"What do you mean, it was destroyed?" I asked shakily.
"Exactly what I said ladey. Today it is known as the Doomsday."
"This doesn't make any sense. How can Earth have been destroyed two thousand years ago, when I was just sleeping there not even two hours before. You have to be lying to me, this is just some kind of sick joke."
"I'm afraid not ladey," the captain said solemly.
"And why are you speaking like a stereotypical pirate? Those didn't exist even two thousand years ago."
The captain looked shocked, "They didn't?"
"No. I mean, there were pirates, but none of them talked like you. That was just what they sounded like in the movies."
"Ah, movies! I've heard about those! An ancient form of recreation, moving pictures," the captain said in an awed tone.
I stared at him, a little bit annoyed and said, "We're getting off topic."
"Right, sorry," he cleared his throat.
After that the captain told me the story of what had happened two thousand years ago.
The date was July 4th 2053, and it had come to be known as the Doomsday. I thought the name was somewhat dramatic at first, but I soon learned it's appropriateness. Exactly 2,018 years ago, Earth was destroyed by a rouge planet. Far-fetched, I know. But basically, it was a really horrible day in history, perhaps the worst Earth had ever experienced.
Normally, Jupiter and Saturn would have protected Earth from any asteroids, or in this case, a planet, but this one was far too large for them stop. No one knew where it had come from, but they didn't have time to figure it out.
First it crashed into the gas giants, breaking it into pieces about the size of Mars. This saved Earth from immediate destruction, but many believed that might have been better given what happened instead. As the giant pieces of the rouge planet hurtled towards Earth, every government on the surface was in a frenzy trying to figure out what to do. Alas, there was nothing they could do with their limited technology. They were powerless against one thousand planet-sized astroids crashing towards them at top speed. Everyone on Earth gave up any hope of survival. Everything fell apart. Suddenly there were riots in the streets, people starting burning down buildings, jails were abandoned, criminals set loose. Woman and children were being murdered in the daylight and nobody even stopped to look. I had to stop the captain halfway through so I could compose myself, hearing this was too much for me.
When he continued, he didn't mention anything more about the people and explained what happened when the astroids finally reached Earth. Once again, as they entered the atmosphere, they broke into thousands of smaller pieces, and suddenly it was like a giant hail storm was rattling the great planet. City after city, after town after town, was destroyed. It only took less than five minutes for the entire planet to be eradicated, but to the people on the surface it must have felt like an eternity, as they watched fires blaze up around them and close in, swallowing them in a darkness.
I paused after he finished his explanation, then asked calmly, "If the entire planet was wiped out, how are humans still alive aboard this ship, unless you are an alien?"
The captain looked as solemn as I, "Aye, it seems almost impossible any of us survived. But luckily at the time, Mars had finally been collinated, after long struggles with the government to receive enough funding. The people working there were also nearly killed, but by yet another stroke of luck, Mars was not completely destroyed. After hitting Earth, many of the astroids were knocked off course, and were much smaller than they had originally been. I guess after the rouge planet had crashed through three other planets, it was finally running out of life. A few stray pieces did manage to leave a mark on Mars, but none managed to destroy the research station where the people were located.
After the destruction of Earth, the people on Mars were left stranded, but somehow they managed to survive for a thousand years before aliens came. When they finally did, they offered humans their technology, and the resources they needed go replicate it. Now, the year was 4071, and humans had spent one thousand years traveling the universe and collinating planets.
"There's one thing I'm still confused about," I said.
"What is it?"
"Well, humans must have continued to stay in contact with aliens after they were given the ability to travel through space with ease. So, why don't I see any aliens aboard your ship?"
The captain was silent. He sat like that for a few minutes before answering, "Well, Ladey. The thing is, humans don't exactly get along with aliens nowadays."
I was in disbelief, "You don't mean to tell me... we're still racist towards them?"
"Yes." was the captain's only answer.
"That's disgusting."
"Well, if ya don't like that, you really ain't gonna like the next part."
I replied with silence.
"We've been at war with four different races for the past thirteen years."
I sighed, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Yes, it is not ideal. Which is why my crew and I chose not to participate."
"War is voluntary in the future?" I asked somewhat skeptically.
"Well, not exactly." he smirked.
"What? What is it now?"
"Ya see ladey, we're pirates."
There was more silence.