GA Writing Prompts - 48. # 307 Captain Re

Captain Re

"Are you sure there is nothing that can be done?," the man asked in a bored tone of voice.

"There was a time when Eden was strong and wisdom ruled over the country. Those days are gone and I watch the developments with concern," Re said.

Re was the former commander of the spaceship that had taken the Asari from their planet Seth to Eden 43,000 years ago at the time of the ice age. The Asari had erected a city on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. The sea was almost run dry as much of the planet's water had turned into ice. The ice covered the northern hemisphere. The realm of Eden had prospered over the centuries and the population had grown rapidly. There were settlements in the lands that adjoined the dried-out sea. Those lands were densely populated.

"The population is growing. We need more land, but the ice prohibits colonization. I think the council’s decision to end the ice age is a wise decision indeed", the man said to Re.

"Nonsense," Re replied. "A controlled greenhouse effect will never work out. Certainly, the production of propellant gas will raise the average temperature on the planet. The ice will melt as a result. But, please, face the facts. A controlled greenhouse effect is simply impossible. Have you looked at the images that our satellite took? The northern hemisphere is covered with ice. Imagine this ice turns to water in the short timeframe they set. A gigantic flood will be the result. The flood will destroy the whole planet."

"You are too pessimistic about it", the man said and went away.

Re looked after him with a frown. Whatever he tried, nobody listened. They brushed his warnings aside and even laughed at him. Re, once a highly estimated man, had become a fool in the eyes of the Asari. It had made Re angry in the beginning, meanwhile he felt only bitter and sad. He looked out of the window of the administration building, a huge tower, and looked over the city. What a splendid city, what a gigantic town they had built on the island.

The town was damned to ruin. The sea levels would rise as a result of the greenhouse effect and the dried-out strait would again fill with water. The waters of the western ocean would gush into the inland sea and drown the whole area.

"They are blind and deaf. They’re vain and proud, but pride will have a fall", Re said. He turned away from the window and took a few items from his desk. "It's time I put an end to my efforts", the former commander of the spaceship said. "They say whoever has eyes to see, ought to see, and whoever has ears, ought to hear, but, alas, my words fall on deaf ears. I will leave Eden. I won't witness its ruin."

Re went to Guan, a place located between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in the eastern lands. Centuries ago, the Asari had banned a few Asari men from the island because they had married human women, an affront in the eyes of the ruling class. The banned men had settled far in the east. They had called their place Guan, garden, as the area was a prospering place. Guan was Captain Re's refuge.