The exciting conclusion of the series, continued from the October 2018 edition of Nonahood News…

Planet Earth still had hope. Even though it was destroyed 500 years ago, causing its remaining life to seek refuge and inhabit Mars, I knew a way to save it.

My friend Pach spoke to me about the dark time when the Earth met its devastating fate. Its climate became way too hot, and wildfires eventually burned everything to ashes. The soil that once sprung life became infertile. It wasn’t until 500 years later that Pach discovered that a sacred red crystal he possessed could equalize the climate around us to prevent a similar destruction from happening to Mars.

I knew what I had to do. Everything made so much sense to me now. I came here in the time machine I invented on Earth. It threw me nearly a thousand years into the future on Mars. The answer lay in front of my face.

“What are you going to do?” asked Pach.

“I’m going to go back in time and use the red crystal to stabilize Earth’s climate. It will work. I left that planet in the year 2018. Things were not perfect, but they were not as bad as the year 2505. There is still hope.”

“You’re right … but do you have enough crystal to make it work?”

“I have what’s left in the time machine. I think I have enough to make one trip back home and enough to work the weather.”

“Let’s go.”

I led Pach to where my time machine stood in the red dust. It was in the same condition as I had left it.

“Pretty nifty gadget I see you’ve created,” admired Pach.

“Yes. She’s a fine beauty, isn’t she?”

I put my hands on the door to open it. It slid open at my touch. I walked inside its doors to a dark hole. I slid my hand in my pocket and felt the remote. I found the green button near the top and pressed it. The machine began to turn on. It lit up, and the laser that used the red crystals also began to glow. Once the laser shot at you, it would send you through time. I quickly pressed the red button that would pause the chunk of steel.

Once the machine paused, I climbed to where the laser was and reached in to grab ahold of the crystals. Only an ounce was left. This was barely enough to get me home. None would be left over in order to save the world.

I looked over at Pach, who was looking up at me, his eyes waiting for an answer. I shook my head.

“There isn’t enough left. There’s only enough to get me home. Humanity is doomed after all,” I said in despair.

After a pause, “No. There is one more option,” Pach said with a serious look in his eyes.

We soon made it back to his home. He sat quietly on the couch and didn’t speak for a while.

“Remember I told you I injected myself with the red crystal many years ago? Its wonders kept me alive for thousands and thousands of years. I want you to take my blood and crystalize it. It will be enough to save the Earth. You will need every ounce to complete the task,” he solemnly said.

“What? What do you mean? You will die, Pach! You have been my dearest friend since childhood. I could never risk losing you!”

“It has to be done. There is no other way. We have to do this. Just because I will no longer exist in this life does not mean I still won’t exist in the life that you left. You will see me when you get back home. I will be there. I will still be alive, and so will seven billion others.”

Without another word, I laid my friend on the kitchen table, connected a needle to his arm with a large tube attached to it and held his hand. I knew time was running out. I had to get what I needed and go back to the year 2018 and make the crystals in order to save the planet. Would I see Pach when I got back home? Only time would tell. I wasn’t sure if he was lying to me for the greater good or if he was telling the truth. I hoped he was right, that I would see him when I arrived back home.

He gave one last faint smile and his eyes began to close. He spoke one last time, “Go, my friend.”

With Pach no longer alive, I made my way to the time machine. I gave Mars one last look and shut the door behind me. I cranked it up, and I was on my way back in time, where I came from.

The last thing I remember was a faint memory of space and a red planet. I awoke on my laboratory floor next to the time machine door that was still open. I was back on Earth. In my hand was the tube of Pach’s blood.

I went straight to crystallizing it. Once I was done, I set the crystals out across the city. It would do the trick. They would soon oxidize into the atmosphere. Our Earth was now safe from future destruction.

Months went on, still no Pach to be seen. One day, as I sat down in my basement, I heard a knock on my door. I got up to open it. I placed my hand on the knob. I sighed softly and opened the door. A grin came across my face. Life never looked so promising.