Endless Voyage
Rise and fall of humanity
by
pradipkumar raol
&
prakash vaidya
Part - 23
Spacecraft was moving on its course. Messages were regularly coming. Astronauts were also feeling fine and trying to investigate with their hi-tech instruments. NASA was receiving various images sent by the craft. They were being studied in detail.
Time equivalent to earth’s four days has already elapsed. NASA’s team found that the spacecraft was working according to the usual norms, and communication system was also doing fine. They were watching various screens, and suddenly they spotted a small dot on one of the screens, which eventually grew to envelope the whole screen. The computers gave a message ‘disconnect’.
Their contact with the spacecraft was disconnected. They were all shocked at what had happened and couldn’t comprehend the situation. In the condition of stupefaction a phone call came, it was the Russian premier himself. The President took the phone. He was saying, ‘yeah we also saw an expanding dot, then the screen went blank and we also lost the contact with space craft. The President replied, ‘we have still not come out of this shock and now things are becoming more and more complicated. I have now begun to feel that there is no panacea for the world’s ills.’ The Russian counterpart too felt abased and put down the phone.
The President then addressed to all, ‘In Russia they have also lost the contact with the spacecraft at the same time. It is a big worry now, but this development must not leak out for the time being, let’s see we may be able to establish the contact once again, meanwhile check the technical parameters if any which are responsible for this snag.’
NASA scientists started discussing and checking their computers. However, the President was so gloomy and worried that corners of his eyes were beginning to fill up with tears. He went aside to hide them and prayed, ‘oh’ Jesus! Now it is too much, Do not break our hearts, please do something!!’
Just then he recalled what his mother had once said to him when he was a boy: ‘son, anchored ships are safe but they are not built for that purpose.’
The spacecraft’s contact with the earth was lost. All types of communication system were held up. They tried their best but without success. Actually nothing ominous had happened to the ‘craft’ or the astronauts.
The astronauts had lost the sense of time. They were getting worried and also perplexed. Somehow, they felt that the death is waiting for them. Who is going first or are they going together, only time would tell. They remembered their gods for the final time because gods are different for everyone. And they saw a blue tiny spot on their computer screen, simultaneously they heard a hoarse voice, ‘Hello friends, how are you! How do you feel? Don’t you worry, you are safe here. Your contact with the earth is already disconnected and your earth is moving slower and it is done by us.’ At the same time they saw the same sentences on the computers also.
They began to wonder that when the contact with the earth was lost, how this is possible. And well it cannot be from the earth, because the unknown voice was telling that I have done it (slowing the earth). They feared that aliens must have arrived. Then the voice came again.
‘We are a very advanced lot and know even your thoughts, so do not be surprised. And now see what those important people there at NASA are doing, watch it for you.’
A large screen appeared in front of them. The live scenes from NASA started appearing on the screen.
They were all worried, tense and gloomy. First they saw the entire globe, the mother earth itself. One side was covered with darkness, while the other side was illuminated. They could see glimpses of people’s routine life on both the sides; they were living a life akin to hell.
Everywhere, people were dying as if some contagious disease had spread out. Sick people were waiting for death. Hospitals were swarming with people to get medical treatment. People in long queues were waiting for their turn to come. Even half of the doctors were sick or dead.
Dead bodies could be seen at every cross roads, lying unattended. Even animals were facing the same fate. The nature had not kept any differentiation between them. At many locations one can see that their dead bodies were lying side by side or on top of each other. Now they had begun to decay. Last rites, funerals and cremation were three words which scavengers had taken away from the dictionary.
Even under such conditions of extremities people behaved in a manner similar to animal world. Their minds were in the grip of greed and death.
Essential things like candles, matchboxes, lamps, medicines were sold in black markets. To protect themselves from the extreme cold people needed more and more warm or woolen clothes which were now in acute shortage. Not getting essential things people were outraged. They could not understand the simple rule of supply and demand. They started looting shops and houses, succumbing to their basic instincts. Police and administration were failing to curb this mass scale violence and looting.
Such scenario were observed everywhere across the world in varying degrees. Not one but many epidemics were faced by the people due to many reasons. One can see empty fields and open grounds stacked with dead bodies; even scavengers were found few in numbers. Either their bellies were full or they too had survival problems. Cities, villages, towns and even the farmlands were being disserted.
Children and teenagers were not busy playing and singing, they were walking along side their parents to move to unknown lands. One would not hear sounds of men and women talking romantically or merrily instead you would hear fearsome cries, loud noises created by panicked children and women. They saw with disgust and horror some vultures, flapping their wings and fighting among themselves to get more bites of meat.
The four astronauts could not take it anymore, their eyes were loaded with tears, mouth gaped and mind numbed and their throats went dry. On the screen, time, place, countries, regions changed but the situation was identical everywhere. Dangerous situations, fear of death in the eyes of people was the main thing they had seen.
‘Oh! This is India, my father’s native,’ Morrison said to his friends. He was quite familiar with Indian attires and geography Even though he had never visited that country.
All other astronauts were quite impressed with the scenes they were seeing of India. Here numerous NGOS and people were helping each other with great zeal and effort. People were running on the roads with their children. They all wanted to find some place to hide and protect themselves. Escape from the killing cold was their main objective. They however were not sure whether they were going to a safer place or to a more deadly region. But they were moving ahead just hoping that they would somehow survive. Their minds were moving like a pendulum from hope to dejection every second.
