Flight to Eden

Its time. Its starting in earnest with the increasing rain and earthquakes. Global warming is crashing through the myriad doors of Mother Earths mansion. The Gaian concept says the Earth is alive, and shes pissed.

The planet Earth has been sick for a long while. Mother Nature has been leaving subtle clues to that effect. Mankind has caused the sickness, but humans ignored the fact. Natures announcements, noticed by only a few concerned scientists, have been largely disregarded by the rest of Earths population. More noteworthy, however, the economy has continued to improve over the decades. The first scientific base became operational on the Moon. As the lives of the people on Earth prospered, orbital habitats were built, and Mans quest to journey into space continued. People didnt give a damn about a few picky signals from their home planet.

My science fiction story, Flight to Eden, takes a searching, powerful, and thought- provoking look at a world suffering for years from a disease completely ignored by humans: Pollution! In a self-initiated treatment, Mother Nature wages war in her own unique way against the ravages of Mankind. In the process, she prescribes the medication, and then cures herself! The extent of the healing, and the ultimate destiny of the worlds former inhabitants, comes at a terrible though fascinating cost for Mankind.

The story spans a millennium, covers the progress, the devastation, and then the reconstruction in three increments: The one hundred seventy prosperous years up until the time of The Healing; the 800 years after The Healing, while Mother Nature, and the population adjust to the cure; and a brief time near the millenniums end, when three divergent groups of humans attempt a reoccupation of Earths, now healed, and clean surface, with surprising consequences. The last page of the book will astound you.

Pollution, the mephitic toxicity of the air humans sucked into their lungs, continued to thicken and worsen. The average annual temperature continued to rise. Large chunks of polar ice, from both Arctic and Antarctic regions, fell into the oceans. Aircraft and ships reported an increase in the number of icebergs. Water levels along coastlines rose slowly but steadily.

A significant number of the populations sought cleaner pastures, their primary objective: Flee from the polluted atmosphere surrounding Earth. Some migrated off-world to live in space, others chose to join the exodus to live underground, and yet, most humans, for whatever the reasons, choose to remain on the surface and make the best of things.

As the delicate balance of Earths ecology had continued to change, Mother Nature became sick and tired of being sick and tired from all of Mankinds abuse, caused by ignorance, apathy, and greed. The human population had picked away at the weary world, until there remained little else for it to do, but begin a massive healing process. In particular, the increase in pollution, acid rain, and Mans continued destruction of the rain forests, finally tipped the scales. It became time for drastic action. In order to save itself, Earth fought back the only way her military force, Mother Nature, knew how: Environmental clean up crews mustered to the call for healing.

Self-preservation, and a clean environment were her generals. Like huge macrophages, horrendous weather, accompanied by earthquakes, flooding, vulcanism, and pestilence, scoured the surface. Resembling advancing armies, these weapons went to work mending the cancerous damage. The armies fought relentlessly, but before the Earth would be cured, a significant amount of healing had to take place. It did not happen overnight.

A period known as, The Healing, began with torrential rains, greatly exceeding the 40-day biblical epoch. It rained almost every day for more than three years, beginning a process of global cleansing never before witnessed by huma