Morgan had been looking for Liz all over the base, but it hadn't dawned on him that she might be on the top level. Yet there she was, sitting in what was the observation deck of what the world thought was the very tiny lunar one colony. She was sitting on a small bench, looking out the window at the massive planet that used to be their home. What used to be a beautiful blue sphere of with small piece of white and green was now replaced with black and red, and a massive orange circle where the asteroid first impacted with Earth. Morgan didn't say anything as he walked over and took a seat on the bench beside her. They both looked up and stared at the evidence of what was a mass extinction event. The entire planet looked to be engulfed in flames, burning right before their eyes and it was the saddest thing they had ever seen.
"How did the fire spread everywhere?" Liz asked, finally breaking the silence between them.
"Do you want the short or the long answer?" Morgan replied.
"I'll take the short for now," Liz said, eager to hear the answer.
"Debris," Morgan answered, "When the asteroid crashed into the earth, as I had earlier predicted on the space station, a lot of debris rose higher than the atmosphere, and that posed a danger to more than just the station. When the rocks came back down, they heated up on reentry and turned into fireballs and then crashed back into various part of the planet, lighting those parts on fire. Tens of thousands of those large pieces of debris went everywhere, causing fires all over the world."
"That large orange circle," Liz continued, "I assume that's ground zero?"
"It its," Morgan confirmed, "But the color is because of liquefied rock, because a large portion of the asteroid was melted down during impact. So what we're looking at is a massive pool of lava. It will eventually cool down."
"It just looks so depressing," Liz said, looking at the red planet, "How long will it stay like that?"
"I'm not sure," Morgan replied, "It could be weeks, months, or even years. That's when things will freeze up. Eventually the Earth will experience a mini-ice age and that's when the healing process will begin."
"Not for anyone that is still alive down there." Liz countered, "For them, their fight to stay alive has just begun."
"If the winter doesn't kill them, they'll starve when all plant life and animals drop out of the food chain." Morgan said before wiping his brow, "I don't mean to be so cruel about it, but those who were killed by the impact got off easy this time out. In this case survival just punches them a ticket to an even more painful death."
"Did you know the cameras up here caught the whole impact on tape?" Morgan asked, not taking his eyes of the planet.
"I didn't," Liz confessed, "I'm not sure if I want to see it."
"Me neither," Morgan concurred, "I'm not sure I'm ready to watch a video of my family being destroyed along with billions of other humans."
"I can't believe they're all gone." Liz said, never taking her eyes off the broken planet before them.
"I can't believe it happened in our lifetime." Morgan added, "What are the odds that it happened during out small slice of life, hundreds of millions of years after the last planet killer made impact?"
"Way higher than any state lotto?" Liz guessed.
"Even more," Morgan replied, "I just remember what Rogers said on the shuttle. All the kids that never get to graduate from high school or get married or have a chance to experience life. All of it was snuffed out before they could really enjoy it."
"I wish there was something we could do to help them." Liz said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"There isn't," Morgan said before standing up, "But maybe there is someone else who can."
"What do you mean?" Liz asked.
"I have an idea," Morgan said, offering a hand to help her up. They left the observation deck and the small shelter that played the hoax on the world before the world ceased to exist. When climbed down the ladder to the sub-terrain section of Lunar One, Liz finally wanted to know what was going on.
"What are you thinking, Taylor?" she asked him.
"According to Rogers," Morgan started, "There are little gray people who helped us build this space base; another species in this universe that had no problem getting off their duffs and helping us out."
"And your point?" Liz asked.
"So why can't they do it again?" Morgan replied with a question of his own, "Why can't they help us find survivors and rescue them from the death that the aftermath is going to make them suffer?"
"Could they do it?" Liz inquired, feeling hopeful.
"I think they can," Morgan answered, "The real question should be would they do it?"
"So where are you going?" She asked.
"To see the only person here who might be able to answer that." Morgan said, as he came to a stop in front of a door. He paused and took a deep breath before knocking on the door and waited for a response.
"Enter!" Gordon called out.
As both Liz and Morgan walked in, Gordon put down what he was working on and made himself comfortable.
"Commander," Morgan started, "If it's not any trouble, we'd like a moment of your time."
"What do you need?" Gordon asked.
"We have an idea," Liz answered, "Something we think might help any potential survivors still on Earth."
Gordon sat up in his chair, "I'm listening."
"We ask for help," Morgan took over, "Ask the little gray men for help gathering survivors and bringing them back to Lunar One."
Gordon paused for a moment. "Who told you about the little gray men?"
"Captain Rogers' accidentally let it slip." Liz answered, "He didn't mean to but he was under considerable stress because of the situation."
"I guess we can forgive that," Gordon said, sitting back again, "I'm not sure they'd be willing to help out."
"So there are little gray men?" Morgan asked, genuinely surprised.
"Who do you think dug out the creator for this station, Morgan?" Gordon replied, "They're called the Neccaborns, and they come from a galaxy a few light years from here."
"Light years?" Liz repeated.
"Yes, light years," Gordon confirmed, "I don't blame you for being skeptical. I was too until I met them about a year before the base was built."
"So they have a history of helping us," Morgan retorted, "What makes you think they wouldn't want to help us again. We need as many people as we can get because the survival of our species depends on it."
"I understand what's at stake," Gordon said, "I'm just not sure if time is on our side. Even if we did ask for help, it might take months for someone to come out and help. They might even refuse to help us. They can be a tad narcissistic sometimes, those smug superior little bastards."
"What do we have to lose?" Morgan asked, "If they say no, we're no better or worse off than we are now. We have nothing to lose and virtually everything to gain. If they agree, we can help those out on the planet still alive and increase our chances of preserving the species."
"Alright," Gordon said, as was convinced, "You make a good point. This is truly a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have a device here on base that will let us communicate with the little gray men as you call them. I can't make any promises, but I've spoken with them before. I will do my best to see if they could help us recover survivors from what's left of our home."
"Thank you, Commander." Morgan said, pleased.
"Just keep your nose clean," Gordon repeated, "And don't tell anyone what we discussed here today. There's no point getting hopes up just yet until we get word back from the little bastards."
"Well Commander," Liz said, "You might have more success if you don't refer to them as bastards."
"Thank you, doctor." Commander Gordon said, smiling back at here. "Now if you'll excuse me, it appears I have a long distance call to make."