The Return of the Sojourners

[WP] You are a leader of a human colony that long lost contact with Earth, when at one day they show up and greet you as the first Alien race they met. You realize that years of genetic alterations and environmental effects made your people quite different from "standard" humans...

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The colony had left earth 500 years ago. Our species was dying on the planets surface along with everything else. Instead of war, our leaders came together and a massive ship was built, our colony. We took the best, the brightest, the most athletic, the most artistic, the kindest, the best of humanity with us. We couldn't take everyone. It haunted the people on board who remembered the day they left. The fights to get on the rockets off world. Videos played on Earth Day every single year, showing Earth, what had happened to it, why it had happened. We had caused it, then we ran. We left an entire planet to die, we saved as many species as possible on the arc, but not all.

Our search for a new home had come to nothing. Even the most habitable planets were already dead or dying. We tried, we tried to teraform, we tried to survive on alien worlds, but it just didn't work out. The last disaster, we lost 274 people. That was it. We had been gone from home for so long, maybe Earth was habitable again. Maybe our tech could fix it. We already had extra long lives for our species. We were taller then we were when we left Earth due to a difference in gravity, but overall, we were still human, we looked human still. We could pass. The plans were already in motion, probes would be sent out before we got too close, just incase we couldn't contact the surface and conform who we were. We didn't want to be nuked out of the sky if they didn't remember us.

I sat and watched along with everyone else as the probes entered Earth's atmosphere. The planet was quiet, devoid of the radio signals we would have expected. The probes information was promising though, temperatures were warm, it was hotter then when we left, but habitable. Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels seemed OK. Predictions were true though, the planet was warmer, humidity was on the high side, clouds covered more of the planets surface then before.

There were no habitations near the equator. The old cities were ruins, a shrine to what life had been like before we'd left. It looked like a desert, most of the planet did, apart from the north Pole. We were used to seeing it covered in ice. The ice was gone and it was covered in green. Fields that looked cultivated, a mega city that was covered in plants and trees. Everyone stared at these visuals, the probe not getting close enough to scare the people on the surface. We decided to get closer, announce our presence, saying we were coming home. We could fix the planet, we could help.

I was ready to head down to the surface along with a small team comprised of people from different areas. Soldiers, scientists, even a politician. We knew what human nature was like, we didn't want to risk sending down more and losing people in an act of war. We'd lost enough people already.

There was a bustle of excitement and nervousness around the ship. I walked through the ship, a small backpack on my back carrying my phone and laptop. There was a mega city, they must have a communication system I could link to. The Internet, phones, they can't have been lost, right?

"Yo, Parker!"

I turned to see one of our most energetic soldiers, Chet, running towards me, dressed in one of our planets old military uniforms. I laughed, "do you really think they're still wearing those old things?"

He shrugged, "orders from the top, also, I got you this."

He slipped a small blaster into my hand and I quickly hid it inside the rim of my trousers. As a technical expert, I wasn't supposed to carry a weapon, but I was weapon trained. Chet always had my back. He understood just as well as I did that humans are hostile creatures and we have no idea what we're getting into landing down on Earth.

"Debrief wasn't very useful. No signs of human life, but there's a city." Chet stated.

"That was odd," I agreed. We didn't see a single person, even from a distance. There were very few signs of life, which was odd. Maybe the city was old, maybe everyone had died off.

"Maybe they're all vampires?" Chet joked.

I raised an eyebrow, "so they moved to a place where the sun doesn't set for months at a time?"

"Stupid vampires then!"

I laughed as we headed to the launch room and met up with the rest of the team. Archer was our politician. A stern looking man who never seemed to crack even the faintest smile. Maybe his face would explode if he tried! Specks of grey hairs glimmered in the LED lights, making him look older then he was. Summers was our scientist, she was crazy smart and very beautiful. She has a smile that would light up the room. She was busy chatting with another soldier, her brother, boy Summers we called him. He was just as attractive and highly skilled. He was the person you always wanted to have your back. He was one of the only survivors from our last failed colonisation. He came back physically ok, but mentally, it took its toll. Then there was Finn. Another soldier, the youngest of our group, he was one of the best young recruits we'd had in 200 years.

We boarded the shuttle down to Earth in silence. We were all nervous. I stared out of the window, I could see my reflection on it. I barely looked any different from the day I left. A bit taller maybe. Our tech outshined anything we ever had on earth, now everyone worked together, our society progressed rapidly. It was better in space, we had one common goal that brought us together. No threat of nukes, no more wars, no more famine, no death from dehydration or water born diseases. Maybe we shouldn't go back to Earth.

I had vague memories of life on Earth. Massive storms that sounded like the world was ending. Thunder so loud it made the entire house shake, flooding so bad it literally wiped towns off the map. Crazy hurricanes, massive tornadoes. The biggest I remember recorded was six or seven miles wide and was on the ground for an hour and a half. I wonder if the world is still like that now?

We entered the planets atmosphere. The small craft rattled and rumbled. Suddenly there was sound all around us. All I could see was clouds, lots of clouds. The ship dropped lower and my ears popped. We reduced speed further.

The intercom came to life, "eta 12 minutes."

There was nervous shuffling as we all stared out of the window, watching as we sunk under the clouds and got our first glance of the land below. It looked like home, just how I remembered it, well, before the planet went into a meltdown.

We sunk lower. I could now see the trees, species I didn't recognise. Then we were through the trees and I could see our landing spot, it looked like an old airstrip. We didn't need a runway to launch so it being damaged wasn't an issue for us. Our ship sunk down to the ground slowly, kind of like what a helicopter was like. We landed and there was an instant tension and excitement. The team got up, a little slower then usual due to the gravity. It felt like I was wearing weights in my pack when I pulled it on.

"Remember, do not engage if the humans seem hostile. Parker, Summers, Archer, you must stay back until we deem the situation safe. Understood?" Boy Summers looked at us, taking command just like he was trained to do.

"Sir," we all replied. There was nothing to argue about. I wasn't willing to run in there and get myself killed. We took our positions, I could feel my blaster nestled against the small of my back. I held my breath as Boys Summers pressed the button to open the shuttle doors. They hissed and then opened. We stepped out of the ship and looked around. Outside the doors was a welcoming committee. They must have materialised out of nowhere. The stood around curiously watching us. They looked human, but they weren't like us. Their skin shimmered, it wasn't pale, but it reflected light and made them hard to look at. Camouflage or just a way to keep heat off themselves? Their brows were bigger, shading their eyes from light, kind of like a baseball cap. They also looked so small, maybe that was another evolutionary trait, but I may have also been from the severe famine the planet went through after we left.

"Do you speak English?" Boy Summers asked the people outside, holding his shield up, ready for an assault, but it didn't come.

There was an excited muttering, then smiles, "colony!"

That was the one word I caught before they rushed forwards, smiling and cheering. They knew us. I smiled, a little nervous as they grabbed us and pulled us from the shuttles steps and down onto the planets surface.

They spoke in a mix of languages. I picked out some Chinese words, English, Spanish and some I didn't know. It made sense if everyone had moved up to one megacity to survive.

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THE END