Jason moved to a seat in front of a large console; he checked a few readings. Argos was still in control of the ship but not for long. Pax would take it to manual after they passed the atmospheric entry point, and the trajectory stabilised. The man wanted to use the sensors, but she stopped him.

"Don't. You can check it after we are through the upper atmosphere." The numerous beeps and boops underlined her words. "Listen..." Pax turned around from her seat to face him. "I could use your help with the scans when we get to the bombing site on Earth if you want." He didn't answer her as Caelius and Thalia entered the cockpit, and the conversation was cut short. Jason sent her a wink before he put the helmet of his suit on. All of them did. The suits weren't especially flashy and unusual as the ones she saw them wear on Mars, but they were comfortable, sturdy, and most importantly, the ship could print them on request. She made sure they took all precautions.

The ship's cockpit held enough space for six people, creating a triangular formation with the main pilot at the front. She never travelled with a full team, always alone. Being alone helped her think; now she will have to improvise. Aletheia alerted them to the approaching manoeuvre. Seatbelts automatically built themselves out of flexible metal plates around their bodies, stabilising them as the turbulence started.

"Everyone hold on," Pax said into the microphones in her helmet. She saw Thalia's reflection raising her thumb up in an O.K. More than a few hot sparkles jumped outside. The angle of the spaceship shifted dramatically as their trajectory changed. The pressure popped in her ear.

The ocean of blue below slowly burst into flame on the screen as the flight computer pushed the underside of the spaceship to face the high ionised heated gases, preventing damage and slowing down their entry velocity. From space, they looked like a lost comet sinking in the sea of emeralds, and this they were. Lost travellers entering the golden world.

Pax could feel the G-forces pushing her deep into the seat, turbulence shaking every single molecule of her body, every plate of metal within the ship. Resonating, almost hearing the singing of the three fates, yanking on her lifeline. Centuries of technological advances, yet the toughest test for humanity was the re-entry of their own home planet.

Prometheus, with its elongated elliptical shape, sunk into the fire. Its entry point was inhumanly precise and gentle. The kinetic shields deflected the heat, and within minutes it was through, gliding into the thermosphere and all its layers below, leaving a long trail of light and residue behind it.

The planet beneath them swallowed the new visitor, faster and faster every second.

"Manual control," the soft voice announced. Pax held the steering stick in her hands steadily. Argos took them to the night side of the planet; it was a pre-planned course that Pax had taken to avoid detection and unwanted attention from the Moon colony. They lost communication with them a long time ago, yet darkness brewed there, and nobody was brave enough to investigate.

Thick clouds enveloped them, with only their outer ship lights flickering and brightening the surroundings. Shortly after, the horizon was set aflame by the rising sun. The darkness gave way to a thick shade of blue, all shades of red, pink, and amber. With every minute, this dramatic palette of colours grew before them. Clouds gleamed in reflection, from mundane grey to a flaming amber. Earth seemed to welcome them for a moment, guiding them to their destination.

"Thalia, seriously? Tears?" Caelius said gravely.

"Shut up, you idiot. It's nothing." Her tone was weary but cheerful.

Pax smiled in her mind, as the warmth of a new day flooded the cockpit, touching her face.

"Come on, you two. Be nice," Jason almost whispered as he was struck with awe.

It lightened her heart to know she wasn't the only one who felt this way. As they entered the world beyond dawn, the world exploded with light and colour with the intensity they never could imagine, to slowly tone down to its stable balance.

Before them, a landmass has opened. Rivers and mountains. Fields and forests. Untouched by the human hand. When she was a child, a global catastrophe had taken over the planet. Humans in their brilliance discovered a new species of animals in the Mariana Trench, the same one she carried aboard, the bizarre dhino anasa. This discovery was so revolutionary, and the creature so alien to its own home, a new branch on the tree of life had to be created. Studies quickly followed, and science found a way to clean the atmospheric oxygen on an unprecedented global scale. Soon after, all over the planet, oxygen plants have been built, and man-made global warming has first slowed down, and then completely stopped. For thirty years, new scientific platforms started from this single discovery, and it seemed that the irreversible damage done to the planet by mankind can be repaired.

As the Prometheus flew over northern Africa, they could see how much of the Sahara had turned into a shallow sea, bringing new hope to these desolate wastelands of sand. The change of currents and winds brought rain to the parts of the world that were barren before. Pax knew this was just one side of the coin though. Europe was the biggest example of the selfish and destructive force of human negligence to everything except themselves. Many parts of the northern hemisphere were underwater as the seas and oceans rose higher than any predictions, flooding fertile land, destroying homes, and cities.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

When she was a child, something happened, or maybe it was Gaia herself that decided she had enough of the meddling of men. The uncontrolled amount of clean oxygen pumped back into the atmosphere, dramatic temperature changes, and many other factors started causing catastrophic weather changes. Cyclone supercells started forming all around the world, on a scale never seen before. They started calling them the Trojan storms. Within hours, they appeared from nowhere, as if they had a mind of their own, over major cities. No storm was ever the same, but they shared one common thing. All lightning strikes started as sprites above the clouds and in hundreds hit the land below. Always attracted by the oxygen plants.

As the planet turned on mankind, they scrambled in panic, evacuating to their colonies on the planets and moons in the solar system. One day when the blood-red storm clouds appeared on the horizon, a thousand or more spaceships launched in a mass evacuation. Those who remained faced the life of fear and changes nobody believed people could make. But hope always persists, and many settlements and small towns survived.

"Argos transmit a familiar to all registered habitats in our range," Pax said in a tone of voice the others couldn't decipher.

"What's familiar?" Thalia picked up.

Pax pondered for a second before replying. She used the chance to let the computer fly for a few minutes to take her helmet off, remove the gloves. The rest followed her suit.

"A familiar is a passive transmission signal to all habitats to check if everything is okay. Once you get a confirmation, you pass on the results to the port where you arrive. Since the collapse, we had to take care of each other in non-conventional ways. Too much use of old technology could attract Trojan storms."

"Habitat beacons for Rocamadour, Carcassonne, Triberger, Sighișoara, Arta, Valos, Glencoe..." The soft voice kept reading the beacon identification for each site. The number was much bigger than they could expect. In total, 30 different places where people still lived and the fires of civilization burned.

But the number was much bigger before she left Earth. Pax tried not to think about it. Maybe they are just out of range for the signals to reach. Maybe it's just that simple, she hoped.

"No major cities remained?" Jason dropped unexpectedly. He was free from his seat belts and walking down to the front of the cockpit to see better. But she didn't have to answer that. Below them stretched a dark and tangled world, a scar that didn't want to heal. At first, it was hard to understand what they were looking at, as the water trespassed everywhere it could. Winds blew sheets of mist and dust, preventing them from understanding any shapes. Then slowly carcasses of structures pierced through the veil. There was no telling where the land was anymore.

"This used to be London." Pax broke the silence. "When the Trojan storm came, the people barely managed to evacuate." Pax paused for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime. "After that... well... Gaia claimed back what was hers." Both of them seemed lost in this grieving moment. Somewhere beyond what used to be the city, a patch of fresh greenery appeared to find its way through the desolation.

Pax unconsciously shivered when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

Thalia stood by her side like a monument.

"There is yet hope for this world. It needs time to heal."

"I don't see a point in holding on to what was. Let's get to where we need to be." Caelius' tone was weary. The man kept his distance behind them. He sounded nothing like the man who was ready to question her earlier. Just an old tired man.

Pax had to agree with him.

"Fort William. Our destination is Fort William," she said. Her voice was soft but measured.

The Prometheus managed to pull away from the darkness and kept its course toward the golden watercolour world that opened in front of them, chasing the rising sun. The shallow bays turned into mud fields and numerous grasslands.

Once or twice they thought they saw a building with light, a moving vehicle, or even a ship on a river. But more often, it was similar to what they saw with London. Church towers sticking out of murky waters and thick fog. Only the tallest buildings would show, like statues. The ship lowered its course to avoid the gathering clouds.

As they reached north, more and more land opened in front of them. The change became apparent when they saw a small herd of animals. The more the land grew into hills and mountains, the more hope they all felt, the mood lightened.

Suddenly, without warning, a signal came through.

"This is FW air control; we have you in our radar range, please identify yourself."

Pax felt a shiver go through her skin; it felt like the most wonderful relief knowing they are still there.

"This is Captain Inthem of the Prometheus; we are here on official business to investigate the bombing," she said out loud.

A few moments passed before the voice spoke again.

"That may well be Prometheus, but we don't have anything in our database on your scheduled arrival. Please transfer your official LOSP ID."

Pax frowned her eyebrows. Weird.

Almost unconsciously, she transmitted the computer codes, thinking if everything was okay. The radio response took a while, and she was left in silence with her thoughts as none of the others spoke or commented.

"You are clear to land, Captain Inthem, on hangar 4. Once you are ready, please contact Security about your visit."

"Confirmed. Thank you." She shook her head to the invisible speaker with a slight annoyance. "I hope you are ready for an earthly surprise." Pax wanted to gloat; she really hoped Fort William wouldn't disappoint. And it didn't. As the Prometheus took a sharp turn, Loch Eil opened before them. Numerous lights of building complexes on many platforms still shone in the morning light. The architecture moved like waves, growing into the steep hills of the mountain range. Buildings in all shapes and sizes, yet none of them had a single sharp angle. And the inspiration by nature was more than visible with parks, gardens, and trees growing everywhere.

"This is something," Jason said quietly.

"Yeah, it is something." Her voice was a bit more excited than she wanted it to be. "Those people always invested in a harmonious relationship with nature. Even when the water rose and most of the old city was flooded and destroyed, they strived to rebuild, learn, and evolve." As she spoke to him, she handed over the ship controls to Argos, who gently took them towards the hangars. Circling over the city, they turned toward the mountain range. There, from a short distance, they saw huge structures built into the hills of Ben Nevis, with lights as bright as stars guiding them to their destination. Prometheus entered the gaping mouth of the hangar, and Jason could not help himself but stare in every direction.