Capítulo 2: The Sun Is Dying
[Terran Star, Modern Era Year 2212]
"Home, hmn?" A soft velvety voice uttered as she listened to the sound of newscasters reporting news after news of criminal cases, scandals, and natural disasters.
Dainty hands raised the electronic tablet and, after a finger pressed the screen, the display on the screen changed with a click.
[BREAKING NEWS: The Terran Cosmic Research Center reports an unprecedented drop in the Sun's hydrogen level. Scientists at the TCRC warn that humanity's window for preparation has been dramatically shrunk to a few decades at best.]
[This is a major departure from the previously accepted knowledge of at least a thousand years.]
[In response to this urgent situation, 47 countries, including our own Eden Country, have publicly announced the acceleration of spaceship development.]
[These cutting-edge spaceships are meticulously designed to carry the over 10 billion Terran inhabitants, along with genetic material of all known species.]
[In a bid to preserve the planet's already dwindling biodiversity, the ships will also carry live specimens of the most vital animal and plant species carefully chosen to sustain an effective ecosystem during the migration—
The sound and lights were abruptly cut by another click, followed by a soft sigh.
The owner of the voice was sitting lazily on her chaise lounge, her relaxed posture revealing confident poise, and her well-manicured hands rubbing her forehead to ease an upcoming headache. She closed her eyes and rested the back of her neck on the backrest, her dainty hands moving to pat her big belly.
She sat alone inside a classically decorated room, her long dark hair gracefully cascading down her back, and its deep brown hue reflected hints of copper under the light of the afternoon sun.
Slowly, her eyes opened, revealing striking green orbs that emanated with wisdom. However, as she recalled the contents of the report, her eyes narrowed slightly, and heart felt heavy.
She had an intuition: They don't have enough time.
Unless there was a miracle, they would all die.
Just a pity for her children who might not get a chance to experience the world, even if it was just for a while.
"You shouldn't watch such depressing news so early in the morning, missy." A pleasant-looking woman sounded from the kitchen. On her hands was a silver tray with a warm cup of milk. The woman carefully placed the items on the side table and stood professionally a few meters away, ready to be called.
"Thank you, Nanny," the young woman said, her feathery voice landing on the old woman's ears, causing her to smile unconsciously.
The pregnant woman did not sit properly but only lifted her upper body so she could get a sip of her warm milk. It was technically just her being lazy (moving while pregnant was no longer as easy as breathing as before), but—amusingly—she still looked graceful as she did so.
The nanny stared at the girl she watched grow up, from a thin orphan to the present beauty of infinite charm.
The woman's luscious hair framed her oval face, accentuating her beautiful features. Her unique emerald eyes were further emphasized by the beauty mark under her right eye.
The girl's pregnancy added a soft femininity that made her more attractive. She couldn't help but recall how she was only a few years prior, how this same girl was so much of a tomboy that everyone in the family got a few grey hairs on their heads every time she went out.
Motherhood could change anyone and this stubborn girl, it seemed, was no exception.
"Well, I was hoping they would get news of that guy, but they showed me the galaxy's potential death instead," she said. Her words were joking, but the slight crack in her voice betrayed her pain.
Nanny did not smile with her. "Missy..."
Althea raised her hand to stop the topic. She knew she was the one to open it, and she regretted it the moment she uttered anything.
She knew the pain she felt when she found out her husband went missing months ago.
Nearly half a year ago, her husband was called on a top-secret mission by their government. It was expected that he'd be gone for a month.
It was normal to be out of contact for such a long time. However, after two months, he did not return nor did they have any news at all.
A sense of dread stabbed her every day until she finally couldn't handle it anymore and started calling the higher-ups.
Fortunately, she had some connections thanks to her contributions so she didn't get dismissed on the first call. However, they delayed the meeting continuously until a brave media reporter—an old friend of theirs—revealed the results of his investigation.
Apparently, hundreds of soldiers went missing not long after their mission started.
Worse: They had already been presumed dead. The government kept it under wraps due to the extremely odd circumstances in which they disappeared.
It felt like she was submerged in cold water. She almost had a miscarriage and it could be said to be the worst day of her life so far.
She did not even know she was pregnant.
Fortunately, her brother was next to her and she was taken to hospital in time for treatment. Otherwise, she'd have followed her family to the grave.
After recovering, she and her brother spent most of their business profits finding out the news, tapping several illegal channels by the way.
Eventually, their reporter friend hinted at some clues. However, it was extremely difficult to get news without risking life. They even lost contact with him at some point, and it was likely he had been imprisoned for revealing so much.
This did not deter the siblings, however.
Her brother helped her control public opinion, slowly revealing the clues they had and eventually, the government gave in to public pressure. The answer was frankly not something any one of them had expected.
An odd fluctuation in space was discovered months ago, and weird animalistic monsters came out in droves.
There were a total of 300 soldiers from 10 countries that went on that mission, but not a single one returned.
Not even a piece of the dozen tanks and bombers they sent were recovered.
Until now, no one could explain what had happened.
Shortly afterward, the sun's problem was confirmed, and it got more difficult to get an answer from the government. She and the other families funded their own searches but to no avail.
Now, the sun's problem exploded—no pun intended—this problem had been completely set aside. It was too fantastic as well (monsters? portals?) so people just assumed it was something the government said to distract them.
Just like that: Other than their families and friends, no one remembered those missing soldiers anymore.
"I'm sure the master is fine," Nanny said, "He will definitely come back to you."
And she said so with certainty.
Although Garan was often away, her experienced eyes could see how much that man loved his wife. He was the type of man who could jump off a cliff if she wanted a flower hanging dangerously on the side.
They all refused to believe he was gone, firmly believing that he was fine somewhere.
Althea, for one, could tell that he was alive... even if he was far away.
They'd find each other soon, she could feel it.
At this thought, she couldn't help but pat her stomach again. She looked down on her stomach with a complicated expression on her face.
He didn't even know she was pregnant...
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