'Remember us' - A short Sci-Fi story
25 October 2021'Blasting back into space through LV-221's atmosphere, abandoning a promising candidate for settlement. Habitable zone, 69% gravity and a suitable atmosphere.
The ambitious Genesis project had cost hundreds of trillions and over twenty years of interstellar travel; one the most challenging and desperate endeavours since the beginning of history. Two hundred and forty brave souls, ventured into the deep unknown to start a New World.
While the engines roared and propelled the craft into the safety of high-orbit, our silence was perhaps even more deafening. Each of us still trying to process of our own thoughts and turmoil of emotions from the last few minutes. What the HELL did just happen out there?
Most of us managed to take our seats and grab a helmet before the emergency ascent procedure was initiated without prior warning. We pitied those that did not manage to get to their seat in time. It was not a pretty sight, but grief and sorrow had to wait.
Twenty years, wasted for a planet that seemed so hospitable, yet carried the remnants of a horrific surprise. It was our only chance and now all hope was lost.
But there was one other option in a nearby system. A lush planet where non-technological life was already thriving. Not ideal for us, but at least we could accomplish our first mandate: the long term preservation of our culture and knowledge.
Realising that our species was definitely going extinct, it was time for the dreaded Plan B. I guess drastically genetically engineering some local territorial monkeys is better than nothing. Enlighten them with what they can grasp, artificially push their genetics towards intelligence and leave the rest of our knowledge deeply embedded in their genetic code, carried onwards for countless of their generations.
A wealth of information, hidden in their 'junk DNA' that they might unravel once they grow to the point of understanding, perhaps in a hundred thousand years from now. All of our knowledge, art and culture, hidden within the very building blocks of their bodies. Good luck my friends, it's up to you now.
Remember us.'