Ripples

Amur sat on the top of the hill, looking at the desolate landscape before him, his mind filling in all the things that were missing from this world he lived in now. He remembered it all like it was yesterday. He used to come here often with his father. They lived in the village at the foot of the hill. There were green fields with clumps of trees scattered here and there. All that remained now was orange dust and a deep gash in the ground where once a river flowed.

He thought back to the day he was on the hill with his father. He was only fifteen years old. His father told him about the comet that was making its way into the solar system. Centuries ago, astronomers had calculated the comet's trajectory, and had predicted that it would pass dangerously close to the planet Mother. It would cause tidal waves that would devastate coastal cities. It could provoke tremors in other parts of the planet and wreak unimaginable havoc. For centuries, the entire civilization was fixated on the comet. First, as the prospect of imminent doom. Later, with advancements in technology, as a challenge to be overcome. In his young mind, Amur had considered himself lucky to be alive at such an exciting time.

For the last two hundred years, all the nations of the world had been working together towards the creation of an orbital defense system that would protect the planet from large meteorites by breaking them into smaller fragments that would burn up when entering the atmosphere, and to nudge larger objects like the comet away from Mother. It was an era of unprecedented peace. All wars and conflicts were set aside, and the entire planet was united in its efforts against the single largest threat to their existence that they had ever known.

Advances in space technology had also led to the exploration of the other planets in the solar system with probes. While the red planet and the gas giant were the first to be mapped only because of proximity, the first images from the blue and green sister planet were what enthralled the entire generation to which Amur belonged. Since the first observations of that planet by space telescopes, a fascination had captured the imagination of the entire populace. Here was another world, so similar to the one he knew, and right next to their own, speaking in the astronomical sense, of course. There were several propositions to settle and colonize Sister. There was definitely life there, and the absence of any artificial satellites in orbit indicated that it was probably not intelligent, or at least not at the same level of technological advancement. Amur wondered what life would look like on Sister. Would it be similar to what he saw around him, or would it be beyond his capacity to imagine?

The sun was setting, and Amur got up and made his way back to the cave before darkness descended on the desolate valley. He had to be careful not to slip and hurt himself. The stock of medical supplies was running low, and any avoidable risk must be avoided. As he stepped on the dry dust, he recalled the images of lush green forests that had been taken by a probe sent to orbit Sister. He felt a sudden wave of envy coming over himself. He felt envious of the animals on Sister, while here he was, struggling to live on a dying planet.

Amur reached the bottom of the hill, and entered the hole that was the entrance to a network of underground caves that was his home. It was the only place cool enough for him, and other survivors like him, to live. Here, they lived out their lives, cut off from the rest of civilization, if there was any left anywhere. There was ample food and water for the seven of them, but it would eventually run out.

There was music playing inside the large gallery of the cave. Amur admired how some of the survivors managed to find the will to play music and remain positive in the hopeless situation that they were in. The tune was one he would never forget. He had heard that same song playing on the day that changed everything.

The village was holding a feast. Every village, every city on Mother was holding a feast. After all, it was the day that the entire civilization had worked towards for two hundred years! The missile launched from the planetary defense system was to intercept the comet at a position beyond the orbit of the gas giant. An explosion, calculated, calibrated, simulated a million times, would alter the course of the comet and move it far enough away from Mother for it to transform from the scary thing that it was into a pretty tailed star in the night sky.

The television and radio channels were broadcasting constant commentary on the events as they were happening. There was a delay between the information that was sent by the missile system and the reception due to the incredible distance. But every bit of information was analyzed, repeated and re-analyzed and presented to the public. Finally, the long-awaited touchdown was achieved, and the news presenter emitted a jubilant cheer before announcing that the operation was a success, and that the comet had indeed altered its course.

Many had commented, with the benefit of hindsight, that she had cheered too soon. Over the next few days, the orbital telescopes were all pointed at the comet, observing as it swerved ever so slightly away from the trajectory that had been predicted by all the simulations. Perhaps the shape of the comet differed from what had been supposed. A small miscalculation, but the comet would still remain far enough from Mother, and instead fly by the gas giant. Scientists explained that the gravity of the gigantic gas planet would only pull the comet further away, and that it was a good thing.

They were right about the first part. The comet was indeed pulled by the gravity of the gaseous planet, so much that it collided with it! The next few days, the news reports were full of images of a huge white oval forming on the southern hemisphere of the planet where the comet had made its impact. Everyone was relieved that it was there and not here. The days after that, observations by the space telescopes revealed that the orbit of the giant planet was modified by the collision. This was the beginning of a chain of events that led to what was happening in the present.

The slight oscillations of that super-massive planet exerted gravitational forces that caused a shift in the orbit of nearby planets. Amur recalled the tidal waves, the tremors, wild climate changes. Over the next few years, Mother's orbit had shifted closer to the Sun and surface temperatures had gone up enough to kill all plant life on the planet. Amur's village had the time to build up a huge store of food and water, which they transported into the caves below the hill. The whole village took shelter in those caves.

That was many years ago. The first few months were difficult, but people adjusted to the troglodyte lifestyle. Then the realization came, that there had been no pregnancies since the event. There was no advanced medical equipment to ascertain the reason for it. They just hoped that it was temporary.

With time, that hope faded away in most, and lingered in some that still played music in the evenings. Inevitably, the survivors faded away, one by one, until one day Amur too closed his eyes for the last time. The only vestiges of the technological civilization that once lived on the planet were the ruins and rubble left on the planet's desolate surface.

The comet's collision event sent out gravitational ripples over the next thousand years until Mother was torn apart into millions of children rocks of different sizes, some massive enough to become spherical under the effect of their own gravity. Once in a while, some of these rocks would be flicked out of their orbit by the gas giant, still oscillating with the massive white patch on its southern hemisphere. One such rock flew towards the center of the solar system. The rock passed the orbit of the red planet without incident as the latter was on the other side of the Sun. Beyond, Sister was passing right through its path.

The animals on the night side of Sister, from tiny six-legged critters to towering four-legged giants looked up to see a huge fireball hurtling towards them from the sky.