio didn’t answer.
“Savyy, when do we go back from here?” Angelica looked restless and worried.
Savio maintained his silence.
“I know that we are not going back. What do they call us? An experiment specimen to try out their strategies? “Angelica was agitated.
Savio raised his voice. “Why did you come along?”
“Because I love you Savvy.” She paused for a moment and continued “Isn’t this what you dreamt off? A place with no one but only two of us? And now we have a whole planet to ourselves… We will live here Savvy… We have carried everything needed to live here for another 200 years. Let them carry out their experiments.”
They hugged each other and Savio could see her eyes getting welled up. He wanted to wipe them, but the helmets remained a barrier. Savvy touched on the helmet over her eyes and thought, ‘Human Invention’.
Savio’s gadget beeped. “Expatriate. Mission control room here. This is Mr. President. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Savio. Your names will go down in the history of human race. The re-discoverers of planet Earth. Savio, you are the real Savior of human race. We are all proud of you and looking forward to a fruitful association with our own planet Earth. I am sure this will end up as a fairytale. Congratulations guys.”
Savio looked at Angelica and asked, “Do you remember the story of Adam and Eve?”
“Yes. The ancestors of all humans.”
“We will have to start it all over again.” Savio said.
“And this is our Eden.” Angelica replied.
They looked at each other, held their arms together and began to walk over an underlying culture and their own history beneath their feet.
