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    Endurance
    Endurance
    Endurance
    Ebook73 pages

    Endurance

    By Gordon Van Smith

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Over a very long period of time, Homo sapiens had ravaged the Earth. Large areas of the planet were dramatically altered and ruined by the devastating effects of climate change. Global warming and toxic pollution created environments that were deadly to the life forms of the world. War, famine, and disease have decimated life on our planet. Earth had become a vast wasteland. The widespread desolation caused by humankind led to the eradication of a multitude of species. Humanity was on the brink of extinction.

    Global chaos unfolded as the end of all life was approaching. The world was dying, and time was running out for the inhabitants of planet Earth. The only hope left for the continuation of the human species is to send a remnant of humanity to a planet in another star system to start over. A group of thirteen nations united to build a highly advanced spacecraft and fly select persons from each country to Mulanar, an exoplanet located 10.4 light-years away from Earth. For the passengers and crew of the Starship Endurance, the long and arduous flight across interstellar space to a strange new world is a harrowing journey into the unknown.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGordon Van Smith
    Release dateSep 25, 2018
    ISBN9781732731103
    Endurance
    Author

    Gordon Van Smith

    The author, Gordon Van Smith, lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. Mister Smith has written poetry for many years. His book, Endurance, is his only published work of fiction. Song of Humanity, a collection of poetry, is Gordon's second published book. Gordon has traveled to several countries around the world. He enjoys family, friends, nature, and learning. Gordon supports nature conservation and ending extreme poverty and hunger.

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      Book preview

      Endurance - Gordon Van Smith

      ENDURANCE

      Gordon Van Smith

      Copyright © 2018 Gordon Van Smith

      All rights reserved.

      Name: Smith, Gordon Van – Author

      Title: Endurance

      Description: First Edition – 2018

      Subject: Science Fiction

      ISBN: 978-1-7327311-0-3

      The Endurance story is dedicated to the masses who share their humanity with others.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter One - The Demise of Life on Earth

      Chapter Two - Building a Starship

      Chapter Three - The Journey Begins

      Chapter Four - Interstellar Space Travel

      Chapter Five - Arrival on Another World

      Chapter Six - First Contact

      Chapter Seven - Trouble in Paradise

      Chapter Eight - The Yaztado of Mulanar

      Chapter Nine - Finding a New Homeland

      Chapter Ten - Starting Over

      Introduction

      Over a very long period of time, Homo sapiens had ravaged the Earth. Human overpopulation caused many life-threatening problems. Large areas of the planet were dramatically altered and ruined by the devastating effects of climate change. Global warming and toxic pollution created environments that were deadly to the life-forms of the world. War, famine, and disease had decimated life on our planet. Earth had become a vast wasteland. The widespread desolation caused by humankind led to the eradication of a multitude of species. Humanity was on the brink of extinction.

      The world was dying. Time was running out for the inhabitants of planet Earth. The only hope left for the continuation of the human species is to send a remnant of humanity to a planet in another star system to start over. A group of thirteen nations unites together to build a highly advanced spacecraft and fly select persons from each country to Mulanar, an exoplanet located 10.4 light-years away from Earth. For the passengers and crew of the Starship Endurance, the long and arduous flight across interstellar space to a strange new world is a harrowing journey into the unknown.

      Chapter One

      The Demise of Life on Earth

      The time had finally arrived. Earth, our home planet, had reached the breaking point for sustained human habitation. How had humans reached such a deadly level in their history? Gradually, through the ages, humanity brought about the demise of their world. Since ancient times, one group of people would slaughter another group and take their possessions and land. The conquerors would rape the women and girls, and enslave any survivors. As technology increased, the destruction caused by wars grew exponentially. The human population continued to increase, which caused a plethora of problems. Global pollution steadily grew. Many places were toxic. The world’s land, water, and air were contaminated. We had polluted the Earth’s oceans. In many cities, the air was not safe to breathe. Several impoverished areas with poor sanitation and raw sewage were plagued with deadly diseases. We were gradually turning our planet into a wasteland. Species that could not adapt to the filth ceased to exist. Many other organisms perished because of the drastic changes to their environment. Much of the natural world had been devastated by our exploitation of nature and our poisonous pollution. Space around our planet was heavily polluted. The debris orbiting Earth was caused from the vast number of space missions many nations had performed over time.

      Climate change had advanced at a steady rate. Global warming was leaving its terrible mark on Earth. The overconsumption of fossil fuels drastically altered the Earth’s climate. The reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas were eventually depleted. The extreme amounts of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, released over the centuries, ushered in the highest recorded temperatures in history. Large deposits of methane hydrates were located on the floors of the oceans and in the permafrost on land. As the world’s temperatures increased, the methane hydrates destabilized and released enormous amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere. With methane being even more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the combined gases warmed the world to the point of no return. The devastating effects of climate change were ubiquitous. The grim reality of global warming and toxic pollution eventually led to the eradication of many species. Life-forms that remained on Earth and could not adapt were continuously being eliminated.

      Overfishing caused serious problems. The river, lake, and ocean fish stocks became more depleted, as world hunger increased. Many fish species were wiped out. The coral reefs of the world were increasingly destroyed over time. Rising ocean temperatures led to coral bleaching. High carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere were absorbed into the oceans, which caused acidification. That process dissolved the calcium carbonate in coral reefs and inhibited their growth. The melting of the polar ice caps, brought about by rising temperatures, caused coastal cities all over the world to be inundated with seawater.

      Complete ecosystems were destroyed. Humans had cut down more trees than they planted. Large swaths of forests disappeared around the world. The deforestation dramatically increased carbon dioxide levels. The world warmed up and desertification continued to grow, as our arable land shrunk. The overgrazing of livestock added to the increase of deserts. As time went on, more land became barren. Soil depletion was widespread and led to lower crop yields and crop failures. Many aquifers around the world were completely depleted. Without water to drink or irrigate crops, death was imminent. These horrendous conditions ultimately led to an increase in famines, and the destruction of wildlife populations and plant life. There seemed to be no safe haven anywhere. Terrible things were happening all over the world. For the inhabitants of planet Earth, time was running out.

      It was not possible to sustain an immense human population with diminished food, water, and natural resources. War, famine, and disease were ways that nature dealt

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