Wanderer

I knew from a very young age that I was different from the rest of the ship because I was an Earthling.
Uncle Johnny told me that one day when the time comes, I'll know everything about me and my home
planet. I waited, and I waited for 265,823 Baltan hours. According to human biological age, I should be
23, but it took almost a Baltan's whole life...

"Uncle Johnny, you said you've been to my home planet Earth, do you remember?"

I held his hand carefully. Unlike mine, his hand has only three fingers, and the end of the finger has a lid-
like structure, which can help him obtain the information of the contact. But now he's old, and his once
strong arms are weak.

"Boy, I think it's my duty to tell you something, something you should know."

He tried to sit up from the medical pod, but none of his three legs were still alive. His legs are not like
mine, Uncle Johnny, and the rest of the ship, they use a counter-kinematic structure where the part that
touches the ground is called a hoof, which helps them move faster in medium to high gravity
environments.

"We knew before we set off that your home planet, the earth, may have life."

He paused and coughed, in fact, their respiratory organs weren't as fragile as mine, but Uncle Johnny
was getting old, and his biological age was reaching the limit.

"We weren't as technologically advanced as we are at the time, and in the 32nd generation of the crew I
was born, a guy named Sevans built a prototype of a more efficient thruster, and he was a true
genius. ..”

"We've finally reached 60 percent of the speed of light, and by the time we're near the solar system,
we've been able to see the light of Earth's night sky from five Baltan light-years away."
"We came to Earth with sincerity and enthusiasm that we all born in the Silver Stream system (the Milky
Way in Baltan), and people on Earth were understandably wary of us when their civilization was far from
advanced. Meet the minimum standards for interstellar travel."

"We provided some help in the field of science and technology, and scientists from two civilizations have
carried out countless studies. We have lived on the earth for 5 earth years. The earth is a suitable planet
for survival, the conditions of the earth are better than our mother planet. Much better."

I was a little excited to hear that Uncle Johnny rarely mentioned their home planet, so I asked, "What's
your home planet like?"

The color of the skin on his head shifted, which meant that he had just thought about it.

"I have never lived on the home planet, in fact, I think the home planet is no longer a livable planet ...
The ship data says that the environment of the home planet has been so bad that it is difficult to survive.
Only a very small number of Baltans refused to leave, and the rest left with the fleet. Our Ship, “Blue
Hope” was caught in the cosmic turbulence when collecting fuel during the 15th generation crew, and
then lost contact with the mothership.

"Uncle Johnny, I've read all of this in the history books. I want to know what's not written in the history
books."

I have been educated in the Baltan civilization since I was a child, I learned and used the Baltan language
with the help of aids, they rarely mentioned the history of their home planet...

"Boke, you're a smart boy, you Earthlings are just as smart as you, they're not like us... They're curious
about everything, past or future, but the Baltans don't like to look back..."

"I heard from old Bass, who has lived almost two ship generations, he said that we received a distress
signal from the mothership during the 30th generation of crew members.. But that signal has been sent
out for at least 1 million Baltan hours..."

His three eyes looked at the window, wondering what he was thinking, the view of the universe from
birth to now is always so unique and fascinating.
"We have been wandering for a long time, and the location of the home planet has been forgotten in
the huge database, and even Altea (ship artificial intelligence) cannot find complete data."

"Then haven't anyone thought about going back to their home planet to take a look? It's been so long,
maybe... Maybe your home planet is different?"

He didn't answer, just gently touched three fingers on the window, and then stroked them like the most
precious treasure.

"The Baltans do not place their hopes on uncertainty, unlike Earth humans... Before we left Earth, the
contradictions between conservatives and radicals in humanity reached an irreconcilable state... It's sad,
They once had everything."

"In the third Earth year after we left, yes, third Earth year."

He affirmed himself and continued.

"You were just born, and before we could celebrate the first human being born on a ship, we detected a
signal from the direction of the earth. The earth is doomed, and so is the human."

I was speechless when I heard this... There are many products of Earth's civilization on the ship. Uncle
Johnny likes Earth's civilization very much. The name Johnny was found in one of his favorite Earth
movies.

"Then, how did the earth doomed?! How did humans doom!?"

I was thrilled, I never heard anything like this in my life. The education I've had, the people I've known,
nothing I've seen...they never mentioned it!

"A symbol of the friendship between the Baltan and the Earth, that precious ship's power core was
detonated."
Uncle Johnny's three eyes looked at me, it was a complex look.

"Boke, I'm the only one alive out of the five insiders. The reason I know this is because I've been given
the responsibility to raise you, and because it's my responsibility to tell you all this."

I don't know what should I say, to hear the things I have waited all of my life to be like this…

"We Baltans are wanderers in the universe, yet, our friendship with Earth made the only Earthling a
wanderer..."