StarGaze

Planet Of The Lost Brothers

Raghav looked outside through the glass and into the vastness of space. The stars were much clearer now and the planets which we only saw in photos were now a sight to behold. Of course, Raghav had been in space before on the journey to Enceladus, but these are different times. 

Back then, he had to focus on how to save his species and had to deal with the anxiety that comes from the thought of failure. But this time around, he was in a good position. He was on the way to MARS, sitting in the ship that was supposed to carry settlers to MARS once the first phase of StarGaze was successful, which most people anticipated would be. But as we all know, there was a 'slight' complication.

Embarking on the journey with him was the tree of life, which had taken the form of something like a glued book. Turns out, these things are pretty space-friendly. One moment he was a giant tree covered with mist, and in the next, he was someone's Sunday magazine.

Also, there was the girl mentioned in the earlier chapters. Pinky had learned a lot about the human race and I think it would be safe to say that she was in 'too' deep. Raghav had secretly explained the situation at hand to the superior officers and the plan to fool MARS was put in place. According to it, the government would conceal all arms movement and hostile activities so that their neighbors couldn't see it from outer space.

And just to be sure that the tree of life doesn't learn about these facts by peeping into Raghav's mind, he had his memory erased right from the start of the meeting till the end. But something didn't quite add up.

The tree of life had specifically told Thomas in the first meeting that the girl HAD the key to stopping this war. So that meant Raghav wasn't the key. But the tree of life insisted again and again that Raghav WAS the key. What the f**k was going on?

Raghav was lost in these thoughts as they reached MARS's atmosphere. The illusion of a red planet shattered in front of Raghav's eyes as he saw a hole enlarging in the atmosphere, showing the beautiful world that was inside. He cleared his throat and tightened the seat belt as the ship descended towards the ground.