For my Science Fiction project, I have chosen to read the book called "REACH FOR TOMORROW". It contains a dozen of Arthur C. Clarke's best-loved short stories. I am presenting the first story in the book, "RESCUE PARTY".
In this story, a galactic search crew speeds to the Solar System to rescue any intelligent life forms. Time is running out. The Sun is about to go Nova --- as the aliens search for the inhabitants of the third planet, which is the Earth!
Meanwhile on Earth, the fires are dying out as there is nothing left to burn. The great forests that have swept across the planet like a tidal wave with the passing of the cities are now no more than glowing charcoal. The continents are dimly visible through the haze. But the last hours are still to come.
On the alien ship, Captain Alveron sends out his message to the entire crew: "We are approaching a sun which is about to become a Nova. Detonation will occur in seven hours, with an uncertainty of one hour, leaving us a maximum of only four hours for exploration. There are ten planets in the system about to be destroyed-- and there is a civilization on the third. That fact was discovered only a few days ago. It is our tragic mission to contact that doomed race and if possible to save some of its members. I know that there is little we can do in so short a time with this single ship. No other machine can possibly reach the system before detonation occurs."
The ship members are shocked by the truth behind their mission. But they calm down quickly as the ship approaches the Milky Way Galaxy at its full speed.
In a very short time, the alien spaceship enters the Milky Way Galaxy.
When they come to a very close distance to Earth, they send out a smaller ship to land on Earth and search for any remaining civilization.
On the Earth, the aliens conduct a three and half hours search but fail to find any remaining inhabitants. However, they are very impressed by the technology developed by humans because after all, humans have only known radio signals for two hundred years.
After they have left the Earth, the aliens are very depressed that their mission is a total failure. They feel sorry for the bad fortune of Earth inhabitants.
However, just as they are about to leave the Milky Way galaxy, they discover a massive number of spaceships moving out of the Galaxy on their radar screen. The aliens immediately realize that they have underestimated the Earth inhabitants and they are impressed by the courage and determination of human race.
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