The Bravest Human I Have Ever Met
I haven’t seen anyone talk about life back on Earth in phm so I couldn’t resist making up something myself. This is the first fan fic I have ever written if you could even call it that. It’s a really short story but I hope you enjoy :)
One of my biggest regrets was that I never got to thank him, or even say goodbye. All I know is that one moment we were playing the bean bag game and the next his name was all over the news headlines. But how could I have known? After all, I was only a 13 year old middle school girl, and that was all more than 2 decades ago.
When I first saw Mr. Grace’s name on the news I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that my favorite teacher is going to space! I thought that was so cool. In class, everyone has been speculating about where Mr. Grace went. I remember someone had a theory that he was a secret spy for the government, but now we know where he actually was. We were still wondering why he didn’t tell us though.
“Okay, but isn’t it weird that he didn’t say anything about it?”
“Yeah, he should’ve told us that he’s going on an adventure of a lifetime.”
“Do we know when he is going to come back? I hate this sub.”
It’s all we talked about and we talked about it so much that I think our substitute gave up on teaching us for a while.
This had a big impact on me especially. Mr. Grace became an inspiration. Because of him I decided that I also want to become a scientist and help the world just like him. So even though our sub barely taught for the rest of the year, even though none of my other science teachers were nearly as interesting as Mr. Grace, I gave it my all to study science the best I can. And even though by the time I graduated from high school the world was already falling apart, even though my father left us after getting bankrupt, I found my way into college and got a degree in molecular biology.
One day, about a year after I graduated, I met up with one of my old friends, and we caught up over coffee. We were in the same class with Mr. Grace actually.
“How has work been?” I asked.
“Oh you know,” Rekha paused to take a sip of her coffee. “The usual. Just nations threatening to go to war with each other every other day and ten million emails per second while trying to translate politics to science and then science to politics.”
“What about you? Got any luck so far?”
“Nope,” I said. “You would think the world would want more scientists now that you know… but no.”
Rekha reached for her coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and slid the flyer across the table to me.
“The Petrova Taskforce is searching for more scientists,” Rekha answered. “You should join us.”
I put down my, now cold, mediocre expensive coffee and stared at her.
“You are a great scientist, Olivia, and one of the smartest people I know. We could really use your help. And you are also searching for a job, so it’s a win-win!”
So that’s where I’ve been for the past 10 years. I’m now in my late thirties and I live on a ship. When I first joined the Taskforce, I worked closely with the climatologists to find ways to regulate the temperature on this planet. Then, a couple of years later I proposed the idea to use Astrophage to generate heat and energy. Since then I became the world’s leading scientist in Astrophage biology. The idea is extremely risky, and required a lot of research, but despite that I felt like everything has come full circle. I am now in the same place as Mr. Grace 20 years ago.
Party hats and cups full of vodka were everywhere. People were singing and dancing and cheering, including me. The sight was refreshing. It’s been decades since I’ve seen so many people filled with so much spirit. But oh my God we did it! The Beatles from the Hail Mary just splashed down last night and we found our salvation! Earth is saved!
“Dr. Smith?” Said a Russian voice from behind.
I turned around and saw a man in his sixties who I recognized as Dimitri.
“Sorry to interrupt your partying but there’s someone who would like to talk to you.”
He led me through the crowd and down a corridor. In my 10 years here, I have never been in this part of the ship. We stopped at the end and he knocked on the door to our right.
We entered. Inside was an office, crusty and old like the rest of the ship. There was a desk and behind the desk sat a woman also in her sixties with two cups of venti coffee in front of her.
“Y-you’re Eva Stratt,” I stammered.
“Wow, it’s a pleasure to meet you… in person.”
“Please take a seat.” Then she looked up and gave a small nod and Dimitri left the room.
“You are Olivia Smith?” She asked.
“And you are the leading scientist in Astrophage biology?”
Stratt smiled faintly. “Just like Dr. Grace.”
I smiled back. “I was one of his students actually.”
“Yeah. Mr. Grace was the person that inspired me to become a scientist. I just thought it was so brave of him to do you know… all of that.”
“Weren’t you in prison?” I asked.
“I was,” Stratt explained. “I’m only temporarily released so I can manage the Petrova Taskforce and Project Hail Mary again since the Beatles arrived.”
“Anyways, I called you here because I’m putting you in charge of Taumoeba research. Dr. Grace has already done a very good chunk of research on the Hail Mary but there’s still more to be done. I can’t risk anything, this humanity’s last hope after all, so I want everything to be double checked and then triple checked.”
“Okay, yeah, understood. I will do my best.”
“Good. Get to work Dr. Smith, the world is counting on you.”
“Everything is going well. We’ve run the tests and the Taumoeba passed all of them. The farms are looking great. Those little guys reproduce fast, and eat fast. They should be able to stabilize the Astrophage population in less than a year.”
It’s been around two months since I’ve been assigned to lead the Taumoeba research and I’m back in Stratt’s office giving her my progress.
“All we have to do now is to wait for the engineering team to make the probe and then we can send the Taumoeba to Venus and release them.” I continued.
“That’s good. You’re good.” Stratt smiled.
“Thanks,” I smiled back sheepishly.
“Maybe I was too hard on him,” Stratt said under her breath. I almost didn’t hear her.
There was another long pause.
“Yeah.” Stratt finally said. “I never had much respect for him, especially when all he wanted to do was crawl back into his classroom when the whole world was at stake. I may have insulted him about it a couple of times. I never realized how much his students meant to him, and how much he meant to the kids. I took it as though he didn’t have anybody to care for or care about him. But I was wrong because you are here.”
I pursed my lips and furrowed my eyebrows. Stratt could tell I was confused.
She sighed. “Dr. Grace is… not what the world thinks he is…”
What? I’m even more confused now. What does she mean by that? I wait for her to continue.
“He isn’t your stereotypical hero. He was soft-hearted, and honestly pathetic sometimes. He wasn’t brave in the way that we would think. The reality was that he never wanted to be on the mission. He was forced to only because he was our only backup after the explosion killed our entire science team. He tried to run away and we had to chase him down. His last moment conscious on Earth was literally him begging for his life. He was never good at keeping his emotions inside, but I was, so when I told him that I didn’t want it to be this way either he didn’t believe me. But it’s true. It was hard for me too, but I didn’t have a choice.”
“So you’re saying that he was a coward,” I said.
Stratt stood up. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I want to show you something.”
We left the office and entered the control room. Stratt unlocked the laptop on the platform and pulled up some files.
“Is that Mr. Grace?!” I exclaimed. He was wearing his Ah! The Element of Surprise shirt. I loved the goofy shirts he always wears, but that one was my favorite. Then suddenly a wave of nostalgia washed over me.
“Yes, that is. These are the video diaries from the Hail Mary. Only me and a few other people have watched them. I want you to see them too.”
Stratt opened the first file and pressed play.
“So I met an alien and we are learning how to communicate…”
Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve seen Mr. Grace’s face. I mean there’s all the images online but that’s different. This is a video and I can actually hear him and he’s on a spaceship in another star system and– “HE MET AN ALIEN???”
Stratt chuckled and then nodded.
“I mean Astrophage and Taumoeba are technically also aliens but we’ve found actual intelligent aliens?” My jaws dropped.
“Yeah, and they look like rock spiders.”
Stratt clicked onto the next video.
“So I have a new roommate now…”
“He can see through walls. Personal space is at a premium.”
“Who is Grace talking to, question?”
“There’s no way you can hear me right now.”
“Can hear, who are you talking to?”
My mouth stretched into a huge smile. “Wow. Incredible.”
“Hello Earth, I am Roooocky. I am Rocky from Erid. I am not Rocky from movie no, no, no, no.”
“We’ve figured out a plan. We’re gonna orbit the planet where Astrophage breeds, collect a sample, and figure out why it’s not eating Tau Ceti.”
“Hello Earth. Planet like fishing. We get very close to Adrian atmosphere and lower collector into cloud with chain. Then Grace go on hull to reel it in. If ship not at precise angle and speed we die. EXAMPLE.”
“I’m not sure what to do… done everything I could think of… I made him a heat lamp… and he left me one last message.”
“There’s a leak. The problem is the xenonite. The Taumoeba can get through it…”
“Rocky’s ship is built of xenonite… He won’t be able to find the leak because the leak is the ship itself… His life support system will fail and if that doesn’t kill him the radiation sickness will… He’s looking at a long, slow, painful death.”
“I can’t do both. I can go home, or I can save Rocky.”
“I’ve sent you detailed logs of all of our findings and enough Taumoeba to start your very own Taumoeba farm.”
“At least I didn’t have to hear you say, ‘I told you so.’ Even though you were right.”
“This is Doctor, Captain Ryland Grace reporting from the Hail Mary, and as the Eridians say: *rubs hand on forearm*”
Something damp hung on my cold chin. It was only then that I realized I’ve been crying. I wiped away the tears and sniffed. I couldn’t form words. I was just astonished.
Stratt was right. Mr. Grace isn’t your stereotypical hero. He was much more than that. He was a middle school teacher dragged into the most unfortunate of circumstances and sent to space to die. He didn’t want to do it, he didn’t believe he could do it but he defied the odds and did more than what was expected of him. I really hope that he’s still somewhere out there and he’s found his alien best friend.
My breath finally came back to me and all I had to say was: “He is the bravest human I have ever met.”
