The Freedom - Bring Solar System To Life

Part 1 - The Flame That Sparked The Sky

PART 1 – THE FLAME THAT SPARKED THE SKY

SUNRISE AND SUNSET

Have the native Americans thought that unknown white people will come from far beyond the sea and spread death to them all? Have they had any dreams or prophecies that most of them will die of unknown diseases and the survivals will work as slaves for the white man? Nobody and nothing could prepare them for what was to come.

Jeremy Cossins – The Wild West.

January 15th, 2214, Space City, Aral Free State. It is -25 outside and still dark. People leave their homes and go to work, wearing fur coats. Some of them stop at local buffets to get a hot coffee, a good start in this cold morning. You can hear steps on the ice, as people travel to metro stations. It is foggy and no star is visible. Some people cough. Desert winds bring ice from the long-dead Aral Sea. The sea died 250 years ago, but its salt will stay here forever. Most people will head to the rail station to go to the factories or even further to the cosmodrome, while other people from the night shift will come back home.

In a nearby block of flats, at the 5th floor, a lonely girl is watching through the window. She is a very good student in her final year. Soon she will graduate. Nobody knows clearly who she is, not even herself. She knows that she is an orphan, found in the debris of the war and sent to Aral Free State on a train loaded with cobalt ore. Today she must go to school like every other day. She likes to wake early, to do her study before anyone else, to be fresh at school.

She eats her breakfast and smokes a cigarette, then heads to the metro station, dressed in a fur coat, wool gloves and long boots, like everyone else.

"Morning, Masha!" says a neighbour.

"Morning, Jelena! How are you?"

"Tired. I wish it were Sunday today".

She heads to the metro station, to the deep and large cavern, full of light and colour, where trains come regularly. She has six stations to go. As she steps out, it is already dawn. A dark blue light can be seen on the sky. It is still very cold. Only students working on special projects come early at this hour.

She stops at the entrance gate and lights a cigarette. Behind the gates, she can see a large statue representing two cosmonauts, one planting a flag and the other one holding the first with a cable. She knows it well. It represents Vuc and Svetlana, the first and only people who walked on Venus and came back alive.

Suddenly, a boy, another student, comes to her.

"Masha, I don't know how to tell you this..."

"What is now, Viktor? Do you need help for your project again? What do I get in exchange this time?"

"It is not that. It is Dmitry. He is in love with you. He would give anything to be with you. He is... He asked me to..."

"Shut up!" she answers, with a cold look in her eyes. "Tell him to come and speak to me face to face. I hate people who use others for their tasks".

"Tell him that metals have no feelings".

"What does that mean, Masha?"

"Viktor, when you build a rocket engine, it doesn't matter how much you love or hate the engine. All that matters is what kind of steel you use and what type of propellant the engine will be powered with. So, does Dmitry have anything of value for me?"

"Masha, we've been in the same class since the first grade. I've never seen you smiling. You are always cold and serious. I would really love to see you falling in love with someone. Please, give it a try. Dmitry is a good guy, you know him. I love you, but I would be even happier to see you with anyone that would make you happy".