Dust: The Story of Those Left Behind

[Nolnoc]

This excerpt is part of a much longer story I am working on. This chapter tells the introductory story of the crew of Olympus, a seven man space-station in orbit 125km above Kerbin, and one of the three arks the story is told through.

Chapter One: Witnesses in the Void

We were there for the end, passive observers of a conflict we had no rightful place in, but were fully invested in. It all started simply; as we passed over the South Sea and to the night side of our world we were greeted by The Lights, small pin pricks of light that would illuminate in the dark, thin veil of the atmosphere and then vanish without a trace. They were like twinkling stars scattered across the surface of our home, a graceful light show with the force of atomic fury behind it. We sat there in silence watching this show of exchanged light unfold only a few hundred kilometers below us. As each surge of light would appear the accustomed glow of an industrialized population would disappear, lost forever into the night. One flash would be the last cry of a city; a dozen would be the end of a nation. But there were hundreds, maybe thousands. The morbid truth of our situation would not be fully be realized by either myself or my crew until Olympus made its six minute, eighty thousand kilometer journey around to the day side of the planet. No words were exchanged as we crossed the terminator into the day, our faces plastered to the frosted windows of the cupola. Beneath us our home was in ruins. It was not the same world we had seen only minutes ago. Instead of rolling green hills and bustling grey cities there was only muted shades brown. The surface was barren, torn apart by their indifference. Craters served as graveyards for the innocent millions lost in the cities. Radioactive clouds of spite swirled across what remained unblemished by the explosions themselves. We were looking upon the ruins of a dead society, one that we were members of. And yet we were still alive, clinging to life like the dust clinging to cupola glass before us, the last survivors of a suicidal society trapped in an aluminum ark circling their dead world in the lonely void of space.

If you guys like the story let me know and I'll post up more as I finish the other chapters.

(I promise the story gets less melancholy later, but the catalyst for this situation is some heavy stuff. Unless you guys like the darkness then I'll keep the same style. )

Edited September 6, 2014 by Nolnoc

[KSK]

It's got to get less melancholy right? A story that starts with nuclear annihilation can only really go up.

I'd like to see where this goes - please do post up more as you write it.

[Maxilica]

Looks good. Subbed!