Volume XIV, Issue IV
Josiah
By Bob Kirchman
Copyright © 2018, The Kirchman Studio, all rights reserved
Chapter 4: Mars Ain't the Kind of Place to Raise Your Kids
At Mission Control Commander West listened and watched intently. The whole conversation was being recorded and Josiah began: “Hello Earth! I suppose you are wondering what we are doing here?”
West asked Josiah to tell his story.
Let us start with that moment so long ago when our distress signal missile was fired at the starship Great Northern. I am sure you want to know what transpired here on Mars. As you know, APOLLONIUS had his ‘inner circle’ on this mission and they had smuggled aboard a number of Iranian nuclear devices. As near as we can tell, they planned to demonstrate what they had and hold Earth hostage. As you probably know, the missile was aborted and a ‘return command’ initiated, basically the quickest way to save the starship involved bringing the missile back where it came from in a ‘hard turn’ maneuver.”
So,” West asked, “Who aborted the missile?”
I did, sir,” said Josiah. He related the story of how he and his colleague had remained after their shift and noticed unusual activity. Upon investigation they saw the launch of the missile from the blockhouse and though at the time they thought it was a malfunction, they stepped in to stop it.
They expected it to fall to Mars without much trouble. When the world was rocked by an explosion and everything went dark, Josiah and Allison knew it was something worse. They had initially signed on to the voyage because they were political/ideological prisoners and had lost everything. They thought the Mars colony would offer them a new life. Soon, however, it was clear that APOLLONIUS was creating a dark kingdom. The colonists were required to forsake their names for numbers and APOLLONIUS expected unquestioned loyalty. Josiah and Allison simply played along and kept their suspicions to themselves.
How many survivors are there then?” West asked.
Initially there were thirty-seven.” Josiah said. “Four of those died from injuries and other causes in the time that followed.”
The colony was destroyed. How did you all make it?” Exclaimed West.
That’s the really strange part.” Returned Josiah, “You see, we normally would have been in the colony proper at the time but in an odd sort of way, many hands became needed in one of the more remote greenhouses. Even stranger, those greenhouses were in an area sheltered by this interesting rock ridge you see behind me. After the radiation subsided, Allison and I made our way over to the surviving greenhouses. It was just a hunch, but we thought those greenhouses might still be functioning if the blast had been stopped by the intervening ridge. We were not at all surprised to find the greenhouses intact, but we were happily surprised to find so many of our fellow settlers still alive!”
West interrupted, “So, I have to ask you, as a matter of necessity, what is your colony’s stance toward those of us on Earth?”
Personally, Allison and I have no animus toward AAR or Israel. I have to say that I cannot speak for the ones who were more loyal to APOLLONIUS. For decades we simply haven’t thought about it. We determined that you were above us scanning for survivors but could detect none. When we no longer saw the ship in the sky, we assumed you had given up and the Great Northern had returned to Earth. Our communications were totally destroyed so there was no way for us to tell you otherwise.
I assumed command of the colony because no one knew what to do. We managed to create a village in the remaining greenhouses where we live today. They are pretty much simple mud houses but they serve us well. We grow our own food and have been able to hold on for some time now.”
West asked, “So, there are thirty-three of you still on Mars?” He did the math. It would be impossible to evacuate thirty-three souls from Mars in the single lander. He awaited Josiah’s answer.
Oh no, there are now 122 of us.” Came back the answer from Josiah
(to be continued)
Natural Bridge in the Snow
Virginia's Mohonomy, Photos by Bob Kirchman
The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of Nature's works, . . . is on the ascent of a great hill, which seems to have been cloven through its length by some great convulsion. The fissure, just at the bridge, is by some admeasurements, 270 feet deep, by others only 205. It is about 45 feet wide at the bottom and 90 feet at the top; this of course determines the length of the bridge, and its height from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about sixty feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass, at the summit of the arch, about forty feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large trees. The residue, with the hill on both sides, is one solid rock of lime-stone. The arch approaches the Semi-elliptical form; but the larger axis of the ellipsis, which would be the cord of the arch, is many times longer than the transverse. Though the sides of the bridge are provided in some parts with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few men have resolution to walk to them and look over into the abyss. You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet and peep over it. Looking down from this height about a minute gave me a violent headache. If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme. It is impossible for the emotions, arising from the sublime, to be felt beyond what they are here: so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and springing, as it were, up to heaven. The rapture of the Spectator is really indescribable! The fissure continuing narrow, deep, and straight, for a considerable distance above and below the bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view of the North mountain on one side and the Blue Ridge on the other, at the distance each of them of about five miles. The bridge is in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name, and affords a public and commodious passage over a valley which cannot be crossed elsewhere for a considerable distance. The stream passing under it is called Cedar creek. It is a water of James' river, and sufficient in the driest seasons to turn a grist-mill, thought its fountain is not more than two miles above.”
– Thomas Jefferson, , “The Natural Bridge,” from Notes on Virginia (1784-85). The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, eds. Adrienne Koch and William Peden (NY: Modern Library, 1944).
Japanese Maple in Winter
Japanese Maple in Morning Light, 01/23/2018. Photo by Bob Kirchman.
Masters of 'Imagineering' II
Overcoming Real Oppression
Science fiction isn’t just thinking about the world out there. It’s also thinking about how that world might be—a particularly important exercise for those who are oppressed, because if they’re going to change the world we live in, they—and all of us—have to be able to think about a world that works differently.”
– Samuel Delaney
In recent years, we’ve been hearing that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world - that sounds right to us,”
–Open Doors France director Michel Varton
50 Countries Where It’s Dangerous to Follow Jesus
[click to read]
Most Christians in the West understand that brothers and sisters around the world are persecuted for their faith. But often, it can be difficult to understand what reality is like on the ground for these oppressed Christians. What kinds of challenges do they face? What is day-to-day life like? And how can Christians in the United States stand with believers around the world in prayer and support?
Each year, the World Watch List provides a searing glimpse into the 50 places around the world where it costs the most to be a Christian. In some countries, familial and social pressure make it terribly difficult to follow Jesus, while in other places, faith in Christ is threatened by daily risk of violence and physical oppression.
The full, in-depth report is available to download above—you’ll see each country’s persecution profile, along with a glimpse at the context in which these persecuted believers live. And most importantly, you’ll see a list of prayer requests that will help you stand with Christians worldwide.
1 Corinthians 12:26 says “If one part [of the Body of Christ] suffers, every part suffers with it.” We invite you to explore the 2018 World Watch List and learn how the Body of Christ is hurting—and invite you to stand with God’s one, global Family.
Sunrise through an Old Barn. Photo by Sandra Barlow Powell.
