People’s eyes watched the big screens showing the latest information about the coming trip to Alamo. New York had transformed. It was not the same city it was 100 years ago. People had been changed by the relentless production of bombs, guns and other military accessories. War was everywhere in the Galaxy. The Defense System in New York worked 24/7. Cannons were oriented to all possible directions through the sky. People knew that aliens could descend fast, very fast, unannounced in a swift descent from above. This is why people had taken to building their homes in black and silver oval bunkers. They were created from layers of new material named Animatron.
October 24, 2112, 8:00 A.M.
This story begins on a warm, sunny and humid morning.
New Moon Station was prepared for the new mission. A few years ago, Satellite Explorer SAT-E-13, discovered planet FDH-AM-5969, abbreviated into Alamo. Now was the moment to explore the new land of Alamo. This project absorbed the monstrous sum of $144 billion. The mission was prepared by the most technologically advanced scientists, specially selected for this mission. They used new biotechnology computers to preplan this important mission. Since Congress decided to green light this project, the Earth, named now “Old Planet”, had become a simple dock for loading and unloading huge barges. They melted an enormous quantity of carbon, ores and iron. Manned space flights became a thing of the past. The new pilots are robots now. A newly discovered material called Animatron was produced as an alternative energy source. It was not too costly to transform it into a form useable as fuel. Thanks to Animatron, space travel became fast and cheap. One pound of Animatron had cut down the cost by a factor of seven. It was universally known on the “Old Planet”.
October 24, 2112, 9:00 A.M.
This morning, Nana Olbrich, known better as Captain Olbrich, was expecting to receive a new order. She was from the 3rd Fighters Squadron nr 303, nicknamed Alpha Group Team. Her office was on the USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier. At the moment, Nana was lying down and looking out the big window in her small cabin. She was proud of her position in the General Department of Defense (GDD). However, this day was her day off. She was listening music. Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World was her favorite today. She started to sing it loudly along with Armstrong –
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying “how do you do?”
They’re really saying “I love you.”
Lying on her bed and singing this early morning, her black hair framed her face like a dark wave against the military color of her khaki pillow. Army regulations which determined so much of her life even determined the colors of her room. Without this rules her small cabin would be in the same color.
October 24, 2112, 10:00 A.M.
Finally Nana got up. She took a refreshing, soothing bath and ate quickly her tasty croissant. As usually, it was a chocolate croissant – her favorite. This was her standard breakfast ever since she became captain and had her choice. Depending on her humor, she would occasionally have a coconut croissant – or a strawberry one. Whatever the flavor, the croissant was delivered by robots directly to her kitchen. Everything in her room was arranged exactly as she remembered it from her childhood. Her father, a retired marine, would be proud of her. Nana got today her new orders today. They still glow on the pulsating small flat screen on her night stand. Nana had been feeling that this week would be a special one. She received a promotion and now her fears grow with every minute. She was afraid that her new duties would overwhelm her. The last time she felt like this was when she was a little girl. Her grandfather Emil saved her life pulling her out of 20 yards of an air-shaft. It had taken him over 16 hours.
The massage on the Nana’s cell phone screen was simple:
“See you at the “GDD” at 11:45 A.M. They chose you to go to the mission on Alamo. Alex.”
October 24, 2112, 11:30 A.M.
Nana ran out quickly out of her military cabin and began her walk down the corridor to the elevator. On the walls were located LCD screens showing life outside on the surface. Nana – viewing from the comfort of life inside the station – was always very impressed watching thousands of workers building her base. Small cameras, situated outside the base, showed the vast work being done in the impossibly dangerous heat. The workers looked like the soldier in their metallic dark-green helmets with metallic silver-uniforms protecting them from radiation. They were ready for every sacrifice to build the most advanced technological base in the world. Some of them rushed from place to place on the seemingly endless work site. Everything looks perfect arranged and planned – like in a hierarchical ants′ community of tireless workers. Suddenly elevator arrived. The doors opened and Nana realized that she was late. She had almost forgotten that her meeting started at 11:45 A.M. in the General Department of Defense.
October 24, 2112, 11:55 A.M.
Nana looked at her watch. She was almost 10 minutes late. She rapidly slipped into the elevator. The door closed silently and almost immediately reopened. At the elevator exit door her adjunct was waiting for her. “Only a routine exchange,” Nana thought, “A leftover from a previous age!”
“Good morning, Captain Olbrich. How are you?” Sergeant Don Wright asked.
“Good. Very good. Thank you for asking! And you?” Nana answered.
“Thank you very much. I am good, very good…” Sergeant Don automatically repeated.
Nana entered the meeting room. On the commander’s desk laid the latest map of Alamo. Nana went to the centre of the room. She stood there and looked very tense. General John O’Keefe approached Nana and asked her the question:
“What happened? You look very nervous,” General O’Keefe asked.
“I have a strange premonition that if we do not sent a suitable fleet to support Alamo, the expedition will not succeed,” Nana answered slowly.
“You know that suitable plans already are undertaken,” General O’Keefe said strongly and directly.
“We are not ready to go there. You know it! We will lose our people!” Nana stated with a great deal of self-possession.
“You know that those decisions are not mine! I just follow instructions! Do you want to go there or not?” Captain John asked, his voice getting louder.
“Yes, I do, but… not now. We are not ready!” Nana tried to say this clearly.
“If you’re scared, we can choose someone else! This is not professional behavior, Nana! The President is expecting success!” He knew immediate he said too much. His rising blood pressure reddened his face.
“Ok. I understand Captain. Still, we don’t know enough about this place. That’s all… Can I go now, General?!?” Nana saluted him and expected to go.
Nana looked at him few seconds. His face was like marble with no any emotion. He looks like a programmed machine. Nana bent her head lightly as a sign that she has nothing more to say.
“Yes. You can go!” General O’Keefe said. He knew that – ready or not – this mission had to go.
Nana left the National Air Force & Royal Council Room and disappeared in the shadows of the dark corridor.
“Good bye, Sergeant Wright.” Nana tried to smile to cover her emotion.
“Good bye, Captain Olbrich.” Sergeant Don said quietly.
Discipline in the army was of the utmost importance. The rules were very clear: subordinates can talk to superiors only as a slave would with his master. One had to ignore one’s own ambitions and ideas. The procedure was clear from elaborate discussions in previous decades in Military Association Forces (MSA). The same was true with Air Force which cultivated the best traditions of the past epochs.
October 24, 2112, 3:00 P.M.
When Nana entered the hangar, she saw her co-pilot, Harold Wright. He was one of the best pilots in the Air Force. When he saw Nana, he noticed immediately her anger and hurriedly enters the cockpit of the plane. When Nana put on her light weight vacuum-pressure suit, Harold flipped on all the indicators on the control panel. He was waiting for her decision to turn the engine of the space ship on. Harold was very experienced pilot. How could he not be? Flying was a family tradition. His family members included Orville Wright and his brother Wilbur Wright, creators of the first human flying machine ever in December 17, 1903. They would have been proud of their descendant. He spent over 50 thousands hours in the air and this mission would be his last one this year. His body was sending him signals that it was time to take some vacation.
“Are you OK?” Nana asked.
“I am, but what about you? You look nervous. Do I need to know what happened?” Harold asked directly.
“No, no, nothing. Take my word,” Nana lied to him. Her unnatural smile gave her away.
“Let’s do it!” He said to encourage her.
“Yes, let’s do it!” Nana repeated.
“We are ready to take off – flight number TH-316-36. The Alpha Group Team is ready,” Harold said to the control tower.
“Start the procedure! We are ready too!” they heard from the control tower.
“I am starting the procedure,” Harold replied.
“Harold?” Nana suddenly asked.
“Yes?” Harold answered.
“First, we need to take a side trip to the planet Mars. We need pick up a new computer for our ship. Sorry I didn’t tell you before, but it’s important for our mission. It’s was top secret until today. The computer will help at Alamo,” Nana explained.
“I understand, Nana. It’s no any problem with me. I understand that from Mars, we will take a direct route to Alamo and we will continue our prime mission?” Harold looks very humble and understanding.
“Yes. Of course. We will.” Nana smiled.
October 24, 2112, 6:00 P.M.
The base on Mars was very small. It was more reminiscent of an inky-capped mushroom than what it was – the technologically advanced Modern Institute of Computers and Technology (MICT). It bore little resemblance to the big base at Militaris Noctiluca on the Moon. It was a small base – similar to a base located in Antarctica over hundred years ago.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like this place…” Nana said to Harold.
“What’s not to like?” Harold asked with surprise.
“I don’t know, but this place is telling me right up front – this is not a nice place…” Nana tried to formulate her thoughts past her intuition.
“I understand what you mean. For me it is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here.” Harold smiled.
“Still, I think we will be safe here. This place is boring.” Nana said with a shrug.
“Do you remember a rock song named We Gotta Get out of This Place written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil? The song was recorded in 1965 and was a hit single for The Animals.”
“No, I don’t. What is it about?” Nana asked.
“It was iconic song, especially popular with United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War,” Harold smiled.
“I understand what you’re trying to say,” Nana started to smile too.
“Yes. We will sing this song after we finish mission on Mars.” Harold felt proud of himself for remembering a song over 150 years old.
Sandstorms and lack of atmosphere make Mars an unfriendly, inhospitable place to visit. Still, the fourth planet from the sun always fascinated people. Now, for over 50 years, people have been extracting iron oxide from the planet. The name of the planet came from the Roman god of war – Mars. Thanks to its color – a rusty red – people associated this place with the conflagrations of war. Mars is half as large as the Old Planet. The temperature oscillated between 68 °F during the day and -211 °F at night.
Ships docked at a station that looked similar to a huge aircraft carrier cut out of hard rock by laser or and specially made huge diamond-saws. The airfield was carved from the hardest rock found in that region. Someone said that even if the planet were destroyed, the airfield would survive and drift into space. Nothing could damage this place – not even the powerful explosion of a nuclear bomb. On one hand, this gave to the pilots a feeling of stability and safety. On the other hand, many pilots knowing the hardness of the surface took special care with their landings. They didn’t want to kill themselves and find their names on the local hall of fame.
“This base was built over 30 years ago and looks very modern,” Nana said to make conversation.
“We lost many people building this base,” Harold said sadly.
“Yes, I know. My father’s brother died here during first mission to this planet. I don’t remember what happened, but I read an article about it,” Nana said contemplatively.
“Let’s make this a very short stop here and get out of here,” Harold suggested.
“Yes, I agree.” Nana answered.
When Nana and Harold carefully landed on the quiet Martian surface, their thoughts were exactly the same: “This planet will never be home to them.” It was in their minds at exactly the same moment. And, as soon as they had that thought, “mother nature” responded directly to their unspoken thought. Very powerful winds shook their ship.
“Nana, be careful!” shouted Harold. “Our spaceship is adrift!” he said, grabbing at the arms of his chair.
“I am trying my best!” Nana said to him calmly, but deeply aware that something was seriously wrong.
“Try to turn on the emergency system,” Harold recommended.
“OK. Let’s do it.” Nana hit the emergency red button on the left side of the panel. A few seconds later, the spaceship righted itself back to a stable horizontal position and landed safely.
“Oops! So close.” Harold wiped his brow.
“What was that wind?” Nana asked with surprise in her voice.
They almost clipped the hanger with the wing of their ship. Without Harold’s efficient maneuver they could have destroyed their spaceship. A few second later, they felt a very powerful wind coming at them fast filled with red sand, like something out of Dante’s hell. It hit the Animatron hangar. Sand filled all the cracks.
Once inside, one of the operators waved them in by hand. They knew that this was not the standard-procedure, but, given the storm, they didn’t stop to question the gesture. They had a mysterious sense about the storm – that it was not caused by nature or man, some powerful force beyond both. Suddenly the ground started to shake. Both pilots could barely remain on their feet. Powerful nuclear explosion appeared at the same moment on all the LCD screens.
“What the hell was that?” Harold shouted.
“I don’t know. Let’s check…” Nana said.
“Do you see anything on your screen?” Harold asked.
“No, I don’t…. Wait a minute… Look on you right. Do you see a spaceship on the right?” Nana asked.
“Where?” Harold asked anxiously.
“Near the small outcropping of rock…” Nana pointed toward a space ship.
“It’s Zorks! What they are doing here?” Harold asked.
“I don’t know, but we need to hurry up.” Nana said last sentence very nervously. She knew that Zorks are dangerous and they can destroy this planet and their mission to Alamo.
Nobody knows why Zorks attacked Mars. Only one thing was sure. As everybody knew, Zorks were fascinated by human culture and human technology. Maybe they found out that Mars now housed the fastest known computer.
Zorks looked like a Tolkienesque leprechauns. They were humanoid in form. Their official language sounded like a mixture of English, French and Spanish. This was a left over from the days of the third European Union migration. What was the most interesting about the Zorks was their ability to perfectly adapt their own organism to any new place they encountered. Their skin was chameleon-like, only way beyond a chameleon in its extraordinary possibilities of adaptation.
October 24, 2112, 7:00 P.M.
At the same time, Nana and Harold went to the shelter which was located 32 levels underground. 10 panicked technicians crowded together in the lift which exceeded the permissible weight limit. In spite of that, Harold and Nana entered the elevator too. They were so close to each other. Harold suddenly caught Nana’s hand and lightly kissed her mouth. She was surprised but she didn’t resist. However, when one of technicians looked in her direction, she lightly inclined her head with shame. On her cheek appeared a hint of a blush. She shook her hair over her face cover her embarrassment. Harold raked aside her hair, looked at her full in the face and joyfully smiled at her. The elevator stopped.
“Ladies first,” said Harold, showing the way out from the elevator.
“Thank you, my gentleman.” Nana said and started to laugh. Everything that had just happened was unexpected. But both of them were quite clearly very happy and ready to take a new step in their relationship.
Nana quickly cooled down from her amatory exultations and ran to the dispatcher′s office. In the center of the room, among many devices, was a small metal case with a computer. She had not expected this computer to be like this. She remembered other powerful computers being double or triple the size of this one. However, this one was very small. Atto NYC-2112 Computer upset her expectations. She quickly applied her finger to the papillary reader and inscribed the 32 digit set of numbers. She was waiting for the next step – a voice sample and a retinal scan.
On the LCD screen there suddenly appeared the inscription:
“The level of your stress is 32%. Do you really want to open this case?” in display letters.
“Yes, goddammit!” Nana shouted.
A nice, quiet feminine robotic voice answered immediately:
“Voice approved. Welcome Captain Nana Olbrich,” was the computer’s first voice message.
“Welcome… Welcome…” Nana tried to cover her happiness. She closed the case and rose.
“We need to go to our spaceship Harold… Quickly!!! We don’t have much time!” Nana looked into his eyes.
“Nana, I can go everywhere with you,” Harold poked fun on her.
“Harold. I am serious now! We need to go!” Nana hit his head lightly.
“I know. Zorks… Let’s go…” Harold said seriously.
Harold and Nana started to run for their space ship. They needed to return the same way they came to get there, hoping the elevator was not yet occupied by Zorks. Happily, it wasn’t!
Once they entered the spaceship, Nana installed Atto NYC-2112 Computer and said goodbye silently to the crew on Mars. Nana and Harold tried once again to leave for their prime mission to Alamo, now aided by the huge power the new computer offered. The new operation system, Windows 7X7, offered much more than Windows 7 from 2009. The New Omega Five processor was 4bln faster than any computer ever built.
Nanas sent a signal to the New Moon Station:
- “S.O.S. Attack on Mars! Over! Help is needed! Over!” Nana starts to repeat this sentence twice.
- “Received! I am sending help! Over! How many enemies? Over,” said the automated voice of the MASNG-10, the computer on New Moon Station.
- “I really don’t know! We saw only the nuclear explosion! Over!” Nana said.
- “We have sent a pilotless ship to check the place of attack! What is the status of our crew on Mars? Over!” MASNG-10 said.
- “All healthy! They are hiding in the bunker underground! Over!” Nana knew the full crew could spend over a year there without any help. Food, water and air were located in the storage compartments for just this kind of emergency.
- “Thank you for your information! We will take over now. Over!” Said the voice of MASNG-10 without any hint of emotion.
- “OK. Thank you! We are continuing our mission to Alamo! Over!” Nana felt her that body starts to relax.
- “Good luck!” MASNG-10 said.
October 24, 2112, 8:00 P.M.
Nana turned on the engines. The small spacecraft moved into orbit like an arrow shot from a bow. It was incredible how quickly people could break into deep space now. Harold remembered archival video recordings several centuries ago when the launch of heavy space shuttles were viewed by big crowds of gaping spectators. That was when people could barely believe such events were possible. Now there was nothing surprising about such a mission except how much money the government was willing to spend on such things. On their dark helmet screens were suddenly reflected thousands of stars. Their helmets looked like the Christmas trees trimmed with brilliant lights.
“I see skies of blue, and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.” Nana was reminded again of the Louie Armstrong song and she started to sing.
“Do you like that song?” Harold asked.
“Yes. I do. It’s my favorite,” Nana answered.
“I love that song too.” Harold agreed.
Both of them sat on their ergonomic functional air-cushioned armchairs.
October 24, 2112, 8:45 P.M.
Nana entered safety standard code 405 immediately on the communication channel. This was a 16 number code and this made her happy because usually the procedure demanded 32 different characters. While she entered the code, Harold reviewed thousands of pieces of data appearing on small screens in his part of the cockpit. Everything looked OK to him.
After six hours of flying, suddenly on the right side of the LCD screen appeared a small blue sign – an indication of magnetic disturbance or meteorites. Harold informed Nana, knowing that Nana was a very experienced pilot. In fact, she had already noticed the signal. He then waited silently for her response and direction. His communications monitor analyzed feedback from New Moon Station.
October 25, 2112, 3:00 A.M.
Suddenly on the small screen both Nana and Harold received a message. At first, it was simply a sign demanding attention. ATTENTION! A few minutes later it was replaced by large flickering inscription: ALERT! Even with all his hours in the air, Harold had never seen something like this. He was surprised when Nana accepted the message with silent calm. Their spaceship lightly adjusted to the heat coming at them from outside. Harold noticed that Nana raised her left hand to touch the left side of her helmet. He knew that Nana was turning on the small LCD screen inside her helmet which provided some instruction.
“It is unusual! What is going on?” Nana questioned.
“I agree. I don’t know what it is. Any ideas?” Harold looked very surprised.
“What is your proposal?” Nana asked.
“I think we should stay here. Don’t go too close to Alamo. We should stay here.” Harold said loudly.
“Yes! You are right. My thoughts are the same.” Nana agreed.
Nana had never experienced anything similar to this. She immediately entered the autopilot instruction plan. She did this in total silence. Suddenly –shockingly – something happened that Nana expected to see. All of the airship’s screens turned themselves off. Only small emergency lights remained lighting the control panel. Unfortunately, all the readouts on the control panel disappeared in a fraction of a second. Harold shouted into his helmet’s built-in microphone.
“Nana, what the hell happened?” Harold shouted.
“I don’t know. This is some kind of blackout scenario. I don’t like it! I don’t want to play in this farce.”
“I will check the engine panel!” Harold stood up and ran to the panel.
“I will check the power panel!” Nana ran to the opposite side of the corridor. “What the hell is going on?”
Nana tried to control her thoughts while pushing every button she could get her hands on. Nothing responded. The ship started to pivot to the left and swing around on its own. At this moment the engine turned itself on again. The spaceship went back to its previous course, making the necessary course corrections. Nana and Harold tried to breathe and relax.
“Thanks to God! That was dangerous!” Harold said. “What did you do?”
“Me? Nothing… I don’t know…” Nana was shocked. “Let’s get back to the cabin and check on what is going on?” She started her quick walk back.
October 25, 2112, 4:00 A.M.
Happily, everything on the LCD screens looked perfect. Nana started to be more relaxed – until, on the horizon, appeared an unwelcome set of visitors. Huge meteorites, in a very slow motion, came closer to their spacecraft.
“Power full!” Nana shouted. “We need to turn the ship 180 degrees!” We have 30 seconds to do it!!!” Nana started to sweat.
“Yes, commander!” Harold answered, pushing two buttons on the left side of the panel. The space ship started turning around very fast.
Beside them passed huge pieces of meteorites. Suddenly something flashed and a big “boom” shook their spaceship. Nana and Harold instinctively turned their heads to see. Their eyes saw a view that no aerospace soldier would want to see. In the air was the wreck of Spaceship Beta – a ship they had seen at New Moon Station. In that space ship was Nana’s very close friend, Captain Alexander O’Neill…
Nana, with her voice hoarse with suppressed emotion, announced to Harold:
“Go back to the base. Now!” Saying this, Nana started to cry.
“Yes, of course,” Harold answered.
Harold’s emergency fallback position was to say nothing. He knew enough to know that the best rule right now was “Don’t say a word!” Harold knew how much Nana loved Alex.
October 25, 2112, 4:15 A.M.
During their trip back, Nana realized that she had know Captain Alexander O’Neill for over 15 years. Their families were very close to each other. Alex helped her to become a pilot. They grew up together in Chicago, the place where they were born. She remembered a very friendly dinner with Alex in Szalas, a classic home-style restaurant on South Side of Chicago, an “embassy” of Polish traditional cuisine. Nana remembered Alex was so funny singing and telling jokes with Polish people. Eating specialties like pierogi, golabki, zapiekanki, and kielbasa. Nana and Alex drank a lot that evening – especially a famous Polish beer – Zywiec beer – which had become a symbol of home for many Poles – served with “oscypek“, a special cheese made exclusively in Poland. Szalas catch their hearts with its unique decorations, remarkable wooden plates and spacious interior. Highlighting the dining room was a working water wheel creating the feeling of an old mill house with a large, cozy, romantic fireplace. Nana remembered that night very well. She smiled as she remembered one of the warmest, most enjoyable, funny nights of her life.
Nana turned the radio on to end the terrible silence in her heart. The same station she was listening to this morning played the same Louis Armstrong song:
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Nana covered her face in her hands.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying “how do you do?”
They’re really saying “I love you.”
Nana started to cry. She cried very intensely with raging currents of tears flowing down her cheeks onto the wilted collar of her shirt. She was absolutely devastated inside. Nana sobbed as if she were a small child, lost in a new city. From the distance she heard from the radio:
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more, than I’ll never know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
October 25, 2112, 11:00 A.M.
When they return to the Mother Base, General John O’Keefe saluted her. This was a sign of respect and homage to the Alpha Group Team. General John O’Keefe knew how close Nana was to Alex. He had helped her to go to Alamo…
Harold never talked with Nana about the events of that day. He knew that this was the most terrible day in her life.
The report about what happened was unique: “The hardware failed, not the man.” The tremendous crystals installed on the spaceship, minimizing space and time, allowing communication across vast, empty space, had failed. Nobody expected that the same frequency used at Alamo and Beta Group Team would be the exact frequency generated by the big meteorite. The bodies of the dead, highly experienced pilots were never found.
Since what happened on the trip to Alamo, a hundred expeditions have been flown. New deposits of ore were discovered and used to replace the more dangerous Animatron – the source of the destructive frequencies generated by the ships. Nana never found peace of mind after that day. She was not the same anymore. Something broke in her heart. She remembered Alexander. Photos on her desk reminded her of Alex. Each pictured showed the two of them smiling and laughing. She never forgot Alex, that brave man who taught her that the most important thing was looking positively to the future. Alex’s death taught her that people must enjoy every meeting and appreciate time with their friends.
Alex’ motto life was simple: “Don’t dwell too much on the past and don’t dwell too much on the future. Enjoy every day, hour, minute, second in your life now.” Nana remembered Alex words: “The lure of the stars should never override the basic need of people – and yet they call us to cross borders which we cannot even imagine. Alexander O’Neill, the Captain Commander Pilot at Alpha Group Team.” This text was published on his own blog on June 20, 2112 at 2:15 A.M, three month before his death. Nana thoughts about this sentence and thought, “Vita brevis ars longa (The life is short, the art lasts long.”)
January 19, 2113.
Captain Nana Olbrich left the Air Force Squadron in NYC, premature gray hair starting to show around her temples. She started her new life. Nana and Harold, her “first officer now”, married three month after Alex’s death. She took Alex advice seriously with hope and happiness. In her room you can see Alex pictures and short prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
New Moon Station is still at war with the Zorks. And human history still continues…
THE END
