Fiasco Press

www.fiascopress.org

Journal of Swarm Scholarship

Celestial Events
By Andrew Winegrad

Nobody plays the news anymore, but we all heard one way or another. InSystem Media reported that the explosion would be "vaguely" visible, its proximity to the Sun hampering the vision of those within sighting distance. Most likely just a slight change in spacial brightness to the naked eye, occurring for only a few hours beginning at 9:45am Agreed Solar Time. I borrowed a pair of UltraV specs from Nick next door anyway. He said he'd be using them himself if he hadn't burned his retinas examining solar flares for longer than recommended. It's too bad for him.

I've never been to Earth. Neither has anybody I know. I've seen pictures of course, from back when it was still inhabitable, but it's hard to relate those to the gray dot that passes by the window every couple of days. They say some people still live down there, in small national clusters outside of government sphere of influence, or interest. Most are pretty hostile. Several missionaries were killed in the last attempt to make contact before they were all recalled. They called the situation "hopeless." The Earthlings are "savages," hell-bent on their archaic livelihoods of agriculture and husbandry. I get a little queasy myself thinking about it, food straight from the ground, from live animals. Difficult to imagine.

It does seem a little cruel, going about it like this. I mean they are still people, aren't they? They live there, not like you or me, but they do live, somehow. But maybe that's just some kind

Fiasco Press

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Journal of Swarm Scholarship

of genetic nostalgia. Just because our species originated there doesn't make it our home. And the shipping routes between Venus and the outer colonies have to be maintained with efficiency, or else the entire economy will falter, both systemically and intersystemically. Unemployment on Triton is almost 8%, and it's even worse on the deeper moons. It took authorities over 72 hours to quell the Martian Pole riots, and there's no guarantee there won't be more upheaval if we don't regain a surplus of Venusian sulfur and bolster their refinery markets.

I'd feel better if there were a way to adjust the orbit or renavigate the lanes around it, but what do I know about physics? They say there's no way to reach the necessary efficiency with a planet disrupting the cycles every few weeks, and the sheer number of warheads necessary to alter its orbit would evaporate whatever water remains on the surface anyway, with no guarantee of success. Still, I don't know...

They say debris is probably going to interrupt some communications between satellite communities for the next couple of months, but the actual interference should be minimal. Asteroid patrols are going to be doubled, even tripled in some of the closer sectors, and that's good for jobs, too, at least temporarily. And the government has ordered all magnetic shields at full for the next month. At least we don't have to worry about the old moon. I've heard that pieces of it still turn up in the outlying colonies, but I doubt anyone ever bothers to prove that it's the real thing. What for? Collectors, maybe. I wonder what a piece of Earth will be worth once the initial wave is over.

Fiasco Press

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Journal of Swarm Scholarship

I can't imagine what it would be like to be there when it happens. To stand on the surface of an exploding planet, feeling the ground give way and then push up and out with all of the heat and light. It couldn't last more than half of a second, but damn. That would be something. But I can't say I'm sorry to be several million miles away. It's almost a little funny. No, funny's not the word. Ironic, I guess. All of the known life in this system, and every other colonized system for that matter. It all started there. On that gray dot. And then blink. It's nothing. Even with Nick's specs it wasn't much more than a pin prick, like a tiny spot of blood welling up, wiped away and then clotted, gone. Nothing spectacular.

Fiasco Press

www.fiascopress.org

Journal of Swarm Scholarship