Author Description

When Earth first entered the 22nd century it was a better world. Advances in medicine and science throughout the world had made Earth a paradise. You would never again lose a loved one again because of AIDS, SARS, cancer, ALS, drug abuse, alcoholism or any of the other many illnesses and diseases that had so long plagued humanity. No one had any fears for genetically or hereditary illnesses. Mental illnesses had all disappeared. The eradication of those had led to other changes. All life threatening activities stopped. The new healthy human body could no longer become addicted to substances, so drugs and other addictive items no longer held any appeal. Crime went down as a result. Due to the new health and well-being, life was prolonged. It was not unheard of to be over 100 years old, and lifespan was increasing to close to 200 years of age. To forestall overcrowding a universal law limiting the number of new births was put in place. Life was good, and becoming better. The law was not to everyone's liking. Men in power did not take well to being told what to do, some felt it was too restrictive, and others felt due to religious claims that the fettering of their reproduction was against their gods wishes. In the midst of this utopia war erupted. It was sudden, harsh and globe encircling. Along with advances in medicine, there had also been advances in weapons technology. At the end of the war, humankind was all but decimated. Loss of life was 85% of all life on the planet. Scientists had, in desperation, launched a fail-safe. Seed-ships had been launched into space, set to leave the solar system for 30 years and then return so the Earth could be repopulated. They had gone out. They did not return.